One week down.  I suppose right now it is over a week down.  I have completed 8 bike workouts since Jan. 1.  Unfortunately all of them have been on the trainer, but I haven’t missed a day.  The beginning of the week was the most challenging for my legs.  It took until about yesterday for the soreness and fatigue to leave.  I have also started yoga again consistently and that always leaves me very sore for a few days.  To be honest I don’t really mind the soreness since it means I have finally gotten my butt off the couch.

Another thing that comes along with my increased training volume is my increased food consumption.  Well duh, right?  I am burning more calories than before so I need to take more in.  Sometimes though, I feel like my appetite is much greater than that of my caloric needs when I am training.  When I am just training to maintain fitness, <5 hours a week, I hardly ever feel hungry and the numbers on the scale start to drop.  I won’t lie, I like to see that happen.  But as soon as the training started again I feel like I have been eating everything in sight (and not always making great choices) and I am up 1-2 pounds.  Muscle weighs more than fat?  Let’s hope that is the case here.  There is just something that I like about numbers around 120 instead of 125.  Truthfully, numbers on a scale shouldn’t matter as much as I let them.

Well Monday I decided it was about time for me to try a run.  I decided to run/walk every 5 minutes at an easy pace with the dog.  We started off walking and as I started running I thought I felt a bit stiff, but it might have been all in my head.  I actually felt so good that I ran for 18 minutes!  I was completely pain free, but decided to play it safe and head home.  It felt so good I wanted to jump up and down in the middle of the street and shout, “I’m running!”.  Instead I just whispered it over and over to Kelty.  I think she was pretty happy to have another running partner, too.  I think I will try again this weekend.

Following my typical operating procedures for this year, I’ve been exercising as much as I feel I can without becoming overtrained, yet enough to allow me to feel fit.  The truth is that since my EndureChallenge back in September I have been a little on the lower side of where I would like to be.  After that challenge I took a full week off and then slowly started to integrate some swimming, then running, then biking back into my schedule.  It has been really helpful to have the Ironman Louisville group up and training because they have really motivated me to take care of myself so I could get back up to full speed quicker than normal (Thanks Paula and Lauren!)

I don’t remember exactly when the topic of doing the Rocket City Marathon came up, but I remember talking about it a few weeks after the EndureChallenge.

I wanted to sign up for Rocket City for a few reasons:

1. I don’t want to have a period where I get too distant from a race.  Race consistently to race better!
2. Jeff Buhr had mentioned the marathon, which meant I would have someone to travel with (and run with for a little while).
3. Brad Feld is someone I have been helping train for marathons, but I have never met him face-to-face, so this would be a fairly close race to have that opportunity.

My own expectations:

This is my 6th marathon in 2008 (counting Great Illini IronDistance Race) so I know that I’m on the edge of doing too many long races without being forced to take a long period of rest – or having a period of serious stagnation in performance.  I have tried to manage my expectations all year, knowing that my main training goal was:

“to be consistent”  and “race when healthy and able”

This has meant that my longest training run in 2008 was 19 miles, back in February, when I ran with Allisa as she prepared for the Boston Marathon.  Since that run the longest training run that I’ve done has been 15 miles.  Leading up to this marathon, I had only done consistent runs of 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Two weekends before Rocket City Jeff and I went out on a 15 mile run (Pit Bull @ Todd’s Road) and I told Jeff that I expected to squeeze out 15ish miles.  At that point I was going to walk/jog in order to protect my legs and allow my training to continue as normal (12 runs in 14 days for the IMLou group right now).

What you want to do and what happens on race day is often very different because a race (and ego) can do many things to influence your behavior!

My Race Day Experience:

Jeff and I started running the first few miles at a pace that felt really comfortable, but we had no clue how hard we were running.  My Garmin 305 had not been charged so the battery was already dead before I started the race and Jeff doesn’t run with a Garmin (smart!).  As we crossed the 1 mile mark, the time keeper shouted “6:21, 6:22, 6:23″… oh boy!

Over the next couple miles we backed off a little, but only a little.  We went through miles 2 and 3 around 6:30 – 6:35 pace.  I was feeling really good running at this pace, but in my mind I felt like I was in over my head.  “Hold on to this feeling” is all I kept telling myself.

A group of runners joined us around the 4 mile mark.  It was nice because the group was rather large.  They all seemed nice enough and were running exactly where we wanted to be.  As the group dynamic built I continued to feel really good and just sat in the pack and participated in marathoner’s chit-chat.

The hard part for me was that I felt like the group was running well and I wasn’t sure I still wanted to drop out at 13.1 to 15?  I began to tell Jeff that I would be done at 15 as a way to reinforce my decision.  That discussion is something you have to be careful with as you are running a marathon.  You don’t want to say it so many times that you discourage the runners who are planning to take on the whole 26.2, but I still needed to confirm to myself that I was doing the right thing.

The group went through the 13.1 marker just under 1:27, which was what I told Jeff I would help pace him to.  Luckily for me the group dynamic began to change as we went through mile 14.  One of the female runners in the group made a surge (at least it seemed that way) as we went through the aid station at mile marker 14.  It broke the pack up, so I worked pretty hard to get about 3 feet off the back of those in front again, then it appeared that another surge happened.  “Good enough” I thought and continued to run where I was and stopped at mile 15 for my first walking break.

Miles 15 to 25 were actually very little fun.  I walked an awful lot over that period of time, probably 2.5 to 3 of those miles were done walking, the other pieces were done at a jogging effort.

I am always preaching about the benefits of using a run / walk race strategy.  In fact, I think that anyone running over a 3:30 must do it, over a 3:15 should consider it and anyone over a 3:00 marathon should do a serious pro/con analysis.  But there is one thing about the run/walk strategy that must be known:  It must be done from mile one, before you have reached the point of fatigue.  If you wait until you are forced to walk – It’s Too Late!

This race was a good reminder of that principle.  The walking I did in this marathon was by no means a way to improve my race result, it merely was an attempt to decrease the damage that a marathon does to your legs.

