Training log - Week ending 2/17/13

This week was 58 miles of “real running” plus 13 “miles” pool running -- training log is here.  

And a bunch of miles (seemed like it) dragging stuff through airports.

Rather weird week.  Sort of recovery, but not really -- though I cut the miles back and rested some, I also had a lot of non-running efforts.  I was scheduled to travel to Chicago on Monday afternoon, meaning that I’d have to do my scheduled track workout in Chicago on Tuesday morning.  With temps in the teens and high winds.  Lovely.  But as it happened, my flight was canceled on Monday, and I was unable to get out of DC until Tuesday morning.  Which had the nice side effect of letting me do a track workout in fantastic weather (though I had to run to catch a flight right after).

Chicago itself was icy and cold (no surprise), and my run on Wednesday was one of the first that I can think of as a real slog.  Just an endless loop of slushy sidewalks next to strip malls, pausing my Garmin from time to time when I had to forge my way around a pile of ice too treacherous to run through.  But got it done.

And, of course, I brought a bit of the weather back to me when I returned to DC.  The forecast for Sunday’s race was a match to the weather that had been in Chicago at the start of the week.  Fortunately, the weather ended up far better.  Still windy and cold, but not horrendous.  The race itself was a bit meh, but oh well.  Better that in a race that I don’t care much about than in my goal race.  And my legs felt like they could go on forever – they just lacked jet propulsion.  Legs that can go and go are good for marathoning, I think.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, 70 minutes of easy pool-running for “7 miles,” followed by injury prevention work and upperbody strength work, plus a bit of foam rolling.  And dragging luggage through DC airports.

Tuesday:  12.5 miles including a track workout of 8x800, splits were 3:00, 2:55, 2:54, 2:56, 2:56, 2:54, 2:53, 2:51.  Followed immediately by more dragging of luggage through DC and Chicago airports.  Did a bit of foam rolling with my travel stick in the evening.

Wednesday:   In the morning, 2.5 miles very easy (8:59 pace) followed by yoga.  Later fit in 10.5 miles easy (8:03).  Then more dragging of luggage through Chicago and DC airports.   Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   In the morning, 7.5 miles very easy (8:23)  followed by upper body strength training and some injury prevention work.   Foam-rolling at night.

Friday:  In the morning, 7 miles, including a mile pick-up at 6:18 pace.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:   In the morning, 3 miles pool-running plus 500 yards of swimming with a pull buoy.  Foam-rolling and injury prevention work in the afternoon.

Sunday:   In the morning, 4 miles warm-up (was freezing cold and took forever to de-stiffen), followed by a 10K race in 40:23.  Later, did another 8 miles easy, and followed with 30 minutes shakeout pool-running and a lot of foam rolling.

Race report: GW Birthday 10K, February 17, 2013

I ran the GW Birthday 10K, finishing in a time of 40:23.  Not the time I wanted to run, but it is what it is.

In all honesty, I wasn't quite sure what to expect in this race.  I'm in the depths of marathon training, and my legs feel like they can go forever but also like they don't have any real spark to them right now.  I did have hopes of running a good race, and breaking 40 at a minimum.

But of course, there was also the weather.  While last year we had pretty good weather for this race, this year the forecast was for temps in the 20s and high winds.  In the words of the Running Weatherman, "This is probably one of the worst forecasts I have seen so far this year."  Ominous, indeed.

Fortunately, the weather ended up not being that bad.  It was chilly, and windy, but nowhere near the worst wind I've run in.  Certainly much better than some of the predictions I had read.

The weather was good enough that I decided after jogging for about 25 minutes that I was too warm in my tights and longsleeve.  Luckily, I had brought a change of clothes, and so could easily swap into my shorts and singlet.  I felt a bit chilly at the start of the race, but I still think it was the right choice.

The race course was out and back, with the first miles into a headwind, and more or less uphill (the first mile is net downhill, but also has an overpass in it).  My plan was to tuck in behind a pack on the way out, and then run solo on the way back.  Heck, several of my teammates were running this race, and I had hopes that I might be able to run with them. 

