Double Today

I took today (Thursday) off from work. The plan was for Caryn (my wife) and I to leave at 10:00 and go into San Francisco to watch an event. They put a bunch of man-made snow on one of San Francisco's famous hills and there was a ski and snowboard jump competition. It was pretty cool to see, but it was too hot and too crowded to stick around for the entire event. We ended up leaving after about twenty minutes and went out for lunch at a small Italian restaurant. The food was great.

Anyway, since we weren't leaving until 10:00, I figured I could get up at my regular time and get in a long run of 15 miles before we left. However, I'm am just not a morning person, and I ended up leaving for my run at 8:00, instead of 7:00. As a result, I ran ten miles this morning and then ran an additional six miles this evening to make up for slacking in the morning. Actually, I've been running without a plan right now and am just trying to log a bunch of miles. I'm going week-by-week, and really only planned on running ten miles today, so I didn't slack off as much as it seems like.

One other comment that relates to another post from a couple of weeks ago. I was able to stick to a recovery pace during my six mile run this evening. I've been pleased with my pacing lately. Hopefully, I can maintain it over the long haul.

Hill Running, Sort Of

This evening I ran ten miles, included in the run were a few "repeats" up the only hill I can run without driving someplace else to run. I put repeats in quotes because they weren't traditional repeats. I didn't run them at a hard or even quick pace. I ran them at my easy run pace, but repeatedly ran up and down this small hill. I'm trying to decide if this hill is long enough to provide a training benefit for my marathon training. Up and down the hill is a total of one-third of a mile. Plus only part of the hill is steep enough for hill training; the rest is close to flat. I think I'll solicit opinions from others with more experience, plus see how my legs feel tomorrow before I decide if this course will work for hill workouts. As part of today's run, I also ran one mile (from 8.5 to 9.5 miles) at goal marathon pace.

Tomorrow will be another double. I have a 2.9 mile fun run at work, and I'll run seven or eight easy miles tomorrow evening.

A Good Run

On Sunday I had an excellent run. I ran 15 miles, including two miles (non-consecutive) at 7:00 minute/mile pace. I was tired by the end of the run, but it was a good tired. This run gives me confidence that I’ll be able to prepare and run well in February. I was concerned about my health and my ability to run hard. I know that there’s still well over a month before my race specific training will start. However, abdomen strains can last upwards of nine months. Anyway, I not only ran at 7:00 minute/miles, at the end of the second hard mile, I was running hard and probably had the pace down close to 5K pace. The key seems to be getting in a long warm-up

I checked out three running-related books from the library. One is a training book by Bob Glover, one is number of running-related short stories, and the other is a book of short biographies on top marathoners through the years. I’m looking forward to reading all of them. The variety will provide practical training information and good motivation for those tough days when the desire to train isn’t as strong as the lure of the couch. Anyone who’s been a runner for any amount of time will understand.

I'm going to run eleven miles on two runs on Monday.

Running in the Dark

I planned on running in the morning today, but I didn't. As it turned out I ended up watching football until late and didn't start my run until almost 7:00 p.m. This ended up being my first run in the dark since we moved back to California. I knew that when Daylight Savings Time ends I'd have to run in the dark almost daily, and I was a little worried about it. Where I run there are a few places where the asphalt is buckled by tree roots, and I was afraid I'd end up tripping whenever I ran in the dark. Good news, I found out during today's run that there are long stretches where I can run without any tripping hazards and that I can see the hazards in the places where they are found. Even though it was dark tonight, with no moon, I didn't have any problems. Street lights, house lights and city lights provide just enough light. Also, there wasn't much wind and the temperatures were perfect!

I ended the week with just over 60 miles. I was going to run a mile or two at marathon pace today, but when I picked up the pace I felt some soreness in my groin, so I eased up. Even though I'm not getting in any speed work, I am logging decent mileage and should be able to do well when I start marathon training.

Just Running, Nothing Special

I ran ten miles today. There was nothing special about the run. For the most part I kept my pace right around 8:00 minutes/mile. I planned on running a mile here and there at goal marathon pace, but I was feeling a bit tight after running at marathon pace yesterday, so I decided to be patient and stay healthy. I'm planning on running eight miles tomorrow. If I feel good, I'll get in a mile or two at a faster pace. For now it will be better if I only go faster every other day (at the most).

