Denouement

55 min pool running.  Did I do other cross training?  I don't remember.

PM: core workout 

40 min of elliptical, then very thorough stretching, then 5 minutes of easy running, pain in lower hamstring appears after 2-3 minutes, not bad but there (pain 1-2).  Ramped up speed to see if it increases, and it does, perhaps to a pain level of 4 by the time I hit one minute fast.  Turn off the tm.  Well, that was fun.  Testing it because had an orthopaedic specialist appt and felt lame saying, "well on monday got pain in my hamstring from out of nowhere, then also felt it during the 6k I ran tuesday night, but I haven't run on it since so not sure if still there. . . "

Another 50 min on elliptical after running test.

Ortho appt, 12noon:  very nice man, ordered an MRI which is very rare in HK for an injury that is less than a week old and doesn't inhibit general mobility.  I called the MRI clinic, full today, I told them I might die if they make me wait until Monday, but their first appt is Monday at 5pm.  I tell them that I can come if they get a cancellation.  They said I need to have fasted for 2 hours in case they needed to do a contrast.  So I go home and don't eat.  I am cleaning, and I think a couple of times, I should get on my knees and pray, pray that if someone will cancel, that they will call and let the clinic know.  I ignore this prompting for a couple of minutes, but then get on my knees.  I ask Heavenly Father, that if He wills, if someone is not going to go to their appointment, that they call and cancel so that I can take their slot.  Five minutes later, I get a call, there was a cancellation and could I get there in 25 minutes.  How far away to I live from Jordon?  25 minutes!  So I throw on my shoes, hop in a cab and get there in exactly 25 minutes.  This may seem like a small thing, but getting the MRI on Saturday saved a couple of days on the diagnosis, and I am very grateful for this gift.  

PM: core workout.  I did 6 core workouts this week! 

1 hour on elliptical, then did 40 minutes on an adjustable motion machine, can be more like an elliptical or a stairmaster, it is much more bouncy than the other elliptical, but I think it will work well on my next day's hard workout (and it did work well).

PM: core workout 

Sorry!  Will need to update the last week.  Still not running- going to doc in a couple of minutes for review of MRI.  

AM: 31 min warm up on elliptical (actually an adjustable motion machine- precor, orange edges), then 16 min/ 12 min/ 8 min/ 4 min fartlek ladder with 2 min slow in between.  Warm up is 12-13 calories per minute, fast bits tried to keep above 17 cal/sec, started at level 15 then moved to level 16 in the first rep, then level 16 for second, level 17 for third, level 18 for fourth.  Felt good!  Wistfully looking at treadmill next to me occasionally.  Will never call it a dreadmill again.  (who am I kidding, of course I will!).

40 min elliptical, then stretched, then 30 min on the TM, started really slow and never got fast (7.3).  Right leg felt weird but no pain.  A bit of tightness on the top ham attachment.  But no pain!  

So tomorrow schedule is 20-24 400m at 82, 200m recovery, so I will do 90 sec on/ 90 sec off in the pool.  

My tentative plan is to run 40 min really easy on the TM Thursday night, cross train Friday, and then run 20k Saturday, this is all assuming no pain.  Then do next week's workouts on the road (Tuesday fartlek) and on the track (Thursday 1,000m but not very fast, HM-M pace), then do a 32k easy run next Saturday, then do the Standard Chartered Marathon 8 days later (hard workout pace, not racing).  I hope this all works out.  The real goal is PR in Boston April 15th, but I need to get back on track.  Does this sound like a good plan for this week and in general?

PT appt in the AM.  

12:30-2:30, did a pool run.  I was going to do 90 sec on/ 90 sec off (to mimic a 20-24 400m workout) but I was concerned about all the start and stop and the 90 seconds would have to be pretty fast so the transition would be more intense.  So I thought I would play it safer and do a 10 x 4 min on/ 2 min off, this cuts down the transitions and they also aren't as jolting.  I treated each 4 min block as if they were the last 10k in the Standard Chartered marathon.  This actually makes a  lot of sense because pool running with longer segments (longer than a minute or two) is alot like trying to keep strong at the end of a marathon.  It is hard to stay focused, you have to keep up effort though measurement makes less sense.  It was actually fun visualizing the marathon and I hope hope hope I get to do it.  

