Wednesday, November 30, 2011

CIM Race Week!

[Update: the race is done! Report is here]


Well into the final week now.


Tuesday: I did 25 min of hard stationary biking...MP HR (132) and 2x2min at 10K HR (142-145) with 2 min recoveries. Lower body strength training after. Still feeling a teeny bit sore in my left AT and so not running on it yet. It feels pretty good but I just don't want to push it...26.2 requires no weaknesses!


Wednesday: 5@9:00 (Garmin MP), HRs good (~131), AT feeling better...I concentrated on form + relaxation. The pace was easy....had to keep slowing down, else the pace creeps to 8:45-8:55.. I felt like I am gaining strength.


One last PT session tomorrow....also getting a full body massage. I'll get another one after the DOMS is over next week...i.e Wednesday.


Weather report still looking perfect..Sunny, but cold enough: mid 30's at the start, 50-55F max temp at finishing time. Heat/Wind will not be a factor! 



So let's put it together:


I have endurance from doing many long runs and many marathons in the last year+.


I know how to pace...I have run marathons with dead even splits...I don't fade any more. I know what I can do on race morning and I know how to push through pain in the last few miles.


I have trained differently than ever before (with Jill's coaching). 


The result: I have more muscle (legs + core and some upper). 


I have done many tempo runs to push up the LT and more hill sprints and fast running to improve running economy than ever before. 


This training cycle was not perfect (are they ever?) but nonetheless I'm in the best running shape of my entire life.


I also (again, due to Jill) got my butt into see a PT. This was to make sure I don't have any more calf strains and that my right hip is as strong and flexible as possible and to even out some of the R/L asymmetry I have had my whole life.  


The result has been no more hip joint popping, no feeling of being 'hitched up' on the right side and a much stronger feel running.


I have a bib waiting for me to race on one of the fastest courses in the country. (I just got chills when writing this line). 



The forecast for this weekend is perfect race weather. I love point to point races and I don't have to travel far to get to the race...I will be rested


So, be warned: I will be taking no pictures during the race...I will not have the time.


It is time  to 
FLY!








Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Sunday, November 27, 2011

CIM Week 2: Thanksgiving week

Congrats to Lynn for her new Marathon PR in Valencia! (4:22). Her race report isn't up yet but I saw the time on FB 8)


-----


The penultimate week. 


Mt Wilson 100 inch telescope
After the very hard 22 miler on Sunday my legs were pretty stiff on Monday and Tuesday...I didn't even attempt to follow the schedule: my thinking was that losing a little conditioning was a lot better than tearing one of my poor beat-up achilles tendons and missing the race altogether! 




Perhaps Sunday's 22 miles was too hard...but it was a good confidence buider to know that the conditioning and endurance are ready... so it's hard to second-guess that decision. 




I tried running on Wednesday and Thursday a bit but after a couple of miles each time I could tell I was just abusing my AT. When your muscles are stiff you end up transferring too much shock to the poor things. I did some walking instead. 


We had a great thanksgiving, btw:..incredible spread of very healthy food...perfect! We also went up to Mt Wilson and took a picture of the 100-inch telescope that Hubble used to figure out the universe was expanding. Cool. 


Finally on Friday I was limbered up again and did this:

Split Dist Pace HR % WHR Cad Elev+ Elev- YPB
1 1.00 9:58 117 58.2 89 102 0 1.509
2 1.00 8:55 123 63.1 92 12 87 1.605
3 1.00 9:02 126 65.6 90 0 40 1.549
4 1.00 9:25 132 70.5 90 116 0 1.416
5 1.00 8:53 124 63.9 91 0 63 1.598
6 1.00 8:42 129 68.0 92 0 57 1.568
Sum: 6.0 9:09 125.2

Some up and down (250') and all done at MP. HR good.
Saturday I took off and Sunday did this:



