tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34150394313260899852024-03-18T16:31:05.958-07:00Well, I'm TRYING to run...A "journey" involving running in place in the deep end. Quite possibly I've gone off the deep end.AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.comBlogger993125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-59013125099304190642024-03-17T13:30:00.000-07:002024-03-18T16:30:33.770-07:00Training log - Week ending 3/17/2024<p>This week was 72 miles of running and 9 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>This was my peak week of training for Boston, including my only 20+ mile run (I find I don't need very many of these, and one "secret" to training and racing well as you get older is not doing any more workouts than you need).</p><p>As seems consistent for me, the interval workout was rough, while the tempo and long runs went better. Daylight savings means that the official team track workouts are starting in the dark again, and I struggle to move my legs until it gets light. I think the splits on the 800s show when the sun rose.</p><p>I shortened the recovery intervals for Tuesday by tucking behind a faster group. As background - the team trains in groups, meaning that you start each interval when others start (keeping life easy for the coach timing the workouts). However, a lot of the recoveries end up being pretty long - about the same as the interval duration or longer. Since I struggle to move my legs fast enough to get my heart rate up, I need to keep the recoveries short, or else my heart rate drops too low during recovery and I never get my heart rate up to where it should be during the workout. </p><p>So...on Tuesday I deliberately tucked behind a group that was running faster than me. By finishing about 20-30 seconds behind them and starting with them, I kept the recoveries shorter and <i>finally </i>managed to get my heart rate up during one of these workouts.</p><p>Friday's tempo felt smooth (I ran it solo and started after the sun rose). I was really happy with Sunday's long run. The things that really challenge me are a) trying to run faster than a shuffle downhill; b) running downhill in supershoes; c) uneven footing/rough pavement and d) dodging people and other things while running. So...I forced myself to deal with this by wearing Vaporflies for the long run and doing the marathon effort work on the Capital Crescent (rough sections and bridges and tunnels and kids on scooters and dogs on leashes and people walking 5 across and cyclists zooming in all directions) with 5 of the 7 miles being downhill.</p><p>And...I handled it decently. Not perfectly. But well enough that I have a lot more confidence that I will be able to run the downhills at Boston at more than a shuffle. (Yes, I have run Boston before, and I know that you don't want to run the downhills too fast. But that's not a big risk for me right now.)</p><div><b>Monday</b>: 8 miles very easy (9:34) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br></div><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 11.5 miles, including a track workout of 7x800 in 3:36, 3:36, 3:30, 3:25, 3:21, 3:17, 3:14 (recoveries mostly at 2:1x-2:3x; one outlier at 3 minutes). Followed with leg strengthwork. Sports massage in afternoon.<br> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running, 500 yards swimming, and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 9 miles very easy on trails (9:52); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles, including a tempo on the track in 28:06 (7:12/7:04/6:59/6:51), followed by 2x200 in 51 and 50 seconds. Then leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 12 miles very easy (9:12) followed by upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in afternoon.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 21 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:17 pace, the next 7 miles averaging 8:21 pace, and the next 7 miles averaging 7:35 pace, plus a 1/2 mile cooldown. Followed with injury prevention work and foam rolling in afternoon.</div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-46602683120463675152024-03-10T12:28:00.000-07:002024-03-10T12:28:33.370-07:00Training log - Week ending 3/10/2024<p>This week was 56 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>The first part of this week was recovery from my half-marathon. By Thursday I was ready to ease back into something light; since I had just raced a half-marathon (the ultimate in tempo workouts) I didn't see the point in doing something at tempo pace on the track. So instead I headed over to Iwo Jima to do hill repeats at marathon effort (a lot easier than the normal hill effort). </p><p>Doing hills at marathon effort (especially the downhill part) gave me an opportunity to practice managing my gait on the downhills, which is likely going to be my biggest challenge there. I wore supershoes for the workouts (the Puma Deviate Elite) both because I find wearing supershoes makes downhills HARDER and because they protected my legs some from the workout so I could continue to recover from the half-marathon.</p><p>Verdict: I am better at downhills but still have work to do there.</p><p>Saturday's marathon pace workout (on flat Hains Point) went more smoothly. Marathon pace seems to be locking into around 7:30 pace on flat ground in good weather. I guess we'll see what that translates to at Boston 2024.</p><p>Separately, I've started adding some swimming back into my week. I had dropped it because I've been really pressed for time, and swimming made the most sense to drop, given that it's not my focus sport and requires a fair amount of preparation time. But...since cutting it out it seems like my lungs aren't as strong, so I think I need to find the time somehow to fit it in.</p><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">Dailies</u>:</p><p><b>Monday</b>: 6 "miles" pool-running and 500 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night. </p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 7 miles very easy (9:18) in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 7 miles very easy (9:27), upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy (9:39) plus drills and strides. Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 11 miles, including 8 "Iwo Jima" hills at marathon effort, followed by leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 12 miles very easy (9:27) plus drills and strides in the morning; streaming yoga in the afternoon and foam rolling at night.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 17 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with one mile float between. Splits were 37:39 (7:32 pace) and 37:15 (7:27 pace) with a mile in 8:16 between the two. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 6 "miles" pool-running and 500 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-27902207917033489792024-03-05T02:24:00.000-08:002024-03-05T02:24:10.542-08:00Training log - Week ending 3/3/2024<p>This week was 53 miles of running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>Just a place holder for a race week.</p><p><b>Monday</b>: 8 miles very easy (9:20) and strides, followed by upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 9.5 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 4x800, 400 in 7:05, 3:26, 3:23, 3:18, 3:16, and 96. 5:14 recovery after the 1600 and recoveries of 2:4x-3:2x after the 800s. Sports massage in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Upperbody weights/core and 7.5 miles very easy (9:24) plus strides. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 5 miles very easy on trails (10:27); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 7 miles, including an uptempo 1600 (7:10) plus 2x200m in 51 and 51. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: Off except for DIY yoga and some foam rolling in the afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 3 mile warm-up and then a half-marathon in 1:34:11. Foam rolling in afternoon.</div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-29882202552760736052024-03-04T16:30:00.000-08:002024-03-06T08:42:50.074-08:00Race Report: One City Half-Marathon, March 3, 2024<p> I ran the One City Half-Marathon yesterday, finishing in an official time of <strike>1:34:11</strike> 1:34:05 (the race results were corrected, which is cool, since the corrected result matches what I had on my watch).</p><p>This is my second time running this half-marathon. I mostly repeated last year's pre-race logistics, since they had worked so well. I left my house at 7:45 am on Saturday to drive down and avoid traffic, and stayed at a hotel in the Hampton Convention Center area (10 minutes from the parking at the finish line). Grabbed my bib, grabbed Chipotle, and then did some yoga, stretching, foam rolling, and reading before hitting bed.</p><p>Like last year, I also woke up at 3:45 am to give myself enough time to eat, digest, and stretch. However, I waited an extra 15 minutes before leaving my hotel (5:00 am instead of 4:45 am) because last year I had arrived at the start line a bit too early and had frozen for 20 minutes before it was time to start jogging.</p><p>Leaving my hotel at 5 am meant that I had parked and made my way to the start line buses by 5:16. I got on a 5:25 bus, which got me to the start line at 5:55 am (I note all of these timestamps because it's really helpful to look back at these notes in future years, or to point others towards these notes when they ask me about a race).</p><p>There was one notable change from last year - the high school gym was open! Had I known this, I would have left my hotel much earlier, so I could have gotten to the race start and then done my stretching and mobilizations. Noted for next year.</p><p>I did hit one snag, which was waiting for approximately 5 minutes outside a porta-john before realizing that it was unoccupied but locked from the inside. Fortunately, I was able to find another one with no line and do the needful. The quest for porta-john entry did cut into my warm-up time, but I actually found that I didn't need that much today (just a bit less than 3 miles).</p><p>Then I lined up at 6:50 for the 7 am start (one nice thing about smaller races) and we started right at 7.</p><p>***</p><p>One of the challenges I have when trying to race with neuro issues is that my legs don't behave themselves well when I start running. My ankles get really stiff and locked and it usually takes about 10 minutes for things to start working correctly. Unrelated to the above (or at least it was until now) I have an ankle strengthening exercise I do a few times a week where I do two sets of 45 seconds of each of the following - walking on my toes, walking on my heels, walking on the outside of my feet, and walking on the inside of my feet.