Funkadelic Happening

Good work, Doug.  You certainly did your job and earned your turkey this week.  I can't imagine running 50 miles and certainly not in those conditions. Reina should be very proud of herself and remind her that DFL beats DNS any day.  (And I'm a very big DNS for anything over 50K).

Great job, Reina! You too, Doug!

Great report and a great job helping Reina out there in some amazingly challenging conditions. That turned out to be an epic adventure. Being the last one across the line before the final cut-off just makes the story all that better.

Bravo!

Nice job in tough conditions...both of you! I'll bet you're both pleased to have that goal checked off and behind you. Nice of you to help her Reina meet her goal.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Good work, Doug.  You certainly did your job and earned your turkey this week.  I can't imagine running 50 miles and certainly not in those conditions. Reina should be very proud of herself and remind her that DFL beats DNS any day.  (And I'm a very big DNS for anything over 50K).

Thanks.  Reina is very happy, 1L.    She kept saying that she could do that course so much faster, if it was dry.

Jim Lentz wrote:Great job, Reina! You too, Doug!

Much thanks, Jim!

Mark B wrote:Great report and a great job helping Reina out there in some amazingly challenging conditions. That turned out to be an epic adventure. Being the last one across the line before the final cut-off just makes the story all that better.

Bravo!

Thanks, Mark.  It sure was epic.  At least it wasn't cold.

nkrichards wrote:Nice job in tough conditions...both of you!  I'll bet you're both pleased to have that goal checked off and behind you.  Nice of you to help her Reina meet her goal.

Oh yes, Nancy.  The whole point of her coming back to Texas was the lack of height to cover, compared to the AR50 course.

And Reina is a very dear friend of mine.  It wasn't a burden...except that LAST loop.

This morning was my first run since Wild Hare.  As you may remember, I had been having some right hamstring troubles.  Wild Hare did not add any troubles, mostly because just being upright was a challenge. 

It was 45 degrees with a dewpoint of 41 with a west wind around 5 mph.  I bumped up the cadence by 1 to 167 steps per minute, just to see what happens.

8 miles, 1:39:55, 12:29 pace, 147 avg bpm, 163 max bpm during mile 1, 166 avg cadence, 0.77 m average stride length, 1st have pace 12:45, 2nd half pace 12:13.
1.  12:54, 147 bpm, 166 spm, 75 sl
2.  12:44, 147 bpm, 166 spm, 76 sl
3.  12:55, 146 bpm, 166 spm, 75 sl
4.  12:27, 148 bpm, 167 spm, 77 sl
5.  12:10, 146 bpm, 166 spm, 80 sl
6.  12:29, 146 bpm, 166 spm, 77 sl
7.  12:18, 147 bpm, 167 spm, 79 sl
8.  11:55, 150 bpm, 166 spm, 81 sl

The increase in cadence didn't cause any problems, except increasing the HR less than 5 bpm.  So what, it can handle it.  Ahhh, but the right hamstring started whining around mile 5 or 6 when I was increasing stride length and going up 1 rise.  I guess that I'm going to have to run flat as much as possible.  This will be interesting, but I'm willing to do it if it'll help my right hamstring heal before the marathon.

The 30K race on December 14 is extremely flat.  Three loops of flat. 

Until then, I'll run as far as I can without hurting.  Thanks for being here.

Hm. The hamstring issues seem to correlate more with stride length than cadence.

Nice consistent heart rate on this run, even when you picked up the pace a bit.

Mark B wrote:Hm. The hamstring issues seem to correlate more with stride length than cadence.

Nice consistent heart rate on this run, even when you picked up the pace a bit.

and incline, which to me would say that if I don't lengthen the muscle, I'm okay and maybe it'll heal if it's not disturbed.

Related to HR, it's probably +5 over 165 or 166.  That will settle down as the heart adjusts.  Maybe for the middle of next week, I'll try a 180 cadence.  Thanks, Mark.

Looks like you're continuing to progress very nicely! Take care of that hamstring.

nkrichards wrote:Looks like you're continuing to progress very nicely!  Take care of that hamstring.

Hate to burst your bubble, but I didn't progress on Friday.  The idea was to run 9 or twelve.  Did 6.5 miles.  Left shin was whining a lot and an area of about 6" diameter around the hip flexor was gradually getting worse as the miles increased.  And the hamstring wasn't completely without whining, either.

I didn't even save the run.  Grrrrr.

So, I knew I would have two days rest from the weekend and therefore I was hoping things would be better, today.  It WAS better, but not fixed.  The shin pain, I deduced over the weekend, was related to Wild Hare's up and down slippery course where my feet were planting (slapping) the course and is just overused.  This morning, while running the 6 miles, I determined the hip pain was related to some pain from my right sciatica nerve.

