Going With The Flow

AM - RESULTS AND MORE PICS FOR OKTOBERFAST 5K on Jake's Blog!

First of all, I have to say that this event was everything I was hoping for. We had a great turnout, including - 

9 racers (Adam RW, Sandy, Ashley, ACorn, Jake, Andrea, Dave, Chad Robinson, Kam)
Great timer (Kam's son Jens)
Sub-Professional photographer (Allie)
Spectator support crew (Adam RW's wife Sandra and kids, Paul and kids; both have adorable kids!)

Thanks to everyone that came out! It was really nice to meet more local runners and put names to faces on the blog. NEXT EVENT SPOOKY FAST 5K on Oct. 29!

About the race - 2 mile warmup. I was a little nervous that the football team was going to take over the track, but they quickly retreated for McDonalds and orange juice on the sidelines :) We had some introductions and handed out awesome bids. I got lucky number 7!

Race started at 9:05am. My goal was even splits of 83 seconds every 400 and pick it up at the very end for 17:15. I went out a little fast but felt controlled. Mile 1 was 5:25. I felt a twinge from mile 1 to 1.5 in my hamstring - not sure what that was about. I caught up with Adam RW right after, and we stayed close for a couple laps. Mile 2 was 5:34. I slowed a little the next few laps - this is always the challenging part of the 5k. The last 400 ACorn FLEW past me. If only I had that kind of kick! Mile 3 was 5:36. I pushed the last stretch with a finishing time of 17:16.3!!

I am quite thrilled with my performance - 9 second PR, and with the NCAA altitude conversion it could potentially be 16:55 at sea level. If I ever ran sub-17, that would be incredible. I cheered the rest of the crew coming in for their final meters. Then we all chatted for a while and drank some chocolate milk - the ultimate recovery drink.

Cool down with most of the group. This was probably my favorite part, just a casual run with some great people.

AM - 9.5 miles on soft surfaces in Liberty Park. 

Long Beach Half is one week from today, so this week is all about tapering. Besides having some time at the beach in CA, there is a Safeway within 2 blocks of the hotel and they have the BEST Moose Tracks ice cream (with only 120 calories per serving, tough to beat that). It's going to be an awesome celebration after the race!

PM - 30 min bike ride up to REI so I could get my favorite smoothie Powerbars. I have felt so tired today. Most of the day consisted of laying around and dozing off to sleep. I did manage to get my mandatory 15 minutes of abs/arms for the weekend.

AM - 8 miles with Jake, Millcreek loop 7:40 pace. I can feel the taper working - my legs feel stronger and more rested already. I'm trying to get all the nervousness out today and tomorrow, and my stomach is in knots already this morning!

I thought this study was interesting - The effect of early vs. late bedtimes.

AM - 2 miles around the block. 

PM - It was "team building day" at work, so we went to hike the Brighton Lakes Trail this afternoon. I had initially planned the Lake Blanche hike (being a little overconfident in other people's abilities) but changed at the last minute. Good thing too - they were huffing and puffing on this relatively easy hike. We had a good time and even saw a couple moose! The colors in the mountains are gorgeous right now.

 PM2 - My coworkers and I also went out to eat, and I stupidly gorged on nachos, hummus, rice, salmon, chocolate cake, etc. No self control! That being said, my 4.9 miles immediately afterward were not pleasant. I spent about 10 minutes afterwards moaning and groaning to Jake about how much my stomach hurt.

AM - Last Chance Workout! I  felt a little uncomfortable being at the track in the dark by myself, so I guilted Jake into running at the track with me. 4 x 1000 at half marathon pace w/ 400m recovery. 3:36, 3:44, 3:36, 3:39. Then 2 x 200 fast with 200m recovery. :36, :36. I realized that my watch light doesn't work, so I had to do these by feel. I need to become less dependent on  the watch anyways.

The purpose of the workout was to just get a feel for half marathon pace and keep my legs from getting stale. I felt very strong and controlled on these reps.

New blog post about food training staples!

PM - 2 mile shakeout in the rain. I've gotten spoiled with perfect weather.

I JUST SIGNED UP FOR THE PHILADELPHIA MARATHON!!! It's now official - going for the OTQ.

