Deep Water Running During Recovery

Recovery?  What’s that?  Well, Mr. Invincible is working on recovering.  I believe it is just a muscle strain on my lower right calf.  After spinning Thursday, I felt great.  So, Friday I was back out at the track for a 12 x 400 interval day.  The warm up was fine, but after a few intervals I could feel the pain coming back and getting worse.  After the 5^th interval, it was time to jog back to my hotel before I ran into deeper trouble.  I still got 5.5 good miles in.  Today I was going to test my hydration theory on a 20 mile run, instead, I am taking the day off from running.  Cutting the lawn and washing a few cars is my impact exercise for the day.  How am I going to get better as fast as possible and not lose my condition for Chicago?

The fastest way to heal my leg is to avoid running.  Water running, I’m told, is as option.  Here’s a great article on the subject:

http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/water.shtml

A quick trip to Academy and I am equipped for the new activity.  When will I be able to come back?  I spoke with a friend, Patrick, who was a distance coach at TCU and is now moving to California to coach at Cal. State, Long Beach.  . His diagnosis, serious over-training.  He advised no more than 2 Interval days in a week and not loading on the sprinting.  Cut back the long run by 30%.  Also, substituting a Tempo run for a Interval or Sprint workout might help and give me as much speed benefit.  I was encouraged.  Out of caution, I did the water running today.

Water running is a little weird.  Since the resistance as all around, you feel it moving legs forward and backward.  It took me about 20 minutes to get used to it.  After 45 minutes, I got a bad calf cramp in my left leg (not the hurting one) and I called it a workout.  As I write 30 minutes later, I feel like I had been out for a good, but not a hard run.  My legs are reasonably tired, but I feel pretty good. 

Tomorrow will be a tempo run test and I will find out if I need to spend a week in the water or just back off the hard speed work.  I registered for a 15K on Memorial Day (9 days away), so I hope to be back in the form I felt on Tuesday when I had a fast interval day and was overly pleased with myself.

Invincibility Lasts But a Moment

Yesterday I spoke of tremendous progress.  Coming off an endorphin high can do that.  Today, was to be an easy day and my sprints workout was just that.  My overall pace was just 8:45/m.  Toward the end, I felt a pain creep up and tug below my right calf.  Did I pull a muscle?  Perhaps something worse, a tendon?  How quickly we can go from euphoria and invincibility to great concern.  To me this is part of training on the edge, wherever your edge happens to be.

So, tomorrow I will likely bypass the interval workout I had planned and go to our gym for some serious spinning.  So, I will massage, ice, maybe even say a prayer for guidance as I try to hit the precise level of intensity that gives me progress without overtraining.

The point of all this is that I believe we all see ourselves as invincible until we get hurt.  You don’t have to be 18 to fall into this trap, but as you get older, you are more likely to suffer from this inflated self assessment.  In the meantime, enjoy the feeling, but keep from over extending.

Running Hard, Staying Hydrated

I know you are not supposed to look at individual training days and try to read any improvement conclusions into it, but I can't help myself.  Today was a good day.  I still am on my quest for the 3:30 finish at Chicago.  Now in stage 3 (http://marathonquest.blogspot.com/2007/08/speed-work-begins-looking-scary.html) of my plan to carve another 12 minutes off, I still have a long way to go.  

Today, I had another Interval day.  Will I ever enjoy an interval day?  I think I certainly enjoyed looking at the results.  After 3 anaerobic training days spread out over the past week or so, my pace today was under 7:30/mile.   To put this in perspective, my training pace today was faster than any race in which I have competed over 5 miles.  Today's run was 9 miles with 6 of those on the track. The 6 miles on the track was under 7:00/mile.  My plan seems to be working.  Here's the whole plan:

http://marathonquest.blogspot.com/2007/08/330-marathon-plan.html.