But very few plans survive the first minutes of the race. :)  They started the race a bit faster than felt right for me, and so I let myself fall back.  My legs felt a bit sleepy still, and solid but not fast.  As it happened, I ended up soloing most of the first two miles.  Not ideal.  But oh well. 

Around the two mile mark, I pulled along side with another woman who appeared to be about my age.  It was interesting, in that I was trying to maintain a steady hard effort, while she kept surging past me, then slowing, and falling back.  Then surging again.  It was actually a bit distracting, as I didn't want to start dueling her, as unevenly as she was running.  So I ignored her as best I could, and was well ahead by the time we hit the merciful turnaround point at the 5K mark.

(I say merciful because miles 2-3, which were a false flat uphill and into the wind, were a bit hard.  It was very nice to turn around and get the wind to my back)

A bit after the turnaround point, she surged once more and passed me pretty aggressively.  I considered responding, but my legs didn't have that type of speed in them.  So I held my effort.  A half mile later, I passed her for the final time as she sat on the side of the course.  I'm still not sure what was going on there.

From then on, I was again by myself more or less, passing the occasional person from time to time.  I just focused on relaxing, running fast, and trying to let my teammates ahead of me tow me.  I was keeping a slight bit in reserve so that I could try to kick a bit starting at the 6 mile mark -- a mark that never seemed to come.  Then I finally saw the marker.  Only to see the clock next to it and realize that it was actually the finish line.  I lifted my knees a bit more, but didn't have enough real estate left to really open up.  Oh well.  Honestly, my legs felt slow enough that I'm not sure how much of a kick I could have mustered anyway.

Splits were:
Mile 1: 6:23 (mostly downhill, but with an overpass),
Mile 2: 6:49 (uphill, into wind),
Mile 3: 6:54 (uphill, into wind),
Mile 4: 6:28 (a bit of uphill, then u-turn and downhill with tailwind),
Mile 5: 6:15 (downhill with tailwind),
Mile 6+last part 7:31 (for 1.21 miles - 6:16 pace) (some downhill with tailwind, and also overpass and slight uphill)


The thing that was simultaneously annoying/encouraging is that I wasn't out of breath or tired at the end of the race; my legs just didn't want to move faster.  I'm working under the belief that this is just all the marathon training in my legs.  I did cut back some this week, but not anywhere near as much as I would have if this had been a goal race.

So now, I'm more motivated then ever after this race to spend my post marathon running year (after adequate recovery) focusing on speed development and shorter stuff.  I've got a collection of PRs at shorter distances that I think are outdated, but it seems like they're not going to fall until I target them specifically.  Which is a shame, because I love more mileage and long runs.  But you can't have your cake and eat it also.

Other notes:

• Left home at 6:20, got there at 6:45, which was perfect for finding a great parking spot.
• As with my other races this cycle, I'm running everything in my trainers, rather than my flats.  I feel like I'm giving up some time, especially in the shorter races, but I'd rather be careful - I worry that racing in my flats combined with the marathon training will cause a plantar fascitis relapse.  When I can take 2-3 days off if needed after a race, then I'll start wearing my flats again.
• One puff of Dulera at around 6 this morning.
• This race is really set up pretty well for a mid-winter race.  They open up the US Patent office, which is right outside the start/finish, and let runners wait in there for the start.  Very convenient.

Training log - Week ending 2/10/13

This week was 76.5 miles of “real running” plus 12 “miles” pool running -- training log is here.  

And...another week in the books.  A little bit of a hiccup in the middle of the week.  At Wednesday's yoga class, the instructor announced that she hoped she could get through the class before her voice gave out completely.  Uh-oh.  And sure enough, by that evening, I was starting to feel pretty run down and stiff.

Next morning, I woke up with a headache, almost no voice, and no energy.  Plus a resting HR of 58 (my norm is 38-42)  Gah!!!!.  The last head cold had left me feeling lousy for nearly 2 weeks, and I had my 20 miler scheduled for this Sunday.  All I could do was pound fluids and zinc like crazy, and hope that I'd kick it in time to at least slog through 20 miles easy and salvage part of my training week.

