Colfax Through Hanson's

I started training for the Colfax Marathon on November 18, 2013.  Because Hal Higdon's training plans have never worked that well for me, I wanted something different.  I wanted a training plan that would hold me accountable and tell me exactly what paces to run.  I bombed my first attempt at running Colfax in May 2013.  By mile 8, I was cramping and miserable.  After mile 14, I felt beat down and defeated.  Mile 20 told me I was going to finish but at what cost?  Mile by mile went by and I held back tears and surges of emotion until I finally crossed the finish line in 4:24.  Ironically, when I crossed the finish I felt unstoppable.  After everything I'd pushed through to get to that moment I could get through anything life might throw at me.  I could have stopped at any moment.  No one was holding my legs to that flame.  It was all under my own will and stubbornness.  I've never felt pain like that before.  Every muscle in my body begged me to stop and yet I pushed forward. 

At the finish line last year

Six months after the race, I would think about the finish line and smile so enthusiastically you would have thought I finished just days before.  I wanted to recreate that feeling, but I didn't want to hurt this time.  I wanted to have an actual goal, beyond finishing, and I wanted to feel good at the finish line.  No walls, no screaming calves, no regrets. 

I felt like I'd been hit by a bus for weeks after the race.  I remember being completely delirious at mile 24 and for an hour after finishing.

After far too much research I came across the Hanson's Marathon Method.  Essentially this plan tells you to run at varied speeds to work the different muscle groups and create a level of cumulative exhaustion so that you never run feeling fresh.  Mimic the last 16 miles of the race during your long training runs, not the first.  Don't take days off because you are sore, push through it and get stronger.  Last year, I skipped easy days, I didn't pay attention to paces and I ran without focus.  The Hanson's Method doesn't work if you don't follow it very closely and I figured that out right away.

A sincere thanks Luke Humphrey and Hanson brothers.

I became obsessive about my running routine.  As the months went by, I got up earlier and earlier to fit in distance, speed work, strength and easy runs.  I felt it working and I kept thinking about that moment last May when I felt unstoppable.  This time would be better. 

Last Sunday I crossed the finish line in 3:55, just under 30 minutes faster than my previous time. I never felt truly tired until mile 25 where I reminded myself, "Five months of hard work for a few more minutes of discomfort."  I ran negative splits with my final mile at 8:26.  When I crossed the finish line I expected to feel euphoric like I had a year ago, but I didn't.  I never pushed through incredible pain to remind me that I am made up of pure grit.  I had a blister the size of Mars under my foot that wrapped in between my toes.  I felt it for 15 miles of the race and the oozing liquid spreading between my toes as it popped at mile 25, but nothing begged me to stop. 
 

This is just the top side where it stuck out between the toes, the bottom of it is the size of a half dollar around the pad of my foot.  The grass was wet by the port-a-potties and all our shoes were soaked at the starting line.  I've never blistered in my Saucony Virratas before the race. 

If I wasn't that tired, did I push hard enough?  Could I have gone faster or would I have crashed sooner?  If there was energy to spare, how do I train to go faster and feel the same sense of strength throughout the race?

There is no doubt about it, Hanson's works.  Not only do they prepare your body for the beating it takes in 26.2 miles, but the method teaches you how to taper, carbo load, actively recover, and push yourself to limits that have never been tested. 

What I learned was this, training for a specific pace works.  I trained for a 3:56 and ended up one minute faster than goal time.  That was a success.  If I trained for a faster time and put in the miles at that pace, I have renewed confidence my body could handle it as I pushed faster paces throughout the training, but I need to be more aware of my body as I pick up the pace.  I think I got lucky this time.  I ran 60+ miles a week for a couple months and didn't incorporate strength training and weights into my regimen.  Halfway through the race, my right hip flexor started to ache and reminded me that I have work to do.   The second time running the same race, my head was in the game entirely.  I ran mile after mile calculating splits in my mind, seeing what my finishing time would be at current paces.  I did body checks continuously asking myself, "Do I need water or fuel?  Is my stride good?  What hurts right now, what is giving out, what is not strong enough?  What can I improve for next time?"  I never wanted to take off faster than my prescribed pace because I respect the distance too much.

