Key Words: Thamus, Boot, Wrap It Up
Word Count: 638
My foot felt OK come Sunday morning, so I went with the usual bike "Tour de Bayou" (a 45 minute trek around Buffalo Bayou) complete with a set of jumps on some speed hills (they are not speed bumps, much too big) just to give the legs a final challenge. Then, back and biceps workout at the apartment, and my prescribed day of cross training was complete.
On Monday morning I went to the apartment gym to ride the bike for a while; all was well. After work, I debated whether to run, but seeing as we had softball, I opted for another stint on the bike. Things went pretty foul at that point, as my left hammy (the leg with the foot problem) was not happy. Much stretching ensued, and off I went to softball.
It was a big night for the softball team. We lost a game last week (gasp!), and would had a chance to restate our normal dominance over the league. Unlike week one, I had a couple of Shiners before the game, and thus pretty much pitched lights out. I had three or four strikeouts (most against girls, but hey, better than last week), but unfortunately the shortstop from game two, Thamus (who names there kid that?), ripped three doubles in three at bats (the kid can run; most were singles he made into doubles). Our defense was stellar again, but the bats struggled. This week, unlike last week, my bat was amongst the dead; I went 1-3 with a walk. We won the first game 10-0, but in the second game I came to bat with the bases loaded twice, and went o-2, with one double play, one infield pop-out, but did at least manage to let a run score during a squirrelly play where the Ump's though the other team got a triple play. My team picked me up though, and batted in three runs in the final inning for a one run victory; 3-1 on the season.
My health after those games is simply put, pretty bad. My leg went all haywire, with all kinds of foot/hammy pain. Jon mentioned using a frozen water bottle on the foot so I've been administering ice to the sole of my foot since Monday night (including work; screw it, I gotta get healthy). I have a foot brace on order (should be here tomorrow) to help my plantar fascia stay limber while I sleep. Why the brace you ask? People sleep with their foot pointed down, thus allowing the Achilles and plantar fascia to tighten as they have no tension on them. In the morning, you walk on the tense fascia and they get very irritated (thus the traditional "morning pain" of plantar fasciitis). This is a problem not due to the pain, but since this irritation guarantees a daily irritation of the fascia, thus slowing/preventing healing. The boot is a commonly prescribed treatment for the problem, so hopefully I am being proactive in a positive way.
I'm not sure how much more running or cross training I will be doing before Chicago. Better to be healthy and untrained than trained and unhealthy; eight days of rest helped, but didn't alleviate the problem. After Chicago, I'm going to my doctor to make sure I don't have a heel spur on the foot, which would probably mean a more extended break from running.
Believe it or not it is almost time to wrap up this blog! I leave for Auburn then Chicago in a week! Over the next few posts I'll wrap things up, discuss what I've learned, and where we go from here.
Keep those fascia loose people!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Diet Coke During a Run
Key Words: 10.7 miles, Keith Rant, Alaska Picture
Word Count: 790
This is very cool. A quick, real time slideshow of the photos people are uploading to blogs; make sure you check it out: http://play.blogger.com/
Today was the 21 miler for Chicago Marathoners. As I'm a bit more hurt than normal, 21 was not to be, so I started my day with the Yellow Fever. Lot's of familiar faces, talked to a few, and made it through the run in 1:26:30. About 10:45 pace, which is good, though my heart was humming along in the low 170s. I thought about trying to bring that down, but as it was a day of moderate distance, I didn't bother. With those eight miles complete, I took a left turn for the Memorial Loop, as I wanted to get into double digits. The only noteworthy part was the last mile; I decided to pick up the pace and ran it in 9:40. Considering the distance I had ran, I was pleased. My heart was thumping along above 180 though, so I was clearly working in a place I could not have stayed for long. Total of about 10.7 or so miles today.
As for my plantar fasciitis, my foot kind of felt like jell-o at the start, not good. I suppose the fascia were stretching out, and at some point, the foot quieted down. I drank my post run recovery drink, took my ice bath, had my breakfast jack an hour after I left the park ... hopefully I am doing the right things to recover well (and the Shiner for the football games, key).
