Archive for March, 2010

Last week’s race was a very good thing.  Yeah, I didn’t PR but I knew I wasn’t going to and I thought I was going to end up in the 1:36s so I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  But most importantly, I appreciated the clarity it gave me for choosing my goal pace for Boston.

It was a bit of an ego bruise this cycle; everything was a little tougher, a little slower, my head and heart weren’t as committed, but with the outcome of Sunday’s Half, I was given solid numbers to target, which was like letting out a big, comfortable sigh.  It was the not knowing exactly what I’d lost that was making me tense.  Having this race result gave me “permission” to target something slower.  Weird but it’s how I look at it.

So with the revised goal pace, I had a really solid MP run on Saturday, 12 w/10mi at 7:45s.   My HR was a steady line which told me I would be good to go at that pace and effort-wise, I felt phenomenal, as if it was simply a peppy long run.  In fact my cooldown mile only slowed by about 5 seconds, I felt that good.

Today was my last 20 and I cannot tell you how glad I am to be done with them.  The idea that I may never do one again tickles me pink.  I honestly don’t remember in the last two marathon cycles being as uncomfortable on my 20s as I was this time.

Maybe it’s because all but one were prefaced with a quality run on Saturday and I made a point to do them all in the trails so I’d get more elevation and fancy footing and it doesn’t help that half of my big toenail is now purple from the 20 two weeks ago and still hurting, so…how about a little whine with that cheese?  Hee

The wrap-up
This week was my peak week with 72.2 miles, just shy of what my average mileage was last cycle.  As for long runs, I ended up with two 18s and four 20s, but nothing longer.  Last cycle I did  two 18s, a 20,  two 22s and a 24, so I’m slightly concerned about “time on my feet” but obviously not enough to have run farther.  Lol, I know I slacked some, no secret there, but truth be told, I think I’ll be fine.  I’m feeling as if I’m just beginning to hit my stride again!  This is a very good thing.

Did my first proper (non-Billat) interval session in 6 weeks and am happy to say, saw a clear sign of progress, something I took for granted last year till it starting backing up on me like a gas station toilet.

Today’s session was 10.20mi total: 2.75mi to my interval spot, 5 x 1000 w/2min recoveries, then 3.25mi home.  The intervals averaged 4:07 (6:37 pace) and when I compare that to my last set of intervals 6 weeks ago (6×800 w/2min rec’s. averaging 6:54), that’s a solid improvement and getting closer to last Fall’s times.  Looks like the Billats were not spinning my wheels one bit.

Another happy thing about this workout was it’s only the 2nd time I’ve ever hit my max recorded HR of 193, which I was beginning to think I’d dreamt up.  The first and only other time it’s ever hit it was in 2007 at my first 5K and that’s what I’ve been basing my HR around (calling it 198 since it’s unlikely you ever hit 100%).

The interesting thing is that I once hit 192 a year ago, also doing 1000m intervals, so perhaps that particular distance draws it out of me better than any other.  It was 65 degrees today, so that probably helped sneak it up there, too.  All I know is, however it got up there it’s a relief since for quite a while now, my max HR has felt capped, that my tempos were reaching the same max as my speed sessions (too high for a tempo, too low for speed).

And for the record, I averaged 184 on those intervals.  Don’t want you to think my heart was about to explode or anything.

Weight
Yay! I finally hit my usual “normal” weight of 117.5 this week (4 lbs lost).  I haven’t been sacrificing much, just stopped buying cookies and candy and have been eating salad for most dinners – which I love.  I stick in a handful of walnuts and dried cranberries along with tons of veggies, so it’s not a sacrificial meal.  I’m still eating my nightly ice cream topped with sweet cereal for added yummy crunchiness.

Breakfast is usually a 5-grain hot cereal with tons of cinnamon and some sweet-n-low (nobody’s perfect), lunch is a turkey sandwich and I’ve been addicted to Bobbi’s Hummus (thanks Jenn!) so I eat that daily as a snack with crackers.  One main thing is I stopped buying huge bread.  Seriously, I was getting very large sliced bread which means more peanut butter or whatever you slather on there.

