Archive for February, 2011

And I’m never going back. (though I think the Kool-Aid metaphor doesn’t allow you redo’s anyway, since you’d be dead, but I digress…)

I finally get it; a real running break isn’t scary at all.  After 2 weeks off, you feel bouncy and fresh-legged, even if you sat on your ass for 14 days straight.  Your breathing feels smooth and paces return right where you left them.  In fact, you may gently need to remind yourself that first time out when you realize you’re going faster than intended “easy, girl” because it feels that good.  Unless you’re a guy, then you might say something else.

Now, I can see how some people would be really afraid to try it.  I had my own worries that are surely universal: that I’d end up slower, chubby, and huffing and puffing for the next 2 weeks while I attempt to regain all that “lost fitness”.  Hah!  It doesn’t feel like I lost anything, the only obvious change is that my body feels fully rested.

Other reasons someone might resist taking a break (aside from OCD or a literal addiction to running) is if you’re a mileage hound so your year-end total is incredibly significant to you or if you participate in running streaks.  I can see how, in those cases, missing a couple weeks would cause major unrest (read: freak the shit out of you).

But listen, if you’re in this to be your best running self, and most of you are, consider trying it.  Bad things won’t happen!  And remember, I didn’t cross-train one iota, so I’m an extreme example of lazyness.  If I could emerge unscathed, you will too.

So this week goes like this: 6-5-7-5-9 with a couple rest days thrown in there.  32miles total.   So far I’ve gone 6 and 5 and today’s a rest day.  I’m glad Adam suggested those 5s (I was going to add a mile each run) since, as expected, I had some DOMS yesterday.  I probably should have messed with the foam roller in anticipation, but didn’t bother.  Today’s a rest day and the muscle soreness is just about gone, so I’m raring to get back to it tomorrow.

The experiment continues…

A sweet 6-miler awaits this afternoon.  I’m excited to get back out there – a feeling that hadn’t hit me till yesterday when, through a car window, I saw runners on the river path moving gracefully in the gorgeous blue-skied day.  I’m ready.

Points Of Note From My 2-week Running Break

Weight: All told, I gained 3 lbs.  There were a couple nights eating out and one desserty evening featuring this monster vessel o’ icing shared with my New Friend, but for a Frosting Ho such as myself, it was worth it.

This claimed to be a cupcake

My friend Lara also gave me a few scrumptious homemade cookies, but aside from those blips I ate the same as usual.  I’m totally fine with the gain because I know it’ll come off without having to do anything but run.

Lazy ass: I was. It rocked.  The only activity I did was 3 sets of pushups on Thursday, some crunches Saturday and one walk longer than my usual 2-block trip to Whole Foods.  Other than that, I spent my hiatus basically sitting or lying down.

One of my internet running buddies, Chris, mentioned that he’d be scared to take a 2-week no-running break for fear it’d send him back to his old lazy ways…”a slippery slope”.  I would have had the same worry a couple years ago but since so much of my identity is now wrapped up in running, it would be unthinkable to do anything but resume.  I’m sure the confidence of that helped me relax into it fully.

In a way, this lazy stint was like tapering for a marathon; you have to let go and trust that it’s doing you good, so you may as well enjoy it.  Or take spin classes if you’re paranoid.  I prefer laying on a bed, comaesque.

Supplement Stoppage: About 2.5 weeks ago, I quit taking Glucosamine and MSM.  I’d been skipping days before going to California – not on purpose, just forgetting – and though I brought some with me on the trip, I never took it.

Since I’ve been inactive I don’t notice any difference.  Also, I fully expect to have a couple minor aches this week due to resuming running but it seems a good time to reevaluate the need for it.  Due to my proclivity for bursitis-type thingies rather than joint problems, I could see myself needing MSM before Glucosamine, but if I suddenly get runners knee or my ankles start feeling screwy, Glucosamine, here I come.