Split Dist Pace HR % WHR Cad Elev+ Elev- YPB
 1 1.00 9:28 159 92.6 88 2 0 1.169
 2 1.00 9:00 146 82.0 89 7 16 1.339
 3 1.00 9:04 147 82.8 89 0 7 1.321
 4 1.00 9:00 150 85.2 89 0 1 1.304
 5 1.00 9:11 131 69.7 88 6 7 1.463
 6 1.00 9:21 128 67.2 88 0 0 1.471
 7 1.00 9:17 148 83.6 88 2 0 1.279
 8 1.00 9:06 133 71.3 89 7 0 1.454
 9 0.07 10:08 142 78.7 83 0 0 1.270
Summary 8.07 9:12 143 79.5 88 23 31 1.339

(The HR strap was not working well... totally wonky numbers for the whole run....pretty cold and I was not sweating much I guess. 8/)


The plan was 11 miles but realized after 4 miles I was just beating up my ATs: On the lumpy trails I started to feel them...and then later at mile 7 when I resumed running after stopping at a traffic light they let me know they were NOT HAPPY....I need to let them bounce back before next Sunday, therefore I cut the run short and iced them. 


I'm pretty sure I've got plenty of conditioning in the bank right now so I'm not worried about that. 
When this race is over I plan to let them recover fully and then figure out how to keep this from happening during hard training. (If possible). I'll be trying a lot of strengthening ideas....gentle running on grass barefoot. 100ups, etc. 


I'll try a bunch of things..any ideas?
---
Weather forecast is sunny, 43F in the morning and high of 59F and NO wind. Perfect.
...I'll need to figure out the attire for the start..that's a bit colder than I can do in just shorts and singlet ;)
---


Interesting story..a friend of ours has a daughter running track. She's been having GI problems and she asked me if I new what was the cause. 


I did let her know this is called 'runner's trots' but otherwise was unable to help. Eventually she figured out her daughter had recently started eating a handful of dried cherries every day (good for you right?). She stopped and ..problem solved!


Moral: if you are having GI problems during running think hard about any new things you are taking in...fruits, oils, ???





Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011

CIM Week 2: the weather watch begins!

As the training ramps down, the obsessive interest in the race day forecast goes up 8)

There are a few sites with 2 week forecasts...so far Dec 4th is looking great: cool and dry, wind not a problem. I don't mind the sun if it's that cold...and it will be at our backs for most of this run which is nice.

I used this site:

TueWedThuFriSatSunMon
Nov 29Nov 30Dec 1Dec 2Dec 3Dec 4Dec 5
Weather:Sunny. Cool.Sunny. Cool.Sunny. Cool.Sunny. Refreshingly cool.Sunny. Cool.Sunny. Cool.High level clouds. Cool.
Description:Sunny.
Cool.
Sunny.
Cool.
Sunny.
Cool.
Sunny.
Refreshingly
cool.
Sunny.
Cool.
Sunny.
Cool.
High level
clouds.
Cool.
High temperature:62 °F61 °F59 °F61 °F59 °F61 °F62 °F
Low temperature:42 °F40 °F39 °F40 °F40 °F40 °F41 °F
Comfort level:62 °F61 °F57 °F61 °F56 °F61 °F62 °F
Wind Speed:8 mph17 mph9 mph7 mph13 mph5 mph3 mph
Wind Direction:Direction East-southeastDirection SoutheastDirection South-southwestDirection East-southeastDirection South-southeastDirection South-southeastDirection North
Humidity:49%57%34%32%48%36%35%
UV Index:0 (Low)0 (Low)0 (Low)0 (Low)0 (Low)0 (Low)0 (Low)
Chance of Rain:0%0%0%0%0%0%0%
Amount Rain:-------
Sunrise:7:02 AM7:03 AM7:04 AM7:05 AM7:06 AM7:07 AM7:08 AM
Sunset:4:46 PM4:45 PM4:45 PM4:45 PM4:45 PM4:45 PM4:45 PM

Sunday, November 20, 2011

CIM Week 3: weekend long run

see the rainbow?
Saturday: Rest + upper body weights. Didn't get to the weights but did do about 2-3 miles of walking. The rain started in the early evening...a pounding rain..bargle.


