Letting go

Lately, life has been getting in the way of my running (and blogging, sorry!), and I have been faced with numerous little decisions that impact my running schedule.  I spend a fair amount of energy each week figuring out how to fit runs into my over-scheduled life.  Inevitably, I end up faced with the decision to let go of a run or workout.  Other runners know well the angst associated with such decisions.

I have attempted to relieve myself of this anxiety by establishing some ground rules:

1. My weekly plan is my IDEAL plan.  If everything goes perfectly in my life, then I should be able to complete my training plan as written.  
2. Most weeks, I will have to shift workouts and runs around to stay healthy and sane. 
3. I can labor over the decision to skip a run or workout, but once I decide, I have to let it go.
4. I will always make decisions that favor sufficient recovery over getting in the miles or workouts.

These ground rules sort of established themselves over the last couple of weeks.  I completed my first week of marathon training two weeks ago and really took the bull by the horns.  I had 9 x 90 sec hill repeats @5k pace on Tuesday; ran 10 the next day finishing with 4 "brisk" miles; ran 8 x800 + 1 mile @ 5:40-5:49 pace on Thursday; ran some bastard hills Friday evening; ran a quick 12 miler Saturday at 6000 ft elevation and finished up with a 20 miler @ 6:52 pace on Sunday late evening.  What the hell was I thinking.

The horn ended up goring me the following week.  Luckily I had Monday as a planned rest day.  But, I had to drive for 7 hours to the nether-regions of the Central Valley to monitor a conservation easement.  My butt was killing me and I forgot to bring my lacrosse ball/torture device.  Desperate, I asked my colleague if she minded stopping in a convenience store to try to find a tennis ball to relieve my aching butt.  She found the best device ever.  It's a toy that has a hard-as-rock ball with an elastic string attached to a strap.  I sat on this ball and rolled.  I leaned my butt up against oak trees and rolled my TFL.  I used the side of the rental car to get at my gluteus minimus (sorry about the dent, rental car people).

Despite all of this treatment, my body was still tired when I resumed running on Tuesday.  I skipped my evening run.  My calf muscles had been screaming at me in every run.  When I still wasn't feeling the love by Thursday, my next scheduled workout, I just decided this would be a recovery week.  I did not run Friday, but I did 10 on Saturday and my 20 miler on Sunday.

I ramped up my training again this week, and have felt good.  I had to let a workout go on Wednesday due to a work meeting that ran way over.  This was one where I could have gone out in the dark and run the 10 miles, finishing up at about 8:30-9:00 p.m. then turned around to run again at 5:10 a.m..  I decided that I would be better off rearranging my schedule a little to make up for some of the lost mileage.  Then, I let it go.  This was a great decision.  I had a fantastic double the next day running easy with my girlies in the a.m. and then killing my evening workout.  I'll still manage 86 miles (originally scheduled to be 90).

New stuff

I have started a few new things with this marathon training plan.  First, I have started using some strength training routines that target core strength and hip mobility.  I do these twice a week and am still working out the kinks.  Once I get them where I want them, I'll share.

I have also begun a new way of tracking…well, everything.  I use a Numbers template (a program that only Mac nerds will know) and have a few screenshots of what I track and how below (click on the picture to enlarge).  I like keeping track of daily changes to show trends that I wouldn't see if tracked less regularly.  

My dashboard with summarized data from all of the other spreadsheets.

This is my run log including a shoe tracker

This is the energy tracker, showing the rating system for the various categories.

The novel addition to the usual stuff people track is the energy index.  This is something that is developed in the Squires and Lahane program that I'm following.  I have modified it a bit changing leg spring to leg feel, but the rest is theirs.  The idea is to track how you feel each day and then track the average energy values over time to see if you're headed for a cliff or primed for a good race/workout.  The jury's still out on this, but I'll keep you posted.  Mostly, I wanted a place to keep all of my information and a "dashboard" that would help me see at a glance how my training and body data are trending.

