Pushing Hard Late in the Race

This is from Jim2's Running Page, http://mysite.verizon.net/jim2wr/id37.html

"I thought I would offer a few things that I do to help maintain or increase pace in those late stages of a race when your legs and cardio-respiratory system are crying for relief.

There are certain things you can do in training to help prepare you for this challenge, such as increasing the pace toward the end of a long run when you are tired. And making sure that your speedwork is paced so that the last couple of intervals or hill repeats are the fastest, as well as the hardest. But, once you are in a race, it's too late to deal with training. You've got to make the most you can of the preparation that you have.

If you have run the first part of the race much too fast and are in severe oxygen debt with a lot of lactic acid built up in your legs toward the end, you probably blew it and won't be able to maintain pace. You will just have to accept a slower finish and learn from the experience. If you have run a smartly paced race, or even more conservatively than necessary in the first part, you have a good opportunity to really "go for it" at the end. Either way, the last part of the race is the hardest part and the tricks that you use late in a race to get the most that you can out of it should be chosen to take your mind off of how you feel and how much you want to ease up. In other words, try to take your mind off of those things that are demanding your attention......your screaming lower body, racing heart and gasping lungs.

One obvious thing is to focus on passing other runners. Pick them off one at a time. After you pull up behind one, give a little more of a push to pass with authority. It will give you a psychological boost. Plus, the momentary increase in pace will make your "normal" pace feel just a little easier when your "extra push" eases. Then focus on the next runner and go after him/her. If you are running close to someone else when you are within a couple hundred yards/meters of the finish line, challenge him/her to race to the finish. You don't even have to waste energy and breath to discuss it. Sometimes just a glance will do. Or just yell "Let's Go!" with a big exhale.

Run the last 10-20% of a race on your upper body. And, I don't mean running on your hands. For every stride, there is a corresponding arm swing.....and vice versa. If you can maintain or increase your arm swing rhythm and pace, your leg turnover must keep up....no matter how badly they feel. (One fast runner who usually posts on the Competitive Forum thanked me for this tip and said that it helped him to pull a 30 second PR out of the last mile of this year's Boston Marathon after I posted it a week before the race.) I think of the upper body as an auxiliary engine that you can call on late in the race. Just let it idle through most of the race, so it should be fresh to "take over" later. Still, in a long race, such as a marathon, shoulders and arms can also get tired. After all there are approximately 40,000 arm swings, as well as strides, in a marathon. Upper body weight work as part of your training regimen helps to prepare you for it.

Check your form frequently. Most of us have a tendency to lean forward at the waist and let our butt slip back when we are tired. When this happens, your running efficiency is reduced. You have to expend more energy for the same forward progress. Compounding it, when you slump forward, your lungs are compressed slightly and their capacity is reduced. (You can sample the effect of slumping on lung capacity while running easy or even while sitting in your chair reading this.) Just when your body is screaming for more oxygen, a slump reduces the amount available to distressed muscles. So, think about keeping your head up, shoulders back and pelvis forward. Running develops our back and buttocks, but not our abdominals, which are critical to maintaining pelvic balance and positioning. Bent knee sit-ups and crunches to strengthen the abdominal muscles help here.

Finally, relax. I know. How can you relax when you feel as though you are going to die. But, as your body tenses, your form goes to hell, you tend to lean forward, your stride shortens and you slow down. It is important to keep your muscles as loose and relaxed as possible while, at the same time, pushing them as hard as you can. Again, focusing on the upper body is the key to relaxing when the natural tendency is to tense. While monitoring your arm swing, also concentrate on keeping your hands, shoulders and jaw loose. If you can keep these areas relaxed, the rest of your body will follow."

Taper Madness

WTF is up with injuries appearing in the week or two before a goal marathon? My left knee is a wreck, but now my right ankle is giving me grief. Why don't I just throw in the towel and admit I will never get to the starting line in good condition?

Ok, let's try some positive thinking here. I ran 4 miles this morning, and by mile 3 the ankle didn't bother me. The knee did, but not too badly. I'm also very excited about the race because I just talked someone into running the race with me and pacing me. Audrey Christiansen ran Buffalo in '05, same year I ran it for my first marathon ever. I didn't know her then, but we both posted race reports on Runningtimes.com and got to know each other, though we've never met in person. She will be in Upstate NY this weekend visiting her family, and she was thinking about running the marathon. I pushed a bit, even offered her my hotel room since I could stay at Nan's. And yay, she's going to do it. I'm psyched because the first half is primarily through an industrial section. Company would certainly be a lot more fun.

