Women's training thread - week of 5/3/09

well, no race results to report this week. in fact, nothing too interesting at all, since it was very much a recovery week for me -- many of my runs were quite sluggish and i needed more sleep than usual. while i've started working on better form and increased effort into hills as i come to them (although no targeted hill workouts yet), only four of my past eight runs have felt normal and pleasant. still, given that they've been four of the past five days, i think i'm recovered now from the triple crown, which took more out of me than i would have expected (and i have no excuses of allergies, injuries (yippee!), or even weather). just under 70 trail miles for sun-sat.

i also look forward to hearing about RLAG's race and hope this week is generally more upbeat and healthier for all.

Oh, lord. Don't look at the results, as they're nothing to write home about.

I'm holding off on posting a race report (or even an opinion!) until I talk to my coach to see what his interpretation of the events as they transpired is.

I'm hoping the world can go on functioning in the meantime. ;)

Good on you* both for the mileage this week!

*As they say in Australia, conceptual birthplace of the themed eating establishment -- Outback Craphouse -- in which I was forced to eat last night.

Hey all: Humbled -- I'm very glad to hear that you're on the upswing. NLS, glad your recovery went well, and I'm not at all surprised that the triple crown took a bit out of you --I'm sure it would floor me.

RLAG, I'm very sorry the race apparently didn't go as planned. Not to be a pollyanna type (I assure you I'm charmingly bitter and cynical in person), but I have found that bad races, and the learning process that results, have served as a springboard to improvement for me.

(and don't be macking on the Outback Steakhouse -- I've had some decent steaks there :)

As for me, I raced a 5K this morning in near optimal conditions -- 58 and drizzle. The 5K was flat and fast, and I ran in a time of 20:13 for second woman overall out of a large field. I'm quite sure the course was a tenth too long (based on my Garmin, a map of the course, my own perception, and the comments of other runners). Ah well, the 20:13 is still a PR, and that sub-20 is getting closer.

What was a bit frustrating is that my legs had no speed to them. I'm usually a very strong kicker who can chase down people in the last mile, but not this race. I watched the winner break the tape 7 seconds ahead of me, and was powerless to do anything. This is not normally how races go for me -- usually I can pass in the last half mile anyone who's within about 10 seconds of me.

I think this is because of my Achilles issues, and the resulting substitution of the arc-trainer for mileage and avoidance of sprints and hill work. I'm not trained optimally, and it's catching up with me. Thus my goal for the next few months is to get back to perfect health, and then start adding back in the mileage and the sprints and hill work in prep for a strong fall.

As for the Achilles, it's doing quite well. Today was 16 miles total, including the 5K, and I have no pain as I sit here Sunday night! Now, the challenge is not to get greedy and rush too hard back into full training.

Week looked like this:

Approximately 49 miles plus an hour on the arc-trainer -- I count each hour on the arc-trainer as “aerobically” equivalent to 7 miles run, so this week was roughly equivalent to 56 miles.

Monday: Very easy 3.5 miles outside (8:43 pace) plus weight training.

Tuesday: 9.5 miles total. Very easy 5.5 miles outside (9:00 pace), yoga class, and then another 4 miles at very easy pace on the treadmill (8:48 pace, 2.5% incline)

Wednesday: 70 minutes on arc-trainer plus weight training. Felt really good – real struggle not to run, but I'm trying to give it days off.

Thursday: 11 miles outside. I tried an overly ambitious workout, and then got my head on straight halfway through. Did 2 intervals of .75 miles each at 6:20 pace, with 90 seconds recovery between the two, and then realized that to do two more at this pace with such a short recovery was going to be a race effort, not a workout effort. (this highlights where I could benefit from a coach to add some common sense to my training) So I swapped to doing a ladder-type workout with longer recoveries, including .75 at 6:30 pace (too slow), .5 at 6:20 pace, .75 at 6:16 pace, and finally .25 at 6:12 pace.

Friday: 8 miles very easy on treadmill at very easy pace (8:58, 2.5% incline) plus yoga.

Saturday: Rest day (about 4.75 miles of walking).

Sunday: 16 miles total. About 4.5 miles warm-up, and then 5K race in 20:13 (course was actually a tenth too long, so pace was 6:20 -- which would have been a sub-20). Later, 8.5 miles outside at very easy pace (8:47).

Humbled, have you heard of lo-dye taping? that might give your PF the support it needs as it heals.... It looks like the British flag pattern oddly enough, I am pretty sure you can google how to do it.

