The top line: This was BEST ORGANIZED OF THE SIX MARATHONS IN WHICH I HAVE RUN
The superb organization of this event is a tribute not only to Dave McGillivray (who is also race director of the Boston Marathon) but also to all the staff and volunteers, the city of West Palm Beach and the 48 corporate sponsors including the Chamber of Commerce.
I live in a town in which city council is apparently not even sufficiently sophisticated or professional to deal competently with selection, procurement and placement of a municipal statue for a public park.
The importance of measured and effective city government in getting things done cannot be overstated.
It had the best local media support of any such event in which I have taken part. For instance, television station WPBF 25 not only gave the usual local sports coverage but also featured an hour-long program on Sunday night completely devoted to the marathon with numerous human-interest stories. This second annual Palm Beach Races had a reported "3500 runners from 42 states and 17 countries" as well as some 700 volunteers and included a full marathon, half-marathon, 5k and a kiddy run. Before I traveled to Palm Beach, I was impressed to receive e-mails that gave me complete information about my registration, location of the pickup site for my packet and the race course -- these instructions were very clearly written and included directions and parking for the runners.
The packet included
a jersey with the marathon logo on it,
the bib with an identifying number that the runner affixes
to his or her shirt
and the chip that one affixes to the toe of one shoe
so that sensors can detect when one actually begins and ends the race.
Naturally, promotional fliers for other races, advertisements and product samples are thrown
into the bag.
In this case, a nifty duffle bag was included
-- I used this as a carry-on for the flight home.
HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN
(5 pawprints = 5 stars)
I will confine the remainder of my remarks to the full 26.2-mile marathon in which I took part. I had understood that the first Palm Beach Marathon 2004 was held in November which is still hurricane season -- from several local sources I heard it was notable for horizontal rain. In contrast, the weather for the December 4, 2005 run was perfect. The run had ample view of the waterfront and I found the environment very pleasing aesthetically. Certainly, municipal support was excellent and properly managed along with decent crowd support. Furthermore, the citizenry seemed friendlier than for some marathons in which I have participated. I have been in runs elsewhere in which I sensed intolerant annoyance from motorists who had to wait for runners at intersections. As I ran past standing traffic, I only saw people smiling or waving or looking encouraging. It was overall a very flat course with the exception of one short climb halfway up a fairly sharply inclined causeway. I enjoyed the 'get-ups' that volunteers had put on at the wacky water stations and the whole run was full of great visual memories.
TO CONCLUDE, I am glad I made the trip and did this marathon. At the time of this writing, it is one week ago that I did this marathon. I loved it. I am glad I did it. Palm Beach deserves to be proud of herself.
DETAILS OF MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THIS MARATHON
PRE-RACE PREPARATIONS My flight arrived in Palm Beach near noon on Saturday. That gave me time to rent a car at the airport
and go downtown to get my packet before the Runners Expo shut down at 3 PM. Once there, one was greeted by
friendly volunteers and led to follow footprints on the floor through the process.
There was a festive atmosphere, especially when one came to the main floor where vendors were set up and
runners were considering purchases of shoes, sunglasses, anti-oxidants, running clothes,
and other miscellaneous products. On the advice of volunteers, I made a 'dry run' down to the waterfront
where the race was to begin the following morning. I got a sense of the 'layout' of the city and headed north
to Stuart to visit my old friend, 84-year-old Kenneth who had originally suggested that I take on this run.
I had shrimp linguine for lunch and later in the evening, an orange, a banana and several English muffins with jam
to 'sugar up' for the ordeal. That evening, I also took about two hours making preparations for the race,
pinning the bib on my jersey, the chip on my shoe, getting my doubled socks right with the gel pad under each heel, etc.
I awoke at 4 AM -- I used two alarm clocks in opposite places in the room to make sure I managed to get up. I spent
the next hour getting dressed, applying spot band-aids to my nipples (so as not to get bloody
sore from a sweaty jersey rubbing my chest), lubricating my torso with Cow Udder cream,
and applying moleskin to the backs of my heels.
Rub burns from clothing can be a particular problem when one takes over 50,000 strides in a 26.2-mile run. The choice of clothing material is critical. I have tried standard men's athletic supporters, but frankly, by about 15 miles that becomes like sandpaper to the insides of my thighs. Subsequently, I tried snug spandex shorts with a short length of coverage to the inner thigh. That worked better than a jock strap but I still had soreness from skin abrasion at times. Several times during my training, I ran in privacy on my treadmill at home wearing only loose boxer shorts. Several times, I just ran naked and discovered that there was no harm in 'running free' like an aborigine -- primitive men ran this way long before the textile industry promoted all these clothing accessories. Up to then, I had been following the invalid concept taught to me in public school gym class (circa 1964-65) that a male absolutely had to have support for athletic activities. The fact is that a man is built to tolerate normal physiologic stresses like running without feeling 'racked' or otherwise 'punished.'
For this run, I wore a pair of soft, loosely fitting, cotton boxer shorts under my running shorts. This worked perfectly and was comfortable the whole distance.
I also took an old dress sock on which I cut off the foot and pulled it over my left upper extremity as an armband --
-- under this I tucked my MP3 player and plugged in the earphones READY TO ROCK. During all this,
I drank hot green tea while ingesting another banana and orange -- later, I wished I had pushed
myself to eat another English muffin for more starch. Finally, I left and made the 30-minute drive back to
Palm Beach. By 5:30 AM, I spotted a parking lot just 3 blocks from the starting line with a sign "Runners Parking" and
I pulled in. I took a few minutes to apply SPF 60 sun block lotion and then followed the flux of runners and
families / friends moving toward the waterfront.
Not to push any particular product, but this may be useful to some.
By the European nature of my skin, I sunburn very easily.
Thus, I am not into tanning. I used a product I had bought from Target called
Hawaiian Tropic Ozone Sport Sunblock 60+ SPF from Tanning Research Labs, Inc. in Daytona Beach, Fl.
This particular sun block is supposed to be non-migrating, sweat proof and waterproof.
For just a short time after running about 2 hours, I did get minor and transient stinging in one eye
as sweat ran down from my brow, but otherwise it gave me no troubles with taste or vision.
Furthermore, the day following the race, I could see no evidence that I had
been out in the sun of Southern Florida from dawn to afternoon. For those who prefer reasonably
unwrinkled skin to leather and basal cell carcinoma, I recommend consideration of this sun block.
Once near the starting gate, the air was electric with anticipation and excitement. Like hundreds of others,
I went through my routines of stretching and warm-up. As the time drew neigh, I found my place among the horde
by the 9-minute mile pace. Though dark, the sky was dressed with mysteriously lightening shades of purple-gray
as ones eye fell toward the eastern horizon. It was that moment just before daylight when anything can be possible.
Finally, it was 6:30 AM, the bullhorn blew and a glorious yell arose spontaneously from hundreds of voices.
Like a long freight train, the herd began to move forward gradually at first, then picking up speed.
After 40 seconds, my place in the line crossed the sensors at the start line and my official time started.
RUNNING THE MARATHON The temperature was about 61 ° F at the start of the run. We began running southward along the Flagler Drive waterfront.
Every moment, the sky changed a bit as daybreak approached. Finally by 7 AM came the dawn with the sun rising across
the waters. Immediately, one could feel the temperature start to rise
-- it felt like it rose into the 70s by 10 AM. After sunrise, it was somewhat humid the entire morning after,
but a mild crosswind off the water provided pleasant relief.
The racecourse had a couple of 'down and back' dead ends with chip sensors at the end to keep everyone honest.
It was during the first such limb that I saw the 31-year-old front-runner, Kenyan Simon Sawe (finishing time 2:18:31) as he ran by a "Wacky Water
Station" and without missing a step, he took the cup in his left hand and spilled what he could into his throat.
Shortly after that, I spotted the leading female runner, 36-year-old Ukrainian Tatiana Belovol (finishing time 2:44:32) -- she had a powerful-looking physique and appeared to be driving herself with utterly grim determination.