Finally, I am trying out a new shoe model that I actually really like so far.  It's the Brooks PureConnect. I've run about 40 miles in them so far.  The shoe has a bit of a rocker-like sole on it, and, as a mid to forefoot striker, I feel my heel drop with every stride.  This puts an eccentric load on my calf and achilles, and is probably responsible for my calf muscle soreness this last week.  The soreness has dissipated, and I like them better the more that I wear them, despite how ugly they are.

So, all goods things are happening right now.  I'm getting stronger and faster each week.  I also might be getting just a little bit smarter...

I Like Pain

I finally wrote a song about running.  It has been a while since I actually wrote a song about anything.  My inspiration came after a long, hard workout, and I started questioning my relationship with the sport.  So, I debuted the song last night (despite protests from my band, mind you, since we had only rehearsed the song a handful of times), though I did not mention what the song was about.  It was a bit rough, but it was awesome to see the audience respond in a positive way to my creation.  So, here's an iPhone shot video (compliments of my sis) of the performance and the lyrics follow.  You can also view it on YouTube. Rock on!

I Like Pain

by: Jaymee Marty      

you kicked my ass again

i thought you were my friend

but friend’s don’t bring you down

why do i keep you around?

Chorus

cuz i like pain

it makes me happy in the rain

it’s like a jacket on my brain

it keeps me on this side of sane

i like pain

you give and i will take

i promise i won’t break

i need you

and you need me

co-dependently

cuz i like pain

it makes me happy in the rain

it’s like a jacket on my brain

it keeps me on this side of sane

i like pain

Bridge

pain pain pain, won’t let me be

pain pain pain, please set me free

pain pain pain, won’t let me be

pain pain pain, please set me free

i’ll never let you go

my pain will only grow

oh, you’ll make me cry

‘til the day i die

cuz i like pain

it makes me happy in the rain

it’s like a jacket on my brain

it keeps me on this side of sane

i like pain

Running the Numbers

Hello again!  I know it's been a few weeks since my last post, but I promise I've been busy training.

When I last left you, I was in the middle of a racing frenzy.  I had decided to run 4 races in 4 weekends to work on my racing skills and try for a PR.  I came very close to that PR in my first 5k back, had a fantastic cross country race the next weekend and then had a stinker of a race the 3rd weekend.  I felt like hell before that 3rd race and pretty much knew it was going to stink.  I reevaluated my racing plan and decided to take a down week last week.  I had planned to take that down week after my first 5k, but I decided to race instead.  I knew after my poopy race that it was the right time for a bit of a break. So, I cross trained two days and ran easy the rest for a total of 36 miles.  I am very glad I took the time down.

125848610249317818       

I've been thinking a lot about numbers lately--the jumble of numbers typed above in particular--which represent my longest run to date, my percent body fat, the number of pounds of body fat I own, my mileage this week, my weight, my serum ferritin levels, my LDL levels and my total cholesterol, though not in that order.  

The Friday before my last race, I had my blood tested for iron and cholesterol levels.  I had not had either checked in a year.  The cholesterol test shocked me.  My numbers were the best they have ever been with total cholesterol way under 200 and an LDL level under 100.  While my total cholesterol has hovered right around 200 since I was 21 years old, my LDL levels have always been high regardless of how much I exercise.  I always assumed that, if I stopped watching my saturated fat intake, my LDL levels would balloon.  I stopped tracking my fat intake a few months ago and have been eating as much as I want.  So, I really expected to see a big number for my cholesterol.  This was a good surprise, but one that I can't easily explain.

My not so good surprise came from my iron levels.  They were the second lowest they've ever been including ferritin, hemoglobin, hematocrit--the whole shebang.  This should not have been surprising since I stopped really paying attention to my iron intake while I was injured.  I now know I can't get away with anything less than 1 tbsp. ferrous sulfate elixir taken daily with orange juice.  I hate the taste and I hate the back up that this stuff causes.  But, low energy from low iron stores is for the birds.  I'm back on supps and should be back to feeling high energy in a few weeks.  This is likely why I felt like poo in that third race and why it's taking more time to recover from the three weekend racing fest.  

