Down To The Wire November 24, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in marathon training.Tags: California International Marathon, marathon training, Running
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flickr image by foreversouls
My next race, the California International Marathon in Sacramento, is less than two weeks away, and I’m starting to get anxious and excited about running it. Training-wise I’m transitioning from my slightly unorthodox regimen of running blocks of long distance to a more traditional taper. And, since I believe tapering before a big race is so important, I’m putting my trust back into the hands of runners who know a lot more than I do about the sport. In spite of ignoring the marathon training plan I’ve used in the past during the run-up to CIM, I’m now turning to it as I start tapering.
I’ve said before I wanted to “shake up my routine” and break away from a strict training regimen while prepping for CIM, but these two weeks prior to the marathon are vital to race day success, and they aren’t a good time to start experimenting with running routines. In fact, some of the fatigue and stiffness I’ve experienced in the latter halves of my running weeks have prodded me to reconsider my views on the importance of tapering. I’m happy with the distance training I’ve engaged in for the past few weeks, and I believe it’s helped make me a stronger and more confident runner. But I don’t think running 50 mile weeks right before a marathon is a good idea. Conversely, I don’t know how little I should be running. So, I’m returning to the advice of experts and following the mileage suggestions from my trusty marathon training schedule.
I’ll follow the training schedule as closely as I can, and over the next two weeks I’ll be trading the physical aches and pains of getting in a lot of mileage for the mental stress of the taper. I’ll have to resist the urge to run when I shouldn’t along with the growing sense of impending failure which can creep up because, “You aren’t running enough!” Running as a sport has a huge mental component, and this tapering period is helping me realize my race begins well before I get to the starting line.
What do you think? Comments always welcome.
Teachable Moments November 15, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in Running.Tags: marathon training, Running, training
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Getting schooled
flickr photo by origamidon
Last night’s training run was a disaster. Since any substantive discussion of what happened veers too closely into TMI territory, I’m only going to say a 20+ mile training run got cut short. It was too bad as my running itself felt great. I had warmed up nicely, my mechanics were good, and the biggest hills I’d face were already behind me. But what befell me was one of the myriad problems we spend so much time training to avoid knowing we may yet encounter it on race day. My whole week of running, in fact, has been one long teachable moment reinforcing both the importance of training as well as the value of listening to the training advice of others.
I use training runs not just to accumulate mileage, but also to practice for race day. I have experimented with fueling and fluid strategies to find out what works best for me. I’ve developed a routine of what I like to wear and carry with me, worked on how I want to approach different terrain, and, as race day approaches, I re-acquaint myself with how my watch works so using it properly comes automatically to me even as I trudge along at mile 23. Unfortunately one thing you can’t practice is taking a cup of water out of a volunteer’s hand while running through an aid station. A trivial detail to be sure, but I’ve heard many stories of folks sustaining injuries while slipping and sliding through water stops, and that’s not where I want my race day to end.
Training is also where you’re going to encounter situations you might not have considered and encourages you to take steps to deal with them. For example, I long resisted carrying a cel phone since I wanted to leave distractions like that behind as I ran. Now I carry a phone on runs of any distance after seeing a fellow have a nasty bicycle accident. It was a vivid reminder that something like this could happen at any time to anyone, and a phone call might be the best and only way to summon help even during a race.
Training allows us to take all of the lessons we’ve learned on those long runs and deal with problems we may encounter out there on the race course. It’s not a guarantee nothing bad will befall us, but it provides the confidence to overcome adversity. Raining on raceday? Draw strength from that 16 mile training run you did in that storm. Starting to feel a bit of muscle soreness in that left calf? Call to mind those long training runs where the mantra “Running is about pain management” took your mind off of things until the soreness subsided.
Racing conditions are seldom perfect, but that’s why we train so hard. That’s why we pull ourselves out of a warm bed before the sun has risen; why we run for hours after a long work day; why we put up with black toenails and blisters. It’s so we can deal with the challenges running throws at us head on and make it to the finish line.
Just A Little Further November 4, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in Running.Tags: dailymile, Running, training
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Might have to increase my shoe budget
Taking a look at my dailymile training log I discovered I put in 198 miles in October. Lots of miles to be sure, but why didn’t I put in just two more? If I would have turned a six-miler into a seven mile stretch and an eight into a nine-miler, then I’d be looking at 200 miles–a nice round number. I guess I’ll have to work a little bit harder in November.
