Second Wind

Very difficult long run for me today.  Today ends the highest mileage week ever for me and February was the highest mileage month ever.  I guess it stands to reason that I am a little fatigued and didn't feel refreshed and ready to tackle 18 today.  The main thing is that I got through it at a fairly respectable pace for me but suffered a bit of pain getting there.  The lower back muscles were screaming and my energy level was low.  I look forward to a the one day of rest before going 59 miles next week.  Weather was perfect for the run today with temps in the low 50s and no wind to speak of.  Ran most of the run in shorts and a long sleeve shirt.  I think its official....spring has sprung.

Time:  8:31/mile

Rest.

Regular run of the mill 6 miler today.  Added 6 x 100 meter strides today during miles 5-6 so had a couple of faster miles today.  Ran a course that I usually save for the weekends today and really enjoyed breaking up the monotony of going around and around our development.  Plus this course has a couple of gentle hills to add a little challange and variety.  Temps were a little cooler than they had been all last week at about 45 degrees and a 10 mph wind out of the north.  My back seems to be bothering me a little more as the grind of training is starting to wear out my clunky old body.  This is about the time in the training cycle when the wheels have come off the last couple of times I have trained for a marathon.  I hope to at least keep the wheels on this time even if they are wobbling a bit.  Part of the reason that this time might be more of a struggle is the increase in miles that I am running compared to the previous two training cycles when I didn't even reach 50 miles in a week.  If I can survive this week I will be feeling pretty good about making it through at least the following two weeks since they will be a small cut-back in mileage.

Time:  8:06/mile

Another mid week medium long run.  Pfitzinger is famous for these and they are really starting to wear me down.  I had to make two pit stops during this run so needless to say I was way behind schedule this morning getting ready for work.  Legs are feeling pretty wiped out today so hopefully I will get some nice recovery before thursdays LT run.  It will be the most brutal so far on the plan and I am feeling the worst so far on the plan.  Like I said, I hope to get some good recovery before then.  Weather continues to be a little cooler than last week but I can't complain with 45 degree temps and very little wind.

Time:  8:26/mile

Gusty windy day.  Body needed a day off.  Whatever excuse works.....no running today.

Taking yesterday off turned out to be a good move although I was highly doubting it at the time.  Sure it was windy yesterday and my body was screaming for me to take a day off and get some recovery.  I didn't even sleep that well after I made the decision not to run and went back to bed.  I kept waking up every 10 minutes thinking "I should just get up and go running."  Our minds are very powerful things and sometimes our minds want to do what our body is telling us not to do.  So in the end I think I made the right choice to get a little more recovery. 

Today I was scheduled for a 6 mile tempo run.  I hadn't really made up my mind how fast I wanted to try and run the tempo miles today but by about mile two of the warm up I decided I would shoot for all tempo miles under 7:00/mile pace.  If I crashed and burned at least I gave it a try.  And I really like this quote:  "You'll never know if you don't try. And never knowing comes with its own unique torture."  So needless to say, I went for it.......and here are my splits:  6:52, 6:50, 6:56, 6:58, 6:57, 6:58.  That last 6:58 was a lot of work, I really had to give it up for the last quarter mile to squeek in under 7:00.  I think this marks my longest and fastest tempo run to date.  It was a hard work out but rewarding to know that I could run a 10K at a 6:55/mile pace or better.  My goal for the upcoming Spectrum 10K is to keep it under 43:00.  With the generally downhill course I think I have a really good shot.  The weather was pretty good this morning at about 45 degrees and 5-10 mph breeze out of the north (as is usually the case).

Time:  7:34/mile

Took it really easy today and had an enjoyable recovery run.  Finally a day with now wind and comfortable temps.  Will spend the day loading up on a few carbs in preparation for tomorrows 20 miler.  Oooooooooo.....can't wait!!  Nothing else exciting today.

Time:  8:41/mile

Doing the big nasty today!  The first 20 miler of the season and I would say it was a pretty good success.  Learned a couple of things that I really need to work on more.  I appologize if this is yucky but I had to stay fairly close to home for the first few miles due to needing the facilities twice within the first 10 miles.  What the heck!  At least I had the sense to stay close to home but......what the heck!  I think my mini carb load on Friday night went a l ittle too far and I ended up paying for it today.  When I prep for the marathon I will begin carb loading 2-3 days in advance and will not eat like a pig in the process.  Other than that minor stick in the spokes everthing seemed to go really well.  Took it pretty easy the first 15 miles where we averaged about 8:37/mile.  Then Meg started hurting and I wanted to pick up the pace for the last 5 so like a bad husband I left her and decided to see if I could keep the pace under 8:00 to finish off the run.  My final 5 splits were as follows: 8:02, 7:56, 7:57, 7:45, 7:28.  I wanted to pick that last mile up to marathon pace just to get a feel for marathon pace on tired legs.  I was amazed at much easier that pace is becoming.  A good sign that the training is working for sure.  I was also amazed that I felt so much better during the last 5 miles than the first 15.  I can't explain why going faster felt better but it did.  Maybe it was the change of stride, pace, effort, whatever but it seemed to really help me feel better and run easier.  For the first 20 miler of the year, I am happy.  I'm also happy that I am still relatively healthy at this point in the training.  Let's just hope it continues.  By the way it was a beautiful morning for a run.  When we started it was 52 degrees with a 5-10 mph breeze.  After about the first two miles there was little to no wind and the morning was perfect.  Couldn't have asked for better running weather.

