The Science of the Long Run

I love running. In fact, the only thing I love more than running is running long (and also maybe chocolate chip cookies).

After scaling back my mileage the past two weeks due to the RnR USA Half and then my widsom teeth removal, I am ready to pick it back up and get into serious long run territory. I'm hoping to score an 18 and two 20 milers in April, which should set me up nicely for a busy race schedule in May.

The last time I ran 20+ miles was at JFK in November. Needless to say, it's been awhile and I'm eager to test out my endurance. I'm sure the first 20 miler won't be enjoyable. Let's face it, sometimes long runs just plain suck, especially when you run out of new running routes. Mapping 20 milers are always difficult for me. Its a game of "which parts of Philadelphia will I hate the least on this particular day."

That said, I really do love running long. I love the slow, steady burn, the hours to myself to work out my thoughts, and of course the post-run satisfaction that comes along with sitting on my ass the rest of the day (I deserve it).

While perusing r/running on Reddit this morning I found a link to Wiki page called The Science of the Long Run. Luckily for us 2013 folks, Wikipedia isn't nearly as trecherous as it was when it started. My teachers are even vocally supportive of it (Need a quick date on something? Wiki it!). If the author's references are as relible as they seem, then it makes for some very interesting data on the long run.

The study looks for correlations in data between the number of long runs in the last two months of marathon training and marathon time, injury rate, etc.



Source
 

Source



There is obviously a lot more analysis that could be done on future data, but overall I found it very interesting, especially since it seems to support the idea of more long runs for better performance. Yay long runs!

A Rest Week and a Birthday Marathon

On Wednesday I got all four of my wisdom teeth out.

The first thing I asked was "when can I run again?" to which the dentist replied, "7 days."

WTF man? I reiterated my frustration again in sign language after they gave me the gas. P.S. Get the gas. It's awesome.

I'm still debating with myself on how long to actually hold off. The internet can be your best friend ("I ran the next day and was fine!") and your worst enemy ("I ran 5 days later and got the most horrible infection ever!"). Sometimes it's best not to even google it.

Luckily, right now, I don't have enough energy to run anyway. None of my teeth were impacted so they just pulled them right out, which left behind four lovely open sockets just waiting to get stuck with food. So, I've been sticking with smoothies, yogurt, applesauce, and chocolate pudding. No carbo loading going on over here.

OJ, greek yogurt, 2 bananas, mango, blueberries, and two spoonfuls of almond butter

While I'm loathing my running hiatus however, I've been busy making plans for future running. I really wanted to run a marathon this spring. I didn't want to run one in April (too soon!) and I couldn't find a good one in June, so that left May. May is already pretty busy. I am running Ragnar Cape Cod on May 3rd and 4th as an ultra team (31.5 miles for me) and running a local 50k on Memorial Day weekend.

After thinking long and hard I decided to go ahead and sign up for the Delaware Marathon on May 12th. Its only 8 days after Ragnar, but I think if I take it slow and consider doing a zero week in the days leading up to marathon, I will be fine. Plus, this race is within an hour's drive and my birthday is on the 11th. Frankly, there's nothing I rather do on my birthday weekend than run a marathon! Five years ago it would have been spent at the bar. Times sure do change.

Oh, and Alyssa is running it too. The last time/only time we hung out was miles 44-50 at JFK, which is obviously the perfect time to get to know someone after you've been running for 9+ hours straight.
 

Pluses and Minuses: Rock 'n' Roll USA Half Marathon Recap

Yesterday I ran the Rock 'n' Roll USA Half Marathon, almost four month to the day since my last race, the JFK 50. Between then and now I spent 7 full weeks on the bench with an IT Band injury, and the rest of time building back up from one mile at a time. I was originally signed up to run the full (hence the blue marathon bib), but about 6 weeks ago I decided it would't be a good idea to rush 26.2.

On Friday Mike and I took a half day at work and drove straight down to the expo. I made it in and out pretty quickly, except for one little stop at the Newton booth. I mentioned in an earlier post how badly I wanted to try them (and how many store trips I made to do so). Well, in a matter of 8 minutes I was handing the guy my credit card and walking out the door with them. I took them on a 7 mile recovery run today as yes, they were totally worth the money and might be my favorite shoe ever.

True love at first run <3

After the expo we met up with my mom for dinner and got Pinkberry for dessert, which PS if you didn't know, is the best froyo ever. I would be easily 10 pounds heavier if they put one in Philly.

We slept pretty good and got up around 5:15 to get ready. The race day forecast looked like we would be dealing with mid-40s and rain, so I decided to bring a hat, which ended up seeming like the worst idea ever around mile 4. We were out the door by 6:15 and took the bus down to the start line on the National Mall.

