October wrap-up & rebuilding progress

October turned out to be my best month of running since May, before the Achilles injury. I've been walk/running three times a week - twice a week early on roads and once a week off-road. In the last two weeks I've dealt with cool rain and with increasing cold - 33 degrees one day last week. Not bad if you're dressed for it.

My favorite October running moments were stepping outside one frosty morning to a clear sky full of stars, and a Saturday trail run that featured glowing fall colors. I forgot my camera that day but it was good to travel light.

I hadn't been a big fan of running on roads in recent years but oddly enough it seems to be working for me right now. My Achilles is getting stronger with the firmer running surface, and my shins are doing fine as long as I don't overdo the downhills. I try to get out on trails on weekends for some variety and some "soul" running. Apparently I need more of it as I've found myself easily fatigued trying to avoid rocks while running up leaf-strewn slopes. I'm still doing very short distances but increasing a little each week.

I'm also thinking about something I read in a triathlon training book this summer. This writer felt that developing good running technique, particularly in terms of foot strike (forefoot or midfoot strike vs. heel strike), was more important than sheer running endurance and that the former should precede the latter. This runs somewhat counter to a lot of other running advice I've read or followed. I think I've tended to be a bit of a heel striker, which I thought was good for shock absorption, but from what I've read - not so good for speed. Your foot stays on the ground longer with each stride. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I've been working on my form and I like what I've seen so far. I seem to be landing a little more on the midfoot, staying on the ground less with each stride, and taking more strides per minute. A couple days ago, I ran on a track for the first time in many months and it was a positive experience. The flatness of it made it feel like I was running slightly downhill. I thought my three minute "comfortable" runs might cover only 500-550 meters. Actually, although I may have been a little excited by the setting, I covered 600-650 meters each time, which after crunching numbers is a faster pace than I managed in my three trail races in Spring 2008. Granted, this was a very short distance, but I was not running hard, just turning my legs over faster. I think I can stay with this form as I build endurance and sustain this pace for a 5K - at least I hope so.

October colors

This is one of my favorite times of year in New England. The weather is very good for running - temperate and often dry. The trees are at their peak. It's been over a decade since I've seen the fall colors, and they're even better then I remember. I've made a concerted effort to get outdoors on the weekend to see the sights.

The last two weeks have seen encouraging progress on the running front. I'm doing walk/runs three morning a week, twice on roads and once on trails. I start with a walking warmup for ten minutes, then run a short distance several times with an equal walking recovery. I'm actually running for time, not distance, e.g. 1 min run, 1 min walk, repeat, or run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, run 90 seconds, etc. I conclude with a walk of ten minutes or more depending on how much time I have. In the morning before work, not much. My lungs are not where they were this spring, and I really feel the hills, though I'm doing minimal running on them to ease my Achilles back into running shape. One exception is that I am doing a little bit of downhill running to maintain, and improve, my ability to make use of gravity on the downhills. In retrospect I see that long running layoffs in Florida, and running mostly on flats, left me unable to cope with running down big or steep hills - my shins would get overwhelmed. I want to work towards preventing that. There are two sides to hills and you really need to train on both I think - uphills to strengthen legs and lungs, downhills to strengthen shins and allow one to use gravity instead of braking.

My weekly trail "run" is generally on fairly firm surfaces - I want to avoid the loose sands that may have contributed to my Achilles injury in Florida this past spring. Most of the trails in Connecticut are much firmer and can be quite rocky depending on the trail.

The trails at Bluff Point State Park are hardly a state secret - they seem to get a fair amount of use. They are wide and relatively smooth and can accommodate bikes, walkers and runners. I tried to get a few pictures of the fall colors but it was early in the morning and still shady.

The Phoenix

(Caption: The Phoenix as depicted in the Aberdeen Bestiary, courtesy of Wikipedia)

I was trying to think of a symbol for my running rebirth in the last year, and the Phoenix came to mind. The Phoenix is the mythological bird that is reborn after a cycle of years. I like to think that we all have the ability to improve ourselves and significantly remake ourselves if we choose.

From the ashes of inactivity and couch potatohood, a new runner has been born.

