CIM 2011 Race Report

I know, this is really late... but better late than never, right?

At 5:15am I was wide awake and ready to get up for CIM. After my traditional pre-race breakfast of coffee & oatmeal, we (myself and my two supporters) headed out to the start of the race. The drop off point was supposed to be about a mile away from the start line where I expected to have to walk/jog to the start. Thankfully they had buses there to actually shuttle runners from the drop off point to the start of the race, bonus! So, I got in line and onto a bus, Dan and Nicole saw me off and on my way, I looked forward to seeing them very soon along the route. So the bus takes off towards the start of the race, makes a couple turns and then all of a sudden stops in the middle of the road. It seems she missed a turn! Oh great, I thought! I'm going to miss my chance to hit the bathrooms again before the start of the race, or even worse, miss the start! It took several minutes to get the bus turned around and heading back in the right direction. By the time I got off the bus I had 10 minutes before the start. No time for a warm up, I headed straight for the bathrooms! First I stood in line near the front and was starting to worry I would never get to use it before the race started. Then someone yelled that there were no lines down the road, so I trotted down and got right in! After I was finished there I jogged towards the starting line (finally got my warm-up in!), with only a few minutes to spare. By the time I found my spot in behind the 3:30 pace group, the gun went off. Whew, I made it!

The first mile starts off on a decline, I was very careful to watch my pace so that I didn't take off too fast. Not too much after the first mile I came to the rolling hills. These rolling hills terrified me because they seemed like they were much larger than what I had trained on. I tried not to think much about it, but made sure I wasn't pushing too fast up the hills, attempting to keep my heart rate in check as much as possible, and then speed up slightly on the downhill. Around mile 6 Dan and Nicole were there to cheer me on, it was great to have Dan there, he ran beside me for about 30 seconds just checking in on me. I was still feeling really good at this point and it was nice to see them both.

Shortly after that I was looking forward to running through the little town with all the chickens running loose, but I am sad to report that I didn't see any of them! When we drove the route the week before they were all over the place, but I didn't see a single one when I ran through there, what a bummer! :) A couple more miles and now I'm at mile 11, I've just climbed the steepest hill on the route and see Dan just up ahead. When I meet up with him, he runs with me again as we head to Nicole who has my first bottle exchange. I remember asking Dan something about "where's the big hill, was that it?" haha, he said it was and I was so relieved that it didn't feel like a big hill at all, we laughed about it and then I was on my own again. Immediately after this exchange I found myself in front of another hill, which looked to be twice the size of the previous one, and it surely felt like it too. Whew, that was a tough hill to get up! Even looking at the elevation chart it doesn't look like a big hill, but it felt that way and took me a while to recover from it.

The next few miles were relatively uneventful, maybe even slightly boring. I can't think of anything specific that happened, my pace seemed to be in check, there were still some rolling hills to battle, etc. I was surprised around mile 15 to see Dan and Nicole again, such a great surprise too, I needed it even though I seemed to be doing ok. Next time I would see them would be at mile 22 for my second and final bottle exchange. For the next couple miles I found myself in a zone and what I thought was moving along quite well, until I started to hear a large group catching up to me. Occasionally I would hear a man's voice giving some suggestions and encouragement to a group of runners. I didn't want to look behind me to see what was going on, but I started to think maybe it was a pace group, I was thinking oh, maybe it's the 3:40 pace group, which would mean I'm still on target, great! Then, another mile or so later I heard some people cheering on the side of the road, "way to go 3:45 pace group". My heart sank. 3:45 pace group? That can't be! If they are catching up to me then I'm going to miss my goal of 3:42!! It was then that I realized I needed to speed up and that my pacing must be off. This happened somewhere between mile 18 and 19... my pace for mile 18 was 8:30 and then mile 19 was 8:24. Thereafter I kept pushing myself as much as I could, within reason, to get away from that guy's voice and the 3:45 pace group!

Soon I came up to the infamous bridge that everyone says is really tough, right around the 22 mile marker. I was SO happy to see that bridge because I knew that Dan and Nicole would be just around the corner from it. I started talking to myself, "it's the bridge, it's the bridge!" I got my feet into a rhythm and charged up that bridge like I owned it, I really needed to see Dan and Nicole at that point. Then, there they were! There was Nicole, with my bottle and ready to jump in next to me. She hadn't decided whether she might run with me or not, but I was so thankful that she at least started to run with me. Then, in that instant, she apparently decided to run the rest of the race with me. I confessed that I was getting tired and then she started peeling off clothes and throwing them at Dan. He was so confused, he asked her what she was doing, she's like "I'm running!"... he said "all the way?" and she said "yes!" and I was so happy I could have cried! I really needed her support and was so thankful to get it.

For the next 4.2 miles, Nicole was my rock. She held my water bottle for me and passed it over when I needed it. When I started to falter or slow down she would give me words of encouragement. Even when I wasn't slowing down she kept saying how awesome I was doing. At one point I said something about getting tired or falling apart. She told me to "F@#$" the pain, it was all in my head, I could do it, etc. She was truly amazing. We hit the mile marker 25 and for some reason I thought it was 26, Nicole said "less than 10 minutes to go" and I was like "how long?!" and she repeated herself, then I realized I was off by a mile. Must have been wishful thinking. I didn't let her know I thought I was only .2 away though, I played it off like I just didn't hear her, haha!

The last stretch I was really hurting, I was worried I wasn't even going to maintain my 8:29 goal pace and I was right, the last mile was 8:31, but really that wasn't all that bad considering how I felt. For the last .2 after we rounded the corner and I knew the finish line was coming I gave it everything I had. I did the best sprint I could, grunting the whole way. My calves were about to seize up but I just kept going until I crossed the finish line. Yes, I made it! I stumbled towards the volunteers who gave me my medal, wrapped me in the heat blanket and gave me a bottle of water. As I received one of those items I tried to take a step, lost my balance and almost fell over. Nicole was there to catch me and proceeded to walk me around, arms around and supporting me. She really was my rock and I will forever remember how she got me through that race.

