Where's mama bear?

Only one month to go and I am excited about how my training is progressing. This week I "nailed" three key workouts in a 22 mile long run, 6 X mile repeat, and an 8 mile tempo run. Each of these workouts was superior to anything I've done this season. More than ever, I appreciate the flow of a good streak when it comes. They say things come in threes, but I'm hoping that my groove continues. My main focus on this marathon buildup has been on rest and recovery. I am eating well, sleeping hard and icing in the creek to aid in recovery. All of it seems to be paying off as my mileage continues to climb and my workouts get better. I am currently reading Born to Run (thanks to Santa Monica High School Cross Country team) and it is feeding me with the simple joys of running. I normally don't read about running since most of my day is consumed in it anyway, but this book has been a witty and motivating force of words. The book is filled with great quotes and I've been dog-earing the pages when a great saying comes up. On our chalkboard right now is a saying from the Tarahumara runners: When you run on the earth and run with the earth, you can run forever. As I buzzed through the trees and over trails yesterday, I repeated this during the course of my 90 minute run and it made the run go by so quickly. The saying is perfect when you're an endurance runner and your office is an immense forest.

Yesterday our team had an easy run up at the lakes basin. As we were leaving we saw two baby cubs. It just so happens that ASICS was in town visiting and photographer John Barnhart captured a great photo of the cubs playing. While he was inching closer to get his photo, I was on the lookout for bear number 3, Mama bear. She wasn't anywhere in sight. We enjoyed watching the cubs wrestle with each other before scampering off into the trees. I am ready to scamper off to bed, read a chapter of Born to Run and rest up for tomorrow's training session.

Deena's husband, Andrew Kastor passing water off during her long run yesterday.

Deena taking an ice bath in the river...looks like her husband could only get his toes in

This week I have experienced the power of touch.  On Sunday, a full-time massage therapist that Sara and I have hired for the ten weeks leading up to the ING NYC marathon arrived in town.  I was really excited to have her join us in Mammoth because she had been a big help in working on me a lot leading up to the 2008 London Marathon where I set my personal best of 2:06:17.  I remember in the build-up, how amazed I was after hammering a 23 mile long run and walk out of the massage feeling like I could go run some more.  The next day I would be surprised by the lightness in my legs.

Leah, our massage therapist, joined us and started working right away.  The first couple of days I could tell that my legs were starting to feel better.  Then last night before the tempo run today I was walking around thinking to myself that I don’t think my legs have ever felt this good.  But I wasn’t sure if it would pan out into a good workout the next day.  As it turned out I had one of the best tempo runs I have ever had in Mammoth.  It was amazing.

Leah’s work has made me believe all the more that there is power in physical touch.  I believe our bodies were made to respond to it.  I am really excited to have Leah’s healing hands with me on my journey to the finish in Central Park.  I know that I still have to put in a lot of hard work on my end but I am growing in my assurance that if I am going to win in New York it is not just going to be as result of my hard work and my sacrifice, it is going to be the result of people like my family that helped us move in to our new place last week, and my wife who decided to stay home and not go to Europe this summer to support me, and my teammates and friends support and encouragement along the way.  If I win, it will be because I am a part of a great team of people that are sacrificing and working hard towards one goal, some with their heads, some with their hearts, and some with their hands.

Of course I’m counting. Only 44 days until the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. I still have 650 miles to go in training. In my closet are three more Kayanos and two more Hyperspeeds waiting to wear thin. Numbers are everywhere these days. The past week had me jumping up in mileage and intensity which means I’ve been sleeping like a dog. 12 hours to be exact. I get into bed with a book at 8pm and can’t finish a paragraph without slipping into a deep sleep. Before I know it, the dog is waking me up for breakfast and a walk. After our hard training session, I sit in the creek for 10 minutes. I still shiver through lunch and get into bed for a nap before heading out for a second run and the gym. My husband Andrew told me today that I should not put emphasis on a single workout, but look at putting good weeks together. If that is the case, I had a great week. I have done one of my better long runs in a while, followed by a speed session and a tempo run later in the week. It is fun to look at the specifics as I not only break in my shoes, but today I started breaking in my water bottles. These little details get me focused on the task ahead. The task is tall as I attempt my second win in the Windy City. As my day unwinds I look forward to tomorrow. We will have an easy day around the lakes basin at 9000feet altitude. Our coach is also arriving after spending the summer in Europe with our teammates who ran the World Championships. His homecoming is a symbolic mark of the fall marathon season. I always look forward to the inspiration he brings to practice. We look forward to the next sign of marathon season, the crisp fall mornings.

One of the things that I love about running and life is entering the great unknown. I have thought about when I am done running professionally, how much I am going to miss the thrill and nerves of the starting line. Even though I don’t particularly enjoy the nerves at the moment, it is at these times that I feel truly alive.

I have been thinking about this because I am pretty unsure of my fitness level heading into the NYC half marathon. While it has already been nearly four months since Boston, I still feel like I could use more time to prepare for my first race of the fall. I guess it is a good sign to feel this way because I will still have plenty of time before the ING NYC Marathon and need to feel like there are gains to be made.

The first month after Boston I basically took down time. Two weeks of no running or cross training followed by two weeks of running every other day with biking on the off days. Then a couple weeks of running with strides and pacing Sara on the track and slowly getting into workouts.

It was hard to take the break after Boston. I was excited with the results and eager to train hard for the fall but I had learned that patience is a necessity for the marathoner, after cutting my break shorter than usual after London leading up to the Olympics. As a result I was pretty much flat and stale in my preparations. My body felt like it was rejecting any training I was doing compared to now when my body feels like a sponge absorbing every workout, getting faster and faster with every week.

After Track and Field Nationals in late June, Sara and I headed back home to the thin air of Mammoth and back to intense training. Training has been going as well as I could hope since being home, but I haven’t done many of the key workouts that give me the feedback of my half marathon fitness. Instead of doing the usual 10-12 mile tempo runs that I use as gauges I have been doing 9-mile uphill runs climbing from 7,000ft to 10,000ft. Those runs are hard, but the reward is huge. Not only physically, but also there is the best pie place in the world at “Pie In The Sky Café” that we have made the post-workout indulgence.

Heading into NYC I am running into the unknown. I will have to wait till the later stages of the race to find out what kind of shape I am in. Regardless of how the race plays out I will move forward with confidence that I am healthy and feeling good in my training. I guess you never know what is going to happen on any given day. I am always in search of that pearl, those really special days when everything clicks, and maybe I will find it on Sunday.

Provided by competitor.com

In the final installment of an exclusive five-part series, Ryan Hall discusses the benefit of training in a group, how he sets up his training and racing schedule and what he hopes to accomplish by the end of his career.