I was 119lbs. when I ran Philly but my best races last season were at 115.5, so it looks like I’ll be right there again for Boston.  As mentioned before, I hate to say this stuff with so many people having body issues, but it’s physics, so there’s no sense pretending it doesn’t make a difference.  And for those tsk-tsking readers (you know who you are) remember, I’m 5’4″…so 115 is not a radical body weight by any means but it will, unquestionably, be an important component to racing well.

The Wheelchair Lady
If you’re my friend on Facebook, you’ve already read about that lady on Tuesday.  As I was finishing up a 12-miler, a stones throw from my front door, a woman passed me in an electric wheelchair and called out, “run an extra mile for me!”.  If it wasn’t a couple days after the race with me feeling achy still, I would have, but I didn’t, I just wanted to stop.  And I got called out for it a tad.

Of course, I felt like shit for not doing it but I’m honest about my foibles and that was one.  So yesterday I ran 2 miles extra for her, did an 11 instead of the 9 I had planned.  Made me feel somewhat better but hey, I think we all know I’m a solid bitch at heart.  I got no problems with that, since I have enough sweetness to equal out.  hee hee

Boston Goal
Been thinking about this a bit and am hereby declaring it…3:25, nothing faster.  My race last Sunday calculates out to a 3:20:26 marathon but it was on a totally flat course, so I figure 5 minutes of leeway should do me alright.  If not, and I end up slowing down more, that’s cool too, I really don’t give a crap.

I’m looking forward to trying out my new marathon pace this Saturday since it’s slower than any of my goal MP workouts thus far.  I hope to see a very pretty number on the HR monitor.  That’ll tell me if I shouldn’t dumb it down further, which would suck since I walked such a large amount of Philly for a 3:33, but hey, it’ll be what it’ll be…the Heart knows.

Road Trip To Virginia Beach
Saturday morning, I drive to Audra‘s mom’s house in NJ so we can begin our road trip: Loren, Audra and I, Loren and Audra having driven down from NYC the night before.  Loren greets me with “I’ve got diarrhea” which was the theme for the weekend.  We bundle into Loren and Audra’s car and off we go, a little after 9am so we can get to the Expo by late afternoon.

I’ve printed out Google’s directions which tells us it’s a 6-hour drive to Virginia Beach but the route is slow with many stop lights.  I didn’t really check out the directions since Google has always been good for me in the past, so when we get to the bottom of NJ and Audra reads out the next direction “ferry to Lewes – 16.5 miles”, I’m thinking “oh, that means turn off by this port here, not really take the ferry”  No.  It meant take the ferry.

How did we end up on a ferry?

Not only does Google slip in the stupid ferry (which was an unexpected $45.00) but it only runs 4 times a day!! We got there just as they were boarding, if we had been 10 minutes later, we’d have been absolutely screwed.  Plus, Google says 37 minutes for the ferry but it took over 1:30, so now we’re beginning to worry if we’ll get to the Expo before it closes.

More crappy directions from Google (slowest route EVER) and we get to Virginia Beach at 4:15.  We meet Kat at the hotel and get to the Expo with about 15 minutes to spare.  Whew!  On the way, Audra had spotted an Italian restaurant, so we eat early which meant I didn’t have time to fit in a run.  I was a bit worried about this since I’d taken Friday off and I never take 2 days off in a row, plus I was planning on a shakeout run.  Oh well.

My Big Toe
On my 20-miler last Sunday, something happened to my big toe and I’ve had pressure on it all week though there wasn’t any visible bruising.  It’s been a worry for the race but I figured it’d go away by Sunday…alas, no.  So we come back from dinner and on a whim, I take one of the safety pins meant for the race bib and stick it under my nail.  Voila, clear liquid comes out.  There had been a blister there the whole time and finally, the pressure was gone.

With that, I knew it could be a good race.

Team BQ Babes - Audra, Loren, Me and Kat

The Race
We jog to the start, thanks to Kat getting us a great hotel just a few blocks from the start and finish, we didn’t even have to check our bags.  It’s a beautiful morning.  Us Halfers got great weather – the Full folks weren’t so lucky, it got up to 70 degrees for them, but for us, 50 at the start finishing around 60.