With a recent move and adapting to a new state/life/ training enviroment etc, my body just gave up the ghost this w-end while visiting a close former running pal from the 80s, and I got pretty sick with sore throat( even breathing hurt) and a temp of 101.4, been a long time since I was that poorly...

Inspite it all I got in 50 miles in 5 days and will plain old listen to my body this week to see what is doable versus what I tend to force.

Had blood work drawn to check basic CBC/thyroid/cholesterol etc but also additional tests to check immune system function and cortisol levels as well as Serum Ferritin (stored iron) which is critical for decent running. Hopefully the results will help me plan better nutrition and supplementation...

Many changes in my life over the last couple of weeks, hopefully life will settle down from here on in...

Planning on jumping into some local races for the H of it soon.

Have a great week one and all!

Hey Ladies! Sorry I didn't get on here last week, I was pretty much slacking big time.

Humbled - kineso tape would do the PF support too. But awesome to hear it is getting better.

NLS - Wait, which triple crown? The one in Louisville?

RLAG - I did, in fact, read both your tweets and blog post on not posting about the race ... then went looking for the results, too. Doesn't it suck to PR and still not be happy with the race? Barf.

Darkwave - awesome week of training. The sub-20 is just around the corner.

Sarah - nice mileage even with getting sick. Best of luck getting settled.

My week wasn't too eventful, today is two weeks since Boston. Been taking it easy, since I have a five-mile race 5/17 and a 5k 5/23, then the HM 6/6. Thought I'd let myself have a break. Am following Pfitzinger's recovery mesocycle. Of course, I'm trying to adjust the days around to account for other stuff going on, so this past week wasn't very stellar.

Took Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday off (probably should have run Saturday but ran yesterday instead). Got in 20 miles over the other four days. Finally got to to normal "easy" pace range, you know, pre-Boston, which makes me feel better.

Yesterday was about 6 miles, repeat today and tomorrow. Throwing in a handful of intervals tomorrow just to wake up the fast-twitchies.

I am being a good girl and getting back into core workouts and lifting, since I'm not running very much.

tfltft, the triple crown was at a state park near newark, de. quite fun and exhausting, as i detailed last week. glad you're recovering well. RLAG, sorry that your HM wasn't what you anticipated, even if it was a PR. do post your postrace analysis when you have one in hand. there's always something to learn.

the main reason for this repost is something slightly running related that occurred yesterday -- at a hash. we were on a smooth and beautiful section of trail when a young woman in the group twisted her ankle badly. she plopped down, started crying against her will, and needed others to support her so that she could keep weight off her rapidly swelling ankle. back at the home of the "hare," not even the bbq, freshly baked brownies, low-quality beer, and jello shots couldn't stem the pain. what struck me, though, was how her demeanor was exactly like that of my 24-yr-old daughter when trying to brush away true pain (physical or emotional) -- same facial expressions, same demeanor, same smile-cum-tears. i quietly told her as much and hugged her like a mom, which she accepted sincerely. after a bit, knowing that we were sober and others who might have been helpful weren't necessarily, i drove her car while my husband followed in ours as we spent an hour rounding up a pair of crutches for her and getting her safely into her apartment before heading home ourselves (where i called my daughter and told her how i had shown kindness out of my love for her). i was struck by how emotional and nurturing i felt for someone i hardly knew, and i hope to rise to occasion and behave similarly in future circumstances, even without the heartstrings-pulling resemblances.

Great story and thank you for sharing! It is so nice to hear about random acts of kindness in this world and I am sure that young lady was really blessed you were there for her in that special way.

HI All-

Sounds like a week of good and bad on this board. RLAG - so sorry about your race. A PR is not much fun if it's way off waht you wanted. I hope you and your coach can figure out what went wrong and that you can console yourself in the fact that this was not your goal race - the marathon is.

Humbled - glad the foot is feeling better, and I hope it continues. I agree on taping. I had some success with that in the past, although it does take a little time to do so I always felt like I should run a little far since I spent so much time preparing!

TLTFT and NLS - glad the recovery is going well. NLS, also glad you could help that girl. That sounds so painful. My friend slipped on a bike path this winter and broke her ankle and was rescued by fellow runners who got a park ranger. I know she is so grateful, and I'm sure your friend is too.

DW - I see the sub-20 coming soon. Hopefully you can find an older race with a certified course. It is funny how hard it is to find a true 5K sometimes, and how many race directors are surprised people care!

