Other people's marathons, and a 20-miler completed!

Anne ran the USMC Marathon today, and survived! Dad ran the Silicon Valley Marathon, and turned in a 4:16!

Way to go to both of them!

While waiting for their results to come in, I redid my 20 miler that I should have done on Saturday. I was so happy to have kept on the treadmill for that long -- every once in a while, I'd veer right and almost fall off. I celebrated with a Big Mac -- after 20 miles, nothing tastes better than a Big Mac to me :)

After the McD celebration concluded, I unfortunately had a LOT of stuff to do. First on the list was shovel snow. I figured that I should get that out of the way first before the soreness started to set in :) The next thing? Clean the house! Another very unpleasant thing to do after running 20 miles. Now, I am looking forward to picking up Frank from the airport and going to sleep!

For this week:
Monday: Killer XC class. Anytime you are reminded not to eat two hours before, there will likely be some unpleasantness.

Tuesday: 12x400m/hilly run. I've got to get used to running hills since the LV marathon is not totally flat this year.

Wednesday: Killer XC weights class. Yikes.

Thursday: Run 5 miles tempo at 9:20. Yikes again.

Friday: Free day! Perhaps there will be snow enough to go skiing???

Saturday: "Easy" 15 miler. This is prep for next week's other 20 miler.

Sunday: Free day! Skiing again?

The Mind of a Marathoner

I've got about five weeks until the marathon, and I'm a bit nervous. I was going to run my long 20 miler today, but had such a struggle with it that I'm going to retry tomorrow. What went wrong? My insteps were blistering, and I was stuck on the "bad" treadmill with a choice of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Space Patrol Delta" or the Breeders' Cup. This is because I found I can only concentrate on the TVs right in front of me -- if I veer off course, I tend to run sideways, causing my legs and feet a lot of pain. So, I ran six miles, and felt so awful that I felt that perhaps running tomorrow during the steelers' game will help. This means I'm going to run 20 miles, then turn around and do a hard workout in XC class the next day!

Eventhough I've done 26 miles four times before, running long takes, well, forever! I am convinced its' longer on a treadmill. However, I know from experience that unless the weather is over freezing, I just don't do well on long runs, because my body overheats, then underheats. In addition to the failure of my body to retain a constant temperature, I also am not so good at running on slick surfaces. So running 5 miles outside is generally no problem, but 20 miles would be pushing it.

In any case, my problem currently has to do with a side of marathon that is often overlooked-- the mental marathon. The experts say that if you are mentally prepared and focused during your race, your body will follow. From personal experience, this is true -- my best race was Columbus, where for some reason I was very happy. I believe this was due to the fact that I had groupies running with me. The groupies were all first-timers that saw me as the "marathon veteran". Noone wants to let down groupies, do they? I remember cheering at each mile as I pressed my little stopwatch and seeing the numbers in the 9-ish minutes. Anyways, it was like a dream until about mile 18 when it finally got hard. Luckily, I saw Dad turn the corner at mile 23 ahead of me, and we ran/walked the rest of the race together.

Most of the sports psychologist websites I have seen talk about two types of mental focus in races -- Association and Dissociation. Association, or internal focus, is when a runner constantly monitors pace, stride, form, and body sensations. During this strategy, a runner feels "in the moment". Dissociation is the complete opposite strategy. For dissociation, one focuses their mind externally, distracting the mind from the current body situation. TV, music, chatting with others, or just enjoying the scenery are all ways to employ a dissociative strategy.

So which ones are best? Well, for first timers, using a dissociative strategy tend to work best. However, there is good research showing that dissociation is also linked to reduced performance and increased injury, since the runner is not paying attention to the body. On the other hand, internal focus could really bum a runner out due to the fact that this can accent pain and fatigue that a runner is experiencing.

My suggestion is to try both techniques, and make sure you know how to use them, and in either strategy, be as positive and as flexible as possible. If one strategy is not working, you will need to be able to flip your mind as necessary to keep moving. For example, at mile 18 if you are enjoying the beautiful scenery and suddenly your legs feel really tired, sometimes repeating "My legs are telling me they are working hard, but I feel great!" sounds cheezy, but truly can help you get through the pain. I like to do a mental check (association) every few miles and say out loud if necessary "I feel great!", then go back to my music or book (dissociation).

So make sure, especially in the last month before your marathon, to do some work internally on preparing yourself mentally for the marathon. Believe me, I will be working a LOT on this on my way to Las Vegas! Here are some good sources for additional information:
--GR Sports Center -- The Marathon Mental Game: What You Think Matters
--Marathon Guide -- The Mental Marathon
--eHow: How to use Mental Focus in your Marathon Race

Happy Running!

Running Report, October 23

Last week, I stayed "pretty much" on track, except that my entire Thursday workout was shot. I'm finding that the speed workouts really do make me run faster, although I still prefer to do my long runs at a slow pace.

Speaking of long runs, I had to complete my 18 miler on treadmills at the gym. Yes, it's become the time of the year in AK where running longer than an hour outside is not so fun. Yuck! I tricked myself into thinking I was outside by running on three different treadmills. I really caused myself a lot of grief through chafing -- we had to make a late-night stop at the Fred Meyer for spray-on band aid stuff and burn pads.

