Still Alive

Its been a couple months since I made my last post, but I am still alive and still training. Training has been progressing well--I haven't made a true training schedule, but I've been continuing my 3 day a week lifting routine and doing 3 days of cardio. I've been running 10 miles on Saturday mornings and ran 13.1 last weekend; I felt energetic enough to go another few miles, but I stopped because it was quite hot and I was worried about my hydration. I ended up going out for a 10 mile bike ride later that day. I also did a "sprint" triathlon over the course of a few hours on a different day. My brother and I went biking for a bout 17 miles and decided to go swimming afterward. I ended up swimming about 750m so I figured I'd finish off my backward triathlon by running a lap around Lake Calhoun which just a bit over 3 miles. My legs felt a bit odd running right after the swim, but I still made miles just under 9 minutes. My toes have stayed healthy during the last few months thanks to running in my sandals; my sprained ankle has progressed slowly, but it is not bothering me much. It looks like all systems to go do some runs of 15 miles+ over the next couple months and look for that four hour marathon time. My half marathon time last weekend was 2 hours 3 minutes but I wasn't pushing hard at all because I thought I might go for 16-20 miles.

Keeping it Together

My running for the past month or so has been hampered somewhat by my lingering ankle injury. I went for a 10 mile run last weekend, which felt OK, until about mile 6 when my ankle started feeling a bit weak, I was on pace to make it in 1.5 hours but slowed up a bit and ended up going in 1 hour 32 mins. On the plus side, my toe hasn't been bothering me and the sore bursitis/bunion spot has also been fine. Maybe being forced to rest my feet for a while was a blessing in disguise. I've continued doing my upper body routines and started doing some cross training in the place of straight mileage. Saturday mornings I am doing my longer runs, with short runs and other cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm starting to realize that straight mileage isn't necessarily the answer for longer distance training. Sure if you want to be an Olympic class runner, you need to pound a lot of pavement, but I'm finding that cross training activities are actually improving my cardio and running more than running itself. For instance, I did the 100 burpee challenge yesterday (7:13, woot) and after that I hopped on the treadmill and it felt like I'd already been on it for an hour. It was like I skipped the laborious first 30-40 minutes it normally takes to get warmed up on a run and really start working the cardio side of things quickly. I've come to the conclusion that long runs are what's most important. Those 13-20 milers are what you really need to prepare for a marathon. All the 3-5 mile runs could probably be replaced by a mixture of other high intensity cardio and cross training activities without losing too much. I'm hoping that by limiting total mileage for a while, I can get my ankle back up to 100%.

Back on my Feet

I spent the past two and half week substituting biking for my cardio workouts while my ankle healed. After a couple of days the swelling actually increased and after 3-4 days bruising appeared along the bottom of my food and in my forefoot. Thankfully I could walk and bike without much difficulty, although I tried running a couple of times and immediately discovered it wasn't time. Through all of my past injuries I can pretty well tell the difference between superficial discomfort and pain that might cause further injury or set me back. A couple of days I ago I decided to run on the treadmill to test things out and I was able to go for 3.5 miles without much discomfort at all. Heartened by this, I ran again later that day with my GF for about 3 miles outside. The pavement was not as forgiving as the treadmill, and it probalby wasn't a good idea to jump in so fast with 2 runs on one day, but it wasn't too bad and I'm feeling good today. My legs are uncharacteristically sore today; I can tell I've taken a little time off. I don't mind though: soreness just means your body is getting stronger!

