SeanReymond's Blog

The Inevitable Race Report...

guest — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:23:30 GMT

I sat at my computer last night confused, disappointed and not wanting to write a RR for San Diego. When I got up this morning I figured I had better got things off my chest.

So I ran the San Diego marathon this past Sunday (obviously). It was the culmination of a great training cycle that was full of excellent workouts and a build up of much more mileage than I have ever tried. I was also very pleased that my parents were able to make it to the race with me. It was the first time that they had ever seen me race, and their first experience spectating a marathon as well. It was very comforting to have my parents there with me. I didn't have the night before jitters (well not as bad as usual anyway), and they helped out a lot with getting me to the start, etc.

At the start I was easily the most prepared and comfortable I have ever been before a race. The race started in perfect conditions, misty

marine layer, that would stick around the entire day. The conditions were perfect. After the initial bottleneck at the start the course opened up by the second mile. The first few miles were slightly downhill and I took advantage by pacing just a bit under 7/mile. I felt great and the only slight pain was a little tightness in my stomach. I spent the first few miles massaging the area to prevent cramping later

on (never was a problem).

At about mile 6 or so the race turned north and started the slow climb that we would face for the next 6 or 7 miles. I managed to adapt my pace to keep an even effort. The uphill climb was not going to be a problem. We had the unique experience of running on a section of freeway, which provided some interesting slopes that changed rather quickly. This continued until we reached the summit at around mile 10 and then a steep and twisty downhill section was a welcome relief but put a bit of strain on the quads at the same time. After the twisting downhill the freeway leveled out and after about 2 more miles we were back on surface streets. Shortly thereafter I passed the halfway point in 1:34 and change. Since the first half was the hilly section I was planning on a slight negative split, so this time was very encouraging.

Starting at about mile 14 I mentally shifted into the 'go zone' section (as McMillan calls it...[Go Zone|http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=16091]) of the race. Knowing that during the next 12 miles it would be more difficult to maintain pace I had to put in a little more effort to keep it up. Everything was going perfectly through 20. I felt strong, on pace, and not over working myself. And then it hit me...

I call him Mr. 'The Wall' because he has my full respect. We tend to disagree about things. Like for instance I think that I should be able to race a full marathon without slowing or stopping and he completely disagrees. So yeah, starting at about mile 20 I hit the wall head on. At first I was just tired, but I managed to keep going at a little slower pace (around 7:40). Then at 21 I realized that my vision was impaired, and while it was fun hallucinating for a little while I found it to be a tad disruptive to my running. So I was forced to a walk, not even a

slow jog. Looking back I am fortunate that my parents were not waiting for me until after the 22 mile mark. If I had seen them while I was

walking I would have dropped out. Somewhere in that mile+ walk I forced myself to finish the stupid race. So the next 4 miles were a pathetic combination of slow running and a bit more walking...and I let Dean Karnezes beat me by about 30 seconds

So now the question is where do I go from here. My plan was to race SF in about 8 weeks, but I think I need to get my fueling strategy worked out before the next time I race. The nice thing about only running 20 miles of a marathon is that my recovery time should only be 2 weeks or so. My thought now is to run some solo marathons, or near marathons, just to test out different methods of fueling and find something that will last me through all 26.2. I know this doesn't sound like a very smart strategy to essentially run myself into oblivion, but I really don't know what else to do at this point. I have had no problems with 22 mile MGP training runs because the initial warm up miles prevent me from running out of glycogen before the 22 mile mark.

What do you loopers think? For the last race I used 3 gels, and figured that was enough. Am I not carbo-loading enough before the race (I ate around 300-325 grams of carbs the 3 days leading up to the race). I read somewhere that you should eat 8.5g per kg body weight. For me that would equate to over 500 g, but that seems absurd!! Also, what about other fueling methods beside gels. Is it easier to take in calories as a sports drink?

Oh well, the next few weeks are going to be a time of introspection and research. By the time I finish recovery I hope I have a strategy in place for the next few months. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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Must Be A Race This Week - Weekly May 18 - 24, 2009

guest — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:46:32 GMT

Went for my last long run before SD next week. I could tell it wasn't a typical weekend for running in LA just based on the cast of characters who were in Griffith Park this morning. The first group I saw were some of the elite runners in town for the LA marathon. For those that don't know LA is being run on Memorial day this year...yeah I know it is stupid to run a marathon on a Monday (besides Boston that is) and they already changed it back for next year. For me this was a very cool experience. Seeing some of the best athletes in your sport running on your weekly route...awesome!! I only wish I could have seen them actually running (most of them were just getting loose), and of course I had to pick my pace up around them just to show them that I too am a runner and not just a jogger!!

As I mentioned earlier in the week I think that I was tapering a little too much the last two weeks. I managed to squeeze a few more miles in this week, and feel much better. I was surprised at how quickly my body went from being a peak fitness to feeling kind of sluggish when I dropped the mileage too much. Oh well, I have learned from that (always something new to learn), and will be more careful in the future. I actually planned out my next two cycles and I got really excited. I put Pfitz's 18/105 plan on my calendar and really can't wait to give it a shot. Don't know if I can keep it up, but it will be a fun experience.

I have been having some pain in my Achilles. I don't think it is tendonitis yet, but it is a little sore. I have been icing it more and that helps a ton. I am not worried about it during the race. All it needs is a little warm up and stretch and it is fine. I might try some Kinesio tape just for insurance, but I don't think it is necessary.

Good luck to everyone running LA tomorrow, and to everyone who raced today hope you had an amazing experience!!

It was the best of weeks, it was the BLURST of weeks, May 4th - 10th, 2009

guest — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:34:43 GMT

Sorry for the random Simpson's reference. I used to be a big fan, and now I can still pull an obscure reference for just about any situation. I have a feeling that this is gonna be a long post, so put on a pot of coffee and join me for the adventure that was my week.

