Running: First Week of Spring

[Aggie_Ama]

Or fall if you are in the southern hemisphere.

I did an extremely hilly 8 miler, last long run before the half marathon. DH was pre-riding his race course for next weekend and the road around the course was the perfect run site. It is about a four mile loop with just hill after hill. I was shocked I was able to keep my breathing and heart rate in check. Shockingly I am not sore yet either, I did stretch really well. The only complaint was I was exposed to 20 mph winds on an exposed roads but at least I had lovely views of Lake Travis to distract me.

[Grog]

Just back to rainy ol' Vancouver after a week on the hot west coast of the Big Island.

I had two big runs to do while there: a 26 km and a 30 km, the latter being the longest I had ever run. I sprinkled a few shorter runs in between.

It went great! The 26 km was a pretty hilly one, roughly a round trip between Kailua-Kona and a point called The End of the World, for those familiar with the area. I was towards the end of my run when running down to the End of the World and getting really concerned that my world would indeed end there, as it was a steep downhill that would inevitably be followed by a steep uphill if I was to return home. On the way DOWN there was an automatic radar that flashed my speed back at me: 5 mph. Thankfully there was no radar on the way up.

The 30 km run was there loops around the resort area where we stayed then, a bit further north on the coast. I tried a new experiment, running for 2 km and then walking for 100 meters, 200 if I was eating a gel (every 8 km). It distracted me a bit (usually I run/walk based on time not distance). There was some wicked wind, which made it fun to look at my run's diagram on the Nike+ website afterward.

Now on to a rest week, and a much shorter long run next weekend, before starting to build up and up and up again! This is sort of fun.

[colby]

Another ~14 miles today. I was cruising along really nicely at ~9 minute mile averages until about mile 11 when my tummy said "whaaaaaat?" and I debated stopping at the rest stop to use the facilities but stupidly didn't. Anyway, the next mile was kind of uncomfortable, then I pretty much walked the last 2. That's fine, my stupid mistake for eating popcorn too close to my running time (the night before, we saw Alice in Wonderland) before my body could get rid of it all. I can tolerate that up to 8-10 miles at this pace, but when I get over 10 (or work harder), I have to be much more careful about what I eat the night before and that morning for breakfast. Bad, bad, Colby.

It was rainy and windy, but a nice run all things told. My calves are a little sore in the barefoot zone (achilles to calf) but the callous on my right foot isn't tender and no blistering between my big/2nd toes. The toes on my right foot were a little stiff when I finished, so I stretched across the top of my foot - I think I am wearing on them a little differently than they are used to being used.

Mile 4:

[kacie tri-ing]

Sore today really really sore

I hope that will fade away quickly, but I have a slow week for some good/solid recovery!

[limewave]

Well, I skipped my run on Friday to mountain bike.
Then I did an indoor bike race on Saturday.

So, Sunday I had to do my 7 mile run. I felt pretty good on the flats, but any time I hit a hill my legs felt like lead.

And then I went mountain biking again 60 miles on the mountain bike this week. 14 running.

[skhill]

Did about 3.5 miles this morning, averaged 8:50/mile-- great news for the next time I do a 5k (my 5kPR is about 33 min). Not so good for next weekend's half... I keep trying to run slow this past week, but the only time I managed to keep to a 9:45/mile pace was when I was downright sick and running a fever. Oh well. And I can't believe I'm griping about running too fast!

[OakLeaf]

24 miles. I can taste 26.2 from here. It was a perfect day for running.

I stopped once to refill my hydration pack and didn't pay too close attention to how much I added. When I got home I went for one last draw on the drinking tube... and it was empty. How's that for the perfect amount?

My stomach isn't upset, either. Must've been that falafel I ate an hour before I headed out. Go figure.

[WindingRoad]

Oh I hate that I got so behind running this past week/weekend! I did a short 4 miler yesterday in the rain (yuk!) going to work in some shorter more frequent runs this week to try and make up for an exhausting weekend. I worked 40 hours in 4 days all of which was on concrete so my legs are like led right now. Surprisingly yesterdays run didn't actually feel that bad aside from the cold and wet. HM is getting close gotta keep at it!

[katluvr]

wow, I have really be remiss on running and checking in here. New job, new schedule, still funky weather AND just fell off the running. I really need to kick start.
Oak...wow, you are there for your marathon mileage!
Colby...are you running completely barefoot? On what type of surface? (Maybe I should check out the barefoot running thread).

So I am trying hard to get motivated and back into a running routine. Maybe I just need a goal. Any suggestions?

K

[Grog]

My stomach isn't upset, either. Must've been that falafel I ate an hour before I headed out. Go figure.