Old Habits Die Hard

The long snow thaw I had anticipated was dispelled by an unexpected week of warm weather. The snow melted in early to mid March which is much earlier than usual; especially surprising considering the large accumulation of snow. I'm quite pleased that everything is clear now, and the weather has been 45-70 lately, which is great for outdoor running. My training progressed slowly through March and the beginning of April as the sore spot on my left foot kept me from doing anything too long or fast. With some more research, I think it might be bursitis and not a bunion. Bursitis is an inflamed bursa (a sac or pad that develops to lessen impact) but by being more conscious of my running form and trying not to favor the outside of my left foot, the discomfort is gone for most part. Just when I was thinking I could start ramp up to a 10 mile+ run I got a rude reminder: my ankles suck, especially in my old running shoes. I went out to play disc golf a couple of days ago with some friends I haven't seen in 4 to 5 years and afterward we played hacky sack as a throwback to our youth. Long story short I came down wrong on my right ankle and now I'm going to be off my feet for a week or two. I heard a popping or snapping sound, but I don't think anything is broken though, because I can still put some weight on it to hobble around. The incident has reinforced what I already know: shoes are magnets for ankle/foot twists. Its like wearing cinder blocks on your feet and if the block comes down on edge, it might roll the wrong way and take your leg with it. That's the last time I'm playing hacky sack, that's for sure.

As discouraging as it is, I think the sprain is not quite as bad as I initially thought it might be, because the swelling and pain is more in my forefoot than the ankle itself. I can move the ankle forward and back without discomfort; side to side and supporting weight is more difficult. I will hit the bike for my running workouts until I get back on it. I've got plenty of time before I need to get serious about training again.

The Long Thaw

Spring is upon us and with it a welcome friend: outdoor running. I've gotten four or five short outdoor runs in so far, and its been a nice change despite the wet socks and cold legs. I get a few weird looks running in shorts and sandals at 38-40 degrees. Its probably the sandals. With snow melt, there is a lot of standing water on the paths and it takes considerable concentration to avoid getting my socks soaked. My feet feel very warm so long as they are dry. I did one run in my Vibrams, but I developed a sore spot just below my little toe on my left foot, which I'm hoping isn't the start of a bunion, since they run in the family. As long as I'm in the sandals everything feels good.

There is a lot of snow an ice around this year, so the thaw will likely take longer than usual, but the forecast is 40's for the next week, so that should help speed things along. I hope to be ready to do a 13 miler by the time the paths are dry.

Quest Accepted

I signed up for the 2010 Twin Cities marathon this afternoon with a feeling of nonchalance. It has become like any other annual event like a birthday or holiday. Even more so for the fact that I can plan on spending around $100 for it. I'm not feeling particularly excited or motivated about it yet, but I expect anticipation will grow once the ice and cold start fading. As for now, I've been continuing with my 3 day a week lifting routine and trying to get in 3 days of running in between. I'm mostly running 3.5-5 miles per go--not nearly enough to be in marathon shape, but enough to keep my weight in check and keep my cardio at an acceptable level. I'll be raring to go once I can get off the treadmill.

My upper body work has been going well as of late. I've been increasing my reps often and am up to around 3 sets of 33 pull ups and dips and 3 sets of 80 push ups. I am pleased that I have been able to increase my upper body strength to this point while maintaining a weight right around 177-180. While upper body muscle mass does not translate well to distance running, I enjoy the workouts and don't feel that it has interfered with running. If anything, I feel that keeping my heart rate up around 120-130 bpm for an extra hour 3 days a week could be a good thing.

The Quest 2.0

Registration for the 2010 Twin Cities Marathon starts on February 2nd this year, which is far earlier than it has been in the past. I'm a little peeved that the date has been moved so early; I would hazard a guess that this was done because registration took a long time to fill up last year and they probably want to allow more time for people to register. I've been planning on registering again for 2010, but I didn't expect to have to do it so early. Usually I have a better idea of my fitness level and am getting back into running more by the time registration opens. Regardless, the quest version 2.0 will be starting within the next coupe of months! My toe has been relatively calm since marathon day, as I've only run in sandals, barefoot, Vibrams and Boots a couple of times. I plan to train in Sandals and Vibrams, possibly moving into barefoot on some shorter runs after my feet toughen up a bit.

Although my race time goal is to run a marathon in 4 hours or less, my greater goal this cycle is to stay healthy so that I don't miss training time. This will mean ramping up mileage slowly and making sure to stop if my footwear or anything else starts feeling uncomfortable.