Boston: 4 down, 12 to go! Checking in.

This one's for the numbers geeks =D.

After four weeks of running this crazy training plan (Who wrote this thing anyway?!). I had my first scheduled cutback week. Now I have some numbers and a few conclusions.

At this point, I am feeling pretty optimistic about how things are going. I am 1/4 of the way through this training cycle and am happy to say :

1. My body seems to be adapting to the weight training very well. Special thanks for the comments on my last post, (especially Jill, who weighed in with some encouraging personal experience as well as some coaching research). My "easy" run Friday (following Thursday afternoon's heavier-than-usual weight session) felt incredible! It was all I could do to restrain myself to an easy pace.  I can finally say that DOMS really isn't an issue in my legs now, as there was still no soreness Saturday morning (today).
2. There are NO injury issues going on right now. It probably helps that I am not trying to introduce a new day of speed work during this cycle, and that I have covered this amount of mileage recently. We shall see how things go as I continue to build in the miles...In contrast, while training for Eugene a year ago, I had issues with achilles tendinitis, and some sort of tendinitis in the front of the foot/ankle, so I was always wondering if it would spell my death for the marathon. I don't feel that way in training at all right now.
3. I seem to be hitting my goal training paces for most runs. But then again, it can be kind of hard to be certain sometimes with my complicated system. The graphs below show my paces as a cumulative pace for each run including warm-up, cool-down and whatever I did for speed that day. For instance, I just plug in the total time spent running and the total distance and the computer calculates the overall pace. I keep the interval/tempo times in my notes separately.  Again...we shall see how this continues with added mileage. I hope to pick it up a bit in the next few weeks. I am also conscious of the fact that I could be topped out speed-wise and that this might be as fast as it gets.

Today's cutback long run was 16 miles. My goal was to keep it easy: no progression, just easy on the body. It felt like that's what I did.

Ironically, I was listening to a podcast from http://www.marathontalk.com/ and the guest was mentioning that you should not be trying to "smash out" your long runs at this point in training (12 weeks out); and, that you'd be better to back it off a bit even if you feel like you could hammer it. The point being that you might bring yourself to peak at the wrong time in your cycle. Just what I needed to hear. Despite that, I finished faster than the last 16 miler, felt rested and all on 4 hours of sleep (I did feel sleepy- and I need to get better rest, but the legs were good to go.) 

                Longer tempo runs mean longer warm up/cool down.. 

Last year's stats... just because I can't help trying to draw comparisons with the only other marathon I have prepared for. (note the 4 day week makes for a few less runs on the chart).

And so..I am happy to report that there is not much to report with running.

My main goal for the next 4 weeks is to continue following the original plan and avoid accidents, such as :

• tripping over rocks or toys
• falling into potholes
• running into stationary objects
• twisting an ankle
• breaking a toe
• suffering a stress fracture
• getting mono

  ***

On the home front. I am also excited to say that I have stuck with my meal menu for three weeks! In that time frame, I have reduced my shopping time, prep time, stress and had dinner on the table at a much better time most evenings. HOORAY!!

I did make a change in plans twice, once when I knew I didn't want to cook omelets  and we had left-overs, and another time when I had less ham left than I hoped, so I made ham and pintos. Please note. Beans are not an ideal dinner suggestion for the night before a long run, at least in our home :D

End of Year / December stats (comments closed)

December Stats

Total miles:  242.9 , up from 191.4
Total hours: 33:15:07, up from 26:45:38

26/31 days of running
Easy days: 17..wooo that's easy!
Tempos: 2... Only 2?
Intervals: 2
Fartleks: 1
Long runs: 4 over 14 miles
Rest days: 5
Races: 0

2010 stats
Total miles: 2,589.1
Total hours: 360:20:40

Dec 2010 242.9 Mi 33:15:07 8:13 average pace

Nov 2010 191.4 Mi 26:45:38 8:24

Oct 2010 262.6 Mi 37:06:50 8:29 peak for year - this was a very enjoyable month!

