Week 11 - It Hurts My Bonios

I know that there is one person out there just dying to hear about how Week 11 went in training so for that person's benefit, I'm posting here.

I cut out another short run this week because my leg really felt like it was going to blow up. I ran the 8 miles on Tuesday and I think I mentioned this last week, but it just felt like it was taking such a toll. More than anything, I felt just so anxious about my ability to complete the training and run the marathon. For about the first 6 miles I was really feeling it, and then for some reason after about the 6 mile point I just decided in my mind that it wouldn't be a problem and that I would figure out how to make it work. And since then I've been okay.

I had to back off training a little bit, so skipping the short run wasn't for lack of motivation, but more for wanting to make sure that I would be strong for the long run on Saturday.

I ran that 8 mile run in 1:09, which is behind my normal pace. I attribute that to the anxiety I was feeling. I still played soccer on Wednesday night, but I skipped the run on Thursday and did some swimming as well as some time on an exercise bike. Can I just tell you how much I detest riding a stationary bike? Even riding a regular one just around town feels like such a cop-out when it comes to exercise because the muscles being used are so confined to small areas. When I ride a bike, I don't feel winded at all and I only feel like 2 areas are being utilized. I like running because I just like how there's no cheating in it - if you're not moving your own body, then you don't go anywhere. That's it.

Anyway, I ran 4.2 on Monday in about 34 minutes. My pace the whole week felt a little slow.

The long run on Saturday was the same 17.49 mile run I ran two weeks ago. I had a couple of energy gels leftover to take on my run, and I hid two gatorades along my route for hydration and to get back some electrolytes.

I didn't get to bed very early again, about 1 AM. I did wake up at 5:30 AM to eat so I would have enough time for the food to settle before the run. Starting at about 9:10 AM, I was off.

I made sure to back off in the beginning because that's when I felt most afraid that the pain in my right leg would return. I've been noticing that on my longer runs, even some of the shorter runs, I don't feel like I'm in a groove until about mile 4 or 5. It's really crazy to me that I can notice that difference, and that it would come so late into a run. Maybe for a seasoned runner, this is not uncommon, but I never thought that I would get to a point where 4-5 miles would feel like a warm-up and not the whole work out.

At about mile 5.5, I was due for my first gatorade. Because I was kind of scrambling to get out quickly because the morning was quickly passing away, I wasn't able to find a good hiding spot for my sports drink. I didn't think that would be a problem in Irvine, and only 45 minutes passed between the time when I dropped off everything got out the door and to the first spot. It turns out that it would be a problem because just when I was looking forward to my first liquid refreshment, there was nothing to be found. I was really defleated at that point because I knew that nothing was coming up until mile 9. I was so discouraged that I had decided that if I didn't find the second drink, I was going to start just trudging back home.

Luckily it was there, and I found a couple of water fountains on the way and my energy gels helped sustain me through the end. It's kind of interesting sometimes with the calories that I'll consume during the run because I can almost pinpoint the exact moment when my body has reached a point where it has processed them and made available to my tired limbs. I felt pretty strong throughout, and I did keep the pace down to make sure I had enough left in my tank to finish it off. I thought right after I found the first gatorade missing that I might cut it short, especially considering that I was going to be in a waterpark the rest of the afternoon, but I was glad to feel strong enough to go through with the original plan.

I completed the 17.49 miles in 2:34. That's 7 minutes slower than the first time I ran it, but I managed to do it without any of the overworking that I did the first time around. The pace is a little bit slower than my norm of about 7 mph. The pace ends up being about 6.82 mph, which ends up being about 8:48 minutes/mile. I hope by the race day that I'm rested enough that I can maintain a little bit faster pace, something closer to 8:30. The first time around I had about 8:24 min/mile. We'll see I guess.

The worst part about these long runs is just after finishing. I've read a little bit about it, but I'd like to ask my friends in the medical field exactly what's happening after putting that stress on my body, but to my knowledge there is a build up of lactic acid in the muscles after that kind of sustained effort. Once the legs stop moving, it's like the acid just floods in. I'm able to finish the run with little pain, but for about 20-30 minutes after I'm done it feels like my legs, especially my calves, are seizing up entirely. It's really quite painful.

The best part about finishing the long runs is how tough I feel. I love it. I'm having a hard time sustaining the motivation to run every week and plan my entire Saturday around the runs, but I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes afterward. I think that's what I'm really surviving on right now. After this week I have five more weeks of hard running, and then I begin to taper in anticipation of October 12th. I'll be back next week.