This is it, the last day of 2008. It's been an interesting one to be sure. The year in numbers:
Moves: 2
Apartments: 3
Broken trailer hitches: 1
$$ spent on gas: hahaha
Wisdom teeth removed: 4
MRIs: 1
Injuries: 1!! (an improvement)
Miles run: 761
Highest weekly mileage: 30
Average weekly mileage: 14.5
Highest monthly mileage: 96 (February...go figure, the shortest)
Average monthly mileage: 68 (not bad, now that I look at it)
Weeks of laziness (no running): 2! Both due to the hip injury
Months as a vegetarian: 18
New car batteries: 1
New computers: 1
New textbooks: 8?
"A"s in stats class: 1!!
"A"s total: 3!!
Publications: 2
Manuscripts in progress: 3
New bikes: 1
New pairs of skis: 3 (2 for me, 1 for Doug)
New baby cousins: 1 (Paige)
That's all I can think of for now - not a bad year!
Happy New Year, all...
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sitting in the airport as the sun comes up
That's right - the semester's over! I've actually been done since the 12th, but still in town until today. Now, I'm sitting at the spectacular Capital Region INTERNATIONAL Airport waiting for a flight to Detroit, where I will change planes and head to Newark. Happy to be headed home, but sad that once again, Doug and I won't be spending Christmas together. One day...
The semester wrapped up pretty well. I managed a 4.0 - even getting an A in my stats class, which is definitely new! Maybe I did actually learn something in that class... Next semester I'll be keeping myself busy with two classes and an independent study. My schedule doesn't look bad, but I know that independent study will take up quite a bit of time, and I'm really hoping to get some good research done over the course of the semester. Have to take advantage of not teaching!
Running has been interesting these past few weeks. I would guess that in the past month, there's been one day without snow on the ground - the day it rained and temps were in the 40s. Since then, snow has fallen almost every day, and we have over a foot on the ground (about a foot of that came all in one day). I've managed every run outside and there was only one day - with windchills right around zero - that I really just didn't want to go out there. Twice, the weather has kept me from going out. The first was this past Friday when that foot of snow dropped, and the second was yesterday when the wind chill was -15 with sustained winds at 29 mph and gusts to 45. That's just cold. In light of that, I've decided I'm going to need a gym membership when I get back from PA. I still want to increase my mileage, and at least need to maintain it, for good spring racing. If that means I have to break down and run on a treadmill, I guess I'll deal. I'll still get out as much as I possibly can.
Last weekend, to celebrate the end of the semester, we went cross country skiing up in Roscommon. It was a lot of fun! I have definitely found a new sport. We tried skate skiing - which Doug already has experience with - they were offering a 2 hour clinic for $5. It's tough! I'll give it another try because I did enjoy it, but it was really rather tricky. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting out there as much as I can and as a bonus, I found out Saturday that the local trails are open, so we won't have to drive 2+ hours to do it!
Hope everyone is doing well, and a happy holiday season to you :)
The semester wrapped up pretty well. I managed a 4.0 - even getting an A in my stats class, which is definitely new! Maybe I did actually learn something in that class... Next semester I'll be keeping myself busy with two classes and an independent study. My schedule doesn't look bad, but I know that independent study will take up quite a bit of time, and I'm really hoping to get some good research done over the course of the semester. Have to take advantage of not teaching!
Running has been interesting these past few weeks. I would guess that in the past month, there's been one day without snow on the ground - the day it rained and temps were in the 40s. Since then, snow has fallen almost every day, and we have over a foot on the ground (about a foot of that came all in one day). I've managed every run outside and there was only one day - with windchills right around zero - that I really just didn't want to go out there. Twice, the weather has kept me from going out. The first was this past Friday when that foot of snow dropped, and the second was yesterday when the wind chill was -15 with sustained winds at 29 mph and gusts to 45. That's just cold. In light of that, I've decided I'm going to need a gym membership when I get back from PA. I still want to increase my mileage, and at least need to maintain it, for good spring racing. If that means I have to break down and run on a treadmill, I guess I'll deal. I'll still get out as much as I possibly can.
Last weekend, to celebrate the end of the semester, we went cross country skiing up in Roscommon. It was a lot of fun! I have definitely found a new sport. We tried skate skiing - which Doug already has experience with - they were offering a 2 hour clinic for $5. It's tough! I'll give it another try because I did enjoy it, but it was really rather tricky. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting out there as much as I can and as a bonus, I found out Saturday that the local trails are open, so we won't have to drive 2+ hours to do it!Hope everyone is doing well, and a happy holiday season to you :)
Friday, November 28, 2008
Naperville Noon Lions Turkey Trot
I ran my first Turkey Trot last year in Carrboro and thought it was a fun little tradition. This year, when Doug and I made plans to visit his family West of Chicago, I started looking for a race to run. Turned out there was one in Naperville, not too far from the town his parents live in.
We had planned to leave at 6:30 for the 8:00 start, giving me plenty of time to get there, get my packet (with number and chip), and warm up. Unfortunately, we left a few minutes late and hit every single stop light on the way there. Once we arrived at the race site, it was packed. We drove around for what seemed like forever to find a parking spot, and then boogied over to the high school gym. Weaving through the crowd to get my packet was interesting, but I finally got it with 5 minutes to spare. The timing chips used in this race were disposable – no need to turn the in again at the end. Great in theory, except this meant I had to figure out how to put it on my shoe with frozen fingers. Finally got that and my mittens on, and headed off to the start. I think the race had started by the time I got lined up but no worries – it took me almost 4 minutes to get across the line.
As of Wednesday night I was still trying to decide on a goal for this race and finally, before falling asleep, decided just to have fun and run well. My back has been bothering me, I’ve been tired, and I was talking myself out of a good run. When that race started and was so crowded, all I could do was try to weave around people. Several times I almost fell and at one point it crossed my mind that it was a good thing I had crutches in the trunk of my car – I might need them. I kept jumping over curbs, running in the grass and on the road, slipping between people. Somewhere in the first mile I remembered Mike telling me that the key to 5ks is to hold back in the first mile, hammer the second, and suffer through the rest. So, I started telling myself to hold back and stay calm. First mile – 7:59.
The second mile was more of the same, though a little bit less crowded. I picked up the pace and tried to find a clear path. When I passed the mile marker, I was shocked – 6:12. No freaking way – I asked a guy next to me if he thought that was in the right place, and he thought it was short – I agreed. I had run that mile faster, but not that much faster. This suspicion was confirmed later on.
I had a little more room for the third mile, but not much. Since I knew that mile marker was in the wrong place I really wasn’t sure how far along we were, so I didn’t know what to think of my time. We turned one corner and I heard a lady tell her friend we were almost there – this was the last street. I was still under 20 minutes, so I tried to pick it up and see how well I could do. Turns out that last street went on for a while! More dodging and weaving and I crossed the line with the last 1.1 in 10:03 – yep, short second mile.
Chip time: 24:25 (7:52 pace – my first time under 8:00!) – a PR by 1:28! I finished the race, grabbed water and a banana, and walked over to meet Doug and Kona. The first thing I said to him was “I can do better.” It was tough, but without the weaving and actually having time to warm up, I know I could do better. I’m now really looking forward to the summer racing season…
Kona and I finished up with about a mile cool-down, and went back to Doug’s parents’ to eat and enjoy the rest of our Thanksgiving.
We had planned to leave at 6:30 for the 8:00 start, giving me plenty of time to get there, get my packet (with number and chip), and warm up. Unfortunately, we left a few minutes late and hit every single stop light on the way there. Once we arrived at the race site, it was packed. We drove around for what seemed like forever to find a parking spot, and then boogied over to the high school gym. Weaving through the crowd to get my packet was interesting, but I finally got it with 5 minutes to spare. The timing chips used in this race were disposable – no need to turn the in again at the end. Great in theory, except this meant I had to figure out how to put it on my shoe with frozen fingers. Finally got that and my mittens on, and headed off to the start. I think the race had started by the time I got lined up but no worries – it took me almost 4 minutes to get across the line.
As of Wednesday night I was still trying to decide on a goal for this race and finally, before falling asleep, decided just to have fun and run well. My back has been bothering me, I’ve been tired, and I was talking myself out of a good run. When that race started and was so crowded, all I could do was try to weave around people. Several times I almost fell and at one point it crossed my mind that it was a good thing I had crutches in the trunk of my car – I might need them. I kept jumping over curbs, running in the grass and on the road, slipping between people. Somewhere in the first mile I remembered Mike telling me that the key to 5ks is to hold back in the first mile, hammer the second, and suffer through the rest. So, I started telling myself to hold back and stay calm. First mile – 7:59.
The second mile was more of the same, though a little bit less crowded. I picked up the pace and tried to find a clear path. When I passed the mile marker, I was shocked – 6:12. No freaking way – I asked a guy next to me if he thought that was in the right place, and he thought it was short – I agreed. I had run that mile faster, but not that much faster. This suspicion was confirmed later on.
I had a little more room for the third mile, but not much. Since I knew that mile marker was in the wrong place I really wasn’t sure how far along we were, so I didn’t know what to think of my time. We turned one corner and I heard a lady tell her friend we were almost there – this was the last street. I was still under 20 minutes, so I tried to pick it up and see how well I could do. Turns out that last street went on for a while! More dodging and weaving and I crossed the line with the last 1.1 in 10:03 – yep, short second mile.
Chip time: 24:25 (7:52 pace – my first time under 8:00!) – a PR by 1:28! I finished the race, grabbed water and a banana, and walked over to meet Doug and Kona. The first thing I said to him was “I can do better.” It was tough, but without the weaving and actually having time to warm up, I know I could do better. I’m now really looking forward to the summer racing season…
Kona and I finished up with about a mile cool-down, and went back to Doug’s parents’ to eat and enjoy the rest of our Thanksgiving.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Out of steam for today.
I sat down at the computer to write my review paper, but I'm tired and have run out of steam.
We had snow again today, it's actually still snowing as I type this. When I checked at around 6 PM we'd had almost 2 inches, and it has snowed steadily since then - it's all pretty outside. My walk home from school was cold but I didn't mind - it makes me feel like such a little kid, but the snow just makes me so happy! Mondays are my usual day off running, but I wanted to get back out there so I changed as soon as I got home (after 8) and took Kona out for 40 minutes. We had a great time.
We had snow again today, it's actually still snowing as I type this. When I checked at around 6 PM we'd had almost 2 inches, and it has snowed steadily since then - it's all pretty outside. My walk home from school was cold but I didn't mind - it makes me feel like such a little kid, but the snow just makes me so happy! Mondays are my usual day off running, but I wanted to get back out there so I changed as soon as I got home (after 8) and took Kona out for 40 minutes. We had a great time.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Anything to avoid exams.
Guess I've been a little quiet lately. School has been crazy as usual, and frankly I guess I haven't had much to say. Running is so-so, good weeks and bad weeks. It seems I'm still stuck between 20-25 mpw - it would probably help if I stopped skipping runs. Some days it just isn't in the cards, you know? I keep going back and forth between chastising myself for skipping, and reminding myself that grad school is hard and 20 mpw is really fantastic. It's enough to stay in shape, but I'm afraid not enough to get faster at this point, which is really what I want.
Big plans, though! Winter is fast approaching (it's snowing as I type this, actually). Yesterday at the high school's ski swap I purchased a pair of Dolomite downhill boots and Scott poles, so with those and my nice new skis I'm ready to go! Also went by Doug's shop and put a pair of Rossignol XC skis, Alpina boots, Swix Poles, and insulated pants on hold for him to purchase (with my money) when his manager comes in. He's going to get himself a pair of classic XC skis (already has skate skis), and we're going to start training. The plan is to do the Book across the Bay in WI on Valentine's Day 2009, and the Birkebeiner 50k in February 2010. I'm excited! He also says that to train he's going to start skating with me while I run, and the company would really be fantastic.
That's about all, here. I have a few take-home exams I'm muddling through, and some papers to write (some for publication, one for a class and hopefully publication later on).
Hope everyone is doing well!
Big plans, though! Winter is fast approaching (it's snowing as I type this, actually). Yesterday at the high school's ski swap I purchased a pair of Dolomite downhill boots and Scott poles, so with those and my nice new skis I'm ready to go! Also went by Doug's shop and put a pair of Rossignol XC skis, Alpina boots, Swix Poles, and insulated pants on hold for him to purchase (with my money) when his manager comes in. He's going to get himself a pair of classic XC skis (already has skate skis), and we're going to start training. The plan is to do the Book across the Bay in WI on Valentine's Day 2009, and the Birkebeiner 50k in February 2010. I'm excited! He also says that to train he's going to start skating with me while I run, and the company would really be fantastic.
That's about all, here. I have a few take-home exams I'm muddling through, and some papers to write (some for publication, one for a class and hopefully publication later on).
Hope everyone is doing well!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Fastest week yet.
Grad school life continues in a very grad school kind of way. I'm still crazy busy, but Heather and I took some time to play hooky yesterday and man was it worth it. After having our backs poked as part of a research study in the morning, we drove out to Holland, MI to meet our buddy Kyle and went on a hike at Saugatuck Dunes with Kona and Kyle's dog, Denali. It's so beautiful out there. Kona and Nali were well behaved pups, and we had a great time. After that, Heather and I treated ourselves to a very nice dinner out - a great day, in all.
Talking with some running friends lately has boosted my confidence a lot - as shown by my times this week. Here's a recap:
Monday: my usual off day.
Tuesday: 3 miles, 26:00 (8:40 pace) - with Kona
Wednesday: Life got the best of me, off day
Thursday: 5 miles, 9:06 pace
Friday: 3 miles in retired shoes, 8:25 pace, with Kona
Saturday: 2.3 miles early in the cold, 8:39 pace, with Kona
Sunday: 7.8 miles, 9:08 pace.
That's 21.1 miles, average pace something under 8:49 (I calculated it but accidentally left Tuesday's run out). A nice improvement over last week's unplanned cutback week of only 11.4 miles.
It looks like I'll be doing a 5k on Thanksgiving...currently evaluating goals, but I think I'm aiming for 24:03 (7:45 pace).
Thanks for reading.
Now, to running.
Monday: my usual off day.
Tuesday: 3 miles, 26:00 (8:40 pace) - with Kona
Wednesday: Life got the best of me, off day
Thursday: 5 miles, 9:06 pace
Friday: 3 miles in retired shoes, 8:25 pace, with Kona
Saturday: 2.3 miles early in the cold, 8:39 pace, with Kona
Sunday: 7.8 miles, 9:08 pace.
That's 21.1 miles, average pace something under 8:49 (I calculated it but accidentally left Tuesday's run out). A nice improvement over last week's unplanned cutback week of only 11.4 miles.
It looks like I'll be doing a 5k on Thanksgiving...currently evaluating goals, but I think I'm aiming for 24:03 (7:45 pace).
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Found time...
As you might have guessed, things have been c r a z y the past couple weeks. It's been what, 2 weeks since I posted last? I found myself with 20 minutes this morning, so here's a little update.
Running related:
I've had two good, solid weeks. They weren't perfect because I did miss one scheduled run each week, but I was still able to get over 20 miles and increased my mileage appropriately in the second week. Here's the recap:
9/22-9/28
Monday: SDO
Tuesday: 4.5 miles, 9:43 pace, with Kona
Wednesday: 5.2 miles, 10:27 pace. Doug biked along with me and kept me company - not sure why it was so slow
Thursday: USDO - just a crazy schedule day
Friday: 2.5 miles, 9:16 pace
Saturday: 3.0 miles, 9:28 pace, avg HR 163 (67%), with Kona
Sunday: 6.5 miles, 9:42 pace, avg HR about 160 (66%) - my heart rate monitor crapped out. With Kona.
Total: 21.7 miles
9/29-10/5
Monday: SDO
Tuesday: USDO
Wednesday: 4.5 miles, 9:41 pace
Thursday: 3.4 miles, 9:30 pace
Friday: 5.0 miles, 9:07 pace
Saturday: 4.6 miles, 9:28 pace, avg HR 176 (75%) [lowered resting HR for calculations]
Sunday: 7.0 miles, 9:35 pace, avg HR 160 (66%)
Total: 24.5 miles
I'm pleased with those two weeks and finally feeling like I'm back on track. The last few months I've really been stuck around 15 miles per week and it feels really good to get back above that again.
Non-running related, things are crazy. I've had 2 exams that I've been working on pretty much non-stop for the last two weeks, and have one more this Thursday. After that I'm hoping to take a breath - my advisor will be out of town, so that gives me some time to get caught up or ahead on the tasks he's already given me without having any more added, at least for a few days. I feel like I'm adjusting to this workload and schedule, but it's not easy. Not to mention, I miss my friends. Friday I stumbled upon the homecoming parade - I thought it would be later in the day and didn't realize it would block my bike route home. Since I hit it, I stood and watched for 15 minutes or so, and at one point could barely choke back the knot in my throat, homesick for PSU. That hasn't happened in years!
Running related:
I've had two good, solid weeks. They weren't perfect because I did miss one scheduled run each week, but I was still able to get over 20 miles and increased my mileage appropriately in the second week. Here's the recap:
9/22-9/28
Monday: SDO
Tuesday: 4.5 miles, 9:43 pace, with Kona
Wednesday: 5.2 miles, 10:27 pace. Doug biked along with me and kept me company - not sure why it was so slow
Thursday: USDO - just a crazy schedule day
Friday: 2.5 miles, 9:16 pace
Saturday: 3.0 miles, 9:28 pace, avg HR 163 (67%), with Kona
Sunday: 6.5 miles, 9:42 pace, avg HR about 160 (66%) - my heart rate monitor crapped out. With Kona.
Total: 21.7 miles
9/29-10/5
Monday: SDO
Tuesday: USDO
Wednesday: 4.5 miles, 9:41 pace
Thursday: 3.4 miles, 9:30 pace
Friday: 5.0 miles, 9:07 pace
Saturday: 4.6 miles, 9:28 pace, avg HR 176 (75%) [lowered resting HR for calculations]
Sunday: 7.0 miles, 9:35 pace, avg HR 160 (66%)
Total: 24.5 miles
I'm pleased with those two weeks and finally feeling like I'm back on track. The last few months I've really been stuck around 15 miles per week and it feels really good to get back above that again.
Non-running related, things are crazy. I've had 2 exams that I've been working on pretty much non-stop for the last two weeks, and have one more this Thursday. After that I'm hoping to take a breath - my advisor will be out of town, so that gives me some time to get caught up or ahead on the tasks he's already given me without having any more added, at least for a few days. I feel like I'm adjusting to this workload and schedule, but it's not easy. Not to mention, I miss my friends. Friday I stumbled upon the homecoming parade - I thought it would be later in the day and didn't realize it would block my bike route home. Since I hit it, I stood and watched for 15 minutes or so, and at one point could barely choke back the knot in my throat, homesick for PSU. That hasn't happened in years!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Accountability.
It's something we, as fitness professionals, are always pushing. Keep yourself accountable...have a workout partner, to keep yourself accountable....schedule your workouts, to keep yourself accountable. I have to find a way to keep myself accountable - y'all are it. Here's this week's plan:
Monday: Scheduled day off
Tuesday: Run 4 miles, easy pace
Wednesday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Thursday: Run 5 miles, easy pace
Friday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Saturday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Sunday: Long run of 6 miles, easy pace
Total: 24 miles. Kona will probably do most of them with me.
I can tell you right now, it's unlikely I'll run 5 on Thursday. I wrote up this plan knowing that my school obligations would sometimes screw it up - Thursday will be one of those days. I'm due on campus at 6 AM and will be at another school doing assessments until noon. Then classes all afternoon until 7 PM, and I'm supposed to play soccer at 9. That doesn't leave much time for running. If I don't play soccer, I'll be out there. The plan is to add at least an extra mile on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and I ran an extra .5 today (for 4.5). I'm just going to try to work with it. At least soccer's a workout...
I'm also biking to campus most days of the week, though I admit I've already been lazy this week. Monday I expected to be sore from Sunday's race, so I arranged a ride with Heather. This morning I biked in, but frankly I was in a bad mood by the end of the day, and hitched a ride home - my bike is still on campus. I'll get a ride in tomorrow morning, and go from there.
This is going to be a rough week.
Monday: Scheduled day off
Tuesday: Run 4 miles, easy pace
Wednesday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Thursday: Run 5 miles, easy pace
Friday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Saturday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Sunday: Long run of 6 miles, easy pace
Total: 24 miles. Kona will probably do most of them with me.
I can tell you right now, it's unlikely I'll run 5 on Thursday. I wrote up this plan knowing that my school obligations would sometimes screw it up - Thursday will be one of those days. I'm due on campus at 6 AM and will be at another school doing assessments until noon. Then classes all afternoon until 7 PM, and I'm supposed to play soccer at 9. That doesn't leave much time for running. If I don't play soccer, I'll be out there. The plan is to add at least an extra mile on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and I ran an extra .5 today (for 4.5). I'm just going to try to work with it. At least soccer's a workout...
I'm also biking to campus most days of the week, though I admit I've already been lazy this week. Monday I expected to be sore from Sunday's race, so I arranged a ride with Heather. This morning I biked in, but frankly I was in a bad mood by the end of the day, and hitched a ride home - my bike is still on campus. I'll get a ride in tomorrow morning, and go from there.
This is going to be a rough week.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Gave it all I had - Autumn Classic Race Report
This morning I did the Playmaker’s Autumn Classic 8k in Haslett, MI. I don’t know why I decided to do this one, except that I was curious and the $20 race fee included a long-sleeved tech tee. I’m such a tech-tee slut. Two weeks ago I did a 5-mile race in 45:36; my previous 8k PR was 46:15 set in May. I don’t really differentiate between the 2 distances since 0.02 doesn’t seem statistically significant (ha!) but whatever. Last week all of my runs were fast and while they didn’t feel hard, I knew that wasn’t a good idea. This past week my legs have been totally dead – tired biking to school, tired running, and then 
I played a soccer game Thursday night and have seriously been sore since then. My diet has also been poor, so really I was not set up to have a good performance.
The alarm went off at 6 AM, and I had a dream about it – I dreamed that I had done this race last year, and that when I arrived the transition area (??) had been a total disaster. In my dream, I had figured out that if I let the alarm buzz a certain number of times before hitting snooze, and then hit snooze a certain number of times, the transition would be all set up by the time I arrived at the race. Umm…right. Finally rolled out of bed at 6:45, once my dream told me it was fine to get up, and ate some breakfast. My stomach was angry with me last night – crampy and just icky – and wasn’t any better this morning. I had some cheerios and coffee and tried to ignore it. We arrived at the race site a few minutes after 8 and I picked up my packet, then we sort of wandered and stood around until the start. Before the start of the 8k there was a kids sprint and a kids half mile race – they were so much fun to watch. My personal favorite was the little girl who finished last in the half mile – she looked to be maybe 4, and held onto the hem of dad’s shirt the whole way in – so cute. Then, we lined up for the 8k.
Standing in line waiting for the start, someone said my name. It turned out to be the guy who bought my Cannondale back in August and his girlfriend. Made small talk with them for a minute or two, and then we were off.
My goals for this race were to run negative splits, push myself, and have fun. The gun went off, and I went out way too fast. The first little bit until we got out of the park was downhill and I thought I would settle into the pace, so I didn’t worry about it too much. I didn’t settle down, though. The race was almost entirely on roads and sidewalks, and went around Lake Lansing. It’s probably a really pretty course on a nice day, and while it was pretty today, it was all gray and foggy out so you couldn’t quite see all the way across the lake. A local high school XC team volunteered out on the course – they were great with encouragement but I almost smacked one when I was at maybe 3.25 miles and he told me I was almost there. Throughout most of the race I yo-yo’d with another woman. She was running faster than me, but would stop and walk for a few seconds every minute or two and I’d pass her, then she’d pass me again right before her next walk break. With about half a mile to go I caught her again just as she started running, and I suggested that we run in together. About 30 seconds later she stopped to walk again but I didn’t want to stop – I had figured out I could go under 45 minutes. The finish was actually up hill on a dirt (mud) road. Going up the hill I caught the girl in the red jacket. About 15 yds from the finish, I heard her sprinting up behind me – I picked it up, but didn’t have enough left and couldn’t stay ahead of her. It’s ok, though, she helped me shave a few more seconds off my time.
Splits:
Mile 1: 8:36 (not looking good for negative splits)
Mile 2: 8:38 (ok, slowed down a little)
Mile 3: 9:07 (and there went the negative splits goal)
Mile 4: 9:17 (oof)
Mile .98: 9:02
Watch time: 44:42 (9:00 pace). It was chip timed, but I haven’t looked up the official results yet.
To tell the truth I thought I had made it under a 9mpm pace and was a little bummed to see it was exactly 9, but overall I’m pleased with my performance anyway. Like I said, it was all I had. I’m going to hurt tomorrow, for sure. I met two of my goals: really pushed myself, and had fun. I’ll keep working on the negative splits thing. Going back and reading this, I think the tone of my report is pretty down – it isn’t meant to be. This race was a lot harder for me than any I’ve done before (with the exception of TA ’06). It hurt, but that means I pushed myself and I’m proud of that.
The PR streak remains, but, it’s pretty clear won’t be another until I start training better. So, I’m taking a break from racing – anyone sees me talking about a race before Thanksgiving at the earliest, please remind me of this.
Thanks for reading.
I played a soccer game Thursday night and have seriously been sore since then. My diet has also been poor, so really I was not set up to have a good performance.The alarm went off at 6 AM, and I had a dream about it – I dreamed that I had done this race last year, and that when I arrived the transition area (??) had been a total disaster. In my dream, I had figured out that if I let the alarm buzz a certain number of times before hitting snooze, and then hit snooze a certain number of times, the transition would be all set up by the time I arrived at the race. Umm…right. Finally rolled out of bed at 6:45, once my dream told me it was fine to get up, and ate some breakfast. My stomach was angry with me last night – crampy and just icky – and wasn’t any better this morning. I had some cheerios and coffee and tried to ignore it. We arrived at the race site a few minutes after 8 and I picked up my packet, then we sort of wandered and stood around until the start. Before the start of the 8k there was a kids sprint and a kids half mile race – they were so much fun to watch. My personal favorite was the little girl who finished last in the half mile – she looked to be maybe 4, and held onto the hem of dad’s shirt the whole way in – so cute. Then, we lined up for the 8k.
Standing in line waiting for the start, someone said my name. It turned out to be the guy who bought my Cannondale back in August and his girlfriend. Made small talk with them for a minute or two, and then we were off.
My goals for this race were to run negative splits, push myself, and have fun. The gun went off, and I went out way too fast. The first little bit until we got out of the park was downhill and I thought I would settle into the pace, so I didn’t worry about it too much. I didn’t settle down, though. The race was almost entirely on roads and sidewalks, and went around Lake Lansing. It’s probably a really pretty course on a nice day, and while it was pretty today, it was all gray and foggy out so you couldn’t quite see all the way across the lake. A local high school XC team volunteered out on the course – they were great with encouragement but I almost smacked one when I was at maybe 3.25 miles and he told me I was almost there. Throughout most of the race I yo-yo’d with another woman. She was running faster than me, but would stop and walk for a few seconds every minute or two and I’d pass her, then she’d pass me again right before her next walk break. With about half a mile to go I caught her again just as she started running, and I suggested that we run in together. About 30 seconds later she stopped to walk again but I didn’t want to stop – I had figured out I could go under 45 minutes. The finish was actually up hill on a dirt (mud) road. Going up the hill I caught the girl in the red jacket. About 15 yds from the finish, I heard her sprinting up behind me – I picked it up, but didn’t have enough left and couldn’t stay ahead of her. It’s ok, though, she helped me shave a few more seconds off my time.
Splits:
Mile 1: 8:36 (not looking good for negative splits)
Mile 2: 8:38 (ok, slowed down a little)
Mile 3: 9:07 (and there went the negative splits goal)
Mile 4: 9:17 (oof)
Mile .98: 9:02
Watch time: 44:42 (9:00 pace). It was chip timed, but I haven’t looked up the official results yet.
To tell the truth I thought I had made it under a 9mpm pace and was a little bummed to see it was exactly 9, but overall I’m pleased with my performance anyway. Like I said, it was all I had. I’m going to hurt tomorrow, for sure. I met two of my goals: really pushed myself, and had fun. I’ll keep working on the negative splits thing. Going back and reading this, I think the tone of my report is pretty down – it isn’t meant to be. This race was a lot harder for me than any I’ve done before (with the exception of TA ’06). It hurt, but that means I pushed myself and I’m proud of that.
The PR streak remains, but, it’s pretty clear won’t be another until I start training better. So, I’m taking a break from racing – anyone sees me talking about a race before Thanksgiving at the earliest, please remind me of this.
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Rain, Rain GO AWAY!!!
Holy rain - for real. It started raining late Friday and hasn't stopped. We have about 4 inches of water standing next to our patio, but fortunately aren't yet in danger of having any inside. The rain is so loud I'm having trouble concentrating on the mountains of work I have to do this weekend, so here I sit blogging instead.
Running has gone a bit better this week, as shown by the last couple entries. My pace has dropped significantly all week and while I think that's probably short-lived, it has been fun. However, it seems that I somehow pulled an abdominal muscle during Thursday's run - all of a sudden, near then end of a perfect, fast run, it felt like someone stabbed me in my right side and I couldn't run anymore. Ever since then my right side is tender right above my iliac crest, and I get sharp pains when I bend over or twist funny. It hasn't bothered me on any subsequent runs, though.
Other things to update y'all on....We went kayaking labor day weekend - something I had never done before! That was great fun, I'm looking forward to more of it! Mediocre pics below, we took my free digital camera and well, you get what you pay for.
Running has gone a bit better this week, as shown by the last couple entries. My pace has dropped significantly all week and while I think that's probably short-lived, it has been fun. However, it seems that I somehow pulled an abdominal muscle during Thursday's run - all of a sudden, near then end of a perfect, fast run, it felt like someone stabbed me in my right side and I couldn't run anymore. Ever since then my right side is tender right above my iliac crest, and I get sharp pains when I bend over or twist funny. It hasn't bothered me on any subsequent runs, though.
Other things to update y'all on....We went kayaking labor day weekend - something I had never done before! That was great fun, I'm looking forward to more of it! Mediocre pics below, we took my free digital camera and well, you get what you pay for.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Good run today
I've really been struggling with motivation since moving up here. Maybe not motivation exactly, but it's been difficult to figure out my schedule in a way that I can run and run well. Mornings - well, I just hate running in the mornings. Lunch time has been fine, but it has proven to be tricky to get out there in the middle of the day. Evenings have always been my go-to time, but I'm finding myself a little dead-legged at the end of the day. Part of that, I'm sure, is biking to school on that nice new single speed of mine. I love the bike, but it takes a little getting used to! The ride to campus is actually nice and comfortable and really feels almost leisurely - it certainly doesn't hit the "workout" limit - but I guess it's just something my legs, specifically my quads since I don't have clipless pedals, are used to doing.
Anyway, today I headed out with Kona just planning to run 20 minutes since I had a lot I wanted to get done this evening. We wound up with 2.25 at an 8:42 pace and it really felt remarkably easy - harder than my usual easy run, but nowhere near a tempo effort. I'm pleased. Maybe it's the cooler temperatures - it was in the lower 50s by the time I got out there tonight. A few more degrees and I'll be running in long sleeves!
Anyway, today I headed out with Kona just planning to run 20 minutes since I had a lot I wanted to get done this evening. We wound up with 2.25 at an 8:42 pace and it really felt remarkably easy - harder than my usual easy run, but nowhere near a tempo effort. I'm pleased. Maybe it's the cooler temperatures - it was in the lower 50s by the time I got out there tonight. A few more degrees and I'll be running in long sleeves!
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Another Race - 5 Miles
Hey y'all.
Today I traveled to Jackson, MI (woo hoo - new places for me) to run a 5 mile race with Steph. I woke up in a panic at 5:10 this morning - this might be the one time I'll be grateful for the partiers in the parking lot, since they're the ones that woke me up (apparently I had already hit snooze twice). Tooled around the house doing my pre-race stuff and left around 6. Drove through dark and fog for about 45 min, and arrived at the race plenty early - sometimes I hate that I just have to be early for things.
While I was standing in line to pick up my packet, the very aromatic man standing in front of me turned and started talking to me...and continued to talk to me for the next 20 minutes. He was very strange, and I was too polite to walk away! I didn't want to take my stuff to my car because I was afraid he'd follow me...when I finally excused myself, he did! Turns out his car was right by mine. Fantastic...
Steph and I chatted for a few minutes before the race and I met her husband and caught a glimpse of a sleeping Biggie Boy - so. cute. Then since she's faster than me, she went up towards the front at the start and I hung back. It was a pretty small race field and I just didn't want to be last, so I decided that would be my #1 goal. Also, I had decided if I could hang close to 9 min miles I'd be happy with my performance. Somehow, though, I never did the math to figure out that would be a rather significant PR...
Splits:
Miles 1&2: 17:23 (avg pace 8:41) - missed the first mile marker
Mile 3: 9:14
Mile 4: 9:35 (ugh)
Mile 5: 9:23
Final watch time: 45:36 (9:07 pace)
A PR by 40 seconds, over my 8k trail race in May.
Even though I hadn't done the math, I really hadn't intended to go out there and push it, and really I didn't. I managed to stay relatively comfortable the whole time, so with some actual training and a flat race I think I could do quite well. The past couple weeks allergies have really knocked me on my butt, and while I was definitely wheezy during the race today, my breathing never got out of control. Overall, I'm pleased.
Thanks for reading!
Today I traveled to Jackson, MI (woo hoo - new places for me) to run a 5 mile race with Steph. I woke up in a panic at 5:10 this morning - this might be the one time I'll be grateful for the partiers in the parking lot, since they're the ones that woke me up (apparently I had already hit snooze twice). Tooled around the house doing my pre-race stuff and left around 6. Drove through dark and fog for about 45 min, and arrived at the race plenty early - sometimes I hate that I just have to be early for things.
While I was standing in line to pick up my packet, the very aromatic man standing in front of me turned and started talking to me...and continued to talk to me for the next 20 minutes. He was very strange, and I was too polite to walk away! I didn't want to take my stuff to my car because I was afraid he'd follow me...when I finally excused myself, he did! Turns out his car was right by mine. Fantastic...
Steph and I chatted for a few minutes before the race and I met her husband and caught a glimpse of a sleeping Biggie Boy - so. cute. Then since she's faster than me, she went up towards the front at the start and I hung back. It was a pretty small race field and I just didn't want to be last, so I decided that would be my #1 goal. Also, I had decided if I could hang close to 9 min miles I'd be happy with my performance. Somehow, though, I never did the math to figure out that would be a rather significant PR...
Splits:
Miles 1&2: 17:23 (avg pace 8:41) - missed the first mile marker
Mile 3: 9:14
Mile 4: 9:35 (ugh)
Mile 5: 9:23
Final watch time: 45:36 (9:07 pace)
A PR by 40 seconds, over my 8k trail race in May.
Even though I hadn't done the math, I really hadn't intended to go out there and push it, and really I didn't. I managed to stay relatively comfortable the whole time, so with some actual training and a flat race I think I could do quite well. The past couple weeks allergies have really knocked me on my butt, and while I was definitely wheezy during the race today, my breathing never got out of control. Overall, I'm pleased.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Mesmerizing
You know that sound the dryer (is it drier?) makes when you put a pair of sneakers in there? SlideThumpSlideThumpSlideThump. Our water heater makes a sound very similar to that. The refrigerator makes a thumping sound..or a dripping sound - Dad thought it sounded like dripping. Apparently maintenance is concerned about neither of these sounds.
Orientation is over - that's right, I survived. Did I learn much? We'll have to wait and see. Of course, by "wait and see", I mean for an entire year, because I'm not teaching until a year from now. Regardless, I survived the week. Tomorrow I have an actual lab meeting, so I'm hoping to get some idea of what I'll actually be doing for the next year. I'm ready to go, I don't want to waste a year when I don't have teaching responsibilities, I want to get a lot done.
As far as running goes, I don't have a lot to say - namely because I haven't run since Saturday's race. I've been feeling bad about it, but I'm officially letting myself off the hook. I feel lousy, quite frankly. I'm tired from sitting in seminars all day and from staying up to ungodly hours watching the Olympics. Apparently allergy season in MI is very different than allergy season in NC, and my throat hurts and sinuses are all stuffy. And, eating crap and drinking more caffeine in the past four days than I have in the past four months is playing mean tricks on my stomach and probably blood pressure.
Yesterday, though, I bought a new bike for commuting to school - yay! I really think I'm going to need it to get between two specific classes, and also the walk to campus is almost twice as long as I thought it was (oops) and therefore takes nearly twice as long as I thought it would. I'm thrilled about the bike, though. My first single speed since that cute little blue Panasonic. Bet you didn't know Panasonic did bikes...
Orientation is over - that's right, I survived. Did I learn much? We'll have to wait and see. Of course, by "wait and see", I mean for an entire year, because I'm not teaching until a year from now. Regardless, I survived the week. Tomorrow I have an actual lab meeting, so I'm hoping to get some idea of what I'll actually be doing for the next year. I'm ready to go, I don't want to waste a year when I don't have teaching responsibilities, I want to get a lot done.
As far as running goes, I don't have a lot to say - namely because I haven't run since Saturday's race. I've been feeling bad about it, but I'm officially letting myself off the hook. I feel lousy, quite frankly. I'm tired from sitting in seminars all day and from staying up to ungodly hours watching the Olympics. Apparently allergy season in MI is very different than allergy season in NC, and my throat hurts and sinuses are all stuffy. And, eating crap and drinking more caffeine in the past four days than I have in the past four months is playing mean tricks on my stomach and probably blood pressure.
Yesterday, though, I bought a new bike for commuting to school - yay! I really think I'm going to need it to get between two specific classes, and also the walk to campus is almost twice as long as I thought it was (oops) and therefore takes nearly twice as long as I thought it would. I'm thrilled about the bike, though. My first single speed since that cute little blue Panasonic. Bet you didn't know Panasonic did bikes...
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Grand Woods Trail 5k - Race Report
Last week, Doug discovered that there was a 5k going on not far from here this weekend, and hey! it was "cheap", so I decided to get my first Michigan race out of the way. This was a trail 5k, run on basically a cross country course - a lot of grass, and a little dirt. I've never raced on a course like that and never done a trail 5k at all. Looking at last year's results, I thought that if I ran well there was a chance I could place in my age group.
Realistically, I haven't trained well in the last few months. Ever since my three-week layoff in May/June I've been struggling to get my mileage back up in the NC summer weather, which I just hate. I've bounced around, really never exceeding 15mpw all summer long. In light of that, my official goals for today were
1) Have fun
2) Practice pushing outside of my comfort zone - this is an area where I really need some work.
This morning I got up a little after 6, got dressed in my fun new shirt (see below), and had some breakfast. We left a little after 7. It just occurred to me that I didn't have coffee! Maybe that was my problem When we arrived at the race it was sunny but in the low 50's still, so this NC girl shivered for a while. There was also a cool layer of fog hanging over the big grassy field, and the grass was soaked in dew. People were trickling in until a little after 8, when it got much more crowded. This was when I got intimidated - the entire Lansing Community College XC team showed up. I wandered around for a while, and checked out the famed hill right before the finish - it's a pretty steep grassy hill just before the 3 mile mark - it's probably only 15 or 20 yards long, but really quite steep. With how short it was I figured it would be fine, but with all the dew on the grass and the hill being pretty shaded, I was a little worried it might be slippery.
We lined up at the start just before 9, listened to a few announcements, and headed off. Right away I thought I had gone out too fast, but was sort of caught up in a pack of people and really wanted to find my own space. I had a side stitch within the first 1/4 mile that stuck with me for the rest of the race, it just kept switching sides. I passed quite a few people during this mile, and was passed a few times. Near the end of the mile it seemed people had found their stride and things sort of spread out. During the second mile I felt pretty much alone - there were several people maybe 10 yds in front of me, and no one I could see behind. I passed a few people this mile, and wasn't passed by anyone. At this point I was hurting from my "fast" start and slowed way down. Once I saw the 2 mile marker, though, I figured I'd survive if I held that pace to the end. I passed one more person during the third mile, and was passed by a girl who I think might have been in my age group. There was a long, gradual hill pretty much right before the steep hill, which I hadn't really planned on. I felt a little dizzy getting to the top of the gradual hill, then had a short gradual downhill before the steep climb. When I got to the bottom of the steep part I felt like I'd fall backwards if I didn't hammer the hill, so I got up on my toes and pushed it up to the top - at which point I thought I would pass out. I cut way back, and that's when the girl caught and passed me. From that point I basically just survived to the finish - before the race I noticed a long gradual downhill right after the steep part that I thought I would be able to pick up speed on, but I was dizzy enough at that point that I didn't really try.
Splits:
1st mile: 8:31
2nd mile: 9:15. Blah
3rd mile: 9:05
.1: 0:50
Watch time: 27:42 (8:55 pace)
Not a PR, unless you count it as a trail PR, but honestly to me it just feels like it isn't. I admit I'm a little disappointed because it's sad for the streak to end, BUT, this time last year my 5k PR was almost 4 full minutes slower, so looking back over the last year I am very pleased.
I have pictures, but have to find the camera cable before I can post them.
Thanks for reading!
Realistically, I haven't trained well in the last few months. Ever since my three-week layoff in May/June I've been struggling to get my mileage back up in the NC summer weather, which I just hate. I've bounced around, really never exceeding 15mpw all summer long. In light of that, my official goals for today were
1) Have fun
2) Practice pushing outside of my comfort zone - this is an area where I really need some work.
This morning I got up a little after 6, got dressed in my fun new shirt (see below), and had some breakfast. We left a little after 7. It just occurred to me that I didn't have coffee! Maybe that was my problem When we arrived at the race it was sunny but in the low 50's still, so this NC girl shivered for a while. There was also a cool layer of fog hanging over the big grassy field, and the grass was soaked in dew. People were trickling in until a little after 8, when it got much more crowded. This was when I got intimidated - the entire Lansing Community College XC team showed up. I wandered around for a while, and checked out the famed hill right before the finish - it's a pretty steep grassy hill just before the 3 mile mark - it's probably only 15 or 20 yards long, but really quite steep. With how short it was I figured it would be fine, but with all the dew on the grass and the hill being pretty shaded, I was a little worried it might be slippery.
We lined up at the start just before 9, listened to a few announcements, and headed off. Right away I thought I had gone out too fast, but was sort of caught up in a pack of people and really wanted to find my own space. I had a side stitch within the first 1/4 mile that stuck with me for the rest of the race, it just kept switching sides. I passed quite a few people during this mile, and was passed a few times. Near the end of the mile it seemed people had found their stride and things sort of spread out. During the second mile I felt pretty much alone - there were several people maybe 10 yds in front of me, and no one I could see behind. I passed a few people this mile, and wasn't passed by anyone. At this point I was hurting from my "fast" start and slowed way down. Once I saw the 2 mile marker, though, I figured I'd survive if I held that pace to the end. I passed one more person during the third mile, and was passed by a girl who I think might have been in my age group. There was a long, gradual hill pretty much right before the steep hill, which I hadn't really planned on. I felt a little dizzy getting to the top of the gradual hill, then had a short gradual downhill before the steep climb. When I got to the bottom of the steep part I felt like I'd fall backwards if I didn't hammer the hill, so I got up on my toes and pushed it up to the top - at which point I thought I would pass out. I cut way back, and that's when the girl caught and passed me. From that point I basically just survived to the finish - before the race I noticed a long gradual downhill right after the steep part that I thought I would be able to pick up speed on, but I was dizzy enough at that point that I didn't really try.
Splits:
1st mile: 8:31
2nd mile: 9:15. Blah
3rd mile: 9:05
.1: 0:50
Watch time: 27:42 (8:55 pace)
Not a PR, unless you count it as a trail PR, but honestly to me it just feels like it isn't. I admit I'm a little disappointed because it's sad for the streak to end, BUT, this time last year my 5k PR was almost 4 full minutes slower, so looking back over the last year I am very pleased.
I have pictures, but have to find the camera cable before I can post them.
Thanks for reading!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Best. Shirt. Ever. And an update
We're in Michigan! Actually we've been here for a week, and I'm just now getting around to posting. So far, we love East Lansing. The weather has been incredible, the town has a great atmosphere, running is great. I can run at 3:00 in the afternoon without dying, even!
School stuff starts Monday. Doug's had some job interviews, but no bites yet so we're hoping something will come through very, very soon.
This evening we were exploring and stopped in a Dick's Sporting Goods only to find a shirt that was apparently made just for me. Check it out!
School stuff starts Monday. Doug's had some job interviews, but no bites yet so we're hoping something will come through very, very soon.
This evening we were exploring and stopped in a Dick's Sporting Goods only to find a shirt that was apparently made just for me. Check it out!
Saturday, August 02, 2008
And so it ends...
Once again, it's been quite a while since my last post. Things have been crazy and running hasn't been going quite as I had hoped - on the bright side, though, it's been more successful than any previous summer.
Thursday was my last day of work. Three years in the working world, done. The other night I had so many thoughts and I couldn't get to sleep - I was sort of half crying, composing this entry in my head, and trying to get my mind to just shut up so I could get some sleep. Of course everything I had thought to write that night is gone now, all those profound thoughts just...poof. Over the past few years I've learned a lot about the world, research, and, most importantly, myself. The person I was three years ago compared to the person I am today - I can't even describe the difference. Fortunately I can say that I feel much more prepared to start a PhD program now than I did back then, and I'm much more confident now that I'll succeed.
As I was notifying people about email address changes, I sent off an email to my new mentor. He wrote back with words of wisdom about listening to other scholars...and always finding time for physical activity. So, that's what I have resolved to do over this next week (and beyond, but lets take it one week at a time here). Things are sure to be insane over the next few days - we have to get the apartment all packed and cleaned, drive approximately 800 miles overnight, and get all moved in to a new apartment. Earlier this week I neglected my exercise and that resulted in a meltdown on Wednesday (the same night as the crying and all that) - a 6 mile evening run, followed by a very long shower, and another 3 mile run in the morning made all the difference. I need to keep that in mind this week, and not let packing and all that get in the way of my sanity.
Tonight we hung out with close friends for possibly the last time. This is definitely an emotional time...
Thursday was my last day of work. Three years in the working world, done. The other night I had so many thoughts and I couldn't get to sleep - I was sort of half crying, composing this entry in my head, and trying to get my mind to just shut up so I could get some sleep. Of course everything I had thought to write that night is gone now, all those profound thoughts just...poof. Over the past few years I've learned a lot about the world, research, and, most importantly, myself. The person I was three years ago compared to the person I am today - I can't even describe the difference. Fortunately I can say that I feel much more prepared to start a PhD program now than I did back then, and I'm much more confident now that I'll succeed.
As I was notifying people about email address changes, I sent off an email to my new mentor. He wrote back with words of wisdom about listening to other scholars...and always finding time for physical activity. So, that's what I have resolved to do over this next week (and beyond, but lets take it one week at a time here). Things are sure to be insane over the next few days - we have to get the apartment all packed and cleaned, drive approximately 800 miles overnight, and get all moved in to a new apartment. Earlier this week I neglected my exercise and that resulted in a meltdown on Wednesday (the same night as the crying and all that) - a 6 mile evening run, followed by a very long shower, and another 3 mile run in the morning made all the difference. I need to keep that in mind this week, and not let packing and all that get in the way of my sanity.
Tonight we hung out with close friends for possibly the last time. This is definitely an emotional time...
Monday, June 30, 2008
Not much to say...
Guess I haven't been really motivated to write much of anything lately, which is silly with everything that's going on.
Anyway, here's last week:
Monday: Planned rest. Walked 3 miles
Tuesday: 1.5 miles w/Kona, 9:54 pace, avg HR 179 (77%). Walked 3 miles.
Wednesday: 1.8 miles, 9:25 pace, avg HR 174 (73%) - I ran to the store with an empty backpack and home with a full one. It was weird. Walked 3.
Thursday: Unplanned rest: Drank 2 caffeinated sodas at work after giving up caffeine since December - I felt like my heart would explode if I ran. Walked 1.5 miles.
Friday: 3.5 miles w/Kona, 9:21 pace, avg HR 174 (73%). We got rained on about half the time, which was EXCELLENT.
Saturday: Planned rest, walked 3 miles.
Sunday: 3.5 miles alone, 10:24 pace, avg HR 186 (81%). Exact same route as Friday, but about 10* warmer and oh so sunny. I couldn't keep my HR down for anything.
Total: 10.3 miles run, 13.5 walked.
Stress is wearing me down - I'm exhausted. But, it's that time to just keep going and make it to Michigan, and then I'll have a couple weeks off.
Anyway, here's last week:
Monday: Planned rest. Walked 3 miles
Tuesday: 1.5 miles w/Kona, 9:54 pace, avg HR 179 (77%). Walked 3 miles.
Wednesday: 1.8 miles, 9:25 pace, avg HR 174 (73%) - I ran to the store with an empty backpack and home with a full one. It was weird. Walked 3.
Thursday: Unplanned rest: Drank 2 caffeinated sodas at work after giving up caffeine since December - I felt like my heart would explode if I ran. Walked 1.5 miles.
Friday: 3.5 miles w/Kona, 9:21 pace, avg HR 174 (73%). We got rained on about half the time, which was EXCELLENT.
Saturday: Planned rest, walked 3 miles.
Sunday: 3.5 miles alone, 10:24 pace, avg HR 186 (81%). Exact same route as Friday, but about 10* warmer and oh so sunny. I couldn't keep my HR down for anything.
Total: 10.3 miles run, 13.5 walked.
Stress is wearing me down - I'm exhausted. But, it's that time to just keep going and make it to Michigan, and then I'll have a couple weeks off.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Getting back to it
Last week was my first real week running again, after the 3 (almost 4) week layoff for that hip business. It went pretty well, though the short distances and slower paces are sort of driving me nuts. Anyway, I did 5.8 miles over 3 days of running, and will add a 4th day back this week to get over 10 miles. I figure I'll be back up to my pre-injury volume in another 2 weeks, and then I can start building back up again. I really wanted to be at 40 mpw by fall, but knowing how much I hate the summer, I might be happy to chill around 30 mpw until we get to Michigan.
And now the question is - to run, or not to run, the 4 on the 4th?
And now the question is - to run, or not to run, the 4 on the 4th?
Monday, June 16, 2008
Catching up
Once again, it's been a while since my last post - and a lot has changed! Since the Coach Bubba 20k I've also raced a 5k (huge new PR), a sprint triathlon (report belatedly posted below), and a trail 8k (report also below). Through all that racing my weekly mileage fell steadily - proof that if one's goal is base-building, one should not race monthly!
Just a couple days before the RLAG 8k I started noticing a pain in my left groin, that felt as if something was being pinched, and a sort of burning pain was radiating down into my foot. I cut that run short, and hoped I wouldn't have any trouble for the race. The race went off without a hitch, but then that following Tuesday I noticed a different problem. The first couple steps of that run just felt wrong, so I stopped and walked. A few steps into the walking, I felt my left hip pop and it felt like my whole leg sort of shifted, and the strange feeling went away. The rest of that run was fine. Since then, I've had this nagging pain/ache in that hip. At first I thought it was muscular, but as time went on I decided it felt like it was more within the joint. I saw a doctor about it at the end of May, and he thought I might have femoroacetabular impingement, with a labral tear. The only way to fix that, of course, is surgery. So, one MRI Arthrogram and $200 later I found out that it is NOT FAI and I do not need surgery!
That said, I am free to go back to running, however I think I need to adjust my goals for the rest of the year. I was really hoping to run a PR in the half marathon this year, and was looking at the Detroit half for that attempt. I'm sure I could still run it, and I'm sure I could still PR - but thinking about my long term goals, I'm not sure that is the smartest strategy. After 3 weeks completely off running for that hip issue, I need to start back slowly and build up gradually, and that would compromise my training for that race and potentially my long term goals. Instead, I'm thinking of a half in April 2009 or somewhere around there. That gives me plenty of time to build back up from this, build a good base, and get in several weeks of good targeted workouts.
Just a couple days before the RLAG 8k I started noticing a pain in my left groin, that felt as if something was being pinched, and a sort of burning pain was radiating down into my foot. I cut that run short, and hoped I wouldn't have any trouble for the race. The race went off without a hitch, but then that following Tuesday I noticed a different problem. The first couple steps of that run just felt wrong, so I stopped and walked. A few steps into the walking, I felt my left hip pop and it felt like my whole leg sort of shifted, and the strange feeling went away. The rest of that run was fine. Since then, I've had this nagging pain/ache in that hip. At first I thought it was muscular, but as time went on I decided it felt like it was more within the joint. I saw a doctor about it at the end of May, and he thought I might have femoroacetabular impingement, with a labral tear. The only way to fix that, of course, is surgery. So, one MRI Arthrogram and $200 later I found out that it is NOT FAI and I do not need surgery!
That said, I am free to go back to running, however I think I need to adjust my goals for the rest of the year. I was really hoping to run a PR in the half marathon this year, and was looking at the Detroit half for that attempt. I'm sure I could still run it, and I'm sure I could still PR - but thinking about my long term goals, I'm not sure that is the smartest strategy. After 3 weeks completely off running for that hip issue, I need to start back slowly and build up gradually, and that would compromise my training for that race and potentially my long term goals. Instead, I'm thinking of a half in April 2009 or somewhere around there. That gives me plenty of time to build back up from this, build a good base, and get in several weeks of good targeted workouts.
Another Belated Report: RLAG
Run Like a Girl 8k Trail Race: 5/4/08
This is a series of races sponsored by Montrail (and benefiting the HERA foundation) with events held in various cities across the country – it was the first year for the Richmond race. I wanted to do it because let’s face it – that’s a fun name for a race. Also, a couple years ago Doug and I set out on a quest to get me a run like a girl shirt, which led to a hat (Jenn has one too) and really small t-shirt, and eventually this race!
My goals were:
1. Have fun
2. Finish
3. PR (current PR was 51:05, from a road race on Thanksgiving Day 2007)
Lately I haven’t been running trails, really. I’ve been running a “trail” near the new apartment, but it is very nicely groomed and mostly gravel. The only challenging thing about it is the hills, which have seriously slowed my daily run pace leaving me with no idea of how fast I can actually run. I had no idea what the race course would be like, so my primary aim was just to enjoy myself.
We drove up to the Richmond area Saturday afternoon to camp that night, and told Kona it was her birthday trip (she turned 2 on 5/5). I had planned to pick up my packet at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports on the way in that afternoon…but never looked up directions of how to get there. I had the address and phone number, and while we could have called the shop, we decided to just try and figure it out instead. Well…we got sort of lost. Not terribly lost, though, and did eventually find the shop – and a Chipotle for dinner! After dinner we successfully found our way to the park, checked in, and set up our campsite. Then we took a little walk around the campground and marveled over the NASCAR compounds set up throughout – all the fancy RVs and satellite dishes and banners, it was nuts. A lot of the campsites were empty, so we figured people were actually at the race. After we ran out of daylight and got in the tent, Doug and Kona fell right asleep, and I laid awake and listened to them both snore. For hours. Around 11:30 is started to rain and I stressed over that since our rain fly doesn’t cover the whole tent...and then it stopped…and then started again a little after 12 so I stressed some more. Then, shortly after 2 AM, the people at the neighboring campsite got “home” from the race. And they were drunk. And loud. And they continued being drunk and loud until 4 AM. Once they finally quieted down I was finally able to sleep, so I wound up with about 3 hours of sleep that night.
Sunday morning I got up and went through my pre-race rituals while Doug ran back into town to get batteries for the camera. While he was gone I packed up the campsite, and when he got back we loaded it all in the car and headed to the start. We checked out sponsor tents and milled around until the start, and then finally they told us all to line up and did the pre-race announcements. The race started with a big loop on a grassy field, and then over a bridge and into the woods. It was seriously crowded at the start, but once we got into the woods there was a pretty large hill that started spreading people out. I heard someone yell out the one mile mark and checked my watch – 9:29. At that point it was still pretty crowded, but with each additional hill the field got more and more spread out. After the first aid station (wherever that was) I finally felt like I wasn’t constantly dodging people. The trail was moderately hilly, and not very technical at all, so it turns out the trail I’ve been running prepared me pretty well!
The trail wasn’t marked with mile markers and I never heard anyone yell out another after that first mile, so most of the time I really didn’t know where I was. When I hit the second aid station I knew that was between miles 3 and 4, and not long afterwards I saw the 1 mile to go sign, which the race director had suggested was actually more like 1.25 to go. From that point it was mostly downhill. I was in a group when we ran past a sign that said “boat ramp .3 miles” and we wondered whether that was all we had left to go, and then one of the girls right in front of me fell. She was ok, and we all kept going. Maybe 2 minutes after that I could hear the crowd, checked my watch, and saw that I got another big PR! Down a little hill, smile at Doug and Kona, over the bridge, and to the finish!
Watch time: 46:15 – almost a 5 minute PR!
And with that….I’m done racing until Fall – I think.
A Belated Report: Tri Roanoke Valley
Back in 2004 I decided to attempt a triathlon – and failed miserably. My training was mediocre and I panicked during the swim and dropped out. I still had a good time watching the race and was inspired to try another, but each season came and went and I just never did. A few months ago I was in Fleet Feet and saw a brochure for the Tri Roanoke Valley Sprint Triathlon – held in the town where my parents grew up and grandmother still lives. I decided there was no way I’d be ready by April 12th…and over the course of the next few days somehow talked myself into doing it anyway.
However, this year I really wanted to focus on running and base building, so I told myself I was only doing the tri if I didn’t let training for that interfere with my running. I did ok with that for a while, but eventually I had to cut my mileage back because it was just too tiring. Training for all 3 events is clearly not something I enjoy, and I wound up not spending nearly as much time in the pool and on the bike as I really should have. I’m a good swimmer naturally, but with what happened at the last race I was still worried about it. As far as the bike was concerned, I knew I could cover the distance and that was fine with me.
My main goal for this race was to finish – I didn’t care about my time or my place, I just wanted to get through it and get a little revenge after last time. I had estimated that the 300yd swim would take about 5:20, 14.8 bike would be about an hour, and 5k run would be about 30 minutes, figuring my legs would be tired by then. So, with transitions included that had me coming in around 1:40 or so.
Saturday morning I got up and had a peanut butter bagel and cup of coffee, and then got dressed, put air in my bike tires, and headed off to the race site. It was already 68* out when I left the house at 6:45. I arrived at the site right around 7 AM and went off to the body marking table. After getting all marked up I headed back to my car to retrieve my bike and transition stuff…and couldn’t get my bike off the roof rack! The ratchety-thingy, whatever that’s called, wouldn’t let go and I couldn’t free my back wheel. Fortunately, a very nice man in the parking lot helped me and we managed to get it off. Whew! Then I headed over and got my transition area all set up. Once that was ready I wandered into the aquatic center and checked that out, then went back outside for the pre-race meeting. Up to this point I had been wearing my tri shorts and sports bra, with a long sleeved shirt on top. They informed us that the transition area was being closed at 7:30, so once we left it for the meeting we couldn’t go back in. I felt so naked standing around for 30 minutes without my long sleeved shirt! At this point I was really starting to get nervous, and a guy standing near me, who turned out to be #13 (I was #12) was very nice and distracted me for a while. Our race numbers were assigned in the order of our swim starts, which meant I had submitted the 12th fastest time, and obviously #13 was right behind me. Chatting while waiting in line to start the swim, we discovered we had registered with the same time, and I really wanted to just ask if he could start in front of me because knowing we were so close made me nervous. Also, thanks to having our ages written on our legs, I noticed #11 was only 14! Nothing like knowing for sure a 14 year old is going to kick your ass.
For the swim, we started in order, every 15 seconds. When it was my turn I hopped in the pool and pushed off, and the first lap went fine. Changing under the lane line went fine. Then halfway through the second lap, my chest tightened up and I couldn’t breathe, just like last time. I foolishly tried to stick to my every 4th stroke breathing pattern, and kept getting water up my nose. I tried a couple strokes of breast stroke, which didn’t work, and #13 caught me – and he wouldn’t pass! I had to practically stop in the lane to get him to pass me. Once he finally did, though, I was able to calm myself down and made it through by breathing more frequently. I think just knowing he was right behind me was too much pressure – once he passed, I had a huge amount of space between myself and the next person in line. I finally made it to the end, hopped out of the pool, and started running to the transition area. Lately I’ve been getting dizzy when I get out of the pool, but fortunately that didn’t happen and I was able to run that distance without a problem. The transition went rather smoothly…although apparently slowly.
Swim time: 5:55 (predicted was 5:20 – oh well) (rank 15)
T1: 2:13
The bike course was pretty challenging, as advertised. The first few miles went through the “city” complete with a railroad crossing and the possibility of encountering a train – turns out the train people don’t really care about little local tris, go figure. Then the course turns onto a country road through farms and wide open space, up and down and up and down, over Lake Roanoke Rapids (or RR Lake, I can’t remember), up to a turn around and back over the same course. This part went a lot better than I expected – I passed 4 people or so, and was passed by more than I could count – but, they all had fancy bikes and looked like they had done this before so I didn’t let it bother me. I was only passed by one woman, and took note that she wasn’t in my age group. After about 11 miles I hit a big hill and was feeling sorry for myself, and then thought about my friend Terry doing Ironman AZ and told myself to stop whining and get on with it. I wound up averaging 15.8 mph on the bike which I was thrilled with, not having trained much at all, especially since all of my training rides were ~14 mph. The bike -> run transition went relatively smoothly. I hadn’t pinned my race # to my shirt before the race because I thought it might be annoying on the bike, so I had to do that before the run. Without that, I think it probably would have been a rather speedy transition (comparatively, anyway).
Bike time: 56:22 (rank 29)
T2: 1:48
The feeling in my legs when I took off for the run was too weird. I had done a few bricks so I thought I knew what to expect, but I guess since the bike was faster than usual it was different. I felt like I was going slow, but my legs were tired, and my breathing was pretty heavy so I had no idea how fast I was going. This was a really hilly course, most of which I had run before on previous visits, so I was somewhat familiar with it. The whole run course went through a residential area, so even though the roads were open I think I only saw 2 cars. After some decent hills, the first of which I walked, we ran down a super steep hill to the first aid station, and then did a loop on River Rd, which is, go figure, right along the river. Unfortunately, it’s so developed it’s hard to actually see the river. Right about this time my legs started to feel somewhat normal again. Almost at the halfway point, I saw #13 again and yelled some encouragement to him. Somewhere along here I also saw the 14 year-old girl and another woman (a quick head swivel told me she was 32 – sweet). At the cul-de-sac at the end of the road we had to turn around and run to the opposite end, then turn around again and head back up the super steep hill. Just before the hill I caught and passed #13 and felt pretty good about it, because of the swim thing. I walked up that hill, and then managed to run the rest of the way back to the finish. When I could see the rec center I checked my watch and saw I was about 5 minutes ahead of my 30 minute goal, so I just tried to hold the pace I was running through the finish. I was so happy to be finished I forgot to look at the clock! I had timed the bike and run, but really had no idea at that point how long the swim had taken.
Run time: 28:50 (9:18 pace, rank 22)
Total time: 1:35:12
So, I got my little finishers medal and had my picture taken in front of the finisher board, and then walked over to where my aunt was standing and she said she was pretty sure I had gotten first in my age group. I thought so too, but wasn’t convinced because of the staggered swim start – turns out, I did! It’s nuts – two weeks ago I was hoping and praying to break 30 min in my 5k, this weekend I did that after two other events! Coupled with completing the bike so much faster than I expected, it made the disappointing swim feel a little less awful.
Results:
1st in age group
5th woman
22nd overall
Obviously I’m super excited by my results, but really all I wanted to do was finish. I did that, a little faster than I hoped, and got hardware as icing on the cake
Thanks for reading!
However, this year I really wanted to focus on running and base building, so I told myself I was only doing the tri if I didn’t let training for that interfere with my running. I did ok with that for a while, but eventually I had to cut my mileage back because it was just too tiring. Training for all 3 events is clearly not something I enjoy, and I wound up not spending nearly as much time in the pool and on the bike as I really should have. I’m a good swimmer naturally, but with what happened at the last race I was still worried about it. As far as the bike was concerned, I knew I could cover the distance and that was fine with me.
My main goal for this race was to finish – I didn’t care about my time or my place, I just wanted to get through it and get a little revenge after last time. I had estimated that the 300yd swim would take about 5:20, 14.8 bike would be about an hour, and 5k run would be about 30 minutes, figuring my legs would be tired by then. So, with transitions included that had me coming in around 1:40 or so.
Saturday morning I got up and had a peanut butter bagel and cup of coffee, and then got dressed, put air in my bike tires, and headed off to the race site. It was already 68* out when I left the house at 6:45. I arrived at the site right around 7 AM and went off to the body marking table. After getting all marked up I headed back to my car to retrieve my bike and transition stuff…and couldn’t get my bike off the roof rack! The ratchety-thingy, whatever that’s called, wouldn’t let go and I couldn’t free my back wheel. Fortunately, a very nice man in the parking lot helped me and we managed to get it off. Whew! Then I headed over and got my transition area all set up. Once that was ready I wandered into the aquatic center and checked that out, then went back outside for the pre-race meeting. Up to this point I had been wearing my tri shorts and sports bra, with a long sleeved shirt on top. They informed us that the transition area was being closed at 7:30, so once we left it for the meeting we couldn’t go back in. I felt so naked standing around for 30 minutes without my long sleeved shirt! At this point I was really starting to get nervous, and a guy standing near me, who turned out to be #13 (I was #12) was very nice and distracted me for a while. Our race numbers were assigned in the order of our swim starts, which meant I had submitted the 12th fastest time, and obviously #13 was right behind me. Chatting while waiting in line to start the swim, we discovered we had registered with the same time, and I really wanted to just ask if he could start in front of me because knowing we were so close made me nervous. Also, thanks to having our ages written on our legs, I noticed #11 was only 14! Nothing like knowing for sure a 14 year old is going to kick your ass.
