I'm Running A Marathon Soon

On Saturday, December 7, I will run my 35th marathon: the Tidewater Striders Marathon in Chesapeake, VA.

Why I chose this race
I came down with Covid at the end of July and I took the entire month of August off, except for three very short/easy runs in which I thought I was recovered. Those three very short and easy runs likely caused me to sink further into post viral fatigue, so I wasn't able to resume running again until the middle of September. At that point, I came back with run-walks to be 100% certain that I was well enough to run again. In total, I took seven weeks off of running. This post has all the details!

Having been through post-viral fatigue before, I knew that once I was out of the woods, I could train at full intensity. I ran 36 miles the week of September 23rd and 44 miles the week of September 30. I was back! Based on experience, I know that I don't need a really long training cycle to run a strong marathon. I just need an intense training cycle - jam-packing a lot of quality into 6-8 key weeks. As a coach myself, I don't recommend this approach to other athletes, but it's worked for me in the past. 

An ideal time to run a marathon would have been right around Christmas/New Year's - but there are no marathons within driving distance at that time of year. So my options were to go a bit earlier or a bit later. I quickly ruled out January because I didn't want to get on an airplane, so early December it was. My options within driving distance were Rehoboth Beach and the Tidewater Striders Marathon. Rehoboth is my PR and I didn't think I could replicate the magic of that day, so Tidewater it was! 

The Tidewater Striders marathon is a small race which currently has just under 100 registrants. However, there is also a 50K and 100K occurring at the same time, so it will feel slightly larger. I am familiar with the course because I set my 10-mile PR on that course back in 2021. The course is pancake flat! The downside is that it's two out-and-backs with little crowd support. And that's not much of a downside considering I will see Greg multiple times!

Training
How ready am I? Here is a graph of my training:

Thankfully everything went smoothly and we were blessed with ideal running weather throughout most of October. I did encounter quite a bit of wind on my 3 longest runs, but I still powered through it. And it could be windy on race day! As long as it's not hot, then I'm good to go.

My longest run was 21.5 miles, and I also ran a 20.4 miler and an 18.5 miler. (For some reason, I liked to be between the whole numbers this cycle). My goal marathon pace of 7:20 has felt very manageable and almost too soft, while I have struggled to hit paces below 6:40 for some of the faster workouts. I'm chalking it up to tired legs.

Shoes
When I ran Boston, I wore the ASICS Metaspeed Sky shoes. They were fun and fast, but not as responsive as I would like. I've decided to go back to adidas- my go to brand of womens running shoes. I typically race in the adidas Adios Pro 2. The "3" came out a few years ago but I stocked up on version 2 because of the higher heel drop. I was really hoping the 4th version would come out before this marathon but it's scheduled come out later in December. 

Just as I had decided on wearing a pair of the adidas Adios Pro 2, I had the opportunity to purchase a pair of the adidas Pro Evo 1. These shoes were released in very limited quantity, and they are almost impossible to find. Plus, with a price point of $500, I had determined that they were too expensive. But then I realized that I hadn't spent any money on running shoes this year because I received so many promotional pairs. When you look at it that way - why not splurge on them? The driver of the high price is the materials and the fact that they weigh less than 5 ounces yet have a full stack height.

I haven't tried them yet (they should be arriving in a few days) but I will do 1-2 short runs in them to make sure they work before race day. That's more than I did when I ran Boston in a brand new pair of ASICS! Let's just hope they fit because they were not available in the next size up.

Goals
My main goal is execution: to stay mentally strong and nail my fueling and hydration. Timewise, I am shooting for a PR (sub 3:15) but ideally closer to 3:12, maybe 3:10 if the shoes are truly that magical! (Although I don't want to give all the credit to my footwear.) Now I need to focus on resting, recovering, not getting sick, and picking out my race outfit. 

If I can pull this off, it will be the world's shortest training cycle ever! But I am relying on the endurance that I have built up over the years, not just in the past six weeks.

I'm Training for the Marine Corps Marathon

I officially announced on my Instagram that I am training for the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) but I am not sure how formal of an announcement I made here. Even though I live 25 minutes from the start line and I love this marathon, I have only run it one time! Out of 33 marathons, only 1 of them was my hometown marathon.

Marine Corps Marathon 2006

I ran the MCM back in 2006. It was my second marathon. I loved every moment of the race and finished in a time of 4:24:39, which was a PR by over 20 minutes from marathon #1 in Delaware. This was before I had a Garmin. Before I had an Instagram following. Before I had a husband. Before I had adidas carbon fiber plate running shoes. A different world, indeed!

The reason I never returned was twofold. 1) I wanted to experience a variety of marathons and locations. 2) I typically prefer later fall marathons so I don't have to train in the heat as much, and there is a greater likelihood of cool weather. The Richmond marathon is two weeks after Marine Corps so if I was going to run something close to home, that race always seemed like a better target. 

But now that I have successfully run a warm marathon (Houston in 65-degree weather) I know I can be okay if we have an unseasonably warm day in late October. Plus, I have always wanted to run MCM again and it feels long overdue.

I do consider Richmond a fallback if the MCM weather is forecast to be over 65 degrees or if I get sick. I am going on a cruise two weeks before the marathon, which is just a breeding ground for germs. Not to mention the flights. The timing of the cruise isn't ideal, but a few family members had already booked it and invited me. I don't often have the opportunity to vacation with family. I'll do whatever I can to prevent getting sick, but if I do, I'll deal with it and then run Richmond.

My goal is to run a faster time than I ran in Houston so I can have a lower bib number in Boston next Spring. I feel like that's such a superficial, petty goal-- to care about a bib number and a corral. But it's motivating for me! A sub-3:26 is also a low bar for me given that I have run many marathons faster than that. So ideally I would run faster than 3:20. It will mostly depend on how training goes and how cool the weather is. 

Training Progress
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am coaching myself for this one. So far it's been going really well. I have written myself a plan that goes all the way to race day and making minor adjustments here and there. I am always asking myself "does this workout make sense for where I am in training?" and twice the answer has been "no" so I made modifications.

I turned a six-mile steady state run into a 2-mile tempo followed by 2 x 1 mile at 10K effort. A six-mile workout seemed like a big jump and I think I generally get more benefit of running at 10K effort than steady state, which is slightly slower than Lactate Threshold. Self coaching involves knowing what works for me, being aware of the stage of training I'm in, and adjusting for the weather if needed.

It wouldn't be a training update without a graph. So here's mine:

As you can see, I have steadily increased my volume this summer. I am planning a "down week" for the week of August 14th to allow my body to recover and absorb all the work I've been doing. So far, my longest run has been 14 miles and I plan to run a 15-miler this weekend.

One of the foundations of my plan is that I don't want to do a lot of runs that are longer than 16 miles. When I was training for Indianapolis/Houston at the end of last year, I started to dread my long runs. I felt burnt out on them. I was perfectly fine to run speed work or easy runs - but long runs felt treacherous. And looking back on my training log, I have found that I don't need a ton of long runs to run a fast marathon as long as I have high volume. It's preferable to spread the mileage out over the week instead of lumping it all into one run. 

My first 16 miler will be 9 weeks out. And then I will run longer for all the subsequent weekends, except for the week in which I race a half marathon. With only two months of 16+ milers I think I can run a strong marathon and avoid the mental fatigue of too many long runs. Another benefit of this approach is that by the time I get to 16 miles, the weather should be a bit cooler, even if just by a few degrees.

