No Longer a Fool

Before my weekly summaries start, I wanted to add one more note about a new element into this training cycle: Free massages. 

Yes, you read that right. FREE. MASSAGES.

I'll explain. In high school and summers home from college I worked at Sportmart. It's where my shoe addiction started.  I'm Facebook friends with a former Sportmart co-worker, who recently moved to my neighborhood and became a certified massage therapist. To help build her client base, she offered discounted massage therapy to friends on Facebook. I took her up on the offer for 2 sessions leading up to the Garry Bjroklund Half.

When I contacted her about setting up periodic treatments for my Chicago Marathon training, she pitched the following offer: As part of continuing education for her certification, she can write a research paper on the effect of massage therapy on a specific client of note.  Given that she knew me as a meathead football player, she found my transition to distance running interesting, and asked me to be the subject of her research. My immediate follow-up question was, "What's the catch?"  Only that I sign a HIPAA waiver and get my physical therapy records from my hip injury.  Done and done. 

I had my first session last Sunday to establish the baseline before training starts. I'll get 4 or 5 more leading up to race day.  And based on the work I had before the half - and I call it work because it f**king hurts - it is really going to help me push my training to the next level.

There's a reason every single elite who has decent sponsorship and $$ gets daily massage treatment.   When you are training at the level you are, it seems like a huge benefit and will allow you to get the most out of what you are doing.  Pretty big win getting that!

You. Suck.

I'm so jealous.  I just started getting worked on and I think it'll be a big benefit in keeping me loose.  You are in fact correct about the pain involved in getting worked over properly.  I knew my glutes and piriformis were going to hurt, but I had no idea how tight my IT band was.  Holy crap that was painful!  I'll probably shoot for 1-2 a month, which is about what it sounds like you're doing.  Hope it helps.

Yup, you definitely suck.  I so do wish I had the power of massage when I was your age.  Today, they are the wonder god that keeps me together and I am so offended by what I can get here in NY as it is all powder puff.  I need to drive to Cleveland just for a massage - so sad.....

I can only tell you from experience that my massage therapist holds me together, and yes, it hurts like hell, but she is a runner and her husband is an elite runner, so she gets it.

Week 2 of Chicago Marathon training: July 15 - 21

Monday: Lunch: 6 miles – 47:38, 7:56 pace. Evening: 10 miles – 1:07:42, 6:46 pace with 10 x 100m strides.  After a cool and perfect weekend, the oppressive heat and humidity returned today.  The 10 miles was somewhat broken up – run a few miles to Fleet Feet, run a few miles with the boys, 10 strides at the track, run a few miles home – but it was still tough in the swampy conditions. 

Tuesday: 14 miles – 1:29:08, 6:22 total pace.  Today’s schedule called for a progression run with 6 miles at 90% of MP and 5 miles at MP.  Coach and I decided to run the warm-up and 90% portion outdoors, then move it to the treadmill for the MP miles. It was the right call. I was wearing down quickly outside.  The move to the AC and chugging a Nuun helped refresh me. 

Wednesday:  Lunch: 6 miles – 47:07, 7:51 pace + FS1. 8 miles – 1:01:27, 7:41 pace. Easy easy easy.  The second run was with Matt, followed by a few beers at a local pub.  Good stuff.

Thursday: 14 miles – 1:32:56, with 30:00 fartlek. “Yo, Coach, its 95 degrees with a dew point of 74.  What the hell should I do about this 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 fartlek you have scheduled?”  “Shorten it to 1-2-3-4-3-2-1, and whatever you do, don’t check your Garmin for paces. They will be ugly. Just put in a hard effort.”  And really, that’s all I could do. He was right; the paces were ugly.  Without running the numbers, I averaged about 5:40 and 6:20 for the hard and moderate portions.  I felt like I was running in water. 

Friday: Morning: 6 miles – 48:00, 8:00 pace + FS2. Evening; 6 miles – 45:29, 7:35 pace. I think I may have gotten a little bit of heat exhaustion last night.  I woke up with a headache, and on the run into work, I felt lightheaded and nauseous.  I felt better throughout the day but I played it safe and just did 6 easy on the treadmill after work.

