Running with the Runner Girl

This weekend - Valentine's Day Dash + 20-miler

2012-02-12T18:56:00.001-08:00

This weekend I ran 26.4 miles over two days. Not exactly consistent with the Run Less Run Faster doctrine (which would not stack two hard runs on two consecutive days), but sometimes the calendar (real calendar, versus training calendar) rules. In this case the calendar showed a 5K race on the same weekend as my first 20-mile run. So be it.

I did manipulate my training schedule for the week to accommodate this double run weekend. I originally did include five runs in the week, but the weather and my tired legs on Monday (after 18 on Sunday), quickly convinced me to change my runs to Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. 6.5 easy on Tuesday, 7 (with 3 x 1-mile speed work on Thursday), 6.4 on Saturday (3.25 warm-up plus 3.15 5K race "tempo"). Rather unfortunately (in a training sense), my tempo miles on Saturday were faster than my "speed" intervals on Thursday. I know I am slow these days...I felt like I was busting a gut on Thursday, even with rests between miles and occasional stoplights. The 5K actually felt easier (a bit).

Saturday morning my mom came with me to Green Lake for the race. We intentionally arrived really early, before 8:00 for a 9:30 race, so we could get good parking near the start and finish area. (We did.) That gave me plenty of time to check in, use the bathroom several times, and run a 3.25 mile warm-up (once around the lake plus a little extra).

Shortly before 9:30 we headed back over to the start and I seeded myself at the back of the 8-9 minute pace section. I didn't feel confident enough to get further up. Turns out I could have (a bit), but my position didn't really hinder me. It's a big, crowded race, and there are somewhat narrow spots, but the walkers did stay to the back and it worked pretty well.

When the starting horn sounded we jogged toward the start and I crossed about 30 seconds later (it was chip timed). I didn't want to look at my watch too much because I figured I'd run as hard as I could and not get caught up in worrying about my pace.

Green Lake is a popular walking and running spot in Seattle as the 3-mile circumference makes a nice route. The inner path right along the lakeside is 2.8 miles and the outer path alongside the road is 3.3 miles. The race course starts on the road, goes onto the lake path for a stretch, returns to the road, then finishes (about a quarter to half mile stretch) on the lake.

I did look at my watch enough to see that I was doing a decent pace (well below 8:30) once I got going on the road, but slowed down substantially at the narrow merge onto the lake. I did pick it up again and finished the first mile around 8:17. The next mile went even better, my fastest at 8:07.

In an ideal world I would have picked up the pace for the final mile, but unfortunately I slowed down a little bit and it turned out to be 8:20-something. Oh well. I did kick it up sub-8 for the final .15, for a finish time of 25:55 (chip). I was just happy to be under 26 minutes. My overall pace was 8:14 (8:22 officially). This was the FIRST time I have managed a tempo run so close to the prescribed FIRST plan pace of 8:13). Guess I need a race for all my speed and tempo runs.

My mother had stationed herself before the finish to take pictures, but unfortunately she didn't see me in the crowds. That also meant she didn't know when I finished and spent a lot of extra time waiting for me to come by. I spent that time walking around trying to find her. Finally we did meet up at our "last chance emergency meeting spot) and she took a post race photo. That's a cute Nuu Muu dress I am wearing, with a black shirt and capris under it.

Then, onward to Sunday and my 20-mile run. I have been "dieting" (naughty word, I know) during the week, but I had a good pasta dinner Saturday night to make sure I had fuel for my run. I also had oatmeal with banana for breakfast on Sunday morning. For a race I eat breakfast two hours early but for weekend runs I just eat and run. My stomach might feel a little heavy for the first few miles but nothing too bad.

My main "fail" for this run was not downloading a new audiobook to my iPhone last week. I have quite a few books in my purchased library but I've listened to everything I've actually downloaded. Bummer. I decided to listen to music instead (which actually makes me less slow than when I listen to books or podcasts).

I have a good long run route incorporating the Centennial Trail, which can be modified to the distance. I've used it for 16, 18, and 20 miles. After this third consecutive run, though, I am ready to do my next long run somewhere else!

The first five miles today were smooth and easy. (This is where I add the extra mileage.) I didn't feel yesterday's run at all. The next three miles I call the hardest, but actually the first of those is pretty easy too. Then. Ingraham Boulevard. A full mile of fairly steep, winding uphill. Actually, the first half is only moderately steep and then it really kicks your butt in the second half! At the top it merges with Getchell Road where I get to enjoy another mile of rolling hills (and a seriously lacking roadside shoulder) before reaching the Getchell trailhead at the eight mile point.

After a bathroom stop, I hit the Centennial Trail for five miles. This is pretty easy as it is slightly downhill (railroad grade) in the northbound direction. It's a wide, paved trail, great for running, biking and walking. I do find it a little boring but I focused on landmarks to aim for (road overpasses, crossings, benches, downed trees, etc.). I switched over to news-talk radio on my phone for a little change of pace...I listened to the last part of a food and cooking show, then another show for about half an hour. I tend to go slower with audio-talk than music, and at my next stop I went back to my "marathon mix" playlist (on shuffle for fun--ha).

I arrived at the Armar Trailhead at 13.1 miles. Seven miles to go. Despite the math, I always consider this point my halfway point, as it is where I turn back to head into town (west for a mile then south). I was feeling...okay, but getting tired. I would not have minded being done at all. Since I had eaten a pretty big breakfast, I didn't take a Gu until nine miles. I decided I would break out my packet of Luna moons after mile 14, and eat one piece every mile until I was done. This was for entertainment purposes as well as fueling.

The mile or two after leaving Centennial Trail is a little hard because there is no real shoulder and I sometimes had to run in grass when there were a lot of cars coming. Even so, I felt like I was running a little faster (at least in spurts) than I had been on the trail. Maybe it was adrenaline from dodging traffic!

Once I turn onto 51st I really feel like I am in the final stretch as it takes me almost to the end of my route. Of course, I still had almost six miles to go...but I did have my Luna moons to pass the time. I plugged along at 10:15-10:30 pace. About 30 seconds slower than my goal training pace, but consistent with my last two long runs.

This pace did not include my stops, of course. Overall I took three bathroom stops, several email stops, a few stoplights, and several "just stop for a second" stops (which often coincided with popping a Luna moon into my mouth).

In one email stop (about 3-4 miles from the end) I learned that Rod had gone to run errands and go to Safeway. It sounded like I would just miss him by 15 minutes or so at Safeway...which I rued as I really didn't look forward to a 2/3 mile walk after my post run Starbucks stop.

Last week I finished the last three miles of my 18-miler at 9:40-ish pace. At mile 17 today, I just didn't have it in me to kick up the pace (yet). But after 19 miles I dug deep and pushed my legs to go just a little faster for one final mile.

Mile 20 - 9:27, woohoo! And about five feet after that at 8:48 pace. Sure, there have been long runs in the past where the last couple miles were sub-9 (and one where I ran a 2-hour half marathon after a seven mile warm-up), but it's something. That last mile got my average pace to 10:29 (it took the whole to make up for my starter mile and the two slow hill miles).

And, just after I walked into Safeway and emailed Rod that I was done running, there he was, at the deli counter getting our lunch! His errands had taken longer than planned and he was behind schedule. Frustrating for him, but a boon for me! I had a ride. Hurrah!

Now, five hours later I am showered, fed, rested, and a little achey (legs and ankles). I am not sure whether I can do my planned easy run tomorrow morning or need to save it for Tuesday (there are some logistical difficulties with Tuesday, workwise).

Speaking of achey ankles, my troublesome heel/ankle/Achilles was giving me a low level of grief during the run. It never rose to what I would call pain, but the discomfort level definitely increased in the middle miles. Strangely, it backed off some in the later miles. I suppose I need to work on icing it in the evenings again. I do think I have been running with a mostly mid-foot strike, which seems to cause less stress.

A final word about my "diet." I really want to lose a few pounds to help with spring training. I figure I need to make my strongest effort during February, as marathon training will be more intense in March and April. So I started by cutting out sweets for the month of February, except for Sundays when I do my long runs (or Saturdays if applicable). Eating-wise, the plan I am somewhat casually following is pretty similar to my typical practice, except that there are less carbs (other than non-starchy vegetables) and more lean protein (in quantity). (Also, no random nibbles, which coincides with the ban on sweets.) I do eat somewhat more calories total than the plan contemplates, because I do run (and stuff). I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit (except for the lack of sweets) and I think I've shed the extra pounds I picked up over the Tucson Marathon and holiday period.

Today, though, is a long run "buy" for the plan, so today has included (after the oatmeal plus the on-run fuels...(This is not a diet menu!)

Lunch: Turkey, avocado, and bacon sandwich from Safeway (formerly called "California Dreaming"); we split a large which makes two very hearty servings. Plus 1/4 cantaloupe.

Snack/treat: Cherry turnover from Safeway.

Dinner (to come): Ribeye steak (I plan to save some for dinner tomorrow), with a lobster tail and a little butter; brown and wild rice mix; salad greens with blue cheese dressing.

Dessert (to come): Cheesecake (one little wedge or two? To be determined...) plus strawberries.

And I still put half and half in my coffee. Every day. And I plan to continue!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I saw my shadow

2012-02-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

Even if we do have six more weeks of winter to look forward to (and technically, according to the calendar, it's seven), it was nice to see a little bit of sun this morning. Really, anything that's not rain is nice. Well, as long as it's also not snow, ice, sleet, or freezing fog. I'm not picky. I'll take the clouds.

February is the second month of my Eugene Marathon training plan. (Although the official plan didn't start till mid-January.) So far, so...okay. I have not achieved any of the paces that I adopted from the Run Less Run Faster plans. I am hoping that by March maybe I will start hitting those paces...for now I am just trying to run at a level of effort consistent with the designated paces. If that makes any sense.

I have also had to adapt the plan to accommodate my life. For example, during the week of snow I missed several runs. I ended up running just twice that week (out of typical four), and neither was a designated key workout. (To clarify, I also did three snowshoe runs during the week also, but they were in no way typical runs!)

Last week I had a pretty good week in running. I did my first track workout on Wednesday, just 4 x 800 but it kicked me in the gut. My pace was ~~abysmal~~ not great but I did work hard at it. On Friday I did eight with five at marathon goal pace effort...all sub-9:30 so that's okay for now. Okay, my effort was a little harder than marathon goal pace should be...but I got through it. On Sunday I did sixteen miles, which was a compromise between the fifteen miles I had to cancel the previous week and the seventeen which I originally had on the training calendar.

On Sunday I did have a little external motivation to make my run strong. I got a really late start, but Rod suggested that if I got back by 2:00 we could go out to lunch (there was a timing issue relating to a basketball game). After nine miles I looked at my watch and it was about 12:50. Oh dear. That gave me just about seventy minutes to do seven miles...including any stops along the way.

Well, I will tell you I worked hard through those seven miles! I skipped a bathroom stop because I was not desperate to go and I knew it would fritter away too much time. I had to stop at two or three lights but other than that there was no random dawdling. I ended up getting back at about 2:02 or 2:03. Not bad at all! I enjoyed a delicious Rueben sandwich for lunch.

Unfortunately my runs this week have been less felicitous. On Monday I forced out six miles but my legs felt like lead. Wednesday morning I postponed my track workout to afternoon because it was pouring rain, and supposed to clear up in the afternoon (which it did). However, the track workout fell by the wayside when I found the track full of deep mud puddles and very, very dark (as it was after nightfall and there were no lights). I did run twice around the track slowly and determined that, with the puddles and the darkness, there was no way I could make a strong speed effort.

Instead I left the track and ran a few more miles on the road (for a total of 6.65). The run actually felt pretty good (no heavy legs), but I was quite disappointed at my pace. Maybe I let the running feel too good? Or (I prefer to think) the satellites were messed up and Garmin failed to properly record my pace. I went to yoga after the run, and normally I am too wiped after running to make the trip to yoga. So that might be an indication that I was underworking.

I didn't try to run again this morning (12 hours after my night time run), so that means that tomorrow I have to choose between the omitted speed work and a planned tempo run. I am kind of inclined to go with the tempo run. It seems like it would be overall more beneficial to marathon training than short distance track intervals.

This morning I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon on October 7! I'm pretty excited about that (as well as Eugene, of course).

Treadmill run: FAIL

2012-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

Since the snow is sticking around (for now) (in fact it's been snowing all day today still), I dragged myself out of bed to the Y this morning. After calling to confirm that they were open (yesterday I showed up at 6:30 and they were closed until 9 a.m.!). I thought I might tackle that speed work after all.

I mentioned that it's been years since I've run more than a mile on the treadmill, right? Yes. Still years. Now I guess I should say, "more than half a mile."

I got on the treadmill, finally figured out how to make the headphones for the TV work, and set it on a walk to start. I raised the incline to 1, then 1.5 because it still felt weirdly flat. Walking was okay, though I needed to rest my hands on the rails for balance (foreshadowing, there). I did a minute or so each on 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5. Then I bumped it to 5 (which should be slower than warm-up pace) and started to jog.

It. Was. Awful. Seriously, it was so difficult and awkward. I had to take shorter steps than I think I am accustomed to, it was definitely a forced heel strike (maybe I'm more adapted to midfoot striking than I thought), and of course there was that balance thing. I made myself keep going to the half mile point (that was including the walking at the beginning), then I stopped and made a dash for the elliptical.

I don't know if I could have even handled a level 6 pace (legit warm-up pace), let along the 7-8 that would be called for in the 800 intervals.

It's possible that I could improve with practice, but there was no way that I was going to get those intervals done today.

With all my dallying, plus the time it took to scrape snow off the car and warm it up, I only had time for 35 minutes on the elliptical before heading home.

I feel like this snowy weather is making me lose my will to exercise. All I want to do is hunker down (with my now-working furnace) and eat cookies and soup. Last night I made this Sausage, Bean, and Kale Soup from Cooking Light. (I modified the recipe by adding onions and mushrooms, plus basically doubling it because I had a bigger package of sausage.) I ate it* after doing a 3.1 snowshoe "run." So there was some exercise involved.

Hopefully I will be able to get in some snowshoe time later today as well. I don't know when "real" running can resume. Tomorrow looks pretty dicey as there is a lot of snow, even if it starts melting tonight as promised. (Actually it was supposed to warm up by noon today...not so much.)

I love the snow, I do! But I need to get back to running! I need to want to get back to running!

*Also for lunch today, and planned for dinner and lunch tomorrow.

Holidays, Eugene training plan, and SNOW

2012-01-18T17:02:00.001-08:00

My, how time does fly. It seems like I was just finishing up the Tucson Marathon, then the Christmas holidays flew by, and suddenly we are halfway through the month of January!

Christmas came and went so quickly. I think that is a product of spending half the month of December tapering for Tucson and traveling to Las Vegas and then Tucson (eliminating the two of the three pre-Christmas weekends). I did, somehow accomplish a couple of milestones (for me). I finished all my Christmas shopping before Christmas, all my shipped gifts arrived by Christmas (even a couple of books I ordered from Amazon on December 22 and chose regular shipping for), and I wrapped all my gifts and had them done by December 23. Yea me!

Making Christmas lefse with Eva. She actually ended up doing a lot of the rolling!

"Little Christmas Eve" at my sister's house (the twins, Eva, my mom).

Rod and me, Christmas Eve music.

On New Year's Eve Rod took me up to Orcas Island and we stayed at Rosario Resort for their special New Year's Eve dinner and party. It was lovely there and it is so unlike us to do anything festive on New Year's Eve! He also bought me a swimsuit from the spa shop so that we could go swimming in the indoor pool on New Year's morning. The pool was original to the house when it was built in the early 20th century. We were the only people there and we spent about 25 minutes doing laps in the narrow pool. Since I am no swimmer, this was work!

View of the San Juans from Mount Constitution. It was a cloudy day, so the view was a little obscured.

The Roundhouse, our suite at Rosario.

Sunrise in the San Juans on New Year's Day.

I spent the month of December after the marathon running easy and trying to get my legs back. They felt fine after my week's post-marathon rest, but I have yet to recover any speed. I know it took me most all of the two months between Portland and Tucson to even get back to a moderate pace with bursts of speed for Tucson, so I am being patient and trying to have faith that I will find my way.

Although I tracked my mileage throughout the year, I didn't really pay attention to the overall total until December. I then added up all the weeks and discovered that I might be able to hit 2000 miles for the year but it would be very close (especially with the post-marathon rest period). By the time I got to the last week of December I decided I would include my 16.5 mile training walk in the total but not any additional walking miles. (Most days I walk a half mile home after I finish running, plus I usually go on several 3-4 mile walks after work during the summer.)

On December 30 I ran about 12.5 miles and couldn't run any more that day. I had to get to work, plus my achilles/heel/ankle problem was acting up. I thought I was at least five or six miles off 2000. Later I checked and saw that I had only 2.85 miles to go!

You would probably assume that of course I would get up a little early on Saturday and run an easy three miles on the last day of the year. That somehow I would squeeze in those last few miles. But...I didn't. Two reasons. One, we were leaving for the ferry to Orcas quite early and I couldn't quite bring myself to get up that much earlier and disrupt everything. Two, my foot really was bothering me, and I decided that 2.85 miles wasn't worth jeopardizing my spring training by causing a real injury. So, I took New Year's Eve off running. New Year's Day too.

By Monday my foot was enough better that I was able to start the New Year with a seven-or-so mile run. Before watching Oregon win the Rose Bowl. Go Ducks!

I started my "official" Eugene Marathon training plan in the second week of January. The day before my first day, I ran the Lake Samish Half Marathon up in Bellingham. I did it in 2:08 (meh) and had hopes of doing one the following weekend in 2:06 (which would be consistent with my training plan).

Speaking of the training plan, I have one. I am modeling it on the Run Less Run Faster plan for a four-hour marathon. I tweaked it a little (of course). Their plans only have three days of running per week--one speed work, one tempo, one long run--and a couple of days cross training. I am keeping my fourth day of running as an easy day. I'll still cross train, I always do anyway. I have put the suggested paces in my plan, but at this point there is absolutely no way I can run as fast as they tell me too, at least for the speed and tempo runs. It remains to be seen on the long runs.

I figure I'll keep working at the fast paces and maybe by the end of the plan I'll be able to hit them. Or not. It's worth a try. I believe that the long runs are the most important, anyway. In my experience, my marathon pace is going to be, at best, 15-30 seconds faster than my long run pace (assuming all goes well). Getting my long runs to 9:30-ish will be key, I believe, and that's what the plan calls for (by the end).

My first official long run was supposed to be 13 miles at 9:39 pace and I freely admit I failed at that. This was at the Nookchamps Half Marathon (which I had hoped to run in 2:06)...my time was just under 2:15. (That was about a 10:15 pace). Could I have done a little better had the conditions been better? Who knows. But the weather in this race was probably in my top three worst weather condition races ever.

You see, Nookchamps was last Saturday which was the beginning of SNOWMAGEDDON!

Ha, I jest. Saturday was the beginning of the bout of wintry weather we are now experiencing, though. When I woke up on Saturday morning and heard the rain I seriously considered bagging the race. It only cost $30, not the end of the world. But I got up and dressed, ate oatmeal, and got in the car to drive 30 or so miles north to Mount Vernon. The rain continued along the way...modifying to sleet by the time I arrived. Again, at various times throughout the morning before the start, I thought about turning around and going home.

In the bathroom shortly before the start, one woman had a box of garbage bags she was sharing. I put one on and this probably made the difference between a mildly uncomfortable run and a miserable one. With my lack of motivation, I made no effort at a warm-up run and just huddled with the rest of the crowd waiting to the race to start. I didn't even care where I was in the crowd.

Moments after the race did start, I felt my shoelace flopping. For the first time in a very long while, I had forgotten to double knot my shoes. I stepped aside and fumbled with my lace to double tie both shoes. During that time the remainder of the crowd passed me and I started literally in the back of the pack. I was next to people running the 5K with small children.

I did manage to pass enough people to join a group of mid-packers. My first mile was very slow but I continued at 9:45-10:00 pace. Slower than I intended, but okay.

Then, within two miles, I really, really needed to go to the bathroom. For the next six miles, peeing was all I could think about. Around the six mile point there was one port a potty. With a line of five people. Even though I wasn't going for a great time, I couldn't bear to blow five minutes just waiting in line. So I plugged forward.

Around eight miles there was another port a potty. This time there were only two people waiting, but my urge wasn't quite so desperate. This was at the beginning of an out and back section, so I could have another chance in a couple of miles.

I don't particularly like this out and back, or any out and back, for that matter. The out always seems so long. The back is usually better. I broke this one up by eating a Gu at mile 9. I figured I could use something to give me a kick for the last few miles. Especially after I though I saw an "11" on my Garmin after mile 9! (But I did not have reading glasses on and I must have been mistaken, as that did not turn out to be the case when I checked my splits later...it was a 10.)

At the end of the out and back, with less than a quarter mile to the ten-mile marker, I approached the port a potty once again. I knew I could force myself to make it through--the urgency had receded and it was more of a nagging ache. But I decided to stop anyway and make the last three miles a little less torturous.

There was no line, but I had to wait just a bit for a guy who was inside. So I lost a couple of minutes there. I don't regret it, though, as I really was able to push through the final miles and finish with a smile on my face.

The heavy rain and sleet did let up after the first couple miles, but there was some kind of precipitation throughout. I think it was light snow at the end.

And that was a precursor to our week of snow. On Sunday afternoon we got some light snow (I think). Yes, we did...I remember now. Then it snowed a little more overnight and on Monday morning we decided that it was too cold to go skiing. I know that sounds strange! But the road conditions were just bad, and it was foggy up at Stevens, and I just didn't want to go. Instead i ran 9.3 miles on snowy sidewalks. Snow = slow. I tried to think of it as comparable to trail running!

Just after I finished the snow started falling in earnest. On Tuesday morning we had enough accumulation to prevent lots of people from going in to work. I am lucky enough to live less than two miles from work...I will never have a snow day.

I did leave work early though and was able to get out for a tramp in my snowshoes. I spent about an hour and a half walking around my neighborhood.

Today, Wednesday, was supposed to be speed work. After some waffling and deliberation, I decided to go the the Y and brave the treadmill. This workout was the easiest speed work on my whole schedule, one mile warm-up and 4 x 800 so I thought it would be a good way to give the treadmill a try (I haven't run more than a mile on a treadmill for years). I brushed the snow off my car and warmed it up and drove up the snowy streets to the Y (about a mile away). And it was closed. After all that.

So I went home and modified my layers a little bit, then went back out and "ran" 2.25 miles in my running snowshoes. Not speed work, that's for sure. I did run one lap around the snowy track, just for fun.

I came home to a house that was far colder than it should be. I have spent several hours waiting for the furnace man to come, and now waiting while he works on the furnace, hopefully patching it up enough to make it through the winter without replacement. Fingers crossed.

Hopefully after he's done I'll have the gumption to get out for one more snowshoe run/walk. (The house can warm up while I'm gone, I hope.) Then I plan to make Sausage, Bean and Kale Soup! (I googled recipes while I was waiting.) I hope he finishes soon...my desire to go back outside is waning!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A few photos from the Tucson Marathon

2012-01-10T14:53:00.001-08:00

Finally, I am stepping out of my holiday hiatus to post a few pics from the Tucson Marathon (back on December 11)! I have to give Marathonfoto credit for getting a lot of shots. So much better than at the Boston Marathon (same company), where I had a grand total of about six pictures. (I also blew a lot of money in Boston by forking over about $100 for a prepaid photo package, getting disgusted by the lack of pictures and not ordering any, and recently learning that my prepaid package "expired" in October. Way to rip people of, Marathonfoto! Still, they did a good job in Tucson.)

All these pictures do look a lot alike though...because it's Tucson. And me running. Not a lot to work with there!

So I found the Tucson race report

2011-12-19T21:27:00.001-08:00

It is posted below. Although the publish date is December 19, it is all about December 11 and was written in the day or two afterward.

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Last race of 2011- done!

2011-12-19T18:08:00.001-08:00

Hear that? I will not be tempted by a jingle bell run or holiday dash or even a new year's eve end of year event (if such a thing exists). Not only am I determined to give my legs and mental state a break from the stress of racing, I also need to devote a little time and attention to Christmas shopping, cooking, and maybe even baking. Oh, and my family too. (The jury is still out on Christmas decorating and cleaning....)

I write all this knowing that there is indeed a holiday race in my area next weekend...but I'm not going.

That said, I finished off the year with a bang at the Tucson Marathon. I am so happy it's over, and I'll have a constant memento of the race for days to come in my achy quads. The short story--4:24:32. A little slower than I had hoped, but well under my bottom line of 4:30.

I think one of the amazing things about running a marathon is that you accomplish something that is so hard that it is difficult to believe it can be done. I mean, I have never done a marathon fearing that I wouldn't finish, but when you think about it, it's a big deal! Running 26+ miles (even if it's just around a 10-minute pace), with only the most nominal of stops or rest (one port a potty stop, walked through two aid stations in the last few miles).

As I look outside at the pouring rain today (we are leaving for the airport in about an hour), I feel so lucky that our weather yesterday was so perfect for the marathon. (And, in fact, the days before were great too.) The temperature had warmed from earlier in the week, so it was about 40 at the start. I guess it was around 60 or more when I finished, but not so warm that I suffered from the heat at all.

Considering that the marathon didn't start until 7:30, the shuttles to the start left crazy early beginning at 5 a.m. That meant I got up at 4:15. Obviously, I had prepped all my clothes and gear the night before.

My outfit for the race was the NuuMuu dress seen above (pink animal print!) and black Nike capris. Layered on top of that I had a light hoody in matchy pink to throw away when I got warm. For pre-race warmth, I had a great thick pink fleece and fleecy pants (all acquired at Goodwill last week). I also brought a pink knit cap, although it was warm enough on the bus that I was more than toasty. Plus pink gloves decorated with hearts and doodles. Apparently they were "girl" gloves, but they were big enough for me. After I took them off I carried them the whole rest of the way. For some reason, I can't bring myself to toss a pair of gloves!

I took a couple of terrible pre-race pics in the room before I left. Race outfit including throwaway jacket....

And with fleecy layers....

I got on the first bus outside the hotel lobby. It was a really comfy charter bus, not just a school bus. Very nice! I ended up sitting with a woman from Indianapolis who was running this after recovering from an Achilles injury that has limited her running for a while. I hope it went well for her. I don't think I would have recognized her afterwards or at the hotel because most of our conversation was in the dark! I ate my breakfast, a bagel with peanut butter, on the bus along the way.

We drove and drove through the darkness and got to the start around 5:45. Luckily we were allowed to stay on the bus...it would be really horrible to stand around for 1:45 hour waiting! I did get off the bus right away for a trip to the potties. Then I read stuff on my phone for a while to pass the time. After about an hour it seemed like a good idea to get in the potty lines again to make sure I got a chance to go before the start. Good thing I did because while the line didn't seem too long (there were a bunch of separate lines), it moved really slowly.

Finally I got on and out of the potty and headed down to the buses to drop my gear bag. I stripped off my fleecy layers, fastened on my fuel belt, and handed my bag through the window.

By the time I got back to the starting area it was less than ten minutes to the start. That was perfect, actually. It was a little bit cool but the cluster of people around me kept me warm enough. As I made my way through the crowd I saw the 4:30 pacer. Strangely, the 5:00 pacer was ahead of him, but he told me the 4:15 was up there too.

I had decided to start near the 4:15 pacer. Of course that had been my Portland time, and I didn't know if I could match that, but I thought I had some chance with the downhill elevation to help me. The average pace for a 4:15 marathon, by the way, is 9:44.

As I stood there in the crowd, one minute before the start, I thought, "Why am I doing this?" Then we were off.

The first mile or two are a pretty significant downhill. I took it very easy, but was still under 9:30 pace for quite a while. In the first couple of miles I pulled ahead of the 4:15 pacer a bit. Soon, though, we made up for the downhill with a hill up. I can't remember the specifics but I am quite sure there were a number of decent hills both up and down in the first six miles. After a couple of miles the 4:15 pacer passed me and I never ran near him again. I am pretty sure he was running faster than pace though. In the first few miles I was averaging about 9:45 pace even with the uphills. At the half my time was about 2:08, which is just off the 4:15 pace (although obtaining a negative split would just not happen).

I just read an article about why your GPS watch is not an accurate measure of distance, which is a good thing to keep in mind when complaining about "long" races. But obviously, I still rely on my Garmin. In the first few miles the mile markers were about .2 mile past where my watch registered each mile. However, mile 6 came too soon! And every mile marker thereafter was about a tenth of a mile before my watch. I figured it would all come out even in the end.

The first five miles went by pretty smoothly. The next five did too. I took off my gloves in the first couple miles (and carried them). A few miles later, I started unzipping my jacket. It was sliding down my shoulder in a rather irritating way, but I was hesitant to take it off too soon because that would be my last method of cooling myself when I got warm. I decided that the removal of the jacket would be one of the mileposts I would use to break up the mileage.

After mile 8 I took a Gu. (Plan - Gu at mile 8, 13, 18, 23. Not achieved.) I decided to take off my jacket at mile 10. I kind of hated to drop it, since it matched so well, but I decided that leaving it would be much more freeing than tying it around my waist, and that was my plan all along, anyway.

So around mile 10 I pulled off the jacket and carried it for a while until I saw a few other abandoned articles. I tossed my jacket into the pile.

Shortly after the 10-mile point the course turned off the main road onto Biosphere road. We ran almost two miles out that road, before turning at mile 12 and coming back across the halfway point (which was the half marathon start). I assume we will get split times from that point when the results go up.

I can't really remember the specific places the road went up or down. (I suspect that my splits might tell the tale!) But I would say that in the second half the declines and inclines were much more gradual that the had been in the beginning.

After mile 10 my next mental landmark was the halfway point, of course. I had thought I might stop at a port a potty after the half, but I didn't need to go desperately so I decided to wait. It even seemed possible that I might make it through the whole thing without stopping, but I wasn't sure about that.

I took a gel from an aid station after the half. I thought they were going to have Gu but it turned out to be Clif brand (I think). It tasted like a mocha flavor. I probably don't drink enough with my gels--maybe that's why I never seem to feel any miraculous energizing effect. I'll drink a little to wash it down and rinse my mouth, but that's about it. I was carrying my fuel belt with nuun, which I sipped from periodically, but every once in a while I would also take some plain water from an aid station. Since I didn't stop to drink (until closer to the end), I usually ended up getting a sip in then tossing the cup.

Next target--15 miles. After that 16 (obviously), which is significant because there is "only" ten miles to go! At about 15.5 miles I decided to stop for the bathroom. I still wasn't desperate, and maybe I could have pushed through, but since I wasn't shooting for any high-faluting goal I felt that it would be worth a minute or so to rid myself of one source of discomfort. The bathroom stop took about 1.5 minutes (typical for me and I can't seem to get in and out any faster). Afterwards I did feel a little kick to my pace!

Around mile 17 I started to feel my quads. Feel them start to ache, that is. Interesting in that my legs started to feel achy around mile 17-18 in Portland too. I think that's a clue that three hours is about the time it takes for muscle soreness to set in. Perhaps I should stick to 30K races....

I think that miles 16-20 are often a difficult part of the race for me. My legs get tired, I often feel nauseous, and I drop the ball on my fueling plan. I was only mildly nauseous this time, but I didn't feel like digging out my Gu. Instead, I drank a cup of sports drink at two water stations in the low 20s. One was red and one was blue. (I thought to myself, if I throw up will it be purple?) I walked through both of those water stations to make sure I could down the drink without spilling. I also drank a cup of water in the second one. At that point I felt pretty full of liquids and figured I'd better hold off some!

Based in my total time at the 20 mile mark, I guessed that I was averaging about a 10 minute pace. If I kept it up (or better) I would finish around 4:20. But in the last 10K my pace slowed significantly. It's not like I bonked--I felt fine, for someone who had been running for 20 miles. But my legs weren't going much better than a 10:30 pace. If I pushed myself, I could get to around 10-minute pace, but that would last a few seconds before I slowed again. I really wanted to be done, but not apparently enough to get back into the 9s.

Much earlier I had made myself a rule to help prevent looking at my Garmin too much. I decided I could only look at it after the end if a song on my iPod. Sure, that was still every 3-4 minutes, but if I didn't restrain myself, I would be looking every 3-4 seconds. And you don't cover a lot of distance in 3-4 seconds. Occasionally, if a song came on that I especially liked, I would repeat it until I finished the mile I was on. I briefly considered doing that for the whole 10k...finishing the remainder of the race in only six songs, how cool would that be?

I'll admit that the closer I got to the end, the more I kept checking my watch, despite the "rule." Oh, that 10:30 pace...4:20 had slipped from my grasp. But with about two miles left I was pretty sure I could still hit--or beat--4:25. Just after the 24 mile point we turned off Oracle Road (the main road where we had run most of the race). My turning pace was exceedingly slow (too much watch checking) but after that I made a concerted effort to push hard to the finish. My "sprint" in the last .2 mile was exactly a 10 minute pace. Ha.