Injury watch-outs
At my age, injury prevention is more important than ever. I am doing strength training twice per week and having physical therapy appointments as needed. Here are the three areas that I am watching closely:

• Achilles. I'm pleasantly surprised that my Achilles tendinopathy has not flared up. Even after some pretty intense hill workouts my Achilles felt okay. And the long runs haven't been irritating it too much. I always have some tenderness when walking downstairs, but overall my Achilles feel better than they did throughout all of 2022. I hope this continues!
• SI Joint. I somehow got out of alignment (probably by squatting or deadlifting weights) and for about two days my SI Joint was irritated. I went straight to physical therapy to get it adjusted and that worked wonders. I didn't have to take any time off for it! If only I had gotten an adjustment sooner in the spring of 2022, I wouldn't have had to take 9 days off, get an MRI, freak out right before Boston, etc. The pain is now completely gone.
• Morton's Neuroma. This problem reared its ugly head again for the first time in five years. I didn't waste any time. As soon as I started to feel pain I went to my podiatrist to get alcohol shots, which have shrunk the neuroma in the past. That pain has also gone away. 

Aside from these minor issues, I have been feeling great. My runs have felt energized despite the steamy weather. I've been getting plenty of high-quality sleep and I've been tracking my daily water intake. I drink anywhere from 55-70 ounces of water a day. Often with Uppermost hydration mix.

So, that's my update! I am really excited about running the MCM for the first time in 17 years! It will be interesting to see how 44-year-old Elizabeth compares to 27-year-old Elizabeth.

Spontaneous Fiesta 5K

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am taking an off season from racing this spring. Thus, my blogging frequency has declined. 

My reasons for taking an off season were to focus on strength training, to give myself a mental break, and to fully recover from Covid. I haven't taken an optional off season since I started racing in 2005!  It's been nice not having to adhere to a rigid schedule and feeling more free with my runs in terms of pace and distance. My goal has been to maintain a base of around 30 miles per week with a maximum of one harder effort per week. 

Of course this is probably the nicest spring I've ever experienced in terms of running weather. In February and March it was unseasonably warm which meant I didn't have to layer up. In April and May it's been unseasonably cool with low humidity. Almost every morning in May has been below 60 degrees, which is unheard of.  The past few mornings have even dipped into the 40s. I could have raced almost any weekend and had great weather! 

I succumbed to my temptations a few weeks ago when my friend Cheryl was racing the Fiesta 5K. The forecast was looking amazing, it was a flat course, and I didn't have plans for that morning. So I made the decision the day before the race to run it with her and I registered on site. 

The race was on Saturday May 6 and held in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I didn't have a goal time or a goal range or a pacing strategy or anything. I didn't come up with a race plan until about 15 minutes before the race. So unlike me! But that's the fun of having an off season.

The one thing I knew was that I did NOT want to run this race at 100% effort. I hadn't done enough hard workouts to prepare for that mentally and I wanted to keep this fun - not painful! Once again, the complete opposite of my usual race mentality.

Before the Race
The plan was to have a banana at home and then take a UCAN gel 30 minutes before race start. After eating half of the banana, I realized I shouldn't be doing that. I recently starting taking thyroid medication for mild hypothyroidism and you are supposed to take it first thing in the morning and then not eat anything for an hour. Otherwise it doesn't get absorbed. This will definitely impact race morning going forward. If I want to take my medication correctly, I will have to wake up even earlier to be able to take the pill, wait one hour, and then eat breakfast 2 hours before race start.

I am not sure if I blogged about it but I was treated for hypothyroidism back in 2019 using desecrated pig thyroid hormone. It was an over the counter supplement and it really worked to get my labwork numbers looking strong. However, I didn't notice any difference in how I felt so I stopped taking it six months later, thinking it wasn't that important. Back in January, my levels spiked with Covid and when they came back down they were still a little high, so my doctor decided to treat me with the prescription meds. 

I was reluctant to this because I don't have symptoms of hypothyroidism except for fatigue during the day.  I always attributed that fatigue to running 50+ miles a week but it's possible that my thyroid could be contributing. I generally don't like taking medication unless absolutely necessary, but I agreed to try it. After having been on it for over a month, I realized (through internet articles) that it wasn't like a vitamin/supplement. Once you are on it, you likely need to be on it for life. It's the same thyroid hormone your body makes naturally and you become dependent on the pill for that hormone. Yikes. Thankfully I haven't had any adverse side effects and I am feeling really good. So for now I will continue with it.

Back to the race. I arrived an hour before race start because I still had to register. I registered and then got in line for the porta potties. The line was not moving at all. After standing there for about 5-10 minutes, someone realized that nobody was coming out of the porta potties and they were actually locked with zip ties! And then it took awhile to find someone who could cut the zip ties. I was happy I got in line when I did because the line behind me was massive. 

I then went back to my car and pinned on my bib and took my UCAN gel. I texted Cheryl and she said she was headed my way. She had picked out green shorts and a red sports bra due to the Cinco De Mayo theme. I matched with the exact same green shorts and red bra! We looked so cute together! 

We warmed up for just under a mile. Normally I would warm up for at least 15 minutes, but I wasn't taking this race very seriously! We did some strides and that got the legs moving. I decided to wear my adidas Adios Pro running shoes because I needed whatever boost in speed I could get. And those are my fastest shoes. 

Race Purpose
So if I wasn't going to be racing at 100% effort, why was I there? Lots of reasons:

• Could not resist the perfect 50-degree low-humidity low-wind weather
• Wanted to spend time with Cheryl
• Missed the racing atmosphere and wanted to be part of it
• Wanted run my first tempo since the Houston Marathon

At the start line I decided my goal would be to let Cheryl set the pace and try to keep up with her. I had no idea what kind of speed I had in me, and I had no idea if I would be able to keep up! But I decided I would try to keep up so long as I wasn't killing myself to do it.

Mile 1: 6:55
Cheryl went out harder than expected! My initial thought was that there was NO WAY I would be doing this for 3.1 miles. This was probably because I didn't have a sufficient warm up so it was really a shock to my system. But after a few minutes I settled in and felt decent. The best part about this race was that our outfits matched! We got a lot of comments on our outfits and it was fun trying to keep up with someone who was wearing my same gear. 

Mile 2: 6:55
She was so consistent with her pacing. The course was mostly flat with some minor inclines and declines. Nothing that I would consider a "hill" -- just some gentle slopes. It was not easy keeping up with her, she was running really strong. But I felt like it was manageable. 

Mile 3: 7:15
The headline here is a bit misleading. About a quarter into this mile, my shoelace came undone, just like in Houston! They came untied despite the double knot. This was a different pair than the Houston pair and I tied them super tightly. But I really should have tucked the loops under. Never before has this happened to me in a race and now it has happened twice in a row. 

So I stopped to tie my shoe. It was annoying and Cheryl would now be way ahead of me. Once the shoe was securely tied, I slowly closed the gap between Cheryl. Strava credits me with a 7:02 mile, meaning I spent 13 seconds tying my laces: PRETTY FAST LACE TIE!

Last 0.18: 6:19 pace
While I had been gradually closing the gap during the last mile, I really hammered it during the final stretch in order to be able to finish with Cheryl. It was fun to kick it really hard at the end, and I finished one second behind her. 

After the Race
Cheryl finished in 22:16 and I finished in 22:17. This meant we were 2nd and 3rd overall females! I won a $40 Visa gift card which was exactly the cost of the race registration, so it all evened out!  And then we went out for brunch afterwards. 

This race reminded me why I love racing so much. It's the atmosphere, my friends, the outfits, the energy, and winning age group awards!

I was pleasantly surprised that I could run as fast as I did an have it feel like a tempo, not a race. This means that my "off season" has not been detrimental to my fitness and I've still got it!

Greg, aka my race photographer, was unable to come because he had to work. He's on a new project and he's been working weekends. I think things should be easing up soon for him though!

Boston Marathon Weekend 2022

This blog recaps the weekend leading up to the Boston Marathon. I will post my race report separately. 

Friday

Greg and I flew into Boston on Friday and arrived to our hotel at around 1:30. We relaxed for a bit and then headed out to the expo and to preview the finish line. The finish line is always buzzing with people and the vibe is absolutely amazing. I ran into my previous coach Andrew at the finish line. He was there representing adidas. It was so great to catch up with him and talk to him about his role in the shoe world!