September and October’s mileage also indicates I’ve gone all-in with my new marathon training strategy. Up until now I’ve relied on a marathon training schedule which had me running a moderate amount of mileage mid-week, followed by low mileage Saturdays, and long mileage Sundays. I still believe it’s a great training schedule, and I may follow it again in the future, but in the weeks following the San Francisco Marathon I was looking to shake up my routine. For one thing, I no longer wanted to follow a rigid schedule leading up to my next marathon. And secondly, I wanted to train in a way that would help me come to think running long distances was completely natural. I still follow the Monday-Wednesday; Saturday-Sunday framework of my former training schedule, but I don’t have a set distance to run on any of those days. Instead, I’ve taken to running longer distances on each of those days which adds up to more mileage overall each week. So, whereas Monday through Wednesday used to follow a 6, 8, and 6 mile rhythm, now I might run a 10, 10, 12 set or 12, 12, 8.
More importantly, I’m trying this new regimen while being mindful of injuries. I do have a little hip soreness which acts as a natural throttle to keep my pace slow at the beginning of any run, but it passes as soon as I’m warmed up and doesn’t return until I start my next run.
So far I believe this mileage build-up is working for me. My pace may have slowed a bit, but I am so far routinely able to run longer distances and feel fresh and recovered shortly after finishing. I’ve got one fantastic 20-miler under my belt this training cycle, and I’ll get one more in before December’s California International Marathon in December. Check out my race report after that run to find out whether I bonked hard at mile 17 or if I’m still happy with this long distance training philosophy.
We Thank You For Your Interest October 27, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in Family.Tags: banking, birthday, savings bonds
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The money shot
flickr image by ace10414
Take a moment and cast your mind back to 1978. Jimmy Carter is in the White House; you can’t get away from the song Evergreen if you turn on the radio; Annie Hall has just won the Best Picture Oscar and suddenly women are wearing ties. Exciting times to be sure, and it was during this heady summer I turned twelve years old. Today kids this age are called tweens, and cell phone companies and clothing stores fall all over themselves in an attempt to market to these fickle consumers. But during the post-oil shock late seventies marketers and demographers left our age cohort alone. We were too old for train sets and Tinkertoys and too young for cars. And with no real money in our pockets, why would anyone bother trying to sell anything to us? It was in that desire vacuum I found myself that summer, and, it’s probably the reason I asked for the birthday gift I eventually received.
A United States savings bond.
When it came time to ask for a little something for my 12th birthday, I didn’t ask for a baseball glove, an electric football set, or even a new bicycle. Instead I went straight for a government debt instrument. And when I blew out the candles on that tasty birthday cake, there it was. Slipped into a clean white envelope lay my $25 Series E savings bond. Now all I had to do was wait five years and that $25 would be mine.
Fast forward three decades through a move to college, moves to several different apartments, a marriage, my own child sent off to college, and there it is. Nestled at the bottom of my bill basket, the clean white envelope yellowed with age, is that savings bond. For several years now, when I go through my paperwork and empty my bill basket, I often come across the bond and automatically toss it back in when I done paying my bills.
But this weekend was different. I don’t know what came over me, perhaps the simple desire to reduce clutter, but this weekend I finally took that bond into a bank to redeem it. I had thought redemption would be complicated and might involve a trip downtown to the Federal Reserve, but it turned out to be no more difficult than signing the bond over and providing my social security number. And, as I stood at the teller window wondering what I was going to spend that $25 dollars on, the miracle of compound interest occurred. For some reason I had thought savings bonds only matured to their face value. But no. After waiting over thirty years to enjoy this birthday gift, the teller asked me how I would like my $106.97. Shocked, it took me a moment to sputter out I’d like it in twenties. The transaction completed I walked out of the bank with a wry smile and a bit of a chuckle thinking about how long that bond had sat there silently earning interest for me over all those years.
Now the question is what to do with this windfall. I’ve got a baseball glove, and a car, and I’m not one for games. I do, however, have my eye on a bicycle.
2009 Nike Women’s Marathon October 19, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in marathon.Tags: marathon, Nike Women's Marathon, Photos, Running, San Francisco
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Big sports weekend what with the MLB playoffs heating up, lots of great college bowl games, and a full slate of NFL action. But all of that pales in comparison to the big event which took place right here in San Francisco. I’m talking about the 2009 running of the Nike Women’s Marathon. 20,000 half and full marathoners took to the streets of our fair city to tackle a course which offered breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge, a loop through lovely Golden Gate Park, and an out and back along Ocean Beach. The course also featured a fair amount of the hills San Francisco is know for.
