Wandering Minds Cost Sleep

Can’t sleep. I seem to be spending most of my nights embroiled in vivid dreams. Generally they relate to running. Ultimately they are not helping my running.

Since the evening seminar I went to recently about marathon training I have been in a state of turmoil and it hits me right between the eyes at bedtime. Headlines from the seminar were:

a) If you can run for 2 hours, you can run for 4. There are no physiological benefits to running longer than 2 hours. You just wear yourself out. Extending yourself from 2 hours to the end of your marathon is down to fuelling. Ditch the long run.

b) To improve speed you need more miles. Rather than running faster, you have to run more often to boost your speed. Basically you’re strengthening your legs. So running three/four days a week will not cut the mustard. You need to run six days a week.

c) Save yourself for racing. Long runs and speedwork will tire your body out. On all long runs employ the run-walk protocol – 9mins run, 1 min fast walking. This will reduce impact on your body and help reduce the likelihood of injury.

So, since that evening I have thrown out my original plan which was 4 runs a week; 3x60mins and either 1x5km / 1xmid distance / 1xlong run. Now I am running 6 days a week and trying to push weekly distance towards 70km without the use of a long run.

The trouble is that my original plan was working for me. I’m not sure why I have changed. Now I feel all at sea. Like I have no direction. I feel paralysed. I can’t see me being able to do this. Why did I decide to do a marathon?

I think I need some sleep. And a new plan. And some perspective.

Shiny Shoes

New shoes. They’re like running in super shiny, super fast, slippers. I slipped them on for a 10km and they felt great. Mummy is a happy runner.

I went to Shoe Clinic at Albany and saw Richard, who owns the franchise there. Great service. Bottled water. Nice chat. Trot on the treadmill. Gaze at video of feet in various shoes. All fascinating. Because of the proximity of the marathon (12 weeks) he advised me to stick with my Nike’s – apparently you either suit Nike or you don’t like them. I loved mine. So after trying on a few others I took his advice and bought the newer model – Nike Triax Structure 13′s.

Stepped in a puddle on the way home, so now they even look slightly used.

Adiós amigo

I’ve come to the conclusion I need some new shoes. On one hand this is very exciting on the other it is terrifying. I never had blisters with these ones. They’ve been my trusty steed for 1000km or so. But they have holes; they smell; the left shoe has developed a deeply annoying squeak; and they just won’t last until the Marathon.

Tomorrow I will go to my local running store, shoe clinic. I will run up and down in front of a camera and try on a load of shiny, alien shoes. Hopefully there is a pair there just for me.

Rain, wind and beaches

To relieve my legs of pavement fatigue, I decided to run on the beach for some of my run today. This is only the third time I’ve ran on sand. It is quite different.

The tide was high today so finding firm sand wasn’t easy. I was also avoiding the friendly doggies and getting pelted on by howling wind and rain.

Apparently it takes 1.6 times more energy to achieve the same speed on sand as on firm ground. It is therefore good for strengthening, and the softer surface also reduces impact. But you have to watch the camber so I did a 2km out and back run on the beach to even it up.  I wear my shoes on the beach as I don’t fancy joining the barefoot running phenomenon just yet. I’ll expend far too much energy shouting “ouch” and “owww” as I stumble over the odd shell.

Because I run first thing in the morning when it is still dark I think I’ll only do the beach if I’m with someone or on the weekends when I go out a little later. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to do it, although I think I prefer the speed of the pavement.

13 weeks to go

This time in 13 weeks I’ll be utterly shattered, probably crying in pain, and vowing never to run again. Today however I just wanted to increase on the 43km I did last week by just enough to keep injuries at bay. So I went for just an hour of interval training but I wanted to use the run-walk protocol to get used to it. I’m also hoping to go out with my PT running buddy tomorrow and wanted to have fresh legs for that.

Run-Walk Protocol

Now the hardest thing in the world for most runners is to walk but apparently it is a great idea for endurance athletes, that is according to my straw poll of two Ironman personal trainers.

What is it?

The idea is that you attack your long runs using a combination of running and walking (but you need to keep your arms up in the running position and walk briskly to help when you start running again and keep the heart rate up a bit). By doing so you achieve the mileage you want but reduce the impact on your legs and therefore save energy for racing rather than using it all in training. Apparently you still achieve the same cardio workout, but it is easier on the body. And if you are needing to increase your mileage, you can go up by more than the recommended 10% each week (up to a max of about 20%). Apparently it is increasingly used in Ironman (IM) training. It also helps remind runners that walking isn’t a bad thing. In fact they encourage you to walk through water stations on the marathon to ensure hydration is managed successfully and doing the run-walk protocol helps reinforce that advice.

As it seemed to me…..

So I have done a couple of run-walks so far. I have chosen the 9min run, 1min fast walk system. In all honesty I’d rather get into a running pattern but I have noticed a couple of positives. The first time I did it each of my running sections was faster than the previous one. I was quite surprised at that. Secondly, I did notice much less impact on my legs – fewer stretches were needed. But I’ve only used it on short runs up to 12km. Next weekend I’m determined to kick out a longer run when I’ll get to test it properly.

More info about the run-walk protocol can be found at: http://www.endurancecorner.com/library/running/run_walk_mcgee