But, whadyaknow.  Woke up on Friday morning, and felt almost normal (with RHR down to the mid-40s).  I felt good enough that I figured I'd head over to the track, do a warm-up, and see how I felt.  And the warm-up felt good enough that I decided to try the tempo.   Kept the tempo to 4 miles (I went out shooting for 4-5, but about 2 miles in, I was really wishing I was back in bed, and stuck with 4), but got it done.  And by Sunday I felt pretty good.  About as good as you can feel for a hard week in marathon training.  So yay.  Headcolds that hit on scheduled recovery days and clear out before your key runs are the best kind.

Sunday's long run was once again a confidence boost.  I felt pretty tired and achy to start, but strong.  And stronger with each mile.  My legs are starting to get that "can go on forever" feeling that I felt during my last training cycle, and I ran faster than goal MP despite having no wish to do so.  I guess that's a good sign.

Next week is a cut-back - I have to travel to Chicago for work, so my routine's going to be altered some (though I did find a track).  Plus I'm racing a 10K on Sunday.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, 60 minutes of easy pool-running for “6 miles” plus upper body strengthwork and injury prevention stuff.   Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  In the morning, 14 miles, including a workout of 4x1200 (4:22, 4:21, 4:23, and 4:26 - died on the last) followed by injury prevention work and 20 minutes shakeout pool-running.  Foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Wednesday:   In the morning, 9 miles very easy (8:41 pace) followed by yoga.  Later did another 6.5 miles easy (7:54).  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   Off.  Sick.  Nothing but foam-rolling.

Friday:  In the morning, 13.5 miles, including a tempo workout of ~4 miles (6400m) in 26:00 flat, split as 6:43, 6:27, 6:29, 6:21.  Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes shakeout pool-running.  Foam rolling and pilates at night.

Saturday:   In the morning, 12 miles easy (8:11 pace).  Foam-rolling, injury prevention work, and strength-training in the afternoon.

Sunday:   In the morning, ~21 miles progression style (really not sure whether 20.76 miles is 20.5 or 21, but my log, so I'm rounding up), averaging 7:38.  It broke down as 8:27 for first 7, 7:36 for next 6.25, 7:00 for next 5.5, and 6:45 for last 2 miles.  Followed with 20 minutes shakeout pool-running.  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 2/3/13

This week was 65 miles of “real running” and 7 miles of "running equivalents" on the arc-trainer, plus 16 “miles” pool running  -- training log is here.


Encouraging week.  I'm starting to really feel my fitness again.  I'm not fit yet, but I'm getting there.  I feel like my running self again, whereas I haven't before.  If that makes sense.  The weather was crazy, though.  Warm enough to wear a sportsbra on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Friday was a different story...

The weather was fine as we warmed up for the tempo workout, and then what can only be described as a blizzard hit as the workout started.  My scheduled 3200m, 1600m got shut down after the 3200m, which would have been more appropriately run in snow shoes.  I left the track and shifted to the sidewalks, hoping they'd be clear enough for some easy miles.  But the sidewalks were snow covered and quite slick as well, so I decided to be careful and shifted to the arc-trainer for an hour.  Subbing in 60 minutes on the arc-trainer for easy miles wouldn't destroy my training, while an injury might.

And, of course, when I got off of the arc-trainer and went outside, the snow had ended and the sidewalks were clear.  Sigh.

Dailies

Monday: In the morning, 60 minutes of poolrunning for “6 miles”, and then some upper body and core strength work, plus injury prevention exercises. Foam-rolling at night.

Tuesday: In the morning, 13 miles including a track workout of 1600, 2x1200, 2x800, 2x400.  Split as 5:55, 4:22, 4:21, 2:51, 2:53, 81, 80.  Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes of shakeout pool-running. Floor barre and foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: In the morning 9.5 miles easy (8:40 pace) followed by yoga. Later, 6.5 miles easy (8:09 pace). Also foam-rolling/stretching at night.

Thursday: In the morning, 65 minutes pool-running for "6.5 miles" followed by upper body and core strength work, plus injury prevention exercises.  Foam-rolling at night.

