Three Miles at Marathon Pace

As usual we ran in the park, on the paved trails.  The trails that we like best have sort of a figure-8 shape, and the distance around the entire figure-8 is 3.19 miles.  That’s what I ran today, and I held as closely as I could to a run/walk ratio of 25/20, which is the ratio that I have thought I might run in the marathon next weekend.

The time for 3.19 miles was 35:48, for a pace of 11:13.  In 26.2 miles that would work out to about 4:54 hours, a little better than a 5-hour marathon.  There are delays, of course, for the porta-potty and for filling the water bottle at aid stations (they invite us to carry water so that they can cut the amount of cup litter, and we’ll do that).  I’m sure that those delays would put my time over 5 hours.

Perhaps I’ll run some of the race at a run/walk ratio of 30/20 and try to finish under 5.  We’ll see.  Do I really care?  Yes, but I have no good reason to care - my finish time only matters to me, no one else.  I have four more marathons coming up in the next two and a half months, so I don’t want to push these old bones too hard.  Today’s short run felt pretty easy - not even breathing hard.

Whining:  Zip.  I never even though about it.

Four-Mile Taper Run

I believe in running a short distance of four to six miles fairly hard about a week before a marathon. Yesterday I ran five miles, and today another 4.33. The time was 45:24, which is a pace of 10:29, not as fast as yesterday but it’ll do just fine.

 Fifty degrees with a nice breeze - a long-sleeved shirt felt good.

 Whining: Zip.

The Geese Think It's Fall

The trees are only hinting at fall color, but the geese are training for their long trip to wherever it is they go, a honking, squawking, cacophonous, overhead celebration.  They know, and they sound excited.  They live in the park at night, and fly back and forth to nearby harvested fields by day to scour the ground for free meals of beans and corn.

I'd rather be running here, but
really don't want to twist an
ankle right before the marathon

We did a very nice 5.2-mile morning run on the paved trails in a cloudy 50 degrees, with just enough breeze to make the run feel chilly upwind and warm downwind.   Long-sleeved shirts were in order, and I wore ear cover and thin gloves as well.  Delightful.

I ran/walked a ratio of at least 40/20 most of the way, sometimes 50/20 or 60/20, a bit faster than the usual marathon training, but I like to push the pace a little a week before the marathon.  Actually, I messed up my watch somehow and didn't get some of the splits, or a final time either, but I think the pace was about 9:30 or maybe 10:00, not slower.  That’s fine.  I felt strong throughout.

Whining:  On Thursday I experienced pace-limiting pain near the right hip flexors.  Happily, I only felt it for a minute or so today, and then only barely.  I think it really was bursitis, because it’s getting better fast.  No whining at all!

Bursitis?

Grass trails, too wet today

After returning from Mayo Clinic today, where the news was good, we three went for an afternoon run on the park's paved trails.  Almost right away I felt a severe pain in the right hip flexors that brought me up short, hopping on the other foot.  After a bit of walking, I was able to run again, and this cycle repeated over and over during the run.   It slowed me somewhat, but since I do a run/walk anyway, it didn't slow me too much.

The pain acted like an inflamed bursa, coming on suddenly with the slightest change in direction or angle of footfall, and then fading.  I have had bursas act up before, but usually on the side of the hip, and never in the location of the hip flexors.  I'm not even sure there is a bursa there, but if there is one,  I may have irritated it this morning when I did stretches while waiting at Mayo.  Time will tell.  If it's just a bursa, it will heal within a day or two.

3.53 miles in 39:30 for a pace of 11:11, a bit faster than I thought I was going.

Running the Duluth Lakewalk

We traveled to Duluth today for an interview, and stopped in Leif Erickson Park to see the Rose Garden and go for a run on the Lakewalk, a paved trail which runs along or near the shore of Lake Superior for almost 7 miles from Canal Park by the Aerial Bridge to Brighton Beach, out beyond Lester River.

The last time we were in Duluth the weather was just awful, cold  heavy rain driven by strong winds.  Today was the opposite - 56 degrees, bright sun, and a lovely breeze off the lake.  We had a very enjoyable run for about 35 minutes.  We agreed that we would come to Duluth to run more often if it weren't a five-hour round trip!

I did a run/walk of 25/20 out and 30/20 back, walking down a few short, steep hills and running up them.  We all stopped to take a few photos, too.  Just a great day and a wonderful run.

Twelve-Mile Taper Run

I had a tooth extracted and two implants inserted on Friday, and I wasn't sure if running would feel good today. Therefore I started quite modestly with a run/walk ratio of 20/20, and was prepared to drop to all walking for 2.5 hours if necessary. (Each count is a triplet, three footfalls, a convenient measure because it comes out to about one second, so a ratio of 20/20 is really 60 footfalls running and then 60 walking.) That ratio resulted in a pace of 11:37, though, better than I expected.

Grass trails on a
brighter, drier summer day

I felt good, too, no pain in the jaw and plenty of leg strength, so after the first 3.5-mile loop I increased the run/walk ratio to 25/20 in the second loop, and then to 30/20 in the third. I still felt very good, and increased the pace a bit more in the last little 1.5-mile loop. The required average pace for a five-hour marathon is 11:27 and this was 11:23. I carried water and took two gels along the way.

Whining: The right hip flexors hurt a little for most of the way. That is a problem which seems to appear randomly, out of nowhere, and it goes back to nowhere in the next run. It didn't show up in last week's 20-mile run, and there is no way to predict whether it will show up in the marathon two weeks from now. In any case it's never been a pace-limiting problem, so I won't worry about it.

We got about 3/4 inch of very welcome rain last night, but it stopped before dawn and we were going to run the paved trails anyway, so no problem. With the temperature at 59 and a fresh breeze, the run was quite enjoyable. It's an unexpected masterpiece.

Miles	Time	Pace	Loop	Ratio
3.53	41:00	11:37	1	20/20
3.53	40:03	11:21	2	25/20
3.53	39:29	11:11	3	30/20
1.46	16:03	11:00	4	35/20
-------	----------	--------
12.05	2:17:14	11:23	Totals

Seven and a Half Miles

I'd rather be on these grass trails

I had intended to a shorter run today, working toward a 12-mile run on Sunday or Monday.  But then I signed up for some significant dental surgery Friday (tomorrow), which may take the joy out of running for a few days, so we three decided on a 90-minute run today and who knows about Sunday or Monday.  I'm on the paved trails for a while now, avoiding the rutted grass paths to avoid injury, and I ran a 2.51-mile loop three times.

Whining: None to speak of.  What a wonderful morning - 60 degrees, sunny, breezy, and dry.  I mostly did a run/walk of 30/20, but increased to 40/20 in the last loop.

Loops:  28.17 for a pace of 11:16,  27:44 for 11:03, 26:20 for 10:29, total 1:22:21 for a pace of 10:56.