Posts Tagged ‘pfitz 18/55’

Back on March 18th, I wrote in a blog post, “…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 how lovely to read on CNN Health yesterday, in an article about melamine tainted milk from China, the very last paragraph, “The FDA also recommends that U.S. consumers not eat White Rabbit Creamy Candy, which in China has been found to contain unacceptable levels of melamine. The candy’s maker, Guanshengyuan, has recalled its exports of White Rabbit Cream Candy.”

You know, this would be simply hilarious if it wasn’t for a small niggle in my blood test results from last week.  Seems my kidney function is a tad off and I have to go back for another test in a couple weeks.  I’m sure it’s not connected, probably just something left from the dehydration incident, but I did eat two or 3 bags of those White Rabbits since March, and melamine affects the kidneys, so it’s freaky-deaky, if nothing else.

Back to running…

Today was a  scheduled 8miles w/3×1600 @ 5K race pace w 2min. rest intervals.  Since I wanted to use the park markings instead of my Garmin, I went for 3xmile, my favorite (cough, cough) interval distance.  Honestly, I’m pretty good with shorter intervals, I can find the fun in it, but miles?  No fun to be had there, just looking for the end from about 1/4 mile in.  I can’t help it, I hate ‘em.

As you remember, I’ve been basing my intervals off a 3:40 marathon goal’s corresponding McMillan calculated 5K, so 7:15s.  Even though I’ve downgraded to a 3:45 marathon goal since my hell race, I figure I should keep the same workout goals since I’ve been doing them all along and hitting my paces well.

So was it any surprise that I berated myself when the first interval came out to 7:23?  Thank god the next one was right on target, 7:15, but oh my…the last one?  Horrible, terrible, must quit running forever with a shameful embarrassment of an interval, 7:29.  Average for the interval set: 7:22.

I wasn’t surprised the intervals were all over the place, this was the first time I used the 1/4 mile park markers instead of relying on Garmin feedback, and I’m sure I’ll get better the more I do it, but this was not the collection of 7:15s I was seeking.

The whole way home my confidence was shot, I was thinking how I’ve been deluding myself this whole time, I suck, blah blah, loser, blah, I’ll be lucky to crack 4:00, etc.  Then I realized two things:

1. A mile is longer than 1600m, so my 7:23, 7:25, 7:29 miles actually come out to 7:20, 7:12, 7:26 1600s, which averages 7:19.  Better!  Still…not quite what Pete Pfitzinger told me to do. But wait, what does our friend McMillan say?

2.  McMillan says that 1600s for a 3:40 marathon should be between 7:13 and 7:29.  Hey! Mine were 7:20, 7:12 and 7:26.  I CAN LIVE!!  No shameful runner death for me today.  I’m right where I need to be.  McMillan’s the man!

So life is back to normal after my death trudge home (could I be any more dramatic over a few lousy seconds?).  Now it’s time to ponder the fact that I ate candy containing the same substance as the cheap table top I’m typing on.  Neat.

I was looking forward to today’s workout, which is hilarious considering it was intervals, but after you do a couple workouts of 1000s and 1200s, 8 w/5x600s and 90sec. recoveries sounds just about fun.

Then I wake up this morning thinking it might not be such a great workout after all.  I didn’t sleep well and yesterday my quads had a little DOMs after  Sunday’s sauna run, which I still felt when I woke up.  Add to that, I checked my resting HR upon waking and it was a bit higher than usual, mid-50s.  Not that I pay a huge amount of attention to it, I don’t do low HR training, but it is a possible sign of overworking, though probably just lack of sleep.

All these nit-picks aside, the weather today was totally in my favor – 65 with 49% humidity and overcast.  Heaven.

So I start this shindig really slow, 4 warmup miles around 9:30 avg. and I wonder as I’m running, how I’m going to infuse myself with enough energy for intervals.  I’m perfectly happy plodding along and the thought of going fast sounds as fun as pushing boulders, at this point.  I wonder on the third mile if I should do a couple strides beforehand to get myself moving, but seriously, I’m too lazy.  I figure, whatever, I’ll just do this.

As usual, if you’ve been following, my interval goal pace is 7:15s (goal 5K pace converted off my goal marathon time of 3:40).  So the first one starts, I make a point not to check my Garmin till half-way, because, without fail, I always start too fast on the first one, then see the number, get shocked, pull back, then go too slow, then have to speed up to get normal again.  It’s silly.  Today, I’m just going to do them and whatever happens, happens.

