Lessons learned from 2010 SFM

Been healing up from the race...the usual sore quads being the biggest issue, peaking on Tuesday. I got a full leg (and some back massage) on Tuesday and that helped a lot.

 

On Wednesday and Thursday I did some stretching and fast walking, and then started running again on Friday and Saturday (today). Just 3-4 miles, tomorrow I'll try 8...all at an easy pace.I feel pretty back to normal, but I can tell my legs still have a bit more healing before they are back at their peak.

My  next race is on Oct 17, which is only 11 weeks away. Seems right around the corner but: we have a huge solid base of running behind us, we are injury free,  we are hungering for another PR!

Time to take stock and figure out what to do between now and then!

Things that went reasonably well

•  No Achilles problems despite the racing! Didn't even have to think about icing them after. I think we've really made progress understanding prevention here: we are running without lifts again!

• Didn't get overheated, tank shirt/headband *is* cooler...probably not really needed in this SFM (sun never showed) but useful trick to have.

•  Did run <9:07 pace for 20+ miles with huge hills. Way faster than previous starting paces (9:30+) Learned how to really press the pace and realize that I can survive it even for 22 miles. I'll call this pace "tolerably hard". A confidence builder.
   
•  The "sandwich runs" on weekends worked really well and I think  helped me do as well as I did. e.g: 
•  Friday: rest
• Saturday: run 10 miles at M.P.
• Sunday: 22-23 miles with the last N miles at MP (biweekly)
• Monday rest.

• 20 to 26.2 fade was not that bad (7 min or so) , although much worse than  last years marathons. Of course those marathons were run at a much slower 9:44 average pace
  

• Didn't ever have to walk, did walk to drink a few times but always  picked up again with out (too much) internal nagging.

• Better eating: drank cytomax (mostly) at aid stations, had more GU's than last year, a few GU chomps too. 

Things that need fixing

• Needed more speed work and threshold runs. Of course I was still figuring out that the stupid Vomero shoes were one of the causes of always being on the edge of  achillies tendon issues. Tried to pile on more MP running at the end as a fix, but not good enough. Basically I didn't sharpen/peak optimally.
   
• Need to do a better job eating and hydrating at faster pace. Carrying single bottle was good, but need to make it easier to pull out and put back in the carrier!  GU chomps don't work well at faster paces where you are breathing hard.
   
• "Extra distance" issues: I need to train at faster than my goal pace. The SFM measured as 26.75 miles on my Garmin (!) most of this is tangents (and part is GPS noise?). I'm being fooled....so train a bit faster to be ready and always use pace bands during races. I need to think of ~8:55 on the watch as 9:09 in the harsh reality of a race. (Rule of thumb 10-30s per mile added due to crowding!)
   
• Perhaps measure some of my favorite training routes courses and get  an idea of their real distance so really know training paces.  (One idea: use Trailblazer 10k course for this)
   
•  Got blisters (on left foot) for the first time, probably from the fast downhills. Need to put on stuff on trouble spots to prevent this on race days. Keep the loose shoe tying.... really like this.

•  Make a "Race Morning" checklist. Brain no workie in morning!