Workout: 4 Mile Easy Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 35:41
Avg. Pace: 8:55 per mile
Type: Easy Run for Endurance
Summary: 4 miles at a fairly constant pace, a slight slowdown at about 2 miles for a mile because of arch pain and fatigue.
Weather: Very cool (low 60s), but clear.

Another easy run at a sub-nine minute average, which is good. But, I felt pretty crappy through the whole run (probably because I was running for the second time in less than 12 hours), and my arch started hurting again. I really hope it isn't anything more than my PF. But, I'm icing right now as I type this, so hopefully it will go away. Oh yeah, and I got the start of a wicked blister right on the same arch. I have some blister bandages that should keep it copacetic, but still, I haven't had blisters in years.

Next Planned Workout: Saturday (7/18), 4-4.5 mile easy run with 4x8 sec. hill sprints. Possibly a WiiFit step session tomorrow night (Friday 7/17) if I feel up to it.

Workout: 4 Mile Easy Run + Speedwork

Distance: 4.1 miles (easy run portion only)
Time: 37:13
Avg. Pace: 9:05 per mile
Type: Easy run with 4x8 sec. hill sprint workout near the end (about 3/4 mile left on easy run after hills
Summary: 3.25 miles at about 9 min. pace. 4x8 sec. hill sprints with 1 min+ walking recovery after each, 0.85 miles at much slower pace (maybe 9:30 to 10 min pace).
Weather: Warm (low to mid 70s), sunny and windy, but otherwise very nice (low humidity).

My arch hurt a little in the middle of the run, so it looks like my plantar fasciitis may be flaring back up... back to stretching multiple times a day, icing, and ibuprofen. Man, are those 8 second hill sprints hard! My legs were feeling it during the second one, and I still had 2 more to go!

Next Planned Workout: Tomorrow (Thursday 7/16) morning 4 mile easy run.

Workout: 4 Mile Easy Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 35:16
Avg. Pace: 8:48 per mile
Summary: 4 mile easy run at fairly constant pace (right around 9:00 per mile the whole time), slight increase for last 400-600 meters (maybe as fast as 8:00 per mile)
Weather: Cool (low 60s), Overcast, Sprinkling
I Felt: Tired and a little weak, particularly about 2.5 miles in.

My first pre-work morning workout since my toe injury, and it went very well. As I noted above, I felt a little tired and weak, but I think that was partly because I didn't get to sleep until after 11 last night and was awakened at 4:15 AM this morning by a little blond baby that needed a bottle. I did eat a banana about 30 minutes before I started running, so I don't think I needed any sports drink too before I started, but that might have helped (at least for the hydration part of it). It is very hard figuring out how to eat before a morning run like this. Thankfully, my morning runs are fairly short, so even if I don't eat anything I can still make it through.

I had to skip last night's planned Wii Fit stepping workout because of stuff that needed to get done around the house (cooking dinner, getting Andy to bed, folding laundry), but the Wii Fit workouts are more about just getting a little blood flowing then doing any actual cardio work anyway.

Next Planned Workout: 4-4.5 mile run with speedwork (either 5x8 sec. hill sprints or strides/drills)

Weekly Total July 6-12

Running: 13.27 miles, 2 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds; avg. pace 9:22 min/mile
Workouts: 1 long endurance run, 1 easy run, 1 tempo run, 1 speed workout
Other: 1 hour, 30 minutes additional WiiFit stepping

A respectable mileage total for my first week back after my toe injury.

Workout: 6.75 mile Long Run/Mini-Speed Workout

Distance: 6.71 miles

Time: 1:06:26
Avg. Pace: 9:53 per mile
Type: Long Endurance Run w/ Short Speed/Strength Workout in Middle
Summary: 2.5 miles easy run (9:30 per mile+), 2x8 sec. hill sprints with 30-45 sec. walk recovery after each, 3/4 mile easy run, 3x8 sec. hill sprints w/ 45 sec. walk recovery after each, final 2.5-3 miles easy run (9:30-10:00 per mile)
Weather: Hot (mid-70s, but felt much hotter for some reason), Sunny, Low Humidity