Mile 25.  Just after passing the 25 mile mark, Bryan Mullins passed me and I began running with him.  It was nice to finally have someone to run with again.  We finished the race together in 3:17.

Final Thoughts:

Rocket City is a great race.  The expo is small enough that you can walk in and just grab your items.  The hotels are about 100 yards from the start and finish line.  I would suggest that you stay in the Embassy Suites at the start line.

Maybe the most important factor for some runners it the course layout.  This course is a perfect course to try and set a new marathon personal best – it is speedy friendly.

It was a great way to end my 2008 year.  I have also recovered well from the race.  I got a bike ride in the next day, took Monday off and back to running on Tuesday.  2008 was a year to take things as they come, 2009 is a very focused year:  One Day, One Race, One Goal.

Jeff Buhr, by the way, ended up running a 2:57!  Nice job Jeff and what a great year 2008 was for you!  And Brad (with Matt Shobe) ran 4:39, about 20 to 25 minutes faster than he told me he might run the night before – great job Brad, 36 to go.

A lot of my family members know that I love to run.  Some of them know that I like to do triathlons, but really – to them – running a marathon and doing a triathlon are the same thing, crazy.  Because I’ve developed an identity as “the runner” it seems that when I get gifts over the holidays from friends or family, it centers around running.

Now I’m not going to ever complain about receiving gifts from someone, but sometimes the gifts I get turn out to be not that useful or convenient.  Lately it seems like the easiest thing to do is just give the gift of a gift card – a good and safe choice, but sometimes it says “not much thought”.

I’ve decided to help solve this situation for some non-runners this year by writing a post that describes what a runner’s ”running wish-list” might be and why.  These gifts will show that you understand that running and exercise is important to them and it will be something that they can actually use on their next run.  These gifts don’t have to be expensive either.  I’ll share some ideas that run the spectrum of cost, just to give you options from stocking stuffer to big time givers.

2008 Runner’s Holiday Wish List:

Socks: A runner’s feet is their source of happiness  A foot with blisters or aches is going to slow down or take away their favorite activity.  A good pair of running socks is something that can help protect those feet from blisters and sores.  A couple suggestions to try:

sockguy.com — I have several pairs of socks from the sock guy.  In fact, one of the best gifts I’ve received was a pair of Nebraska socks that came from the sock guy.  I enjoy the fit of these socks so much that I almost never cycle without them and use them when I run often too.  If you visit the website, you’ll see that they have all kinds of custom made sock options.  It allows you to put an even greater personal touch on the gift when you can choose something that is special to them (like Univ. of NE football is for me).

Cost: They typically range from $7 (on sale at an expo I was at) to $15 a pair.  (My NE socks linked above are $10)

injinji.com — Nikki received a pair of these socks as a gift not too long ago and she loves them.  You probably need to know that the person you are buying them for is open to trying new things, because these socks are like a glove for your feet.  Each toe has it’s own little place!  I’ve seen and read about ultra runners wearing these things for years, they are suppose to help cut down on blisters.  Nikki’s experience has been enough motivation for me to give them a try (hopefully I’ll find a pair in my stocking… wink.wink – Nikki – wink.)

Cost: you can find them at REI for $12 to $16.

Reflective material or lights: this time of year the days are pretty short.  This sometimes requires your crazy running friend to be outdoors running while it’s either dark or getting dark – not always a safe situation.  Tell your friend or family member that you not only support their madness, but you love them and want them to be safe.

Nathan Reflective Vest or JogALite Band — I’ve never went with the full vest, but there have been many mornings that I’ve run with the Todd’s Road Stumblers that I wish I had.  Luckily there are runners out there that are wiser than I am.  I have used an ankle reflective band on many occasions, both cycling and running.  The band does it’s job by providing the reflective material, but also doesn’t hinder my running at all.

Cost:  The vest costs about $20 and the band cost about $5 (over at amazon).

Lights:  I bought Nikki a Nathan lighted arm band as a gift a couple years back.  It has turned out to be one of the more useful gifts I’ve ever bought her.  She not only uses it when it’s dark, but it also has a small pocket that she can use to carry a house key or car key while she’s running.

Cost:  $15 at their site, you can also find at:  Dick’s Sporting Goods, REI and Amazon.

RoadID: There’s a fear that I have on many occasions that Nikki goes out cycling or running – what if she’s in an accident?  When cycling we carry our drivers license, debit card and cell phone, but when I’m running I don’t carry any of those.  So what would happen if I was hit by a car?  Would the emergency medical services be able to figure out who I was, what would they do?

Take away that fear by giving your loved one a RoadID.  Go to roadid.com and you can customize a band that they can wear while running or cycling that has all the necessary information emergency support would need.  They even have a service now that allows the emergency support to call and get all the information you provided to RoadID by using the RoadID code on the band.

Cost: Their typical product is around $20

Running Beanie and gloves: The winter is here, but that doesn’t mean that your running friend will stop heading outdoors.  A good quality pair of gloves and running beanie will be a necessity as keeping your head and hands warm is key to enjoying a winter run.

I like to use a layered glove approach and currently use a pair of Pearl Izumi Ultra Light Full Fingered gloves as the bottom layer.  If I can find them I use a pair of Manzella’s microfiber gloves.  When I can’t find them I use an old pair of gardening gloves.  The gardening gloves don’t work too well as the only pair of gloves to wear, while the Manzella’s can work alone.  When the weather gets into the low 20’s, I layer them up.  I figure that I can always take a pair of gloves off, but I hate waiting hours to feel my finger tips again.

I currently use just any old stocking hat for my head although that can often be too warm.  So again, when I can find it, I wear my Pearl Izumi Training Hat.  While these items are about running, I have tried some cold weather cycling gear from Descente lately (actually got the shoe covers as a Christmas gift!).  I will be trying out some their other stuff soon.

Costs:  $12 to $50 (depending on how cold of gear you need).

Nike Plus: If you feel that the runner in your life has all the clothing they’ll need and you are comfortable with their safety, how about something to motivate them?  The Nike Plus system requires that your runner have an Ipod Nano, but if they do, this is a great tool.  Through the Nano they will be told how far they’ve been running, how many minutes (or hours) they’ve been running, they can use training plans and they can connect with other runners online.