Friday: In the morning, 5.5 miles, including an aborted tempo workout - ended up running/skiing 3200m in 12:58 (6:36/6:22) before workout shut down due to weather.  Moved to arc-trainer for the equivalent of 7 easy miles (60 minutes on arc-trainer), followed by injury prevention work.

Saturday: In the morning, 12 miles easy (8:02 pace).  Upper body and core strength work, plus injury prevention exercises and foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: Long run of 18 miles, with MP-ish tempo segments fitted in - this was a workout of 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile all at MP, with one mile easy running in between.  Ended up running them all a bit faster than goal MP - splits were 4 miles in 27:42 (6:55 pace), 3 miles in 21:01 (7:00 pace), 2 miles in 13:38 (6:49 pace) 1 mile in 6:40.  Ah well.  We were able to chat some as we did the workout, so I'm not too worried. Followed with injury prevention work at gym, and then 15 minutes of easy pool-running for “1.5 miles." Foam rolling at night.

So, this happened.

I'm talking about this, a few weeks back, on my favorite trail (the Custis).  Oh, this also happened, very recently.  And this happened some time ago.  Attacks on a variety of DC area running routes.

(and no, I wasn't the involved party in any of these.  Just another reader of local media.)

Usually, when something like "this" happens, we look for "the cause."  Was s/he running alone?  Wearing headphones?  Running at night?  Running on a secluded trail?  

And of course, by "the cause" I mean "the thing that I can use to distinguish between what this person did and what I do, so that I can feel safe."

[interesting to see how many people miss the point of this post, and respond with a litany of all the actions they take to ensure their safety]

But the truth is, we're never completely safe.  We each have a balance that we strike between risk and security.  For myself, I won't run on trails by myself when it's dark, and avoid heavily wooded or isolated trails at anytime when alone.  I also don't run with headphones at all.  Some think that I'm overly cautious - "headphones are fine."  Others think I'm overly risky - "I never run by myself."   And that's fine.  We each have our own balance, our own comfort zone.

And that's what it is - a comfort zone.  We feel better for being in it, and maybe we've improved our odds, based on our choices.  But the comfort zone isn't a cone of invincibility, we're never safe.  There are no guarantees against not getting jumped while running.  Except not to run.  And not running is firmly outside my comfort zone.

***

That same urge to differentiate occurs any time a friend gets injured.  We make snap judgments about the "cause" -- "well, what do you expect if you only run on the treadmill/towpath/concrete?"  Or..."of course he got injured, he wears Vibrams/Newtons/Kayanos/Adrenalines."   You ask the injured person if they've ever tried foam-rolling/stretching/etc.

The selfless part of it is that you want to be helpful, and you don't know what else you can do.  The other, selfish part is that you want to distinguish between yourself and your injured friend.  If you don't run in that shoe or on that route, if you foam roll daily, then maybe you're safe.  It's only those who don't pool-run every Tuesday that get injured.  It's a bizarre type of elitism.

But it's just like the trails.  You can make choices that control your odds to some extent, but in the end there is only one certainty.  Shit happens, and the only certain way not to risk running injury is not to run.  And that's not an acceptable choice.

So we run on, zealously adhering to our careful selection of shoes/routes/accessories, convincing ourselves that those choices create an impassable barrier between us, the injured, and the assaulted.

Training log - Week ending 1/27/13

This week was 73.5 miles of “real running” plus 14 “miles” pool running -- training log is here.  

Interesting week.  I didn’t feel great at the beginning of the week due to the last bits of my head cold, plus some fatigue from the Sunday race.  But by Wednesday I was finally feeling like myself again.  Just in time for a bit of wintry weather to hit DC on Thursday.  Nothing too horrible, just enough to make the track and trails too slick for Friday’s scheduled tempo.

From Google street view; originally posted at beyonddc.com

So, we relocated the workout to under the Whitehurst Freeway.   For those of you not from DC, the Whitehurst Freeway is an elevated highway in Georgetown, a bit less than a mile in length.  There’s a local road under it that’s shielded from the elements and can serve as a running route in a pinch.  That became our “track” as we ran back and forth between two intersections.   Run to the cross walk, turn 180, run back.  Repeat.

