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Month: February 2014

Oakland Marathon 2014 Training: 4 Weeks Out

Oakland Marathon 2014 Training: 4 Weeks Out

Week 8 – 4 weeks out – week of February 17, 2014

OakMarathonLogo

As I sit down to write my recap of this week’s training, I feel like this week has been years long. I’m guessing it’s more a result of the non-stop schedule the family has had since my in-laws have been visiting… and the very small detail of spending a couple days in Disneyland with a toddler (and the seven hour drive each way to get there).

Early in the week, I was beginning to feel like my left calf was being a bit janky–not especially worrisome, since it wasn’t painful, but I find it puzzling and a little disconcerting when I’m suddenly conscious of body parts that I’m usually not–so the off-ish high calf/low hammie thing, combined with the Disney hangover, gave me an unintentional significant cutback week.

The thing about marathon training though, like I’ve written before and like I’ve told my friends (and repeatedly tell myself), is that missing a run isn’t going to derail a race performance. I’m pretty type-A, in the sense that I’ll do whatever it takes to complete all, or nearly all, of my runs (hello, 3am wake-up!), but sometimes, life just… happens.  Truth be told, I likely wouldn’t have been as forgiving as I was to myself this week for missing a couple runs, but Disney + taking care of business with my calf (read: probably being a bit hypersensitive) made a lot more sense to me, in the grand scheme of training, than slogging through, and squeezing in, a couple runs just to check-off some runs on my training calendar.

Part of marathon training is learning when to trust yourself and your abilities (and your training and/or coach) and to not be afraid to alter course from the plan. Remember, these things are written in feather.

On that light note (get it? feather? light? I’m so clever)… this week’s training!

Monday, February 17

p: rest/xt

a: rest

My calendar tells me it was President’s Day on Monday, but I have no memory of what happened that day. Definitely a rest day though.

Tuesday, February 18

p: VO2 max: 9 miles with 5x600m at 5kRP; jog 90 seconds between reps

a: double-fun day! a.m.: 10.33 miles with 8×800, 3 minute recoveries (800s: 3:24, 23, 19, 16, 18, 19, 15, 15);  // p.m.: 5.1 mi recovery with Chris at PP in Richmond

The beginning of where I changed things around this week. Pfitz prescribes 600s, not 800s, but I’d rather do 800s; dare I say they’re… fun? Plus, the only time I did a 600s workout was in the dead of winter, in the dark, on the Chase Park track, and I completely fell on my ass going over a sheet of black ice on a recovery segment, so I think I just have a bad association with 600s. Anyway, I did the 800s on the PCP track and decided to go no-look until the very end, when I was hitting my watch to stop. The goal was a 3:15 or faster, so I was a bit miffed that it took me so long to hit that pace (and not until the very end, at that). By the time I finished my last repeat, I felt like I still had something in the tank, which I’m guessing means that I could have paced these better earlier on. Maybe there is something to be said for looking at your watch periodically… However, hey, look at that accidental almost-progression!

In the afternoon, I trekked back up to Richmond to meet Christopher for a double for both of us. We were much better at keeping the pace more leisurely than we had the previous week, and hey, chasing a run with vegan donuts? Yes please. Post-run, I fetched my FIL from SFO (because nothing says welcome to northern California! like your stinky and sweaty daughter-in-law) and got ready for Disney.

running and vegan baked goods FTW
running and vegan baked goods FTW

 

Wednesday, February 19

p: MLR 15

a: a.m. 6.21 mi (8:25 average); p.m. – nada

Tuesday’s miles put me ahead of where I needed to be by this time in the week, so I decided to cutback my MLR from 15 to something shorter. Thanks to an early departure time for Disney, I needed to have run, showered, and have my ass in the car by 5am, so that meant a quick turn-around from Tuesday’s mileage. In my little noggin, I thought breaking up the MLR into 6-4 (or thereabouts) would actually be a good idea, what with sitting in a car for 7  hours and my hamstrings and GM surely crying uncle by the end of the car ride, but without exaggeration, once we got to Anaheim, we promptly dropped our stuff at the hotel and went to Disney for the rest of that afternoon and evening… and then the rare opportunity for a date night happened… so yeah. No double today.

This was one of those days, though, where it was probably in my best interest not to double because, even though my calf wasn’t paining me, giving myself just a little bit more time to recover was surely to my benefit… and besides, I was on my feet all afternoon and evening at Disney. That’s gotta count for something, right?