I have had this fantasy running for a few years now where I lose a couple of pounds each year and that translates into faster marathon times.  It is a fact that carrying around more weight than you need slows you down.  Since my weight has never gotten down to anything resembling too low I have always seen room for loss.  I track my weight and body fat levels with a home scale, recognizing that the body fat measures are going to be inaccurate but fairly precise.  I had my body fat measured with hydrostatic testing back in 2006 when I first started running, and it was around 13%.  I have lost bulk since then, so I retested last week and was shocked to find out that my body fat is pretty darn low.  According to most articles on the internets on this subject, menses should have ceased long ago and my brain should be a small nubbin rattling around in my head.  Neither is close to happening.  My body fat percent is low because I have a lot of lean body mass--approximately 14 pounds more than THE MAX of the normal range for my height according to the chart the testing clinic gave me.  

This information has knocked me for a loop.  I thought I was going to lose about 2-3 lbs. before Houston, and that isn't going to happen.  I am about the same weight and body fat reading (measured on my home scale) as I was before Chicago last year, so I have definitely been in this body fat range for a while though I do pop back up quickly after a marathon.  My body functions quite well, actually.  I hardly if ever get sick.  I can remember maybe 2-3 workouts in the last few years that I totally bombed.  I typically have very high energy levels (when my iron levels are right!).  Clearly the only way that I will lose weight is if I lose lean mass.  Since I'm not a candidate for femur reduction surgery, that means atrophy is the name of the game (if only you could select where this occurs!).  I stopped doing any form of weight training about 6 months ago, so that should help me at least not gain any more lean mass.  Regardless, I carry around a lot of upper body muscle.  My new model for upper body physique and strength is Monty Burns.  I won't stop my upper body atrophy until I can lift as little as Monty.  The Genius has agreed to be my Smithers--carrying sacks of dog food and groceries for me.     

     

So, this just means that I can't count on carrying around less weight in order to get faster.  I have to get fast the old fashioned way--lots of miles and hard work.  To that end, this week marked the first week of my build up for the Olympic Trials race.  I don't officially start my marathon training plan until the first week in October.  I'm trying something completely different this time around and am excited about it.  

In my next post, I'll show a cool new tool I've developed to track every single aspect of my running life.  Ah, the geek emerges again!  "Smithers, release the robotic Richard Simmons" MB!

Hoppin' Down the Bunny Trail

My second race in my self-imposed 4 race series was another fun one: a 5k cross country (XC) race  hosted by the River City Rebels at Granite Regional Park.  This was only the second cross country (XC) race I've run in my life, and it went sooooo much better than the last one.  My intro to XC, some of you may recall, was at XC Nationals in 2010.  I not only completely fell apart at that race (because I was overtrained) but I also messed up my foot wearing ill fitting (borrowed) XC flats.  It was after that race that my achilles flared up, and I was out of training for a couple of months.

So, I was a bit nervous about how I might do heading into this race.  Was I just bad at cross country racing?  The main reason I wanted to do this race was to work on my strength.  I wanted a chance to run hard without worrying about mile splits and just focus on competing.  I got that and a whole lot more!

We had a great contingent of speedy Impalas for the race, which was awesome.  We warmed up on the course, running the whole thing which gave us a nice preview.  There were some good hills on the course and a lot of turns as you can see from the map below.  The footing was tricky and I worried for a millisecond about spraining an ankle.  I bought some real XC shoes for this race and, of course, hadn't had a chance to test them out.  Not the smartest thing, but they were brilliant.

5k Granite Park XC Course.

Elevation Profile for the course (from my Garmin, so take it for what it's worth).

