Lots of reading...

Since I have been off of actual training since April, I have been vicariously training through running books. I read the well known, Pfitz, Daniels, the FIRST guys, Hal Higdon, Gallaway & Yasso. I read the not so well known but oh so mind stimulating Noakes* and Fitzgerals**. As I was reading, I found myself becoming a follower of each of the plans I was reading at the time. Everyone presents such compelling evidence about why their plan is the best, from case studies, to research studies. I had to remind myself that unfortunately the world of research is, well, biased for the most part. If you do a pubmed search you can find articles contradicting each other, and if you have a particular point to prove, you can find lots of studies to prove it...

Having said that, let's just summaries a few things I have learned:

1. Most training plans are similar - they all require long runs, faster runs, and really fast runs. Except that they use fancy names that they don't always agree on, like tempo vs lactate threshhold, or interval versus speed work.

2. They all agree on the benefits of strengthening exercises, though they disagree over whether stretching is necessary; some even go as far as saying that stretching before a proper warm-up is dangerous, as it may lead to muscle tears.

3. They all agree that form is important, though some emphasize it more than others.

4. They all mention cross training, though some value it more than others. Some state improved VO2max and general aerobic capacity via cross training, while others say that cross training does not help much with running, with perhaps one exception (biking).

5. They all agree that if you are injury prone, cross training is a good option.


6. Most agree that for marathon training intervals should be longer than when training for a 5K. Daniels recommends doing intervals that last in between 2-5 minutes; shorter intervals are OK but recovery between these intervals should be v short.

7. Some value high mileage, other value lower mileage plus cross training. However, they all agree that you need a lot of 20milers when running low mileage, and only 1-2 if running high mileage. Now I understand why FIRST has me do 5 20 milers while Pfitz only 2-3.

8. Running more than 20 miles does not have any proven physiological benefit (though it does have a mental one).


Some things I have learned and will incorporate in my marathon training.


1. Race with a purpose - goals could be trying a new nutrition strategy, running negative splits, etc.

2. Run with a purpose - each run should help you achieve something, so the pace needs to be controlled and within a particular zone, rather than "just running".

3. Bricks are awesome workouts - the short run at the end helps the brain gets used to running on fatigued muscles.

4. Doing intervals while cross training can act like a "second speed workout" sans the injury.

5. Doing the last few miles of a long slow run at marathon pace can boost confidence and physiological adaptation.

* and **I strongly, strongly recommend that you check out my two favorite running books: Lore of Running by Tim Noakes, and Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerals (he also has a blog - check him out at http://mattfitzgerald.org/ ).

Training for Baystate Marathon starts in 2 weeks, which is great, because I "ran" out of running books. Which is a good thing, since I much rather run then read about running.

Random happenings

* Tuesday: swim in the outdoor pool at my local YMCA.
The older guy sporting speedos in the next lane suddenly appears in my lane, swimming towards me. I pull to the right. He realizes he is in my lane and goes back into his. This keeps repeating several times. Made for a fun swim!

* Wednesday: decide to wear heels at work
Come home with swollen feet and blistered toes. If I can't wear my Injinji and compression socks with the heels, then no more heels for me.

*Thursday: brick workout
On the way home from work I think about how one of these days I am bound to get into a bike accident. Later that afternoon.... Slowing down at a stoplight. Can't get my shoe off the pedal on time, and fall down and scrape my right knee. Get back up while propping on a car nearby. The driver is visibly distressed and asking if I am OK. So sorry! At home my son is very excited: "We have matching boo-boos, mommy!".

Training and some thoughts on training and racing

I have 3 more weeks until I start training for Baystate Marathon. I have a couple of "secrete races" planned, but otherwise I am working on getting up to and maintaining a good running base (30 miles/week), keeping an overall moderate pace (no speed intervals), getting my body used to 4 runs a week, bricks (bike+ runs), and continuing riding and swimming. I am loving long workouts and when I can double up, I feel the best. Here is how my workouts go most days:

Mondays: 8 mile run, some strengths and abs and weights
Tuesdays: swim (1-1.5 miles) and bike (45 min indoors or 15 miles outdoors).
Wednesday: 6 mile run, some strengths and abs and weights.
Thursday: 15 miles bike ride followed by 3-4 mile run. OR 30 miles ride.
Friday: rest
Saturday: long run (at least 10) and swim (1 mile)
Sunday: swim (1.5 miles) and bike (15 miles).