Thursday, February 20

p: recovery + speed 7 miles with 6x100m strides

a: unintentional rest day

The day Disney ate my mileage. 7 miles with strides or 13 hours of Disney in one day, that followed 4-5 hours of Disney the day before (and a 7-hour car ride). That’s a whole new level of tired, folks. On the flipside, though, there is nothing like seeing your kiddo just utterly transfixed by the sight of her favorite “friends” (Princess Aurora, Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, and the like).

Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, if it's been a while for you)
Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, if it’s been a while for you)…and our server in the background

 

why yes, I was wearing compression tights for 2 of our 3 days in Anaheim!
why yes, I was wearing compression tights for 2 of our 3 days in Anaheim

 

Friday, February 21

p: recovery 6

a: GA 7.01 (8:03 average) in Anaheim

An earlier bedtime and a later wake-up made this run much easier to manage. I didn’t particularly plan a route for the run, though I thought running around the Disney property perimeter would be kinda neat. Basically, the plan was to run until the sidewalk disappeared and then figure things out from there. Seeing a handful of other runners out during the morning rush hour was pretty cool, too. Pretty standard run otherwise… and another fun day at Disney with some of A’s buddies. 🙂

with the sunrise
with the sunrise
she is having a BLAST
she is having a BLAST

 

another family shot :)
another family shot 🙂

 

Saturday, February 22

p: 8-15k tune-up race

a: another unintentional rest day/Disney + travel hangover

I knew I wasn’t going to be racing today, given Sunday’s 408k in San Jose (register! 90% full! come run with me!), but I figured I’d at least get in about 10 GA miles. Well… nope. We didn’t leave Disney until late on Friday night, and the 7 hour drive put us back to SJ around 2:30 a.m. You have no idea how much I seriously considered just staying up to run, but I thought that’d be against my better judgement; while running at 4am doesn’t bother me much, running at 3am just sounds worrisome.

Sub-par sleep in the car, and sub-par sleep on Saturday, since A still awoke at her usual time, meant that Saturday was a slog, and my new idea of running during naptime was shot to hell when naptime didn’t happen until nearly 3pm. Again, any other time, I’d think “what the hell” and do something, but given the weird calf niggle, which, by Saturday, had begun to feel a lot better, and my plan to go long on Sunday morning early, I voluntarily canned the run.

I’d have to look at my DM records to know for sure, but I honestly can’t recall the last time I took off 3 days in one week; I’m guessing it was probably sometime immediately post-marathon. I don’t say that as a badge of honor or anything like that; I say it only to encourage people to not be afraid to stray from the plan and, probably more importantly, to learn to listen to your freakin’ body. Recovery is damn important, folks. Off my soapbox…

Sunday, February 23

p: LR 18

a: LR 22.04 (8:08 average)

After all the voluntary time off this week, I was itching to go long to see not only how I’d feel, but also to get the time and mileage on my legs and to see how this niggle was shaking out. I plotted a course that originated at home and took me through downtown SJ before picking up the GRT and heading north, and along the way, I began to consider extending the run from 18 to 19, 20, 21, or 22 miles if things felt right. Pfitz caps his LRs at 21, and I’ve never done more than that, but a recent podcast from Coach Jay Johnson got the idea of a longer LR in my head for all the obvious (and not so obvious) physical and mental benefits.

All told, I really enjoyed this run. I ended up extending it to 22, and the calf was fine. It periodically acted like it wanted to cramp or flex erratically between miles 13-14 (I think), but besides that, no complaints. The back 5 of this run was kinda a bitch though and morphed the run into something more resembling a fartlek, thanks to all the stop-and-start action I had to do with vehicles and stoplights between downtown and my place.

And, uh, I saw roosters crossing the GRT on my back 7. My sister had a rooster once that was super mean, so I just waited for these guys to cross the road (cue all the bad jokes here) before going along my merry way.

urban cock crossing
urban cock crossing

An awesome week overall–again, experiencing Disney with my toddler daughter who adores many of these characters is so ridiculously special that it took everything I had to not cry–even with the several unintentional rest-but-not-really-rest days. If nothing else, taking a couple more days off than usual left me hungry to get back out there and finish off these last few weeks off with a vengeance because WE’RE LESS THAN A MONTH OUT FROM RACE DAY, FOLKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekly Mileage

p: 68

a: 50.69

 What say you? Do you ever veer off your training plan? Do you feel like a badass when you do, or does it make you a bit nervous? Spring races are coming up quickly–are you so excited!?! And have you ever yielded to unusual-for-your-environment wildlife on a run? Tell me everything!

