THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

East meets West

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Location:

Wichita,KS,

Member Since:

Sep 14, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

marathon pr:  2:59:49.  Saint George 2011

Praire Spirit 50 mile winner 7:36:30 2013

I accidentally ran 100 miles in November 2013.  it was hard.  I threw up a lot.  decided to do a better job next time

I did it again on purpose October 2014--Heartland 100 winner and CR 17:38:37

Heartland 50 winner May 2014

Psycho Wyco 50k winner February 2012

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run enough to hold off the middle-age spread

 

 

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

 

Sub 3 hour marathon--SOMEDAY!  Done!

 

New long term goal:  ....run enough to feel kinda like I did when I was fit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal:

I was a single mom.  Two times over.  We all survived, despite the fact that I make atrocious decisions.  Then, I met a man I didn't deserve.  And he loves me so much.  And I love him. We lived in sin and bought a house for two years then hired a judge and officially got married(to our great delight and also the delight of our mothers), then a month later he was diagnosed with cancer.  Well we survived all that and he's 100% fine now.  But, we're really out of shape and really busy with kids and jobs and running just isn't my priority and there's so many other layers to all of it, but I'm running anyway.  This is my failure blog now.  Just to log that one run a week if I snag it.  
Somehow that matters and I want that run recorded.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Mizuno Waverider 12 Lifetime Miles: 333.61
Nike Air Pegasus Lifetime Miles: 507.20
Pink Pegs Lifetime Miles: 595.58
Pink Nike Avant Lifetime Miles: 624.04
Crappy Asics Lifetime Miles: 146.72
Adidas Adizero Mana Lifetime Miles: 113.32
Blue Avants Lifetime Miles: 653.33
Crocs Lifetime Miles: 18.08
Lunarfly Lifetime Miles: 468.47
Race: East meets West (3.1 Miles) 00:20:37, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 1
Total Distance
9.50

Well, I didn't make the low 20's so I am a bit disappointed, but it is still a 42 second 5k p.r. for me so chin up right?  I'm not sure what to take from this race.  I started fast, felt good, then about the halfway point just laid down and died.  I wasn't really miserable, I just suddenly didn't feel like running hard and wanted to run off the course and call it a day.  Usually I can power through the mid-race mental battle but not today.  My splits per the Garmin reflect what happened.

mile 1 --6:19(didn't feel too fast)

mile 2--6:48(it just gets worse from here out)

mile 3--6:55(just getting one foot in front of the other to finish)

last little bit 5:40 pace--maxed out at 4:17 pace(at least I mustered up a kick)

The cons: not the time I wanted, lost the mental battle that I usually win

The pros: still a pr, 2 mile spit is only 7 seconds slower than my 2 mile high school pr, there is more speed in my legs than I thought judging from my kick and max pace, 3rd woman overall, 18th person overall, won my age division, good pancakes afterward and I like the t-shirt

In two weeks there is another 5k close by and I intend to get some redemption!

plan to run a recovery run here shortly after Vanessa goes down for her nap.

update: ran 5.5 easy. didn't bother timing it.  90+ degrees, windy, dusty, pretty miserable, good thing I'm going to a wedding tonight and plan on having a good time(plus I get a date with my husband, NO CHILDREN--:)  that doesn't happen often, just David and I! :)

 


New Blue Asics Miles: 9.50
Weight: 107.00
Comments
From Tracy on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 12:50:12 from 173.24.32.153

Hey--I know you didn't break into the time you wanted, but you still ran well (42 sec. pr. is nothing to sneeze at!)

Keep looking at those positives and analyze what went wrong so that next time you'll do it right!

Look to the next 5K. 2 weeks--you'll get it then!

From Eric Day on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 13:03:02 from 189.192.126.0

April, sorry to hear that the mind gave you a bad time, since your body is in shape for that sub 20 5k.

Still a PR is a PR, so CONGRATS!

Enjoy, have an Ice Cream or something.

Cheer on!

From seeaprilrun on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 13:08:41 from 68.102.144.140

wow I don't know if I am in shape for sub-20, but I definitely should have been much closer to 20 minutes. Maybe in two weeks! Now my dilemma is should I go out a bit slower or should I just go out pretty fast again and hope I keep it together a little better?

From Eric Day on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 13:17:28 from 189.192.126.0

For a 5k? Go out fast and hold as long as possible.

Its a short race, very hard, but doable at strong-fast pace. And I'm sure you have the necessary fitness, today was just not your day...

At least thats my 2 cent-opinion. =)

From Tracy on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 13:40:59 from 173.24.32.153

I agree with Eric. You don't really have time in such a short distance to start slow and speed up, at least not if you're going to start much slower. Maybe try going out at 6:30 pace. But you might find that the same thing happens next time.

Some people get to the point where they can run a consistent pace throughout the race if they practice that pace long enough, but it takes a while (lots of repeats for a consistent amount of time) to get into that mode.

Oh and hey--congrats on the age division win! How were you overall?

