I Never Update Any More...Sorry

Does anyone still read this blog? Maybe if I ever updated, they would...

Much has happened in my running life since moving to Denmark. I guess I kind of saw running as an outlet from all the stresses that were hitting me at once and ended up concentrating pretty heavily on it. I worked for a long time on being able to run 4 and then 5 times a week. I also worked on upping mileage, topping out one week at about 35 miles. I still hope to get to around 40 miles a week and hold it there before I decide what to do next.

I've been working on speed as well. I do more tempo runs now (generally at around 7:10 pace or slightly slower, maybe more like 7:20) and some faster miles (at around 6:20 pace.) My easy runs are now at around 8:15 pace. It's crazy that that would have seemed so fast earlier this year but that now it is totally easy.

My long runs have hovered at about 10 miles, mostly because I haven't worked on eating while on the run. This week, however, I did a 12.5 mile run, so maybe I can work on lengthening the...length...of my long runs.

Running in Denmark is fabulous. There are so many runners here. It is nothing like it was when I lived in France and everyone looked at me strangely whenever I went out running. Here, everyone runs, and I feel like a Dane most when I'm running! Most often, my runs take me either through a swampy marsh, through a beautiful desiduous and conifer forest or up the Ringgade, a street that runs around the center of town.

As it is almost the new year, I am looking forward to what I hope to accomplish in running this coming year. Hopefully I'll post about that soon. In the meantime, here are some 2010 running accomplishments to look back on...

1. Building up mileage from 10 to 35 miles a week.
2. Extending long runs from 4 to 12 miles each.
3. What a "fast/hard" run feels like: from 9:00 pace to 6:20 pace
4. What an "easy" run feels like: from 12:00 pace to 8:12 pace
5. Coming in 3rd at a local 5K
6. Adding running days from 3 to 5 days a week.
7. Adding tempo sessions

2011 goals to come soon....

What to do next?

I'm stuck in a kind of running funk: I don't know what I should train for/work on next. Speedwork? For what? Another 5K? Should I train for a 5K? Or should I start working now on my sometime goal of running a marathon? But which one?

Also:

How many miles can my legs take a week?

Also:

Did I destroy them by running the 5K and then running (eventually) 4 times the following week?

So many questions...

Lyseroed Loerdag Kvindeloeb 5K

I know I haven't blogged about running in a long time, but here are some pictures from the last race I did - my first here in Aarhus. I came in third and ran a 24:04. Not what I was hoping for, but okay given the hills!

You can even see Richard and Christian in the background of this one!

Shin Secrets

I have figured out the Secret of my Shins and it's as simple as two words:

WARM UP.

It used to be 3 miles that I had to run to warm up at about 10 min/mi pace. Then it dropped to 2. Now it's 2 at 9:30 min/mi pace. This gives me hope that the time I need to warm up will decrease as my legs get stronger. Since I started warming up I have:

1. been able to start doing speedwork again. YIPPEEEEEE! I did a 7:00 min/mi mile this morning as part of my workout. Fun!

2. not done too many long runs. Two miles is a long time to warm up.

3. had considerably slower average pace times over the course of the whole run. Sometimes I cut out the first two miles from my run, so that I can see a faster average pace for the run, but that comes at the expense of cutting out two perfectly good miles! Those miles weren't free, you know! SOMEONE had to run them, and they aren't happy when they don't get counted.

4. been considerably less motivated to run. Weird, huh? All I do when my shins hurt is complain I can't run, and once I realize how to make them not hurt, I lose all motivation. Or maybe it's the heat. Anyway.

Still, I am happy to have discovered this.

The End.

Hot run

This morning I got out for a run at the only time of day I knew I was going to be able to get out: in the morning. Unfortunately, it was already quite warm. I was intimidated by the thought of running in the already 80 degree heat (and under the sun, to boot) but I decided to go for it, since I didn't want to skip my normal running day.

I survived. But it was hot. I took the first 2 miles at about 10 min/mi pace, and my shins felt great. I was really glad about that, since I have been having major frustration on and off with them the last few weeks since my foray into the FIRST training program. The heat helped me to slow down enough that my legs were comfortable and yet still made me feel like I was getting a hard workout in. After a couple of miles I sped up and averaged about 9 min/mi on the entire 6 mile run. Needless to say, I was very ready to be done once I got home and felt quite hot, maybe even dehydrated somewhat, since I drank about 26 oz and didn't need to pee for about 3 hours after!

