Last week was an up and down one. I was still recovering from a cold most of the week and struggled though some tough workouts before a run double race day on Sunday. Here’s the day-by-day breakdown:
Monday: Today was an attempt to make up Saturday’s 20-10-15 workout. I was supposed to do 20 minutes at a 7:10 pace, 10 at a recovery pace and 15 back at the tempo pace. I hit the treadmill Monday night and could quickly tell my lungs and chest were not fully recovered from my cold. I did bursts at a 7:24 pace and 1.0 incline with walk breaks in between for a total of 20 minutes before jogging it out at a 9:05 pace for 10 followed by a repeat of the run bursts and walk breaks for 10 minutes. Not ideal, but I was glad I made an effort to get it in.
Tuesday: I had Ian drop me off at work, so I could give my long run I missed out on on Sunday a go right after work to take advantage of as much daylight as possible. This was the tale of two runs. I started off strong and cruised for ten miles at an easy just under 9-minute pace. As I attempted to pick up the pace for the next 10 miles I started to struggle. My pace dropped by almost a minute per mile in some cases and I had horrible cramps in my feet. I pushed through as long as I could and finally called it quits at 16.5 after run/hobbling my way through Georgetown and over the Key Bridge back into Arlington.
Wednesday: Rest Day with light core workout.
Thursday: 5 miles easy on the treadmill plus a core workout.
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: I raced the Clarendon Day Double running a 5k immediately followed by a 10k. I had a blast at this race and ran pretty decent times too finishing 4th in my age group for combined times of those that ran both races. Full recap coming soon!
Sunday: Recovery Day. I planned to run easy, but my calf muscles were absolutely killing me today. I got in a walk, but even that was painful. I’m hoping lots of stretching and rolling makes this pass quickly.
Yikes, one month – this was the first thing I saw on my Facebook newsfeed this morning causing simultaneous excitement and full-on panic!
The Takeaways
Nathan Pack My main takeaway and the first thing I blurted out when I saw Ian at the finish line was, “I need my water pack for longer races!” I wear a Nathan Hydration Vest when I train and have also worn it during my last three marathons. They are the only three of the nine I’ve run under four hours and have been under four by a big chunk of time. Granted, I was better trained for those races also, but I do think the vest makes a big difference.
Unlike some of my older camelbacks, this vest is so light my neck and shoulders aren’t a bit sore even after running 26.2 with it on. Well, at least not any more sore than running 26.2 normally causes. It doesn’t bounce or move around at all and feels as if it’s barely there. I’ve learned to do the whole pinch the water cup thing and drink on the run, but I don’t like doing it and I don’t like depending on water stops. I’m much better at getting water down in frequent small sips then gulping down a cup every few miles at an aid station.
There were a lot of points along the half where I wished I could just have a sip of water meaning that each time I got to an aid station I gulped down too much water knowing I wouldn’t have another chance for a couple miles leaving that uncomfortable sloshing feeling in my stomach. I also didn’t memorize where the aid stations were so it ended up being 10 or 15 minutes after taking my Honey Stinger bites before I had any water. The pack also has an easy access pocket on the front strap to hold all of my gummies.
I know a lot of people think the added weight slows you down in races, but it just works for me and has proven so in the past, so I’d like to stick with it. That said, a week after reaching this conclusion I saw talk on Twitter about MCM banning camelbacks this year. It appears to be a new security measure because of the Boston bombings. It’s buried on their website, so I’m not sure how serious they are about this. I have a tough time seeing how this could be a real security threat, but I also don’t want to cause any issues, so now I’m at a loss for what to do.
Garmin I debated before the half whether or not to wear a watch or just go by feel. I was all set to go without, but let my coach convince me to just wear a regular stopwatch. He’s not a fan of Garmins, which I understand, but for me I feel that I would have been better keeping the Garmin on or going completely without. The in-between just meant I was doing more math in my head along the course to determine my pace and kept me from just running on effort. Since I plan to run with a pace group at MCM, I’m not too worried about having to look at my watch much anyways, but will go with the Garmin so I can have a record of the race.
Eat a Bigger Breakfast I don’t think I had enough fuel in me for the half. Part of it was that I forgot the Honey Stinger waffle I packed to eat once we got into D.C., but I’m also getting up much earlier for races than I used to. I used to cut it pretty close so a bigger breakfast wasn’t always smart or just wasn’t necessary because I wasn’t going to have 2 hours to get hungry during. More calories on marathon morning will definitely be important, especially since I’ll be going twice the distance. Bonking in a goal race because I didn’t eat enough beforehand seems silly!
