Ok- so I learned a good lesson this week, and possibly avoided a critical training error. I have been so afraid for so many years to push my paces and training, and then this time around things have been going so well that I made a few bad decisions this week. I call it the 'superman dilemma'. Everything was coasting along so well- I was adding on a few miles each week, hitting all my paces easily and feeling great. Then, this week I added in swimming on Tuesday (why not? I apparently am awesome), and a 75 minute Hot Yoga class (why not? I apparently am invincible). WRONG.
I hit the wall at mile 14 of our 17-mile LR on Friday in a way that I have not done in YEARS. Repeat. YEARS. Not even in my craptastic marathons: (NYC, 2006 and Boston, 2009) did this happen-- those were knee-related issues. J and I were cruising along at a 9:20 or so pace for the first 14 miles, then I just could not keep the pace. The last 3 miles were between 9:45 and 10:30 pace or so. Felt like crap in so many ways. I let J go on ahead and she finished the last 3 miles almost 2 minutes before me. UGH.
Immediately I needed to place the blame on something specific I did that week; and the hot yoga was my first choice. Having not been in months, and the combination of sweat, stretching beyond the normal and not re-hydrating was the culprit (crossing fingers). I asked on RWOL and was given many good reasons why that happened. STUPID.
I also had to give myself a little come-to-pacing speech. What are MY goals for this race? I can't let myself get caught up in J's BQ attempt. It is not easy to swallow one's pride to realize that while I have been running for over 20 years, that she is able to train at faster paces, and most likely would smoke me in head-to-head competition. Helping her reach her goals has been great for me on a personal level, and our friendship has grown over the past year or so that we've been running together. It has all in all been a great experience.
That being said, what are MY goals for this training cycle and race? Training has been going great (last week's LR aside), so I think I started to get ahead of myself and was thinking 3:45 (8:35 pace). After last week, I am going to go for a more conservative 3:50 goal. 8:45 pace, and that is a big 10 seconds for me. While I realize this is a full minute slower than my 1/2 marathon time from last spring, I also am only peaking at 50 mpw, and average will probably be closer to 42-45 mpw. I do NOT want to feel like crap at the end of the race, and am so happy to be running strong again. Gotta keep building on that.
The recovery run on Saturday actually made my legs feel much better. Here is the week:
M: 10M @ 9:24 on TM (rained all day)
T: 4M @ 10:09, swam 2850 yards
w: 11M w/5 tempo (7:52) other miles easy
T: Hot yoga-- bad choice
F: 17M @ 9:25
S: 5M @ 10:21 (with Danny on the trail and really recovering from Friday)
47 miles for the week- most of them good.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
NYC training: week 3
So, not only was this week 3 for NYC marathon training- it was also the first week of school for the boys. Here they are at the bus stop about to set off for 4th and 5th grade. Both seem really happy with their teachers and classmates. DS#1 is at new school; Middle School, and seems very happy with the new opportunities he is going to have this year.
Training went well this week, even with a little physical hiccup. Last Sunday when I was at the rink watching DS#2 practice, one of the siblings of a skater was playing with these huge buckets they use to help kids learn how to skate. They were piled on top of each other- about 3 feet high, and they came toppling down, and cut my ankle. I did not see them falling, so was not able to prepare or get out of the way. I have a big cut on my ankle, but (thankfully) that is all. It has been a bit of discomfort this week, but no pain.
Runs this week:
Monday- a great day to run- it was cooler. On the schedule was 10M, but I ended up with
1M recovery, 7M @ 9:10 and then 3M somewhere between MP and tempo: 8:06.
Tuesday: 4M recovery w/K on the trail: 9:52 pace
Wednesday: 7M hilly in my 'hood. 1stM @ 9:50, then 6M @ 9:09
Friday: 16M on Peters Trail w/J @ 9:23. Last few miles were definitely too fast, but an ok average pace. It was really hot/humid and we were both shot by the end.
Saturday: 5M recovery on TM @ 10:02
43 miles for the week.
All is good.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Pfitz for NYC: Weeks 1 and 2
I have been remiss in recording racing and training. So, rather than wait until I have time to catch up on everything, I am just going to jump in to last week's training.
Am running NYC Marathon on 11/6 with JB. I qualified with a Half-Marathon time from the spring (1:41:56), and she is running for a charity that helps provide running opportunities for kids in the NYC area.
So, I took my time building up my mileage since the "Two half marathons in 3 weekends" that was my spring. Mileage headed into the 'training' was: 29, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 25 (Colorado). Got up to 5x a week on nice, easy running.
Decided to do Pfitz 12/55 for a few reasons. 1) Pftiz gets it done- no doubt about that. 2) 12 weeks is much better mentally and with the school schedule, and 3) that is what worked for JB timing-wise also.
