I hate running on the treadmill. I think I've said this before if previous posts. Or else whined about it on Facebook. Regardless, if you know me, you know how much I hate running on the treadmill. There are several reasons for this, but the biggest reason is because it is so BORING! I just run in place, every step exactly like the last one, staring at the wall of my garage. The wood grain in one spot looks just like a little alien head. And there's another spot where there's a sliver of wood sticking out and between that and the shadow it makes, it looks like a barbell with two triangles underneath it. And I know where every nail is and the shadows they make. Needless to say, if it weren't for my books on my mp3 player, I don't think I would ever run on the treadmill. I suppose if I had a TV to watch it would be a little more entertaining, but like I said, the treadmill is in my garage.
So yesterday I chose not to run, even though it wasn't a scheduled rest day. It was blizzardy out, really windy and sleety-snowy and cold. I didn't want to run in it. And I also talked myself out of it because I was feeling a little under the weather. I'm on the verge of a cold. And I knew that I didn't feel that bad, and I should have run because a couple days down the line I might be sick enough that I am justified in not running, but yesterday wasn't it. So I didn't run and I regretted it all day today.
Today is even colder, windchill is 7 below zero and it is again really windy. Tomorrow is supposed to be even COLDER, with windchills around 20 below and 20mph winds again. At those temperatures, a run outside is just silly. I did it last year and the year before that and I'm not sure I really gained anything from it. It's dangerous to be out when it's that cold, especially if you have any exposed skin. And it's just absolutely miserable. You can hardly see, or breath, when the wind is that strong and there's snow blowing around. Plus the footing is treacherous and cars don't see you because they aren't looking. So on those days I choose the "dreadmill."
Today I ran 7 miles, tomorrow I will run another 7 miles. I hate how long runs take on the treadmill. Runs of the same distance always seem longer on a treadmill than when they are out on the roads. But, nevertheless, I got my run in. So I feel better now. It should warm up into the 20's by Sunday's long run.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Beginning Ice Age 50 Training
So it's been about a month now, and I'm well into my training program for the Ice Age 50 on May 11, 2013. Yesterday was an 18-miler and after death-marching it home the last two miles, I wonder how I can possibly do 50 miles? I'm feeling quite aprehensive at this point. Then I remind myself that I'll be running a much slower pace (even though my pace slowed down about a minute from the beginning of my run to the end of it yesterday). But it'll also be on trails, and I haven't had the opportunity to get on the trails since last year sometime. And I haven't run anything long on trails, either.
My previous experiences with trail running were discourarging, to say the least. I felt sore afterwards, and I thought it was hard on my feet to be sliding around, unbalanced, negotiating dips, roots, and rocks. Hard on my knees, too, the sudden ups and downs of the trail. I'm hoping that if I can get more consistent running in on the trails, I will be able to adapt to it and it won't be an issue during the race. I'm most definitely not a trail runner. Not that I'm unwilling, just haven't had much opportunity. I expect that going from roads to trails will be similar to going from the treadmill to the roads. That one winter that I ran on the treadmill and then went out and raced a 5K on the roads taught me a lesson. Treadmills don't allow some of your stabilizing muscles and tendons to get a workout because the treadmill does the stabilizing for you. I vowed never to seriously train on a treadmill again after hurting my knees that spring training for my first half marathon.
I expect going from roads to trails is similar. There are some stabilizing muscles and tendons that probably are not strong enough because they aren't used on the roads. I hope that I can strengthen them as I get more into the trail runs and I won't experience the discomfort that I did when I ran on trails sporadically.
I also need to start practicing my run/walk technique. I know I will need to decide upon some kind of ratio to run/walk. Running a whole 50 miles on trails is not practical, for me anyway. I'm thinking that I will walk all the uphills (I keep reading that in every book or article I read about Ultras), and then I'll use a 25/5 or 20/5 run-to-walk ratio. So I have to start practicing that. I've never utilized a run/walk technique so this will be new to me. I will probably start utilizing it during my first 20-miler. I don't know at what point to start the run/walk in the race, though. I've read articles where some people start running and then after several miles they start their run/walk. I also know there are people who start their run/walk right away. So how will I do it? I don't know yet. I need to do some trail training and get some practicing in. Unfortunately, the trail is snow-covered for a while, so it'll be several weeks before I can get on it.
Also dealing with some shoulder pain after my long runs. Not sure if it's a muscle thing or a pinched nerve or what. It's the right shoulder, and the pain will decrease after a few days, but immediately after a long run I can barely find a position to sleep in that doesn't cause absolute agony in my shoulder. Last night it hurt, but not as bad as my last long run. I tried working it a little bit during my run, rotating it and trying to keep it loose. I wonder if that helped? I also tried stretching it afterwards. Maybe I should try doing some stretching before my next long run and see if that helps. It's hard to move and especially hard to sleep with it hurting as bad as it does.
I'm entering into hard/easy/hard/easy weeks now, so next week will be a 12-miler. The week after that is the first 20-miler. More on the training as it happens!
My previous experiences with trail running were discourarging, to say the least. I felt sore afterwards, and I thought it was hard on my feet to be sliding around, unbalanced, negotiating dips, roots, and rocks. Hard on my knees, too, the sudden ups and downs of the trail. I'm hoping that if I can get more consistent running in on the trails, I will be able to adapt to it and it won't be an issue during the race. I'm most definitely not a trail runner. Not that I'm unwilling, just haven't had much opportunity. I expect that going from roads to trails will be similar to going from the treadmill to the roads. That one winter that I ran on the treadmill and then went out and raced a 5K on the roads taught me a lesson. Treadmills don't allow some of your stabilizing muscles and tendons to get a workout because the treadmill does the stabilizing for you. I vowed never to seriously train on a treadmill again after hurting my knees that spring training for my first half marathon.
I expect going from roads to trails is similar. There are some stabilizing muscles and tendons that probably are not strong enough because they aren't used on the roads. I hope that I can strengthen them as I get more into the trail runs and I won't experience the discomfort that I did when I ran on trails sporadically.
I also need to start practicing my run/walk technique. I know I will need to decide upon some kind of ratio to run/walk. Running a whole 50 miles on trails is not practical, for me anyway. I'm thinking that I will walk all the uphills (I keep reading that in every book or article I read about Ultras), and then I'll use a 25/5 or 20/5 run-to-walk ratio. So I have to start practicing that. I've never utilized a run/walk technique so this will be new to me. I will probably start utilizing it during my first 20-miler. I don't know at what point to start the run/walk in the race, though. I've read articles where some people start running and then after several miles they start their run/walk. I also know there are people who start their run/walk right away. So how will I do it? I don't know yet. I need to do some trail training and get some practicing in. Unfortunately, the trail is snow-covered for a while, so it'll be several weeks before I can get on it.
Also dealing with some shoulder pain after my long runs. Not sure if it's a muscle thing or a pinched nerve or what. It's the right shoulder, and the pain will decrease after a few days, but immediately after a long run I can barely find a position to sleep in that doesn't cause absolute agony in my shoulder. Last night it hurt, but not as bad as my last long run. I tried working it a little bit during my run, rotating it and trying to keep it loose. I wonder if that helped? I also tried stretching it afterwards. Maybe I should try doing some stretching before my next long run and see if that helps. It's hard to move and especially hard to sleep with it hurting as bad as it does.
