12. Doubling Up

The Weekend Double

This past weekend, I completed something that I was not sure I was ready for -- my first Double Marathon Weekend. On a 1/8 mile track. Indoors. It was a fantastic experience, and I left Sunday in complete awe of my fellow runners. For my own learning experience, I'll sum it up in 2 T's that were central to my weekend learning experience: Training and Tempo.

Marathon distance: 26.316 miles (204 laps)
Day 1 time:  5:30:41.9
Day 2 time:  5:41:00.4

And, believe it or not, there were actually several runners there doing what was billed as the Marathon 6-pack -- 6 marathons in 6 days!

      Training...

Thus far, I have been very pleased with my training. I'm still far from speedy (as you can see from my times), but I have been able to remain uninjured while extending my miles and running multiple marathons even as a new runner. (I still consider myself a "new" runner because, while running was something that I have done at various points in my life, it did not become a focused or fun activity for me until the last 3 years.) To me, the most important indicator of successful training is probably in recovery. Almost 20 years ago, when I ran my first half marathon, my recovery process was painful. Not only was I contending with rather severe chafing, my leg muscles were shot. I actually had done an experiment late in the race in Indianapolis. I looked at my time for running mile 10, and then for walking mile 11. Mile 11 was FASTER! It seemed that my running stride had degraded so much that all of my effort was going into clearing the asphalt with my feet, but not really propelling me forward. So I walked miles 12 and 13 and then did the obligatory (and painful) run through the finish chute. After that, for the next week, along with walking somewhat bowlegged, getting up and down from a seated position was extremely difficult. In fact, to get in and out of the car, I had to help my legs by lifting them with my hands in order to swing them in and out or the vehicle. I'm fairly certain that such a need is not a hallmark of good race preparation.

Now, my experience after a race or long run is much different. After my 50-mile ultra in September, I felt amazingly strong running a 5-mail trail run the next morning. And, after Saturday's first marathon of the weekend, I actually felt stronger running the second marathon on Sunday (and felt similarly fresh running 6 miles on Monday). In fact, one of the things I learned from other runners during my 50 was the importance of stacking long runs in preparation for an ultramarathon. So, as I have my sights set on a 100km ultra in September, I look at the weekend double as a successful training test.

So, the three training principles that I would emphasize for running ultras and multiple marathons are:

• LSD - Long Slow Distance
• TOYF - Time On Your Feet (pretty close to LSD)
• SLRs - Sequential Long Runs

      Tempo...

I went into the weekend double expecting the second run on Sunday to be the harder day of the weekend. As a result, I don't think that I went into Saturday with enough respect for what it would take for me to run an indoor marathon. As a result, I probably went out a bit fast (for me) at the start. I was enjoying the occasional conversations with other runners, and, I was enjoying watching my lap counts go up on the display panel that was set up near the track.

What I didn't do on Saturday (as I think about it in retrospect) was pay attention to my running form. When do indoors runs in my training, I typically do them as tempo runs, keeping a very even form and pace. I wasn't doing that on Saturday. Consequently, my form slipped in the second half of the marathon. Much like my experience in Indianapolis 20 years ago, I don't think that I was picking my feet up very well. As a result, each footfall had a bit of a forward thrust to it as I hit the track. This caused my toes to push into the front of the shoes, and I'll likely be replacing three toenails. I took it easy Saturday night and was hopeful that I would wake up fresh enough on Sunday to attempt #2.

Sunday, I awoke feeling great! My good recovery, thanks to LSD and TOYF, was shining through. I determined that I needed to approach this day differently. First, I would not pay so much attention to the lap counts on the display board. I think that paying such close attention to it actually fueled a mental exhaustion that was not helpful. So I looked once after 4 hours, and again after the 5th, then paid attention as I entered the home stretch of my 204 laps. Mentally, this was very wise. Second, I prepared my usual training music. For the first three hours, I paid better attention to form than I had on Saturday, and enjoyed the surrounding conversation and the music that was playing throughout the facility. Then, at the 3 hour mark, I put in my headphones and fired up a 170-beats-per-minute PodRunner mix. This helped me stay focused on tempo and kept my form smooth. I was not surprised that my time was a bit slower on day 2. And, after how I felt running on Monday, I'm actually encouraged that I try this again next year even in TRIPLE or QUAD format.

That's me with Race Director Extraordinaire, Doug Yoder, after marathon #2. 

 

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