Training Week Ending April 1, 2007

3/26 run am 0:51 easy 200' cinder, a couple of strides
3/27 run am 0:35 very easy 100' cinder
run pm 0:56 moderate 250' cinder, 5 surges/strides
bike pm 0:26 moderate
3/28 run pm 0:52 easy/mod 200' cinder, some speed
3/29 run am 0:41 easy 200' cinder
run pm 0:55 easy 250' cinder
bike pm 0:26 easy
3/30 run pm 0:37 very easy 80' cinder
bike pm 0:26 very easy
3/31 run am 2:46 easy/mod 74% 2750' cinder/rough hiking trails
with fartlek 70 mins mod/hard
4/1 off

8:13 running 1:18 biking

This week I got back to trails and it helped me begin to heal up some sore
spots partially caused by running roads. I had a really sore right fibularis
brevis (muscle leading down outside of ankle) that has been giving me
trouble for a few weeks. Icing it every day helped, and massage, but it was
so bad yesterday that I cut my recovery run short from 50 to 37 mins, and
wondered about going long today. Also I had a sharp pain in one spot of my
right hamstring that would shoot pain in the middle of a run all week, but
only sporadically - not bad enough to stop me.

So today I was wondering how I could get a long run in without aggravating
both conditions. I could go flat on cinder or rolling cinder - roads were
out of the question - or I could go on more severe hiking trails, which I
chose because I thought it might aggravate the overuse injuries less even if
more stressful on support muscles.

The plan worked out good for the most part -- after a long warmup on rolling
flat cinder, I attacked the rough trails and had a great fartlek session --
until my right hip went out. Ouch - that hasn't happened during a run in a
long time. It wasn't bad
at first, but I guess something got misaligned and then inflamed in there
and it got worse and worse to the point where I almost bailed and hiked in.
The pain was shooting down into my lower leg at that point. I was [censored]
because I had been feeling great right before that and was doing my first
satisfying hard trail run of the season.

Frustrated, I just stopped and sat down thinking what I could do. I lamented
not having had enough time to do all my preventative stretching, and then
remembered a stretch that was supposed to realign things; did it, and
started again. At first the
pain was still there, but then it mostly subsided after a couple of minutes,
and I was able to complete the run. It was sore after that, but not bad
considering I ran on it for over an hour.

Other than the nagging sore spots, pains, and signs of over-training that
caused me to back off last week, I'm enjoying the Spring weather. Quality
sleep, preventative stretching and core work are very important to running
health; I can't go without those as much as I have been.

Goals:
Get healed up and stabilize my volume. Build on my long runs.
Get more serious about diet and weight loss as goals near.
Sub 20 5k, Sub 4 hour escarp trail, Sub 72 mins 10 miler.

-Tony

2007 Summary
week run bike
1 3:02 1:51
2 5:48 1:47
3 6:05 0:42
4 6:43 0:27
5 2:08 0:27
6 7:15
7 7:49 0:25
8 8:05
9 3:02 0:59
10 4:03 0:51
11 8:32
12 4:48 1:50
13 8:13 1:18

Quoted message said:

8:13 running 1:18 biking

Lots o' running there.

Quoted message said:

I had a sharp pain in one spot of my right hamstring that would shoot
pain in the middle of a run all week, but only sporadically - not bad
enough to stop me.

I have a feeling that very few things would stop you.

Quoted message said:

Frustrated, I just stopped

Except that.

Quoted message said:

a stretch that was supposed to realign things

Sounds good. Can you describe it?

Quoted message said:

Quality sleep, preventative stretching and core work are very
important to running health; I can't go without those as much as I
have been.

Same here. Just started back with trying to improve core strength. Abs were
sore as hell for a few days.

Quoted message said:

Sub 20 5k, Sub 4 hour escarp trail, Sub 72 mins 10 miler.

Interesting combo. Do you intend to achieve these goals around the same time?

--
Phil M.

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

8:13 running 1:18 biking

Lots o' running there.

Quoted message said:

I had a sharp pain in one spot of my right hamstring that would shoot
pain in the middle of a run all week, but only sporadically - not bad
enough to stop me.

I have a feeling that very few things would stop you.

Having to train on roads all the time might 😉

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Frustrated, I just stopped

Except that.

Quoted message said:

a stretch that was supposed to realign things

Sounds good. Can you describe it?

Simple one: spread legs fairly wide, feet straight, then do a forward
bending stretch for a little while, breathing into it. According to the
Egoscue pain free book, this is supposed to help realign the hip joints. I
guess it worked, even though there was lingering inflammation due to the
earlier aggravation.