Oakland Marathon 2014 training: 5 weeks out

Oakland Marathon 2014 training: 5 weeks out

5 weeks out — week 7 — week of  February 10, 2014

 

OakMarathonLogo

 

The thing about marathon training is that every week, every run, potentially presents an adventure and, for sure, an opportunity. Sometimes, the daily runs go really well; other times, they just kinda, or really, blow. You can chalk it up to the litany of “life variables” that affect your training, the cumulative fatigue that, no doubt, builds after doing this week in and week out, or whatever—but I think it’s important to acknowledge that it’s ok to have a bad run, or a bad week, during training. One bad run (or week) does not a crappy race performance make. I think it’s what we actually do with these unenjoyable periods that matters. If nothing else, call the crappy runs good mental training, the part of your marathon when you decide to retire from running (again), wear your fatpants until the end of days, and swear to all deities that you’ll never sign up for this godforsaken distance again. Eventually, barring injury or other egregious circumstance, you’ll get outta the lull, sign up for another marathon, and put those fatpants away.

 

In last week’s recap, I talked a lot about how blerg some of my runs felt during last week’s training. Emotionally, this worried me because I stupidly want to see unicorns and rainbows on each of my runs, but rationally, I knew I was due for some blerg (and that really, I’m okay). Fast forward to this week, the beginning of our family’s nearly 3-week stay with us, and over my second peak week of the cycle, and my expectations were scant. Again, one bad run (or week) does not a crappy race performance make, but I was ready to return to my unicorns.

 

Monday, February 10

p: rest/xt

a: rest

 

PR at resting, which also included a 90 (!) minute massage. I redeemed a gift card from the holidays/my birthday at a national massage chain, and my LMT was a bit… let’s call him funny. He was incredibly sweet, probably 70+ years, hugged me repeatedly and asked god to bless me several times when we were done (hmm), and also told me I had the face of an Italian and Swedish girl (wut), a very slender and petite body (uh) but the calves of a German girl, which, in his estimation, did not bode well for speed but boded quite well for endurance. Alrighty then. I don’t think anyone has mentioned the size of my calves since my high school track days.

 

Tuesday, February 11

p: GA + speed, 8 miles with 10x100m strides

a: 8.01 miles at Point Pinole [7:51 average]

 

Taking advantage of family being around to be able to sneak away to run with friends, even if it necessitates a drive to get there. I trekked up to Fremont (north of Oakland, east side of the bay) to meet my TSFM BFF Christopher at Point Pinole for some mileage—a daily double for him and just a GA run for me. Super, super beautiful run spot—we’re talking blue skies, lovely waters, nice temps, and, uh, sunshine (sorry, guys)—with some nice little ascents and descents, a couple hundred feet of elevation overall. I dropped the strides in favor of the ascents and descents and just had fun. Gotta return.

 

she's a keeper
she’s a keeper

 

Wednesday, February 12

p: MLR 14

a: MLR 14.02 [7:57 average]

 

Took an enormous gastrointestinal gamble by not doing a MLR until post-breakfast and post-lunch, but I can happily report I didn’t shit or spew on myself. Wonderful. Since I had childcare and could take my time, I opted to go a different route and made my way across San Jose and into the neighboring town, Milpitas, to get to Ed Levin County Park. I didn’t look at the map closely before I left and didn’t realize that the park was in the foothills (hello, climbing), but man. This rocked. To be fair, the park was more at the base of the foothills than up IN THEM, but the 1.5 mile haul up Calaveras was humbling. Once I got up to the park, I totally had a ridiculous hippy-dippy runner moment with a family of deer (mama + 2 babies), as we eyed each other up, and took a handful of pics before flying back down the hills and making my way home. I’ve absolutely, absolutely gotta return and then promptly bring everyone with me to run there.

 

Here we go
Here we go

 

Slightly different from Chicago
Slightly different from Chicago

 

Levin

 

Levin 2

 

Thursday, February 13

p: recovery 5

a: recovery 5.3 [didn’t save the time, oops]

 

Post-breakfast, pre-lunch recovery through the west side of PCP. I was planning to take A with me but decided she’d like time with grandma instead.

