Summertime!

Summer's finally here (almost)! How can I tell? At 9 pm, it's still bright outside. I live for these long days!

You know what else screams "summer" to me? Ice cream. The other half recently introduced me to Coconut Bliss ice cream. Coconut milk-based, minimal ingredients, maximal flavor. Despite the fact that I seem to be unable to put have trouble putting the pint back in the freezer once I take it out, I highly recommend it! To be honest though, soft serve is more my thing. Back to Eden (the absolutely wonderful vegan, gluten-free bakery I finally tried about two weeks ago) apparently has soft-serve, dairy-free ice cream, and so I may have to go back there and get some to celebrate the official start of summer.

Another summer delight: mojitos. Fortunately, rum is distilled from sugarcane (and not grain), so I can still enjoy those. Unlike my former friend, the vodka-soda with lemon.

In all seriousness though, after two weeks of minimal gluten and dairy, my stomach seems to have dropped the swords of revenge. Maybe not 100% (my GI system seemed to retaliate a bit after drinking gin, and I later learned that gin is also distilled from grain), but compared to how it felt the week before Newport, I'll take that.

I'm still being mindful of my caffeine intake, and my energy levels have still been pretty consistent. I kid you not, I wake up after about 5 hours of sleep, only have 1 (sometimes 2) cup of coffee, and can still last about 18 hours. It's crazy! Maybe there is something to that extra iron dose (and pairing it with vitamin C, while limiting my coffee and wine consumption).

So now let's switch from food to training. I can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm already 2+ weeks into my multi-marathon training plan. All of the workouts have been either recovery runs or general aerobic (GA) runs, so it feels more like funning at times. But the "fun" is what keeps us coming back for more. Am I right or am I right?

To force myself to do ancillary work, I wrote it into my multi-marathon plan. After 1 week of testing that trick (because week 1 of this plan was simply recovering from Newport), I think it's working. A brief recap of weeks 1 and 2 of workouts.

Week 1 (Planned/Actual)
Mon - Rest or cross training / 4.43 mi of cycling in 20 min
Tues - Rest or 5 mi / rest
Wed - Recovery 5 mi / 5.16 mi at 7:41/mi
Thurs - Rest or cross training / rest
Fri - Recovery 5 mi / 5.06 mi at 7:36/mi
Sat - Recovery 5 mi / 7.19 mi at 7:40/mi
Sun - Recovery 7 mi / 5.13 mi at 7:40/mi + foam rolling
Total - 22-27 mi / 22.54 mi running + 4.43 mi cycling

Week 2 (Planned/Actual)
Mon - Rest or cross training / rest
Tues - Standard warm-up, recovery 6 mi, 2 x 1' standard core / Standard warm-up, 6.24 mi at 7:45/mi, 2 x 1' standard core
Wed - DS routine, recovery 5 mi, IT Band rehab routine / DS routine, 5.01 mi at 7:40/mi, IT Band rehab routine
Thurs - Rest or cross training / rest
Fri - Standard warm-up, GA 7 mi + 8 x 100m strides, strength workout / Standard warm-up, 7.07 mi at 7:34/mi, 2 rounds of 10x10 RYBQ strength routine
Sat - Standard warm-up, recovery 5 mi, DS routine / Standard warm-up, 5.06 mi at 7:40/mi, DS routine
Sun - Standard warm-up, GA 10 mi, 2 x 1' standard core / rest (unless walking around all day in honor of PDX Pride counts)
Total - 33 mi / 23.38 mi

How's your training going? What do you think of the briefer recaps?

The Science of Newport: A Race Analysis

When we last spoke, I had revealed my mile-by-mile recap of the Newport Marathon, and the emotional side of the race. "The Art of Newport," if you will. (If you need to catch up, go read that recap first.) This will be more about the technical side of the race.

It has been said that those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And before I begin training for Santa Rosa, I want to visit Newport one last time to determine what went right, what went wrong, and what I could do differently on August 24.

So what went right?

