64 and out

Running Streak (11/07/2009 - 01/09/2010) RIP

So, I suppose it is safe to say that it actually MAY be an utterly asinine assertion that there exists a causal relationship between posting my runs on the internet, and acquiring injuries... however, superstitions being somewhat of a placebo effect as it is, I had stubbornly resisted posting my running until, alas, injuries were acquired, albeit without the intervention of the internet.

The rules of the game are simple: Run every day, where "run" is defined as an honest effort of 5 or more miles.

I started because I wanted to reclaim my identity as a runner, I ended because of a strange numbness/swelling in the proximity of my 3rd metatarsal (L foot). It was an awesome experience with a range of emotions attached, some expected, some not. I got a lot out of it, including but not limited to feeling like running was a natural part of my day, and getting to the point where I could modulate the fatigue and enjoy most of my runs. I am injury prone, so I don't know if I'll start another streak, but I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested. For the record, I know multiple people who've run every day for many years... this streak may pale in comparison, but it's the culmination of my personal struggle to overcome the past 3 years of injuries.

64 Days of Running

Day 1 (11/07/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:03 (8:30 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
First day back, and I feel almost as if the 6 weeks of semi-running I've done in the past two months never happened! Mostly reflected in heavy breathing, legs actually feel okay.

Day 2 (11/08/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:43 (8:49 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Exactly the same as yesterday, except slower and legs feeling much more tired. It was also warmer than I'd like bc I ran later in the day than usual. Slogged through.

Day 3 (11/09/2009): 6 miles, 49:46 (8:22 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Pavement is always a lot faster for me, but don't let the improvement in pace deceive you... I'm still feeling like my legs are really weak under me, and the breathing just won't settle down. I'm sort of in that state where my fastest pace and my slowest pace are one and the same.

Day 4 (11/10/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:04 (8:30 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Feeling a little bit better, run time was about the same as Day 1, but the difference was that I started out more conservatively and held up a little bit better coming back. Somehow that made me feel like I'd made some sort of an improvement... even though it doesn't make that much sense.

Day 5 (11/11/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:01:11 (8:37 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
I'm no longer struggling quite as much as the first few days, so naturally, I started feeling somewhat obliged to try a run that was a little bit longer. I hung in there for 7 even though I was feeling a little bit tired and sub-optimally warm. It turned out not as badly as I expected.

Day 6 (11/12/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:55 (8:29 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Good times! This is the first run that's genuinely felt easy. Felt a little groggy at first, but felt progressively better. I'm really glad that the "weak" feeling in my legs has gone away, it finally feels like I'm getting back into the swing of things (well, relatively speaking).

Day 7 (11/13/2009): 6 miles, 48:35 (8:10 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Evening run today due to allergy shots in the morning. Maybe the extra 12 hours of rest did me good--this was a super pleasant run with a favorable effort/speed ratio. Feeling really pleased today, maybe my fitness may return quicker than I thought!

Day 8 (11/14/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:25 (8:23 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Easy and good again, despite slightly less rest this time around. Funny observation is that I run the first half of this out and back run at approximate the same pace every time... all variations in total run time occur on the way back. I can't really figure out why.

Week 1 (+ 1 day) Musings: In general, this feels like a relatively normal first week back, with some rough spots at the beginning, and some brighter ones towards the end. I'm going to add some hindsight commentary by saying that when I started, I was not fully recovered from this hip flexor injury that had been plaguing me for the past 4 weeks, despite 2 weeks essentially off. It hurt a lot even walking around Days 1 -3, but I nuked that sucker with some creative rehab exercises and disciplined good form running. Against all odds, my hip steadily improved over the course of this week and hasn't bothered me since. And we're off to an excellent start!

Day 9 (11/15/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:12 (8:43 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Hmmmmm... here's about where my body is totally expecting a nice rest day, which it didn't get. Nope, keep going. Felt lousy. In my log I noted that I didn't understand why I felt lousy, but I'm pretty sure its because this is the juncture where I'd normally have had a recovery day.

Day 10 (11/16/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:02:14 (8:46 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Feel tired? Clearly the answer is... more mileage! I was determined to tough out this run, for some reason, I just can not quell the desire to combat tiredness with more effort. I think this still stands as my slowest running of this route this year. Legs just feel thrashed... it was also warm out. I'm slightly discouraged that the fatigue is setting in so soon.