Starting at mile 2, there were "WACKY WATER STATIONS" at most
every mile. Each of these were staffed by a few of the over 700 volunteers and most had a comical theme -- my
favorite was the lovely young lady handing out cups of water in a wedding dress portraying the "runaway bride"
-- I nearly asked her if she had brought the ring... The water station that got the most votes from runners won $1000. Now that is a motivator.
First Place went to Water Station at South Olive Park, hosted by South End Neighborhood Assoc. with performances by the "Hula Men Dancers"
I remember the guys with straw dresses in the first half of the race
but exactly where I saw that station is just a blur in my mind at this point
I did not run quite the way I had trained. Rather than run 9 minutes and power walk 1 minute, I tended to stop
only at water stations where I took only about 30 seconds to gulp down a bit of water. Nonetheless,
I lost time in dribs and drabs during the first half of the marathon. For instance, I dissipated
perhaps forty seconds by distraction just after the 8th mile from futzing with my MP3 player
when it turned off after one run through the play list -- however, I really felt better running with an upbeat. As I got into the middle third of the marathon, I noticed a lot of tension in the back of my neck and between my shoulders. I was surprised at this and tried to consciously relax which eventually worked. In the course of the run, I also took 2 TUMS twice (which have a touch of sugar too) as well as stopping momentarily at every water station for a hit of Powerade and H2O.
Earlier on, I had planned to take a packet of energy goop at mile 13.
In fact, I had an old packet with vanilla flavor in one of the pockets of my running shorts
-- I also had my car key safety pinned in one of my pockets. I got the packet out
and started to draw on it, hoping to stave off fatigue from glycogen depletion.
Somehow, I missed the bifurcation where the half-marathoners separated from the full-marathoners.
After all, there was a preponderance of 13.1 milers. I found myself looking at the finish gate
with the clock showing 2 hours 1 minute. I stopped without entering because there appeared no place beyond it
to run. As people ran by me into the gate, I asked one of the volunteers,
"What should I do? Should I cross into the finish gate?" He responded with a simple, "No!"
I looked over and there about 30 yards to the East were runners streaming by, my cohorts for
the full marathon. One of the volunteers came and spoke to me, finally asking me if I were all right. I was
impressed with the question because it showed he was making sure that I was only confused, not delirious. They
got me through one of the barricades, I crossed the median and squeezed through the diagonal bars of the other
barricade and got back where I was supposed to be. I do not blame the race for my mistake on this. I was
simply zoned out on endorphins and exertion and missed a cue or a sign. However, I lost at least 2 minutes
with this mistake.
Once I was properly back on track, I never recovered the momentum with which I had been running. Still, I was
able to pick up my speed from time to time and I felt well. At mile 17, they handed out packets of E-Gel, which
tasted far better than the goop I had brought. Then, just after mile 17, there was a "hill" -- the course
led for about 0.3 miles up the approximately 20° incline of a causeway and then had a turn around. Recalling
the injury to my left heel from running up hills in the Raleigh Marathon, I power walked up the overpass. Even
so, those still running were going little faster than I. On the return, I ran briskly along the down slope. I
was just past 19 miles by 3 hours. Though I realized that I had no hope of doing this in less than four hours, I thought perhaps I could beat my best time, which was 4 hours and 12 minutes in the Chicago Marathon 2001. At 20 miles, a second packet of E-gel was given me at a Water station. I took it but asked the kids if they could simply inject it directly into my legs... After I ingested it, I felt a noticeable uplift for a while as I ran on.
"Hitting the Wall"
I'M GONNA TAKE A RUNNIN' START AND HURL MYSELF AGAINST THE WALL
CAUSE I'D RATHER FEEL BAD THAN NOT FEEL ANYTHING AT ALL..."
The late, great, Warren Zebon
Gradually but progressively, I grew more tired until suddenly at around 23 miles, I was like a car out of gas, sputtering and kicking forward unevenly from cutting on the ignition with battery power.
At 21 or 22 miles, I passed some water station where teenagers were dressed in Superhero costumes. Of these, I asked the Superman kid, "Can I borrow your cape?" He looked momentarily puzzled but it appeared he was about to give it to me. I moved on but turned around and ran backwards to call out, "I need your superpowers!" He had gotten the joke at this point and answered back encouragingly, "You have got them already!"
From that point on, I grew increasingly nauseous and felt like I was falling apart. I recall thinking I was so ready for this to be over -- a feeling I have also had in other marathons once I passed 22 miles. I stopped running for a time and just tried to power-walk. I went on this way for at least 10 minutes until I felt reasonably recovered. It all cost me substantial time. Needless to say, I realized I was not even going to beat my best time of 4 hours 12 minutes from the 2001 Chicago Marathon -- ironically, that was the only other marathon in which I 'hit the wall.'
Once I felt stabilized physiologically, I resumed jogging -- this was around 24 miles. For the rest of the race, I jogged about 9 minutes and then walked one minute by the wristwatch. I focused on the music in my earphones and the scenery for distraction. The city on the water is beautiful but by 10AM, the temperature felt over 70 ° F, which can be a substantial stress in a long distance run.
Returning northward from a "down and back" limb of the course, I noted a lady pass me headed south. She was several miles behind me and 'wasn't looking so good' -- nor was she moving very fast. I thought of a scrub tech named Jason who often works in my operating room. He often plays the 'funny guy' when I am trying to finish up a routine operation by calling out, "You can do it" in a Hispanic accent à la comedian Rob Scheider. Seeing this woman in her struggle, I myself couldn't resist and I called out in an Hispanic accent, "U cane Due eat!." At that, she forced a pained, nearly lobotomized-looking flicker of a smile. It then occurred to me that there in South Florida with my dark mustache, she probably just thought that I was Hispanic and of course, took it as kind encouragement and friendly camaraderie. Of course, it was just that, but so much for inside jokes...
I was still slogging along as I passed the 26-mile marker. Just then as a couple passed me, the man said to the lady, "When you cross the finish line, remember it's not about how you feel, it's about how you look!" Considering this good advice, I sped up at the beginning of the last 0.2 miles. Still, after 26 miles, it appeared to me a long way to the finish. I called out to a volunteer, "Where is the finish?" and he responded, "There under the American Flag under the crane!" I studied the view down the waterfront and sure enough, there up ahead was a gigantic American flag hanging from an 80-foot high boom over the street. There was also an enormous crowd. At that moment, I actually felt good enough that I kicked up a terminal sprint for the last 0.1 mile. As I crossed through the finish gate with Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" playing through my earphones, I heard my name announced over the loudspeaker -- I was relieved to know that it was I that had just crossed... I proceeded forward to a young fellow with a pair of cutters in his hand. He snipped the plastic tie and relieved me of the runner's chip on my right shoe. Several steps further and I came to a little girl to whom I bowed as she put my finisher's medal over my head and around my neck. I smiled to her and said, "Thank you, fair maiden!"
I always travel to these things alone. For the first three marathons in which I participated, I found myself in conversations with other participants and grew to really enjoy the social aspects of marathon running. However, for these last three marathons (Raleigh, Myrtle Beach and Palm Beach), people either ran in groups or were in their own little worlds with earphones on. At any rate, I had run 26.2 miles alone and uttered only about 15 or 20 words along the way. Still, I looked up into the stands and across the crowds to see if I might see anyone I knew. Suddenly, my 84-year-old friend, Kenneth and his girlfriend, Ida came up to me. Since I was over a half hour past my intended arrival time, they were just starting to leave when they heard my name called out. It was a nice change to have someone who knows me present at the finish of such a long run. We hung out together there for a time.
Finish times were posted conveniently in real time as runners completed the race. I soon spotted a small crowd of runners pouring over the race results and made my way there. My time was listed as 4:34:38. This was my 3rd best finishing time for a marathon since year 2000. Still, this was a far cry from the under four hours I had held as a goal but one must accept that the last 10,000 meters of a marathon is absolutely unpredictable. One does as well as one can. Finishing is the thing that counts the most.
Very quickly it was apparent to me that I had to keep walking about. I began to feel faint when I stood talking for more than a minute or two.