First, the speed work in the Pfitzinger plans. Maybe not all of the tempo runs went according to plan, but I remember all of the track workouts when I felt like I was going to die during the intervals, and ended up nailing my target splits.

On a related note, I did most of the runs as prescribed in the training plan, and one of the keys to improving as a runner is to run high mileage (or so Jason at Strength Running tells me).

Source

All Willy Wonka memes aside, I logged 56 miles for my peak week (the only time I ran more miles in a week during Eugene '13 training when I ran 57 miles in a week. But I wasn't working full-time then, so I'm chalking this one up as a win). Furthermore, April 2014 was the first time I logged 200 miles in a month.

With the exception of the last week of training, I was more mindful of what I ate. Sure, I had my cheat moments, but I know that I paid more attention to keeping gluten and dairy out of my diet when I went out to eat. Also, my issues with iron absorption compelled me to reduce my coffee consumption (because coffee hinders iron absorption) during the second half of training. I cut back from about 3 cups a day to 1 cup, and none after noon (well, most of the time). Once the nasty, wicked headaches subsided, I felt like my energy levels were more consistent. Less caffeine, more energy...maybe it really WAS messing with my iron absorption.

My pre-race massage also ended up being a wise choice. I did this a week before MCM because my legs were extremely tight, and after the success I had there, I decided to work a pre-race massage into my recovery week calendar. Groupon was also offering a deal for a LMT near my office, and how could I pass that up? My legs definitely felt fresher after that.

But what went wrong?

While I got enough sleep for me, I don't think I got enough for a recovery week. In the days leading up to the race, I only got about 4-5 hours of sleep per night. If you know me, you'll know that my attitude on sleep is along the lines of "I'll sleep when I'm dead." I just try to cram as much as possible into my days (because I don't know how to sit idly), and it usually catches up with me. I know that sleep is important in recovery, and that these same benefits probably apply to the taper as well.

The GI issues I had during recovery week and the race itself. Before I received the results from the celiac blood test, I took "potential celiac disease diagnosis" to mean, "You should go enjoy a burrito in case the test comes back positive (since ignorance is bliss)." And while I enjoyed said burrito as I ate it, the hours of GI distress that ensued was less than optimal. If I had to guess, I'd say that my mid-race GI distress was either due to the extra coffee I drank on race morning (normally, I'll have one cup of coffee before the marathon, but I ended up having about 1.5 cups this time) or to the gluten- and sugar-rich race eve eats (because my system wasn't used to them).

Per usual, I started out way too quickly. Between race morning excitement and jumping into an unofficial sub-3 pace group in the first mile, my pace for the first mile was my fastest lap of the whole race. I knew as soon as I saw that lap that I went out too quickly, and also knew that it was too late to do anything to prevent the damage.

My gel and water stops didn't correspond perfectly. I took the gels as planned, but on a couple occasions, the next water stop wasn't for another mile after I consumed the gel. You need water to help metabolize the glucose that's in the gels, so I couldn't reap the full benefits of them. Or so is my guess. And I'm sticking with it.

How can I improve?

Coordinate my Gu and water stops.

Get more sleep in the days leading up to the race.

Make a more concerted effort to figure out what foods work and don't work for me. Though I may not have full-blown celiac disease, I can't rule out the possibility of a gluten sensitivity (especially after the issues with that burrito). Also, the adjustments I made based on my iron absorption problems seemed to help improve my energy levels. With that being said, I think continuing to pay closer attention to what I eat and my body's reaction to it could be greatly beneficial.

Do more core and strength work. I put in the miles for this race, but more often than not, I'd skip out on the ancillary work. I did more strength work in the weeks leading up to MCM, and I'd like to think it paid off there.

Do some predawn long runs. I'm putting this on my list only because Santa Rosa has a 6am start time, and I think it'd behoove me to get used to starting long runs at that hour.

Do you have any more suggestions?

Halfway to Newport: Week 6 Training Recap

What's happening out there?

