Getting Back to Business

So my week of recovery ends tomorrow. And hopefully my month of knee pain as well. It still doesn’t fell 100%, but I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s not 100% or if I’m being a (synonym for) kitten because I had an owie. (BTW – if you haven’t read Patrick’s blog post yet about this subject, I highly recommend you do). The bottom line is if I don’t do  something soon, I can pretty much write off next year too.

Not all is lost though! While I’ve been sitting around enjoying my visit from the spreading stern syndrome, I did some research on Runner’s Knee. It turns out that in most cases, runner’s knee is caused when your kneecap does not run neatly up and down in a small groove in your thigh bone. The two most likely causes are improper foot stabilization (shoes) and weak thigh muscles (synonym for kitten).

Since I’ve resolved item #1, the next step is to work on item #2. And for that, I have this machine in my garage exercise studio that can do wonders for quad strengthening – my Concept2 ergometer. So – starting Sunday for the next month, I will row a 10K three times a week and add a couple short runs (3 to 4 miles) to break up the boredom. Hopefully I won’t go brain dead watching the walls.

Starting a Streak?

Hopefully I am off on the right foot now. I say "hopefully" because I'm awfully sore and tired today for only running four miles last night. I went backthrough my blog archives to see if I experienced the same after San Diego, but it turned out that I never got this far in a recovery cycle back then before having my cycling accident. This is really the first time I've done a post marathon recovery cycle, so I'm not sure if this is normal or not. My legs are feeling pretty tired and my lower back a little sore for running such a short distance.

Stats on yesterday's run: 4 miles average pace of 9:22. My heart rate was a little high at 82% of max, a little higher than the target 75%. After reviewing the data, I found that I spent a lt of time in the 80% to 85% of max range, so I'll slow down Thursday's workout.

Tonight's workout will be on the track with Cal Coast. If it's anything like last week, I'll be sucking wind in the first 800 yards. Oh well. No pain no gain. I guess.

Marathonitis

This should be a wikipedia entry: "Marathonitis is a mental disease that affects runners. It is highly contagious and transmitted through contact with other infected runners. In it mild form, it is makes people give up their lives for 18 to 24 weeks at a time while they train to put themselves through 26.2 miles of pain and discomfort. The only treatment know is to allow the patient to run said 26.2 miles, and use behavior modification a few days later by reminding them about the pain and discomfort. If successful, the patient will run fewer miles at a slower pace. If treatment is unsuccessful, Matahonitis can progress to a more serious state. In it's acute form, Marathonitis can make the subject attempt feats of superhuman effort by running multiple marathons in quick succession. . Unfortunately, while treatment may resolve symptoms, there is no cure. The only known prevention is to avoid contact with infected runners"

I am happy to report that right now I have a mild case, and am on the road to recovery. My recovery protocol this week:

Monday: 3 miles GA, stretching, core
Tuesday: 5 miles - 2 mile warm up, 4X400 intervals at 5K pace with 400 rest, 1 mile warm down
Wednesday: 3 miles GA, stretching, core
Thursday: 6.75 miles - 2 mile warm up, 3 X 1600 at MP with 400 rest, 1 mile warm down
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 7 miles GA
Sunday: 30 minute tempo run (about 3 miles)
Total: Around 27.75 miles.

I know I'm in recovery because I can't tell you how nice it is to look at that schedule and *not* see any double digit runs.

I whipped out a very enjoyable 3 miler last night. And since it's Tuesday, I'll be back on the track tonight for an *easy* set of 400's. I'm back to enjoying this running thing again....

The Home Stretch

Well folks - it's here. I'm coming down the home stretch. Got a *great* night's sleep and I'm feeling good. I put in my last run of this training cycle last night - 4.25 miles at uber slow pace. I kept my heart rate down around 70% of max and just concentrated on what it feels like to run at that pace since it's probably pretty close to my goal pace tomorrow.

The real fun starts later this afternoon. I'll mosey up the freeway around 3 or so, pick up my race gear at the expo, and then it's PARTAY time! Tweetup at La Parolaccia at 5PM (will be meeting up with tweeting and blogging luminaries such as @paulboth (Run For Liberty), @chicrunner (Chicrunner), @smellycents (Shelley Centis), @punkrockrunner (Punk Rock Tri Guy), and a host of others), followed at 6 PM ish (emphais on the ish) Runners World Forum Encounter at Ninos in uptown Long Beach. This is the part of these large races that I really enjoy. Nothing like getting together with a couple or 20 friends with the same goal for some fun and food!

