Another F***ing Injury

Well, I suffered another mild injury this week. On Thursday, I pulled a groin muscle playing softball. All year, it's been one setback after another. I guess it's good that I haven't had any serious injuries, but it's so frustrating that I can't seem to get any consistent training. This is how my week played out:

Sunday: 10 miles
Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: Scheduled off day
Wednesday: 15.5 miles
Thursday: 0, injured during softball game at lunch.
Friday: 0, injured
Saturday: 0, injured
TOTAL: 35.5 miles.

I did go out for an easy 5 miles on Sunday. I finished the run okay, but my groin was pretty tender. I'm going to wait and see how I feel tomorrow before I decide if I'll run or take a few more off days.

Weekly Updates

May 6-12
Sunday – 14 miles
Monday – 0 miles
Tuesday – 12 miles
Wednesday – 10 miles
Thursday – 15 miles
Friday – 10 miles
Saturday – 5 miles
TOTAL – 66 MILES

May 13-19
Sunday – 0 miles
Monday – 10 miles
Tuesday – 10miles
Wednesday – 5.2 miles (lunch) & 7.2 miles after work
Thursday – 10 miles
Friday – 7.5 miles
Saturday – 10miles
TOTAL – 60 MILES

I forgot to post the miles last week. This will catch me up on the off chance that anybody ever reads this.

I had to drop out of the Rock and Roll Marathon, although since I never actually registered, that’s really not the most accurate way to phrase it. I have some family issues that I need to deal with at the end of May/early June, and I just cannot commit to traveling that weekend. I knew this was coming, I just didn’t know when, which is why I had waited so long to register. It’s not that big of a deal, since I really wasn’t anywhere close to marathon pace.

As of now it looks like the focus will be on a spring marathon (Napa again?). I’ll use the summer to build a proper base and then begin a proper training cycle in the fall. That’s what I did for Napa 2006, and I ran well (3:06:39 if I remember correctly) on a wet, windy day. With another good training cycle and cooperation from the weather on race day a sub-3:00 is definitely possible.

Weekly Update

Sunday – 8 miles, was supposed to be 20, but I just didn’t have any energy
Monday – 20 miles, including last five at marathon pace (7:00 min/miles) – Good run
Tuesday – Rest Day
Wednesday – 10 miles, including four half mile repeats at 6:00 pace (tempo run was scheduled, but 20+ mph winds put an end to that)
Thursday – 8 recovery miles
Friday – 15 easy miles – Another good run
Saturday – 10 easy miles
TOTAL: 71 miles

Today was supposed to be 17 miles, including 14 at marathon pace. However, since I’m not happy with the base I started this training cycle with and considering that I haven’t gone over 10 miles at marathon pace, I was shooting for 12 miles at pace, and then would see how I felt. The weather was hot for this area (over 80 degrees), but I still went ahead with the schedule. The first seven miles went okay. The wind was light today and was only a factor in a few spots – where buildings would create sort of a wind tunnel. Anyway after the first seven miles at pace (nine miles into the run), I started to struggle a bit. I logged a couple of miles over 7:00 minutes, but was still under pace because of a cushion I had built up in the first few miles. At this point, I hit the turning point of the out and back and got what wind there was at my back and managed to stay on pace for 10 and a half miles (12 miles total), but I was done. I had only stopped once for water and that was at the 5 mile mark. Seven hot miles later, I stopped for more water and ended my miles at MP. I ran slowly for another half mile or so to the next water fountain, got another drink, and decided to call it a day. I finished with 14 miles, including 10.5 at MP (pace was based on a 3:00 marathon).

I have four weeks until the Rock and Roll Marathon, and quite honestly I’m not near ready to run to my potential. While my heart wants to go for sub-3 and see what happens, my head knows that I’m not ready. My PR pace is 7:07. My plan at this point is to go out at 7:00 pace and hope I can go the distance and land a PR.

Weekly Totals and Thoughts About Race Pace and Goals for Rock ‘n Roll

WEEKLY
Sunday – 17 miles, including 10 at marathon goal pace
Monday – 0 miles, off day
Tuesday – 8 easy miles (moved furniture at work today)
Wednesday – 0 miles due to back pain as a result of furniture move
Thursday – 0 miles due to back pain as a result of furniture move
Friday – 10 easy miles
Saturday – 10 easy miles
TOTAL: 45 Miles on 4 runs.

I had another minor setback this week causing me to miss two runs and reduce mileage on Friday. The good news is that I am now running with no back pain, although I do feel an occasional tightness every once in awhile when I’m not running. I definitely couldn’t have run on Wednesday. (I could barely stand up.) On Thursday I probably could have run, but I didn’t want to get into that familiar pattern, where I take a day off for a minor injury, run the next day, and end up more injured than I was, so I took a second day just to be cautious.

