Women's training thread - week of 4/26/09

humbled, glad to see your heel cooperating so much more this week. excellent! when i have a run that starts off feeling just lousy, i decide to at least give it 20 minutes out (then it'll be at least 40 min, since i also have to come back), and by the time 20 minutes pass, i'm usually feeling much better than at the outset.

this week for me, i didn't need to try to trick myself into running, since i had a good week, putting in about 50 miles leading into the "triple crown" race, yielding me mileage in the low 70s. as i mentioned in last week's thread, this event is a succession of three races: a HM followed by a 10K followed by a 5K, all on trails. as trail races go, this one was pretty mild, with about 2000' of elevation change for the half, which also included two 40-50'-wide, knee-deep creek crossings; the 10K and 5K stay on the close side of the creek, but otherwise use the same trails. the killer was the 40-minute break between the HM and the 10K -- just enough to stiffen up really nicely -- although they started the 5K 15 minutes earlier than advertised, permitting much less muscle seizing in the meantime. beforehand, i had wondered if it would be more torturous or fun, but in retrospect it was definitely fun. lots of nice folks, including a pair of sisters from memphis who showed up to win the triple crown and associated marathon (2xHM) respectively, so i'm continuing my string of second place finishes. interestingly, quite a few of the marathoners were coming off last weekend's bull run run 50-miler! among these was my friend angus who hosted my husband and myself at his home near the race venue. i'd say the only drawback of the triple crown was one odd trail marking on the HM/marathon section that sent about half the field of runners off track for maybe half a mile. my husband was among them, but fortunately i wasn't. anyway, after four consecutive weekends of racing, i'm taking a much-needed break next weekend before playing around for 26K on my favorite local trail course the weekend thereafter.

here's hoping everyone's buildups, recoveries, tapers, and/or recuperations are progressing well. springtime is an unadulterated energizing force!

Big congrats to Humbled for her return to running, and to NLS for her triple crown performance.

As for me, the achilles and the calf-strain are getting markedly better, though I still am not up to my full mileage.

I did attempt to run a 5K this morning. Temperatures were above 70 at the start, with a pollen count of 11.5 out of 12. If I hadn't already shelled out a good chunk of money to register, I wouldn't have even tried to run it, but since I had already paid and grabbed my bib, I decided to try.

I was having problems breathing at the starting line, and considered pulling out then, but decided to run the first mile and see where I was.

At the first mile, my throat was closing up on me, and so I finally accepted the inevitable and pulled up (actually bailed at 1.5 miles -- took me a while to mentally accept that I had to bail). The good news was that I was on 6:17 pace for the 1.5 miles, and the pace felt "just right" for a 5K -- were it not for the breathing issues, I'm confident I could have held that pace for the 5K.

I hated doing it, and would have hung on if the breathing issues had hit later, but it really just didn't make sense to push it when allergies raised their head so early. So, I pulled up, took off my bib, and walked the rest of the way in. Later, I hit the gym for a pollen-free tempo workout.

Week looked like this:

Approximately 29 miles plus 6 hours on the arc-trainer -- training log is here. I count each hour on the arc-trainer as “aerobically” equivalent to 7 miles run, so this week was roughly equivalent to 71 miles.

Monday: 60 minutes on the arc-trainer plus weight training

Tuesday: 6 very easy miles on the treadmill (8:56 pace), plus 30 minutes on the arc-trainer and a yoga class

Wednesday: 70 minutes on arc-trainer plus weight training.

Thursday: 40 minutes on arc-trainer, plus 8 miles on treadmill, including a VO2 Max workout of ten half-mile repeats at 6:07 pace, with a little over 2 minutes recovery between each (save between intervals 7 and 8, where a bio-break meant that my recovery was closer to 4 minutes). The workout was distressingly easy - easy enough that I swapped treadmills because I thought the first was mis-calibrated. So, either both treadmills were off, or I’ve made a huge jump in fitness.

Friday: 50 minutes on arc-trainer; 4.5 very easy miles on treadmill (8:50 pace), and a yoga class

Saturday: 40 minutes on arc-trainer.

