Timed-Mile with Peripheral Arterial Disease – Progress Towards Returning to Ironman

I really am looking forward to returning to Ironman racing, but there is some work to do, first.

In 2008, I qualified for the Boston marathon, with the help of a great coach, Chris Hauth. I finished that marathon in 4:07:59, with seven minutes to spare, which guaranteed me a slot in the Boston Marathon, 2009. 

Ten years later, I’m fighting to run a sub-6 hour in order to get back to Ironman, and take my friend, Frits, to Kona one day. So I signed up for the Asheville Marathon, March, 2020, and have started a 32-week training plan. I plan to add a timed mile on day one (Monday) of each week, to assess my progress towards returning to Ironman.

My timed-mile for week two was 18 minutes. Yes! 18. Bummer! And it hurt like crap. My average pace 10 years ago in Charlotte was 9:28 for 26.2 miles. But I’m 10 years older with progressive arteriosclerosis due largely to a severe genetic hyperlipidemia (horrible blood lipid profile, largely fixed with diet and exercise), but still there as an underlying cause of vascular disease – not to mention my abdominal aortic aneurysm.

The solution, exercise to (1) build collateral circulation, or new blood vessels, (2) conditioning, and (3) learning the skills I need to optimize blood flow to my lower legs, while running with PAD.

Training continued, and today was timed-mile day. Goal: For a 6-hour marathon I need 13:43:00 pace, so my goal today was to break this in my timed-mile.

What did I learn?

• My calf hurting is not a reason to stop running, it’s just pain. Not bad pain, good pain, the pain of conditioning.
• My right foot “clomping” IS a reason to stop and let the blood back into my calf. It means I’m losing function. In the Maine Marathon, last year, I paid dearly for “clomping” that resulted in numb painful feet and a “death march” finish. Under-training didn’t help, either.

My race goal for Asheville is sub-6. Why sub-6 hours? Because I know I can do the 2.4-mile swim, once conditioned, in about 1:15. I also know I can finish the 112-mile bike ride in around 7:30, once conditioned (depending on conditions – wind and hills). With a 6-hour marathon, that would give me a race time of about 15 hours, including transitions. In the 78+ age group I might just get a Kona slot in the right race.

It’s really about the training, as the race is the icing on the cake. Taking Frits to Kona would be a Santa on top of the icing – memories of English Christmas Cake.

Wishing you happy trails,

kev aka FitOldDog