Now, the part you love, a good old fashioned Keith Rant!!!
When I got back to my car, the seminar had started. I limped over in search of Yellows (are we going to Ottos? was the question on my mind), and caught a bit of the nutrition topic of the day. If I had to go back to school for something completely different, I would choose nutrition. I truly geek off the stuff; I can't get enough! There's so much we can learn about what we stick in our faces, but yet there's so much the average person doesn't even know.
Anyway, two things came up. The first was recovery nutrition. The speaker said you need something right after the run, and I totally agree. Only in training for Chicago have I bought into this idea, but those first 30 minutes after the run are key. You need a carb to protein ratio of 4:1, and you can certainly get that, like I do, from Accelerade. You can also get it from chocolate milk if you freeze it, leave it in your car, and have it right after the run. If you don't do this post run, then start. You then need more food about an hour later. With that in you, you've set your body up with the nuts and bolts to heal.
Then, she did it. She stumbled upon a topic that I put into the "Why don't people have common sense" bin of nutritional misinformation. She said how it was important to hydrate during the week (true), and how you should avoid caffeine in doing so. Good lord, can we please kill this now! Truly, caffeine is a diuretic, but it is a mild one. People see "diuretic" and think they should stay away. If you spend juuuuust a bit of common sense time on this (or read anything reputable about it), you'll realize that you gain much more water than you wee out as a result of such a mild diuretic. Also, if you're immune to caffeine like your's truly (Diet Coke, you have numbed me to the world!), the effect is even less. This is a horrible thing to perpetuate because some people just don't like to drink plain old, tasteless water. They don't have too. Drink black tea, drink Coke (Diet, even better), green tea, drink coffee for goodness sake; it all helps to hydrate you. There's certainly nothing wrong with scarfing down 20 oz. of water the night before a run to make sure your tank is topped off, but water need not be the linchpin in your hydration plans.
There. I let the anger out! I feel better now. Auburn plays Miss. State today. As the Bulldogs are, shall we say, the laughing stock of the SEC West, we need a win. Then the Florida game. Lot's 'o football today!
Word Count: 790
This is very cool. A quick, real time slideshow of the photos people are uploading to blogs; make sure you check it out: http://play.blogger.com/
Today was the 21 miler for Chicago Marathoners. As I'm a bit more hurt than normal, 21 was not to be, so I started my day with the Yellow Fever. Lot's of familiar faces, talked to a few, and made it through the run in 1:26:30. About 10:45 pace, which is good, though my heart was humming along in the low 170s. I thought about trying to bring that down, but as it was a day of moderate distance, I didn't bother. With those eight miles complete, I took a left turn for the Memorial Loop, as I wanted to get into double digits. The only noteworthy part was the last mile; I decided to pick up the pace and ran it in 9:40. Considering the distance I had ran, I was pleased. My heart was thumping along above 180 though, so I was clearly working in a place I could not have stayed for long. Total of about 10.7 or so miles today.
As for my plantar fasciitis, my foot kind of felt like jell-o at the start, not good. I suppose the fascia were stretching out, and at some point, the foot quieted down. I drank my post run recovery drink, took my ice bath, had my breakfast jack an hour after I left the park ... hopefully I am doing the right things to recover well (and the Shiner for the football games, key).
Now, the part you love, a good old fashioned Keith Rant!!!
When I got back to my car, the seminar had started. I limped over in search of Yellows (are we going to Ottos? was the question on my mind), and caught a bit of the nutrition topic of the day. If I had to go back to school for something completely different, I would choose nutrition. I truly geek off the stuff; I can't get enough! There's so much we can learn about what we stick in our faces, but yet there's so much the average person doesn't even know.
Anyway, two things came up. The first was recovery nutrition. The speaker said you need something right after the run, and I totally agree. Only in training for Chicago have I bought into this idea, but those first 30 minutes after the run are key. You need a carb to protein ratio of 4:1, and you can certainly get that, like I do, from Accelerade. You can also get it from chocolate milk if you freeze it, leave it in your car, and have it right after the run. If you don't do this post run, then start. You then need more food about an hour later. With that in you, you've set your body up with the nuts and bolts to heal.
