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Log for September 12-13 – Training for Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9th.  Goal for the fall and winter marathon season is to break 3:15 for the first time. 

Monday

• 7-Mile Trail Run – It had been a couple of weeks since my last trail run, so it was good to get back out there today with Paxton on the White + Red trails at Percy Warner Park. The temps are much cooler, and this made for a very enjoyable run. We kept the pace pretty relaxed throughout, but I could tell a huge difference in my ability to breathe while going up some of the steeper inclines. On a normal trail run during the summer it was common for us to take a quick break at the top of some of the more extreme slopes, but today we just kept going with only one bathroom break and one stop when my shoe came untied. Not bad after a 20-mile marathon workout on Saturday, and not bad on a 7-mile course with over 1,400 ft of elevation gain. Great run.
• Cross Training – Tonight was P90X: Ab-Ripper X with Olivia and then P90X: Shoulders and Arms.

Tuesday

• 10-Mile Tempo Run – My training schedule originally called for a 9-mile tempo run today at goal marathon pace (7:26). However, with the hard marathon workout on Saturday (which included almost 15 miles at or below goal marathon pace), I knew that doing another marathon pace workout so soon would likely do more harm than good. With that in mind, I decided to dial it back just a bit today and bump the mileage up to 10.

  Nathan, Paxton and I ended up running out and back on Old Natchez and Del Rio. We started off fairly easy through the hilly section with a 9:05 first mile. After this, we picked up considerably for the next three miles with times of 8:07, 8:02, and 7:43. Just before the end of mile 4, we stopped for a hydration break and Paxton decided to head back early due to some discomfort in his calf muscle.

  Nathan and I continued on down Old Natchez and then onto Del Rio for the next two miles with times of 7:56 and 7:58. After another quick hydration break, we finished out the run strong with miles of 7:25, 7:37, 7:42 (back in the hilly section), and 6:53 for a total of 10-miles with an average pace of 7:50.

  My legs felt really good today, and at no point (except the very, very end) did the pace feel fast or out of control. My average heart rate was 151 for the run, and it only got as high as 171 even at the end. I’m starting to feel more and more confident about Chicago, though the butterflies are also starting creep in as the race gets closer.
  

• Injury Update – Quick update on my “freak” back injury from tripping while turning off my alarm in the dark on Saturday morning. I’m lucky that it doesn’t really affect my running motion, but it is a constant aggravation that seems to get worse after a run and throughout the day. Sometimes it is just really sore. Other times it goes into spasm. There is now a visible bruise where I hit the chair when I fell. I’m not sure how well it is going to heal as I continue to run, but have no plans to cut back on training unless it gets to the point where it affects the mechanics of my run. 

Log for September 10-11 – Training for Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9th.  Goal for the fall and winter marathon season is to break 3:15 for the first time. 

Saturday

• Freak Injury – When my alarm went off at 4:30am this morning I tripped over a table as I was going to turn off the alarm on my dresser. This caused me to fall very hard and hit the middle of back against a chair. I knew immediately that my back was hurt, but at that point it just felt like a “catch” and really didn’t affect my movement. It was an annoyance during the marathon workout described below, but really didn’t affect my running. However, after the workout it began to spasm and continued to get worse throughout the day. I’m fortune that it’s my mid back and not lower back. So far this training season my two worst injuries have come getting out of bed and playing with my daughter on the playground. Go figure.

• 20.25-Mile Marathon Workout – I honestly believe this was (on paper) the most difficult bi-weekly marathon workout we have done as a group over the past three years. I don’t say this as a criticism at all, because I also think it was the best designed workout and the best marathon simulation we have ever done. Hats off to Dan Ashmead for putting all of our workouts together this year. They have been fantastic.
  
  The workout started at 6am, but Nathan I got there about 30 minutes early to get in a couple of extra warmup miles before the start. After the group arrived, we did another couple of easy miles around the lake outside of the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. My total warmup was 4 miles at 9:41 average pace.

  After the warmup Dan began going over the workout and emphasized that everything we were doing was all about the last 20 minutes. The workout was designed so that the last 20 minute interval would simulate the fatigue one would feel at the end of a marathon. With that in mind, our first set consisted of 2 x 10 minute intervals that were to be done at 20 to 30 seconds faster than goal marathon pace (7:26). From the beginning of these intervals, I felt fantastic. My average pace was 6:58 for the first interval, and 6:49 for the second interval (2.91 miles).

  Our second set was 30 minutes at goal marathon pace. Again I felt really good even after the hard effort in the first set. My pace on the first 15 minutes was right at 7:26, but I sped up a little in the second half for an overall average of 7:23 (4.07 miles).

