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December 13, 2006

Pacing Practice

I have now run miles 9-26.2 of our new marathon course and I love it. I don't know if I'd love it if I were trying to run a pr, but I'm not convinced you *can't* pr on that course. We ran almost completely through neighborhoods until we ran into (the U.T.) campus and then we ran into the capitol and then a nice screamin' 3/4 of a mile downhill through downtown to the finish line. Our finish line pictures could have the capitol in them (although getting the capitol and the clock might be hard.) Me gusta mucho.

Andy and our friend Pierre (another pacer) will likely run the first few miles of the course this weekend. I really don't run that part of town much at all, even though it's my parents' neighborhood. My parents will be on the southernmost end of our loop, between miles 3-4, and then my friend Heather's neighborhood - and Heather's actual house, with Heather and her family and hopefully a ton of our friends sitting on her front porch - will be near the northernmost end of the loop, between miles 18-19. We run right in front of my office (I'll be able to see my actual office) between miles 25-26. Not sure how I feel about that, actually, since I may not be all that happy with work right then. Might have some negative vibes, and mile 25.5 is a tough place to encounter those.

We ran as pacers this weekend with the Rogue group (Steve and Ruth's group that I ran with last marathon training cycle), and our 3:45 group consisted of about a dozen runners who all did really well with sticking together. They were a nice social group, and we did have one GPS among us, which we used intermittently. Mainly it was nice to have when I started to get the sense we were going too fast, so that I'd have confirmation of my suspicions. Except for our first mile, which was way too slow ... nearly 45 seconds too slow ... we were within 10 seconds or so of 8:34 pace at each mile. Sometimes we were fast and others too slow, but we were dealing with traffic at different points and then there's the rolling nature of the course. And although being right on the money would be best, I think having some fast and some slow is much better than consistently being too fast or too slow.

I felt great through the entire run, which is slightly surprising, since ultimately we did 18 miles including the jog to get back to the car, and the longest I'd gone before that was 14 a while ago. Feeling good was comforting, too, since I had worried all week about my lungs. I've made several references to the crud I've had since the beginning of October; I've had a cough more or less the entire time, and immediately after Decker it hurt to breathe. I mean, it usually hurts to breathe after Decker, but this time there was kind of a burning sensation that scared me. I had to take a seat on the ground for a few minutes and just try to regroup. So last week I only did one walk-run and one jog around the lake before doing the long run on Saturday, and I think the rest did me a little good. I still have a little bit of a cough, though, and when I first wake up in the morning if I take a deep breath I *have* to cough.

Shut up. I don't *want* to go to the doctor.

If we have a dozen runners as part of one training group, I think we'll have quite a large group on race day. I hope we do them right.

Posted by jenandmats at 7:33 PM | Comments (4)

December 6, 2006

ARC Decker Challenge

I ran one of my favorite races on Sunday in my least favorite weather condition – wind. Boo hoo. I guess I’ll have to wait another year to get another crack at it. It’s out in the country and it’s got some serious rolling hills, which I love – much better than the steep ones in other courses that reduce you to tippie-toe on the way up and then require some serious pounding on the way down. Usually the weather is horrendous (but it’s not always windy.) This was the race two years ago when I met Meghan! Can’t believe it’s been that long.

It was another mediocre “what happened to that excellent summer running?” race, but I did have some strong sections in there, when the wind wasn’t in my face. I managed to get in a few sub-7s with the wind at my back, even. Last time I ran the damn thing I did the whole thing under 7-minute pace. The year before that I ran the same pace I ran this year, but that year I was only six weeks out of a stress fracture. Boo hoo. At one point on Sunday I thought I was doing really well, only to mentally just fall apart at the end as I ran uphill into the wind. It’s one thing to see your splits and realize you’re running slower than you’ve historically been able to do; it’s quite another to see relatively slow splits and actually feel like you’re slower than molasses in January.

I have somehow managed to become the leader of my age group in the Austin Distance Challenge, however, which is certainly a nice condolence prize. I have come by this honor after starting out in fourth or fifth or something and having people slowly drop out. I don’t think I actually raced my way past anyone in the group. Each person leading his or her age group after each of the races is given a yellow jersey to wear at the next race. Not such great timing for me, though, since I’m not racing the next race. Andy and I will be pacing our 8:34 pace at the 20-mile race at the beginning of the year. Do I wear the yellow jersey and hang out in the middle of the pack? Well … if it’s the only time I get to wear it then I just might!

I’m just not sure what I want from running right now. Work is crazy and will get crazier and crazier until next June, and my lungs are punishing me for refusing to slow down while I was congested and nasty for nearly two months straight. Wednesday mornings I’ve been hitting the track with a group for a workout, but this morning I just didn’t feel like it and just headed to the trail and walked and ran and just enjoyed being outside. Yes I do have to train to pace this marathon, but I don’t have to t-r-a-i-n for it, which is good because I don’t have the time or the energy right now. I’m in limbo.

And I’m also worried that even when I do have the time and energy to train I won’t have the desire. It’s not like I’m sittin’ around thinking “man, I wish I were full-on marathon training right now.”

Posted by jenandmats at 8:57 PM | Comments (1)