Some Semblance of Normality

The road back from injury is rarely pretty, but I seem to be making slow, steady progress. Last week looked like this:

• Mon - 20 min elliptical; circuit training; core; stretching
• Tues - 7.5 miles, with 6X100-meter strides
• Wed - Physical Therapy and about 30+ mins of cycling (to and from work and PT)
• Thur - 8.5 miles
• Fri - 30 mins elliptical; light weights; core; stretching
• Sat - 4+ miles, with 15 mins at tempo pace (about 7:20/mile)
• Sun - 14 miles

Total mileage just a hair under 35 for the week, but more important is that while I'm a little tired and a bit sore, I feel pretty good. The tempo miles on Saturday were less a training session and more of a test to see how it would feel to run fast on Saturday, at the Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine. It seems unlikely that I'll break 43:00 like last year, but I'm looking forward to using the race as a stepping stone to getting back in the training and racing groove.

While I am essentially following the Pfitzinger 12-week/55-mile peak schedule, I am modifying to account for how I feel, the races I want to run and anything else that reasonably dictates a change from Pete's prescribed program. Therefore, this week will look this (first figure is my mileage; second is Pete's recommended workout):

• Mon - same as last week / Rest/XT
• Tues - 8-10M, with 5+ strides / 8M, with 4M at LT pace
• Wed - 4-5M (trails) / Rest/XT
• Thurs - 8M / 11M
• Fri - Rest / Rest/XT
• Sat - 10K Race (8-10M total) / 5M Recovery
• Sun - 14-15M (easy) / 15M

Last time around, I would have tried to race AND keep the rest of the schedule the same. As some of my RW forum-mates observed, the 10K race will be like a tempo/LT run, so there's no point beating myself up unnecessarily, especially with a goal 5K race on August 14th.

"Humility" and "serenity" are my current buzzwords. These concepts stem from the realization (finally!) that I am not talented enough to expect to get to Boston so soon, and must continue to try to improve methodically, avoiding injury and making incremental progress. If I can shave 10 minutes off my Burlington time, then I'll be getting closer and closer. I may even skip a Spring marathon, focus on half-marathons and 10Ks and then build up again for a Fall 2009 marathon as a Boston qualifying attempt.

For now, I hope that the humidity abates some, and that each time I hit the road, trail or track, I feel a little bit better, smoother and faster than I did the last time.

-ESG

Slow Road Back

I'm unofficially back from vacation (at work for a couple of days, though still "off"), and though I had a glorious week away, I can't help but be bummed out and burdened by the current state of my running. I estimate that I've gained as much as 5 pounds since last training cycle, which is more a nuisance than a tragedy, but I find myself unwilling to curb my intake of indulgent food and snacks while running far less than I'd become accustomed to over the past six months or so.

The back pain subsided enough by July 4th, that I was able to run 4 laborious miles on Saturday the 5th. I added another 5 the next day, still slow, as the back pain was gone, but lingering sciatica made it feel like I was dragging my left leg along for the ride. I still have some numbness in that leg, and have some slight tightness in the back. I've managed two runs of over 8 miles in the past 3 weeks. Hardly an optimal marathon training plan.

I'm pretty much off of the Pfitzinger 18/55 plan, and am thinking of trying to jump into the 12/55 plan starting next week. This is a "rest week" under the 18/55, so if I can do that mileage and feel okay, I may be back in the saddle. It will certainly not be ideal in terms of getting to Chicago in prime shape, but if I can ease myself back into a good training groove, I'd be much happier than I have been since experiencing hip problems in mid-April.

I also KNOW that the reasonable thing to do is to take some time off, but I can't bear to let my Chicago registration and airfare vaporize. I also know that the chances of my running in Boston in 2009 (at least as a qualifier) become less and less as each sub-par training day passes.

A now-60-year-old colleague of mine ran a 2:49 to qualify for Boston when he was about my age, but he never ran it because he broke his leg skiing that winter and battled subsequent injuries and surgeries for the next 10 years, continuously pushing himself until he simply had to stop running. He told me to ask myself if I'd rather try to run Boston in 2009 at any cost, or if I'd like to be able to run it when I'm 45 or 50 or beyond. It's a perfectly valid question, but I seem unable to sacrifice the short term for the "big picture" right now. What I fear I am doing is entrenching myself in a downward spiral, where I'm slogging through unproductive miles with various physical and biomechanical problems, and, thus, at best I'm treading water (i.e., locking in a slow marathon pace) and at worst am causing more problems and risking greater injuries.

