Training log - week ending 10/25/15

This week was 85 miles of running, 19 "miles" of pool-running and 3000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

This week my schedule got mixed up a bit.  Normally I run intervals on Tuesday, tempo on Friday, and my long run on Sunday.  However, this week my long run shifted to Saturday (the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday basically shuts down my regular long run routes).  As for my normal weekday track workouts, the two were combined into a single workout on Wednesday morning - the "25x400."

The workout is (as you would expect) twenty-five repeats of 400 meters each.  Normally, when I do 400m intervals, I run them at mile race pace (~85 seconds) with a very slow jog for 200 meters after each to catch my breath.  But for this workout, the goal was to run each repeat at 10K race pace (around 95 seconds for me), with short recoveries of 100 meters after each.  Furthermore, each recovery was to be run in 30-35 seconds (8:00-9:20 pace), substantially faster than the shuffle-jog I normally use to recover. 

The workout has two purposes - one is as a lactate threshold ("LT") workout.  By alternating paces above and below your lactate threshold, you are able to average LT effort for a longer time than you would during a continuous workout.

The other purpose is mental callousing.  It takes a lot of focus to run 25 repeats on the track, especially when you can't check out mentally during the recovery, both because the recovery is so short and because you can't slow down too much during the recovery. 

You never get to use the brakes during this workout - you just alternate how much pressure you have on the gas.  And while recoveries are a key aspect of any workout, they were integral here - requiring as much concentration and work as the interval itself.

And there's also the fact that, at the end of the workout, you've run 31 continuous laps on the track - a bit less than 8 miles.  This is because, after completing each 400, you run the 100 to the next corner of the track, so that each repeat starts and finishes at a new point on the track.  As my coach put it, the workout is a head game.

It's also a good simulation of the marathon in many ways.  A good friend who had done this workout several years ago advised me to start it conservatively and feel my way in - it's a long way to run, and if things go bad halfway through, you'll be suffering for a long time.  Just like a marathon.

And at multiple points during the workouts (starting about seven reps in, if you're me), you realize just how far you still have to go.  Just like a marathon.

But the beauty of the workout is that it also sets you up for success.  You just focus on running the current interval, and since each interval is just one lap of the track at 10K effort (or 100 meters at 8:xx pace), each interval is easily manageable and not that imposing on its own.  So you work your way through, taking one rep at a time and then you're at the last lap and it feels awesome.

As for how it went?  Fairly well, I think.  I heeded my wise friend's advice and made sure not to start too fast - this was pretty hard to do, since the pace feels so stupid easy during the beginning (again, just like a marathon).  I tend to be a rhythm runner, so once I got my feel for the pace of the interval and the recovery, it wasn't too hard to shift back and forth.  Not every interval was exactly 95 seconds, but they were pretty darn close, and I had enough left to "kick" into sub 6:00 pace for the 25th and final rep.

There was one hiccup: I realized early on (after the first rep) that I didn't know where the other 100m lines were on the track.  I was only familiar with the mark my team uses to start/finish our workouts, not the other three.  And in the darkness of the early morning, it was really difficult to see where the track was marked.  So I ended up working off of other things in the area where the 100m line should be - generally painted markings on the infield bordering the track.  Doing this way probably means that some of my recoveries were a few feet longer than 100m, while others were a few feet shorter.  I don't think this really mattered - what was important was that each 400m lap stopped at the same point it started and that the recoveries averaged out to 100m.

I did have one question about this workout.  It's done by runners with a range of abilities - on the one hand there are those who run 10ks in roughly 32 minutes, and so run their repeats in around 75 seconds.  On the other end, you have myself.  I run a 10K in about 40 minutes, and my repeats in 95 seconds.  So why do all runners get the same recovery of 100m in 30-35 seconds - a pace that is relatively much quicker for me than for them?

After thinking about it, I realized that it was because this is a lactate threshold workout, and we are trying to average LT effort.  Lactate threshold is generally defined as the pace one can hold during an hour-long race.  So...if you race 10K in 32 minutes, your 10K pace is a lot faster than your LT pace - there's a wide gulf between 32 minutes and 60.  On the other hand, since I race a 10K pace in 40 minutes, my 10K pace is closer to my LT pace.  In order for both runners to average to LT effort, the 40 minute 10K runner needs to keep the recoveries more active.  The 32 minute guys are running their repeats harder, and so get relatively easier recoveries to balance out the effort.

