Blog Posts

Many of you have read my previous articles about nutrition (The Protein Myth and The Nutrient Myth) on this site. One of my favorite sources is John McDougall, MD. His most recent newsletter (May 2008)  has a concise article about osteoporosis and the treatments for this terrible condition. Read it if this is a concern to you.

Link to article.

My mother suffers from osteoporosis in her spine and is always in pain - so I am sensitive to this disease and wish there was some magic bullet. All of the research I have ever read confirms what McDougall says in his article:

• Drugs used to treat osteoporosis have not been shown to prevent fractures (although they  may make bone density readings look better)
• Side effects from these drugs can be dangerous
• Fear of this condition results in much money to medical equipment manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, and medical doctors for testing (note: I dutifully get tested every two years, despite my misgivings).
• Exercise and eating well (no to minimal animal foods) are the best protection against this condition. I will someday write another article about Dairy Myths, but meanwhile, know that animal foods require your body to produce acid to digest them; your body wants to stay at a constant PH level and uses your bones as a source of chemicals to neutralize this excess acid. As a result, studies have shown that women who drink two glasses of milk per day have more fractures than women consuming no dairy. Epidemiologically, there is a high correlation between bone fractures and dairy consumption in different societies.

Someday, in my spare time, I will write the dairy article - meanwhile, dear running friends - please check out McDougall.

I am a little disappointed with my race.  I did run the first 18 miles at my goal pace.  After  mile 18 I ran out of "steam".  It had been awhile since this happened to me so I was very unprepared for how to deal with it.  The last 2 miles were pretty much a death march.  All I could think about was how nice it would be to stop and take a little break.  I did make it to the finish without stopping ... barely.
Funny to think about,  that two years ago I would have killed for the time that I ran.  Instead, it is killing me that I wasn’t able to run as fast as I had trained for.  Oh well...  you win some - you lose some!  Even though I didn't have a great race I had a GREAT experience.

 
The whole "elite start" experience was awesome.   The elite women’s field consisted of 53 women.   10 min before the start we were escorted out to the start area.  It was quite unnerving.   I was not prepared for all the spectators and the many TV cameras everywhere.  It was very strange being in such a small field receiving so much attention.  It would have been a very different experience if I had started with the 25000 people that the main field consisted of.  When I saw Joan Benoit holding the starting gun, it all of a sudden struck me that I was running THE Boston Marathon.   It was such a charge!
 
Around mile 16-17 the lead men caught up to me.  They had started along with the main field, 25 minutes after the elite women’s start. The first indicator that they were approaching was 8-10 police cars with flashing lights.  Two camera trucks followed, loaded with people and cameras facing back.  When the lead men finally passed me, I was so charged up by the hoopla that I got pulled along and ran a much too fast mile.  What a sight they were:  A group of 10-12 men just floating along, seemingly effortlessly – passing me so fast it seemed like I was standing still.
 
At the finish I was identified as an elite runner (Had a little silver dot with a "V" in it, on my bib number).  Two guys more or less carried me into the VIP tent, sat me down and got me all kinds of refreshments.  Once I recovered a bit, I changed into dry clothes and got a massage.  I was about ready to leave the tent when 6-8 race officials entered the tent and asked the runners to make room for "Lance".  The runners parted like the Red Sea as Lance Armstrong made his way through the tent.  Several times he stopped to give "high fives" and have his picture taken with runners that asked him for it.  Despite being exhausted from just finishing his marathon he was very accommodating.  I was tempted to stretch my arm out and touch "The Lance".  I didn't think I would appreciate being groped like that right after having finished a marathon so I didn’t' do it.  The whole experience was such a thrill.

The last two weeks before a marathon is the tapering phase of training.  During tapering the weekly mileage is reduced significantly.  Ideally, after the long hard marathon training, you want to sit back, relax and feel yourself get stronger and “fresher”.  My taper is going completely opposite. Lately I am feeling as if I am trying to keep a sinking ship afloat.  Every few days I get hit with a virus.  So far, my immune system has been able to fight off each of these attacks while they were in their early stages.  The repeated attacks are starting to take their toll on me.  My energy levels have dropped drastically. Instead of feeling strong and energetic I am tired and struggling to get through my work day.

