Chicago Marathon Training Summary - Weeks 14 and 15; Vacation in Vancouver, Canada

Weeks 14 and 15 of my 17 week Chicago Marathon training is done.  Yes!!!  I am now in taper mode now, which I am very excited about.  I feel great and am 95% healthy.  My knees and IT bands feel great, with the exception of the ganglion cyst that continues to sit behind my left knee.  It doesn't bother me when I run, but I definitely feel it the next day after a long run.  I've had the cyst on and off since March.  It goes away when I reduce my mileage and gets bigger when I do long runs.  Overall, I'm very pleased and happy to be feeling so good at this point in my marathon training.  For my previous 2 marathons (NYC 2009 and Kenosha Wisconsin 5/2010), I was extremely fatigued at this point of my training, so much so that I desperately needed the taper.  This time around, I feel so good that I don't even feel like I need the taper (although I'm definitely still going to taper so I am fresh for the marathon on 10/10/10).  For this my marathon training, my motto has been "less is more".  After my last marathon on 5/1/2010 (and during my training), I had severe IT band friction along my right knee and bursitis behind my left knee.  Both required a cortisone shot to get better.  I decided that running 6 days/50 miles a week was too hard on my body.  My doctor recommended physical therapy and triathlons, saying "you never do enough swimming, biking, or running to really hurt yourself".  So I went out and bought a road bike and started swimming (I had never owned a road bike before and hadn't gone swimming since high school).  I picked a Hal Higdon easy marathon training schedule and started my training.  This schedule requires running 4 days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday), with not as many long runs on the weekend.  For my NYC marathon training, I did 3 long runs of 20 miles.  For Kenosha, I did 4 long runs of 20 miles.  For the upcoming Chicago Marathon, I only did one 20 mile run (during week 14).  We shall see if that helps or hurts me on October 10th.  I also have been doing leg strengthening exercises that I learned about during physical therapy.  To my surprise, I found that my legs were weak (and in particular my glutes), so since I learned this I have been doing exercises at home with big rubber bands to strengthen my glutes and legs, which has really helped.  Additionally, bike riding has really strengthened my legs.  Finally, I have been trying to get more sleep.  While I haven't been great at getting enough sleep during my training, typically averaging about 6.5 hours per night, during our vacation in Vancouver I had 4 days were I got at least 8 hours of sleep a night and another 2 where I got more than 7 hours.  On the day we got home, I slept almost 10 hours and woke up feeling like a million bucks.  I have read all over the place that sleep in the single best recovery method from heavy physical activity, and I definitely feel rested after our vacation.  I also regularly do ice or cold water baths with Epsom salts.

Week 14 Summary - peak marathon training week

• 6 workouts - ran 5 times (43 miles in total), cycled once (43 miles, approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes) - total workout time approximately 8.5 hours over 5 days.
• Monday - 5 miles (8:19 pace) - heart rate monitor battery dead
• Tuesday - 10 miles (8:19 pace) - heart rate monitor battery dead
• Wednesday - 5 miles (8:19 pace) - heart rate monitor battery dead
• Thursday - Off day - travel to Vancouver
• Friday - 20 miles (8:47 pace, ran negative splits and stopped many times to take pictures (see below) - heart rate monitor battery dead
• Saturday - Off day
• Sunday - Brick workout -  2 hour and 30 minute bike ride (43.34 miles) followed immediately by a 3 mile run (overall 7:39 pace) - with the first mile off the bike at a 6:48 pace, which I was working hard for.  Slowed down after that.
• Overall, started out each of my runs easy (except for Sunday) and finished strong.  Had a few workouts where I ran 1-2 miles hard with splits in the 6s

Week 15 Summary - 6 workouts - ran 4 times (31 miles, 5, 8, 6, and 12 mile runs) and cycled twice (once on a trainer for 55 minutes, alternating between 5 easy minutes and 5 hard minutes) and once for 30 miles in Central park

• Continued to feel good and really enjoyed my workout on the bike trainer.  I definitely need to buy one for our apartment for winter training (plus I feel like I got a different type of workout which I liked).  Can anybody recommend a good trainer to buy at a reasonable price?  Does anybody know of a used one for sale?  I will be doing a lot of trainer work this winter to build my base for my Ironman Canada race on 8/28/2011.

