Now that I've had some time to reflect on my spring racing season (which included the Shamrock Marathon, Gansett Marathon, and a 5K), this is my Top 5 list on how to survive back-to-back marathons.
1. Be smart. Yes, you need to get back out there quickly, but you also need to give yourself enough recovery time. Don't push it too hard.
2. Listen to your body. If you feel OK, keep training. But if it doesn't feel right, stop. Immediately. Don't wait until things get worse. If you need extra rest, take it. If you need to modify your plan, do it.
3. Learn from previous racing experience. You should know how quickly you recover both physically and mentally, how you like to train, etc.
4. Try it with shorter distances first. Race on successive weekends, or schedule half marathons a couple of weeks apart.
5. Plan in advance. Ideally, you want one race to be your target and the other to be practice or just for fun.
Did my back-to-back plan work? I'd say yes. I danced with the devil and came out OK on the other side. I got back-to-back PRs in both marathons (although part of this was sheer luck in getting perfect weather both times). I did not get injured in 22 weeks of training. I recovered quickly from both marathons.
I essentially ran the same time in both marathons, although I ran two very different marathons. My current PR is from Gansett, the second unplanned marathon. Although Gansett was slightly faster, Shamrock is the marathon I will remember as "better." I ran more evenly at Shamrock and had a physically and mentally better race. Plus Shamrock is my first BQ marathon. At Gansett, I had issues with my Garmin and knew I went out much too fast. But where better to test yourself than at a race like Gansett? You don't know unless you try. Sometimes you don't get it right. I do not regret going for it. Shamrock may have been the "better" marathon, but Gansett earned the bragging rights. I ordered a custom race necklace for Gansett, in part because it is Gansett and in part because it is my current marathon PR.
For the record, I do not advocate running back-to-back marathons. Definitely not for a first marathon. Yes, I have done it twice (2 in 10 weeks last year and then 2 in 4 weeks this year). Yes, I survived. Yes, I got 2 PRs out of it. But yes, what I did was admittedly foolish and risky. Very very risky. You really have to know what you are doing. I cannot stress that enough. You need enough running experience to understand your mind, body, and motivation. You have to cross your fingers and hope you don't get injured or burned out. I didn't have the luxury of planning in advance because I didn't know that I'd be running a second marathon until I finished the first one. I had Gansett on my radar, though. Once I had a qualifier in hand, I knew I needed to recover quickly and push only when it was appropriate.
Of course, I was highly motivated to qualify for and run Gansett. That made a difference. And it wasn't the first time I had done back-to-back marathons. The first time, I was not as good or as smart a runner as I am now. That first set wasn't pretty, but I learned from it. That made a difference, too.
Showing posts with label shamrock marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shamrock marathon. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Shamrock, one more time
OK, I think this is the last one. Maybe. Don't hold me to that. There will be a lot of blogging in the next few days. Bad = no job. Good = extra time.
Part of my marathon strategy is to check in with myself in the higher miles. I planned to do this at mile 18 at Shamrock. That's the point where I usually hit the wall. That's also near the point where you can switch from long-distance race mindset to shorter race mindset and start counting down the miles. Just 8 more miles, then a 10K, then a 5K. Yeah. Didn't happen. I didn't need to. I was comfortably cruising at mile 18. Seriously cruising. The pace felt sustainable, almost effortless. My form was good. I was mentally on it, even though this was a very isolated stretch of the course. During the race, I don't even think I was aware that I had planned to check in with myself at mile 18. It was still all systems go. Same thing at mile 20 where I knew I was under 8:00 overall. It was a perfect day.
The hardest part of the marathon was not the marathon. Really. It was the training. It was getting out there every day, even if I didn't feel like it or the weather wasn't cooperating. I have NEVER felt that way about a marathon before. RnR Mardi Gras was tough in the last miles because my quads hurt so badly. Cox Providence and Chicago were mentally difficult races. I learned how to (not) address dehydration at Chicago, but I also learned how to (not) manage my mental focus correctly. Those were vitally important skills for Shamrock. Who decides to sign up for another marathon literally on crossing a marathon finish line? This girl did. See, it couldn't have been that bad.
My recovery after Shamrock was relatively easy. Not quite as easy as Chicago, but not too far off either. Score. I stayed on speaking terms with stairs. I had many hot dates with my foam roller. I was back running 4 days later (minimal soreness, yay) and back to my normal speed in a week. No, I am not fully recovered yet. My yoga class a couple days ago showed me that I have lost some flexibility. That's OK. I asked a lot of my body. I am not terribly surprised it pushed back.
I have to gear up to run another marathon in 18 days. That certainly has an impact on my recovery. Just keep moving.
Part of my marathon strategy is to check in with myself in the higher miles. I planned to do this at mile 18 at Shamrock. That's the point where I usually hit the wall. That's also near the point where you can switch from long-distance race mindset to shorter race mindset and start counting down the miles. Just 8 more miles, then a 10K, then a 5K. Yeah. Didn't happen. I didn't need to. I was comfortably cruising at mile 18. Seriously cruising. The pace felt sustainable, almost effortless. My form was good. I was mentally on it, even though this was a very isolated stretch of the course. During the race, I don't even think I was aware that I had planned to check in with myself at mile 18. It was still all systems go. Same thing at mile 20 where I knew I was under 8:00 overall. It was a perfect day.
The hardest part of the marathon was not the marathon. Really. It was the training. It was getting out there every day, even if I didn't feel like it or the weather wasn't cooperating. I have NEVER felt that way about a marathon before. RnR Mardi Gras was tough in the last miles because my quads hurt so badly. Cox Providence and Chicago were mentally difficult races. I learned how to (not) address dehydration at Chicago, but I also learned how to (not) manage my mental focus correctly. Those were vitally important skills for Shamrock. Who decides to sign up for another marathon literally on crossing a marathon finish line? This girl did. See, it couldn't have been that bad.
My recovery after Shamrock was relatively easy. Not quite as easy as Chicago, but not too far off either. Score. I stayed on speaking terms with stairs. I had many hot dates with my foam roller. I was back running 4 days later (minimal soreness, yay) and back to my normal speed in a week. No, I am not fully recovered yet. My yoga class a couple days ago showed me that I have lost some flexibility. That's OK. I asked a lot of my body. I am not terribly surprised it pushed back.
I have to gear up to run another marathon in 18 days. That certainly has an impact on my recovery. Just keep moving.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Shamrock Marathon: Race Review
I ran the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA on March 18, 2012. There is also a half marathon, as well as an 8K and a series of kids races the previous day. Over 27,000 people participated in this year's Shamrock races.
The course - Flat as a pancake. Essentially 2 half marathon loops that start and finish fairly close together. The half marathon (which started earlier) runs on the back half of the marathon course. The full marathon has one bridge that you run over twice, but that's it. Long sections are very straight.
Completely separate from the half marathon - I liked this a lot. You are with marathoners from the very beginning. I don't think I have seen this done at any other race that has both a half and full marathon. The two races started in 2 different places at 2 different times. The half starts first, which is unusual. Logistically, it works. If the marathon started first, the speedy marathoners would merge into the back of the half marathon and create a huge bottleneck. No bueno. The only time the half starting first would be a problem is if it is hot.
Size - About 3300 marathon finishers. Personally, I think this is the perfect size. Enough people so that you are never running alone but not so many people that you can't move.
Weather - Average high for March in Virginia Beach is in the high 50s. Get the wind blowing in the right direction and good things happen.
Expo - Packet pick-up was quick and easy. Free parking at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. All of your standard vendors were there. I wanted Bondi Bands, new headphones, and new caps for my Fuelbelt bottles. I found them all. Some people complained about long lines at the Shamrock Store. A post-race email apologized for the long lines, said they'd get more cashiers next year, and offered free shipping on orders over $25. I can live with that.
Parking - I walked to and from the race, so I have no idea if parking/traffic was an issue. Virginia Beach has free on-street parking in March. As long as you don't try to park on the course, I would imagine it would be OK. You do kinda need a car if you want to get off the oceanfront.
Gear check - I didn't use it, but it seemed smooth.
Pace groups - I didn't use a pace group either, but there were some pace groups.
Port-a-potties - I saw plenty on the course and at the finish. Could have used a few more at the marathon start. I hopped into one of the oceanfront hotels to use a real bathroom about 15 minutes before the race started.
Corrals - Worked perfectly. Not crowded in the corral or once the race started. I got in my corral about 10-15 minutes before the gun went off. Volunteers were good at checking bibs to make sure people were in the right corral.
Start - The gun went off right on time.
Volunteers - I hope every single one of them comes back next year. They were great!
Spectators - I liked the Marines in Camp Pendleton the best. The area with the most spectators was around the halfway point. There were some areas with no or limited spectators. Didn't see a ton of posters. It didn't bother me, though. Shamrock had DJs on the course in several spots and riddle posters in one area that was particularly isolated.
Bibs - Personalized with your name. Some people don't like this. I found it helpful. I said thank you or gave a thumbs up to anyone who cheered me by name.
Aid stations - Fully stocked (although I was at the front of the marathon pack, so take this with a grain of salt). Volunteers yelled whether they had water or Gatorade, plus you could tell by the color of the cup. The water in Virginia Beach is heavily chlorinated and you can taste it. Be aware of that. I recently started using Nuun tablets (electrolyte tablets that dissolve in plain water). I hadn't been using them long enough to try during Shamrock, but I did put them in Virginia Beach tap water to mask the chlorine. There were two stations with CarbBoom gels. I carry my own supply of shot bloks and I wouldn't have eaten CarbBoom on the course (don't like gels to begin with and couldn't find them to test them out). There was one aid station in the higher miles with food. Not sure whether it was an official aid station. All I remember were little cups of gummy bears.
Finish line - Wave hello to the King Neptune statue and cross the finish line. Leprechaun Bob announces you by name and hometown. I must have been losing my mind at the finish line because I heard my hometown pronounced correctly. No one outside of Rhode Island knows how to say it right.
Using a Garmin - My Garmin read 26.39 miles at the end. A difference of .2 mile in a marathon is not too much of a difference. I've seen much much worse. If you weave around, don't run perfect tangents on turns or corners, or are in an area with tall buildings and trees, the Garmin will be off. There's some random measurement error too. Usually, the pace on the Garmin is off by 5-10 seconds per mile as compared to the official pace based on your finishing time. My Garmin pace was off by 3 seconds per mile compared to my official pace. Thumbs up in my book.
Swag - Shamrock does it better than anyone else. Marathoners get a long-sleeved technical race shirt. But Shamrock didn't stop there. When you finish, you also get a finishers hat AND a T-shirt. This year, the finishers shirt was a technical hooded sweatshirt in honor of Shamrock's 40th anniversary. The swag bag is one of those drawstring sack bags that will be my new gym bag. The race program is a calendar. The medal doubles as a bottle opener and has a detachable shamrock charm.
Post-race refreshments - Water, Gatorade, bananas, sugar cookies, granola bars, and pretzels. The bananas were green and pretty much inedible. Oh well, can't be perfect. Things happen. There was also beef stew (more like beef soup ... warm salty liquid never tasted so good). Your race bib got you 4 (!?!) Yuengling beers. 274 kegs were consumed this year. We must be a bunch of drinkers with a running problem.
Post-race party - Shamrock also does it better than anyone else. On a tent on the beach. The cool sand felt nice against my gnarly runner's feet. Have your picture taken with a giant sand sculpture. Listen to some music. This year had Vertigo, a U2 tribute band, plus 2 other bands. I'm a little biased because U2 is my favorite band. Vertigo didn't start playing til 2pm when just about all the runners were done. They were fun!
Hotels - I stayed on the Virginia Beach oceanfront. I warmed up by running to the marathon start and back, then stretched and hung out in my hotel room til a half hour before the start, and then walked to the start line. Without knowing it, I picked the perfect hotel (Best Western Plus Oceanfront). It wasn't too expensive. It was about a mile from the half marathon start, a quarter mile from the marathon start, and at the finish line and post-race party. I got to open up the balcony door and hear the music from the comfort of my hotel room. My room looked out directly at the Shamrock sand sculpture.
Shamrock's Facebook page - Full of useful information and a good way to connect with other runners. The night before the half and marathon, King Neptune told us all to go to bed. Tee hee!
Organization - Virtually flawless. Plenty of information was provided. The things that weren't quite right were very minor. That happens at every race. They took responsibility for mistakes and attempted to make them better. That's how you run a good race.
Overall, I cannot say enough good things about Shamrock, and not only because I had an epic race. This is an all-around quality event. Everything was well-organized and well-supported. I have ran a lot of different races, everything from small local races to big city marathons. Shamrock wins overall by a landslide. I will be back!!
The course - Flat as a pancake. Essentially 2 half marathon loops that start and finish fairly close together. The half marathon (which started earlier) runs on the back half of the marathon course. The full marathon has one bridge that you run over twice, but that's it. Long sections are very straight.
Completely separate from the half marathon - I liked this a lot. You are with marathoners from the very beginning. I don't think I have seen this done at any other race that has both a half and full marathon. The two races started in 2 different places at 2 different times. The half starts first, which is unusual. Logistically, it works. If the marathon started first, the speedy marathoners would merge into the back of the half marathon and create a huge bottleneck. No bueno. The only time the half starting first would be a problem is if it is hot.
Size - About 3300 marathon finishers. Personally, I think this is the perfect size. Enough people so that you are never running alone but not so many people that you can't move.
Weather - Average high for March in Virginia Beach is in the high 50s. Get the wind blowing in the right direction and good things happen.
Expo - Packet pick-up was quick and easy. Free parking at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. All of your standard vendors were there. I wanted Bondi Bands, new headphones, and new caps for my Fuelbelt bottles. I found them all. Some people complained about long lines at the Shamrock Store. A post-race email apologized for the long lines, said they'd get more cashiers next year, and offered free shipping on orders over $25. I can live with that.
