Feasible?

ajb422

Barefooters
Sep 28, 2010
635
35
28
Before I got hurt I was toying with the idea of a marathon, but as is standard for me I had a bunch of possibilities and had no way of deciding which to do. Then when I was hurt there was only one that I was actually sad that I might not be able to do so I decided that would be my goal. But I'm sort of gunshy about starting to run high mileage again and risk hurting myself. So I thought I'd check and see what you all thought about the feasibility of this before I start this training program I've worked out for myself.

Its a trail marathon or 50K on April 10th which gives me 12 weeks of training including taper. The route is pretty much solid down hill (http://www.pctrailruns.com/event.aspx?dtid=5591) through the redwood forests of Northern California. Its going to be gorgeous and its scheduled for the day before I have to be up there for a conference for school anyway so its pretty much perfect. I just don't want to get too much more excited if its likely not feasible after this month off of running (although I did heavily crosstrain including some 4 hour gym sessions during half of that time). I'm planning to do it in minimal shoes if I do it because I have no way of checking out the terrain. If I decide its possible I will probably end up being forced into buying the merrell shoes considering that the zems and altra which are the two I'm most excited about won't be out by the time I need them to do some training runs in. While I do really like my huaraches they are terrible in mud and NorCal in the winter means rain is quite possible. So here is what the last two weeks running wise looked like for me.

So last week I did like 13 miles total. I was flying home from Michigan, busy, and hadn't run much in the last month so it was rough. Made up of 3 and 4 milers all bf.

This week looked like this (all bf except where stated)

M-nothing, my calves were sore from sunday's run and I was deyhydrated from the weekend. So seemed like a good day to rest.

T- 3.5 miles. I got paranoid about a weird cramp in my foot, turned around and went home. Turns out it was fine and I should of just kept running but like I said a bit gunshy nowadays. I think some of this was done in socks for the cold

W-8.5 about half in thin (now holey) socks because it was cold

R- crosstrain on the bike for an hour or so

F- 10.8mi (7.8 of it in huaraches thanks to some construction leaving little asphalt pebbles all over the asphalt road ouch!)

S-heavy cross train since feet were a bit sensitive and I didn't feel like running in huaraches (1.5 hours stairmill and stairmaster) am, and 4pm miles (2 huarache when it got dark and I didn't want to pay attention anymore)

S-14 miles (4 huarache). This probably was walking the line of stupid. Near the end I was starting to hurt in my hips which is my genetic weak point. It was only supposed to be a 12 mile run but they closed my trail that I can pretty much pick my distance on and I got forced to do a loop which was a bit longer than planned. But it appears I survived with no real injury just some soreness in my hips and calves.

Before I got hurt I was doing back to back trail runs along the lines 20mi/18mi, 18/16, a bunch of 18/17 and 18/16 ect.... but they were all in my nikes. The furthest bf/minamlist I've ever done was today's 14miler but I had alot of 10 milers pre-injury.

So with that as a starting point and 12 weeks to go what do you all think?
 
What did you do before going

What did you do before going minimalist. Have you run marathon/ultra distances and for how long? I am not toying with injuries and running 25mpw comfortably right now and would not even contemplate something like this.
 
 The Friday/Sat trail

The Friday/Sat trail distances I used to do were back to backs anywhere from 16 to 20. I've never run further than 23 miles and that was by accident. The last 20 miler I did was quite comfortable and the 18 I did right after it was comfortable as well. Actually I think my favorite weekends were when I did back to back 18s. Nearly all those were done in shoes with the last 3-5 miles of them done bf. I have pretty much been transitioning since about 3 months after starting really running so I didn't really have a "before going bf/minamalist". I think the highest week I did before being injured was 75 mpw and I was averaging around 60mpw. This week was 40 miles and honestly could of been higher except I cut some runs short and skipped one out of paranoia. I'm hoping to make 45-50 next week if everything goes well.

I've never run in an organized race in my life. And have not a single urge in the least to run anything shorter than a marathon and probably only that if its on trails, maybe possibly a road one if I do it all barefoot and its a very small one in a nice location. I lack competitive drive so I really only want to do something where the sole goal for me is to finish and see some pretty scenery along the way.

