Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon, can you spell HILLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS; A PR

I survived the Hearbreak Hill Half Marathon. There were times when I wanted to stop. There were times when I just could not believe the steepness and number of hills. I even walked one of the hills. I ran positive splits. My legs felt like rubber for the last 4 miles. In my house we spell the 4-letter words (you learn to do that when you have kids); lets just say there was lots of spelling going on during the race. BUT,

I PRed - 1:42:40, 7:50 pace (preliminary results)
I won 3rd AG for 30-39.
I got a great massage.
I learned my lesson - I need to do hill training and increase my mileage if I want to run a 3:30 marathon in October.
I know I can easily beat this new PR on a flatter course.
Hurrayyyy!

Full report later and pics later today!!!

Running injuries - had my share and then some!

As part of Take It And Run Thursday the Runner's Lounge asked us to talk about running injuries.

I've had my share of running injuries and some, during the past 3 years, when I transitioned from running for fitness to racing: bursitis on my L hip, and 2 pelvic stress fractures (L and R). At the time, I was puzzled. How could this happen? In retrospect, it is clear to me that those injuries were due to: 1) too many days in a row running (6+), 2) inability to tame my speed demon (I was doing all my runs as "all out"), 3) not following a training plan, 4) not doing any streching or strengthening, and 5) ignoring the pain.

After the second stress fracture, which required 6 weeks off running, I realized that running is more than gutting it out. I started reading about it. I learned about training plans. I started this blog and reading running blogs. I made a pact with myself to not run 2 days in a row for 1 year. This left me with 3 runs/week. I started swimming, I started biking. My body became strong again. I became more confident about my ability to run injury free. I am even considering adding a 4th day of running, as a recovery day.

Here's what works for me:
1. running hard 3 times a week, but not 2 days in a row. The time off of running allows my body to recover and my mind to be looking forward to running hard again.
2. pilates 2 times/week, 15 min each session - as core and strength training.
3. taking 2000mg calcium and a multivitamin daily.
4. icebaths - now I take one after every run.
5. not taking ibuprofen or other over the counter pain meds in order to be able to run (i used to do this).
6. rotating between 3 pairs of running shoes.
7. using a foam roller.
8. reminding myself that injury can happen, and no race is more important than being healthy.

Happy injury free running!

Heat,1 - Ana-Maria, 2

I am happy to report that I braved the elements and had two glorious runs during the past few days. After a horrible run with heat induced nausea, I was a bit concerned about my body's ability to run at a faster pace during the hot weather. That run really played with my psyche. On Saturday I did a 13 miler with my friend Sue M, on a very hilly route. We ran at 7:30 in the morning, but it got hot toward the end of the run. I was able to maintain an effortless 8:14, the fastest I have ever ran on those hills. Yay! Today I did an 8 miler later in the day, to test my ability to run in the heat. I started out with a conservative pace and ended up with negative splits, for an average of 7:38. Another yay! I have been working on my form lately, trying to maintain a quick, stiff, short stride (I tend to overstride) and it really makes such a huge difference. Whenever I forget to pay attention to my stride, I slow down and get tired. I immediately feel better when I correct my stride.

I am debating whether to run a 1/2 marathon next weekend. The Heartbreak Half Marathon has its inauguration on the 31st. It includes mile 17 to 23 of the Boston Marathon course. The course is an out and back, which means one would have to run each hill twice. I feel a bit unprepared for this race, since I have been pretty much recovering and taking it easy since the marathon. The hills and I have a love-hate relationship; I have strong quads and when trained have a goat-like ability to hackle the hills and enjoy passing runners as I go up. However, when I am not trained (like now), I struggle up hills while everything hurts. So I am a bit torn. On one hand, it would be nice to do another 1/2 marathon (last one of Maine Half in September), and running a hilly one will be challenging and a nice way to get back into serious hill training. I could also have a baseline and compare my time with another one that I plan to do while training for Baystate Marathon. On the other hand, I can't approach a race without thoughts of PR-ing, and I know it would not be possible to run a sub 1:44 on that course and without having done any training for it. Hmmm! More thinking required! What do you think?Hope everyone had a nice long weekend!

Running subborn

I planned to run an 8 miler on Thursday. My mom is visiting and agreed to pick up my son from daycare, yay! On Wednesday, everyone in the area kept talking about the 90 degree weather that we were going to get on Thursday, but that did not concern me at all. In fact, I never ever care about the weather when I run. I put up with the cold and snow by telling myself to suck it up for a mile and then it will get easier (always true). In the warm weather, well, i cover myself with sunscreen, drink lots of water and on my way I go.