It was good for me, if not my favorite workout.  I’m definitely a rhythm runner – I pick up a pace and just gradually build speed with each lap, running on momentum.  I find that hairpin turns break up that groove and my zen and annoy me.  This was an opportunity to work on holding an even effort while having to continually stop and start – good practice.

Sunday’s long run was pretty cool.  I don’t usually get concerned about long runs – they tend to be the easiest workout of the week by far for me.  But I had a bit of trepidation this time.  I was scheduled for 20-22 miles, but had missed the previous week’s 16 miler (in Arizona), as well as the 18-20 miler the week before that (sick).  I had run 16 three weeks back, but that seemed to be in the distant past, and from 16-17 to 21 is a big jump.  But nothing to do except to do it, so to speak.  And it went very well – better than I possibly hoped it could.  21 miles felt easy, and the last two miles I dropped significantly below marathon pace without any intention of doing so – just couldn’t seem to slow down.    Big confidence boost.  So yay.  And onward.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, 40 minutes of easy pool-running for “4 miles.”   Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  12 miles easy (8:02) in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:   In the morning, 9 miles very easy (8:37 pace) followed by yoga.  Later did another 6.5 miles easy (7:59).  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   In the morning, 60 minutes of easy pool-running for “6 miles,” followed by upper body strength training and some injury prevention work.   Foam-rolling at night.

Friday:  In the morning, 13 miles, including a tempo workout of a bit over 27 minutes at tempo effort.  Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes shakeout pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:   In the morning, 12 miles easy (8:02 pace).  Foam-rolling, injury prevention work, and strength-training in the afternoon.

Sunday:   In the morning, 21 miles progression style, averaging 7:37.  It broke down as 8:21 for first 7, 7:40 for next 3.5, 7:22 for next 3.5, 7:04 for next 5, and 6:47 for last 2 miles.  Followed with 20 minutes shakeout pool-running.  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Doing it.

No whining.

It's a rule that Victoria imposes on the girls she coaches at synchronized swimming meets - as she explains,  "one person vocalizing their unhappiness can quickly bring the entire group spiraling down into a mess of negativity."  And that negativity then becomes an obstacle that the athlete has to overcome.  Why make competition tougher on yourself, and put yourself at a disadvantage?  Whining isn't bad because it's annoying (though it is annoying), it's bad because it blocks you from your best performances.

***

Recently, the DC area's been hit by a spate of cold temperatures.  It's been pretty chilly - colder than we're used to, though not as cold as it gets in many parts of the country.  And we've had some snow too.  But we soldier on, getting up early, before the sun rises in many cases, to log our miles.  Yay us.  Not too much whining, but a lot of self-recognition of the fact that we were out there, doing our thing.  It was cold and dark (oh MY GAWD...so freaking cold and so damn early), but I got out there and got my run in.

And that's the problem.  The self-praise for getting it done.  My use of the word "soldier on."

It seems like a positive thing at first, the self-praise.  The recognition of the fact that I went out and got those miles in, despite the obstacles of cold and wind and snow and lack of light and the blackberry constantly buzzing.  Or the heat and the humidity and the lack of water fountains.  Yay me.  Positivity is a good thing, right?

In this case, I think not.  At least not this variation on "positivity," which isn't so positive after all.  Just like whining, the self-congratulation actually creates obstacles that weren't there before.   The cold and the snow and the early dawn really haven't been that bad, especially for those of us in the sheltered DC metro area (I can visualize my New Hampshire and North Dakota and Minnesota and Colorado friends nodding fervently).  But by celebrating myself for "overcoming them," I've made them into something much harder.

Perhaps easiest to explain with an example.  Suppose that I normally do a track workout of 8x800m on the track.  That's my norm.  Nothing special.  One day, it occurs to me that 8x800 is a lot, and most people only do 6x800.  And wow, some people barely make it around the track.  Hey, 8x800 is actually kinda crazy and hard and difficult, and it's really pretty exceptional that I pull it off.  Yay me.  I'm pretty cool.

Next time, that track workout is a lot harder for me.  8x800 just seems imposing in a way it never did before.  I've just created a mental hill for myself, where none was before.

