Monday, July 21, 2008

No End to the Heat - Week of July 14th

Unfortunately, there wasn't a respite to the heat this week and getting in the mileage was going to take a little more planning than usual. This is the problem with summer running. There is always a stretch of a few weeks in which the heat doesn't relent. You want to get in your miles but you don't want to bake in the heat at the same time. While running early in the morning or late at night does provide some relief, it is still very tough.

I wanted to keep my momentum going and get in another good 20 mile week which I was happy to say I accomplished. I used the beginning of the week to get in my weights and spinning, while taking a day off on Monday. The Thursday group run was a scorcher and I think scared off the regulars since there was only three of us there. However, it allowed me to get in a "tempo" type of run and me, JG, and LL were able to run at about an 8:41 clip. I was busy on Friday night, and I am usually not able to get up early in the morning by myself, so I was forced to run during the peak "heat" part of the day starting at 3PM right after work. I ran about 6.6 miles but made sure to get in a bunch of water breaks and run at a slower pace than usual - the miles were more important than the time (approx a 9:07 pace). I relaxed a bit at the beach on Saturday and then was forced to get in my long run on Sunday. The weather report was not looking good. Accuweather had the temperature in the 90's all day long and a "real feel" of over 100 degrees. Therefore, I decided to wait as long as possible and waited until 7:30PM to start my run. I ran a combination of the bridle path (6.6 path used during GW and NH marathon training run a few weeks ago) and reservoir and was able to get in 8.2 miles.

Other than feeling hot and sweaty during the runs, my body actually felt pretty good. No real feeling of fatigue and my breathing was relatively calm and consistent - no huffing and puffing. It looks like my recovery mileage build up is coming along as I had hoped and I am hoping it will continue.

For the week: Mon - off, Tues - weights, Wed - spinning, Thurs - 6 miles, Fri - 6.6 miles, Sat - off, Sun - 8.2 miles

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Thyroid Blog Link

Since I use this blog strictly for running, I did not write about my thyroid issues except when they affected my training. However, as I was going through the treatment process over the last several months, I found it practical and somewhat therapuetic to write down what was happening. I wanted to have a personal account of my diagnosis and treatment, but didn't feel the need to make it public. I didn't want people to worry unnecessarily. Now that the process is over for the time being (with good news - scans came back looking good, no spread and now just need to go for follow ups and be monitored), I transfered the information from a Word document to a blog form to make it easier for me to navigate down the road.

http://bulgingneck.blogspot.com/

It is rather long, so I don't expect most people to read through it. However, I know how much easier it is to go through an ordeal with some knowledge of what to expect, so I am hoping that this blog will help out someone else going through the same thing. Therefore, if any one you know of going through a similar situation, please feel free to pass on the link.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Naples Park to Park 10K - 7/13/08

This was my first race in over a month since the Japan Day 4M on June 1st. I was happy to get back on the road and get my legs moving again. I wanted to use this race as an unofficial status check to see how I was doing after on again/off again running activity for the past several weeks. I didn't want to go all out per se, but I was planning on running this harder than a training or tempo run.

I wanted to be smart about this and not come back too hard too soon for absolutely no reason. This was about getting acclimated to racing again and running a quicker pace. Even though I had a red bib and could have started in the second corral, I decided to line up at the back of the yellow corral so I didn't feel compelled to go out too fast right out of the gate. I purposely took the first mile a little slower than usual and allowed myself to ease into the race, which was a smart move since the first mile included the Harlem Hill and it was already pretty hot outside. Although I don't enjoy running in the heat (the start of the race was in the low-mid seventies with very high humidity), I believe it forced me to control my pace and stay hydrated throughout the race. Usually, I would only take one cup of water during a normal 10K, but I made sure to stop at a few water stations along the way to drink a little and dump the rest on my head and face. I noticed that my mouth was pretty dry throughout the race (still some minor side effects from my treatment). My first race back in the middle of the summer was not the time to go all out.

All in all, I was happy with my performance. I had a goal of running at or about 8:00 min/mile pace and I ended up running an 8:02 pace, with mile splits that were relatively consistent. I was happy to see that my breathing was not really a problem at all, but I had a feeling of body fatigue midway through the race, which was expected. This race wasn't easy but I felt that it was a good sign that I am still in relatively good shape after a few week layoff. My goal now is to slowly build back up to 20-25 miles a week, including a long run which I have been able to do so far. I still have a few weeks if I decide to do marathon training this year. The summer is tough to run in and goals/expactations should be adjusted accordingly.

The splits for the race were:

Mile 1 - 8:35
Mile 2 - 8:05
Mile 3 - 7:49
Mile 4 - 8:00
Mile 5 - 8:04
Last 1.2 miles - total of 9:14 for a pace of 7:42
Overall time - 49:51 ; pace - 8:02

Totals for the week - Monday - 4.8 miles, Tuesday - off, Wednesday - spinning, Thursday - 9.3 miles, Friday - off, Saturday - off, Sunday - 6.2

Monday, July 7, 2008

On the Road Again

Starting on June 26th, I was finally able to go off of my low iodine diet and go back on my thyroid medication. It was a long four weeks, but I am now hopeful that my life will begin to get back to normal. I was keeping up a modest running schedule for the first couple of weeks before my scans (17-20 miles per week until June 8th, with no run longer than 5 miles), but I haven't had a "normal" running schedule for approximately 3 weeks.

Although I was able to eat normally again and was back on Synthroid, I knew that I couldn't thrust my body back into a 20 mile per week schedule right away, along with cross training, and I made sure to ease back into a routine. The last thing I wanted was to get injured and have to take off even more time. I ran 4 miles on June 26th and 6 miles on June 29th - my first 6 mile loop in almost a month. I was able to get in a time of 52:38, not including two water stops. I was definitely happy with this time. The week of June 30th was my first "complete" week back. I was anxious to see how my body would react. I was getting used to not running and spinning for several weeks, so I knew that the first week back would be hard. However, the longer I waited, the harder it would become. Therefore, last week I ran with the downtown group for about 6.8 miles (ran a slower pace than usual of about 9:10-9:25) , went to spinning on Tuesday, took a day off on Wednesday, ran 6 miles with the Thursday group (time of 51:34 with the help of GW), took off on Friday, did weights on Saturday, and ran about 8.2 miles with GW and NH's marathon training group (very hot and humid, but happy with time of approximately 9:05 pace). While it will take several weeks to get back to "normal" I was satisfied with my first week back.

I am happy that I did not sign up for the NYC marathon. Doing so would have put too much pressure on myself to rush back and get right into marathon training with no grace period. I will "allow" myself a month or so to ease back into base mileage and evaluate how I am doing at the end of July. If I am feeling good and strong and have the urge to do a marathon, then I will still be able to register for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 23rd and not lose any significant time of the full 4 month training regimen.

I am looking forward to getting back on the roads and running with everyone again.