And that's probably also why this is not a workout that will work for runners of all paces.  At some point, a runner's 10K pace is too close to the recovery pace, and so the recovery pace is too fast for them.  At that point, it makes more sense for that runner just to do the standard continuous tempo.  The other option would be to give that runner more time for recovery, but if you do that, then the average effort for that runner won't be lactate threshold.  And the runner will also be on the track for a very long time.  The workout itself, excluding warm-up and cool-down, had me running continuous circles for ~52 minutes - I don't think it's a good idea for most runners to be running continuous circles for too much longer than that.  Crazy ultra runners, as always, excepted.

One more week of hard training, and then I taper.

Dailies

Monday:   Upper body weights, yoga and 7 "miles" easy pool-running in the morning; 3 "miles" easy pool-running and foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Tuesday:  6 miles very easy to yoga (9:28) and yoga.  Later, another 6 miles very easy (8:48), followed by drills and two strides.  2 "miles" of pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.

Wednesday: 14 miles, including 25x400m at 10K pace with 100m active recovery on the track.  I'm not going to list out all 25 splits, but the first 24 repeats averaged 95 seconds, with most being between 94 and 96 seconds (two outliers at 93 and 97).  Kicked on the last for 88 seconds.  Recoveries averaged 31 seconds.   The full workout, with splits, HR, cadence, etc is here.

Followed with lower body strengthwork and 1500 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:   8.5 miles very easy to yoga (9:35).  Later did another 5.5 miles very easy (8:42 pace), followed by drills, two hill sprints, and two strides.  3 "miles" easy pool-running in the afternoon and foam rolling at night.

Friday:  12 miles very easy (8:56) and then some upper body weights work.  2 "miles" easy pool-running in the afternoon and foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  18 miles, including a 4-3-2-1 workout - intervals of 4, 3, 2, and 1 mile at marathon pace feel, with one mile recovery between each.  Splits were:

4 mile - 28:08 (7:08, 7:05, 6:58, 6:57 - gentle rolling hills)
3 mile - 20:49 (6:59, 6:56, 6:54 - gentle rolling hills)
2 mile - 14:11 (7:10, 7:01 - slight uphill)
1 mile - 6:44- slight downhill.

Averaged 7:00 flat pace for the 10 miles.  Followed with lower body strengthwork and 1500 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Sunday:  8 miles running to the Marine Corps Marathon to cheer, another 3 miles running to other spots on the course, and then 4 miles back home.  All very easy.  Also did some upper body weights stuff.  In the evening, 2 "miles" easy pool-running and foam rolling.

Training log - week ending 10/18/15

This week was 86.5 miles of running, 16 "miles" of pool-running and 3000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

Well, this was a nice week.  Army 10 Miler really didn't beat me up, so recovery was relatively uneventful, and I was feeling relatively fresh (for marathon training) by Wednesday.

For the end of the work week and the weekend we had perfect weather.  Friday I was rewarded with one of the best tempos I've had in a while.  The splits my coach was calling were much faster than my perceived effort, so I just let myself cruise, reluctantly stopping at 5 miles since my coach didn't want me going longer.

On Sunday, I did "the loop" for the first time for my 20 miler.  The loop is my team's traditional long run route, which features a steady, sometimes sharp descent for the last five miles.  While I've done many 20 milers, I had previously avoided the loop due to the pain the long downhill finish caused my right groin/hip.  But that was before I had several rounds of PRP/prolotherapy to that area to heal a chronic tear in my groin.  I had tested running fast on that section a few months ago, and found that it no longer caused pain, so the loop was now an option.

And it was the easiest and most fun 20+ miler I think I've ever done.  Part of it was that I had a running buddy for almost the entire route - since I've historically done a separate route for my 20+ milers, I've always soloed the last 10-15 miles.  Having good company made the miles fly by.

The long downhill stretch at the end (plus tailwind) also made it easier.  I ran the final five mile section at perceived marathon pace effort, not checking my Garmin.  As it turns out, I ran it substantially faster than goal marathon pace, so I guess that's an oops.  But I don't feel terribly beaten up or trashed, and the effort was conversational, so probably no harm no foul.

New stairs

So yay for a successful week of training.


In other news, I'm adjusting to life in our house and new addition (not to be confused with New Edition).  The unifying theme of the house is stairs - it seems that any time I go anywhere in the house, stairs are involved.  I expect my hill running skills to improve substantially.

More new stairs, plus more boxes to unpack

old stairs.

And... a picture of our shower, which is our "party piece" in Brian's words.  Two person shower, with a central rainhead and a wand.  And in black with black grout, so I can dye my hair without too much worry.  We spent more on the shower than was practical, but it was worth it - I grin every time I use it.