My official time was 3:41:42, 18 seconds under my 3:42 goal and a 14 minute PR from my first marathon earlier this year. And to top it off, I negative split! All thanks to the 3:45 pace leader creeping up on me and forcing me to push forward to reach my goal.

I've not decided whether or not I'll do this marathon again, but it truly was an amazing experience. Regardless of the next race location, rest assured I WILL qualify for Boston!

(Here is Nicole running with me towards the end of the race!)

No BQ attempt for CIM

It's been a rough and interesting training cycle for CIM. I've been injured, disappointed and had to re-adjust goal paces. No longer am I going for a BQ as I so desperately wanted, now it's simply an attempt at a new PR. Sitting here just finishing up breakfast and reflecting on my training... I don't want to say I'm bummed, but I'm a little bummed. I really wish I was going for the BQ. I know that getting a PR is good too, but there is just that level of accomplishment by qualifying for a race that requires you be able to run a certain pace to actually compete in it. I was hoping I might have something interesting to say, but it seems the only thing on my mind is the fact that I'm not running for a BQ. This is the first time I've sat down and really thought about the race and my goals... not having an excited or nervous reaction is sort of anticlimactic. I suppose that tonight or tomorrow morning I'll finally get the butterflies and start getting nervous about the race, but it doesn't seem to be the same. I think this is a good lesson for me to experience, not every race will be great or successful and I should appreciate the fact that I'm going for a 14 minute PR only 6 months after my first marathon... I SHOULD appreciate that... I WANT to appreciate that. Good luck to all the runners at CIM tomorrow, may we all accomplish our goals for the day.

Playing Catch Up

It's been a while since I put up anything new... I have no real excuse other than I like to have something interesting to talk about, I guess my life and training hasn't been all that interesting. :)

I CAN say that my plantar fasciitis is completely healed, it took about 4 weeks before I was back at 100%. After the initial injury I took a full week off, then I slowly added in miles, one at a time until I was back on my training plan and some slower paces. I wasn't pain free but I was at least back into my plan, a few weeks later I finally had a pain free run. I've heard horror stories of people taking months to get back into their training, or longer, so I consider myself lucky that I was able to get back into things so soon.

I ran a half marathon a few weeks ago, deciding a week before to run it as a warm-up to the marathon and just try to hit GMP. Sigh. I am sad to report that I did not make it. I BARELY beat my previous half PR which was 1:49:18... I ran this one at 1:49:14. Ugh. The average pace was 8:21... my GMP is 8:10... not good. I went into the race feeling good but not even at the halfway point I could tell that I was struggling, even my heart rate was higher than usual. To think, I had intentions of trying to race this at a 7:50! That was quite a frustrating day for me. I went back over everything and the only thing I can think of is that I skipped breakfast and had just a GU packet before the race started. In my past I always would have oatmeal before a race, but recently I've been doing all my morning runs without breakfast, even my long runs which were up to 16 miles. I really do think it was breakfast though... and since then I make sure I have oatmeal before every long run, no matter what. I have every intention of having oatmeal the day of the marathon too. A few days after the race I went out and ran a 7 mile tempo run at a 7:45 pace and my heart rate was lower during that run than the race, so that really tells me that my body was working way too hard to maintain such a moderate pace.

Since that race I have continued to struggle to maintain any runs with GMP miles at the end. It's been difficult and frustrating, but I'm trying to stick with it. All my speed and tempo runs are right on and continue to go smooth... it's just the all important endurance with GMP miles that is killing me. Today though, I'm happy to say I ran my first 20 miler of this training cycle, and it went pretty well. I treated it as a progression run, started with a 9:30 pace and continued to increase speed through the end, with which I was able to maintain 8:05 for the last mile. I felt really good about getting some miles in around my GMP and I hope that it means I'm closer to my goals that I previously thought.

Next week it's a 24 mile easy run and then I start my taper! I can't believe it, two weeks away from my taper for my second marathon. It's so crazy and awesome!

This is such a great time of year to be in full training mode too, the fall temps here in Michigan couldn't be better. I'm loving every minute of it... even if sometimes I may complain a little, I really do love it.

Wishing you a Happy Halloween and hoping you are enjoying the fall weather as much as I am!

Best Laid Plans...

As the saying goes!

I was well on my way into week 3 of my marathon training plan, had an unbelievable 800s workout that showed I was making progress. It was a ridiculously hard workout but also very rewarding, I felt so much more confident after this workout, it was awesome.

The next morning I got up for work, took a step out of bed and nearly fell over with pain. I've never felt this kind of pain before, ever. I hobbled out of bed, wincing and headed straight to the internet! I started researching the pain, where it was located, what it felt like, etc. I did a self-diagnosis and declared it Plantar Fasciitis. As I continued to read about recovery/healing I started to become worried that it was going to seriously affect my marathon training.

Fast forward to 8 days later, I've been able to consecutively run for the last 3 days with runs totaling 1.5 miles, 2 miles and 3 miles. I was supposed to race a 10k this weekend, sadly this is not happening. I hope that in another week I'll be back to my regular schedule, but really I'm taking it 1 day at a time.

So far my daily routine has included icing, stretching the foot, stretching the calf, calf raises and rolling my foot on a golf ball. I've heard from several people the recommendation of rolling my foot on a frozen bottle of water. I'm not sure I see the difference between that and just icing my foot and rolling it on a golf ball? So far I'm seeing progress so my method must be working to some degree, so I might as well stick with it until it doesn't work anymore. Right?!