Last week I mentioned that this week was going to be a busy one, and was it ever. The nice thing is that it is almost over with. I say almost because I have a final tomorrow that I still have to prepare for, but I don't really care for the class and I am not worried about the final too much. Also, I technically have a paper to write for a deadline tomorrow. As far as I am concerned the paper is dead in the water, but my advisor doesn't seem to see it the same way. So it is more like I have an advisor to convince that we should give up Enough of the boring stuff, lets get to what everyone wants to hear about...running!!

I actually had two first this week and one last. This week was the first time that I ran more than 70 miles in a week!! Also, on Friday I had my first double day. I must say that I really enjoy running twice in the same day. I was surprised at how loose and energetic I felt for the

second run. I would NOT recommend running the same route for both runs however...makes the second run doubly boring. As for the last, this was my last week of long mileage before I start to taper for San Diego. And what a week it was!!

Last weekend I mentioned that I thought I felt a cold coming on, but to that point it hadn't materialized. Well it did so on Tuesday morning in a big way. I woke up ready for my 15 miler with tempo intervals and was terribly congested. I did the typical routine to clear out the pipes and thought that I was good to go. In the middle of my first interval I found out that I was far from good. The cold had drained my energy and the congestion had returned. I cut my first interval from 20 to 15 minutes and took a little break after the first interval. I wasn't feeling so great, but I was determined to finish. So I shot some rockets into the bushes and began my second interval. The second went much better and I mangaged to make it the full 20 minutes. My pace was a bit off on both, but considering I think it was a decent workout. The rest of the week wasn't much better. My cold got worse on Wednesday, but after Thursday I started feeling better.

I realize that my week doesn't sound to awesome, but it is funny how one day can shape your whole week. Sunday morning I decided to head out to the beach and get in my last long run before tapering. I started very early and the weather was perfect, cloudy and temps in the low 60's the whole time. My scheduled workout was a 22 miler with 14 at MGP. This was the workout that killed me before Pasadena, and I was determined to have a good one. I mentioned last week (I think) that I was going to try both a 3:10 and 3:05 pace during this workout, so that was the plan. My first 7 miles were a decent warm up, didn't feel great but didn't feel bad either. But as soon as I started running a MGP everything just seemed to fit. I kept my stride long (something I have been working on), and maintained an even stride rate and the pace came easy. With a little help from my new racing shoes (Mizuno Wave Ronin, very nice) I was quickly settling into a

7:10/mile pace (better than 3:10) and before I knew it I was hovering around 7:04. I was fighting myself to keep the pace down, which was impossible. I finished the first 7 mile section at 7:06/mile pace, which is just off 3:05 marathon pace. I was fighting myself because I

didn't think there was any way I could keep it up for another 7 miles. Well, I was partially right. The second 7 miles I was again fighting

myself the whole way, but the thing was that I found it harder to run at a slower pace (by limiting my stride length) than to just let my

stride go all out. I don't know how I finished it, and I definitely can't run like that for a full 26.2 but I finished my second 7 miles averaging 6:48!!! That my friends is sub 3hr pace!!

I now feel very confident about getting my BQ at San Diego. Unless something goes terribly wrong it should be quite doable. I have now run 20 at BQ pace, while only running 8 miles hard. And today I ran 22 at BQ pace with only running 14 miles hard. Maybe I will take the first 10 miles easy at SD and then run the last 16 hard...seems to be working on my other runs.

Couple of other notes from today. My new adidas sleeveless shirt was chaffing a bit, so I apologize to everyone one the Hermosa Beach strand today who had to witness my pasty whiteness, especially any mothers (hope I didn't ruin your Mother's day brunch :). Second thing is that my glucose monitoring sensor came off again during my run today. The first time was during the Pasadena Marathon and I lost the stupid thing. $600 later I have a new one, and it came off today. Luckily the adhesive was still partially attached and I managed to grab it before I lost another one. A complaint is certainly coming for the company that manufactures the thing...

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One More Week - Weekly Update April 27 - May 3, 2009

guest — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:10:40 GMT

I have one more week left for a lot of different things...paper deadline, spring semester and most importantly (but don't tell my advisor) one more week until taper time. I have mentioned it before, but my current training cycle is much more intense than I have ever done before. I am amazed at how invincible I feel, but at the same time I am tired. For my final week I have 70 miles planned and combined with everything else I have to accomplish it is going to be a long and exhausting week. I never thought I would say this but I am actually looking forward to a break in two weeks of ONLY running 55 miles

This week was very successful. After last weekends run I was feeling pretty unstoppable, and it continued into my Tuesday interval session. Well maybe not intervals in the strict sense...more like tempo intervals. I ran 2x 5k and my goal was 6:25 pace. I managed to run them at 6:22 and 6:17, which felt great but I paid the price the rest of the week. I didn't really recover until Saturday, but all I really missed was one quality workout on Thursday (I ran 15, but at an easy pace instead). This weekend I did back to back 15 milers and it was tough! During the second one I ran 8 miles at MGP, but I don't really know what my goal is. A BQ is what I am shooting for at SD, but I really think that I can go much faster than 3:10. Right now I am thinking A goal is 3:05 and B goal is 3:10. Anyway I ran my MGP at 7:00/mile today, which is 3:03. I think that might be too quick right now. I have another MGP run next week and I think I might try half at 7:12 and half at 7:04 to see how each feel.

Well I guess I will leave it at that for this week...time to get started on that paper due next week!!

