Predicting the Unpredictable: How Do I Feel Today?

Last week's mileage was only 39. Between the heat and general tiredness last week after my half marathon on September 19th, I had kind of an off week.

On Saturday, I ran the Alliance for the Arts 10K in Thousand Oaks.  The 10K was simply a hard training run for me with a goal of sharpening my speed for my December marathon.  I knew I wasn't fully recovered from half marathon, but I signed up awhile back and decided it would be better to run a 10K than to do a long run this weekend.

I was surprised on Saturday morning because when I woke up, I actually felt pretty good...light on my feet and not as overwhelmingly tired as I had felt most of the week.  That was at 6:45 a.m. Two hours until the start of the 10K.

After messing around, socializing, etc., it was finally time for the 10K at 8:45 a.m. By then, it was getting pretty warm out; mid to upper 70s, close to 80.  I was nonchalant all morning, and the only thing I ate was a McDonald's sausage biscuit, hash brown and iced coffee.  (Don't ask...I rarely eat at McD's, but I was impulsive that morning.) In hindsight I should have had more water.

So I started out running pretty well, actually leading the race at the halfway 5K mark in about 18:30, but I started feeling parched somewhere around 2 1/2 miles into the race. But then, all hell broke loose with my body.  I was downright thirsty. And pooped.  A dummy light went on that told me to check my fluid levels. But I wasn't about to stop at that point.  I just dragged my body along to finish. The 2nd 5K was about 21:10.  The winner ran strong and consistently the whole race.  I managed to finish 2nd.

The point of all this is...the body is unpredictable.  I didn't feel good in the days leading up to the 10K. I felt pretty good before the race. But halfway into the race I blew a gasket.

This past Monday, I was so tired I could barely get out the door. Big party at the house on Sunday, up late cleaning, half the family was sick, etc.  I really didn't feel like running off my 5 hours' sleep.

Oddly enough, I felt GOOD on my Monday morning trail run! Heck, I could have run 2 hours (if it weren't for having a job to get to).  I never would have predicted it.  I felt energized and lean all day on Monday.

Lesson Learned:  All I know is, it is had to predict how I will feel on a given day. But I suppose what I should focus in on are the factors that I CAN control...get enough sleep, rest, nutrition, etc.

Slowing Things Down as We Age

Before I get to the main topic, my mileage last week (week 20 of my training for the Santa Barbara Marathon) was 48 with a long run of 13.1 miles in a half marathon race.  I've been hoping to achieve 60 miles in a week at some point but this week also looks to be on the light side.

On the topic of mileage and training hard as my age advances, I came across another interesting article in a recent Wall Street Journal.  The article, "Older, Wiser, Slower" touches on this issue of training too hard as we age...something I find myself constantly struggling with.

Just 10 years ago I was running 70, 80, 90 miles per week in my marathon training.  I was in my mid-30s, single, no kids and in my distance running prime. 

Today I can barely contemplate running those kind of miles, as my life has changed and time is so scarce.  But on top of that and maybe more importantly, my body has aged and can only take so much hard core training and competition.

I ran 5 or 6 marathons in the 2:35 to 2:40 range in the mid to late 1990s. Today that seems impossible because not only do I not have time to train that hard (nor the time to recover from such training), but my body just won't let me do it!  I'm constantly battling and re-battling injuries, new and old.

So the article basically tells us we have to acknowledge our limitations as we age and literally slow down or risk really hurting ourselves.  Overuse injuries, lack of rest and stressing ourselves out about our training can kill us! 

Type A runners can do a number on themselves attempting to compete at a fanatical level year in, year out and can lead to either complete burnout (and abandoning exercise altogether) or doubling up our training in pursuit of the past.

I am a member of the Conejo Track Club, which is a local group of runners, the majority of which are in their 50s, 60s and beyond (I ain't quite there yet). It is motivational and encouraging to see this wonderful group of runners and friends continue to stay active through the years.  Their times slow down, many stop running but continue with walking long distances and others move on to other forms of exercise...cycling, skiing, hiking, etc.

Take a lesson from these aging athletes.  Slowing down as you age is a natural progression that allows you to stay in the game. 