I knew from watching XC races that the pack goes out hard, so I was ready for that.  Luckily, we didn't go out outrageously fast because there was a nice big hill to greet us within the first 400m.  We got strung out pretty fast on the first downhill and then bunched up a bit in the winding trails during the first mile.  I felt strong going through the first mile, like a deer bopping along through the forest, trying to keep a firm footing.  I focused on staying strong in the second mile where the course had the biggest climb.  I gained a little on that uphill, passing a few ladies.  I knew I was in a good position with two masters runners ahead of me and everyone else fairly far behind me.  I just focused on maintaining my effort.

I knew that I had a major hill to conquer before swooping down to the finish and I am happy with how I handled the last hill.  I was also very pleased with how I handled the heat on the course.  I heard a lot of folks complaining about it, and I honestly never felt hot.  Of course, that's what running in 80-90 degree temperatures every day will do for you.  I crested the hill and saw the downhill finish and was surprised to see 18:14 on the clock a few seconds before I crossed the line.  I looked at my Garmin and the course read 3.14 miles, so it was pretty darn accurate.  It was awesome to run that fast and strong on that winding, hilly course.      

I was not at all interested in my splits during the race and never looked at my watch.  However, I took my splits for future reference.  I'm glad I did because they indicate how well I raced this course today.  I went through the first mile in 5:47, the second in 6:06, and the last in 5:50 with a :38 second last 0.11 miles.  I don't know my official time or place since results won't be out for a while, but my watch showed 18:21 Update: official time was 18:19, 6th overall).  Thrilled!   

Congrats to all of my teammates for some fantastic performances out there and thanks to the Rebels for hosting a fun XC race!  I see more XC in my future!

     

Hunger

I ran a race yesterday.  A real race.  It was my first 5k race (not counting WMAs) in a year, and it was awesome.

My 18:02 finish was 9 seconds off my personal best, but this race wasn't about PRs.  This race was about getting back into racing.  In order to do that, I needed to have a good race; one where I felt in control and strong the entire way; one that left me with a hunger to race faster and harder.  Yesterday's race did that for me.

I have some experience racing the 5k distance and have never liked it.  That awful burning feeling in my legs that comes on during the last mile always screams "SLOW DOWN OR YOU WILL DIE" to me, and I always obey.  My 5k races have always been run in the middle of marathon training.  Over the last 8 weeks, I've given myself the luxury of training for the 5k with race-specific workouts, and I think it made a big difference.  First, I now have a consistent warm-up routine: 2 mile jog + 5 minutes of drills + 5 strides.  I basically do this routine before all of my track workouts so it is familiar, and I know it is effective.  I timed my warm up so that I ran my last stride 3 minutes before the gun.

Second, I really know my race pace.  I started a little fast in the first 400m or so, but I very quickly fell into 5:45 pace--my first mile split.  I went through the second mile in 5:42 and felt really good compared to how I felt last year at that same point on the  course.  The third mile was my slowest this year and last year.  It's a naturally slow mile because it has 4 out of the 4 90-degree turns on the course.  Plus, it was the last mile which is always the toughest.  I thought about that last mile at the end of every workout over the last 8 weeks.

My friend Brooke ran her first race in a while recently and gave me the best advice, "don't go out too fast and remember the burn is normal!"  I repeated, "the burn is normal" with every step in that last mile.  The thing that made me happiest was seeing that I ran that 3rd mile 5 seconds faster this year than I did last year.  It's a good thing too, because the 24 year old second place finisher wasn't far off of my tail.  I led the whole race, so I had no idea where my competition was.

While I came in 9 seconds slower than last year, I can't complain at all.  I was in awesome shape at this point last year, so being even close to that fitness level given how little training I've had to work off of is really promising.  Of course, I would love to be faster, but I also feel like I am not yet fully baked.  I think I need about 3 more weeks to get back into the swing of racing so I can really push myself and test my fitness.