So I headed out on Thursday around 4:30 pm with my new water belt with Nuun and water. First two miles flew by at a 7:11pace, effortless. I knew it was too fast, but when I don't have a training schedule to tell me how fast I should go, well, I go too fast. Live and learn, except that I never do. Back to the run. Two miles into it I had drunk all the Nuun and water in 3 of my water bottles. It was so hot that my lips and throat were so dry that they hurt. I knew that I could get more water from a fountain at mile 4, but I was concerned that I was drinking too much. At mile 3 I was feeling nauseous and my pace was slowing down. I debated turning around, but that would mean admitting failure and I was not to do that. Yes, I am stubborn like that. I was listening to NPR's This American Life and was almost crying because the story was so sad, or maybe because I was feeling kinda sorry for myself. I stopped and got water at the 1/2 way mark. Pace was 7:30. I rested for a minute or so, switched my I-pod to shuffle hoping for some upbeat songs, and off I went. I kept drinking water even though I could hear it sloshing in my stomach, as my lips and throat were too dry. I started feeling grateful that I have never felt this sick in a race ever before. Cardiovascularly I was absolutely fine (which is great!), but my pace was slowing down because of nausea and stomach pain. I finally made it home, 8 miles, average pace 7:34, grabbed a bottle of Gatorade from the fridge and prepped my icebath. Thirty minutes later I felt absolutely fine and so energized that I stayed up late working on some research that I had been putting off for a long time. Something good always come out from something not so good, right? I am still trying to figure our why I felt so bad. Too much water? Too fast a pace for such hot weather? To abrupt of a switch from warm to hot weather? Regardless, I am feeling a bit uneasy about my 13 miler tomorrow (though I will be running early in the a.m.) and about marathon training during July and August. I have a feeling I might just have to embrace the nausea, the stomach pain and all, as the plan asks for some scary speed and tempo paces this time around. Lets just hope for a cooler summer....yeah, right!

A little taste of trail running

This Saturday I ventures to the Battle Road Trail along with my friends the Sue(s). By venture, I mean hopping in the car and driving for 10 minutes - my kind of drive! I have not run there since last Fall, and was thrilled that the gals were up for a little change of scenery. I was not thrilled with getting up at 6:20 for it. In the end, it was well worth it.

The Battle Road Trail is a 5.5 mile trail in Lexington, Lincoln and Concord that marks the path taken by the British soldiers on their way from Boston to Concord as part of the first battle of the American Revolution. Did I lose you already? There are markers along the path that tell the stories about the battles, the politics and individual stories of people who lived in the area. The trail is smooth and has mild to moderate rolling hills. It provides the means to combine running with history, or get lost in the beauty of the views and the smell of fresh air. Here are a couple of pictures that I stole from a website. Note to self: need to bring my camera withme once in a while.


We had a glorious run. It was our first run together since the marathon, and it was nice to share stories about recovery, future plans, and post marathon impressions. We decided to take it easy and enjoy the run and the views. The weather was perfect, not too warm, with a slight breeze. I loved to feel the trail under my feet, and my knees were happy about that too. I always find that the softness of the trails slows down my pace as my feet stay in contact with the ground longer and my stride does not have the "bounciness" I am used to when I run on the road. I stopped running on hills since the marathon and the little hills on this trail got me breathing heavy at times in spite of a somewhat slower pace than I am used to for this distance.
I am planning on doing some hill work this summer, prior to starting training for Baystate marathon, and hopefully some trail races too. Back at home my legs were happy to jump into the icebath before heading out for a relaxed swim with my family. What a great morning!

Stats: 10 miles, 8:24 pace (1 h, 24 minutes), first 5 miles 8:30 (mostly downhill), last 5 miles 8:18 (mostly uphill).