The other preventative one that I (should) do (more) involves lying on the
back, with one leg up on a chair bent at the knee, and the other leg down
with the foot held straight. This is supposed to release the groin muscle
and help compensate for muscles that tend to open the hip too much, thus
turning the feet out. This one is easy, and works well even when you don't
notice it working, but you really have to do it for 15 minutes on each side
daily for it to work. Since it's perfect when watching TV, honestly I'm just
too lazy to remember to get down on the floor sometimes - no excuses.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quality sleep, preventative stretching and core work are very
important to running health; I can't go without those as much as I
have been.

Same here. Just started back with trying to improve core strength. Abs
were
sore as hell for a few days.

I'm normally good about it, but like preventative stretching, it tends to go
by the wayside when I get busy, even though it's more important than ever
with more volume.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sub 20 5k, Sub 4 hour escarp trail, Sub 72 mins 10 miler.

Interesting combo. Do you intend to achieve these goals around the same
time?

I have to say the 5k and 10 miler aren't main goals, but good for me to try
to work on my speed more than just 'mountain running' long distances. I
intend to do a few 5k's this Spring, and hope I can go sub-20, and I think
it's possible if my weight is good and my legs aren't to tight. We'll see.
The 10 miler I have targeted is in September, 2 weeks before Vermont, which
after reading Parker's report, may be back in my schedule, but as a 50k this
time.

-Tony

Quoted message said:

--
Phil M.

Tony S. said:

Greetings rec.runners! Please tell us about your training week and goals.

Report week ending Sunday April 1, 2007

26 March
- Weight training (back and triceps, 8-12RM, medium-high intensity).
- Quads slightly sore from last week.

27 March
- Hill run/walk (av 146, max 183, went higher than usual due to the
walk breaks. Lower back tired. Quads OK)
- Bike 1 hour, easy (av 130, max 167). Flat start, gradual
buildup to 10%, fast return home with a steep hill before the end.

28 March
- Weight training (chest, triceps 10-12RM, medium-high intensity)
- 240m@10min stairmaster
- 30min yoga

29 March
- Run flat, approx 30min, 4-5km, 5min barefoot, very easy effort, then
walked for 15-20 minutes to the gym for...
- Weight training (legs, 10-15RM, medium-high intensity).

30 March
- Swimming freestyle, 2x500m@9min, 1x50m fast but concentrating on
good form.
- Weight trainig (shoulders, 10-15RM, medium intensity)
- Gluts and hip adductors sore from weight training.

31 March
- Day off: a 1 hour scouting hike in potential running paths.
- Gluts and hip adductors still quite sore.

1 April
- Seemed to have brought back a huge arachnoid (found in the laundry)
and a tic (found in my arm), hope I am not infected with something
nasty.
- Soreness subsided, but not completely.
- Mixed walk/run hill/flat effort. 5 minutes walking up a steep hill
to reach a gentle (~10%) incline, ran for ~20minutes, then did a mixed
walk-run effort downhill. Finished off with a flat tarmac run
800m@4min, 156bpm, which did not feel particularly difficult. Then a
slow walk home.

Tony S. said:

Greetings rec.runners! Please tell us about your training week and goals.

3-26 3.83 mi 37:21 9:45 pace

3-27 XT Easy tennis 40 min

3-28 3.83 mi 35:54 9:22 pace

3-29 XT Hard Tennis 100 min

3-30 3.77 mi 40:00 10:37 pace

3-31 recover and rest

4-1 5.5 mi 52:37 9:43 pace

I am getting ready for 5K races on 4-21 and 5-5.
My goal is to be able to run a 10k next Feb in under 60 minutes.
Though I think I can do that now if I pushed it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sub 20 5k, Sub 4 hour escarp trail, Sub 72 mins 10 miler.

Interesting combo. Do you intend to achieve these goals around the
same time?

I have to say the 5k and 10 miler aren't main goals, but good for me
to try to work on my speed more than just 'mountain running' long
distances. I intend to do a few 5k's this Spring, and hope I can go
sub-20, and I think it's possible if my weight is good and my legs
aren't to tight. We'll see. The 10 miler I have targeted is in
September, 2 weeks before Vermont, which after reading Parker's
report, may be back in my schedule, but as a 50k this time.

For me a sub 5k would be out of reach unless I specifically trained for it.
McMillian says a sub 20 5K is comparable to a 41:31 10k and a 3:14:49
marathon. I'm nowhere near those times. My 10K pr is 42:30 and that was 2
years ago. Being on the downhill side of the age curve, it won't be getting
any easier.

