Eyes on the Prize

Hey there! Happy Monday!

This past week was definitely rough. I didn't get as much sleep as I should have, and my seasonal allergies decided to wage a war.

Source

Oh, and this was the first week of the Lactate Threshold + Endurance Mesocycle. Not a fun combo. I saw firsthand how the lack of sleep can negatively affect a workout (and make you crave all sorts of unhealthy foods), but I also saw how focusing on a goal can get you through a bad workout (or workouts).

I was on the phone with my friend Benjamin (who I convinced in 2010 to take up the sport of marathoning) last week. Benjamin's currently training for the Ottawa Marathon, which is just a week before Newport. Given this, you'd expect that we'd have had lots of training stories to swap. However, our conversation was focused on marathon goals. Specifically, how do you determine said goal, and how do you distinguish between too conservative, realistic, and too ambitious. I always err on the side of too ambitious, so I'm probably not the best person to ask for advice on this (unless the advice you want to hear is "Go big or go home"). After hanging up with him, I remembered that Erin wrote an excellent post on this for The SF Marathon's blog (and I'm not just saying that because yours truly makes a cameo in it). Goals are supposed to be a bit terrifying, but if you break up your goal into smaller benchmarks, it helps make it a little less terrifying. So I forwarded him a link to her post.

That conversation got me thinking about my own crazy-ass goals. I'm sure I've said this somewhere on here, but my goal for 2014 is to run a sub-3:00 marathon (pace: 6:52/mi). I'd be lying if I said that running a 2:xx marathon didn't freak me out. But that fear helped push my sleep-deprived and congested self out the door and through all of my workouts. Because what scares me more than the goal itself is the thought of disappointing myself and everyone else by not meeting it.

Mon
Planned: Rest or xt
Actual: Rest

Tues:
Planned: Recovery 5
Actual: 5.02 mi at 7:42/mi pace

My piriformis was bugging me for the first 1-2 miles. And then I'd pick up the pace, only to remind myself that it was a recovery run. During either mile 3 or 4, I noticed that I was just clunky (short strides, tight arms, and what seemed like bad form to me). So I focused on relaxing my arms, keeping my upper body straight, and lengthening my stride. And it definitely helped!

Splits: 8:07, 8:08, 7:37, 7:22, 7:21, 7:15 (for 0.02 mi)

Wed
Planned: MLR 12 mi
Actual: 12.11 mi at 8:02/mi

I'm trying to think of positive things to say about this workout, but all I can come up with is "I did it" and "I didn't lose my ID, etc."

In the spirit of time, I opted to do this workout after work. However, 12 miles when you've slept about that many hours in the last 3 days -- not the best mix. Couple that with this nagging thirst for water for at least half the run, and it's probably clear why this workout went so poorly. Mid-run, I had to remind myself that I did the right thing by running, because "the sub-3 marathon isn't won on the couch." But then I couldn't help but doubt whether sub-3 will happen in Newport. And then...I just got in my head a little too much. And need to get out of my head.

Thurs
Planned: Rest or xt
Actual: 1 round of RYBQ 10x10 strength routine

Fri
Planned: LT 11 mi with 6 mi at 15K-half marathon race pace
Actual: LT 12.14 mi with 6 mi of speed (splits unknown because of Garmin issues), and 2x1' RYBQ SC

As much as I hate working out after work on Fridays (especially after a long week), I decided that an extra hour of sleep was worth the tradeoff.

Today's plan was to do 11 miles, with 6 at 15K-HMRP. So I did 3 miles as a warm-up, and then started my LT work. Shortly after my watch beeped for mile 1 of the LT portion (around Steel Bridge on the east side), I thought I heard a second beep. However, I thought that I was just hearing things because I knew it wasn't my watch telling me that I had run another mile. So I kept going, and as I approached the Hawthorne Bridge, looked at my watch because I figured that it should've beeped for mile 2 by then. Wouldn't you know that the damn Garmin was displaying the "Lost Satellite Reception" message, and hadn't logged the last mile (est.) of my speed work (#garminfail). I restarted my Garmin, reset it, and continued with the workout.