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Runner's High - Week of April 20 - 26, 2009

guest — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:27:48 GMT

I am sitting at my desk following a 20 miler and I don't feel tired at all because I have aura of a runner's high blocking all the pain and discomfort from reaching my brain. While driving home, feeling great, I started to think about the last time I had a high like today. It was back in February after I PRed in a half marathon and broke 1:30 for the first time. I got to thinking about what the two runs had in common that lead to this great feeling. I came up with two things that I think are the key ingredients: speed and success. The first one is kind of obvious, you feel great after you burn up the course and set a PR or shatter some goal time you had in mind. The second one is a little more elusive. I think that you have to at least meet your expectations for the run, but it might be more than that. In the two runs I mentioned above I went well beyond my expectations and accomplished feats that I didn't imagine possible. That might be the key to my runner's high. The amazing feeling might be created by realizing that you can push well beyond what you thought possible and this leads to a new realm of possibilities which is very exciting and inspiring.

So what was the workout that has me all worked up today...I did a 20 miler with 7.5 mile fast finish. My plan was to go out at 7:49 pace and then average 7:10 for the fast finish with maybe the last two miles pushing 6:50 or so. Well I demolished that plan...I started out feeling really good during the run. I had two easy days prior, which I have not had in about 3 weeks so I was feeling great. I tried to keep my pace at 7:49 but I wouldn't be reigned in. I completed the first 11 miles at 7:30. Then for my fast finish I wanted to start out at 7:20, but I was already running at that pace so I pushed a little harder and was maintaining 7:00 pretty easily. Then 7:00 became too easy and I pushed it even further and was running 6:45 for a few miles and finished with a mile or so at nearly 6:30 pace!! For the 7.5 mile section I averaged 6:53 pace which was way beyond my expectation. In fact after 18 miles I was on BQ pace...that builds a ton of confidence for the actual race!!

Few more things from this week. I ran 60 miles this week, which is a new PR. The increased mileage makes me feel so much more confident and my pace has benefited as well. I have finally become completely comfortable in my neutral shoes. I love them and the feel much more natural. Now I have 4 pairs of support shoes that I have to use sparingly because they have actually started giving me pains even on just short recovery runs.

Two more hard weeks of training then taper starts for San Diego. Might do a tune up half marathon next week, but not sure.

Mountain Goat Crew - Week of April 13 - 19, 2009

guest — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:18:17 GMT

Today we did one of the most challenging yet amazing runs I have accomplished in my few years of running. We started a bit early because the day was looking unseasonably warm, and it was a good thing we did so because it was hot on the way down. Way down, from what you might ask, well we did a crazy mountain climb today. The elevation gain was nearly 2k ft:

[

|http://sitelife.runnersworld.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/10/10/1a5d088d-f441-449d-aaf9-d73e626d2ec4.Full.png|Click here to view this image at full size in another window...]

But you know what, the incline really was not that difficult. All you have to do is slow your pace and keep an even effort. I guess I was slacking most of the way because I still had energy to pick it up the last mile of the climb.

I won't be at Boston this year, but I did get some early downhill practice in for next year. In fact the downhills were much more physically demanding than the incline. I have never been a good downhill runner, so I tried to work on some technique. However trying to force oneself to lean into the hill on that steep a decline is a little too much to ask.

Overall, this was one of the more amazing runs I have been on. Sure it was slow, and difficult...oh and slow...but that was perfectly fine because it meant more time to check out the scenery.

Had a really good week this week. Hit 56 miles which is a new PR for me...in fact every week for the next month will be a new PR mileage wise. I feel much stronger this training cycle than last, and very comfortable with the mileage...we will see if I say the same thing when I hit 70 mpw in 3 weeks.

Funny thing I noticed about speedwork this week. I felt really slow while doing my intervals. I hit all my times, but I was really pushing and I can't see how I (or anyone) can run sub 5min pace. Me being slow is not the funny thing...the funny thing was on Saturday my legs were completely drained and I had no power, but just the increased stride rate that was left over from my intervals allowed me to run a strong pace that day. So I guess as you progress as a runner your body adapts to your current limitations and this allows you to maintain strength during training...nice to know...

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Learning Something New Everyday - Week of April 6 - 12, 2009

guest — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:03:21 GMT

The thing that I love most about running and fitness in general is there is so much to learn. For a massive nerd like myself this is a very desirable trait, but tiresome as well. Being as a nerd I can't stop until I know everything there is to know...and then some.

The big lesson for this week is the importance of sleep (I love sleep), and not just quantity but quality (I hate that saying, but whatever). A perfect example of this occurred this weekend with my first back-to-back medium long run attempt. Just 2-12 milers back-to-back, so no big deal, but I plan to get to b2b 15 milers soon. On Friday night I was out, had a few drinks, and didn't get much sleep. My Saturday morning run reflected this. The run itself was decent, 12 miles at 8:05/mile pace, but it took more effort than it should have. Case in point is that during yesterdays run my heart rate was at 164 while I was doing 7:50/mile pace, and today I ran a short 3.5 mile section a 7:20/mile and my heart was...164!! The improved quality of today's run was not explicit only in my heart rate, but the quality today was much better. In fact it was so much better today that I might have pushed a little too hard, ran 12.8 miles with 3.5 at 7:20/mile then ran some huge inclines on a trail section. Think I might have to push Tuesday's speed session to Thursday...my fault for trying to keep up with some 20 year olds

The other lesson is to listen to your body, and especially your feet. For a few weeks now I have had the feeling that my gait was a little off for the shoes I have been wearing. Like I mentioned in my last post the good old place your shoes on a table test was also indicating that

perhaps I needed a different shoe. So I went and had my gait analyzed and the shoe shaman says...that I am very NEUTRAL!! This is crazy to me because when I started running 20 months ago I was in motion control shoes, then support, finally minimal support and now neutral!! Oh well,I am actually very excited because this means my 2nd favorite two words in running NEW SHOES (1st favorite pair is abbreviated PR). I ordered some Asics Speedstars and Adidas Adizero Bostons, so I will be sure to post an update on my shoe adventures.

