Week 2: Getting harder

I successfully completed week 2 of the Pfitz 18/55 program. Now when I say successfully, I mean injury-free. It definitely is getting harder and these weeks are by far the easiest as I am only running 4 days a week. This week I start running 5 days a week and I am definitely getting sorer each day. I am wondering how my body will respond this week when I run a total of 22 miles on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. For now, I am just hoping for the best and hoping that my body will adjust accordingly, having never put my body through this kind of mileage.

For the week here are the numbers for the runs:

Tuesday 8 miles/1:15:00/9:23 pace + 10/100m strideouts
Thursday 10 miles/1:33:45/9:23 pace
Saturday 4 miles/38:06/9:32 pace
Sunday 13.1 miles/2:02:53/9:23 pace

Tuesday and Thursday were run on a treadmill in the early morning. On Tuesday I had a banana before I ran, and it went through my body in about 3.3 miles as my run continued off the treadmill and into the men's locker room. 2 minutes later and 1/2 pound lighter, I finished the run without any further issues. THAT is why I like to run indoors early in the morning. On Thursday, I skipped the banana and was able to run unincumbered.

Wednesday night, I went to RoadRunner Sports to spend my $125 gift certificate from my 5th grade class. Since I already bought a pair of shoes from Amazon.com, I spent it on accessories. Some of the things I purchased was an energy belt, gloves, gels, and a pull-over.

On Sunday I ran with the energy belt and it was somewhat freeing not having to hold a water bottle while running. It felt tight around the waist, however. I tried loosening it a little, but that just caused the water containers to bounce up and down more. I'm sure I'll figure out a way to use it properly.

Well, it's off to bed now as I'll be up again at 4:45 a.m. to do my 8 mile run. I'm excited because it's a lactate threshold run, so I'll have a chance to run at a faster pace. The plan will be to run 2 miles at an easy pace, the next 4 at a much faster pace (8:00 - 8:20/mile) and then finishing with 2 more miles at an easy pace.

Have a great week everyone!

Tempo Run

Today, I went to RoadRunner Sports to use their Shoe Dog program. They videotape you running barefoot on a treadmill to analyze your running pattern. Then, they show you how you run in slow motion to point out your running tendencies. I was there three months ago when my toes started getting a little numb while I was running. At the time I was wearing a neutral shoe (basically an ordinary shoe that doesn't try to correct any running tendencies) and they had recommended a stability shoe (the video of my feet showed that I was rolling my feet inward toward my big toe instead of straight forward). After running in this shoe for three months, I recently encountered some knee joint pain. So, I decided to go back today and see what the Shoe Dog would have to say this time. The "Shoe Dog Expert" did a much better job showing and explaning my running patterns and basically told me that I was actually in between a neutral and stability shoe, or a neutral + shoe. Great, now I have to buy another shoe! The good news is that my generous 5th grade parents pitched in to get me a gift card to Road Runner so I guess my new pair of shoes will be on them. The gift card has a special restriction that wouldn't allow me to use it until Monday so I'll be back there next week to purchase my new shoes.

Tonight I went to the gym and ran in my old neutral pair of shoes. I was scheduled for a tempo run (slightly faster than marathon pace, which for me is 9:05/mile to break the 4 hour barrier, but because I've had knee pain the past two runs, I decided to ease off a bit. Here's the low down on the run:

Mile 1 (Warm-up) 10:00/mile

Mile 2-6 8:57/mile

Mile 7 (Cool-down) 10:00/mile

In all, I ran 7 miles at a 9:09/mile pace. The best news was that I had no knee pain through the run! I'm not sure if it's because I ran with a different shoe, or if it's because I ran slower. Either way, I'm just thrilled that I was able to run pain free. Hopefully tomorrow everything will be feeling fine. I'm planning for a 12 miler some time this weekend.