Well, after deciding yesterday that I have to be more dedicated to my running if I want to improve, I didn't do too well at following my own advice. Last night I was awake until well after midnight, although it wasn't entirely my fault. I went to bed between 10:00 and 10:30 and was asleep before 11:00. A few minutes after I fell asleep, my daughter woke me up. After that I couldn't get back to sleep. As far as eating, I did okay, but not great. I ate a huge lunch, but it wasn't too bad. We had a Hispanic Month Celebration at work, and I ate the lunch that was served. However, I didn't have any fried foods or any dessert, so I did okay. I also had a piece of pie after dinner, but it was a small piece. Even though I wasn't as dedicated today as I need to be, I'm confident that I'm moving in the right direction.

Dedication

I didn't run yesterday (Tuesday). I hadn't slept well Sunday night or Monday night, and I just didn't have any energy to get out for a run. I considered forcing myself out the door, but decided not too. The reason was that I knew if I ran, it would get my adreneline flowing, and I'd end up staying up late again. Instead, I rested during the evening, and went to bed relatively early (around 10:15).

Even though I didn't run yesterday, I spent a lot of time thinking about my training and the dedication that I need to show if I want to improve. For a long time, I've improved my times in a number of races because I'm good at getting in my scheduled runs. When training for a specific race, I'm almost a slave to my schedule and my log book. However, mileage will only carry me so far. I'm at a point now, where I'm questioning how fast I want to get and whether or not I have the dedication to get there. It's easy to get a schedule and run what's listed on the schedule. I'm at a point now where I need to show more dedication and take into account how other choices I make will effect my running. Specifically, I'm talking about my diet and my sleeping habits.

In February, I ran the Mardi Gras Half Marathon in 1:27:42, which is a PR for me. Now, only seven months later, I'm 15 pounds heavier and have trouble (even when healthy) maintaining my goal marathon pace for more than a few miles. I spent a week not running due to an injury. I don't know for sure, but it easily could have been caused by training hard while carrying more weight. As far as my sleeping habits go, it's easy to tell when I'm not getting enough rest. Almost everytime my normal/easy training pace slows or I have trouble getting in my scheduled mileage, I can track it back to poor sleeping habits over the previous couple of nights. I run the mileage necessary to reach my immediate goals; but if I don't make smart choices in other areas of my life, will I be able to reach these goals? Right now, I don't think so, and even if I do reach my goals, I'll know that I cheated myself out of reaching my full potential by making poor eating and sleeping choices.

Today I ran four laps around Coast Guard Island during lunch, which is about 5.5 miles. I ran the first two laps with a co-worker at approximately 8:00 minutes per mile pace. The last two laps I ran alone. I decided that since I've been running pain free for the last week or so, I'd push the pace and see how I felt. I ended up running a mile and a half at goal marathon pace (or a bit faster). I felt a little tightness during the run, but nothing too bad. This evening I don't feel any pain. I'm optimistic that I'm over the hump and that as long as I take the time to get in a good warmup, I should be able to run at marathon pace and maybe even do some speedwork now. To start I'll try to run a few miles at marathon goal pace during each of my runs. If that goes well, I'll include a few bursts at a faster speed -- nothing organized or even tracked for my log, just a informal fartlek workout.

Adding Mileage and Maintaining a Positive Attitude

Today I ran nine miles at a recovery pace (a little slower than easy pace). This is probably the farthest I’ve run the day after a long run. My legs felt a bit tired today, but not too bad. A couple of keys to this run and staying relatively fresh were that I paid attention to the pace, and I fueled up with a good pasta meal at lunch. The point of the recovery run is to get in the miles and still allow the legs to recover from previous runs. I’ve never really had the patience to maintain the proper pace before. I’m curious to see if it works for tomorrow’s run.

I noticed on today’s run that the great positive attitude that I had towards my running last week is starting to fade. It’s not that I now have a bad attitude; it’s just not what it was. I think a big reason for the decline is that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. For a long time, I was always training with a goal race in sight. This time of year it was supposed to be for an October marathon. Well, October’s right around the corner, and I won’t be running a marathon. I think in order to keep my attitude up and stay motivated for the next couple of months, I need to keep reminding myself that my February marathon will be here before I know it and that 26.2 miles is a long way to run. Those two thoughts should keep me moving forward for awhile. One other thing I’ll do is to read a running book to help with the motivation. Hopefully, I can find one that’s more anecdotal, rather than something on marathon training.

First Long Run in a Few Weeks

Today I ran my first twenty mile run in four weeks. I had three weeks in between long runs in my schedule because the marathon I wanted to run filled up and my next option was a week later. I wanted three weeks between my last long run and my marathon, so I scheduled an extra week in between two other long runs to fill the gap. Anyway, I ended up taking last week off from running, so I missed last week's long run. That's how I got four weeks between the last two long runs.

