Summer (Not So) Fast

"It's the noise that destroys."

-- Scott Jurek

I thought I knew what that meant when I first heard it a month ago, but I didn't. Not until last Saturday.

The beginning of runs are rarely fun for me. During that first 3 or 4 km when the body first thrown out of its comfortable seditary state, before the body has become accustom to feet pounding pavement (or preferably grass), and before the shirt has been thoroughly soaked through, the mind play tricks on you. It interprets the sensation from the body as pain and question the logic of the excercise. At least for me, this is usually a prerequisite to the clarity of mind I crave in the middle of a good run. I have generally been able to fight pass these tricks the mind tries to play on me. Different strategies work at different time. "I'm going to be late if I stop". "I have to chase down those damn windmills". "Hmmm... I think she's looking at me". Or simply, "This will end. It will feel good soon. It always does." None of these worked on Saturday. In retrospect, it was because I did such a great job at convincing myself the day before that:

I wasn't going to run SummerFast.

My knee had bugged for the last 2 weeks. However during the subsequent 3 or 4 runs since it peaked, it didn't get worse. In fact the run last Wednesday was felt fantastic. For the first time I was able to catch Dave and his posse. I have been able keep them in sight for the last few weeks, but I have never caught them, and certainly never ran with them. But last Wednesday I caught up with them half way through the run and stayed with them (until they hit that gear with a km to go and started pulling away again, but let's not focus on that). It felt good. And better yet, the knee held up. Maybe I didn't need that physio appointment the next day after all.

Then I went to my ultimate game after the run.

Typical play. Jumping up for the disc. Catching the disc. Landing with the disc. Sharp pain in the knee? Knee buckling? Crumbling to the ground like a little girl? Not so typical play. I guess I do need that physio appointment. Irony's a bitch.

"You pissed off your Patellar tendon", she said. Her diagnosis pretty much match what Michael and Brian said. Weak hip and glutes makes my knee rotate inward on impact, putting unnecessary strain on the tendon. My tight quads and hamstrings pulling on the tendon also didn't help. Apparently Mr. Patellar is a sensitive little bastard. Prescription? Squats, just as Michael and Brian suggested. I should have saved the 70 bucks. Ok, she did suggest a couple of other excercises, and the ultrasound seemed to helped too. It felt good to know what it was and how to fix it.

Then I went to my (other) ultimate game after physio.

Actually the game went pretty well. The knee actually loosened up during the game. However it was pretty sore after and the next day despite the ice, so I decided to not run SummerFast. I convinced myself it wasn't worth it, and may as well rest up and save the knee for the long run on Sunday. SummerFast was a diversion. The fun little loop around Second Beach pool. It wasn't the goal. Focus on the goal.

I wasn't going to run SummerFast. It's done. I've decided. I even annouced it on Twitter. And Twitter is always the final word, right?

Since a bunch of people from the clinic was running SummerFast, and I paid my $30, I was going to go cheer them on, take some pictures, eat their food, and pocket some post race swag (btw, there are no swag at SummerFast! I guess the Longest Day is just special?!?). I rolled in on my bike 10 minutes before the race started. Hey, the race package pickup booth is still open, may as well pick up my number right? And oh, the gear check tent is right there...and the nice lady is waving me over telling me "there's still time, just give me your bag and I'll check it for you"

Ok, I guess I'm going to do SummerFast.

I finished the race in 46:13. I wasn't disappointed at the time (ok, I was a lot disappointed, I ran my Sun Runs faster than that B.R.C [Before Running Clinic]), but I was very disappointed at how I did it. I had done such a good job telling myself the reasons I shouldn't be running the race that they were all I could think about for the first 3km of the race. I wasn't mentally prepared to run, let alone race. (Come to think of it, I wasn't physically prepared to run either having not loosen up, which probably made it hurt some more.) So after the first km or so when the mind games started all I could think about was the reasons why I shouldn't be there, instead of the reasons why I should.

And then I stopped running.

For that first time in a timed race, I stopped running. In fact I stopped 3 times. Yes, the knee hurt, but looking back it honestly wasn't that bad. My mind just wasn't in it. My mind was so out of it, the laces from my right shoe just keep getting undone because apparently I didn't even know how to tie a simply knot properly anymore. I even started taking off my number shortly after hitting the Vancouver Rowing club. (As an aside, I feel completely ridiculous writing this after reading Dave's Scorched Sole 50 miler race report). Wow, was this how SummerFast going to end for me? With the walk of shame?

Then the aforementioned Jurek quote came back to me. And then another saying from those hippie yoga instructors popped into my head: "If you're struggling, breath through it. Focus on your breathing." And finally: "I hate to have to blog about NOT finishing SummerFast AFTER starting it". Ok, let's start running again.