Day 11 (11/17/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:38 (8:25 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
A vaguely acceptable run after a few days of lousy. That thrashed feeling in my legs started to dissipate a little bit on the second half of this run, and I was able to pick it up a little bit.

Day 12 (11/18/2009): 6 miles, 48:18 (8:07 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Legs still feel like lead, it was sort of a chore to keep putting them in front of each other, but breathing was basically steady and the pace was a nice break from an extra slow few days. The pavement days kind of feel like my "recovery" day these days... I'm not exactly sure why its so much easier than the trails.

Day 13 (11/19/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:00:37 (8:32 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Felt lousy on the way out, then good on the way back. The whole lousy feeling resolving on the second half of the run continues. It is true that the way back is slightly downhill and the way out is slightly uphill, but I also kind of think its an indication that I'm starting to come out of the really fatigued state... because days DO exist when both ways suck. Unclear

Day 14 (11/20/2009): 5.2 miles, 44:10 (8:30 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Denver, after my evening flight. Dark, cold, snow and ice on the ground. Honestly it wasn't that cold... or dark... and the snow wasn't too slippery so I kinda ended up feeling cheated out of some "hardcore" factor here. (21:56/22:14) second lap slowdown kinda bugged me, but generally felt pretty good for the altitude, just took it easy and it was actually a fairly pleasant run.

Day 15 (11/21/2009): 5.2 miles, 44:34 (8:34 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Got up again in the morning and did the same run. The daylight made things worse, because the snow had started to melt and the footing was much worse than yesterday. (22:05/22:29) felt a little tired, but not gonna sweat it. Not significantly slower than yesterday adjusted for terrain.

Week 2 Musings: Yikes, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore... this is new territory. I was definitely hoping that the fatigue from lack of off days would not set in until at least a few weeks in, but it's definitely hit me hard this week. It's also harder to absorb life circumstances, like visiting Peter in super cold super de-oxygenated Colorado... I'm trying to keep the 'argh' under control though, just gotta power through this or I'll never see what's on the other side.

Day 16 (11/22/2009): 5.2 miles, 45:15 (8:42 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Gahhhhh, I'm getting sick of this run... and I felt super extra lousy today. (22:22/22:53) I just could not hold it together the second lap. Aren't you supposed to start feeling BETTER after a few days to adjust to the altitude?

Day 17 (11/23/2009): 5.2 miles, 44:58 (8:39 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Okay, the lousiness isn't resolving as quickly as it might at sea level. (22:44/22:12) Felt pretty much as lousy when I started as where I left of yesterday, but when I saw the first lap split, I decided that I had to put my foot down somewhere, at this rate + the usual second lap slowdown, I was going to log a 23+ minute lap if I didn't put a stop to this. Dug deep and pulled out a semi decent second lap... and I'm done! Oxygen, here I come!

Day 18 (11/24/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:00:49 (8:34 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Back in Pasadena. I've got all of 10 hours here between my flight in from Denver and my flight out to Boston. Squeezed in a run in the glorious warmth and sunshine in the interim. I wasn't exactly feeling the amazing restorative effects of oxygen... but I may also have been in a bad state due to traveling, lack of sleep, dehydration etc. I also experienced my first seriously disturbing ache/pain so far: about 35 minutes in, I started feeling a stabbing pain in my R arch, followed by the sensation of popping or tearing. I was so terrified I stopped and took off my shoe to see if I had ruptured my plantar fascia. Upon poking and prodding, I decided that nothing had ruptured, at least not yet... so I rubbed it out and limped a little bit more slowly back the rest of the way. The arch started to feel a little bit more normal after 10 more minutes, so I picked it up a little bit at the end.

Day 19 (11/25/2009): 5.3 miles, 43:51 (8:16 min/mile) Smallest River Loop from house
Boston, for Thanksgiving week. Run after no sleep on the red eye. The river paths are mostly pavement, so I got a good clip going, but to be completely honest my R arch is killing me. I'm really afraid that my streak is over, and also that I've torn my plantar fascia. Crap. Okay, I'll give it one more day, if it hurts tomorrow, I gotta call this thing off...