I’m still running my paces as if I’ll be attempting to break three hours at the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon, although I doubt if that is a realistic goal. At this point, I haven’t run more than ten miles at race pace, and I only have two weeks left until I begin my taper. I will probably get up to 14 miles at race pace by then. The bigger problem is that race pace just doesn’t feel as easy as it should at this point of the training. I haven’t been successful at getting in enough repeats or tempo runs that take the pace faster than race pace. This has been partly caused by missing key workouts due to minor injuries. I’ve been able to get in the miles but have often not been able to push the pace. I think a larger issue is that I didn’t build a big enough base for the training miles I had hoped to log in March, April and the first half of May. As I result I’m laboring on runs that should be easy at this point.

I still plan on running the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. I have a sports grant from the Coast Guard, so they’ll reimburse me for half of my expenses (travel, food, and registration). If nothing else, it will be a good opportunity to visit family and to gain some race experience. If I feel good, I’ll probably make an attempt to stay with the three hour pacer and hope that I at least run a PR. However, in my head I’m already looking forward to a summer of base building and a serious run at sub-three at Napa in March 2008.

A Good Week in the Books

Sunday – 20 miles
Monday – 0 miles
Tuesday – 10 miles, including two miles at 6:30 pace
Wednesday – 7.5 miles at recovery pace
Thursday – 15 miles, including 10 at goal MP
Friday – 8 miles at recovery pace
Saturday – 7.5 easy miles
WEEKLY TOTAL: 68 Miles

Overall a good week. I hit all of my mileage totals. The only bump in the schedule was on Tuesday when I didn’t hit my goal pace. I was schedule for ten miles, including five miles at 6:30 pace. The problem is that the wind was blowing at 30 mph, with gusts up to 39 mph. Obviously the smart thing would have been to either run by effort or just log the miles without worrying about the faster miles. Instead, I ran on the street behind the golf course, trying to hide from the wind. While the wind wasn’t as bad there, it was still blowing pretty good; and even though it was mostly from the side, it did make the pace tougher. Anyway, I managed two miles at 6:30 pace, but after that I had to stop running. For a minute I thought I was going to hurl. Instead I just suffered through a coughing fit and then finished the run without worrying about pace or effort. Thursday’s 15 miles, with 10 at goal pace were encouraging. This time Mother Nature cooperated with what was probably the least windy day of the week, although it was still blowing fairly good along the bay. As an example of how hard the wind has been blowing lately, during Saturday’s run, I saw a small waterspout on the bay. It was only about 8-10 feet high and wasn’t dangerous; but it was blowing straight towards me, and when it hit the seawall, it gave me a pretty good misting.

I started this week off well, with a 17 mile run that including 10 miles at goal pace. The wind was tougher today. I really need to learn to run more by effort and not worry so much about hitting the right pace all the time. A major part of these MP runs is to get the body used to what race pace should feel like. If I’m running harder than normal because of the wind and then running too fast when the wind is at my back, I’m defeating the purpose. Let’s face it; if the wind is blowing as hard on race day as it has been blowing here lately, I’m not going to be anywhere near my goal race pace when I cross the finish line.

Weekly Updates Continued

Even though I had an easy week last week (due to injury), I decided to stick with my schedule and take my scheduled cutback week. There were two reasons for this decision. The first was I figured an easy week would help ensure the hammie was okay; and because of the timing, this wass the best chance for a cutback week before I taper in four weeks. Here's my week:

Sunday - 11.5 miles.
Monday - 1.5 miles in 8:49. Was supposed to be rest day, but I had to take a fitness test for work. Extremely pleased with time and with how well my hammie felt.
Tuesday - 8 miles at 7:20 pace
Wednesday - 6 miles
Thursday - 10 miles
Friday - 8 miles
Saturday - 5.5 miles
TOTAL: 50.5 Miles

The next four weeks are going to be tough with higher mileage and harder runs scheduled. The way the wind has been around here lately, I'm sure many of these runs will be more by effort than the scheduled pace. I guess the good news is that at least half the time, the wind will be at my back.

Weekly Recap

Keeping up my recent tradition of once a week posting, here's my weekly recap for April 1-7.

Sunday - 0, errands and family commitments kept me home until relatively late, so I didn't get a chance to run.
Monday - 20 after work, making up for Sundays zero on what was scheduled as an off day.
Tuesday - 6 easy miles, all day the back of my knee was really sore; although it didn't feel bad while I was running.
Wednesday - o, area just above back of knee is hurting, fortunately it seems to be muscular and not a joint injury.
Thursday - 0, resting what is clearly a hamstring injury.
Friday - 0, hamstring is feeling better with only minor aches
Saturday - 4, ran short and easy to test the hamstring. Everything feels fine.
TOTAL: 30 miles on three runs. Not a bad average, but not too impressive.

Overall this week sucked. I got off to a bad start by not running on Sunday and then missed three other days. The good news is that I ran 11.5 miles on Sunday and the hamstring seems healed. I'll run easy the first few days of this week just be sure, but should be back at full speed by mid-week.