A thousand steps

So, this is what the next step of recovery looks like:

N and I at Bluff Point

The weekend was AWESOME. Two good bike rides, a kayak trip, sunshine without turning bright red as an antibiotic side effect – quality.

Saturday morning, #2 son and I went and crushed 18 miles of cross – down through Bluff Point, and even a little bit of singletrack along the railroad through Haley Farm. We did have to stop for coffee and conversation at Green Marble.

Monday morning, Melissa and I got out for our first ride together since June – boy, have i missed this. Not an epic ride, but a bit of our life together that’s been missing.

And today – 90 degrees (but dry!) and 1.5 miles running, and another 1.2 alternating run/walk so as to not blow out the knee. On Jamestown, and a dip in the Atlantic to cool down. Possibly too long floating on my back, feeling the sun beat down.

Life is OK, and I think I’ll be better soon.

Back at it / Marathon Framework

So, this is what recovery looks like:

Not much, but it’s a mile, it’s almost running (Not quite 9 min/mile), and I didn’t die.

I’m about a week out from finishing the course of Lyme antibiotics, and the swelling in my knee is getting back to being manageable. I think the body is almost willing; now to get the mind there.

On a completely other note, a friend is looking to run a marathon sometime next year. My advice was to do it. He’s in decent shape, and I think he’ll crush it. But, his question made me think: When I do go back into shape, how am I going to train?

Base Period
My first suggestion was emphasizing the importance of the base period – one of the things I’ve failed to do, and hope to do better, is to keep a good base. My ideal base, I think, would look like:

Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
3-5 miles Cross 3-5 miles Cross 3-5 miles 8-12 miles Rest
Tempo Cross Speed Work Cross Race Pace Long, Slow Distance Rest

The base appeals to me – it’s about 15-25 miles a week, 30-45 minutes on work days, and less than 2 miles on weekends. Very manageable, very doable, but a solid base.

Build
From my experience and from most of what I’ve read, there are three fundamental principles for a build period:

  1. Periodization This is where you build for 3 weeks, and then cutback on the 4th week.
  2. 10-15% build on the long run only Only adding about 10-15% more mileage every week.
  3. Three 20 milers 20 miles is a funny distance. It’s a long, long way to run. But, it’s not so long that it destroys you like the marathon will.

Most marathon plans add mileage to the workweek runs. I’ve always had a hard spot with this, since, even as my training requirements grow, my work, sleep, and family requirements don’t shrink, especially on week days. I’ll fudge on this a little bit; move from 5K at lunch to 4-5 miles, but that’s adding 15-20 minutes/day instead of another half hour or more for the plans that go to 6-8 miles on weekdays.

So, rather than focus on whole weeks, I focus on the weekend mileage. My plan looks roughly like this:

Weeks to Go Distance Theme Weeks to go Distance Theme
0 26.2 MARATHON! 14 15 Build
1 8 Taper 15 14 Build
2 13 Half/Race 16 8 Recovery
3 20 LONG 17 14 Build
4 13 Recovery 18 13 Build
5 20 LONG 19 12 Build
6 13 Recovery 20 8 Recovery
7 20 LONG 21 12 Build
8 13 Recovery 22 11 Build
9 18 Build 23 10 Build
10 17 Build 24 6 Recovery
11 16 Build 25 10 Build/Base
12 10 Recovery 26 9 Build/Base
13 16 Build 27 8 Build/Base

So, that’s about it. Need to set about getting back in shape, which means I need to set about getting disciplined again.

Everyone running in the fall – best wishes; can’t wait to be toeing the line again.

Thoughts on an almost lost summer

So, back in May, I found a tick. Went to the doc, got the Lyme Disease prophylaxis, and thought not much of it.

Did my first triathlon in a while at the Mystic Triathlon; not in great shape, but racing felt AWESOME – really brought out the desire to fly, and I thought I was on track for a great summer.

Went for 4 days on the Long Trail in June, and had one of the scouts need to be medevac’d due to vomiting and generally feeling terrible. Turned out, he had Lyme. Trip felt great for me; and was happy, healthy.

Vacation in Stowe was AMAZING as always; possibly the best week of the year by far, though my conditioning didn’t really reflect the effort I’d put in. Not sure why.

Immediately after vacation, I had a work trip to Honolulu. The first couple days I was there, my right knee swelled up, which is odd, because that’s like the only joint in my legs I haven’t had an issue with. But, it felt better when I ran, so I went with it. Plenty of good running laps of the canal, and a rented bike from Island Triathlon & Bike lead to two AWESOME days of riding.

But, I got home, the knee swelled up, and the lethargy I felt was stronger than the usual 6 hour Hawaii jetlag. So, I went in to see the doc, who, given the tick earlier in the year, said we ought to start the antibiotics, and take the test.

The test came back positive for Lyme, so I’ve got that going for me.

The course of Doxycycline seems to be working well; most days my head is clear, my knee doesn’t ACHE, though it is still tender. I went for a (REALLY SHORT) bike ride this morning, and had no lungs, though that might just be neglect.

Poop.