Okay, so I was a bit hesitant entering this race weekend and had mixed/complicated feelings about racing in general.  On the one had I’d had about 4 weeks of solid training but on the other had I’d blown-up in almost every tempo run.  Still my track work was solid and I had decent long runs so that has to count toward something?

Just get to the start line.

I’d managed to ignore the course map most of the week.  Being from Eugene I had a pretty (okay very) good idea of the course.  But come Saturday night I had to borrow a map from my roomies and cram.

The break down of the half course is really nice.  The first mile runs by Hayward (and is part of my old warm-up route) a quick turn on 24th and a quick loop in the College Hill Neighborhood and then out to the Amazon stretch.  Miles 2 through about 4.5 are out by Rexius trail.  Miles 4.5-7 run on the other side of the trail around Amazon and then over towards the hill.  Mile 8 everyone’s favorite up 19th.  Mile 9 is at Hayward and then a quick little 4 mile loop out to River trail and back to the stadium.  Easy right?

Err.

I liked the break down of the course and planned on taking it out in about 7:00-6:50s to be conservative.  At mile 4.5 I figured I’d open things up until the hill on 8, steady up the hill and then get the gears shifting around between miles 9-10 depending on how the legs felt. and then run it in.  Did I mention I haven’t had a good tempo run yet?

The day was prefect running weather.  Nicely over cast and cool.  I ran an easy 2 mile warm-up (my legs felt awful) stretched and was off to the start line.  I’ve had many a bad warm-up so it didn’t bother me (much).  I saw my old coach at the start, chatted for a minute and then found my way to the corral where I saw one of my favorites faces:

Yep that’s my running bestie Megha who’s back in Portland now.  We stuck together for the first mile and then she took off (and might I add ran an excellent race).

The race started down Agate towards 24th and my goal was to NOT go out too fast.  I wanted to run 6:50s but was going to be okay with 7:00s.  As I passed Hayward Field, the warm-up fields and the neighborhoods I realized I might be in for a long day.  My breathing was going just fine but my legs felt beat and I could tell my hamstrings were tight, like snap in two tight.

Okay.

I can do this.

I’ve run on tired/tight legs a million times so this is no different and who knows anything could happen maybe they’ll open up (optimism is so cute).

Well spoiler alert: my legs didn’t find life and didn’t loosen up but I was determined to not let it get to me.  I passed the first mile marker and on to 2.  I knew miles 2 to 4.5 were going to feel a bit harder because they were slightly up hill but I also knew I could make it back from 4.5-7.

I hit the Amazon loop by Rexius Trail and I tried to stay relaxed.  Now time for a quick (okay not so quick) round of “Random Eugene Facts That Everyone Should Know“.  Rexius trail is named after the guy on right.

Okay that’s my dad (green shorts) on the left and Marv Rexius (black shorts- but he wouldn’t know that because he was color blind) is on the right.  (I don’t think they wanted to have their picture taken but that clearly did not stop my mom).  Let’s try this again:

Marv’s on the left (my dad is on the bed with the super sweet shorts) and that’s Guy in the blue.  Okay one more (promise):

Marv’s in the purple shirt on the right (next to my dad).  I think this might be a Hood to Coast finish?

My dad and Marv were running and real life besties.  Marv’s not with us anymore and it’s still hard for me to talk about (so I won’t because I’ll cry).  A few years ago the last mile in the Eugene Marathon was Marv’s mile.  Marv was and still is a big part of the Eugene running family.  He’s owns a forest by products company has helped bark most of Eugene’s trials, from Pre’s to Amazon to Rexius.

More importantly he was just  a great guy.  He had a wicked sense of humor and he’d always get this twinkle in his eye and you knew something mischievous was about to go down.  He was truly about the nicest guy you’ve ever met (had you actually met him).  I still miss him.  I used to run with him and my dad and they were like two big kids and I knew that I wanted to be like them when I grew up.

Maybe that’s why I sign-up for races with random people I meet on the internet, like these girls (I think a few of them might be mischievous):

Meet my roomies:  Kelli, Me, Kackelac, Lime, Meghan and Emily (you should read their blogs they are way better at capturing all the fun- and way more timely bloggers, well except for Ms. Kackelac who is bloggless.)

Okay, enough “Random Eugene Facts That Everyone Should Know“.  As I made my way out to the turn around I couldn’t help but look over and see Marv’s trail.  My legs were tired (I know it’s only like mile 3) but I pushed all my doubts aside and thought that Marv wouldn’t give-up at mile 3 and neither would I.

I stayed relaxed and settle into my pace.  I was really happy with how things were unfolding.  My first mile was 6:45, then 6:47, 6:48 and 6:50.  All on track.

Then we hit the little hill and the turn around.  My legs lacked any and all power and I lost contact with the group I’d been running with: 6:57.  I did my best to try and catch the group but just couldn’t.  My turnover was missing.

I was on the downhill at this point so I tried to open my stride up and relax.  But my legs were stiff and wouldn’t turnover.  I managed a 6:47 and 6:41 and saw my old coach again.  We chatted and my breathing was still good but my legs and hips were tight.

And then the hill.  Not horrible 6:53 and 7:05 but it took the life out of my legs.  I tried to push it out of my mind grabbed some Nuun at mile 9:

I carried my cherry limeade with me for a while and managed to find a little turn over.  By this point I’d ditched my cliff blocks because they were making me sick.  (I actually felt sick to my stomach starting at mile 6 and it never really went away).

(source)

(and I don’t know what I’m doing with my arms…)

I knew it was time to pick it up.  I planned on building speed on mile 10 and then really get the turnover going on 11, 12 and 13.  I found 6:47 but it was hard and I was frustrated but there were lots of twists and turns so I just kept fighting.  I still had time to get things going.  6:43, a little better.  And then everything tightened up.  Try as I might I could only muster a 6:51 and 6:50 and I was pushing it.

(source)

I’m usually good for 6:20s at the end of race/workout but not this go around.  I hit Hayward for the finish and saw my time was under 1:30 and I was happy.

(source)

(Sorry for the 10 million race pics but I’m pretty excited about my new singlet ).

I was happy to be done, happy it was a PR but still just a bit disappointed.  Not so much disappointed with the time, it was a PR but I wanted the race to feel better.  With that being said though I was pretty proud of myself for not giving up or crying on the curbside (don’t laugh it has happened) and for continuing to push.

It helped that I had so many friends there including peeps from Nuun and Oiselle.  I saw a bunch of my dad’s old running group, college friends and friends from when I lived in Eugene and that made the whole experience amazing and yes just a little bit magical.

At the end of the day it might not have been the gigantic PR of my running dreams and it might have hurt more than I wanted but I raced and shared an amazing weekend with a pretty amazing running family.

And we all know I’m bad at conclusions… so,

run pretty run fast

p.s.  They gave me this so that’s pretty cool too:

And now a race week (finally geesh).