I am one of those people who enjoys training more than racing.

Training is my daily me time. I get to be with myself and sort through my thoughts, or listen to some pretty awesome podcast, or music, or gab away with my running pals. Once in a while I get a day where my stride, or stroke, or pedaling feel fluid and ease, my mind and body one, and time stops and everything seems just perfect as is. Peaceful.

Racing is more difficult. I get worked-up about races. I set high standards and want to PR every time. I can't stand the thought of something going wrong during race day (so far I have been so lucky). Although I think I am mentally tough and able to push through at the end of races, I don't enjoy that. In sum, you can say that I don't like to race but I love to be able to say "I have raced" . At the same time, there is something magical about the last 6 miles of the marathon, the last 3 miles of a half marathon, and perhaps the last mile of a speedy 5K. I hate the moments when I am working on convincing my mind that I am doing fine (and my body is screaming), that I have less to go than I actually have, and that the pain/nausea/etc is really not that bad, manageable, mild. In fact, one of my mantras is "Can you stand more pain?" Yet after every race I think of things I can do better next time, so that I can go faster, so that I can trick the mind even more so that it can allow my body to move quicker. It's a never ending game that I love and hate to be part of.

I feel that every race teaches me something about myself. Like the fact that I get race anxiety one week in advance but am calm as a clam the day before and during the race. Or that I visualize racing over and over in my head during the last few runs pre-race. Or that I get sad after marathon(s). And impulsive. And oscillate from insecurity to megalomania. That I get back to my typical self a few days after. That I strive on discipline and accomplishment. And much more.

Racing pushes me outside of my comfort zone, allows me to take risks that I no longer can afford to take in other aspects of my life, at least for the time being. Without running, there would be something else, but I am glad it is still running and I am going to play the game for as long as I can.

Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon....Race Report

Race summary: "UP. DOWN. UP. $%#&&. UP. UP. #$%$#^.DOWN. UP.UP. $%#&&$.DOWN. UP.UP.UP. %$#$% DOWN.
Long report:

Ok, so I registered for this race 3 days in advance. I really wanted to do a 1/2 marathon this summer, but I wanted to give myself at least 1 month of post Boston recovery. As such, I was not able to do some of the flat and fast 1/2 marathons in the area, and traveling for a 1/2 is just not my thing. The only 1/2 left for the entire summer was the Heartbreak Hill. I knew I was not prepared to run a hilly 1/2, but I also remembered that, although I did struggle on HH during Boston, that hill is really not a big deal, just long but not too steep. When the RD told me the race shirt is technical, I signed up. Two days later I received an email from the RD: "This is a challenging course, with steep rolling hills, so start slow and make sure you pace yourself. The good news is that the last mile is generally downhill". What did I get myself into?

I completely blocked any race related thoughts over the weekend. It was my mom's last weekend before returning to Romania, and I focused on that. I slept like a baby, and was ready to run in the morning.

After my typical oatmeal with blueberries and coffee, I headed out to the race. I picked up my registration packet. I obsessed over whether I should eat a banana or not, or a gel. Then it was time to line up and off we went.

I had no plan for this race, rather than NOT to run more than 13.1*. I knew I wanted to have a PR, but I did not know whether I could do it. So, I was making excuses in my head. Perhaps this is why I made the rookie mistake. I went out tooo fast. This is so unlike me, I am very good at pacing myself, always start out slow and speed up later. I am not sure what happened, perhaps my brain knew that I could run faster...