So 6 weeks down, and 6 weeks to go. I'm officially halfway done with the Pfitz 55/12 plan, which is just mind-blowing. Where have the last six weeks gone? I know I was in Puerto Rico, but April is just a giant blur. I feel like my life this month has been run, eat, work, shower, sleep, and maybe socialize a bit. Yes, I've hit my weekly mileage goals for the last two weeks (and for 4/6 weeks of this cycle), which makes me happy. But I still feel like my life is work and running.

And speaking of time zooming by, my birthday's tomorrow. Where the hell have all of these years gone? I need a drink right now. But for the sake of my sleep cycle, I'll be good. Because the last thing I need during the 55-mile week of my training plan is a bout of insomnia. 

I finally returned to my doctor on Thursday for follow-up lab work. Despite the iron supplementation, my iron levels managed to drop. Actually, I think plummet would be a more accurate description of the change. I know that endurance training breaks up your hemoglobin stores, but between the last test and this one, my weekly mileage has only increased by about 10 miles. So this had to be due to something else. With that, I turned to the Google. And learned the following:

-Polyphenols (present in coffee, tea, and wine) inhibit iron absorption (Source)

I don't care so much about the tea, but for those of you new to my blog/life, coffee and wine are two of my favorite things.

Source

Source

-Eggs and dairy inhibit iron absorption (Source)

As a result of my lactose intolerance, I consume little dairy. However, I consume 3-4 eggs a day. Damn you, chicken eggs! Why must you be so delicious?

-Symptoms of iron deficiency include fatigue and increased sensitivity to the cold (Source)

Over the last few weeks, I was feeling really tired (which I just assumed was due to not sleeping enough), and noticed that my Raynaud's flare-ups were becoming more frequent. (I kid you not, I would drink a smoothie in my house, and my fingers would go numb and white.) I hadn't opened up too much about this in my previous recaps, because I didn't have a real explanation for why (and neither gluten nor dairy seemed to be a good explanation). So we'll see if proper/increased iron supplementation will help this. In the meantime, I have an appointment scheduled to see a specialist next month.

What is "proper supplementation"? Well, I'm glad you asked! To promote absorption, it should either be taken on an empty stomach, or with vitamin C (e.g., orange juice). I mentioned my medical issues in a dailymile post, and one of my DM friends (who has a similar issue) suggested taking it first thing in the morning, and right before bed, and not eating for an hour before or after either dose. She also suggested cutting back on my beloved caffeine, and reassured me that even though it'll be painful, it'll be worthwhile.

And now, onto my workouts!

After reviewing my training log (aka dailymile), I concluded that the big theme of this week's training was the mental game. Namely, the challenge of sucking it up, putting on your big boy shorts, and dragging your ass outside. And even though we discussed that last week, the mental component is huge in this sport because of how much time you spend on the streets/trails with you and your thoughts.

Mon

Planned: rest or xt

Actual: rest (and maybe some foam rolling)

Tues

Planned: Recovery 5 mi

Actual: Recovery 5.01 mi at 7:50/mi pace

Thanks to an Instagram post from one of my Bostonian friends, I remembered that today marks the one year anniversary of the Boston Bombings. I had to dedicate part of this run to them, and just think about how lucky I am that I'm still alive and able to partake in this sport.

After my Boston dedication, my thoughts drifted to other things - my training plan (and whether I can pull off this crazy-ass goal in 6.5 weeks), my job, and smaller matters like my upcoming birthday plans, and what I was going to eat when I got back home. I love recovery runs, because they give me a chance to just run and think about something other than target paces.

Wed

Planned: VO2 max 10 mi with 5 x 1000m at 5K race pace (6:33/mi); jog 2 min between

Actual: VO2 max 10.09 mi with 5 x 1000m at 6:26/mi pace

This was my first time doing a VO2 max workout, and I'd be lying if I said I weren't intimidated by it. The workout: 10 miles with 5x1000m at 5K pace (6:33/mi) and 2 min jogging in between. So I did a 3.19 mi warmup (1 mile to the track, and 2.19 on the track), then this workout, and then a 2.65 mi cooldown (1.6ish on the track, and the rest was the route back home).

