This weekend I finally had a chance to get out for a run with the Team In Training group for a 15 mile run along the actual course I'll be running in April. I got up early on Saturdya morning and left a sick wife to get out with the group. We met at the Wellesley Community center, which is at about mile 14 on the course. There was about 75 men and women there, many of whom are in the same boat training for thier first Boston, many thier first marathon. I spent most of my time as we were getting ready to go out talking to a guy who had left his house in New Jersey at 4 Am to make it to the group workout for 8. Like me he was looking forward to forging some relationships and hoping to get even more from the experience. He had ran in 5 prior marathons but this was his first crack at Boston.
This was also going to be my first run, outside after the last two weeks working my long runs indoors and spending most of my weekly workouts on the bike in order to rest my toes as well as give me shin and knee some time to heal.
With the excitement of running with a large group for the very first time as well as being on the course, it was hard to hold my self back as we got out. The first half mile or so was pretty cramped as we were forced onto the sidewalks for the run. I was able to hold back but one we separated ourselves, I was running at about a 9 minute mile which is race pace for myself. I should be running these long runs at 45 seconds to 1:30 slower than race pace, so I definately ran the run too fast. I will definately be more deliberate next week to keep at a slower pace that is more suited to what I should be doing. On the very positive side, no real knee or shin pain to speak of, although the toes were sore Saturday and Sunday.
The course it self was fantastic. The neighborhoods and areas we ran through in Wellesley, and Natick were just beautiful and really a fun time. While I was running basically solo it was nice to have some water stops provided by TNT as well as encouragement from other runners who really understood what it was I was going through. Looking forward to continuing to build mileage and get to my half marathon in New Hampshire in three weeks as well as the big day in April.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Time to Hit the Pavement
After about two weeks of nursing the feet and legs on the treadmill and the bike, this week I'm going to be hitting the road again to see how I hold up. I have a scheduled couple miles on the treadmill and a strength training workout scheduled for tomorrow, and then a nice 6 miles on Wednesday followed by 15 or so with the Team In Training group in Newton on Saturday. Hopefully the knee/shin/ and toes can hold up.
After an appointment with my chiropractor last week, he informed me that the reason both of my toes were in so much pain was basically tyhat my toes are crooked. They have been all I know, so I didn't realize that both my big toes point inward about 15-20 degrees and are not straight like everyone else's. So that angle puts a ton of force and pressure on the joint between the big toe and the foot. As a result, I need to do some stretches of my toes tendon to hopefully try to straighten out my toe and just tape up my foot nice and solid.
We'll see how this week goes...
After an appointment with my chiropractor last week, he informed me that the reason both of my toes were in so much pain was basically tyhat my toes are crooked. They have been all I know, so I didn't realize that both my big toes point inward about 15-20 degrees and are not straight like everyone else's. So that angle puts a ton of force and pressure on the joint between the big toe and the foot. As a result, I need to do some stretches of my toes tendon to hopefully try to straighten out my toe and just tape up my foot nice and solid.
We'll see how this week goes...
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Half Marathon....sorta
After a week with no running I was anxious to hit the treadmill on Saturday in a controlled environment that would allow me to stop if at any point I felt like I was making my toe issue any worse. I felt good with both feet taped up pretty good and a focus not on time and pace put purely on keeping my heart rate at an average of 163 and never above 170, which is unheard of on any other training run since this running thing began.
Overall things were very successful. I had only planned to go about 10 miles max, but I felt so well and my heart rate was going so well that I decided to keep going and pull off a full 13.1 miles. My heart rate was fantastic, being indoors, with no hills I'm sure contributed to the heart rate being stable as well as going nice and slow. I averaged about 9:40/9:45 a mile which if my goal is sub 4 should be where I am running my training long runs anyway. I had some normal soreness but felt amazing. The toes were a little uncomfortable but nothing major. After talking to some of my friends on the message boards, I received some good encouragement to go another week or two of working just on the bike or pool for cross training during the week to continue to give my body time to heal. My major goal is going to be to get to the start line healthy and not killing myself training will be key.