AM - 6.75 mile run in Sugarhouse area with Allie, James (fiddy), and Jake. Great company but cold, rainy, gross weather. Not a fan. It definitely would have been tough to convince myself to run solo this morning. Come back Indian summer (and bring the daylight back too)!

Steve Jobs' commencement address at Stanford in 2005 - worth a read.

AM - Easy horsepark loop with Jake. BRRR!

It's Friday!!! Does anyone know of motivational, pump-you-up, make you want to run faster podcasts to listen to? Or just anything interesting to listen to while at work??

PM - 5 x 200m w/ 200m jog. 42, 44, 41, 41, 41. Ran a little faster than half marathon pace, trying to keep my legs fresh and ready to go.

AM - Lucky horsepark loop this morning, followed by a couple of strides. California here we come! I'M EXCITED!

1:17:03!

I was a mess yesterday. I was sporadically confident and questioning my abilities throughout the entire day. Basically, I was driving Jake crazy with my mood swings (but I'm a girl, so what can he really expect?). We walked around Long Beach a little but didn't want to wear ourselves out, so mostly spent the afternoon/evening watching college football. Fell asleep ~8:30pm, the usual these days.

Woke up at 4:25am wide awake. I tried to just stay in bed, but the adrenaline was already pumping. We turned on the Chicago marathon live streaming for about an hour while we were getting ready which was surprisingly relaxing to me. I always wish they would talk about people besides the front pack, though.

Our hotel was only a couple of blocks to the start line, so we ran a mile warmup there. The sunrise was absolutely beautiful and the mass of people was quite impressive. I've never been to a big marathon before with 25,000 people. It's exciting.

I put myself in a position right behind Jake for the start. The announcer was having trouble sorting out the elites with the other runners, so I just had to laugh when he said "If you paid for your shoes, please stand behind the rope". Haha I can't believe I'm considered elite - what a thrill.

Gun started and I got into what I thought was a sustainable pace. Mile one was 5:45. The start is always fast, so that was fine with me. I was running with another girl through miles 2 and 3, but I got really frustrated when I came in the second mile at 6:41. Even though I knew it wasn't correct, I hated the fact that the mile splits weren't correct and spent the next five minutes questioning how fast I was really going. I didn't trust any of the splits after that (and I'm pretty sure a few of them were off). I had to just go by feel. Mile 3 was 4:50. Funny how I was so focused on racing that I couldn't even do the math to figure out how those miles evened out. I tried several times too, and yes I am an engineering nerd.

The girl next to me dropped, and mile four pretty much set the stage for the rest of the race. 5:51. I caught up to a couple guys running together and decided to tuck in behind them and let them pull me as far as I could stay with them. Mile 5 and 6 were 5:47 and 5:42, respectively.

Sidenote: I love being the first girl. People get so excited yelling "FIRST GIRL!!" and it really pumps me up. I tried to feed off the crowd as much as I could.

Miles 7-9.5 were along the beach, but I was so in tune with the race that I had no idea that the ocean was less than 50 yards away. 5:48, 6:17, 5:56. That middle split just made me mad because there was no way I ran 6:17. My guess is that miles 6 and 7 were a little short. Who knows.

The guys I was running with edged ahead and then I ran solo. We hit the turnaround and started a very gradual uphill for the next 1.5 miles. Miles 10 and 11 were 5:56 and 6:04. I didn't slow too much, so that was uplifting. The course got pretty lonely here with not many spectators.

Another sidenote - Jake and I read this article about improved performance with foul language. If you say swear words as a method to tolerate pain (especially for women and when curse words are not in the typically vocabulary aka me), there is an increased threshold. So guess what I was doing at this point?! lol

Mile 12 was 5:57. And then I heard "There's a girl right behind you!" Well crap. That is not what I wanted to hear. She passed me right at my weakest point and I just couldn't get myself to go with her. I wish that I had that super competitive personality. 12.5 to the end was a great downhill. Mile 13 was 5:55. I saw the clock ticking 1:16:54...55....56 and I was soo close to breaking 1:17. Four seconds too slow. Ahhhhhhh! [Updated: they added 2 seconds to everyone's time after the fact.]

