Back On The Road!

After a frustrating and difficult week, it appears that I am back on track.

More to follow later...

A Quote for the day

"I will prepare and some day my chance will come."
Sent from Onyeije's Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tired but not Sore

As stated in my previous post this mornings run was satisfying not only because it was a PR but because I did not feel as though I was straining to achieve what I accomplished.

This evening I'm experiencing another welcome sensation. I'm exhausted, but my muscles are not nearly as sore as they usually are after a hard workout. Not to mention the fact that I have put together 4 good work-out days back to back.

Will stretch and get a full night's sleep. It'll be interesting to see what tomorrow's workout will be like.
Sent from Onyeije's Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Finally A Runners High

Today's morning run was planned as my usual 4.5 mile loop. I was expecting the usual lackluster, painful and frustrating kind of run that I have become used to. In fact, although some days are better than others most days have felt like drudgery over the last 2 weeks.

I woke up at midnight (after 2 hours of sleep) drenched in sweat. Kinda strange but I have been concentrating on getting enough fluids in the evenings.

I then woke up at 3:45 AM (when my youngest son, Chidi, came over to our room for a drink of water)... (why did we take him out of a crib and put him into a real bed at the age of two anyway?).

The 4:30 AM alarm went off and I promptly turned it off. At this point I was certain that I would not go out for a run this morning... maybe stationery bike, or maybe nothing at all.

Somehow at 5:00 AM I managed to roll out of bed and decided to proceed with the 4.5 mile loop as planned the night before.

The keys to this mornings run being a good one appear to be the following:

1. Proper hydration the night before. Lots of water the night before a morning run seems to improve my runs in the morning. I have also noticed that if I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (as I did last night) it usually indicates that I am properly hydrated.
2. Stretching the night before my run. I have noticed that when I take time to do my Pilates-type stretches the night before a run that I have fewer aches and pains during the run itself.
3. AM Gel packet AND water before my run.
4. Few negative thoughts during my run.

Ran a PR for this particular route this morning and shave 2 minutes off my previous time. Did not feel as though I was straining and actually felt that I could have gone faster.

Right now I am at about 3 hours post-run and feel pretty good. It will be interesting to see if I have soreness later in the day. My focus for tomorrow is an hour of SLOW running at an easy pace.

Observations from Today's "Long" Run

After a forced 4 day layoff due to my cold that I developed after last weeks long run of 10 miles I decided to go on a 7 mile long run this morning. My goal was just to maintain a pace that was faster than my last long runs and to see if I hit the wall at 4 miles like in previous long runs.

Here are my observations:

1. The weather was very humid and rainy. The rain was constant and varied from a light drizzle to an outright downpour.
2. My beginning pace was very quick. I think I was over anxious to get back on the road, and as a result I actually had to purposely slow myself down during my first half mile.
3. Did my usual walk up the last part of the steep hill at 0.75 miles. This was a harbinger of things to come.
4. Had very slight left ankle pain which was improved due to stretching prior to the run. No knee pain at all.
5. My pace for miles 2 and 3 was excellent and perhaps faster than I needed to go. My form was fluid and virtually effortless. Incidentally, on this particular run miles 2 and 3 are mostly downhill.
6. Once again, hit a wall on the fourth mile. Luckily, my attitude during this slow-down was much better than previous runs and so I just ran/walked at a pace to regain my energy.
7. My speed, form, and endurance on hills is TERRIBLE. I hate hills and I think that my dislike (even fear) for hills makes them even harder. I clearly need to work on hills. Perhaps by timing my first 2-3 miles of a run to coincide with some challenging hills.
8. The rain really weighs down my long running tights. Big mistake (I think) to run in the rain with tights.

I am trying to make sure I stay well hydrated today and see if I can circumvent the sore throat I experienced 24 hours my last two long runs.

Plans for tomorrow: 45 minutes of stationery bike or a slow 4 miles on the roads. Will decide based on how I feel in the morning.

Gotta try and ice my ankle today.

Am I Physically or Psychologically Exhausted?

Today felt like rock bottom. The scratchy throat from yesterday became a full fledged cold overnight. I bravely went out to attempt my planned 5 to 6 miles. What a mistake. Within one mile, I had to stop. I couldn't breath due to my stuffy nose. I was also just plain exhausted and could not move quickly or efficiently.

