another (short) break from running

With a slight cold and no appetite this week, my running really suffered. I won't be doing a long run this weekend--only four or five miles--or next weekend, as I'm having all four of my wisdom teeth extracted on Friday, March 27. My two top wisdom teeth are erupted. My two bottom wisdom teeth are impacted. The two top ones will be pulled out--it's as simple as that. It's not so simple with the two bottom ones, which will have to be cut in half and extracted using special elevation tools. I assume I'll be in some pain and unable to run for at least a few days. I have to use prescription mouthwash (as seen in the only photo of mouthwash appearing in this post) for the two days prior to the surgery and for the ten days following the surgery.

I'm in the market for a more supportive shoe for only my long runs. The Nike Free 3.0 do not provide enough support in the latter miles of my long runs when my feet start to get sloppy. There are about 200 miles on my Frees (see photos above). They have held up better than expected. I plan to continue using them for my weekday runs.

Boston Marathon -- April 20, 2009

Could Kara Goucher win for the women; Ryan Hall for the men? Sure, in theory, but it's unlikely. Who was the last American to win the Boston Marathon for either the women or men? And WHEN? For two Americans to win the Boston Marathon this year would be an absolute boon to American distance running. If there's any year in which it could happen, 2009 would be the one.

Goucher ran a 2:25 at the New York City Marathon in November 2008. Can she better that time? I think so. According to her coach, Alberto Salazar, Kara is fitter now than she was going into NYC. We'll see how she handles the pressure to pull off at least an equal performance. So many fans of American distance running are pulling for her to win. If any American woman has a shot, it's her. Deena Kastor, who holds the American record in the marathon, is aging, and she's coming off a broken foot. Not that this will matter on race day, as she's not running the Boston Marathon, but I don't believe that her times will improve and that she'll be able to compete with future Boston fields.

Hall ran a 2:12 at the Olympic Marathon in Beijing, six minutes off his PR. Hall made the mistake of not taking off enough time between marathons. After PR'ing at the London Marathon in April 2008, he ran the Olympic Marathon four months later and choked. He hasn't run a marathon in more than six months, and it should show in Boston. I predict that he will run strongly and finish in the top three.

Ryan's predictions:
For the women: Dire Tune
For the men: Deriba Merga

Night Running

On Sunday night, I braved the dark, lonely roads of Guilford for a six-mile run. It wasn't the best idea, as I don't have any reflective running apparel or accessories, and the roads were wet from a light rain.

This six-mile route is an out-and-back, and I felt great out at around 26 minutes and then deteriorated from about 40 minutes. I finished as strong as possible and wound up holding the pace.

While running, I thought to myself that I would never walk those roads at night. I feel no fear while running, even though the thought of a bear barreling from the woods or the Loch Ness Monster emerging from the various bodies of water along 146 crossed my mind.

Serious Trails

I just learned today that there are 5 different trail systems (Timberlands, The Braemore Preserve, James Valley Preserve, Northwoods and Westwoods) comprising 81 miles of trails over 2,552 acres of land in Guilford, CT. All of the trails are hiker-friendly and presumably runner-friendly, too. I know a Westwoods entrance off of 146. I always see runners gathered at this entrance on the weekends. Westwoods alone comprises 39 miles of trails over 1,200 acres of land.

Are treadmill outputs accurate?

It has been a while since my last post, so here's a long overdue update on my progress. I'm trying to find that key balance between stress and adequate recovery. If your body doesn't adequately recover in time for the next scheduled workout, then it won't be able to reap the full benefit of that workout. This may seem intuitive, but runners often ignore signs of overtraining for fear of undertraining. Cumulatively, this can hamper training and cause injury. My long runs of six or more miles have left me with very little strength for my Wednesday workout. I attribute this to a combination of the following: 1.) inadequate recovery due to possible nutritional deficiencies (e.g., carbohydrates, protein and fat), over-intense long runs, and lack of fitness; 2.) running on pavement; and 3.) wearing Nike Free 3.0.

I'm now able to run comfortably for about an hour at about 180 footfalls per minute, striking the ground first with the balls of my feet directly under my center of gravity. According to the experts, this is the most efficient way to run long distances. I've found that this has alleviated stress to the posterior, medial part of the foot and transferred it to the arch. As a result, my arches and lower-legs are sore and fatigued.

Nike claims that the Free 3.0 is designed to simulate barefoot running. If this is true, then it lends itself to the most efficient running stride, as described above. The Frees, as a byproduct of simulating barefoot running, strengthen the feet and can prevent, and even cure, common running injuries, like PF and runner's knee. Stability and motion control running shoes, on the other hand, are said to be the cause of most preventable running injuries, due to their medial posts and beefed-up heels, among other stability enhancers. These shoes force a runner to strike the ground with the heel first, putting undue stresses on the body from the feet to the hips and lower back. It's not implausible, therefore, that these kind of shoes played a role in my injury.

I ask the question in the title of this post because I've gotten pretty good at gauging and controlling my pace on every run. All of my runs are done on a treadmill with the exception of my long runs on the weekends, which are consistently at least one-minute per mile faster than those done on a treadmill. Hmmm.

