quote:<HR>Originally posted by JasonHomey:
I have a marathon in three and a half weeks, and i am supposed to do a long run of 20 miles this weekend (while i am on vacation in san diego). I had a sore calf this past weekend and had to stop after a little over 10 miles instead of the 15 i was supposed to run. The weekend before, I ran 20 miles in a solid 8:15 mile pace, so i have run that distance before. My training calls for 20 miles this weekend, 15 next, 10, then marathon. If I am experiencing calf soreness right now, should i just lower my 20 miler to 15 this week? I had calf soreness earlier in the summer during my training and i took a week and a half off and it was fine when i went back to running again, though i could feel the slight loss of conditioning when i returned. I am not trying to break marathon records with my run, i just want to be under 4 hours if possible. I am just worried if i don't run the 20 miler or something like 16-18, i will lose some conditioning. My gut is telling me to run 15 this weekend, 13-15 next, then 10 the following with almost nothing the week of the marathon (when i will again be on vacation). Any help is appreciated. <HR>

You know, I don't mean to come out harsh but, for someone who can run a solid 20-miler at 8:15 pace, you don't sound like you know much about running at all. Have you run a marathon before? And if not, running 20 with a sore calf 3 weeks before, then 15 and 10 sounds way too much to me. With your 20 @ 8:15 under the belt, if you couldn't break 4 hours, it's nothing but simply due to over-training. You won't lose good fitness so quickly; in fact, I've seen many who take 4-week taper for the marathon and they are more fresh and otherwise on the race day.

So let me get this straight; you ran 20 @ 8:15 last weekend and you're going to do another 20 this weekend (with sore calf) and 15 next weekend and 10 before marathon? Way too much. Especially with a sore calf; don't even attempt 20 this weekend--even 15. Doing 15 with a sore calf won't accomplish NOTHING--it's half-hearted length and more than likely you'll further hurt yourself.

My suggestion would be this; forget long runs, just jog about nice and easily until you get over your calf problem--I'd say for 2 weeks. Then on the weekend before the marathon, go for an easy 1:30 run (forget mileage and minute-per-mile pace). I would assume you've built up decent shape by doing plenty of runs previously??? You're not going to lose it in a month (assuming you HAVE built-up). Just concentrate on fixing your calf (whatever it is). Schedules, any schedule, should be nothing but a guide. I see so many times out there; "I'm supposed to do 20 this weekend but I'm sick and injured... What do I do?" Use a common sense! I see far too many people failing marathoning nowadays from over-training (with lack of base-building). My wife is supposed to be running Twin Cities marathon in 2 weeks (less than). She was "supposed to" run 14 so I told her to cap it at 10. She did and felt great. She said others were doing 14 and many were walking in the second half... They are simply too tired! They are doing 10 this weekend--while my wife would be doing a 5k race to sharpen plus an easy 1:30 to finish off. By the way, you should still be doing SOMETHING in the final week--you can certainly take a couple of days off but I'd still go for an easy jog.

Good luck--and remember to take honey 3 days leading up to the marathon. Hydrate yourself well--hydration starts a couple of days before the marathon as well; not at the water station at 20 miles. Be careful if you're on vacation on the final week--I don't know for how long or until how many days before the race; I almost hurt my back sleeping on the matress that's too soft. Also if you're flying for a long time, more of the reason you should go for an easy jog to "shake it off" and get loose. I found out myself that I perform MUCH better if I continue to jog easily several days leading up to the day instead of doing nothing.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by 92heelgrad:
First question I have is why take honey three days out Nobby? Is it just part of carbo loading? Just curious...
<HR>

Honey is almost pure carbohydrate with essential minerals and vitamins to go along with it. You may take in carbs when you eat pasta and rice but if you don't have necessary vitamins and mineral, you may not be able to fully utilize those carbs. Honey is supposed to have all that. Besides, it's so much easier to take a couple of spoonfuls of honey than, say, baked poteto--easier to digest.

Supposedly, taking 200gm (or 8 ounces) of honey 3 days prior to the marathon would give you the best result. Of course, assuming honey is compatible to your digestive system, that is...

quote:<HR>Originally posted by icurt06:
A free download from Marathon Breakthrough can answer a lot of your questions.

http://www.marathon-breakthrough.com[/URL" target="_blank"><HR>

Yawn..

Never look at anything from someone who writes a sentance like this:

"Plus Receive Three Extremely Powerful Never Before Released Bonuses!"

quote:<HR>Originally posted by JasonHomey:
I ended up running a 50 minute segment on my vacation and there was no pain. I kind of cut back on the running also because i ended up walking 12 miles one day in san diego and went to the zoo the day before with a ton of walking too. I ran 4 miles yesterday at a very leisurely pace and plan to run tomorrow for around 45-50 minutes and about the same this sunday, maybe closer to one hour this time. Thanks again for the advice, the calf feels better, but then again, i haven't really challenged it. I have a feeling it will crop up again, it always seems to over the last year at the worst times.<HR>

Jason:

Let me tell you my own experience though this would most probably not help you for the up-coming marathon.

I developed a bad case of Achilles tendonitis about 6 or 7 years ago. I had some work issue as well and my running got really sporadic. When I started to come back to running, my Achilles problem was still there and, on the top of that, I had this irritating calf problem. I read an article (I think it was written by John Parker, Jr.) called "Calf Heart Attack". In it, he talked about this "micro-scopic tears" in your calf that acts like a hidden dynamite; it just all of a sudden pops. It was just like that. I would go for an easy 20 minutes jog (I mean, really EASY) and all of a sudden, POP! Could hardly walk! Took a few weeks off and massage the **** out of my calf (it was TIGHT!). Felt okay so started out very slowly again and...POP! Rest didn't help. It just kept coming back. I went to the drastic measure and started out VERY SLOWLY in the minimalist shoes; gradually and slowly and... I can't really remember what happened or how long it really took; but now I'm running twice a day freely. Achilles is still sore (but I've since learnt to cope with the pain...) but I hadn't had ANY calf problem for ages.

There's NO injury problem that you cannot overcome eventually.