Birthday Marathon: A celebration in Richmond

Yesterday I turned 45. And I ran a marathon. My 33rd marathon, but the only marathon (or race, for that matter) that I've ever done on the day of my birthday.

Background
I was supposed to run the Marine Corps Marathon two weeks ago, but 16 days out I developed hip pain which resulted in two weeks of almost no running. Just some 2-3 mile runs here and there to "test" it out. Two visits to the doctor and cortisone shots eventually cleared things up but it wasn't 100% in the days leading up to the race, so I decided it wasn't smart to run it. Plus, the weather ended up being quite warm (so much so that they shut down the race early) and I would have likely switched to Richmond anyway. So it was going to be Richmond regardless, but the hip pain meant two straight weeks of nearly no running.

I had only run the Richmond one time before, in 2007. It was my 5th marathon and my first sub-4:00 marathon. I remembered it well, though, thanks to my detailed blog post. As my first sub-4:00 marathon, it carried good memories. I had also set PRs at the half marathon there in 2008 and 2015.

During the hip saga, I was headed down a dark path and I turned things around by truly letting go of any time expectation for a fall marathon. My goal became to simply run a marathon healthy and without hip pain, fully accepting that it might be one of my slower races. Letting go and truly embracing the marathon as an experience instead of a goal was mentally refreshing and really lightened my mood.

When I'm training for a marathon, much of the motivation to crank out the hard workouts comes from the desire to run a fast race. Otherwise, why would be I out there running hard tempos or long track workouts? Switching my mindset from "I am highly motivated to run a fast marathon" to "I just want to have fun" was a big shift in attitude, but one that had to happen.

Getting back at it
One of the benefits of taking so much time off was that I was really fresh when it came to do my last long run. Once my hip started to feel better, I was able to crank out 17.4 miles with some marathon pace work and have it feel totally manageable. However, this resulted in some serious DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) for the next 3 days since it was a shock to my system. I was familiar with this after my Boston Marathon fiasco last year. I took 9 days off shortly before Boston for an SI Joint issue and when I finally did a hard long run, my legs were really sore. So I knew this was no cause for concern.

11 days out from the marathon, on Halloween, I decided to run some mile repeats at 10K effort. I coached myself for this marathon, and I know that faster-than-lactate-threshold workouts are a weakness of mine, but extremely effective when I do them. I had just included marathon pace miles in my long run, so I thought this would be a good sharpening workout. I was targeting 6:45 for the repeats but didn't look at my Garmin for pacing. Running by feel, I ran 6:41, 6:34, 6:30 and they all felt like 6:45. This meant that I was in better shape than I had believed myself to be in. Wow. And my legs were still sore from the long run too.

7 days out from the marathon I did my last long run: 11.11 miles. I ran it as a progression run starting at the slow end of my easy zone and ending at the fast end of my easy zone. The entire run felt effortless with the first mile clocking in at 9:05 and the last 4 miles at 7:52, 7:47, 7:44, 7:50. I honestly couldn't believe how easy those paces felt. I was peaking for sure.

Shoe switch!
On Monday, 5 days out from the marathon, I decided to wear my race shoes for my final speed work, which would be 5 x 3:00 at half marathon effort. My plan was to wear the same shoes I wore in Houston (the adidas Adios Pro 2) as they only had 38 miles on them and they worked well there. However, I turned around and came home after running a mile out because my feet were slipping and sliding all around in the shoe. They were too big! How was that possible?

So then I tested another pair of the Adios Pro 2, the ones I wore in Boston 2022, and those also felt too big. I had one pair that was a half size smaller, but those shoes had too many miles on them for me to want to race a marathon in them. I then pulled a brand new pair of the New Balance Fuel Cell Elite 2, which is last year's model of the shoe. I heard many people say that version 3 of this shoe had issues and everyone liked version 2 so much better. So I bought a pair of version 2 and stashed it in my closet so I wouldn't even need to try the 3.

I put them on my feet and they fit perfectly. I ran 3 sets of 3:00 at half marathon pace and I felt zippy. Compared to the Adios Pro, they have a much softer landing and the fit is more locked in. I generally prefer the Adios Pro because they are more responsive and seem to have more pickup. But then I remembered my reason for running: to have fun. So what if these shoes weren't quite as fast? They were still fast and definitely faster than the shoes I wore when I ran my 3:15 PR, which did not have a carbon fiber plate.

The fact that they matched my planned outfit perfectly was a sign that it was meant to be. And having comfortable shoes might trump having faster shoes during those later miles. Usually I like to break shoes in a bit more before using them in a marathon, but I didn't have time for that.

The weirdest expo ever
Greg and I drove down to Richmond the day before the race with my friend Laurena. Laurena and I worked together nearly 20 years ago and hadn't seen each other since. But we stayed in touch and she reached out when she saw I was running Richmond. The drive down 95 was traffic-laden but the time went by so quickly because Laurena and I had 20 years to catch up on.

Laurena and me after the expo

The expo location was new this year (or maybe new to me, I am not sure when they moved it) but it was several miles away from the downtown start/finish at a NASCAR race track. It was cold outside with light drizzle and the expo was partially outside and partially in a garage-like structure. We were freezing cold and the light drizzle was annoying. After getting our bibs and shirts from a concession-stand setup, we went into the garage and walked through the expo. It was one long hallway with vendors on both sides. It was extremely crowded, cold and generally unpleasant. We wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. 

I can't even imagine how uncomfortable the vendors must have been in the cold and if other runners were like us, they didn't want to spend a ton of time there visiting the various booths. They had some featured speakers too and they were in an outdoor, uncovered space. 

I do not understand why the expo wasn't held at the convention center that was literally right next to the start line and race hotels. That would have made so much more sense. A more convenient location, climate controlled, more space for the vendors. But for some reason (I have to imagine there is a reason) they haven't held the expo there in all the years I've been running it (2007, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2018).

Food and Fueling
I am making this its own section because I often get asked about my fueling strategy. So here it is, all in one place. (Feel free to skip if this stuff is boring to you!)

I have a history of not being able to get gels down during the later miles of a marathon so it has taken me years to figure out a fueling strategy that works for me.

In the 3 days leading up to the race I tracked my water intake to ensure at least 60 ounces of water each day. I would have aimed for even high if the race was forecast to be warmer. I have a smart water bottle that tracks my hydration on an app. I used two packs of Uppermost Hydration each day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I like the ways this hydration mix tastes and it has the added benefit of B and C vitamins. 

I did not carb load per-se, but I was mindful of what I ate and I made sure to eat carbohydrate-rich foods. Some examples are oatmeal, bagels, muffins, rice, pretzels. Pretty basic!

The day before the race I ate the following:

• 2 hardboiled eggs
• A medium-sized pumpkin muffin
• A turkey sandwich on a plain bagel with goat cheese
• A banana
• Lots of almond butter filled pretzels (Wegman's brand) - seriously a lot of these!
• Drank about 8 ounces of beet juice just before noon
• Had a beet salad with dinner
• Chicken parm (no cheese) with spaghetti and Pomodoro sauce at local restaurant
• Bread basket at dinner

2 hours before the race start:

• About 10 ounces of fluids (water + Skratch Labs Hydration)
• About 6-8 almond butter filled pretzels
• Half a banana

All the fuel I brought, actual intake outlined below.

This is not much food. I used to eat a bagel with peanut butter + a banana but I found that to be too much. I normally do not eat before I run in the mornings so my body isn't used to having a ton of food.

25 minutes before the race:

• Strawberry banana UCAN gel with 5-6 ounces of water. UCAN is a slow release energy so if you take it 25-30 minutes before start time it kicks in when the race starts and slowly releases energy. Maurten gels, on the other hand, deliver a burst of energy right when you take them.

Once I started racing:

I carried a 24 ounce bottle of water + Skratch Labs Hydration mix. This mix has electrolytes + carbs. I used 1.25 scoops which equates to 100 calories. After each mile marker: I took a small (1-2 ounce) sip from my bottle. I drank the entire bottle and was finished with it after 16 miles.

At mile 20, I took water from a water station and drank that while walking for 4-5 seconds. I probably got a good 4 ounces in. I had no other fluids after mile 20, which was fine for a cool day. I used this same strategy in Houston with warm temps and I ended up dehydrated.

I timed my gels as follows:

• 0:20- 2 Honey Stringer chews
• 0:40- Maurten gel
• 1:20- Maurten gel
• 2:00- Maurten CAF gel (my only caffiene)
• 2:40 - Maurten gel
• 3:00 - One honey stinger chew

Everything went down easily. I estimate that I consumed around 600 calories including the UCAN gel, Maurten gels, chews, and Skratch mix.

This could have been its own blog post but I like to write novel-length marathon race reports, so it's here. 