Bib pickup went very smoothly. Vaccination proof was required to be submitted electronically a few weeks back, so I didn't have to worry about having my card with me. My number was 12827. A higher bib number than I had in 2018, even though my qualifying time was 3 minutes faster. But it was still the same wave/corral.  

At the expo, I didn’t buy nearly as much official Boston gear as I normally do because I wasn’t a fan of the color scheme (fluorescent yellow and pastel purple) or the style of the clothing. I did buy my 3rd Spike (the unicorn) and a few non-running T-shirts. I had already bought the jacket and two hats online about a few months back. Quite a few people recognized me from Instagram and came up to say hi. It was really nice to meet new people and wish them well in the race.

I made the mistake of tying my shoe laces too tight for walking and by the end of the day, the top of my ankle had swelled up and was killing me. It was a “rest day” from running but we were on our feet for hours and did so much walking around. Greg and I had dinner at Eddie V's near the expo and it was nice to relax. 

Spike!

Proudly holding my bib 

Saturday

On Saturday morning, I woke up with my SI joint area hurting. I knew it was from all the walking I had done, but I didn’t worry about it. There was nothing I could do about it at that point, and the race would be whatever it would be! I wanted do less walking on Saturday, but that’s not really possible if you want to enjoy the Boston Marathon weekend to its fullest.

I cheered for runners at the B.A.A. 5K while Greg did a long run. He’s running the Vermont City Marathon in six weeks, so he didn’t run the 5K like he has in previous years. After that, I walked down Newbury street and visited the various “pop-up” stores for Brooks, ASICS, and rabbit. A pop-up store is a store that is only there for the weekend, with brands selling special Boston gear. I also visited the Tracksmith store, which is not a pop-up, but their actual storefront location. 

At the rabbit store, they were screen printing any custom wording you wanted on an EZ T-shirt or tank. I ended up with a shirt that said “RACING STRIPES”. So cool that I finally have a shirt with the name of my blog. I also bought a fun shirt from Brooks, and shorts from ASICS with the 4-18-2022 date on them. I didn't get anything from Tracksmith because I had ordered some Boston gear online ahead of time from there. 

Racing Stripes shirt from the rabbit store

I then met back up with Greg and my coach Angela for lunch. Angela had run the 5K and this was my first time meeting her in person! We had been having virtual strength training sessions for two years but had never actually met.

Coach Angela, me and Greg

That evening, Greg and I went to an Amazon happy hour where we met the other women that Amazon had sponsored for the race. I had been getting to know them over social media so it was cool to finally meet them in person. Unfortunately, we stood the entire time (two hours) which wasn’t ideal after all the walking I had done on Friday and Saturday morning. My foot still hurt from the too-tight laces but I tried not to think about it too much.

Some of the Amazon sponsored runners

After the Amazon happy hour, we had dinner in the Seaport district. From there, we took an Uber back to the hotel, which cost $27 to go 1.5 miles! But I seriously did not want to walk given that the top of my ankle was still tender from overly tight laces the day before. 

Sunday
On Sunday, I did a shakeout run with a bunch of people who I knew from Instagram. I had a blast running with people who I have been communicating with for years but had never actually met. We ran for about two miles just to get the legs moving. Everything felt great- my legs, my back, my calves, and my foot!

Sunday morning shakeout run

After the shakeout run, I grabbed a half dozen bagels, one of which would be my race morning breakfast. Greg and I relaxed in the hotel until it was time to meet my friend Jonathan for lunch. And then more relaxation. I laid out my race outfit and all my nutrition to ensure everything was ready to go in the morning. I had chosen my race outfit earlier in the week:

• The "First Place" shorts from rabbit
• Matching orange crop top from rabbit
  
• Blue sports bra to match the shorts
• Zensah mini crew compression socks (which matched the shorts)
• adidas Adios Pro 2 shoes
• Tifosi SWANK SL sunglasses

Then, I finalized my race strategy with my coach. She called me and we talked about my fueling plan and my pacing plan. Greg wrote my target split times for the 5-mile, 10-mile and halfway point on my arm. 39:00, 1:17:30, 1:41:00.  More to come about my pacing strategy in my next post. 

Sunday night's dinner was spaghetti with chicken in marinara sauce. This is one of my common pre-race dinners as it’s easy on the stomach and has a lot of carbs. I also made sure to hydrate really well all throughout the weekend!

Finally it was time to go to bed. I was exhausted and I fell asleep easily. 

Wineglass Half Marathon Race Report

I've been slacking on blog title creativity lately. I ran the Wineglass Half Marathon yesterday morning in Corning, NY. This was one of those bucket list races that many runners have told me to do over the years. I had heard that the course was fast, scenic and well organized. I had been registered for the half marathon in 2018, but that was the fall after a mono episode so I wasn't ready to race in early October. 

The Wineglass marathon and half marathon are known for being net downhill courses, although the half marathon is just barely net downhill. It only loses 60 feet of elevation over the course of 13.1 miles and there are a few notable up hills as well. I think the full marathon is much more of a true net downhill, with most of the elevation loss occurring in the first half.

I would have happily traded the 60-foot elevation loss for a straight course without so many twists and turns in the last five miles. I found those to be momentum-stealing, and I think they offset any benefit I might have gotten from the net elevation loss. But we will get into that later.

Training and approach
Normally at this point in a full marathon training cycle (six weeks out) I'm in excellent shape and ready to run a PR half or close to a PR time. But my training ramp up has been gradual due to my injury, and I didn't have as much training under my belt as I would like. And based on my training paces I could tell I wasn't close to being in PR shape. Yes, it's been warm and humid for the majority of my training runs, but I still feel like I was much faster pre-injury. 

This has been frustrating for me because usually I come off of a break very quickly. The three mono incidents have all had very quick comebacks. Maybe I'm just getting older so it's harder to regain my speed. Here is what my training has looked like:

As you can see, I only had 3 weeks of training above 50 miles. This is nowhere near where I usually am when I run a half marathon. Usually I have at least 3 weeks of training above 60 miles, approaching 70. This was a conscious decision due to needing extra rest days because of the heat and dealing with Achilles tendinitis. It wasn't like I was slacking; I was being smart about my training and doing what I could.

Given all of this, I decided I would be happy to run within 3 minutes of my PR (1:30:58). I set my sights on 1:33:xx, which is a pace of around 7:05.  My true goal race is the Richmond marathon in six weeks. So I didn't care nearly as much about Wineglass as I did Richmond - I just wanted to practice running hard for a long time.

On the race website there was a little blurb about "Elite Runners" and how to apply. No qualifying standards were published, they simply asked you to email them with your recent race times and where you placed in the field. As a master's runner, I figured I had a shot at this so I applied. I was accepted, which meant my registration was free. Sweet!  Outside of free registration, there was no other information published about what it meant to be in the "elite" field. 

Expo and Museum of Glass
Greg and I drove to Corning on Friday. It was about a 5-hour drive, but it was scenic so we didn't mind it. We arrived at the expo at 3:00. The expo was at the Corning Museum of glass which was probably the coolest expo venue I've ever been to, and I have been to a lot of expos. We started out in the gift shop,

At the expo with my "elite" bib

where I bought a zebra made out of glass beads. We then retrieved our bibs and swag. Included was a medium-weight, long sleeved half zip running shirt, a wine glass, and a small bottle of champagne. Some of the best swag ever!

My bib said "Elite" on it. I asked the person who gave it to me what benefits that included (I hadn't received any email communication on this and nothing was on the website). She exclaimed quite loudly, "WOW- you're an Elite!?" and my immediate response was "No." I don't see myself as an elite athlete so it was weird to say yes. But after saying no, I realized she might think the bib was a mistake so then I said, "well, yes. Well, sort of of yes." She told me to ask the information desk about what benefits that included.