Then, she did it. She stumbled upon a topic that I put into the "Why don't people have common sense" bin of nutritional misinformation. She said how it was important to hydrate during the week (true), and how you should avoid caffeine in doing so. Good lord, can we please kill this now! Truly, caffeine is a diuretic, but it is a mild one. People see "diuretic" and think they should stay away. If you spend juuuuust a bit of common sense time on this (or read anything reputable about it), you'll realize that you gain much more water than you wee out as a result of such a mild diuretic. Also, if you're immune to caffeine like your's truly (Diet Coke, you have numbed me to the world!), the effect is even less. This is a horrible thing to perpetuate because some people just don't like to drink plain old, tasteless water. They don't have too. Drink black tea, drink Coke (Diet, even better), green tea, drink coffee for goodness sake; it all helps to hydrate you. There's certainly nothing wrong with scarfing down 20 oz. of water the night before a run to make sure your tank is topped off, but water need not be the linchpin in your hydration plans.
There. I let the anger out! I feel better now. Auburn plays Miss. State today. As the Bulldogs are, shall we say, the laughing stock of the SEC West, we need a win. Then the Florida game. Lot's 'o football today!
Real quick. Race poster from Alaska, and a certain orange clad runner that appears a couple of times ...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Orange and Blue
Key Words: Overslept, IT Guy, War Mizuno
Word Count: 464
With Humble Humberto churning to our East, today was a good day. 89 degrees or so in the afternoon, but either Humberto or the front that passed seem to have cleared the humidity from the air. I came home with intentions to run with Felix. If you're wondering whether you can wake up at 6:16 for Felix's 6:30 Finish Strong run, and still make from my apt, I found out the answer is yes; I overslept my afterwork nap just a bit!
Small group, with Felix at the store but not running (I think he's prepping for a 50 miler in addition to Chicago). So Coach Robert led a group of about eight of us for a tempo run. Larry was talking about "running easy", and the notion was infectious; I quickly thought "two easy, at most one hard, then finish easy". When we got to the track, Larry got confused and initially went right instead of left, and we were separated. Dave, the older gent of the Thursday crew, came trotting up. Though I thought he would just head off, we started talking, comparing injuries, talked computers (he used to be some kind of IT guy), and next thing I knew I had ran the next two miles fairly hard; 9:03 and 8:45, with both miles feeling pretty comfortable. We both stopped for water, and Dave headed out for one more loop, while I headed back to the store. Total time for the 3.9 miles was 36:59. The plantar fasciitis afflicted heel felt OK, but it's still not healthy. I have resigned myself to trying to control the problem until after Chicago, when I will give it time to heal. My left hammy was a bit angry, but physically, things went better than I expected.
I ran in my new shoes today; the orange and blue, War Eagle inspired Mizuno Wave 7. They felt nothing short of wonderful. They strike me as the bastard lovechild of a New Balance 767 and a Mizuno Wave 6; stable and firm, yet springy and forgiving. Perhaps my old shoes were just getting to many miles (202), perhaps Mizuno wear out fast, or perhaps these are just more supple. Regardless, they felt much better than my current Wave 6s. As these shoes will carry me through Chicago, I've written a song to honor them:
War Mizuno, fly down the road,
ever to conquer, never to yield
War Mizuno, fearless and true,
run on you orange and blue
GO! GO! GO!
On to vict'ry, strike a winning pose,
give 'em hell, give 'em hell,
finish strong and yell, HEY
War Mizuno, beat Oprah,
power of 26.2!
:)
Word Count: 464
With Humble Humberto churning to our East, today was a good day. 89 degrees or so in the afternoon, but either Humberto or the front that passed seem to have cleared the humidity from the air. I came home with intentions to run with Felix. If you're wondering whether you can wake up at 6:16 for Felix's 6:30 Finish Strong run, and still make from my apt, I found out the answer is yes; I overslept my afterwork nap just a bit!
