Change of Pace

Looking at that last entry, I realized that I should clarify....that wasn't my pace for each of those miles, but for the whole race up to that point. So after that first 6:26 mile, I slowed to almost 7 pace until the last four miles or so when I finally got my act together and ran somewhere around 6:45 pace which is what I should have been doing since the beginning.

What was shocking is how sore I've been since then. Taking the day after the race off completely was probably a mistake since a few shake-out miles might have helped break up some of those nasty lactic byproducts that make the muscles hurt. I was going to try and hit 70 miles for this week, but the combination of my achy-breaky feeling legs and a worrisome sore spot on the ball of my foot have me thinking it's better to back off a bit.

Actually, I really need to just get over my obsession with getting up to 90 miles a week again and focus a little more on the basics that I've been leaving out. I need a better speed work strategy than 'run a race every week' and my longest run thus far is only 16 miles. Running more conservative distances on my everyday runs would allow more room for some faster workouts and I can start getting into the 20-miler every other week routine. I probably wont ever get much above 70 miles a week that way, but I think this rejiggered mindset has a better chance of getting me to the starting line healthy.

As for Kevin Beck's quote, have you ever noticed how much time that guy spends being injured? I can do discomfort just fine, it's just a matter of recognizing when it's the kind of discomfort that's telling you that your body needs you to back off. Is Kevin blogging again?

And as far as running a half three weeks into a training cycle, I already had a pretty consistent 50-mile a week base going into it, so the distance isn't an issue. It's just a matter of how aggressively I tackle it. I ran one in October on much less mileage in just under 1:35, so I knew that my fitness had improved since then. I just needed to test how much, to get a sense of where I am now.

It's always a treat to get to hang out blogger/runner friends in real life and oddly, it never seems weird. I guess once you've been through taper madness with a person, there is no greater intimacy! So Salty was in town visiting her sister and the two of them met me in the park for a 4-miler yesterday..

The first mile went by in 6:35 I think, so that was good. The heart rate monitor watch that I've been using can't do splits and my foggy memory fails me, but I know I felt very strong and consistent all the way through and was very pleased to end up with a 6:28 pace overall.

The biggest disappointment actually was that Salty got a stitch and had to stop for a bit to work that out just before the halfway point. I'd seen that I was catching up to her and was psyched for a moment, thinking that meant that I was picking up the pace without even any effort, but when I saw her grabbing at her side, I realized she must be hurting. She says she thought about just jogging across the park to the finish, but I never had any doubt that she'd either catch up to me after stretching or finish up right behind me.

I felt annoyed on her behalf, but she didn't seem overly fazed by the incident and when you think about it, it's still a pretty amazing thing just to be outdoors on a crisp, sunny winter morning and even with the inconvenience of a physiological hiccup, still be able to recover enough to run a 6:19 final mile.

And besides...there were pancakes and omelets to be consumed as the reward for our efforts!

Salty's sister was pleased with her run too, though it sounded like she pushed herself hard enough to make it feel like she was having an asthma attack at the end. There's something great about that though (as long as you don't actually go hypoxic and keel over) since then you know you didn't leave anything out there on the course and you're allowed to feel morally superior to all those weak mortals who jog though the course chatting away and treating it as a social occasion. Since of course, that's what the post-race diner binge is for.

I've only run this particular half once before and that was back two years ago when it was held in the summer, but it was a great experience that time around. It's the only NYRR race that I've ever won my age group in and I was proud of how I ran a tough, smart race in very hot, humid conditions.

This time around I suspected that I was a little less prepared and I was coming off 57 miles already for the week. The half two weeks ago was a bit of a disappointment, so my only goal was to run conservatively for the first few miles and see if that tactic would pay off in the later miles. Several people had predicted scary cold, wintry conditions, so it was a nice relief to get out to the start to find almost sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 30's. Not a bad day for a race.

I wasn't particularly aggressive about pushing to the front of the corral since I really didn't want to get caught up in the adrenaline rush of the hardcore racers so it took about 15 seconds to get to the start line. Almost immediately I realized that in my rush to drop off my baggage, I'd forgotten my energy gels. I really rely on these for energy boosts after the halfway point, so I was kicking myself for the oversight. Nothing to be done for it at that point though, so I just resolved not to miss taking a few gulps of Gatorade every time it was offered. Luckily it was a loop course, so this turned out to be a decent back-up plan.

As usual, I felt like I wanted to be going a lot faster over that first mile. Almost supernaturally, there was a guy in a t-shirt with a big number 7 on the back and I decided it was a sign that he was running 7-minute pace and that I should stay near him. Superstitious or not, I passed by the mile marker right next to him in exactly seven minutes. This is much less extraordinary when you take into account the 15 seconds it took me to get to the start, so in reality I still hit the marker faster than I planned.

No matter though. I trucked through that hilly first loop in consistent 6:45's and still felt pretty good. Interestingly, I made it to the 5 mile marker with 33:55 on the clock...exactly what I'd run in the half two weeks ago. The difference this time around is that I was running even splits, but it was too early to tell if that was going to make a difference. The best thing about this race compared to the one two weeks ago though was that this time it was me consistently passing other runners all the way through, instead of the other way around.