Sunday: 20-22 miles@base, if feeling good add 5-6 miles @ MP in the middle.  


Awoke to no rain and even some sun and blue sky around in addition to some fat-looking clouds. As mentioned in the last post, I pondered Jill's assignment and decided I wanted to do a run that would really convince me I'm ready to go.


The risk is that you injure yourself from the run (or during a later run) because you are more beat up than you needed to be. I decided to play it vary carefully but yes, to do what I set out to do: 12 miles @ 9:30 and 10 miles @ 9:00.


Saddled up and out the door.. temps about 50F, no rain at the moment but I did slather some Vaseline on my feet and toes in case the feet got wet. No jacket but did bring some extra GUs to keep the blood sugar up...and of course I had a hat.


I felt pretty good. My HRs were low and I was moving easily. 9:30 was a slow pace for me now. There was some wind..probably 5-8 mph. At around mile 10 some light rain started but not too bad..at about mile 12 I ran through a deep puddle (watching for traffic) and my shoes were officially doused from then on.


I didn't run on any dirt trails..too many of them have muddy sections..so I stuck to the bayshore trails that were paved. The light rain fizzled out after a while.


The run felt great..the rainbow was a nice plus...it was one of the best long runs I've had. I felt I could have gone another 4.2 miles at 9:00 with only moderate effort.


Here's the splits:


Split Miles  Pace  HR  % WHR Cad Elev+ Elev- YPB
1 1.00 9:34 117 58.2 88 0 0 1.572
2 1.00 9:35 125 64.8 89 0 6 1.469
3 1.00 9:33 128 67.2 88 3 1 1.440
4 1.00 9:28 122 62.3 88 13 0 1.524
5 1.00 9:33 124 63.9 87 13 0 1.486
6 1.00 9:24 124 63.9 87 19 11 1.507
7 1.00 9:29 120 60.7 87 0 40 1.547
8 1.00 9:33 120 60.7 87 0 5 1.536
9 1.00 9:30 121 61.5 87 0 7 1.531
10 1.00 9:28 123 63.1 88 13 0 1.512
11 1.00 9:22 123 63.1 88 7 0 1.528
12 1.00 9:25 121 61.5 87 0 14 1.545
13 1.00 9:02 126 65.6 88 0 5 1.546
14 1.00 9:02 129 68.0 88 7 0 1.510
15 1.00 9:01 129 68.0 88 0 0 1.513
16 1.00 8:59 135 73.0 89 5 0 1.451
17 1.00 8:59 134 72.1 89 23 0 1.462
18 1.00 8:55 136 73.8 89 12 0 1.451
19 1.00 8:53 133 71.3 89 0 0 1.490
20 1.00 9:00 133 71.3 89 0 1 1.470
21 1.00 9:05 137 74.6 89 0 15 1.414
22 1.00 9:02 141 77.9 90 0 4 1.382
23 0.01 8:53 141 77.9 89 0 0 1.248
Sum:  22.01 9:16 127 66.4 88 115 110 1.495

Some drift up in HRs did occur but less than usual. The average HR was 127 which is crazy low (for me) for a 9:16 pace...only 66.4% of my working heart range.  In fact in looking over all my runs from 20 to 24 miles this run is almost tied for 1st place for efficiency (i.e. pace vs HR or YPB (YardsPerBeat). 


Just as important was the fact that my muscles were not as toasted as they normally would be after a run like this: the strength and weight training, running drills,  hill sprints and fast running is paying off it seems 8). 


The AT was there..not painful but sore after the 22 miles. The ice soaking did the usual trick. (NEW TIP: after your hot shower, put the doggies back in the ice water again to cool them back down..the cold-hot-cold seems to really help even more.)


Given some rested legs, fellow racers, good crowd support, decent weather and the CIM course I think have a very good shot at sub-4 hours. 


The trick now is to make it to the starting line. i.e. not get injured or sick in the last two weeks!


CIM week 2 next.