Over the last 10 days, we were on vacation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  We had a great time (although it rained almost the entire time we were there - we only had 1 sunny day out of the 10 days we were there).  We stayed with our friends PN and MM, which was great (thanks Paul and Miranda, we really appreciate it!)  Both PN and MM are also training for Ironman Canada in August 2011 (the three of us will be doing the race together).  I trained with Paul 3 times while I was there, which was great (he ran the first 13 miles of my 20 mile training run with me, we did a brick together, a 2 hour and 30 minute bike ride immediately followed by a 20 minute run, and a 50 minute run together).  Paul is an extremely talented and gifted athlete  - he was nearly a professional cyclist and left me in the dust on the bike when the hard part of his workout started, and during the brick run, he ran the first mile off the bike at a sub 6 minute per mile pace (while I was happy with my 6:48 per mile first mile off the bike split, I was easily far behind him). 

By far, the best part of the week was our daughter Kaiya turning 2 on 9/21 (I can't believe that she is 2 already!).  So, for the second consecutive year, we celebrated her birthday in Vancouver and Miranda and Paul's house.

Here is a picture of Kaiya while at Whistler (she picked out and put on the hat herself)

Some pictures from my 20 mile long run in Vancouver:

I ran along the water every day - absolutely beautiful

I took a wrong turn and my 20 mile long run unexpectedly became partly a trail run.  I have a new-found respect for trail running.  It is hard and hilly!!  This is a view from the top of one of the trails as I head back to easy, flat running....

A 137 meter pool in Kits - they keep the water cold and allow wetsuits!  A triathlete's dream!  Remind me again, why do we live in New York City?

The first sign I saw as my long run became a trail run.  Hmmm....

The trail run begins

starting to get into the trails....man was is hilly and muddy!  All I was thinking was "where the heck am I?" and "I hope I don't get bitten by a tick!"

blurry because I was running to get out of there fast!

 A nice creek along the trail....



Fatigued! Week 12 and Week 13 Chicago Marathon Training Summary

Just finished weeks 12 and 13 of  my Chicago Marathon training.  I did my first very long run during Week 12, an 18 mile run.  Until my triathlon yesterday on 9/12 (see separate race report), my body was feeling very fatigued.  I moved my week 13 marathon training schedule up one day so I could take Saturday off, the day before my tri.  On Sunday, I did the tri and felt great the entire race (and after too).  My fatigue seems to be gone, which is great, as week 14 has me scheduled to run 40 miles (5, 10, 5, and 20 miles).  We will be in Vancouver on vacation for the 20 miler, which I am really looking forward to, as my friends PN and MM in Vancouver are going to run with me and we are going to run along the ocean, which is flat and absolutely beautiful!

As I write this, my fatigue has subsided.  However, during weeks 12 and 13, I felt the fatigue that nearly all marathon runners experience at some point during training. My legs were sore, my IT bands were sore, my knees were sore, the cyst behind my right knee was bothering me, and my body just felt tired.   I took a lot of ice baths and/or Epsom salt baths during this period, and that helped too.

Overall, I'm happy with my training during these two weeks.

Week 12 - I got in 6 workouts (4 runs - 4.6, 9, 5.1, and 18 miles - total - 36.7 miles), 1 ride, and 1 swim).  I was so fatigued that I only rode 12 miles (2 loops of Central Park) the day after my long run.  It felt good to get a "recovery" ride in, but 42 minutes was enough.  I've accepted that I'm going through a tough period of workouts and when I do I try to keep my workouts limited to my marathon training only.  I've noticed my fitness improving, as my heart rate has been lower lately and I have been getting faster.  For one 5 mile run this week, I planned on running around 8:45-9:00 for the entire run, but I felt good so I ended running the last few miles in the low 7s/high 6s and still had more in the tank.

I ran 12 of the 18 miles of my long run on Saturday with BGR, which was great.  I ended up running 3 Harlem Hills, which was tough, but hopefully this hill work will benefit me for the flat Chicago Marathon course.

When we were on our long run, there was a guy juggling while he was running.  Naturally, I started talking to him.  I asked him if he runs entire marathons while juggling, and he said yes.  I asked him how fast and he said around 4:50 (although his goal is a little faster than that).  Pretty impressive if you ask me!  I asked him if I could take his picture and he said yes, so check it out.