I am changing my schedule accordingly.  My original plan was to end my 5k training with this race, take a major down week next week and then do some base training before starting into a 15-week marathon program on October 3rd.  Instead, I'll recycle some of the mid-week 5k workouts from the Squires and Lahane plan and race the next 3 weekends.  I'm also going to bump up my weekend long runs a bit each week, so I'll be ready to roll out consistent 20 milers come October.  More than anything, I just want to get my body and brain used to racing aggressively.  Next weekend I'll run a local 5k cross country race.  The following two weekends are 5k road races.  I'll then do one week of base and take a week off before hitting the marathon plan.

Countdown to the Olympic Trials Marathon: 138 days!

Peaking and Pausing

I ran a 17:45 5k Sunday night.  It was a workout, with rests in between the repeats, and it was tough.  After it was over, I questioned how on earth I will manage to run that time in a couple of weeks without those breaks and then decided that this was not a fruitful way to think.

The dual purpose of a race-pace workout is to stress your body so that it adapts in a way that allows you to hold that pace for longer and to train your brain to handle the discomfort that most certainly accompanies the stress you endure holding that pace.  I know these things, but that does not make the workout any easier.  I guess I was hopeful that, at some point, 5k pace would feel easier than it does.  Then I realized how stupid that is.  When 5k pace feels easy, it's no longer your 5k pace.   

Last week's workouts proved to me that my 5k training plan is working its magic.  My last post described my speedy 12 x 400m midweek workout.  I really have never run a faster workout than that.  Sunday night, I ran 2 x 2000m @ 5k pace with 4 minute pause rest + 1000m @ 5k pace.  This was a tough workout.  I ran the first repeat in 7:03, the second in 7:11 and the last 1000m in 3:31.  That second 2000m repeat felt really hard, and my slower time reflected what I was feeling.  However, when I added the time up, I realized I had exceeded my total time goal and felt content.  

I was able to get a little more information about the "pause" rests in some of my workouts from Coach Bruce Lahane, the co-author of the training plan I'm following.  I asked him about complete rest versus jogging and told him how I felt kind of sluggish walking rather than jogging during the first workout where I tried the pause.  Here's what he said:

"The "pause" comment suggests that the recovery between the runs could be a bit easier than straight jogging.  I don't think too fine a point needs to be put to it.  Many runners might walk for 30 seconds, then jog for 3 minutes, then walk for 30 seconds and off they go.  The little bit of walking restores them a tad more than straight jogging.  When greater effort is being put into intervals, sometimes a little walking helps people to recover a bit more. 

However, you seem to be experiencing the reverse, that is, you feel sluggish after walking.  I'd suggest that you do whatever feels better to you. 

The bottom line for any training is the result that it produces in the individual.  So, it doesn't matter much how most people react to training, but rather how you react.  Part of the fun of running is figuring yourself out - adjusting training according to how your body reacts."

In Sunday's workout, I tried the walk/jog/walk suggestion with much success.  I felt recovered, but not sluggish.  Thanks, Coach Lahane!

I really loved his response.  What a great reminder to keep the focus of my training on me and how I respond to various workouts as well as the recovery.  This is the main reason I'm trying a new plan--to see how I adapt to different types of workouts and recovery regimens.  I was successful with my previous training, but how can I know that was the best plan for me?  Is there actually any "best" plan for any of us?  There's no way to know of course.  What I do know is that I was not recovering properly in my previous training.  There was way too much going on for my body to adapt to, and I actually thought that rundown feeling was how I was supposed to feel all the time.  This notion was supported by reports from other friends in heavy marathon training.  

Given how I am responding to high mileage, doing very tough workouts, I know that I was working too hard before.  Please don't read this and think I'm dissing my previous training plans.  They obviously made me very strong and got me to my OTQ!  I just think I will get faster and stronger by focusing on smarter recovery.  If you didn't see this nugget from Ryan Hall's triathlete coach, Matt Dixon, on recovery, you might be surprised to know that he took one day off completely each week from training (that's right, no cross training) before Boston.  It was a revelation for me to hear the obvious: you shouldn't feel like you need the taper at the end of a marathon (or any training plan) to recover from your training.  You should be recovered and super-charged going into the taper!!!    

