To Garmin or Not?

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I’ll be toeing the start line of the Navy Air Force Half Marathon in a week and a half. This race completely snuck (is that a word?) up on me. Not in an I’m not ready for it kind of way – just in a I can’t believe mid-September is here already kind of way. I’ve been running like crazy and I’m more than ready for it distance-wise. In the last 8 weeks I’ve done 6 long runs in the range of 15-20 miles plus a 10-12 miler during the week each week.

I won’t lie though, I’m really nervous about pacing. While this isn’t a goal race necessarily, it’s a great chance to see where I’m at in my training, an opportunity for redemption after missing my goal at the Nike Women’s Half in D.C. earlier this year and it covers much of the same ground that I’ll have to face during Marine Corps Marathon in October. No doubt I can do the distance, but I’ve been embracing the long slow run concept and keeping my long runs a bit slower than my marathon goal pace to avoid injury/burnout and to mimic the amount of time I’ll be on my feet come race day. This worked great for me at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, but I still haven’t attempted it for a successful half or any full marathons, so despite all the expert advice, I’m still skeptical.

I’ve rattled off plenty of miles during other weekly runs at goal pace and my track workouts have me going at even faster paces, yet I won’t be totally convinced until I see the results on race day. I’m a big-time data recorder and religiously track my mile split times on my Garmin. I know it’s not completely accurate, but I’m also constantly looking at the current pace during races as well to make sure I stay on track. Even if I don’t look at the watch throughout my training runs, I often (over-) analyze each mile time and what it means after I’m done.

Based on my Garmin-centric, data-obsessed running personality I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually considering running the half without a watch. Shudder. I wonder if I just base things off of effort if I’ll be able to maintain my pace and get my goal without the obsessive time checking? I’ve also heard of people who go even faster because they don’t see a pace that should be too hard for them on the watch and slow down because of it. What if I just miss my goal time though? Will I be kicking myself for not wearing a watch? From what I can find on the website, it doesn’t look like this race will have pace groups, so I can’t just tag along with one of those and know my time without actually knowing my time.

I haven’t made a final decision on this yet, but am thinking it might be worth a shot. I’d love to hear from you all – have you ever raced without a watch? How’d it work for you? Even if you haven’t tried it, do you think it could be a good idea or a disastrous one? Comment away – should I Garmin or not??

Footprints: Monday Recap

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Wow, so this is my 200th post! It’s hard to believe I’ve written that many since starting. Hope you’re enjoying reading along with my journey. Let me know what types of posts you enjoy and what you’d like me to write more about!

Now, on to the recap! Last week was another strong week along the way to training for Marine Corps Marathon. I had to make up a couple of the previous week’s workouts at the beginning of last week, so I again pushed some of last week’s into this morning, which worked out well since I had the day off and plenty of time to work out. More on that in next week’s recap though.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class – Real Ride at Revolve. Core Workout

Tuesday: I split my longer mid-week run from the previous week between an easy 3.5 miler in the AM and a tougher 6.6 miles after work. I also got in a morning track workout, which felt great. My goal was 5X1000 with a 4-minute jog recovery at 4:16 each. I was tight on time so I cut the recovery jogs down to 3-3:30 each and still nailed all my splits: 4:13, 4:16, 4:11, 4:12, 4:12.

Wednesday: Rest day for my team bocce playoffs. They did not go well. Fun season, but lets just say, I will not be missing a workout next week for round 2.

Shopping Spree! So much new Oiselle goodness arrived this week!

Thursday: Rest day today because I hit snooze one too many times meaning I had to hit the track early the following Monday before spin to make it up.

Friday: I was out of work early, so I met up with new friend/Oiselle teammate Stephanie on Friday afternoon so we could get our long run out of the way before the weekend really started. We put in a great 18 miles despite the heat and humidity.

Saturday: I tried out a new yoga studio for a 75-minute hot yoga class. I really loved this class and boy was it challenging.

Sunday: I again set out in the midday heat and humidity (I’ll never learn) and slogged along for 10.1 miles along the Custis and W&OD trails. I stopped at a water fountain to fill my bottle at one point with another 4-5 miles to go still and found myself so sweaty I couldn’t grip the bottle well enough to open it. Thankfully a biker on his way by was able to help me out, so I didn’t have to go without water for the second half of my run!! I always appreciate when random people are kind.

Marine Corps Marathon Course Change Announcement

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

On August 20, the Marine Corps Marathon announced a flatter course with the return of Rock Creek Parkway. I for one am thrilled about the change. It makes the course flatter and hopefully faster, while taking out a tough early hill that was way too easy to go too hard on and pay for later.

The removal of the Canal Road/Georgetown Reservoir section of the course makes it similar to the first time I ran the race in 2006 when I first fell in love with this marathon, and at the same time takes away my least favorite part of my 2011 run there. That’s what I call a win-win!

