It’s been a while since I’ve written here.  It’s only nine days till Helsinki City Marathon.  I thought I’d have a lot to write between Ottawa marathon and Helsinki, but no, I haven’t been writing anything.

After Ottawa, I thought I’d try something new. Barefoot running. That has been in my mind at least last couple of years. After reading Finn’s “Running with Kenyans”, Jurek’s “Eat and Run” and starting to read McDougall’s “Born to Run”, my urge to run barefoot certainly hasn’t diminished.

So I did like many other do. I went and checked where to get Vibram Five Fingers. It seemed to be hard to find any from traditional stores, so I end up ordering pair of VFF EVO Bikilas from Amazon. I also started to investigate barefoot running more deeply, and found Xero Shoes. I ordered pair of those too. What a deal, shoes with 5000 miles warranty for $30!

Vibrams

Bikilas came just in few days. I had read a lot about how to start slowly and not to run too fast and too much in the beginning. I especially liked Xeros Shoe’s founder Steven Sashen’s writing “How NOT to start barefoot running“. My favorite sentence there is: “which part of 200 yards was confusing to you?”. Steven makes it very clear: you should start with short distances.

I was thinking after reading that, ok, good understood, now I will wear my VFFs and do 10k really fast,  and that’s what I did. It felt great. I was running faster with lower heartbeat than normal. My Polar told my Running Index was 60, which was highest running index I ever achieved (edit: actually no, 61 is, which I got on my second VFF run. 60 I’ve done before too). Must be because of barefoot running and not because I was tapering last two weeks from Ottawa marathon.

My calves got really sore next day and I barely could walk. I was expecting that, since I knew I ran too fast and distance was all too long. I rested a couple of days, and did 5k with Vibrams. Rested couple of days more, and did another 5k with well cushioned running shoes. My feet were still quite ok. Little soreness.

Xero Shoes

Then I got my first pair of Xero Shoes. I did the laces and instead of running with them, I just started to wear them. They were nice. Nice to walk with, nice to drive car, nice to go to pub and have few. Great sandals. Next morning I got anxious, and I had to try to run with them. They were nice to run with too. Totally different compared to Vibrams. Xeros give you instant feedback if you are doing something wrong. They do the flapping sound. Seemed I had hard time to get my right foot not to make the sound. I tried. I ran 10k, 5k and sometimes there was less noise than others. I figured out, that my muscles are too sore, so I thought I will take a break for one week or so.

After one week, my feet were ok. No soreness everything felt good. I decided to do a run with Vibrams this time. 10k. Immediately when I started running, I noticed a little pain on my right achilles tendon. Usually my left foot is the problem child, but now first the flapping sound, and now pain! Maybe similar pain I noticed just before Ottawa Marathon. It eased during running, but after run it was still there, and made me really worried. I had read a lot about achilles pain, and to be honest, I was freaking out that I had been able to create my self chronic achilles pain. I decided to stop running totally till there was no pain.

The pain just didn’t go away. Not after one week. After two weeks, ok, no pain. I did indoor cycling and weigh training, but did not run. Then I started to do a bit longer bike rides. 50k, 10k, 30k. Not much pain. In the morning, no pain. Another 50k bike ride and boom, pain is back.

Physiotheraphy

That’s when I scheduled an appointment for physiotherapy. The PT trainer created me a program how to strengthen and stretch my calves and soleus. I got also interval training program for running. First run: 5min walking then 3 x (1 min walk + 1 min run). 25 days to Helsinki City Marathon and my runs are about 2k including walking. Eh!

After couple of weeks PT, I did my first continuous 5k run. My aright chilles hurt after run, which was depressing, but it did get normal just in couple of days. I don’t think I’m going to run marathon in Helsinki, no way. Even if my achilles would be ok, I haven’t been running almost at all. Last weeks I have been cross training even less. So yes, it’s not going to happen.

The dog

We got dog, a copper nose beagle, a week ago. We have been wanting a dog for a longer time, but this one came without no thinking or planning at all. We went to look for dogs. Rescued dogs. We met Carter, and kids thought oh how cute he is: “Daddy, please!!!!”. Ok, yeah, why not.