Small group, with Felix at the store but not running (I think he's prepping for a 50 miler in addition to Chicago). So Coach Robert led a group of about eight of us for a tempo run. Larry was talking about "running easy", and the notion was infectious; I quickly thought "two easy, at most one hard, then finish easy". When we got to the track, Larry got confused and initially went right instead of left, and we were separated. Dave, the older gent of the Thursday crew, came trotting up. Though I thought he would just head off, we started talking, comparing injuries, talked computers (he used to be some kind of IT guy), and next thing I knew I had ran the next two miles fairly hard; 9:03 and 8:45, with both miles feeling pretty comfortable. We both stopped for water, and Dave headed out for one more loop, while I headed back to the store. Total time for the 3.9 miles was 36:59. The plantar fasciitis afflicted heel felt OK, but it's still not healthy. I have resigned myself to trying to control the problem until after Chicago, when I will give it time to heal. My left hammy was a bit angry, but physically, things went better than I expected.
I ran in my new shoes today; the orange and blue, War Eagle inspired Mizuno Wave 7. They felt nothing short of wonderful. They strike me as the bastard lovechild of a New Balance 767 and a Mizuno Wave 6; stable and firm, yet springy and forgiving. Perhaps my old shoes were just getting to many miles (202), perhaps Mizuno wear out fast, or perhaps these are just more supple. Regardless, they felt much better than my current Wave 6s. As these shoes will carry me through Chicago, I've written a song to honor them:
War Mizuno, fly down the road,
ever to conquer, never to yield
War Mizuno, fearless and true,
run on you orange and blue
GO! GO! GO!
On to vict'ry, strike a winning pose,
give 'em hell, give 'em hell,
finish strong and yell, HEY
War Mizuno, beat Oprah,
power of 26.2!
:)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Repetition
As softball is concerned, normally, I pitch. Here's how I ply my trade:
The Backspin Pitch – Unlike most pitchers, I choose to pitch with my hand on top of the ball, imparting backspin instead of topspin. My reasoning is it makes the pitch look different to the batter, in spin and flight, and thus makes the batter a little uncomfortable. As I have good control of this pitch, I use it about 85% of the time.
The Severe Backspin Pitch (aka, The Nasty) – This pitch is identical in grip to the Backspin, but instead of simply letting the ball come out of my hand, I snap my wrist towards home plate, imparting vicious backspin to the ball. This creates a different visual effect, and it encourages the ball to fall straight down at the end of its flight. If I'm not pitching a standard backspin, I'm most likely throwing the Nasty.
The Knuckleball – Here, I put my hand in a traditional, under-the-ball position, but unlike most such pitches, I hold the ball with the tips of my fingers, pushing the ball off the tips at the end of the pitching motion. The value of this pitch is it has little or no spin, thus it looks quite different from the backspin variety. A knuckleball preceded by two to three backspin pitches will look quite bizarre, and again, hopefully make the batter uncomfortable.
The Curveball – Here, you make a circle with your thumb and index finger, placing the circle on the outside of the ball, with your remaining fingers underneath. Pitch with a normal, underhanded toss, but at the end of your arm swing, roll your hand such that the ring moves towards the top of the ball. This produces, a cool visual effect, with the ball screwing through the air, and moving right to left. Used rarely, and then only in Men's leagues against lefties.
The Standard – This pitch, you guessed, is the standard underhanded toss. Used rarely, and then usually in men's leagues. If you want more fly balls, pitch this. If you want more ground balls, use backspin.
All these pitches, and for what? The value of a pitcher in softball is indeed questioned by many. While it is true that most athletic people will have some aptitude for tossing a ball, there are many cases where a batter will willingly walk if given the opportunity. Particularly in Co-Ed, where men get two bases for a walk, pitching strikes is key. But is there any value to using different pitches, or is my job simply to be an "accuracy monkey"?
While this is a question for the ages, and somewhat rhetorical, it is clear that I wasn't even an accuracy monkey on Monday when our new Co-Ed league kicked off. I walked the first batter (both men) of the first and second inning, and was rarely comfortable pitching in that first game. In the last inning, I realized I wasn't holding the ball correct, made an adjustment, and Yahtzee!, I could pitch again. This being my first league in four months, the lack of repetition had made me quite pedestrian.