Initially I’d wanted to race race the Eugene Half Marathon but with my little running set back I realized I was going to have to train through this one if I wanted reach my marathon goal.

I was at least smart enough to realize my tempo runs hadn’t been going great so I should try to taper a little (okay maybe my training partner told me I should cut my mileage down let’s be honest I’m not that smart).   My plan was to run close to my normal week but cut back on my mileage towards the end of the week.  My thought (again training partner’s thought) was the easier days would allow my legs to bounce back for Sunday.  Seems logical right?

Things started off great with a nice rest day on Monday (much needed after my 22 miler on Sunday).  My rest day did include a little yoga for the hips.

Tuesday I was back on the roads for an easy 8 miles and some short hills.  My legs were still pretty tired and the course was hilly but all in all not a bad run.

Wednesday I was back on the track for speed.

8 x 1000m.  Thousands sound long right?

As always my plan was 10k pace so 6:08-12 pace.  So 92s?  What does that mean for 1000m?  I don’t know… I’m not good at running math.  I figured 3:52 pace was about right.  I did a quick round of 200s to warm-up and was off.

3:48.

Okay at touch on the fast side.  I know you think you know where this is going but I really did want to slow down and though this was a speedy rep I still didn’t feel as strong as I normally do. 1:30 jog and off for number 2: 3:50.

Okay so maybe you know where this is going.

Two down… six to go.  Six?  I told myself to get to four and see how I felt.  Five would be solid and six would be great.  Anything else was bonus.

3:49.

Then the PE class came out for their warm-up lap.  I’d already made it 800m when I caught the group and surprising no one one of the boys tried to race me for about 25m: 3:45.

Hmmm… well apparently running is easier with others because that last 200 felt awesome.  Midway through this rep I was wondering if I had any more in me but if I can run a 3:45 I figured I had two more in me.

3:49, 3:49.  I know, not 3:52 but they felt good.  I got two more right?  3:50 and 3:48.  Not a bad day and my heart rate was supper steady and my cool down was faster than a crawl.  Winning all around.

Thursday is normally my mid long run but here’s where my taper begins, I only ran 7.46 easy.  And then Friday I rested and Saturday was a 4 mile shakeout run and where I saw my first red flag.

At least I look happy right? (I stole this pic from Patty).  She’s on the right bottom (below) with sunglasses and a white tank (I’m not sure if she has a blog)… and then I stole that pic from someone… sorry someone if it’s you let me know and I promise photo cred… (surprising no one I’m a bad blogger).

I wasn’t going to wear my heart rate monitor for the shakeout but grabbed it at the last-minute.  I figured the run was going to feel hard because for me shakeout runs always feel hard but when I glanced at my heart rate it was a good 10 beats higher than normal and I was running a good minute pre mile slower… hmmm that’s not good.  But what can you do?

Sunday was race day and it was awesome and it was nice to be home:

And I may have run in this fun new uniform…

(photo: Oiselle)

… and there may be a shiny new PR involved even though by mile one (yes your read that correctly mile one) my legs hurt, but you’ll have to wait for all the awesome details.

So lessons learned:  

1) 22 miler the Sunday before a half might not be your best life choice

2) 8 x 1000m faster than 10k pace might make your legs hurt for your half marathon and again might not be your best life choice

3) Data is awesome (Always wear your heart rate monitor)

4) And sometimes showing up even when your legs don’t = a PR

Recap coming soon…

Until then…

run pretty run fast

Before we dive into where April went and how one bounces back from almost four weeks of no running and then decides to make the awesome life choice to run a half marathon in a month and a full in two months I want to take a moment and simply acknowledge the events this last week at the Boston Marathon.  My heart and prayers go out to those who were there and their loved ones who’s lives are touched by the events of the last week.  

On to lighter things.

And some miles.

March 25-March 31

We last left off with a 26 mile week of running two sort-of workouts and an acidental 11 mile long run.  Pretty much life was on the up and up.

Monday marked my last PT appointment and I could barley walk let alone run (though I totes tried… the running part that is…).  I got up early before PT and hit the gym for a little AMT.  32 minutes later I was struggling to get my heart rate up and decided to finish off my effort on the streets.  Big mistake.  I shuffled my way through two miles at well, well over 10 min mile pace and wondered how could this be?  Where was my 7:30 pace from the day before.

My PT had the answer (of course).  My lazy hip muscle had finally joined the running party and were a bit on the hungover side of things.  Nothing a little deep tissue massage couldn’t help.

Ouch.

By Tuesday I was back on the roads with a workout and by workout I mean the kind you run on a track.

It was an awesome morning:

My plan was to run a 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1 at about 10k pace (6:08) and run equal recovery at a moderate pace (7:20ish).  I was pretty close.  I covered 5.19 miles and averaged 6:38s.  I’d run the same workout in January and this one felt better though the HR was higher.  My warm down was another story as I practically crawled back to my office.

But look… I’m still alive.

My heel for the most part was good but could feel it getting a bit fatigued towards the end so I hit the AMT on Wednesday.  It’s also when I realized that I might have to break-up with the AMT.  Apparently it gives me motion sickness: not winning.

Thursday I was back on the streets for and easy 7 miler at 8:13 pace which was pretty speedy for me (HR 157).  I maybe should have scaled this back because my legs were not ready to run on Friday.

Friday I found myself back at my favorite spot but not quite as ready to run as I hoped:

The workout called for 2 x 2 miles at half marathon pace followed by 8 x 200m at 3k pace.  The first time I ran this in January it was amazing, the second time I was coming off a cold and only made it through the first 2 miles and a two laps of the second rep so I figure anywhere in between the two would be good.

Before my injury the half pace I was training at was 6:30s.  I still thought 6:30s was attainable but figured I start the first rep based on feel.  My first lap was slower than anticipated but by the second lap I was able to find some turnover.  I managed a 6:40 for my first mile and 6:35 for the second.  I tried to stay true to half marathon feel and not push the pace too much.

The second set was harder.  I still hit 6:38 and 6:38 and it felt like half marathon pace but it was pretty clear to me I couldn’t find anymore turnover.  That should make 200m repeats fun right?

The 200s were hard.  I ran 41-42s but they felt hard.  No matter how tired I am I’m usually able to turn on the speed but it was clear to me I was just getting through these: my times weren’t bad but I didn’t feel like myself.

Saturday was a much needed rest day and it didn’t suck:

Sunday was an amazingly sunny day.  I managed a 13.5  long run with the last two miles in 6:43 and 6:23 (and yes the 6:23 hurt).

Weekly total:  42.5

April 1-7

Monday I could barley walk I kid you not.  I feel sorry for anyone who had to witness me running. It was cold dark and gray and limped through 4.5 miles and even tried some short hills, emphasis on tried.  It was ugly and not fast and left me wondering I might had broken myself.