Week 1: 8, 4, 8, 5, 13. Was only going to run 4 days, but was in Deep Creek, so added an extra day with a friend.
Week 2: 10, 7 (3 @ MP), 6, 15.
The 15 was solo, started at 3 pm on the Peters Trail. Very hot and humid, but got it done. Ave. pace was 9:32, so I was happy with that.
This week we take it back up to 5x a week. Today I had an easy 10 on the books, but felt great, so ended up doing 11, with last 3M: 8:27, 8:13 and 7:40, all on the slight downhill, but felt good.
Boys started school today-- I am hoping they both get off to good starts.
Am running NYC Marathon on 11/6 with JB. I qualified with a Half-Marathon time from the spring (1:41:56), and she is running for a charity that helps provide running opportunities for kids in the NYC area.
So, I took my time building up my mileage since the "Two half marathons in 3 weekends" that was my spring. Mileage headed into the 'training' was: 29, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 25 (Colorado). Got up to 5x a week on nice, easy running.
Decided to do Pfitz 12/55 for a few reasons. 1) Pftiz gets it done- no doubt about that. 2) 12 weeks is much better mentally and with the school schedule, and 3) that is what worked for JB timing-wise also.
Week 1: 8, 4, 8, 5, 13. Was only going to run 4 days, but was in Deep Creek, so added an extra day with a friend.
Week 2: 10, 7 (3 @ MP), 6, 15.
The 15 was solo, started at 3 pm on the Peters Trail. Very hot and humid, but got it done. Ave. pace was 9:32, so I was happy with that.
This week we take it back up to 5x a week. Today I had an easy 10 on the books, but felt great, so ended up doing 11, with last 3M: 8:27, 8:13 and 7:40, all on the slight downhill, but felt good.
Boys started school today-- I am hoping they both get off to good starts.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Buffalo Creek Half Marathon
The Buffalo Creek Half Marathon is a great race: I have run it 4 out of the 5 years it has been held- the only reason I didn't run last year was b/c I was out of town. It is a point-to-point on a flat soft trail near (wait for it) Buffalo Creek. The weather has always been great, and this year was no exception. My training was going well, but I didn't do much speedwork, so my goal was 1:42 which is a 7:47 pace
I drove up to the start with my good friend J, and another gal who I have run with a bit. Car ride went well, and we got to the start with time to spare. Ended up bagging the porta-potty line for the bushes, but heck- we're all runners, right? It was low 40s to start, so I wore shorts, my compression socks, a short sleeved shirt, throw away arm warmers (socks) and throw away shirt.
The first mile is downhill, so I was ready for that;
1-7:15
2-7:50
By the end of the second mile we are on the trail, and I was trying to get into a good pace. I wore my watch, but not my Garmin. I was pacing off a woman ahead of me, but realized by the end of mile 4 I needed to pass her.
3-7:42
4-7:50
5-7:36
I ditched my LS shirt around mile 3, and was taking water at the water stops. I did not start with my own bottle of water, which I will do next time. Miles were ticking off nicely, at this point.
6-7:46
7-7:40
After mile 7 I slowed down a bit on the next mile, but a little too much:
8- 7:58
9-7:43
10-7:53
Sometime during the 10th mile I passed another woman, and only saw men ahead of me for the rest of the race. I had been running with a guy who was also shooting for a 1:42 for a couple of miles, but he fell back around mile 11.
Miles 11 and 12 were mis-marked, which was really annoying. I actually called out at one point to the runner ahead of me b/c it seemed very unlikely that the 4 runners that were all running around the same pace had fallen off. I had mile 11 at 8:45. My friend with her Garmin told me it was actually 1.3 miles
11/12 16:15 Mile 12 has the only hill, but it wasn't too bad this year.
13.1 8:32
1:42:09 2nd AG, PW on this course.
I am content with this time. I did slow down the last few miles, which was not due to endurance (I think) b/c I ran a lot of long runs over 10 miles for this race. I think it was due to lack of speedwork, and knowing what my goal HMP should feel like.
Even though it was a PW for this course, I am happy to be running injury-free again, and am pleased with the time.
Next up: winter running with Kristin and maybe a 10k. Who knows?
I drove up to the start with my good friend J, and another gal who I have run with a bit. Car ride went well, and we got to the start with time to spare. Ended up bagging the porta-potty line for the bushes, but heck- we're all runners, right? It was low 40s to start, so I wore shorts, my compression socks, a short sleeved shirt, throw away arm warmers (socks) and throw away shirt.