Early Morning Runs - Friend or Foe?

As seen in previous posts, I've been struggling a bit since my first marathon to get back into the swing of things. One contributing factor that I've previously thought was something I just had to deal with was the weather. Michigan has some hot and humid summers that make running relatively miserable, especially in the late afternoons. Recently I've been encouraged by a couple friends to try doing my quality runs in the morning before work. Ugh. Really? I've tried the "getting up early to workout" routine before and it usually lasted a week, maybe two and then I'd be back to my usual after work exercise. I decided to give it a shot again though, after I got home from work last week and the high temps and high humidity just seemed too much for me and I didn't want yet another unsuccessful run.

So that night I set all my gear out, just like if I were preparing for a race the next morning. Alarms were set and my plan of action was in place. My alarm goes off at 5:30a sharp and immediately I'm up and heading down for my coffee. I realize after I'm settling into that first cup that it's still extremely dark outside, not a huge fan of running in the dark and alone so I waited until the sun was peaking out before I got dressed. As I headed outside I realized that the humidity was really high, but the temps were close to 15 degrees cooler than after work the previous day, so I figure it's got to be better, right?

I was right. I was amazed. I felt good. The run went well and one of the nicest perks, after work I was free to do whatever I wanted instead of rushing home to get a run in. So, being that this was so successful, I decided to try it again two days later, Friday morning. Who wants to get up at 5:45a on Friday morning, me I guess? Because that is what I did! The run was great! The temps were great! Wow, this is GREAT!

Fast forward to Sunday morning, we are on a climbing trip, I get up at 6am from the camping site to do my run. Wow, now it's starting to catch up to me. I slept in a bit, got a late start and had to shorten my run... not the best results, but it was still an early morning run and outside of it being short, it was still a great run. I'm starting to feel like I've got my legs back and I'm ready to tackle this new marathon training plan.

I've done one more morning run since then, yesterday, and although I had to drag myself out of bed, it was still a good run. I think I'm convinced that this early morning running is a good idea... I just have to figure out how to adjust the rest of my schedule to make sure I'm still getting all the sleep my body needs.

Reality check: I've only been getting up early for a week. I'd say it's too early to tell if I'll actually stick with it for the long haul... but I sure hope I do! So far my vote is that early morning running is friend and not foe, but I reserve the right to change my mind, like any woman should ;o)

Still Recovering... Really?

For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to get back into training mode with little success. I'm finding that I'm struggling to maintain paces I was able to keep towards the end of my marathon training. I've tried some speed work with some success, although my paces are a little slower than I wanted. My tempo runs however, they just plain suck. My last training run before the marathon was 7 miles at just under an 8 min pace. I've tried a couple times to do 4 or 5 mile tempos and I'm hovering close to 10 seconds above an 8 and really struggling to keep that. Granted, it is summer... but I'm finding it hard to put the blame on just the weather.

After several weeks of frustrating runs my coach recommended I hit the reset button. To do this, I ignored my garmin, adding my ipod back into the mix and just ran to enjoy it. Yesterday it was close to 90 degrees with 70% humidity and I did an 8.5 mile run at a moderate pace, and I loved it. The music was a great distraction that I haven't incorporated into my running for 6 months or more. With the weather being so hot I expected to hate this run, but I actually really liked it. It wasn't easy by any means, but because I enjoyed it we are counting this as a successful run.

This week I'm going to do 3 more runs just like this, ignore the garmin, add the music and just run to enjoy. Hopefully this will get me over my hurdle of bad runs so that I can be ready to start training for marathon #2 in a couple weeks. I'm hoping that recovery after my second marathon will go better than the first one, as in faster. I don't know if I can handle another recovery schedule like this.

I wonder if I'm the only one struggling like this? Is it just because it's my first one and I didn't know what to expect? Or maybe I'm just not cut out for the marathon?

Marathon Recovery... Dislike!

You know how sometimes when people post updates on facebook and instead of wanting to "like" it, you want to "dislike" it? Don't you wish there was a "thumbs down" button? Anyways, I'm currently in the "dislike" mode for marathon recovery.

Being that this was my first marathon, I really had no concept of what the recovery would be like or how long it would take. After all my half marathons my max recovery was 2 days, other race lengths would be 1 day or less. Just based on the time I needed to recover from a half, I figured I'd be set for the full after a week. I was already planning an aggressive 5k plan for a new PR and wanted to get started right away. Well... I was wrong, really wrong. It's been almost 4 weeks now and I'm still waiting for the run where my legs feel fresh. I took a full week off from running and since then have only averaged 2 runs a week. I've picked up extra spin classes to try and stay active and increase recovery time, but it's just not going how I thought it would.

I've been in training mode for the last year and a half straight, always training for something. Always planning hard workouts for speed and distance work and never taking more than a week off from running. It's quite the shock to all of a sudden not be able to train for anything, not even a measly 5k, because my legs can't handle a run at even marathon pace, let alone 5k pace. I'm pretty miserable and am worried that I'm losing all of my speed and endurance that I have built up over the last year.

I have noticed some small improvements on my runs, but it's not enough for me to be excited about it. I'm trying to accept that recovery is a necessary evil and that eventually I will be back to normal and ready to train again... it's just really hard to believe it at this point. I've already signed up for my next marathon and my training will start Aug 1st... I sure hope I've recovered by then, otherwise I'm screwed.

On a side note, my foot appears to be completely healed, hooray!

No longer injury free...