***

It's simple.  Running is what we do.  It's not a big deal to run before dawn.  Or after dark.  Or on the treadmill.  Or when the thermometers show numbers different what what you usually see.  It's still just running.  Something that you choose to do because it fulfills you.

Either I do it, or I don't.  The background of my running is not a big deal until I make it a big deal.  Then it's one more thing I have to overcome.  And my training cycle just got a bit tougher.  Not because of the weather, but because of me.

***


I'm not advocating a lack of positivity.  Positivity is a good thing (and something I'm working on) -- it brings you to your best performance.  I'm also definitely not advocating that one ignore situations that require one to change plans, like slowing down when it's super hot or super cold, skipping or modifying a workout to avoid injury, running on the treadmill instead of in the hurricane, accepting that one can't breathe because of pollen, etc.  Positivity doesn't mean the denial of reality.   Sometimes, you have to adapt.

But I've come to understand that self-congratulation for doing normal things in non-normal conditions is not really positivity.   It's so much better to be truly positive - basking in the fun of running.  It's not that you "got out there despite X"; of course you got out there.  It's what you choose to do.  It wasn't an issue - you were happy to do it.  Instead focus on the great time that you had running - the friends you chatted with, the pretty sights, the runner's high.

See how that works?  Life becomes a bit easier, in the end.  Plus when I successfully maintain this mindset, I don't have my friends from the upper mid-West laughing at me.  And that's valuable too.

Training log - week ending 1/20/13

This week was 57.5 miles of “real running” and 3 “miles” pool running, plus 1500 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.

This week was spent fighting off the same bug that caused me to miss last weekend's long run. I'm not horribly sick; it's just one of those things that lingers, fades away, and then flares again.  I went back and forth on whether to show up for Tuesday's hills, and ended up giving it a shot - didn't feel great at the end, but didn't feel horrible.  By Thursday, I was feeling a bit better, and then a short workout followed immediately by a 5 hour plane flight to Arizona on Friday pushed me into a moderate relapse.  Not bad enough not to race (heck, I was there anyway), so race I did.  

I was happy with the race overall and how I executed it.  I wish I was a bit more fit (and I really wish I hadn't been fighting this head cold) -- I was just a bit weak and lacking in stamina, so unable to take advantage of the great course and weather.  But that's fine.  It will come.  And there will always be other races with great weather and fast courses - that's the great thing about running.

My coach has ordered me to take several days very easy.  No argument here - the flight back post race wasn't much fun either. 

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, 8 miles easy (8:14 pace) plus some light injury prevention work.  Foam rolling in the afternoon.

Tuesday:  In the morning, 12.5 miles, including a workout of 6 hill repeats – nonstop circuit of up a hill for about 2 minutes, a 90 second easy jog, a stride, and then some more easy jogging to the bottom (whole circuit takes ~5 minutes). Followed with injury prevention work and 20 minutes of shake out pool-running.  Floor barre and foam rolling at night.   

Wednesday:   In the morning, 9 miles very easy, (8:24 pace) followed by yoga.  Later, 5.5 miles easy (7:56 pace).  Also foam rolling in the evening.

   

Thursday:   In the morning, upper body strengthwork and injury prevention work plus 1500 yards of swimming breathing drills.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday:  In the morning, 7 miles, including a 1600m pick-up (6:01 - too fast). Then a plane flight to Phoenix.

Saturday:  Off.  Foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:   2 miles warm-up and then half-marathon in 1:29:00, followed by flying back to DC.

Race report: PF Changs Rock and Roll Arizona Half

I ran the “PF Changs Phoenix Rock and Roll Half Marathon” today (sponsor names are important), finishing in 89 minutes flat.

Of course, this race report begs the obvious question: why Phoenix?  Especially since this wasn't a "goal race" for me -- usually people don't go to the trouble of flying to the other end of the country for a race unless that race is the peak of their season.  Well, there were a couple reasons.

1) I live in Washington DC.  This was Inauguration weekend, where DC gets overrun by the patriotic and the touronistic, with substantial overlap between the two groups.  It's hard to get around; it's difficult to run or to train.  Getting out of Dodge City for the weekend was really appealing (and no, this decision was made in September, pre-election, and had nothing to do with which candidate was being inaugurated).

