Calf Issues

Every single time I start out on a run, my calves are very tight. It is my whole lower leg truthfully, all around my ankles but mostly my calves. They eventually loosen up after around 4 miles, but that first part is brutal. And then, on the last couple of long runs (16 and 18 miles), I've gotten a few calf cramps towards the end. Nothing that lasts, but it's enough to scare me. I'd forgotten just how bad they are. So I've adjusted my eating. I always eat a banana before a run and then Gatorade and gels during a run. Before my 18 miler I drank milk, ate a banana and did the gels and gatorade religiously even though I felt like I was pretty sugared out by the end. And I took an electrolyte pill before the run and at mile 12 as suggested by my uncle. I had felt a cramp before the pill and then again right towards the end. What more can I do? I started doing a little more research on the web and discovered what might just be the problem. Lack of circulation. I have those IT band straps cranked down pretty tight so that they don't slip and I'm not messing with them the whole run. I think that may be the problem. So for my first 20 miler this weekend I'm going to experiment with those a little. I will probably still keep all the other stuff in my routine, but hopefully that will fix the problem. Other than that, the training's going really well. It's been fun, for the most part and I've even surprised myself. I think I mentioned that Heather and I did a magic mile together to determine how fast we should be doing our speed work and tempo runs. We're really at about the same pace, which makes it convenient for training. But when I looked at how fast we had to do our mile speed work, I didn't think there was any possible way that I could do it. But to my surprise, I was able to do it and though it was really hard at the end, I was pretty excited that I made it through. I guess no matter what level you are at, you can surprise yourself.

Here's what I've been up to. My goals are to make my weight training more consistent and use my new bike to cross train. My first bike with gears. I need some heavily padded shorts for sure!

Thursday July 9th- full body weights

Friday July 10th- 4 miles easy

Saturday July 11th- 6 miles with hills

Monday July 13th- 5.5 miles with hills

Tuesday July 14th- 20 minutes of stair running YUCK!

Wednesday July 15th- 6 miles with 4 miles tempo 9:20 pace

Thursday July 16th- 3 miles easy

Saturday July 18th- 16 miles down the canyon and around the Reservoir average pace of 10 minute miles. I was pretty sore after the run, mostly in my hamstrings for about 2 days.

Monday July 20th- 3 miles easy, upper body weights, stretching

Tuesday July 21st- 7 miles speed workout

Thursday July 23rd- 18.6 miles- Peach Days 10k route x 3. I didn't time this workout, but it was slower than the past weeks due to a hilly course and a good break around each loop. But we made it through.

Friday July 24th- 4 mile bike ride

Saturday July 25th- 5 miles with hills followed by 8 mile bike ride

Now, onto the marathon training

The post Wasatch Back glow has faded. I really can't wait until next year. What a great experience that was. I was on cloud nine for a while and now the reality has set in that I am in full blown marathon training again. It's a little scary, a little exciting, and a lot of unknown. But I am excited to try again and refuse to end on a bad marathon. This one's gonna be good. I feel like I've learned a lot from my mistakes and am ready to go and use that knowledge. I'm trying not to think too much about that actual marathon day and just focus on the training. Which is completely opposite of what I did during my first marathon training. Picturing that finish line was a motivational vision for me. Not this time. I know I'll make it to the finish. Even if I'm dragging myself across with bloody knuckles. I know I'll finish. I just want to finish well this time and feel good. Is that too much to ask?

I've had a real treat lately. I've had a running partner. It hasn't always been the same person, but it's been a partner. It's not that I don't still enjoy running alone. Because I do. But those long runs go by so much faster with a friend to talk to. I had the joy of running with Mel on my 12 miler. She is a faster runner than I am but since it was a long slower run, we were able to run together. Honestly, I felt so much satisfaction finishing that run faster than I would have ever run it by myself. It felt really good. I'm always amazed at how long that feeling of a good run lasts. Days even. I've also been able to run with my good friend Heather. We ran our first marathon together after not training together even once. Circumstances just didn't work out. We live really close and now that we're running a second one together, it's been fun to train together. We push each other. We have great conversation. During a long run you just have time to talk about things you wouldn't normally have time for. We've also been doing hills together. That's been really good. We keep each other motivated. At the end of our last 14 miler I was feeling really good. It was the first time I have run that far in over a year. It's starting to come back to me now how great and accomplished I feel after those long runs. I hope that feeling lasts!

Tuesday June 23rd: 4 miles

Wednesday June 24th: full body weights

Friday June 26th: 4 miles and full body weights

Saturday June 27th: 12 miles with Mel average pace: just under 10 minute mile

Monday June 29th: 5 miles tempo

Wednesday July 1st: 5 miles with hills

Thursday July 2nd: 3 miles easy

Saturday July 4th: 14 miles average pace 10:40

Monday July 6th: 5 miles with hills

Wednesday July 8th: 6.5 miles