Alright, another week down and another week to blog. Thanks so much for the feedback on the blog last week, I am so happy to hear about so many readers.
I got a question last week about the Saturday morning running group. I am a member of a group called USA Fit Team Spirit (no joke), and there are probably about 30 of us who run every Saturday morning at 7 am. You can learn more about this group here: http://www.usafitteamspirit.com/. I have also seen an even larger (and cheaper) running group in Atlanta called the Chattahoochee Road Runners http://www.crrclub.com/gtd.html. These groups are a great way to get a good Saturday run in. Otherwise, I am not sure if I could do it.
On to this week. As you all know, I have been battling shin pain for the last few weeks. This week I have made a few changes to combat this issue.
1. I am moving (at least temporarily) my Tuesday run to Monday. This way I don't have to run 3 days in a row.
2. I have made an effort to shorten my stride and make sure I am landing on the front of my feet rather than my heel.
I did the 3 miles on Monday night which was fine. Leslie and I had plans for the rest of the week so getting my runs in was going to be tough. I got up early Wednesday, and ran 6 miles with the shorter stride. Combined with the rest day on Tuesday, I was really encouraged about how good I felt. But, I felt like I ran a little slow.
After having some friends over late, there was no way I was getting up early Thursday morning to run. To make things even more difficult, Leslie and I went to Medieval Times with our friends Chris and Kristin Heiden. I can't say too much for the food there, and I knew that in order to really enjoy the experince, I was going to have to include some beer. But I still needed to run my 3 miles that night. If you have been reading the last two weeks you will notice I haven't been too good about finishing the Thursday run. As much as I didn't want to do the post-beer run, I don't want this to turn into a habit, so I took off a little bit tipsy. No records were set, but I was back on my training schedule of making all my runs.
Now my only concern was the 12 miler on Saturday. Saturday's are generally pretty good to me so I wasn't too concerned about my shins, but would I have the cardio strength to finish 12 miles? My longest run up to now has been 10 miles, so there were a lot of question marks. This week the group took off from the Carter Center and ran through downtown Atlanta, it is a hilly course with some interesting people watching along the way.
I was really pleased with the run, the first 8 miles went great. Mile 8 was a little tough but I powered through. I got some sort of second wind at mile 9 or 10. I was running so well that I dropped our group coach right before the last water stop. I was a little concerned at this point that I was running out of energy to burn, so I drank 2 extra cups of Powerade. Huge mistake. I felt like a swollen up leech trying to finish the run. I also got a stitch right behind my rib cage. I did suffer through the final 2 miles, but it wasn't fun. After about a mile and a half I got my stride back and was able to finish the last half mile pretty good. I did it, 12 miles!
Now I need to take what I learned an apply it to next week's training. I have 13 miles next Saturday, but I wont have the luxury of running with the group. Leslie and I will be visiting family in North Carolina. I expect this to make it a little bit tougher, so wish me luck.
Thanks again for the read!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Marathon Training Week 6: Wife Hijacks the Blog with a Little Q & A
This week was a step-back week 3-5-3 with a 7 miler on Saturday. I cross trained instead of running on Thursday to rest my shins. All the while, my wife had been (lovingly) complaining that my blog posts might be getting a little predicatable. (Rest day, short run, long run, aches, pains...) So I made her come up with a better idea for this week's post. She suggested asking me questions about my marathon training and I will answer honestly. Here goes:
Q.You have been struggling a lot with aches and pains during your training. Have you wanted to quit?
A. No. (Wife Blog Hijacker and anyone who knows Rob should not be surprised by this answer.) I haven't wanted to quit, but I have wondered if I would be able to continue increasing my mileage.
Q. How in the world do you get up at 6am on Saturday mornings for your group runs?
A. The group makes it easier that I'm not doing a long run by myself. Actually the large group is really made up of smaller groups. I am in the 9 minute milers group. We are like a little fraternity. (Misery loves company!) It's not like I'm the only one out there, so if I don't show up, others are affected too.
