marathon

Chip time: 3:56:14

Slept pretty decently for the night before a marathon. Woke up at 4:30 to eat breakfast. Layed back down from 5-6. Left about 6:15 and got there ~7:20 for the 8:25 started (which was slipped to 8:35).

Lined up behind the 3:40 pacer (sorry for over-estimating myself MCM runners).

And we're off. Everybody seems to charge up the hill as usual. My heart rate is way too high for my pace and where I am in the race. People who should be passing me are passing me in droves. Early heart rate splits are higher than they should be. Rest was right on except I decided not to endure the >180 pain in the last 2.2. (Plan was 154, 165, 166, 168, 168, 169 through 12, 170, 171, 172, 173, 173, 174, 174, 175, 175, 176, 176, 180+ through finish.)

1) 9:16/158
2) 9:34/169
3) 8:54/169
4) 8:44/169
5) 9:14/169
6) 8:42/169
7-8) 17:28/169 (8:44)
9) 8:38/169
10) 8:39/169
11) 8:24/169
12) 8:31/170
13) 8:53/171
14) 8:29/171
15) 8:50/172
16) 8:43/173
17) 8:40/173
18) 8:48/174
19) 8:56/174
20) 9:27/175
21) 9:37/174
22) 9:36/176
23) 9:19/176
24) 9:25/178
25) 9:27/177
26) 9:46/178
26.2) 2:17/185

I don't know why I did so poorly, but I think my carbo-loading (constant munching of cereal, granola bars, bananas, and apples mainly) in the last 4 days probably hurt. I'm also not sure tapering works for me. Or maybe I need to taper more? (Is an 18 miler 2 weeks out too close?)

Random "how I felt things" I don't want to forget

• shins were yet again sore first 3 miles or so and then went away
• starting feeling plantar fasciitis at about mile 13
• back of right leg (hamstring and calf) started bothering me around mile 18
• calf really started cramping somewhere around 20
• when my legs hurt, shortening my stride and increasing my cadence helped a lot and I don't think I was much, if any, slower that way (should probably work on this)
• didn't have any bloated feeling. maybe I drank a little less?
• had the transient light-headed feel I used to have at the end of long runs in Summer 05 at around mile 24 but it was very short
  

week
44 miles
shoes
wc 7-2 = 355 + 0 = 355
wc 7-3 = 123 + 44 = 167

rest

Calm before the storm. Literally. Winds are suppose 24, gusting to 46 mph at 8am tomorrow when the marathon starts. Holy cow. Am I snake bit? I ran a marathon in March where the high (79) was 19 degress above average for the day.

What should I do? I'm just going to run by heart rate and hope for a good place. 3:40 last year was ~1450. The year before when it was hot, 1450 was ~3:50. The hard part is figuring where to start. I probably shouldn't line up with the 3:40 pace team, but if I line up too far back I'll be caught in the crowds. Plus I'll be passing people forever and won't have good drafting opportunities. How much does drafting help? If I can stick with the 3:40 pacer, will that help me? Can I stick with him?

Argh. Too much worrying. New plan. Run smart. Have fun.

Start with the 3:40 pacer since that's probably the right position if not the right time. Follow my heart rate. Look to draft (3:40 pacer if I can stay with him). Run for position, not time. Wind is an opportunity. It's one more variable and means more people won't run smart.

Weighed 163 this morning.

6 miles

2 nbhr loops, 5.86 miles, 56:05/141 bpm

The run of close splits continues 28:04.0, 28:01.1. In three days, the 6 laps differed by at most 7 seconds. No more running until Sunday.

wc 7-3

6 miles

2 nbhr loops, 55:55, 9:33 min/mi @139 bpm

weighed myself last night. 161 at night! Have I really lost this weight? Why did I lose it in the taper while cutting mileage? Weird.

Weighed myself after the run this morning and 162. Then tonight and 164. More like it. I'm still down about 5 pounds since the spring.

Forgot to mention my pacing yesterday.

Yesterday: lap 1 -- 28:04.3, lap 2 -- 28:03.6.
Today: lap 1 -- 27:58.0, lap 2 -- 27:57.0

Pacer. I don't need no stinkin' pacer.

wc 7-3

6 miles

2 times nbhrd loop.

lap 1 28:04.3, 28:03.6. How's that for pacing?

I think I raced it a little bit (but still below MAF). I was probably wanting to see how I did compared to the spring. It was also cold (long sleeves and tights for the first time).

I looked at the logs and last time I did 6 was April 14 when I did it in 59:04/140. Today was 56:07/140. That's a pretty big improvement. 9:35 min/mi vs 10:05 min/mi at the same heart rate.

