Back in the Saddle

Like many of you out there I read "Born to Run" last year and my curiosity led me to Zombie Runner in Palo Alto to buy the FiveFingers Bikila. My sporadic training made transitioning to low-profile shoes relatively easy and I've run almost exclusively in them for the last six months.

I have to say that running closer to barefoot has been a revelation. The three people who read my orthotics post from 2008 will know that I've struggled mightily against the oppression of overpronation. Imagine my surprise when I ran six miles comfortably in the Bikilas without any achilles, shin splints or knee pain whatsoever. All the symptoms that plagued me in regular running shoes were absent.

Last Thursday I left my Bikilas at home and pulled by old Mizuno trainers out of my sports bag for my lunchtime run. I've logged a lot of miles in Mizuno shoes over the years and they make a spectacular product but the shoes could not have felt worse. All this time running barefoot changed my stride for the better but ruined me for regular running shoes. I felt sluggish as if I was unable to apply any power through my stride. It was like a nightmare I dreamt more than once where I'm racing but I'm suspended just above the ground and I can't propel myself forward.

Needless to say on Saturday morning I departed for my long run in the Fivefinger's Bikila again. My stride felt alive again - compact, dynamic and engergized - despite my glacial pace. That's not to say that my lower leg muscles weren't sore the next day. They were, but in a positive way derived from hard work rather than joint misalignment.

I think this low profile running/barefoot thing is for me. I'll admit the crazy hippie aspect that is clearly evident in a lot of the barefoot running posts I've seen is off-putting for me but my goal is to run far and fast, not join a movement. I think I'll vary my training in the fivefingers with miles logged in a x-country racing flat. It's nice to have a little more stone protection once in a while on some of the rockier trails.

It will be interesting to see how the changes in my stride and cadence impact my interval training that will start next month. I feel like I am more efficient which should translate to faster times but I'll need to lose some weight and log more miles before I can compare my times to 2008.

BTW - I signed up for SF marathon at the end of July. There is no turning back now.

The Curse of Jack Daniels

I was happier living in ignorance. My blissfully ignorant running career is over and I owe my descent into reality to Coach and Author Jack Daniels. I used to have whimsical goals based on the occassional outstanding workout. Now I am presented with hard facts in the form of merciless pace tables.

These pace tables relate race history to workout pace. There are also predictive tables showing potential race times. The combination of these tables form walls on either side of me that provide a austere and unforgiving corridor down which I must travel to achieve certain goals. I'm sure with more experience working in the "T", "I", "E", "M", "R", "L" pace zones as prescribed will give me more perspective and make me a better runner. But for now it seems like that corridor is awfully dark and a little scary.

I estimated my VDOT value as 56 based on past race times. After the last three weeks of workouts I am wondering if I shouldn't drop down to the pace associated with a value of 55. Melissa S, my training partner, insists that I am really a "56" and gave me a littany of excuses as to why I should persist at the faster pace. I will honestly have to review the heart rate data from today's workout to determine if I was performing at or below the target zone.

Fatigue is defninitely a factor and as I've known for some time I'll have to monitor the amount of sleep I get more carefully. I need to monitor my training better in general. Automated recording of workout data and upload to computer is great for just that, recording, not for analysis. I'll see what I can come up with.

Big Sur Marathon 2007 3:11:43

-Seeing is believing-

Let that be a lesson to me. Donna Troyna, Grizzled Vet of 22 Big Sur marathons, told me exactly how to race the course. "Go out slow and save it for the Carmel Highlands", she said. Her advice only reiterated the advice in the Monterey Herald. Some lessons have to be learned the hard way and this is one of those lessons.

Big Sur is a hilly course. There is little or no flat terrain in the race. I had read this prior to the start but I didn't internalize it until I was experiencing it.

I went out much too fast. 6:10-6:40 for the first six miles. I somehow developed an inflated view of my fitness in the last month. I didn't understand the correlation between my long tempo & progression runs and marathon race pace. I ran 7:05 pace for 24 miles at Crystal Springs which was very close to a race effort. With hindsight I should have tried to run 7:00-7:05 pace at Big Sur. The effect of added competition on race day is consumed by the difficulty of the course.

By Hurricane point (the highest point of the race) I had stomach cramps and was having difficulty taking food. The gatorade I drank probably contributed to this. I've gotten really bad at drinking from cups. I poured more water over me than in my mouth. I found drinking water helped to alleviate the stomach cramps but when I took another GU I cramped again. This was the same feeling I had years ago in the Boston Marathon when I went out too fast and suffered through cramps and shortness of breath for the second half. I basically struggled to the finish with stomach cramps coming and going.

Gaps:
*Drinking from cups - I need to practice this (how sad is that?) or carry water with me.
*Race strategy - Need to correlate key workouts like 24 mile tempo at Crystal Springs or half marathon race to a negative split marathon strategy. I need to develop the discipline to negative split so that I can finish strong. I can always speed up in the last 10K if I feel I've left too much in reserve.
*Mileage - I averaged less than 50 miles a week from February through April with a max of 90 miles. Need to average 90 miles a week although it will take a long time to build to this level.
*Course Specific knowledge - if I want to run fast on the course I need to run it (at least half).