For my final tune up, I am reviewing my race strategy. This is taken directly from Bob Glover's book, The Competitive Runner's Handbook (found the strategy online at the New York Road Runners ):

Pace: This is where I blew it big time in San Diego. Went out way too fast for too long. For my reward, I got to walk the last seven miles. Tomorrow I'm doing three things. First, I'm going to start at the back of wave 4 instead of the start of wave 5. I figure it's better to go out and stay slow. Second, I'm going to target a 10:45 pace (4:41 finish) and see how long I can hold that. If I find myself going out too fast, I'll walk through the water stations (thanks @sheilamking!). Finally, I'll be watching my heart rate. According to Glover, a marathoner should maintain 70% to 75% max heart rate and increase to 85% by the end of the race. I'll be watching the ol' Garmin and making sure my heart rate zone stays between 2.5 (start) and 4 (finish).

Crowded Start: I hear that this is a big problem in Long Beach. For the first ten or so miles all of the Half Marathoners and Marathoners are on the same bike path. Based on what I've heard, I'll be going out slower (crowds). I'm not going to panic this time. As long as I'm still in the same time zone as my target pace I'll just go with the flow.

Walking: Yes I will. At least every 3 miles when I pop a gel and a couple of Endurolyte caps.

First Half: Here's where I've got to be careful. My past experience in San Diego I was felt *great*. Up until about mile 12. This time I'll just run within myself and stick to the plan. At the halfway point (2:22:30), I'll to assess how I feel. If my long runs have been any indication, I should be okay. If I'm significantly ahead of target, I'll slow down. If I'm at target, then I'll continue at my target pace. If not, well, time to HTFU.

Second Half: More of the same. I'll keep watch on my pace up to about mile 16. Then I'll lose myself in my iPod. One foot in front of the other. Everything else is out the window at that point.

Third Half (also known as 10K left): Also known as 3:37. Here's where the mind games really begin. Heck we've all run a 10K before. Pretty easy right? I'll think back to the Jet to Jetty 10K where I ran a nice easy race without a lot of effort and almost PR'd. I'll take Glover's suggestion to heart. Each mile marker will get ticked off in my mind. I'll concentrate on the runners around me. I'll get out my virtual lasso and grab a runner in front of me and have them pull me along. The goal will be to complete each mile - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26.

The Finish: Glover's suggestion - I'll use the digital clock at the finish to pull me over the line. I figure the last 375 yards will be in the 2:30 range. I really hope that I don't see something like 4:42:40 with .2 left to go! As they say - the difference between a 3:59:59 marathon and a 4:00:00 marathon is an hour!

So - the Garmin is charged. The iPod is charged. The camera is charged. Long Beach here we come!

Well, the Finish was Respectable

For all that whining I did earlier this week, I finished up respectably. I kind of wanted to push and get a long run in today, but I though better of it and just settled in for a short recovery run instead. No reason in particular except to just get back into a training rhythm of a long run Saturday followed by a recovery Sunday. I finished up a 6.3 mile run that turned out to be pretty effortless. I was relieved to not have any coughing or hacking along the way.

So, I end the week with 28.5 miles. About 15 miles short of goal, but the way that it started last Tuesday - I'm relieved I was able to get the miles in. Nothing long and no speedwork, but at least the miles ended up respectable. Thanks folks for keeping me sane!

Now I need to turn my mind to important things. 21 days until Long Beach. This week begins taper. That's right. All this work is coming to fruition. On the schedule:

Monday: Rest day.
Tuesday: 7 miles general aerobic. Finish up with 8 100 yard stride outs.
Wednesday: 8 miles general aerobic.
Thursday: 4 miles general aerobic. Finish up with 6 100 yard stride outs. Looks like a good day to get to the gym for some stretching.
Friday: Rest day.
Saturday: 16 mile long run
Sunday: 8 miles - 4 miles general aerobic and 4 miles half marathon pace.
Total: 43 miles

It's supposed to really heat up this week (I hear snow is forecast in the Rockies?). The weatherman is saying low 90's here near the beach, and 100 to 110 inland. I may be doing some night running Tuesday and Wednesday!

