track fan

AM: 10 miles

PM: easy 4 

Soooo busy, I miss you bloggers! 

Off to the airport!

AM: 9 miles (4 easy + 5 @ MP) I did something to my hamstring ...

Ran in DC ... Had to hurry to get to my class I taught at the US Senate!!! More on that later. Then I have two days of  board meetings, and then another day of meetings as part of a conference on cancer research!  Somewhere in there I have to get a 22 miler in!

PM: easy 4 

Easy ...early ...tired

AM: 8 ... Scoping out a route for my long run tomorrow.  I have to change hotels, after my meeting ends today, but I am trying to stay where I will have access to the Mt. Vernon trail!

PM: easy 4

I am tired of eating out! I need some fruit and veggies! 

3:03:10 (1:33:52/1:29:18). Ran on the Mt. Vernon trail from Arlington to four miles from Mt. Vernon.  I was not enthusiastic about getting out the door today, but had to admit 10 miles into it that it was a beautiful day, a great place to run, and I felt pretty good ... I am lucky.  There were a lot of people out - cyclists, runners, and walkers.  I even saw a woman who easily weighed 250 lbs jogging.  I so wanted to yell "good for you!" But, I was afraid it would make her feel worse and not better, so, I just casually said "good morning" instead.

 Tonight I have to go to a dinner meeting...I did not get much else done today, so I guess I will be working on the plane tomorrow. I can't wait to get home!  Oh, and my legs ache. :-) 

Happy Sunday, bloggers. 

AM: (10.5 miles, 1:20:43).  ~30 min wu/cd and then 15 x 1` w/1` recovery.  over hill-and-dale.  Saw Abdi, invited him to come with us to see John Ball (the imfamous ART guru) on Friday in Pheonix, he did not accept ... too bad, it would have been fun to ride up with "the Mayor of Tucson".  

PM: easy 4.

Nice day today, I felt pretty darn good.  I just need to make it through a couple more hard workouts, and then I am on easy street ... hehe ...

Easy/hilly run (radiation run today).  

AM:(13 miles, 1:45:56) 27:57wu/28:05cd.   8 x 800 w/ equal recovery (psuedo Yasso 800s - since I only did 8 instead of 10, I am just not strong enough to do 10!). 

Average: 3:17 

3:20, 3:16, 3:19, 3:18, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16, 3:16   (recovery was between 3:22-3:35)

I think this is the fastest I have ever run these ... like, ever.  (by comparison, this same workout before my aborted March marathon was: 3:24, 3:22, 3:19, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16).  It was not easy by any means, but I did try really hard to keep control - and think "let the pace come to you, don't fight to hit the pace" (and there was a little voice in my head that kept reminding me that I had to run 3 hard uphill miles home ;). I am hopefully optomistic about my chance to go sub 3:20!!

PM: easy 4.  like stupendeously easy 4 ;)

Happy Thursday bloggers!! 

1:03:43.  Easy easy easy run.  Legs are not achy, but they are tired.  I feel very old.

16 days to stay healthy!  I took 1/2 day off from work to drive up to Phoenix to see John Ball.  Love him (like seriously, I have a tiny crush on him) - I don't feel "better" yet, but I do have a little more flexibility now.

Safe travels Boston bound bloggers -- so excited for you!!! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:08:34).  easy, hilly, tired - again ... last 20 miler before the marathon tomorrow!!  relieved?  excited?  both??  

PM: easy 4.

I have to do my taxes today -- ouch.  it is not easy, actually, it is pretty complicated with two houses, two jobs, and my Mom's estate stuff.   Sigh, unfortunately, I can't put it off much longer.

Rest Boston peeps, and the rest of you too, happy weekend, bloggers! 

2:51:08. 20 with last 8 at MP.  Flat run with some mile markers that I can use to get a sense of pace. It is 14 miles from where I park my car (in a parking lot near a clinic - one my secret spots :-) ) to an intersection to the east: 7 out and the same 7 back; there are mile markers for ~12 of the miles, but not all of them - and the mile markers don't start exactly where I park.  Anyway, so what I did was run ~3 out and back heading west first (partial dirt path), and then do my 7 out heading east and back.  The first ~6 were 29:02/24:51, the next ~7 were 1:03:58, the last 7 were 53:13 (7:36 AP).  The splits I could get were for the last 6: 2@15:25 (7:42AP), 7:31, 2@14:55 (7:27AP), 7:12.

I really did not expect this at all, my legs felt horrible, heck *I* felt horrible, the whole first 12 miles.  The mileage, and my workouts, have just been wearing me out.  But, I somehow rallied, and although it was not "easy" ( and in fact it was a little fast - as MP for a 3:20 is 7:40/mile), it got done!! Now my legs ache again, but I can focus on recovery now! I have two more "track" workouts that shouldn't be over-the-top hard, and one more "longish" run!!

I can't wait to see how all the bloggers do tomorrow! FRB!! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:49).  10 x 1` w/1` recovery.

PM: easy 4.

Heavy heart today bloggers, lifted by the knowledge that all of you are safe and sound.  