Saturday: 12 miles – 1:15:24, 6:17 pace. I drove out to Waterfall Glen for some rolling hills and crushed limestone. I don’t know if it was the 10 hours of sleep or the cooler temps – hey, only 85 degrees! – but I felt awesome today. Miles 3 and 4 were “accidentally” sub-6, which hasn’t happened in a long time.   The hilly running in Wisconsin, and the functional strength work, definitely helped me feel smoother on hills too.  After a week of battling the heat, it was a relief to feel strong.

Sunday: 20 miles – 2:09:34, 6:29 pace. Another good one.  The plan was a 1 mile warm-up, 19 miles at 90% of MP, and 1 mile cool-down. Take out miles 1 (7:04) and 20 (7:08) and I average 6:25 on the dot for 18 miles.  Overall I am really pleased with both runs this weekend. Of the 102 miles this week, 50 of them were between 5:50 and 6:30 pace. That’s what I call base-building, baby!

Week: 102

Trying to figure out what you mean by 90% of MP.  Is that the same as MP + 10%?  Or are you running MP - 10%?

Bob wrote:Trying to figure out what you mean by 90% of MP.  Is that the same as MP + 10%?  Or are you running MP - 10%?

 5:45 + 10% or 35 seconds, so 6:10 or so.

Bob wrote:Trying to figure out what you mean by 90% of MP.  Is that the same as MP + 10%?  Or are you running MP - 10%?

10% slower than MP. 

MP = 5:50 (for now) = 350 seconds.  10% of 350 is 35 seconds.  5:50 + 35 seconds = 6:25. 

I thought you were a teacher?

Dave-O wrote:

Bob wrote:Trying to figure out what you mean by 90% of MP.  Is that the same as MP + 10%?  Or are you running MP - 10%?

10% slower than MP. 

MP = 5:50 (for now) = 350 seconds.  10% of 350 is 35 seconds.  5:50 + 35 seconds = 6:25. 

I thought you were a teacher?

I am. So when you say 90% of MP(to a math teacher "of" means "times") that means .90 x 350=315. 
 

Bob wrote:

Dave-O wrote:

Bob wrote:Trying to figure out what you mean by 90% of MP.  Is that the same as MP + 10%?  Or are you running MP - 10%?

10% slower than MP. 

MP = 5:50 (for now) = 350 seconds.  10% of 350 is 35 seconds.  5:50 + 35 seconds = 6:25. 

I thought you were a teacher?

I am. So when you say 90% of MP(to a math teacher "of" means "times") that means .90 x 350=315. 
 

Running coaches are math challenged and they originated the 90% of x pace term. MP +/-10% is just as awkward. They should just say 10% slower than marathon pace(10%STMP) or 10% faster than marathon pace(10%FTMP).

Week 3 of Chicago Marathon training: July 22 – 28

Monday: Lunch: 6 miles – 41:53 (6:59).  Evening: 8 miles – 55:14 (6:54).  Both runs were a little quicker than normal for an easy day.  But I was with others for both, and didn’t want to be the whiner asking people to slow down.  So I rolled with it.  I won’t make a habit of it.

Tuesday: Lunch: 5 miles – 37:56 (7:35) + FS1.  Evening: 11 miles 1:11:53, with 3 mile Aussie Quarter in 16:00.  I actually felt awful on the Aussies.  The partners conducted associate reviews today, and as a result, I didn’t eat lunch until 2:30…which happened to be free pizza.  Well, it wasn’t fully digested when I ran.  Fartlek runs with pizza-induced stomach cramps are fun.  

Wednesday: 14 miles, 1:35:40 (6:50).  My instructions today were “slow and steady.”  My legs had some fatigue, but aerobically the run was easy as can be.  The fantastic, cool temps helped. 

Thursday: Lunch: 6 miles – 48:25 (8:04) + FS2. 10 miles – 1:10:54 (7:05), with hill drills. I actually started the first run with the express goal of running slower than 8:00 pace.  I have a monster workout on tap Saturday and want to make sure I’m fresh. I felt pretty fresh on the second run of the day, but still kept it slower than 7:00 pace.  

Friday: Lunch: 10 miles – 1:06:38 (6:40). Evening: 6 miles – 45:26 (7:34). I flipped today’s two runs to allow a few extra hours of recovery.  