Consider the following changes...
Longest run, Feb. 2007: 0 minutes
Longest run, July 2007: 10 minutes
Longest run, Dec. 2007: 50 minutes
Longest run, Feb. 2008: 90 minutes
Longest run, May 2008: 110 minutes (personal best)
Weight, Oct. 2007: 177 lbs.
Weight, July 2008: 161 lbs.
Improvement in one mile time trial, Dec. 2007 - May 2008: 45 seconds
Improvement in two mile loop course, Dec. 2007 - April 2008: 2 minutes

5 questions (and answers)

I've been tagged by Anne.

Here are the rules:
Visit 5 blogs and leave invitations to play, referring others back to your blog for more details. On your own blog, list the five questions and your own answers to them. Also, let the person who has tagged you know when you're done.

Here are the questions and my responses:
1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
Yikes. Pretty aimless. I did a little here and there, a few miles at a time. I don't think I entered any organized events that year.

2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?
The races tend to stand out more in both cases.
Best: I ran cross country in college (Division III: no scholarships, an average runner on an average team in our region). In my freshman year, I started out basically 8th on the team, if you had to make a competitive depth chart based on practices in September. The week of our first home meet (fourth race of the year), I hurt my leg and had to hobble back from a run. Race Saturday was a rainy and muddy, and things weren't really looking up. But an amazing thing happened. I caught up to a line of my teammates in the middle of the race and moved up from 8th to 4th on my team and held onto that spot. To be fair, our top runner was out, and some of the other guys probably started too fast that day. Still, I went on to place in our top four in three other meets that season, and I felt like I had arrived as a competitive runner, at that level.
Worst: going out too hard and cramping up in my final high school AND college cross country races, an ugly symmetry of wasted efforts. Thankfully there were many good days in between.

3. Why do you run?
To improve my health and fitness. To seek out new trails and new challenges. To enjoy the company of fellow runners. Plus it makes me happy.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?
Best: improve gradually by stressing the body, then resting.
Worst: go out really hard in distance races, like 30 seconds faster in the first mile than the pace you can realistically average over the whole distance, instead of running within yourself.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people know.
I am descended from the sister of a real-life 18th century pirate who sailed from Rhode Island to Florida and back. We have some things in common. He found gold in Florida waters. I also found treasure in Florida - my wife. We were married ten years ago today. :-)

Now, I get to tag some others.

They are (drumroll please):
Beth at 6 a.m. Running
Andrew from New Zealand
Just a Trail (Running) Fool
Ellie at Against the Wind (if/when she's not backpacking)
bloggers I've tried to tag with this meme, but was too late - they'd already been tagged: 3
(one to go)

Stay on target! Stay on target!

I missed a day of running this week due to a cold, which I think is my first missed day due to illness this year. The other few days off have been while I was recovering from long runs and my body needed some extra rest. This doesn't mean I run 7 days a week or anything. No, just 3 days right now. I like the hard/easy, stress/rest formula. It's working. Should I add some cross training? No doubt....

This is a challenging time of year for me, though. In the past I've made New Year's resolutions, done more running in the winter, and gotten injured and/or otherwise fallen off the wagon by May.

How do I avoid that this year? How does anyone stay motivated, stay on target?

Here are a few of my suggestions (in no particular order):
1. Use a running journal (or equivalent) to track your progress, see what's working and what isn't.
2. have a goal race/event/distance on which to focus (for me, half-marathon right now, but not a specific race...thanks for those who have reminded me of the importance of a goal event).
3. stay in the habit by running at the same time each day/week and making this part of your lifestyle.

One thing that hurt me in the past was not having a specific time to run. Now, I'm a morning runner. For more on reasons to run in the morning, visit 6 a.m. Running. Doesn't matter if you run at 5 am, 6 am, 7 am, etc. This is also a great place to go for beginning running tips and inspiration.

4. run with someone else.

This is another area I've neglected to my detriment. I'm a bit of an introvert, and pretty happy doing my solo trail runs on a regular basis. On the other hand, it's boring to run around my neighborhood by myself every week (my non-trail days). Running with someone else is easier and often more fun. And, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that my fastest times all occurred when I was part of a team, running 6 days a week with others.