Once we finished the second hilly loop through the residential area, it was on to the long out and back on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Oh. My. God. The wind was unbelievable. I'm not a large human being, so there were a couple blasts that pretty much stopped me completely in my tracks. I comforted myself with the knowledge that everyone was dealing with the same conditions, but I struggle to keep up pace through this section.

There was a small pack up ahead of me that seemed like it could provide some drafting potential, but it just seemed like too much effort to speed up enough to get there. I could see another woman up ahead in that pack, but it just seemed like an impossible distance to cover.

Finally a couple of guys caught up to me and mercenary that I am, I immediately tucked right in behind one of them. WHAT a difference. It was almost like stopping to take a walk break the contrast was so severe. I hope the fellow didn't mind, but he wasn't stuck with me too long anyway. As soon as a slightly larger, slightly faster man appeared, my allegiances switched immediately. After less than a mile, he'd caught us almost up to the little pack, so I gritted my teeth and headed out into the wind solo to tag along behind that.

The reward for all this bullheaded wind wrestling of course was the turnaround and it was delicious to make that 180 putting the gusts at my back. I'm not sure the benefit really equaled the obstacle in the other direction, but it was still a world of difference. Four miles to go and I felt pretty good.

It all gets a little foggy at this point, but I knew with two miles to go that I was going to pass that last woman. She put up a little fight when I pulled up alongside her, but I lingered there anyway, figuring that her pushing the pace for a bit could only help lower my finishing time. That was probably a little cocky on my part, since with one mile to go, the missing energy gels came back to bite me. It was just like I suddenly ran out of fuel. I think I maintained pace alright for that last mile, but if anyone had tried to pass me at that point, there would have been zero I could have done about it.

And then came the finishing stretch and the announcer and all the cheering people and it was over. Fourth woman, first in my age group again and an average pace of 6:44. I was quite, quite pleased and even more so a day later as I'm barely sore at all.

Definitely a good confidence builder for my spring marathon, especially since this is all on long, slow distance and no speed work. For now though, I'm just excited to have made it to another rest week. Ah, leisure....

How is it possible that I finished up an easy week with an off day and I still felt completely fatigued? Maybe it's just my body sensing that it's about to get walloped with another couple of 70+ mile weeks. Sometimes I think that just the idea the mileage is nearly as exhausting as actually doing it.

Though I might be forgiven for finding today challenging as I tackled 18 miles in the warmth of a freakishly balmy February morning, doing the last 4 in (almost) marathon pace, partly through the challenging harlem hills.

I'm trying to integrate more speed into my workouts, particularly marathon specific strategies that integrate marathon pace tempo elements into distance runs. A number of bloggers follow the training advice of Tinman, so I've been checking out his site and some of the advice and ideas that lie therein.

I've also been considering some other options besides Boston as my significant other has opted not to run it this year. I've still got incredible support and encouragement as far as my race goes, even more actually since I'll have the best possible cheerleader for the event, but since I've already run it a couple of times and housing/transportation costs are likely to be high, I figure I should at least consider other races and training scenarios.

The St. Louis Marathon would be a neat one to do, to sort of introduce myself to the running scene out there before I move, but it falls two weeks earlier than Boston and therefore gives me two fewer weeks to train. I'm already feeling a little behind the curve as compared to where I was before Columbus, so I'm reluctant to give up those 15 days of potential workouts.

On the other side of April 22nd is the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon a week after Boston, which would be personally meaningful since I was born in Louisville and have always been a little horse crazy. The drawbacks however are that it's a course of rolling hills, only had 250 women in its marathon field and has a little bit greater potential to be on the warm, muggy side.

Also an option is to not run a marathon at all this year and focus on the shorter distances. I'm feeling a little flush right now after winning $100 in the half a couple of weeks ago and can't help but think it would be fun to do that again, but now that other local runners know there's money offered in these races, that might become a little more challenging. (It doesn't seem to have been well publicized before.)

At any rate, I have about a week left to make up my mind and either register for Boston or not as the entry fee goes up quite a bit on March 1st.

I'm leaning more and more towards doing Boston, mostly because I want to see the trials, but also because I'm curious how I'll do on that course with a good training cycle under my belt. It's outrageously expensive to stay in Boston, so the plan now is to take Greyhound up there and slum it out on the end of the T line in Braintree. Do people really pay $600 a night to stay right in Boston? Way to make a girl feel impoverished.

I finally make a marathon decision and those silly Boston people have to go and close registration early. I was even about to send in my entry today to make the cut off for the lower registration price! I may still send it in, just in case they realize they made a terrible mistake and change their minds. Since I have the hotel room reserved, I guess I could still go up for the trials, but saying that I need someone to fill in for me on that weekend so I can go watch a race might be a harder sell to get the days off from work.

I guess this means the rush to make a decision is pushed off a bit. What had I been pondering now? St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland and...Ottawa? I'm not sure I even believe in Ottawa.

Oh, and another late add suggested by the SO, Oklahoma City on April 27th. I actually even know the woman who won that one last year. Significant risk of headwinds there though, y'know, like the song goes.