Women's training thread - week of 4/11/09

Wow, I didn't realize patti was that Patti!

Sarah, good luck with the move. At least you won't have to deal with much snow.

Best of luck to everyone running Boston! I'm so glad it will be on TV, but I wish I'd be there.

My running is going okay (knock on wood). I'm up to running 6 days a week, about 30-35 mpw. Not much, but trying to avoid injury. Once I reach about 50 mpw I will start looking at actually training for something again.

I'd do a confidence builder workout...similar to ones I had done the fews weeks before a major marathon. Only this time instead of pushing myself each and every lap I'd feel like I was running on clouds due to the rest.

This is interesting. I was talking to my coach last night about the taper weeks and the penultimate week as laid out is especially easy. No hard workouts and very low mileage.

We went back and forth and he ended up saying that if I felt too full of nervous energy, one option would be to do a short session of intervals on the track or race a 5k. I could either repeat a track session that didn't go particularly well, or find a little local race to do for fun.

The point being: Doing something very limited in terms of energy expenditure 8-10 days out may be good for some people.

I'll see how I feel as the taper progresses.

As for carbo-loading, I do that old school: for a Sunday race, I do a depletion run on Tuesday morning (marathon rehearsal), then no carbs for Tuesday and Wednesday. Then start loading up on them Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Maybe it's the placebo effect at work, but I've always felt very peppy as a result and have yet to have hit the wall when following this regimen.

for a Sunday race, I do a depletion run on Tuesday morning (marathon rehearsal), then no carbs for Tuesday and Wednesday.

My memory is faulty: Make that a depletion run on Wed, no carbs that day, then loading starting on Thursday. As originally written, that would be a miserable couple of days.

More from Pete Pfitzinger, with variations:

http://pfitzinger.com/labreports/eatdrink.shtml

Hey Mama welcome back. I just got in from a breezy 10 miler and my hips are sososo tight! I need to do some good active isolated stretching Ala Aaron Mattes and try and get some release through the hip flexors and quads,even though I am a Massage Therapist it is very hard to work on self.

I am 48 now and racing since the age of 11 growing up in England so just want to encourage you that going strong can be done with some patience faith and common sense all thrown into the mix :o)

Runs like A Girl, I always did 2x1 mile at marathon race pace (6:21's) as a last quickee work out before the big event and some short leg turn over/strides usually about 5 days before worked well.

TXRunner Girl great to see you back here, keep up the good work and you will be increasing mileage in no time, look at where you have come from with the injury etc. I am excited to be leaving winters behind as I move South next week.

Great to see this thread go 3 pages whoohoohoo! Yeah Baby!

Welcome Sticky & welcome back Mama :)

THANK YOU Patti--I'm SO going to take your advise. No more hammering on the housework and only relaxation from here! I remember a certain friend (Sarah ;) giving me a little "talking to" when I constructed a full deck the day before a big race...lesson learned.

What a great thread this week. Lots of great energy from a lot of amazing women!!! See, we are still running without our uterus falling out!!!! *haha*

female master wrote:

See, we are still running without our uterus falling out!!!! *haha*

speak for yourself ;-). Just kidding.

Good Evening Ladies!

Darkwave nice week...(I'm jealous)

Hi Sister Sarah!!! How's the hip flexor? Yeah, it's hard to work on yourself...relax, breathe...ouch!

Hey txrunner, how you doing? Now where ar you writing? Aren't you doing something in that field...somewhere? Glad your running. And 50 no less.

Well ladies, I'm inspired...I walked today. Havne't been out in days..(feeling blue) and I managed around a gallant 7. I do need to ice my foot, I will soon as it's now very sore.

Gosh the expo is THIS week-end. I won't be there I dont' think..I'll have to see. Kids are BUSY!! I am going to dinner with friends Saturday night in B-town, that's about all I can fit in.

patti, you are a legend! I write and do videos for a few different running websites. Currently I'm doing a lot with a new one called preracejitters.com. Have a great time in Boston. I wish I could be there this year.

txrunner...have you seen the DVD of "Run like a Girl"? You probably already have....

I like Sarah's idea of doing long intervals (or maybe a short tempo run) at marathon pace as a final, confidence-building/nervous-energy-expending workout. A lot depends on what your (real or perceived) weakness is. I know that mine is pacing. I think that marathon pace work in the final week can serve as a refresher course for your legs in what they're supposed to do on race day.

Patti and Sarah both, thanks for being so generous in sharing your advice and experience.

Mama Soltera, great to have you rejoin the thread. Great goal to want to keep running in your 40s! I know I'm hoping to keep running in my 50s and beyond.

sarah..please share any and all stretches you are doing for the hip area. i am scared what this could turn into....i do not want another groin injury..that was not fun!! my problem is is that the majority of my runs are during my lunch hour so you can imagine the amount of stretching i do after a 7 mile run...none!? i am thinking to start getting up earlier in the morning and spending 20 mins or so doing some stretching before i have to get ready for work. can anyone recommend any good videos?

Hey Mama, Stretches that are not held for long periods ie 1-2 mins are the way to go. Aaron Mattes has an amazing book out called Active Isolated Streching, you need to go to Home Depot and buy a rope (mylon) about 7ft tall, it has to be a good bit taller than you.

The book has detailed photos where you can stretch the body head to toe practically and zero in on problem areas like glutes and hip flexors, atleast 2 of the glute muscles minimus and medius act as hip flexors....

One stretch that I like is a kneeling lunge, put a cushion under the knee on the ground, the other leg is forwad with the foot flat on the ground, and do a 3 second stretch where you lunge/lean forward and then back into the starting position... hard to describe, easy to see in Aaron's book.

Jim and Phil Wharton also have a great stretching book our similar premise and have worked with a lot of the top runners in the US.

Also your inner thigh muscles (adductors) will stesss the groin if they get tight as quite afew of the upper attatchments to those muscles are at the pubic bone, so sitting with the soles of your feet against each other and gently pressing the thighs towards the ground also for a 2-3 second stretch and release repeating x8 can be useful.

Actually, if you are super tight you may not get as much out of your stretching because you are trying to relax contracted tissue so getting a good loosening up type massage is going to help you get the most out of moving the body through range of motion.

Describing all this is not as easy as I thought but research the Mattes book and be diligent with it, you will be glad you did :O) Hope this helps!

patti wrote:

txrunner...have you seen the DVD of "Run like a Girl"? You probably already have....

Yes, we showed it at the Running Film Festival last summer at the OTs. Great movie!

How can I get a copy of that Texasrunnr Girl I would love to have a copy :o)

There's a website for it: http://www.runlikeagirlfilm.com/

Hi Sister Sarah!

Hi txrunnergirl!

I enjoyed watchig the film very much. I knew Charoltte back in '77-79. We completed against one another. We workd at a couple of running camps together at BC. Wonderful person.

I have a copy Sarah. if you wanted to drop by we could watch it, Raven enjoys it very much.

female master,tftf, have a wonderful time running Boston. If you've neva done it before it is unlike any other marathon in the world.

Great journeys to all who are running the Boston Marathon.

Looking forward to hearing your stories on Tuesday.

If you would like to meet, I may be at the marathon and beyond booth...sometime today, an dperhaps tomorrow in the early afternoon.

See you!!