Afternoon yoga helped and Tuesday I was ready to run.  I mean run!  4 mile easy warm-up and 5 x 3 min hills (half flat and half hill).  I actually ran the hill part better than the last time I ran this workout but for the life of me I could not find a pace anywhere near 6:00 min pace for the first part.  I shuffled a 2 mile warm down and called it a day.

I took Wednesday off because I couldn’t face the AMT and I wanted to rest my foot.  I did hit my yoga class at noon and tried to stretch out the legs (especially the calves).

Thursday was an awkward 7 and strides.  I ended up just running based on heart rate.  It felt really hard.  My stride just didn’t feel right.

Friday my plan (yes plan) was to run 2 x 3 miles starting at marathon pace and cutting down to half marathon pace.  The last time I ran this it was epic this time it was not.  Things started out ok 6:43 (a bit fast but not bad) then 6:39 (right on track) and 6:38… hmmm, was hoping for something closer to 6:30.  2 minutes rest and I was back at it and clearly in trouble.  7:09, 7:16 7:43.  Yep, that last mile was slower than half my miles from the day before.

I should have just called it a day after my first rep, but mentally I just needed to finish for the W.

My cool down may have been faster than my last mile.

I was discouraged but knew I’d live to run another day.

And it helped that Saturday was a rest day.

Sunday was a wet and cold 15 miler with the last 3 at marathon pace.  The last 3 miles sucked there’s no way around it.  My legs were tired and that last thing I wanted to do was run fast.  The first mile was on, the second was slow and then the third one was what I needed.

Somewhere in my last half mile or so I had a little Forrest Gump moment.  You know the part in the movie when he’s a kid and running and his braces just fall off and he runs?  Well my legs broke free from whatever was holding them back and found their stride and their freedom.

I just hoped they would show up again.

Weekly total:  52

April 8-14

Monday was a pleasant surprise.  If you remember my previous Monday run was not awesome.  This one was still slow but my stride showed up as did the sun and I made it 5 miles (and followed the 5 with a little yoga).

Tuesday my legs showed up again!  I know!  7 easy and strides that actually resembled strides.

So Wednesday I tried a track workout.  My all time favorite workout:  2 sets of 10 x 400m.  I know, ambitious.

My plan was to run 2 sets of 8 but when I hit the magic number 8 I figured I’d run two more and I’d stop at 6 in the next set if things were falling apart.  I’d love to give you my splits but I don’t have them.  Good old Garmin lost it.  I mean L-O-S-T it!  It started hitting lap and start and stop all on its own.

Silly Garmin.

I was eventually able to time a one hundred or two hundred and figured I was running between 91-89s.  During my second set I even managed to measure 2 entire 400m repeats.  #amazing

My last 400 was brutal but I was happy to make it through the workout and faster than I’d expected (I think).

I lost my mind a little bit and ran 10 miles on Thursday (I don’t know what I was thinking).  The last two miles were ugly but the rest was less ugly.

Friday was an easy 5 with short hills, Saturday was a much-needed rest day and Sunday I went long.

My plan was to run a progression long run:  3 at warm-up pace, 3 at 7:40, 3 at 7:20, 3 at 7:00, 3 at 6:53 and a 3 mile cool down for 18 miles and 12 miles of tempo running.  Things started out okay but sort of fell apart at the end.

I warmed up and ran miles 4-6 at 7:30s (felt great), miles 7-9 at 7:15s (felt good), miles 10-12 at 7:00s (starting to get ugly) and then mile 13 at 7:05 and mile 14 at 7:14.  At mile 15 I was falling apart fast so I decide to jog a mile easy and then try the last tempo mile.  And then I decided to jog another mile and then talked myself into a 7:00 minute mile.   I finished the day off with two nine minute miles 19 miles total at 7:43 average and I was ok with it.

I’d like to find some more speed at the end of these longer workouts but can’t complain.

Weekly total:  57 miles

April 15-21

Monday REST!  And I needed it.  Not sure jumping from 15 mile long run to 19 miles was the best life choice but it’s done.

Tuesday was my real test.  7 slightly above average miles and 10 short hills.  No limping.  All good things.

Wednesday I was back at the track and ready to run 800s.  My original plan was to run my 800s around Greenlake because I wanted to make sure I ran 10k pace (6:08-12 pace) and because the last track workout I ran before my heel bruise was 800s and I was a bit nervous to try 800s again.

I sort of panicked when I hit Greenlake and made my way back to the safety of the track.  My plan was to run only 8 800s (when I injured myself I ran 10) and I planned on running them slower (last time I was sub 3:00s).

I started the workout with 4 200s (40s) and they were hard.  800s should be fun right?

I was running with a new Garmin 610 and hadn’t quite figured it out so I had no idea how fast I was running for my first rep.  I reset my watch and figured out how to change screens and saw that I ran a 3:07.  A little slow and I was a bit disappointed.

2 minutes and 30 seconds later I was ready to run.  3:00 minutes.  Not bad.  3:00, 3:01, 3:00 (don’t really know I messed my watch-up). 3:00, 2:58 and 2:57.

And I’ll take it.  I later figured out I was only supposed to take a 2 minute rest oops.  I was sort of disappointed but what can ya do?

Thursday I ran 11 miles and averaged 8:11s AWESOME!  And my heart rate was 151.  Double awesome and good news all around.  I was pretty surprised by this run since the week before was brutal.  All good progress (right???).

Friday was a little fartlek.  2 mile warm-up 4 miles of fartlek and then 2 mile warm down.  I ran 40 seconds fast and 2:20 at moderate.  It was rainy and gross but I ended up averaging around 6:35s (6:00ish on the 40 seconds and 7:00ish on the 2:20s) and not gonna lie it felt hard.

My Saturday 6 miler was okay, harder than expected.  But I remembered to finally take a picture:

And Sunday.

13.5 solid miles and then the miles got hard (okay they were feeling hard at 5.5). 13.5-19 was brutal.  I just had to power through and done right?  Nope 3 miles at marathon pace.

I couldn’t find marathon pace but I did find low 7s (okay the second mile was slower but I almost knocked over an older gentleman and yes it was my fault- good decisions are hard at mile 21 but I did say sorry so I’m only sort of a jerk).

I finished the day with 22.21 miles in 3 hours.

And I was sick for the rest of the day.

Weekly total:  65… I know.  I do dumb things.

But sometimes I do smart things…  and those smart things might be related to these awesome things…

… more on all this awesomeness soon.  Promise.

run pretty run fast

Monday I took a  much-needed rest day from all aerobic activity.  I think I might have officially reached my cross training threshold.  Seriously I’m no fun to be around as evident by my lack of pictures (sorry #fail).

My heel was still angry as was I.  My PT however liked my progress and all the pain in my heel was a result of the new stride and he gave me two running options.  Keep running easy runs but capping them at 6-7 miles or run faster runs capping them at 4 miles and cross training on the other days.