7 a.m. and the gun goes off.

As you know, I’ve been pretty worried about the whole race scenario and what I’d be able to manage since my tempos have been so-so and Tuesday’s was just plain awful.  I was thinking 7:19s for a target since that was my last good 5mile tempo run.

My first mile is 7:21 and I’m hyper-vigilant of how I feel, “can I hold this?” “should I stay here?”  “how exactly am I feeling?”  I haven’t a clue, really.  But I think I can go a bit faster, so I do.

If anyone thinks Philly’s flat, it’s a mountainous region compared to Shamrock.  This thing is flat as a pancake and I loved every inch of it.  Woody sections, beachy sections, a lighthouse, beer (though I didn’t partake), just a lovely course.  But I didn’t pay attention to that as much as to a bunch of girls butts.

Girls Butts
There were 2 lithe cute girls in green plaid running skirts who had started before me.  They looked fast and I knew I’d never pass them, but I just tried keeping those skirts in view to keep the gap from getting too big.  Around mile 4, I passed them.  OK, butt set #1, down.

Next was some woman in capris and pigtails, a tiny, fast looking thing, but I overtook her without any ado. Then I followed some chick in navy Race Ready shorts (it really was all about the butts) for a couple miles till suddenly, boom, gone.  And it kept happening.  I’d see another girl in front of me looking strong, follow a while  and poof, I was in front.

For the longest time there was this one girl in light blue shorts.  I was pretty close to her for several miles – again, not expecting to pass her, I just wanted her to stay close was all, she had great form so I actually thought at one point “I don’t need to pass you, just stay there as my carrot” so again, huge surprise when I gave a little push, got alongside her and she said “great running” to me, to which I replied, “me?  I’ve been chasing your ass for miles now, great job yourself!” and then I passed her.

A few more butts, including one at 1.5 miles to go that I was reticent about passing because I thought she’d give me a run for my money, but no…she didn’t try to catch up.  It was weird, actually.  I’ve never picked off people like that in any race before.

Finally, and god I hope the race photographers got this, on the stretch of boardwalk about .25 mi from the finish line, some woman comes out of nowhere, an older woman (these others were all a lot younger which is why I was ok with the idea of them beating me) and kicks right in front of me.

“Oh no you di-unt, bitch” is what goes through my mind and I have no idea where this extra gear came from, because I was already busting a gut that last stretch, but we ran neck and neck like 2 crazy old madwomen for a really good piece, till I finally had to let her go.  I couldn’t keep it up but wow, I sure thank her for appearing because she got me a faster finish time.

My splits were this: 7:21, 7:11, 7:09, 7:14, 7:15, 7:17, 7:11, 7:13, 7:22, 7:15, 7:14, 7:17, 7:09 and whatever’s left over for the extra bit (didn’t stop my Garmin, as usual).  The slower middle mile coincides with the course as it curved around and met some wind.  I carried my 12oz handheld and took 2 gels at miles 5 and 10.

Final Outcome
We had no idea how we’d done!  They didn’t post results anywhere or have an awards ceremony so it wasn’t till we were driving back that we got a call telling us how we did.  I did 1:35:02 which got me #1 in my Age Group, Kat and Audra had huge-ass PRs and Loren did amazingly well considering she was diarrhea woman.  Together, our team got #1!  3rd overall behind 2 mens teams, so what a fabulous surprise bonus.

Meredith and Elizabeth
Yet another high point of this most stellar weekend was meeting two wonderful women I’ve known through the forums but never had a chance to meet.  Meredith (aka MereRunner) on RW is just plain fucking fast.  That’s all I have to say about her.  She got a 1:25:59 in the Half.  OK, I have more to say…she is so sweet!  Just an absolute doll of a girl.  Really glad to have met her.