When I finished my marathon a couple weeks ago, the worst injury I anticipated was sore muscles. The day following the marathon I ended up having a pain in my foot, mostly when I put weight on it. It was a pain I've never experienced before and assume was a result of the marathon. I immediately emailed my coach fearing the worst and started the online research for self diagnosis! After all the back and forth emails and my online searching it seemed maybe it was just a bruise. I stayed off of it as much as possible for the next 6 days... On the 7th day there was no pain, hooray!

So, since I was pain free and past my 7 day "no running" requirement from the marathon, I was itching to get out there for a run. This past Monday I did just that, after work I laced up and headed out in the neighborhood for an easy run, close to 6 miles. After I was done I felt GREAT! I was SO excited to be back running again, and NO pain in the foot. Yay!

Then Tuesday came... I'm out at the grocery store to pick up a couple things and after about 10 minutes of walking around in the store, it happens... the pain is BACK. Damn. I limp my way through check-out and back to the office... I skip my workout for the evening to go home and rest it.

Wednesday... wake up and walk around for 5 minutes, pain is there still. Suck. Get through work and head to a spin class, no pain during spinning, yay! Got a great workout in, feeling good. Take a quick shower and leave the gym, no pain still. I get home walking around doing chores, it's back.

Today... wake up and immediately I can tell it is still hurting. This. Really. Sucks.

I've got an appointment with an orthopedic guy next Tuesday, but I'm sad to say that I won't be running until this is resolved. I'm also starting to think it's not a bruise but something worse. Hopefully I'm wrong. My next marathon training won't start until Aug 1st, so at the very least I have about 7 more weeks to get this foot problem fixed before I will be seriously bumming.

Wish me luck, I need it. :(

I'm a Marathoner!

Well it's official, on Saturday, May 28th 2011 I became a Marathoner. Never in my life could I imagine ever saying those words! It's truly been an awesome experience and a huge accomplishment for me. I'm so proud of myself!

The day started out very early, up at 5am with hardly 2 hours of sleep the night before. The forecast called for rain and mid 50s, good temps but I wasn't excited about the rain. My husband and I packed up the car and headed to the start. I had my first water bottle with gu packets and two additional ones for him and my friends to hand off to me at mile marker 11 and 19. Steve was there with me at the start, where it began to rain. We brought an umbrella and he snapped a pic of me huddled under it trying to stay as dry as possible.

People were wearing trash bags and all sorts of other things trying to do the same. As the time drew nearer to the gun, people started crowding together near the start line.

The race started at 7am sharp. Everyone took off fast, as usual, I did the same but quickly checked myself and eased up. The first 5 miles were a struggle to maintain my pace, I kept speeding up and having to slow down. It was at the forefront of my mind to "stick to my goal pace" as per my coach's instructions. ;)

The route was great, mostly flat with the occasional small hill. We went through small neighborhoods and along the coast of the bay. Due to the weather there was a dense fog across the water which was strangely comforting. It continued to drizzle a bit but soon the rain eased up and it was decent. 

Through mile 10 I was still feeling strong, as soon as I realized I was about to meet up with Steve, Becky and Paul I got very excited and couldn't control my pace. I believe mile 11 was close to 15 seconds faster than it was supposed to be, likely a mistake I would regret later, but it was such a boost to see them and hear them cheering for me! A couple miles later I was at the halfway/turn around point, ok, now I have to do that all over again... I was a little worried to say the least. I was really feeling it now.

For the next 6 miles I was counting down to mile 19 when I would see my friends again. I had to really focus to maintain my goal pace, and not because I was going too fast anymore. I looked forward to the miles I could have my gu packet as something to "do" and focus on during those long stretches. I finally made it to mile 19 and tried to look strong for everyone. We did the bottle exchange again without issue and I was able to smile from the cheering again. Ok, another gu packet and now I'm only 7 miles to the finish.

At mile 21 I really started to get worried... my pace was slowing and my legs were not happy. Mile 22 and 23 were just as hard. I felt a pain in my right hip that started to concern me, but I tried to ignore it. As I approached mile 24 I made a decision that I had to push it. I would never hit my goal if I kept slowing down. I sucked it up as best I could and pushed through the pain. Somehow I managed to pick the speed back up again within a few seconds of my goal pace. As I rounded a corner into what I knew was the last leg, less than a mile to go, I tried to push even more. I managed an increase for a minute or two and then I felt myself slowing again. Damn, it's just around the corner but I was really struggling. Then I saw the track, the finish line was on the local high school track, .2 to go, I kicked it into high gear and charged down that track. I was owning it, full out as fast as I could. Yes!! I made it! I hear Steve and Becky cheering me on from the stands and I just kept going all the way across the finish. I managed close to a 7:35 pace for that last stretch.

And then I collapsed. 

Ha, just kidding! :) I was so impressed with myself that I didn't though!! I hobbled through the chute, collected my medal and water bottle all the way out of the stadium area. I was damp, cold and exhausted, but I did it. I ran a marathon. My time was 3:56:05, 6 seconds shy of my 3:55 goal, but who cares. This was my first marathon and I'm damn proud of that time. 

Next stop, CIM in December, where my goal will be to qualify for Boston :)

Never fully satisfied

This morning I've been working on my schedule for next week in preparation for the marathon next Saturday. I'm a very organized person so I'm putting together an hour by hour schedule of what I'll be doing starting from next Wednesday after work until after lunch on Saturday. That in itself is probably a little much, but that's what I do, organize.