I'm looking forward to a meeting with my chiropractor tomorrow for an adjustment and a possible x-ray of the foot to see if there is anything major going on.
Overall things were very successful. I had only planned to go about 10 miles max, but I felt so well and my heart rate was going so well that I decided to keep going and pull off a full 13.1 miles. My heart rate was fantastic, being indoors, with no hills I'm sure contributed to the heart rate being stable as well as going nice and slow. I averaged about 9:40/9:45 a mile which if my goal is sub 4 should be where I am running my training long runs anyway. I had some normal soreness but felt amazing. The toes were a little uncomfortable but nothing major. After talking to some of my friends on the message boards, I received some good encouragement to go another week or two of working just on the bike or pool for cross training during the week to continue to give my body time to heal. My major goal is going to be to get to the start line healthy and not killing myself training will be key.
I'm looking forward to a meeting with my chiropractor tomorrow for an adjustment and a possible x-ray of the foot to see if there is anything major going on.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Humble Pie!
It's Sunday afternoon of wildcard weekend, and thankfully I have some football to watch while I am icing down almost everything below both of my knees.
On top on continuing to have some pain in both of my toes, I've been dealing with what i think is runner knee in my left knee for wuite a while and now I have what I think are shin splints in my right shin for the last week and a half or so.
This all came to a head yesterday when i was out scheduled for a 12 mile run in Millbury and into Sutton near Singletary Lake. My goal was to run about nice and slow and keep my heart rate in check. I felt like I ate well and drank enough fluids the night before. woke up and went out early for a run with some beautiful weather, about 40 degrees and partly sunny. The first 4-5 miles went pretty well and I was ahead of my pace the first 2 plus miles, down a pretty good hill and kept about what I thought I should be doing through the first 4-5. Then my heart rate got up pretty high and it was a struggle to keep it in a good range for the rest of the run. I have to learn to slow doen even further and run these long runs to my heart rate rather than any specific time.
So with all this with about a mile to go, and half way up a killer hill, I had to walk to a short distance, and again about a quarter mile later becuase my body wouldn't let me do it. Both my lungs as well as my knee acting up with with the runners knee made it very tough. I have to swallow a little of the Patriots preverbial "Humble Pie" as this running and training is definately one of the hardest things I've ever done.
I'm now starting to question my ability to finish in under 4 hours like I want. Hopefully yesterday was just a bad day and I can get in a better run at a better pace next week. I am going to back off my midweek running this week, maybe strictly just on the bike to give the body a chance to recover for next weeks 13-14 mile run.
On top on continuing to have some pain in both of my toes, I've been dealing with what i think is runner knee in my left knee for wuite a while and now I have what I think are shin splints in my right shin for the last week and a half or so.
This all came to a head yesterday when i was out scheduled for a 12 mile run in Millbury and into Sutton near Singletary Lake. My goal was to run about nice and slow and keep my heart rate in check. I felt like I ate well and drank enough fluids the night before. woke up and went out early for a run with some beautiful weather, about 40 degrees and partly sunny. The first 4-5 miles went pretty well and I was ahead of my pace the first 2 plus miles, down a pretty good hill and kept about what I thought I should be doing through the first 4-5. Then my heart rate got up pretty high and it was a struggle to keep it in a good range for the rest of the run. I have to learn to slow doen even further and run these long runs to my heart rate rather than any specific time.
So with all this with about a mile to go, and half way up a killer hill, I had to walk to a short distance, and again about a quarter mile later becuase my body wouldn't let me do it. Both my lungs as well as my knee acting up with with the runners knee made it very tough. I have to swallow a little of the Patriots preverbial "Humble Pie" as this running and training is definately one of the hardest things I've ever done.
I'm now starting to question my ability to finish in under 4 hours like I want. Hopefully yesterday was just a bad day and I can get in a better run at a better pace next week. I am going to back off my midweek running this week, maybe strictly just on the bike to give the body a chance to recover for next weeks 13-14 mile run.
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