</p><p>I've noticed at the gym that after I do this exercise my ankles and feet feel really good. So, I decided to try it on race morning. When I arrived at the race, I walked back and forth in the parking lot on toes/heels/outside/inside for about 6 minutes before putting on my Vaporflies and starting to warm up. I looked very odd, but I am very odd, so it mapped and I didn't worry too much about it.</p><p>And...(returning to the race start)....it seemed to help. The first mile of the race was still challenging, but nowhere near as bad as it was last year. I felt much more stable, which meant that it was easier to handle the chaos of the first few minutes of the race, as well as the gentle inclines and declines.</p><p>***</p><p>As always, I paced my race by feel, rather than looking at pace, heart rate, running power, etc. (I actually wear a heart rate strap and a pair of foot pods because I think it's fun to look at that stuff later, but I ignore it for the race). My plan was to ease into the race over the first mile or two, then hold at just below my lactate threshold (which I can feel like a bright red line) before pushing over that line in the final miles. I've run my half-marathons that way for years and it's always worked well; the only thing that has changed is the paces.</p><p>It took about two miles for things to really smooth out, and then I hit a rhythm and held it. I have to admit that I didn't feel awesome - my breathing was tight during those middle miles. Post-race, several other people told me they felt the same, and Accuweather indicated that mold levels were high, so I suspect that may have been at play. Whatever - it was what it was.</p><p>The middle miles passed without too much of note - there were a few literal speed bumps on the road that I had to navigate (two of them I was able to avoid by running to the side) and a recurrence of my favorite sign ("you are very far from the finish" - accompanied by a recliner and a six pack). </p><p>I was running with a water bottle and hadn't yet drained it, so there was no need to grab my water bottle at the elite water stand, but I did so anyway for the heck of it. At this point in my running "career" (said jokingly since I lose money every year on the endeavor), opportunities to run in an elite field are dwindling. So I wanted to take advantage of all the perks, even if I didn't need them. I was less than graceful in accomplishing this task, and it probably cost me 2 seconds, but it was worth it for reasons independent of hydration.</p><p>Then we hit mile 10 and it was time to slip above the red line for my final approach to the finish line. </p><p>I had mapped out the course and knew particular landmarks that correlated to distances from the finish line. The gentle turn from Warwick onto Huntington was about 2 and 2/3rds of a mile from the finish line, and a mark to open up a bit more. </p><p>About this time, my right shoe started to feel loose. Annoyingly loose. I briefly considered and retie it, and then I decided that would be a silly decision, and that I needed to keep going unless the laces actually came undone. I was close enough to the finish that the 15 seconds spent fixing my shoe would exceed any loss in speed from the loose shoe. I did my best to ignore the shoe and push forward.</p><p>Another right and then a left marked 1 mile from the finish line - my cue to empty the tank. I passed one woman and focused on another just ahead, while also counting down streets (every 5 streets was a quarter mile) and trying to ignore my right shoe.</p><p>I made up ground steadily on the woman ahead but wasn't able to quite reach her before we hit the final turn to the finish line about 100m ahead. She found another gear after that turn, while I was already at my top end speed, so that was a battle lost (but still worth the fight). Then I crossed the finish, noting 1:34 and change on the clock. I was a bit disappointed but also satisfied. I had hoped to run faster than my recent workouts predicted (and faster than I ran here last year), and instead I ran pretty much what I would project from my workouts. But...I had run a well-executed race and gotten a solid tune-up for Boston, so there was a lot to be satisfied with independent of time.</p><p>Manual splits ended up being:</p><p>Mile 1: 7:36<br />Mile 2: 7:10<br />Mile 3: 7:13<br />Mile 4: 7:06<br />Mile 5: 7:20<br />Mile 6: 7:17<br />Mile 7: 7:12<br />Mile 8: 7:13<br />Mile 9: 7:12<br />Mile 10: 7:08<br />Mile 11: 7:03<br />Mile 12: 7:01<br />Mile 13: 6:48<br />last .11: 48 seconds.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0e5IWv1hwOkOSrDwPRTuudgEx7GPYIGg3rU_hfOpJeYwVukLZSzoFLATbF7-lEWUPJmaQiLSDl6uI__W6FerMmKGz_-dUX0623_cjvBW4x8rIA7nPkv56T5Q2ntgmAuG9hiKhU9q6ru5LoUglub5aWIbnR9HNbd3j-Myxc4aOnOaLbQt0y7E_cJNlcXb/s883/One%20city2024HR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="883" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0e5IWv1hwOkOSrDwPRTuudgEx7GPYIGg3rU_hfOpJeYwVukLZSzoFLATbF7-lEWUPJmaQiLSDl6uI__W6FerMmKGz_-dUX0623_cjvBW4x8rIA7nPkv56T5Q2ntgmAuG9hiKhU9q6ru5LoUglub5aWIbnR9HNbd3j-Myxc4aOnOaLbQt0y7E_cJNlcXb/w400-h149/One%20city2024HR.jpg" title="My heart rate at One City 2024" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /><br />So pretty much according to plan, with 1-2 miles to ease in, 8 miles at a hard effort, and then the last 3 miles building to a hammer (my heart rate chart also indicates this pacing plan pretty clearly, I think). I just wish those middle miles were closer to 7 flat. (I actually wish they were closer to the 6:30s of a few years ago, but such is life).</p><p>Overall, a fun day, and I'm glad I did this. Additionally, I get a really big fitness boost from racing half-marathons (I respond really well to tempo work, and a half-marathon race is the ultimate tempo workout) so hopefully I'll be reaping the benefits from this race in the final weeks of my Boston training.</p><p>Other notes:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The weather was perfect for a half-marathon - high 40s to low 50s with a slight breeze. Unfortunately, it warmed up slightly for the full, which was a shame.</li><li>Once again, I ran the last 5K of this race faster than I ran a standalone 5K three weeks ago (21:40 versus 21:59). My last mile of this race was also faster than any 1600 I've been able to run on the track this year. Just how my body works these days - that's why I'm prioritizing the longer races.</li><li>Once again I ran this half-marathon at the exact same pace I ran for a 4 mile (6400m) tempo during training. Like I said, I pretty much ran exactly what I would expect based on my training.</li><li>This race performance age-graded to 77.4 %. One of my goals is to get back above 80% for age-grading (I was 82-87% a few years ago, depending on the distance). Not there yet, but it seems in reach with work and luck.</li><li>I took 17 back home instead of I-64 to I-95. Yes, it might add 30 minutes onto the trip if there aren't traffic back-ups on I-95 (which is unlikely to be the case). But this route is just so much mentally easier and smoother and more enjoyable than the near certainty of sitting on I-95 in stop and go traffic on a Sunday afternoon.</li></ul><p></p>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-49568902298501546132024-02-26T02:27:00.000-08:002024-02-26T02:27:05.005-08:00Training log - week ending 2/25/2024<p>This week was 68 miles of running and 6 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>Things continue to improve, which is good. Tuesday's workout was still a bit rough - I suspect some of that was asthma from the cold air. Friday and Saturday were a lot better - we had great running weather on Friday so I took advantage and did an 8K tempo (that went pretty well) followed by my long run 24 hours later.</p><p>The workout day 1/easy long run (with a small bit of fast runnning) on day 2 is something I borrowed from a friend a few years ago. It definitely develops strength and the ability to run fast on tired legs without incurring too much fatigue. I would never use it exclusively in place of progression long runs or marathon effort workouts, but I like using it in the summer when it is too hot to do a progression long run. It also works when, like this week, I want to do a tempo AND a long run and be done by Saturday mid-day.</p><p><b>Monday</b>: 10 miles very easy (9:12) and strides, followed by upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 11 miles, including a track workout of 4x1200, 2x400 in 5:23, 5:15, 5:14, 5:11, 1:40, and 1:40. Recoveries after the 1200s were mostly 2:5x (one outlier at 3:32). 77 seconds between the 400s. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Streaming yoga and 11 miles very easy (9:25) plus strides. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 8 miles very easy on trails (10:02); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles, including an 8K track tempo in 35:48 (7:20/7:16/7:10/7:05/6:57), plus 2x200m in 51 and 50. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 18 miles, mostly easy (9:06) but with a fartlek of 10x2 minutes at marathon effort/5 minutes easy in the second hour. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in the afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 6 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in afternoon.</div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-66458558569786888802024-02-18T13:24:00.000-08:002024-02-18T15:45:58.513-08:00Training log - Week ending 2/18/24<p>This week was 53 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>This week was a bit jumbled by weather. Tuesday's interval workout was pushed back to Wednesday because of a forecast of freezing rain on Tuesday morning. I can't do an interval workout on Wednesday and a tempo on Friday - they are just too close together - so I opted to skip the interval workout and move my tempo workout up to Wednesday so that I could do a big long run on Saturday and then have two days to recover before the next interval workout.</p><p>And then Saturday's long run almost didn't happen - 3-5 inches or more were forecast for Friday night into Saturday morning. But...that forecast fell apart and I woke up to clear streets, so I did the workout after all, and it went very well.