Post Hell-Week Marathon Prep...and a few thoughts on running.

I have successfully made it through my "tough" prep week in relatively good condition.  Sadly, my Sunday ride wasn't exactly "long" and I dropped the run portion of a bike/run brick early in the week.  I was planning to pick it up after Sunday's ride, but it just didn't happen.  I definitely feel confident going into the marathon now, so c'est la vie.

Beginning of the week went pretty well, so fast forward to Friday's 20-mile run.  First of all, it ended up at 18 miles instead.  I was getting really close to home and, because of where my house is situated in the city, anywhere I would have run to go farther would have taken me uphill.  I was getting pretty beat so I called it at 18.  Once again, I consider the run a success, doing it in about 2:05 with no food or drink.

This spring in Boston, my race started to quickly unravel about mile 18.  My time checks had me at the 30k (18.6 miles) mark in 2:12.  Imagine if I was still running anything close to a reasonable pace and I would cover the next 10k in about 45 minutes, adding up to 2:57.  True, that after the closing 2k, that would put me past three hours, but still at a PR by a few minutes.  That means my 18 in 2:05 on nothing seems pretty favorable to me.

Saturday was even more exciting and solidified my confidence that I could have a shot of getting three hours in Harrisburg.  I knew I had to get up and run.  I knew it would hurt, but I knew I had to do it because it would mean a lot to me mentally toughening up for the race.  I was definitely really tight running up the half-mile slight grade out to one of the main roads by my house.  I decided that I would use the "pace" function on my watch for the first time just to track my mile splits and make sure that it would work the way I was expecting for the marathon.  I hit the split button at mile 1 and the elapsed time was 6:53!  I was pretty surprised by this because the last thing I was thinking about was pushing the pace at all.  My main focus was just to run a few miles and maintain good form at all costs.  The next mile's terrain was a little bit more favorable and went by in 6:47!  I couldn't believe it.  The next two splits were something like 6:58 and 6:48.  A little erratic, but I'm pretty sure it was because of the elevation profile of the route that I did.  I did about another 3/4 of a mile in good time and my average pace for the run worked out to 6:51/mile.  So all seems to be in place for a decent run at my goal in two weeks from yesterday.

On a side note, I went over to Mapple's last night to install my brand-new Dura-ace cranks on my TTX!  They're so super-sweet and I'm taking them on their maiden voyage this afternoon.

A few thoughts on running.  So I read an interesting thread on the Slowtwitch forum yesterday that make me think more about running with what you have as opposed to trying to change your body to run with some sort of "ideal" running form.  Here's the quick version:  First off, slowtwitch is a triathlon news site with a forum that's always good for some controversial issues.  The first post is by a pro training with Team TBB and Bret Sutton.  Sutton's training methods are responsible for taking amateurs with a lot of talent but not much else and turning them into dominant professionals.  Examples would be Chrissie Wellington, Belinda Granger and a handful of others.  His methods are much discussed, praised and criticized because they defy conventional and scientific methods that have been all but accepted as the standard.  Sutton is known to think about things in such a practical way and come up with reasons why everyone else is wrong and exploit them.  For instance, he doesn't have his athletes wear aero helmets because, although they may be "faster" on the bike, they can often cause the wearer to overheat and consequently suffer in the run portion of the race, especially in iron-distance races.

In any case, this woman in question was trying to change her running form to land more on the mid-or-fore-foot instead of heel-striking because it is "supposed" to be faster and more economical.  And indeed, this would seem to be the case.  Land on the middle or front part of your foot and there is less resistance to overcome to start your next stride, allowing you to spend less energy for each step.  Initially this seems to make sense.  However, this woman began to experience some shin pain (possibly shin splints) and couldn't run for very long before the pain was too great.  Sutton advised her to go back to her natural heel-striking form and his reasons seem to be just as well.  

It seems logical to believe, as Sutton believes, that it would be detrimental to try to change the running form of a person who has either not been running or running a certain way for years and years.  Their body is already set in its physiology.  To make a long story slightly less so, she went back to heel-striking and her shin pain is receding dramatically.

Which brings me to my own experiences with this phenomenon.  I also frequently attempt to alter my stride a little in hopes of becoming a more efficient runner and have noticed that, after one pretty long session in particular, I definitely had some pain in my right shin; something that I have never experienced before.  Needless to say, I think I have gone back to just trying to run efficiently as my body will allow.

