Not my knee again...

Easy run: 5km

A piece about running gear was already clear in my head when 500m from the virtual finish line my left knee suddenly decided that it wanted to be the protagonist of my blog entry once again.
After Sunday's long run it was a bit sore, so I did some research and it appears I may have a mild case of "runner's knee". It improved quickly after one night, and the pain was completely gone this morning. As I had to visit my doctor for other things, I also mentioned this and she said that it's ok as long as it keeps healing this quickly, I only have to make sure I give it time to heal after the long runs. She also advised to make sure I have the right shoes, which is what had triggered the idea of a blog about running gear... but I'll talk about my shoes another day because that's a whole different story.

So, back to today's run... I went out with the intention of being extra careful and to walk at the first warning sign from my knee, but everything went fine until at some point it started getting super stiff in the back. It was not a sudden stiffness, just very very quick. For the mathematicians reading this (and I know there's at least one), it was not an impulse, but rather an exponential function ;-)
I had a very hard time extending my leg fully, I walked slowly trying to extend it as much as possible with every step, and then I had to jog again to get home because I was getting cold. Ten minutes after I stopped running the pain at the back of my knee was completely gone. I've had this kind of pain already when I started running back in April, my knees would get stiff as soon as I stopped running (never while I was), but only for about 10 minutes. I don't know if and how this could be related to the runner's knee, which gives pain inside the knee, right behind the knee cap, but I think it's a separate problem.

Looks like there's another pair of shoes in my future, and possibly some strengthening exercises for my legs although I really don't think I have weak quadriceps, I think this is more to blame on my overpronating feet. Can anybody suggest an easy way to assess the strength of my quadriceps at home?

Weather-wise it was this kind of day, although this pic was not taken today because the windmill was not on my route.

Writer's block

Long run: 14.5km

Listening to Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter books while I run the long distances really helps to keep my mind off the distance I still have to cover, but it also has a disadvantage: when I get home I have no idea what to write in my blog, while after the short runs I already have it all figured out in my head.
Well then... where should I start from? I'm having a little writer's block here...
14.5km, 1:1 ratio (1 minute run, 1 minute walk), I didn't like the idea but I had promised I would follow the Galloway guidelines, so I did just that. Except for the first 10 minutes, because the wind was howling and it was pretty cold, and I really didn't want to walk while I was still not warm enough. When you choose the Galloway approach there is one thing you really need to fight, and that is the urge to keep running (when you're supposed to walk) when you come across other runners. Will they know what I'm doing? or will they think I'm too tired to run? There is an inevitable sense of shame that I still need to chase away. Just as my body needs to train for the distance, my mind needs to train for this: to ignore thousands of other runners and the cheering crowd until mile 20, which is when I plan on ditching the walk breaks and start running continuously.
I did the same today, I just ran the last 3.5km and had no problems at all.

Ok, I just can't keep writing this with Mary Poppins at full volume and my kids clapping and singing along...

Here, the corn field was gone, as expected. Can you spot the windmill?

Turkey trot, black friday shopping?

6km, easy.

With my one and only long sleeve thermal shirt in the laundry bin and knowing that my wind jacket is actually a portable sauna, I decided to give my old tennis jacket a try. It failed miserably.
After no more than 500m I felt like the turkey must have felt a few hours later when it was in the oven all covered with aluminum foil. The jacket went flying in the back of the stroller and I was left with only a t-shirt, which didn't make my elbows happy. I was lucky because the temperature was a few degrees above freezing point so it wasn't that bad after all, but I really need to buy a couple of long sleeve t-shirts.

Just in case anyone is wondering... we celebrate Thanksgiving because my daughter was born in the US and is therefore also American, and we like to keep this tradition alive for her and for us, to remember our time in the US.

As for my pace today, I have no idea what that was because the Garmin died right after the jacket (a trained eye may be able to spot it face down in the stroller pouch). I think it was a good pace, and anyway I felt good throughout the run.

Corn and Fartlek

7km Fartlek

There was a corn field very close to my house that I had been meaning to photograph for a long time, but one day it was gone and I had missed my chance. So when this morning I ran by this other field, I took a few seconds to stop and take a picture, knowing that this too will not be there for much longer. 

And no, "Fartlek" is not a bad word. The runners among my readers may have heard this term already, or maybe not. It is a sort of interval training, but totally unstructured. Basically you go from walking to sprinting and anything in between whenever you feel like it, totally random. It was the first time that I did this type of workout, and it's fun! I find it difficult to keep a constant pace and I like to run faster segments, so this fits me perfectly. 