I love this shower.

Dailies

Monday:   Upper body weights, yoga and 7 "miles" easy pool-running in the morning; sports massage at night.

Tuesday:  7 miles very easy to yoga (9:24) and yoga.  Later, another 7 miles very easy (9:22).  1.5 "miles" of pool-running (pool closed early) and foam rolling in afternoon.

Wednesday: 8 miles very easy (9:16) to yoga, followed by yoga.  Later did another 8 miles very easy (9:04), followed by drills and two strides.   3 "miles" easy pool-running and foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:   6 miles very easy to yoga (9:27).  Later did another 4.5 miles (8:48 pace), followed by drills and two strides, and then some upper body weights work.  2 "miles" easy pool-running and foam rolling at night.

Friday:  12.5 miles including an 8K tempo on the track in 32:37, split as 6:38/6:31/6:28/6:32/6:27, followed by injury prevention work and 1650 yards of easy swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  12 miles very easy in the morning (8:45).  Later did upper body weights and 2.5 "miles" recovery pool-running, plus foam rolling.

Sunday:  21.5 miles progressive, split as first 2 miles at 9:52, next 5 at 8:41; next 7 at 7:47; next 2 at 7:23; last 5.5 at 6:38 (downhill with tailwind).  Followed with some injury prevention work.  1350 yards recovery swimming and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 10/11/15

This week was 55 miles of running, 16 "miles" of pool-running and 2000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

Tapered for and ran Army 10 Miler this week, which went well.  This upcoming week I have a 20 miler, plus lots more unpacking from the move.  Moving sucks, kids.  Especially when moving into a house that's still under construction.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, some upper body strengthwork, yoga, and 7 "miles" easy pool-running.  2.5 "miles" easy pool-running and foam-rolling in the evening.

Tuesday:  12 miles, including a workout of 6x800 (split 3:07, 3:08, 3:04, 3:00, 2:58, 2:58)  followed by some injury prevention work and 1150 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 6 miles very easy (9:19), followed by a yoga class and then another 4 miles very easy (8:37 - not sure why so fast), followed by drills and four strides.   2 "miles" easy pool-running in the afternoon.  Sports massage at night.

Thursday:   8 miles very easy (9:24), followed by drills and four hill sprints.  1.5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling at night.

Friday:  5 miles, including a mile up-tempo at 6:15.  Later did another 2.5 miles very easy (8:40 - downhill).  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  4 miles very easy (8:54) plus drills, two strides, and two hill sprints, followed by foam rolling. 

Sunday:  2.5 miles warming up, 10 mile race in 66:27.  Followed with a lot of unpacking and 3 "miles" pool-running plus 850 yards recovery swimming in the afternoon.  Foam rolling at night.

Race report: Army 10 Miler, October 11, 2015

I ran The Army 10 Miler yesterday, finishing in a time of 66:27.

(this will be a fairly brief race report, as I'm still spending most of my free time unpacking and dealing with new house stuff, while trying to also balance work and marathon training)

I'm pretty happy with this race.  After the blow to my confidence from the Navy Half last month, what I really wanted was a race that went smoothly - fast but controlled.  And that's what I got.

I did try a different taper for this race.  For the Navy-Air Force half, I cut my running mileage some, and cut my evening pool-running completely, basically reducing the number of workouts I did.  This time, I decided to keep to my same schedule, including evening "doubles" in the pool, but instead cut the volume of each workout.

I think this worked well - I showed up to the race with my legs reasonably fresh.   I wasn't totally sharp, but I've learned that I really don't race my best at any thing shorter than a marathon when I'm marathon training.  I think it's a combination of legs that need a lot of time to shake off the residual fatigue of high mileage and also the fact that I seem to need to "train my gears" - it's hard for me to run at a specific pace if I haven't doing much training at  that pace.   And looking back at my training log, I've really done very little work at or near 10 mile pace - my focus has been on marathon pace running, interspersed with tune-up races.

More specifically here, I had the distinct sensation that the pace was relatively easy, both from a breathing and muscular perspective, I just didn't have any higher gears.  This would have been upsetting if Army was my goal race, but as a tune-up race for a late fall marathon, it was actually a really good sign.

After the mental downer that was the Navy-Air Force half, it was great to finish a race feeling strong, in control, and like I could have gone further.  And getting an age group award (3rd in women's 40-44) was a nice bonus.  I believe I was also 4th master female overall (I write believe because there's a few women ahead of me, but I suspect they were men running with women's bibs - this is why bib-swapping sucks, folks).