Final time 4:24:32 (10:06 pace). Very, very...okay. I'm not disappointed, I am not thrilled, but I am happy that it was under 4:30. Of the seven marathons I have run, three were faster and three were slower. How can that be bad?*

After finishing I posed for a picture then headed to pick up my bag. I did stop to send some emails and call my dad. After I stood still for a few minutes I found it very difficult to move my legs again! I would have liked some fruit but the post-race food was in the opposite direction of the buses. Since I didn't see anyone with orange slices (the only thing I wanted), I didn't bother. I retrieved my bag and hobbled off in the direction of the buses.

About 20 minutes later the bus dropped us at the Hilton and my dad met me as I entered the lobby. Here is my post race pic!

I had asked my dad to bring my swimsuit from the room, and after buying a hot mocha at the bar I headed into the pool restroom to change so that I could take an ice bath in the cold springs spa. I would have gone directly in my running clothes, but I thought the hotel might frown on that. As it turns out, about half of the people there were in swimsuits and the other half in running clothes. So I guess it didn't matter. Everyone in the hot springs was in a swimsuit, though.

I braved the cold water and waded down the steps, sitting on the top step so I was immersed to the waist. My legs adjusted pretty quickly, but I shivered and shook for about five minutes (even with the mocha) and my feet stayed cold the whole time. (This is why I wear socks in an ice bath!) I probably stayed in the cold water for at least 15 minutes.) While I was there a number of other runners came and went, shrieking at the cold water. It was kind of fun, bonding with runners in an ice bath.

After I got out I sat on a bench until my legs and feet thawed thoroughly. Even though it was probably only in the 60s temperature wise, it seemed warm and sunny enough to sit around in a swimsuit.

This is the coldpool, can you tell? The hot pool was much more crowded.

Then I went into the hot springs. I probably stayed there for more than 15 minutes. There I immersed myself to my neck and there was no shivering. I chatted with a few people who had run, about past and favorite marathons. One woman had run about 65 marathons, which is actually not that crazy for a Marathon Maniac type, but still, it is a lot of marathons!

Finally I extricated myself from the hot water and headed back to the hotel room to shower and change. I still wasn't very hungry at all. I had eaten half a PR bar on the bus back to the hotel, and after I was dressed I ate the other half of the bar, a final wedge of quesadilla left over from dinner the night before, and a whole bunch of pretzels.

The cold and hot water soaks had not been a miracle cure. I was still pretty achy, so I took some Advil (and again before bed and in the middle of the night).

Around 6:00 I was finally ready to go pick up some dinner. I had one thing in mind.

I had never been to In 'n' Out Burger--I don't know if they even exist in my neck of the woods. But ever since we drove by earlier in the week, I had it in mind for a post marathon dinner. Cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake. I liked the burger and shake best...I think the fries cooled too much in the take-out process. But I still ate most of my packet.

By Monday morning the achiness was pretty much gone, and only the sore quads remained (and still do, as of Tuesday). Our flight wasn't until late afternoon, so after a trip to Starbucks for breakfast, we hung out in the hotel room for a couple of hours before heading out.

The weather on Monday was a far cry from the sun we had enjoyed since Wednesday! It was pouring rain and quite blustery. I was so relieved that the bad weather had held off until the day after the marathon!

All in all, the Tucson Marathon (and trip) was great fun for me. I think my dad had a good time traveling around as well. I finished another marathon with a smile on my face. (The official race pics, which came out today, show that! I am planning to buy the digital package and I will post a few, the ones in which I look least like a dork.)

Here's a quick look at my splits from the race.
1 - 9:21
2 - 9:43
3 - 9:38
4 - 10:01
5 - 9:55
6 - 9:36
7 - 9:38
8 - 9:41
9 - 9:42
10 - 9:51
11 - 10:19
12 - 10:41 (don't know, must have been a hard hill)
13 - 10:08
14 - 10:18
15 - 10:02
16 - 11:22 (bathroom)
17 - 9:50
18 - 10:02
19 - 10:00
20 - 10:19
21 - 10:21
22 - 10:29
23 - 10:21
24 - 10:25
25 - 10:50 (and I thought I was really trying to kick it at the end!)
26 - 10:14
.2 @ 10:00 pace.

It's pretty clear that, except for a couple blips earlier in the race, I really started to drag in the last 10K. Must. Work. On. That.

For now, I'm taking a few days off running to let my legs recover. I'll start running again at the end of this week or the beginning of next, depending on how my quads feel. I will start training for Eugene in January.

*And in fact, my fastest marathon was about 25 minutes faster, and the slowest about 25 minutes slower!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

What happened to my Tucson Marathon recap?

2011-12-19T16:45:00.001-08:00

I swear, I wrote a LONG race recap on my iPad a couple of days after the Tucson Marathon. WHERE IS IT? I will have to check the iPad to see if it remains unpublished. If it is missing I will be Pissed. Off. Maybe it was banned from the internet because it included a picture of me in a swimsuit after the race?

In case it is missing, and I don't muster up the energy to recreate it (which seems highly likely), the short story is 4:24:32. Woot woot! Okay, I had hoped to be closer to 4:15 but the hills were more difficult than I expected.

I do have a lot of pretty good race pictures (and a couple I really like), so I will be posting them soon anyway.

T (Tucson Marathon) minus one

2011-12-10T18:18:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm just about there now. In about fourteen hours* I will be heading down the road of the Tucson Marathon. For better or worse. Hopefully better. Not that I'm nervous or anything.

Here's a quick recap thus far. After less than two days at home after Las Vegas, my dad and I headed to the airport again on Wednesday morning to fly to Tucson. This marathon was a bit of a whim, although a rather well thought out whim that occurred months ago.

I had been interested in the Tucson Marathon after reading Pam Reed's memoir, The Extra Mile (she is the Tucson Marathon race director). I even had a glimmer of a thought that I might look into Tucson if Portland training went well. This all came to fruition when my mom had some 50,000 air miles to use. A casual search located two seats on direct flights to and from Tucson. My dad was "willing" to make the trip, so I booked the tickets and hotel, registered for the race, and put it at the end of my 2011 race schedule.

Fast forward to October. Portland Marathon--great! Post Portland--slow. I did draw up what I consider was a pretty good 8-week re-training plan. It included a 16-mile, 18-mile, 20-mile, and 15-mile as my longest runs, plus two half marathons, one at the beginning and one at the end. What it lacked was super successful speed work. I ~~did~~ tried to do some intervals and temp runs, but they were not really up to par. By last week, though, I decided it was all in the bank, and I wasn't going to change anything now.

After Las Vegas on Sunday evening I took Monday off work and then ran on Tuesday afternoon. My quads were really sore...why???

By the time we got to Tucson on Wednesday, got the car, and drove to the hotel, it was early evening. For dinner we shared a teriyaki chicken wrap and a spam musubi left over from food I had bought at the airport. No, I am not particularly worried about eating food that has been out for hours.

Thursday morning I ran five very difficult miles in the golf course at the hotel. It was super hilly and my legs were not loving it. I did not push it at all because I didn't want a sore quad recurrence!

The weather here starts out cold in the morning and warms up. On Wednesday it started in the mid 30s and went to the low 60s. The lows and highs have increased about five degrees by the weekend. So yes, it will be ~~sort of~~ cold tomorrow morning and pretty ~~hot~~ warm when I finish.

Our Thursday activities included a trip to Barnes & Noble and a Nike outlet store (to get my dad some shorts and a tee shirt for the hotel gym). Then we drove southeast to Tombstone. Kind of a hokey tourist town but it is a genuine historical location. Part of the schtick is a gunfight that starts in the street and then continues with a show in the theatre of the OK Corral. We followed the action down the street but didn't stay for the show.

We drove back to Tucson with an amazing desert sunset in our view the whole way (until the sun actually set). I have admired the sunset a few times now but have yet to take any pictures. Maybe tomorrow? That will be my last chance.

We stopped at Safeway along the way and got food for dinner. And chocolate peppermint pretzel thins. Just don't ask.

Friday morning we hit the gym for an hour then went to Starbucks to get breakfast on our way to Biosphere 2. Back in the early nineties there were two human missions where a small group of people lived in the enclosed environment for two years (the first time) and six months (the second time). (Anyone remember when Lilith left Frasier Crane and went to live in a biosphere?) Nowadays they are studying plants and climates and stuff.

Anyone think there's something weird about this picture? Just me?

This was the kitchen from the human missions. I snuck inside the no entry rope but still didn't get a very good view. This was my favorite part of the tour. They showed a little video about what they cooked and ate. Part of the reason the mission ended was because they couldn't produce enough caloric food. Over two years most of the eight participants lost significant weight, from 20 to 60 pounds!

On the way up and back to Biosphere 2 we saw porta potties on the road. I was pretty sure this was part of the race course. On looking at the map later I saw that it was the second half (or the half marathon). The full marathon starts further north and the goes to the Biosphere, and back to Tucson (actually Oro Valley).

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Whole Foods, where I spent my $20 Living Social voucher (and then some) on lunch and a bag of cookies. (Oh, delicious, delicious cookies!) My dad got a grilled cheese sandwich and I got a burger and fries (plus a salad to share). I kind of forgot that I was planning on a burger after the marathon. Oops. Well, we'll see what happens.

We ate our lunch by the pool. I only ate half my burger, which was good as I ended up having the rest of it for dinner (with pretzels in lieu of fries).

After lunch (which turned out to be a late lunch), I went over to the race expo and picked up my bib and chip, and browsed the displays. It was so much more low key than Vegas. Thank goodness. I ended up buying another shirt and a fleecy pullover, even though when I was shopping for throwaway gear at Goodwill I swore I would never buy a pricey fleece again!

And then it was Saturday (today). The last day that I don't have to run a marathon. We went to Starbucks for breakfast again (oatmeal with everything and a shared banana). Then we drove downtown to check out the Fourth Avenue Street Fair, about eight blocks of crafts and vendors and fair foods. I actually ended up buying quite a few Christmas gifts. And an order of freshly made potato chips made with one potato--about 110 calories of potato plus a million calories of oil. They were shiny and delicious. I put salt and vinegar seasoning on half and chili lime on half. Oh yum.

By the time we left at 1:15 it was almost 70 degrees and HOT in the sun. Better after I took my jacket off, though.

After grabbing lunch from Safeway (again) we went back to the hotel to relax and rest. I am a little bummed that I didn't realize that the NBC coverage of the Kona Ironman was today. I learned of it just after it was over.

Along with putting out my clothes and gear for tomorrow morning, I am going to finish the rest of Spirit of the Marathon. I think that is just what I need to get psyched up for tomorrow!

*14 hours when I started writing. Now 12.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Moving onward

2011-12-07T20:59:00.001-08:00

My Vegas recap is about halfway done, but it's on regular blogger which is a little awkward to use on my iPad. Especially as I don't have my wireless keyboard with me here.

Here? You might ask. "Here" is actually Tucson, the second (and final) stop in my December race travels. After getting home on Monday (and resuming mail and newspaper service for one day before needing to stop it again, my dad and I headed back to the airport Wednesday morning. It was pretty deja vu-esque, even getting the same shuttle driver from the parking lot to the airport. (We recognized him but I'm not sure he recognized us. How he could have forgotten us, I don't know.)

We had a pretty easy flight to Tucson. I fell asleep for a while at the beginning and again at the end. Even though it was a noon flight, I was tired because I was up past midnight and got up before 6:00 to go to the Y this morning.

In the middle I watched most of The Spirit of the Marathon on my iPad. I had to pause right at the beginning of the actual marathon as we were landing. I'm excited to finish it. It's been a couple years since I last watched it. It's so inspirational--maybe I'll even watch it a second time before Sunday!

During my two days at home I was incapable of resuming any kind of low sugar, low carb diet. So I guess I am carb loading all week. No exception today--I've eaten wraps, rice, and tons of candy.

I really am in taper this week. My legs (quads) have been surprisingly sore considering how flat Las Vegas was for running (though not truly flat, which I'll address in the race recap). I'm also having some ~~pain~~ discomfort in my ankle. I've iced it a couple of times, and should continue while I'm here (considering the ice machine and all).

I ran a little on Tuesday after work--4.25 miles warm-up, 4 x 400 on the track (5-10K pace effort, and at least I got there on the last one), then about 1.75 miles at marathon pace (around 9:30). Total seven miles. I want to go out for a few miles tomorrow, then I'll definitely hold off to rest my legs before Sunday.

Tomorrow I run (a little) then we sightsee the Tucson area.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:W Desert Knoll Pl,Oro Valley,United States

Viva Las Vegas...soon!

2011-11-30T15:00:00.000-08:00

In about three days I'll be on my way to Vegas for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on Sunday. I'm doing the quick and dirty version of a trip (no, not that kind of dirty), flying in on Saturday and out as early as I can on Monday morning. I'm not exactly a Vegas kind of person. Although my dad, who is coming with me, does like a little bit of gambling...hopefully the 48 hours will be fun for him.

I signed up for Vegas on a whim last spring, when they had that one day only pre-registration, probably offering a whopping $10 discount or something. I don't really intend to be someone who follows the Rock 'n' Roll races around the country (would that be a R 'n' R race groupie?), but I am also registered for the Portland version next spring, plus Seattle in the spring as well, once again lured by early registration promotions.

My only reason for doing Vegas (other than a mild interest in running down the Strip at night), is as a warm-up race for Tucson on December 11. I have gotten into the practice of doing a half marathon one or two weeks before each marathon as as a final medium-long run. If it is only one week before, I try to do it at a marathon pace effort. That means I run at a pace I believe I can sustain for a whole marathon (even though that may not turn out to be my actual marathon pace; usually the half marathon is a little faster and I can't resist putting in some extra effort at the end which I certainly would not do at miles 10-13 of a full marathon).

And my planned pace for Vegas? Seriously, I do not know. I figure I will just see what feels good. Maybe that will give me some idea of what to expect in Tucson. I am in corral 6, as I originally gave a projected finish time of 1:55. That was actually the time of several half marathons I ran this last summer, so I wasn't even overreaching or anything. But that's a pace of 8:45, so...I don't think so. I'll be getting passed ~~some~~ a lot, at least if the other people in the corral were realistic in their estimates.

I am in the midst of taper for the Tucson Marathon. I did my last long (20 mile) run on November 19. Last weekend I cranked out a couple of mid-length runs (10 on Thanksgiving and 15 on Saturday), with unplanned full rest days on Friday* and Sunday.** In fact, last week was the first time in a long time I only ran three times during the week*** (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday), thanks to a combination of recovering from my 20-miler, baaaad weather, and the holiday.

This week I am running on Monday (easy run), today/Wednesday (speed work), and Thursday (easy run planned). I will take Friday and Saturday off running to rest my legs for the race, and then Sunday will be a tempo/pace run of 13.1 miles.

I may have mentioned (many times) how hard it is for me to get out of bed early and get running on these dark mornings...even when they are not particularly cold or wet (worse if they are). Because of that my mid-week runs are a little shorter than I would like them to be...generally starting with 6 instead of 7 or 8. I will also use that as my ~~excuse~~ explanation**** for why I "only" did six 800s this morning at the track.

My speedwork has been somewhat...lacking...in this mini-cycle leading up to Tucson. The truth is I have no speed (or very little). So even when I intend to do a tempo or pace run, my splits look a lot like an easy run. (My easy run splits? Are sad.) My last set of 800s were shocking, and frankly a little depressing. Seriously, almost a minute per mile slower than my standard. Well, 30-45 seconds slower, anyway. I can't remember for sure. I've probably blocked the memory.

Hence, I really, really did not want to do it this morning. Still, I forced myself to go to the track after a couple miles of warm-up, telling myself there were lots of reasons this was a good idea.

I would only have to run half a mile at a time, and could rest after each one.

No matter how slow I was, it would still be faster than marathon pace.

No matter how slow I was, I would probably be a little faster than last time. (I hoped that was true. Thankfully, it was.)*****

Forcing myself to run so that my lungs wanted to explode would probably be a good cardio activity.

Interval training is supposed to be good exercise.

One other factor that I did not account for until I was halfway through the set...you really only produce endorphins when you make your body hurt. So in some way, feeling bad (physically) made me feel good (mentally).

After the first two repeats from hell, I told myself I could stop after four. Then I pushed through two more. By that time, I was verging on being late for work, and had no choice but to stop. Boo hoo, right?

And this is tapering because...I am reducing the length of my weekend runs. My weekday runs are already short enough (6.25 on Monday, 7.07 total today).

I am also modifying my eating patterns in preparation for the two races. Actually I am doing two food tapers, one this week and one next. This week, to help overcome the excesses of a holiday weekend, I am cutting out sweets and cutting back on carbs****** for four days (Monday through Thursday). On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I will increase the carbs and let up a little on the sugar restriction (though trying to keep calories in check still). Next week, I will repeat the sugar/carb restriction on Monday through Wednesday, and "carb load" a bit on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

The last time I ran the Las Vegas Half I had a time of 2:07:00 and I thought if I ever did it again I would surely beat that. This year...not so sure. Oh well, we'll see what happens!

*Bought a new car! My first NEW new car ever.
**Planned to go skiing but it was raining at the summit and that was way too ugly to ski in.
***Technically the long run on Sunday was part of that week, but I count Sundays as the end of the week preceding, for running purposes. I guess because I often do long runs on Sundays, and they seem more appropriate at the end of a week rather than the beginning.
****I just love using strikethrough. Sorry.
*****If you are wondering (and I certainly would be)...The previous set of half mile repeats started at 4:26 for the first (slowest) and 4:11 for the last (fastest). Today, 4:16 for the first and 4:03 for the last. Pre-Portland Marathon, all of my half miles were under four minutes, except for a couple at 4:00 or 4:01.
******I haven't cut out carbs, just unnecessary sweet and starchy foods. I have been eating some whole grains, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and protein at every meal. I have not been eating cookies, candy+, cake, pie, or pumpkin spice bagels.
+This is a footnote to the footnote. I will admit to one dark chocolate Hershey's kiss after dinner last night and a dark chocolate macadamia nut candy after my run this morning. Those are the best, by the way. Hawaiaan Host dark chocolate macadamia nuts. Oh yes.

Hey, what's up?

2011-11-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Two weeks since my last post...where has the time gone? Well....

Five days in Maui over Veteran's Day weekend. I backed off on posting because I didn't feel like announcing that my house would be empty for all that time. Then when I got back I thought about posting some pictures but...didn't. I don't have a whole lot of pictures anyway, it was more of just a relax and hang out weekend. I did do some running...Thursday 6.5 miles moderate, Friday 13.1 miles slow and difficult, Sunday 9.3 miles moderately speedy and good! I also have the running route from Lahaina to Kaanapali down cold. Should I ever need to do it again.

Running...I've been doing it. My pace is still definitely slowed from before the Portland Marathon. I hate to keep repeating that, but it really is the benchmark where things changed for me. And I can't quite get back to where I was. I had the most horrendous set of six half-mile repeats at the track a few weeks ago. I don't remember if I could bear mentioning it before, but I haven't done any 800s since then. And am reluctant to even attempt them. My tempo pace (hard effort) is now 8:45...um, yes. That's what I said.

I did my last LONG run before Tucson yesterday. 20.0 miles. And I mean the .0. Not a step further. And it was difficult. Slow and I just felt cruddy and achy the whole while. I was seriously planning my exit strategy from mile 5 onward. But once I got to the turnaround point (at mile 12, the return trip is shorter), I had no choice but finish. Unless I actually called for a ride, which I knew I wouldn't do.

I had way too much mileage on the schedule for Thanksgiving weekend. At the time I did my training schedule for this period I was both optimistic and also a little over-reaching about my need (and ability) to squeeze a lot of training into the eight weeks between marathons. Now I've decided it's better not to kill my self trying to make eight weeks into twelve. I'm still planning longish runs over Thanksgiving but right now I'm thinking about ten on Thursday and fifteen on Saturday.

It doesn't help that this week's weather is forecast to be rainy and rather cold. That leaves me struggling with my pre-Thanksgiving running plans as well. I already ditched a run this morning (6 a.m. is too soon after my late afternoon finish of 20 miles yesterday). I am torn whether to try to squeeze in a few miles this afternoon, or put it off to tomorrow morning instead. At which time it will also be dark, wet and cold. None of the alternatives are very appealing.

I did schedule a massage for this evening to try to give some relief to my battered body. That does mean that whatever I decide to do today (run, cross-train, rest?) has to be done before 7:00 so I can get to the massage.

Twenty days to the Tucson Marathon!

The mystery of missing time

2011-11-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

That title could apply to so many things. It could apply to my Portland Marathon finishing time (which was missing but then was found). It could apply to weekends which go by so quickly that they are gone before you know it. It could apply to summer, and life, which sometimes seem to disappear like A Wrinkle in Time (a favorite book of mine).

Of course, on the other hand, you also have time which stretches interminably and feels like it takes far more than sixty seconds to complete every minute. That would pretty much apply to the first two miles of any run. Or a football game, in which fifteen minutes (a quarter) can last for 45!

But what I am specifically referring to here is the time it takes me to complete a run. That is, the total amount of time from start to finish, as opposed to the actual length of the run (running time). I have always known this happens. My hour long run that starts at 6:45 and ends at 8 a.m. An eighteen-miler that I do in three hours but return home almost four hours after I left.

I just noticed today that my Garmin data on the computer shows not just the running time, but the total elapsed time from start to finish. I looked at a few days' examples. Today, I ran 6.09 miles in one hour exactly. But my elapsed time was 1:09:20. (Nine minutes extra.) On Saturday, 18 miles in 3:03:01. Elapsed time, 3:38:44!

Obviously, those missing (or extra, depending on how you look at it) minutes are the times when I pause my watch for a bathroom stop, street light, or other random delay that I decide to stop for. It doesn't worry me that I allow myself to stop the clock for these things because it has never prevented me from running a half marathon or marathon straight through without stops (except for a bathroom stop, during which I let the time run, of course).

It is interesting, though. A ten-second variance in pace (from 10:00 to 10:10, say), is a minor blip in my overall time. On Saturday my average pace was 10:09, and my time was 3 hours 3 minutes. If I'd averaged 10:00, my total would be three hours. Hardly a difference, even though it probably would have required quite a lot more effort on my part to make every mile ten seconds faster.

But somehow I managed to fritter away 35 minutes on bathroom stops and other random delays. And almost half my run was on a trail with no stoplights! I recall when things were feeling difficult on Saturday that the five minutes it took to complete a half mile seemed very, very long. But I probably managed to spend two and three minutes at a time just stopping to look around at some random intersection (while checking my phone and drinking some water). And I did that like ten times! (I am attributing the other minutes to my bathroom stops. But really, I probably lingered far too long in the bathrooms too. As gross as park bathrooms and porta potties are.)

When I estimate how long I'm going to be gone for a given run, I always allow an hour for every five miles. I figure that will account for any kind of lagging pace plus random stops and delays. I hate the guilt that comes with saying I'll be back at a certain time and not making it. So I always try to err on the side of allowing too much time. But I rarely have "leftover" time.

As long as this doesn't affect my performance in races, I'm not planning on changing my practices. It's worked so far. And it's not the worst way to pass the time.

Happy Halloween! A little late...

2011-11-04T21:38:00.001-07:00

I wrote this on the pre-Halloween weekend then forgot to publish on the day! Oops. So here's a look back at last weekend....

On Saturday I ran a 5K. The last 5K I did was on August 20...more than two months ago. The last time I ran at 5K pace was...I don't know, probably the set of 400s I did the week before Portland. So yeah, at that time I was able to run a sub-8 pace (maybe even sub-7:30) for a quarter mile at a time.

I was somewhat apprehensive about this race. I was also mad at myself for my negative attitude. Every single race that I've done this spring and summer I've gone into optimistically, and though I rarely met my high hopes, I always did just fine.

I decided that if I believed I would fail then I would. So I decided I would switch my outlook to hoping to surprise myself with speedy legs!

This was a Halloween 5K, although it was politically correctly called "Fall Classic.". Puh-leeze. People wore costumes. Not me, though...I wasn't feeling quite sure enough about myself to draw attention with a costume. (I wanted to be speedy in Ninja black. I did add a festive orange Roadrunners cap, though.)

The race didn't start until 10, so I had my parents pick me up at 8:30 and we got to Monroe around 9:00. That allowed me plenty of time to pick up my number, cute long-sleeve shirt and goody bag (stuffed with lots of food samples). After a couple of bathroom visits, I did a loop around Lake Tye which amounted to a 2.1 mile warm-up. Then I stood in line for one more shot at the bathroom. Happily I got to the front of the line and over to the starting area with more than five minutes to spare.

After some announcements, we were off. I took off running as I hard as I reasonably could. It felt incredibly awkward at first. Luckily after a bit I found my legs (some) and settled in around an eight-minute pace (slightly slower than that in the end, but I did see sevens flashing on my watch occasionally, which was cheering).

I didn't spend much time trying to pass people (I'm sure I did some, and was passed as well), but I did have one pace setter with whom I ran neck and neck throughout the race. She was a young lady about 10-11 years old dressed as a blue fairy...very cute. In the end I did manage to finish a little ahead of her, but she was great!

I don't have my exact splits, but my overall average was 8:15 and I think each mile was in that vicinity, give or take. My time on the clock when I crossed the finish line was 25:50 (although the race results got mixed up and they listed me as 25:58). Not good enough to place in my age group (I was fifth). I was happy enough as I had decided I would be pleased with anything 25!

By the time I finished my sister had arrived with her hub and three kids (a two-year-old and three-month-old twins). Here are some pictures taken by my mom and sister....

On the course, about mile 2.

Just after crossing the finish line. With a smile on my face.

That's my dad at the right.

Beet red face.

Yes, I am a dork. Actually I was just surprised to see my sister there (already).

Those two little boys do not belong to us (the twins are in the stroller, perhaps the boys are their future selves); nor does the man to the left.

With my niece Eva.

Pretending to cross a finish line. We kind of ticked off the time keeper but really, we were in the 1.6 mile lane and it was 45 minutes on the clock. No one was still finishing this distance.

After leaving we went to the Cabbage Patch in Snohomish for a late breakfast. I ate three scones (they were just like Fisher Fair scones, OMG) and an egg white veggie scramble (to counterbalance the scones). Eva chose to sit with me but was reluctant to smile for the camera.

Note my iPhone in her hand--that made her happy!

On Sunday morning I took off to do my longest long run yet in this mini training cycle--16 miles (I hoped). I am trying to work on downhill running for Tucson and this run did incorporate several miles of downhill grade (although pretty gradual).

The weather seemed horribly dark and dreary but once I got out it really wasn't bad. It didn't even rain at all. After about two miles I got to go up a long, increasingly steep hill. It was exactly one mile to the intersection at the top and I did it in 10:37. I thought I was slower, so that wasn't bad. The next mile had a couple of rolling hills and a stretch of no shoulder roadway which was kind of scary.

Then I got to the Centennial Trail and the next five miles were railroad grade downhill. At some point I started to appreciate the pretty fall foliage. It really looked much nicer than this photo.

You can kind of see it's downhill though.

Running on the trail is pleasant and safe from cars, but I kind of prefer running in town. Even though it was downhill my pace was just under ten minutes per mile. I would have thought I'd be faster. I felt like I was faster when I got back out on the road dodging cars, but it stayed pretty much the same.

I hit the Armar trailhead at nine miles. I hoped the return trip through town would be shorter....and it was. I had to add a couple of little detours to make a full sixteen. As I approached the end, I put on a final burst of speed, which gave me a total time of two hours 40 minutes, and an exact pace of 10:00 per mile.

Post-Halloween addendum: On Monday morning I decided four consecutive running days was too much, and postponed my run to Tuesday. But then Monday's weather was quite sunny and nice, so I left work at 4:00 and squeezed in a 6.1 mile run before the trick-or-treaters arrived!

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It's going to be a long, dark winter...

2011-10-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

And it's not even winter yet! We are only 1/3 of the way through autumn, and I am already bemoaning the short, cold, wet days to come.

Before I continue with my whining...I know that I have nothing to complain about compared to the winter weather that will be endured in much of the rest of the country. I know that the worst weather we endure will probably be balmy compared to Chicago, North Dakota, Michigan, and even the east coast. I know that. I know that.

Still. I fear that fall and winter weather will put a serious crimp in my running style. Oh, I will be running. I will be getting in the miles. I will maintain the quantity of my running (pretty much, anyway). But the quality? Oh, I fear that will suffer.

I see it already. It's hard enough to get up and outside in the darkness that I have been starting way too late in the morning most days, meaning that even the quantity of mileage is slightly compromised. But I am also sluggish, and nervous of tripping in the semi-dark (there are streetlights, but it's dim and shadowy), and my easy pace is taking a real hit. My string of "no runs over a 10-minute average pace" has ended just like that. Many of my individual miles have been hovering around 10-minutes (which isn't horrible), but when you average that with my molasses slow warm-up miles it is quite likely that I won't end up with an overall pace under ten.

(And don't even ask about the quality of my speedwork. Ugh.)

This is bothersome because I believe that my marathon pace tends to end up just a little bit faster than my easy pace. If my easy pace gets slower, my marathon pace probably will too.

Now, I'm not to concerned about how this will affect the Tucson Marathon. Tucson's gonna happen, and while I'm trying to train for a strong performance, I don't think I am going to change the outcome drastically at this point. Maybe I'll do a little worse than Portland, maybe the same, maybe even a little better.

My real concern is that training for Eugene is going to start in January, during the darkest, coldest, wettest months of the year. Fun! Hopefully I'll have some New Year's mojo going for me at that time....

Portland Marathon Photos (and a time!)

2011-10-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

Last week the Portland Marathon website finally posted my finish time, which was a net time of 4:15:33. To prove that I actually did run and finish the race, there are numerous race photos of me on St. John's Bridge (about mile 17) and at the finish. Of course, combining that with the few recorded splits I have (start, 10K, and about 8.6 miles), there is an undocumented window of time...when I was on a bus? NO! I plugged through all 26.45 miles, I promise.

Here are a whole bunch of race pictures that I forked over good money for!

Never mind the time on the clock, obviously that was taken long before I approached the finish line!

What I'm thinking right now

2011-10-22T18:17:00.001-07:00

1. I don't ever really want to be a Marathon Maniac. I know I could do the minimum it takes to qualify (two marathons in 16 days is the easiest), but I don't have the Maniac mindset. A marathon every weekend? Two in one weekend? Um, no thanks. I like my body and want it to like me back. I also want to be able to use it for ordinary things, like walking, without hurting all.the.time.

2. On the same tack, I'm not sure what I think of this "two marathons in two months" thing I have scheduled. Conceptually I still like it (have something similar in mind next year), but it is a lot harder to get back on track than I thought it would be. It is still a challenge to run my former "easy pace."

3. I'm not setting any goals for Tucson just yet. I have to see how things develop into November. But at the moment I am not thinking any bigger than getting back to where my Portland goals are still realistic for Tucson.

4. I miss summer. Yes, even our sucky summer of 2011 (with only a few weeks of sunshine in August or September, as far as I can remember). The best things about summer? Early sunrise and late sunset. I do not love running in the dark. At all.

5. I have to force myself to get up earlier on these dark, wet mornings if I want to do more than 6-7 miles in my weekday runs. 6:00 isn't any worse than 6:30, right?

6. Do I really need to run more than 6-7 miles in my weekday runs?

7. Eugene is going to be my goal marathon for 2012. I want to train for a possible PR there, or at least a great race. I need to think about what I need to do (training-wise) to make that happen.

8. But for now, I'm sticking with the status quo training plan through Tucson.

9. I am so pleased I didn't get a cold after Portland. I almost always end up with a cold after a marathon. I've read that is very common, perhaps because your immune system is compromised when you put it through the stress of a marathon. Unfortunately that doesn't mean I couldn't still get a cold. At any time.

10. The one special thing I have done with my Tucson training plan is include as much downhill running as I can manage (based on availability of routes). That also includes some uphills, as I don't have any point to point runs planned. So far in my downhill training I include the Portland Marathon (lots of downhill), the Poulsbo Half Marathon (largely downhills for the first six miles), today's run to Badger Mountain in Waterville (rolling hills and uphills on the way out, downhills and mostly downhill grade on the way back). I also regularly run up and down hills in my weekday runs. I want to be able to take advantage of the downhill Tucson course without killing my quads. (I accept that my quads will be toast after the marathon, I just want to keep them working throughout the 26.2 miles.)

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Getting my legs back

2011-10-18T11:51:00.001-07:00

After my pretty rough run on Friday, and the Poulsbo Half Marathon on Sunday--which went well at a pace that was at least a minute per mile slower than my "easy half marathon pace"--today I finally felt like I might be regaining a tiny bit of running ability. Not a lot, yet, but enough to keep me optimistic. I did seven miles at about 9:50 average pace. I still felt a little herky-jerky--but that may be because I watched the video my mom took of me sprinting around the track at the end of the half marathon. Not exactly smooth and flowing!

Now I think I can write out my training plan for the remaining seven weeks until the Tucson Marathon. I was really reluctant to do that until I was sure I could run again!

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THE Portland Marathon Race Report - Part 2

2011-10-16T21:23:00.001-07:00

And then it was morning. The alarm(s) went off at 4:45 and by 5 a.m. I rolled out of bed and smeared a whole wheat English muffin (NOT "double fiber"!) with almond butter and strawberry jam. I took this back to bed with my coffee and a banana and ate breakfast while lounging. I wanted to eat two hours before the race but didn't need to get up so early for any other reason.

