Monday, June 27, 2011
Begin week three
Four laps at the park tonight, so 2.67 miles in 37:35, for about a 14-minute-mile pace. I managed to do the whole thing without my left foot going numb, which is the good news. The bad news - not that bad, but still - is that I don't know exactly why it didn't. The reason for that is that I took two ideas suggested on Saturday and implemented both of them. One, suggested by the coach, was using the massage ball on the bottom of my foot to "roll out the tendons," which I did over the weekend. The other, suggested by the other member of my pace group, was adding a minute to my running interval - so I did 4:2 instead of 4:1, running 25:35 of my total time and walking the remaining 12 minutes. Walking has tended to alleviate the numbness when it's come up, and the extra minute did suffice to stave it off the entire time - or, of course, maybe it was the tendon stuff. I think I'll try doing 4:1 again on Wednesday while still using the massage ball tonight and tomorrow and seeing what the results are.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Long run 2: 4 miles
The long run wasn't too bad today. I ran with another member of the group - they like you to run in pairs if you can - and at 14 minutes a mile and just a 3:1 interval, it was about as "leisurely" as running four miles can be, which is to say not especially. But I completed it in 57:30 without much difficulty - the only real hiccup was that on the back half my left foot started getting numb again, and at some point I got a bit of a stinger in my left little toe area, and had to walk one of the three-minute intervals instead of running it just for a little respite. But even with that in mind it wasn't too terrible. The coach suggested using a massage ball on the bottom of my foot to try to roll out the tendons as that could be the problem; I thought my shoe was pretty loose today but it didn't stop the foot from going numb, so presumably that's not it. The running at all is probably the main effect, as we would say in experimental psychology, but there's probably an interaction effect - just what from is not yet clear.
Five miles next week. Probably going to have to start wearing sunblock once the runs go over an hour.
Five miles next week. Probably going to have to start wearing sunblock once the runs go over an hour.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Catching up
Forgot to post after last night's maintenance run, so let's get it out of the way: four 0.66-mile loops in the park, 35 minutes. That's about 13:15 a mile, which is closer to what my pace should be, at least for training purposes, or at least for right now.
For the second run in a row, I had the odd experience of my left foot getting a bit numb near the end of the run. This is a bit concerning, although also a bit strange because it's not like this is the first two times I've gone running - it didn't happen last Saturday, for instance, and I covered the most distance that day, although the numbness stops when I switch to a walk and I probably spent more total time walking that day, though not that much more. I tried loosening the laces on my left shoe but it didn't seem to do much, although maybe they could be loosened more. It's also possible it's some sort of stretching issue. Either way I'll ask the coach what she thinks this Saturday, because I don't think I can run 20+ miles on one numb foot.
For the second run in a row, I had the odd experience of my left foot getting a bit numb near the end of the run. This is a bit concerning, although also a bit strange because it's not like this is the first two times I've gone running - it didn't happen last Saturday, for instance, and I covered the most distance that day, although the numbness stops when I switch to a walk and I probably spent more total time walking that day, though not that much more. I tried loosening the laces on my left shoe but it didn't seem to do much, although maybe they could be loosened more. It's also possible it's some sort of stretching issue. Either way I'll ask the coach what she thinks this Saturday, because I don't think I can run 20+ miles on one numb foot.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Begin week two
Since I was put into the 3:1 pace group, I opted to reduce my maintenance run from the 5:1 I had tried last Wednesday to a 4:1 instead. It was okay, I guess, but there really is nothing like starting to run to make you realize just how out of shape you are. As usual, stopping certainly felt pretty awesome.
I traced a 0.66-mile loop around Peterson Park, then ran it four times. Each loop took about eight minutes, putting me on a 12-minute-mile pace - so I guess I could have run it appreciably slower if I wanted, with my pace group being 14-minute miles, but whatever. Running a little faster on the weekdays will presumably just make the long Saturday runs easier. Total distance, including the piece of running and walking back towards the house from the park to finish the last 4:1 interval, was about 2.87 miles; total time was just under 35 minutes.