This was my first long endurance run since my injury, and I can definitely tell that I have lost some endurance. I think that is to be expected with no endurance runs in two weeks, and only two running workouts at all in that time. I'm happy that I was able to do 6.5 miles-plus, however. There is plenty of time to build endurance back. The route I ran also has a huge hill in the middle, so I did a short speed workout in the middle of this workout. In total, I did 5x8 second hill sprints to build some leg strength for speed work later. This included 2x8 sec. hill sprints on the way out (at about 2.5 miles) and 3x8 sec. hill sprints on the way back (3.25-3.5 miles) with short (30-45 second) recovery walks after each sprint. I probably won't do too much of these speed workouts in the middle of long runs anymore, but I thought I'd try it to see how it felt.

Unfortunately I missed my planned Saturday workout (Andy was a little challenging during the mid-day, and we had to visit my parents because my dad hadn't seen Andy for weeks).

Next Planned Workout: Monday night, 30 minute WiiFit stepping + strength. (Next running workout Tuesday morning, 4 mile easy run)

Workout: 3.5 Mile Injury Test

Distance: 3.52 miles
Time: 30 minutes, 6 seconds
Avg. Pace: 8:33 minutes/mile
Type: Stamina workout, Tempo Run
Summary: First 1.5 mile - 9-9:30 min/mile pace; middle mile about 7:45 min/mile pace; last mile 9-9:30 pace

I think I'm back. No toe pain. I was even able to do an increased tempo workout and felt nothing in the toe. I definitely felt tired during the middle mile, but I am happy that I could keep a sub-8 minute pace for a sustained period of time (even if it was only for 1 mile). I know I have lost endurance and stamina since my toe injury, but that is why I need to do this kind of workout to get back where I want to be.

Next Planned Workout: Saturday, easy run.

Workout: 3 mile Injury Test

Distance: 3.04 miles
Time: 28 minute, 18 seconds
Avg. Pace: 9:18 per mile
Type: Easy run to test injured toe
Weather: Overcast, mid-60s, humid
Summary: Easy jog/run for most of run (first 2 1/2 miles or so) at about 10 min. pace. Last half mile was at an increased pace for a small threshhold workout.

My first run back after my toe injury, and I felt really good. My legs were clearly refreshed after a week and a half off, however I definitely lost some cardio endurance, since I was tired way too early in the run and had a stitch in my side at about 1 1/2 miles. My stamina (i.e. ability to hold an increased threshhold pace) also decreased a little because I couldn't maintain my threshold pace as well during the last 1/2 mile. I'm not too worried about the loss in endurance and pace, since those will come back during my actual training for my upcoming Half. The important news is my toe didn't hurt at all during the workout. It was a little stiff and sore later in the evening, but I think that was caused more by me icing it. I still had no pain when I got up this morning (although still a little stiffness in the toe right now), so hopefully this means I am sufficiently healed to start up running again. I will take Thursday off completely, and if the toe still feels fine on Friday, I will do another short (2.5-3 mile) test run.

Clumsiness Can Ruin Training Plans

I'm sure all my readers (I have had a grand total of two hits so far) have been wondering "Hey, what gives!? You claim to be a runner, but there hasn't been a single post about a workout (except for yesterday's walking workout. Are you just funnin' us?"

No, gentle reader... I am not "funnin'" you. The reason for my lack of posts about workouts is because last Sunday, I stubbed the forth toe on my right fit (i.e. "the ring toe") pretty badly and have been out of commission every since. I didn't stub it while running or doing anything else cool. I was just clumsy and hit it on a doorway on my way through. In fact, for a few days I was worried that it might be broken and that I was either going to have to drop out of the half marathon I was scheduled for in October because I couldn't even start my training plan for that race, or I was going to have to join a gym and start pool running (more on what pool running is in another post). Now, I think it is just bruised/sprained, and that after another week or so of rest and icing, I should be ready to get back into my training.

