We talk all things Chicago Marathon, including what you need to know before, during and after the race. We then discuss the London Marathon elite winners and what’s next for the great Kenenisa Bekele. Will we see a Bekele-Kipchoge duel on American soil in Boston?
We take a look at the upcoming London Marathon and what you can expect as a regular runner. We also look at the elite fields in the race and who will win. Plus, an analysis into Eliud Kipchoge’s world record race in Berlin and whether he will run the Boston Marathon next April.
We’re back from Summer break. Hopefully, everybody’s training has been going well. The Berlin Marathon is Sunday, September 25th. I have a preview of what us regular runners can expect and why this is a great course for a PR. I end with a breakdown of two record holders looking to add to their already impressive results.
We’re already at episode 8. The year is just moving along. I get into how running in hot weather can actually help make you a better runner. However, you have to be smart about it. Summer can be a boring period between major marathon races. I have some ideas on how to keep training from getting dull the next few months.
The 2022 Boston Marathon is done! What a great experience. I share my time at the race, my results and assessment of my performance. I explore the elite performances on the men’s and women’s sides as well as taking time off after the marathon and enjoying it.
A shorter podcast focusing on the Boston Marathon. Big news from the elite field as Kenenisa Bekele is out. Sarah Hall is out too. Three new additions on the men’s side promise to make for a competitive and thrilling race. I get into the energy and atmosphere of the Boston Marathon then dive into expectations for myself and course strategy.
We start with Boston Marathon training, a good half marathon race, a bad 10k race and what can be learned when you don’t run as well as you would’ve liked. We get into the Boston Marathon race itself, the course and what you should and shouldn’t do. We end with our commitment to running and how we sometimes find all kinds of ways to run, including waking up WAY too early.
I get right into tempo runs and why they’re important if you want to run your best race. The Boston Marathon elite fields for the men and women could be the best ever. I focus on six women and six men to keep an eye on. I also explain why I don’t like strollers during races and how two stroller racers were nothing but showboaters and disrespectful.
As you probably noticed, I have not posted at all for several months now after my London Marathon race in late April that didn’t go as planned. There are a few reasons why that are related.
First, I didn’t run all that much after the race. I wanted to recover and heal from the training and those nagging injuries that plagued me like shin splints, some kind of hip flexor/groin strain and overall wear-and-tear on my body. Training for a marathon is grueling and taxing physically and mentally. I don’t think I was very smart with injury-prevention practices, especially since I’m getting older.
Second, I developed a nagging calf strain–again mostly through my own stubbornness and neglect in taking injury-prevention seriously. What happened was that I started to run again and took things slowly as far as mileage and pacing. I ran easy but developed a pain in my right calf. I just figured it for run-of-the-mill soreness that usually isn’t a big deal. I was running one day in July when I felt a sensation in my calf that went up to the back of the knee and lower hamstring. I stopped and rested for a couple of days. I tried to run again but the calf was still sore so I stopped and decided to wait until the soreness subsided. I tried to run again about a week later in late July. During a warm up, I heard a little “pop” in my calf. I then felt some discomfort. I immediately stopped. I instantly became worried that I did something serious. Fortunately, the pain was never that bad. There was no swelling and no major pain when walking. However, there was still a sensation that told me the calf wasn’t well. It wasn’t pain. I can only describe it as a signal indicating the muscle is weak and not to be used for strenuous activity.
I rested again for two weeks and ran for three days in mid-August when the sensation decreased some. I ran no more than 1.5 miles. I decided that my calf still wasn’t quite right. I stopped and decided to aqua jog at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. It was also recommended to me by my mother that I stretch more and learn yoga techniques. I’ve always done some form of stretching before runs and sometimes after but never as seriously as I should have. Since I’m now 40 my body isn’t as sturdy. It needs more maintenance and work to stay healthy. I think I took my general good health and lack of significant injuries for granted and never thought it would happen to me. But it has. Now is the time to get serious about injury prevention if I want to keep running the way I have been.
Fortunately, I’ve had a tool at my disposal for a few years now that I haven’t used as much as I should have. It’s a book called Healthy Running Step by Step by Santa Monica-based physical therapist Robert Forster. He’s only trained numerous Olympians and high-level athletes like Jackie-Joyner Kersee and Kobe Bryant. I had the pleasure of interviewing him a couple times. Forster is a major proponent of static stretching. That’s when you hold a position to stretch such as reaching down to touch your toes and holding it for 10 to 15 seconds. Forster believes keeping the muscles loose prevents strains and other nagging injuries. In the book, there are roughly 20 stretches to do that work muscles from the calf to the neck. I decided I need to follow this routine daily if I want to continue marathon running. Along with aqua jogging, I would do this routine. It takes anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes to complete but I can feel the difference after four weeks. I’ve been stretching muscles I never have before and now my legs feel a bit lighter and even a little stronger!
