53 and Beyond

What happened?

 On my way to 51, I was layed off. Found a new job. Started running again...this time to 52. But while making great progress toward the 2012 San Diego Rock N Roll marathon, I turned the left ankle again...and here I am, nearly two years later, and still trying to overcome that injury.

 At the time, I thought it was just a sprain. I treated it like a sprain, took a recuperating break from marathon training and tried to get back on the horse to still finish that race, but reluctantly had to abandon that hope. I then took a month off, wearing a boot and using crutches. Back to running? Still not right. Went to see an orthopedist and learned I had (1) evidence of a prior high ankle sprain and (2) in medical jargon, a lot of "crud" in the joint. Scheduled me for an MRI, but out of pocket cost was going to be $500, so I skipped it. Went back to the boot, this time for longer, and tried to stay in shape in the pool, on the bike and with circuit training. Anything except running.

 In October 2012, I ran in a "zombie run" with my son. Loads of fun, but the ankle was screaming. Nothing was working. I deduced I had multiple issues:

1. Tendinapathy of the Posterior Tibial Tendon 
2.  Inflammation were the tendon inserts at the navicular bone
3. A fibroid node on the plantar fascia
4. Breakdown of cartilage
5. An overly flexible ankle joint which, in conjunction with the above, results in a flat arch and over-pronation 

Basically, I ran very little during 2013. My conditioning worsened, I lost my fitness habit and got soft again. Started to feel my age.

 I'm now 53 and I have a decision to make. I'm eligible for guaranteed entry into the 2014 NYC Marathon. I have to exercise that option by March 18th. The entry fee is unrefundable ($266). Can I commit? Am I too brittle for endurance running? From the time of this posting, I have 25 days to decide. For a month, now, I've been doing some conditioning, just trying to ease myself back into a workout routine and restore some measure of fitness. I'm doing some treadmill running, cautiously increasing the intensity, working on form and injury prevention to protect the vulnerable left ankle. Cardio-vascular fitness leaves a lot to be desired, and I'm carrying about 10lbs. extra flab than I should be. I've been running every other or every third day, filling in the gaps with cycling, elliptical and rowing. I'll add swim and strength training.

If I can run a 5K in 25 minutes by 17 March without my ankle killing me, I'll commit and enter the marathon. If I do, I'll start a new blog to track the 8-month journey.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I need an outlet for my constant, almost obsessive, focus on running, so getting back to keeping a running diary here at Blogspot might be a good idea. I can pretend like I have an audience and spout off on whatever happens to be on my mind, but the primary thing, I think, is just keeping a narrative of my training runs for later reference. I'm not doing that now and there are times when I'd like to go back and review what I was thinking or feeling at various stages of training and conditioning.

I've pretty much decided -- just today, in fact -- to abandon my notion of running a February marathon. Money is tight, for one thing. But Surf City is 16 weeks away from this weekend, and I still have 3 weeks to go until the Silver Strand half marathon. I don't want to start shifting to the marathon training schedule right when I'm putting the final touches on my half marathon object with the taper coming soon.

That means the marathon training will be compressed even further. I don't want to ante up $120 just to finish another marathon. I want to perform and strive for an improvement. So I'm going to spend the end of 2011 continuing to establish my foundation and gear myself toward a second assault on the San Diego Rock'n'Roll marathon in June.

I also have a mind to try to do the Marine Corps marathon in October 2012, so that's two marathons during the calendar year right there. I question the wisdom of me trying to wedge in a 3rd marathon at this point in my late running career.

So that's that. No January/February marathon. If I can, I'll still do the Carlsbad half on 22 Jan. And some other odds and ends, like the Race on the Base triathlon in February and the Carlsbad 5000 in April.

I turn 51 in a few weeks. Wonder if I should bother to switch to a new, fresh blog, since I will have "run to 51" soon. ???

Rediscovering this Blog

I wonder if anyone else has stumbled across this and wondered what happened?

Probably not. Probably just another example of the electronic detritus left withering on Web servers everywhere.

It's September 2012 now, and there's a lot of water under the bridge since last December. I stopped bothering with this blog when things started to unravel at work and my preoccupation with the marathon training had to take a back seat to more immediate concerns.

I did wind up finishing the Carlsbad marathon, but just barely missed achieving the 4 hour time goal. I was great up until around the final 5 miles, and then started to deteriorate. But nothing like my rookie marathon at the Rock'n'Roll event the year before. I only started suffering from quivering cramps during the final 3 miles, and had to resort to extended walking breaks during the final 2, which is where I lost time off my consistent 9:00/mile pace. Even so, it was a much better experience than the misery that was the 2010 San Diego RnR marathon.