With this organizing obsession I've started to plan out my race approach, trying to take the advice of my coach but also hit my goals. Now, this is my first marathon and I've heard time and again that your first marathon goal should be only to finish. But, the only reason I even signed up for this thing was on the condition that I could complete it in under 4 hours. My goal pace is a 9 min pace which will bring me in around 3:55, great, that's under 4 hours! However, based on comments from my coach and other predictors I'm hearing I should physically be able to complete it around 3:50. I'm struggling with the desire to not bonk but also to finish at 3:50. In doing all the calculations I would need to average 8:48 to come in at that time, but I just don't think I can hold that pace for the full distance. My coach has recommended I stick with 9:00 for at least the first 22 miles and then think about increasing pace if I'm feeling good. But, there is no way I'll be able to pull out 8:00 min miles after 22 miles so there doesn't appear to be a way to make up those last 5 min. I've even gone so far as to say, ok if I run at 8:55 that will bring me in around 3:53, but then I still have 3 min to make up in 4 miles. It just doesn't seem possible. It's a little disappointing to hear that I should be capable of a 3:50 but likely won't hit it.

With all that being said, I also really want to qualify for Boston and I'm a little sad that I won't be able to do that on my first marathon, but that is definitely out of my reach, a 3:40? Not a chance. My second marathon I'm planning for December and I do want to qualify for Boston, but the time requirement will have changed to a 3:35... that's damn near an 8:00 min pace. Can I train in 6 months to drop a full minute off of my marathon pace? I have no idea, but I hope so!

I have all these obnoxious dreams of becoming a great runner, I want to increase my pace on each distance I participate in, from 5k to Marathon... and I haven't even completed my first Marathon yet. It's an obsession that I hope will end up proving to myself and others that I'm an athlete and a damn good one.

Cheers!

I'm Back!

Last week was just plain awful. My 20 miler with 15 at MP turned into a 19 miler with barely 5 at MP. I was weak, slow and in pain. It was the most depressing run of my training. I took time off before the run and it didn't help, I was just too sick still. I hated it.

This week though, I'm finally better and today I successfully ran a 15 miler with 13 at MP. Today's weather was not that great, low 60s with high humidity and 60% chance for rain. It was sprinkling a little bit when I started but seemed to be holding off. Again, I said seemed... about mile 11 it started to rain, pour actually. It stayed steady for a good 3.5 miles, I was completely soaked. But, I still maintained my pace and felt strong. The last 1/2 mile it cleared up and I got back to the car almost dry. With the exception of the rain and a little wildlife, (a chipmunk tried to trip me twice!) this was a fantastic run.

I am feeling SO much better about my training and about the marathon... which is only 2 weeks away now! I can't believe it, I've finished 16 weeks of training and now its all downhill from here. Time to start thinking about race day game plans and what my approach will be. Any suggestions for a first time marathoner with a 9:00 min goal pace? I'd love to hear them!

The Good, The Bad and The Sick

Yes, I've had some good runs during my marathon training. Yes, I've had some bad runs during my marathon training. I can officially say that I've now been sick during my marathon training.

And what does that mean really? Well, it means I haven't run since last Saturday when I killed a 24 mile run. Yes, it went awesome and yes I ran 24 miles. I followed that run up two days of cross training.

Tuesday came and I was ready to kill it on an 8 mile tempo run... or not. I woke up with a sore throat that proceeded to take everything out of me and I left work that day at 3pm to go home and rest. No running.

Wednesday rolls around, I wake up feeling worse, call in sick for work and spend the entire day in bed. No running.

Then Thursday comes, I'm better but not 100%, I get winded and light-headed walking to the car, argh. No running.

Now it's Friday, the day before the hardest run of my marathon training plan, 20 miles with 15 miles at MP. I haven't run since last Saturday. Needless to say I'm not feeling very optimistic. I'm hoping to do a very short run today, 1-2 miles with some accelerations, per request from my coach. But seriously, how much is this sickness going to affect my marathon, it's only 3 weeks away and I've lost almost an entire week of training. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow.

Yes I'm feeling sorry for myself, please take pity on me. :)

My First 20 Miler

I wanted to share my experience with my first 20 mile training run that I completed this past weekend.

The day started at 6:10am... I had a schedule that I needed to keep so early morning was a necessity. I got up and had my usual oatmeal for breakfast and a cup of coffee. I was packed up and on the road by 7:30am to drive the 40 minutes to the park where I wanted to run. This park has a hike/bike trail loop that is a little more than 8 miles around. I love heading out there for my longer runs because it reduces the number of "loops" or "back and forths" I have to do to get my mileage in.

The goal was to run it easy and complete it with an average of 10:00 minutes per mile. I started out around a 9:50 pace and tried to slow it down, but I just kinda settled into that faster pace and decided to stick with it. I setup some milestones to keep myself sane for the 3 hours I knew I would be out there running. First milestone was mile 5, where I would consume my first energy gel! Normally I used the energy chews, but I decided to switch it up to the gel from now on. It worked really great and not too bad taste wise either.

Next milestone was only another 3ish miles where I would pass by my car and make sure my second water bottle was still sitting on my windshield... yes! it was still there, no one stole it!! :)

Ok, now I just have to get to mile 10 where I get to do two things, how exciting! Mile 10 is my turn around point where I'll retrace my route to finish the 20 miles, yes, halfway!! Second thing, energy gel number two was consumed, yum! And quite a surge of energy comes with that too.

Next stop, I'll pass by my car in another mile and a half and I can switch out my water bottle for a fresh one. This worked out really well since I was parked right next to the path I was running on. I swung into the parking lot, ditched the old and grabbed the new. It took only a couple seconds and I was basically still moving, woohoo! Now I just have to do the full loop back in the opposite direction and I'm done.

At this point I'm thinking about how I ONLY have 8.5 miles left and in another 2.5 miles I get another energy gel. Yes! Did I really just think to myself that I ONLY have 8.5 miles left? I can remember when I couldn't even run 8.5 miles! Ok, so at mile 15 I sucked down another energy gel, Mocha something, not bad and gave me a caffeine boost.