My brother, who is 26 and just really started to run this summer, has had to go to the doctor to assess some pretty severe shin pain himself.  Unfortunately, he has found out that he basically has a lot of borderline stress fractures beginning and has to take 6-8 weeks off of running.  He has done a lot of research before really diving into running, so I'm sure, as we have also talked on the phone about it, that he is aware of the popular belief that it's better to land on the front part of your foot.  This make me wonder if this is a contributor to his pain.  Just some thoughts that I think are worth considering for anyone biting on this theory.  Of course, there are plenty of people who have a naturally beautiful stride and it is amazing to watch them run, but it is also certainly not a prerequisite of successful running.

Alas, I digress.

Marathon in 13 days.  Be there!

Cheers!

Harrisburg Marathon Preparation through October 21st.

Wow.  I can't believe I'm already down to the final two weeks of preparation before taper-week hits for the race on November 9th.  Running has been going pretty well since I've really turned it up after the Pittsburgh Great Race 10k.  Two weeks ago, my big run was a 16-miler that took about 1:52.  Not too shabby, but also not good enough to net a 3:00 marathon.  My aunt has been trying to qualify for Boston for years and would give her right leg to run 16 miles in that time, so I feel guilty complaining about it.

In some ways that makes me nervous, and it some ways it makes me feel like I'm about where I should be.  I'll elaborate:  It makes me nervous because 16 miles isn't even two-thirds of the way through the race and I'm already off the pace that I need.  It makes me feel like that's okay because I did the run with nothing to drink and nothing to eat during, which is obviously different from the marathon where you get aid stations every two miles or so and you get to pop a handful of gels throughout the day.  I'm also okay with it because it was a run that I did in the usual grind of a training week.  It was probably one of two workouts for the day and I had probably been working out for a few days straight already at that point.  Considering these things, maybe I'll be okay, but I don't have heaps of experience with this yet so it's hard to stay calm.  Plus, I'd like to think you always run faster in a race.  I'm sure it's for a variety of reasons, but I know it's the case.  

Last week was a pretty big mileage week.  I hit about 40, which is a lot for me.  I know I could run a lot more per week if all I was doing was running, but I also had three bike rides and some time in the pool.  I also know that there are plenty of people who put a lot more time into running when they're getting ready for a marathon, but I feel like this is quite a lot considering I'm pretty sure I maybe hit 40 miles in a week once during my training for Richmond last year.  Maybe.  I think that was about the third week since the week of the Milton Harvest Festival 5k that I've done 40+.

This week is going to be a big week and I feel that if I can get through having done all of my planned workouts, I'll be ready for the race.  I might get up to 40 for the week again, but the centerpiece of this week is a 20-mile run on Friday.  I've never run that far just for a training run, not even getting ready for Richmond.  But after the Boston Massacre, I just want to make sure that at least the endurance is there.  Saturday, I have to make myself run.  I don't care how far and I'm sure it will hurt, but having done it will give me a lot of confidence in my mental preparation.  I should also be swimming that day.  I'm sure I'll collapse Sunday evening after the long bike ride I have planned, but if I rest up after that, I'll be ready!

That's about it for this week.  Perhaps I'll give another update at the end of this week or early next to give more of an idea of how it's going.  Again, thanks for tuning in and until next time...

Cheers!

New Sponsor Time!

While I was working with the Panther Cycling Club at the University of Pittsburgh last year, I was invited to take advantage of their bike shop sponsor, Dirty Harry's.  They helped me out a ton in getting me set up for this past triathlon season, giving me a great deal on a Trek Equinox TTX, which has been unbelievable.  I can't describe how willing everyone at the shop was to help out myself and the team with anything that we could have needed.  I even asked one of the guys if they could get something in that they didn't carry in any of their catalogs or through any of their suppliers:  "No problem," came the answer after a brief phone call directly to the company.  I've been to lots of bike shops in the area - probably all of them - and have not found service that even comes close to they guys at DH.

And service is only half of the story.  Scooter, their head mechanic, has wrenching skills head and shoulders above anyone I've met.  When I was with the team, he would come out to our weekly meetings and do different bike maintenance demos.  Everything from wheel truing, tape wrapping and pre-race check-ups, to derailleur adjustments and installing new cables.  Whenever I've needed a wheel truing (I don't have a stand at home), he'd pretty much stop whatever he was doing and throw it on the stand for me while milled around the shop.  The guy is awesome.