Hmmm… any guesses as to what option I selected?  To celebrate my return to speed I spent an hour at yoga class paying extra attention to my very stubborn calves and hips.

Tuesday was my first real attempt at a tempo.  I hit the AMT (open stride) for a 24 min warm-up and then made my way out to the Burke.  I was feeling pretty nervous because I had no idea what to expect.  My plan was to run 4 miles with 30 seconds fast and 2:30 at a moderate pace.   I ran this workout on Christmas Day (I know who does that?) so I had some idea what I was doing.  I figured I’d aim for 10k pace on the 30 seconds (6:08-6:15 pace) and 20 seconds slower than marathon pace on the 2:30s (7:08-7:13 pace).

Here’s how it went down:

In hindsight I ran my fast a bit slow and my moderate a bit fast but I was still a bit nervous about going too fast on the heel so no complaints from me.  The Burke is pretty flat but I could feel every little incline suck the life out of my legs.  Guess that’s what time off gives ya.

Compared to my December workout my pace was nearly identical however my heart rate was higher and the course from December had many (many) more hills.

No complaining here, very happy with the results and btw so amazing to run fast!

I hopped back on the AMT for a cool down and back to my office to ice.

Tuesday night I realized something just wasn’t right with my foot.  It was hurting A LOT.  Great… is this a set back?  Did I do something dumb?  I swear my foot didn’t hurt while running.

Not a set back.

I did do something dumb.

And really my foot didn’t hurt while running.

Turns our I might have been just a bit aggressive with the icing and I might (and by might I mean I did) give myself a mild case of frostbite.

#awesome

Wednesday my foot hurt from the burn and it hurt to walk on.  I figured I’d try to go use the AMT but when I got to the gym this woman snagged the last open machine.  She looked me straight in the eye and I swear she laughed.

I tried to bike but gave up after like 30 seconds.  Maybe it’s a sign?  Better head to drug store for some second skin.

I spent a good 15 minutes trying to describe what second skin was to the sales associate at Bartell’s drug store.  Finally he gave up on me and found his manager and I learned that they keep the good stuff behind the counter.

I limped back to my office and bandaged my entire heel.  Hmm… do I skip yoga?  Nope.  Second skin is amazing.  No pain through yoga and an hour on the AMT after work.

My PT was pretty impressed with my frostbite on Thursday.  I guess it’s kind of hard to give yourself frostbite (PT had actually done some original research on the topic… random right?) but it explained why my foot is taking a bit longer to heal:  my circulation is not epic.  Good to know.

I spent another hour on the AMT.  Not going to lie… it’s getting old.

Friday was another run day!  Heel fully wrapped in second skin I was ready to run.  The plan was a little progression run:  2 miles easy (8:00), 2 mod (7:08) and two fast (6:30).  I’d run this one back in December in 8:45, 8:00, 7:00, 7:00, 6:28, 6:28 (or something close to that) so I felt good about my plan.

My legs ended up feeling a bit weak so I didn’t exactly hit my dream paces but I can’t complain:

I was able to talk miles 1-5 so that has to be a good sign right?

My foot was pretty sore by the end of the day.  I ended up walking around a lot that afternoon and the pain seemed to be getting worse.  I decided to try to put more pressure on it (because I do dumb things) and surprise surprise it felt better.

So Saturday morning I decided to test my new theory out and ran to and from the gym and wouldn’t you know the foot felt better after I ran on it (4 miles total and 20 mins on AMT).

Maybe I’m on to something?

Okay Sunday… let test this thing out on a long run.  I mean what could go wrong?  (Insert nervous laughter.)

I started running and decided to just run based on my heart rate (which was a good thing).  My heel hurt for the first two miles but then was gone.  I hadn’t decided on a route or distance but was planning on 7-10 with maybe some faster miles at the end.

Somewhere along my route I realized my watch was having trouble with the distance.  I tried my best to ignore what the pace said and just focused on my heart rate.  Good life choice because it measure the course real short… like .1 per mile short (I’d run this route before and knew it was 9 miles).  My 8:30 + pace was actually 7:24-7:30 pace.  #oops and #hooray

For some reason I decide to run two more faster miles using the Burkes mile markers (and confirming my watch issues).  I ran a 6:40 and 6:50 (second one was up hill- slightly).  The last two miles were hard but my foot felt good and it was nice to push myself just a little.  11 miles seemed a bit short for marathon training so I made my way back to the AMT machine for 25 minutes.  Not gonna lie, not so much fun after running outside.

Overall super happy with the week.  26 miles total and 22 of them over a three day period.

April and May races are still looking good.

run pretty run fast

p.s.

I case you missed it Nuun is back to their relay dream making magic.  They are looking for female bloggers (sorry dudes) to run Hood to Coast.  You can check the details out here (apps are due this Friday by midnight).  Seriously the highlight of my 2012… and I scored some pretty sweet shades (sticker included):

… okay and I met some really amazing people and had the time of my life… so if you’re thinking of entering DO IT!!!!

… and you might get some super sweet shade.

So true story I’m not good at setting goals:  our relationship is complicated at best.  This summer I made a rather sad attempt to set some and they were ambiguous at best but one of them was to lose my marathon shuffle and my reclaim my stride from fifth grade.

That’s my dad in the red… can you tell we are related?  But that stride is long gone ever since I started running marathons.  I tend to have both feet on the ground and look a lot more like this:

It hurts me just looking at it.

I made some progress this summer with opening up the old stride but my real gains were made in January when I started running short hills and 100m strides.  It was the first time I felt my stride open-up  like it used to a million years ago (slight exaggeration).  All good news right?

Maybe not so much (not yet anyways).  The past fall I had to cut down on my yoga because of my schedule and when I started training again I didn’t add it back the way I should have.  The result?  Umm little to no stretching and the loss of any dorsiflexion (you can check out my last post for all those details).

But that’s not the whole story and least when in comes to my right side.  I maybe fell off a horse once and tore my calf muscle.  Umm… and by horse I mean a pony horse named “Bunny”.

Yup.

And you might think it looked a little something like this:

… or this?

But no.  Alas Bunny looked much like and average sized horse just much wider and a bit shorter and surprisingly fast on the pivot.

A deer darted out in front of us and Bunny turned on a dime and I fell off her back.  I was also in my mid 20s (did if forget to mention that?) and I was working for a non-profit with very minimal insurance and google search didn’t exist so I did what any 20-year-old would do: I called 1-800- ask-a-nurse.  Yep it was a real number in Eugene (looked it up in the old paper phone book and everything).

The nice nurse on the other end of the line told me to elevate my leg and ice it and I complied.  The entire back of my leg turned black and blue and purple and people would gasp and make awesomely awkward comments about me an my leg when I was out in public.  I decided I didn’t need crutches but opted for a cane because why not?