So Far So Good

So yesterday's six easy miles seems to have settled well. My legs are a little tired this morning, but my lower back seems fine. Another test will come tonight with my quality workout for the week - 5 miles easy followed by 7 miles at half marathon pace. That's about all there is from the running world today. Short and sweet. Can you tell that I am in the drudgery stage of training?

Final stats on yesterday's workout - 6 miles at an average pace of 10:06 and average heart rate of 75% of max. Right where I wanted this recovery run to be. Oh - and I did make it to the gym for some stretching and core work. I think that helped my soreness a bit.

On another note - I'm sweating a bit. For my youngest son's 17th birthday I agreed to take him and a group of his friends to a concert. The concert? Aerosmith and ZZ Top and the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine on the 23rd. Booya! I've already loaded up the iPhone with a virtual lighter app for encore time. The problem? I guess Steven Tyler fell off a stage in South Dakota last week and broke some bones. I know that last weekend a bunch of concerts in Canada were postponed. I've been scouring the news to see what may be happening to other dates on the tour. I will be sooooo bummed if the 23rd is cancelled or postponed! I am *really* looking forward to this concert. If you've ever seen either of these bands live you'd know why. If anyone hears anything new - drop me a line!

Back at It

Sorry. No more concert video. Or food pictures. "Vacation" is over. I made my way out of the house last night and hit the trails. I'll wait until tonight to say I'm back on track. I felt strong and fresh - I think the week off did some good. The run on the plan was a 5 mile recovery run, and it was pretty effortless. The only real problem was that it was hot and humid yesterday. Unusually so for Southern California. I left for my run at 7PM and it was still 78 degrees out. I was happy for a change that there *was* a stiff on shore breeze blowing. It didn't take long before I was drenched.

Tonight's run should be a little more challenging. Intervals on the track (See? Told you I'd wait until today to say I'm back on track). 3 1/4 mile warm up, 5 800s at 10K pace with a 400 yard rest, and a 1 mile warm down for a total of 8 miles. It's supposed to be a warm sticky day again today. Honestly - I don't know how you Easterners put up with this day in and day out!

9 times 2 plus 20 = 2 Much

Okay folks. I figured out something yesterday. Something I'm going to refer to as my physical balancing equation. I really hammered out the miles over the past three days. Nine on Friday AM, followed by 20 on Saturday, and 9 more on Sunday.

I felt pretty tired starting out yesterday, but I was able to make it through the first seven miles of the scheduled nine mile run. At that point, I actually had to take a little sit down to rest my quivering legs. Hmm. Maybe that's why a five mile recovery run was on the original plan? Next time I have a 20 miler on the schedule (in 3 weeks), I *will* rest the day before and *will* limit my recovery to 5 miles like on the plan.

All in all though, I was able to slog through the days and miles. As promised, I did take it easy. Other than Wednesday's HMP run, everything was well below the 10:00 per mile pace. But, I was able to set a new mileage mark of 55.5 miles. In addition to the running, I put in 5.5 km on the rowing machine on Monday. (Wow - a weekof 5's). I am officially exhausted. Saturday I was in bed by 7 PM and didn't stir until 7 AM!

I'm off on another business trip this week. As a result, I am going to have to reduce my miles from the planned 49 to 36. I was going to try to get some miles in today (13 or so), but the way I'm feeling right now, I definitely need the rest. Here's how the week will shape up:

Monday: Rest. Nothing. Nada. Well maybe erg this evening. But I am going to stay out of the running shoes.
Tuesday: Fly to Philadelphia. This becomes an all day excursion to get across country. Nothing planned except a Geno's cheese steak after landing Tuesday night.
Wednesday: Client site. Dinner meeting. Crash at hotel. Start a new streak of not running on a hotel treadmill
Thursday: Client site. Fly back home. Land at 10:30 PM local time.
Friday: Back to running (yea!). Nine miles GA with 10 X 100 stride outs.
Saturday: 16 miles broken down by 4 miles warm up and 12 miles at marathon pace (10:15).
Sunday: 11 recovery miles
Total: 36 miles.

I'm actually looking forward to the rest the first few days of the week. I'll try to blog Wednesday night, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you....