All my set-backs could be valid reasons for panic. So why am I not panicking?    Because getting sick during tapering seems like a regular occurrence for me!  During the last week prior to my two fastest marathons I was fighting upper respiratory infections up until the day of the race.  I was able to “take a break” from being sick, just long enough to run the marathons.  The day after the marathons I resumed the final course of the viral attacks.  Currently I am feeling a lot better than I was during the two aforementioned Marathon tapers.  So, as far as I am concerned, I am ahead of the game.  No reasons for panic, yet! 
A new respiratory virus is making its way through the office where I work.  So far it has claimed two of my co-workers.  Unfortunately, taking off from work for the rest of the week, is NOT an option.  Wayne told me to stay out of all common areas and wash my hands as often as possible.  Taking a full hit by a virus this close to the marathon would be devastating.  This situation is a good reason to panic!

The last week before a marathon is such a mental game.  The low mileage done at easy effort equates to more time on my hands which is spent thinking and worrying about the upcoming Race.  One strategy is to try and block out the upcoming race.  I tried that once. The entire week prior to the Tampa Marathon, I didn’t allow myself to think about the race.  It wasn’t until I was picking up my bib number that all of a sudden it hit me.  Wayne noticed the panic on my face and asked what was wrong.  I explained to him that I just realized why we were in Tampa.  I was totally overwhelmed with the thought of having to run a marathon the following day and I didn’t feel ready at all.  I didn’t think I would be able to complete 26.2 miles.  Wayne told me I’d better hurry up and get mentally ready, because physically, I was perfectly capable.  He was right.  (As annoying as it is, he is ALWAYS right)!

To me, one of the great mysteries of running a marathon is that there is no “dress rehearsal”.  The marathon is 26.2 miles.  During training, my longest scheduled run was 22 miles and it was done at a much slower pace than Goal Marathon Pace (GMP).  The furthest that I ran at GMP during training was close to 9 miles.  It doesn’t make sense to me that I will be able to race a longer distance at a faster pace than what I have done in training.  (The reason why I do not do the full distance during training is because it is counter productive.  Running that far would be too stressful on the body and would take too long to recover from).  Every single time I have lined up for a marathon it has been with this doubt.  Every single time I have run a marathon I have surprised myself by what I was able to accomplish.  This marathon is no different from the previous ones.  Once again I harbor that same doubt whether I can run faster for longer than I have done in training.  Wayne tells me not to worry.  It is not how far I have run during training that matters.  It is HOW I have trained that makes the difference.  16 weeks of carefully scheduled workouts based either on distance or effort will come together on race day.  I sure hope I will be able to surprise myself one more time, this time, in Boston.

I was really looking forward to Sunday’s “Race around Briggs”.  It had seemed so long since the last time we’d run a race.   I was curious about what kind of shape I am in right now.  We have trained harder for this Marathon than any other before. So by all rights, I SHOULD be in good shape.  I was worried because during our training, the fastest pace that we have run is threshold pace (10 mi race pace) for 3 x 2 miles.   Each of those workouts felt so challenging that I didn’t think it would be possible for me to run a faster pace than that.  It seemed impossible to me, to hold that pace for a longer distance than 2 miles at a time.   Another concern of mine is how well the knee will be able to handle the down hill pounding.  The Boston course is a net down hill with most of it early in the race.  Several severe down hills on the Briggs course, would be a very good test to see how well prepared my knee is for Boston.

Friday night I was unusually tired.  I thought that perhaps it was “the little Wednesday mishap” (see blog 6) that had caught up with me.  For the better part of Saturday I just “moped” around without much energy or motivation to do anything.  Saturday night I started to come around and figured I’d be fine for the race the following morning.  Sunday morning I was still a little “off”, but after breakfast and a strong cup of coffee to jumpstart me, I was all set to go.

