2 days in a raw without running and other issues with the FIRST running program

As I mentioned earlier the FIRST marathon training program emphasizes 3 key runs: speed, tempo and long, as well as strenuous crosstraining 2-3 times a week. For me, this meant decreasing my mileage and giving up my easy 3-4 mile running day. This was the first day when I swam instead of ran, and I am suffering from withdrawal. Seriously. It is beautiful outside -not too cold, snowing -and I would have loved to go for a run. I was close to giving in, but then reminded myself that I have to stick with the program. I chose it bc of its low injury risk - 2009 is going to be a no injury year. So I swam. It was OK, it was fun at times, but did not come close to running. This 3 runs a week is going to take some getting used to.

*

On Saturday I am supposed to do the first long run, 13 miles at 9:05. Now 9:05 is sooo slow, and while I understand the logic for these slowness (the first 20 miler is going to be at 9:35 min miles, OMG), it is going to be tough to go this slow. Last night the Sue-s came over and we plotted a bit about the marathon training (since we all are running Boston). We all agreed there is no way we are going to be able to run this slow. We figured we'd have to pick some hilly routes to slow us down, and perhaps run the last few miles at marathon pace (OK, I am going to say it, 8:35 for a 3:45 which is qualifying time for our age....oh, confessions feel better).

So, not sure if anyone (OK, one of the 3 people that read this blog) has used the FIRST program before. I'd be curious to see how they managed the slow long runs.

Boy, I am FAST again!

Today I had my first key workout in preparation for the Boston Marathon. I am following the FIRST training program and have only 3 runs a week.
Today it was speed. I was to warm up for 10-20min, do 3 mile repeats at 7:11, with 1-2 min rest in between, and cool down for 10 minutes.

We had wonderful weather today. I finished work at 3pm, and was all ready to go by 4pm. I felt a bit intimidated by the pace. I know I used to be fast prior to my stress fracture, but can I be fast again?

I decided not to go to the track, and do the mile repeats on the bikepath. A friend of mine swears she injured her ankle because of the turns on the track. I may do the shorter repeats there, but today I settled on the path. The plan was to have a bite or two of the vanilla GU before each repeat. I am trying to get my stomach used to the GUs for longer runs, and also figured that the GU would be a nice treat after each repeat (Love the Vanilla Bean). The bike path goes slightly downhill one way, so I decided to do the first repeat on the downhill, the second on the uphill and the third on the downhill. Then, back home 1.5 miles.

Here are the stats:

1.5 miles warm up
1 mile @ 6:51, 30 secs rest
1 mile @ 7:02, 30 secs rest (this was the uphill)
1 mile @ 6:49
1.5 miles cool down.

Yeah, I am super excited about these stats. I ran 1/4 mile during the first repeat @ 5:40, and had to slow myself down to make sure I don't get injured or push too hard. I did not feel winded at all. I think I am in the best shape ever. I believe swimming help develop my anaerobic capacity - I suck at swimming so I am always out of breath after a 1/4 mile in the water.

I feel awsome. I think this marathon training is going to be great! Whoo-hoo! I feel so fast and happy!

Bring it on....the marathon!

Tomorrow I am starting my training for the Boston Marathon. I confess, yet again, that this was a bit of an impulsive decision. Last year I considered running a marathon, but then I developed a stress fracture, and told myself that perhaps marathons are not for me. In order to avoid feeling bad about this, I kept telling myself bad things about "the marathon" and in the process discovered trail running - still my biggest love. Boston came about because of my friend Sue, who wanted to do something for Mass General, because they saved her life 3 times in the past year. So when she mentioned that she signed up, and signed up to. Yes, peer pressure never fails to work for me. For the past month I have been agonizing about whether my body is made for marathons. I mean, I know I have the mind for the marathon, no doubt about it, I can easily push through pain, I have a bull's stubbornness and I never give up. But my body? My biomechanics? My on and off unpredictable knee pain (I can run 3 miles slow and be in agonizing pain, and run 11 miles the next day and have no pain at all)? I am the type of person that does not set goals that I can't achieve. I set gradual goals, when I know that, with hard hard work and determination, I can achieve them. The marathon is a tricky goal, because it does not take only hard work - in fact, I think I need to work less hard for it - or perseverance, it takes uncertainty, it makes you rely on your body, which, albeit is connected to the mind that is supposed the dictate what it does, can and may fail you. So this will be taking a chance for a woman who sets goals that she knows she can achieve.

