Denouement

 Long run with the SF group.  Kept it easy because of 10K on Monday.  My goals for today were to bring my week up to 70 miles, and to only push one mile, up Harry's Hill (about a 1 mile incline) but I think the pace wasn't quite MP still, and I had to jump into the bushes for a potty break on the way up so it didn't go quite as well as I was hoping up the hill.  My pace up the hill was generally 8:30 about the first 2/3 up but slowed to about 9 min after the potty break. 

2:57 for 21.03, 8:25 pace.

My first 70 mile week since 1998!!!! 

Well, this race was kind of a mixed bag.

Tom and I were planning to trade off 1/4 miles leading and drafting.  I think that it went really well.  It felt good to be behind him on my off quarters.  I am not sure if it is the actual drafting or the emotional support, or how that prevented me from going out too fast, but I think it was a great help.  We stuck together for the first 4 miles right on pace or a couple of seconds faster for the mile splits, but somewhere in the fourth mile and then the fifth my watch went crazy on me and showed me a pace much slower than we were going.  I told Tom, "I think we have slown down," but he assured me we were on pace for another 6:45 (this was toward the end of the fourth mile).  He led the first quarter of the 5th mile, and I let him go.  There was a slight uphill at that point, and I was confused by my watch but most of all I was not tough enough to hold on!!!!!!!  Dang it, I shouldn't have lost touch with him.  Well, my watch was still screwy for the rest of the race so I couldn't gauge my pace well, but I caught a guy in the fifth mile and I think another one in the sixth.  I should have caught the last guy between Tom and I, but I just didn't have the drive to finish the race well. 

On the flip side, this is my best 10K in years.  I did a 43:24 on July 24th, and my fitness has come a long way since then.  On the 24th race, I slowed down in mile 3, and slowed further to a 7:28 in mile 4 and never went below 7 minute pace again.  On this race I stayed on pace through mile 4, and slowed to 7 minute -7:10 pace for mile 5 and 6 (I don't have reliable splits but extrapolating from the beginning miles and my ending time).  When I finished the race, my distance said 6.00 miles, and Tom's watch caught 6.19 miles so there was something up with my watch.  My time on my watch was right on though with the runnercard results.  My overall pace for the race was between 6:45 and 6:50, so I was close to my overall goal for the race, and I won the race which was also a bonus. 

Since this was to be mostly a training run, a tempo run, I suppose I should be happy.  The race puts me just under 3:10 for the St. George so that's in line with my expectations.  I am still not sure what to target for St. George.  The SF 1/2 marathon this Saturday should help since it is a flat hard course.

Easy recovery run in SF.  My legs are feeling kind of worn out.  I am a little concerned about the effect of the weeks of high mileage, so I did less today since my runs for the next couple of days will have over 10 miles each.

8:46 ave pace.

10x800m with Craig.

My goal was to do 3:10's with 3:10 as a rest.  We did not do the same 1/2 mile for each repeat, but there were some hills throughout.  This makes the splits less even and comparable, but it is hard for me to find someone to train with, and I haven't found anyone willing to do the repeats on the same stretch. 

We warmed up for 2.27 (starting at 10 minute pace, dropping to 8:30ish) 21:00 to Osborne corner in SF riverbottoms.   Then we started our repeats.

1 - 3:05 slight downhill (3:06 rest)

2 - 3:04 flat (3:03 rest)

3 - 3:19 steep uphill for part, slight uphill for rest (up Zephyr hill for those who are from SF/Salem area)  this one was a disappointment time wise, but I wanted to keep the effort consistent since I had so many more reps ahead of me (3:11 rest)

4 - 3:04 reverse of rep #3 (3:07 rest)

5 - 3:08 flat (reverse of #2)

6 - 3:13 slight uphill (reverse of #1)  this one made me mad because I was on target for sub 3:10 for the first half but struggled through the second half of the repeat (3:13 rest)

7 - 3:00 downhill and flat - this is the hill down to treeline road from Osbornes (3:13 rest)

8 - 3:03 slight downhill and flat (3:05 rest), was raining now hard and I was running toward the storm and the lightening.  I was thinking, "Why am I running as fast as I possibly can into a storm?. . .If lightening comes at me, would I be better off with my feet on the ground or off the ground?"

9 - 3:13 slight uphill (3:14 rest)  Heavy downpour during the first half of this repeat.

10 - 3:05 slight downhill (reverse of #9) Rain lighter on this one.