Splits:
Mile 1: 6:51
Mile 2: 6:41
Mile 3: 6:52
Mile 4: 6:27
Mile 5: 6:38
Miles 6-7: 13:20
Mile 8: 6:38
Mile 9: 6:36
Mile 10: 6:25

My splits were a bit uneven, but I think that reflects even effort on a rolling course.  Army can be a very fast course, but it's NOT a flat course, and you have to be able to work the moderate up and downhills on the course.


Other notes:

• Left at about 6:05 to get to the start, just to allow plenty of time for traffic, other delays, etc. 
• Took a Maple Bacon Gu (very slightly caffeinated) during the race - 1/2 at mile 3, and 1/2 at mile 7.  In retrospect, I wish I'd taken it earlier in the race, since the peak of the caffeine buzz hit me post-race.
• Didn't carry a water bottle this time since it was so cool and dry.  Just hydrated very well beforehand, and resolved to use a water stop if I needed one.
• It was a very bright, sun-shiny morning.  I was massively grateful I wore sunglasses.  Temperature and dew point were perfect, though - low 50s.
• Because of my struggles with allergies and related asthma, I swapped back to using Dulera as my long lasting inhaler.  Helped a lot - despite the pollen being present, my breathing felt pretty good.  But hopefully first frost will come soon.

Training log - Week ending 10/4/2015

This week was 82 miles of running, 7 "miles" of pool-running and 4000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

Moving week - I moved from my apartment to our almost-finished-construction house a half mile away.  Though the distance was short, moving is still moving and it sucks.  It was further complicated by the fact that our house has stairs.  Many stairs.  Which are architecturally appealing, but a pain for moving boxes around.

Fortunately, my coach and I had decided some time ago to build a "whatever" week into my schedule - a week with no major "must complete" workout, or big race.  So I scheduled my move for that week. It was nice to be able to move without any "MUST DO" workouts to worry about.

Even though I hired professional movers, there was still a lot of work to be done on my end - installing shelves in closets (I *love* Elfa), opening boxes and carrying stuff around, etc.   Plus, due to concerns about flooding from an imminent hurricane, I spent Thursday relocating many of my boxes from a seepage-prone basement up a flight of stairs.  Hurricane Joachim did decide to take a right turn and skip us - everyone in the mid-Atlantic can thank my and my box moving for that.  I assure you that we would have had a direct hit, had I left my boxes in the basement.  The end result was that I was pretty tired, with dead legs.  Lesson: don't expect to have a good track workout if you do an extended "stairclimbing with weights" workout the day before.

As you can see from the log below, I kept my running mileage up this week (with the exception of a shorter long run) but cut out a lot of my normal cross-training, including yoga, evening pool-running, and upper body strengthwork.  Part of this was that I only have so many hours in the day, and moving took up many of them.  Additionally, moving is a LOT of physical work, and reducing the cross-training kept my overall physical workload fairly consistent.  I think this was the best balance to strike to keep the marathon training moving forward without digging myself into a hole.

This coming week is a cutback, as I race Army 10 Miler on Sunday.

Dailies

Monday:   Yoga, some upperbody strengthwork and injury prevention work, and 7 "miles" easy pool-running in the morning; foam rolling at night (plus packing).

Tuesday:  14 miles, including 3x (1600, 800) with half distance recovery (6:16, 3:01, 6:11, 3:01, 6:08, 2:54).  Then did some injury prevention work and 1500 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in evening (plus packing).

Wednesday: 7.5 miles very easy (9:39), followed by a yoga class and then another 8.5 miles very easy (9:26), followed by drills and two strides.  Moved that afternoon.  Did foam rolling at some point.

Thursday:   10 miles very easy (8:57), followed by drills, 2 strides.  Also moved lots of boxes up stairs.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  14 miles, including a four mile track tempo in 26:47 (6:48/6:42/6:45/6:32) - legs just didn't want to move.   Followed with some injury prevention work and 1250 yards easy swimming.    Foam rolling and unpacking at night.

Saturday:  12 miles easy (well...high end of easy - 8:27) plus drills and two strides, followed by more unpacking.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  18 miles progressive, split as first 3 miles at 9:02 pace, next 4 at 8:30, next 3 at 7:40, last 6 at 7:10.  Followed with yoga.  Later did some injury prevention work and 1250 yards easy swimming plus foam rolling.  Also lotsa unpacking.