Life is all about uncertainty and adjustments. This is what I preach about all day long. The marathon will be a great exercise for me. Working hard but maybe not too hard (to avoid injury), backing out for a few days at times, when life gets in the way (and being OK with that). It is also a great opportunity to do something for others. Although I would love to BQ someday (and I know that I can), I may never run for a charity again. I have never raised money, so this will be a nice opportunity to learn about that, and raise money for a good cause. In the process, I will also strengthened my friendship with the Sue(s). Oh, yes, I did coerced Sue M into the marathon. As she put it "I need to make sure when I open my mouth around it...you make it happen".

So, tomorrow I start the training. I will post my training schedule as well. I have a hefty goal for the marathon, but I don't think I'll share it as of now. It's to intimidating for a first marathon, yet I know I am capable of it unless I get injured.

Goals for training:
1. Stick to schedule, don't go faster than you are supposed to.
2. Take the rest day weekly, complete rest.
3. Continue strengthening the core.
4. Start experimenting with gels during runs.
5. Sleep, sleep, sleep - in the train, naps during weekends.
6. Eat for performance.
7. Don't get to serious about this. Life is a marathon, Boston is only a small part of it.

So now I am truly excited. I can't wait for the long runs. I feel ready. I got fitted for new shoes at Marathon Sports yesterday, got myself some gels, and am ready to go. I am also planning on taking lots of pictures during the marathon training journey, since I got a nice small camera for Christmas (thank you Margaret). Oh, and I did not mention that Bill Rogers is coaching the Mass General Team, so I plan to pester him with lots of questions about my running biomechanics and such.

Let the journey begin...

training log 12/22-12/28

Monday - 6.5m@ 8:20
Tuesday - 1/25m swim (.25kicks)
Wednesday - 7m@8:00
Thursday - 3m slow
Friday - 1.25m swim (.25 kicks)
Saturday - 11m run @ 8:25, 1m swim
Sunday - 1.5m swim (.5 kicks)

T: 28.5m run, 5 m swim

training log 12/15-12/21

Monday - 7 m @ 7:45 - 200 abs, weights arms
Tuesday - 1.25 m swim - 200abs, roller massage, leg lifts
Wednesday - 7m @ 8:20 (?)
Thursday - 3m slow - 200 abs, 30 push ups
Friday - 1.25 m swim
Saturday - 9.5 m @ 8:50 (including quite a few hills)
Sunday - 1.5 m swim - roller massage, 200abs, leg lifts

T: 26.5m run; 4m swim

I made it out - and it was beautiful!

For the past 2 years I have been running with the "Runaway Moms" of Arlington every Saturday morning. Although lately I have been going on my own with a couple of friends and running on trails, the snow and the need to train for the marathon have brought me back the the group. It is really nice to see a group of 5-20 fit moms meeting early in the morning in front of Panera, not for a yummy breakfast and coffee (we sometimes get coffee afterwards), but for a short, slow, long, fast run - whatever the individual need and desire that specific morning.

But Friday afternoon everyone chickened out, because of the big storm. They decided to run Sunday. I was in a desperate need of a long run. Plus, I live near the Arlington Minute Man bike path, which is plowed regularly during the winter. Plus, why should I let the weather tell me what I can or can't do? So I recruited my friend Sue and we both decided to run on Saturday am. Sue and I are much alike - can't resist to any type of peer pressure.