Saturday: 18 miles – 1:54:22 (6:21 cumulative pace). I don’t think this run could have gone much better. I was initially worried because, on my way to Wisconsin for the weekend, I realized I forgot to pack my Garmin or Nike+ watch.  I honestly would have rather forgotten my wallet.  As my only alternative, I downloaded the Nike+ App.  Carrying a phone for 18 miles is not fun, but I was surprised to learn that the App is quite accurate.  

Anyway, the scheduled workout was: 6 miles moderate; 3 miles alternating 1:00 hard/1:00 moderate; 3 miles moderate; 3 miles at MP; 2 miles at MP or faster; 1 mile cool-down.  That’s not your average weekend long run.  The night before I mapped out a route on empty, rolling country roads that look like this:



(View starting the 5 mile MP portion)

The only modification I had to make to ensure none of the planned fast portions were on the busy highways (I had to spend about a mile total on two occasions to connect with other roads) was to start with 5 miles (instead of 6) and then 4 miles (instead of 3) between the fartlek and MP sections.  Here are all the results:  

5 miles moderate: 7:13, 6:54, 6:49, 6:49, 6:49
3 miles of 1:00 hard/1:00 moderate: 5:45, 5:45, 5:45
4 miles moderate: 6:38, 6:46, 6:48, 6:47
3 miles MP: 5:4, 5:58, 5:42
2 miles MP or faster: 5:34, 5:29
1 mile cool-down: 6:54
 
Even better, you can’t see splits on the the Nike+ App until the run is over. So the only data I had was total distance and total time.  In other words, the run was 95% by feel.  I was thrilled when I reviewed the splits afterwards and saw that I nailed it. I celebrated with many New Glarus beers.
 
Sunday: Morning: 8 miles – 59:27 (7:26). Evening: 8 miles – 1:03:52 (7:59) + FS2. In other words, the easiest possible way to log 16 miles and hit 110 for the week. I capped off the week with a painful, but deserved, massage. 
 
Week: 110 (3 FS routines and hill drills)

wow I feel like a big slacker reading your week in training, you earned many many New glarus beers spotted cow the best! I'm going to try the 1 minute hard 1 minute easy during my FCR run, do I really have to sprint for a minute I'm not very good at it:( My kids really laugh at my sprint I'll see how it goes and maybe start with one mile at first what do you think?

It looks like you are putting together a nice string of weeks.  That was an impressive run, especially for just going by feel.  With the kind of work you are putting in now, you will be setting yourself up for a run at a PR this fall when the weather is more conducive to running.

Nice training dude! Looked like you were blazing down the path in Lincoln Park last night, but that may have been an easy run for all I know!~

That's some damn impressive running by feel, especially with that much change in pace throughout the entire run.  That's really tough to do even when you settle in to a consistent pace, let alone jumping all over the place like you were.

Great week and looks like things are coming together!

What's FS1 and FS2?  Some kind of form drills?   That 18 mile run looked soooo tough and you nailed it.  5:34 and 5:29 for miles 16 and 17?  That's outrageous in a good way.

amyjoann wrote:wow I feel like a big slacker reading your week in training, you earned many many New glarus beers spotted cow the best! I'm going to try the 1 minute hard 1 minute easy during my FCR run, do I really have to sprint for a minute I'm not very good at it:( My kids really laugh at my sprint I'll see how it goes and maybe start with one mile at first what do you think?

I wouldn't look at the 1:00 hard as a sprint.  Aim for 10k pace.  I actually really like it during the long run; woke my legs up!

Matt W wrote:It looks like you are putting together a nice string of weeks.  That was an impressive run, especially for just going by feel.  With the kind of work you are putting in now, you will be setting yourself up for a run at a PR this fall when the weather is more conducive to running.

Thanks, Matt. It's been cool in Chicago the last 10 days, which has really helped.

fostever wrote:Nice training dude! Looked like you were blazing down the path in Lincoln Park last night, but that may have been an easy run for all I know!~

Oh no, that was a hard one. It was a 5-4-3-2-1 minute fartlek. I was on the 2:00 portion when I saw you and was at about a 4:50 pace.  Hopefully I didn't appear to be hurting too badly.

mul21 wrote:That's some damn impressive running by feel, especially with that much change in pace throughout the entire run.  That's really tough to do even when you settle in to a consistent pace, let alone jumping all over the place like you were.

Great week and looks like things are coming together!

The pace changes within a run took some time - pretty much the entire Half Marathon training cycle - to get used to. It's not easy. I hope it pays off!

