Archive for March, 2008

Been thinking about the race, mulling over some bits I left out.

Something I didn’t want to admit because it touches a self-conscious nerve, especially because there’s a thread going on about this in the Marathon Race Training forum…

Well, you know how I’ve been placing in some local races? I get a few rows back, but not too far, because in a non-chipped race it’s the gun that counts.

So this was a fast race runner-wise, faster than any I’ve been in, though I didn’t know it at the time. As one of the fastest local Masters said in his blog, he never found the course to be as fast as advertised, but the competition is. His 16:45 (the guy did a Half the preceding weekend) got him 44th place. There were 9 sub 15s, 15 sub 16s – and this with 623 finishers.

Anyway, getting back to my shame, Lara and I lined a good clump of rows back, there were women in front of me that looked like they had a plan, and enough who didn’t behind me, so that’s pretty much how we ended up.

The gun goes off and with it a time lag before movement is even possible. Within a second or two some big guy, I’d say in his 50s, comes charging from the back and hits me outright, knocking me sideways into some people (as he does everyone in his path), yelling angrily about getting out of his way.

Lara, who was until that point, next to me, was oblivious to what happened, and while I’m falling, the runners he pushes me into get mad, thinking I’m just carelessly barreling ahead. I’m apologizing while scrambling to right myself, then have to surge to get back up next to Lara. It was really fucked up.

I mean, truth be told, I felt really really bad, like I’d totally messed with this guys race and therein lies my shame. However! Why did he stand so far back? There was a good clump ahead of us and no one was able to move before he came charging through. Then again, I should have known this was a fast race and gone farther back myself. But yet, I did not need to be hit, the guy was an asshole. Good cop, bad cop. Aaargh.

All I know is, that’s a really shitty way to start a race – tense and panicky. And as I’m writing this, I’m beginning to put two and two together, because I’m remembering my arms. Throughout the race, my arms felt incredibly heavy. I carried so much tension in them that they actually hurt and I shook them out a couple times. That’s a new one on me – usually it’s my jaw and shoulders. I think the breathing thing relaxed my upper body so I transferred the tension to my arms, that or I was still in defense mode from being pushed. It was weird.

So that was the negative thing that happened. On a good note (besides the fun time I had overall), I did not once feel like puking, which I usually do near the end of a race. Also, the horrendously ugly green tech shirts they gave us (which, as usual, are in mens sizes so way too big for most women…why must they do that?) was diminished by the fact that Brooks was there giving away free black tech shirts (cute ones!) that came in XS, so I got a wearable shirt out of it after all.

Then the other cool thing was that Lara informed me that we need to do Powerball because the jackpot was $275 million. So when we get back to Philly, we go to this neat place called “Check Cashing.”

If you’ve never been in a Check Cashing store, yes, they are as disgusting as you imagine; smoky, wads of trash on the floor, miscreants everywhere and you know it’s a house of addiction when the lady behind the bullet-proof window giving out the tickets is, at the same time, filling out her own lottery cards. I mean, she’s there the whole damn day. Must be an expensive job.

But anyway, we got our tickets then went next door to the huge Asian market that recently opened where, at Lara’s advice, I bought some White Rabbits, yummy asian candy that I can only hope are not laced with battery acid or antifreeze or whatever the Chinese are exporting in food these days.

So there you have it, a little fleshing out of the day. Oh, and for the record, neither of us won Powerball – but there’s always a next time.

1 second.

No joke, 1 stinkin’ second for a new PR of 23:29. But before you think I’m all down about it (well sure, I’m a little unhappy) the course wasn’t as flat as my previous 5K, so it’s not a complete “what the fuck?!” – just a partial one.

I was 5th in my age group, 45-49, as was Lara in hers, 35-39, with a new GGPR (see comments) of 23:58…and she’s mainly a bicycle chick, so she rocked!

Meanwhile, I tried to do the belly breathing thing the whole way, but it’s something I need to work on. I still heard myself breathing noisily throughout, but less gaspiness, more exhaliness, so it was a less irritating improvement.

Speaking of improvements, my next 5K is 5 weeks away and I am bound and determined to work hard on speed in the meantime. Five weeks isn’t a huge block of time, but a concerted effort with intervals simply has to bring a meatier PR come April 19th. Famous last words.

Btw, I wore my HR monitor during this race, which I haven’t worn since my first race last April. I hit a max HR of 190, same as the high I’d recorded before, again reinforcing the fact that those silly calculations of 220-age are totally bogus. But then, you knew that, right?

Lastly, I would be so over-the-moon stinkin’ happy if once, just once, I’d remember to stop my Garmin after a race. It hasn’t happened yet, so I highly doubt it’s even possible, but I’ll be dreaming of that great day as something to achieve in the future.

And with that, I’m signing off to play with my new Time Master time calculator that just came in the mail. How I love a new toy!

Did a short 3 with strides today as a taper for Saturday, using my new-found “belly breathing” method from yesterday’s post. I think this is for me – felt like I was getting more air into my body and it had a sense of relaxation to it. And need I say? No cramp.

An interesting bit of useless information is that while I usually run with a 2-2 pattern (2 steps inhale, 2 exhale…not because I’m trying, it’s just something I notice), I realized today that by focusing on the exhale, I was exhaling 3 and inhaling 2, which was kind of weird.

I’d like to have tried it for longer and with a chunk of speed beyond strides, but I’m trying to behave taperwise, so today’s taste will have to do.

Tomorrow I rest and then a little racy-poo on Saturday. Fun, fun fun!

Late Edit: Read Dave’s comment in Light Bulb Moments for a very cool addition about breathing.

