Will I run a fall marathon? I don't know.

During today's run was the first time I admitted to myself that there's a good chance I won't run a marathon this fall. I ran ten miles, with two miles at marathon pace. The marathon pace runs were difficult (and I was running with the wind) to complete, which is not a big deal because I'm coming off a high mileage period and am still feeling some fatigue from Monday's tough workout. The main reason, I'm questioning my ability to run a marathon is that I'm still feeling discomfort in my groin/lower abdomen when running. When running at marathon pace the pain wasn't bad. It was more of a tightness than pain. However, I'm smart enough to realize that any minor injury will only get worse if I try to race 26 miles without properly healing first.

The big question now is what's next. For the present I'm not ready to definitely cancel my marathon plans. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll continue to log my scheduled miles and try to build up some marathon pace runs. If I feel up to it, I may even run a couple of miles faster than marathon pace. If I can get to my taper feeling healthy, I'll probably ask more experience runners for their opinions, and then decide what to do. For now I just keep logging miles.

Easy Run

Today I ran a very easy run during lunch. I ran four laps around Coast Guard Island during lunch. The distance came out to 5.4 miles. I ran two laps with Carlos, which was good because he is more of a beginner runner, and he helped me keep the pace easy.

My groin/lower abs were pretty painful for the first couple of miles of my run today. I'm hoping to try a marathon pace run tomorrow. Unless the pain is worse, I'll go ahead with the pace run. I'm doing everything else I can to be ready for tomorrow's run. I've been icing tonight, and tomorrow I'll eat a good amount of carbs at lunch. After tomorrow's run I'll have a better idea if an October marathon is still possible.

Double Runs Today - Wiped Out

Today I ran double runs (5 miles at lunch at 15 miles in the evening). The five mile run is what was scheduled for today. I added the 15 mile run to make up for the 15 mile run I wasn't able to complete yesterday. This puts me six miles ahead of my schedule for the week (from yesterday's aborted 15 miler). I'm not worried about the extra miles having an adverse affect because the pace is easy for each run, and I've been pretty good about taking days off when necessary.

The evening run pretty much wiped me out. Miles 13 and 14 were run at a much slower pace than the other miles (except for the first warmup mile). I did pick up the pace for the last mile and finished relatively strong. I'm scheduled to run five miles tomorrow. I may reschedule my off day and take it tomorrow. If I do run, it will definitely be at a slow/recovery pace. I want to be fresh for my ten mile run on Wednesday. Hopefully, I'll be able to run a few miles at goal marathon pace.

Training continues: A Crappy Run

Today I was scheduled to run 15 miles. Instead I only ran 6, and I had to stop at 4.5 miles due to GI issues. I don't know what causes it or what to do about it, but well over half of my runs are interrupted by pitstops to use the bathroom. I can go an hour or two before my run or five minutes before my run; it just doesn't seem to matter. I've had this problem before, but it used to only affect me when I ran in the morning. Now it doesn't matter when I run. I'll try to find an answer to this problem. In the meantime I guess I'll just run close to public bathrooms.

Tomorrow, I'll make up the 15 I was supposed to run today. I may also run a few easy miles at lunch in an attempt to jump start my plumbing.

Medium Long Run & Longest Week

This afternoon I ran a ten mile run. I pushed the pace a little on a couple of miles just to see how it would feel. I've been taking it easy this week due to a slightly pulled/strained muscle in my groin and lower abdomen. Today I felt pretty good, so I ran a couple of miles slightly faster (around 7:30 pace). It felt good to press a bit. Even though I still have some pain, and I take a long time to warm up; I'm confident that I'm moving in the right direction.

Next week, after a long warmup, I'll run some miles at marathon goal pace. I'll also continue treating the muscle by alternating ice and heat. If all goes well; the following week, I'll resume my normal training.

I ran over 63 miles this week. I believe this is the most miles I've ever run in a week. Despite the relative high mileage, I feel pretty good, since I ran everything so easy. The next couple of weeks should be at or near the same mileage, although the effort will be slightly higher. If memory serves me correctly, I have only four weeks until I begin tapering for my marathon!

Easy run

Today I ran an easy five miles at lunch. The first couple of minutes of the run were painful due to a strained muscle in my lower abdomen and groin area, but overall the run went well. Alternating ice and heat should help it get better. Plus I'll need to continue to run easy and warmup well before each run.

I finished today's run with an average pace of exactly 8:00 minutes/mile. I didn't push the pace or try to run too easy. I just ran with a natural gait. If tomorrow's ten mile run and Sunday's fifteen mile run go well, I'll feel like I'm basically back to where I was before donating blood.

What a turn around!

What a turn around between today's run and the runs yesterday and the day before! For the past two days I had the worst runs imaginable. They were slow and painful. Tuesday's run was so bad that half way through it I felt like I never wanted to run again.

Today I had ten miles scheduled. I ended up running 11.74 miles. I didn't run fast, but I was able to maintain an easy pace (sub 8:00 miles) without giving a more than normal effort. While I'm not ready to say I'm back to normal. I have regained a lot of the enjoyment that I usually feel towards my running. I'm still going to take it easy for the rest of this week and pick up the speed workouts beginning with next week's schedule.