2) My friend Madeline was looking for a January marathon to run.  I've always had a bit of a fascination with this race (I don't know quite why), and I've heard it's very well run, so I suggested this marathon to her.  Which meant that if I ran the half we could be roommates.

3) Though I haven't run a marathon yet, I'm assuming that I'll run more than one in my lifetime.  And/or that I'll want to run other goal races in other places far away.  At some point, I'm going to have to fly to a goal race in another time zone.  So why not go through the exercise of traveling by plane to the other side of a country for a race that wasn't an "A race," to get the kinks out.  I'd get a feel for how close I could schedule a plane flight to a race, and figure out exactly how to pack.

[and yes, I'm not new to traveling - there are times in my life when I've lived out of a suitcase.  Heck, as a teenager I flew back and forth between DC and Florida every weekend in the winter to compete in the horse show circuit down there.  But traveling to a running race raises its own separate issues.]

Of course, all of this stuff about "just doing it to get out of DC and practice traveling to a race" didn't mean I wasn't racing it.  Absolutely, this was a race, not a training run, and I'd be running the best race I had in me (caveat:early in the training cycle, not in top shape, etc etc).

Packing light

And so, I schlepped out to the other side of the country.  For your information, I did pack efficiently while managing to still get all the essentials out there.  No need to check luggage (the secret is to ship yourself a care package ahead of time).

The flight itself, though completely uneventful, wasn’t fun.  I’ve been fighting a head cold.  Even at its worst, it hasn’t been horrible, but it’s one of those things that’s taking forever to clear up completely – just a bit of sluggishness that won’t let go.  Between the quick mile pick-up I did on Friday morning followed by the 5 hour plane trip, I experienced a bit of a relapse (in retrospect, I should have just slept in on Friday morning). 

My stash.

But then I landed and had a bit less than 48 hours to try to clear it up with rest, fluids, zinc (my friend Madeline ended up skipping the trip, which was sad, but also meant that I had a private room to wallow in – silver linings).  I shambled through the local CVS to acquire the necessary goods and slept a ton, and by Saturday evening I was feeling a lot better.

Sunday morning was simultaneously early and not.  I left my hotel room at 5:30 am to get to the race – granted, the race didn’t start until7:50 am, but I was relying on public transportation in a strange city to get to the start, and I didn’t want to risk anything.  Additionally, I had paid out $50 for a “warm zone” – I got a special pass to a heated indoor area close to the race start, complete with its own set of bathrooms.  So no reason not to get there early and just chill in the warm zone, so to speak.  Plus 5:30 am local time was 7:30 am my time, so not so early after all.

I hung out in the supa-speshull warm zone until around 7:10 am and then checked my bag and did my 2 mile jog.  Then a few drills, 1-2 strides, and squeezed into my corral. National Anthem, wheelchair racers, and then we were go.

One of my big goals here was simply to pace the race well.  When I’m racing regularly, I’m pretty good at pacing, especially at executing my coach’s start slow/finish fast methodology (is that copyrighted yet, BTW?).  But when I take time off, I lose some of my feel.  Since starting workouts and races again last month, I’ve been going out a smidgen too fast in many of my workouts, and my New Year’s Eve 10K race was poorly executed, if I do say so myself.  Dammit, I was going to run this race patiently.  Pace well or else.  And I did.  Yay me.

The race course itself can be divided into two parts.  The first 8 miles were pretty nondescript – we started on ASU’s campus and ran through that for a mile, and then through what seemed like an endless sequence of strip malls and gas stations, with very few turns.  It was boring if you’re into scenery.  Fortunately, I’m not into scenery.

The “strip mall” segment was essentially flat, but with some very very slight incline changes that I actually welcomed – I believe that perfectly flat courses can tire one out simply from using the exact same muscles, while very slight shifts make the course faster.  This course had just enough slight variation to keep things fresh. 