Just in case somebody very observant notices that today should've been my Easy Run day: I decided to be a lot more flexible with my weekday runs, at least for the next 3 weeks, because I will not be able to go out early on Thursday so I'll move the shorter runs then and run a little longer on Tuesday.

It works!

Thursday: 7km Tempo Run
Sunday: 5km with Magic Mile


This past Thursday I went out again later than planned, but I didn't have the problems I had last Thursday because I didn't rush it. I cut the workout from 7km to 6km, had a shorter warm up and finished taking another big chunk off my 5K PB. I will reach a plateau sooner or later, but at this point as my training progresses it is to be expected that my times get better and better.


As for today's run... it's getting cold! When I went out the temperature was at freezing point, even though it was a beautiful sunny day. I had decided to try the walk breaks strategy also for the Magic Mile, and boy it worked!!! Last time that I did this test (running continuously) I had a quite uneven pace with an obvious tendency to slow down throughout the whole mile. This time I alternated running for about 400m and walking for 20-30 seconds, and it went so much better! I kept a constant pace during the run segments and I got consistently faster from beginning to end, that is I ran the second segment faster than the first, the third faster than the second and the last faster than the third. It really helps to set your mind on a shorter distance, after all it's just 400 meters... 
The result was a fat 25 seconds off my last MM, and without that "I'm going to puke" feeling in your stomach that only runners will understand. I don't care much about time, but this result gives me a predicted finish time under the 5 hours, which would make me happy. 


As I was jogging to complete the 5km, this red giant greeted me... it was really beautiful against the blue sky. I wish I could bring my camera when I go running!

 

More on my training program

Easy run, 7km.

On this crispy cold sunny day I learnt one thing: it's better to feel cold for one km than too warm for the rest of the run. Even though the temperature was barely above freezing, wearing a wind jacket and the thermal underwear shirt was NOT a good idea because I couldn't take off the jacket and run with just the shirt. Always make sure you can strip down to a t-shirt, if necessary.

With more help from Chris from the Galloway organization and also from Joanne (Run For Endurance, check her blog for useful tips), I was finally able to make up my mind about my training plan.
Running a marathon is not something to be taken lightly. I have the uttermost respect for the distance, and in fact I also fear it a bit, so I want to make sure that I can get to the start line well prepared, and to the finish line without injuries. "Run only" successful programs all include strength training and pretty high mileage, to which I can't commit right now. The Galloway program, on the other hand, is a three days per week, low mileage program, with an incredibly high rate of success.
I will follow this approach in the coming weeks, and I will try to find that missing feeling by running without breaks for the last quarter of each long run, which is what I would like to do during the marathon: regular walk breaks until mile 20, then run to the finish.
And if this really doesn't work for me, up until 18 weeks before June 2nd I can still switch to a run-only program like Hal Higdon's, and in those 18 weeks I will have to run 4 times a week.

Galloway test run

Long run: 13km

Even before I signed up for the Stockholm marathon, I was considering adopting the Galloway approach for my long runs because I liked the idea of being able to run long distances without suffering from injuries and/or excessive fatigue. My very first attempt at running with walk breaks though was a complete failure because I didn't follow his recommendations at all, I just ran for 2km and walked for one minute. It was a disaster, possibly the worst workout I've ever done.
The second attempt went much better, I used a 4:1 ratio (4 minutes run, 1 minute walk) for all of the 8 miles of that workout, but in the end I didn't feel any better than after my previous longest run, 10km without breaks. Again, my decision on whether to adopt the Galloway approach or not was postponed.
That's when I signed up for Stockholm.
I spent quite some time sketching a training program, but then I started having doubts about it and I sent an email to Jeff Galloway himself, even though I was not really expecting a reply. About a week later I did get an answer from somebody in the Galloway organization: Chris Twiggs, National Program Director. Chris had clearly spent some time writing down a kind and thoughtful reply, and this alone made me want to go for the run/walk/run method, but not before another test... and that's how we finally get to today's run.
With my best time on a single mile I used Galloway's prediction formulas (see Magic Mile) to calculate my marathon pace and my run/walk ratio. Since I wanted this to be a test run, I picked the ratio that was in between the one recommended for my training (1:1) and the one recommended for my race (2,5:1), so that was 2:1. As for the pace, I still don't have very clear what they recommend, so I decided to pace myself based on the heart rate rather than on the timer.
How did it go? Well... I should check this tomorrow, but now it's 12 hours after I finished my run and I don't have any special complaints other than perfectly normal muscular fatigue. Maybe my left knee is a little bit funky but we'll see tomorrow. So I think I can safely say that the post-run is better, but was the run itself also better? Honestly... no. I didn't feel the elation of last week, and even though I'm trying hard to find some more words to describe what I didn't feel, I think that says it all.