I'm entering into hard/easy/hard/easy weeks now, so next week will be a 12-miler. The week after that is the first 20-miler. More on the training as it happens!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Lake Geneva Marathon-May 12, 2012
I neglected to blog about my two marathons in 2011, lets just briefly say that I ran a PR 4:11:13 in Green Bay in extremely windy conditions and loved the course. Finishing by running around the stadium at Lambeau Field was incredible. In the fall I ran Fox Valley Marathon in St. Charles, IL. I did not train well for it and went into just wanting to have a fun race with no time goal. It was kind of cold and drizzly all morning and I finished in 4:35 something. Not a race to really dwell on, lol.
So, on to this weekend's Lake Geneva Marathon. Beautiful day, upper 50's to 60 degrees, cloudy. No sun to burn me, no rain to soak me. It was a little humid, but really I can't complain at all. The conditions were nearly perfect.
I decided Friday night that I would in fact set a goal for myself. I hadn't been able to find much about this race online. I knew it was relatively small, 2011 had only 83 marathoners. I knew that it went around the lake, but I couldn't even find a course map. There was no info about aid stations and what was at them except that they were every 3 miles. I didn't know how hilly it was, except for a couple reports I read from people who said it was hilly. Well, okay, but how hilly? And what about the different terrains on the lakefront trail, which I thought we were going to be running on?
But anyway, I set a goal of 9:30 pace, which would bring me in just under 4:10. I knew my training up to this point had been really good, I'd nailed my workouts and my tempo runs, and I had successfully completed a 19, 20, 21 and 22-miler. My 22-miler was hugely confidence building, as I ran it in about 10:06 pace, kind of fast for a long run that long, but I felt so good! I decided that on a flat course, a 4:10 would be no probem, I felt confident I could do it. I decided that having run my long runs on hilly courses and doing hill repeat workouts, I could tackle a hilly course. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the terrain, running on different surfaces can really slow you down.
So I set a goal. I was going to run 9:30 pace. My first mile was 9:06 or something. Okay, I expected a fast first mile. No matter how much I try, my first mile is always faster than it should be. But not too much faster, so I was okay with it. Mile 1: 24 seconds to the negative banked. This is what I do when I run a marathon. It keeps my mind occupied. I add and subtract time away from my goal pace to know how close I am, on average, to my goal time. I like being to the negative, but I get a little nervous sometimes if I get too negative, as that usually means I'm going to pay for it later. Mile 2 came before I knew it. 8:56. Oops. Too fast, time to consciously make an effort to slow down a little. Mile 2: 56 seconds banked.
There were some minor, gradual hills the first half of the race, nothing I couldn't handle. I took them on conservatively, shortening and quickening my stride to expend as little energy as possible on them. It was going really well. I saw Mike and Mackezie around Mile 5 or 6, which meant that they were almost late to Mackenzie's karate class because they waited for me. But it was good to see them. I'd banked 1:53 at that point, and I was nervous about it. But that pace was comfortable and so I just went with it. I didn't expect to see Mike and Mackenzie until the finish now, because she had her class in Elkhorn, and I didn't think they'd make it back to Lake Geneva until around 11, which would only give them about an hour until I finished and I suspected they wouldn't be able to find me. But I did give them, and my mom and Gavin, a map of the course which I got at packet pickup, but which didn't have any mile markers on it, and a printout of what my times should be at each mile doing a 9:30 pace. I figured they could figure out what times I'd be where that way. It did seem to work, mostly. The map wasn't very good, so I think they both spent a lot of time driving around.
I don't remember what mile I first saw Gavin and Mom. Gavin was ringing the cowbell, and would you believe it was the only cowbell that whole marathon? I yelled at mom where I was at pace wise, and she posted it on facebook using her fancy new i-Pad. Sure came in handy. She could even take pictures and video with it. She found out she could take video after she accidentally got most of me during a 6 second video around Mile 18ish.
At Mile 10 I had my first Clif Shot gel with caffeine. I waited a little longer than I usually would have because I didn't know if any of the aid stations would have gels. I'd rather not use up my own supply if I can get some for free. I'm cheap that way. :) But finally I decided that it would be smart to take it. I was feeling good, but fueling is important.
The half marathoners had split off from us at some point and their course met up with our around Mile 12.5. Except everyone else without a GPS watch thought it was Mile 13. The Mile 13 marker was a half mile early. And so was every mile marker for the rest of the race. I actually started to panic because I thought that the course was going to be a half mile short and I was on pace to set a PR and I was going to be super pissed if it turned out to be short. That's what I dwelled on for the second half of the race. So they were only around mile 11 at that point, and I felt really good seeing the two women I'd been behind before they split off. I was ahead of them now. And I was at Mile 12.5 while they were only at their Mile 11. It's the little things give you that boost of confidence when you know you're two hours into a race and know you're only halfway done. :)
So I thought it was funny when the guy giving me water at that aid station told me I was halfway done and I knew I wasn't. And I thought it was funny when I passed a volunteer about a half mile away from the Half Marathon finish line who told me I was almost done, and I knew I had about 11 miles to go. Well, maybe it wasn't funny at the time. It was ironic. At first I thought I'd missed a turn, actually, because the Half Marathoners were finishing in a park in Fontana, and they were herding all the runners around the corner, and I could see their finish line, and I started to panic a bit thinking I was on the wrong course. It turns out that as soon as you turned the corner, the Half Marathoners finished to the right and the Marathoners kept going to the left. Whew! So I kept going. Up a nice big hill.
First really noticeable hill. I ran it the way I know how to run hills, and it wasn't bad. And then I got to the top and realized I had to go right back down again. And here is the part of the race where we start the steep hills. Going up wasn't so bad. It was going downhill that really trashed my legs. My thighs were burning from the pounding they were taking on the way down. Now, I know there is a technique to running downhill. I've read oodles of running books and Ultra books and articles in magazines that talk all about it. I've just never practiced it. I never bothered to remember that good information and apply it. I never really needed to. Well, let me tell you something. If I EVER do this marathon again, I will practice running downhill. I will get good at it. I will not come back to this race until I know how to run downhill. After a few miles of this up and down and up and down, I started to worry about my PR. My legs were really feeling the strain of the downhills, especially my outer quads. No acute pain, yet, just fatigue and soreness. But I decided that I'd worked too damn hard for this and I wasn't throwing it away just yet. I'm at about Mile 18 now. This was my first little wall. I started to feel the pain and had to tell myself that it was time to start playing the mental game. I consciously forced myself to maintain my pace and push through my little rough spot.
At about Mile 20 I hit a little bigger wall. My legs got real heavy all of a sudden and I decided I should probably take a gel. I probably should have taken it sooner. So this time it was Hammer Gel. I took it and a little while later, not even a half mile probably, I saw Mike and Mackenzie and told Mike was 2:53 ahead of my pace, but I was dying. I was starting to fade. A mile later, I got a second wind, the carbs kicked in and I felt much better and much stronger. I actually felt really good at Mile 23ish and had to tell myself to watch my pace because I still had 3 miles to go and the good feeling could go away just as quickly as it came.
Mile 24ish was a nice long gradual uphill climb along Hwy 50. It was probably almot a mile and it felt so good. Yup, an uphill felt good. I can't explain it. My downhill muscles hurt and my uphill muscles were still fine so it was like getting a break to go uphill. And it was so easy and such a shallow slope. It was just enjoyable.
