26/2: 2008 New York City Marathon Training Journal

Training plan: updated

Since I'm currently ahead of the original training plan by one week, here the updated plan for my weekend long runs:

Week 1    7/20-7/26        5 mi
Week 2    7/27-8/2        7 mi
Week 3    8/3-8/9        8 mi
Week 4    810-8/16        5 mi
Week 5    8/17-8/23        10 mi
Week 6    8/24-8/30        12 mi
Week 7    8/31-9/6        8 mi
Week 8    9/7-9/13        14 mi
Week 9    9/14-9/20        16 mi
Week 10    9/21-9/27        10 mi
Week 11    9/28010/4        18 mi
Week 12    10/5-10/11        12 mi
Week 13    10/12-10/18        20 mi
Week 14    10/19-10/25        10 mi
Week 15    10/26-11/1        Race (11/2)

This new plan would allow me to take a weekend off between the last two long runs (18 & 20 mi), which I'm sure my legs would be thankful for.  Most marathon training plans recommend taking 3 weeks to taper before the race, but I'm taking chances that 2 weeks would be enough to recover from all the training effort.

Updated 9/6: Increased the distance of the long run during the "off" weeks from 50% of the previous weekend to 66% (ex: 8 mi on week 8 instead of 6 mi)

The second half

Approaching the town of Los Gatos

With this morning's 12-mile run, I've now entered the second half of my training -- which will (hopefully) end with a 20-miler two weeks before the race.  It seems like just yesterday when I was struggling to complete a 5-mile run without shin pain...so I'm really happy that I've made this far without any serious injury/setback.

Today's run was definitely no walk in the park though.  For some reason my right hip-flexor felt tight right from the start, and I was pretty worried when my left ITB started to get pretty sore with two miles to go (just like last Saturday).  I also noticed my cardio system struggling in the final few miles of the run (HR shooting up to 170s ) -- which I'm guessing was due to inadequate fuel during the run.  Fortunately the pain in my legs subsides in the final mile, and I was able to hang in until I was completely spent at the finish.

• Distance: 12.12 mi
• Time: 1:54:53
• Avg speed: 9:29 mi pace
• Avg heart rate: 154 bpm
• Calories burned: 1431 cal

10-miler

I was hoping to have fresh legs going into this weekend's 10-mile run...but just like the last long run that didn't turn out to be the case.  My left shin/calf was sore for good part of the week from playing hoop last weekend -- no doubt because I wasn't used to supporting all my body weight on one leg (i.e. lay-ups) -- so I had to substitute Tuesday morning run with a bike ride instead.  Which meant that by the time I was able to run again (on Thursday) I had skipped my runs for an entire week...and afterward my legs definitely felt the effect of the unscheduled time-off.  In short, I went into my long run this morning already feeling bit worn out.

Despite my legs not being 100% though, they did hold up pretty well for the first 7 miles or so.  I maintained a very easy pace throughout the run -- making sure not to "bounce" off my steps and keep my footstrikes as low as possible to minimize impact to the legs.  It wasn't until the last few miles of the run where my legs started to complain; first the right hip flexor, then the left ITB...and by the end just muscle fatigue/tightness all around.  But I did complete the distance without any sharp pain, and I was glad that my cardio system didn't feel strained at all.

• Distance: 10.11 mi
• Time: 1:38:01
• Avg speed: 9:42 mi pace
• Avg heart rate: 154 bpm
• Calories burned: 1198 cal

Dieting

Having salad for lunch...again 

Elite long-distance runners are all very skinny -- and for obvious reason: lighter weight = more speed.  But there's also another big benefit to having low body weight, which is reduction in injuries.  That's because every foot strike that us runners take results in a force of three to three-and-a-half times our bodyweight...which translates to more than 110 tons of force per mile that our legs must withstand.  So the lighter you weigh, the less you're prone to impact-induced injuries.

Which bring us to today's topic: dieting.  Growing up with hyper-active metabolism, I never really had to watch my weight.  But now that I'm training for a marathon and want to do everything in my power to get to the starting, I figured I should try losing some weight.  My goal is to get down from 150 lbs to 140 -- or at least until my stomach is completely flat. 

My diet plan is pretty simple: make sure to have breakfast (so I won't over-eat rest of the day), have mostly salad for lunch, and eat lower-calorie and/or smaller-portioned dinner.  I've started dieting about a week ago and so far I got down to 148...but I don't know how long I can keep it up.  I'm feeling hungry all the time!  In fact, I just a bowl cereal an hour ago and I'm already starving.  We'll see how long this lasts...

Hoop & wheels

Back on the bike after a month-long break

This weekend was my first planned recovery period -- and I was originally thinking of just going for an easy 5-miler.  But instead I ended up playing basketball on Saturday and going out for a 30-mile ride this morning.  Right now my legs are feeling pretty tight from shooting hoop, so it probably wasn't the best way to spend my "easy" weekend...but it was definitely a nice change of pace from just running miles after miles.

Waking up

I hate waking up early in the morning...and if I had my way, I'd sleep 'til noon everyday.  But I still force myself to run/workout first thing in the morning, because that's the only way I complete them for sure.  I'm not a "morning person" -- just a motivated person. 

Here's one of my favorite Nike commercials that motivates me to set my alarm every night...

Ice bath

Cold as it looks

In the effort to improve recovery after my long runs, I tried an ice bath for the very first time today -- and it wasn't much of a torture as I thought it would be.  It was definitely a shock when I first got in the tub, but I made sure I got used to the cold water first before dumping in 2 bags of ice (14 lbs total)...and after few minutes I got pretty used to it.  The again it was just my lower-body, and I did have a sweatshirt & a beenie on.

But why take an ice bath to begin with?  Well its effective is still up in debate, but there are two claimed benefits.  First, it allows controlled, even constriction around all muscles -- which close up their microscopic damages.  Second, your body reacts to this sudden drop in temperatures by triggering a "blood rush" -- which flushes out the damage-inflicting waste from your system.

Anyhow, I'm noticing anything drastic different yet -- so I guess I'll wait until my next run to see how effective the ice bath really is.

Long, slow effort

It's nothing compared to cycling, but running can still involve quite a bit of gear

I've been experiencing some soreness in my shins all week, so I was worried how they would hold up on the long run this morning.  But to my surprise the run went very well; I was able to cover 8 miles relatively pain-free, and I did so while sustaining avg. HR of 155 bpm!  I'm really stoked about the low HR, because I've been trying to get it down to a level where I would feel comfortable maintaining it for 4 hours.  I was also able to maintain more consistent LSD (long, slow distance) pace than the last long run, which helped minimize the stress to my legs.

Now it's time to put my legs up on a recliner and watch the Olympics...

• Distance: 8.08 mi
• Time: 1:14:56
• Avg speed: 9:17 mi pace
• Avg heart rate: 155 bpm
• Calories burned: 953 cal

First long run

On hidden dirt path of Los Gatos Creek Trail

I've always considered a "long run" to be anything longer than a 10K (6 miles) -- so today's 7-miler was my first official long run of the marathon training.  The run wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but I did feel some soreness in my lower-right calf for the last two miles  -- which I'm hoping was just from inadequate hydration and electrolyte intake. 

What I struggled the most today though was maintaining a slow, relaxed pace.  Since I'm used to running at around 8 min mile pace on my usual runs, I found myself braking to maintain "marathon pace" (9 min mile) -- which I could tell caused unnecessary strains on the shins.  I need to get better at slowing down from the hips and really focus on reducing the running cadence during the long runs.