I throttled way back on running after that as I tried to save my job. Layoffs were in the wind and I was hopeful that I could survive the RIF. But by March it was plain that nothing I could do was going to change the bottom line, so I started to prepare for the inevitable.

I took a couple of short breaks from running altogether while my front hip/quads were acting up. For a time there I was barely even able to run at all due to the pain. It felt like it was a hip joint problem, but it turns out I'd just suffered strain to the upper quad/hip flexor region, and all it needed was rest.

I started running regularly again in May, after being laid off on April 17th, and haven't experienced any hip issues since.

Summer could have been a nice vacation while I searched for a new job, but the severance was meager and I began to worry about finances sooner than I would have liked. The job hunt was not going as planned and my optimism was gone by the summer solstice. I tried to keep fit, but didn't want to make any race goals until I had a job lined up.

In the nick of time, I wrangled an offer and started work again on 1 August. I was out of work for a little over 3 months, which in retrospect wasn't that bad. I was pretty blessed to have escaped what was headed for a calamity.

With a paycheck back in hand, I turned my attention to running again, looking for a marathon target to set my sights on. I'm 5 weeks into a "Run Less, Run Faster" training program that I hope to mesh with a schedule that lines up with a January or February marathon. I was hoping to swing a Disney World vacation for the family and due that marathon on January 8th. But finances are not going to be recovered in time to support that luxury. So I'm leaning toward the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach in February. I'll still run Carlsbad, but I'll just do the half.

I'm feeling very good. Not as lean or strong as I'd like, but none of the nagging calf or hip injuries. That left ankle is still prone to tenderness (and I'm beginning to think it's my incidental kicking from the other foot that's contributing to that). I think I've got a very good shot at dipping 5-10 minutes under the 4 hour mark, and if I manage to do that, I'm going to make a serious run at re-challenging the San Diego RnR course in June and making up for 2010. I also might try to run the Marine Corps Marathon in 2012.

Not to mention, 2012 might be the year of the triathlon for me. We'll see.

I turn 51 in a few months. When I was 48, I was feeling 48. Thanks to running, I don't feel that way anymore. I'll never feel like 20-something again, I know; but I think this running thing is more than a phase. The appetite's been hanging in there for 2 years now.

Checking Back In

Sunday's cut-back long run (15 miles) was harder than the previous weekend's long, long run (18 miles). I don't know why. I did push the pace a tiny bit more, but it's hard to believe that made that much of a difference.

Pulled a groin muscle a week ago at the very end of my run. That forced me to spend the week trying to recuperate, and I drew down my mileage quite a bit, not to mention relaxing a little on the intensity. I was hoping that would make this past weekend's run a little easier.

I used the 8-minutes run + 30 seconds walk strategy to complete the 15 miler. I'm resolved to employing that method in the marathon itself. The resulting pace, through distances of 18 miles or less, has proved to be 8:30 to 8:40 per mile. That would be a wonderfully satisfying pace for the full marathon if I can sustain it for another 6-8 miles. But I'm still struggling to push through beyond 18 miles. Next weekend's final long run before the taper will give me some indication of how hard it's going to be on January 23rd.

I recorded Sunday's splits:
Mile 1: 8:35
Mile 2: 8:31
Mile 3: 8:30
Mile 4: 8:34
Mile 5: 8:31
(remarkably consistent pace; took an extra 1:00 after mile 5 to refill water bottle and swallow a GU.)
Mile 6: 8:39
Mile 7: 8:38
Mile 8: 8:40
Mile 9: 8:28
Mile 10: 8:38
(still keeping a good pace; 3:30 pit stop for water, electrolytes, protein drink and another GU.)
Mile 11: 8:29
Mile 12: 8:27
Mile 13: 8:25
Mile 14: 8:28
Mile 15: 8:27
(all 5 final mile splits under 8:30; the rest stop after #10 was longer than I'd planned, but it obviously was refreshing.)

8:32 average pace. That would be around a 3hr 42 min marathon. I know if I try for that, I'll crash and burn. I'm more motivated to finish the race in under 4 hours, so I'm going to work to slow the pace down to 8:40 or more for the first half and evaluate accordingly.

One thing of note: my lower abs and abductor muscles are really sore, along with the usual hip flexors and upper quads. Left ankle is still bothering me, though not as early into these long runs as before.