PM: core workout

8pm: 40 min jog on treadmill.  Kept pace at 7.3.  It felt slow but I told myself that my goal was to get through the 40 minutes, it was a recovery run.  I felt a bit more tightening and fatigue on the problem leg than Wednesday, but still not like the pain before, I would put it at a level 1 for pain/discomfort.

big stretching session, 30 min elliptical, hike with the kids, paddle boating with the kids, more walking with the kids.

AM: Stretching/rolling session, then PT appt (e-stim, magnetic therapy, ultrasound).

PM: 20k on the treadmill.  Ran .75, then stopped and stretched, then ran the rest.  I ran 7.5 pace until half way then gradually increased to 8.0.  No pain!  The right side feels different, but the closest way to describe it is just like there is a piece of tape on the back of my leg.  Lower pain/soreness than Thursday :D !!!!

Core workout, stretching/rolling 

Ben rode a bike with me as I ran my first outside run.  Couldn't run very fast, got below 5:00/k pace toward the end.

Ran with Curtis, 6.2k warm up, then 3 x 5k.  The goal was to slowly ease into 3:50 pace and not go faster than that.  3:50 pace is 19:10/5k, and is roughly my marathon pace.  I felt quite discomboblulated in the first rep, like fast running was foreign to my legs.  Had one or two twinges in my hamstring but ok.  We jumped right into 3:50 pace, but ended up at 19:20 (3:52 pace, 4 min rest).  2nd rep was 19:11 (with one shoe fully untied for 3k, so annoying!, 5:11 rest), and third was 18:50 (3:46 pace). 

Honestly, I felt smoother with each rep, but I was disturbed by the amount of effort needed to sustain 3:50 pace.  It did not feel like marathon pace, but more like 1/2 marathon pace.  I didn't like how labored my breathing is.  I am sure I have lost a bit of fitness, perhaps just 5% but when it is from your top fitness, you can feel the difference.  Plus I am a couple of pounds up.  I am very happy to be back into training, though, and hope my legs can continue to handle it. 

Massage after workout

PM: core, walk with hubby, stretching

Stretching warm up.  Ran 11k without watch, went to New Balance in the afternoon and got new training shoes :D

PM: core workout 

AM: leisurely 20k bike ride with my kids from Tai Po Market to Tai Mei Tuk and around Tai Mei Tuk.  Very fun.

PM: plan was 10 x 1,000m @ 3:45 launching at 6 min, didn't want to run alone, but the only group that was running was doing tempo intervals around the track.  I felt like a track workout is still risky because it is my outside leg that is the "problem leg" and this is only my second fast workout.  So I decided to stick with the 1k reps but do them on the road.  I felt much more snappy during my warm up than I did on Tuesday so that was nice.  Warmed up 6k, and my reps were going back and forth along a stretch of bike trail.  Going one direction was harder (the odd ones) than the other direction (even reps), and I set my watch to have exactly 2:15 rest

1	3:46
2	3:41
3	3:48
4	3:40
5	3:44
6	3:44
7	3:45
8	3:42
9	3:45
10	3:41

 My quads were sore by halfway into the workout, perhaps some fatigue from the biking?

The workout felt much better than Tuesday, my pace generally felt like HM pace, but I sometimes started slower and accelerated, sometimes started too fast then cruised in, it was quite a mix. 23.1k total 

40 min elliptical, stretching, 5 mile run on TM, core workout, making 5 dozen sugar cookies, 6 batches of frosting and eating none of it.

