Things Fall Apart

I was riding high after the Club Challenge Ten Mile. I trained through the race, running approximately 90 miles in the seven days leading up to the race weekend. Although I didn't feel sharp or fast on race, I managed to run 54:23 on a hilly, windy course on a windy day. After a couple of easy 60:00 runs in the days following the race, I began increasing my mileage and running lengthy, challenging tempo workouts. Everything seemed to be progressing well.

On the Tuesday before the National Half Marathon, I developed tendon issues in my left leg, and my legs, in general, felt extremely flat and unresponsive; I had overtrained and crossed the "red line" into dangerous territory. Despite reducing my mileage (slightly) in the days before the National, my body was overly fatigued on race day. I was far off my goal time, but I was pleased that I managed to run as fast as I did under these circumstances.

After the race, I was jazzed, ready to heal and begin the final push, this time more cautiously, for the Pittsburgh Marathon. By Tuesday, my legs were recovering, and I comfortably logged 14.25 miles for the day, including several 30-second surges. I had planned to run easy on Wednesday because we were going to the Ben Folds concert in the evening, and I had little time after work. Throughout the day, I developed a nasty cold, with splitting headaches and joint pain. I felt terrible on the run. As the evening progressed, my condition deteriorated. I didn't run on Thursday, hoping a day off would shorten the duration of the cold. Perhaps it will, but, as of Saturday morning, I am still suffering from one of the worst colds I've experienced.

I ran paltry 47:30 yesterday at a fairly light pace. I haven't had an intense workout since the race last Saturday. I'm not sure when I'll be able to manage a workout again, and I may have to forgo or significantly shorten my long run tomorrow.

I am uncertain as to how this will impact my marathon. Perhaps the forced rest will allow me to take full advantage of the fitness I've built over the past several months. That would be the best scenario. Currently, I've scrapped all of my plans for the coming week, and I intend to train day-to-day to avoid additional injuries, burn out, and sickness. My only definite plan is to run the Annapolis Striders' Cherry Blossom 10 Mile as part of a marathon-paced, 13-mile tempo run on April 11. This is an essential workout.

After encountering these problems and running a disappointing race last Saturday, I began to question my training and approach to the season. Surely, if I had run 70 to 75 miles a week, instead of building to the high-80s and low-90s, my fitness would have improved from this past fall and I'd be primed for PRs throughout the spring season. However, I am happy that I challenged myself with higher mileage, double sessions, and longer tempos and long runs. I've found the red line. Now, I have to adjust my training, giving my body time to adapt and strengthen, and slowly build to 90-mile weeks, therefore establishing a higher level of fitness conquering the territory immediately beyond my current "red line."

The National Half Marathon

Since I haven't updated my blog in two weeks, I could spend considerable time detailing my training and the lead up to the National Half Marathon. However, I am not going delve into the nitty gritty of the past two weeks. Essentially, I was riding high after the Club Challenge. It took me several days to recover, but, after two days a few days of maintenance runs, I began increasing the mileage and attacking tempo runs. The period from February 28, race day, through March 15 may have been the best 16 days of training I've ever had. My workouts included 8x1600 @ LT pace, 4x2K at critical velocity pace, a 21.5 mile run, and an 18-miler with 5x1600 at LT pace, averaging 5:25. Unfortunately, I paid for it on race day.

I had tendon issues on the Monday, March 15, at the end of my run. On Tuesday, the problem was still present and my legs felt completely trashed. I preceded to run a mere 1.75 miles and got my pre-scheduled massage. On Wednesday, both problems continued. I found myself with a Catch 22. If I drop the mileage drastically, I would most likely allow my body to both heal and recover. However, this approach would, in the words of Coach Swags, most likely put my body "to sleep." In other words, a significant drop in mileage would leave my legs feeling flat and unresponsive. I attempted to carefully tread a middle ground, keeping my mileage near my planned daily totals but at an easier pace and a lighter mid-week workout. I was hopeful that this would be the remedy I desperately needed if I was to run a personal record on Saturday.

Alas, I toed the line of the National Half Marathon feeling only slightly less tired and flat than I did earlier in the week. Despite my unresponsive legs, I did not adjust my race plan; from the gun, I chased my goal of a sub-1:11:00, approximately 5:25 per mile. Ultimately, this stubbornness and failure to adapt cost me significant time. Although I did not get my splits due to my failure to start my watch, I am nearly certain that I went through 10K on pace. A series of hills in the critical middle miles broke me physically. After crossing the 10-mile mark in 54:30ish, I finished with about an 18:00 5K in 1:12:38.

