Long Run Gone Wrong Two Weeks Before Marathon

That is...if I actually can run the marathon now.  My plan this morning was to run an easy 18 miles this morning, two weeks prior to the Malibu Marathon.

Rarely have I run long two weeks out from a marathon, but I decided this time that it would make sense because my last long run was 3 weeks ago, 5 weeks pre-marathon. Generally my final long run before a marathon is 3 or 4 weeks out.

The reason for the change in plans is that I opted to do a 5K 2 weeks ago and a half marathon last week, to remind my body what it's like to run fast. It was probably a mistake running 2 races in successive weekends, but it felt fine at the time.

There was some lingering soreness in my lower left calf after the half marathon that finally subsided late in the week. So yesterday I felt fine to run long today, Sunday. The only complicating factor was that I was on my feet the entire day, from soccer games in the morning and afternoon, errands, a carnival and a kids' halloween event. I was on my feet from sunup to 9pm. My calves were aching.

But I was a good trooper and set out on my run at 7 a.m. this morning. Actually felt perfectly fine, pretty good in fact, through the halfway point in an easy hour and 7 minutes. Turned around on the out and back course to PCH, ran a mile, then, BOOM, the sharp pain in the lower left calf came out of nowhere. I changed my gait a bit to continue running without stressing the calves as much, but that only worked a mile or so.

Long story short, I had to walk roughly 5 miles back home. Arrghh! So frustrating.

Got home in total cumulative time of 2 hours, 54 minutes, so it took me 1 hour 47 minutes to walk/jog from PCH back to Newbury Park. Not bad I guess.

But now I'm a bit concerned about being able to recover in time for the marathon. I took 3 Advil as soon as I got home and have been icing the calf for over an hour. Might have to take several days off from running. Maybe longer.

Can't remember the last time I had to walk this far on a long run. Not good. But I had no choice. Will have to stay vigilant with the rest, ice and Advil.

Marla Runyan Half Marathon Today Indicates Possible Sub-3 Hour Marathon Time

The Inaugural Marla Runyan Half Marathon in Camarillo Sunday morning started off on time and as planned, behind the Target store. Great weather was on hand - overcast, low to mid 60s, minimal wind.

Marla Runyan is a legally blind runner who graduated Camarillo High School in 1987. Stargardt’s Disease caused her childhood macular degeneration that took away her eyesight. But she didn't let this stop her.

Runyan is a three-time national champion in the 5000 meters and won four gold medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. She is the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics, finishing 8th (top American) in the 1,500 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was the top American at the 2002 New York Marathon in 2 hours, 27 minutes with the second-fastest debut time ever by an American woman.

Quite an inspiration. And she was there at the start of the race, giving us a brief, yet memorable send-off.  The key words were "make sure to pace yourself." Solid advice.

My goal was to run a half marathon time of 1 hour, 25 minutes or less. Based on my 2.1 rule of thumb (projected marathon time = half marathon time x 2.1), a time of 1:25:43 or below equates to a sub-3 hour marathon time that has eluded me now for 8 years.  So I was thinking I'd be happy with a 1:24 to 1:25 run at a reasonable pace that wouldn't beat me up.

Cutting to the chase, I ran the race in 1:23:51, good for 4th overall and 1st in my age group. I just looked back and the last time I ran a half marathon was over 3 years ago on 9/19/09, in 1:23:53. So somehow I managed to cut 2 seconds off my time.

The words of Marla Runyan were penetrated my brain briefly but 1/4 mile into the race my body told me I was felt pretty light footed. So I pulled past 5 or 10 guys into 2nd place, within range of the 32 year old who ultimate won the race (and on that note, pretty much ALL of my personal best times were set at the age of 32).

To achieve a 1:24 marathon, all I needed to do was run a 6:25 pace the entire race. The first mile for me was 6:09 and my two mile time was 12:20. Five miles into the race I was under 31 minutes, around a 6:12 average pace. I had built up a minute cushion below my target time.

Then around mile 6 I started realizing that my body could not continue that 1:21-ish half marathon pace. While I was able to maintain the rate of my stride, my step became less bouncy and more labored. No breathing problems or anything, just muscles that started to show signs of fatigue. Not good!

Two guys passed me between miles 6 and 10 and one more nearly reeled me in at the end (in fact, I was surprised he didn't catch me but I gave it whatever I had to hold him off).

At mile 10 I was around 63 minutes or so, which translates translates to about a 6:46 pace for the final 5K, significantly slower than the 6:18 pace for the first 10 miles. I definitely struggled to keep my pace but I held it up through the finish....barely!

Lesson learned. If an OLYMPIC ATHLETE tells you to pace yourself before a race, well, dammit, LISTEN to him/her!

But it was fun making an attempt to keep it real with those 32 year olds. I'm 48, so you'd think at least I get to subtract a third of my time to even things out with them.

Would be interesting to run that exact same race again, but this time do the first 6 miles at the more appropriate 6:25. Perhaps I would have run negative splits and a faster overall time.  Next time...

Three weeks until the Malibu Marathon now. Considering one more slow paced 18 to 20 miler this coming weekend. I'll do it if I feel up to it.

Four Weeks Away From Marathon and 5K Time Equates to 3 Hour Marathon

Last Sunday I ran the 5th Annual Jason's Race for SIDS Awareness 5K in Westlake Village. This is a worthy local event hosted by Katie and Andy Lutz on behalf of their son Jason.

Jason was born on November 7, 2007, a healthy 8 pound, 5 ounces.  Jason was blue eyed, strong, healthy, full of energy and shared his smile with all around him. But on March 11, 2008, the Lutz family was devastated by the sudden passing of Jason during his morning nap.