</p><p>My gait has really improved over the last week or so, and that's showing in much faster times. It's not a jump in fitness, just a change in how I apply that fitness that results in running a lot faster. Part of it is just reviving neural connections, and part is that I figured out a "hack." Namely - my legs and feet do whatever my arms and hands do. Which means that when my legs and feet go rigid and lock up on me, instead of focusing on those, I think about keeping my elbows bent and my hands relaxed. When I do that, then my legs start mimicking my arms and start working <i>much better</i>. Pretty cool.</p><div><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 8.5 miles very easy (9:27) on treadmill in the morning; streaming yoga and foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 11 miles on the track, including a 4 mile (6400m) tempo in 28:35 (7:19/7:13/7:02/7:00) followed by 2x400m in 1:41 and 1:39. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 7 miles very easy on trails (10:20); streaming yoga and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 8 miles very easy (9:23) to the gym, upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy (9:42) home plus two strides. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 16.5 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 4/3/2/1 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float. Split it as 4 miles in 29:59 (7:30 pace), 3 miles in 22:24 (7:28 pace), 2 miles in 14:53 (7:27 pace), and 1 mile in 7:24. Floats in 8:09, 8:22, and 8:35. Followed with leg strengthwork.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in afternoon.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-79739956502154794172024-02-11T15:49:00.000-08:002024-02-11T15:49:48.367-08:00Training Log - Week ending 2/11/2024<p>This week was 57 miles of running and 9 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><div>An ugly workout on Tuesday (cold, dark, legs stiff) left me with very low expectations for Saturday's rustbuster 5K, which meant I was able to exceed those low expectations. I also raced well (in that I paced my race well and competed well) which made me happy, independent of the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>This week had some really good positives after a rough start:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I started running on the trails of Roosevelt Island again (I took a break due to the hip issue and then due to ice and snow). It was challenging, really challenging. But I could also tell it was exactly what I needed. My static balance is good; it's my dynamic balance (balance while moving) that is hard. Running on a rocky uneven trail with occasional steps up or down or roots or narrow bridges really trains that dynamic balance.</li><li>After giving up on the Vaporfly 3 nearly a year ago, I decided to give it another try and see if things had changed. And wow - they felt very different. All that balance and PT work has really helped.</li><li>Sunday's run felt really good - the 5K (which forced me to challenge my gait with uncomfotably fast running for 20+ minutes) really seems to have helped my gait. Not a total surprise - that's happened before. That's one of many reasons why I like to race even if the performance is not going to be fast one. Pushing myself that way really helps stuff.</li></ul></div><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 11 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 4x800, 2x400 in 7:22, 3:33, 3:31, 3:29, 3:29, 1:40, and 1:41 (recoveries of 5:08 after the 1600, 2:5x-3:1x after the 1800s, and 86 between the 400s), followed by leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 5 miles very easy (9:35), upper body weights/core, and then 3 miles very easy home (9:23) plus 2 strides. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 4 miles very easy on trails (10:04); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 5 miles very easy (9:48) plus numerous strides totalling to about a mile (swapping between the Adios Pro 3, the Deviate Nitro Elite 1, and the Vaporfly 3). Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 3.5 mile warm-up, and then a 5K in 21:59, followed by 2.5 mile cooldown. Later did 3 miles very easy on trails (10:12) and upper body weights/core.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 16 miles easy to moderate, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:11 pace, the next 9 miles averaging 8:12 pace. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-81528946155298544242024-02-11T15:38:00.000-08:002024-02-11T15:38:46.609-08:00Race Report: By George 5K, February 10, 2024<p>I ran the By George 5K yesterday, finishing in 21:59 by my watch (22:01 was the official time, which was based on hand timing after the electronic timing system failed).</p><p>(Note: this was a $15 race, so the fact that they even tried electronic timing was a plus - I was expecting hand-timing anyway.)</p><p>I did this as a rustbuster, knowing that it was going to be ugly and awkward and awful as most rustbusters are, but that it would also be good for me. </p><p>This race offers a 5K (once out and back) and a 10K (twice out and back) and I momentarily debated swapping to the 10K on grounds that I wasn't going to be able to run any faster for 5K then for 10K. Then I remembered that I probably didn't have the fitness to hold any sort of fast pace for 10K and decided to stick with the 5K.</p><p>Parking and bib pick-up were quick and easy (as always for this race), so I headed out to jog the course for my warm-up, including my normal warm-up fartlek of about 15 minutes easy, 3 minutes at half-marathon effort, 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, and 4x10 second strides. Running fast felt awkward, just as it did during this Tuesday's track workout (which was rough). But that was what I expected, so *shrug*.</p><p>I finished warming up about 10 minutes before the race, which was enough time to run to the bathroom (very small race, so no line) and then back to the start to do strides. I had hoped to jog to the start line right before the race start, but I wasn't so lucky as the race was delayed three minutes - just enough time for my legs to stiffen up a bit. Oh well.</p><p>Then we started. My gait was rough for the first mile, and got worse when I started thinking about catching up to people in front of me. The best response to this is a mental shell game where I try to stay relaxed without slowing down and also without trying to run fast. It's pretty tricky. But about 3/4 of a mile into the race, I managed to find a compromise and began to reel people in. </p><p>This race is an out-and-back, and so as I approached the turnaround I was able to count the runners ahead of me. The first three were teammates of mine and I was fairly sure that they would continue to pull away from me. But I was only about 20 seconds behind the fourth place (I counted 10 seconds from when she and I ran past each other to the turnaround) and the fifth place was right ahead of me. </p><p>Knowing that I would only get faster in the second half as things loosened up, I was pretty sure I could pass both before the finish. So I went to work. First I passed fifth place - by now I had enough control of my gait to pull slightly ahead in a controlled manner, then pause to let her surge ahead (and use up some energy). Then I accelerated again and pulled ahead, my focus now on fourth place.</p><p>Over the next mile I was able to chase fourth place down - an odd combination of trying to stay relaxed while still working hard. I could tell she was slowing in the third mile, and sure enough I passed her with a half mile or so to go. </p><p>From there I just had to focus on enduring race suck and wondering where the finish was. Experiencing race suck (and the corresponding tiny voice asking me to take a break for a moment) was exactly why I was here, so I reminded myself over and over that this was a good thing.</p><p>Then my watch buzzed for the third mile (I used autolap because there were no mile markers) and I could see the finish line ahead, so I <i>tried</i> to kick. Kicking involved trying to run hard, which meant leg stiffening and so I had to navigate that, but somehow I did manage to accelerate. It didn't feel pretty, but that was OK.</p><p>I finished and stopped my watch and checked it - 21:59. NOT a personal worst (which was what I was expecting) and far better than I had expected, based on recent workouts. And I also felt pretty good about having managed to truly compete in the race while managing the leg stiffness and balance issues, instead of being distracted by them to the exclusion of all else.</p><p>Splits (Garmin autolap) were:</p><p>Mile 1: 7:12<br />Mile 2: 7:02<br />Mile 3: 6:51<br />last .13: 52 seconds (6:40 pace)</p><p>So...not a badly executed race, albeit with the traditional slow first mile. And I felt much better and more confident about my running (and specifically my ability to race) as a result of this 5K, so I got what I came for.</p><p>Other notes:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It was a ridiculously good day for racing - high 40s temps with no wind and overcast skies, on flat and fast Hains Point. We got really lucky.<br /><br /></li><li>I wore the Nike Vaporfly 3 for this race, rather than my Takumi Sens or Deviate Nitros. I was really excited about this, actually. Last year I picked up a pair of Vaporfly 3s and did a workout in them, but I was really uncomfortable in them (specifically ankle pain), so I decided that they didn't work for me. I meant to sell them on eBay, but never did. <br />Then on a whim on Friday, I decided to do some strides in them and see if I liked them any better (comparing to the Adios Pro and the Deviate Nitro). Surprisingly, they felt fine for the strides - much better than I remembered. So I decided to give them a spin for the 5K. And they were fine. Sure, I was awkward and stiff, but it didn't feel any worse from any other pair of shoes. It was me, not the shoes.<br />So that's exciting - I'm now thinking that a year's worth of ankle strengthening and balance rehab has paid off, and I can wear these shoes again (I used to like racing in the Vaporfly before my neuro issues hit and I couldn't handle them any more). Perhaps these will end up being my spring marathon shoe.<br /><br /></li><li>I arrived at 7 am for the 7:50 start. This was just barely enough time - had there been an issue with traffic or bib pick-up or bathroom lines I wouldn't have had enough time to warm-up. Next year I need to arrive about 15 minutes earlier.<br /><br /></li><li>The really good news was that my running stride felt much better the next morning after this race - which is par for the course for me. But also pretty cool. This race may have rebooted my gait issues some (as really uncomfortable fast running seems to). So yay.