It took a month + to heal and I never saw anyone and might have developed some scar tissue that might have led to my extra inflexibility in my calf.

Silly 20 something year old Robyn:

(… at least I was happy right?).

On a random side note this little accident all went down the week Seabiscuit was released.  I know it could have been a lot worse.  It’s almost the same story… except I’m clearly not a jockey and… well Bunny’s no thoroughbred horse (sorry Bunny but it’s true).

Okay enough of my back story the good news for this week… wait for it… I have dorsiflexion!!!!  Like double digits dorsiflexion!  Boom!  My scar tissues seems to be giving up just a bit.

Heading into my PT appointment on Monday I was pretty disappointed.  My foot was feeling pretty sore after just two easy days of running and I was ready for no pain.  My PT was much more excited for me because the pain in my foot meant that my foot was finally tracking correctly, my calf was finally working and the pain I was feeling was muscular which was a good thing (not the heel bruise).

Sweet.

I mean SWEET!

The news gets better though kids, my PT also told me I had to stop running so slowly.  No joke and no sarcasm.  My foot is more efficient when running faster and the slower pace was actually causing more stress than if I were running at a faster pace.

I knew I liked my PT.

I still opted to play it safe on Monday and  cross trained for an hour on the AMT.  I thought the AMT (Adaptive Motion Trainer) was just a fancy elliptical:

But (for me) it’s a lot harder to use than an elliptical (my heart rate was at 70% on level 1the first time I used it) and it feels more like a running than the awkward motion of the elliptical.  It also has a built-in TV which helps ward off boredom.  This was my third time on the machine and had advanced to level 4 to get the heart rate up (that has to be a good sign right?).

I’m a bit antisocial at the gym so lucky for me “my” machine is on the end next to a broken one so I have lots of space to breath and sweat.

Tuesday I finally experienced the great out doors!!!

I decided I was going to try a little progression run like I’d run in December.  The plan was 5-7 miles two pretty easy, two more a bit faster and then 1-2 still a bit faster.

I started my run and my watch was telling me I was running 10:00 minute mile pace.  I’m sure it’s just struggling to find the satellite but after a half mile no change.  Well if this in 10:00 minute mile pace I’m in trouble.

I rent my watch (like a good obsessive compulsive runner) and realized I was running 7:45s, now that’s more like it.  Here’s what the rest of it looked like:

Not bad!

I cross trained on Wednesday (more AMT machine 85 mins), rested on Thursday and then ran an 5 miles on Friday.

Saturday more AMT (80 mins) and Sunday 7 miles outside followed up with and hour on the AMT (sort-of a long run??).

The foot seems to be making progress though I’d like it to be moving along a bit faster, but I can’t complain.  I sort-of workout and a 7 miler?  Things are looking good.

run pretty run fast

(… and if you fall off a pony horse named Bunny please seek medical attention… oh and in case you were wondering… yes, I did get back on that pony horse.)

 (source)

It’s true.  Mr. Newton is mad at me maybe it’s because I never finished physics in high school.  Silly misdiagnosed ruptured appendix (apparently Mr. Darwin wasn’t too happy with me either.)  Or maybe it’s my lazy microanatomy and poor running mechanics.

Per usual I’m way ahead of myself here.

February 4-10

I was pretty tired after my Sunday hilly 17 miler with a less than epic attempt at some marathon paced miles.

Monday I was ready to take things easy and run based on my heart rate.  This was another one of those runs were I would have been totally content hanging out at 8:45 pace but worked to get HR to the low 150s which meant an 8:00 minute average for 7 miles.

Every article or book I’ve read on HR says it’s hard for people to slow down on their easy days to get their HR to 70% so I’m not exactly sure what this means for me but it was a nice Seattle morning (I should probs warn you now there are going to be a lot of pictures in this post.)

I heart Seattle even when it’s gray.

I could tell that my legs were tight so I hit-up some yoga at noon.

Tuesday I ran an easy 7 with 10 x 100m strides.  Everything felt good and I was ready to hit the track again on Wednesday.

Wednesday called for 10 x 800m at 10k-5k pace.  I figured I’d run the first 5 around 3:03-04 pace and the last 5 at 2:57-8 pace.

But nothing felt right during this workout.  I felt tired but was still managing to hit pace.  My legs really felt the burn going into the second lap but I was able to maintain and get going again with 2 min recovery.  I figured it was just one of those workouts so I just kept going.

Here’s what I ran:  2:59, 3:00, 3:00, 2:58, 2:57, 2:59, 2:58, 2:59, 2:55, 2:56.  To be honest it was a weird workout and I felt weird.  I was running sub 6 minute mile pace and I felt like I was standing still.  I figured we all have days we don’t feel great so I was just happy to make it through hitting pace (by the way kept trying to slow down to 3:03 but that pace felt worse… doesn’t make sense to me either).

Thursday I wasn’t sore but my whole body was tired.  I figured I’d hit the trail for a few miles and if it felt bad I’d turn around.  I was surprised to feel good and managed and easy 7.

Friday was a much needed rest day in prep for a big Saturday long run.

I’d been looking froward to this workout all week.  The plan was an easy mile warm-up followed by 5 miles at 30 seconds slower than marathon pace, 5 miles at 20 seconds slower than marathon pace and 4 miles at marathon pace finishing it all up with and easy mile cool down (16 total).

My body had other plans.  The first 5 were hilly and my quads were still exhausted (much like Wednesday).  I opted to find the flats for the second 5 and last 4.  I was supposed to run 7:18, 7:08 and then 6:48 but barely managed 7:16, 7:15 and 7:14.

I was disappointed but knew I was still getting over a cold and knew I could run this workout.  At this point I was feeling pretty good.  I went home and hit up the grocery store.  I’m still not sure exactly what happened but  out of nowhere my heel started hurting (at the grocery store)- like to the point where I was limping.  I tried my best to not make a big deal about it both my feet had been sore that week but it was really impossible to ignore.

I took Sunday off and figured I’d be back the next week.

February 11-17

I bounced out of bed Monday morning and my heel was sore but not too bad so I figured I test it out.  I took two steps out the door and was immediately limping.  Should probably stop right?  Or…  I could take my hard orthodic out, run 7 miles 8 x 100m strides and head into the office.

Can you guess which option I did?

My heel didn’t hurt on my run but it was killing me in my work shoes.  I decided to cross train for a few days and make a visit to my foot doc.

There’s not much I can say about cross training except that it’s hard for me to keep my locker combinations straight.

I have to use this one because it’s located at a pool.  Yep deep water running:  2 sets of 5 x 1:30 with 30 seconds recovery on Tuesday with 28 mins on the bike before.

Wednesday I biked for 30 mins and used the elliptical for 30.

Good thing my view from the elliptical was of the trail I wanted to be running on (please read this sentence with sarcasm).