Despite getting beat at the end and barely missing sub-1:17, how can I be unhappy with a 50 second PR? It's still hard to get over not breaking the tape and missing the time that I keep replaying in my head. I am so excited about my performance though! I did go out a little fast and slowed during the second half. I still feel like I ran a great race. The guys that I ran with for 5 miles made a huge difference in my mental attitude. I ran hard and strong.

So this time in the half marathon is a good indication for an OTQ in the marathon in 6 weeks. If I can get a little more endurance in this next training cycle, I have a shot. During the race, I got a muscle twinge in my hamstring (which has happened two other times in the last 4 weeks) so that makes me really worried. If anyone has recommendations, I would love to hear them. I want to be 100% healthy going into Philadelphia.

Spent the afternoon walking around Long Beach, eating brunch with Jake's family and eating ice cream. I'm so proud of Jake for his amazing performance of 1:05:43. He has an even better shot at the OTQ in 6 weeks! Long Beach is beautiful.

AM - Recovery run on the boardwalk and out to the lighthouse at Long Beach, 4 miles. I AM SO SORE. I must've worked hard yesterday. An ice bath this evening may be necessary.

PM - I was planning 4-5 miles easy this afternoon, so Jake and I headed out with the post-race shuffle. Hamstring does not feel right. After about a mile, I decided to abort plan A and just head home. I'm hoping this is nothing serious and will feel better in a couple days. Michelle suggested a PT doctor, so I'll probably call him tomorrow. Stick + massage + ice + heat for tonight.

AM - Cross training. 30 minutes on the elliptical and 12 minutes on the exercise bike. My legs needed the morning off from the pounding. My hamstring feels a little better today but still needs some help. I have to say, I really enjoy cross training sometimes. 

PM - More cross training. 30 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the elliptical. It is beautiful outside, and I was not happy to be stuck indoors. I want to enjoy all the warm running weather because I know it's not going to last much longer! Physical therapy early tomorrow morning. 

AM - Physical therapy this morning. He said it was probably just a mild strain in my hamstring at this point. He gave me some exercises, as well as instructions for ice, heat, massage, and no stretching. I can do that! Fast intervals are probably out of the question for now, but this next month is mostly about marathon pace so that shouldn't cause major problems. We'll just see how it goes. Attitude speeds up the healing process!

PM - 8.6 miles with Jake around Sugarhouse and Millcreek. I started off really slow to make sure nothing hurt and slowly made my way to 7:45-8 min mile pace. I'm content with running easy all this week as long as I can put in some miles.

AM - Thursday JAJA Run (Jake, Andrea, James, and Allie). Ran from Sugarhouse Park to Sunnyside, up to Wasatch Drive to the bike path and then back down to Sugarhouse. It was a pretty nice route - we ended up with about 11 miles.

My hamstring didn't bother me at all during the run. I wore compression shorts, and I think they made a difference. I can still feel an aching heat sensation (similar to all week) most of the time.

Question - does anyone know of a good sports massage therapist?!

PM - 60 minute escort bike ride to keep Jake safe on his run.

Finish video and a couple more pics from the race on Sunday. I was SO close to the winner!

AM - Easy 4 mile run. Short workout this1 afternoon.

PM - Short(ish) tempo run on the track. 2 mile warm-up, 4.5 mile tempo, 0.5 mile cool-down. This workout was totally dependent on how my hamstring felt, and I was relieved to find that marathon pace felt pretty good. The initial plan was 5k tempo, but I decided to keep going. 6:15, 6:19, 6:15, 6:15, 3:06. The last lap I started feeling a little too much vibration in my hamstring for my comfort so stopped there. Overall a good workout. I'm going to get some high quality compression shorts this evening!

Jake and I are doing a long run tomorrow on Rail Trail in Park City (~7:30 pace, 22-23 miles) if anyone wants to join. Let me know!

Weather forecast 10 Day for SLC looks AWESOME!

AM - Longest run ever today! And, of course, Jake and I chose it to be at 6500 ft and gradual uphill on the way back, Why do we do this to ourselves?? Anyway, the run was actually a great course. We started at Park City High School and jumped on the Rail Trail for about 6 miles. We then had a 4 mile loop with rolling hills that we did twice, then ran back on the Rail Trail. Added a little extra at the end to get 22 miles in 2:43:35 (close to how long it will take me to run the marathon). 