Training log - Week ending 9/27/15

This week was 73 miles of running, 14 "miles" of pool-running and 1000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

Race recovery/digging myself out of a hole week.  I was pretty trashed from Sunday's race on Monday, and only slightly better on Tuesday.  By Wednesday my running felt a bit better, and Thursday felt great, running-wise.  I just felt horrible the rest of the time.

To explain in more detail, I sometimes get into an insomniac "funk" for lack of a better word.  When I get into this funk, I have a lot of difficulty falling asleep, and nothing OTC or prescription in my medicine cabinet helps (no, I haven't tried Ambien).  I also get tense and simply CAN'T relax, I struggle with concentration, and my resting HR gets elevated.  And the more sleep-deprived I get, the harder it is for me to fall asleep - it's a really frustrating cycle.  At the beginning of this cycle, I can run OK, but the further I get into it, the more I struggle.

What causes this funk?  Well, a lot of things.  I've learned that running in the evening, or any other moderate to hard exertion after about 2 pm, can trigger a bout of insomnia that is very hard to end.  Training too hard also causes this, as does a lot of life stress.

And....looking at my past few days, I had:
a) a half-marathon that was very hard on my body, combined with
b) the stress of preparing to move next week (and oh yes, that's a LOT of work), combined with
c) some evening pool-running that probably wasn't the best choice, given a) and b).

Once I get into this funk, it's a downward spiral, since the less I sleep, the harder it is for me to sleep.  Since I'm not sleeping well, I don't recover, and so I can't absorb my workouts - all I gain is more fatigue and possible injury.

And when I get into this funk, there's only one way to fix it.  Rest.  For as long as it takes.  Which is the last thing I want to do in marathon training.

By Friday morning, I was deep into my funk, with several days of lousy or non-existent sleep.  After discussing with my coach on Friday morning, I decided to skip that morning's workout.  I also reviewed my work calendar, noted that there was nothing urgent scheduled, and took off work as well.   Instead, I spent my day either watching DVDs on the couch or packing boxes, followed by a nice dinner out with my boyfriend.  And sure enough, I actually fell asleep like a normal person on Friday night and felt like I had been rebooted on Saturday morning.

This was just in time for Sunday, and the  "4-3-2-1 workout" - a long run with segments of 4, 3, 2, and 1 miles at marathon pace, with an easy mile inserted between each.  In the past, I've used my Garmin to check pace as I ran this workout.   This time I decided to run it with my watch face blanked - I programmed my Garmin with the workout, so I'd know when each segment ended and also could review the splits post-workout.

I did this for a few reasons:
1) I race with my watch face blanked, so why not do the MP workout that way?
2) I've been worried that I have been running this workout too hard in the past, chasing paces rather than effort - running "blind" would help me with that;
3) if I was still fried/in a funk then running by effort would hopefully keep me from digging a deeper hole.

As it turned out, I averaged the paces I've been targeting all along.  Quite a confidence booster, that.

Two lessons for the week: running by effort can be a huge confidence booster.  And sometimes an unscheduled rest day is absolutely the best thing you can do for your training.

Dailies

Monday:   Yoga and 6.5 "miles" easy pool-running in the morning; sports massage at night.

Tuesday:  5 miles very easy to yoga (9:37) and yoga.  Later, another 9 miles very easy (9:03).  2 "miles" of pool-running and foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 7 miles very easy (9:21) to yoga, followed by yoga.  Later did another 8 miles very easy (9:07), followed by drills, and two strides.   3.5 "miles" easy pool-running and foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:   4 miles very easy to yoga (9:12), followed by yoga.  Later did another 6 miles (8:38 pace), followed by drills and two strides, and then some upper body weights work.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  3.5 miles very easy (10:11) plus drills and strides, then decided to bail on the workout due to sleep deprivation; foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  12 miles very easy in the morning (9:44).  Later did 2 "miles" recovery pool-running, some upperbody weights, and foam rolling.

Sunday:  18.5 miles as a "4-3-2-1" workout - segments of 4, 3, 2, and 1 mile at marathon pace, each separated by one mile easy (ran this by effort on a slightly rolling route). Splits were:

4 mile: 28:25 (7:12/7:08/7:07/6:55) ~ 7:06 pace
3 mile: 20:45 (6:54/6:55/6:56) ~ 6:55 pace
2 mile: 13:58 (6:59 pace - 6:58/7:00) ~6:59 pace
1 mile: 6:54 

Followed with some injury prevention work.  1000 yards recovery swimming and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Training log - Week ending September 20, 2015

This week was 60 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running and 3000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

Tapered for and raced a half-marathon as a tune-up, which meant that this week was a major cutback.  For my taper, I stayed with my normal routine for Monday and Tuesday, and then cut back the miles gently on Wednesday and Thursday, and significantly on Friday and Saturday.  I also cut out the cross-training after Wednesday (except for a quick recovery swim on Friday) and kept Wednesday's yoga class on the gentle side.

