26.2 Goal Setting

Starting to think about goals for the next marathon. I know that I will need to ease through this training. I think I've turned a corner with the R knee, but I don't want to take any chances. There will be some time off. There will be a week in Utah; I am traveling to Indianapolis in Feb, but I think I will run there. Not sure how much running I will do in Hawaii. Might as well--it's a great place for that.

Even Pace

I think my biggest goal is going to be to keep an even pace. For some reason, 9:45/M pokes out at me as doable. If I were to manage that, I'd have a finishing time close to 4:15:00, which would be shaving more than 20 minutes off my first marathon. It would also leave room to improve in the Fall. I like this idea, so I am going to kick it around.

Another idea I like is having a weight loss goal for the race. The idea would be to commit to weigh a certain amount on race day--something like 175 lbs.

On The Road Again

Today, I ventured out onto the road for a slow 3-miler. R knee got soft at the end. Dang! Still, it was nice to be out in the snow with my 2010 screw shoes. These were the alternate pair of Ghosts that I bet up after the half marathon. Lots of training miles on these puppies. Stopped wearing them when I got the Ghost 2s and started breaking them in for the marathon. Then I got the Launch, and these guys never felt right again. They were tearing up my heels for some reason. Well, different story with the screws--these guys are great. Perfect Winter running shoes, and they'll make great lawnmowing shoes in the Summer.

But what about that knee? I'm supposed to do 115 minutes tomorrow, and I think I'll do it in the pool. I don't want to push it at all.

I put in far fewer screws this year. 10 on each shoe, and I think that's more than enough. I think four in front and four in back would do it. But they're cheap, so... what the heck.

99 Days to Go

All this knee anxiety has me worried. Today is an "off" day, and while I was tempted to get into the pool or something, I decided to really take the day off. Tomorrow, I will head to the gym and do the regular 30min pool run. Part of my is curious about trying to DWR in the deepest lane. Not sure if 5' of water will be deep enough. In theory it should be. My head will be out of the water--that's 10"-12" right there. Then you have the leaning forward, which should mean that you are not touching. Who knows?

Perhaps the resistance pool is deep enough? I've never seen anyone in there. I guess I will just have to check it out.

And then there's the elliptical trainer.

And then there's the diet. Could this be the time to do a radical experiment? Three months of diet?

A Brief History of Time

I'm digitizing an old cassette copy of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. It belonged to my grandfather. I think it will be good listening during pool runs.

Next Day

Well, the pool lanes were all busy, so I tried the track. Good news: 45 minutes without pain. I listened to Side One of the Hawking and made a point of not pushing it. Feels great to be on the road to recovery!

Genesys SWR by the Numbers

Okay, SWR is getting to be part of the routine. The new AQx shoes arrived today, so we'll see how they do. Part of me is sad that I can't try the DWR, but there's just no place for it. The main thing I miss, I think, is the core exercise. I'll just need to work out.

• The lap pool is 25 yards per length
• A lap is "out and back," or 2 lengths (50 yards)
• A mile is 72 laps (so said the lifeguard today)
• The lap pool ranges from 4'9" on the stair end, to nearly 5' on the deepest end. Today I tried to do SWR in 4'9" water, and that doesn't work; the water is too deep
• I saved a few minutes to run in the therapy pool on the theory I might need to do that some days when the lap pool is full. Well, that pool is 90 degrees, so it's really too hot for exercise. It's also only 4' deep at the very edge--running in circles is fine, but you get into shallow water if you're not hugging the far wall.
  

My knees are a little sore today; I wonder if I am being too paranoid about them.

Anxious to try the new shoes.

[That's not the Genesys pool in the photo, but it is a 25-yard pool]

SWR Bibliography

Here are the resources I find as I find them:

• Koury, J.M. (1996) Aquatic Therapy Programming.
  
• Puelo & Milroy (2010) Proper Technique to Water Running (from Running Anatomy).
• Town & Bradley (1991) Maximum Metabolic Responses of Deep and Shallow Water Running in Trained Runners.
• Dowzer, et. al. (1999) Maximal Physiological Responses to Deep and Shallow Water Running.
  

New 16-Week Training Program

I am pretty psyched to have a new training program for the marathon #2. It comes from Mastering the Marathon by Don Fink. SWR is going to be a big part of this one. I've adapted it to fit my "off" days and preferred "long run" days.

LRPM

Long Run Pool Marathon.

