Back on Track

Okay, today's 11-mile LSD went great. No problems with the Right ITB, and I feel fantastic. I got out the door at about 5:45 and did three loops: 4-3-4. After that I headed over to Genesys for hot tub/cold plunge. That cold plunge routine is great. I do about 5 in the warm, then 6 in the cold; back to hot for about 5 and then in the cold for 2.

Splits for Today's 11-Miler

• 4 miles @ 10:34/M
• 3 miles @ 10:08/M
• 4 miles @ 10:00/M

Potty breaks between the loops, 2-3 minutes each. Overall pace of 10:15/M which is right about where it should be for LSD. Awesome!!!!

Follow Up

Just like last time, I will post some follow up here. It was helpful to look that over again. I think I am already in better shape than after the 10-miler.

• 8HRS. I feel really good after 8 hours. Only the tiniest hint of tenderness in that knee--no pain. I can feel my upper leg muscles, but none of the lower leg pain I am used to after long runs.

Swim 1 Mile

46 minutes. That's horrible. But I am not a very good swimmer, and I mostly wanted cardio for the middle of a long run. I ran 3 miles, swam 1 mile, then ran another mile. That's about the same amount of time I would have been running for my 11 mile LSD.

When I say "swam," I should really say "moved through the water. I do this sort-of Army crawl, a sort-of frog crawl, and a kind of doggy paddle. It's ugly. Some day in the future I might get a swimming lesson. Here's something to work on in the meantime.

Ready to Start Back Up?

Okay, it's been one week since my 10-miler that made me a little too sore in the knee. I did pool running this week and this morning I ran a mile on the Genesys track to see how things felt. I didn't have any knee pain, but I ran that mile too fast: 8:16. What am I going to do about pace? I need to slow it down.

It's snowing outside, and I don't really want to run in the light snow tomorrow. I have everything laid out for a winter run tomorrow. I will have to wait until 7am to get to the gym. Here's my current plan:

• Get up at 5:30 or so and do 3 here in the neighborhood. Go slow, see how it feels.
• Drive to the gym and swim, not pool run. See if you can do 30 min or maybe get close to the 1-mile mark swimming (33 laps).
• If you're up to it, do another 2 miles on the indoor track.
  
• That would be a total of 5 miles with 30 extra of cardio.
  

See, I am starting to get concerned about my lack of cardio for the half marathon. I think I am well into the zone where I can finish--even if I get super tired of if my knee hurts. But I still want to finish in under 2 hours.

If there is enough snow, I will run in screw shoes tomorrow. But it doesn't look that serious.

Race or No Race? / Where Do We Go From Here?

There is a 10K race next weekend; I was thinking of doing it. I bagged the last one because I didn't want to put too much stress on myself. My worry is that if I do it I might push myself too hard and get hurt. I'm also worried that I'll get discouraged. I think I should probably just stay home and try to do a long cario workout. If this hybrid run/swim thing works tomorrow, I could do that. Here's my current thinking about the rest of the pre-race schedule:

• SAT 2/6: 5M + 1M Swim (done on Sunday)
  
• SAT 2/13: 10K race?
  
• SAT 2/20: 11M LSD
  
• SAT 2/27: 8M LSD
  
• SAT 2/6: 13M LSD
  
• SAT 2/13: easy 5M
  
• SAT 2/20: HALF-MARATHON

I don't want to squander the week off I've taken by just getting hurt again. I want it to count. That's why it makes no sense to soldier on with the schedule I have and do the 11M tomorrow. I think the 5+swim will work. I will figure out if I do the 5 then swim, or if I do 3 + swim + 2.

I probably won't do the race. I could focus on running/swimming during next week. That would be good.

Pool Running/AquaJogging

So, today I did 17 minutes of pool running just to see what it was like. I think it will be a great way to keep moving while I let my knee clear up, and I might even keep doing it. The idea I have now is to go to the gym every morning. When I am 100% again, I can alternate pool and track running. I think I will do my workouts based on time, not distance.

Here are a bunch of pool running links. Most of them are about deep water running, which isn't what I am doing. I don't need no-impact exercise; this is just dramatically-reduced impact exercise, and it actually gives you a great sense of form (e.g. lean, footstrike, etc.).

This Could Be A Permanent Thing


If I end up liking this, it could be a great way to vary my running workouts and increase my overall fitness without putting extraordinary strain on myself. I can see myself going to Genesys every morning before work: I really do enjoy the day more when I start off going there. I could do pool running M/W/F and track running on T/R. Then I could do my long run on the weekends. That schedule would reduce my on-land running days from 4 to 3, but increase my overall running days from 4 to 6. Two runs on the track and one long run outside. This could be a winning formula.

Minutes vs. Miles

If I make this change, I will start logging my indoor running in minutes, not miles. I think this is fine. I can use lap times to gauge my effort level and speed. For a while, I have wanted my base workout to be 45 minutes, which is about what it takes me to run 5 miles. Man, if I did 45 minutes every day before work for the next 6 weeks, that could make a huge difference!

This Week's LSD

I am scheduled to do an 11-mile long run this weekend; that is NOT going to happen. I estimate that I would have been running for 1:47, so perhaps I could stitch together some kind of hybrid this Saturday. Maybe I do 45 minutes running in the pool; lace up and do 30 on the track; get back in the pool and finish the remaining 30 in the pool again. I could alternate long run weekends this way, too.




Jump USA Shoes

http://www.mlive.com/living/jackson/index.ssf/2009/05/watery_workout_it_looks_easy_b.html

Cross Training Alternative

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/aquarunning.html

http://www.goodhealth.com/articles/2009/07/24/for_the_sake_of_your_joints_try_pool_running