From seeaprilrun on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 14:45:46 from 68.102.144.140

I'm not completetely sure where I was overall, but 99% sure I was the 4th woman. I'll have to wait for the official results. thanks for the encouragement y'all--I'm going to do what you say--just go out hard again next time and try to hold on! They didn't call splits and looking at my Garmin would've broke my concentration, but I'm thinking if I had heard my 2 mile split was 13:07 it would have been enough inspiration to kick it into gear...I just gotta find that inspiration next time!

From JulieC on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 15:58:21 from 67.42.18.222

April, nice to meet you. Awesome run we both had a few thousand miles apart!!! I too have a redemption 5k in two weeks, but it will again be after five of seven night shifts. I also work as an RN, congrats on going back to school, being a nurse is soooo rewarding. I worked days for 10 years in the NICU (total 16 years in NICU) and now I am in the level 2 nursery one mile from my home and also rotate two shifts a pay period to mother/baby, NICU and pediatrics. You will be so happy. Just hope you don't have to start out at nights. Happy running and racing, great job today!!!!!!!!

From Burt on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 17:16:39 from 98.167.151.26

Nice job April. I don't know if I agree with Eric. I wouldn't go all out. That's just crazy talk. But congrats on the PR!

From Tracy on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 20:20:49 from 173.24.32.153

I don't think my comments were totally clear.

If you go all out and your first mile is 6:00 and then your next mile is 7:00, then I agree with Burt. That is ridiculous. That's like those people that we all end up passing in races because they went out too fast. But if you can go out at 6:30 and sustain (your splits aren't too spread out) then maybe that's your race strategy. You have to figure out what works for you. Some people find success by the all-out-from-the-start strategy and others find more success by pacing.

I say try slowing the first mile a bit (not significantly, by 10-15 secs--if you go much more than that, you won't hit your goal) and then seeing where you go from there.

But be careful of falling into the trap where you think that because you finished your first mile in 6:30, you are automatically going 6:30 pace. You probably are going a bit slower than that since your tendency is to start fast and then settle into a pace. If your garmin will tell you pace, I say sneak a peak to see if you are on pace

From seeaprilrun on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 10:19:34 from 68.102.144.140

I will probably run by feel--go out fast but leave myself feeling I am holding back a tiny bit, and then open up the second mile and hang on from there. Perhaps if I learn to peak at my watch at mile markers I can motivate myself and adjust my pace if need be. Thanks for all the advice!

From argentinerocket on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 00:11:05 from 98.204.55.168

Whatever Burt says, just do the opposite :)

Congratulations on the PR! You were the 3rd woman overall!!! That's amazing!!!

From Burt on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 10:49:17 from 98.167.151.26

Rocket!

Well if that's the case, then DON'T look at Camille's blog.

From seeaprilrun on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 10:54:20 from 68.102.144.140

Of course I went straight to Camille's blog! Check it out everybody!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 15:32:27 from 64.81.245.109

Congratulations on an official sub-21:00 and a PR.

Your description of the race sounds like you had a problem with the lack of sleep or high stress.

When your aerobic development reaches a certain level, then you start hitting the limit of the neural drive/adrenal performance. The symptoms are you are not breathing too hard, HR is relatively low, but for the life of you you cannot go any faster.

More issues.Your mileage has increased in the last three weeks, and you have been doing it at a brisk pace. That can wear out the nervous system, especially for a busy mother.

Also, you had a cold. The body often responds by partially shutting itself down for a few weeks after, so you cannot push at high intensities.

What I would recommend. First, see if you can reduce the stress and increase the sleep to the highest feasible amount. Second, back off the pace on your runs. Do not run faster than 9:00 except for a few miles here and there, and if you do run faster than 9:00, make it count and do not run slower than 7:00. Third, improve the diet. Fruits, vegetables, grains in abundance, meat in moderation, no caffeine or alcohol. Caffeine is particularly harmful for the neural drive because it puts you temporarily into a higher level of agitation than what is natural for the body without giving any real energy to back it up, so that interferes with the natural repair processes.

Once those issues are resolved, you should be able to run 19:30.

From seeaprilrun on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 22:33:21 from 205.172.12.230

High stress. Yup that's a problem. A way of life for me; can't really reduce the causative factors but can work on my reaction to it--running actually helps immensely.

Sleep. That can be a problem too. Depends on what is going on that week. I don't rest near as much I would like to, too much to do. Could squeeze in more by napping at the kid's naptime instead of doing homework. If I can get far enough ahead this is plausible.

Slowing pace on runs. I can do that--is hard because I run mostly by what feels good and some days there is a little more wind in my sails and I like the feeling of comfortably cruising. That said, knocking out a sub-7 minute mile or two if I feel good should be sufficient to wear me out and knock me back down to 9:00's or close for the rest of the run.

Diet. Not too bad, I don't think. There is room for improvement. I am looking forward to next year when nursing school is over and one big burden is lifted. Hopefully this will also herald a job situation and finance improvement for our family as well and maybe than momma will be rested enough to run faster :)

Thanks for the input

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