The Nike Plus has been around for awhile and I’ve seen all kinds of competitions and motivating tools, check out their site because there’s just too much to learn for the time I have here.

Cost: The Kit runs $29 (at amazon), but you’ll also want to buy them some type of shoe adaptor, just in case the runner you buy it for doesn’t have a pair Nike’s that have the shoe slot (like 90% of runners I know).  The adaptor runs $4 to $10, depending on the style and option you choose.

Garmin 305: I made a post the other day when I saw that Amazon had a Black Friday sale on the Garmin’s for $149.  I have just been searching and see that they are back to $179.  I even tried to use the link I posted the other day, hoping that the link was tied to the deal, but it looks like they’ve reset the price for now?

That doesn’t deter my opinion in suggesting that the Garmin 305 is the ultimate in running gifts (and as I mentioned I received mine as a gift).  For the completely obssesive – compulsive runner, this is the best training partner to have.  I sometimes go a little crazy looking at all the charts and graphs, heart rates and paces.  But that is what I enjoy – so let me indulge.

I realize that there is the new Garmin 405, but I’m not convinced that it is better than the 305.  In fact, after listening to a few people discuss the pro’s and con’s of the 405, I am still under the impression that the 305 is a better running companion.  And it’s cheaper.  I even know someone that went back to the 305 after buying the 405?

The one thing that I wish that I had to make the 305 complete is the foot pod.  I do an ocassonial workout on the treadmill and the foot pod would be a nice item to have.  (hint. hint – Nikki – hint.)

Well those are just some ideas for your running gifts to buy for your running friend or family member.  Hopefully it will give you the confidence to make the purchase, knowing that they are “runner endorsed”.  Happy Holidays.

It’s fairly common in conversations about triathlon training today to discuss watts, normalized power, TSS, functional thresholds and intensity factors.  These terms are all the result of more cyclists using power meters to monitor training intensity and even race efforts.

I have been using WKO+ (formerly cycling peaks) for a little while now, primarily with my Garmin 305 (because I still haven’t justified the power meter expense) to monitor my run training.  The WKO+ software is really great and allows an athlete to get deeper into the training data more than any other training software and log program I’ve ever used.  Because I don’t have a power meter it does have limitations.

The biggest limitation for me is that because I don’t have a power meter, the software’s performance management analysis doesn’t give me an accurate picture for triathlon training.  Why?  Because I have no way of quantifying the work done (TSS, CTL and ATL) on the bike that allows the software to analyze the data.

As a triathlete we also have to consider swimming.  Can we monitor power in the water in a downloadable manner?  Not yet.

So as I look at the athlete’s that I’m trying to help prepare for the 2009 triathlon season (specifically, Ironman Louisville) I have several issues when trying to use a similar method for monitoring training stimulus over time:

1.  no one uses a power meter (and likely are not going to purchase one)
2.  few have a Garmin 305/405 to monitor their running workouts
3.  if they had all this equipment, it takes a lot of time to download and analyze, which they may or may not do.
4.  they have to use the power meter and/or Garmin device for EVERY workout, or they can just estimate the workouts and enter a best estimate TSS or rTSS for the individual workout (which gets us back to why use it anyway)

So, while I am very excited to see some of the data that comes from my Garmin (and yes, hopefully soon my power meter?) it is not a practical solution right now to help my athletes by using the WKO+ software and the Performance Management Charts.  (I have to say though, it is a lot of fun to spend time with the data I can get.  It’s amazing the kind of data we can get in the field better data than what we had in the exercise phys lab on the Monarch.)

How we are tracking long term / short term training stimulus:  (the post to my Ironman athletes)

In the past years I have used total hours of training as my main monitoring system. This was a good method because the majority of the exercise that I did was done at a very reasonable almost easy intensity.

For most of us, this is still going to be the biggest limiter (steady state ability and duration we can hold that intensity).

But with powermeters, heart rate monitors, gps’s, etc…. coaches and athletes are now getting pretty analytical in these monitoring methods. In my opinion, we are making a lot of things too difficult – especially for Ironman training when it matters more that we are consistent and gradually build duration. .. but ..

I realize that we all don’t have powermeters/gps’s so I’ve been thinking about how to add in an "Intensity Factor" to our monitoring.

Here is what I’ve decided to do:

A mixture of the Aerobic Points System (as seen on slowtwitch ) and Borg’s 10 Point RPE Scale (as discussed in the power training article by Dr. Coggan )

Here’s how the scoring it works:

10min swimming = 3 point
10min cycling = 1 point
10min running = 4 point

So as an example: 9.5 hours balanced week
1.5 hours (90 mins)of running: 36pts
6 hours (360 mins)of cycling: 36pts
2 hours (120 mins)of swimming: 36pts

That was just an example of how to add the total times, now to look at the RPE scale / intensity. We’ll be using the Borg 10 point scale , notice the Borg Scale is weighted so that the higher numbers are more spaced out. (Which is done for a number of physiological reasons that Dr. Coggan explains in the article also.)

Example of a workout calculation:

60 minute swim, effort at 3 RPE = 6*3 = 18pts * 0.3 = 5.4

45 minute run, effort at 2 RPE = 4.5*4 = 18pts * 0.2 = 3.6

60 minute cycle, effort at 5 RPE = 6*1 = 6pts * 0.5 = 3.0

Does this make sense? What I’d like you to do is calculate your total points at the end of each week, but you’ll need to write the "RPE" score in the comments as you log each workout.

The key to this system is that you are honest with your RPE scoring, otherwise we could just track hours. We will be tracking hours each week, etc… but I like how this system will account for the differences in intensity, plus we get to track it across all 3 sports, not just power on the bike or pace on the run.

One other data chart that we’ve been tracking:

I had an athlete that put together her own spreadsheet to track her RPE score, aerobic points and what we are calling intensity factor (which isn’t the same as IF for WKO+ which is NP/FTP).  One of the charts that she set up was to a plot of the intensity factor to workout duration.  By plotting that chart we can monitor the ratio on a week-to-week basis.