Still it's only 30 secs/mi. My last marathon was 9:09 min/mi. 8:39 min/mi is 3:47. Ah, who knows? I'll just run by heart rate.

I'm going to write my heart rates from my last marathon (with a little smoothing) on my pace band. If I run those, I shouldn't get in trouble and I was pretty evenly paced last time.

I weighed myself last night and I was 163, which is low for a night time weight. I'd been used to seeing that in the morning after runs (and have occasionally seen 162 then). This morning I weighed myself after my run and I was 161! I don't think I could have been dehydrated. I had my water bottle on my desk and drank religiously. Anyway, I figure I was 168 at Cherry Blossom, maybe 166 at Annapolis. 164-165 at the half? Now maybe 163??? 5 pounds could account for a fair bit of that 30 secs/mi (more than half?). I was hoping to use those pounds to get faster after I improved my aerobic system. Oh well, plenty of room for improvement still.

wc 7-3

6.5 miles

Did one lap around lake B plus the "1.9" out and back across the dam.

HRM was screwed up for a solid 7 minutes -- frustrating. Average hr on watch was 138. STraM called it 136 although it still left in a large artificial spike in heart rate. I cleaned it this afternoon. We'll see if that helps the next run. Time was 1:06:20. 10:12 min/mi.

wc 7-3

week:
44 miles (tapering!)
shoes
wc 7-2: 338+17 = 355
wc 7-3: 96 + 27 = 123

9 miles easy + 3.5 @ marathon pace

out, around lake a, and back in 1:22:57/141.

ran to track (0.25 miles) and did 1 lap (0.1 miles) to get up to marathon heart rate -- 0.35 miles/3:30/146bpm

did 2 laps 1:31/169. Seemed way too fast hit lap button figuring I'd settle in.

Now a bunch of 0.5-mile splits running loops around the track and keeping at 170 (HR limits at 168-172).

3:54/169
3:52/168
3:52/170
3:56/169
3:56/170
3:57/170
3:58/170 (log will say 4:01, but I hit the button late)

That's 7:50 pace??? This seems unfathomable, but mcmillan prediction of 8:02 pace based on my half marathon. At first, I thought the pace seemed ridiculous, but in the last mile or so I settle in and thought that this seemed semi-reasonable for the middle of the marathon.

Of course I won't have weather this good. It was 40 degrees during this test.

Total for the day was 12.35 miles, 1:55:38/149


wc 7-3

rest and speculation

Graph of 23 mile runs (5 laps around lake B) on 4/16 (red) and 10/8 (blue).

Argh. I'm going taper crazy. How will I do at MCM?!

The data so far... (redo with 18 weeks)

April 2, ran 1:19:25 10-mile race (mcmillan predicted 3:42 marathon)

Nov 21 - Apr 16, 21 weeks, 833 miles, 40 mpw avg, 1 week over 60 mpw, long runs: 1x26.2, 1x23, 2x20, 1x18, 1x17, 1x16, 1x15

April 16, last long run 23 miles = 5 x 4.6 mile laps (avg temp 62)
lap 1: 47:27/141
lap 2: 47:41/142
lap 3: 48:44/147
lap 4: 50:46/156
lap 5: 52:23/160
total: 4:07:02/150 bpm average

May 7, ran 4:00:03 marathon on pretty hilly course with ideal weather

October 1, 1:04:02 half marathon (mcmillan predicts 3:31 marathon)

May 8 - Oct 8, 1173 miles in 22 weeks, 53 mpw, 4 weeks over 60 mpw, long runs: 1x23, 4x20, 6x18, 4x16, 2x14

October 8, last long run 23 miles = 5 x 4.6 mile laps (avg temp 59)
lap 1: 49:42/131
lap 2: 48:59/134
lap 3: 49:10/138
lap 4: 51:03/144
lap 5: 50:07/152
total: 4:09:03/140 bpm average

October 29, will run ??:??:?? marathon on flatter course with ????? weather

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

same as yesterday -- unbelievably foggy. also warm (for October) and humid. No falling today though. 10:24/139

wc 7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

very, very foggy. Warmer (like 60?) and very humid. Tripped over a tree root and took a nice dive. Scraped hands and (as it turns out) strained my back and shoulder a little bit but I'm OK.

warm temps and humidity slowed me to 10:29/138. Nothing to worry about.