Week 13 - 5 runs (5, 9, 5, 14.21, 4 - 38 miles for the week) and 1 race (Greenwood Lake triathlon - 0.5 mile swim, 17.9 mile bike, 4 mile run).  I reduced my schedule to running only plus the tri race at the end of week 13. Other than that, I didn't bike or swim during week 13 at all. I think sometimes "less is more", so I tried to train that way for week 13 and it definitely resulted in a strong race for me. One of the things I love about racing is that there are always things to improve upon, and the triathlon is great for that.   Overall a great week.  I feel like I am getting more fit and peaking at the right time for the Chicago Marathon (for my previous 2 marathons I peaked way too early, about halfway through training.  This year, I've been focused on an easier, more gradual build up).  Sunrise is around 6:25 A.M. these days, so some of my runs are now in the dark.   There's not much better than seeing the sun rise in Central Park while running.  It is beautiful.

My Running Song of the Week
As I mentioned before, I am really into listening to music when I run (although triathlons don't allow music so I did the Greenwood Lake tri without it).  It pumps me up, plus I just love music.  Lately, I've been getting into Motorhead, and my current favorite song is called "Killed by Death".  It rocks, I really can't believe that this song was written in 1984 and I never heard it until 2010.  The song sounds like it was written today and the guitar solos rock! Take a listen.....



Recently, my brother John found some old pictures of our dad's (he passed away in 2006).  I love this one!  It was in the Kenosha News around 1977.  Our dad used to write his bike to work everyday.  He would have loved to see me doing marathons and triathlons.

Want somebody to do a triathlon with?  Perhaps the bike below would be helpful?  Thanks to PN for this picture.

Week 9 of Chicago Marathon Training is done

Week 9 of my 17 week Chicago Marathon training is done!  Work finally calmed down, so I was able to have a solid workout week.

Week Summary

• Worked out all 7 days this week - total workout time for the week = 8.6 hours
• 5 runs (4.5, 7.29, 4.49, 15.5, and 5.5 miles) - total 37 miles
• 2 bike rides (36 miles and 24 miles)
• My legs feel great, only tiny twinging in my right knee
• Cyst behind left knee is still there, although it seems better than the week before
• Still no time to swim - will do so next week

Over the last month, I have been trying to take a day off to hang out with my kids.  Finally, I was able to do so on Friday.  We saw Toy Story 3 at 10:30 A.M. on Friday morning.  This was the first movie for my kids, and they loved it.  My younger daughter Kaiya (22 months) was able to sit through the entire movie, no problem.  Our older daughter Mikayla (turning 4 on 8/31) could never have sat still at that age.  Here's a picture of the event (note that there were only 5 other people in the theater when we saw the movie, which was perfect!).  The kids got to eat a lot of goodies (popcorn, strawberry milk, m&ms, cheerios, goldfish, etc.)

Over the weekend, we visited my friend RS at his new home in the Hamptons.  It is an amazing house and we had a great time!  We spent Saturday and Sunday in the Hamptons, which meant that I had to move up my running schedule by one day (usually I run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday).  Therefore, this week I ran on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday (long run), and Sunday (5 days).  I added an extra day, as I have made it a tradition for me to go for a run whenever I am travelling.  I ran around the South Hampton neighborhood on Sunday and was amazed at the size and quality of the houses there.  They are amazing! 

Click here to check out the Garmin File from the run to see where I ran.  I like to click on the map to zoom in and out to see where the Hamptons sit on Long Island.  Pretty amazing all this data comes from the watch.

Here is a summary of the week:

Monday - ran 4.5 miles, average pace 8:35 per mile, 151 average heart rate, 38:46

Tuesday - ran 7.29 miles, 8:38 pace, 148 average heart rate, 1:02:59

Wednesday - 4.49 miles, 8:40, 150 average heart rate, 38:59

Thursday - 36.3 mile bike ride, 19.0 mph average, 139 average heart rate, average cadence 70, 1:54:30

Friday - Ran 15.56 miles, 8:50 pace, 146 average heart rate, 2:15:51.  Click here for my Garmin Watch Summary.    Half marathon split was 1:56:16 and ran negative splits the entire way. Average heart rate was 142 after 12 miles, very low for the pace I was running. 70 degrees and 70% humidity, it felt much cooler than this. When I started, I felt like I was running very slow. I wasn't warmed up until the 5th mile. When people used to tell me that it took them miles to warm up, I used to think they were crazy. Now I understand!

