Cars and People

So ... I go for my 5 mile run today (actually 5.4 hilly miles/11.47 pace -- there were still some icy patches slowing the pace). It was raining on and off but then I'm not complaining. The weather this winter has been mild and I don't think I've run once in the rain since November! The temps were mild in the low 40s with very little wind. Typically there is not much traffic on the dirt roads where I run but a wide variety of both vehicles and people. Some are courteous when approaching and passing, some not so, and some downright rude or perhaps just oblivious. And on a day with wet, sloppy roads these distinctions become quite apparent.

I digress a little to the specific vehicle that got me started on this train of thought. It was actually this past Saturday. I always run facing traffic and stay as far to the side of the road as is practical (e.g., not in the ditch next to the road but pretty darn close). This blue truck comes down the road toward me and moves to the opposite side of the road. Then, right as he comes alongside of me, he veers over towards me. Scared the heck out of me and I yelled at him (not that he could hear with his windows up), "you trying to %?!@#!? kill me?" Not like there were any other cars coming from the other direction and absolutely no reason for his behavior. Unless of course he was trying to scare me, or maybe he was trying to change his radio station or something. Idiot!

Which brings me to my ponderings today while running. I think a good personality test might be how drivers respond to runners on the road (or bikers, walkers, take your pick). There are the nice people who slow down as they pass and wave. There are the people who must be late for a really important meeting and barrel down the road. They probably don't even notice what they're passing. These are the people who seem to have no clue that as they barrel by at 40+ mph, crashing through that puddle just alongside me in the middle of the road, that they might as well be aiming a water hose at me. There are the really over-cautious drivers who pretty much stop until I pass. They are young, middle age, old and downright elderly. They drive cars and trucks that look pieced together from parts from the junk yard, the latest Mercedes and Lexus models, big and little trucks, the post man, the propane delivery guy, Fed Ex and UPS vans, tractors with and without trailers of various sorts. A diverse group, a representative sample of my neighbors. I just hope they're aware enough of what they're passing that they always notice my bright neon yellow jacket or vest. And I hope that they are the kind of people who believe in sharing the road.

Week 6: 3 miles/5 miles/4 miles/10 miles

This is actually a repeat week added into the 16-week program to make it a 17-week program culminating in marathon day in Antwerp on April 20, 2008. I added an extra mile in on the 3rd run (my Thursday run) of the week. Typically my schedule is to run on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. As Saturday is my long run day I have rest days on Friday and Sunday.

So far, so good. I am feeling better every week. Some minor aches and pains (lower back, hamstrings) have subsided and I continue to incorporate lots of stretching into the overall training program. I'm hoping to get some additional stretching tips from Brian week after next when I have a massage scheduled.

I have found that my appetite has increased and I crave carbs more than usual for me. I've had to be careful to avoid gaining weight (can you believe it?!) even though I'm not eating junk -- no cookies, no Wheat Thins (my all time fave addiction -- I can go through a box in a couple of hours). I'm adding in more veggies (had a great veggie chili on Sunday), trying to be sure to drink lots of water.

Did my 3 mile run this morning early as I had a lot to do the rest of the day -- on the road about 7:30 AM -- about the earliest it is light enough to safely run. Easy run. It was actually 3.3 miles with a 10:17 pace. Temp about 35, very light breeze, cloudy. Quite comfortable.

Week 5: Saturday (1-26-08) 10 Mile Long Run

Headed out on my local country roads and patched together what ended up to be about 10.5 miles. Temps in the upper 30s and quite pleasant, somewhat cloudy. Quite comfortable in the Under Armour ColdGear mock turtle and tights, light gloves and headband -- no jacket. Due to snow a little over a week before and subsequent cold temps there were a number of icy patches on the roads which significantly slowed my overall pace to about a 13 minute mile. Not wanting to risk injury I carefully navigated the icy patches at a slow walk! I will be interested to see what my overall pace on that loop is once the ice clears out -- the hills seemed significantly easier on this run than in previous weeks.

Ran with my "grenade belt" as Joe likes to call my Fuel Belt. Although the belt holds 4 8-ounce containers I have only been running with 2 containers -- using 16 oz. Cytomax Tropical Fruit. Today I also had a Raspberry Hammer Gel (90 calories, 0 fat, 25mg sodium, 22g carbs, 0 protein). Seemed to do pretty well although towards about Mile 8.5 and about 20 minutes after the gel I felt a little depleted. Things improved by Mile 9.5. Intend to experiment with some other rapid energy fuels on the long runs.

Recovery over Saturday evening and through Sunday was unremarkable and I felt pretty good. Took 400 mg. ibuprofen at 8-10 hour intervals through Sunday night and had no issues with tightness or soreness. Let's hear it for stretching!