I was a little confused about how to get to my starting corral--the maps made it look like I may need to walk way south and then double back, over a mile--so I planned to leave around 6 a.m. to allow plenty of time. The race started at 7:00.

I dressed in my previously pictured race outfit. A Nuu Muu running dress, Nike capris, my brand new Nathan Speed 2 fuel belt (I bought the new one in blue to go with my outfit), a black running hat and a throwaway jacket from Goodwill (which looked a whole lot like other black jackets I own). I also had my brand new Garmin--no more duct tape! (Although I'm keeping the old one, obviously, there may be some circumstances when I need two, right?)

I made as many bathroom visits as I could manage but worried a little that I wasn't purging my insides as thoroughly as I would like. Perhaps my reduction in fiber over the last couple days played a part...I was also worried that I hadn't been hydrating well enough because I didn't seem to be peeing as voluminously as I am accustomed to.

Let me say a little something about nerves. Of course I was nervous, I always am before a race. But the nature of my nervousness is a little different before a marathon than any other race. It's kind of crazy how tense and worried I can be bfore a 5K or 10K or whatever shorter race. That's pretty much based on my fear of not being able to run as fast as I want to. That worry alone will turn my stomach into knots. In a marathon, it's different. Nobody ever worries about not being able to finish a 5K, right? But in a marathon, not finishing is really the only fear.* Oh sure, there are time goals and PR dreams (more important to some people than to me), but the biggest and really only failure would be not getting through the 26.2 miles. It's still absolutely amazing to me that I can really do this.

Okay, then. I walked out of the door at a little past 6:00 and joined the group of people walking the same direction as me. It turns out that we were able to turn into the corral area sooner than I had feared, so I probably only walked a half to three quarters mile distance. I passed by Corral C and went into Corral D. There were lots of people already but they were milling about and going to the potties, not gathering to start yet. There was still probably 40 minutes to wait.

I got into a port a potty line and got in pretty quickly. then I walked over to the pacers' signs. Four-hour was at the front of the corral and I decided not to bother with him. If I was capable of running a four hour marathon I would see that in my splits pretty early on. I went to 4:10 and and asked him what pace he planned on running, 9:30? He said 9:32. Someone else asked him how many marathons he's run. He said three. That kind of made me wonder whether he had the ability to keep his pace down to a 9:30-ish level. (I am assuming his personal marathons have been much faster.) But I decided to go out near his sign and see what happened.

I went back to a potty line and passed some more time there. I really didn't have anything left to squeeze out, though. In a shorter race I always do a warm-up run and that makes me really pee right before the start. I hoped that the first few miles of the marathon would not have the same effect.

Then, as we all clustered toward the starting line of our corral, it was 7 a.m. and the race was starting somewhere ahead of us. Each wave would start a few minutes after the one before, walking up toward the "real" starting line. I believe my wave (or me, anyway, crossed the start at 7:09).

As we started running over the timing mats, we were still hampered a little by the closeness of the crowd and it was hard to set a pace. I really wanted to stick with the 4:10 pacer for at least a few miles, so I followed him as he took off once the crowd opened up a little. I think he was trying to make up the pace from a slow start, plus the first mile was a little downhill. I felt like our effort was a little hard for 9:30 pace, and I wondered if I would be able to keep this up. But it turns out we were running a little fast. Mile 1 - 9:13.

We slowed down a bit in the next couple miles (a little slower than goal pace, but it would average with the first mile). The pacer guy may have been trying to even things out, or maybe it was because we were going uphill gently in these two miles. I stayed right in the pacer's vicinity here. Mile 2 - 9:37. Mile 3 - 9:47.

At that point we got to turn and go back down the other side of the uphill! I picked up my pace easily and decided to let myself pull ahead of the pacer. I was happy to get a little bit ahead of pace because I knew I would lose some time with a bathroom stop eventually. Mile 4 - 9:09. Mile 5 - 9:13 (this 9:13 felt much more natural than the first one!). As we started down the hill a guy told me to enjoy this downhill! Yes, indeed.

The next seven miles were perfectly on pace. I believe that these miles were pretty much flat. I'm sure there were slight inclines and declines in the road elevation, but nothing to interfere with a comfortable pace. This section was a long out and back along N.W. Front Street. We turned around just before the 9-mile marker. There was a band playing along the way and lots of spectators. I'm not someone who really cares that much about spectators--I'm fine with or without them--so I can't remember well what sections had lots and which had none, or few. There was one older guy, though, who I kept seeing pop up throughout the course. (I think it was the same guy.) He had a bike so it was quite possible. It was just a little weird!

I ate a Gu at about mile 8. My fueling plan was one Gu at miles 8, 13.1, 18, and 23. I almost followed it. Up until the end.

On both the out and the back it was fun to see the other runners going the other directions. The runners coming back were the fast ones, of course, and they didn't care about us. When we were on the return side I hope we were more encouraging to those still plugging "out"!

I saw the 4:10 pacer after I turned around and I think I was probably about 30 seconds or a minute ahead of him there. Miles 6-12 - 9:27, 9:27, 9:32, 9:32, 9:26, 9:35.

Just before the Mile 11 marker we split off from the half marathoners and they headed toward their finish while we headed onward. I was actually quite happy to let the half marathoners go on their way and not even envious that they were almost done. Even though we weren't halfway yet, I felt like this was a significant point in the race, where it really became a marathon. We were also well on the way to our own 13.1 point.

I had started thinking about a bathroom. I wasn't desperate but I did need to go. I didn't feel that it was realistic to get through the entire race without a stop, but I only wanted to stop once. I decided that I would stop at a port a potty after the halfway point if it seemed practical. I don't know if it was in anticipation of losing time in a stop or what, but I whipped through mile 13 in 9:14.

Just past the 13.1 mark there was a row of port a potties with plenty of open stalls. I zipped into one to do my thing. It was a good stop. I managed to squeeze out everything I had been hanging onto. I kept an eye on my watch because I didn't want to spend much more than a minute, but I also wanted to make sure I did everything I needed to. My split for mile 14 reflected my stop - 10:42. Given that I had been running 9:30s or faster, I am guessing I was in there about 1:15.

The 4:10 pacer passed me while I was in the potty. I figured he would. I could see the sign ahead in the distance after I started up again. I did a good job with mile 15 at 9:33, but I was never fast enough again to actually make up the difference and catch up to the pacer. I did have my second Gu in mile 14 after my bathroom stop. I also noticed at some point there that one of the water bottles had fallen out of my new fuel belt, maybe at the bathroom stop when I was fiddling with my clothes. For half a second I thought about turning back to find it but quickly realized that was crazy, and impossible. I saw someone else's dropped bottle along the way so it wasn't just me. Mile 16 - 9:38.

In Mile 17 we climbed the most significant hill in the marathon as we approached crossing St. John's Bridge. This hill was at least a mile long on the road, plus a little bit more going up onto the bridge as well. I just plugged up the hill at a steady pace. Mile 17 - 10:23. I'm actually quite pleased that my time was not even slower. I certainly felt slower.

St. John's Bridge was a big deal on the marathon course. On the approach there were many signs warning that only runners could go on the bridge, and apparently there was a "checkpoint Charlie" where they were checking for race numbers and D-tags. It's an amazing, beautiful structure and running across was a joy. I wish I could post a picture...maybe I'll go back later and put one in.

Edited to add this borrowed pic:

St. John's Bridge took us to the east side of the river where we would run most of the remaining miles before the finish. I had no sense of geography and only know this from looking at the map later. We ran the next number of miles on Willamette Boulevard.

There was a lot of downhill in the eight miles or so after the bridge. In fact, except for one short hill and the approach to Broadway Bridge near the end, I would say this last segment was mostly downhill or flat. Given that, my one doubt about my performance was whether I could have pushed harder on the downhills. Some of my splits seem a lot slower than they could have been. They're fine, but if I was ever going to catch the 4:10 pacer, I might have made up some time here. But I'll admit, I pretty much wrote off catching him after the hill before the bridge.

Part of this is also my marathon slump section. I'll admit, miles 16-20 (approximately) seem to be my hardest miles. Maybe even harder than the last 10K. I think the ten miles to go seems so far...but 10K is not so bad.

I have been writing as if this was all so easy breezy and not hard. That's not true. Marathons are hard, no matter what. I'll admit that I have pretty much wiped out any memory of stress in the first half...I do remember that as going pretty easy, at least once we got past mile 3.

I did go through mental gyrations throughout the race, trying to break up the distance without getting too overwhelmed by the total! My basic breakup of a 20 mile distance is, the first five are warmup, the second five are easy (you are warmed up but not yet tired), the third five are quality (maintaining a pace while you are starting to get tired), and the fourth five are endurance. But I needed to break it down even further. From 13.1 the next mental checkpoint was 15. Then 16, then every two miles to 20 (and two mile segments to the finish).

In the miles after the bridge, I was slumping a little bit and I could feel the downhill stress in my quads. I forgot to take a Gu in mile 18 but took it in mile 19. Mile 18-21 - 9:51, 9:41, 9:46, 9:53.

Then there were just five (or so) miles left! I think I got a second wind. I didn't bother to take any more Gu...I kind of wonder if it would have given me a bigger finish kick if I had taken the last one. I had already sped up a little in the final miles and I didn't feel like I was losing energy or anything. Mile 22 - 9:29. Mile 23 - 9:37. In mile 24 we had to go up a little hill onto Broadway Bridge...maybe I could attribute my slowing again to that? Mile 24 - 10:07.

Then, the craziest thing happened. We were back over the river and I was all prepared to make a final push to the finish. I had calculated that I had a good chance of finishing in 4:12. Then, just before the Mile 25 marker we saw ahead of us flashing lights and heard train bells and whistles and the track arm came down and we had to stop for a train. It was the Amtrak train and luckily not too long. I calculate that we stopped about a minute or a little more based on my split for that mile. Mile 25 - 10:45.

We headed out and I felt a little stiff and awkward after the stop (though I can't say I didn't enjoy the stopping while I was forced to) but managed to pick up my pace decently. If you can believe it the bells were clanging again at another crossing but I and those around me were able to cross before the arm came down. Mile 26 - 9:25.

Then another factor came into play that had a major effect on my final time. I had noticed that my watch splits were a little off the mile markers, but I wasn't too concerned because that often evens out. I am also aware that the final distance is always more than 26.2 but I completely failed to account for that in my calculations.

So after the 26 mile marker my sprint to the finish was not .2 mile, but in fact it was .45 mile. A full quarter mile extra. I am estimating that added two minutes that I hadn't planned on! Mile 26.2 - 4:12 for .45 miles at 9:16 pace.

When I stopped my watch after the finish line it read 4:15:39. I think I started it a bit early and I know I waited to stop it till after the finish line photo, so probably I can take a few seconds off that.

Since 4:15 was my secondary goal, I was really happy with my finish. The time I was pretty happy with, but the overall race was great! Other than maybe going a little harder on the later downhills, I think I did everything I should have done to have a successful marathon. I was happier at the end of this marathon than I have been since CIM.

I did feel just lightly woozy in the final mile (maybe I should have had that last Gu), and right after the finish. But I was fine by the time I posed for my "medal" photo.

I called my mom to tell her I was done and said I'd call her again when I was on my way to our meeting point at Starbucks. I worked my way through the post-race area, collecting my trinkets (commemorative coin and charm) and finisher's shirt. I drank a little cup of pomegranate juice (delicious) and had a couple of orange wedges.

Walking was just a little bit difficult. And slow. Luckily there were a number of people leaving, so I was able to wind my way out of the finish area and back toward Starbucks without adding any unnecessary blocks. I arrived and claimed a table right by the door just before my mother got there.

I ordered us mochas with a couple of my free drink cards and got a spinach and feta wrap for us to share. After we ate we walked slowly back to the hotel. It's only a few blocks....

I had planned and was determined to have an ice bath back at the hotel. Luckily our room was really close to the ice machine, so I emptied the ice chest and used it to transport ice. I hopped in the tub in my clothes (with a fleece top), started filling the tub with cold water, then got my mom to dump in the ice. I stayed in for about 15 minutes. Then I put on a hotel robe and laid on the bed to warm up before going back into the shower. I couldn't dilly dally too long as housekeeping hadn't made up the room yet and we wanted to go down to the lobby and give them the chance. (Unfortunately they didn't make it up until about 4:00 which was a little bit of a pain.)

Down in the lobby we ate maple cinnamon rolls that I had brought along. Later (finally back in the room) we noshed on pretzels to ward off hunger until dinner. We never really had a chance to eat lunch, but the cinnamon roll and pretzels did nicely.

The only remaining negative about this race that has not been resolved is that my chip failed and I don't yet have a recorded finishing time. My mother was quite disturbed when I seemed to drop off race tracking after the second split! I didn't know about that until after the end. I have sent in an email for a correction and hopefully it will all turn out okay. There should be a picture of me crossing the finish line and hopefully that will prove my claim that I actually ran the race! Should proof be needed.

We ordered dinner from room service and had a quiet evening. In the morning I went out at 7:30 and picked up drinks and breakfast from Starbucks. Then I had a 9 a.m. massage using another Living Social voucher. Very good timing on that offer!

After that I picked up sandwiches (and cookies) for our lunch at Bridge City Cafe, and we left Portland a little before noon.

So that is the end of my Portland Marathon story. Well, almost the end. I am still waiting on the race pictures and my recorded finishing time!

***************************************
*Well, that and not pooping my pants. But that's a fear at any distance.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Well, that wasn't pretty

2011-10-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

We interrupt my series of Portland Marathon race reports to announce that this morning I went out for my first run post-marathon. All I can say is...ugh.

Five days ago I ran 26.45 miles at an average pace of 9:40 (including stops), and today I managed 6.25 at an average 10:20. And half of that was on a downhill grade. I don't know if any single mile was even under ten minutes.

I had thought that the soreness in my quads was pretty much gone (I can walk down stairs!), but two or three miles along it was right back. Nothing was terribly painful but it was all so sluggish.

After three miles I was contemplating cutting the run short. I didn't, I stuck it out for 10K, but I never got to that breakthrough point where a difficult run gets easy. (That happens, right?)

I sort of felt like I was in the last 6.2 miles in a marathon...except slower. Much slower.

You spend months training for a marathon and working on some speed and lots of endurance and then it's like the marathon uses it all up, leaving you an empty shell of runner. A very slow, empty shell.

I hope that's not really true because I have a lot of running to do in the next eight weeks before the Tucson Marathon.

Not to mention I'm doing a half marathon this Sunday.

Oh yeah, in some sort of bonehead enthusiasm earlier this fall I signed up for the Pouslbo Half Marathon one week after Portland. I thought it would be a good way to kick start Tucson training!

I have thrown out all ideas of running it with any kind of speed at all. I had intended to run it easy in any case, but my perception of what "easy" looks like has changed drastically as of this morning. I am not setting any goals except to not die.

It can only get better from here, right? RIGHT???

THE Portland Marathon Race Report - Part 1

2011-10-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have slacked off on race reports for so many races...Bellingham Bay, Fairhaven, umm, Boston Marathon...because I have been waiting to get pictures and then time passes, and I just don't seem to get around to it. Maybe I'll still get back to those! But for now I am starting on Portland right away, while the memories are fresh, and I'll add pictures when I get them, assuming I do get them.

I've already written twice about Portland, so it's obvious that it was a great race for me. Yes, I said great. My time was good, but my experience was great.

Since I live north of Seattle, this was a destination race for me, and my mom and I drove down to Portland to make a long weekend of it. I had to work for a while on Friday morning, so we left around noon. Almost the first half of our drive was occupied with looking for a Starbucks off the freeway so we could get lunch! I was kind of obsessed with having a Starbucks breakfast wrap for lunch. They were having a special promotion for a few days in which you could buy a wrap for $2 if you bought a beverage as well. Yes, that's only 99 cents off (less than the cost of the drink), but considering that I would buy a drink anyway, it seemed like a good deal. And I really like their breakfast sandwiches.

I didn't want to drive off the freeway into Seattle, so by the time we located a convenient Starbucks (and it wasn't all that convenient), we were in south Tacoma. We each got a spinach, egg white, and feta wrap. And I bought us a pumpkin scone to share...all in the name of carb loading, of course.

We got to Portland around 4:30 and there was no rush hour traffic, so it was a quick and smooth arrival at the Benson Hotel. We got to our room and proceed to lay around for a couple hours until it was time for dinner. I had bought a Groupon for the London Grill (fancy hotel restaurant) for two prix fixe dinners, and that was our Friday night dinner. I'm not sure how good a deal the Groupon was (it was quite expensive), but I assume that the London Grill was not trying to rip us off, so that we did get a legitimate deal on the dinner.

Our dinner included a little salmon tartare appetizer (really an amuse bouche) with a glass of sparkling wine, a starting course of sweet onion soup, a main course of grilled flank steak with wild mushroom bread pudding and Hasselback potato, and dessert of caramel creme brulee. It was a little diversion from the strict "carb" type of dinner I would have otherwise have chosen...but we had a Groupon! We supplemented the carbs by eating two baskets of bread.

I had a good night's sleep and woke up without an alarm on Saturday. This was great because who knew how well I would sleep Saturday night!

Saturday morning the weather was partly cloudy, partly sunny...exactly what one would hope for on marathon day (Sunday). The weather forecast still showed a chance of rain on Sunday, but at least we had good weather to traipse to the expo! Last year it was raining already on Saturday. And everyone knows what happened on Sunday!

After a cup of tea, I headed out and picked up our breakfast at Starbucks...beverages and breakfast sandwiches (today we opted for the turkey bacon and egg wheat on whole wheat English muffin option). Before leaving, I regretted that I hadn't brought some ketchup along (this sandwich is really good with ketchup). However, I had an idea...I scanned the hallway for abandoned room service tray and happened to see one with a sealed, untouched ketchup still on the tray! I whisked it back to our room.

Later in the morning we headed south on Broadway to the packet pick-up and race expo at the Hilton Hotel. I quickly obtained my packet and then the fun began...the shopping. I really enjoy the Portland Expo. For some reason, it is one expo where I always find lots to buy! As I did this year. In addition to some body glide and Gu (I was down to one flavor so I got a few supplemental packets), I got a couple of official Portland Marathon items, plus a few other shirts from local running stores. I walked away with a big bag.

I also ran across the display for the race pace leaders. I was thinking about running with, or near, either the 4:00 or 4:10 pace groups (depending on how I felt). I asked which corral they would be in, and both pace groups were starting in D. I was assigned to C (because of my always optimistic time estimate of 3:55). I eventually (not at that moment but later) decided to move back a corral and start in D so I could be near my goal paces. It's not like I had "earned" my place in C other than by thinking highly enough of myself to give a rather unrealistic estimated time. (Of course I still put 3:55 on my Eugene registration form....Hope never dies!)

The other thing I did at the expo was register for the Eugene marathon next spring! In early October I got my rejection for the London Marathon (which is on April 22). I had already made a back-up plan, however, which was the Eugene Marathon on April 29. By the time I made this decision, the earliest registration period had ended. At the Portland Marathon expo, however, they were offering the same pre-October rate. So I went ahead and signed up. Eugene is on the books!

I found my mother in the hotel lobby and we headed off to get lunch. This time I had a Living Social voucher, for two combo lunches (sandwich, chips, cookie, drink) at the Bridge City Cafe. We finally found the cafe in the food court at Pioneer Place. What a great place! Super sandwiches and amazing cookies. We got one turkey and cranberry sandwich and one veggie sandwich and split both. For our cookies we got a chocolate chip and coconut cookie (I want coconut in all my choc chip cookies!) and a lemon cookie. They also put two regular chocolate chip cookies in the bag with our sandwiches. Every sandwich comes with a cookie and I don't think the kitchen knew that we had already ordered ours. (Extra cookies! Yea!)

We carried our lunch back to the hotel and ate while lounging in the room. Have I mentioned the heavenly Tempurpedic mattresses? I am in a dilemma whether I like those mattresses or the Davenport Hotel pillowtop mattresses the best!

Later we forced ourselves out of the room and walked to Nordstrom so I could try to spend my Nordstrom Notes. I was hoping to buy my favorite Lancome moisturizer but wouldn't you know, it's been discontinued. I liked the substitute they suggested but when I learned it was double the price I just couldn't stomach that and I decided to pass and keep using some stuff I already had at home. I then thought about buying a purse but even in their "regular" "not designer" handbags they were selling lines like Coach, and again, I didn't want to spend that much money.

I finally ended up buying a pair of sunglasses with reader inserts (yeah, like bifocals) so I could wear sunglasses and read at the same time when I had my contacts in. My eyes have fully succumbed to presbyopia and I really need some kind of reading glasses to see small print. I can adjust if I am wearing glasses (by taking off the glasses), but with contacts I am completely stuck. These kind of sunglasses are a little hard to find so I was happy to buy a rather glamorous Kate Spade pair at Nordstrom!

Then it was back to the hotel for more lounging before dinner. (Hey, I was resting my legs for the marathon!)

We had dinner reservations at Pazzo Ristorante in the Vintage Plaza Hotel across the street. Shortly before dinner time I realized that I hadn't secured my coffee for the morning! I could make coffee with the in-room coffeemaker but I preferred to advance purchase an Americano at Starbucks, add my cream, and drink it cold in the morning. I just walked to Starbucks first then met my mother at the restaurant.

Pazzo Ristorante was really busy the night before the marathon. We got seated right away (I had a reservation) but the whole dining process took a long time. Luckily there was bread....

We started with a salad that had dates and roquefort cheese on it. Really tasty. I think dates are good pre-race fuel! My mother gave me some of her dates as well.

We munched on bread while we waited a long time for our pasta to arrive. We both had butternut squash ravioli. I couldn't possibly consider anything else! I also ordered a side of braised kale. It was so good...I could have eaten twice as much. Although possibly that would not have been a good idea.

It was probably close to 9:00 by the time we got back to our room. The rest of the evening was pre-race prep. I took a shower (and soaked in the tub a bit to loosen up my legs), and laid out my clothes and race gear.

I modeled my bib and fuel belt.

I gathered up my stuff. I forgot the capris in this picture.
I put my D-tag on my shoe...you can see it in the above picture.

I set three alarms for 4:45 (my phone, the room clock, and a wake-up call) and did a little reading before trying to sleep.

I didn't really want to go to sleep because that meant morning would be here soon and I would have to run a marathon.

**************This has been so long that I am going to stop here and move on to the race in another post!

It's all relative

2011-10-12T22:19:00.001-07:00

Over the last few days I've read at least three race recaps from the Portland Marathon, and it is interesting to compare the different perspectives on the race itself and especially, each runner's performance.

One woman finished in just over three hours, and was crushed because she didn't meet her goal of breaking three hours. Another finished in just over four hours, and was okay with that because she ran an easy, fun race--but also couldn't help but note that this was a "personal worst" and the first time she had run a marathon in over four hours. A third took more than six hours to finish, but was happy with the experience.

And then there was me, who finished in 4:15, only my third fastest (or fourth slowest) marathon, but I was almost as happy with this marathon as I was with CIM, my sub-four, Boston Qualifying marathon. (Almost as happy, but nothing will ever beat that CIM in 2009.) And I was far happier than after Newport, which I did in 4:10 but was quite disappointed because I had hoped to beat four hours.

Each one of us ran the same race course on Sunday, but very different races. Each one of us has far different abilities and different goals, and view ourselves through our own personal lenses. A mediocre time to one would be a huge victory or even a miracle to others...a crushing "failure" to one would be a time undreamt of by any of us others. My 4:15 was "good" to me, would be "great" to many others, but would be a humiliating failure to someone who expected to be a lot faster.

My perspective on Portland and marathons in general is shaped by my experience of running now six marathons, with a wide spectrum of finish times and experiences. My CIM experience was amazing and wonderful, but it set a standard and expectations that proved impossible to live up to over the last two years. After some disappointments of my own, and some hard marathons, I went into Portland with a viewpoint molded by my past races.

I had a goal of 4:10 (not even a PR goal), and I didn't meet it. Am I heartbroken? Not at all. After two marathons in which I didn't even beat 4:30, I can see that 4:15 is a good time for someone of my abilities. I could do better (under some circumstances), but I could also do worse. I ran a smart, steady race, most of my splits were between 9:20-9:40, and but for a few flukes (which I am sure I will spell out in my future race report), I would have been very close to that goal time and an average pace of 9:30. I felt pretty good throughout (considering that I was running a marathon and all), and when I relieve sections of the race in my mind (which I do frequently), it is with enjoyment, not regrets.

I have on many occasions expressed disappointment over race times, paces, performances in general. I know that other runners out there run faster than me, and slower than me. If I say that a 25-minute 5K is a failure (well, I wouldn't do that, but I might say a 27-minute 5K is a failure), I mean that only relative to myself. I am not trying to set a standard for someone who would be excited to beat 30 minutes, or 35 minutes, nor am I expecting to compare myself to someone who is trying to break 20 minutes. I don't mean to disparage others when I suggest that running a marathon over 4:30 would be a disappointment to me. It would, but that doesn't mean that I am "disappointed in" others who run slower. I can't even say that I won't ever run a 4:30+ marathon myself again. (I can hope that I won't, but if I plan on continuing to run marathons over the years, it's probably inevitable.)

My next marathon is the Tucson Marathon in early December. I can't predict what I expect to happen there. I need to get in a few weeks of resumed training before I start building plans for Tucson. (I am waiting to run again until Friday.) While my Portland time is a building block for my expectations, there are so many other factors that will come into play by December. For now, one day at a time is good enough.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Portland Marathon!

2011-10-11T12:36:00.001-07:00

*Note: I have been trying to post this since Sunday night...hoping this time's the charm!

Just a quick mini-recap...time 4:15 and change (about 30 seconds I think). Obviously that's about five minutes off my goal time but I'm happy with it. There is no way my legs were going to run anywhere near a four hour marathon today, although in the first half I thought around 4:05-4:08 was a possibility.

I didn't fall apart as much as that sounds like in the second half. A few things contributed to my slowing time, though...
*I took a bathroom stop after the halfway point. I think it was about a minute, but it may have been a little more.
*There was a long, steep hill up to St. John's Bridge. I absolutely slowed down on that hill. There was no choice.
*I was feeling tired after 16 miles...not too surprising.
*While there were a lot of great downhill portions in the last eight miles, my legs and quads were tired enough that I didn't take as great advantage of that as I would in a half marathon.
*Just before the 25 mile point we had to stop for a train. (Then a little bit later there was another train crossing but some of us crossed despite flashing lights...it was clear the train wasn't going to hit us. Bad form, though.)
*I ran 26.45 miles. An extra quarter mile. So that definitely added two minutes to my time.

I was actually quite relieved to still see 4:15 on my watch when I crossed the finish line. I arranged to meet my mom at Starbucks after I crawled out of there (crawling figuratively, of course, due to my legs crashing and the convoluted, crowded route away from the race area. I think I actually did a better job getting out than I did from the half last year, though!

At Starbucks....

Then an ice bath at the hotel!

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One last run before Portland

2011-10-06T17:40:00.001-07:00

Wearing last year's Half Marathon finishers' shirt and a hat from Boston...

And carrying my Starbucks Americano and a $2 spinach, feta and egg white wrap (hopefully the whole wheat tortilla satisfies my breakfast carb needs).

I'm not sure why I felt that wearing the Portland and Boston gear was apropos today...neither of those races turned out quite how I wanted. I certainly don't want a repeat of last year's Portland weather (downpour), and I'd prefer a little faster time than I got in Boston. But still, memories.

This week's mileage has been just shy of the 18 miles I expected. Mostly due to my complete inability to get out of bed in a timely fashion! I have compensated by just running as much as I can squeeze in before I absolutely, positively have to get to work.

Monday - 6.2 slow miles. Average pace 10:02. This was the first time in months that I haven't averaged under ten-minute pace running on the roads. If I'd had time for seven miles, I would have pulled it off. My legs were so heavy, and the first two miles pulled my average way down.

Wednesday - 6.56 miles, with 4.3 warm-up, four quarter mile repeats at the track, plus another mile at too-fast-for-marathon pace. My 400s started out as slow as I've ever done them, I'm afraid. The first one was 7:59 pace, the second 8:00 pace (ouch). But then my legs woke up and the two others were 7:37 and 7:38 pace. I intended to do the last full mile at around 9:00 pace, but apparently slowing by a minute per mile was enough for me, and that mile was 8:35 (oops).

Finally today, Thursday. Getting up today was the hardest of all. I didn't even start running until 7:02 a.m. I couldn't just blow it off, though...for obvious reasons but also because this morning was the test run for my new Garmin. I finally got it charged up and set up, but wanted to make sure everything was a go.

Good thing, because the one thing I hadn't changed was the lap speed display. It was set to show average speed or pace for the lap, as opposed to the current pace. That might be good in some cases but I'm used to seeing the dramatic changes when I speed up or slow down. It was too stressful not knowing what I was doing when I pushed myself, only seeing the pace change by a second or two.

I ended up doing 5.03 miles and I probably wouldn't even have been late to work if I hadn't fooled around on the porch taking pictures. My laps were 10:12, 9:44, 9:21, 9:10, and 9:26. I think I probably pushed too hard because of the uncertainty with the Garmin. (I've changed that setting now.)

My primary anxiety about Sunday is relating to the weather and what I should wear. The forecast persists in showing rain (40% chance). I'm afraid of dressing either too warmly or not enough. I guess I'll have to see what develops.

I am ready to run! (After two days of rest on Friday and Saturday, of course.)

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Good article on tapering and carbo-loading

2011-10-02T22:14:00.001-07:00

Here is a good article from Run the Planet about tapering and carbo-loading. I reread it before every marathon. The tapering mileage is a little more than I intend to do (no way am I running even two miles the day before the marathon) (although perhaps I will do a short elliptical session on Friday after all). However, I am going to follow the carbo-loading advice. I particularly like the suggestion to eat a big pancake or waffle breakfast on Thursday. Haha. And a pasta dinner Thursday night...bring it on!

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The final countdown

2011-10-02T21:57:00.001-07:00

Well, here we are, one week out from the Portland Marathon. I would say my training is done! I still have three more short runs this week, but they're really just to maintain fitness and keep my head in the game. I'm not changing anything now.

Actually I'm sure I've heard various experts say things to the effect that you can't make things any better at this point, but you can absolutely make them worse. So in the interest of avoiding injury and tired legs, I am resisting my impulse to over-exercise and just keeping it light. I've even (pretty much) convinced myself to take two full rest days before the marathon, instead of sneaking off to the Y on Friday morning for a final shot at the elliptical. I think. Okay, I'm not completely firm on that but I am leaning toward not going. I'll probably be doing my last minute packing then anyway.

I need to make a list of things to do before I go. Some are non-running, like paying bills and house tasks (and um, work stuff!). But here's some of the race and trip related things on my list...

Make sure I have printed everything I need from the computer, e.g.:
~Groupons/vouchers for Friday dinner, Monday massage (that one's actually in my purse already!
~Hotel and race details, directions

Go to thrift store and get throwaway jacket for race day. Plus extras for future races. Wash and dry them.

Locate pieces of race day outfit, plus back-up pieces.

Charge up new Garmin and set it up as needed. (Let's not be looking at this for the first time on Saturday, okay?) It's the same as my old one, so this shouldn't be too difficult, right?

Update iPod. I rearranged my playlist but haven't transferred it yet.

Gather and pack all non-clothing gear, including Garmin, iPod, Gu's, nuun, fuel belt, etc. Don't forget plenty of charging cords.

Acquire and pack travel food--snacks, etc, ice chest.

Pack non-running clothes. Try to remember I don't need too much of these.

Locate Nordstrom notes and a gift card I should still have so I can spend them in tax-free Oregon. Don't forget the empty moisturizer bottle I want to replace.

Also pack a couple SBUX free drink cards for mochas after the marathon. (Planning!)

I can't really think of anything else right now.

Taper is in full swing! I considered that taper began after my 22 mile run on September 16. That was my last week with mileage over 40 miles. I think that I have executed a pretty successful taper. I have reduced mileage but maintained intensity.

The week of September 19 I ran 33.73 miles total, including a strong shorter tempo run, a few 400s , and the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon.

The week of September 26 I ran 35.16 miles including ten 800s (half mile repeats), all but one under four minutes, 8.25 miles with six at <9:15 pace, and my last double digit run today, 11.11 miles with two warm-up, eight around 9:30 at a comfortable effort, and one sub-9, just for kicks.

This upcoming week I'm expecting about 18 miles, plus 26.2.

This weekend I have been stalking blogs to hear how folks did on their marathons! So exciting to read about people meeting and exceeding their goals! Including Lisa, who ran St. George in about 3:50, giving her a BQ for 2013! Big congratulations to all!

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Bellingham Bay Half and Portland Marathon forecast

2011-09-25T20:20:00.001-07:00

I am not referring to the weather forecast, though rest assured, beginning on September 30 I will be checking that ~~hourly~~ daily. No, what I am referring to is my predictions and expectation (and, I guess, goals) for the Portland Marathon.

Not so unconsciously, I have been secretly counting on the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon to give me the key to what I may expect to do in Portland. Now I know that marathons are always a wild card, and can always go far more badly (or better?) than you expect. But we all have a tendency to develop predictions based on our pre-race training and performances, right? I've had several months of Portland training and quite a few races of various lengths in that period. I had an idea already...but I was counting on Bellingham to really seal the deal.

In 2009 I ran my PR half marathon time (still unchanged) in the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon. That time was 1:53:20. I went on to run the California International Marathon in 3:59:40. The McMillan pace calculator prediction for a marathon time based on a 1:53:20 is 3:59:02. That is pretty darn close.* My 5K, 10K, and other race times from that period, as well as my speed work paces, were also on track for a slightly sub-4 marathon. I don't put too much weight in all that, but it did work out then.

This year I had no expectation of a PR in Bellingham. Although my training and race times have been strong, I have not been smashing any PRs this summer (except for 8K). My speed work paces have been good, but I can't put too much weight in super short distances translating all that well to marathons and halfs.

In order to have a chance of a PR (or close) in Bellingham, I would need perfect conditions and a little bit of luck. And the conditions were far from perfect. As for luck, I had a little good luck and a little bad luck, so I guess that would be a wash.

My training has been good, my carb loading in the last few days was good, I did a reasonable taper, I rested yesterday (except for a bike ride that was pretty easy), and I got enough sleep (less than eight hours, but I wasn't horribly tired or anything).

The weather forecast was less encouraging. Moderate, slightly warm temps, chance of rain, and wind. (Foreshadowing: the wind was the problem.)

Last night I looked at my Garmin and it said it had a 96% charge. That seemed like plenty for a half marathon, even if it lost a little (I said a little) overnight. I checked that out when I was patching up my other Garmin problem.

See that fancy camo duck tape? That is there because a couple weeks ago the band broke right off. I tried to get it fixed but apparently a piece of the watch is broken, so I can't just replace the band. I did reattach the two pieces with duct tape, and that works, but after a few sweaty runs the tape fails and has to be replaced. Even though it was still sticking, I redid the tape last night proactively. I have also order a new Garmin (great deal from Amazon), and it actually arrived at my parents' yesterday, but I told my mom not to bother charging it, I would rely on this one for today. Big. Mistake.

This morning I picked up the watch and saw this.

From 96 to 0 in about twelve hours. Nice. (I have been having battery problems, it has been discharging too fast, and I was thinking of replacing the battery....)

I called my mom and asked her to plug in the new one, but there really wasn't enough time to get a charge and I resigned myself to running sans Garmin.

That is not a good thing.

I know I rely on Garmin too much and look at it far too often, but it's one thing running by feel for an easy run or (alternatively) in a short distance like 5K where you just go as fast as you can. In a half marathon, where you want to run fast but not too fast, it really helps to have some feedback to weigh whether your hard effort is because you are in fact running hard (fast), or just because you are having a hard time.

Anyways. I went over to my parents' and we loaded up and headed for Bellingham. The half marathon didn't start until 9:30, which has some negative points but really makes it much easier to travel to when you live sort of far away. (We're about 60 miles from Bellingham.) We left their house about 7:15.

After a stop at Starbucks which took far too long but did allow me to make my first bathroom visit of the trip, we were on the road for real. I ate my breakfast of an almond butter and jam sandwich, plus the SBUX Americano with half and half.

About 16 miles out of Bellingham I asked my mom to stop at a rest area so I could use the bathroom. Let's just say it was a much needed stop. There were quite a few other runners stopping there as well!

We finally parked in downtown Bellingham about 45 minutes before 9:30, and around four or five blocks from the starting area. I walked over and stood in a line to get my bib and chip. Even though Saturday pick-up was strongly encouraged, there were quite a few people who had opted, like me, to pay $5 to avoid an extra trip on Saturday (or who, also like me, lived sort of far away but didn't want to stay over Saturday night).

At 9:00 I had my stuff and headed to the row of port a potties. There was no line at all; I had to wait about one minute for door to open and then I was in. I took my time, and when I came out long lines had already formed! (Not because of me!)

Without the Garmin I didn't have a lot of motivation to do much of a warm-up run. (Don't know why, it's not like my warm-ups are speedy or anything.) But I jogged back to the car to drop off my race shirt and get my water bottle. We arranged that my dad would meet me at the starting line to take my jacket. Then I ran another block in the "away" direction and turned back toward the start.

At Starbucks, only a block from the start, I saw that there were only a few people in line for the rest room so I hopped into line for a last pee. I really felt like I had to go, and though I know it was largely psychological, I felt like it would be a bad omen if I had to start the race feeling like I needed to go. Despite a few people stay ing in the rest room inordinately long, I got in with a few minutes to spare then jogged the remaining distance to the start.

Of course I could not see my dad anywhere. I had no choice but to get in the starting area. Unfortunately they did not have any kind of seeding, and I was a little further back than I would have preferred. I don't mind getting passed, and I like to start with people that might make me run faster. But without even self-seeding, I had no idea what pace the people around me wanted to run. Without my Garmin, I could have really used some 8:30 pacers!

I was freaking out a little about the jacket (I was already feeling warm), but I called my mom and she went down to Holly Street to wait for me to pass. I threw my jacket to her as I ran by. She also caught a little video of me running towards her. It was a mistake as she was trying to take a picture and hit video record instead. Ha. Then I was on my way!

Let me say, I do love the Bellingham Bay course. Even though it was a little rough on me today. There are a lot of long downhills and the uphills are gradual. (There are a few short steeper hills, but they are the same as in the Fairhaven 15K so at least they are familiar to me.)

In the first few miles I felt pretty hot. I mean that in the body temperature sense, not my performance. My effort felt like a tempo run, but I needed that so as not to slip into a slow easy pace. After a few miles, I asked a woman near me what pace she was running, and she said 8:16 (at least at that moment). I don't know if we had been running that fast up to that point. Also, she did pull ahead of me soon.

In the middle miles I did come to a place where I was feeling okay. The wind (which was not yet a problem) was cooling me off, and I don't think I was struggling as much. Probably I had slowed down. I don't know if I was in my "half marathon easy" zone which has been around 8:45, or if I was going slower. I hit seven miles at just over an hour. Seven miles is always a good point because you're well past halfway.

In mile 8 we headed back into downtown Bellingham and then onto the South Bay Trail which heads toward Fairhaven (all this is on the 15K). We hit mile 9 on this trail and then headed along the waterfront to approach Taylor Avenue Dock.

This bayside trail is very scenic, which is a good thing because maybe that helped make up for the hellish wind that we encountered along this way. It may be typically windy on the waterfront but today it was terrible. (There had been a weather warning for winds on Sunday.) We were running directly into the wind, and by the time we were on Taylor Avenue Dock it was like running directly into a wall. I have no idea how slow I was running. So much for the big push in the last 5K!

For the last couple miles we headed back up onto State Avenue toward the finish and downtown Bellingham (again). Two years ago I did a great job of kicking ass in those last two miles. This year, not so much. I noticed the gradual uphill much more than I do at the beginning of the 15K and I didn't even remember it being an issue two years back. We did have the wind at our backs now, and that helped a bit. I did try to push a good pace for the last two miles, but without splits I will never know....

Finally the finish line was in sight. I crossed at just a bit over 1:58. It is possible that my chip time could be under, but I don't know yet. This was almost five minutes slower than my PR...sad. I think with a Garmin and slightly less wind I would probably have done about 1:55 (just like most of my other half marathons in recent months). But you have to deal with the race conditions you are given, and make the best of them.

Even though my time was just so-so, I felt pretty ravaged. I walked through the finish area, drank some water, ate a couple orange wedges, and looked for my parents.

I don't know how the race course pics will come out, but my mom took a few after I made my way through the finish area.

This other one is a little dark but it shows the wind a little bit!

On the way back to the car we stopped at Starbucks. I still felt a little sick, but we spent so long waiting for my dad (they were busy, and he was chatting), that I finally felt up to a mocha. Then we headed to the car and drove back to Fairhaven (driving past still finishing slow marathoners and half marathoners) for fish and chips for lunch. I have been waiting for this race to have some fish and chips!

So, returning to my Portland race predictions. If I had come anywhere near a PR today, I might have had thoughts of a four-hour marathon. But I don't think that is a reasonable possibility now. Plus, Portland is harder than CIM (I believe), so there's that factor as well.

Using the McMillan pace calculator based on a 1:58 half, the predicted marathon time is 4:08. Using my three recent 1:55 half marathons, the predicted time is 4:02. My other race times (5K, 8K, 10K, 15K) call for marathon times from 3:56 to 4:03. My speed work (800 and 400), tempo runs, and long runs are all on track for a four hour marathon. (The long runs are on the faster end of the easy pace spectrum.)

So what does that tell me? Well, I think Greg McMillan is more optimistic than me. I can't really count on my ability to conjure up some speed in short distances (including tempo runs) to extend to a long, long distance. If anything, I think that the time prediction based on today's race is most realistic.

My prediction for Portland is, if all goes well, 4:10. Hopefully at least below 4:15. This is also taking into account that I hear Portland has some decent hills, and also that I will need to make a bathroom stop (hopefully just one). Even if I ran a 9:45 pace (which is just barely faster than my long run pace), I would go just over 4:15. (A 10-minute pace would be just around 4:20. Hopefully that is the wheels off the bus worst case scenario...well, no, there is no wheels off the bus scenario. 4:20 is my "I'm sure I can do this even if things don't go as well as I would like.)

Anything faster than 4:10 would make me very, very happy.

*******************************************************
*Plus I did stop to use the bathroom once during CIM. But I have yet to manage a marathon without stopping for that, so it has to be taken into consideration.

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The rest of the weekend...

2011-09-24T11:57:00.001-07:00

This was last weekend...can't believe it's Saturday already!

A couple more comments about my long run on Friday (9/16).... Although I had no quad pain (in an injury sense) during the run, after I was finished I was, as you would expect, tired and sore in my quads and hamstrings and pretty much all over. I would have loved to take an ice bath but I barely had time for a shower before I needed to get to work.

A few weeks ago I bought compression knickers (capris) and calf sleeves from 110% Play Harder using a Schwaggle coupon. This gear comes with ice packs that you can freeze and insert into the clothing to provide on-the-go ice therapy. Thursday night I froze some of the ice packs to use with the calf sleeves on Friday. My legs would have loved the ice on my quads and hamstrings, but wearing the knickers to work would have been too awkward. I did use the iced up calf sleeves. The ice packs seem to stay cold for about an hour of use.

While I haven't worn the knickers yet, I did try them on Thursday night and they didn't seem the most comfortable (the stitching around the knees felt tight, but that may be because I have ~~fat~~ chubby knees). I do look forward to trying them out some other time when I can just lie around for a while.

Anyhow, moving on to Saturday. (Which I thought I already did when I started this the other day. What happened to my missing paragraphs?) Saturday was a rest and cross training day. I thought I'd probably just go to the Y for some elliptical time. Dull, but convenient. (Now I know that I already wrote about the weekend weather....) The weather had changed from summer sun to cloudy almost-fall. It wasn't cold but it seemed gloomy.

Rod suggested we head over to Rimrock for some mountain biking. The weather was about the same over there but it would be fun. So we took the long drive over the mountains (no fall foliage yet) and hopped on the bikes. We rode around the hilly gravel roads. That's pretty low key for mountain biking but we're pretty much novices so that was plenty. My gears still need adjusting and I was not able to gear down to the lowest gear, so I ended up walking some of the steeper hills. I'll just call that another form of cross training!

On the way back we stopped in Waterville and had an early dinner at Kopey's. Even though it was only 4:30 I was ravenous and devoured my steak, baked potatoes and garlic bread. And a cup of soup. We had only eaten a Safeway sandwich for lunch so I guess my stomach was a little empty. Also biking makes ~~you~~ me hungry!

Sunday I went out for a 9-mile progressive run. I am in this weird place of starting to taper, but still training for the Bellingham Bay Half on September 25 (which is now tomorrow!). I did two miles warm-up (about 10 minute pace), four miles sub-9 (8:45-8:55), two miles at 8:20, and the final mile at 9:20. The whole run pretty much touched on all potential, possible, and likely paces for both the half and full marathons. My average pace for the whole nine miles was 9:01.

And here it's the weekend again! The rest of the week went well enough. My main difficulty was getting up in the morning to get the miles in. Monday - very creaky recovery run. 6.25 miles, just under 10 minute pace. Wednesday - 7.27 miles with four tempo (8:24, 8:23, 8:35, 8:15). Thursday - 7.06 miles with four quarter mile interval up and down Grand Avenue Park (about 8 minute pace on the repeats, slower than I would be on the track). On Wednesday and Thursday I was wearing my new shoes for the marathon and I didn't want to get them dirty going to the track! I also cross-trained on the elliptical and went to yoga Monday and Wednesday night.

Today is my pre-race rest day for reals! Except we're going for a bike ride.

It is also carb load day. Kodiak cakes pancakes for breakfast with bananas and maple syrup. Yum!

I have also been filling in the carb-deficient cracks with Pumpkin Chia Muffins. In fact, I just ate one right now to fuel up for the ride...after all it's been almost three hours since breakfast! (A note about the recipe...I used more than one tablespoon of chia seeds, there is no need to grind them up, and the reference to "salt and pepper to taste" is obviously a mistake.)

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The real reason behind the Boston registration change*

2011-09-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

Now that the new and revised Boston registration system is almost complete for Boston 2012 (and let me clarify that I am neither a qualifier nor registrant this year), I believe I can reveal the real reason the BAA changed the Boston Marathon registration and qualification scheme.

It was me. Oh, not me personally (although we can't really be sure of that, can we?), but my kind. The dreaded 45-year-old female. The category of runner that completely stole Boston from faster, more deserving (younger, maler) runners.

It is true. While a four hour marathon is the modest dream of every middle-of-the-pack runner of any age, for a 45-year-old female it was (up until now), a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time. Thus making me and my peers hated by most other Boston wannabees, particularly 40-year-old women (and younger), who had to run at least ten minutes faster to qualify, and of course, men of all ages. (Men could qualify with a four hour time at the age of 60.)

And obviously, last year the whole Boston registration system was completely brought down by hordes of mid-pace 45-49 year old women with credit cards and high motivation.** Necessitating the overhaul of registration and change in qualifying times.

I am, I freely admit, the worst of the worst. I exploited every qualification benefit that was available to me. I qualified at the age of 44 (for the Boston Marathon after my 45th birthday), I squeaked in just under the qualifying time (though not into the one-minute window), and I took registration morning off work so I could sit in front of my computer with my credit card until my registration was finally accepted.

Yes, you can blame me for the revolution. (Along with 1,592 other women.) You're welcome.

*In case it is not obvious, this is all untrue. A spoof, if you will. A hoax, if you won't.
**However, there were about 1000 more 45-49 year old male registrants than female.

Mountain Dew, elixir of the gods...

2011-09-18T19:25:00.001-07:00

Did I mention that I had a great speed work run on Wednesday? Ha, I know I did, in fact I just belatedly uploaded that post. What I didn't mention is that by Wednesday my quad problems were pretty much gone, maybe all gone but I can't remember if I was sure of that on Wednesday or not until Friday.

Anyhow, Friday was slated to be my final long (20+) run before tapering toward Portland. I wanted to do 22 but I was open to cutting back to 20, if that seemed necessary in order to get to work in a timely fashion. This would be my third 20-miler in this training cycle. I originally had four on my plan, but one got switched out for a 16.55 mile hike.

My first one was on August 7, and apparently I didn't post about it. I ran all around Marysville and ended up at my parents' house at something just over 20 miles. It was by no means easy, but I was pretty steady and my average overall pace was about 9:50.

My second 20+ distance was two weeks later, August 21 on my birthday weekend. I started out with 10K on the road at sub-10 pace, added a 13.1 mile trail run at a much slower pace, and forced out 1.8 miles afterwards to push the total over 21.

So it was almost four weeks between that last one and this week, but I did squeeze in a strong 17 miles on August 28, the hike on September 3, 12.5 miles on September 5, a 15K race on September 10 and 13.1 mile run on September 11, and various medium-length weekday runs, of course.

I was having strange dreams again on Thursday night, mostly about not having time to finish the run on Friday morning. This made me a bit apprehensive and nervous!

I really, really intended to start at 6 a.m. on Friday morning. Or 6:30, anyway. I did wake up a little after 5, and was up by 5:30 to get breakfast. When I am going to be running a long distance in the morning, I need to eat a pretty full breakfast beforehand since I won't be done until almost lunchtime.

If it's not a race day, I don't worry too much about having a lot of time to digest. I figure that will happen while I run (especially if I am not trying to run too fast). I toasted two low fat whole grain waffles and spread them with almond butter and strawberry jam. I also had part of an Americano that I had saved overnight in the fridge.

Even though I didn't mean to wait a long while to digest, I did lay around for a little while longer...I ended up out the door at 7 a.m. At least it was fully daylight by then!

This time I can say for sure that my quad difficulties were completely gone. I felt so pleased and thankful. I had resigned myself to "living with it" indefinitely (in the way that I continue to live with my touchy achilles tendon and ankle).

I started out listening to the remainder of The Jane Austen Book Club on my iphone. I had joined Audible.com to get a free download and that was my first book. I don't know if I am going to cancel or not, but since then I have purchased several "sale" books for $4.95 each and I have quite a collection of listening material to draw from. I can't believe how expensive audio books can be! Much more than paperbacks or e-books...comparable to hardbacks, but without the discounts that you can get on regular books.

That book brought me to about 8.5 miles. After a slow first mile, I settled into an easy pace, mostly in the 9:50s. After I finished mile 9, I used the bathroom (port a potty at McDonald's where the bathrooms were closed due to construction), ate a Gu, and turned on my next audio book--Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes. I've read it before (I'd read the Jane Austen Book Club too), but it was years ago and I thought it would be good for pushing through a long run!

I was nearing 11 miles as I approached QFC (which is my typical end point for most runs) and I think I ran around the block to get to 11 before I took another bathroom stop (knowing that it would be about another hour before I approached the next bathroom). Then I headed east on Everett Avenue toward East Grand and Marine View Drive. I was feeling all right. I thought about the women I knew who were walking the first day of the Breast Cancer 3-day that morning. We might have started around the same time of day but I knew I had many more miles in already! It sounds crazy, but I really think that running at a moderate pace is easier than walking. I knew I would finish my 22 miles by late morning but I couldn't imagine walking all day for the same distance! And I think that my legs were more wrecked after that 16.5 mile walk/hike than they have been after any long run (though not necessarily after a marathon).

At 15 miles, I planned to take more fuel. I got out my packet of Luna Moons and ate one piece. It might have made more sense to eat at least half the packet and get more of a rush of energy, but I wanted to space out the pieces to give me something to look forward to each mile. There are six pieces in a package. I had one at 15, one at 16, and one at 17, where I made my final bathroom stop.

Around mile 17, though, I felt myself starting to flag. My running pace seemed to drop below 10 minutes (or would that be over 10 minutes?), even though I felt like I was making the same effort. Looking at my splits, my pace didn't actually suffer until the next couple miles, but I was definitely hitting a wall at mile 17 (even though it was a low wall, it's not like I wasn't going to make it or anything).

I was at the Marina and there were a couple of pop and candy machines, and I thought I might find a Gatorade or something in one of them. But the pop machine had only pop, and the candy machine didn't have anything that seemed better than my Luna Moons. However...I looked at the pop machine selections and my eyes fixed on Mountain Dew. I don't know if I've ever had a "real" Mountain Dew (I've always drank diet pop), and it's been years since I've even had Diet Dew, but somehow I thought that the bright yellow sugar and caffeine spiked drink might be something I would like.

I drank a few sips...wow, that was tasty. I have never had anything so delicious. I poured the rest of the can in one of my water bottles (I would soon learn that was a bit of a mistake), and headed on my way.

I don't know if it was all psychological or there really was something powerful in that Mountain Dew, but I almost immediately felt rejuvenated. At the next traffic light (luckily only about half a mile away), I pulled out the bottle again and discovered that the carbonation had made it fizz up and leak onto my shirt (luckily the shirt was orange, so I wasn't sporting bright yellow stains) and I'd lost quite a bit. That was okay...I drank the rest over the next half mile or so and then just went back to my remaining bottle of Nuun for the rest of the run.

Although I use gels and stuff on long runs and in races, I have never really felt their effect. I have never had the experience of feeling low in energy (well, I have had that feeling) and then getting reenergized after fueling. Of course I have had my ups and downs, and second and third winds, but I have just never associated that with my fuel.

But on this day I truly did feel like the Mountain Dew gave me a kick in the pants that kept me going and revived me. Yes, my splits after mile 17 are among my slowest, but they did include a notoriously slow-for-me stretch and some ass-kicking hills. So I'm still claiming victory.

After 17 miles, I had either 5K or five miles left to go, depending on whether I stopped at 20 or went for 22. I couldn't make that decision at that point. I decided just to keep on going on the planned route and see how I was doing, whether I should turn early for home or see it through. Even though I was later in the day than I had planned, I was still pretty sure I had enough time to finish either way.

The last few miles took me down Terminal Avenue and along a pedestrian walking path that is about 3/4 mile each way. Even though it is short, I have never really liked this path much. I don't know why. Maybe because it is bordered with chain link fence on either side and there is no where to go if I need to escape. (I'd have to outrun whoever I was trying to escape from.) Still, I headed for the end, and back, and that was enough to ensure that I would be close to 22 miles by the end of my run.

Although I was going to finish with a downhill on Everett Avenue, my final mile or two required climbing back up the hills that had earlier brought me down to the waterfront and Terminal Avenue. Finally, though, I was at Pacific and Colby, and it was all downhill from there. In a good way! My splits for 22.22 miles....

1 - 10:40
2 - 9:57
3 - 9:34
4 - 9:47
5 - 9:50
6 - 9:50
7 - 9:52
8 - 10:13
9 - 9:56
10 - 10:00
11 - 9:52
12 - 9:59
13 - 9:50
14 - 9:38
15 - 9:48
16 - 9:35
17 - 9:53
18 - 10:18
19 - 10:04
20 - 9:54
21 - 10:02
22 - 9:53
Plus .22 at 9:26
3:40:31, average pace 9:56.

Woo hoo! Sushi and watermelon for lunch. And later, there was cake. And pizza. And then a little more cake.

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Running dreams

2011-09-18T16:37:00.001-07:00

Note: I wrote this on Wednesday, 9/14, had posting problems, and forgot about it till I ran across it on Sunday....

**************

This morning I was having running dreams before I woke up. Now granted, this was during the half-sleeping minutes while I was hitting the snooze alarm and procrastinating over getting up to run...so clearly running was on my mind.

In the dream we were staying in a motel somewhere and I wanted to go running but had forgotten my Garmin and iPod. Understandably, I was upset. Obviously I could run without them, but I was being unreasonable and passive aggressive even in the dream. I knew that I could use my phone instead of the iPod for music or audio diversion, but I conveniently ignored that. And I kept saying, how can I do a 20-mile run without the Garmin to measure it? Never mind that I had already mapped out a 20-mile route on Map My Run. I was also stressed because it was dark outside and I don't like to run in the dark.

So, let's analyze this dream. Well, I didn't want to get up to run, that could be a factor. And for the first time this summer, it was dark in the morning (though only half dark by 6:15). And I am planning a 20-miler on Friday, which I've already planned on Map My Run. So, duh, my early morning running ambivalence was manifesting itself in my dreams.

Once I did get up, and out, I had a fine run. I didn't manage a 10-minute pace for the warm-up miles, but I made up for it with speed work. Nine half-mile repeats, 7:45 to 7:58 pace. I didn't need to do ten because I have room on the calendar for one more set, about ten days before the marathon. Perfect. I ran nine miles total, 8:53 average overall pace.

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Two months

2011-09-11T20:08:00.001-07:00

A lot of big things are happening over the next two months. Four weeks from today, the Portland Marathon! (As previously mentioned.) About a month after that, we're going to Maui! And then, about a month after that, the Tucson Marathon.

Portland Marathon training is pretty much on track and going well. There have been some minor deviations in my plan which I am filing under "flexibility" and not stressing over. The biggest change was when I substituted a planned 20+ miler with a 16.5 mile walk/hike. I think it definitely contributed to "time on my legs"! We spent about five hours actually walking and the entire trip (including the time spent peeing in the woods) was over six hours.

Around the time of that hike, I began flirting with leg issues that hinted ominously of injury. Following my great week of running a while back, I got a sore tightness in my right quad which gave me a decent amount of concern back then and has not yet fully abated. However it has improved and I've allowed myself more generous rest which has helped. And it has not prevented me from continuing to run pretty well (meaning fast when I want to be).

The night after the hike, I had some very troublesome ~~pain~~ discomfort in the back of my other leg (just above the knee) and I feared a tweaked hamstring. I could hardly sleep that night because I couldn't lay still enough not to bother it. But the next day it was gone and hasn't bothered me since.

Those little problems have been quite a warning sign that I need to be careful not to hurt myself. I'm not laying off the running or anything but I am definitely not jumping into anything new that could lead to problems (like a boot camp or something). I did back off on my scheduled 800s last week, deciding it was too close to the 15K on Saturday. I'm going to do them this week instead. I will also probably take hill repeats off the schedule (they're on one more time) and just keep my hill work to normal uphill running.

So here are the highlights for the next few weeks. This week: 9-10x800, 20-miler on Friday. I would say this will be my last hard week. The next week, Bellingham Bay Half Marathon on Sunday, September 26. Then two weeks of taper. (Obviously, there are other runs in there as well.)

This weekend I had two good runs, despite the heat (yes, I call 60s in the morning heat). Saturday was the Fairhaven Waterfront 15K, which was great as usual though a little slower than I would have liked. I will have a race report, I just need to ~~steal pictures from the race photo website~~ download pictures from my mother's and my camera. Today I ran 13.1+ miles (forgot to start my watch at a light and "lost" .1 to .2 miles) at 9:57 pace...just squeaked in under my 10-minute "easy" pace.

I am planning an easy run tomorrow morning, just to keep on track and allow Tuesday as an off running day before speed work on Wednesday. We have one more hot day this week before it cools off, so I really can't put it off to afternoon even if I am tired in the morning. If I have to, it would be better to wait till Tuesday. That's not laziness, okay? It's being kind to my legs and not risking injury. But hopefully I'll be running in the morning.

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One month till the Portland Marathon

2011-09-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

That is all.

Well, one more thing. Over the weekend I'll write about where I'm at one month out, how I'm feeling, where my expectations are. That may well be influenced by how the Fairhaven 15K goes tomorrow morning!

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Lost post

2011-09-03T19:58:00.001-07:00

I just wrote half a blog post and lost it when I went to download pictures. (Teach me not to save!)

The condensed version: long run today changed to longish hike, 16.5 miles from Gold Bar (up) to Wallace Lake and back (down). Even though I didn't run, my legs are tired. And rather sore.

Here are some pictures...the first is at Wallace Lake, the others are from the trail.

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The good and the not-so-good

2011-09-02T21:28:00.001-07:00

The other day I was going to write a post about how I ran six out of seven days, between last Thursday and this Wednesday. Crazy for me. The final run of the six-in-seven was Wednesday. I had a rocking tempo run on Wednesday! After two miles warm-up, I did six tempo miles (two sets of three miles with a .10 recovery between. The splits - 8:00 (oops, definitely too fast), 8:19, 8:21 (those two right on track); then 8:11, 8:39 (lots of lights and a phone call from the office threw me off), 8:00 (strong finish).

Thursday was definitely a running rest day. Also, I was a little sore in my right quad. My legs are often more sore after a hard run than an easy one, not surprisingly. Thursday evening I spent an hour on the elliptical and did a yoga class. My leg was sore enough that doing child's pose and other quad stretching poses was difficult!

So today...quad still achy. I considered not running in order to rest it for the planned long run tomorrow, but I thought I should see how it held up. My legs, and particularly my right thigh, felt very heavy and sluggish. I eventually loosened up, but it took me a full five miles to work my average pace under 10:00! I ended up doing 8.07 miles in eighty minutes. Later the sore quad resumed. I actually spent most of the day with a disposable heat pack strapped to my leg under my jeans. I felt like heat might help.

Needless to say, I became concerned about my planned 22-mile run tomorrow. I was intending to tough it out, but then one of my friends who was walking the route asked me to walk with her, because two other people backed out. I decided that it would be better to go with her, at least part way (we probably won't have time to walk the full 22). I may run on the return trip, if I feel like it, just to get in a few running miles. I feel bad about not doing the long run, but it may be for the best. I still have one 20+ miler on the schedule, and I'll just have to be satisfied with three instead of four.

Yesterday my dress of the day was a Laura Ashley dress from 1988. Here I am wearing it when it was new.

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Easy Eight

2011-08-31T10:22:00.001-07:00

Running has been going well. Life in general has been a little stressful.

In the last two weeks...my house was broken into and burglarized during the work day (I only lost a stereo, TV, and a bunch of DVD's, but it's traumatic and I had to replace all my locks because they also took a house key)...one of my cats went reclusive and would not come out from under a futon until forcibly removed (this started before the burglary, so it's not that she was traumatized)...I have been plagued by late summer fleas and have been trying to eradicate them (completely unfair as my cats never go outside; I blame the burglars for bringing in fleas)...a dear friend has been diagnosed with breast cancer...and basically I am constantly waiting for the next shoe to drop.

On Saturday I felt inexplicably anxious for a long time; I think it was a mild type of post-traumatic stress disorder. This is quite unlike me, as I am almost always ridiculously optimistic and good natured.

Running does not make things better. It does help relieve anxiety a little bit (though not the underlying causes), and it does create a distraction for a while. Although I would not necessarily insist on running in the midst of a true emergency, it is important to me not to let problems and disruptions in my life be an excuse not to run. I will admit that I have skipped some cross training and yoga classes over the last couple weeks (waiting for police can interfere with your schedule), but I have gotten in all my runs as planned, and pretty much met my goals for them as well.

Last week I did my usual Monday run on Tuesday, only because I had already put in a lot of miles on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and needed to give my legs a rest. I think I did about 6.2 miles on Tuesday (actually it turns out it was 6.5 miles, 9:35 average pace).

Wednesday I cross-trained and moved speed work to Thursday. On Thursday I ended up with nine miles, a couple warm-up then 8x800 intervals at the track with about a quarter mile recovery between each. All the half mile intervals were well under four minutes, mostly around 7:45 pace. After the eight repeats I realized I was close to 10K. If I did a short recovery lap then another fast 400 I could get a 10K. So I did it...total 10K time just over 51 minutes. Including the slow recovery jogs but not including the time I spent staring at the other side of the track. After the 10K I finished off with a recovery jog to Starbucks.

On Thursday I cross-trained in the morning and got a pedicure in the evening (using a gift card I got for my birthday). I figure I can enjoy the results of the pedicure for six weeks--until the Portland Marathon mashes up my toenails again!

Friday was the closest to a "FAIL" workout. It was not a fail, though; I just had to adjust my goals. My plan was 8-10 miles with some at "pace." Originally I thought a few at half marathon pace (8:30) and a few at marathon pace (9:00). But I tried to speed up after my two warm-up miles and realized that 8:30 was just not happening. Sub-9 was, however. So I did nine miles at hybrid pace (somewhere between marathon and half pace.) The splits weren't bad--10:11 and 9:48 warm-up, then 8:42, 8:54, 8:58, .07 mile at 8:37 pace, 8:58, 9:16 (a little bit of an oops there, I have no idea why), 8:52, and 8:55. Average pace for all 11+ miles was 9:07.

Saturday was a rest day. I had no time for any exercise except for a short walk to and from Starbucks. We had two big get-togethers to attend, one a lunch barbecue and baby shower with my office folks, the other a dinner barbecue and steak grilling cook-off. I made vast quantities of caprese salad to bring to these events. (I ate the last of the prepared salad today, but still have some Costco-sized hunks of fresh mozzarella in my fridge.)

Finally Sunday rolled around, and time for my long run. I had done 21 the week before, and have 22 planned this week, so I thought 16 would be a nice interim distance. By the time I got halfway through I thought 17 would be an even better distance, so that's what I ended up doing.

We've actually been having summer weather in this second half of August, and last week was particularly warm (up to the 80s late in the day, that is HOT here!). On Sunday it was not quite so warm, and it was a little foggy in the morning, but as the sun broke out I did regret a little dawdling until after 9 to begin. Luckily though, my sweating and the breeze kept me from ever feeling very overheated.

I broke up my route into sections, and at various points I would backtrack or run a little extra to get to a certain mileage point before moving to the next section. My checkpoints were...around Jennings Park, 3 miles. To 108th, 5 miles. To McDonald's, 8 miles (this required almost a mile of "extra" and it was what made my 17 mile total viable). To the highway leaving Marysville, 11 miles. To the little park off Marine View Drive, 14 miles. And finally, to Starbucks/QFC end point, 17 miles plus a hair. My average pace for the whole distance was 9:46. Most of my miles were just around that time as well, with a few closer to 10:00 and a few (including miles 16 and 17) at 9:30 or so.

Which brings me to the title of this post, Monday's "easy eight." I have to admit that I was lazy Monday morning and didn't get myself out of bed in a reasonable time for a run. The Y is closed this week so I didn't have a quick alternative...I ended up just staying in bed and having a leisurely breakfast. I suppose if I am going to skip a run it would be smart to decide the night before so I can actually sleep in!

But I did decide to run Monday night after work instead. I had some idea that I might go to yoga afterwards but that didn't work out. I wasn't sure how this run was going to go at all. I had a nasty headache in the afternoon which only went away temporarily when I ate spoonfuls of ice cream from the office freezer. When I got home I took some Tylenol and lay down for just a few minutes. The headache did subside and I headed out.

After some effort at completing the first two miles in twenty minutes (I missed it by two or three seconds), I settled into an easy pace which really did feel easy. Other than the first mile and a couple others, all my splits were 9:30-9:40. Mile 7 was 9:44 but then Mile 8 was 9:25. I ended up doing 8.3 miles in 80 minutes (9:39 average).

This is going to be an interesting week. I was back out this morning (Tuesday) for 6.33 miles, and tomorrow I have a tempo run planned (I am hoping my legs will cooperate). Thursday should be off running, Friday I'll do some sort of run, and then Saturday I have 22 miles on the schedule. Woohoo.

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Birthday weekend running

2011-08-23T14:57:00.001-07:00

Friday was my birthday (August 19).* I am now 46. No change in age group category but just a little older. Maybe that's why I felt compelled to run excessively** throughout the weekend? That and the fact that I knew I would probably be eating excessively*** throughout the weekend.

Friday morning was a progression run. The plan: 8-10 miles at progressively faster paces in two-mile blocks. I decided that the pace points should be 10:00, 9:30, 9:09, 8:45, 8:30 (or faster). My reasoning was that 9:09 is the pace for a two-hour half/four-hour marathon, 8:45 is my current typical half pace, and 8:30 (or faster) is my goal half marathon pace. I also felt that a 30-second pace increase was too much for the faster pace levels.

I felt pretty good on Friday morning from the start. Maybe it was because I rested my legs and had a massage Thursday night, maybe it was because I went out at 8 a.m. instead of 6:30 and my whole body feels more alive a little later in the morning.

Anyhow, the first mile went well, just under 10:00, and mile two was a little quick, about 9:35. Both miles three and four were on track at 9:25 or faster. The rest of my paired splits:

5 - 9:07
6 - 9:00

7 - 8:45
8 - 8:48

9 - 8:30
10 - 8:08!

Plus an additional .3 mile at about 8:30 pace.

I had just enough time left to take a quick shower and head to the office to meet up for a birthday lunch. Three of us in the office have the same birthday, is that weird or what? We went to Anthony's Homeport and I had yummy salmon cakes. Here I am with the traditional birthday marionberry pie, made by Lorraine. I also had a piece of chocolate cake that was Lisa's birthday dessert...Tonna is eschewing sugar right now and did not want a dessert.

The rest of my birthday was pretty quiet. Rod had been out riding motorbikes with his dad, which is pretty tiring plus it included a long drive (in the truck) to and from Eastern Washington. So we got takeout chicken teriyaki for dinner and just relaxed.

On Saturday I had registered for a birthday 10K, but earlier in the week I had called to switch to the 5K, so I could get out of there fast and go to the memorial service for a retired judge who had died earlier in the week. My mom picked me up early to drive to and from the race and go to the service as well.

The run was called the Ann Jackson Memorial Run and it was a fundraiser for the Skagit County Humane Society. It also started and ended at the Humane Society property. One of the things I had not anticipated was the sound of barking audible in the parking lot. I didn't experience much as I was running a lot of the time we were there, but my mother got to listen for more than an hour from the time we arrived until we left. While I was running she went over to make a donation.

I got there early in order to do a long warm-up. I had enough time to run the whole 5K route in advance. I think this was helpful because I knew what to expect in the way of elevation changes (nominal, except for a hill, down and back up, just before the 5K turnaround). This did not, however, help me run as fast as I would have hoped to.

I ran hard, but in the end my pace was only slightly faster than my current 10K pace. I kind of knew this was happening when my first mile was only slightly under 8:00 (should have been sub-7:45 for a strong 5K). My splits for the first three miles: 7:56, 8:12, and 8:03. Total time: 25:02.

Still, I was third in my my AG and maybe fourth female overall. I couldn't stay to get my ribbon, but still, it was nice to know. I had my mother take a picture of me indicating my third place status.

That afternoon and evening we had a combination birthday dinner for me and my sister's husband Todd. I got to pick the menu though. Of course, I also prepared a lot of it....here it is.

Pre-dinner
Dungeness crab
Tortilla chips
Faux Lomi Lomi salmon made by me with lox and pico de gallo

Dinner
Kalbi ribs, made by Rod
Rice
Green salad
Corn on the cob
Mango and pineapple chunks
The rest of the Lomi Lomi salmon

Dessert
Raw apple cake with cream cheese frosting (my favorite)
Key lime pie (Todd's favorite)
Slow churned coconut pineapple ice cream

Yeah, quite a meal. But I showed restraint...I didn't have any key lime pie.

Which brings us to Sunday...my 20+ mile long run, including a half marathon trail ~~race~~ run.

My mother picked me up again, this time quite early as I wanted to run at least six miles before the official run. We were about an hour's drive from the location, Soaring Eagle Park in Sammamish, and thanks to some navigation errors we did not get there until almost 8:00.

I quickly geared up, used the port a potty, and headed out for a few miles on the road. I did about two miles out then back, at a comfortable pace slightly under 10:00. Back at the park I checked in, then had plenty of time for two more miles. Total pre-race - 6.21 miles (couldn't resist making it a 10K). I got in the port a potty line and just was able to make it to the front before the run was due to start. While I was waiting I changed my shoes into slightly sturdier trail shoes and filled up my water bottles with nuun.

The half marathon was three loops of about 4.2 miles plus about half a mile at the end to the finish. I am taking the race coordinators' word for the distances as my Garmin measured way short in the park. I actually measured twelve miles total (but they assured me it was further). The Garmin has trouble getting a satellite due to the tall trees, and doesn't accurately measure the many twists and turns and zigs and zags on the trail. All I know is, those miles seemed really long, even as slowly as I was going.

The trail was mostly single track and moderately technical (roots and some rocks). It had a fair amount of hills, but nothing horribly steep or long. During the first loop we were running with a larger group of 4.5 mile racers, so it was much more crowded. In fact there were long stretches with a line-up of runners. Also there was much more passing in this loop, especially as we got into the second half of it and people started pushing for the finish.

I was happy to let those runners drop off and head out pretty much on my own on the second loop. I occasionally saw other runners in these next two loops. I did get passed by a very speedy female who was finishing her final lap as I was still on my second! But then, I also passed some people in their second laps (okay, walkers) when I was in my final lap.

I stumbled several times throughout the run, but I am proud to say I never actually fell down. It was close at times though. On one occasion I tripped and had to run all the way down a short hill before I got my bearing. My empty gel packet had flown out of my hand when I tripped and I couldn't bear to climb back up the hill to find it after I regained my footing. Mother Nature please forgive me for littering! I probably tripped more often as the race wore on and my legs got tired (you run into more tree roots when you are shuffling!).

During the second lap and into the third I played cat and mouse with another woman who was doing a run walk pattern. She would run ahead of me but I would catch her during her walks. We passed each other a few times but eventually she stayed ahead of me for quite a long time (until the final couple miles when I passed her for good and stayed ahead through the finish).

The second lap was probably the hardest on me and possibly the slowest. In addition to me losing steam, I had to slow to get around some horses, and stop entirely for two mountain bikers on the path. The third lap was better. There is something to knowing you don't have to come back ever again! I plodded along pretty slowly but when my watch said ten miles I figured I had two miles left (based on the skewed mileage) and made a real effort to pick up the pace and finish strong. I felt that anything under an 11 minute pace was pretty strong).

With the 6.2 miles before the race, by the time I finished the first loop I had run about ten miles. I figured I probably could use some fuel at that point. I had a few Gu's in my fuel belt, but instead I took one of the race-provided gels, an agave gel called Chocolate #9. It was quite tasty, but I was a little nervous about whether it would have a negative effect on my stomach (it didn't). I never got around to eating anything else during the run, though. Hopefully this helped develop my ability to use my fat stores for fuel!

At the end of the second loop, I did drink a cup of water and a half cup of sweetened iced tea at the aid station. I also drank nuun from my fuel belt, more as the morning passed and the temperature grew warmer. Luckily since the race was in the woods, most of the trails were quite shady (except for a few hot sunny patches along the way).

When I started the third and final loop, I told myself that this was the last time I had to do this (on this day, anyway), and I should just enjoy myself. Being on the last round really did take some of the pressure off. It was in this segment that I believe my run-walk friend got ahead of me some. However, once I passed the ten mile point I finally felt the end was reasonably near. Based on my prior loops (with the belief that Garmin was under-measuring the distance), I figure the whole race would finish at about twelve miles on my watch. I'm not sure if I sped up at that point, but at least I felt able to make a strong finish. I passed my run-walk friend and a few other women as well. I also passed several ladies who were still finishing their second loop.

Near the end of each loop the wooded trail opened up onto a dirt road for about half a mile. This time when I got there I forced my legs to speed up a little. I am pretty sure I got below a ten-minute pace at last! (Just for that section.)

After passing the aid station I headed for the finish line. Except that it was a little farther to the finish line than I expected. For some reason I thought it would be just around the corner--instead I was back winding along another trail through the woods. It was probably a quarter to half a mile long, though I still managed to keep up a pretty sprightly pace. Then I turned a bend and finally, there was the finish line. My time was about 2:35. If the course really was 13.1 miles long--and they assured me that it was--then my average pace was 11:53 per mile. I consider a 12-minute mile pace perfectly okay for a trail run.

I collected my chocolate medal but only wore it for a moment--I was afraid my hot body would melt the chocolate. I gave the medal to my mother and went in search of water. There was a selection of chocolate treats for the finishers as well. I took a few little brownies which I wrapped in a napkin to save for a little later.

I still had about a mile to make up my 20 miles, but I thought I might bump it to 21 miles if I could. I headed back to the road, this time in the noonday sun with legs that were protesting my efforts to run. I did a round trip of 1.8 miles (at an exhausted 10:44 pace). That put my total mileage for the day to 21.13. Plenty, I would say. Twenty-miler number two is in the books.

Before we left I changed out of running shoes to flip flops. My legs were coated with a layer of dirt. Even though there hadn't been any "mud" on this dry, hot day, I had managed to kick up plenty of dirt which clung to my sweaty legs. (This picture doesn't fully reveal how dirty I was; and yes, I put the medal back on for the photo.)

The rest of the day was pretty unproductive. We drove back to Marysville and then went out for delicious pastrami Reuben sandwiches and sweet potato fries. And a lot of lounging about afterwards.

The weekend of running (37.73 miles on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) put me over 50 miles for the week. This was the first (and probably only) week over 50 in this training schedule. Total Monday through Sunday - 52.79 miles. Not bad for the week I turned 46!

*****************
*Me and Bill Clinton and Tipper Gore and John Stamos.
**Not really excessively, but a lot. Maybe I meant obsessively. All those words sound the same. Yes, in fact I was an English major. Isn't it obvious?
***That time I really did mean excessively.

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Let's call it a cut back week, shall we?

2011-08-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

When I am marathon training it seems like all my mileage weeks are around 40 miles, give or take, whether it is a long run week or not. I rarely go over 45 miles and it would be unlikely to go under 35 miles.

This last week was a good example, with total mileage of 38 miles, despite running five days instead of four (you'd think it would be higher) and despite this being a cut back week on my schedule (you'd think it might be lower). Well, it's not higher because my longest run of the week was nine miles. And it's not lower because I did run on five days rather than the typical four.

I'm pretty happy with how everything went this week, though. I don't usually do a weekly recap, but in brief...

Monday
7.01 miles general aerobic/recovery. This was the day after my 20-mile run, but my average pace was a speedy 9:19! I felt the long run a little, though, as my legs were feeling tired after only a few miles, like 4-5. I plugged through, though, and my last full mile was a surprising 8:35! I'll take it.

In the evening I did about 35 minutes on the elliptical and also had yoga.

Tuesday
This is my lighter day, just a stint on the elliptical (about 75 minutes). That evening I went and had a massage. It hurt so good! The massage therapist was great and more sports oriented than most.

Wednesday
Speed work, I wrote about it here. 8.02 miles total.

I skipped an evening workout and yoga to have dinner with my parents at Lombardi's. I got a free dinner (from the restaurant, not my parents) for my upcoming birthday!

Thursday
Bonus run, 6.02 miles in exactly 60 minutes. (That's a 9:40 pace, perfectly fine for an uplanned midweek run on the day between speedwork and pace training.) I felt like getting a little extra running in because I had weekend travel plans which would put a damper on excessive running and also lead to a lot of eating.

I did skip an evening workout and yoga so I could pack for an early departure on Friday morning.

Friday
Pace run! Two miles warm-up (20:04), four miles half-marathon goal pace or better (8:25, 8:22, 8:36, 8:26), two miles marathon goal pace or better (8:48, 8:52), then one more mile at faster-than-HMP (8:22). Total mile 9.04, 1:20:20, 8:58 average pace overall.

Left on trip to North Central Washington at 9 a.m.!

Saturday
Rest day. Swam about six laps in a pool. Wore me out.

Sunday
8.21 miles in Waterville. 9:59 average pace, which I think was great considering that I was out of town and running hilly. I ran from the Waterville Hotel toward the Badger Mountain Ski Hill, which is about five miles out of town. As you might guess, this route is largely uphill, although on my way out there were definitely rollers. I knew I didn't have time for the entire round trip, so I turned back at about 4.25 miles. I took an alternative return road (the P Road) which appeared to be a gentle downhill all the way (and it was!). Everything looked so near (I could see Waterville in the not-so-far distance) that I thought my distance would be way shorter than planned. But apparently the eye deceives and my "shortcut" was still almost four miles long (cutting only a quarter mile off, which was perfect for my total distance and the time allotted).

While running on the P Road I saw this awesome old house in the middle of the wheat fields.

Then I couldn't resist taking a shadow self portrait!
Here is a creative and decorative use of old farm machinery!
We left Waterville around 9:30 a.m. and I was home by early afternoon. I took the opportunity of an open afternoon to walk down to the Everett Sunday Farmer's Market. It was a nice walk down (and I do mean downhill). I left carrying six pounds of cherries and maybe ten pounds of vegetables and the walk home was not quite so nice!

I think that this was a good cut back week in between 20-milers (another one scheduled this weekend!). None of my runs were overly long but I got some good quality work in all categories--speed, pace, and hills. My Monday run yesterday was a little difficult, 7.02 miles at 9:44 pace, but today is a total rest day (due to some unforseen circumstances). Hopefully that will leave me fresh for some quality speed work tomorrow. I had hill repeats on the schedule but I am pretty sure I am going to switch things around, considering I did a hilly run on Sunday.

Friday is my birthday and I have some ~~crazy~~ ~~challenging~~ fun running plans for the weekend. We'll see how it all plays out!

Chips Are Down Virtual Race

2011-08-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Obviously, not my 30th birthday! Ha. This was a virtual race for the 30th birthday of Amanda at Run to the Finish. The only requirement was to run three miles between August 10-15 (actual birthday was August 13). So of course, I threw myself in! My self-predicted time was 29 minutes.

I didn't have an opportunity to do a three-mile stand alone run, so I decided to pick three miles from one of my regular runs on those days. During the time period I ran 8.02 miles on August 10, 6.2 miles on August 11, 9.04 miles on August 12, 8.21 miles on August 14, and 7.02 miles on August 15. (But none on August 13, sorry Amanda!)

I have decided to dedicate the first three miles of my August 12 run to this race. My total time for those three miles was 28:29 (splits 10:44, 9:20, 8:25). The reason the splits are so wildly divergent is because the first two were warm-up miles and the third was the first of a series of pace miles. (Of course I could have gotten a "better" time by cherry-picking my splits a little more, but I decided just to roll the dice and take what I got.)

Anyhow, cheers to Amanda for a fun little diversion and for not asking us to run 30K or miles for her birthday instead! I wish I'd thought to eat a piece of cake in her honor as well! Happy Birthday!

The Great Summer Dress Experiment

2011-08-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Last night, while picking out something to wear today, I pulled out a dress that I bought (on sale from Garnet Hill) three years ago and have never worn. I also looked at numerous other dresses and skirts that I haven't worn yet this summer (because it hasn't really been summer here). I decided that for the rest of the summer I would wear a different dress at least three days every week, without repeating. I have a tendency to always wear my favorites, and there are lots of others that have been sadly neglected.

I'll try to document my progress in the sidebar. It seems like there would be a better way to do it than by manually replacing the pictures, but I don't know it. This has replaced the weight loss ticker, by the way, since that wasn't doing anything....

From "I can't" to "I CAN"

2011-08-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

5:30 a.m. "I can't get out of bed yet."

5:45 a.m. "I still can't get out of bed yet."

6:10 a.m. "I guess I can get out of bed now...."

6:45 a.m. (After one mile warm-up) "I can't run fast today, maybe I should postpone speedwork."

7:00 a.m. (After 2.3 miles warm-up and a bathroom break) "I guess I can try to get up to speed for some half mile repeats on the track...."

7:25 a.m. (After 4 x 800 plus recovery jogs) "I CAN do three more of these."

7:40 a.m. (After 6 x 800 at 7:45-7:59 paces) "I CAN do the last one faster than the rest!

7:45 a.m. "I DID the last half mile at 7:30 pace! So I CAN go to Starbucks and still get home in time for work."

8:00 a.m. "I CAN pack up my breakfast and lunch, take a shower and fix my hair, get dressed and still get to work by 9 a.m."

9:05 a.m. "I CAN rush into the courthouse and not be too embarrassingly late."

TOTAL - 8.02 miles, 8:58 overall average pace, with 7 x 800 (half miles) at 7:59 - 7:30 paces.

I am strong

2011-08-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

That is my new running mantra. I have found myself repeating it in several races and runs where I have surprised myself a little with my ability to maintain a solid pace (although not quite accomplishing any PRs). I think it is my way of telling myself that even if I am not as fast as I would like to be, I am still strong and steady and there's a lot to be said for that.

That is what happened in the 10K I ran Saturday morning (River and Rails, Arlington). No PR, but it was my fastest 10K this year, and I won my age group, and also finished second female overall. All right, it was a small 10K (many more people chose to run the 5K), but there were four other F40-49 runners, so I earned my ribbon!

This race is fundraiser for Cocoon House, a teen shelter, and I've run it several times before. This year they changed the course, though. The original route went south through Arlington on the Centennial Trail, crossing some roads and including some gravel sections alongside the railroad tracks. This year the whole race was on the paved trail going north. (This is a new section of the Centennial Trail.) No gravel, and quite a lovely countryside view (especially compared to railroad tracks). The trail is quite flat, although there are a few gentle dips, and I'm pretty sure there were sections with a slight incline or decline...although that may have been an optical illusion. (I especially like the kind of optical illusion that seems like a decline in both directions.)

The group at the start was a modest crowd, with about three quarters wearing 5K bibs. Of the women wearing 10K bibs, I tried to estimate who might be faster, slower, or comparable to me. It is really hard to gauge. There was one woman I could pick out as likely faster than me, though. She just had "the look." She was not too tall, and lean in a wiry way, and her hair was very short (might be a fashion choice but I felt it made her more aerodynamic). She told me as we waited that she was checking bib stickers to see who was in her age group. (I wasn't, she was older than me.)

I moved near the front to make sure I got a fast start. (I left a little room for the real fasties, ha!) I took off hard, maybe a little too fast but I like to set a good pace in the beginning. I probably started in the low sevens but by the time I passed the first mile point it was 7:58. That would be perfect if I could keep it up. But I didn't.

In the first mile and a half I had lots of 5K-ers to keep pace with, but at their turnaround all my companions turned back. There were a few males ahead of me but no one I could try to catch up too. They told me I was the first female but I figured that wouldn't last. Sure enough, at about two miles the Fast Lady passed me up. I would be chasing her the rest of the race but sadly the distance between us continued to grow. After mile two (which was my slowest at 8:21) I slowly picked up the pace again but not enough to catch my opponent. (Interestingly, my average pace for the first two miles was the same as my overall average pace, about 8:10!)

There is not too much to describe about the next few miles. I told myself "I am strong" several times, even as I am thinking things like, "this is hard," "I hate running fast," "why didn't I do the 5K?" I kept my eye on the red shirt ahead of me and tried to close the distance even as the gap widened. I saw her pause for water at the turnaround (3.1 mile point), and I did close in a bit. But I think she took off even faster from there. Mile 3 (just before the turnaround) - 8:17.

I don't know if it's true that there was a slight decline in the return trip, but I managed to go just a little faster. Mile 4 - 8:09. Mile 5 - 8:05.

In the last full mile I really wanted to push hard and I ran from random object to the next to keep my sprints short. The last little uphill was in this bit though, and I would like to think that accounts for the few seconds I lost. (And not just that I was tapped out.) Mile 6 - 8:10.

I did manage to sprint out the last bit, sort of. Mile 6 - 6.23 - 1:47 (7:58 pace). Yeah, it could have been faster. Finish time 50:48 (8:10 average pace).

Could I have been a little faster? Probably. Could I have broken 50 today? I don't think so...I don't see myself shaving off 8 seconds per mile. (This time.) Could I have beat the woman ahead of me? Um, no way. Not unless she broke her leg or something. Her time was 48 something. Amazing!

Since I did a 1.9 mile warm-up, I finished with just over eight miles today. Tomorrow - 20 miles.

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Two days of taper

2011-07-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

I am just entering the second half of my 48 hour taper and rest period before the Anacortes Art Dash Half Marathon tomorrow at 9 a.m. I don't really taper for half marathons, but I do like to give my legs at least a full day of rest before a big race. Hence, no running or cross-training today (Friday).

Yesterday morning I decided to add an unscheduled morning run. I was feeling so good after my highly successful Wednesday speed work (6 x 800, last one 7:30 pace) and all the good runs I've been having lately. I did 6.67 miles (taper distance) in one hour. This included 2.2 miles warm-up, three miles at half marathon goal pace (8:34, 8:31, 8:20), one mile at 8:50 (supposed to be marathon pace) and then a fast finish half mile (though I think it was back to 8:30-ish, not too fast).

I am feeling really positive about my performance in Anacortes tomorrow. Who knows, maybe it will just turn out to be another 1:55 half, and that's fine. But maybe...who knows what might happen?

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A perfect day

2011-07-26T21:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday (Saturday)* was pretty much a perfect day as far as I am concerned. It was perfect combination of running and summer fun. There are lots of things that can happen to constitute a perfect day, but yesterday was a pretty good example.

The prelude to the perfect day was Friday, a pretty darn good day. Friday was the first day of summer! Yes, I know, summer was supposed to start a month ago. But here in the Pacific Northwest, the onset of summer weather has been severely retarded. *Let me insert here a sincere apology for any whining about weather to the 80-90% of the country that is suffering from obscene heat and humidity. I know that complaints about 60 degrees and cloudy sounds a little pathetic. In fact, for running our weather has been perfectly fine. But for normal summer activities, it's hard to stomach needing to turn on the furnace after work!*

So where was I? Oh yes, on Friday the sun finally came out. Which made a lovely setting for my 18-miler Friday morning! Especially as it was still in the 50s and 60s throughout the morning. I made a bit of a time calculation error and was lazy as well, so it was closer to 8:00 than 7:00 when I started out. This contributed to a bit of stress about time, as I needed to be ready for work by noon (earlier would be better).

I had mapped out a planned route but ended up changing the last half as I went. I was going to finish with a few miles along the waterfront, but that would put me in a place where I could not cut the run short if I ran out of time. So I decided to stick a little closer to the center of town throughout.

I found it pretty easy to maintain a comfortable 9:45 average pace. The first mile was slower but I had a couple faster ones too which evened things out. My dual goals were to stay under ten minute miles but not work too hard at doing it.

Physically the distance felt okay (mostly) but the mental part was a little harder. It is always hard to wrap your (my) mind around how much further there is to go when you've already gone so far (like ten miles). I think the time limits added a little more stress as well. I did try to focus on smaller chunks of distance, like five-mile and two-mile segments, to keep it manageable! After the first ten miles I put on an hour-long podcast to help with the next six miles.

After sixteen miles the last two seemed harder, physically as well as mentally. When I got to seventeen I realized that I had overcompensated on the distance and I was still a couple miles (at least) from either home or Starbucks. I wouldn't have been overly concerned about nineteen miles instead of eighteen but there was still the need to get to work on time...an extra ten minutes could be a problem.

So instead I turned and headed to my office instead (arriving at 18.04 miles, a few minutes under three hours running time) and got a ride from my secretary. She took me to Starbucks and QFC (where I bought enough sushi and watermelon for lunch to feed a family of four, assuming that included two children who didn't much eat sushi) and then drove me home.

The rest of the day was work, which included cake, and then later Rod and I got pizza from Papa Murphy's for dinner.

So that led up to Saturday! A few weeks ago I signed up for a 5-mile race in Snohomish, the River Run, part of the KlaHaYa Days summer festival. Luckily for Snohomish, the weather was even nicer than Friday, bright and sunny even at 7 a.m.

The race started at 8:30 and check-in was at 8:00. I meant to get there at 7:30-7:45 to allow for plenty of warm-up, but stopping at Starbucks in Marysville plus a bathroom stop in Snohomish (not knowing the porta-potty prospects) took a little longer than I expected, so it was almost 8 by the time I parked.

I jogged over to the registration table (through a street of food vendors setting up for later) got my number (45, how apt), and then returned to the car to drop stuff off and get ready to run. I jogged up and down the neighboring streets, wondering how Friday's long run would impact the race. My legs felt good, not stiff or sore, but they didn't necessarily feel light and fast either.

I thought I had just enough time for 1.5 miles before gathering at the starting line, but at about 1.3 miles I stumbled over the sidewalk and fell. The throwaway water bottle I was carrying flew out of my hands and I tried to fall softly. I ended up with a bleeding scrape on my right hand, a big patch of road rash on my left leg, and a few other random scrapes and scratches. Mostly my breath just got knocked out of me. Several people ran over to ask me if I was okay.

Once I gathered myself together (deciding that my warm-up was over and I needed to go to the starting line), I noticed that my hand scrape was bleeding so I grabbed a napkin from a food vendor, which I clutched throughout the race. I didn't think to pour water over the wound before discarding my water bottle, which I regretted...I hoped that the bleeding washed out any bad stuff!

I seeded myself in the starting area near the front, but not too near. I didn't want to be held back, but on the other hand I knew there were some fast runners there! (I literally knew some of the fast runners.)

When the gun went off I started my Garmin and took off pretty hard. The first few blocks were downhill, so it was "easy" to go fast. I heard several people say later that they went out too fast, and I suppose I did too, but that extra fast first mile helped me in the end, I believe. After that the rest of the course was generally flat, with only slight inclines and declines to the road.

The five-mile or 8K race turned out to be short, 4.9 miles, and the mile markers were just a little shy of full miles instead (at least the first one, which made the others a little short as well. A guy with a stopwatch called out "7:10" as I passed the one-mile mark! It was a nice thought, but not quite a mile. My actual time for the first full mile was 7:39.

After that I settled into a good eight-minute pace for the next two miles. Somewhere in there a tall, slender blonde woman caught up to and passed me. I tried to stay pretty close on her heels because she seemed to be maintaining a steady eight-minute pace. Eventually she slipped ahead, probably concurrently with me slowing down a little more. We turned around at the halfway point and I grabbed a cup of water at the aid station. Mile 2 - 8:01. Mile 3 - 8:02.

Now I was in the second half. This should be where I kicked it back up to a negative split--but I was getting tired. I liked seeing the oncoming runners and cheered them on, but couldn't help slowing a bit. I may have been allowing myself to slack a little in mile 4 with the intent of pushing hard in the final mile...I know that went through my mind but I'm not too sure I could have gone faster anyway. Mile 4 - 8:13.

Sometime during these miles I caught up to another woman (not the tall blonde) who had been ahead of me. She was walking a bit. I said something encouraging about how fast she was and she said, ruefully, that she had gone out too fast. When she started running she passed me again but I soon passed her walking again. I felt bad for her and wished she would try to run along with me. She ended up finishing just a little behind me.

I really did plan to kick hard in the final mile, but that hill from the beginning was my nemesis. I did run hard, but just couldn't manage a sub-8 pace. However, thanks to those fast starting miles and a course distance just under five miles (4.9), I saw 39 on the clock as I neared. I was going to break 40 minutes and PR! I was stunned! And thrilled! In the final steps of the finish chute, another female came up from behind and we crossed the finish line simultaneously. Since she was running so fast, she pulled ahead of me after the finish and turned in her bib tag before me. I didn't really care but felt a little bemused.

Finish time - 39:31. Final .9 mile - 7:32 (8:25 pace). Average overall pace - 8:04.

While I was waiting for results to be tallied I went back to my car and got my phone so I could communicate with the world. Then I checked out the age group results and I was listed third in 40-49! But by the time the awards were given, it turned out they had missed someone who was first in AG, which bumped me to fourth. Bummer. I was fourth in the Yankee Doodle Dash 10K, but there the other three were all 47-somethings...no way I could beat that. Here I am pretty sure I was within a minute of both third and second.

Once I knew I was out of the awards, I didn't stick around. Instead of leaving, though, I walked into downtown Snohomish to check out Snohomish Bicycle Shop (I had a Living Social voucher to spend). But they didn't open for half an hour. To pass the time, I wandered into a neighboring cupcake shop. I ordered a mini cupcake and some tea, and watched the parade from a window side table. Once the bike shop opened, I was able to spend my voucher on a bike rack, water bottle holder, and a shirt on sale.

So far that morning I had run 6.2 miles. I felt like I needed to run at least a couple more miles to finish off the week. When I got home I headed out to squeeze in a two-mile run. Or 5K.

I felt sure that I would be slow after the hard run earlier. But surprisingly, I didn't feel too bad. I ended up with a 5K progression run! 10:05, 9:12, 8:31 (and this included a hill), and .1 at 8:01 pace! Total time 28:38.

I stopped at QFC and Starbucks where I picked up lunch and a beverage. Then I went home and made this.

Rainier Cherry Pie. We brought it to my parents' house on Sunday and it was delicious. Because the cherries were sweet I only used 2/3 cup sugar in the pie. The crust was like shortbread. It was a great success.

The rest of Saturday was easy-peasy. A short bike ride, teriyaki chicken, leftover cake from work for dessert. We watched Year One (movie with Michael Cera and Jack Black) on TV. It was sort of funny..although I did fall asleep a little.

It really was a great day. Not only did I get in some amazing running, I got to stroll around Snohomish, do some window shopping and real shopping, and soak up a summer day. I can't imagine what I would have wanted to do differently.

*Yeah, it took me a long time to get this done.

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Juggling the schedule (and catching up)

2011-07-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a bit of difficulty sitting down and writing right now (as opposed to sitting down and eating, sitting down and watching TV, etc.) So here's a quick catch-up since my last post a week ago. Hopefully it won't be too long and tedious.

I continue to feel pleased with my ability to follow my Portland training schedule. (We'll see if I still feel pleased after my upcoming 18-miler.) Now that I'm back to the long runs, I know that the amount of time running takes out of life will have more impact on my plans and the plans of others.... so I have tried to plan my schedule to accommodate life, and stay open to changes as needed.

My longest run so far (since Boston) was my 16-miler last week, which I did on...Thursday night. Talk about tweaking the schedule! We had plans for the weekend, and I suspected that spending three hours running might be burdensome, so I put the run on Thursday night after work.

Now, I am not a huge fan of running after work. Even though my body tends to be looser at the end of the day, my mind is weary and that makes my body weary. I am not someone who finds a great release in running at the end of a hard day. But sometimes it is the only option. So I did it.

I got home from work as quickly as I could, changed clothes, and was out the door at 5:40. Earlier I had mapped out a route so I had an idea how I could accomplish the sixteen miles. This basically consisted of doubling my typical eight-mile route. I generally prefer doing something different than multiple loops, but for this time of day I wanted to stick to an area that had plenty of sidewalks and little chance of encounters with commuters rushing to get home. There were plenty of those on my downtown route, of course, but I felt secure on the sidewalks.

I was able to get under a 10-minute average pace somewhere during mile 3. My only speed goal was to (hopefully) average under ten for the whole run. Most of my individual miles were 9:45-9:50, with a few faster splits to average out my slow beginning and a lag (9:59) in mile 11. I started out with music on my iPod, but after eight miles I switched to FM talk radio for a change. I suspected that I might be a little slower with the radio, but my pace tended to be pretty constant regardless.

The radio was a bit of a mistake in another sense, though. I didn't realize this, but apparently radio drains your battery a lot faster than recorded music. About halfway through mile 13 I was planning to switch back to music for the final kick, but I was dismayed to see my battery fully depleted!

So I had to do the last couple of miles music free. Except for this running through my head, the last thing playing on the radio before I lost power.... (click at your peril).

