Keep Moving Forward: A Training Log (Comments Welcome)

I’ve lost the toenail on my right index toe twice. It’s been over a year since it’s happen though. Over in the training for a marathon thread someone (blanking on who) talked about the type of sock having a left to play and I agree with that.
 
Several years ago I lost both index toe, toenails during a very long weekend of playing softball. 7 games over two days. Ever since then I've had problems with the same toenails. Seems like anytime I do something a little extra I lose them. Both of them are bruised from the half I ran a month ago and are starting to show signs that they'll be leaving me soon. I guess I've gotten used to it over the years.
 
I’ve lost the toenail on my right index toe twice. It’s been over a year since it’s happen though. Over in the training for a marathon thread someone (blanking on who) talked about the type of sock having a left to play and I agree with that.
Several years ago I lost both index toe, toenails during a very long weekend of playing softball. 7 games over two days. Ever since then I've had problems with the same toenails. Seems like anytime I do something a little extra I lose them. Both of them are bruised from the half I ran a month ago and are starting to show signs that they'll be leaving me soon. I guess I've gotten used to it over the years.

Yup. Same toe for me, right foot. It doesn’t really hurt, just looks gross.
 
So, last week kind of sucked.

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I'll start with my workouts for the week and go from there...

8/13 - 6.01 miles @ 8:48/mile
8/14 - 6.01 miles @ 8:47/mile
8/16 - 10 miles @ 8:53/mile
8/17 - 15.02 miles @ 9:01/mile

Looking at my numbers, it was a pretty good week on the surface. But man, it was a struggle.

So I knew going into this week that I had a going away party Saturday night for my best friend. If you saw my post on the Marathon Weekend 2020 thread, this was the "haunted" school house I mentioned. Knowing it would be a late night, I really didn't want to do 15 miles on Sunday. To further complicate things, my stepfather texted me on Monday and asked if we wanted to tear out the shower in my basement (a project on my wife's honey do list) on Sunday. I couldn't turn down the help, so Sunday was definitely out.

So, I reasoned I'd just do a 5-day run streak and get all five workouts in Tuesday through Saturday. Tuesday and Wednesday's runs were perfectly fine, but honestly, I've drifted far from my training plan. What I've been doing works for my schedule, but I don't know how it's going to work for my performance come race day. At this point, it's probably too late to pivot, but there it is.

The week took a turn Wednesday night. My youngest daughter woke up sometime late Wednesday night/Thursday morning and I went into her room to comfort her (this is a semi common occurrence, she's not a great sleeper). As I laid down beside her for a few minutes, I felt a tight pain in my chest. Five to 10 minutes later when I went back to my own bed, the chest pain gradually got worse and worse, so much so that I couldn't sleep.

I got up Thursday morning and not only did my chest hurt, but I also had pain between my shoulder blades and down my right arm. It felt tight, like a strain, something in my muscles (which is BS because my pecs are practically non-existent). The hot water from my morning shower helped the pain, but I was aching all day and the only relief I got was from ibuprofen.

On the way home from work on Thursday, I started feeling somewhat sick to my stomach. I'll spare you all the details, but I rushed home and spent some quality time in the bathroom. I was feeling like I didn't want to be too far from home in my current state and I was exhausted from no sleep the night before, so I cancelled my planned 6 miles on Thursday.

Thursday night was another night of little to no sleep and I got up Friday feeling worse than the day before, though now the pain was more concentrated in my back. I've dealt with lower back pain for all of my adult life (one of the reasons I run is to mitigate that pain), but upper back pain is relatively on common for me. I tried to schedule a doctor's appointment on Friday, but there were none available so I was out of luck.

I got off Friday, loaded up on ibuprofen and knocked out the 10 mile run. It was toasty, but it went relatively well. The back pain returned that night, but a cocktail of ibuprofen, beer and a muscle relaxer helped me get a little bit of sleep, though the pain woke me up around 2 a.m. just long enough to force me to get more ibuprofen.

I woke up on Saturday feeling pretty rough. I took ibuprofen and tylenol, but an hour later they didn't have much of an effect. I decided I was going to try to do the run anyway. It was a cool (for summer) overcast morning and was misting a little bit - perfect conditions for a run as far as I was concerned.

Armed with some caffeinated Clif chews and a bunch of water, I went out on my run. As you've already read, I finished the 15 miles and it actually felt pretty good throughout. The heat picked up a little bit later in the morning, but it was still cooler than Friday.

Here's the weird thing: after that run, the back pain never really returned. I thought it might exacerbate the pain, but it seemed to help. I don't know if I was somehow super tight and the run loosened me up, but it's Monday and I haven't had ibuprofen (or anything else) since Saturday before my run. Strange.