Day 20 (11/26/2009): 6.8 miles, 56:07 (8:15 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop
It's Thanksgiving, and I gotta run before I turkey! Peter's here too, and its a big day because the fate of my continued running experiment rests on this run. In a fit of inspiration, I remember the correct way to tape an arch, so I break out the athletic tape and my foot feels loads better. Felt so much better, I went a little farther today and felt like I was going decently fast. There's a huge hill on the way home, which is why this speed is not reflected in my average pace. Happy Thanksgiving! I'm grateful, in addition to various other things, that my streak is still going strong.

Day 21 (11/27/2009): 6.8 miles, 58:30 (8:36 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop backwards
My turkey hasn't fully digested yet by morning, but its time to run again... gahhh... Felt lousy and hard to move the legs. Decided to go backwards to avoid seeing how far off from yesterday's splits I am. The super super lousy feeling dissipated slowly over the first 15 minutes or so, which inspired me to do the longer loop, but it was still slow. The hill was extra painful today.

Day 22 (11/28/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:34 (8:47 min/mile) Smallest River Loop
Lousiness continues... wtf? I'm grouchy though, so I'll blame the weather, the wind and why is there this bigass hill always in my way??? On the upside, my feet are doing pretty well with the taping.

Week 3 Musings: I find myself struggling internally about the nature of running every day. I'm tired, I haven't had a "great" run in a while, and I'm resenting that all of this travel hit before I'd gotten a chance to work through the fatigue from Week 2. The altitude in Colorado, then the hills in Boston are pissing me off. It's not fair to them though, because if I were in shape, I'd be loving it. Since when didn't I love hills... why am I doing this again?



Things improve after this week, but I can't transcribe all 64 days in one sitting, so I'll post some more installments later.

A Whole Bunch of Time Off

(10/25/2009 – 11/6/2009)

After barely hanging on to some crappy 20-30 mpw weeks, the wheels finally came off the bus. I got sick, that’s the official line, but that was really all the motivation I needed to go ahead and take a whole bunch of time off. I guess that’s okay, in hindsight. My relationship with running had already soured by this point. Gone were the days that I awoke with a twinkle in my eye (even at 6 am) just so very happy to run at all.

Too many setbacks leave a scar, somewhere… not that easily scuffed away by the newness of another season, another opportunity. The honeymoon phase ended when I got my weird hip flexor injury. It so quickly wiped away the optimism of a new start, with the hard realities of those who are injury prone stay injury prone. I didn’t want to get up in the morning, because I didn’t want to run, because I didn’t want to feel that first pain when you know a lot of time off imminently awaits. So, I started sleeping in, I started thinking, maybe three off days is still an okay number for one week… and then I got sick, and then I had my reason to leave.

I basically did two runs during this period:

10/25/2009: RB Perimeter from California, 7.9 miles, 1:13:49 (9:21 min/mile)

This is probably one of my worst runs in years and years. I see that I logged it at 7.9 miles due to the dubious nature of the arroyo… but let’s face it, this run has always been 7.8 miles, so long as I’ve been running it. 9:20, 9:30… does it really matter at that point? To my credit, it was hot when I ran, and I was already coughing up a storm.

10/29/2009: Hillcrest/Orlando/Hill/California, 6 miles, 52:18 (8:47 min/mile)

The guilt crept in once I realized that I could no longer use the excuse “bedridden” to avoid running anymore, so I went on this nice evening jog. It wasn’t such a bad experience, I only felt mildly barfy while I was running. When I returned, however, the coughing returned with a vengeance and I barfed up my dinner. Thankfully I had felt too barfy to eat a large one, so I guess it wasn’t too much of a loss.


After that I stopped running altogether and got fat. If only running fast were as easy to do as getting fat.

One day at a time...

10/18/2009 - 10/24/2009 (Week 8)

I've decided that the biggest issue for me with injuries is the loss of motivation, ergo the loss of momentum. The damage is more psychological than it is physical, and so I've decided that the key for me right now is just to re-establish the habit of running again.

