A Typical Training Week

Just last week one of my students was asking me how I train for a marathon.  Do I run every single day?  Twice a day?  Well it definitely varies from person to person.  Everyone has their own favorite training system or strategy.  A typical marathon plan usually involves working out at least 4-5 days per week.  Many people choose to run all 4 or 5 of those days.  The runs usually include at least one of hill training, one of speed work, and one long run each week.  The long run is just about the only thing that all marathon training plans have in common.  Some people cross-train a lot more than others, and that often depends on a history of injury (like knee problems in my case).  Cross-training is any endurance activity other than running that increases your running fitness.

Mondays:  Hill training!  I run anywhere from 6 to 9 miles of the hilliest route I can find.  Lately I've been trying to incorporate the two largest hills in one of my race courses that I'll be competing in in March.  One of them is nearly 2 miles of steady, unrelenting uphill climbing.  The other is slightly shorter, but much steeper.  Sometimes I'll even run back over these hills, or try to get a few smaller hills in at the end of the run.  In the evening I spend two hours in a Bikram-style Hot Yoga class.  The class gives me an increase in flexibility, and strengthens muscles all over my body that support my form and posture when I'm running.  We also do a lot of deep breathing exercises to slow down the heart rate which I try to incorporate in some of my hill-climbs on my runs.  Adam keeps teasing me that Bikram Yoga has become my answer to anything.  It's really what's keeping my knee problems at bay this time though.

Tuesdays:  Easy running with speed-work at the end.  I run anywhere from 4 to 7 miles at an easy pace with a more moderate number of shorter hills.  I try to focus on enjoying the run and finding a rhythm that is comfortable to me.  At the end of the run I finish at a flat stretch of sidewalk where I run 4 to 6 strides.  That means I let my heart rate slow down to a lower aerobic zone.  Then I speed up as fast as I can until I reach 90% of my max effort.  I hold that for 5 seconds, then slowly decelerate, allow my heart rate to slow back down to a comfortable zone, and repeat.

Wednesdays:  Semi-rest day (3 weeks per month... see below).  I spend 2 hours in a Bikram-style Hot Yoga class.

Thursdays: Currently I spend 30-40 minutes on weight lifting at the gym on campus.  I focus on arm and core strength usually.  Then I attend a 45 minute spinning class that uses stationary cycles to stimulate both hill climbs and speed-work.  In a couple of weeks I will probably be adding in an easy run earlier in the day (maybe just 3 or 4 miles).

Fridays:  Recover swimming.  I swim easy-paced laps for anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes.  This is just to keep my heart rate elevated and my muscles loose before a long run.

Saturday:  The all-important long run.  The distance varies each week as I approach my peak training run of 22 miles 3 weeks before the marathon.  Last weekend I was at 13, and this weekend I will run 15.  After the 22 mile run I will taper for two weeks, so my running intensity and distance slowly decreases to allow my body to recover before the marathon.  Long runs are all about controlled, slow pace and working through race-day strategies.  I practice different ways to carry my water, times to stop for a drink, supplements to use before, during and after the run, and endurance plans for the race.

Sunday:  Full rest day!  I usually go for an easy hike with Adam and the dogs, or spend some time chasing them around at the dog park.  Giving my mind a mental break from training and stress on these days is just important as giving my body a break.

So that is the basis of my training.  I also incorporate frequent strength training into my days in the lab.  I keep a set of weights there and try to take breaks for some arm and core work when I get stumped on a research project or lose focus on a study that I'm reading, or I run through some yoga postures.  On the first wednesday of each month I add in a one mile time trial to track my speed-progress throughout training.  During these, I warm up with a slow jog or fast walk for 10 minutes, run one mile at 100% effort, then slow to a jog or walk for another 10 miles.

In conclusion, basically, I feel like I am always working out.  Hence, the all-important-Sunday-rest-day, because everyone needs a day of rest.

Sponsorship Letter

Below is the letter regarding sponsorship of this marathon:

Dear Family and Friends,

I know that many of you followed my blog during my most recent trip to Africa, and I also know that many of you shed tears with me when I was confronted head-on with the problem of unsupported, helpless orphans all over East Africa.  In case you missed it, here’s an excerpt from that blog entry that I wrote the day I left an orphanage in Kampala, Uganda:

Later that day I was holding a baby that I realized was in desperate need of a change.  This seems the most basic daily need for a baby.  I carried him back to the changing room, only to realize there were no diapers around.  No pampers, and no cloth nappies or towels.  I went into the nearest administrator’s office and asked where the supply was.  She gave me an annoyed glance, then stared back down at her desk and replied, “I gave you the last one an hour ago.”  I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to do then, so I kept pushing, “so should I just wait?  Or should I go somewhere to get more?”  “There are no more,” was all she kept replying, then finally gave me a look that read, you can leave my office now.  I went back to the changing room and stood over this baby in a dirtied diaper, face covered in dried food, eyes seeping tears, and felt completely helpless.  Completely and utterly helpless, that’s what this feeling for the last 24 hours has been, I thought.  I did not know what to do.  I did not know what to do about this baby with no clean diapers.  What to do about this place that needed so much.  What to do with the realization that this was one of thousands of such places, and that thousands more babies existed on the streets in far worse conditions.  What to do?