Although there were a couple of gents sprinkled into the field here and there, I wasn’t participating in the race. Instead the honey and I along with a group of our close friends were cheering on another friend of ours participating in her first marathon. So to her and all the other folks who made the NWM such a special event, congratulations, and I hope to see you out there next year.
Runners passing through Golden Gate Park
These gals are fast!
Full and half marathoners meet at an aid station in the park.
Almost there!
Finish line is in sight, but still can't see the firefighters.
2009 San Francisco Marathon Race Report July 28, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in Running, marathon.1 comment so far
I'm the guy wearing a white hat.
Photo by Brant Ward of The Chronicle
This past weekend’s San Francisco Marathon capped off my first year as a marathon runner. Starting off at last year’s SFM and continuing through Napa Valley and Seattle’s Rock ‘n’ Roll event I found myself once again standing in a starting corral early on a Sunday morning eagerly waiting to run through the streets of San Francisco.
In pre-sunrise darkness with the necklace of lights hanging from the Bay Bridge reflecting off of the waters of the bay to my right I shuffled my way to the starting line after the elites and first wave runners took to the course. Moments later I was off, sort off. Just as we runners started to jog slowly through the starting line, many of us had to stop short to funnel through some sort of advertising arch positioned in the middle of the street. I don’t know what the ad was for, but I sure hope it’s not a course feature next year. Once I was through the obstacle course though, the pace picked up, and I drifted over to the extreme right hand edge of the street (and occasionally up onto the sidewalk) where there was more room to run without having to weave through knots of runners. The first part of the course is a pancake flat shot through the tourist kitsch of Fisherman’s Wharf whose visual pollution is balanced by the soul-satisfying aroma of freshly baked sourdough bread wafting from the Boudin Sourdough Bakery. Passing the Mile 1 marker I glanced at my watch to check my pace and was happy I was only a few seconds over my goal.
Here I’d like to take a moment to talk about setting a marathon goal pace. In a previous post I wrote about what I took away listening to John Bingham talking about how race day conditions affect the pace you set for yourself. With his words about effort dictating pace not the other way around in mind, I had chosen to run at a pace I’d been able to maintain on some of my previous long runs. A pace which would yield a satisfying PR. And the race day conditions were cooperating as well: cool temps with overcast skies and a light breeze. Mentally and physically I felt good, and when I checked my watch and saw my first split, I sped up just a tick keeping in mind the pacing discipline to not go out too fast. My plan, however, had what would soon become an obvious flaw.
I was trying to maintain a 7:47 minute per mile pace which would yield a finish time of 3 hours and 24 minutes. An odd finish time to be sure, but dictated as I said before by a pace I’ve maintained on longer training runs. The problem is, there’s no 3:24 pace group, and no one was handing out bracelets with 7:47 splits at the expo either. So, I had decided to keep track of my pace as if I were scoring a round of golf. When I hit the split marker on my watch I noted the time and either added or subtracted the seconds I was above or below my pace time. For example, after Mile 1 I was plus 4, and after Mile 2 I was minus 9 which put me 5 seconds under my goal pace. As I cruised along Crissy Field with the fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge in the distance my plan was on track. On the bridge however, with drivers honking encouragement and a fog horn booming away at my feet, I noticed a distinct lack of mile markers. If I was going to continue to use my golf scoring method of keeping track of my pace, I was going to have to quickly add up some pretty weird numbers in my head. Under the best conditions, I’m a bit math challenged, and now, trying to ingest GUs at the right time, while hydrating properly, keeping proper running form, all while enjoying the view and having a good time turned out to be more than the abacus in my head could handle. I kept dutifully recording splits, but I had no way of knowing if I was on my goal pace or not.
With math no longer a concern I was free to focus on enjoying the race, which is easy to do in a place like San Francisco. As if running on the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge isn’t enough of a treat, Mile 10’s long downhill hugs the edge of a cliff overlooking some of the city’s finest beaches and the mighty Pacific Ocean. At about mile 12.5 our half marathon friends bid us adieu and we full marathoners began a six mile loop through Golden Gate Park. I am fortunate to run this part of the course almost every week as I train, so I felt very comfortable on my tour past the Bison Paddock, the grey fog misting through the cypress trees, and the old folks getting their early morning groove on to pulsing techno. And thank goodness for the local Hash House Harriers balancing out all that Cytomax and water with the doses of cleansing ale they had on offer. I didn’t partake myself, but just seeing them there on the course made me chuckle as I passed.