</li></ul><p></p>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-56367919515864907202024-02-07T15:22:00.000-08:002024-02-07T15:22:47.448-08:00Training log - Week ending 2/4/2024<p>This week was 56 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><div>Late once again, I'll post my weekly. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm out of shape, which has an obvious solution. I'm also having to re-learn the mechanics of how to run faster than easy pace (it's a neurological thing), which has the same obvious solution. </div><div><br /></div><div>I bumped up my towpath run to 10 miles this week, so next week I'll try to get some miles in on Roosevelt Island. I also have a rust buster 5K coming up on Saturday. It will almost certainly not be pretty, but it's been over two months since I've raced and I need to start practicing that skill again.</div><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 10 miles, including a track workout of 2000, 1200, 2x800, 2x400 in 9:20, 5:20, 3:28, 3:27, 1:40, and 1:42 (recoveries of 5:38 after the 2000, 3:0x-3:2x after the 1200 and 800s, and 91 between the 400s), followed by leg strengthwork. Sports massage in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Upperbody weights/core followed by 10 miles very easy home (9:26) plus drills and 2 strides. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 14:37 (7:20/7:17) and 7:10, with 5:17 between the two. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 10 miles very easy on the towpath (9:23). Streaming yoga and foam rolling in afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 15.5 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:27 pace, the next 6 miles averaging 8:48 pace, and then the next 4 miles averaging 7:49 pace, plus a half-mile cooldown. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-47788164962140653362024-01-29T05:28:00.000-08:002024-01-29T05:28:11.292-08:00Training log - Week ending 1/28/2024<p>This week was 50 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>I returned to focused training this week, trying to reestablish my routines from the last training cycle. Tuesday was on the treadmill (again) mostly because I slept in and didn't have time to drive somewhere ice free. </p><p>By Friday, it was a ridiculous 60 degrees, so I returned to the track for a tempo intervals workout that felt a bit tough (first continuous hard running in a while). Saturday I did 8 miles on the towpath as a quick re-introduction to trail running (the towpath is essentially a very easy/flat version of trail-running). </p><p>Since it's been about 5 weeks since I've done any sort of long run, I decided to skip the traditional progressive long run in favor of getting 14 miles in. Since I had originally been thinking about doing Iwo Jima hills instead of a long run, I opted to do the last 6 miles of the run as loops of Iwo Jima at moderate effort (I did do a "stride" downhill at marathon effort each loop). It felt like a good way to ease back into marathon training.</p><div><br /></div><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 9 miles on treadmill, including a fartlek of 12x90 seconds on/60 seconds off (on was 8.5-8.7 mph, off was 6.0), followed by leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 7 miles very easy outside (9:39), followed by drills, upperbody weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy home (9:51). Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 14:37 (7:20/7:17) and 7:10, with 5:17 between the two. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 8 miles very easy on the towpath (9:42) and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 14 miles - first 6 easy (9:37), next 8 moderate (8:19); most of last 8 on rolling hills with 9 reps of ~200m downhill at marathon effort.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-52879918974532378232024-01-22T05:33:00.000-08:002024-01-22T05:33:50.264-08:00Training log - Week ending 1/21/2024<p>This week was 36 miles of running, 40 minutes on the arc-trainer, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><div>I spent the whole week on the treadmill and was grateful I had it. We had significant snow/ice on Tuesday and Friday, and super cold/dry air all week (very hard on my asthma). </div><div><br /></div><div>I played with some moderate speed work on Tuesday - running as fast as I could while keeping my hip stable (part of that rehab of my quadratus femoris). On Friday I swapped to the arc-trainer for my "speed-work.". This was partially because I wanted to have a hard workout but didn't want to push to the point where I was getting sloppy with my hip. Additionally, one of calves was slightly tight and I didn't want to risk anything. I do find arc-trainer workouts to be more grueling than anything on the track, treadmill, or road. I suspect it's because the motion is less natural and requires more force.</div><div><br /></div><div>I kept the weekend pretty easy, especially Sunday. I was out late on Saturday night, and I worried that trying to do a long or hard run while sleep deprived would just dig me into a hole at the very time when I want to feel fresh and ready for a new cycle. So I just did some gentle hills (incline but not fast) and called it good.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 9 miles on treadmill, including a fartlek of 12x90 seconds on/60 seconds off (on was 8.2-8.4 mph, off was 6.0). Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 8 miles very easy on treadmill (9:27) and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 5 miles easy (9:32) on the treadmill, an arc-trainer workout of 6x4 minutes hard with 72 second recovery, and leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 9 miles very easy on treadmill (9:27). Streaming yoga and foam rolling in afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 5 miles (9:25) on treadmill including some gentle hills (increased the incline but didn't speed up much), followed by upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</div></div></div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-88754319021859283632024-01-14T16:18:00.000-08:002024-01-14T16:18:19.691-08:00Training log - Week ending 1/14/24<p>This week was 34 miles of running, an hour of arc-trainer/step mill, and 24 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><div> I started running again on Tuesday after taking a short break. My gait was a bit clumsy for the first day or two and then improved. The sciatica was a slight issue for the first five minutes of the first few runs, and then resolved. </div><div><br /></div><div>My hip also feels MUCH more stable, and I'm generating a lot more power from that leg. My balance is also much improved on that leg (which is generally my really bad leg for balance). If skipping Houston means that I end up with a lot more power in my stride, then it will have been well worth it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I did an arc-trainer workout on Thursday just to get my heart-rate up some, and then started playing with gentle hills on the weekend. The next few weekends will likely be more of the same.<br /><div><br /><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 5 miles very easy (10:27) and weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 7 miles very easy (10:14) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 5 miles very easy (9:31), an arc-trainer workout of 6x4 minutes hard with 72 second recovery (with 10 minute cooldown on step-mill), and injury prevention work. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 7 miles, including 4 gentle Stafford Street hills (5% incline, slightly less than 400m, moderate effort). Followed with 2 "miles" pool-running and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 10 miles mostly aerobic (8:53) followed by 4 "miles" pool-running and lower body strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.<br /></div></div></div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-52255200939876226722024-01-07T15:36:00.000-08:002024-01-07T15:36:35.494-08:00Training log - Week ending 1/7/2024<p>This week was 19 miles of running and 30 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p>On Thursday of this week I decided not to run the Houston Marathon, and to instead take my running break this weekend. I'm bummed, but it's the right decision.<div><br /></div><div>The sciatica that I've been managing was massively improved by a sports massage on Tuesday night, where a big knot in either my quadratus femoris or my obturator externus (the QF lies right on top of the OE) got released. Those muscles had been pressing on my sciatic nerve, and so the relief was substantial and near immediate.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, the muscle grabbed back up during a careful tempo on Thursday morning, and that convinced me to pull the plug on Houston. This isn't a big issue, but it's hitting at a bad time - I just don't think I can run the race I wanted to at Houston as long as I'm managing this issue. And I'm concerned that running a marathon right now could result in a more significant injury. Even if I made it through the race without an injury, I'd have an extended post-marathon recovery. That in turn would interfere with my spring goal races, which include a very fast half-marathon in March and Boston in April. So the smart decision is to cancel the trip.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those muscles in my right butt are inflamed right now because they are extremely (comically) weak and I've been doing PT to strengthen them. I've been careful about not pushing rehab exercises to the point of really inflaming things, but I think that the bout of frigid weather that we had two weeks ago made my muscles really tight and was just too much for muscles already stressed by PT and marathon training - that started the downward spiral that resulted in the sciatica/bum butt.<br /><div><br /></div><div>So I shut stuff down and took my pool-running/junk food/sleep in break this weekend. I'm going to spend the time that I would have spent tapering and recovering from Houston to rehab and strengthen instead, so that I can run some solid spring races.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that ultimately this is all for the best. Those muscles are deep hip stabilizers, and I believe the fact that they are so weak has been making my gait and balance issues even worse. So getting those muscles strong and working correctly will be worth the disappointment I'm feeling right now.