Parking - I walked to and from the race, so I have no idea if parking/traffic was an issue. Virginia Beach has free on-street parking in March. As long as you don't try to park on the course, I would imagine it would be OK. You do kinda need a car if you want to get off the oceanfront.
Gear check - I didn't use it, but it seemed smooth.
Pace groups - I didn't use a pace group either, but there were some pace groups.
Port-a-potties - I saw plenty on the course and at the finish. Could have used a few more at the marathon start. I hopped into one of the oceanfront hotels to use a real bathroom about 15 minutes before the race started.
Corrals - Worked perfectly. Not crowded in the corral or once the race started. I got in my corral about 10-15 minutes before the gun went off. Volunteers were good at checking bibs to make sure people were in the right corral.
Start - The gun went off right on time.
Volunteers - I hope every single one of them comes back next year. They were great!
Spectators - I liked the Marines in Camp Pendleton the best. The area with the most spectators was around the halfway point. There were some areas with no or limited spectators. Didn't see a ton of posters. It didn't bother me, though. Shamrock had DJs on the course in several spots and riddle posters in one area that was particularly isolated.
Bibs - Personalized with your name. Some people don't like this. I found it helpful. I said thank you or gave a thumbs up to anyone who cheered me by name.
Aid stations - Fully stocked (although I was at the front of the marathon pack, so take this with a grain of salt). Volunteers yelled whether they had water or Gatorade, plus you could tell by the color of the cup. The water in Virginia Beach is heavily chlorinated and you can taste it. Be aware of that. I recently started using Nuun tablets (electrolyte tablets that dissolve in plain water). I hadn't been using them long enough to try during Shamrock, but I did put them in Virginia Beach tap water to mask the chlorine. There were two stations with CarbBoom gels. I carry my own supply of shot bloks and I wouldn't have eaten CarbBoom on the course (don't like gels to begin with and couldn't find them to test them out). There was one aid station in the higher miles with food. Not sure whether it was an official aid station. All I remember were little cups of gummy bears.
Finish line - Wave hello to the King Neptune statue and cross the finish line. Leprechaun Bob announces you by name and hometown. I must have been losing my mind at the finish line because I heard my hometown pronounced correctly. No one outside of Rhode Island knows how to say it right.
Using a Garmin - My Garmin read 26.39 miles at the end. A difference of .2 mile in a marathon is not too much of a difference. I've seen much much worse. If you weave around, don't run perfect tangents on turns or corners, or are in an area with tall buildings and trees, the Garmin will be off. There's some random measurement error too. Usually, the pace on the Garmin is off by 5-10 seconds per mile as compared to the official pace based on your finishing time. My Garmin pace was off by 3 seconds per mile compared to my official pace. Thumbs up in my book.
Swag - Shamrock does it better than anyone else. Marathoners get a long-sleeved technical race shirt. But Shamrock didn't stop there. When you finish, you also get a finishers hat AND a T-shirt. This year, the finishers shirt was a technical hooded sweatshirt in honor of Shamrock's 40th anniversary. The swag bag is one of those drawstring sack bags that will be my new gym bag. The race program is a calendar. The medal doubles as a bottle opener and has a detachable shamrock charm.
Post-race refreshments - Water, Gatorade, bananas, sugar cookies, granola bars, and pretzels. The bananas were green and pretty much inedible. Oh well, can't be perfect. Things happen. There was also beef stew (more like beef soup ... warm salty liquid never tasted so good). Your race bib got you 4 (!?!) Yuengling beers. 274 kegs were consumed this year. We must be a bunch of drinkers with a running problem.
Post-race party - Shamrock also does it better than anyone else. On a tent on the beach. The cool sand felt nice against my gnarly runner's feet. Have your picture taken with a giant sand sculpture. Listen to some music. This year had Vertigo, a U2 tribute band, plus 2 other bands. I'm a little biased because U2 is my favorite band. Vertigo didn't start playing til 2pm when just about all the runners were done. They were fun!
Hotels - I stayed on the Virginia Beach oceanfront. I warmed up by running to the marathon start and back, then stretched and hung out in my hotel room til a half hour before the start, and then walked to the start line. Without knowing it, I picked the perfect hotel (Best Western Plus Oceanfront). It wasn't too expensive. It was about a mile from the half marathon start, a quarter mile from the marathon start, and at the finish line and post-race party. I got to open up the balcony door and hear the music from the comfort of my hotel room. My room looked out directly at the Shamrock sand sculpture.
Shamrock's Facebook page - Full of useful information and a good way to connect with other runners. The night before the half and marathon, King Neptune told us all to go to bed. Tee hee!
Organization - Virtually flawless. Plenty of information was provided. The things that weren't quite right were very minor. That happens at every race. They took responsibility for mistakes and attempted to make them better. That's how you run a good race.
Overall, I cannot say enough good things about Shamrock, and not only because I had an epic race. This is an all-around quality event. Everything was well-organized and well-supported. I have ran a lot of different races, everything from small local races to big city marathons. Shamrock wins overall by a landslide. I will be back!!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Shamrock Music
Shamrock set out DJs at various points on the course. These locations and songs I remember:
Mile 3 - Lady Gaga - The Edge of Glory. It was too early in the race to tell whether I was on the edge of glory. In hindsight, it was an auspicious sign.
Mile 5 turnaround - Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks. Foster the People has some good running music. I sang along until I couldn't hear the DJ any longer.
Mile 13.1 - Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer. I actually turned to 2 runners next to me and said, "Hey, we really are halfway there" just after that line played.
There were more DJs out on the course, but I either can't remember what they played, don't remember where they were, or didn't recognize what they were playing.
I ran the first 14 miles or so without music. I am used to running about that far without it, and there were enough interesting things on the course to keep me occupied. At mile 14, the music needed to come out. It got suddenly quiet. The course had been too straight for too long. I knew it was going to continue that way for many more miles.
A leprechaun possessed my iPod and picked me the following songs (with approximate mile markers):
Mile 14-15 Atlantic Ave north
Kevin Rudolf - I Made It. I had set my Shamrock playlist to shuffle before I started the race and then turned my iPod off. I knew this song was going to be the first song. It is more appropriate for a last song. Oh well. The beat was right. The message was good too. I hadn't made it yet, but I was pretty sure I was going to make it.
U2 - Magnificent (Redanka's 360 version) - This song is very long. Another song with a good beat. It was a message I needed to hear at that point. Magnificent. I turned onto Shore Drive towards the end of this song. Let the long crowdless stretch begin.
Mile 16-19 Shore Drive
Fraggle Rock - Pukka Pukka Pukka Squeetily Boink. I put this song on my playlist because I wanted something fun. It came on at just the right time.
Chris Brown - Yeah 3x. Any song that repeats "yeah" or "woo" or any other one-syllable noise is good in my book.
Lady Gaga - Highway Unicorn (Road to Love). On a section of road that looked like a highway. This song starts off with the lines "We can be strong ... run run with it" and a thumping beat.
Incubus - Dig. This is one of my unexpectedly favorite running songs. Already tested at the end of a long run.
30 Seconds to Mars - The Battle of One. Yes, a marathon is a giant battle of one.
Ke$ha - Take It Off. Eh. Not making the cut in the future.
Tom Cochrane - Life Is a Highway. Huh. Like Highway Unicorn, that was appropriate.
Mile 20-22 Fort Story and Cape Henry
Daft Punk - One More Time. This song saved me at the end of my first half marathon. I was very close to breaking 2 hours. This song helped me pick it up and run hard the last half mile. It ends up on most of my running playlists.
Passion Pit - Little Secrets. I remember hearing this song but didn't have any particular thoughts about it.
U2 - Elevation. U2 is my favorite band. Elevation is my favorite U2 song. I remember thinking I didn't particularly want to hear this song. Mmm. It's getting cut next time around.
Hanson - If Only. My favorite Hanson song. Don't pretend like you don't like Hanson too.
Blue October - Into the Ocean. I had just been thinking about looking for the ocean and thought about this song. Poof. There it was.
Mile 23-24 Atlantic Ave south
Chris Brown - Turn Up the Music. One of my favorite songs of the moment. Ironically, I had to turn the music down at an aid station.
Shakira - She Wolf. OK, be a she wolf and keep running.
Rihanna - Don't Stop the Music. Don't remember hearing this song. Maybe I was distracted by the fighter jets? Or starting to take more walk breaks?
Ke$ha - We R Who We R. Eh. Another Ke$ha song? The leprechaun could have done better than that. This song is being dropped from future marathon playlists.
Foster the People - Call It What You Want. Love this song. The rhythm in the beginning always makes me think of a step class.
Hanson - Can't Stop. Oh you think you're clever, leprechaun. I was taking a walk break when this song came on. Can't stop. Keep running. I ended up taking another break during this song, but at least it got me started up again.
Foo Fighters - Bridge Burning. Shoulda had this song for going over the bridge earlier in the race. Still good later in the game.
Mile 25
Sean Kingston - Fire Burning. The end of the song coincided pretty closely with reaching the boardwalk. Pulled out the headphones once I could see the finish line a half mile away.
Mile 3 - Lady Gaga - The Edge of Glory. It was too early in the race to tell whether I was on the edge of glory. In hindsight, it was an auspicious sign.
Mile 5 turnaround - Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks. Foster the People has some good running music. I sang along until I couldn't hear the DJ any longer.
Mile 13.1 - Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer. I actually turned to 2 runners next to me and said, "Hey, we really are halfway there" just after that line played.
There were more DJs out on the course, but I either can't remember what they played, don't remember where they were, or didn't recognize what they were playing.
I ran the first 14 miles or so without music. I am used to running about that far without it, and there were enough interesting things on the course to keep me occupied. At mile 14, the music needed to come out. It got suddenly quiet. The course had been too straight for too long. I knew it was going to continue that way for many more miles.
A leprechaun possessed my iPod and picked me the following songs (with approximate mile markers):
Mile 14-15 Atlantic Ave north
Kevin Rudolf - I Made It. I had set my Shamrock playlist to shuffle before I started the race and then turned my iPod off. I knew this song was going to be the first song. It is more appropriate for a last song. Oh well. The beat was right. The message was good too. I hadn't made it yet, but I was pretty sure I was going to make it.
U2 - Magnificent (Redanka's 360 version) - This song is very long. Another song with a good beat. It was a message I needed to hear at that point. Magnificent. I turned onto Shore Drive towards the end of this song. Let the long crowdless stretch begin.
Mile 16-19 Shore Drive
Fraggle Rock - Pukka Pukka Pukka Squeetily Boink. I put this song on my playlist because I wanted something fun. It came on at just the right time.
Chris Brown - Yeah 3x. Any song that repeats "yeah" or "woo" or any other one-syllable noise is good in my book.
Lady Gaga - Highway Unicorn (Road to Love). On a section of road that looked like a highway. This song starts off with the lines "We can be strong ... run run with it" and a thumping beat.
Incubus - Dig. This is one of my unexpectedly favorite running songs. Already tested at the end of a long run.
30 Seconds to Mars - The Battle of One. Yes, a marathon is a giant battle of one.
Ke$ha - Take It Off. Eh. Not making the cut in the future.
Tom Cochrane - Life Is a Highway. Huh. Like Highway Unicorn, that was appropriate.
Mile 20-22 Fort Story and Cape Henry
Daft Punk - One More Time. This song saved me at the end of my first half marathon. I was very close to breaking 2 hours. This song helped me pick it up and run hard the last half mile. It ends up on most of my running playlists.
Passion Pit - Little Secrets. I remember hearing this song but didn't have any particular thoughts about it.
U2 - Elevation. U2 is my favorite band. Elevation is my favorite U2 song. I remember thinking I didn't particularly want to hear this song. Mmm. It's getting cut next time around.
Hanson - If Only. My favorite Hanson song. Don't pretend like you don't like Hanson too.
Blue October - Into the Ocean. I had just been thinking about looking for the ocean and thought about this song. Poof. There it was.
Mile 23-24 Atlantic Ave south
Chris Brown - Turn Up the Music. One of my favorite songs of the moment. Ironically, I had to turn the music down at an aid station.
Shakira - She Wolf. OK, be a she wolf and keep running.
Rihanna - Don't Stop the Music. Don't remember hearing this song. Maybe I was distracted by the fighter jets? Or starting to take more walk breaks?
Ke$ha - We R Who We R. Eh. Another Ke$ha song? The leprechaun could have done better than that. This song is being dropped from future marathon playlists.
Foster the People - Call It What You Want. Love this song. The rhythm in the beginning always makes me think of a step class.
Hanson - Can't Stop. Oh you think you're clever, leprechaun. I was taking a walk break when this song came on. Can't stop. Keep running. I ended up taking another break during this song, but at least it got me started up again.
Foo Fighters - Bridge Burning. Shoulda had this song for going over the bridge earlier in the race. Still good later in the game.
Mile 25
Sean Kingston - Fire Burning. The end of the song coincided pretty closely with reaching the boardwalk. Pulled out the headphones once I could see the finish line a half mile away.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
More Thoughts on the Shamrock Marathon
This is another long post. Still a couple more Shamrock posts to come. I am still enjoying my post-marathon glow. Just bear with me. It doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon. I'll nickname Shamrock the !?! Marathon for all the times I did something that made me go !?! Yes, there was a lot of that.
My thoughts about my performance in the Shamrock Marathon, in no particular order:
The course - The course is pancake flat except for a bridge that you run over twice. I am used to running hills, so the bridge did not phase me at all. There are many long, straight sections. Kinda boring at times but manageable.
The weather - Couldn't have asked for a better day. Mostly cloudy for most of the race. In the mid- to high-50s. Headwinds in the first half and tailwinds towards the finish.
Fluids - I was trying to carefully walk the line between overhydrating and underhydrating. I got it right this time. My Fuelbelt bottles were nearly empty at the finish line.