The next 2km was pretty ugly, but having decided that I was going to finish helped. Pocketing my glasses (I really wasn't going to run, so no contacts) and only seeing fuzzy blobs helped. Focusing on my breathing definitely helped. Then something magically happened between the 5 and 6 km marker. My knee stopped hurting.

I'm pretty sure the pain was still there, because it was there after I crossed the finish line. But for the last 4 km, I felt no pain in that knee. The stride felt normal and I started to reel people in. The last 4km felt fast, but more importantly it was fun (hmmm.. fast == fun?). The sprint to the finish was a blast with fresh legs from all that gold bricking during the start. I finally got a negative split I guess.

And what isn't a race report without a bit of post race soul searching... long list this time. Sigh.

The moments of zen from the Summer[really-slow-at-the-beginning-but-then-it-turned-kinda]Fast 2010:

1) The mind can be weaker than you think, or stronger than you think. It is about how you approach whatever you're facing and how you prepare for it.

2) "Run or don't run, there is no try". Especially in a race, because it will hurt in a race. It always does. If you give your mind excuses, it will use them.

3) Re: "Run or don't run...". When in doubt, run.

4) Scott Jurek knows what he's talking about regarding running ... surprising for a man who can only run 267km in 24 hours.

5) For the next 10 km race I run, I'm just going to run 5 km before starting the damn race.

The next day was Sunday and the Running Room's long run took us around the waters of Vancouver. I ran and chatted with Tom for a large section of the course. We were apparently pretty engrossed in our conversation because we missed Third Beach, our turnaround point, completely. We were also apparently pretty bad in our knowledge of Stanley Park because we didn't realized we missed Third Beach until we saw it... on the way back. Great job by Tom and Andy (another fellow clinic member with suspect navigational skills) who both finished smiling back at the deserted Running Room after the run. The extra distance without carrying any gels meant that by the end of the run I was pretty zonked. But the lessons from yesterday ran through my head, and the legs kept moving. That made me felt better about Saturday.

It felt good doing a little bit of repenting on Sunday. Maybe church isn't so bad.

P.S. Great times by fellow clinic runners during SummerFast. Ken (not from the clinic but close enough) broke 39 minutes. Amelia got a PB and a medal while hung over (I took a picture [of the medal, not the hung-over-ness], will post shortly). And Carolyn and Allison both didn't run as fast as they had wanted to but the important thing was they looked good doing it. Plus some great looking times by newly discovered clinic members Jason and Kristine. I really will show up one of these Thursdays.

To sleep, perchance to dream...

In honour of a certain millionaire's awesome "someone took my ball (player)" rant, I've decided to blog this in the newest cool font: Comic Sans.

Even though I usual do the Running Room ...

Ok, can't type in this font in a straight face. Let's start over...

Even though I usual do Running Room runs twice a week, I rarely run in a group. I'm more "hit and run" with my fellow running friends. Running in a group usually the pace of the group is either too fast or too slow. Plus its hard to think of funny things to say when you are sucking wind.

However last Sunday, I had a chance to get re-acquinted with Michael and Brian during the usual early morning clinic run. Other than wearing completely inappropriate attire, i.e. a orange *cotton* shirt that soaked up every drop of sweat, it was a great running and chatting with the fast kids. The weather was just about right, the pace was perfect, and I got my knee issue diagnosed. Both Michael and Brian appeared to have suffered similar knee issues in the past, and diagnose me with "Scrawny Ass Syndrome". Supposedly bad genetics (thanks mom), hours of sitting in a chair (thanks Apple), and most probably improper running form (thanks...hmmm, that one is on me I guess) meant that my knee is taking some of the load that my glutes should be taking. Prescription for SAS? Squats and bridges. Sound reasonable enough. I still need to get a second opinion of the SAS diagnosis from my physiotherapist on Thursday but honestly, I find runners are often *better* at diagnosing running issues. I should also probably sign up for the Mindful Strides running clinic that I was eyeing for a little bit to get some tips on my running form.

Maybe because we were talking about my knee, it decided not to act up too much during the run. I still felt it and it gave out on an occasional stride, and I definitely shorten my stride (especially on downhills) as to protected it some, but it didn't hurt like it did last Wednesday. Probably the 2 days off I took helped as well.

The run was an out and back to Prospect Point, and shortly after the point, Master Jedi was good enough to grace us with his presence and ran with us during the last part of the run. During the run Michael and Dave chatted about the Tour de France. Dave mentioned how he couldn't sleep and woke up at 4:30 in the morning to catch some of the coverage on TV. Can't sleep? 4:30am? I have trouble wrapping my head around this concept.

