Recovery Week Completed

I am so thankful for getting through a week of running with no foot issues. To finish off my recovery week, I had two more runs scheduled. The first was an 8 mile GA run on Thursday that went well. I ran it at an 8:26/mile pace and felt good throughout. My legs definitely appreciated the 2 week layoff. One of the things that I focused on while running was something that L.A. Runner had mentioned in his post about mid-foot strike running. I remember reading in the book, Chi Running, about the benefits of the mid-foot strike and how to try and alter your running gait to achieve that. One of their illustrations was to imagine a bar sticking out sideways from each foot. As you run, pick up your feet to avoid tripping over the bar. This helps you create the imagery of your feet moving in a wheel like fashion and encourages the mid-foot strike. It also recommends a slight forward lean that used gravity to keep you moving forward. The Chi Running book has some interesting concepts that the author truly believes will lead to injury-free running. Maybe if I had focused on that a little more, a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have gotten injured in the first place . . .

The next run was a medium long run of 12 miles that I ran this morning. I got up at 5:15 a.m. after not sleeping more than 5 hours. Whenever I am scheduled to run early in the morning, I find myself trying to get to sleep early, but usually can't fall asleep because I'm so anxious to fall asleep that I end up getting wired. Anyway, when the alarm went off, I got up, had my coffee and bagel (I think that's going to be my early morning meal as I didn't have any bathroom issues during the run), and got ready for my run. I left the house at 6:00 a.m. (still dark out), and set out to run 12 miles at Marathon Pace (around 9:00/mile). During my injury, I missed a 15 miler with 12 at MP, so I decided that this run would be at MP. The first mile was right on target - 9:00/mile. The next few miles, I fell into a good rhythm and ran them at 8:45/mile pace. At mile 6, I stopped off at home to refuel with a double latte Power Bar Gel (not bad, I don't mind anything that tastes like coffee). After washing it down with water, I set off for the last 7 miles. By this time, my body was feeling better and I ran the next 4 miles at 8:30/mile pace. Still feeling good, I increased my pace and finished off the last 3 miles with times of 8:20, 8:10, and 8:00. I'm feeling good and looking forward to getting back on the Pfitz plan next week. Only 9 more weeks until the marathon!

On another note, this past Saturday, my 4 girls (DW and 3 daughters) and I went to Torrey Pines State Park to do some hiking. We hiked up to the top of the park which was about a mile long. It took us awhile as my 3 year old needed to be carried part of the way. The incline was about 7.5%! Once we got to the top, we had some lunch, checked out the gorgeous views, before hiking down a trail (another mile) to the beach. Once we got to the beach, we had to walk another mile back to the parking lot. On the way there, the girls and I played in the water and collected some shells. In all the 3 mile loop took around 3 hours! Here's a picture my DW took of my oldest daughter and I jogging up to the top:

Day 2 of The Comeback

Okay, so that's a little dramatic for a blog title, but it seems like a huge accomplishment at this point to be able to run 2 consecutive days without pain. It's kind of strange, but I feel like the first 7 weeks of training happened months ago. I guess the days pass by a lot slower when I'm not running.

Anyway, today's plan was to go back to the crime scene (where I was initially injured) to get in 6 miles. I decided to do a progressive run and start at 10:00/mile and end at 8:00/mile. Overall it was a great run and I was glad to be able to complete it without pain. There were points during the run where I felt like the pain might be coming back and I tried to "run lighter," which of course I couldn't really do, but it made my mind feel a little better, thinking that I could avoid a deja vu moment.

Here are the numbers for the run:

Mile 1 - 10:00/mile
Mile 2-3 - 9:00/mile
Mile 4-5 - 8:30/mile
Mile 6 - 8:00/mile

Tomorrow is a rest day, followed by an 8 mile run at MP (9:00/mile).

Tonight, I relax and watch The Biggest Loser!

3 x 0 = 9

After another layoff for 7 days, I finally decided to go for a run and test my left foot. Given that the last time I tested it, I pushed a little too hard, I decided to go slow and easy this time around. I left the Garmin at home so I wouldn't be too hard on myself for running too slow and try to push the pace. Instead of my usual 6 mile loop, I cut it in half and only ran 3 miles. It felt so good to be on the road again. My foot felt fine throughout - 0 pain. Woo hoo! And when it was all done, I got to experience the runner's high that I had been missing for 2 weeks. Now that's a feeling that I definitely missed. You could say that I was on cloud 9!

My plan going forward is to run around 30-35 miles this week to get myself back on track and then, if everything is feeling good, I'll jump back into the Pfitz program and continue. I know that I probably lost a little in the 2 week break, but I'm also hoping that the rest will have given my legs a much needed break and give me fresh legs to push hard until the Rock N Roll Marathon on May 31st.

Only 1o weeks left!