At Mark and Michele's suggestion, the second mile of the six miles was done at a cadence of 180 in order to see how it felt.  I believe they want me to run a few at 180, and I wanted to do just that, but my hamstring started aching and the sciatica pain was increasing, so I reduced back to the original 167 and continued. 

Miles 1 and 3-6 were done at 167 and mile 2 was at 180 with 68 degrees and 100% humidity.  A cold front has since blown through and it's 44 degrees.

6 miles, 1:13:20, 12:13 pace, 150 avg bpm, 162 max bpm, 168 avg cadence, 0.78 m avg stride length, 12:09 1st half pace, and 12:17 2nd half pace.
1.  12:12, 141 bpm, 167 spm, 79 sl
2.  11:43, 152 bpm, 178 spm, 77 sl
3.  12:32, 148 bpm, 165 spm, 78 sl
4.  12:24, 151 bpm, 167 spm, 78 sl
5.  12:11, 154 bpm, 167 spm, 79 sl
6.  12:19, 156 bpm, 167 spm, 78 sl

Mile 2 at 180 cadence, at the start, wasn't all that different than 167.  But as this mile went on, it was becoming tougher and I realized during the 2nd third of the mile that I wasn't holding 180 on each step.  At the very end of 2, my hamstring started to ache. 

So after that experiment (which I think went well), I turned the gnome back to 167 and continued.  The temperature was causing me to huff a little more than I should, but the sciatica pain in the right thigh was manageable, although I couldn't stop thinking about whether it would hold up for 18 miles in 13 days.  This was definitely a loss of endurance running event.  I know that I will get the endurance back, this week. 

I did work on running the 6 miles at a pain free or pain minimal pace.  Well, I guess I'll just have to see what happens.

You've been asking quite a lot from your body lately. A PR half, Sherpa for Reina, lengthening your stride, increasing your cadence, changing your form...I'm not surprised your body is screaming at you to give it a break. Don't push to hard. I refused to listen to my body in 2011 and failed to make it to the starting line. If your body needs a couple days to run slower/shorter/easier it might be for the best in the long run.

Take care.

I'll second what Nancy says. There's nothing like slippery conditions to get you sore in ways you never thought possible. Let it rest, and it'll probably help.

With your hamstring and sciatica problems, I'm wondering what sort of work you're doing to keep your "side butt" (glute med, glute min) strong. Building strength there can do a lot to make you more stable, and less sore elsewhere.

Ditto to the above, Doug.  Don't keep pushing if it isn't right for the day.  Been there, run that (and then couldn't - lol).

Well, I'm glad the Running Board of Funkadelic Happening is unanimous in their views.  

I tend to believe the sciatica pain is due to the spine and the pain is moseying along the nerve to a point where it causes pain.  Further, I think part of the cause (maybe most of the cause) is related to loss of muscle mass in the core (not doing CrossFit from Spring until July).  So more weight is resting lower causing the nerve to react.  I have had this issue before, some 5 or 6 years ago when I didn't believe in core work.

The hamstring issue, as y'all have said earlier, is due to over doing the stride lengthening in combination with 'speed.'  I don't think it's related to the sciatica, in fact, I know it's not.  I'm not really all that confident the hamstring will heal by January.  I just have to find out if I can run distance while not trying to lengthen the stride more than the hamstring can handle.  So, I need to work on a 'soft' power curve.

I do appreciate y'alls comments.  Very much.

-30-

Wednesday morning, I ran 9 miles.  The objective was to run soft and see what happens.  No lengthening.  Just doing it at 167 for much of it, then slowing a step to 166 because I wanted to just step it back a bit.  It was 52 degrees with an equal dewpoint.  You're going to love some of the mile splits the Garmin spit out.  It ended up measuring 9 miles, but I ran about 9.1 miles.  I didn't adjust the final pace numbers.  It seemed to measure fine through mile 6.

9 miles, 1:53:15, 12:35 pace, 145 avg bpm, 166 max bpm during mile 1, 165 avg cadence, 0.77 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 12:39, 2nd half pace 12:31.
1.  12:47, 144 bpm, 164 spm, 77 sl
2.  12:32, 146 bpm, 166 spm, 78 sl
3.  12:41, 144 bpm, 165 spm, 77 sl
4.  11:44, 148 bpm, 166 spm, 83 sl
5.  12:50, 144 bpm, 165 spm, 76 sl
6.  13:30, 142 bpm, 165 spm, 72 sl
7.  14:07, 145 bpm, 166 spm, 69 sl (nah, didn't happen)
8.  12:45, 147 bpm, 166 spm, 76 sl
9.  10:20, 148 bpm, 164 spm, 95 sl (nah, a 10:20 at 1 bpm more than the prior mile?  a 95 sl???)