Last weeks training:

Tuesday - 10.07 Mile Run w/ Tempo - 1:15:52 min, 30 min @ 6:40 pace
Wednesday - 3.99 Mile Recovery Run - 35:16 min
Thursday - 9.84 Mile GA Run - 1:17:13 min
Friday - 3.2 Mile Recovery Run - 28:17 min
Saturday - 11.82 Mile Long Run - 1:35:43 min
Sunday - 12.8 Mile Long Run - 1:42:21 min

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Recovery Week Wrap Up - Week of March 23 - 29, 2009

guest — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:09:18 GMT

Nothing much to write about for this weeks wrap up. After last weekend this week has been predictably boring. I took a few days off after the marathon, but by Thursday I was itching to get moving again. So I started off SLOWLY with some recovery runs. I used to think that I couldn't even run slow enough to maintain a 9/mile pace...but this week 9/mile was about as fast as I was going get. On Thursday and Friday my muscles were feeling a little strained but nothing to worry about. However on Saturday and Sunday my left IT Band has been 'twitchy', for lack of a better term. In general it feels fine, but if I take misstep or land too much on my forefoot then I get that twinge of pain. I will be icing it this week, and will adjust mileage this week to make sure that I am ready to start training next week.

This year's USC marathon team is a lot more enthusiastic than last years. Discussions have been flying around FB about trying to BQ and upcoming race schedules, which is awesome. Seems like San Diego or LA are the next race of choice for most (although good luck to David and Abhi at Big Sur). I was planning on running SD by myself, but now I know of 5-6 people who will be there with me including my OG racing homie Erin (what up Erin!!!). No doubt that having friends there will make the race more memorable.

I mentioned before that I lost my continuous glucose monitoring transmitter during the marathon. I purchased a replacement, and will be

happy to have it on Monday. I am amazed at how much I came to depend on it, but it really is incredibly informative. Since I am switching to all morning runs I will have some work to do to figure out my basal insulin adjustment patterns, but I think it should only take a few

weeks and will help tremendously for future races.

Funny thing I noticed this week was that I have actually dropped a little weight even without running much, and little caloric adjustment....crazy!!!

Alright that is it for this week, easy week this week and then it is back to the hardcore training. Next race is gonna be OC half marathon...warm up race for SD. Don't plan on a PR though as it will be in the middle of a 60 mile week and I am planning on running 15 the day before.

Last weeks training:

Thursday - 1.90 Mile Recovery Run - 8:42 pace
Friday - 2.83 Mile Recovery Run - 8:59 pace
Saturday - 5.95 Mile Recovery Run (Trail) - 8:24 pace
Sunday - 4.88 Mile Recovery Run - 8:33 pace

Shoe Mileage:

Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 156.98
Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 120.97
Asics Gel Bandito - 121.28
Mizuno Wave Elixir 4.1 - 47.78
Mizuno Wave Ascend 4.1 - 5.95

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Still Recovering But Making Big Plans

guest — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:50:07 GMT

I am slowly
starting to regain normal running functionality. I have been doing some
very easy and short runs the last two days without incident. This
morning I decided to try something a little bit longer, and started out
on what I planned to be an 8 mile trail run. Well not really a trail
run, it is technically on a dirt trail, but it is dead flat. Perfect
surface to increase the miles without straining the legs too much. It
was a nice run, but I cut it short because on the way out I started to
feel some leg fatigue at around mile 3. So 8 became 6, but I did pick
up the intensity a little for the last half mile and it felt good so I
think I am on the way to being recovered. Next week I will take easy as
well with some increase mileage and then the following week I plan to
be back in full training mode...

Even as the legs are still
healing like any diehard (read crazy) runner I have already started
planning my next cycle. I am planning on running the R'nR Marathon in
San Diego on June 1st next, and I am dead set on a BQ there. Before
Pasadena I was thinking of switching to 4 runs per week while
maintaining my current mileage (50-55 mpw). But after many of the more
experience runners on the Forums told me this was a bad idea, and my
general feeling of unpreparedness at Pasadena I am changing my training
plan in a large way. With the advice of the top runner on our marathon
team (thanks Ted!) I came up with a plan that peaks at 70 mpw on 6 days
per week. This turns out to be not much different than my 4 rpw plan
because the 2 additional runs are just recovery runs with a total of
about 7-8 miles...so just junk miles.

The biggest thing my
training is lacking is speed over long distances, and mileage. So my
new program has 2 weeks with three 15+ mile runs, and more steady runs
and tempo intervals. Also to reduce injury risks I will be using back
to back 15 mile runs on weekends between my two 20+ mile long runs.

I
am excited to see what my body is capable of yet a little
nervous....hope this aging sack of bones can handle the beating it has
in store for it.

Week of March 2 - 8, 2009

guest — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:53:45 GMT

Well what a difference a week makes!! Not just the reduced mileage (although it helps...a lot) I feel like I learned so much this week, and wonder why the **** I didn't try and figure this stuff out before. First thing I learned was that just because you like a pair of shoes doesn't mean there aren't better ones out there. I have been using Asics DS Trainer 13's for about a year and have really enjoyed them, but last week I purchased a pair of Mizuno Wave Elixir 4's and LOVE them. They weigh in the same as the Asics, but they have a funny looking sole that allows Mizuno to increase the thickness of the outsole without increasing weight...so they are much more padded than the Asics. Another thing I learned is to get the proper size. I have always purchased my Asics with a very snug fit, which feels great but for extended training isn't so good (blisters, black toe nails, etc...). I purchased the Mizuno's online and ordered two sizes. I took me a full hour to decide between the two. The smaller pair felt really good and snug, but my toes would just come into contact with the edge while moving. The larger size actually fit perfectly, but the extra room in the toebox was just so foreign to me that it took me a while to be comfortable with it.