My whole point for this post is "BE CAREFUL!" A few seconds of clumsiness can undo months of hard work. Obviously, injuries are going to happen as part of any training for a long race like a marathon or a half marathon, but that doesn't mean you should help the injuries along by not paying attention. I wish I had taken this advice... because even if my toe is only sprained, I have still lost two weeks worth of running workouts that I will have to make up. This will screw up my training plan because I was counting on having that two weeks of base endurance training when I started my half-marathon training plan, and now I will have to build that endurance training into the schedule and take out some other speed/strength work (granted, I'm fairly new to long-distance training, so I didn't have too much speed work anyway, but that doesn't mean I wanted to get rid of it).

Walking/Injury Workout: 3.3 miles

Distance: 3.3 miles
Time: 1 hour, 21 minutes (approx.)
Avg. Pace: 24 min/mile

I went for a long walk with Andy (my son) and Steph (my wife) today. This was the first "workout" of any kind since I sprained my toe (more on that here). We also stopped for dinner and ice cream along the way (although the dinner is not reflected in the total time), so we weren't exactly in a hurry. My toe felt fine mostly, but there was still a little twinge now and then. I am going to give it a couple days off and try a very easy jog for about 2 miles on Wednesday. If it still feels fine after that, I will try a normal 4 mile run on Saturday, and again if it still feels fine a 6-7 mile long run on Sunday. If it doesn't feel fine after any of those, I'll look into the pool running route.

Book Review: Marathoning for Mortals

Marathoning for Mortals: A Regular Person's Guide to the Joy of Running or Walking a Half-Marathon or Marathon by John "The Penguin" Binghan & Jenny Hadfield


Marathoning for Mortals is the first book on running that I ever read, and although most of the text on running is fairly cursory (I found the chapters on the "Anatomy of a Long-Distance Training Program" to actually be quite sparse on details), the book does a great job of describing the emotional aspects of running these long distance races. And, as the title implies, the book is written for normal, average people out there who are wondering "Can I do it?" The book is emphatic in its answer... "Yes, you can!"

The primary author, John "The Penguin" Bingham (so named, apparently, because of his awkward running style), came to running later in life (I believe he said he didn't start running until his mid-40s), but has since run over 30 marathons. The other author, Jenny Hadfield, has degrees in exercise physiology and is a certified personal trainer. Along with writing about running online at a lot of places, Ms. Hadfield also is active in Team in Training (TNT) (or was at the time Marathoning was written), a group that helps people train for marathons and other long distance races while also raising a ton of money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She handles a lot of the discussion on the science of running (although there isn't much discussion in this area).

What really makes Marathoning for Mortals a great book for the normal, average person is that it is written understanding that you may be coming to your marathon training at many different fitness levels. The book cautions against doing too much too fast, and it devotes quite a bit of discussion to walking all or part of these long distance races. The training plans listed at the back of the book include a separate plan for those wishing to Walk, Walk/Run (walking with some running), Run/Walk (running with some walking) or Run a half marathon and a full marathon. That's 8 plans that can fit just about any fitness level from couch potato to moderately serious runner (more serious runners should look to other books and plans for their training schedules... but that is not surprising since this book is called Marathoning for Mortals).

Scattered throughout the book are short quotes from other "mortals" who were able to finish the training and finish the marathon. It is these quotes that really make the book, because it is these real stories that help you understand that you can do it. Another inspiring portion of the book is the chapter entitled "It's All About the Medal," which describes the feeling of crossing the finish line for your first marathon. One story of The Penguin's was particularly inspirational to me as I was reading Marathoning in the middle of my unemployment-induced funk. The story described his witnessing of one young man's crossing of the finish line:

He was in his mid-twenties. There wasn't anything all that unusual about him. He was, or so it seemed, just one of hundreds of young men out there in Austin, Texas, on that February morning. he wasn't fast, he wasn't gifted, and he wasn't special in any other way. Yet that young man has become a memory seared into my brain.

As he crossed the finish line, he began to cry--not just the "filled with emotions from finishing" kind of crying, but a gut wrenching, blood-curdling wail that was coming from some part of him that had been liberated by the distance and the effort and the step across the finish line.

It was the "liberated by the distance" part that really hit home with me, and it is one of the reasons I want to run a marathon.

All in all, Marathoning for Mortals may not be the best book on marathon training out there, but it is a great start for the average Joe or Jane who wants to tackle the challenge of a marathon. If this describes you, I would recommend it.