Ready for the 2011 TC Marathon; long runs complete, injury free, and I have a full tank of blood

The Twin Cities Marathon starts at 8:00 AM this Sunday and I’m in the best shape ever. This is the first time I’ve completed my marathon training injury free. I think my success is mainly due to consistency during training. I never missed a long run during the week and during the most critical time of my training I got in most of my short runs. During the last few weeks of my training my life got really busy, so I didn’t do all the short runs I planned but I made sure I got in all my long runs. By being consistent with my training, I never got into a situation where I had to play catch up and push myself too hard.

Back in early June I officially started my marathon training with a 10 mile long run. At the time I could comfortably run 10 miles, but 14 miles was very difficult and painful. Since then each week I would add one mile to my long run, except for one week I reserved as a “rest week”, where I didn’t add a mile. (I’ve recently read from a marathon trainer to expect at least one long run with poor performance – it just happens).

Starting with my 18 mile run I started a routine that seems to work pretty well. For my long runs I run with a water belt holding four 6 oz water bottles. Before drinking water I run to my turnaround point and then back to a point where I have about 8 miles left to run. At that point I have my first water break where I walk while slowly drinking water. Then I take three other walking water breaks about every 2 miles. Between the walking water breaks I run at a pretty good pace to keep my average pace near 9:30 (I’m not a fast runner so that is a pretty fast long run pace for me.)

I was going to run 22 miles last week, but I tried running during the afternoon and the heat really got to me. After running 19 miles I stopped into a public restroom where I could douse my head with cool water. I spent too much time cooling off and my legs got all stiffened up.

I don’t think the walking water breaks give me much physical rest, but they help me a lot mentally. Rather than focusing on finishing the run, I just focus on getting to the next walking water break point. I find I can push myself a little harder to get to that next reward. Many marathoners walk through water breaks when racing, so my training method is not unusual.

There is famous Olympian marathon runner, Jeff Galloway, who teaches a run/walk method for marathon training and racing. He claims this is a way to marathon run injury free until you are 100 years old. Some runners have completed a marathon race well under 3 hours using his run/walk method, so one can still finish a marathon with an exceptional time using his method.

After my last walking water break, I hit the lap reset on my Garmin Forerunner 305 at the 2 mile remaining point and start my final push. Out of my last 7 long runs, I’ve been able to complete the last two miles with a pace less than 9 minutes-per-mile. For my 23 mile long run I finished the last two miles with a pace of 8:40. I typically finish my long runs with an average pace of about 9:30, which does not include bathroom stops to poop.

I’ve been having some problems with runner’s trots. There was one long run where I had to stop 4 times. Fortunately there are a number of Porta Potties a long the way that I have found over the years. One problem is I have been starting my long runs very early in the morning, typically around 4:30 am. That’s just not optimum timing with my intestinal track, which doesn’t usually wake up until about 6 or 7 am.

I have made some improvements by changing my diet, which is usually super high in fiber. I won’t go to an unhealthy low fiber diet, which seems to partially defeat the purpose of running, but a day before making a long run I do cut out any super high fiber items like beans or double-fiber bread. I also try not to eat any greasy foods the day before. This week before the marathon race I’ve really been watching my diet. I got to be careful though; I don’t want to be running constipated either. One thing is for sure, if you are having troubles with constipation, try long distance running. Gravity is the most natural way to get things moving.

This is the first marathon I will be running with a full tank of blood. I was anemic for my 4 previous marathons. A physical I had before my first marathon in 2006 showed I was slightly anemic. Unknowingly the anemia was probably the first sign of my cancer, but unfortunately my physician at the time didn’t follow up on it. In 2007 I ran the TC marathon and finished with my best chip time yet of 4:06. I think I could have finish less than 4 hours but the temperatures that day were at record levels. Then in 2008 I ran Grandma’s marathon a couple of months after completing chemotherapy, and then the TC marathon that fall. I was very anemic for those races. It took about a year after chemo for my blood to return to normal levels. I can see and notice the difference.

When I now run my heart rate stays at a much lower rate even for faster speeds. When I ran my last 23 mile run my heart rate stayed at about 148 bpm up to the 21 mile point at an average pace of 9:33. For the last two miles I picked up my pace to 8:40 and my heart rate average 161 bpm during that time. For Grandma’s marathon in 2008 my heart rate was averaging around 160 to 165 bpm even though my average pace was around 10:03. That’s a huge difference from now and then. Whether or not I finish less than 4 hours will not be determined by my cardio systems, but rather by my legs. Oh, and my head too.