Six More Miles Down

Oh the boredom! Oh the monotony! Even though I'm still new to the whole running scene, I've have been through this before. The toughest part of a training cycle. The middle weeks. It's kind of like being a Sophomore in college. One year is behind you, but you can't see the end yet. Same with these weeks of training. Behind me is a lot of running - about 400 miles or so the past 12 weeks. I know out there on the horizon is a marathon - that's why I'm doing all of this. But I can't quite see it. And for now it's just a mash of miles and miles and miles. Seems like I can't get out the door, do my run, and back in less than 2 hours. Such is the commitment of the marathon. It's the hours and miles that I'm doing today. And tomorrow. And the day after.....

Speaking of which, yesterday I put in 6 recovery miles. Felt comfortable the whole way. Average pace of 10:03 at an average heart rate of 75% of max. Today I'll be out for 11 miles - 5 miles general aerobic followed by 6 miles at half marathon pace.

Sorry for the lack of juicy tidbits or stories today, but not much else other than work and run are happening! Facebook and the Runner's World Forums have become just a thing of the past at this point. It's pretty much me, the office, and the trails. Oh - and Twitter....

Half Way Done!

I am now at the half way point of my training plan. Twelve weeks down. Twelve to go. I wrapped up last week with a six mile recovery run and some time in the gym late yesterday evening. Final stats for last week - 33.25 miles. They weren't fast and they weren't pretty, but they were. My long run on Saturday was a pretty humbling experience, but one of those every now and then doesn't hurt.

This week should put some hair on my chest. It will be my first week ever over 50 miles:

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: 6 recovery miles
Wednesday: 11 miles total - 5 general aerobic miles, 6 half marathon pace miles
Thursday: 13 medium long miles
Friday: Rest (I'll need it)
Saturday: 20 miles (first of three on this plan)
Sunday: 5 recovery miles

Total: 55 miles.

The plan: with exception of 6 HMP miles, it's slow and easy for Glenn this week!

Week 11 in the Books

I wrapped up week 11 yesterday with an *easy* 5 mile recovery run. I emphasize easy, because I kept the effort pretty low key. Just like yesterday I stopped on the trail and chatted with a family friend. Who said that running is not a social activity? I finished up by making it to the gym for stretching and core work. Final stats on last week - 48.5 miles.

This week is supposed to be my first week ever above 50 miles. But I have a whirlwind business trip to El Paso, so I'll end up having to forgo Wednesday and Thursday's runs. This week stacks up like this:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Was supposed to be a 6 mile recovery run. I'm putting Wednesday's run here instead - 3 1/2 mile general aerobic warm up, 6X800 intervals at 10K pace, 400 rest in between, 1 mile warm down for a total of 9 miles.
Wednesday: Aluminum tube to El Paso
Thursday: Aluminum tube back to Orange County
Friday: Rest day. Daughter's 21st birthday dinner with family (in other words I better not run).
Saturday: 18 mile long run
Sunday: 6 mile recovery run. Hit they gym.
Total mileage: 33 miles

So, the elusive 50 mile week is still tantalizingly close. But then a year ago, I never would have thought that it was even possible.

Finally, thanks for all the concern about running alone! I do belong to a running club (Cal Coast Track Club) that meets for long runs on Saturday mornings. But there are two things working against me. First, I'm using a training plan that the club is not - so I'm out of whack with everyone else. Second, three to four hours running is a big time investment. I'd rather do it early and get it over before the rest of family is up and moving around so they don't have to suffer the wrath of my schedule. Running alone is something I've brought on myself.

Plus - it's not as bad as it could be. I use the time to catch up on news and current events. While most people listen to music while running, I listen to a couple of podcasted radio shows: the Phil Hendrie Show and Coast to Coast AM. I can listen to some news, comedy, and things that go bump in the night. Out of curiosity - what do you all do to work through the boredom of hours on the trails and paths?

Mid Year Checkpoint

I have time to do a lot of thinking these days. That happens when you have a couple hours to yourself each day. At least it seems like I've got a couple hours to myself as I ply the trails of Orange County. So, I thought about the running goals I set out at the beginning of the year as I jogged my recovery miles yesterday:

(1) Build my base to 35 - 45 miles per week: I think I'm finally there. So far this year I'm averaging 29 miles per week. For the next 12 weeks I'll be up above 40. This is tough! I'm in awe of those folks that are putting in 60+ per week.