I ran the first mile in 7:11. I felt great. I did manage to slow down after that, and by mile 3 I was at 7:30 average. I realized from the beginning how tough the course would be, but my legs felt fresh and I felt like I was flying up the hills. At mile 5 my pace was 7:44, and I planned to stay there. We ran Heartbreak at mile 6, and that was probably the easiest hill - long, but with only a slight incline, as opposed to the short and steep hills that made up the rest of the course. After Heartbreak I told myself that we would probably turn around but no, we went up, up, up on this circular hilly street, and I started getting a bit frustrated. I managed to keep up the pace, but I was getting tired. Pretty soon we were running down Heartbreak, and it was nice to go downhill and see runners going uphill. Been there, he, he! At that point I realized that I was getting very close to a woman in pink, whom I have been eying from the beginning miles, but who seemed too far away to attempt to catch. At mile 8 I was on her. I did not want to pass her yet, I just wanted to run behind her. She would get ahead of me on the uphills, and I would catch her on the downhills. At mile 9 I saw another woman runner walking. Walking, hmmm, sounds so good. NO! At mile 9 my legs also started to feel weak, and my toes got numb. Cardiovascularly I was fine, breathing a bit hard on the uphills, but recouping easily with deep breaths on the downhills. I started to worry a bit. I felt I did not have control over my legs. I did not feel any pain, just weakness. Darn! I started telling myself that it will pass, I just have to go with it, but it was frustrating to feel great otherwise and not be able to run faster. Plus, the chick in pink was way in front of me at that point. And then I stopped and walked. Only a few steps, and then I snapped out of it and started running. I knew better - walking at the end of a race is just silly, does not help at all. Pace was 7:55. Yikes! By mile 10 I was feeling a bit better. Legs were cooperating and I pushed the pace. I knew I could not catch the "pink lady", but I wanted to go faster. I looked at my watch and calculated that I could break 1:43 if I picked up the pace. I did. I remembered that the last mile was downhill, and I kept telling myself that the race is only 12 miles, that the last mile does not count. Pace went down gradually, in spite of the rolling hills. With every hill, I would tell myself, "last one, last one". It worked. At mile 12 I seriously picked up the pace. I saw the clock at 1:42:30 as I got close to the finish line, and kicked it for a 1:42:40 finish time.
Garmin stats: 1:42:40, 7:50 pace
Official stats: 1:42:57, 7:52 pace; 13th woman overall. 3rd 30-39 category.
(what happened?)

Post race I felt great. None of the usual dizziness, hotheadedness that I normally experience. I got a free massage and some food after seeing my family. My son had a ball cheering on the runners. At the end of the race he and my husband ran through the finish line and everyone cheered on them. Now my son keeps telling everyone: "I am a fast runner. I am the fastest". I am loving that. Check out his smiling face as he was cheering on runners (red shirt and blue hat).





He also liked the trophy I got:

Overall a great day!

So, although I am happy with the results, I do feel I can run faster. A friend of mine who ran the race found this calculatorhttps://phsexchweb.partners.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.runworks.com/calculator.html , and said that based on the elevation profile for this race, we can substract 3 min from our race times in order to get a more reliable and valid 1/2 marathon time. That would be a sub 1:40 for me, which, based on FIRST would tell me I could do a 3:30 marathon (1:42 says I can do 3:35).

What I did wrong:

*Did not taper. At all. Ran 3 tempo run the previous week.

*Mentally I did not handle mile 9 very well. I should have pushed more. My pace went down a lot at that point, and, although I picked up the pace later on, mile 9 cost me.

*I started out too fast. Enough said.

What I did right:

*I ran the darn race even though I was not trained for it and very intimidated by the hills. This is good for me, get myself out of my comfort zone.

*I managed to pick it up at the end and did not fall apart at mile 9.

What I've learned:

I am strong cardiovascularly. All the swimming and biking have done wonders for my cardio system. However, my legs are not able to keep up. This was also my experience in the marathon. I think I am going to add another day of running, call it a recovery 4-5 miler at 8:30-9 pace, to get my legs ready and my mileage up. I would still be going on relatively low mileage (35-45), but much better than where I am now (25-30) or where I was during my training for Boston (27-35).

* I always zig zag and run at least a .3 extra.

Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon, can you spell HILLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS; A PR

I survived the Hearbreak Hill Half Marathon. There were times when I wanted to stop. There were times when I just could not believe the steepness and number of hills. I even walked one of the hills. I ran positive splits. My legs felt like rubber for the last 4 miles. In my house we spell the 4-letter words (you learn to do that when you have kids); lets just say there was lots of spelling going on during the race. BUT,

I PRed - 1:42:40, 7:50 pace (preliminary results)
I won 3rd AG for 30-39.
I got a great massage.
I learned my lesson - I need to do hill training and increase my mileage if I want to run a 3:30 marathon in October.
I know I can easily beat this new PR on a flatter course.
Hurrayyyy!

Full report later and pics later today!!!

Running injuries - had my share and then some!

As part of Take It And Run Thursday the Runner's Lounge asked us to talk about running injuries.

I've had my share of running injuries and some, during the past 3 years, when I transitioned from running for fitness to racing: bursitis on my L hip, and 2 pelvic stress fractures (L and R). At the time, I was puzzled. How could this happen? In retrospect, it is clear to me that those injuries were due to: 1) too many days in a row running (6+), 2) inability to tame my speed demon (I was doing all my runs as "all out"), 3) not following a training plan, 4) not doing any streching or strengthening, and 5) ignoring the pain.

After the second stress fracture, which required 6 weeks off running, I realized that running is more than gutting it out. I started reading about it. I learned about training plans. I started this blog and reading running blogs. I made a pact with myself to not run 2 days in a row for 1 year. This left me with 3 runs/week. I started swimming, I started biking. My body became strong again. I became more confident about my ability to run injury free. I am even considering adding a 4th day of running, as a recovery day.

Here's what works for me:
1. running hard 3 times a week, but not 2 days in a row. The time off of running allows my body to recover and my mind to be looking forward to running hard again.
2. pilates 2 times/week, 15 min each session - as core and strength training.
3. taking 2000mg calcium and a multivitamin daily.
4. icebaths - now I take one after every run.
5. not taking ibuprofen or other over the counter pain meds in order to be able to run (i used to do this).
6. rotating between 3 pairs of running shoes.
7. using a foam roller.
8. reminding myself that injury can happen, and no race is more important than being healthy.

Happy injury free running!

Heat,1 - Ana-Maria, 2

I am happy to report that I braved the elements and had two glorious runs during the past few days. After a horrible run with heat induced nausea, I was a bit concerned about my body's ability to run at a faster pace during the hot weather. That run really played with my psyche. On Saturday I did a 13 miler with my friend Sue M, on a very hilly route. We ran at 7:30 in the morning, but it got hot toward the end of the run. I was able to maintain an effortless 8:14, the fastest I have ever ran on those hills. Yay! Today I did an 8 miler later in the day, to test my ability to run in the heat. I started out with a conservative pace and ended up with negative splits, for an average of 7:38. Another yay! I have been working on my form lately, trying to maintain a quick, stiff, short stride (I tend to overstride) and it really makes such a huge difference. Whenever I forget to pay attention to my stride, I slow down and get tired. I immediately feel better when I correct my stride.

I am debating whether to run a 1/2 marathon next weekend. The Heartbreak Half Marathon has its inauguration on the 31st. It includes mile 17 to 23 of the Boston Marathon course. The course is an out and back, which means one would have to run each hill twice. I feel a bit unprepared for this race, since I have been pretty much recovering and taking it easy since the marathon. The hills and I have a love-hate relationship; I have strong quads and when trained have a goat-like ability to hackle the hills and enjoy passing runners as I go up. However, when I am not trained (like now), I struggle up hills while everything hurts. So I am a bit torn. On one hand, it would be nice to do another 1/2 marathon (last one of Maine Half in September), and running a hilly one will be challenging and a nice way to get back into serious hill training. I could also have a baseline and compare my time with another one that I plan to do while training for Baystate Marathon. On the other hand, I can't approach a race without thoughts of PR-ing, and I know it would not be possible to run a sub 1:44 on that course and without having done any training for it. Hmmm! More thinking required! What do you think?Hope everyone had a nice long weekend!