So you can imagine how bummed out I was at the beginning of this fall semester having no official ties to the PCC, thus no sponsorship ties to DH.  Therefore, over the past weeks, I have been working on a letter to the shop's owner, Barry, as well as an athlete resume and statement.  I sent it out via snail mail last week and got a call from him on Saturday.  To make a potentially longer story slightly less so, I'm in there like swim wear (did I just say that?).  So excited to be a part of their store again and have their support heading into the off season and 2009.  

If you're in the Pittsburgh area, show them some love and stop by.  They'll return the favor!  Their located in Verona, just a straight shot down from Allegheny River Blvd.

Race Report of the Great Race 10k, Pittsburgh, PA (9/28)

There's only one thing to do after a tough 70+ miles on the bike:  update the blog!  

So a week ago, I raced the Great Race 10k here in Pittsburgh.  Normally, I would just say some pointless and boring dribble about how the morning was pretty typical and then the race started, void of interesting detail.  This morning was completely different.

The race had a start time of nine thirty in the morning.  Late by most race standards, suggesting the opportunity to sleep in.  However, it is a point-to-point race so there were a few transportation logistics that we needed to work out in the morning so it was a six o' clock wake up call as usual...or it was supposed to be, anyway.

The plan was to get up at six, go to Mappleton's house by 7:50, drive downtown and park so we would have transportation at our fingertips after the race, and take his cousin's car to the start.  Well, I shut off my alarm without much of a second thought as to what I was doing and before I knew it, Mapple was calling me and it was 7:45.  Stress!!!  I threw on my race clothes while Kayla whipped together a peanut butter bagel for me and threw me out the door.  What?  No coffee?  No water?  What was I to do?  Surely the bagel would help a little and it was a short race, but I still wanted to do well.  To make matters worse, I was part of the Pitt Cycling Club team that was running the race and first place in the Collegiate Division was on the line.  Being one of the stronger people on the team, I felt that it was imperative to carry my weight.

We got downtown and back to the race start with plenty of time to spare - over an hour - and we had luckily parked right next to a convenience store so I could get some more fuel.  They picked a good name for those stores.

Jeff (another PCC runner) and I worked are way up through the 12,000-strong crowd until we were about 1,000 people back from the start.  We both knew that we would finish well ahead of most of these people too, but space was tight and moving up really wasn't an option.

The start was an absolute melee because of how many people we had to run through.  We had a great system of working our way through it though, as I would dive through holes while he stayed on my heels.  At one point, we were on the sidewalk and grass banks, streaking past other runners.  If I hit a jam, Jeff had already found another hole and pulled me through it.  I was getting audibly irritated at this cluster of people who should not have even been that far up at the start of the race.  A note to those people to may be reading this:  Get the &%@# back from the start line at a race like this, it's chip-timed.  Nope, even farther...yep, keep going.  Little bit more.  Okay, good.  Seriously, you're annoying.  And get that stroller out of the way.  

Even so, we hit the mile 1 marker at about 6:08; a slower pace than I wanted to average for the race, but not bad considering the stressful first half-mile.  There was quite a bit of downhill in mile 2 and the road was starting to clear up nicely, so that mile went by in about 11:30 something.

The first set of rollers stopped around mile three as we ran through the Oakland area of Pittsburgh.  It really required quite a bit of power to keep up a pace near that of mile two for this section.  5k time: 18:22.

The hardest part of the race came at around mile five as the course held a steady grade past Duquesne University.  I was definitely starting to slow, but still finished that mile in 30 and a half-ish.  Keeping with tradition of most races, I ran the last mile without regard and came in at 37:23.  According to the lovely Garmin on my wrist, the course was 6.31 miles, giving me an average pace of 5:56/mile.  My pace according to official race postings was 6:01/mile.

The first person in the PCC ran about thirty seconds faster than me and the third (only the first three counted towards our cumulative time) close to 41 minutes.  This was enough for us to win the Collegiate Division by a margin of about 5 minutes.  First place:  Party on the Gateway Clipper.  I can't wait. 

I finished in 106th place overall and 99th among males.  It was pretty cool because they published the top 100 male and female finishers in the Post-Gazette; Grandmother would be so tickled.  

P.S. Kevin Greene came up to us after the race and said we had awesome cycling jerseys, wondering where he could get one.

P.P.S.  Mapple left his keys at the other car.  Put it together yourself.

Cheers!