Fuel/food - I ate fewer shot bloks than usual. I usually eat a handful of pretzels around mile 12-13. I ate 2 or 3 around mile 15. Maybe I should have eaten more. I could feel a salty crust on my forehead in the higher miles. But I also knew I was drinking more Gatorade than usual. Overall, it worked pretty well.
Mantras - "Boston is going to happen today" became my mantra early on in the race. I had a collection of mantras to draw on. You never know which one will work until you are out there.
Concentration - I was careful to not use up too much energy in the beginning of the race. If I found my eyes wandering downward, I told myself to look up at the scenery. I kept an eye on my overall pace but wasn't overly focused on it.
Mental skills - They were much stronger than in marathons past. Must be all that running without music or practice at doing difficult things. Think running 18 miles in a snowstorm qualifies as difficult? How about running 20 miles alone in strong winds? I read Hal Higdon's chapter on mind games on the way to Shamrock. I had already incorporated most of his suggestions into my training. Excellent.
Being confident - I had a series of really great long runs leading up to Shamrock. I put up a great deal of bravado in the days before the race. But hey, it worked. I got out there and ran ran ran and didn't doubt what I could do. Tell yourself you can do something and you just might surprise yourself.
Monitoring my body - Nothing hurt too much. Sure, I could feel some blisters on my feet and yes, my muscles were getting a little sore. That's normal. I did not have a massive quad muscle fail. My hips, which had been acting up on some of my long runs, stayed OK. My ankle held up. Victories.
Learned from Chicago - The biggest issue was ignoring dehydration. This time, I recognized the signs of dehydration and did what I needed to do immediately. It worked. I felt fine when I finished.
Pace groups - I didn't use a pace group. I started off in between the 3:25 and 3:35 pace groups. Around mile 8, the 3:25 pace group was a couple minutes ahead of me. I decided that if the 3:35 pace group passed me, I needed to chase them down. The 3:35 pace group never came near me.
Pacing - Planned to run at an 8:00 pace, in part because I could easily memorize key splits and do the math on the fly. Banked some time up til mile 22, then started backing off because I was dehydrated. I ran all the way through mile 22. I set an unofficial half marathon PR (1:43:45). IN A MARATHON. WHO DOES THAT?!?
PRed big time - I had a hugely huge PR. I knocked off over 21 minutes!! And exactly 24 minutes off the time from my first marathon. I didn't even realize this until the day after the marathon. Well done, self, well done indeed.
Got my BQ/GQ - I met my lofty goal. My training, the flat course, and the weather all collided for an epic marathon.
Rankings - 305 out of 3303 finishers, 46 out of 1359 women (Top 50!?! Holy crap), and 8 out of 251 women in my age category. Sham Rock On indeed.
Corral 1 - I'll be honest. I wasn't sure I belonged in Corral 1. The cutoff for the corral was under 3:45. I put 3:35 as my projected finishing time when I signed up in October. My training suggested I belonged in Corral 1, but my previous marathon times did not. I certainly had no reason to believe I could run 3:35 when I signed up, other than I really wanted 3:35. By its nature, Shamrock draws a lot of people who run for fun. You see tutus, green wigs, and all sorts of Shamrock-themed things. Not in Corral 1, though. I think I saw 1 tutu. Green clothing, yes, but no silly costumes. It was all serious runners. Almost no one talked waiting for the race to start. That's one of many reasons why Shamrock is a great race. There is a place for the runners who want to be serious and a place for the runners who want to have fun and a place for everyone in between.
Ran a smart race - The me who ran Chicago failed to slow down when dehydration set in, didn't manage energy and mental focus correctly, and didn't adjust goals to weather conditions. The me who ran Shamrock ran infinitely smarter.
Ran evenly - My second half was only 4 minutes slower than my first half. I'll take it. I knew I could have picked it up at the end if I really needed to, but I didn't need to. Pretty darn close to negative splits.
Professional pictures - They are some of the best race pictures I've ever had. I am notorious for never seeing race photographers until I am past them. I usually end up with a lot of bad pictures. Even my crappy race pictures look good. I think I will be buying this batch. Double thumbs up with a smile AND King Neptune in the background? Yes please!
Training - I was worried about overtraining and pushing myself too hard. Nope, no overtraining. I pushed myself appropriately to improve. The shocking secret to run faster is to ... run faster.
Support of my running buddies - I had a group of strong women believing in me and encouraging me from the day I signed up for Shamrock to the moment I crossed the finish line and beyond. Thanks, buddies!!
In past races, I have taken pictures during the race. Not this time. I got a new phone that isn't amenable to taking pictures on the run. It just barely fits in the pocket of my Fuelbelt. So I wrapped it up in a plastic baggie at the start and didn't look at it again until I was done. But here are some other pictures.
Walking up Atlantic Ave to the start
King Neptune statue (taken the previous day)
View of the finish, finish area, and post-race party from my hotel balcony. Pardon my finger
Sand sculpture on the beach
Vertigo playing at the post-race party
My thoughts about my performance in the Shamrock Marathon, in no particular order:
The course - The course is pancake flat except for a bridge that you run over twice. I am used to running hills, so the bridge did not phase me at all. There are many long, straight sections. Kinda boring at times but manageable.
The weather - Couldn't have asked for a better day. Mostly cloudy for most of the race. In the mid- to high-50s. Headwinds in the first half and tailwinds towards the finish.
Fluids - I was trying to carefully walk the line between overhydrating and underhydrating. I got it right this time. My Fuelbelt bottles were nearly empty at the finish line.
Fuel/food - I ate fewer shot bloks than usual. I usually eat a handful of pretzels around mile 12-13. I ate 2 or 3 around mile 15. Maybe I should have eaten more. I could feel a salty crust on my forehead in the higher miles. But I also knew I was drinking more Gatorade than usual. Overall, it worked pretty well.
Mantras - "Boston is going to happen today" became my mantra early on in the race. I had a collection of mantras to draw on. You never know which one will work until you are out there.
Concentration - I was careful to not use up too much energy in the beginning of the race. If I found my eyes wandering downward, I told myself to look up at the scenery. I kept an eye on my overall pace but wasn't overly focused on it.
Mental skills - They were much stronger than in marathons past. Must be all that running without music or practice at doing difficult things. Think running 18 miles in a snowstorm qualifies as difficult? How about running 20 miles alone in strong winds? I read Hal Higdon's chapter on mind games on the way to Shamrock. I had already incorporated most of his suggestions into my training. Excellent.
Being confident - I had a series of really great long runs leading up to Shamrock. I put up a great deal of bravado in the days before the race. But hey, it worked. I got out there and ran ran ran and didn't doubt what I could do. Tell yourself you can do something and you just might surprise yourself.
Monitoring my body - Nothing hurt too much. Sure, I could feel some blisters on my feet and yes, my muscles were getting a little sore. That's normal. I did not have a massive quad muscle fail. My hips, which had been acting up on some of my long runs, stayed OK. My ankle held up. Victories.
Learned from Chicago - The biggest issue was ignoring dehydration. This time, I recognized the signs of dehydration and did what I needed to do immediately. It worked. I felt fine when I finished.
Pace groups - I didn't use a pace group. I started off in between the 3:25 and 3:35 pace groups. Around mile 8, the 3:25 pace group was a couple minutes ahead of me. I decided that if the 3:35 pace group passed me, I needed to chase them down. The 3:35 pace group never came near me.
Pacing - Planned to run at an 8:00 pace, in part because I could easily memorize key splits and do the math on the fly. Banked some time up til mile 22, then started backing off because I was dehydrated. I ran all the way through mile 22. I set an unofficial half marathon PR (1:43:45). IN A MARATHON. WHO DOES THAT?!?
PRed big time - I had a hugely huge PR. I knocked off over 21 minutes!! And exactly 24 minutes off the time from my first marathon. I didn't even realize this until the day after the marathon. Well done, self, well done indeed.
Got my BQ/GQ - I met my lofty goal. My training, the flat course, and the weather all collided for an epic marathon.
Rankings - 305 out of 3303 finishers, 46 out of 1359 women (Top 50!?! Holy crap), and 8 out of 251 women in my age category. Sham Rock On indeed.
Corral 1 - I'll be honest. I wasn't sure I belonged in Corral 1. The cutoff for the corral was under 3:45. I put 3:35 as my projected finishing time when I signed up in October. My training suggested I belonged in Corral 1, but my previous marathon times did not. I certainly had no reason to believe I could run 3:35 when I signed up, other than I really wanted 3:35. By its nature, Shamrock draws a lot of people who run for fun. You see tutus, green wigs, and all sorts of Shamrock-themed things. Not in Corral 1, though. I think I saw 1 tutu. Green clothing, yes, but no silly costumes. It was all serious runners. Almost no one talked waiting for the race to start. That's one of many reasons why Shamrock is a great race. There is a place for the runners who want to be serious and a place for the runners who want to have fun and a place for everyone in between.
Ran a smart race - The me who ran Chicago failed to slow down when dehydration set in, didn't manage energy and mental focus correctly, and didn't adjust goals to weather conditions. The me who ran Shamrock ran infinitely smarter.
Ran evenly - My second half was only 4 minutes slower than my first half. I'll take it. I knew I could have picked it up at the end if I really needed to, but I didn't need to. Pretty darn close to negative splits.
Professional pictures - They are some of the best race pictures I've ever had. I am notorious for never seeing race photographers until I am past them. I usually end up with a lot of bad pictures. Even my crappy race pictures look good. I think I will be buying this batch. Double thumbs up with a smile AND King Neptune in the background? Yes please!
Training - I was worried about overtraining and pushing myself too hard. Nope, no overtraining. I pushed myself appropriately to improve. The shocking secret to run faster is to ... run faster.
Support of my running buddies - I had a group of strong women believing in me and encouraging me from the day I signed up for Shamrock to the moment I crossed the finish line and beyond. Thanks, buddies!!
In past races, I have taken pictures during the race. Not this time. I got a new phone that isn't amenable to taking pictures on the run. It just barely fits in the pocket of my Fuelbelt. So I wrapped it up in a plastic baggie at the start and didn't look at it again until I was done. But here are some other pictures.
Walking up Atlantic Ave to the start
King Neptune statue (taken the previous day)
View of the finish, finish area, and post-race party from my hotel balcony. Pardon my finger
Sand sculpture on the beach
Vertigo playing at the post-race party
Monday, March 19, 2012
Shamrock Marathon: Mile-by-Mile
There will be multiple posts about the Shamrock Marathon. But first, the mile-by-mile race recap. It will be long.
Good morning, Virginia Beach
Getting ready to Sham Rock On
Mile 1-2 - south on Atlantic Ave. I was in Corral 1 (based on my projected time), so I crossed the start line in under 30 seconds. Settled into my pace within the first quarter mile. I knew I had to reel it in and not go out too fast. I planned to run at an 8:00 pace. Since R2 (my trusty Garmin) overestimates distance, I was aiming to be in the 7:50s. The temperature was perfect, but it was also somewhat humid. Or at least more humid than I am used to at this point in the year. I started drinking both water and Gatorade almost immediately. This was a wise move. I spent a lot of the first mile or two fiddling with my headphones and my Spibelt trying to get everything positioned correctly. My Fuelbelt stayed put the whole race. Didn't have to adjust it at all. Note to self: never try to wind your headphones around your iPod and then tuck the earbuds into your Fuelbelt or Spibelt. Just wind them behind your neck and tuck the headphones into the strap of your shirt.
Mile 2 - Some winding roads and over a bridge. The bridge is the only hill in the entire race. There might be some very gentle inclines in other places, but I didn't even notice them. Pancake flat.
Mile 3-5 - South to the turnaround. Passed the Virginia Aquarium. I dropped one of my water bottles and had to stop to quickly pick it up. My pace was exactly where I wanted it to be. Between 7:50-7:55. Somewhere in this stretch, the lead runners and escort passed me on the opposite side of the course.
Mile 6-7 - North from the turnaround. Pretty straight. Nothing too stand-out. I started picking runners off, one by one. Hit 7 miles at 55:53 (7:59). Spot on.
Miles 8 - Camp Pendleton Marine base. Loved this part!! Some of the Marines were out cheering and singing. I am really excited to run the Marine Corps Marathon in the fall. By this point, I knew I was having a good race. "Boston is going to happen today" started creeping into my head. You really do know about 5-10 miles in if you are having a good race.
Mile 9-10 - Still heading north. Over the bridge again and more winding roads. No more hills! By mile 10, my pace had settled into the low 7:50s. I was still picking off runners.
Mile 11 - North on the boardwalk. Straight into a headwind. At first, I hated the wind. But then I realized it was cooling me off. And it was going to be a tailwind on the way back into the finish.
Mile 12-16 - Back on Atlantic Ave. heading north. I did a systems check at about the halfway point. Tired? No. Aches and pains? No. Thirsty? No. Pace good? Yep, pace good. Boston is going to happen today. Hit the halfway point at 1:43:45 (7:55 pace). That's a half marathon PR by 2 minutes. In a marathon!! Whoa. Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer was blasting as I ran by the half marathon mark. "We're halfway there" has never been more appropriate. I pulled out my iPod at mile 14. I was trying to make it to mile 16, but I needed the music. The course was just too straight. The lead runner and escort passed again on the opposite side of the course.
Mile 16-19 - Shore Drive. No mans land. No, really. There were no spectators for 3 miles straight. Except the road isn't straight and there there is a strong cant to the road along turns. This part could have been an epic disaster, but Shamrock got it right. Oh, did they get it right. There were signs with Shamrock-themed riddles. One sign was a riddle. The next was the answer. Some of them were lame, but most were funny. It definitely kept my mind off of a potentially boring stretch of the race. Hit mile 18 at 2:22:55 (7:56 pace). I was feeling pretty good, mentally had it, and was still picking runners off.
Mile 20-22 - Fort Story and Cape Henry, slowly turning south again. This part was also pretty boring with limited spectators. The Cape Henry lighthouse was interesting, though. You could catch glimpses of the ocean if you looked carefully. Hit mile 20 at under 2:38. Sub-8! For 20 miles!?! Boston IS going to happen today. Felt good at mile 20. Still felt good at mile 21. And I was STILL picking runners off.
