Marathon Training Progress - 8 Weeks Left

Hi friends!

I hope everyone has been adjusting well to September; the busy schedules and routines setting in again. The cooler temperatures have already started here in the north, I woke up to a brisk 9 degrees (48 F) this morning. And - our leaves are already starting to change color here.

Summer of Fun!

It's hard to believe summer is coming to a close, but I'm ok with it. We've had a summer I will not forget! This was our first summer living in cottage country, and boy, it was a busy one. We entertained constantly and enjoyed a lot of time with friends and family. This year we made the most of living on the water, with constant boat rides and numerous swimming trips. I don't think I have ever swam this much in my life. It was simply amazing.

Over the course of the summer, I ran... a lot. During the months of July and August, I put 503 km's on these feet. During that time I was off about 3 weeks due to an injury, so I consider the km's a great success. Fortunately my injury pain has subsided significantly, but the pain is still there. I was officially diagnosed with "piriformis syndrome".

My birthday gift! I'm in LOVE!

"Piriformis syndrome is an uncommon neuromuscular disorder that is caused when the piriformis muscle compresses the sciatic nerve. The piriformis muscle is a flat, band-like muscle located in the buttocks near the top of the hip joint. This muscle is important in lower body movement because it stabilizes the hip joint and lifts and rotates the thigh away from the body. This enables us to walk, shift our weight from one foot to another, and maintain balance. It is also used in sports that involve lifting and rotating the thighs -- in short, in almost every motion of the hips and legs." - Source - WebMD

It now seems to act up after sitting in the car or at work. I'm doing my best to stretch the muscle regularly, but have been slacking on that the past couple of weeks. This injury was definitely a set back for me and it was tough to get back into training.

Breaking out the headlamp

In case I haven't stressed it enough - let me say marathon training is not easy, I've recently encountered another training set-back this past week. I believe I have reached training fatigue. For the past week I've cut runs short, felt generally awful during my runs and have had to introduce some walk breaks. This is very unlike me and I knew something was wrong. I took Friday as a rest day and decided to skip my 15 km run. I'll only be hitting 60 km's this week, instead of the prescribed 85 km's. It's weighing on me a bit, but I know I need to listen to my body if I want to make it to that start line.

Asides from the injury and set-backs, this training season has given me great gains so far. I've hit some recent PBs in the 5 km and 10 km distances during training. Most recently a 50:12 - 10 km last Tuesday. I've been feeling strong (up until last week) and I'm hitting weekly mileage I never thought possible. Due to my set-backs, I know I will not hit the mileage I was anticipating but I'm happy with my progress thus far. I know I need to cut myself some slack; balancing a full-time job, house duties and running on constant hilly terrain is not easy.

4:30 a.m. Pre-25 km "Runfie"

On other running news, Daniel has recently started running with me! This was voluntary on his part and I could not be more excited for him. He has started building his base with 3 km runs about 3-4 days per week. He has been joining me at the start of my runs and then rollerblading the rest of the way. I'm excited to see what this will progress to.. will he eventually want to start marathon training too? My fingers are crossed.

I have two races on the schedule this month. I have to run a half marathon as a time trial to determine my correll placement at Disney. I registered for the Borden Base Run in Barrie on September 28th. In addition to that race, I won entry to the Zoo 10 km in Toronto! It was a sold out race and I won through Facebook. How amazing is that? That race will be held in two weeks on September 20th. Keep posted for my race recaps.

Yay me!

To all my running friends training for fall races, how is your training going?

Merrell Bare Access Arc 2 Minimalist Shoe Review

This is my first shoe review and I'm really glad I didn't post this too prematurely as planned.

I've been wearing the Merrell Bare Access Arc 2 Minimalist Shoe for 2.5 months now. I've returned to running after my "running vacation" and decided to start fresh with a new pair of shoes. You know the saying "Don't fix it if it ain't broken"? Well, I should have taken that advice. I used to run in Saucony Kinvara 3's and never had problems. Now, I've been off running for a week due to leg cramping and what feels like plantar fasciitis. Leading up to that, my runs were getting more and more difficult.