In physiology lectures in the second year of medical school, I learned about the "muscle pump" based on valved veins that run through the muscles in the extremities and legs in particular. Deep leg veins can be viewed as serial chambers with a one-way valve at each end. When a muscle contracts intermittently, this chamber is squeezed and the blood contained therein is forced upward into the next higher chamber. Thus, blood is 'pumped' upward against gravity toward the heart. When the muscle relaxes intermittently, more blood is able to refill the chamber. Thus, if one is in a state in which blood return to the heart is fairly critical (as is the case immediately following a 26.2 mile run), then one must keep walking around. If one stands upright with the leg tensed, blood return up the leg will be decreased. In effect, one might have a form of 'orthostatic hypotension' and become faint or actually pass out. So keep on walking for a while after a hard workout.
I walked the three blocks to my parked rental car -- I pulled out the car key that was safety-pinned in the bottom of the pocket of my running shorts and got my daughter's borrowed camera out of the trunk. I returned to the finish area and took numerous pictures.
Unfortunately, the film canister was lost.
I suspect it rolled out of my Marathon duffle bag on the plane home...
Oh well...
Before long, my two elderly friends wanted to leave and go have lunch. I do not know if there was a post race party beyond what I saw going on with expectant crowds and exhausted runners as they arrived at the finish. It appeared that many people left the area once they finished. Since Kenneth and Ida wanted to go, I left as well.
They say a runner should dedicate their run to someone or something. There were several publicly notable causes for which people ran. One was Rita's Blog, the personal Web Page of a runner who according to the announcer at the finish line, raised $75,000 for "The Children's Place at Home Safe". Many runners apparently ran as part of "Team Chester."
Don Chester is the race’s medical director as well as associate administrator of St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Don Chester was also a gentleman athlete. Tragically, Chester was recently paralyzed from the chest down when struck by a car while running on Christmas Eve, 2004, training for an Iron man Triathlon. This occurred just one month after the successful first Palm Beach marathon. The accident severed his spinal cord necessitating intensive therapy and rehabilitation. Gradually, he regained enough strength to move himself about on a motorized wheelchair. Team Chester is large cadre of friends, supporters and runners who focused their efforts to help raise funds to aid in the Don Chester's recovery and rehabilitation.
As for me, I made a silent dedication of my run though I am the only one who knows what that is about. Once we got back to my friend's condo, I quietly and privately contemplated my inner dedication over a ripe, golden pear that I had brought with me to eat after the race for old time's sake. It was succulent and juicy, sensual and sweet as a first kiss.
We traveled up the coastal highway and finally returned to my friend's condo around 2 PM. We stopped for a walk on the beach along the way after lunch -- the only thing I felt interest in eating was salad -- it seemed like it had already been quite a long day. The rest of my trip to Southern Florida was as a vanishing vapor trail across a blue sky. The next afternoon, I returned to my home in North Carolina via a stop over in my favorite old town, Charlotte.
Aside from the idea that some of this information might be helpful to those considering long distance running, the main reason I wrote all this exposition was to document my personal experiment/experience with the a specific, well-defined training program. I write further about my post marathon status below in my assessment of this "First Marathon Training Program" which I tried to follow in training for this run (see below via internal link Conclusion below). However, I will add one remarkable observation here. The Palm Beach Marathon was the first of my six marathons after which I had no significant soreness of muscles, joints, ligaments or bones. It seems that the emphasis on long training runs (such as the four 20-mile runs I did leading up to the race) serves to condition one better for the wear and tear of a 26.2-mile jaunt.
This is a review of the 16-week "FIRST" Marathon Training Program including my experience and performance as I follow this program. Below is a table to summarize the goal and actual outcome of each of my 47 workouts leading up to the December 4th Palm Beach Marathon. Below the table is a running commentary to chronicle each run. In addition, a narrative about my experience with the marathon will be added once I do it.
INTRODUCTION In early July, I signed up for the Palm Beach Marathon at the urging of an old friend who lives in Florida. Though I ran over 100 miles during each month of 2004, I had an injury that kept me from running for the early months of 2005. Finally, July 2005 was the first month of the year in which I was actually able to run over 100 miles again. By the end of July, I was already back into my old routine of 3.3 - 4.3 miles up to 6 times weekly.
In early August as I was having my car serviced, I noticed a Marathon magazine in the waiting room. There was an article that described a training program that required only three runs per week over a 16-week period leading up to a marathon. As I sat there, I wrote detailed notes about the program.
These runs are to be done on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays -- I found it appealing at once that the downtime between workouts allows the runner time to recover. The first run trains for speed, the second for 'tempo' and the third, for distance. The actual distance including repetitions for the shorter runs are generally graduated as indicated in the table below. The recommended pace of each run is based on one's speed in a 10 k (6.2 mile) race.
For instance, for my target speeds, I used a 50-minute time for a 10 k race as my standard. This is equivalent to 12 km/hour or 7.44 miles per hour (mph) that also equals a pace of 8 minutes 4 seconds per mile (8' 4"/mi).
Though I have run 5 marathons in the past, I never actually trained for one beyond just short, routine runs. After thinking it over, I decided to follow this so-called "First Marathon Training Program. As luck would have it, I had exactly enough time to do this program in the 4 months from early August to early December.
Further details regarding the actual experience of this program are chronicled below the following table week by week.
Legend: the week number is in green. The GOAL of each workout is specified and the ACTUAL PERFORMANCE is entered in the adjacent cell -- the performance cell is given a background color of yellow after that workout is completed. At the bottom under the table is more exposition about doing this stuff.
I present this information more for ordinary (working) people like myself who want to keep themselves in good shape rather than for gifted athletes or hotdogs. I believe it is reasonable to state that I do enjoy a hard, sweaty workout and I generally have a good measure of internal drive. However, there are limitations:
I am soon to be 54 years old,
I work in a demanding profession with a moderately stressful job
for 60 or more hours per week,
I have a family with kids
And I have several other personal interests that require significant time.
In other words, I do not have the time to train fanatically. On the other hand, I want to see if this program has any definite impact on this upcoming Palm Beach, Florida Marathon on December 4, 2005. I intend to post the progress of my workouts as they happen and then I will review the marathon after it happens. This way, others with demanding day to day lifestyles might benefit by seeing how this worked for me.
3 x .25 miles & 3 x .5 miles
@ 8.2 mph = 7' 19"/mile
3 miles @ 10k pace
3.3 miles in 25'50" = 7.66 mph = 7' 50"/mile
10 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
10 mi in 92.5 min @ 6.49 mph
= 9' 15"/mile (incl 5' for H2O)
2
4 x 1200 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
4 x .75 miles @ 8.2 mph = 7' 19"/mile
5 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
5.345 miles in 45 min =8'25"/mile
=7.13 mph
12 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
12 miles in 120 minutes with H2O pauses
=10' / mile
=6.0 mph
3
6 x 800 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
6 x 1/2 mile @ 8.2 mph = 7' 19"/mile
7 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
7.3 miles in 70 min =7'54"/mile
=7.59 mph
13 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
13.1 miles in 130 minutes with H2O pauses
=10' / mile agony
=6.0 mph avg
4
3 x 1600 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
3 x 1 mile @ 8.2 mph = 7' 19"/mile
3 miles @ 10k pace
3.1 miles in 24' 30" @ 7.59 mph
= 7' 54"/mile
10 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
10.1 miles in 101 minutes =10' / mile
=6.0 mph avg
run Fri PM 1 day early (8-26-05)
very tired from work
5
10 x 400 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
11 x 0.25 mile @ 8.2 mph = 7' 19"/mile
run 3 days late (9-2-05)
5 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
5.05 miles in 42 minutes @ 7.21 mph
= 8' 19"/mile
run 2 days late (9-3-05)
14 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
13.2 miles in 121 minutes =9' 5" / mile
=6.6 mph avg
run Sun 9-4-05, 1 day late=>caught up
6
5 x 1200 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
5 x 0.75 mile @ 8.2 mph = 7' 19"/mile
5 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
5 miles in 45 minutes @ 6.66 mph
= 9' / mile
run Fri 9-9-05
==>tired from work
15 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
15 miles in 144 minutes =9' 36" / mile
=6.23 mph avg
7
7 x 800 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
7 x 0.5 miles took nearly an hour
walked at 4.5 mph between heats
running @ 8.2 mph = 7' 19" / mile
ran Monday (a day early)
8 miles @ 10k pace plus
30 to 35 sec/mile
5 miles in 43 minutes @ 6.98 mph
= 8'36" / mile
run Wed 9-14-05
mistakenly ran only 5 instead of 8 mi
17 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
17 miles in 170 minutes =10' / mile
=6.00 mph avg
run Thur 9-15-05
between 7 to 10PM
last 4 mi = pure agony
8
3 x 1600 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
3 x 1 mile walked at 4.5 mph between heats
ran @ 8.2 mph = 7' 19" / mile
10 miles @ 10k pace plus
30 to 35 sec/mile
10 miles in 92 minutes @ 6.52 mph
= 9' 12" / mile
ran early after doing 2 surgeries
+ took 3 short H2O breaks
13 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
13.1 miles half a marathon
in 120 minutes =9' 10" / mile
=6.55 mph avg
MY BEST RUN IN
SEVERAL YEARS
9
12 x 400 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
13 x .25 mile heats ran @ 8.2 mph walked 2 min at 4.5 mph between heats
went 5.38 mi in 48 min
workout on Fri 9-30-05
avg speed = 7.23 mph
expended > 600 Cal
3 miles @ 10k pace
3.3 miles in 28 minutes @ 7.07 mph
= 8' 29" / mile
18 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
18 miles run Tues 9-27-05
in 174 minutes =9' 43" / mile
=6.2 mph avg
10
8 x 800 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
2 x 0.5 miles running @ 8.2 mph treadmill burned out!!!
