3:20 Marathoners ... New and Improved for (the rest of) 2017 (Read 372 times)

CK: sitting can be hard, sorry about that.

My distance trainers are Pearl Izumi Road N3. This is my 3rd pair. Great shoes. Typically on 20+ milers, I've stopped and tightened the laces at 15-16. I don't really want to do that mid-race, but will if I have to.  The only "fast" miles in these trainers were at the end of long runs, so not sure if the added "weight" will bother me at MP for the longer distance. I guess if I blow up at mile 21, It would be more comfortable to walk in the trainers, so there's that.  Also, my Kinvaras by race day will have a little over 300 miles, N3s will have 230ish. See how I can run down these rabbit holes of race preparation. Maybe I'll wear one of each and just stay positive. 

phoffer: I think just you mentioning running warehouse changed my ads. I've raced a 10k in them. I also did a 12 mile progression, which ended up averaging about 5 seconds above goal marathon pace.

Finally found this

Glad to be home

ace - My big suggestion is not to take it as easy as possible the previous days, i.e., no or very little tourism in Columbus until after the race. A 5.5 hrs drive seems a a tad bit long, but should be fine (Europeans here would say it's way too long). Are you driving on Friday or Saturday? If leaving on Friday was an option, I'd do that. RE shoes, like CK, I think I'd go for the cushioned shoes since you know they'd work, and the relatively high mileage of the Kinvaras on race day could have an effect on their cushioning. However, if the Kinvaras do not feel worn out at all, then they may be an option since they seem to have worked very well for some marathoners in the past (I found this regarding some old versions of the shoe: http://www.dailymile.com/blog/running/review-of-the-saucony-kinvara-as-a-marathon-shoe)

max - that comment on Lady Di's tunnel was a good one. Seems like you guys had a great time despite the slower course, with all the alcohol and lack of clothes. And thanks, I'd be very interested in hearing sam's comments on both the marathon and Paris itself.

OMR - thanks a lot for the input on JD. Do you remember if you used a 12 or 18 week program? And how did you manage the 12 week break between both marathons in terms of training?

Doc - Glad you found us.

McBen - Thanks for the input. In my online research I've read good things about Cybex, but I haven't seen any available locally. So far I think I'm leaning toward the Landice and I'll try heading to the store this weekend to try them out.

Me - More progress with the hip! Things feel normal as of this morning. I'm currently planning on a very easy, safe run tomorrow morning. Drive to the softball fields and run the path around them so that I'm really close to my car just in case things don't go well (not that I'm anticipating that at all). Between this and some scheduling conflicts (soccer games for DD1&2) I've missed more LRs with the running club this cycle than I've made.

finally found this! woof.

Thanks guys for your well wishes for Isabella (the cat).  She is out of surgery now and recovering, so I'm a bit more able to focus on other things.  Whether I race next weekend still depends on the next few days, and whether I need to hang around next weekend.  I am tapering as if I am going to race next weekend.  If it doesn't happen, then I'll just go directly into a break.

For those of you wondering, the short version of the Izzy saga is:

She has/had a gall bladder stone and inflammation of her pancreas and intestines, with bad liver values as well - first identified last Sunday.  After trying to get the stone to pass via other means all week, we decided to operate today.  It was very risky, but the choices were to try to surgically remove the stone or just put to sleep.

The good news is that when they went in, it appeared that the stone had finally passed between the last ultrasound and the surgery.  So no need to remove it.  Really, the best result one could have, other than avoiding the surgery altogether.  So they closed her up and she's recovering now.   We're not out of the woods yet - we need another ultrasound to confirm the stone is gone, and we also need for all the inflammation to subside.

The ironic part is how it was diagnosed.  She was acting unwell on Sunday (vomiting and not eating) so I took her to the emergency vet.  The vet examined her, and she was happy, affectionate, pain-free, and all her vitals were normal.  So the suggestion was that I should just take her home and watch. 

But I asked for an ultrasound anyway.  It was expensive and arguably unnecessary, but I wanted the peace of mind before running my marathon.    And...of course the stone showed up on the ultrasound - we had caught it before it completely blocked stuff.

Neuroticism pays, folks.

Back to running:

No input on treadmills.

Ace - it's all very individual, but I fall very much on the conservative side in marathon prep.   I will, with a smile, note that you're asking these questions a bit late...

Travel: I always travel two days before, whether driving or flying.

Shoes: I test stuff out during my 20 milers - the shoe that feels best at the end of 20+ miles is what I race in.  The exact shoe will have 30-50 miles on it - just enough that I know that there's not a manufacturing defect in the shoe, but still almost new.   I'll be racing in the Adidas Adios Boost 2, which is what I wear for any race longer than 10K, plus long runs and track workouts.   That's a pretty light shoe, but I'm very comfortable in it - most likely because I'm small and wear very light shoes in general - the Adios is as heavy as my normal shoes go.

Meals: Before each of my 20-22 mile long runs, I spend the last 18 hours eating the same things I'll eat pre-race.  After experimentation, I've settled on Chipotle for lunch (hold the salsa, beans, and guac), very light dinner of overcooked veggies plus Ucan mixed in coconur water.  Then my normal pre-run breakfast.

I have all sorts of GI issues, so I need to be very precise with what I eat.  That's why I log my pre-run breakfasts, and how they sit in my stomach.

Should OMR become OMNC?

Welcome back, DLS, RLK, SC!  McBen - thanks for your leadership here.

***

Between the last minute extra week of taper, and all the missed runs due to cat issues, this has been an odd taper.  If I race, I guess it will be a good experiment.  How does Darkwave run a marathon off of a 5 week taper and substitution of cat visits for pool-runs?

Last few days have been:

T: 8, including 6x800 (2:57, 2:57, 2:55, 2:54, 2:52, 2:47).  Skipped all the other junk to be with cat.
W: 9 very easy in AM (9:04).  A smidgen of pool-running in the evening (11 minutes) before abandoning early to check on cat.
Th: 6.5 miles pool-running in morning, then upper body weights and core.  Skipped pool-running at night to check on cat.

Today was 10 miles - 3 warm-up (9:44), 5K tempo in 19:34 (6:29/6:15/6:08/0:42), then 4 cooldown (10:01).  Also injury prevention work.  No recovery swimming - wanted to be available for phone call about cat.