MCM Training Update

In case y'all have forgotten I am training for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30. I haven't written a lot about my training primarily because, up until recently, it has been less than stellar. Running during the summer months was absolutely brutal. The heat and humidity exacerbated my asthma,  forced me to cut many runs short, and I was questioning if running MCM was still a good idea. I came very close to throwing in the towel and deferring my entry until 2012. In short, I had lost my running mojo.

At the same time, I started developing some foot pain. The pain was on the top of the foot between the top of my ankle and where the shoe laces are on my shoes. At first I thought I was tying my shoes too tightly, but the pain was still there after loosening them up. The foot hurt when I walked, not when I ran. A few weeks ago, I saw a podiatrist mainly to determine if there was a stress fracture or some other serious injury there. The diagnosis came back as an overuse injury. The doctor suggested cutting down on mileage, compression, and ice. I knew there was no way I could cut down on my mileage 6 weeks before MCM but I did start wearing a compression ankle sock and tried to ice my foot as often as I could. I told Coach Jeff what was going and he asked me to send him pictures of the bottoms of my shoes (Newton Gravitas) so he could analyze the wear pattern. This is what I sent him:

Within a few minutes he determined that I was "stabbing" rather than planting "square."  Coach explains it really well in this video he made especially for me.



Back to the training front....I feel like I'm back on track. The past 2 weeks have been solid. Temperatures have been cooler and my paces have been coming down to the levels where they were earlier this year when I was training for Vermont City. The Jewish holiday "season" is fast approaching with Rosh Hashana starting next Wednesday night (ack!). The extra non-running days will give me a chance to get some extra sleep as well time to rest whatever aches and pains I have. I'm happy I stuck with the training and I'm starting to get excited about the race. I have 2 more "big" weeks coming up then it's time to taper.

A Small Mechanical Change Can Make All the Difference

As you know, I've been dealing with some calf and hamstring soreness after my ridiculously hilly run in the Palisades 10 days ago. I was able to run but could not run any of my fast workouts. The best I could do were easy miles on flat terrain. During that week, I did a lot of stretching, foam rolling, and I got a sports massage. All three of those helped but I was still sore and could still not run fast. I was beginning to get worried and flipping out. "What if I can't run Vermont?" I asked Mrs. Ansky. I really thought I was injured and my hopes of a sub-3:30 in Vermont were slipping away.

Then I had a talk with Coach Jeff. He calmed me down and after talking through how my legs felt, he was pretty sure that I was not injured and that I just beat my legs up running up some very steep hills. Then he reminded me of something we talked about when we met up in Denver. During my visit, he took some video of me on the treadmill. He pointed out that I was running up on my toes instead of on my forefoot. He told me to focus on landing "flat" so I would not be engaging my calves as much as I was. The next day I went out for another easy run. This time focusing on landing "flat" and guess what happened? My calves much better. Not yet 100% but much better than earlier in the week. I ripped off a few sub-8:00 towards to the end of the run and it felt hard but sustainable. I probably could have run more miles at the pace had time permitted.


I am currently down in Boca Raton, FL celebrating Passover with my family. I'll write more about my running down here later but between the extra rest and the mechanical change I am back on track.

My Meeting with Coaches Jeff and Diane

I've been in Denver since Sunday afternoon for a conference. For those of you that have traveled for work, I think you'll agree that one of the biggest decisions to be made is where to go for dinner and drinks. So while many of my colleagues were deciding between sushi or Peruvian, I was looking forward to an evening of form analysis and form drills with my coaches Jeff and Diane.

I was still in my work clothes when I met them in the hotel lobby so I quickly changed and met them in the hotel gym. The gym at the Grand Hyatt was pretty nice. It had several treadmills, recumbent bikes, ellipticals, free weights, floor mats, etc... everything I needed to workout. Since I did a strength and core routine in the morning, I got on the treadmill for some form analysis. Diane took several minutes of video then told me to get off. We sat on the floor in the gym watching the video. I won't bore you with all the details, but there are many things I'm doing well and several things I need to work on.

Then it was time to move on to form drills. We went through a bunch of drills to teach my body what it should feel like to run naturally. When I first started the drills, I tried to run exactly like Jeff was. Jeff stopped me and said "don't run like me, run like run you." After that, I had an easier time with the drills.

After the drills we sat down and chatted mainly about about my goals for Vermont. I told Jeff and Diane that this time of year always gets in head. I've missed 2 long runs, and Passover is fast approaching. Jeff said one of the reasons for building a big base is in anticipation of the next few weeks. We did talk about a specific time goal for Vermont, I'd rather not share it right now. The most important thing Jeff and Diane left me with is that I have to believe I can accomplish the goal. Jeff and Diane are confident that I can, it's time for me to start wrapping my head around it. I'm starting to get there. I've had some very solid step-up runs recently that has boosted my confidence. But I still can't believe that my name and the time goal are being mentioned in the same sentence.

OK, I've gone on long enough. It was so nice to finally meet Jeff and Diane in person. They are so nice and easy to talk to. My time with them was much better than any meal in Denver.

Lift From the Core

Coaches Jeff and Diane have been encouraging their clients to submit a short video of him/her running on a treadmill. Jeff and Diane then review the video and discuss things that are going well and things that need improvement. As you know, they believe that natural running is the most healthy and efficient way to run. Once I was comfortable in my Newtons, Coach wanted to see a video of how I was running in them. In short, he said that I have a nice forefoot/midfoot plant but I need to work on lifting my legs from core. The way I run now, my legs swing. I should be lifting from the core and then driving down. I'll let you see for yourself. Try not to laugh.