Feedback?

I would love to hear what others have to say about this concept.  We’ve just started using it several weeks ago, so until we get more data I’m not going to make any conclusions.  I am sure that those triathletes and/or runners that are used to monitoring their hard data from high tech devices with balk at the idea of using RPE.  But I’m not worried about that, I’ve come to peace with using a subjective data point like RPE.  In fact, I think that it can incorporate variables that impact training that a power meter can’t – such as psychological variables (fatigue) and health implications (early stages of sickness and stress).

Where to begin?  I guess I’ll start with last week.  After my last longish run on Saturday the 4th, I decided to take several days off of running and focus on healing my hip.  I think I did everything I could think of to get relief.  I stopped running, I iced like mad, sometimes I used a heating pad, stretched, foam rolled, epson salt baths, meditation, NSAIDS, doctor visits, 3 massages, chiropractic care, e-stim, ultrasound, iontophoresis.  I think that about covers it.  I had little to no relief at all.  I kept telling myself that it was getting better, and come race day it would be just fine.  Positive thinking or just fooling myself?  I did break down about 7 times (maybe more) last week.  I am emotional enough the last week of taper.  Adding injury to the flame just made it burn even hotter.

Saturday I was a nervous wreck. I think it was the most nervous I have ever been before a race.  I had a really hard time settling down, but come race morning I felt a lot better.  Gary and I met the girls at their hotel and we walked together to the race start.  It was about a mile and a half, and and it helped to warm up my already sore and stiff hip.  We met Jeannie at the gear check, and headed off to our corral.  I have to admit, the seeded corral was really nice.  The one and only complaint I have ever heard about Chicago is that it is too crowded, but although there were 45,000 people signed up for the race I never felt like I was being held back, and couldn’t run.  I was grateful for that.

Jill, Amy, Kristin, Jeannie and I all started the race together.  Amy and Kristin were off together from the start and I never saw them again.  Jill found her stride around mile 3 and I kept seeing her look back for me, but I knew she was going to have the race of her life and I didn’t want to be the one to hold her back.  That was the last I saw of Jill.  It was a little difficult to see her go because we honestly did probably 95% of our quality runs side by side.  We even finished the Lake City Half Marathon side by side!  I wasn’t at all upset that she was beating me, but weeks ago before this injury, I had always had this rose colored image of us running together laughing and or complaining as we always did.  Then of course. crossing the finish line both having qualified for Boston.  Doesn’t that sound nice?

Jeannie and I ran together through around mile 7.  We were exactly on pace as we crossed the 10k mark, but I was thinking that it didn’t feel as easy as I thought it should have.  In an instant Jeannie was gone.  I tried to keep positive and told myself that I was running the Chicago Marathon!  Have fun!  So for one mile I took it all in. The crowd, the runners, the town, everything.  It really is an amazing race.  Too bad my enjoyment only lasted one mile…My hip was hurting.  I’d felt it starting around mile 2.  I just wasn’t happy.  I scanned the crowds so hard looking for Gary, but I never saw him.  I told myself as soon as I see Gary or my dad I will just stop.  I wasn’t going to make 3:40, and I really didn’t care to have another 4:00 marathon under my belt.  I never did see Gary and when I got past halfway I was too nervous to stop because I didn’t really know where I was.  I did however see my friend Chris twice!  It was so unbelievably great to see him and his awesome homemade sign.  I was so grateful the second time I saw him that I stopped to give him a hug.  Thanks, Chris!

I tried to stay positive throughout the race, but it was hard to do.  I kept telling myself that if I ran faster the pain would be over sooner.  I got swept up by the 3:45 pace group, then the 3:50 pace group.  It’s not really a good feeling.  It got hot, I found out later it reached 84 degrees at 11am.  I really don’t think much compares to the pain of a marathon.  I kept asking myself why do I put myself through this?  It hurts so freakin bad!  I’m not just talking the hip either.  Maybe I am just doing it wrong.

I somehow got to mile 26 and at last saw Gary and my dad at the finish line.  I squeaked in just under 4:00.  I made it through half of the finishers area when I heard, “Nikki!”  It was the girls.  I was so anxious to hear how they did.  Jill was beaming, and for good reason.  She ran an incredible 3:38!  What a rock star, she did have the race of her life…so far!  Amy went 3:41 just above BQ, but no worries since she already qualified at Louisville.  That girl has oodles of potential.  Kristin went 3:45, but, was battling some pretty rotten patellar tendinitis for the past few weeks.  She hadn’t run all week either, and under the circumstances did an exceptional job.  K, our day will come.  I promise!  Or maybe we can just be half marathoners…   AND Jeannie went 3:40!  I always knew she had it in her.  I’m so proud of those girls!

After a few pictures, Gary, Dad and I started the long walk back to the car.  The girls were going for pizza.  What?!?  I think I’m going to vomit, no thanks on the pizza.  What is with me and nausea after races?  I spent 15 minutes parked over a trash can on Michigan Ave. on our way back to the car.  At least it wasn’t like Phoenix this time, just some dry heaves.

So I was 20 minutes over my goal time.  Am I disappointed? I think I may have gotten out all of my disappointment last week.  I think all of my overactive emotions were due to the fact that in the back of my mind I knew the race was not going to be what I knew it could be.  20 weeks of long runs and incredibly tough speedwork in the hottest months of summer for what?  For nothing?  I’m choosing not to think so.  The marathon isn’t just about running 26.2 miles.  Most of it is how you get there.  Yes, it is a great feeling to cross the finish line and it is incredibly satisfying to reach a time goal, but there is so much more to it than that.  It’s running with friends, pushing each other to places we never thought we could go, having someone to complain about the pain to, and that great feeling of running 40 minutes at a 7:30 pace in 70 degree weather with 95% humidity.  I am not going to let October 12th, 2008 get me down because I didn’t make 3:40, when I made 100% of my training runs starting on May 27th.  (well besides the last week!)  That’s 108 workouts and we ran each of them with purpose and precision.  Sure I’m still a little disappointed, but I know I’ve put in the hard work and someday I will reap the benefits.

