WARNING: ADULT LANGUAGE CONTENT
It's getting perilously close to Goofy showtime. While everyone else is enjoying their holidays by schmoozing, shopping and sleeping--me? I've been running. My legs, or more specifically, my left leg was majorly fucked up after Sunday's run--the calf has been in knots and there's been some weird tightness behind my knee--so I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to knock out today's run.
On Monday I really worked on my legs--I used all of my self-torture devices (after all, I am a masochist at heart) to do all sorts of things to them, including kneading, rolling on hard objects, digging with my thumbs, digging with pointy objects and actual stretching. Things felt OK yesterday before I got on my bike, but biking isn't exactly gentle on one's calves (especially since I pushed the envelope a bit by increasing my time spent at FT watts by 15', ya think that might have been dumb?), and afterwards things felt pretty well fucked up again.
But no worries, I worked on myself, emphasizing my calves, last night, honing in on what I thought might be culprit muscles--popliteal (behind the knee rotational thing) and plantaris. When I woke up this morning, things felt better, at least it felt like I was back where I was before I got on my bike on Tuesday. But for safety's sake, I decided to work on things a bit before I headed off to run.
I spent 2 hours on the treadmill, and I think because of my acute awareness of potential issues, I kept feeling various things telling me maybe I should stop. But the funny thing was that the faster I ran, the better I felt. I think that I have truly spent too much time on the treadmill. Oh well, I needed to get the run done. After 2 hours, I knew I could just stop, but I'd planned for 2:15 and thought I could complete it. So I ventured to the indoor track.
Wow! As soon as I began running NOT ON THE FUCKING TREADMILL, I felt great! Although my HRM stopped picking up for some reason (I wore the HRM today just to see where my HR was during the run--more on that later). I felt good enough to gently ask several walkers to move to the outside lanes of the track so's I could get my run on. I returned to the room with the treadmills and stretched about :15 on the mats. Boy, did that feel good!
I ran a few easy laps and then headed to the locker room to change for a swim. My swim plan was for 1500 yards minimum; more if I could stand it. I got in, and it felt great to swim! Probably because I hardly swam last week, and probably also because I took the day off from work so there was no concern about needing to get home quickly. I decided to do my drill workout, and everything felt just great. But I ran out of Gatorade, so I threw my bottle to the guard, asking him to fill it with water, since I needed some hydration.
I ended up doing 2300 yards, took a nice shower, got home, slammed some Endurox R4 and calculated how much I had run. 15.07 miles in 2:15, for 8:57/mile pace! I have never done that! My Boston Qualifying pace is 9:21/mile, for a marathon time of 4:05, and I'm beginning to think I can get it done, even with a 1/2 marathon the day before. My HR at that pace is about 118, which is 73% of my maximum HR. This is why I'm keeping my fingers crossed. In the last 8 days I've run 55 miles, today I ran faster for 2:15 than I did 10 days ago, and my HR is checking in at a nice low number! I spoke with my coach yesterday to let him know that I had decided I wanted to go for the marathon PR at Goofy, and we talked about what I should do in the 1/2. I will be walking a lot--my objective is to do a 2:30 (really, REALLY slow for me) 1/2 marathon on Saturday, ice up my legs, stretch, and hopefully cruise through a nice 4:05 marathon on Sunday.
After I ate lunch, I had a nice 1.5 hour massage, and I feel GREAAAAAAAAT! Well, much better than after my 16.5 mile run on Sunday. And I think my legs will come around. No running or biking tomorrow--just a nice swim.
I'm ready for Goofy now, all I need to do is stay healthy and we shall see!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Weekly Workout Totals 12/11/2006-12/17/2006 and Too Much Time on a Treadmill
Here are my happy totals for the week:
Swim: 4200 yards (2.38 miles) in 1.42 hours; 11% of weekly workout time; approx. 496 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 65.91 miles in 3.77 hours; 29% of weekly workout time; approx. 1981 calories burned
Run: Approx. 39.62 miles in 6.17 hours; 47% of weekly workout time; approx. 2806 calories burned
Strength: 1.75 hours; 13% of weekly workout time; approx. 438 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 107.91 miles in 13.11 hours; approx. 5721 calories burned
Sleep: 9.39 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.07 hours. Massage: 0 hours
It turned out to be a pretty good week. I was shelled on Tuesday, so I skipped a swim and a bike, which is why my weekly hours are a little lower than planned (about 2.5, to be exact). But I executed every single run, which is the point of my training right now, so that was a good thing. I didn't get a massage (crap), and I need one. My calves are full of trigger points. I worked just on my calves for 10 minutes this morning! I kneaded them, rolled them on a TP massage ball, used The Stick on them, and they are still full of knots.
But look at that sleeping! I think I'm wired like ancestors of centuries ago, since I tend to want to sleep a lot in the fall/winter. I don't like getting up in the dark, and I avoid doing so whenever I can.
Pretty good stretching total there, too. The last 4 weeks have all been 3+ hours. Think it has anything to do with all the running?