Alright, now we are talking only 5 miles to go!! This is nothing, less than a 10k! I was so excited I even picked up the pace a little more and averaged several of those later miles under 9:40! Amazing! By this time I'm pretty much counting down each mile and watching for the landmarks that I knew would be coming and showing that I'm getting close.

When I finally crossed the last bridge and had the final curves to finish the last mile I was so excited. I could not believe that I managed to finish this 20 mile run AND I did it with an average 9:45 pace! 15 seconds per mile faster than I had planned and expected to complete the run. Such an amazing run!

I did some stretching, had some food and re-hydrated before heading back home where I finally succeeded in a full ice bath (minus the ice!).

Tune in next week when I tackle a 24 mile run and MUST run it at a 10:00 min pace so I get the most out of the training run! :) 5 weeks to the Marathon!!

Intense smells while running... Yuck and yum!

Ok, so it's an odd title, I couldn't really think of something all that witty so that's what I've got.

I've noticed recently with indoor and outdoor running that there are some intense smells I have had to deal with, some good and some bad. The good ones are fine, love it and keeps me going... however the bad ones tend to outweigh the good ones and gets me extremely irritated. I decided to compile a list of the good, the bad and the ugly... ;o)

Indoor Treadmill Running - Good Smells
Nothing - I can't say that I've come across any pleasant smells while running inside on the treadmill.

Indoor Treadmill Running - Bad Smells
Middle-aged man with too much cologne... I'm sorry but a week ago I was trudging along on some speed work and all of a sudden this guy appears next to me and has what I can only assume is the worst smelling cologne ever. I actually think I might have enjoyed it had I not been inhaling it directly into my lungs for 32 minutes. Yes, I watched, it took him 32 minutes to complete his run, that was probably close to the worst 32 minutes I've experienced on a treadmill.
Chick cleaning the mirrors... I mean honestly, there are signs posted in the spinning studio that clearly says, do not spray products during class as the fumes can be inhaled by people while working out and it is not good for your health. HELLO! How is it appropriate to spray the mirrors and wipe them down, 3 feet away from someone who is running on the treadmill. A nasty smell that practically burns when you take a deep breath. I actually had to ask her to stop cleaning because I was inhaling that crap. Then the next week she did it again?! How stupid are people, really.

Outdoor Running - Good Smells
Fresh cut grass!!! Ahh, this is a lovely smell that makes me think of spring and my childhood, I love it.
BBQ grill - Yes, just this week someone was cooking BBQ on their grill outside, I got to run past their house 3 times and it smelled SO good. I would have loved to have crashed into their backyard and grabbed something to go :)

Outdoor Running - Bad Smells
Burning Leaves - This used to be a favorite smell of mine until I inhaled a huge breath directly into my lungs and it burned so bad. I'm forever torn now on this smell. If I'm not running I still enjoy it, but if I'm running I hate it.
Laundry - I experienced this several times during the winter. I'm guessing it was someones dryer, but really, the smell of soap is not pleasant while running.
Car/Lawn Mower/Anything Exhaust - Need I say more? YUCK!

Those are the ones I can recall at the moment and found to be the worst of the worst and the best of the best. I'm sure there are more out there, what have you experienced, good or bad, inside or out?!

Half Marathon PR... or was it 13.4 miles instead??

Saturday was a great day, until I crossed the finish line and read the time on my Garmin... 1:51:47, really? WTF happened? I was on pace, I should have been at 1:49:xx. I was SO frustrated I didn't even bother waiting for official chip times, I headed the 5 blocks to my car without looking back.

Weather forecasting showed possible snow/rain mix for the race as I was checking things out on Friday. I was a little bummed, plus some wind in there and high 30s. Not exactly the ideal forecast I was initially expecting. Saturday morning comes around, pretty much clear skies, no precipitation and at least 39 when the race started. Perfect! This is going to be an awesome race now, I can just feel it!!

I started out strong and kept an eye on my Garmin, the goal was to stay around 8:25 pace for the first 8 miles or so, then try to increase a bit here and there so I could get my first sub 1:50 Half and an awesome PR. For those first 8 miles I was never over an 8:25 pace, ever. And, most often I was below that, ranging from 8:20 to 8:25 and anywhere in between.

The race was an out-and-back, with the turn around point being somewhere near the 6.4 mile marker. My Garmin was pretty much dead-on with the mile markers for the first few miles. I was trying to "run the tangents" as much as possible to ensure I was running as close to the 13.1 as possible. I noticed at mile 7 though, that my Garmin was all of a sudden off... instead of being 7.0 it was showing 7.33... hmm I thought, that was weird. But whatever, I shook it off, no big deal. I'm sure it will even itself out as the race continues.

I hit the 10 mile mark and there were a couple of volunteers cheering and encouraging saying "only 5k to go, you got it". So I was like, hell yes I got this, I cranked it up and busted out close to an 8 min mile for that first mile of the 5k... that was a mistake as I got closer to mile 12, where I started to run out of steam. Those volunteers got me so pumped up, I launched full speed ahead instead of increasing slowly as my coach had recommended. So mile 10 was about an 8:00, I think mile 11 was maybe 8:15, then I really slowed down at mile 12, close to 8:20 again like when I first started. My last mile I was able to kick it up a notch again and blast through the finish line. I was SO excited because I just KNEW that my time was awesome, I KNEW I had managed the required 8:23 per mile to hit 1:49:49.

And then, I stopped my Garmin, tapped to the full time and was heart-broken to see it say 1:51:49. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. I busted my ass on this race, how the hell did I NOT make my goal??? Then I looked at the total distance, 13.47.... What?! 13.47?? that's not anywhere close to 13.1... WTF?! Who set up this route? Who screwed me out of my PR? I was SO UPSET.