--
Phil M.

Tony S. said:

3/31 run am 2:46 easy/mod 74% 2750' cinder/rough hiking trails
with fartlek 70 mins mod/hard
4/1 off

Ooooh that's quite a bit of climb there mate.

Quoted message said:

This week I got back to trails and it helped me begin to heal up some sore
spots partially caused by running roads.

How about fast walking on steep trails? It's almost as much effort as
running and not nearly as jarring.

Quoted message said:

So today I was wondering how I could get a long run in without aggravating
both conditions.

I really hope you will not 🙂

Quoted message said:

Other than the nagging sore spots, pains, and signs of over-training that
caused me to back off last week,

You call an average of more than 1 hour per day 'backing off'??!??

Quoted message said:

I'm enjoying the Spring weather. Quality
sleep, preventative stretching and core work are very important to running
health; I can't go without those as much as I have been.

How about rest? 🙂

Tony S. said:

Greetings rec.runners! Please tell us about your training week and goals.

mixed week, some good, some bad:

tuesday 3/27- 13 miles (10:24, 2h 15min) 11 flat miles, 2 hilly up and
down miles (walk up hills)
this was my favorite training loop back when i was
in good shape and could just go out and run 13 miles whenever i felt
like it. it goes from my house down to the duwamish river mouth, around
a point and then along alki beach with views out to puget sound. then
around alki point and thru the little cottage beach houses of alki until
i get to lincoln park, then the big climb up the ridges and then back to
my house. i was in such a good mood that as i was running the last half
a mile i glanced down at my garmin and was surprised to see that i was
running in the 7:x pace zone 🙂 i must have had a huge surge of
endorphins because it's normally impossible for me to break the 8min
mile barrier. after months of gray rainy laps in front of my house, same
scenery over and over and over, this was a dream run. funny how i used
to take it completely forgranted...

thursday 3/29- 7.5 easy miles (5 slow running, 2.5 walking. random knee
pain)
now i have to pay for such a nice long run on
tuesday with a return to a bad knee 🙁

saturday 3/31- 9.5 miles slow and easy. 7.25 miles running and 2.25
miles walking. random knee pain
knee is strange- it was perfectly fine for 4
miles, then a stabbing pain that made me do a funny dance, then it
subsided to just a kinda ache in the back of the leg. when i got back
home i iced my feet in a bucket of ice water, then i stuck my knee in
there for a minute. will try to get to the store to get a support wrap
for it to see if that will help or not. i hate going to the doctor, not
just because of the $$ but because i don't like the experience in
general, so i'm still resisting that option..

not sure of my plans for the coming week. maybe i should stick to
shorter but more frequent runs to see how my knee responds to that kind
of schedule, but i much prefer long 2 hour runs 3 or 4 times a week.
ok, i'll stop being whiney! steve, karen, charlie- if i'm not mistaken,
i have you scheduled to race today, how did it go?

heather

Tony S. said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a stretch that was supposed to realign things

Quoted message said:

Simple one: spread legs fairly wide, feet straight, then do a forward
bending stretch for a little while, breathing into it. According to the
Egoscue pain free book, this is supposed to help realign the hip joints. I
guess it worked, even though there was lingering inflammation due to the
earlier aggravation.

The other preventative one that I (should) do (more) involves lying on the
back, with one leg up on a chair bent at the knee, and the other leg down
with the foot held straight. This is supposed to release the groin muscle
and help compensate for muscles that tend to open the hip too much, thus
turning the feet out. This one is easy, and works well even when you don't
notice it working, but you really have to do it for 15 minutes on each side
daily for it to work. Since it's perfect when watching TV, honestly I'm just
too lazy to remember to get down on the floor sometimes - no excuses.

hey Phil,

i'm intrigued.... i will try out these stretches to see if they help
me, too. i have had some hip trouble which i believe is linked to my
right piriformis problem. the hips seem to "unlock" and feel better
when i do piriformis stretches. but something that really isolates the
hips for the stretch will be great. thanks for providing details.

Cam

Tony S. said:

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Same here. Just started back with trying to improve core strength. Abs
were
sore as hell for a few days.