This week's schedule:
Monday--XC training (plyometrics)
Tuesday -- Tuesday Night Trail Run/4x1600 at 8:15
Wednesday -- XC training (weight training)
Thursday -- 8 miles tempo at 9:20
Friday -- easy day!
Saturday -- 20 miles Long run (hopefully outside)

Las Vegas Marathon -- Drive Thru

The Las Vegas Marathon has a new Drive-Thru video that shows the complete course. It feels...so....long! I especially like the middle part of the soundtrack where it sounds like the music is getting tired too!

Running Long, October 17

"I've always felt that long, slow distance produces long, slow runners." - Sebastian Coe

Last week was somewhat of a bust, with my cold coming back with a vengeance. I took it as a sign that I needed to relax a bit, and therefore did not do my 17 mile long run this week.

So, this week's schedule goes something like this:
Monday--XC training (plyometrics)
Tuesday -- Tuesday Night Trail Run/8x800 at 8:15
Wednesday -- XC training (weight training)
Thursday -- Five miles tempo
Friday -- easy day!
Saturday -- 15 miles Long run

I've got a whole month to go before the marathon, so am not worried (yet) about shortening long runs. From experience, I only need to do one 18 miler or so to really feel comfortable with the marathon, and honestly I usually remember little of the last eight miles of a race anyways :)

Plyometrics and the Distance Runner

In my cross country ski class, we've been doing a LOT of plyometrics to get ready for ski season. As I was pathetically hopping side-to side across lines on both feet, I started thinking "is this good for running"?

Apparently it is a good question. On the web, I've found multiple places discussing the use of plyometrics on distance runners, and it can be controversial.

First of all, let's talk about the basics of plyometrics. Plyometrics are technically any exercise that involves a jumping movement. Skipping, hopping, and jumping rope are all examples that fit this description. Plyometrics are also used specifically to build power and increase agility in athletes.

For distance runners, the biggest advantage that many see of this type of exercise is its ability to increase stride rate and length by strenthening the leg muscles. If your legs are strong, you get a better push-off at the end of your running stride which should allow you to minimize the time your feet are actually spending on the ground. For stride length, each time you take a step, you are moving your center of gravity forward. Your ability to bring yourself back into balance by pushing off of the other foot and using your arms is what makes an increase in stride length possible without overstriding.

There are other people, though that believe that plyometrics is not useful for the marathon runner. Dustin Parson believes that since marathon running is a high endurance sport, that marathoners will not benefit much from plyometric training.

After reading these and other articles, I would suspect that the answer is somewhere in the middle. Like speedwork, pylometrics forces you to develop your fast-twitch muscle fibers, and this is always a good thing if you are a slowpoke like me. The disadvantage of plyometrics is that it is easy to get injured, especially if you are the type that has a tendency of going beyond your physical boundaries.

I, for one, will continue with the plyometric training, and will let you know in November (at my next marathon testing time) if I think this has improved my running or not.

If you'd like to try some plyometrics yourself, here are some links:
--PerformBetter.com
--Runner's Web Plyometrics for Runners
--Don Chu's Plyometric Exercises...you can also buy his books at his website.

Running Report so far

This week has been difficult. From the schedule, I've done 2 workouts, but not in the right order.

The workout for Monday was the XC ski training class. Frank and I are taking this class to get ready for ski season, and I believe it's difficult enough to qualify for cross training for the FIRST plan, which is the plan that I'm using for the LV Marathon in December.

Instead of doing the Tuesday night trail series (I was really tired from the Monday workout), I decided to do the 3mix9minutes as scheduled. This was difficult because I did it on the treadmill which can be really boring for me.

Tonight, I'm not sure if I will go to XC class or not because I've developed a cold. Something about strength training does not sound good today. However, since my symptoms appear to be above the neck, I might tough it out.

Long Run, Oct 9

"It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse." - Ann Trason

Today I did my long run for the week (13 miles) outside on my long-run loop in my new Brooks Addiction shoes.

I didn't feel as great as last week, and I'm not sure why. The only two things that I can think of that were different were 1) it was about 10 degrees colder at the start of the run (I could see my breath!) and 2) I was wearing the new shoes. My diet was a bit different the day before (Thai food) so perhaps diet did play a factor into the running today.

The result: 13 miles, 2:10 which is about 15 minutes faster than last week (hey, maybe that's why it didn't feel great).

After the run, I did my regular recovery routine and feel pretty good.

Up this next week:
Monday: XC training workout (agility)
Tuesday: Trail Race (Tuesday Night Trail Series)
Wednesday: XC training workout (strength)
Thursday: 12x400 m at 2:00/lap
Friday: 3 miles at 9 min/mile
Saturday: 18 miles
Throughout the week: Yoga at lunchtime (3x)

Overriding goal of the week: Form: I tend to squat a bit when I run, my plan is to run taller this week and see if that is an improvement.

Running in AK first post

In order to make blogging a bit more organized, I'm going to use this site specifically for running and other exercise-related activities, like cross-country skiing (an excellent non-impact partner to running). I'll also record my running schedule and results here as well.