For the swim, we started in order, every 15 seconds. When it was my turn I hopped in the pool and pushed off, and the first lap went fine. Changing under the lane line went fine. Then halfway through the second lap, my chest tightened up and I couldn’t breathe, just like last time. I foolishly tried to stick to my every 4th stroke breathing pattern, and kept getting water up my nose. I tried a couple strokes of breast stroke, which didn’t work, and #13 caught me – and he wouldn’t pass! I had to practically stop in the lane to get him to pass me. Once he finally did, though, I was able to calm myself down and made it through by breathing more frequently. I think just knowing he was right behind me was too much pressure – once he passed, I had a huge amount of space between myself and the next person in line. I finally made it to the end, hopped out of the pool, and started running to the transition area. Lately I’ve been getting dizzy when I get out of the pool, but fortunately that didn’t happen and I was able to run that distance without a problem. The transition went rather smoothly…although apparently slowly.
Swim time: 5:55 (predicted was 5:20 – oh well) (rank 15)
T1: 2:13
The bike course was pretty challenging, as advertised. The first few miles went through the “city” complete with a railroad crossing and the possibility of encountering a train – turns out the train people don’t really care about little local tris, go figure. Then the course turns onto a country road through farms and wide open space, up and down and up and down, over Lake Roanoke Rapids (or RR Lake, I can’t remember), up to a turn around and back over the same course. This part went a lot better than I expected – I passed 4 people or so, and was passed by more than I could count – but, they all had fancy bikes and looked like they had done this before so I didn’t let it bother me. I was only passed by one woman, and took note that she wasn’t in my age group. After about 11 miles I hit a big hill and was feeling sorry for myself, and then thought about my friend Terry doing Ironman AZ and told myself to stop whining and get on with it. I wound up averaging 15.8 mph on the bike which I was thrilled with, not having trained much at all, especially since all of my training rides were ~14 mph. The bike -> run transition went relatively smoothly. I hadn’t pinned my race # to my shirt before the race because I thought it might be annoying on the bike, so I had to do that before the run. Without that, I think it probably would have been a rather speedy transition (comparatively, anyway).
Bike time: 56:22 (rank 29)
T2: 1:48
The feeling in my legs when I took off for the run was too weird. I had done a few bricks so I thought I knew what to expect, but I guess since the bike was faster than usual it was different. I felt like I was going slow, but my legs were tired, and my breathing was pretty heavy so I had no idea how fast I was going. This was a really hilly course, most of which I had run before on previous visits, so I was somewhat familiar with it. The whole run course went through a residential area, so even though the roads were open I think I only saw 2 cars. After some decent hills, the first of which I walked, we ran down a super steep hill to the first aid station, and then did a loop on River Rd, which is, go figure, right along the river. Unfortunately, it’s so developed it’s hard to actually see the river. Right about this time my legs started to feel somewhat normal again. Almost at the halfway point, I saw #13 again and yelled some encouragement to him. Somewhere along here I also saw the 14 year-old girl and another woman (a quick head swivel told me she was 32 – sweet). At the cul-de-sac at the end of the road we had to turn around and run to the opposite end, then turn around again and head back up the super steep hill. Just before the hill I caught and passed #13 and felt pretty good about it, because of the swim thing. I walked up that hill, and then managed to run the rest of the way back to the finish. When I could see the rec center I checked my watch and saw I was about 5 minutes ahead of my 30 minute goal, so I just tried to hold the pace I was running through the finish. I was so happy to be finished I forgot to look at the clock! I had timed the bike and run, but really had no idea at that point how long the swim had taken.
Run time: 28:50 (9:18 pace, rank 22)
Total time: 1:35:12
So, I got my little finishers medal and had my picture taken in front of the finisher board, and then walked over to where my aunt was standing and she said she was pretty sure I had gotten first in my age group. I thought so too, but wasn’t convinced because of the staggered swim start – turns out, I did! It’s nuts – two weeks ago I was hoping and praying to break 30 min in my 5k, this weekend I did that after two other events! Coupled with completing the bike so much faster than I expected, it made the disappointing swim feel a little less awful.
Results:
1st in age group
5th woman
22nd overall
Obviously I’m super excited by my results, but really all I wanted to do was finish. I did that, a little faster than I hoped, and got hardware as icing on the cake
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
I raced! Coach Bubba 20K
Since November, I’ve really been focusing on trying to increase my mileage (smartly) in the hopes of continuing all the improvement I saw last year. I’ve run my highest mileage week ever this month, and wasn’t exactly rested for this race. But, it was always in the back of my mind that maybe I wanted to do it. This is a local race that has been going on forever, and one I felt like I should finally do before moving away. The long-sleeved tech-tee and a chance to hang out with my friend Margaret sealed the deal. So, I dragged myself out of bed at the crack of dawn this morning. Thank goodness Doug had to work early, or it would have been harder to get up. I ate some corn flakes, drank a little (not enough) water, got dressed, and headed out in the cold. By Michigan standards it wasn’t cold, but low 40s and foggy is cold in NC! I wore my cw-x tights, a short sleeved tech-tee, and a long sleeved one. Threw a fleece and gloves on top for the pre-race portion, and headed out.
Margaret and I were going to meet at the race at 7:15, but being my usual self I got there at 7, so I got my packet and sat in my car until I saw her pull into the parking lot in her fancy new car. We got her chip, found the rest rooms, and chatted (inside) until it was almost race time. The 4 mile race starts first, so we watched them head off, and then got in line. Margaret was being all serious about this one, so I left her near the front of the pack and wandered off to the back. Someone said some stuff through a megaphone that I couldn’t hear, and we were off!
The course starts off in Downtown Durham, and then goes through the Forest Hills neighborhood, which is one of those places I’ve always thought I could live, if I ever bought a house here. I enjoyed looking at the varied architecture…and completely failed to pace myself. During this section, I was running pretty close with a girl who I’ll call sweat pants girl (SPG). She was wearing sweatpants with a flimsy elastic waist, and had her keys in the pocket so her pants kept slipping down and she’d have to hike them up again. I decided she seemed to be going at about my pace, so I tried to keep her in my sights. Splits from the first 5 miles…
Mile 1: 10:04 (ok, I like this, this is good)
Mile 2: 9:44 (oh no….slow down!)
Mile 3: 9:56 (ok…that’s a little better)
Mile 4: 8:52 (hahaha…that marker is in the wrong place!)
Mile 5: 12:04 (told ya..and I lost SPG)
Then, we hit the American Tobacco Trail and I looked forward to flat running for a while. This year, the race was designated a RRCA championship race, and a lot of local speedsters came out for it. Joan Nesbit Mabe was there with many members of her Carrboro Athletics Club…the first of whom I saw heading back, approaching the 11 mile marker…as I was just approaching the 6 mile marker. He was flying, so I paid attention to the time – it was 3 minutes before I saw the second place guy. Running up to the turn-around was really entertaining, because I got to watch everyone coming back the other way. As I said, many speedsters, and then I saw Margaret looking really strong (and almost done!). I got to the turn-around, headed back, and tried to keep from losing it in the last few miles like I normally do. Around the 15k mark my stomach started growling. Then, I passed the 10 mile mark about 18 minutes sooner than I had ever passed it in any other race and got all excited. Shortly after the 11 mile mark, though, I started fading. At this point I told myself I just had to get to the 12 mile mark, and then run in as hard as I could for the last .4. I managed to keep SPG in my sight the whole race, but never did catch up to her after I lost her around mile 5. Splits from the last 7.4:
Mile 6: 10:17 (a little slower than I wanted, but not bad)
Mile 7: 9:53 (woah there…)
Mile 8: 10:17
Mile 9: 10:44 (oops…)
Mile 10: 10:05 (better…and hungry)
Mile 11: 10:28 (getting tired now)
Mile 12: 11:22 (ugh)
Last .4: 3:51 (9:37 pace)
Total time: 2:07:42
Average pace: 10:18
I didn’t wear my HRM – shocker of the year right there! Just didn’t feel like it.
Margaret and I hung out, chatted and ate for a while after the race.
I have never run a 20k before, so that’s a PR! I also sets me up for a rather large half marathon PR, whenever I decide to run one of them again, as my current PR is 2:33:41 – lets hope that extra .7 wouldn’t take me 26 minutes!
I’m really pleased with my performance today. I didn’t rest like I normally would have for a half marathon. My weekly mileage record was just last week, and I ran 11.6 last Sunday. I could say that I would have done it faster if I rested more, but that may or may not be true. Usually I start to lose it after the 10 mile mark, but managed to hang on basically until 11 this time. I supposed throwing some more 10+ mile runs into my schedule should help with that – I’d like to get to the point where I know I can maintain my pace through the last few miles of a half.
Anyway, it was a good day! Thanks for reading!
Margaret and I were going to meet at the race at 7:15, but being my usual self I got there at 7, so I got my packet and sat in my car until I saw her pull into the parking lot in her fancy new car. We got her chip, found the rest rooms, and chatted (inside) until it was almost race time. The 4 mile race starts first, so we watched them head off, and then got in line. Margaret was being all serious about this one, so I left her near the front of the pack and wandered off to the back. Someone said some stuff through a megaphone that I couldn’t hear, and we were off!
The course starts off in Downtown Durham, and then goes through the Forest Hills neighborhood, which is one of those places I’ve always thought I could live, if I ever bought a house here. I enjoyed looking at the varied architecture…and completely failed to pace myself. During this section, I was running pretty close with a girl who I’ll call sweat pants girl (SPG). She was wearing sweatpants with a flimsy elastic waist, and had her keys in the pocket so her pants kept slipping down and she’d have to hike them up again. I decided she seemed to be going at about my pace, so I tried to keep her in my sights. Splits from the first 5 miles…
Mile 1: 10:04 (ok, I like this, this is good)
Mile 2: 9:44 (oh no….slow down!)
Mile 3: 9:56 (ok…that’s a little better)
Mile 4: 8:52 (hahaha…that marker is in the wrong place!)
Mile 5: 12:04 (told ya..and I lost SPG)
Then, we hit the American Tobacco Trail and I looked forward to flat running for a while. This year, the race was designated a RRCA championship race, and a lot of local speedsters came out for it. Joan Nesbit Mabe was there with many members of her Carrboro Athletics Club…the first of whom I saw heading back, approaching the 11 mile marker…as I was just approaching the 6 mile marker. He was flying, so I paid attention to the time – it was 3 minutes before I saw the second place guy. Running up to the turn-around was really entertaining, because I got to watch everyone coming back the other way. As I said, many speedsters, and then I saw Margaret looking really strong (and almost done!). I got to the turn-around, headed back, and tried to keep from losing it in the last few miles like I normally do. Around the 15k mark my stomach started growling. Then, I passed the 10 mile mark about 18 minutes sooner than I had ever passed it in any other race and got all excited. Shortly after the 11 mile mark, though, I started fading. At this point I told myself I just had to get to the 12 mile mark, and then run in as hard as I could for the last .4. I managed to keep SPG in my sight the whole race, but never did catch up to her after I lost her around mile 5. Splits from the last 7.4:
Mile 6: 10:17 (a little slower than I wanted, but not bad)
Mile 7: 9:53 (woah there…)
Mile 8: 10:17
Mile 9: 10:44 (oops…)
Mile 10: 10:05 (better…and hungry)
Mile 11: 10:28 (getting tired now)
Mile 12: 11:22 (ugh)
Last .4: 3:51 (9:37 pace)
Total time: 2:07:42
Average pace: 10:18
I didn’t wear my HRM – shocker of the year right there! Just didn’t feel like it.