For this, I used the Workout option in the Garmin settings (first time ever for that!), and for the sake of accuracy, temporarily switched my Garmin to metric settings. So I ran this, and then checked the results when I was done. Before I converted it back to statute (to get the splits), I saw "5.00km, 19:58", and was floored (I'll save you the math, 20:00 for 5km = 6:26/mi pace). Once I converted it to units I can understand, I was even more stoked.

Splits: 6:18, 6:14, 6:32, 6:30, 6:32

I'm still shocked that I hit my target pace for every interval, my pace for 2 of the 5 intervals was faster than my goal 5K pace, and my overall pace for the speed work was faster than said goal 5K pace. After the last week of workouts, this was a nice confidence booster.

Thurs

Planned: MLR 12 mi

Actual: 2 rounds of the RYBQ 10x10 strength routine

I had a charity event to go to on Thurs night, and decided to use Thurs morning to get the follow-up lab work done. So as a result, I swapped my MLR and rest days. And decided to use this rest day for ancillary strength work

Fri

Planned: rest or xt

Actual: 5.01 mi at 8:06/mi pace (am); 7.03 mi at 7:46/mi pace (pm)

Part 1: This might be the one time I felt more cranky after a run. First, it was cold (39°). Second, my stomach was not feeling so hot. Excuses, excuses. The gist of it is that I wasn't feeling very springy. Also, I think my Garmin was having an off day as well. It tried saying that my usual 5.03 mi route was 4.96 mi.

Part 2: Well, I can say that tonight's run was much better than this morning's. For starters, it had to have been about 20 degrees warmer.

I ran through my neighborhood again. I should really branch out, except I was feeling lazy and didn't feel like thinking of a new route. Initially, I didn't want to go out, but by the first mile, I felt glad I was out there. During mile 4, I thought of Erin's comment on my latest blog post, and started thinking about US states and capitals (for some of the states), and then the capitals for some foreign countries. That's probably the highlight from this run. Well, that and it felt like redemption for this morning's awful run.

Sat

Planned: Recovery + speed 6 mi with 6 x 100m strides

Actual: 6 mi at an unknown pace + 8 x 1 block strides

So my Garmin decided to crap out again. Except this time, I didn't even hear it beep. I just looked at it around the time I expected it to beep for mile 1, and it said 0.36 mi. I was at the MAX station, so rather than try restarting it, I just decided to take the MAX to 24 Hour and deal with the treadmill. Once I started on the treadmill, I couldn't get into a groove. So I left (feeling all defeated), went home, and after some hemming and hawing, decided to run my usual 5M loop with my headphones and phone, and time myself with the stopwatch. Music definitely helped get me back into a groove.

My playlist gave me flashbacks to the following events: Dad Vails '06, Eugene '12, Chicago '12, R Baby 4 Miler '09 (first race I averaged a sub-7 pace), and maybe some others that I'm not thinking of. Also, I saw two different CT license plates on this run (aww nostalgia time! haha). It was like a journey through the last (almost) 28 years.

Based on the Garmin time from run #1 and the stopwatch time from run #2, I'm estimating that my total time for this 6 was 47 min.

Sun
Planned: Marathon specific 15 mi with 12 mi at marathon race pace
Actual: 15.03 mi at 7:27/mi pace, with the last 12 being at an average pace of 7:19/mi

After Easter brunch, a nap, and accepting the fact that I had no valid excuse for missing this run (partly thanks to everyone's FB, IG, and DM posts about Boston), I headed out for an early evening run.

Today's workout: 15M with 12 at marathon goal pace

After a 3 mile warmup (and a side-5 from a diner at my neighborhood taqueria), I picked up the pace, except my legs were not feeling sub-7 minute miles. Somewhere between mile 4 and 5, I had the thought of, "Oh crap, did I lock my front door?" And one of the last places you want to have that thought is in the insular midst of the Springwater Corridor. So I decided to make this workout into one 10M loop and one 5M loop. Once I hit mile 5, turned around, and continued at a speedy clip back home. Fortunately, I had locked my door.