I finished with 16.06 miles, 9:51 average pace. It felt hard. Not hard to run or maintain that pace, but the entire run just felt hard on my body. I attribute that to the overall exhaustion from the workday and the run. When I got home, I got in the car and drove to the nearest open Starbucks for a post-run mocha!

On Friday Rod and I drove east to his cabin in Eastern Washington (north east central Washington, to be precise). We had hoped for a little more summery weather than at home, which we got, interspersed with rainstorms! It was still an opportunity to lounge around and read, go see the Harry Potter movie (I have now seen the first and last movies, though I have read all the books), and catch a free concert at the Ephrata summer music festival. (Also eat barbecued ribs on Friday night and pizza on Saturday!)

On Saturday I got in an early 10-miler on the hilly gravel roads around Rimrock. I didn't stress on how much slower I was on gravel roads than pavement (10:45 average pace overall). I don't know if it was the slow pace or that gravel on dirt really is easier on the legs, but my legs never felt beat up after that run. By Monday they felt fresh with no weekend residual soreness! I was able to run 6.41 miles in an hour Monday morning, 9:21 average pace. The rather short distance was due to my need to get to work on time--an ongoing burden!

Today (and for the rest of the week), I put into play another another juggling act, switching around my scheduled runs. Originally today was a tempo run, Friday would be the 18-mile long run (already a switch from the typical schedule), and Sunday would be a medium-length pace-type run.

Rod had some ideas about things to do on Sunday, so I agreed to switch my weekend run to Saturday. In fact, I switched it right into a five-mile road race in Snohomish! I noticed that my tempo run today was supposed to include 4-5 tempo miles...so I traded that to Saturday. The race will be my tempo run.

So today's new plan was eight miles with three at half-marathon pace (8:30) and three at marathon pace (9:00). Unlike some other runs, I thought I could manage that fairly easily. By "easily" I simply mean doing it. I don't mean that it would be an easy run.

And it wasn't especially easy, but it got done. First 2.2 miles warm-up at sub-10 average. Then three miles at HMP goal pace (8:29, 8:23, 8:31), followed by three miles at MP goal pace (8:50, 8:58, 9:05), and a fast finish with just under half a mile at 7:44 pace (mostly downhill, I'll admit). If I'd realized how close I was I would have bumped it up to a half mile finish, but there was that whole pesky gotta-go-to-work thing happening again.

The next run isn't until Friday--18 miles! I need to try to start early in the morning so I don't run out of time. I realize that doing an 18-miler the day before a road race is not a recipe for a PR. Well, I'm not looking to find that sub-40 five-mile in this run. Really I consider this a training tool, running a hard(ish) fast(ish) race on tired legs. We'll see how it goes.

I'm still planning on getting out a race recap on Langley. Plus I want to write about my experience with body composition testing today. (It was a good experience, very empowering!)

A win or a fail?

2011-07-17T15:04:00.001-07:00

I'm going with a positive spin and calling it a win. I'm talking about my speed work run on Wednesday morning.*

I was out for my second run since the Langley Half Marathon on Sunday (recap to come). I did eight miles on Monday, easy but 9:20 average pace, figuring that the DOMS would be setting in soon. Sure enough, my quads were quite a bit stiffer on Tuesday. However, they weren't bad by the next day, which was a much quicker recovery than last year!

On my training plan for Wednesday I prescribed the usual 6-8 miles with 3 x 1-mile repeats at 5K pace. That seemed like a good idea when I came up with it--certainly easier than a longer tempo run. But Now? I had my doubts.

The first question was what to call 5K pace. I decided on 7:45 to 8:00, ideally under 8:00. In a "real" 5K I would hope for 7:30-7:45 pace, but I didn't see that happening. In fact, I questioned whether I could manage faster than 8:15, even.

I started with my two-mile warm-up. I was encouraged when I did it under 20 minutes, but still, it's a big jump from 10-minute pace to 8!

But I sacrificed my lungs to the running gods, and threw myself out there for the first mile...7:50! I was shocked and pleased. I jogged for a quarter mile and then tackled mile 2. Again a pleasant surprise--7:49. Another quarter mile rest.

The last mile was hardest. I was fatigued, and this mile had uphills and a turnaround. I gave it my all--well, most of my all, as much as I could dig up, and finished this one in 8:01, technically two seconds out of range. To make a 5K I tacked on another tenth (unfortunately about 8:30 pace). If you add up all the splits I did the 5K in less than 25 minutes (running, not including the recovery jogs, of course.

Then I ran easy the rest of the way home, for a total distance of 7.5 miles.

So my last speed mile was out of range, but I think the effort was a success overall.

*I actually started writing this on Wednesday night, but fell asleep and had to take it up later. I wrote over the weekend in an area with no signal, now I am hoping to be able to post back in civilization!

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A little more about the Lord Hill trail run

2011-07-08T21:37:00.001-07:00

I have gotten more input into why my 10-mile trail run showed up as 9.73 miles on my Garmin. Maybe I'm not a course cutter after all!

First I read another blogger's post about how her trail runs measure short. Then my brother-in-law, who lives on Lord Hill and runs in the park, says his GPS always measures way short. This is because the trees in the woods sometimes interfere with satellite reception. Then when Garmin corrects that, it does so in a straight line, but the actual trail is wiggly and winding. That's how the mileage gets shortened.

I feel better now.

Here's a good picture of me running (borrowed from Facebook). I have no idea who that woman is behind me. I don't remember her at all! (But I guess she passed me.)

Oh, and my official time was 2:02:33. And I was third in my age group (out of 14).

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Yankee Doodle Dash

2011-07-04T20:35:00.001-07:00

Happy Fourth of July (Independence Day)! I am taking a hiatus from eating to write a quick post. Hopefully this will keep me away from the delicious dessert options for a little while. I would like my stomach to feel a little less full before I put more in it!

First thing this morning was the Y's annual Fourth of July run. I was doing the 10K. They also have a 5K and a kids' race. And a one-mile, but maybe that's the kids' race.

The 10K started at 8:30, and I left my house around 7:30 to warm up and run to the Y. For 10K races I often do a 1.8 mile warm up. I thought I'd go about a mile and then turn towards the Y. Obviously I didn't need an hour for two miles, but I like to have plenty of extra time.

The way my legs felt as I headed out, I thought maybe I'd need all of that hour after all! My quads were still stiff and sore from the trail run, and I felt slow. My Garmin seemed to confirm that, flashing 11s and 12s as I ~~ran~~ plodded. There seemed to be a little Garmin voodoo going on, though, as my first mile popped up at 10:15. Not fast, but faster than expected. This gave me a little boost, and I finished mile 2 at just over 20 minutes.

(N.b., at this point I just succumbed to a small piece of rustic nectarine tart. It is very thin and light, not filling at all!)

I used the bathroom at Starbucks, then headed back to the Y for a total warm-up of 2.55 miles in just under 25 minutes.

It was about 8:15, and I used up a few of my remaining minutes standing in line in the Y restroom. Yes, I had just left Starbucks; I just wanted to be sure I had wrung out every drop I could. By the time I left the stall the line had quadrupled and I was relieved that I had relieved myself early. Ha. I felt sorry for the ladies still in line...some of whom had small children, so I am sure they wanted to empty their bladders before running! (Sorry, guess I read too many mommy blogs....)

I spent the remaining ten minutes milling about the in the starting area crowd and watching the aerobic dance warm-up. They did two songs, the first of which I don't remember and the second of which was, obviously, "YMCA."

Then we gathered at the starting line. I stayed a couple layers behind the front row. That worked pretty well because I didn't hold anyone back (I don't think), I didn't have to swerve around anyone, and I was able to pace myself by chasing the fasties.

At first I wasn't able to look at my Garmin, due to wearing contacts (bad close-up vision) and sunglasses (even harder to see, especially in the shade). But luckily there was a guy nearby giving his running mate a running commentary of our pace...7:30, 7:20, 7:45, 8:00 (slight incline, perhaps).

The 10K course covers streets that I have run many, many times (not just past races). In fact, most of it is on my regular weekday running route. This was good, I guess, as I knew exactly what to expect. This was just like a tempo run.

The first mile or more was a gradual downhill. I was able to eyeball my watch at the first split and saw about 7:56 (not sure about exact seconds). Pretty good, that was my goal pace for a perfect race. Of course, I would not be able to hold that for six miles.

In mile 2 we went uphill for about four blocks by the hospital. That doesn't sound far (and it wasn't), but it is a a challenging hill and it did slow me a bit. After 11th or 10th street we headed back downwards for a stretch before turning north on Alverson toward Legion Park.

(Just broke for a piece of plum tart. Don't worry, it's like air, really. I like it even better, the plums are so, um, tart and tasty! It's tartalicious.)

At this point I began running adjacent to an older male (you know, my age), who seemed to be running about the same pace as me. We traded places up through about mile 4. (That's where I dropped him.) During this last bit before the turnaround (just before the halfway point) I thought we were going downhill and would have to go back up after the turn. But it was one of those mysterious optical illusion false downhills, because after we turned it was clear that now we were going downhill. This would only last a short while, though, as we would soon approach the most irritating hill on the course (to me, at least).

I took a water cup at the three mile aid station. I had been feeling a little dry throat, so I gave up the seconds it cost. My second and third miles had been slower than the first, probably in the 8:15 range. I also knew that the first half was the faster half of the course, logistically and historically for me.

When we got to the hill I had mildly dreaded, my pace (and that of my pacer) slowed. What I have found about this hill is also that it is a challenge to get back up to pace when the road flattens out. For a long time my Garmin was reading 8:30 and I couldn't get it to budge. Finally it wavered to 8:25. Of course, it's not like I really trust the Garmin to be reliable.

Let me tell you, running 10K effort is hard. My breathing was labored and my gut was clutching. 8:20 felt as hard as 7:45, actually. Neither one of them felt particularly fast to my legs, and actually I am somewhat surprised that my pace was as fast as it was. I actually had felt a lot stronger on Friday, when I was running the same stretch at a 9:15 pace and chatting easily with someone riding alongside me on a bike.

I believe that my last three miles, before t he break to the finish, were in the 8:20s. After mile 4 I thought it would be good to speed up, and perhaps I did, but not significantly. I did leave my pacer behind and pass a few others, but I think that was more about them fading than me speeding up. I really wanted to put a push on in the last full mile, but....

However, I did manage a kick in the last quarter mile. It helped that we had a bit of downhill to the finish. When, I passed six miles I thought I had a shot at 50 minutes (meaning under 51) but my math was weaker than my legs. Or maybe I should say, as weak as my legs. I was, however, running around a 7:30 pace for this last quarter mile.

Sadly, I saw 51 minutes pass before my eyes while the finish line was still ahead of me. I barreled across and pushed my stop at 51:13. With a little luck, my official time may have been a second faster. According to Garmin, 6.25 miles at 8:12 pace. My official 10K pace would be about 8:15.

I quickly checked out the finish boards (old school, they staple up the bib tags in the order of finishing) to see if I might have placed in my age group. I've actually won my age group in this race in the past with a slower time than today's. However, today the 40-something fasties were out in force...well, four strong, anyway, as that's how many beat me. I recognized at least two names from the past. I'm sure they were all sub-50. I'm pretty sure I was fifth in age group. I'll probably study and analyze the results in depth when they are posted (don't worry, I won't belabor it here) but I didn't spend too much time on it today. I decided not to stay for the awards ceremony since I wasn't getting one. (Not sour grapes, just efficient allocation of time!)

My parents weren't there this year as my mother is sick, so I got no race pics and I had to take my own post-race picture.

With my 2.55 mile warm up and 6.25 mile race, I wanted to run at least .2 mile more to round up to nine miles. I chugged around the block on sloooow legs. Then I figured I might as well jog as walk down to Starbucks, putting me just over 15K for the day.

Perfect for a day of eating! Rod and I dressed in red, white and blue (well, I did, his just happened) and headed to the beach.

In the afternoon, Rod entertained us from the lawn.

It was a good day!

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Lord Hill Trail Run

2011-07-02T19:15:00.001-07:00

I should have taken pictures. When you're not running a race for time, does it really matter if you blow a few minutes taking scenic shots to illustrate your blog? (I don't have the skill of photography on the run.) But even on a just-for-fun run, I tend to get focused on the running and forget about things like pictures. Maybe there will be some pictures on the website or Facebook that I can borrow--maybe even one or two of me!

To backtrack just a bit...this morning I ran (and hiked) a 10-mile trail race at Lord Hill Regional Park in Snohomish (though it's really much closer to Monroe). My sister actually lives in the residential portion of Lord Hill, so it seems crazy that I've never been to the park. But this was my first visit. I still don't have a good perspective on how the park location relates to her house. Except that you go up a very long hill to get to it, and we ran up and down a lot of hills! As the race director said at the beginning, "Lord, the Hill!"

This race had several distance options: 50K and 20-mile (which started early), and the 10 and 5-mile versions. I personally think that the 10-mile is the best option, as you repeat the 10-mile ~~torture~~ loop for the longer distances, and cut out some for the 5-mile. With 10 miles you get everything without excess.

When I arrived at around 8:45 (the start was at 9:30) the earlier runners had filled the parking lot already, so I had to drive almost half a mile up the hill to park, and walk back down. Luckily I had plenty of time to get down, use the porta potty and get my bib before the pre-race briefing and raffle (I didn't win anything).

I was way too close to the front of the crowd, so I stepped aside a little and let some of the ~~pushier~~ faster runners go ahead of me. I had no expectations or desire to race this. I am not experienced enough at trail running to try, plus I was saving my legs for a "real" race, a 10K on Monday, plus I just wanted to have a good time. I had a vague hope of doing it in two hours, but as we began ascending the hills, I knew that was just a pipe dream.

As everyone knows, on trail runs you often walk up hills, especially steeper ones, and this trail soon headed uphill. To my recollection, the first mile, and perhaps further, was quite steadily uphill, and a good portion of that single track. For quite a while we had a very long stream of hikers trudging upwards. No one made any attempts to pass.

As we crested this portion of the course, the trail split and the five-milers turned left, while the ten-milers kept right. It seemed to me that most of the runners were doing the five-mile, as once we split I saw only a few people ahead of me. (Of course, I'm sure there were faster runners who had already taken off as well. And fortunately there were also people behind me, although I wasn't assured of that until I turned around and headed back.)

Eventually I had to stop for a moment and take off my sunglasses. It was a bright, sunny day, but much of the course was now in deep woods and it was too dark to see safely with sunglasses on. When I paused, the persons ahead of me widened the gap and I didn't see anyone again until the turnaround.

Except for the anxiety of wondering if I was last, and some inability to cope with my persistently slow pace, I enjoyed my solitude on the woodsy trails. I ran on the flat portions and most hills, and walked or jog-walked on the steepest portions, as well as the occasional wet and mucky bit, and over logs and big roots. Despite my care, I did manage to trip over a rock one time and flew through the air onto the ground. I came away with a scraped knee and trail rash on my left leg, plus a scraped right elbow, but no serious injury.

The trail was quite well marked with flags, especially at trail intersections, and I felt I was following the route quite easily. There were a few places where you might go either direction depending on what point you were at, but the flags and arrows on the ground kept things straight. I don't think I took any wrong turns. (This will be significant later.)

The aid station and turnaround was purported to be about halfway, but I am pretty sure I only had gone four miles or so (according to Garmin) when I approached it. I must say that the miles seemed to tick away very slowly. Undoubtedly because of my slow pace, but I also wondered a little if Garmin could be off...I especially wondered this at the end when I had a distance discrepancy.

At the aid station I finally rejoined some of the runners ahead of me, who had stopped to refresh themselves. That is one of the things about trail running that is cool (but odd)...people don't freak out about frittering away time at rest stops. I had my handheld, so I didn't need water, but I grabbed a fruit newton and a couple orange wedges before starting back.

For a while I ran just behind a couple who were on their second lap for either the 20-mile or 50K. I was happy to be with them at a tricky turn where the flagging was confusing. Eventually they pulled ahead of me but later I passed them and stayed ahead. This was not an exceptional accomplishment considering that they already had ten miles on me!

I did get to see other runners still on their "out" stage, which encouraged me that I was not last! I caught up to others, passed some, got passed by some, and ran close behind or ahead of a few on single track stretches.

While I was certainly not racing, in this second half I got comfortable with pushing my pace on the flat and downhill stretches, even those that were laced with roots and rocks. Of course "fast" meant seeing numbers in the tens, with occasional flashes of nines! (Although those were not the numbers I saw for splits!) But I also felt pretty strong on the uphills, and in fact at the end of the race I was complimented on that by a guy I had passed on the hills. (Of course, he passed me on the downhill at the end.)

Part of this route included bridle trails and I passed three girls on horses twice (at least I think it was the same trio both times). I also saw walkers and hikers at various times. No mountain bikers, though.

At six miles my total time was under 80 minutes, and I briefly thought that meant I could possibly finish in two hours. Of course that was a math error, using a 10-minute mile as a base pace, rather than even the 12-minute mile that was my optimistic goal pace. At eight miles, with less than 20 minutes remaining before two hours, it was clear that could not happen. Still, with two miles to go, I felt the lure of the finish pulling me forward.

Except that there was still a couple miles of hilliness to go. One last up, I believe. But then, for the last mile or so, the trail opened up into a smooth dirt and gravel road and I called on my racing legs to barrel down as fast as I could. I know I saw a 7 on my Garmin for a second or two (although my overall pace was 10:43).

And then I crossed the finish "line"! My time was 2:03. And my Garmin said 9.75 miles. What the heck? Was the course short? Had I cut the course somewhere? Were the satellites awry? I figure I would have been under 2:06 if I'd gone the full ten.

I suppose it is most likely I made a mistake on the course. How, I don't know. I'm still hanging on to the idea of a satellite problem!

In the end, it doesn't matter much. I wasn't racing and it's not like I won anything. Even though I was a little short of my scheduled ten miles, I made up for it with the .43 mile uphill walk to my car. I am still puzzled by it, though. (When I upload Garmin data I am going to compare the map with the course map to see if I can spot the discrepancy.)

Before leaving I ate my lunch made up of post race food. I had half a bratwurst and bun, some watermelon, and two gooey delicious brownies. Yum!

I really enjoyed this run, and I would definitely do it again if I have the opportunity. I might even do the March version, although the weather would likely be far more unpleasant then. I don't know, however, if I would ever have the guts to double the distance and do the 20-mile! I do think, though, I have a good shot at that two hour finish....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Rock and Roll and stuff

2011-06-25T21:15:00.001-07:00

The good news: 1:55:10. The bad news: 1:55:10. Ha. Kidding. Sort of.

I don't really think there's anything wrong with a solidly sub-2 half marathon (it is my fastest in 2011). I'm pretty satisfied with my time and the general evenness of my splits (more on that in a mo).

Buuuuut...it would have been nice to be a little closer to a PR (sub-1:53). Buuuuut...I am still a little envious of all the mid-1:50s halfers who have broken 1:50 this year (I read a lot of running blogs). Buuuuut...8:45 pace,* while solid, is so predictable and wouldn't it have been nice to surprise myself with something faster?

The Seattle R 'n' R half is actually a great course for me and it plays to my strengths. It's a nice combination of mostly gentle hills, up and down, plus flat. The uphills are matched by downhills, so you do get a reward for your efforts. My typical training routes include both up and down hills and I have been working on running strong on the ups and making the best of the downs.

It turns out that about half of my miles were in the 8:40s, a few were around 9, and a few were 8:30 or below. Yup, that looks like 8:45 to me!

Okay, I went and grabbed my Garmin so I could look at the details....

1 - 8:48
2 - 8:43
3 - 8:49
4 - 8:47
5 - 9:03 (long uphill)
6 - 8:23 (long downhill)
7 - 8:45
8 - 8:55
9 - 9:01 (most of this mile was through a tunnel with no satellite signal...it was flat and easy but I don't like the tunnel so I probably was lagging...and I had no Garmin pace to encourage me to pick it up)
10 - 9:01 (no idea what was going on here, it may have been somewhat uphill coming into downtown Seattle, or maybe just general fatigue....)
11 - 8:48
12 - 8:31
13 - 8:23
.15 - 7:27 pace (woohoo!)

I was happy to see that I had the capability to pick up the pace in the last couple miles, but wonder why I couldn't do that in a few more of the early miles? Of course I didn't want to burn out by going too fast in the beginning. I felt like I was running at a pace that required effort but not excessive work. I wanted to have strong times at the 5K and 10K mats as my mom was getting text updates (5K just a bit over 27, 10K just a hair under 54). There was apparently also a "9-mile" mat but it must have been in the wrong place because my time was way off.

I was pleased at how solid my pace was on the hills. I know I was slower than 9-minute pace at times but I managed to pull out the averages. Same thing (in reverse) for the downhills.

After last year I didn't intend to run R 'n' R Seattle again. I signed up this year because some other plans fell through. I am planning to have other plans again next year but I wouldn't rule out ever doing it again. The half, I mean. Never, ever the full.

My mom and I stayed at the Days Inn Tukwila South and I would definitely stay there again for the event. Yes, it is just a humble Days Inn, but we have stayed in any number of rather expensive European hotels that are slightly less nice than a basic American budget motel, so our standards are not high. As long as it is clean and vermin-free, we are there! Any special bonuses and we will rave like the Ritz. The benefits to this Days Inn--literally right around the corner from the starting line, plus a Starbucks nearby which I didn't take advantage of but would in future. Also complimentary breakfast (not early enough for me, but my mom went), and best of all (according to my mom), quick and easy access to the freeway for departure. Yes, it is right next to the freeway, but surprisingly, the noise didn't disrupt my sleep at all. I slept as well or better than any other pre-race night.

On Friday morning I took a hiatus from work to zip down to the Expo and packet pick-up. This was a great idea because afternoon traffic was bad even on the freeway, I can't imagine battling downtown Seattle on the night of a Mariners game! I was back at work at 12:30, then we went straight to Tukwila later in the afternoon.

We ate dinner at Grazie Ristorante near Southcenter. I had a primavera salad (which turned out to have just vegetables, no lettuce, a surprise to me!) and linguine Marco, with roasted chicken, capers, roasted garlic, feta, pine nuts, white wine and feta. The sauce was a lot more buttery than I expected, but it was delicious!

Afterwards we drove around for quite a long time looking for Starbucks so I could buy coffee to save for morning. I hadn't noticed that we had a coffee maker in the room, though regardless I would have preferred the Starbucks anyway. It was quite a frustrating endeavor, as we drove up and down the same roads. Meanwhile it was raining hard, which added to the stress as I imagined what similar weather would be like in the race.** Finally we found success at Barnes and Noble, and I acquired my Americano doctored with cream and splenda. I did drink a few sips to soothe myself on the way back to the motel. Especially when we took a wrong turn and ended up in a scary industrial area. My iPhone map app put us back on track.

Back at the Days Inn we had cake from work for dessert, and then called it a night.

Here I am this morning ready to run! It's the only picture I have until there are race photos.

I had a Goodwill jacket for the beginning which I tossed after a mile. After I finished I went over to the merchandise tent and bought a light jacket to wear in case I got chilled after my body temp cooled. I also got a "free" Rock Seattle tee shirt with my purchase which I like as much as anything I could have bought. (Actually I could have bought it at the Expo but they gave them away after the race.)

I was a little smarter about my departure than I was last year and was able to catch the bus at the International District station instead of walking all the way downtown. My mom met me at the Northgate transit center and we went to Sunflour Cafe for a lovely late breakfast. Banana sourdough pancakes and bacon. Oh yeah.

************
*My average pace of 8:45 is based on a distance of 13.15. My official pace was 8:48.
**But it wasn't like that! The weather for the run was perfect, cloudy and 50s. I don't know what it warmed up to later, but it was very pleasant for the first two hours.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tiny taper!

2011-06-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

And the taper for Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon begins...NOW! Actually it began at 7:45 this morning, when I left the Y, and it's not so much a taper as a rest and recovery period for my legs before the race on Saturday morning. Approximately 47 hours of coddling should have them ready to run, I hope!

I've probably written before that I don't follow a full-fledged taper for a half marathon or shorter distance race, but I do like to have at least one full rest day before any race where I want to try for a good performance. For major races, either longer (marathon, half) or races where I hope to PR, I actually like to have two days off running to feel my best. For Saturday, I had originally planned on doing my usual Y thing on Thursday (elliptical, yoga), then taking Friday as a full rest.

But my ankle and heel have been pretty flared up in the last couple days (probably as a result of my speed work yesterday), and as I limped around the house getting ready to go to the Y this morning, I decided that this was it. I'd do the morning workout then call it good. Hopefully I can remember to ice my ankle tonight, I think that helps a little. I should have done it last night but I didn't. I would like the discomfort to go away, but I am not too concerned about any effect on the race. The pain almost always goes away once I'm warmed up.

I don't have a specific goal for the race on Saturday. I feel prepared to do well, but I don't want to set my expectations too high. On the other hand, I would like to do a little better than just running at goal marathon pace (which would give me about a 1:58). Last year I had a 1:58 but that was with a bathroom stop, so in fact I was running a bit faster than the time would indicate. My speed work and other runs seem to suggest that I am about back to where I was last year.

My final run was yesterday, Wednesday morning, and it went great (although perhaps it was a little too long). Everything went exactly as planned.

2.2 miles - warmup. 10:07, 9:38, plus .2 at 9:51 pace.

3.1 miles - tempo/fantasy race pace. 8:23, 8:23, 8:17, plus .1 at 8:37 pace. My goal for those miles was 8:30 pace. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it, so I pushed it a little too hard!

.45 recovery - 9:36 pace

4 x .25 miles at the track, with short recovery jogs in between - 1:52 (7:25 pace), 1:52 (7:21 pace), 1:52 (7:26 pace), 1:48 (7:10 pace)

.70 recovery at 9:14 pace

.27 recovery at 8:59 pace

I mistakenly hit the lap button during the final recovery, that's why it's split up. I didn't realize I was so close to a full mile! Total distance 8.07 miles (yeah, that extra .03 would have rounded things up nicely--but I was already running late).

I also went to yoga last night, the Wednesday version of my Monday class. I really enjoy this class and instructor; I may have to try to go twice a week more often. The reason I don't is that it's a little bit far away from me and is at 7:30 p.m., which means I don't get home until 9:00. I'm in the habit for Mondays, but adding another late night would be hard. My Thursday yoga class (which I will skip tonight in favor of rest) is at 7:15, but only a mile from my house so I still get home at 8:30.

I am also trying to do some judicious carb loading. You know, not pigging out but getting some glycogen in my system. Waffles for breakfast!

Portland Marathon training begins!

2011-06-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I was tinkering with potential marathon training schedules for Portland. I planned on a 12-week plan, which would allow me to start it in July. That seemed long enough considering that I still have a good base. My idea (which I did adopt) was to jump into an 18-week format around Week 5.

But as I plotted out the long runs from week to week it seemed apparent that Week 5/my Week 1 should be the week that ended with the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. (This week!) That would be equivalent to a 14-mile long run (with a warm-up), and subsequent weeks would fall right into line.

That leaves a couple of extra weeks to play with, which is good because I do have plans on a couple of weekends that don't fit nicely into the training plan. I figure I can just slip those weekends in and resume the "plan" the following week.

I still have some tinkering to do, as I have only actually written out the "long run" schedule and the remainder of each week still needs to be specified. I'm sure I'll work with my usual pattern of one recovery/general aerobic run, one speedwork (track or tempo), one marathon pace run, and one long run each week. I managed to narrowly avoid scheduling a 20-miler on a weekend when I am going to be out of town with Rod and his sister. Somehow I think my spending half a day running would not add a lot to our weekend plans!

I am feeling pretty good about the Rock 'n' Roll half on Saturday, as well as the weeks of training to follow. All my runs lately have been good. Last Wednesday I did eight half-mile intervals all under 8-minute pace. On Friday I did 6.36 miles GA (I had to be at work early). Then there was the 5K race on Saturday and a great long run on Sunday, 13.28 miles at sub-9:30 average pace.

Today, though the first day of the training plan, is a non-running day. I think it's always good to start marathon training with a semi-rest day, don't you?

Cross country

2011-06-20T12:29:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I ran my first ever cross country 5K (or cross country race of any kind). I've run tons of road races (obviously), and several trail "races," but never a full-fledged cross country race. I know this one was because it was at Lakewood High School and the cross country coach was in charge.

I learned that a cross country course is a bit of a hybrid between a trail run and road run. Actually there aren't roads, but this one had a bit of pavement and track, a cross country trail through the woods (a lot like trail running, but not technical, just dirt and gravel), and some actual cross country across fields and such.

This run was in memory of Lakewood High student athlete Scott Skiles who died almost five years ago in a car crash just before his senior year. It raised money for the school's booster club and scholarship fund. They had both a 5K and one-mile event.

On Friday night I prepped for the race by hanging with the Book Club ladies, eating vast amounts of chocolatey food, watching the movie Chocolat, and even drinking (unusual for me) about 2/3 bottle of chocolate stout. Not only do I rarely drink, I never drink beer--but this paired nicely with the chocolate hummus that I made.

Yes, I said chocolate hummus...chocolate peanut butter hummus, to be exact.

No, that is not a bowl of frosting...it is delicious chocolate PB hummus.

One 15-oz. can garbanzo beans
3 oz. smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Water

Blend everything in food processor until smooth. Add water while processor is running, until hummus is desired consistency. Serve on whatever you please!

I promise you it is very good. I may in fact have eaten way.too.much. Even though I thought I ate modestly of everything else, suddenly at some point my stomach was overly, uncomfortably full. I had to unzip my jeans, and when we finally started the movie, I fell asleep during at least the first half (I was up really early that morning).

The rest of our Chocolat menu....not everything was chocolatey. Cheese fondue with bread and veggies, fruit with caramel, peanut butter and nutella, deviled eggs, chocolate martinis (I stuck with the beer as it was "lighter"), bacon-wrapped shrimp with spicy barbecue sauce, chocolate marinated flank steak (made by me), grilled asparagus, tossed salad. For dessert I brought a decadent chocolate ganache layer cake, but we were too full to eat it and I sent everyone home with big pieces.

When I got home at 1 a.m. I was no longer painfully full, just full, so I had a tiny slice of cake just to try it. Mmmmyumm.

I got together my stuff for Saturday and set the alarm for 6. That wasn't a lot of sleep!

Saturday morning was grey and drizzly. Too bad, the last few days had been quite nice and the weather turned just in time for the weekend. Of course.

I got up to Lakewood High at 8 and the 5K wasn't until 9:30. There was a one-mile race at 9 and I thought I might incorporate that into my warm-up. I picked up my bib and used the bathroom. Then I walked up to check out where the races began. I still had time to sit in my car with the heat on for a while before I warmed up.

Finally I dragged myself out of the car and started jogging around to warm up my legs. I ran around the track a couple of times then up to the starting field. I did a couple more laps then stood behind the line-up of one-mile runners.

I followed the group across the field at brisk jog. I couldn't help but pass some of the slowest runners. I noticed that running on grass is harder than pavement...not that that's news. I was going about 9:30 pace.

Just ahead of me there was a little boy, about eight years old, who would run a little, stop to walk, then start running again when I approached. I decided to run along and pace him, encouraging him to keep going. That was quite a challenge because he was breathing hard and half crying all the way. I started using the tricks I use on myself, like run to the guy in the blue coat, run to the fence, etc. A couple of times he did stop, but I coaxed him along and pretty soon we got to the final stretch, the track. I saw the finish clock ahead and thought he might finish under 10 minutes! He ran hard and although the clock passed 10, it was only by a few seconds. He did a great job!

I veered off to the side, bypassing the finish line, and continued around the track to the cut-off to the parking lot, where I dropped off my jacket at the car and headed back up to the starting area. After jogging around the field a couple more times, my total warm-up distance was 3.1 miles.

Then we all gathered along the "starting line," e.g. edge of the field. There were maybe 30-40 people running. A bunch of them were high school cross country kids, but there were a few adults as well. Meaning, some assurance that I wouldn't finish last!

Although I have done a few trail races, none have been at race pace effort, so this was a brand new race experience for me. I was pretty certain I would not be able to manage a sub-8 5K pace, so I hoped just to average sub-9. I really didn't know what was realistic.

I hurtled across the starting area with a pretty hard effort. The speedy younger folk soon disappeared into the distance, but other than that I was holding my own. The first mile was around the field, across some sort of grassy area, and down alongside the track for a bit. Several times along the course we had to run down grassy hills. The first time I was nervous of falling and a coach-like guy told me just to let myself go with it. I did better the next couple times.

I wish I could remember the course well enough to describe it, but my recollection is fuzzy. This is what I remember: grass, dirt, more grass, pavement, grass, trail through woods (dirt and gravel), two short steep gravel hills, more grass and dirt, repeat trail and hills, grass again, track and FINISH. The trail in the woods was probably about 3/4 mile long and it is the school's cross country trail.

The course was fun to run, but one of the things I found challenging, particularly on the trail, was to keep myself running hard and not lapse into easy running. This type of terrain seems so suited to leisurely jogging. I did push pretty hard, though. My first mile, which was before we got on the trail, was 8:16.

