Brand new day

I'll be even more conservative.  Until you're 8 weeks from race day, 1 MP run every week and a half.  8 weeks out, incorporate Hal-style tempos into your training, one per week, starting at 20min and working up to 30 or 35min.  That means your biggest week will have about 10MP miles and 4mi that you could really call "tempo."

I'm planning on doing an 8:30 week.  What I mean by that is that I'm not going to try to push any runs faster than 8:30 this week as part of a precautionary step-back week.  I don't like to do it, but I'm going to do it anyway.  Today, ran 6.2 miles at an 8:32 pace.

I wouldn't go too far and just withdraw at this point, John. I would say it was more his problem than yours although I know some people do get mad when another doesn't take advice.  Ask questions and use your own judgement about what you want to do about it.

Glad to see you have a step-back week in.

Strained calf.  Pulled, torn, whatever I don't know.  On an easy (very easy) run with a friend and all of a sudden felt like I'd been shot in the calf - could barely limp the last 1/2 mile to my car (this was about a month ago or so).  Been cycling and running on the elliptical.  Have probably lost Savannah marathon, but hopefully can just make it to the starting line and run the thing.  If I can't, then it's not the end of the world and I'll just do what I can.  There are greater tragedies (trust me, I know!)   

I'm not feeling sorry about it and I'm not looking for advice - it just is what it is.  I've been told your a dumb ass, you never listen, you don't take advice, you are annoying, I want nothing to do with you, etc (thanks "friends").  That stuff really stung, I won't lie.  But here's the thing.

I'm not really running for a time goal.  I'm not really running to impress you or anyone else.  I love this journey that I'm on.  I've been hurt a lot - probably a lot to do with my makeup.  Not that long ago, I weighed 226 pounds.  I was never a good athlete - at anything.  Ever.  I spent much of my life being shy and awkward.  Running simply allowed me to compete with me - I've got some demons that are my own that running allows me to work through. 

If I never run another marathon (I'm sure I will at some point, maybe even Savannah), then my life is not a failure.  I'm a single dad and he is my legacy, not any achievements that I ever make.  That being said, I feel my best days running are still ahead of me.  And they don't all include a time goal.  I honestly love the journey - love the training most days.  There is a stubborn part of me that would rather do it my way and get hurt, be slower, whatever (maybe never meet goals) but have my stamp on it than have someone tell me everything that I'm doing wrong and be a totally predictable product of something.  I do follow training plans and loved the idea of being coached/assisted or whatever but I still felt like it was mine in the end. 

So, I won't ask for advice.  I guess I never realized there was an obligation to take everyone's advice.  Trust me, I'm thankful that I've gotten some really good advice from people that actually care. 

Because I've been injured, I think I appreciate running even more.  Because of being hurt, I competed in a 5K swim that I normally would of never done.  I don't need to BQ or even complete another marathon to be happy.  It gets very frustrating yes, but I love the challenge.  I signed up for the Louisville ironman next year and God willing will be able to compete in it.  I may run another marathon this spring if this whatever it is finally heals (it's been hurt for weeks and is SLOWLY getting better). 

I wish I could be totally honest and say that I don't care what anyone else thinks of me - probably a lot of old tapes playing from the way I grew up and the situations that I've been in.  But in a way, it was good to have a really bad experience with one of my 365 "friends".  I think I'll give a crap a lot less and have more fun.  I try to be smart(er) about things, but I'm still going to be me.  And that is OK. 

Off for a bike ride.  Thanks for my FRIENDS.

Ok, well, I hope I qualify as a FRIEND and not a "friend", but I am sad about your calf.  I did the same thing back in 2008 and lost the summer to it as I wasn't sure what to do.  When I got back to Atlanta and finally went to my doc, he had me get the area massaged 1x per week and wear a night splint on the foot/calf to keep the leg in the stretched position, but to where it didn't hurt.  I was back in 3 wks after spending 8 wks doing nothing.  You might also want to find a Doc who does ART and/or Graston.  I know there are runners in Albany or even a running store that might help.  Or you can use the website activerelease.com.  If all else fails, contact Dr. Josh Glass in Atlanta.