  For the third set, we slowly jogged over to a hilly area for 5 x 30 second hill repeats. These were intended to further fatigue our legs as we worked toward that last 20 minute interval. These were pretty difficult, but I still felt strong. After the last repeat, we ran easy for just over 10 minutes. The totals for this set including hill repeats and the easy run were 2.22 miles at 9:08 average pace.

  The fourth set was another 30 minutes at goal marathon pace. By this point my legs were beginning to feel pretty fatigued, but I still felt really good during the interval. For the first 15 minutes my pace was right at 7:26, but I picked it up quite a bit for the second half for an overall average of 7:21 (4.09 miles).

  Our final set was the infamous “final 20 minutes” which were to be done at a pace 20 to 30 seconds faster than goal marathon pace. Just before the interval Dan said “my legs feel like lead,” and that exactly described how I was feeling as well. I knew that I had pushed it a little too hard during the fourth set and would have to pay the piper.

  As we started I noticed that my legs were beginning to feel exactly like they do in the closing miles of a marathon. My mind was focused on this….I knew that up until that point in the workout I had hit or exceeded the designed paces in every repeat. Now all I had to do was finish this last set at a pace faster than goal marathon pace. No need to blow it out of the box….No need to be a hero….Just needed to finish strong with a consistent pace.

  I ran with Paxton for most of the first mile, but he was pushing just a little harder that I wanted to go, so I let him ease away. My legs were SCREAMING, but I kept going. At the 10 minute mark, my pace was just over 7:00 minutes, and shortly thereafter Nathan and Susan passed me. I tried to remain consistent even though everything in my body was telling me to stop. At the 15 minute mark my average pace had dropped to 7:08 and I resolved that even on tired legs I was going to finish strong. Over the last 5 minutes I dropped my overall average back down to 7:04, with a total distance of 2.83 miles.

  I was completely exhausted, but what a huge confidence boost to stay consistent throughout the workout and finish strong even with shredded legs. My overall totals were 20.25 miles completed at 7:55 average pace (this includes warmup miles). I know that 3:15 is still going to be a HUGE mountain to climb this fall / winter, but workouts like these give me confidence that it IS possible.

• Cross Training – I did a partial set of P90X: Ab-Ripper X with Olivia, but was not able to finish because of my back injury. I also did 4 sets of pushups.

Sunday

• Rest – Since I missed running Thursday, I briefly toyed with the idea of breaking my normally scheduled rest day and going out for a recovery run. However with the hard workout on Saturday and my middle back injury I decided not to push it and give myself one more day to recover.

Log for August 31 & September 1 – Training for Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9th.  Goal for the fall and winter marathon season is to break 3:15 for the first time.

Wednesday

• Rest – After the debacle that was Tuesday’s run I took today completely off. Did some lower body stretches in the evening, but no running or cross training.

Thursday

• 4-Mile Track Workout – (Warning – Contains a lot of venting) After taking Wednesday off, I was very hopeful for a good track workout tonight. Unfortunately there were a number of things leading up to the workout which were not ideal:

  (1) The heat and humidity was back with a vengeance. Temps at 6pm were still 95 degrees with high humidity.

  (2) I did not hydrate enough during the day. And to exacerbate this I had too many drinks with caffeine.

  (3) I got to track late, and was only able to do a rushed 1/2 mile warmup before it started.

  (4) I’ve been trying to fight off a cold since Monday night.

  So what did all of this add up to….I felt AWFUL!! With the Tupelo 14.2 coming up on Sunday, my plan was to run the entire workout at a relaxed pace. However, after the first two sets, even the relaxed pace felt ridiculously bad. On the third set I ran with the leaders just to try and shake things up a bit (and felt better), but then ended up feeling even worse for the last two sets than I did at the beginning. 

  It is very discouraging to feel this bad after putting in so much hard work. I know that the factors above contributed to my feeling fatigued tonight, but I still can’t let go of being ANGRY at how bad I’ve felt during the last two runs. If I feel this bad on Sunday, I’ll be lucky to break 2 hours, much less try to maintain goal marathon pace. 

  On top of this, I’ve been dealing with a weird tingling sensation between my first and second toes and on top of my foot. It doesn’t really hurt in a structural sort of way, but is worrisome and annoying. I don’t know if this is (a) a shoe issue (b) an issue with my new forefoot stride (c) lingering issues from my “playground” accident last week with my daughter.

  Well, enough of the pity party. Time to get my mind right and get some rest.

• Cross Training – Tonight I did a modified version of P90X: Legs and Back, just doing the chest exercises.

Log for July 10th – Training for Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9th.  Goal for the fall and winter marathon season is to break 3:15 for the first time.