Second lesson is to experiment with everything until it is ideal. I have been using Clif Shot gels for the last 6 months. I like them because they are mostly natural and organic (brown rice syrup vs. maltodextrin). But after last week I think that they are not so great for my stomach while running. So I did some research and found two other gels to experiment with. I used the first this morning, Gu Roctane gel. Roctane is kind of ridiculous, it is expensive and tries to do everything, which is exactly why I like it. I used the Roctane this morning and it was much easier on my stomach. It is also less thick than the Clif Shots, which is nice. I don't think that I really felt the benefits of the BCAA's or the electrolytes, but I know it works with my stomach so that is a plus. Next week I am going to try Crank e-Gel (seriously that is the name they come up with!!). e-Gel has one of the higher concentrations of electrolytes and similar sugar content to Roctane. My goal is just to find something that settles in my stomach better than Clif Shots. The other experiment I tried this weekend was to eat my carbo load meal for lunch instead of dinner, and that worked brilliantly. I slept better during the night and I didn't have blood sugar issues (at least not at night). Also I felt much better in the morning as well. Funny thing is that when I gorge my self on carbs I have really strange blood sugar issues. Eating a low-fat carb heavy meal causes my blood sugar to shoot up to ridiculous levels 5-6 hours after eating. I did some reading and it seems that this is caused by slow rate of digestion and absorption because of my gorging. I might try to eat a smaller amount of carbs 5-6 times next Saturday and have the total be equivalent to my carbo load.

Final thing that I discovered last week was my magic preemptive insulin adjustment plan. I had tried before, but some how this week I magically got the adjustments correct...at least for evening runs. The key is to lower my basal insulin to 50% about 2 hours before I start running. This replicates what occurs to the insulin rate of normal people (their bodies lower the rate within 15 min. of starting exercise). I had some issues with high blood sugars after running, but I made some adjustments and have that pretty much figured out as well. This plan didn't really work for my morning run however. I did the same adjustment and about 25 minutes into the run my blood sugar was well over 200, and climbed to nearly 300 later in the run. The problem is that the 50% adjustment assumes that your basal rate is correct and clearly in the morning my rate is not. I am still suffering from major counter-regulatory hormone effects, so I think that maybe 75-90% is a better adjustment in the mornings. The best part of these new adjustments is than now I do not have to continuously consume gels or Shot Bloks. To me this is a major step in the right direction. I hate haveing to carry Shot Bloks on short 5-7 mile runs, and the amount of gel I was consuming during long runs definitely wasn't good for my stomach.

So yeah I learned a lot this week, and as I said before this week was much better than last. For our long run this week we only did 12 miles (not even 12 actually), and since I had a bad one last week I wanted to do some miles at MGP. I ran 4 miles under MGP and they felt great. It was nice to be running a part of the Pasadena course as well because it meant I had to watch the terrain and try to maintain even effort. It will be interesting to see how the race works out. There are a lot of inclines on the course for which you have to slow the pace quite a bit to maintain even effort, but there are also a lot of downhill's. The MGP section I ran today I spent a lot of time at 6:50 pace on the downhill's and 7:20-30 pace on the inclines yet overall it average out to around MGP. The race itself will require a lot of tactical decisions and I am glad that we have been able to run a large section of the course.

Oh yeah, one last thing. I now do not know what shoes I am going to wear for the race. I was planning on using my Bandito's, but I don't know if the discomfort that they cause will outweigh the speed benefit I get from the decrease weight. I think the Elixir's might be better. They are very comfortable yet light enough that I won't get too worn out at the end. I am going to do some speedwork with my Bandito's this week and probably base my decision on that. My original thought was to say **** with how I feel after and wear the Bandito's but if they will have an effect late in the race then they might not be worth it.

Last weeks training:

Tuesday - 9.79 Mile Run w/ Strides - 1:17:08 min, 7:52 pace
Wednesday - 5.62 Mile Easy Run - 45:52 min, 8:09 pace
Thursday - 10.75 Mile Run w/ Intervals - 1:17:37 min, 7:13 pace
Sunday - 11.81 Mile Run w/ MGP section - 1:26:38 min, 7:20 pace

Shoe Mileage:

Asics DS Trainer 13.1 - Retired
Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 151.15
Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 109.53
Asics Gel Bandito - 88.24
Mizuno Wave Elixir 4.1 - 21.6

Week of Feb 23 - March 1, 2009

guest — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:01:57 GMT

It just had to be the last 20+ miler of my training when everything seemed to go wrong at once. Today we ran a 22 miler the longest run of the training schedule. We started an hour earlier to replicate the morning of the race. It was good that we did too because the temperatures got warm pretty quickly today. Most people on the team did great (congrats), but a few had dehydration issues (better now than in the marathon).

So now the tale of my demise. I guess it started overnight with my blood sugars skyrocketing in a way they haven't done in quite a few weeks. So when I got up (at 4a) for my breakfast I had to take a ton of extra insulin. Then everything seemed fine up until we started. My first issue was with my heart rate. Running early on at an easy pace I noticed my heart rate was way too high. Not exactly sure why. Could have been the heat, but I think it is more likely a sign of overtraining (more on that later). So the heart rate was just something to deal with and the real problem started after I turned around for the homeward half of the run. I was doing a marathon goal pace run today and started to run my pace just before the turn around. I felt alright for a while, but about 5 miles into the mgp section I started having symptoms of what happened to me at last years marathon. It felt like my muscles weren't getting enough glucose, and I really hit the wall. After reflecting on what happened a bit more (glad I had to rewrite this post actually) I think I have a better understanding of what happened. As I mentioned I had to take some extra insulin to cover my high blood sugar pre-meal. So when I began running I had too much insulin circulating and was consuming carbs quite rapidly. Much too rapidly in fact and I think that this was my problem not that I wasn't getting enough glucose to my muscles. This seems a more likely cause because my stomach was pretty upset while I was running as well, so it wasn't just that I hit the wall. I hit the wall and my stomach was not in top form.

