Training Review

The hay is in the barn! I have completed my self-created training plan for the Marine Corps Marathon.  I have no idea how this race is going to go - it could be a personal best or an epic disaster.  This will be my 6th road marathon and for the first time, I didn't follow a traditional mileage marathon plan.  Instead I created my own time-based running plan.  I was much more flexible with how far my weekly long runs went - most were 2hrs 30mins or less, whereas before I would target several 20 mile run that would take in the neighborhood of 3:30 - 4:00.  I had a goal of somewhere between 6 to 7 hours of training a week, for almost every week. The last few weeks before tapering would approach 8 hours.

I also started doing a lot of heart-rate based running, in lieu of target paces.  That was the main reason that I switched to a time based training plan.  In the past, if I wanted to run 10 miles, but it was 85 degrees and 95% humidity, that would greatly affect my run.  I would either end up running a lot longer than expected so as to not burn myself out, or at a much higher level of exertion to hit a target pace.  So instead I would convert the mileage to a target time based on what my normal "easy" pace is, and then just plan to run that many minutes.  If I got 8 miles or 11 miles in that time didn't matter to me, what mattered was that I kept my HR within my MAF range.

What is MAF?  It is named after Dr. Phil Maffetone and is focused on heart rate based training.  I initially learned about this by reading the book Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougal.  The principles are centered around ultra running, however it made sense to me that they could also be applied to "shorter" distances and be beneficial.  The concept is pretty simple - slow down to speed up.  Start wearing an HR monitor and keep you HR within a range that is considered aerobic.  Aerobic means "in the presence of oxygen". This is the type of running you do when you feel slow and comfortable, or at a pace where you can easily hold a conversation without having to take breaths between words. Anaerobic running basically means the opposite - running hard and to the point where you are breathing heavy as your muscles as screaming for oxygen.  This happens when you are doing sprints around a track or fast hill repeats, etc. When running aerobically, your muscles can get enough oxygen from the blood to process the energy in the cells (burning fat in most cases).

Burning fat you say?  For all of my other marathons, I have packed on several pounds.  The increase in running has led to several sessions of "eating all the things", or being HANGRY at 8:30pm and stuffing my face with junk food. Another facet of the Maffetone Method  is focused on your diet, and encourages you to eat a low carb-high fat mix.  When you are running at a low HR, your body is burning fat for fuel, so it makes sense that you would need to replace that fat from what you eat.  This was appealing to me, as it meant eating more eggs and bacon for breakfast, and steaks or burgers for dinner.  It also led to me cutting out a lot of junk food - chips, soda, candy, etc., for quite a while, and I ended up losing around 10 pounds.  I had a lot of fun experimenting with different ways to replace some of my favorite foods, such as the Fat-Head pizza crust recipe - I actually like this better than most pizza places we buy from!  I haven't exactly been as strict as I should be in this area, and have slipped back into some of my bad habits as the training has ramped up, and the cravings are hard to suppress.  After this race is over, I plan on getting back on the wagon.

But slowing down to speed up?? That was a tough pill to swallow.  Everything I have ever known about running was that if you want to run faster, you have to run fast.  The problem with that logic is that running "fast" means you are constantly in your anaerobic state, and have an elevated heart rate. Your heart basically becomes a muscle that is constantly overworked and never has a chance to recover and get stronger. The main idea is that if you get your effort easy - heart rate in your MAF range - your pace will be slower AT THE START.  However, as time goes on and your body gets better trained, putting forth that same effort (read: heart rate) level will yield a faster pace.  Another thing I haven't exactly been strict on was wearing my HR strap to monitor.  I have more kept my runs at a conversational pace, which is close to equivalent to your target MAF HR.

It has been a challenging training cycle for sure.  North Carolina summer months are not friendly to marathon training - routinely high temperatures mixed with high humidity can crush your runs and leave you feeling less than confident.  That's why I am not going into this race with many expectations.  I'm hoping to stay with a low HR for the first half of the race, so the weather will play a big factor into what kind of pace I can maintain.  We haven't yet had the break in the weather for the fall season, although with Hurricane Michael coming through, we are expected to see quite a drastic change in temps next week - right at taper time!

Fingers crossed for good weather and possibly a marathon PR, but if not I'll be thankful for the chance to experience a terrific race.  And always thankful for the physical ability to do something that I love.  Then it's on to the next race.....

Numbers

I have an obsession with numbers. When I went to college, I was initially planning on being an accountant.  That quickly changed, however my love of math and numbers has never gone away.  My wife refers to me as the Human Calculator (not sure that really sounds like a cool super hero name) and will often times just ask me a math problem rather than wasting time typing it into her phone's calculator.

Of course that has translated over to my running.  Runners have so much data available to them it can be overwhelming.  Just during the course of a single run, I worry about things like - How many miles have I ran today?  What is my average pace?  What is my current pace?  How long is this interval?  What is my current heart rate? HOW MANY MORE MAILBOXES UNTIL THE TOP OF THIS HILL?!?!?  That's just during a run.  When I get home, I then analyze the crap out of my run on Strava.  I look at mile splits, my speed on different segments compared to last time (or the overall leaders), my fastest pace (sometimes when I sprint the end of the run), my total elevation gain, the list goes on and on.  And lastly, there are cumulative numbers that I'm always thinking about. How many more miles can I fit in this week? Will I get more than last week?  Am I on track for my monthly goal?  If I increase by 10% each week, how many miles will I end up with for the year?

My current fixation is on my yearly mileage - I have a goal of cracking 2,000 miles in a year for the first time in my life.  I currently sit at 1,735.4 for the year, needing 264.6 more miles for the year, over the course of 92 days, so I need to average..... wait, there I did it again! You can see my problem pretty clearly.  I have such a problem, that I recognize exactly what I am doing, and yet I am still not able to let it go, and I must tell you that I need 88.2 miles per month, or 2.88 miles a day to reach my goal.  If I stay on my current track of 6.36 miles per day, I will hit 2,000 in just 41 days (November 10th).  At that point I will probably decide to shoot for 2,200 or something in that range - 2222 sounds good!

I will say that the problem with the mileage numbers has actually worn me down quite a bit mentally.  My body is holding up well because I have been smart about doing a lot of runs at an easy, conversational pace.  I've taken a slow, cautious approach to building up my mileage, never increasing by more than 10-15% a week.   I have also done quite a bit of interval run-walking - it still all counts as mileage, just like if you do intervals at a race!  I think I won't be chasing a mileage goal next year so I don't have to have that cloud looming over my head all year. 

However, today I signed up to attempt the Barkley Fall Classic 50k again next year.  It is a lottery and it looks like I'll have maybe a 25% chance of getting selected.  But I know how the waitlist for this race works, and many people will drop out before the race.  So I am going to plan a full year around training for that race as if I'm in it.  I want to be ready even if I don't get notice until just a few days before the event.  My training plan will not focus as much on mileage this year, although there will be plenty.  I will be more focused on strength training, climbing, and just general "embrace the suck" activities.  My training goal numbers will be set around total elevation gain, which will just be a new obsession I have to pay attention to all year.

Why am I a slave to numbers like this?  There have been a few times that I have just left the house without my watch - or had the battery die in the middle of a run - and those have been some of my most enjoyable times.  Sometimes I wish I could "lose" my watch and not have all that data at my fingertips.  Although I would later just obsess over how many numbers I missed out on...