Sep 2010 240.6 Mi 34:40:53 8:39

Aug 2010 225.1 Mi *21:55:46 no watch for part of month ballpark guess on hours

Jul 2010 235.5 Mi *30:25:11 no watch for part of month ballpark guess on hours

Jun 2010 222.6 Mi 32:24:30 8:45

May 2010 206.9 Mi 30:23:10 8:49 marathon & recovery month

Apr 2010 186.4 Mi 27:03:50 8:43

Mar 2010 236.1 Mi 35:06:11 8:56

Feb 2010 181.3 Mi 27:57:34 9:16

Jan 2010 157.7 Mi 23:16:00 8:52

Races:

1. 10K 47:xx PR (beat McMillan)
2. marathon 3:37:xx PR new distance (beat McMillan)
3. half marathon 1:37:xx PR (beat Mcmillan)
4. mile: 6:09 (calf strain, 99F) not great (McMillan won)
5. 10K 44:xx new PR (McMillan won)
6. 5K 20:2x PR (beat McMillan)
7. half marathon 1:31:xx PR  (beat McMillan)

I may not have been a very successful mom or wife, but I had a heck of a running year.

Hypothermic LR & TM conversion chart

Rockefeller? No. It's Elkton's city Christmas tree in the center of town!

Hypothermic rain

Saturday's long run wasn't terribly long, but is was LONG ENOUGH to learn a few good lessons. I'm glad it wasn't any longer than the 15 I had scheduled.

When I started out, it was still dark and there was light rain. Rain is sometimes refreshing and usually doesn't bother me. It rains a lot here from Oct- May. Usually, though, I can still leave my shell at home and even remove the long sleeves. Most of the time the rain lets up within 2 miles of home.

Saturday was different. I guess I should have taken a hint by the flashing sky way off in the distance towards Scottsburg. It was still dark. I have been wearing glasses for running lately (had to order new contacts after the sinus infection. Oh joy!) and at first I thought it was just reflections in them, not the lightening that it was. By the time I got to the mailbox, I knew it was really a storm coming from the pacific and I hoped that it was almost over.

About 8 minutes later the rain had all but stopped. It was 34F, but I was warming up, so I took off my long sleeve shirt and tied it to my waist. I had on tights and felt comfortable. The lightening was still going and I prayed that it would remain on the horizon.

As I got into town, I even had time to snap a few pictures with my camera, which I wore inside of a plastic baggie in my snazzy binocular fanny pack.

Could it be that Santa lives in Elkton? No.....all we have are rain-deer.

HAHAHA. I crack myself up! Deer with glowing eyes.

I had no way of knowing that in a few minutes the wind would come, the lightning would comewithin a mile away and that there would be pouring rain mixed with ice in it.

Near my turnaround I seriously wondered about whether I should stay near the tall trees to avoid a lightening strike on the highway, or get away from the trees because they might attract it.  As I crossed the bridge, the wind gusted & pierced (we NEVER have any real wind) and my shoes were filled with water. I had 5.5 miles left.

A mile later a neighbor in her pickup asked if I wanted a ride (thanks Becky!). I said no, but I wondered if I had made a bad decision as she pulled away. In 2.5 years, (and even some 8F runs), this was the coldest I have ever been while running. I had no dry shirt to put on, as my long sleeve top was as soaked as the rest of me and I had left my shell at home.

I had to have Jon help me take my clothes off (he was happy to help!) so I could shower. I skipped the ice bath and took a warm/hot shower as my hands and arms and torso burned during the thawing process.

Since then I did a little hypothermia running research (even though I am sure I was nowhere near that point) and sure enough, a few racers have actually died from it. It can be a real problem with marathon distances, because of the duration of the race and the slower pace (compared with a 5K or 10K). One of the runners who suffered from it had a body temp of 95F (compared with 98.6 normal). Precipitation is a KEY contributing factor in hypothermia.

Two things I might start doing: I think it would be wise to have a dry shirt stashed in a bag somewhere and to always bring my shell and put it in the mailbox for afterwards if it is raining.

Has anyone else ever had a similar situation? What did you do?

Treadmill conversion chart

After I posted Ryan Hall's Boston hill workout, I had a few questions about TM inclines. I still don't have the answers, but my grandpa who reads my blog and is a retired engineer sent this chart to me, which I thought might be useful to one of you readers: (thanks Grandpa!! I love you!