The acronym just leaped off the page. Earl Fee's The Complete Guide to Running has a whole section called the LRPM method. In it, he extols the virtues of DWR as a supplement to long runs to build the equivalent mileage to 26+.

I love this idea. Now, I am unlikely to work on DWR. The best fit for me is SWR, but I had already thought about something similar to this.

Given my finicky ITB, I think I am only going to do SWR this week and see how I feel. I don't want to be sidetracked for too long, so maybe I can nip this in the bud. By the time the really long runs come, perhaps I can work the SWR into long run combinations to simulate marathon-length sessions.

You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.
--Steve Prefontaine

Update: SUN, 2010-12-19

Did the equivalent of 8 miles in the pool today. My right ITB feels "warm," but no pain. We'll see how this works. I plan to do all running as SWR in the pool this coming week. The way I am doing is seems fine. 9 laps = 1 mile. Each lap takes appox. 1 minute, so this seems about right. I did 72 laps today.

AQx Water Shoes

Right now I have a $9 pair of Speedo pool shoes that I have used for SWR. Today I ordered a decent pair designed just for this purpose. They were on sale in my size so I said "what the heck?" Sometimes a gear purchase can motivate you to do something. So even if the shoes aren't demonstrably better than the cheapos, if they get me into the water every Wed for SWR, they will have been worth it.

Some good info on SWR workouts:

Run in water that's waist- to midchest-deep, slicing your hands through the water as if you're running on land (but avoid making a swimming motion with your arms). For a serious challenge, try this: Run for 2 minutes at a moderate intensity, rest for 30 seconds (or do an easy jog to stay warm), then repeat for 5 times total. Next, run for 1 minute at a high intensity, rest for 30 seconds and repeat for 8 times total. Finally, repeat the 2-minute moderate-intensity intervals and 30-second rest periods 5 more times. Wear cross trainers (dark-soled running shoes will scuff up the pool) or water shoes.

Source: Super Cool Water Workouts.

I have yet to think through what my SWR runs might be like, but I think that swapping out Wednesday morning runs is a great idea. That's the longest weekly mileage, and if I get to the pool early enough, it will be a perfect fit. Tracking in distance makes no sense. I will go by time, either using 10:00/M or 9:00/M as the yardstick. For example, the plan tomorrow is to do 50 minutes of SWR in place of a 5 mile run. I think 45 minutes would count, particularly if intervals were a part of it.

Another idea for SWR would be to incorporate it into race simulations. Seems like a perfect way to "pre-fatigue" muscles without overloading/stressing knees, PF, etc. For example, maybe I could do 25 minutes of very intense SWR and then transition to the track to get my body to feel like it did at mile 19.

Final note: I did enough SWR to know that it is boring as hell. I think the interval training will really help. Hard to be bored when you're getting your ass kicked. If this goes well, it should also give a real sense of accomplishment.

Four Tweaks

The next marathon is 2011-04-02, so we need to start thinking training strategy. I crossed the finish line in Detroit thinking that I would only change a few things about my preparation. I've decided that I will use the same mileage schedule with a few tweaks. I've been thinking about it for about a month, and here are the four tweaks:

1. Overall Conditioning. During the end of the race, I was convinced that if I had more general fitness and strength in my non-running body I would have done much better. That means core muscles, arms, back, and general cardiovascular fitness. Bottom line: three days per week at the gym with an overall strength training routine.
   
2. Lose 10 Pounds. At the finish line, I had the sense that if I had managed to lose 10 more pounds that the entire race would have been easier. I read once that each lost pound should reduce your marathon time by about one minute. Bottom line: eat better during training and don't use the extra calorie burn as an excuse to indulge!
   
3. Race Simulations. Just before running the marathon, I read a few articles about race simulations. The folks at Marathon Nation are big into this. Part of this tweak includes going faster on my long runs. I just wasn't prepared to keep a pace in the 9:00/M range by the time I got past 15 miles. Bottom line: devise some scenario-based race simulations around your long runs.
   
4. Shallow Water Running. Because I am a member at Genesys again, I can use the pool. Believe it or not, the pool has empty lanes before work, so it's perfect for SWR, or Shallow Water Running. I ordered a pair of water running shoes. I think this could be the secret weapon as long as I can combat the boredom. Bottom line: do every Wednesday run in the pool and really crank up the cardio intensity.
   

All four of these require some fairly serious commitment over the next few months. I am convinced that these will make a great deal of difference.

2nd MARATHON!

Well, I signed up for my second marathon: the Martian Marathon in Dearborn on 2011-04-02.