New shoes + better nutrition = a better 16km

I decided that a lot of my problems started when I switched to the Saucony trail shoes. So this week I went out and got a new pair of Sauconys, and decided to keep the new insoles in them.

Although I didn't eat great yesterday, I did have some pasta and tried to drink a little more than usual. For breakfast I had a bowl of hot cereal with granola and blueberries, my usual cup of tea and some Carnation Instand Breakfast drink (this stuff tastes pretty good and is pretty loaded with carbs). I tried e-load instead of water this week - it worked well, didn't upset my stomach at all.

The result of all my changes was a much better 16km run. My Garmin died so I'm not sure what the average pace was. The victory today was finishing it and still having energy - a big improvement from last week. Although I was tired at the end, which always makes me wonder how I'm going to finish GWN, I have more confidence for the Hypothermic after this run. The arch on my right foot was sore right after the run but feels better now.

Thursday I got my first massage (this may have contributed to feeling better today). My legs felt a lot better aftwards. I'm definitely going to try for one about once a month and already talked to the RMT about a pre-race massage. I had one before Kelowna and it really helped.

Friday-biked for an hour. It felt good - I'd like to spend more time on the bike and go back to running twice a week. I didn't have as many "issues" when I trained that way.

Limit the whining

Tuesday night I went for a 5km run with the hypothermic clinic, but one of the people I was running with had a nasty chest cold and couldn't catch her breath so we walked the last 2kms. I don't mind because as a group leader, it's what you sign up for. It was a bit disappointing because I was having a pretty good run.

Wednesday (Jan 19) I skip hill training because my achilles has really been bothering me - specially after the long run on Sunday. I checked on RW and it says that it's either caused by overpronation or hill training. Since I changed the insoles in my shoes and started hill training, it could be one of the other, or both. Went to do a 5km and was feeling pretty good to the 3km mark and then my shins and ankles really started to hurt. It was cold out so I walked for a few minutes and then tried to run but the pain started shooting up my shins.

It's so frustrating dealing with pain. It reminds me of that boardgame - Mastermind where you have to guess what colour pegs the other person put up and they'll tell you, "you got 2 right" but you don't know which two. Today I have a massage booked and I'm going to give up the trail shoes and go back to regular running shoes. I thought the trail shoes would be good for winter but we barely have any snow on the ground (STILL) and I do 90% of my running on pavement, so they may be too rigid. I'll try the new insoles in the new shoes, but if I still have problems I'll switch back to my orthotics.

End whine

My fastest and slowest in the same week

Today was a 16km LSD. Tried something different for breakfast today - I have been eating some healthy whole grain oatmeal with blueberries, almonds and a little hazelnut coffee cream (thanks Oprah for that idea). I wouldn't say it's really yummy but it is healthy and not too bad. The first 10km felt ok, but I was feeling a bit sluggish. By the time I got to 12km I kept getting waves where I had no energy and had to walk for a bit. I'd feel better and run for a little while and then have to walk again. I took my usual - 2 mouthfuls of gel every 20 minutes and water. The last 2km was pure will - I'd run for a few minutes and walk about 30 seconds. I had almost nothing left by the time I got back.

I'm sure that I didn't fuel up properly yesterday. Diet really has been my biggest downfall since I started training for these longer distances. I think I need to talk to a nutritionist and work this out.

Average pace today 8:30/km :(

Ups and Downs

Training is a bit of a roller coaster these days.

I realized that my plan for 5km every 40 mins will not result in a 2:40 because I missed the other 1.1 kms - damn! It's still the plan but I won't take as much off my time as I originally thought. Maybe I'll surprise myself on race day and find a little extra oomph.

Training the last 10 days:
Tuesday January 3: ran 4km, felt crummy - legs just didn't want to move and I felt tired so I walked the last bit. Average pace 8:20/km

Wednesday Jan 4: Hills - felt much better and stronger than the day before and hills the week before. Did 5 hills plus the extra one to get back to the car.

Switched the insoles in my shoes from my orthotics to Montrail that you mold yourself by heating them up in the oven. They feel much better on my arches for long runs. I just need to watch for pain in my shins.

Sunday Jan 8: LSD 14km - felt pretty good for the first 8km, then started to get tired but recovered and finished pretty strong. Average pace 8:14/km. The new insoles feel much better!

Tuesday Jan 10: 4.6km - felt pretty good and finally managed to push the pace a little. Average pace 7:34/km (one of my fastest)

Wednesday Jan 11: Hills - the plan was 6 hills plus the 1 to the car but after the first 2 my ankle started to hurt. After 3 and 4 it hurt more so I stopped. I know better than to run through pain (it took me a while to learn this lesson but running through pain leads to more pain).

I think I need to take it easy for a couple of days. I've been having some pain in my achilles and tightness in my calves that I need to watch. Booked a massage appointment for next week-hopefully that will help. I should really try to fit in some yoga too.

Friday Jan 13: swam 1200ms plus 100m for warm-up/cool down. I felt pretty good and managed to finish 1000ms in under 30 mins, which is an improvement from my last session. I'm going to have a friend that used to compete and coach check out my stroke and see if I can fix a few things to make me more efficient.

After the 1200 I felt pretty good and thought, I only need to add 800 more metres for GWN. Then after I got out my legs felt a bit tired and I started to rethink the 800 metres because that is before the 90km bike and 21km run. I'm really psyching myself out about this race. I have no idea how I'm going to do it, but if I manage to finish it, it's going to be one of the greatest achievements of my life. People tell me not to concentrate on the race because it's 7 months away and I'll burn out if I'm training too early, but thinking about that race drives me to work harder. I don't train more but it always reminds me why I'm doing it. The biggest challenge for me is quieting the voice in my head that keeps saying, "you'll never be able to do this."

It's a new year

Welcome to 2006! Last year was a great year for me - I exceeded all of my expectations for running and triathlon. Hard to believe I started out the year running the 5km Resolution Run and wound up completing 3 triathlons and a half marathon. This does put the pressure on for this year, but I also use it to remind myself when I think I will never improve enough to complete the GWN.

Saturday we did our long run for the clinic - 12km(average pace 8:07/km). My calves were really tight for the first 5km and at the end of the run my arches were so sore I could barely walk. Overall the run was actually pretty good. I was a lot slower than everyone else (nothing new there) but I did have some time to think about my race plan. My plan for the Hypothermic is to complete 5km every 40 mins. If I do that I should finish around 2:40 which would be 14 minutes off my last time. I'm not exact about these things but that is the basic plan.

Hopefully to rectify the problem with my arches (I had the same problem training for my last half marathon) I bought new insoles that you heat up and they mold to your feet. I already have custom orthotics but I think they either have too much support for the long runs, my feet have changed, or I have managed to flatten them again.

Sunday I tried out my christmas present - ultraconditioning dvd. It's 1hr 10mins, basically a spin class but after every set you get off your bike and do strength training exercises - push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, curls etc. It was a great workout, I must have sweat off about 3 lbs :0) and I felt really good doing it. I got was all confident until about an hour later when the pain started to set in. It's now 3 days later and my abs, shoulders and legs are still sore. If I can find a day of the week to fit this in, that won't ruin my running, I would like to do this once a week. That should whip me in to shape.