12 miles an hour = about 5 hours and 15 minutes over marathon distance. But I ran less than 3 miles - only about 11% of a marathon - and was quite ready to finish, so there's a long way to go before I can really feel confident that I could maintain anything resembling that speed over an entire course, obviously.
I traced a 0.66-mile loop around Peterson Park, then ran it four times. Each loop took about eight minutes, putting me on a 12-minute-mile pace - so I guess I could have run it appreciably slower if I wanted, with my pace group being 14-minute miles, but whatever. Running a little faster on the weekdays will presumably just make the long Saturday runs easier. Total distance, including the piece of running and walking back towards the house from the park to finish the last 4:1 interval, was about 2.87 miles; total time was just under 35 minutes.
12 miles an hour = about 5 hours and 15 minutes over marathon distance. But I ran less than 3 miles - only about 11% of a marathon - and was quite ready to finish, so there's a long way to go before I can really feel confident that I could maintain anything resembling that speed over an entire course, obviously.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Long run 1: 3 miles
Every Saturday morning we have the "long run" with the entire training group, coaches, and all that. Most weeks it's at Foster Avenue Beach at 8 am, as it was today, though I got there about 45 minutes early to make sure I knew where everything was, to find parking (which turned out to be plentiful), and to discuss with the coach how to operate my running watch (they had sent out instructions but I tend to learn better hands-on).
Today's run determined what pace groups we would get placed in for future runs. I finished the three miles - some running, some walking, a quick bathroom break around mile 2 - in 38:07, putting me in the 14:00 pace group, meaning that in future weeks I'll be expected to target 14-minute miles. This sounds doable enough - I hesitate to say "easy" since the mileage climbs pretty steadily. Four miles next week, ten miles by July 30, and as high as 26 miles on November 19 (three weeks before the actual marathon - gotta prove you can finish that distance, I guess). Now, at 14-minute miles it would take me six hours to finish a marathon, but (a) the training pace is intentionally lower than the race pace and (b) hopefully I can pick it up anyway.
Today's run determined what pace groups we would get placed in for future runs. I finished the three miles - some running, some walking, a quick bathroom break around mile 2 - in 38:07, putting me in the 14:00 pace group, meaning that in future weeks I'll be expected to target 14-minute miles. This sounds doable enough - I hesitate to say "easy" since the mileage climbs pretty steadily. Four miles next week, ten miles by July 30, and as high as 26 miles on November 19 (three weeks before the actual marathon - gotta prove you can finish that distance, I guess). Now, at 14-minute miles it would take me six hours to finish a marathon, but (a) the training pace is intentionally lower than the race pace and (b) hopefully I can pick it up anyway.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The shortest 60 seconds of your life
I actually made it through a true maintenance run session today - 30 minutes, alternation between a five-minute jog and one minute of walking. I'd like to say it got easier as it went along but I think I'd probably be lying - I did get a bit of a side stitch a couple minutes in and managed to push through it, and I probably felt my best somewhere around the midway point, but when I was done I was so ready to be done. I came back in the house and inhaled a Gatorade, which I don't think had ever tasted better in my life.
One thing interval training does is cast a light on the way our brain perceives time differently in different situations. The five minutes of running pretty much feels like forever, especially the first couple. I would check my watch hoping to see a number that indicated I was close to being able to stop, only to see that I'd only been jogging for about 90 seconds. Even more so, the walk interval is, as I put in the post title, the shortest 60 seconds of your entire life. It feels like about 20 seconds. I would watch the timer tick over the five-minute mark, slow to a walk, breathe, then look back down and see that the walk break was already half over. It was kind of insane. On Monday I gave up on trying to hold to a single minute for just that reason; today I decided not to cheat and was able to make it all the way. This, of course, is a good sign, with the first long run looming on Saturday morning.