I only had .6 or so warm down because I was already late for getting home so hubby could go to work.

Even though I didn't hit my target for every rep, I was feeling good (though tired) in my last reps.  I felt stronger than the 8x800m workout from two weeks ago.  I averaged 3:07.4 per rep, compared to 3:12 average two weeks ago.

I am writing this up in the evening and my legs are slightly sore but not too sore which I think is a good sign.  I am feeling upbeat!

4 -

Ran down Payson Canyon.

I first ran up the canyon one mile (9:07 mile 1) while waiting for the driving situation to shake itself out, then got picked up and was driven to the top.  It was cool at the top but no wind or rain.  I wore a long sleeve shirt and was soon regretting that choice.

The first mile down  (mile 2) was easy and still warming up (7:39), then miles 3-8 were under 7 minute pace, with the fastest mile at 6:37.  I then pulled back to about 7:20-7:30 pace so that the run wouldn't hammer me too hard. 

The run was very enjoyable and seemed to go by quickly. 

Overall pace was 7:07 for the downhill portion (11 miles at 1:18:18) then jogged to corner and back to the car.

easy run @ 8:35 ave pace.

SF half tomorrow.

Well, this race was really a good one for me.  I felt good, and I ran according to how I felt.  My primary goal was to be 7:15-7:20 pace (marathon pace) during the first half, even allowing myself to slow more for the uphills.  My Garmin proved unreliable again in this race (should I return the dang thing?), showing a pace slower than the what my actual time between mile markers showed.  I will post my Garmin splits though they are generally slower than my time between mile markers (my overall distance according to my watch is 12.95, and I am sure the course was dead on).

I warmed up 2.5 miles before the race.  I bought new running shorts yesterday with three mesh pockets in the back, and I put a gu in one and I lost it somewhere in my warm up!  I was assured there was gu on the course.

1 - 7:04 I felt good but felt like I may be getting myself in trouble by going out too fast.

2 - 7:17 I think this was the first mile that measured significantly longer than the mile marker, the real pace for this mile was probably more like 7:12.  I started to run with a man from Hawaii.  He was too small of a frame to draft much off, but he was a great companion.

3 - 7:21 according to garmin, but 7:10 according to pace from marker to marker

4 - 7:11, there was the uphill to Osmonds in this mile, stayed strong, fell behind Mr. Hawaii in the uphill but caught up on the gradual downhill

5 - 6:59, gradual downhill and flat, felt good, started to think that perhaps I would do much better than my projection of 1:34ish

6 - 7:20, (7:10 by marker) Zephyr hill in this mile and water station.  There was a water station at about 5.6 miles but NO GU!!  Mr. Hawaii heard me ask for one and was kind enough to share one with me.

7 - 7:18 (7:26 by marker) crest the final hill and suddenly realize I am over halfway done, and I am looking forward to a couple of downhills.

8 - 6:41 - downhill baby! I pass Mr. Hawaii.

9 - 7:01 still feeling good, and I pass Hal as he slowed down too much at the water station.

10 - 7:01, some downhill, I close the gap on Hal and Mr Hawaii, but never quite get them, but I kept them in touch and ran the same pace, which was an improvement on many races where I just let people pass me and then the fact that they pass me encourages me to slow down.  So am toughening up.  My next step is to actually catch up to them and give them a run for their money.

11 - 7:08 I realize I will break 1:32 if I keep around 7 minute pace

12 - 6:56 I am feeling good

13 - 6:37 pace for the last .95 my Garmin recorded.

These splits were generally slower than actual because my Garmin measured short, but they show that I did do negative splits.

I kicked at the end somewhat but Hal and Mr. Hawaii stayed ahead.

Overall pace is 6:59.4 (yes, Tom, the .4 matters and it matters that it was under 7 minutes).

I then ran .6 cool down then had to get home.  When I got home I ran really slow to the nearby park for a pancake breakfast as part of Woodland Hills Day, still in my running outfit.  I wasn't very hungry (one sausage, half a big pancake, and some toxic Sunny D) so when the boys wanted to play I said "Sure" and I did the "Sasha", I ran around the park while my boys played and got in about another 1.5 miles.

I wonder if the "flat 1/2 marathon" on the race predictor means a flat 1/2 marathon or if it nets flat (has uphill and downhill but starts and ends in the same place).