I'm happy to report that this morning, for the second straight week, I ran a few miles with people from my local runners' club who meet almost every morning at the YMCA. I had avoided joining them before because I was not a morning runner, and 5 am sounded downright scary. You know what? It's all what you're used to, and human beings can get used to quite a bit. How does anyone run a marathon? We're adaptable creatures.

Everyone was very nice. I had also been concerned that my returning-to-running tortoise pace would leave me way behind everyone. Not so. The group (and I bet this is quite likely true for your area too, dear reader) has people with a range of running paces, and they are willing to take turns running with someone new. (Thanks everybody! See you next week!)

5. variety - not only the spice of life, but of running. Vary your routes, terrain, distances and speed. If your running is boring, make a change.

Your thoughts? If you've gotten to the point where completing 4-6 miles or more nonstop is doable, what are your tips for keeping things going in the right direction?

"Beware the fury of a patient man"

I've been thinking about my last post and for some reason this quote came to mind. The quote is from John Dryden, I believe. I confess I don't know the full context, and fury is not a word I generally apply to myself, but I think this quote is applicable to running. Like many Americans, I often want things to be quick and easy. Running isn't like that, is it? Building up a base of endurance requires time and patience. One building block at a time, no shortcuts.

How to increase long runs safely?

Yesterday was my longest run of the year, and I'm glad to find minimal soreness today. My legs are adapting to longer runs, and to slightly faster downhill running when I have the opportunity, better than they were two months ago, when I had plateaued at 9 miles and my legs were protesting the addition of a bit of faster running to my week.

Still, yesterday was far from easy. The heat and distance made it a significant effort, and I was more relieved than overjoyed at finishing. The thought that this was only about a third of marathon distance is almost incredible. Although I was in my typical post-run or race good mood for some time, I grew tired by evening.

I've noticed in the running literature that many half-marathon and marathon plans call for increasing your long run by 1-2 miles every week. I can see that in the case of someone who is fit and is building a new base after a finishing a racing season, as in cross country or track. But what about someone who has either not run this far before, or has not done so in years (that's me), which amounts to about the same thing? Two miles a week for weeks on end? Maybe if I had lower legs of titanium. Is this just something I have to get through to complete a half-marathon or more? Has anyone else struggled with this aspect of training?

Starting is tough

There were a few other signs of declining fitness I was noticing last summer that troubled me. One was that my gut was getting big enough that I was less flexible in the middle. Second, I was slower to get up from a seating position, whether from a chair or from the floor of my house (a frequent place to sit when you have young children). Third, the stairs at work were leaving me winded.

As an admitted running snob, these realizations galled me (apparently I could pull off being a running snob without actually running). I knew my health and fitness levels were not where they should be, and that things would not improve unless I took action.

I had to start basically from ground zero. Rather than go out and pick up a nice case of shin splints in the first week, I started by walking to re-establish the exercise habit, and gradually adding running segments of as little as 1-2 minutes at the beginning, gradually increasing in number and length. This was NOT easy. One minute of running at a slow pace was my limit; two minutes left me winded.

the journey begins... (summer 2007 recap)

First, a little background...
I used to be a runner, eons ago. I ran cross country in high school (small school) and college (Div. III). After that, well, life happened. Full-time work. Marriage. Kids. Etc. Although I didn't fully realize it at the time, with other distractions (er, focuses) and without other people to run with, and without races coming up every weekend, my motivation to run waned, and my fitness level dropped. Every several months I would try to pick things up, do more mileage and start doing some speedwork. And, every time, I would do too much, too fast, too soon, and get injured. And take time off, losing more fitness. Eventually, by the summer of 2007, I was essentially a non-runner. My energy level had dropped, my waist was expanding, and running around in the yard with my young kids got me winded. My pants were getting too tight too tight in the waist. Looking in the mirror, I was clearly growing a paunch, and if things progressed much further, would become a candidate for a "bro"!
I decided it was high time to draw a line in the Florida sand. I would take up running once more and get back in shape, this time armed with my experience in how not to get in shape. I would go slowly, gradually, laying a foundation one mile at a time, minimizing risk of injury. And I would have goals, and I would have fun.