The top 3 benefits of a graded return to running [or how to deal with weak soleus muscles ]

One of the top mistakes runners make when recovering from an injury [especially minor ones] is how they execute their return to training.  Although I was not injured during my recent marathon, at least not in the conventional sense, I did experience total failure in my soleus [lower calf] muscles during the last portion of the race.  Although this is a common problem to have during a race, I had been masking a deeper problem with my soleus muscles for some time.  By using heel lifts in both shoes, I was able to 'kick the can down the road' a bit and continue training.  But now that the 2015 Saskatchewan Marathon is in the books, it's time to fix the problem that I'm having with my weak soleus muscles.

Here are what I believe to be the top 3 benefits of a graded return to running.

1. Minimize the risk of re-injury.  In my latest running session, I ran for a few minutes and walked for one, much the same way one does intervals.  In fact these are intervals.  By implementing this strategy, you reap many of the benefits of running without forcing your soleus muscles into failure.  You also minimize the risk of tearing the muscles.
2. Focus on proper running mechanics. Since you're not speed training or focusing on meeting a time or pace goal you can focus on things like your running gait.  A physiotherapist recently reminded me to run through the middle of my feet, or to consciously try to distribute the impact evenly.  This is an interesting suggestion given that a post-marathon analyses of the tread of my right shoe revealed some poor running mechanics on my part.  During yesterday's run I focused on making sure I didn't slouch.
3. Active recovery. How many times have we heard about active recovery?  Believe it or not, there is no magical time window mandating that muscles stop hurting and/or recovering--as it turns out your body will heal when it heals. A graded return to running will allow you to heal because the stresses placed on your feet and legs won't be accumulating nearly as much as they would during a normal training run.

Last but not least, the Fred Lebow Cross Country Championships revisited

Runner's World has an interesting article in their July 2015 about finishing last in races.  In it they speak to a variety of runners who have finished in the dreaded tail position.

I finished back of the pack (though not last) a few times, including the first chip-timed race I ever participated in.  I really wasn't too concerned with my time or placement, nor was I too concerned with anyone else either.  I was just happy that I finished because I felt that I was out of my league with all these seasoned runners.  While they spent months preparing, I made the decision to race just the day before.  I wasn't even sure I'd be allowed to sign up on race morning or how bag check worked (would I, for example be forced to carry my sweat pants since I didn't bring a bag to put them in?).

Part of the reason I finished near the end of the pack was because I started at the rear.  As most of the runners glided like gazelles through the morning fog after the gun, I shadowed them from a comfortable and unobtrusive distance.  I admired their trim frames and fast splits.

Unknown to me at the race start, the course curved around a track and up what I estimated to be a small mountain.  Traversing the steep path upward was a task that I was unprepared for. I hung in, which is to say that I survived.  

You face interesting challenges in life when you choose a situation impatiently or at random.  There is something to be said about randomly choosing a 5k race as your first.  Initially the words "Fred Lebow Cross Country Championships" evoked nothing.  Coming from the world of real estate, I figured that the event organizer used the word "championship" the way an agent uses words like "steps to the subway" or "located near Park Slope".  I didn't know who Fred Lebow was, that he was a legend, or that the people who consciously chose to run this particular race were as formidable as they turned out to be.   What I could see on the long subway ride into the Bronx on the 1 train were athletes wearing jackets that bore names like "Central Park Track Club." They were thin and fast.

From what I remember, virtually everyone finished the race in under 32 minutes, myself included.  In retrospect that's pretty impressive given the mid-course mountain, even for the fellow who finished last.

Ten days later: marathon aftermath

For the first week after the marathon I rested. On Monday I ran/walked close to 4 kilometres just to test my legs out.  But as I'm still not 100%, I'm going to rest another week.

I have a few thoughts as I look back on my performance at the Saskatchewan Marathon, as well as regards the event as a whole.

First, not keeping an eye on my running gait probably caused my race time to inflate by an hour.  A simple examination of the underside of my Mizunos Wave Inspire 10's (the shoes I wore for the marathon) reveals that the tread on the lower right quarter of the heel has been filed down to a smooth patch.  I suspect this occurred because of fatigue and stiffness, which in turn happened because I wasn't probably prepared to race (I missed too much running in the final month).

Second, although the overwhelming majority of what I have to say is positive, I think the organizers missed an opportunity with the race shirt this year.  Whereas last year that shirts were a rich blue with dark blue strips, and "Saskatchewan Marathon" across the chest, this year the shirts (the men's shirts, at least) were a strange violet/purple with white stripes and merely "Saskatoon" across the chest.  It feels like someone screwed up by not having the event name across the chest.  As for the colours... Hmmm... I would have preferred pitch black to this.  But that's me.  I suppose it's tough to try to distinguish a race shirt each year.

While my distress has eased considerably, my attention has turned to future races.  Here in Saskatoon we have several on the horizon, including the Mogathon and Mayor's Day Marathon on successive weekends.  Then there's the River Run Classic (HM, 10k and 5k) in July. Of course I have no intention of attempting either of the first two races, but the River Run Classic might be a good one to attempt to set a new 10k PR.  I've only run three 10k's, and none of them at full speed. 

Beyond these races are the Edmonton and Queen City Marathons in August and September.

2015 Saskatchewan Marathon Recap... extended version

I'm addicted.  As I write this I'm laying on my back in bed twenty-nine hours (give or take) after crossing the finish line at the Saskatchewan Marathon.  What follows is my account.

It was sunny (10 Celsius) at the gun. Warm enough to be comfortable, but not too warm.  The mayor gave a speech, but I couldn't tell you what he said.  A singer sang Oh Canada, and a few of us removed our hats.  At the countdown the butterflies in my stomach welled up into a storm, and then the gun shot into the air signifying the beginning of the trial.