Other positives: I have brand new running shoes and inserts, that should give me good support during the race. I have plenty of gels, bodyglide and lemonade gatorade. I won't be running much this week, maybe 5 or 6 more miles, so I should be very well rested by Sunday.

I believe I can do this.

Words from Pete Pfitzinger

From Advanced Marathoning:

"Regardless of your ultimate finishing place in the marathon, you should realize that the second half is much harder than the first half; just try to get the first half out of the way at the correct pace without using anymore mental energy than necessary."

"On to 20 miles: Slowing during this portion of the marathon is often more a matter of not concentrating than of not being able to physically maintain the pace... the key is to have the confidence that you'll eventually overcome this bad patch."

Focus, Focus, Focus!

It's been a while. I was in Florida from April 18 through April 26 with Philip and the kids, visiting his parents. I did a lot of pool running, and cross-trained once at a hotel Philip and I stayed at for a night, but still managed to hurt myself. I took a boot camp class at a beach, did a lot of sprints on the sand, and must have twisted something. We returned from Florida on a Saturday, and I went out for my last 20 miler of the cycle on Sunday morning, and that just did me in. I've been having bad left knee/lower quad/upper calf pain since then. Nothing seems to help.

Immediately after returning from Florida, I received a call from my dad's wife saying that dad was in the hospital and needed to go into a nursing home. Ooookay then... so I did my last 20 miler the next morning, then threw some laundry back in a suitcase and drove up to Rochester the next day, but since that week was supposed to be my peak week for marathon training I stayed in a hotel with a gym and worked out there. But we found a good nursing home (dad has Alzheimer's), that part actually went easier than expected, but it was really sad. I've had many dreams about him since then. When I ran my marathon pace 10 mile run last week, I had two goals: 1) not to stop at all and 2) to run the last mile faster than the others. I accomplished both goals, mainly by picturing my dad in that nursing home bed, screaming with fear and completely unable to care for himself. He never gets a break from that. I kept running.

I saw Dr. Ducey two weeks ago, he was hesitant to give me a cortisone shot then. I'm not quite sure what the reason was. He said he uses the shot when people have arthritis, which I did not. He wanted to try two weeks of anti-inflammatories first and prescribed Celebrex. He said he would still give me the shot this Monday, one week from my marathon, if I still needed it. Well, the Celebrex doesn't seem to be working at all, or at least, it doesn't take enough of the edge off. I'm really torn about the decision on the cortisone shot. I keep going back and forth, and it's playing with my confidence.

One one hand, I've been nailing my paces for my shorter runs, but with knee pain. I'm trying to imagine running 26.2 with this pain, which isn't terrible, but it's not great either. I did a ten mile marathon pace run last Friday which went very well. So why get the cortisone shot? On the other hand, 10 miles isn't 26.2. Any inflammation the shot could reduce would be beneficial.

Funny "small world" story when I was in Florida: The day after I arrived, I went for a run. Just as I'm heading out of my in-laws' condo I see a group of runners, all wearing yellow shirts, so I figured it must be a club and they would know where to run. I caught up to them, I did about a mile with them and they told me about a park up the road, so I left them and headed there. After a loop at the park I saw the same people with a Boot Camp group, and they invited me to join them. I hate calisthenics, but I figure it would be a good workout, so I stayed. Later, I hear that same group I ran with talking about a relay they did across Florida. I'm like, "hey, I know someone who did that all by himself!" And they said, "OMG, you know Hung!" I've been friends with Hung since I met him at the Dean Karnazes Endurance Run NJ in November '06.

So how's that for weirder than weird, I just happened to see these people, total strangers, running in front of my in-laws' apartment and they knew someone I knew. Wow.

Slow Down!

I ran the stupidest race of my life at the More Half Marathon on April 6th. I was aiming for 8:40's for the first few miles. I kept looking at my watch for pace, and seeing the last part, the :48 and :50, and thought, ok, I'm doing 8:48, fine. Well, I was running 7:48 and 7:50 for the first 2 miles, then an 8:06 at mile 3 (that huge hill), then a 7:50 again for mile 4. It was just inconceivable to me that I could run that fast ever, so I thought it must be 8 minute miles, not 7. But finally I try slowing down, didn't bring it below 8:06 until Mile 7, when I had horrible stomach cramps resulting in a 70 second+ pit stop. I never got back in the groove after that. I'm sure the fast start caused the stomach problems, because I must have used the bathroom about 5 times before the race. I also woke up at 3:55 am that morning, so my body had plenty of time to wake up. My last mile was 8:16, but miles 8 and 9 were slow. Central Park is a tough, hilly course. I finished in 1:53:31, my best time on that course (only by 7 seconds), but the last 5 miles were so incredibly painful. I'm just really pissed at myself because I blew a good opportunity to do better, and I can't make that mistake at Buffalo. Buffalo is a fairly flat course. On the other hand, race predictors finally have me running a sub-four marathon again, so I feel like I'm finally back in the shape I was in January '06.