This race and others predict me under 3:10 marathon in St. George (this one predicts 3:06!!) but I am afraid to go out planning for under 3:10 since it is my first marathon ever.  Tom has given me a spreadsheet that gives projected splits which takes elevation gains/losses in account, but I am not sure what my goal ending time should be.  I surprised myself with the race today, but I don't want a negative surprise in St. George.  I am going to need some advise on this topic.  Help!

Ran easy but long with Tom this morning.  I was a little concerned about meeting him for an easy run, that perhaps he or I or both would push the pace, but we averaged 8:38 by my watch so that was just right.  I wanted to go 10 miles this morning but took us out a little too long, and I got home 12 minutes late for my husband :(

My legs feel a little banged up, but I don't think its the race but the hard training, at least hard for my body, compared to what I was doing 1/2 a year ago.  I just hope I don't get injured before St. George.  This will be my last week of high mileage.

Went with "Coach's" advice and did a four mile tempo today instead of intervals.  I met Tom at his house.  We warmed up for 2.1 in 18:04, then started into our tempo.  The problem with doing the tempo at marathon pace is, what the heck is my marathon pace.  We decided that 7:05 would be about right.  But then in my heart of hearts I knew that would feel awfully slow, at least from a tempo perspective.

Four mile tempo

1 - 6:56

2 - 6:59

3 - 6:51

4 - 6:45

I compare this to my attempted tempo run in early August where I ran one 7:02 and then couldn't keep the pace and bagged the tempo at 1.5 miles, and I feel good about my progress.  It always helps to have a running partner.  When I run alone its all too easy to end a tempo run early.  I appreciate Tom's willingness to tag along.

We finished out the workout with 10.57 in 1:24:15, or 7:58 pace.  My first ten mile run in less than 8 minute pace average (excepting races, of course).

My legs feel much better.  I'll be doing an uphill tempo on Thursday which will be the next hard workout. 

Asics (10)

Ran easy today, except for about a mile with the fast ladies when I found them.  That mile was just under 8 minute pace and they were speeding up, so I pulled up and ran alone.  Ran around the SF golf course and boy was that windy.  I also got carried away for 1/2 mile when Going the Distance by Cake came on.  That is a great song to download if you are looking for more good running songs.  It's hard work to run slow with that song.   But I was mostly 8:30 or slower, averaged 8:26.

I just got out my shrink wrap so that I don't have to choose between typing with two hands and icing my knee.  It is official that my knee is bothering me.  It is not severe or even painful when I run, but there is a slight pain occasionally on both sides of my left knee cap, but more pronounced on the outside.  I can feel it most often when I go up and down stairs.  I have felt it occasionally for a couple of weeks, but more consistently for the past five days or so.  I am not very injury prone, so I don't know what it is.  Its good this will be my last week of high mileage.

Up and down Payson Canyon.

Ran with fast guys for the first four miles.  Then struggled through the hardest uphill alone.

1 - 8:45, slower than last time did a tempo up, but it was good to have a slower pace because it allowed me to warm up.

2 - 8:00

3 - 7:44

4 - 7:56

5 - 8:31

.37 - 3:20, 9:05 pace, not so great, I guess the middle miles got me

Overall up 44:18, best for the year by 48 seconds.

I took it easy coming down to prevent my little pains from becoming big pains.

1 - 7:29

2 - 7:19

3 - 7:29

4 - 7:24

5 - 7:34

and then there was a partial mile that didn't get timed right

Overall, I think the run went well, though I didn't do as well on the last 1.4 up than I wanted.

Asics (22)

8:48 ave pace.  I felt low on energy.  My left knee bothered me more than it has in the past, but still not the point of pain when the foot strikes the pavement, but it might be making it harder for turn over.  My lungs felt kind of clogged too, though I am not aware of any smog or bad air advisories.  Hmmm.  Better luck tomorrow.

Mizuno (8)

Did my last long run!  It actually felt good.  Kind of dogged it up Harry's Hill, but I ran with an overall strong pace, 8:17 ave, which is 10 sec/mile faster than my 21 miler two weeks ago.  We were conversational pace the whole time unless there were hills, then it dropped off.

I took shot blocks which I liked more than gu (2 at mile 7, 1 at mile 9, 2 at mile 12, 1 at mile 15, then I took 2/3 of a gu at mile 18.7).  The only downside is that the shot blocs I took didn't have caffiene.  I will look for some of those for the marathon. 

