Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 573 times)

I will give my update now as I wanted to wait out of respect for the racers this past weekend.

My injury problems have remained the same. I've effectively not run for 4 weeks at this point, and things have probably only improved 50%. I tried to get out the door yesterday when I was so inspired by Boston, but I made it half a mile before I had to shut it down. It's still Achilles issues, but also posterior tib stuff that is preventing me from even doing easy mileage.

I've been working with PT for a couple of months now and we just can't crack the code. She's been thinking it's my back, but that doesn't seem to be helping either. I'm inquiring on something like Shockwave to see if that will do it. I've done heel drops, core strengthening, PT manipulation, heat, ice, massage guns, ball work, etc. Pretty much everything you can think of. It's not helping.

Either way, I'm very close to just fully throwing in the towel and giving up for good. Frankly I was there last week and had committed to stopping for good, but Boston put a little fire in me that maybe I'll try to crack this nut one last time. In order to be in Moose Mug shape, I need to be running within the next few weeks to slowly get back to mileage I know I need to run to do it. I won't try to get back to 90+ like I did for NYC, but I do need to be running in the 71-85 range to have a shot.

I'd still put this at 75/25 that I'm not going to make it to CIM. It's been a frustrating past few years with injuries, but this one shows me it's not a matter of just "doing the work" to get my strength up or something, because I've done all of that. It's just an injury-prone body getting older. It's something I've thought was true for years and this has shown it: there's something with my body that it tends to tolerate a lot of running if I don't stop. Once I take breaks, I tend to get injured within 4-6 weeks of starting back up again. I've read numerous stories of people with Achilles issues that this injury in particular seems to get worse with full rest.

In some ways, it's a bit of a positive that I actually can't fix this issue: it doesn't make me feel like "well if I just did 20 minutes of strength work in December I would have been fine." That's not the case here.

Anyway - I'll update again in a few weeks depending on how things go. I'll have to make the CIM decision by Memorial Day is my guess.

JMac - This sucks.  It sounds like you're doing everything you can do.  I really have no advice to give about the approach or how far you try and push it.  So I'll just say I really hope you find a solution.

Flavio - I think anxiety is probably a factor.  My partner thinks I was too wound up all weekend.  On the drive to the race I completely forgot to give way to someone going 100km/h.  I still think the shoes are the main factor though, mainly because it's such a specific issue.  The cramp is starting so early in exactly the same spot at marathon pace.  I would think if anxiety was the main issue, it is more likely to manifest in a fade/crash.  I'm not a novice just learning how to run long distances, although I really feel like one.  I'm considering doing the Selwyn full marathon in 6.5 weeks, using the training shoes my coach recommends, no expectations, let's just see what happens.  If I get cramp, I'm out, no goal missed, just more data gathered.  I feel recovered from Sunday already.

Hash - Well done.  I saw you on your last lap during my walk back to the start/finish.  You looked like things were getting tough (like everyone else at that point!).  Great work getting it done.

I'm considering doing the Selwyn full marathon in 6.5 weeks, using the training shoes my coach recommends, no expectations, let's just see what happens.  If I get cramp, I'm out, no goal missed, just more data gathered.  I feel recovered from Sunday already.

 

 

 Steve- I really like this approach.  No pressure, no A goal, just run the race and take what comes.  Shoot for a well executed race period.  Whatever the clock says it says...

JMac- So sorry to hear you're dealing with this.  I don't have any experience or guidance so I'll just shut up and hope you can get it squared away.  I miss the quality Daniels talk though.....

 My problem is my high sleep needs: if I can, I'll sleep 9+ hours every night no problem. There is no such thing for me as "getting by" on 6 hours. It has to be at least 7.

I suspect the sleep issue is compounding stuff.  Sleep is when your body repairs itself - it's hard to come back from injury if you're not getting  enough.  I personally believe that work stress or even just life stress can make it harder to come back from injury or avoid injury.  Elevated cortisol levels slow down your body's ability to repair itself also.

One thing I note - you seem to have boiled this down to two options - 1) train for CIM or 2) quit running.  I think that if 2 is under consideration, then you should also consider just going all the way back to basics.  And I mean starting to run with the Couch-to-5K program, as ridiculous as that sounds.

You observed that it's easier for you to stay healthy when you are at a constant high mileage.  I think this is true for many people.  It's the build-up that is risky.