As for the race itself?  Went very poorly.  Ah well.  I have a whole litany of stuff that I tell other people when it comes to bad races - everybody has them, and they're not a reflection on your fitness or ability.  And I truly believe that.  But it's harder to listen to when it's your own bad race.

Oh well.  Recover, and move on.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, some upper body strengthwork, yoga, and 6.5 "miles" easy pool-running.  2.5 "miles" easy pool-running and foam-rolling in the evening.

Tuesday:  13.5 miles, including a workout of 8x800 (split 3:06, 3:05, 3:05, 3:01, 2:59, 2:58, 2:58, 2:52)  followed by some injury prevention work and 1500 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 8 miles very easy (8:58), followed by a yoga class and then another 4.5 miles very easy (8:22 - not sure why so fast), followed by drills and two strides.   Sports massage at night.

Thursday:   9 miles very easy (9:21), followed by drills, two strides and two hill sprints.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  5.5 miles, including a mile up-tempo at 6:17, followed by 800 yards recovery swimming and foam rolling.

Saturday:  3.5 miles very easy (9:15) plus drills and four strides, followed by foam rolling. 

Sunday:  2.5 miles warming up, half-marathon in 1:31:37.  Followed with a very easy yoga class (mostly stretching) and 700 yards recovery swimming in the afternoon.  Foam rolling at night.

Race Report: Navy-Air Force Half-Marathon, September 20, 2015

I ran the Navy-Airforce Half-Marathon today, finishing in 1:31.37.  Not quite the time I wanted, but oh well.

I had pretty high hopes for this race going in - I've been feeling really good about my fitness these last few weeks.  So I rested up for this race, hydrated and ate up, and hoped the weather would cooperate.

The forecast for this race had been coy all week - it had become warm and humid towards the end of the week, but a front would blow through sometime Sunday morning, with cooler and drier air behind it.  The question of the day - when would the front come through?


As it turned out, not in time for the start of the race.  Oh well.  I had raced a half-marathon in warm conditions before, so I knew how to do it - carry a water bottle and start very conservatively.  My coach's advice to me was "keep it very careful the first 5K" and I was absolutely going to comply.

The race started, and I went out gently, letting the crowds surge around me, before settling into a very controlled pace.  What felt very easy for the first mile started feeling a bit harder after the second mile, so I backed off slightly, letting a teammate pull ahead of me.  We still had 11 miles to go, and I knew I didn't want to push it early on.  "Keep it very careful."  Though it was still warm and slightly sticky, the front was starting to come in with a brisk wind, and I suspected we'd be dealing with a headwind for several miles to come, so I wanted to stay conservative now.

Things continued to toughen, though, and my chest started to tighten some.  Not a full-blown asthma attack, but I definitely wasn't getting the air I needed, with the "breathing through a straw" feeling.

Ugh.  I didn't want to, but with 8 miles to go, I needed to take care of this.  So I stepped to the side for a second, puffed my rescue inhaler, and then picked up where I left off.  Soon after, the breathing eased a bit, and I was able to focus on the group I had been running with - now a bit ahead.

My breathing still wasn't great, though, even after controlling for the weather (which honestly wasn't THAT bad).  It's hard to explain, but there is a difference between simply dealing with humid air, and asthma.  Humid air just feels like...moist air.  It still goes in and out of the lungs.  Asthma feels like my lungs are clenching up into fists, and the air gets stuck and doesn't go where it should.  I'd go through periods where it felt a bit better and my lungs would loosen up and I could talk, and then it would grab up again - never to the point of making me wheeze, but not good.  But all I could do was work through it.

The thought of dropping out did cross my mind.  But I nixed it for a lot of reasons:
a) I was running on a team, and I didn't want to have my drop out affect the team if they needed my score;
b) I didn't know how many masters females were ahead of me - there was still the possibility of an award there, even though I was having an awful day;
c) half-marathons, even if they go horribly, are still a great tempo workout, and one that I sorely needed;
d) I think dropping out of a race can really linger in one's mind, more so than a bad race.    I definitely would have dropped if the breathing became too much of a struggle.  But it was somewhat under control, so I just kept on.