When the lady came to do house visit before the signing of the adoption papers, I asked about how about jogging. Yes, but start slowly so dog gets used to it. Gradually! Yes sure, I know all about that. Start slowly, that’s my middle name.

So we did first 20min run between normal walk. He did great. Certainly he can do more than that. Next time 30min and about 5k plus walk before and after. No problems. I went and checked beagle forums. I learned beagles can run easily 20k and much faster than any people can run. Oh wow, this just might be an excellent running dog. We did 5k in the morning, so sure we can try 10k in the evening.

I had not run more 6k for over month now. Dog, I don’t know. This was yesterday. I didn’t know how my achilles was going to react, and will I have to carry the dog last 5k, but that’s what I decided to find out. First we walked the hilly sections of the route. That way dog gets his chance to do the sniffing and stop on every tree and so on. And I didn’t need to run on hills, which my PT instructed against in the first place. Besides, walking for first 15 minutes is a good warm up.

We started to run. Between 6’00” and 5’40” pace. First 5k went really well. I had some pain but dog was doing fine. Then till 7k still fine. I noticed that hiatus from running is easy to feel. With very moderate just a bit faster than 6’00” pace and I feel it everywhere.

We managed 10.3k in around 1 hour. My achilles was sore after the run, so I did the stretching, skipped the strengthening exercise and put some ice to ease the moderate pain. Today morning I had no pain which is really good sign. Some stiffness though. Dog was also doing great, so the distance wasn’t too much for him.

This morning we also did 40min walk and 10min run just to warm up my calves and soleus before morning stretch. He likes to pull the leash a bit, so mainly we actually concentrated on that. To get rid of pulling the leash.  While running he actually does not pull, but while walking he does, so still some work with that.

Helsinki City Marathon

Anyway, no Helsinki City Marathon for me. That’s reality, although mentally I’m still thinking that maybe if I can do 20k this weekend, then I could at least think of doing 10k run 1k walk, but I don’t think so. I’m not in shape to run, and I don’t think it would make any good to my achilles tendon, but we will see about that.

This is my fifth marathon – everything should go great

I have registered myself for May 15 2015 Ottawa Marathon. This will be my fifth marathon. During my usual morning walk with my youngest daughter, I started to think what can and what will go wrong.

It’s now eight full days till race day. What can possibly go wrong? Why am I even thinking anything could go wrong?

More training

I have been training actively last 14 weeks, and I have one more week to go. Instead of usual 12 weeks pre-marathon training period, I chose to extend it up to fifteen weeks. Well, I was actually forced to register to Ottawa marathon instead of Toronto marathon, but effectively it is the same. Ottawa marathon will be held three weeks later, and now I have three extra weeks compared to my initial plan.

More experience

I have more experience than I had in my previous marathons. Last time I was actually able to get to my goal I set for my first marathon. That was because I knew how to set my expectations. I managed to run under four and half hours my finnish time being 4:25. Now I know even more about running marathons, how to train to a marathon and how to eat while training to and during marathon than I have ever known before.

Less weight

I’ve been able to lose some weight. Actually, I have been able to lose a lot of weight while training. Earlier I have always gained weight during marathon training, so this time I made it differently. I actually monitored what I’m eating, and instead of gaining weight, I was able to lose more than 20 pounds.

More speed

I’m faster than ever. I ran 5k sub 24 minutes. I was able to run 10k in less than 50 minutes without having the race bib attached, which I have not been able to do ever before. My PB 10k is still 48 minutes, but that was Toronto 10k race with optimal conditions on really fast downhill course. My PB for 10k has always been over 50 minutes while running in Aurora on my own. Finally I managed to do it in less than 50 minutes. I did half marathon as my long run in 1:51. I did 30k long run in less than three hours. I should be faster and in better shape than ever before.

More endurance

Previously I’ve run one over 30k long run before the race day, while my other longs runs have been between 20k and 25k. This time I chose to do three long runs over 30k. I started my long runs on very slow pace, but while I became more comfortable, I raised my pace from earlier. The whole meaning for running in slow pace is to be able to recover faster. While increasing my pace, I was still able to recover either as fast as earlier, or even faster.