Check out the interactive course map here!

Run Washington did a story on their website covering the announcement and were nice enough to include me in it:

Check out the full article on their site.

Footprints: Monday Recap

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Last week felt great. I didn’t get all of my workouts in that I wanted to, but did a pretty good job of playing catch up after putting in a lot of miles Friday through Sunday the previous week when I was struggling and recovering from a cold. Talk about a turnaround when it came to my long run. Last Sunday I set out in the rain sore and tired and struggled through 17 slow miles in 2 hours and 50 minutes. This week’s run was the same time but a couple miles further!

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class – Real Ride at Revolve.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 7 hilly miles in an hour on the Custis Trail after work.

Thursday: Today was a track workout fail. I didn’t heed my running coach’s advice to avoid W&L in the fall as there are too many events and halfway through a great workout where I was nailing my splits I got kicked off the track for a football game. I’m planning to make up all of the reps next week!

Friday: I got in two pretty speedy treadmill runs today – 4 in the morning and 6 at night, plus a strength workout! Great way to kick off the weekend!

Saturday: I felt a million times better on my long run this week which took me 19.2 miles along the Custis, W&OD and Mt. Vernon Trails plus along Hains Point and over both the 14th Street and Memorial Bridges before tackling the hill back up to Court House. I even attacked the final hill of the MCM course at mile 18 to get some practice in there! I’m hoping to continue to improve on these as marathon day gets closer!

Sunday: I ran out of energy Sunday and took a rest day to give my aching muscles a break.

Fall Races!

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

While I hate that summer is almost over meaning less daylight hours and winter just around the corner, fall is my hands-down favorite weather season of the year. It also means it’s fall racing season! I haven’t raced throughout the entire month of August and am getting a little stir-crazy, so I’m excited that my fall line-up of races is almost here.

This is where I’ll be racing this fall…

September 14 – Navy-Air Force Half Marathon
I’m a little terrified that I have a half marathon so soon, but then when I think about it I’ve been running further than that during my long runs for a month and a half now including a couple 17 milers. I’m a little concerned about keeping the pace I want so this will be a great test of my fitness. Most of the course is along the Marine Corps Marathon route as well, so it’ll be great practice!

September 28 – Pacers Clarendon Day Double
I’ll be running both the 5k and the 10k put on by Pacers as part of the Clarendon Day Festival. I’m so excited for this race. I’ve never done two races in one day before and I’m really looking forward to the speedy, mostly downhill courses. The 5k is up first so I’m going to shoot for a PR in that and then just see how the 10k goes after I’ve gotten myself back up the hill for the start of that one!

October 13 – Undecided
Acumen Solutions Race for A Cause 8k … OR … Boo! Run for Life 10k
My coach suggested I look for an 8k or 10k this week and I’ve found one of each – both pretty close to home and roughly the same price. The 8k is closer but the 10k is flatter and a familiar course for me. Advice is appreciated! If you’ve done either of these races in the past, let me know what you think about them.

October 27 – Marine Corps Marathon
This is the big one – the race I’ve been waiting all year for since I had to defer my entry last year while stuck in physical therapy. It’s my chance to finally get my Boston Qualifier in my 10th marathon. I simultaneously can’t wait for it to get here and am terrified of it getting here too soon. I love this race though. It’ll be my third MCM and I LOVE the course change announcements recently unveiled that make it more similar to my first go at MCM in 2006. They’ve done away with the Canal Road portion of the race, which I was never a big fan of, and added in Rock Creek Parkway. Let the countdown commence!

Here I was near the finish two year’s ago after Marine Corps…

After – wrapped in my space blanket, happy to be done!

Let me know where you’ll be racing this fall!! Any big PR goals?

Resolution Check-In

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Wow, August 1st, this year is just flying! Time to check in on those resolutions.

Last month’s big focus was cross training and strength training. I started strong but then let things slip a little near the end of the month. I need to come back strong on that this month to help boost my Marine Corps Marathon training and make sure I stay on track with my New Year’s Resolutions to get healthy and build a stronger core. I’ve been doing great about running smarter not harder so far this year and I certainly don’t want to fall behind and land myself on the injured list again.

Rocking my I Run This Body Tee!

I’m still working on the soda, but am doing a bit better. I still have free soda just around the corner from my desk at my new job so that doesn’t help matters, but I’ve been drinking fountain soda at restaurants a lot less so that’s a positive.

My Boston Qualifier goal is coming up quickly with Marine Corps Marathon training in full swing. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous and worried about my speed, but I am already putting in a lot of good, quality miles. I also know I shouldn’t judge too soon especially with the summer heart wave that kicked off my training.