For the first mile or so, after everyone spread out, the closest people around me were a couple of males about my age or older. One was behind me and the other remained consistently ahead of me. As we crossed a field about halfway through, though, I saw him stop to walk a bit. I don't know if he had gone out too fast or what. Obviously I passed him there and he never got back ahead of me. The hills on the trail took their toll and mile 2 was 8:37.

At some point after that I caught up to a younger guy (20-29 AG), wearing lacrosse shorts, and ran on his heels the rest of the way. When we got to the final stretch on the track, however, youth prevailed, and though we both sprinted hard to the finish he pulled ahead and finished several seconds ahead of me.

I really, really wanted to finish under 27 minutes and my Garmin time says 26:59. I tried not to push stop prematurely so hopefully my actual time was a second or two faster. Mile 3 - 8:40. I really did gun it on the track, though, and my pace for the final .2 miles was under 7:40, I believe.

My total race distance was 3.2 miles. (Average pace of 8:28 per mile for that distance.) I can really see how distances can be inexact in cross country, considering that often you are just running across fields instead of on a precisely marked road. There was one place in this race where I came out on one side of a soccer field, and my destination was an opposite corner, so I just ran diagonally across. Thank goodness I didn't run around the edge or my distance would have been much further!

Click on "aerial" to view terrain!

I had been running in a short sleeved shirt, and it was raining or drizzling throughout the race, so by the finish I was more than damp. I didn't want to go all the way back to my car for a jacket, though perhaps I should have. Instead I opted for a post-race massage, since I was standing right next to the tent and they had a spot immediately available. Perhaps because there wasn't a line-up, my massage was way longer than a typical free massage. I must have been there half an hour. Halfway through they gave me a blanket as I was getting cold.

The massage therapist said she wasn't accustomed to sports massage (neither am I, actually, I just take whatever I can get), but she did a great job, really getting into my sensitive spots (glutes, quads, calves), and even doing some stretching. At the end I did start getting anxious about the time, as there were other people waiting and the awards were about to begin! I was sure I had won my age group, primarily because I wasn't even sure there was anyone else in my age group! I grabbed half a bagel to refuel while I waited.

First they did the one-mile awards. My little running companion, Grayson, won his age group!

Then the 5K, and none too soon. I was shivering in the damp. I got my first place AG medal and there were 2nd and 3rd place females behind me! They may have been walkers...but a win is a win! I would have liked to leave then, but it seemed awkward considering that we were in the bleachers and I would have had to cross in front to get past. Plus I wanted to wait to see if my secretary's son, Arjin, won anything. He's quite fast but so is his age group, 30-39. In the end he was second. The winner had a 16-something time! Unbelievable!

Here's me and Arjin after the awards.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Oregon Coast weekend

2011-06-12T22:42:00.001-07:00

I'm writing this hoping to pass time while riding in the car, heading home from a weekend on the Oregon coast. I am a terrible car passenger if I have to sit for more than an hour or so. My back tightens up and I am constantly wriggling and readjusting myself to try to get comfortable. Today (and on the drive south on Friday) my left glute has been pinching me (sometimes down the back of my leg), and it is quite bothersome. Just the left side. I guess that's better than both sides.

So I am hoping to distract myself with hunting and tapping on the iPad. (I've already finished my Runners World magazine and read a bunch of blogs. Trying to break things up a little.)

Rod and I spent the weekend in Gearhart, Oregon (just north of Seaside) at the Gearhart Ocean Inn. I had bought a Living Social deal which would have been great except that I bought one for my parents as well. For various reasons they didn't make their reservations prior to the June 1 booking deadline, and now they can't use it. So my deal was actually no deal, as I ended up paying double. Before we left I asked if I could still book for them (since the voucher is good in the fall), but they said no. I was truly on the verge of tears. I was so sad because I had really thought my parents would have enjoyed Gearhart. I did tell the manager that I would never come there again, and I wasn't being mean-spirited, I truly could not bear to go there again after this. I do understand them "needing" to enforce the rules (after all, it's much more advantageous for them to take my money and not give me anything in return), but they only sold a limited number of packages, so I do think they are being a little mean-spirited. (Added later: I have been looking into whether I can talk them into at least honoring the face value of the voucher, based on state laws regarding expiration of gift certificates. I'm still thinking on it.)

Anyhow. Enough sour grapes.

Friday morning I got up early enough before our planned departure to squeeze out about 8.6 miles. 2.2 miles easy warm-up (> 10 minute average pace) followed by 6.2 miles sub-9. Well, the first of those was 9:05 but the rest were enough under to average out. Then .2 to the door of Starbucks.

I had packed the night before (as usual, a stress-filled experience, I don't like packing!), so I was able to eat breakfast and get dressed fairly quickly. Rod picked me up about 10:00 and we headed south. And west, then south again.

Even though Rod went to law school in Eugene and has spent plenty of time in Oregon, he's never been north of Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast, or south of Westport in Washington. I, on the other hand, have been to Ocean Shores and Long Beach (WA) many times, as well as the northern and central Oregon coast. So I was kind of the tour guide and he was the wide-eyed tourist (or wild-eyed, haha).

On the way down we headed west from Olympia to Montesano and Raymond. My plan was to have lunch in Astoria, right across the border. That put lunch a little late in the day; I think we got to Astoria around 2:30. I was glad I'd had a pretty good breakfast.

The Astoria Bridge from Washington to Oregon is amazing. It's over four miles across the Columbia River, and it climbs quite steeply on the Astoria side and circles into town. There is actually a 10K in October called the Great Columbia Crossing where you run across the bridge from Washington to Oregon. I have been interested in this race for a while but I am not sure it is worth the trip for a 10K. (Plus it's a week before the Portland Marathon so I'm already traveling for that.)

We had lunch at a bakery cafe called the Blue Scorcher. What I'd failed to realize in my Internet search was that it's a vegetarian cafe. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) We both had grilled portabella sandwiches. They were good and I think Rod liked his too, even though he said something about a ribeye for dinner....

Gearhart is only twelve miles south of Astoria, so we arrived pretty quickly and checked into our room. After settling in, we headed down to walk on the beach, of course. There's about a quarter mile walk across the dunes (which is typical for the coast), then a bit of really soft sand before we got to the hard packed sand. The hard pack was great for walking, running, and biking. (It's hard enough for driving, but there can be difficulty with the soft sand...as we saw with an unlucky car on Saturday.)

To the south we could see the buildings of Seaside, so we decided to walk down the beach and see if we could make it to Seaside. We were able to walk about a mile before running into a river-like section of water that we could not ford. So we turned back. Seaside would have to be reached by car.

For dinner we crossed the street to the Pacific Way Cafe. This is a really wonderful cafe (with attached bakery open in the mornings) in a historic building that was once a boarding house and grocery store. They have a nice eclectic dinner menu, plus a selection of pizzas. I was really wanting pizza, so I ordered a side salad with grilled steak (for protein) plus a pear, gorgonzola, and walnut pizza (I got a medium and saved the leftovers for breakfast). Rod had a New York steak (probably still suffering from the veggie lunch). We also ate our way through a generous bread basket (deeelicious bakery bread) and shared a marionberry crisp for dessert.

Saturday morning I headed out for a run. Gearhart might not be so great for a long run, but I was able to put together a medium length run. I planned to run on the beach but wanted to get a few miles in first. I ended up running about a mile along 101, which luckily I didn't ever need to do again after I got a better sense of the town geography. I ran up by the golf course and through some streets of fancy beach houses at that end of town. I stopped to check out the menu at McMenamin's Sandtrap restaurant (and use the bathroom), then back down to our end of town, where I braved the beach. I only had time to do about a mile and a half on the beach, but the running was good. I was doing about a 10:30 pace on the hard sand, which was about the same as my easy road running that morning. (For the weekend, I abandoned my "sub-10 easy" efforts.) Total distance, town plus beach, 7.77 miles.

I stopped at the Pacific Way Bakery for an Americano and couldn't resist a delightful-looking cherry almond scone. I ate about 3/4 of it along with 1.5 pieces of the pizza for my breakfast.

After I got dressed we checked out bikes and took them for a pedal around town and along the beach. We accessed the beach at the north end of town, which is where we saw the unlucky car stuck in the sand. They were trying to get out on their own when we first saw them. The tow truck was arriving just as we returned from our beach riding a while later.

Riding on the hard sand was so fun! I never realized that a one-speed bike could be so fun and easy to ride. I took some pictures of Rod as we were riding along. I was impressed (with myself) at how well they turned out!

Then a couple posed shots.

Does this bike make my butt look big? Yes, yes it does.

After we finished with the bikes we walked over to the Gearhart Grocery (across the street from the bakery and cafe) and bought deli sandwiches for lunch. I went with my traditional turkey and havarti (mustard, no mayo). Rod went all out with two kinds of meat and two cheeses! All on Dave's Killer Bread. We are in Oregon, after all. I also bought some fruit, oranges and grapes and, by request, a peach for Rod. We ate in the hotel garden, in the sun.

I could have spent a lot more time lounging in the garden, reading and soaking up some almost warm rays (maybe in the 60s?). But we had some touristing to do.

First destination, ten miles south to Cannon Beach. I had stayed in Cannon Beach last year after the Newport Marathon, and noticed how much the town had grown in the years since I'd been there. Since Rod has never been to Cannon Beach, and was accustomed to his memories of sleepy Oregon Coast towns from twenty years ago, he was a little blown away by the crowds of people and blocks of shops and restaurants, not to mention dozens (hundreds?) of hotels, motels, and inns. We were primarily there to see Haystack Rock, so we parked (lots of good parking in Cannon Beach) and walked across the street to the beach.

I tried to take a picture of us, but Haystack Rock did not get in the picture and the sun messed up the lighting. It was also pretty windy.

We didn't feel like shopping, so we returned to the car and headed to Seaside. Before going into town we made a quick stop at the Nike outlet store. I finally got a new pair of running capris! The two pairs that I have are old and wearing out. I'm not going to stop using them, but I wanted a new pair in case they went south. These were only $10 off regular price (hardly a deal), but since there's no sales tax in Oregon and I need them, I thought it was okay.

Then we drove into downtown Seaside. Did I mentioned Rod was accustomed to a quiet Oregon coast? Seaside was complete cultural overload for him! I think it might be a little like a New Jersey seaside town. Arcades, candy shops, tons of tacky tourist shops, and a frenetic tourist vibe. Part of it might have been the sunny day...Northwesterners go a little crazy when the sun comes out after a long, dark, wet winter. The beach was packed with wannabe sunbathers (like Waikiki beach, haha). We walked along the Promenade and marveled at the huge, almost tenement-like hotels. At least when we got to the south promenade it was a little less populated.

We were looking for a restaurant that Rod had read about in a magazine. I will say, when we found it, it looked very nice and I'm sure the food would be great. But it was just mid-afternoon and we really didn't want to hang out for two or more hours until dinner.

I must mention that Seaside is a very historical town...it is where Lewis and Clark ended their Oregon Trail journey. Here I am with the Lewis and Clark statue on the promenade.

We went into a few shops and checked out the indoor carousel. All the carnival type rides are inside, which is just weird. Pretty soon we were happy to get in the car and head back to sleepy Gearhart.

We are just hermits, I guess. We prefer semi-deserted beaches and quiet streets and sidewalks. Back in town we walked a couple of blocks to check out a couple of shops I was interested in. One was an antique and gift shop. Really it was more decorative gifts than antiques, but I loved everything. In fact, I found a Father's Day gift for my dad! It's an embroidered "England" pillow just like my commemorative Boston Marathon pillow. Almost every city, location, and landmark is somewhere my dad has been in England. At first I resisted because it was so expensive, but after I looked up the manufacturer's website where it cost even more, I ran back to the shop to get it before they closed.

The other shop was a small nursery and garden store. We had a nice little botanical experience walking through the plants. Rod was impressed with the reasonable prices but we were not able to haul a large Japanese maple home in his Subaru.

When we abandoned the idea of eating in Seaside, we decided to go back to the Pacific Way Cafe instead. We made a reservation for 6:00, which was a good idea as they were fairly busy. They were happy to see us back! So they claimed. We do eat well, and also keep them busy filling our water glasses.

We had both pretty much decided what to order, when we learned that the special was fresh caught razor clams! (Fried, of course, how else would you fix them?) Thats what we got, of course. I also had a cup of the soup du jour, a light yam and corn chowder, and Rod had French onion soup. The dinner came with a small salad, green beans, and mashed potatoes. (Plus the bread basket.) I only had a couple bites of potato, because I wanted marionberry crisp again! Rod had coconut cream pie. We were full.

For the final activity of the day, we walked back to the beach to watch the sunset. Unfortunately a bank of clouds rolled in and obscured it...it was also pretty cold! I was ready to head back as soon as the sun disappeared.

On Sunday morning I was out a little earlier to get my run in before we left. Once again I was running at vacation pace. Today, though, I had a better idea of where to wander around town to get in a few miles (I think four) before hitting the beach. I got onto the beach at north Gearhart, ran as far as I could south, then retraced my route back. To make the distance pass, I ran from log to log. At my turnaround, I took a picture of Seaside in the distance.

I did about three miles on the beach before returning to the streets. I reached the bakery at 8.18 miles (putting my week's mileage solidly over 40). At the bakery I got my Americano, plus some scones and bread for my parents.

Finally, on our way out of town we stopped for breakfast at McMenamin's Sandtrap. It was good that we had a hearty breakfast, since the drive home was long and grueling! Working on this post did get me through the last couple of hours in the car. (That was about half of this, I finished the rest tonight.)

I brought the bakery stuff to my parents, and hung out with Eva a little. Then I went to Rod's and he barbecued steaks for our last weekend dinner. Now it's late and only a night's sleep remains of my weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

On the seventh day, I rested

2011-06-05T22:23:00.001-07:00

I think if God could take a rest day, I can too, right? (On my training schedules, Sunday is always day seven.) So, after two quality medium-long runs (one of which could probably be called "long"), today I gave my legs a break from running and even from cross-training. I think they needed it; with the weekend runs plus my speed work from Wednesday, my legs have been feeling rather tired and achy. I hope this will leave me fresh for the new week tomorrow.

Friday - pace run. 9.5 miles with 7.5 at ??? pace. The ??? is because my actual pace was a little better than marathon pace but not fast enough for half marathon pace. I had planned to do a few miles at around 9:00 and then push toward 8:30. But circumstances conspired to keep me around 9:00 until the final 1.5 miles. I had to stop twice to take work calls. The second one was so long that I completely cooled off and my legs stiffened up. It was an effort just to revive my 9:00 pace, let alone pick it up. But my final full mile was around 8:38 and the last half mile (.57 actually) was sub-8:00 pace (7:59 to be exact). So I felt it was a success anyway.

Saturday - long run. Planned distance -14 miles. Actual distance - 15 miles. Running time 2:27:09, average pace 9:49. Yesterday was our nicest, warmest day this year and I headed out in a sleeveless top and shorts at 9 a.m. My legs felt pretty tired and heavy, so with that plus the unaccustomed warmth, I wasn't sure I could maintain a sub-10 "easy" pace.

My first two miles were warm-up pace at 10:32 and 10:17. Mile 3 was downhill so I picked up the pace (9:31) and passed the 5K distance at 31:03 (10:01 pace). Now I just had to maintain a 10-minute pace for the remainder.

My route had some decent hills, ups but also downs, and I was ticking off some decent miles pretty easily. (Well, as easy as running ever is.)

The splits are a little off because my watch shut off during a bathroom stop so I have a couple partial miles in there.

Mile 4 - 9:30
Mile 5 - 9:55
Mile 6 - 10:01(long hill)
Mile 7 - 9:54
Mile 8 - 9:52
Mile 9 - 10:03 (short, steep hill, but it's the last hill!)
Mile 10 - 9:48
Mile 11 - 9:32
Mile 12 - .2 at 9:34 pace
Mile 13 - 9:36
Mile 14 - 9:41
Mile 15 - 9:30
Mile 16 - .8 at 9:26 pace

I am pleased with the negative splits, but I recognize that it's partially due to the road terrain.

Later in the day we had a combination birthday party for Rod and my niece Eva, who will be two this week.

Here's Rod and me in our party hats enjoying dessert (with lighting problems due to the sunshine, even though it's almost 8 p.m.).

I gave Eva twin baby dolls for her birthday...my sister is having twins in a month or so! Even though this is not the greatest photo, you can see Eva with her babies.

That crazy Bo Peep outfit she is wearing was a gift from my mom...usually she has better taste.

Today I spent many hours in a chair in the sun, reading blogs and books on my iPad and sipping iced coffee. I spent a lot of time trying to get a decent self portrait with the iPad camera and I have not really succeeded yet! I always seem to come out looking distressed....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

National Running Day

2011-06-01T22:41:00.001-07:00

I almost always love running when I'm finished, often love running while I'm doing it, and almost never love running before I start. Hence another morning when I managed to convince myself to wait until after work to go running. Even though I knew it would be no more appealing then.

In the morning my mind is willing to run, but my body is weak. And tired. And achy. In the afternoon my body is good to go, but my mind is cluttered and agitated from the stresses of the day. I know that many people run to relieve stress and anxiety. Stress makes me want to not run (although it does help the stress go away once I get going).

So there I was today, after meeting with a particularly toxic client, and then going to two grocery stores to get the best price on Copper River salmon, and all I wanted to do was go work out at the Y and read blogs on my iPad. Or crawl into bed with my iPad, either one. I actually contemplated postponing my run to Thursday morning, a couple of times. But each time I thought, "but it's National Running Day!"

And so I went. Two and a quarter miles warm-up, then the track for 800s.
Seven...if I could (I kept open the option of quitting at any time). There were two different softball games being played in different corners. I was a little worried about spectators or players getting in my way, but mostly they stayed off the track. I thought having so many extra people around might slow me down, but possibly it made me a little faster. Either that or I am actually getting faster...nah....

As usual the first two were hard, the next one was hard, the one after that was hard...well, you know. But after four I was on the second half countdown and the end was in sight. Many of my 800s were a little more than half a mile long due to some weaving on the track. My paces:

7:47
7:49
7:48
7:48
7:36 (where did that come from?)
7:48 (even though I had to stop when a little girl ran in front of me)
7:40

I jogged about a quarter mile between each repeat, and did an easy lap around after I finished before heading home. Total distance 8.26 miles, average pace 9:04.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

ABCDEFood!

2011-05-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

I ~~stole~~ borrowed this ABCs of Food questionnaire from Janetha of Meals and Moves, who got it from another blog, who might have got it from the original creator XC Foodie. Or someone else along the way. Since I love both food and quizzes, obviously I jumped right on it! So here goes....

A is for Apple, what is your favorite variety?

Honeycrisp in season...which is late summer. Year round I like Braeburns. They are crisp and sweet. I really like most kinds of apples as long as they are crisp. Can't stand mushy or mealy apples!

B is for Bread, regardless of nutrition, calories, or whole grains, what is your favorite type to have a nice big piece of?

I love bread, even though I limit my consumption. Some of my favorites...hearty grain from the Calico Cupboard in LaConner, especially with honey butter...whole wheat rolls from Sisters in Everett...any and all breads from Sarah's in Wiscasset, Maine.

C is for Cereal, what is your favorite kind currently?

Fiber One original, it's really the only kind I eat and I. Love. It.

D is for Doughnuts, you might not currently be eating them but what kind do you fancy?

Anything with maple frosting! Maple bars of course, but you should try French crullers or old- fashioned doughnuts with maple frosting. Yum-o!

E is for Eggs, how would you like yours prepared?

Veggie scramble, heavy on the veggies!

F is for Fat Free, what is your favorite fat free product?

Oikos Greek yogurt!

G is for Groceries, where do you purchase yours?

QFC (in my neighborhood), also Safeway and Haggens on occasion.

H is for Hot Beverages, what is your favorite hot drink?

I drink Americanos all the time, and hot tea, but for a special treat I love a nonfat mocha with a pump of peppermint.

I is for Ice Cream, pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.

How about coffee ice cream with hot fudge? And maybe some crushed peppermint bark, like a cold version of a peppermint mocha? (I've never actually done that.)

J is for Jams and Jellies, do you eat them, and if so what kind and flavor?

I do eat jams and preserves (not jelly so much), and my favorites are the seedy dark berry kinds! Boysenberry, blackberry, and raspberry. I have a special favorite in Nervous Nellie's blackberry peach conserve. OMG yum!

K is for Kashi, name your favorite Kashi product?

I don't eat Kashi!

L is for Lunch, what was yours today?

This is sort of atypical for me, but I used up some odds and ends... I had a Hebrew National lowfat beef frank on a Franz sorta whole grain bun with mustard and relish, some leftover coleslaw on a bed of spring greens, Mary's Gone Crackers curry-flavored sticks, and watermelon. Then half a cup of peppermint ice cream (leftover from the holidays!) because I was craving something sweet.

That was Thursday by the way, I've been working on this quiz for a while.

M is for microwave, what is your favorite microwave meal/snack?

I like to cook an egg and/or egg whites in a custard cup and top with salsa.

N is for nturients, do you like carbs, fats, or proteins best?

Well, even though I feel that moderating quantity and types of carbs is important for weight control, I do have to admit that I love me some carbs most of all. Obviously all my beloved veggies and fruits are carbs, and I do love breads and carby sweets as well. In the healthy eating arena, after the fruits and vegetables, I do lean towards proteins but carbs are my secret love.

O is for oil, what kind do you use?

Mostly olive oil.

P is for protein, how do you get yours?

Eggs and egg whites, greek yoghurt, salmon and other fish, chicken and turkey, beef. I have noticed, in comparing nutrition data info, that chicken, turkey and fish offer a lot more grams of protein per serving than non-meat protein sources...I think I should probably eat them more often.

Q is for Quaker, how do you like your oats?

Pumped up! I like both steel cut oats and regular oats...also raw regular oats soaked for overnight oats. Regardless, I like to add at least some of the following... fruit, berries, banana, dried cherries or other dried fruit, a sprinking of chopped nuts, chia seed, cottage cheese stirred in at the end, egg white stirred in during cooking, greek yoghurt as a topping, a drizzle of maple syrup or sprinkle of brown sugar, fiber one cereal as a topping, granola or trail mix as a topping. I do not use all of these at one time!!!

R is for Roasting, what is your favorite thing to roast?

Vegetables! Sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, brussels sprouts, beets, bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, eggplant. I am sure there are more possibilities but these are the ones I have enjoyed.

S is for Sandwich, what is your favorite kind?

BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato). I hardly ever have them but that answer came immediately to mind so it must be true!

T is for Travel, how do you handle eating while traveling?

It really depends on whether I am on a foodie trip or not. Sometimes I will bring along food (especially breakfast stuff), shop in grocery stores, delis and such, and eat mostly "in." (We do that a lot in England.) But if I am traveling in a place where the food is special, I love to seek out delicious local food in restaurants and other food venues. I do keep up with exercise on vacation. I run most days, and depending on where I am, may do a lot of walking. more so in places where we don't have a car, like London!

U is for Unique, what is one of your weirdest food combos?

Compared to all the food blogs I read, I can't say that anything I eat is very strange!

V is for Vitamins, what kind do you take?

Right now, none. Sometimes I take Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and fish oil. And/or maybe a multivitamin.

W is for Wasabi, yea or nay?

I say yea!

X is for X-ray, what would we see in your stomach right now?

As of tonight, Monday, a lot of Copper River salmon, asparagus, salad and fruit. My mom's birthday dinner!

Y is for Youth, what food reminds you of your childhood?

Norwegian pancakes (some people call them Swedish pancakes). They are very, very thin pancakes with butter and sugar, rolled up. My Norwegian grandmother used to make them for us.

Z is for Zucchini, how do you prepare it?

Most often, sliced and sautéed. Sometimes oven grilled or on the barbecue. Today we had raw sliced zucchini with chipotle dip and and it was delicious. Also, baked into zucchini bread is a good way to use excess garden zucchini!

That was fun! What are Your favorite foods?

I Won I Won I Won!

2011-05-29T22:08:00.001-07:00

I just found out I won the Merrell shoe giveaway from Mom vs. Marathon! Luckily I was scanning my Google reader tonight and came across the post where she announced it. I also got a comment from Alma at The Average Woman's Running Blog letting me know, but somehow I didn't see that until tonight either. So excited! I'll post about what I get! Thanks Kerrie!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Long weekend

2011-05-29T21:10:00.001-07:00

I've been reading about everyone's Memorial Day races (except for the ones on Monday), and kind of wish I had a race this weekend. But not too much. I've done races every weekend in May (Bloomsday 12K, Heroes Half Marathon, Have a Heart 10K, and Seattle's Best 15K). The only race I could find for Memorial Day is about an hour away from here, and I really don't feel like making the effort. There's a local 5K in mid-June which seems a lot more appealing. Mostly because of the location.

I decided to do my "long" run on Friday so as not to suck up too much weekend time. (Yeah, better to suck up work time instead.) My planned length fluctuated along with my willingness to get out of bed Friday morning. When I finally got myself dressed and out the door I tentatively planned on twelve miles, which seemed doable, time wise.

But I was a little dissatisfied with the idea of twelve miles, as that had been the distance of my long run two weeks ago, plus the total miles I had run last Saturday with the 15K. It didn't seem like progress, for distance at least. (I do feel like I have been making progress with speed.) My only longer run since Boston had been the half marathon plus warm-up.

My current "plan" is training only for half marathons through the end of June. Obviously long distances aren't necessary. But I do want to work up to 15-16 miles by that point, both to help my half marathon performance and to be ready to launch into twelve weeks of marathon training (for Portland).

So, taking into consideration the amount of time I had available without being desperately late, I decided to up the distance to 13.1, with the ability to cut back if necessary. Actually my whole route allowed me to cut the distance short at any time if needed.

Friday morning was cloudy and cool but not cold. I wore my Boston shirt quite comfortably, plus gloves which I removed after about three miles.

At my 3.25 mile potty stop my average pace was just slightly over ten minutes. It took me much of the run to get to a 10-minute average pace, although I finished a little under, at about 9:56. (Total running time 2:10.) Of course it took a few miles to overcome my slow starting mile, but what really happened was that most miles in my first half were under ten minutes, but then most miles in the second half were a bit over ten minutes. Until the final couple miles.

I have an unsubstantiated theory that my "easy pace" was faster when I was listening to music on my iPod, and a bit slower when I switched to a podcast at about 6.5 miles. Of course the relative up and down hill terrain might have played a role as well! But since it was all easy, I was just happy to average under ten.

On Thursday I had read in another blog about "funfetti cookies" made with cake mix. They caught my fancy, and one google search and quick trip to the store later, and I had a batch of fun(fetti) cookies to bring to work and give away. Here is a plate of cookies wrapped for delivery! No, I am not a professional photographer.

FUNFETTI COOKIES
One box funfetti cake mix
1/3 cup oil
Two eggs
Frosting-- I used a can of whipped funfetti vanilla frosting, but you could use regular funfetti frosting or make your own
Extra jar of sprinkles (I got stars--if you are not using funfetti frosting I would get two jars of sprinkles)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour cake mix into a bowl and stir in some of the extra sprinkles if you would like. Mix in the eggs and oil until blended. Form dough into one-inch or smaller balls and place on ungreased baking sheet (I put a baking mat on mine). Flatten balls with a glass dipped in flour. Bake 6-8 minutes until lightly browned around edges.

Cool on baking sheet for two minutes then remove to rack. Frost and decorate with sprinkles (this is why you need extra, there is not enough with the frosting). Makes 36 or more cookies depending on size (I had 42).

I gave away most of the cookies but have had a few as post-run treats!

My second run of the weekend was today, Sunday. Since I did the long run on Friday I wanted to do a "pace" run today. I was a little nervous but told myself that if I couldn't hit the paces of course I could just run.

The plan: 8 miles progressive pace run
2 miles WU
2 miles @ 9:00 (MP)
2 miles @ 8:45 (HMP currently)
2 miles @ 8:30 (HMP goal)

It went amazingly well! Even the warm-up miles went well. Mile 1 was 10-something (like :09) and mile 2 was 9:20 (even with a long uphill in it). I was doing a loop that was just shy of four miles, and I planned so that I'd start my first pace mile on a downhill for a boost.

Mile 3 - 8:50
Mile 4 - 8:57

So that was good, so far, but I wasn't sure about picking up the pace...

Mile 5 - 8:45
Mile 6 - 8:43 (this had that same long uphill)

There's a reason why 8:45 is my go-to half marathon pace!

I got to start my final pace miles on a downhill, and it shows.

Mile 7 - 8:15
Mile 8 - 8:25

I wanted to make it a 10K, so...

.2 at 8:18 pace (1:40). I think that adds up to 53:35 for the 10K.

I felt like going a little further so I did two more miles recovery.

Mile 9.2 - 9:10
Mile 10.2 - 9:30

Plus .05 more to make a total of 10.25 miles with an overall average of exactly 9:00 per mile.

On the walk back from Starbucks I saw these cool trees planted along the sidewalk. This is a close-up, they are actually tree-like in shape.

In the afternoon Rod spent three interminable hours assembling a new barbecue. Painful, but the end result got us delicious ribeye steaks for dinner!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

To be or not to be...sugar free

2011-05-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

I have been wrestling off and on with the question of whether I should jump into the June 10-Day Sugar Free Challenge. You can read more about it from Amanda at Run to the Finish here. Basically it calls for giving up all sugars, syrups, sugar substitutes and fruit juice from June 1-10. The purpose is to reset your taste buds and get rid of sugar cravings, with the long term goal of reducing overall sugar consumption. It doesn't necessarily mean giving up all sugar, forever. The ten days is a sort of detox period, for your body, your taste buds, and your mind.

Now, in many ways I think this is a great idea and it would, in fact, probably be great for me. I do have a wicked sweet tooth and periodically I set out to shun sweets and desserts in hopes of conquering my sugary desires. In fact, I would say that I am almost constantly in a period of avoiding sweets, it's just that sometimes I am more successful than other times.

I know that giving up sweets would probably help me in my desire to lean up some (read, lose a few pounds) in order to improve my running. I would say that on many, if not most, days, I consume 300-400 calories that can be attributed to unnecessary treats (cookie, piece of cake, candy, etc.). That is not including the sugar calories that are in "allowed" sweets (a spoonful of honey* in my tea, a drizzle of maple syrup on greek yogurt). (I really don't eat as much sugar as this makes it sound!)

As far as sugar substitutes, I know it would not hurt me to reduce my consumption of Coke Zero.

With all that, you would think that I would enthusiastically jump on the Sugar Free bandwagon, wouldn't you? Plus, I love a challenge!

But...I think not. Probably not.

Why not? I have pretty good reasons and not so great reasons. I am not sure which is which. But....

Rod's birthday and my niece Eva's birthday fall right in the middle of the challenge. I suppose I could eschew all birthday cupcakes and other birthday desserts that are on offer that weekend (and eat strawberries), but honestly, I think that would be rather mean to the others involved. I know that Oprah didn't eat the cake at her 50th birthday party...but I bet she kind of regrets that now. I have declined desserts at some events, and will again, but it seems a little extreme to reject all special event desserts considering that I am not on a major weight-loss diet.

I always put two Splenda in my grande Americano (coffee). It doesn't make it sweet, just takes the edge off. If I eliminated the Splenda, I would probably compensate with more cream, and what benefit is that?

The aforementioned Coke Zero. Yes, I know this is a bad reason. But I love it so! It will be easier to drink more water when the weather gets hot. But giving up all sweeteners would also mean eliminating things like Crystal Light, and TruLemonade (great in water or iced tea!). Frankly, I don't believe these sweeteners make me crave other sweets in the way that cookies and "real" sweets do.

The drizzle of maple syrup on greek yogurt provides a lot of satisfaction for very few calories. Same thing with a spoonful of jam on a peanut butter or almond butter sandwich. And what about the small amount of sugar in Justin's maple almond butter?

I don't want to examine the ingredients of everything and eliminate it if there is a little sugar. For example, Oroweat Double Fiber English Muffins. I actually don't know if they contain sugar. But I don't want to stop eating them. I occasionally buy whole grain scones or banana nut muffins for breakfast. I know they contain sugar. I don't have to have them...but I would substitute an English muffin instead.

And then there is the issue of bars. Meaning granola bars, snack bars, whatever. I actually don't eat a lot of bars. But I do like the South Beach Fiber Fit bars (110 calories) for an occasional treat or snack. Or I might have half a PR*Bar as a pre- or post-run snack. Or a mini-Clif bar or mini-Larabar if I have them. I don't have to have these...but I might substitute an English muffin (or half) with almond butter instead and...see above.

And what about Gu? Pure sugar. Okay, I know I'm taking this a little far, I doubt that I will need any sports gels during this ten-day period, but that is another example of a sugar product that is intended to help, not hinder, my running.

Having said all that, who knows? I may end up jumping on the sugar-free train after all. But I'll probably just stick with my current goal of moderation most of the time, with an occasional treat on special occasions, and try to avoid making treats a daily thing.

And...today was speed work! I had to cut my distance to 7.27 miles again because of work (darn those courts for starting so early!). I did two miles warm-up, then three tempo interval miles (10K pace) with half mile recovery at approximate marathon pace between, plus another half mile at 10K pace (I would have done a full mile but just didn't have time), and a quarter mile recovery at the end.

