Distance Run

It has happened to me since the beginning.

After a long run, about 24 to 36 hours later, I develop a cold.

Fortunately, it lasts only about 3 days.

Remember, going on long runs, or doing a great deal of aerobic exercise can reduce your body’s immune system.

To avoid this, try to:

• Stay clean for the 24 hours after a long run, including washing hands frequently.
• Keep hands away from mouth and eyes
• Eat healthy
• Get lots of rest
• Drink lots of fluids

Basically, treat yourself as if you are a germaphobe for the day or two after  your long run.

Bill

Those of us training for the Potomac River Run will have logged a four mile run last Sunday, followed by a 3 mile run yesterday.

Did you notice that the 3 mile run was a little slower than normal? Did you feel a little sluggish?

Don’t worry. You are building cardiovascular fitness. A key component is rest, and the fatigue you may have felt is an indicator of this.

Lesson: After a ‘long run’ your next run should be much slower, and include several walking breaks, particularly early in the run.

Taking it easy after a long run will help speed recovery. But be sure to run! Not running can be detrimental. Stick to the program if possible, but don’t hesitate to take as many walking breaks as possible.

Lesson: After runs of 3 miles or more, be sure to eat a high-carb snack within 30 minutes of finishing your run.

Your body will burn mostly carbs for the first 45 minutes of running. From 45 to 75 minutes, you transition to burning body fat. After 75 minutes, you are burning primarily body fat as a source of energy.

Replacing carbs is critical to rapid recovery.

Before you go on your run, plan and prepare your post-run snack. Half of an energy bar, a bowl of cereal, some granola, a piece of fruit… Having it ready to eat immediately after running will help ensure you get these vital carbs.

Advice: In the training program, there are several types of work-outs identified. Perform these only if you are feeling very good and have no pain anywhere. For novice runners, my recommendation would be to forego these workouts, and run those days at a normal level of intensity.

Advice: Take it slow!

You may notice that you feel really good at the beginning of a run during the week after a long run. I generally found this affect on Wednesday or Thursday the week after a long run.

Don’t give into temptation and run too fast, or too long. Stick to your training program. It may seem frustrating to run “slow” when you feel like a race horse, but I urge you to hold back.

Increasing your distance or speed too much can lead to injury, and no one wants that!

In preparing for this race, many of us are running distances greater than we’ve ever run before.

Conventional wisdom says you can increase your distance, or your speed, but not both without risk.

You are focusing on preparing yourself for the distance, so forget the speed. That will come with time!

See you on the road,
Bill

This weekend I had a 20 mile long run to do.

The temperature at the end of the run was in the mid 90’s, with a heat index near 100 degrees F.

Here are a few recommendations on how to survive the run, and recover quickly.

1) Use an electrolyte replacement drink during your run, and carry the fluid with you.

Running in hot temperatures means excessive sweating.  Excessive sweating leads to substantial loss of sodium and potassium.  These ingredients are vital to you, and you need to take whatever steps necessary to ensure you are replacing these fluids.

Drink responsibly, and do not over hydrate after the run.  If you are like me, you will be dying of thirst after your long run.  For best results, drink 12 to 16 ounces of an electrolyte replacement after your run, and be cautious of your fluid intake after that.

Drink controlled amounts, but drink.

If you are in a position where running in extreme heat is routine, study how much fluid your body looses during a work-out, and drink accordingly.

Search out a good electrolyte replacement.  I generally use Gatorade, but in extreme heat, I’ll go with Pedialyte.

2) Stay covered up and use sunscreen.

It is tempting to run without a shirt in the heat.  This can be a poor choice, particularly in humid climates.

Modern performance wear helps move water away from the skin quickly.  This facilitates the evaporation process, and leads to better cooling.

Additionally, remaining covered prevents direct exposure of the skin to sun.  Sunburn stinks.  Be smart.

Avoid cotton.  Cotton is not your friend.

If you have short or no hair, consider a light colored hat.  Avoid dark colors as they will absorb sunlight and generate excessive heat.

You want to keep your head cool, so do what feels best here.

Sunscreen may not last through a bout of excessive sweating.   Do not rely on it for your sole source of protection.

Be sure to cover your ears, face, arms, legs and neck.  Just do it.

3) Run slow.

If you are doing a long run, speed isn’t your goal anyhow.  So run slower.

Best, take walking breaks periodically.

Running in the heat is very hard on your body.  Treat it nicely for rapid recovery.