(2) Put in 1500 miles during the year: As of the end of June, I've put in 750 miles. Assuming I can stay injury free, the rest of this training cycle will add another 600 or so miles in, so this goal is certainly attainable. The key is staying injury free.

(3) Run one marathon: Got one on the calendar. What was I thinking? I don't drink so I can't blame the alcohol.

(4) Keep it fun!: So far so good. My comment about a couple hours to myself each day is only partly in jest. Two hours in running shoes seeing the same scenery day after day can turn things boring pretty quickly.

So, just like a lot of the advice I dole out to others, I'm keeping my nose to the grindstone. I put in my 5 recovery miles at an average heart rate of 73% of max. I've got some tweaks and niggles starting. I did make it to the gym for some stretching last night, so I'm hoping Wednesday's DOMS starts subsiding. Plus the Motrin should help. It sucks getting old!

Week 9 in the Books

Sorry about missing my post on Sunday. I was wrapped up in a project this past weekend. It was pretty much run work run work. I didn't even get the evening off for fireworks. I'll wrap the project up today. Don't feel sorry for me. The money's good, so it was worth it.

I did get my runs in though. Five recovery miles on Saturday and a 16 mile long run on Sunday. Hey - I found out Sunday morning - 16 miles is a long way! I checked out yet another new route that took off from mile 6 of the San Diego Creek trail that headed north toward the hills. It seemed like I kept going forever! Eight miles out into the bowels of Irvine. Past three freeways. Whew. And I lied about doing nothing but run work run work. It was actually run work run nap work. A long run really takes it out of me.

Week 9 wrapped up with 44.25 miles in the books. This is a new weekly record for me. To be sure, I am slowing down, but I feel pretty good this morning - especially after a 16 mile run yesterday. Long runs are still pretty intimidating, but at least I can see that a 20 miler is doable.

But, I don't need to worry about a 20 miler for a couple weeks yet. On the schedule this week (Week 10):

Monday: Rest day. I may get the erg down for an *easy* workout.

Tuesday: 10 miles - 5 miles GA followed by 5 miles at half marathon pace.

Wednesday: 5 recovery miles. Hit the gym for stretching and core work.

Thursday: 11 miles medium long run.

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: 17 mile long run.

Sunday: 5 recovery miles. Hit the gym.

Total: 48 miles.

I'm tired just thinking about this week. I'll get caught up on everyone's blogs later today. I promise!

The Slower I Went, the Faster it Got

I had a very interesting problem yesterday - one that I don't think I've seen before. I was out for a five mile recovery run. I have my Garmin programmed to chirp me if my heart rate leaves "Zone 2" (65% to 75% of max heart rate) when on a recovery workout. Normally, when I hear the chirp, I'll slow down and I'll hear another chirp letting me know my heart rate has dropped back into the desired range. Well, yesterday I had trouble with that second chirp.

The run started out fine. Mile 1 in 9:45 in the target heart range. Then a chirp. I slowed down. Chirp? Where are you? I slowed down more. Listening... I finally dropped to a walk. Ah there it was. Back into my target zone. Time to pick it up a little again. Huh? Chirp? What the?

Well, you get the idea. This was a tough "run". I put "run" in quotes because at times I had to resort to a brisk walk to keep my heart rate in recovery range. My splits show my struggle: 9:44, 10:17, 10:34, 10:59, 11:17. And my average heart rate over the five miles was still above the target - 77% of max. Wow. Tough day. Oh well - every run can't be the best one I've ever run.

Oh - after several weeks of absenteeism - I finally made it to the gym. It actually felt good to get in a good stretch and some planks and crunches.

Today I'll be out for a nine mile GA run. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Karma?

Yesterday was a pretty interesting day, as far as running went. I had a 15 mile run on the plan. I headed out the door just like clockwork to meet up with the group at 7AM at the local (Corona del Mar) High School. Imagine my surprise when I get there to find there is no parking. None. The lot was completely full. Turns out there was a big Summer Swim League meet going on yesterday. So, not being able to find a parking spot meant that I wasn't going to be able to change after my run (remember my past blogs about my ability to perspire?). So - it was back home to pick up a towel. In the meantime, I also thought that it would kind of be nice to run somewhere other than my normal trails. What about a run along the beach?

