The Taper Madness - Last Week of Taper for NVM

NVM is a mere 8 days away. So far, in these three weeks of my marathon taper, I've been pretty calm. Probably more so because I've been preoccupied with nursing my nagging injury. A little disappointed too--I've never seen so many blank spaces between my non-running days and running days in my log. I started my training the week before Thanksgiving and my lackluster efforts proved to be so, with a scant 377 miles logged to date. Clearly, not one of my best training efforts, but I need to stop comparing it to the high water mark of NY. I was not injured then and was much more careful.  


Training for Napa this go around, I was over-exuberant and took huge risks. I wanted to push my body to the limit. That's how we progress right? Getting out of your comfort zone?  If 20 miles was good, then 22 must be better. If two 20 milers were good, then 3-4 20 milers is even better. Or if 8:30 pace is good, then 8:20 must be better. If one day of hill work is good, how about 2 days a week?  That's got to be better.  Right? Wrong, wrong, wrong.   I got risky and well, now I am paying the piper. That's my fault. This is a very hard lesson to learn, and guess what? It will stick.


In the final week of the taper, I am not so calm anymore. That familiar nervous feeling of excitement is coming back. To counter whatever feelings I may have (entertaining the thought of one last attempt at a speed workout--No bad Aileen!),  I've been reading a lot about the importance of  recovery in the last weeks of the taper.   The body is supposed to be resting and healing. It takes on a whole new meaning to me considering my piriformis issues. At this point if I add one more speed workout or one more long run, I have nothing to gain and everything to lose.  All the fitness I needed is in the bank three weeks ago and I can only hope that my running base will carry me through.


Here's what my last week of taper looks like: 
Sunday: 8 miles easy (zone 1-2 HR)
Monday: REST
Tuesday: 4 mi w/ strides
Wednesday: 3 mi w/strides
Thursday: 2 mi
Friday: REST
Saturday: 2 mi easy (zone 1-2 HR)
Sunday: RACE DAY!


One would think that by now, I should know the drill. I mean this is my 19th taper. But no matter, how many times I've done a marathon, the taper gets me each time. It's not as simple as one would think. The general rule of thumb is reducing the weekly mileage by a certain percentage. Experts say don't do anything new. Not so easily done since, now that running isn't my focus, I can easily engage in other forms of exercise, whence before I didn't have the time. Now that I have time, "hello weight room", or "hello yoga/pilates".  But no, I won't fall prey to this temptation.  I will heed the expert advice and stay out of the new routines.  Don't get me wrong, it's probably okay if you were already incorporating it before as cross-training with your weekly runs. But to start now during the taper, is asking for trouble.  So I am going to stick to my light schedule above and stay away from anything that might tempt me to do otherwise.

P.S.
The second round of acupuncture turned out great.  The nagging lower back pain-piriformis-sciatica-sacroiliac joint-psoas-problems (who knows what problems I have? The pain are all in the same region so they have got to be inter-connected somehow) has dissipated.   The pinching pain I felt before while bending over to tie my shoes, sitting down on the thrown, or getting out of the car have gone away. All good signs. The true test will be tomorrow on my last long 8 mile run. If the pain comes back, well...I'll cross that bridge when I get there...


Happy running. 

So Not--Worth the Hurt

I guess you can say I have a very high tolerance for pain. When I had my daughter, the doctors missed my epidural window and was forced to go through it the rough way.  That became my barometer.  It seems like any other aches and pain that may have come along the way did not measure up to that kind of pain. So in my fifteen years of running, when I hurt I quite readily dismiss it as temporary--in due time, "it will go away"--four words my chiropractor is scared of the most. 

My pain had been building up gradually for about two years. I failed to recognize it in my over-exuberance of running as I managed to blur the distinction between pain and soreness. It was easy to do and here's how I did it.  Running simply hurts. There is no way around that. Parts of your body will become sore after you run.  The soreness is due to the demands you put your body through such as minute muscle tears. The muscle breaks down and proper resting builds it back up, allowing you to become stronger and able to move on to the next round of harder workouts.  Each recovery builds you up to the next level. I understood that. Day in and day out, through marathon training cycles month after month, I was on this cycle of training and recovery. Somehow, I misread my body's cue that pain is not the normal sore that comes after a run. Somewhere along, I became impatient and couldn't wait to get back out to feel the cold air against my face. Sore or not, I was ready to move and failed to realize that I needed more than the occasional day or two of rest and recovery that I allowed myself.