Don’t hesitate to run 2 to 3 minutes slower per mile on hot days.

I generally log 8 minute miles on my long runs.  On hot days I shoot for 11 minute miles.

Taking walking breaks and running slower can minimize rapid dehydration in your muscles, allowing them to work more efficiently, and to recover more quickly.

4) Cool down quickly.

After your run, try to cool your legs in an ice bath.

Though you may be tempted, avoid jumping in a very cold body of water.

But do try to soak your legs in an ice bath.  Fill your tub with a 10lb bag of ice and fill with cold water.

This will not only help your entire body cool down, but the cold water will help alleviate swelling in the leg muscles.

Swelling can be more pronounced in hot temperatures, and the more quickly you can minimize this effect the better.

I don’t make recommendations on the use of ibuprofen.  Research is all over the map on how good or bad it can be for your recovery.  Do what feels right or has worked for you in the past.

5) Leave the iPod at home.

You’ll want to be fully in touch with what is going on in your body.

Running with music can lead to increased tempo.  Additionally, if you are like me, you’ll drift into an endorphin induced trance reminiscent of your days touring the Dead.

That might be fun in cooler climes, but when dealing with excessive heat, you want to hear your body if it cries out for mercy.

Be smart here.

6) Reschedule or skip the run if you can.

Though this is my final suggestion, I urge you to consider it carefully before heading out the door.

Do you really, positively, absolutely have to run today?

I’ve gotten up as early as 3:00am to avoid running in the heat.

And I’ve also been known to reschedule a run to avoid the heat.

There are times when running in the heat is worse for you than not running at all.

Carefully consider your training and your schedule.  Can you do your run tomorrow at a cooler time?
If you are going to run, be very careful, and I’ll see you out there.

Bill

This Sunday is the Hagerstown Sprint Tri.

I’m ready.

Tonight I did my final training swim, and tomorrow I’ll do my final run.

Biking is the only area that I feel I haven’t given enough attention to in the past 3 weeks. I have been taking it easy because of some calf issues that developed.

Fortunately, all pain is gone, and I am sure I could have done more riding, but safety first!

I’m excited about this race:

• 300 meter pool swim
• 11.5 mile bike
• 3.1 mile run

I’m sure I’ll own the run. My target will be 21 minutes to complete the run.

My target for the swim, 6 minutes. Not ambitious, but swimming is my weak link.

The biking is a question mark. It is supposed to rain, and if the course is wet, I’ll take it very easy. The course is not closed to traffic, and there are several sharp turns. On wet pavement this will make me more wary than otherwise.

If, however, the course is dry and well managed, I plan on pushing hard. I’d like to do it in under 30 minutes.

My goal is to spend less than 5 minutes in each transition. I have no idea if this is good or bad, but that’s my goal.

Rock,
Bill

Over the past few weeks I’ve been riding much more, and running a little less.

For a few weeks, I’d bike home (8 miles) and immediately change into running gear and hit the road for a 7 mile run.

Well, it didn’t take that long for the additional workload to begin taking its toll.

The first thing I noticed was chronic fatigue in my quads.  By the end of the week, they would be a little sore, but mainly just felt completely drained.

That’s not healthy, as too much of that leads to injury.  I started to get worried.

The next area was my calves.

I don’t really rely heavily on my calves when running.  My stride tends to be very short, alleviating much of the toe-off that generally occurs with longer striding folk.

But when biking, I use a great deal of calf muscle when pedaling.  I have a tendency to rotate my foot in a pawing motion as I pedal through the bottom part of the stroke.  This is similar to running toe-off, but since I run with short strides, my calf muscles were not prepared for that kind of work out.

Both Achilles tendons became sore where they connect to the calf muscle tissue, and the muscle on the inner side of my left leg got really pissed off, and required several days of massaging and gentle stretching to get happy again.

In the mean time, I’ve started to alternate days.  No more blocks of biking-to-running except for weekend training.

So far it seems to be helping.

Bill

Last week I finished up the first 11 weeks of training for Bighorn.

My mileage in the last three weeks: 43, 51, 61 miles per week.

My weekend runs this past weekend were comprised of a 20 mile run Saturday and 17 miles on Sunday.

The Sunday run was split into 13 miles in the morning and 4 in the evening as I ran out of time in the morning.  Sometimes other priorities (ahem, girlfriend) come before running :).

