Building a Better Runner

Though I missed the Philadelphia Naked Bike Ride* (this year, though last year is a different story), this week did see me figuratively don The Emperor's New Clothes and parade through the streets with a suit sewn from the finest fabric that a surplus of cycling has to offer. That is to say, I barreled through week 10 with a lot more cross training than I normally take on. Not for any particular reason, other than I felt like I had extra energy to burn like an Autumn scented aromatherapy candle, in addition to rather enjoying the prolonged state of functionality Schwinny Cooper has graced me with lately, by remaining, mostly, intact. In the typical course of marathon training, perception of miles is prone to shrinkage, like a sack of hand knitted Cosby sweaters in an Alaskan laundromat, so if a round trip to the produce junction, or the library, adds 5-10 extra cycling miles per trip to the week, what's the big deal? 

Dapper, indeed! 

For the most part, despite mildly fatigued legs from time to time, the benefit of sticking to a more consistent cross training schedule has done exactly what it promised to do: build a better runner by balancing out slightly different muscles, without adding too much additional stress. This week's excess of energy speaks volumes on behalf of the benefits of steadily building up the experience points from cross training, and then cashing them in for a higher endurance level across the board. So, even with these unscheduled additional miles everything was going good this week, that is, until the slight glitch in the matrix during yesterday's 17 mile LSD. I had completely forgotten how far that great of a distance on foot actually feels. 17 miles is the longest run I've done since actually completing the marathon way back in February. So, while I remain somewhat familiar with its face, I had forgotten certain less-than-desirable personality traits that begin to grate on your nerves when the distance overstays its welcome. One of the more vexing aspects is that it just plain takes forever to complete. At least, if you run it like you're supposed to, which is near the speed of a Galapagos tortoise, which has a life expectancy of 170+ years! So, they don't really need to rush.

More long slow distance shenanigans below...

The roughest spot on the run was definitely the sandpaper patch between miles 8-13. Getting over that halfway hump left my legs feeling heavy, and once you begin feeling physically drained, it starts wearing on your mind with drifting thoughts of heaving the anchor overboard and bringing the entire chartered party boat to a stop. When the sharks of doubt start circling the weary waters, the best course of action is to paddle on with whatever energy you can muster. I pushed through the lull, and by mile 14 a runner's high swept over my extremities, body armor rejuvenated, I easily (surprisingly so) floated along the final 3 miles at a steady clip. Though I was wobbly throughout the evening, I had no specific pain to speak of. I did, however, think it prudent to ice the more tender spots around my knees and feet, just to play it safe, and stave off any potential inflammation.  

So with the passing of week 10 I've seen the last of my mild training runs. Which means going into week 11, the least amount of miles I'll have to run at any given time is 5. That's the reality of my future for the next month and a half, until training winds down and taper cuts in on the dance, then we begin the slow descent into self-doubt during the 2 weeks prior to the race that I'm hoping won't be as hard to overcome as it was the last time around. 

It's a funny thing, despite all of the pain along the way on Novice 1 (see any post prior to February 27th), the hardest part of training actually happened the week before the marathon. Taper is a tricky monster, and I prefer my monsters to be of the Cookie variety; that way you know exactly what they're after. It's hard to break out of the routine of racking up miles after 16 weeks, and then being abruptly told to move around as little as possible for the remaining 2. Though, it's not for nothing, and having gone through the process before, I see the point. It's the same reason most marathon training schedules stay away from taking you the full 26.2 before the race: rate of recovery is key to a quicker turnaround on improving your abilities. Quite simply, 26 miles takes longer to recover from than 20, and in an 18 week training program, you have to be smarter than Icarus, by getting as close to the sun as possible, without actually burning your wax wings off. With the exception of the Galloway method—which is a longer schedule and involves walking breaks to stave off fatigue, and reasons that giving you the full 26 mile experience during training helps break down barriers that might pile up into potential psychological performance problems on the day of the race—most training schedules for an amateur marathon runner don't even consider it necessary to go beyond that solid 20 mile mark. Unless, of course, your base milage at the start of training can handle a steeper increase. 

I've often thought that running down to 26 from, say, 30+ miles would be an ideal training schedule, but for right now, I don't think I've acquired the base fitness to push myself to this level. Though, if I make the lottery draw for the Tokyo Maraton 2012, and I survive the Osaka Marathon in decent enough shape, I'll be in prime placement to test this theory by creating my own running schedule that incorporates ultramarathon distances in training. Maybe I'm just speculating myself into a corner here, especially considering how much time those extra long runs will take, but it all makes practical sense to me: the more miles you run, the better runner you become. We'll see folks, we'll see...

Footnotes:

*WARNING: Though not graphic by any means, the photos on the page of this link do have some brief flashes of mild nudity (photos were taken for the Philadelphia Inquirer, so they're not naughty by nature). If you are at work, or easily offended by jovial public nakedness, skip it. The link only serves to prove that the event exists. As a former participant, I can say, the majority of the nudity was in good taste. Besides, most of it is highlighted with humorous body paintings to boot.

Photo via The U.S. National Archives