Bonking, Giving Blood, and the Final Countdown! (13 Days to Race)

I've finally made it.  If you would have asked me half way through this week if I'd ever thought I'd make it to my taper you would have heard some pissing and moaning followed up with plenty more grumbling about going out for another run but my easy weeks have finally arrived.  Now you may be wondering if you have been following along why my taper didn't start last week after my soul crushing 22 miler in which I bonked so heavily at mile 18 I wasn't sure if by the end I could actually be considered jogging.  Turns out a crucial part in any training plan is actually reading the thing.  I knew this weekend's Sunday long run was an easy 15 so I just assumed but failed to notice the whopping 30 extra miles throughout the week making this week an all time high for everything but the long run and 5 miles short of last week.  To say it was a little tough is an understatement but as always (except the times I don't)  I prevailed.

The fun began Monday night when I was getting ready to head out.  I glimpsed at my plan expecting a 5 miler or 4, or even a nice note saying "don't worry! Just skip this one you're on easy street!"  To my suprise though I saw a big ugly 8.  Not as ugly as the previous 10's but way more than I was expecting especially only two days after my 22 which I had yet to fully recover from.  So I kept searching for it to let up but to my total shock and utter disappointment it didn't.  This week was 8,8,7,7,15 with one of those 8's being a tempo.   If anyone could have seen the look on my face they might have cried (from laughing so hard).  I was devastated but I put the shoes on (always the hardest part or step [hilarious!] by the way), got out there, and got it done. 

The best part of this week was the 8 miles with a 4 mile tempo run mixed in.  By the time I got to it the legs were sore from the previous 8, and the Sundays 22 mile bone crusher, but I knew I had to get it done.  Taking out a rest week to shorten my schedule for the earlier race I had totally skipped most of the speed work from the last 2 weeks in the hopes of not getting hurt, humiliated, or even worse completely spent.  After all my past long runs are as follows with a steadily building weekly mileage to boot:  Miami Half (nailed it!), 18 (nailed it!), 20 (nailed it!), and 22 (BONKED but did it with an honorable 9:57 average pace though I have no idea how).  So to say I'm beat is not an exaggeration or any forms of writer's poetic license or whatever its called.

To add into the mix I had a great idea Thursday:  give blood!  And after finding out I had a rare blood type I decided it would be an even better idea to give them a double shot!   Now they assured me at the bus (should have been the first clue!) that it would in no way impact my long distance running but I can honestly say with a straight face they are full of shit!!  For the passed few days my legs have felt like I've been running through quick sand and today's run was no exception.  But I was determined to make my last real effort count, and make it count I did!  After reading up last night on training methods I did a negative split (second half is quicker then the first) and then did my last 2 miles fast finish clock in one at 8:57 and the other at 8:27.  Both of these methods though I'm not sure if they're normally combined attempt to train (or trick) the body to run fast for long distances without actually running said distances.  Yeeeeeehaw.  Can't say it looked pretty to make it to the cover of the next edition of any running magazine, but I can say it's done. 

So at the end of the day I'd like to say giving blood is one of the best gifts you can give and in no way am I recommending not to do it.  I actually have an idea that it might be a great training tool to get your legs used to running in sludge in case all the worlds trails, roads, and sidewalks ever became encased in sludge or a fluid of similar viscosity.  But if your marathon is less than a month away, or in less than 2 weeks for me to be exact, maybe after actually receiving the bling is the best time to do it.  Just saying.

And oh yeah don't think I forgot about me bonking.  Hitting the wall as its known is actually what happened to me 2 Sundays ago.  At mile 16 I was tired, 18 I was beat, and 20 I was ready to lay down and die.  For non-runners bonking is when your body runs out of (enough) glycogen (basically what you get from carbs) to supply your muscles and power your organs like your brain.  Ask any marathoner what 8x7 is (remember 5678!) at mile 20 and you're likely to get a whole variety of answers.  That's because the body is running out of juice.  So at about mile 18 the body has to switch over to primarily fat to keeps the legs going and as although fat holds a ton of energy releasing it is no wheres near as easy.  Want to see what bonking looks like?  Go outside your house and find the nicest old lady walking down the street.  Imagine now that she's actually a runner dressed in full running paraphernalia and that she's even making the gestures of running (albeit rather poorly now) yet going the exact same pace if not slower.  No old lady's around?  Then just youtube and non-running animals making its most honest attempt to run (I'm thinking the dog that can't run video!) and that's pretty much it.  "Now that doesn't sound like fun" your thinking or "why would someone put themselves through that kind of torture and physical and mental self-abuse?"  Well why do people take crack cocaine?  Or play golf when they know they'll never be able to truly hit the ball even remotely close to where they wanted it to go?  Simply put one person's self inflicted torture session is another runners idea of a nice Sunday morning I guess.  Now it's time to replenish those glycogen stores...

Nails, Plans, and OCD!

Well there it is in all its glory.  The perfect spot for my new medal commemorating my first ever sub-4 hour marathon.  Sure it's still 9 weeks, 44 training runs, and 371.2 miles away, but a guy should be prepared right?  Which brings me up to an interesting topic:  exactly how to get prepared for running a marathon or any race for that matter.