I think I'm going to start doing a little more hot weather running, first for the benefits of getting acclimated to running in the heat, and secondly to get a hard workout in without destroying my legs.

My sights for the future? Continue to log miles to strengthen the legs, and continue the hill sprints more diligently. Eventually begin integrating speed work and tempo runs back in to my training. They are so rewarding, if somewhat daunting when you're doing them (or contemplating doing them) and so beneficial.

Shins

It's very frustrating to be limited by mechanical factors.

I just completed one week of the 10k FIRST 3plus2 training program. It has been hard but quite empowering. I never knew that I could run such hard workouts. I feel like I am already seeing payoff from this training program.

But....my shins are not quite as happy as my cariovascular system. During my "long" run (6 mi) today, they started hurting quite badly after 2 miles. They kept it up until mile four, costing me a quite slow (9:50min/mi) fourth mile. I was supposed to run 6 miles at 8:18 min/mi pace, and ended up with 8:27 min/mi overall after fairly fast fifth and sixth miles:

First 3 miles in 8:15 min/mi
mile 4 in 9:50 min/mi (34:36)
mile 5 in 7:43 min/mi (42:53)
mile 6 in 7:59 min/mi (50:44)

My shins stopped hurting completed after mile 4, allowing me to run them quite a bit faster. I hate to pull back when I can see that this training program could be great, but I don't want to destroy my body. I'm going to ease up this coming week and just do some easy miles and cross train. Next week I'll do one hard work out and keep doing that for a while until I can up it to two. Right now three hard workouts, while satisfying, are just too much for my legs right now. Boo.

I have also noticed that running faster paces makes my lower back hurt (I think it's sciatica.) Richard says that situps can help with that. We'll see.

So week 1 of this training program involved the following 3 workouts:

1: Track repeats: 8 X 400m with 400m recovery jogs between. Intervals run at 6:52 min/mi pace.

2. Tempo run: 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at 7:48 min/mi pace, 1 mile cool down

3. Long run: 6 miles at 8:18 min/mi. (Actually done at 8:27min/mi overall)

Hard but awesome. Too bad my body doesn't agree.

Speedwork

I've decided to start a rather rigorous 10k training program. It will involve 3 hard training sessions a week with 2 cross training days. (It's the FIRST training program from the book Run Less, Run Faster.)

Yesterday I did my first real session of speedwork intervals: track repeats. I measured out 400m with the Garmin and then was supposed to run 8 400m repeats in 1:43 (~6:52 min/mi pace) with 400m recovery intervals in between each.

It was hard to know what 6:52 pace feels like. I was sort of hit and miss at trying to run exact 1:43s, but was always under them by a few seconds, never over. This training program I'm doing stresses being exact about the paces, but how are you supposed to know instantaneously what pace you're running? The Garmin doesn't keep up enough to really know.

My legs were quite tired after my run and my stomach was in shambles. I spent a night with many trips to the bathroom while my bowels emptied themselves repeatedly (and angrily). Was it a result of the intervals, or just a fluke stomach thing?

I also noticed that my heart rate got higher than I had previously imagined it could go. I'd only seen 190 bpm before yesterday, and the Garmin registered a max bpm of 199 yesterday. Hmmm. Interesting. According to most caculators, 194 should be my max. I must have a big heart. ha ha!

It will be interesting to see if my legs hold out after that intense workout yesterday. I wonder if I'm really ready to do this somewhat intense training program. I'll be able to tell more after my workout on Saturday.

Consistency?

I'd like to try to be more consistent posting about my runs. I do keep a separate run log at www.runningahead.com with a few notes, but it might be nice to keep track more on a weekly perspective about how things are going. So with that in mind, here's a recap of last week.