(this long list all went through my head as I convinced myself).

That was pretty much how the rest of the race went - running fast when I could, backing off (sometimes way off) when needed.  There was a sharp hill climbing to a hair pin turn about mile 9 - my lungs grabbed up as we climbed, so I pulled off just after the turn to take another puff - I was struggling enough that another puff was a good idea to get me through to the end, and a sharp turn with a downhill was the best place to do it - I could use the downhill to get me back up to speed.

More slogging, and I finally made it to the finish.  This race ends with a steep downhill for the last tenth of a mile.  Amusingly, I ended up "out-kicking" a few people - not because I had anything left, but because I am a very good downhill runner (speedwise; not in terms of handling the pounding), especially when the downhill is fairly steep.    And then it was over, and I was glad.

Splits were:
Mile 1: 6:56
Mile 2: 7:27 (long)
Mile 3: 6:06 (short)
Mile 4: 6:55
Mile 5: 6:56
Mile 6-7: 14:17 (7:09) -inhaler
Mile 8: 7:06
Mile 9: 7:21 -inhaler
Mile 10: 7:05
Mile 11: 6:57
Mile 12: 7:08
Mile 13: 6:50
Last bit: 36 seconds

My frustration with racing at this time of year continues.  I have a habit of being massively disappointed in September half-marathons - I've never raced one where I felt good, even when the weather was fantastic.  I know why it is - this is a rough time for me, allergy-wise, and the bad breathing days battle with the good.  In fact, I have just enough good days to convince me it's going to be different this year.  Effectively I have an abusive and toxic relationship with my own breathing.   Heh.

Every year, I swear I won't do another September half-marathon.

What do you want to bet I'll run this race next year, and be optimistic (as I was this year) that I'm primed for a great race?

Other notes:

• Arrived around 6 am, which was perfect timing to park, do bag check, and warm up.  I did warm-up fairly early, ending around 6:45.  I was OK with having the extra time pre-race, since I wanted to make sure I was cool at the start, and I didn't care if I went out a bit slow.
• Ended up second Masters Female, which was nice, and shows why you don't drop out of races just because you're having a shitty day - you never know what's going on ahead of you (well...unless you're in the lead pack).
• Temperature was supposedly 70, with a DP of 60 at the start.  Which is weird, because it felt stickier than that.  *shrug*
• This race is in its fourth or fifth year now, and it's really nice to note the work the race management is putting into it.  The expo this year was well-run, and an easy trip.  And the course was redesigned this year to avoid any intersection between the half and the five-mile races.  Well done.
• One puff of my Foradil long acting inhaler at 5:30 this morning plus two puffs of the rescue inhaler pre-race; two more puffs of the inhaler during the race at 40 and 60 minutes into the race.  For you Alberto Salazar fans - no, neither of my inhalers have steroids - they're both broncho-dilators.  One takes longer to kick in but lasts longer; the other kicks in very quickly but doesn't last that long.
• Tossed my water bottle at Thompson's boathouse - worked perfectly for retrieving it after.
• Took two gels - one was a Strawberry Kiwi rocktane at Mile 4, the other was a Maple Bacon (actually quite yummy) around mile 9.

Training log - week ending 9/13/15

This week was 81 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running and 5000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

The week didn't start out great - as I noted last week, I thought I was either getting sick or fighting off allergies.  I felt lousy on Monday night and Tuesday morning, so I started off the Tuesday workout (1200s) very easy - about tempo pace.  I felt better as I went along, so I dropped the pace some with each rep, and ended up with 5x1200 paced very "progressively."  Each rep was about 7 seconds faster than the previous.  That's not how I normally pace my workouts - I'm usually a lot more even.  On the other hand, better that way than the reverse.

My symptoms continued on and off all week - sinus pain and fatigue.  I felt better mid-week, but then I felt horrible on Thursday night.  I debated whether to show on Friday morning for tempo, but decided to make an appearance.  While many people talk themselves out of workouts, I talk myself into them: "well....I'll just warm-up and see how I feel.....well, I'll just run the first mile and see how I feel..."

As it turns out, after a (characteristically) slow start, the tempo went very well.  I've decided that whatever bug I have is actually just allergies manifesting in a different way - no stuffy nose, just sinus pain and fatigue.  This view is supported by the fact that a max dose of Benadryl makes the sinus pain vanish (but also puts me to sleep).  This coming week I'm going to play with taking the Benadryl mid-day, in hopes that the sedative effect will wear off by morning, while the antihistamine effect remains.