Sunday: 1 mile warm-up, 1.5 miles of 5K race (6:17 pace) before pulling up due to allergy issues. Later, 70 minutes on arc-trainer, and indoor workout on treadmill – 8 miles, including a 6 mile “tempo with surges” workout – I maintained 6:56 pace, but “surged” to 5:46 pace for about 30 seconds every half mile. Immediately after the 6 miles, I did a practice “kick” of a quartermile at 6:10 pace.

Later tonight, I’m going to attend a “yoga for runners” class.

Great news that you were able to run this week Humbled, sorry about the less-than-stellar feeling yesterday, hurrah about today!

Wow NLS - amazing races.

Sorry to hear about the pollen and race Darkwave, but glad you were able to train well this week.

I ran 66 miles this week, today is exactly one week from my marathon. I ran a fartlek on Tuesday and 3 x 3000 @ 10k-15k pace w/2:30 recovery on Thursday (averaged 7:05 pace for the 3000's). Today I ran 12 miles with 6 miles @ MP (kept it right at 7:45-7:49 pace). Not really feeling terrific or anything this week, despite the lower mileage, but was able to hit the paces for the workouts so I guess I am doing ok. Kind of freaked out on Wednesday when I saw my schedule called for a 40 min run -- then I knew it was actually way too close for the race -- panic'd that I had not run enough mileage, that I was fat, that I was slow, etc. But, then I took a deep breath and tried to calm down ;-).

Have a nice week ladies!

Hi All! Glad to see people getting back to running.

Sorry to hear of your breathing problems Darkwave.

I'm in my last week of marathon training (running Lincoln, NE) next Sunday, and intended to do a 10 mile run on some easy trails with a couple of people I have met here....I made it 30 minutes and my calf knotted up into a big charlie horse and I couldn't run without a limp...the only time I've ever pulled a muscle was by trying to run through one so, I walked/hobbled back to my car, have been stretching and even got a massage but, it is still sore and hurts behind my knee. I"m a little worried because I'm 6 days away from the marathon and really don't wish to be injured again!. Any calf advice you ladies can offer would be appreciated. The pain is in the upper head of the left gastroc in my right calf...it is a knot, no brusiing and pain extends into the popliteal fossa (behind the knee). Nothing in the quads or hams...just calf and just the left head of the gastroc.

[quote]Humbled wrote:

Isn't it strange, how variable our runs can be?

[quote]

I was thinking that this past week. Today I felt good on my 8 mile run, but yesterday I could barely plod 4 because I was really tired and my muscles felt like they were dead. Strange. Also last Tuesday I ended up doing a tempo 5 miler with hills and heat, so maybe that took some out of me. I'm just glad I run based on how I feel each day instead of pushing myself too hard like I used to. I used to get mad at myself for not hitting the same mile splits on every run. It makes sense that fast runs need to be followed by easy runs.

HUMBLED!!!!!!!

DON'T start running yet! Your heel is not ready. If you start too soon you are just going to get into too good of condition too soon. You'll end up racing too fast! They'll make you run in the Olympics! They'll throw MONEY at you. You wouldn't want that to happen to you, would you??

Your heel sounds painful Humbled, better wait and give it more time - it is tempting to run isn't it?

The flowering stuff makes me feel sluggish too, no diagnosed allergies, I just know they are there for myself and my son's are very bad.

The mileage is still around 55 for me, probably will not get any higher, and still alternating different tempos and repeats as time and energy permit. Still working full time, teaching a class and coaching which is overwhelming this time of year. Not only that, but still have to carve out time to hunt mushrooms in the woods and get my senior to graduation.

Will be running a 1/2 at the end of this week, my first race in over 7 years and it will be a humbling experience I am just hoping the tempetures drop and the rain gets rid of some of the pollens.

have a good week everyone.

rnrpac -- I actually almost ran Lincoln instead of Eugene! Sounds like a great race. In the end, I decided to run the race that was in my timezone ... good luck to you on Sunday.