Injury Update

After taking a complete break from running and blogging for a full 8 days (longest layoff since my first marathon last June), I hit the payment once again this past Monday for a 6 mile run around the neighborhood. The legs definitely felt heavy throughout the run, but my cardio was still okay. After running the first 3 miles at 9:00 pace, I decided to speed up pace and see how everything felt. The next mile was run at 8:00 pace. I was somewhat winded after that and slowed down to 8:30 for the next mile. Then came mile 5. I slowed it down a little more and then felt the pain in my left foot again. It got progressively worse until finally at mile 5.5, I stopped and walked the rest of the way home.

So, I'm back on the injured list, resting my foot for another week. Hopefully come Monday, I'll be ready to get back on track. The break has been good as the Pfitz program really had me burned out with the high mileage (high by my standards). It was actually relaxing to not have to think about when I had to fit in my run during the day. And it was refreshing to be able to sleep in each day.

However, now that the marathon is only 10 weeks away, I'm getting worried that if I don't return soon, all of my gains from the first 7 weeks will go away. On the other hand, I know from last year that if I return too quickly and push too hard, too quickly, I'll end up back on the injured list and possibly be way undertrained. So what do I do? I guess take it one day at a time. Come Monday, I know that I'll be running easy and starting with 3-4 miles and then progress from there. I'm thinking that I'll take a week to ease back into the program and then start where I left off from on the Pfitz program.

Sick and Injured

After Thursday's run, I came down with a mild stomach flu. It wasn't bad enough to stay home from work on Friday (I probably would have if I wasn't a teacher, but putting together sub plans takes forever, and I figured with some Advil, I could survive the day), but bad enough that I decided to skip my Saturday run of 7 miles. On Sunday, after 3 days of needed rest, I was ready for my long run of 18 miles. So, I headed to the gym to run it on the treadmill. Yeah, you heard it correctly; 18 miles on the treadmill. My stomach was still feeling a little queasy so I figured if I needed to use the bathroom, it would be right there waiting for me, and I wouldn't have to worry about being 8 miles from home.

I ran at an easy pace, 9:40/mile, and watched the World Baseball Classic on ESPN: Dominican Republic vs. Panama. It's amazing how you get so interested in something that you really don't care about, when you are bored to death! My brother came by the gym around mile 5 and we ran side by side for the next 5 miles. Then the pain in the bottom/lateral side of my left foot started acting up. Each step produced a slightly more dulling pain that didn't go away. At mile 11, I knew that I probably should ditch the idea of going the full 18 miles. My legs felt fine and my breathing was okay. I tried running one more mile to see if the pain would subside, but it didn't. In fact, I had to change my running gait a little, which is a sure sign to stop. So, I hopped off at mile 12.

I had a similar pain last year when training for my first marathon; it was probably from ramping up the miles too quickly. I have a feeling that it's the same this time around. My plan is to rest it for a few days, cross-train and see how it feels on Wednesday. If everything feels great, I'll continue on my training, otherwise I'll rest some more. The good thing is that I planned an extra week for my training, knowing that I would probably need it for either injury or sickness. I guess this is the week to use it!

Got my a** kicked today!

Today, I had scheduled an 11 mile GA run. I decided last minute to run it after work and was debating last second about whether or not to run the hilly route or the safe, easy treadmill option. Last night, I went out to eat with Lisa at her favorite Chinese resturant (she loves stir-fried szchewan string beans). The food tasted great, but all day today, my stomach was not feeling good, plus, I got a horrible night's sleep (only 4 hours). So, I was thinking that maybe I should just run at the gym so in case I wasn't feeling great, I could just bail on the run. The other thought on my mind was, 'just take a day off!' I hate when negative thoughts like that get in my head. I know that if I let that thought in, I'll start skipping workouts left and right. To give me some inspiration, I hopped on Youtube and watched the Rocky IV training montage. I love the music of his training and it always gets me going, especially on the early morning runs.

I decided to run the hilly route, figuring that once I got over the first steep incline, there would be no turning back, unless I would want to re-climb the same hill going in the opposite direction. Everything started out fine. The initial 3 miles were the climb portion and I was running around 8:45/pace. After that, it was downhill for the next 2 miles and my times sped up to 8:20/pace. Mile 6 and 7 were flat and I started to tire, running them at an 8:50/pace. Then mile 8 came. I knew that I would be climbing for a mile and tried to break it down into 10 0.1 mile chunks. I made it through the climb without stopping, but by the end of the mile, I was spent. I stopped to finished my Vitamin Water, walked a little, and then tried to pick up the pace to finish the last 3 miles.

By the time I was finished, I was done, defeated. No runner's high today, no
fast time, just a completed run . . . barely. The thoughts returned to head to quit the training and take a break. Tried to cheer myself up with a good cup of coffee and some dinner, but was still exhausted from the run. Listened to the song, "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. That helped. I think it's time to go to bed, call it a day, and start a new day tomorrow, forgetting about what happened yesterday. There's a great quote from the Bible that always helps me:

". . . forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal . . ."