Posts Tagged ‘races’

On this last day of 2009, a year where I experienced quite a bit of crazy stuff both in running and personal life, I wanted to thank you, my dear readers and commenters, for helping out with your wisdom, humor and constant support.  You guys really made this year a lot less crappy in many ways.  When I needed to vent or felt beaten down, you all made a point to speak up and lift my spirits.  When I felt jubilant (because it wasn’t all crap this year, lol) when my paces took that crazy dive in the Spring, you guys were never shy to pat me on the back and say how great it was.  I’m so incredibly lucky to have you all as a cheering section, so thank you, thank you, thank you.  You made a real impact in my life.

2009 Mileage: My friend Ron on the 3:20 thread reminded us that not only would today’s run be the last of the year, it’s the last of the Decade!  How fun to have that zenith.  I ran 3112 miles this year, 1076 over last year.  Funny to know that it’ll be my lifelong mileage record.  It’s all good though – I figure even after April, once I’ve settled into Half territory, I’ll still average mid to high 60s, so no huge drop in store.

Recent Runs: I had a great 10-miler yesterday, pumped by my decision to make Boston the final word.  I’ve been thinking about that stuff for the entire month so it’s a big weight lifted off my shoulders.  I felt light and happy, 10 miles at 8:18.  Today was a short 6 on fresh snow, 8:45s.

Looking ahead: Kat, Doggie, Loren and I are signed up for Shamrock!  Kat saw they were selling out yesterday and the price goes up to $90 tomorrow (it’s already $80 for a damn Half! $86 when you count Active’s cut) so it was time to get on it.  We signed up as an Open Team since Dog and Loren are annoyingly too young to be Masters.  Anyway, after feeling so blah a couple days ago about registering for this race, I’m glad we committed, it’s great to have an interim goal for the Spring.

And with that, my sweets, I’m wishing you all a fantastic 2010.  May it be the start of something wonderful in your lives whether that’s running-related, love-related, moolah-related or whatever.   Onward and upward, folks.  That’s what it’s about.

Much love,
Flo

An uneventful few days but lots of thinking going on.  First, I’ll give a catch-up on the running scene.

I recovered just fine, the calf twinge went away by keeping the mileage in check and now I’m back to my battle axe self.  Runs went: 8 Sat, 9 Sun and 6 on Mon.  The 6 was pretty fun because I never run that short, aside from tapering, so I was able to pick up the pace a bit.

Yesterday, in my quest to dial back before the next marathon cycle (can’t believe it starts in 4 weeks!) I took a rest day.  I figure I’ll take one rest day/week through December, then back to 7 days/week with the rare day off.

Now for some fun.  Exactly a year ago someone posted a thread on MRT asking everyone what their goals for 2009 were and it was bumped back up a couple days ago.  I had completely forgotten ever writing these goals, so what a trip it was seeing them again and comparing how it all panned out:

1. Race more
I did, but only by one race.
2. sub 3:38 Fall marathon on a non-asterisk course.
Even with a miserably long bonk, I managed to surpass my if-everything-goes-right-dream-goal by 5 minutes. Talk about putting things in perspective.
3. Low 21:xx 5K
In June I got 20:25 which I might test again in a couple weeks.
4. Keep around 50mpw avg. but enjoy adding more in the summer to achieve #2 (enjoyment necessary)
Did this to a T, averaged 70s+ by Fall and had a great time doing it.
5. No injuries
I was introduced to my IT Band this year, so I can’t say I had none, but that was it.

I look at this list and realize what a different runner I’ve become within a 12-month span.  And while I still have angst about Philly (not helped by the worst race pictures ever – either walking, looking at my watch or just being god-awful ugly) I have so much to be grateful for.

Speaking of angst, I’ve been thinking a lot about marathons and our future together and have made a decision:  The two marathons I have planned for 2010 will determine whether I will continue marathoning or not – if between the two I can’t pull out a good one, or they don’t approach my shorter races Age-grade-wise, I’m done.

I don’t mean this in an “I’m taking my toys and going home” type of way, but as in “OK, turns out I have more fast twitch fibers in me than slow“ so that’s what I’d rather develop.  My 5K from June nets me an Age-grade of 80.86% (National Class…I’m so fancy) and I’m pretty sure, not having reached the 3-year running mark yet, that I have at least a couple years of faster short races ahead of me.  So while I could keep marathoning until I get it right, I’d rather spend my energy doing what I’m better suited for.

The only sad part about this is, if it works out the way I suspect it might, I’ll have to part with a wonderful group of forum friends since my favorite hangout is Marathon Race Training, but I’ve got a year before I need to worry about that.