Saturday - Rode 24.28 miles, averaged 18.2 mph, average heart rate 120 (assuming that my maximum heart rate is 197, this was 61% of my max.  Can somebody that trains in heart rate zones explain to me what zone this is?  This workout was extremely easy), average cadence 66 (too low, I need to increase this). 1:19:03

Sunday - ran 5.5 miles very easy, average pace 8:56, average heart rate 143, 49:12.  Ran in the Hamptons.

About 7 weeks left until the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10.

I am now actively trying to figure out what Ironman I am going to sign up for next year. I'm told that they sell out a year in advance, almost immediately.  I am looking at Ironman Florida and Penticton, B.C. Canada in late 2011.  Anybody have any advice?

http://www.ironmanflorida.com/.  Of course, the registration for this race is on 11/7/10 at noon, which is the date of the 2010 ING New York City Marathon, so I may need somebody to help me register for this one.

Bonus Material

Here is a video of me finishing the 2009 ING New York City Marathon (I purchased a video and my brother edited it down to this - Thanks John)!  The quality is poor, but it is still pretty cool.  The thing that still amazes me in the number of people around me.  I finished just under 4 hours at 3:58, so nearly everybody around me was trying to do the same thing!

Week 8 of Chicago Marathon Training is complete

Week 8 of my Chicago Marathon Training is complete.  I had another very busy week, working about 90 hours.  Over the last 3 weeks, I have worked about 100, 90, and 90 hours, respectively.  I have been so busy that I didn't even write a summary for my week 7 training, so I'll include a summary here.  As my friend PN said: "during those crazy work weeks, one should focus on simply maintaining fitness" which is what I tried to do.  I'm very proud that I didn't miss one scheduled workout during those 3 weeks, despite sometimes sleeping less than 5 hours and never sleeping more than 6.5 hours in a single night (most nights I slept 5 hours).  It definitely wasn't easy getting up some mornings (although some mornings I was excited to do something other than work, so that made it easier to get up early).  I know that sleep is absolutely critical for recovery, so I am really going to try and get more sleep over the next few weeks (which isn't easy to do with 2 young kids).

I can definitely feel my fitness improving.  For the most part, I feel very healthy.  I had some chest pain about 2 weeks ago and saw a cardiologist.  I regularly get heart palpitations where my heart adds extra beats.  It is normal in some people, nothing to worry about. I'll write a separate post about my visit to the cardiologist another time. 

Regarding my running health, unfortunately, the cyst that I had behind my left knee has come back, so that has been nagging at me over the last week.  Not much I can do about it.  Since I've had it before, I am used to dealing with the nagging pain.  It comes and goes.

Week 8 Summary (for the week ended 8/8/2010)

• Worked out 5 days, running 4 times (30 miles) and riding once (30 miles).  I haven't gone swimming in weeks, something I am going to need to do with my next triathlon coming up on September 12.
• When I set up my marathon schedule, I hand typed the schedule into my own excel tracking spreadsheet.  This week seemed like a lot of running, with a schedule of 3, 7, 8, and 10 miles.  When I finished the 8 miles on Thursday, I emailed my friend RL (also running the Chicago Marathon) and said "hey, how did your 8 miles go today?"  He responded "the schedule only had 3 miles for today".  "3 miles?..... oops I ran 8 today".  I went back to the schedule and checked the rest of the schedule and realized that I made a bunch of mistakes in it, which I fixed. 
• My right IT band twinged all week.  I continue to roll it out, but due to my busy work schedule, I haven't been able to get any physical therapy, something I am hoping to do next week.
• I have been focusing very hard on making every run very easy to minimize the pounding on my body.  I feel extremely good during these easy runs, as evidenced by my heart rate staying low despite the very hot and humid weather every day this week. 
• My marathon race plan will be to run a very easy first half marathon, focusing on my heart rate, which for me, is directly correlated to how I feel.  My target heart rate for Chicago for the first half marathon will be 149 or less.  We'll see if I can actually force myself to run slow enough to achieve this (usually about 8:55-9:00 per mile).  If I can go out easy, then my plan will be to turn up the speed after 13.1 miles.