Sunday

• Running Rest Day – Sunday is my running rest day.  Other than having a nasty fall during the run on Tuesday, this was a very good week.  48 total miles, and I felt good through most of the runs.  Very pleased with my pacing.  Here is a summary of the last 6 days:

  *Monday: 12.1-miles / Tempo Run
  *Tuesday:  6-miles / Tempo Run
  *Wednesday:  5.7-miles / Trail Run
  *Thursday:  7-miles / Track Workout
  *Friday:  4-miles / “Barefoot” Recovery Run
  *Saturday:  12.2-Miles / Marathon Interval Workout

• Cross Training – I tried again tonight to do P90X: Chest & Back, but still no luck getting through it with my wounded hand.  I tried doing the pushups on yoga blocks, with fists, on my fingers, etc. but no dice.  Anyone have any suggestions on getting through a push-up workout with a wound on the palm of my hand?
  

Guest Post by My Wife, Olivia Agee….Worth a Read:

In January I decided to sign up for my first ever full Marathon. To be honest I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I really wanted to try. Unfortunately, after months of training I now have severe shin splints, two new rather ugly leg braces to wear for a month, and one less toenail. But I also have the feeling that when I finally get there (and I have every intention of getting there) it will mean that much more.

I’m not fast. I’ve never been what anyone would consider an athlete. A few years ago when my husband started running half marathons I couldn’t see myself ever considering an attempt. When he did his first full marathon in Chicago in 2009, I saw how much fun the event was, and the seed was planted. I knew I could never run anything like that, but I thought maybe if I walked…

So I started training for my first half marathon. When I lined up at the start I was not confident. I gave myself about a 50/50 shot of finishing, but again, I wanted to try. I don’t think anyone could have been more surprised than I was when I finished.  I was hooked, and I started to think, what if I walked some and ran some…

Four half marathons later, each one finishing faster than the last, and I was ready to sign up for a full marathon. It was Chicago, where I had first dared to think ‘maybe’. I was full of just as much trepidation that I would be unable to finish, but it seemed like the perfect place to try.

I hit a bump in the road about three months later. Knowing how much longer it will take to complete a full, I really began to focus on spending more time running instead of walking. A couple of weeks before another half marathon I started having pain in the front inner side of my calf. I switched to an elliptical trainer for a couple of weeks and checked with my doctor. She gave a diagnosis of inflamed connective tissue and recommended that I just walk the half, then take a few weeks off and see a specialist if the pain continued. After some RICE, and wearing compression sleeves, I felt good enough to run some during the race as well and finished only two minutes shy of my PR. The only trouble was, the same pain I had been having in my right leg had now moved to my left.

I took two weeks off and felt better. However once I tried to start training again the pain built back up in both legs. Stubborn as I am, and not wanting to give up on my goal, I thought maybe if I just walk…so I continued training by just walking. I could do it, but I just wasn’t getting any better.  So I went to a sports medicine doctor. He told me that I had severe shin splints and that if I did not stop to rehab them they would, without a doubt, become stress fractures.  He put me in leg braces, gave me exercises and a run/walk rehab schedule.

I realized then It’s extremely unlikely I’ll be able to make my goal at the Chicago marathon. It will be a month before I’ll be able to do anything longer than five miles, and by that point in the schedule I should be doing at least twelve mile runs.

I’m now thinking about trying the Country Music Marathon in Nashville next April. It would give me plenty of time to build up my mileage base slowly and make sure I fully heal. I also like the idea that my daughters could be at the finish line cheering me on (a luxury I would not be able to enjoy in Chicago). My oldest, a runner herself with 5 kids marathons under her belt, has told me she would really like to be there for my first full marathon.  In the meantime I have four half marathons planned before next April.

So, as I readjust my goal, I will paint my remaining toenails, wear my ugly braces, and hobble down the road to the marathon until I finally get there. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be an athlete after all.

Earlier today a good friend of mine asked me for some advice on dealing with shin splints.  I put together a list of things that have worked for me in the past and sent it over to him.  A little while afterword I thought this would also be a good thing to share with others.

Shin Splints are often caused by increasing your running mileage too fast without properly cross training the muscles opposing the calf…therefore creating a muscle imbalance that leads to inflammation and discomfort.

You can reduce the inflammation by rest / ice / NSAIDs (advil, alleve, etc.), but strengthening exercises for the muscles in the shin will also help dramatically.  Here are a few suggestions:

1.  While sitting, tap out the ABCs with your big toe.  You can do this while you are working, eating, whenever

2.  Walk around on your heels with your toes off the ground.  Do three sets of 25 steps.  One with toes pointed in, one pointed out, one straight.

3.  Lean against a wall, lift one leg a little off the ground, and then slowly flex your toe toward your shin (Dorsiflex) 25 times.  Repeat with other leg.

4.  Same as #3, but do it rapidly

5.  Lay down flat on your back, and flex both feet (Dorsiflex), and hold for 5 minutes.

Hope this is useful for anyone else that is struggling with shin splints.