Cango Marathon: Final Training and Taper

It's almost time! I'm excited and I'm also a little nervous. I know I'll do the distance, but what kind of time will I manage?

Not that I'm too worried about cut-off for this first marathon in 15 months. My main goal is to cross the finish line in good shape. But I'd like to do so in a reasonable time if at all possible. I guess I'll know the answer to that when I cross the finish line next weekend Saturday...

I have officially started my taper. I'm still running, but I'm slowly cutting back on the distance, to give my legs and feet a chance to rest and recover from the vigourous training and racing they've been put through these last few weeks. I survived Red Hill 36km, and a 26km training run this past weekend, so I'm set for distance training. Now it's time to make sure I'm well rested for the big day.

I'm still training with my FiveFingers. This morning I pushed their max-distance up a further km to make 12km the longest single run in my 'toes', and a total of 45km on the shoes. They're catching up to my Nike's!! 

I can feel my legs becomming more accustomed to the barefoot style, and as a result a little more resistant to my regular shoes. I think the time has come to start increasing their mileage to Half Marathon, and then up. I'd survive a 15km run in them at this point, I just need to actually do it! Then 18-ish km, then take them for their first half-marathon distance run/race. After that I guess another 25km training run is in order - barefoot style of course! And slowly get that distance up to marathon! I don't know if I'll be able to do all that by the end of April, for Outeniqua Marathon. But I should be there by July, when I may or may no tackle Knysna Marathon (I'm entered for the Half, I'll upgrade at registration if I feel up to the challenge!) The most important thing is to switch over completely to barefoot running. Use my Nikes for comfy 'whenever' shoes (after a good wash of course, this past weekend's long run included some trail which altered the colouring of the shoes a little!)

This past weekend I ran 26km with some friends.

This was our route and [scary] profile:

That was my last LONG run before Cango.

This morning I ran 12km in my FiveFingers (a little chaffing from being absolutely soaked from rain/puddles but otherwise feeling amazingly comfy all the way, even the stones are bothering me less when I step on them!) You can find the stats of that run on the Dean Street Hillbillies blog.

Thursday I'll do 8-10km - including a few last hills.

Tuesday next week will be 5-8km - flat!

Thursday REST.

Friday drive and register.

Saturday RUN!

I guess I should start keeping an eye on the weather forecast for Oudtshoorn as of this weekend. At the moment it's #%^%@ HOT out there, but we all know how fickle the weather can be, so I won't despair until I'm out on the road, halfway through the race, and the sun is beating down on my head. By which time despairing will get me nowhere so I may as well just 'shurrup and run', to quote a friend!

Good luck to those running Cango/Weskus/anything else!!! Especially to those using these marathons to qualify for Two Oceans!! Good luck and enjoy!

The 'Fingers' are still running

After a somewhat slow start with my FiveFingers (sudden mileage increase, fighting off a couple of bugs, some big races - not easy to find place to 'ease into' my new feet. So I've been sticking to my Nikes for the most part - especially for races and longer training runs - and slipping into my FiveFingers for those days when I felt like a slow, short (<5km) solo run. Then a couple of days to recover from the tender calves!

I had to buy new Nikes the other day as the old ones had reached their mileage limit - a very respectable 800kms (the most I've ever gotten out of any pair of running shoes), and I'm using them for races still, but I want to start phasing my 'Fingers' in to the shorter races - 10-15km - from now on, using the Nikes to alternate training runs with the 'Fingers', and Nikes-only for long distance races and training runs.

This morning I broke new ground with my FiveFingers - both on distance and terrain. I ran a very comfy but hilly 11km.

This was our route - you can see the map and profile, as well as a description of the run itself.

http://deanstreethillbillies.blogspot.com/2010/02/stats-thursday-4-february-2010-0600.html

During and immediately after the run all feels good - no niggles or anything unusual. I stepped on a couple of stones which, while pretty hard, didn't do any damage besides a brief pain as my foot came down onto the stone. Immediately after the run my feet felt a little pounded, but just vaguely, and that feeling has disappeared entirely by now. The only after-effects I'm suffering is hunger due to elevated metabolism!!

Tomorrow morning will bring with it sore calves I'm sure, but each FiveFingered run results in less tenderness, and shorter duration of tenderness, of my calves. Two weeks ago I ran 9km (flat) in my 'Fingers' on the Thursday, and Red Hill Classic (36km) that following Saturday (2 days later) in my Nikes. My calves were still a bit tight and tender, but no more so at the end of the race than at the start. The day after I was not at all stiff, and my calves had returned to normal. Lead legs for a few days, and a nasty cold as a result of my body not being used to such high mileage at a time any longer, were the only after-effects!

Things are looking very promising. I will run my 10km and 15km races in my 'Fingers' from now on. Maybe in a few more weeks I'll be ready to tackle Half marathons in them - slow and steady does it. For sure I'll be Half-ready by the time Two Oceans comes around in April. I'm actually very curious to see how many other 'Fingers' there will be on the road by then. When I got mine 3 months ago, I had seen 1 person wearing a pair (at Landmarks Half) and most had not heard of them. Since getting mine I've spread the word and many of my friends have gotten their own. They also seem to be becoming a trend in general, with a 'gear review' in Runners World just the other day. That will surely lead to a sudden increase in demand. Who will actually persevere is another story though - some will buy them for the trendy image, others for practicality and health. Hopefully most will be going for the latter.