I've run one Rock 'n' Roll race before, my last half marathon in Philly a year and a half ago. I remember having no issues at that race other than maybe a very long bathroom line. This race did not seem to have the same organizational wonders going for it. The bag check was ridiculous (on the way in and out), there were no where near enough bathrooms for 30,000 people, and they ended up not having enough volunteers to fill drinks later in the course, which was probably 10 times more frustrating for the thousands of people in the corrals behind me. The race started right on time. Mike was a few corrals ahead of me so I started on my own (though his speedy ass would have left me soon enough anyway).

I had both zero goals for this race and also so many goals for this race, if that makes any sense. On the one hand, this was my first post-injury race. I should't expect a lot and I shouldn't be disappointed with any performance. On the other hand I know exactly where my fitness level was only a few months ago in the fall and no matter what I have high expectations for myself. The distance of this race was never going to be the problem. It was all about pace. 

My previous half marathon PR, which was from a year and a half ago, was 1:52:31. During the Baltimore Marathon last fall I ran the first half in 1:51 and then ran another 13.1 miles and the whole thing felt pretty easy and doable. So realistically, in my head, I should be capable of far better than that. Despite the injury, the PR pressure was definitely on. 

So, the race started and off I went. Unfortunately, by mile 2 I started to realize that it was not my day and I wasn't enjoying myself. My legs and breath just weren't up to par like I'd hoped. I was also insanely thirsty and stopped at the aid station by mile 3 or 4. Not all race days are perfect though. And, it never ended up raining (70% chance my ass), so I just ended up sweltering in my hat and debated tossing it. 

At mile 6 we headed out of Rock Creek Park via a ridiculous hill. By the time I got to the top I was totally wiped and didn't know how I would keep up the pace for the second half. I hit 7 miles exactly one hour into the race (8:34 average). Luckily the second half was mostly downhill, but there were a few small sneaky climbs here and there and each one felt like death. 

The last few miles were really rough, but I did not want to let a PR slip by, no matter how much it hurt. Usually I can sprint the last 100 meters of a race. I even managed this at JFK after 49 something miles, but this time it was a no-go. I was completely zapped of energy. I crossed the finish like in 1:50:16, 2+ minute PR and a horrible 17 seconds from a sub-1:50 (damnit). 

I spent most of yesterday feeling neither super happy nor super upset at my performance. I just felt kind of blah. Yes, PR-ing is a total plus and I shouldn't be upset about that. And I even ran negative splits, running the last 6.1 miles with an 8:14 pace. Still, I could't help but dwell on my drop in fitness since the fall. Running that pace would never have felt so ridiculously hard. I went to bed feeling kind of indifferent. 

Today, however, I went out for a nice easy recovery run and it felt awesome. If yesterday running felt like death, today it felt like heaven. Yes, the race didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped, but I didn't give up either. If JFK taught me anything, its that not giving up is the greatest thing you can do for yourself. How can you possibly know what you are capable of unless you try. Every race has its pluses and minuses. Its how you take the minuses and turn them around for next time. Now I've got work to do and I can't wait to get to it!

Speedy Confessions and 2013 Plans

Confession: I would love to run a BQ (that's sub 3:35 for me). I would also love to run a sub-1:40 half. And a sub-5:30 50k. And on and on and on.

I want to be speedy. I also hate speed. Give me 50 slow miles any day.

I haven't really talked about what I want for 2013, but in two more weeks we will nearly be a fourth of the way through it (wow that was fast), so its as good a time as any to lay out the rest of the year.

While I am running pretty much back to normal post-injury, I am still feeling very anti-training. Training scares me. I much rather "wing it" and run when I want and when it feels right, than feel forced to run by what some number on a chart tells me.

My goals this year do not include a 50 mile race. Not that I'm done with them forever (and there is still a 100 miler somewhere in my future), but this year I just want to kick back and have fun. And fun to me means marathons. At this point I don't have any real intentions of gunning for a BQ, but it would be nice if it happened. I surprised myself in the fall by running a 24 minute PR of 3:46 that was both completely untapered and in the middle of JFK training. Is a sub-3:35 possible? Maybe.

So, going back to speed, I really dislike it, but it also makes me feel really good when I do it. And, while I do not set training plan at the moment, I can still mess around with speed workouts just because.

For me, the worst thing about going fast is the discomfort. My lungs and burning, my legs are burning, and I just want it to end. The longer you run fast, the more it hurts. So, yesterday, I decided to run some speedy treadmill intervals one minute at a time, because hey, you can do anything for a minute, right? This is what it looked like:

I did two sets in a row, running 4.75 miles in 40 minutes and finishing up the quarter miles for kicks at whatever pace I felt like. While 5 miles on the treadmill is usually boring as hell, this time it flew by. And, as I suspected, speding one minute at a time at each pace wasn't mentally devastating. Those 7:30 pace minutes felt a little rough the second time through, but overall I felt pretty strong.