I honestly have no idea.  I left that day with a heavy heart, feeling completely drained, dismayed, and yet grateful that I’d forced myself to confront this side of my beloved East Africa.  I’ve decided sometimes that’s all we can do.  We can confront an issue.  Confront it, acknowledge the complicated manner, and hope that when the chance arises you will have fostered the compassion needed to do something.  It may sound like a cop-out or a way for me to cope with the troubling issues that I encountered, but the human mind is usually compelled to resolve such conflicts somehow.  This is my temporary resolution.  Head-on confrontation.  I know some of those haunting moments will never leave me, and I am thankful for that.  Haunting moments are what motivate action.

Well, the time is here.  2012 will be the year that I act on the powerful emotions that the Sanyu Babies Home left me with.  A year ago many of you inspired me and pushed me through one of the greatest physical and mental challenges I’ve ever undertaken.  In support of my first marathon, you pulled your funds to raise over $900 for Global Grassroots, and organization that supports female victims of violence in countries scarred by genocide.  I was thrilled by the positive response from everyone, and the idea that something as seemingly selfish as my love for running could bring more awareness to such important issues.  This year, I’m humbly asking for your support again.  The charity that I am trying to bring awareness to this time around is much smaller, and much more personal to me.  That is because a friend that I met in Kenya in 2008 founded it.

Sabina moved to Shinyalu and began volunteering at a local conservation education program just a few months after I’d started working with the monkeys in the forest there.  She is a very kind, generous person that just could not leave Shinyalu at the end of her term without doing more.  She has since formed Little Prinz Children’s Aid Project and is now diligently working on the construction of an orphanage in Shinyalu.  Through her work with parasite prevention and treatment in local children, she and her coworkers felt compelled to take in two severely malnourished children (Eunice and Lawrence) and provide them a chance at life in their own homes.  The children flourished, and Little Prinz became more than just an Aid Project when Sabina and the others started searching for affordable property for an orphanage.  Their newly purchased property has dormitories, a large kitchen, and great indoor and outdoor spaces, things that orphans in the area would not even dream of having in their daily lives.

Eunice in July, 2009*

Eunice in March, 2011*

Lawrence October, 2011* 

Lawrence June, 2010*

My former fellow researcher and roommate in Kenya, Corey, recently visited Sabina and the new orphanage.  Corey was able to raise enough donations of supplies and money to give Sabina a solid start, but much more help is still needed.  About the same time that I heard from her about this, I was preparing to train for my second marathon, and I needed a good enough reason to push myself even harder this time.

A view of the new orphanage from the garden.*

On April 29, 2012 I will be running the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, and this time I’ll be meeting my older brother at the finish line after the grueling 26.2-mile journey. I am not only hoping for an injury-free training season (unlike last year) and a much faster time, but more importantly a chance to bring more attention to the amazing effort that Sabina and others are putting in at building futures for hopeless orphans in Kenya.  If you are interested in sponsoring my marathon, please read for more instructions on the next page.  All of the money that you donate will go directly to the Little Prinz Orphanage in Shinyalu.  Each comment and dollar that you offered to me last year never left me from the start of training, to the painful series of physical therapy sessions, to the finish line on race day, and I can assure you that it will be the same again this year. For more background on the Little Prinz Children’s Aid Project, the orphanage, or the progress of the two orphans mentioned here, please visit their website http://www.littleprinz.org.

This time around I will also be keeping a training blog.  You can follow my progress or thoughts on the Little Prinz Children’s Aid Project here http://runalicia.blogspot.com (comments are welcome!).  Also, here is the link to the rest of the blog entry that I wrote about the orphans in Kampala http://africa-alicia.blogspot.com/2011/08/sanyu-babies-home.html.  Of course, for more information you can always email me as well at aliciamrich@gmail.com.

Sincerely, 

Alicia Rich


*photos taken from Little Prinz Children's Aid Project

Pace

The most difficult thing about a truly long distance is gaining enough foresight to select an appropriate pace.  This is what makes marathon running so different from a 5K or a sprint race.  It is different from an obstacle course or a game of football.  Marathon running has less to do with pure power, talent, or physical perfection, and so much more to do with control, focus, and wisdom.  The latter of the three can only be improved with each race and injury.  That is why ever year I realize that I have become a completely different runner than the year before.

So how do you select a pace?  How do you follow it?  It seems like a simple task at first, but it has proven to be my most difficult athletic challenge.  My whole life has been about diving head first into challenges.  Sprinting at the sound of a start gun, and crashing into a pile of injuries and defeat within the first lap when I realize I just can't keep going that fast.  The first time I ran a mini marathon, I was running 6-7 mile workouts at 7:30 pace on a regular basis.  Just a few months later my knee gave out and I was confined to the couch for three weeks.