And well, if you don't want my advice, that is ok too.

Michele - you are a true friend and have been since I early found you guys.  I know you actually give a crap and don't judge.  I remember talking on the phone a couple of years ago and it helped a bunch then.  I actually went for a 4 mile run (slowly) tonight so it will get better, I know that.  I've been rolling it and I think that has been helping a little.

I hope you don't mind, but my daughter wanted to type some emoticons on your blog. I'm sorry about your calf. I strained something the last few days and trust me I am sooo tempted to just run in the morning. Agh...be strong, be strong...

                                                                                                                            

Some people fit within the bounds of "conventional wisdom" and some are n=1 experiments.  I seem to be in the n=1 box.  Do what works for you.  It seems to work out better that way.  Good luck on the healing and God help you on the Ironman.

Well, crap. So sorry that your calf went south on you like it did.

I think Michele had some great suggestions. I'd just like to add what a sports medicine doctor told me once for recovering from injury: let pain be your guide. With careful recovery, and a little luck, the setback may not be as bad as you think right now.

Hang in there. You'll get it all dialed in eventually.

So sorry to hear about your calf.  I second the advice to go to a sports med doc.  I have a (old school) friend that lost the whole summer to a calf strain and eventually decided to take our advice to see the doc.  They prescribed Graston and he was back to running in 2 - 3 weeks.  He regretted waiting so long and now he's a true believer in Graston.

The great think about being a Triathlete is that you can almost always focus on your other events when an injury puts one on the shelf for a while.  Your injury history reminds me a lot of Wendy's journey.  She's found that its the speed that kills for her and she can run a LOT of miles if she just slows it down.  She's going to hit some insane number like 95 this week and is in super shape right now with a resting heart rate around 33.

Enjoy the journey and best of luck for this fall, spring and in Louisville.

That sucks. I had a couple of training cycles where I strained my quad. No warning, just happened, never figured out why. I stayed off it the first year for a few weeks and it got well enough to finish the marathon on. The next time it happened (two years later), I tried to run through it, then took the taper off, and ran as much of the marathon as I could, and DNF'd - I don't recommend that!

Hope you feel better.

Julie wrote:I hope you don't mind, but my daughter wanted to type some emoticons on your blog. I'm sorry about your calf. I strained something the last few days and trust me I am sooo tempted to just run in the morning. Agh...be strong, be strong...

Thanks Julie - that was awesome!  No sweat on the calf thing - stuff happens, right?  It's not the end of the world, just part of the journey!

ounce wrote:Some people fit within the bounds of "conventional wisdom" and some are n=1 experiments.  I seem to be in the n=1 box.  Do what works for you.  It seems to work out better that way.  Good luck on the healing and God help you on the Ironman.

Thanks!  That's a great way of thinking about things. 

Mark B wrote:Well, crap. So sorry that your calf went south on you like it did.

I think Michele had some great suggestions. I'd just like to add what a sports medicine doctor told me once for recovering from injury: let pain be your guide. With careful recovery, and a little luck, the setback may not be as bad as you think right now.

Hang in there. You'll get it all dialed in eventually.

Thanks Mark - you've always been encouraging!  I'm really OK - it's just another setback, but nobody promised us that things would be easy.  There is always hindsight blah blah, but I've really come to realize that I love the journey as much if not more than any of the races I've done.  Those times and moments out on the road by myself just doing what I love to do.  There is no failure in that!  Maybe one day I'll get it dialed in - like I said, I still feel like my best days are ahead of me.  Heck, from where I came from, I'm grateful to have been able to accomplish what I have!  I thought about you - I've been reading the book Iron War (story about Mark Allen vs. Dave Scott during the early years of the ironman) - Maffetone was Mark Allen's coach the year he finally won his first Kona IM. 