wc 7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

tripped on a tree root and skinned my hands. Where are you daylight savings time? Anyway, kept my lower legs relaxed again. Looking good. Thought I had a little chi going as well for a while. A few things I noticed when I though I was doing it right: arms make you go -- elbows out the back, arms farther from my side than normal, leaning fwd I feel like my heads out in front and I'm the driver of a city bus -- engine underneath and I'm looking straight down at the road. When I was chi'ing (or so I thought) and I'd lean fwd, it was difficult to gauge my speed, but my hrm knew and would go off. I don't think it really makes me more efficient, but if it helps my foot, then more power to it. Pace hr ok. not great. 10:07 min/mi, 138 bpm. Warmer today than last couple of runs. It was 53 when I went out.

wc 7-2

rest

didn't run today. weighed 163 this morning

18 miles

4 laps around lake B. Maybe it's just because I didn't have to do 20, but that seemed like the easiest 18 I've ever done. It was also one of my faster 4-lappers. And I kept under 145 the whole way! 48:50/131, 48:01/133, 47:41/138, 49:56/144. Obviously I was bumping against it the whole way on the last lap. I ended up with a lot of foot shuffling to keep it under. 10:34 pace and 136 bpm average. Cold weather probably helped a lot. It was 38 deg at the start and 55 at the end.

I just about went nuts the first lap thinking about all the ChiRunning stuff I read in that book. Too much to keep track of so I just made sure I kept my foot limp and kept my calves as relaxed as possible since I was worried about my plantar fasciitis primarily. Anway, I think that might have worked. By far the best my PF has felt after an long run in a long time. I think relaxing my foot also might have given the tape the chance to do its job. My legs felt different than normal at the end. I lot less lower leg soreness, but more "upper" leg.

wc 7-3
week: 56 (taper has begun!)
wc 7-2: 330 + 8 = 338
wc 7-3: 48 + 48 = 96

5 miles

1 lap around lake B. Shortest I've run in forever.

Well, I didn't hurt anything. Other than that it was a bad run. My HR was very high. So high in fact, that I thought my HRM wasn't moistened, but now I think it was just that high. average 144 bpm for the lap and not particulary fast 47:11. This seems to happen whenever I run just after eating lunch.

I also tried some of the chi running and I was just a mess. I don't see how my right foot will ever point forward.

wc 7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. Cold! (33 degrees). Wore shorts and short sleaves. Brrr. 1:23 and change and avg hr of 136 bpm.

Last downhill on C pkwy on the way out, I tweaked my knee. I think I let my guard down and felt that a little less exaggerated kick would keep the knee safe. Well, it didn't. Felt like a couple of day setback on healing it but I was able to finish the run OK.

I think there's something to this asymmetry thing. I haven't written about my slightly pulled left groin (?) that I've had since at least the HM. It comes and goes, every once in a while making me shudder. Anway, I noticed today that if I conciously force my right foot to be parallel, the same groin(?) muscle on the right side become engaged and the "outside" part of my right hamstring becomes disengaged. This is the same hamstring muscle that I seriously pulled 2 years ago that sidelined me for 2 months. I wonder if I've been running with the wrong (weaker) muscles on the right side, causing stress on my left side.

At the end of races, I'll notice myself slouched to the right, gutting it out. Just running today, I find it much easier to bend my torso right than left.

I should run something flat (like the track) tomorrow.

wc 7-3

plantar fasciitis -- I'd try voodoo if I thought it would work

Rest day today. Thinking about my wounds....

I was mildly thrilled at the effect of tape on my foot, but it's been short-lived. Perhaps the lack of hills at the same time is what helped? Maybe it was just healing from the less intense runs after the half-marathon.

Anyway, I've gone all new agey in a desperate search for a cure to this scurge. I've read pain free as I said before, but haven't really followed through after the foot circles caused pain in my legs. I'm now reading ChiRunning.

The reason I bought ChiRunning was that it helped in an indirect manner with my knee pain. I'd seen posts about it online and the posture it suggest, which involves picking up the feet more than I do. I think this is what I was thinking of when I altered my stride downhill to help my knee. After buying the book I see that it suggests this for heavy heel strike.

Tonight I did one of the mirror exercises where you close your eyes and try and to assume a good posture and then open your eyes. I found my right foot turned out (which I've known about) and my right shoulder lower than my left (which I didn't realize). This reminds me of pain free's discussion of asymmetric postures and muscular dysfunction. Maybe there's something to all this? Or maybe everybody's like this and it's just a way to sell books.