Just take it one day at a time, rather than try to increase distance, or stress out about mileage, I feel like the key is just to run as many days as possible. The more days that I sleep in, the worse I feel, both physically and mentally. Consistency is key. Okay, here we go now:


Sunday: 5.2 miles, 42:49 (21:06/21:43) 2 x Washington Park Loops (8:14 min/mile)

After yesterday, I didn't really feel like I had 3 laps in me, so I decided to just do 2 and not feel bad about it. Felt better than yesterday, but still felt kind of buggered about the pace... maybe its not really a pace issue, actually its an endurance issue. The first lap felt fine... I also had someone to run with. I forgot what his name was, but we kept passing eachother back and forth so finally I decided to run next to him to avoid the competition. He was nice, but he was only doing one lap, so I think I slowed down a lot after he left.

Monday: Off, travel. Feeling lousy, not sure why, since I got a lot of sleep this weekend.

Tuesday: 6 miles, 47:25 Hillcrest, Orlando, Allen (7:58 min/mile)

Woke up feeling really beat, legs feeling really heavy... but force of habit is strong, it's Tuesday, so I figured that I should try to run a little faster than usual. Unfortunately my body just wouldn't go today. I felt like I expended an inordinate amount of effort not to get anywhere. My shoe came untied at Lake/California and I caught a glimpse of my watch. Seeing that I was 30 second behind last week's split, despite having worked a lot harder, I became discouraged and jogged the rest of it in. Bah, humbug.

Wednesday: 7.1 miles, 1:00:27 from Monterrey to RB (8:31 min/mile)

Hard to get up again, but was glad to make it on this nice, easy run. Was hoping it would be a little faster, but it felt good to take it easy after a few days where running felt more like struggling.

Thursday: 6.5 miles, 50:21 Hillcrest, Orlando, San Marino (7:45 min/mile)

An excellent night run in between baking a delicious chocolate cake. I kinda remembered what good base runs used to feel like today... I started off at a nice, controlled medium pace, and then pushed a little harder towards the end. That last part from Los Robles back to home always feels like a chore, so I tend to push through it. Felt good. Wish there were more runs like this.

Friday: Off, shots. Giving the hip and the feet and whatnot a precautionary day off by not trying to cram in a night run.

Saturday: 6.7 miles, 59:40 RB Perimeter to yellow gate at JPL (8:54 min/mile)

Good grief, I honestly don't know what happened here. I felt like I was going an "easy" pace, but it didn't feel like it was THAT slow. I also felt really wiped out on anything that went uphill, which meant that I really really struggled on the climb over the reservoir. I was so freaked out that I re-mapped this route immediately when I got home. Unfortunately, I didn't find a magical half mile or so that I forgot to measure... so I spent the rest of the evening feeling unsettled and irate.


Week total: 31.5 miles, some good, some bad... but making some progress!

Hip-hip hooray?

10/11/2009 - 10/17/2009 (Week 7)

I've decided that I'm still too young to have a metal hip... which means that I've got to come up with some way to fix this hip injury. Actually, at this point "hip" injury may be a misnomer. A variety of upper leg muscles have been hurting in turn at this point, so I'm not really sure what's going on anymore.

On the upside, it doesn't seem to make a difference whether I run fast or slow, and it's basically manageable with a smattering of core exercises, extra stretching and massage. Something always feels rusty and sore at the beginning of each run, but it seems to feel okay after 50 meters or so. It doesn't hurt me while walking around during the day any more, so I figure its improving and/or workable. I'm not 100% comfortable with it, but I think its good enough to proceed. Now to get that mileage back up. Last week I ran 3 days... this week I ran 4. One step at a time, I guess.

Sunday: 5.3 miles, 42:42 for Monterrey to bridge loop (8:03 min/mile)

I just decided, after yesterday, that I'm going to start running 8 minute miles now. Just like, in the beginning, I decided that I was going to run 8:30 miles. And I did, well mostly... and eventually it started to feel comfortable. I'm not sure why now, but it's time. Legs still feeling good and fresh, but breathing is kinda raspy. Overall a pretty good run though.

Monday: Off, slept in. Feeling lousy in that "under the weather" sort of way.

Tuesday: 6 miles, 46:10 Hillcrest, Orlando, Allen (7:46 min/mile)

Got up a little late, and it was drizzling out. Couldn't really decide what type of a run I wanted this to be. Went out hard, then backed off for most of the middle part, but then picked it up again coming back on California. Mostly, it was because the rain was picking up, I couldn't see anything, and I just wanted to get home sooner rather than later. Totally soaked when I got home, but I was super pleased to see my first solidly sub-8 minute mile run!