We made it out after several early morning emails, where both of us "opened the door" for the other person to back out, in hopes of not going for the run. But we are both tough and stubborn runners, and neither of us backed out. During the run we talked about it and had a good laugh. It's so nice to have someone else to help you get out of the house during cold and snowy days. Once out there, we really enjoyed the run. We ended up running 9.5 miles @ 8:50, mostly on the bike path, along with a couple of crosscountry skiers. We had a ball catching up - though my speech always becomes slurred in the cold; enjoyed comments such as "You are really showing off today" (darn, we are!), and "You have it tough today" (actually, it seems like it, but really you don't know what you are missing). I have to confess, I feel like such a badass running in the snow and cold! Bring it on! I have a scheduled 7 miler on Monday, and with the upcoming storm, it shall be another good one!

My mantra for the season: Don't let the weather tell you what you can or can't do!
Disclaimer: within reason, that is:)

Running in 2008 - 52 words or less

This post is part of Take It and Run Thursday (TIART)

January - running slow after an injury
February - 1/2 marathon PR
March - 5 K PR, 5K PR
April - 1/2 marathon PR
May - injured
June - running slow, boot camp
July - trail running rocks
August - Wapack trail race rocks!
September - i love speed work
October - i love swimming
November - feels good to win a race
December - dreaming of Boston

Winter is here

I forgot about winter. Until today. It's not that I did not talk about winter, or snow, or sledding and snowshoeing - I did. What I forgot was what winter and snow and ice actually mean: slow, slow, dangerous, dangerous runs. Until today.

-

I headed out for my typical 7 mile tempo run. I usually go for an 8-8:30 pace when not training. I made it past my house's stairs - almost falling twice! Next, going sloooow, down the slight hill on my street, and down a huge steep hill on next street, then 2 slight hills and down to Mass Ave and onto the Minute Man Bike Path. My run was a jog, no, it was a walk, then a sled, then a walk. I made it to the bike path where I was overwhelmed by slush turned into ice. (Warning: Here is where I get very spoiled!). What happened to deicing the path? I mean, doesn't the town of Arlington care about the bottoms of runners, or bicyclers, or parents with strollers? I know that other towns did not have electricity for days, but lets get our priorities straight. My tempo run, my tempo run, oh, no. It's about .5 mile to the bath. My GPS registered 9:45min/mile, so now you understand my thoughts (censored for this blog) when I saw the state of the path. I was about to turn around, but then I remembered what my friend Jenny always says, a short run is better than no run, and also realized this is a great opportunity to work on my cognitive flexibility - I tend to be a bit all or nothing when it comes to running - who cares about the pace? I am not in training...



SO off I go, embracing the icey bike path. It was a beautiful afternoon, not too cold. I had NPR's "Wait, wait, don't tell me" on my i-pod. After a couple of milers, I became more confident about my stride, less worried about falling, and my pace improved. I went from 9:00min/miles to 8:30 and eventually ended the 7 miler with an average on 8:17min/miles. Not bad at all. More importantly, my mood was much much better. I am giving the town of Arlington one more day to clear the path (how generous of me...:)



On a more serious note, I still think that the weather can be a bit of an issue when it comes to speed sessions and speedy tempo runs in prep for the marathon, but I'll have to get creative, maybe do a few treadmill runs (hrrr!!!), and be OK with having to go slower than the set pace at times. I want to make training for this marathon as stress -less as possible. It's going to be my first, it's going to be Boston, it's going to be a blast!

Just for fun

My cousin ran her first 1/2 marathon last weekend. This is a conversation with her father.

Cousin: It was a great race.
Father: Oh, please go and eat a stake. Running this much is crazy, another stupid American thing. You are already so thin, it will destroy you.

(This is the same cousin that prior to starting running about 8 months ago was going through a tough depression treated succesfully with a few weekly running doses...)