For the previous 3 TC marathons I ran, I let adrenalin take over and started out at a pace that was way too fast. Then at about mile 19 to 21 I would run out of gas. At about mile 20 there is a relatively steep climb up the Mississippi River valley up to Summit Ave. In past years I have seen many marathoners collapse somewhere along this climb, and many others walking. I’ve never been able to finish strong at this marathon because of poor pacing. This year I plan to run alongside the 4:00 hour pacer, a very experienced marathon runner that helps runners set a good pace and provides motivation on the way.

We’ll see what happens, but this year I am determined to take on the notorious Summit Ave climb and finish under 4 hours.

My New Adventure: The Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon

I miss having a marathon in my plans, but I promised my family I would take a break from full marathons. So I’ve decided to run in the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon (http://www.lakeminnetonkahalfmarathon.com/) on May 3rd, 2009. To make it adventurous I’m setting a time goal of better than 1:39, which should place me in the top 10 for my age group (50 to 59) based on last year’s results. I was in my best shape when I ran the TC marathon in 2007 and at the halfway point my time was 1:48:52, so I need to cut ten minutes off that time to reach my goal. Now my thinking is I should be able to do that. When I made 13.1 miles in 1:49 time back in 2007 I had to complete another 13.1 miles, so I was saving a lot of energy at that point. Furthermore, it was hotter than heck during the 2007 TC marathon. So I’m thinking with good training I should be able to do this no problem. Last week I get on the treadmill and crank up the speed to 8.0 MPH or a pace of 7:30/mile. Holly smokes! I was surprise how fast that was. There’s a huge difference in the speed for a half marathon time of 1:49 vs 1:39. I can’t imagine running 8.0 MPH for 13.1 miles. Never the less, I’m going try.

I wanted some adventure into the unknown, well here it is. This requires a big change to my training. I’ve never done any serious speed training before, but now’s the time. Last week I started by speed training by employing the Fartlek (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek) method on my treadmill. I’ve tried Fartlek training in two different ways. One is to start out at normal pace for a few minutes to warm-up, then run for about 3 minutes at 9.1 MPH (almost a sprint for me), then back to normal pace to rest for a few minutes, then sprint again. I repeat this cycle until I finish 6 miles. The other method I’ve tried is to run again at normal pace, then up my speed to 8.0 MPH (my goal speed for race day) for as long as I can, then back to normal speed to rest, then repeat the cycle as often as I can. I love this type of training. It makes time go much faster when running on the treadmill.

Speed training may not be enough to reach my goal so I’m planning on doing something else to help my speed – loose weight. During chemotherapy last spring I gained about 7 or 8 pounds. There were a few reasons for that. The Prednisone increased my appetite. It also caused my problems with stomach acid and gas to flare up, way up, and eating actually helped with that, so I ate very often. The other cause of my weight gain was comfort foods. My sons like milkshakes. During chemo I would get through the day by looking forward to an evening of making and eating milkshakes with my sons while we watched our favorite TV shows. Fortunately I was running about 40 miles a week, otherwise my weight gain would have been much more.

I’ve read that you can improve your percentage improvement in marathon time is about the same percentage in weight loss. I’m assuming this is roughly true for a half marathon too. I’m at about 175 pounds right now. So I if loose about 15 pounds I could expect about a 9% improvement in my half marathon time. A 9% improvement over my 2007 TC time gets me pretty close to my goal. I have 15 weeks before the race so I need to loose about 1 pound a week. That’s not unreasonable.

I’m not planning on loosing weight just to improve my race time. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. 160 pounds is a very healthy weight for me. Maintaining a good weight has tremendous health advantages that are obtained in a natural way and without drugs. Before I lost my 30 pounds in 2007 my cholesterol was high and my doctor wanted to put me on drugs to control it. I lost 30 pounds and my cholesterol came down into the normal range without drugs. There are so many health risks associated with being overweight (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/) and one of them is an increase risk in cancer. I don’t need that! So I’m going to use my half marathon time goal as a motivational means for obtaining my weight loss goal. I’m also using this public announcement as a motivational means – I must be crazy!

This will not be easy. Many of you know that loosing weight is not easy. I love food and many of the foods I love are not good for me. However, there are a lot of foods that are healthy and are wonderful for the palate too. For the most part I do have very healthy eating habits. My diet is very high in fiber, I eat a lot of fruits (mostly berries which are the best fruits) and vegetables (probably could do better with veggies), I go with low fat versions of most foods, I avoid foods with refined sugars as much as possible, and get low or no sugar added foods when available. So all I need to do is tweak my diet; mostly cut out those evening milkshakes. I’m not going on any special diet. My plan is to have a well balanced diet and to watch calories. For weight loss the bottom line is calories. To loose weight one has to burn more calories than what one consumes. It’s that simple. However, I’m not going on a strict diet like a 1200 calorie a day diet. I don’t have to with the running I do.