4:47 ave pace for 32.22k (20 miler).  I was 8 days out from Standard Chartered Marathon, an important but not goal marathon.  I thought the fitness gains and confidence from a 20 miler would be better than rest since I had an early unplanned taper.  Felt good and pace increased towards the end, had to hold back, but quads were a bit sore and the legs felt like they had run 20 miles by the end.  Felt good after, hiked up to the top of Sharp Island with the boys in the afternoon.

Core workout and stretching at night. 

Ran Ma On Shan side in the am, and who should I see on the way back, but Coach Paul and Angela Hau (his assistant).  So I stop and talk to him, run to HKSI and have a meeting with him.  I knew he was coming back but didn't expect to see him on the bike trail.  also 6 strides

1.5 hr massage

Core in the PM 

AM: 30 min elliptical then long stretching session, then AM nap 

PM: after a long hiatus, an evening workout with Ali and Coach Paul in attendance, in town visiting for the Standard Chartered Marathon. 4.25k warm up, then lots of stretching.  We did mile repeats at goal marathon pace, on the seven minutes, so not much rest at all.  The goal was 94/lap, but felt good and had a hard time keeping it there. Mile times were: 6:14, 6:15, 6:14, 6:12, 6:15 then I had to go to the bathroom so they gave me 1:45 rest instead of :45, and then last mile was 6:14.  3.31k cool down

Pool running 40 min, then 8.67k run (4:49 pace).

PM: core workout 

AM: light core workout and stretching

PM: met Coach and Ali for a fartlek workout.  This is the first time he has run a workout with me (he's done this with Ali many times before).  It was funny because he was telling us to calm down our pace, and you couldn't be quite sure if it was because he didn't want to make our legs sore for the race Sunday, or if it was because he was suffering a bit.  He got quiet as he needed every breath during recovery.  It was sweet!  In fairness, he had played two hours of badminton before running with us.  

I wish Ali and I could race together, but she has been out of training most of January and February, so she is not coming into the race as fit as she was in 2011/2012, so we have different paces for the race.  I will be going for 4:00/k pace (about 2:50), Ali will be a bit slower.  Of course, best laid plans have a way of getting mixed up once the gun goes off :D  So I better be ready to race.  There are plenty of HK ladies that would love to beat me. 

10.28k @ 4:56 ave pace, 75% core workout

30 min easy jog plus 4 strides

Race start was 6:40 so I had my alarm set for 4:40 but woke up at 2:38am and tossed and turned until race time.  I thought I had plenty of time to get ready starting at 4:25, leaving at 5:20am, but didn’t get a chance to stretch at home.  Stretched on the MTR (subway) and then at the start.  16-17C for the start temperature, about as good as we could have hoped for.  A bit windy though.  At the start I saw Curtis and Coach talking, and I told Curtis that it was too bad he wanted to run faster than me, because I would love to have him to pace me, and they had been talking about just that before I arrived, and Curtis had agreed to run with me for 10k at 4:00 pace.  The plan was 4:00 pace, trying to break 2:50, but up to 2:52 would be ok, since this race is just an intense workout in preparation for Boston.  I went into the elite starting area, and there were over 100 people in the small area, so I couldn’t find Curtis for about 8 minutes, but we found each other with a couple minutes until start time.  We saw Chris, another Italia Running Club member and convince him to run with us. 