Last Thursday, I woke up with a cramp that felt exactly like a side-stitch you get when running. It hurt a lot merely to be sitting and when I sneezed? Soooo painful. That day I had an interval session, and the funny thing was that as soon as I started running, the cramp disappeared, then when I got home, it was back…the anti-side-stitch, as it were.

Meanwhile, it’s been hanging around for days, but diminished to almost nothing while sitting. Instead, it’s begun to infiltrate my runs, though not during the meat of the run or fast stuff – just during slow cooldown miles.

So today I go out for a recovery jog and get the cramp almost from the start (and I was doing 10min/miles!). I suffered through the run for about 4 miles trying everything: bending, straightening, exhaling on the left footfall, raising my arm, pressing the area, stopping entirely (temporary fix), but nothing was working.

Then I tried something that I must have hinted at during the “exhale on the left foot” attempt…I started forcefully exhaling to the point where I could hear the air huff out of me, like some weird Lamaze class. And in no time at all, I felt the cramp subside till it was gone entirely. That was the first light bulb. But wait, there’s more!

For just three easy payments of $19.95… No seriously, there is more.

Because remember in my 10K report, I mentioned how I was gasping for air and embarrassed by the sound? Well, today I realized that by accentuating the exhale, the inhale takes care of itself and gasping is no longer an option! It’s not physically possible.

So I get back from my run and immediately go on the net, finding an article from a book that explains this stuff perfectly. Took me a minute to realize I already own this book! It’s Programmed to Run by Thomas Miller. I bought it for tips on running form, totally ignoring the section on breath. That’ll teach me to read selectively.

Anyway, here’s the article, and a telling paragraph:

The next opportunity you have to watch a roadrace, observe the breathing techniques of the frontrunners, the midpackers, and the tail-enders as they near the finish line. Typically, the leaders breathe with short, forceful exhales and quiet inhales. The midpackers begin to gasp as they start their drive to the finish. These runners suck in harder as they try to breathe more deeply. Finally, the slowest runners often don’t change their effort or breathing at all.

Looks like I’ve got some experimenting to do on tomorrow’s run. And if it works like I think it will, I may or may not have my fastest 5K this Saturday, but it will certainly be my quietest!

I spent the evening perusing old forum posts – looking for info on speedwork and tapering for a 5K. After yesterday’s uninspired tempo run, I thought it’d be great to have the psychological boost of a speed session for some confidence in Saturday’s race.

That said, after reading a zillion posts, I surmised that it’s generally not a great idea to do a full-out interval session the week of a 5K and we all know two quality runs back-to-back aren’t a good thing either, but my legs were feeling fine, so I figured I’d risk it.

I decided on a “light” session, since that gets the OK as long as you do it at the beginning of the week. Not that tapering for a 5K is a big deal, but you don’t want to tire yourself out needlessly.

I posted this morning on the 5K board, “What should I do; 3 or 4x880s or 6 or 8x440s?” My local forum pal JoeMC came up with a great one; 5×600 at race pace with 90 second recoveries. OK, I’ve never done 600s, and 90 seconds recovery sounds short, but it’s a good short VO2 workout, so I programmed it into my Garmin and jogged down to the park.

And this, my friends, marks a pivotal moment in my life. Because I did the workout and actually (dare I say it?) had FUN! I am shocked shitless.

The best thing is that were I do intervals (bike path in the park), I can see the end of 600m from where I start – unlike those pesky 880s that turn a corner, then you have to keep going which makes them seem that much longer. Having the finish line in sight helped make the distance really no big deal.

I will confess to mostly brisk walking through the recoveries, because 90 seconds flies by, but still (as I’ve rattled on about before) walking is “legal” in interval land – so no harm, no foul.

I avg’d 2:43 per 600m (.37 miles in good ole USA terms) which comes out to 7:20/mile – a bit faster than my goal pace. I definitely could have done another, but 3.1 miles of that will be a tad more painful so it remains to be seen what I do on Saturday.

Really, the major thing about the workout was the fact that it was fun. Makes me excited for next week’s session, though I’ll likely be back to 880s, it’ll be nice to switch them up every so often.

Edited to add: Someone just posted in my 5K question thread that he thinks I did “a touch too much”, should have done 6×400 with 400 recoveries between, even adding a little frowny emoticon with the words “but I guess it’s too late now”. C’est la vie. It’s all a learning process at this point and I’m not worried – it’s not a goal race and my legs feel good, as does my brain.

Had a weatherful weekend of running. On Saturday, I braved the pouring rain for a fun 7-miler in a longsleeve shirt, tights and a hat. I was soaked to the gills by the time I got home but felt great for having done it. Next time I have a race in an utter deluge, I’ll consider myself prepared.

Sunday’s run was all about the wind.  I have nothing good to say about wind except when it helps you back, but somehow the return trip never really makes up for the battle forward. I’m always expecting an actual “whoosh” to push my ass home. Maybe in a tornado.

Today was also pretty windy for my 7-mile w/ 5-miles of tempo. It was a hard run and a bit discouraging, comparing it to my previous tempo times, but my last tempo was on Feb. 7th so I shouldn’t be surprised. Add to that the wind in my face and some PMS “where’s the gun?” emotion…it makes for one surly tempo run.

The main thing is I finished it. Because as unfun as they occasionally are, tempo runs are like money in the Speed Bank. Plus, you get to mutter profanities during the entire transaction.

Aside from running (but totally about it), check out the fun toy I bought this morning on Amazon – this cool time calculator. I’ve been wanting one for a while so I finally made the splurge. When I’m at the computer, I use this handy dandy software one, but I wanted something I could use before bed when I’m sitting there perusing my books and spreadsheet print-outs, daydreaming about paces. Obviously, I have too much time on my hands (yuck, yuck, sputter & choke).