Time:  8:24/mile

Rest.

Nice and easy recovery run today.  Didn't feel all that easy as I still had some lingering fatigue in the legs.  My back has also continued to bother me more than I like.  The end of this week represents the half way point of the 18 week training plan for Ogden and I feel like it's gone well so far.  Hopefully the back holds out for a couple more months.  The weather was nice again today with only a light breeze and temps in the mid 40s.  My longest mid week medium long run of the training plan is tomorrow (14 miles).  That distance will require me to be up by 3:30 and on the road by 4:00 to have a chance of being done by 6:00.  I guess we'll se how that goes tomorrow.

Time:  8:51/mile

I am so glad that this is the one and only mid week 14 mile run of this training program.  Waking up an hour earlier than usual is a lot more painful than it sounds.  The first words out of my mouth this morning as I stumbled out of bed were "this is crazy."  I have been having a little tightness in my calf the last few days as well as the usual back pain and I wasn't feeling really great yesterday so getting up this morning I didn't know what to expect from my body or what it could handle.  The first few miles felt much easier than expected and as those long runs progress and you get into a good rhythm the aches and pains tend to numb away into nothing.  Well I wouldn't say they numbed away into nothing but they were bearable and I was able to handle the run without too much trouble.  The weather was really good this morning with no wind and the temp at 55 degrees.  The rest of the week is pretty light which will be good for preparing for the Spectrum 10K this weekend.  Hopefully give my body a chance to mend itself a bit before the race.

Time:  8:17/mile

Took it really easy today in order to have a true recovery day.  Still a little concerned about the lingering tenderness in the left calf and shin area.  Will continue to take it easy for the next couple days leading up to the race to hopefully give it time to heal up.  Weather was great again today with the temp around 55 and a light breeze.  Nothing else exciting to report.

Time:  8:50/mile

Nothing bugs me more than missing a day of running, well I guess being injured bugs me more, that's why I missed a day of running.  This darn nagging calf muscle just won't go away.  I'm pretty sure it's not serious because I can still run on it without earth shattering pain but I keep thinking I better not push it or it might get worse.  I don't know what this does for my chances and the Spectrum 10K this weekend, maybe it will feel better by then.  I guess one thing I've learned in my short 2 year running career is it's much better to be slightly undertrained for a race than to arrive at the starting line with nagging injuries.....and it's much better to let the injuries rest sooner rather than later.  So with that, we will see how it goes tomorrow.

Took it really easy today and just tried to test out the calf.  Still a bit painful and as of right now I am not sure how I will run the race tomorrow.  It may come down to a starting line decision as to how fast to run.  If it's still painful at least I will be able to run with my dad and sister and that is not a bad choice at all.

Time 8:51/mile

Arrived at the race a little before 8:00 a.m. and did some light running to test out my calf.  It was feeling pretty good.  Probably due to the cool weather, adrenaline, or race day jitters.  Ended up doing a couple miles warm up before boarding the busses for the starting line.  It was nice to meet some of the fellow bloggers on the bus.  Ended up meeting Steve Hooper, Mike Warren, Dave Holt and Clyde Behunin.  Man those guys are in good shape.

The starting line was fairly well organized and felt much more organized than my prior two St. George races (Painters and Snow Canyon).  I did see several people hikning back down the hill from where they had been told the starting line was at including my wife, dad and sister.  Anyway with the good organization we knew when and where the race was going to start and the staggered buses to the starting line allowed us to get our mandatory trip to the POPs over without too much of a wait.

The start went as anticipated....very fast.  Having run the Snow Canyon half a few months ago I knew what to expect from the downhills.  The race didn't start as high up the canyon as the half but the first mile was still pretty steep and fast.  I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my legs and pace under control and came out of the first mile feeling pretty good about a 6:18 split.  The second mile is when the rolling hills started popping up.  They aren't very long or steep but they are often and they have a tendency to throw off your rhythm.  So I struggled for the next couple miles going up and down and up and down these little rollers.  Finally about mile 3 we got into a fairly gentle downhill and I was right at 20:00 at mile 3.  The little rollers were over but the longer hills were still ahead not really all that steep but enough to make you know your working.  (I run on almost perfectly flat roads every day of the week so any kind of hill is work for me).  The nice thing at the 4-5 mile point of the race is I still feel pretty good and I am able to actually get some people in my sites and pass them.  The last small climb started at about mile 5 and I knew the finish would be generaly downhill/level so at about 5.7 I started to pick up the pace and got one more guy in my sights and picked him off.  At about 6.1 he snuck back in behind me and picked me off right at the finish.  I thougt I had him put away but somehow he came back and nailed me.  That stinks!  But I am still happy with the results overall and happy about the effort.