Q. What do you do when you have to pee during a run?
A. I haven't had to yet. But I have heard that in most long races there are porta-potties. I'm civilized. I will use them. Note: For those that are further interested in this topic, there is a YouTube video of Paula Radcliffe, female winner of the London Marathon who had to pee mid-race. If you so choose, you will see that she did not use the proper facilities. When you gotta go, you gotta go I suppose. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6I2-YP42rs)
(Wife Blog Hijacker: Apparently when becoming a marathoner causes you to lose your dignity.)
Q. What do you eat the night before a long run?
A. I'm not one of those runners that thinks the meal before affects your run. (This comes as great disappointment to Wife Blog Hijacker, who would only consider running great distances in order to take advantage of the giant pre-race spaghetti dinner.) I generally eat whatever I want, but try to eat a little less. And I don't snack after dinner. Which is close to impossible for me.
Q. What is your favorite piece of training equipment you have purchased?
A. Teaser: I will post more about marathon training paraphanalia in a later posting, but I would have to say my favorite is my new watch.
Q. What do you think about when you are running?
A. I'm not a good enough runner to think about anything other than running. Or not dying. I'm constantly calculating how far I've gone in both distance and time, and how far I have left to go. On Saturdays in my group runs, I think about how far I have to the next water stop. I also think about my shins. (WBH: apologizes for how boring these answers are. This guy is hard core. I kept asking, "Don't you think about what you are going to eat when you are done? Do you sing "We Are The Champions" in your head? Do you pretend someone is chasing you?" I didn't want readers to think I didn't try. He's really just this dull, errr, focused when it comes to his brain on runs.)
Q. Why don't you listen to music during your runs?
A. I sweat too much. I would sweat the ear buds off. (WBH: "Gross.")
Q. At this point, would you ever consider training for/running another marathon??
A. I'm withholding judgement until I finish my first. Aside from the shin pain, it has been an awesome experience. (WBH: Go Rob!)
Q.You have been struggling a lot with aches and pains during your training. Have you wanted to quit?
A. No. (Wife Blog Hijacker and anyone who knows Rob should not be surprised by this answer.) I haven't wanted to quit, but I have wondered if I would be able to continue increasing my mileage.
Q. How in the world do you get up at 6am on Saturday mornings for your group runs?
A. The group makes it easier that I'm not doing a long run by myself. Actually the large group is really made up of smaller groups. I am in the 9 minute milers group. We are like a little fraternity. (Misery loves company!) It's not like I'm the only one out there, so if I don't show up, others are affected too.
Q. What do you do when you have to pee during a run?
A. I haven't had to yet. But I have heard that in most long races there are porta-potties. I'm civilized. I will use them. Note: For those that are further interested in this topic, there is a YouTube video of Paula Radcliffe, female winner of the London Marathon who had to pee mid-race. If you so choose, you will see that she did not use the proper facilities. When you gotta go, you gotta go I suppose. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6I2-YP42rs)
(Wife Blog Hijacker: Apparently when becoming a marathoner causes you to lose your dignity.)
Q. What do you eat the night before a long run?
A. I'm not one of those runners that thinks the meal before affects your run. (This comes as great disappointment to Wife Blog Hijacker, who would only consider running great distances in order to take advantage of the giant pre-race spaghetti dinner.) I generally eat whatever I want, but try to eat a little less. And I don't snack after dinner. Which is close to impossible for me.
Q. What is your favorite piece of training equipment you have purchased?
A. Teaser: I will post more about marathon training paraphanalia in a later posting, but I would have to say my favorite is my new watch.
Q. What do you think about when you are running?
A. I'm not a good enough runner to think about anything other than running. Or not dying. I'm constantly calculating how far I've gone in both distance and time, and how far I have left to go. On Saturdays in my group runs, I think about how far I have to the next water stop. I also think about my shins. (WBH: apologizes for how boring these answers are. This guy is hard core. I kept asking, "Don't you think about what you are going to eat when you are done? Do you sing "We Are The Champions" in your head? Do you pretend someone is chasing you?" I didn't want readers to think I didn't try. He's really just this dull, errr, focused when it comes to his brain on runs.)