So what do I want from my whole marathon experience? Do I want to feel good while running it or afterwards? I'll have to think about it some more, and in the meantime I'd love the input of anybody who read this.

Messed up run

8km Tempo Run: warm up, 5km tempo, cool down (in theory)


10:20am, and I was not ready to go out yet, because of other commitments that kept me longer than expected. Doubting I'd be able to run 8km (and shower) before having to pick up my daughter (at the latest) at noon: should I run this afternoon with both kids? should I shorten my run? should I try to run it all anyway and hurry afterwards?
In the end I decided to shorten warm up and cool down, and still try to run 5km at a challenging pace for a total of 6km. But also this plan B was shattered into pieces, because I started like a rocket for 1km (only 10 seconds slower than my Magic Mile pace, to make it clearer), I slowed down to 10 seconds slower than my best 5km pace for most of the run, and I bursted in the last km. Well, I could see that as a slow cool down, but that would be a lie.
And then I realized that I had forgotten one little detail again... food. I was really not in the mood to eat much for breakfast, but I had planned to get some quick calories in before going out for my workout... which I forgot. Low sugar run = bad run.


Lesson learnt: run it, don't rush it.

I wanted to post a picture of the mug I got from my husband for my birthday, but I didn't manage to do it last week so here it is:

"I'd rather be running now"

"Friends on your side 

The wind in your face

The freedom of running

And the finish already in sight"

Knee pain

Easy Run: 5km.

My knees were hurting quite a bit yesterday and on Sunday, after the long run, and considering that years ago I've had problems to both (torn meniscus on one side and sprained ligament on the other), I was a bit concerned. This morning, however, everything felt fine and I went out for my easy run with no worries.

And it was exactly that: an easy run. Unlike my other weekday runs though, at the end I didn't want to continue, I was good with just 5km. I guess I am still recovering from Sunday after all.

Singing in the woods

Long Run: 12km

I was looking forward to today's run, finally increasing the distance again after being stuck at 10km for one month, and I was not disappointed. This was my longest run ever, if we don't count a 12.8km with regular walk breaks (4:1), and it felt goooooood!
I ventured out in the woods for the first time, I have biked these paths a couple of times but I had never gone running so far from home.

It's fuzzy because I continued walking but I still like it :-)
(I only walked to take this picture and a few times to drink, no regular walk breaks)

I was running with the ipod, and I developed a perfect test to make sure that I don't go too fast: if I can sing, then it's a good pace. It's good I don't have any Whitney Houston songs in there :-p

As I was approaching the virtual finish line, I saw my husband and kids waiting for me. I hope I can have this smile on my face on June 2nd, at the end of the marathon!

 

Birthday Run

7km Speedwork: Warm up, 2x(1600m fast + 800m jog), cool down.


I woke up this morning to a beautifully decorated living room, a delicious breakfast, some presents and the smiling faces of my husband and kids wishing me a happy birthday. Now if that's not the perfect start for a birthday, I don't know what could be! Let's add an overwhelming amount of messages on facebook from friends and family and a beautiful bunch of flowers from my in-laws and the picture is almost complete for the morning... 
I said "almost" because my workout was also tuned in with the fantastic day: I ignored the paces in my program and went with the general recommendations: warm up, fast, recovery, fast, recovery, cool down. I even walked for two short segments during my recovery periods, and I think this helped in achieving a faster pace for the second fast mile (I even took 5 seconds off my best Magic Mile). All in all, it felt good and I could have easily continued. 
Maybe I need to make my weekday runs longer, or is it a good thing that I'm always left wanting more?

Doubts

5km easy, with kids. 


Beautiful day for a run, too bad I only had to do 5km! It was supposed to be an easy run at a slow pace, but I decided that I didn't want to listen to my (well, actually my husband's) Garmin and I listened to my body instead: I started running at a comfortable but good pace, and after a while I checked and discovered it was about 40 seconds faster than what I had in my plan. I continued with that pace until the end because it felt good.
I have a theory that I need to investigate further: if I start up too slow, then I find it very difficult to speed up to a faster pace, whereas if I already start faster (but still in my comfort zone) then I have no problems keeping it up until the end. 


On a different note, I'm not sure about my training plan anymore. The long run schedule is supposed to be designed for a beginner adopting the run/walk/run approach, but is that also good for somebody who wants to run the whole distance? I find the Galloway approach interesting, but something is keeping me from following it all the way. Next June 3rd I want to be able to say that I ran my first marathon, not that I ran/walked it...