ran 3.3 miles outside
in 27 minutes avg speed = 7.52 mph
overall => 7' 59" / mile
ran Monday (a day early)
8 miles @ 10k pace plus
30 to 35 sec/mile
8 miles in 76 minutes @ 6.3 mph
= 9' 31" / mile
run on Wed Oct 5, 2005
far below target pace
15 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
20 miles ran 20 mi this week
will do 15 next week in 189' 41" =9' 37" / mile
=6.33 mph avg
11
4 x 1600 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
delayed by 5 days
due to schedule conflicts
this run took place
on Sun Oct. 16, 2005
as a 4.3 mile jaunt
in 38 minutes
avg speed = 6.97 mph
8' 36" / mile pace
8 miles @ 10k pace plus
30 to 35 sec/mile
8 miles run Tues 10-11-05 in 69' 41" @ 6.89 mph
= 8' 43" / mile
avg pace
20 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
15 miles run Fri 10-14-05
tired from workweek
(did 20 last week) in 139 minutes =9' 16" / mile
=6.47 mph avg
12
12 x 400 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
run Mon 10-17-05
4.3 mile in 42 min time probably inaccurate
if correct, then it's only
avg speed = 6.14 mph
9' 46" / mile pace
5 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
5 miles run Fri 10-21-05 in 42' 45" @ 7.02 mph
= 8' 33" / mile
avg pace
run without pause
15 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
20 miles run Wed 10-19-05
& will do 20 a 3rd time again next week in 180' = 3 hrs. =9' / mile
=6.67 mph avg
The best 20-mile run of my life!
13
6 x 1200 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
run Sat 10-29-05
0.8 mile x 6 heats avg speed = 7.2 mph
8' 20" / mile pace
5 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
5 miles run Mon 10-24-05 in 45' @ 6.67 mph
= 9' / mile
avg pace
20 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
15.1 miles run Thur 10-27-05 in 133' =8' 48' / mile
=6.81 mph avg
meant to do my 3rd 20 mi run
but had unavoidable interference
maybe next week I can do a 3rd 20 mi run
I have inserted two duplicates (13a and 13b) of training week 13 into this table because otherwise I would have finished training 2 weeks too early.
There is no change however in the final phase of the training program (weeks 14, 15 and 16)
during which there is a relative slow down leading up to the day of the Marathon.
13a
6 x 1200 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
run Fri 11-4-05 0.8 mile x 6 heats with 1 min walks between heats
avg speed = 7.2 mph
8' 20" / mile pace
post run parameters (3 min later):
blood pressure = 129/82 & pulse = 108
5 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
run on Sat 11-5-05 5 miles in < 45 min
just a lope around the neighborhood early Saturday evening.
I have to vary the scheduled sequence of runs to work around my call schedule
20 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
20 miles run Tues 11-1-05
my 3rd 20-mile run in 175' 20" < 3 hrs. =8' 46" / mile
=6.84 mph avg
each 20-mile run goes better!
13b
6 x 1200 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
run Tues 11-8-05 0.8 mile x 6 heats with 1 min walks between heats
avg speed = 7.3 mph
8' 20" / mile pace
it has gotten easier
5 miles @ 10k pace plus
15 to 20 sec/mile
run four days early on Sun 11-6-05 5.25 miles in 45 min
on treadmill without pause
20 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
20 miles run Sun 11-14-05
my 4th 20-mile run in 190+' > 3 hrs. 10 min =9' 30" / mile
=6.32 mph avg
hard, tiring run
& I hit the wall!
14
7 x 800 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
run Tues 11-15-05 0.3 mile x 8 heats with 1 min walks between heats
avg speed = 7.5 mph
8' / mile pace
4 miles @ 10k pace
run Wed 11-16-05 4.1 miles in 35 min
8' 32" / mile
= 7.03 mph
15 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
15.1 miles run Sat 11-19-05 in 132' 41" = 8' 47" / mile
= 6.82 mph avg
This included a 10K race (6.2 miles)
followed by another 8.9 miles run on a
treadmill
15
3 x 1600 meters @ 10k pace minus
40 to 45 sec/mile
run Tues 11-21-05 1.0 mile x 3 heats with 1 min walks between heats
avg speed = 7.3 mph
8' 13" / mile pace
8 miles @ 10k pace plus
30 to 35 sec/mile
run Thanksgiving
Thur 11-23-05 10 miles in 87 min 6 sec
avg speed
8' 43" / mile
= 6.89 mph
10 miles @ 10k pace
+ 60 to 70 sec/mile
run Sat 11-26-05 10 miles in 89 min 40 sec
avg speed
8' 58" / mile
= 6.69 mph
16
30 minutes
EASY with five
60 second sprints
run Tues 11-29-05 1.0 mile x 3 heats with 1 min walks between heats
avg speed = 7.3 mph
8' 13" / mile pace
20 minutes
EASY with 3 to 4 pickups
4.3 miles run Thurs 12-1-05 in 38' = 8' 50" / mile
= 6.79 mph avg
Run the
MARATHON
< 4 hours? not even close... SPLIT TIME
2 hr 1 min / 13.1 miles
FINISHING TIME 4 hr 34'38"
for 26.2 miles Oh well...
Commentaries & Observations About Specific Workouts
"Week I"
August 2, 2005 -- Tuesday Speed run: This was supposed to be eight 400-meter heats. I used a quarter mile which is 400 meters + 7 yards (approximately 7 strides). Due to the heat ( > 90°F outside) and for the convenience of measuring distance, I used the treadmill for this workout. For starters, I ran 3 quarter-mile heats at 8.2 mph. This seemed a bit easy and I felt up for it so I then ran 3 half-mile heats, also at 8.2 mph. Total distance was 2.25 miles which is a full lap (quarter mile) more than the planned distance.
August 4, 2005 -- Thursday Tempo run: This was supposed to be about 3 miles for which I intended at least an 8'4" mile. I ran 3.3 miles in 25'50" at a 7'50" pace which was faster than my standard 8'4" pace for a 10 k race. After finishing, I still felt well.
August 6, 2005 -- Saturday Distance run: This was supposed to be 10 miles for which I intended at most a 9' 14" mile. I managed to reach 10 miles in 92.5 minutes (including walking water breaks) which corresponds to a 9' 15" mile (about 6.49 mph).
