Week 18 - Freakin' Out

Only 5 weeks left till D-Day as I write this. I hit the gym with a vengeance these last few days. Monday was supposed to be a short run, but I felt the shins tingling and cut it off after 5 minutes. Walked my sad sack butt to the club and put in about 1 1/2 hours of hard cardio work. What began as another epic shin failure turned into a victory for Team Keith. Weight is down to 173 lb, and I'm wearing size 32 waist shorts for the first time since 2004. At this point I'm going to call the marathon training a success even if I wind up in a mangled heap somewhere along the climb to hurricane-point (see image).

Legs are feeling good. Plan to do some running around the grass soccer fields here in Riverfront Park. Doing another long distance run before the marathon may not happen. Instead, I am conjuring up a plan to run some middle distances (6 milers or so) followed up immediately by lengthy cross training at the gym. This should keep my shins in top shape leading into the 26.2 mile course, help me shed a few more pounds, and get my cardiovascular system prepared to endure 4 hours of headwinds and hills.

-Mar 15: Ran to gym, 30 min biking, 20 min on rowing machine, 16 minutes of interval training on elliptical machine.

-Mar 16: 1 hr yoga during lunch. Jogged to gym after work, dumbell bench/flies, medicine ball crunches, sidebends, pullups, 30 min on bike, 16 min intervals on elliptical.

-Mar 17: Wussed out at lunch, ran to gym after work, 30 min biking, 20 min on rowing machine, 16 minutes of interval training on elliptical machine. Downed Irish-car-bombs, green beer, and way too much deep fried bar snacks in celebration.

-Mar 18: 1 hr yoga during lunch.

-Mar 19: Bosu dumbell curls and military press, medicine ball squats on Bosu ball, leg curls, leg lifts, calf raises, 20 minutes on bike, and 5 min on elliptical. Plans to swim were cut short by running around trying to score GaGa tix for the better-half.

-Mar 21: Kicked my own butt with the Spartacus lifting circuit from Men's Health, 30 min on bike, 25 min rowing, 16 min intervals on elliptical, 20 min on reclined bike.

Week 17 - Recovery

Following Saturday's half marathon, my first, I decided to take most of the week to recover. My plan was to run a 4-miler on Weds and then put in a nice 6-miler in Monterey on Friday.

I began to feel the familiar twinge of shin splints less than half a mile into Wednesday's run. The pain was mild, so I finished the course at an easy pace. Was I disappointed? A little bit. However, I did just surpass my personally longest distance ever ran by more than 3 miles. The realist in me dealt with the facts and decided to ease up on running for the rest of the week.

Friday's run turned into 1.5 hours of playtime at the Monterey Sports Center. That place is awesome. Great cardio and lifting equipment, not to mention the huge pool. Next week I plan on taking a dip while Sabina works in the morning.

On Sunday I was hanging out with the missus at Borders. While thumbing through the UK version of Runner's World, I came upon 10 Must Do World Races. Guess which California Marathon was on the list? The one and only BSIM. Everyday I become more amped-up to test myself against the 26.2 mile set of hills and headwinds. Hopefully next week I can plunge back into some serious road work.


-Mar 8: Legs tight from Saturday's race. Limited to 30 minutes on stationary bike, dumbell flies/bench, and crunches.

-Mar 9: 3 sets of 20 step-ups (each leg) with 20 lb dumbells, 10 minute hill routine on elliptical, 30 minutes on stationary bike.

-Mar 10: Lazy slug at lunch. Drank some coffee in the afternoon and did a 4 mile "recovery" run around the levees before sundown.

-Mar 11: 1 hr Yoga.

-Mar 12: 15 min elliptical, 20 min biking, bosu dumbell curls and military press, calf raises, leg curls, leg lifts, dumbell bench and flies.

Week 16 - "Disciprine Come From Within"

... to quote a South Park episode. I ran my first half-marathon on Saturday. My buddies Ian and Jose ran their inagural halves as well. They smoked me, but we all ran solidly.

I took it very easy this week because I wanted to have healthy shins for the 13.1 mile trek. My personal goal was not to run hard and set a grand PR. I actually wanted to hold myself to 8:30 min/mile. The idea was that maybe mileage wasn't tearing up my legs: maybe the injuries were more to do with effort. Sabina laughed at this idea and reminded me that I say that almost every race and then end up killing myself. The comment from my smart-ass wife steeled my resolve this time. Of course I forgot to wear my watch and had no way to know what my pace was during the event.

Ibuprofen is a terrific friend on race day. The 3 little pills that I doused with coffee in the morning kept any pain at bay through mile 6. Although my speed and running form were in check, the clock at the halfway mark showed I was running several minutes faster than anticipated. Seeing this, I began to make grand plans to push myself around mile 10 or so. Those plans began to deteriorate with each mile:

○ Mile 7 - Slight shin pain (never progressed).
○ Mile 10 - Quads began to feel heavy.
○ Mile 11 - Felt blister like pain under ball of right foot (actually just callused).

Despite over thinking things in the 2nd half of race, I didn't have to dig very deep to reach the finish line. The final mile was a little test. Could I have kept going for another 13 miles? Doubtful. My time was 1:42:15 (7:48 min/mile). Running such a controlled pace and still running sub 8's is a huge confidence booster. There are 7 weeks left before the BSIM. Nine minute miles and a sub 4 hr marathon time seems entirely achievable. I just have to be smart and avoid any more setbacks. Today is the day after the Bidwell Classic. My quads and calves are tight with the type of soreness that sets in after a good workout. My plan is to rest a few days and then pick things back up on Wednesday.

-Mar 1: 0.5 mile run on treadmill, biked for 30 min. Ran on grass field for 20 min after work.

-Mar 2: 1 hour yoga.

-Mar 3: 2.5 mile run on treadmill, biked for 30 min.

-Mar 4: 1 hour yoga.

-Mar 6: 34th Annual Bidwell Classic Half Marathon (01:42:15, 7:48 min/mile).


ADDENDUM: Downed a couple gel packs while running (@ mile 4, and @ mile 8). Both were warm and nasty. The Powerbar one tasted better and had a more tolerable consistency than the Cliff brand. I should refrigerate them before the marathon. I fooled around with my form during the race too. Tilted my pelvis in slightly and it seemed to make my upper legs perform more of the work than my calves. Working on this may reduce future pain from shin splints.

Week 15 - Mack Armstrong

The rest taken this week may damage my half-marathon pace, but I didn't really have a choice. Every source of information that I found regarding shin splints stated that they only get worse without taking some time off the beaten path. At this time last year, who would have known how batty I would go without being able to run several miles?

-Feb 22: 0.5 hr biking, pull-ups, dumbell flies/bench, crunches.

-Feb 23: warmup on bike, 1.0 hr yoga at lunch.

-Feb 24: 0.5 hr biking, high-steps, heel kicks, sidebends.

-Feb 25: 1.0 hr yoga at lunch. Jogged to gym and back for 0.5 hr bike action after work.

-Feb 26: Jogged to gym and back for 0.5 hr bike action.

-Feb 28: Gorgeous day. Tested out calves/shins by running in between 9 holes
of disc golf in Oroville.