Mile 22 - The sun came out and it was starting to get warmer. My pace had stabilized at 7:50 from about mile 10 to this point. Up until this point, all of my mile splits were under 8:00 (except the first time over the bridge and the mile where I dropped my water bottle). I knew I had several minutes of wiggle room to work with. I knew I was starting to get dehydrated, though. Sloshy stomach feeling was creeping into my belly. In hindsight, my experiences with the Chicago Marathon were really helpful here. I knew immediately that I was getting dehydrated (waaaay better to happen at mile 22 than mile 6 like at Chicago) and I needed to slow down and/or drink more Gatorade. My bottles were getting empty. I had successfully held off dehydration for 22 miles. I knew I would make it 4 more miles. So I took my first walk break. I couldn't believe that I RAN all the way through 22 miles. I have never ever ran that far without stopping. Ever. Boston is going to happen today, even if I slowed down.
Mile 23-25 - Atlantic Ave. again heading south. I took more walk breaks and started walking through some of the aid stations so that I could fill my water bottles. "How badly do you want it?" crept into my mind, and the answer was "Not that badly." Still, my pace didn't fall off that much. Boston is going to happen today. A bunch of fighter jets soared over head. Perfect timing. There were runners on the opposite side of the course. I always like parts of the course that double-back on themselves.
Mile 26 - A little bit farther on Atlantic Ave and then onto the boardwalk. I pulled my headphones out as soon as I turned onto the boardwalk. There was King Neptune and the finish line!! I knew it was deceptively far away. 3:28:xx on R2. About a half mile to go. It was not going to take me 7 minutes to run a half mile. I made gestures at spectators to get them to cheer and they did!!
Mile 26.2 - Passed King Neptune and crossed the finish line with 3:31:xx on the clock and on R2. Official time was 3:31:27. 4th time a marathoner and 1st time a Boston Qualifier AND Gansett Qualifier. I did it!!
Thumbs up on the Shamrock Marathon and my green Costco tank. The tanks are 2 for 2 in marathons.
Garmin unofficial time and 26.2 Finisher hat
Good morning, Virginia Beach
Getting ready to Sham Rock On
Mile 1-2 - south on Atlantic Ave. I was in Corral 1 (based on my projected time), so I crossed the start line in under 30 seconds. Settled into my pace within the first quarter mile. I knew I had to reel it in and not go out too fast. I planned to run at an 8:00 pace. Since R2 (my trusty Garmin) overestimates distance, I was aiming to be in the 7:50s. The temperature was perfect, but it was also somewhat humid. Or at least more humid than I am used to at this point in the year. I started drinking both water and Gatorade almost immediately. This was a wise move. I spent a lot of the first mile or two fiddling with my headphones and my Spibelt trying to get everything positioned correctly. My Fuelbelt stayed put the whole race. Didn't have to adjust it at all. Note to self: never try to wind your headphones around your iPod and then tuck the earbuds into your Fuelbelt or Spibelt. Just wind them behind your neck and tuck the headphones into the strap of your shirt.
Mile 2 - Some winding roads and over a bridge. The bridge is the only hill in the entire race. There might be some very gentle inclines in other places, but I didn't even notice them. Pancake flat.
Mile 3-5 - South to the turnaround. Passed the Virginia Aquarium. I dropped one of my water bottles and had to stop to quickly pick it up. My pace was exactly where I wanted it to be. Between 7:50-7:55. Somewhere in this stretch, the lead runners and escort passed me on the opposite side of the course.
Mile 6-7 - North from the turnaround. Pretty straight. Nothing too stand-out. I started picking runners off, one by one. Hit 7 miles at 55:53 (7:59). Spot on.
Miles 8 - Camp Pendleton Marine base. Loved this part!! Some of the Marines were out cheering and singing. I am really excited to run the Marine Corps Marathon in the fall. By this point, I knew I was having a good race. "Boston is going to happen today" started creeping into my head. You really do know about 5-10 miles in if you are having a good race.
Mile 9-10 - Still heading north. Over the bridge again and more winding roads. No more hills! By mile 10, my pace had settled into the low 7:50s. I was still picking off runners.
Mile 11 - North on the boardwalk. Straight into a headwind. At first, I hated the wind. But then I realized it was cooling me off. And it was going to be a tailwind on the way back into the finish.
Mile 12-16 - Back on Atlantic Ave. heading north. I did a systems check at about the halfway point. Tired? No. Aches and pains? No. Thirsty? No. Pace good? Yep, pace good. Boston is going to happen today. Hit the halfway point at 1:43:45 (7:55 pace). That's a half marathon PR by 2 minutes. In a marathon!! Whoa. Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer was blasting as I ran by the half marathon mark. "We're halfway there" has never been more appropriate. I pulled out my iPod at mile 14. I was trying to make it to mile 16, but I needed the music. The course was just too straight. The lead runner and escort passed again on the opposite side of the course.
Mile 16-19 - Shore Drive. No mans land. No, really. There were no spectators for 3 miles straight. Except the road isn't straight and there there is a strong cant to the road along turns. This part could have been an epic disaster, but Shamrock got it right. Oh, did they get it right. There were signs with Shamrock-themed riddles. One sign was a riddle. The next was the answer. Some of them were lame, but most were funny. It definitely kept my mind off of a potentially boring stretch of the race. Hit mile 18 at 2:22:55 (7:56 pace). I was feeling pretty good, mentally had it, and was still picking runners off.
Mile 20-22 - Fort Story and Cape Henry, slowly turning south again. This part was also pretty boring with limited spectators. The Cape Henry lighthouse was interesting, though. You could catch glimpses of the ocean if you looked carefully. Hit mile 20 at under 2:38. Sub-8! For 20 miles!?! Boston IS going to happen today. Felt good at mile 20. Still felt good at mile 21. And I was STILL picking runners off.
Mile 22 - The sun came out and it was starting to get warmer. My pace had stabilized at 7:50 from about mile 10 to this point. Up until this point, all of my mile splits were under 8:00 (except the first time over the bridge and the mile where I dropped my water bottle). I knew I had several minutes of wiggle room to work with. I knew I was starting to get dehydrated, though. Sloshy stomach feeling was creeping into my belly. In hindsight, my experiences with the Chicago Marathon were really helpful here. I knew immediately that I was getting dehydrated (waaaay better to happen at mile 22 than mile 6 like at Chicago) and I needed to slow down and/or drink more Gatorade. My bottles were getting empty. I had successfully held off dehydration for 22 miles. I knew I would make it 4 more miles. So I took my first walk break. I couldn't believe that I RAN all the way through 22 miles. I have never ever ran that far without stopping. Ever. Boston is going to happen today, even if I slowed down.
Mile 23-25 - Atlantic Ave. again heading south. I took more walk breaks and started walking through some of the aid stations so that I could fill my water bottles. "How badly do you want it?" crept into my mind, and the answer was "Not that badly." Still, my pace didn't fall off that much. Boston is going to happen today. A bunch of fighter jets soared over head. Perfect timing. There were runners on the opposite side of the course. I always like parts of the course that double-back on themselves.
Mile 26 - A little bit farther on Atlantic Ave and then onto the boardwalk. I pulled my headphones out as soon as I turned onto the boardwalk. There was King Neptune and the finish line!! I knew it was deceptively far away. 3:28:xx on R2. About a half mile to go. It was not going to take me 7 minutes to run a half mile. I made gestures at spectators to get them to cheer and they did!!
Mile 26.2 - Passed King Neptune and crossed the finish line with 3:31:xx on the clock and on R2. Official time was 3:31:27. 4th time a marathoner and 1st time a Boston Qualifier AND Gansett Qualifier. I did it!!
Thumbs up on the Shamrock Marathon and my green Costco tank. The tanks are 2 for 2 in marathons.
Garmin unofficial time and 26.2 Finisher hat
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Reeeally quick Shamrock update
3:31:27.
That gets me into Boston for 2013. But it also gets me into the Gansett Marathon for 2012. In 4 weeks. As soon as the results are official, I am signing up for Gansett.
More later. Seriously could not have gone better!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Ready to Get my Sham Rock On!
Here I am on the cusp of another marathon. When you pick out and commit to a marathon, it always seems like the marathon is so far away. You plot your training plan. You go out and run. Then all of a sudden, you are days away from your race.
I have a lofty goal again. The same one I had for Chicago. 3:35:00. Yep, that's a Boston Qualifier for me under the new standards. That's 3:35 flat. Not 3:35:30. Not 3:35:59. To reach my goal, I have to hold an 8:12 pace for 26.2 miles. I have to run a marathon 18 minutes overall and 42 seconds per mile faster than my PR. This is my second try at a BQ after a failed attempt at Chicago last year. I may not make it again, but I am feeling much more confident than last time around.
Still, I need an A day. I need the right weather. I need to run a smart race. I need everything to come together perfectly. I'm not sure I have a B goal. Go big or go home, right?
I have heard you will know within the first 5-10 miles how your race is going. I kind of agree with that. What you do in the early miles sets you up for the later miles. I've never had issues with 5-10 miles, though, or even a half marathon. I can pick a pace and hit it almost perfectly. I run into trouble somewhere after the halfway point. There is a lot that goes into a marathon performance. You have to get it all exactly right. Even a small miscalculation in pace, weather/temperature, energy, fluids, or fuel can cause problems. Some people run into trouble at mile 20. No. I have trouble somewhere between miles 15-19. I suspect this is where I hit the wall. My pace slows. I get all kinds of uncomfortable feelings. I need to reach deep into the pain locker. But once I get through it, it gets better. I pick up the pace. The uncomfortable feelings lessen. I keep going. For me, mile 18 is the critical point that makes or breaks my marathon. Mile 18 is where I decide to step on the gas pedal or set the cruise control and hold on.
I managed to keep calm and carry on in the days before Shamrock. Going into Chicago, I was revved up the entire week before the marathon. I didn't sleep well for days before the race. I flew into Chicago the morning before the marathon, went straight to the expo, had lunch, had an hour or two to settle into my hotel room, and then met friends for dinner. Not the way to prepare for a marathon. I used up too much energy before I even crossed the start line. Once I got out on the course, I was overly focused on trying to hit my planned pace in the first half of the marathon. I should have saved that focus for the second half. I learned that if I start to feel nauseous, I am already dehydrated and I need to do something immediately. I need to drink more Gatorade and/or get some salt into me and/or slow down. Where did that happen in Chicago? Mile 15-19? Yes, that's when it was worst. But it started much earlier. Around mile 6 if I really think about it. Trust me when I say that you don't want to run 20 miles into dehydration. Hopefully, I have learned what not to do. I have no desire to repeat that mistake at Shamrock.
In my preparation for races, I usually practice positive mantras. Commit yourself. Right here right now. Yes I can. Yes I can. Yes I can. I decided a few races back that I did not want mantras with negativity. Words like "not" or "fail" did not make it into my mantras. But I am not sure the positive-only strategy works. Some of my fastest runs have been on days when I was angry. I ran a PR half marathon (at the time) where so much went wrong pre-race that I didn't have time to warm up and almost didn't get to the start line on time. Negativity is not necessarily a bad thing.
On some of my runs, I practiced giving myself pep talks. Sometimes out loud and usually addressed to my legs. I did victory fist pumps if things were going particularly well. I didn't care if anyone else saw me, heard me, or thought I was strange. It helped. I practiced keeping my excitement levels in check. You will crash and burn if you go out too fast and don't leave enough fuel in the tank. You need to be mindful (but not overly mindful) of your pace, especially at the beginning where a fast pace feels easier than it actually is. I practiced picking up the pace at the end of a few of my long runs. I managed to run one of my fastest miles of this training cycle at the end of a 19 mile run. I did it again at the end of a 20+ mile run. Whoa. See, self? Yes I CAN run faster when I am tired. I had some utterly beastly runs where I ran faster than I ever imagined. Those runs were not overly difficult, and I felt like I could have kept going if I had needed to. When things start getting tough, I know I can sustain my pace AND pick it up because I've already done it. More than once. Having that confidence is priceless.
I have worked too hard to fail this time. Too many early morning workouts. Too many miles (600+) in the cold, dark, rain, or snow. Too many Friday nights with water and the DVR instead of wine and friends. Too much thought about what to eat and drink. Too much time carefully listening to my body. Too much energy spent planning and preparing for this marathon.
I have worked too hard to fail this time. Just keep repeating that to myself. If the 3:35 pace group passes me, I chase them down. I will not let the 3:35 pace group get ahead of me. Just keep repeating that to myself, too.
I painted my nails the same sparkly white color I wore for my first marathon. Based on projected time, I am in Corral 1 (out of 4). My bib is odd-numbered. I hate odd numbers, but I tend to run well with odd-numbered bibs. Go figure. I hope it is a sign.
Shamrock, you better be running because I will chase you down. Tomorrow. Sham Rock On!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Marathon Training Week 18
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 3, 4, and 3 miles, rest, 2 mile run (every time I see these 2 mile runs on my schedule, I think "Really? Why bother?"), and rest. And then the marathon. Third and final week of taper. Hello, marathon week!!
For me, taper madness means phantom pains. This happens every. single. time. C'mon now, brain, please stop playing tricks on me. I had a strange dream about running a marathon on Monday night. Overall, it made sense (and I hope parts of it are more than a dream!), but some of it was completely nonsensical.
I was so excited I couldn't stand it before the Chicago Marathon. It backfired. I did not want to do that this time around. I managed to keep calm and carry on through most of this week. Excitement didn't start picking up til Thursday, and even then I wasn't overly worked up. Much better.
Sunday - yoga class. Was going to do some leg work but wasn't feeling it. This is the time to take it easy.