I'm normally good about it, but like preventative stretching, it tends to go
by the wayside when I get busy, even though it's more important than ever
with more volume.

i am guilty tooooo! 🙂

i've been trying to do my little strengthening exercises and injury
prevention stuff before i go running, because lately when i put them off
until "later" i just don't do them at all, and with my job and my aches
and pains i don't like skipping them too much.

h

Tony S. said:

Greetings rec.runners! Please tell us about your training week and goals.

a mixed up week, but here goes:

m - 1:33 long run in pouring rain
t - rest, core workout
w - missed scheduled run, saw the Black Sabbath concert instead!
th - rest, core workout
f - 1:00 tempo run, sort of held back because....
sa - last minute decision to do NEXT wk's LR 1:15. details below. + :
40 swim.
su - no run. will stretch, roll

i felt a bit bad about missing my Wed. run, so i thought about doing
that missed run on Saturday. but after seeing the weather forecast for
Mon. and Tues., when i would do my LR, i thought i'd avoid doing it in
rain.... so i switched the LR to Sat. (yesterday) in order to enjoy
the sunny day.

after a kinda crappy Fri. run (hip, piriformis problems), i stretched
and rolled the legs and they felt great again. on Sat. i did errands
and swam earlier in the day to really warm up the legs, then went out
to run in late afternoon. the LR went great - no problems to speak of,
just a little calf cramp near the end.

speaking of calf cramps, they are bugging me WAY too much. nearly
every run, usually an hour or more into the run (tho' usually near the
end), the right calf starts to tighten up on me in a painful way. i
usually slow down and bit and concentrate on good form... this reduces
or eliminates the pain so i can finish the run. no amount of
stretching or rolling eliminates the problem. i hydrate plenty before
(and usually during) runs and i eat bananas (potassium helps prevent
cramping). any ideas on how else to handle this?

otherwise, training is pretty good. love the great weather... every
run is outside nowadays.

GOALS:

get rid of calf cramp problem
continue to manage the hip/pirif. problem
do some hills again (haven't now that i'm out on the roads/paths
again... only one small hill nearby)

s'all!

Quoted message said:

Greetings rec.runners! Please tell us about your training week and
goals.

Day Mi Type AHR Climb Other
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mon 0.00 rest --- --- ---
Tue 0.00 rest --- --- ---
Wed 0.00 rest --- --- core
Thu 5.73 rec 75% 749 ---
Fri 9.71 ml 75% 785 ---
Sat 0.00 rest --- --- weights, core
Sun 10.90 ml 80% 1,082 ---
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Week 26.34
Year 667.20

Took 3 days off after the marathon. A little sore still on Thursday, but
much less DOMS than after other marathons/ultras. Never felt the need to
walk backwards down the stairs. Felt pretty good by Sunday with some
spring back in the legs. Also felt good running in some much needed
rain. The streets were full of yellow rivers of pollen.

Contemplating running some sort of race soon while I still have some
marathon fitness. Not sure how that works, since I've never done
anything but recover after a marathon.

Upcoming Races:
Nothing soon but...
7/4/07 Peachtree Road Race 10K (registered)
10/7/07 Chicago Marathon (not regisgtered yet, but pretty sure I'm going
to do it)

Have a great week rec.runners!

--
Phil M.

Quoted message said:

Tony S. said:

Quoted message said:

> a stretch that was supposed to realign things

Quoted message said:

Simple one: spread legs fairly wide, feet straight, then do a forward
bending stretch for a little while, breathing into it. According to
the Egoscue pain free book, this is supposed to help realign the hip
joints. I guess it worked, even though there was lingering
inflammation due to the earlier aggravation.

The other preventative one that I (should) do (more) involves lying
on the back, with one leg up on a chair bent at the knee, and the
other leg down with the foot held straight. This is supposed to
release the groin muscle and help compensate for muscles that tend to
open the hip too much, thus turning the feet out. This one is easy,
and works well even when you don't notice it working, but you really
have to do it for 15 minutes on each side daily for it to work. Since
it's perfect when watching TV, honestly I'm just too lazy to remember
to get down on the floor sometimes - no excuses.

hey Phil,

i'm intrigued....

Just to clarify, those were Tony's stretches.

--
Phil M.

27.40 miles, as

Mo ----

Tu AM: 4.15 easy + strides (8:00)

We ----

Th AM: 7.60 including ~3 @ tempo lite (maybe 6:55-ish, not sure of
exact distance hence pace)

Fr ----

Sa AM: 7.65 easy (8:00)

Su PM: 8.00 including a 10k in 40:31

year to date: 816 miles

About the low volume and missed days: that's just horrible time mgmt
now that I'm, at least for the moment, working and my focus is there
and elsewhere more than running. I'm not burned out or injured (1)
or anything.