We start a bit fast, and after a k I have a cramp in my high rib cage.  I tell the men I have it, and they give me some advice.  I am glad I got the cramp early, because I think I was able to keep calm and get rid of it (blowing out strongly a couple of times a minute) after about 6 minutes.  At 3k, I saw my kids, who had traveled to an unfamiliar MTR stop to cheer me on. I yell at them back, “Go team Lowry!”.  From 3k to 9k it was gradual uphill, up an overpass then a big bridge.  Curtis is going a bit faster than I want to, but I just hang back, and figure it is better to go 5 sec/k too fast with help, than to go 4:00/k pace on my own.  First 5k was 19:59, perfect.  The 10^th k is downhill off the bridge into a tunnel, and Curtis says the time is 39:47 I think, the 2^nd 5k was about 19:48.  I have the 5k-15k stretch as being 39:30, so 3:57/k.  I am still running with Curtis, and he indicates that he will probably speed up at By this time we are close to one 180 turn and see a huge lady pack way ahead of me, about 8-9 ladies, a couple of straggling ladies, and a secondary pack with a couple of ladies and some men.  My 4^th 5k was 19:42 (3:57 pace) then the ½ marathon split was 1:23:21.  I was panicking a bit about going out too fast. The first half felt a bit too fast, not as comfortable as I planned, but I was comparing the experience to Yokohama, where I went out too fast and crashed and burned bad.  At Yokohama I think I came in the half at 1:22:30, felt worse (already lactic build up), this time I knew I was in better shape, and came through the half slower, and felt better, so I hoped I would be able to continue the race strongly.  By the ½ way point, I knew (from a second 180 turn) that I was 3 minutes behind the nearest lady, and was far enough ahead of the ladies behind that I would not get passed unless I slowed significantly.  We went into a second tunnel at about 23k, and at 24k we were still in the tunnel and Curtis took off.  This 5k was net downhill and I got 19:19.  25k down, and I thought:  I have 17k to go.  Not a good thought.  I was feeling the need to go to the bathroom and took the 29k portapotty, got 20:07 for that 5k including the potty stop.  I think about 3-4 guys passed me.  I reeled in two guys in red singlets and black bandanas (how cute—racing twins) and we traded leads for the next several k.  This section is downhill, and then more downhill into a tunnel that goes below the Hong Kong Harbor, a 2k tunnel that takes us from Kowloon side to the Island.  So the downhill into the tunnel is steep and I am thinking, man I have to come up this on the other side!  No garmin in the tunnel so I try to keep in contact with the two red singlet twins, who are running stronger than me now.  I try to run efficiently, even though I am tired.   I reach 35k in the middle of the tunnel: 19:36 for the 5k, good, so 3:55/k.  36 k is 4:09 coming out of the tunnel, not bad. As we go uphill out of the tunnel, I try to just keep in touch with the red guys and other guys that are with them. One red guy breaks away and passes two other men.  The other one fades.  After the 36k marker, I continue uphill and turn, and hit some bad headwind with no one to block me.  The hill levels, then I have another uphill.  There are guys ahead of me but I am having a hard time getting back sub 4:00.  I try to throw down a “hammer” or surge, but only cut the distance in half between me and the guy ahead, so I continue to battle the wind alone.  I am headed for a 4:20 for about half a k but settle down into a bit faster pace. The 8^th 5k (including the 4:09 36^th k) is 21:00, so 4:12/k. I am trying to just slow the bleeding because I know I am headed for sub 2:50. Last 2.2k is 9:00, which was more like 4:12, then sub 4:00 for the last k. It was very inspiring to see the 1k to go sign.  I picked it up, but knew I had more in the tank, but thought, “this is good enough for this race”.

My watch said 2:48:16, but official time listed was 2:48:17.  My second best marathon to date, on a challenging course (perhaps two minutes slower than a pancake flat marathon).  I don’t feel sore all over my body this evening, though I am tired, so I think I did a good job balancing the desire to race well, but not race-race this.  I didn’t want to kill this race then be too depleted and beat up to continue my training for Boston.  I will be taking it easy this next week but then will continue on with my training.

Paul ran his first marathon and had a hard time, foot hurt from 12 miles on, almost quit twice, but he finished, I think because he was afraid of my scorn if he didn’t.  He could have gone sub 4:00 if he had had a good day, but he got about 4:35. 

Official results are not in, will fill in my place when they are released tomorrow.

40 min pool running then 60 min very slow jog 5:35 ave pace/k

36 min elliptical then 10.25k @ 5:27 ave pace

Core workout this evening 

Ran around the park waiting for my son's track meet to start.  I am sure I did some crosstraining in the am.

Core in the pm 

10.77k at 5:14/k pace

Core int he PM