Archive for August, 2008

Usually I don’t post if it’s a rest day, but with a few little annoyances and pleasures, thought I’d post anyway.

On the annoying end, the fan went out in my computer’s power supply.  24 tiny screws later, I figured out what I needed and ordered another one.  Could have just ordered a new power supply, but I’m cheap and repairing stuff has its joys.  Meanwhile, I’m just hoping the power supply doesn’t overheat till it comes.  On top of that, one of my hard drives is making occasional high-pitched chirping sounds, which usually means hard drive death is imminent, so I have to deal with getting a new one.  Yawn.

On happy computer news, not sure what everyone’s using as far as browsers, but I’m a huge Firefox proponent.  I finally switched to version 3, which I highly recommened everyone do, it’s speedier than ever and has a lot of lovely features.  If you download it, go to this page for the speed tweaks that’ll have that baby absolutely flying.

If despite this, you still have a seemingly sluggish Firefox (I was about to tear my hair out when I first installed it and was going to revert to ver.2), disable your add-ons.  Once I did that, it was zoomy as all get-out.  I think imacros was the culprit (great add-on, btw).

Tomorrow I have a 12-miler.  I was going to visit Smile Hill, but since Sunday will be a 22-miler that I plan to take to the trail (harder run), I think I’ll just use my usual route with some Lemon Hill loops thrown in.  That’s  a short, steepish hill area closer to home and was a pain in the Philly Marathoners’ asses last year, as it was a new addition to the race.  It’s commonly used around here for hill repeats, but I want to stay fresh for Sunday, so just a few easy loops should do.

Looking ahead with PDR in the near future, I’ve been going over the schedule pretty intensely wondering how best to deal with that Half as it sits in the plan.  It lands on a 20-miler week, which isn’t so bad, I’ll make that up surrounding it, but I figure it’s best to switch weeks 3 and 4 completely since week 4 accounted for a tune-up race, thus the VO2max is only 600s falling on a Tuesday, as opposed to 1200s on a Wednesday.

The only pain about this is, he schedules the tune-up on Saturday and 17 on Sunday.  Since my Half is on Sunday, and I’m racing it full-out, I might just consider the Half a catch-all for both runs and gulp! skip what would have been the 8K tuneup (at least mileage-wise, since the Half totally counts as a tuneup).

Steamtown is the ultimate goal, but PDR has goal qualities for me, too, so it’ll be a balancing act. Not to mention I really want to do my last 20 the weekend after PDR where a 16 is scheduled, but I’ll have to see how I feel after the race to know if that’s a good idea or not.

Ah, the unknown.  Either a fun way to pass the time imagining multi-scenarios, or a great reason to lay blame if things don’t turn out right.  Gotta love it!

Today was one of the scariest runs in the book, 12 w/7 tempo.  There’s been a fun and interesting discussion on RW about this particular run, a lot of controversy because the general definition of a tempo run is what you can race in 1 hour, even Pfitzinger says so a couple times in Advanced Marathoning.  So 7 miles of tempo would be really overdoing it for someone like me with a 3:40 marathon goal.

However, while he says the 1-hour thing a few times in his book, he states much more often that tempos should be run at a pace between 15K and Half race pace, which, unless you’re planning on a 3:01 marathon, makes the 1 hour definition moot.  There are LT pace charts at the back of the book that support the 15K-Half paces over the 1-hour definition.  Anyway, all this chat did nothing to deter me, but it did have me seriously mulling over my goal for today.

I could use Daniels’ pace for a 7 mi tempo at my projected MP, which would be 8:17, but he’s on the slow end of the scale and since I’d done my last 6 at 8:02, 8:17 seemed laggardly.  On the other hand, with the Distance Run on the near horizon, it made a lot of sense to use my projected goal Half pace, giving it some extra gas if I had it and I knew I’d have some because this morning was set to be beautifully cool.  Good temps had to account for something and was the only reason I wasn’t quite as nervous about today as I might have been.

Considering I won’t be tapered for PDR and will be running a 20 the weekend before, I figured sticking with 8:02 for the Half pace sounded reasonable.  That equates to a 1:45 Half.

So out I go, in love with the 63-degree temperature, and start with 3 easy because 2.5 gets me to the last water fountain and there was no way on earth I was going to stop during the fast miles.  I start the tempo, ramping up a bit on the first mile, ending up with an 8:09 average.  Hmmm, it’s a start,  but I had more in the tank today, so I got into a groove and ended up kicking 8:02 out of the park.