As I mentioned above I think I have reached my current mpw limit and have begun to overtrain. How do I know I am overtraing, well most of the symptoms seem to be there...not recovering quickly, always tired and my new favorite side effect sleeping problems. This past week I have had some rather odd sleeping experiences. The top one involved my cell phone. I use my cell phone as an alarm clock (because I wear earplugs so I use my cell on vibrate) and the other night I had an alarm set for the middle of the night to check my blood sugars. The thing was that when I woke up my phone was already in my hand, out of its holster and near my ear like I was speaking on it. I vaguely remember my dream involving me on the phone...so yeah I need to get better sleep and stop overtraining.

Overtraining among other things has got me a bit unmotivated this week. So to motivate myself I began planning my training for after the Pasadena marathon. Of course this involves purchasing new shoes, which of course I did. I am going to try out a new style and brand - Mizuno Wave Elixir 4's. I figured I would try something different because I haven't used much besides DS Trainers and I don't know if there is something better out there for me. I also bought some Mizuno Wave Ascend 4's, which are going to be my trail shoes for this summer (can't wait to get back to trail running). Anyway back to my new training. The biggest problem I have had with the current training plan is that it takes up too many days and I feel that I am wasting workouts on short mileages. So initially after Pasadena I am going to switch to 4 days a week running with the following schedule. Saturday - long run, Sunday - recovery, Tuesday - speedwork, and Thursday - middle distance (w/ strides or fartlek). This plan seems to fit my schedule much better. Only two days during the week, and I plan to run mornings now so I don't have to adjust my work schedule to fit in evening runs. The biggest improvement I think this plan will help with is the quality of my workouts. By moving speedwork to Tuesday I will have two days rest following my long run and plenty of time to rest before my next long run. I think with this schedule I can do about 16-18 miles on Saturday, 8-10 on Sunday, 11-13 on Tuesday and 13-15 on Thursday, which would give me 48-56 mpw the same amount I peaked at during Pasadena training. So yeah I am very excited for Pasadena, and after as well.

Last weeks training -

Tuesday - 11.22 Mile Run w/ Stides - 1:27:40 min, 7:48 pace
Wednesday - 4.97 Mile Easy Run - 40:27 min, 8:08 pace
Thursday - 6.03 Mile Easy Run - 47:14 min, 7:49 pace
Friday - 9.82 Mile Run w/ Tempo - 1:09:35 min, 7:05 pace, warmup and cooldown with 6 Miles @ (6:49, 6:44, 6:38)
Sunday - 21.75 Mile Long Run - 2:52:54 min, 7:56 pace

Shoe Mileage -

Asics DS Trainer 13.1 - 353.04
Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 140.4
Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 99.74
Asics Gel Bandito - 88.24

Week of Feb 16 - 22, 2009

guest — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:00:29 GMT

This was kind of a 'standard' week nothing too interesting to report. However, our long run this week was by far my favorite up to this point. Since I missed THE Palos Verdes run a few weeks ago this was MY Palos Verdes run. Like the usual PV run this weekends run had amazing views, and a few hills. Actually I didn't find the hills very difficult, but many other runners were complaining about them so evidently they were a little difficult. I simply tried to maintain an even effort on the ups and the downs, which is much more difficult to do than to say. I think a similar strategy will be required for the Pasadena Marathon, and I think it works quite well. You can actually go pretty fast on the downhill's without using too much effort, and when you maintain an even effort you can really fly down the hills. Not something you want to do on a daily basis, but during a race flying down hills is just fine...all those microtears will have plenty of time to repair after the race

For speedwork this week I ran some mile intervals. I hate mile intervals. I would much rather do a 10 mile tempo than run just 4 mile intervals. After last weeks fast finish long run it took most of the week for me to fully recover (Tuesdays near 13 mile fartlek didn't help), so I really wasn't thinking much about speed this week. I am happy that I finished 3 of the 4 intervals in under 6 min pace. I am happy with that, and surprised that it was my cardio system that prevented me from going faster and not my leg strength. In fact I was running at about 98-99% of my max heart rate for some of the intervals, which is not good. Looks like I know what I need to work on after Pasadena...

I am trying to work out a preemptive basal insulin adjustment plan for my runs and so far it has failed miserably. Reading some information I found on the intertubes I tried to lower my basal insulin rate 2 hours before my run on Wednesday and then 1 hour before raise it some (not quite to usual strength) and keep it there for 2-3 hours. My first problem was that my blood sugar was low before the run (unrelated to the temp basal rate), so I downed a bunch of quick acting glucose and went running. Things seemed to be going alright. I still ate a shot blok after 2.5 miles (normally I consume one every 1.25 miles), but around mile 4.5 I started feeling pretty low. I ate another shot blok at mile 4.5 and when I finished my blood sugar was still around 65. So my first attempt was not too successful. I only consumed 2 shot bloks, but I think the 30g of carbs I had before the run helped that. I forgot to adjust my basal rate on Thursday, and then on Friday my plan just didn't work at all. I adjusted my basal to 25% (I used 50% on Wed.) 2 hrs ahead and to 50% 1 hr ahead. This time during my warm up (3 miles before intervals) I was already feeling low, and had to quickly down a bunch of gel before starting my interval session. During my session I continued to have to down gel to the point where for my last 2 intervals my stomach was feeling pretty gross. So Friday was a complete disaster with my new strategy.

You might say why the new strategy, if it ain't broke why try to fix it? Well my current method works, but it is non-ideal. Currently I have to consume a shot blok or some gel about every 1.25-1.5 miles. To me this is a waste of calories and not to mention pretty expensive. I want to be able to go on a easy 5 miler and not have to worry about consuming anything. So that is why I am working on a new strategy, and will continue to work until it is better.

