10 weeks of reconstruction

Back to Square 1

October 18th last year saw me drop out of the half marathon at MEC race 7. I stopped after 14 km to avoid the catastrophe of completely knotted hamstrings. 

A break from running is the worst kind of break, but I took the next 2 weeks off. I used the time to plot my comeback for a fun 2016. 

Gentle start

November's plan was to do short distances at low speed. My first run back was a quiet and easy 5k. 

Just a week later was the Banff Winterstart, 8km in the dark. While I could see the attraction of it, the dark and therefore unsighted slippery patches had me on edge. Feeling uneasy, slow and rather weak, I was relieved to finish more than anything. 

The rest of November was uneventful, just as I had wanted. 

Base Camp

December and January was the next phase: building a base. Very small doses of faster speeds went into fairly low but gradually growing mileage. 

Persistence, even on Christmas Day and patience in watching speed, strength and a little endurance gradually return. 

MEC race 1 in mid-January, a 5k, was a nice early early test. I performed quite well despite the cold and lack of grip. 

Even though my new watch goes a little funny at the start of downtown runs - I didn't actually run through the Provincial Court by way of a karaoke bar - I have gradually been piecing myself back together.

Yoga has been part of injury prevention, and a de-stressing counterbalance to life in general. Heart rate 40-90 bpm. 

Sharpening 

Now the tough work, the specific training plan, begins. 

145km ran in January, my highest monthly total since September. It's all uphill from here. 

November, easy & yoga

November, we will rebuild

Easing my way back to running, I kept the runs short - single figures - and quite slow. 

Strength training is even more vital than ever, got to get the core strong. Here's A-Chang and I getting our planks in on our anniversary. 

It's time too to reacquaint myself with slippery pathways, despite being able to sneek in a few runs in shorts (my thanks to Tammy Li for the photo). I managed 96k for the month, only doing 60 in October as I had to take a break at the end of the month. 

November was also a time make 2016 training plans and schedule races, all while enjoying the oven-fresh naans along the way. Subjects for another post.

OooohhhmmmMG

A-Chang wanted to take yoga classes once again, so I decided to join her once a week. 

It's a bit far from home, but is a friendly place that avoids a few of the pretensions that have put me off other venues. 

I do a bit of yoga at home too. The class I try to get to is called "happy hips", an obvious choice for runners. 

Streaking into 2016

I got out to Marda Loop for the start of the Strides Streak. I enjoyed my first run across the dam that wasn't during a race. My runfie face badly needs work though. 

My weekly totals in November: 15.3k, 23.7k, 24.9k, 26.9k. With my 'winter legs' coming back, December is the start of base building. For the first time, I'm following my first base-specific plan. 

The intention is to be in better shape than ever in February when the sharpening phase begins. Those PBs don't run themselves, so let's go. 

Disclosure: 

As a Calgary Marathon ForeRunner, I have been given a entry to participate in the 2016 race, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

50k: 5 days to go and marathon 1 year on: how's the toenail?

A badge of honour so say some, my right foot's big toenail ran into trouble at last year's Calgary Marathon. Here it is a couple of weeks later, being inspected by a cat at a bookstore in Seoul, Korea. 

My toe became swollen right after the race, bled underneath the nail and became detached. Advised to leave well alone, I did. The new one has slowly grown behind, and partially over it. 

On the eve of my first 50k exactly a year later, the old nail is just about gone, no longer a double nail. What's waiting for me next? Just like the race itself, it's a mystery. In a race, we all experience many sensations, including discovering something unknown of oneself. 

"No race begins at the startline," as Haile Gebrselassie once said. Toenail trouble or not, it will confirm another of the great man's adages, "running gives you everything". 

Extending the limits

The runs are getting longer and faster, it's getting warmer and windier, and my trousers are getting looser: it must be April. 

While the first week of May is peek training before tapering, for annual participants in the Calgary Marathon it is April that sees the hardest work. 

Training is all about getting in better shape, for race day or otherwise. Going about it the smart way involves runs that challenge you, and get you to go a little further still. Each time you do this, the body adapts that little bit extra. Come race day, your limit is beyond where it used to be. 

