The Free Market Jogger

I started my first day of the FIRST training program for a novice marathoner.  Signed up for the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon on 10/9/11 which will hopefully be my first marathon.  

Today, I ran the following:

20 minute warmup at 10:00m/mile

3x1600m at 7:48m/mile with 1:00 min recovery

10 minute cool-down.

All on the treadmill (with a 0.5% incline).  

Cross-training was on the schedule for today.

 Swam for about 40 minutes: 30 of them with a kick board.  Somewhere in the middle of the swim, I lost track on my laps, so I'll conservatively guess that I completed 50 laps * 25 yards/lap = 1,250 yards.

Back to work!

Day 3 on the FIRST novice training program:

4 miles easy at 8:57min/mile pace

2 miles harder at 7:42 min/mile.

All on a treadmill with a slight incline (0.5%).

So far, I like the idea of these focused runs where you run fewer miles, but at a faster pace.  However, without a treadmill or a GPS watch, estimating your pace can be tricky.  Being cheap, I doubt a GPS watch is in the future.  

Cross Training Day #2 

Did some lifting before I ran.  Seemed to loosen up my right hamstring which was a pleasant surprise.

Subsequently, jogged 4 treadmill miles @ 8:57 min/mile pace and swam about 18 laps in the pool.  And, more importantly, the sun is actually peaking through the clouds right now.  Oh how I missed you.

Only had time for a 4 mile jog today, but tomorrow looks more promising.

Jogged 6 miles along the Charles this morning.  Fairly windy and chilly. 

Mile 1: 8:18/mi

Mile 2: 8:33/mi

Mile 3: 8:26/mi

Mile 4: 8:39/mi

Mile 5: 9:01/mi

Mile 6: 8:53/mi

3 miles, easy.  Boy was it humid.  

4 miles @ 8:54/mi

3 miles @ 9:10/mi

3.0 @ 9:10/mi.

PM: 6 miles.  Splits: 1-9:40; 2-8:39; 3-8:57; 4-9:24; 5-9:18; 6-8:59.  My legs felt loose for the first time all week.  Jogged along the Charles near Harvard.  So lush.

Today was a soupy day in Boston: highs in the upper 80s with 70° humidity.

 PM:  Ran 4.3 miles @ 9:14/mi along the Charles.  Stopped a walked a mile & then ran a mile @ 9:00/mi.  My right knee soreness doesn't seem to want to go away.  However, rest of body is fine.

AM: 45 min spinning class.  I've hadn't swum for about a year, but this was my gym's spinning-lite class.  Afterwards, I ran 5x5min "sprints" around a local soccer field in my socks.

PM: 6 miles @8:59/mi.  Unfortunately, I miscalculated how long this jog would take, so I had no time to stretch and ice my knee before attending a performance at the Charlestown Playhouse.  After the play, I limped back home and had to justify to my wife the benefits of jogging.  She wasn't convinced. 

A lazy 3.0 miles on the mill.  Pace = 10:00 mi/mile

9.3 miles along the Charles on a beautiful, beautiful day in Boston.  Ran past two outdoor world music festivals, one of which I'll be attending shortly.

Average pace: 8:48 mi/mile which is pretty fast for me.  Also my splits were fairly consistent, which is rare for me.  1- 8:45; 2-9:00; 3-8:41; 4-8:39; 5-8:55; 6- 8:37; 7-8:30; 8-8:48; 9-8:54.

1 

PM: 2 1/2 miles @ 9:00/mi pace.  The pain in the patella tendon moved from my left knee to my right one.  A new application of a zero sum game.

PM: a quick 2 1/2 - 3 miles after dinner @9:00/mi pace.

3.0 miles on the mill.  

PM: The combination of a very humid afternoon and low energy equalled a 4.5 miles jog @ a slower than usual pace of 9:20/mi.  Should have  considered these variables before I left my house because I took the longer loop and eventually walked 4 miles home.  

Six miles right before family arrived for the weekend.  Pace = 9:20/mi.

60 mins on the elliptical & 2.5 miles on the mill.

I took advantage of an unusually cool summer night (58ºF) in Boston and completed the longest run of the summer.  Ran along the Charles from Mass Ave to Brighton (Arsenal Ave) and back.  Legs and, more importantly, knees felt great.  Mile 8 was the fastest.

Runs like this, while seldom, are why I bother with this hobby.