Chris M wrote:What's FS1 and FS2?  Some kind of form drills?   That 18 mile run looked soooo tough and you nailed it.  5:34 and 5:29 for miles 16 and 17?  That's outrageous in a good way.

FS = Functional Strength routines. I have 2 different ones of 10 exercises each. I think I posted them a little while back but can repost if anyone is interested in incorporating them. 

Make no mistake - I was balls to the wall on those 2 miles.  But, that's what I was told to do!

Um, did that last post say 4:50 pace?????  I'm impressed.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Um, did that last post say 4:50 pace?????  I'm impressed.

It was only for a few minutes, wishing I could hold it for a full 5k...

Week 5 of Chicago Marathon training: August 5 - 11

Monday: 6 miles – 47:10 (7:50)(FS1) + 8 miles – 57:07 (7:08). 

Tuesday: 10 miles – 1:02:57 (6:18), with 4 miles of Aussie Quarters + 6 miles – 43:53 (7:19).  Aussie Quarters (i.e. 400m hard/200m moderate for X miles) has been a staple of my training under Flaherty.  I've been hit or miss on them. Today I hit.  My cumulative mile splits were 5:23, 5:22, 5:18, 5:17, and I was routinely under 5:00 pace on the hard portions.  Even with the hard workout, the 6 mile easy run home later that day was comfortable and relaxed.

Wednesday: 8 miles – 43:53 (7:56) + 14 miles – 1:34:36 (6:45).  With 22 miles total, I decided to really pile on the mileage today.  Seemed liked a good time to do it, with the goal to run on fatigued legs and no workout for another two days.  I ran the 14 miler with 4 Fleet Feet teammates, which definitely helped pass the time and click off the miles. With the faster dudes, it turned out to be a bit of a progression run, with the first 4 being pretty easy, then a handful in the 6:20 range, then 2 easy on my own to head home.  

Thursday: 4 miles  – 32:34 (8:09)(FS1) + 6 miles – 43:26 (7:14).  Oof, felt kind of wrecked today. So much so that I threw in the towel after just 6 in the PM.  Felt dehydrated and like I was in a major calorie deficit.  Got home and stuffed my face.

Friday: 10 miles – 1:07:36 (6:46) + 6 miles – 44:12 (7:22). Before yesterday's shitty runs, I had planned to run the 10 mile Waterfall Glen loop before work today. I decided to stick with the plan, though was a little worried. I realized almost right away that a good night’s sleep and a huge dinner did the trick. I felt strong and had to hold myself back with tomorrow’s workout in mind.

Saturday: 20 miles – 2:11:46 (6:35). The scheduled workout was: 8 miles moderate; 3 miles of 1:00 hard/1:00 moderate; 3 miles moderate; 3 miles MP; 2 miles hard; 1 mile cool-down.  As good as this workout went two weeks ago (and it went goooood), that’s almost how poorly it went today. It was partially my fault; a few too many glasses of wine last night meant I slept in which meant I was out there at noon when it was heating up.  Nonetheless, my legs felt dead from the start.  I gutted out the 1:00 hard/moderate fartlek portion, and tried to rally during the MP portion.  I didn't have it, though. I pulled the plug on the workout at 16 miles.  I was light headed, had stopped sweating, and had some chills.  The 4 mile run home was miserable and included two bathroom stops.  Not pleased, but also recognize this was my first “bad” workout, and its partially due to a slip in discipline.  For what it’s worth, here are the splits:

8 miles moderate, 6:35 pace
3 miles fartlek, 5:50 cumulative pace
3 miles moderate, 6:47 pace
2 miles MP, 5:53 and 5:48
4 mile death march home, 7:15 pace

Sunday: 4 miles – untimed (FS2) + 8 miles – 1:00:09 (7:31).  The good news is that I felt fine today and didn't do any real damage yesterday.  I was glad to see my body recovered and end the week feeling okay.  One more base week before transitioning into the marathon specific phase.

Week: 110

Not that it's a good thing for you, but it makes me feel a bit better to see just random workout bonks from others like I had last week.  Mine was also probably due to a lack of discipline on the diet and sleep front, so definitely something I need to keep an eye on.