Elizabeth, aka Greenlee, is someone I’ve been wanting to meet for about 2 years now, she’s another babe from the Women’s BQ thread and we got to see her on the course though it broke my heart for her that she was not having a good day.  As mentioned above, it got really hot for the marathoners (why did they start them an hour after us?) so she was burning up.  Kat and I ran with her for a few steps then we had a short chat and some hugs.  She ended early but will be victorious at her next one, I’m sure of it!

Epilogue
Dear Kat, Audra and Loren,
I had the time of my life these last couple days.  Thank you so much for making it an incredibly fun weekend.  I’ve eaten just about all the salt water taffy so my tummy’s full, but so is my heart.  Much love to you and I hope we can do this again many more times and soon (though maybe we’ll skip the ferry ride next time).

Lobster Mammogram

Tomorrow morning, I drive with Audra and Loren down to Virginia to meet our team leader/friend Kat for the Shamrock Half Marathon on Sunday.  I’ve got absolutely no idea how it’ll go, especially after a genuinely crappy tempo run on Tuesday which solidified any self-doubt I’d been harboring.

The crap run was 9mi w/ 2 x 1.75mi w/2:00 rec. (they were doing construction on the path, thus the odd distance).  The first section was into a strong wind and it took me the better part of a mile to get up to speed, but “speed” is a misnomer in this case:  7:24avg.  The second one was on the tailwind, so 7:08.  Stupidly large difference between the two even with wind.  And both felt too difficult.   Headcase?  Yes.

After this run, I cried on the virtual shoulder of a dear running friend of mine and asked, “how can I not be embarrassed by whatever I end up running this weekend?”  Pathetic, I know.  After some smart, calming words, he brought me off my psycho perch back into the place where common sense lives.   So now I’m looking forward to the race, running hard and the adventure us girls will get up to on a weekend out of town.  Just gotta stay out of that head o’ mine!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!  There are a ton of folks who’ll be pumpin’ hard in the next two days: from marathons to Halfs, 12ks to 10ks and 5ks, it’s going to be a fun week for race reports.  I hope everyone has a great time, no matter what the clock says.  But it’ll be cool if everyone’s clocks make them happy, too.

Kisses to all and have a great weekend!

It’s Sunday night and I’m content. I had a couple of fine runs today and yesterday.  Mileage total for the week: 69.  All is right with the world.

Saturday
12 miles, 8:27 avg.  Soaking and gusty like hell, as most of you guys experienced, there was no waiting for a dry or calm moment, so I put on my rain jacket and braved the elements. I wanted to wear a hat (I love a billed cap in the rain to keep my eyes comfortable) but it was so windy, I knew I’d be chasing after it, so left it behind.  Instead, I brought my sunglasses with the clear frames snapped in but they just got hard to see out of, so finally, I ended up au naturel, eyes-wise.

It was oddly fun in that battling Mother Nature way except on Falls Bridge where I had a couple scary moments of thinking I’d be blown into traffic or over the rail, the wind was that crazy, but in the end, I live to write this fabulous post.

Sunday
Half road, half trail, 20 avg. 8:36/mi.  My third 20 of the cycle (I’ll have 4 total now…so much for 19s) and for some reason, I didn’t think much about it at all beforehand. I think this is due to the weather – today was a perfect overcast 52 degrees, I only had to wait till after the rain stopped at around 2pm.

It was beautiful out, I love a dark day. There was one point coming back, around mile 17 though, that I got discouraged. My feet were hurting and this is a common problem in both my marathons so far, so I was “oh shit, not so soon!”.  But then I realized the clicking noise that had been following me for some time was a big rock stuck in the tread of my shoe, so once I got that out, my foot was way better. Even so, I think tired feet will always be a problem with me when running distance. I guess we all have a weak area and that’s mine.

Fueling-wise, I carried my 20 oz. handheld and had 2 gels, one at 1:30 and one about 35 minutes later.  I think it helped that I did that.  I won’t scrimp on gels again.

Race Correction
Annoying to be sure, that 5-miler a couple weeks ago where I supposedly won 1st has been downgraded (I only know this because I saw the results in Athlinks). First off, the #1 woman won Masters, so she shows as #1 in the AG, then some other woman is now #2 by 1 second over me…1 second! So that makes me #2 or #3, but owning the First Place medal. I hate that shit – rather be awarded what I deserve even if it’s less. Oh well. Just wanted to put it out there for full disclosure’s sake.