The first mile is downhill, so I was ready for that;
1-7:15
2-7:50
By the end of the second mile we are on the trail, and I was trying to get into a good pace. I wore my watch, but not my Garmin. I was pacing off a woman ahead of me, but realized by the end of mile 4 I needed to pass her.
3-7:42
4-7:50
5-7:36
I ditched my LS shirt around mile 3, and was taking water at the water stops. I did not start with my own bottle of water, which I will do next time. Miles were ticking off nicely, at this point.
6-7:46
7-7:40
After mile 7 I slowed down a bit on the next mile, but a little too much:
8- 7:58
9-7:43
10-7:53
Sometime during the 10th mile I passed another woman, and only saw men ahead of me for the rest of the race. I had been running with a guy who was also shooting for a 1:42 for a couple of miles, but he fell back around mile 11.
Miles 11 and 12 were mis-marked, which was really annoying. I actually called out at one point to the runner ahead of me b/c it seemed very unlikely that the 4 runners that were all running around the same pace had fallen off. I had mile 11 at 8:45. My friend with her Garmin told me it was actually 1.3 miles
11/12 16:15 Mile 12 has the only hill, but it wasn't too bad this year.
13.1 8:32
1:42:09 2nd AG, PW on this course.
I am content with this time. I did slow down the last few miles, which was not due to endurance (I think) b/c I ran a lot of long runs over 10 miles for this race. I think it was due to lack of speedwork, and knowing what my goal HMP should feel like.
Even though it was a PW for this course, I am happy to be running injury-free again, and am pleased with the time.
Next up: winter running with Kristin and maybe a 10k. Who knows?
Friday, October 8, 2010
September Mourn...
again- another cheesy post title, but am giving thanks daily that September is OVER, and we survived (somewhat) intact. At the end of August, we adopted a puppy, Bella. We had her name picked out for 8 months, and both Bob and I spent hours scouring website and talking with people; looking for the ideal pup to join our family. Well, here she is:
We got her from a rescue organization in Ohio, and she is the sweetest little gal. We were all quite taken with her, DH in particular. A week or so after we had her, DH got some devastating career news; we are still recovering from the shock, and he is moving forward, albeit slowly. Two weeks after she arrived, DS#1 had an asthma attack that landed him in the ICU at Children's Hospital for 4 days. At the advice of both our allergist, and the one at Children's, we chose to fine a home for our sweet little Bella. Happily for her, one of DH's colleagues had lost a dog around the same time our Beta died, so they took Bella. It was a brutal month with lots of sleepless nights, and both personal and professional worry. We went to visit Bella last weekend at her new home, and must say it was good closure; she was obviously someone else's dog now. Still very, very sweet and getting really good at chasing the ball. The real killer part of realizing DS cannot live in comfort with a dog is the realization that we will not have a dog again. Maybe never. That is really suckful, and took a long time for me to get my head around.
On the running front, things have been GREAT! I have been actually running with some friends and other gals on Friday mornings, and that has been really fun. More on that in the next post....
Friday, August 27, 2010
Colorado Rocky Mountain High
ok, so I KNOW it is cheesy, but there is something to the song, and the great feeling I get when in Colorado. It is truly my 'Happy Place'. I was fortunate enough this year to spend 30 days in Colorado, and our summer trip was truly amazing.
The boys and I flew out on a Tuesday, and had a great visit with my sister, BIL and new nephew, Jack. The boys really enjoyed him, and he is a happy, happy little boy. One highlight was sailing on Lake Dillon with Dad, Sis, BIL and the boys.
Bob arrived on Friday, and promptly scared Jack, so we had a fun afternoon of the baby getting used to Bob. (Good Times). We had a very fun 'Summer Birthday' dinner and Jack warmed up enough by Saturday to let Bob hold him. Sis, BIL and Jack left on Saturday, so we went hiking with Mom/Dad to Shrine Mountain, up by Vail.
Our friends arrived on Sunday, and we had a great week of hiking, biking, kayaking and hanging out. D took a baseball to the mouth on Tuesday, but other than that we were injury-free for the week. Here is our view of Lake Dillon:
The kids loved playing baseball on the lawn:
The last day the four of us hiked the McCullough Gulch Trail, which had some amazing waterfalls and views:
The boys and I flew out on a Tuesday, and had a great visit with my sister, BIL and new nephew, Jack. The boys really enjoyed him, and he is a happy, happy little boy. One highlight was sailing on Lake Dillon with Dad, Sis, BIL and the boys.
Bob arrived on Friday, and promptly scared Jack, so we had a fun afternoon of the baby getting used to Bob. (Good Times). We had a very fun 'Summer Birthday' dinner and Jack warmed up enough by Saturday to let Bob hold him. Sis, BIL and Jack left on Saturday, so we went hiking with Mom/Dad to Shrine Mountain, up by Vail.
