After last night's tempo workout (which went well overall), I've decided that I don't want to race a half-marathon this coming Monday in Iowa City, not when I have another already scheduled and paid for on the 8th. I am not backing anything off this week in anticipation of running a race, so I would be even less fresh than I was for the 10-miler last week (where I called the race the week's quality tempo workout, and if you tally up the race, the 20 miles the following day, and the miles and hard workout I've been getting in this week, my legs will have done a lot of work in the last seven days). If I felt anything like I felt in the 10-miler, even if I paced the half a little better I probably still wouldn't run better than 1:40, and that wouldn't make me very happy. I don't feel like paying for a 13-mile tempo workout. I'll get my scheduled 20-mile mix of miles and tempo intervals done on my own and cool it a bit during the following week so I can go into the already-paid-for half-marathon in Wilmington on legs that have taken a little easier.
Another reason I'm backing off on doing this race is that I think I'm starting to feel the accumulating miles. These weeks are the biggest and toughest of the training schedule, and during them I'm asking a lot out of my body, which I have already asked a lot out of. Since I started running marathons, I have never run this much in a four-month stretch (on pace for a theoretical ~2400 miles this year, a lot more than I've ever done) and I feel like I'm running on the edge of doing too much, but haven't gone over that line yet. Maybe that's normal when you bump up weekly mileage long-term for the first time, but I'm the type to worry every day that tomorrow's long miles or interval workout will be what pushes me over the edge and I'm hurt and won't be able to do Vermont City. I'm pretty thrilled that so far I've made it without anything that's hindering me from running, but any little twinge anywhere and I'm chewing my fingernails hoping it doesn't last or turn into worse. I think I'm going to need a long recovery after the VCM. Just have a month left of hard work, and then I can take a vacation from a tough schedule.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Week #17: toughen up
Summary for week ending Sunday, April 24, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 54.27
Average miles per run: 9.05
Miles in April: 181.38
Miles in 2016: 775.80
With the race on Saturday, I moved my miles around so that the quality tempo would be the race and the easy, general mileage would be the rest of the week. Tuesday I doubled and went outside for the AM run rather than hitting the treadmill. It was around 6:30 and absolute perfection: in the mid-40s, no wind, sun on its way up. I felt outstanding, like I could have gone all day. I felt I loved, loved running. Alas, I did have to call it quits after an hour and go to work.
The rest of the weekday running was fine. I took Friday as a rest day for a couple reasons and ran the Tommy 10-miler on Saturday.
I still had a long run to get in on Sunday. Because the Flyers unexpectedly won Game 5, there was a Game 6, and they scheduled it for noon today. Noon!? When was I supposed to get 20+ in if the game was in the damn dead middle of the day??
I guess in the morning; don't like to have 20+ miles hanging over my head all day and couldn't risk a mega-overtime game eating up the hours.1 I had kind of hoped to sleep in a little bit after not getting the best sleep Friday night, but that went out the window. I got up at 7 and felt exactly like I was having to go to work, going down to eat breakfast and then back up to get dressed and head out the door by 8. At least it was a very nice early-ish Sunday -- why couldn't it have been this nice yesterday? Mid-40s and sun, a little wind but nothing bad. I thought I'd try to get a little hilly running done today as I have not done much really hilly mileage lately and Vermont City is getting closer. I did a couple loops around Paper Mill Park to get my legs going -- they were not especially interested, unfortunately -- and then headed up Paper Mill Road. After that couple laps, I felt ok. I wouldn't say good, but not bad. I meandered up and down the long hills of Paper Mill Road and then around down Possum Hollow Road, which generally feels cool and serene as it is an off-the-main-drag road, but on my way back up I started to feel yesterday's race. I headed back down Paper Mill Road and when I finally made it back to the park, I decided that was going to be all the hill running I would do today. I'd kind of thought I might do my second session up Polly Drummond but the very thought made me sore and tired. I was at about 10K when I paused at my car. I had a gel and set about getting in a few more miles. I decided to take the rest of the run in 3-4 mile segments, which would make the next 16 miles manageable, if perhaps a little dull looping around and around at the park. Wouldn't be the first time I killed high miles there (and won't be the last). The weather was fine, it was early enough that the park wasn't busy, and I ate up the distance.
Water and Gatorade at 10 miles; I thought then that the whole 22 on the schedule might be a reach. I was starting to hurt. Not a real hurt yet, but a creeping heaviness in my legs and some tightness in my abdominal muscles. By my next break around 13.5 miles, it was amplifying. Legs starting to hurt, lower back getting in on the action, but I was still running ok. Easy pace, just a little robotic and heavy. I stopped again just short of 17 miles, and I made my decision. 20 would be adequate. If I got to 20 and felt I could eke out another 2.5 laps for the whole 22, then that would be gravy, but if I got to 20 and was too hurty to get there, then that was fine.
It had warmed up some, but not awfully. I changed to short sleeves after keeping comfortable in long sleeves for a while, and it's too bad that my legs were so beat up, because it would have been just the best day for a 22er. I'm sort of surprised by how fast the second 10 miles seemed to go by because usually when I'm hurting the distance just totally drags. I got the Iowa City High fight song stuck in my head after 15 miles, which amused me but actually worked quite well with the cadence of my pace. I thank the weather for being so pleasant; I think that's what helped it pass by. I'm not sorry I jammed the tempo and the long run right up against each other. I knew what I was getting into. I didn't go to the well yesterday and I got good time out of my feet and legs today.
Taking my usual Monday rest day and I will see about recovery. Easy miles Tuesday, possibly Wednesday; if I'm feeling ok Wednesday I will do the week's first quality workout (tempos) then, otherwise Thursday. I will decide at that point if I'm going to feel good enough to do the half-marathon in Iowa City on Sunday as another quality tempo workout. No big deal if not, but I still have a tough workout to do even if I don't race.
Vermont City is five weeks away. I still have some work to get done.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 54.27
Average miles per run: 9.05
Miles in April: 181.38
Miles in 2016: 775.80
With the race on Saturday, I moved my miles around so that the quality tempo would be the race and the easy, general mileage would be the rest of the week. Tuesday I doubled and went outside for the AM run rather than hitting the treadmill. It was around 6:30 and absolute perfection: in the mid-40s, no wind, sun on its way up. I felt outstanding, like I could have gone all day. I felt I loved, loved running. Alas, I did have to call it quits after an hour and go to work.
The rest of the weekday running was fine. I took Friday as a rest day for a couple reasons and ran the Tommy 10-miler on Saturday.
I still had a long run to get in on Sunday. Because the Flyers unexpectedly won Game 5, there was a Game 6, and they scheduled it for noon today. Noon!? When was I supposed to get 20+ in if the game was in the damn dead middle of the day??
I guess in the morning; don't like to have 20+ miles hanging over my head all day and couldn't risk a mega-overtime game eating up the hours.1 I had kind of hoped to sleep in a little bit after not getting the best sleep Friday night, but that went out the window. I got up at 7 and felt exactly like I was having to go to work, going down to eat breakfast and then back up to get dressed and head out the door by 8. At least it was a very nice early-ish Sunday -- why couldn't it have been this nice yesterday? Mid-40s and sun, a little wind but nothing bad. I thought I'd try to get a little hilly running done today as I have not done much really hilly mileage lately and Vermont City is getting closer. I did a couple loops around Paper Mill Park to get my legs going -- they were not especially interested, unfortunately -- and then headed up Paper Mill Road. After that couple laps, I felt ok. I wouldn't say good, but not bad. I meandered up and down the long hills of Paper Mill Road and then around down Possum Hollow Road, which generally feels cool and serene as it is an off-the-main-drag road, but on my way back up I started to feel yesterday's race. I headed back down Paper Mill Road and when I finally made it back to the park, I decided that was going to be all the hill running I would do today. I'd kind of thought I might do my second session up Polly Drummond but the very thought made me sore and tired. I was at about 10K when I paused at my car. I had a gel and set about getting in a few more miles. I decided to take the rest of the run in 3-4 mile segments, which would make the next 16 miles manageable, if perhaps a little dull looping around and around at the park. Wouldn't be the first time I killed high miles there (and won't be the last). The weather was fine, it was early enough that the park wasn't busy, and I ate up the distance.
Water and Gatorade at 10 miles; I thought then that the whole 22 on the schedule might be a reach. I was starting to hurt. Not a real hurt yet, but a creeping heaviness in my legs and some tightness in my abdominal muscles. By my next break around 13.5 miles, it was amplifying. Legs starting to hurt, lower back getting in on the action, but I was still running ok. Easy pace, just a little robotic and heavy. I stopped again just short of 17 miles, and I made my decision. 20 would be adequate. If I got to 20 and felt I could eke out another 2.5 laps for the whole 22, then that would be gravy, but if I got to 20 and was too hurty to get there, then that was fine.
It had warmed up some, but not awfully. I changed to short sleeves after keeping comfortable in long sleeves for a while, and it's too bad that my legs were so beat up, because it would have been just the best day for a 22er. I'm sort of surprised by how fast the second 10 miles seemed to go by because usually when I'm hurting the distance just totally drags. I got the Iowa City High fight song stuck in my head after 15 miles, which amused me but actually worked quite well with the cadence of my pace. I thank the weather for being so pleasant; I think that's what helped it pass by. I'm not sorry I jammed the tempo and the long run right up against each other. I knew what I was getting into. I didn't go to the well yesterday and I got good time out of my feet and legs today.
Taking my usual Monday rest day and I will see about recovery. Easy miles Tuesday, possibly Wednesday; if I'm feeling ok Wednesday I will do the week's first quality workout (tempos) then, otherwise Thursday. I will decide at that point if I'm going to feel good enough to do the half-marathon in Iowa City on Sunday as another quality tempo workout. No big deal if not, but I still have a tough workout to do even if I don't race.
Vermont City is five weeks away. I still have some work to get done.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Tommy Ten-Miler wrap-up
I did not run on Friday, having to get up earlier than usual to go to work and traveling to Lewes / Rehoboth Beach in the afternoon. I would have liked to get a few miles in, just to tally up a few more miles on the week, but it wouldn't hurt my legs to take another rest day this week and sometimes life just twists a little bit and it happens. The weather wasn't very nice in (s)lower Delaware Friday afternoon; rain, off and on heavy. Forecast implied it might be the same Saturday morning, which was not appealing, but I'd deal with it.
Had some difficulty finding somewhere suitable to eat. I would have been happy at any old Italian place just to have a plate of spaghetti, but wanted B to have better options too. We ended up at a restaurant on the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, one I will leave nameless because I don't want to give it a bad name just because my experience wasn't exceptional -- it wasn't really their fault, if I hadn't been looking for a specific type of fare it would have been just fine. I wanted the chicken parm with its pile of noodles, but it turned out (after we had settled in at the bar and ordered) that they were out of that and it was off the menu for the night. There was only one other noodle-based dish -- a mac and cheese that was all seafoody, so it wasn't really an option. I ended up with a grilled chicken sandwich and my only carb-loading for the night consisted of the bun and fries (do they really even count?). I tried to tell myself if didn't matter if my calorie store really came from noodles or something else, I wouldn't be depleting my stores over only ten miles anyway, right? I wasn't getting ready for a marathon. It's just tradition; I pretty much never have anything but pasta the night before the race.
I am not sure it was enough calories, whatever their source. I had a granola bar in the hotel while watching the Flyers, just to try to top off the tank, but in the morning I felt very hungry. I was also very tired. I had extreme difficulty getting to sleep, for a variety of reasons, top among them being a jazzed-up excitement because the Flyers had won game 5 when they had absolutely zero business winning that game by all statistics and reasonable expectations; add to that the usual pre-race brain activity (where I pretty unwillingly fantasize the race outcome to both extremes, I'm either dominating in super-PR time or I am crashing and burning all to hell) and some snoring by B, it was a couple hours before my brain cooled it enough to drop off. I tried to hydrate before going to bed (but not so much that I would spend all night dreaming about having to pee, and then waking numerous times to actually pee), but the few times that I did wake, I always felt very thirsty. I got up at 6:30, feeling a little sandy-headed, hungry, and thirsty.
Breakfast in the hotel: a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of wheat toast and peanut butter. Nothing so different from what I eat at home pre-long run, just different oatmeal. Still felt a little hungry but was afraid of eating too much and it sitting in my stomach when the race started in about an hour and a half. Tried to drink more, but not so much that I would think I needed to pee every five minutes once we got to the starting area in Lewes. Pretty sure I was overthinking everything, it was just ten miles, after all, not a marathon.
It was not raining when we left for the start, around 7:45. It was heavily overcast, warmish and very humid after a night of rain. The radar suggested it might rain during the race, and I debated wearing a cap because I hate to have rain in my face -- but it was so warm I hesitated, as a hat would only amplify the warmth. Once again, probably overthinking it; it was only ten miles, so I decided against the hat and would just take the rain in my face if it happened. It wouldn't be for three hours like it was in Boston, so it would be ok enough. (It ended up not raining, but I thought during the race that a little rain might feel good.)
I only felt like I had to use the porta-potty once while we were there, and that was mainly because I figured I should before the start more than any actual pressing need. This was maybe a warning sign, and I sipped water while waiting around for the start.
It was a little chaotic around the starting line, and there was a delay with starting for one reason or another; there was a "kiddy K" that we had to wait for as well. I had already said goodbye to B and was standing in the midst of the crowd, and had no water with me, and the longer we had to wait around, the more I regretted that. I had taken a gel around 8:20, anticipating the 8:30 start, but it wasn't until almost 8:45 that we finally got going. Nothing was timed right for me, and when I started, I was thirsty and I don't know if the gel was doing any good by then.
I had to struggle to get around slower runners in the first 100-200m, stepping alongside the road into some muddy grass, and my legs immediately alarmed me; no spring in them, my quads a little stiff. I tried to set aside any worry about that, as it often takes me a mile or two to get into the rhythm and feel comfortable, but by 1-2 miles, I was not feeling much better. I ticked off a couple miles around 7:10, and knew then that it was too fast for how not-good I felt, but every time I tried to back off on the pace, I'd look down a little bit later and I'd be back around 7:15 or so. I just couldn't manage to keep myself under control, which was frustrating. So I decided to just go with it, if I blew up later it wouldn't be the worst thing. There would be some solid tempo miles out of it no matter what happened.
There wasn't water until mile 2, and the swallow I got from the cup wasn't enough. Not another stop until a little before mile 4 or so. Another swallow that wasn't quite enough. Just after mile 4, the flat, paved path we were running on ended and became a flat, packed-dirt path under trees. Instantly I felt slower without the spring-back of the harder pavement. There was no one around me. I had been running quite alone since before mile 2, when I passed two guys going up over the bridge across a narrow canal. I had been able to see a guy and a girl maybe 100-150m ahead of me for a while, and they were still on up ahead, but too far to even pretend to keep contact with and there was no one anywhere close behind me. Having to do all the mental work alone on an unfamiliar course while feeling less than good is tough. Between mile 4 and 5, I slowed way down. After averaging around 7:11 for the first 4 miles, my split for mile 5 was 7:27. This is partly due to the canopy of trees overhead, which confuses the Garmin a bit, but mostly due to my pace falling off. It was disappointing, but though I tried to surge a little and pick pace back up, I now had the opposite problem as I did earlier: instead of not being able to hold down I now could hold up.
A while after mile 4, the leaders started filtering back past me. They were very spread out. Two women were ahead of me; first place was waaay out in front of me, second place (the girl I could see) maybe 1, 1:30 ahead? After I went around the turnaround (no timing mat, which surprised me), I saw just how alone I was. The next runners were a couple/three minutes back. For a while though, I felt a little refreshed and faster (even though I was slowing) because I was passing a bunch of people going the other way. I was glad to leave the tree cover and leave the dirt path and get back to the asphalt, because I would feel better without the ground absorbing my footfalls and the Garmin would be more accurate. Unfortunately, even with these two factors, I was not much faster, in fact I stayed around 7:30 for the next 3 miles or so.
(I had doubts that a gel would do me much good, but I took one anyway, between mile 6 and 7 which was where this photo was taken.)
I started to think I was gaining ground on the second place woman, but she was still quite a good distance ahead of me. It just seemed the distance narrowed, but I was going to run out of real estate before I caught her. If it had been a half marathon, I might have (assuming I didn't crater even more during that further three miles). She ended up about 45 seconds ahead. I squeezed my pace a bit during the last mile, managing 7:20, but it wasn't good enough to catch her and it wasn't enough to really bring my time to anything I would say I was happy with. I am just glad that I could squeeze that little more out of myself. I was pretty well cooked, thirsty and hot and very swampy sweaty. The finish is a straightaway down a flat road, which I sailed down completely alone. B was near the finish, snapping pics. Two girls at the finish line stretched a banner across for me to run through. I was briefly confused, because I knew I was in third place -- was there someone finishing first for some other division somehow right behind me?? -- but no, they were stretching it for me. I thought that was a little odd and maybe even patronizing for third place, but I ran through it and felt a little fraudulent. I should only be breaking a banner for first place.