Long story short, this workout turned into 3 miles w/u, 2 mi speed, restart Garmin, 4 more mi speed, and 3 mi c/d. (And yes, in case anyone's wondering, later in my workout, I re-ran that stretch where my Garmin cut out to try to guess how far it was...and it was about a mile.)

Estimated speed splits: 7:14, 7:17 (for 1.08 mi; this was the wonky lap), 7:04, 6:56, 6:50, 6:59

These splits definitely fell short of my target pace of 6:45-6:48. But I know that I gave this workout everything I had, because I was spent by the time those 6 miles were up.

Sat
Planned: Recovery 5
Actual: 4.17 mi at 7:59/mi pace

Sun
Planned: Long run 16 mi
Actual: 16.01 mi at 8:12/mi pace

I didn't get to do all of my grocery shopping yesterday, and knew that it'd be best to wait until finishing that to go running. What I didn't take into account was the fact that the forecasted high for today was 70º. Between the higher-than-usual temperatures, my still-tight quads, and this annoying sinus congestion I've had the last few days, this run may have been doomed from the get-go. But I told myself I wasn't going to get any closer to my goal by shirking out of a run.

I hadn't really planned a route, but I wanted to make sure I passed my house multiple times in case I needed to stop for water. (I brought a pack of Clif Shot Blocks, just in case I needed mid-run fuel.) Also, breaking up the run like that made 16 miles seem more bearable. So I did one 6 mi loop, a different 6 mi loop, and a 4 mi loop.

Around mile 3 (the turnaround point for loop #1), I saw Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, which makes the effort (and the hill that preceded said view) a little more worthwhile. Shortly thereafter, I saw a vanity plate with "TNA MLT" printed on it (somebody clearly loves their tuna melts), and suddenly, a tuna melt sounded amazing. Other food cravings on this run: chips and guac (inspired by my local taqueria, which I passed at miles 6 and 12), pita and hummus (inspired by Nicholas, which I passed at miles 7 and 13), and cupcakes (inspired by the guy I saw between miles 14 and 15, who was sitting in Whole Foods eating one). Also, even though I love curry/Indian food, the smell of it while running is absolutely nauseating.

I didn't end up stopping for water (though I probably should have). I ate half the pack of Shot Blocks at mile 8 (and they never tasted better), and the other half at mile 13. Yes, I toughed it out. But does the saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger?" ring true?

Planned total: 49 mi
Actual total: 49.45 mi

What mind games (if any) do you use to get yourself through a workout that you're not feeling?

Keeping it Short and Sweet

Y'all. I defend my thesis in three days. I'd say that I'm calm, cool, and collected about the whole thing, but I think y'all know me well enough to know that that's not the case. I've also started planning my move out of Portland. Not to mention this job search that seems endless. Between all of that, I'm surprised I haven't melted down yet. I may have procured a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cannoli ice cream the other night to help with stress relief. Bad news, people. Especially when you have lactose issues. (Damn you, Ben & Jerry's! Why do you have to be so delicious and irresistible in my times of stress??)

I will, however, say that I'm ready for the thesis dreams/nightmares to end, and to stop thinking about this presentation on my runs. (Yes, that did happen.)

Last week's workouts (week ending 6/2)
Running - x5 (30.34 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x2
Strength - x2
Foam rolling - x3
Salt bath - x1

I met my goal last week of doing two strength workouts and two core workouts. I ended up using one of my days off from running to focus on core. I think it worked out nicely.

The weirdest thing happened on Wednesday. I was running, and after about mile 4.9, my right heel felt like it had rubbed against the back of my shoe too much. I was only planning on 10K, so I decided to tough it out. When I finally stopped, it looked pretty raw. I was wearing my PureFlows (which I've used since March without issue), so I figured it was the socks (they were very worn and thin).

My heel, post-run

Fast forward to Thursday. I used thicker socks and my Mirages. Same thing, except this time, the damn thing bled on my shoe. And with the exception of a few hours on Thursday night, I wore my Birkenstock clogs exclusively between that run and Saturday morning.