So the first one ends, hmmm…7:10.  Good, a tad bit too fast, but reasonable.  The second one, 7:10 again.  Uh, ok.  Third…7:01.  This is weird.  Ordinarily, I’d be all, “oh no, way too fast, I’m going to die on the others, must…hold…back.”.  Today, I’m like, “cool, lets see what else”.  Fourth comes…7:03.  Wow, this is going well.  Then one more to finish off the set…7:07.

Avg pace – 7:06, the fastest set of intervals I’ve ever run!  And as for the make-sure-you-didn’t-do-them-too-fast test of “could you do another at that speed?”, I’d say, why yes, I sure could of!  And that leaves me feeling downright jubilant, because I’m not so far off from being in a new “minute”, as I refer to it.

See, I visualize my progress as a huge clock face.  My paces for the past few months leave me restful in the 10s, comfortably situated in the 9s, visiting the 8s quite a bit, and when I’m frisky, I’ll hang out with my racier pals, the 7s.  So to think I may be hanging with the devil-may-care 6s before too long is wild!

But enough future flight of fancies, back to the rest of this week.  I’ve got 11 easy tomorrow with a trip up and down smile hill.  Then 4 recovery, a day off, and 4 w/strides.  Then Sunday, it’s the Philadelphia Distance Run!! And now, because I’m shameless, reckless and somewhat stupid, I’ll announce my goals here for all to see: I’d be cool with 1:46:something, very happy with 1:45:something and thrilled with 1:44:something.

We shall see…

That was downright painful.  I knew it would be, 20 miles on a day that, before it was even light out, had a Heat Index of 78.  And this week I learned about dewpoint, which is actually the number that can make a run particularly miserable, more so than humidity.  Anything with a dewpoint over 65 will suck big bananas, today’s was 70 when I left and 72 when I returned (aren’t those things supposed to go down as the day progresses??).

I also had a bit of a scare yesterday on my 4-mile recovery run.  I wore my Asics 2130s knowing they’re no longer good shoes for me for regular runs (not because they’re used up, but because they don’t agree with my ankles and feet), but anyway, I figured some slow recovery miles couldn’t hurt.  I was wrong.  I felt this terrible pain at my heel/ankle, where my dormant bursitis exists, that came and went throughout yesterday’s run.  So all day I did major ibuprofen and ice, scared shitless because an injury at this point would be the LAST thing I need.  Thankfully, it didn’t appear once on the run today and as for those shoes, if I had a gun I’d take them in the backyard and shoot them full of holes, instead they’ll be going to Goodwill this week.

Back to today’s run, I put on my lightest shorts, bra top, My Precious Marathon Shoes for the second time, gel flask rigged to hold some S-caps (because if I ever needed them, today was the day), handheld, and I was gone.  It was 6:23 when I left, just starting to get light out and it was cloudy for the first half of the run, so that helped.  I forgot to eat before I left and was thinking I should have had a little bagel with peanut butter, but was 2 miles in by then, so banished the thought.

Around mile 8, I passed a cute guy in green wearing a hydration belt who said with a smile, “Oh my god, it’s Flo.” then gave me a high-five.  I figured I knew him (because I have a horrible memory for faces, among other things) so trying to not let on, I replied, “How are ya?” as I slapped his palm, to which he answered back something about “Three blocks”, and while I wasted time trying to figure out what he meant (3 blocks left to go? there are no blocks here…) I realized he’d actually said “I read your blog”.  And that was an instant “oh wow how cool” moment, but by that time I’d figured it out, he was too far away to say so.  So Cute Green Guy, you better leave a comment here so I know who you are, it totally gave me an energy infusion and left me with a huge smile on my face!!  Thank you!!

That smile lasted until about mile 15 when I first noticed my feet were as soaked as if I’d been tromping through puddles, nevermind my clothes which had become completely soaked through miles earlier.  I hadn’t put any bodyglide on my feet, so luckily I didn’t feel blisters forming but was ultra aware of the massive pruning going on in my shoes.  Not comfortable.

By then the sun was out, too and while I had originally planned to take a jaunt up Smile Hill, I was so miserably wet and hot by the time I got near it, I said, “fuck it” and made a date with the hill for this Wednesday when I have an 11-miler.  There would be no jaunting today.

As far as pacing goes, I started reeeeeal slow today because I knew the humidity would be a killer, so the first mile was a blistering 10:21, which is funny considering I never would have run that slow before marathon training, but I didn’t give a crap today.  My plan had been to do the proper Pfitz paces, staying around 10s for the first half, moving to Pfitz’s 10% over MP for the second half, which would have been 9:13s.