If you follow my twitter page (twitter.com/ditschfitness) then you’ll know the basics as Nikki sent some out during the race. This report will fill in my emotions and feelings for the race, but first the basic stats:

Great Illini Results -

swim: 1:17:48
t1: 2:00
bike: 6:00:40 (18.6mph)
t2: 1:14
run: 3:38:51 (8:21/mile)

total: 11:00:34

Swim – as the horn sounded things were a little rough in the beginning. I’m not sure if I was not anxious enough; therefore unprepared to get moving or if I just needed a little time to get into a rhythm? It didn’t take long though as I felt incredibly efficient in the water. I had zero kicking going on and felt like every pull was really getting some work done. I kept thinking to myself, “pull yourself through the tube.” Which is a visualization that my coach/professor at UNL shared with me when I was learning to swim.

My time ended up being around 5 minutes slower than last year at IMMOO, but that is what I expected. I didn’t swim one time from Sept 9, 2007 to June 9, 2008. And once I started swimming in June I made it to the pool only a couple times a week (a few weeks I got three swims in). The one thing I did do this year that gave me a little confidence that I could get out there was the Cave Run 1.5 mile swim that the YMCA put on at Cave Run Lake.

Bike – the bike training this past year was also not specific to Ironman. If you have been following my blog for awhile, then you’ll know that I just wanted to take a different approach this year. I didn’t want to train for any specific event, but try some races out, if I felt they were possible. (And you’ve seen what kind of brainstorming occurs when I don’t have events picked out!). That philosophy of training for this year left me with few specific race rides. In fact, I did zero race simulation rides this past year and only had one brick (bike/run) workout this year at all (last weekend with Jeff).

All that being said, you can imagine how pleased I felt to see that I rode 13 minutes faster this year than I did at IMMOO. I realize that you can’t compare different races and courses, but that is a positive that I’m going to take away from this race.

I actually felt really good most of the bike. There were periods that the wind had me moving at what felt like a turtle’s pace, but I just tried to push on. The biggest issue I had on the bike was my back. I did most of my rides on my road bike this year, in fact, I think the longest ride I did on my triathlon bike was 50 miles (again last weekend with Jeff). My gluts and lower back were in pain pretty much the whole time, but with the wind I didn’t want to stand too much. Occasionally I would stand and just spend a couple minutes in my big chain ring and ride hard standing up to relieve some tension.

The other positive that I’m taking away from this ride is that I even split the 2 loops. I rode 3:00 on the first loop and 3:00 on the second loop. Can’t be bummed about that.

The one lesson that I’ll take away from this is that I need to learn to ride the bike faster. I was the only athlete in the top 10 that rode under 19mph. (The top two rode 22mph or over!) Training to ride faster and learning how to race that way would leave a lot less work to do on the run for me.

Run – The run training was very similar to my bike training. I did nothing specific, but I also never stopped running through out the year. The one thing that I always feel is true, if I run consistently, is that my run will not abandon me.

When I got to the run, I felt really good and started out pretty quick. My leg turnover was good and my pace was too fast but at a comfortable effort (6:40ish). As I approached the first aid station I asked for coke or gatorade. They said they had, “water and ecaps”. SH*T. That was my first thought. I had some egel’s with me, but my stomach was not willing to take any more of those. So I took some water and used a couple of my Succeed Salt Tabs.

As my usual plan of action, I walked 30 seconds at every mile.

As I approached the second aid station, I asked the same question. Again they had nothing but water and ecaps. I saw a pattern here and was getting nervous. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to run the marathon if all I had to use for aid was ice water and salt tabs.

On the return section of the first lap (we ran 4 laps) they finally had some coke available at mile 5. I took a can of coke and was able to drink a couple drinks. My stomach was pretty messed up at this point, but even more scary was that I was starting to feel really dizzy, my fingers tingled and I felt light-headed. If you listened to my last podcast (hydration and the role of sodium) then you’ll understand where my thoughts were going. I started to say some multiplication tables to myself, hoping that the answers wouldn’t allude me: “1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 2 = 4, 4 + 4 = 8″ … ok, you’re not there yet.

Around mile 7, I thought it was over. I stopped at the aid station and began to sweat heavily. I started to dry heave pretty heavily but couldn’t get anything to come up. My head was spinning and my legs felt like jello. To be honest, it felt like I had been at the bar a little to long on a Nebraska Football Game day. The aid station workers were standing there not sure what to do, they asked if I as alright, when I said “no”. He turned around and walked away like “oh boy… that isn’t good”. They offered me some bananas, but that wasn’t going to happen, so I asked for some coke again. At this point all I really wanted was a ride back to the start. Without different aid on the course I was worried that I couldn’t get what I needed to recover at any point. I also wasn’t excited about putting myself in a place to risk my health and ruin my chance of riding my bike this week and doing the marathon next weekend.  I guess the one positive about the several minutes that I stood there (I’m guess 5 to 6 minutes), was that despite the violent dry heaving, I didn’t actually puke fluids up.  Had I began to lose fluids with every attempt (which I saw happen to one guy), I’m not sure I would have been able to get moving again.

After I took the coke I started walking again. In the end, I think my ego and anger pushed me forward. Looking back, I am happy that I didn’t DNF at that point, but I’m not sure that being propelled by ego and anger is the place I want to be in life, even during a race.

After I got my mind settled down, I began running again. I’m not sure how it happened, but I actually ran ok once I was running. My body was still chilled (in the sun). I craved water, but everytime I tried to drink any I felt like I would throw it up.

Around mile 18, I finally got a bottle of Gatorade Endurance. Magic. While my pace was decreasing to 8:30/mile pace, my thoughts finally cleared up. I didn’t have the “lost in space” feeling as bad and that gave me confidence to try and push home and at least try and break the 11 hour mark.

It didn’t happen. As you can see above, I missed it by 34 seconds. 34 seconds is a tough pill to swallow after 11 hours.