Hubby and some friends and I were in Pittsburgh yesterday. I ran the half as a long run, which was a nice way to see the course but a non-fun reminder of out of shape I am. I ran it easy around 8:15 pace and felt fine, but I definitely didn't feel like I could have even been close to my PR pace if I had tried to run hard. My husband had a really hard day and I hurt for him. He seemed to be in 3:05 shape and ended up running 3:18. He slowed down after 21 and just ran easy in, not wanting to kill himself for a 3:14 or something like that. He is having a lot of cramping in his legs after 20 miles and we don't know why. He has tried lots of different training plans and runs good mileage, in the 80-90 MPW range with 2 long (14-15 mile) runs during the week, one of which was a workout, and long runs on the weekend. It is back to the drawing board for Chicago. My other friend ended up getting second in the marathon in a heartbreaking finish where he was right on the shoulder of the winner but just didn't have enough time to finish running him down. He still won some cash, but I hope he will win one soon. One firend ran a PR in the half, so that was great.

My right calf has been so tight lately and I kept massaging it on the car ride Saturday and think I did more harm than good. It is in the muscles up along my inside of my calf about 4 inches above my ankle bone and in the soleus. Any advice? I am going to alternate ice and heat and also swim tonight instead of run. Sarah, good luck with the adjustment to the new area and I hope you feel better. Impressive mileage, especially with being sick!

Have a good week, all!

WATC, having 8:15 pace simply feeling easy for 13.1 so early in a comeback after a stress fracture is wonderful. bummer about you're husband's rough day. sounds like his running's been good, but what about his hydration, nutrition, and rest?

speaking only from personal (not professional) experience, i wouldn't worry about making your calf sore from self-massage; it'll feel fine in a couple of days on its own. still, it being so tight isn't good. deep massage by someone who know's what s/he's doing is definitely worth it. my shin has been acting up, and my ART guy has been digging in there with gusto, but it's really loosening it up. he and i had a chance to run together saturday, with me in the lead since i have better familiarity with the trail network we'll be racing on this upcoming weekend. he mentioned something about my left posterior tibialis, so i'm sure he has some special torture in mind for my appt this afternoon! anyway, it's important to diffuse the root of your problem, whether through physical manipulation, adjustment to your biomechanics, or both. wishing everybody happy legs.

It's interesting to read the stories, so much sounds familiar.

cats - maybe there is some kind of micro trauma in that calf and it doesn't want to release.

I ran in my first race since I dropped out of racing 7 years ago. It also was a 1/2 marathon. I ran easily the whole way - it never has been my distance, and averaged 7:45 which I thought I could do, but was not sure. It's a long way off my eventual goal for my age, but it felt super easy and next day, no ill effects and I ran an hour and lifted with my legs. So my next goal will be around 7 minutes a mile, and then think about something better after that.

best part of last week were all the morels I found hunting in the woods - they are so tasty.

I ran my first marathon yesterday ... in Eugene. Except for a rainy start it was a perfect day for a marathon. Winning woman ran 2:58 and 2nd and 3rd ran 2:59, 3:01 - I heard the race between them was pretty exciting in parts. The winning man got an Olympic A qualifier.

I, in my humbled state, came/stumbled across the line with a 3:30:38. I did make a pathetic attempt at a finishing line sprint - passed 3 people in the 1/2 finishing chute (actually I was surprised at all the carnage the last 3 miles, people walking, limping, hobbling) - no wonder the spectators said I looked "strong" - I really didn't, except in comparison to the walking wounded. I was not prepared for miles 22-26, while I did not actually hit the wall or "blow up" (probably this is where the 70 mpw helped out), I did not do my hopeful negative split either (it was pretty much even splits the whole way). So the "conservative start" ended up being the conservative end as well ;-). It was a painful run, I am not sure I had fun - though mile 8 wasn't bad (I am just picking that mile for fun, as I am pretty sure nothing hurt by then).

So, I am down for a little while ... hopefully I won't gain too much weight this week. I plan on getting some cross-training started and slowly start jogging at the end of the week. I am looking forward to spending some time this summer doing some biking (easier to do in the desert heat) - have you noticed the cute clothes they have for cycling ;-).

Have a good week everyone.

Very encouraging to hear your race report 16x thanks for sharing. I feel heartened to try popping into something myself but keep hesitating because I have a fear of bombing! Duh! Keep us posted with your future races....

Also what are morels?

Thanks for the tea and sympathy, everyone. I haven't talked to my coach yet, but having had 24 hours to reflect on things and go back over my training and notes in the prior 10 days or so, I feel sort of silly for having had such high expectations for yesterday's race.

I came across a great quote from Joan Benoit-Samuelson the other day: "My worst races have been my best teachers."