Even though I don't plan on running a marathon until February, I'm going to still try to get in a twenty mile run every two or three weeks. The long runs now will definitely help me on marathon day. Plus, I plan to run a marathon in February and in March. I'll get only one long run (at the most) completed in between the two races, so I'm hoping that running a lot of twenty mile runs now will help me stay strong for the second race.

I did a good job of preparing for today's long run. I got enough sleep last night, ate a good amount of carbs and drank a lot of fluids both yesterday and this morning. As a result the long run went off well, and I finished strong. I did, however, have to stop three times to use the bathroom. It was worth the trade off to finish without feeling like I'm dying. Let's hope I can learn to follow this plan for future long runs.

Slow Saturday

Today I ran a slow, easy five miles. A couple of times I could feel that I was running a bit faster than I wanted to run, so I forced myself to slow down (unlike in previous runs where I wouldn't allow myself to run slow enough). I'm hoping to run 20 miles tomorrow. However, I've had a sore throat all afternoon, and it didn't feel too good on my run today. I'm sure I'll run tomorrow, but if my throat continues to hurt, I'll cut it somewhat short (can ten miles be considered a short run?). I want to get in the miles, but even more, I don't want to get sick and miss another week of running.

Another thing I need to do tomorrow is get over to the library and finally get a library card. I checked their online catalog today, and they have a few running books I haven't read. It will be nice to have some good running-related materials to read. I always find it motivating to read about other people's running. I imagine that's because I do so much of my running alone that it's nice to share the running experience.

Moving Forward and Adding Miles

Today I ran ten miles around Bay Farm Island in Alameda. Yesterday I was pleased with my effort and the fact that I allowed myself to run at a recovery pace. Today I wanted to run at an easy pace, which requires a little push to keep the pace above the recovery pace I ran yesterday. I was aiming for a pace between 7:55 to 8:04 mile/minute. I ended up with an overall pace of 7:58 mile/minute. I was right at 8:00 minute pace until the last mile, which I ran a bit faster, including a quarter mile that I ran at below 7:00 minute/mile pace. I wanted to push the pace to see how my body would react, specifically the muscle that I strained in my lower abdomen. It felt good during the run. I can sometimes feel a tightness, but it was no worse when running faster than it normally is. At this point the only lingering pain from the injury is at the beginning of each run, and it does take longer to warmup. Hopefully, there won't be any residual soreness tomorrow from running faster today.

If I'm feeling good tomorrow, I'll try to work in a few faster miles in each of my runs (except recovery runs) over the next couple of months. Hopefully, when I start marathon specific training (in early November if memory serves me correctly), I'll be at the point where I feel comfortable running a 7:00 minute/mile pace.

Hard to Get Started

For some unknown reason, I've had back pain all day. I'm not sure what caused it. I just woke up with a stiff, sore back. My plan was to run five miles at lunch and five or six miles after work. I ended up not running at lunch for two reasons. One was that my back pain made it hard to stand and the thought of running wasn't a pleasant one. The other reason was that I was the only one in the office for a while, so I was pretty much tied to my desk until 12:30 or so, which was mostly an convenient excuse not to run. After work, the back pain was still there, but I forced myself out for a run anyway. One of the reasons that I was able to get out the door was that I was thinking about a guy who ran twice a day everyday for 20 years. When I heard about him, I thought that was stupid because of some of the injuries he ran through. However, I figured if he can do it, I can run with a little back pain. I ended up running nine miles, and I was basically painfree throughout the run (well, at least after I warmed up I was painfree). Tonight I still have some back pain, but it's better than it was. While I could wake up tomorrow a.m. in incredible pain, for now I'll say that running today was a good idea.

While running this evening, I was thinking about what to enter in this blog. One of the things that came to mind was my pace. I'm not very good at running slow when my body needs to take it easy. I feel lazy when my pace is slower than 8:00 minutes per mile. Today I ran at approximately an 8:15/mile pace. I was thinking that I finally forced myself to run at a pace that will allow me to log miles and recover for the next day; however, the truth is that I finally allowed my body to run at an easy pace when it was telling me that's the right thing to do. I thought I needed to force myself to slow down. The truth is that I need to not force myself to speed up unless the schedule calls for it. Let's hope I can continue to improve in this area.