Margaret and I hung out, chatted and ate for a while after the race.
I have never run a 20k before, so that’s a PR! I also sets me up for a rather large half marathon PR, whenever I decide to run one of them again, as my current PR is 2:33:41 – lets hope that extra .7 wouldn’t take me 26 minutes!
I’m really pleased with my performance today. I didn’t rest like I normally would have for a half marathon. My weekly mileage record was just last week, and I ran 11.6 last Sunday. I could say that I would have done it faster if I rested more, but that may or may not be true. Usually I start to lose it after the 10 mile mark, but managed to hang on basically until 11 this time. I supposed throwing some more 10+ mile runs into my schedule should help with that – I’d like to get to the point where I know I can maintain my pace through the last few miles of a half.
Anyway, it was a good day! Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Update
Once again it's been a while since I posted. I don't think I have many readers anyway...
Since my last post I've run 53 miles - more than I ran in the entire month of January. I'm feeling stronger, but last week was mentally tough. Even so, I got out there for every planned run, and actually exceeded my planned mileage total by 3. Those 28 miles also made for a lifetime mileage high. I'm certainly proud of that!
This weekend I'll be running the Coach Bubba 20K in Durham. I decided to do it basically at the last minute, but I'm looking forward to it. If nothing else, it'll be a PR. I've also got tentative or definite races on the schedule for March, April (2), and May. After that I think I'll take a break until after the big move. Not a break from running, though, just from racing.
It still feels very strange to consider what I do "racing" since I am still quite slow.
Thinking about my training for the next few weeks, I think I'll be changing things around some. The inconvenience of the pool schedule means I still haven't made it to the pool to get ready for this tri. We'll also be living within walking/running distance of my office in less than two weeks - which also means walking/running distance from the pool, making that a lot more convenient. I'll probably cut back on the evening runs in the month of March, and replace them with runs to/from the apartment to walk Kona at lunch time. That will clear up time for swimming and biking after work, but still get me time on my feet (even though it isn't the same).
Right this second, at least, that's the plan...
Since my last post I've run 53 miles - more than I ran in the entire month of January. I'm feeling stronger, but last week was mentally tough. Even so, I got out there for every planned run, and actually exceeded my planned mileage total by 3. Those 28 miles also made for a lifetime mileage high. I'm certainly proud of that!
This weekend I'll be running the Coach Bubba 20K in Durham. I decided to do it basically at the last minute, but I'm looking forward to it. If nothing else, it'll be a PR. I've also got tentative or definite races on the schedule for March, April (2), and May. After that I think I'll take a break until after the big move. Not a break from running, though, just from racing.
It still feels very strange to consider what I do "racing" since I am still quite slow.
Thinking about my training for the next few weeks, I think I'll be changing things around some. The inconvenience of the pool schedule means I still haven't made it to the pool to get ready for this tri. We'll also be living within walking/running distance of my office in less than two weeks - which also means walking/running distance from the pool, making that a lot more convenient. I'll probably cut back on the evening runs in the month of March, and replace them with runs to/from the apartment to walk Kona at lunch time. That will clear up time for swimming and biking after work, but still get me time on my feet (even though it isn't the same).
Right this second, at least, that's the plan...
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Yoga and 8 miles
Do not mix! Oh, my hamstrings. I really want to keep going to that yoga class on Sundays, so I guess I'm going to move my long runs to Saturdays. That gives me Friday as a rest day (for a couple more weeks), and then Sunday for a nice easy recovery run.
Fingers crossed...
I've also decided to do a triathlon, so I really need to get in some swimming and biking. Right now, those are also going to be primarily weekend activities. Lord help me.
Today's run: 4 easy miles with Kona at a 9:56 pace. As promised I wore my HRM - kept my average HR at 174bpm, which is 73%. We did half trails and half roads - some softness for the legs, but got off the trails before it got dark. A good run, all things considered.
Fingers crossed...
I've also decided to do a triathlon, so I really need to get in some swimming and biking. Right now, those are also going to be primarily weekend activities. Lord help me.
Today's run: 4 easy miles with Kona at a 9:56 pace. As promised I wore my HRM - kept my average HR at 174bpm, which is 73%. We did half trails and half roads - some softness for the legs, but got off the trails before it got dark. A good run, all things considered.
Monday, February 04, 2008
I'll get better about posting.
I know I've been bad - I got out of the habit! However I am happy to report that while I am out of the posting habit, I am not out of the running habit.
Last week:
Monday: planned rest!
Tuesday: 3.6 miles with Kona, 10:00 pace. I'm getting tired of running in the dark and it showed. This was supposed to be 4 miles, but I got sick of the dark and cut off a little loop.
Wednesday: My birthday! 4 miles with Kona again, 39:48 pace. That's more like it! This run was up to Meadowmont, under 54, and back down to the UNC XC course, so about half paved bike path and half trail. I'm trying to get Kona on soft surfaces more and was able to leave work early enough that we could be on trails in the daylight. Then out to dinner for my birthday at The Spotted Dog..mmm, boneless burger :)
Thursday: My interval day. I've been doing a nike + workout (from iTunes) just to mix it up a little. This one is almost 39 minutes long (they call it 40) so my goal is always to finish 4 miles before the workout starts repeating. This time, 4 miles took me 40:14 (10:03 pace). Nice how my interval day was slower than both of my easy days. I went way too fast on the first couple intervals and paid for it later. Also, this was the day I got my new nike + system from Apple (my old one died under warranty). As of 2/4 I still haven't calibrated the new one.
Friday: more scheduled rest!
Saturday: 3 "easy" trail miles with Kona. Ran a known route since my gaget hadn't been calibrated, but took it along anyway. It measured 3.26 miles. Anyway, 28:30 (9:30 pace) for 3...so much for an easy run (but it felt easy! - ish)
Sunday: Did another known route: 8 trail miles in 1:19:48. That's a 9:59 pace, ladies and gentlemen :) I'm finally getting faster... The trails were super muddy! It rains here again now, which is great. The creek was actually high, and there were giant puddles on some low-lying parts of the trail. One was covering the entire (wide) trail, no way at all to get around it. I went through at what looked to be the shallowest part and my feet got absolutely soaked. The air might have been warm, but that water was cold! Also did a hour long ashtanga yoga class...ouchie.
Total of 22.6 miles. I made 98% of my planned mileage - that's really great for me. If only I hadn't cut off that 0.4!
This weeks plan is similar:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4 easy (I will wear my HRM)
Wednesday: 4 easy
Thursday: 4, intervals
Friday: rest
Saturday: 3 easy
Sunday: 10
Thanks for reading!
Last week:
Monday: planned rest!
Tuesday: 3.6 miles with Kona, 10:00 pace. I'm getting tired of running in the dark and it showed. This was supposed to be 4 miles, but I got sick of the dark and cut off a little loop.
Wednesday: My birthday! 4 miles with Kona again, 39:48 pace. That's more like it! This run was up to Meadowmont, under 54, and back down to the UNC XC course, so about half paved bike path and half trail. I'm trying to get Kona on soft surfaces more and was able to leave work early enough that we could be on trails in the daylight. Then out to dinner for my birthday at The Spotted Dog..mmm, boneless burger :)
Thursday: My interval day. I've been doing a nike + workout (from iTunes) just to mix it up a little. This one is almost 39 minutes long (they call it 40) so my goal is always to finish 4 miles before the workout starts repeating. This time, 4 miles took me 40:14 (10:03 pace). Nice how my interval day was slower than both of my easy days. I went way too fast on the first couple intervals and paid for it later. Also, this was the day I got my new nike + system from Apple (my old one died under warranty). As of 2/4 I still haven't calibrated the new one.
Friday: more scheduled rest!
Saturday: 3 "easy" trail miles with Kona. Ran a known route since my gaget hadn't been calibrated, but took it along anyway. It measured 3.26 miles. Anyway, 28:30 (9:30 pace) for 3...so much for an easy run (but it felt easy! - ish)
Sunday: Did another known route: 8 trail miles in 1:19:48. That's a 9:59 pace, ladies and gentlemen :) I'm finally getting faster... The trails were super muddy! It rains here again now, which is great. The creek was actually high, and there were giant puddles on some low-lying parts of the trail. One was covering the entire (wide) trail, no way at all to get around it. I went through at what looked to be the shallowest part and my feet got absolutely soaked. The air might have been warm, but that water was cold! Also did a hour long ashtanga yoga class...ouchie.
Total of 22.6 miles. I made 98% of my planned mileage - that's really great for me. If only I hadn't cut off that 0.4!
This weeks plan is similar:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4 easy (I will wear my HRM)
Wednesday: 4 easy
Thursday: 4, intervals
Friday: rest
Saturday: 3 easy
Sunday: 10
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Getting back to business
Alright, well. Sunday was the first day I felt well enough to run, post-wisdom-teeth. I was visiting with my grandmother and parents, in a town about 2 hours from here. Somehow I never noticed how hilly it was out there! Four miles, 42ish minutes, and one heck of a head wind on the second half.
On the schedule for today was another 4. I decided I would run after work and take Pupster along. Well...by the time I got home from work it was 6:30, raining, and 36* outside. Normally 36* wouldn't bother me - but in the rain? Ugh. Considering we're moving to Michigan in a matter of months, might as well suck it up now. So, 4 hilly miles in the cold rain, 44 minutes this time. Between the hills, dark, and rain, I took it easy afraid I would slip and break myself. Wet Kona, Wet E, wet wet wet.
I did manage to implement part 2 of my plan today, and stretched well for 10 minutes following my run. That part, at least, felt great!
Remaining plan for this week:
Wednesday: 4 miles easy. HR < 179
Thursday: 40 minute interval workout, should come out to a little over 4 miles
Friday: rest day!
Saturday: 3 miles easy. HR < 179
Sunday: This week's "long" run of 6 miles
Total: 21ish
On the schedule for today was another 4. I decided I would run after work and take Pupster along. Well...by the time I got home from work it was 6:30, raining, and 36* outside. Normally 36* wouldn't bother me - but in the rain? Ugh. Considering we're moving to Michigan in a matter of months, might as well suck it up now. So, 4 hilly miles in the cold rain, 44 minutes this time. Between the hills, dark, and rain, I took it easy afraid I would slip and break myself. Wet Kona, Wet E, wet wet wet.
I did manage to implement part 2 of my plan today, and stretched well for 10 minutes following my run. That part, at least, felt great!
Remaining plan for this week:
Wednesday: 4 miles easy. HR < 179
Thursday: 40 minute interval workout, should come out to a little over 4 miles
Friday: rest day!
Saturday: 3 miles easy. HR < 179
Sunday: This week's "long" run of 6 miles
Total: 21ish
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Alright, well...
I promise I have run since my last post. A lot, actually. But as the new title suggests, I have a new goal and it's time to refocus. There's a few days left of my post-surgical rest, but then I'll be back at it with a new plan and all new goals for 2008.
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