Fast forward to Saturday. I decided to wear a pair of Balega socks, because they cover the affected area. Still pain, along with a bloody sock and shoe. I had to Google "removing blood from clothes" to find a good laundry trick for getting the blood off of my sock and shoe.

Fast forward to Sunday. The masochist in me decided that I didn't want to miss a day of running for something that doesn't even seem like a legit injury. Before I left, I had the brilliant idea of putting vaseline (and by vaseline, I mean antibacterial ointment, because that's what I had on-hand) on the scab. And you know what? It worked. Now if only I knew what caused the issue in the first place.

And with all of that being said, I'm off to try and keep myself relaxed. And (hopefully) not aggravate my lactose issues.

PS "Spirit of the Marathon II" comes out on June 12! Who wants to come see it with me??

How do you deal with stress (other than running, of course)? 

If You Can Dream It...

Recently, I told one of my PFR teammates about the Kaiser Half (aka, Operation 1:30), and he asked me about the sub-3:00 marathon. Running sub-3 is on my bucket list, but I've thought of it as a secondary goal to the elusive BQ. (It seems less scary/more feasible if I make 3:05 my "A" goal, and make 3:00 my "A" goal for a future race.) After Operation 1:30, I started wondering if 2013 could be my year to do it. Still, I erred on the side of conservatism and figured I should stick to my original plan.

Fast forward to this morning. It’s the end of the term, and to top it off, I have thesis deadlines looming. To say that I’m stressed is a bit of an understatement. (On a scale of 1-10, I’m currently ranging anywhere from 9-15, and have had about 7 "I'm losing it" moments in 24 hours. But that's another story.) Naturally, these were the main things on my mind when I set out for my 5M run this morning. After about 2 miles, I decided to ignore my Garmin and just run. (I’ve run the route dozens of times and know how long it is.) Somewhere along the Eastbank Esplanade, my thoughts drifted away from my thesis and to the sub-3 marathon. Which led me to wonder, “Would it be crazy if I tried to do that in Eugene?” 

I ended my entry on dailymile with “Am I crazy here for thinking about running a BQ-5 when I haven’t BQed yet?” A few hours later, my friend Erin commented with some very encouraging words and advice. Her advice: “If your fitness indicators point to that as a capability right now, man, don’t think twice...particularly if everything is right on race day.” 

For the analysis (because I'm a math nerd, and clearly, analyzing data for a thesis project wasn't enough), I decided to look up race time predictors, and make a prediction based on the Kaiser Half (that’s my most recent race). I’ve used McMillan’s before, but wanted something else to serve as a comparison, so I found the Runner’s World Race Times Predictor. Based on that race time, McMillan predicted a marathon time of 3:06:17, and Runner’s World predicted a time of 3:04:33.

Okay, so that points to about a 3:05. But based on a 10K time from September (on a fairly downhill course), it told me I'd run Chicago (which was 4 weeks later) in 3:18, which was 7 minutes slower than my actual time. 

Compared to previous marathons, my training has felt really good. I'm not sure what my sweet spot was before, but now, it seems to be around 40 miles/week (based on my last few weeks of 38-45 miles/week). So long story short, predictions look good, and it's possible to beat estimates.

And now onto the mental portion (because as I've learned, there's a big mental game involved with racing). Do I think it's possible? Yes. Does the thought of running sub-3 scare me shitless? You bet. But the thought of crossing that goal off of my life's to-do list is nothing short of exciting. And as Walt Disney once said, "If you can dream it, you can do it."

Erin also sent me this fine graphic from the SF Marathon's Pinterest board: 

Sidenote: She only had a vague idea of how freaked out I was/am when she sent this. We're obviously on the same wavelength.

As I type this, I'm recalling my conversation with Erin, where she expressed hesitation about her goal, and I basically said to just go for it. Maybe now's the time for me to eat my words and say, "Fuck it; I'm doing this shit."

What are your thoughts?