On a humorous note, I literally bumped into Kathrine Switzer in the aisles of the More Expo last Friday. We both did a double take. I think she recognizes me from meeting me about 4 times in the past year, including when she spoke at the running club. So we chatted a bit, and I told her my goal was 1:50. She said, "You can do it! Just don't go out to fast." And that's exactly what I ended up doing. Doh! I could just kick myself!

I've been running a lot with Deb McNally, I think she has the marathon bug now. Last week was a high mileage week for me, 51, and this week should be 53 if I do the 20 miles on Sunday. I'm just very fatigued, but my muscles seem to be holding up under the stress. My left knee is still sore, but otherwise I'm good.

When Things Go Right

Sometimes I forget that it's equally as important to analyze the elements of a run that goes well as it is to dissect a run that goes awry. Yesterday I ran 18 miles with Deb McNally. It was raining cold drizzle, temps in the low 40's, but I had one of the best runs ever.

First, Debbie is a better pacer than I am. She would slow me down in the early miles, when I started to take off too fast. Second, the weather was cool. In spite of the rain, it was perfect for a long run. Third, I had at least 2.5 hours between eating half a bagel (with soy margarine) and coffee, and running.

I think these three elements prevented any stomach trouble whatsoever. No pit stops. We stopped very briefly for maybe 3 traffic lights during the whole run, and averaged a 9:09 pace. Of the three elements, I'm worst at pacing. That's what I need to practice. Honestly, an 8:30 mile feels the same as a 9:00 mile at times, I don't get it.

The More Half Marathon is in Central Park this Sunday. I need to convince myself that I can go sub-1:50. That's about an 8:20 mile. If I can do that in the hills of Central Park, I will feel much more confident about Buffalo.

When Things Go Wrong

Training runs are just that, training for every possible aspect of the marathon. They are opportunities to practice not just the physical aspects of running-- the pacing, the form, etc-- but the mental, and the peripheral (but extremely important nonetheless) such as taking gels (which type can I handle? How many? When should I take them?) and sports drink, when to eat before the run, and things like that.

Yesterday's 18-mile fast-finish run was a tough run for me, because 1) stomach problems required 2 pitstops during the run; 2) I suck at pacing, even with a garmin (GPS). But it may have been the faster pace later in the run that caused some of the stomach problems. The first 13 miles averaged about 9:05. The last five probably averaged 8:30 or faster:

9:16
9:27
9:12
8:37 (pitstop)
8:39
9:02
9:08
9:08
8:52
8:27
8:49
9:06
8:37
7:56 (pitstop)
8:02
8:20
8:38
8:21

I got a little confused with my watch, I had the garmin set to show average pace but after mile 13 I was trying to get the average pace to show 8:40s, which of course meant I was going way too fast. I should have changed the watch to show actual pace for the last 5 miles, because the last mile just killed me. At the end my garmin showed an 8:45 average pace for the entire run, but that does not count the pitstops (I turned off my watch for those).

The thing that really bothers me about yesterday's run is the pitstops. I added 3 minutes (guesstimate) to the overall time to see what my pace would be if I hadn't stopped my watch for the pitstops, and came up with 8:56. Still good for me (I don't think I've held better than a 9:09 pace for the first 20 miles of any marathon), but off by 7 seconds from what I want.

Now, on Wednesday, in the strong wind and on hills, I had a near-perfect run. I didn't need to stop once, my stomach never bothered me, I took no water or gels (or anything), and ran my GMP and felt great after. Yesterday's weather was great, no wind, cool, I only hit some hills at the beginning, mostly, and my stomach was nuts even though I didn't eat anything before the run. So I've been thinking about why this is, and I think 1) on Wednesday, I didn't run until about 10 or 11 am, I'd been up longer, my muscles were looser and my body (stomach) was more ready to go. I did eat breakfast about 3 hours before I ran on Wednesday. Yesterday, I didn't eat breakfast because I started running within an 75 minutes of waking up. The gels on an empty stomach probably weren't a good thing. I also didn't watch what I ate at all Saturday, like I had a spinach salad for lunch, which I would never do in the days before a race.

So from now through May I'm going to start treating the Sunday long runs as I would the race, in terms of eating and waking up, and see if that helps. Right now, I think my absolute biggest problem is avoiding pitstops at the marathon.