At Mile 25ish I was directed to turn onto a dead end road in a residential neighborhood. I thought it was weird that we were turning onto a dead end road. But if my rational part of the brain had been functioning properly, which it wasn't at this point (you would have laughed if you had heard me trying to subtract 19 seconds from 2:58), I would have remembered that we had to get on the trail about a mile from the end. And here it was. I ran through some people's backyard, on grass and got onto the lakefront path. The grass was awkward, especially because there was a hard turn around some cones and my legs were tired and the grass was hard to run on. Now, to explain, the lakefront path goes through people's backyards. The path is the responsibility of each homeowner. They are allowed to do whatever they want to the path, as long as the path is there. They can make it whatever surface they want. The first surface was stepping stones. Then there was crushed gravel, then packed dirt, and cement and cobblestone and paving bricks and more crushed gravel, and you name it, I ran on it. Very awkward and very hard to run on, especially becuase it wa the last mile and I was trying to pick up the pace little bit.
I actually had to make hard corners, going around fences and gardens and sheds and the path was so narrow and I actually had to get off the path completely to let some other sightseers go past because only one person could be on it at a time. At one point the path split to the left and right and I didn't know which way to go. There were two steps going down to the right and that was closest to the lake, so that's the way I went. The other path must have gone to a garage or a back door or something. It was confusing and I actually stopped and said out loud, "I don't know which way to go." Well, naturally there wasn't anyone around me and so I picked the path to the right and just prayed I was correct. I'd hate to be lost a half mile from the finish with a PR in sight. And so I kept going and I was panicking the whole time, thinking for sure this can't be right, and a couple minutes later I came out of a yard and saw a dude in a green shirt up ahead. It was a runner! Yay, I was on the right path! So now I'm running on packed dirt, I think. I don't remember. I can't see the finish yet, but I know I'm only about a quarter of a mile away. By the way, this is the point where I stop worrying about the course being a half mile short, too. I come out onto a paved walk, into the park. I can see the finish now, but more importantly, I see my friends Michelle and Melissa cheering for me, and I see my kids and my mom and Mike. They are all there at the finish, in a prime spot, and it was just great. I have to get off the nice paved sidewalk and run up the grass for a few feet to cross the finish line. Mackenie ran across, too.
I have to say, when I got done, I couldn't hold back the tears. I remember my first marathon, and I couldn't hold back the tears then, either, but they were tears of embarassment and frustration and disappointment. These were tears of joy. They were. All the emotions of the last four hours, which didn't have an outlet, were released then. It was a hard fought battle, a well-earned PR and I was so proud of myself. I'd worked so hard this spring, and it all paid off. On the hardest course I've run yet (and honestly, it's probably one of the hardest I will ever run), I set a PR by 6 minutes. I finished in an official time of 4:05:21. It was better than I hoped for. I wonder what I could have done on an easier course.
I won my age group, was the 5th woman overall. There were 115 marathoners this year (I think probably a quarter of them were walkers). So not a big race, and not much competition, and I'll probably never place in my age group again, but it was worth it. Will I run LG again? Probably not, lol. At least, not without learning how to run downhill first. :)
So, on to this weekend's Lake Geneva Marathon. Beautiful day, upper 50's to 60 degrees, cloudy. No sun to burn me, no rain to soak me. It was a little humid, but really I can't complain at all. The conditions were nearly perfect.
I decided Friday night that I would in fact set a goal for myself. I hadn't been able to find much about this race online. I knew it was relatively small, 2011 had only 83 marathoners. I knew that it went around the lake, but I couldn't even find a course map. There was no info about aid stations and what was at them except that they were every 3 miles. I didn't know how hilly it was, except for a couple reports I read from people who said it was hilly. Well, okay, but how hilly? And what about the different terrains on the lakefront trail, which I thought we were going to be running on?
But anyway, I set a goal of 9:30 pace, which would bring me in just under 4:10. I knew my training up to this point had been really good, I'd nailed my workouts and my tempo runs, and I had successfully completed a 19, 20, 21 and 22-miler. My 22-miler was hugely confidence building, as I ran it in about 10:06 pace, kind of fast for a long run that long, but I felt so good! I decided that on a flat course, a 4:10 would be no probem, I felt confident I could do it. I decided that having run my long runs on hilly courses and doing hill repeat workouts, I could tackle a hilly course. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the terrain, running on different surfaces can really slow you down.
So I set a goal. I was going to run 9:30 pace. My first mile was 9:06 or something. Okay, I expected a fast first mile. No matter how much I try, my first mile is always faster than it should be. But not too much faster, so I was okay with it. Mile 1: 24 seconds to the negative banked. This is what I do when I run a marathon. It keeps my mind occupied. I add and subtract time away from my goal pace to know how close I am, on average, to my goal time. I like being to the negative, but I get a little nervous sometimes if I get too negative, as that usually means I'm going to pay for it later. Mile 2 came before I knew it. 8:56. Oops. Too fast, time to consciously make an effort to slow down a little. Mile 2: 56 seconds banked.
There were some minor, gradual hills the first half of the race, nothing I couldn't handle. I took them on conservatively, shortening and quickening my stride to expend as little energy as possible on them. It was going really well. I saw Mike and Mackezie around Mile 5 or 6, which meant that they were almost late to Mackenzie's karate class because they waited for me. But it was good to see them. I'd banked 1:53 at that point, and I was nervous about it. But that pace was comfortable and so I just went with it. I didn't expect to see Mike and Mackenzie until the finish now, because she had her class in Elkhorn, and I didn't think they'd make it back to Lake Geneva until around 11, which would only give them about an hour until I finished and I suspected they wouldn't be able to find me. But I did give them, and my mom and Gavin, a map of the course which I got at packet pickup, but which didn't have any mile markers on it, and a printout of what my times should be at each mile doing a 9:30 pace. I figured they could figure out what times I'd be where that way. It did seem to work, mostly. The map wasn't very good, so I think they both spent a lot of time driving around.
I don't remember what mile I first saw Gavin and Mom. Gavin was ringing the cowbell, and would you believe it was the only cowbell that whole marathon? I yelled at mom where I was at pace wise, and she posted it on facebook using her fancy new i-Pad. Sure came in handy. She could even take pictures and video with it. She found out she could take video after she accidentally got most of me during a 6 second video around Mile 18ish.
At Mile 10 I had my first Clif Shot gel with caffeine. I waited a little longer than I usually would have because I didn't know if any of the aid stations would have gels. I'd rather not use up my own supply if I can get some for free. I'm cheap that way. :) But finally I decided that it would be smart to take it. I was feeling good, but fueling is important.
The half marathoners had split off from us at some point and their course met up with our around Mile 12.5. Except everyone else without a GPS watch thought it was Mile 13. The Mile 13 marker was a half mile early. And so was every mile marker for the rest of the race. I actually started to panic because I thought that the course was going to be a half mile short and I was on pace to set a PR and I was going to be super pissed if it turned out to be short. That's what I dwelled on for the second half of the race. So they were only around mile 11 at that point, and I felt really good seeing the two women I'd been behind before they split off. I was ahead of them now. And I was at Mile 12.5 while they were only at their Mile 11. It's the little things give you that boost of confidence when you know you're two hours into a race and know you're only halfway done. :)
So I thought it was funny when the guy giving me water at that aid station told me I was halfway done and I knew I wasn't. And I thought it was funny when I passed a volunteer about a half mile away from the Half Marathon finish line who told me I was almost done, and I knew I had about 11 miles to go. Well, maybe it wasn't funny at the time. It was ironic. At first I thought I'd missed a turn, actually, because the Half Marathoners were finishing in a park in Fontana, and they were herding all the runners around the corner, and I could see their finish line, and I started to panic a bit thinking I was on the wrong course. It turns out that as soon as you turned the corner, the Half Marathoners finished to the right and the Marathoners kept going to the left. Whew! So I kept going. Up a nice big hill.