So, if you are going to quit anyway, why not instead take a little time to build up slower and more carefully than you ever have before, and see where that takes you?  And in the meantime, you can spend the extra time with your kids.

Whatever you do, I hope you keep posting.  I would miss your contributions (just as I miss JTReeves and so many others).  And who else will debate with me about whether to look at a watch while racing or how to pace the opening miles of a half-marathon?

Christchurch Marathon - Race Review

I'll essentially copy the event review my coach asked me to write here.

PRE RACE GOAL
What was your "A" goal coming into this event?

Finish in 3:16.

FINISHING TIME
What was your finishing time?

N/A

FULL DAY DESCRIPTION
Break down the day for me into the following subheadings and add in as much or as little detail as you like.

SLEEP QUALITY 6/10

Had about 6 hours broken sleep which is actually pretty good for me pre-race. Previous nights were good

PRE RACE ROUTINE
(what you did before you left the house)

Woke up at 4:30am. Bowl of muesli with about 500ml of water. Hot shower. Left house at 6:10am, arrived at 6:40am with 15-20 minute walk to the start. Planned to use some of this to jog a warm up but just kept to a brisk walk. Ate banana and had Endura electrolyte + carb drink (1 dose).

TRAVEL 9/10

Easy drive, although I forgot to give way at one point...luckily it didn't lead to anything.

WARM UP 9/10

I felt the walk then a short jog would be fine, so I only jogged for a couple of minutes then put the race shoes on and did a couple of hundred metres to check lacing.

THE RACE
(what happened? when did it happen? ie "I felt great at the 24km aid station")

Cluttered start - they probably need to rope off the start so the whole starting area is as wide as the first mat. Luckily I wasn't too far back. I don't remember ever feeling great in the first lap. I got a drink from my partner at the 6km station (she asked if I was okay, I said yep - she said later she thought I didn't look great). Just after this my Flip belt fell off, had to go back and get it, then carry it in one hand with the drink in the other hand. Finally finished the drink and did the belt up again. It's never fallen off before. I checked it a lot in the next 2km but then forgot about it and it was fine for the rest of the day. I thought while I was carrying it that I can show I'm mentally tough by quickly getting over an annoying hiccup. Around the end of the first lap I finally started feeling good and like things were rolling.

A guy doing the half started blatantly snaking after me and drafting up Durham and Kilmore which really pissed me off. He made no effort to take a turn. I then saw another guy on Kilmore and asked if he wanted to work together into the wind. He was great, we did a block or 2 each then settled in next to each other and chatted on and off when wind wasn't an issue. He was an Italian guy from Wellington, targeting 3:20 and had done Auckland in 3:22 - I told him he'll cruise this course after that.  Also said to him this will be fine for him compared to Wellington wind, he commented "I still don't like it!"  Saw partner at 6km drink station again (16.5-17km of the race). We saw his partner twice on each lap, she would take a video and call out "I love you" and he'd say "I love you too".  From 15-17km I started feeling rough again and just assumed it was an early race bad patch. I'd taken a caffeine gel at 6km, normal at 12km, caffeine at 18km. It may be mental but soon after each gel was when I had good patches. Came round the park again and pretty much bang on the 20km mark I felt a tiny cramp in my lower left hamstring. I knew it was real straight away, and knew the race was over. I slowed a little to see if I could stop it. Second lap was 49:21, after a first lap of 48:49 so my paces were right. The difference was probably the slow down at 20km. I told Italian guy I thought I could feel cramp and let him pull away a bit, although I caught him at the next aid station. I had a couple more signs of cramp so I knew I was done. I decided to at least have a decent sized workout and decided to run until the cramp came on strong enough to force a stop. I slowed a little to try and extend the time I was in the race. Italian guy also slowed and said aerobically he felt good but his legs were way too fatigued for so early. Saw partner at another aid station and told her I was cramping and likely to stop soon and where I'd meet her. Had half the drink but threw it away because I knew I wouldn't be needing it.

I kept going for another 3km after seeing my partner. This was the most relaxed and serene I felt in the whole race. Every km now was a bonus. Italian guy was talking about his legs being gone, I was talking about how maybe I can only do shorter distances, it was kind of a fun pity party.

