Still Sore

I went out yesterday for a very nice 'normal' run along the Charles.  Weather was cool and a bit windy, but sunny.  My legs still felt sore - and I still have that weird abdominal soreness.  I did sign up for the battlegreen 10k - so hopefully it'll feel better by then.  Will do a strength training today and another easy run tomorrow before getting some rest before the 10k.

What to Change?

So I've been thinking about last Sunday - wondering what steps to take for next year.  Obviously a lot can change - but it's worth thinking about it while the last experience is fresh in my mind.  

What happened last week?  My legs gave out really.  I probably ran 8:40s for the last 8 miles - losing almost a minute/mile from my goal pace.  The pain was localized in the 'hip flexor' area: quads, groin and (oddly) abdomen.  If that area did not break down - I would have been very close to 3:25, certainly under 3:30.

There are a few ways I can try and avoid this next time.  Acute - work on leg strength.  More global - run a lot more miles.  Plan tweek - increase the pace from the last plan.  In the end the first one may just not be enough, the second one i'm not willing to commit to and the third one may actually make things worse.  I think the most assured way to qualify would be simply running a lot more - but I don't want to sacrifice cross-training and realize that if I do 5 or 6 runs a week - i'd be lucky to do one good cross workout.  

I'm leaning toward a compromise of the three right now.  This would keep one strength session/week as before.  I would also have to be deligent about working the 'hip flexor' excercises 2-3x/week.  If that works well, then I'd be in pretty good shape with the FIRST plan.  However, I think I'm leaning toward a thursday run to bump up the mileage and hopefully make the Friday long run more challenging.  Finally, I would change the 'speed' and 'tempo' to look more like the hanson plan - but I would drop the MP to 7:30-7:40 - depending on what I'm capable of.  In the end - the will lengthen some of the Monday/Wednesday workouts.  I would also make the 'speed' work longer slower intervals (7:10s for 2 or 3 miles vs. 6:10s for 400m).  This should help the muscles not feel so worn going into the marathon.

Bay State Marathon

Yesterday we headed up to Lowell to try and qualify for Boston.  The day was cold - but that may have actually been a good thing.  I started the race with the 3:25 pace group.  They were clicking off a little fast - maybe 7:45s for the first 12 miles or so, probably aiming for 7:23 and change.  I hung with them, actually ran a little ahead of them.  I needed to use the bathroom though, and stopped at mile 12 - losing a minute or so.  I never did catch them - but had them in sight until maybe mile 14 or 16.  Based on my splits, I was just under 7:50 at 16.3.  The wheels started to come off in the 18-20 range, and I ran 8:40s!!! the rest of the race (probably faster in the early 20s and barely running at the end).  Very similar to previous experiences - pain in the groin area and abdomen.  Left knee and left foot also were feeling the hurt.  I kept the legs moving as good as possible, and manged to fend off the 3:35 pace group, for a PR of 3:33 - but falling well short of my goal.  Maybe next year.  

The course was good and really well supported.  One thing I need to improve is more hill work during the marathon training since the hills (miles 14-16), though moderate, really didn't feel good the second time around.  I should probably also aim/train for a faster pace - and then hope when I fall apart that I can still crack 3:25.  

Final Long Run

Well today was the last one.  I did my final long run around the esplenade today over 'lunch'.  A lunch that took an hour and 18 minutes and covered 10 miles.  I've totaled 12 long runs (10 or more miles) and another 5 in the 8-10 range.  This one was targeted for MP (7:50).  I started with larry and we went a little slow to warm up the first 3 miles: 8:14, 7:54 and 7:54.  Then picked it up: 7:36, 7:47, 7:38, 7:44, 7:52, 7:46, 7:45.  The wind sheer was pretty bad - to the point that I was thinking I wouldn't be able to keep the pace I had the last 4 miles - not a great feeling 9 days out of the marathon - but it is what it is.  The first 13 miles last week definately felt a little easier - and the pace was faster - so hopefully the marathon goes more like that.  Legs are sore now - but the lactic acid is what you train for - so I'm telling myself it's a good pain.

Taper Week Intervals

Today I headed to the MIT track to do 5x1000 intervals.  I ended up doing 4x1000s because I was late for a meeting - but my right knee has an acute pain which i'm having trouble shaking - so I figure dropping the whole session was in the cards - and 4x1000 is ok.  I'm going to monitor the knee and see how it feels Wednesday - but I may give it rest until Thursday and skip this weeks tempo.  Would rather make the start line a little undertrained than miss this damn race.

Last Longish Run

Today marked the last of the pretty hard runs.  I wanted to do 13-15 miles - so I split the difference and did 14.  It took 1 hour and 49 minutes.  The goals were 13 miles at MP, and I wanted to add a little mileage to make it last longer - but not too long since I did have to work today.  I left at 7:42 and headed 'down' into belmont towards fresh pond.  Pacing was pretty good: 7:50, 7:44, 7:45, 7:56, 7:38, 7:55, 7:48 for the first 7.  Then I got a little greedy as I headed though watertown and onto the Charles: 7:39, 7:34, 7:35, 7:25, 7:38, and 7:46 - which put me at 13.  I'm hoping the pace group will help me in the marathon.  7:50 is tough - because i can't just run a brisk/slow pace and get it - i need to really think about running a little faster - and apparently end up running too fast.  Last mile was 8:25 giving an overall pace of 7:46 - but the 13 mile pace was probably lower 7:40s.  Still not feeling wonderful - legs are sore - could feel the back the last few miles.  So as I taper, I'll have to keep hitting that and stretching those legs well.

Taper time.

almost anyway.  I took it easy the last two days.  We had tons of rain yesterday, but I managed nothing.  Today I did a weak strength workout in the morning.  Drinking beer and yawning a lot now. I wa going to run home today, but punted it do to general tiredness.  I had shins splin-like pain last night and this morning. It feels better now, so I should have no trouble with the 14 tomorrow.  I need to keep it fastish, but want to start close to MP if possible.