Re: Training Week Ending February 27, 2005

SwStudio wrote:
> Greetings, rec.runners! Please tell us about your training
> week and goals.

Mon 0.00 rest
Tue 7.07 easy
Wed 12.09 lt - 4 up, 7 @ LT, 1 down
Thu 5.02 easy
Fri 12.00 med long
Sat 5.01 easy
Sun 13.82 long
-----------------------------------------
Wk 55
Yr 462

Week 11 of 18-week training program for Boston, week 5 of 5-week
lactate threshold phase. This week was a disaster. I caught a cold on
Monday with a slight fever (101). During Wednesday's LT run I found it
very difficult to stay at the proper pace. My body just did not want to
push that hard for so long. Friday's longish run was a little better.
However, Sunday was not a good day. It was raining all day and in the
upper 30s. I spent most of the day moping around wondering when I was
going to get in a 22 mile run. I set out my bottles around noon.
Finally at 2:00 PM I headed out. Most of the run wasn't too bad, until
I started to head east into the wind (20 mph gusts) and rain. On top of
that, I was getting "runner's trots." I had to stop somewhere. I
decided to just bag the whole thing and stop at 14 miles. I tried
calling my wife on my cell, but it was busy. I finally had the operator
break through the line. While waiting for my wife to pick me up,
standing in my wet clothes, I was getting hypothermic and was shaking
uncontrollably. About 15 minutes later I saw my wife go by as she
missed seeing me on the corner where I said I would be. I suddenly had
this vision of Kate Winslet trying to shout "Come back!" but could only
muster a hoarse whisper from the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.
When I got home I immediately got off all my wet clothes and jumped
into bed with the electric blanket cranked all the way up.

I guess I should be gratefull I only had a cold and I still was able to
keep my weekly mileage at a respectable volume. This week I'm scheduled
for an 18-miler. Maybe I'll see how I feel at 18 and try to make it
20+.

Racing Goals:

Tune-up races for Boston

3/5/05 Chattahoochee Roadrunners 10K, Atlanta GA
3/19/05 Leprechaun Road Race 10K, Dublin GA
4/2/05 Chickamauga Chase 15K, Chickamauga, GA

4/18/05 Boston Marathon, Boston MA

Have a great week rec.runners.

Phil M.

Phil - don't worry. To quote Anders: "missing 1 long run will not make
an iota of difference" - or words to that effect. I also ended up
missing my long run this week - that was compensated by a good race.
While your "disaster week" saw you hitting 55 miles, I only managed
35...

Hopefully we can both put in a few solid weeks now ahead of the
taper.

Anthony.

Phil M. wrote in message
>snip<
>I guess I should be gratefull I only had a cold and I still was able to
>keep my weekly mileage at a respectable volume. This week I'm scheduled
>for an 18-miler. Maybe I'll see how I feel at 18 and try to make it
>20+.
>

Yep you should be grateful - that flu I got completely knocked me out for a
week, then I tried to come back to soon and it lingered another 10 days.
Nice little article about recovery from illness in Sept's Ultrarunning "The
Science of Ultrarunning: Can Ultras Make You Sick". The answer is yes, and
even heavy training can weaken the immune system.

After a cold the author recommends that "intensive training may safely be
resumed a few days after the resolution of thy symptoms". To me this says it
might have been better for you to take an extra day off or walk (gasp!)
instead of run and/or bag your LT run.

He goes on to say: "With symptoms of fever, extreme tiredness, muscle aches,
and swollen lymph glands, two to four weeks should be allowed before
resumption of intensive training". Makes perfect sense to me coming off such
an illness.

"Some runners have robust immune systems that can handle substantial
training workloads, while others break down at much lower training
thresholds.... " Obvious, yes, but I think it also has a great deal to do
with your health history and any number of other factors. Ever since I
battled illnesses of various types that saw me drop 45 pounds (from a normal
healthy weight) while living in India, my immune system has been faulty. It
quite sucks.

-Tony