Weather
It was 38 degrees at the start and warmed up to around 52 by the finish. Winds were 2-5 mph and there were only a few times I noticed wind, mostly over the big bridge. The sky was mostly cloudy at the start and the sun started peaking though towards the end. It was quite humid in the beginning so 38 degrees felt more like 45 degrees - and Kathy and Greg agreed with this "real feel. On my personal weather scale it gets a 9 out of 10. It would have been a 10 if it stayed under 45 degrees and it was less humid. But 9 out of 10 is pretty darn good weather!

Time Goal:
Based on how great my training runs felt leading up to the race I knew my fitness was still intact. So I did not revise my goal from what I had originally planned for MCM: sub-3:20. This would be a men's BQ for age 45-49. The last time I ran sub 3:20 was in the fall of 2021 so I figured I should try to do that again before going for a PR (3:15:34). My marathon pace runs had averaged 7:25 for marathon pace, but I'm not bold enough to go for the marathon pace I run in training as it has never worked out for me. I thought 7:30-7:35 would be more realistic. I figured if I had a good day, I would run my second fastest marathon ever and it would be 3:17-3:18.

Additionally, I am registered for Boston in 2024. I used my 3:26 from Houston as my qualifying time. I thought that time might put me in wave three, which has a later start time. I wanted to submit a faster time to get back into wave 2 like I usually am. If you run a time faster than the time you registered with, Boston allows you to submit it for a faster wave/corral assignment.

Before the Race
I hadn't slept particularly well all week due to my body clock being "off" from daylight savings. I have a very rigid circadian rhythm and if it gets disrupted my sleep suffers. Thankfully I learned from CIM that you can have epically horrible sleep and still run well, so I was not concerned. The night before the race I got about six hours of mostly peaceful sleep. I went to bed at 8:20, woke up at 9:30 to go to the bathroom, slept from 9:45 to 2:00. And from 2:00-4:00 I was mostly awake but had some brief periods of sleep. I did not have any anxiety dreams about missing the race or any dreams about the race at all, which is rare.

I got out of bed at 5:00 and started eating (see above). I got dressed, which included putting body glide everywhere to avoid chafing. I also used a body marker to write on my arms which miles had the most uphill and which miles had the most downhill. That way I knew not to worry if I was going slower on the uphill portions or seemingly "too fast" when running downhill. I ultimately ran the race based on effort/feel, but it was nice to have a little guide of what to expect.

It was my 45th birthday. So the birthday text messages were already rolling in! I tried to minimize the time I spent on my phone so I could focus on getting ready and ensuring I had everything I needed. All of my fuel fit in my shorts pockets. For the honey stinger chews, I removed them from their package and wrapped them in tiny pieces of plastic wrap. The chews were mostly meant to be a backup plan in case I couldn't get the gels down. But they would also serve as supplemental energy as tolerated. 

I made sure my shoes were tied to a good comfort level, and tucked the loops of the laces under the firm laces to ensure they would not come undone. I learned the hard way in Houston when I had to stop to tie my shoe. I spent a few minutes using a massage ball on my glutes to help with glute activation. This was recommended by my physical therapist.

I left my hotel room at 6:30 and met my friend Kathy in the lobby. We chatted and that's when I had my UCAN gel. Shortly after we left the hotel and headed towards the start line. I tried to run there for a warmup but that was short lived because it became too crowded. Oh well, I would use the first mile as a warmup.

I lined up in the corral between the 3:10 pacers and the 3:25 pacers. There was no pace group for 3:20 or 3:15. I was happy about that because I don't run with pace groups and I find it annoying to be caught up in the big pack of runners. Since I was trying to run a time of around 3:18, I figured I should never see a pace group during this race if things went well.

Miles 1-6
The race seemed to start quite suddenly but I was ready. Mile 1 is always about finding a rhythm, especially since I hadn't warmed up. I go out at what feels like easy run pace and then adjust from there. I was expecting to see Greg at the first mile marker but I ended up seeing him a lot sooner. No worries, I was able to gracefully weave through the runners to greet him on the side of the course. 

Mile 1

I had studied the elevation profile of the course and I knew that these first six miles were slightly net uphill. I like to start conservatively so knowing these miles were net uphill meant I wanted to go even slower to avoid expending too much effort. 

A lot of people have conversations early in the race so eavesdropping is unavoidable. It was a nice distraction for me as I focused on their conversations instead of thinking about all the miles ahead of me. I stayed in the present. 

Somewhere around miles 4-5 the 3:25 pace group came up from behind me and I found myself caught up in them. I definitely did not want to be in the middle of the pack and even though I was confident in my own pacing, it was still somewhat demoralizing to have a pace group catch you. A 3:25 marathon is a pace of 7:48, and they were running notably faster. I dealt with it by speeding up to get out of the pack and once I felt like I was a good bit ahead of them I slowed back down. 

I removed my arm warmers at around mile 5 which was sooner than expected and I ditched my hand warmers not longer after. With temps ranging from 38 to 52, that was my layering strategy.

Mile 1: 7:43
Mile 2: 7:37
Mile 3: 7:32
Mile 4: 7:35
Mile 5: 7:36
Mile 6: 7:36

Miles 7-13
By this point the crowd had thinned out and I knew that my favorite part of the course was coming up. This portion runs down by the James River and it's quite scenic with all the fall colors. It's peaceful and mostly flat. There were a lot of curves during this section and a small part of torn up pavement. I had to watch my footing and pay attention to the tangents. But thankfully the pavement got better after about half a mile. The shoes were still feeling really comfortable and soft. 

As I was running mile 11, I said to the person next to me: it's mile 11 on 11-11 which is also my birthday! Let's make it a good mile! We chatted briefly and he asked me what my time goal was. I said 3:18 and he said 3:20. I lost track of him somewhere around mile 16 an I don't know if that's because I passed him or if he passed me. I wanted to savor every moment of this race. This was my birthday marathon and I almost didn't get to run a marathon due to my hip. I was grateful. I ran the entire race with gratitude. 

My splits below reflect the profile of the course. "Gently rolling hills" is an accurate description. None of the hills here were too crazy, but it made of uneven pacing. 

Mile 7: 7:17
Mile 8: 7:26
Mile 9: 7:30
Mile 10: 7:43
Mile 11: 7:18
Mile 12: 7:37
Mile 13: 7:18

Miles 14-20
My half marathon split was 1:38:58, which is an average pace of 7:33. I knew Greg was tracking me and I had told him to expect me in the high 1:38s or the low 1:39s, so I was executing exactly as planned. He later told me that he got no text message or email alerts. The tracking did not work. Oh well, at least I believed it was working and that helped me mentally!

At this point, I was on track to squeak under 3:18. Perfect. I felt really good but I had no idea how I would feel by mile 20 so it was too early to predict if I would be able to get under 3:18 or not. I stayed present and thankful of the fact that I was feeling good now, so I continued on. 

I did not turn up the gas intentionally but I got faster anyway. There were a few downhill miles which got me into a faster groove so I ran surprisingly fast during the toughest part of the course which are miles 16, 17 and 18. Those three miles are net uphill and include a bridge that is always windy even on non-windy days. I can easily see how those miles could be the beginning of the end for many runners!

In fact, once we were running over the bridge I didn't even realize we were on the bridge until I looked on either side of the course and noted it was mile 16. By this point I had finished all the water in my handheld bottle. Fueling was going according to plan and so far everything was sitting well. 

Mile 18

Once we were over the bridge I knew there would be two more uphill miles. At mile 16 I still I had no noticeable leg fatigue. I still felt fresh. Again, surreal!

I knew that Greg would be somewhere in the 18th mile and I found him at 17.5. I was so excited to see him. Before the race he asked me if I could give him some indication of how it was going at that point. I told him I would give him a thumbs up if it was going well. And he got a huge thumbs up from me! I was absolutely beaming. I had never felt so happy during the 18th mile of a marathon. 

Mile 14: 7:16 
Mile 15: 7:15
Mile 16: 7:39
Mile 17: 7:31
Mile 18: 7:26
Mile 19: 7:20
Mile 20: 7:30

Miles 20-26
I honestly could not believe how fast I was running. Similar to my mile repeat workout from 10 days earlier, I felt like I was running 7:45s when in reality I was running under 7:30. I think I must have been peaking at exactly the right time. And apparently all that time off from my hip did me some good and left me feeling fresh. I coached myself this training cycle so I gave myself a nice pat on the back for a job well done!

My official mile 20 split was 2:30:16, which is an average pace of 7:31. The tracking system was not working but I didn't know that. It perked me up to know that Greg could see how well it was going. 

I hadn't had anything to drink since mile marker 16 so I decided to walk through the next water station. I didn't want to stop again after that so I made sure to drink the entire cup which was probably 4-5 ounces. If it were warmer I would have needed more stops, but thankfully it was a cool day. The sun was starting to come out but it didn't seem to bother me.

I still had no idea what to expect from the rest of the race. Supposedly the last six miles were mostly downhill. But I remembered running the half marathon back in 2018 and it felt like there was still plenty of uphill in the last three miles, which are the same last three miles of the full marathon. 

My energy level was high and my spirits were high. I couldn't believe I was still going strong. Every time I glanced down at my watch my speed would blow my mind. Even though I wasn't on track to PR, I was not running this fast at the end of my PR marathon, which had been a positive split.

Mile 26

I didn't feel like I had faster gear, but the gear I was in was already plenty fast so I told myself to relax and hold it. I knew I had less than an hour to go and I could be mentally strong for less than an hour.

Miles 21-24 were magical. These are always the hardest miles of a marathon and they didn't feel nearly as hard as they usually do. Splits were 7:27, 7:13, 7:17, 7:19. UNREAL. I could not believe it.

The thought of getting a PR did cross my mind but I felt like I was very fragile at this point. Like I was so lucky to be doing what I was doing that any change in effort and it would all come crashing down. I was on a good path. No need to drastically shake things up. 

Mile 25 and 26 were the only truly hard miles of the race. My legs got achy and I was on autopilot. I didn't have much control over my speed, I just went with whatever I was given! I knew I was on track to crush my goal so I focused on taking it all in and remembering that marathons are what I love to do! I spend so much time and effort every day out of the year to prepare for this one day, this one moment. Mile 25 clocked in at 7:37 and mile 26 at 7:20.

I saw Greg just before mile marker 26. He snapped some photos and I knew the end was close!

The Finish
Richmond is known for its screaming downhill finish. Once you get to mile marker 26, the run to the finish line is a very steep downhill. I increased my cadence and let gravity do its thing. According to my Garmin, the last 0.31 miles was a pace of 6:11!

My official time was 3:16:04. This earned my 4th place in my new age group 45-49. 

It wasn't long before I vomited. For the past four years I have thrown up after every long distance race. It's inevitable. It doesn't mater how well the race goes, my digestive system shuts down. There was A LOT of vomit, but it was all liquid. It was a yellow-green liquid and I am not sure where that color came from. Once I got it all out I proceeded to find Greg. 

Before I did, someone stopped me and asked me to sign his copy of Boston Bound. Yes, it was another surreal moment. This person just happened to have his book with him at the finish line. I guess he brought it in hopes of seeing me. He ran a time of 3:10 so I guess he got his checked bag and then saw me. I signed the book for him and it made me so happy that someone brought my book to the finish line!

Greg and I were supposed to meet in the family meeting area, but I did not see that anywhere. I used someone's phone to call him and we eventually found each other. It was there that he told me he had no idea how I did because the tracking wasn't working. But he was able to zoom in on the photos he took of my watch to know it was going well.

We looked on his phone and found my official result. I was so happy with it! I was simply beaming and runner's high was in full swing.  Since tracking wasn't working I wasn't able to tell how Kathy or Laurena were doing. But I later learned that they both crushed their goals; they both qualified for Boston!

It was nearly a mile for us to walk back to the hotel. I was on Cloud 9 the whole time. My legs felt pretty good and nothing was hurting. Truly a rarity post-marathon. Back at the hotel I created my Instagram post and then took a shower. I read my splits to Greg and I was giddy with excitement.  45 was off to a great start. 

Stats:
Here are some fun stats:

• This was my 33rd marathon
• This was my 14th BQ
• I qualified by 33 minutes and 56 seconds
• I qualified "like a man" by 3 minutes and 56 seconds
• This is my biggest BQ cushion ever
• I was 30 seconds slower than my PR of 3:15:34
• This is my second fastest marathon ever
• This is my fastest marathon on a hilly course
• I placed 4 out of 164 women in my age group (45-49)
• First half was 1:38:58, Second half was 1:37:08
• This is a negative split by 1:40 
• Miles 22, 23, and 24 were all sub-7:20 and they were relatively flat
• I set a course PR by 40 minutes and 45 seconds; my time from 2007 was 3:56:41
• I beat my Houston time from January by over 10 minutes
• I will now be in wave 2 for Boston instead of wave 3

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
Everything worked out the way it was meant to. My hip injury was a blessing in disguise because the weather for MCM ended up being warm. And being injured on the cruise allowed me more time to enjoy the cruise instead of running on the treadmill. Once I flipped my mindset from a time goal to simply being grateful for the opportunity to run, then I was able to relax.

I missed two whole weeks of training and it didn't impact my fitness one bit! I expected it would, but I think it helped my body recover from all the hard work it did in August-early October.

I'm in excellent shape! This shows that I can coach myself successfully and I will continue to do so. I enjoy the freedom of switching things around to fit my schedule and I think I know what is best for my body at this point. Plus, I am a certified coach so I know how to build a plan. This will also save me money.

I coached myself with a few basic principles that I suspected would work best for me, given my history:

• A short training cycle. No runs longer than 16 miles until 12 weeks out.
• Focus more on high volume and less on long runs; no runs longer than 20 miles
• High mileage doesn't wear me out - long runs do.
• I get the biggest training benefit from running slightly faster than LT pace 
• Easy runs should be no faster than 9:00 in the summer

In other words, pack very high volume over 6-8 weeks with 18 milers instead of 20 milers. That will have me peaking at just the right time. I do not think my training contributed to this injury because it was mostly nerve-based. I think running on the tapered brick boardwalk in Miami was the culprit because my hip started hurting about 5 hours later. 

There have been many marathons when I was in physically better shape than I am now, but other obstacles prevented me from running fast. I think I could have PR'ed any of these marathons:

• Houston: 3:26 - Too hot and humid
• Two Rivers: 3:19 - Injured during race, slightly overtrained
• Harrisburg - 3:23- Digestive Issues
• CIM - 3:22 - To hot and humid
• Boston: 3:26: Torrential Downpour and 25 mph winds 

So much of it comes down to having a good day. Good weather, good fueling, good mindset, low stress other areas of life. It's admittedly been frustrating having had SO MANY cycles when I felt like I was in shape to PR but then the stars didn't align. Even though I technically didn't PR yesterday, I wasn't trying to do that. I still enjoyed that same magical feeling of exceeding expectations and having that race day magic. A PR is really just a technicality. It's my fastest race on hills and I am 45 years old, not 40. 

I'm encouraged by this race. I've shown that I can run really fast with self-coaching and through having a positive, relaxed mindset. I enjoyed every moment of this and I am glad I savored it.

TFL Trigger Points and Iliohypogastric Neuralgia

On Friday, October 13th, I noticed that my right hip was aching while climbing stairs. Ever since then, my hip has been the bane of my existence! 

All-brick boardwalk in Miami Beach

I'm going to include the timeline of the injury mainly so I can remember it in the future and for anyone else who has a sudden hip issue arise. But it will be quite boring for anyone who isn't me or anyone not suffering from a hip injury. So feel free to skim through or breeze past it to the next section. (Even the title of this blog post is boring in order to be searchable by anyone else suffering!)

Friday, October 13:
In the morning, I ran 8 miles on the all-brick boardwalk in Miami Beach. I was in Miami getting ready to board a cruise in the afternoon. We had flown in Thursday night so we'd have a night to "chill" in Miami before heading out the the Caribbean. 

I met up with another Instagram runner, Stephanie (@stephpiruns), for an 8-mile run. Originally I had put 18 miles on the schedule as my last long run before MCM. But then I decided to back that down to 14-16 given the heat. And then when the actual forecast came out for it to be unseasonably warm and humid even for Miami (dew point of 82) I backed it down even further to just 8 miles. 

The run felt great from a hip perspective, although I was absolutely drenched by the time we were finished. 

A few hours later, we boarded the cruise ship and then ascended a few flights of stairs to our room. It was at that point I noticed a slight ache in my hip. Something that I had not felt at all during the morning run or at any point in my training. When we got to the room, I moved my hips around and felt a deep ache when I moved my hips to the right. Weird!

Saturday, October 14
The next day, I foam rolled and did some gentle stretching before starting my treadmill run. I only made it
about two miles when I realized this might not be a good idea given the state of my hip. I felt it with every step. And even though it was only a 1.5-2 on the pain scale, it was one of those "I have nothing to gain by doing this but a lot to lose" moments with the marathon just two weeks away.

October 15-October 18
The cruise was a nice distraction from the hip. I was able to keep a positive mindset and enjoy the cruise with minimal hip obsession. I was comforted by the fact that I didn't "do anything" to injure my hip during that 8-mile boardwalk run, unless the brick surface really irritated something. 

In the mornings, I would do foam rolling and gentle stretching and a lot of Googling to figure out the source of the pain. Initially I thought it was an IT band issue, but towards the end of the cruise I had settled on TFL strain. I did not run on Sunday. I did 2-mile runs on Monday and Tuesday, both of which confirmed the pain was still there. On Wednesday I rested it again and that was the day we disembarked and flew back home.

What did this feel like at this point?
For anyone experiencing a similar pain, it felt like an extreme tightness and deep soreness all around the Iliac crest (pelvis bone that juts out). Both in front of the bone and behind it. The way I felt this pain was by putting all my weight on my right foot and cocking my hip out to the side/back. Otherwise, I had no hint of any issues at all. I had zero pain at rest. Zero pain walking. Mild pain while running. And a deep pain with that one motion. 

Thursday, October 19
I was miraculously able to see both my doctor and my physical therapist on my first full day back home. Usually my doctor has a 2-3 month wait, but he recently switched practices so his patients probably don't know how to find him! He's an amazing doctor and has a reputation for being one of the best in the area for sports medicine. 

He diagnosed me with "TFL Trigger Points" which are spasms at the muscle fiber level. He treated it by performing wet needling with an ultrasound, showing me where he was releasing the muscle. He also injected cortisone to near the surrounding nerves. He told me I should be 100% by the following Monday and if not, I should go back to see him again.

Saturday, October 21
This day was when the freakout finally happened! I had been calm, patient and positive up until Saturday. But when there was seemingly ZERO improvement on a 2-mile test run, I found myself down in the dumps. I threw myself a huge pity party. The sulking lasted all day. The doctor thought I would feel much better by Saturday and yet nothing had changed. Thus, I was discouraged. Defeated! DEFLATED!

I did not run on Sunday but tried again on Monday, because Monday was supposed to be the 100% day. The first two miles were mostly pain free but after that, there was no denying that the pain was still there. 

Tuesday, October 24
I returned to the doctor and he said that while there definitely were trigger points when he had seen me the previous week, he thought there could also be a nerve issue. He identified the nerve as the Iliohypogastric nerve, which runs right over the iliac crest. It was time for more injections! This time the goal was to get cortisone around that specific nerve at the specific spot where it was most painful. The nerve he targeted last time was a different one. Using an ultrasound, he found the nerve, I told him where the pain was most intense, and he injected it. 

The doctor was confident in his diagnosis and treatment and confirmed that the bone and tendons were in

The red arrow is where the nerve hurts!

good shape. We just needed time for the cortisone to work around the nerve. 

Per his direction, I rested on Wednesday and Thursday, making sure to ice the hip on a frequent basis.

Friday, October 27
With the doctor's green light to resume running, I tried running again today. And it was not 100% pain free, but the pain had changed quite a bit. Previously while running, there was a large area of soreness and tightness all around that TFL. Now, the area of pain was a quarter-sized area, concentrated right over the bone of the iliac crest. 

Imagine you bang your hip on something, it bruises, and whenever you touch it, it feels tender. That's what running felt like. Every step I took felt like I had a bruise that was being poked-- right over the bone. 

The good news is: 

• The area of pain is smaller
• The area of pain is quite superficial (close to the skin)
• The pain didn't seem to worsen over the course of 4 miles 
• The pain was never more than 1.5 out of 10 on the pain scale
• I had no pain after the run, and I walked a full pain-free mile afterwards

The bad news is:

• I am not 100% pain free
• I am not sure what would happen if I did a long run or speed work
• Definitely no Marine Corps Marathon (although would I have run it anyway in the 70-degree heat?)

What next?
In a situation like this, the only thing I can do is take it one day at a time. The doctor did a thorough exam and an x-ray and was confident in his diagnosis, so I have to believe it's just a nerve that needs to calm down and the cortisone will start to kick in over the next few days. 

In terms of running, my rule of thumb is to never let it go above a 2 on the pain scale. If it starts to do that, I will stop immediately and walk home or call Greg. 

I am eying Richmond and Philadelphia as possible backups. If I don't end up doing either of those, then I am not sure I want to keep marathon training this season. I'll just have to see how I feel.

I ended my pity party with acceptance, so now that I have reached that stage I am mentally handling things pretty well. I have accepted that a fall marathon might not be in the cards. It's frustrating and disappointing, but it's all part of running.

Boston Marathon Controversies Galore!

Last week the B.A.A. announced that 11,000 qualifiers would not be admitted into the Boston Marathon. The qualifier field was limited to just over 22,000 runners and the race had 33,058 applicants. Anyone who did not run at least 5 minutes and 29 seconds faster than their qualifying standard was denied entry.  A week later, Tracksmith announced that their BQ singlet would only be available to those runners who had been accepted (22,019 runners), not to all qualifiers. 

Everything in the above paragraph caused quite a bit of controversy. I'll provide an overview of the controversies along with my take on each.

Are the women's qualifying standards "softer" than the men's? I've heard this claim quite frequently: It's easier for women to gain entry into the Boston Marathon than it is for men. Support for this argument is that if you compare elite men to elite women, the top men are less than 20 minutes faster than the women. Instead of the women's qualifying standards being 30 minutes slower than the men's times, they should only be 20 minutes slower. 

There's no data to support the claim of the women's times being easier. Most notably, the Boston Marathon accepted 12,535 male qualifiers and 9,440 female qualifiers. If the B.A.A. made it harder for women to get in, there would be even fewer women in the race. 

Further, as the times get slower, the percentage of time difference shrinks. Here's an example. Let's say you have an elite male running a time of 2:05 and an elite female running a time of 2:25. That's a 20-minute difference, and 20 minutes is 16% of 2:05. So the elite female ran 16% slower than the male. Now let's look at an amateur male running a time of 3:10 vs. a woman running 20 minutes slower at 3:30. In this case, the woman has run only 10.5% slower than the man. The gap between a 2:05 and a 2:25 is therefore a larger gap than 3:10 and 3:30. If the percentage difference of 16 were to be maintained, the equivalent amateur woman's time would be. . . 30 minutes slower at 3:40.

So you cannot look at the elite field and say, "the men's and women's times are so much closer together than the 30-minute difference in BQ standards." It's true in terms of actual minutes on the clock. But not in terms of percentage difference. 

All that being said, it does "seem like" the women's times are easier. On a gut instinct level it just seems like it's harder for a man to run a 3:10 than it is for a woman to run a 3:40. And you could potentially say that there would be far more women qualifying for Boston if women trained as hard as men did. And that women, on average, do not train as hard because a certain percentage of them are pregnant or postpartum. But once again, all of this is based on gut feeling and I haven't seen any data to support this claim. 

To sum up, it may "feel like" the women's times are softer, but the data indicates that it is not easier for women to qualify for Boston than it is for men. And I believe the goal of the B.A.A. with their standards is to have a relatively equal number of runners from each group and not to make standards that are equally physically challenging. You'd almost never have an elite male beat the qualifying standard by over an hour, but there are older women who have beat their standards by over an hour.

Is the non-binary category fair?
44 non binary athletes were accepted into the Boston Marathon. I've heard all sorts of perspectives on this one. Before I get into it, the non-binary qualifying standards are the same as the women's standards. The B.A.A. says they do not yet have enough data to determine what the actual standard should be yet, so for 2024 they are going with the women's standards. 

At one extreme you have people saying that the non-binary category makes it easy for men to cheat their way in under the women's standards. And so the race is soon going to be full of men pretending to be non-binary. On the other extreme you have people saying that Boston is still not inclusive enough. I've also heard the argument "why do people care about the non-binary category-- it doesn't affect them." 

My thoughts on this issue are that it all goes back to the B.A.A. and their goals. If everything was 100% "fair" (which would be impossible anyway) then you probably wouldn't have a situation in which a woman in her 60s can beat her BQ time by over an hour but a young elite male cannot. With this non-binary category, their goal is to show inclusivity. The goal isn't necessarily to be fair, and that's their prerogative; it's their race. 

Remember the vaccine mandates from 2022? The goal was not to Covid-proof the race; that would be impossible. (There was no requirements for volunteers, etc.) The goals were to comply with local town ordinances and make runners feel safe. Many runners, myself included, didn't think the mandates were fair. But the B.A.A. is not obligated to be fair. 

To qualify as non-binary you must have qualified in another race in the non-binary category. Will there be runners who take advantage of this? Potentially, but that's really going to an extreme length to cheat your way into the race. What about the non-binary runners who have male genetics who can qualify under the same standards as the women? Yes, those runners have an advantage. The mere act of identifying as non-binary has not changed their physical abilities. 

The problem that the B.A.A. is running into is that they are trying to be as inclusive as possible while also being exclusive. And it's not possible to do both. And it's definitely not possible to do both 100% fairly. Someone is always going to have an unfair advantage.

The notion that they are going to look at non-binary data seems fruitless because identifying as non-binary has nothing to do with one's physical abilities as a runner. I am not sure what they are expecting to find. And even if they did end up making the non-binary standards the same as the men's standards, they would receive backlash for not being inclusive.

Finally, I'll address this position: "The non-binary category doesn't impact you - just focus on your own BQ." For the sake of one's own mental health, it's always best to focus primarily on the things you can control. But if everyone did that all the time on every issue, society would likely collapse. Healthy debate is good for all communities, including the running community. You don't want to be fully entrenched in social media debates about non-binary athletes running a marathon, but you also don't want to be completely blind and isolated from what is happening in the world around you. 

This debate should not be centered around the non-binary athletes themselves, but the policies of the B.A.A.

Should extreme downhill races be allowed as Boston Qualifiers?
Extreme downhill races like those found in the "Revel" series are often blamed for the increase in the number of Boston qualifiers. Are these courses fair?

Having never run one of these courses I am not in a position to weigh in authoritatively. But this is my blog so I will share my non-authoritative thoughts. 

The only marathon I ever ran that had a net downhill greater than Boston was Sugarloaf in 2019. That was not one of my faster marathons, but I was also suffering from hypothermia at the end. CIM might also fall into that camp, but CIM is nothing like the Revel races, which have thousands of feet of elevation loss.

I've heard that extreme downhill races come with their own challenges like beating up the quads. Aerobically it might be a walk in the park, but you still need your legs to carry you to the finish line. All of that being said, the data shows that these courses are notably faster than courses with a net-even elevation. Does that mean they should be excluded as qualifying races?

If it were up to me I would institute a limit on the amount of elevation loss permitted. It might be fair to say the Boston Qualifying race cannot have a net elevation loss that is greater than the Boston Marathon's own elevation loss. Not to discount the achievement of runners who participate in Revel, but to level the playing field for one particular race, which is Boston.

The reality is that these races would have far fewer participants if they were not eligible for Boston. If Boston axed them it would potentially put these races out of business. Are they going to do that? Unlikely. Plus, these races are open to all runners. Anyone who wants the advantage of the downhill can run a Revel race. 

What in the world is up with Tracksmith?
Less than one week after the B.A.A. announced that over 11,000 qualifiers did not gain entry into the Boston Marathon, Trackmith added insult to injury by releasing a BQ singlet only available to confirmed entrants. They would not sell the "BQ" singlet to runners who actually did the thing that the singlet says! 

Now, if the singlet said "BQ - 5:29" then, okay. Or if it said "I was accepted into Boston 2024" then, okay.  But that's not what the singlet says. If it's a BQ singlet it should be available to all qualifiers. I applaud Tracksmith for celebrating the accomplishment of a BQ, but they undermined their own celebration by talking down to those qualifiers that were not accepted into the marathon.

The backlash on Tracksmith was intense because their post on social media was about much more than the singlet. It began with the quote "This isn't a jogging race," as if the 11,000 non-accepted BQers jogged their way to the finish line. The tone of the post was elitist in several ways and Tracksmith finally took the post down and issued an apology post the following day. 

This social media post raised the following question by many - is Tracksmith an inclusive brand? What exactly does it mean to be "inclusive" anyway? I'd argue that it's an ideal which is impossible to attain in reality. Featuring runners of diverse ethnic backgrounds does not automatically make you inclusive. Especially not when you charge $48 for a pair of underwear. 

Putting on my marketing hat, this is a huge gaffe. You do not post something that feels elitist to a large percentage of your customer base. Especially after these runners worked hard to qualify for Boston, only to be turned away less than one week prior! Issuing the apology was definitely the right thing to do, but it will not be 100% damage control for the brand.

Will I still buy Tracksmith? I have a love/hate relationship with the brand. So sure, I will still buy their stuff from time to time. Thankfully they apologized, but I was never 100% sold on their messaging to begin with. Something about the brand has always rubbed me the wrong way in terms of being borderline pretentious.

I have noticed a decline in their service over the past year. They used to ship their items out immediately and for my last order it took them 5 days to ship the order, plus additional time for it to be delivered. Their prices have increased but their processing speed has decreased. I much prefer rabbit to Tracksmith; rabbit is a feel-good, happy brand with fun colors and styles. California-based rabbit has much better options for summer running, but Boston-based Tracksmith has better options for colder months.

Final Thoughts
The common theme with my take on these controversies is that you cannot be "inclusive" and "exclusive" at the same time; that's a losing battle. The notion of 100% fairness is unrealistic, especially when "fair" isn't necessarily the goal. It seems like the B.A.A. is opting for equal representation across ages and genders instead of making things equally physically challenging across the board. Tracksmith will continue to face backlash. Feel free to disagree. These are, after all, controversies. All I ask is that you keep it respectful!

The Perfect 10: Perfectly Wet!

I was supposed to run the Susquehanna River Half Marathon yesterday, but it was cancelled due to a tropical storm. This did not come as a surprise to me as the course runs over a mile-long bridge and the forecast called for gusts of over 35 mph. Thankfully I was able to cancel my hotel room with no penalty and the race offered a 50% voucher towards next year's event. I was really excited about the course so I hope to do it next year.

So instead of running the half marathon yesterday, I ran a local ten-mile race day called "The Perfect 10." Runners choose between a 10K or a 10 miler. I had run this same course back in 2015, also as a backup race for a half marathon that was canceled due to weather. My time was 1:15:31 back then. I reviewed my Strava data to get re-acquainted with the course profile and I remembered running a really strong race.

Why is this race always my backup and not my goal race? Mainly because it's not in a particularly exciting location, or a location that's new to me. It's also quite hilly. And I prefer half marathon tune-up races over 10 mile races. But I do enjoy races put on by our local running store, Potomac River Running. I knew the race would be well managed and I'd probably know other runners.

I received the cancellation email when I woke up on Friday morning. I registered for the 10 miler that same day and went to pick up my bib. On Saturday morning the storm was in full swing so I did my shakeout run on the treadmill: an easy 30 minutes.

Before the Race
I was quite indecisive about my outfit. On the one hand, it was forecast to be 62 degrees, which meant shorts and a sports bra. On the other hand, it was supposed to be rainy and windy which meant it would feel colder. I remembered the Firecracker 5K from July when I raced in a wet tank top and the cooling effect it had. So I figured I would wear a form-fitted tank top and longer-than-normal compression shorts. The hope was that these clothes would feel cool against my body and be tight enough not to be flapping around.

On the topic of weather, I give this weather a 6 out of 10 on my race weather scale. It was 62 degrees with 100% humidity and a light steady rain. Thankfully the wind was light at around 8 mph. If it had rained any harder, I would have given this a 5. If it didn't rain at all, I would have given this a 4. But it was the PERFECT amount of rain to keep me cool without being a heavy downpour. So, yay for the perfect rain!

We arrived about an hour before the race started. I drank a serving of UCAN Energy Powder in the car. I have been using this more and more before my long runs and it's been working well. There was a time when I had stopped using it due to stomach distress but I think that was a one-off incident. After that was done, I used the bathroom and started my warm up. 

The original plan was to run at least 13 miles so I would have the distance of a half marathon, but then I realized that 1 or 2 extra miles would not make a difference in the grand scheme of things so I warmed up for 2.3 miles. 

Greg played the role of cheerleader and videographer for this race. His injury is finally starting to heal but he's not ready to run quite yet. He wore a big poncho that was the same shade of red as the demons in the movie The Village. We had just watched this movie a week prior so it was fresh in our minds. Those demons where referred to "Those of Whom We Do Not Speak" so we kept making jokes about how Greg was one of Those of Whom We Do Not Speak. If you saw the movie and Greg in the poncho, you'd get it.

Miles 1-3
The 10K and 10 mile runners started together. After 6 miles the 10K runners would turn off towards the finish line and the 10-mile runners would run a 4-mile loop to get to the same finish line. I didn't really

Mile 1, photo by Cheryl Young

have a time goal for this race. It was too hilly for it to be a true predictor of my Marine Corps Marathon time, so I decided it would be nice to beat my 2015 time (1:15:31) by at least two minutes, and ideally run under 1:13. If I was having a good day, maybe I could squeak under 1:12.

The race started and I realized it was on the small side for a Potomac River Running race. I think a lot of people must have bailed due to the weather. My physical therapist was supposed to run it and I didn't see him. I am guessing his absence was not weather-related though. 

The roads were soaked and I didn't even try to dodge the puddles. I did have to be extra careful with the potholes and there were places with a lot of fallen acorns that were also challenging. 

I took a caffeinated Maurten gel about 5 minutes into the race. It didn't sit well and I had a nauseous feeling for the next 10 minutes.  

I remembered my 2015 splits and and pacing. I paced it really well in 2015 so I tried to mimic that strategy. The first three miles were hilly but they were mostly equal parts uphill and equal parts downhill.

Mile 1: 7:03
Mile 2: 7:05
Mile 3: 7:18

Miles 4-6
As you can see, my pacing wasn't exactly going in the right direction. But I wasn't discouraged because I knew I was keeping the effort steady. In 2015, mile 4 was my slowest mile. So I gave myself some grace here. I knew, however, that I would be rewarded with a very fast mile 5. As I was giving myself grace, two runners passed me. One of whom was a female. I glanced at her bib to see if she was running the 10K or the 10 mile. I could see that the corner of it was a darker shade of blue which meant she was in the 10 miler. I told myself not to get too competitive at this stage in the game. I could catch up later.

She was ahead of me for maybe half a mile and then as we started descending the hill I was able to pass her. 

I saw Greg at mile 6 as we approached the start/finish, which is where the 10K runners were turning off. At this point, he told me that I was in second place. I honestly had no idea where I was in the field because I couldn't tell which runners were in the 10K vs. the 10 miler. But second place, that was pretty awesome. I hoped I could hold onto that. 

Mile 4: 7:25
Mile 5: 6:55
Mile 6: 7:04

Miles 7-10
I knew to expect that miles 7 and 8 were net uphill and miles 9 and 10 were net downhill. Mentally I told myself I just had to get to mile marker 9 and then I would mostly be done with the uphill. It didn't exactly
go that way and the ups and downs weren't exactly where I expected. But I told myself just to roll with it. I had another Maurten gel at the start of the 7th mile - this time without the caffeine. I only had half of it though because I didn't need the whole thing to get me through about 30 minutes of work. It didn't sit well but thankfully I was only uncomfortable for a few minutes. 

My legs were starting to feel pretty beat up by this point. They had zero pep going up the hills. I did not feel like I had strong legs at all. From a cardiovascular perspective, I think I had a little more to give. But my legs didn't want any part of it!

Running to the finish!

My biggest focus now was to hang in there enough so that the woman I had passed earlier in the race didn't catch up. I wanted to solidify my second place position. 

Unfortunately mile 9 was not the big downhill I had expected based on the elevation data. But mile 10 had a nice decline. 

The finish of this race was not nice. They had us run through the high school parking lot, down a hill, and then do a hairpin turn to come back up that same hill! And then down a hill with a few turns onto a track. But we only got to run about 100 meters on the track. At the hairpin turn I saw my competition about 20 seconds behind me. If she had a good final kick she could maybe close the gap. This motivated me to give it all I had, while also minding the pot holes and bumpy pavement in the school parking lot.

Mile 7: 7:42 (yikes!)
Mile 8: 7:25
Mile 9: 7:27
Mile 10: 7:03
Last 0.06 on my Garmin: 6:38 pace

I sprinted through the finish line with an official time of 1:12:53. I was the second female finisher! The First place female was over 8 minutes ahead of me; there was no attempt to catch her. 

After the Race
I reunited with Greg and it wasn't long before my typical dry heaving started. This was never an issue in my 30s. But once I turned 40 it's happened at almost every race longer than a 10K. And if it's not dry heaving, it's actual vomit.

Instead of doing a cool down run I decided to prioritize getting warm. Even though it was 62 degrees I was soaked and I did not want to risk hypothermia. I learned my lesson on that last year! I changed into dry clothing immediately and waited for the awards to start. 

I won a gift certificate to the running store which more than made up for the registration fee. Then we drove home and I was quick to get into a nice warm bath.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
During the race and immediately after I wasn't too pleased with my performance. It got very hard in the last 4 miles and I slowed down. But the more I thought about it from all angles, the more I realized that this was a strong performance. 

• Even though I had better pacing in 2015, it was 35 degrees cooler back then (the early March rendition of this same race).
• 
  Speaking of 2015, my original goal was to beat that time by two minutes, and I beat it by more than 2:30! In much warmer weather!
• Speaking of weather, even though the rain made this manageable for me, the humidity still posed a
  challenge. Running these kind of paces in temps above 60 degrees is really good for me. Especially on hills.
• Speaking of hills, I am sure I used extra muscles to stabilize myself on the downhills with the wet pavement. You have to be careful running downhill on wet pavement to not bite it! Especially in the adidas Adios Pro which has almost no traction.
• This course is not a good predictor for what I will be able to accomplish at MCM. All things being equal, the McMillan Running Calculator has me at 3:24. But all things will not be equal because MCM is far less hilly, and should be cooler. I'll also have an additional 5 weeks of training under my belt. So my MCM goal of sub 3:20 seems realistic if the stars align.
• Speaking of 5 weeks of training - I'm getting so close! I really only have two big weeks ahead of me and then I go on a cruise. During which I pray not to get sick. I know it's not the smartest idea to go on a cruise two weeks before a marathon, but my sister invited me and we haven't been on vacation together in a long time.

Provided that I don't get sick and that we don't have tropical weather on race day, I think I am good to go for Marine Corps. I have been having some minor high hamstring irritation, but I am keeping that under control with physical therapy. Today's race did not seem to make it worse; I hope I still feel this way tomorrow morning. 

Overall a fun morning and I am really glad I showed up!

Zebra Dazzle 5K

I've been waiting my entire 20-year running career for a race like this. A zebra-themed 5K! A dazzle is group of zebras, so "Zebra Dazzle" was an appropriate name. 

This race was held in Washington DC to benefit the Amyloidosis Foundation. It was organized by the sister of a woman who passed away from this rare disease.

Team ACE of Stripes

My friend Cheryl discovered this race when she was searching for local races. When she shared it with me, I knew it was something I had to participate in. I'm extremely fortunate to have two good friends, Cheryl and Allison, who were willing to dress in zebra print and run this race with me!

We planned our matching outfits in advance. We each bought the same pair of zebra shorts, which Allison and Cheryl later told me would be their spectating gear for the Marine Corps Marathon! I love how they are so zebra-spirited! 

We registered as a team. There were no team awards, but in the results our team name showed up next to each of our names, which was cool. We settled on ACE of Stripes: A for Allison, C for Cheryl, and E for Elizabeth. 

Before the Race
I was so excited about this race! I got dressed in my zebra shorts and matching crop top. The crop top was actually a gift from Cheryl before we even got the matching shorts. Of course I had my Zensah Zebra socks and matching adidas Adios Pro shoes. 

It took us about 45 minutes to drive to the race in Rock Creek Park. When we got there, we noticed they had fun signs along the course. Each sign had a zebra on it with a motivational message. I was loving it so much. The shirt also had a photo of a zebra on it next to a runner. Best race shirt ever!

Course signage

We warmed up for about 20 minutes and then we were ready to go. It was 57 degrees and sunny with low humidity. Unseasonably cool for this time of year! We definitely lucked out. I would normally give this a 6 out of 10 on my race weather scale but since it's only mid-September I will bump that up to an 8. You actually couldn't ask for anything better this time of year, but that does not automatically make it a 10! In my world, it's not possible to get a 10 unless it's October through April. 

Goals
My main goal was to look like a zebra and I think I accomplished that.  I got so many compliments on my outfit. And of course another key goal was to have a fun morning with my friends. I also thought that the awards might have zebras on them so I was hoping to win an award. I didn't have a goal pace or time because I was mainly doing this as a workout. I have a 20-mile run on tap tomorrow so I didn't want to go all out. I decided I would run as hard as I could to feel like I got a good workout in.

Course Elevation Profile

Mile 1
The race started and two little boys ran out in front. I think they were about 10 years old. I decided to run with Cheryl until we saw Greg for our photo opp. Allison stayed back as she is just getting back into running.

I sped up to where one of the kids was and I said "there's a zebra chasing you!" and that really motivated him to go faster. But it wasn't long before he realized he couldn't keep up. That's when he quickly developed a new plan: block my path so I couldn't run faster than him. I would run around him and get ahead, and then he would sprint and cut me off, and get right in font of me and walk. This was quite dangerous because we were on a steep downhill, I was running at around a 7:15 pace and he kept cutting me off and stopping in front of me. 

He was only 10, so he didn't know any better and I was nice about it. I told him he shouldn't right in front of me because I might run into him. But he did not listen. This happened for about 2 minutes until he finally gave up. The stopping and starting was definitely annoying on the steep downhill, but thankfully it didn't last long. By mile marker 1 I was leading the race; there weren't even any men ahead of me.

I had't been looking at my Garmin because I really didn't care about my time, but mile 1 clocked in at 7:13. Effort wise I was probably running slower than marathon effort since the whole mile was downhill and it was nice and cool. Granted, I was primarily focused on a photo opportunity and not running over a child - so I have an excuse!

Mile 2
It was an out-and-back course. When my Garmin reached 1.55 I saw a woman sitting in a chair and I assumed she was the person manning the turnaround station. Since I was the first runner she wasn't quite prepared. I asked her if I should turn around and she said yes.

The course was part of a popular running route in DC so there were many other runners around, but none of them were part of the race. Many of them cheered for me! It was really awesome to have so many runners cheering for me when they saw my bib. This was SO MUCH fun!  I was so focused on being a zebra and everything around me that I didn't pay attention to my pace. I was running around tempo effort by this point, though. Mile 2 clocked in at 6:57.

Mile 3
It was time to go back up the hill. According to my Final Surge training log, there was 159 feet of ascent in mile 3. I think that's probably the most ascent I have had in a single mile during a race, ever. Second would probably be the Sugarloaf Marathon followed by the DC half marathon. 

I knew I was in the lead by a healthy amount based on the turnaround so I didn't have a ton of motivation to really push. A mile-long steep hill at the end of a 5K is far from ideal! I got to the top and then booked it to the finish line. My final mile was 7:33.

After the Race
I crossed the finish line as the overall winner - there were no men ahead of me. My official time was 22:07. Could I have pushed harder? Yes. Did I have the motivation? No. Do I care that I didn't push harder? No.

Cheryl followed a minute later as the second overall finisher. The final runner of our dazzle, Allison, came in a little bit later, finishing 10th overall. The awards were cash prizes, and I will probably have to buy myself something zebra with the winnings! We cooled down for just over a mile and then headed to brunch. 

I was really impressed with the organization of this race. The zebra mile markers, the zebra signs, the shirt and medal-- and all for a great cause. It was definitely a fun morning and all of my goals were met! ACE of Stripes will have to defend our title next year. This takes "Racing Stripes" to a whole new level!

Tomorrow I plan to run a 20-miler and thankfully the weather will still be on the cooler side for this time of year. My next race is a half marathon and I am not sure if I am going to race that at full effort or use it as a marathon pace training run. It might be warm and humid enough that marathon pace = half marathon pace with the weather. Fall racing season is officially in full gear!

5K at the Beach

Greg and I are in the Outer Banks of North Carolina this week on vacation. We often come here in the summer and I have been coming here since childhood. They have a race series that's held every week so naturally I take part! 

Most recently I ran this race in 2021. (We were in Africa last summer). One of my friends was coincidentally staying less than a mile from us so I persuaded her to sign up and run it with me. Greg also ran it in 2021. 

This year my friend is not at the beach and Greg is STILL suffering from his groin injury. So I was on my own. 

I figured this would be a good "cutback" week for Marine Corps Marathon training. In my previous post, I showed how I have been steadily building for multiple weeks, so it was time for a cutback. I ran my long run on Friday last week because we left for the beach early on Saturday morning. Saturday was my rest day. 

On Sunday, I ran on a track here at the beach for my final "tune-up" workout. It was crazy warm and humid (80 degrees!) but I managed to hit all of my paces anyway. This gave me confidence that I was in good shape for the race. It was three sets of 3 x 400m, getting progressively faster with each set but extending the recovery jogs in between reps. 

Monday through Wednesday were all easy days with low mileage. Even though it's significantly warmer and more humid here than it is at home, I don't mind it because I enjoy the change of scenery. And the ocean air feels much fresher than the suffocating DC swampy air.

I wasn't consciously nervous for the race yesterday morning but my stomach indicated otherwise. I must have gone to the bathroom nearly 10 times before the race. I had a handful of almond butter pretzels at around 6:15 and then a Maurten caffeinated gel 15 minutes before the start of the race. I had been hydrating all week, drinking over 70 ounces each day with added electrolytes. 

Before the Race
As we drove to the race it was pouring rain. I did not bring a running hat with me because I didn't consider the possibility that it would rain. But thankfully the rain stopped shortly after we arrived. I picked up my bib at 7:15 for an 8:00 start time. The person who parked next to us recognized me from Instagram so we chatted for a bit.

It was 78 degrees with a dew point of 74. Not as hot as last year because it had just rained and the sky was overcast. There were a few windy parts along the course but nothing unmanageable. 

I warmed up for 1.7 miles. My legs and body felt good but I felt slightly nauseous. It felt a lot like pre-race jitters but I honestly was not nervous about such a low-key beach race. I guess my mind was anticipating the pain cave I was about to enter!

Goals and Strategy
My only goal was to beat my 2021 time. I am in about the same spot I was in my training back then so I figured that was a realistic goal. I wouldn't have my friend Meredith to push me at the end, but I told myself I would try to channel that energy anyway. My 2021 time was 21:12 with splits of 6:57, 7:03, 6:47. This morning, I decided I would try and run it at a pace of 6:50 for the first two miles and try to hang on at the end as best as possible.

Mile 1: 6:51
I thought I started out fast off the line but yet about half the runners blew by me. There were 58 runners total but it was a competitive field. Still, I knew I would be passing many of them because it was unlikely that so many people could maintain a sub 6:40 pace. I glanced down at my Garmin and saw I was running a 6:45 (target was 6:50) so I held back even more and told myself to be patient. 

I was running directly behind a woman for most of the first mile but then passed her as we approached the 1 mile mark. I was pretty sure there were only two more women ahead of me, but they were WAY ahead so I knew I wouldn't catch them. 

Mile 2: 7:00
This was my slowest mile in 2021 and I knew there would be a few small hills. Plus, mile 2 is always really difficult mentally in a 5K. I passed a few guys during this mile but I didn't feel all that strong. The humidity was zapping my energy even though I had only been running for 10 minutes. I ran this mile 10 seconds slower than my 6:50 target but I knew I could speed up at the end and make that time back.

Mile 3: 6:54
I really didn't think I would be able to hold on. It was hard to motivate myself to push because I was on vacation and this was a beach race! I had to convince myself that I actually cared and that I seriously wanted to beat my time from two years ago. I passed a guy toward the end of the mile which really perked me up. I remembered back to literally racing my friend Meredith and tried to draw motivation from that.

Last 0.7: Unknown
I stopped my Garmin as I crossed the finish line but then realized a little later that it didn't actually stop. So I have no idea how fast my final kick was. But it was pretty fast. I saw the clock ticking closer and closer to the dreaded 21:12 and I did everything in my power to get under it.

After the Race
I ended up coming in 3rd place out of the women and 8th overall. There were a bunch of speedy women not far behind me either. Lots of women ran under 22:00 minutes, which is impressive given there were only 58 total participants. My official time was 21:09, which is 3 seconds faster than my time from two years ago! 

And if there was any doubt, this race is also a Strava segment and Strava agreed that I had, in fact, set a PR on that segment. I know it's super small, but when you work so hard for every second, the seconds matter!

Of course my inner skeptic is telling me that it was slightly cooler this year with more cloud cover. So I should be faster just based on race conditions. But in actuality it was still humid as f*ck. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I am happy with my performance but I'm not analyzing this one too much. I didn't have a ton of motivation since I am in "beach mode" and I didn't feel all that great at the start line. If I really want to test my fitness I will have to wait until the dew point is much lower. 

It feels great to have placed third and to have run faster than I did in 2021. This was a good, hard tempo that will add to my marathon training bank. I had fun racing and meeting new people and Greg was amazing with his camera work. 

My next race is a 5K in September and I may be more excited about this next 5K than any 5K I have ever run in my lifetime. Why?! You will just have to wait and see, but are welcome to guess in the comments.

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.

Call me "Coach"

I am now a certified running coach! I received my certification from McMillan Running in June by taking a course online and passing the exam.

I always thought I would eventually want to coach other runners, once I was less focused on my own running career. I saw it as my retirement job-- when I was retired from running and from my full-time job as a marketing executive. Coaching definitely wouldn't fit into my busy schedule of marathon training, producing my Instagram content, and working full-time. And if I was going to coach someone, I would want to be attentive to their needs without being pulled in a million different directions. 

But I got the certification anyway. There were a few reasons why:

I wanted to gain the knowledge to apply to my own running.
I've been with McMillan running for nearly 10 years now. I've read countless articles by Greg McMillan and his perspective has always resonated with me. I wanted to learn more about the science of running and how he uses that to pull together his training plans.

I wanted to engage on Instagram with some level of authority.
I've always been very careful to not give blanket advice in my Instagram posts. Since I was not a coach, I didn't view myself as someone who was "qualified" to be guiding others. Instead, I mostly shared how I trained, my opinions, and what worked for me. I always included the caveat "this is what works for me" so that followers wouldn't blindly apply my approach to their running. But I often get questions via DM or in in the comments section, so I figured it would be good to have some level of certification to respond authoritatively. In other words, I didn't want to be some random Instagram runner spewing advice when I had no basis upon which to do so.

I knew I would eventually want to coach others.
As I said above, this would be something that would come in handy once I no longer had a full-time job and/or wasn't so dedicated to my own running. 

I wanted to self-coach.
I generally think self-coaching is not a good idea, now matter how experienced you are. I think runners always need an objective eye over their training-- someone to advise when things need to be tweaked. I also think accountability is important. Someone you have to go back to and explain why you didn't do that final rep. When you are your own coach, it's too easy to say, mid-workout: "Well, I scheduled you for 8 intervals, but I can just push that back to 6."

In the long term, I likely will not be my own coach. But I wanted to give it a try for at least one cycle (Marine Corps Marathon) to see how it went. I figured it would give me the flexibility to move workouts around in the summer heat and run more or less based on how I felt. Of course I could have done this with any coach I have ever worked with, but my perfectionist self didn't like going off plan. As my own coach, I can switch days around and run a little longer or shorter than what's written based on how I feel. It requires being VERY honest with myself about how I am feeling. 

I've coached my husband for all of his marathons. He started out with a 4:08 and made his way down to 3:18. I enjoyed creating plans for him and watching him get faster. So in that respect, I have some experience under my belt. 

Call me "Coach!"
Once I completed the certification, I felt differently. I wanted to coach right away! I didn't want to wait. But I had to balance that urge with the reality of everything else I have going on in my life. 

So I figured I could ease into coaching by starting small. Instead of offering a full-blown coaching service where I was available via email and text 24/7 to analyze the workouts of multiple athletes, I would simply write custom plans. I think there is a large number of runners who don't want to pay for a coach but they want something that's more tailored than what they would find on the Internet or in a book.

From a time management perspective, I have enough time to look at an athlete's history, experiences, preferences, strengths, weakness, and write a custom plan that also advises on areas to work on (like fueling, injury prevention, mental strategies, pacing, etc.).  And then send them off with the plan, giving them the option to check in with me on a monthly basis to potentially tweak the plan.

With this model, the athlete doesn't have to pay the cost of full-time coaching, but they are still getting guidance. And I am not over-extending myself in terms of my commitments. 

Introducing All Stripes Coaching
I am pleased to announce the formation of All Stripes Coaching! I created an LLC and I'm ready to start working with athletes. All the details are at allstripescoaching.com.

I chose the name "All Stripes" to represent that my plans take into account all aspects of running and are more than just numbers on a calendar. Athletes complete a comprehensive intake questionnaire that allows me tailor a plan specifically to their needs and preferences. Plus, the name "All Stripes" fits in nicely with the name of my blog, Racing Stripes.

Because I am just starting out, availability will be limited at first and I am not going to announce this on Instagram quite yet. In marketing we call this a "soft launch." If any of my blog readers are interested in a custom training plan, head on over to allstripescoaching.com for more details and complete the interest form.

I look forward to coaching runners and helping them achieve their goals. 

Firecracker 5K: More Fashion Than Fit

Fashion was the goal in yesterday's Firecracker 5K! I've run this race almost every year since it started in 2010.  The only years I have missed were 2012 (illness), 2013 (injury), and 2016 (illness). In 2020 I ran the "Virtual" race which was a much flatter course and had an earlier start time!

If it weren't for tradition, I would not have signed up for this event. I hadn't been doing much speed work and my mileage had been low. Even though I wasn't fit, I could still have two other F's: Fashion and Fun. And for the "Firecracker FiveK" the F's made a lot of sense. This is just how I see the world- one big poem and play on words. Plus, I knew I'd probably be uttering the real "F" word a few times up that last hill!

Before the Race
I bought a new tank for this race to up my level of looking like an American flag. (Ooooh: Flag. Fashion. Fun. Firecracker. FiveK.) I matched it with flag shorts and flag socks. About two hours before the race I had a small handful of almond butter filled pretzels and some water mixed with Uppermost Hydration. This is my new favorite hydration mix because it also contains B vitamins and zinc. It has no sugar but yet tastes really good.

We arrived at the race about 45 minutes before the start. I already had my bib so I didn't have to worry about picking that up. Greg left his camera at home because I wanted him on video duty with my phone. I have so many race photos and I knew that Cheryl would be there taking them. I wanted to document the experience with videos. Greg is unfortunately still dealing with his groin injury and unable to run.

I brought my new ice vest with me in the hopes of lowering my core body temperature before the race. This had been recommended to me by my coach years ago and Oro Sports sent me this vest last winter to try out. It sat in my closet until yesterday. If I had been truly committed, I would have worn the ice vest in the car on the way there and made sure I had it on for at least 30 minutes for maximum impact. But instead I used it during the warm up only. It was cooling but also heavy so not something I would run with on a regular basis. But the pre-cooling is what's supposed to bring your core temperature down for 45 minutes. Verdict: I will definitely be using it for pre-cooling for 30 minutes before hot races and long runs if I get up early enough.

I took a Maurten caffeinated gel 15 minutes before the race and a few chugs of water. I warmed up for 1.7 miles and felt ready to go. Because I wasn't going to race hard, I decided not to line up towards the front. I lined up about 20 rows back figuring that would be about right.

I made sure to double knot my shoes and tuck in the loops. This worked and my shoelaces did not come untied during the race like they had during my previous two races. 

Race Weather
The temperature was 75 degrees and it was mostly sunny. It was also quite humid although I don't remember the exact dew point. There were a few shaded portions of the course but otherwise the sun was probably the biggest culprit. On my race weather scale I give it a 3 out of 10, and that somewhat takes the time of year into consideration. If this had been an early fall race I would have downgraded it to a 2 out of 10. As I said earlier, I have run this race many times in the past and yesterday's weather was typical. We lucked out in 2021 and 2022 with lower humidity- those were probably the two coolest years. 

Goals and Mindset
The main goal here was to keep up with the Fourth of July tradition. I had nothing else going on yesterday, so why not go out there and have some fun? I could have chosen to race at 100% effort to get a "baseline" level of my current fitness, but it wasn't worth it in the heat. Instead, I decided to run it as a "tempo" run around half marathon pace effort. I didn't have any target pace or time in mind and I decided not to look at my watch. (Of course whenever I decide not to look at my watch, I hear people around me yelling out their paces to the people they are running with. "Okay Katie, we are running a 7:15 pace, right on target!")

Mile 1:
I know this course very well and I was prepared for this uphill mile. I had underestimated where I should have lined up because I found myself passing people left and right. I did not want to go out too fast, but if I didn't pass other runners, I would have been stuck at my easy run pace. 

Mile 2:
This was the beautiful downhill mile! And finally I was where I wanted to be in the pack and there was no more crowding. Part of this mile was shaded and it felt drastically different from the first mile which was mostly sunny. I stayed relaxed and reminded myself to maintain tempo effort. I did feel like I could have tapped into a higher gear, but with an up-hill final mile I did not want to crash and burn.

Mile 3:
This mile was killer! I told myself to maintain my pace and rhythm, which meant I would have to increase my effort on the long hill. But that last hill is fun. I love passing people on it. So many runners lose loads of time during the last half mile of that race, but I had started conservatively so I had lots to give.

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 23:15. I was not surprised by this and didn't care at all that it was 2nd my slowest time ever on this course! I had zero ego going into this race and I had accomplished my goals of staying strong, having fun, and being fashionable. 

My splits were 7:23, 7:11, 7:24, and 7:24 pace for the final 0.17.  Nice and consistent!

After the Race
I cooled down for just over 5 minutes which was shorter than intended. But it was so hot! I then checked the results and learned that I placed second in my age group. That was quite a shocker because this is a competitive race and I didn't expect to place at all. We stayed for the awards and I won $20 to Potomac River Running store. Then we chatted with our friend Kathy for awhile. That's the best part about local races - the social aspect and getting to see friends.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
My main takeaway is that I love being able to check my ego at the door and race "for fun". This does not mean that I am going to stop training and stop trying to race at my full potential. It just means that I will embrace all the seasons of my running and not shy away from experiences just because I'm not in race shape. This race was all about maintaining a tradition, doing something fun on the fourth and seeing my friends. 

I also learned something that I plan to experiment with in the future. Usually when it's above 55 in a race I wear a sports bra only (no tank). The thinking was that the less material, the better. But I couldn't resist this flag singlet so I wore it anyway. Before the race I had gotten the tank top went by shoving ice into my bra. So the tank top was wet around my core area. While running, it felt nice to have the cool wet material against my skin. This could mean that running in just a sports bra is not as "cooling" as running in a wet tank top. I will have to play around with this in training to see if I want to do it more in races. I'll also experiment more with the ice vest beforehand.

I'm happy I did this race and I am proud of my effort and my mindset.