Friday, December 10, 1999
Sence's Olympic bid in jeopardy
Marathoner's foot injury sets back training
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If all goes well, John Sence will be able to ease back into training over the next few days. Nothing big, only 70 or 80 miles next week.
Welcome to the world of world-class marathoning, where on easy days you run 10 miles in the morning and 8 in the afternoon.
It's not an easy job when you have a sore foot, and Sence, the top local runner, has had one for two months. He returned to running Wednesday after taking two weeks off. If the cortisone injection he got Thursday works, he'll be rolling again.
“If I can get to 70 or 80 miles, I'll be ecstatic,” Sence said. “That's not as much as I'd like, but it's better than not running at all.”
Not running at all was driving Sence nuts. Every day he didn't run, another day clicked off the calendar, and there are only 148 training days left until the biggest race of his life.
That may seem like a long time, but Sence is trying to get ready to run a marathon. Six months' lead time is considered the standard, and the U.S. Olympic Trials are May 7 in Pittsburgh.
Sence, one of about eight to 10 runners with a legitimate shot at the three spots on the U.S. marathon team, has been troubled by inflammation of the second metacarpal in his left foot.
He tried to resume training around Thanksgiving and then had to shut it down. He continued to cross-train — swimming, biking, using an
elliptical trainer — but you can't replicate 140 miles of running in the gym.
“There's nothing to really simulate it,” Sence said. “There's nothing I can do at the intensity of running. I'm not as fluid in the those other sports. The stride is the big thing. You don't extend your legs as far.”
Still, the cross-training kept him in reasonable shape. If he can recover fully by mid-January, he'll feel good about getting to a peak condition by the Trials.
His plan is to take a leave of absence from his job as an underwriter at Cincinnati Financial beginning the second week of January.
He'll train in Cincinnati to rebuild his mileage toward 100 miles or so. Then he'll head to Boulder, Colo., for a month of altitude training. He believes the altitude training is essential, though it will be tough to be away from his wife, Lori, and their 4-month-old son, Carson.
“That's where I'll do the bulk of my training,” Sence said. “If I'm going full-tilt by mid-January, I should be OK. That gives me five or six weeks to get in really good shape.
“So much of it is mental.”
That is to say, Sence feels his condition is getting worse with each day he doesn't train.
His fellow runners are offering him encouragement. One thing they keep reminding him is that the Kenyans, who dominate the distance running world, completely take off a month from running each year.
“They come back stronger than ever,” he said. “So maybe this will help me in the long run ... ”
Still, he's antsy to get back the big miles.
“Big time,” he said. “I keep looking at the calendar. I have all these set plans. I'm not real patient.”
Sence, however, has learned that impatience can get you in trouble.
That's how the foot problem started.
He ran in the World Half-Marathon Championships in Palermo, Italy, Oct.3. He finished 54th there in 1:04:54, somewhat disappointing for him. But given the travel and the heat — it was around 80 degrees on race day — it was not a disastrous performance.
Sence was eager to get back to training seriously upon his return. His plan was to run the Cal International Marathon early this month. In retrospect, he was probably too eager.
He ran 40 miles his first week back, then jumped to 140 miles the second. Jerry Lawson, then the American record holder in the marathon, was in Cincinnati training with Sence. So it was a chance to push it.
“That was probably stupid,” Sence said.
By the end of the week, Sence could barely walk. He rested the foot. Then he tried to come back too soon and had to shut it down again.
“A month off was probably what I needed,” Sence said. “I've learned I have to listen to my body.”
DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME
John Sence's training for the Olympic Marathon Trials includes weeks when he runs 140 miles. That's not something you what to try if you're training for the Flying Pig, but it's essential to run a marathon at Sence's level. Here's a typical week:
• Monday: 10 miles in the morning; 10 to 12 in the afternoon at 6:40-per-mile pace. Sence generally starts runs at a 7-minute pace and gets up to 6:20.
• Tuesday: 10 miles in the morning; 15 in the afternoon.
• Wednesday: 8 miles in the morning; hills repeats in the afternoon, 12 miles total.
• Thursday: 15 miles in the morning; 8 to 10 in the afternoon.
• Friday: 5 miles in the morning; 10 in the afternoon.
• Saturday: Marathon-pace run (5-minute miles), 15 miles total with warmup and cool-down.
• Sunday: Long run, 18 to 24 miles.
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