First really noticeable hill. I ran it the way I know how to run hills, and it wasn't bad. And then I got to the top and realized I had to go right back down again. And here is the part of the race where we start the steep hills. Going up wasn't so bad. It was going downhill that really trashed my legs. My thighs were burning from the pounding they were taking on the way down. Now, I know there is a technique to running downhill. I've read oodles of running books and Ultra books and articles in magazines that talk all about it. I've just never practiced it. I never bothered to remember that good information and apply it. I never really needed to. Well, let me tell you something. If I EVER do this marathon again, I will practice running downhill. I will get good at it. I will not come back to this race until I know how to run downhill. After a few miles of this up and down and up and down, I started to worry about my PR. My legs were really feeling the strain of the downhills, especially my outer quads. No acute pain, yet, just fatigue and soreness. But I decided that I'd worked too damn hard for this and I wasn't throwing it away just yet. I'm at about Mile 18 now. This was my first little wall. I started to feel the pain and had to tell myself that it was time to start playing the mental game. I consciously forced myself to maintain my pace and push through my little rough spot.
At about Mile 20 I hit a little bigger wall. My legs got real heavy all of a sudden and I decided I should probably take a gel. I probably should have taken it sooner. So this time it was Hammer Gel. I took it and a little while later, not even a half mile probably, I saw Mike and Mackenzie and told Mike was 2:53 ahead of my pace, but I was dying. I was starting to fade. A mile later, I got a second wind, the carbs kicked in and I felt much better and much stronger. I actually felt really good at Mile 23ish and had to tell myself to watch my pace because I still had 3 miles to go and the good feeling could go away just as quickly as it came.
Mile 24ish was a nice long gradual uphill climb along Hwy 50. It was probably almot a mile and it felt so good. Yup, an uphill felt good. I can't explain it. My downhill muscles hurt and my uphill muscles were still fine so it was like getting a break to go uphill. And it was so easy and such a shallow slope. It was just enjoyable.
At Mile 25ish I was directed to turn onto a dead end road in a residential neighborhood. I thought it was weird that we were turning onto a dead end road. But if my rational part of the brain had been functioning properly, which it wasn't at this point (you would have laughed if you had heard me trying to subtract 19 seconds from 2:58), I would have remembered that we had to get on the trail about a mile from the end. And here it was. I ran through some people's backyard, on grass and got onto the lakefront path. The grass was awkward, especially because there was a hard turn around some cones and my legs were tired and the grass was hard to run on. Now, to explain, the lakefront path goes through people's backyards. The path is the responsibility of each homeowner. They are allowed to do whatever they want to the path, as long as the path is there. They can make it whatever surface they want. The first surface was stepping stones. Then there was crushed gravel, then packed dirt, and cement and cobblestone and paving bricks and more crushed gravel, and you name it, I ran on it. Very awkward and very hard to run on, especially becuase it wa the last mile and I was trying to pick up the pace little bit.
I actually had to make hard corners, going around fences and gardens and sheds and the path was so narrow and I actually had to get off the path completely to let some other sightseers go past because only one person could be on it at a time. At one point the path split to the left and right and I didn't know which way to go. There were two steps going down to the right and that was closest to the lake, so that's the way I went. The other path must have gone to a garage or a back door or something. It was confusing and I actually stopped and said out loud, "I don't know which way to go." Well, naturally there wasn't anyone around me and so I picked the path to the right and just prayed I was correct. I'd hate to be lost a half mile from the finish with a PR in sight. And so I kept going and I was panicking the whole time, thinking for sure this can't be right, and a couple minutes later I came out of a yard and saw a dude in a green shirt up ahead. It was a runner! Yay, I was on the right path! So now I'm running on packed dirt, I think. I don't remember. I can't see the finish yet, but I know I'm only about a quarter of a mile away. By the way, this is the point where I stop worrying about the course being a half mile short, too. I come out onto a paved walk, into the park. I can see the finish now, but more importantly, I see my friends Michelle and Melissa cheering for me, and I see my kids and my mom and Mike. They are all there at the finish, in a prime spot, and it was just great. I have to get off the nice paved sidewalk and run up the grass for a few feet to cross the finish line. Mackenie ran across, too.
I have to say, when I got done, I couldn't hold back the tears. I remember my first marathon, and I couldn't hold back the tears then, either, but they were tears of embarassment and frustration and disappointment. These were tears of joy. They were. All the emotions of the last four hours, which didn't have an outlet, were released then. It was a hard fought battle, a well-earned PR and I was so proud of myself. I'd worked so hard this spring, and it all paid off. On the hardest course I've run yet (and honestly, it's probably one of the hardest I will ever run), I set a PR by 6 minutes. I finished in an official time of 4:05:21. It was better than I hoped for. I wonder what I could have done on an easier course.
I won my age group, was the 5th woman overall. There were 115 marathoners this year (I think probably a quarter of them were walkers). So not a big race, and not much competition, and I'll probably never place in my age group again, but it was worth it. Will I run LG again? Probably not, lol. At least, not without learning how to run downhill first. :)
Monday, November 8, 2010
2010 Rails To Trails Marathon Race Report
November 7 was my second marathon. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for running! Temps were 40 degrees at the start, 50's throughout the rest of the race, 60 at the end. Sunny, breezy, such a beautiful fall day!
This course was beautiful, too. It's an old railroad bed that was turned into a bike trail. The course started in Norwalk, up to Sparta and back. It features the much-vaunted 3/4 mile railroad tunnel (which we run through twice). The tunnel ws dark, cold and wet. It was like a cave. There was water running down the sides and dripping from the ceiling. It was actually pretty cool. They had lanters throughout the tunnel, but visibility was still not that great. They handed out little penlight flashlights at the entrance to help see, but they didn't help. If I ever do the race again, I would bring my headlamp or a flashlight. The first time through the tunnel, I couldn't tell what kind of pace I was running, and I ended up going way too fast. I was afraid I was going to slow down through the tunnel because the footing was rutted and I couldn't see very well. I ended up running a 7:58 for that mile! I didn't even think I could run a sub-8:00 mile, let alone 7 miles into a marathon.
So the start of the marathon was a little chilly, so I wore a light jacket and my gloves over my singlet and shorts. Within two miles I was ready to take the jacket off. Luckily, the course looped back through the starting area (Village Park), so I through it to my mom and was done with it. The rest of the race was very comfortable.
I started out with a slow pace, although I still ended up a little faster than my planned 10:00 min pace. Not by much, though. I was actually feeling a little sluggish at the beginning. By the time I hit six miles, which was slightly uphill (very slightly) from the Park, I was getting ready for a gel. I usually start to feel better in my long runs after six or seven miles- whether it's from a gel or from getting into a rhythm, I don't know. So I had a gel right after the tunnel, approximately 7 miles in. And I started to feel really good. Running through the tunnel was surreal, like I mentioned earlier. I was afraid my pace would drop off, so I kept it up. It was hard to judge in the tunnel, as I really had no way to see how fast I was going. When my watch beeped as I got out of the tunnel, I was shocked to see 7:58. I though for sure it was wrong, that the tunnel had screwed up the GPS somehow, but at the next mile marker, my watch matched the mileage, so then I knew that I had in fact run a 7:58 mile. I started to worry at that point. I wondered if maybe that mile wouldn't matter? Maybe I didn't use up a lot of glycogen, and maybe that one little mile wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things...
