Monthly Archives: June 2009

TCM Training Week 2

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Last year I raced the USATF 5000 meter track race at Hamline.  I am glad it wasn’t part of the circuit this year! It also served as Foto Friday.  Over the same weekend last year was a heart-wrenching 3200m for Nicole Cochran of Washington.  You may recall the story, she won the race but was DQ’ed after the fact and then after reviewing some video footage of the  race she was eventually reinstated as the state champion.   From two years ago, I wrote about running at Westwood Park in New Castle, IN.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 26.9 Miles
Bike: 67.0 Miles
Swim: 500 Yards

Monday I went to the YWCA for a short weight session and swimming.  I know Higdon’s plan calls for running an easy 3 on Monday, but for now I’m going to keep using it as a cross training session.  Maybe as time goes on I’ll switch to running, but I think right now this is good.  I used his suggested 6 strength exercises (forgetting 2 of them), which are bench press, lunges, curls, overhead triceps, sitting row, and crunches.  I did light weights since it has been a long while!  Then I swam for about 300 yards.  Towards the end I kept getting water in my mouth, so I just stopped.

Tuesday I did a 30 minute tempo run along the Greenway.  Once I got warmed up my foot stopped hurting.  I ran a pretty solid workout getting 4.13 miles in during the 30 minutes (7:17 pace) and easily hitting tempo pace.  It was 46 and overcast so a nice morning to run.  Today was 8th grade graduation promotion at work and I was on my feet running around for most of the day.

I woke up Wednesday with some of the worst pain I’ve had from the Plantar Fasciitis in a long time, so I opted not to run.  I got really discouraged throughout the day and at one point even thought about quiting running altogether.  I waffled between whether I should run Thursday’s pace workout or not and finally came to the point of saying I’m not going to run again for awhile.  I’m tired of my foot always hurting so I’m going to do what I should have done almost 2 months ago – REST.

It is hard knowing that I should be training for the marathon which is now 16 weeks away, but I realized that the chances of me making it through 18 weeks of hard training with a nagging injury are pretty slim.  I managed to get through the half-marathon training program, but it seems silly to keep pushing and injuring my body more and more.  All that being said though, the MDRA offers a fall-marathon training class which starts June 23 (pdf).  So I know I’m not completely dropping the ball – unless I’m still experiencing pain at that point – which I’ll probably just charge right on through if I do.

So a little reassessment mid-stride! I didn’t do any cross-training this week really – just my bike commute – unless you count the Wii Fit.  On Tues, Weds, and Fri and I “played” Yoga, Balance, and Strength games.   This sounds almost ridiculous to say but some of the things are challenging and really have worked my core/stabilizer muscles.  Stop laughing.  You should try it sometime and see.  You can’t really rely on the feedback about your “Wii Fit Age” because it fluctuates so much – one day I was 40 and then the next I was 26.

Weekly Mileage

Run: 4.1 Miles
Bike: 37.5 Miles
Swim: 300 Yards

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Running to Fight Cancer

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Local runner and cancer advocate Matthew Flory recently created a Facebook group entitled 5Ks that Fight Cancer (Minneapolis/Saint Paul).

In the group he lists 10 5ks that benefit cancer research within the Twin Cities metro area.  In the group’s description he say:

Cancer is the number one cause of death in Minnesota, but there are many organizations and causes joined in the fight to defeat this disease. Many have 5k races as fundraisers.

We all know that most races have some charitable benefit to them.  Some of the best known national charity running events revolve around cancer research.  Almost everyone has been touched by this nasty illness.  The Team in Training group is a nationally recognized fundraising machine.

Flory limited his list for this group to just 5k races – they are the most common and most accessible for average people. Here is his list:

Get Your Rear In Gear, Minneapolis, April 19, 2009
http://www.getyourrearingear.com/
Proceeds benefit the Minnesota Colon Cancer Coalition

Twin Cities Race For the Cure, May 10, 2009
http://www.racecure.org/site3.aspx
Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen Foundation

Brian Kraft Memorial 5k, May 25, 2009
http://www.usatfmn.org/brian-kraft-memorial-5k
Proceeds benefit University of Minnesota

Challenge Cancer 5K, Saint Paul, June 6
Proceeds benefit Charities Challenge

Twin Cities Lung Walk 5K, Saint Paul, June 7
www.lungwalk.org
Proceeds benefit the American Lung Association

Time to Fly Walk/Run, Saint Paul, June 27th
Proceeds benefit Child Cancer Research Fund

American Cancer Society 5K, Bloomington, August 15th
Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society

Silent No More Minnesota Ovarian Cancer September 13, 2009
Proceeds benefit the MN Ovarian Cancer Alliance

The Hartford Pace Case Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer, September 26, 2009
Proceeds will benefit the Prostate Cancer Education Council.

ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Minneapolis, October 10, 2009
Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society

So if you like to run for specific causes this might be a helpful group to check out.

[tags] Running, Cancer, Charity [/tags]

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TCM Training Week 1

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In previous years I offered a summary of my running in between the 2008 half-marathon and marathon training and included some other tidbits too.  Last Year’s Foto Friday was a picture of a flying monkey.  In 2007 I provided some advice for running with headphones.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 29.6 Miles
Bike: 40.0 Miles

Monday I biked to the YWCA for some time in the pool.  I ended up doing 500 meters.  I feel like I’m getting stronger in the water, so maybe soon I’ll actually get a good sustained cardio workout!

Tuesday I realized that I should be starting my training for the marathon this week.  So I’ll be using Hal Higdon’s 18 week Advanced II schedule.   Last year I used Intermediate II with good results. Today that called for a 3 x hill workout.  I ran to the Stone Arch Bridge as my warm-up and then ran from the river bottom to the West River Road bike path on the south side of the bridge.  They were tough.  Hal tries to scare people away with this week 1 day 1 warning:

This Advanced-II Training schedule is the toughest of all my programs! It is for very experienced runners seeking to fine-tune their training by following a program that includes two days of speedwork plus more mileage than the programs leading up to it. Hopefully you arrived at this program with a background of speed training and know what it’s like to do hill repeats, interval training on the track and tempo running in the woods. If not, this is no time to start. You would be much better following one of the Intermediate programs or Advanced-I and saving this program for a later marathon. (You’re not listening; I can tell.) Okay, you read my disclaimer and agreed to the conditions for acceptance into this very tough program. For the next 18 weeks, you will use Monday as a day of comparative rest by running an easy 3 miles, then adjourning to the gym for 15-30 minutes of stretching and strength training. (This might be a good workout to do in a health club, since you can do your 3-miler on a treadmill before heading to the weight room.) Wednesday workouts will be about the same. Fridays are rest days, since even Advanced runners need to rest. On the other days, get ready to bust! Are you up to the challenge? Only a small percentage of runners can benefit from a program this demanding, but let’s give it a try.

Wednesday resulted in a nice easy 3.25 mile run on my Metrodome loop.  I ran it backwards for a little change of pace.  It was 68 and sunny – which felt pretty warm.  It was 2pm when I actually ran and I hadn’t had any lunch yet so I was very hungry.

Thursday was Tempo run day.  I ran it out and back along the Greenway and did a pretty good job of running Higdon’s tempo style.  Slowly pick-up the pace until you hit 10k pace – hold for a few minutes – slowly slow back down.  I think I struggle with the slowly slowing back down thing.  I didn’t quite make the full 30 minutes but 3.8 miles in 27:44 works pretty well.  It was 48 and sunny.

Friday is the day of rest. I didn’t have to go to work, so all I did was bike the 1.5 miles to church.

Saturday was cool and overcast.  I met the guys at the Sibley House for what ended up being almost a 15 mile run along the Minnesota River. Right as we got out of the cars the first drops started falling.  It never really poured, but was a nice soaking rain.  Running under canopy the whole way was nice so we didn’t really start getting wet until we crossed the river and ran in the prairie for a little bit.  The 48 temp made for a cool run, almost reminicent of last year’s TCM – minus the major sustained deluge!  I ran 1:52 for the run, though I got dropped with about 3 miles to go.  After crossing the 494 bridge John and I lot contact with the group so we surged, getting down into the low 6’s to catch back up.  Once we caught them I was spent and couldn’t hold the pace.  The amazing thing was that my pace was still in the 7:30 range.  I was pretty spent.  Except for the first mile and the one with the major hill all of our miles where well under 8 which accounts for the overall 7:30 pace.

Sunday we went to watch a friend do a triathlon – the Buffalo Olympic Triathlon. It was fun to actually spectate and to watch him race and meet his goal on another cold and dreary day.  I also did about 30 minutes of yoga, strength, and balance workouts on our new Wii Fit.  Sam’s Club currently has them for $10 less than anywhere else.  Suprisingly it was actually a little bit of a workout – especially for the core and stabalizer muscles.  After today’s workout my Wii Fit Age is 28 (I’m 27 for now).

Total Mileage

Run: 26.6 Miles
Bike: 36.8 Miles
Swim: 500.0 M