I was feeling pretty rough at 17 miles, but that was mostly due to a miserable headwind ~15 mph. There was definitely no wind on the way out which makes the headwind totally unfair! The wind slowed us down about 20 seconds per mile for about 5 miles.  We stashed a powerade bottle at mile 18, and it's amazing how everything changes with just a sip. I got a little more life back into me for the remainder of the run, although I was still pretty tired.

Best part of the run - my hamstring didn't bother me!!! I went to SLRC last night desperate for some compression shorts for the long run. They didn't have my size but suggested the L/XL calf sleeves to use instead as my thigh sleeve. I am pretty sure the calf sleeve saved the day today. I didn't feel any jarring at all! And it made me feel good that I was little enough to put something meant for the calf on my thigh :)

We went to Wasatch Bagel and Grill for breakfast, and I couldn't even finish 1/3 of my plate b/c I had no appetite. That means lots of ice cream later!

Beautiful day outside! I hope everyone is out enjoying it.

AM - Easy 10 miles at 8 min/mile pace. I love running on Sundays in SLC because it's so quiet and peaceful. The downhill towards the end of the run irritated my hamstring a little. I'm planning to take it easy the rest of the day - watch football, read a book, eat ice cream, etc.

PM - 4.7 mile bike ride with Jake to go get some milk at the grocery store.

AM - Hard to get up and going this morning, rainy gross this morning. 10 miles total - first mile was 9:20, managed to be in the low 8s until the last mile at 8:45. My legs aren't quite recovered from the 22 miler on Saturday. Hopefully one more day and I'll be ready to hit it hard again.Ā 

I'm planning an 8 mile tempo at 6:20 pace tomorrow afternoon at Jordan River Parkway. I would LOVE some company if anyone is interested.

PM - 2 miles around the track easy.

AM - 3.2 miles easy around the block. Legs felt better today - debating whether to do tempo this afternoon or tomorrow.

PM - 10 miles. 8 mile tempo at Frontage Road along I-80. 6:18, 6:16, 6:19, 6:14, 6:19, 6:15, 6:18, 6:12. The pace didn't feel that bad. It definitely took effort to maintain, but my breathing wasn't labored much and my legs felt fine. My hamstring is very sensitive - it didn't cramp up or anything, but I can still feel it. Maybe I'm just super sensitive to that area. Ice and massage now. Glad to get that over with!

Segment of an interview with Josh Cox -

Question: How do you keep going when you donā€™t feel like?

JOSH COX: If we only did things when we felt like it, we wouldnā€™t be very good at anything. I love running, writing, announcing on TV, and connecting with folks via social media but I donā€™t love them all the time. The professional world is competitive, no matter your discipline. Doing something only when you ā€œfeel like itā€ is a guaranteed formula for failure. Passion isnā€™t enough, talent isnā€™t enough; you have to commit to putting in the work. Somewhere, thereā€™s someone just as passionate and talented as you thatā€™s willing to hone their craft daily ā€“ theyā€™ll beat you on game day. Pursue your passion and be willing to put in the painstaking work it takes to succeed. Lots of folks want success without sacrifice but life doesnā€™t work that way. Marathon running is a great metaphor for life because in order to succeed you have to make daily deposits over a long period of time. Iā€™m a part of the Mammoth Track Club, our training group rivals any on the planet. We meet every morning at 8:30 and in the afternoons for gym work. Surrounding yourself with others who are working towards a common goal pays huge dividends and provides accountability. Even still, there are many days I donā€™t feel like getting out the door. Something that renowned childrenā€™s author Madeline Lā€™Engle said has always stuck with me, ā€œInspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.ā€ Iā€™ve found this true in just about every area of life. In running, inspiration rarely finds you on the couch; it likes to wait around the first corner. On days when Iā€™m having trouble getting motivated, I shut my mind off, get dressed, lace ā€˜em up, and get out the door. Itā€™s not inspirationā€™s job to come find us, itā€™s our job to go find inspiration. The key to training, and life, is taking that first step. The first step is the best step; itā€™s where intent meets action. Donā€™t talk about it; be about it. When you donā€™t feel like doing what you know needs to be done, take the variable of ā€œthe choiceā€ out of the equation. Shut the mind off and just begin.