Well, after that, my watch didn't seem to be giving me accurate paces. I'm not sure why. It kept telling me I was running 11:30-13:00 min miles. I thought, "That's impossible, I'm not going that slow am I?" So I tried to up the pace a little bit, and and after two or three more miles of the watch beeping and telling me I'd just run a 9:00 min mile, I thought, "I have to slow down, something is not right with the watch and I can't trust the pacing it's telling me." So from then on out I looked at the mileage and the total time to figure about where I was pace-wise, and then also relied on the splits each mile. Not how I'm used to racing. I like looking down and seeing my pace, but this time I had to run by feel, and I didn't do so well!
And, unfortunately, the damage had been done by the time I figured it out. After running five minutes faster than my pace the first half, I was done for. My splits were outrageous. I ran 2:05 the first half and 2:21 the second half. Those fast miles while I was feeling so good were my downfall. It meant that later in the race, I couldn't keep up the pace. I fell off to about 11:30 pace the last few miles. I'm sure it was because of those fast middle miles. I hit the wall early, like at mile 14. It was a painful second half.
So my mom and my kids came to watch this marathon, and it was great to have them there. I gave them a cowbell to ring and they made it to several of the aid stations. Being that the trail crossed several roads, and it was an out and back course, it was very spectator friendly. And it was great motivation to look forward to the next spot I'd see them. The kids kept running up to me. They were actually a little bit of a hinderance at times, but it was fun to have them there anyway.
So I wasn't sure about how to fuel this run. I'd made the decision not to drink the sports drink, since I had gels, and just drink water at every aid station, and I had my fuel belt with water in it. I had four gels during the race, at miles 7, 13.5, 18, 23. I think I should have only had 3. I got real sick after the race, throwing up sick, and couldn't eat anything and just felt crummy the whole rest of the afternoon. Thank God Mom was there to drive us home. I don't think I could have driven. I was once feeling that sick after a half marathon a year and a half ago, and I'd taken three gels during that race. I'm thinking that too many gels don't agree with me. I don't take that many during training runs, so I think it was probably too much. Next time, I'll just take three gels.
So at the turnaround at mile 14.5, I was starting to feel the fatigue in my legs. I kept up my pace until about 18 miles, when I started to slow incrementally until I was at 11:30 pace. The last mile was about 10 minutes, though, so I was able to pick it up a little at the end. I'm convinced that my slow pace was caused by the fast miles in the middle. I'm sure if I had managed to make those 10 minute miles, I would have been stronger longer. Not that I still wouldn't have slowed down some, but I don't think it would have been to the degree that I did.
I plodded along, trying to enjoy the scenery and the beautiful weather and just pretending it was a long training run and wasn't I having a good time? I thought of Cole, my 50-year old friend, and founder of RACC, who'd just the previous day (on his 50th birthday) completed his fifth full Ironman, running a marathon after he'd swam for 2.4 miles and biked for 112 miles! If he could do that, surely I could just do the marathon part.
Then I thought about why I was there. Why was I there? Who in their right mind would put themselves through this kind of torture? What was I thinking? So I had to tell myself, "You enjoy the pain, you wanted to feel this burn, that's why you're here. You wanted this." Okay, that got me through another mile. Then it was, "You're a sexy b***h, you know that? You are so hot! Damn, girl!" So that got me through another mile. It just went on and on, the mental games I played to try to keep myself motivated to continue running.
It definitely hurt those last few miles. I wanted to stop and walk, but I didn't let myself. I just kept telling myself that it was okay to slow down, just as long as I kept running. I was on pace to hit 4:20 all the way up until about mile 21, I think, with the time I'd banked earlier. I told myself that I'd stayed on pace for a long way to give up now. So it was hard. And then my mind started wandering. I wondered when I'd be motivated to run another marathon, because I was definitely NOT motivated to run another one at that point. I wondered if it would be as soon as I finished, or if it would take a few hours, or days or weeks to get motivated again. (As it happens, I was already thinking about the next one later that night, all the things I would do differently.)
So the last five or six miles seemed to take FOREVER! Back through the tunnel at about 23 miles, and I think I was the only one running it. I only came upon two or three others while inside the tunnel, but they were walking. That kind of gave me a boost.
So on and on I went, and the last two aid stations I really had to make myself run. I had stopped for maybe 5 seconds at all the other aid stations, just long enough to down the cup of water. The last two, I actually walked 10 or 15 seconds after the water. It was hard to make myself get going again. My legs were just screaming at me to stop. The last few miles, the timing chip around my ankle started to really bother me, too. I felt like it was chafing or something. It was quite uncomfortable. And the bottoms of my feel hurt. And my core was sore, too. I should probably work on my core strength this winter.
So the end of the race was finally in sight and I couldn't have been happier. I managed to pick up my pace for a final kick of approximately 9:30 min/mile pace and finished my second marathon in 4:26:18.
I felt sick afterwards. I had a banana and a half an orange and a cup of Heed. Then we got in line for the chicken dinner. After half an hour of standing in line, I was ready to keel over. We got our food, and I went to the bathroom to sit and hope something would come out. Nothing did. I must have been in there for 15 or 20 minutes, because mom came looking for me. I came out and went back to the table and sat down. I looked at my food, stood up and ran out of the pavilion over to a post and threw up. I felt so much better after that! I still couldn't eat. All I wanted was to go home. I was cold and I still felt queasy and I was ready to get out of there. Plus we had a three hour drive to get home, and we were all tired from a long day.
So second marathon down. Now I feel like I have a real result to base my future goals on. After Milwaukee, with that 5 miles of walking and a 4:58 finish, I didn't feel like I could really base a new goal on that. This marathon I can. I haven't decided yet what the goal will be. I could go very conservative and say sub 4:15. Or I could be aggressive and say sub 4:00. I don't know yet, but I'm leaning towards a more conservative goal. I guess I'll have to wait and see how the training goes. I'm wondering if doing this marathon so soon after the first one may have impacted the result at all? Could I have gone faster if I trained for 18 weeks, including a three week taper? Perhaps. I don't know. I wonder, though. But all in all, I finally feel like I put forth an effort worth of all that training. I've had a successful fall racing season and now I'm looking forward to some shorter, faster 10Ks this winter.
Lessons learned:
1. Nausea could have been caused by dehydration. While I feel like I drank well during the race, sometimes one's impression of things is not the reality. So I will try to drink more, in between aid stations. I did have success drinking only water, and no sports drink, so I will probably duplicate that next time.
2. Only 3 gels next time, not four. I'm not convinced that the nausea wasn't caused by all that sugar sitting in my stomach.
3. PACING, PACING, PACING. While I'm still not sure why my watch wasn't giving me accurate pacing, I at least know that it can happen, now and if I feel like I'm going fast, I probably am. Next time I need to make sure that I don't blow the second half of the race by running the first half too fast. It should make it more enjoyable, too. Less painful and excruciating, you know?
4. Look around. I tried to make myself look around at the scenery and enjoy the area I was running in. I think it helped make things more pleasant. As much as things could be pleasant at that point.