Disregarding context, this would appear an awful race, 1:40 slower than my goal. But context is everything. I felt terrible from the gun after a physically and mentally challenging week yet managed to average 5:33 per mile on a fairly hilly course. I've managed to find the proverbial silver lining, and, undoubtedly, this race has prepared, both physically and psychologically, for the challenges that lay ahead in the Pittsburgh Marathon.

Furthermore, my greatest disappointment is not my final time, but my failure to adapt to race conditions. This is another positive outcome of the race: I must be more cognizant of my circumstances and adjust accordingly.

My plan is take the next week and recover. I hope to run about 80 miles this week, and I will probably run cruise intervals at goal marathon pace instead of my usual lactate threshold or goal half marathon pace. If I recover fully by the week's end, I will begin my final phase of marathon preparation on Sunday the 28th.

Mileage Totals:

February 28 - March 6: 76.75 miles
March 7 - March 13: 88.5 miles
March 14 - March 20: 74.5 miles

February Recap

For the past few weeks, I've been experiencing a lack of motivation to update my blog. This is quite unfortunate because it has been an exciting three and I should documented these experiences and successes as they occurred.

Last month, I entered new territory in terms of mileage, logging 315.25 miles in 28 days, averaging 11.26 miles per day and 78.8 miles per week. For a 10-day period between February 17 and the 26th,I hit 89+ miles for any seven consecutive days of running, cresting 93 miles for one block - the most miles I've run in a seven-day period. Throughout, I felt indefatigable.

On Sunday February 28, I toed the line of the RRCA Maryland Club Challenge 10 Mile, my first race of the year. After my 10 day streak of (personal) record mileage, I ran a mere 25:00 on Saturday to rest for the race. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, I feared that my overload of mileage would spell disaster for the race, which was a team competition with my team, Falls Road Running Store, vying for first place against the strong Howard County Striders, who took the men's title last year. My fears were raced after the gun went off, when, 200-meters into the race, I turned to a teammate and said, "Today will be a good day." It was indeed.

The leader was running near 5:00 per mile pace from the gun, which caused the foolhardy chase pack to disintegrate within the first few miles. This course is challenging, offering few flat, straight stretches were one can recover. It undulates for mile after mile, making it exceedingly difficult to establish and sustain a smooth rhythm. Thus, having gone out at a much more modest pace, I was primed to overtake the victims of Columbia's hills.

I crossed a mile 5 in 26:20, a mere 9 seconds off my 5 mile personal best, though most veterans of this race are dubious of the mile markers' accuracy. Around this point, I had settled into 4th place and was utterly alone in the wind to pursue the distant 3rd place HC Strider. Despite the hills and the multiple 90-degree turns, I felt strong and, at times, smooth. However, despite my best efforts, I could not make up ground on 3rd place person.

As I neared mile 7, I heard footsteps quickly gaining on me. I knew from the cadence that I was in trouble, for I could not muster the strength to join that pace for long. However, I was delighted when I turn found my pursuer to be a teammate, with whom I occasionally train. Although I could only stay with him for a mere mile before he sped away from me, his encouragement broke my malaise and compelled me to run a much quicker last 5K than I would have otherwise.

I was thrilled with my time and place, considering this race was a rust-buster - my first competition since Philly in November. Going into the race, I knew a sub-54:00 was out of the question, and I feared that I might finish in 55:00+, slower than my ten-mile split in my November half marathon. Thus, I was determined to run close to or better than my 54:20 (approximately) split at Philadelphia. I managed to do just that. More importantly, many of team members had remarkable races, with eleven guys breaking 58:00, good enouch for a decisive victory over Howard County. The women's team also took first place with several excellent performances. After years of running sole and traveling to races alone, it was great to compete as a part of team.

Since the race, I've been recovering slowly. I logged 83.25 miles in the last seven days, including a 21.5-mile long run, my longest to date, and a solid tempo session of 8x1600 @ threshold pace, averaging 5:29. For the next nine days, I intend to log high mileage, complete a few long tempo sessions, and mentally prepare for the National Half Marathon on March 20.