Who'd have thought that simply running could be so complicated?

-ESG

Sad Sack with Bad Back

I have spent 6 of the most excruciating days of my life, ever since I came in from last Saturday's easy 5-miler, stretched, plotted out my July training on my big Dry-Erase board and went upstairs to shower. I noticed that a piece of clothing had fallen off the drying rack in the laundry room, bent to pick it up and -WHAM - I felt the twinge which has felled countless folks who - like me - find themselves staring head on at a new decade of life, the big 4-0.

So, not only have I not run since Saturday, I can barely walk without pain. While my back seems a little better, I appear to have sciatica, given the pain in my left hip and thigh, coupled with numbness and tingling around my left knee.. This is a colossal drag because I'm just about technically "on vacation" for 2 weeks, and I'm not sure I can help my wife pack the van to go away. My online research says that sciatica strikes people between ages 30-50 (dead center, I am) and that it usually resolves itself in 3 weeks to 3 months! I'm trying not to panic about my fitness and training, but qualifying for Boston does seem to be getting further and further away.

At this point, treatment has been 3 chiropractic sessions, along with 800 mg ibuprofen (prescription strength) and Flexeril (a useless muscle relaxer). I'm desperately hoping that I feel better by Sunday so that I can say I only missed 1 week and can try to get an 8+-miler in. If I'm better, I plan to ease back into Pfitzinger, but I'll have to hyper-cautious about even the slightest niggle in my back. The other risk, of course, is the development of new aches and pains as a result of compensation for the back.

Well, enough complaining. Happy Independence Day everyone, and I hope to be joining you on the roads again very soon.

-ESG

Feelin' groovy

Hello, lamp post, what you knowin' . . . .

Don't ask me why I'm spouting Simon & Garfunkel, for as nice as their music is, it's not exactly something I associate with running. But, after running 6 miles yesterday at what turned out to feel like an easy 8:30 pace (with appropriate HR even), then playing in my company's softball game, I woke up today pain-free for the first time in a month. So, I am feeling pretty groovy.

This development is a huge confidence booster, and I am finally excited about Sunday, as the dread that I've tried to tame over the past few weeks (and days) dissipates. Race plan is to go out at about an 8:15/mile pace, for 4-5 miles, assess heart rate, hips and everything else, then slowly accelerate until I'm running at or slightly under 8:00 pace. If that's relatively comfortable through 20 miles, then I'll see if there's enough in the tank to take a stab at a sub-3:30 finishing time. The revised time goal is therefore between 3:40 and 3:30, instead of 3:35 to 3:25.

I'll be offline while in Vermont, but will post a race report on Sunday night or Monday.

Good luck to my fellow Keybank Vermont City Marathon runners, and here's hoping that those forecasted mid- to upper-70-degree temperatures take their sweet time in arriving on Sunday.

-ESG

The Final Push

Though there's been no apparent link between blogging and my hip issues, as I skipped 4 days of running last week, I felt that there was not much to write. As I type this, there remain less than 6 full days until the gun sounds at the Keybank Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vermont. I am excited, nervous, resigned and frustrated. Here's a recap of the last week, and a preview of the next few days.

After struggling a bit through 16 miles on Sunday, May 10th, I decided that I would take it easy last week. I did 15 minutes on the elliptical on Monday, and nearly an hour on Tuesday, but I was still sore afterwards. I took Wednesday off completely, saw my Physical Therapist on Thursday, and ran 5 miles on Friday evening during a break at an office retreat one state over. That run left me feeling pretty down about how things were going to go over the course of 26.2 miles, as my hips were stiff and sore, and my heart rate was much higher than it should have been for running an 8:35 pace. As I tried to finish fast, the hip simply did not allow me to run under a 7:30 pace. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise, in that I won't physically be able to go out too fast, since my hips won't permit it.

I took Saturday off, despite it being a beautiful day, with the trails calling out for an easy 5 miles. In order to feel like I am actually doing something, I have been icing, stretching, using Hammer Balm and arnica cream, foam rolling and even praying in an effort to get to the starting line with as little pain and as much range of motion as possible.