Regarding your calf. I actually invested in a massager from Sharper image that has a "theraputic" setting (it is a pulsating setting) -- the pulsating (think the old movies with a massage therapist using a karate chop) motion is supposed to be good for calves. A cheaper (and wiser) alternative would to find a good massage therapist - or even better yet an ART (active release techniques -

www.activerelease.com

) therapist ASAP. You don't want to have either of things done too close to your marathon, Sarah could give you a better estimate on how close is too close, for me it is about 3-4 days.

Sometimes we get "phantom" pains before key races (especially during taper) -- I will be hoping that this is what you are experiencing.

Hi All-

Glad to see so many posts already! Also glad to see lots of good running and racing. Humbled - healing thoughts on the heel (no pun intended). Sounds like you are being careful with it. Darkwave - sorry about the breathing problems, but I can sympathize. It is terrible allergy time right now. Mine are just awful, too. Sounds like your pace was great, though. RnRpac - I hope the calf will be OK. Maybe putting some heat on the area would help? NLS - I am sop impressed! You have quite the streak going. That race series sounds brutal!

30 miles this week for me on 4 runs. I am happy. The heat here was awful and it made my 2 weekend runs pretty tough because I am just not acclimated yet. I did a cross-country 10K as an easy run, and boy was easy hard! It was 90 degrees and in an old strip mine with insane hills that we had to walk up. Winning women's time was 8:21 pace, and this was an accomplished local ultrarunner! Glad I wasn't racing that one!

Crazy last week, hence the latish post. Only got in 20 miles in 2 10 mile runs due to moving and the stress that goes with packing loading driving 800plus miles and on and on....

Trying to adjust to the dreaded H's heat and humidity. Out the door by 8am for a 10 miler this morning and will have to become an early bird and start heading out by 7am or before as the Summer weather kicks in...

Sorry to learn of the heels needing healing, I wish I were closer to help.... Pain is always a signal not to keep going but I bet all of us here have ignored or tried to tune it out.

Hang in there Humbled rest is the best thing sometimes truly, but jolly hard to do.

Nice to see the miles and training, hope our Boston marathon gals are recovering nicely.

Happy healthy running one and all!

I'm also late to the party. There are so many of you that I don't dare try to address you all. But...

Darkwave: Have you tried eating local honey? My mother had bad allergies and started eating local honey. Over the course of a few months, her pollen allergies seemed to be alleviated a bit and she's said she's better this year than last.

AZ and rnrpac -- good luck with your Sunday races (and with figuring out the calf issue). I'll be racing too, with several online acquaintances in mind when the horn blows.

My week was actually sort of fun, when I wasn't feeling like a corpse:

http://raceslikeagirl.com/2009/04/27/spring-race-training-week-13-2/

I've got just five weeks to go until the Newport race, and the next three feature just two (rather than three) hard workouts each, but most of those are big, scary MPace runs. I'm trying not to think too much about them, but it's difficult. All the insecurities and obsessions come out: Have I trained enough? Why can't I lose five pounds? What if I bomb on the big workouts? Feh.

Five weeks to go and you have time to post!!! LOL!!

Only kidding.

Newport, VA. What are you shooting for?

Hi Sister Sarah! YOU MADE IT!!! NICE! Real Nice!

Haven't run for a couple of days...sorta low.

Glad to read about all of you though.

Dark Wave, pray tell the theory behind local honey to help with allergies...

Hi, Patti. It's Newport, OR, actually (too many Newports in this country). I'm shooting for anything below 3:05 (assuming good conditions).

The honey theory is one of gradual desensitization to a pollen-based product (made from local pollen). I've no idea if it actually works -- all I've got is anecdotal evidence (Mom).

WOW! That is so cool. I have allergies... (late onset).

Yes, there are too many Newport's...RI, VA...OR...lol!

No matter the conditons...you'll hit your goal...well barring...95 degrees and a 100 mile an hour head wind..and of course the pollen...lol!