The shin pain experienced since Wild Hare has resolved itself.  The radiating discomfort off the right hip was minimal, which began groaning about mile 4 and was never a player.  The hamstring is not fixed, but the route didn't make it worse.  Going up a long, slight incline during mile 6 did make the hammy whine until the ground became flat.  After the run, I stretched the hamstring and it did not like getting stretched.

So, I didn't run this morning.  And it looks like the 30K race on the 14th will be a training run, rather than a race.  Last year's PR of 3:43:22 or 11:54 pace would have been in jeopardy with the low 11 minute pace I was anticipating.  A PR is still possible, but I'm not going to risk it at the expense of the marathon.  Plus, it will probably be 30 degrees warmer than last year's starting temp of 32 degrees. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Y'all have a good weekend.

I think you're making good decisions, Ounce. Keep it on a low simmer so you can savor that marathon.

And yes, those are some crazy Garmin splits. What model do you have, again? Remind to not buy it.

Thanks, Mark.  It's the Forerunner 220.  I like the cadence, but I wish it had some of the features of the 305 like Last Lap Time.  I would imagine the FR 620 has the same tracking issues, since it's based on the 220.

ounce wrote:Thanks, Mark.  It's the Forerunner 220.  I like the cadence, but I wish it had some of the features of the 305 like Last Lap Time.  I would imagine the FR 620 has the same tracking issues, since it's based on the 220.

I just sent my 305 in to be refurbished. Would have loved to have the cadence capability of the 220 but I wasn't willing to risk the tracking issues...

Smart move, Nancy.

I'm going to test an idea that whenever the 220 mis-measures, then I will check to see if there's an update to load.  Because I haven't seen the 'update available' in the modern version of Garmin Connect, I just did WebUpdater via Window's  Start -->Garmin --> WebUpdater.  Now, I have found that whenever there's an update to do, there's also a ChipSet update, as well.  The Chip Set update is wayyyyy down at the bottom after all of the languages that can be uploaded.  After my last talk to Garmin, the person said to upload the Chip Set as that sometimes helps its measuring.  It worked for the last upload and I hope it works on this upload.

-30-

Monday, I ran 6 miles in the daylight.  I had the opportunity, so I took advantage of it.  Part of the goal of the run was to find the sweet spot between a hurting hamstring and speed.  Additionally, I wanted to see if I could run the first half of Sunday's 30K like I ran the 1st half of this 6 miles.  Memorial Park has as many rises and declines in elevation as the Sugar Land 30K course...not many and not much.  It was 70 degrees with a dewpoint of 44 degrees.  The first 3 miles was at 167 cadence and the final 3 miles were at whatever pace I wanted.

6 miles, 1:11:55, 11:59 pace, 161 average bpm, 175 max bpm during mile 6, 169 avg cadence, 0.80 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 12:13, 2nd half pace 11:45
1. 12.19, 154 bpm, 166 spm, 79 sl
2. 12:10, 152 bpm, 167 spm, 79 sl
3. 12:11, 157 bpm, 167 spm, 79 sl
4. 11:58, 162 bpm, 172 spm, 78 sl
5. 11:37, 169 bpm, 171 spm, 81 sl
6. 11:38, 170 bpm, 170 spm, 81 sl

The first thing I noticed was that my HR is +10 over running in the dark.  Hmmm.  I remember similar at different marathons in the past.  Now I know it's not the jitters.  The start of the run had the return of the left, lateral shin splint pain. And a little stiffness in the right hip flexor area.  Eventually, both resolved themselves.  Otherwise, the first half was fine and I was pleased with the pace.  The second half was a quicker cadence to see what the body would say.  During mile 4, I leaned forward and the hamstring was fairly quick about letting me know not to do that...OR ELSE.  Rats.

But the increase in cadence didn't phase the hamstring one bit.  Once I accepted the hamstring had me hamstrung, I used the rest of the run to see if I could increase my pace without pissing off the hamstring.  Clearly from miles 5 and 6, I can.  I might reserve this for the last 3-6 miles of the race.

Well, as you can see, the heart rate sure went up.  And it's clear from this run that Sunday's 30K is a clear training run, not a race.  It would be nice if I could PR the 30K (11:54 pace), but I'll be happy with a 12:30 overall pace.