Q. Why don't you listen to music during your runs?
A. I sweat too much. I would sweat the ear buds off. (WBH: "Gross.")
Q. At this point, would you ever consider training for/running another marathon??
A. I'm withholding judgement until I finish my first. Aside from the shin pain, it has been an awesome experience. (WBH: Go Rob!)
Monday, August 16, 2010
Marathon Training: Week 5
This was a big week for me. My first double digit mileage run on Saturday, and a good 5 miler on Wednesday. Here is how it all went down.
The week started with a cross training on Sunday. Leslie and I decided to walk up Stone Mountain to get a good bit of exercise. This was fun, but walking the steep grade worked my calves a lot like a run would. I was a little concerned this may prevent me from fully recovering for my runs later this week. To further complicate the issue, we were running late (for something that I can't even remember) and had to run about a mile and a half back to the car. I felt remarkably good on this short one given that I had run 9 just the day before, so that was really promising.
Again I couldn't get up early this week to do my runs. So I am running at night to avoid the heat, and I have to run late after dinner. I know it isn't ideal, but at least I am getting the mileage in.
Tuesday was a generic 3 miler, easy peasy.
Wednesday is where things got interesting. I took off for a 5 mile run, and I could never seem to get comfortable. I suffered through the first two miles, but my shins were killing me. Again, I keep thinking back to marathon guru Jeff Galloway telling me, "Nobody ever died from shin splints." I felt like I might be the first. I also felt that if I stopped, the inflammation would get worse and my pain would get worse, so I tried to keep going. Almost 2 and half miles in I couldn't take it anymore. I stopped.... and I was right. The pain got worse. Since I was running a loop, I was at the furthest point from home. This totally sucked. I hobbled along, barely maintaining my balance for about half a mile. Little by little I felt like the pain was getting more manageable. I decided to try and run again when I got to the 3 mile mark. I began running and the pain didn't get any worse. In fact, I made it all the way back just 7 minutes behind schedule. This was really encouraging. I feel a lot better that with a little walking I can run through the pain of shin splints if they bother me during the race or on another training run.
However, I was also really disappointed. This is the first training run that I did any significant walking. Not a big deal, but what was more frustrating was wondering where this shin pain came from. I thought I had conquered this two weeks ago. Hopefully this was just a blip from walking the mountain and an additional run on Sunday.
The good news is with a little ice, rest, and training I think I got it back under control. I skipped Thursday's 3 miler for some cross training on the elliptical. This gave me no pain and prepped me for the 10 miler on Saturday.
I overslept on Saturday, and I was so mad at myself. It is difficult to do these long runs, so to do it by myself was not something I was looking forward to. I rushed over to where the running group met up and just took off..... I was 30 minutes late. My major concern was getting to the first water station and seeing all the water gone, or finding that it had already been picked up. Luckily for me it wasn't. I made it to the first water stop and drank some Powerade. Having burned off all of my anger, I was able to settle in to a rhythm and work on the rest of my run. It was really cool actually because by about mile 5 I started seeing a few other runners from the group (crossing my path). I actually even caught up to the slowest time group and passed them. Everything was great until the last water stop at mile 7. I arrived at the stop at the same time some others who were doing a 14 mile run, we all had 3 miles to go. I was going to come home with the cavalry. I think I drank a little too much water and I began to develop a stitch in my ribs. The 14 mile group took off so fast it was like they were running from a time bomb, I just couldn't keep up.
But whatever, I was doing okay on my own until the last mile. The last mile was almost all uphill. I barely made it to the finish, but I did make it. I was so pleased given the circumstances and with no shin pain to speak that I gave Leslie a call and we had a celebratory breakfast a J Christopher's. After 10 miles, nothing on my plate stood a chance.
All in all a great week given the curve balls thrown at me (currently watching the Braves as I write this). Next week should be a good step back week of 3-5-3 in the week and 7 on Saturday. I will keep you posted.