Thursday was my Dr. apt where he informed me I had Plantar Fasciitis and that I couldn’t run for several weeks.  Say what?  I left his office and yes I cried in the car and opted for a day off of any and all cross training.

I somehow managed to collect myself on Friday and get on the elliptical for 30 mins and then the pool for 6 x 2:30 with 30 seconds recovery.  Saturday I couldn’t stand the thought of smelling like chlorine so I did a no impact stair workout.  3 x 10 times up the stairs walling skipping a step with 1 min recovery between sets (takes me 45 mins).

Jealous?  It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t running and the heel felt okay during the workout.  Sunday was a less than amazing 60 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes on the bike.

Bored yet?  I am.

February 18-24

Monday was my first PT session and not the PT my doctor suggested instead he was a recommendation from a running friend.  I had this feeling since my doc told me it PF that in fact wasn’t.  It just didn’t sit right with me even though all my Google searches confirmed the diagnosis (which should be a red flag) I didn’t believe it.  Hello denial?

Nope not denial.  PT confirmed my suspicion and diagnosed was a bruised heel 14 – 21 days to heal and mine wasn’t that bad so hopefully 14 days.

Okay breath.  I can do 14 days right?  7 down.

So how did this happen?  Newton.  Yep physics caught up to me.  During my last training cycle I’d noticed the my Hoka laces were fraying on the right foot on the right side.  I knew that something must be off but nothing hurt and my area of expertise is not biomechanics so I just kept running.

I finally decided to change the laces out because (1) they were frayed and (2) I couldn’t tight them down enough.  Hello problem.  My heel was loose in the shoe and hitting my orthodic and the combo of 800s and 16 miler finally banged my heel up enough to give me a bone bruise.  Add the fact that my calves have 0%-5% of upward motion (supposed to be 15%) and the fact that my toe was turning out to get the power it needed my heel was actually shearing the inside of my shoe on the hard orthoic.

I know right?

So we’re fixing my issues.  It’s good fun.

With the glimmer of hope I focused on cross training.  Monday 50 minutes on the elliptical, Tuesday 24 mins on elliptical with 2 sets of 6 x 1:30 (30 sec recovery) deep water running, Wednesday stair workout, Thursday rest, Friday 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 deep water running (1min recovery), Saturday 7 x 5 min deep water running (1 min recovery) and Sunday… wait for it… 1 hour bike and 1 hour elliptical (snooze).

I also did a lot of yoga and not this type of yoga:

I mean downward dog and triangle for an hour.  My PT informed me that I am the type of runner that has to do yoga (a lot).  Sweet.

I also did what I always do when injured… buy running clothes.  I mean there was a sample sale what was I supposed to do?

February 25 – March

Monday I was back at the PT where he told me I that I got to run a test run on Wednesday!  What!  Heck yeah.  So more cross training until then.  I rested on Monday (well I did yoga) and on Tuesday I did my stair workout- 4 sets this time.

All smiles!

But not so fast.  Workout was good but my foot was killing me by the end of the day.  Doesn’t my foot know I get to test out a run tomorrow?  PT approved 4 miles!  4!.

What to do?

Wednesday I ran exactly 1.33 miles and it didn’t hurt but to be honest I was running on my toes avoiding my heel.  I was then back in the pool for 2 sets of 9 x 1:30.  My heart was not in it.

Back to the PT on Thursday where it was decided that my work shoes were the issue and he taped my heel pad in place.  So only running kicks for a week and I decided to take 5 days off since our friend Jack Daniels said it won’t hurt.

Thursday – Monday no cross training just PT exercises.  I did head home to visit the family, some friends the coast and the Nike employee store (will post pics soon).

The coast was not ugly.

And of course there was a trip to Mo’s and clam chowder was consumed.

Unfortunately my heel still hurt.

March 4-10

PT appointment on Monday and I was ready for the worst but PT was optimistic and thought I’d be able to run by the weekend.  He just wanted to give it a few more days.  So back to cross training.

Tuesday 3 sets of 7 x 1:30, Wednesday 30 min bike 30 min elliptical Thursday PT and the best news… running approved for that day!  Bruise is gone and the pain is new muscle from my changing mechanics so just be careful and ice and stretch after.

I couldn’t stop staring at the clock all day and it was a beautiful day out perfect for a run.  I finally made my escape and ran 3 mile (slowly) around the GL.  I wanted to shout at everyone to tell them how excited I was but exercised a little self-control.  I felt the heel a bit but it warmed up and I couldn’t feel it by the end.

Real smiles.  (And new Nike long sleeve).

And confirmation that my new Pegs prefer outdoor activities.

I only ran 3 miles so I hit the gym for an hour on the elliptical (and 2 full Brady Bunch episodes).

Friday I woke up to a lot of pain but it was the good kind of pain (not the bruise) and my heel felt better by the end of the day.  I opted to deep water run after work planning on 8 x 5 mins hard but got kicked out of the pool after 6 for water aerobics.  Yeah I know.  And surprisingly popular.

Ugh.

Saturday morning foot felt pretty good ran a (slow) easy 4.

Sunday 3 easy no pain by the end but it’s a “log run day” so I hit the gym for and hour on the bike and an hour on the elliptical (and Mama Mia).

Someone save me from cross training hell.

The foot still hurts but it’s not the bruise.  PT said it was going to hurt for a bit so we’ll see what he says tomorrow.  The good news is doesn’t hurt while running and I’m not changing my stride but I’m still taking it a day at a time.

I’m still planning on my half at the end of April and hopefully the full at the end of May.  I have lots of time.  No time to panic now, but it is time to be careful and not rush anything.

Mr. Newton, lesson learned.  I promise to work on my mechanics.

run pretty run fast

First things first, I had no intention of really racing this 10 miler.  I knew it had been a hard week of training with the 400m repeats and the original plan was to tempo 10 at close to marathon goal pace (6:48).  But let’s also be honest though I know myself (just a little bit) and I knew if the pace felt good I wouldn’t be able to just tempo the whole thing especially the second half.  So my plan was to stick to 6:48s for the first 5-7 and then pick-up the pace.

Not going to lie I was nervous since my longest tempo was only 6 but got start somewhere right?

Since I was too nervous to remember to take any pictures and I lost my phone 3 or 4 (or 8) times at the race here’s a video for the Fort Steilacoom Club’s website if you want to see what the race looked like:

(Um yep it’s from last year I’m not in the video)

The race starts on the track and then runs up a hill.  It’s a pretty simple out and back.  We lined-up with a minute to go and before I knew it we were off.

I like starting on the track but you (and my you I mean me) always run too fast even with the hill after the first 200m.  My first mile was fast: maybe.  My Garmin had me at 6:24 and the course had me at 6:35.  So let’s go with the course since Garmin tends to struggle with hills and ovals.  (It’s okay Garmin)

I was feeling pretty good so I just tried to settle in.  I was a bit concerned I was running too fast since one of the gals I used to run with was running also and she was aiming for 6:30s and we seemed to be running even so I tried and tried to settle in (again).  I’d love to tell you what my splits were but you know Garmin was having a bit of an off day.