Hydration and Marathon Performance

I live in Fort Worth, Texas.  It’s hot all summer long.  On long runs (>15 miles), I notice my performance drops off.  Of course it gets harder to maintain pace.  Could it be running out of glycogen?  How about the heat here?  Maybe it’s dehydration?  Perhaps it is a combination of the above.

Here’s the physiology of heat and hydration.  You run, you get hot.  You sweat and cool off through evaporative cooling.  Of course this causes your body to pump blood to you skin area.  As you heat up, you have to work harder to pump the blood out to the skin areas.  Your heart rate goes up.  I sweat a lot in the heat.  Experts say you lose about 1 quart per hour.  I would say, at least.  If you are not hydrating enough, the water content of your blood goes down leading to greater viscosity of your blood.  Guess what, your heart has to work even harder and your heart rate goes up to pump that sludge out to your skin so you can cool off.

On my long runs of 2-3 hours, you can really see the hydration problem.  Remember 1Q/hour is lost.  I always drink at least 16oz. of water on my way out the door.  On long runs, I have a fuel belt with 4 7oz. bottles.  These I am taking at about 1 per ever 30-40 minutes.  I have a few places to refill if necessary.   Do you see the issue?  After 1 hour, I might be okay.  After 2 hours, I am at least 16 oz. low.  After 3 hours, I am 1 quart or more low.  Theoretically I was not drinking enough, but can we measure it in terms of my performance?

Let me share with you how my lack of hydration may have affected my physiology.  I use a heart rate monitor on many long runs.  My rate is in the rage of 142-150 when pacing 8:00 to 8:30 per mile or 70-75% of max.  What happens after 2 hours?  My pace slows to about 9:00/mile and my heart rate drifts up to between 152-160.  Did dehydration lead to this slower, yet harder running?  This weekend I will be running a 20 miler with a big change.  I will be carrying my 70oz. Fuel Belt and loading up with about 24oz. of water before I leave.  Come back Sunday to see how it turns out…

Making 5K's Part of Your Marathon Training

I am in the second week of my speed development stage (Stage 3 of my 3:30 marathon plan: see http://marathonquest.blogspot.com/2007/08/330-marathon-plan.html) on my way to Chicago.  Normally, this would be an interval day where going anaerobic is part of the plan.  To mix things up, a 5K or 10K can be a good substitute for an anaerobic training day.  Of course, if you are packing miles in and doing speed work, fast 5K’s are probably not going to happen.  So, when you set your goals keep in mind that it is training run more than a race.

If this had been a normal race, I would have limited myself to an easy 5-8 miles of running yesterday rather than the 16 miles I put in.  Also, I would have had a more moderate evening. Last night we kind of went over the top.  We had a fairly early meal at Del Frisco’s.  It was great but we had far too much wine for a per-race meal.  So, this morning I was a little concerned about how I would feel for the 5K.  

The 5K this morning started at 8:00 am.  A banana and some coffee got me going and I arrived 30 minutes early which gave me 15 minutes for a warm up and time to stretch out well.  My focus at the end of a 15 minute warm-up was on a few exaggerated strides and various sprints.  I felt loose and the air was relatively cool albeit windy.  The first mile came in a 6:43 and the rest were a little faster.  I ended with a Personal Record (PR) of 20:53.  I’m not sure how much faster I would have been without the 16 miles yesterday or the overindulgence of steak and wine, but I feel I am on track. The legs did not feel dead today. 

Today’s run was a substitute for an Interval day.  The 5K is probably about as effective for my anaerobic training as an interval day.  So, tomorrow, I am back to the track for sprints.  I think the hard part here is keeping balanced on the edge where I am training hard, but not overtraining.  All you can do is try to listen to your body is trying to tell you.