I am looking forward to tapering!  Next week I will be doing 15 miles or so on Saturday, with 3 miles being a 5K after a hefty 10 mile warm up.  Please give me advice about whether racing the 5k could hurt my marathon or whether I should do it at 10K pace or marathon. 

Asics (44)

Ran 7.06 at 8:04 pace.  I ran these miles a little faster than my normal easy pace because I was a little short on time.  My legs are feeling good, not really tired from Saturday. 

Mizuno (15)

Ran 4x1 mile with Tom this morning.  The goal was to be between 6:20 and 6:30.  Seemed reasonable but was quite faster than my pretty mediocre mile repeat workout from 3 or so weeks ago, which I did alone.

Warmed up for 2.39 miles to Osborne's. 

When we started our first repeat we quickly realized that it was still pitch dark and we still couldn't see the road surface, and that we were risking our ankles.  It made it hard to want to kick into the faster gear for the repeats but we did the first 1/2 in about 3 minutes, then we eased up to make the first mile 6:20.

1 - 6:20, slight consistent downhill, 4:43 rest (.5 mile, .25 out and back so that we could retrace mile 1 for mile 2)

2 - 6:25, slight consistent uphill, the opposite of mile 1, 5:01 rest (.5 mile)

3 - 6:10, flat part of tree line road, then slight downhill toward bishop's storehouse.  In the middle of this repeat I was stuck at about 6:23-6:24 target, which frustrated me and I tried to pick it up, pleased to seek I was able to. 5:20 rest (.5 mile)

4 - 6:15, slight uphill and headwind to make the last interval twice as hard and more sweet to complete successfully. 

The first two miles had positive splits when comparing the first 1/2 with the second, and the third was negative, and the fourth was even.

I think this was a great workout for my mental strength.  It is always nice to be able to to better in a workout than your goal and to make the final intervals faster than the initial ones. 

I am really grateful to Tom for hanging with me on this work out.  He is a great running partner!

Ran easy, 8:08 pace, happened upon the fast ladies and ran with them for a while.  It feels good to do less than 10 for an easy run!

Ran in the evening on treadmills trying to choose one, working the treadmills to 6 min miles.

Mizuno (33)

Run down Payson Canyon.  I forgot my GPS watch!!!  I felt lost and confused.  Actually, it was a good thing because I didn't want to take it too hard, just wanted to run a couple of miles at marathon pace.  That was hard to do in the first half because it was so very, very dark.  I felt some strange sharp twinges behind my knees, like the bottom of the hamstrings, on various foot strikes down the hill.  I could feel some tenderness in my knee but nothing sharp or painful.  I stopped at Beer Can (nice name for a spot, eh?) which is 8 miles down at 56 flat, then ran back up to some runners.  They drove me to the bottom where I ran up toward the canyon for .5 mile easy and back down .5 easy. 

A good female runner I have run with a couple of times crossed paths with me today and it turns out we are targeting the same time at St. George, 3:10 for the first half (so actually slower than 3:10 because of negative splits). 

Evening:

What the freak!!!!  My ankle started hurting around 5:30 pm for no aparent reason.  It is on the outside ankle bone area and hurts when I walk normally on it or even when I tiptoe on it.  It is true pain, but not sharp, more like a tendon or muscle.  I have been icing it and it seems to be calming down somewhat.  I hope it feels better in the morning or I will be taking the day off.

Woke up this morning to some pain in ankle, but less than the night before.  Decided I would get out and see what it felt like to run.  If it hurts while walking, then see if some running won't make it better, eh? 

I walked for about 50 yards, but it hurt at every strike.  Started jogging, hurt for first .25 mile, then started hurting less.  By .35 I wasn't sure if the ankle was numb or magically popped back into place, but it went from a numb feeling to just a potential problem spot by mile 1 and the rest of the run it felt no different than just a weak spot like my knee sometimes feels.

Overall pace 8:54

As I walk around this morning my ankle will occasionally hurt a small amount but it seems much better so far. 

Ran 7 miles to warm up, including running the course backwards.  Not really high quality miles for half of them.  I was the race director of this event for the past four years, so this was the transitional year of me handing it off, so I had to check in with the registration area and make sure everything was flowing smoothly, so I just didn't have the time to get in the 10 miles before the race that I wanted to.  I should have woken up earlier.