Our friends arrived on Sunday, and we had a great week of hiking, biking, kayaking and hanging out. D took a baseball to the mouth on Tuesday, but other than that we were injury-free for the week. Here is our view of Lake Dillon:
The kids loved playing baseball on the lawn:
The last day the four of us hiked the McCullough Gulch Trail, which had some amazing waterfalls and views:
Pittsburgh Triathlon
Stats: 1:19:10 1st Place Female 40-44 AG
Summary: More enjoyable than 1st Triathlon, mostly due to bike
Two years ago I did the Olympic Distance Relay for this race with A and J. I did the swim; borrowed Jen's wetsuit, and got colitis the day before the race. Ended up swimming anyway- but did NOT feel good at all. This year's experience was MUCH more pleasant.
Saturday J, A and I went down to pick up our packets and have lunch. We bumped into a few folks we knew, and I was amazed to see so many fit people in downtown Pittsburgh. The race has grown in size in the past two years, which is great.
Got a decent night's sleep, and picked A up around 5 am. Everything went very smoothly with setting up transition, getting our body markings, and getting to the start of the race. No pre-race GI issues, which is always good.
We were swimming in the Allegheny River (the 'cleanest' of the Three Rivers?) and wetsuits were not allowed due to the warm temps of the water. We did see a dead fish while we were waiting to start, but no pythons or bodies were in view.
Swim went well- I think I actually enjoyed NOT having a wetsuit. I climbed out of the river just ahead of A, and we entered the transition area together. Time for swim (600 meters) and 1st transition was 12:51.
Bike went much better than anticipated- we were out and back on the HOV lane of a highway outside of Pittsburgh. The out was on a slight uphill, the back very easy. I was passed by a few people on both the out and back; including J and another woman from our group. I was happy with myself for not putting on the brakes on the downhill-- my 'granny' biker-self is getting the need for speed~
Due to the fact the boys had just had Science Center Camp the week before the race, I had run the trail the 5K was on 3 times that week, so I was pretty sure I knew were the turn-around was, which helped my mental game. I passed a lot of people in the run, and ran a 24:26 for the 5K.
Felt great afterwards, hooked up with my friends to watch J's husband finish the Olympic Distance, then headed out to RMU to watch DS#1's 3 on 3 Championship Game. Found out later that #1 and #2 women were both in our AG, so thus placed 1st in AG, with A getting 2nd.
I was happy to have done those two triathlons this summer, and really enjoyed biking with A every week. I don't see myself doing much more than that next summer, but perhaps an Olympic distance might be in my future. Only time will tell.
Summary: More enjoyable than 1st Triathlon, mostly due to bike
Two years ago I did the Olympic Distance Relay for this race with A and J. I did the swim; borrowed Jen's wetsuit, and got colitis the day before the race. Ended up swimming anyway- but did NOT feel good at all. This year's experience was MUCH more pleasant.
Saturday J, A and I went down to pick up our packets and have lunch. We bumped into a few folks we knew, and I was amazed to see so many fit people in downtown Pittsburgh. The race has grown in size in the past two years, which is great.
Got a decent night's sleep, and picked A up around 5 am. Everything went very smoothly with setting up transition, getting our body markings, and getting to the start of the race. No pre-race GI issues, which is always good.
We were swimming in the Allegheny River (the 'cleanest' of the Three Rivers?) and wetsuits were not allowed due to the warm temps of the water. We did see a dead fish while we were waiting to start, but no pythons or bodies were in view.
Swim went well- I think I actually enjoyed NOT having a wetsuit. I climbed out of the river just ahead of A, and we entered the transition area together. Time for swim (600 meters) and 1st transition was 12:51.
Bike went much better than anticipated- we were out and back on the HOV lane of a highway outside of Pittsburgh. The out was on a slight uphill, the back very easy. I was passed by a few people on both the out and back; including J and another woman from our group. I was happy with myself for not putting on the brakes on the downhill-- my 'granny' biker-self is getting the need for speed~
Due to the fact the boys had just had Science Center Camp the week before the race, I had run the trail the 5K was on 3 times that week, so I was pretty sure I knew were the turn-around was, which helped my mental game. I passed a lot of people in the run, and ran a 24:26 for the 5K.
Felt great afterwards, hooked up with my friends to watch J's husband finish the Olympic Distance, then headed out to RMU to watch DS#1's 3 on 3 Championship Game. Found out later that #1 and #2 women were both in our AG, so thus placed 1st in AG, with A getting 2nd.
I was happy to have done those two triathlons this summer, and really enjoyed biking with A every week. I don't see myself doing much more than that next summer, but perhaps an Olympic distance might be in my future. Only time will tell.
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