In the end, success. While disappointed not to make my time goal, I feel satisfied nonetheless. There will be many more marathons to come.
This course was beautiful, too. It's an old railroad bed that was turned into a bike trail. The course started in Norwalk, up to Sparta and back. It features the much-vaunted 3/4 mile railroad tunnel (which we run through twice). The tunnel ws dark, cold and wet. It was like a cave. There was water running down the sides and dripping from the ceiling. It was actually pretty cool. They had lanters throughout the tunnel, but visibility was still not that great. They handed out little penlight flashlights at the entrance to help see, but they didn't help. If I ever do the race again, I would bring my headlamp or a flashlight. The first time through the tunnel, I couldn't tell what kind of pace I was running, and I ended up going way too fast. I was afraid I was going to slow down through the tunnel because the footing was rutted and I couldn't see very well. I ended up running a 7:58 for that mile! I didn't even think I could run a sub-8:00 mile, let alone 7 miles into a marathon.
So the start of the marathon was a little chilly, so I wore a light jacket and my gloves over my singlet and shorts. Within two miles I was ready to take the jacket off. Luckily, the course looped back through the starting area (Village Park), so I through it to my mom and was done with it. The rest of the race was very comfortable.
I started out with a slow pace, although I still ended up a little faster than my planned 10:00 min pace. Not by much, though. I was actually feeling a little sluggish at the beginning. By the time I hit six miles, which was slightly uphill (very slightly) from the Park, I was getting ready for a gel. I usually start to feel better in my long runs after six or seven miles- whether it's from a gel or from getting into a rhythm, I don't know. So I had a gel right after the tunnel, approximately 7 miles in. And I started to feel really good. Running through the tunnel was surreal, like I mentioned earlier. I was afraid my pace would drop off, so I kept it up. It was hard to judge in the tunnel, as I really had no way to see how fast I was going. When my watch beeped as I got out of the tunnel, I was shocked to see 7:58. I though for sure it was wrong, that the tunnel had screwed up the GPS somehow, but at the next mile marker, my watch matched the mileage, so then I knew that I had in fact run a 7:58 mile. I started to worry at that point. I wondered if maybe that mile wouldn't matter? Maybe I didn't use up a lot of glycogen, and maybe that one little mile wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things...
Well, after that, my watch didn't seem to be giving me accurate paces. I'm not sure why. It kept telling me I was running 11:30-13:00 min miles. I thought, "That's impossible, I'm not going that slow am I?" So I tried to up the pace a little bit, and and after two or three more miles of the watch beeping and telling me I'd just run a 9:00 min mile, I thought, "I have to slow down, something is not right with the watch and I can't trust the pacing it's telling me." So from then on out I looked at the mileage and the total time to figure about where I was pace-wise, and then also relied on the splits each mile. Not how I'm used to racing. I like looking down and seeing my pace, but this time I had to run by feel, and I didn't do so well!
And, unfortunately, the damage had been done by the time I figured it out. After running five minutes faster than my pace the first half, I was done for. My splits were outrageous. I ran 2:05 the first half and 2:21 the second half. Those fast miles while I was feeling so good were my downfall. It meant that later in the race, I couldn't keep up the pace. I fell off to about 11:30 pace the last few miles. I'm sure it was because of those fast middle miles. I hit the wall early, like at mile 14. It was a painful second half.
So my mom and my kids came to watch this marathon, and it was great to have them there. I gave them a cowbell to ring and they made it to several of the aid stations. Being that the trail crossed several roads, and it was an out and back course, it was very spectator friendly. And it was great motivation to look forward to the next spot I'd see them. The kids kept running up to me. They were actually a little bit of a hinderance at times, but it was fun to have them there anyway.
So I wasn't sure about how to fuel this run. I'd made the decision not to drink the sports drink, since I had gels, and just drink water at every aid station, and I had my fuel belt with water in it. I had four gels during the race, at miles 7, 13.5, 18, 23. I think I should have only had 3. I got real sick after the race, throwing up sick, and couldn't eat anything and just felt crummy the whole rest of the afternoon. Thank God Mom was there to drive us home. I don't think I could have driven. I was once feeling that sick after a half marathon a year and a half ago, and I'd taken three gels during that race. I'm thinking that too many gels don't agree with me. I don't take that many during training runs, so I think it was probably too much. Next time, I'll just take three gels.
So at the turnaround at mile 14.5, I was starting to feel the fatigue in my legs. I kept up my pace until about 18 miles, when I started to slow incrementally until I was at 11:30 pace. The last mile was about 10 minutes, though, so I was able to pick it up a little at the end. I'm convinced that my slow pace was caused by the fast miles in the middle. I'm sure if I had managed to make those 10 minute miles, I would have been stronger longer. Not that I still wouldn't have slowed down some, but I don't think it would have been to the degree that I did.
I plodded along, trying to enjoy the scenery and the beautiful weather and just pretending it was a long training run and wasn't I having a good time? I thought of Cole, my 50-year old friend, and founder of RACC, who'd just the previous day (on his 50th birthday) completed his fifth full Ironman, running a marathon after he'd swam for 2.4 miles and biked for 112 miles! If he could do that, surely I could just do the marathon part.
Then I thought about why I was there. Why was I there? Who in their right mind would put themselves through this kind of torture? What was I thinking? So I had to tell myself, "You enjoy the pain, you wanted to feel this burn, that's why you're here. You wanted this." Okay, that got me through another mile. Then it was, "You're a sexy b***h, you know that? You are so hot! Damn, girl!" So that got me through another mile. It just went on and on, the mental games I played to try to keep myself motivated to continue running.
It definitely hurt those last few miles. I wanted to stop and walk, but I didn't let myself. I just kept telling myself that it was okay to slow down, just as long as I kept running. I was on pace to hit 4:20 all the way up until about mile 21, I think, with the time I'd banked earlier. I told myself that I'd stayed on pace for a long way to give up now. So it was hard. And then my mind started wandering. I wondered when I'd be motivated to run another marathon, because I was definitely NOT motivated to run another one at that point. I wondered if it would be as soon as I finished, or if it would take a few hours, or days or weeks to get motivated again. (As it happens, I was already thinking about the next one later that night, all the things I would do differently.)
So the last five or six miles seemed to take FOREVER! Back through the tunnel at about 23 miles, and I think I was the only one running it. I only came upon two or three others while inside the tunnel, but they were walking. That kind of gave me a boost.
So on and on I went, and the last two aid stations I really had to make myself run. I had stopped for maybe 5 seconds at all the other aid stations, just long enough to down the cup of water. The last two, I actually walked 10 or 15 seconds after the water. It was hard to make myself get going again. My legs were just screaming at me to stop. The last few miles, the timing chip around my ankle started to really bother me, too. I felt like it was chafing or something. It was quite uncomfortable. And the bottoms of my feel hurt. And my core was sore, too. I should probably work on my core strength this winter.
So the end of the race was finally in sight and I couldn't have been happier. I managed to pick up my pace for a final kick of approximately 9:30 min/mile pace and finished my second marathon in 4:26:18.
I felt sick afterwards. I had a banana and a half an orange and a cup of Heed. Then we got in line for the chicken dinner. After half an hour of standing in line, I was ready to keel over. We got our food, and I went to the bathroom to sit and hope something would come out. Nothing did. I must have been in there for 15 or 20 minutes, because mom came looking for me. I came out and went back to the table and sat down. I looked at my food, stood up and ran out of the pavilion over to a post and threw up. I felt so much better after that! I still couldn't eat. All I wanted was to go home. I was cold and I still felt queasy and I was ready to get out of there. Plus we had a three hour drive to get home, and we were all tired from a long day.