If you've run a competitive race before then I'm sure you've all heard of training plans.  They come in all different shapes in sizes, levels of intensity, and for all time goals from super elite to just finishing them.  The first thing to know about them though if you've never used one is they are mostly FREE!!  Sure you can easily log onto any popular running site, puts your credit card deets in and download a smokin' new plan, but isn't free always better?

For me I've used many plans over the years.  Some I've put together myself while others I've used general templates.  I always thought the main aspect of following any plan is sticking too the distances because I know I won't be breaking any course time records so my goal has always been just to finish with my head held high with a time I wouldn't mind too much dropping in any social situations.  My last marathon time though of 5 hours and 15 minutes  just doesn't permit that but enough about that.

At the end of the day plans are only as good as your ability to follow them and in that race I faltered big time and the results were catastrophic.  This season I refuse to let that happen and have changed up my focus.  For the first time in my racing career I'm not only following the distance recommendations (up to just below 40 miles a week right with 5 runs a week), but the times to complete the mileage as well.  While its definitely ramped up my the intensity of my training and increased my obsession with sticking to the plan, its proved challenging to say the least but this time my goal isn't just to finish, but to take my place with the top 10% of just-for-fun marathon runners.* 

As I said last week though it hasn't been easy, yet this week my legs are doing much better I'd say somewhere around the 75% range assisted with a brand new massive bottle of Aleve.  What I am super impressed with is this training plan.  This is the first time I've ever been surprised by the many details that's been worked in and it seems to be working as long as I can get through my long run tomorrow morning, and recover during my easy week next week.  I currently have one more week of hills ahead of me, 8 on Wednesday to be exact, but after that I make the switch to Tempo's and Yasso's which I'm pumped for. 

For anyone whose never used a plan before the results are startling.  For someone who normally goes through life as laid back as possible, my training plans turn me into an OCD beast.  Every minute of every mile must be accounted for, and substitutions or subtractions just don't fly.  In my 3 months of training so far I think I've missed one run and cried afterwards for a week.  Okay maybe that's a little much, probably more like a few hours...


But as I've said things are going well and I'm still on track for March.  I broke out of the slump I was in last week and are looking forward to owning tomorrow's 16 miler as I did last weeks smaller brother 15.  I've joined the Hollywood Runners Club which I'm excited to get out and run with (though I CANNOT DEVIATE FROM MY PLAN lol!) and I even purchased a new hydration belt and tested it today looking to put its through its paces with my 16 miler tomorrow.  So far so good, so lets keep our fingers crossed for more happy posts to come.

A great day to be a South Florida runner!!

PS.  For anyone interested in learning more about training plans please feel free to "Google" them.  Thanks and best of luck!

*DISCLAIMER:  This number might be totally made up but I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere and if its online it must be true.  A quick article I just found says 25% but I like 10% better so....

Week 7: 1 Wall Down, 1 to Go

Pic to See (Creative right?)

Lacing up my shoes this morning before the sun reached out over the bay I really wasn't sure just what to expect.  For a few days my calves and knees had hurt, and I was finding myself with less and less motivation to push on.  Today I was approaching a wall (see pic).  Okay not exactly "the wall" at around 18-20 miles, not there yet, but a mental wall I had from 7 weeks ago when I was defeated and had to walk the remaining two miles home in total agony after attempting a 15 miler I was totally unprepared for.

The good part was I felt ready.  I'd iced what needed to be iced, rested what needed to rested, and petroleum jellied what needed to be jellied and after failing to find the GPS after the first go around my watch finally found it.  With a shot, (or more of a shuffle) I started out one foot at a time trying to ignore the looming wall in my mind ahead of (reference pic again if need be) and repeating my mantra over and over again in my head:  "I ain't everybody."

All in all the run was epic.  It definitely wasn't my fastest, something I think having to do with the massive camel bag full of water on my back (which I'll revisit later), but it felt great.  Not easy, but not hard either, and just around 2 hours and 45 minutes later I was done and felt truly accomplished. Even better in less than 30 minutes after having my remaining pop tart (new running fuel [more  to come on this also]) and my post run protein shake I felt completely recovered even enough to head down to the beach for a quick swim.

So what did I do differently?  For one thing the 7 extra weeks of ramped up mileage certainly helped.  Another thing was getting out before the sun got up for most of it.  While the temperature and humidity don't really change down here too much, being out of the sun for 90% of my run certainly seemed to make a big difference.  Lastly, I had some pretty intense motivation.  Last night I watched the Desert Runners.  An epic story of a group of amateur runners attempting to do the 4 big desert Ultra's all in one year.  For anyone dipping a little low in the motivation department I can't recommend this movie enough and if you don't shed a tear anywhere in it, then your heart must be made of stone as my eyes were barely dry at all during the whole thing.

The moral of today's story?  Confidence.  Confidence in knowing you've trained to do this, knowing you can really rock it, and the best part: knowing your not trying to complete 4 ultras over some of the hardest desert courses on the planet.  I truly believe confidence makes all the difference.  For me today I made the 15 miler mine, and I now own it.  It isn't a world record or anything anyone will ever make a movie about but its mine.  Now having that little gem swimming around in the back of my mind how hard can next Sunday's 16 really be?  Either way the first wall is down, and its time to go find the next.

Week 7 of 16:  COMPLETE.  

Week 9 Preview:  Got my eye on you!