Tapering Off the Mileage in Preparation for a Marathon

This past week I ran a total of 41 miles with a long run of only 7 miles.  I had planned to run longer today (Sunday) but sleep (or lack thereof) needs required me to stay in bed and vedge out this morning.  Well truth be told, I owed my wife a "sleep in" morning today in exchange for something she provided to me.  We bartered. I gave up my last opportunity for a 10 mile tempo run in preparation for the marathon in exchange for, well, let's just say that it is something that married couples with young kids usually do not get enough of.

If my wife reads this, I am dead meat.  So if you enjoy reading this blog or Conejo Valley Guide in general, sshhhhh, do not tell her.

I'm doing a 3 week taper for the Santa Barbara Marathon on December 6th. The rule of thumb I use for a 3 week taper is to run 75% of "normal" mileage in the 3rd week pre-marathon, 50% 2 weeks out and 25% the final week.

My mileage in week 4 pre-marathon was 54, which means my 41 miles was exactly 75% of that.  I don't usually grab a calculator and try to get precise with these calculations.  I just go with my gut.  I got lucky last week.

So this coming week, Thanksgiving week, should not be a problem "forcing" myself to run less, given the holiday goings on.  I do intend to gastronomically enjoy the holiday, but will do my best not to overeat too much.

The final taper week is usually the hardest, especially if you've been training really hard. Since I haven't been training really hard for this marathon, slacking off the mileage won't be mentally or physically difficult for me. 

The final 3 days pre-marathon one should perhaps only run once or twice, just to stay limber.  No training you do the final week before a marathon will help your marathon.  It's too late...what you DON'T do will help you more than what you do do (or doo doo, for that matter).

Some people do 4 week tapers, running 80% of normal week 4, 60% week 3, 40% week 2 and 20% week 1.  Nothing wrong with that plan either. 

Don't get too caught up in precision. The percentage don't have to be exact.  The overall goal is too ease off the mileage in the final weeks prior to a marathon in order to allow the body to recover and rest up for 26.2.

29 Weeks of Training, 3 Weeks of Tapering

Yesterday I ran 20 miles with a buddy, my first 20 miler for 9 weeks, and my last 20 miler until the Santa Barbara Marathon on December 6th assuming all goes well.

Last week was my 29th week of training for the marathon and I manaqed 54 miles.  Over those 29 weeks, I've managed to run 1,219 miles and an average of 42 miles per week. My low point was 16 miles (the week I got the swine flu) and my high point was 2 consecutive 57 mile weeks with 2 consecutive 20 milers.

While I didn't achieve my peak mileage goal of 60 miles per week, I'm happy because I'm not injured!!  Training has had peaks and valleys but overall I KNOW I can finish the marathon without a problem.  While I won't be anywhere close to my 2 hour, 35 minute PR, I'll be happy to finish in the 3 hour, 3 minute (7 minutes per mile) range.

I've been pessimistic about my training of late due to constant, recurring setbacks.  Back problems, knee problems, swine flu, colds, smoke in the air, heat, more back problems, tiredness, you name it.  I'm not one to not speak my mind.

But I'm also a stickler for documenting my daily training, which gives me the opportunity after 29 weeks to see the big picture.  While my mind wreaks havoc on my psyche by telling me my training has sucked for 2 months, I look back at the stats and see, heck, I may not be training for a marathon record, but I've done some homework!

What surprised me the most is that my average weekly mileage over 29 weeks was 42.  I was surprised by that because all I think about is the 16.5 mile swine flu week and the 25 mile vacation cruise week and how much fitness I must have lost.  But not only did I run an average of 42 per week, I actually ran 16 or more miles 7 times over 7 months, including 5 18+ milers.

So I shouldn't be so hard on myself.  I may not win my age group in the Santa Barbara Marathon. But heck, I've done a lot of training and by golly, I'm gonna have some fun!

Marathons for most of us are an individual fitness test.  We're not competing against the other runners present that day. We set our own goals and work towards them.  For the majority, the goal is to finish.  For others, it is to achieve a particular time or personal record.

My goal for this marathon is to finish at or near 3 hours.  I don't expect to be the fastest 45 year old at the race.  I just want to have some fun with it.

Long Runs are Better When You're Not Alone

Today marked the end of my "real" training for the Santa Barbara Marathon.  The event is on December 6th, 3 weeks away, but for all intents and purposes my training is done.  Time for a 3 week tapering off period as I rest my body up for the race. 

Today's long fun of roughly 20 miles took me from the Starbucks on Reino Road to Pacific Coast Highway via Sycamore Canyon.  I've been training for the marathon for 29 weeks now and believe it or not, today was the first time in those 7 months that I did a training run with another human being!

My good friend Dave is 56 years old and one of the top age group distance runners in Southern California.  He is tougher than nails and an inspiration.  Dave has done nearly 50 marathons through the years with an average, not best, but AVERAGE time of 2 hours, 52 minutes, an unbelievably outstanding statistic.  Dave is a rock.