This Week
I’m due a cutback and the timing is perfect because I’m doing the Shamrock Half Marathon this weekend down in Virginia, so this way I get a bit of a taper.  It’ll be a blast because it’s a team effort with Kat, Audra and Loren, the latter two I’ll be hitching a ride with.  It’s not a relay or anything, just an open team but it’ll be way fun.

I’m pretty unsure about what goal to shoot for.  As mentioned a zillion times, I’ve been running slower this cycle but suddenly with the weather change and also, I’m a couple lbs lighter finally (eat salad every night and buy sliced bread that is not as large as your head) I seem to be running a tad faster.  Still, I’m thinking something in the 1:35 area will be likely.

I haven’t mentioned my Boston goal lately but I’m figuring 3:22-3:25 is where it’ll play out.  I’d be cool with that.  The main thing is, I just don’t want to hurt.  I remember being a brave girl at one time or another, but now that I’ve had things go south a few times, I think about it quite a bit on my long runs.   I’m always disappointed that miles 17 and on don’t feel as easy as I’d like and every time, I do the math to confirm how many miles I’ll have left to deal with at the race.  It’s like when you bite the inside of your cheek and stupidly keep biting it to remind yourself it’s there.  An exercise in futility.

What are the choices?  Either set the bar so low the chances of pain are minimal or inch it up a tad because your training warrants it.  I’m inching, but I’m not overextending, at least I think/hope so.  Who knows?  One thing’s for sure, I’m genuinely happy right now, happy with my running and so excited to see (and finally meet!) all my friends in April.  Yes, I dread the race, but much less than before.  It’s now a low-level hum laced with that eternal question “what is this gonna feel like?”  In 5 weeks, we shall see.

I’m liking this week so far.  It started a little rough but that was due to a pretty strong weekend of running.

Monday was a 7mi recovery @9:10

Tuesday was my Billat 30-30s, averaged 8:23 for the run.  The warmup miles were quite slow because I was still in creaky mode, but the fast bit went without incident, or rather, a tiny incident.  My inner quad got a little ping about 1/2 through the fast bits, not enough to make me stop but enough that I felt it on…

Wednesday’s run, which I’d planned for 9, but cut down to 6 @ 8:58, figuring better to be safe with the tweak and besides, there’s no loss cutting 3mi from a recovery, yet I’d have been sad to compromise a “real” run.

Thursday, (a.k.a. this morning) I was in a bad mood when I woke up, which is funny since I realized from a post I made last week on Facebook that last Thursday sucked upon waking, too.  But thanks to the beauty of running, like last week, I snapped out of it once I hit the road.  My schedule called for a 13-miler with tempo but because I didn’t want to tempt the inner quad, I figured I’d do regular GA pace and hit the ramp a few times by the museum as a quasi hill run.

I ended up only doing the ramp once and went on the other side of the museum/river for the first few miles, just for a fun change.  As the first couple miles went down, I noticed my energy level was increasing.  First mile was 8:52 but with each passing mile, I progressively got faster till my last 2 were 7:35s, bringing the whole run to avg 8:05.  My legs felt great, my mind felt great, it was just…great!

Tomorrow is a day off and then Saturday, some MP miles and Sunday, a 20.  We’ll see, since Saturday says “heavy rains/wind” – if so, I’ll just run easy.  I’m  in that nebulous place between full effort and slacker mode.  I know I’m putting in some good runs but I’m also not pushing as much as I could which, depending on the day, has me either “eh, who cares? it’s enough” or “oh shit, I’m going to suck horribly in Boston”.  Generally the former wins, the latter seems to be limited to Thursday waking up.

Newsletter

Sent #3 out and must apologize for a lack of editing on the Swedish stair piece, I don’t generally write “experiment” two times in one sentence.  And also, I’m not so sure that is a guy in the Jazzercise video, so my apologies to the woman with the horrible haircut.