Week 4 - 10.7 Miles

Had another good training run this morning.  Ran just under 10.7 and kept my average pace under 10:00/mi which is a training goal of mine.  I have a race next weekend and I feel pretty good about it right now.  If I run at my training pace, which is between 9:15 and 9:45 per mile, I will finish with a time between 2:01 and 2:07, which would be mega-awesome!

I did better on my fueling this time around but still struggled with my hill repeat at the end of the course.  Perhaps it is since I am running near my hardest that I really have very little strength/endurance left to just power through.  This is a hill we run on a fairly regular basis and I know I can conquer it will relative ease but when I am at the end of a run it is just killer.

I still have the dry heave issue and I just think it is my body not liking the cold water hitting the stomach while my body is a little stressed due to the start of the run.  Lately I haven't had trouble with heaves as the run progressed.

So right now the weather forecast for the race has low in the 40s with a high in the 60s.  This could pose a challenge as my cold gear starts getting too hot in the mid-40s range so I'll be keeping a close eye on the forecast.  I'm excited about this race because it will mark the end of a four race challenge I started last year in the spring.  I am signed up for two more races in this series of races so that I can be a Streaker and then race any half marathon with this production company for $50.

Week 3 - 10 miles

Today was a great day to run.  Temps started out in the high 30s/low 40s with low humidity.  It's always cold to start out but once I get going I warm up pretty quick.

The first couple miles always feel like my worst because it takes two to three miles for my legs to really warm up.  Once I got past the first water stop, I was feeling really good and put the hammer down and really cranked up my pace.  I believe my best pace was sub 9:00/mi!  A good goal would be to be able to maintain this type of pace for longer periods of time and I should be able to easily finish a half marathon in under 2 hours.

My battery died mid run so I don't have the complete route with all the useful stats (mainly time per mile) so I drew the map out using MapMyRun, which is what the trainers use to create the routes we run each week.

I ate a Clif Bar before leaving my house to go run, which gave my a nice little boost of energy.  I did start running out of gas past the 7 mile marker, so I need to continue to work on my fueling strategy.  The good thing is that I didn't have nearly as many of the problems of dry heaves (only at the first water stop) so that's good.

I did hit the wall at the 9 mile marker.  We have a monster hill near the start point that the trainers have us run from time to time.  Going up that beast is a real chore, especially at the end of a long run.  I paused a couple times in order to reset my mind in order to make it up but I got through it.

For my next run I am going to try to eat some Sports Beans that I have which are made by Jelly Belly at each of the water stops to try to maintain my energy levels throughout my run.  I like the beans because I can pop one or two in my mouth and suck on them while run.

I feel pretty good after 10 miles.  A little sore but feeling pretty energized.  These are the types of runs that I enjoy the most, where even if I don't have my absolute best run I am not the least bit discouraged.

Week 2 - 8.5 Miles

Today's training run went much better than last week.  I ran an average pace of 9:35/mile which is pretty awesome for me (better than my last race which I PR'd at 10:35/mi!).  I ran slightly behind the group as I was pushing my upper limit.  The real question will be whether I can run that kind of pace in a race or not for the full 13.1 miles.  Guess I'll find out on Feb. 2nd!

I still had trouble with dry heaves after drinking water.  I tried just drinking a couple sips but it still gave me problems.  What did seem to help was not starting with such a fast pace as it allowed my body to process the water a little before going back into full throttle.

One thing that was suggested to me was to eat something small before running.  I like Clif bars and so maybe I'll try eat half a bar before leaving the house to run with the group.  It was also suggested that I follow the mean plan that was sent out to all the people that participate in Boot Camp, so maybe that will help me with fueling as well?  My biggest problem is that I am a fairly lazy cook and so it might be more energy I might be willing to put in.

My legs feel pretty good.  I promised myself I would get better at rolling my legs after my long runs and so once I fix myself some breakfast I'll bust out the foam roller and then get cleaned up.

Iliotibial Band Issues

I had someone ask about solutions dealing with pain in the IT Band (Iliotibial Band).  This is a ligament that goes from your hip to your knee on the outside of you leg.  There are a number of ways you can aggravate this ligament and it can be quite painful.  There are a number of short term and long term ways you can address this pain.  I'll just go over what I did to help me treat the injury.

What is ITBS (Iliotibial Band Syndrome)?  

It is a pain, sometimes quite severe, in your knee.  You normally feel it on the outside of your knee and in the more minor forms can almost feel like a tightness.  The more severe pain can almost make it impossible to walk and each movement in your knee can be almost unbearable.

Short Term Treatment for ITBS

Two things I did to help treat the pain was get a foam roller and an IT Band Compression Wrap.

The foam roller was purchased at a big box sports store.  Dicks Sporting Goods, Academy, and Sports Authority all should have foam rollers available.  They tend to have these in the same section as Yoga gear.  Your local running store will undoubtedly have these as well given that this is a common injury runners experience.  It is always a good idea to roll your legs after each run and if you have the time, after each workout as it helps prevent injuries and will massage those achy, tired muscles.  I'll see if I can find a decent article or video of some good stretches you can do with a foam roller.

I also got an IT Band Compression Wrap by Pro-Tech.  This is a strap that goes two to three inches above your knee and helps hold the IT Band in place preventing the band from rubbing against the knee.  This allowed me to continue running moderate distances (5 to 7 miles).  I have seen people claim that when suffering from ITBS that when using this product they were able to run full marathons.  Keep in mind to listen to your body and if there is too much pain it is always best to err on the side of caution and stop running/exercising.

Long Term Treatment for ITBS

What ultimately helped me completely eliminate the pain was that I worked at strengthening my hips and legs.  This article does a good job of outlining everything that you should try to do to treat the injury.  Here is another article with a nice video that shows some good exercises you can perform.  It took several months for me to be able to run pain free and without the compression wrap.

I still roll my legs from time to time but now that I am going to logging serious miles every weekend I need to be more consistent on rolling my legs if I am going to try to remain injury free this winter/spring.

First Post - Week 1 - 7.2 Miles

I am starting my training to run a full marathon, the Clif Bar Mountains2Beach Marathon,  in May 2014.  I have created this blog to document my experiences leading up to my race.  I plan to share both the good and bad experiences.

To start this blog off right, I ran yesterday for 7.2 miles.  I did fine running at a nice pace that will help me PR at my next half.  I need to run a 10:00/mi or better pace if I am going to get to 2:10.  However after a water stop around the 3.5 mark, I suddenly got the heaves after I drank some water.  After that I fell apart and had trouble running.  I suspect it had to do with running to hard (I was around a 9:15 pace) in the cold and then perhaps drank too much water.

Here's hoping next week is better.