So, a little over a week of sharpening and a short taper should line me up well to shoot for a fast 5k.  Incidentally, I do feel totally fresh going into this taper! This will actually be my first 5k race (not counting the WMA 5000m on the track) in a year.  That's right--the last 5k I raced was the Race for the Arts last year.  While I think I'll be in good racing shape in a little over a week, I also know that there are other factors that play into how well I might actually perform (look at Lauren Fleshman's wild ride this summer).  So, I have two other 5k races lined up in September that I will use as back up races should the Race for the Arts turn out to be a bad day for me.   The other thing I am constantly reminding myself of these days is that my real race is in January.  Regardless of whether or not I get a chance to best my 5k time, all of this speed work and consistent training will pay off in a big way in Houston.                        

SPIDER

Okay.  I know for a fact I have never run a workout as fast as I did last night.  Is it a coincidence that I ran this workout in my new Nike LunarSpider R2s?

SPIDER!

My review?  The shoes are fast.  I ordered them on a lark late last week from Runningwarehouse.com when I was feeling like I wanted to try something new in footwear.  They only come in men's sizes and they recommended my size 9 lady foot would be happy in a men's 7.5.  But, they were out of the 7.5, so I ordered the 7.  I was certain that they would not fit, but, if I ordered them, at least I could touch them.  They look so cool.

When they came, I weighed them on my food scale (currently dedicated to weighing shoes), and they were just a hair under 5 ounces!  Crazy light.  They looked even cooler than the picture on the website, and I'll be damned if they didn't fit my feet perfectly.  I felt like Cinderella with arachnids on her feet.  I couldn't wait to do my 12 x 400m workout the next day in them.

My feet always fit well in Nikes because both are narrow.  These shoes are no exception.  The upper is so thin and light that they just seem to form another layer of skin around my foot.  There's plenty of room in the toe box, even though a shoe salesperson might not think so.  I've found that I need less room in the toe box when the shoe has less of a heel-to-toe drop.  They have a fairly stiff sole, but I really felt like my feet were in touch with the track surface and that made the shoes very responsive.  There's hardly any cushion, just enough to protect your feet from serious bumps.  As I ran in them, I wondered if I would wear them in a marathon like Shalane did in NYC.  No need to decide that now.  I'll start with a road 5k and go from there.    

I saved my workout for the evening, since I love running at night, but the day was long and I was pooped when I got home.  The Genius came home from his run to find me laying in my running clothes on the bed at 6:45 p.m. trying to take a short nap.  I got in about 15 minutes before waking and realizing I needed to get out the door pronto.

I downed a Go Girl and headed to the track where I felt super sluggish on the warm up.  I slipped on my Spiders and everything changed.  I did my drills and strides in them and knew they were special.  As I strode, I felt like the cartoon character whose legs are spinning out in front while their torso lags behind for a split second before joining the lower half in a speedy get away.  I felt kind of clumsy at first until I got used to the little rockets on my feet.

My workout was to be run at 4 seconds per lap faster than 5k pace.  So, I estimated 5k pace to be 84-85 seconds per lap, making my target 80-81 for these.  I had 1:30 jog rests for this workout.  My first repeat was a blazing 79 seconds complete with a tingly sensation in my upper body and a slight burn in my quads.  Too fast.  I tried to calm myself down a little and ran the next in 78.  Oh well, I thought.  Just go with it.

Each repeat felt better and better, and I kept throwing down 78-79 second laps.  I got to the last two laps and switched my iPod to my current power song J. Lo's Get on the Floor  (don't judge!).  This was the first time ever in a track workout where I felt so good I just smiled when I hit the end of my rest and whispered bring it!  The last repeat was 75 seconds.  Oh, hell yeah!

Splits: 79, 78, 77, 79, 79, 79, 80, 78, 79, 79, 77, 75
average = 78

It's getting ill it's getting sick on the floor!