But, other than that, boring.  I didn’t talk much to other people – to be frank, my head was hurting slightly.  Not horrible, but I wasn’t particularly chatty.  My one bit of excitement came when I reached for a GU at around mile 6.5, opened it, and dropped it.  Fortunately, this is why I always run with many more GUs then I expect to use.

I was REALLY mindful of my hydration in this race.  Plane flight= dehydration.  Mild bug=dehydration.  Desert climate=dehydration.  So I ran with a handheld water bottle, using each mile marker as a cue to sip, even if I wasn’t thirsty.  Around mile 8, my handheld was drained.  And this, fortunately was right where some unofficial group was handing out unopened water bottles – like rain from the desert gods.  I barked thanks and grabbed one.

After 8-9 miles of Targets and Circle Ks and the occasional cacti, we turned into a park.  And this is when the course got pretty cool.  We were climbing up the only real incline change (for DC  runners, it was a climb similar to the Capital Crescent trail, so not severe at all) with rust-colored-dust and boulders and palm trees and BIG cacti to each side.  I got flash backs to the Wild West section of Disney World.  We kept pressing upwards (I was starting to up the effort here), and then turned into a nice gentle decline that I was able to ride.  The last 4 miles or so of the course were the most fun.  I was passing person after person, while gliding through some really cool scenery (OK, I’m sometimes into scenery.  But it has to be the right kind of scenery).

I’m actually a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to pick it up more in this section – I think if I was in peak shape, I could have blasted this.  But 13 miles was seeming like a really long way to run – my stamina just wasn’t quite up to its norm.  Which is fine – it’s early in the training cycle yet.

So, rolled to the finish, working to stay relaxed and fluid and focused.  By the 20K mark, I was DONE, but successfully held my form and my focus all the way to the finish.  The finish of the half was combined with the finish for the “mini marathon” (5.4 miles), which meant that there were walkers to deal with, but they were encouraged VERY STRONGLY to stay to one side, and there was little issue here.

Splits were:
Mile 1: 7:00
Mile 2: 6:56
Mile 3:6:52
Mile 4: 6:54
Mile 5: 6:55
Mile 6: 6:42
Mile 7: 6:56
Mile 8: 6:51
Mile 9: 6:54
Mile 10: 6:49
Mile 11: 6:30
Mile 12: 6:38
Mile 13: 6:27
Last bit: 0:38 (5:55 pace)

Other points: 

• Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn by the airport, and it worked well.  The hotel was about an 8 minute walk from the “Metro light rail” which took me right to the Expo and also to the race start/finish.  I was able to finish my race at 9:20, and be through security and at the gate for my flight by 11:30 (and yes, I showered).  I didn’t rent a car, but I think I will in the future; taking public transportation had me on my feet a bit more than was optimal for the days before a race.  Especially when I wanted to spend a decent portion of Saturday napping, not waiting for trains on a 20 minute schedule.
• Ended up within a few seconds of my half-marathon PR, which is kinda meh.  My half-marathon PR is weak, I think (though the fact that I’ve attempted 3 halves since without breaking it belies that fact).  Someday I will run a half marathon in great weather when I’m in shape and not fighting off something.  Someday.
• Ran this one in my trainers, not my flats.  Perhaps I gave up a bit of time in doing so – I’ve run all my previous halves in the Saucony A4/A5, which is a very light shoe.  But I’m also thinking that the stresses of racing in those very light shoes, when combined with the stresses of marathon training, may have been one of the factors that contributed to my recent bout of plantar fasciitis.  If I’m going to race in my flats, I need a bit more post-race recovery time than I’ll get during marathon training.  So flats get saved for periods of time when I’m focusing on shorter distances; until I complete my marathon in mid-March, I’ll be wearing my Kinvaras (what I intend to run the marathon in) for everything.
• As I wrote above, the flight wore me out.  Though I’m sure a large part of that was the remnants of my bug, I also know that flying in general tires me.  Note for the future: if I fly to a marathon, I need to fly in two days before, and three might be even better.
• Was worried that the super dry air might aggravate my asthma – usually it’s high humidity that does me in, but super dry air gets me every once in a while.  Nope, absolutely no breathing issues here.
• Race was very well done.  Would totally do again.