For my 5M loop, I just headed down my street 2.5 miles, and then turned around. I heard some kid belting out "Let it Go" from "Frozen," which just made me laugh. Started thinking about random things, like the US states and their capitals (rattled off all 50 of each in my head). Oh, and how lovely the houses are, along with how much apartment rents are over there. At some point during my run back home (probably around mile 14 of 15), I felt like the lactic acid had been flushed from my legs.

MGP may not have happened (average pace for the 12 was 7:19), but I gave this what my legs had in them. More importantly, I sucked it up, put on my big boy shorts, and got out there. And THAT is the bigger win, in my book.

Planned total: 48 mi
Actual total: 48.17 mi

How do you maintain a healthy balance between your running/professional life and your personal life? 

Do you own a GPS watch? And if so, has it given you satellite reception issues?

I Passed!

I know, I know -- my recap is a day late. Sue me. It's been an eventful week in these parts.

For starters, I passed my thesis defense on Thursday!

Naturally, this required a celebratory happy hour. And then two more days of celebrating/doing what I wanted. Run in the morning, drink wine with friends in the evening. 

But back to the running (since that's the focus of this blog). 

Last week's workouts (week ending 6/9)
Running - x5 (35.24 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x3
Strength - x2
Foam rolling - x2 (or maybe 3 -- I didn't do a good job of logging my foam rolling sessions)
Salt bath - N/A

I ran more miles last week, and did an extra day of core. I feel like the core work may actually be helping my posture. Or maybe that's just in my head.

I decided to run along the Leif Erickson Trail on Sunday. I had a long run planned (10M), and needed to clear my head, so a trail adventure seemed perfect. During the first mile, the scab from my heel friction wound ripped off. Once it ripped off, I didn't feel any pain and I just got lost in my thoughts and the trails. It felt so good that I decided to extend it another mile. Once I finished, I discovered a very blood-stained Achilles. (I'll refrain from posting pictures, but it took 3 rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton balls to clean the blood and trail dirt.) I'm convinced it was due to the PureFlows (when I wear the Mirages, I don't notice any bloodshed), which is odd because I've used those shoes without issue for two months. Looks like it's back to the Mirages for a little while...

During my 6M run on Wednesday morning, my mind was in it, but my body was not. My legs just felt like lead weights, and I felt under-fueled. It was as if I didn't eat enough or drink enough water, which is possible -- when I'm stressed, my appetite tends to decrease. Another possible explanation: maybe caffeine gives me an added boost?

Overall though, I'm happy with the mileage (my first week of 35+ miles in about two months), and met my goals for ancillary core and strength work. Using one of my rest days for core work seemed to work out nicely.

So what's next (on the running front)? I think I should try a morning run (about 5M) right after waking up and without any fuel (food or coffee) beforehand. That should (hopefully) answer my questions about my issues from last week. Also, keep gradually upping the mileage (MCM training starts in a few weeks!), and keep up the core and strength work.

Unofficially Summer!

It's Memorial Day in the States. First, I would be greatly remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to acknowledge the veterans and express my gratitude for their service to our country, and for fighting for the rights that we consider to be so fundamental.

Second, this is supposed to be the unofficial start of summer. Oregon didn't seem to get that memo...or maybe it just chose to ignore it. I woke up to rain pattering against my bedroom window this morning, which made it quite difficult to want to get out of bed. I eventually did, but I still haven't ventured out for today's run (or really, any errands, for that matter). Rather than start this week's training, I'll reflect on last week's.

Last week's workouts (week ending 5/26)
Running - x5 (27.20 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x2
Strength - x1
Foam rolling - x3
Salt bath - N/A

For the first time in a while, I went trail running. I did 4 miles on the Wildwood Trail on Monday. While the hills weren't easy in the least (the first two miles were uphill, and resulted in a 600' climb), it was a great way to just lose myself in a run. I normally shy away from this run because of that climb, but my runner friend Darren reminded me that I shouldn't shy away from the hills and trails because they'll make me stronger and less injury-prone. 

I also did my first unstructured fartlek workout on Friday. (Up until now, I've just done basic intervals with the same amount of rest between each interval.) And dare I say it was actually kind of fun? 