I went to the information desk and the person said "I have no idea." Okay, so I guess there were no other benefits aside from the free registration, and I was totally fine with that, but normally they have special aid stations, tents, etc. And if that was the case, I would have wanted to take advantage of them. In any event, I don't believe myself to be an "elite" even when I am at my fittest, and I certainly wasn't at my fittest for this race. But hey, they had accepted me!

After getting our race packets, we took a quick (25 minute) stroll through the museum of glass. It was incredible and I really wish we had more time to spend there. 25 minutes was nowhere near long enough to appreciate everything. We needed to be on our way because our hotel was still 20 minutes away and we had dinner reservations that were further away from the hotel.

We went to a restaurant called "Lib's Supper Club" in Elmira. It was the only place around where I could find a chicken parmesan, which is my favorite pre-race dinner. I actually get it without the cheese so it's just chicken in a red sauce with pasta. Bland, but effective.

Before the Race
I slept about six hours: straight through from 9:00 to 12:30, awake from 12:30-2:00, and then asleep again from 2:00-4:30. I awoke to the alarm, which was set extra early since we had a long journey to the race start. I wasn't hungry for breakfast at 5:00am, so I had just half an English muffin with a little bit of almond butter. I had half of a Maurten Drink Mix 160 with breakfast at 5:00, and gradually drank the rest of it during the next two hours. 

adidas Adios Pro 2 + Zensah socks

We left our hotel at 5:30 and drove to Corning. We arrived at 5:45 and waited in a line of cars to park near the bus pick-up. After parking the car, we used the porta potties and then stood in line for the buses. By the time we got on the bus, it was around 6:10. Masks were required on the bus, but they were not required at the race start line. Since this race is a point-to-point course, the only way to get to the start line is by taking a bus. The last bus was scheduled to leave at 6:30, with a race start of 7:45. 

The bus ride was about 25 minutes and we arrived at the start line just after 6:30. Which meant slightly over an hour until the race start. I continued to sip my Maurten Drink mix until about 7:00. I was double fisting it and had a bottle of water + electrolytes in my other hand. I didn't drink from this bottle until the race started. We went to the bathroom twice during this period of time and waited in the school gymnasium. Outside, it was about 54 degrees with light rain. Very humid.

We ran a 1-mile warm-up which included some strides. I also did leg swings and other drills to get my body into racing mode. It started raining more heavily during the warmup which I was grateful for. When it's humid, there is a certain amount of rain that is ideal to keep you cool. Any less than that and you are hot, any more than that and you get cold and your shoes get heavy. I was hoping we would have a very light rain throughout the race. 

Greg and I lined up at the start line and started chatting with other runners. One of them asked me what pace I was planning to run and I was embarrassed to tell her I would be starting at a 7:15 pace while wearing a bib that said "elite". I justified it by saying that I had been injured and unable to train at peak capacity, which was entirely true. The plan was to start at a pace of 7:15 for the first mile and gradually make my way down to 7:00 or even sub 7:00 by the end. 

Before I get into the race, I want to note how eerily similar this race was to the California International Marathon from 2019. Both races were point-to-point. Both races were "on the bucket list" because of their reputation for being fast and scenic. Both races required a bus ride to the start. Both races had the same weather: mid 50's at the start, 97% humidity, occasional rain, high 50's to low 60s at the end.

On my race weather scale, this race gets a 5 out of 10. Not "PR" weather unless I suddenly had a huge breakthrough in fitness, which is unlikely after 20 years of running. But also not horrible- not bad enough to sabotage a race. I have run a few races with mild temps, occasional rain and high humidity. None of them have been PRs but none of them have been total bonks either.

Miles 1-4
The race started and Greg and I leap frogged each other a little bit as we weaved through the crowd and the crowd weaved through us. The first mile was tricky with the slippery pavement (that was also uneven in places) and all the runners bolting out, filled with adrenaline. You had to watch your footing and be very aware of what was going on around you.

I carried a bottle of water and Scratch Labs electrolyte mix. I have been training with this mix because it has electrolytes and carbs and is easy on my stomach. 10 minutes into the race, shortly after mile marker 1, I took a Maurten caffeinated gel. Prior to the race, I had gone back and forth on when to take my gels since this was my first half marathon in a long time without using UCAN. I ultimately decided that 10 minutes and 50 minutes would be perfect in combination with having had the Drink Mix earlier in the morning. 

I still train with UCAN because I think it does a better job than Maurten at training your body to burn fat for fuel vs. Maurten which can cause sugar spikes and crashes. But on race day, UCAN does not agree with my stomach. Because I find benefits in both products, I fuel some of my long runs with UCAN and some with Maurten. That way I get the benefit of UCAN's slow release energy on some runs and the benefit of training my digestive system for race day on other runs. 

Anyway, after the first mile things calmed down a bit and I had more space to myself. I found myself ahead of Greg. I always knew about how far behind me he was because I know what he sounds like when he runs. At one point I nearly slipped on a muddy patch. My shoes (the Adidas Adios Pro 2) didn't have great traction and I am still learning how to properly stabilize myself when running at high speeds. 

These miles felt controlled and strong. I looked at my Garmin a few times, trying to run around 7:10 in these early miles. 

Mile 1: 7:13
Mile 2: 7:16
Mile 3: 7:03
Mile 4: 7:06

Miles 5-7
These miles were the glory miles. I felt strong. The pace felt totally manageable. I was working hard but I felt like I had a lot to give. I was energized. BUT, I was starting to get warm. There hadn't been any rain and it was now about 56 degrees with a dew point of 55. At a water station, I poured a glass of water over my head and it felt amazing. 

I passed quite a few people during these miles and hardly anyone passed me. The course was scenic and I was enjoying the fact that were not many turns - it was just a straight shot. It felt mostly flat with little inclines and declines here and there. Some were a bit bigger than others but nothing too daunting. 

Mile 5: 7:11
Mile 6: 7:06
Mile 7: 7:04

Miles 8-11
Shortly after the mile 7 marker I had my second Maurten gel (no caffeine in this one). It went down easily. This is about the same time when Greg caught me and passed me. I was hoping we'd be able to run the rest of the race together. 

I knew that mile 8 would be the slowest mile of the race based on the elevation profile. It was the only mile of the race that had a significant net uphill. Greg got ahead of me and I was shocked to look down at my Garmin and see that I was running in the high 7:20s. I knew to expect a slow down, but not this much of a slow down. Plus, it still felt like I was running just as fast as before. I still felt good, I still felt energized, but my Garmin was telling me I had slowed down. 

Once mile 8 was done (7:33 pace!) I told myself it was "go time" and that I should fly to the finish. But every time I started "flying" it seemed like the course would swerve or turn and with the wet pavement my momentum would be stolen. I felt like it was a game of run really, really hard, slow down to avoid slipping on a curve or turn, and then speed up again. We again encountered some uneven pavement that made me extra nervous with the roads being wet. 

We ran through a curvy park so we were no longer on roads anymore. Greg was getting further and further ahead of me. Even though I felt good, my Garmin was once again taunting me with a pace that was much slower than what I felt like it should be. During the 9th mile, the sky opened up and it started pouring heavily. I wasn't wearing a hat, so water got in my eyes. My shoes began to feel like bricks. And I went from being warm to very chilly in a matter of minutes!

And of course, other runners started to pass me. I wonder what they had that I didn't? I still felt good! I was still in this game and hadn't given up! Why was I getting so slow but they weren't? Greg was no longer in view.

Mile 8: 7:33 (uphill)
Mile 9: 7:22 (why tho!?)
Mile 10: 7:21 (faster than miles 8-9!)
Mile 11: 7:33 (there goes my goal)

Miles 12- Finish
I had no idea why I had slowed so much despite feeling good. The only thing I could think of was that I had to keep slowing down every time there was a turn or when I thought I had to be extra careful not to

slip. The adidas Adios Pro have almost NO traction! And then it was extra hard to get back up to speed after each slow down. In hindsight I think it could have been the quick drop in body temperature from being too warm to being very chilly in the downpour. As I said in the beginning, there is an optimal amount of rain in these temperatures and we started with no rain but then immediately switched to heavy rain. At the time, I didn't spend too much mental energy analyzing it. That wouldn't be helpful and I recognized that. I accepted that, for whatever reason, I had slowed down and decided I would give everything I had no matter what my watch said.