This week's plan brings milesage back up into the 40s. Then comes the taper.

35 Days

In 5 more weekends, I'll be re-attempting 26.2 miles.  I'm either not going to be ready or I'm ready now.  It's one or the other.  I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

I had 20 miles on the agenda yesterday, but only made it through 18 after slipping on a metal plate on the Jefferson overpass at the end of the marathon route.  I didn't fall, but the little dance I did to avoid falling (and stumbling off the pedestrian path and into the path of an oncoming car) did a number on whatever core muscles those are in my groin/pubic area.  I tried to run again and work through it, but just couldn't.  Good thing that came toward the end.  The run was hard enough with my ankle bugging me.

I just don't have a ton of confidence after yesterday.  I stuck pretty closely to a rhythm of 8:30 running with 0:30 walk breaks.  I kept fueled with a constant trickle of Power Bar bites and Gatorade protein drink at 10 and 14 miles.  I might have gotten a little short on water.

Let's see: I drank 10 ozs over the first 4 miles, refilled my bottle at the aid station Marat was manning, drank that 10 ounces over the next 6 miles until reaching the rest rooms at South Ponto, drank 10 oz of the Gatorade protein drink there and refilled, then finished that 10ozs off over the next 4 until reaching Marat again.  14 miles and about 120-130 minutes.  40 ozs of fluids or 10 oz every 30 minutes.  Even though it was chilly and rainy, that's still well short of 10 ozs every 10-15 minutes which is my usual water schedule.  And then at that last pass of the aid table, I drank the last of my protein drink but forgot to fill up my water bottle.  I wound up having to grab some out of a shower spigot on Tamarack around 15 miles.  I think I count up no more than 60 ozs over the full 2 hrs 40 min run.  10 oz/26 mins is not enough.

The pace wasn't bad though.  The walk/run pattern resulted in an 8:30 to 8:45 pace, which would be fine by me if I can do that on race day.  I experienced the same decay as always: felt great through 6-7 miles.  Had to work but still was good from 7-14.  Felt a rapid decrease in performance from 14-16, and each mile after 16 becomes a struggle.

It doesn't help that my ankle just won't get better.  I've run on reduced mileage for three weeks now, and that left ankle is chronic.  I'm wearing the GelThotics all the time now, but I don't know if they're really helping.  Yesterdays wet weather makes them loose their tackiness and they start to slide out from under the sole liner.  I'm resigned to just having to deal with it on race day and maybe reevaluate whether or not marathons are for me. I might just be a half marathoner at best.

Fun to run with the SDRG.  It's nice to have support along the way.  Tons of runners along the PCH, despite the rain.  I sensed that most were also putting in their weekend prep for the upcoming Carlsbad run, with most training for the half marathon.  The SDRG did the Palomar Airport Rd section of the course, but I skipped it since I've done it a few times.  I wanted to avoid the gauntlet of traffic lights between Avenida Encina and Costco, plus I wanted to run the rest of the route southbound on Carlsbad Blvd, beyond the half marathon turnaround point.  I think it's a good, psychologically manageable route.  There's not "wasteland" like the RnR's Fiesta Island.

I need to get back in the habit of blogging.  I probably won't try to go back and fill in the gaps.  I'm probably never going to go back and read these entries, and I'm pretty sure no one else is reading.

Yesterday's route:

BIg Gap

How in the world am I going to catch up?  I've lost my blogging momentum.  Still been running, and I think I'm still on target for the marathon in just 40 days.  I've taken a two-day rest period after Saturday's short "long" run really pointed out to me I was risking over-doing it.  I was just so fatigued after the 11-mile run from Allied Gardens to Fashion Valley, it made me sit up and take notice that I must pay attention to my need for rest.  It's so strange, though, because the harder runs earlier that week left me feeling so good and brimming with confidence.

But Sunday I rested.  And Monday I rested again.

Tonight, I'm working late but plan on doing some hill intervals here shortly to wake myself up.  I know it's only been 2 days of not working out, but I feel like it's been weeks and as if I've put on a couple of pounds.  Psychological, I know.

I'm not sure I'm going to feel like it, but if I do, I'll try to recount the past two weeks.  Not sure why.  Just for continuity, I suppose.  I wonder if I'll ever even go back and reread any of this.

Thanksgiving Day 5K Photos

Official results and photos are in from the Thank You Run:

15th overall.

Could have been top 10 had I been on top of my game, but it was definitely not a course for a PR.