Tuning Up For a Marathon by Running a Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Point Mugu Half Marathon* at Naval Base Ventura County. After 20 weeks of training, mostly mileage buildup and long runs, it was good timing to gauge my marathon fitness level by running a half marathon.

Now it wouldn't be prudent to run the half marathon within a month of the marathon date. Since the Santa Barbara Marathon is on December 6th, that wasn't an issue.

The marathon is the "main event" in my training schedule, so I didn't treat yesterday's half marathon too seriously.  If I had, I would have tapered off my mileage for the event to gear up for a top performance.  For a full-blown competitive half marathon performance I might taper off the mileage for a week.  For yesterday's race, I ran light (only 4 miles) the day before the race.

Running a half marathon as a training run provides the opportunity to practice the important skill of taking in fluids on the run.  The art of grabbing a cup of water/sports drink from a volunteer and drinking its contents, is a good one to practice.  I hate stopping during the middle of a race.  It ruins my momentum. So it is important to know how to grab that cup and down it efficiently.

In this race, there were 6 or 7 water stops. I grabbed liquid at all of the stops except the final one (which was only a mile or so from the end of the race).  Each stand had both water and Gatorade.  I was running alone pretty much the entire race, so as I approached the stop, I yelled out " Do you have Gatorade?" This triggered the Seabee volunteer to have a cup ready for me.  Worked fine for me.

The approach that I use to consuming the liquid is to squeese the top of the cup, turn it sideways, and pour it in.  Makes it much easier to drink "on the run."

OK, so back to the race itself.  I'm happy to report that I finished in 3rd place overall in 1 hour, 23 minutes, 53 seconds.  Not a bad showing for the race, particularly given I have done no form of "speed work" on a track or otherwise. 

The "rule of thumb" I've been using for years is, assuming you do adequate long runs, take your half marathon time and multiply by 2.1 to get your full marathon approximate fitness level.  For yesterday's performance, I take 64 (rounded up) minutes x 2.1 = 176.4 minutes = 2 hours, 56 minutes, 24 seconds (.4 minutes x 60 seconds = 24 seconds).

So, all else equal, yesterday's half marathon performance indicates I have the ability to run a sub 3-hour marathon.

Another rule of thumb for estimating marathon time is to take your 10K time and multiply by 4.7. So if you can run a 10K in 45 minutes, assuming you've done your marathon (e.g. long run) training, in theory you are fit to run a 3 1/2 hour marathon.

These are just rules of thumb, but they have always worked pretty well for me. It is also fun to work backwards based on your desired marathon time.  If you're looking to run a 4 hour marathon, divide 240 minutes by 4.7 to determine a 51 minute 10K should get you close to that goal.

That said, I'll we doing 3 or 4 5K and 10K races in these final 11 weeks pre-marathon, interspersed with 2 to 3 more long runs.

* The Point Mugu Half Marathon course has its pros and cons.  Race was completely flat as the entire course is within 1/4 mile of the Pacific Ocean.   Very low key race with less than 100 competitors.  Most of course is nowhere near cars and traffic!  Miles 5 through 9.5 (approximate) were directly adjacent to the ocean!  Race entry fees were extremely low.  Within a minute after the start of the race we were blessed with a live performance of the National Anthem by a Naval band. Well organized, well marked course. And, the entire race was under overcast skies, which was quite nice!

The cons I suppose were that other than close proximity to the ocean, the course is a bit lacking in terms of scenery (in fact, it was quite swampy and smelly over a few sections of the course). Around mile 7 or 8 I heard some target practice going on, which had the unintended effect of pushing my pace to get outta there!

Cloud Cover, In-N-Out Burger and 12 Weeks Until Marathon

Logistics and luck are the recurring themes in my quest for a marathon comeback. In fact, the 2 Ls have been key factors in most all of my prior 2 dozen marathons.  The difference between the two is that Logistics I have some (but not TOTAL) control over. Luck, well, is just that.  Some say you create your own luck by doing the right things at the right time, but that's debatable.

For example, today was my longest planned run to date (and I did do it...more on that later). Logistically I had it all nailed down. All my stuff was ready, bottles filled, hat, sunscreen, watch, bandaids, socks, gels, etc. all in their places.  Got to bed at a "decent" hour.