For personal training data from the remainder of August, simply refer to the above table. These workouts are never easy after a long, hard day of work. Further, the 3 H's (heat, humidity and hunger) often make getting started and continuing workouts into absolute agony. That's life!
"Week VI"
September 6, 2005 -- Tuesday Speed run: This was supposed to be five 1200-meter heats.
I used three-quarter mile runs, which exceeds 1200 meters slightly.
As with all the "Tuesday Speed runs" thus far, I ran these heats at 8.2 mph.
This was a bit harder than I expected, perhaps because I had been playing 'catch-up' get back on Schedule.
I had run my "Saturday Distance run" of week 4 a day early, Friday, August 26th
(since we were taking my daughter to college in Ohio the next day).
Consequently, I did not have a chance to run again
until the following Friday, September 2nd -- in other words, I went a full week without running at all.
I did the whole 5th week of training on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 2,3 and 4, 2005.
On the Sunday run, I made a mistake, thinking I was to run 13 miles instead of 14 miles --
"close enough for rock & roll;, eh? On the other hand, I felt very good (indicative
of some training effect for the first month of this program) with the speed and 5 mile tempo runs.
Furthermore, for the Sunday 13.2-mile run, I was able to run a bit over 1 hour (7.05 miles)
without stopping even a moment for water.
So, on Tuesday, September 6, I did an early morning surgery and then went home to run on the treadmill
for my speed runs. My main problem was that my thighs were very chaffed from the 13-mile run on Sunday.
I applied moisturizing cream but ultimately solved the problem by noticing that I had complete privacy.
Therefore, except for running shoes I ran naked on the treadmill.
Though I wore no clothes to hold things in place, I did not feel the running was in any way traumatic.
In fact, I was as comfortable as an aborigine within a few minutes.
Further, the chaffed skin was not worsened by this 'break from abrasive cloth clothing'
and should be recovered within a few more days. It was a lot of work to get back on schedule.
Like cramming for a test, allowing more time between training sessions is probably more beneficial
to the body -- best to stay on schedule if possible.
On Thursday, September 8th, I got home after 8 PM and tried to run on empty -- after just 1/2 mile,
I gave it up for the night. Late afternoon, Friday September 9, I did manage to get through a
5-mile run. The temperature outside felt great (for a change) but I was still so tired from a week at work
that I was not able to keep up an improved pace.
Saturday, September 10, 2005, I ran 15 miles. For me, these longer runs are clearly
the most difficult aspect of this program.
During marathons, some people use the strategy of "INTERVAL RESTS": walking
for 1 minute out of every mile -- it is possible to run a marathon in less than four hours this way. Before today,
I had never before used this approach for long distance runs, preferring to simply keep on trotting along
without walk-breaks.
For the Saturday 15-mile 'tempo' run however, I decided to walk (at 4.5 mph) for one minute
out of every ten and run at 6.5 mph for the remaining nine minutes. I used the minute walk to take a few swallows
of water when necessary and the slower pace was just enough for my legs to rest a bit -- I really do not feel winded
running but rather, the body heat and diffusely increasing fatigue eventually get to me. Using this "9 minute run /
1 minute walk" plan,
I sustained my pace better with this 15 miles than I did last Sunday September 4, when I ran a bit over 13 miles
with a few, short water breaks only in the second half of the run.
Once I have run continuously for more than 90 - 100
minutes, I start to feel tired -- once I stop after that point, "rigor mortis" starts to set in quickly.
At this moment, I plan to use a similar approach for my 17-mile run next week.
.
"Week VII"
Monday, September 12, 2005, I ran 7 half-mile heats (total of 3.5 miles).
This was late in the evening (around 9 PM) -- I felt so low on fuel that I got a taste
of honey between several heats for a little boost.
Six minutes after the last heat, my pulse was 104 and my blood pressure was 132 / 84.
Then I ate a spaghetti dinner with cantaloupe and a mixed green salad with a glass of Pinot Noir.
Now I am a day ahead of schedule.
Thursday, September 15, 2005, I ran 17 miles late in the evening between 7 and 10 PM. This was after a long day at work. I was scheduled to take call for the weekend and worried that I would likely get called in to the hospital during any really long runs. Furthermore, I wanted to squeeze one last "event" in while I was still 53 years old. I figured it would be harder if I waited to run 17 miles until after my birthday the next day because I would be a year older by then (this is a bit of a joke if that isn't evident). To make the distance, I ran a routine 4.3-mile loop three times in a row -- that went pretty well. Then I struggled through a final 4.1 miles. I was not able to sleep well after running like that so late. Though my legs felt somewhat exhausted, I felt wide awake.
"Week VIII"
Saturday, September 24, 2005, I ran 13.1 miles on Saturday afternoon after a good night's rest (not on call).
It was the best I have run in several years.
Though I normally do not take in caffeine, I had read that a cup of regular
coffee (with caffeine) prior to a workout helps keep the muscles from getting inflamed --
therefore, I drank a cup of Java with a 200 mg Ibuprofen (non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory) before I began.
I started at 6.8 mph and was surprised at how well
my legs held up as I
approached a 10 k (6.1 miles) distance by 53' 50" -- I continued running at that
speed without stopping for the first 74 minutes, making 7.3 miles at
my first water pause. From that point on, I took just a few pauses, walking
for 1 to 2 minutes at 4.5 mph as I drank water and rested my legs.
When it was over, I had slightly exceeded 13.1 miles in 120 minutes.
I showered quickly in cool water (to lower my core temperature and stop sweating promptly)
since I was already late for a reception to which I had been invited.
Besides the fact that these 13.1 miles were easier for me than I had expected,
I noted that I had neither pain nor much fatigue in my legs. Furthermore,
I felt overall GREAT within a few minutes after I stopped running.
As the training program progresses, the emphasis shifts from short interval heats and tempo runs
to the long distance runs.
It seems that the longer runs condition one into regarding a 10- or a 13-mile run
as something pretty regular.
In the weeks ahead, there are longer runs yet including two 20-mile runs.
I sense that this program has pushed me into
a new zone of fitness and endurance. At this point,
I feel enthusiastic to see how much better these runs will get
over the next 8 weeks.
"Week IX"
Tuesday, September 27, 2005, I ran 18 miles. This was out of the planned sequence of the training schedule. However, I am on-call solid later this week from Thursday through Monday morning straight and I had to get the long run done when I could.
On this Tuesday morning, my Monday night call ended at 7 AM. I ate half a bagel with peanut butter and jelly and then performed a surgery that started at 7:30 AM. As with last Saturday's run, I wanted to try the coffee trick -- therefore, I drank a cup of hospital coffee (with caffeine), after which I left the hospital and arrived home shortly after 10 AM. I took a 200 mg Ibuprofen and within a half-hour, I started running on my treadmill with VH1 and FUSE (music videos) on television. Running at home on the treadmill allows me to respond quickly in the outside chance that I should get called to the hospital or office for any unexpected problem.
As earlier in the program, I used the general strategy of running 9 minutes at 6.6 mph and then walking about 1 minute at 4.5 mph. This punctuates the long run with shorter, more tolerable segments. As such, I was able to keep up this pattern for the whole 18 miles. I spent an actual total of 169 minutes on the treadmill but I added 5 minutes to this to account for a few breaks I took to get more water and such. Twice I put a tablespoon of clover honey in my palm and licked it off for a sugar kick. That alleviated fatigue within seconds -- I figured that corresponds somewhat to taking the 'goop' energy packets during a marathon.
TODAY'S STATS: I ran through 18 miles in a total of 174 minutes (including the extra non-walking water and honey breaks), averaging 6.2 mph (just over 10k / hour) = 9' 43" / mile. My legs held up really well though I noticed I was fairly tired when I was running the very last half-mile.
Last week, I ran 5 miles one morning between morning surgeries and afternoon office hours but had scarcely enough time for lunch after the run -- at that time, I ended up standing in the shower with my back to the water to cool down while I wolfed down a large bowl of cereal.
