Pete's Blog

Back in the Saddle Again

Things are finally getting back to normal. My foot injury has subsided thanks to some rehab exercises, Alcis pain relief cream, and DMSO. I started running the last week of September and did easy mileage for five weeks (35, 60, 67, 86, and 91 miles). The last week I did my first workout, 4xmile threshold, averaging 4:58 with one minute rest. Followed by 5x200 fast.

The last two weeks we started getting some real work done.

11/2 - 14 miles

   AM: 5 easy, 12x200 (R200jog) :31 average

   PM: 5 easy

11/3 - 10 easy, blister

11/4 - 18 moderate, 1st 10 miles 61:44, next 7 miles 5:40-5:20, last mile easy

11/5 - 13 miles

   AM: 3 easy, drills, plyos, 6x one minute uphill sprint, 3 easy. Hurt like hell.

   PM: 5 easy

11/6 - 1 easy, 10 moderate progression, 1 easy. 55:46. 5:50-5:16.

11/7 - 16 miles

   AM: 11 easy, 8x50 hill sprints

   PM: 5 easy

11/8 - 3 easy, went home, feeling sick

Weeks Mileage 86

11/9 - 15 miles

   AM: 7 easy, 6x300 (R300 jog) :48-:47, 1 easy

   PM: 5 easy

11/10 - 10 easy, 3x2 mile threshold, 2 easy (10:04. 10:00, 9:56)

11/11 - 17 miles

   AM: 12 easy, very slow and hilly

   PM: 5 easy, 8x50 hill sprint

11/12 - 4 easy, 10 moderate progression, 1 easy. 55:40, 5:48-5:20

11/13 - 15 miles

   AM: 10 easy

   PM: 5 easy, 5x150 light strides

11/14 - 15 miles

   AM: 5 easy

   PM: 7 easy, plyos, drills, 6x 1:00 uphill sprint

11/15 - 15 miles

   AM: 5 easy

   PM:10 easy

Weeks Mileage: 110

On the Mend

Posterior tibial tendinitis. I never knew where my posterior tibial tendon was before this summer. I didn't even know how to spell tendinitis (tendonitis makes more sense to me). Now I know all this and more when it comes to this stubborn injury.

For those lucky souls who don't know their posterior tib from their ischial tuberosity let me sum it up by saying that the posterior tib is a tendon that attaches to your foot at the high point of your arch. When it gets aggravated and inflamed it hurts like hell to put weight on the foot.

I pissed off my posterior tib in February at the Surf City Half Marathon. It was a cold, rainy day that must have tightened up the tendon when it needed to me relaxed. It didn't act up again until late March when I was running my last pre-London Marathon workout, a 18 mile fast progression run. The workout was smoking fast (1:31 and under control) but the foot hurt on the cool down. The pain was very mild throughout April, but flared up for good in May at the 5th3rd River Bank 25k (yes that's the full name of the race, look it up).

Since then I've taken a one week break from training, followed by three (yes three) two week breaks. Each time I think I've done enough to beat the injury only to have it flare up again. As the summer wore on I've also learned quite a bit about how to properly rehab the injury. Those rehab exercises give me hope that I'm making real progress toward a cure. This week I'm running easy every morning and doing my exercises in the afternoon. The entire afternoon routine take anywhere from 2-4 hours. I've been following some version of this routine for two months now, constantly refining the exercise mix to add what seems to be working best. I'll post the details of the workout soon.  

Torn and Frayed

Self mandated time off from running stretches my will power to the limit. Last Monday, I went out for an easy afternoon run and couldn't jog without limping on my aching right foot. That morning I had done a medium paced 10 miler, which followed two very easy days on the road in LA. The pain that I felt in my arch surprised me considering how little I had run the previous three days. For months I had been managing the pain, re-arranging workouts, aggressively pursuing treatment options, and hoping for a miracle cure. At some point you have to aknowledge that simple rest might be the best, and only, option. That point came for me last Monday as I walked back home after my three blocks of gimpy jogging. 

For the next nine days I did zero athletic activity outside of stretching, light weights, and core strength. No pool running, no biking, no swimming, just rest and ice. Let me tell you, it felt fantastic. My body was refreshed, my mind was sharp, and I was in a good mood for nine days straight. Feeling that good had me itching to get back out to the trails, but I resisted. If my foot didn't heal before I started running again, then I was just wasting time. 

Yesterday I ventured out for a horrific 5 miler, followed by an equally appalling 6 miler today. The foot was a little stiff, which seemed acceptable, but the rest of my body ached like a old man. Its hard to believe how much impact stress running puts on your muscles and how out of shape they can get in a mere nine days. I have a new found respect for beginning runners who must feel like this every day. I've got 15+ years of experience and nine days off makes me hurt, what must it feel like when you've got 15 years of rest and nine days of running?  

Falmouth and Cookies Lost

Falmouth Road Race was this past Sunday and it was a blast, as always. This is the only race in the country where I can run lousy and still have a great trip. The race places the elite athletes with host families, which is unique in my racing experience. It may not be the case for everyone, but I always get the nicest, most hospitable families.

