Back in the saddle...

welcome to the blog :)

Thanks JamesL!

Welcome to the blog, if we keep this up the girls may soon out number the guys? (someday) Sounds like your off to an amazing start! with some great occupational compliments to your hobbies!

Maaron,

Welcome to the blog. If you think you are low on iron, you can try taking pre-natal vitamins because they have extra iron in them.

I often have low iron I found Iron plus herbs by flora brand works the best and doesn't cause constipation problems. It comes in liquid and pill I would suggest the liquid and take it morning and night to begin with and then after you feel better just take it before you go to bed. I also am a massage therapist and use to a long time ago teach yoga, I despratly need to get back into it.

Welcome to the blog!

Maaron - welcome to the blog. I eat a similar diet to yours - no red meat, occasionally chicken, turkey, or fish. One difference is that I am a male, so you should expect to see some differences in handling the diet, although I am not quite sure what they would be. My daily menu consists of a bowl of raw rolled oats mixed with with some fruit, Spanish peanuts, and soy milk. My lunch is my biggest meal - I usually eat cooked buckwheat with some spices, mashed potatoes, or beans and brown rice, sometimes with a bit of poultry or fish, and always some vegetables. For dinner, I eat raw Spanish peanuts mixed with dates, and some other fruit, usually berries. Additionally, I eat a lot of honey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, and drink Powerade when I suspect or feel a blood sugar low. I never take in any alcohol, caffeine, or standard American junk food. With this type of diet I have been able to run 100+ miles a week with no noticeable side effects - no soreness in the muscles, unusual fatigue, inability to hold my regular training, etc. Although I have not had my iron levels tested, I do not think I have a problem, or I would have seen it.

The crash you experienced in the workout sounds more like just running out of glycogen, though. I believe if your iron levels are low, it would make sense that you would start feeling out of breath from the start. If you run 10 miles fine, and then crash and drag, it is more symptomatic of a fuel issue.

I'd like it to be known that caffeine and alcohol do not inhibit 100+ weeks! :).

But I agree that fuel is a highly probable issue in this case. Melinda eats like a bird, not a marathoner... jut this can change :).

After looking at your training, I think I have an idea of the cause of the crash. You normally run 5-6 miles a day, and you take 2 days off. With that type of conditioning, 15 miles, and especially 20 is a shock on your body in a number of ways - muscular stress, fuel system stress, neural drive stress. To fix - run 6 days a week, and up your daily runs to 8 miles. Cut down the long run to 12 at first, then up it once you feel fit. Do not worry about Chicago this year too much, think long term.

I also agree with Randy that Jordan River Trail is better for you than City Creek. One issue that Randy mentioned is specificity. There is another - City Creek involves some tough uphill running, which has a potential to make you run anaerobically, which at this point in your training is not good. You need to build your aerobic base first.

To get an idea of your potential, as well as to diagnose some problem areas, it would be good if you ran in a 5 K on a certified course.

WOW! Thank you everyone for the welcome and the training advice. I appreciate it very much.

Sasha - typically my diet consists of a bowl of whole grain cereal for breakfast (Kashi or Flax Plus Granola) with skim milk. A piece of fruit mid-morning. Lunch usually consists of one of four things, veggie sandwhich, garden burger, pad thai with tofu or shrimp, or pasta w/veggies. I typically only eat fish once or twice a week; the same thing with eggs. I eat rice and black beans once or twice a week as well. Dinner involves veggies, either salad or steamed along with some form of starch (bread, noodles or rice). I don't drink much alcohol or caffeine, especially the more miles I'm running.

I will stay away from City Creek. Question, should I be running with a heart rate monitor? I know a lot of runners do, but I never have.

Randy - my father used to call me bird when I was a kid because of how I ate... thanks for bringing up what took years of therapy to overcome ;-).

Melinda,

You might have misunderstood me to mean 'no hills' at all. Actually, I think running hills on an (almost) daily basis is beneficial. Though, like Sasha says, be careful not to push yourself anaerobic at this stage.

This brings up your question about heart rate monitors. Personally, I don't use one. I tried it out for awhile and found that it's really not too hard to tell how you feel on a run (if it is possible, but uncomfortable to talk, then you are near your anaerobic threshold). The main thing is to just not get excited and run too hard on your easy days. Which, as Sasha mentioned, for you at this point should be most days as you build your aerobic base.

Sasha and I tend to disagree on how much fast running can be done early in a runner's development. I think that playing around on grass with quick strides and fartlek (speed play) is beneficial. It promotes good form and leg strength, and breaks up the monotony of marathon training. But I think Sasha and I agree that base mileage is the first-order effect in marathon performance.

Of course, getting to the starting line is the zeroth-order effect. So the mileage should be built up slowly to avoid injury. Remember what I said, if you increase you weekly mileage by one mile per week... in just two years sub 3 hrs will be no problem. Just be patient and consistent.

R

Randy - try living for 3 years without caffeine or alcohol, while training about the same as you do. There is a very good chance of you going under 2:20.

Melinda - if you asked my wife (The Fast Running Mommy) which animal I mostly resemble in my eating habits, she would probably say a pig due to the high volume. Looks like you and I are eating about the same otherwise, though. Based on what Randy said, it may be possible that you are just not eating enough possibly due to a naturally low appetite. There are times when I know I need to eat more because I am feeling a little weak, but just do not have the appetite. Usually this occurs when it is very hot, or when my stomach gets a bug of some kind. I found that raspberry tea helps a lot in this case, I start feeling very hungry.

Whew!...that was a lot of comments...do you have room for one more? I'm Sasha's wife..Welcome to the blog. Definitely get the iron tested before stressing about it...I've gone off on whole diet changes before I even identified my certain nutritional needs. I'd love to swap ideas with you sometime. Looks like you'll fit in great here...we happy to have you.

Sorry to keep the string of comments going, but you know I can't let Sasha's jab just hang...

Ask Dennis Simonaitis if a little wine kept him from making the trials. Which American hung with the lead pack in the World Champs 10k? Abdi -- who is prominently featured in the latest running DVD, "Showdown," (about the 2007 XC champs) drinking beers. I am not promoting alcoholism... but a glass of wine with dinner is not a problem, as long as you stay hydrated otherwise.

I am convinced that my main problems are strength and flexibility and range of motion. I'll do better to spend 3 years concentrating to improve those :)).

This whole discussion is really making me want a beer. I'm holding off until the Peruvian Dash BBQ, though.

Randy - I think you are making a logical error in your argument. Just because there are runners that are faster than you that drink alcohol does not prove that complete abstinence from alcohol would not give you the extra edge. To illustrate the point, there are people who can smoke and still break 2:30. Not many but you can find them. However, it would be exceptionally unwise to use their example as a justification that a cigarette or two would not hurt your marathon performance.

I could offer a much longer and more logically convincing argument for abstinence from alcohol for a runner. However, I do not believe it would be very effective. I argue mileage and aerobic base with people to death, and they do not become believers until they try it. Same with alcohol abstinence. You will not know how well it works until you try it. I can tell you, however, without mentioning any names to embarrass anybody, that I have been destroyed in spite of running my best race by the people who could not touch me before in long races, and the big part of the breakthrough factor according to them was abstinence from alcohol. When they started to slip up, I was beating them hands down again.

Wow, who knew that my joining the blog would lead to such heated debate? Personally I'm a believer of moderation in whatever you do, but to each their own.

Sarah, I agree with you and I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to have my iron levels tested. So we shall see...

Melinda, if you think this is something, you should have read the discussion that followed the Sunday running ?. But let's not bring that up again. Or should we...!

Not! Everyman is free to choose that his way is the best for him.