Marathon challenge - the movie

In preparation for the Boston marathon, I watched "Marathon challenge". It is an "experiment" done at Tufts university in Boston, where a group of average nonrunners/nonexercisers signed up to train for Boston marathon in over 20 weeks. Most of them were of normal weight, with only one woman being about 40 lbs overweight, between ages of 30 and 55. One of the participants has had a heart attack a few years back. Prior to their training they had body fat, VO2 max and others such tests that determined their fitness level. All but one had the fitness level of a person 10-20 years older.

The training program was simple. They had to do short runs on their own, and a long run together. Doing a 1 mile run was a challenge, but they slowly built up. Some of them (interestingly, only the women) got injured - one developed a stress fracture related to her diabetes, a few developed sprains and runner's knee. All but the woman with the stress fracture made it through and finished the marathon.

It was interesting to watch their journey. It is so hard for me to imagine that anyone would have a hard time running 1 mile, and be so out of shape that running a mile would be such a huge accomplishment. But that is the reality of our modern fast paced short term goal oriented society..

A few interesting facts about the experiment:
1. No one lost weight, except the overweight woman who was on a diet under the supervision of a nutritionist.
2. No one experienced changes in BMI.
3. All experienced a change in VO2 max, and went from subaverage or average to superior.
4. There is something called "innate ability to be a great runner". One of the participants had a superior VO2max from the start. He skipped all the training at the beginning, and was able to run up to 12 miles without training. But, his strategy did not work for the longer runs - he had to train. He ended up doing a sub 4 marathon, finishing first of the group...

This was an inspirational movie. I recommend it.

Cross Fells run

This morning I went back to the Cross Fells trail, along with Sue C and Sue M. It was Sue M's first trail run, and she was nervous. The trail is listed in my hiking book as an 8.6 miles out and back, but a few trail runners told me it is longer than that. Skyline is also listed as 6.2, but my GPS says 7.2-7.5. The Sues picked me up a little after 7am this morning. I really would have liked to start earlier, because both of them mentioned that they need to return home by 9:30, so I knew we'd cut it close... We found the start of the trail, in Medford, at the intersection of Playstead and Winthrop. Today I was determined to do the entire trail. It did not happen - more on that later.



We started out on a flat and dry trail, which quickly became very wet. After about 1 mile, we started climbing a couple of rolling hills, nothing major. Next, around mile 2, we met the Skyline trail, and had a couple of rocky hills. We crossed a couple of roads, and this time we managed to stay on course (last week Mary and I did no see the marks on the other side of the road and got off the trail). The trail became really beautiful after the second crossing. The full moon that welcomed us at the begining of the run, was replaced by a bright sun, so bright that it made me lose the blue marks and get off the trail a couple of times. Around mile 3 we were in a groove, laughing and talking, when 2 dogs started running toward us, while the owners, a man and a woman, were completely oblivious and did not try to call them or stop them in any way. We walked for a bit, and when we got close enough, one dog jumped on Sue M, who said very politely: "Are the dogs OK?", to which one of the oweners saied, "yes, they love you" and smiled.. Now, I do like dogs. What I don't like is owners who lack respect of other people and do not even think that perhaps not everyone likes to have dogs jump on them when running...My friend Bailee got bitten by one such dog in the summer. I was very close to saying something, so very close... Anyhow, we made it past the dogs, and ran for about 1 more mile, when Sue C realized she was going to be late if we don't get back. We had run for 50 minutes. OMG, 4 miles in 50 minutes, and we are not talking about 4 Skyline miles... I was a bit disappointed, but what can you do? We got back, picked up the pace a bit, but Sue M was having some trouble so we slowed back down. We made it back to the car for a total of 8 miles in 1:45.

