Following the half marathon race last month I took an easy week to recover and rethink plans for the rest of the year. I have really achieved most goals over the past six or seven years, in fact far exceed any expectations I would have had at any time prior to 2018.
In 2017 I achieved my first 90% age grade, extended my sub 3 hour marathon span to 34 years, and set the state record for the half marathon. Twice, with a 1:19 in August and a month later a 1:18. And then I capped off the year with an age group bronze medal at the USATF 15K road race championships in Tulsa, OK and placed top 3 in the age grade category, as well as an age group 5th place at Club Cross Country–at 59, at the far end of the age group just two months before turning 60.
If I had ended the quest there, that would have been my best year as runner. But I kept going and things got better and better. The only thing that escaped me however, was the sub 3 marathon. I’m still at it.
So after rebuilding in the end of March I made a big change. After 43 years of self-coaching I decided to contact a coach to see if I could step up my training and bring my marathon time in line with the shorter distances–which indicate that yet another sub 3 is possible.
After some email exchanges and a couple phone calls to discuss the possibility I sent my first month’s payment with anticipation but also trepidation. Would this coach–who is recognized nationally, authored books, and has coached elite runners for decades–be the right fit. He has a reputation for prescribing hard schedules. Nevertheless, in our discussions he said that considering my age he would typically schedule two easy days between harder workout. He was also encouraged by my recent mileage (nearly 65 miles a week in March, including a cutback and recovery for the half marathon), and said my goals (25K in the spring at sub 6:30 pace, half marathon in the late summer in low 1:20s, and sub 3 marathon in the fall) were ambitious but attainable.
April 1 to 22 the shift
He sent some strength and stability exercises by text and the workouts on Final Surge. The exercises were about 50% new, especially standing stability and strength routines. In the past have dabbled in these but not consistently, now they are part of my weekly routine. I was more familiar with the core work and mobility, as well as the drills.
The workouts, were different though. I had run 25 km on Sunday the last day of March at a pretty decent clip (sub 8 minute miles) so I was a little tired. Tuesday’s workout was a 5 mile tempo at 15K effort. I texted and said that I’d prefer to move that to Wednesday, and do the subsequent mid-long run of 12 miles on Thursday, thinking of the two days of recovery between harder efforts. He called back immediately and said that he was hoping for an “adaptation week” where the workouts would be a little more compressed to build some fitness. But assured me that this wouldn’t be common practice and the point was just to go through the motions.
So I did it. And ran just over 6:30 pace for the 5 miles and actually felt better than I had expected. The next day of 12 was tough (actually did a slow 11.5), however. After an easy hour on Thursday, Friday’s session was a 4 mile uphill tempo, starting at 7300 feet and climbing 1000 feet, followed by 200 m reps. I felt that I was on the verge of an injury after that workout, closest I had felt in the four and a half years since my hip problems. But I backed down over the weekend and by my next hard workout (17 miles with a challenging progression to sub marathon pace ) I was feeling good again.
The track session three days after that went well, and I felt back into the groove. After recovery, a few days later I had another hard workout, an hour long progression and afternoon hill reps. I overdid it on the afternoon session, misunderstanding the instructions and thought that was supposed to be a tempo effort for 5K when actually it was meant to be moderate pace (learning the shorthand the hard way!). But I took it super easy for the next two days and felt pretty solid by Wednesday’s long progression–which I didn’t run as hard as I had the previous week.
Okaayyy.
After two days of recovery, I was feeling better and last Saturday’s session was 8 minute repeats, getting progressively faster. The weather and running surface were terrible (bridle path, saturated with water and snow, at 30 degrees), but the effort was there. It was still good though, and I was pretty happy with the workout.
I was a bit concerned about Sunday and Monday–there was no two day recovery. A 90 minute mid-long effort on Sunday (recommended rolling hills), which I had to do on pavement because of the weekend snow, and Monday was another hard progression, this time 70 minutes.