Start Slow, Finish Fast, Start Slow, Finish Fast, Start Slow, Finish Fast I figure if I say this enough times I’ll follow through with it. This year’s Cherry Blossom race was one of the first times that I was able to actually follow through on this plan and boy did it feel good to fly through those last few miles. The beginning of a marathon should feel easy, so I’m going to do my best to stick with the pace group rather than jump out too fast leaving me exhausted later in the race.
Have you learned any big lessons on race day that you used to get better in your next big race??
On Saturday I ran the Navy Air Force half marathon in D.C. and the conditions could not have been more perfect. After temps in the 90s mid-week, a cold front came through giving us all a reprieve and a starting line temperature in the mid-50s. I went into the race fairly optimistic about my chances as I’ve been training hard and running much longer distances on my Saturday long runs than the 13.1 I’d have to run on race day.
Before I get to the race, I’ll start with the expo. Packet pick-up was available Thursday and Friday, and I was a bit worried I’d run into long lines and crowds going after work on Friday near the end of the expo, but that ended up not being the case at all. Other than waiting in 5-10 minutes of traffic to get into the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, it was a breeze. I had my bib in no time, wandered around the expo floor for a few minutes and grabbed my shirt on the way out. It was very well organized and a decent expo for a smaller race.
Ready to go!
Saturday morning I was up at 5, and Ian and I were in the car by 6. It’s amazing how easy it is to drive into D.C. at 6 a.m. on a weekend morning – we were parked in the Reagan Building parking garage by 6:15 and walking to the start line. Thanks to all the water I drank in the past few days and probably my nerves I ended up making a few bathroom trips then got in a full warm-up before heading toward the starting chute. I handed my jacket off to Ian as I made my way to the line and he headed toward the first mile marker to snap some pictures and cheer me on when I came running by.
A great rendition of the National Anthem led to the 7:15 start for the Wounded Warriors and other wheel chair athletes. So inspiring, and holy, they are fast!
At 7:25 it was time for the rest of us to go. The start and the course were very familiar to the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler except that there were a lot less people so you could actually stand comfortably at the start line. That also mean less crowd support, but those that were out there were very encouraging. I was able to start fairly close to the front so I didn’t have to do any weaving during the early miles. I really love this course and have run and raced on it so much now I feel like I could do it with my eyes closed – except then I’d miss the great scenery and D.C. monuments!
Speedsters
Last week I mentioned I was thinking about running without my watch and got a lot of great feedback, so I was all set to give it a go, but ended up wearing a regular stop watch (no garmin) at the strong suggestion of my coach. I kind of regret doing this and wish I’d just gone no watch at all or garmin. I was still very aware of my pace by looking at the watch keeping me from going just by feel and it really just meant I had to do more math in my head along the way. Oh well, lesson learned and I’m sure there’ll be another opportunity to truly go watchless.
My coach gave me a goal time of 1:41:36 or a 7:45 pace, which I thought would be very doable. I did my best to not go out too hard and hit mile one along Independence Avenue just 10 seconds ahead of pace. I waved to Ian and kept on going toward mile 2 feeling very comfortable and trying to slow down just a touch to get myself at that 7:45 pace. Well, unless I easily ran the fastest mile of my life mile marker two on the Memorial Bridge was very incorrect as I hit in in 12:35, haha. After that I didn’t take much stock in the mile makers although they could have all been correct the rest of the way for all I know – it just didn’t inspire a lot of confidence in them.
I loved the stretch up toward Rock Creek from miles 3-5 although the slight uphill slowed me a bit, but I hoped to regain it on the downhill back towards Hains Point. At mile 7, I was still averaging about an 8-minute mile, so I’m not really sure how I slowed as much as I did. It was definitely between miles 7-11 though as my breathing felt fine, but my legs felt a bit sluggish. It was nothing like the Nike half though where I let myself get so tied up in my goal time that I was absolutely miserable. I was still having fun out there and really enjoying the run on such a perfect D.C. morning.
Mile 8 was the last time I looked at my watch until I stopped it at the finish. I saw Ian again about 8.5 in just before getting to Hains Point. It’s always great to have support along the course and brought a huge smile to my face. I know everyone hates running Hains Point, but I was actually looking forward to this mostly flat, final stretch of the race, especially since it wasn’t super windy there for once.