Out of the park and a straight shot down Upper and Lower Haight where I high-fived Kelly, one of the co-founders of the dailymile website, who was cheering on runners. I was still feeling good at Mile 21 which barely brushes through San Francisco’s vibrant Mission District. Hopefully the race organizers can be convinced to change the marathon route slightly so next year we runners can experience more of this historic San Francisco neighborhood and less of the industrial blight which greets us around Miles 23 through 25. By the time I reached Dogpatch and the eastern edge of the course, I had definitely slowed down, and my mind was telling me to wrap it up and start walking. My body took a quick inventory, however, and over-ruled my mind. There was no obvious stiffness or cramping going on in my legs, my tummy felt fine, breathing was alright, I was still running upright, and I could see the Bay Bridge which marks Mile 26 in the near distance. In a few minutes I knew I’d be in the chute cruising the final point 2. I rounded AT & T Park and headed up the Embarcaderro clocking a respectable 8:08 for the last full mile. Not enough to make up for straying from my goal time for so many miles, but enough to get me across the finish line in 3:30:24–my second fastest marathon finish and a full five minutes faster than last year’s San Francisco Marathon.
I collected my finishers medal, which is designed to double as a coaster (brilliant I think), accepted heart-felt congratulations and a banana from my family, and headed home to clean up and enjoy the Pancakes of Honor I had earned. Next up is Houston in January, but I’ll be back to run San Francisco again.
Good Samaritan? July 5, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in marathon training.Tags: ambulance, first aid, Golden Gate Park, Running
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Actually, I might have been more worried if this meat wagon rolled up.
Long run Sunday, so that means another jaunt through the park so I can get in the mileage. Everything was going great, and I was locked in a nice zone. That is I was until a poor fellow on a bicycle went ass over teakettle over his handlebars right next to me. I immediately put on the brakes and rushed over to see if I could help him out. Blood everywhere, missing teeth, and minor shock. As a few other cyclists came over to see what they could do, I told one of the injured fellow’s companions to go get ice and napkins from a vendor which is basically the equivalent of those scenes in movies where a gentleman is told to boil some water and gather some towels when a woman goes into labor. The tasks aren’t very useful, but they give the guy something to do. I guided the fellow over to a bench so he could sit down and then went and got his bike out of the road. By then someone with a phone was dialing 911, and after telling his companions to let the paramedics know where in the park they were I resumed my run.
Moments later I felt a little guilty, but I didn’t feel there was much else I could do. Looking back I suppose I could have used my water to start irrigating his wound a bit, but I didn’t think about that until I was long gone, and, really, is that the right thing to do for that kind of injury? Not only did I not know the right course of action in this case, but I realized I don’t know much first aid at all. Mostly that’s not a problem; I can count on one hand the number of times in my life I’ve been on the scene for an accident like this one. But, especially as a distance runner I should probably brush up on my first aid skills and have a better sense of what to do in case someone goes down in front of me on the racecourse, for example. We can’t always wait for the cavalry to come in to help us out, and sometimes dealing with an injured runner or cyclist requires more than just a walk over to a park bench.
flickr photo by jmv
Multitasking June 30, 2009
Posted by thepixelsuite in marathon training.Tags: laundry, marathon, Mission District, Running
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Whiter whites and the opportunity to get in a little training run.
flickr photo by Darwin Bell
Laundry night. I’ve got to suck it up and get through it, but it’s such a waste of time. Since we don’t have laundry in the building, I’ve got to haul all our dirties to the closest lavanderia. And once I’ve crammed practically all the clothes we own into one giant washer, I’ve got nothing but time to kill. What to do?
I think you know where I’m going with this. How about a little post-marathon recovery run? Just a shorty. Not too fast. Don’t want to put undue strain on the legs. Sounds like a good idea, no?
While our collection of shirts, socks, and unmentionables went through the soak, wash, and spin cycles, I went on a little 30 minute run through the Mission. I felt pretty good, but I’ll tell you, I think my mind is ahead of my body right now. I might have felt ready to get back out there, but there’s no denying I’m still a bit stiff from Saturday. It was a bit like having the aerobic strength of the beginning of a long run combined with the stiffening legs of the end of one. A little odd, but overall I’m going to deem this effort a success, and I’ll probably put in a couple of miles on Thursday after another day of recovery.
Just please don’t anyone tell the honey, though. She thinks I always take a week off after running a marathon, and this might get her steamed at me. I’ve got to get out there, though, and train up quickly (but intelligently) for the upcoming San Francisco Marathon at the end of July.
Oh, and I haven’t yet told her I’m running that either.