Lastly, in case anyone is curious, I've already lined up my fall race schedule. Most resgistrations are opening within the next month, so as much as I'd just like to think about warmer weather and spring, you snooze and you lose with race registrations!

September 8 - Lehigh Valley Marathon - A flat, fast, potentially PR-friendly race that's also only an hour away from me. Sold.

October 27 - Marine Corps Marathon - Registration doesn't open until later this month and it sells out in hours, but if I can get in I hear this is one of the best races in the country.

November 17 - Philadelphia Marathon - A great race, right outside my doorstep, and also where I ran my first marathon.

What's on your fall race schedule?

The Latest

I haven't been posting a lot lately, if you've noticed. Every few days I start formulating something in my head and then I get lazy and feel like its not enough to warrant a full post. So, here is a mixed bag of updates and things going on:

1. I've officially "graduated" from physical therapy

After six weeks of PT, I had my discharge session this morning and passed my final evaluation with flying colors. As I should have assumed, my problem was much bigger than just a simple IT Band issue. My body was literally off balanced and out of whack. I'm surprised I was even walking around okay. I've learned a lot in the past six weeks to help me move forward and stay in check. And, as much as I like my therapist, I really hope I don't find myself back there anytime soon.

2. Nike is sending my sister to Japan

At the beginning of this year my sister applied to join Running for Relief, a program sponsored by Nike and Tomodachi to aid with earthquake and tsunami recovery in Japan. A few weeks ago she was offered one of the 12 spots for Americans! She left today and will be spending the next 5 days helping with recovery, learning about Japanese culture, and running in the Nike Nagoya Women's Marathon (she is running the half). I'm going to make her write a guest post when she comes back.

Picture she sent me of all her swag. If you run with Nike, you have to look the part!

3. I updated my running shoe collection

A few weeks ago I realized that my Kinvara 3's were going to expire soon. As my go-to shoe I planned to replace them, but I usually rotate at least two pairs of shoes at a time so I set my sights on other shoes to fill the void.

I've been wanting to try the Newton Distance for awhile, having heard good things about them. At $155 a pop they are pricey, but I will shell out money for the right pair of shoes. Unfortunately, after visiting four different running stores, I couldn't track down a single pair, and I'm reluctant to order them online without trying them on (even if I can send them back).

For now, I'm giving up on the Newtons. Instead I re-ordered the Kinvaras as planned and also tracked down a first generation pair of Brooks PureFlow. I've gone through 3 pairs of PureFlows before this. They are a great shoe if you are looking for a minimalist profile with some cushion. They did come out with a new version in January, but I'm not entirely convinced by the updates. For one, my usual size 9 felt super big when I tried them on in the store and they did not have an 8.5 for comparison. Secondly, I think they the lacing update makes them look like clown shoes. And lastly, there is not a single appealing color (no, I don't like pink and yes, I'm vain and picky about show color). Overall, not a fan. It worked out okay for me though, because I was able to get the first generation Flows on sale for $30 less.

Who says you have to upgrade?

4. I finally feel like a "real runner" again

Last week I ran 41 miles including a 15 mile long run on Sunday. 40 miles is about my bare minimum for feeling like a real runner. *Please note that this is a personal judgment of my personal running. If you run 5 miles a week and call yourself a real runner then that's fine by me.

During my long run on Sunday I added in two massive hills in my neighborhood that used to be part of my weekly routine, but that I've since avoided in recovery. I fell in love with the hills in my neighborhood last summer. It felt good to be back, but boy did they hurt! The ups and the downs really killed me and I will spend the rest of this week keeping things flat so I don't overdo it.

They just never ever ever look as tough on camera

5. Real running means a real drain on my bank account

I'm thrilled to be running again and feel back to normal. The one good thing about being injured, however, is that it tends to seal up my bank account really tight. I don't buy any running clothes or shoes and I don't really sign up for races when I can't even run a mile. But now that I'm back my paychecks are already being spent in my head weeks before I get them. This race and that race and these shoes and those shoes (see number 3 above). Not to mention that spring is around the corner and so suddenly everything at Lululemon is cute again and I must have it now.

Size 6, ahem, when you get a chance

6. I'm getting stoaked for spring race season

I have my first race of the season next weekend: The Rock 'n' Roll USA Half Marathon. I originally signed up for the full, but there's no point in re-injuring myself. I'm well prepared for the half (for distance, not speed necessarily) and I'll tackle a full after a few more months. Patience is key.

The warmer temperatures are also making my giddy for Ragnar Cape Cod in May. I already started scoping out other recaps and looking for pictures or running along the beach. I cannot wait!