But I was first place in my division, I guess, so perhaps not such a fraud (but still, odd). They gave awards for first overall M and F, and everyone thereafter would be age-groupers. Frankly I'd rather be awarded third overall than 1st in F30-39, but I'll take the medal and enjoy seeing my name in the leaderboard in third place.
As you see, my chip time was 1:14:29. 3rd female overall, 1st F30-39, and 10th overall out of 120 finishers. Not my best, not my worst 10-mile. I wish I'd been able to pace it better (I don't know what my problem was, there) and I wish I'd felt better but I think things just didn't come together on a warm and humid day. Not too disappointed in the end. I didn't really back off for this race (unless you count taking Friday off) so wasn't exactly fresh for it, and if nothing else, I got in a pretty decent tempo workout. And I got to see the ocean at Cape Henlopen afterward.
I want to mention that the volunteers on the course were great. I want to thank them for spending their Saturday morning holding up traffic for me (and the rest of us) as I crossed intersections and for cheering me on -- their enthusiasm was almost all that stood between it feeling like a real race rather than a long tempo workout all on my own on a new path. Thanks for saying I looked great/strong/amazing, because I sure didn't feel great/strong/amazing! If I didn't intend on having terribly dead legs next April from running my best Boston ever, I'd come back to defend my third place finish.
Had some difficulty finding somewhere suitable to eat. I would have been happy at any old Italian place just to have a plate of spaghetti, but wanted B to have better options too. We ended up at a restaurant on the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, one I will leave nameless because I don't want to give it a bad name just because my experience wasn't exceptional -- it wasn't really their fault, if I hadn't been looking for a specific type of fare it would have been just fine. I wanted the chicken parm with its pile of noodles, but it turned out (after we had settled in at the bar and ordered) that they were out of that and it was off the menu for the night. There was only one other noodle-based dish -- a mac and cheese that was all seafoody, so it wasn't really an option. I ended up with a grilled chicken sandwich and my only carb-loading for the night consisted of the bun and fries (do they really even count?). I tried to tell myself if didn't matter if my calorie store really came from noodles or something else, I wouldn't be depleting my stores over only ten miles anyway, right? I wasn't getting ready for a marathon. It's just tradition; I pretty much never have anything but pasta the night before the race.
I am not sure it was enough calories, whatever their source. I had a granola bar in the hotel while watching the Flyers, just to try to top off the tank, but in the morning I felt very hungry. I was also very tired. I had extreme difficulty getting to sleep, for a variety of reasons, top among them being a jazzed-up excitement because the Flyers had won game 5 when they had absolutely zero business winning that game by all statistics and reasonable expectations; add to that the usual pre-race brain activity (where I pretty unwillingly fantasize the race outcome to both extremes, I'm either dominating in super-PR time or I am crashing and burning all to hell) and some snoring by B, it was a couple hours before my brain cooled it enough to drop off. I tried to hydrate before going to bed (but not so much that I would spend all night dreaming about having to pee, and then waking numerous times to actually pee), but the few times that I did wake, I always felt very thirsty. I got up at 6:30, feeling a little sandy-headed, hungry, and thirsty.
Breakfast in the hotel: a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of wheat toast and peanut butter. Nothing so different from what I eat at home pre-long run, just different oatmeal. Still felt a little hungry but was afraid of eating too much and it sitting in my stomach when the race started in about an hour and a half. Tried to drink more, but not so much that I would think I needed to pee every five minutes once we got to the starting area in Lewes. Pretty sure I was overthinking everything, it was just ten miles, after all, not a marathon.
It was not raining when we left for the start, around 7:45. It was heavily overcast, warmish and very humid after a night of rain. The radar suggested it might rain during the race, and I debated wearing a cap because I hate to have rain in my face -- but it was so warm I hesitated, as a hat would only amplify the warmth. Once again, probably overthinking it; it was only ten miles, so I decided against the hat and would just take the rain in my face if it happened. It wouldn't be for three hours like it was in Boston, so it would be ok enough. (It ended up not raining, but I thought during the race that a little rain might feel good.)
I only felt like I had to use the porta-potty once while we were there, and that was mainly because I figured I should before the start more than any actual pressing need. This was maybe a warning sign, and I sipped water while waiting around for the start.
It was a little chaotic around the starting line, and there was a delay with starting for one reason or another; there was a "kiddy K" that we had to wait for as well. I had already said goodbye to B and was standing in the midst of the crowd, and had no water with me, and the longer we had to wait around, the more I regretted that. I had taken a gel around 8:20, anticipating the 8:30 start, but it wasn't until almost 8:45 that we finally got going. Nothing was timed right for me, and when I started, I was thirsty and I don't know if the gel was doing any good by then.
I had to struggle to get around slower runners in the first 100-200m, stepping alongside the road into some muddy grass, and my legs immediately alarmed me; no spring in them, my quads a little stiff. I tried to set aside any worry about that, as it often takes me a mile or two to get into the rhythm and feel comfortable, but by 1-2 miles, I was not feeling much better. I ticked off a couple miles around 7:10, and knew then that it was too fast for how not-good I felt, but every time I tried to back off on the pace, I'd look down a little bit later and I'd be back around 7:15 or so. I just couldn't manage to keep myself under control, which was frustrating. So I decided to just go with it, if I blew up later it wouldn't be the worst thing. There would be some solid tempo miles out of it no matter what happened.
There wasn't water until mile 2, and the swallow I got from the cup wasn't enough. Not another stop until a little before mile 4 or so. Another swallow that wasn't quite enough. Just after mile 4, the flat, paved path we were running on ended and became a flat, packed-dirt path under trees. Instantly I felt slower without the spring-back of the harder pavement. There was no one around me. I had been running quite alone since before mile 2, when I passed two guys going up over the bridge across a narrow canal. I had been able to see a guy and a girl maybe 100-150m ahead of me for a while, and they were still on up ahead, but too far to even pretend to keep contact with and there was no one anywhere close behind me. Having to do all the mental work alone on an unfamiliar course while feeling less than good is tough. Between mile 4 and 5, I slowed way down. After averaging around 7:11 for the first 4 miles, my split for mile 5 was 7:27. This is partly due to the canopy of trees overhead, which confuses the Garmin a bit, but mostly due to my pace falling off. It was disappointing, but though I tried to surge a little and pick pace back up, I now had the opposite problem as I did earlier: instead of not being able to hold down I now could hold up.
A while after mile 4, the leaders started filtering back past me. They were very spread out. Two women were ahead of me; first place was waaay out in front of me, second place (the girl I could see) maybe 1, 1:30 ahead? After I went around the turnaround (no timing mat, which surprised me), I saw just how alone I was. The next runners were a couple/three minutes back. For a while though, I felt a little refreshed and faster (even though I was slowing) because I was passing a bunch of people going the other way. I was glad to leave the tree cover and leave the dirt path and get back to the asphalt, because I would feel better without the ground absorbing my footfalls and the Garmin would be more accurate. Unfortunately, even with these two factors, I was not much faster, in fact I stayed around 7:30 for the next 3 miles or so.
I started to think I was gaining ground on the second place woman, but she was still quite a good distance ahead of me. It just seemed the distance narrowed, but I was going to run out of real estate before I caught her. If it had been a half marathon, I might have (assuming I didn't crater even more during that further three miles). She ended up about 45 seconds ahead. I squeezed my pace a bit during the last mile, managing 7:20, but it wasn't good enough to catch her and it wasn't enough to really bring my time to anything I would say I was happy with. I am just glad that I could squeeze that little more out of myself. I was pretty well cooked, thirsty and hot and very swampy sweaty. The finish is a straightaway down a flat road, which I sailed down completely alone. B was near the finish, snapping pics. Two girls at the finish line stretched a banner across for me to run through. I was briefly confused, because I knew I was in third place -- was there someone finishing first for some other division somehow right behind me?? -- but no, they were stretching it for me. I thought that was a little odd and maybe even patronizing for third place, but I ran through it and felt a little fraudulent. I should only be breaking a banner for first place.
But I was first place in my division, I guess, so perhaps not such a fraud (but still, odd). They gave awards for first overall M and F, and everyone thereafter would be age-groupers. Frankly I'd rather be awarded third overall than 1st in F30-39, but I'll take the medal and enjoy seeing my name in the leaderboard in third place.
As you see, my chip time was 1:14:29. 3rd female overall, 1st F30-39, and 10th overall out of 120 finishers. Not my best, not my worst 10-mile. I wish I'd been able to pace it better (I don't know what my problem was, there) and I wish I'd felt better but I think things just didn't come together on a warm and humid day. Not too disappointed in the end. I didn't really back off for this race (unless you count taking Friday off) so wasn't exactly fresh for it, and if nothing else, I got in a pretty decent tempo workout. And I got to see the ocean at Cape Henlopen afterward.
I want to mention that the volunteers on the course were great. I want to thank them for spending their Saturday morning holding up traffic for me (and the rest of us) as I crossed intersections and for cheering me on -- their enthusiasm was almost all that stood between it feeling like a real race rather than a long tempo workout all on my own on a new path. Thanks for saying I looked great/strong/amazing, because I sure didn't feel great/strong/amazing! If I didn't intend on having terribly dead legs next April from running my best Boston ever, I'd come back to defend my third place finish.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Week #16: keep going
Summary for week ending Sunday, April 17, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 51.48
Average miles per run: 8.58
Miles in April: 127.11
Miles in 2016: 721.53
Mixed running on trails and paved paths. Managed not to fall again on the trails (though had a close call on Friday), leg though scraped up did not bruise as badly as when I fell in February so is not as uncomfortable. Weather very much improved over the week, warming to the 60s and 70s. This did bring out a lot more people to have to run around but I'm feeling magnanimous so won't kvetch (too much) about them walking three across, forcing me to step off into grass. (How can even two people manage to take up the entire width of the path?!) Satisfying tempo workout on Thursday (2 mi E + 3(10 min T) + 2 mi E where my legs felt better with each T segment -- the new normal seems to be that it takes me a few miles to really feel good and in the groove. The T didn't feel quite as free as on Sunday but not a reach to keep appropriate effort. Very glad I decided not to do the trail race on Saturday as that Thursday workout left my legs tired and Saturday morning's easy run was a drag.
Long run on Sunday ended up being 17 instead of 19 with 12 at MP rather than 15. Discovered a new place for flat long running: the Michael Castle Trail along the C&D Canal. It was very sunny and warmish -- in the 60s. Starting at Biddle Point, I ran easy east toward Delaware City until the trail ends (for now -- it's clear they are working on extending it all the way to Delaware City), about 1.8 miles, then turned back and picked up pace while running west past my starting point toward the US13 / DE1 bridges. I thought I'd run that direction for 2 miles and then turn back, stop at the car for water and a gel. That would be around 7 miles, I thought, just about when I like to take my first gel of a long run. It turned out to be too long; I should have stopped for water when I was on my way past the car around 3.5 miles. I had considered it, but didn't want to take a break after having only done about a mile or so at pace, just getting started, preferring to get a little more at pace in before stopping. MP had started out feeling pretty comfortable but by the time I got to the DE1 bridge, it was starting to feel more work-y and I was thirsty. The trail is totally open to the sky, with no cover whatsoever -- at least on the 4-5 mile stretch of it I was on -- except for those brief moments passing under the bridges, which are negligible -- and that was great for the Garmin and being more accurate with apparent pace, but it was not great for physiology. The sun was very warm and took a tough toll, one that I have not experienced yet this year. Because I had never run here before, I was not familiar with the landmarks, so even though it was out-and-back, I did not really have a good sense of how much I still had to run until I made it to the car. It wasn't very enjoyable, but when I saw the beat-up looking dock next to the trailhead, I was elated.
It's so very hard not to guzzle water when you're at such a point. I sucked down a gel and washed it with a few more swallows of water, managing to restrain myself. It felt like enough, and then I started running east again. It was not long before I felt thirsty once more.
The damage had been done. If I had stopped for water at 3.5 mi, it might have mitigated the effects of the sun and heat early, and I might have gotten another couple solid miles at MP in. As it was, it was all I could do to get in 11, and I barely count the 12th because I was fading fast. More liquids, another gel, and I even carried a water bottle with me for the last 3-4 "easy" miles. (Very uncomfortable, very hard not to hammer the whole bottle at once.) Given how awful I felt, I was satisfied enough with what I ended up having done. I had started to feel a little like the way I did in Boston 2014, when I had to drop out: stomach feeling a little queasy, never getting better and even a little worse even after drinking. In the 2014 race, I quit at mile 18; Sunday, I quit at 17. More lessons learned (the hard way, unfortunately): water is more important than getting in time at pace. If I could drink on the fly in training the way I can in a race, it would be easier, but unfortunately, unless B rides a bike right along with me (which he has done a couple times in the past), I'm stuck having to take short breaks. (I won't wear one of those fuel belts with bottles.) Funny how every year, I run in sun and warmth, but the first times of the season often catch me off guard and I don't do it right. A day with weather like Sunday's is deceptive; just standing around, it was pleasant, a nice breeze, even maybe a slight bit cool, but running with no shade was down right hot. 60s and 70s are extremely lovely, but too warm to be "great" for running at elevated efforts over long distances.
07:44.8, 07:42.4, 07:45.6, 07:42.6, 07:42.1, 07:45.5, 07:48.5, 07:45.5, 07:40.4, 07:41.1, 07:49.2, 08:00.7
The trail along the canal is great though -- absolutely sea level with only a little rippling that you barely notice (except when you're exhausted -- somehow even the smallest ups and downs are hard then). There were a lot of people out on bikes enjoying the pretty day, but no one interfered with my running at all, and I only saw two other runners; a handful of walkers, but the majority of users were on bikes. Early in the run, a ship turned into the canal under the DE9 bridge and cruised along parallel to the path. It was the Demeter Leader, and, according to Google, is a vehicles carrier from Panama; myshiptracking.com indicates it docked at Baltimore at 21:37 on Sunday. It made almost no sound as it passed by, pretty much only the whush of the water in its wake. It was amazing that such a gigantic beast of a ship could make less noise going by than a car. It was also a little eerie because there was no sign of people on the ship, so it was just a silent, almost alien-seeming long and huge blue and white box moving by. Other than that, only speedboats and other personal watercraft whizzed by occasionally. Mostly it was quiet but for the sounds of birdlife. Except for feeling pretty cruddy as I went on, I enjoyed it there. It's another place for pace work to keep in my pocket. Closer than the Schuylkill trail and better, actually, because of the openness.
Upcoming week: days of easy mileage and then Saturday morning is the Tommy 10-miler in Lewes. Longest long run on Sunday.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 51.48
Average miles per run: 8.58
Miles in April: 127.11
Miles in 2016: 721.53
Mixed running on trails and paved paths. Managed not to fall again on the trails (though had a close call on Friday), leg though scraped up did not bruise as badly as when I fell in February so is not as uncomfortable. Weather very much improved over the week, warming to the 60s and 70s. This did bring out a lot more people to have to run around but I'm feeling magnanimous so won't kvetch (too much) about them walking three across, forcing me to step off into grass. (How can even two people manage to take up the entire width of the path?!) Satisfying tempo workout on Thursday (2 mi E + 3(10 min T) + 2 mi E where my legs felt better with each T segment -- the new normal seems to be that it takes me a few miles to really feel good and in the groove. The T didn't feel quite as free as on Sunday but not a reach to keep appropriate effort. Very glad I decided not to do the trail race on Saturday as that Thursday workout left my legs tired and Saturday morning's easy run was a drag.
Long run on Sunday ended up being 17 instead of 19 with 12 at MP rather than 15. Discovered a new place for flat long running: the Michael Castle Trail along the C&D Canal. It was very sunny and warmish -- in the 60s. Starting at Biddle Point, I ran easy east toward Delaware City until the trail ends (for now -- it's clear they are working on extending it all the way to Delaware City), about 1.8 miles, then turned back and picked up pace while running west past my starting point toward the US13 / DE1 bridges. I thought I'd run that direction for 2 miles and then turn back, stop at the car for water and a gel. That would be around 7 miles, I thought, just about when I like to take my first gel of a long run. It turned out to be too long; I should have stopped for water when I was on my way past the car around 3.5 miles. I had considered it, but didn't want to take a break after having only done about a mile or so at pace, just getting started, preferring to get a little more at pace in before stopping. MP had started out feeling pretty comfortable but by the time I got to the DE1 bridge, it was starting to feel more work-y and I was thirsty. The trail is totally open to the sky, with no cover whatsoever -- at least on the 4-5 mile stretch of it I was on -- except for those brief moments passing under the bridges, which are negligible -- and that was great for the Garmin and being more accurate with apparent pace, but it was not great for physiology. The sun was very warm and took a tough toll, one that I have not experienced yet this year. Because I had never run here before, I was not familiar with the landmarks, so even though it was out-and-back, I did not really have a good sense of how much I still had to run until I made it to the car. It wasn't very enjoyable, but when I saw the beat-up looking dock next to the trailhead, I was elated.
It's so very hard not to guzzle water when you're at such a point. I sucked down a gel and washed it with a few more swallows of water, managing to restrain myself. It felt like enough, and then I started running east again. It was not long before I felt thirsty once more.
The damage had been done. If I had stopped for water at 3.5 mi, it might have mitigated the effects of the sun and heat early, and I might have gotten another couple solid miles at MP in. As it was, it was all I could do to get in 11, and I barely count the 12th because I was fading fast. More liquids, another gel, and I even carried a water bottle with me for the last 3-4 "easy" miles. (Very uncomfortable, very hard not to hammer the whole bottle at once.) Given how awful I felt, I was satisfied enough with what I ended up having done. I had started to feel a little like the way I did in Boston 2014, when I had to drop out: stomach feeling a little queasy, never getting better and even a little worse even after drinking. In the 2014 race, I quit at mile 18; Sunday, I quit at 17. More lessons learned (the hard way, unfortunately): water is more important than getting in time at pace. If I could drink on the fly in training the way I can in a race, it would be easier, but unfortunately, unless B rides a bike right along with me (which he has done a couple times in the past), I'm stuck having to take short breaks. (I won't wear one of those fuel belts with bottles.) Funny how every year, I run in sun and warmth, but the first times of the season often catch me off guard and I don't do it right. A day with weather like Sunday's is deceptive; just standing around, it was pleasant, a nice breeze, even maybe a slight bit cool, but running with no shade was down right hot. 60s and 70s are extremely lovely, but too warm to be "great" for running at elevated efforts over long distances.
07:44.8, 07:42.4, 07:45.6, 07:42.6, 07:42.1, 07:45.5, 07:48.5, 07:45.5, 07:40.4, 07:41.1, 07:49.2, 08:00.7
The trail along the canal is great though -- absolutely sea level with only a little rippling that you barely notice (except when you're exhausted -- somehow even the smallest ups and downs are hard then). There were a lot of people out on bikes enjoying the pretty day, but no one interfered with my running at all, and I only saw two other runners; a handful of walkers, but the majority of users were on bikes. Early in the run, a ship turned into the canal under the DE9 bridge and cruised along parallel to the path. It was the Demeter Leader, and, according to Google, is a vehicles carrier from Panama; myshiptracking.com indicates it docked at Baltimore at 21:37 on Sunday. It made almost no sound as it passed by, pretty much only the whush of the water in its wake. It was amazing that such a gigantic beast of a ship could make less noise going by than a car. It was also a little eerie because there was no sign of people on the ship, so it was just a silent, almost alien-seeming long and huge blue and white box moving by. Other than that, only speedboats and other personal watercraft whizzed by occasionally. Mostly it was quiet but for the sounds of birdlife. Except for feeling pretty cruddy as I went on, I enjoyed it there. It's another place for pace work to keep in my pocket. Closer than the Schuylkill trail and better, actually, because of the openness.
Upcoming week: days of easy mileage and then Saturday morning is the Tommy 10-miler in Lewes. Longest long run on Sunday.
Friday, April 15, 2016
More racing?
I try to get back to Iowa sometime every spring to visit my family, usually for a long weekend. I didn't last year, because the weather was bad in March and I took time off to run Boston, then this and that. This year, not running Boston has made it easier to fit my usual spring Iowa trip in again. I've made my travel arrangements, and I'm going to Iowa City at the end of the month. I looked at the Iowa race calendar at Fitness Sports to see if there might be any 5K or 10K or something to do while I am there, and discovered the Red Shoe Run in Iowa City which includes a half-marathon on what appears not to be a USATF-certified course that winds through the west side of town. I grew up on the east side, so I am not as familiar running-wise with that side of Iowa City, but perhaps it's better on the west side than on the east side because the east side can get a little hilly. This course appears to have an up-and-down blip in the middle and a bit of an uphill in the second half, but in general it looks pretty good.
I'm interested because I've been kind of wanting to run a race back home, but I'm a little on the fence about it because with my current race registration schedule, I'd be doing road races three weekends in a row:
April 23: 10-miler in Lewes
May 1: half-marathon in Iowa City
May 8: half-marathon in Wilmington
I'm not as worried about the impact of the 10-miler, as I can use that more or less as the week's long tempo workout and an easy long run the next day should be OK. The May 8 half is meant to be a final tune-up to gauge where I am before Vermont City and would also take the place of a long tempo workout. I think I can do the same with the Iowa City half; two long tempo efforts on the schedule for that week, making this race one of them should also be OK.
Last year's top 5 times for women were:
1:34:44
1:36:06
1:37:48
1:38:22
1:40:34
Judging by that, even if I run another meh result like Caesar Rodney, I could place well (unless quicker ladies get wind of the race and sign up this year and make it more competitive, which happens). And I may not run better than meh because I don't always feel all that great running right after I get to Iowa. Something about a day of traveling, usually involving poor eating and hydration, taking some time to get some rest and adjust to the time zone and altitude (haha! But seriously, Iowa City is about 500 ft higher than here.). I will have to run and get a workout in that day anyway, might as well enjoy it on the west side of my home town. I'll think about it.
I wanted to race more this year, as I think it's a good way to get hard efforts in, get sharp, and keep tabs on where my training is getting me. Last year I only did three races (!) the whole year: Caesar Rodney before Boston, then Boston, and then Des Moines with no tune-up in the weeks before. For the later marathon, I didn't really like not having a race under my belt as a gauge. I could only use what I'd done at Boston six months earlier. Three races in three weekends might sound like a lot, but if I don't go to the well during them, it shouldn't be much different than the hard workouts that were already on the plan for those weeks. Maybe it will be a mistake, but either way it's something I will have to learn by doing.
I'm interested because I've been kind of wanting to run a race back home, but I'm a little on the fence about it because with my current race registration schedule, I'd be doing road races three weekends in a row:
April 23: 10-miler in Lewes
May 1: half-marathon in Iowa City
May 8: half-marathon in Wilmington
I'm not as worried about the impact of the 10-miler, as I can use that more or less as the week's long tempo workout and an easy long run the next day should be OK. The May 8 half is meant to be a final tune-up to gauge where I am before Vermont City and would also take the place of a long tempo workout. I think I can do the same with the Iowa City half; two long tempo efforts on the schedule for that week, making this race one of them should also be OK.
Last year's top 5 times for women were:
1:34:44
1:36:06
1:37:48
1:38:22
1:40:34
Judging by that, even if I run another meh result like Caesar Rodney, I could place well (unless quicker ladies get wind of the race and sign up this year and make it more competitive, which happens). And I may not run better than meh because I don't always feel all that great running right after I get to Iowa. Something about a day of traveling, usually involving poor eating and hydration, taking some time to get some rest and adjust to the time zone and altitude (haha! But seriously, Iowa City is about 500 ft higher than here.). I will have to run and get a workout in that day anyway, might as well enjoy it on the west side of my home town. I'll think about it.
I wanted to race more this year, as I think it's a good way to get hard efforts in, get sharp, and keep tabs on where my training is getting me. Last year I only did three races (!) the whole year: Caesar Rodney before Boston, then Boston, and then Des Moines with no tune-up in the weeks before. For the later marathon, I didn't really like not having a race under my belt as a gauge. I could only use what I'd done at Boston six months earlier. Three races in three weekends might sound like a lot, but if I don't go to the well during them, it shouldn't be much different than the hard workouts that were already on the plan for those weeks. Maybe it will be a mistake, but either way it's something I will have to learn by doing.
Trail thoughts
1) One thing I love about running trails is the separation it gives me from everything else that is always around: mechanical noise, digital noise, cars, and so forth. I seldom hear other people; they are typically in ones or twos, rarely in large groups making all kinds of chatter. Occasionally mountainbikers will rattle by, singles or pairs or groups, but even on busy days, they are usually well-spaced. Running on paved paths in parks or at roadsides gets to be a drag, with the monotony of the same asphalt, the same scenery, the other users taking up the width of the path, the cars droning by. While I am enjoying the act of running in these places, I find myself often just wanting to get the run done so that I can get away from the other people, the cars, and get done with the tedium of those parks -- which leads me to want to run faster than I need to. The trails give me an escape from all that, and I can run actually easy and refresh my mind running through woods and hayfields that are familiar yet always changing. It's a quiet that's filled with glorious sounds of birds, small mammals scuffling through leaves and underbrush, wind in branches overhead, the millrace rushing over rocks and under footbridges. I can monitor my breathing and enjoy the sound of my feet thumping the earth. I am a small dust mote on its face, but I am here, it can feel me as I share its beauties in the middle of a busy patch of the east coast. Whenever I see people out there wearing headphones, I pity them. Why shut all that out? If you're just going to listen to music or whatever, you might as well be on the treadmill, because you're missing 90% of what makes being outside under the trees and sky so wonderful.
2) I was around mile 4.5 of my easy run on Wednesday when I came across a woman placing little blue flags at the side of the trail, and she told me about a trail race happening in Middle Run this weekend, a 5K and a 10K. I was interested, and was thinking about it about a mile later: if I did participate, would I run the 5K or the 10K? I have a pretty intense and long workout scheduled for Sunday, so maybe I should rule out the 10K, but whenever I am paying for a race that has a longer option, I usually like to get more miles for my money. $30 for a trail 5K seemed like a lot; $10 per mile? But a shorter race would be less stress on my legs. I waffled, and also wondered if I wanted to risk injury trying to run fast and hard on trails I have not run fast and hard on for a long time (trail running is my recovery running, now). I could easily see myself face-planting going breakneck down some hill or going too fast to land my feet right among roots.
And while I was considering the injury possibility, I tripped and fell. It took a couple stumbling strides for me to give up trying to recover from the trip, and I went down on the side of my lower left leg. It's exactly where I fell a few weeks ago, but this time I was not wearing long pants and mittens (yay 60F!), so instead of just bruising up, I was also quite scratched. It's been a couple days and my hands and leg still sting when hit with hot water.
I guess if I fall while I am not running hard at all, worrying about falling while running fast isn't going to be a good enough reason to not run this trail race this weekend. I'm guessing I'd actually probably be less likely to fall while racing because I would be concentrating on it, and when I'm running easy it's easier to get distracted while my brain is concentrating on thoughts instead of on making sure I pick up my feet.
In the end, I've decided not to run the trail race, either the 5K or the 10K, this weekend because I ran a tough tempo last night and I think it's better to take Saturday easy to recover ahead of the lengthy MP run I have on the docket for Sunday. I'm interested in trail racing sometime in the future, but it's just not fitting in to my schedule right now. I have the Triple Crown trail series on my maybe race card (April 30), but it turns out I'm not going to be in Delaware that weekend -- I'm going to be in Iowa City, where another (non-trail) possibility has cropped up.
2) I was around mile 4.5 of my easy run on Wednesday when I came across a woman placing little blue flags at the side of the trail, and she told me about a trail race happening in Middle Run this weekend, a 5K and a 10K. I was interested, and was thinking about it about a mile later: if I did participate, would I run the 5K or the 10K? I have a pretty intense and long workout scheduled for Sunday, so maybe I should rule out the 10K, but whenever I am paying for a race that has a longer option, I usually like to get more miles for my money. $30 for a trail 5K seemed like a lot; $10 per mile? But a shorter race would be less stress on my legs. I waffled, and also wondered if I wanted to risk injury trying to run fast and hard on trails I have not run fast and hard on for a long time (trail running is my recovery running, now). I could easily see myself face-planting going breakneck down some hill or going too fast to land my feet right among roots.
And while I was considering the injury possibility, I tripped and fell. It took a couple stumbling strides for me to give up trying to recover from the trip, and I went down on the side of my lower left leg. It's exactly where I fell a few weeks ago, but this time I was not wearing long pants and mittens (yay 60F!), so instead of just bruising up, I was also quite scratched. It's been a couple days and my hands and leg still sting when hit with hot water.
I guess if I fall while I am not running hard at all, worrying about falling while running fast isn't going to be a good enough reason to not run this trail race this weekend. I'm guessing I'd actually probably be less likely to fall while racing because I would be concentrating on it, and when I'm running easy it's easier to get distracted while my brain is concentrating on thoughts instead of on making sure I pick up my feet.
In the end, I've decided not to run the trail race, either the 5K or the 10K, this weekend because I ran a tough tempo last night and I think it's better to take Saturday easy to recover ahead of the lengthy MP run I have on the docket for Sunday. I'm interested in trail racing sometime in the future, but it's just not fitting in to my schedule right now. I have the Triple Crown trail series on my maybe race card (April 30), but it turns out I'm not going to be in Delaware that weekend -- I'm going to be in Iowa City, where another (non-trail) possibility has cropped up.
Monday, April 11, 2016
Next up
I've signed up for the Tommy Ten-Miler in Lewes, Delaware on Saturday, April 23. The course is a "fast and flat" out-and-back, and USATF certified. This is the inaugural race, so there are no previous results to consult to judge where I might finish, and it's been a long time since I ran a 10-miler anyway so I'll just go out and have as good a time as one can have running 10 miles all race-pace like. Fingers crossed for reasonable (seasonable?) temperatures and maybe something less than gale-force winds?
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Week #15 -- pile up the miles again
Summary for week ending Sunday, April 10, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 56.53
Average miles per run: 9.42
Miles in April: 75.62
Miles in 2016: 670.05
Spent most of the week on the treadmill. I doubled on Monday, with the evening run outside in relatively nice temperatures but a stiff wind ruining it. Had a business trip mid-week so did shy of 7 on Wednesday morning inside; could not force myself to get up early at the hotel to get in a few miles Thursday morning after a pretty late night of business socializing and then watching a terrible, late Flyers game. Two rest days last week, had to squeeze in miles on Friday and Saturday. Friday looked nice out, with a lot of lovely sun, but the temperature wasn't exactly nice and the damn wind was definitely not nice, so I voluntarily chose to run 10 miles on the treadmill instead. It felt pretty good after ~36 hr of rest. Saturday arrived with wind and snow-slash-rain and I was certainly not going to run in that if I had another option; fired the Landice back up for another ten that didn't feel quite as good as Friday but still pretty reasonable as I forced the pace to stay easy (average HR ~140).
Legs already had a little more than 35 miles in them when I started today's long workout: 2 mi E + 2(10 min T) + 10 mi E + 15 min T + 2 mi E. These workouts with a mix of relatively lengthy T and a long easy interval in the middle are tough but effective. It was not as windy as it has been recently but it was still windier than I'd like; I am heartily sick of fighting significant headwinds during my T workouts. The sun is strong and pretty warm, but the air was borderline chilly and the wind ruined it again. However, I surprised myself by feeling really good in the first two T intervals in spite of the stretches of wind in my face -- I didn't look at the pace, but ran only by effort. T effort was faster than it has been, which pleased me. 7:02 average for the first 10 min, 6:53 average for the second 10 min. The 10 miles in the middle were a bit of a drag and my legs felt on autopilot and not at all responsive. I did not expect the last 15 min T to feel very good at all, and I told myself I'd get to 10 minutes and see how it felt; I could quit at 10 if my legs were crumbling or struggling. The wind kind of felt like it had picked up a bit, but that might have been my frustrated imagination. It seemed to take a while to wind up from easy pace to T effort and my legs were heavy, but I was again surprised at how they responded to my orders to run hard -- 7:10 pace did not feel like I was overreaching on effort, and when I got to 10 minutes I just kept on through the whole 15. It was actually a bit hard to knock off down to easy again afterward, almost as though it would have felt better to keep running harder. I wanted to get my HR back down to near 140 for the last easy two miles, but at 145 bpm I did not feel that I could run any slower. My legs were on autopilot again and they would not listen when I tried to bump them down; it was 8:45 pace and, ok, fine. I was done at a little more than 19.5 miles. It's the longest workout so far this year, certainly the toughest, and I'm pretty happy with myself for getting it done with good pace and good effort. I think that race really did my system good and I think I am reaping benefits from making sure I run the easy runs easy.