I got passed by more runners and every time I did I tried to hang with them but usually could not. This race was supposed to be a big negative split but it was going in the opposite direction. With just two miles left, I tried to salvage what I could and vowed to stay "in it". 

I got a little bit of a second wind and pushed hard all the way to the finish.

Mile 12: 7:19
Mile 13: 7:15
The last 0.19 on my Garmin: 6:29 pace

My official finish time was 1:35:38, making this my 8th fastest half marathon. I have run 7 half marathons faster than this, which is really hard to fathom! I did not even win an age group award. .  so much for being an "elite"!

After the Race
Greg finished nearly two minutes ahead of me in 1:33:45. Had I just stuck with him, I would have attained my goal. Oh well. It just wasn't in me yesterday. About 3 minutes after finishing I began to dry heave. Since there was literally nothing in my stomach except for the Maurten gels, nothing really came out. This

post-half marathon dry heave or vomit thing has plagued me for the past 3 years and I have no idea how to not do it. I guess it just comes from running really hard.

We were soaked and we proceeded directly to the car where he grabbed his camera for a few post race photos. We didn't stick around because we wanted to get out of our wet clothes. We drove back to the hotel, showered and then went to a nearby mall where we had Auntie Anne's Pretzels for lunch. There were really no better options near us!

After lunch we drove about an hour and a half north to the rural town where Greg grew up. This was one of the reasons we had been wanting to run Wineglass-- it was close to his hometown which I had never been to. I saw the house Greg grew up in, his high school, the places he worked and more. We went to his best friend's house who he rarely gets to see and hung out there for a few hours. It was fun! Afterwards we moved on to Rochester where we stayed the night. There wasn't anything particular in Rochester we wanted to do but it was the closest place to find a decent hotel. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I'm feeling okay about this race. It was one of my slowest half marathons within the past 5 years, but at least I was able to run it pain-free, which is honestly more than I would have expected last April. One of my doctors had told me that I might not even be able to start running again until October. So given that, I can't complain at all. 

As for my "reformed form" I am frustrated with it. It seems that even though I have been able to reduce my cadence by about 10 steps per minute (from 205 to 195 for a half marathon), my stride hasn't lengthened, which was kind of the point: reduce the number of steps and make them longer. It seems like I am now less efficient and less economical than I was with my ultra high cadence. Greg is encouraging me to stick with it and over time I will become more efficient but maybe I just do what feels most natural and work on my stride through drills and strength training; not on actual runs. Who knows? 

I'll start with some of the negative takeaways and then shift to the positives:

• I failed to meet my goal of 1:33:xx
• I feel like I am losing running economy by trying to lengthen my stride, not gaining it.
• My comeback has been slow, I'm not gaining fitness as quickly as I used to
• I didn't get an age group award, which I almost always do, even in larger races

The positives:

• My 7 faster half marathons all had cooler weather
• This is my fastest "humid" half marathon
• I didn't totally bonk, I was able to pick it up a little in the last two miles
• This race will hopefully make me fitter and count as a big "workout" as I build towards a full
  
• I ran CIM in a time of 3:22 in the same conditions, when I was in shape to run around 3:12. So maybe I am fitter than I think!
• This was good fueling practice for the full, my stomach behaved except for the dry heaving.
• I was pain free in my Achilles and my groin!
• I had fun, I crossed a race off the bucket list

I really, REALLY hope Richmond has better weather and I hope that I can cram in enough training between now and then to be in PR shape. I think my marathon PR is actually my softest PR. I wasn't even wearing carbon fiber plated shoes! And most of the race was on a gravel surface! I think I have been in shape to beat that PR on several occasions but weather, digestive issues, and other factors have prevented it. And maybe this is exactly where I need to be at this point in the cycle so that I will peak just in time for the marathon. I think I missed my peak by about two weeks when I ran Two Rivers last spring. Which makes sense, given my original marathon had been scheduled for 3 weeks earlier.

So even just a slight improvement in fitness combined with better weather could mean I get under 3:15. That is what I'll be working towards for the next six weeks. At some point I hope to have a breakthrough workout that will give me the confidence to go for it. Yesterday was not that workout, but hopefully it will come.

New Day New Year 10K

The long awaited 2021 is here. And what will it bring?

For starters, the first race in the Northern Virginia area (that I am aware of) held on closed roads: The New Day*New Year 10K. All the local races that I ran in 2020 starting in March were either in Washington DC or on roads open to traffic (Fort Hunt 10K). Here's a quick recap:

• Outer Banks 5K (in North Carolina)
• Fort Hunt 10K (open road in a park area)
• Hanover Half Marathon (in Pennsylvania)
• Harrisburg Marathon (in Pennsylvania)
• Cranberry Crawl 5K (in Washington DC)
• Christmas Caper 10K (in Washington DC)

This is great news because it sets a precent of Loudon County being on board with live races and road closures. Hopefully we will start seeing more races come back to Northern Virginia.

Background
This race offered a 5K and a 10K option. I wasn't sure which one I wanted to do, but looking at the course made it an easy decision. The 5K course ended on an uphill and part of it was on a neighborhood path. The 10K course ended on a downhill and there was no neighborhood path; it was all road. 

However, the day before the race, we received an email letting us know that the 10K would now be two laps of the 5K. Definitely a bait-and-switch. I am assuming that it's less expensive for them to use the 5K course for both races because they don't have to pay for as many police officers and close as many roads. I could be wrong, but that's my best guess as to why they would change it at the last minute.

My heart sunk upon reading this. What I had thought would be a decently fast course on 100% roads was now going to be more challenging with part of it run on a neighborhood path, times two.  I briefly considered switching to the 5K. That way I would only have to run on the path once. But I ultimately decided to just stick with the original plan. It was not the end of the world, of course, and 2020 has taught me to be flexible and roll with the punches. So I tried not to focus on it too much and just accept the change. But I think it got into my head a little when it was time to execute. 

Before the Race
The race started at 9:30 so it was easy to take my Maurten Drink Mix 3 hours beforehand at 6:30. I used the same fueling strategy that I used in the Christmas Caper 10K from two weeks ago when I set a PR. 

I decided to wear my Nike Vaporfly Next % shoes, for a few reasons:

• I wanted to save my adidas Adios Pro for my next marathon, as I will likely not be able to obtain another pair before then. (Due to my high cadence, I wear through shoes very quickly).
• There was a chance of rain, and there is no traction on the Adios Pro, whereas the Nike Vaporfly has decent traction. 
• 
  I have two pairs of the Nike Vaporfly, which each cost me $260 after tax, so I figured I should probably use them at some point.
• I thought it would be good to get a true comparison of the shoes. I never thought the Nike Vaporfly Next% made me any faster than normal shoes, but now that I had the Adidas Pro to compare them to, I wanted to try again.

Greg and I arrived with ample time to pick up our bibs and warm up. It started to rain lightly as we were warming up, which was supposed to hold off until after the race. Thankfully the rain ended after about 10 minutes and it wasn't enough to make the roads slippery.

In fact, the weather ended up being nearly perfect. 34 degrees, 3mph winds, overcast. The forecast kept changing all week and originally we were looking at a torrential downpour and 38 degrees! At one point, winds were forecast to be 13-15mph. We definitely lucked out in terms of weather, so I probably should not be complaining about the course change.

We warmed up for a little over 2 miles, finishing at the start line. When we arrived, we were surprised to see that many runners were already lined up on the designated spots, so we wouldn't be among the first to start. To maintain social distancing, two runners were released at a time, with sets going about 5 seconds apart. And there were multiple waves. We wore masks in the start corral and took them off once we started the race. There were about 50 runners in the 10K (which started first) and 100 runners in the 5K. 