So second marathon down. Now I feel like I have a real result to base my future goals on. After Milwaukee, with that 5 miles of walking and a 4:58 finish, I didn't feel like I could really base a new goal on that. This marathon I can. I haven't decided yet what the goal will be. I could go very conservative and say sub 4:15. Or I could be aggressive and say sub 4:00. I don't know yet, but I'm leaning towards a more conservative goal. I guess I'll have to wait and see how the training goes. I'm wondering if doing this marathon so soon after the first one may have impacted the result at all? Could I have gone faster if I trained for 18 weeks, including a three week taper? Perhaps. I don't know. I wonder, though. But all in all, I finally feel like I put forth an effort worth of all that training. I've had a successful fall racing season and now I'm looking forward to some shorter, faster 10Ks this winter.
Lessons learned:
1. Nausea could have been caused by dehydration. While I feel like I drank well during the race, sometimes one's impression of things is not the reality. So I will try to drink more, in between aid stations. I did have success drinking only water, and no sports drink, so I will probably duplicate that next time.
2. Only 3 gels next time, not four. I'm not convinced that the nausea wasn't caused by all that sugar sitting in my stomach.
3. PACING, PACING, PACING. While I'm still not sure why my watch wasn't giving me accurate pacing, I at least know that it can happen, now and if I feel like I'm going fast, I probably am. Next time I need to make sure that I don't blow the second half of the race by running the first half too fast. It should make it more enjoyable, too. Less painful and excruciating, you know?
4. Look around. I tried to make myself look around at the scenery and enjoy the area I was running in. I think it helped make things more pleasant. As much as things could be pleasant at that point.
In the end, success. While disappointed not to make my time goal, I feel satisfied nonetheless. There will be many more marathons to come.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Taper Week
Well, it's taper week. Last week was the peak week of my four-week training plan for the Rails to Trails Marathon in Norwalk, WI. Only 32 miles, about 10 miles shy of my peak week for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.
This last week was better than the first two weeks. I'm still not feeling fast or easy, though. Sunday's long run was 12 miles. The beginning of the run felt a little tough, my lower legs felt a little sore and tight. But I was also running into a breeze. Not nearly as bad as the wind earlier this week. Tuesday and Wednesday were 35 mph winds, gusting to 60, with a severe drop in temperature. I was not dressed appropriately and I was numb after both runs! Brr. Definitely time to break out the winter running gear.
So this week is going to be pretty easy and light. Especially since I can't run Wednesday due to a doctor's appointment for Gavin. So tomorrow will be three miles, Thursday will be two miles. Then marathon on Sunday. I sure hope I can improve my time. My poor showing in Milwaukee is just shameful in my mind, and I can't let this season go until I have something to be proud of.
My goal is going to be sub 4:20. That would be 10-minute miles. I would be satisfied with that. Next year I can focus on improving it. I have lots of years of running left, I hope. I don't need to have a super fast time right at the start of my marathon career. There are a lot of lessons to be learned. When I started running half marathons, each race was a lesson. And I was able to make goals based on previous races and achieve them. And each race I got faster. I'm sure that will happen with the full marathons as well. I just have to be patient. So. 4:20 it is.
Right now the weather looks like a high of 50, with partly sunny skies. Should be a beautiful day. I just have to decide what to wear. High of 50 will be in the afternoon, most likely will be high 30s or 40s for the race. Probably just like Milwaukee. But I was chilly for Milwaukee. So maybe I should dress warmer. But I don't want to overheat, so I'm going to have to really think about what to wear. I don't have anything to put under my singlet except for underarmour, and that might be too warm. I could probably get away with shorts still. I'm going to have to think about this!
This last week was better than the first two weeks. I'm still not feeling fast or easy, though. Sunday's long run was 12 miles. The beginning of the run felt a little tough, my lower legs felt a little sore and tight. But I was also running into a breeze. Not nearly as bad as the wind earlier this week. Tuesday and Wednesday were 35 mph winds, gusting to 60, with a severe drop in temperature. I was not dressed appropriately and I was numb after both runs! Brr. Definitely time to break out the winter running gear.
So this week is going to be pretty easy and light. Especially since I can't run Wednesday due to a doctor's appointment for Gavin. So tomorrow will be three miles, Thursday will be two miles. Then marathon on Sunday. I sure hope I can improve my time. My poor showing in Milwaukee is just shameful in my mind, and I can't let this season go until I have something to be proud of.
My goal is going to be sub 4:20. That would be 10-minute miles. I would be satisfied with that. Next year I can focus on improving it. I have lots of years of running left, I hope. I don't need to have a super fast time right at the start of my marathon career. There are a lot of lessons to be learned. When I started running half marathons, each race was a lesson. And I was able to make goals based on previous races and achieve them. And each race I got faster. I'm sure that will happen with the full marathons as well. I just have to be patient. So. 4:20 it is.
Right now the weather looks like a high of 50, with partly sunny skies. Should be a beautiful day. I just have to decide what to wear. High of 50 will be in the afternoon, most likely will be high 30s or 40s for the race. Probably just like Milwaukee. But I was chilly for Milwaukee. So maybe I should dress warmer. But I don't want to overheat, so I'm going to have to really think about what to wear. I don't have anything to put under my singlet except for underarmour, and that might be too warm. I could probably get away with shorts still. I'm going to have to think about this!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
2 Weeks Down, 2 To Go
Well I'm two weeks into my training for back-to-back marathons, with two weeks to go. This next week will be the peak week (with bad weather, it looks like).
Today I ran 12 miles. It was a little windy the first half of the run, and my legs were tight and fatigued-feeling. However, at 6 miles I took a gel, and within a mile I felt much better. I actually felt comfortable. Whether that was due to the carbs, or to not having to run into the wind, I don't know. I'm starting to wonder if I've been running with depleted glycogen stores. I wonder if that might be why I've been struggling the last couple weeks on my long runs. Last week's 10 miler I didn't fuel at all during the run. I'm thinking I should make sure to fuel and hydrate properly, taking careful consideration to drink, even when I'm not thirsty.
This last week I felt a little better than the first week, but my legs were still fatigued feeling and I have really struggled to maintain a modest 10-min mile pace. I even had an extra rest day in there on Thursday because Gavin was sick and I had to pick him up from daycare that morning, so I missed my run.
This will be an interesting week. I'm hoping that my body is going to rally and get used to training again. I'm excited about this marathon, but I'm feeling less confident. I'm hoping that my conservative goal of 4:20 is doable. It feels very conservative a goal to me, but given my recent long runs, I'm not so sure. On a positive note, I'm over the cold. So hopefully I can just stay healthy for two more weeks.
Today I ran 12 miles. It was a little windy the first half of the run, and my legs were tight and fatigued-feeling. However, at 6 miles I took a gel, and within a mile I felt much better. I actually felt comfortable. Whether that was due to the carbs, or to not having to run into the wind, I don't know. I'm starting to wonder if I've been running with depleted glycogen stores. I wonder if that might be why I've been struggling the last couple weeks on my long runs. Last week's 10 miler I didn't fuel at all during the run. I'm thinking I should make sure to fuel and hydrate properly, taking careful consideration to drink, even when I'm not thirsty.