So here I am heading to my car, defeated... thinking in my head, my Garmin said I averaged 8:19 per mile, but according to the race it will be more like 8:31, slower than my initial starting goal of 8:30. I continued to my car, re-hydrated, stretched and sat down to send a text to my coach. I was practically in tears as I was composing the message to tell him that I had failed my sub 1:50 goal. I just couldn't believe what had happened.

Later that evening when the official results were posted online, the race officials acknowledged that the distance of the half marathon was actually 13.4 instead of 13.1 and apologized for the mix-up on the location of the turn-around point. They showed our proper pacing on the results, mine being 8:21, however our times are still that of the full distance. So while my pace reflects my goal, the end time does not. There is nothing to be done about this now of course, I'm pleased on how I ran but still extremely disappointed that my race time does not reflect it.

I wonder how often these kinds of things happen? In all of my racing over the last 2.5 years this is a first for me.

Ready to PR in the Half!

This past weekend I did my half marathon "race simulation" run whereby I go out and run 8 miles at race pace. It. Went. Awesome. !!

I am completely confident that I can stick with my 8:30 goal pace. I do have another goal though, to finish sub 1:50, which technically will require an 8:23 average pace. So, my plan is to go out at an 8:25 for the first 8-9 miles, then try to kick it up a notch, maybe 8:20 for a couple miles and then for the last 1.1 just kill it at an 8:00. I know, ambitious, and yes things can happen on race day that you don't plan for. But, this is the plan and I can't wait to execute it. I'll be sure to post the results, good or bad! ;)

Longest Run Ever!

This past weekend I completed my longest training run ever, 18 miles! This training run was going to be the toughest of my running career thus far, my goal was to complete 6 miles at easy pace, 6 miles at marathon GP and then 6 miles at half marathon GP! The weather was almost perfect, sunny in the mid 40s, the only drawback was a constant wind that was slightly more than noticeable.

I started out strong, really strong and feeling great! I managed the first 6 miles with no problem at all. The second 6 miles were a little tougher, but not out of the question so I was still feeling great. The final 6 were another story, I just could not muster up enough strength to reach my half marathon GP, but I came close! I was within 10-15 seconds for each of the last 6 miles, so I consider that to be pretty successful.

I tried my hand at another ice bath, this one worked better than the first, but I've still got some things to workout in order to make it 100% successful. As long as I keep trying I think I'll get some of the benefits from it.

This week I start a small taper to prepare for my half marathon on April 2nd, I'll be going for a new PR and am VERY excited about it. It's going to be tough, but I think I'm ready for it.

Ice Bath... really?!

Last weekend I attempted my first ice bath after completing my first 16 mile run. It was recommended that I take ice baths after runs longer than 15 miles, just to help with inflammation and recovery. I really didn't know what to expect, but it was NOT what I expected. :)

After I got home from my run I proceeded to gather some items and head up to the bathroom. I made sure I was wearing some layers on top, had a hat, gloves, magazine and iPhone for boredom, radio and the all important towel for drying. So, I sat down in the already cold but empty tub, turned on the water (cold side only) and sat while the water started to fill. Based on some online suggestions I was not going to add ice to my tap water, being in Michigan its apparently cold enough here that tap water should suffice, at least this time of year... I think they were right!

5 minutes into the tub filling and my feet were starting to change from reddish pink to purple and I found my body beginning to tremble uncontrollably. Then the teeth started chattering and my breathing was getting difficult. Really? I've been in cold water for 5 minutes and its barely halfway up the sides of my thighs... How on earth am I going to make it through the additional 5 minutes to get it over my thighs and then another 10 minutes to actually "take the bath"??

I tried to switch positions a bit, hoping to somehow get my legs covered by the water so I could stop it from filling and just sit there... that wasn't working. I put the hat on in hopes it might warm me up, nothing. I was trembling and chattering so bad that I had to get out of there. I just could not believe that I managed about 7 minutes in a half-full bathtub with just cold water. What the heck was wrong with me?? I honestly did not think it was going to be that difficult to sit in cold water for 10 minutes. It felt like my feet were the coldest and I couldn't figure out how to manage it.

So yeah, 7 minutes and a half-full bathtub and I was out! Standing in my bathroom, half naked and shaking uncontrollably. Wow, what a wimp! I immediately drained the tub and turned the shower on to take a hot shower. Yyyooooowsers! Hot water on freezing feet, not a good idea. I wanted the hot water on my upper body but it was stinging the crap out of my feet so I had to adjust. 10 minutes later I was bundled in sweats and my compression socks with a fresh cup of coffee. Thankfully my most tender muscles (calves) were submerged during the entire 5 minutes so they did get a bit of healing, but my knees were lacking. I proceeded to do the traditional frozen peas for a bit to ensure they got the proper treatment.

This Saturday I've got 18 miles and will again attempt another ice bath... this time I'm going to fill the tub first, then jump in and see how long I can take it. Wish me luck!

One heart beat at a time

Today I completed my 6 mile tempo run that was scheduled for this past Monday. Due to a few lame excuses I didn't get it in on Monday and made the decision to cancel my speed work for the week and complete my tempo run instead. Weather conditions forced me to the treadmill again, so I was able to do the same workout as last week, same distance and speed, etc. The only difference was my heart rate, my average and max were both one beat lower than last week. I would say that is progress! Any improvements in my heart rate, no matter how small, are accomplishments and proof that my body is getting even more efficient.

It's amazing to think that one year ago I didn't even know what a tempo run was and my max speed for anything over 3 miles was about an 11 min mile. This tempo run was done at about an 8:12, for 6 miles! Truly amazing. According to my coach I'm well on my way to a sub 1:50 half marathon in April and a sub 4 hour marathon in May. It is so great to hear that hard work and dedication can really make a difference. Running is now my passion :)

It took 32 years...