Today was my longest pre-Goofy run. 2:30. And I ran all of it on a treadmill. During the 2nd of 2 quick breaks I took, one of the trainers asked me if I was doing all of it on the treadmill. Yes. Doesn't that makes your knees hurt? Nope. Just my brain. I explained that the treadmill is one of the softest things you can run on, and the mental monotony of it makes running 26.2 not seem so bad. REALLY!
I wore out a cheapo CD player this week (that I use when on the treadmill) that I had for maybe a year? So I went to buy a new one yesterday and picked up a couple of new CD's. I picked up 2 dance CD's that I had no idea what was on them, but the one I played today was pretty good. Good enough to motivate me after listening to Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" first, which is pretty good in my book.
After 1:30 on the treadmill (break #2), I decided I needed a little more cooling action, despite being positioned on a machine just below a ceiling fan. So I grabbed one of the small towels and soaked it in ice cold water from the filtered water dispenser. I wrung it out slightly, and then I wore it on my head for about 30 minutes. With the fan blowing on me, it was like a personal air conditioner! About 10 minutes after donning my new head gear, I switched from Gatorade to Ultra Violence, which perked me up even more. Yes, I plan on loading up my Fuel Belt with the Ultra Violence for Goofy Challenge both days, but won't use it before the halfway point of each race.
I don't remember the last time I ran 2:30 on a treadmill. Not last year, and not the year before (I checked--remember I keep records!). Actually I haven't done many 2:30 training runs in the last 3-4 years. The only reason I scheduled one this time is that I thought I should go for it. I doubt my coach would have scheduled a 2:30, but we will see what happens. My longest run last winter prior to Goofy Challenge was 2:10, unless you count the solo marathon I ran in October. So I won't have a marathon under my belt 3 months prior to Goofy this time, but I have been running a lot and solidly.
So my taper is officially beginning. On Wednesday, though, I'm running 2:15. I think I'll be as prepared as possible for Goofy, and I'm faster, so hopefully that will translate into race results. If not, well there are many, many beers waiting for me in Epcot the day after!
Swim: 4200 yards (2.38 miles) in 1.42 hours; 11% of weekly workout time; approx. 496 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 65.91 miles in 3.77 hours; 29% of weekly workout time; approx. 1981 calories burned
Run: Approx. 39.62 miles in 6.17 hours; 47% of weekly workout time; approx. 2806 calories burned
Strength: 1.75 hours; 13% of weekly workout time; approx. 438 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 107.91 miles in 13.11 hours; approx. 5721 calories burned
Sleep: 9.39 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.07 hours. Massage: 0 hours
It turned out to be a pretty good week. I was shelled on Tuesday, so I skipped a swim and a bike, which is why my weekly hours are a little lower than planned (about 2.5, to be exact). But I executed every single run, which is the point of my training right now, so that was a good thing. I didn't get a massage (crap), and I need one. My calves are full of trigger points. I worked just on my calves for 10 minutes this morning! I kneaded them, rolled them on a TP massage ball, used The Stick on them, and they are still full of knots.
But look at that sleeping! I think I'm wired like ancestors of centuries ago, since I tend to want to sleep a lot in the fall/winter. I don't like getting up in the dark, and I avoid doing so whenever I can.
Pretty good stretching total there, too. The last 4 weeks have all been 3+ hours. Think it has anything to do with all the running?
Today was my longest pre-Goofy run. 2:30. And I ran all of it on a treadmill. During the 2nd of 2 quick breaks I took, one of the trainers asked me if I was doing all of it on the treadmill. Yes. Doesn't that makes your knees hurt? Nope. Just my brain. I explained that the treadmill is one of the softest things you can run on, and the mental monotony of it makes running 26.2 not seem so bad. REALLY!
I wore out a cheapo CD player this week (that I use when on the treadmill) that I had for maybe a year? So I went to buy a new one yesterday and picked up a couple of new CD's. I picked up 2 dance CD's that I had no idea what was on them, but the one I played today was pretty good. Good enough to motivate me after listening to Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" first, which is pretty good in my book.
After 1:30 on the treadmill (break #2), I decided I needed a little more cooling action, despite being positioned on a machine just below a ceiling fan. So I grabbed one of the small towels and soaked it in ice cold water from the filtered water dispenser. I wrung it out slightly, and then I wore it on my head for about 30 minutes. With the fan blowing on me, it was like a personal air conditioner! About 10 minutes after donning my new head gear, I switched from Gatorade to Ultra Violence, which perked me up even more. Yes, I plan on loading up my Fuel Belt with the Ultra Violence for Goofy Challenge both days, but won't use it before the halfway point of each race.
I don't remember the last time I ran 2:30 on a treadmill. Not last year, and not the year before (I checked--remember I keep records!). Actually I haven't done many 2:30 training runs in the last 3-4 years. The only reason I scheduled one this time is that I thought I should go for it. I doubt my coach would have scheduled a 2:30, but we will see what happens. My longest run last winter prior to Goofy Challenge was 2:10, unless you count the solo marathon I ran in October. So I won't have a marathon under my belt 3 months prior to Goofy this time, but I have been running a lot and solidly.
So my taper is officially beginning. On Wednesday, though, I'm running 2:15. I think I'll be as prepared as possible for Goofy, and I'm faster, so hopefully that will translate into race results. If not, well there are many, many beers waiting for me in Epcot the day after!
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