The week started with a cross training on Sunday. Leslie and I decided to walk up Stone Mountain to get a good bit of exercise. This was fun, but walking the steep grade worked my calves a lot like a run would. I was a little concerned this may prevent me from fully recovering for my runs later this week. To further complicate the issue, we were running late (for something that I can't even remember) and had to run about a mile and a half back to the car. I felt remarkably good on this short one given that I had run 9 just the day before, so that was really promising.
Again I couldn't get up early this week to do my runs. So I am running at night to avoid the heat, and I have to run late after dinner. I know it isn't ideal, but at least I am getting the mileage in.
Tuesday was a generic 3 miler, easy peasy.
Wednesday is where things got interesting. I took off for a 5 mile run, and I could never seem to get comfortable. I suffered through the first two miles, but my shins were killing me. Again, I keep thinking back to marathon guru Jeff Galloway telling me, "Nobody ever died from shin splints." I felt like I might be the first. I also felt that if I stopped, the inflammation would get worse and my pain would get worse, so I tried to keep going. Almost 2 and half miles in I couldn't take it anymore. I stopped.... and I was right. The pain got worse. Since I was running a loop, I was at the furthest point from home. This totally sucked. I hobbled along, barely maintaining my balance for about half a mile. Little by little I felt like the pain was getting more manageable. I decided to try and run again when I got to the 3 mile mark. I began running and the pain didn't get any worse. In fact, I made it all the way back just 7 minutes behind schedule. This was really encouraging. I feel a lot better that with a little walking I can run through the pain of shin splints if they bother me during the race or on another training run.
However, I was also really disappointed. This is the first training run that I did any significant walking. Not a big deal, but what was more frustrating was wondering where this shin pain came from. I thought I had conquered this two weeks ago. Hopefully this was just a blip from walking the mountain and an additional run on Sunday.
The good news is with a little ice, rest, and training I think I got it back under control. I skipped Thursday's 3 miler for some cross training on the elliptical. This gave me no pain and prepped me for the 10 miler on Saturday.
I overslept on Saturday, and I was so mad at myself. It is difficult to do these long runs, so to do it by myself was not something I was looking forward to. I rushed over to where the running group met up and just took off..... I was 30 minutes late. My major concern was getting to the first water station and seeing all the water gone, or finding that it had already been picked up. Luckily for me it wasn't. I made it to the first water stop and drank some Powerade. Having burned off all of my anger, I was able to settle in to a rhythm and work on the rest of my run. It was really cool actually because by about mile 5 I started seeing a few other runners from the group (crossing my path). I actually even caught up to the slowest time group and passed them. Everything was great until the last water stop at mile 7. I arrived at the stop at the same time some others who were doing a 14 mile run, we all had 3 miles to go. I was going to come home with the cavalry. I think I drank a little too much water and I began to develop a stitch in my ribs. The 14 mile group took off so fast it was like they were running from a time bomb, I just couldn't keep up.
But whatever, I was doing okay on my own until the last mile. The last mile was almost all uphill. I barely made it to the finish, but I did make it. I was so pleased given the circumstances and with no shin pain to speak that I gave Leslie a call and we had a celebratory breakfast a J Christopher's. After 10 miles, nothing on my plate stood a chance.
All in all a great week given the curve balls thrown at me (currently watching the Braves as I write this). Next week should be a good step back week of 3-5-3 in the week and 7 on Saturday. I will keep you posted.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Marathon Training: Week 4
Another week down, and it was wildly successful. To recap I had a 3-4-3 on Tue-Wed-Thur, followed up by a 9 on Saturday.
The week started with some easy cross training on Sunday. Monday is a rest day, which one of my favorite training days. Starting work and training on the same day would be too much, so I watch TV and lay on the couch. It can be really strenuous sometimes.
I had good intentions to run Tuesday morning, but when the alarm went off I realized there was no way I was getting up to run, God said so. The problem this presents is this....it is so hot in Atlanta right now, that it is almost impossible to run while the sun is up even late in the evening. Additionally, I had eaten a huge plate of fried chicken, so I needed time to digest. I wound up running my 3 miles at about 11:00 that night and I still felt like I was going to puke. Running so late meant that I wasn't going to run early the next day either.
