Resorting to Cross Training - Cody

When you are training for a specific event, turning to “cross training” generally means that something has not gone according to plan. I have started cross training. Since my 16-mile run I've had growing knee pain. I've had this pain before and its usually short lived, and then I'm back on the road and feeling fine. Not this time. This time it has persisted and I'm getting sharp pain within five minutes of running. I've got a good idea for what is contributing to it and a plan to address it, but it will likely take some time to resolve. Luckily most other activities feel just fine, except for cycling (which, of course would be how I'd prefer to cross train) I can do a one-legged squat with no pain at all. Any of the gym work I've been doing feels fine. Sprints don't hurt and the elliptical feels fine too. So I have plenty of options to keep building my fitness, and I've also been able to get in two workouts per day two to three times per week as I had originally planned, but I'm having a hard time getting the mileage in. So, this weekend I'm bracing myself for a very boring couple of hours on the elliptical with some treadmill work as my knee tolerates. Hopefully I will have news of a dramatic recovery next week and I will be back outside, but for the time being I'm cross training indoors.

Gearing Up For the Big Day - Steve

Well, contrary to my coach's wisdom (my wife), and many running experts I decided that I should run another long run this weekend. My plan was to run at least fifteen minutes longer than last weekend and hopefully that would be two more miles. The day, Saturday, was beautiful and many runners were out doing their long runs. My course would be the same as the previous week except that I would run about two miles further on the marathon course. It was fun seeing all the runners out. As in the past, it has helped to gear me up for the big day. The run went quite well until I was about a mile from home when I felt something cause pain in my thigh....I was thinking stress fracture, torn quadriceps....just make it home and finish the distance. I completed the run and then went to work at home. It help to divert my mine from thinking about the pain, and it worked. Sunday, I did go out for a short, three mile run with my wife and that helped too. Today, Monday, I feel pretty good. I should have easy runs this week and the weekend will be short too. the next long run will probably be on Tuesday of next week.

Taking My Own Advice - Cody

I am not a big fan of stretching. This may seem a little hypocritical since I'm a PT and spend a fair amount of my day telling people what and why to stretch. But I also tell them that it is boring, but one of those things where there aren't any shortcuts. I've noticed that I've fallen into the pattern, as many of the people I see..... of skipping stretching if I can find any little reason not to. Recently however, my wife made me go to a yoga workshop with her and I actually found it quite helpful. I find it at least more interesting than going through a conventional stretching routine and I've actually done my little group of yoga stretches consistently after my workouts. It may help that I felt very tight after my last long run and I've had a few residual aches and pains from it, which is a good motivator to take better care of my body. I've also noticed that when I do the yoga after normal workouts I feel better than if I don't do it. So hopefully this will be the piece that I've been missing to keep my training going forward while avoiding more aches and pains on the upcoming longer runs. This past week has been a more mellow week after a week of hard workouts culminating in the 16 mile run, but the upcoming week will be a little more strenuous. Overall, I still feel like I'm on track....no real injuries yet, good tolerance of my long runs and I'm getting most of my workouts in. My next big test will be coming up soon with a 20-22 mile run. That will be a good test of my marathon readiness and where I should spend more time in my last few weeks of training.

Running the Marathon Course – Sue

It is now eight weeks until the Marathon and it's still hard to imagine that day. I did do a training run yesterday as a guest with another running group. They took us out to Hopkinton and I literally ran home to Newton. The run was planned to go to mile 22, which I knew I wasn't ready for, so I “cut out” past the fire station on Comm. Ave since I knew I was a mile from home. It was good to get a 19-mile run out of the way, as well as to be able to scope out the course! I did have to run a stretch of it alone as my running buddy had a muscle pull at mile 11 and needed a lift home. It will be nice to have a lot of other folks around me and cheering for us on race day.

I agree with Cody in that I should have had more to eat along the way. I was going to bring GU but thought it might have been provided, so I left it behind. I tried to stop every two miles for water or Gatorade, but by mile 16 or so, I definitely could have used GU or even a few jellybeans! That's why this is training right, so we learn what to do better the next time.

Another Long Run – Steve

Once again I skied hard on Saturday and probably paid the price on Sunday. I decided to come back to Natick to do my long run since it was supposed to snow in Vermont. My run started out slow, as usual, and I traveled through Wellesley to just past the 14-mile point and then ran through Wellesley back towards Natick. After two hours and forty-seven minutes I was home and the rain started. I felt pretty good but I do have a nagging pain in my ileo psoas area...hopefully it will go away with a little extra stretch and massage. Monday will be a rest day and Tuesday, a light run around the neighborhood in Natick. I hope to get another long run in this coming weekend and extend the time to 3+ hours.

Lessons Learned On My Long Run – Cody

On Monday I ran 16 miles, and like every long run I do now, it is the longest run of my life. I'm finding that long runs are different than the running I have done in the past. Here are the top three things I learned along the way on this particular run:
3) When you run for 2 1/2 hours, you should bring something to drink. When I finished I was not sweating and I drank three liters of water within about an hour when I got home.
2) You need to actually eat the food you bring on the run and you should start eating early. By mile 12, I still had ~3/4 of my Clif bar left and I “bonked.” I ate the rest of it and endured the next mile or so, then started to feel better for the last three. I should probably be eating about two of these during a run this long.
1) Donating blood before a long run is a bad idea. I gave the Red Cross a pint of my blood on Saturday and could definitely feel it on my run two days later. My average heart rate was ~20 bpm higher than past runs.

OK, so maybe I didn't actually learn much on the run. I already knew that you should eat, drink during long runs and I know that donating blood prior to an extended physical effort is a bad idea. I guess I'm an active learner. On the bright side, I finished the run with a faster per mile pace than previous runs of eight and 12 miles. I had a chance to see how I would react to some tough times, which I'll likely encounter on Marathon day. I was happy to see I could push through and keep the legs churning. Also, the things that caused the misery are easily modifiable and having experienced them, I won't be making the same mistakes on race day.

I'm still pleased with the results of my program, so I'll keep to the plan and see how I do with 20-22 miles in three weeks.

Getting Ready for Heartbreak Hill - Steve

Well, this weekend was beautiful and I skied hard both Saturday and Sunday and then did my long run of two hours and 32 minutes. The weather was beautiful in Vermont and the air crisp. The hills of Vermont will surely prepare me for Heartbreak Hill. They are steeper and longer. I carried my own fluids on my back in a camel back and consumed three chocolate GUs along the way. I don't know how far I ran. I prefer to run for a specified amount of time. My goal will be to run about four hours prior to the Marathon, which will be about 20+ miles, that way I know that I can run for that length of time. During the Marathon I usually run faster than the training runs.