Training Recap

I've done some thinking over the last year about this blog, and whether I wanted to continue with it once grad school was over.  For the last year, school has been so crazy that my running/training has been abysmal at best, and when you have a running blog with lackluster running, um... what's the point?

Right now I'm in the midst of a five week break from school.  Five.  Glorious.  Weeks.  Granted I'm still working full time, but other than that 40 hours a week, I have 128 hours that *I* get to decide what I do with.  I have approximately 15 books sitting on the end table in my living room, so that should give you some idea of what my plans are.  But I've also been RUNNING.

**Cue the confetti and celebratory high fives**

Spring in the midwest (albeit wildly unpredictable) is the BEST time to run.  Granted, we only get three weeks of spring, and fall for that matter, but it is a glorious three weeks.  It snowed on May 1st, so I'm hoping that we might get a smidge more good weather in early June before hot as hades hits.  I am incredibly slow right now.  Yes, running is all relative.  My slow could be your race pace (it's probably not), but it's slow for me, and I feel slow, and I don't like to be slow.  But it is what it is.

Before my long run last Saturday, I procrastinated by going through my training log from the last year.  The fact that I was able to go through it in a short amount of time should give you an idea of how little I've trained over the last year.  My last solid training effort was in March 2012.  I ran a semi decent race in Brookings in May 2012, and since then I've basically been setting PWs, or not racing.  Which is fine, you get out of running what you put in to it.  I don't deserve fast times.

However, my highest level of frustration with running has been over the last year.  I would get in to a groove of a couple of weeks of successful running.  Moderate amount of weekly mileage.  A long run for good measure, and I would end up hurt.  Repeat, 20,000 times (or so it feels).  I've never felt like quitting running more than I have over the last year.

This spring I picked up Chi Marathon.  I've implemented some of the running form suggestions, and it's making a world of difference **knocks on wood**.  If you're reading this, please also knock on wood for me, mmmk?  I've known for years that there is something wrong with my running form, because I always end up injured either after a hard race effort, or a higher mileage training cycle.  THIS IS NOT NORMAL.  I had pinpointed either heel striking or muscle weakness as the culprit (or both).  After looking at some of the "good" and "bad" running form pictures, it was pretty clear which category I fell into.  Hint:  bad.

When I run, and settle in to auto-pilot mode, I sit back on my heels and bop along.  This leads to over-striding, and when you're overs-triding, it's impossible to NOT heel strike.  Seriously.  Try it.  Not only was I heel striking, but I was also doing so with a completely straight leg.  Looking at race pictures makes me cringe.  When landing with that much force, you're essentially putting the brakes on, with every stride, not to mention forcing your joints (knees, hips) to take the shock of each step, via your IT band.  Seeing a pattern here?  Me too.

Examples?  Sure:

The trick that has helped me the most is the forward lean.  Immediately it shortens your stride, and helps to land your foot underneath you instead of way out in front of you.  I have to concentrate the ENTIRE RUN to make sure I'm leaning, landing with my knees slightly bent, foot directly underneath me.  Hopefully with time, it'll become second nature, because I miss my autopilot runs.

My pace is super slow because a) I'm out of shape and b) I'm using muscles that have never been used (or just rarely) before!  My calves are incredibly tight after each run.  Whenever people would complain about tight calves, I kind of always thought they were crazy.  :/  I did a speed workout this week, and my hammies were sore the whole next day.  Hammies are used for running??  Who knew??  And a muscle higher up in my quad is getting definition like I've never seen before.  So there's that too, I guess.

I'm slowly building up my mileage right now, doing the HR training thang, in hopes that I'm somewhere back to normal-ish paces by the time marathon training starts ~2 months.  I have a couple of 10ks, and possibly a 5k thrown in there as well to keep me motivated, and then I'm going to attempt Pfitz 18/55 yet again in mid-July.

So stick with me, I guess.  This may just turn in to a fully functioning running blog yet again!

Marathon #6 on the Horizon

I had been counting down to Marathon Monday for months.  After starting my new job in January, I was super jazzed to realize that I have Monday mornings off so I could watch the coverage of the elite runner finishes in their entirety.  I shed tears over Kara's interview aired pre-race, I shed tears at the finish when Kara asked with her first breath "How'd Shalane do??"  And I ended the day in tears of shock and horror at what had happened at the finish line.

The running community is one of the most supportive and genuine groups that I am a member of.  While my running has taken a back seat over the last year + due to school commitments, I still consider myself a runner (albeit a much slower one).  Some of my best memories are race weekends with running besties, some of my closest relationships were founded because of running, and I am at my happiest when I'm devoting my time to the sport.

When Krista posted that she had signed up for the Madison Marathon, my interest was piqued.  I had been toying with signing up for TCM and then talking myself out of it EVERY time, because July will be a crazy month for school, and I am not in good enough running shape to pull the ol' 6 week marathon training cycle like Jenn, Megan, and I did for the Philly Marathon.  I had previously heard rumblings about the Madison race being moved to the fall, but had failed to see the official announcement.

I called Kyle to ask his thoughts:  YES!  You're so much happier when you're running all the time.  I think it's a great idea.  Do it!  And I fbooked Krista to be sure that I could snag a spot on her couch with kittehs for the weekend.  And boom.









I've been pouring through Chi Marathon and implementing its techniques.  The book recommends only running as far as you can while maintaining the proper form, so it is currently very slow going.  But I'm excited to be getting some miles in again.  And I'm excited for my grad program to be winding down.  And I'm excited to be pounding the pavement in Madison in November with all the Boston area runners, spectators, families, law enforcement, first responders, etc. etc. etc. heavily on my mind and in my heart.