Week 5: 3 miles/5 miles/3 miles/10 miles

Not too difficult of a week. Weather a bit on the chilly side. Low 20s to low 30s. Mid-week run of 5 miles the weather report was calling for sleet and ice mid-day so I managed to rouse myself early to run. I don't think anything else would have gotten me out of a nice warm bed early! Cold, cold, cold. But then I'd much rather run in just cold rather than cold and wet! I was glad to be running and warming up. Once I got through the first mile it wasn't bad which is usually the case.

I've noticed that some of my initial aches and tightness have gone away. I think the stretching is helping. Certainly better than the last time I "trained" for a marathon (might I say, without any real plan). In general, I'm feeling really good and healthy. I have noticed a slight weight gain of a pound or so. I seem to be holding steady around 122 pounds, sometimes a pound or so more. Had been around 120 prior to starting "real" training. All the running seems to be stimulating my appetite. Have been using ibuprofen after the long runs for a day or two and sometimes a few other days during the week depending on how the old body is feeling.

Tomorrow is my long run of 10 miles for the week. I'm planning on wearing my heart rate monitor and tracking that as well as tracking pace. I'm guessing I'm around an 11-12 minute/mile pace. Yes, I know I'm slow. But I'm sure you all know the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Remember -- my goal for my first marathon is simply to arrive at the starting line healthy and injury free and to cross the finish line. The weather is supposed to be in the low 40s and sunny -- good running conditions.

Week 4: Saturday (1-19-08) 8 Mile Long Run

I really have become quite the weather watcher. After Thursday's snow storm, Friday brought temps in the mid-40s and a lot of melting. Not the best conditions for a Saturday (1-19-08) run on my usual dirt roads -- what a yucky mess and ruination for my new shoes. Good timing for a run down east in suburbia around 3 PM (temps in the upper 30s, low 40s, no wind) on nice cleared paved roads. It was a welcome change to have some different scenery, mostly lots of houses in varied neighborhoods. Although I thought I had plotted out an 8 mile run (on www.runjogrun.net -- great site, check it out) Jen's foot computer clocked us at 9 miles. Nice run, some decent hills, probably somewhere between a 10 and 11 minute pace. Thanks Jen for running slowly with me! Got some stretching in before and after, although probably not enough. Took 400 mg. of ibuprofen but, in general, feeling good. Felt good this morning with minimal soreness/stiffness and actually went and did a slow 30 minutes on the elliptical at Gold's Gym.

My Awesome Running Shoes

I love my running shoes. Guess that's how it should be. They are Mizuno (a brand I had never heard of 2 weeks ago) Wave Nirvana 3 and a Size 7. I typically wear a Size 6.5 but the nice guys at my local running store told me I should be running in a size one larger than my street shoes. Tried a pair of Size 7.5 but felt like I was tripping over my toes just walking around the store. The Size 7s seem to be good.

En route to my Mizunos I started out with a stride analysis on the treadmill at the running store and learned that I overpronated a bit (not extreme, but enough to warrant a stability shoe). Went on to try five different pairs of shoes before settling on the Mizunos. Even took a pair of Brooks shoes home before I determined that they wouldn't work (heel slipping way too much). Unfortunately the Mizunos are the most expensive of all the shoes I tried ($135) but I figure that's cheaper than a gym membership (heck, I'd still need a pair of shoes even with a gym membership).

My first long run (7 miles) last Saturday with my new shoes was a pleasure. The Mizunos were perfect right out of the box and the miles passed quickly.

Week 4: 3 miles/5 miles/3 miles/8 miles

So, today's my long run (8 miles) of Week 4 and then I've completed 25% of my journey to Antwerp. I got up early Thursday for my third run of the week although I much prefer running in the afternoon when it's generally warmer (plus I get to sleep longer, a big plus). But the forecast was calling for snow starting late morning. Boy am I glad I got up early. Temp wasn't too bad. Even though the thermometer was reading in the low 30s (0.4 C) the cloud cover and the fact that there was no breeze contributed to a pleasant run of 3 miles.

Well, after I ran and saw a couple of clients it was snowing and accumulating pretty quickly. I shoveled off the walkway to my office, walked down to the road to check on the condition of the turnpike, toted the garbage can up the driveway and made the bottom third of a snowman. Came in and sat for another hour with a client and by the end of the hour my right lower back was killing me. I have no idea what I did but I was hobbling around like an 80-year-old. A couple of ibuprofen later along with a heating pad and still not a whole lot better. I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with any running and everything to do with shoveling that stupid snow. It's now Saturday morning and it's a little better (I'll go upstairs to get something without thinking that I don't want to because of the pain and I can move around more easily) -- at least enough better that I'm still planning on running. We'll see how it goes.