Let me explain...

I've had a fascination with minimalist running for the past year or so. Isn't it the latest trend? The more I read in running magazines and online, it seemed running in minimalist runners would solve all of my problems. They praise these shoes to prevent running injuries. The advertising also leads you to believe that people are born to run naturally or barefoot. The Kenyans are the perfect example. I've heard numerous times that Kenyans start off at young ages running to and from school barefooted throughout all types of conditions. If "I" started running barefoot (or in minimalist runners), perhaps I would be fast like them??

In my first year of running I suffered from IT band issues and some knee problems. I decided to take the leap and purchase my first minimalist runners (the Saucony's) to solve these issues. To be honest, they kinda did. But, this all comes down to the individual runner and their own gait issues. The shoes I was running in before were clearly ill fitted and not for me. The Saucony's were a slight minimalist shoes but still have a 4mm offset and a 22mm heel. They are not structured and do not have any support. For me, they were perfect though!

Now, why did I want to ruin a good thing and get myself the Merrell's? I think I was looking for more of a challenge. Like I said, I wanted to be like an elite runner!

The Merrell Bare Access Arc 2 has a 0 mm offset and a 8 mm heel and cushion. They say when transferring from a structured shoe to a minimalist that you need to build yourself up to it. So I assumed that running in a 4 mm offset and going to 0 mm wasn't going to be much of a difference, but boy, was I wrong. I forgot to account for the heel cushioning, I went from a 22 mm heel to a 8 mm heel. That's a lot of cushion to lose. I also didn't account for being a natural heel striker. Now friends, this is how injuries occur.

I learned in a very short time that when running in these shoes I needed to change my running form. As mentioned, I was a light heel striker, and you physically cannot do that in barefoot runners. Trust me - I tried. I'd come home with some serious heel pain. Over the course of 8 weeks I tried to change my form and run on my mid foot. This resulted in some serious calf pain and tight calves all the time. In addition, I recently moved to a very hilly town and I cannot avoid hills on any route I plan. When running down hill I would immediately heel strike again, thus bringing back the heel pain. In a short time I found myself avoiding running on the roads and gravitating towards my local cushioned track as it was easier on my heels. It finally clued in to me, while running lap after lap on that track. This was pointless, I was clearly in the wrong shoe for me.

My husband (being the awesome man that he is) handed me some cash that night that he had been saving for a nice date night and said: "Go buy yourself some new shoes". I went right online and re-ordered the same pair of Saucony's I had before. I plan on going for the most glorious run when they come in.

They are not as gorgeous as the Merrell's were, and definitely not "my" colour. I think this lesson has taught me that vanity and trends should never, ever, depict your running shoe choice.

Now, I've gotten a little off topic with this shoe review. But I wanted to stress the importance of doing your research before following this current running trend. If you have a shoe that works for you - great! Stock up if you can. Don't follow a trend just because everything is influencing you to.

When it comes to the Merrell's I want to emphasize that it was not the specific brand of shoes that were necessarily the problem. They are probably the most comfortable shoes I have worn in my life. They are so lightweight, I truly felt barefoot. They were also so breathable, I had never once sweat in the shoe or noticed any warm smelly foot odor. They are extremely flexible too. These shoes would be great for someone who already runs in minimalist runners or for someone looking for a nice lightweight everyday shoe. I plan on using on the weekends and for errands. They are so bright and cheery and I love how they look with a cute pair of jeans (on your most casual days).

Like I mentioned, please do your research and don't jump on the barefoot bandwagon if you are not ready for it. You could perhaps end up like me, nursing a running injury and soreness.

Developing a Comeback Training Schedule

Hello friends!

