Kara Sevda

Jim - I really think it has to do with two things:
1. I've had a pretty full plate between school* and the move. Not to mention spring fever. So I've got a ton of stuff on my mind other than the race, which brings me to...
2. Boston isn't a goal race. Hate to have to say it, but 13 weeks (including taper) was never going to be enough time to go sub-3, and that's my next goal. So there's really no pressure on my back on this one. I know I can complete a marathon, I know I'm capable of a 3:15 in reasonable conditions this year, and that's the extent of my goals for this one.
*For some reason, it seems like semester-based colleges like to sleep for 8 weeks then throw everything at you the next 8... Which just so happened to start the week that Aileen was visiting, so I totally slacked off and have yet to catch up. Plus, I'm missing an entire week for Boston, so that's going to be even more fun. (Worth it? Oh yeah.)

John - Thanks man! I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone, visiting a new city, and being able to run the course without much self-inflicted pressure. The fact that Aileen is going to be there and then my parents are going to DC after (they need a vacation, in my opinion) doesn't hurt, either.

---

No more taper updates, other than the usual "hey, that feels kind of funny" sensations to start off my run today. Pretty typical for the first run of the week last year, but I haven't had much of it this year. Fortunately, I've done this enough to know that those weird tight spots would go away in about a mile or two, and they did.

Went out for somewhere between 45min and 6.5mi today... Ended up at the longer end of the spectrum. I'm still not sure how many miles I'll do this week, but I'm tentatively putting it between 40-45 (peak weeks were 66 and 61, respectively). Anyway, decided to do what I call a progression run, which is an easy beginning and middle and a hard finish (I guess most people would call that a fast finish?). Went easy and picked it up to 30k-HM effort for the last 2 miles. Knee is better but still saying "hi" a little bit, but really nothing surprising or to worry about.

Overall, 6.5mi, 7:53 pace, last 2mi @ 7:19 pace w/ 125' net gain, including a .75mi hill @ MP.

14ish miles tomorrow.

mul21 wrote:

Mike MacLellan wrote:How I know taper has started:

1. My dad is currently sitting across the kitchen table from me with my Welcome booklet and a huge map of Boston, hi-lighting the start area, course, and finish area on the map.

2. Aileen had a dream last night that she ran Boston with me.

3. Meanwhile, I'm totally cool and collected.

Hmm, transferring your taper madness to other people around you. This is an interesting new strategy. I think you need to tell us how you managed to pull that off!

I thought that same thing...that you have delegated the taper madness symptoms to your loved ones!

Now, about that knee....is it the same one that you had issues with before?

Same knee, completely different location/sensation. Previously, it was lateral/posterior, near and behind the lateral collateral ligament. Last week, it was the patellar tendon/ligament - my hypothesis is that this was because while moving, I slammed my knee into my tow hitch at least twice on separate occasions, in that exact spot. Today it was the usual "hey, you ran a lot last week, we're a little sore" sensation near the patellar tendon/ligament. I used to get that sensation after every single run that was longer than 2 hours, but it always goes away within 5min of finishing. Yes, I'm keeping an eye on it; no, I don't want to be told what it could be.

Oh my GOSH, I hope the taper period will settle your knee!!!!! But what if it doesn't? Then what will you DO?!?!?!?!? Will you get on the plane? Request first class at whatever cost they'll ask??!?!?!?!?!?

Oh, the humanity of it all!!!!!!!

I will simply cut it off and run without it. That is what I will do.

You're winding down, Mike, it's good to read your updates as you get ready. You've had a good cycle, you're going to do well.

Mike MacLellan wrote:I will simply cut it off and run without it. That is what I will do.

Perfectly reasonable.

Mike MacLellan wrote:I don't want to be told what it could be.

You mean you really don't want to know? Because, I'm pretty sure I can diagnose this with complete certainty.

Spoiler:

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.

Now, the big question: Will Mike have the strength to not check?

You mean you really don't want to know? Because, I'm pretty sure I can diagnose this with complete certainty.

Spoiler:

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.

Now, the big question: Will Mike have the strength to not check? [/quote]

Yep, that's my bet, too!

Mark B wrote:

Mike MacLellan wrote:I don't want to be told what it could be.

You mean you really don't want to know? Because, I'm pretty sure I can diagnose this with complete certainty.

Spoiler:

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.

Now, the big question: Will Mike have the strength to not check?

Haha! Mark's kind of a jerk.....in the nicest possible way!

mul21 wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Mike MacLellan wrote:I don't want to be told what it could be.

You mean you really don't want to know? Because, I'm pretty sure I can diagnose this with complete certainty.

Spoiler:

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.

Now, the big question: Will Mike have the strength to not check?

Haha! Mark's kind of a jerk.....in the nicest possible way!

Hey, I'm just trying to help.

You guys are funny. I agree with the diagnosis. I went to the gym yesterday afternoon and did the whole upper-body routine... Noticed on the way back that my knee was kind of tight. So I obsessed about it the rest of the day.

Today's 14mi was a bit of a grind. Started sunny in the high 60s, ended in the low 70s. I'm not used to this weather. Ugh. That, and doing the whole upper-body routine yesterday left my arms and chest pretty dead, so keeping them bent with my hands at my waist was a bit tough by mile 10 or so.

Both knees were slightly less-than-perfect throughout - of course - and immediately stopped feeling anything when I stopped running. Dumb. Gonna keep on the stretching and let taper do its job to heal me up.

Overall, 14.1mi in 1hr50min (7:48 pace). With lots of hills in the 2nd half.

Uuuuuuugh. Talk me off the ledge, people. 4.5mi recovery. Knee didn't like any of it.