Monday - 3.8 mile run in the AM. Had to break out the reflective gear and lights again, but it was already starting to get light. It wasn't even cold. A half moon was still up. Only had to do once around my regular running loop. Did abs in the morning after my run. Was going to do some lunges but still wasn't feeling it.
Tuesday - 4.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training, squats, and lunges. Nike+ behaved this time. Cut the strength training and leg work down to 2 sets instead of my usual 3. No more strength training til after Shamrock. It was relatively warm. Went to the gym in shorts and a sweatshirt.
Wednesday - 3.8 mile run in the AM. Last run outside in Rhode Island. It was warm enough for capris and a short-sleeve T-shirt. Easy peasy. When did my easy pace fall into the 8:20s?
Thursday - Rest. And traveling. Hello, racecation.
Friday - 3.6 mile run in Washington, DC. Last run before Shamrock. And more traveling.
Saturday - Rest. And checking out the Shamrock Expo.
Sunday - Shamrock Marathon. This race has been in the works for 5 months. Bring it!!
Total Miles: Scheduled - 38.2 (including the marathon) Actual - 42 (also including the marathon)
Marathon Training: All Wrapped Up
My last training run for the Shamrock Marathon is on the books.
I pretty much used Hal Higdon's Intermediate I plan with some modifications. After reading Hal's marathon book, I can see why he designs his plans the way he does. I like the structure of Hal's plans, particularly the intermediate plans where there are back-to-back hard workouts. But I didn't think the mileage was high enough to get me to my goal. I tacked on an extra mile to all of my long runs (except the week I was supposed to run a half marathon race and the two 20 milers, and even then I ran a little bit more than what the plan called for). I also added some extra distance to my other runs. On average, I ran about 3-3.5 miles per week more than the plan called for. I never quite made it to that magical number of 50 miles a week, but I wasn't trying to. I came close enough for several weeks. I ran every single run on my training plan. That's a first.
I stuck with everything that I incorporated into my Chicago training cycle. No music, yoga, compression socks/sleeves, strength training, and some other stuff, plus a training goal marathon pace 15 seconds per mile lower than Chicago. I can't isolate the individual contributions of each change, but they all seemed to help.
I gained lots of practice at seeing mile splits starting with 7s. Remember when I said mile splits in the 7s scared me? Not anymore. I routinely hit splits in the 7s, sometimes without even trying. My mindset went from "Splits in the 7s? Ooo, scary" to "Yeah, splits in the 7s. Excellent!" By the end of my training cycle, mile splits in the 7s didn't even feel that hard. I never though I would say that.
Midway through my training cycle, I successfully raced a half marathon on a treadmill. It actually wasn't awful and I would do it again. Of course, now that I have said that, I probably will have to do it again some point in the future.
I need to put a word of caution out because I know I ran faster than I was supposed to. With a marathon goal pace of 8:00, I should have done my long runs around an 8:45 pace. Yeah. Not so much. Most of my long runs were in the 8:10s. My three longest runs were solid. One of my 20 mile runs was under 8:20. The other 20 miler was under 8:10. I ran 19 miles at just over 8:10. I should mention that I ran comfortably at those paces and distances, and they definitely got easier over time. I never though I would say that, either.
In all three of my previous marathons, I got injured somewhere in my training cycle. For RnR Mardi Gras, it was during my 20 mile run. An issue with my shin. Thankfully, it was minor and easily handled with extra rest and athletic tape. For Cox Providence, it was a serious injury to my ankle. I think I rolled it by stepping funny in a pair of Crocs. I missed several weeks of running and subbed in lots of cross-training. I ran the marathon anyway because I felt OK by the time the race came around. I did not have the race I wanted, though. For Chicago, it was another flareup of the ankle injury. I took a few days of extra rest and missed my last 20 mile run. Oh well. Like Cox, I was OK for the race. I didn't have the race I wanted, but it was because of the weather and not because of an injury. For Shamrock, my training went smoothly all the way to the end. This is the first time I have not gotten injured. This is a big deal. Maybe I just got lucky, or maybe everything I am doing is working.
I had some lingering issues with my ankle that I have been watching carefully. Mostly just minor irritation easily managed by stretching, Body Glide, compression socks, and rolling my foot on a tennis ball under my desk at work. I never got sharp pains that forced me to stop in the middle of a run. I didn't rely on ibuprofen or Biofreeze to reduce pain and inflammation. In fact, I haven't touched ibuprofen or Biofreeze this training cycle. The pain was very low-level to non-existent, and there was no inflammation. Much better than what happened in my training for Chicago.
One of the things about running a marathon is that you never know what will happen when you get out there. That's part of why I like marathons. You just cannot predict what will happen. Something goes wrong physically and/or mentally at some point, and you need to overcome that challenge.
Overall, I had a really good training cycle that exceeded my expectations. I am physically stronger. I am mentally stronger. I am going into the Shamrock Marathon uninjured and confident. Priceless. Stay tuned, folks.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Marathon Training Week 17
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 4, 5, and 4 miles, rest, 3 mile run, and 8 mile long run. Second week of taper.
I was thinking about this week's schedule on my last long run, and I found myself thinking, "That's all? You're kidding, right? I want to run more!" Well, that's a first. I know I need to trust the plan, though. It is laid out that way for a reason. This week was, however, the first week since the end of December that wasn't above 30 miles and the first week since mid-January that wasn't close to or above 40 miles. The hungry marathon monster in my stomach needs to be aware of that. Less miles in theory means less food. Veggies and fruit for you, marathon monster.
In other news, I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28. It's my new local marathon. My running buddies are coming down for it too. We all survived the Active.com crash and got in before registration closed in 2 hours 41 minutes. I predicted 4 hours. I can't believe it sold out faster than that. But no matter. We're in and ready to run. Fun times ahead!!
Sunday - yoga class, plus calf raises and lunges.
Monday - 4.5 mile run in the AM, plus some foam rolling afterwards. The run was a piece of cake. Not too far off from marathon goal pace, either. It was nice to run in sunlight. I will enjoy it this week, because it will be dark next week.
Tuesday - 5.5 mile run in the AM, plus abs and lower back exercises. Colder with a headwind on the way back. I actually yelled at myself for starting off too fast ;-)
Wednesday - 4.5 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. My body was telling me to take it easy on the squats and some of the upper body work, so I listened. I should probably start phasing out my strength training anyway. Nike+ ate 1.25 miles of my run. Super frustrating. I have an extra sensor. Maybe I need to swap the old one out. But still. That is unacceptable.
Thursday - Rest.
Friday - 9.3 mile run. I swapped my planned Friday and Saturday runs so that I could do a special run on Saturday. And I also don't work on Fridays so I have more time for a longer run. Decent weather, not too cold. Piece of cake again. I can't believe this was my last long run before Shamrock.
Saturday - 3.5 mile run with the new running club at my local Lululemon showroom. Chilly and windy. Too bad I am moving soon. It is nice running alone sometimes, but it is also nice running with other people.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 24 Actual - 27.5
I am down to single digits. 8 days to go!!
I was thinking about this week's schedule on my last long run, and I found myself thinking, "That's all? You're kidding, right? I want to run more!" Well, that's a first. I know I need to trust the plan, though. It is laid out that way for a reason. This week was, however, the first week since the end of December that wasn't above 30 miles and the first week since mid-January that wasn't close to or above 40 miles. The hungry marathon monster in my stomach needs to be aware of that. Less miles in theory means less food. Veggies and fruit for you, marathon monster.
In other news, I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28. It's my new local marathon. My running buddies are coming down for it too. We all survived the Active.com crash and got in before registration closed in 2 hours 41 minutes. I predicted 4 hours. I can't believe it sold out faster than that. But no matter. We're in and ready to run. Fun times ahead!!
Sunday - yoga class, plus calf raises and lunges.
Monday - 4.5 mile run in the AM, plus some foam rolling afterwards. The run was a piece of cake. Not too far off from marathon goal pace, either. It was nice to run in sunlight. I will enjoy it this week, because it will be dark next week.
Tuesday - 5.5 mile run in the AM, plus abs and lower back exercises. Colder with a headwind on the way back. I actually yelled at myself for starting off too fast ;-)
Wednesday - 4.5 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. My body was telling me to take it easy on the squats and some of the upper body work, so I listened. I should probably start phasing out my strength training anyway. Nike+ ate 1.25 miles of my run. Super frustrating. I have an extra sensor. Maybe I need to swap the old one out. But still. That is unacceptable.
Thursday - Rest.
Friday - 9.3 mile run. I swapped my planned Friday and Saturday runs so that I could do a special run on Saturday. And I also don't work on Fridays so I have more time for a longer run. Decent weather, not too cold. Piece of cake again. I can't believe this was my last long run before Shamrock.
Saturday - 3.5 mile run with the new running club at my local Lululemon showroom. Chilly and windy. Too bad I am moving soon. It is nice running alone sometimes, but it is also nice running with other people.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 24 Actual - 27.5
I am down to single digits. 8 days to go!!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
More Music: Shamrock Playlist
I did some slashing and burning to my Shamrock Marathon playlist. I am planning to run as long as I can without my iPod and then turn the music on whenever I need it. At Chicago, that was about halfway through. I ran the last mile or two without music because I wanted to hear the crowds. I want to cut the playlist down to 4 hours of music or less so that I know the songs I want to hear will pop up. It worked exceptionally well with my Nike+ Women's Half Marathon playlist. The last 3 or 4 miles, every song made me want to sing along and run run run. Every song could have been my favorite song. I've cut the Shamrock playlist down to 6 hours. Not quite 4 hours of less. Oops.
I've been doing tweaking and testing for several weeks. Any song that I skip over gets cut, no matter how much I like it. I might add a few more songs, but I think the playlist is pretty much set. Just under 100 songs at the moment.
For each marathon, I pick out songs that are location-specific. For example, my playlist for running in New Orleans had King of New Orleans by Better than Ezra and Hello Hurricane by Switchfoot. Or I'd put London Calling by the Clash on a playlist if I ever run the London Marathon.
For the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, I looked for songs that had something to do with rock, green, Ireland, St. Patrick's Day, Virginia, beaches, ocean, or water. I didn't come up with much, but I did include:
Fraggle Rock - theme song, Pass It On, Pukka Pukka Pukka Sweetily Boink, Yes We Can, Stuff Samba (only because it has the line "Do the stuff you've always done before" and has already been tested on long runs)
Blue October - Into the Ocean
Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston, Tessie, Captain Kelly's Kitchen
R.E.M. - Orange Crush (from the album named Green)
I normally wouldn't go with Fraggle Rock songs. BUT Fraggle Rock is one of my favorite shows of all-time (yes, I am an adult, and yes, I still like and watch Fraggles, and yes, I fully admit to that). The songs are about 1-2 minutes long. Appropriate for Shamrockin' On? I think so.
Some other recent additions (purchased from iTunes):
Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere
Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart
Incubus - Dig
Linkin Park - Lying from You
Third Eye Blind - Non Dairy Creamer
Id Guiness - Going to Burning Man (found this through a podcast I listen to)
Pitbull (w/ Chris Brown) - International Love
Katy Perry - Part of Me
Ke$ha - Take It Off
Dug up from my music collection:
Weird Al - Yoda
30 Seconds to Mars - The Battle of One
I've been doing tweaking and testing for several weeks. Any song that I skip over gets cut, no matter how much I like it. I might add a few more songs, but I think the playlist is pretty much set. Just under 100 songs at the moment.
For each marathon, I pick out songs that are location-specific. For example, my playlist for running in New Orleans had King of New Orleans by Better than Ezra and Hello Hurricane by Switchfoot. Or I'd put London Calling by the Clash on a playlist if I ever run the London Marathon.
For the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, I looked for songs that had something to do with rock, green, Ireland, St. Patrick's Day, Virginia, beaches, ocean, or water. I didn't come up with much, but I did include:
Fraggle Rock - theme song, Pass It On, Pukka Pukka Pukka Sweetily Boink, Yes We Can, Stuff Samba (only because it has the line "Do the stuff you've always done before" and has already been tested on long runs)
Blue October - Into the Ocean
Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston, Tessie, Captain Kelly's Kitchen
R.E.M. - Orange Crush (from the album named Green)
I normally wouldn't go with Fraggle Rock songs. BUT Fraggle Rock is one of my favorite shows of all-time (yes, I am an adult, and yes, I still like and watch Fraggles, and yes, I fully admit to that). The songs are about 1-2 minutes long. Appropriate for Shamrockin' On? I think so.
Some other recent additions (purchased from iTunes):
Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere
Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart
Incubus - Dig
Linkin Park - Lying from You
Third Eye Blind - Non Dairy Creamer
Id Guiness - Going to Burning Man (found this through a podcast I listen to)
Pitbull (w/ Chris Brown) - International Love
Katy Perry - Part of Me
Ke$ha - Take It Off
Dug up from my music collection:
Weird Al - Yoda
30 Seconds to Mars - The Battle of One
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Marathon Training Week 16
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 6, and 5 miles, rest, 4 mile pace run, and 12 mile long run. First week of taper. Sweet, sweet taper. My mileage is still high enough that I haven't reached taper madness yet, but we'll see what happens in the next couple weeks.
Sunday - yoga class, plus calf raises and lunges. I held crow for the first time and then did it again 2 more times. Woot!! I've been trying since July and couldn't quite get it. I thought it was all about arm strength. But then someone told me it was more about core strength. Yep, that was the trick I needed to master it. For the record, my upper arms were sore til Tuesday.
Monday - 5.7 mile run in the AM. Easy pace. Fairly chilly. First morning run in a long time where I didn't need my reflective gear. The sun was just about to rise as I was heading out. That will change in a couple weeks when Daylight Savings Time begins, but I'll take it for now. Did abs and lower back exercises in the evening.
Tuesday - 6.3 mile run. Took advantage of the sun being just about to rise to head to Brown University and back. I can only run to Brown in the morning (before it gets crowded by students) and when it is light out. It was pleasant and reasonably quiet. Didn't really pay too much attention to distance or pace.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. Did planks and pushups in the evening.
Thursday - Rest. On Wednesday, I fell asleep watching TV before 9pm and then slept for almost 9 hours. I guess I was tired!
Friday - 4.4 mile pace run. How is it that this was the last pace run of this training cycle?? I wanted to kick some asphalt outside, but it was icy at the time I wanted to run. Ice and thunderstorms are the only weather conditions I absolutely will not run in. I ran the first 2 miles at a 7:47 pace and the last 2 miles at a 7:30 pace, just to see what that felt like. It was hard. 7:47 wasn't so bad, but 7:30 was challenging. Good to know. I am so beyond done with Nike+. Yes, it's worth mentioning one more time. It ate 1/4 mile while I was running at a 7:30 pace. Why does Nike+ always do that when I am running fast? It seems to happen on one particular treadmill, and it is always worse at faster paces. I compared the distance and time from the treadmill against the time on Nike+ and the mile splits I thought I ran. The two times were only off by 7 seconds. That's a very reasonable margin of error. So I am pretty sure the treadmill is calibrated correctly and Nike+ is being fussy.
Saturday - 13.2 mile run. In mist and light rain. Did and out-and-back to Brown University and the edge of downtown Providence, then a loop and a half on my regular running route. It actually wasn't too bad. I was dressed appropriately so that I didn't get too cold or too hot. I was planning on having a pitstop at my house around mile 7, but I had been rained on for an hour and didn't want to stop and get cold. My shoes were dry til mile 10. I must have had a lot on my mind because there were large parts of this run that I just don't remember. Even still, I hit 5 miles within 5 seconds of marathon goal pace without even trying. Score.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 32 Actual - 35.2
Sunday - yoga class, plus calf raises and lunges. I held crow for the first time and then did it again 2 more times. Woot!! I've been trying since July and couldn't quite get it. I thought it was all about arm strength. But then someone told me it was more about core strength. Yep, that was the trick I needed to master it. For the record, my upper arms were sore til Tuesday.
Monday - 5.7 mile run in the AM. Easy pace. Fairly chilly. First morning run in a long time where I didn't need my reflective gear. The sun was just about to rise as I was heading out. That will change in a couple weeks when Daylight Savings Time begins, but I'll take it for now. Did abs and lower back exercises in the evening.
Tuesday - 6.3 mile run. Took advantage of the sun being just about to rise to head to Brown University and back. I can only run to Brown in the morning (before it gets crowded by students) and when it is light out. It was pleasant and reasonably quiet. Didn't really pay too much attention to distance or pace.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. Did planks and pushups in the evening.
Thursday - Rest. On Wednesday, I fell asleep watching TV before 9pm and then slept for almost 9 hours. I guess I was tired!
Friday - 4.4 mile pace run. How is it that this was the last pace run of this training cycle?? I wanted to kick some asphalt outside, but it was icy at the time I wanted to run. Ice and thunderstorms are the only weather conditions I absolutely will not run in. I ran the first 2 miles at a 7:47 pace and the last 2 miles at a 7:30 pace, just to see what that felt like. It was hard. 7:47 wasn't so bad, but 7:30 was challenging. Good to know. I am so beyond done with Nike+. Yes, it's worth mentioning one more time. It ate 1/4 mile while I was running at a 7:30 pace. Why does Nike+ always do that when I am running fast? It seems to happen on one particular treadmill, and it is always worse at faster paces. I compared the distance and time from the treadmill against the time on Nike+ and the mile splits I thought I ran. The two times were only off by 7 seconds. That's a very reasonable margin of error. So I am pretty sure the treadmill is calibrated correctly and Nike+ is being fussy.
Saturday - 13.2 mile run. In mist and light rain. Did and out-and-back to Brown University and the edge of downtown Providence, then a loop and a half on my regular running route. It actually wasn't too bad. I was dressed appropriately so that I didn't get too cold or too hot. I was planning on having a pitstop at my house around mile 7, but I had been rained on for an hour and didn't want to stop and get cold. My shoes were dry til mile 10. I must have had a lot on my mind because there were large parts of this run that I just don't remember. Even still, I hit 5 miles within 5 seconds of marathon goal pace without even trying. Score.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 32 Actual - 35.2
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Dancing with the Devil
This training cycle, I know I am dancing dangerously close to overtraining. There is an extremely fine line between pushing yourself to improve and pushing yourself into exhaustion.
Overall, my pace on all of my runs dropped. I think a lot of it is the cooler winter temperatures. However, I didn't push the pace on every single run. I knew not to do that. I did it on some of my runs but only where and when it was appropriate. I was floored on the day I ran a mile at an 8:05 pace AND kept up a comfortable conversation. I was floored when I saw mile splits at 7:30 and 7:45 in the last mile of two of my longest runs.
I kept monitoring myself for signs of overtraining. Pace slowing down in spite of efforts to run faster? No. Elevated resting heart rate? Sort of, but that was probably stress-related (interstate move and job searching, anyone?) and didn't happen all the time. Disruptions in sleep? No. If anything I was sleeping better. Eating like crap? No. Lack of motivation? No, not at all. Muscle soreness lasting for days? No. Thanks, yoga and foam rolling. Not recovering? No, it was quick most of the time, or I adjusted my expectations and took it easy if I needed to. Feeling excessively tired? No. Skipping runs, especially for no reason? No. I have yet to miss a single run this training cycle. Not looking forward to running? Absolutely not. I really enjoy running and look forward to it every day. Not resting? No. I like rest days almost as much as I like running days.
I know I ran my long runs faster than I was supposed to. I am aiming for an 8:00 marathon pace to give me some leeway to actually meet an 8:12 pace. I have now ran over 20 miles at an 8:07 pace. Crazy stuff. I should not have ran that fast, but it didn't feel excessively fast. I reeled it in and I was still running faster than I was supposed to. And yet I was no more tired or sore than usual. Going into a marathon, the confidence of KNOWING I can run that fast for that long is tremendous. I know I can do it because I already have done it. I also know that I can pick up the pace when things start to get tough because I've already done that too. That is hugely huge for my confidence.
I still do not think I am overtrained, but that is yet to be seen. 3 weeks til Shamrock and we will see.
Overall, my pace on all of my runs dropped. I think a lot of it is the cooler winter temperatures. However, I didn't push the pace on every single run. I knew not to do that. I did it on some of my runs but only where and when it was appropriate. I was floored on the day I ran a mile at an 8:05 pace AND kept up a comfortable conversation. I was floored when I saw mile splits at 7:30 and 7:45 in the last mile of two of my longest runs.
I kept monitoring myself for signs of overtraining. Pace slowing down in spite of efforts to run faster? No. Elevated resting heart rate? Sort of, but that was probably stress-related (interstate move and job searching, anyone?) and didn't happen all the time. Disruptions in sleep? No. If anything I was sleeping better. Eating like crap? No. Lack of motivation? No, not at all. Muscle soreness lasting for days? No. Thanks, yoga and foam rolling. Not recovering? No, it was quick most of the time, or I adjusted my expectations and took it easy if I needed to. Feeling excessively tired? No. Skipping runs, especially for no reason? No. I have yet to miss a single run this training cycle. Not looking forward to running? Absolutely not. I really enjoy running and look forward to it every day. Not resting? No. I like rest days almost as much as I like running days.
I know I ran my long runs faster than I was supposed to. I am aiming for an 8:00 marathon pace to give me some leeway to actually meet an 8:12 pace. I have now ran over 20 miles at an 8:07 pace. Crazy stuff. I should not have ran that fast, but it didn't feel excessively fast. I reeled it in and I was still running faster than I was supposed to. And yet I was no more tired or sore than usual. Going into a marathon, the confidence of KNOWING I can run that fast for that long is tremendous. I know I can do it because I already have done it. I also know that I can pick up the pace when things start to get tough because I've already done that too. That is hugely huge for my confidence.
I still do not think I am overtrained, but that is yet to be seen. 3 weeks til Shamrock and we will see.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Marathon Training Week 15
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 8, and 5 miles, rest, 5 mile pace run, and 20 mile long run. The final push forward. The second 20 miler.
At the start of the week, I was so tired from moving. Beyond tired. I don't think I stopped doing things for a week and a half. Pack stuff. Travel. Unpack stuff. Buy stuff. Organize stuff. Buy more stuff. Extra alcohol, lack of sleep, lack of my usual food, and being out of my routine didn't help either. I am glad that a stepback week lined up with the week I was moving.
I skipped my yoga class this week. It was a combo of being too tired and just barely getting back to Rhode Island before the class started. I gotta say, I could tell the difference. My legs felt more stiff than usual. I'm usually not that stiff anyway, in part because I've been training at this level long enough that I think my body just says "Another long run? *sigh* OK. Let's go." But still. I could feel it. That yoga must be doing something good.
Sunday - Rest. First day of complete rest in a week and a half. I needed it.
Monday - Decided to sleep instead of run in the morning, so I went out for 5.7 miles after work. It was still mostly light out. Score. Ran relatively fast, probably because I wasn't dressed warmly enough. Wasn't freezing but could have used more clothes. Got to see the sun set. Did lunges, calf raises, abs, and lower back when I got home.
Tuesday - 9.3 mile run in the AM. Got going a little later than I wanted to. It wasn't completely dark, though, so that was a plus. Got to see the sun rise. Ran relatively fast again because running in DC last week spoiled me and I still wasn't dressed warmly enough.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. Did planks and pushups in the evening. Back on track with my strength training.
Thursday - Rest. Sweet sweet rest.
Friday - 5.3 mile pace run. In the snow. It was supposed to change over to rain later in the day, but I'd rather run in snow. It wasn't sticking. It wasn't too cold. This pace run was only slightly uncomfortable. Yes, it was a little bit slower than some of my other pace runs, but I wasn't really watching the pace and still banged out a 7:43 pace overall. Nice. Something must be going right this training cycle.
Saturday - 20.6 mile run. Another epic long run. It was very windy, so windy at times that the wind almost pushed me backwards. We're talking sustained wind, not gusts. It was good practice for Shamrock, since part of the course is along the beach and it could be windy. I planned a route down to a state park, a loop in the park and a pitstop, back to my car, refuel break, about 4 miles north, and then 4 miles back. Something strange happened with my Garmin and I couldn't see the mile splits. I kept an eye on the overall pace, though, as I think that is more useful than individual mile splits. The overall pace was in the 8:10s the whole time. I got to practice keeping my excitement levels in check and reeling it in when I needed to. 20 miles is a long way to run. You don't want to go out too fast. By mile 14 or so, it was starting to get harder. I maintained my overall pace and slowly watched it drop. I practiced my mantras. I have worked too hard to fail now. Reach into the pain locker. I am a beast. Oh, I was channeling lots of beast vibes. I got a massive surge of energy when at mile 19.5 I saw 8:09 on the overall pace. What! Under 8:10 for almost 20 miles?? I banged out an 8:07 overall pace. For 20.6 miles! Alone. In the wind. Whoa. I checked in with myself at mile 16. Could I keep going for another 10 miles? Yep, I thought so. I checked in again at mile 18. Another 8 miles? Yep, I thought so too. Good stuff.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 43 Actual - 46.5
And that brings me to taper on a confidence boost. 3 weeks til Shamrock!!
At the start of the week, I was so tired from moving. Beyond tired. I don't think I stopped doing things for a week and a half. Pack stuff. Travel. Unpack stuff. Buy stuff. Organize stuff. Buy more stuff. Extra alcohol, lack of sleep, lack of my usual food, and being out of my routine didn't help either. I am glad that a stepback week lined up with the week I was moving.
I skipped my yoga class this week. It was a combo of being too tired and just barely getting back to Rhode Island before the class started. I gotta say, I could tell the difference. My legs felt more stiff than usual. I'm usually not that stiff anyway, in part because I've been training at this level long enough that I think my body just says "Another long run? *sigh* OK. Let's go." But still. I could feel it. That yoga must be doing something good.
Sunday - Rest. First day of complete rest in a week and a half. I needed it.
Monday - Decided to sleep instead of run in the morning, so I went out for 5.7 miles after work. It was still mostly light out. Score. Ran relatively fast, probably because I wasn't dressed warmly enough. Wasn't freezing but could have used more clothes. Got to see the sun set. Did lunges, calf raises, abs, and lower back when I got home.
Tuesday - 9.3 mile run in the AM. Got going a little later than I wanted to. It wasn't completely dark, though, so that was a plus. Got to see the sun rise. Ran relatively fast again because running in DC last week spoiled me and I still wasn't dressed warmly enough.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. Did planks and pushups in the evening. Back on track with my strength training.
Thursday - Rest. Sweet sweet rest.
Friday - 5.3 mile pace run. In the snow. It was supposed to change over to rain later in the day, but I'd rather run in snow. It wasn't sticking. It wasn't too cold. This pace run was only slightly uncomfortable. Yes, it was a little bit slower than some of my other pace runs, but I wasn't really watching the pace and still banged out a 7:43 pace overall. Nice. Something must be going right this training cycle.
Saturday - 20.6 mile run. Another epic long run. It was very windy, so windy at times that the wind almost pushed me backwards. We're talking sustained wind, not gusts. It was good practice for Shamrock, since part of the course is along the beach and it could be windy. I planned a route down to a state park, a loop in the park and a pitstop, back to my car, refuel break, about 4 miles north, and then 4 miles back. Something strange happened with my Garmin and I couldn't see the mile splits. I kept an eye on the overall pace, though, as I think that is more useful than individual mile splits. The overall pace was in the 8:10s the whole time. I got to practice keeping my excitement levels in check and reeling it in when I needed to. 20 miles is a long way to run. You don't want to go out too fast. By mile 14 or so, it was starting to get harder. I maintained my overall pace and slowly watched it drop. I practiced my mantras. I have worked too hard to fail now. Reach into the pain locker. I am a beast. Oh, I was channeling lots of beast vibes. I got a massive surge of energy when at mile 19.5 I saw 8:09 on the overall pace. What! Under 8:10 for almost 20 miles?? I banged out an 8:07 overall pace. For 20.6 miles! Alone. In the wind. Whoa. I checked in with myself at mile 16. Could I keep going for another 10 miles? Yep, I thought so. I checked in again at mile 18. Another 8 miles? Yep, I thought so too. Good stuff.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 43 Actual - 46.5
And that brings me to taper on a confidence boost. 3 weeks til Shamrock!!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Marathon Training Week 14
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 5, and 5 miles, rest, 8 mile run, and 12 mile long run. The final stepback week before one last high mileage week. And then taper. Say what?