Thursday, I wanted to see what hurt from Monday's run.  It was another daylight run, where it was 72 degrees during lunchtime.  On Sunday, the starting temp will be about 56 degrees with a high of 72 and partly cloudy skies being pushed by a south wind.  Plus, the race starts 30 minutes before sunrise.  So by the time I should be finishing around 10 a.m., it should be 65 or so.  HOPEFULLY, it'll be very cloudy.

3.34 miles, 41:10, 12:19 pace, 158 avg bpm, 172 max during mile 1, 166 avg spm, 0.79 m avg stride length.
1.  12:26, 156 bpm, 165 spm, 78 sl
2.  12:18, 156 bpm, 167 spm, 78 sl
3.  12:11, 161 bpm, 167 spm, 79 sl

Nothing hurt, but I didn't push it either.  Just motored along.  Before this run, I was going to be happy doing a 13 minute pace.  Now, 12:30 might be possible.   I'll take it easy on Sunday and just plan on finishing with no new problems as the goal.

You were smart to take it easy today. No sense going into the 30K sore.

Boy, it's amazing what sunlight does to a body, isn't it? It seems to always take a toll on me, especially during races, so it needs to be cloudy, shady or cold for me to be able to push it successfully.

I hope it's a cloudy morning for just that reason, Mark.  60 degrees and 85% humidity at the start, but the clouds will keep it slow to warm.

Today was the Sugar Land Finish Line Sports 30K, the last race in the Houston Marathon warm-up series that's put on by 3 running clubs in Houston.  The objective was not to get hurt (check ), not piss off the right hamstring (check ), and finish under 13 minute pace or 12:30 pace (and check ).

But it's not all peaches 'n cream.  I wouldn't have been able to finish a marathon.  I was so tired.  For me, part of the analysis of the 30K is do I have the stamina and endurance to finish a marathon in 5 weeks?  The answer is no.  I have two more opportunities to run long:  December 26 and January 1.  A 30 minute PR is out, but a PR is possible (5 hour 24 minutes - 12:22 pace from this past January).

The peaches 'n cream is that I was holding a 12:08 pace for 12 miles with little whining from the hamstring.  I felt good, but the sun rose and I was starting to run out of gas.  I took a S!Cap at mile 12 and 14, which helped me out.  By mile 15, I was hanging on for dear life.  I ended up walking for about 50 yards prior to mile 18, then sucked it up and finished the race.

I was pleased that I left Sugar Land no worse for the wear.  That helps out for the final 5 weeks.  I have iced and used my TENS unit on the hamstring, while watching the Texans put on a good effort against the Colts.  I'll take a few days to get my mind right for a PR.  I know that I can get an official finish (6 hours).

The race started at 63 degrees.  The cadence was to be 167.

18.63 miles, 3:50:37, 12:23 pace, 159 avg bpm, 177 max bpm during mile 15, 165 avg cadence, 0.79 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 12:08, 2nd half pace 12:38.
1.  12:42, 149 bpm, 166 spm, 76 sl
2.  12:29, 129 bpm, 167 spm, 77 sl
3.  12:39, 149 bpm, 160 spm, 79 sl
4.  12:02, 154 bpm, 167 spm, 80 sl
5.  12:00, 153 bpm, 167 spm, 80 sl
6.  11:51, 152 bpm, 167 spm, 81 sl  (1st 1/3rd pace 12:17)
7.  11:55, 154 bpm, 167 spm, 81 sl
8.  11:56, 157 bpm, 167 spm, 81 sl
9.  11:40, 161 bpm, 168 spm, 82 sl
10. 12:05, 162 bpm, 167 spm, 80 sl
11. 12:00, 164 bpm, 167 spm, 80 sl
12. 12:18, 170 bpm, 167 spm, 79 sl
13. 13:21, 169 bpm, 152 spm, 79 sl (pee break and S!Cap)
14. 11:50, 170 bpm, 166 spm, 82 sl
15. 12:37, 166 bpm, 160 spm, 80 sl
16. 12:21, 169 bpm, 167 spm, 78 sl
17. 13:05, 167 bpm, 165 spm, 74 sl (note the cadence is dropping & the stride length is shortening)
18. 13:19, 168 bpm, 161 spm, 75 sl
19. 13:17 pace, 169 bpm, 164 spm, 74 sl

Hopefully, the Houston marathon will have highs of 60.  The above numbers are not atrocious, but the slide occurred too soon and too much.

Something funny happened before mile 3.  I pulled off the course to pee in some bushes that lined the street.  During the break, some female said, "Gross."  Then immediately followed with, "Disgusting."  I said, "Yes, it certainly is."  As I caught up to her, I told her, "Have a nice day."  Must've been her first race.

As always, I appreciate the comments!

Woohoo, Doug - looks like you achieved that sub 12:30 ppm goal!