Blog Master G

With about 7 weeks to go until the 10.10.10 Mohawk-Hudson Marathon, training is in full swing. My friends in the Saratoga Stryders have fondly nicknamed me FG, short for… well, you can probably guess, but let’s just say the “F” part starts with an “F” and ends with an “ing.” And the “G,” of course, is yours truly. It’s a nod to the killer training plan I put together, based on the 18/55 plan from Advanced Marathoning, my marathoner’s bible — and the fact that the members of Team FG are cursing my name during most of our grueling long runs.

The plan calls for three 20-milers. This is our peak mileage week, with 55 on the schedule and our second 20-miler this weekend. I have 31.57 of those miles checked off already, including the 11.12 I just ran this morning. Tomorrow’s run called for 11 with 7 at 15k to half-marathon pace. With a tough Stryders hill workout last night and the 20 on Saturday, I wasn’t thinking that I’d do the speed portion of the 11-miler, but when I set out this morning, I was just feeling good, so I went for it, averaging 7:10 in miles 4 through 10 — not quite half-marathon pace, but 5 seconds faster than goal marathon pace, so I feel good about that (plus, I hadn’t done any lactate threshold runs lately, so I was glad to get it in):

Three weeks ago tomorrow I felt some pain in the right arch of my foot come on. Turns out it’s all the symptoms of plantar fasciitis. I’ve spent the past several weeks stretching, icing, and ibuprofen-ing. I even took off 4 days in a row last week (Monday through Thursday), yet still managed to log 29.77 miles in the off week.

The pain is mostly gone, but I can still feel it a bit, especially when I do speed work (like last night) and/or wear my minimalist shoes, like my New Balance 801s that I wore last night. They have nearly 200 miles on them and I fear they may already be kicked. Ditto for my Saucony ProGrid Kinvaras, which I love but which apparently aren’t really designed for pounding the pavement in the long miles.

Even though they’re way expensive, Newtons rule. I’ve decided you can’t really put a price on comfort and staying injury-free, so my second pair of Newtons, the Neutral Performance Racer, arrives today from Running Warehouse (I managed to score a 15% off coupon and save $20+ off MSRP, but coupon link seems to have been taken down since I ordered yesterday):

My first pair of Newtons, the Sir Isaac Guidance Trainer, kicked some ass and have lasted for 343 miles, more than I get out of most shoes. The new pair should be even better, as they’re in the performance category and have less weight in the heel, which I don’t even use. Plus, the Newton customer service rocks. How many shoe companies can you email a photo of your wear pattern to and receive detailed feedback in return from the director of customer service?

Here’s what my Sir Isaacs look like now:

Newton’s customer service guy told me he’s seen tons of wear patterns and that mine is “one of the best.” I assume he means most awesomely severe. He gave me some pointers about reducing the wear on that outside edge, including doing barefoot drills, so I’ve done that twice this week — in the final 1/3 mile of my 12-miler on Tuesday, and in the final 0.45-mile of this morning’s run. The barefoot running helps work on natural form, which the Newtons help promote.

Seven weeks of training to go… assuming I can get past this PF pain, I’m feeling really good about nailing my 3:10 Boston qualifying time in October. I’ve racked up some big PRs in my past three races:

• June 13, 2010: Lake Placid Half-Marathon – 1:29:23 (6:49 avg. pace)
• July 11, 2010: Boilermaker 15k – 1:02:24 (6:41 avg. pace)
• July 24, 2010: Saratoga Silks & Satins 5k – 18:56 (6:06 avg. pace)

Thanks to Team FG for pushing me hard! Let’s do it!