If you remember, last week my four miler on Wednesday was brutal. This week I found a level course for my four miles and finished it no problem. Thursday I ran right before a storm blew in, so it was remarkably cool and easy run. It was so nice to finish all three runs in the week without the constant pain that I have had in the weeks prior.
All the stretching and massage has really paid off. Special shout out to my wife Leslie! Next time you see her tell her your back hurts and she will jump right on it.
After a rest day on Friday, I was really concerned about the jump to 9 miles on Saturday morning. Would I be able to handle it? I really thought my buddy Fabio may have to come pick me up and drive me to the finish. Some of you may consider this cheating, but I have yet to decide.
I was really happy that this Saturday morning was quite a bit cooler than the last two Saturday's have been. 7:00 came and I was off on my 9 miles. Small running group this week, so I was a little concerned the crowd I ran with may get lost. One of my biggest fears is that we will make a wrong turn and get lost from the other time groups while we will run 5 miles to nowhere and no water stops. Fortunately that has never happened, but I will let you know if it does and I live to tell about it.
However, we did miss the first water stop at mile 3 this week. Not off to a good start. I like taking water or gatorade at every stop; I trick my brain into thinking it is fuel to get me to the next stop. Stupid I know, but I think it works....sometimes.
There was no way I was going to miss the second water stop around mile 6. I was like a soldier on patrol looking for our little red crates beside the road. Fortunately we found it, and I don't think I was too dehydrated. After a minute or two it was back to the road. My quads had really tightened up.....I thought "oh no". It was manageable, but I was surprised that it happened. Marching on we finally made it to the finish. The only issue was I ran a 8 mile course, so I had to go out and do 1 more mile. This wasn't the most fun mile I had ever run, but I managed. It felt good not to cheat on my training plan too :)
Last week after my 5 mile run on Saturday, I put my legs in ice water to help with inflammation. While incredibly uncomfortable and borderline painful, I think it helped me recover for this week. So of course I did it again this week. Please enjoy the new photo of me celebrating another successful week of training.
Next week is another step forward, 3-5-3 and 10 on Saturday. Thanks so much for all your comments of support. I will post again next week.
The week started with some easy cross training on Sunday. Monday is a rest day, which one of my favorite training days. Starting work and training on the same day would be too much, so I watch TV and lay on the couch. It can be really strenuous sometimes.
I had good intentions to run Tuesday morning, but when the alarm went off I realized there was no way I was getting up to run, God said so. The problem this presents is this....it is so hot in Atlanta right now, that it is almost impossible to run while the sun is up even late in the evening. Additionally, I had eaten a huge plate of fried chicken, so I needed time to digest. I wound up running my 3 miles at about 11:00 that night and I still felt like I was going to puke. Running so late meant that I wasn't going to run early the next day either.
If you remember, last week my four miler on Wednesday was brutal. This week I found a level course for my four miles and finished it no problem. Thursday I ran right before a storm blew in, so it was remarkably cool and easy run. It was so nice to finish all three runs in the week without the constant pain that I have had in the weeks prior.
All the stretching and massage has really paid off. Special shout out to my wife Leslie! Next time you see her tell her your back hurts and she will jump right on it.
After a rest day on Friday, I was really concerned about the jump to 9 miles on Saturday morning. Would I be able to handle it? I really thought my buddy Fabio may have to come pick me up and drive me to the finish. Some of you may consider this cheating, but I have yet to decide.
I was really happy that this Saturday morning was quite a bit cooler than the last two Saturday's have been. 7:00 came and I was off on my 9 miles. Small running group this week, so I was a little concerned the crowd I ran with may get lost. One of my biggest fears is that we will make a wrong turn and get lost from the other time groups while we will run 5 miles to nowhere and no water stops. Fortunately that has never happened, but I will let you know if it does and I live to tell about it.
However, we did miss the first water stop at mile 3 this week. Not off to a good start. I like taking water or gatorade at every stop; I trick my brain into thinking it is fuel to get me to the next stop. Stupid I know, but I think it works....sometimes.