I have finally noticed the impact that running 50+ mpw has on my caloric intake. At first I didn't think I needed to change or add more calories. Now I realize that I do need to eat (or should I say get to eat) more calories. My weight has been a little lower the past few weeks, so hopefully I will get it back to normal by eating a bit more. Of course once I get used to eating more we are going to be tapering, so I will immediately have to switch and eat less....marathoning is a lot of work.

Last weeks training:

Tuesday - 12.48 Mile Run w/ Fartlek, 1:38:21 min, 7:52 pace
Wednesday - 5.6 Mile Easy Run, 43:05 min, 7:41 pace
Thursday - 4.68 Mile Easy Run, 38:18 min, 8:11 pace
Friday - 10.9 Mile Run w/ Intervals, 1:19:08 min, warm up, cool down, and 4 mile intervals (6:11, 5:58, 5:59, 5:58 min respective)
Sunday - 15.56 Mile Long Run, 2:03:48 min, 7:57 pace

Shoe Mileage:

Asics DS Trainer 13.1 - 347.01
Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 135.07
Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 66.77
Asics Gel Bandito - 78.42

Week of Feb 9 - 15, 2009

guest — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:10:48 GMT

After last week it was nice to have a 'normal' week and get training back on schedule. Although this week was not completely without incident, but sometimes inconveniences are there to test your mettle and show how much of a badass you are (or dumbass as the case may be)! After my speed workout was rained out last week I was determined not to miss another session. By Thursday night the weather forecast was a 60% chance of rain on Friday afternoon...when I typically do my workouts. So my brilliant solution was to do my workout in the morning. Only problem is that I have to be at school by 9a to TA my lab. So after running the numbers and devising a plan my Friday morning went as such: 2:30a - got up and ate my pre-morning run granola, 4:45a - got up, dressed and drove to my selected running spot (had to find somewhere with street lamps and few, if any, stop lights), 5:15a - started running. So yeah, basically it was completely dark when I started, and worse than that (something you wouldn't think about in LA) very, very cold. I even broke out my tights...it was that cold. Turned out my selected course was not as well light as I had hoped, but by my 6th mile or so the sun was dawning...before that I was pretty much in the dark. The dark was not the problem...it was the cold. I have never felt so much pain from being cold as I did when I finished. I was wearing my gloves, but it felt like I my hands had borderline frostbite. I was much worse than any other pain I have experienced from the cold. The pain I felt was in my nerves not the surface of my skin, and it resonated throughout my body...not fun, but I felt super cool running that early in the morning. The dumbass part was that, of course, it didn't rain in the early evening and I could have just as easily completed my workout then...whatever...

After all that I had a pretty good tempo workout. I tried to implement a suggestion that I read recently about progressively increasing pace on tempo workouts. After the success I had with a negative split in the half-marathon I think doing tempo workouts this way is good practice. So I started with 4 miles at around 6:55 pace and the last 4 were a bit quicker. Finished the workout averaging 6:50 pace, which was my goal.

On Sunday the team completed our first 20 miler (as a team that is), and for me it was my first long run pace workout. I decided to do a fast finish this week (planning a marathon goal pace run in two weeks). So for my fast finish run I ran the first 10 miles easy at my usual 8:05 - 8:10 pace. On the way back I split the distance into 4 segments (9 miles of it anyway, I left 1 mile for a cool down) and tried to run 7:40, 7:20, 7:00 and 6:40. I came pretty close to doing this and averaged 7:09 over the entire 9 miles, which is below my goal pace. Overall, it was a great workout. The last segment was very difficult, but I am building a little more confidence for the race.

My glucose sensor is working out very nicely. I really like that it helps prevent lows by giving alarms when my sugars drop too low. I have still had a couple of problems, but so far it has helped a lot. It is interesting to see what happens overnight after workouts. Actually not as much as I had originally thought, but I still get some funny readings.

And I am experimenting with making my own bread! At first I think I will just make bread to have as an additional carb source, but if I find a recipe that is good and cheap I might make all my own bread. The first loaf I made is very fiber dense with flax and almond meal. I am going to try to reduce some of the fat by removing the oil and a few other things. It is really easy and fun to make bread...who knew?!?!

Besides that I have been eating a little more. Kind of goes with the territory of upping the mileage. Nothing exciting with eating more, but tasty nonetheless.

Last weeks training:

Tuesday - 11.07 Mile Run w/ Fartlek - 1:24:10 min, 7:36 pace
Wednesday - 6.02 Mile Easy Run - 48:19 min, 8:01 pace
Thursday - 5.23 Mile Recovery Run - 45:26 min, 8:41 pace
Friday - 9.44 Mile Run w/ Tempo - 1:06:07 min, 7:00 pace - 1 mile warm up and cool down - 8 miles @ 6:50 pace
Sunday - 19.80 Mile Run w/ Fast Finish - 2:32:43 min, 7:43 pace

Shoe Mileage -

Asics DS Trainer 13.1 - 342.33
Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 122.59
Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 45.61
Asics Gel Bandito - 67.52

Week of Feb. 2 - 8, 2009

guest — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:25:46 GMT

This was kind of an odd week, and one of those where you have to be flexible with your training. I started the week planning on running 50 miles with a interval workout and a 16 miler on the weekend. Then on Thursday it started raining. I thought it was going to be a typical Southern California storm where it rained a little for a few hours and then it would go back to being sunny...but I was wrong. On Thursday at 5p the only people who showed up for the team run were me and two other coaches. It was still raining so we decided to do our own thing. For me this meant running on the treadmill to try and salvage some distance for that day, but that didn't last very long. The fitness room at the University was stiflingly hot, so much so that I could only bear to run 3 miles on the treadmill. By then it had finished raining so I decided to finish my workout outside...very bad idea. Going from the intense heat indoors to the atypical cold outdoors resulted in my getting a bit of a cold Thursday night. Who knew that your mother was right when she always used to say don't go out into the cold with a wet head of hair??

