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Just two weeks after running the Trail Mix 50k I had the Lake Minnetonka Half-marathon to run. This might make me sound like an uber experienced runner, but I’m really not. The 50k in April was my first ultra-marathon. Last … Continue reading
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4:00 AM – my alarm sounds. I spend the next hour getting ready. I had to be prepared for anything, which meant bringing energy GU, an endurance bar and Cytomax since this is what I trained with. To be safe … Continue reading
It’s less than 48 hours away from going toe-to-line. Coincidentally Runner’s World sent me an email this morning with the subject line; “Carbo-loading: Are You Doing it Wrong?” Quite a coincidence… sometimes I wonder if I’m being followed 
Anyway. Carb-loading starts today so the timing is perfect. It turned out to be an interesting blog with what seems like some helpful tips, and a link to an endurance calculator, which helped me determine exactly how many calories and carbs I should eat. I wonder if I’ll get an email with recovery tips after the race?
After looking at the blog and endurance calculator, I put together a simple meal plan, which basically consists of eating tons of bread, rice and pasta. The plan is simple; eat until I can’t move, then have a few more bites. Oh, and no beer or processed food all week. Let’s hope it works because I’m not giving up beer for a week for nothing
It’s less than 2 weeks until race-day, which means the cycle-down phase begins. This is the part that my body likes, but my mind hates. Letting my body rest right before race day is not exactly what it seems. It’s less about rest and relaxation and moreso the anxiousness that comes with thinking about the race, and resisting the urge to run. Over the past 10 weeks I have worked to increase my mileage by a couple miles a week. My goal now, two weeks before the race, is to rest my body. It would seem that rest would be much anticipated, but it’s really not. After running 40-50+ miles / week, instincts tell me to keep running. Even though science tells me that muscles need rest to be their strongest, and achieving optimal performance requires a cycle-down period, my instincts seem to tell me that once I sit down to rest, I won’t be able to get back up.
I didn’t solidify my decision to run 50k until just recently. In fact it was right after my last long run last week. I ran just over 22 miles on a course that included a mix of both unpaved trails and paved paths, similar to the Trail Mix Minnesota 50k course. I felt good throughout most of this run, and most importantly I felt stronger than I ever have as I finished the run. It wasn’t until this point that I said I am definitely running 50k rather than 25k.
As anticipation builds, I am experiencing a mix of emotions. One minute I feel eager and confident, the next I am apprehensive and scared. I am about to embark on a 31.25 mile journey; almost 10 miles farther than I have ever ran continuousl! Most of my fear stems from the unknown. There is no telling how I will feel that day, or throughout my run. Countless factors come into play during 5 hours of running. I know how my body reacts to 22 miles, but what about 25… 30?What if for some reason I don’t feel 100% that day? What if my stomach hurts or muscles cramp? What if I start to experience tightness, soreness, blisters, etc. etc…. ? I don’t really know what I will do until I’m in the middle of it. All I can tell myself is that no matter what, I will run through it. That, and do everything I can to prepare by stretching, eating right (carb loading), and trying to mantain my sanity as the anticipation builds!
I stumbled on some very nice running trails right along West River Rd in South Mpls. The trails start right around the Franklin Ave bridge and continue South all the way down to Ft. Snelling.
Here’s a map of the route I took.
It’s only a 6 weeks from race-week, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. Right now I am pretty close to on-track with my training schedule, but have been running slightly less mileage than it suggests. As I’ve mentioned in my other posts, I’m trying really hard to avoid over-training myself this year (injury), and I think the best way to do that is just by listening to my body more. So far the result of that has been skipping one run during the week. This extra day of rest actually seems noticeably helpful. I only hope it doesn’t have a negative impact on my overall training progress.
Most recently, I ran 17 miles this past Sunday (longest run this year!), and felt pretty good for about 13 of those miles. The last 4 miles… I was pretty dead to say the least, but I pushed through and still finished without walking more than a minute or two at a time. This coming weekend I have 20 miles to run. I’m a little nervous, but since my long-runs have been a mile or two shorter than on my training plan for the past few weeks, I plan to keep my progression gradual and make it more like an 18 -19 mile run. I will try to get another post up next week to update how it went. I haven’t decided on a route yet, but I will map it and share it for others to use.
Running and injuries seem to be inevitable at times, but I have hope that it doesn’t have to be. After getting injured last year while training for the Twin Cities Marathon, I am making a concerted effort to avoid injury this year. How?