I got a second wind around mile 11 and started moving quicker again and passing a lot of other runners. Ian who is getting pretty good at navigating a race course was waiting for me at the 13-mile mark before my final push to the finish. I crossed the line and gratefully accepted a water bottle and my finisher’s coin before making my way out of the chute and stretching a bit before heading back to the car.
I was almost surprised to see 1:50:11 as my final time, which put me in 584th place out of nearly 2,500 runners. I didn’t feel at all miserable like I did during the Nike Half, yet this time was even slower. I wasn’t unhappy and I really enjoyed the race and had fun running it, but my time does concern me a bit. The 8:25 pace is slower than I ran my last marathon and definitely slower than what I need to run Marine Corps in to get my Boston Qualifier.
Still, I have six weeks left of training and learned some valuable lessons and key takeaways from this race that I’ll detail more in a later post, so I’m counting this as a positive experience. While a PR would have been awesome, it just wasn’t in the cards on Saturday. With the goal race of my season still a month and a half away though, that’s okay. Time to move forward and keep working!
How did your weekend runs and races go?
Congrats to one of my favorite run bloggers, Maureen of Running on Cabernet, for absolutely crushing her sub 2:10 goal at RNR Philly!!
This week was fairly light as I spent Monday traveling and didn’t want to go too hard with my half marathon on Saturday. Here’s the day by day breakdown. To be honest I ended the week feeling a bit down with a less than stellar time for my half, but I’m going to keep pushing forward so I can get after that BQ at Marine Corps Marathon in six weeks!
Monday: Travel Day.
Tuesday: I hit the track for 7X1000 meters with a 1 minute rest between each repeat. This was the first week back at my tempo pace as opposed to my faster interval pace with a longer recovery, so even with the shorter rest period I felt pretty good. This was the bright spot of my week for sure. Splits (Goal: 4:38 each) Actual: 4:33. 4:31, 4:35, 4:35, 4:34, 4:34, 4:33.
Wednesday: I got up before dawn and hit the dreadmill for the long run I didn’t fit in over the weekend. With the half coming up at the end of the week I didn’t want to go too far, so I got 13.5 in before calling it a morning and getting ready for work.
Thursday: Core workout.
Friday: Rest day.
Saturday: Race day. Despite my time not being where I feel like it should at this stage of my training, I really did enjoy this race and it was a perfect day to run in D.C. Full recap coming soon – time was 1:50:11.
On Tuesday, the coolest thing happened – I got to interview Bart Yasso, Runner’s World’s Chief Running Officer. I was so excited that I immediately called my fiancé, parents and brother to tell them about it. Call me a runnerd. I don’t care, I’m still too excited!
Bart Yasso has one of the coolest jobs on the planet and he knows it. It’s so refreshing to talk to someone who truly loves what he does and appreciates it. We talked training tips, Yasso 800s, race strategy and race experiences. I was so impressed by how genuinely nice he was and that he took the time to thoughtfully and thoroughly answer all of my questions. He had some great advice and some cool race experiences, and I’m so excited to share them with all of you.
Training – Going for that BQ or ultimate PR Bart outlined 3 key workouts for successful marathon training. “The cornerstone of everything is the long run,” he said. It’s all about proper pacing on your long run too as he sees many runners do them too quickly and leave their race out on their training runs. During the long run you should focus on building endurance and not worry about speed. He highly encourages runners he coaches to try to negative split their long runs – finish faster than they started.
For example, a runner doing a 20 miler with a marathon goal time of 3:30 should run the first 10 miles at roughly a 9:30 pace then start working up to a 9-minute pace and wrap up with 3-4 miles at or close to marathon goal pace.
The next key workout is a hill/speed session to work on increasing turnover and leg speed. He recommends hill repeats earlier in the program and speed workout later. For hill workouts, mixing it up can lead to more success than just powering up the same hill repeatedly. Try running 4 shorter hill repeats, 4 longer ones and 4 shorter ones again. This lets you work on faster turnover on the short hills and strength on the longer hills.
The final key piece is the tempo or marathon pace run. You need to teach your body to run the pace you want to run in the race. Start with a 10-15 minute warm-up, work your way up to 8-10 miles at marathon pace and wrap up with a 10-15 minute cool down.
In between these key workouts you’ll have your easy recovery runs and cross training that make up the rest of your training. Another common thread among runners who have achieved marathon success is that they’ve been able to run injury free for a couple year period. It’s so important to listen to your body as most injuries he sees are basic overuse ones. (Been there.)