This week was busy. I was traveling. And moving. And still trying to get all of my workouts in. I rearranged my running schedule so that I could get in all of my runs. I planned on doing strength training, but I quickly realized that it just wasn't going to happen this week. Loading and unloading a moving truck is plenty fine strength training in my book.
Sunday - second Run for Sherry with my running buddies. Did 5.2 miles at an easy pace on a cold sunny morning. Legs felt fine in spite of running 20 miles the previous day. Went to my yoga class at my gym.
Monday - No running because I ran on Sunday instead. If I did run on Monday, I would run 6 days in a row. I don't think I have ever done that in my life. Did a 20-minute yoga podcast instead. Loaded the moving truck. Very much like putting a puzzle together.
Tuesday - 5.7 mile run. Got this one done in the morning before I left. Finished packing the last few things in the truck. Travel day #1. Rhode Island to the metro NYC area. Bought a mattress along the way. Don't ever try to slide a mattress and box spring on top of random items in a moving truck. Trust me on this one.
Wednesday - Quasi-rest. Travel day #2. Metro NYC area to Washington, DC. Unloaded the moving truck. It went much faster than loading the truck.
Thursday - 5.3 mile run on the treadmill. I was tiiiiiired.
Friday - 8.2 mile run. Holy moly, the area where I am going to be living is hilly. Pace was slower than usual, but whatever. Moving is serious business.
Saturday - 13.2 mile run with a friend. Got to see Rock Creek and the Potomac River. We have 2 different Garmins and didn't have the same distance readings. Huh. That was strange. But the weather was nice. Spring-like. Daffodils in bloom already? Strange as well.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 35 Actual - 37.6
This week was busy. I was traveling. And moving. And still trying to get all of my workouts in. I rearranged my running schedule so that I could get in all of my runs. I planned on doing strength training, but I quickly realized that it just wasn't going to happen this week. Loading and unloading a moving truck is plenty fine strength training in my book.
Sunday - second Run for Sherry with my running buddies. Did 5.2 miles at an easy pace on a cold sunny morning. Legs felt fine in spite of running 20 miles the previous day. Went to my yoga class at my gym.
Monday - No running because I ran on Sunday instead. If I did run on Monday, I would run 6 days in a row. I don't think I have ever done that in my life. Did a 20-minute yoga podcast instead. Loaded the moving truck. Very much like putting a puzzle together.
Tuesday - 5.7 mile run. Got this one done in the morning before I left. Finished packing the last few things in the truck. Travel day #1. Rhode Island to the metro NYC area. Bought a mattress along the way. Don't ever try to slide a mattress and box spring on top of random items in a moving truck. Trust me on this one.
Wednesday - Quasi-rest. Travel day #2. Metro NYC area to Washington, DC. Unloaded the moving truck. It went much faster than loading the truck.
Thursday - 5.3 mile run on the treadmill. I was tiiiiiired.
Friday - 8.2 mile run. Holy moly, the area where I am going to be living is hilly. Pace was slower than usual, but whatever. Moving is serious business.
Saturday - 13.2 mile run with a friend. Got to see Rock Creek and the Potomac River. We have 2 different Garmins and didn't have the same distance readings. Huh. That was strange. But the weather was nice. Spring-like. Daffodils in bloom already? Strange as well.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 35 Actual - 37.6
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Marathon Training Week 13
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 8, and 5 miles, rest, 5 mile pace run, and 20 mile long run. The first of two 20 milers is this weekend. Hello, training peak.
Sunday - Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown (Level 1), plus a yoga podcast, for about an hour total. Yoga Meltdown was harder than I expected. Oh, I'll do it again and it was a good workout. But it's definitely beyond the power yoga I usually do. Did calf raises and lunges while watching the Super Bowl pre-game show.
Monday - 5.7 mile run on a cold clear morning. Easy pace. Saw a nice sunrise. Did lower back, abs, and pushups in the evening.
Tuesday - 9.3 mile run. Saw the full moon setting and the sun rising. Not too chilly. I like that it is starting to get light earlier.
Wednesday - 5.7 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. I am so done with Nike+ eating my distance. What gives? If I run at the same consistent speed on the same treadmill, why is the distance different every single time? Did planks in the evening.
Thursday - Rest. More sleep. I was extra tired this week.
Friday - 5.3 mile pace run. Kinda chilly. Finally no wind. These pace runs have definitely gotten easier. Bring it, marathon.
Saturday - 20.5 mile run. Participated in Run for Sherry, which I will address in another post. Another long run in the snow. In 3ish mile loops, although I learned how to add on a half mile here and there. The snow wasn't that bad, pretty light most of the time. It didn't even stick to the ground. Yay. Definitely not as bad as my run in the snow a few weeks ago. I ran faster than I wanted to at the beginning because I wanted to capitalize on less snow (it actually stopped snowing for about an hour). The first 13.1 miles were exactly 2 minutes off my half marathon PR. I stopped at 13.1 for a pitstop. The last 7 or so miles were not quite as fast. I took an untimed walk break at mile 14 to get rid of a painful side stitch. Miles 16-18 were uncomfortable. The wall? Probably. My hips felt sore. I slowed down a lot. But then I felt better after mile 18. Two and a half miles to go. I just have to hold this for 2 and half more miles. I can do that. When I reached 20 miles, I checked in with myself to see if I felt like I could keep going another 6 miles. I knew I didn't need to do it today, but I felt like I had enough energy left and could have picked up the pace if I had needed to. I left my iPod at home because of the snow. I made it the whole way without music. Longest run without the iPod!! I ran faster than my 18 mile run in the snow, too. Yay again!!
Total Miles: Scheduled - 43 Actual - 46.5
Sunday - Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown (Level 1), plus a yoga podcast, for about an hour total. Yoga Meltdown was harder than I expected. Oh, I'll do it again and it was a good workout. But it's definitely beyond the power yoga I usually do. Did calf raises and lunges while watching the Super Bowl pre-game show.
Monday - 5.7 mile run on a cold clear morning. Easy pace. Saw a nice sunrise. Did lower back, abs, and pushups in the evening.
Tuesday - 9.3 mile run. Saw the full moon setting and the sun rising. Not too chilly. I like that it is starting to get light earlier.
Wednesday - 5.7 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. I am so done with Nike+ eating my distance. What gives? If I run at the same consistent speed on the same treadmill, why is the distance different every single time? Did planks in the evening.
Thursday - Rest. More sleep. I was extra tired this week.
Friday - 5.3 mile pace run. Kinda chilly. Finally no wind. These pace runs have definitely gotten easier. Bring it, marathon.
Saturday - 20.5 mile run. Participated in Run for Sherry, which I will address in another post. Another long run in the snow. In 3ish mile loops, although I learned how to add on a half mile here and there. The snow wasn't that bad, pretty light most of the time. It didn't even stick to the ground. Yay. Definitely not as bad as my run in the snow a few weeks ago. I ran faster than I wanted to at the beginning because I wanted to capitalize on less snow (it actually stopped snowing for about an hour). The first 13.1 miles were exactly 2 minutes off my half marathon PR. I stopped at 13.1 for a pitstop. The last 7 or so miles were not quite as fast. I took an untimed walk break at mile 14 to get rid of a painful side stitch. Miles 16-18 were uncomfortable. The wall? Probably. My hips felt sore. I slowed down a lot. But then I felt better after mile 18. Two and a half miles to go. I just have to hold this for 2 and half more miles. I can do that. When I reached 20 miles, I checked in with myself to see if I felt like I could keep going another 6 miles. I knew I didn't need to do it today, but I felt like I had enough energy left and could have picked up the pace if I had needed to. I left my iPod at home because of the snow. I made it the whole way without music. Longest run without the iPod!! I ran faster than my 18 mile run in the snow, too. Yay again!!
Total Miles: Scheduled - 43 Actual - 46.5
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Marathon Training Week 12
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 5, and 5 miles, rest, 8 mile pace run, and 13 mile long run. Stepback week #4. I like working hard, but I also really like stepback weeks. Relative rest is good.
This week is nearing the peak of my marathon training. I am officially in that eat-everything-that-isn't-nailed-down phase. Sometimes I'll eat things are nailed down, just because I am hungry all. the. time. Welcome back to my stomach, little marathon monster. Nice for you to visit again?
Sunday - yoga class at Roger Williams Park Zoo sponsored by my local Lululemon showroom. My regular Sunday yoga class was canceled. The Lululemon class was pretty much exactly what I would have done anyway, plus it was free and included free admission to the zoo afterwards. Perfect. I had never been to the zoo before, so I wandered around for 45 minutes after the class. Did calf raises in the evening.
Monday - 5.6 mile run. Windy. I was off in la la land for most of this run. I guess I had a lot to think about. It was time to retire my old shoes for the pair of new shoes that had been sitting in my closet for the last few weeks. My old shoes had more miles on them than I thought. For some reason, I thought they had around 350 miles on them. Nope, it was more like 415. Yeeeah. Time for new shoes. I stuck with the Saucony Progrid Guide 4s (review here) but in a greenish/silver combo. They go well with my sparkly silver shoelaces. I picked green because these are the shoes that are coming with me on the Shamrock Marathon. Did abs, lower back, and lunges in the evening.
Tuesday - 5.6 mile run. Ran slightly faster than Monday. Too bad I didn't wait until later in the day. It was another gift of unseasonal weather.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. U2's Even Better than the Real Thing was playing when I walked into the gym. Nice. I usually do chest exercises with weights as part of my upper body strength training, but one of my arms just wasn't feeling it. No biggie. I skipped them this week. Did pushups and planks in the evening.
Thursday - Rest.
Friday - 8.2 mile pace run. Colder than the last few days, windy. Got some practice at using my mental strategies. This run was about imagining I was in the last 8 miles of a marathon. Run hard and finish. My splits varied a bit because the wind was at my back with a downhill half the time and the wind was against me on the uphills the half of the time. Successfully kept my overall pace a few seconds under my goal marathon/training pace. I was dreading this run, but it ended up going very well. Go me. Did some more packing for over an hour. I was highly amused when I found my Staples Easy button.
Saturday - 14.3 mile run. It's funny how I always get to this point in my training cycle and think, "Oh. That is not a long run." I usually run on a bike path, but I decided to do two 7-mile loops from my house instead. Did a loop down to Brown University and back, stopped at my house for a pitstop, then did a loop to East Providence and back. Pleasant weather, although it was a little windy. Overall pace was a bit faster than I planned, but it felt comfortable the whole time. Foam rolled when I got home. Then spent 20 minutes butchering a package of chicken breasts that still had the skin and bones.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 36 Actual - 39.3
6 weeks to go!! Shamrock is next month!!
This week is nearing the peak of my marathon training. I am officially in that eat-everything-that-isn't-nailed-down phase. Sometimes I'll eat things are nailed down, just because I am hungry all. the. time. Welcome back to my stomach, little marathon monster. Nice for you to visit again?
Sunday - yoga class at Roger Williams Park Zoo sponsored by my local Lululemon showroom. My regular Sunday yoga class was canceled. The Lululemon class was pretty much exactly what I would have done anyway, plus it was free and included free admission to the zoo afterwards. Perfect. I had never been to the zoo before, so I wandered around for 45 minutes after the class. Did calf raises in the evening.
Monday - 5.6 mile run. Windy. I was off in la la land for most of this run. I guess I had a lot to think about. It was time to retire my old shoes for the pair of new shoes that had been sitting in my closet for the last few weeks. My old shoes had more miles on them than I thought. For some reason, I thought they had around 350 miles on them. Nope, it was more like 415. Yeeeah. Time for new shoes. I stuck with the Saucony Progrid Guide 4s (review here) but in a greenish/silver combo. They go well with my sparkly silver shoelaces. I picked green because these are the shoes that are coming with me on the Shamrock Marathon. Did abs, lower back, and lunges in the evening.
Tuesday - 5.6 mile run. Ran slightly faster than Monday. Too bad I didn't wait until later in the day. It was another gift of unseasonal weather.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. U2's Even Better than the Real Thing was playing when I walked into the gym. Nice. I usually do chest exercises with weights as part of my upper body strength training, but one of my arms just wasn't feeling it. No biggie. I skipped them this week. Did pushups and planks in the evening.
Thursday - Rest.
Friday - 8.2 mile pace run. Colder than the last few days, windy. Got some practice at using my mental strategies. This run was about imagining I was in the last 8 miles of a marathon. Run hard and finish. My splits varied a bit because the wind was at my back with a downhill half the time and the wind was against me on the uphills the half of the time. Successfully kept my overall pace a few seconds under my goal marathon/training pace. I was dreading this run, but it ended up going very well. Go me. Did some more packing for over an hour. I was highly amused when I found my Staples Easy button.
Saturday - 14.3 mile run. It's funny how I always get to this point in my training cycle and think, "Oh. That is not a long run." I usually run on a bike path, but I decided to do two 7-mile loops from my house instead. Did a loop down to Brown University and back, stopped at my house for a pitstop, then did a loop to East Providence and back. Pleasant weather, although it was a little windy. Overall pace was a bit faster than I planned, but it felt comfortable the whole time. Foam rolled when I got home. Then spent 20 minutes butchering a package of chicken breasts that still had the skin and bones.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 36 Actual - 39.3
6 weeks to go!! Shamrock is next month!!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Marathon Training Week 11
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 5, 8, and 5 miles, rest, 8 mile run, and 18 mile long run. Highest mileage week is here again.