On healthy family competition

I finished work early today and got to take a bikeride with my husband before he got back to work in the afternoon. This was our first bike ride together since 1999 when we went biking at Cape Cod. We were dating at the time, and I blame the "giddy feelings" for the fall I took 10 minutes into the bikeride. Lets just say that he was on the bike behind me making sweet loving distracting comments, and when I turned my head to respond...bummm! I have a scar on my forehead and a huge one on my L elbow to remind me of that lovely afternoon. Needless to say, I stopped biking for about 10 years because of that. But just like I ended up learning to swim at age of 34, after fearing water since age 5 (when I got pushed in a pool) I decided that I needed to get back on the bike this year as well. Face what you fear, right? After a couple of easy slow caution-filled rides during the past few weeks, today the husband and I had our second biking date! A few things about my husband. He is the most annoying athletic person I know. Last year we did a 5K together and both ran a 6:55 average pace, except that that was his first run in a months or so and I had been consistently running. Last summer I took him to the Fells, a reservation with hilly and rocky trails and ran together on the Skyline trail, a v technical 8 milers that I was running consistently around that time. In fact, I was the first woman I on a race there last Fall. Lets just say that he kicked my butt big time by sprinting up those rocky hills without any change in his breathing rate. Annoying! Today I was sure I had an advantage on him. I have a better bike, a new Fujy 2000 road bike and, although he uses his bike to get around, he has a v old rusty bike with only a couple of gears. The weather was beautiful and we figured we'd have time to bike about 1 hour together, and I would go on my own after that. We biked at an easy pace and caught up on things until my competitive self put on a challenge (everything in our household is decided upon challenges and bets, a bit of a "Chris-Ana-Maria Amazing Race Competition" - in graduate school we used to play a game of backgammon daily to decide who is "the champion of the day") - see who gets to the end of the path first. I biked hard, I changed gears, I took some Gu, I stood up on the bike, but nothing worked. Although he was close to me, he was in front and he got to Bedford before I did. This means more than that I have to do dishes tonight. This means that I have to think of another challenge, one that I can actually win. Maybe if I have him run a marathon without any training...Hmm!!!

Missing marathon training and trail racing

Boston is now history. I am fully recovered and running strong. My fast pace is easier and my easy pace is faster. I am happy about these. However, my runs have lost part of their meaning. They still distress me, make me feel powerful and strong, and help me put life issues in perspective. However, the runs seem a bit purposeless since I am not training for a marathon. I still run long on Saturday, but the current long is 10-12 miles. I am still meeting with the Sue(s) but now we are talking about Boston in the past tense. I can't wait for July 1st to come and for marathon training to start. I decided that I am going to let my body rest until I start training in July - no speed work, no running all out, unless I do a race. I love the discipline of training, planning for workouts, running at a specified speed, meeting my goals. Some people can just go out there and run a marathon for fun. I can't imagine doing that - I am the nerdy student who needs to be prepared and actually enjoys the process of preparation. I also like to try my best when I race - no running just to finish for me; if there are people in front of me, I am going to try to catch them.

I am searching for some races to do this summer. My town has been putting together a 10K for the past few years, so I am planning on doing that on Memorial Day. I have never ran a 10K on the road (have done a trail 10K last year), so that should be interesting. I am also thinking about a 1/2 marathon in June, but have not made up my mind yet. There are great trail races in New England, and I'd love to do some, but they are so far away and spending 3 hours in a car on a Saturday or Sunday seems like such a waste to me (both time and fuel). My family would also not be very happy if I took off with our only car and left them alone an entire weekend day. I would not be happy doing that either.

So there you have it. Can you tell I am not good with transitions? Thankfully, I am working hard on my biking and swimming and am seeing progress in both, so that's good. However, I am and will always be a runner at heart!

Injinji socks - product review

You all know about my problems with blisters. After my marathon, only 2 of my toes were blister free, and folks would give me looks of pity after glancing at my toes. Dan suggested I purchase Injinji socks (and he just posted a review a few days ago), and I ordered them a week ago. The socks individually wrap each toe, just like gloves wrap each finger. My 3 pairs arrived today, and I got to test them on my 6 miler this afternoon. Putting them on was a bit awkward, and I did not like the feeling of the sock material between my toes. Plus, even though I ordered the smallest size, my toes did not completely fill each of the toe compartments (I know, I have been cursed with skinny feet). However, as soon as I put my Asics on, my feet felt great, and I forgot about my previous concerns. The run went well, and I had NO BLISTERS after it, a complete miracle. Folks, the only way for me not to have blisters during the short runs is to wrap each toe into a bandaid. For long runs, forget about it, blisters are guaranteed. Will see how these socks will hold during the long runs, but for now, I am sold!

Oh, and check out how pretty they are. Injinji, you can always send me free samples, but even if you don't, I love you!