By the end of the day on Sunday, and most of today I was exhausted.  My legs, though not in pain, were definitely unhappy.  Slight cramping, some stiffness, and a little aching were the flavor of the day.

The fatigue I’m feeling may have been exacerbated by the fact that the number of nutrient dense meals I’ve eaten of the last few weeks was far less than optimal (read, “zero”).

I’m willing to try one more 4-week cycle and see how things go.

If I’m this fatigued at the end, I’ll definitely revamp the schedule to include to easy weeks for each week of training.

Again, don’t forget to monitor the on-line training mileage log to see how I’m preparing for the race.

Godspeed,
Bill Gross

Today I completed the last run for week 7 of my training program. It also marks the end of the second build up period.

The 3 week progression for this period was: 36 miles, 43 miles, 51 miles for weeks 5, 6 and 7, respectively. You can see details in the on-line training log.

During weeks 5 and 6 I was feeling good and was doing my runs too fast, about 1 minute per mile too fast. By the end of week six, I was feeling really fatigued. My diet was also slacking. The hard runs and crappy diet equated to trouble.

I refocused on my diet (more veggies, fruit, etc) and forced myself to run slower during week seven.

Fortunately, it seems to be working. I’m no longer useless if I get less than 9 or 10 hours of sleep, and I feel like I have more energy, despite having a hard running week.

All things considered, though, I’m glad next week is “easy week”. Running 6 miles mid-week with shorter runs on the weekend will be a nice change. I’m scheduled for 36 miles, but may do only 30. I don’t want to get into a position where I’m taxing my body too much. I still have 5 months of training!

Lesson learned for the week. Bring food and water on longer runs.

It has been a while since I’ve done longer runs. The 17 mile run on Saturday, in the sun, in 74 degree heat, got pretty ugly near the end. I was pretty dehydrated, and my stomach was growling like a pit bull. At one point I considered stopping to eat some leaves off a bush or something. Hah. It’s fun how the mind wanders, isn’t it. I kept thinking, “When I’m done with this run, I’m going to eat an apple, drink orange juice, eat a banana, drink a ton of water, eat a pizza”, blah blah blah.

But, sunny and 70’s in January! It was hard to get too down! There were plenty of sights and sounds along the canal to keep me busy. Man I love the canal. Not a very taxing place to run, and lots of unbelievable scenery.

Rock,
Bill

Ok, I have created a web enabled version of my training schedule for Bighorn.

In calendar format, it is a little too wide to fit in the blog, so you fill find a link to it below.

Please check back as the schedule may change if I deem that the mileage progression I laid out is a little too challenging.

Bill’s Bighorn Trail 100 Mile training log.

Enjoy,
Bill Gross

This past Saturday I did another 20 mile run.

On my Tuesday run, I was feeling strong. I felt great. Two days after running 20 miles I blasted out my mid-week 7 mile “warm up” run at less than 8 minutes per mile, which is pretty damn fast for me.

But I paid the price. By Tuesday night and most of Wednesday, parts of my calf muscles were very sore and soft. Hurt like crazy. The result is that I had to scratch what would otherwise been two “hard” training workouts later in the week that I may have been able to do if I could contain myself Tuesday.

Your body can put up with a lot, but the distance can crush you.

Learning Lesson: Never run hard after a long run. Get back into it slowly. Respect the distance.

Bill

Today my training schedule for Richmond had me running 22 miles.

It’s nice to be over the 20 mile mark again! For me that’s where the fun begins!

It seems that for me, up to 18 is tough, but manageable. I can train my body to do that.

But it seems that after the 20 mile mark, it’s mind over legs, and that’s hard to train for!

One of the things that has attracted me to long distance running is the mental aspects. Sure I can have the right shoes, I can do my marathon training plan, I can eat right, I can follow the “schedule.”

But things get weird after 18. Don’t believe me? The next time there’s a race in your city, go get a spot at about the 19 to 23 mile marker. You will see true agony. You will see faces that will make you wonder, “why on Earth don’t they stop!”

Because it’s the challenge. Can I push My body further, harder than I think I can! My legs are aching, every footstep might feel like stepping on pins and needles… But I go on. As long distance runners we realize that we are capable of so much more than our brains give us credit for.

As I sat in a post-run ice bath today, I reflected on the profound truth of a quote I saw a long time ago in Trail Runner magazine:

Your biggest challenge isn’t someone else. It’s the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells, “CAN’T,” but you don’t listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper, “can.” And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are.

Sweet.
Bill