I ran a one mile time trial last week at the seemingly painful pace of 7:19.  A year ago I probably would have kicked myself for this, maybe shed a few tears, punished myself with some extra speed work on my run the next day.  Instead, I rewarded myself.  I wrote the time on my training board and told myself that slow is exactly where I should be at the end of the first month of training.  I have three more months of training, three more months of escalating workouts, pounding on my knees, early mornings, and pure endurance.  The first month is about preparing your body for that.  It is about building strength and stability, feeling out this year's strength's and weaknesses in your body, and proceeding with caution.  For the first time ever, I seem to have mastered that.

So what is the next month about?  The next month is about applying this idea to my workouts.  My goal is to master controlled pace on each long run.  By the time that March 1st rolls around, I want to be able to clock perfect splits on a 15 mile run.  That means start slow, and get progressively faster with each mile.  Splitting a run like this is incredibly challenging, and I've always been terrible at it.  You can never be a successful runner if you can't control your speed though.  You have to evaluate your energy and strength and distribute it evenly and perfectly over 26.2 miles.

Like most principles of running, pace is one that is easy to apply to anyone's life.  I'm sure I'm not the only person that can think of moments in my life where things could have gone so differently if I'd paused at the beginning of a goal or task to think about a schedule and pace that I could actually maintain to the finish.  How often do we waste our successes or days glancing at the person next to us, wondering why they seem to be moving so much faster and stronger?  We forget about focusing on the here and the now, enjoying the place we are at and the progress that we have made.  In the end, refusing to focus on our own perfect pace only leads to failure, injury, and discontent.

So this Saturday, I will set out with a slower pace.  I will enjoy the slow, comfortable rhythm of each breath as my strike the ground comfortably and slowly.  I will look around at my surroundings, feel the change in my muscle tone, and enjoy the pace that suits me right now.

An Intro: My Running History

When I began running it was because I had reached one of the more difficult turning points in my life.  I was leaving behind a younger, more rash version of myself to enter adulthood and tackle an undertaking I had not yet realized would challenge me in so many ways.  My personal life had reached a bottom point, and I knew that I needed something new if I was going to survive it all without crumbling.  In fact, I nearly did crumble.  Then my friend handed me a running plan, and one day I visited unchartered territory: the gym.  I stood at the entrance to the track, pressed play on my ipod, searched for the start button on the stopwatch around my wrist, and began a slow, awkward trot.  Run 30 seconds, walk 60, repeat.  I was dripping in sweat, gasping for air, and my legs felt like jello.  30 minutes later, I felt incredibly cleansed, completely empty.  The pain was gone, the self-doubt had temporarily cleared from my mind, and I felt as though I'd sweat so much that I'd have no tears to release that week.  Two days later, I went back for more.  Each time my gait felt a little less awkward.  My head reached a little bit higher, and my arms swayed more deliberately.  I put myself back together on that track, one run at a time.  Within just a few months I'd dug up this new version of myself.  It was a mix of the best parts of my past and this new confidence I'd never expected to possess.  I kicked all of the most toxic things out of my life, one at a time, culminating with a damaging relationship.  I knew it then.  Running would always have to be a part of my life now.

Of course, life was not perfect after that.  There were more struggles, more hills and battles, but I had this new secret.  Every time life hit me so hard that I thought I couldn't get back up, I'd pound out 5 or 10 miles on the pavement, sweat away all of the pain, focus my mind on the breathing and the rhythm of my feet, and come back to life ready to face it.  Five months after my first 5K (3.1 miles) I completed my first half marathon (13.1 miles) in 1:54:30.  

I thought that I was on top of the world, but many of my real-life issues had infiltrated my training.  Just like running is a metaphor for my life, my life is often a parallel for my training style.  I kept pushing forward until I earned an over-training injury halfway into my first marathon training attempt in February of 2011.

I still crossed the finish line on May 1, 2011.  Those three months between my injury and the race were full of doubt, fear, and both physical and emotional pain, though.  Several doctors told me that marathons would not be in my future.  I kept seeking more opinions until I found a physical therapist who was a marathoner with a history of knee injuries himself.  He worked with me on moderation and balanced muscle tone.  I learned that fitness needed to be about more than pounding out my pain on the pavement.  Running success was about more than fast times and ignoring the pain.  "It will be slow, and it will hurt, but you can still finish the marathon if you start working hard now," he told me.  He was right.  When I crossed the finish line I collapsed into my boyfriend's arms and broke into tears.  I'd done it, slowly and arduously, but I'd done it, in 4:46:04.

So here I am again: crazy, right?  Maybe, but I'm a new kind of crazy this year.  This training season is all about balanced fitness and pacing my progress.  I'm at a far healthier weight, tracking my protein and iron intake, and cross-training frequently.  Most importantly, I'm committed to my Bikram Yoga classes with two amazing instructors that help people work through their injuries by building strength around the joint and flexibility in the muscles and tendons that hurt me most.  I'm taking my workouts more slowly, adding in cycling and swimming, and focusing being able to hold a steady pace on marathon day.

Keep following me, because I know there will be hills, there will be hurdles, and I will learn from them.