Does the same hold for running? I think not, in many respects. I think long runs, particularly for experienced runners, are mental exercises, not physical. While you need your brain to get a fresh reminder of the challenge of distance running, your body has long since wired itself to be up to the task. Although tou need to work your aerobic and lactic acid thresholds, these can be maintained with shorter runs or other activities.
This is good because I haven't ran since last Wednesday! I've real biked, fake biked, worked out, and played softball, but no running. I would have ran speed work yesterday, but the imminent threat of rain (which never materialized) scared me off. Today was more threat of rain (thanks Humberto!); more biking and lifting was all I could do.
My fascia are at least getting a rest, and I've been eating good for the last few days with some surprisingly quick and positive results; maybe I won't be as tubby as I thought when it comes time to run Chicago. The dress shoe inserts, though causing some initial awkwardness and back pain, do help the fascia as well; hopefully they will be fully healed when it next comes time to run.
The Backspin Pitch – Unlike most pitchers, I choose to pitch with my hand on top of the ball, imparting backspin instead of topspin. My reasoning is it makes the pitch look different to the batter, in spin and flight, and thus makes the batter a little uncomfortable. As I have good control of this pitch, I use it about 85% of the time.
The Severe Backspin Pitch (aka, The Nasty) – This pitch is identical in grip to the Backspin, but instead of simply letting the ball come out of my hand, I snap my wrist towards home plate, imparting vicious backspin to the ball. This creates a different visual effect, and it encourages the ball to fall straight down at the end of its flight. If I'm not pitching a standard backspin, I'm most likely throwing the Nasty.
The Knuckleball – Here, I put my hand in a traditional, under-the-ball position, but unlike most such pitches, I hold the ball with the tips of my fingers, pushing the ball off the tips at the end of the pitching motion. The value of this pitch is it has little or no spin, thus it looks quite different from the backspin variety. A knuckleball preceded by two to three backspin pitches will look quite bizarre, and again, hopefully make the batter uncomfortable.
The Curveball – Here, you make a circle with your thumb and index finger, placing the circle on the outside of the ball, with your remaining fingers underneath. Pitch with a normal, underhanded toss, but at the end of your arm swing, roll your hand such that the ring moves towards the top of the ball. This produces, a cool visual effect, with the ball screwing through the air, and moving right to left. Used rarely, and then only in Men's leagues against lefties.
The Standard – This pitch, you guessed, is the standard underhanded toss. Used rarely, and then usually in men's leagues. If you want more fly balls, pitch this. If you want more ground balls, use backspin.
All these pitches, and for what? The value of a pitcher in softball is indeed questioned by many. While it is true that most athletic people will have some aptitude for tossing a ball, there are many cases where a batter will willingly walk if given the opportunity. Particularly in Co-Ed, where men get two bases for a walk, pitching strikes is key. But is there any value to using different pitches, or is my job simply to be an "accuracy monkey"?
While this is a question for the ages, and somewhat rhetorical, it is clear that I wasn't even an accuracy monkey on Monday when our new Co-Ed league kicked off. I walked the first batter (both men) of the first and second inning, and was rarely comfortable pitching in that first game. In the last inning, I realized I wasn't holding the ball correct, made an adjustment, and Yahtzee!, I could pitch again. This being my first league in four months, the lack of repetition had made me quite pedestrian.
Does the same hold for running? I think not, in many respects. I think long runs, particularly for experienced runners, are mental exercises, not physical. While you need your brain to get a fresh reminder of the challenge of distance running, your body has long since wired itself to be up to the task. Although tou need to work your aerobic and lactic acid thresholds, these can be maintained with shorter runs or other activities.
This is good because I haven't ran since last Wednesday! I've real biked, fake biked, worked out, and played softball, but no running. I would have ran speed work yesterday, but the imminent threat of rain (which never materialized) scared me off. Today was more threat of rain (thanks Humberto!); more biking and lifting was all I could do.