AM - 4.4 miles easy horsepark loop.

This is a great article about Janet Cherobon-Bawcom - she was given a chance and has really excelled. She's definitely a contender for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials ā€“ Marathon.

http://www.flotrack.org/article/7795-Athlete-Spotlight-Janet-Cherobon-Bawcom

PM - 5.6 miles easy around Sugarhouse.

AM - JAJA Run! 10.2 miles - the run was hillier than I remembered last time, must be tired from all the training.

PM - 2 Mile Tempo in 12:15, 2x200 in :45.

Definitely running on tired legs. The past 7 days I have run over 90 miles! That's a lot. Never thought I would run this much in a week until the last 3 months. Easy day tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to hit the Sat. long run hard.

Jake and I were asked to speak at the Utah LDR Circuit Banquet coming up. We agreed but have no idea what to talk about! I'm sure a lot of people on the blog will be there, so do you have any suggestions? Jake is an excellent speaker, by the way. Me - not so much :)

AM - 6 miles really easy, 8:30 pace. Tired legs! Marathon training is hard.

Looks like we'll have a nice crew for the long run tomorrow morning at Jordan River Parkway. Let me know if you want to join in. 

AM - Great long run this morning! Met up with James, Jake, Chad, Devra, Emily B, and May - what a great (and quite an elite) group. The first half of the run flew by with lots of conversation and fun times. THIS is why I love running. First 15 miles were at 7:02 pace. 

The last 5 miles were scheduled for marathon pace of 6:19. Devra, Emily, and I picked it up a little fast in 6:07. I decided that I could hold the pace for 4 more miles, so I averaged 6:06 for 5 miles. I think I finally hit that "the moment you know" that you can run a marathon (see Lauren Fleshman's blog).

I started to feel my hamstring tendon (pain near the insertion point on the fibula - knee area). I didn't have cramping, just a little discomfort. I can handle that in the marathon, although I hope it goes away by then.

I really hope these group runs continue. We hung around for a while afterwards and chatted more :)

AM - 10 miles at Dimple Dell Park. SLOW and tired. 8:45 average pace. Jake and I almost hit a 10 min mile, but managed 9:55. Started at the Dewey Bluth Park and ran to Granite. It turned out to be exactly 5 miles out and all uphill (tough for a recovery run). At least the soft surfaces were good for the legs. 

AM - 9 miles around Millcreek, 8:20 pace. My legs still have some residual fatigue in them but should be ready for a workout by tomorrow. 

PM - 2.8 miles. Felt exhausted. I had physical therapy this afternoon and it was NOT FUN. The PT used this knife-like device (but not sharp) and rolled it across my tendon really hard. It was so painful! He said it was to get the knots out and encourage the right healing (and should make it feel better in a day or so), but I was definitely not a happy camper during the process. It still hurts. My tendon better feel peachy in a couple days!!

Regarding the track 5K - there are basically 3 options and we just want to make it a vote... we can do it any of the upcoming 3 Saturdays...

1. Oct 29th (but it would have to be in the afternoon)
2. Nov 5th
3. Nov 12th (this day we actually are planning to do a 5K time trial anyways, but I hate to schedule something at the same time as Jun's trail run)

So either vote by commenting or sending me (or Jake) an email, and we'll try to have a concrete date by the middle of this week.

AM - Horsepark loop, easy. 

PM - 2 mile tempo at marathon pace (12:37) then 5x200 w/100m jog recovery (40.5 seconds avg). This was just a short workout to get the legs moving a little faster. I was excited to run 5k pace on the 200s without any pain in my hamstring tendon. That physical therapy torture yesterday must've actually helped. Good and bad - it's healing, but now I have no excuse not to go back to PT and be in pain again! Sacrifices...

 From Logic of Long Distance  - This is how it works:

Training is doing your homework. It's not exciting. More often than not it's tedious. There is certainly no glory in it. But you stick with it, over time, and incrementally through no specific session, your body changes. Your mind becomes calloused to effort. You stop thinking of running as difficult or interesting or magical. It just becomes what you do. It becomes a habit. 
 