Not sure of the distance today. I just ran to the end of the east-west street up the block and back a few times; MapMyRun has that at 0.8 miles out and back, and I did it either three or four times. Since my pace is around ten minutes per mile and I ran a total of 25 minutes, I probably did three total times out and back for 2.4 miles, plus a smidge extra for the 5 minutes of walking. Saturday's run is three miles. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I can run myself into cardiovascular shape; the real question is (a) whether my legs hold up and (b) whether I can do the right kind of eating and all that. My legs felt pretty good the last couple of days compared to how they felt after my run on the previous Monday, when they hurt basically all week; some of that is probably getting the shoe situation fixed up and some of it is probably better stretching, but either way that hopefully bodes well for the future. I could feel my shin splints today and I'm about to ice them but it's not the kind of pain it was a year ago when I tried running and just couldn't. I also have avoided running on cement sidewalks the last two times out, in favor of asphalt, which has a bit more give and so is better on the knees. I think it's been noticeable. As for eating, I tried the tactic of eating shortly before the run today and it might have helped a bit. I also probably need to hydrate more consistently throughout the day, although it tends to be annoying to do so because so much of it comes right back out and I hate going to the bathroom every 20 minutes like I'm eighty years old. Oh well.
One thing interval training does is cast a light on the way our brain perceives time differently in different situations. The five minutes of running pretty much feels like forever, especially the first couple. I would check my watch hoping to see a number that indicated I was close to being able to stop, only to see that I'd only been jogging for about 90 seconds. Even more so, the walk interval is, as I put in the post title, the shortest 60 seconds of your entire life. It feels like about 20 seconds. I would watch the timer tick over the five-minute mark, slow to a walk, breathe, then look back down and see that the walk break was already half over. It was kind of insane. On Monday I gave up on trying to hold to a single minute for just that reason; today I decided not to cheat and was able to make it all the way. This, of course, is a good sign, with the first long run looming on Saturday morning.
Not sure of the distance today. I just ran to the end of the east-west street up the block and back a few times; MapMyRun has that at 0.8 miles out and back, and I did it either three or four times. Since my pace is around ten minutes per mile and I ran a total of 25 minutes, I probably did three total times out and back for 2.4 miles, plus a smidge extra for the 5 minutes of walking. Saturday's run is three miles. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I can run myself into cardiovascular shape; the real question is (a) whether my legs hold up and (b) whether I can do the right kind of eating and all that. My legs felt pretty good the last couple of days compared to how they felt after my run on the previous Monday, when they hurt basically all week; some of that is probably getting the shoe situation fixed up and some of it is probably better stretching, but either way that hopefully bodes well for the future. I could feel my shin splints today and I'm about to ice them but it's not the kind of pain it was a year ago when I tried running and just couldn't. I also have avoided running on cement sidewalks the last two times out, in favor of asphalt, which has a bit more give and so is better on the knees. I think it's been noticeable. As for eating, I tried the tactic of eating shortly before the run today and it might have helped a bit. I also probably need to hydrate more consistently throughout the day, although it tends to be annoying to do so because so much of it comes right back out and I hate going to the bathroom every 20 minutes like I'm eighty years old. Oh well.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Begin week one
Saturday was the initial training meeting where we met the coaches, met the other runners (there's a couple dozen and I'm actually not the most out of shape! Although I'm probably the second-most out of shape) and got some info. The first actual long run is this coming Saturday, which means today was the first official "maintenance run." Of course, at the moment I'm not exactly maintaining anything. I did a total of 20 minutes running and 10 minutes walking - we're supposed to do 30-45 minutes of pure interval work which at 30 minutes should be more like 25 minutes of running, but give me a break, it's my first one. I did five minutes, then walked one, then ran five, then walked one, then ran five, then walked three, then ran five, and finally walked five. Total distance covered: 2.43 miles, of which about 2 was running. So while the total distance was less than last time, at least I devoted much more time to the running itself. And I seem to be holding a decent 10-minute mile pace, at least over the course of the full run. Let's see how things go on Wednesday for the second maintenance run; last week I was too sore and blistered to go again, but new technical socks and insoles have fixed that problem (at least for the time being) so the only question will be how my muscles feel. Prediction: they don't feel that great.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Good news, bad news
Good news: I'm jump-starting this blog as a chronicle of my attempt to run the Honolulu Marathon on December 11, 2011. That also means a name change; I'm going with "The Marathon Diaries" for now.
Bad news: more boring blogging from me!