Slope     Angle


%        Degree

1         .75

2         1.15

3         1.71

4         2.29

5         2.86

6         3.93

7         4.00

8         4.57

9         5.14

10       5.17
 
I am very non-mechanical. But I think that there is a construction instrument, or a giant protractor you could use, to figure out your TM's degree relative to the floor, and then check its corresponding road grade if you are training for a specific grade, like 6%.  
 
My TM doesn't have an indicator for what grade or degree it is inclining. I just press up and down! Ha! I could really use the engineer to come to my house and play with my TM...Grandpa? :)
 
Blogging help ?

Is there anyone who could help me post something from the excel program to my blog? I'd like to do it so it's readable as a chart.  I am working on a new training plan and would like to post it when it's done! :)

Training Conundrums

Preliminary warning: Cute photos have nothing to do with the subject matter of this post!

First, I want to thank anyone who has given training advice to me here. Any and all suggestions are always welcome (honesty and disagreement is OK)! Feel free to leave as many as you like in that little box labeled "comments" below.

Obviously, by the title of this post, I still am undecided about how to best train for Boston. In a way, I think that's good. It shows that I don't want to blindly go into a marathon. However, it's also bad because I really would like not to be still weighing my options at this point.

Boston is 17 weeks away. That may seem like a long time to some people, but the more you look at training plans for Marathons, the more you see a pattern of 16, 18 or 22 weeks. Some are even 6 months or a year.
Why so long? The "experts" in the field create phases within training that include endurance building, peaking, sharpening and tapering (and maybe I missed some others!). Sure, you can run a marathon without all these phases, but my goal isn't just to finish. It will be almost a year since my last (and first) marathon and it might be another year until the next. (But I hope NOT). Putting it simply, I will put as much of myself into this race as I can. It is a PR goal race.

As of Sunday, I started Pfitz's (Pfitzinger & Scott) 18 week plan that tops at 70 MPW, (aka 18/70). The total mileage for this first week is 54, which is actually a cutback from what I ran (not on a plan) the week before. I have toyed with the idea of just adding 5 miles to each week, starting next week. Not sure this is a great idea, but would maybe be just the right boost. 

I have another issue with Pfitz, something I consider more important than the mileage. His plan schedules races as part of the training. It's never seemed wise (to me) to truly race while training for another key race. (Kara Goucher can do it, though, and it looks like she will with the PF Chang RnR half and Boston). My body needs time to recover from racing and I usually take a few days off even after a hard 10K.

I don't want to feel pressured to run a long run the day following a race. Pfitz schedules it. *This is where I should insert that I am still reading his book.* It appears he might advise you to run the races as Lactate Threshold runs instead of "true races". If so, that's better; but, I still wouldn't spend money to go do an organized Lactate Threshold run. I'd do it for free on my home turf.

Another option I have considered is following one of Jack Daniels plans. Unfortunately I couldn't tell you which one, because I have only recently bought the book, and am confused as to which level of plan I should use. Ha! :/  His plans are based more on experience, and not so much on mileage. I have about 2 1/2 years of running experience (not counting goofing around on and off before that). Where does that put me? I don't know.  I like that there appears to be some flexibility in his plan. There are scheduled workouts for each week, but the rest of the mileage is flexible. I can't even tell you how many speedwork days there are each week! One problem is that the plan(s) start 22 weeks from the race. Oops. I missed that window!

Then there's  RunnersWorld's SmartCoach, which is considered to be lame by some. But when you start playing with 55 mile weeks starting, and throw in some race times and goal paces that get harder, it doesn't look so easy. The max with that plan is actually a bit higher than Pfitz. The increases of mileage are steeper. I have considered using the mileage plan and changing the speedwork from one to to two days with progressive long runs & MP runs on alternating weeks...Or something like that. And maybe a few 22 milers instead of 20. This plan is for 16 weeks.

Then there's the plan that someone emailed me this week, which is also interesting!

As you can see...I am still not settled in what I am doing. I sure hope by next week to have a better plan- or at least get comfortable with Pfitz!

This might be the most boring post I have ever made. Ha! If you are still with me at this point you deserve some dessert: