Half of Nothing, 100% Race

I have to admit that I stole the title of this blog from The Gifted Runner but it's so true!

I ran the Heritage Half Marathon today in Gainesville, VA. The weather was perfect: low 50's with a 7:00am start so the sun didn't get too high in the sky. Many of my critics tell me that I am too obsessed with the weather, but I know that in my case I cannot come close to performing at my peak when it's hot and sunny.

Background
I had originally been registered for the Wilson Bridge half marathon two weeks ago, but I opted out of it a few days prior because my legs hadn't fully recovered from the 10K. I didn't think it would take me so long to recover from a 10K, but the hills were very, very steep and I really flew on the downhills-- murdering my quads. So I watched my husband run the Wilson Bridge half and decided to do a half two weeks later, which was today!

Training has been going well. The week after the 10K, I logged only 37 miles because of the recovery. But then the following week, I logged 58 miles, including some intervals on the track and an 18-mile long run.

The day before the race I drove the course and was surprised at how hilly it was. I had used Map My Run to take a look at the elevation and it didn't seem like the hills would be too steep. But when I drove the course, I realized that the entire course was made up of constant rolling hills, some of which were steep, and most of which were long. I didn't let it bother me, though. I had been doing a lot of running on hills so I figured I could handle it.

Strategy
My strategy was to run an even effort. This meant I would have to really push on the downhills and not over-exert myself on the uphills. The result was that my pace was all over the place. It seemed like most runners were running an even pace, so there were a few that I kept "leap frogging" with. They would pass me on the uphills, and I would pass them on the downhills. I thought that even effort was the best approach so that I could get into a "groove" of an effort level and just maintain. I also thought that negative splits would be a good approach, given that the first half was a net uphill and the second half was a net down.

A graphical illustration of my race is below. The blue represents my pace. Constantly speeding up and slowing down. And yet I was putting out a fairly even effort. The green represents the elevation. Notice that huge hill for the entire last mile. Not fun!

Click here for a larger image.

Miles 1- 4
The first mile was a huge downhill, so I really gunned it. I knew that it would mean an uphill in the last mile (the course was out-and-back) so I knew I had to "bank" some speed. The first mile was 7:30. Miles 2, 3 and 4 were a net uphill. There was a lot of up-and-down, but it was a net uphill, so those miles were slower. I took my honey energy gel earlier than planned at mile marker 3. This is because there was a small period of relatively flat ground and I didn't want to have to be taking honey while trying to push on a downhill, or while I was trying to focus plowing up a hill.

Mile 1: 7:30
Mile 2: 7:57
Mile 3: 8:02
Mile 4: 7:59

Miles 5-9
These miles were run on a bike path on the side of the road. Runners were going in both directions (out and back) so it was a little crowded, but I still managed. The last few miles had been slower than my goal pace, but I was completely fine with that because I knew there had been more ups than downs. I also remembered from the elevation profile that the first half had a net uphill, and that negative splits were the way to go.

The worst part was when we turned off of the bike path into this park. The park was crazy hilly and just as you think you're about to exit, there's a course Marshall telling you to run up this really steep hill (steepest hill of the race) and then back down. I thought to myself "why make us do this stupid hill" but then I realized they needed to add more mileage in the park because the turn around had to be before a major intersection.

I took my other honey gel at mile 9.

Mile 5: 7:40
Mile 6: 7:43
Mile 7: 8:05
Mile 8: 7:39
Mile 9: 7:55

Mile 10-Finish
Since miles 2-4 had been slow, I knew I was in for some downhill time before that last final climb. The sun was starting to really shine on me, so I told myself to run faster to "beat" the sun. I wanted to finish before the sun started to bake me and affect my time. Maybe I am crazy, but I feel the sun on me in a race and it just seems to zap energy away. I gave it all I had on the downhills. I was feeling tired, but not as bad as I have felt in many of my previous halfs. In fact, I was surprised at how strong I felt so late in the game.
Mile 10: 7:44
Mile 11: 7:49
Mile 12: 7:42
Mile 13: 8:05

My official time was 1:41:40, which is an average pace of 7:46. My Garmin showed that the race was 0.1 too short, and that my actual pace was a 7:51. However, my Garmin typically makes me run longer than the actual distance (at least based on the W&OD trail mile markers) and this race is a USATF Sanctioned course. Plus, all of my other PRs are on "long" courses, so I am going to take this one at face value- 1:41:40. It was really easy to run the tangents here because most of it was on a bike path, and there wasn't much choice.

I won an age group award! Third place!

I placed 20 out of 181 women.
I placed 3 out of 36 in my age group.

This is a PR by 2:24. The previous PR was from Shamrock in 2009- a pancake-flat course, also in ideal conditions.

I am very happy with my race today, and I think it really reflects all the running outdoors I have been doing since I moved into my new house last spring. I used to run most of my runs on the treadmill because I had no safe place to go in the mornings. But now I run outside all the time (I don't even have a gym membership or a treadmill), typically with my husband.

Up next: The Army 10-miler

Hilly 10K Victory

The 10K is my nemesis. Out of all the race distances from the 2-miler to the marathon, the 10K is the one race where my times don't line up with where they should be, fitness-wise. (Although the marathon is quickly becoming the nemesis distance-- but that's another blog.) According to the McMillan Calculator and my 5K from the spring, I should be able to run a 10K in about 46:26. I also have a recent 5-mile tempo run that averaged a pace of 7:42. I went into today's race hoping that I might finally get a 10K time that reflects my training and fitness level.

I lucked out weather-wise. Lower 60's and overcast with a drizzle is about as good as you can hope for in mid-September at 8:00am. I didn't study the course elevation profile before the race, but based on the max/min elevation from the map, I didn't think it would be too hilly. I was wrong.

This was the hilliest 10K I have ever ran, and perhaps the hilliest race of any distance.

Pre-Race
My husband decided to sit this race out in favor of a long run yesterday. Since he's training for his first marathon, long runs are more critical to him. I felt like I could miss one this weekend, due to our training cycle being so long and already having completed two 20-milers. My father also came out to watch me.

This race, the South Fairfax Chamber Challenge, was small. There were only 108 people. It was very well organized. Chip timed, t-shirt available in my size, and high-quality running hat were included. I figured that with such a small turnout, I might be able to win an age group award, or even place in the top three overall females. I warmed up for 1.4 miles on the high school track and then lined up at the start.

Mile 1: 7:31
I went out fast and I knew it. My goal was a 7:40 pace, but the race started with a downhill, so I wanted to take advantage of that. There were no women in front of me until halfway through the first mile. Then, a woman passed me and I got the sense that I probably wouldn't be able to catch her.

Mile 2: 7:41
About 1/4 of this mile was a long, steep downhill followed by 1/4 mile of a long, steep uphill. When I got to the bottom of the downhill and looked up, I couldn't believe they were actually making us run that. I even commented to the guy next to me that this was the longest, steepest hill I have ever encountered during a race. And that includes Capitol hill. My heart rate skyrocketed at the top of the hill, and I had to run a bit slower afterwards just to recover. The turnaround point was at mile 2.5

Mile 3: 7:37
This was another hilly mile with plenty of rollers. And by this point I realized that I was going to have to repeat the whole 1/4 mile downhill, 1/4 mile uphill thing. When my Garmin showed 3.1, I looked down and saw 22:48. My second-fastest 5K ever. I was seriously hoping I wasn't going to bonk. But then I reminded myself that the bonking usually happens in hot, sunny races when I go out to fast. The weather was in my favor.

Mile 4: 7:48
Time to go back up the huge hill again, although I was mentally prepared. I was hoping I wouldn't expend all my energy on it, so I tried to run it at a steady pace that was probably somewhere around 8:45. Meanwhile, I had flown down the downhill knowing that I needed all the speed I could get on the easier parts. I would guess that my downhill pace was somewhere around 6:45. So, even though my split for mile 4 was 7:48, I don't think I ever ran that pace.

Mile 5: 7:47
This mile was still hilly, but at least the worst was over. I was just trying to hang on to my pace, I knew I'd be able to PR. I was also still the second female. The woman who passed me was still in sight, about 45 seconds ahead.

Mile 6: 7:53
This mile started off slow but I really dug deep during the second half to get it down to 7:53. I wanted a PR and I wanted it to be significant.

Last 0.2: 7:11
After the 6 mile marker, I looked at my Garmin and thought that it would be impossible to break 48:00, so I maintained my pace and headed toward the finish line (which, of course, was all uphill). But as the clock got into my sight, I realized that if I sprinted, I could get it. I mustered everything I had and sprinted to the finish, breaking 48 with a 47:55. The first part of that 0.2 was probably 7:40 paced, but according to my Garmin, I was sub-6:00 for that last bit.


1st Place in Age Group!
I was second overall female (out of 49) and first place in my age group (30-39). The winner was 27. My 47:55 is a PR by 0:59, with a pace of 7:42. I'm not all that excited about my time, because I know I could do a lot better on a flatter course, but given how hilly it was, I was very pleased. The first place female finished exactly one minute ahead of me.

I was so happy to have my husband and my father there to support me. That meant the world to me.

I went back up to the track and cooled down for another 1.4 miles, to make an even 9 for the day. Then it was time for the awards. I didn't think I was going to get anything fantastic, but was pleasantly surprised at the $100 gift card to a spa. Free massage!!!! I'm guessing that the first place male got something different.

I was really impressed with this race. For being so small, it was extremely well organized, well timed, nice prizes, an awesome goodie bag with a t-shirt and a hat, and really friendly people.

Running-Themed Wedding (Sort of)

I married the man of my dreams on August 14. The wedding took place at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner, VA- which is an event venue and restaurant at the top of a 17-story building about 10 miles outside of Washington, DC.

The day began as I woke up in an Executive Suite at the Ritz Carlton. I stayed there Friday night so that I could avoid seeing the groom the day of the wedding. We wanted to see each other for the first time that day when I was walking down the aisle. My maid of honor, Tara, had spent the night in the Ritz with me which was a lot of fun. When was the last time I had a sleepover with one of my best friends!?!

I thought that maybe I might run that morning, but ultimately I decided against it because I didn't want to pack the extra running clothes-- I already had so much to think about packing wise! Instead, I watched music videos that coincidentally revolved around weddings as Tara slept in the next room. I also saw an episode of "Married with Children". Definitely not glamorizing married life!

That morning, I had my hairstylist come to the Ritz and do everyone's hair, including my mother and the flower girls. It was a fun morning as we all got to hang out and see the hairstyles come together! We also had access to the Club Executive Lounge, which was basically an all-day buffet of food. The bridesmaids kept brining food down in little bits, so I did a good job not being hungry. When I had gone there for breakfast, one of the hotel employees informed me that pajama pants were not allowed in the Club Lounge. I politely told her that they were "lounge pants" as if it was an entirely different thing-- but she didn't buy it. When I returned, I made sure to wear my "Bride" T-shirt as a subtle way to tell her not to give me any more problems!

Finally it was time to make our way over to the Tower Club. This was the first time I started to get nervous. I had been surprisingly calm for the entire morning and just enjoyed spending the time with my bridesmaids. But because we were running about 10 minutes behind schedule, I got anxious and really wanted to just get over to the venue. As we left, we all had our hair done, I was not in my dress yet, but the veil had been affixed by the stylist. I also had my makeup professionally done. The makeup had been a saga, but it worked out well in the end.

We arrived at the Tower club, and my mother was waiting for us there. She had already met the florist

and had all the bouquets in the room where we would be getting ready. She also brought my dress and my shoes, so I wouldn't have to worry about transporting them. What a great mom! We had about an hour and a half until the ceremony was going to start. The photographer was taking tons of photos of us getting ready, and also of the Groomsmen.

The bridesmaids wore zebra print dresses. I am lucky that I got married when I did, with zebra print being so in style. The dresses were actually Greg's idea, and I think the ones that I picked out were really classy.

I started to get anxious. Not nervous-- just that excited anxious feeling you get at the start of a really important race. You start to think about all the preparation that went into this day, and more importantly, how much it meant to you and how much you wanted it. Everyone wanted to talk to me about one thing or another, and yet my mind was elsewhere-- focused on how this was such a huge step for me. Romantic relationships had always been such a struggle for me, and I never thought I would get married. And yet one day, out of nowhere, I met someone who far exceeded my expectations of what a good partner would be. I truly believe that Greg and I were made for each other, and that we met each other at exactly the right time-- once we had figured ourselves out and were able to love and respect each other fully.

During the week leading up to the wedding, I was also surprisingly calm. The week leading up to a marathon is typically a lot more anxiety-laden. I am super worried about what I am eating and drinking, and I am a huge germ-a-phobe. I stalk the weather forecast like crazy. But none of this happened the week leading up to the wedding. Everything was indoors, so the weather didn't really matter to me, and the thought of getting sick didn't even cross my mind. I think this is because I knew the outcome of the wedding: Greg and I would be married. However, with a marathon, you really don't know the outcome. And frankly, there is a lot more time invested in training for a marathon than in planning a wedding. I maybe spent 2-3 hours a week on wedding stuff, and time spent running far surpasses that!

Finally it was time for everyone to line up to walk down the aisle. It was almost surreal for me. These bridesmaids were the closet women in my life, and I had know them all for a very long time. My sister, my cousin, a friend from elementary school, a friend from high school, and a friend from college. All of whom had remained close with me and who had always supported me in everything I chose to pursue. They were all there for me on the most important day of my life!

I heard the piano music played and just waited, arm-in-arm with my father until it was our turn to walk. Everyone stood up and the pianist gave me my cue. This was actually happening! I was getting married! All eyes were on me and I felt like a princess. A magazine article somewhere had said that the bride should smile and make eye contact with guests, and not just look straight ahead. It was almost like a dream, seeing all my close friends and family there gathered in one spot to watch me get married.

When I made my way toward Greg, we held hands and the ceremony began. We hired a priest who specialized in performing marriage ceremonies. The ceremony was somewhat religious, but mainly in the sense that "God is Love" and I truly believe that God is an important part of our marriage. The ceremony seemed to go by so quickly. Both our mothers gave readings. We said our vows (we used the traditional ones) and then put the rings on each other's fingers. And suddenly, we were married! We hadn't rehearsed the kiss, but I think it went off just fine. :-)

We walked back down the aisle as husband and wife, and I was absolutely glowing. I love him so much!

As for the wedding itself, I already noted that the bridesmaids wore zebra print, in honor of my
obsession with zebras (I have been fascinated with them since I saw them at the zoo when I was seven). I didn't want to go overboard with it, so the zebra print was just represented in the dresses, the cake and the party favors.

As I alluded to in the title, we also wanted to personalize the wedding with regard to our love for running. Greg and I spend a great deal of time training together so we wanted to have that passion represented. We decided to take the bib numbers of the races that we ran together and get them laminated. Once they were laminated, they looked so good that many people were surprised that they were the actual numbers we wore! I was happy that they turned out as well as they did. I also had two tables worth of running friends, so they especially appreciated this detail.

The rest of the wedding went by very quickly, but Greg and I had been warned of this, so we took a few moments to ourselves to just remember how it felt and to tell each other how much we loved each other. It was so nice to see our closest family and friends all at the same time.

After the dinner, it was time for dancing. Our first dance was "Learn You Inside Out" by Lifehouse. We wanted to choose something original that people probably wouldn't have heard of. I then danced with my father to "100 Years" by Five for Fighting. That was a lot of fun-- we had actually practiced beforehand. The dancing continued for a few more hours and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. It was by far the best day of my life!

NYC Marathon: Training Update

This is my first official blog dedicated to my training for the NYC Marathon.

The NYC marathon is the largest marathon in the United States, and rivals the London marathon for the largest marathon in the world. Due to its popularity, there is a lottery system to get into the race. It seems like about 1 in 6 people got in through the lottery this year (and that's just a guess based on how many people I know who entered it and were accepted vs. denied). And one of them was my fiancé, Greg. I was unfortunately denied, so I opted to raise money for charity and "earn" my entry that way. This will be Greg's first marathon, and I definitely want us to share the experience.

When it came time to choose the charity, I realized there were a lot of options. Most of them revolved around fighting some kind of disease, none of which have directly affected me (thankfully). So I chose a charity that was relevant to the marathon and relevant to my family history: The Central Park Conservancy. This organization cares for Central Park and goes far and beyond what taxpayer dollars would cover.

My father grew up in New York city in an apartment building that faced central park. Throughout his childhood, he would play in the park and he built many memories there. He eventually moved down to Virginia where I was born. We would visit my grandparents and uncle in New York, and I had the opportunity to play in the park, just like my father.

My grandparents passed away about 7 years ago. It was very sad for me because I had a strong relationship with them. Every time I go to New York, I remember them and all the wonderful times we had together. My uncle is my only remaining family member in Manhattan and it will be great to have his support when I run the marathon.


So if you are reading this, please help me meet my fundraising goal of $3,000. I am currently 46% of the way there and every dollar counts! Click here to donate now.

Now for the training aspect of it! My attitude when training for this marathon is that I want to motivate Greg and support him in his first marathon. I don't care as much about our finish time, although I really think Greg is capable of that golden 3:40. His half marathon PR is the McMillan equivalent of a 3:40, and he has built up even more endurance since then.
We've been doing most of our runs together-- but sometimes I run a few extra miles on my own or I do a recovery run when he has a rest day. For interval work, we go to a track and run at our own paces. He's faster than me on the intervals and I wouldn't want to hold him back.

My past few weeks have been:

Week of 6/28: 41 miles (includes a 5K race)
Week of 7/5: 45 miles (inc. 13-miler)
Week of 7/12: 47 miles (inc. 16-miler)
Week of 7/19: 48.6 miles (inc. 15-miler)
Week of 7/26: 52.5 miles (inc. 18-miler)

Each week includes one speed work, one Fartlek, and one long run. For this week I am planning on 56 miles. And then next week I am getting married so I have a recovery week!

Fun with Garmin

I think few people realize the full potential of their Garmin Forerunners. As a proud owner of the Garmin Forerunner 405, I've been doing some pretty fancy stuff with mine, and I thought I would share.

The Garmin gives you the freedom to run anywhere without having to know the distance of the route beforehand. My fiancé and I have been enjoying exploring our new area, and coming back home to see the maps of our routes.

What I want to focus on in this post is creating custom workouts using the Garmin Training Center. The Garmin Training Center is free software that you can download from the Garmin Website. You must also have the Garmin ANT agent installed on your computer, which most users already have in order to see the workouts in Garmin Connect.

Once Garmin Training Center is installed on your computer, you can create custom workouts. You create "steps" that are defined by either a particular distance, a particular amount of time, a particular heart rate, or simply by pressing the lap button on the Garmin device. You can create steps that repeat and save yourself the hassle of entering the same interval six times. Additionally, you can create a "target" for each step. This could be a heart rate zone or a particular pace range. If you fail to be in this target range, the Garmin will beep at you until you are within your target.

One of the more complicated interval sets I do is intervals of 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 2:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 with equal duration recovery jogs. These intervals are sandwiched between a warm-up and a cooldown. Programing this workout into my Garmin device is easy. I write the steps into the workout builder and then transfer the workout to my device wirelessly via the ANT Agent.

Now it's time to go running! The Garmin tracks my pace, distance and heart rate. Best of all, the Garmin beeps at me when it's time to change intervals so I don't have to worry about looking at my watch-- I can focus on pushing hard! During the intervals, the Garmin displays my pace, my heart rate, and how much more time is left in that particular interval. If it was a distance-based interval, it would tell me the distance remaining. I try my best to focus on running and to ignore all the juicy data on my watch- but sometimes I can't resist taking a peak! The intervals end and I do my cooldown jog.

I come home and set the Garmin near my computer. The ANT Agent detects a new workout and automatically uploads it to Garmin Connect and the Garmin Training Center (this is optional). From either one of those interfaces, I can see my pace for each interval and how much distance I covered during each segment. I can look back on previous workouts of the same interval set and compare heart rates and paces. Best of all, I can import this workout into my RunningAhead training log with just one click. Now I have all the data stored in my log.

And then it automatically publishes to Facebook! (This is a RunningAhead feature-- not a Garmin feature). My running friends can view the workout and I can view their workouts.

Programming your own workouts into your Garmin is just one of the many great things about this training tool. Happy running!

Firecracker 5K: Age Group Award

Continuing on with my summer racing frenzy was the Firecracker 5K in Reston, VA this morning. I was debating between running this race and the Independence Day 5000 on Friday night. I ultimately opted for this race because Reston seemed like it would be flatter than Fairfax and I prefer running in the morning. It also gave me the opportunity to volunteer at the Independence Day 5000 race on Friday night.

Before the race started today, one of my runner friends, Sarah, informed me that this course would be hillier than the Independence 5000. And unfortunately, it was hotter. The 8:00am sun seemed much stronger than the 7:30pm sun at the other race. But oh well. I had made my choice and I was going to still try my best.

Greg and I warmed up for 1.5 miles and then headed to the start line. For hot races, I don't like to warm up for much longer than that. For a colder 5K, I think that a 3-mile warmup would be ideal. My goal for this race was not to PR, but to beat my previous PR. In other words, I wanted this race to be my second-fastest ever 5K. Sounds like a tall order for a hot and hilly race, but considering that I recently smashed my 5K PR by over a minute, I thought my increased fitness would still allow me to do better than I used to do at hot 5Ks. My previous "hot 5K PR" was 24:17.

I didn't start as close to the front as I typically do, so there ended up being a lot of weaving during the first mile. The course was narrow, and I didn't want to add too much extra distance by weaving, but I also didn't want to go slower than my desired pace because of the crowds. The first mile included a large hill, and I ended up logging a 7:30.

The second mile just blew by. Almost the entire mile was downhill. Parts of it were shaded by the buildings in Reston Town Center, but other parts were really hot and sunny. I knew that the last half mile would be uphill, so I really pushed hard to take advantage of the downhill. I passed a lot of people. My pace was 7:06.

I knew I was going to have to dig deep for the last mile. Sarah had told me that the last half mile was all uphill and I had done that hill during the warmup. It wasn't very steep, but I knew that I would certainly feel it at the end. I pushed pass a bunch of runners, and was happy that I was passing more people than were passing me. I was closely monitoring my Garmin and was in the 7:20 pace range for the first half of the mile, but after that hill at the end, my pace slowed, so my time for mile three was 7:43.

I pushed hard during the last 0.1, even though that hill had taken it out of me. Average pace was 7:23.

My overall time was 23:21, which is exactly 1:00 slower than my PR. However, it is exactly 0:01 faster than my previous PR, making it my second-fastest ever 5K. Goal attained by the skin of my teeth! And. . . I blew my "hot" 5K PR out of the water. According to my Garmin, my average race pace was 7:26 for 3.14 miles. Greg's Garmin read 3.2 miles. He ran a 22:14. The course may have been a bit long, and we also did some weaving at the beginning.

We stayed for the awards ceremony and I found out that I got third place in my age group! I was called up on stage and awarded a gift certificate to a running store. It felt great! In terms of all women, I placed 29 out of 358, putting me in the top 8%.

I'm pleased with this race, but I do wish I had pushed harder on that final hill. I wasn't as winded and incoherent as I normally am at the 5K finish line, which makes me think I had more in me to give. My HR also didn't get as high as I think it could have. But it was a nice race with much lower humidity than what we've been having for the past month.

For the fun of it, I plugged my time into the Runworks calculator, based on Daniels Running Formula. My time today equates to a 48:25 10K. My previous two 10Ks were a 49:50 and 50:13-- and I think that's because they were much more humid.

A Tale of Two Ten-K's

I've been away from the blog for awhile, mainly because I've been super busy with everything else that is going on in my life. But I have kept up with the running. Mileage has been relatively low for the past five weeks, and I am just about to start ramping up again for the NYC marathon in November.

My approach to summer racing has been a carefree one. I know I am not going to PR in the heat, so I planned on running a lot of shorter races and just trying my best. I ran a two-mile race at the beginning of the month with an official time of 14:07. This was good enough for first place in my graduating class (it was a reunion event) and third overall female.

Last weekend I ran the Lawyers Have Heart 10K, and this weekend I ran the Red Cross "Run For the Red" 10K. I am pleased with my performance and effort levels at each of these races. For the Lawyers Have Heart race, this marked my 6th consecutive year at the event, and my 5-year anniversary of running a 10K. My primary goal was to finally break 50:00. I've broken 50:00 many times at 10Ks, but never in a summer race. If I couldn't do that, then at the very least I wanted to set a course PR, which would require beating the 50:59 I ran in 2007. Surely I am in better shape now! For today's 10K, my goal was to simply try my best. I thought that the course might be more challenging than last week's, so I wasn't setting any time expectations.

Mile	Pace	Avg. HR		Pace	Avg. HR
1	7:58	176		7:59	172
2	7:48	183		8:00	181
3	7:54	186		8:10	184
4	7:59	187		8:03	187
5	8:12	187		8:05	187
6	8:15	188		8:22	188
6.2	?	191		6:52	190

Okay, I just spent way too much time trying to format that table perfectly.

I feel like today's course was much more challenging and that I had to push harder. According to my heart rate, that's not exactly true. However, there is much more of a fade in the Lawyers race than there was in today's race. The only reason that the last mile is 8:22 was because about 1/4 of it was uphill. Not what you want to see at the end of the race. That speedy 6:52 was the downhill.

Anyway, the times were 49:50 in Lawyers (goal achieved!) and 50:13 in Run for the Red. I still think that I am more affected by the heat than most runners. I'm pleased with how I stuck it out and pushed hard in these races, and I think it will pay off when the fall comes and I start to care about PRs again.

Expectations

Today wasn't what I expected it to be. After waiting over a year since my last marathon to try again, I was really expecting to blow it out of the water with a 3:35. Even so, my strategy was to start out conservatively (slower than BQ pace) and then negative split.

Expectations & Training Analysis:

All the signs pointed to a BQ (3:40) being attainable, with something like 3:35 being perfectly realistic.

1. In March 2008, I ran a 3:51:49. This was based on a 7-week training cycle, averaging about 40 miles per week. Since then, I have had quite a few marathon training cycles, each one peaking at 55 miles per week or more, and each one at least 12 weeks in length. I would expect significant improvement based on this training.

2. In March 2009, I ran a half marathon at 1:44:04. This predicts a marathon from 3:37-3:40, depending on whose calculator you use. This was over a year ago, and my fitness level has increased significantly since then, and I have continued to train with weekly mileage in the 40s and 50s.

3. Most recently, I ran a 5-miler in 37:10 and a 5K in 22:21. Both of these races predict times faster than 3:40. Although one could argue that you can't predict marathon times based on these calculators, I have always found my longer races (half marathons and full marathons) to be "faster" than their equivalent shorter races. In other words, endurance is my strength. My body works aerobically at a higher percentage of max heart rate than most people, which correlates to better performance in longer races.

4. Two weeks ago, I ran 18.5 miles at an average 8:33 pace, and I had sped up during the last five miles to an 8:20 pace. I felt great, and I thought I could have continued at a 8:33 pace or faster for at least another 3-4 miles. This was despite the heat (in the 70's) and humidity.

5. The largest indicator was the fact that my paces per heart rate had dropped dramatically. I do all of my easy runs at a heart rate of 155-165. This is my "easy zone" according to a VO2 max test I took. With that in mind, my average training paces for the past 5 months have been:

January: 9:16

February: 8:59

March: 8:52

April: 8:45

May: 8:44

I figured that to BQ, I would only need to run 20 seconds per mile faster than my easy pace.

For "marathon pace runs" I would target a HR of 165-174. This would usually correlate to an 8:10 or sometimes faster. This heart rate zone is below my lactate threshold zone. Most importantly, it felt like marathon pace. Just a tiny bit faster than "easy".

Today's Race

I went into this race with a great deal of confidence. I wasn't sick or injured, and the weather was reasonable. It was in the mid 50's and overcast at the start and rose to the low 60's and sunny at the end. These aren't ideal conditions for me, but they are decent, and I didn't think they would make me bonk.

I started out at a very controlled pace. I reached the halfway point at 1:51:45, which is a slower average than BQ pace. I knew that the first half was a net uphill and the second half was a net downhill, so I did this purposely. I figured that I could easily log 8:10's on the way back and smash the BQ. Only that's not what happened.

Things did get much easier after the halfway point, and I logged an 8:16, 8:22, 8:17. But after that, I could feel myself starting to fade. 8:17 became 8:30 became 8:40 became 9:00 and so on. I knew at mile 16 that I wasn't going to keep the pace I needed to BQ, but I was still hopeful about a nice PR. This is very similar to how I felt in New Jersey last spring.

I was miserable. I was in so much pain and I didn't know why it got so hard for me. I was well hydrated (carried a bottle for most of the race) plenty of Gels, calories, etc. I had slept well the past few nights. I was a bit suspicious of that 18.5 miler two weeks ago, but that seriously felt "easy". Going into the race, I was a somewhat worried that I had missed my peak. I think I felt strongest in mid-April when I ran that 5K. All of my training was targeted toward a March 22 race, and then I just kept tapering, ramping up, tapering, etc. There was no structured "training plan" for today's marathon. I was just banking on the training I had been doing since September.

Even still, I don't think that any of this really explains what happened out there. Maybe the weather wasn't perfect. Maybe I missed my peak. But still-- I am in so much better shape than I was two years ago and yet I couldn't even beat that time!

In complete agony (both physical and mental), I crossed the finish line in 3:53:55. I do think this is a respectable time, but nowhere near what I am capable of. My fiancé was waiting for me, and I knew he understood exactly what I was going through. I didn't need to say a word. I was in shock, I was drained, I was in pain-- I felt broken in so many ways. I didn't speak for a good 10 minutes. I regretted not having gone for the PR two weeks ago. I regretted not "racing" the GW Parkway 10-miler at full effort when I was feeling amazing. I felt stupid. I felt I had sacrificed so much for this one goal, and I didn't even come close.

I started crying. I just felt so crushed, so defeated and so ashamed for having been so cocky. Guilty, even, for having solicited the support of so many of my runner friends. And that I let them down.

The race director approached me and asked me how I did, I just looked at him with tears in my eyes and said that I didn't do it. (He had known he was a BQ attempt for me). Everything I had worked so hard for. . . it all came down to this.

I met my friends shortly after and I perked up a bit.

What I Learned

Maybe there was a higher power at work trying to teach me something by not letting me BQ or PR. Part of the reason I wanted this so badly was to cross it off my list and move on. I've been obsessing about it throughout my entire engagement and it's overshadowed the happiest time of my entire life! I guess what I've learned is that BQ or no BQ, I need to change my focus. I am extremely motivated and goal-oriented-- and it typically "works" to get me what I want. But for some reason, not in this case. And I think that reason is that I need to see the bigger picture of my life, appreciate what I have, and focus on all the wonderful changes.

As with all of my best races, it will come when I least expect it to. The week before I ran my 3:51 back in 2008, I thought I was seriously injured. I thought I'd probably have to drop out at mile 5. But instead, I exceeded my goal. In London, I was also injured and expected to drop out. But instead, I exceeded my goal. When I ran the Houston half marathon in 2008, I had been injured for three weeks, and I expected a 2:00 "fun run". Instead, I PRed with a 1:50. Completely unexpected. Two weeks ago, I wasn't even trying to run a marathon, but I ran a good percentage of it at an awesome pace given the weather conditions. When I least expected it.

From now on I think I need to go into races with no expectations. I should know where I am at fitness wise and what to target, but ultimately, I need to realize that every race is a gamble, an unknown. No matter how much training you do or how great you feel, the race could still be miserable. Or, no matter how badly you feel or how unprepared you are, you could rock it! I put far too much pressure on myself and from now on I am just going to back off and let it happen. With that approach, do I worry that I won't be as motivated to train? A little. But I know I will be more balanced if I keep a more laid back approach to this whole thing.

So. . . . what next? I'm running the NYC marathon with my fiancé. He got accepted through the lottery and it's going to be his first one. I am running it for charity. I'm going to focus on raising the $3,000 for the Central Park Conservancy, and coaching him to his first marathon finish. NYC is not a course to PR on (very crowded, lots of hills) and my intention with this race is to enjoy it with my fiancé. I'll create a training plan for him, train with him, and then run the race with him. The BQ is going to be out of sight and out of mind for awhile. I have a bunch of shorter races between now and then and I am just going to get out there and see what happens.

BQ or Bust!

Wednesday

On Wednesday of this week, I could tell that the weather forecast for today's marathon would not be in my favor. I decided that I would take the early start option (6:00am) and hope that the cloud cover they were predicting would be enough to save me from heat exhaustion.

Thursday

On Thursday morning, the first thing I did when I woke up was check the weather forecast again. Much to my dismay, they had added humidity into the mix, and raised the high from 87 to 93. The low went from 64 to 72. Yikes! Based on this, I knew there would be no way I could BQ. I have run marathons and half marathons in these conditions and I've always preformed poorly. Furthermore, I thought it would be dangerous for me to even run a marathon in these conditions.

I cried. I just started crying my eyes out. Yet ANOTHER marathon with unseasonably hot weather. Was someone up there laughing about me? I was about to go for a morning run and it was 45 degrees. Why couldn't the marathon be that day? Why couldn't the cold weather just hold on? It was so unfair. I've been chasing this BQ for so long. I know that I am more than capable of a 3:40 (I am thinking more like 3:35) and yet the weather always comes in and messes it up for me.

My fiancé and I went for our morning run and 5 miles turned into 7 miles. What's the point in taking it easy for a marathon that I knew I wasn't going to run? When we got back from our 7 miles, I hopped onto MarathonGuide.com and found the Bob Potts Heritage Trail marathon two weeks later. Even though the weather is more likely to be warm later in the spring, I didn't think it could get much worse than a high of 93. That's like a July marathon. Bob Potts appealed to me for three reasons:

1. It was within driving distance (just 2 hours away)

2. The course was mainly flat

3. It had a 6:30am start time

Later that day I mailed in my registration form.

Friday

On Friday, I decided to do a semi-challenging run to make up for the shorter, easier runs I had been doing during the taper. I ran a 10-mile progression run. The first 5 miles were at an easy pace, with my fiancé. He stopped there and I continued on for another 5, and I decided that increase my pace by 0:10/mile with each one. The last five miles were 8:37, 8:24, 8:12, 8:04 and 7:42. It felt awesome! While I was doing this run, I realized that there was no going back now. Doing a 10-mile progression run two days before a marathon is not something you're supposed to do!

Saturday

On Saturday, I emailed the race director and told him not to expect me because I thought it would be dangerous to run a marathon with the forecast I had seen. He said he was really bummed out about not getting to meet me, and suggested coming out for a training run. I told him I would run halfway and potentially more if I felt up to it. He then told me that other people were just doing half, so they were going to score a half marathon, too. Running-wise, I ran 5 easy miles on Saturday morning.

Sunday

I woke up, got dressed, took one Honey Stinger Gel from the pantry as well as a water bottle and headed out. When I got to the race, I started chatting with other runners. I told them that my plan was to just go halfway, and maybe a few miles after that if I felt okay. I told them about how I wanted to qualify for Boston, and I knew it wasn't going to happen in this weather, so I was going to wait two weeks for the Bob Potts marathon.

We started at 6:00. The race was an out-and-back on the C&O Canal Towpath-- done twice. So it was about 6.25 miles to the turnaround point. My goal was to keep my heart rate in the easy range, and maybe push a bit more toward the end. Here is a mile-by-mile recap.

1- 8:42 (Lots of women are passing me. That's okay.)

2- 8:37

3- 8:42 I stopped at a water station for about 1 minute and chatted with one of the volunteers who I knew.

4- 8:55 There was a tree branch blocking the course, so I decided to move it out of the way for everyone.

5- 8:44 (Okay, back running again. Keep that heart rate in the easy zone!)

6- 8:40 (Still in the easy zone, and I am passing people!)

7- 8:36 (The girl I just passed is completely out of breath, I wonder if she'll make it the whole way)

8- 8:51 (Yay, I passed another woman!)

9- 8:33 (Wow, I can't believe it's already been 9 miles.)

10- 8:30 (Oooh, someone just told me I was the "first chick")

11- 8:26 (Maybe I will speed up a bit!)

12- 8:48 (Damn, this still feels easy!)

13- 8:26 (I could stop and get a 1:52 half marathon, but I want to turnaround and keep running.)

14- 8:21 (I feel great! Maybe I can BQ. I just need to average about 8:02 for the rest of the race.)

15- 8:03 (Yes, I can BQ!)

16- 8:18 (Well. . . maybe I'll just go for first female)

17- 8:16 (I'll end up with a 3:44 which will still be awesome. I'm gonna go for it!)

18- 8:31 (actually, I am getting tired, probably should drop out, I want a BQ, not a PR.)

I ran a total of 18.5 miles at an average 8:33 pace and I was the first female by about three minutes. I stopped at the water station and the volunteers asked me if I was okay. I was perfectly fine, but I told them my dilemma: PR today, or BQ in two weeks? None of them knew what to tell me. I called my fiancé using one of the volunteer's cell phones. I told him my dilemma. He didn't know what to say. I told him I would run for a bit longer and potentially finish the race.


I started running again, but then turned right back around and decided to stop. I realized that my legs were tired, and if I went for it, my legs wouldn't be recovered in time for the Bob Potts marathon.

It was a tough decision. I was feeling a lot better than I expected to. I think that my problem withthe heat is actually more the sun. Yesterday I was standing out in the sun at a garden shop and I felt completely zonked and like I wanted to lay down. But as soon as I got home, I totally perked up. I fared much better at this race then I did at Shamrock, and Shamrock was only 65 degrees when I bonked. The difference was the sun. Today was hot and humid, but the overcast sky definitely helped.

Other factors that I was thinking about during my run was that I had just done a 10-mile progression run two days ago, and my legs would feel that starting at mile 20. Additionally, I only had one Honey Gel. I could maybe overcome that by drinking a lot of sports drink at the aid stations, but it wouldn't be ideal.

So, BQ or bust. I hope I don't regret my decision and that in two weeks, I will get a 3:35 at the Bob Potts marathon!

Training Update: 1 Week to Go!

Life has been such a roller coaster for me lately. On April 2, my fiancé and I closed on our new house. It was a foreclosure so there was a lot of work to be done to it before we moved in. We had two weeks before we moved in to get all the walls painted and all the floors replaced (except for the kitchen floor). There is such a long list of things that the previous owners neglected or took from the house, so I've been dealing with that on top of training and my full time job. Oh yeah, and planning a wedding!

We finally moved in on April 16 and everything went smoothly. I am in a whole new running world now. It used to be impossible to run out of my front door because there was construction going on in every direction, and it was all major roads with no sidewalks. There was the option to drive 2 miles to the trail, but it was dangerous to be on the secluded trail without Greg. Because of this, the majority of my runs were on a gym treadmill.

Now, I simply go out of my front door and start running. The area is full of running paths which are all well-lit and near roads, so they seem pretty safe. In fact, a "run-able" area was a key decision factor in choosing a new home. There was one beautiful home that Greg and I really loved, but as soon as you left the neighborhood, you were on a narrow road with no paths. With our new home, I feel safe running alone in the morning when it's still dark out, but usually Greg joins me anyway. Most of the area is constant rolling hills, which I am not used to. The W&OD trail basically consists of a lot of inclines and declines, but not rolling hills. This is definitely a more challenging terrain and I think it will make me stronger. I don't even have treadmill access, so it's outside or nothing!

I feel like at some point in mid-February, I made a huge leap in fitness. It happened very suddenly. I always thought that running improvement should be a gradual process. But instead, I was pretty much running at the same level for awhile, but then I all of a sudden had a massive improvement. The first indication of this was my heart rate. My "easy" pace is dictated by a heart rate of 155-165 according to the VO2 max test I took last June. I noticed that I started going a lot faster at that heart rate, and it still felt easy to me. For the longest time, my easy runs and long runs were in the 9:15-9:40 range. And now they are in the 8:40-9:00 range. Sometimes I log miles that are at at BQ pace (8:25) that are in my "easy" HR zone. This is when it's flat or downhill.

The second indication was a 5-mile race at a pace of 7:26. Considering this was a faster pace than any 5K I had ever run, I knew it was a huge improvement. And then of course, there was the 5K a few weeks ago when I dropped my PR by 1:01. And I have to mention that during both of these races, the weather cooperated. Both were very windy, but wind doesn't affect me nearly as much as heat.

My training has been going well:

Week of March 22: 40.5 miles (17-mile long run)

Week of March 29: 52 miles (19-mile long run)

Week of April 5: 53 miles (21-mile long run)

Week of April 12: 45 miles (15-mile long run)

Week of April 19: 38 miles after I complete my 10-miler on Sunday

My attitude for this marathon has been way more relaxed than any other marathon. Maybe because it's so small. Maybe because I'm just really confident given my training and my recent race times. Maybe it's because I have been so focused on the move and the wedding. I have to admit to taking a peak at the extended forecast and not liking the fact that they keep increasing the high temperature every time I look. :-( But honestly, at this point, it's almost become a farce. I know I am capable of a sub-3:40 and if it doesn't happen it's not going to make me feel any worse about my running or what I've been doing. I'm going to stay relaxed about this marathon and just do my best.

5K: Massive PR

Last night I ran one of the Crystal City 5K Fridays. I had run one of these last year and really enjoyed it. This race is put on by Pacers Running Stores, so it felt great to be out there wearing my Pacers Ambassador shirt.

Background

I ran my first 5K in September 2006. Since then my times have not changed much. I've made significant improvements in the half marathon and full marathon since then, but my 5K was pretty much static:

Sept 2006: 24:07
Nov 2006: 23:32
June 2007: 23:30
Nov 2007: 24:19
April 2008: 23:58
Nov 2008: 23:22 (PR)
April 2009: 23:30

Nov 2009: 23:40

This was very frustrating for me because I had been working so hard over the years to be a faster runner and yet the 5K wasn't really coming down.

Pre-Race

I'm very much of a morning runner, so evening races tend to throw me for a loop. But I made sure to hydrate well during the day and eat foods that wouldn't upset my stomach. Greg and I arrived to the race and picked up our bibs. We warmed up for 1.5 miles. I was worried that my Garmin couldn't get a satellite signal during the warmup. Finally, about 5 minutes before the race start, Greg held my Garmin up in the air and it got a signal.

Race Conditions

The weather was about 56 degrees, sunny and very windy. The wind was the biggest challenge of this course. The course was mainly flat, with a few inclines. My goal was to go sub-23:00, and I was fairly certain I could be in the 22:40s if I tried.

The Race

The race started and I went out fast. My Garmin initially had me going at a pace of 6:30, but I wasn't sure that I trusted it, based on how look it took to get a signal. I decided to just run by feel and not really trust the Garmin. (These splits are according to Garmin)

Mile 1: 6:50

When I realized that I had run a 6:50 for the first mile, I thought to myself "what have I done?" But I continued onwards. It was really tough running directly into wind gusts and I didn't have anyone to draft off of. I just kept telling myself I could turn around soon! The hairpin turns in this race (3 of them) were not fun, but I think I handled them as best as I could.

Mile 2: 7:05

I knew at this point that I had a strong PR "in the bag" and I just had to maintain my focus. I started to trust my Garmin a little more, although the mile markers indicated slightly longer miles than my Garmin. I passed a ton of people in the last mile. I pushed as hard as I could. I kept telling myself: There's a new 5K PR just up ahead. All you have to do is run there to get it. The faster you run to get it the better it will be!

Mile 3: 7:04

When I was approaching the finish line, I gave a final kick and saw a 22:xx on the clock and was so excited!

Official time: 22:21

This is a PR by 1:01, which is huge for a 5K!

Average race pace was 7:12. This is a discrepancy from my Garmin, partially due to weaving, and partially because with all the tall buildings, maybe my Garmin wasn't completely accurate. I don't know how I placed because Pacers doesn't list results by age group and gender. There were definitely some strong runners out there, but I held my own!