Wednesday: Off, slept in again. Feeling really fatigued and exhausted, not sure why.

Thursday: 6.5 miles, 54:30 Hillcrest, Orlando, San Marino (8:23 min/mile)

Slept in again, feeling really lousy... forced myself to go on this evening run though, to avoid 3 consecutive off days (counting shot day tomorrow). I was tired when I got home from work, and it was really humid. I remember thinking 5 minutes into this run that I was really hot and uncomfortable. Took it easy, but not THAT easy... so I was kind of pissed to see the slow run time. Oh well, try again on Saturday, I guess.

Friday: Off, shots, traveling.

Saturday: 5.2 miles, 42:18 (20:49/21:29) 2 x Washington Park Loops (8:08 min/mile)

First loop with Peter in Denver. Felt really lousy, I was feeling the altitude pretty early on, and it just got worse from there. The second loop felt a little bit more controlled, but I was pretty discouraged. Made some super delicious ginger bread men with Peter afterwards, and I decided to put this run behind me.


Week total: 23 miles. Well, whatever my hip needs to get better, so be it.

Another one bites the dust...

10/04/2009 - 10/10/2009 (Week 6)

Things fall apart. Shit. The worst part is that I'm still not entirely sure what has broken, but something has definitely gone awry, because I wasn't walking normally on Tuesday after the workout. The best case scenario is a tweaked L hip flexor, which has happened to me with some regularity, and can be resolved with more diligent implementation of core strengthening. The worst case scenario is a stress fracture of the femural joint. I've been taking my gummy calcium bears, dammit! Clearly my runty left side doesn't respond to encouragement, so fine... die, left leg, die.


Sunday: 11.6 miles, 1:42:11 in the Arroyo then around the RB perimeter (8:49 min/mile)

Aaaaaahhhhh... turtle turtle. Why is not my long run pace improving?! I really didn't want to run today, but around noon, I finally cobbled together enough motivation to head out. It felt fine, except for I could tell that I was getting tired, and I was really dehydrated towards the end. I knew I should just have stopped for water at the RB or the casting pond, but for some reason I was determined not to stop. I think that the reality is that I run all of my runs as accelerations... in the Arroyo, I think I start out at 8:45 pace and then pick it up on the second half to average 8:30, but on this run, the picking it up thing never happened. It didn't feel particularly horrible... just long, and slow. I think it was too early for this jump, I should have stuck with a few more weeks of the 9 mile long run. Blahhhh.....

Monday: Off. I had felt really good immediately after yesterday's run, but woke up today with some aches and pains that distinctly felt like the beginning stages of injury, rather than a good healthy sore. Took a precautionary day off.

Tuesday: 6.5 miles, 2 x 700m, 2 x 1500m, 2 x 700m pickups with 100m jog rest at Lacy

Woke up at 6:50 am and realized that I wasn't going to run today if I didn't rush to 7 am practice (team has started T/Th morning workouts again). The prospect of 2 continuous days off scared me more than the twinge I still felt in my L hip, so I rushed out, and then sprinted again to Lacy bc I had missed the start yet again.

Felt like a good workout, my goal was to practice running fast, but still remain comfortable and consistent. I'm just not ready for a super high intensity thing right now, so these continuous loops are really ideal. Times were 3:03, 3:00, 6:44, 6:54, 3:13, 3:14. Legs were comfortable throughout, but I struggled cardiovascularly on the 1500's and that carried over towards the end. Not exactly sure how to fix this gap, cardio always lags leg strength for me, but its usually not as bad as this. (Strangely on the bike, its the reverse... )

Wednesday - Friday: Off. L hip took a turn for the worse after Tuesday, should have listened to the tweak while it was just that. The joint seemed to seize up after Tuesday's workout, I had trouble walking normally. Tried to sort out exactly what was wrong, but it was difficult. Just kept trying to stretch and loosen it, but a number of things seemed to have clenched around the joint. Kind of scary. There was a large improvement in the first day, but residual issues persisted for many days afterwards. In addition, some small muscles keep spasming in my calf. Bad news bears.