You would not know Dave is 56 by looking at him. Dave and I used to run together all the time as we both live locally here in the Conejo Valley. But six years ago with the addition of kids into my life, my training took a nosedive and I opted to train on my own.  But we still talk all the time.

Just so happens that Dave also signed up for the Santa Barbara Marathon because he wanted to be part of this inaugural event (race director Rusty Snow recently indicated there are over 2,000 marathon entrants, which is outstanding). 

In recent months, Dave developed a case of plantar fasciitis, a condition where the bottom of the foot/heel becomes irritated and swolen.  It often takes months and months to gain relief from the problem.  That didn't get Dave down.  He is DEDICATED and took to pool running, diligently straping a floatation device to himself and running in the pool for an hour at a time.  (I could never do this unless perhaps a TV could be floating in the pool in front of me.)

So after months of pool running and a month until the marathon, Dave started back on the roads again. He asked me if I wanted to run long with him today in preparation for the marathon and I said SURE!

So we started off from Starbucks at 6:30 am.  It was windy and cold so we both wore an extra layer.  Within a mile I took my layer off as the wind didn't seem that cold. Dave followed suit a mile later.  About half the course is paved, from Starbucks up Reino Road, turning right on Potero Road, then left onto Big Sycamore Canyon Road, which winds its way down Sycamore Canyon towards the beach.

Dave and I both chatty types, which is a nice trait to have on a long run.  We hadn't run together for a while so we had lots to talk about.  It certainly make the run go a lot more quickly when you run with a buddy!  I've done the run myself many a time and while I always enjoyed it, it was a lot more fun today. 

We resolved NOT to run too hard or fast as we both are coming off injuries and illnesses that have hampered our training.  All we wanted to do today was run a nice, slow, easy 20 miles and we accomplished that goal.  At times we had to remind each other to slow down. 

We found the temperature to be quite bipolar running down Sycamore.  We both wore gloves and I took mine off 3 miles into the run.  But every mile or so we would hit a real cold patch, only to find a warm sauna-ish stretch moments later.  It was kind of bizarre how quickly and extreme the temp changes were in the canyon.  Towards the bottom of Sycamore Canyon, 2-3 miles from the ocean, it stayed pretty cool, to the point I had to put my gloves back on.

Dave and I have an understanding that when one of us needs to stop (restroom, water stop, etc.), we stick together.  I'm a Type A that has to continue movement, running circles, as Dave does his thing.  Dave is more low key and has no problem stopping to stretch in the middle of a run.  We've run together enough to know each other's style and work with it. No need for explanation.

So on the return trip we made our way up the tough 800 foot climb and at the top knew that we were on the final leg of our latest marathon journey.  Two more miles to Starbucks and we paced ourselves in, congratulating each other on getting it done.

In our "younger" days we'd hang out for a bit at Starbucks and savor the camaraderie. Today we both had to quickly drive off for family activities. I sat in my seat and attempted to lift my left leg to take the emergency brake off.  Damn was that tough.  I hard to literally pull my leg upward with my hands.  Those darn hamstrings were sore, but in a good way.

Thanks Dave. You helped me through my first 20 miler for 9 weeks. You're a good man and a good friend.  And a damn good runner.

Beaten by a 15 Year Old Girl?? I Don't Think So!

Well the good news is that last week I upped my mileage to 50.  The bad news is that I'm running out of training time for the Santa Barbara Marathon, now less than a month away. In fact, I generally plan to have all of my long, hard training done 3 weeks prior to the marathon, so as to taper off the mileage gradually over the final 3 weeks.  I won't be needing much of a taper this time around.

While I didn't get around (yet again) to doing a long run, I did make it to the Calabasas Classic 10K on Sunday.  I highly recommend this well run local event.  It is HUGE with over 1,900 runners in various events and well organized. The goodie bags have a really nice "technical" shirt made out of a breathable material.  This is the only event I can think of that offers up such a nice non-cotton shirt.

As has been the case on a recurring basis over the last 6 months of training, I encountered some challenges this weekend. For the umpteenth time, I caught yet another scratchy throat and cold from my little guy on Saturday.  So in my haste I decided to down about 10 chewable 500 mg vitamin C tablets on Saturday. Big mistake I'll later find out.

I get to bed at 11 pm and am awakened by something around 1 am but I can't remember what.  Playing to my favor was the recent time change, which provided an extra hour of sleep and helped me wake up feeling more refreshed. But my throat felt nasty and I would have loved to continue sleeping.

But I got up and out, grabbing a large coffee from 7 Eleven (I hate Starbucks because they don't offer the flavored cream that I like) and a blueberry muffin.  Breakfast of champions.

My goal was to get some mileage in by warming up for a few miles, running the 5K at 8 am at a moderate pace, running the 10K at 9 am a solid pace, then cooling down.  I succeeded in my goal.

The normal pre-race routine consists of the following: park, get race number, get timer chip (for larger races like this), get goodie bag, bring stuff back to car, pin number to race shirt, tie timer chip to shoelaces, drink, eat, visit the porta-potty, warm-up, change shoes, change shirt, chat with fellow runners, then get to the start of the race.  This all pretty much worked out for me.