Miles 1-2

As the race started, I felt really good. I thought that this would be a strong race for me and I had plenty of pep. I now realize that this is because the race started downhill! There were about 4 women ahead of me, all of whom I passed in the first mile. I thought to myself, "Wow, this could be my day to win the race!" Greg lined up behind me at the start line so he was in the set of runners that started 5 seconds after me. He passed me about half a mile into the race, looking strong. 

I got through mile 1 in 6:40. This was faster than my first mile from two weeks ago, so I was pleased with it. (Sure, it was a downhill mile, but it didn't seem to be that much of a downhill). Shortly after finishing the first mile, a woman passed me from behind. She had started after me and passed me and some of the guys in front of me. I later learned that she ended up being the first overall finisher, for both men and women! Very impressive.

Things started to feel hard during the second mile, but I still felt strong and energized. I believed that I was crushing it and running very quickly, but the 6:45 split on my Garmin was a bit disheartening.

Miles 3-4
The neighborhood path was at the start of mile 3. There was a downhill stretch, but then that momentum was killed by having to get up onto a curb and make a sharp turn onto a path, and then another sharp turn onto a wooden bridge/boardwalk type of surface. I was very thankful that it wasn't raining because this had the potential to be slippery. And then a few more turns through a parking lot before we were back onto a road. Annoying, but manageable.

Here's where I think the last minute course change got into my head. Similar to mindset at Harrisburg, I got annoyed at the awkwardness of the course. I let it bother me and I allowed it to give me an excuse for slowing down. To run well you need to be 100% positive or neutral, and I let some negativity seep in. Mile 3 was mostly uphill so I wasn't too surprised to log a 6:49 for that mile. It wasn't what I was hoping for, but I figured I could make it up during the 4th mile, which would be downhill again as the course repeated itself.

At this point, a new challenge emerged: passing the 5K runners. As one would expect, there were packs of them running 2-3 abreast and weaving around them was difficult at times. Additionally, there were 10K runners coming back on on the same route. So I was trying to weave through 5K runners and make sure I didn't have a head-on collision with the 10K runners. 

I was able to get some advantage from the downhill of mile 4, but not as much as I needed to make up for the slow down of mile 3. I logged 6:42 which, on a downhill mile, wasn't that fast for me. I was expecting to be running closer to 6:30 and I still felt decent, but I just couldn't bring myself to push any harder. It's like I knew I could run faster. Just two weeks ago I was running 6:36 flat miles and now my downhill pace was 6:42. 

A 5K runner in the background

Miles 5-6
I was so ready to be done with the race at this point. There would be no more fast downhill miles, just the long uphill stretch to the finish and another run through the neighborhood path. Thankfully I passed some 5K runners shortly before getting onto the path, so I didn't have to pass anyone while on the narrow path. I was encouraged with my 6:43 for mile 5, but I simply didn't have the gas in the tank I needed to run uphill for the long stretch.

At one point I felt so bad I told myself I would be happy with anything under 7:15. Usually I can totally rally during the last mile of a race, but not today. I observed that it's hard for me to run uphill in the Vaporflys. They are bulky and I felt like if I had more contact with the ground at that point, I could have engaged my muscles more to help out. Mile 6 ended up being 6:57, and in hindsight I feel like I could have run that faster. But at the time I was in so much pain, I was hoping just to be under 7:15! 

The finish and beyond
I came through the finish in 41:44, which pleasantly surprised me. I had been projecting 42:xx. I felt like this race was so much slower than 10K from two weeks ago, and yet this time was only 11 seconds slower - my second fastest 10K ever! 

If you look at the distance on my Garmin, this race course measured 6.18 miles at an average pace of 6:45, and the Christmas Caper measured 6.28 miles at a pace of 6:36. So, while there is a notable difference between a 6:36 and 6:45 pace, the "shorter" course today meant there was only 11 seconds difference in the official time instead of 54.

Greg was waiting for me at the finish and I was thrilled to learn that he broke 40:00 for the first time by running 39:38. Amazing! I knew he could do it. He absolutely crushed it. He was the 4th overall finisher and I was the 6th. As for the women's race, I came in 2nd. I was pleased with this. I think that the awards are coming in the mail. 

This race had amazing swag: hat, gloves, and a neck warmer. Overall the organization was strong and I was thankful to be able to continue with my New Year's tradition of racing. The only areas for improvement would be not changing the course at the last minute, better traffic control of the two-way stretch, and certifying the course. Some of the 5K runners logged 3.06 miles on their Garmins. The 10K was closer to the true distance because we ran an extra little stretch that wasn't part of the 5K. Knowing this, I am happy that I decided to stick with the 10K because I believe it was more accurately measured. I don't think the courses were USATF certified. 

Greg and I did a short cool down during which the rain came back. All in all, we really lucked out with the weather!

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
There are positive and negative ways to look at my race today. I guess instead of negative, I should say "constructive" lessons I learned to improve on for next time. 

Positive:

• Officially my second fastest 10K ever
• Fast time on a hilly course, with a half-mile uphill stretch at the end of the race
• 2nd place female
• Pushed really hard, got a great workout in

Negative

• My heart rate didn't get all that high, I believe I had the fitness to go faster
• I let negative thoughts seep in; I shouldn't have let the course annoyances bother me
• I was only 11 seconds off of my PR, if I had just pushed harder I could have beat it
• My Garmin pace was 6:45, and I have run about 5 other 10Ks at this pace, so it's not like this race shows a big fitness gain

As for the Nike Vaporfly Next% shoes, I think I am done with them. Yes, I paid $260 a pair and I have two pairs of them. But I don't believe they make me faster than my normal speed training shoes (Adidas Boston or adidas Adios non-pro). They also irritated my Achilles so I am hesitant to wear them again when they aren't a fast shoe for me. Do I think I would have been faster in the adidas Adios Pro? Yes. But I don't regret not wearing them because I had valid reasons for wanting to give the Vaporflys another shot. At least now I know and I won't feel guilty about spending all that money but not using them.

At the end of the day, racing is really just one big experiment. You have to try different strategies and see what works. Nutrition. Shoes. Pacing. Warm up. Mental approaches. I think this race fueled my fire to get back out there and push really hard on the next one.

Christmas Caper 10K: Happy all the way!

This morning I ran the real, live Christmas Caper 10K in Washington, DC. This was the same course as my 5K from November, only doubled. It's a no-frills race series. No chip timing, no shirt. Just a race on a fast course with fast runners. 

I had run this race before, 12 years ago in 2008! I had to consult my race history in my blog to find the report and sure enough, I have a report from the 2008 race. In 2008, I ran 10 miles with hills two days before the race, 5 miles the day before the race, and then stayed up past midnight the night before the race at a holiday party. And then I was upset that I didn't PR. Hahaha! Back then I thought I was invincible and should be able to PR in any circumstances. My time was a "disappointing" 49:36. And then I ran 17 miles the following day. (Insert facepalm emoji here).

Race Approach
This year, my goal was to PR. The conditions were perfect (I give them a 10/10 on my race weather scale) and I was in outstanding shape. My 10K PR was my longest standing PR from 2017 at 41:51. I really had no idea how I ran that fast because that course was insanely hilly. And ever since that 2017 race I thought, "If I get good weather and an easier course, a PR should be no problem".  I had run six 10k races since setting that 41:51 PR, and none of the six were faster. Four of them were humid, one of them was coming off an injury, and one was on a track.

Even if I hadn't been in the best shape ever, a flat course with perfect conditions meant a shot at a PR. I told my coach I wanted to PR and his response was "yeah, let's just do it" as if it was no problem! I liked having the mindset that it was really a matter of getting it done. I had the fitness and the conditions, all I needed to do was to execute. 