And know that before the tragic events unfolded I was so very happy for all of you that were able to finish the Boston marathon -- and holy cow, how well you did!!  I still feel that happiness for you -- that can't be diminished in any way.  

40 mins ... yikes, taper time already?

AM: (11.5 miles, 1:36:47).  27:57wu/28:27cd.  3 x 2000 w/2:30 recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  Goal (according to the McMillan running calculator: 6:44-6:58 pace/mile).  I thought to myself, "well, you don't have a lot to gain with this workout, but you do have a lot to lose, so lets just shoot for 7:00 pace -- since the calculator seemed to be a little fast 4 weeks ago".  What I meant by "a lot to lose" was that it is unlikely that this workout was going to give me any huge fitness benefit, but given that my old tired legs probably need a lot of recovery from the past two cycles of training (2 marathon cycles really - since I missed the marathon in March), I could over do it.  My guess is thatt Greg puts these in my schedule so that the taper is still similar to my previous schedule (in terms of workouts on TTh and every-other Sunday) - but at a lower volume.  These sorts of workouts keep your legs remembering turnover, while not really very stressful.   6K @ 10K pace with recovery inbetween is not quite lactic threshold.  Anyway -- it went better than I could have anticipated, given that although it was not what I would call "easy" - it was not pushing it either (certainly not as hard as the 800s last week):

 8:44 (6:59AP), 8:41 (6:56AP), 8:40 (6:56AP), then some pretty slow 200s in :49, :48, :49.

It was pretty windy down the backstretch, and as usual, I did not seem to make up much time with the tailwind on the homestretch -- but, luckily, it was a short workout!

PM: easy 4.

Thinking about you all.   

51:43. Whoa. I must be tapering, I feel like I weight 200lbs, I am slow, and my mind keeps saying "26 miles, really? Why would want to do that?"

So glad this week is over. Rest well, bloggers. I

Pretty much the same as yesterday, maybe I feel like I weight 210 today because I broke down and had some ice cream last night ... I tried not to, but I couldn't seem to stay away from the freezer.  

Enjoy your running, bloggers 

It was so awesome to see so many bloggers with good races at the SLC half marathon today (it is too early for results from the full, I am sure you rocked it there too!!! FRB!!)

PM: 4 miles easy 

1:43:12.  Schedule called for 12 miles with the last 6 at MP.  Usually I would hit the Rillito River Trail for this run, since it has some mile markers. But, I was inspired this morning and thought, "why drive all the way to the trail, when there is a track 3 miles down the hill?".   So, I drove to the track, ran 56:45 on the trails around Pima Community College (I love these trails, it is rocky, and hilly - not long hills, more like cross-country hilly). Then I hit the track.  It was hard to find "just the right pace" -- I was really trying to keep it easy, but the first 800 was a little 'too' easy, and I had to not over-compensate :-) -- the target was 7:35 pace.  Splits were: 7:46, 7:31, 7:32, 7:31, 7:29: 7:24.  An extra 1/2 mile to my car, and it was a wrap!  One more 'workout' on Thursday and it will be time to take this training to the race!

Happy Sunday bloggers!! 

AM: 6 miles (maybe 9.5) 53:24.  20 mins easy then 10 x :25 w/1` recovery.  20 min easy home ...  I feel like a sluggish, slow, mucus-dragging slug.

PM: easy  3/3.5 (just a quick - in duration, not speed, see above - little jog).

allie is an awesome, wonderful, funny, beautiful, speedy, sweet, person.  She sent me a good luck charm for my race!

Happy Tuesday, bloggers! 

Yikes ... 30 mins.  Still dragging along, like a snail ... just like yesterday (see "slug") but now dragging a house on my back...

Happy hump day, bloggers! 

AM: (7.5, 1:03:01).  17:01wu/20:06cd.  4 x 1000 w/200 recovery.  I messed up.  When I read the pace that I was supposed to run these in (my schedule said 4-5 x 1000) I misread speed versus cruise interval pace!!!  so, I read my pace was supposed to be 3:53-4:06 (6:12-6:36 /mile pace), when in fact it was supposed to be 4:07-4:15 (6:36-6:48/mile)!!!  I *KNEW* that 3:53-4:06 was too fast.  So, my goal was 4:10 pace (which was 3:20/800). 

My actual paces: 4:13 (6:45/mile), 4:15 (6:48/mile), 4:11 (6:41/mile), 4:10 (6:40/mile) + 3 x 200 each at :49.  

I swear it felt much harder than it was supposed to feel -- so I decided to only do 4.  then I felt like a failure during my cool-down ... and thought, "well, maybe it wasn't so bad for running on these hollowed out tubes filled with cement, that some people call 'legs'".  Then, when I got home I checked my schedule again and hit myself on the forehead!  Dummy, me.  Anyway - I was in the "target" pace.  If I had paid attention I would have tried harder to hit 4:15 instead of the 4:10/4:11 on the last ones, but as long as I run super super super easy the next few runs, I am sure there is no real harm done.  These were between 10 - 17 secs faster than the ones I did in 2009 ... so, well, I am in better shape  -- hopefully this will translate into a marathon PR!