On Friday I was feeling less than optimal, yet determined to complete my interval session. However, come 5p it was raining yet again. I tried to wait it out and pondered running in the rain, but it was just coming down too hard. So I sat in my car panicking a little...what am I going to do about my training...this is just going to screw my whole program up...I thought. But then I calmed down and realized that this is all part of training. Over the course of 20+ weeks it is nearly impossible that every week is going to pass without issue. So my conclusion was to switch around my schedule (which I have done quite a few times already) and make this week my easy week. Not the ideal situation considering I had taken an easy week last week (except for the race that is), and that I had already done a hard 12 mile run with a Fartlek on Tuesday. So this week was a 'easy' week. With this strategy the rest of my week went without complication. I picked up 5 miles on Saturday, and ran 14 with the team on Sunday as scheduled. This was the last of my easy weeks before tapering, so hopefully the next three weeks will be complication free, or I might just start panicking again (I know, I am really lame).

I got my new glucose sensor this week and I really think this is going to help me out a lot. At first I was skeptical because for a good portion of the day yesterday (the first day I wore it) it was off by around 80 points, but after my second calibration it seems to be much more accurate. It is not really practical to check it too often during the run, but during today's run I stopped at the turnaround and had a look. Also, it has alarms which vibrate it my sugars get too high or low so I don't really have to check it at all. It seems to be around 20-30 minutes behind the readings I get using my meter, which is generally not an issue. However during running my glucose fluctuates rapidly so in 20 minutes my glucose can change quite a bit. I might set my low alarm a little higher during runs, but I will see how things go with the current setting right now. I am really interested to see exactly what the **** happens overnight during the week after my evening workouts. My morning glucose readings are typically all over the place so I want to see what happens at night.

Last weeks training:

Tuesday - 11.81 Mile Run w/ Fartlek - 1:33:19 min, 7:54 pace
Wednesday - 6.17 Mile Easy Run - 49:30 min, 8:01 pace
Thursday - 5 Mile Easy Run - 45 min, 9:00 pace (I don't know how long it took, treadmill and outside)
Saturday - 4.92 Mile Easy Run - 39:47 min, 8:05 pace
Sunday - 14.01 Mile Long Run - 1:50:31 min, 7:53 pace

Shoe Mileage:

Asics DS Trainer 13.1 - 337.1
Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 116.57
Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 34.54
Asics Gel Bandito - 38.28

Week of Jan 26th - Feb 1st, 2009

guest — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:41:33 GMT

Can't think of a better way to spend the day after your birthday than by running a race and proving to yourself that you are not getting older...you are getting faster! Alright sleeping in and eating a lazy breakfast with lots of coffee is a **** close second but second none the less.

So the Surf City Half Marathon was this weekend and it went better than expected. That is after a few prerace snafus...who knew Huntington Beach was in OC and not over near Hermosa. Oh that and when the race directors say to get to the race at least 90 minutes before the race you should probably listen. It takes a long time to park with 10,000 other runners trying to do the same. So I got to the race a little behind schedule and was in a bit of a hurry (I left my sunglasses in my car...). I used the restroom and got my bag checked about 20 minutes until race time. I had just enough time to get warmed up (ran about .75 miles and did a couple of strides) and then I headed to the start line to queue with the first wave. Being late as I was I started near the back of the first wave, which was not ideal but I was trying to run a smart race for once so being forced into a slow start was beneficial.

I said that I was trying to run a smart race, and...I actually did run a very good negative split and it felt really good. I would recommend to anyone to really try to force yourself to run a negative split even if you have to restrain yourself at the begining. As I said above at the start I was forced to go slow. In fact I ran a 7:09 first mile (goal pace was 6:52). I actually panicked a little during the second mile and ran the first half of the second mile really quick (around 6:45 pace), but I forced myself to slow down again and finished the mile in 6:56 which was my plan. By then I was warmed up and sped up to goal pace a little earlier than I planned and ran the third at 6:50. Fourth mile was up a slight incline so the pace was slower at 6:56. Miles five and six were a little down hill so I tried to catch up a little and ran those at 6:47 pace. Then miles seven and eight were back on the level PCH and I settled into my goal pace at 6:50. It was somewhere during mile six or seven that I learned the drawback of doing negative splits. By running easy at the start it is easy to lose focus. I realized this when I tried to settle into goal pace and it took a good half mile before I really settled and focused on what I was doing. The first half of the race I wasn't paying much attention to my body, my breathing, and my glucose intake. It turned out alright for this race, but during a marathon you need to be focused the entire way.

At mile 9 I was focused and feeling good so I made a small move and increase my pace to 6:45. It was during mile 9 that I finally caught up and was under my goal pace to break 1:30. I was in cruise control for miles 10 and 11, running both at around 6:40 pace. My plan from the start was that I could probably make a move with two miles left so during mile 12 I went for it and ran it in 6:29. From then I felt great and ran the last mile in 6:12, and the .1 at 6 min pace. All that adds up to a 1:28:50, which is much faster than I set out to run and nearly 3 minutes off my PR. I really felt strong all the way to the end and think that taking it easy at the start helped a ton. My split times were (approx.): 1st half 45:06, 2nd half - 43:44.

Interesting enough I finished 118 (out of 10,xxx runners) which is 1 place higher than I finished at COA (only 6,xxx runners though).

Last weeks training:

Tuesday - 9.06 Mile Easy Run - 1:14:17 min, 8:11 pace
Wednesday - 5.05 Mile Easy Run - 42:19 min, 8:22 pace
Thursday - 5.30 Mile Easy Run - 45:14 min, 8:32 pace
Sunday - 13.1 Mile Race - 1:28:50 min, 6:47 pace

Shoe Mileage:

Asics DS Trainer 13.1 - 332.1
Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 99.84
Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 14.36
Asics DS Trainer 14 - 35.42
Asics Gel Bandito - 38.28

Weight - 132 w/ 8.6% body fat