I actually wanted the week before last to count as an "easy" week, since I only ran maybe 14 miles or so during the week. But I guess when you run a 7 mile trail run (and it's the first trail run race you've ever done), you can't really expect that your muscles are going to be too happy about it. Suffice it to say that it was NOT an easy week. I was pretty sore in the ankle area for a good 3 days. Nonetheless, I pushed ahead this last week with my goal of getting up to 20 miles a week (which I had originally hoped to do by the end of June) and ran 3 miles on Monday, 3 on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday and then...10 on Saturday. That makes 20 miles...and I meant to only run 18 this week. I only meant to run 8 yesterday. BUT due to some unforeseen construction around the zoo and and a navigational error involving Nakoma and Odana which do NOT intersect, NTS, I ended up running a good 2 extra miles. I was okay, but quite thirsty and tired by the time I got home.

Now let's talk legs.

I've been feeling the twinge (a terrible feeling) during every run for the past couple of weeks (minus the trail run. But that's a different kind of running. Not road running, like I normally do.) EVERY RUN. If I run slower than 10 min/mi I don't feel them much, but these days I've been feeling like a "comfortably slow" run should be at about 9 min/mi. So you can see the disagreement I and my legs have with each other. I have forced my legs into submission during every run, which means that:

For a run shorter than 4 miles, I am suffering with sore shins the entire run. By "suffering" I mean that I am thinking non-stop about them. I've noticed that my heart rate goes up when I am feeling them, which makes the run less "easy." But it's usually not a real "pain." It feels more like my legs are full of lactic acid, so maybe "ache" is a better way to describe it. In any case, it's not comfortable.

For long runs, once I pass 30-40 minutes, the legs go numb or stop hurting and I am free to ramp up the pace as much as I want. For good or ill. Yesterday, for instance, I was forced to hobble around at a 10 min/mi pace for the first two miles before they finally (blessedly) went numb and I was able to run atth something more like 8:30 min/mi for the rest of it. (With a maybe 7:30 min/mi last mile.) Until that happened, though, it was not a pleasant run.

Anyway, I'm finally going to bite the bullet and...take a little time off from running and cross train. I hate even thinking about taking time off from running, but I think it has to be done. I'm going to New York to visit my brother this week, and so spending time with him will force me to stop pounding the pavement as much as I usually do. I'd still like to get in 2 or so runs this week...but I might wait all the way until Wednesday for my next run, and then maybe do something easy Friday or Saturday. We'll see.

My legs are definitely my weak point. Once I get them beaten into shape, I'll be able to move forward with some more serious training. In the meantime, I guess it's biking for me! (Or swimming, if I get up the gumption to go to the Nat!)

Race: Blue Mounds Trail Run: 11k

Today I raced the Blue Mounds 11k Trail run. It was my first ever race on a trail, so I wasn't sure what to expect. My basic goal was to "see how hard it is to run it comfortably fast." I was sort of frightened of the idea of mud and slippery spots, but somewhat excited by it too. I sometimes go for runs outside in the woods near me and it's always fun to try and jump around all the rocks and roots on the trail. It's part of the experience. There was definitely lots of that. There were even a couple of log bridges to cross!

The first little bit was pretty narrow and I had a hard time vying for my spot. After about 1/2 k of being forced to run at about 12-13 minute mile pace, I finally elbowed my way by some people and ran the next 1k or so at a pretty fast clip (somewhere around 7:30 min/mi.) We were running all downhill at this point, and it felt good. After that, the hills started. I ran the first few quite fast, passing people left and right. After about 1/2k of hills, though, I was starting to feel a little burned. I remember glancing at my watch and noticing that I'd been running only 2 miles.

The next few miles were honestly a haze. I had really bonked by then, I realize now, and it was mostly all uphill at this point. I can't remember the last time I had to walk in a race (I actually don't honestly think I ever have) but had to succumb to walking after about 2 solid miles of challenging hills. Once I reached the first aide station at about 4 miles, I was feeling quite tired. I gratefully drank my Gatorade down (which I had laughed about needing in a 11k race, come on people) and continued on.

From there the course was rolling up and down, winding in and out of the trees. It was by far the most pretty and enjoyable part of the run. (We were just north of the Mound, at this point.) There was only one man ahead of me that I was trying to keep in my sights. We pulled each other through till the end of the race, sometimes me ahead, sometimes him. Otherwise, all was calm.

The last challenge was a brutal uphill back on top of the mound. Most people had to walk this: it was the sort of incline that you have to hold onto your thighs and push them down in order to conquer...walking! One veteran of the race said afterward that once you could run this course the whole way, you could run the same distance easily in 6 min/mi. I believe it! My slowish finish time does NOT reflect how hard it was to finish that "fast."