Gearing up for a 50k, my extreme endurance ability needs work. Last year I trained using Hanson's method. 6 runs per week left little space for core work, or any other work. It also puts the longest long run at 26k. The point is more about accumulated fatigue. 

This year it's the First/ run less run faster program. The 3 easy runs (out of the total of 6) are replaced with 2 cross training workouts (rowing machine and exercise bike in my case) and a core workout. Each of the 3 runs in the program is a challenge - a truly long run, a tempo, and punishing speed work. The thinking is to work harder on the runs and include one that's closer to race conditions, all while promoting fuller recovery between them (though still working hard on non-run days). 

In each of the 4 marathons I've done, my right hamstring (or both) has seized up. I PB'd last year by 5 minutes due to managing that problem smartly, even though it did still happen. Still, this time around on my way to my first 50k ultra, sundays feature more 30k+ runs than ever before (5 to be exact, along with 2x 29k, 2x 26k, a 27 and 2x tempo half marathons). 

The length of these sunday outings allow me to link together old routes from before I moved house with current ones. From brush, to streetscape, to alpine. I like the sound of "I ran Fish Creek Park in its entirety." 

My legs tend to feel toasted by about 27/ 28k. Changing to a more shuffling style to protect the hamstrings, I've found I can keep going at target race pace. It's at about my fat-burning pace I have found: legs feel awful, but I can keep going. It has often produced a mental image of a steam train fireman shovelling coal as fast as he can. Or buckets of fat. 

Speed runs have me running, or for the first month of the plan flailing and gasping, at higher speeds than ever before. Despite using a gps watch, it's hard to get the right speed. Frequently, I start off too fast. For example, a recent 6x 800m: I'd do the first 500m 20 seconds per km too fast, then cling on. Misjudgments like that make the final intervals hard to complete, but if it's difficult, it's doing you good. 

My tempo runs are less strenuous, though the shorter ones are rather high speed and burn a little at the end.

Amongst all of that, and moving house at the end of this month, I've still found time to make it to a few Calgary Marathon events. Honorary Chair Chandra Crawford, an Olympic gold medallist in cross country skiing is tackling the Half, and has a strong message about perseverance with fun. That is what it is all about - every runner is a case study in the triumph of the human spirit. 

50 Shades of White

Is it 2015 yet? 2014 is ending with a touch of the weird. Late November had me wearing NASA surplus to plough through deep snow in -25.

Then, in a surreal turn, the snow starts melting. In December, there are now March problems such as melt-freeze, but with excellent traction otherwise. This time last year, I felt I needed to carry a shovel on my runs. 

Still, there's the long honed winter running habit: checking the ground ahead, analyzing the colour of the snow/ ice, the shade the piece of ground gets, recent weather, previous years' traction, etc. All within a split second to decide whether to slow down or not.

Core workouts are proving effective with the new program after I made a few changes, mostly by adding weights to few of the exercises. 

Is there a song called "Shorts In December"? I might some alt lyrics to "Gone Till November", though it'll be January by the time I get to it. 

My left calf/ achilles tightness is gradually fading, and I'm working my way into my training program for Studio 54 (50k in 4 hours on May 31, Calgary marathon weekend). 

I need to get out of a bad habit: I've noticed that my left toes are unnecessarily gripping - my foot seems upturned and not smoothly rolling. With that, I notice that the left leg seems also to plunk down and not pull me forward as the right does. Now I say "copy the right" (there's a political joke in there somewhere) to try to get it working properly, reduce the imbalance, and stop the mild soreness. 

Once there's snow and ice again however, back will come the "whatever keeps you upright" technique, so lots of thinking to do. Long way to go, but journey already started. I'll be running on Christmas Day, perhaps (hiccup) even a speed interval or 2. 

Merry Christmas to all runners, present and future :)

Peak week done, thoughts on California International Marathon

I felt felt a touch burned out after sunday's long run. This coming week is only a little less workload than that just gone, but the easing off should start the build-up towards race-day energy levels. Snow and cold inevitably slows you down. There's the weight, drag and resistance of the extra clothing, the loss of efficiency from the low temperatures and loss of traction (both in slipping and snow absorbing the energy being put into the ground that would otherwise go into more forward motion). Feeling rather flat, I made my sunday run time-based instead of distance - 2 hours 45 minutes.

