Kicking My Bootie

THIS is tapering???? says Terzah the Tortoise. :^)

I may be tapering, but today you could have fooled me.

My alarm woke me at 4:30 so I could get to the gym when it opened at 5 for my Tuesday speed workout.

This was only the third time this entire cycle (including the lead-up to the Detroit half-marathon) that I've gotten on a treadmill. The weather has been amazing, warm and calm and clear. It's been fantastic to train outside so late in the year. But today marked the second week I've done the Tuesday workout on the treadmill. I typically have to get up earlier on Tuesday than any other day. I like running in the dark, but only when I can let my mind wander and the miles flow by at a comfortable pace.

And Tuesday paces.....aren't comfortable. Darren's had me doing increasingly faster-paced workouts--and it was getting hard (by myself, in the dark, groping to light up the Garmin to see my heart rate and pace) to push my legs to the point where the heart rate stayed above 170 or higher as long as he had asked. So I asked him if I could do these inside, and he said yes, provided I keep the incline at 1%.

Here's what he had me doing between 5:30 and 6:45 a.m. today:

After a warm-up and some strides:
2 miles at HR 160-165 (two min active rest)
then 3 x 1/2 mile at HR 170-175 (two min active rest after each)
then another 2 miles at HR 160-165 (two min active rest)
then 3 x 1/2 mile at HR 170-175

This is how that translated into pace:
1st 2 mile--paces between 8:00-and 8:47
1/2 mile--6:58-7:30 pace
1/2 mile--7:05--7:30 pace
1/2 mile--7:05-7:30 pace
2nd 2 mile (the disappointing one; legs felt like rubber)--huge range between 8:27 and 9:30; I was able to ramp back down to 8:47 in the 2nd mile and still keep HR at or under 165, but just barely
1/2 mile--6:58--7:24
1/2 mile--6:58--7:24
1/2 mile--6:53 (!)--7:12 (happy with these; not sure why they stayed fast when the 2 mile preceding them was so slow, but I'll take it)

The total with the warm-up and cool-down came to about 9 miles. I was proud of myself...and pretty much ready to crawl back into bed.

BUT it was time to meet Colleen for the last of our four pre-California International Marathon weight sessions.

Another blogger with a hamstring issue emailed me last week to ask what Colleen is having me do to keep my own occasional right-hammy flare-up under control, so I thought I'd share that here. The answer is: a lot of hamstring-strengthening exercises and a lot of glute exercises. And by "a lot" I mean A LOT more than I've ever done before.

Today, for example, we did hamstring curls on a special bench designed for that purpose, raising the weight with two legs, then lowering it with one. We also did two sets of hamstring curls on a Swiss ball (with a small weighted ball between my knees to bring my adductors into the game). We also did balancing lunges with my back leg dangling from a rope loop. We also did bridges and clam shells for the glutes, and side walking with my ankles bound up in one of those rubber band ropes. There were also upper-body exercises and calf strengtheners.

Between all of those, we did LOTS of core--side planks, crunches on and off the ball, curl-ups on an angled bench...You've probably done or at least seen most of what we do. It's just that with Colleen, I do much more of it.

Finally, throughout the workout (not just at the end), we stretch, especially those hamstrings (though we do it gently).

Colleen has had hamstring issues a lot of her career, too, and she said that whenever she slacks off the hamstring exercises her issues return. When her hamstring is sore, she says, she eases into the work, maybe lifting only ten pounds with the "bad" side--but weight training is part of what she does. Always.

That's a good lesson for me. I've always found weight training dull, and even when I've been faithful about it, I've never trained as hard as I have with Colleen. It's been an eye opener.

So after getting my bootie kicked twice, first by a world-class coach and then by a world-class runner (who is a fantastic personal trainer; I recommend her to all my Colorado running friends), I went to the dentist, squeezed in an hour nap....and then went to work.

Taper ain't never been like this before!

Four Weeks Out

Here's another bullet-point post, covering some of the things I'm worried about or at least conscious of as this short marathon training cycle goes on:

The Garmin: Thank you guys so much for the feedback about my rebellious watch. After writing that post, I tried a few things. Washing the strap didn't fix the problem (though I do intend to be more faithful about washing it now; Garmin recommends it after every 7 uses, so that's what I'll be doing). When that didn't work, I restored factory settings on the watch itself. That might have helped.