What ended up was a bit faster (but not hugely), ending with 8:50s for the last miles, average pace for the run today: 9:22 (this includes 3 stops for water refills).  Not bad considering it was such a disgusting day.  In fact, it’s my 4th 20-22 this training cycle and my fastest, despite the conditions. But I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking too pretty at the end, felt like a panting dog and just wanted it to be over.  I almost considered taking a walk break around 18.5, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I’d seen those 8:50s and wanted to keep it that way.

So that’s my adventure.  Once I got home, I stripped down and parked myself in front of the fan, standing on a towel to sop up the dripping water, then left watery footprints everywhere as I dragged myself to the kitchen for a glass of water.  You’d think I lived at the city pool.

Anyway, it’s over. Like I said before, I hope this isn’t my last 20, but I only have one more opportunity for one and that’ll be 2 weeks before the marathon which can go either way.  Depends on how the Philadelphia Distance Run goes next weekend, if I don’t require any extra recovery.

So yeah…big race next Sunday, a half-marathon!  While I won’t be fully tapered, this will be a looser week, so hopefully I can manage a great race.  But now, must take a long shower and wash the salt crust off, happy in the fact that I completed one of the toughest runs this training cycle.  Later, my lovelies!!  And I hope you also had a productive, if not soaking, long run this weekend.

Jeez (or is that geez? anyway…) this marathon plan thing is finally nearing the end stages, today’s Sept. 10th and the big day is Oct. 12th.  Amazing how time has flown.  I just realized that all the LT workouts are over and done with, no more tempo runs for the duration of the plan and today, because I switched weeks 3 and 4 to accommodate PDR, was the next to last major interval session (“major” in my book means longer than 600s, which are pretty easy compared to 1000s and over).

Today’s workout was 10 miles w/ 4x1200s @ 5K pace w/2 min recovery between.  It was a really nice morning, 65 when I got out at 8:15, so already a big improvement over the sweaty 1000s from last week.  Warmup was 3:35 miles (puts me at the primo spot in the park for 1200s), then the intervals, then cooldown was a tired 3:13 home.

As usual per intervals during this plan, today’s goal was 7:15 pace and that’s about how it shaped up (a little better, actually).  Splits, by pace: 7:12, 7:12, 7:06 and 7:15, for an average of 7:11.  Felt good about it, but wished I had a limo to drive me the last 3:13 miles back.

Getting a little sentimental already about the plan ending and the marathon approaching.  It’s been so nice to be in training limbo all this time, the big race like a fuzzy future task on a very long to-do list.  Soon that task will be checked off and with that, I’ve started thinking about Plan B in case it goes south (because I’ve found, no matter what the subject matter is in life, it’s always good to have a Plan B).  Plan B marathon-wise is, if Steamtown is a bust, to do the Philly marathon, provided it doesn’t sell out like last year.

Then there’s Plan C for when the Fall marathon season is over.  I’ve really taken a liking to Pfitzinger’s training methods, since I haven’t had an inkling of injury during this whole training period.  I suspect that’s due to Pfitz’s doling out the hard workouts discriminantly and making those mid-long runs a weekly staple, seems like it all works together to make you strong without taxing you beyond your means.

Anyway, I’ve got his “Road Racing For Serious Runners” and plan to use the the plans for shorter races to get me through the Spring.  That should give me a boost of speed for next summer when I start this Marathon party all over again.  The question at that point will be, which marathon and where?  But before I get ahead of myself, let’s see what the next month brings.

And I’m not sure if I mentioned this (I know I repeat myself all over this blog, but I’m nearing AARP status, so forgive me) that though my plan is to BQ in Steamtown, if I succeed, I don’t actually want to run Boston next year.  Not only for my fear of massive group situations that require boatloads of moolah for hotels, etc., I want to get faster and more experienced before making that big Boston debut.

There is a part of me that says, “that’s stupid, you’re not getting any younger and what happens if you break your leg in 10 places and won’t be able to run again?”  Well then, I’ll be pissed off no matter what, and Boston will be just one more thing I’ll have missed out on.  But enough dark “what ifs?”, what if I have a long, long love affair with running that takes me into my 70s and 80s?  That’s the one I’m betting on.

Today was the day I’ve been scared of for a while now, my second (and last) MP run on the Pfitz plan: 17 miles w/14MP.  With my 3:40 goal, we’re talking 14 @ 8:23/mi.

If you’re just tuning in, my fear of this run arose from a not-so-great first MP run last month.  Though I completed the run as required, I was disappointed that it felt harder than I think it should have, and although that was likely due to the fact that I got sloshed the night before, I couldn’t help thinking “what if that’s my fitness talking, not the booze?” so today was very important as far as determining if my goal pace is a pipe dream or a viable prospect.