PM: very very easy 3 miles.

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

I did something to my leg yesterday ... It hurts, and I am worried. Or it is the taper??  Yikes!!!

With Dean ... We looked for Pre's trail ... Just found bike path :-).  Nice to jog with Dean.  Leg is 'better' ... I have been rolling and sitting on a lacrosse ball all day!

Picked up my race bib (first corral behind elites, oh no!), heard a very inspirational talk by Lauren Fleshmen, who is one of the cutest pregnant women ever, and got a good luck hug!!!

http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-3271

More later, my legs hurt, bad.  Thank you all for your love and well wishes.  My lucky javelina was pinned to my shorts (thanks allie) ... It helped a lot over those last painful miles.  xxoo 

Report:

I did ok, I really can't complain (except for how much my legs hurt the last 4 miles, and they hurt so much right now - ache - that I can't even take a nap - despite only getting ~3 hours sleep last night ;-)). My half-marathon splits were 1:38:51/1:40:24 -- I wanted to hold it together and go for sub 3:19, but I was just holding on at the end (or that is how I felt anyway).  I have to say that the course felt hillier than 2009 -- they did change it, both so we did not have to navigate through the 1/2 marathoners between miles 15-16, and so we could finish on Hayward Field (which I wish I could have enjoyed more - but, I was so focused on the finish line, and stopping running, that I did not see the Jumbo Tron -- small mercies :-) -- or much of the "track" ... ha ha).  Maybe it was just the 24secs/mile faster than I ran today that made the hills feel harder?  The other two larger points, both have to do with the fact that I am so lucky.  I can't believe that 10 years ago I started running.  My racing debut was a 23:30 5K followed up with a 1:39:xx 1/2 marathon -- both of these races were the same pace that I just ran 26.2 miles in!  I never would have believed it was possible, certainly not at 50 years old.  Which brings me to the second of my lucks -- today I hit an unspoken milestone -- it concerns something that Sasha doesn't believe in, but I do.  It is WAVA (age-graded performance). Basically, there is a calculator that estimates the percentile for your race results adjusted for your sex and age.  It is based on adjustment of your performance to the current world records of your gender - and accounts for the natural slowing that happens as you get older (loss of muscle mass happens no matter what you do).  They break this down into percentiles, 90th, 80th, 70th, etc. and the "rule-of-thumb" is that 90th percentile is "world class", 80th percentile is "national class", and 70th percentile is "local class" (they also give you an estimate of what your time is worth in "peak age" performance, which is a little 'murkier'.  Anyway -- I have been in the 75th-78th percentile range for the entire time I have been running.  Today ... bloggers, I hit a long sought after goal of mine -- I hit the 80.63th percentile!  I was very happy, maybe it is a silly target - but it was a target of mine for a long time.  

This race hurt more than any race I have ever done.  I never felt "comfortable" and I hurt very badly the last 4 miles.  My splits aren't horrible, and I am pretty surprised about this - because I tell you -- I was hurting.  I had a side stitch at mile 21, and then at mile 24 my side-stitch woes went away because my left leg was hurting so badly ... I saw all these guys (again, just like last time there were more men around me than women) laying around on the grass the last 3 miles, and I thought, oh man, I could so do that right now.  We ran by our hotel at mile 22 and I so looked at it, long and hard.  I wanted to stop and call it a day.  But, I was racing these women - we kept passing eachother back and forth the entire race, and I was "holding on to them" and I did not want to let them beat me.  They did -- but I was right on one of them at the end -- I was 3:19:15 and she was 3:19:14.  Frustrating because I passed her at about 25 1/2 and then she passed me as we hit the track!! I couldn't respond, I just hung on for dear life. 

First 5 miles (7:32 AP): 7:41, 7:23, 7:28, 7:35, 7:33

Second 5 miles (7:28 AP): 7:17 (downhill after an uphill), 7:32, 7:25, 7:32, 7:38

Third 5 miles (7:37 AP): 7:34, 7:42, 7:34, 7:39, 7:40 (I was really starting to hurt here - I felt like I was slipping into much slower pace than it ended up being)

Fouth 5 miles (7:36 AP): 7:25, 7:39, 7:43, 7:32, 7:41 (trying to pass the women)

Fifth 5 miles (7:40 AP): 7:39, 7:38, 7:44 (hurting really bad), 7:40, 7:43 (like really bad),

final two splits (were wrong, I think the 26 mile marker was in the wrong spot): 7:08, 2:17

So glad to stop running.  My legs cramped so badly when I finished ... yowser, from my toes to my adductor ... ouch.

So, that is that.  I loved the fans, I love Eugene.  At mile 24 there were these guys with cups, they yelled: "water", "beer"  ;-).  There was a lot of music on the course, from bystandanders. Mainly hits from Bob Marely, and from the 70s and 80s (my favorite).  The weather was PERFECT.  The size was perfect, it was a little congested the first mile, but it cleared out quickly.  Everything was perfect.

You are all perfect.  Thank you so much, for everything the past 6 years I have been on the blog, and throughout the difficult times in the last couple of years.  And, thank you for sharing these good times with me too.