Evaluation Run

The plan for today was a 3 mile evaluation run at 6:40 pace. I felt pretty good during the 2 mile warm-up and noticed that my HR was staying in the high 140's at 8:00 pace. I thought the run was going to go pretty well... but shortly after I picked up the pace I began to think differently. I was breathing much too hard for the pace and my legs just weren't there. My HR shot up pretty high right away and just kept climbing throughout the effort. I ended up stopping at 2.5 miles. Here are the splits:

6:39 (177)
6:41 (186)
3:22 (189)

Recovered to 130 in 1:20 and 120 in 1:37.

Catching up

Friday - Easy 5

Saturday - Easy 7

Sunday - Long run (13 miles). I felt really good during the run. I fell into 7:50 pace and stayed there throughout the run. My heart rate was nice and low... averaged 160 (the first few miles were all in the mid 150's, mile 12 and 13 were 166 and 168). I had planned on going a little further but it seemed like it was the right time to stop.

Monday - 6 mile recovery. Felt good.

Tuesday - Easy 7

Back to normal

My left IT band has been tight since the race and knee pain has limited my miles. My legs were sore on Sunday and my knee was hurting already at 2 miles so that is where I stopped. The soreness was almost gone by Monday but my knee was a little worse and I ran/walked for 3.5 miles. I have been icing 3X day since Monday, taking some ibuprofen and only running as far as I can make it before my knee starts to hurt. It has been getting better with each day... Tuesday was 5 miles, Wednesday was 6.5 miles and today I made it 8 miles without it even starting to hurt. So I think I am probably done dealing with that... I will still be careful the next few days though because I want to be able to get in a long run on Sunday. If all goes well I will shoot for 17 miles and try to get my mileage up above 65 for next week.

I am anxious to race again. I don't feel like I really raced the half... I figured I would be trying to hit a pace for the first 8-9 miles and then start tactical racing after that. However, because I went out too hard from the start, instead of racing the last few miles I could barely move the last few miles =) There aren't very many (any) races in the area for the next few weeks. It looks like the best opportunity is going to come on June 23rd... there is a 12K race in St. Cloud. It sounds like a neat race (interesting distance and the course winds through 3 different parks along the Mississippi). Plus my family will be able to watch the kids so that Eric and I can both race (if he feels up to it).

There is a 10K on July 4th that I want to race and then I would like to race at least one 5K this summer as well. But my main focus will be building for Twin Cities. The Dick Beardsley 1/2 marathon is on September 8... I want to race that as well (even if it is as a training type race). I am excited to get my miles up right now... if my legs can handle it I would like to be running 90-100 mile weeks in July.

The Race

I didn't finish in the time that I was hoping (or place for that matter) but for now I am just happy to be able to say that I did finish (in 1:31:24 for 11th female). Somewhere around mile 9 I started to hit the wall and by mile 12 I really didn't know if I was going to finish. I was hanging on for dear life at 7:30 pace as people were flying past me to finish. The medics grabbed me as soon a I got across the line and wanted to wrap me in blankets because I was pretty white and my lips were purple. I knew I was getting pretty cold on the last stretch into the wind but didn't realize how bad I was until I stopped. I didn't care about the blankets but I was pretty desperate for some sugar... I grabbed some oranges and gatorade and that seemed to get me out of the haze a little. I have never bonked on a run but from what I have been told it seems pretty similar to what I experienced during the race. But it doesn't seem right that I could have bonked during a half marathon.

I went out exactly as I had planned... hitting 6:35's for the first 4 miles and was feeling really strong. The next few miles were a little slower (6:48 averages over 3 miles... I missed the individual mile splits) but it was windy and I wasn't running in a group so I was still ok with the splits. Things seemed to be on track and I was reeling some of the women in that had gone out a little quicker. Mile 8 was really tough mentally... into the wind and I was by myself.. I could feel that I was dropping off the pace a little and then a spectator told me I was the 7th female. I thought there were only 4 ahead of me so that set me back a little too. I tried to dig in a little and tough it out and actually got down into the 6:30's again during the middle part of that mile. I felt better as I picked it up a little but just couldn't keep the pace by myself. It ended up being a 7:03 mile and things just kept getting worse from there. I was really starting to get cold (it was 56 degrees at the start of the race but dropping so that it was in the 40's by the end and the wind was steady at 20 mph gusting to 25 straight out of the north). My hands and forearms were really bad and from mile 10 on I was really struggling. Honestly, while I am not too happy with my time or place, I am just happy that I was able to finish.

So now what? I really want to know what happened. I am pretty sure that with the training that I was doing (even though it was only for 6 months) that I was in shape to do better than that. Maybe not. Maybe I was expecting too much and I died because I went out faster than what I could handle. I don't really know... but I want to run another half marathon! I am not sure when but for now I am going to take a week of reduced mileage (40ish) and then get back into some base miles.

3 miles

3 miles starting at 7:50 pace and working down to 6:35 pace for the last .5 mile or so. Legs felt really good today.

Day off

No run today. Hopefully the complete rest will do me some good. Tomorrow will be just a few miles with a little race pace mixed in somewhere. Then 2 miles or so on Friday...