Final Thougts:

I feel pretty darn happy as I come away from this race. It is 12 minutes faster than I went at IMMOO last year and while it’s difficult to compare courses, I’m happy with the way things turned out. While I am a little bummed about how my run ended up, it was still the 2nd or 3rd fastest of the day (I think the 2nd fastest on the results page is a relay team?). And I guess when I am at the point that running 3:38:51 for the marathon in a Iron-distance race is a bummer, I have more to be thankful for than I have reason to complain.

Now — learn how to swim and bike!

I also learned that you need to be very aware of the race course nutrition. The Great Illini website said this:

“The 26.2 mile run course will be divided into 4 6.55 mile loops. Competitors will have the opportunity to access their run course special needs bags every 6.55 miles. There will be aide stations and porta-johns every mile of the run course. The aide stations will be stocked with fruit, Hammer Gels, E-Caps, water, Heed energy drink and much more.”

I knew that I would need Gatorade Endurance and Coke to get me through the run.  I should have had Nikki’s Fuel Belt full of Endurance and used it, with some extra bottles for the fuel belt at the special needs bag.

That is why we do races like this, to practice and learn.  The great thing about this race is that usually I have a year to sit around and think about what happened before I get another shot.  This time I get to ride my bike around Illinois and Indiana for a week and then give the marathon another go around at the Lake City Marathon!

I can’t wait for Ironman Louisville next year though!

It is now a week after the Flying Pig Marathon (podcast here) and two weeks after the Country Music Marathon (podcast here) and I thought I would sit down and write some lessons I learned by taking on this challenge and how they could be used in future marathon running programs.

The Back Story:

To keep it as short as possible; Nikki didn’t get signed up for the Derby Festival Half Marathon before it closed. She decided to go to do the Country Music Half Marathon, I chose to go with her and also decided that trying to do the full marathon was a good idea. It seemed like a fun idea because we had a friend running the full marathon and I thought it would be enjoyable to run it with her.

Even before I started the Country Music Marathon, I thought about the idea of possibly doing the Flying Pig Marathon the following week. Why? I am not completely sure, but I have known local runners that have done it before and it intrigued me.

So here’s the reality: I was under-trained for a single marathon (i.e. no traditional marathon training, just regular, daily run or bike), let alone being prepared to run two.

My mindset leading into the runs:

The one thing that I was absolutely confident I had to do to survive this experiment was have a solid and healthy strategy even before I ran the marathons. These strategies included some of the following ideas -

a. Run with Nikki and Jill at Country Music and have fun – But, make sure that effort remained as low as possible and if I started to develop too many aches / pains (i.e. notice my hip and hamstring problem come back) back off completely and finish run by myself.

b. Walk! Walk every aid station at both marathons.

c. Be aware of heart rates. The normal average heart rate I see for a marathon is around 178bpm to 180bpm. Because I had done zero speed work or even tempo runs, I knew that if I ever saw heart rates that high, I might be entering a dangerous zone. You can read the Flying Pig Stats to see the specifics, but I had planned on keeping it around 160bpm during the first half and allow the natural cardiac drift to occur during the second half of that run.

d. Recovery. Making the turnaround to run another race in 8 days I knew that I would have to do all I could to help myself recover. This meant as perfect nutrition as possible, extra sleep, stretching and massage if I could get it scheduled.

What happened after the Country Music Marathon:

You can read the race report to see what happened during the marathon, but what happened after the marathon was where I see some of those important lessons occurring.

1. Nutrition sucked! All week long after the marathon I felt myself craving sugar. One of the big hurdles that I have been trying to clear this year has been getting away from my soda habit. It has actually been going really well, which I have attributed to training less hours a week and not putting the pressure on myself to always be at a fitness peak. By taking some stress away from my physical training, it has allowed me to emotionally and energetically clear that soda habit of late (I even dropped 5 pounds in a couple weeks prior to the marathon).

That all went downhill after the CMM. I felt tired quite a bit, which lead to me seeking caffeine and sugar.. i.e. Mountain Dew. The ice cream cravings were pretty big too.

2. Yoga helped. Nikki and I went to our regular yoga class the day after the marathon, which helped my hips. Ironically, I felt more soreness after the yoga than the marathon. But I didn’t develop the normal post marathon shuffles that happen the few days post marathon.

What happened after the Flying Pig Marathon:

1. You can take the nutrition lesson that I learned after the Country Music Marathon and multiply it by 10. Yikes. I seemed to be in a fatigue pit that no amount of Mountain Dew, coffee or ice cream could solve. The scary part for me is that I gained 4 of the 5 pounds back, which shows the really poor cycle that can be created when a runner or triathlete gets into an overtraining – to – crash cycle. (Yes, this experiment put me into an overtrained state).

2. I couldn’t get enough sleep or rest. Lisa wrote a post about sleep that came at the right moment. The issue for me is that my 6am appointments are not so much concerned about me sleeping in (although if they can, they will change at times). And I have to admit, this week was very difficult. I tried to take a nap during the week, but that is difficult because my body normally doesn’t like to nap. I did crash for 1.5 hours on Monday!

3. My workouts after the Country Music Marathon were terrible! In fact, I had a zero quality workouts during the week. I was able to ride my bike a few times, but mainly I was out there spinning the pedals.

How does all of this apply to a typical marathon program:

Lesson #1: Don’t overreach with the long run. I realize at first thought the long run doesn’t equal the marathon, but for some – a 20 mile run in the training program could take a long time. I personally believe that being aware of the time on your feet is more important than the distance you run during the long run. (My marathon times were 3:47 and 3:20. Durations that I have seen people used to accomplish their 20 mile workouts.)

Why? Because if a person overreaches for the long run, it can often leave the runner in an overtrained state that they have to recover from all week long. Leaving the weekly workouts nearly ineffective – especially if you want to include regular tempo or interval runs, that would normally be associated with an experienced or advanced program.

I talk a lot about marathon programs addressing this issue in my podcast: Double Long Strategy

Lesson #2: When you are training, pay attention to your emotional responses to your nutrition and food choices. If you find yourself craving foods that you don’t normally crave, it could be one of the first signs that you are becoming over-trained. Some of the foods that might be included here are: sodas, bagels, breads, snack foods, ice cream, etc. – basically, foods that are high in sugars or low quality carbohydrates.

