Women's training and recovery thread - 06/28/09

Gougher = Goucher

Hey. Yeah, I've watched some of it online and it's been really good.

Right. Well, this week I decided to give myself a good kick in the backside and get on with things! Got my orthotics from the physio and have noticed quite a bit of relief already. This should mean that my biomechanics are corrected and when I walk the bit of cartilage that's aggravated shouldn't be rubbed on (I think - I leave the technical stuff to them). Tried different painkillers and they've worked better, this is short term. I've repeatedly been reassured I definitely will run again (although it's taken a 4th opinion to get a physio who has been really proactive and aggressive about the treatment, and I think it didn't help having a wrong diagnosis a few months ago) so I've decided to hit it with the cross training. 6 hours so far this week. I'm using a hand cycle - basically an exercise bike for your arms - it's kind of funky because it powers a see through water container with this big turbine thing going around inside it and all the water flying around. I'm also using the swiss ball for core, etc.

I have a funny story for you all though. Earlier today I was down at the track and ran into Jo Fenn (a gal who ran in the 04 olympics) on the way out. The car barrier was broken so I swiped her out and I was saying oh yeah I used to be a fan and she was comiserating about injuries (she also said don't you give up! which I thought was nice). Anyway she headed off on her way and I turned around and my car was rolling down the hill! So without thinking I run down the hill to catch it but I'm grabbing onto it and obviously it won't stop. Before I know it the car has mounted the curb and is travelling into the shrub area... I'm like **** my car is going to crash into the building... some guy from the sports centre runs up and we get it stopped... whoops :o

Hey there Trackchick.... that is a bionic woman type of story but I think I would have reacted exactly the same way:O)

Listen I have seen over a dozen people for the nerve entrapment issue in the past 4 yrs talk about bunny trails.

The thing is you have found someone proactive and aggressive and knowledgable, now stick with the protocol and you will see things turn around, above all keep FAITH!

Got in 42 miles this week with one double day of 5 and 4 miles respectively, one 9 miler and a pool interval day 55 mins total with swimming warm up and one minute on one minute off running repeats,deep end of course and NO floatational devices to make it harder, it was ... I actually was sweating in the water.

I can feel my iron levels are improving as I start my 7th weeks on supplements, but I need get my blood rechecked shortly to see how much the Serum Ferritin has gone up. Has to be better than 12!

The heat and humidity here have been intense and I have managed to lose 5 pounds over the last couple of weeks so really trying to focus on good hydration.

On my final run of the week this morning I ran 6 miles and had the pleasure of 2 does and 2 little bambis scuttle quickly across the road ahead of me... Love it!

Have a great week ladies and enjoy every step!

Track Chick -- so I guess you CAN run fast, with proper motivation. ;) You just need to work runaway cars into your training and you're golden. Seriously, I'm glad you're making some headway on resolving your knee issue (and getting pain relief).

The heat/humidity has been something else. But I've been forcing myself to run in it every day (and run some faster miles too) and I do feel that I'm better acclimated than I was even a week ago. It's still tough to look forward to a minimum of 8-9 more weeks of this though.

The week in review:

http://raceslikeagirl.com/2009/06/28/okay-thats-enough-recovery/

Hello Ladies!

Track Chick that is one funny story. I am glad you are up and running again!

Sarah -- good job! the southern heat is brutal, I have been running in the 96-98F weather here, and while it is not pleasant it is nothing compared to the discomfort of the south right now (I try to remind myself of this as I whine internally getting ready for my afternoon run).

Good luck with the blood work RLAG!

I ran 67 miles this week, three days of doubles, one long run and one day of 90` w/ 10` at threshold pace. Ahhhh ... base training is nice ;-).

Have a good week, stay cool and healthy everyone.

By the way -- have any of you seen the bats fly in Austin? Or Tucson? I have sort of seen the bats (and heard them) on my runs here before, but I have never actually seen them fly from underneath the bridges here at sunset before. OH my goodness, spectacular! ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuvO3f6vpb0

I forgot -- I love Track and Field summers -- I will be going through severe withdrawals after this evening. I have been hunkered over my laptop (and desktop work computer) since Thursday. I have been elated, disappointed and encouraged by so many good races!!

Hey guys -- I've been loving watching USATF as well, even forcing my boyfriend to watch it with me on Saturday (he didn't really mind). Amy Yoder-Begley's the one I've been rooting for -- If I'm not mistaken, she's now the reigning champion for the indoor 3000, the outdoor 15K, and the track 10000. Nice range!

Trackchick: I'm glad you escaped a serious incident! How do you get through the time with the hand cycle? That seems far more tedious than pool running.

Sarah: Nice week! I had a similar experience -- having to dodge several geese on my Saturday run. It's those little things that can add a highlight to an easy run.