The injury itself is not really not a factor at all anymore. Just the amount of time I lost running and the muscle loss because of it. I lost a significant amount of running fitness and now have to work back up to where I was before. It was a bone issue and is completely healed now and everything I have read says bone is stronger once its healed than before. Some lingering ankle issues have also cleared up to next to nothing. I think skeletal/feet wise I might be better off than before I hurt myself, its mostly the muscles I'm worried about.
 
Nae bother!Your base is

Nae bother!

Your base is fine, don't push for a time. Keep smiling!

Your background is very similar to mine (just with a few less years behind you) - enjoy the run(s)!
 
DNEchris wrote:Nae

DNEchris said:
Nae bother!

Your base is fine, don't push for a time. Keep smiling!

Your background is very similar to mine (just with a few less years behind you) - enjoy the run(s)!

+1 I think you will be just fine.
 
I am coming up on my one year

I am coming up on my one year of BF/MR running after a running related injury. It took me 8 months to build back up to the consistant higher training mileage I was at prior to injury. I agree with Chirs on listening to your body and not pushing for PR's and having fun with it. It appears you have miles in the bank.

Here is a 12 week training schedule I am experimenting with for getting back into ultra's this coming March. I usually train to the distance of the race one month prior to the race up to a 50K. I will use the Monday-Friday as a minimum and adhere to the Sat/Sun back to backs. We shall see but I feel confident with this as a base.





The race course looks beatiful! The elevation chart although looks like it could be a quad buster depending on your training. Downhills sneak up on you in the longer distances if you do not run a lot of hills or specifically train for them. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
 
 Thanks everyone . I'm

Thanks everyone :). I'm getting excited now for my jaunt through the redwoods.

Sole_foot. I actually used that website to design my training plan as well. Although I cranked up the weekend mileage closer to what it calls for for a 50miler training plan. I have this odd love of running for four hours on weekends. Its like a hiking trip for me. And as far as PRs go trust me I'll get one without even trying too hard. Of course I have no current ones so as long as I finish that means I'll have a PR :). I really just want to do this because there is no other way for me to run this trail. Theres no parking at the top and I have a tendency to get lost in new places, well not so much a tendency as I ALWAYS do.

As far as the elevation plan, yeah its a bit gnarly looking. I do run lots of hills though. I actually much prefer hills to flat. My hips kill me if I go too far on flat asphalt, but on hilly trails I can go forever. Although I think alot of that could just be in my head.
 
that looks like it would be

that looks like it would be gorgeous scenery- for a hike or a run.. I'd try to work up to joining you if I was local.. but can't see that kind of travel right now.
 
12 weeks is not enough

12 weeks is not enough training. I think you can do it but plan on doing alot of walking. Personally I would wait until you start building more base mileage and 100% confidence with your body, so you can actually run the whole race. If someone is still worried about injury, I always take that as a warning sign you are not ready for long distance, yet.



That is just my personal opinion, good luck though!
 
I can't even register yet so

I can't even register yet so I do have a few weeks to see how it goes first. I have a training plan worked out that gets me up to 80mpw two weeks in a row. If I can't comfortably keep up with the buildup over the next two weeks to get me there I probably won't register. I also found a trail where I can run uphill up to 12 miles and then back down the whole thing. So that should tell me if I can handle the pounding. The 100% confidence in my body's ability to do it is an issue, I think if by the time registration comes I'm not to 100% confidence level I'll take the advice and not go. I'm not a big fan of risking failure.
 
If you would be willing to

If you would be willing to drive 5 hours further north beyond the bay area. You could do a marathon, or even a half marathon not on a trail, but on pavement. It is also in the redwoods. It would give you more time to train as that run is on May 1.
 
Humboldt-explorer wrote: If

Humboldt-explorer said:
If you would be willing to drive 5 hours further north beyond the bay area. You could do a marathon, or even a half marathon not on a trail, but on pavement. It is also in the redwoods. It would give you more time to train as that run is on May 1.

Even the Bay area is way to far for me to drive for a run normally. I'm about six hours south of it. It just happens that on the day after this I have to be up there anyways for a week long conference. The oddly convienent timing is sort of why I want to do this now as opposed to some of the less extreme versions closer to home. The conference is only every other year and I likely won't be there after this one.