<br /><div><div><br /><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 3 miles (9:51), 6 "miles" pool-running, and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 5.5 miles, including some gentle fartleking, followed by leg strengthwork. Sports massage in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Streaming yoga and then 4 miles very easy (9:50) followed by 3 "miles" pool-running/ Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 6 miles, including 3323m on the track (8 laps in lane 3) in 15:28 (7:30 pace). Streaming pilates in afternoon and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 6 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 7 "miles" pool-running and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 8 "miles" pool-running and upper/lower body weights. Foam rolling in evening.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-20472672998553464002024-01-03T16:55:00.000-08:002024-01-03T16:55:48.952-08:00Training log - Week ending 12/31/2023<p>This week was 41 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, an hour on the arc-trainer, and 500 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>Not the week I wanted to have, two weeks from Houston. I had some gait issues earlier in the week (I suspect that I needed to adjust my neuro meds) and then some sciatica flared over the weekend. The sciatica is one of those things that mimics a muscle strain but isn't actually one. (How can I tell? Well... the "strained" muscle keeps changing and I can't replicate the discomfort in the gym.).</p><p>I suspect that the sciatica is the result of a tight hip muscle, so hopefully getting that released will fix this (since I posted this late, I'll comment that a deep tissue massage did help substantially).</p><p><b>Monday</b>: 5 miles very easy on trails (10:28) plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 10 miles with strides on uphill, downhill, and flat. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Upperbody weights/core and 8 miles very easy (9:37) plus drills/strides. Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 9 miles with an 8K tempo in 37:53 (7:39/7:37/7:32/7:32/7:32). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 90 minutes pool-running. Streaming yoga and foam rolling in the evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 9 miles very easy (9:50). Foam rolling in afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 1 hour on the arc-trainer, building in intensity to finish with 20 minutes at marathon effort and 5 minutes at tempo effort; followed by 1 hour of pool-running. Foam rolling in afternoon.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-87644776457993090002023-12-25T03:35:00.000-08:002023-12-25T03:35:26.025-08:00Training log - Week ending 12/24/2023<p>This week was 61 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running, and 500 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p>Last week of this training cycle. It admittedly didn't go as well as I would have liked. Tuesday's track workout was in frigid conditions on a slightly slippery track before dawn. I just could never get warmed up and felt like I was going to pull a muscle if I forced myself to do the track workout, so I bailed and just ran easy. <div><br /></div><div>The next morning I headed over to the gym to run a workout on the treadmill (my own treadmill is awaiting a replacement part). I went with tempo intervals as both a bit more relevant to marathon training and a bit safer on the treadmill. </div><div><br /></div><div>The workout went well but was tiring. In retrospect I should have kept the mileage lower on Thursday in the name of recovery, but I didn't. </div><div><br /></div><div>Saturday's long run was sluggish and slow - I suspect that this was at least partially due to inadequate recovery. I also wore a pair of shoes that had lost their bounce and are now retired, and I suspect that played a role too.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm now 3 weeks out from Houston, so my focus is on recovering and then sharpening.<br /><div><div><p><b>Monday</b>: Upperbody weights/core and 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 10 miles, including a failed track workout (dropped out during first lap); streaming yoga and foam rolling in afternoon.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 10 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 7x5 minutes at tempo effort (8.4 mph) with one minute jog. Followed with leg strength work. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 10 miles very easy on trails (10:36) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 12.5 miles very easy (9:40) and upper body weights/core Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 18 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:40 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:32 pace, and next 8 miles averaging 7:50 pace. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</div></div></div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-30732918741771640382023-12-17T15:40:00.000-08:002023-12-17T15:40:29.928-08:00Training log - Week ending 12/17/2023<p>This week was 65 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running, and ~1000 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>I've now been off of the Lexapro for 3 weeks (which is how long I was on it) and I feel like my old self again, which is a great feeling. Saturday's long run was a good confidence boost, especially given the fact that I (intentionally) did it on tired legs.</p><p>I'm now 4 weeks out from Houston, and so I'm going to start pulling back slightly on the mileage while increasing the intensity over the next few weeks.</p><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: Upperbody weights/core and 7.5 miles trail running (10:26). Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Streaming yoga and 11 miles very easy (9:27) including some grass running, plus strides. Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 10 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hills (alternating 2:00-2:50 of uphill running with 30-40 second downhill stride). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 11 miles very easy (9:41) including some grass running, plus drills and strides. Streaming yoga and foam rolling in the evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 17.5 miles, with 2x5 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float in between. Splits were 37:24 (7:37/7:27/7:30/7:20/7:30 - average pace 7:29) and 37:13 (7:37/7:26/7:29/7:27/7:14 - average pace 7:27) with 1 mile float between the two in 8:32. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 meters recovery swimming. Foam rolling in afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 8 miles trail running (10:17). Foam rolling in afternoon.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-41139275646140149012023-12-11T02:47:00.000-08:002023-12-11T02:47:55.186-08:00Training log - Week ending 12/10/2023<p>This week was 60 miles of running and 1000 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p>If you're wondering about Tuesday's workout, our local track is a mess. The infield is being replaced, which means metal fencing in lanes 1 and sometimes 2 and a weird plywood/tarp "road" across the track for the machinery to use to get to the infield. (Pictures can be seen <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0ffpW_rNI9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=NTYzOWQzNmJjMA==">here</a>). So, on Tuesday we did one lap repeats that started after the plywood track crossing and finished before, with the laps being run in lanes 2, 3, and 4. I'm not sure what the exact distance was for each repeat, but that's fine - the effort is what matters most in a workout.<div><br /></div><div>On Sunday I ran a 15K as a tune-up race for Houston. Not the time I wanted, but I was happy with the placing and the effort, so it was overall a good day. <a href="https://wellimtryingtorun.blogspot.com/2023/12/race-report-jingle-all-way-15k-december.html">Race report</a>. I think I'm still bouncing back from the three weeks that I was on Lexapro, so that's another reason not to worry too much about the paces. I did feel like I could go forever, which is a good feeling before a marathon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two more weeks of marathon training, and then I taper.</div><div><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 8.5 miles very easy (9:29) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 10 miles, including a track workout of 15x ~400, starting at 1:40 and descending down to 1:36. Recoveries were 1:40 to 2:00 at first, and shortened to 60-70 seconds by the end. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Streaming yoga and 8.5 miles very easy (9:41). Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: Upperbody weights/core and 6 miles trail running (10:24). Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 8 miles, including a 1600 in 7:06 and some strides. Followed with injury prevention work. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 4 miles very easy (9:37) and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 3 mile warm-up; Jingle All the Way 15K in 1:08:04; 2.5 mile cooldown.</div></div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-67546683661886114942023-12-10T15:02:00.000-08:002023-12-10T16:05:46.210-08:00Race Report: Jingle All the Way 15K, December 10, 2023<p>I ran the Jingle All the Way 15K this morning, finishing in a time of 1:08:04 - good enough for 6th female overall and top master female.</p><p>This race was a tune-up for the Houston Marathon, which is now 5 weeks away. I personally prefer to use a half-marathon 3 weeks out from the marathon as a tune-up. However, 3 weeks out from Houston is Christmas weekend, so there aren't many options. So I went with this race instead. Just like I did last year before Houston.</p><p>When I signed up, I was also hoping I could run significantly faster than <a href="https://wellimtryingtorun.blogspot.com/2022/12/race-report-jingle-all-way-15k-december.html">last year</a>, since I'm now in a far better place running-wise. However, two different wrenches fell into that plan. </p><p>The first was that in the past few weeks I've tried and then abandoned a new-to-me medication - Lexapro. The Lexapro really helped dampen down some hyperactive reflexes (good) but also made me really sluggish, with fast running being particularly challenging (bad). So I stopped it about 10 days ago (at the neurologist's instruction). I've felt a bit better every day since, but I'm still on the upswing.