The Briggs race was very encouraging.  I held back during the early part of the race out of concern for my recent knee problems.  After the first 4 miles I was 25 seconds behind pace compared to last years run.  To my great surprise I was able to make up 35 seconds during the last 3.2 miles, most of it being a severe uphill.  I finished 10 seconds faster than last year’s time!  I am not by any means a strong up-hill runner (that’s Wayne’s claim to fame).  With this weakness in mind, and to get me ready for the infamous “Boston Hills”, Wayne chose training runs for me that included as many mountains as possible.   Even our repeat workouts have been done on the road instead of on the track so we could practice running up-tempo on hills.  During 14 weeks of running lots and lots of hills, there were times that I wished we were training for Amsterdam, Kansas or some other flat marathon instead.  There were even times that I was cursing (not out loud) the seemingly never ending mountains.   I take it ALL back.  What a huge difference the “mountain training regime” has made.  I am able to run the up hills so much stronger than ever before.   In fact, my overall pace for the 7+ Miles on this very hilly and challenging Briggs course was very near the pace of my 2 Mile Threshold Intervals, with what seemed no more effort than those workouts. 


Monday’s easy run (the day after Briggs) went quite nicely.  I did have slight stiffness in the knee but it was much less than what I was expecting after the test I had put it through by running the race the previous day.  By Monday afternoon I started to feel sick again.  It probably was a relapse of what I had experienced Saturday morning.  When I got home from work and it was time for the second run of the day, I decided to take a nap instead.  I was not concerned about missing this run.  With two weeks left before the Boston Marathon it is more important to recover and recharge.  Wayne’s favorite saying is:  “During the taper phase, it’s much easier do too much, than too little”.

Wednesday is the very last “key” workout:  15 miles with 8-10 miles at goal marathon pace.  If there is the slightest sign of fatigue, this run will get modified and made easier.

The last key workout……. I can’t believe that we are almost at the end of this 16 week journey.  There were so many times when it seemed near impossible to continue on.  The largest challenge with the high mileage training has been getting enough sleep.  During the early phase of training there were several times that I would come home from work, run the second run of the day, take a nap, eat dinner and take a nap until it was time for bed.  In an email to Steve Spence, I complained about needing so much sleep.  He replied:  “having trouble getting enough sleep and don’t seem to be able to get enough to eat?  Sounds like you are in marathon training!"    Once again my “coach” was there providing all the support and assistance that I needed.  On the nights when he would find me sound asleep on the couch, he would make sure that he woke me up in time for me to brush my teeth and go to bed!!

Wednesday’s key-workout was supposed to be 18 miles with 16 miles at 110% of goal marathon pace.  I said the run was SUPPOSED to be 18 miles because there was a small misunderstand as far as the route we were running.  We worked out a plan with a 2 mile warm-up that brought us to a very familiar training area for us.  From this point we have an out and back route that we call “The DeadEnd”.   This DeadEnd run is just a little more than 5 miles, is comparable terrain (slightly hilly) to the Boston Marathon and mostly importantly has familiar Mile Markers that we regularly do  “2 mile Repeats” on.  This part of the run allowed us to closely calibrate our pace and effort.   Also from the point where the DeadEnd runs starts, is a loop we call “The Mountain”.  This loop is a bit over 4 miles, and climbs a pretty good size hill (an Over Achieving preparation for the notorious “Heartbreak Hill” in Newton at Mile 21 of the Boston Marathon). So the plan was (actual mileage may vary):  2 mile warm up; 5 mile DeadEnd; 4 mile Mountain; another 5 mile Deadend then finally a 2 mile return trip straight back home for the 18 miles.  Do you follow this?  Exactly!!  I couldn’t keep that all straight either!  Well.... somehow I translated “straight back home” to:  “One more time around The Mountain".  At one point I did get a bit discouraged that the run felt so long and hard.  I attributed it to the windy conditions.  I thought it strange that this run was starting to feel a lot like the last six miles of a marathon.  (At that point I had covered 21 miles).  About 1/2 a mile from our house, all of a sudden Wayne appeared in his car yelling out the window, asking “what happened? “. Thinking that he was worried about my knee I gave him thumbs up and continued on. I thought he was overreacting a bit.  I didn’t think I was THAT slow.  After he got the car turned around and caught back up with me, he discovered that I had gone over the mountain a SECOND time.  He ordered me to “get into the car right now”.   I was almost home, but he wasn’t HAVING another step from me!  I got into the car and stopped my watch.  He glanced at it and said: “2 hrs 50 minutes!!” (Maybe it was more like yelling).   “Didn't you realize something was wrong?”  I had been focusing on maintaining the proper pace and effort, I’d never bothered to pay attention to the elapsed running time.  He then asked me at what point I had slowed down.  I never did.  So, I ended up running 22 miles, 20 at 110% marathon goal pace.  Ooops !!!!  Poor Wayne had been soo worried about me.  He thought that somebody had dragged me into a car and driven off with me.  It did cross his mind that I could have mistakenly gone over the Mountain again but dismissed that thought.  He didn't think I could have been that stupid  :(