I can tell you I felt okay through 3 and was glad the 10k-ers split at about this point but it also left me in no mans land.  I struggled with mile 4 and it was downhill (what gives with that?).  It almost broke me.  I told myself to make it one more mile and then I was on the home stretch (right?).

My watch seemed to have sorted it self out at the turnaround chiming right at 5 miles.  I made the tight turn and was ready to run.  I realized I’d picked it up on mile 5 so I tried to maintain my pace on 6.  By this point I’d caught a guy in front of me (who by the way had a head on collision with another one of my friends on the blind corner while she was heading out to the turn around- don’t worry she’s okay) and he told me we could take the next 4 miles after of course telling me he hoped my friend was okay (he didn’t know we were friends and I certainly hope we can finish these next 4).

My new running bestie ended up being quite the talker and he wanted me to catch the gal in front of me (she was the third place female) and he may have wanted me to catch her more than I wanted to.

I’m not going to lie (obviously) I wasn’t super motivated to catch her which is a bit uncharacteristic for me but I just didn’t have any fight even with my new besites encouragement.

I opted to hold my pace which meant I passed the guy and then caught the gal on the hill.  Right when I caught up to her she surged and I didn’t go with her.  I was just trying to hold my pace and she was just trying to hold her place.

The last three miles were long but my new bestie encouraged me the whole way (maybe a little too much).  I kept trying to find some turnover and I did but I was still hoping for a bit more.  I could still see number 3 ahead of me but couldn’t close and my bestie passed me.  I’m not sure if I didn’t have the strength or fight but whatever it was it wasn’t there.

The last mile had some nice twists and turns and before I knew it I was on the track with not much turnover.  My hamstrings were starting to feel fatigued and I just didn’t feel like finding that next level of pain and for January I’m okay with it.

It didn’t help that my Garmin was off for the last 5 miles and I was uncertain about my pace.  Turns out it was a bit faster than I thought.  I finished in 65:32 and negative split the second half by just over a minute and I won my age group and was the 4th female!  Woot!  Woot!  What a day.  6:33s for 10 miles is a big breakthrough for me.

Overall I really pleased and surprised to be running this fast with just a month of real training (first workout post CIM was on Christmas day).  There’s also a part of me that’s a bit worried I’m running a little too fast a little too early, end of May seems a long ways a way…

There are a few things I’d like to improve:  fueling and hydration (struggled with both) and finding that racing spirit (was a bit disappointed it didn’t show-up but it’s got to still be there right?).

Post race recovery was epic but I think I still prefer an IPA with some fish and chips (and maybe a few more bottles of Nuun).

Okay.

We all know I’m bad at conclusions so…

run pretty run fast

January 28th – February 3rd

We last left off with the most amazing week of training ever complete with a Sunday rest day!  Woot!  Woot!

I woke-up bright (okay dark) and early on Monday for an easy 7 miles with some strides.  Power through an amazing day at the office and then it happens.  The throat starts to feel a bit funny and you tell yourself it’s nothing no big deal. You head off to your next meeting desperately trying to focus but in the back of your mind you can’t figure out if you should be concerned with what seems to be a growing pain in your throat… this can’t possibly be a sore throat?  Right???

But you know better (I know better).  So cut out of work early (and by early I mean by like an hour) and try to rest but it’s no use.  The pain is settling in.

And you ask yourself is this the cold or flu?

Or if you’re me you ask if you can I hangout in denial for another day or two and maybe squeeze in this hill workout?

Ugh.

No luck, worst sore throat in ages.  I’m smart enough to stay home Tuesday and Wednesday with exactly zero miles.  My Hokas taunted me from the hall closet the entire time.

Two days of full rest.

Things were starting to turning around so Thursday I hit the roads for 5 easy miles (based on my heart rate) and ran some short hills.  The plan had me running 7 on Thursday but I didn’t want to press my luck.

Hmmm… speaking of pressing one’s luck I did attempt some fast running on Friday (remember this is a judgement free zone).

Now the plan called for 2 x 3 miles progression (starting at marathon pace and finishing up at half marathon pace) with 4 x 200m just for fun.  At some point in my in my cold induced fog I decided it wasn’t smart to run the whole workout but I sort of got lost in that same cold induced fog and forgot all about my somewhat rational (and might I add responsible) life choice by the time I started my warm-up.

The fact that I was pretty winded and slightly light headed at the end of the warm-up should have triggered my commitment to rationalness and responsibility but it didn’t.  Some quick stretching and some strides and we were off.

To make this workout a bit more confusing we ran the first rep the wrong way around the track.  I know this is good for my body (especially my left leg/foot) but it threw me off a bit.  Still I tried to settle in.  My first mile wasn’t bad with a 6:44 and I felt okay (aiming for 6:48).  I wasn’t lapping my watch and more running on feel so I was okay with this mile.

My second mile was 6:34 (goal 6:40) and still feeling good.

I started to feel the burn mile three with a 6:24.  I could tell I was tired but wanted to see if I could bounce back to the 6:48 pace.  So I jogged the easy minute and was back at it for exactly two laps.  My first lap was a 1:44, second 1:43 and I it felt bad (real bad).  So I stopped and jogged with no intention of finding the last 2.5 miles.

I still have a cold remember?

Of course I ran the 200s.  I felt weak on them but still managed to run right around 40 secs.

So sort-of good life choices?  Sort of???

I woke-up Saturday excited for a sunny 54 degree day (as promised by weather.com) but no luck.  It looked like this:

Yep… still winter.

I ran and easy 4 (trying to be responsible).

Sunday was a combo long run, 17 miles with the last 3 at marathon pace.  I felt tired for the whole thing but my heart rate was fine and so I kept running.  It was hilly but we managed 7:51s for the first 14.  Then the last 3, well, were not awesome.  I’m not sure what I ran since I messed up my watch.  My first mile appeared to be on pace and then who knows the rest and to be honest I’m not sure I really care.  I am happy to have this week behind me and looking forward to some cold free running ahead of me.

Race report on its way… it promises to be completely underwhelming.

run pretty run fast

Yep.  This week was amazing.

There must be something in the water.

The last few weeks of workouts have been pretty similar: 5k type workout, tempo and tempo long run.  This week’s schedule mixed things up a but with 1) a workout I never in a million years thought I’d attempt and 2) a really long tempo run much longer than I’d run to date in this training cycle and my second longest tempo run ever.

But as usual I’m getting ahead of myself.

Monday was a holiday which meant sleeping in till 7:45am and an easy 6 followed by some short hills.  My heart rate monitor was acting-up on Sunday and Monday it wasn’t any better (maybe it wanted a day off from work too).  It keeps spiking for no reason and it makes running based on heart rate a challenge (so temperamental).