Now another thing about my Saturday morning run - normally I take my wife's car. The dealer we bought it from offers free car washes for customers. The dealer is an easy drive from CdM, so after my normal morning run, I normally take the short drive over and get her car washed. Of course, the complimentary Starbucks is also nice. But, since I was no longer going to be running from CdM, I decided that I should also change cars. Long story short - I forgot to transfer my fuel belt and water! And I wasn't going to do 15 miles without that. So - back home.

By the time I got back home (for the second time), I thought "Maybe the running Gods are trying to tell me something." Time was now starting to become a factor. It was getting close to 8 AM. Even though it was cloudy and overcast, this time of year the sun generally breaks out by 9AM. The thought of getting caught out in the humid heat did not sound appealing, so I decided to throw in the towel. Since I am a firm believer of discretion being the better part of valor, I decided to swap Saturday and Sunday workouts.

So, about 6:30 PM I headed out for a quick 4 mile recovery run - Sunday's planned run. I got to Crystal Cove, got my gear on, and turned the Garmin on. Guess what? "Batteries are Low Sucker!" Guess it was good I didn't get out for my 15 miler after all!

On tap today - ummmm - 15 miles. I'm out the door soon....

Some Slow Miles

There's been an interesting thread on the California Running and Racing Forum over at Runner' World the past couple of days. The topic of discussion is "What's (sic) your running week look like." The thread's author was looking for input on a "typical" training week. The part I found most interesting though was the discussion about the mix of easy versus hard miles - even for those who have been running for many years.

This has become interesting for me for a couple of reasons. First off, I am finding myself on my feet longer and longer these days. A I come up on 50 miles a week it is apparent to me that I can't push hard through all of those miles. I know that I'm supposed to follow a hard workout with an easy workout, but what constitutes easy? And doesn' t "hard" come in two forms? Pace and distance?

Second, one of my running fiends, Lori (Run Along Now) has been bit by the Ultra bug. She recently ran the San Diego 100 (that 100 miles folks). I ran into her the next week at the Magic Shoe 5K. She mentioned something that took a little while to process. She said that the "race" takes a little different tact - you focus on cutoff times. Not on a target pace, but on making sure that you are at the next Aid Station before it closes. Hmm. It took me a few days to realize what she was saying. You run slow. And indeed, as I read through more ultra/trail run reports, I can see where much of those races are done at a slow pace or a brisk walk. But - all those guys are in shape right? And Lori? She just bettered her old marathon PR by 90 minutes!

Well, all this talk of slowing down really resonated when I was reading through the thread yesterday. There it was - clear as day. Folks who are capable of 3:30 and faster marathons saying they run anywhere from 75% to 90% of their miles at easy, conversational pace. Hmm. Maybe I need to slow down and stop worrying about training pace. Run at the pace my body allows me to run. Get out there and put the time in on my feet. Get the miles in the bank. It can be all summed up with one quote in the thread, "train for racing but don't race your training."

So, it was with some renewed vigor that I hit the trails yesterday for my 5 mile recovery run. I felt good the entire distance and got my run in right at 75% of my max heart rate. Right where it was supposed to be. I'm looking forward to what my nine mile GA run has in store for me tonight!

A few on the ergometer

Yesterday I ended up scooting back and forth on my rowing machine in the garage. Yeah - not very exciting, but I figure it's about time to start working out a few other muscles. I'm supposed to be in the gym every now and then, but I just never seem to make it there these days. So instead, I put about 30 minutes in on the erg and rowed 6.2 km. I had the doors open to get a bit of a breeze blowing through, but I was still dripping when I was done. Not to mention sore today. I forget all those arm, shoulder and back muscles that get worked when rowing. The only thing I need is to get some batteries in the old Polar chest strap. I guess I could use the Garmin, but on an indoor machine, my old Polar is a great tool to keep track of heart rate and heart rate ranges.

On another note, Christine posed a great question yesterday, "...what is a 'recovery run' and what is the purpose of it?" I know when I first got started (I'm still a relative noob) a couple of years ago, I thought that my 20 miles a week was sufficient to power me through races. It wasn't too long (well - a year actually) before I clued in. To expect to show real improvement, I was going to need to increase my training volume. Run more. Put in more miles. Which meant more days. I wasn't going to have the benefit of an off day between training runs. I started working six days a week. But I still was trying to run each workout like it was a race. Pretty soon I was *always* tired. My pace started degrading. I was running myself into the ground.