Yesterday, I decided I would do the final "long" run of 12 miles, and I am pretty pleased with the way it went. I ran a comfortable sub-9:00 pace, and felt like I had plenty of energy left (I know, it wasn't even half the marathon distance) when I was done. It got warm towards the end (mid-70's), and the weather forecast is calling for a similar day on Sunday in Burlington, which is not great. All told, though, it was a good run, with no need to stop for a stretch, my NB 903's feeling like they will be a good marathon shoe and my hips just a bit stiff/sore afterwards, but not too bad.

This week's running schedule will be (no cross-training and no weights or core work):

• Tuesday - 7 miles with 2 at marathon pace
• Thursday - 5-6 miles easy
• Saturday - possible 2-3 miles, really easy, perhaps on the race course's one significant hill

The more involved schedule this week is the body work plan:

• Monday - physical therapy
• Tuesday - Chiropractor
• Wednesday - Massage
• Thursday - Physical Therapy
• Friday - Chiropractor

I'm feeling a bit like Humpty Dumpty with the king's men (and women) and horses trying to put me together again.

As I replied to my one of forumites when asked if my hips would let me race on Sunday: "Run, yes. Race, I don't know."

Despite everything, I am eager to run, thinking positively, and looking forward to it being over so that I may rest, go back to base maintenance running for a few weeks and then start the Chicago buildup in good health, with the idea that I will make new and different mistakes this time, as opposed to repeating the same stupid ones from the past two training cycles.

-ESG

Cause for Concern?

The training plan called for 12 miles today, a distance I've been banging out lately without too much thought. Acknowledging that my hips are sore, I thought I might cut it back a bit,perhaps to 10, or even 8. With that mindset as I set out on a beautiful morning, I was disappointed to feel such an acute pain in my left hip (the one which has never bothered me before), that I stopped after a mile to stretch, then turned around less than a half-mile later. I logged a little under 3 miles, and ran straight into the gym, where I did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, which didn't cause the flaring pain on each step that I experienced while running.

I'm not exactly panicking (yet!), but I'd be lying if I didn't admit being a bit nervous about missing key mileage and especially Sunday's goal marathon pace run. I will stretch, ice and foam roll tonight, try a few easy miles on the nice soft trails tomorrow and then play Sunday's run by ear. I can't imagine being able to run that far at MP, but I'd like see where I am. If I'm too sore to do it this weekend, I may throw 10 or more MP miles into the following Sunday's 17-mile run.

Hope you're running healthy and strong, and good luck to all my friends, forum-mates and others who are running the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 21st.

-ESG

Yes, Body, I hear You!

For those who read the "Et Tu, Gluteus" Post earlier this week, I would like to offer an update. As I tried to stick with the program yesterday, my hips said, "No, thank you" (rather emphatically, I might add) towards the end of the third 1000-meter interval. Since my 5K pace is now just a hair over 6:20/mile, I sought to run my intervals at that pace (after a 3-mile warm-up at about an 8:20 pace). The first one was fine (6:17), with some noticeable soreness, but nothing too rough. The second one was harder, and I ended up running at around a 6:30 pace. I told myself I'd finish the third one and then just run easy to get the day's 9 miles in. However, the soreness crossed the line into the realm of actual pain, so I bailed about 2/3 of the way through that third one. I ended up running only 7 of the 9 miles, figuring that I need to be smart and make sure that I recover so that I can hit the next key run, the big 17-miler with 14 at goal marathon pace, scheduled for Sunday. At least I was out there for nearly an hour on a glorious spring day.

I've been trying to stretch my hips/glutes, but I'm definitely hurting (though not "hurt", a crucial distinction at this point). Today's plan is either some easy elliptical or stationary bike, core work and stretching.

Tomorrow's scheduled 12-miler may become 10, or 8, depending on how things feel. Saturday, I'm going to see how the trails in the woods near my house are doing in terms of lingering snow and muddiness.

By the way, I did run in the NB 903's yesterday. The jury is still out on them as a marathon shoe. They felt comfy enough, but the toe box is a little bit big, and I needed to lace them really tight to get them to feel "fast" on my feet. I also forgot my orthotics, so that was a bonehead move in terms of trying out new, lightweight shoes while doing speed work with already-sore hips. Running may make you healthier, but - at least in my case - not sure it makes you smarter.

Cheers, ESG