This year I stayed with MaryLou and Andrew Meade, along with Jon Rankin and Christian Hesch. MaryLou and Andrew went out of there way to make us feel right at home. Most of the pre-race down time was spent watching the Olympics and playing with Masai, the half pug, half cocker-spaniel ball of energy. After the race, the Meade's extended family came over for a BBQ and we ate like kings. Jon Rankin had a lot to celebrate after he smoked the field at the Falmouth Mile on Saturday night, running 3:56.4, from the front.

My race was less inspirational. After slipping at the start, I worked hard to catch up to Stephan Haas and Fernando Cabada. They were running a sensible pace and seemed like good guys to work with since the leaders were out way too fast (4:30) for my slow legs. Around 2.5 miles into the race I had just about caught Haas and Cabadass when my head started spinning and my gut did a somersault. Sensing an imminent refund of breakfast, I doubled over at the side of the road and did a heave ho. The results were less than satisfactory so I tried twice more in the next minute or two and cleared out most of what ailed my gut. By this time lots of folks passed me by, including most of elite women and several high school kids. I managed to get going again at a touch under 5:00 pace and felt OK through mile 5. From that point on my gut put up a continuous rebellion but I held strong and finished respectably, albeit well back of the leaders.

Training 8/3/08 - 8/9/08

8/3 - 17 miles

AM: 7 easy, 6x150

PM: 10 easy

8/4 - 11 miles

AM: 7 easy

PM: 4 easy - right foot sore

8/5 - 20 miles

AM: 3x2 miles threshold, 8x200 fast. 9:54 average, 2 min recovery

PM: 6 easy

8/6 - 20 miles

AM: 8 easy, 8x50 hill sprint

PM: 8 moderate progression, no watch.

8/7 - 18 miles

AM: 10 easy

PM: 5x1000 threshold, 5x200 fast, no watch.

8/8 - 5 miles

AM: fly to Boston, drive to Falmouth

PM: 5 easy

8/9 - 7 miles

AM: 7 easy , strides

Total mileage - 98

I'm just not that fit yet, and it shows. On the bright side, my fitness usually changes quickly. Its most noticable in the threshold workouts. I'll be suffering along at 4:55-4:58 pace in workouts for weeks and then it will suddenly drop to 4:47-4:50 pace. When the mileage comes down close to the marathon, that pace will fall to the low 4:40s. It never happens gradually, just one day I check my split at the mile and I know the jump has been made. Weird but predictable.

Training 7/27/08 - 8/2/08

7/27 - 20 miles

AM: 6 easy

PM: 3 easy, 9 mile tempo, 2 easy. 5:16 pace, sore hip and side stitch.

7/28 - 15 miles

AM: 10 easy, 8x50 hill sprint

PM: 5 easy

7/29 - 15 miles

AM: 9 easy

PM: 6 easy, light strides

7/30 - 7 miles

AM: 5x1000 (R 2:30 jog) 2:51 average

PM: no run, right foot sore from workout

7/31 - 15 miles

AM: 5 easy

PM: 10 easy

8/1 - 22 miles

AM: 4 easy, 4x2 mile threshold, 10 easy. 9:54 average, 60:20 for last 10 miles

8/2 - 9 miles

AM: 9 easy

Total Mileage - 103

The tendonitis in my right foot is behaving when I take care of it, now its up to me to be diligent about getting proper therapy everyday. There is so much work to do before my fall marathon. Only someone who know the horrors of a bad marathon can understand the fear of showing up underprepared to a big race. That won't be me.

back in the saddle

Today marks one full week of consistent, fully gravitized, non-cross training. The tendinitis in my right foot reached a breaking point a few weeks ago and I decided to join the YMCA, hit the exercise bike, the elliptical, and any other cross training I could tolerate. My basic approach to cross training is do as little of it as possible and don't hold out hope that I will maintain running fitness. I know what you're thinking, some guys (Meb, Ritz) seem to spend considerable time swimming and biking without losing fitness. My experience couldn't be further from that vision of multi-sport training.

I've tried to emulate my running workouts on the bike or in the pool, often using heart rate monitors to judge my effort level. After a few sessions I end up finding new injuries from biking, or swimming, or aqua running. The crux of the problem (I think) lies in the fact that I, like most runners, have a big, powerful cardiovascular system that needs a lot of stimulus to get a good workout. My leg muscles, while not big, are also powerful and have been specifically developed to handle running workouts. In other words, those two systems (cardiovascular and running muscles) are strong enough to support each other getting a good workout from running.

When I try to ride a bike (or other cross training) for a workout I might use the same leg muscles, but in an entirely different movement. Those muscles are confused, underdeveloped, and weak when it comes to spinning a bike pedal in a circle. Meanwhile, I'm focused on getting my cardiovascular system a good workout so I push my legs to work harder and harder until my heart-rate finally creeps up to respectable level. This might work for one or two sessions, but soon the leg muscles will revolt. Like a freshman on a high school xc team trying to to the workouts of an experienced senior, my legs were doing the bike workout designed for a strong heart and lungs. Everything is out of balance.