There was no way I was going to miss the second water stop around mile 6. I was like a soldier on patrol looking for our little red crates beside the road. Fortunately we found it, and I don't think I was too dehydrated. After a minute or two it was back to the road. My quads had really tightened up.....I thought "oh no". It was manageable, but I was surprised that it happened. Marching on we finally made it to the finish. The only issue was I ran a 8 mile course, so I had to go out and do 1 more mile. This wasn't the most fun mile I had ever run, but I managed. It felt good not to cheat on my training plan too :)
Last week after my 5 mile run on Saturday, I put my legs in ice water to help with inflammation. While incredibly uncomfortable and borderline painful, I think it helped me recover for this week. So of course I did it again this week. Please enjoy the new photo of me celebrating another successful week of training.
Next week is another step forward, 3-5-3 and 10 on Saturday. Thanks so much for all your comments of support. I will post again next week.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Marathon Training: Week 3
I know this one is a little late, so after 100s of emails begging me for the next update I have finally gotten around to it. Or.... my wife is watching the Bachelorette and I am bored, you decide.
So to recap, I had a 3-4-3 on Tue-Wed-Thurs this week. Tuesday was an easy 3 miles, no problem. Thursday was the first weekday run over 3 miles. I am sure I can do the distance but my course selection absolutely sucks. The 4 mile course I tried was a variation of one of my prior 3 mile courses. While it looked good on Google maps, it was hilly as.....(insert vulgar simile here).
It was so tough, I had to stop several times. While this isn't a terrible thing, those who know me well know that I hate "quiting" on something that I feel is attainable for me. I had to stop at about 2 miles because my hamstrings were so tight. After loosening them up, the real hills began. I have noticed that the hills are what really stresses my shins, and they were killing me this day!
What is interesting is that after I get home and ice them down, they don't hurt at all. I hope that means I am getting closer to getting over this.
I had a sports deep tissue massage scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, so I had high hopes that this would help me in my recovery. After getting the massage I have decided that there are very few things in life more painful than having a sore muscle squeezed until you think it popped. I am not certain if this will help me long term, but I will keep you posted.
On the advice of my massage therapist I sat out Thursday's 3 miler to recover from nearly dieing on that table. With a scheduled rest day Friday, it gave me plenty of time off for my 5 miles on Saturday. To make things better, my running group was scheduled to run at the river which is very very flat. While the run wasn't great, I finished fine and with no shin pain.
Elliptical for cross training on Sunday (no problem) and then off to the next week of training. I am a little anxious about next week, I have a 9 mile run on Saturday. Please wish me luck, I have never run this far before.
So to recap, I had a 3-4-3 on Tue-Wed-Thurs this week. Tuesday was an easy 3 miles, no problem. Thursday was the first weekday run over 3 miles. I am sure I can do the distance but my course selection absolutely sucks. The 4 mile course I tried was a variation of one of my prior 3 mile courses. While it looked good on Google maps, it was hilly as.....(insert vulgar simile here).
It was so tough, I had to stop several times. While this isn't a terrible thing, those who know me well know that I hate "quiting" on something that I feel is attainable for me. I had to stop at about 2 miles because my hamstrings were so tight. After loosening them up, the real hills began. I have noticed that the hills are what really stresses my shins, and they were killing me this day!
What is interesting is that after I get home and ice them down, they don't hurt at all. I hope that means I am getting closer to getting over this.
I had a sports deep tissue massage scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, so I had high hopes that this would help me in my recovery. After getting the massage I have decided that there are very few things in life more painful than having a sore muscle squeezed until you think it popped. I am not certain if this will help me long term, but I will keep you posted.
On the advice of my massage therapist I sat out Thursday's 3 miler to recover from nearly dieing on that table. With a scheduled rest day Friday, it gave me plenty of time off for my 5 miles on Saturday. To make things better, my running group was scheduled to run at the river which is very very flat. While the run wasn't great, I finished fine and with no shin pain.
Elliptical for cross training on Sunday (no problem) and then off to the next week of training. I am a little anxious about next week, I have a 9 mile run on Saturday. Please wish me luck, I have never run this far before.
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