GerrytheJanitor wrote:

DON'T start running yet! Your heel is not ready. If you start too soon you are just going to get into too good of condition too soon. You'll end up racing too fast! They'll make you run in the Olympics! They'll throw MONEY at you. You wouldn't want that to happen to you, would you??

Hah! My aspirations are much more modest. I'd be happy if they started throwing tacky trinkets, running store gift certificates, and the occasional frozen turkey at me.

Seriously, 16x, I'm taking it VERY easy. My heel still has that bruised kind of tenderness, but running doesn't seem to aggravate it, and I'm stretching and massaging and exercising faithfully. But you have me correctly pegged as someone who hates to take time off and is good at misinterpreting what her body is trying to tell her. If I reinjure myself, you'll have every right to say "I told you so."

Sarah, hope you're settling in after your move. H&H: ugh!

I hope calves and low moods and allergies all improve soon.

Humbled, I'm sorry I missed it...what's up with your heel?

I had heel problems, did the same thing you are doing...for months..I finally had an xray...3 bone spurs on the same heel..ouch.

So, now I still do the same things...and am building up tp run again. Well, it's not really a build up it's more of how much I can do a any given day. I have good days and not so good days. I get frustated because it's SOOOOOOOO frustrating. If I run, I may not be able to walk for the rest of the day. If I walk , I still may not be able to walk around the house fo the rest of the day. I limp most of the time. I've been dealing/managing pain for years...but this thing...it's got me.

I hope you don't have spurs. You can live with them and plenty of people do...but I don't know if they want to run or not...ya'know...

Humbled, I promise not to say I told you so. I don't say that anymore, not even to my teenage son - so I'll just five you my "look' instead....

I'm going to try the local honey tip - although it is probably too late for me this year - it is around this time April and May that I suffer.

my nose runs while I run, but I don't feel "good" and I feel like I am running at altitude - can't get a good breath of air....HOWEVER....rain is in the forecast for the next 4 days and this is going to make a huge difference for me - and I am grateful.

sniff, run, sniff - everyone have a good week

oh man, i just slugged my way through the last 3 miles of my 5 mile loop....it's hot (83) and i'm happy as peach pie.

ta-da!!

Hey Everybodyyyy!

Glad to hear that all is going well!

Humbled - you're running!!!!! that's so exciting. I am glad the heel is feeling better.

Darkwave - allergies are TERRIBLE! my friend had terrible allergies and she had to give herself shots of steroids and medicine every week. Hopefully the honey idea works for you OR all the plants die really soon :)Best of luck!

RnRpac - I agree with the massage idea. I think it'd be good for you. Just don't get it to close! They tend to really get out all of the lactic acid and the next day when you run, you feel realllly slow. But you'll feel PERFECT in a few days time! I'd definitely try it out. And be sure to tell them about your calf if you go. They tend to know how to work out all the kinks! (I went to a gal who used to be a runner and did specific running massages where she would focus on the legs).

AZ!!!!! GOOD LUCK on your MARATHON! I hope the weather in Tucson has been treating you well! You'll have to let us know how it goes.

RLAG- 5 more weeks! How exciting! I am glad to hear that things are going so well for you and I am super excited to see how things go (sub 3!!!!)

As for me, I ran 32 miles last week. It seems like everything hits me in waves. We hung out outside on Saturday and (silly me) I forgot to put on sunscreen, so I'm burnt like a lobster all over my back and shoulders. It hurts to have anything touch it! So that doesn't make for fun when I gotta put on the tight sports bra. Ickk. And then I was running with my husband and our pups on Sunday and we were running on a perfectly FLAT surface and somehow I fell. I have ridiculous battle wounds to show now and road rash. And of course all my dogs wanted to do was lick me and my wounds. Hopefully their tongues have special healing powers ;-)

I did my 5am run this morning with my husband. We got a big night tonight! Doing a going away party for one of his friends (he's heading to Afghanistan). I'm excited to do this (it's like a ritual where we live), but it gets me teary eyed at the same time.

Hope everyone is doing GREAT! And keep up the good miles. I'm always so excited to see this new thread up every week :)