Tempo splits were: 8:09, 7:45, 7:49, 7:49, 7:53, 7:52, 7:49.  My average?  7:52! Woo-fucking-hoo!!!  I just gave myself an unofficial new 10K PR!

Two cooldown miles later – a comfortable 9:05 avg. that included stopping at the water fountain – I’m feeling like everything I’m working towards isn’t as nebulous as I (too often) imagine.  The training is coming together as it should.  What an overwhelming relief.

My workout today was a beautiful thing, didn’t go the Pfitzinger med-long run route, because I was doing my mile long hill which makes the 20% – 10% not really a viable parameter. As for the hill itself, which I’ve been prefacing recently with “stupid” as in Stupid Mile Hill because things that make me suffer scare me and calling them names makes me feel better, today the hill and I came to an agreement; I wouldn’t bitch and moan and it would be nicer to me than it’s ever been.

Long story short, I did 2.5 trips with the uphills paced at 9:25, 9:29 and 9:47 and the downhills at 8:07, 8:17 and 8:17. How wonderful to be able to fully rehearse my Steamtown pacing (which I imagine will be 8:17-8:20 on the downs) and have it feel good. Of course, after a zillion of those strung together I know it’ll be less than happy-making, but I can start to imagine the real deal now.

After I was done with the hill, like magic (or as running god Arthur Lydiard might have predicted) the final miles home were strangely faster than they felt. I seriously felt I was going along at 9:15 or so but thanks to that fast downhill running, I was actually averaging 8:39. Final tally today: 14.5 miles, average pace: 8:59.

The other big news of the run was I have finally found a gel I LIKE! Not “can stand” “can stomach” or “is palatable” but one where I thought the taste was juuuust right: Gu Just Plain. Wow, not at all cloyingly sweet while at the same time without any of the tartness I find in Hammer or Carbboom. Simply a truly light taste that, mixed in a flask, will improve the Vanilla and Apple Carbbooms I just got, or taste great straight. Seriously, it was so strange to finish a gel off without a single grimace.

On to real running news, I cried last night when 38 year-old Constantina Tomescu won the marathon. What an edge of the seat race that was! Of course, so heartbreaking for Deena and Paula but so thrilling to see a 38 year-old conquer that race! And with such a daring break, just shocking. So here’s to Constantina Tomescu and Dara Torres, another amazing athlete at 41 years old. Cheers to these mature athletic powerhouses, you make the world a more hopeful place.

Moving sideways away from running, I had quite a laugh yesterday while grocery shopping with Nick. We were standing in the produce section of ShopRite, a huge grocery store chain, when I realize the Muzak coming over the loudspeakers was “Love To Love You, Baby”, complete with lyrics. I turned to Nick and said, “check out the music”, we had a chuckle and squeezed some peaches. Then a few minutes later, I recognize the next song is “Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi”. Granted, both were fab disco hits in their day, but I find it hilarous that the background music for grocery shopping is now Fuck Me songs. How lovely for the little children, lol.

But enough gabbing from me today, go find some fruit to play with and hum a nasty tune to yourself. It’ll either have you wanting to go grocery shopping or make wild crazy love next to some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Didn’t write the last couple days because one day was recovery and yesterday was off, so nothing interesting to speak of. Well, I did have my first running nightmare last night that involved not knowing where the race was held and having to wear “fashion” running shoes from J.C.Penney (oh no, where are my Mizunos?!?! I can’t run in these!!). So I was a little tense upon waking.

On the menu this morning, 8 @GA Pace (Pfitz-speak for general aerobic) w/ 8x100m strides. While on the run, I realized that, since hopping on this particular training plan, something dramatic has changed within my running style. Used to be I’d never warm up to begin, just go out all gangbusters. As the run progressed, I’d always end up with positive splits. I wasn’t too concerned because my last mile is uphill and the run always averaged a pace I was happy with.

Nowadays, it’s ass-backwards. I start every run on the slow end, using my comfort level to determine the starting pace (aka a warm-up mile…what a foreign concept). Then, as the run progresses, I speed up – not because I’m clock watching, but because the effort feels easier as the miles chug along. What do I get for this newfangled way to run? Negative splits without even trying.

I’m sure credit goes to those molasses recovery miles, since running slowly has become much less evil in my mind and just another flavor to the full running recipe. Whatever, it’s lovely to find this happening without actively seeking it out.

So anyway, today’s run averaged 8:41, splits were 9:07, 8:51, 8:49, 8:33, 8:31, 8:28, then the strides and a mile home.

Tomorrow is a 14. I figure I’ll go 4.5 to my new found friend Mile Hill, go up and down that baby 2.5 times then take that final 4.5 back home. And with that, out goes the cutback week and in comes the hard stuff again, in particular a 12 w/7@tempo on Wednesday. Joy, oh joy.