T Miller wrote:So sorry to hear about your calf.  I second the advice to go to a sports med doc.  I have a (old school) friend that lost the whole summer to a calf strain and eventually decided to take our advice to see the doc.  They prescribed Graston and he was back to running in 2 - 3 weeks.  He regretted waiting so long and now he's a true believer in Graston.

The great think about being a Triathlete is that you can almost always focus on your other events when an injury puts one on the shelf for a while.  Your injury history reminds me a lot of Wendy's journey.  She's found that its the speed that kills for her and she can run a LOT of miles if she just slows it down.  She's going to hit some insane number like 95 this week and is in super shape right now with a resting heart rate around 33.

Enjoy the journey and best of luck for this fall, spring and in Louisville.

Thanks Tim!!!  Always appreciate the words of encouragement, but no sweat about the calf.  It will heal.  Graston = $ so I probably won't be doing that unless I'm desperate (I know it doesn't really make sense b/c I just signed up for an IM).  If it comes to that I am not opposed to it though.  Wendy is definitely a great story (one that I aspire to) - someday I might find the key to unlock more running potential - I'm certainly leaning more that direction.  In the meantime I'm having fun with the IM stuff.  I've taken that stuff so serious in the past (chasing times) that I think I might put too much pressure on myself and really am learning to have more fun with things.  That doesn't mean I'm not training hard, it means I'm just enjoying it more.  That's probably why it bothered me so bad to have a bad run-in with one of our own - my lesson is just say F-it, do my own thing and not worry about it.  On the other hand, I don't feel offended at all if I ever give advice and someone doesn't take it - to each their own.  I've always been excited to share this part of my life with other runners, including the ups and downs.  Just part of the ride!  And, for the most part, it's been a pretty good ride...

Michael Enright wrote:That sucks. I had a couple of training cycles where I strained my quad. No warning, just happened, never figured out why. I stayed off it the first year for a few weeks and it got well enough to finish the marathon on. The next time it happened (two years later), I tried to run through it, then took the taper off, and ran as much of the marathon as I could, and DNF'd - I don't recommend that!

Hope you feel better.

Thanks Michael!  I plan on running it and will just see what happens.  If I DNF, the sun will still rise the next day.  My plan is to drop if I feel any real pain - live to fight another day, right?  I'm still just playing everything by ear and can shift my focus to the August 2014 IM (and maybe have a decent spring marathon as well).  There are people that don't get to run at all - I'm not going to waste (too much anyway, a little pouting is probably necessary) time worrying about what I can't do when there are a lot of things I can do!

So, how much of a time commitment does it take to train for 3 events?

Ounce - Right now, I just train 1-3 hours a day, 5-6 days a week.  I'm not even keeping records now, just farting around.  When I get serious about IM training, I'll shoot for 12-15 hours per week.  You can get by on a lot less for sprint triathlons though.  I don't even know if I'll follow a plan or not this year, I might just go more by what I feel like.  It's not always realistic (especially being a single parent and not being able to get to the pool many days), but I feel good doing 4 runs, 4 swims and 4 rides each week.

I am glad you can do tris. I would think that would make handling any injury more manageable. I can bike but we sold it so I obviously don't have that right now but good for you. Good to not sweat it although I know running is a great part of life and helps us handle the rest of it at times. Keep us posted/don't be a stranger, OK?

John Kilpatrick wrote:I've been reading the book Iron War (story about Mark Allen vs. Dave Scott during the early years of the ironman) - Maffetone was Mark Allen's coach the year he finally won his first Kona IM.

Ah yes, Mark Allen is a huge advocate of Maffetone's approach, and it served him quite well over the years. If you haven't read any of Maffetone's stuff, it's worth picking up (you can buy copies used on Amazon for cheap-cheap-cheap!). It takes patience and discipline to work his program, at least at first, but I have found it's allowed me to keep making progress without blowing myself up along the way (which is what tended to happen to be before I tried Maffing it).