My splits:

1 - 10:46
2 - 9:58
3 - 8:24
4 - (half mile) 8:56 pace
5 - 8:12
6 - (half mile) 9:17 pace
7 - 8:18
8 - (half mile) 9:17 pace
9 - (half mile) 8:18 pace
10 - (.27 mile) 10:09 pace

Total distance 7.27 miles, 1:05:19, 9:07 average pace. If you average all the tempo splits, they come to exactly 8:18 pace!

*I intentionally consume small amounts of honey for the antibacterial properties, to help fend off colds.

What a difference a day makes....

2011-05-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

I love that song. There are so many different versions and performances, each and every one wonderful and moving. (That was Jamie Cullum.) What a difference a day makes, twenty-four little hours, brought the sun and the flowers, where there used to be rain.

Now, granted, in the Pacific Northwest, twenty-four little hours can take you from sun and flowers (last week), to rain and showers (this weekend), to sun and back to rain again (this week).

But a day can also take you from tired, beat up legs, to fresh, happy-to-run again legs, just like that!

Yesterday was a total rest day for me. Although I frequently have non-running days, I almost always fill in with some other kind of cross-training, and it is almost always on my legs. Yesterday I just took a completely lazy day.

Although I had a little bit of guilt about not working out (especially as there was a delicious pastrami Rueben sandwich lunch involved), I easily kept my total caloric consumption under 1800 even without burning any extra off. (And even with eating 3/4 of a Rueben sandwich and sweet potato fries for lunch!) That does lead me to believe that if there was some reason I could not exercise for a while (heaven forbid), I might be able to avoid eating everything in sight and gaining a ton of weight. Believe it or not (tongue in cheek here), when you are not exercising for hours at a time your body is less likely to demand massive amounts of food!

My heel had been hurting rather sharply (though sporadically) on Saturday and Sunday, so I thought the extra rest would be good for it too. I iced it with a cool pack on Sunday night and hoped for the best. Actually I wasn't especially worried, because sporadic heel, ankle, or achilles tendon pain is something I am used to, and it doesn't usually bother me when I am running. Running fast(er) seems to aggravate it a bit. (In contrast, I wasn't sore at all--in the heel or ankle that is--during or after the Boston Marathon!)

So after all this rest I gave myself on Sunday, I hoped to have fresh and happy legs this morning. And I did! Oh, getting out of bed was still a chore. That's probably as much psychological as physical. At about 5:30 I ran downstairs and grabbed some leftover coffee and a couple of Cookiehead mini cookies and brought them back up to eat in bed. I checked my email and looked at the weather forecast on my phone and on TV. It was actually a lovely morning! Mid-40s or so and lightly cloudy, but bright. I dressed in capris and my yellow Boston shirt. I put on a jacket and gloves, but ended up taking off the jacket after a mile and the gloves a few miles later.

Then I was off. My typical morning route these days takes me slightly uphill for the first couple miles, which I use as a warm-up, then back down again and onward. My legs felt springy and light. Mile 1 - 10:19 (unheard of for an early morning first mile!). I didn't see the actual split time on my watch, but glancing at it in mile 2 I thought that I might be able to get to two miles in 20 minutes, which would be a 10-minute pace in the first two miles--again, unheard of! Mile 2 - 9:43. So that was actually 20:02 for two miles, but still.

From there I cruised. Obviously I was going slightly downhill for a while, which is faster in any case, but I was genuinely running at an easy effort. Mile 3 - 9:30. Mile 4 - 9:28. Mile 5 - 9:38. Mile 6 - 9:34.

This was one of those morning when I really didn't have enough time for more than about six miles or 10K, but as usual once I get in the zone I hate to stop so soon. So I squeezed out another mile, this one with a little more than easy effort. I needed to get done and I wanted some speed! I was probably running the first half of the mile at the same easy effort and then picked up to around an 8-minute pace at the end. Mile 7 - 9:04. Finally, I ran around the block at QFC for another quarter mile at 9:33 pace.

Total 7.28 miles, 1:09:59, average pace 9:37.

I know that not every run is going to be this effortless. I am happy that my easy pace may be stepping back from 10:30 to 10:00, and any inroads toward 9:30 will be welcomed! If my easy pace gets faster, then my fast pace will get easier, right? I feel a lot like I did in the spring of 2009, where I came out of a dreary winter slump around about this time in the spring and went on to achieve PRs (as yet unbroken) in every distance in the fall of 2009. I would like to see some PRs again...but even if that does not happen, I want to run strong at a level that is right for me.

Two days, two 9-mile runs

2011-05-21T21:57:00.001-07:00

Two days: yesterday and today (Friday and Saturday). Two runs: 9 miles easy (general aerobic run) and 9.36 miles in Seattle's Best 15K.

Other than the general similarity in distances (and my involvement), the two days had little in common. Although, I guess I could also say that both runs were a success for what they were.

Yesterday was the nicest spring weather we have had this year. It was actually the fourth sunny day in a row! (And last....)

I was able to take a late start and didn't head out until after 8:00. It was still cool, but very bright and sunny, so I was able to happily wear one of my NuuMuu sleeveless dresses (with capris) and, of course, sunglasses.

I had today's 15K on the schedule, so I just planned to take it easy and not stress about pace. After a 10:53 first mile and then 10:26, I was running easily at 10:08-10:21 (and everywhere in between). Obviously I was going to average over 10, but I didn't care. However, I did care about getting finished and getting ready for work. I had estimated that I could do about eight miles in the time I allotted myself. That was allowing for a bathroom break, but not for the time I frittered at a garage sale while checking and returning emails on my phone.

So, to move things along, and also to approximate some "strides" in anticipation of the race on Saturday, in mile eight I picked up the pace in alternating blocks. That gave me a 9:31 mile.

A little math and my watch suggested that if I picked up the pace some more, I might be able to get to the 10-minute average. I was clearly going to top the original eight miles, and as I passed 8.5 I decided to make it nine. I ran around the block at QFC as fast as I could. I stopped my watch at 9.0 miles...and 1:30:09. Exactly 10:01 average pace. You can consider that either a victory or a failure! (That last mile was 8:16, and that was a victory for sure!)

That evening my mom and I went to Third Place Books to see Jen Lancaster. She's on tour for her new book, If You Were Here (a novel). She read a selection and then took questions from the audience. She's really funny and good at talking from the hip. She has very loyal fans, who read her blog and feel like they know her personally. It was a fun event!

Afterwards we ate at one of the food venues (Third Place has a sort of food court). I had pasta and salad in preparation for my race! Then we shared a piece of chocolate cake. ("Funny" story: When I brought back the cake and told my mom what it was, a woman at the next table whipped around and announced: "That cake is just awful!" We thought she was joking, and laughed, but she was dead serious, repeating it several times. It was quite disturbing, actually. But whatcha gonna do? We ate the cake. The frosting was kind of stiff, which is probably why she didn't like it, but it wasn't the worst thing ever.)

Morning was going to come VERY early. The race started at 7 am and I wanted to get there early enough to guarantee parking and warm up. My mom was going to come along and I told her to pick me up at 5:30.

I know lots of people get up at 3 or 4 a.m. to go to races but I typically don't. The 7 a.m. race I did a couple weeks ago was only a few miles from home. Last week's 10K started at 9:30. My alarm goes off at 5:15 on work days but I often hit snooze until 6.

Anyway, today 5 a.m. hurt. My body actually ached and it wasn't from running. But I forced myself out of bed by 5:15 and threw on my clothes. Wisely I had laid everything out and packed my gear the night before. I slapped together a couple of English muffins with almond butter and jam for my mother and me.

Friday's beautiful weather was gone. In its place we had heavy grey skies and drizzle, occasionally turning to rain. Nice.

With all these negatives, my heart and mind was not into running. As I pinned on my bib and attached my chip in the parking lot of Gasworks Park, I found myself almost dreading this race. Normally I love 15Ks. This one I didn't even want to do.

But I dragged myself out for a warm-up jog. I only had time to do .75 mile. Although I had used the porta potty twice already, I really felt like I had to go again, but feared there wasn't enough time in the five minutes remaining.

But the line was very short and I got in easily. This was a good sign, the first thing I really felt positive about today! Maybe things wouldn't go so badly after all....

When I came out I joined the crowd around the starting area and went about 2/3 forward. It was pretty tight. In fact, even after crossing the mats I felt a little held back. Mile 1 - exactly 9:00 (Garmin later updated to 8:59).

After that I was able to find my pace and hold steady at 8:40-8:45 for several miles.* A lot of the time I was around 8:30 mid-mile but without fail I popped out an 8:4x at the end. I tried using several people as pacers but most seemed to lose steam and I would pass them when the pace neared 9:00. Others, of course, left me behind.

I was wearing my yellow Boston shirt and gloves which I took off and carried after a few miles. I guess it was drizzling most of the time but I barely noticed. The temperature was probably in the 50s.

My plan was to pick up the pace in the final 5K. (That is always my plan.) Of course, as usual, that didn't quite happen. Mile 7 - 8:43 (at least I'm consistent).

It would have been nice to speed up in the next mile, but that's where the crazy little hills happened. Short, steep hills up with sort, steep downhills on the other side. Mile 8 - 8:58.

I was finally able to find my kick in mile 9. A moderate downhill stretch helped. 8:23. And then, .36 mile at 8:01 pace. I tore through the finishing area as fast as I could. I heard someone yell "go Boston!" hurrah for a clearly marked shirt. Final time 1:21:20. (Garmin pace 8:42, official pace 8:45.) In the training spectrum, I consider this a half-marathon pace run.

Amazingly, when I looked up the results this evening I was second in my age group! (Out of 17.) 35/253 females, 130/417 overall. I didn't have a clue that I would get an award so I left before they were announced.

Before we went to breakfast, I made myself run two more miles. I did this in 21 minutes, which wasn't too bad considering it was after a race.

My mom and I then drove up to Julia's in Wallingford for breakfast. I have a Living Social voucher for Julia's but we really needed three people to use $40, especially for breakfast. So we'll have to come back another time for that.

I couldn't resist ordering a cinnamon roll (to share), rationalizing that the 12+ miles I'd run was almost a half marathon! For the rest of my breakfast I had an egg white veggie omelet, toast (and jam), and fruit. The omelet was very white. I'd rather have it made into a scramble, I think. But it was good.

Since I've done two consecutive medium long runs, tomorrow will be a much anticipated non-running day!

*8:42, 8:39, 8:43, 8:40, 8:44, 8:42

Finally, a lovely day!

2011-05-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

But don't blink, the sun might disappear.

Actually the forecast shows at least partly sunny for the rest of this week, through Sunday.

It's about time! The rain this weekend just about drowned us. Apparently both Saturday and Sunday had record amounts of rain. Even though it was actually pretty nice and dry on Saturday until late afternoon...the evening made up for it.

I did benefit from the decent weather Saturday morning for doing my 10K up in Mount Vernon, but no such luck on Sunday. My informal training schedule (currently making it up as I go) called for twelve miles. The half marathon last weekend was actually the longest I'd gone since Boston, but from now on out I plan on staying in the double digit long runs most weeks.

I didn't head out until 10 a.m. I had oatmeal for breakfast, and it probably would have been a good idea to have it a little earlier than I did (9:30). When I'm not racing I'm not so diligent about allowing time to digest before I run. That oatmeal sat pretty heavily in my stomach for the first few miles!

I started with music on the iPod. I figured I'd do that for about five miles, then switch to a podcast for another five or six miles, and finally switch back to music to finish whatever was left. I ended up keeping the music on until my bathroom stop at seven miles,* and the podcast took me the rest of the way to twelve.

I wanted to keep my pacing in the effortless range, which for me is still in the mid-10s. I guess that's about 90 seconds slower than goal marathon pace. I am hoping over the summer to see that effortless pace drop to about 9:45 (without making an effort to get it there). I'm not saying that my goal marathon pace is over going to be faster than nine-minute-miles, but I am also working on a goal half marathon pace, which is about 8:30 (or faster, but let's try for 8:30 first).

After my warm-up mile, my pace settled down nicely. Miles 1-7 - 10:46, 10:18, 10:14, 10:15, 10:21 (and that mile had a steep uphill in it), 10:00, 10:24 (fooling around trying to get to seven miles before stopping). The next few miles I was dragging a bit... Miles 8-10 - 10:34, 10:27, 10:40. I think I was a little bored. Oh, and it was raining quite hard and windy at this point. It did rain consistently throughout; lightly for the first few miles, then rather heavily, then lightly again at the end. Mile 11 I picked it up a little - 10:18.

At the point I reached my "finish" on Grove I was still only at 11.25 miles. I had no chance but run the rest of the way to Safeway (which brought me exactly to 12 miles) and get another Americano for the walk home. (I had gotten one earlier in the morning, and they gave me an extra espresso shot in it, so with the second coffee I was at seven shots for the day. Scary.) Mile 12 (before the second coffee!) - 9:48. Guess I was anxious to finish. That's the pace I would like all of my long runs to be!

My total for the day, 12.01 miles, 2:02:37, 10:21 average pace.

I postponed my Monday run to today, to take advantage of much nicer weather (yes, the weekend rained continued, heavily, through Monday). This morning it was a little foggy but much nicer for running. Unfortunately I was a little short on time (and didn't get up earlier to compensate), so I had to cut my run to six miles. Well, 10K. Actually 6.5. I stopped at 6.7. (And this, folks, is why I never have enough time to get ready for work!)

It was actually a very good recovery/easy run. I think I am going to rename these runs General Aerobic Runs (GAR). I have never really felt the "recovery" in a run, though I certainly have felt "easy"! My informal goal the last few weeks has been to do these GAR runs at a 10-minute pace or faster. It's a bonus if I can finish the first three miles under 30 minutes, because then I can cruise the remaining miles!

Getting the first three miles under 30 is a job, though, since at least the first mile is going to be slow while I warm up. (Sometimes it has taken four miles to get to a ten-minute average.) Today mile 1 was typically glacial - 10:55. Mile 2 was better - 9:40 without too much effort. Well, there was some effort...I was heading for a bathroom and time was of the essence! Mile 3 - 9:08! This was slightly downhill and made it easy to make my 10-minute average. The remaining splits were good, 9:19, 9:27, and .7 mile at 8:56. Total 6.7 miles, 1:04:18, 9:36 average pace.

Tomorrow I have speed work on the docket. I am thinking of returning to the track, now that it has had a chance to dry up!

*Actually it was my second bathroom stop, but who's counting?

Blogging by iPad

2011-05-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

I've been reading on other blogs that Blogger was down on Thursday and Friday. I wouldn't know about that as I haven't tried to post anything for a few days! Let's say I've been busy with work, shall we? Okay, also playing with my iPad, reading blogs, reading books on the Kindle app, and playing crack, I mean Bookworm.

Today I finally decided to write a blog post using the iPad. I'm just doing it with the regular blogger, not a special app, and it's working okay. A few quirky things, but probably due to user error.

So, let's see, what's been going on. I've been running since Bloomsday on May 1. I may have already written about some of this, I can't remember. Both last week and the week before, I've tweaked my schedule a little bit to accommodate post-race legs, iffy weather, and a weak character (early morning laziness). Still, I've managed to follow the general weekly plan of one easy run, one speed/tempo run, one goal pace rn (meaning a few miles at marathon, or better yet half marathon, goal pace effort), and one long run at an easy pace. On non-running days I fill in with cross training on the elliptical and an occasional rest day. So the last two weeks have looked like this:

Monday, May 2 - Elliptical, yoga
Tuesday, May 3 - Elliptical in the morning in lieu of running, 9.34 miles in the evening (9:53 avg pace)
Wednesday, May 4 - 7.75 miles evening, with 3.1 at tempo pace (8:22/mi)
Thursday, May 5 - Elliptical, yoga
Friday, May 6 - 7.5 miles easy
Saturday, May 7 - Rest
Sunday, May 8 - Heroes Half Marathon, 1:55:10 (plus 1.3 miles warm-up). This race combined my long run and Pace run, hence the two easy runs earlier in the week.
Monday, May 9 - Elliptical, yoga
Tuesday, May 10 - Elliptical in morning, 8.78 miles after work, <10 pace
Wednesday, May 11 - Elliptical, plus a massage
Thursday, May 12 - 7.27 miles (morning!) with four miles at marathon/half pace (8:51, 8:55, 9:00, 8:43, plus a half mile at the end at 8:25 pace)
Friday, May 13 - Elliptical, plus six miles walking in the afternoon (I walked home from work, then did a 3.25 mile neighborhood loop, then walked to Gordito's to get a burrito for dinner).
Saturday, May 14 - Have a Heart 10K, 52:51 (plus 1.5 mi WU and about .3 after).

Tomorrow should be my long run.

Even though my half marathon time was just so-so (but definitely my best this year), I ended up winning second in my age group! Actually I was third, but the first placer won an overall award, so dropped out of the AG awards. I never expected to win anything with a time over 1:50! I left before awards, but dropped by on my way to brunch to pick up my sweet red ribbon. The two ahead of me were sub-1:40, which is more like it!

My 10K today was another solid but not spectacular finish time. My average pace was 8:30...I would have liked to see 8:15-20, but it was not to be. The race started at Edgewater Park in Mount Vernon and the first two miles were on a gravel trail along the dike. It was nice for running but not a fast surface for me. Then we moved onto paved roads for a couple miles, which I liked. Finally we were back on the dike to finish. That kind of put a damper on my big "push" in the last two miles. But I was okay with my time. I felt like I ran hard without killing myself. There weren't too many females ahead of me. I might have won an AG prize had the been tracking ages. Oh well.

So that was it for the last two weeks. we are finally getting some sporadic spring weather here. Some of those runs were in the sunshine! I'm hoping for more of that in the weeks to come!

Win a pair of shoes with Mom vs. Marathon!

2011-05-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

Kerrie at Mom vs. Marathon has a sweet giveaway for Merrill Barefoot Running shoes. Go to her blog here to enter and reduce my chances of winning! :)

The in-between time

2011-05-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

Now that Boston has come and gone, I am in between marathon training cycles. I am figuring to start training for Portland at the end of June. That will leave July, August, and September (plus a week in October) for a 12+ week training cycle. I don't see any need to restart a 16-18 week plan, as long as I keep myself in good shape and continue to do medium long runs (before increasing to "long" runs).

The question is, what to do over the next few weeks? Actually, I know what I want to do, the question is how to accomplish it. I probably won't set up a formal plan (though putting things on paper is always fun, and it might be a good idea just to keep track of races and not miss any or double-schedule myself).

My focus is going to be working on getting my half marathon pace back to where I was last year, hopefully so I can work toward a PR, as well as doing a few speedy short races (5K and 10K). I will continue to work on those goals when I return to marathon training, since I don't expect to accomplish them in just two months. This will also hopefully help toward speeding up my marathon pacing abilities.

I have been reading Mastering the Marathon by Don Fink, which is geared toward athletes over 40. The basic premise is that you can improve your marathon performance and time by including three key runs in your week: a marathon-pacing run, higher-intensity repeats, and a long run. He also suggests how you can fill in with other runs or cross-training, and how you can substitute cross-training for some of the key runs as well, particularly if you are injured.* He also discusses the importance of rest and recovery, and includes anecdotes about runners who have done well after 40. He goes into specifics about how to do these runs to work toward a specific marathon finish time.

His premises are actually similar to how I structure my training already, but I am enjoying the book (reading it on my iPhone during down times in court), and I think I can use it to fine tune my training program.

My training plan for the next few weeks will include:

4 (sometimes 5) runs a week: easy/recovery, speed work (track or tempo), medium-long run with goal pace miles (half marathon effort), and a long run. Long runs will not exceed 15 miles until after the end of June. The fifth run might be the odd 5K now and then.

Yoga about twice a week. I may consider adding a third yoga class, if I can manage it. Meaning if I can make myself drive to Monroe an extra evening in the week....

Cross training on non-running days (mostly elliptical).

Figure out a plan for weights and strength training.

Continue to work on achieving a more desirable racing weight.

This will probably be the same when I resume marathon training, actually...except that the length of the long runs will increase, of course.

I have a few half marathons either on the books or in my head...one reason to make up a written training plan would be to get them on a calendar! I also want to do some shorter races for sharpening and working on my cardio ability. (Sucking air is great for your lungs, right?) I tend to consider races to be a good variation on tempo runs.

This week I've had two good runs so far on our two sunny afternoons (Tuesday and Wednesday). I will admit that the reason for the afternoon runs rather than my usual mornings was pure laziness and reluctance to face the weather! On Tuesday morning it was raining, but the forecast promised sun by 5:00 (which arrived, though it was windy!). That day was an easy run, but I did push myself just a bit after the early warm-up miles to get my average pace under 10-minutes...9.34 miles at 9:53 average pace.

Yesterday the weather was dry but a little cold in the morning, and my legs were still a litte tired from the night before, so I put off my tempo run until after work. I was able to go out in a sleeveless top! I started with 2.2 miles easy warm-up, then launched into 3.1 miles tempo (8:29, 8:16, 8:22, .1 at 7:57 pace). I finished with another 2.44 miles easy (though faster than the first two miles). Total distance 7.75 miles. Average overall pace 9:28.

Today was an off day from running, thank goodness. I have felt so tired today. I went to the Y before work and did 70 minutes on the elliptical plus 15 push-ups, but I did not feel up to par at all. I've just been lethargic all day. The weather has gone back to gloomy and dark, although not rainy. I will probably go to yoga tonight (I've missed my Thursday night class through most of April due to my travels), but I might take a little nap at home first!

*Although in my opinion if you are so injured or so prone to injury that you are trying to use cross-training for all of your runs, perhaps you should reconsider marathon training for a while!

A few more things I forgot...

2011-05-01T17:24:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the lack of paragraphs in the earlier post. I really do put them in. First blogger failed me, now the iPhone is ignoring my hard returns as well. :( (Although the paragraph spaces worked here. It's a mystery to me!)

The variation in pic size is also an unintended consequence. Of course the homely self portraits are gigantic and the nicer ones are tiny. :( again. (I fixed this later, now they are the same size, hopefully!)

Despite the cold morning it was not cold for running. My gloves came off in mile 2. Yes, of course I carried them the rest of the way. I have never yet thrown away a pair of $1 gloves! I also determined within a few miles that I would have done fine in a sleeveless top. I have determined this every single year and have not yet gone sleeveless in Bloomsday!

I saw two people in my general vicinity wearing the yellow Boston tops and walked through the finish area with a woman who had been there with three family members (though didn't run herself). I saw a couple of people afterward walking around in Boston finishers jackets (yes, I put mine on later after I changed clothes). I also saw several people in Portland marathon shirts, Seattle marathon shirts, etc. It's like we all wanted to prove that we could run further than 12K.

We are going to have the hotel $15 early bird dinner. So it's time for me to go eat.

Bloomsday PR

2011-05-01T16:40:00.001-07:00

On a sunny first day of May (also practically the first sunny day of the year), I ran my first PR in a year! (The last one was Bloomsday 2010. 12K PRs are a little easier to come by since I only do one 12K a year.)It's a little embarrassing to admit, I only feel really good about a race if I do better than I expect to (i.e. PR). I am a strong proponent of the idea that you cannot PR in every race (especially if you race frequently), and I certainly have been happy with various non-PR finishes. But there is definitely a little extra measure of excitement and happiness that comes with a PR. I certainly didn't expect to PR today. I am less than two weeks out from Boston (though completely recovered). More significantly, my pace times, though significantly improved this spring from winter, have continued to be a little slower than last year. So my expectations were high for a good race, but not necessarily a great race.Actually I would call this one a very good race...it would take a little more speed to make it great. (Still waiting for that one-hour 12K...maybe I should find an easier 12K course!)The Bloomsday course is rather similar to Boston in its ups and downs...the difference being that it's only about a quarter of the distance, no time to destroy your legs! It starts with a long downhill then goes into an uphill...and repeat a few times ( with some flatter stretches in between) until the final long hill (known as Doomsday Hill) which takes you past the five mile point. Then it's a combination of flat and downhill to the finish. My mother and I had flown over to Spokane on Friday. Somehow I convinced myself to make it an extra long weekend even though I just got back from Boston. We settled in to the lovely Davenport Hotel and I was able to make my trip to the "trade show" (expo) Friday afternoon. I tried to be quick and untempted by merchandise but I did walk away with two new NuuMuu running dresses (I thought of wearing one today but I couldn't get one with any purple/lilac in it, and it also seemed a little chilly for sleeveless this morning (though actually it wasn't). I also made numerous passes by the Franz Bakery booth, taking handfuls of iced circus animal cookies which I stashed in my bag for later treats. I managed to get out of the building before being banned. One benefit of arriving early is that we could have two carbo-load dinners at Cafe Europa! Pizza on Friday night and pasta on Saturday. Plus plenty of bread both nights. Those meals also yielded leftovers for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we walked down to Riverfront Park and across the river to look at the falls.

That was pretty much the extent of our activities. We spent a lot of time enjoying our lovely room. And I have a new iPad which has me quite enthralled!Sunday morning I got up a little after 6 and headed down to the lobby to get coffee. I also got us huckleberry scones for pre-race breakfast. They seemed more appealing than the English muffins I brought. I wasn't worried that they would be hard on my stomach, and they were not. Then I had plenty of time to go back to bed, eat and drink, and ~~play with the iPad~~ rest ip for the race. The sun was out at 6 am, but by 7 it was foggy and stayed that way till close to race time. It was also quite cool, in the 30s, so I forwent the new sleeveless outfits and the sleeveless top I'd brought, and stuck with my tried and true long-sleeve. In purple, for Lilac Bloomsday. I also had one of my throwaway sweatshirts from Goodwill (only one left--I'll need to go shopping or maybe clean my closet). I reluctantly left ~~my iPad~~ the hotel and headed out for a warm-up jog. I thought 1.5+ mile would be good to add to the 7.46 race distance. After a mile or so I popped into the hotel for a final bathroom stop, then finished 1.6 miles heading to my corral (I was in the yellow group as usual). Last year I had been frustrated with the range of paces in the yellow group, so I made my way as close to the front as I could without being pushy. Then I waited.
It didn't seem cold in the crowd, but I kept my jacket on till we started walking forward. Then I tossed it to the curb along with hundreds of other jackets lining the sidewalk and dangling from trees. I was able to start out at a good pace. It was crowded, but for the most part I didn't feel trapped by those around me. Maybe a little, but there's certainly no guarantee I could have gone faster.During the week I did that tempo run I wrote about, then on Friday I did a few miles of fartleks, alternating fast quarter miles with jogging. On both days my fast paces were around 8:15 for the short distances. Today I figure I was running around 8:30 on the flats, 7:45-8:15 on downhills, and then there the uphills to keep my average pace up. Mile 1 was all downhill but there were a number of bottlenecks that did slow me. That mile was 8:38. I continued my rolling pace in miles 2-4...8:28, 8:48, 8:29. Mile 4 was the devil's combo. The first half was downhill and fast. Good thing, because the second half was the longest, steepest hill of all, Doomsday Hill! My pace slowed to 10+, but thanks to averaging my final time for mile 5 was 8:40. Mile 6 was my most frustrating. The first quarter was the end of Doomsday, but even when it flattened out I was having trouble getting back to my now-target pace of 8:30. That one was 8:53. Then I got my mojo back! Plus some gentle downhills. Mile 8 - 8:24. Now it was just a push to the finish. I gathered up that final kick which was so absent in Boston (um, after 21 miles) and finished up .56 miles at an 8:13 pace. Yes, as usual I ran an extra tenth of a mile. As I was finishing up I wasn't sure if I could squeak in under 1:05....Final Garmin time 1:04:57. That's an average pace of 8:35, though it will be slower for the official distance. Twenty seconds faster than last year! Woo hoo!Then I trudged through the finish area, picked up my finisher shirt, and headed to Madeleine's to meet my mom for breakfast. Cinnamon roll and a giant Americano (really just a grande)!

I never regret a run

2011-04-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

This morning was a perfect example of how deciding to run is almost always a better decision than deciding not to run. (I say almost always, because there are certainly legitimate reasons to not-run, including illness and injury, and sometimes a spontaneous rest day is totally worth it.)

This morning my almost not-running was not for any good reason, it was just because I didn't want to get out of bed. I actually got to the point of convincing myself that it would be a good idea to wait and run in the afternoon after work instead of the morning. Even though I didn't run yesterday and had no special need for extra rest. I did also convince myself to go to the Y instead of just staying in bed for an extra hour...so I wasn't being a complete slacker. Just a partial slacker.

But then the weather report came on (yes, I had the TV on as I was debating my morning plans) and the weather guy said that although it was dry this morning, it would almost certainly be raining by 5:00. Really? So I would choose not to run when it was not raining, and exchange that for running in the rain? Not real smart. Of course I will run in the rain when I need to, but choosing rain over no rain? That makes no sense.

So I jumped out of bed and threw on my running clothes. I figured I might only have time for about five miles since I had wasted so much time in my mental debating. Still, better than nothing.

This would be my third* run since Boston. I did seven miles on Easter, and 6.3 on Monday, all at about a 10:20 average pace. I felt fine and considered myself fully recovered. Today I wanted to do some kind of speed work, to challenge myself a little and prepare for Bloomsday on Sunday, where hopefully I can run a little bit fast.

So the plan was to warm up, then do three one-mile tempo intervals at Bloomsday goal pace**. Or something thereabouts.

I warmed up for about 2.25 miles (to a convenient turnaround point). Then I launched into my first speedy mile. I was running on a slightly downhill slope, so that gave me a little extra speed which I appreciated greatly. Mile 1 - 8:09 (woo hoo!). After a quarter mile recovery, mile 2 - 8:14. Another quarter mile, then mile 3 - 8:23 (a little incline in this mile). I added a tenth of a mile at 8:17 pace to make a 5K. I did a very short recovery jog then headed really downhill for the final half mile at 8:05 pace. With another short recovery, my total distance was 6.65 miles.

And I was really glad I decided to get out and run this morning.

*I did run a mile on a treadmill in the hotel on Friday, but that was more of a treadmill experiment than a run. Didn't enjoy the treadmill. I haven't been on a treadmill since about 2008, and I could tell.
**I am not claiming that I will actually run Bloomsday at an average pace of about 8:15. Just that I would like to.

Thoughts from the plane

2011-04-23T20:07:00.001-07:00

Here are some non-running lessons I learned from this trip to Boston and Maine. You would think I would have learned them already after my many trips to England and elsewhere, but no, I never learn. And probably won't this time.

Some of these lessons are race-travel specific, and even Boston Marathon specific (and thus not likely to be relived), but basically I could apply them to any trip.

•Pack all the running clothes, shoes and gear I think I will need, even if some goes unused. (This one is a free license to pack!)

•Other than running gear, I do NOT need as many clothes as I think I do.

•Here are some items that I really don't need and won't wear no matter how much I think I will: Dressy clothes. Fancy shoes. More than a couple pairs of jeans or pants. Lots of shirts. You get the picture.

•I see no problem with wearing the same outfit two or more days in a row (or non-consecutive days, if I'm being fancy). I should pack (or under-pack) accordingly.

•However, it doesn't hurt to pack extra underwear. It hardly takes any space and no one wants to run short on that.

•Running shoes can double as walking/hiking shoes (as long as it is not a hiking trip). Bring a pair of slip-on shoes or sandals. Think hard about whether you really need yet another pair of cute casual shoes. I will admit, I did bring a spare pair of running shoes along. And I did wear every pair of shoes I brought, but only once each for the sandals, extra casual shoes, and spare running shoes.

•Don't overestimate my willingness to bother with make-up or curling my hair. Most likely I will happily make do with the hotel hairdryer and my sunscreen moisturizer and be too lazy for anything else. Although I did use my curling iron a few times (after leaving Boston), and it really is an easy way to make my hair look better. I am going to shop for a smaller model for travel.

•If I am going somewhere that has irresistible shopping, like the Boston Marathon Expo or LL Bean, keep in mind that I will probably wear stuff purchased there and reduce packing accordingly!

•On the same lines, leave extra space in my suitcase and carry-on to add new stuff. This is especially important when flying, as you can't just haul extra shopping bags on the plane anymore. Not very many, anyway. (This is not a new rule for me. I have lived it again and again and again.)

•Either limit the number of magazines I bring or force myself to discard them before going home. No magazine should travel cross country more than once. (This is very hard for me. I have carried magazines to England and brought them home again. I don't know what's harder to get rid of, an unread magazine or one I've read that has some snippet of something that I think I want to keep.) (Can you download mags on the iPad? Something to check into.)

•Take advantage of the iPhone (and soon, iPad). I have downloaded books, and can add more if needed. There is no reason to carry more than one or two real books. (I can't go completely cold turkey.) Don't pack hardbacks. Read them at home. Books that aren't available on Kindle or whatever can be read another time.

•Try not to pack too much food. Try to eat the food you bring (if possible without overeating). Try not to carry too much food home. All of these are very difficult for me. I am working on the first (not overpacking) so that I have less trouble with the second and third.

So those are my travel tips from X-thousand feet (I have no idea of our flying altitude). Not brain surgery. And lucky for me, my dad came without a real carry-on, so he is now the temporary owner of a new LL Bean duffel bag filled with race gear and other purchases (including the Boston Marathon commemorative pillow, so cute!).