Dead Legs? Running Recovery Routines Work

Today I felt the signs of possible overtraining.  I ran 16.5 miles with some friends.  My legs felt dead even though yesterday was a relatively moderate day of sprint drills at the track.  As I have discussed, my training plan includes running 7 days per week.  Friends ask about my time to recover. I take a day off now and then when necessary due to travel constraints or when my body tells me I better by limiting my pace on a regular run.  If my pace is off by 45 seconds or so, on a 7-8 mile run, I consider this a good sign that I had better back off for a day.  My guess is that I changed up my recovery process yesterday making it harder to recover quickly, even from what was to be an easier day.  Here’s the recovery routine I go though that seems to work for me:

1. Stretch and Hydration – it feels good to stretch the muscles a bit right after running and of course is proven to prevent injury.  While I am doing this I down 16 oz. of Water followed up with another 16 oz. within the first hour or so.
2. Pool Kicking – thankfully I have a pool and have found kicking, water running, and any good movement in water to be really beneficial.  You can feel the quadriceps burn a bit as you kick. They feel really loose afterward. I am just doing 4-10 laps kicking in a 12 meter pool.  If you have access to one, give it a try.  It also allows your core temperature to come down quickly.   
3. Carbohydrate and Protein Replenishment – My preference is a protein smoothie (10 ice cubes, 12 oz. OJ, 1 banana, ½ cup of some other fruit such as blueberries, 2 tbls. flax seed, ~20 grams soy or whey protein, 1tsp L-Glutamine).  It’s easy, fast, great tasting, and good for you.  I also have a bagel, oatmeal, or buckwheat.  I have read that carbs. taken within the first hour of a hard workout are absorbed 66% better than those taken later.  Probably some proof to this.

I was back to my normal recovery plan today after skipping the pool work yesterday.  Tomorrow, I run a 5K in the morning.  After a 16 mile run and 65 miles for the week, I do not expect to set a PR, but it should be a good test of my recovery.  If I can be under 21:30, I would say I better not be skipping to pool when it is available to me.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Beginning of the Speed Cycle

We have already spent months on aerobic development.  The past month was hills and the beginning of leg speed work.   The next 4 weeks are all anaerobic development.  These weeks are a cycle of sprint workouts and interval workouts.  Today, I completed just my second interval workout.  It felt a little harder than the first, but it turned out to be a little faster.  It’s too early to know if the speed is coming, but today showed me that the earlier work is paying off.

Back in March I ran a fairly well attended 8K.  My pace was good and I felt good about my 5^th place in my age group.  Looking at today’s intervals I looked at my pace during the 5 full miles I measured at the track. Again, these are 400 meters at interval pace and 400 meters at a jog.  The average pace over the 5 miles measured was 7:03/mile, or 13 seconds per mile faster than my 8K race pace.  This was great evidence that the volume and intensity of the past few months are indeed paying off. 

If you are a beginning runner who is getting serious, let me put this progress in perspective.  My first club run was a 4 mile race in June of 2006.  I felt like I was going to die and my pace was 8:25/mile.  Now, just more than a year later, my hard training pace is just over 7 minutes per mile.  You can do it too.   As for my speed work, only time will tell. 

First Intervals

Tuesday was my first real track interval day.  Speed work does scare me a bit.  It’s new to me, it feels weird, it’s hard, and the injury threat seems real.  All of that said, I felt good about the first workout.  I did not use the work like, but it felt great to move fast and keep moving fast over 12 repetitions.  No doubt it was hard on my body.  My hips are sore, but  am not really feeling exhausted.   If you thought you could not do track work or speed work, think again.  By the end of this phase, I will put in 24 speed workouts.  Will I have the speed to make a 3:30 marathon seem easy?  I’ll keep you posted.

Speed Work Begins - Looking Scary

Monday was my first real day of speed work. While I am 45, I had never really spent a full hour on a track working on speed. Everywhere you turn, folks caution you about speed work and the probability of getting injured. I hope to beat the odds by closely following my plan. I am still running 7 days per week with 6 of these on the track. Hard interval days alternating with easier sprints. Here are the plan points:

• A 15 minute easy warm up. (it takes me about that long to the TCU track or the track I use in Austin).
• An interval workout or sprints as specified below
• A 15 minute cool down run home
• Post workout recovery (this is my own): (1) Stretching and hydration, (2) 5 minutes of kicking in the pool, (3) A bagel and protein smoothie (I take some powder and L-glutamine with me on trips to mix with juice) within the first hour as well as another 16 oz of water.