The Funny Story

Saturday night, I’m at my New Friend’s apartment for the very first time, checking out the bachelor pad and getting a tasty manly-made dinner out of the deal.  The next morning (yesterday) we’re having coffee in bed,  chatting lazily, and I hear the sound of a door close.  Seems really close by, like the front door to the apartment.  A second later, there’s this guy standing in the bedroom doorway (thankfully, we’re both covered in a sheet); it’s a kid in his 20s wearing a Phillies hat and a goofy smile – very personable young fella.

My New Friend (I have to give him a better name soon) is totally nonplussed and says “Hey dude, what are ya doing here?” and the two of them have a little chat about the front door being unlocked.  The kid’s in no hurry to leave so I figure it’s my guy’s relative or a friend.  Finally, the kid says goodbye and splits, while I’m giggling at the ridiculousness of the scene.

Giggles became full-on laughter when I discover that my guy had absolutely no idea who that fella was, he must of stumbled in looking for his pal in another apartment.

The funniest thing was how long it lasted.  If you or I did that, I’m sure we’d be all “Oh my god, I am so sorry!!” and zoom outta there in utter embarrassment.  This guy was just standing around, almost waiting for an invitation to crack open a beer and watch TV with us.  Hilarious.

Headband Review!
Check out this beautiful review for GIMheadbands from the Philadelphia Examiner yesterday.  Talk about coolness, it was totally out-of-the-blue unexpected.  Yay!

Just a few days till I’m back on the road.  In the meantime, Coach Adam/A Muse and I had our first back and forth about how that’s going to happen.  For the first week back, it’ll be all easy running, around 35 miles in 5 days.  The next week introduces progressions to about 25% of the runs.  After that, it looks like there might be a real shakeup for the Spring.

It’s very possible that instead of my original idea to target 5k type training leading to the Broad St. 10-miler in May, Spring may be devoted to base training, something I haven’t done for eons.  He’s looking at something from Deena’s former coach, Joe Vigil, that describes a 12-week base phase, then a 6-week precompetition phase, a 6-week competition phase, then 1-3 weeks peak/taper.  It ends up being about 6 months from start to finish (though the real “work” is a standard cycle length).

Timing-wise, there’s a slight conflict with this since stupid ole Summer means no racing for me, which pushes things up a bit into Fall.  But while seemingly so far off, that actually doesn’t sound bad to me at all.  I’m not chomping at the bit to race,  in fact, would probably do quite well without that pressure for a while.  When you think that I’ve been in training plans since the start, doing speed/tempo/LR almost every week for this many years, the alternative is very inviting. That said, I’m not in denial, I know full well that if my results were more positive this past year, I’d want to continue the trend, but since they weren’t, what have I got to lose?

Plus, for this as well as anything in life, how do we know what works for us unless we experiment?  You can read theory, books, articles till your feet drop off, but unless you actually try something, you just don’t know.  So if we decide to go this route, I’m willing to take a chance that I may end up slower from not pumping out the workouts.  Then again, it might just be the perfect alternative and I could thrive off a solid base cycle.

All this is in talking phase now anyway, he may have me do the planned 5k cycle after all, which I’d like for its novelty as well as not having to do long tempos and long intervals, but basically, I’m happy to say “whatever you think” and try it.

Treadmill Tidbit
If it turns out that I take this long base phase, then I won’t need to hop on a treadmill this season after all, since I’ve got no problem doing base runs in winter conditions.  However, I’ve been thinking about this coming summer and it occurred to me that not only would a treadmill let me do quality stuff properly, but more importantly, it would allow me to sleep!  How wonderful it’d be not to have to wake up Stupid Early to beat the heat since summer has always equaled sleep deprivation for me.  Since sleep is about the most important thing in the training chain, I’m thinking this would be a more valuable training tool than originally thought.

Edit: Adam’s Facebook post after reading this entry – Joe’s got a different view of base. He has tempos (not very long, at around HMP) and short, fast reps for raw speed/strength. Add to that some progressions and there should be a fair amount of variety. Depending on whether Punxsutawney Phil was right, you may need the treadmill for some of this.

So, we’ll see what’s in store for me, apparently I’ve got no idea.

And that’s about it from the Flo Cave.  I’m a bore without running to talk about, so I have to talk about the running I might or might not do.  Funny.   Later, dudes and dudettes.