Making of a Marathoner

16 miles in 2:48

Bryan, Julie and I drove up to San Francisco for our 16 mile training run on Saturday. 

Coach Scott set up a course that was like a tour of the northern part of the city.  We ran past Fort Mason, the Marina, Coit Tower, the Presidio, and the Exploratorium.  There were great views, but also great hills.  Here is an approximate map of the course.

I was anxious about going for 16 miles since I had some problems during the 14-miler two weeks ago, when I had to drop back from the group for the last two miles because my legs were too sore. 

To combat the longer distance this time, our coaches had a surprise: each group's run/walk ratio dropped back one notch.  Our's went from 6:1 to 5:1, which slowed our pace from 9:30 to 10:30 min/mile.  I made it all the way through the course on pace, and although the last mile was a little painful I wasn't nearly as wiped out as after the 14-miler.

I 'm beginning to learn that in running, 90% of the challenge is mental.  My body didn't change all that much between those two Saturdays (although the exercises Wella gave me for my gluteus medius and tibialis anterior definitely made a difference.)  What did change was my attitude.  I did a better job of pacing myself mentally.

Sometime after the middle point I start to count down the miles.  It's amazing what happens when you think, "only 5 miles left," "only 3 miles left," "one mile, come on!"  I realized that when I do this, I'm basically telling my body that it's allowed to quit at some moment looming in the near future.  This is a defeatist way of thinking.  As soon as I start thinking about being done, I am.

I made it to the 13 mile mark without thinking much about how many miles were left.  But as soon as I started counting down, my body started begging to quit.  Suddenly the two miles ahead looked longer than the fourteen miles behind me.  This was the lesson that 16 miles taught me.

As I promised in my post two weeks ago, I now have documentary evidence that runners do in fact walk into the ocean after our training runs!  I snapped a few shots of the lunacy that I again failed to avoid.  The water is painfully cold, mind you, so I bundled up in a fleece jacket this time.  Here are the other photos.

7 miles in 1:04

Saturday's recovery run went smoothly. 

We were all thinking, "seven miles, that's easy!"  And amazingly enough, it was easy.  I never thought it would be easy to run seven miles, but here I am.

Ana was the only one in my group who showed up today.

14 miles in 2:38

For a change of scenery, today we met up with the training group in San Francisco for our 14-mile run.  This was our course:  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=109596

Much of the run went through Golden Gate Park.  We also ran up to the Presidio and down through the Outer Sunset neighborhoods, finishing near the beach.

It was a productive training run by most counts.  We met new people, had great weather and took in the sights of the city and the ocean. 

I had plenty of energy, but around mile 11 my knee started getting sore again.  Wella has now narrowed my "diagnosis:" it's a combination of my gluteus medius, IT band, and tibialis anterior.  Those are the three muscles that go from the buttocks down to the ankle on the outside of the leg.  I need to improve the endurance and strength of those muscles.  In the mean time, they will continue to hurt whenever I do a high mileage run.  I have some exercises for these muscles, so I hope I can get stronger before marathon day!

Since I was hurting, I had to drop back from my group.  Ana stayed with me for the rest of the run.  We came in about 10 minutes behind Bryan, Julie, Dave and Erik.

Afterwards, lots of people were wading into the ocean to cool off and "ice" their legs.  Apparently the San Francisco training groups do this after most runs!  I thought they were crazy because that water is cold! I was so stiff, though, that I figured anything would help. I was planning on icing my leg when I got home anyway, so why not get it over with sooner?

I took off my shoes, hiked up my pants and walked into the ocean up to my knees.  It nearly took my breath away.  "You'll get numb soon!" shouted someone who had been in the water a few minutes.  I shouted back a friendly expletive.  It occurred to me that the dozen or so people within view on the beach must have thought we were deranged.  I held out for about ten minutes in the artic water and then raced (stiff-legged) up to the beach.  Someone from the group snapped pictures just after I left; if I can get copies I'll post them here.  I know I wouldn't quite believe this episode without seeing it.

6 miles in 1:01

Yesterday was a "recovery run."  These shorter runs are interspersed with our longer runs for the rest of our training.

It was mostly uneventful, except for the miracle lack of rain.  It rained before and after, but somehow we were spared yet again.  I'll have more to post tomorrow about training and fundraising.