Fueling Strategy
If you have been following my blog you know that I have been experimenting with different fueling strategies since my digestive nightmare at the Harrisburg Marathon in November. I am using Maurten products, and for a 10k, their website recommended having their Drink Mix 160 three hours prior to a 10k, and then a caffeinated gel 30 minutes before race start.

I had only tried the Drink Mix once before on a training run, so I decided that instead of drinking the entire serving (500ml) I would drink about half. And instead of my normal English Muffin with peanut butter, I would have half an English muffin with Almond butter. To summarize:

• Almost half of the Maurten Drink Mix 160 packet three hours before race start
• Half of an English muffin + almond butter 2.5 hours before race start
• One caffeinated Maurten gel 30 minutes before race start

This worked really well and I had no digestive issues before, during, or after the race. 

Before the Race

Greg and I left the house at around 6:30 for a race start of 8:00. He ran the 5k, which started at 7:50. We arrived at the race, got our bibs, and used a wonderfully warm indoor bathroom at the nearby golf course. It was 28 degrees, so I decided I would warm up for a little longer than usual. 

I wanted to dress festively but also appropriately for the weather. I wore green capri tights, a red short-sleeve shirt and arm warmers. I find that a short-sleeved shirt plus arm warmers is better than long sleeves for racing because it lets some air into the core. When I ran the Indianpolis Half Marathon last

Photo by Cheryl Young

year, it was 28 degrees, overcast and windy. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, and I regretted it.

Some people wear shorts in this weather. I find that tights do not slow me down or weigh me down, and my legs don't overheat. And if my legs are too cold, they won't move as quickly. So I will race in capris if it's 35 degrees or cooler. I overheat in my face and chest area, so wearing a lightweight short-sleeved shirt was perfect, with the arm sleeves keeping my arms warm. I wore convertible mittens with hand warmers inside of them.

I wore my new adidas Adios Pro shoes that I wore in the Marathon. I really wanted to wear my green Nike Vaporfly Next% because they matched the outfit so perfectly, but those shoes simply don't work as well for me as the adidas.

After putting on my bib and using the bathroom, I warmed up for 3 miles. I paused to watch Greg start his 5k. He looked strong! I made sure to include strides and faster running in my warm up. At 28 degrees, it can be difficult to get moving and I wanted my legs nice and warm starting at mile 1.

After the warmup I lined up at the start line in my mask. The 10K race had only 15 runners total! Very small. Of those 15 runners, 5 were female. I did not know this at the time, I only know because I looked at the race results afterwards. There was no chip timing so I wanted to line up close to the starting line. However there were other serious-looking runners up there and I didn't want to crowd them (social distancing and all).  So I lined up about 10 feet back. 

Miles 1-2
As the race started, three women were ahead of me. One of them was Cristina, a long-time friend and fellow blogger. So I started out in 4th place. For a race with 15 total runners, that's quite the competitive field!

I eased into my pace during the first mile and focused on Cristina. She's a great pace setter and even though I knew she would be faster than me (the goal wasn't to keep up with her) I knew her start would be strong and controlled. As I said earlier, I knew that all I had to do to PR was execute and stay mentally strong. I had the fitness. This race would be all about my mindset.

I focused on finding a rhythm and establishing a flow. During the first mile, I saw Greg running on the opposite side of the course in the final stretch of his 5k. I could tell he was working hard and that motivated me to increase my effort level. I also saw my friend Cheryl in the 5k, which was a nice pick-me-up.

Mile 1: 6:45
Mile 2: 6:37

Miles 3-4
In terms of pacing, I knew I needed to average 6:40 to PR. But I didn't want to just PR, I wanted to run my fastest race possible. So I reminded myself that the Garmin was for informational purposes only, and I shouldn't slow down if I saw a pace that I thought was beyond my ability. Miles 3 and 4 were the hardest, and I think this is true of any 10K. By the time you reach the 3rd mile, you are already tired and

Just before the turnaround

 you have been running hard for awhile. And yet you still have over half the race to complete. So it can 
be really discouraging.

We turned around near the start line and ran the entire course again to create the 10k distance. I saw Greg at the turnaround and he cheered for me and snapped some photos. The course was fast and flat, but there were 3 momentum-stealing hairpin turns. I personally think I need to work on my hairpin turn and I am not great at executing it. Partially because I am a cautious runner and I am afraid of falling or hurting myself if I do a movement that isn't straight forward. 

After I turned around it was time to run the entire course again. That thought was exhausting and intimidating so I started to break the race down into more manageable chunks. I knew this race would be all mental so I played little games of creating small goals. Usually that goal would be "stay strong until you reach that point up there on the road" or "run really hard until your watch beeps for the next mile." This was a good way of distracting myself so I didn't think about having to run that entire course again. 

Mile 3: 6:35
Mile 4: 6:40

Miles 5-Finish
That 6:40 mile was slower than the previous two but I was not discouraged by it. There was a slight headwind during that mile and once I got out of it I was able to pick up the pace a little. With just two miles to go I knew I was on track for a PR and so I needed to stay as strong as possible. I was

Approaching the finish line

successfully able to battle any negative thought just as soon as it arose. And most of the time I was too busy with positive, happy thoughts, that there was significantly less negativity to battle. I just had to constantly focus on pushing and staying positive.

As for my competition, the three women stayed ahead of me for the entire race. Cristina remained in my line of vision for most of the race. I didn't expect to catch her, but it was still nice to have the competition and be reminded that this was a race and not a training run. 

With just 1 mile to go I started getting really giddy and excited inside. I thought about the PR cake and I wondered if Greg had also PR'ed. I kept telling myself that if I gave up now, there would be no PR cake! The closer I got to the finish, the more excited I became. And the race was still hurting a lot. I am not a religious person but I somehow found myself praying to God to help me get to the finish. I sprinted it in while Cheryl and Greg cheered me on.

Mile 5: 6:35

Mile 6: 6:34

The last 0.28: 6:10 pace

After the Race
I stopped my Garmin at 41:33, which is a PR by 18 seconds! Of course, my Garmin measured 6.28 miles (as did other people's Garmins) so my official pace will not match my Garmin average pace of 6:36.  But wow, a 6:36 pace for a 10k?! That is way faster than I could have imagined!

I was so happy to finally break that PR. In a real, live race! I was the 4th overall female, but interestingly enough, there were only 5 women total. It's crazy that with a time of 41:33, I was the second-to-last place female. This just shows that placement is all about who shows up and it's never really in your control. 

Greg was very close to his 5k PR of 19:24. He missed it by a few seconds. 

We briefly chatted with Cristina and Cheryl and then ran a short cool down. Afterwards, we drove straight home and I got in my epsom salt bath. One of the best things about running in really cold weather is that the bath afterwards feels amazing. 

Cheryl and me after the race

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I was so excited to PR. . . have I mentioned that yet?  I hadn't set any PRs in 2020 that weren't virtual. And while I do count virtual PRs and real PRs, it's more satisfying to have the time be official.  Speaking of official times, I ended up with a time of 41:35, even though my finish line photo showed faster on the clock:

Based on this photo, it looks like my official time should have been 41:32. Or at least the 41:33 that my Garmin logged. But it ended up being 41:35 officially. Based on this photo, I am going to claim 41:33. After all, Personal Records are 'Personal' and there's no way this is a 41:35. I know I am splitting hairs but when you work your butt off for every little second, they all matter.

Other final thoughts:

• I think the adidas Adios Pro shoes helped. I am not sure how they would be in a 5k but I did think that they were a fast shoe for the 10k.
• Knowing that I can run 6.28 miles at an average pace of 6:36, I think I am also in shape to set a 5k PR
• It's awesome to compare this race to my 49:36 of 2008. I've come a long way for sure.
• I will be racing another 10k on New Year's Day. That race also offers a 5K, but I want another shot at this distance to see if I can go even faster. I needed to breakthrough that 41:51 plateau, and now that I have, I feel like I can keep going!
• The fueling strategy worked perfectly. No issues during the race aside from some burps here and there.
• I beat a guy who once gave me grief at a 5k for being too loud when I ran. He had told me that my sounds distracted him. I was over a minute ahead of him today.
• PR cake tonight. I have not decided on a flavor yet.

