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.