More importantly, I did not WANT to run. My mind was filled with thoughts of why I was doing this in the first place and I seriously considered just stopping the whole running thing. Thank goodness this was a limited thought process.

I made the spot decision to stop all running during my vacation and to rest myself and recover from the fatigue I was feeling. I have decided to slow things down a bit and work on quality workouts rather than quantity.

Hope this is a good idea.

Greetings from Hilton Head S.C.

Today's post is being written from Hilton Head South Carolina where we are enjoying a week of vacation. I am here for the Georgia State Medical Association convention where I will be giving a speech on recent trends in perinataology on Friday.

Sunday's run was planned for 12 miles but changed to 10 miles. My overall pace for this run was slower than the long run a week earlier, however:

1. The route was more difficult with more hills.
2. I was carrying a water bottle for the first time during a long run and
3. It was considerably hotter than during previous long runs.

Not sure if those are explanations or excuses... They sound like the latter to me!

Monday (yesterday) was the first day of my vacation and filled with my usual post-long run soreness. Today (Tuesday) my throat is sore as can be, likely due to the fact that I did not consume enough water yesterday. This is becoming a common theme:

• Long run Sunday
• Insufficient hydration Sunday and Monday
• Sore throat on Tuesday.

I am not sore today. I did an easy 30 minutes on the stationary bike this morning and didn't do anything yesterday. Looking forward to 5 or 6 miles on the beach tomorrow morning.

My Running Library

Posted by Hello

Okay... So perhaps I should stop buying new books. This is a picture of the books that I have utilized in my preparations for the marathon. My reading style is to hop around from book to book (see my previous post on multitasking ).

The books are as follows:

• The Lore of Running by Tim Noakes, M.D. - This is the mother of all running books. It contains very detailed information about training and issues. The level of complexity in some of the physiological topics is similar to some of my medical text books. It is NOT light reading.
• The Runners Handbook by Bob Glover - A classic book on running. Haven't had a chance to really look into this too much. I was attracted by the fact that it starts at ground zero in terms of training from essentially no base to marathon running.
• How to Train For and Run Your Best Marathon by Gordon Bloch - I bought this book several years ago. It is written by a woman who began as a recreational runner and eventually ran in the Olympic trials. Very inspirational.
• The Runner's High by Garth Battista - Picked this up at Barnes and Noble to read during times when I felt like giving up on my marathon training. Haven't read any of it yet, which I guess is good news.
• The Body Sculpting Bible For Abs - Mens Edition - I hate abdominal exercises but I realize that working on your core musculature is important for any endurance exercise or activity. I actually bought this book during my weight training period last year. I intend to use some of the exercises to build my abdominal muscles.
• The Abs Diet - Another throwback to my weight training days. As with the Body Sculpting Bible I plan to use the exercises but will pass on the high protein diet suggestions.
• First Marathons by Gail Waesche Kislevitz - very inspirational book about people who ran marathons and how they did it.
• Train Hard, Win Easy The Kenyon Way - This book details the training techniques of elite East African runners. These guys are nuts. Reading this book makes me know that I CANNOT do what those guys do. Amazing.
• New York Road Runners Club Complete Book of Running - This is one of the oldest books in my library. Very good information.

Recent Weight Trend

Weight Trend March to June

Progress to Date

Here is where I am at this point. As of June 1, 2005 I have been in training for 12 weeks (including 2 weeks with no running due to injury) and I have logged in just over 260 miles.




Many more miles to go....

Pushing the Envelope

MY thoughts today have been about what it means to really push the envelope and to move from your comfort zone into new territory. It goes without saying that anything worthwhile requires effort, concentration and hard work to achieve. This is true with regard to personal affairs, marriage, parenthood, professional pursuits and (of course) training for a marathon.

I am reading (or browsing through) a number of books on the marathon. My most recent purchase is Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas. It appears to be an excellent book with a strong foundation in exercise physiology. From what I have read, it is similar to a slimmer version of The Lore of Running.

Today's run was hard but still enjoyable. Did 5.8 miles with the last 1.5 miles on the (very hilly) golf course here in the subdivision. Wow, I certainly have neglected working on hills and it showed today, as I had to walk on many of the more steep hills at the end of my workout.

I still need an organized program to follow before the marathon. I have time, but time is running out. I will probably invest in a coach sometime after vacation next week, also.