Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Objective: endurance w/ MP miles. 

Planned: 20 miles total with 5 easy (10:30-12:00), 5 x alternating 1 mile MP (8:55), 1 mile easy 10:30-11:30),  4 moderate (10:00 to 10:30), 1 mile easy (10:30-11:30)

Splits:
Miles 1-5  11:01  10:39  10:25  11:16  10:27
Miles 6-15   8:36  10:44  8:36 10:32  8:43  10:36  8.33  10:37  8:59  12:17 (walked some)
Miles 16-20.17  10:19  10:50  10:15  10:33  10:13  (10:16 last .17)

Conditions in Seattle:  38F going up to low 40s, mostly cloudy becoming mostly sunny, light wind ~10 mph.

It's been kind of a hectic weekend, and I was already a little cranky about DLS time starting, but the 2-3 inches of snow on the ground this morning was the last straw.  I have already missed 2 important long run workouts in February due to illness, and though I knew that I could do the 20 miles in the snow, there was no way I was going to get the MP.  After my little emotional breakdown, my sweet, level headed husband said, "why don't you go to Seattle?"  It's a 45 minute drive each way, but I decided that it would be worth it to save my workout. Seattle's weather is much milder than ours.

Have you ever gone back to your old elementary school?  Running laps around Green Lake in Seattle was a little like that.  It seemed smaller.  I used to run there back when I lived nearby and was a beginner; so much has changed since then - in me, that is. I remember the day I made it around the lake two times! and thought I would collapse. 

It's a lovely spot, with two paths around it: a dirt trail on the outer perimeter (about 3.2 miles) and an asphalt trail closer to the lake (about 2.7 miles). I did a little of each today, but the outer trail was quite muddy and uneven, with large puddles to navigate. 

But the inner trail had its challenges too.  I forgot how crowded Green Lake can get on a sunny weekend day.  There were literally hundreds of walkers, runners, bikers and skaters going around.  At times, I had to weave in and out of what seemed like a 20-body-thick clump of humanity.  But it is mostly flat, with the exception of a few mild, short inclines, which is a luxury for me.   And there is no traffic to cross.  By switching directions and paths, I could make the laps fairly interesting, enjoy the use of my car as a base for hydration and fuel, and have a rare glimpse of what my pace  truly is when not measured in my hilly home turf.

I had a little trouble with side stitches -- very unusual for me.  Mile 12 (the 4th rep of 5) should probably not even be counted in the workout because I stopped the clock and had to walk around until the stitch subsided.  It came back in a different spot in mile 15, making me walk a bit more.  I rarely get a stitch. ??

My biggest concern about this workout is how difficult it was for me to control my pace.  Unless I stare at the dang Garmin every moment, I can't seem to tell how fast I'm going.  Those first 4 reps were way faster than I intended (perhaps causing the side stitches?).  They tired me out so badly that on #5, when I thought I had blown it because I was feeling so pooped by then, I finally hit the pace for which I was aiming all along.  Report card:  "needs improvement" on pace control, A+ on mileage...

Oh, and  a big D minus on temper control.  Around mile 17 I got hit by a dog and kind of lost it.  Yes, hit by a dog. You can see the pace drop there when I stopped to yell my head off at this guy.  He had an extendable leash (they should be illegal), and the dog was way over on my side of the path, looking behind him. As I scooted off to the outer edge to get by, the nitwit pulled the leash back in, which brought the dog's head back around to the front and wham! into my thigh.  (And the poor dog got walloped too.)  After that, I had a hard time controlling myself with other extendable leash owners,  yelling as I went along. "Pull that in!" "Too long!"  and the like.  My intolerance for crowded conditions, my tiredness, and the continuing pain in my leg brought out my warrior persona (not pretty), but fortunately I was almost done.

Objective: recovery, easy & slow

30F, very light snow falling, streets and some sidewalks bare, everything else snow covered, a bit icy in places.