Sunday - yoga class (during the New England Patriots playoff game ... Pats were winning when class started and, judging by my Facebook feed when I got home, it was way more relaxing in the class than watching the game ... Pats won!), plus calf raises and lunges.
Monday - 5.6 mile run. My winter running route was clear, and it wasn't even that cold. Yayz. Did planks and pushups in the evening with the company of the DVR.
Tuesday - 8.7 mile run. It was 50 degrees at first thing in the morning. In January! Thanks, Mother Nature, for a gift of a decent day. No cold weather gear necessary. Most of the snow had melted or got washed away by overnight rain.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. I need to start getting up earlier so that I have enough time to get my run in and do strength training. Just when I figured out how much time I needed, there goes another bump up in mileage. Did abs and lower back in the evening.
Thursday - Rest. Needed more sleep badly this week.
Friday - 8.3 mile run. Mostly caught a break between rain showers. I almost turned around and went to the gym about 2 miles in because I was cold, but I didn't have my iPod and therefore couldn't record my distance inside. So I kept going. My quads were very cold, but it got warmer as I went on. Got heavily rained on at the very end. I could have used cold weather tights, but I made it through. It wasn't super pleasant but it wasn't that bad either. Spent a good part of the day going on a treasure hunt in my attic. In other words, carrying boxes and furniture down 2 flights of stairs to get ready to move in a few weeks. I forgot I had a toaster oven and a set of wooden folding tables.
Saturday - 19.2 mile run. EPIC. Epic I tell you. Comfortable weather. I started out a little too fast but realized this and reeled it in. I planned a route on the bike path and a loop in a state park. I was pleased to find a port-a-pottie in the state park around mile 7. Nice views of Narragansett Bay. I really like running near Narragansett Bay. Hal Higdon suggests converting your long run into a 3-1 run ever 3 weeks or so. Run the first 3/4 at your normal pace, then drop the last 1/4 to goal race pace if you are feeling OK. I was feeling OK when I stopped at mile 13 to have a snack and fill up my water bottles. So I continued on for another 2 miles, turned on my iPod at mile 15, and dropped the pace for the last 4 miles. I was comfortably under goal marathon pace, including doing the last mile at 30 seconds under goal marathon pace. What! Who does that?? Especially at the end of a 19 mile run?? Even I was surprised at that. It didn't feel unreasonably difficult. It was good practice for trying to pick up the pace at the end. I got to practice positive self-talk. Winning.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 44 Actual - 47.4
Sunday - yoga class (during the New England Patriots playoff game ... Pats were winning when class started and, judging by my Facebook feed when I got home, it was way more relaxing in the class than watching the game ... Pats won!), plus calf raises and lunges.
Monday - 5.6 mile run. My winter running route was clear, and it wasn't even that cold. Yayz. Did planks and pushups in the evening with the company of the DVR.
Tuesday - 8.7 mile run. It was 50 degrees at first thing in the morning. In January! Thanks, Mother Nature, for a gift of a decent day. No cold weather gear necessary. Most of the snow had melted or got washed away by overnight rain.
Wednesday - 5.6 mile run on the treadmill, plus upper body strength training and squats. I need to start getting up earlier so that I have enough time to get my run in and do strength training. Just when I figured out how much time I needed, there goes another bump up in mileage. Did abs and lower back in the evening.
Thursday - Rest. Needed more sleep badly this week.
Friday - 8.3 mile run. Mostly caught a break between rain showers. I almost turned around and went to the gym about 2 miles in because I was cold, but I didn't have my iPod and therefore couldn't record my distance inside. So I kept going. My quads were very cold, but it got warmer as I went on. Got heavily rained on at the very end. I could have used cold weather tights, but I made it through. It wasn't super pleasant but it wasn't that bad either. Spent a good part of the day going on a treasure hunt in my attic. In other words, carrying boxes and furniture down 2 flights of stairs to get ready to move in a few weeks. I forgot I had a toaster oven and a set of wooden folding tables.
Saturday - 19.2 mile run. EPIC. Epic I tell you. Comfortable weather. I started out a little too fast but realized this and reeled it in. I planned a route on the bike path and a loop in a state park. I was pleased to find a port-a-pottie in the state park around mile 7. Nice views of Narragansett Bay. I really like running near Narragansett Bay. Hal Higdon suggests converting your long run into a 3-1 run ever 3 weeks or so. Run the first 3/4 at your normal pace, then drop the last 1/4 to goal race pace if you are feeling OK. I was feeling OK when I stopped at mile 13 to have a snack and fill up my water bottles. So I continued on for another 2 miles, turned on my iPod at mile 15, and dropped the pace for the last 4 miles. I was comfortably under goal marathon pace, including doing the last mile at 30 seconds under goal marathon pace. What! Who does that?? Especially at the end of a 19 mile run?? Even I was surprised at that. It didn't feel unreasonably difficult. It was good practice for trying to pick up the pace at the end. I got to practice positive self-talk. Winning.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 44 Actual - 47.4
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Marathon Training Week 10
My plan for the week was cross-train, run 4, 8, and 4 miles, rest, 8 mile pace run, and 17 mile long run. Ramp it up one more time.
I had to make some changes again to account for Sunday's half marathon. I moved the first 4 mile run to last week. So my plan was 13.1 mile race, rest or cross-train depending on how I felt, run 8 and 4 miles (or possibly switch those runs depending on how I felt), rest, 8 mile pace run, and 17 mile long run. I figured I'd keep it easy on the strength training this week too. When I hit this week the last time around, I didn't give myself enough recovery time after the half marathon. No bueno. I didn't want to make that mistake again.
Sunday - 13.1 mile virtual race on a treadmill (not counted in the weekly mileage since it took the place of last weekend's long run), which was 13.9 miles according to the treadmill and 13.1 miles according to Nike+. See the post here on the Nike+ Women's Half Marathon. I'm going to go with 1:42:02 or there abouts for a half marathon, assuming the treadmill was calibrated correctly and the pace was right. Not based on Nike+. Walked for nearly a half hour as a cooldown and foam rolled afterward.
Monday - I felt a little bit sore but mostly fine. Nowhere near as beat up as after Rock N Roll Providence. Yay. Must have been all that walking and foam rolling. Did two 20-minute yoga podcasts at home, plus abs and lower back exercises.
Tuesday - 8.6 mile run. First run in slushy snow. First measurable snowfall this winter (we had a freak October snowstorm, but that technically isn't winter). The snow and occasional slippery patches kept me from going too fast. At least it wasn't cold or raining. Each mile split was faster without trying to go faster, so that's a win. Did calf raises and lunges in the evening.
Wednesday - 4.6 mile run on the treadmill (Nike+ behaved this time and was reasonably close to the treadmill), plus upper body strength training. Skipped squats this week to give my legs some extra recovery time. My legs felt fine and I probably could have done squats, but I also knew to not push it. There were some difficult workouts coming up this week. Did planks and pushups in the evening while catching up with the DVR.
Thursday - Rest. More sleeeeeeeep. Goooooood.
Friday - 8.2 mile pace run on the treadmill, plus 9 minutes walking as a cooldown and about 1.5 miles total walking to and from the gym, plus snow shoveling. I was planning on running outside, but the less than 1 inch of snow we were supposed to get overnight was more like 3-4 inches. Fine for an everyday run but not a pace run. It was that light fluffy snow, too. Packed heavier snow is better for running. So I went to the gym. At first, I thought this run was going to be no big deal. The first 2 miles felt easy. I took my shirt off somewhere in mile 4. Yes, I have become that annoying person who goes to the gym in a sports bra. It was a fight to keep going after 5.5 miles. I probably should have brought some Gatorade in addition to plain water. I had to trick the treadmill into letting me run longer than 1 hour by running into the cooldown phase. So problematic. Every 1 minute, the pace dropped to 4.5 mph (I was running at 7.7 mph) and the incline reset to 0%. I had to keep bumping up the speed and the incline. It was harder than the half marathon at the exact same pace. Go figure. But I made it. Small victory.
Saturday - 18.2 mile run. In the snow. While it was snowing. Busted out the Yaktrax and my ski goggles. This one was tough. There is a road near me with a wide shoulder and bike lane in a 3ish mile loop. That road is my go-to route for winter long runs once there is snow on the ground. I had to stop about 5 miles in to get more clothes. I underestimated how cold and windy it was. Good thing I wasn't too far from home. I took my break (usually at 12 miles) early. I had a soft shell jacket to keep me dry which I never wear. One pair of cold weather tights and lightweight tights were not enough. I needed two pairs of cold weather tights and the lightweight tights, plus a fleece tied around my waist to keep my bum warm. I also picked up my highlighter yellow reflective vest so that I was visible. I figured most drivers wouldn't expect to see a runner on the road. The first 10-11 miles were fine. And then it started going downhill. My Gatorade froze, although my water didn't. My fleece neck gaiter froze. My nose was running out of control, so badly that I couldn't breathe through my nose. My feet were getting blisters. I didn't drink or eat as much fuel as I usually do. The roads got more and more slippery. I had to step off the road to avoid plows. My pace slowed down and I honestly didn't care. This was a run to just do it, not a run for time. However long it took was however long it took. At least I didn't overheat or get too cold, and I stayed reasonably dry, and the road I was on was continually plowed pretty much down to the pavement. It is still harder to run a half marathon in a nor'easter than to run 18 miles in the snow. I don't have much desire to run that far in the snow again, though.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 37 Actual - 39.2
I had to make some changes again to account for Sunday's half marathon. I moved the first 4 mile run to last week. So my plan was 13.1 mile race, rest or cross-train depending on how I felt, run 8 and 4 miles (or possibly switch those runs depending on how I felt), rest, 8 mile pace run, and 17 mile long run. I figured I'd keep it easy on the strength training this week too. When I hit this week the last time around, I didn't give myself enough recovery time after the half marathon. No bueno. I didn't want to make that mistake again.
Sunday - 13.1 mile virtual race on a treadmill (not counted in the weekly mileage since it took the place of last weekend's long run), which was 13.9 miles according to the treadmill and 13.1 miles according to Nike+. See the post here on the Nike+ Women's Half Marathon. I'm going to go with 1:42:02 or there abouts for a half marathon, assuming the treadmill was calibrated correctly and the pace was right. Not based on Nike+. Walked for nearly a half hour as a cooldown and foam rolled afterward.
Monday - I felt a little bit sore but mostly fine. Nowhere near as beat up as after Rock N Roll Providence. Yay. Must have been all that walking and foam rolling. Did two 20-minute yoga podcasts at home, plus abs and lower back exercises.
Tuesday - 8.6 mile run. First run in slushy snow. First measurable snowfall this winter (we had a freak October snowstorm, but that technically isn't winter). The snow and occasional slippery patches kept me from going too fast. At least it wasn't cold or raining. Each mile split was faster without trying to go faster, so that's a win. Did calf raises and lunges in the evening.
Wednesday - 4.6 mile run on the treadmill (Nike+ behaved this time and was reasonably close to the treadmill), plus upper body strength training. Skipped squats this week to give my legs some extra recovery time. My legs felt fine and I probably could have done squats, but I also knew to not push it. There were some difficult workouts coming up this week. Did planks and pushups in the evening while catching up with the DVR.
Thursday - Rest. More sleeeeeeeep. Goooooood.
Friday - 8.2 mile pace run on the treadmill, plus 9 minutes walking as a cooldown and about 1.5 miles total walking to and from the gym, plus snow shoveling. I was planning on running outside, but the less than 1 inch of snow we were supposed to get overnight was more like 3-4 inches. Fine for an everyday run but not a pace run. It was that light fluffy snow, too. Packed heavier snow is better for running. So I went to the gym. At first, I thought this run was going to be no big deal. The first 2 miles felt easy. I took my shirt off somewhere in mile 4. Yes, I have become that annoying person who goes to the gym in a sports bra. It was a fight to keep going after 5.5 miles. I probably should have brought some Gatorade in addition to plain water. I had to trick the treadmill into letting me run longer than 1 hour by running into the cooldown phase. So problematic. Every 1 minute, the pace dropped to 4.5 mph (I was running at 7.7 mph) and the incline reset to 0%. I had to keep bumping up the speed and the incline. It was harder than the half marathon at the exact same pace. Go figure. But I made it. Small victory.
Saturday - 18.2 mile run. In the snow. While it was snowing. Busted out the Yaktrax and my ski goggles. This one was tough. There is a road near me with a wide shoulder and bike lane in a 3ish mile loop. That road is my go-to route for winter long runs once there is snow on the ground. I had to stop about 5 miles in to get more clothes. I underestimated how cold and windy it was. Good thing I wasn't too far from home. I took my break (usually at 12 miles) early. I had a soft shell jacket to keep me dry which I never wear. One pair of cold weather tights and lightweight tights were not enough. I needed two pairs of cold weather tights and the lightweight tights, plus a fleece tied around my waist to keep my bum warm. I also picked up my highlighter yellow reflective vest so that I was visible. I figured most drivers wouldn't expect to see a runner on the road. The first 10-11 miles were fine. And then it started going downhill. My Gatorade froze, although my water didn't. My fleece neck gaiter froze. My nose was running out of control, so badly that I couldn't breathe through my nose. My feet were getting blisters. I didn't drink or eat as much fuel as I usually do. The roads got more and more slippery. I had to step off the road to avoid plows. My pace slowed down and I honestly didn't care. This was a run to just do it, not a run for time. However long it took was however long it took. At least I didn't overheat or get too cold, and I stayed reasonably dry, and the road I was on was continually plowed pretty much down to the pavement. It is still harder to run a half marathon in a nor'easter than to run 18 miles in the snow. I don't have much desire to run that far in the snow again, though.
Total Miles: Scheduled - 37 Actual - 39.2
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