Now you know what to eat on the morning of your race!!!

Great job with the prep! Are you going to run over 26.2 in training?

[Susan Otcenas]

I skipped my run on Friday. I got up to do it, but fainted about 5 minutes later. It's been a good 15 years since I've fainted, so it was a bit of a shock. (And I just barely missed crashing into a wooden desk. Jeff said I fell like a ton of bricks. Luckily, I landed on my yoga mat! ) So, I went back to bed instead. Didn't seem to have any bad after-effects. Took it easy the rest of the day and then 125 miles on Saturday with no issues. Weird.

So, yesterday was my first run in 5 days. Did 5 miles on the treadmill. Workout was 8 x 3:00 in zone 3+/4- with 2:00 RI (easy jog) between. It was a great workout and I was cooking right along at a pretty good clip. These speed workouts seem to be doing the trick as I'm able to hold higher paces for a little longer than I used to.

Tomorrow is a 9-miler.

[Susan Otcenas]

24 miles. I can taste 26.2 from here. It was a perfect day for running.

I stopped once to refill my hydration pack and didn't pay too close attention to how much I added. When I got home I went for one last draw on the drinking tube... and it was empty. How's that for the perfect amount?

My stomach isn't upset, either. Must've been that falafel I ate an hour before I headed out. Go figure.

Sounds like you had a perfect workout! That must be a big confidence builder.

I've read that many marathon plans don't have you run more than 20 miles prior to event day. Does your plan have alot of 20+ training runs?

[OakLeaf]

Are you going to run over 26.2 in training?

I've read that many marathon plans don't have you run more than 20 miles prior to event day. Does your plan have alot of 20+ training runs?

Magic 8-ball training plan says..... All signs point to YES.

Seriously, I read recently that one of the strongest predictors of hitting "the wall" is not having done more than 20 in training. To me - knowing nothing but my own body - that seems kind of "no duh." Going out and trying to race 33% farther than I'd ever jogged just seems crazy to me.

I've got the time, what's the down-side? As long as I'm being careful about injury prevention, which I'm trying to be. Seven and a half weeks to race day gives me time to hit 26.2 in training a couple of times, anyway, before I start tapering.

Which speaking of injury prevention, I couldn't find my regular Stick yesterday so I pulled out my spiky stick, and when I was done with my legs, I started rolling my feet out. OMG. That was the missing link. I feel so much better!



Ack, Susan, fainted? Yikes! Do you have any idea why? That doesn't sound good.

[artifactos]

I'm new to running (and triathlons), and today was my farthest run yet: a 5k. In 29 minutes or so.

[colby]

Magic 8-ball training plan says..... All signs point to YES.

Seriously, I read recently that one of the strongest predictors of hitting "the wall" is not having done more than 20 in training. To me - knowing nothing but my own body - that seems kind of "no duh." Going out and trying to race 33% farther than I'd ever jogged just seems crazy to me.

I've got the time, what's the down-side? As long as I'm being careful about injury prevention, which I'm trying to be. Seven and a half weeks to race day gives me time to hit 26.2 in training a couple of times, anyway, before I start tapering.

I think once you have done a couple of marathons you know what your body needs, but there is a HUGE mental victory of KNOWING you can make the distance. Even if the benefits are only psychological, positive thinking is HUGE during a long race.

For me, my longest long run needs to be about 22-24 miles for my brain to switch over. For my first couple of marathons, I did only do 20 miles, and that was okay, but I don't feel like I RACED the distance, I just WENT the distance. Which was okay with me then, but isn't now.

For Ironman, I do only run about 20 miles as my longest long run. It might be up to 21 or 22 with warm-up/cool-down miles considered. I guess in that case you know that racing is going to be entirely different than training, so it's a matter of building endurance to carry you, and running long enough that you're confident you can jog, walk, shuffle, or crawl the last 4 miles if it comes to it.

RE: Running barefoot: I have been running in Five Fingers for about 5 weeks. The first week I did one run in them and wore them every day. The next couple of weeks I did every other run in them. Since then, I have done every run in them, including 2 runs of 14 miles. I have been listening to how my body recovers, and so far at this point my FiveFingers recovery time is the same as my body recovery time, but I do require extra stretching and attention to the ankles/calves (I have had to stretch my toes/top of my foot, too ). The first few runs were pretty painful (in a muscle sore way), then as I adjust my running posture I find I am using muscles like my adductors and glutes differently so they get sore, too.

I run on some concrete sidewalks, but mostly asphalt multi-user paved trails. Long runs I avoid as much concrete as possible and finish on grass. The Ironman run course is almost exclusively on asphalt, so I try to stick to it, even if I am not going to run Ironman in the VFFs.