But my new pet theory is that I am wearing two layers on my top half on these chilly mornings now, which means the heart-rate strap is buried not only under my bra and a thin shirt as usual, but also under a jacket made of tech material, and a much thicker material at that. So the past two mornings I've worn a much lighter jacket made of a softer material. And the watch has worked just fine after the known first five minutes of ups and downs before I start to sweat.

The past couple of mornings, while not balmy, haven't been as cold as what I know is going to be thrown at us at other points of the winter. I'm not sure how I'll deal with this when I *have* to wear a heavier jacket. I guess that will be the real test of this theory.

One interesting suggestion (from my awesome techie father-in-law): buy the gel doctors use for EKGs. My husband Dan laughed when he heard his dad had recommended this....but if I may just do it. I mean, if one is heart-rate training, one needs to be able to see their heart rate semi-accurately.

My Hamstring: It's better! But I think I'm going to have to be VERY careful with it with the volume I'm going to be doing coming up. That means massage and/or chiropractic work whenever I can (and whenever I can afford it; definitely the week before the race) and compression shorts on all hard and long runs.

Sleep: I've initiated Project 8:30. This is not only the pace I'll need to run in the race, but also the time I think I need to be in bed most nights this month. It won't work on Tuesdays (my late night at work), and I don't expect I'll turn the light out that early every night. But some nights I will. And on the others....9 p.m. is a nice hour for lights-out. This doesn't make for much of a social life, but I can make up for that in December after the race.

My Weight: No concerns here--it's where it should be at 127.5 this morning. For now, my crazy cravings have abated, and I successfully avoided eating any unauthorized Halloween candy (notice that I didn't say "any Halloween candy at all"). But I'm watching it anyway. I do expect the appetite to go screaming up, especially after this Saturday's 2.5-hour progression long run.

Strength Training: Darren is having me meet with his wife (yes--Colleen De Reuck!) once a week for the next four weeks. Today was the first of these sessions. It was great because I work harder in strength training with someone watching me (especially someone like her--I expect to be sore tomorrow), and she understands hamstring issues, having dealt with them, she said, for much of her career. She's also a very calming person. She told me today to remember that no matter what happens at the California International Marathon, there will be other races, other great runs and other marathons if I want them.

I'm glad I'll get to chat with her more in the coming weeks. I'll need Big Picture advice like that more as December 2 draws nearer.

Weight Training with Colleen!

I either will or won't qualify for the Boston Marathon in December, but regardless I'm sure having fun with the coaching that's leading up to the race.

This morning I met with Colleen De Reuck (Olympic marathoner and wife of my coach, Darren) for a one-on-one weight-training session. I've taken weight training classes and followed weight-training circuits from books many times, and I know my way around a weight room, but I've never had a one-on-one session like this--and certainly never with someone as knowledgeable about runners' bodies as she is.

I was a little nervous, not only because she's a celebrity (four times at the Games, winner of the Berlin Marathon, I could go on and on) and runs at a level for which I'll always be just a spectator, but also because I don't like talking about myself and my first-world problems and I feel I've been doing a lot of that lately. Back blah blah blah.....body fat blah blah blah.....steroid shot blah blah blah.....How could it not bore other people?

Moreover, I know from my own experience occasionally at my job that just because you're paid to help others doesn't mean it's always an enjoyable task. Don't get me wrong--most of the time my job is very gratifying, and I like helping most of our library patrons--but some days and some people just....get to you. I'm sure this is true in any job with a customer service component, be it taking orders at McDonalds, answering library research questions or giving weight-training advice to amateurs.

Turns out none of this was a problem. She was as nice as could be, and working with her was interesting and enjoyable enough that I completely lost track of time and made myself late for a much-anticipated lunch date with Cynthia (thanks again for being so understanding, Cynthia!). In the end, I came away with a series of 14 exercises to be done twice a week, and instructions on how to do them with proper form and so as not to hurt my back or anything else. She also gave me a great idea for a long run course in Boulder that will mimic that of the California International Marathon. Nothing like local advice!

I had almost an hour and a half with her. Half a day later, my back has protested not at all, something that hasn't been the case for me with strength training in a long time, barring my excellent Pilates sessions with Patty. I'm so ready for lunges, planks, hamstring curls, lat work and the like.

I'm a born-again strength trainee!