On Monday it was unseasonably warm (45 degrees above Saturday’s chill of 30), and I took it easier, running marathon pace plus 15-20 seconds for the first 35 or 40 minutes, and I didn’t pick it up to marathon pace or under until the last 4 miles. Still it was a really hard effort and I was a bit discouraged that I was running that much slower than pace but not feeling good about it. We talked briefly about this on Monday night and agreed to ease into next weekend.
Tuesday the 23rd was an “10 miles easy-moderate” but I set out to do an hour very easy, and if I felt well maybe try for the 10 on Tuesday.
April 23 I hope it’s not day of personal infamy
I slept somewhat poorly on Monday night and woke up tired on Tuesday, and allergies precluded me from wanting to go out for my run before work, but I figured it would be warmer in the middle of the day. However a string of meetings precluded me from getting out the door before 3, but at least it would be the warmer part of the day (high 50s) and my allergies were not bothersome.
I drove to the open space park where I typically run several times a week and started at 3:30. I had meant to put on half tights because it was a little cool and they fell better on tired legs on such days. But I forgot and didn’t turn around, just kept going. I felt really sluggish (but often do on recovery days) and ran the first bit at 11-12 minute/mile pace, barely more than a walk. At about 6 minutes I slowed down and did some dynamic stretches, also typical. I like to wait until I have run a bit and have had some blood flow. All’s good.
I was starting to feel decent and was dropping into the mid 8s, figuring I would do 6-7 miles at in the 8:20s-30s and be good with it. At a trail intersection I could go straight on a fairly flat 10-foot wide fitness path, or drop down a steep pitch (10-12%) for about 30 meters and catch the other end of the path, which leads to a fun creek path. Like the half-tights, perhaps fatefully, I turned left and went down the steep path, but very slowly. My watch buzzed 1 mile (10:03), and just a second later, as I reached the bottom of the hill and made a slight turn to the right onto the flat path, I felt a ping (less than a pop) on the back of my right leg–I knew that was my hamstring–but paid no mind, I’d be fine. Ran a bit, maybe 30 seconds, and all was good. Bit then just a few steps more, I could feel some pain and tightness building in. I stopped and walked back on the flat path for a few minutes. It started feeling better so I tried to run again. I got less than 200 meters and nope, had to walk home.
The aftermath today, and the future
I logged in zero exercise minutes today, just rested, iced it, wrapped my leg, and took ibuprofen. It’s a little difficult to elevate the leg at work but at home I have had it up on a chair while I sit on the couch typing. I’ll self-treat for a week or two in the hope that it will get better.
I know I set myself up for this, and have pondered some woulda coulda shoulda. Primarily, maybe I didn’t need the coaching change. I thought I would have some blind spots and training weaknesses, and probably do (like I found that these types of progression runs are tough). This coach’s philosophy is sound but maybe not feasible for a 66 year old. That said, I could just say no to stacking the workouts–sure there is some benefit from supercompensation, but it’s not worth the risk. I’m not sure if I’ll continue with this coach, it’s too much and I think injury is inevitable with such a schedule. On my own, I know I would have run an easy hour or less on Sunday (not 1:34), and Monday also would have been an easy day. And with a fairly big race coming up on the weekend (now in extreme doubt) Tuesday would have been a light-moderate session of something like 4X 800 or 3X 1000 with some pick ups. Not a hammering 10 mile progression with no recovery from the preceding two days.
I don’t know if it made a difference, but would the half tights have helped? A different course (smooth tow path instead of a single track), and had I gone straight on the path instead of that descent maybe my legs would have warmed up enough and the hamstring would have held up. But I didn’t do these things and there is no way to know.
So the future? Get healthy and hope that I can resume running soon, within a few days or a couple weeks. Or at least if I can jump onto some cross training for a while and maintain fitness into the summer. If the rest of spring is a wash, that’ll be acceptable I guess. I learned some things and learned some lessons. Having a trashed summer and fall would be very tough, I had a big year planned and know that there aren’t too many more to go. I enjoy the training and after all these years still get a kick out of racing.
rrunnin234 