H.I.T.

A new book, Healthy Intelligent Training (aka H.I.T.), by New Zealander Keith Livingstone, attemps to more coherently convey the training methods of the late Arthur Lydiard. Livingstone, in an interview found here, says that "long work CANNOT be compromised." He goes on to say:

"Too many personal trainers and 'sports scientists' with ponytails and compression tights have been assiduously chipping away at the edges of Lydiardism, peddling their compromised versions, till all we get is meaningless articles in popular running mags for the masses warning people of the dangers of good old-fashioned, decent mileage. What a load of cobblers!"

"I’ve seen plenty of people who couldn’t run out of sight on a dark night just get stuck into mileage and totally embarrass more highly talented people cautiously and carefully coached by people with ponytails. One guy coached by Magee or Dick Quax ended up with a sub-30 10k track title and a 2:15 marathon, and at full speed he resembled a Clydesdale towing a full harness and plough. Forgotten his name at present, but he did the job, didn’t he? That’s all that counts in the end."

I don't intend to buy or read this book, because I thought that Arthur Lydiard's "Running with Lydiard" made plenty of sense.

Interesting stuff, though.

Kelly Jaske

A testament to the fruit of hard work.

Marathon #3 Disney

Yesterday I finished my third marathon, the Disney Marathon in Florida. All and all it went pretty well, and I finished just under 3:30, which was what I was expecting. I did my normal start fast and crash at the end. I started out doing a 7:30-7:45 pace and held that for the first 15-20 miles. Then about 8:00-8:20 pace for 5 miles or so, then the last couple were slow and painful.

Chip time: 3:29:44
5 mile: 38:04
10 Mile: 1:15:56
Half: 1:39:58
20 Mile: 2:34:34

I think in order to hold the pace I will need to ramp up the training to 35 miles per week and then peak at 45-50. For now I will need a break, as my legs hurt.

The Disney Marathon has its ups and downs. On the upside there is a pretty good vibe that is very festive, laid back, and without the serious competitive vibe in other races. I think the vast majority of the 14,000 runners go very slow stopping along the way to take pictures with various Disney characters. The course was ok. Running through parts of Disney and Epcot were kind of cool as they were lined with people but there were many miles on the highway and in parking lots. A couple stretches were nice 2 lane roads in the woods. Generally the Orlando/Disney area really sucks. All the roads are divided highways with tons of stoplights and traffic. Not really my cup of tea.

One thing I really didn't like was that the race started at 5:50AM, as apparently it can be very hot. This meant I was up at 4:30 and I think most people were up even earlier. I still stood in the start corral 40 mins until the start. The race was well staffed, but more water would have been nice. There was no water available at the start, and some of the stations only had powerade. No GU, some other stuff that I didn't try. I also didn't like that they had all the refreshments at the end of the race sectioned off from the public. Once the runners left the finisher area to meet friends and family they had no access to food or water, and I could only carry so much.

The best part of the race, was that my nipples got a bit chafed, as you can see in the picture above. It wasn't nearly as bad as it looked, but I had dumped a couple things of water on my head so it made the blood run down my shirt. People were horrified!

An excellent, excellent opinion article in WSJ this morning. Must, must read!!!

'Alternative' Medicine Is Mainstream

This article was written by honest professionals in the medical industry who are not trying to benefit from a gimmick or otherwise. These professionals are straight-shooting, and their sound advice must reach a larger proportion of the population in order to have any effect on the current medical crisis.

Where I'm At

The Disney Marathon is 1 week from today. I haven't been feeling particularly strong on my recent runs. I think my last 20 mile run in the snow did me in pretty good. Legs have generally felt pretty tired and sore. I think I will need to view this marathon as a training build up for another in the spring or summer. I'll be happy with 3.5 hrs and no injuries.

Vegans

Dan, Just out of curiosity: How did your third marathon training cycle feel compared to your first two, now that you've been a vegan for at least a year (as far as I know)? How do you feel energy-wise? Have you lost any muscle? How much do you eat; what do you eat?

Admittedly, I'm struggling as a vegan. It's not that I crave animal foods; it's a matter of consuming enough and the right combination of plant foods. I'm down to 142 pounds. When I was running 40-mile weeks, my average weight was at least 5 pounds heavier. I became a vegan about two-thirds of the way through that training for the 2007 Hartford Marathon.

Let's talk about this.

Dogs

I was chased by a large German Shepard this afternoon. It was going after a UPS truck and then went after me as the truck passed me. I stopped running and confronted the dog as I figured it would just keep chasing and most likely outrun me (I didn't get a pair of the Nike Free's yet). It started coming at me and I lunged at it and waived my arms, and it backed off some. The owner (female) was yelling for the dog to come back, and the dog wasn't listening. I yelled at the dog a couple times and it backed off a bit more. Then the owner (male) came out and gave one yell to the dog and it went running back. Two lessons learned:

1.) Confront the dog if you get the chance
2.) Both man and wife should be involved in training and disciplining the family dog