The Lutz's and relative Kim Erwin set out to do whatever they could to memorialize Jason and raise awareness to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) through a 5K event. Conejo Valley Guide was in its early stages in 2008 when I met with them and saw their pain, yet felt their energy in putting together a 5K...something they had never done before. This past Sunday, Jason's Race reached its 5 year anniversary.

The inaugural Jason's Race was October 12, 2008. I ran that 5K and somehow managed to win the race overall in 18 minutes, 17 seconds. After a 3 year hiatus, I decided last minute to run the 5K again on Sunday. My long runs have been o.k. and with 4 weeks prior to the Malibu Marathon, my thinking was that I needed to work on my speed a bit.

Long story short, I finished the 5th Annual Jason's Race in first place overall again in 18 minutes, 19 seconds; 2 seconds slower than my time 5 years ago. Well ain't that cool! While I felt decent, my only slight disappointment is that I "felt" like I ran under 18 minutes for my effort. Oh well! At least I'm consistent...exactly 3 weeks prior I ran an 18:19 5K in Camarillo.

The Malibu Marathon is November 11th and I'm running another tune-up race this Sunday, the Marla Runyan Half Marathon in Camarillo. The day prior I ran 10 miles. That's not something I would normally do the day before a "competitive" 5K where I want to run refreshed and ready. I felt I needed to get some decent mileage in since my main goal is the marathon coming up.

A rule of thumb I use is to multiply 5K time by 2.1 to get an equivalent 10K time. So a 18:19 5K equals a 38:26 10K. Then I multiply 10K time by another rule of thumb, 4.7, to get an equivalent marathon time. That would be a 3 hour, 38 second marathon. So I'm in the ballpark of a sub-3 hour marathon.

Learn more about Jason's Race and the Jason Lutz SIDS Foundation at www.jasonsrace.com.

Signed Up For Malibu Marathon, My Foot Hurts, My Butt Hurts, But It's All Good

With 4 long (over 16 mile) runs down the hatch over the last 6 weeks, I decided to bite the bullet yesterday, the day the $20 promo code discount expired, to sign up for the Malibu Marathon on November 11, 2012.

I hemmed and hawwed on this but decided to save $20 rather than wait until the last minute as previously discussed about 3 weeks ago. After running a progression over the previous weekends of 17 miles, 18.5 miles, 20 miles, a 5K and 10 miler, then back to 21 miles last Saturday, I feel my marathon endurance is there. Now it's a matter of, can I run at the pace that I'd like to run.

This upcoming weekend is a busy one, filled with kids' AYSO soccer games and my son's birthday party on Sunday morning. As a result, and I rarely do this, I decided to get up early this morning, Friday, before work, and get my long run out of the way for the weekend.

It was a perfect morning for a run, with cooler temps than we've had of late. Today I did another run down to PCH, touched PCH with my foot, then scrambled back up Sycamore Canyon. Total distance was about 18.5 miles.

Sycamore Cove Beach, across PCH at the bottom of Sycamore Canyon

I reached PCH in 1:09:30 and finished the 2nd, mostly uphill half of the out-and-back course in 1:15. That equates to about a 7:41 per mile pace, as compared to the 6:50 pace I'd like to maintain for the marathon to get below 3 hours. I've never tried to run my long runs at marathon pace, preferring to work on my endurance at about 45 seconds to a minute slower than race pace. No need to burn my body out on these long runs.

To get the body adjusted to marathon pace, my preference is to toss some races into the training mix - 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons. Between an occasional race and sometimes running "fartlek" (love that word) into a morning run (basically add some speed at periodic intervals during a run...also called "speedplay"), that's how I attempt to "tune up" for a marathon.

Would be even better for me to get out on a track once a week and run intervals, like 800 meter repeats, but with all that I have going on I just can't seem to make that commitment. So while I know I'm leaving something on the table with my training, I'm doing pretty much the best I can given my life's daily adventures.

This morning's run overall ended up being moderately miserable. Once again I had trouble with timing of my, ahem, bodily functions. Years ago at the advice of a friend I experimented with taking psyllium husk the night before a long run or marathon to ensure I wouldn't have this problem. It worked for awhile, then periodically didn't. So I stopped using it. Time to try it again. Psyllium is basically Metamucil. I'll leave you with that.

I also encountered a strange, new problem with the ball of my right foot. It started really hurting about 15 miles into the run, to the point that I had to stop to see if my socks were causing the problem. Kind of a sharp pain. I think perhaps I just bruised the ball of the foot. Time for some ice and Advil. For some reason, the pain was sharpest when running on a flat to slightly inclined surface. It wasn't as big of a problem when running up steep hills, for whatever that's worth.

So now, later in the day, my butt hurts. But (or butt), I think I'll be o.k. I believe I deserve a beer. In fact, there should be a rule. Running 16 or more miles on a weekday before work should be rewarded with one or two icy cold beers that night.

Newbury Park "Sole Runners" Training Group Starts Its Winter Program

The Sole Runners of Newbury Park starts its winter training program this month, with a kickoff party on October 9 at The Lab Brewing Company in Agoura and first official training day on Saturday, October 13th at 7:00 a.m. at The Boney Mountain Coffee in Dos Vientos. The group will meet there, leave to run to the trails in Sycamore Canyon and return for some yoga. On the 13th will be a Chi Running lesson to get everyone started with great running form and off to a good beginning. Our full group runs begin the following Saturday. Learn more about the group at www.solerunners.net.