No alarm planned. I decided to let my internal alarm clock wake me up at 6 a.m. I was up at 6:30 a.m. Not too far off. Since I'm training alone, there's no planned start time to my runs. I got up, ready, and here comes my 3 11/12ths year old down the stairs. Uh oh, in the interest of maintaining my marriage, I got the little guy settled, TV on, breakfast ready, toys and games out. But now we're talking a 7 a.m. start for a 2 1/2 hour planned run. A slight curveball had been thrown at my logistics and planning, but I took it in stride without too much impact. Good logistics, bad luck, good outcome.

Last night I succombed to my kids' request and we drove through In-N-Out Burger for dinner (well, ok, they didn't have much arm twisting to do).  The kids had their standard Meat/Cheese/Bun while I ordered a hamburger with everything, including grilled onions. In so doing, I was veering away from my last positive experience of consuming a plain cheeseburger the night before a long run.  As I was downing the burger on the ride home*, I noticed the onions tasted like they had been sitting on the grill for awhile, somewhat (and uncharacteristically) yucky, but not enough to stop the inhalation as I drove.

So of course this morning my bad decision to eat something that didn't quite taste right caused some gastric distraction.  But thanks to good logistical planning this morning's "In-N-Out" performance did not significantly impact my long run. Bad logistics last night, bad luck, good logistics today, no harm no foul.  That's what a training run's all about.

So on to the run itself. Aside from the multiple pit stops, it was even better than last week's great run. Yet another run to PCH from Newbury Park via Sycamore Canyon, turning left onto PCH until my watch hit 1 hour, 17 minutes, then turned back to finish in 2 hours, 36 minutes. Nearly even splits, even with the severe uphill finish.  Started nice, easy and slow, and finished solidly, with little soreness.

An example of good luck today...CLOUD COVER the entire run!  A distance runner's dream! The weather was only mid-60s the entire run and that made it quite enjoyable to not have to deal with heat for once! And yet again I caught several beautiful deer on my descent to the ocean...they seemed to enjoy watching me huffing and puffing as they nibbled their breakfast.

So my mileage estimate for the day is 21.5 miles and for the week was 57 miles. With exactly 12 weeks until the Santa Barbara Marathon, I'm 100% confident that my body is ready for the 26.2 mile distance. The key now is to get a couple more 20 milers in but also to start tuning up my speed a bit now that I know the distance is a non-issue. To that end, my plan is to run the Point Mugu Half Marathon next Saturday, Thousand Oaks Alliance for the Arts 10K on 9/26, Jason's Race 5K on 10/11, Calabasas Classic 10K on 11/8 and perhaps one more half marathon.

*On a side note, I think it is much more dangerous eating an In-N-Out Burger than driving than holding a cell phone up to my head. Reminded me of this humorous video.

19 Weeks In, 13 Weeks To Go...Less 3 For the Taper

So it was 4 1/2 months ago when I first committed to running the Inaugural Santa Barbara International Marathon.  April 27th to be exact, about 7 1/2 months prior to the marathon.  Normally 5 or 6 months of preparation is adequate for a decent marathon performance but because my training has been inconsistent and marred by injuries in recent years, I gave myself some extra time.

Boy am I glad I did. While (knock on wood) today I feel perfectly fine, I've dealt with plenty of setbacks these first 19 weeks of training...sore toe, sore knee, debillitating back spasm, sore throat, cold, fever, you name it.  But I'm back and feeling good once again!

Last week I ran a total of 51 miles, with a long run of 18 on Sunday morning.

Weekly training has gone like this:

Week 1 (4/27-5/3): 38 miles (6.5 long run)

Week 2 (5/4-5/10): 35 (8 long)

Week 3 (5/11-5/17): 46 (9 long)

Week 4 (5/18-5/24): 42 (8.5 long)

Week 5 (5/25-5/31): 43 (10.5 long)

Week 6 (6/1-6/7): 40 (ran a 10K race)

Week 7 (6/8-6/14): 30 (sick/flu)

Week 8 (6/15-6/21): 41 (10.5 long)

Week 9 (6/22-6/28): 47 (12.5 long)

Week 10 (6/29-7/5): 50 (11 long)

Week 11 (7/6-7/12): 51 (15 long)

Week 12 (7/13-7/19): 57 (19.4 long)

Week 13 (7/20-7/26): 57 (21 long)