Today, to save time, I had arranged components of a large bowl of cereal with fruit, berries and nuts just prior to this 18-mile run. However, once I finished, I simply could not eat right away. I ended up 'lunching on' a couple of slices of bread with various stuff on them (e.g., humus, herring and peanut butter/jam), washed down with a glass of milk. After showering, I made it to my office clinic for outpatients by 2 PM -- by that time, I felt absolutely great.
Doing the long run on Tuesday allowed me to make the training program accommodate my work schedule. I should be able to squeeze in a 3-mile tempo run and 12 quarter-mile heats easily enough on Thursday and Saturday despite being on call.
Saturday, October 1, 2005, I ran 3.3 miles in 28 minutes. Usually, my pulse is in the 150-160 range during running.
Out of curiosity, I took my pulse and blood pressure at intervals following this 3.3 mile run. The results are given in the table below.
minutes after completing the run
BLOOD PRESSURE
HEART RATE
5 minutes
149 / 88
105
10 minutes
137 / 88
98
15 minutes
122 / 85
94
20 minutes
127 / 82
82
The rapidity at which cardiovascular parameters such as blood pressure and heart rate return to normal following exertion is an indication of aerobic fitness. As a physician, the above measures are compatible with with my exercise patterns and age. Significantly more impressive numbers would be expected of a highly gifted athlete. On the other hand, most any person with average, normal physiology can achieve fitness similiar to me simply through a life style characterized by responsible nutritional practices and exercise.
You've just "gotta wanna", then you've "gotta do it"
"Week XII"
Monday, October 17, 2005, I ran 4.3 miles straight instead of four separate mile-long heats.
My treadmill was great for running heats because one could set a high pace and monitor progress so nicely. However, my treadmill now shuts off at speeds of 8 mph and above. Therefore, I simply did one of my typical 4+ mile loops. I ran it in at most 42 minutes (which is totally non-stellar) but I may not have gotten the time right. I pushed much harder than 6.14 mph = 9' 46" / mile. At any rate, I got the distance in...
Wednesday, October 19, 2005, I ran 20 miles straight (in precisely 3 hours) instead of 15 miles -- this was my second 20-mile run of the training program. As of today, I am intending to run another 20-miler next week.
I had an open morning for a change -- I had no work demands until the afternoon. Therefore, I had a light breakfast of cereal with a bit of skim milk and two cups of green tea (one of which had caffeine). I also took a 200 mg Ibuprofen during breakfast.
I started running at 8:25 AM and followed a pattern of running for 9 minutes at 7 mph, then walking 1 minute at 4.5 mph. During the minute-walk, I generally took two swallows of water. Once I passed 9 miles, I took two TUMS (Calcium carbonate antacid tablets). After the passing the first 11.25 miles (the first 100 minutes), I did stop running completely three times to get a quick boost by taking a teaspoon of pure honey -- these pauses were shorter than one minute and are included in the total 180 minutes. As I have mentioned before, this is comparable to using the power gels that are passed out along the courses of most marathons after the first 10 miles. As I came to the last four minutes or so of the 20-mile run, I increased my speed to about 7.5 mph. In contrast to earlier long runs, the last four miles were not particularly troublesome.
For this 20-mile run over this 3 hours, my overall average speed was 6.67 mph = 9' / mile. Were this a marathon, I could complete it in under 4 hours I can run the remaining 6.2 miles in less than 1 hour. As I finished this run today, I felt very good. I was able to eat a large bowl of cereal with fruit and nuts immediately after which I showered and drove up near the Virginia border for my afternoon clinic of outpatients. My skin felt a bit chaffed where there was contact with clothing but I had no musculo-skeletal pain or problems. I can tell I am gaining from this program, especially the long runs. Thirteen minutes after completing my 20-mile run, my blood pressure was 97/56 and pulse = 128. I feel sure I could have made it through yet another 10k (6.2 miles) run had I needed to. In fact, this was the best 20 miles I have ever run!
Friday, October 21, 2005, I ran 5 miles without pause in 42 minutes 45 seconds.
As I have stated before, I am generally quite tired by Friday afternoon from work. My Friday workday began with a 7 AM conference, followed by an ear operation that took until noon. Then I joined my colleagues at the City Club to have lunch with a prospective new doctor for our group. I ate a plate of pasta with basil and sun-dried tomatoes to "carb up" for my afternoon workout. After this gathering, I went home and 'chilled out' for a few hours -- the most difficult thing that whole day was simply to get started with this intended 5-mile tempo run. Finally, I got on the treadmill and started it up at 7 mph. Just over 6 years ago, I routinely ran a bit over 8 miles in one hour without stopping -- needless to say, the demands of my work made it impossible for me to devote sufficient time to keep up that level of aerobic conditioning. During today's run, I kept thinking of taking a break for a swallow of water at the end of each mile but I postponed any pause sequentially until I came to the end of the 5-mile distance with a sense of satisfaction.
Ten minutes after the run, I wiped the sweat off my wrist and took my blood pressure = 128/79 with my pulse still at 116. However, I felt very good -- 'high' even. In December 2001, I hurt my heel in the last few hilly miles of the second Raleigh Marathon -- that took a couple of years to recover completely. I have felt fortunate to suffer no injuries at all during this training program. After finishing today's run, I showered and dressed appropriately for a dinner with my colleagues and the visiting doctor. Caesar salad and a salmon entree hit the spot, washed down with two glasses of Pinot Noir.
"Week XIII"
Saturday, October 29, 2005, I decided to try out the elevated indoor track at the new Rocky Mount YMCA for my 6 x 0.75-mile heats. The facility closes at 5 PM so I only ran four heats there.
The track is of ample width and goes for 0.1 mile around the large, open gymnasium. The running surface is composed of a continuous shock-absorptive mat made from recycled tires. The new YMCA in Rocky Mount reminds me of the wonderful "Y" in Matthews, North Carolina. It is a high class set up with loads of work out stations for resistance training and treadmills -- each has a plug-in for earphones and a channel selector to choose which television station or what music one will listen to. There is a higher than two-story climbing wall that will open in early November as well. This is a real sign of life and progress in Rocky Mount, North Carolina!
When I got home, I ran two more heats to finish week 13.
"Week XIIIa"
this has turned into an 18-week training program because I am 2 weeks ahead of schedule.
So basically, I am going to repeat week 13 twice to take up the extra 2 weeks.
On closer examination of the calendar, I have discovered that I have just 3 weeks to go
in this 16-week training program for the Palm Beach Marathon that is 5 weeks away
-- I had not expected that I would be able to keep on schedule nearly so well given the demands of my medical duties.
However, I suppose a genetically based combination of Scottish stubbornness, Germanic self-discipline and
Cherokee perseverance has ruled my adherence to the scheduled challenges of the program.
When I was young, I wondered often about my forefathers. I even used to wish I could see my ancestors.
Sometimes I imagined walking thousands to millions of years down a time line on which,
all those from whom I descended stood so I could look them in the eyes.
All these, from modern humans to hominids
to primates to lemur-like mammals endured random illness, hunger and famine, thirst and drought, and
overcame (or were smart enough to avoid) trauma from accidents, predators and enemies.
Each individual being in your lineage was hardy enough,
and lucky enough that they managed to survive such hardships at least
long enough to mate successfully, spawning a successive generation.
Each of us comes from a long line of survivors.
A unique sequential chain of reproductive couplings leads eventually to each of us.
I wanted to try to understand what they had given me. That fantasy of actually seeing ones forefathers is of course not possible.
However, you can see something about what your ancestors were
made of by pushing yourself mentally and physically and seeing how well you hold up.
You may thereby discover how your mind learns and comes
to understand that which would otherwise remain a mystery.
You may also discover how your body can get stronger and more capable over time
when pushed to the edge repeatedly.
You may even discover something more than you had dreamed about what it is to be human.
I intend to duplicate the 13th week a couple of times (listed in the above table as 13a and 13b)
after which I will wean down to the last three weeks of easier workouts as I near marathon day.