Workouts too become like this. Intervals, tempos, strides, hills. You go to the track, to the bottom of a hill, and your body finds the effort. You do your homework. That's training. Repetition--building deep habits, building a runner's body and a runner's mind. You do your homework, not obsessively, just regularly. Over time you grow to realize that the most important workout that you will do is the easy hour run. That's the run that makes everything else possible. You live like a clock.
 
After weeks of this, you will have a month of it. After months of it, you will have a year of it.
 
Then, after you have done this for maybe three or four years, you will wake up one morning in a hotel room at about 4:30am and do the things you have always done. You eat some instant oatmeal. Drink some Gatorade. Put on your shorts, socks, shoes, your watch. This time, though, instead of heading out alone for a solitary hour, you will head towards a big crowd of people. A few of them will be like you: they will have a lean, hungry look around their eyes, wooden legs. You will nod in their direction. Most of the rest will be distracted, talking among their friends, smiling like they are at the mall, unaware of the great and magical event that is about to take place.
 
You'll find your way to a tiny little space of solitude and wait anxiously, feeling the tang of adrenaline in your legs. You'll stand there and take a deep breath, like it's your last. An anthem will play. A gun will sound.
 
Then you will run.

AM - 6 miles easy up to Sugarhouse with Jake and back. 

PM - 3 miles around Sugarhouse.

AM - 2 miles on the treadmill. I thought about running outside, but it seemed pretty worthless to get all the cold weather clothes on for such a short run. I talked to this post-competitive triathlete guy, and he told me "Go after it while you still have your mojo". 

PM - Met up with Emily Bates for the BIG WORKOUT. Half marathon 13.1 miles in 1:22:48. Mile splits were 6:21, 6:17, 6:18, 6:11, 6:19, 6:20, 6:19, 6:20, 6:21, 6:22, 6:18, 6:18, 6:15, :45. We stayed very consistent. That was my longest tempo run by 5.1 miles! I felt pretty strong throughout - the pace got harder to maintain as the miles went on, but I didn't feel like I was struggling. Overall, a great effort. I am glad that it's behind me!

I tried out a similar outfit to what I would be wearing for race day - tank top, arm warmers, long socks, shorts. I was freezing by mile 11 - my hands were numb. I may need to rethink my clothes strategy.

I'm still trying to get over the hard effort mentally. Hopefully, I will feel confident about the marathon tomorrow.

AM - 6 miles 8:50 pace. That was about as fast as my legs would let me go this morning. Tempo run last night took all the speed out of them. I couldn't sleep past 4:30am (I never sleep well after hard workouts at night), so it will be a struggle not to fall asleep at work today.

Jake did a short video for fun last night of me running. If you look closely, you can tell that my left leg (with injured hamstring tendon) doesn't swing back nearly as far as the right leg. That's probably one of the reasons that it got hurt. Gotta work on that!

10-27 Tempo Run from Jake K on Vimeo.

We're doing a long run at Jordan River Parkway again tomorrow (3300S). It will be casual - 7:15-7:30 pace. The plan is to do a 12 mile out-and-back headed south and then an 8 mile out-and-back headed north on the trail. Start at 8am. 

AM - 20 miles with another great crew this weekend. Chad, Adam W, Adam C, Emily, Devra, Bryan, and Jake. Ended up running a pretty fast pace, 6:58 overall but 6:50 for the last 16 miles. I felt okay today but definitely still fatigued from the workout on Thursday. Three weeks of the most mileage and hard workouts = I should feel this way (what Adam told me and made me feel better). It will make me stronger for those hard miles at the end of the race. Now it's just doing the taper right. Thank goodness it's taper time! 

Group long runs are the best :) 

PM - 4.5 mile bike ride with Jake. Talking marathon - we are totally obsessed.

AM - 9.4 miles in the parks and neighborhoods close to home. 8:20 easy recovery pace. My feel hurt today! 

PM - 3.7 mile bike ride shakeout with Jake.

So glad we get another beautiful weekend day. Planning to relax and try to not eat all the Cookie Squares I made yesterday!

AM - Easy 6 miles to Sugarhouse and back. 

PM - 6 x 200 average 39.4 seconds. I haven't run this fast in a while, but my hamstring felt great. My legs are much more used to marathon pace, that's for sure!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! This is one of those days where it would be fun to have a little kid to take trick or treating :)