Who needs long runs and shoes? (another Baystate report) (Read 857 times)

Several other people have already written great reports from the recent Baystate Marathon, but I thought I'd share a little bit about my training and race for the benefit of others who are trying to become marathoners. This was my fourth marathon, and it was the first one I felt like I was really prepared to go out and race. My previous marathon, Vermont City 2007, was a 3:41, and my previous PR was from Cape Cod in 2001 (3:31). In the past I didn't really have a solid understanding of what the correct effort level was, and I'd crash and burn really hard in the last 4-8 miles. I ran a 3:05 at Baystate, and it was by far the easiest, most comfortable marathon I've run. My last six miles were actually the fastest. The wind that several people mentioned toward the end didn't even faze me. I suspect the strong finish means I could have run faster for the first 20. My training in the weeks before this race was actually pretty haphazard. September was my lowest mileage month all year. I didn't really do the typical progression of long runs. My longest was less than 15 miles. I took three weeks almost entirely off at what would normally be the peak training time (due to travel and then a cold). What made all the difference was 16 months of consistent easy running. After my last marathon in May 2007, I made two significant changes to my training: (1) I made a deliberate effort to slow down and learn to run at a true easy pace for 90% of my runs, and (2) I weaned myself away from typical running shoes and found my natural gait, which made all the old aches and pains go away. These two things together kept me healthy and energetic enough to keep training consistently. The other big benefit of slowing down was that it helped me to finally understand what the different effort levels feel like. When you're mistakenly running your easy runs at tempo pace, it's pretty mysterious how you find marathon pace, or tempo pace. A heart rate monitor is a helpful tool for learning these things. In the race I stayed below 84% max for the first half, and I didn't average higher than 90% over any mile. I ran Baystate in my FiveFingers, which have absolutely no padding or support. My pair is up to almost 1000 miles. My feet are fine. They were pretty tired by the end of the race, but no damage beyond what's normal for a marathon. No black toes, one minor blister that's already healed up well enough to run on. If the weather was warmer I would have been tempted to go entirely barefoot, especially now that I've seen the course and know it's all well within the bounds of surfaces I routinely run barefoot. Unlike my previous races, my quads felt fine the day after -- tired, but not broken. I used to beat them to a pulp with my old gait. My knees are completely pain free, and have been for over a year. This will probably be my fastest marathon recovery. Amazing how nice running is when you're doing it right. There was one other thing I did differently to prepare for this race. I made a conscious effort to rehearse the mental strategies I knew I'd need to stay focused and motivated toward the end of a long race. During training runs I would visualize myself in the marathon, and literally practiced keeping myself positive. Even silly things can really work, like forcing yourself to smile. When race day came, I never really found myself in that dark place that always used to come in the last miles. I don't know what part of that was the physical training, and what part was the mental (if there's even a meaningful distinction). So my advice: 1. Run easy. Really easy. It should be a joy to get out and run every day, if it's not, you're not running easy. Think about running for the long term. Be patient. 2. Question the dogma that you need to compensate for your weaknesses with particular shoes. Maybe you'd be happier (and faster!) if you hunted down your weaknesses and destroyed them instead. 3. Remember that you're training your mind as well as your body. Be thankful for the days when you're out training in a gale force wind, or rain, or snow. They're an opportunity to sharpen your focus. Next goal is 2:55 at Boston.

Ed, that's awesome stuff. I'm envious of your barefooting.

Great job - didn't know you were a barefoot runner. Now I'm intrigued by those FiveFinger thingies.

That's awesome. Good lessons learned in there. Are you going to run Boston barefoot?

Great race and to go sub 3:00 is a great achievement for the general runner.I am just riding a bike and trying to get back to enjoying my workouts, and switched to Saucony Grids which is a very nice shoe. My question for you since you seem to train off of HR, what is the method you use to calculate your easy HR, tempo HR, interval HR, and do you use Karnoven or just straight up percentages. I have just started running at whatever pace for the day that seems easy yet effective because I don't like running hard, its no fun. I hope your right because this is the method I am training on right now even going to biking and swimming. But I would like to know your max HR and your zones as a double check and if you use Daniels book along with HR or McMillian also along with this theory.

Are you going to run Boston barefoot?

I would like to, but a spring marathon could be tough. I'd need to get lucky on the race day weather not being freezing rain, and more importantly I'd need to get enough barefoot runs in the months before the race. We'll see. I would definitely like to do a barefoot marathon at some point.

My question for you since you seem to train off of HR, what is the method you use to calculate your easy HR, tempo HR, interval HR, and do you use Karnoven or just straight up percentages. I have just started running at whatever pace for the day that seems easy yet effective because I don't like running hard, its no fun. I hope your right because this is the method I am training on right now even going to biking and swimming. But I would like to know your max HR and your zones as a double check and if you use Daniels book along with HR or McMillian also along with this theory.

When I was first starting to slow myself down I was pretty strict about training off heart rate. But over time I gained enough experience to be more flexible. Looking at your log, I'd say you'd get the most benefit from finding an appropriately easy zone and staying in it for several months, at least. You'll know for sure if it's easy enough because you'll feel good. Don't worry about trying to find your tempo HR, etc, for now. It will all become much easier once you've built a base. I really do think that speedwork is of limited value unless you have the easy miles to back it up. I have read Daniel's Running Formula and I think it's a good reference. His tables are a good way to estimate your paces and heart rates based off a recent race performance.

Great job - didn't know you were a barefoot runner. Now I'm intrigued by those FiveFinger thingies.

The vibrams are great. I was toying with barefoot running a few months back and got two pairs rather than one for my birthday in a color mix up. (Thanks Mom!) One I just use out by the pool or walking the dog or whatever (Wife won't let me wear them in public with her...hehehe) and one I use (albeit not as much as I meant to) to run in. I was worried about my foot size because I have longer toes and a tripile E size foot, but they fit fine and they're awesome. Anyway, great job Ed. Nice to see someone clock that fast in vibrams. I've always been curious what people run in them. How much wear did you see after that far? I've been pretty tentative to try and do too much on the asphalt and concrete for fear of wear. I'm pretty comfortable barefoot (and with the vibrams) on asphalt and concrete so no worries there, they just seem so thin. I've toyed with water shoes in the past and they worked really great but they seemed a little thick, I just had to wear nylon footie cutouts from the wife's old nylons to battle blisters after 4 miles. Anyway, do you wear them regularly to train in, and do you train in them on harder surfaces? or just to race? Just curious and thanks in advance.