One other thing to note is I had a sore hip the previous day (possibly from lifting something). It was sore after the race and still a little sore. I don't remember ever feeling it while running though.

FINISH
(How did it feel?) I wish I knew!

NUTRITION
Maurten gel on the start line. Maurten caf at 6km, 400ml Endura drink 6km, Maurten at 12km, 400ml Endura drink at 16km, Maurten caf at 18km. After I knew I wasn't finishing I basically abandoned nutrition.

WHAT WENT REALLY WELL? Training (apart from illness). Strength training improvements were big.

WHAT COULD WE DEFINITLY DO BETTER NEXT TIME? I'm actually pretty happy with the whole cycle, which is a weird thing to say after such a disaster. For a future cycle I would be interested to talk about higher mileage, possibly with just a big base building phase.

OTHER COMMENTS

I think the key factors are the shoes and race day anxiety. That's the only common factor. Because it's such a specific issue I lean more towards the shoes as the primary issue. Maybe I just have to use them for shorter races. My partner thinks anxiety is bigger than I do, but I think it's worth discussing approaches to resolve this. Mental skills coach, practice races etc. If I do the Selwyn Marathon using the approach I mentioned above, I feel like I should be pretty calm and relaxed.  Selwyn is on country roads and in the inaugural year last year there were only 38 people in the full.  This may help any anxiety too - it's going to feel like a training run.  There were 4 people sub 3 hours then 5th place was 3:35 so I'm going to be running solo for 99% of the race.

There are some contradictions in the above.  Why was I feeling off colour for much of the time I was running if it's the shoes causing cramp?  It's probably a combination of things.  Having a cold and moving house 2.5 weeks out definitely didn't help.

Pre-race anxiety: This is a biggie for sure, and something that was really tough for me for a long time. A certain amount is natural, and actually helpful as it activates the sympathetic nervous system and gets the adrenaline flowing... but if you're in that state for too long it's counterproductive.  I used to get wound up about almost every race... these days it's just goal races and even then I can mentally talk myself down from it by reminding myself that the work is done (hopefully lol), it's just another race, and it's something to be enjoyed, not stressed over.

I like your attitude towards Selwyn, Steve.  Definitely worth a go.

I normally only post in the Waltons thread.  So if you don't know who I am, my apologies.

Steve - looking at your training etc. you definitely should go sub 3:20.  A 3:16 aim was very reasonable.  Do you ever do shorter races, or MLR/long runs in your race shoes?  If not, then you definitely need to consider this. I realize that race shoes are little expensive but I think you should always have done some shorter races or training runs in the race shoes.  I realize that race shoes are expensive, but they're not that expensive, and remember that cheaper shoes aren't free so the cost is the delta.  It might your shoes are good for a half and below, by memory you're using the Endorphin Pro v1 or v2? 

I also think anxiety is a real issue here.  Whether it contributes to the cramps, I don't know.  Just remember that to enjoy the event, you (and I) are so far away from being quick enough for it to truly matter.

Another thought re your taper, does your diet change a bit?  Do you eat less and therefore consume less salt?

JMac - I like Darkwave's suggestion.  A light running program might be enough to mean fitness is not fully lost, but light enough to give your body the ability to recover.

RP - I'm not sure how accurate this body battery is. I mostly ignore it.
I've never gotten a score of 90, my max was 85. I don't wear the watch all the time though, so I'm guessing mine is less accurate.

Jmac - First of all, forget about CIM, delete it from your calendar. Focus exclusively on getting better, then running easy for a little while. Once that happens, then you can start thinking about the future. The options I outlined on my last message to you will still be there in the future.

And, yeah, you're still young, you could retire now, not run a mile for the next entire year, come back, you'd be back to baseline fitness in about 3 or 4 months, and you'd get the Moose Mug just the same, just a year later than you'd like.

And remove this idea that you're injury prone from your head. I'm certain that with proper training volume and regular injury prevention work you can shine once again. I also hit a major road block at around 36 years. Unlike you I just did nothing and waited to see if it would go away. I lost 26 weeks that year to injury. Eventually it got better, I started doing strength training, I started running PRs again. Now looking back, it looks like just a bump along the way. You're doing everything right, you will certainly get better much quicker.

If you do retire, (cause hey, life gets in the way sometimes), then you can definitely be happy with your results.

Steve - That sounds like a very good plan.