With that in mind, I knew I could complete the workout today no matter what (I’m bulldog determined, if nothing else), but I was truly concerned with how it’d feel – if it was in any way a struggle like the last one, I would have to reassess my goal, no ifs, ands or buts.

So yesterday was full of freakouts while I scanned the weather sites all day.  First it was set to be 21mph winds, then it was 97% humidity with a high dewpoint, both of which would make it uncomfortable and harder.  In the end, both threats were totally unfounded, it was a gorgeous morning today, sunny and 68 at 7am, humidity from 67% to 50% by the end of the run.

Had a pretty good sleep despite the fact that I’ve developed a habit of waking up around 4am for tossing and turning when an important run is scheduled.  I’m used to it now, so no surprise.  Woke up, made myself eat a bit of oatmeal, had the prerequisite coffee for poop-making (works every time), dressed, filled the flask with a couple gels, took the handheld out of the fridge, clipped on my mp3 player, stuck sunglasses on my head and out the door I went.

My plan was to stay on my favorite side of the river today, even though it meant covering the same ground a couple times, it’s more fun due to better people-watching and I wasn’t disappointed, runners were out in droves.  It was a fuel-belt fashion show today with all the marathoners doing their thing.

But I am wasting time getting to the good stuff, huh?  hee hee

I KILLED IT!!!  From the very beginning of the MP miles, I felt so comfortable about it, I was reminded of what it’s like when you’re looking for a new place to live, you look at a few houses and you know they just aren’t right, then you open the door to the one and you just know, this is it.  That’s how I felt at Marathon Pace today.  All the doubts that have been living with me, for oh…since I registered were quieted in an instant.  I just KNEW this is the right pace, the right goal – my Marathon House.

When I got to the 10th MP mile (mile 13 overall), I started to feel a bit tired, but I said to myself, “This is MY house!  I belong here!” and wouldn’t you know, I owned it again, gathering strength as it went.

My MP splits were: 8:23, 8:23, 8:16, 8:17, 8:20, 8:23, 8:23, 8:25, 8:21, 8:25, 8:21, 8:13, 8:12, 8:09.  Avg MP miles 8:19.  And remember folks, Steamtown is a net downhill of 955′, so it’s looking beautiful for Oct. 12.

And with that, I’m high on life right now…seriously.  My body feels great, legs feel fab, the only reminder is my butt’s a bit tired (go figure), but that’s it!  So tonight I’ve got some serious celebration on tap, a delayed birthday dinner with friends, but in my mind, I’ll be celebrating this run and the excitement of an adventure on the brink.

Today was supposed to be 5 recovery so I didn’t get out until 8:30, figuring who cares if it’s 80 degrees, I’ll be going slow.  But then I got that weird rebelliousness in me and ran it GA instead.  I was bitching at myself while doing it, so I really don’t get my motives, except to say it must be some weird confirmation thing.  Like when you bite the inside of your mouth and keep doing it to confirm that yes, it really does hurt.  Except in this case, it’s to confirm that yes, I really can run faster than a snail. Don’t know why I can’t just believe it and let it go.

But anyway, I did it like a pyramid because once I got to the middle with an MP mile, I realized I’d better pull back since I have 14 of those on Sunday.  Avg. for today’s run: 8:43.  Yeah, I know, none of the times I post are really speedy at all, but considering the pace the plan asks for, it was naughtily fast.

So tomorrow is my birthday, I’m going to be 47 years old!  How in hell did this happen?!?  The funny thing is my marathon training has overtaken so many parts of my life that I’ve requested no celebration tomorrow night, knowing that it could mess with my MP run on Sunday.

I posted something in my Women’s BQ thread along these lines also, because I have some cute chunky platform flip-flops that I’ve stopped wearing because I’m afraid I’ll slide off and hurt my ankle.  I also imagine myself tripping on the sidewalk or being run into by a bicyclist, laming me and ruining my marathon dream.  And I know my friends are tired of hearing, “no thanks, I’m going to stay in, I have a hard run tomorrow”, but it’s the sad truth, I’d rather have a great run than go out.  Then again, I’m a hermit anyway, so quite a handy excuse.

But enough imaginings from the Pre-Marathon Drama Queen, how about today’s musical pick?

I’m usually a New Music/Alternative freak but I love a great melodic theme no matter what the genre (add a great hook and I’m there).  So don’t be surprised that today’s fave tune has a Southern Rock type feel: Cocaine Cowgirl by Matt Mays.  Extraordinarily cheezy video, but it’s the only way to play you the song.  Anyway, it has this wonderful melancholy opening guitar riff that laces through the whole tune.  And besides, who doesn’t like a good druggy song every now and then?