In the days after Eugene, one of the big things that I noticed was that my appetite decreased. I've read about runners eating just as many calories post-marathon as they were during the peak of their training, so for that reason, I was grateful that my hunger levels decreased. This week, I noticed that my hunger levels increased, which I'm convinced is due to the increased activity (i.e., increased mileage, 5 days of running instead of 4).

I did one day of strength work (20 min) and two days of core work (about 30 min, collectively). After my core work yesterday, I concluded that I should put more emphasis on ancillary work. My goal for this week is to do at least 2 days of core work and strength work (2 days for each). Three days of each would probably be optimal for making me stronger overall, but when setting/achieving goals, it helps to break up the bigger goal into smaller, more attainable benchmarks.

Running Articles
I came across a couple of interesting articles this week. I can go into detail about these in another post, but I wanted to share them with you now.

"The Exercise Equivalent of a Cheeseburger?"
(Source: Wall Street Journal)

The article claims that endurance running (over 30 miles/week) could result in elevated levels of coronary plaque and increased vulnerability to other adverse cardiac conditions. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I'm skeptical and critical of this article. The references that it cites are limited and hard to track down, and the one I could find was a flawed study. My friend and MPH classmate Annie suggested I use my skills from grad school to compose a more developed and eloquent critique. This is in progress.

"Why Long Runs and Workouts Don’t Need to Feel Like You Could Run Goal Pace for the Full Marathon"
(Source: Runners Connect)

I've been asked before why marathon training runs max out at 20-21 miles if the race is 26.2 miles. I think that this offers an interesting (i.e., one I've never heard before) perspective on the subject.


"Summer Reading: 2013′s Best New Running Books"
(Source: Competitor.com)

I haven't read any of these, but some of them look really interesting. Hopefully, I'll be able to read some of them this summer!


Coaching Update
Thanks to Erin and the lovely world of Twitter, I've looked into the USATF and RRCA Coaching Certification courses. Both are well-regarded, but I'm more inclined to take the USATF course. USATF is the sport's governing body, and the course prepares one for both club- and school-level coaching. Sadly, neither is being offered in a convenient location for me anytime soon. (C'mon guys, add some more west coast dates!) 

Have you read any good running books/articles lately? And if so, which one(s)?

Trekking Along

When you wake up to a sunrise like that, you know it's going to be a beautiful day!

What I was not expecting was being busy for about 12 hours. On the plus side, my very long day started with a run. For me, I find that if I go running in the morning, I feel more energized and revved up to tackle my to-do list. It certainly helped today!

I had a 6M interval workout on the books, so I opted to hit the treadmill before my appointments on-campus. The gym's on-campus, they have showers, and interval workouts seem better on a treadmill (to me). Here's the interval workout:

Distance (miles)	Speed (MPH)/Pace (m:ss)
0.0-1.0	7.5/8:00
1.0-2.0	8.5/7:03
2.0-2.5	8.0/7:30
2.5-3.5	8.5/7:03
3.5-4.0	8.0/7:30
4.0-5.0	8.5/7:03
5.0-6.0	7.5/8:00

(Plus a 5 min cool down)

I felt good after it. I covered the distance in under 45 minutes. Overall, this is definitely slower than my 10K pace (to do the math, 10K = 6.2M), but this training plan (the Smart Coach one) starts off with slower paces and then you build up your speed in the following weeks. You'll be sure to see my reaction to this plan in the following weeks! Regardless, my piriformis and IT band are feeling better than they had been.

And a nice treat to finishing the workout was seeing this view! If you look on the left side, the mountain with the blunted top is Mt. St. Helens. Such things are only visible on clear days.

Yesterday, I did a strength workout for the first time since I started training for Eugene. My strength training involves a combination of core work (sit-ups, push-ups, planks), upper-body work (dumbbell rows, dumbbell shrugs, curls, dumbbell chest press), and lower-body work (dumbbell squats and dumbbell lunges). If I could remember what weight(s) I used, I would share that too.

Here's hoping I sleep well tonight!

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