I really like the Cross Fells trail, and I would like to go back and try to do the entire thing. Perhaps bring a camera and take pictures. I think this is the type of trail that I could run in the winter, as, aside from 1 mile or so, there are no rocky patches. It's the type of trail where you can get into a rhythm, you can keep up a stride, and get lost into running, something that I love about road running but I seldomly find with trail running.

training log week 12/8-12/15

Monday - 7 miles @ 7:45


Tuesday - 1.25 mile swim (400 meters backstroke) - legs


Wednesday - 7 miles @ 8


Thursday - Rest*


Friday - 1.25 mile swim



Saturday - 8 mile trail run, 1.25 swim (with 400 back kicks)



Sunday - 1.5 miles swim



T run: 24m, T swim: 5.25 miles

a few thoughts on my training

I feel very strong these days. My swimming has improved tremendously, and while my form is still imperfect (a combo of breast stroke and crawl), I have speed. I used to need 20 breast strokes to cover a pool length, now I need 15-18. That's huge. More importantly, I learned to love swimming. It is meditative. I repeat the number of the lap as I breath out. My mind is focused on the number and breath. Once in a while after a tough day I just goof off and not work at it, close my eyes and swim-sleep while entering a dreamworld.

My running is going well, too. I think my joint (knee, pubic bone) pains are related to my cycle, but I need to monitor it more clearly. I have heard the same from a couple of friends. Anyhow, no pain lately and running strong. Today I put together my training for Boston. I am still on a wait list, but I hear I'll get in as people drop out. The funny thing is that when Sue mentioned the marathon I was not interested, and then when she signed up it was too late for me to get a spot in the MGH pediatric cancer team - hence, the waitlist. Even funnier, when I put my name on the list I was not that excited, mostly because I love trails and dislike races that go through town and are crowded, but now I am excited. Why? Because Boston qualifying time does not seem undoable. Because I am up for the challenge. Because everyone talks about Boston as something you want to experience. Because there will always be time for trails, as I get older, but my body will not be able to handle road races for too long - hopefully it will this time.

Anther goal is to run a triathlon in 2009. I am thinking of a mini, with a 10k, 1 mile swim, 12 miles bike, and see if I enjoy it.

OK, feel happy with my training, time to watch Amazing Race. I am thinking of signing up, I just need a partners, coz my husband...he'd prefer to watch it on TV.

training log week 12/1-12/7

Monday: 7 miles @ 7:35 (work)
Tuesday: 1.25 miles swim - legs and roller and 200 abs
Wednesday: 7 miles @ 8:15
Thursday: 4 miles @ 8:20
Friday: 1.5 miles swim
Saturday: 9 miles trails, ? pace since I forgot to start my GPS after getting lost on the Crossfells path..; 1 mile swim
Sunday: 1.25 mile swim
T: 27 miles run; 5 miles swim; only one day strenght, no weights arms

using some advice from Dean Karnaze

I have been doing a lot of reading lately...running reading, that is. These books not only keep me motivated, but they provide valuable information about running and training. So far I read Dean Karnaze's "Ultramarathon Man", Bill Rogers' "Running for a Lifetime", Murakami's "What I talk about when I talk about running", and "Running Legends"(author?).

Lessons learned:
1. There are no clear guidelines in terms of running, training, increasing mileage and preventing injury. People like Karnaze run 200miles at a time and never get injured.
2. Streching does not necessarily prevent injury. BUT streching helps keep the muscles flexible and it is particularly important as we age, bc flexibility decreases.
3. Strenght training is very important, particularly as we age, because after 35 (yikes!) we lose muscle mass rapidly.
4. Eat 1/2 your weight in protein. OMG
5. During long runs, vary your landing (inner vs outer foot) to prevent injury.
6. Ice away...
7. Take a few months off each year, where you decrease intensity of running and crosstrain more.
8. Swimming is the best crosstraining for running.

I believe...

that every runner should win a race at some point during their running career. It's such an incredible feeling, such a motivator, such an adrenaline rush. I don't care what race you are going to win, and whether it has 25 people or 2 people or 1000 (dream on..) but you have got to experience the feeling of having worked hard and having won.