This goes on alternating days, 6 days per week (on Saturday or Sunday, you get a long easy run in) for 4 weeks. 24 total workouts.

As for the specific track work-outs:

On the Sprint days:

(1) 10-15 minutes of 70-100 meter extended strides with a 3 minute jog in-between sprints.

(2) 5 minute jog

(3) 10-15 minutes of 70-100 meter high knee upright on toes sprints with a 3 minute jog in-between sprints.

(4) 5 minute jog

(5) 10-15 minutes of 70-100 leg turn-over sprints (moving the legs as fast as possible) with a 3 minute jog in-between sprints.

Yesterday was my first day of sprints. It felt pretty good, though my form did not feel as good. The speed was a great feeling and I left with no injuries.

On interval days:

200, 400, 600, 800, or 1000 meter intervals with the same distance job between each. Total distance should be up to 5,000 meters. Your body has to be the judge as to how many to do I am told.

Today was my first interval workout. Read about it tomorrow once I know more about how I really feel….

Extended Tempo Runs

In the September issue of Runners World there was a long article covering various tips from at least 10 notable elite runners.  Pete Pfitzinger, top American finisher in the ’84 and ’88 Olympic marathon, talked about the value of Tempo runs and suggests lengthening them.  So, you might start with a couple mile warm-up and 20 minutes of tempo, Pfitzinger suggests lengthening this gradually.  This fits my running temperament. 

I was planning on putting more Tempo runs into practice weekly until Chicago, but Saturday I did a 16 mile reverse split and figured I could save it for Wednesday.  Then Sunday, as I got out along the river hitting my running economy pace of 8:40, I was feeling strong.  So, at 4 miles, I picked it up to 7:10/mile for the next 3 miles.  It was hard, but easier than I had anticipated.  More importantly, it felt good without exhausting me.  Pfitzinger sees these tempo runs as a good substitute for some track/speed work.  He also likes it because the reduced likelihood of injury.  So as I start my speed work phase of me training for Chicago, I will try to work in some additional Tempo runs.  These seem ideal for the co-ordination phase of my training.  So far, they feel good.

The 3:30 Marathon - The Plan

Maybe you are already doing 3:00 marathons.  For me, I want to qualify for Boston.  So, I have 12 minutes to take off my last marathon to get to 3:30.  That’s a lot, but I think I can do it with an effective plan, some cooler weather, and the absence of needing to stop for any reason.

I am borrowing my plan mostly from the playbook of Arthur Lydiard.  Lydiard (http://lydiardfoundation.org/) has been somewhat re-discovered.  His training methods stressed high mileage. Some of his ideas are a bit dated and many would disagree with some of his recommendations.  However, there is little doubt his methods work.  Key to the Lydiard method is a combination of volume and intensity while following a set of stages in specific order.  All of these stages lead to the “Big” race.  Here are the stages:

1)       Aerobic Conditioning (10-12 Weeks) – This is the foundation.  Gradually building miles to 100+ per week.  I’m not going to get there, but by upping my schedule to 7 days per week, 3 long runs per week (2 at 90 min. and a long weekend run over 120 min. and 4 – 60 min. runs) my mileage got up to between 60 and 70 without killing me.  It’s now pretty comfortable.  If your body tells you to take a day off now and then, do it.  This period should last 10-12 weeks, but the longer, the better.