About that time I started picking up books to understand more about what I was doing (yeah - running had become a serious hobby, not just a way to lose weight). In all the books I read, there was this concept of a key workout followed by an easy workout. Those easy workouts were called "recovery" workouts. I started slowing myself down on "recovery" days, and slowly but surely, my race times started falling through the floor!

Was it because I was allowing my body to "recover" on those recovery days? Well, actually not. The term "recovery" is really a misnomer. While your pace/heart rate is lower than, say a general aerobic run, the purpose of the recovery run is to be able to add training volume (miles). Turns out the way our bodies become more fit is to react to training stress by becoming more efficient. But,we can only run so many miles at max tilt without breaking down (injury time). By reducing our pace/effort, a "recovery" run, allows us to put in the miles while giving our body a bit of a break. The key to the benefit of a recovery run is starting fatigued . By starting in a fatigued state, your body will call on other neuro-muscular systems to pick up the slack for tired muscles. In short, the recovery run is supposed to improve running economy and train muscle fibers that would normally go unused. The theory is that in longer distances, your body will have more muscle fibers to call on in the late stages of the race. The general rule for including recovery runs is based on how many days a week you run - if you run less than 5 days a week, recovery runs are generally not necessary. Beyond that, recovery runs can be beneficial if they follow either a key workout (lactate threshold, VO2Max) or a long run. Also, the recovery run should be run at a pace/effort much less than normal. For example, on a recovery day, I don't pay attention to my pace. I make sure my heart rate remains at 75% of max or lower. Sometimes that translates to a 10:15 pace. Other days that translates to an 11:00 pace.

So there you go. More than you probably ever wanted to know Christine.....

On tap today - 9 miles -the first four GA, the last 5 at half marathon pace. Which means a recovery run on Wednesday!

Beeyootiful!

The clock struck the first day of summer, and the weather Gods replied with one of the most beautiful mornings in quite a while. Day before yesterday was dull, drab and drizzly (I was able to literally wring water from my clothes when I wrapped up my run). Yesterday though was absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous. It's tough to find words to describe the weather.

I got out about 8:30. It was 68 degrees. Breezy but not windy. Sunny. No humidity. Puffy white clouds in the sky. I headed to Crystal Cove for what was going to turn out being an epic Father's Day run:

My five mile recovery run wrapped my step back week. Final mileage: 32.5. Big fail though was that I never made it onto the ergometer or to the gym....

So, I'm now back to my mileage ramp. On the schedule for this week:

• Monday: Rest day. Will probably hit the erg today. I'm feeling rested after last week.
• Tuesday: 9 miles - first 5 GA, last 4 at Half Marathon Pace
• Wednesday: 5 mile recovery. Hi the gym for some stretching and core work.
• Thursday: 9 miles GA
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: 15 mile long run
• Sunday: 5 mile recovery run. Hit the gym for some stretching at a minimum.
• Total for week: 43 miles

And, now that I've made up my mind on doing the marathon, I laid out the rest of my training plan yesterday. I'm doing the Pfitz 24/55 plan (24 weeks, peaks at 55 miles per week). I had to whack 3 weeks off the endurance phase, so it's really the Pfitz 21/55. Now I understand how these things can be so daunting. Sixteen more weeks and 750 training miles to go. That doesn't include the 225 already under my feet. Deep breath. Deep breath. The journey has begun!

Losing Some Weight

Yesterday I mentioned my evil snacking streak was causing me problems. I gotta come clean to everyone - I have a sweet tooth! My weakness is baked goods. Cakes, cookies, pies. And cheesecake. I will not set foot inside a Cheesecake Factory for fear of what is behind the display counter. I thought I would spend a little time today talking about how I got my weight under control and started working the pounds away.

To start out, weight was never a problem when I was growing up. Well - it was a problem - but the opposite way. I played basketball in high school for a couple of years, but a 5'11" frame carrying 133 pounds does not have much of a future in that sport. I was eating 5 to 6 meals a day to put weight on and couldn't. Through college, I enjoyed Las Vegas for buffets! Three, four sometimes five plates of food. I enjoyed eating! Bottom line is I was not an obese child that had always been fighting weight.

