Easy Sixteen Again

Since I’m not trained for a marathon, but scheduled to run one, I thought I’d half-run half-walk it. But it turns out that you have to TRAIN even for that. When I tried it a week ago my hips were mighty sore the day afterward, most likely from the walking part. I sure was glad that I hadn’t done a whole marathon. So today I did sixteen more miles, the first fourteen walk/run and the last two all running, just like a week ago. Friend Norm joined me for the last mile, on his way to his seven or eight miles running.

This run was a little faster than last week’s, by about a minute and a half total. So maybe training actually works? Better yet there was plenty of gas in the tank at the end. I ran that mile with Norm, who didn’t really want to start his run at a high pace, or I might have run mile sixteen faster than 8:20. Two pains: (1) A slight pain in the left back, muscles and not bones, maybe six inches above the navel; and (2) the Lisfranc joint in the left foot, a chronic problem that can hurt but is not a stopper. NOT a problem: (1) The hip flexors of two days ago; (2) the blister on the right big toe (wrapped in tape); and (3) so far no pain in the hips. Yay!

Norm started his run a few seconds behind me just as I started my last mile. When he caught up to me, he asked if I always ran with my left shoulder lower than the right. That was news to me - I have known for years that I tend to veer to the left when tired, but hadn’t realized that I actually TILT to the left. I wonder why that is. I have also assumed that the tiredness is related to my legs, which are, after all, doing most of the work. Maybe, though, I lean to the left because of tiredness in the upper body, signaled by the pain in the left back. Hmmm. I think so, because my legs really weren't very tired today. Some core exercises might help.

Thinking now about a 5:00 marathon. Let’s assume: Delays like potty stops will take up seven minutes, so I need to run a pace for a 4:53 finish. Running pace will average 9:15, and walking pace will average 14:00. Question: How much of the time must I run, while walking the rest? Average pace for a 4:53 finish is 11:11. Solving 9:15*X + 14:00(1-X) = 11:11. X = .6, more or less. So if I can run 6/10 of the distance, walking 4/10, I should finish with about seven minutes to waste along the way. 6/10*9:15 = 5:33. So in each mile run 5:33 and walk to the next mile marker, which should take 5:38. Pretty much half and half, by time, and just under 16 miles total running. I might be able to do that - worth a try.

Splits: 11:23, 10:54, 10:58, 11:22, 11:08, 11:07, 11:10, 11:18, 11:11, 11:18, 11:05, 11:10, 11:14, 11:17, 8:47, 8:16, total 2:53:35, overall pace 10:51.


Dinner one day last August: No-hormone no-anything chicken (or is it turkey?), organic sweet potatoes, local organic parsnips, organic catsup, organic mustard.