Army Run Training Log (2010)

Half Marathon: Race Day

Pre-race photos

Race day morning I awoke around 5:00am, although the plan was to sleep until 6:00am, I could not sleep any longer. I had a large cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese and tomatoes. Typically peanut butter and banana would offer more energy, but I wasn’t sure it was going to digest well with me that morning so I opted for something lighter.

The weather was perfect for running, 17C and overcast and no humidity. I lined up with 10,000 other ½ marathon participants. Noting my goal time was between 1:45 and 1:50 I lined up slightly ahead between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace bunny. When the gun went off we slowly made our way over the start line and then the pace quickly picked up as we ran down Wellington and over the Portage Bridge into Gatineau.

The course of the Quebec side consists of a lot of downs and a few ups with many switchbacks. When on top of the hills you can look ahead and see the sea of runners down below, it is an unbelievable sight. You finally cross over the MacDonald Cartier Bridge and head down Sussex into Ottawa.

This is the stretch of the course that really motivates me. The sides of the course and the overhead bridges are lined with thousands of spectators cheering and encouraging the runners on, an amazing feeling. The course then continues down Colonel By Drive, wraps around Bronson and then down Queen Elizabeth Drive towards the downtown finish line.

It is at the 3km mark that the crowds begin to thicken and the cheering becomes deafening. I still had so much energy left in me which was awesome; however I could feel the cramping starting in my knees and was trying to push out more speed. Finally by the 300m mark I began to sprint to the finish line and was more than elated to reach my new personal best (PB) of 1:44:56. My husband sprinted by me at the last stretch and hit is new PB of 1:44:53.

I think one of the best parts of the race was not only achieving a new PB, having so much spectator support, but it was seeing my husband ahead of me at the finish line and finishing the race almost together. We’d both run the ½ before, but never together, to see him during the race and at the end was a great feeling. It certainly showed that our dedication, hard training and support for each other during the training phase paid off immensely. As they say a couple that runs together stays together.

During the race I used a number of mantras that I had mentioned in a previous post. However, iRun magazine also had a list of why iRun, which really motivated me and kept my mind focused during the race. Here are some of the iRun magazine reasons why iRun:

iRun for the ones I love who can’t
iRun to stay in shape
iRun because my kids need a healthy mom
iRun for fun
iRun for endorphins
iRun because I want to learn what I am capable of
iRun because this addiction is better than my last
iRun so I can eat chocolate
iRun to start a better day
iRun for my family
iRun to quiet my mind
iRun because it gives me a feeling of accomplishment
iRun because it’s an addiction

If we recover well from this one we are hoping to race again in the fall.

Happy with my new PB 1:44:56

New PB of 1:44:53

Race Weekend

Well after 16 weeks of training the National Capital Race Weekend is finally here. It seemed to come faster than past years. Last night I picked up my race kit. It is always fun to get the kit and walk around with thousands of other runners from the family doing the 2k run together to the elite marathoners trying to qualify for Boston. The atmosphere is exciting and is a good way to get pumped for the race.

Overall I feel I have had an excellent training regime. Of course as luck would have it my runs never go without some adversity in terms of injuries. One week ago an old injury spontaneously resurrected causing me immense abdominal discomfort and pain. I am hoping that I will be able to overcome that throughout the race.

All I can do at this point is stretch the adhesions as much as possible and have a few ART treatments to see if that will reduce the pain and loosen up the tightness. Other than that I guess I will just have to wait and see what comes of it come race day.

However, I think I am mentally prepared to have to deal with what ever it is I have to deal with during the race. Be it the pain, the crazy humidity we’ve had the past week and any other barrier that comes my way. It might be more of a mental game than a physical one for me.

This month’s issue of iRun had a list of mantra’s used by athlete’s to get through their runs. I have used my own mantras over the past years and they certainly helped keep me going. Sometimes they are as simple as just saying to yourself “just keep running” and sometimes you have to dig a bit deeper and tell yourself just that “dig deeper, give it more” or “you have more in you, suck it up and run.” The one I liked from the iRun magazine was “suck it up princess” and “don’t think, just run”

I have many more mental games to keep me going and motivated such as thinking about those athletes that inspire me or those that have overcome immense adversity only to strive to come back the sport they love, with intensity and vigour. I find such inspiration from these types of people.