But, by the time I turned 50, I had expanded to a numbing 260 pounds. Not bad if I had also extended, but it was a problem on my 5'11" frame. Time to do something. Excercise seemed like a good thing to do. When I started exercising, the first 10 pounds just rolled off. After that though, it seemed that regardless how hard and long I worked out, I was not dropping weight. The problem was I didn't understand a pretty simple equation - to lose weight calories out > calories in. And to know how that equation was balancing, I had to understand the input side.

The first thing I learned about the input side of the equation is I really didn't understand the output side of things. Turned out that calories out was based on something I knew about (my first degree is in Biological Sciences) but hadn't really thought about since college days - Base Metabolic Rate or BMR. BMR is the number of calories burned to stay in bed all day. I found the easiest BMR calculator is at this website here. As a 5' 11", 51 year old, 215 pound male, my BMR is 1950 calories. That is what I would need to eat if I lived my dream life and watched baseball all day (what a life huh?).

But, we obviously don't stay in bed all day, so BMR needs to be adjusted for normal activity level. Well, I found the easiest way to approximate my daily caloric need was to find a website that did it for me. After experimenting for a while on various websites, I opted for Sparkpeople. (History of that decision is here.)

When setting up an account on Sparkpeople (totally free by the way), information critical to BMR and daily caloric needs are collected:

And your daily caloric needs are calculated:

Based on my input (age, gender, current weight, activity level) and my goals (drop an additional 15 pounds this year), I should be eating between 2410 and 2700 calories a day. Now, it's just a matter of keeping track of what I'm eating and making sure that I'm are getting enough of the right stuff to keep going while losing some of those pounds. That will be tomorrow's blog.

Oh - run? Yeah, just a measly, boring 5 mile recovery run. Man am I tired (more reason to start watching my diet again).

Wrapping Up the Week

With my 4 mile recovery run, I wrapped another week in the history of the Running Fat Guy. Final stats for the week: 37 miles running and 10 miles walking. This also wraps May. I ended up running fewer days than last (11 days off compared to 9 days off in April), but putting in more miles (142 compared to 136). The fatigue that I started the week with seems to be gone as well. A couple nights of extra sleep and a couple days of pigging out seemed to do the trick! I'm not sure that I did the weight loss thing any justice, but I'm feeling a whole lot better than I was on Monday.

This also wraps up four months of consistent running. Since my groin strain back in December and recovery in January, I've been able to remain pretty consistent with my running. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I slowly came back. If I look at my training progress over the last few months, I've doubled my January mileage, but it was a slow build over a couple of months.

(In fact, now that I'm looking at the graph - check out that doubling of miles between August and September. Hmm. Maybe my groin strain was well deserved.)

I'm feeling pretty good about where this training is leading. I've dropped 10 pounds since the beginning of the year. I need to get my night time snacking back under control to work on the other 10 pounds on my goals for this year. I'm going to knock on wood here so that I can keep the streak alive.

This week's plan includes more base build and a 10K race:

Monday: Rest day. No cross training since I'm on a plane to East Texas

Tuesday: 8 miles GA. Wrap it up with 10X100 stride outs.

Wednesday: 5 mile recovery

Thursday: 9 miles GA

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: Wrigley River Run 10K

Sunday: 14 mile long run.

Total planned: 42.2 miles (new mileage record if I get it).

The catch this week is that I am getting on a plane today for a short business trip to Texas. In the past, I've always used my travel time as extra rest days. But I am eager to continue base building. So I'm going to try to get my run in Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully there will be a running path close to my hotel. That would be pretty prime. Maybe 4 miles on a trail and four miles on a treadmill. I'll have to play it by ear.

Finally, I want to apologize to my readers if some of these blogs sound like I'm full of myself. Being a male, I'm not good at things like keeping a diary (heck - as long as the Dodgers and Lakers are winning and the Stanley Cup is on TV, who cares about anything else?). So, I end up using my blog here as my diary. It's actually kind of neat to go back and check my old blogs to see how things are progressing (or not).

Hope that this week is good and injury free for all of you out there! And San Diego Rock n' Roll runners - take some time off! You all deserve it!