First, I’m not going to over train. Last year I was frequently exceeding the mileage my training plan called for. My thought was it could only make me a stronger runner, but in reality it got me injured. Muscles don’t get stronger when they are being worked. They are actually broken down during a run or workout, but as a result they re-build stronger. I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times, but allowing days for recovery and rest is vital.
Second, I’m going to focus on strengthening my glutes. I was reading a blog that Runner’s World had on their site about glute strengthening. They say it best, “When we run, the glutes hold our pelvis level and steady, extend our hip, propel us forward, and keep our legs, pelvis, and torso aligned. So when our glutes are faulty, our entire kinetic chain gets disrupted. Studies link glute weakness to Achilles tendinitis, shinsplints, runner’s knee, and iliotibial-band syndrome.”
I hadn’t even started my run, but i felt tired, sore…. ready to throw in the towel. This wasn’t the first time I had felt like this, but it still didn’t seem to make sense. Just last weekend I felt rested and energized; I couldn’t wait to run, nor did I want to stop. Now I’m having trouble convincing myself to go for a run.
I finally made it out the door to start my run. The soreness in my legs had me almost immediately turning around to go home. My stride felt awkward, and the places I tend to get injured (my knees and feet) seemed noticeably sore. I had plenty of reason to jog around the block and call it an extra “rest-day,” but I kept going, running on nothing but determination. I seemed to find just enough to keep me moving forward.
As my run progressed, it unfortunately wasn’t getting any easier. Thoughts of stopping or turning around kept popping in my head, but I resisted. As I’m running I start to think back to when I have started a run feeling this way, but ended it feeling great. How did I overcome this wall of fatigue? I started to think about it and came up with a few different things…
1. Slow down (but don’t walk)
Maintaining a “conversation” pace is key to any long-distance run. When I’m feeling fatigued I try to slow my pace and shorten my stride. This has gotten me through a lot of tough spots in my runs. I don’t walk because for me it ruins the rhythm or groove I’m always looking for during a run. Walking also feeds into the desire I’m specifically trying to overcome (to stop running). When I maintain a consistent pace (no matter how slow it is) my fatigue, soreness, stomach-ache or whatever it is that I’m battling, eventually tends to disappear. It’s not an exact science, but it seems to help me quite a bit.
2. Let your mind wander
I guarantee that everyone who has ever run, has hated running at some point. When I hate running, it is often because all I think about was my run. Every step, every pain and ache, how long until I finish, etc. etc. It’s like watching the clock, time starts to seem like it’s standing still. When I finally was able to let go of those thoughts and just let my mind wander, I found myself getting lost in my runs (not physically, but mentally…in a good way).
When I try to fight through fatigue, I naturally start to think about every step, and how long until I’m done, etc. This of course only makes it seem that much worse. It’s not always easy to just forget something that seems so prominent at the time, but for me giving my brain a task (e.g. coming up with ideas for fixing a problem at work, or re-visiting a past situation that bothered me to try to understand it more clearly) helps me not only forget about the pain and soreness I’m feeling at that moment, but gives me a chance to think-through things at a time when my brain is working pretty effectively (thank you endorphins!).
3. Remind yourself why you’re running
Everyone has a reason for running. Maybe it’s to train for your next race, or to lose weight, or just because you feel better when you do it. Regardless of the reason, reminding yourself why you just got out of bed at 5:00 am to run 4, 6…10+ miles is important. Thinking about my next race helped me find the determination to run, even though I didn’t feel like it, and keep running when my body was telling me it was tired and sore. I think I can safely say, nobody runs because it’s easier than not running. I chose to run a race this April, and part of getting to the finish line is fighting through the soreness, fatigue, stomach-aches and everything else that happens during training, and of course the race itself.
So I did make it through my run, without injury or casualty, despite my body’s desire to shut down. All three of these tips helped me get there. In fact, the result of letting my mind wander was this blog post! It wasn’t my best run, but it didn’t have to be. Sometimes just getting the miles in is what counts.
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A very cool video montage of footage from the show Saturday night (Sims, Haley Bonar, Suicide Commandos and Polica). Another Love Letter. from Ron Johnson on Vimeo. … Continue reading
Went for my first official 50k training, long run. 8.5 miles in Hyland Park, a preview of where I will be running the actual 50k race in April.
Here is a map of the route I ran. I did take a couple wrong-turns along the way and ended up in the middle of Hyland ski hill at one point so I wouldn’t follow the map to a T