... but I officially consider myself a runner! I've wanted to be a runner for some time, and I dabbled in it here and there, but I really believe that in the last year I've committed and have become an actual runner. This week I turn 32 and this last year has probably been one of the best of my life. And these are the reasons why:

- Lost 75lbs!
- Ran my first (and second) half marathon
- Participated in 7 races (5k, 10k & half marathons) and improved my time for each one.
- Committed to running a full marathon

This year I hope will be just as good or come in a close second, with the following goals:

- Maintain my new weight
- Finish my first marathon under 4 hours
- Run my second marathon even faster
- PR again in the 5k, 10k and half marathon distances

I've just finished week 4 of my marathon training plan and so far, so good. I'm looking forward to getting through my half marathon that is in about 5 weeks. Once that is over its all about marathon training only. I can't wait!

Recovery Run - Proud to be slow?

Yesterday I scheduled a recovery run into my routine for the simple sake of doing some sort of physical activity that would hopefully not impact my 5k tomorrow. Advice from my coach was to do a very easy run for only 45 minutes. I was not looking forward to it.

Due to the weather in my area, I've been a regular at my gym for my runs and have become accustomed to "showing off", or at least trying to, by killing it with my intervals and tempo runs. Being able to run 5 miles at 7.3mph or doing 400s at 8.0mph is pretty awesome, for me. Not to say that I'm some amazingly fast runner, because obviously I'm not blowing up records or anything, but I've improved so much in the past two years that I'm proud of my current speeds. And, I know for a fact that I'm often cruising MUCH faster than some of the other people on the treadmills around me. The reason I know? Because I look! :D And, you can't tell me that you aren't sneaking a peak at your neighbor's speed to see how you compare too, just like I do. I'm always curious how fast people are going and whether nor I'm going faster, it's probably that whole competitive thing that I've grabbed onto since I started racing.

So, when I arrived at the gym to do this "recovery run", I was all too happy to pick a treadmill where there were no immediate neighbors. I honestly didn't want people to see how slow I was going... 5.6mph... Embarrassing! Or was it? My goal was to do a recovery run, keep my pace slow and my heart rate down. I busted out 4 miles in 43 minutes, truly not an achievement by any means, but my average heart rate was the lowest I have ever seen it on a run of any kind. About halfway through the run I realized that it didn't matter if people were looking over at me and thinking, wow she is slow! Because really, my goal was not to kick the crap out of my pace that day, it was to just get in an easy workout, and I did that.

Now the question will be, the next time I'm there kicking it on a tempo run and I checkout my neighbor's speed... will I think to myself, dude that person is slow! if they are going 5.6mph? The answer is, yes, I probably will. But, I will then consider that they might be doing a recovery run like I did and I'll divert my focus back on my own running, which is where it probably should have been to begin with.

Marathon Training: Week 2 Complete

Just finished up my last training run of the week, it was a 10 mile progression run. I headed to the gym to hit my trusty treadmill, which was apparently a good thing since the weather turned to blizzard-like conditions while I was there! So with my progression run I started out with 4 miles at a 10 min pace, then I increased to my MGP of 9 min for the next 3 miles and finally ended the last 3 miles at HMGP which was 8:30. I think the run went really well. I was tired at the end but not too tired to where I thought I couldn't do more. I am looking forward to my longer runs increasing and seeing how well I can manage the additional distance past the half marathon distances. Only time will tell, but for now I'm feeling pretty good about my training.

Marathon Training: Week 2, Run 1

A 5 mile tempo run at an 8:12 pace with a 1 mile warm-up and .5 mile cool-down. This is the exact same training run I did one week ago. My goal is to decrease my heart rate as the plan progresses. I was not successful this time, my heart rate was pretty much the same as the last time I did this run. I'm hopeful that next week will show some improvements.

For the first time in a long time I met up with a friend at the gym to run on the treadmill. I found it a bit difficult to communicate and concentrate on the run at the same time. I'm so used to being a solo runner these days its very challenging to divert attention away from my goals. I think once I get outside I'll be able to adjust a little better, I just hope my training pace goals won't make it too tough for us to still get together and run.

Another snow storm is on the way, that means at least another couple weeks inside for sure. Bummer dude.

Marathon Training: Week 1 Complete

I've completed week 1 of my marathon training plan. Piece of cake really, since it's not too different from what I've been doing for the past year now. I've got a few more weeks before my mileage starts picking up on my long runs to where I really start feeling the endurance part kicking in.

On my first run, a 5 mile tempo run, I finally reached my appropriate pace to where I can now start working on decreasing my heart rate over the coming weeks. My pace ended up being about an 8:13 on the treadmill, hopefully as I am able to switch back to outdoor runs I'll be able to get that down to 8:10 for the duration of my training plan. Eventually my tempo runs will increase to 6, 7 and then finally 8 miles for the last few weeks of the plan.

The second run this week was speed work, 1600s, and I finally reached an appropriate pace for those as well, about a 7:50. I'm looking forward to working on these and getting my heart rate down a bit there as well. Next week I'll be doing some 400s and hopefully will break the 7:30 I did last time.

Finally, my third run was the long run, but only 8 miles. I'm still working on establishing an appropriate pace for these long, steady runs but I'm looking at about a 10:00 for now. We'll see how things progress whether or not I'll be able to sustain that speed through the longer runs.

I'm very much looking forward to the rest of my training and seeing how I progress. I've got 3 races planned before the marathon, hopefully those will aid in my training.

And now it's time for me to enjoy that cup of coffee I've been ignoring since I decided to start this new runner's blog!