For my pre-race meal I typically have oatmeal. This year I have not been doing many morning runs and have not had oatmeal pre-run. Therefore it would be a bad idea to have oatmeal on race day. I think I am going to stick with a whole wheat bagel with either light cream cheese or light peanut butter and ½ a banana, a cup of coffee and water. Although the bagel will not last as long in my system as oatmeal will, I will likely have a power gel half way through the race if I feel my energy stores depleting.

Hill Training

Running Techniques

There are a variety of training methods and drills that are effective in improving aerobic capacity, endurance, speed, strength, power and help with injury prevention. Most of these training methods are not recommended for beginners due to the risk of injury and are recommended for intermediate to advanced runners with a good mileage, endurance and muscular strength base.

Hill Training

Purpose: Hill training for runners will increase muscle power, muscle strength and speed. It also increased VO2max and increases the lactate threshold.

Target Muscles: strengthens hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, gluteal muscles and Achilles tendon.

How: For longer runs like the half marathon hill runs should be done for 60-90 second intervals at a 5 to 8 percent gradient. First warm up with a 15 min or 3km slow run on flat surface then incorporate a few intervals of hills (First time hill runners should start with a lower grade and do 3 intervals and each week increase the number of intervals until at 9 intervals). Run the hill with proper form for 60-90 seconds, and then slow your run down for 2 minutes on a flat surface to recover. Repeat until all intervals are completed and finish with about 5 to 10 minutes 0r 2-3km of a slow jog cool down to help flush out the lactic acid. This can be accomplished outdoors or on a treadmill.

*I am comfortable and see results when I train at an 7 percent grade for 90 seconds with a 2 minute light jog recovery on flat surface.

Half Marathon: The half marathon hill training begins at week 5 of a 16 week program and is done once a week for about 7 weeks, prior to speed training.

Physiology: hill running improves speed and strength and thereby power (speed x strength = power). This occurs because when running uphill the leg muscles are required to work against resistance and have to recruit more muscle fibres than they would have to when running on a flat surface. The more fibres that are recruited the more muscle will be developed and more muscle means more strength and more strength means more speed and ultimately more power. In addition to recruiting more muscle fibres hill running requires the muscle fibres to contract more rapidly.

Note: Hill training should only be performed by those who already have a good base of leg strength, and therefore not recommended for beginners. This is because hill training puts a lot of stress on the muscles and joints and if not well conditioned can result in injury.

Half Marathon Log 2010

This is my actual half marathon training log, which follows a 16week training plan. I will continue to update it daily/weekly. It indicates distance, duration, pace and details regarding hill and speed training.

Half Marathon Training Program

Me after the May 2008 half marathon (1 hour and 50 minutes)

Well I am currently training for my third half-marathon. After training all summer long for a multi-day trek in the French-Swiss Alps I took a couple months off of running as my muscles and joints were in desperate need of rest and recovery.

By November I was back running and worked at building my mileage up so I had good base (about 10km long runs and 25km total a week) before starting my training for the half-marathon.

I will be logging my training with respect to mileage progression, speed training, hill training, nutrition, motivation, strength training and whatever other topics emerge. I am sure my husband will contribute, as he is also running a half marathon in May 2010.

My first half marathon did not meet my personal goal, clocking over 2 hours. This was due mainly to a lack of proper training (no hill or speed training) and I was struggling with painful abdominal adhesions and hip bursitis. Thanks to Active Release Techniques (ART) treatment from a great massage therapist and chiropractor, and a lot of patience, I overcame those injuries.
The second year I was thankfully injury free and trained extremely hard and followed a regimented training program. I performed intense hill and speed work in order to reach my target goat. I ended up with a personal best (PB) of 1 hour 50 minutes which I was pretty ecstatic about. This year I am aiming to repeat the same time, but there is always that determination and internal competitiveness in me that wants to strive to do better and obtain a new PB.

My training plan is based on running four days per week, however I usually either add an extra short run in or some cross-training, or just do something active that (skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, sports, walking, biking). I also do a combination of general and sport specific weight training.

Here is the training plan I am following, however you can see my actual half marathon log book by clicking here. There is some variance from the program in terms of days and distances.