I'm still feeling good about the full marathon in a month, although I'm hoping the next few marathon-specific workouts will yield clues on how to construct a sensible pacing plan, one based on a reasonable time goal.

AZ -- I thought of you yesterday and wondered how your virgin voyage went in Eugene. Congratulations -- 3:30 is a fantastic time for a first go-round. Sounds like you ran a smart race and held it together.

As for your splits, it's difficult to negative split a marathon, especially your first. Running even splits is a triumph of sorts -- most people negative split, sometimes in an ugly, ugly way, as you witnessed in those last three miles.

i'll jump on the go-az bandwagon. sounds like a perfectly run first marathon, something i expect few of us can attest to, since, under the best of circumstances, the pace the feels like a jog in the park in the early miles feels mighty tough three-plus hours later. excellent job.

sponge mushrooms sarah - they look like sponges and you fry them up in butter and eat them on wonderbread - sound wholesome eh? they are only around about 2 weeks out of the year, I grew up picking them as early as age 5 and here I am 42 years later. we love to hunt them as much as anything - just out in the woods with the spring wild flowers.

runs like a girl you can give yourself a few days to feel bad and you can throw away any part of my suggestion here - or all, but really, don't sweat it too much - it is hard to know why a race does not go as planned, but that's part of the mystique and fun of racing. If you have trained well, and you are feeling good, then forgetaboutit! Just recover and work towards your next goal. success is always around the corner, you just have to keep turning the corners and not get overly focused about the outcome. I tell my high school kids this all the time, short memory comes in handy then you've had a tough race that didn't go well...then you move on to the next race with your training, your enthusiasm - it all evens out!

Thanks, 16x. None of your input is worthy of the trashbin. :)

Fortunately for me this was not a goal race. It was a pre-marathon tuneup. It ended up being a 13+ mile MPace run, which is not the worst thing in the world.

And, oh, yes, I've had goal races that went badly. That really hurts when it happens, but it does make you focus on the process -- and working toward long-term goals -- rather than on the immediate outcome.

AZrunning - that is awesome! 3:30 and an even race on your first marathon is great. So many of my friends have had disastrous first marathons, regardless of their speed or training, so running an even race and a great time is huge! I would't worry about no negative split - that is an awesome debut! I agree on the cycling clothes - I am now the owner of 5(!) pairs of triathlon shorts thanks to a friend who got a sample lot of clothing off eBay. I couldn't resist buying the ones she had duplicates of!

NLS - I think my husband's level of rest could be a problem. He has a really high-stress job and works tons of hours and still fits the running in, and I do think sleep suffers as a result.

I tried to call the ART lady that was recommended on this thread and she is on leave. Her office (at Ohio State University) recommended a chiropractor who happens to have his office in my gym (how ironic!). I am rather leery of chiropractors, not really for any good reason, I guess, but he does offer ART massage, so I requested an appointment. Any opinions? I run with a couple of PTs who are not too fond of the chiropractic field in general, but I think the massage therapy should be fine.

Hi ladies!

azrunning-GREAT JOB on your MARATHON! Congrats! What a way to debut!

RLAG-Congrats on the race ;) I know it didn't go to plan, but you still have time to perfect everything before your big goal: the MARATHON. This race was a learning experience if nothing else.

As for me, last week was pitiful. I barely ran at all and all I could say is that I was unreasonably tired. I really would hate to think there is something wrong, but I feel like I could sleep all day. I'm hoping my energy comes back ASAP.

H1N1 (or the swine flu) hit my husband's work. One of his marines got it, and they had to put everyone he had been in contact with in quarantine. So, my husband was isolated for a few days, but after he didn't show any symptoms, they let him go.

I'm pretty sure that I'll be alright, but I did become the "hand washing" police here at work.

I'm really just hoping that this tiredness (is that a word?) goes away. Otherwise, I might have to go see the doctor, which doesn't rank on my top 10 favorite things to do.

I hope the rest of you have a great week. It's supposed to be up in the triple digits the rest of this week for me. Ickkk...

so, absolutly nothing to report here. I was supposed to be running the Lincoln, NE marathon but, my tight calf ended up being a bigger deal then I thought. I couldn't make it 3 miles on wed so, I canceled my trip. Was feeling much better by Sat but, even after a 20 minute run and a circuit workout it was sore again. I'm biking a lot though:)

On the bright side, I spent the weekend with an old friend and training partner of mine. We spent a good bit of time reminiscing about the days back when we were fast:)! It was fun and it was really great to see her.....kinda got me motivated again to actually do all the little things I've been ignoring...which may be why I keep getting little injuries!

Have a great week all!