The calf is a bit sore after the race and I have kept a compression wrap on it and elevated for most of the day.  Luckily this next week is a recovery week for Meg and I in our marathon training so it will give me a chance to really nurse it along and try to get better before the final big push for Ogden.

As usual the fast running blog made a great showing with several runners in the top 10 and MarcieJ winning the overall womens.  Great job Marcie!  Gimpy hamstring.....bah!

Rest.

AM

35 minutes on the elliptical this morning and probably another 30 tonight if I can get to it.  I may spend this whole week on the elliptical depending on how the calf injury is coming along.  Will hopefully find time for some additional cross training as well.

PM

Another 35 minutes on the elliptical tonight.  Man that thing is harder than running.  When I get off my legs feel like jello.

AM

60 minutes on the elliptical this morning.  I am amazed at how tought this work out really is.  I get my heart rate up to around 140 and the resistence is tough.  I also did some leg extensions and some crunches on the ball.  Calf is feeling better with the break from the pounding but still got a way to go to get where I want it to be.  Hopefully with the tough elliptical workouts I won't lose too much cardio and can jump right back into marathon training when I'm healed.

PM

30 more minutes on the elliptical.  Really good workout.  More core work and a few leg extensions.

60 minutes ont he elliptical again.  Calf seems to be improving as I am feeling less pain when going up and down stairs.  Iced the calf and knee last night for about a half an hour, maybe that helped a bit too.  I'm not going too crazy yet because I am satisfied with the level of difficulty for this workout on the elliptical.  The perceived effort is equal too or greater than running and the cardio seems to be right there.  At the peak my heart rate can get up close to 160 which for me is about an 7:50-8:00/mile effort.  It's not running but it's good for the moment.

60 Minutes on the elliptical this morning.  Tried a couple of different pre-programmed workouts just to mix it up a little.  They were not as hard as the original workout I had been using but still a good workout.  Got a minor blister on my right foot, probably from trying to push it to hard and that's what happens when you are running in place.  The calf is about the same as it has been and still not ready to run on.  I may take a complete break tomorrow and just do some weight and core training.  I don't know if the elliptical is irritating it or helping it.

Took a day off just to let the calf rest and hopefully allow it more time to heal.

Another day of complete rest. Hoping to get this thing healed soon.

Rest.

Got out and went for my first run since Spectrum this morning. Calf felt better than expected but still not where I want it to be. Stride and pace felt very clunky, which I guess is expected after a week off. May continue to run very low miles for the rest of the week just to evaluate the situation. It was nice to be out running again.

Got in three more slow miles today.  Spent some time after the run doing some good stretching.  Still not sure where I am with this thing.  I guess if I can continue to run some short easy runs like this I will keep doing it and see if the situation improves.

Well, I've started a slow progression back to the world of the living.  Another slow run today but was able to pick up the pace slightly keeping the average under 9:00/mile for the run.  The calf is still a little bothersome but seems to be on the mend a bit.  It feels really good right now and seems to come and go throughout the day.  I have a feeling all of this is related to my on going lower back issues.  I had back surgery at 21 and have had spans of good and bad times ever since.  Hopefully things will settle down back there and I can get back to normal.

A slow 6 today.  Still keeping things pretty easy just trying to see how my body handles a few extra miles.  Things went fair today.  The injury is still a bit bothersome but doesn't seem to be getting any worse.  It's hard to tell if it's getting any better because it has felt about the same for the past 4 days when I run, however the pain during the day seems to be easing up a bit (even without the drugs) so that's a good sign.  Still in the wait and see mode.

Rest.

Ran with the group of guys doing the Wasatch Back relay in June and actually felt pretty darn good.  I was amazed at my recovery and how I am still feeling a couple of hours after the run.  Hopefully this is good news that I am on the mend and will continue to get better.  I will probably keep the distance and intensity pretty minimal next week as well so as not to mess up a good thing and that will leave me with 3-4 good strong weeks before Ogden to get the mileage and intensity back up.  Seems like I always run a little faster with these guys and our course was out and back with wind and uphill on the out and no wind and downhill on the back.  The last 5 miles were all right around marathon pace.  The elevation gain was around 475 according to the Garmin.  Good run, good course, will have to try that one again with Meg sometime.  Good mild hill training.

Rest.

Trying to get back into the swing of things this week.  I will not get back on to the Pfitzinger program this week but will try to start to bring my miles back up to around 40 or so.  Will probably be looking to just keep the intensity pretty low and just log some miles and try to get back to where I need to be with only 7 weeks out from Ogden.  The calf tightness has become bearable now but it has caused my arch to start hurting a bit so I am doing a series of stretches each day to try and keep everything loose in that leg.  I'm not better yet but I am better than I have been.  At least now I am able to run without excruciating pain.  Hopefully the trend continues.

In a month were I was planning on running 234 miles I ended up with 139....95 short of my goal.....but happy to at least have gotten the miles I got and am now hopefully on the mend.