Back away from the ledge! *I'm* the one with a bum knee, not you! You just have taper niggles. You are young and fast and will ROCK Boston!
Having said that, take some Ibuprofen and ice your knee a bit just to humor it.

No subtlety this time, Mike.

It's taperitis.

You'll be great. In fact, the more twitchy you get, the better you'll probably do (works that way for me) as long as you don't screw it up in the first 5 miles.

You're tapering. Try to get your mind on something else to keep from worrying too much.

Thanks all. I do think this is at least 50% taper niggles, though the fact that it's the same knee and was - briefly - in the same location as my injury yesterday... it's worrying me. That said, when I was able to not think about it - which was hard for most of the day, as I drove for 8hrs back to Davis and was driving stick through ~2hrs of traffic... ouch - it didn't bother me.

That said, I think I'm starting the madness associated with taper. Unfortunately, it's making me pretty volatile. Ugh.

Mike MacLellan wrote:That said, I think I'm starting the madness associated with taper. Unfortunately, it's making me pretty volatile. Ugh.

Ah. Taper mood swings!



Just roll with them, Mike. They let you know you're alive.

Oh, my - the taper! So the madness has set in! No cure for it, just learn to laugh at yourself...

Mood swings is right. I have a pretty short fuse and no sense of humor, currently. It's awful. I feel bad for everyone I come into contact with.

Got 7.5mi in today. Knee was a bit bitchy - I'll call the feeling "discomfort," as it wasn't pain - from mile 1 to 3.5, then actually went away for the most part. Then came back on the last little bit. I've found that it's worse when I'm running slower, usually feeling better around 7:30-8:00 pace. Interesting.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Mood swings is right. I have a pretty short fuse and no sense of humor, currently. It's awful. I feel bad for everyone I come into contact with.

.

Don't know if this will help or hurt. But yesterday I was whining to a friend about the weight I'd gained because I couldn't run for a month because of my knee. Then I started to think about my sister. The one dealing with cancer and a life and death decision that she may be faced with making in the very near future. It certainly changed my perspective. So...I wonder if there is something that can divert your attention or change your perspective while you are in taper? Just a thought.

KathyK wrote:

Mike MacLellan wrote:Mood swings is right. I have a pretty short fuse and no sense of humor, currently. It's awful. I feel bad for everyone I come into contact with.

.

Don't know if this will help or hurt. But yesterday I was whining to a friend about the weight I'd gained because I couldn't run for a month because of my knee. Then I started to think about my sister. The one dealing with cancer and a life and death decision that she may be faced with making in the very near future. It certainly changed my perspective. So...I wonder if there is something that can divert your attention or change your perspective while you are in taper? Just a thought.

I think that will happen naturally, actually. I've recognized (verbally... er, manually, to Aileen) the fact that I'm in my own head quite a bit lately, so it's making me much less understanding, and to ask her to be patient and understanding while I'm doing as bad of a job as I am is unfair. She is having a much rougher week than me, all things considered.

I realized yesterday evening that I forgot to post about my run. I also forgot to do my push-ups after my run. I blame both of these on the fact that I decided to walk my brother's dog to Starbucks as a cooldown and get a Chai. So by the time I got home, that initial post-tempo glow had gone and I was just content.

---

So, yesterday! Planned 50min/7mi tempo run (Hal-style, 20min progressive with 5-10min MP immediately after). I realized I wasn't going to get 7mi in on that time constraint, so I decided to err on the side of being conservative and cut it around 50min no matter what. That, and I wasn't even sure I'd be running a tempo, due to the knee.

The warm-up let me know that my knee was good to go for a tempo, but that I should be really careful and shut it down if necessary. After 2 easy miles, I started in with 5min @ marathon effort and the knee... Felt better. What? The next 5min were at half marathon effort... Even better. Uh... Then 5min @ LT, knee felt fine except for very rarely saying "Hi! Still here!" The same was true for the last 5min @ 10k effort. I'd done 2.9mi during that 20min period, so I decided to make it an even 4 with the MP interval. Only once I slowed for my cool down did I feel something in my knee on every step. But still, not too bad. I'd say it's at 70% slow, 85% fast. All in all, a good run.

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Today started a bit later than normal, thanks to a ferocious IPA (Lagunitas) that not only snuck up on me, but also disagreed with my stomach. No, no vomiting, just a slow morning letting it settle. And yes, I watched Saturday morning cartoons. What of it?

Headed out for a planned 35min/4mi recovery run at the UC Davis arboretum. Gorgeous, gorgeous place. So neat to explore new parts of this town that I'd never seen before (in all my past visits here, I've just taken a county road into farmland and gone for miles before turning around). The trail wasn't as flat as I'd expected, so every little roller (they were short and steep) kind of pounded my knee a bit. Not that it hurt, but it's still a niggle. I'd say today was around 80%.

When I finished, I did some core work and realized that my lower abs are pretty obliterated. Of course; that's why my form today was shit and everything was put onto my knees. So I think that's it for core work until after Boston. Gotta let it heal up so it can take me down hills.

Anyway, I finished the week with 5hr47min and just over 43.5mi. A bit more of a drop than I did for OC (33% reduction as opposed to 28.5%), but I'm hoping that cutting back a bit more is wise, as I didn't destroy my knee this week (woohoo!) and still got in some good, purposeful runs. Shooting for about 20-25mi pre-race next week.

What cartoons did you watch?

I think Fairly Odd Parents? Something like that?

The last couple weeks of mutual stress for Aileen and I came to a head last night/this morning. Sweet. Glad I can relax during taper. Sigh.