Learning, learning. Next week a medium-long T workout and a 19 mile long run on Sunday with 15 mi at MP. I'm getting into the meatiest part of the training cycle. Now, if only the weather could warm up a little bit and the wind could knock it the heck off. I don't want to see snow again until November at least. Seriously! I drove up to a Flyers game Saturday afternoon in a veritable blizzard of huge, heavy, wet snow. It was very nearly a white-out. It was ridiculous. Let's be done with that, April.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 56.53
Average miles per run: 9.42
Miles in April: 75.62
Miles in 2016: 670.05
Spent most of the week on the treadmill. I doubled on Monday, with the evening run outside in relatively nice temperatures but a stiff wind ruining it. Had a business trip mid-week so did shy of 7 on Wednesday morning inside; could not force myself to get up early at the hotel to get in a few miles Thursday morning after a pretty late night of business socializing and then watching a terrible, late Flyers game. Two rest days last week, had to squeeze in miles on Friday and Saturday. Friday looked nice out, with a lot of lovely sun, but the temperature wasn't exactly nice and the damn wind was definitely not nice, so I voluntarily chose to run 10 miles on the treadmill instead. It felt pretty good after ~36 hr of rest. Saturday arrived with wind and snow-slash-rain and I was certainly not going to run in that if I had another option; fired the Landice back up for another ten that didn't feel quite as good as Friday but still pretty reasonable as I forced the pace to stay easy (average HR ~140).
Legs already had a little more than 35 miles in them when I started today's long workout: 2 mi E + 2(10 min T) + 10 mi E + 15 min T + 2 mi E. These workouts with a mix of relatively lengthy T and a long easy interval in the middle are tough but effective. It was not as windy as it has been recently but it was still windier than I'd like; I am heartily sick of fighting significant headwinds during my T workouts. The sun is strong and pretty warm, but the air was borderline chilly and the wind ruined it again. However, I surprised myself by feeling really good in the first two T intervals in spite of the stretches of wind in my face -- I didn't look at the pace, but ran only by effort. T effort was faster than it has been, which pleased me. 7:02 average for the first 10 min, 6:53 average for the second 10 min. The 10 miles in the middle were a bit of a drag and my legs felt on autopilot and not at all responsive. I did not expect the last 15 min T to feel very good at all, and I told myself I'd get to 10 minutes and see how it felt; I could quit at 10 if my legs were crumbling or struggling. The wind kind of felt like it had picked up a bit, but that might have been my frustrated imagination. It seemed to take a while to wind up from easy pace to T effort and my legs were heavy, but I was again surprised at how they responded to my orders to run hard -- 7:10 pace did not feel like I was overreaching on effort, and when I got to 10 minutes I just kept on through the whole 15. It was actually a bit hard to knock off down to easy again afterward, almost as though it would have felt better to keep running harder. I wanted to get my HR back down to near 140 for the last easy two miles, but at 145 bpm I did not feel that I could run any slower. My legs were on autopilot again and they would not listen when I tried to bump them down; it was 8:45 pace and, ok, fine. I was done at a little more than 19.5 miles. It's the longest workout so far this year, certainly the toughest, and I'm pretty happy with myself for getting it done with good pace and good effort. I think that race really did my system good and I think I am reaping benefits from making sure I run the easy runs easy.
Learning, learning. Next week a medium-long T workout and a 19 mile long run on Sunday with 15 mi at MP. I'm getting into the meatiest part of the training cycle. Now, if only the weather could warm up a little bit and the wind could knock it the heck off. I don't want to see snow again until November at least. Seriously! I drove up to a Flyers game Saturday afternoon in a veritable blizzard of huge, heavy, wet snow. It was very nearly a white-out. It was ridiculous. Let's be done with that, April.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Week #14 -- step down, race
Summary for week ending Sunday, April 3, 2016:
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 38.24
Average miles per run: 7.65
Miles in March: 222.56
Miles in April: 19.09
Miles in 2016: 613.52
Kept the running easy and shorter so as not to 100% train through the half-marathon, mostly running on the trails. Legs were pretty fresh for the race, too bad the weather didn't cooperate a little better. The Caesar Rodney might have been a poor race, but it turned out to be a pretty solid workout -- 13+ miles averaging approximately 7:30/mi. A bit faster than expected MP while being slower than T, probably did my legs a good turn. They were a little achy the next day, but that might have been from the downhill more than anything. Won't expect it to be a problem the rest of the week.
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 38.24
Average miles per run: 7.65
Miles in March: 222.56
Miles in April: 19.09
Miles in 2016: 613.52
Kept the running easy and shorter so as not to 100% train through the half-marathon, mostly running on the trails. Legs were pretty fresh for the race, too bad the weather didn't cooperate a little better. The Caesar Rodney might have been a poor race, but it turned out to be a pretty solid workout -- 13+ miles averaging approximately 7:30/mi. A bit faster than expected MP while being slower than T, probably did my legs a good turn. They were a little achy the next day, but that might have been from the downhill more than anything. Won't expect it to be a problem the rest of the week.
Caesar Windy -- er, Rodney wrap-up
While trying to get past race-eve nerves and get to sleep, a thunderstorm rolled through with strong winds that threw rain and what sounded like tiny hail against the windows, and I knew that it had arrived. All night, the windows rattled and my insides churned with frustration knowing the temperature was dropping precipitously, too. The morning arrived all sunny and pleasant-appearing, and the news said it was in the 30s outside.
I tried on some shorts and went out to give it a test. In the sun, and in a sweet, brief moment of calm between gusts, it was almost OK. Then the wind exhaled with force again and, well, no. Back inside to put on tights, a long-sleeved shirt, and short-sleeves over it. The last time I had to cover up so much was for the Philly marathon in 2008. I hated it then, and I hated it Sunday morning. Any time that I have to wear tights or long pants, I automatically feel slower; but I was not going to be comfortable in shorts. I have toughness, but it has a limit. I might have been able to suffer shorts for a shorter race, but not for more than an hour and a half for a half-marathon.
As I hung around Rodney Square with B, waiting for it to be time to line up at the start, I wore a parka and another pair of pants over my tights, and the little Flyers stocking cap I use for running when it's cold enough to cover up my head.
I watched other runners mill about, dressed in pretty much the whole range of apparel: even more covered up than me down to split shorts and singlets. The wind whipped and swirled downtown, snapping flags and signs stuck to tables, and I half-thought about keeping the second pants on for the race and did not want to take off my parka. When it came time to line up, I took off the stocking cap too, only to tug it back on as the wind bit at my ears. I might get too warm wearing it, but I'd rather take it off and hold it at some midpoint of the race than get started and wish I had it. Second layer of pants came off and the tights barely helped, standing in the shade of buildings while the wind rushed around. Fortunately, the pre-race chitchat was kept to as much of a minimum as can be expected -- the anthemist didn't even drag out the song -- and a horn sent us off. (They quit using a cannon a couple/three years ago.)
I ran a little conservatively in the first 5-10K but it wasn't without help. The wind was brutal. When it was in my face, I struggled against it. When it was at the side, it tried to knock my legs together to trip me. When it was behind, it pushed such that it threw off my stride's rhythm. It would swirl around, so that one second it was pushing my face, then shoving me along. It sliced through my layers when it was in front of me, but when it was behind me, the sun was strong enough to make me feel too hot. I questioned what I was wearing only until rounding a turn and being hit with the wind again. It was difficult to pace, but I tried to maintain an effort around or under 7:30 as best I could.
7:24.5, 7:22.7, 7:29.8, 7:27.4, 7:14.4, 7:28.7
It's pretty flat for much of the first 5 miles in the riverfront area, then heading back through the city and around up to Tower Hill we get the hill experience. The wind was in my face for the three mile uphill, and while a good portion of it was somewhat protected by trees around the road, it still was a formidable opponent. As I started up this section, I saw a man in a blue shirt up ahead with a familiar gait -- a former coworker, P, who runs the Caesar Rodney pretty much every year. In 2014 I passed him around mile 11 and was pretty happy to finish ahead of him (we usually finish around the same time, but he's usually a little ahead of me). He was 20 meters or so ahead of me, and I told myself not to let him get too far away. I very slowly, but very steadily gained on him along this uphill range, finally catching him at the top as we rounded Tower Hill. I left him behind as at that point, about 4 miles remain and most of it is flat or downhill. I usually decide at this point I can start to squeeze the pace, because there isn't much left to cover if I blow up in a mile or two. I squeezed, but the wind had other ideas during some portions of this remaining 4 miles, until the last two or so which is down the hill we had hiked up earlier. Going up that hill I ended up around 8 min/mi and I let myself fly (controllably) down the hill with the wind behind me to try to make up a few seconds; unfortunately, by here, the hay is mostly in the barn. I remember glancing back on the hill to see if a blue shirt was close behind, but I didn't see it. I hung on along the flat portion of the last half mile, noting a fire being fought in a house next to the course; there is a sharp turn to head up a long and steep hill to the finish.