 

"Trust the process" is a mantra I've read and practiced for training. I felt rather wiped before the Harvest Half, with the feeling of speed and strength only coming to me a few days before the race. Look how that turned out:)

Last marathon I did, Calgary in May, I aimed for 3:10 and got 3:20:47 having to stretch 4 times (though still a 9 minute PB in my second marathon). For CIM on December 2, and with a watch that doesn't seem to have a "too fast" warning, I'll set it for 3:20:00, and pull slightly ahead of it. Gaining one minute every 8.5k will add up to a 3:15. I'd like this 3rd marathon of mine to not involve having to stop and stretch at all. Most vitally of all, I should finish one more race with the Mobot.

Marathon lessons learned & next training plan

"Every race is basically an experiment," my chiropractor said during my treatment session a couple of days after the marathon. Talking about the race then was the start of my post-race analysis and planning for future training. 7 weeks on, and one week from starting my next training plan, I've come to a few conclusions. Anyone looking for an action packed, witty post, please avert your eyes now.

While I'm never going to complain about knocking 9 minutes off my PB, I had been aiming for 3:10 and didn't reach it, despite my other PBs suggesting I'm capable of 3:05 (MacMillan calculator). So what went wrong and what should I do differently in the lead up to the California International Marathon on December 2 (with the Harvest Half on September 29th)?

-I should take it easy in the week after a race. The day after the spring trio 10k in April, I went for an easy run and my right inner thigh (looking at a diagram either the pectineus or gracilis) tightened. It had actually felt a little tight after that race, and in my elation at breaking the 40 minute barrier I gota bit carried away. Speed work was then done on the bike which effectively compromised my training. 

-This leads me to speed work. Speed intervals are the training runs that make me most vulnerable to injury. These are the short, sub-5k pace intervals that I usually do on wednesdays. A 10k race can be troublesome as I do it at almost the same pace as a 5k. I'm going to mix in some hill work for extra strength at the start to build a little more strength and also as an alternative to speed runs with similar effect (i.e. less exposure to them and kinder on the legs).
After the Harvest Half, there are 8 weeks until the CIM. The second half I will do long tempos - marathon pace or slightly quicker for the whole run - instead of speed intervals. This should, I believe, help build more endurance and perhaps even reduce my tendancy to go too fast at the start of a race. 

- I lacked raw endurance training going into the marathon. My sunday long runs should be longer, and there should be more of them. The tempos mentioned just above should also help with this.
This is my training plan covering July 23 to December 2:

Other observations:

-I'm a "salty sweater". I always knew I sweated a lot, but the way I thundered to a halt several times in the marathon then found my legs again after a spectator gave me some salt suggests to me that during a full marathon I need evev more electrolytes than gatorade has. The way I grabbed all the gatorade I could at aid stations suggests I might have had a touch of hyponatremia (low electrolyte to fluid balance). For runs over 20k then, I plan to experiment with various supplements such as salt tablets. Time to hit the specialist running stores.

-Quad/ hamstring imbalance. A classic runner's problem so I've heard. The main engine room is the front of the leg, with the rear stabilizing them and also pushing the leg forward after toe-off. On my tuesday and thursday weight sessions I've added 5lbs to the hamstring curl, and now also do dumbbell squats. In addition, I've also decided to replace the saturday static weights with a free-weight routine I found in Impact Magazine. I've attached the 3 pages below. I've tried it once, and my arse was well and truly self-kicked. I'll need to build up the number of reps in each set. It should also help with core strength. I work on that a little extra too, joining my wife in a home work-out between 1 and 3 times a week.

A lot of plans I read don't even mention weight training - it's as if a lot of athletes don't do it. That's not really true, is it?
Anyhow, that's my plan for PBs in the half and full marathons this year. I'd love to hear some suggestions.

A dream of spring...