A Good Ten Miles

Today I ran ten miles around Bay Harbor Island in Alameda (the city in which I live). It was a nice run that follows the shore along the San Francisco Bay. Although it's only been a few days, I've been pleased with my effort since returning from a week off due to a minor injury. The rest clearly did me well, not only to help the injury heal but also to give my entire body a chance to rest. Another key to feeling good this week has been that I've done a good job of fueling my body. I loaded with carbs Monday at lunch with a carne asada rice bowl, and today at lunch I had a delicious bowl of pasta. I know what I need to do in order to keep myself running well, specifically regarding getting enough rest and eating right. The hard part will be to force myself to do the right thing.

Another positive about feeling good while running is that I have a much better attitude during my runs. Last month I ran more miles than in any other month of my life, but a lot of those runs were really tough, and all I wanted was to finish the run. The last couple of days (even though I've been running decent miles), I've felt good during my run. I've enjoyed feeling my body push through the run, especially after the turnaround when I'm running straight into a stiff wind. I've finished the runs feeling tired like I should after a workout, but it's a good tired, not a death march type of pain. Let's just hope I can maintain these feelings as I run more and more this fall.

Double Up Tuesday

Well after a bad Monday in which I missed two runs, I had a great Tuesday.

Yesterday, I skipped my run at lunch so that I could go out to lunch with some people at work. My plan was to load up on carbs and make up for the missed run by running 15 miles in the evening. Apparently, I loaded up too much with carbs because I didn't feel well at all Monday evening. I ended up skipping the run all together. I was afraid I'd vomit if I tried running.

Tuesday, I did everything that I had hoped to do on Monday. I ran 5.5 miles at lunch, and I ran at the fastest pace I've run in awhile (between 7:30 and 7:40 m/m pace, not including the first warmup mile). This evening I ran ten more miles. I didn't run as fast as I did at lunch, but I did run a bit faster than I had been running. I'm guessing the extra energy is the combination of lots of carbs yesterday and the fact that I'm still fairly fresh after taking last week off.

I felt so good today, that I considered still trying to run a marathon in October. I realize that I won't be able to run it at 7:00 m/m like I hoped, but 7:20 to 7:30 may be doable. I'm just not sure if it's the wise thing to do. I'll think about it and maybe ask other, more experienced runners what they think.

Medium Long Run - No Pain

Today I ran an easy, medium-long run (11 miles). I'm happy to say that there was no real pain in my lower abdomen/groin area. In fact, I'm pretty happy with my pace and the way I felt for most of the run.

I shouldn't say there was no pain. I ran out of gas at about the 9.5 mile mark. The last mile and a half were pretty tough. At one point, I stopped for a redlight and got light headed. I ended up walking for about 200 yards until I felt a little better. I was able to run the rest of the way home (only about a quarter mile) without too much trouble. Later in the day, we went to the Autumn Moon Festival in San Francisco's Chinatown, and I was able to walk without any pain, even up and down the hills.

Tomorrow I'm going run a double - five miles at lunch and ten miles after work.

First Run Back

Today I ran an easy five mile run to see how (or if) my lower abdomen strain improved during my eight days off from running. I ran five easy miles with no problems. When I started out there was some tightness, and I was worried that after a few steps I'd be right back where I was, but it never got any worse than an occasional feeling of tightness. I was careful to keep my running at an easy pace. In fact, I purposely left my GPS at home so that I wouldn't be tempted to chase any specific pace. Tomorrow, I'm planning on running longer (at least ten miles).

If the longer run goes well, my plan is to run as many miles as I can during September, October, and November. In December, I'll start marathon specific training for the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, which is held the first weekend in February (on Super Bowl Sunday I believe).

Feeling Better, but Still No Running

Today I'm feeling much better. I haven't felt any pain or even a pulling sensation in my lower abdomen/groin. Tempting as it is, I'm still not going to run until next weekend. I just don't want to take a change on not healing completely and being back in the same boat I was in a few days ago.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue my cycle of icing and heating the sore area. One thing I need to concentrate on is cutting down on my eating. If I'm not running, I'm buring much fewer calories. On the bright side, this week off should make my entire body well-rested and ready to go.

The Day After = Pain!

Today I ran an easy five miles to see how my lower abdomen/groin would feel after runing relatively hard yesterday. It was much more painful than it had been. For the first half mile or so, there was a sharp pain in my lower abdomen that I could barely stand. I pushed through the pain to see how I would run after I was warmed up. It was better, but there was still too much pain. Even sitting here at my desk an hour and a half later, I can still feel pain whenever I move, shift my weight, etc.

At this point, I'm looking at no running until I feel healed. Based on previous experience, I think I'll be out of commission for a week or so. Once I'm running painfree, I'll make a decision on a fall marathon. However, I don't like my chances.