I fought wind and wind-driven fatigue up this hill and P caught me with about 200m to go. I pushed, but was pushed at in return, and I could not catch him. This irritates me, and I vow that next year, I will do all I can to make sure I put him away if I pass him mid-race. But good on P to catch me and leave me behind on the windy finishing hill.
I finished just under 1:40-- 1:39:45, which is acceptable only considering how hard it was to run in those conditions. It was good enough for 4th in F35-39 age group, 14th female finisher, 80th overall. There was a five minute gap between 3rd and me in the age group results. I'm guessing a lot of people chose not to run this year. Last year, I ran 1:39:36 and was 6th in the same age group, 30th female finisher, and 142nd overall.
It's hard to judge where I am in terms of fitness based on the result of this race, but I will take it at face value and look at it as having some work to do. Later this month, I plan on running a 10-miler and in a month, another half-marathon. I am going to assume that by the end of April and in the first week of May, it won't be in the 30s anymore, and I will hope and dream of a day when the wind is not gusting 20, 30, 40 mph, and I should be better able to put my fitness into perspective based on the results of those races.
Caesar Rodney 2016: a job done.
I tried on some shorts and went out to give it a test. In the sun, and in a sweet, brief moment of calm between gusts, it was almost OK. Then the wind exhaled with force again and, well, no. Back inside to put on tights, a long-sleeved shirt, and short-sleeves over it. The last time I had to cover up so much was for the Philly marathon in 2008. I hated it then, and I hated it Sunday morning. Any time that I have to wear tights or long pants, I automatically feel slower; but I was not going to be comfortable in shorts. I have toughness, but it has a limit. I might have been able to suffer shorts for a shorter race, but not for more than an hour and a half for a half-marathon.
As I hung around Rodney Square with B, waiting for it to be time to line up at the start, I wore a parka and another pair of pants over my tights, and the little Flyers stocking cap I use for running when it's cold enough to cover up my head.
I watched other runners mill about, dressed in pretty much the whole range of apparel: even more covered up than me down to split shorts and singlets. The wind whipped and swirled downtown, snapping flags and signs stuck to tables, and I half-thought about keeping the second pants on for the race and did not want to take off my parka. When it came time to line up, I took off the stocking cap too, only to tug it back on as the wind bit at my ears. I might get too warm wearing it, but I'd rather take it off and hold it at some midpoint of the race than get started and wish I had it. Second layer of pants came off and the tights barely helped, standing in the shade of buildings while the wind rushed around. Fortunately, the pre-race chitchat was kept to as much of a minimum as can be expected -- the anthemist didn't even drag out the song -- and a horn sent us off. (They quit using a cannon a couple/three years ago.)
I ran a little conservatively in the first 5-10K but it wasn't without help. The wind was brutal. When it was in my face, I struggled against it. When it was at the side, it tried to knock my legs together to trip me. When it was behind, it pushed such that it threw off my stride's rhythm. It would swirl around, so that one second it was pushing my face, then shoving me along. It sliced through my layers when it was in front of me, but when it was behind me, the sun was strong enough to make me feel too hot. I questioned what I was wearing only until rounding a turn and being hit with the wind again. It was difficult to pace, but I tried to maintain an effort around or under 7:30 as best I could.
It's pretty flat for much of the first 5 miles in the riverfront area, then heading back through the city and around up to Tower Hill we get the hill experience. The wind was in my face for the three mile uphill, and while a good portion of it was somewhat protected by trees around the road, it still was a formidable opponent. As I started up this section, I saw a man in a blue shirt up ahead with a familiar gait -- a former coworker, P, who runs the Caesar Rodney pretty much every year. In 2014 I passed him around mile 11 and was pretty happy to finish ahead of him (we usually finish around the same time, but he's usually a little ahead of me). He was 20 meters or so ahead of me, and I told myself not to let him get too far away. I very slowly, but very steadily gained on him along this uphill range, finally catching him at the top as we rounded Tower Hill. I left him behind as at that point, about 4 miles remain and most of it is flat or downhill. I usually decide at this point I can start to squeeze the pace, because there isn't much left to cover if I blow up in a mile or two. I squeezed, but the wind had other ideas during some portions of this remaining 4 miles, until the last two or so which is down the hill we had hiked up earlier. Going up that hill I ended up around 8 min/mi and I let myself fly (controllably) down the hill with the wind behind me to try to make up a few seconds; unfortunately, by here, the hay is mostly in the barn. I remember glancing back on the hill to see if a blue shirt was close behind, but I didn't see it. I hung on along the flat portion of the last half mile, noting a fire being fought in a house next to the course; there is a sharp turn to head up a long and steep hill to the finish.
I fought wind and wind-driven fatigue up this hill and P caught me with about 200m to go. I pushed, but was pushed at in return, and I could not catch him. This irritates me, and I vow that next year, I will do all I can to make sure I put him away if I pass him mid-race. But good on P to catch me and leave me behind on the windy finishing hill.
I finished just under 1:40-- 1:39:45, which is acceptable only considering how hard it was to run in those conditions. It was good enough for 4th in F35-39 age group, 14th female finisher, 80th overall. There was a five minute gap between 3rd and me in the age group results. I'm guessing a lot of people chose not to run this year. Last year, I ran 1:39:36 and was 6th in the same age group, 30th female finisher, and 142nd overall.
It's hard to judge where I am in terms of fitness based on the result of this race, but I will take it at face value and look at it as having some work to do. Later this month, I plan on running a 10-miler and in a month, another half-marathon. I am going to assume that by the end of April and in the first week of May, it won't be in the 30s anymore, and I will hope and dream of a day when the wind is not gusting 20, 30, 40 mph, and I should be better able to put my fitness into perspective based on the results of those races.
Caesar Rodney 2016: a job done.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Half-marathon eve
My first race of 2016 is in 12 hours. I picked up my bib today and was surprised that it was, again, such a low number (last year I was 22). In many of the races I've run, the lower the number the higher you're seeded (and faster you're expected to run) but I can't imagine that's the case here. Until I line up tomorrow morning, maybe I will let myself fantasize that I am elite and that's why I got #15. (How I am sure bib numbers aren't any reflection on how fast they expect you to be: Philadelphia meteorologist and excellent runner Cecily Tynan is registered and is bib #11 -- she will kick my butt! There is no way I'm only 4 bib numbers slower than she is!)
It's tough to judge where I am for this race tomorrow. I ran pretty easy all week to "taper" and recuperate after a couple weeks of feeling ugh, and on my Saturday hour today my legs felt fresh and good -- so at least I am not too worried about them from that front. Where have my quality workouts gotten me to this point? is the real question. I always aim to run under 1:40 in a half-marathon (that being the upper limit of acceptable for me, as far as I'm concerned) and I think I should be able to, but -- the weather is not supposed to be very good: chilly (will it even be 40 at race time?) and super windy. I am pretty annoyed at the forecast because the whole purpose of running this race is to test my present fitness. What if I end up running 1:43 -- how will I know if that's because I'm only in 1:43 shape or maybe I am in 1:37 shape but the atrocious wind pushed me back? I may not be able to make any sense out of my time. To be honest, however, this is probably only going to really bother me if I run over 1:40. If I run anything under 1:40, I'm probably going to be satisfied enough; I just want to be able to put my finish time into proper perspective without having to make excuses/account for anything out of my control, like ridiculous wind.
This race is a week later than it usually happens, but last week was Easter so I suppose that's why it was moved. I'm annoyed because last Sunday, the weather was fine. 50s and for once, not windy.
Ok, think positive. There are still 12 hours to go. Maybe this forecast
* TIMING... HIGHEST GUSTS AND GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS WILL PROBABLY BE FROM ABOUT 4 AM AND 9 AM SUNDAY.
won't actually happen. (After all, the race isn't until 9:30 a.m. Ha ha!)
(GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH. IT REALLY SAYS THAT.)
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