Harrisburg Marathon Training Recap

And just like that, my marathon is two weeks away! I still have two long, hard workouts remaining, plus two shorter workouts and that will be it. My coach typically doesn't give me much of a taper which always scares me but it ends up working out. Here is a snap shot of the past few months:

Weekly Mileage by type

I've been very consistent, except for the weeks that I tapered for the half marathon and the 10K. I did not include the current week because it's not finished yet, but if everything goes as planned tomorrow, I should finish off with the exact same mileage as last week: 76.7.

In addition to all of this running, I have also been consistent with my strength training. Once a week I have a session with my strength coach, Angela, over Zoom. And then one other time per week I do a lighter routine on my own. Admittedly, I don't always do the routine on my own; I was better about it over the summer when my mileage was lower. I've also been battling Achilles tendonitis again, but just this week I noticed a big improvement, thanks to my eccentric heel drop exercises. It's great to know that this nagging injury can be improved while running 70+ miles per week. 

Typically I like to throw in one final race; a 10K or a 5K before the marathon. But all of the local races have been canceled so I don't have any options. I've also started looking at races for after the marathon because I like to be signed up for my next race when I run a marathon. But it's slim pickings and it's looking like Greg and I might have to drive an hour to run a Turkey Trot.

My half marathon was too hilly to be a good indicator of what I could do in a flat marathon, so I started to look to other workouts to start to gauge my fitness and pick a goal pace.

Key Workout 1: Tempo
On October 14, I ran the following workout: 2 times (2 miles, 2 x 1 mile) all with 3-minute recovery jogs in between. My coach wanted me to target 6:40 for all the miles. That seemed like a tall order since my 10K PR pace is right around 6:40 and I would be running 8 miles! He wanted to challenge me and instead of dismissing his advice and running by feel, I made every effort to hit the 6:40. My splits were:

2 miles in 6:47, 6:37
2 x 1 mile in 6:34, 6:32
2 miles in 6:43, 6:41
2 x 1 mile in 6:42, 6:39

I definitely had to dig deep at the end and it felt like a race for the last half mile. Those are not easy paces for me to hit, but I did average 6:39 so I was thrilled. My recoveries were slow jogs at a pace of around 10:30.

Key Workout 2: Long Run with Speed
Just three days later, on October 17, I ran a long run prescribed as: 9 miles easy, 3 miles of (1 minute hard, 1 minute easy), 3 miles tempo, 1 mile easy, 3 miles all out, 3 miles easy. 

I had done this workout before but my coach threw me a curve ball. He wanted me to run the easy miles at a sub 8:00 pace. He suggested 7:30-8:00. That's not easy for me; I would consider it medium. In the past when I have nailed this workout, I ran the first 9 miles at an average pace of 8:20. A truly easy pace. Here's how it played out. 

9 miles at 7:58 average (started out at 8:30 and then was around 7:50 for most miles)

3 miles of 1 min hard, 1 min easy: my "hard" paces ranged from 6:40-7:17

When I have done this workout in the past, I have been able to run the "hard" portions in the 6:30's to 6:50s, and pretty much steered clear of the 7's. That did not happen on this run. It was difficult to get my legs moving that quickly.

That did not bode well for the next 3 miles which my coach prescribed at 6:45. My legs were already beat down from the first 12 miles, so I ended up running each of the 3 tempo miles at 7:11 as opposed to 6:45. The good news is that 7:11 is around my marathon pace and I was able to hit it.

Then came the easy mile in 8:26, followed by the 3 "all out" miles in 7:34, 7:23, 7:21. I have to admit these paces were a disappointment. I felt energized but I simply couldn't run faster. And then I finished it off with 2.7 easy miles, because that's when I wanted to stop, just shy of the prescribed 3.

This working ended up yielding 21.7 miles at an average pace of 7:50 with about 3 total minutes of stopping to drink water from the bottle that I had stashed near my car tire. It's an impressive distance at that pace, but I wished I could have hit the paces I had hit in the past. But then I remembered that exhausting my legs early on from non-easy miles was the culprit. Just like how in my half marathon I wasted my legs on the early hills and they never could get up to full speed after that. I was annoyed that my coach made me start so fast, but I understand why he did. If I want to break through to a new level I have to get outside of my comfort zone and try something that I might not succeed at.

Key Workout 3: Marathon Pace Run
I was really looking forward to nailing this run to get the confidence I needed for the marathon and hone in on that marathon pace. The date was October 21, just a few days ago. My coach prescribed a pace of 7:15, but realistically if I want to run sub 3:10, I think I'll probably need a pace of 7:12 because I won't hit the tangents perfectly. In other words, I'll likely end up running slightly more than 26.2 miles, so I'll need to be a little quicker to reach my goal.

I was unpleasantly surprised to see that it was 63 degrees with 100% humidity when I woke up. The forecast from the night before had said 57, which is a big difference. I figured that at 57 and high humidity, that would just barely allow me to maybe hit my goal pace. But now that we were 6 degrees warmer, I felt like I would need to adjust to 7:30-7:35. 

adidas Adios Pro

I wore a brand new pair of the just-released adidas Adios Pro. This is the Adidas competitor to the Nike Vaporfly Next%. As I have said in previous blog posts, I never ran a race in the Nike Vaporflys that made me think "oh wow, that's a fast shoe." My times and paces were always in line with what I trained for. When I ran the One City Half Marathon in March in non-Vaporflys, my time was within one minute of the PR I had set 4 months prior. And of course, I got injured from running CIM in the Vaporflys. So enter the adidas Adios Pro. A shoe that fit me much better and that felt faster than the Vaprofly.

This would be my only run in the adidas before race day. As I said, it was 63 degrees and muggy. My target was 7:30-7:35. The prescribed workout was 90 minutes at marathon pace plus warm up and cool down. 

This was one of those workouts where I could not believe what was happening. The paces on my Garmin did not line up with what I felt like I was doing in a good way. I never tried to speed up during this run but each mile was faster than the one before it! Here are my mile splits:

7:37 - Okay, that's a good starting pace
7:33 - Great! You're at your goal pace, just stay there
7:28 - A little faster than I want, but just hold it here and don't go faster
7:23 - How is this possible? Must be a downhill mile.
7:20 - This actually feels sustainable. I'll be able to hold onto this pace.
7:17 - All right, this is as fast as I am going to go. I don't want to bonk in this humidity.
7:13 - How the heck?
7:08 - This actually doesn't feel that hard!
7:03 - What am I doing? I'm now WAY faster than goal pace.
7:01 - Welp, that was it, the next two miles will probably be the bonk.
6:56 - No. Friggin. Way.
6:51 - What just happened?
(Last 0.4 mile) - 6:57 pace - I guess I'm almost done!

This averaged out to a pace of 7:13 over 12.45 miles, no stopping. Including warm up (2.65 miles) and cool down (1 mile) I ran a total of 16.1 miles. All before work on a muggy Wednesday. I kept thinking that it must be the shoes. They were amazing. But somehow I managed to stay strong in conditions that would normally be very challenging for me.

Looking Ahead
I still have a 22-miler ahead of me tomorrow, but thankfully without any speed. I will try to speed up at the end, but my coach hasn't prescribed anything specific so it will be based on feel. I do think that if I'm having a good day I can run a 7:12 marathon pace. But I am going to start out in the 7:20s and just let my body speed up as it naturally does.

Between now and November 8 my goals are:

• Do not get COVID.
  
• Do not get any kind of sickness.
• Do not get injured.
• Stay hydrated.
• Continue the Achilles exercises.
• Get plenty of sleep.

If I can do all those things, I will be good to go because physically I am well trained for this race.