Anyway, I went to the party, stayed up way too late, got up, tore apart my basement bathroom and was very, very thankful I got my long run out of the way. Here's to (hopefully) a pain free remainder of my training.

Lakefront Marathon is in 48 days.

Miles Last Week: 37
Year To Date: 825
 


September is here. This feels like the last month before things really pick up. I signed up for a 5K at Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 29 and today marks five weeks until Lakefront Marathon. From there, I'll jump right into Goofy + 10K training.

Here's what the past week looked like:

8/27 - 6 miles @ 8:49/mile
8/28 - 6.01 miles @ 9:10/mile
8/30 - 6 miles @ 9:12/mile
8/31 - 10.01 miles @ 8:52/mile
9/1 - 12.02 miles @ 8:45/mile

Biggest takeaway of the week - the weather has been incredible. Makes running much more pleasant. Still warm enough to work up a good sweat, but not so overwhelming. It was borderline chilly during one of my morning runs, which is perfect weather as far as I'm concerned.

I also tried a new route Saturday and Sunday, running south of town and over to a nature area. It's a smallish lake/large pond with a two-mile paved trail around it. I did two loops on Saturday and three on Sunday. Very nice. I'll definitely be back.

Miles This Week: 40
Year To Date: 892
 
Less than four weeks until Lakefront Marathon. I was getting over a cold this entire past week. Nothing serious, but I was stuffy and coughing a bunch. I also tweaked something in my left calf that bothered me much of the week.

Here's what I was up to:

9/2 - 6.01 miles @ 9:24/mile
9/5 - 6 miles @ 9:22/mile
9/7 - 10 miles @ 8:58/mile
9/8 - 9.11 miles @ 9:26/mile

For the most part, the week went okay. I really tried to focus on easing up during my easy runs, which I think is reflected in my 9/2 and 9/5 miles. Saturday's 10 miles went pretty well and that's likely the pace I'll look to maintain during the marathon or something close to it. The 8:50-9:00/mile seems to be the sweet spot that I can maintain for a full 26.2.

Sunday was a different story. Without getting into details, it was kind of a long, rough weekend following Saturday's run. And it was a very long Saturday night without much sleep. I was not at 100 percent for Sunday's run, was distracted by text messages and work emails that I was receiving (and responding to) mid-run and I think I was probably pretty dehydrated, judging by how sore my legs feel even a day later. The result was me just crapping out at 9.11 miles of a 10 mile run.

I haven't done that in a while and I don't think it's indicative of anything, but some bad decisions the night before. I have a 17-mile run coming up this Sunday that I feel good about. I believe that will be the true test of how the marathon will go. If that run goes poorly, we'll revisit how confident I'm feeling about the marathon next week...

Miles Last Week: 31.12
Year To Date: 923
 


I always need a bad long run to make me feel good about an upcoming race. I know I have at least one terrible run during every training cycle and prefer it to not be on race day.

Same, really. And I usually hit it late in the cycle, so this definitely fits previous patterns.
 
Two weeks to go until Lakefront Marathon!

Last Sunday, I got in 17.02 miles @ 8:57/mile to close out the bulk of my marathon training. The run went well, especially given how the previous Sunday's run was a little rough. It's amazing what a little sleep and hydration will do ;)

Here's what I've been up to during my first week of tapering:

9/18 - 5 miles @ 9:04/mile - should've been 6 and I think I pushed too hard. Crapped out just a little prematurely. I think it was a little hot this day, too.
9/20 - 6 miles @ 9:05/mile - this is more like it
9/21 - 4.08 miles @ 8:52/mile
9/21 - 3.22 miles @ 9:00/mile
9/21 - 3.16 miles @ 9:39/mile
9/22 - 11.01 miles @ 9:00/mile

So ... this weekend. A few weeks back I signed up for the Countdown to Kinnick 5K, not knowing where it fell in my training plan or anything else. Turns out, it fell on a day that called for a 10 mile run. Simple enough. I live about 4 miles from the stadium, so I figured I'd run there, run the 5K, then run (most) of the way home.

And, that's pretty much what I did, with a few caveats. It was pouring when I left Saturday morning and I don't have a good rainy run option, so I just threw on my raincoat, as I've done for other rainy runs. Problem is, it's not designed for running, so I was sweating on the inside and getting soaked on the outside. Not ideal.

I timed the run pretty well so I got to Kinnick Stadium around 8:50, 10 minutes before the beginning of the 5K. Problem was there was lightning in the vicinity. So, it got delayed to 9:15 and then 9:45. Meanwhile, I sat out in the rain getting soaked.