Tuesday, November 1, 2005, I ran 20 miles on a treadmill in 175' 20" (2 hours, 55 min and 20 sec). I started the morning with a small bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee with caffeine. After about 45 minutes I started my workout, following the same pattern as earlier, running 9 minutes at 7.1 mph and then walking about 1 minute at 4.5 mph. During each minute walk, I took two swallows of water -- all told, this was about 58 ounces of water over the 20 miles. At about 10 miles, I took one 200 mg ibuprofen and at 11 miles, 2 TUMS antacids to avoid reflux. I never did take any sugar hits (as with the tsp. of honey for a Zucker surge as I did in earlier runs). As it was, I held up well though I got progressively more tired after 18 miles. The last half-mile was the most difficult. I do not get winded or feel like my heart is beating too fast but my legs just get damned tired. It is in the legs themselves that power and endurance are most important in a marathon Cardiopulmonary function seems something one can almost take for granted -- at six minutes following the workout, my blood pressure was 129/63 and pulse = 135 (ten minutes later, BP = 124/77 and P = 123).
20 miles is a challenging but do-able distance. I did feel tired and glad to be done when I finished. Still, I feel I could have held up for another 10 k (6.2 miles) were I in an actually marathon and intent on burning myself out for weeks to come. Earlier on, I was not interested in eating immediately after finishing running such a long distance. However as soon as I finished today, I fixed a big mixing bowl of cereal with lots of berries, red grapes and walnuts in skim milk -- 20 miles probably corresponds to an energy expenditure on the order of 2200 Calories. I was short on time with an upcoming afternoon clinic so I took the bowl in my shower with me and wolfed it down as warm water ran over my back. After rinsing out the empty bowl, I quickly dental flossed and brushed my teeth in the shower as well, having brought that paraphernalia in with me at the beginning. It was such a pleasure to be under hot running water that I wanted to spend as much time there as possible. I thought back to the farm on which I grew up where we had neither running water nor a hot water heater -- hot water was heated on a wood-burning, pot-bellied stone as needed...
A 10 k run is easy. It is just like running a marathon without the first 20 miles...
This was the third 20-mile run I have done since beginning the program. The program only prescribes two 20-mile runs but it has become clear to me that these very long runs are the most important feature of the training program. Every time I have done a 20-miler, I did significantly better and felt better when I finished. I am probably going to try to do one more 20-mile run next week before I start to follow the tapered-down part of the program as prescribed for the last 3 weeks.
"Week XIIIb"
This week was really juggled. I had to work around both my call schedule and a road trip to take my 17-year-old son to look at a prospective college at the end of the workweek. Therefore, I did the tempo run 4 days early on Sunday November 6, and the heats on Tuesday November 8. Those went well enough. Then came Sunday November 13 on which I had planned to go 20 miles. I did not get started until late afternoon. I used my treadmill while watching music videos. As before, I structured my workout in 10-minute blocks, running at 7.1 mph for 9 minutes and walking at 4.5 mph for 1 minute (during which I took two swallows of water). I did fine until I got past the 14th mile -- the last six miles were progressively taxing. I had to take breaks to take a tablespoon of orange blossom honey and at some point, I realized I was starting to hit the wall. After I passed 16 miles, I began bargaining with myself, agreeing to run just one more mile to 17, then somehow to 18.25 miles. Noting that I had only 1.75 miles to go to my goal, I pushed on and finally finished. I took a shower and ate dinner though my jaws felt nearly too tired to chew my food. However, I felt terrible with a pervasive malaise that did not resolve until the next morning. After the run, I felt on the edge of muscle cramps, mostly in my legs. I weighed nearly 3 pounds less despite having drunk about 64 ounces of water.
So I had an 'off-day' but why? I feel sure that my electrolyte balance was askew, perhaps from the volume of water I drank and the amount of sweat that I lost. However, I thought back to what I had eaten the previous day. I had eaten breakfast at a hotel consisting of a small bowl of cereal, a bit of orange and apple juice, and an English muffin. The only substantial meal was later in Raleigh at a restaurant called "Cherry Tomatoes" -- there I had mountains of green leafy salads and vegetables, along with a bowl of vegetable soup with some cottage cheese and a few small pieces of bread. My diet for Saturday was overall quite low in carbohydrates.
When I compare this meal to how I was eating just prior to my very successful 3rd 20-mile run, an important difference emerges. For over a week before my last long run, I was eating about 4-5 candy bars nightly, (mostly Heath Bars, Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut M&Ms, Butterfingers and Snickers) from stores of Halloween candy. It seems reasonable to assume that the glycogen stores in my liver and muscle were near optimal from all that junk food. Ironically, it seems to have given me more reserve for the long run than the very healthy, highly vegetarian and low starch meal I had eaten on Saturday, one day before this fourth and last tortuous 20-mile run.
The "take-home lesson" playing in my head is the voice of one of my physiology professors in medical school some 30 years ago. There was a fascinating lecture on "EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY" which he related closely to "FASTING PHYSIOLOGY" in endurance events.
One must have glycogen stores full up or you will crash into "the wall" before you reach even 20 miles.
Therefore, in preparation for the December 4th Palm Beach Marathon, I am going to follow his advice and eat mountains of pasta for days in advance of the race. I might even throw in a few candy bars at the end.
I had thought of trying to drop perhaps 5 pounds to 'lighten my load' for the race, but I do not seem to have much fat to lose and my lean muscle mass has probably been increasing with the long runs. One must suspect that losing 'dead weight' (adipose stores) might benefit long distance performance, however, trading off "larger engines" (increased muscle mass) for less body mass would seem a wash...
So now I have completed the two extra inserted weeks (13a and 13b). From here I will proceed with the last three weeks (14, 15 and 16) of the training program.
"Week XIV" -- actually, this was week #16 since I extended this program by 2 weeks
The short 'heats' and tempo run for this week were short and relatively easy. On Saturday November 19, 2005, the program called for 15 miles -- the last 'really long run' for the whole training scheme. Earlier on, I had signed up for the 10,000 meter "Turkey Trot" on November 19th at Hornbeam Park, Rocky Mount, NC.
Since I was on call, there was a good chance my running would be interrupted. As it happened, I was called to the emergency room at 6:30 AM Saturday morning for an airway crisis. After that was successfully managed, I discharged two patients and pulled a surgical drain on another. That left just enough time to head by home and change into running duds. I made it to Hornbeam Park just in time to start the race at 10 AM.
It took me 53' 41" to run the 10,000 meters (6.2 miles at an average of 6.93 mph) during which I walked very transiently just twice at water stations. I did not need to drink much since the temperature was in the low 40s initially. After that, I went home and ran on my treadmill for another 8.9 miles to 'log in' a total of 15.1 miles
The total time required was 132' 41" (equivalent to an average speed
of 6.82 mph = 8'47" / mile over 15 miles) for this last long run before the December 4th marathon.
I must say, it seemed to require far less of me than the first 15 miler on September 10th.
"Week XV"
Following two short surgical procedures on Tuesday morning, November 21st, I ran 3 one-mile heats at an easy pace of 7.3 mph (8 minutes and 13 seconds per mile). There was plenty of time to eat and return back to work for my afternoon clinic.
As of 7 AM on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 24th, I was on holiday. I was no longer on call for the practice and the hospital and I lounged in bed far longer than usual. I intended to run early so I never ate breakfast but had only two cups of green tea. After playing guitar for a few hours, I started running on the treadmill. Though I was slated to do 8 miles, I felt very good and decided early on to go for 10 miles instead. Several times I slowed to a brisk walk of 30 - 45 seconds to take a drink of water. All told, I drank 24 ounces of water over the next 87 minutes and six seconds that was required to attain a distance of 10 miles. I had no problems whatsoever from not having taken in any calories so far that day. Perhaps being well rested was an important positive factor in how well this run went. Ten minutes after the run, my pulse was 119 and blood pressure = 105 / 69. I repeated this some 20 minutes after the run at which time Pulse = 106 and BP = 108 / 68. Despite taking in some 24 ounces of water during the run, my weight dropped two pounds to 160 pounds due to water loss (principally sweat) during the workout.
In 1998, when I was 46 years old, I ran 10 miles for the first time in three decades. It took me a bit over 1 1/2 hours. I recall a woman commenting with her apparent interpretation that I was trying to kill myself. However, I remember enjoying the inner processes that make possible that kind of endurance. It would be AT LEAST as good a way to die as any other...