I did get to try one cross training method that gets around all this frustration, the Alter-G treadmill. Using an air pressure system to slightly lift the body, it allows you to run on a treadmill at a fraction of your body weight. Running between 75% and 90% of my body weight caused me no pain in my foot and got me a solid, running specific workout. This gets around the cross training problems I mentioned above because you are using running specific muscles, and working the heart and lungs. The folks at Alter-G were nice enough to let me use one of the treadmills at their headquarters in Menlo Park. The only disadvantage I can see is that it took a few days of running on land to readjust to my full body weight. The first run post treadmill was truly miserable as my legs realized I no longer weighed 100 pounds. But, that seems a small price to pay for maintaining some fitness while rehabbing from an injury.

The foot is not 100%, but I did a 9 mile tempo on Sunday and 5x1000 this morning at the track. Next weekend I'm running the Falmouth Road Race as a fitness test and major gut check. Every day the foot improves and should be strong by the time the heavy training begins in September.   

Training 6/22/08 - 6/28/08

6/22 - 23 miles

AM: 23 miles, first 16 hilly but real easy, little quicker last 7

6/23 - 18 miles

AM: 13 easy, w/ 8x50 hill sprints

PM: 5 easy sore right foot

6/24 - 18 miles

AM: 7 easy, feel awful, lots of smoke in the air from fires

PM: 11 easy, right arch really sore

6/25 - 19 miles

AM: 11 easy, foot sucks

PM: 8 easy, 6x 150

6/26 - 11 miles

AM: 11 easy, really smoky air, foot still bad

PM: no run, ART massage on posterior tib tendon in the right foot/lower leg. Much better afterward.

6/27 - 23 miles

AM: 16 easy, foot better

PM: 7 easy, tired, but foot feeling ok

6/28 - 23 miles

AM: 13 easy

PM: 10 easy, sufferfest, but foot felt ok

Total miles - 135

My right foot really bugged me this week. The problem seems to be the posterior tib tendon (not sure if that's the scientific name) that runs inside the tibia and then attaches in the arch area. Ice helps, and so do exercises done with an elastic band, but the ART massage on Thursday really drilled down on the problem. Fast running makes the symptoms worse so I only ran easy this week. On the bright side, running big miles only has a small impact on the symptoms so I loaded up this week for the first time since March. I'd like to max out at 170 - 180 miles per week later in the summer, which would be bigger than the 160 weeks I've done in the past. Every time I've increased the mileage, good results have followed. Lets hope that trend continues.

Mr. Beardsley

The highlight of my weekend at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth was meeting the incomparable Dick Beardsley. Dick was an unstoppable force in American marathon running between 1980 and 1982. He raced often, with as few as 6 weeks between marathons, and fast, with a PR of 2:08:53. He's most famous for battling Alberto Salazar to the line in the "Duel in the Sun" at the 1982 Boston Marathon, but in Duluth they love him for the Grandma's Marathon course record of 2:09:37, set in 1981. Dick told me his watch broke in the middle of that race and he had no idea how fast he was running until the race was nearly over.

After his running career ended, Dick survived several life threatening accidents and a serious addiction to pain medication. He emerged from those hardships with a new lease on life and a desire to pass along his message of hope to people everywhere. Dick started a charity ( www.dickbeardsleyfoundation.org ) to help addicts get clean. He speaks to groups around the country and can often be found at major road races, sharing his story and lining up at the starting line. He still runs very fast and looks fitter than guys half his age. If you ever get the chance to meet the man, or hear him speak, do not pass up the opportunity.

Training 6/15/08 - 6/21/08

6/15 - 12 miles

   AM: 7 easy

   PM: 5 easy w/6x150

6/16 - 16 miles

   AM: 3 x 2mile threshold (9:54, 9:51, 9:38) that's the way I wanna rock n roll

   PM: 3 easy, 5x300 (R300 jog) :46 - :44

6/17 - 10 easy - 6x50 hill sprint - right foot sore from fast stuff yesterday

6/18 - 9 easy

6/19 - Early AM - 5 minute wake up jog, fly to Duluth.

   PM: 4 easy, 5x1000 threshold, 5x200, 1 easy

6/20 - 8 easy with Hansons guys, 6 x hill sprint

6/21 - Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon - 65:51, 4th place

Total Mileage - 84

The race was a little slow for everyone. The head wind seemed to make things unfold at a glacial pace. I promised myself before the race that I'd run conservatively through the 3 mile mark no matter what anyone else did. Starting slowly seemed to be the only way I could get through a successful workout lately, so it sounded smart to apply that to the race. As it turned out, right around mile 2 Fernando Cabadass and Matthew Chesang trotted off into the lead together while I was drifting off into no man's land behind them, but ahead of the chase pack. That no man's land was where I stayed until mile 11 when Mike Reneau passed by and left me for fourth place. It sure would have been easier to run 5 seconds faster on that second mile and be running with Cabada and Chesang rather than fighting the wind by myself for so long. Chesang was the class of the field that day and nobody was going to beat him, but I would have had a better shot at battling Cabada and Reneau if I wasn't so headstrong.