Around 9:30, they cancelled the race ... just as it was clearing up. They said participants could go and pick up their medals anyway (many people run it for the race swag and a chance to be on the field at Kinnick). Hordes of people started heading to the stadium, but I ran into a friend of mine who said he was going to run the race anyway, which I had considered since I needed to get my miles in. So, we ran the route (which is all sidewalk) and were able to finish on the field.

After getting my medal and a bottle of water, I walked a smidge and then ran home. The rain picked up again and I got soaked all over again (not that I really ever dried out after the first 100 yards out my front door).

Getting drenched wasn't ideal, but the bigger issue was running in soggy socks gave me the beginnings of a blister until a toe on my right foot. So, that wasn't great.

On Sunday, I got up, posted the Sundays are for Disney question (do people actually like those??) and checked Facebook. Facebook told me that a year ago today I logged my 1,000 mile of the year. Actually, 1,004 for the year. So, I pulled up Strava, knowing I'd be in the neighborhood and saw I was at 989 miles. Well, I pretty much had to do 11 miles, right? So, that's what I did. They were pretty nondescript, though the last mile was a bit of a struggle. I thought a bit about getting to this point (Dopey Challenge, CRANDIC marathon, etc.), so it was a good moment for introspection.

Did I mention it was raining the whole time? Well, it was. So, when I got home, I was soaked again, the blister was even worse (I had to drain it ... gross), but I was at 1,000 miles for the year again.

I just want to say, I feel really good and fortunate to be able to do this year after year. I know there are so many people out there who are less fortunate than me and for, whatever reason, can't do this. I might not be fast. I won't win any races. But after years of smoking and treating my body like crap, I am grateful for every single mile I complete.

Anyway, I'm feeling real good about Lakefront Marathon. No PRs in my future, but something close to 4 hours seems very reasonable. And, since my only goal is to beat my previous personal worst of 4:31 on this course, I'm feeling really good about a successful race weekend ... and then drinking every beer in Milwaukee.

Miles This Week: 32.4 week
Year To Date: 1,000 (boom!)
 
I'm going to be down to 3/5 toenails on that foot. Think it's a sock issue?

I can't say for sure. It could be a combination of moisture, friction and impact. Some people might be more predisposed, because I've never had a toenail fall off in 11,000 miles, but Steph has had two fall off in her couple hundred miles she's done in her life.
 
I can't say for sure. It could be a combination of moisture, friction and impact. Some people might be more predisposed, because I've never had a toenail fall off in 11,000 miles, but Steph has had two fall off in her couple hundred miles she's done in her life.

I lose the same one on the same toe every single training cycle, but this was a new one. Feels fine after being drained, though, so ... *shrugs*
 
Just FYI, in the latest issue of Runner's World Mag on page 24 they have a way of lacing your shoes that is supposed to help prevent the toenail issue. I tried to find a link online but can't. Article is "Stop Black Toenails From Ruining Your Runs" by R. W. Sciolo… Might be worth trying:confused3
 
Just FYI, in the latest issue of Runner's World Mag on page 24 they have a way of lacing your shoes that is supposed to help prevent the toenail issue. I tried to find a link online but can't. Article is "Stop Black Toenails From Ruining Your Runs" by R. W. Sciolo… Might be worth trying:confused3

Thanks for the tip!
 
So, I'm slowly falling apart.

After a blister last weekend threatened to rob me of a toenail, this week I started experiencing some foot pain. The main is right in the same area (outside of my left foot, dead center of my arch) where I had a stress fracture three years ago. I supinate and put more pressure on that area. After my stress fracture I got carbon fiber inserts and - after trying a few different brands and styles of shoes - started running in Hokas. That kept me injury-free on that front.

Well, this training period I've been running in Hokas, but a different style (Clifton 6, I believe). Less cushion. I knew when I started running in them that I'd be switching back to the Bondis. They cost more, but I think I need the cushion to lessen the impact of my supination.

This morning I went out for a six mile run and quit half a mile in because of foot pain. When I had my stress fracture, I immediately knew and couldn't put any weight on my foot. I'm not there, so that's good.

So, as I write this I'm icing my foot and planning on heading to the running store this afternoon and picking up new shoes. I'll need them one way or another. I know I should have more miles on them before next weekend's marathon, but this is my best option right now.

I did get four runs in this week, which I think is fine for a taper week. Conditioning-wise, I think I'll be in good shape for Sunday. Fingers crossed this foot issue goes away quickly, both for Lakefront and Marathon Weekend.

Miles This Week: 22
Year To Date: 1,022
 
Oh no! I hope your foot feels better quickly.
I sometimes think how much I can obsess over random pains is worse than the pain itself. Hopefully the new shoes work!
 

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