Saturday: 4.2 miles, 33:21 Glenarm/Hillcrest (7:56 min/mile)

Short run to test out the hip. Smelled like burnt tires out. Ran at noon, so it was warmer than I would have liked. I felt sluggish and my breathing was out of whack, but I assumed I was going really slow and I just felt badly bc of the days off, and the temperature. Felt better about the run once I got home and realized that I was going a decent pace. Did a lot of stretching and exercises afterwards. I felt like my L hip was different from my R hip, but it felt like a difference of strength vs. a difference of injuredness. It may have been better to take it a bit easier on the first day back, but I'm actually heartened to see the faster pace because it demonstrates that I'm still getting full extension out of my stride. Towards the end of my last cycle of injuries, I couldn't run faster than a 9 minute mile, simply because I had shortened my stride drastically to minimize the pain.


Week Total: 22.3 miles, ack, wrong direction!

Rest week devolves to lazy...

09/27/2009 - 10/03/2009 (Week 5)

First rest week, and I've got two things going against me. One is that pre-season is over, so there isn't 6:30 am practice to get my lazy ass out of bed in the morning. Two is that I have a history of post-achievement motivational issues. And yes, running 42 miles last week is an achievement... because that's only happened twice so far in the past 2 years. Sad, yeah, I know...

The wheels kind of came off the wagon early this week, with the dreaded 2 consecutive off days, but I rallied to cobble together 35 miles in 5 days. I think the situation is under control, but I was afflicted by some serious ennui for a while there. Part of the problem is that I've been requiring a ridiculous amount of sleep recently. Since I returned from Colorado, 7 hours isn't cutting it. Kind of disturbing... but I'll chalk it up to recovering from altitude.


Sunday: 7.8 miles, 1:07:03 for 3 x Washington Park Loops in Denver (8:36 min/mile)

(22:00/22:38/22:25 lap splits) Argh, feeling lousy today. Not sure exactly why, but it was harder and slower than yesterday. It didn't feel like a complete meltdown, so I just tried to keep some sort of a steady pace and not do anything crazy. Glad to be done. ~ 6 mile hike to ~9000ft with Peter and his parents afterwards.

Monday: Off. Traveling. Didn't perceive that I was super tired, but apparently I was.

Tuesday: Off. Slept in, and then had to work late... decided not to do a late night run, such that I could get up for a proper run tomorrow.

Wednesday: 7.1 miles, 1:00:32 Monterrey to RB and back (8:32 min/mile)

Felt lousy again, can't imagine why after so much rest... but my body usually feels sort of groggy and out of sorts after days off. Started really easy, picked it up a bit on the second half, but it was still slow overall. Not too stressed out about it, just needed to get out and do something today to get back on the ball.

Thursday: 9.2 miles, 1:16:25 Hillcrest/Sierra Madre/Huntington/El Molino (8:18 min/mile)

Still couldn't get up in the morning, but this time I forced myself to run after work. Running at night around Pasadena is actually really nice, but this time I was afflicted by gastrointestinal distress, which made it... less nice. Went easy planning to do ~ 10 miles, but had to cut off the last part and head home early due to the stomach situation becoming intractable. Felt really good other than that. I was kind of sad that I didn't get to work the El Molino hill, because I had to concentrate on not crapping my pants. Stomach hurt for hours afterwards, couldn't eat anything... bad times.

Friday: 6 miles, 49:20 Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen back on California (8:18 min/mile)

Shots in the morning, but had to run after work to account for the unintended rest day on Tuesday. Felt kind of sore and weak presumably due to lack of food, and stomach still feeling kind of bad, but it was much better than yesterday. Easy until last 0.4 miles down Marengo to get home, felt really good picking up the pace a little bit. Running on the pavement is starting to feel really good and easy, and the paces are coming down. Not sure what it is about the trails that makes it that much harder.

Saturday: 5.3 miles, 45:21 Monterrey to Third Bridge Loop (8:33 min/mile)

This run kind of felt like a chore. The 12 hour turnaround is still hard for me, but I decided to sacrifice this run to get back on the morning schedule rather than Sunday's long run. My legs felt mostly okay though, so I think the badness came from forgetting to take my Zyrtec yesterday night, so I was stuffy and chest felt tight and congested in the morning. Mostly easy, but had to pick it up the last 5 minutes, to avoid being passed by Old Guy.


Week Total: 35.4 miles, why don't I feel more rested? Oh, because of the sub-optimal configuration of off days...