My fascia are at least getting a rest, and I've been eating good for the last few days with some surprisingly quick and positive results; maybe I won't be as tubby as I thought when it comes time to run Chicago. The dress shoe inserts, though causing some initial awkwardness and back pain, do help the fascia as well; hopefully they will be fully healed when it next comes time to run.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
About Fascia
Key Words: Fascia, Ice Baths, The Little Pains
Word Count: 422
My angry left heel and hamstring continued from Wednesday into Thursday. I decided that unless it improved considerably, I would not run on Saturday. In short, no improvement, so I didn't run.
My problem is, I'm fairly certain, plantar fasciitis. I've mentioned this heel pain before, and it's been with me, at least after long runs, for most of the Spring/Summer. I'm sure I could have ran through the pain, but I decided instead of limping through 13 miles and then next week's training, I would rest up and go hard after next week's workouts. Next weekend calls for the famous HoustonFIT 21 miler, which I will not do, but I do plan to give 13-15 miles a shot.
So instead of running, I spent a decent amount of time on the stationary bike, and even dodged the rain today for long enough to get my real bike out (though, the last five minutes were in a decent downpour). I also did a back/bicep workout routine today, and have committed to trying to eat better for the next two weeks so I can drop a few pounds (I'm about five pounds heftier than I wanted to be for Chicago, and hey, those pounds do weigh on the old plantar fascia).
I hope my surprising fascia flare up will ultimately be a good thing. After years of post run knee pain, I switched to stability shoes and seem to have control of that problem now. I'm hoping to be able to say the same about this foot problem in the near future. I've purchased some inserts for my dress shoes, and have noted that this foot pain started the week after I DID NOT take my now usual ice bath after a long run; me thinks I'll start that tradition up again, just in case. In short, I've started to notice that doing the little things (improved shoes, ice baths, foot inserts, protein powder) could stop some minor, but cumulative injuries. The tough part is being dedicated enough to stick to the little things that stop the little pains.
For this coming week, I'm toying with running tomorrow morning, but I may opt for the bike instead. I certainly want to do some kind of interval run (Tuesday's speed work) and a tempo run, before Saturday's long run. After Saturday, I'll be on the downhill slope.
Chicago Marathon, four weeks from today!
Word Count: 422
My angry left heel and hamstring continued from Wednesday into Thursday. I decided that unless it improved considerably, I would not run on Saturday. In short, no improvement, so I didn't run.
My problem is, I'm fairly certain, plantar fasciitis. I've mentioned this heel pain before, and it's been with me, at least after long runs, for most of the Spring/Summer. I'm sure I could have ran through the pain, but I decided instead of limping through 13 miles and then next week's training, I would rest up and go hard after next week's workouts. Next weekend calls for the famous HoustonFIT 21 miler, which I will not do, but I do plan to give 13-15 miles a shot.
So instead of running, I spent a decent amount of time on the stationary bike, and even dodged the rain today for long enough to get my real bike out (though, the last five minutes were in a decent downpour). I also did a back/bicep workout routine today, and have committed to trying to eat better for the next two weeks so I can drop a few pounds (I'm about five pounds heftier than I wanted to be for Chicago, and hey, those pounds do weigh on the old plantar fascia).
I hope my surprising fascia flare up will ultimately be a good thing. After years of post run knee pain, I switched to stability shoes and seem to have control of that problem now. I'm hoping to be able to say the same about this foot problem in the near future. I've purchased some inserts for my dress shoes, and have noted that this foot pain started the week after I DID NOT take my now usual ice bath after a long run; me thinks I'll start that tradition up again, just in case. In short, I've started to notice that doing the little things (improved shoes, ice baths, foot inserts, protein powder) could stop some minor, but cumulative injuries. The tough part is being dedicated enough to stick to the little things that stop the little pains.
For this coming week, I'm toying with running tomorrow morning, but I may opt for the bike instead. I certainly want to do some kind of interval run (Tuesday's speed work) and a tempo run, before Saturday's long run. After Saturday, I'll be on the downhill slope.