4.5 miles

10 minute warm-up followed by 3x1000 at 6:25 pace. These were supposed to be at goal race pace or a little faster with long recoveries. I ran them in 4:00, 3:56, 3:56 with 3:30 recoveries between. I am still not really sure what pace I am going to be able to hold on Saturday... I want to think that I can break 1:27 which means I have to run under 6:39 pace. I am just not sure how far under to shoot... 6:35's would give me a 1:26:15. I might try to start with that and see how I feel.

4.5 miles

Easy run on the treadmill.

1.25 miles

I hadn't planned on running today but I wanted to practice taking cups of water and drinking on the run because I have never done it before. I ran .75 mile to warm up and then did 5 ~100m strides at 6:30ish pace while grabbing cups and trying to drink. I didn't end up taking in much fluid but at least I have some idea of how it is supposed to work. Hopefully I don't have to worry about drinking much during the half.

10 miles

Easy 10 today just under 8:00 pace. Legs felt good.

Sunday will be a day off.

4 miles

4 miles with 3x400 pick-ups at 7:00 pace.

Easy 5

5 miles today.. everything felt good after yesterday's workout.

1000m reps

5x1000m at 3:55 starting every 6 minutes this morning. Felt ok this morning.. a little bit tired and not a lot of snap in my legs.

3:55 (178) | 1:01
3:54 (176) | :58
3:53 (174) | 1:18
3:53 (174) | 1:17
3:53 (175) |1:13

Even though I felt a little tired from the start they still felt comfortable enough that I could have kept it up for some time. 5 felt like a good place to stop. 6 miles for the day.

Eleven days and counting

My heart just skipped a beat when I saw that there are only 11 days until the race. I don't know if I am more excited/nervous for my half or for Eric's race.... I guess nervous for my own race and excited for his.

Something I thought I wouldn't do for at least a few more years... I registered for TCM. I feel like I already have a pretty decent base to build on right now and I am not going to have a chance to train like this again until I am done with med school. I am done with my job at the end of June so that leaves 5 weeks before school starts to hopefully get up in the 100 mile/week range. The last 8 weeks before the marathon I will be in school so training may get a little tricky. One good thing is that the first block of school is all about memorizing biochemistry.. all stuff that I studied before in grad school... the bad thing is that it was 7 years ago.

Easy 4 miles this morning... my legs were a little tired but they started coming around by the end of the run.

Road Trip

13 miles today with 6 at MP. There was a nice 25 mph wind with 34 mph gusts blowing this morning so Daddy and the kids offered to take me out in the country so I could run with the wind at my back (sort of.. it was a SE wind and I was running straight east). The kids had a blast eating treats and watching movies while they watched for Mommy to run past.

The wind settled down quite a bit after the first few miles.. I could feel it blowing me a little right away which got me running a little faster than I had planned. The first 7 miles were very comfortable and I decided not to worry too much about HR and focus more on how my legs felt.
7:25 (146) | 7:33 (155) | 7:30 (157) | 7:34 (158) | 7:39 (159) | 7:35 (164) | 7:39 (166)

And the MP miles:

6:58 (175) | 6:54 (179) | 6:58 (180) | 6:59 (180) | 7:01 (181) | 6:56 (182)

I don't really know what to make of my HR these last two days. All I know is that my legs felt great today and I didn't start to feel tired until the last mile. No soreness at all and my legs continue to feel good as the day goes on. I was a little disappointed because of the HR data but I still think it was a good effort without being too much.

MP run

8 miles today with 5 at MP. My HR was high for some reason today. 2 mile warm-up with the first mile at 7:36 pace (155 HR) and second mile at 7:40 (164 HR). I don't know why my HR jumped during the second mile but it was off for the entire run. Here are the MP miles:

7:03 (173)
6:58 (177)
6:59 (179)
6:59 (180)
6:57 (181)

My legs felt great during and after the run. No soreness today and my legs never started feeling tired. Recovered to 130 in 1:02 and 120 in 1:13.

Easy 7

Felt good today. Easy 7 at 8:20 pace on the treadmill.

8 miles

My legs felt really pretty good this morning.. no soreness at all from yesterday and surprisingly fresh. I ran easy keeping the pace around 8:20/mile.

1000m reps

Today's workout was 1000m reps in 3:55 starting every 6 minutes. I felt good during the 2 mile warm-up and noticed again that my HR was low (150). I started the first rep and could tell right away that I was running too fast.. as soon as I get it in my head that I am running repeats I immediately shift into a "run fast" mode even though these were only supposed to be at 6:17 pace. It's a little tricky to do these on the road too because I don't have markers to help me with pace. Anyway, I was able to back off for the first one but got off track again on numbers 2 and 3. Here are the splits:

3:53 (178 HR) | :59
3:49 (176 HR) | 1:03
3:49 (177 HR) | :59
3:55 (175 HR) | 1:04
3:53 (176 HR) | 1:04
3:55 (176 HR) | 1:07

I was still feeling pretty good on number 6 but decided to stop because I could feel that I was getting close to the point of getting some muscle soreness and my stride was starting to alter a bit. These are the numbers from the first time that I did this workout on April 11:

3:54 (182 HR) | 1:27
3:56 (180 HR) | 1:47
3:47 (183 HR) | 1:54
3:47 (182 HR) | 1:46

Pretty cool.

6 and 8

Monday - 6 mile recovery at 9:00 pace on the treadmill. Legs were a little sore but overall I felt ok.

Tuesday - Easy 8 on the treadmill. Legs felt quite a bit better today.