What's working:
*Orthotics - no problems during the race and only minor blisters under the arch by the finish. This is a huge victory because I've dealt with everything from shin splints to IT band problems during the buildup to Big Sur. I am wearing the orthotics full time now. I made changes to the orthotics, adding EVA slices and duct tape, up until the day before the race and it paid off with a pain free run.
*Yoga/stretching - I was loose and 'even' for the whole race. I didn't have any particular muscle problems.

Running Drills

 

Here is a good source for running drills. I need to verify these with a few other sources but these are similar to what I did way back when (college days).

 

http://www.momentumsports.co.uk/TtDrills.asp

Gaps

I thought it would be useful if before delving into my hard copy files for my coach's training plans from 1998-2001 I identified specific gaps in my current fitness.

Endurance: Definitely by strongest asset at this point. 50K results at Woodside 2/3 are ample evidence.

Strength
Lower Body: Reasonably strong from running and yoga but could benefit a lot from consistent (2x weekly) squats and toe raises
-Upper Body: Need to get to another level with my upper body strength. This is historically a weak area for me and it will take a lot of focus and consistency to change that for good. Move forward with pull-ups, push-ups, bench press, inclined bench, dumbbell curls, two arm curls, dips, tricep extensions - high reps two sets.
-Core: Inconsistent training in this area. Should move forward with planks, sculler situps and raised-leg twists (Trevor's e-mail)

Threshold
Based on 1/26/07 10K time-trial my threshold looks to be about 164 BPM. But based on lap HR averages during the 1-1.5 hr of my 50K it looks like 167 was my threshold. This is probably a fair bet.

Speed
This is currently my weakness. I ran 3x1600 this last Wed. and couldn't go any faster than 6:24 pace. Results were 6:27, 6:24, 6:27 w/ about 3:00 recovery. I ran my 10K time trial at 6:48 pace so clearly I have stamina but no speed! What else could be interfering? I ran the intervals on Wed. at 5:50 AM after only a 17 min warmup. I should probably either move my intervals to the afternoon or evening or modify the morning session tinclude a longer warmup such as 40:00 progressing from 8:30/M to 7:00/M.

Weight
Currently 142 (4/30/07) down from 154 in January. My ideal race weight is probably closer to 135-138 but I need to rely on high mileage to take this weight down. Restricting my calory consumption too much causes me to lose muscle and become very irritable.

Flexibility
Good due to yoga. I sometimes neglect to stretch after training and that causes me to regress.

Last Marathon

I somehow thought my last marathon was in 2003 the year I broke my ankle. I was wrong. I last ran CIM in 2001.

http://www.runcim.org/data/results/Results2001all.html

PR: 2:56:38

Running Blog Community

I came across Donald's excellent blog through his column in the Monterey Herald. He lists a number of other blogs I'm looking forward to reading through.

 

http://runningandrambling.blogspot.com/

 

Workout Menu

Workout Menu

Running
Track workouts - Speedwork
-For examples see Jim Tracy's hardcopy workouts
Progression Runs
-Advantage is race simulation and speedwork with less fatigue
Fartlek
-Same as above
Tempo Runs
-Time trial, consistent pace work
Diagonals
-See Run like the Kenyans article
Hill Repeats
-See Run like the Kenyans article
Drills
-Need more examples
Long Runs
-Can include Tempo, Fartlek, Progression
Maintenance/Recovery runs

Bikram Yoga

Cycling

Swimming

Recovery

The PCTR Woodside 50K took a lot out of me but I am back running much sooner than usual. In the past (pre-2003) I took off at least three weeks after a big race. This proved to be a big hindrance to running year-round as I put on weight and found it hard to get back into any rhythm. I raced 2/3 and was running again 2/6. Just 4.8 miles at 8:30 pace but I didn't feel hobbled as in earlier years. I ran the same loop Tuesday-Thursday. Bikram Yoga was part of the recovery plan but between fatigue and Itir travelling on business I haven't been able to make it. Cycling and/or swimming might speed up recovery in future.

PCTR Woodside 50K Trail Run

Result: 4:13:34 for 50K/30.8 Miles 4500 ft of climbing. 8:08 average pace 4:58 fastest pace (downhill). Finished 4th out of 84. Beaten by Richard Blanco 38 of Redwood City @ 4:09, Tom Flavahan 39 (Officer) @ 4:06 and Michael Buchanan 33 of San Carlos @ 3:57.

Race Strategy: Strategy was to run conservatively on the first climb up to Skyline and stay smooth and relaxed to the base of the climb out of Wunderlich. After that I planned to open up on the Skyline trail and accelerate through the downhill in Huddart to the finish. My A-Goal was 4:16/8:20 pace, B-Goal was 4:37/9:00 pace, C-Goal was 4:52/10:00 pace.

