Health and Ultra Running

I got the lab results back from my latest physical.  I've saved previous results from 1991, 95, 2000 (the year before I started marathon running), 2005, 2009, 2012, and 2014, and thought it'd be interesting to compare and look at trends.  My doctor said I don't need to go every year unless I feel something has changed.

Most of my levels are well in the normal range, with not too much noteworthy.  I have to admit I don't understand all of the tests, though for nearly all of them I have a general understanding of what it assesses, such as liver, kidneys, heart, etc. I rarely dig deeper unless I'm out of range or see a big change.

One thing that really stands out is my HDL ("good" cholesterol) count and LDL/HDL ratio, which indicates risk of heart disease.  In 2000, the ratio was 2.9, a bit better than average.  It has steadily improved to 2.5, 2.41, 2.09, and finally 1.87.  My LDL is staying pretty stable, but the HDL has risen a lot.  As I look at advice for raising HDL, other than eating a bit more fish, I haven't really changed my diet to improve it.  The factor that sticks out is improving endurance.  Yay for ultra running.  My father survived a major heart attack in his late 50s so I'm always happy to see any indication that my heart disease risk is low.

Blood pressure is another area of improvement.  20-30 years ago it was 150/90 or higher.  This time it was 126/78.  It has fluctuated between 140/80 and 115/70 from when I measure this at the doctor, giving blood, or at home.  It's not great, but we have a family history of high blood pressure, so I have a cuff at home to measure it and it's good to see this move in the right direction.  I got some improvement by cutting back on salt years ago (though I'm still bad with some hidden salt in barbecue sauce, pizza, and processed foods), and the rest has almost certainly come with running.

Some of the CBC numbers were down, but not to the level of anemia, and my doctor wasn't concerned.  It's probably more likely due to donating blood 15 days earlier and running a 50 miler 10 days before that.  They test for hemaglobin when donating and the nurse said I was well within the needed range.

It's helpful to have a doctor who runs or at least understands running.  We discussed whether ultras are too much, and he said as long as my joints can handle it he is not concerned.  He said a goal should be to be able to continue running for many more years, more than trying to pack in more and longer races.  He had no concerns with me running 100 this spring.

Again, yay for ultra running.  It's good to see some quantifiable proof of improved health almost certainly due to running.

Training

I've always done best when I've mapped out a training plan for a race.  I followed a Higdon plan for my first marathon, and it went well.  I modified a Pfitzinger plan when I wanted to qualify for Boston, and BQ'd by over 10 minutes.  For most other races, I've just winged it and hoped that just generally running "a lot" with some longs runs would work.  Sometimes it did, sometimes not.  So again, I've mapped out a plan.  It's my own, based on some plans I've seen and what I think will work for me.

• 2x 5 miles, at an easy recovery pace if needed
• 1 mid week middle distance run, building up to (maybe) 14 miles
• weekend long run, starting at 20-25 at building up to 40
• weekend medium distance run, about half the long run, if I can keep it up. 

I'll do a couple 50K races as training runs.  I had hoped to get into Uwharrie for a 40 mile training run, but didn't make the lottery.  There's some talk about doing a double Rivanna Trail instead. It will take some patience to do them as training runs rather than races.

For most of my long runs I'll be running on routes similar to Umstead, like the Piney River Rail Trail (a bit too flat really), Coal Road, Dick Woods Road, and the Fox Mountain Loop.  For at least some of them I'll try to hold to a 10 min/mile pace while running, and mix in some walking.  So far on 2 rail trail runs I've walked about 0.1 miles out of every 2.  I'll still go on some mountain group runs with the CATS too.

My plan is missing speed work but since I run in the mountains out of or near my house 2 or 3 runs a week I figure running those hills is similar enough.  Plus I run with Marc Griffin once or twice a week up here and push harder to keep from slowing him down too much.

Adding to this I'm trying every day to at least do hip flexor stretches and planks.  Often I throw in some push ups, one legged squats and lunges, all with a Bosu ball.

My other goal in training is to figure out nutrition to add to some of the things I know I can handle, such as most gels, bananas, and perpetuem.  So far I've found that Ensure churns up my stomach and is off the list; Zone Perfect power bars are fine, as long as I take in a lot of fluid; a roast beef sammich seems good.

In my fourth week now, and I'm pretty well on track with the training.  My hips and back get achy and tired on some runs but I'm hoping the core work I'm doing will help with that.  My feet are also taking a beating.  I'm running in Altras a lot, hoping their extra padding will help.  Hokas are just too narrow for my Morton's neuroma, while the foot-shaped Altras are allowing me to run without my custom orthotics.  I haven't decided whether to go that way or not, but in any other shoe if I don't have the orthotics with the built in met pad, my neuroma flares up within 4-6 miles.  Dealing with the feet pounding and pain probably worries me as much as anything as far as getting through training and the race.