Back to Back weeks of 13 miles - Not Good

Last Saturday (7/23) was the Hoffman Estates/Alexian Brothers Hopsital Half Marathon.  As planned, I ran in this race.  Yesterday (7/29) I ran another 13 miles.

My takeaway lesson from running 13 mile runs back to back (week-wise)?  I'm not up for it.

It was tough.  When I got home from the run I thought I was going to pass out.  It took me a few hours to finally regain some energy and feel good.

Until I build up some more stamina, I need to avoid running such a long distance in back to back long runs.  I should have capped it at about 9 miles.  I know I would have been fine at that distance because I felt okay up until that point when running yesterday.

Another lesson I've learned is to take it easy in terms of working out (even non-running workouts) the day before a double-digit run.  I got a good night's sleep the night before the run.  My diet was appropriate too.  I did, however, have a very good strength-training workout the night before and that may have tired me out some.

I'm resting today and then tomorrow I'll try to run about 6 miles on an indoor track.  I'll be fasting come Monday (8/1) and at that juncture my workouts are going to be both shorter and probably a bit less strenuous as well.  During Ramadan I will not be running any double digit runs.

Training for a Half Marathon in Ramadan

August 1st will mark the first day of fasting in the month of Ramadan.  Once again I will observe this religious duty, but this year, unlike any of the many Ramadans of the past, I'll also be training for a half marathon.  This will be a real challenge!

I'm running in the Chicago Half Marathon on September 11, 2011.  I'm running for Team Red White and Blue (TeamRWB), a charity that helps reintegrate wounded veterans into civil society, and the race happens to fall on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Even though the race is just 12 days after the end of Ramadan, I can't pass up the chance to do something meaningful on this solemn date.  I've experienced a lot and changed a lot over the last 10 years because of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.  I don't want to forget 9/11.  This seems like a reasonable way to remember this national and human tragedy.

I ran a half marathon last Saturday (7/23).  That's 13 miles run 7 weeks before the 9/11 Half Marathon.  This weekend I'm going to run another 13 miles.  Normally I wouldn't run my max distance (I've never run more than 13.1 miles - yet) but I know that hitting this distance during Ramadan will be very difficult and rather than forego this long run, I'm going to suck it up and run it now.  One either 8/31 or 9/1 I'm going to run another 13 miles.  That will be one or two days after Ramadan is over but it will give me a good 10 days to rest up for the race.

During the month of Ramadan I plan to run either first thing after breaking my fast (which is at sunset) or about 1 hour before breaking the fast.  I'll experiment during the first few days to see which works best.

I probably will not run more than 60 to 75 minutes at a time, so in order to get myself conditioned for the 9/11 half marathon I'll try to up my total miles.  Last Ramadan I ran 30 miles in the last 10 days of the month to raise money for charity.  Maybe this year I'll try to set a tougher goal.  We'll see.

Summertime fitness

It's been a very good summer as far as workouts are concerned.

I ran a half marathon on May 15, 2011 in Schaumburg.  I ran and lifted weights during our family vacation during the last week of June.  Now I'm getting ready for my second half marathon of the year (on July 23rd).  I'm at or slight below the 200 pound mark and am about 15 pounds away from my 185 pound goal (from back in February 2010).

In addition to these personal workout highlights, I've also been running and lifting weights consistently.  As of today I'm at 369 miles (my year-end goal for total miles run is 600).  I'm about 30 to 50 miles ahead of schedule!

My mind vs. my muscles

This past Sunday was beautiful outside.  It was warm and sunny for change, and I took advantage of the nice weather and went out for a run - a 9 mile run around Shoe Factory Road Forest Preserve.

By mile 5 my mind was entertaining the idea of making the remaining 4 miles a leisurely stroll.  In other words, by the time I got to mile marker 5 I started to think about quitting.  It was hot, my water was running out and my mind was straying.

To fight off the urge to quit I tried to focus on my legs.  How were they feeling?  Was my right ankle acting up (it's the one that usually gives me trouble)?  No.  The part of my right leg just above the ankle but not quite the shin was achy all week.  Was it hurting?  No.  Was I winded?  No.  Was I getting side stitches?  No.  Cramps?  No.  My muscles were fine.  Everything was working, but my mind kept entertaining thoughts of quitting.

I struggled through it and finished the run.  As I closed the 9 mile loop I kept going for another tenth of mile or so to my parked car.  I stopped, unlocked the car door and grabbed some more water.  Within a few minutes my breathing was regular.  I felt fine.  Clearly I didn't push myself very hard based on how quickly I recovered, so why was my mind telling me to stop?

I spoke to a co-worker who runs marathons.  He's a young guy - at most he's in his mid-twenties.  This dude can run 7 minute miles.  7 minute miles!  I'd have to sprint to cover a mile in 7 minutes.  And I know I can't sprint for a whole mile.  I point this out for no real reason other than to say that I spoke to someone who knows a thing or two about running and can do it a lot better than me.

I told him of my running story (I regularly bore my running co-workers to death with my running issues) from this Sunday.  He had a very thoughtful insight.  The mind is rational and when it feels the stress of running it says "stop".  The impulse it sends to stop isn't based on the body not being able to withstand the stress.  It's just a self-preservation mechanism.  But an athlete knows (or should know) his body well enough (by pushing the limits in training) to know what it can withstand.  An athlete should be able to identify injury pain from simple fatigue pain.  And that, according to my colleague, is how you keep yourself going.

I felt pretty good about his explanation.  Largely this is because that's exactly what I did on my last run.  As an athlete (I refer to myself as one in the broadest, loosest and most generous sense known to mankind) I've come to understand what I can take.  That's why I didn't stop.  That's why I made it through all 9 miles.