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. Still with the hurting foot. A little better I think.

wc 7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

foot really hurt today. Is my tape on good? Outside of foot hurts in particular. Knee getting better.

wc 7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. ran in the middle of the day, so much warmer. 65 degrees and sunny. 10:21 min/mi @ 139 bpm. Legs felt fine. Slightly tweaked knee a couple of times, but not bad. Little sluggish from run yesterday, but it was a nice jog.

wc 7-3

23 miles

a 5-lapper around lake B. In my mind, I didn't commit to doing five laps with my knee, but I felt great and my heart rate was lower than normal after 4 laps. Anyway, this felt easier than the 20 I did 2 weeks ago, and my pace was faster and heart rate lower. Averaged 131 and 133 for first two laps, 137 for third. Bumped upper limit to 150 half way through fourth lap, and 155 on the fifth. Last mile or so, I turned it off as I was around 155. Average was 143 for the fourth and 151 for the fifth lap. Didn't get in the 160s like I did previous weeks and kept 50 min/lap pace (4:09 for 5 laps). Great day. Knee held up with my altered downhill "technique" and walking one steep downhill.

wc 7-2
week
62 miles
wc 7-2: 299+ 31 = 330
wc 7-3: 17 + 31 = 48

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. knee hurt pretty badly and had to walk first downhill. I got the crazy idea to exaggerate my kick (like running in place) on the downhills and it seems to work? I have no idea why I decided to try this, but it seems to change the angle of my leg when my foot makes contact and take the pressure off my knee. Anyway, in this way, I was able to do the rest of the run. Legs are still quite sore. My knee was puffy when I got home. 10:03 min/mi @137bpm.

wc 7-2

8 miles

back at home. out, around lake a, and back.

53, raining, and dark. Took one for the team. Forded the spillway, which was nearly up to my knees. Couldn't outrun my headlights, plus my knee hurt on downhills. Averaged only 131 bpm. I tweaked my knee on Wednesday night just walking in my hotel room. I think it's really just running with weak quads (from the HM). Anyway, I had to shuffle my way down to the lake and was at 111 bpm when I got there. My legs felt like lead when I finished. Don't think I've recovered from the HM yet.

wc 7-3

6 miles

actually 5.66 miles. How's this for dedication? I got up at 2:15am pacific to run for an hour on the hotel treadmill before my 6am flight. Fortunately, I'd managed to stay on east coast time and fell asleep before 8pm. Wish I could have done more but I figure any miles on a travel day is a bonus. 1 hour even at 138 bpm average. 10:36 min/mi pace.

Again I had my foot taped and again I think it helped. I actually had my foot taped all day today and yesterday.

wc 7-3

7 miles

my secret park was closed! From the highway I saw a group of soccer fields south of P Blvd that had a path around it. It was concrete and dirt. For the concrete portions I ran on the grass next to it. I had my foot taped for this run. I think it helped.

In the afternoon in the desert, it's hot! I couldn't believe how I crawled around to keep under 145. It says it was 78 but it felt much hotter than that. I actually could see my hr drop when the sun went behind one of the few clouds. I did 12 laps in 1:26:10/143(!). I figure they could have only been about .6 miles/lap. I just checked on gmap and they were 0.61 miles/lap for 7.3 miles. 11:49 min/mi!!!

Run was especially unpleasant b/c I had in and out burger right before. The "out" part was nearly prophetic.

wc7-3

10 miles

9.9 miles actually. On travel and found a secret, hidden park between F and G by the airport. 0.99 mile asphalt loop (according to gmap-pedometer) around it. Ran at about 7am when it was cool and did 10 laps in 1:38:00/139 (9:54 pace). Temps were ~57/48 at the start and 66/49 at the end. Nice run.

wc 7-3

half marathon

rain stopped just in time and the trail was fine. weather was upper 50's and probably mid-60's at the end. Nearly perfect. I ran a great race and finished in 1:40:02 by my watch (1:40:08 officially).

there were trail mile marker but the race started (I later learned) at about mile 0.5. Anyway, I finally started to hit the lap on those. It was an out and back with the start at ~mile marker 0.5 and the turnaround just past mile marker 7. Didn't start splits for a while. Here are my splits

start at ~mile marker 0.5
mile marker 5, 34:02/176 (~4.5 miles, ~7:34 pace)
mile marker 6, 7:46/181 (marker 5 was beginning of very gradual uphill)
mile marker 7, 7:54/181
turnaround -- didn't hit lap but must have been ~50:08 interpolating
mile marker 7, 0:48/184 (gradual downhill after turnaround)
mile marker 6, 7:31/183
mile marker 5, 7:30/183
mile marker 4, 7:29/184 (flattens out)
mile marker 3, 7:38/184
mile marker 2, 7:43/183
mile marker 1, 7:48/183
finish, 3:48/185 (~0.5 miles, 7:36)

wc 7-2

week
52.5 miles
wc 7-1: 407 + 0 = 407
wc 7-2: 263 + 36 = 299
wc 7-3: 0 + 17 = 17