AZrunning: Nice week as well. I assume that's 10 minutes at threshold, not 10 miles? :) (for a minute, I thought miles, until I noted that it was 10 out of 90).

RLAG: I enjoyed reading your race report. Those "I don't bleeping care" races can be a lot of fun.

As for me, approximately 91 miles this week.

Monday: 10.5 miles total. In the morning, 7 miles very easy outside (8:48 pace) plus weight training. In the evening, 3.5 very easy miles outside (8:44 pace).

Tuesday: 11 miles very easy on treadmill (9:03 pace), plus yoga class (7 miles before, 4 miles after).

Wednesday: 19 miles total.

In the morning, 14.5 miles outside, including two long intervals of 4.31 miles each at half-marathon pace with full recovery between each. Paces were 7:19 (uphill) and 6:52 (downhill). Felt sluggish as all heck. Also ten 12 second hill repeats up hill of 17% incline.

In the evening, 4.5 miles outside at very easy pace (8:19).

Thursday: 11 miles total. In the morning, 7 miles easy outside (8:33 pace) plus weight training. In the evening, 4 miles very easy outside (8:52 pace)

Friday: 11 miles very easy on treadmill (8:52 pace), plus yoga class (7 miles before, 4 miles after).

Saturday: 13.5 very easy miles outside (8:55 pace), plus ten 12 second hill repeats up hill of 17% incline.

Sunday: 15 miles on treadmill, including a lactate threshold workout of two sets of five mile repeats at 6:40 pace with 1 minute jogging recovery between each mile (complete recovery between the two sets).

The plan for this summer is 2 weeks at 90 MPW, 1 week at 70 MPW, 2 more weeks at 90 MPW, 1 week at 70 MPW, 2 weeks at 95 MPW, and then back off on the mileage while adding in the speed work. Right now, I’m not doing any true speed work, just lots of easy miles, supplemented by lactate threshold work, hill work, and a bit of fast running with full recovery.

I just kind of zone out. I look ahead at the metal, and at the time display as little as possible, which fortunately is to the side. I'm lucky that it's a really quiet time at the gym else I wouldn't be able to stay on it for long chunks of time. Glad to hear you all had good weeks :)

good week just past, it seems -- a very nice change. track chick, let's hope that the orthodics start to do the trick for you right away so that you can un-numb your mind.

as i mentioned at the end of last week's thread, i enjoyed 220 miles on the bike (in five days) this past week. i'm quite happy that i like riding, especially in summer when one's self-breeze is a welcome addition -- makes it so that i don't care how hot or humid it might be, so long as i keep my water bottle properly full. on the routes i usually ride, that's easy, because there are wineries every couple of miles! although i didn't see much in the way of wildlife, my ride this morning was particularly pleasant (despite a flat tire to fix en route): sunny and warm, no ambient wind to fight, and i crossed paths with a bevy of cyclists from the local riding club coming at me along the lake shore road; they also came rolling by my house shortly after my return home. it was fun to wave at them from the garden after having encountered them earlier, although i don't know if they realized i was the same person since i don't tend to pick snap peas, greens, and carrots from the seat of my bike or with my helmet on.

Darkwave wrote:

The plan for this summer is 2 weeks at 90 MPW, 1 week at 70 MPW, 2 more weeks at 90 MPW, 1 week at 70 MPW, 2 weeks at 95 MPW, and then back off on the mileage while adding in the speed work. Right now, I’m not doing any true speed work, just lots of easy miles, supplemented by lactate threshold work, hill work, and a bit of fast running with full recovery.

A high mileage plan after my own heart. This looks like what I've been doing lately in terms of three week cycles to enable high mileage/high intensity. I'm looking forward to hearing how it works out for you.

I didn't have a problem mixing in speedwork with the higher mileage weeks, by the way, so perhaps a cutback isn't necessary for you either. But I've been running in the 90+ range for over a year now, so I was used to it. I'm not sure what your mileage history is.

That's an impressive week of training. But don't you think you're taking this a too seriously?

(Sorry, I couldn't resist after last week's thread.)

This is my first time at 90, so I'm playing it a bit careful (especially given my achilles tendonitis problems this spring, and my osteopenia). I'd rather be a bit conservative and stay uninjured!

Also, I think our training may digress in that you're focused on the marathon, while I'm not planning on racing further than 10 miles this fall, with my primary focus being 5-10Ks.

I'm doing the (relatively) big mileage because I believe I'm still underdeveloped from an aerobic fitness standpoint. But since I focus on 5-10Ks, I'll need to really focus on speedwork starting in mid-August. I plan to focus on racing from late Sept through late November.

"don't you think you're taking this a too seriously? "

Oh, absolutely. If I were a better person, I wouldn't be running. I'd be spending this time at a soup kitchen or an animal shelter. But I'm unabashedly selfish and competitive. :D

Wow, NLS. Biking through wineries and gardening! Now I know how you got your handle! :) Sounds very nice!