Seeing as how important that goal is to me my main focus for this month will be my long runs. So far so good on this front, but I’m far enough into my training where I already have a few under my belt but far enough away from my race that it can be easy to let one slip if I’m feeling unmotivated. So here’s to another good month of long runs!

Hope everyone’s doing well on your Resolutions!

MCM Training is Underway!

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I can’t believe the Marine Corps Marathon is going to be here in less than 100 days. 98 to be exact! I’m still following the run plan from my coach, so not too much has changed since I was already working to build toward marathon training, but now I start to really pay attention to how things are going and stress about how it’s going to impact my race.

I’ve been running a bit slow lately and I’m trying to tell myself not to freak out yet since it’s most likely because of the heat. I ran home Tuesday night in 99-degree weather, hit the track Thursday night when it was still 102 with the heat index and then overslept Saturday forcing my long run to be in midday 100+ degree heat again.

I really, really hate the cold, so I always try not to complain about the heat, but this heat wave sure is draining. How do you beat the heat and exercise safely in it??

I make sure I’m hydrating all day long – not just right before or during my run. I alternate between plain water and Nuun electrolyte tabs and absolutely love Nuun as a recovery drink during a lazy afternoon on long run days.

I wear light-weight, light-colored, moisture-wicking clothing as much as possible. For yesterday’s long run I sported my mio mesh tank from Oiselle, which is perfect for this kind of weather along with the Oiselle strappy sports bra and bum wrap skirt – my all-time favorite running skirt.

I also carry hydration for any distance run. I used to HATE carrying water, but years of living in D.C. has taught me that it’s necessary. For short to medium runs I’ve been bringing a handheld bottle I have from Nathan. It fits perfectly in my hand, but I always feel like it throws my running off a little when I carry it. On my 9-mile run home from work Tuesday I stopped by a water fountain to refill my bottle around mile 7.5 before the final all uphill charge home. I didn’t let myself look at my watch along the run since I didn’t want to freak out at the slow pace and push too hard in the heat, but I thought I was doing pretty well. A very pregnant lady carrying another small child was walking up to the water fountain at the same time as me so I stopped to let her go first. She took one look and said, “you look like you need this a lot more than me!” It was much appreciated, but a bit of an ego bruiser!

For long runs I go with my Nathan hydration vest. This is my favorite water pack and I find it way more comfortable than a fuel belt. It’s incredibly light for the amount of water it can hold and I’ve even worn it during my last couple marathons. It usually lasts me the entire 26.2, but this weekend’s long run was a different story. I actually had to refill it not once, but twice! I also splashed water on my head, neck and face during these pit stops. I might’ve looked a bit strange to onlookers passing by, but hey, whatever it takes!

What are your tricks? Do you keep running in the heat or take it to the treadmill?

Spirit of the Marathon II

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I’m a bit late with this post, but I was very excited to get to see Spirit of the Marathon II last week. Thanks to a last minute change in plans for the evening, I quickly ordered tickets online and Ian and I hopped in the car and drove up to the Ballston Theater. I still remember watching the original Spirit of the Marathon in a packed theater with my friend Lindsay and have since watched it too many times to count on Netflix.

I was a little disappointed that the theater wasn’t packed like last time, but it also worked out well since we cut it pretty close to the start and probably wouldn’t have been able to find a seat otherwise. I absolutely loved the movie. It began at the start of the Rome marathon in Italy – talk about some great scenery to run to – and then told the story of seven runners competing in the marathon occasionally coming back to clips of the actual race as they progressed through the course. I loved the diversity of the runners. There were elite runners, a charity runner, first-timers and locals including one 73-year-old who began running late in his life, but had since run all 18 Rome marathons since its inception.

I read a lot of reviews saying they liked the original better, but I have to disagree. Full disclosure – I haven’t seen the original in a while, so maybe it’s just because this one is fresh. The original that focused on runners training for the Chicago marathon was no doubt amazing and inspirational and still one of my favorites. It focused more on the training aspect of getting ready for the marathon while this documentary looked more at the life stories of each person being portrayed and how the marathon was changing them/how it fit into their life. I already know all about the ups and downs of marathon training – learning about these people was really interesting and made for a great story. Ian – a non-runner – actually enjoyed the movie too and I’m not sure he would have liked the first one as much, so if you’re picking one to watch with a non-runner I’d go for this one!

There was also some great history of the marathon interlaced throughout the movie and interviews with some pretty amazing people in the world of running including Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, Hal Higdon, Kathrine Switzer, Paula Radcliffe, Nina Kuscsik and more!

If you didn’t catch it’s one-night only appearance in theaters, this is definitely worth a watch (or two) once it comes to DVD/Netflix!

Did you see the movie? What did you think?

Also, it totally made me want to run an overseas marathon again. I’ve done Dublin and Greece. I don’t think it’s in the cards for awhile with everything else I have going on, but maybe someday. How about you – have you ever run a marathon overseas?

