Training plans, continued

So, I had planned to take two weeks off from running, then start up my marathon training again with a 21 week schedule.  Things changed.  My two weeks off were actually just 3 days off.

I really did plan on a full two weeks of rest.  I started the rest break by having my first deep tissue/trigger point massage.  In going over my legs, my massage therapist found lots of spots in both hamstrings and calfs that needed attention.  It was painful at times, but it was also good to find out that there were no major issues such as tears, etc.  In discussing how best to proceed, we both agreed that I would probably need to play it by ear, but that two weeks off may be a bit much.  So, I planned to take only one week off.

The plan was to run again on Monday.  There is a run club at the Tir Na Nog Irish Pub that I had thought of attending for some time.  So I planned to do the 3 mile run Monday evening, then follow that up with another massage.  It seemed a good plan in getting a baseline on how much recovery I might actually need, and how slow my restart might need to go.

I didn't make it to Monday without running.  I felt really good by Friday, so I did a series of 3 minute run, 2 minute walk intervals.  Not too many, about 2.5 miles worth.  I had some tightness, but not as much as before.  When Monday came, I met some friends at the Nog Run Club earlier than the scheduled run.  We ran a slow 3 miles (actually 2.8) finishing about the time the actual run was to start.  Then, we ran the loop again.  There was some tightness that came and went, but nothing major.  After the run, I went straight to my massage appointment.

My therapist, Rachel Wilde, thought that the legs were a bit better than before.  Still some spots to concentrate on, but better.  I went home, applied ice, and waited to see how I recovered.  The next day, I had a lot of soreness.  I was a bit worried, but the soreness was almost all gone by Wednesday.  Wednesday I did another series of 3 minute run, 2 minute walk intervals.  No issues on the run, except I did have to really focus on form.

Saturday, I felt good, so I did a 3 mile run.  For that run I went back to half mile intervals, with 60 second walk breaks.  I could still feel tightness come and go during the run, but no actual pain.    So, maybe I am back on track, just a bit behind where I wanted to be.

This week I plan on doing a repeat of Saturday's run on Monday and Wednesday, then I have an 5K event scheduled to run on Saturday.  After that, I will start my 20 week build up for the marathon.

See you on the road.

Week 3 training result

Week three is over, and it was not all it should have been.

The targets for the week were 3 lunch time runs of 3 mile each, with the option of going for a bit more depending on how I felt. Then on the weekend a longer run of 6 miles.  Pretty much the same as the week before.  The real goal was just to keep the running easy, and give the calf more time to continue getting better.

The first lunch run felt pretty good, almost completely normal.  I did have to work a bit to keep my form clean, but overall, a good run.  Run 2 also started out good.  I went out a bit faster than I should have, but everything felt good and smooth.  I wound up finishing the 3 miles at a pace of 10:09.  The last mile I did feel a bit more tightness in my calf than the day before, but overall, everything seemed good.  Run three however, was all over the place.  It started with some tightness, then evened out and felt OK.  Then at the start of mile 3, the calf got very tight.  I stopped the run after 2.5 miles.

Saturday's long run was supposed to be 6 miles.  I knew at the start I wouldn't get that far, but planned on at least a long walk with some running mixed in.  Didn't feel any pain at the start, I just couldn't get into a good pace and I kept bouncing in my stride.  Just could not keep it smooth. Calf tightness again popped up and seemed to move around from spot to spot, so I planned on calling a halt to the run after 2 miles and walking some more to get in the time on my feet.

When I stopped, I did a couple of minutes of calf and hamstring stretches, and when I finished stretching, it felt good enough to run another mile.  At the end of mile 3, I stretched again, and went for one more mile.  I did restrain myself at that point, and called it a day after 4 miles.

Week 4 started today with a planned 3 mile run.  I still had a bit of stiffness in my calf, so I decided to try alternating half mile splits with stretching, somewhat similar to how Saturday's run went.  That went OK and seemed to be working as a plan, but after a mile and a half, I decided to just walk for the rest of my lunch hour. My thoughts now are that at my age, perhaps I should err on the side of caution.  I think I probably could continue to train through the tightness, but it may be better to take some time off now, instead of perhaps needing to have some down time closer to the marathon date in November.

So, I am going to take a bit of a gamble, and take two weeks off from running.  The first week I will just walk, stretch, and use the stick for self massage.  Then in week two, I will start cycling again so that I don't loose to much aerobic capacity.  That will still give me 21 weeks to progress to running 26.2 miles.  Should be enough time, just not as much leeway as I had previously for things to go awry.

See you on the road.