Chicago Marathon, four weeks from today!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Felix vs Felix
Key Words: Sore Heel, Sore Hamstring, Marine-like Barking
Word Count: 361
My left heel is sore. My left hamstring is sore. Sigh, I'm a left-sided wreck. The heel pain has been with me for many months, but the hammy joining in is frustrating. Still, today was the last day to run before Saturday morning, and I needed three miles to make the weekly mendoza line of 20 miles. So off I went to Memorial for a 1 mile easy, 1 mile hard, 1 mile easy tempo run. As I remembered, tempo runs after speed work is rough, but I ground out the hard mile in 8:50. The painful bits held up OK, but I can certainly use the next two days off. As I was coming back to my car, I was surrounded by the pitter-pat of rain .... three runs in a row with precipitation!
The coach of my main, Houston Marathon running group, the Yellow Fever, is Felix Lugo. Lately, a certain Felix the hurricane has been making the news. Though hurricane Felix has left us now, I though I would do a comparison, and declare a winner:
So there you have it, the winner of Felix vs Felix is Coach Felix. Besides, Hurricane Felix probably wasn't even nasty enough to have it's name retired (the Hall of Fame for hurricanes). Molinas for margs tomorrow, I'll have one for you!
Word Count: 361
My left heel is sore. My left hamstring is sore. Sigh, I'm a left-sided wreck. The heel pain has been with me for many months, but the hammy joining in is frustrating. Still, today was the last day to run before Saturday morning, and I needed three miles to make the weekly mendoza line of 20 miles. So off I went to Memorial for a 1 mile easy, 1 mile hard, 1 mile easy tempo run. As I remembered, tempo runs after speed work is rough, but I ground out the hard mile in 8:50. The painful bits held up OK, but I can certainly use the next two days off. As I was coming back to my car, I was surrounded by the pitter-pat of rain .... three runs in a row with precipitation!
The coach of my main, Houston Marathon running group, the Yellow Fever, is Felix Lugo. Lately, a certain Felix the hurricane has been making the news. Though hurricane Felix has left us now, I though I would do a comparison, and declare a winner:
- Coach Felix is famous for running marathons with the US flag. Hurricane Felix is famous for ravaging Central America. Global warming makes hurricanes a dime a dozen, it makes running with a flag a chore, advantage Coach Felix.
- Coach Felix is known to blow up if you don't run with water. Hurricane Felix is famous because it blew up over warm water. I've ran in rain too much lately, water sucks, it's a draw.
- Coach Felix is a portly fellow. Hurricane Felix was a portly hurricane. Girth doesn't help runners, it helps a hurricane wreak havoc, advantage Hurricane Felix.
- Coach Felix scares newbie runners with his Marine-like barking. Hurricane Felix scared Nicaraguans to run for their lives. Run for fun, not for need, advantage Coach Felix.
So there you have it, the winner of Felix vs Felix is Coach Felix. Besides, Hurricane Felix probably wasn't even nasty enough to have it's name retired (the Hall of Fame for hurricanes). Molinas for margs tomorrow, I'll have one for you!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Calculations
Key Words: Yasso, McMillan, Magic Mile
Word Count: 601
The rain let up just enough to start speed work today. Four repeats of 1200m hard with 400m wasy. With my heart rate monitor strapped on, I arrived (albeit late; stupid work) to start the fun. My times were 5:48, 5:43, 5:55, and 3:55. Wow! 3:55, in 1200m?!? Not exactly, try, 800m. As I was about to start the last repeat, it started raining lightly. By the middle of the second lap, it was raining with impunity. After Saturday's drenching, I was in no mental shape to continue in the precipitation, so I speed up and completed a final 800. Lazy, sure. Bad excuse, yep. Does it matter, naw, I don't think so. On the heart rate front, my watch dutifully recorded my ticker topping out at 186. It's looking more and more like somewhere around 190 is my limit. There's a Fall Marathon group social Thursday after work, so I have to try and find time to still do a tempo run with those festivities. If it ain't a Friday, 'tis best to put socializing over running. On to predictions for the future!
There are three main ways to predict your time in an event (without including past performance, which is so lame and like 1990's to do). I thought I would cover those, and how they say I should be running the upcoming marathon.
Yasso 800s - As I've stated, do 10 repeats of 400m hard followed by 400m easy. I think I can easily crank out ten of these bad boys in under 4:15 per hard repeat (4 minutes, 15 seconds), so, the theory goes, I should be able to run a marathon in around 4 hours and 15 minutes. I break this one, as I've clearly been able to do this before, but have never come close to its prediction.