Maybe it just doesn’t like the fog:

Tuesday = most favorite workout all time.  ALL TIME.

I was nervous when I saw this one on the calendar and at the last-minute I found out I’d be running this one alone.  Adding to the nerves was the not so distant memory of my Friday track workout (bit of a fail) and the 15 mile long run on Sunday (recipe for success?).

Looks like it.

The workout:  2 x 10 400m.  Yep, that’s 20 x 400m kids.  One minute between reps and four minutes between sets.  First set at 10k pace and second set at 5k pace and not my “conservative I think I can only run this pace” but my McMillan Running PR pace calculator pace (6:08 and 5:55).

My plan was to start nice and relaxed and find a 91-92 but I was fast with an 88.  It didn’t feel bad but it shouldn’t feel bad (this is my 10k pace).  I knew I needed to slow down.  2 1/2 miles at 10k pace should feel pretty good but the 2 1/2 miles at 5k pace was going to feel hard and it was going to feel really hard if I didn’t slow down.

I didn’t manage to slow down until rep 6.  I finally figured out I was going out too fast my first 100m and figured out how to relax for reps 7, 8 and 9 and then I forgot to think for rep 10.  I actually lost count and I thought I had one more rep.  I had to stop my watch and count splits.

The details:

Four minutes of recovery and I was off again.

My goal: 88-89.  85 is not 88 or 89.  Maybe I was just a tad bit excited.  And clearly I couldn’t slow down.  I felt okay so I decided to settle in.  I went back and looked at my heart rate info and I was recovering well for the first 5 or 6 but 7-10 didn’t looks so good (can I blame it on Garmin?).

In my defense I felt recovered, I was breathing hard but felt recovered enough to start the next rep.  Maybe it’s the 800m runner in me but I will want to keep an eye this (I don’t want to over run my workouts).

The details.

I am still excited about this workout.  It felt awesome and I’m pretty sure from here on out I need to run all my intervals in 400m increments.

Done.

Wednesday was an early wake-up call and an easy 10 miles.  Things started off slow (um I just ran 20 400m repeats) but picked-up on the back half.

Thursday was an easy 8 (with an amazing sunrise and sadly no pics) plus 8 x 100m strides.  The legs were tired at first but the strides seemed to loosen things up.

Friday easy 6 right at 8:00 minute mile pace and I had to work to get my heart rate up to 150 range.

And Saturday (finally) the long tempo run (and the part of my training that needs the most work).  10 miles at marathon pace.  I know 10!  My longest tempo in this cycle was 2 x 3 miles progression with 1 minute recovery (aka tricky 6 mile tempo) so hey lets add 4 more miles.

I didn’t really feel like tackling 10 miles alone.  Luckily I didn’t have to.  This was the first long run tempo of the training cycle and it just happened to fall on a Saturday that just happened to have 10 mile race on it… I know!  Sign right?  I talked the training partner into making the trek down south for the race.

And race we did.  Sort-of.  I ran mine as a workout but still faster than marathon pace.  Since it was technically a race you’ll just have to wait for all the awesome details in my race report.

The short of it?  I ran 65:32 (6:33s) and a bit of a break through effort for me.  Full report soon (pinky promise).

After the race I recovered with this deliciousness:

And seriously… there is something in the water and yes there is bacon in the Bloody Mary.

Sunday rest.

run pretty run fast (and full race recap on the way…)

Not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty beat after Sunday’s long run with tempo.  I might not know how many weeks until my marathon but here’s what I do know:  1.) it’s January  2.) my marathon isn’t until May (the end of May) 3.)  and I have lots of running ahead of me.

So while I started this week off happy with previous week I was well aware I might need take my foot off the gas pedal and actually find my real half and full marathon paces.

Monday wasn’t a bad-looking day and kicked off the week well:

Which of course made me happy even though it was still ridiculously cold.

Oh yeah, the running.

As excited as I was last week to discover the that I needed to push myself a little to get the heart rate to 155, this Monday I ignored it since I was so tired (and incase you are wondering it showed in my data… average heart rate was in the low 140s).  I finished my workout with some easy strides dodging morning commuters and patches of ice and hoping my body would thank me for the little break.

Tuesday was a hill day.  5 of them and I was in search of a new hill.  The hill I’d been running wasn’t quite as steep as I’d like and this week called for 3 mins with 1:30 flat and 1:30 fast (5k pace) and I wasn’t going to get three minutes out of the old hill.  I had a long warm-up to find a hill and I thought I knew the prefect hill.  I quickly learned I was wrong and continued my search.

After two more fails attempts to find a new hill I found one and I have to say it was genius.  Yep, I said it.

The first 200m of the “flat” were actually slightly down hill, then 100m of flat and 100m of very slight up hill and then the last part was all up (clearly less than 400m).  My goal was to run the first 1:30 at or just under 6:00m mile pace.  My 5k pace is probably a bit faster but I was trying to easy off the gas this week.  I’d just have to manage 1:30 up a really steep hill.  The last hill workout was 2 mins so this should be easier. (Right?)

Rep 1:  I slightly misjudged the hill and realized I needed to turn left up the really, really steep hill instead of just the steep hill.

Rep 2:  Yep, the steep part of this hill his really steep.  Finish at the green mailbox (always nice to have a marker.

Rep 3: Only two more.

Rep 4: Good lord one more.

Rep 5: Done!  Beautiful sunny day and clear view of Lake Washington!  And I made it past he mailbox!  Boom! Easy cool down and call it a day.

Wednesday 9 miles easy/moderate and the longest mid-week run to date.  I was happy with the pace too (8:11s- not bad post workout).

Thursday I completely failed in the “Charge Your Watch” category of life (and by charge your watch I mean watches).  I didn’t plug my Nike one in and I thought I’d plugged the Garmin but the hair clip I use the secure the charger to the watch (since the hubs stepped on my charger and its missing half the clamp) slipped off leaving my watch charged at 0%.  #doublefail

This meant that instead of exploring a new route I’d have to stick to one I already knew.  6 miles easy, some short hills and I was off to the office.

My legs were actually feeling pretty recovered by this point and my “ease off the gas pedal” week was taking a turn in the right direction.

Until Friday that is when my legs decided to pull the emergency brake on me.

Friday was similar to a workout from two weeks ago where maybe I’d run just a tiny bit fast.  Two weeks ago the plan was 2 x 2 miles at half marathon pace followed by 8 x 200m at 1500m pace.  This week the plan was 2 x 2 miles with the first mile at half marathon pace and the second at 10k pace and finish up with 8 x 200m at 3k pace.

The warm-up did not feel awesome but I know by now I can’t judge a workout by the warm-up but two laps into I knew I was in trouble.  The legs were not feeling it.  My first mile was about 10 seconds fast and my last mile was a bit slow.