Yasso 800s I had to ask Bart about this famous workout named after him as I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. He says he gets that a lot and hears from runners that they use his name in vain quite often! For those not familiar with this workout, you do 10X800 and the time you can run your repeats in should correlate to your marathon finish time – i.e. if you run your repeats in 3:20 each you should be able to run a 3 hour and 20 minute marathon.
Bart says he found this correlation decades ago looking at his training log, but maintains that he’s never said it works for anyone but himself and it certainly isn’t based on any kind of science. Amby Burfoot, however, thinks it works for everyone and wrote about in Runner’s World years ago making the workout famous.
Race Day Strategy There’s no doubt that the latter portion of any distance race is more mental than physical, Bart says. During the early part of a race you need to be smart and run a proper pace then in the latter part of the race you need push yourself to run faster than you thought you could. While you should have a plan and think about what pace you can sustain, Bart says, don’t kill yourself with a set time – let the race play out and come to you.
His runners that have had the best success also run negative splits. When you’re running faster and passing people at everyone at the end of a race it’s the best feeling in the world and consequently when you feel like you’re on a death march getting passed by everyone it’s the worst feeling in the world, he says. Having been in both these positions in races, I couldn’t agree more.
Bart shared a great story about a 10k run, 50 mile bike, 10k run race he did years ago where he took the lead on the bike. The final 10k was an out and back and he ran as fast as he could swearing he could hear footsteps closing in on him. After the turnaround he realized he was a good 3-minutes ahead of everyone and went on to win the race. If he’d turned around he would’ve slowed down, but instead he “ran scared” and convinced himself to keep pushing faster than he thought he was capable resulting in a big win.
The Journey Bart has been lucky enough to race all over the world on every continent. As someone who has “only” run 9 marathons and would have a tough time picking a favorite, I really put him on the spot by asking his top races. He said that it has changed over the years as his running changes and that’s what makes it fun. It’s all about the people and the experiences along the way. He says the races he remembers the most are the ones he has connections with, so running the Rome Marathon where he was able to stop at several spots and chat with his Mom who came along on the trip holds a special place in his heart. He also calls running the Comrades Marathon an ultimate running experience. As a long-time fan of Nelson Mandela he said the race is what brought him to South Africa, but experiencing the country and history of it made it such a special journey.
Seriously, this man has such a cool life!
Runwell’s Perspire to Inspire Video Contest Bart also chatted with me about Runwell’s Perspire to Inspire video contest in support National Recovery Month. Bart was very candid about his struggles in his youth with drugs and alcohol, which he talks more about in his book, My Life on the Run. “Running saved my life,” he said. He thinks he’s lucky to have found running so young and is willing to share his story in hopes that it can help people to not choose that lifestyle or show people who have fallen down that path that there is a way out.
The Runwell contest is very cool. You enter by submitting a short video describing how you’ve personally helped to inspire others to lead a healthy life. It’s a powerful message and I can’t wait to hear people’s stories. The winner who will be determined by the vote of an online community brings home a pretty cool prize too that includes a slew of things plus free race registration and airfare to a race of their choosing. Check it out and submit your story!
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??
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!
The monotony of the same old route can be tough during marathon training, so I try and mix things up as much as possible. While sometimes I like to do my most familiar routes to test my fitness and make comparisons to previous times running there, I also like to run in completely different places on long runs. The not knowing what’s ahead can be intimidating, but the new scenery can help take my mind off of how far I have to run and help the miles fly by. Thankfully the D.C. area has an abundance of areas to run in so I never get bored.
At the beginning of August I made a trip home to Syracuse so I really got to mix things up and run around my old stomping grounds. I’ve lived in Arlington since 2006 now, so I really don’t run back home all that often. I got in a great track workout at my old high school overlooking the softball field I spent many hours playing and practicing on back in the day. We were still in the midst of some very hot and humid weather in D.C. at that point, so the nicest part of that workout was the 60 degree temps and slight, but cool breeze.
I also got a long run in while I was home in the beautiful, but super hilly Green Lakes State Park. I actually worked at Green Lakes for three summers during college and it’s where I met my fiancé, so it holds a special place in my heart. It was a relatively mild day again, but a touch humid. I ran 17.2 miles over some major hills along the main road that runs through the park by the golf course before looping around the beach trails, which has to be one of the best spots to run ever. I also ventured up into some of the hiking trails by the campgrounds that I hadn’t explored before, which was fun and very challenging for this runner girl who usually sticks to the road. If you ever find yourself near Fayetteville, NY, find time to fit in a run here! You won’t regret it. I did my best to snap some shots on the run, so here are a few that didn’t come out super blurry!
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.
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?
heart & sole 