Darkwave wrote:

"don't you think you're taking this a too seriously? "

Oh, absolutely. If I were a better person, I wouldn't be running. I'd be spending this time at a soup kitchen or an animal shelter. But I'm unabashedly selfish and competitive. :D

I really was kidding!

But I'm with you on the selfishness part. On the other hand, a colleague just got done telling me about her volunteer work as head of the local Humane Society board. I think i just did a good deed by turning her on to the idea of organizing a local road race as a fundraiser, and giving her all sorts of information and advice. She's "running" with it.

So maybe we can do good deads indirectly at least.

That's impressive mileage for 5-10K racing. You'll be an endurance machine by summer's end.

nls, glad to hear your biking is going well. Also cool to hear you grow your own veg.

Did it take you two long to build up to 90mpw?

"I really was kidding! "

I know!

The whole "aren't you taking this too seriously thing" amused me, especially since there's so much criticism on the boards for people who don't take it seriously enough.

Trackchick, here's my progression. Keep in mind that I'm 35 years old, with osteopenia, and so my build-up may have been more cautious than is necessary for others. I also do anywhere from 30-60% of my running on the treadmill - I feel that I benefit a lot from keeping a good mix of treadmill and outside work.

I started jogging as a stereotypical overweight baggy t-shirt girl in 2000, when I was studying for the bar exam. I was about 10 to 15 MPW (usually closer to 10) until June 2007, when I ran my first 10K. I did OK for someone with no real training, and decided that I wanted to get better.

I started building up mileage, and got up to 25+ by August 2007. By October 2007 I was 35+.

By early January 2008, I was just breaking 50 MPW. I held there for a while, and raced, and then upped to 55 in August 2008. I broke 60 MPW for the first time in Mid-October 2008.

Over winter 2008/2009, I decided to really focus on mileage. By early January 2009 I was at 75 MPW, and then I hit 80 MPW in mid January.

I held there for a while (doing 2-3 weeks up, one week down), and then dropped my mileage way down, in part due to tapering for races, and in part due to a bout with achilles tendonitis (caused by a badly fitting shoe, not by the mileage). During this time, I did a ton of elliptical work, trying to keep my total hours of aerobic work equivalent to a 70 mile week, even though I was only averaging about 40 MPW running.

By May I was recovered from the AT. From May 1 to now has looked like this:

48.6

67

70

78

68

80

83

76

91

track chick wrote:

Did it take you two long to build up to 90mpw?

I did it in stages. First I spent five months just building a base from 40mpw to 70mpw, all easy running. Then I did a marathon training cycle that averaged 75mpw. Most weeks were in the 80-85 range (biggest week was 94), with cutback weeks around 60-70. Ran a great marathon off of that and was sold on higher mileage training.

Next, after a month's recovery, I did another cycle that averaged 88mpw. This was my "summer of doubles" and I was averaging 95mpw most weeks, cutting back to 70 (but not often enough). I was tired a lot, though, and learned that I can't run twice a day, 5-7 days a week without paying a hefty price.

In the last cycle I learned that I do better on a single, longer run most days. I still run doubles in order to hit 85-100mpw but now it's 3 days a week tops. I can comfortably hit 80mpw in singles.

I was very conservative in adding mileage always. Never more than 10-12% a week and making sure I'd take a recovery week at least every 4 (now it's every 3).

Last time I bumped up I used a "hop and hold" method, adding mileage in cycles of three weeks. Instead of increasing mileage week after week, you increase it, then hold it for a couple of weeks to make sure you can handle it, and cut back to recover and facilitate further adaptation.

So a five month program to go from 40-75 might look like this:

40, 44, 45

42, 50, 50

48, 55, 55

50, 58, 58

52, 65, 65

56, 70, 70

60, 75, 75

As always, your mileage may vary. :)

darkwave and RLAG, you two are incredibly disciplined! as for me, i get my miles (and/or time on my feet) up more haphazardly by just spending longer in the woods on days i have the time and am feeling happy doing it. just before the beginning of this on-again/off-again past year of injuries, i was up around 80-100 mpw, often with a moderate-distance trail race on the weekend and back-to-back 15-25 milers during the week. i pretty much never run doubles, although maybe i'd benefit from it -- it just seems like too much time in the shower!

as for my screenname, i came up with it after coming back from a stress fracture in 2006. like you, darkwave, i also have osteopenia, which was first diagnosed after my second stress fracture of the year in 2001 (age 41). i do, however, live a happy life, and endurance sports and gardening are important parts of it; my wonderful husband is another, as are my kids and stepkid; and a third leg of the stool is the ability to live simply in a place that abounds with great running trails, forests, farmland, and lakes -- plus a nearby small city with lots of culture and intellectual stimulation to tap into.