About the race: low expectations (considering it's been five or six
weeks since my "training week" really seemed worthy of the name, and
I've gained a couple pounds in that time). Low motivation, low
stress. Just planning to run hard once I got past initial crowding.

So starting between the "6 and 7" (minute/mile banners) (3), first
mile was mostly stuck behind people jogging at 10 to 12 minute
miles. Totally expected and I stayed relaxed because, again, I
figured to run a slow time anyway so why stress.

So with all that, it was a pleasant surprise to run most of the
subsequent miles in around 6:15-6:20. Might've even been able to
get under 40 with a better start.

upcoming
--------
14 Apr: Brooklyn 21k

(1) Well, a little pain on my right foot between arch and heel which,
now that it's been a couple months, I'm ready to concede isn't going
away on its own. Time to diagnose it or at least hit it with the
near-univeral cures of ice and massage. I always read PF (2) was
worst the first thing in the morning when you get out of bed; that's
a bad time of day for me generally, but my foot's just super then.
It gets worse as the day wears on, after a run, or after just walking
or even AFAICT just sitting. One of my street shoes seems to hit it
in the epicenter of pain (well really just discomfort thus far) so
I'm avoiding that for a while in case that's the main culprit.

(2) Who else upon seeing "PF" thinks of the legendary 'shroom
cultivator and spore supplier Psilocybe Fanaticus before Plantar
Fasciitis?

(3) Yeah, if I'd gotten to the park earlier or wanted to line up
fifteen minutes before the race instead of getting in at least a
little warmup, I'd have seeded myself in the first dozen rows.

Quoted message said:

i am guilty tooooo! 🙂

i've been trying to do my little strengthening exercises and injury
prevention stuff before i go running, because lately when i put them
off until "later" i just don't do them at all, and with my job and my
aches and pains i don't like skipping them too much.

When I was consitently doing core exercises, I'd normally do it in the
middle of the afternoon in my office at work. I'd just close the door, mute
the phone, and turn off the pager. If I wait until after work and after
running, then I'd tend to forget about it.

--
Phil M.

"Tony S." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:QFHPh.2482$iw5.520@trndny06...

Quoted message said:

Greetings rec.runners! Please tell us about your training week and goals.

M: 35 minutes elliptical
T: 16 mile bike ride
W: 0
TH: 6 trails
F: 0
Sa: 7 mostly grass, golf course
Su: 10 including 5 mile race - ran it easy t 40:10 or something like that.
total 23

Goals:
Short term: recovery
Longer term: ?

Quoted message said:

w - missed scheduled run, saw the Black Sabbath concert instead!

Wow! Still going strong after something like 37 years?

--
Phil M.

Quoted message said:

27.40 miles

Damnit! You still be me.

Quoted message said:

year to date: 816 miles

On pace for 3,000+ this year?

Quoted message said:

So with all that, it was a pleasant surprise to run most of the
subsequent miles in around 6:15-6:20. Might've even been able to
get under 40 with a better start.

Very nice finish. Ya never know. Of course if you started faster, would you
be able to maintain the 6:15 pace in the end?

Quoted message said:

(2) Who else upon seeing "PF" thinks of the legendary 'shroom
cultivator and spore supplier Psilocybe Fanaticus before Plantar
Fasciitis?

Only one other person, that I know of.

--
Phil M.

Goals :
- PB marathon 15 April - going to be by a whisker if at all

Time km mi HR%
Mon 0:52 9 6 64 V easy, w/lady club member. 5'50/k 9,23/mi 6° C

Tue 1:02 13 8 78 30' up+lines, 8' down, 17°C blustery wind
8x500/200 in 1'49-1'42/~1'10

Wed 1:02 11 7 66 Easy 5'35/k 8'59/mi. 12°C

Thu 1:22 17 11 80 6' up, 16' down, 14°C
32' @ 77% 4'50/k 7'47/mi, "LSD" effort
28' @ 89% 4'11/k 6'44/mi, "marathon" effort

Fri 0:00 Planned rest.

Sat 0:53 10 6 69 41' @ 68% 5'21/k 8'37/mi. 8' dwn. 12°C
5x100/100 in 23-22"/jogged recovery

Sun 0:58 14 9 84 20' up+lines, 10k 38'03 92%HR 11°C Windy
27/OA 7/AG
_________________
6:09 74k 46mi

Week 10 of 12 week schedule

Deviations from schedule were
- Tue: 10k pace easier than expected
- Thu: MP > 11"/k too slow now - not even PB pace :-(
- Sun: couldn't get HR up to usual 10k level, it stayed
stuck a few beats above HR