Us runners not up front politely walked toward the gargantuan, yet familiar, inflated arch bearing the word "start" on both sides at the top. 

Once across I stuck with the 4:30 pacer (a terrific and friendly gentleman named John) who turned out to be a good natured and encouraging pacer for as long as I stuck with him.

I must admit that it felt strange to be running after having missed so many runs in the previous few weeks.  But this thought passed quickly as the funny signs spectators had made came into view (eg "just remember, you're doing this for a free banana").  The first 19k or so of the course was thronged with both half marathoners as well as us marathoners.  We all had different motivations, from midlife crises and bucket lists to the occasional attempt to recapture old glory.  Some of us ran because that's simply what we do.  

This race felt like a communal event.  All of us running the full marathon will never forget our struggles in the final third or so of the race as we greeted one another on an emptying course (only a few hundred of us did the full marathon, while over a thousand did the half marathon).

I couldn't bear to wear my headphone or cut myself off from the people around me--I probably listened to a total of three or four songs on my phone the entire time.

My lovely common law wife, Jasmine set up a make-shift aid station for me complete with Gu Brew, Voltaren, KT Tape and scissors.  Knowing that she was awaiting me along the course and at the finish line meant everything to me.  I am a lucky man.

I should point out that I even made a friend along the way.  Geoff from Martensville and I ran virtually the entire race together and finished at the same time.  Without his company I think the experience would not have been nearly as rich.

As I passed the 41 kilometre point, many of my leg muscles in failure, a glass-like pain in my right big toe, my sunburned neck and arms sore, I struggled just to move forward.  One of the volunteers a man of roughly fifty years in age, who I will never forget, looked at me and said "I can't do what you're doing."  I thought to myself, "is he kidding, I'm dying here."  But then I knew what he meant, and I respectfully nodded, and said thank you.

The last burst before the finish was not easy.  The virile prairie winds had picked up and swept onto our faces, as if a brief but final obstacle from mother nature.  Strong as it was, those of us who finished were able to endure.

Jasmine and the kids were waiting for me.  Within a moment of crossing I had a medal around my neck.  It was as close to a religious experience as I've ever had.  With my body in terrific pain, my energy zapped and my heart full I collected my free chocolate milk and considered myself lucky.

And so I wonder now, will all these aches and pains, as I lay supine next to the fan and type this post for you, what drives me to want to sign up for this epic struggle again?  It would be so much easier to just do half-marathons.  But there is a reason to sign up again, and it's because I have never felt more alive than running kilometre after kilometre only to suffer at the tail end of a marathon.  I want to chase that feeling (no pun intended).

Five Days to Go until the Saskatchewan Marathon

With five days until the Saskatchewan Marathon, I am ready to go... at least I think I'm ready to go. I've read that right now someone with my body weight should be consuming about 570 grams of carbs per day at this point before the race.  That amount goes up to nearly 800 grams of carbs tomorrow.
I've also eased up on the running (thanks to being sick) and am now fully recovered from the rigours of training.  When I ran 3.8k yesterday my legs felt fresh.
My plan for the next five days is pretty simple: do not get injured and do not get sick.

9 Days and Counting: Taper Time

Wow it's actually nice outside!!!! Cue the weekend blizzard... #Saskatoon #Saskatchewan

A photo posted by John (@misterspalding) on May 22, 2015 at 10:51am PDT

Now that a heatwave has blanketed Saskatchewan with early spring weather here on the cusp of June, we turn our attention to the foliage and random birdsong out the window.  Yes, marathon season is here!

So I missed a good week of running recently thanks to catching the flu.  I missed my 36k long run, but given that I've already done a 32k run and a handful of 24 and 26k runs, I should be fine even if I am convinced that my fitness level sucks right now.

Now I get to taper.  My next run is likely a 3.5k tomorrow, followed by 5-6k on Monday and a light run on Wednesday.

For today, though, I get to sip my 7-11 coffee and smell the lilacs.

Beef Research Station? ... cancelled 2015 Saskatoon Police Marathon and dirt roads

So I'm running along a dirt road here in good old #Saskatoon and what do I come across? A "beef research station". University of #Saskatchewan #beef #strange

A photo posted by John (@misterspalding) on Apr 29, 2015 at 2:43pm PDT

For the longest time I've wanted to explore a stretch of dirt road off Attridge Drive here in Saskatoon, but for whatever reason just haven't gotten around to it... until recently.  There is something nice and different about reducing the pounding of the long by sticking to a dirt road.
This kilometre-long path has the occasional stretch of hardened bicycle-dug rivets that seem to disappear just at the point where they become annoying.  And that's the thing about dirt roads, they're unpredictable with all the sharp rocks and stones that you come upon.
The path continues into Sutherland "Beach" (this is Saskatchewan, remember that) and down through a grove of trees onto the asphalt-paved Meewasin Trail.
*

Today emails went out to those of us who have signed up for the 2015 Saskatchewan Marathon.  I started to feel that familiar nervous feeling I get when I realize I'm going to be racing.  Although the term racing is a funny one... I mean really, what are we racing against?

*
The 2015 Saskatoon Police Half Marathon was cancelled due to inclement weather (i.e. heavy snowfall).  It really was the perfect storm as we had been experiencing Spring weather for quite a bit of time--to then have a half marathon wiped out all of a sudden because of something like that really sucks.  I did not register for this year's race (though I was definitely looking forward to being a spectator), and it's a good thing because not only was the race not postponed, but no refunds were issued either.  My position remains that races should be postponed, not cancelled.