I rarely found myself wanting vegetables and even some fruits didn’t meet the needs I was feeling. The emotional response to these foods was surprising also. Not only did I find myself craving them, but after I would eat them I would feel a little more happy and energetic. That lasted an hour max and I would be fatigued and moody again. (Likely an glucose and insulin cycle of peaking and crashing?)

Lesson #3: When you decide to take on high(er) amounts of training, make sure you also build in the necessary recovery aids also:

3a – Massage. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a massage during the week between the CMM and the Flying Pig. But I was able to get in the week after the Flying Pig. It works miracles sometimes on my hips. This is a practice that I used all of 2007. A regular massage as a way to assist my training and recovery. I have become a huge believer in the benefits because when I stop going (as in the beginning of 2008), something creeps up on me.

3b – Yoga. I can say the same thing for yoga that I just said for massage. Combining the two practices makes all the difference in my continued injury prevention when the training ramps up.

3c – Rest and Sleep. As I mentioned, Lisa wrote a post about this recently. I think that as endurance athletes, we are typically self-motivated people. Often this comes with a side of compulsiveness. These personality traits are also the type of individuals that can often see rest as laziness. Sleep is wasted time that we can be productive.

Recently I was reading the Runner’s World article that highlighted the women running the Olympic Trials. They seemed to do it all: work, be a mom, household management and run everyday to train for the Olympic Trials. It was impressive and I wondered how they did it. When did they sleep.

I also read those articles asking myself if I could do it? Interestingly enough, if you read the article interviewing Deena Kastor, she says this:

“RW: Besides doing the mileage, what’s most important to your preparation?

DK: Recovery, definitely. Sleep is huge for me: I take a one-to two-hour nap daily and get eight to 10 hours nightly. When I’m awake and training, I expect so much from my body, so I really need to let it rest as deeply as it works.”

This isn’t the only example I have found discussing how high level athletes are also high level sleepers. It deserves an entire article itself.

Lesson #4: Race Strategy means everything on Race Day. This is the one lesson that I really wanted to point out. Up to race day, your training plan, recovery, rest, nutrition is what you should be primarily concerned about – But come race day none-of-that-matters if you are not willing to follow a sensible race strategy.

I’ve seen it done many times, athletes train hard and appropriately, but get to the start line on race day and throw out all the common sense lessons they learned during their training. I have done it numerous times in my own racing career. But after 9 years of training for endurance events, I feel like I’m finally getting a handle on how to manage the physical side of racing along with the emotional, mental and spiritual side of racing.

In marathons it can be incredibly hard. You’ve trained for 20 weeks (or what the program dictated) and get to race day in hopefully the best shape of your life. Combine this scenario: Best shape of life, nerves about the race, motivation to do your best and 1000’s of others around you facing the same adrenal unleashing. Without a thought out race strategy to manage those variables, race day can become a much longer day than necessary.

If I was honest with myself, I think that testing race strategies for a marathon was one reason that I wanted to do this 2 marathons in 2 weekend challenge. Because I knew I was coming into races under-trained, there would be no room for error on race day.

Here are a couple posts discussing race day strategy implementation: Flying Pig Marathon Race Report (pay attention to walk/run topic), Ironman Wisconsin Race Report (pay attention to my bike analysis), and Einstein, Relativity and Triathlon Training – which discusses basing your race strategy on reality and not hopes or dreams.

Final Thoughts:

I hope that this challenge that I put myself through and by being my own lab rat will help you in your own marathon journey. These lessons were a great learning tool for myself and as I mentioned at the end of the Flying Pig Report, I learned a lot about why I love to take on this journey of endurance again.

The Flying Pig was my second marathon in 8 days, as I ran the Country Music Marathon the Saturday before. I have been asked a lot of questions about why I would want to do this, especially because of the training I was doing prior to these runs (i.e. lack of specific marathon training).
I want to answer some of those questions, but I would like to address those in a separate post. I’ll title it; Things I learned by running two marathons in 8 days: And how these lessons can help you. (I’ll write that post soon and come back here and link to it.)

Right now, I want to focus on the Flying Pig Marathon itself. The course, the race organization, how I ran and how much I enjoyed it.

The basic statistics for my run are here: Flying Pig Marathon Stats

The Flying Pig Marathon Course:

There is no doubt that the marathon course is not the easiest course that I’ve run. I ran the marathon back in 2003 and remember it being challenging. This past weekend it did not disappoint. The one change since the last time I ran it was that the Kentucky loop was at the very beginning of the race, opposed to being at the end. This is a welcomed change because running over the bridges at the beginning on fresh legs was much easier than I remember running them on tired and weary legs towards the finish. Even though they weren’t demanding on my legs, they posed a challenge for me to keep my heart rate down where I wanted it – so I had to incorporate a lot of self-restraint during that section.

As you run back into Ohio, the course doesn’t get forgiving. The hills keep coming in a continuous pattern, and once you get to mile six, you have a pretty steady uphill run for approximately 2 miles. This early into the run, it is essential to not get too excited (or discouraged) by the hill. It’s way too early to spend all your extra energy.

Looking at the elevation chart they have of the course, you would think that after the half way point, you would be gradually running downhill the rest of the race. While there are not as many climbs as the first half, the second half still has it’s challenges and is by no means a flat or fast finish.

The two things that I really love about this course is the scenery. Having just run the Country Music Marathon, I can make a pretty decent comparison to it (and similarly to the Rock N Roll in Arizona), and personally I think the Flying Pig is the most scenic and appealing course of the group. The other great thing about the course was the crowd support. If you listen to the podcast, I will mention a couple spots during the course where it just feels like miles that people are stretched out on both sides of the run. I don’t remember getting too lonely at any particular time during the run (opposed to the Derby Festival Marathon), even though a few periods were more sparse than others.

Overall, I have to rank the marathon as difficult to run, but worth the work. (Hard to believe that my marathon PR is still on this course?).