The race starts up a long hill.  I am not sure on the grade but it's enough to slow you down and give you a nice downhill afterward.  I wanted to stay within sight of the BYU lady pack (about 7 runners) but I knew they would be ahead of me.  I also met a young lady at the starting line named Whitney (junior in college) who lives in the town next to me who has beat me in a couple of races.  She is a strong runner.  I wanted to be around 6:45 pace up the hill, then keep below 6:30 for the downhill and try to keep the 6:30 for the flatter end. 

Up the hill I was feeling winded but fairly strong.  I kept the fast girls in my sight.  I was at about a 6:25 pace at the top of the hill at about .65 into the race.  Right after the hill (at .84) I accidentally turned off my watch  when my watch showed 6:14 lap pace so far (no mile markers that I could see) which messed up my split, but I realized it later.  So my first split on my watch for 1 mile probably occurred at 1.3 or so and was 6:16.  I felt strong going downhill in the second mile but kind of like in foreign territory, hard to keep up the pace for two miles in a row.  My second split for mile 1.3-2.3 was 6:22, still pretty strong.  I pass one BYU runner (YES!) in this mile, but get passed by another.  In the last mile or so I found it hard to keep up pace, but knew I would break 20 minutes if I kept up my effort.  With about .5 to go I passed Whitney from my neighboring town and another runner or two.  My watch shows my last split as .84 in 5:14, or 6:14 pace. 

19:36 baby!  Best by far since college.  I have not broken 20:30 since college so this is great!

I ran another 3 miles after the race, again low quality running around the track area, waiting for the awards, and my son who ran the .5 mile kids race wanted to stick around for the drawing.

Woke up at 2:30 am and couldn't fall back asleep!  That is so annoying and better not happen before St. George.  So I finally got on my running clothes around 4am and figured I might as well get in the measly miles I am supposed to do for taper and then try to take a nap afterward. 

This was my first tights day, and I had a windbreaker on and a hat because it looked like the rain may come back but it didn't and I felt like I had a wind parachute on.  I also chose a rather hilly loop which stunk going up but finally got a marathon pace mile toward the end on the downhill.

Overall pace 8:29.

Mizuno (65)

Tried to post this twice already so will keep brief.

Did a taper level speed workout, down a ladder.  Wanted to hold back to prevent freaky injuries/reduce risk this close to marathon.

Temperatures 20 degrees lower than a week ago.  Legs never warmed up.

Arms like frozen chicken wings, legs like frozen pork chops. (Temp 35 and I made the mistake of wearing shorts).

1 mile - 6:30

.5 rest

1200 - 4:45

.25 rest

800 - 3:07 by Toms watch, mine when cuckoo

.25 rest

400 - 81 sec

Asics (51)

8:14 ave pace, had to hold back to keep that pace.

Feeling good! 

Bottom of hamstrings just a little bit twingy.

Mizuno (70)

Tom is a punk because he hasn't posted his workout this morning!!!!

I know he is waiting for me to post, just as I have been waiting for him to post.

Here's the deal, we planned on a 3 mile tempo run at 6:55-7:05 pace.  This is the pace/effort for a 3 hour marathon.  He will be pacing a blind participant at that speed.  I wanted the tempo to feel easy and give me confidence and to just see what the 3 hour pace felt like.  Well, my Garmin was 20-25 seconds per mile slower than his, with my mile laps beeping way down the road after his did.  From the SF 1/2 marathon I know that my Garmin sometimes measures miles long and thus gives me slower than reality splits.  Tom's miles for the tempo were about 6:36-6:42 if remember correctly, while my miles were 7:05, 7:02, and 7 flat.  It felt more like Tom's pace, it did not feel relaxing.  So I wasn't able to accomplish my goal for the workout, though it seems it went well.

I want to throw my Garmin down and jump on it a couple of times.  I would understand a couple of seconds variation, but how am I supposed to gauge my pace by that thing?  I think it is often right on with pace, but how could I know for sure?  I guess I will just have to watch the total time elapsed and calculate my mile splits in my head--the old fashioned way in St. George.  This help eleviate my fears of getting bored on the road.  I often get quite stupid and it can take me a couple of minutes to do the calculations if I am feeling extra loopy.

Had a nice short "long" run this morning.  Tried out new flavors of Shot Blocks, with 1/2 and full caffiene to see how they felt.

Pushed the pace below 8 minute for several miles, two in the 7:30's. 

Felt good, enjoyed the conversation, still feel twingy behind one knee.  Will continue to ice and ibu.

Any advice on what days, how much running to do next week?

Asics (63)