I took  the day off today (friday), so did my tempo run from home. There's a major road junction that I cross on the route I take in winter, the way round it is icy and then water-logged at the start of the year. It was +2 degrees, so I went in my warmest shorts. "That's one way to celebrate March!" a lady said to me as I ran past.

I finally got a photograph of one of few eagles I often see scouting the fields for mice. After this, I started my first of four 5 minute repeats. It felt very doable, not a struggle to keep pace at all. I did the warm up and cool down very slowly as a precaution - my right hip felt tight after wednesday's 10x2 minute speed session. It felt good at the start of today, and feels a touch tight now though better than wednesday.

I'm gaining a grasp of when to run anyway, or when to use "Bike Replacement Therapy" as I call it. It's easy to replicate on the bike because my speed and tempos are time-based, and it does not bring with it a drop in performance - my half marathon and 5-mile PBs, both set last October, were set having done BRT for a few weeks beforehand. The St Patrick's Day race - doing the 5k - is in 15 days, so I won't hesitate to do it again if needed. I'm not specifically going for a PB, though I'll set my watch to put me there or thereabouts and will take it if it's on the cards for that day. It'll be great to be at an event again, I love raceday.

Training!

Let's get (a bit) technical. I tend to do the same things for the same day of the week, though the total km of each run or the length and number of intervals changes when I'm in a training cycle. Still, the framework is usually the same. So below is the general pattern for a week, followed by a breakdown of my gym workouts.
I don't enjoy the gym all that much, at least when compared to running. The description is a little more complex than that of my runs (maybe that's why I prefer running?). Training run descriptions are largely total distance and pace, gym and weights more varied. I might take some pictures one day if anyone wants more explanation (!)

Weekly framework:

Sunday: Long run. Anywhere from 13 to 18k in the off season.
Monday: Recovery run. 9-12k, not too fast.
Tuesday: Gym routine (see below for details).
Wednesday: speed run. 2.5k warm up, then short intervals of 1 or 2 minutes, with 1-3 minute cooldowns in between, 1.5k cooldown. I do the intervals at a minimum pace of 3:50/km. 9-12k total.
Thursday: Gym routine.
Friday: Tempo run.  2.5k warm up, then long intervals of 5-8 minutes, with 3-5 minute cooldowns in between, 1.5k cooldown. I do the intervals at a pace of between 3:50 and 4:00/km. 9-12k total.
Saturday: Gym routine with 40 minutes on exercise bike at the end.

Gym:

-5 minute warm up on bike.

-Weights: alternate between arms and legs - 3 sets of 15-17 repetitions at each station/ weight machine with 30 seconds rest between sets. I use 5 stations for legs and 4 for arms. I'd need pictures as I'm bad with the names (some include hip abductor, hip adductor, lat pulldown, hamstring curl, bicep curl).
-Wobble board: stand on it for 2 minutes while holding 20 kg kettle bell, holding it in front, then switching to holding it behind. Next, hold 10kg/ 25lb weight in each hand and balance on one leg for 45 seconds, then switch to other leg and do twice for each leg. I changed recently from the bosu ball.

-ABCs: running drills around the track: 3 each of knee lifts, kicks (knee lift, kick leg straight, snap down), and butt kicks.

-Crunches/ stretches: Do "scissor stretch", as I call it, to stretch the inside upper legs. Use a wall, and your imagination (a little).
Followed by 30 crunches - I elevate my feet and rest them against a wall so the knees are at 45 degrees, and while doing a crunch keep my arms fixed and slide my hands up towards the knee and back down. I learned this from an article I read by former 110m hurdles record holder Colin Jackson. It stops the use of the legs and that awful neck-pulling many seem to do.
Stretch one leg across the body while lying on back. Stretches outside of upper leg and butt muscle. A good runner's stretch.
Crunches and other leg stretch.
20 of another kind of crunch - don't know the name. Lie down completely flat. Lift one leg straight up, with knee bent a little (5 degrees or so). At the same time, lift opposite arm, and touch outside of shoe with fingertips. Alternate with other leg/ arm. This works the abs more on the side.

-Roller. Every part of the leg, lower and upper. This includes turning over to do the inside of the upper leg. I've become much less injury-prone since I started using the roller.