Oh yeah – I forgot to mention – They have the best swag of any marathon by far. They gave out towels, medals, posters, t-shirts (all typical) but they also gave out a very nice Flying Pig duffle bag. This is something they’ve given out both years I’ve run it.

How I ran the race:

I was very happy with how the race turned out, especially considering how I went into the race. The hard thing for me to accept at times is not being on top-of-my-game. What I mean by this is that I am not so competitive with myself that I can’t run a race to have fun and just enjoy the event; but when I have a day like Sunday, I have a lot of – “if I only did x” – thoughts.

There will be a lot of discussion about strategy, training and all the other performance variables in a marathon program in the “lessons I learned” post. But there is one thing that I’d like to highlight here, which will be worthy of repeating many times:

A walk – run strategy is a very effective methodology and race strategy for most runners doing a marathon, and essential (in my opinion) for first time marathoners.

I realize that this is a concept that I have talked a lot about in the past (like.. here, here, here), but it is so useful that it is worth discussing on a regular basis.  Because it is useful doesn’t mean it is an easy methodology to implement; in fact I have found it is the most difficult teaching lesson for 85% of the runners that ask me for help.  They often feel defeated when they resort to a run/walk pattern, they are sometimes told they are not “true runners” (kid you not!).

That is the great thing about this journey of endurance.  We get to learn about our bodies and what they can do physically, our minds and what it can handle, our egos and what it controls and our spirits and where they will take us.

My run walk strategy for the Flying Pig was pretty simple – walk 20 seconds at every aid station.  This was changed early into the marathon because I was having a difficult time managing my heart rate (ego) and pushed that 20 second walk to 30 seconds.  There were times early on that I felt like the aid stations were very close together and was walking too often, but I stuck to the program I decided on prior to the race.

Towards the end of the race, I moved back to a 20 second walk and skipped the final aid station around mile 25 (was shooting for 3:20 at this point).

It was a very satisfying experience.  To put myself in a race that I’ve done before, in a condition that wouldn’t allow me to have a personal best, and then be able to mediate all the negative thinking, push my ego to the back seat while I tried to develop a better understanding of how my mind interacts with my body, to take the time and enjoy the crowd, to view the scenery – and then for a few miles – allow my body to experience pain.

It was a great experience.  I have often wondered what I will do when I get to an age that it becomes unlikely that I will be able to set new personal records or race longer races – Will I continue to race?

After this weekend, I think I can say yes.  And while that answer will come one day, I have found the better (and more self-rewarding) competitions are between my ego, body, mind and spirit.  Not with a training partner or a clock.

Taking that lesson into all of my races will be a challenge, I am sure.

So I made it to the Flying Pig Marathon this weekend and did another podcast from the course. I’ll write a race report regarding why, how and all the other lessons soon. And I’ll try and get the audio edited and the podcast up later this week. For now here are the stats:

One note – they had a fire on the course and had to change the route around mile 20. I don’t really know how that changed the splits.. but it is a part of the info I guess. (If nothing else it gives us all a “I had to run a marathon that was ‘x’ longer once” story).

lap 1 – 1.02 miles / 7:48 / 7:39 pace / 170 bpm
lap 2 – 0.94 miles / 7:02 / 7:32 pace / 164 bpm
lap 3 – 1.09 miles / 8:12 / 7:32 pace / 164 bpm
lap 4 – 1.01 miles / 7:12 / 7:08 pace / 163 bpm
lap 5 – 1.01 miles / 7:39 / 7:34 pace / 166 bpm
lap 6 – 1.03 miles / 7:49 / 7:36 pace / 161 bpm
lap 7 – 1.01 miles / 8:31 / 8:28 pace / 165 bpm
lap 8 – 1.01 miles / 7:57 / 7:52 pace / 166 bpm
lap 9 – 1.01 miles / 7:41 / 7:38 pace / 164 bpm
lap 10 – 1.02 miles / 7:16 / 7:10 pace / 164 bpm
lap 11 – 1.00 miles / 7:09 / 7:09 pace / 163 bpm
lap 12 – 1.04 miles / 7:45 / 7:30 pace / 164 bpm
lap 13 – 1.02 miles / 7:24 / 7:16 pace / 169 bpm
lap 14 – 1.01 miles / 7:13 / 7:09 pace / 170 bpm
lap 15 – 1.01 miles / 7:10 / 7:06 pace / 171 bpm
lap 16 – 2.02 miles / 15:04 / 7:29 pace / 171 bpm * missed lap
lap 17 – 0.98 miles / 7:16 / 7:25 pace / 174 bpm
lap 18 – 1.05 miles / 7:50 / 7:28 pace / 170 bpm
lap 19 – 0.98 miles / 7:33 / 7:43 pace / 175 bpm
lap 20 – 1.01 miles / 7:51 / 7:46 pace / 175 bpm
lap 21 – 1.01 miles / 7:37 / 7:31 pace / 174 bpm
lap 22 – 1.04 miles / 7:50 / 7:33 pace / 178 bpm
lap 23 – 1.03 miles / 7:34 / 7:24 pace / 180 bpm
lap 24 – 1.02 miles / 7:46 / 7:39 pace / 181 bpm
lap 25 – 1.22 miles / 8:50 / 7:15 pace / 183 bpm
lap 26 – 0.23 miles / 1:33 / 6:47 pace / 191 bpm

Race Result Splits:
6.8 – 53:16
12 – 1:32:52
13.1 – 1:40:16
19.7 – 2:28:36
25.2 – 3:13:35
26.2 – 3:20:40

Other Notes:
1. I walked every aid station but the very last one (wanted to go for 3:20). I used a mixture of 20 second and 30 second walk breaks. To learn more about this, you’ll have to check out the podcast. It is something that I mentioned several times.

2. I actually negative split a marathon! This is a first time… well…. I ran 1:40:16 the first half and 3:20:40 for the marathon. I guess this is the “if only” story I get to tell about this marathon. If the marathon was only 26.2 miles and not 26.x miles, it would have been a negative split – right?