I love to sleep. It is possibly my favorite past time. It's easy, it's affordable, and you can do it anywhere. It's a running joke among my friends that during road trips that I am out like a light within 30 minutes of hitting the road. Other than a brief bout of insomnia in my early 20s (for reasons I won't get into), sleep just comes to me. During the last marathon clinic, one of the guest speaker on pre-race prep told us to get a good night sleep 2 nights before the actual race, because "you won't be able to sleep at all the night before". When I heard that, I remember muttering to myself, "just watch me". Yeah, I slept like a baby pre-race night.

Waking up... now that's a different story. I wished I have some of Dave's early morning mojo, but I don't. My personal record for hitting the snooze button is 12 times. But until recently, it is a struggle that I've been pretty happy to lose. However, the last little bit, work has been on a hellish schedule, which means my usual evening runs was no longer possible. In the sober light of day, the obvious solution was to wake up earlier and get my run in then. Hence the plan was to be:

Sunday: Wake up at 7:15, do the 9km to the running room before the prescribe 16 km route to keep the Sunday mileage up

Monday: Get up at 7:30, do the 15km detour route to work, into work by 9am

Tuesday: Get up at 8:00, do the 10km direct route to work, at work by 9:15'ish

Yet, out of ashes of hazy post slumber logic, we get the reality of:

Sunday: Alarm goes off at 7:15:00. Suffocating the alarm with my pillow at 7:15:01. Play the left shoulder/right shoulder debate game on the merits of sleep vs run until 8am. Sigh.

Monday/Tuesday: ... ok, you are all smart people. I am writing this for a reason. I really don't need to repeat myself, do I? ...

Counting the 2 days break I took for the knee issues, I essentially only did 18km in the last 5 days. I did yoga. I was on the bike. But those are different. It feels different. And my legs knw it. I ran into Carolyn this morning right outside the office and I was whining to her on how my legs were starting to feel twitchy. And this (the legs and the whining) just got worse during the day. It got worse when 5pm rolled around and I realized that right about then Amelia and Ken were starting their weekly intervals around the UBC track, and I am stuck in the office.

By the time I got out of work, it was starting to get dark outside, but the legs were actually starting to thob. Taking a page out of Tera Moody's play book, I ended up running around the Brentwood Mall parking lot being stared at by rent-a-cops. Classy. Fancy Kits runners, eat your heart out.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, better known as "Chasing windmill" day. At least I don't have pretend that I'll wake up early to run tomorrow.

Sympathy Pains

A good friend and fellow peer-pressure-induced blogger Andrea has been suffering from issues with her right knee. She is doing the smart thing by taking it easy for a week. When I read her blog, I commented that I was being supportive and getting sympathy pains since I felt a little twinge in my right knee as well. I thought it was pretty funny.

It is no longer funny.

The knee felt fine during an abbreviated track work out with Amelia and Ken (thanks Amelia for setting it up, and Ken for dragging me around the track!), but sort of flared up later in the night. The "twinge" blossomed into to a "grimace" and is both above and below the knee cap. I definitely feel it going up the stairs the next day.

But it didn't concern me until at the end of my run yesterday, the twinge/grimace turned into a full blown case of "gimpy asymmetric shuffle" going up the bit of hill on Kits Point. "Why is that man running funny, mommy?" was what I heard when I ran by a kid sitting on the grass. Ok, I think he was actually asking his mom for ice-cream, but that's not important. What is important is that this is first time the knee has affected my running stride since issues with the IT Band 4 weeks prior to the BMO. And it doesn't feel like it's the IT Band this time. It feels, dare I say it, structural?

I should have probably skipped the subsequent ulti game but it was a nice day and it only seem to hurt when I do stairs or run up hills. Obviously I am not as smart as Andrea. That was evident with how I felt after the ulti games.

Not quite sure what to do now? Visit the family doctor? "Stop running for a bit" is what he'll say. Massage? Chiropractor? Physio? Acupuncture? Prayer? Medicinal marijuana?

Like I said, not funny anymore.

In my humble opinion...

Looking back on marathon day, a strange sensation usually comes over me. Contrary to the excitment and elation I was told to expect, I found the what I felt was somewhat anti-climatic. I don't mean that in a bad way however. After a bit of reflecting and some internal contemplation, which went something like this:

Left Shoulder: "So you finished a marathon. How it feel?"

Right Shoulder: "It was fun. Missed my goal time by 10 minutes. Kept pace for the first half of the run. The next 10km was not great, but the last 10 was awful. I thought I could have pushed harder near the end, but the legs and the mind just didn't listen."

LS: "Did you ever close to 42km in your training?"

RS: "Only 32, but pre-race tapering is suppose to ..."

LS: "Ok, how long were you able to sustain goal pace in your training?"

RS: "About 16km, but afterwards I looked like death was able to tap me on the shoulder expecting to collect..."

LS: "So what makes you think you can run longer and faster than you've trained for?"

RS: "ummm.... Red Bull gives you wings?"