The question that I need to answer is why the improvement. I think it's a combination of factors. One key factor is that I had a great lunch that was full of healthy carbs (it was a bowl of carne asada, rice and beans). One other factor is that I'm getting back to normal after my blood donation last week. If I can continue to have good workouts through this weekend, it will be a huge confidence boost as I make my push towards my October 16 marathon.

Easy Run Today

Today's run was an easy five miler. I wore my old stopwatch instead of my GPS so that I wouldn't be tempted to push the pace to meet a certain time. I just ran easy from home to the ferry landing and back home. The distance was probably a little over five miles, but it's close enough. Even though I took it easy, I had no energy during today's run. The lack of energy lately is worrisome, but all I can do is keep moving forward. As long as I feel this way, I'll focus on getting in my mileage and not worry about pace.

Yesterday I felt a twinge in the groin/lower abdomen area. During today's run I could feel a definite pain in that area. I don't think it will affect my running too much, especially since I'm only doing easy paced runs right now. I'll put ice and heat on it and hope for the best.

Bad Running Day

I ran ten miles today. I was scheduled to do a tempo run, which I had planned to do as follows: two mile warmup; one mile at goal marathon pace; four miles at tempo pace; one mile at goal marathon pace, and an easy two miles home. As it turned out I couldn't even maintain the pace for the first marathon pace mile. I was running into a pretty stiff wind, so I just tried to go by effort; and then when I rounded the point, I increased the effort to try to reach tempo pace, but even with the wind at my back, I was still running slower than goal marathon pace. I just didn't have the energy to run hard. I ran this same workout a couple of weeks ago. It was a tough workout, but I finished it. I have to assume that my problems today were the lingering effects of giving blood last week. I decided to just get my mileage in this week and not worry about pace. I had to push my marathon back a week, so I will use this week for mileage only and get back on my schedule next week. Hopefully the extra week of easy runs will get me back to where I was.

Rest Day

Today I decided to take a rest day from running. Last night's long run plus not getting much sleep has me pretty tired today. I'm considering running twice tomorrow--an easy five miles at lunch and then my normal workout in the evening. Even if I don't double up tomorrow, taking today off won't hurt my training because I'll just switch today with my normal off day (Friday).

One other thing. I blamed last night's long run being so difficult on not eating properly the day before. However, another contributing factor may be that I gave blood last Wednesday. I've given blood before with no lingering effects, but not so close to a 20 mile run.

Long Run

Today I ran my third of five 20 mile long runs in preparation for my October 16 marathon. It was a hellish run from about mile 13 until the end. It's not hard to figure out the problem; it was poor diet yesterday and today. Basically I ate very few carbohydrates, which means I just didn't have enough fuel to properly complete the long run distance. Hopefully, I'll learn from this mistake and be better prepared next time. In addition to increasing fitness, long runs can also serve as lessons on what will work and won't work on race day.

Totals for the day: 20.23 miles in 2:47:13 (8:16 pace).

Easy run day

Today was an easy running day for me. I ran just over five miles at an easy pace. My fastest mile was run at approximately 7:54 pace, and my average pace was approximately 5:08 pace. I'm getting better at running easy and not watching my pace. My effort was consistent, with the pace difference having to do with running part of the run into the wind and part with the wind at my back. Yesterday I ran fairly hard, and tomorrow I'm running a long run. It was important for me not to use too much energy today.

Total for the day was 5.34 miles. Total for the week was 46.05 miles.

Mid-Long Marathon Paced Run

Within the past day or so, I've decided to change my training plan. I'm basically going to stick with three main workouts--long runs, tempo runs, and mid-long marathon pace runs--with an easy run in between each workout. Today I ran ten miles, with seven miles at goal marathon pace. Over the next five weeks, I'll build this up to twelve mile runs with ten at marathon pace.

Today's run was okay. I'm still having trouble adjusting to the wind. With the wind at my back, it was (obviously) fairly easy to run at goal marathon pace. Coming back (obviously, again) it was tougher with the wind in my face. What I need to learn is how to make the effort the same for both directions so that going with the wind I'm a bit faster than goal pace and coming back I'm a bit slower, with the average equaling goal pace. I was able to average my marathon goal pace for the entire seven miles, but the effort was way too uneven. Tomorrow will be an easy five mile run and then I'll do my third 20-mile run on Sunday.

First Double of Training Plan

Today I ran what I hope will be the first of many doubles. I ran five miles at lunch and then ran another five miles after work. I'm going to try to run at lunch at least two or three times a week. These lunchtime runs will be short (five miles or so) and easy paced runs. They shouldn't take much out of me but will add relatively stress free miles and will help warm me up for my afternoon/evening runs. Mileage run at lunch won't be counted as part of any race specific training schedule.

Totals for the day are 10.61 miles (5.3 at lunch and 5.31 after work).

Blog Start

This is the first post for me on this blog. The purpose of this blog is pretty much what it says in the Blog subtitle. I keep a log of my mileage and races at www.running-log.com, which is helpful for tracking daily mileage, as well as looking at reports for monthly, yearly mileage and raw numbers. However, I thought a text log would be a better tool for tracking how my training is going.

My hope is that not only can I share my training info with others who are interested in my running, but I will be able to look back beyond the numbers and see what part of my training is working and what is not.

So let my blog experience begin...