(in answer to your questions - other OTC antihistamines don't seem to be helping here.  Benadryl or bust, baby.)

Sunday we got lucky and the heat broke - resulting in a very nice confidence boosting 16 mile long run.  7:00 pace actually felt like marathon pace, rather than something harder, and I was very tempted to extend my long run another mile or two for the ego boost and validation.  After all, my schedule said 16-18 on Sunday, and most of the others training for Philly Marathon were doing 20+ miles.  But, for whatever reason my coach had ordered me (twice) to limit my long run to 16, so I (reluctantly) complied.  Coaching only works if you listen to the coach.

(and...it does make a lot of sense.  I really don't need to work on my endurance - the ability to run for a long time.  That's my strength.  What I do need is more stamina - my ability to sustain fast running over a distance.  So it makes sense to restrict the long runs, so that I'm fresh enough to max out the distance covered during my weekday intervals and tempos, and get a higher volume of quality running).

This upcoming week is a cutback.  I'm running a half-marathon on Sunday, and so I'll start tapering after Tuesday's workout.

Dailies

Monday:   9 "miles" easy pool-running in the morning plus 600 yards easy swimming; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  12 miles, including 5x1200 with half distance recovery (4:59, 4:50, 4:43, 4:36, 4:29).  Then did some injury prevention work and 1400 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 9 miles very easy (9:23),  followed by a yoga class.  Later did 7.5 miles very easy (8:45) plus drills and two hill sprints.   2.5 "miles" easy pool-running and foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:   8 miles very easy (9:11) followed by a yoga class and then some upper body strengthwork, before 2.5 miles very easy home (8:49) plus drills and two strides.  3 "miles" easy pool-running and foam rolling in the evening.

Friday:  14 miles, including an 8K tempo in 6:48/6:37/6:35/6:27/6:25, followed with injury prevention work and 1250 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  12 miles very easy (9:27) with drills and two strides inserted in the middle.  Later did 3.5 "miles" recovery pool-running, some upperbody weights, and foam rolling.

Sunday:  16 miles progressive, split as first 3.5 miles at 9:29 pace; next 4.5 at 7:59 pace, next 3 at 7:34 pace, last 5 at 6:59 pace.  Followed with some injury prevention work and a yoga class.  1750 yards of easy swimming and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 9/6/15

This week was 63 miles of running, 17 "miles" of pool-running and 1500 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

This was a combination cut-back and race week for me.  I had a 5K on Saturday, so I eased off on the mileage and crosstraining on Wednesday-Friday, both to rest up for the race, and to give myself an opportunity to recover from and consolidate the gains from my last two weeks of training.

Though I blew up in Saturday's race, I'm still pretty happy with it.  Both the race and my Tuesday workout indicate that my fitness is improving and I'm on the right track.  So woo.

The negative to this week is that either I'm getting sick, or my allergies are in full force.  It is that time of year, so I suspect it's the latter.  Either way, my sinuses and throat were in pretty bad shape on Sunday, to the point that I decided to skip my recovery swim.  It's not recovery if it makes you feel worse, and swimming was going to be awfully painful on Sunday.

As of Monday, the sinuses and throat are a bit better, but still achy.  I'll have to make a judgment call on Tuesday morning as to whether to do the workout.

Dailies

Monday:   Yoga, some upperbody strengthwork and injury prevention work, and 6 "miles" easy pool-running in the morning; 3 "miles" easy pool-running and foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  12.5 miles, including 8x800 with half distance recovery (3:06, 3:04, 3:00, 2:58, 2:59, 2:57, 2:58, 2:52).  Then did some injury prevention work and 1500 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (9:46),  followed by drills, two strides, and some upper body weights work.   2.5 "miles" easy pool-running and a massage in the evening.

Thursday:   7 miles, mostly very easy but with a one mile pick-up in 6:27 (down hill).  Also some drills and two strides. Later, 2.5 "miles" of easy pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  4.5 miles very easy (9: 24) plus drills and six strides, followed by foam rolling.

Saturday:  4 mile warm-up and 5K race in 19:51; 6 mile cooldown.  Later did 3 "miles" recovery pool-running, some upperbody weights, and foam rolling.

Sunday:  16 miles progressive, split as first 7 miles at 9:15 pace, next 4 miles at 8:21 pace, last 5 miles at 7:33 pace (didn't finish at marathon pace because I had raced yesterday).  Followed with some injury prevention work and a yoga class.  Foam rolling in the afternoon.