Here’s my plan and how I’ve figured it out. I’ve checked with many websites that have online calculators that calculate calories burned. They don’t all give the same answer, so I’m taking an average. For my weight, age and gender, I burn about 2000 calories a day without running – if I were to lead a sedentary lifestyle. The calculators also show that I burn at least 700 calories for 6 miles of running. So if I run 6 miles a day for 5 days a week I’ll burn 3500 calories per week just running. One pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories. So, if I eat 2000 calories a day and run 30 miles a week, I should loose 1 pound a week and reach my weight goal by race day on May 3rd. One way to look at this is that all my weight loss is due to running, not cutting calories. I just need to be careful and not eat extra calories.

Ok, now I’m going to get a bit anal with this plan. To make sure I eat the right amount of calories I’m going to watch my calorie intake very closely. I’ve bought a kitchen scale to weigh all the food that I eat. Weighing food is a lot easier than trying to measure the volume. For example, for breakfast I put my empty bowl on the scale, hit the tare button to zero out the scale, add my cereal, write down the weight, hit the tear button, add my fresh blueberries, hit the tear button, and so on until I have the weights of all my ingredients. It really doesn’t take much effort and it’s kind of fun. Then I’m going to try a trial version of some software from CalorieKing’s website that will help me keep track of calories. Once setup I’ll just enter in the weights and the software will keep track of calories and other nutritional data. If the software works well I’ll buy it. My poor wife, she didn’t know what she was getting into when she married me.

Besides keeping track of my calories I’ll keep track of my daily weight. They say you shouldn’t weigh yourself every day because there are normal fluctuations that occur and a normal but temporary weight increase may be discouraging. However, they weren’t addressing a scientist with this advice. By using curve fitting functions I should be able to average out the normal fluctuations and get a better measurement of weight loss trend with daily measurements than I can get with weekly measurements. Here is my weight over last week:

The solid line is a linear fit to the data and shows that over the week I had a weight gain trend of about a quarter of a pound a day. Kind of alarming! But my guess that besides a daily variation there is also a weekly variation. After a couple of weeks I get a better idea of things. The R2=0.6 is basically an indication of how well the line fits the data. The closer to 1.0 the better the fit. A value of 0.6 is not good correlation and is due to having a lot of variation over the fit period. What this means is that there is not a lot of confidence in the accuracy of quarter of pound weight gain trend. Whew! Eventually I hope that the fitted line extrapolated (extended) out to May 3rd will show that I will eventually get to my goal. I suspect that a linear fit may not be the correct model to use and I may need to go to something like an exponential fit (a curve that starts out steep and the beginning and less steep at the end).

Besides monitoring my weight I’m going to monitor my improvement in running speed each week. In a couple of weeks I’ll be running 13.1 miles for my long run each week. I’ll keep track of my time to finish 13.1 miles and chart that too. Hopefully a fit to that data will show that I will eventually reach my race time goal.

I’m really excited about this. Training for a half marathon will not take nearly as much time as a full marathon and there will be less risk of injury. From my experience I start to run into injury problems when I start running about 16 miles or longer. Keeping my weekly long runs to 13.1 miles will save a lot of time. Not only from running shorter distances, but also shorter recovery time. When I run 16 miles or more, I’m kind of useless for about 2 or 3 hours afterwards, whereas I can do something like mow the yard after a 13.1 mile run. That helps a lot in the wife department. The speed training is a lot of fun and from what I read can actually help reduce injury risk.

I can’t believe I’m doing this – posting this kind of detail on the internet. Oh well – I’m on the hook now.

Another Tendonitis/Cheeseburger Challenge

Tendonitis of a tendon running from my shinbone to my foot has grounded my running for the last two weeks. Learning from past lessons I am getting professional help on this. I still may be able to run the TC marathon, but it’ll take some careful strategy. I was getting real concerned last week because there appeared to be no progress with healing even though I was being very careful about not overstressing the tendon. Just a normal day of short walks lead to a very sore leg by the end of the day. However yesterday was a breakthrough day; I noticed some dramatic improvement. Now comes the tricky part – when do I start running again? I have almost 5 weeks before marathon time. I’ll plan out a training program with a drop dead date for starting to give my tendon as much time as possible to heal. If it isn’t ready by then, I’ll probably have drop out of the race. Meanwhile, since I’m not running, I’m not burning tons of calories I normally do. But my insatiable appetite hasn’t changed, so the excess calories are turning into excess waistline. I just can’t give up those cheeseburgers.

On a different note, you can see my BWCA photos in a much larger size by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/LKStrandjord/BWCA2008 , which is my Picasa website.