My legs were pretty dead today, and quite stiff.   Having a little voice in my head remind me that it was actually the middle of night did not help.  (DLS time.)

It seems that all my running in the rain has taken its toll on my headlamp. Though the batteries are fairly new,  the light has been flickering lately and today it would not come on at all.  Looks like there is a lot of corrosion on the contact spot.  I'll see if I can scrape that off. 

I hope the blog gets fixed soon.  Looks like miles are getting posted but no details or text. 

Objective: Remain vertical.

23F, clear,  lots of ice, full moon.

20 min. strength work

We'll call this an "anything but the treadmill" run.   After a late start (trying to get my headlamp to work), I made  my way slowly through the icy streets.  The moon and the abundant snow that fell yesterday made the world a little lighter, but without my headlamp it was really hard to see the ice and I had to be extremely cautious. There were patches of treacherous, thick, black ice from a late afternoon melt, and then on the relatively bare spots of pavement there was that ice that comes from moist air and forms a sort of flower pattern.  The darker, less traveled side streets were the worst (and of course the hardest to see), so I soon found myself circling the around and around on the 3 main arterial roads.  Glacial pace, glacial surface.  "At least I'm not on the treadmill."

Moving so slowly on the ice, I could have used another layer of clothing. After a bathroom stop, my core temperature must have dropped enough to create a crisis in that little room in my brain where the shut-off-blood-to-hands lever is.  I had two layers of wool on my hands, but it was as if they were bare. Oh, the pain. Accept and endure. "At least I'm not on the treadmill." 

Now, about that 5K on Saturday.  Not ready. Not in the least.  I looked up my 5K history in my planner; it has been nearly five years since I ran a 5K.  My time back then was just over 29 minutes.  At the time, I think I had about 14 fast twitch muscle fibers, and now I'm probably up to 26 or 27.  But I'm well overdue for this particular flavor of humble pie, and the event is right in my own neighborhood, so there I'll be. 

Of course, I'm not "fast" in the marathon either.  But I can look at that other number, twenty-six point two, and feel all proud and happy inside.  And I enjoy the longer, slower races, in which my lungs do not feel like they are on fire.  The course for this 5K is quite hilly.  All I need for the humiliation to be complete is for it to be as icy on Saturday as it is today.  But I don't think Old Man Winter would do that to Sean, our race director and resident Awesome Elite Runner.  It's me Winter is after.

Objective: 2E + 4 moderate, w/ hard effort on hills + cool down

5:15 AM, 26F (w. ch. 16) wind 10-15 mph, clear.  Roads bare and dry

15 min. strength work

It was very nice to have traction back today.  The sidewalks on the shady sides of the streets are still snow covered, but the roads were nice and dry.   

I wasn't sure what kind of a workout to do today.  It would normally have been a speed work day, but that didn't seem appropriate, with a 5K in 3 days.  Just another sign that I have very little experience with this distance. 

Headlamp update.  DH fiddled with it yesterday; he has electronic testing gadgets and secret knowledge that seems to only appear on the Y chromosome.  After about 10 minutes the headlamp was pronounced dead.  It was only 7PM, so I scooted off to Issaquah to replace it at the REI store. 

Objective: easy, with 1 mi @ 5K pace

5:05 AM: 29F, clear, wind 10-15 mph, lots of moonlight

15 min. strength work

In preparation for Saturday's race, I took Bonnie's advice from yesterday's comments, and threw in a mile of race pace running after mile 5.  I'm not completely convinced that I have a 5K pace.  Sometimes it seems like I just have 3 speeds: slow (11:00), medium (10-10:15) and fast (8:50-9:10). Well, fast relative to the other two.  "5K pace" implies that you could maintain it for 3 miles, over varying terrain.  Hm, doubtful.  Does everyone really have all those different paces that McMillan suggests?  I think someone told me on the RT forums once that Ryan Hall's 10K pace is just a few seconds faster than his marathon pace.  I wish I understood this better.

I'm also not convinced that it is inevitable for me to get a PR over my 29 min 5K from five years ago.  It's true that I'm running twice as much weekly mileage, have improved my marathon time by over 30 minutes, and have mostly likely become a much more efficient runner.  But I am also 5 years older, at an age when 5 years can make a big difference. (There's a reason the BQ standard falls every 5 years!)  And I do not have a lot of talent, training, or enjoyment at this distance.  

Moreover, Saturday's course is very hilly.  My one mile today at 8:30 pace had me on the edge of my aerobic zone and if I had encountered a hill at any time, it would have knocked me down quick.  Earlier in my run I covered one of the hills that will be on the course; approaching it well within my aerobic zone (10:15), and I still managed to slow to 11:00 by the top. So what hope is there of me hitting 8:30 miles, or 9:30  miles for that matter, throughout the course?  I don't mean to be pessimistic, I just want to be clear about what I can or cannot hope for.   Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

Today's tidbit... There are a couple of interesting videos on technique you might enjoy.  Part 1 & Part 2

Resting today (ah, sleeeep).  5K tomorrow. Long run Sunday.  

~40F, light wind, raining. 

In a nutshell:   I am overjoyed, amazed, absolutely thrilled.   Thank you, Bonnie!!!! I did just what you advised.  PR of over 3 minutes.  :D

Before the race: I kept my jacket on trying to stay dry for the warm up, an easy jog with some strides and a couple of hill sprints.  Although I live less than a mile away, I brought the car to leave clothing and store different clothing if needed.

Mile 1 (8:28): A smallish crowd of about 400 runners, we took off down the first block, with a very slight decline, turning into a paved forested path. At this point I felt totally walled in with the bodies; there was no method for lining up and the whole field was scattered with walkers and runners of all speeds.   A runner just in front of me tripped and nearly fell, flailing arms for about 4 yards.  I broke through and took off a little too fast to get away from the mass of bodies.  Had to rein myself in when I realized I was breathing far too hard (teensy glance at watch - 7:38 - yikes).  We went a short way down the path, and then made a hairpin turn to come up the other side of the little wooded area - uphill.  Emerging back onto the residential streets, the next few blocks were uphill, then flat, then uphill, then flat, finally flattening out for a stretch before the 1 mile marker.

Mile 2 (8:41):  This mile began with seeing my wonderful family by the side of the road as we passed near my house.  Waved quickly and pressed on.  Long downhill with some turns - at times too steep to be helpful or comfortable - then a long uphill, the worst on the course.  Some time in here I was thinking, "Me no like."  I never felt like my legs were having trouble (even now, they feel great), but my lungs burned and I never could quite exhale enough.  I followed Bonnie's advice and didn't look at my watch,  just tried to stay on the edge of what I could tolerate and paid attention to my form. 

Mile 3 (8:03) and last .1 (8:08):  A big part of this mile was on another paved, forested path.  Only one uphill stretch here, but some other challenges.  A steep downhill on gravel, a sharp turn, some ice at the edges of the path, and one short, snow-covered bridge.   When I knew there was only about .5 left to run, and I knew there were no more hills, I pumped my arms and just went as fast as I could maintain.  Approaching the finish, I saw the clock and really could not believe it.  Got a little teary even.  Remained gasping for breath for at least a minute after the finish.

Post race - I finally met Jeff!   I got a wonderful little trophy and a Footzone gift certificate. 

You guys can now all say, "I told you so."  I've earned that.  I promise I will never burden you all with whiny predictions of doom again.  (You can remind me of this if I forget.)   I was not being falsely modest in my doubts this past week, I truly had no idea I could perform that well.  I can't say I really enjoyed it - until it was over of course!  It was extremely uncomfortable.   And the AG award reflects the small, uncompetitive field that was racing.  But I don't care.  I just might have to sleep with the darn thing.  I am so pleased and encouraged by this.