It used to be that pain would accompany me near the end of  my run or after the run. In a span of several months, the pain progressed to hitting me in the middle of my long runs. The pain was more noticeable the day after the run. For example, getting out of bed, getting out of the car, bending over to tie my shoes, or simply shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I felt dull, sometimes sharp pain in the lower back region. It was getting harder to pinpoint the source because it seemed to have moved.  Then this year, fresh from a new PR in New York City Marathon and armed with a new year's resolution, I upped the ante and ran more hills and added more running days to my weekly mileage.  The return on my investment was negative. The pain got worse and came with the first step of every run.  Worried, I would take 3-4 days rest between each run to see if the pain would go away, only to realize that it was very much still there by the first step I took.  It was demoralizing. With Napa coming up around the corner, it had my full attention. What if this pain does not go away and end my running? I can't even remember the last time I ran freely, not taking inventory of what's hurting every step of the way. This isn't fun anymore. I searched my running log for answers. What could have I possibly done? My log revealed the downward trend in black and white. There were some red flags early in the year. I hadn't realized it then, but I had the pain at every run. It wasn't imagined, it was written in ink.  Every entry indicated lower back/leg pain.  If it weren't for my log, I believe that I would probably kept on running through it--probably kept hope that it would go away.  But the pain I felt in the first step was a huge wake up call. It was real and it was not going away any time soon. 

Alarmed by how long I've been able to tolerate this kind of uncomfortable pain in my running, I decided to go see a Chiropractor. I haven't seen one in seven years.  My chiropractor was great.  He educated me on sublexation and the body's function in general.  He readjusted my body's alignment and I was grateful for that. However, after two visits, he required me to return to the office for 3 more visits so that he can give me the treatment, each visit lasting no more than 15 minutes.  Given my terrible health benefits, high co-pay and high deductible, at $40 bucks an office visit quickly takes its toll. Don't get me wrong, I am not putting a price on my health, but I was also growing impatient with my progress or lack thereof.  I was not expecting a miracle to get me healthy again, but at the same token, I want the chiropractor to focus on where the source of my pain is.  He was focused on my lower back, which I know is not the ultimate problem. I decided to drop the chiropractor. I was willing to take drastic measures and not run until the day of the marathon, March 6th.  I figured what I needed was complete rest and recovery from running. This has to help somehow. After all, I will be toeing the line at Napa focused on damage control rather than peaked in training. It will be better to go to it under trained rather than hurt. I am willing to take that chance, until a dear running buddy suggested Chinese Acupuncture. I've never had that done before, I thought what have I got to lose?  I made the appointment for Wednesday. I do have high hopes and am keeping my fingers crossed. Will keep you posted. 

Run Happy!

1st 20 Miler for Napa-Done

Hee Haw!  Thank you Lord for giving me this day to finish my run. It's been a long time since I've been sidelined by injury. It's no fun! 

Since the MLK holiday, I've been nursing a sore achilles tendon and a sore sacroilliac joint.  For five agonizing days, I stayed away from running to give the legs a break and a chance to heal. I surmised that the prior 40-mile week, the Castle Coast race and the return to my power workouts have all wreaked havoc to my body. Something's gotta give. It was as if my body revolted and said "Whoa, not so fast--one change at a time." I knew better. I can't train hard and race hard in the same week.  I am afterall growing older, the resilience is gone.  Gone are the days that I used to roll out of bed and not stretch.  I promise to be good to my body if I can heal as soon as possible.

To get my mind off these minor set-backs (injury is such a scary word), I thought I'd give the brain something new to process, perhaps a new scenery?  I found a new 20 mile route right here in Los Osos along Turri Road. I've noticed bikers use this road often and the greatest part about it is, there's not a lot of traffic. Today being Sunday was a good day to try it. 

I've been quite anxious to get out there having only 5 days of recovery and I was sure it was not enough. I was leary about how my body was going to react since I was not 100%.  But I have a measly six weeks left before Napa. I thought if I could have this 20 today under my belt, this would be a confidence builder. I knew I could do this, I just need time on my feet.

My legs were heavy and full of glycogen, feeling very much as if they are ready to run a marathon. This was a welcome sign. I took it easy the first 1/2 mile and walked. My feelings dampened when the achilles started to ache a little and then the back pinched to let me know the pain was very much still here. I was a little nervous about going the distance and already made a pack to myself that the minute it started to grab, I would turn around and go home. Needless to say, this 20-miler was nothing at all about goal paced time. It was steady-state and all I wanted was time on my feet. It seemed forever since I ran a twenty.



Three Porshes zooming by.



Turri Road, Los Osos, CA



The morning was magnificent.  A few bikers were out and about. The only annoying thing was the Porsche club of some sort.  They zoomed by me one by one, carelessly weaving through the windy road ahead. I stepped out of their way and by the 17th car, I stopped  counting. Minor annoyance, considering the view was so beautiful. The hills, the cows and the horses reminded me of a country prairie.  I wondered why I haven't ran this way before.  There rolling hills and gradual inclines worried me at first.  Probably not the best thing for my achilles and lower back. But I took it easy and slowly.  There were a few moments where I was tempted to increase the pace, but I didn't dare. Every step I took I held my breath for a possible worse pain that could strike at any moment. I was just thankful I was able to run even at a slower pace.  I took the pain in stride and kept going. Somehow, at some parts, the pain seemed to disappear. I  looped Turri Road twice.  In the end, I ran an average of 55 seconds per mile slower than my usual long run pace.  Even with the hurt, I was still faster than some previous 20 milers I've run with no injury. After close to 3 1/2 hours I was done!  I ran  all the way home thinking about breakfast and my ice bath.  It was a great day indeed.