Week 8 detail:

Monday - OFF

Tuesday - 4.55 miles, 38:59, 8:34 pace, 155 heart rate

Wednesday - 7 miles, 1:01:54, 8:44 pace, 151 heart rate

Thursday - 8 miles, 8:46 pace, 155 heart rate, 1:10:15

Friday - OFF

Saturday - 10.31 miles, 8:42 pace, 151 heart rate, 1:29:44  - very easy and very hot

Sunday - rode 30.74 miles in Central Park, 18.4 mph, 72 cadence, average heart rate 132


Week 7 Training Summary - 5 workouts, 4 runs (30 miles) and 1 ride (30 miles)

Monday - OFF

Tuesday - 4.5 miles, 8:25 pace, 157 heart rate, 37:57

Wednesday - 6 miles, 8:26 pace, 152 heart rate, 50:45

Thursday - 6 miles, 8:42 pace, 155 heart rate, 52:48

Friday - OFF

Saturday - 30 miles on the bike in Central Park, 19.2 mph (my record, and I averaged 20.0 for the first 12 miles), 141 heart rate, 71 cadence, 1:35:02.  Definitely getting stronger on the bike

Sunday - 13.43 miles, 8:56 pace, 148 heart rate, 2:00:00, half marathon split 1:57:03.  I felt AWESOME this entire run, it was very easy for me, and around mile 11 I was easily running an 8:18 pace.  Ran the ING New York City Marathon training run with my friend DG.  I took a speed class with DG last summer and ran into him at the start line of this practice run.  I said "how fast are you planning on running and how many?"  He said "easy, around 9:00 per mile and 18".  I said "I'm running 13, want to run together?".  And we did, I ran 13.3 miles with him. 



I have attached a picture of me after my week 7 long run (13.3 miles), taken by my mom who was visiting from Wisconsin. Kaiya, my 22 month old daughter, is standing next to me.  I am soaked because it was very hot and humid that day.

Week 6 of 2010 Chicago Marathon Training Summary

I just completed week 6 of my 2010 Chicago Marathon training.  This week was tough, as I worked 100 hours this week (yes 100, it is not a typo).  At least 13 hours a day all 7 days this week, with 3 days of more than 16 hours.  A brutal week.  I barely saw my family at all the entire week, which was the worst. My mom was also in town visiting for her birthday, so I hardly spent any time with her, which was a bummer (although it was great having her here because she got to spend some quality time with my kids while I was working and the kids loved it!)  I had Rush tickets at Jones Beach for Saturday night (7/24/10) with my friend NN, and at the last minute I had to cancel (I felt guilty about leaving the rest of my team behind in the office when we still had a ton of work to do while I would be watching the show) plus, I was unable to go to the Walking with Dinosaurs show at Madison Square Garden with my family and some clients (although I heard everybody had a great time!). 

On the swim/bike/run front, working 100 hours this week made it very tough to get my workouts in, but I did it, always is a severely deprived sleep state.

I got 5 workouts in this week - 4 runs (total 28 miles) and 1 bike ride (30 miles).  My long run was 12 miles this week, in 85 degree heat with near 100% humidity.  Not fun, and as I was running, I thought to myself more than a few times "do I really want to keep running marathons?  6 miles seems like a long way, let alone 12 miles or 26.2 miles!".  Then I thought "do I really want to do an Ironman someday?  If I get a hot day, I'm going to be miserable!"

Here is a summary of the week:

Monday - OFF

Tuesday - 4.49 mile run, 8:10 pace, 158 average heart rate.  Slept only 6 hours the night before.

Wednesday - 6 mile run, 8:41 pace, 154 average heart rate.  Slept only 5 hours the night before (worked until after midnight the night before).

Thursday - 6 mile run, 8:37 pace, 154 heart rate.  Slept only 5 hours the night before (worked until after midnight the night before).

Friday - 30.2 mile bike ride of Central Park (5 loops) with my friend MH - 18.5 miles per hour (last loop approximately 20.1 mph), average heart rate 136, cadence 71, elevation gain 1,024 feet.   Slept less than 5 hours last night, up at 5am and in Central Park by 5:37 A.M.

Saturday - 12 mile long run, 8:58 pace, 158 average heart rate.  85 degrees, near 100% humidity, very muggy.  Stopped many times to drink water, went easy.  Felt good after the run.  Slept 7 hours last night after working until about 11pm.

Sunday - OFF.  Slept 7 hours last night.

I hope to catch up on my sleep this week!

Since I missed the Rush show last night, I looked for a video or two from the Jones Beach show last night.  I found this one, a very high quality HD video of the show.  These guys rock, this is a great video, check it out (La Villa Strangiato).