Race Day Events: Weather was perfect ~40 degrees at the start. 5 guys bolted at the gun to make the gate and I decided to try to stay with the leaders. Running down the first trail to Richards road we were at 6:00 pace and my heart rate was up at 170 when it should have been 150-155. I felt good and chalked this up to too much caffeine (drank a Monster energy drink 50 min before the start). I passed two guys on Richards road and then Todd Flavahan caught me on the climb up the Crystal Springs trail. He looked to be running relaxed and was chatting up a storm. It was clear he could take off if he wanted to but we ran together all the way to the bottom of Wunderlich park. The miles just ticked by running with him. I was pounding ultima sports drink from the nathan two bottle carrier and eating strawberry Cliff shot blocks every 20 minutes. Despite good fuelling I couldn't hang with Tom F. when he made his move climbing out of Wunderlich. I struggled a bit on this climb but pulled it together for the traverse on Skyline trail. The Chinquapin section through to the finish was a continuous acceleration and the last 1.7 miles on the Fire Road was a sprint. Last 40 yd was a full sprint. Dad was at the finish which was great.

Analysis:

Race Performance: I ran a lot faster than I thought I could. I'm really proud of 8:08 pace and happy to have broken the course record by 10 min. The new course record is 3:57 which is lot more appropriate for this fast and gorgeous race. I owe Tom F. a lot for his encouragement and the great pace he set through the middle of the race. My decision to go out with the race leaders payed off. Lesson is to run smart & aggressive. Fuelling was great at every 20 min drinking and eating. Water pack needs improvement as it was sometimes too tight and too lose. I also had to switch bottles around which was a hassle. Refills were pretty easy however. Food could have been more conveniently placed on the nathan pack. Race kit was great. No chaffing due to the seamless underwear (Target), running shorts, shirt. HRM didn't bother me much. Taper was good and hot bath with stretching helped the night before.

Training: Based on my performance my endurance is pretty solid but my calves and hamstrings are pretty sore which makes sense because I didn't do any speedwork, just tempo prior to the race. The long runs over 23 helped a lot and running most of the course plus a few miles to make a 33 mile run was great. Running long runs with some tempo thrown in was a big factor as well. Lifting weights and Bikram Yoga all contributed as well.

I believe I would benefit from greater variety in my running. I focussed only on mileage which is important for me but not at the exclusion of everything else. I plan to follow the recommendations laid out in the Run Like the Kenyans blog I copied. This will mean focusing on form, drills, speedwork, hills. I would like to be able to run 80 miles consistently and do some quality workouts.

Next Steps:

1. Plan next race
2. Create training plan for next race
3. Develop workout kit with examples/options
4. Plan races for the year
5. Plan next three years with contingency plans
6. Set A, B, C goals for next three years.

Run Like the Kenyans

Just read Scott Douglas' article (written around December 2004) on his trip to Iten, Kenya.

Salient points below:

Start Slow Finish Fast - like a pot heating to a boil, start at a crawl and finish fast
Vary Very Much - even fastest runners run easy runs very slowly so hard efforts produce great results
Tread Softly - stay off the pavement
Get with a Group - training with a group or partner is always easier
Hit the Hills - 30-60 sec hill repeat, jog the descent, repeat
Run Diagonally - 15-60 min of soccer field corner to corner fast and relaxed, jog straight
Do Drills - examples are high knees, quick feet, butt kicks and skipping. In just five minutes, you can do two sets of each, 30 to 50 meters at a time

Week Ending January 14, 2007

Ran 77.5 miles with a long run on the Sat and Sun. Overall a fantastic week of training in prep for the Woodside 50K. This will be my first serious race after 3+ years of "recovery" from a broken ankle.

Lessons Learned:

1. Nutrition: I love Clif Shot Blocks. Lemon-Lime, Strawberry are excellent. Cola doesn't taste as great but does the job. Easy to eat (even when very cold), easy to digest and eaten every 20-30 min in conjunction with Ultima Replenisher (banana berry) they are a great energy source and take little space.
2. Hydration: I need ~ 20oz of sport drink per hour at colder temperatures during medium intensity long runs. This worked great during the 33 mile run where I drank 112 oz over 5.5 hrs. During the 24 mile run I drank 48 oz over 3:38:00 and was pretty dehydrated by the finish.
3. Clothing: Agonized like a prom date over what to wear for the long run 1/13/07. Finally decided on Adidas pants, Pearl Izumi ultrasensor vest, PI multisport top and Patagonia Capilene 2 top over all. Hat was a problem. Wore PI skullcap but this moved around a lot during the run. Headband w/ baseball type hat might be better.
4. Footwear: Mizuno Wave Ascend on both long runs worked great. Blue superfeet is perfect control for my right foot. Soreness in left calf indicates better support needed than just the stock shoe insert. Waiting on orthitics from Doctor Starrett (cast created 12/22/06).