Mile	Pace
1	9:02
2	8:51
3	9:03
4	9:01
5	8:41
6	8:34
7	8:37
8	8:22
9	8:52
10	8:38
11	8:51

 11 miles in 1:33 @ avg 8:46/mile.

Another relatively long run for me.  Took it pretty easy (avg 9:10/mi).  But, more importantly, the Bruins just won the Stanley Cup!  I can hear the fireworks going off.  Please Boston, no rioting.

 My right patella tendon is still a bit of a bother.  Sounds like there will be some more lunging and hip flexor stretching in the near future. 

Mile	Splits
1	9:35
2	9:04
3	9:06
4	9:02
5	9:14
6	9:01
7	9:31
8	8:51
9	8:58

After two days off and only after 1 1/2 miles, the pain in my right kneecap was so bad that I had to stop and walk home.  Thought the time off would only help but looks like I'll be calling the physical therapist on Monday.

SLOW.

easy on the mill.

easy on the mill.

The weather was 66 degrees with 95% humidity, so a bit too humid for my taste.  This was the inaugural B.A.A. 10K (the same assn that runs the Boston marathon), so the race was well-attended and well-managed.  Since I live a few blocks from the starting line, I was able to sleep in and stretch in my living room and leisurely jog to the race.  After hanging out with my wife for a bit, we ambled over to the 9:00/mi (which quickly merged into 10:00/mi & the "rest of us") pace corral.  Didn't see any elites but Geoffrey Mutai, Gebre Gebremariam, Joan Benoit, and Bill Rodgers were among the runners in the 5:00/mi group.  After a short wait, the "slowest" runners were finally released from their stalls. 

The first 2 miles were along Comm Ave, one of Boston prettier streets.  Don't have my watch on me, but I remember running my fastest mile during mile 2: around 8:10/mi.  I know I got carried away with the event because by mile 3, I felt sluggish and was very, very sweaty.  I could tell I was slowing down, and certainly wasn't passing many folks, but I told myself to pick it up at mile marker 4.  Once I arrived at mile 4, I looked like a jumped into a pool with my clothes on.  Drenched.  And at that point, I decided to delay my tempo surge until mile marker 5.  Not surprisingly, at mile 5, I decided that picking up the pace was highly unlikely so I continued my steady pace of a bit more than a 9:00/mi.  At mile marker 6, I saw my wife in the crowd, who informed me to "open it up," which I promptly did for about .1 of a mile.  

Note to self: "it feels better finishing strong then starting strong.  So slow down, dummy."

 Going into the race, I set a realistic goal of under 55 mins and an unrealistic goal of under 50 mins.  Given my fastest 5K was about 25 mins, I ruled out the 50 minutes goal almost as soon as the thought entered my head.  This was also my first 10K, so I didn't know what to expect.  

So.. according to my garmin, I unofficially finished exactly at 54:00 54:22 (AP of 8:44/mi.).  My 5K split was 26:00, 10 secs off my fastest 5K. 

So this was my personal best by default.  Happy to finish under 55 minutes and maybe next time I add some tempo runs to the mix.

AM:  Took a 30 minute core conditioning & 45 minute spinning class.  Spinning was OK, but the core class was so tough and yet so great.  My first ever core class and I'm feeling it.   

PM: 2 1/2 mile jog.  Didn't bring watch.

Took a cardio kickboxing class instead of jogging.  My plan for the week is to improve my fitness.  Work those muscles that are often ignored.

4 miles on the mill @ 6.7 (8:57/mi.)

PM: 4 miles around the Charles loop.  

3.5 miles around the Charles with Willa.

A visit to the MGH Sports Medicine group revealed what I had known for a while: I have patella tendonitis in my right knee.  The short-term treatment is to eliminate all activities that aggravate my knees.  So that puts the kibosh on jogging for a while.  I had tampered my jogging to at most 6 miles a week for the first two weeks of July, but my knee was still in bad shape by the day of the doctor's appointment.  The longer-term therapy includes strengthening my right hip and right front quad and improving the flexibility in my hip and hamstrings.
 

So this is a bit of a setback.   I don't know how many people on this site have chronic patella tendonitis, but it's so frustrating.  I was doing everything by the books: icing, slowly adding miles, and stretching before and after.  I tried a patella knee strap but that didn't seem to do anything.  At least I've never had IT injuries or stress fractures.

 If anyone has some success stories about overcoming a case of jumper's knee, please send them my way.  I could use the encouragement.