</p><p>The second wrench was the weather. Last year this race had perfect weather. This year, it didn't. The forecast was for a big weather front to roll through during the race. Heavy rain, wind, etc. Lovely. But....also a good chance to test out the shoe I intend to wear for Houston - the Adios Pro 3 - in less-than-ideal conditions.</p><p>[side note: yes, I also considered wearing the Adios Pro 3 for Chicago last year, and then decided I hated that shoe. So why am I giving it another chance? Because the shoe I wore last year was a women's 7.5 - the smallest size I could get. I finally managed to get hold of a women's 7 in that shoe, and it fits much better and feels better as a result.]</p><p>***</p><p>Race morning dawned unseasonably warm and muggy - temperature and dewpoint in the high 50s. This would be great weather for a summer or early fall race, but not so great after training in the 30s for several weeks. At least I didn't have to debate tights versus shorts.</p><p>The forecast was still for rain, so I wore a hat. I also tucked a folded plastic poncho in my sportsbra so that I had it for the corral if the rain started pre-race. And...remembering the advice a friend gave me when I whined about foggy glasses, I wiped my running glasses with an anti-fog wipe. </p><p>Just like last year, I found a great parking spot. From there, I jogged to the starting area where 17th street was once again closed to traffic (just like last year). I did my warm-up fartlek there (3:00 at marathon to half-marathon effort, 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, 4x10 seconds at mile effort) and then made my way to the corral, entering with about 10 minutes to spare. Once in there, I navigated to the correct proportion of supershoes versus hydration packs. </p><p>The first mile of a race is always rough for me in terms of balance and gait - it's just life now. For a while I was deliberately seeding myself on the far side of the corral in hopes that I could stay out of the way of others once the race started. However, I've learned that running on the side is actually more chaotic than in the center, since the side is where people who started late or too far back in the corral sprint and swerve to try to get past the masses blocking them. So now I'm a centrist in my corral placement.</p><p>***</p><p>The race started. As I expected, my gait was wonky the first mile, and a downhill plus a stretch of rough pavement didn't help. But things did feel smoother than last year, so that was a bonus. After the first mile, my gait did start to level out, and I started to work my way through the runners in front of me.</p><p>It was noticeably warm (at least in a relative sense - again, this would have been A+ weather in August), and 7-8 minutes of running was enough to realize that I needed to be conservative here rather than run as if it was a normal winter day. </p><p>That conservatism only lasted a few miles before the wind picked up. And then we turned at the Kennedy Center, and the wind became a real factor. But the positive side was that I was no longer worried about overheating, so I picked up the effort. At this point, I could make a bad pun about "throwing caution to the wind" but the truth is that the headwind actually ripped the caution away. There were a few women ahead of me, and I got to work chasing them down.</p><p>The wind was a factor for most the next three miles, as we headed towards the tip of Hains Point. Luckily, I managed to find a group of three guys to tuck behind (who were running faster than the women I wanted to pass). Unluckily, one of them was blasting awful pop music from his cell phone. But luckily (for everyone save said pop-music aficionado) the cell phone eventually froze up and he pulled off to the side to fix it. I didn't understand his priorities, but I appreciated the reprieve.</p><p>***</p><p>There are two ways you can circle the bottom tip of Hains Point - either stay on the road or cut through a parking lot. This course had us cutting through the lot. However, Hains Point has changed for the worse since last year, including a poorly thought-out attempt to improve pedestrian safety that resulted in flexible posts in awkward places. The 15K course was not re-measured to account for these, with the result that making the turn into the lot now meant that we had to weave between posts. Fortunately, I was far enough up in the field that I had plenty of room to maneuver, but I would really hate to try to navigate this part in a crowd.</p><p>Once through the lot, I now had the wind at my back - smooth sailing, right? That didn't last too long, as what was a drizzle shifted into a comical downpour. It was ridiculous. But... a) if I slowed I was just going to be out here longer, and b) this weather happens in goal races too, so I needed to take advantage of this opportunity to practice racing in heavy rain.</p><p>The last few miles were a slog, both figuratively and literally. The water was ponding and my shoes were starting to feel sloshy. Mile 8 of this race overlaps with Mile 1, which mean I had to run over my favorite stretch of rough pavement a second time - this time obscured by large puddles. I've been doing some trail running each week to get more comfortable with uneven footing, and I told myself that it was time to put that work to good use and pushed onwards.</p><p>The end of this race is a slight uphill and then a gentle downhill. I passed a guy on the uphill and he said "nice job." Then we hit the downhill and he flew past me in that way that I used to love when I did it to others and now hate when it's done to me. I did not say "nice job" back - but that was honestly just because I was focusing on running the downhill decently well. (I did find him after and fist-bump him for a good race).</p><p>I finished the race and stopped my watch, noting 1:08 for my time. So significantly slower than last year. But despite that, I was satisfied. I had put in a good hard effort and my gait felt solid for much of this race. Plus, I was pretty sure I had finished fairly high up in both the overall women's results and in the masters field, based on what I had seen of the field ahead of me at turn-around points.</p><p>Splits were:</p><p>Mile 1: 7:43<br />Mile 2: 7:10<br />Mile 3: 7:21<br />Mile 4-5: 15:45 (long)<br />Mile 6-7: 13:24 (short)<br />Mile 8: 7:16<br />Mile 9: 7:08<br />last .31: 2:17</p><p>So...as I expected, slower than last year. But despite that, I actually think this was a much better performance. My gait felt much better and more stable than it did last year, and I felt much more comfortable and confident in my balance when dealing with stuff like chaotic crowds, rough pavement, and wind/rain. This was a good confidence boost going into Houston.<br /><br />I did note that I didn't really have any higher gears for this race - there were points where aerobically I could have run harder, but I just didn't have the gear in my legs. I'm not worried about this for two reasons: <br />a) I'm still working out of the sluggishness of the Lexapro, and all of my training paces were dramatically slowed while I was on the Lexapro. I didn't have that gear in part because I was out of practice (and possible in part because the last bits of the Lexapro are still wearing off).<br />b) I feel like the Adios Pro 3 really has a sweet spot pacewise for me, and that sweet spot is marathon pace. Which is really good, because I have a marathon coming up. If this race had been a goal race in itself, I think I would have been better off with either the Hoka Rocket X (if there hadn't been rain) or the Asics Metaspeed Edge+ - both of which feel a bit more nimble and quick.</p><p>Other notes:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Left home at 7:10 for the 8:30 start. This was enough time that I didn't feel rushed, but I wouldn't have wanted to leave any later.<br /></li><li>The Adios Pro 3 has decent to decent+ grip on wet pavement. It's certainly much better than any Hoka or Saucony shoe I've ever run in, but not as good as other Adidas shoes. Not sure why.</li><li>I hid my plastic rain poncho behind a bench before getting into my corral. A+ decision - it was great to be able to retrieve that and wear it for my cooldown jog back to my car.</li><li>Wiping my running glasses with that anti-fog stuff was another A+ decision. Foggy glasses were not an issue at all for this race.</li><li>About 3 weeks ago I ran the Rothman 8K at 7:18 pace. Today I ran this 15K at 7:19 pace. I certainly would not object to running the Houston Marathon at 7:18-19 pace if this trend continues.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-18775101799189805832023-12-06T02:16:00.000-08:002023-12-06T02:16:55.891-08:00Training log - Week ending 12/3/2023<p>This week was 64 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running, and 500 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p>
I made it 3 weeks on the Lexapro, and then we (my doctor and I) decided to pull the plug. The fatigue, drowsiness, and weakness I noted on it just weren't improving enough. Training-wise, easy runs were OK, but trying to run faster was getting harder and harder - my heart rate just wouldn't rise, meaning that I was going anaerobic at paces that should have been not-that-hard. <div><br /></div><div>Tuesday's workout was particularly rough - a 1600 in 7:32 (so roughly my marathon pace right now) felt like an all out effort with each 100m longer than the previous. It felt bad enough that I canned the workout, did a few 200s (which also felt awful) and went home.<div><br /></div><div>I took my last dose on Thursday night. As of the weekend I was starting to feel better (certainly not as drowsy). Saturday's workout, though not great, was better than I expected, and I've felt a bit better each day since. </div><div><br /></div><div>I hope I'll improve enough over the next week to be able to race a 15K decently on Sunday.</div><div><p><b>Monday</b>: Upperbody weights/core and 8 miles very easy (9:32). Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 7 miles, including a failed track workout of 1600 in 7:32 and then 4x200 in 53, 52, 53, 55. Followed with leg strengthwork. Sports massage at night.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Streaming yoga and 10.5 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:12). Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 2x1600 in 14:42, 7:18, 7:17 with 5:0x recovery between. Followed with injury prevention work. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles very easy on trails (10:30) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 18.5 miles, including 5 miles, 2x3 miles at marathon effort (paces of 7:42, 7:39, and 7:47). Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 90 minutes pool-running and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</div></div></div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-36386345408448423032023-11-26T11:54:00.000-08:002023-11-26T11:54:20.454-08:00Training log - Week ending 11/26/2023<p>This week was 60 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>After two weeks of cheering at marathons, it was nice to have a weekend at home. I skipped a turkey trot this year both because I had raced on Saturday and because turkey trots tend to start late, meaning that I get to my parents' house later than I would like. Plus, I had marathon training to do.</p><p>Wednesday's workout was pretty slow, but I wasn't surprised as it seems that I'm still getting used to the Lexapro that I started on November 12. Saturday's long run, though still slower than I would like, felt a bit better, so I think I may be finally adjusting to it. (My nightly sleep needs are also reverting to normal - hopefully another sign that I am adjusting.)</p><p>While I'm waiting for things to settle down, I'm trying to treat this as similar to training in bad weather - I focus on the effort and don't sweat it if the paces are slower than I would like (even though the weather is actually close to ideal). Hopefully as I adjust my paces will improve back to where they were a few weeks ago. </p><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 10 miles very easy (9:27) including some grass running and drills/strides, and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 12 miles, including a track workout of 3x3200 in 14:17 (7:10/7:07), 14:17 (7:09/7:08) and 14:14 (7:09/7:05); recoveries of 5:00 and 5:13 between the 3200s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 8 miles trail running (10:04) and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles very easy (9:33) to gym, including some grass running, and then upperbody weights/core, followed by 2 miles very easy home (9:30) plus drills/strides. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div> </div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 18 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:37, the next 5 miles averaging 8:29, and the next 8 miles averaging 7:42. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening..</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-5538019815414195292023-11-23T15:47:00.000-08:002023-11-23T15:47:04.812-08:00Training log - Week ending 11/19/2023<p>This week was 44 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running, and 500 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>Last Sunday I started a very small dose of Lexapro (5mg - usual dose is 10-20 mg). Lexapro is generally prescribed for anxiety/depression, but it can also be used off label. I struggle with an exaggerated startle reflex - meaning that my body jumps any time there is an unexpected noise or something moves unexpectedly near me. I'm not actually nervous or scared of any of these noises - this is just an annoying thing where my body uses any excuse to act like I've just touched an electric fence. This has made congested track workouts and chaotic race starts or water stations challenging, and so the hope was that a very small dose of Lexapro would reduce that reaction.</p><p>The good news is that the Lexapro seems to be working. The bad news is that even this very small dose came with side effects. Even 8.5 hours doesn't seem like enough sleep each night, and the workouts and races that I've done on it so far have been sluggish and slow.</p><p>From what I can tell, some runners are unaffected by this medication, some are slowed at first and then are back to normal, while others are slowed and remain that way as long as they are on the Lexapro.</p><p>Since the Lexapro is already working well for its intended purpose, I'm going to give it a few weeks to see if the side effects (mainly the slowness and sleepiness) ease up. If they don't improve, then I'll probably go off of it, as I prefer the startle reflex to this sluggish feeling.</p><p>In other news, this was a cutback week - I raced the Rothman 8K (poorly) as a rustbuster and then hung out in Philly the rest of the weekend to cheer for friends in the marathon. Next week will be a return to marathon training.</p><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 9 miles, including a track workout of 6x800 in 3:25, 3:22, 3:16, 3:16, 3:15, 3:13 (recoveries of 3:00-3:13). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Upperbody weights/core and 8.5 miles very easy (9:27) including some grass running and drills/strides. Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 7 miles trail running (9:50). Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 3 miles very easy (9:27). Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 10 miles, including the Rothman 8K in 36:19.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 6.5 miles (9:32) running around cheering at Philadelphia Marathon. Foam rolling in evening.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-5707961324203123492023-11-23T15:17:00.000-08:002023-11-23T15:17:54.869-08:00Race Report: Rothman 8K, November 18, 2023<p>I ran the Rothman 8K on Saturday (part of the Philadelphia Marathon weekend), finishing in a time of 36:19.</p><p>I did this race for a few reasons: I've always wanted to do it; I needed a rustbuster and preferred doing it in a large race; and it gave me an excuse to go up to Philadelphia and cheer for friends over the weekend. </p><p>The weekend started off nicely when I got to Union Station early on Friday for my 3:30 pm train to Philly. On a whim, I swiped my train ticket through one of the kiosks to see if there were any earlier trains, and....the 2:55 pm Acela (bullet train) was open and was $50 cheaper than my normal regional train (I suspect that they discount the tickets 30 minutes before the train leaves). So...I got to Philly substantially earlier than planned, and for $50 less.</p><p>After checking into my hotel, I headed over to the expo, where I grabbed 8K bibs for myself and a teammate. Unfortunately, they were out of safety pins, but like any good goth/punk I have safety pins everywhere on my backpack, so that was an easy problem to fix. Then back to the hotel to do some reading and sleep.</p><p>***</p><p>The Rothman 8K didn't start until 11 am, which made for an awkward day. Eating-wise, I ended up handling breakfast the same way I did when I ran the Boston Marathon - 1/2 in the morning when I woke up, and the second half about 2 hours before race time. Then I left my hotel around 9:30 to jog to the start.</p><p>I noted as I jogged over that it was chillier than I expected, and the wind had picked up substantially. I was only wearing a thin throwaway shirt over my singlet and shorts. Fortunately I had both a credit card and a CVS in sight. I ducked into the store and headed directly for the holiday section, where I found exactly what I was looking for - a pile of $8 holiday themed blankets. I grabbed one, swiped my card, and then jogged on towards the start, blanket tucked under my arm like a precious football.</p><p>All of the Philadelphia events have security checkpoints for the start/finish area. I wasn't sure how much room there would be to warm-up once inside the secured area, so I tucked my blanket under a tree and ran my warm-up as back-and-forth 150m laps (so I could keep an eye on the blanket). Once those were done, I grabbed the blanket and proceeded through security (meaning I now had a security blanket).</p><p>***</p><p>The good news was that there was room inside the secured area to warm-up, so I was able to keep jogging. The bad news was that the race wanted people in the corral 15 minutes before the race start, which would be long enough for my legs to lock up nicely. But I knew this was the deal when I headed up to Philly. Since many big races make one enter the corral at least 10 minutes before the race starts, it wasn't the worst thing in the world to have to practice this during my rustbuster. Plus, I had my security blanket.</p><p>The other bad news was that there were no signs indicating how to seed oneself in the corral. For a fairly large 8K, I thought this was ridiculous. My teammate Matt seeded himself by walking up until he saw Vaporflies. For my part, I looked at faces, trying to parse between serious and having fun, and seeding myself between the two. Since there was a high correlation between Vaporflies and serious faces, Matt and I ended up lined up next to each other. I kept my security blanket wrapped around me until we were two minutes from the start, and then I tossed it and exposed myself to the elements.</p><p>***</p><p>The race started, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had much less difficulty with the early race churn/chaos than my recent norm. </p><p>Surprised may be too strong a word - my problems with early race chaos seem to be mostly due to an "exaggerated startle reflex" which means that when something happens near me that I don't expect, my body overreacts. So, this week I started a new medication in hopes that it would muffle that startle reflex, and sure enough, it seems to be working already. <i>Excellent</i>.</p><p>So that was good news. The less good news was that my legs were pretty stiff from standing in the corral, and it was hard to get things moving. But again, remembering how to manage stuff like this is why I don't like to take too long between races, so I got to work.</p><p>The course was pretty simple - run slightly downhill to the southeast, then around a circle and to the northwest, with a slight uphill. A bit after mile 3, we'd turn around and head southeast again, to the finish. There was a very strong wind from the NW that amplified the effect of the uphill and downhill. </p><p>The headwind/slight uphill combo made for a miserable two miles. There's not much I can say about those two miles other than that I was extremely happy to see the turnaround.</p><p>The next two miles were a very fast gentle downhill with a tailwind, but I was unable to benefit as much from this as I would have liked. The will was there, but the legs weren't turning over, so I was stuck at my current pace. The good news (in a sense) was that I was mentally at that point where I was sorely tempted to jog or even walk, so at least I got a chance to practice managing race suck.</p><p>I crossed the line and checked my watch: 36:20. This was surprisingly slow - I had recently tempoed 4 miles at about 7 minute pace, so I had expected to be under 35 minutes for this race at a minimum, even with a lot of wind. But it was what it was.