... I realize I just wasn't ready for the time I had in mind. In a way it is strangely comforting, there is no silver bullet; no short cuts. You get on race day what you gave the 3 months prior. Sure, the taper helps. Proper nutrition and perfect racing weather may give you that extra 3 or 4 minutes, but really that's it. By race day, the result *should* be somewhat anti-climatic. The work is done. Short of sheer disaster, stupidity, or Red Bull actually giving you wings, your time should be your *realistic* goal time, +/- 5 minutes.

No offence to the Running Room marathon clinic's training schedule, but IMHO, the goal time that accompanies the schedule is how should I put it .... optimistic.

So, did I ...

... not run fast enough during training?

Yes and no. I certainly need to do more speed work and better quality tempo runs. But for that to happen, I need to make sure I remain injury free, especially the calves and the achilles. As for the long runs, I think I actually ran those too fast, especially the start of those runs.

... not get enough miles in?

Sort of, but it was more about not being about to push pass the tiredness in my legs around the 35km or so. Lungs were decent, and even the muscles wasn't at it's threshold point, but the legs... the bone and the tendons and the joints, they just wouldn't go. I need to figured out how to run when I was tired.

Yeah but how to fix? Then the previous conversations with Master Jedi comes roaring back...

Me: "You pass me on that uphill like I was standing still. How do I run uphill faster?"

Master Jedi: "Run more uphills"

Me: "You pass me on that downhill on Burrard Bridge like I was standing still. How do I run downhills faster?"

Master Jedi: "Run more downhills"

From this, I've concluded that:

a) Dave passes me like I'm standing still pretty much whenever he wants

b) To do _FILL_IN_BLANK_ better, do more _FILL_IN_BLANK_

All this rambling has lead me to the following post-first-marathon training philosphy:

* Run less on pavement and more on grass, trails, and gravel. This is mostly to try to reduce the stress on my calves and achilles, which are literally and metaphorically my achilles heels. So I can ...

* Run faster. Do the Wednesday RR runs and chase some windmills (aka fast kids), and aim to start a weekly track session early in the training cycle.

* Run longer. Not necessarily more miles per week, but more miles per run. Learn to run on tired legs by making short runs longers and long runs longer. 12km is the new 10km. Run on Mondays after the long runs on Sunday to get use to running on tired legs. Take advantage of the summer weather (summer weather in Vancouver, I made a funny) and get on the bike more often to tire out the legs while minimizing impact, especially on off days.

How well will this work? No idea, but I guess that's why it's call a trial (of miles). Verdict expected Thanksgiving Sunday...

Trial of Miles begins...

Two and a half years since blog entries. Wow, that must be a record. So why the sudden urge to blog again? Call me easily succumbed to peer pressure, but I've just accidentally discovered blogs from my fellow marathon clinic running buddies blogs here, here, and here. Some of the food blog entries I don't really get (I actually get it, plus the pretty pictures... but honestly, I eat anything). However some of the running entries, especially the race recaps, were fantastically inspiring and inspiringly fantastic. It would be great to in some small part reciprocate this inspiration to others, plus to myself during those long slogging days during the "trial of miles" in preparation for the next marathon. And actually verbalizing (or in this case would it be "typer-izing"?) some of the training goals I have may actually help me actually keep on track.

I'll put up my Longest Day 10k race recap and my training goals for the week tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see how long I keep this up tho since:

a) I tend to zone out when I run races so I am not sure I will remember much. I literally don't remember large sections of the Vancouver Marathon. I would say it was my mind's way of blocking out the pain, but the parts I lost were between the 10 to 20 km mark, which should be the easiest part of the race. Same with the Sun Run a week after, the only thing I remember about it was that it hurt. Bad. However, I seemed to have kept my wits about me for the Longest Day 10k so I should have something to say ...

b) I've been trying to take my running "less seriously" after the Vancouver Marathon, to get the fun back into it. The last 3 or 4 weeks prepping for the last marathon was not fun. Between the ibuprofen and ice packs on my calves while I wasn't running, and the constantly staring at my Garmin while I was running made it a more labourious task than it should have been. After taking some time to let my legs heal up after the race, I made it a point to not time myself on my runs at least for the first little bit. And it seems to be working, since I've been running longer (not sure if it's faster tho) and having a hell of a good time while doing it. But documenting my training is definitely the opposite of "less seriously", but life is about goals and drawing a line in the sand. Time for the trial of miles to start.

Oh, you must be wondering then why am I not using this newly found motivation to blog the race recap and training goals now? Other than the fact that I am full of contradictions, it's 1am and I need to get some sleep so I can do the 15k run to work like I planned tomorrow morning! Although after reading that Amelia's doing track workouts again, I may do a speed session instead. I swear that girl is going to outrun me someday soon, but it's nice to delay the inevitable for a little while longer :)