The good news is that the knee held up.  I only experienced minor intermittent discomfort during the down hills. The bad news is that during those late miles the effort for that run was much higher than planned for. The one thing I have going for me is that last week was supposed to be 83 miles. I only ran 48 because of the knee problem.  I was a lot fresher going into Wednesday’s run than if I had run the 83 mile week and will therefore be able to recover faster.  Hopefully my little “detour” won’t be too damaging to the end result.

So what was I thinking?  What possessed me to go over that mountain a second time?  Wayne had me suspect of doing it intentionally to get more mileage in.  It didn’t seem possible to him that I did not know how many miles I had covered at any given time.  Simple math, he told me!  You either subtract 1 mile from the total (18) for each mile covered, or if you lose track of the mileage count, you know the approximate pace you are running.  Divide your pace per mile into the amount of time you’ve been running.  My detour started after 17.5 miles of running or approximately 2 hrs and 15 minutes into the run.  I should have realized that there were only a few minutes left of the run.  A few minutes would not be enough time for me to cover the 4.5 miles that I had left before I would have gotten back home. (Actually his recap was A LOT more detailed than this). 

When I run, I don’t think in miles or minutes.  Unless we run the 2 mile stretch that we run our “Repeats” on, I have no clue how far a mile is.  The time it takes to run a mile at a specific effort varies greatly according to the terrain.  To me this doesn’t seem a very accurate way to keep track of time.  It certainly does not seem worth the effort that it would take for me to do these highly involved math calculations, for such an inaccurate end result. When I run a training run where the miles are not marked I break up the run into familiar sections.  Firehouse to end of measured 2 mile plus a little extra into dead end, twice. Around the mountain loop.  Etc.  I just made the “little” mistake by adding “twice” in front of “The mountain loop”.  Not that I was looking forward to the 2nd loop.  As a matter of fact I was a bit concerned because the run felt so hard.  It did cross my mind to cop-out and just run straight home.  As creative as I was at the time, I could not come up with a good enough excuse though.  My knee wasn’t hurting so I couldn’t use that excuse.  It came down to, if I did go straight home I would be whimp-ing out. No chance that I could let that happen.    

So what do I think about when I run?  It depends on the effort that I run at.  During races and up-tempo workouts there is not much energy left to think about much more than the task at hand.  During easier effort runs I think about lots of “stuff”.  Somehow running allows the less used area of my brain to get utilized, resulting in this very uncharacteristic creativity.  I have solved all sorts of world crises during my runs:  World hunger, pollution, the education crisis, just to name a few.  An easy 18 mile run even produced the solution to all the problems that our running club is experiencing. When I got to the point during Wednesday’s run, where I took the turn to finish the extra 4 mile loop over the mountain, when what should have been only a few more minutes left of the run, I was very busy developing plans to ensure world peace.  With such great challenges on my mind, can you really blame me for losing track of time?   I supposed this argument would stand a bit stronger if there was a way that I could retain all these creative thoughts.  Unfortunately, as soon as the run is done all my great ideas evaporate and are lost forever. 

I hope to see a lot of you at The Race around Briggs on Sunday.  To all of you going down to NYC for The More Marathon and 1/2:  Good Luck !!  I wish I was going with you.