A Marathon View From the Sidelines

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Last weekend I volunteered with the DC Capital Striders at the Potomac River Run Marathon along the C&O Canal Path. It’s not too often I’m up before 6 a.m. for any reason other than going running, but Sunday I would just be manning the sidelines. I met up with the rest of our group at Lock 7 and helped set up the aid station. The marathoners would go out and back twice along the path so we’d see them all four times along the course. We were stocked with water, Gatorade, bananas and power bars.

Lock 7

Volunteer Group at Lock 7 (stole this from the DC Cap Striders FB page)

The race had about 500 runners with a 7 a.m. non-competitive start and an 8 a.m. regular start. After we got things ready to go it wasn’t going to be too long before the first set of runners were coming through since the first time they’d pass us was just about 3.5 miles in. It was an overcast day and temps were in the high 40s at the start with a slight breeze – perfect for runners, but a bit chilly for us. I’m glad I packed some hand warmers that I still had on hand from when I used to teach outdoor boot camps during the winter!

I handled the water cups and doled out encouragement to as many runners going by as I could. I know how much it means to me to have some encouragement along the course, especially one without a lot of crowd support. I also knew a couple runners so it was fun getting to cheer them on as they passed by. Other than one botched water handoff to one of the faster runners during his first trip through our station, I managed not to drop or spill the water cups on anyone! Successful day if you ask me. Although if you ask the guy who I botched the handoff with, he might not agree! There was a somewhat steady stream of people after the 8 a.m. group got going and we had people coming from both sides, but it was never overwhelming. I can’t even imagine working a water stop at one of the mega races. I need to remember to say extra thank yous at the Marine Corps Marathon stops this year!

Runners on the C&O path

It was fun to be out there and it was really inspiring to see so many people of so many different abilities putting it all out there to finish their marathon. I love this sport!

Aid Station at Lock 7

Congrats to everyone who ran Sunday! Have you ever volunteered for a marathon? How’d it go?

Race Calendar Updates

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

At the beginning of the year I wrote a post with a calendar of my races for 2013. The problem with trying to plan things out a year in advance as I like to do is that I often have to make changes. I’ve already had to do some rearranging due to conflicts this month. I was extremely bummed to miss the Four Courts Four Miler since I’ve never been able to do it, but it coincided with a noon Syracuse game against Georgetown at the Verizon Center that I was going to. I knew with the 9 a.m. start time there was no way I could get back down the hill to Rosslyn, showered and ready in time for enough pre-game fun. Turns out there were not enough pre-game drinks to make that game watchable, but at least we got our revenge in the Big East Tourney.

Before I digress too much, which tends to happen when I talk Syracuse hoops, I did find a replacement race this month for the Four Courts Four. I’m running the Rev3 Run Rogue 5k in Fairfax this Saturday. It’s a fun race that I also ran last year and it supports an awesome cause – brain and breast cancer research.

I’ve also made a couple other additions. I added a sprint triathlon in June because I finally found one that lets me do the swim in a pool! I also added my first-ever track race in July. After reading about the Bring Back the Mile Campaign and seeing one of their events was right here in Arlington, I decided why not give it a shot. I have no idea how to run in a track race so I’ll probably get smoked, but I’m still pretty excited! Any advice you all have would be appreciated.

One final tweak is more of a hope at this point. During the first week of January, I impulse-registered for the Honolulu Marathon on December 8. They had a one-week only $55 entry fee deal for the normally very expensive race. Looking at last year’s Hawaii travel packages offered through Marathon Tours, it might be more affordable than I originally thought, so this may actually happen! It’s too soon after the Marine Corps Marathon to actually race it. I raced two marathons in October of 2011 and don’t have any desire to take on that pain again, but sounds like it’d be a breathtakingly beautiful run.

I also might throw in a 10k around Hains Point (either the Run for the Parks 10k in October or the Veterans Day 10k in November) to try and reach my goal of breaking 44 minutes on a nice flat course. I’m hoping to volunteer at packet pick ups or race day for a few others like the Crystal City 5k Fridays and the GW Parkway 10 Miler, so hopefully I’ll see some of you out there. Let me know how your race calendar is shaping up as we finally (hopefully) start to get some spring-like weather soon.

2013 Race Calendar

February 10 – Love the Run You’re With 5k

~~March 9 – Four Courts Four Miler~~

March 23 – Run Rogue 5k

April 7 – Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

*April 28 – Nike Women’s D.C. Half Marathon*

June 2 – Reston Sprint Triathlon

July 24 – DC Road Runners 1 Mile Track Championships

July 27 – Crystal City Twilighter 5k

*October 27 – Marine Corps Marathon*

December 8 – Honolulu Marathon

~~December 8 – Jingle All the Way 8k~~