RaceReady News

Question: I am planning on running my first marathon this fall 2008, what training tips, race day tips, etc. do you have for a novice to this type of race. I have only done 5k's and my fastest 5k (so far) is 24:02 (I'm a 33 yr old woman). I am using McMillan running time estimates for training and I am running 3 days a week with 2 days of weight training as cross training. Will this work okay? Shanan

Answer: I would recommend entering a 1/2 marathon race if you can before your marathon this fall. That would give you some experience at racing at a long distance; so you can practice drinking water at the water stops, taking your energy gels, pacing yourself within the crowd of other runners, etc. I also think a goal for most fiirst time marathoners should be to finish the race, without any specific time goal. That being said, I think your 3 days of running and 2 days of cross training is OK. You might benefit from trying 4 days of running and 1 day of cross training for a few weeks, and see how your body holds up. When I was training for competitive marathons, I found that I ran my best marathons when I could run high mileage, but only to the point that I wasn't breaking down and overdoing it. I hope this helps, and I wish you success this fall.
Mary

Posted by mary button at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, you can have too much to drink! I have become increasingly aware of the problem of hyponatremia, which is occurring with greater frequency these days in marathon runners. Hyponatremia is the term for low blood sodium levels, clinically defined as 135 mmol/L or less. Hyponatremia is correlated to excessive fluid intake. Weight gain over the course of the marathon (or other endurance exercise event) is a predictable sign of hyponatremia.

During the past few years at various race expos we have attended, I have been surprised by the number of runners and walkers who are concerned about getting enough water to drink during their marathon. People ask me, "Can I carry my water bottle in the RaceReady LD (patented pocketed design) shorts?" Or, I get asked, "Will the pockets on the LD shorts interfere with my fanny pack?" I am confused with these concerns when they occur at the big, mass market running marathons, since with very few exceptions, water and electrolyte drinks are available every mile or two!

Of course I am not advocating dehydration! Dehydration is actually more prevalent among marathon runners than overhydration and is very dangerous, too. My point is that we need to be aware of how much water we are in fact consuming. Consuming no more than 7-10 fluid ounces every 15-20 minutes is sufficient for most runners under normal circumstances.

It comes down to knowing your body and it's individual requirements. Be aware of how much you drink during your training runs, and drink a similar amount during your race! It's not necessay to panic and gulp down large amounts of water every mile during the race.

Posted by mary button at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Napa Valley Marathon is only 5 weeks away. Unfortunately for the "Mary & Gerry" team, it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Gerry's plantar fasciitis is still bothering him. I've never suffered from plantar (knock on wood), but it's certainly living up to it's reputation of "taking forever to heal" in Gerry's case.

The good news is that Gerry's really becoming quite the swimmer, as he's been swimming 3 times a week. Too bad that swimming doesn't translate to marathon training. Gerry is such a good sport as far as injuries are concerned and doesn't complain, though he is understandably frustrated.

My definition of a Training Partner isn't necessary someone that accompanies me at my training pace on my runs, but instead someone who is training for the same race and can share the trials & tribulations of the training program. It was fun & exciting when Gerry & I both had the common goal of training for Napa. (Even though we seldom run at the same pace, we run "together" at the same time & place most of the time.) Since Gerry's plantar injury I have lost some of my motivation. It's not as fun training knowing that Gerry (training partner, husband, bestfriend, co-owner of RaceReady) isn't able to do so.

So, we'll set our sights on a future goal further down the road. There's a wonderful 10 mile race in beautiful Santa Barbara in April....and a beautiful trail race in scenic Big Bear in June...the running & racing possibilities are limitless once the body is healthy!

Posted by mary button at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Our training for Napa Valley Marathon has gotten a little off schedule! It seems that I can usually stay injury-free if I keep my mileage at 40 miles per week and don't run too many "long" runs. Of course, the "long run" is a very essential element in a marathon training program!

Gerry was the first one of us to come up injured. After our Alton 10 Mile Race on Thanksgiving weekend his plantar fasciitis was back! In fact he ran the Race with a great deal of foot pain, but since the foot hurt whether he walked or ran, he figured he might as well get done sooner rather than later and so ran through it! He ran a 1:23 and finished 291st in the field of 845 finishers. He's been nursing the foot back but has lost some of his base.

I was doing fine until the weekend before Christmas when I ran a flat 14 miler on Saturday, followed by a hilly 7 miler on Sunday. Monday morning I could feel a pulling in my upper leg / butt region. Tuesday I struggled through our 5 mile trail run in Griffith Park but by Wednesday knew that I was MRI (Maybe Really Injured.) Gerry informed me that I would get no sympathy from him unless I took 3 days off from running. I did so and ran "tested" it again over the Christmas weekend. Still pain, but better. So then Gerry's Words Of Wisdom were to "take another few days off." So I reluctantly obliged. This morning I was able to run 7 miles with only minor discomfort in the area.

Meanwhile, Gerry ran an hour yesterday and reports that his foot is feeling better. So now our Plan is to build back our running bases & try to become injury-free again before we tackle a few long runs. We still have time to train for Napa and are looking forward to the weekend up North, even if our race times will probably be slower than we had originally anticipated.

Continue reading "Injuries Set Us Back!" »

Posted by mary button at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been a consistent runner since 1988 and have been faithful about keeping a running journal. A few months ago I got curious regarding how many total miles I have run over the years. I got out the yearly journals and did some calculating. To date, I have run over 43,870 miles! Those 15 years of over 2,000 miles per year do add up.

I looked at the odometer in my current car, a 2001 Honda Civic, which is a good car by the way. The odometer just turned over 39,200 miles. The car is in good shape and gets the required maintenance, oil changes etc. My aging body needs the maintenance, too. If I wish to continue to have more mileage on my body than on my current automobile, which by the way I do, it is definitely time to cross-train!

I've developed a good routine which works well for me. I'll run long on the weekends and then swim Monday. The non-impact of the swimming is a welcome change of pace. Also, it helps work out the upper body which runners tend to neglect. I try to swim once or twice a week. Thursday mornings I've been doing a Spinning Class (bicycling to music for those of you who need a definition of Spinning.) It's a great mid-week workout and I've found that it helps with my leg-turnover in my running, which has been slowing down as I've gotten older. I also hike more frequently these days, and will substitue a nice hike instead of a run when I think my body is on the verge of "running overload."

The Cross-Training routine has worked well for me these past few years. It's nice to have the variety. However, the most important reason I cross-train is so that I can keep on running into the future! It's apparently working!
Gotta run!

Posted by mary button at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A few weeks ago I was "bitten by the Marathon bug" again! In past years I would run 2 or 3 marathons per year. It seemed like I was constantly training for or recovering from a marathon. Last December I ran Tucson Marathon. It was my 26th marathon and since a marathon is 26 miles, I thought it would be my final adieu to marathoning.

Then I had a brilliant idea. Why not run another marathon up in Napa Valley? It sounds like an ideal course with beautiful scenery, gentle rolling hills, and a relatively small field of 2,000 runners. The seed was planted. Next I convinced Gerry what a wonderful idea it would be to run Napa, and so now I have a training partner!

This was our first real "training" weekend. We ran 4 + miles on Friday morning. Saturday morning we ran nearly 13 miles on the "flats" of Griffith Park with our friends Janet & Kiki. This morning we ran 9 miles in the park.

Continue reading "We're Training for Napa!!!" »

Posted by mary button at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)