Week 14 (7/27-8/2): 25 (vacation week)

Week 15 (8/3-8/9): 34 (back spasm on 8/7)

Week 16 (8/10-8/16): 38 (ran with back brace)

Week 17 (8/17-8/23): 50 (15.5 long, hilly trail run)

Week 18 (8/24-8/30): 41 (hot weather/smoke, 7 long)

Week 19 (8/31-9/6) 51 (18 long)

So what's next?  The last 3 weeks of training pre-marathon are tapering time.  That leaves 10 weeks of "real" training.  I need to get 2 or 3 20 milers in the bag to feel comfortable.  With that I'll seek to push into the 60+ mile per week range if I can (which if I blog a bit less I'll get to bed earlier I'll have more time to run in the a.m....).

I also need to do some local races to "tune up" a bit and gauge my fitness level.  First up is the Pt Mugu Half Marathon on September 19th.  There are a number of fun 5K/10K events coming up too. When I run a race in preparation for a marathon, I don't take it too seriously.  The main goal is the marathon.  But it still feels good to race and stimulate the few fast twitch fibers left in this old long distance runner's body.

Slow But Steady Wins the Race to Complete a Marathon

Today's run was my best long run since starting up training for the Santa Barbara Marathon 4 months ago. An 18 mile out and back down Sycamore Canyon to PCH, the good ole' Turf to Surf run.  Today's total run time was 2 hours, 25 minutes; 1:09 to PCH and 1:16 on the turnaround...not a bad "split" given return trip has much more uphill (and heat).

As readers of this blog may know, I've had one injury after another over the months, but have battled back from each one.  Most of the injuries have been minor irritants. The most debilitating problem was a lower back spasm that took me away from solid training for 2 to 3 weeks. But that problem is gone, thanks to a great Camarillo based chiropractor.

My biggest concern today was, how would my body react to running long again. Although I did run 15 miles 2 weeks ago, I wondered, would it feel like I'm starting from scratch today?  That's a feeling many runners have after taking a break.  How will our bodies react?

The good thing is, our bodies have "muscle memory" - those long runs 2 months ago may feel irrelevant from a mental standpoint, but somehow the Bank of You the Runner has logged those miles in an account. While your legs and lungs don't pay interest on those miles, they treat them as if they were FDIC insured.

So stepping back for a sec, last night I was determined to get to bed by 11 p.m. and wake up, without alarm, at 6 a.m. One thing led to another and I was in bed by 12:15 a.m. I awoke at 7:15 a.m., but within minutes was fixing my 3 year old breakfast (scoring brownie points with my still sleeping wife)...then minutes later his brother was up and before I know it, I'm not out the door until 7:40 a.m.  A bit behind schedule.  I'd prefer to have run much earlier, but hey, no big deal. Weather was somewhat cooler today too.

In preparation for the run, I loaded up my Nathan waistpak with 2 bottles of water, 2 bottles of Orange Gatorade and 3 GU packets (Vanilla, Chocolate and Banana). I wore a hat, glasses, sunscreen, slathered up the toes with petroleum jelly (as usual, no blisters for me!).

I'm fortunate to live in close proximity to Sycamore Canyon in Newbury Park. Where else can you do a serene, largely shaded, 8 to 10 mile run to the Pacific Ocean, with multiple places for pit stops/water, half paved, half well kept fire roads, WITHOUT cars to deal with!?  There are plenty of cyclists in Sycamore Canyon and they often fly by on the downhills, but are very courteous. Added bonus is the wildlife...deer, coyotes, bunnies and other attractions.

Today's goal was to run at a moderate, steady, conversational pace (though I'd be talking to myself as I was running alone).  Taking in fluids at roughly 10 minute intervals, I felt perfectly fine when I reached PCH and said hello to the Pacific. The return trip immediately felt 10 degrees warmer to me, as the sun peaked out from behind the mountains. But I continued on, neither slowing down, nor speeding up.

It is rare for me, one who speaketh his mind, to end a long run admitting I'm feeling GREAT, but as I approached and started up the 800 foot humbling, grinding asphalt ascent into civilization, I realized I felt just fine. Hot and tired, but in a good way.  In fact, I DID feel great! Both physically and mentally!

And to think just one week ago I was depressed!