Late on Saturday afternoon, November 26, 2005, I did my last "distance" run of 10 miles prior to the marathon. It was nearly exactly like the "tempo" run of Thanksgiving Day except that I had about 2 minutes of unavoidable interruptions during my run that I included in the overall time. I had gotten up quite early this morning but did not eat until quite late. Then I had uncharacteristically fallen asleep during the daytime after a very late 'breakfast' consisting of a big bowl of oatmeal with walnuts, various berries and red grapes -- I had to really force myself to get started after awakening so relaxed. Nonetheless, running 10 miles feels pretty unremarkable at this point. Except for a couple of light runs during the coming week, the training now is really over. At 6:30 AM a week from tomorrow morning the Palm Beach Marathon will commence.
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"Week XVI" -- actually, week 18 in my training program...
This is the last week of the training program, culminating in a 26.2 mile run on Sunday morning,
December 4th. I did not follow the prescribed runs for this week precisely. However, I did just three easy 1-mile
heats on Tuesday and a 4.3-mile jog on Thursday in keeping with the spirit of the very light runs called for
in the scheme for this last week.
Following my Thursday evening run, I sautéed chopped vegetables in first cold-pressed, extra-virgin
olive oil -- this included several green peppers, a bunch of green onions, eight cloves of fresh garlic
and two pieces of celery. To this I
added oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary and a dash of cilantro. I poured a whole jar of organic portabella pasta sauce
over this bed of veggies and added a bit of red wine.
I made several meals worth of starchy thin spaghetti (not whole wheat) and served myself a large plate of this
pasta with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the sauce. Thus began my "pursuit of carbs" to get my glycogen stores
up for the race.
So I will not run again until Sunday morning. However, Friday evening I'm going out dancing with whomever might dance
with me at the Nash Hospital Operating Room Party with music to a live band -- a little cross-training.
On Saturday morning, I fly to Palm Beach.
I am carefully considering all the little details of this run, which begins at 6:30 AM. I checked the weather on
the Internet and at
7AM Sunday morning, the weather projections are for a temperature of 62 °F with 95% humidity, party cloudy
(40% cloud cover) and a 7 mph SE wind.
I am also planning for some running music. In the past, I have always run on music I played in my
head. However, as I tired in the later miles of previous marathons, I often found myself running down on "sad ass"
songs that dwelled on unrequited emotions. My pal and colleague, audiologist, David Floyd often rides
with me to a clinic up near Virginia in my car and we always compare notes on good music and recording artists.
To my surprise, he gave me a little mp3 player to use during the race.
He must have perceived how difficult it is for me to spend money on myself --
I was seriously inculcated by children of hardship (my parents)
with the hard luck lessons of the Great Depression of 1929.
I now have my play list worked out and this year, no 'sad ass' songs!
Playlist for my new MP3 player for the Marathon
AC DC
Hard as a Rock
AC DC
You Shook Me All Night Long
New Radicals
You Get What You Give
Sophie B. Hawkins
Damn I wish I was Your Lover
Annie Lennox
Walking on Broken Glass
Rolling Stones
Start Me Up
Paul McCartney
Maybe I'm Amazed
Beatles
I've Got a Feeling
Led Zeppelin
What Is and What Should Never Be
Beatles
Tell Me Why (from Hard Day's Night)
Beach Boys
Good Vibrations
Jerry Lee Lewis
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
James Brown
I've Got Money (and now I need love!)
James Brown
Please, Please, Please
INXS
What You Need
INXS
New Sensation
Joe Cocker
A Little Help From My Friends
Fine Young Cannibals
She Drives Me Crazy
Elvis Presley
Suspicious Minds
Electric Light Orchestra
Hold On Tight (to your dreams)
Personally, I'm trying...
Diamond Rio
Unbelievable
David Wilcox
Eye of the Hurricane
Charlie Pride
High On a Mountain of Love
Bruce Springsteen
Hungry Heart
AC DC
Back in Black
Bobby Darin
Mack the Knife
Georgia Satellites
Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Del Vikings
Come Go With Me
Hall & Oates
You Make My Dreams Come True
Hall & Oates
Your Kiss Is On My List
Chuck Berry
Maybelline
John Lee Hooker
Boom Boom Boom Boom
JS Bach
Allegro from Brandenburg Concerto No 5
Despite my affinity for the modern, there is a predominance of older tunes on the list.
From the current stuff, it is just not that easy to find power chords to a good running beat in a song
with a real melody. For a good laugh, I thought of starting it off with Afro Man's "Then I Got High"
(e.g., I was gonna run a marathon, but then I got high...)
-- however, that song just does not really inspire greater motivation to run hard.
Generally, I tried to exceed the plan to some degree for each workout. Given the
restraints of my personal time and my biological limits, I have done the best I can. For anyone reading this
who might consider trying a marathon, all this narrative above might give you a realistic idea of what it takes to
get ready for a decent go at a 26.2 mile run. I hope it proves helpful and encouraging if not a bit berserk.
Definitionberserk (noun) an ancient Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle (by 'sacred mushrooms'
that were ingested before he jumped off the boat) and held to be invulnerable [Old Norse berserker from
bjorn "bear" + serker "shirt"]
How the FIRST MARATHON TRAINING PROGRAM worked out for me
I gained a great deal of experience and insight from following this training program. As it happened, I did NOT cut 12+ minutes off the finishing time of 4 hours 12 minutes (Chicago Marathon 2001) to run 26.2 miles in under 4 hours. However, my chip time was 4 hours 34 minutes and 38 seconds, which was my third best finishing time for the six marathons in which I have run and the best I have done since November 2001. I held up well for the first 20 miles though I fell about 10 minutes behind my intended pace by 3 hours into the marathon -- at that time I had just passed 19 miles. This was not far different from 3 of the four times I ran 20 miles in the training program.
In reality, I could only have hoped to do this marathon in less than 4 hours
if I were able to repeat my one best 20-mile training run.
My pace fell off the edge in the last 3 miles after I "hit the wall." One cannot train for the last 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) of a marathon.
Once you pass 20 miles, you start to break down muscle to make sugars with which to maintain the intermediate biomolecules in the Krebs cycle which then can burn mobilized fat (triglycerides and fatty acids) for energy. If you train routinely by running more than 20 miles, you will break down muscle metabolically which degrades the engine with which you move your legs...
In that last 6.2 miles, the so-called 'second run' in a marathon, the average athlete enters the unknown frontier of his or her own physiologic limitations. Herein is one of the most exciting things about the adventure of marathon running – the adventure of ‘what’s it going to be?’
So it would appear that the First Marathon Training Program did get me in better aerobic condition than I have been in since 2001. Further, I recovered quite quickly, not only from 'hitting the wall' by shifting to a 'power walk' in the 23rd mile but also, after completion of the race. The speed of my recovery was to my perception the fastest of any run in which I have participated.
The most striking thing about my experience with running 26.2 miles after participating in the First Marathon Training Program for 18 weeks was the enhanced durability of my connective tissues. In previous marathons, I was very sore and stiff for nearly a week following the run. In fact, following the Raleigh Marathon in 2001, the back of my left heel was sharply painful for about 14 months. With this marathon, I had negligible soreness of my calves for about a day and just a minor such 'twinge' in the quadriceps (muscles in the front of the thighs). This degree of muscle soreness was totally unremarkable to me. Otherwise, I had absolutely no orthopedic problems. By two days after the marathon, I was pain free and further, felt the urge to run again. However, common sense urges me to give it a bit more time... Clearly, the long runs of this program especially improve aerobic conditioning and endurance, but I did not expect that it would strengthen my 54-year-old frame so nicely. After 6 weeks into the program, it seemed to me that all biological functions of my body had improved. I was surprised that I felt like I was gradually de-aging -- becoming a young coyote again.
In conclusion, I am totally convinced that the program was effective in improving my performance as well as my overall fitness and health. For anyone who has no medical contraindications, this training program might be just the ticket to pushing your performance to a new level.
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