End of Week Two (11/16/07)

The cutback on miles and pace in Week One was necessary to get in the four runs. I was looking forward to a stronger Week Two, but put myself at a disadvantage by not running on the weekend. The plan called for four runs, alternating between 3 and 4 miles: 14 total miles.

Since my first run of the week was not until Tuesday, I was not afforded the benefit of any rest days, if I intended to get in my four runs. So as I contemplated this on Monday, I came up with a few scenarios that might get me through this ‘no rest days’ dilemma. In my consideration of the coming week, I also could not avoid my constant fear of blowing out my calf and the resulting potential for this whole thing to fall apart. I knew I would not run fast, and thought that the planned 14 miles would not be completed.

Tuesday’s run was not in doubt. With three days off, I could surely do 3 miles. After my early morning 4 miler on Wednesday, I was feeling good. On my drive to work after the run, I mulled over the smart thing to do for the rest of the week. I decided I might need to back off on some miles. But on Thursday morning, I was inspired and complete all my planned miles and did the same on Friday. I ran slow, but got in all the miles: 14 for the week.

The past two weeks have caused me to reconsider the planned pace for the Base Phase of my BEST plan. My intention was to train my legs to learn the Marathon Pace (MP) by running as many of these miles at that pace as possible. For my plan, MP is 8:50 - 9:00 per mile and that has not materialized with the exception of the first two runs in Week One. And for those first two runs, my calf strain flared up. I can’t deny the cause and affect.

I still would like to come out of the Base Phase with lots of miles at MP. But based on my poor conditioning from the start, I should have planned on easing into that pace..

In my running experience, I have never been a big stretcher. With Maddie's experience on Cross Country and spring Track teams, she has a much more disciplined approach to stretching. When we run together, I always impatiently wait while she stretches before and after each run.

My personal view on stretching was that it was bad to stretch cold muscles and since I was never big on warm up runs either, I never really stretched much before running. I also believe that stretching a sore muscle will only make it worse. But in order to look the part of a runner, I would go through the motions of wall pushups and hamstring pulls after most of my runs. I know all the moves, but I just never made it part of a routine and never associated much benefit to stretching.

With twenty weeks of training ahead of my 46 year old body and touchy calf muscles, I figured I ought to modify my approach. My runs this week were all preceded by a five minute brisk walk, followed by gentle stretching. After my runs, I also walked and stretched. My point of view on the topic of stretching has not really changed, but I think I’m better off with a short warm up for each run, even if it’s only a five minute walk and some light stretching.

Looking ahead to next week, I need four runs of 4 miles each. I will do my best to get outside in the cold weather over the weekend. So far, all of my miles have been on the treadmill. To maximize rest days, the ideal days for my runs would be Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.