Running marathons is humbling.  It becomes addictive and the effort itself becomes more satisfying than the finishing times and results.  This time I wasn't euphoric about the finale because I steadily looked ahead throughout this process.  For 26.2 miles, I celebrated 1,000 miles of hard work in 5 months.  The race didn't feel like the accomplishment, the training did. 


~Roadburner

Colfax Marathon Taper. My hands are shaking.

I am loosing my mind.  The Hanson's Marathon Method calls for a 10 day taper.  Six days into that recovery period and I can't stand it anymore.  For 5 days I felt strong and energetic.  I was so grateful to finally have energy back.  But now I have more energy than I know what to do with.  I tap pencils, my hands are shaking, my stomach is upset, my heart races, and my legs are begging to move.  I haven't cut out running altogether and I still have a fairly high mileage over this 10 day period, but half the mileage from my peak schedule, 60 miles down to 25, is causing major withdrawals. 

I let my 3 year old son skip his nap yesterday so we could go somewhere.  We ended up at Yogurtini and then the mall where we walked around in circles endlessly.  Walking to pick my son up from school another mom asked me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine.  I just need to do something." Her eyes bugged out a bit at my enthusiasm.

Last night I cleaned my house.  I cleaned so violently that I fell down in a heap of exhaustion at the end of it.  Twenty minutes later my legs and hands started shaking again.  I fell asleep easily last night but at 5:00 this morning, my normal running time, I awoke to a racing heart and misfiring muscles.  So I came downstairs, ate a quick snack and sat in silence wondering, "What the hell do people do with themselves who get up at ungodly hours and don't run?"

Now that my family is awake, they keep staring at me, like they are waiting for detonation.  So here I sit with my head down, legs secretively shaking under the desk.   

Crap, I have 4 more days of this. 


~Roadburner

What's after the Colfax Marathon?

I need to finish the Colfax Marathon strong and prove hard work pays off.  I am taking over 20 minutes off my previous marathon time on the same course.  It is a hard route with some rough hills and even though it is 1,000 feet lower in elevation than my home, it is still a mile above sea level.  But what's the next step?

Assuming I don't blacklist marathons forever after this race, I want to start getting my time down to a Boston Qualifier.  I need 3:35.  I'd like a minute or two faster to ensure my qualifying time is fast enough with all the runners out there under age 34.

After Colfax I will take 2 full weeks of not running.  This is going to be hard.  I am not sure how to go from getting up at 5:00 am every day and running 50-65 miles a week to nothing.  I'll let you know if I hold it together.  During that time, I will find a trainer to help me with running specific weight training.  I haven't done much with weights over the last few years and I know that is key to helping my speed, agility, and injury prevention.  If I am going to take my marathon pace from 9:00 to 8:07, I need to work smarter and include weights at least 1-2 days a week.

I also saw major gains in my VO2 levels when I ran speed work once a week.  It had positive effects across the board, leaving my easy runs refreshing, and my tempo runs more sustainable at the desired paces.

It will be important to temper my training as I gain mileage again.  I don't want to start out too high and risk injury, but I also don't want to loose the gains I've made in the last 5 months.  I will listen to my body and back off when it doesn't feel right.  Running high mileage works for me though.  The more I run, the better and faster I get.  I am learning how to use my body efficiently and I often experiment with new techniques and form on my easy days.

The California International Marathon is December 7.  I haven't decided if I am going to run it this year or not, but I hear it is a fast course and the benefits of sea level could work to my advantage.  REVEL Rockies is another option, but seeing how it is a downhill course, I am not sure if I want to trash my quads over 5,000 feet of elevation loss.  Also, it takes place in August, which might be too soon.  Another option could be the Denver Rock 'n Roll Marathon in October.  Again, it feels a little soon to run another full, so I need to wait and see how my body feels over the next month and a half.

Here is my training plan for a 3:35:00 marathon finish.  Each speed work, strength, and tempo run also includes a one mile warm up and cool down. 

I've said all along I wanted a BQ, and I know I have a lot of work to do.  I have to bite this off in small pieces and move there strategically, learning along the way what works for my body.  However, my current tempo, speed, recovery, easy, and distance paces all say I am ready for the next challenge. 


~Roadburner