It's a soggy wet day today in Parry Sound and the perfect day to kick back with a cup of tea and do some blogging. I've been brainstorming topics of blog posts and currently have them sitting in my account pending to be written. I hope ya'll are ready for some running inspiration.

I know this has come up time and time again... but my big marathon flop has really affected the past 11 months of my life. All the hard work and dedication I put into training for that marathon seemed belittled by my terrible performance. And by that - I'm not necessarily talking numbers (a 4:20 finish in my first marathon is not dreadful). I'm talking how each of those km's felt, my extreme cramping, the leg spasms! That marathon  ruined me emotionally and physically. As you can tell by my past year of blog posts I've struggled to find my motivation to get back into it. I've had plenty of failed attempts and lost myself within the process. I feel I dealt with a bit of depression because of it. I gained 10 lbs and just wasn't myself.

Fast track to about 8 weeks ago. When Daniel and I took that risk to move 3.5 hours north and make such a dramatic change to our once comfortable and secure lifestyle, I became inspired again. I don't know if it was the weight lifted off my shoulders or pure beauty of this town that inspired me. But, I was immediately itching to run. So, I broke out that dusty running gear once again and then remembered:

Running is not easy.

That's the problem that I struggled with over the past year. I could not pick up where I last left off, nor could I have the expectations that I could run as fast as I once could before. I was such a time driven runner (which I believe is why I was so ruined after my marathon attempt). I could easily run a 5 km at a 5:15/km pace, and could easily clock 4:50/km during track tempo sessions. Every single attempt I made in the past year I was struggling to keep up with a 6:20/km pace. I would end my run feeling defeated and pack away my running shoes at the back of the closet once again.

So let's get back to that "aha" moment.

My first run in Parry Sound; I laced up my shoes, turned on my GPS and just ran. I didn't look at the speed on my watch once. I frankly didn't care. Instead, I enjoyed the sights around me. Then it clicked: I had to develop a training schedule for my level of fitness. Who cares if I could only run 3 km? I just needed to commit, find my passion and build back up... again. No one is judging me, only myself. Who cares who I once was, I will find that runner again!

I remembered all of the advice from my marathon coach Bob, broke out my Jack Daniels Running Formula and John Stanton running books and started developing my comeback plan.

Here were the points I had to consider:

• What was my current level of fitness? I could run 2 - 10n1 sessions. Approx 3 km.
• What was my goal? To run another marathon of course! This time: pain and injury free. 

Some things to remember when making your training schedule:

• Remember the 10% rule. Don't increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% per week. You cannot become a marathoner overnight. You do not want to become injured. 
• Try to avoid running back-to-back. I wanted to run 4 days per week, this means I would run 2 days back-to-back, but I ensured the other days were every other day. 
• Don't worry about pace. It will come naturally overtime. 
• Building your base will take at least 10 weeks. During this time, DO NOT do any speed sessions or hill training. You will be prone to injury as your body and muscles are adjusting once again. 

And last but not least:

• If you miss a run, do your best to make it up. Remember your 10% rule? Say if you miss a 5 km run (you are running 20 km per week), and jump your mileage the following week up 10% on your previously planned mileage. This means you will have actually increased your mileage 23%. If you continue on this path, you will most likely be headed on a path of injury. I can attest to this.

This is a sample plan and how I started getting back into it:

Please note: I am not a qualified running instructor and this plan was developed solely for myself with my current level of fitness. Take caution before starting any running plan and consider your own personal needs.

I've been running for 8 weeks now and already am starting to feel like myself again. My fitness has dramatically improved in such a short time. Last night I logged my steady 5 km run at a 5:32/km pace. All it took was a little patience (ok, a lot of patience) and dedication. I'm naturally eating better again and have started my cross training. My plan is to run the Ottawa Marathon in May 2014. This gives me enough time to gain distance and train smart.

Never forget:

Running: Cheaper than Therapy!

If you've lost your running self along the way, I really encourage you to get out there and try to find yourself again. It's worth it.

Once a runner, always a runner!