This last week I felt a little better than the first week, but my legs were still fatigued feeling and I have really struggled to maintain a modest 10-min mile pace. I even had an extra rest day in there on Thursday because Gavin was sick and I had to pick him up from daycare that morning, so I missed my run.
This will be an interesting week. I'm hoping that my body is going to rally and get used to training again. I'm excited about this marathon, but I'm feeling less confident. I'm hoping that my conservative goal of 4:20 is doable. It feels very conservative a goal to me, but given my recent long runs, I'm not so sure. On a positive note, I'm over the cold. So hopefully I can just stay healthy for two more weeks.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Redemption Race Training begins
So, yeah, I decided to run a redemption race this fall. I feel like I left a lot out on the course at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, being sick, and all. And my body felt a lot better in the days that followed than it sometimes did after my long training runs. So I decided that I still had a marathon left in me, and I was going to go for another race to get a "win" under my belt for this year.
I'm running the Rails to Trails Marathon in Norwalk, WI, on November 7. It is a small, low-key race, put on by a small town. It's run on a former railroad bed turned bike trail. It's claim to fame is a 3/4 mile tunnel that we get to run through. Lots of nice positive comments about the race, from what I've been able to tell so far, even though it's only the third year they've done it. I'm looking forward to a better race, with a more conservative time goal, and hoping to be able to run it like a marathon should be run.
So I couldn't wait to start running again, and started on Monday last week. Did 6 miles, and in retrospect probably shouldn't have started out with that, since I'd just taken an entire week off. It felt good, though. Tuesday I ran three miles. I found a training plan by Hal Higdon for "between marathons." He's got plans for two weeks between, four weeks between and six weeks between. So, I am doing his four weeks between plan. Relatively low mileage, especially the first couple weeks. So Tuesday is when this plan is supposed to start, and I was only supposed to do 2 miles. Well, that wasn't enough in my mind, so I did 3. Wednesday was 3, Thursday was 4 and Friday was 6. Then today was 1-2 hours. I did 10 miles (approx. 1 hour 40 minutes).
I must say, this week was a little tough. I felt sluggish and slow. It felt like an effort to maintain 10 minute miles, when a month ago, 10 minute miles would have felt fairly easy. But I did just go 26 miles not two weeks ago, so I was okay with the struggle. I think perhaps I would have been surprised if it had felt easy. It may not have been a good strong effort, but it was 26 miles, and my body knew it, if my brain didn't.
So it was a little sluggish. Today was my 10-miler. Which I was going to go 12 until I started thinking about it and decided yesterday that maybe I shouldn't push it, and only go 10. In retrospect, now I'm thinking maybe I should only have gone 8 or 9. I'm feeling it tonight. I went easy and slow and the first mile felt great, but then it started to get hard. I had to struggle and push it to maintain my pace. I probably should have just slowed down. It is a "long run" after all, and you really can't run them too slow, but I'm stubborn and in the middle of a run sometimes you don't think. I did feel some twinges in my knees today. Which I wasn't expecting. Friday my right knee hurt, right on top of the kneecap. It was a new location for knee pain for me. I iced it friday night and saturday, and this morning it was gone, so I knew resting it was good. I was hoping not to have it come back today during the long run. There was a shadow of discomfort at times, but the surprise came when my left knee started twinging. I was probably inadverdantly and unconsciously favoring my right knee. But tonight my legs feel sore and my knees too, but there is no pain to speak of. I'm feeling okay, still confident. I think perhaps I should either not have run monday, or else gone shorter than the 6 miles. My body hasn't run 5 days in a row in a very very long time (trying to think of the last time, actually, and can't- it's been months). So I probably jumped back into training a little harder than I should have.
But, I'm on a plan now, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I expect this next week to be better than last week, but I won't be surprised to find myself still feeling tired and slow. The key will be to continue to do my runs at a slow pace, and to continue to monitor my body. I have to slog through this initial discomfort, but I think things will only get easier and my body will be back to its normal training form within another week. I'm hoping for a good strong third week, feeling good and not tired, and then a taper week to build up some energy and restore the glycogen stores. And then hopefully, a strong race in Norwalk. That's the plan anyway!
I'm running the Rails to Trails Marathon in Norwalk, WI, on November 7. It is a small, low-key race, put on by a small town. It's run on a former railroad bed turned bike trail. It's claim to fame is a 3/4 mile tunnel that we get to run through. Lots of nice positive comments about the race, from what I've been able to tell so far, even though it's only the third year they've done it. I'm looking forward to a better race, with a more conservative time goal, and hoping to be able to run it like a marathon should be run.
So I couldn't wait to start running again, and started on Monday last week. Did 6 miles, and in retrospect probably shouldn't have started out with that, since I'd just taken an entire week off. It felt good, though. Tuesday I ran three miles. I found a training plan by Hal Higdon for "between marathons." He's got plans for two weeks between, four weeks between and six weeks between. So, I am doing his four weeks between plan. Relatively low mileage, especially the first couple weeks. So Tuesday is when this plan is supposed to start, and I was only supposed to do 2 miles. Well, that wasn't enough in my mind, so I did 3. Wednesday was 3, Thursday was 4 and Friday was 6. Then today was 1-2 hours. I did 10 miles (approx. 1 hour 40 minutes).
I must say, this week was a little tough. I felt sluggish and slow. It felt like an effort to maintain 10 minute miles, when a month ago, 10 minute miles would have felt fairly easy. But I did just go 26 miles not two weeks ago, so I was okay with the struggle. I think perhaps I would have been surprised if it had felt easy. It may not have been a good strong effort, but it was 26 miles, and my body knew it, if my brain didn't.
So it was a little sluggish. Today was my 10-miler. Which I was going to go 12 until I started thinking about it and decided yesterday that maybe I shouldn't push it, and only go 10. In retrospect, now I'm thinking maybe I should only have gone 8 or 9. I'm feeling it tonight. I went easy and slow and the first mile felt great, but then it started to get hard. I had to struggle and push it to maintain my pace. I probably should have just slowed down. It is a "long run" after all, and you really can't run them too slow, but I'm stubborn and in the middle of a run sometimes you don't think. I did feel some twinges in my knees today. Which I wasn't expecting. Friday my right knee hurt, right on top of the kneecap. It was a new location for knee pain for me. I iced it friday night and saturday, and this morning it was gone, so I knew resting it was good. I was hoping not to have it come back today during the long run. There was a shadow of discomfort at times, but the surprise came when my left knee started twinging. I was probably inadverdantly and unconsciously favoring my right knee. But tonight my legs feel sore and my knees too, but there is no pain to speak of. I'm feeling okay, still confident. I think perhaps I should either not have run monday, or else gone shorter than the 6 miles. My body hasn't run 5 days in a row in a very very long time (trying to think of the last time, actually, and can't- it's been months). So I probably jumped back into training a little harder than I should have.
But, I'm on a plan now, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I expect this next week to be better than last week, but I won't be surprised to find myself still feeling tired and slow. The key will be to continue to do my runs at a slow pace, and to continue to monitor my body. I have to slog through this initial discomfort, but I think things will only get easier and my body will be back to its normal training form within another week. I'm hoping for a good strong third week, feeling good and not tired, and then a taper week to build up some energy and restore the glycogen stores. And then hopefully, a strong race in Norwalk. That's the plan anyway!
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