But after jogging the 5K in about 21 minutes, the 5,000 mg of vitamin C combined with jumbo cup of coffee worked a number on me. Seems I had a bit too much acid in my innards. So with about 5 minutes to spare before the start of the 10K, I would have liked to head right into the head.  But even with 15 beautiful, sky-blue porta-johns sparkling in the sunlight of the Calabasas City Hall parking lot this fine morning, there were 30 other people with the same goal in mind.

Lucky for me there were mostly guys in line. Yes, that sounds bad, but guys take half the time as gals in the bathroom (based on my vast experience).  So the line moved and I found myself quickly entombed in a porta-john, where within seconds my internal combustion vaporized into the scary blue liquid seas below.

But something still didn't feel right, and it wasn't my scratchy throat.  It felt like someone had kicked me in the %^&* and their boot was still lodged in there.

In any case (and without further elaboration), I did make it to the start of the race, felt fine, and actually ran a respectable 38:50, good for 1st place in my age division, and nearly a minute faster than my last 10K time.

The final 2 miles of the race I was running neck and neck with a young kid who I later found out was 17. He ended up beating me by like 9 seconds.  Just couldn't seem to reel him in. But when I saw the race results, somehow a 15 year old girl showed up 3 seconds ahead of me (and right behind the boy).***

Just wait a sec!?  There was no 15 year old girl*** ahead of me!  How the heck did that happen? I contacted the people who did the timing, who reviewed the video and said they did see a female in front of me, though she didn't look 15 and she did not look like someone who could run a sub-39 minute 10K.

This was a double loop 10K. While we were finishing the race, we were passing many of the walkers and slower joggers. What I suspect happened is that she decided to cross the finish line at the end of lap 1. I asked the timers what her 5K "split" was, but they said they weren't tracking splits.

So I KNOW she didn't beat me, THEY know it and I know the other runners in the 10K know it, but anyone else who checks the race results will think this 15 year old girl beat me out*** for 12th place overall in the Calabasas Classic.  At least for now. Darn it!

I'll get over it I guess.

All that said, I feel really good about my performance and more importantly, how I feel.  At this particular moment (Tuesday night 9:30 p.m), I feel GOOD!  And that's what's important :>

*** A post mortem 11/12. Upon further review the race timers determined this young lady, who provided me fuel for the title of this blog posting, was actually in the 5K and was moved from 12th place overall in the 10K to DEAD LAST in the 5K in 1 hour, 38 minutes.  I kid you not! Well I feel kind of sorry for her now but at the same time, I feel vindicated!!

Long Run Plans Went Up in Smoke

Last week's mileage was 38.5 with a "long run" of only 7 miles.  I could make excuses, but I won't. No, actually I will, it'll make me feel better. I had planned on a long run on Halloween morning as I knew with my sugar high that night I'd want to sleep in on Sunday. So around 9 pm I start smelling smoke, like a fire pit.

No big deal, close the windows, hopefully they will put the fire out in an hour or so. But the smell of smoke kept getting stronger and stronger, to the point it started infiltrating my house.

I walked into the garage and it smelled like an ash tray, about as strong as when major wildfires hit us close by in Thousand Oaks last year.  Maybe worse.  I go to bed around 11:30 pm smelling a distinct scent but there's nothing I can do about it.  Again, I'm hoping they will be good neighbors and put the damn thing out.

2:30 am. Wife wakes up and says there must be a forest fire. She calls the fire department. I go outside and hear teenagers 3 doors up from us, still partying outside. I tell her the smoke must be coming from them.  Too late. Fire department drives up street to investigate. I'm too tired and embarassed to walk outside.  I go back to sleep at 3:30 am.

6:30 am. My 6 year old wakes up. I can't move or breathe.  Stench of lingering smoke surrounds us.  I'm tired, cranky, unable to move. I open the windows (thankfully they put their fire out finally) to let some fresh air in. Way too tired and incoherent to do anything other than pour Rice Krispies and milk into bowl.

7 am. 4 year old wakes up. Pillow over my head. Spongebob on the TV. Hoping the kids get along as I lie on the couch. Fighting, arguing, punching, crying ensues.  I give up. Coffee maker turned on. I'm up. I'm cranky. I'm tired. I'm coughing from the smoke. No way in hell I'll be running long on Saturday. But I do resolve to have a word with my neighbor up the street...

So here I am, 32 days from the Santa Barbara Marathon, feeling undertrained, tired and embattled as I've fought through 2 major back spasms, swine flu, sore throat, sore knee, sore big toe.  Planned training schedule basically UP IN SMOKE!

But ya know what, THE PAST 3 DAYS I've actually felt great!!  The time change has been good to me. While I feel quite underprepared to run the type of marathon that I'd like to run, overall I feel fit, healthy and happy. And that's what's most important. 

So I shall ponder whether or not I will actually run the marathon at this point.  I may defer to a Spring marathon instead.  But in the meantime, I'm looking forward to a fun Calabasas Classic 10K run this Sunday!