So what can go wrong in Ottawa May 24?

Goal

First of all, my goal might be wrong. I might be faster than I have ever been, but have I set my goal correctly? Do I really have what it takes to run sub 4 hour marathon? My initial goal for this Spring was to manage marathon in less than 4:15, so why did I change it to sub 4:00? In a good day, I might be able to do it in less than 4 hours. Not all days are good. If I start too fast, I might not be able to do it in less than 4:15 and there goes my goal. That’s what has happened to me previously. Eventually it seems, that  I manage to put my bar too high, and then I’m not able to get to even to my initial goal.

The weather

If it’s going to be hot, which is normal at the end of May in Ontario, it will give me chills instead of warm and fuzzy feeling. Some times I feel, that my finish time is directly in relation with temperature. The warmer it is, the slower I am. Last Autumn in Toronto I ran my PB, but it was quite cold. When I started it was 7C/45F and it never went above 15C /60F. That was pretty close optimal. If we go above 20C/68F or even worse, close to 30C/86F, then I’m definitely going to struggle.

Injuries and recovery

I been quite healthy so far. I’ve already run all my long runs, and I’m not going to do any further fast runs either. I’m going to take it slow and steady now. Few 10k and shorter runs keeping my pace at 5’40” it is going to be. That said, my left feet is a bit sore and my ankles are making me worried. Nothing I’m not used to, but if I really start to think, maybe the feeling in my ankles is something I’m not so used to.

I ran my last 30k three weeks before the upcoming race date. That’s ok, I will recover from that. But my last 21.1k. Was it too fast and too close to the race date? I just wanted to get some self-confidence and run it in 1:54. But it was this Monday, so less than two weeks to the big thing. I’ve read forums and articles just to find enough evidence that it was not too close and not too fast.

Sleeping and resting

I haven’t been sleeping very well last couple of weeks. I know I’m not going to sleep well last nigh before marathon either. I never sleep well in hotels, and even at home ground, I will not sleep well last night before the race. So I better try to sleep longer now, that I have a chance for it.

Resting is most important part of recovery.  Not running too fast or doing any more long runs will guarantee that I get enough rest.

Fueling

I told about loosing weight. I have been following a somewhat restrictive diet. But it doesn’t mean, that I haven’t been eating well. On the contrary. I have been eating a lot and making sure that I get enough carbs, protein and fat. I have also been interested to try out something new. Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet just to make my ability to burn fat better. I usually run my long runs on Sunday mornings without eating anything before run. I know some people don’t like the idea, but it seems to work very well for me. It’s easier to run when feeling light. During colder weather, I don’t even need to carry water or gels with me. I’ve also tried to get with as little add-on energy and water when it got a bit warmer. I’m hoping this will make the last 10k easier for me.

I’m not going to switch to LCHF any time soon, and especially not in middle of training. So I’m going to do some carb loading before the race. This time I will actually do it a bit earlier than just last day. I’m going to avoid my previous mistakes. I’m not going to either drink or eat too much just before the race.

Every time you try something new, there is always a chance, it will not work. Even when you are trying to fix something  you know didn’t work last time. It is a normal trial and error method you just need to do till you succeed .

Nothing will go wrong

And everything can go wrong, but it will be only one of many races. I heard many times, that if you would really remember how bad the last miles on marathon are,  you wouldn’t run another. That also points out how important it is to have right mental attitude. You can do your part on training to get your self physically fit, but that is not enough. If you are mentally set to go, you can get better results than others with same physical capabilities and training behind.

It is very important to know your limitations, but it is even more important to focus on your strengths. So instead of thinking what will go wrong, better think how you can achieve your best possible result with the given conditions. You can only affect how much and well you train. That’s all done now.

And then, even if you manage to make some mistakes you could have avoided, or if the weather or any other external condition  is not optimal, there will always be another race. So for now, I’m not going to think what will go wrong, but what have I done right so far, and the things I’m going to do right on the race and on these last eight days before the race.

What about you?

How do you handle your worst marathon fears? What you think is the best way to get to the best possible result?