2)       Hill and Leg Speed Work (4-6 weeks) – Now it’s time to start building some leg speed and strength.  You still keep your long weekend run at a moderate pace and then alternate hill workouts and leg speed drills.  On the hill workout days, I have a steep, long hill in the neighborhood.  Warm up for 15 minutes before you get to the steep hills.  Going very slowly you spring up the hill.  Knees are high, all the power comes from the back leg which straightens out on the push-off.  The center of gravity goes up and down (your are slowly bouncing up the hill).  The pace is slow, but it is a significant workout.  The as you go down and back for the hill again, 50 meter wind sprints are spaced out in the flatter areas.  After you have been out for about 60 minutes, take a 10-15 minute jog back.  I like to finish with 3-5 stride-outs as I come into home.  Get some good relaxed stretching in after this.  On the alternate days, leg speed work is the task.  This is easier.  After a 15 minute warm up, find a gradual hill and do 10 x 100 yard down-hill runs on 3-4 minute intervals.  The goal of these runs are to develop leg speed.  Moving the legs as fast as possible while still maintaining a relaxed tall running posture.  The slope will help you get your legs going faster, but it should be just a gradual decline.  You weekly mileage will likely drop 5-10 miles as you focus on hills.  This period should last about 4 weeks, but 6 is fine if it works with your schedule toward the big race.  I just completed this stage, and I feel it helped prepare me for the speed work to come.

3)       Anaerobic / Speed Development (4 weeks) – Now we go to the track and work on intervals and other anaerobic speed drills.  Lydiard stresses that you should not get too hung up on the specific number of intervals or distance, only that you should come off the track feeling you could not have done too much more or gone too much faster.  Your total distance of fast running should be no more than about 3 miles. In my case, I will likely do 800 meter repeats with an 800 meter jog in between.  Consider 12 x 400, 6 x 800, or 5 x 1,000.  These are hard workouts and need to be on alternate days due the physiological affects of blood pH.  On the easier alternate days, following a 15 minute warm-up, a series of 10-15 minute drills with 5 minute jogging breaks consisting of: (a) leg stride drills running 70-100 meters exaggerating the length of strides with a 3 minute jog after each, (b) running tall with knees high and on toes over 70-100 meters with a 3 minute jog after each, and (c) leg turn-over drills trying to move the legs as fast as possible over 70-100 meters with a 3 minute jog after each.  The good news is that you max out your anaerobic development after 4 weeks.  From there, it’s just maintenance.

4)       Co-ordination (4 weeks) – This final training phase is about getting used to your race conditions.  If it is a marathon, that means running a few 20-22 miles.  A lot of the training is at marathon pace for the shorter runs (up to 16 miles).  For the longer runs, try breaking the run into a short warm-up (2 miles), 5-6 miles at marathon pace + 40 seconds, 5-6 miles at marathon pace + 20 seconds, and finishing the final 5-6 miles at marathon pace.  The goal is to gradually build the tempo over a 4 week period. 

5)       Freshening Up (last 1 ½ Weeks) – During your last 10 days, lighten the load.  Lydiard says to train every day but at very low efforts.  For me, I will take the Friday before off and just run 2-3 light miles on Saturday before the marathon.

The Quest for Boston

Okay, I am only but one of thousands of serious runners who have set their sights on Boston.  My next series of posts will focus on how I plan to get there.

Here’s where I am now:  Last Marathon was Oklahoma City where I finished in 3:42, a PR. 

To get to Boston as a 45 year old male, I need to do it in 3:30 (in Chicago on 10/7).  Can 12 minutes be done in one shot?  I would have to say, generally no.  However, here’s what I have going for me:

1)       Oklahoma City was HOT and the route was a series of little rises and falls.  Chicago is flat and much cooler on any October Morning.  Take at least 4 minutes off there.

2)       In Oklahoma City, at mile 23 I could not wait any longer and had to do a serious porta-potty break.  You know what I mean and it is more information than you need.  Take at least 2 minutes off.

So, I consider my real drop needs to be in the 6 minute range.  Hard, but doable.  Finally -

3)       Before Dallas White Rock and OKC I was logging 40 mile weeks.  Since OKC in April, I have been logging 50-60 miles per week at faster paces than ever in the hot / humid heat of a Texas summer. 

Next Up – The Plan