Sorry to hear about the injury bug cropping up again for you.  Frustrating, I know.  A "do what you like and enjoy" philosophy and approach to training might be just the ticket?  On top of all the stress life and injuries is giving you, you probably don't need or want the constraints of a super formal program.  So go with the flow and just run/bike/swim/x-train when you can and see what that does for your fitness and overall mindset.

Well John I have had my share of injuries and bad judgement with my own training in the past. The best thing that will come out of all this is that you will learn what works best for you. Running is truly one of those sports that we all have to figure out what is the right for us. What may work for one doesn't work for another, just hang in there and enjoy the journey and learning process. Believe me as time goes on you will get it right for YOU and when you do look out the runs and races will be that much sweater!!! Just believe in yourself, learning and the process and it will all work out in the end buddy!

Julie wrote:I am glad you can do tris. I would think that would make handling any injury more manageable. I can bike but we sold it so I obviously don't have that right now but good for you. Good to not sweat it although I know running is a great part of life and helps us handle the rest of it at times. Keep us posted/don't be a stranger, OK?

Thanks Julie - I'll be around - just needed to take a step back for a bit.  Through nobody but myself, I really got it in my head that running is only successful if you are faster all of the time.  I'm still working at it, but just relaxing and am going to let things come to me maybe a little.  With my history, there is no doubt I'll get hurt again at some point and it's ok, just part of the process.  I'll deal with it and move on like always!

Chris M wrote:Sorry to hear about the injury bug cropping up again for you.  Frustrating, I know.  A "do what you like and enjoy" philosophy and approach to training might be just the ticket?  On top of all the stress life and injuries is giving you, you probably don't need or want the constraints of a super formal program.  So go with the flow and just run/bike/swim/x-train when you can and see what that does for your fitness and overall mindset.

Thanks Chris - it's just part of it.  I am by no means giving up or even scaling back, I'm just trying to take the pressure off a little.  Like I said, I still have goals/dreams and I'll still work hard to achieve them, but I'm just appreciating the journey more and just realizing that setbacks are not the end of the world and I expect them now.  I know I'll get through and eventually maybe they will lessen - but in the meantime I'm having fun, if not setting PRs. 

Schuey wrote:Well John I have had my share of injuries and bad judgement with my own training in the past. The best thing that will come out of all this is that you will learn what works best for you. Running is truly one of those sports that we all have to figure out what is the right for us. What may work for one doesn't work for another, just hang in there and enjoy the journey and learning process. Believe me as time goes on you will get it right for YOU and when you do look out the runs and races will be that much sweater!!! Just believe in yourself, learning and the process and it will all work out in the end buddy!

Thanks Martin - great thought - the cool thing is that I've had struggles just like everyone else, but that makes every small victory that much more sweeter to me at least.  I don't even care if I beat anyone else or if I did this or that I might be a little faster - I'm not trying to win the Olympics here or anything, just trying to enjoy life and keep my head on straight.  With that, I have to believe that sooner or later I'll be able to string together a couple/few good years of training and I'll see some results.  I never really thought about it - but you are right - I think what is happening is instead of being discouraged all of the time, I am beginning to believe in myself - I've learned a ton and know more now than I once did as well as have a much better perspective.  This will get better and I'm sure I have a lot of good days ahead of me! 

Thanks all!

Hopefully John will post a race report, but I'll brag for him.  John ran a 3:14 marathon this morning in Savannah which is not only a PR but a BOSTON QUALIFIER!!!!  Woohoo!!!!!!!

Yes, yes, YES!!! Woot!    

Well-deserved BQ, John. Boy, did you earn it.

Congrats!!

Awesome!!  Congratulations!

Thanks!    Report forthcoming...