More Activation Energy Required

09/20/2009 - 09/26/2009 (Week 4)

Heading into week 4, I am sooooooo tired... Up until yesterday, I had been feeling fairly energetic, despite various aches and pains and respiratory distress. I thought taking Friday off would revive my legs, but on the contrary they seemed to have even less "pop" after the day off. Nuts.

This is the phase of training that I think of as the peak of the Activation Energy in a reaction profile. You ramp up the mileage, and crank down the paces, and somehow all of that happens a bit quicker than you gain fitness. There's an "uphill" part where you start to accumulate fatigue... before the increased fitness kicks in and you finally start to see some gains. This week is probably going to be my hardest one yet, but I'm hopeful that there's some good stuff there once I put in the requisite E(sub)a.


Sunday: 9.3 miles, 1:23:13 from Stables to Rose Bowl Perimeter (8:57 min/mile)

It's still morning, but the sun has come out and it's warmer than I'd like. I'm even more tired because it's only been 12 hours since my last run, but I'm determined to start the week right, with a proper long run, for the first time thus far. Started out feeling like my legs were really weak under me, but felt a lot better on the second half. Cardiovascularly, this run felt really pleasant and easy, so the time went by a lot quicker than I thought it would. I was kind of sad to see the final time, but also glad that I hung in there and didn't cut the route short.

Monday: 7.8 miles, 1:07:48 for a reverse California/RB perimeter loop (8:42 min/mile)

Slept in and missed the women's long run, so ran the guys' long run, mostly with Ben and Anton. I felt a lot better than yesterday at first glance, but in retrospect the effort/speed ratio was unfavorable compared to yesterday. I worked pretty hard to keep up with Ben in the beginning and at the end, but I was feeling a lot better jogging with Anton who was sore. I guess this is a lot of miles in 2 days for me, I'm feeling pretty beat.

Tuesday: 6.5 miles, 8 x 700m pick ups/100m jog rest at Lacy Park, 1.5 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down

Despite my resolve to take a day easy, Ian tempted me with this pretty mellow workout with the team today. I woke up and my legs were feeling good for the first time in a while, so I decided to go for it. It got off to a bit of a bad start, because I was late and had to haul ass to catch the group at the park, but the workout actually went really well. I made a good decision (for once!) and ran with the second pack, Phyllis, Perrin and Mia. Phyllis was an awesome pace leader, she's really steady and the pack stayed together for all of the repeats. I ran all of mine by feel and most of them were either 3:08 or 3:12, strangely enough. The pace was easy for me in the beginning, and just the right amount of challenging by the end, it felt fun and relaxed and great.

Wednesday: 6.7 miles, 54:36 Lorain/St. Albans (8:09 min/mile)

Really fun base run with Susan and Masha. I haven't been down to Lorain in a long time, and it was really nice. The pace was a little faster than usual, and I was feeling it a little bit in the middle, but I started feeling good again when we hit the hill coming up Virginia, and was able to finish strong. I think my energy levels are reviving a little bit. I felt really good at the end.

Thursday: 6.5 miles, 52:09 Hillcrest/Orlando/San Marino/California (8:01 min/mile)

Wanted to wake up early and do a tempo run in the Arroyo, but slept in instead :(. I felt pretty worn out by the time I got home from work, so I decided to do just a base run, but with some tempo paced pick ups in the middle. I wanted to do 5 x 5 minutes, but I think it ended up being more like 4 x 2-4 minutes. My legs felt good, but the breathing was pretty ragged for the faster parts. I really focused on maintaining a solid pace between the pick ups though, so it felt like a good solid effort. I was kind of hoping this would average out to sub-8 min/mile pace, but I guess it'll have to be another day.

Friday: Off, shots. Travel to Denver. I was really good and didn't gorge myself on free lunch.

Saturday: 5.2 miles, 42:42 (21:32/21:10) for 2 laps of Washington Park in Denver (8:13 min/mile)

Pleasant morning run in Denver. I made a promise to myself to keep this run really easy, so I was really pleased to see the split for the first lap. I got a little bit excited and pushed a little harder on the second lap, but overall it was a steady, non strenuous effort. The altitude didn't really bother me, which was also nice. A good end to the week.


Week Total: 42 miles, totally solid!