Once we got to the top, it was just about 1/2 k to go. I drank another few swallows of Gatorade at aide station number 2 and then cruised to the finish (which was mostly downhill from there) at a 7 min/mile pace. It felt odd that I felt strong enough to do that after feeling so weak on the hills, but I definitely had some kick left. I finished 11th in my age group* and 60th overall.

Distance: 11k (although, according to the Garmin, it was more like 6.22 miles. That's closer to 10k. But the race billed itself as an 11k, sooooo I get to take credit for running 11k, right?

Time: 1:07:10 (from the time I crossed the start line.) 1:07:26 official time.

Pace: 9:50 min/mi

Would I do it again: Yes. In fact, I want to do it again soon. I feel like knowing the ups and downs of the course would make me better able to be a little more strategic about my running (like, don't blow by people on the first hills. They're not flying up them for a reason.)

How I felt afterwards: TIRED. Somewhat dizzy and had a headache too, I think from all the pounding. The race had EXCELLENT post race food (organic chocolate milk, homemade cookies of all kinds, fruit, bread and condiments, Gatorade (2X strength!), Chex mix: it was amazing.) which I partook of generously. I probably burned like a billion calories. My Garmin says that I climbed and descended about 2020 feet throughout the race. How I feel now, 6-7 hours later? Kind of crappy actually. Hopefully I fell better once I eat.

Race organization. AWESOME. See above.

Official Results Here

I think some people took pictures too, so I'll post them once they're up.

*If I had been a man, I would have been 3rd in my age group. Darned women who like to run!

Week One of MY Training Schedule: Complete

I just finished week one of MY OWN training schedule: i.e. the one that I wrote for myself after having read a few books on the subject. This week I had 15 miles to run, and I am pleased to note at the end of it all that I feel like I could still run more miles! Apparently my new running technique combined with an easier pace seems to be just what I need to get in more miles. For the next few weeks I'll up the number of miles I run until 17 at which time I'll drop it back just to let myself do a rest week (somewhere from 12-15 mi) and then up it again until I'm at 20 miles a week. I am really hoping that I can work on the miles and not have any shin pain from here on out. I really have been feeling pretty good shin-wise since starting this program.

The downside to running slow miles is, and always has been, the fact that my KNEES don't really like it. Anything above about 9:30 min/mi pace and my knees and upper leg mechanics rebel (hams, IT band, quads, glutes). Hopefully the strength exercises I am doing will help with that.

I've also been paying special attention to my diet. (Richard will be surprised if he is reading this). Not that I am really changing too much about the way I eat, which, I know, is not incredibly healthy, but just that I want to know how many calories I eat a day. I have observed, after about a week of keeping track of calories, that I go in 2-3 day waves: I have a couple of days where I eat maybe a few too many calories and then days where I don't get enough. I can tell those days because I'm sort of hungry when I go to bed and then REALLY hungry before I get up in the morning. I'm going to try to be more balanced. I have tried, however, to eat more fruits and vegetables than I have in the past. Hopefully by small things great things will be brought to pass.

No speed work is on the slate for another three weeks or so (minus the injury-preventing hill sprints), so I have that to look forward to once I get there. Hopefully once I do, I'll be comfortable running more miles than before and my drive train will have adjusted to taking the impact off my shins.

Week One on My Own Training Plan

I've worked out a potential training schedule for the next few weeks with a few key goals in mind:

1. Build up mileage
2. Do it slowly so that shins don't hurt
3. Strengthen leg muscles so that muscles problems don't become injuries

Mostly what this means is that for the next few weeks, there won't be much speed work going on. I'll be putting a lot of slowish miles to build up a base and avoid ripping my legs to shreds with fast work (i.e. no races). I'll be building up mileage by week as well (from 15-20 in the next month or so). The third part of my plan involves doing "hill sprints" which are basically very short (8 sec) all-out sprints up a steep hill to build up leg strength. I'm also focusing more on stretching and doing strengthening exercises on the days I don't run. I'm going to keep an eye on how things go for the next few weeks and see what progress gets made and what adjustments should consequently be made.