After four weeks of aqua jogging, walking to and from the pool and no calf sensation anymore, I decided to run again. I’m starting back up slowly. I ran two miles yesterday and two miles today. I felt good…much better than expected. I’ve lost some conditioning which I’ll get back but there’s no calf sensation or pain. My calf feels pretty good though I’m still a little nervous. I’m wearing calf compression sleeves too to try to help reduce the chance of a strain or cramp. I think this time I can get back into it without any setbacks. I’m doing the full body stretches before the run and stretching some after too. Let’s hope it works.
It was these setbacks that really discouraged me and got me down which hurt my motivation. This is the final reason for the lack of posts. Being injured and not being able to train or compete is highly frustrating. Bad thoughts go through the head like wondering if I’ll be able to run at the highest level which I can attain and wondering if the thrill of finishing a big race will ever be there again. I think it’s natural to get down and have these thoughts. The important thing is to be patient. I’m learning that it will pass and races will always be there for us. I decided I needed to take some steps to slowly get back to normal through stretching and aqua jogging. We’ll see how this comeback goes. I’m determined to see it through. I hope you are too if you’re also struggling with an injury.
Running With You,
Donald
P.S. Big news coming on the 6-Star front. Stay tuned!
NOTE: For those of you interested in donating to the charity I’m running for in London please click on this LINK.
Due to what was a hectic and busy week outside of running, I was unable to post with a daily journal entry. Instead of combining all six days of training, I’ll just sum everything up in a week-in-review and we’ll see how it goes.
Total Miles: 61.7
The mileage total was about what I wanted heading into the last hard phase of training. My goal is to do at least four consecutive weeks of 60 to 70 miles. If I can, I’d like to go over 70 two of these weeks but we’ll see how things shape up.
The week started with an 8.5 mile run that was fine and uneventful. My long run was the 20-miler. I plan to do four of these 20-milers before the big race and this was the first. I ran at night due to my schedule. I always seem to run slower at night. Maybe it’s my subconscious slowing me down because of the lack of vision of the road…I don’t know. I took it easy anyway. The weather was nice and cool and I finished the run with no real problems. Yes, I was worn out as I always am after a 20-miler but I didn’t feel completely exhausted.
I ran my 6-mile recovery run the next day at night and completed the run but the time was slower than what the effort felt. I wanted to take the run easy and I did time-wise and effort-wise but it still felt slower than my perceived effort. What does this mean? It probably just means I’m a little fatigued.
Due to work scheduling, I woke up at 4am the next day, to attempt a tempo run of between 8.5 and 9 miles. I knew this would be hard and I was dreading such a long and busy day anyway since I wouldn’t be home from 7:15am until 10pm. I already convinced myself this day would be no fun for me. Clearly, not a good way to start the day with that type of thinking. I started my run just before 5am. It was dark and I’d knew my time would be slower than what I hoped. I told myself it’s ok as long as the effort is strong. Sure enough, the first mile was 6:50 which is slower than a typical tempo run. The second mile was mostly downhill so it was faster.
When I hit mile four, I started to feel fatigue. My legs started to hurt more and I had a nervous sensation in my chest. It wasn’t connected to my heart rate as that was normal but I felt anxious. I also developed a headache. I think that was due to possible dehydration because I didn’t drink a lot of water the previous day or after my long run. At the 4.75-mile mark I stopped. I simply ran out of gas. My legs didn’t want to continue. I rested for a minute or so but was determined to finish the run. I continued but kept stopping every quarter-mile to half-mile. I would rest about a minute then continue again. It was a struggle. Running uphill felt like the hardest thing in the world. I never felt this way before during any run. I have stopped in the middle of a run and I have felt bad but not like this. I stubbornly ran/stopped/ran/stopped until finishing a little over eight miles. Finishing those final three-plus miles was pointless and did nothing to help me other than add to my mileage total. I couldn’t even run them hard. I think dehydration was a factor as was lack of sleep, proper eating and stress/anxiety. Not only was I physically unprepared to run long and fast but I wasn’t mentally ready either. I made sure I drank lots of water the rest of the day and ate. I also told myself one bad run is no big deal and I’ll bounce back.
I did bounce back. I ran in the early evening the next day which gave my legs about 36 hours of recovery. It helped when I ran my 12-mile semi-long run. The run was fine. I felt good and my legs didn’t feel worn out. I felt better mentally too as I knew I had a day off the next day which would give me a chance to sleep-in and focus just on running.
The week ended with a descending/ascending interval workout. I ran four sets of 1-mile-800 meters-400 meters which totaled nearly 7 miles. I gave myself about two minutes to 2:15 of recovery between each rep. This workout teaches the body to adjust to different paces since I run each distance at a different pace. In races, you need to be able to pick up the pace or slow down sometimes. If you practice doing that, it becomes easier to manage in a race. This workout was the best interval workout I’ve had since training for the Berlin Marathon. My times were better than I thought and my legs held up well. This workout gave me additional confidence heading into the next three difficult weeks of training.
I started the week off well, finishing a 20-miler with no major struggle, followed by a disaster of a tempo run that may have been my worst ever. I then recovered and had a very good interval workout two days later. The body and mind are quick with the recovery. The mind is quick if you tell yourself it’s ok to have a bad day as long as you know why you had it and learn from it.
Let’s move on to Week #13.
Running With You,
Donald
Confessions of a runner 