Actually, that’s not even snarky, I am finding joy so often these days. Hard to believe just a year and half ago I felt directionless, uninspired, bored and flabby. God, I heart running.

Nice workout today – 8 miles w/5×600@5K race pace. Seeing as how I haven’t done a 5K in a few months, I used my goal marathon pace equivalent for the 5K (with some help from McMillan’s calculator) which is 7:15.

I split it up by doing 4 miles at the top of the workout, then the intervals, which magically averaged 7:15 (splits were 7:18, 7:15, 7:13, 7:13, 7:17), then the remainder for cooldown. I’m feeling very satisfied with it since the last time I did 600s was in April and they were slower, yet the temps were 17 degrees cooler.

Now to correct this week’s schedule in the previous post. Thanks to one of my gal friends on the Women’s BQ thread who took a cool poll yesterday of how many 20s people are doing for their marathons, I learned that my 5-6 was on the highest end (I think one other person is doing 6). The plan I’m following calls only for 3, but I know I’ll feel better to add more, so I’m going to make it five 20+ runs total – no need for 6.

Since this is a cutback week, I’ll stick with the plan as written and do 14 for my LR this Sunday (instead of the 20 I’d planned), but I’ll make it a hill workout on my favorite Mile Hill, so I’ll still get a little extra sumpin’ sumpin’ out of the deal. Next weekend it’s a scheduled 20 that I’ll stretch to 22.

Don’t you feel so much better now that I’ve clarified my schedule? I thought so. Later, my lovelies.

In only the sweetest manner possible.

Yesterday was a rest day and I spent it moping around the house, thanks to Sunday’s MP run. I had started questioning everything I’ve been doing and my marathon goal and laughing (derisively) at my previous “I’m going to be all circumspect about it all” since I clearly was being anything but.

Then today comes and it’s the weather I’ve been wanting for months now, a luscious 65 degrees. Haven’t seen that temperature since my Yellowstone vacation. Pfitz calls for a GA run, which couldn’t have come at a better time because I wanted to just run, no strings attached, no speed stuff or percentage-induced brakes, just run the way you run when it feels good.

I knew I’d likely be pushing it to make up for Sunday because I’m childish like that, so I strapped on my HR monitor to keep me honest. All I can say is YIPPEEE!!! I’m not the slug I imagined myself to be.

Splits were: 9:11, 8:50, 8:39, 8:35, 8:28, 8:26, 8:19, 8:00 for an average of 8:34. I wasn’t even trying to make it a progression run, it just happened! Lol, I can, and will, relax now.

What else is on the agenda for the week? Well, this is a cutback week, so it’s a bit less mileage but tomorrow is my first VO2max workout on this plan and I’m excited! Haven’t done intervals since April and these are my favorites, 600s (long enough to test you but short enough to enjoy it). The difference with these, as usual with “keep ‘em movin’” Pfitzinger, is he’s couched it between some extra miles, so the workout is 8 miles with 5×600 at 5K race pace w/90 sec. rest.

Besides that, I’ve got a 5 mile recovery the next day, then a day off, then 8 w/strides and then supposed to be 14 on Sunday, but I’m bumping it to 20, which’ll make it my third 20 so far.

Other than that, time to put my creative thinking hat on again, it’s time to work on new designs for Fish Pie and maybe now that I’m not moping I could actually come up with a couple cute ideas. We shall see.

Oh, and I wanted to mention some positive things about what I learned on my MP run this Sunday. I learned that I will be using the gel flask for the marathon, even though I’ve been using the foil packets for most of my runs these days. It’s much easier to deal with than packets and the dilution aspect will surely be appreciated as the hours tick by and my tummy wants less sweetness. The only downside is the little extra weight thanks to the added water and that it’s localized in one spot, but that’s a fair trade-off.

Another observation: I drank less on the MP run than I usually do. I carried my handheld, which I’ve been considering taking to Steamtown, because I do love being able to drink when I choose, but now I’m thinking that since my gels will have a bit of water added to them in the flask, it’s less critical that I have liquids on me and when I’m concentrated on pace, I don’t sip so much anyway.

Thank god I have PDR beforehand is all I can say, because I usually get all nervous around water stops, to the point where I’ll skip a stop I should use to avoid dealing with it, so it’ll be important to have another practice session before the big day. But who knows, I love my handheld, maybe we’ll do the big race together. Lol, it’s something to ruminate over for the next couple months, anyway, and we all know how I love to ruminate…