</p><p>Splits were:</p><p>Miles 1-2: 15:00<br />Mile 3: 7:12<br />Mile 4: 7:13<br />Last .97 - 6:56.</p><p>So, very evenly paced, and it certainly hurt. But slower than expected.</p><p>It wasn't until I got back to my hotel that I remembered that I had started the new medication 6 days ago, and that my Tuesday workout had felt surprisingly hard for the paces. The new medication is a very small dose of Lexapro, and I've read other reports online of people feeling like it slowed them substantially for a few weeks when they started it (note: in the timespan between this race and the completion of the race report, I did another track workout, and was also substantially slower for a given effort - so something's up). So I think I'm going to write this race off as due to that.</p><p>Overall, I was still happy I did this race. I got my rustbuster out of the way and got to practice dealing with both large chaotic starts and race suck in the process. And I had a good excuse to go to Philly, meet up with others from the Running Ahead forums (both of whom PR'd the marathon), eat some good meals with cool people, do some shopping, and cheer for friends at the marathon on Sunday. So overall a net positive weekend.</p><p>Other notes:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The weather was pretty good for the race, other than the wind - temp 49 and dewpoint 38, with overcast skies. But the wind (25 miles per hour from the northwest) made it feel much colder. I wore a tanktop, shorts, and arm-warmers, and I wish I had worn thin tights instead.</li><li>Managed to get an age group award anyways (4th) which was a pleasant surprise. </li><li>I am decidedly not a fan of races that start at 11 am.</li><li>I can recommend the following restaurants in Philly: <a href="https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=9439f1de739d4525JmltdHM9MTcwMDY5NzYwMCZpZ3VpZD0yZGUzYWY3Yy0wOGNlLTZkZjgtMDU5Mi1iZjdmMDlkMTZjYmImaW5zaWQ9NTc4Mg&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=2de3af7c-08ce-6df8-0592-bf7f09d16cbb&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20vYWxpbmsvbGluaz91cmw9aHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZlbHJleXJlc3RhdXJhbnQuY29tJTJmJnNvdXJjZT1zZXJwLWxvY2FsJmg9cEZqeDdzMENiUlBnOWF4WmhMT2RNMDhEVmNVR1htZTd1MEFSR2s2RjFaQSUzZCZwPWx3X2xzdHB0JmlnPTBCMDBBQzQ4MTMxNzRCQzI5QTEwNEVCM0YwNkY0ODVDJnlwaWQ9WU43NzB4MjM5NjgzODQ5&ntb=1">El Rey</a> and <a href="https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=e637243cb2570acdJmltdHM9MTcwMDY5NzYwMCZpZ3VpZD0yZGUzYWY3Yy0wOGNlLTZkZjgtMDU5Mi1iZjdmMDlkMTZjYmImaW5zaWQ9NTU0Mw&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=2de3af7c-08ce-6df8-0592-bf7f09d16cbb&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20vYWxpbmsvbGluaz91cmw9aHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZyZXN0YXVyYW50YWxla3NhbmRhci5jb20lMmYmc291cmNlPXNlcnAtbG9jYWwmaD0xWUFoemdLRUFIaUJodUclMmZ6bGxxaG1kJTJiZnR6YmJkaDRhdzJyJTJiJTJiZVlrcE0lM2QmcD1sd19nYnQmaWc9Qzc0MDYzQUUwMTBENEJFNjkxMzY3REFFQThCMDFFNEEmeXBpZD1ZTjg3M3g0NjI2MjQ4NjQ1NjY3MzIyODYx&ntb=1">Restaurant Aleksandar</a> (both in Rittenhouse Square).</li><li>I can recommend the following stores for shopping in Philly: <a href="https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=a3a51c8840b256e7JmltdHM9MTcwMDY5NzYwMCZpZ3VpZD0yZGUzYWY3Yy0wOGNlLTZkZjgtMDU5Mi1iZjdmMDlkMTZjYmImaW5zaWQ9NTE5Nw&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=2de3af7c-08ce-6df8-0592-bf7f09d16cbb&psq=the+dreameerie&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVkcmVhbWVlcmllLmNvbS8&ntb=1">TheDreamEerie</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/digitalferret">Digital Underground</a>/<a href="https://www.isotank.com/">Isotank</a> (both in the South Street area). And also <a href="https://www.cvs.com/store-locator/philadelphia-pa-pharmacies/1826-30-chestnut-street-philadelphia-pa-19103/storeid=1064?WT.mc_id=LS_GOOGLE_FS_1064">CVS </a>for all of your pre-race Christmas security blanket needs.</li><li>Wore my Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 1's for this race - I really like this shoe for shorter races, as it's lower stack and agile. I don't think my slow race was the shoe's fault.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-52733503891336571902023-11-12T13:23:00.000-08:002023-11-12T13:23:50.543-08:00Training log - Week ending 11/12/2023<p>This week was 63 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running, and 500 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>Just two workouts this week - both of which went well. I was pretty happy with the 800s on Tuesday as I felt a little hint of my old legspeed. I was less happy with the 200s, but I stood around for a few minutes before doing those, so...</p><p>Friday's marathon effort workout felt pretty good. I hit a steady rhythm and the miles passed quickly and smoothly - I didn't feel tired until I stopped running. 17 miles also didn't feel very challenging from a distance perspective either. I'd pretty much decided not to do any 20+ mile long runs during this short Houston cycle, under the theory that I didn't need them (a big rule of marathon training - don't work any harder than you need to). Having the 17 flow that easily certainly reinforced that decision. I'll do two runs of 18 miles where a 20+ miler would have been and call it good.</p><p>Next week I'm racing an 8K in Philadelphia as a post-Chicago rustbuster, so that will be a cutback week.</p><div><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 11 miles, including a track workout of 6x800, 2x200 in 3:22, 3:19, 3:15, 3:15, 3:15, 3:13, 48, and 48 (recoveries of 3:0x after most 800s; one recovery of 2:32 where I swapped groups. Full recovery for the 200s). Followed with leg strengthwork.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: 11 miles very easy (9:22) including some grass running. Yoga and foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: Upper body weights/core and 8 miles trail running (10:52). Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 17 miles, with 2x5 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float in between. Splits were 37:18 (7:21/7:29/7:33/7:30/7:25 - average pace 7:28) and 37:12 (7:29/7:26/7:31/7:32/7:14 - 7:26 pace) with 1 mile float in 8:30. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: Spent the morning cheering at the Richmond 8K/Half-Marathon/Marathon. 4 miles very easy midday (9:30) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 12 miles easy (8:59) followed by drills and strides, and then upper body weights/core. FOam rolling in evening.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-2816989953603633662023-11-05T11:27:00.001-08:002023-11-05T11:27:22.260-08:00Training log - Week ending 11/5/2023<p>This week was 66 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>Nothing exciting, just a continued return to normal training with two track workouts and a progressive long run. My paces are not far from where they were at the end of my Chicago training cycle (of course, the weather is cooler now, so not an apples to apples comparison), and I feel like I'm in good shape. In particular, Sunday's long run was not a jog, but it wasn't a huge reach either- 16 miles felt totally doable, and 6 miles at marathon effort was more mentally hard then physically hard. </p><p>9 weeks until Houston.</p><div><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">Dailies</u>:</p><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 10 miles, including a track workout of 4x1200, 400 in 5:22, 5:15 5:06, 5:01,1:34 (recoveries of 3:08-3:32 after the 1200s). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards of recovery swimming.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Upper body weights/core and 11 miles very easy (9:22) including some grass running and drills. Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: 7 miles trail running (10:32). Streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles, including a 6400m tempo on the track in 28:05 (7:08/7:05/6:59/6:53) plus 2x200m in 48 seconds each (full recovery). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 11 miles very easy (9:32) and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 16 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:30, the next 5 miles averaging 8:03, and then the next 6 miles averaging 7:30 pace. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415039431326089985.post-45653742531031218932023-10-30T15:26:00.003-07:002023-10-30T15:26:54.030-07:00Training log - Week ending 10/29/2023<p>This week was 63 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming -- training log is <a href="https://www.runningahead.com/logs/e7c610f1924249cb99ae86f3d600517f/calendar">here</a>.</p><p>This was return to action week. I did my last hill workout of a very short hill phase (just two workouts) and then eased into more focused training with a tempo workout on Friday and a progressive long run on Sunday. </p><p>I'm pretty happy with where I am right now - I'm not awfully out of shape, but I'm not fit either. That's a good place to be about 10 weeks from a marathon. I just need to take care not to get too aggressive with my training, so that I peak at the right time and not before.</p><div><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">Dailies</u>:</p><p><b>Monday</b>: 9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</p><div><div><b>Tuesday</b>: 10 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hills. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards of recovery swimming.<br /> </div><div><b>Wednesday</b>: Streaming yoga and 10 miles very easy (9:31) including some grass running and drills. Foam rolling in evening.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Thursday</b>: Upper body weights/core and 8.5 miles trail running (10:14). Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b>: 10 miles, including tempo workout on the track of 2x3200+2x400 - splits were 14:22 (7:16/7:06), 14:03 (7:07/6:56), 1:37, 1:38 (recoveries of 5:04 and 5:13 after the 3200s and 2:32 between the 400s. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saturday</b>: 10 miles very easy (9:44) and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sunday</b>: 14 miles progressive, split as the first 6 miles averaging 9:13, the next 4 miles averaging 8:23, and then the next 4 miles averaging 7:40 pace, plus a half-mile jog. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.</div></div></div>AKA Darkwave, AKA Anarcha, AKA Cris.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09873516028463495708noreply@blogger.com0