Planning on running down east a bit with my niece (who, by the way, runs a slow mile in less than 8-1/2 minutes -- I'd feel like an Olympic athlete at that speed). The roads here that I typically run on are all unpaved and with the snow melting they're likely to be a muddy mess. Given the choice I'll run down east. Don't want to completely trash my new shoes!

The Program

My training program began on Christmas Eve 2007 with a run of 3 miles. The complete program is a 16 week program (although I have adapted the program to be a 17 week program so that my "weeks" are a week behind the book) and is fully described in "The Non-runners Marathon Trainer." Each week consists of 4 days of running and 3 days of rest. I have chosen to run on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. My long run each week is generally on Saturday. I have made a few minor modifications in the training program to work around scheduling issues. I am currently in Week 4 of the training. The first three weeks the runs were:

Week 1: 3, 4, 3, 5

Week 2: 3, 4, 3, 6

Week 3: 3, 4, 3, 7

In the hopes of avoiding injury I began a stretching program in Week 1 although the stretching exercises are not introduced until Week 4 in the book. So far, so good. Some initial tightness in my right hamstring has gradually improved. A new pair of shoes in Week 3 made a huge difference. More about that later. And more about running attire later -- suffice it to say that Under Armour rocks!

I am planning on two training "races" on my journey to Antwerp. The first is a Half-Marathon in Williamsburg, Virginia on Sunday, February 24. That will be Week 9 of my training with a scheduled long run of 14 miles (so the half-marathon at 13.1 miles will suffice). It's supposed to be a hilly course, but I train on moderate hills so I'm hoping that won't present any problems.

The second training "race" is the Charlottesville 10 Miler and is just before my wind down to Antwerp in Week 14 of the training program. 

My complete program is:

Week 4: 3, 5, 3, 8

Week 5: 3, 5, 3, 10

Week 6: 3, 5, 4, 10

Week 7: 4, 5, 4, 11

Week 8: 4, 5, 4, 12

Week 9: 4, 6, 4, 14 (Williamsburg Half-Marathon)

Week 10:0, 8, 5, 16

Week 11: 5, 8, 5, 16

Week 12: 5, 8, 5, 16

Week 13: 5, 8, 5, 18

Week 14: 5, 8, 5, 10 (Charlottesville 10 Miler)

Week 15: 18, 0, 5, 9

Week 16: 3, 5, 3, 8

Week 17: 3, 3, Walk 3, 26.2

Thursday of Week 17 we will be flying to Amsterdam so the challenge will be to get enough stretching in enroute, drink lots of water and get enough rest. Arrival in Amsterdam will be early Friday morning, April 18 (2 days before the marathon). Taking the train to Bruges via Antwerp (eating lunch and picking up race packet) and two nights in Bruges prior to Sunday's marathon.

Prelude to a Marathon

I began my journey to the Antwerp Marathon before I even thought I'd ever be training to run 26.2 miles. I never much enjoyed running before my 40s although I had run a few 5Ks and 10Ks over the years -- even had a 1st place for my age in a 5K in 2000. Not that I was fast -- just not many people in my age range running and it was a small race! I trained (without a good plan) for the Pittsburgh Marathon around the same time and promptly developed an overuse injury -- right hamstring, ITB problems -- forcing me to the sidelines of running. I continued to bike but did my fair share of sitting on the couch.

Which brought me to August 2007. Overweight by 20 pounds and out of shape I started Weight Watchers and walking. I quickly grew bored with walking and decided I wanted to run again. I discovered the free C25K (Couch to 5K) nine week training program at the iTunes Store and by the end of October I was running 5K 3 times a week.

Next, an acquaintance told me about a television program on PBS that told the story of 20 people (aged 20 to 60) who trained for 20 weeks and then ran a marathon. This intrigued me so I ended up on Amazon.com and found "The Non-runners Marathon Trainer." It is a 16 week training program developed at the University of Northern Iowa that was taught as a class -- similar to the PBS group of marathon hopefuls. Now I was off and running. I began my 16 weeks on December 24, 2007 -- before I had chosen a marathon. My 16 week program had me aiming for a marathon the weekend of April 12-13, 2008. We were scheduled to began a vacation in Belgium and France on April 17th. There was no marathon on the East Coast for the weekend before our trip. But I did find a marathon in Antwerp (1 hour by car from Bruges where we would be the Friday and Saturday before the Sunday marathon) on April 20, 2008. A few adjustments to the training schedule and my journey continued ... now with a fully articulated goal: to arrive injury free in Antwerp and to finish the marathon.