 

Friday, February 14

A.M.

p: Lactate Threshold 12 with 7 @ 15k/HMRP

a: LT 12.05 with 7 @ 15k/HMRP [7:50 average, LT portion: 7:19, 28, 28, 34, 37, 29, 27 {goal: 7:13-21}]

 

This is the most challenging run of the 70/12 cycle and one that, unfortunately, I didn’t get to do last summer due to a horrible sinus infection that sidelined me for 48 hours. I realized quite late on Thursday that this workout was on the docket, and it was probably good that I learned it as late as I did because I didn’t have much time to get freaked out about it. It’s rare for me to hit target LT paces in the throes of training, so I’ve decided to acknowledge this and just try like hell and see what happens. I did a 3 mi W/U, the tempo, and then 2 C/D, and on the run, decided that it’d be most advantageous, in terms of time and dodging traffic, to just run the tempo portion as cemetery laps–.8 miles around, downhill and uphill, on wet pavement (since it was sideways rain-misting the entire time I was out there), while running briskly. Yup. The other option was 28 laps on a track in PCP, so I figured almost 9 full cemetery laps, ascents and descents be damned, was better.

 

All told, I’m actually pretty pleased. This type of run is tough for all the obvious reasons, and the ascent/descent is just enough to keep things interesting. Around mile 8, my stomach decided to show up to party, but a quick pit-stop at Jack-in-the-Box rectified things. I ended up averaging 7:28-9 for the tempo portion, which, while outside my target range, is fine. I was running almost exclusively on feel, with no clock-watching, and after taking into account all the external variables that showed up that morning, I’ll call this a win.

 

P.M.

p: recovery 4

a: recovery 4 [didn’t save the splits]

 

Pfitz doesn’t use many doubles in the 70/12, so this was the only double for the week. Skechers is sponsoring the Ragnar SoCal relay team I’m on, and I finally remembered to try out the new glow-in-the-dark shoes they sent me. I kept things nice and easy on the run and just moseyed around the east side of PCP.

 

they really do glow in the dark
they really do glow in the dark

 

Saturday, February 15

p: recovery 6

a: recovery 6.01 [8:30 average]

 

Another Pfitz-prescribed recovery and yet another run in the new Skechers—I think the shoes are a win, but the midfoot strike that they favor makes my left calf crazy tight afterward. Anyway, trekked off to a new-to-me park, Cataldi, for this run, and just enjoyed the quiet streets and nice sunrise. Pretty enjoyable short Saturday run… and a nice way to begin the weekend before heading down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with the family.

 

Look, Mom! I'm touching!
Look, Mom! I’m touching!

 

Sunday, February 16

p: LR 21

a: LR 21.02 [8:06 average]

 

The longest LR in the 70/12 cycle… done! I had a bajillion different ideas of routes to run this, starting from home, but my main concern was trying to avoid all the things that would warrant tons of starting and stopping on my run (cars, people, wildlife, whatever); for the MLR and LRs, I can easily lose 30 minutes to pesky little interruptions like stoplights. I planned to run from my place to Hellyer County park, and to Coyote Creek Trail, some new-to-me trails and parks here. It’s kinda fun to run with your phone set on GoogleMaps and to just run along until you hear a TURN RIGHT or TURN LEFT 🙂

 

Anyway, the park and trail were both really pretty—need to do some long runs there soon—and I was pretty relaxed for the entire run. I usually don’t have specific plans to follow for LRs, aside from (maybe) a fast finish, but to keep things interesting, I broke this up into thirds and tried to get a little faster each third. The result:

 

9:03, 8:30, 42, 58, 44, 31, 27

8:16, 16, 03, 00, 7:54, 8:03, 7:53

7:49, 34, 42, 36, 29, 26, 30

 

I am really, really, really pleased with how this went and how (relatively) fresh I felt at the end. I’ve only ever done one other 21 miler during training (and that was at the hills of WFG), so I don’t have a really good base of comparison, but I think this is a good sign.

 

Hellyer 1

Looking back on everything this week, I’m just now noticing how much “exploring” I did on the runs. That’s pretty cool. Anyway, peak week number two is in the books, we’re getting quite close to race day (and beginning a new mesocycle, wahoo!), and things seem to be clicking right along. Race day excitement is building.

 

Weekly Mileage

p: 70

a: 70.41

 

How were your runs for this week? What do you do to spice things up on your runs? Do you ever go exploring on the run (runploring? Explorrunning?) Tell me everything!