McMillan Running - This online resource is frequently talked about, and perhaps it's speed calculator is the most frequently used by runners: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm. My recent times at distance are as follows: 5k, 24:40, 1/2 marathon, 2:05. Those times lead to marathon predictions of 4:00 and 4:24 respectively. Nope, broke both of them, though the 4:24 is getting in the ballpark.
Jeff Galloway's Magic Mile - Simple, take your best time in the mile, multiply that by 1.3, and that should give you your per mile pace in a hard ran marathon. If I assume my best mile is 7:45 (conservative, but I rarely run a mile for all out speed), I get a marathon time of 4:24. If I take my most recent mile best (8:03 from a few days ago), I get 4:34. This one is simple, and it's half-marathon version (1.2 times your mile best) seems reasonably accurate.
I'll admit I have a great, deep seeded fear of not breaking 5 hours in a marathon. The truth is, if I'm honest with myself, that will happen on day; I'm only a calf cramp away after all! I suppose though, that 800 lb gorilla in the room gives me motivation, and keeps me honest with my training. These calculations really don't tell me anything I don't know. If I run good, and am smart, I should be able to keep things under 5 hours. If I run the race of my life, I just might be able to break 4:30!
Stay dry, drink good beer, and set your fantasy teams early; NFL starts in two days!
Word Count: 601
The rain let up just enough to start speed work today. Four repeats of 1200m hard with 400m wasy. With my heart rate monitor strapped on, I arrived (albeit late; stupid work) to start the fun. My times were 5:48, 5:43, 5:55, and 3:55. Wow! 3:55, in 1200m?!? Not exactly, try, 800m. As I was about to start the last repeat, it started raining lightly. By the middle of the second lap, it was raining with impunity. After Saturday's drenching, I was in no mental shape to continue in the precipitation, so I speed up and completed a final 800. Lazy, sure. Bad excuse, yep. Does it matter, naw, I don't think so. On the heart rate front, my watch dutifully recorded my ticker topping out at 186. It's looking more and more like somewhere around 190 is my limit. There's a Fall Marathon group social Thursday after work, so I have to try and find time to still do a tempo run with those festivities. If it ain't a Friday, 'tis best to put socializing over running. On to predictions for the future!
There are three main ways to predict your time in an event (without including past performance, which is so lame and like 1990's to do). I thought I would cover those, and how they say I should be running the upcoming marathon.
Yasso 800s - As I've stated, do 10 repeats of 400m hard followed by 400m easy. I think I can easily crank out ten of these bad boys in under 4:15 per hard repeat (4 minutes, 15 seconds), so, the theory goes, I should be able to run a marathon in around 4 hours and 15 minutes. I break this one, as I've clearly been able to do this before, but have never come close to its prediction.
McMillan Running - This online resource is frequently talked about, and perhaps it's speed calculator is the most frequently used by runners: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm. My recent times at distance are as follows: 5k, 24:40, 1/2 marathon, 2:05. Those times lead to marathon predictions of 4:00 and 4:24 respectively. Nope, broke both of them, though the 4:24 is getting in the ballpark.
Jeff Galloway's Magic Mile - Simple, take your best time in the mile, multiply that by 1.3, and that should give you your per mile pace in a hard ran marathon. If I assume my best mile is 7:45 (conservative, but I rarely run a mile for all out speed), I get a marathon time of 4:24. If I take my most recent mile best (8:03 from a few days ago), I get 4:34. This one is simple, and it's half-marathon version (1.2 times your mile best) seems reasonably accurate.
I'll admit I have a great, deep seeded fear of not breaking 5 hours in a marathon. The truth is, if I'm honest with myself, that will happen on day; I'm only a calf cramp away after all! I suppose though, that 800 lb gorilla in the room gives me motivation, and keeps me honest with my training. These calculations really don't tell me anything I don't know. If I run good, and am smart, I should be able to keep things under 5 hours. If I run the race of my life, I just might be able to break 4:30!
Stay dry, drink good beer, and set your fantasy teams early; NFL starts in two days!
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