Just gonna plant a little bug in your ear - if you were on Strava and uploading everything, I believe you'd be leading this month's mileage competition.  That's over 14000 people, and you'd be #1.

mul21 wrote:Not that it's a good thing for you, but it makes me feel a bit better to see just random workout bonks from others like I had last week.  Mine was also probably due to a lack of discipline on the diet and sleep front, so definitely something I need to keep an eye on.

Everyone bonks a workout or long run here and there.  Just gotta recoup, recover, and move on.  

Mike MacLellan wrote:Just gonna plant a little bug in your ear - if you were on Strava and uploading everything, I believe you'd be leading this month's mileage competition.  That's over 14000 people, and you'd be #1.

I had never heard of Strava, so I checked it out. Without knowing all the details, I would have problems because: (1) I don't only use Garmin, I use the Nike+ watch as well; (2) with either one, my first 2 miles every day have almost no satellite coverage, so I time those manually; and (3) most of my easy doubles are on the treadmill (for additional muscular recovery) and I don't know how I'd upload that data. 

In other words - how would I be able to accurately upload my total mileage?

Week 4 of Chicago Marathon training: August 12 - 18

Monday: 6 miles, 46:30 (7:45) + FS1 and 10 miles, 1:09:25 (6:57) with 12 x 100m.  You know you're running high mileage when 14-16 miles becomes your "easy" day. And yet, it was easy.  That's not to say I'm guaranteed any level or success on race day, but I am confident I have a very strong base right now.

Tuesday: 16 miles, 1:39:32 (6:13) cumulative pace.  2 mile w/u; 6 miles in 6:22 pace; 6 miles in 5:53, 5:48, 5:45, 6:46, 5:39, and 5:25; 2 mile c/d.   This workout went fantastic.  I left the office at 3:00 (hooray flexibility!) and ran to the lakefront.  Conditions were almost perfect: Cool temps, no humidity, just a slight wind from the north.  That means that the 6 miles at 90% of goal pace (6:20-6:30) was into the minor headwind.  Nevertheless, the 6 miles at 6:22 pace felt smooth.  I turned around and felt just as smooth at goal MP.  I would say I didn't have to start focusing on the pace until miles 4 and 5, and then I dropped it a bit on the last mile.  Loved the way I felt on this one.

Wednesday: 6 miles, 46:47 (7:48) + FS2 and 8 miles, 59:42 (7:28).  14 more boring, easy miles.

Thursday: ~4 mile shake out during lunch (15:00 easy, a short blowout, some strides, then a short jog back to the office). In the evening, Elvis is Alive 5k – 16:10 (10 miles total).  This will sound like an excuse, but the course cost me my first sub-16 on the year.  Miles 1 and 2 were 5:10 and 5:11. At about 1.5, I was cruising, even thinking I would run about 5:05 for the last mile.  Then, the course takes a 90 degree turn up a hill, followed by a 270 degree loop under a bridge, then another sharp 90 degree turn up another hill, and 100 yards later, a 180 degree turn around.  It was miserable.  As a result, the 3rd mile was 5:22 and I finished in 16:10.  I care far more about how I felt before the craziness started - and in the midst of another high mileage week - then the final time. 

Friday: 6 miles, 46:19 (7:43) and 12 miles, 1:21:48 (6:49). I felt okay during the lunch time run; I felt pretty awful in the evening.  The mileage must have caught up to me. The second run was  a decent moderate effort, I guess, but the fatigue made its presence known. 
   
Saturday: Two 6 mile easy runs, both untimed.  I should call these runs crappy and crappier.  On the first run, my Garmin died about 2 miles in.  On the second, my Nike watch died.  It was probably for the better anyway.

Sunday: 22 miles, 2:22:49 (6:29).  Running is weird.  From Friday evening through Saturday I felt awful. I slept 9 hours and still felt lethargic in the morning. I spent the day relaxing on my pontoon boat, unsure of how I was going to manage a long run today.  On the way home from Wisconsin, I had Britt drop me off near Evanston, from where I planned to just run home.  I would have guessed there was a slim chance this run went well or even near the target pace of 6:206:30. 

Within a 1 mile, I felt good.  Within 4 miles, I felt great. I guess that’s “marathon fitness” for ya. Splitting 6:20-6:30 per mile from miles from 4 through 18 was almost effortless.  I finally felt some fatigue in the last 4 but nothing worrisome. I was really pleased this one turned out so well.  I may not be in 5k shape, but my long runs have gone fantastic in the last 6 weeks.

Week: 112