Looking back I did find one variable that I re-introduced on my 9 mile run that I haven't had in my various 6, 7 and 8 mile runs over the past several weeks.  That variable is my iPod.  I think the music distracts me from thinking about my running and it keeps me from thinking about positive things that keep me going.

I'm ditching the iPod.  This week I'm running without it.  This coming Sunday when I line up for another 1/2 marathon in Schaumburg I'm going to be iPod free.  Hopefully this will help me get my mind and my muscles better synchronized.

My running ups and downs...

Only a few weeks after running the Shamrock Shuffle in 55 minutes (it was an 8K race in downtown Chicago) I was able to complete another 8K race (this time in Washington, DC) in 50 minutes.  I noticed that my runs were getting slightly faster even though I didn't necessarily set out to make faster times.

I chalked it up to improving fitness and to the fact that I'm getting better at running.  I ran with a friend from the office after work during a business trip to Springfield, Illinois and we ran approximately 6.8 miles at just under 11 minute miles (my usual M.O. has been to run the longer distances at about 12 min/mile).  At home I ran 8 miles at a pace of 11 min 30 sec (again, slower then my 8K times but faster than my usual for longer distances).

Since then I've been having aches and pains in my right ankle and the area just above my right ankle.  That plus all the rain and cold have kept me off the road and on a treadmill.  While the lessened impact from running on the treadmill is good, I can't seem to get myself to run longer distance on the treadmill.  I get bored very quickly.

Today I went out and ran 9 miles.  It was run at a slow 12min/mile pace.  It was a hard 9 miles.  Right from the start my knees and my ankle felt achy/sore.  Those pains receded into the background as I finished a few miles but then my legs just started getting heavy and I really struggled through the last 3 miles.

I was surprised that I started feeling so stiff at mile 6 since I've covered 8 miles a few times this year and on neither of those occasions did I feel as tired even in the last stretch as I did today in a much earlier point in my run.  I was disappointed with the way I ran.

Thankfully I went out with a small bottle of water.  That turned out to be a lifesaver because today it was sunny and about 70 degrees out.  Without the water I would have been hurting even more.

I've got a 1/2 marathon on 5/15.  I'm 4 miles short and I frankly don't know how I'm going to be able to finish the race if I feel as bad then as I did today!

I need to hydrate better and I need to ditch the iPod.  I ran with the iPod again today and I'm fairly certain that it contributed to my lack of focus on today's run.

I need to get some good running in on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then give my legs plenty of rest on Friday and Saturday in the coming week.  I'm going to take it easy tomorrow (Monday) as far as running is concern (if Saturday's weight training doesn't catch up with me tomorrow I'll probably lift again).

One positive is that, as of the end of April, I am 8 or so miles ahead of schedule towards my goal of hitting 600 miles run this year.  I may have the ability to hit 650 miles this year.

Gout: a lingering ailment caused by genes & years of neglect

I was riding high through last Saturday (4/16).  I was feeling great.  My running was going well.  Through that Saturday I completed 12 miles and was going to do another 4 on Sunday.  When I woke up on Sunday, however, my right ankle was hurting too much for me to run.

Now it's Tuesday evening and my ankle still hurts.  It's not a sprain or a strain.  It's gout.  Damn.

Gout is a form of arthritis.  My father and my brother both suffer from it.  I have it too, but it's been over a year since my last gout attack and I was sure that with the significant weight loss and better/healthier eating habits, this particular ailment was a thing of the past.

Apparently not.

I can tell from the pain that it's gout.  First, it's in the same ankle it's always attacked (for 13 + years my gout has always acted up in my right ankle).  It's a hot, burning, achy feeling in the joint area.  It does not feel like a sprain or a strain.

This really sucks.  I'm going out to DC this weekend to meet friends and to run in an 8K.  I've got a half marathon in less than a month and I'm way behind my training schedule for that race.  I needed to be able to do a long run of 8 miles this week at least a few days before Saturday.  That doesn't look like it's going to happen now.

It's my fault.  First, I neglected my health for so long (even in my youth when I was working out a lot, there were plenty of excesses in my diet) that some of the damage to my body was bound to be irreversible.  Second, even now, I've been derelict in staying well hydrated and well rested and I'm eating way too much red meat.  These are all contributing factors to gout attacks.

I've been reminded.  This gout attack, although mild relative to some of the attacks I've had (I literally had to be on crutches in the past when I had gout attacks), has startled me back to reality.  I'm going to tighten up my regimen further.  That tighter regimen will include more chicken and fish and a lot less red meat.  I'm going to drink more water.  The sleep/rest issue will be the one area that is going to be hard.  I can't get everything I am responsible for doing each day completed and still get 7 or 8 hours of sleep.

The pain today is less than yesterday.  Maybe by tomorrow night I'll be able to head out for a short run and then on Thursday I can try for 8 miles.  I hope so...

"Racing" season has begun - Shamrock Shuffle 8K this morning

"Racing" season begins today.  I saying "racing" because what I do is not really racing.  I participate.

Anyhow, today is the first race of 2011 for me.  This morning I'll be running in the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in downtown Chicago.  There are supposed to be 30,000 runners.  That's the main reason I signed up for this run.  I wanted to experience a big race.

My goal for today is very easy: finish without running in 60 minutes or less.  That's totally doable.  I can run 5 miles in 60 minutes.  I've done it this year in training.  If there is a challenge today it will be maintaining a good pace.  I may start slower because of the crowds and I may prematurely speed up and try to run too fast because of the faster runners in the crowd.

I'm taking my ipod but I'm going to keep it off for the first 1/2 to 1 mile.  I'll turn it on a bit later.  I will posts my reactions and some pics shortly after the race!

Now it's time to get ready and then it's off to the race (sort of)!