The important thing here is to be objective about my skill set and not place a value judgment on myself if I can’t run marathons well.  It doesn’t mean I suck, it means it’s not my race, is all.   Should that be the case, I’ll simply develop my strengths and make a killing winning gift cards, turkeys, travel mugs and a buck or two, while having a huge amount of fun doing it.  So here’s to clarity and seeing how the next year unfolds – not knowing is half the fun.

No, I’m not talking about Memorial Day or any of those Hallmark constructed celebratory excuses.  I’m talking Happy Menarch Day!

What?  You never heard of it?   Can’t remember what Menarch even is?  Let me jog your memory…Menarch is the day a girl begins her period.  For someone like me, who didn’t even get a Sweet Sixteen party, I now feel doubly gypped.  Luckily, I can relive that special day by visiting Menarch Parties R Us. They offer all the accouterments you need for such a wondrous event, including everybody’s favorite party game, Pin The Ovaries On The Uterus.  Sounds painful but I guess that’s part of the fun.

Back to the cake, it’s quite lovely as far as cakes go, but I do think the white blobs in the corners would be more complete with a string coming out of each blob.  And poor Levonna, forever memorialized as the girl who got her period and had a mom who thought it was worth celebrating over.  But enough holiday talk.

As far as this party-deprived runner goes, I’ve been enjoying easy runs these last couple days.  Yesterday was the closest I’ve come to a recovery run in weeks, a 12-miler at 8:53.  It was 82 degrees at the end, but my goal was to keep the HR low throughout – mission accomplished with a 65% average.  Today was a 9-miler at 8:16/mi, 71% HRR.

Tomorrow I’ll be doing 7, then 4w/strides on Sat, then race.  I like these little mini-tapers on race weeks, it’s a nice change and creates a cutback week, which I wouldn’t pay attention to otherwise.

I went a little race-crazy yesterday and committed to 3 races in June.  I’d had them on the calendar anyway, but thought I’d wait closer to the actual race days to evaluate weather conditions before signing up.   Changed my mind and paid for all three when I realized that even if the weather’s hot as hell, at least everyone will suck evenly, plus it’s good practice racing in adverse conditions.  But the best part is that it’ll be a vacation from speedwork, while giving me the benefit of Super-Speedwork, since you never run as fast as when you’re racing.  It’s win-win.

And with that, I’ll wish you all a wonderful holiday weekend, whether it be Memorial or Menstrual.  Either way, have a beer on me.

Yesterday’s light interval session was  6 x .25 mi @ 5k race pace with 1:00 recoveries.   Went a bit faster than race pace, averaging 6:55s, but close enough.

And that workout marked my 7th and final week of shorter fast stuff in prep for the last 5K of 2008.  It was a satisfying period, for sure;  definite progress without a single injury or sore thing.   Knock on wood, as I’m waiting to run in some snow showers that are supposed to come this afternoon while at the same time imagining a slip and fall (count on that fatalistic imagination).

Speaking of speedwork, I found a great piece of writing on intervals the other day and thought I’d share it with you -  first post on this page. It’s one of the best, concise explanations I’ve read on the subject.  Hope you find it useful.

There’s a new weightloss thread in the RW Marathon Training Forum (my favorite forum even though I’m not marathon training now) that, after eyeing all morning, I decided to enter.  Five lbs should do me well.  That’ll put me at 119-120, still  more than “optimal racing weight” for my height (which Glover says is 114) but enough to make a substantial racing difference while keeping some semblance of boobs.  My first contribution to the cause began a few days ago when I ran out of candy (I always eat candy after dinner) and didn’t buy more.  Good habit to break, weightloss or not.

And for my non-running section today…next week is Xmas and  Nick and I will be going to the Grand Canyon for a couple days to hide out.  Lol, not the Grand Canyon, that was last summer’s adventure.  This time it’s the Grand Canyon of PA, bascially a long gorge about 4 hours away from Philly.  We’ve got a B&B lined up so it promises to be a fun, romantic way to get through the holiday.  With our mutual love for all things holiday (cough, strangled cough) any diversion helps.

Aha!  Just looked out the window and saw…snow!  Flurries just starting, yay!  Gonna have me a sweet little 8-miler.  Adios for now.

Today was a blast. Nick and I drove through some scenic towns on the Delaware River (New Hope, Lambertsville area), stopped for a long, lazy brunch and wasted most of the day away.

We got home around 3:00 and I immediately jumped into my running gear because it had been raining all day and I was dying to test my new Hydrolite rain jacket! Two words: Love it! It did that weird bubbly, scabies thing I described a couple posts ago which amused me for a good span of time till the bubbles took over and blended into one surface.

It works! Comfortable, very light and breathable (albeit not the most attractive garment), it has a pocket on the side for folding into itself which came in handy for stowing my gloves mid-run. So yay! I’m all geared up for whatever Mother Nature doles out.

Right after the run, we went to the movies to see Slumdog Millionaire. It’s by the guy who made Trainspotting and dayum, this is one phenomenal flick. Twenty thumbs up if not more. Can’t stop thinking about it, it was that good.

In other news, the friend who was attacked is much better. She got out of ICU yesterday so we hung out with her yesterday evening, shooting the shit while she described the Percocet-created dancing onion rings she was seeing. She’s going to be fine and even has some sight in that one eye, with surgery still to come, so huge sigh of relief.

Three more weeks till my last race of the year, a final 5K. But now I’m wanting to race more so I’ve been scouting winter races and found a series called the Pickle Runs in a town about 35 minutes from Philly. It sounds like a blast involving prediction runs, choosing your course (5K, 7K or 4.5 trail) and of course, finding a pickle. And who wouldn’t want to spend the winter searching for a pickle? Not I, sweet friends…not I.

This weekend, I had an epiphany, an eye-opener of the widest kind.  But before we get into it, I’ve got some ‘splaining to do.

As you all know, I loved marathon training, found it challenging but not difficult using the plan I’d chosen, Pfitzinger’s 18/55.

I admit that during this period, I fully expected to end up faster in other distances simply by dint of “the marathon training process”.  I’d read enough accounts of easy PRs gained, both during and soon after such training periods, that of course I expected it to happen for me.  How unhappy-making then, that my one race in the midst of the plan (a measly 4-miler) ended up with such disappointing results.

To understand just how disappointing is to look back at my Spring PRs: a 5K in April (23:06) and a 10-miler in May (1:19).  Both of these races are in the same ballpark of McMillan’s calculator.  Yet here was this 4-miler in September at 30:48!  I attributed it to the marathon training process, tired legs and the fact that it was a short race when I’d been training to go long.  I played it down.  But in my critically thinking head, I was a bit dismayed.

Fast forward to this last weekend, my 10K race.  Yes, it was a sizeable PR and I’m genuinely satisfied with my performance, but if I compare it to last Spring’s PRs, it was not good.  In fact, as far as McMillan goes, it’s right on par with my shitty 4-miler!  When I realized this (and that my Marathon time also fits in the same McMillan range as well) I had to recognize it as a trend, not a few unrelated blips.

So I began investigating the Big Picture and it quickly became apparent to me what was going on.

#1 Revelation:
My mileage build for the marathon was no great shakes.
Note: These monthly graphs include all training runs, but exclude races.

Or rather, since I was no stranger to 45-50+ mile weeks, it was stupid for me to expect that doing the same thing would give me some kind of bonus.  Sure, I had a peak month, but the surrounding ones don’t look any different than assorted previous months.  The fact that my marathon training mileage was apportioned differently (spread out across 5 days instead of 6) certainly helped my endurance, but the mileage itself wasn’t a stress factor, and stress (or increases) are how envelopes get pushed.

#2 Revelation:
My average pace got slower…much slower.

See anything notable starting in June?  That’s where marathon training began and with it, recovery and much slower long runs.  Quite an obvious difference, huh?  Back in the Spring, I not only ran all my easy and long runs faster, I was also doing both a speed and a tempo workout each week.  For marathon training, I had weekly speed or tempo, never both.  So no dramatic mileage growth and less fast stuff, too.

How silly, then, to think marathon training should have given me a speed boost, why would it?  I didn’t stress either speed or mileage – just longer long runs.  That said, I gained beautiful endurance which was completely the whole point anyway – I never could have run a marathon back in the Spring.  With this in mind, I consider my marathon training 100% successful, I have no regrets or complaints.

The important and freeing thing though is that I now feel totally OK with where I’m at speedwise, even if it seems I’ve regressed a tad, because I understand why.  It’s not because I’m all washed up, that I started too late or used myself up too soon (yeah, I actually was thinking this crap).  No, it’s an obvious reaction to a lack of stimuli.  Duh!

Does this mean I’m abandoning everything I learned during marathon training?  Well, you can see from the last month on graph #2 that I’m still doing some slower stuff, though honestly, it won’t be doing those 10+min recovery runs unless I really need them.  And expect this month’s avg. pace bar to become a lot shorter starting with next week’s dual quality sessions.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll approach the next marathon much differently, either.  I’ll try to increase the mileage, but a main priority for me is keeping training fun and I’m not sure how many miles it’ll take before fun turns into drudgery.  And I love that I was able to avoid injury the whole cycle, so keeping the fast stuff to once a week sounds wise, too.

The main thing is realizing that everything requires it’s own proper attention, that no one training cycle is going to cover all race bases and to keep expectations in line with that training.  I’m only beginning to understand how all this works, how I work.  As they say, “we’re all an experiment of one.”  It sure is fun figuring it out.