I was really angry with myself last night: when icing my legs, I somehow frost burned the left one. I have this nice raised red burn (that seems to be fading now, thankfully) marring my left shin. Remember how I was discoursing about my legs and revealing how vain I am about them? There's an episode in Anne of Green Gables where Anne, hoping to get rid of the freckles on her nose, ends up accidentally turning it black. This is the ultimate shame for her since her nose is her one feature she is proud of. That's like what happened to me. I was vain about my legs and now I've got this unholy burn slashed across them. That should teach me.

And it's not just the appearance that bothers me; I mean, how dumb do you have to be to burn yourself with ice???

Crystal Ball: Marathon?

I've been thinking a lot about running lately, but never has the thought come into my head that I would like to run a marathon. Well, that's not really true. It's come into my head before, most often when I hear about friends running them. It's also sort of been one of my life goals that I'd like to check off sometime; I think a lot of people, even non-runners have that one. But I've never really seriously considered the thought that it might be possible in the nearish future until TODAY.

Naturally, due to my lack of patience, I have already researched this year's marathons by location (Midwest, in case we're here this fall, Utah, in case I were to go home to do one, and Europe, in case we were to be there in the fall.) I found a few interesting ones, but nothing that felt really right enough to decide that one was The One for The First One.

I do have some fairly specific requirements in mind for myself whenever I decide to tackle Project Marathon. One of those goals is that I would want to/have to run it in less than 4 hours. Lofty for a first time? Maybe, but I think with proper training, it wouldn't be out of the question. There's also that little part of me that someday wants to qualify for Boston, even if I don't ever run Boston, (a 3:40 for my age group) but no, I don't plan on doing that my first time around.

My FIRST time around. See? I'm even considering making a habit of the crazy distance. After just one day of entertaining the idea of running one.

My thoughts this evening are perhaps more sane/realistic. I want to run a marathon, yes, and I want to do it soonish, yes, but I think that I might be happier with the experience if I have a lot of training under me by the time I undertake it. Yes, I could train adequately perhaps in four or five months to run a sub 4 marathon this fall, but I'm not sure it would be super fun to do things that way. Instead, as I am an injury prone runner, I think I should spend some time building up some base miles (I'm still at a pathetic 14 miles per week and I've been training since March. Sheesh.) and adding some speed work and just doing little races here and there this year. Next year, I'm thinking, I won't have stopped running (I really hope) over the winter and I will be able to do more serious training for a more serious time.

Taking Care of the Legs

This evening I treated myself to a long hot bath and a little self-administered pedicure. The hot pink polish on my toes was chipping, but now, after a coat of my favorite neutral color polish (Maybeline's foreverstrong "Brawny Tawny" - yikes) the old toes are looking great.

I realized today that I like taking care of my legs and toes. In some small way, it approaches the way I feel after I get back from a run - like I've just done something good for my body. Spring running is toning up my legs but I have to admit that the hot pink stuff made my feet look like they belonged to a college sorority girl. The new polish makes them look much more sophisticated. And it goes well with my legs.

Am I the only one who cares what running does to the legs? The funny thing is, I look at pictures of really, really good runners (Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi, for instance) and I just sort of wince at their sinewy limbs that look like muscles without skin. Do I want to look like that? No. Would I like to be able to run like that? HECK, yes. But I don't want their legs, thank you. I like the sort of "moderately toned" legs, I guess.

I suppose I don't have to worry about developing leg muscles like an elite runner. But still. It's the sort of thought that COULD hold you back.

Season Opener

I'm starting this blog mostly because I like to talk about running these days. I know it's not a topic that is especially enthralling for a lot of people, but it's interesting to me. This way, instead of getting glazed over stares when I start to discourse on the topic, I can just blab to The Unknown and The Unknown can just navigate away from this blog once they realize how boring it is.  The best part is, I'll never know!

You are, of course, welcome to blab back, should you wish. I'm not trying to discourage dialog, I just want to be realistic about the fact that my obsession may not be everyone's. Don't feel like you have to pretend to be interested. I understand if you're not. Really, I do. Okay, maybe I don't. But I'll try to imagine such sentiments.

Oh, an explanation of the title. Few people understand why I run. So I thought this Bible quote was applicable, if taken completely out of context.