Onto new things, but mostly onto more FUN

It's been a bit of a manic depressive time here at R&L. I have been feeling the loss of marathon training and my purpose filled runs with the Sue(s), and at the same time I have been really enjoying my newfound free time. I coped with feeling down by running hard - my comfortable pace is scary fast (for me) now. After my 10 miler on Saturday I was v upset with myself for running so fast so soon, but also so happy with my pace! My plan is to take is easy until June, ans I really need to stick with that.



On Monday I started my 1/2 ironman training. I am not convinced triathlons are for me, and signing up for a 1/2 ironman was not the smartest way to figure that out. But this is coming from someone who decided to run Boston as her first marathon, so it should be no surprise! My triathlon training entails 13-15 hours/week (biking takes sooo long) so I am not sure I am going to be able to swing it with everything else that is going on. Will see. This may be the only time in my life where I do something not fully prepared, or don't do it at all. A new life experience, no matter what!



June 1st symbolizes the beginning of my second marathon training cycle - Baystate 2009, in October. I will use FIRST again, but may increase the mileage a bit, I am not sure yet. I am posting my training in a new training blog I created, so you can check it out if interested (under my profile). I am thinking about doing the training for a 3:30 or a 3:35, to be determined based on how I feel during the first training weeks.



I am going to do things differently in terms of training for both the 1/2 ironman and the marathon. I am going to keep to the schedule, but also sign up for races along the way. I miss running trails, doing 5ks and 10ks (well, not the puking which is a frequent occurrence with me in the 5Ks). While sticking to a training schedule has helped me run well at Boston (and stay injury free- last year around this time I was out with a stress fracture), I feel that I missed out by not racing more. I will try to get a bit more creative during this training cycle. Although finishing a 1/2 ironman and running a faster marathon are important goals, I am more focused on having fun this summer!

Boston - final words

What helped:
1. Training on hills.
2. Doing five 20 mile runs, with one at what (per Garmin) was my marathon pace (8:27).
3. Eating and sleeping (can't stress these enough; my weight did not change during training, and I think that is a sign that I gave my body what it needed to function well).
4. Doing Pilates/strength training/core work. Those rock hard mommy abs look great, but more importantly they helped stabilize my back during those grueling last marathon miles.
5. Loving the combo: Ice baths, rolling, icebaths. Enough said.
6. Having company during the long runs. For me, there is nothing like getting together with friends to do a long run. Many times, I ran the first 1/2 of the run slower, so that I can hang out with my friends, and pushed the pace toward the end of the run. This has proven to be a great strategy for both my mind and body.
7. Getting my premarathon anxiety/paranoia out of the way in the last weeks before the race. I was calm as a clam the day of the race. Not a bit of anxiety.
8. Accepting and being OK with the fact(s) that: 1) I will not be able to sleep the last few nights before the marathon, 2) I will get nauseous, and lightheaded, 3) I will be in pain, 4) I will hate the last few miles of the marathon, and 5) I can't predict how my body will react during the race.
9. Listening to the veterans and keeping my pace in check and slow for the beginning miles.
10. Listening to my body and not overeating, just because it's carboloading time. The 3 weeks of taper with v low mileage combined with my normal diet were enough to replenish my glycogen stores.

What I will do differently:
1. Train more on downhills.
2. Add hills both at the beginning and the end of long runs.
3. Run the course from mile 0 to 20, not only from 6 to 26.
4. Run on the middle of the street (yellow line) so that I can run closer to 26.2, rather than 26.7.
5. Write my name with bigger letters so that people can shout my name more.
6. Go to the post marathon celebration.
7. Wear anti blister socks and tape my toes.

What helped with recovery:
1. Having a work conference to go to the day after the marathon (OK, I had nothing to do with this, it was just luck!) where I had to walk a lot and also have a more relaxed schedule compared to work, and thus be able to take daily naps.
2. Sleeping a lot.
3. Swimming, biking and walking a lot.
4. Rolling and icebaths.

What I will do differently in terms of recovery.
1. Be proactive in terms of the postmarathon depression. Look forward to it, accept it, embrace it, and know that it will go away.
2. Do not sign up for another marathon or other such time consuming races just because your endorphins are overflowing and you feel invincible. (ha, ha).
3. Plan more non running related fun things for the week(s)/month after the race, and wait until you can think straight again before figuring out your race schedule.
For others:
Know that after qualifying for Boston and running Boston, there is a huge letdown as there isn't anything else (in my book)* that can top running Boston well. Be happy if you had to work hard to qualify, or your race did not go as planned, because you have something else to work toward, and that is a good thing!

* OK, maybe Comrades, on an uphill year.