So, the good news. Training starts June 11. I didn't want to go in completely cold so I went out jogging today when I got home from work; the temperature had dropped into the high 80s from a high of 93, and it was still relatively steamy when I stepped outside, but hey, Honolulu will be warm, right? (Although the marathon starts around 5 am specifically to deal with that fact.)
On the training page they say to run 30-45 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays, do 40 minutes or so of no-impact cross-training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, rest on Friday, and then do the big run with the class on Saturday. (Sundays is more cross-training.) So, I figured, let's see if I can run anything like that on the first try.
Well, not quite. I was outside for 46:30 total, in the following breakdowns:
0:00-5:00: brisk walk, 0.33 mi
5:00-12:00: jogging, 0.75 mi
12:00-22:00: walking, 0.5 mi
22:00-30:00: jogging, 0.78 mi
30:00-40:00: walking, 0.5 mi
40:00-46:30: jogging, 0.66 mi
So 21:30 of jogging (though not consecutively) and 25:00 of walking. About 3.5 miles total, with about 2.2 of that coming from the jogging. (So I only need to do that 12 more times!) Could be worse, and actually the jogging felt like it was getting easier as I would start up again each time. Well, the cardiovascular part of it did. The part that did not makes up the real bad news...
I seem to have acquired a blister. Maybe midway through I could feel an irritation on the left bottom side of my right foot, apparently where it was rubbing against the edge of the insole. I tried to adjust this with no success and ended up soldiering through it to get home, but upon taking my shoe off I was greeted with a red spot of quite tender skin that, if it can't already be called a blister, certainly looks destined to be one. Now I have no idea what to do. I know I shouldn't run again, even in different shoes, until it heals - but how long is that going to be? And can I walk around much at all? I guess I can have Alma pick me up some of those moleskin doughnuts or something. But, this kind of sucks. And what does this mean for the future? I guess once the blister heals I can wear moleskin or something until the shoes are more broken in - I had to wear moleskin on the backs of my ankles for several weeks with the walking shoes I got last summer - but hopefully this is not the start of any serious trend that's going to put a massive crimp in my marathon plans before they've really even started.
Bad news: more boring blogging from me!
So, the good news. Training starts June 11. I didn't want to go in completely cold so I went out jogging today when I got home from work; the temperature had dropped into the high 80s from a high of 93, and it was still relatively steamy when I stepped outside, but hey, Honolulu will be warm, right? (Although the marathon starts around 5 am specifically to deal with that fact.)
On the training page they say to run 30-45 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays, do 40 minutes or so of no-impact cross-training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, rest on Friday, and then do the big run with the class on Saturday. (Sundays is more cross-training.) So, I figured, let's see if I can run anything like that on the first try.
Well, not quite. I was outside for 46:30 total, in the following breakdowns:
0:00-5:00: brisk walk, 0.33 mi
5:00-12:00: jogging, 0.75 mi
12:00-22:00: walking, 0.5 mi
22:00-30:00: jogging, 0.78 mi
30:00-40:00: walking, 0.5 mi
40:00-46:30: jogging, 0.66 mi
So 21:30 of jogging (though not consecutively) and 25:00 of walking. About 3.5 miles total, with about 2.2 of that coming from the jogging. (So I only need to do that 12 more times!) Could be worse, and actually the jogging felt like it was getting easier as I would start up again each time. Well, the cardiovascular part of it did. The part that did not makes up the real bad news...
I seem to have acquired a blister. Maybe midway through I could feel an irritation on the left bottom side of my right foot, apparently where it was rubbing against the edge of the insole. I tried to adjust this with no success and ended up soldiering through it to get home, but upon taking my shoe off I was greeted with a red spot of quite tender skin that, if it can't already be called a blister, certainly looks destined to be one. Now I have no idea what to do. I know I shouldn't run again, even in different shoes, until it heals - but how long is that going to be? And can I walk around much at all? I guess I can have Alma pick me up some of those moleskin doughnuts or something. But, this kind of sucks. And what does this mean for the future? I guess once the blister heals I can wear moleskin or something until the shoes are more broken in - I had to wear moleskin on the backs of my ankles for several weeks with the walking shoes I got last summer - but hopefully this is not the start of any serious trend that's going to put a massive crimp in my marathon plans before they've really even started.
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