First 20 miler: frozen water bottles, speed, and meeting Jack Fultz

I was very excited about my 20 miler today. Why? Many reason, if you are curious: 1) my mom and husband kept telling me how cold it is going to be today and how I should not run, 2) a couple of my running buddies declined to join me for part of my run because "it's too cold for me", 3) I had lots of interesting podcasts but no time to listen to them.

The thermometer recorded 2 degrees this morning. I was all bundled up with my Nike tights with fleece lining (they do add 5 lbs, but oh, so worth it!), 2 shirts, running vest, wool arm warmers, balaclava and gloves. After a mile or so my forehead was frozen so I went into a Walgreens and bough myself a $1.99 hat. All warm and cozy, I was all set for my 20 miler. The plan was to have an easy run, and keep the pace @ 8:20-8:30, not faster. I raced last Sunday and had some kick ass runs this week, including a 3 mile tempo @ 6:34, so I wanted to give my legs a chance to recover. The plan worked for .....about 8 miles. At mile 8 I had some hills and wanted to run them a bit faster. I did. I took a gel at mile 10 (Chocolate #9, it's awesome) with the tiny bit of water that I was able to get out of my frozen bottles (yes, even hot water eventually freezes...). My pace was 8:15 average at the half point. So, of course, how can I go slower? Plus, all my water bottles were frozen, so I had to get home quickly to avoid dehydration.... Looking at my splits all my last 10 miles were sub 8s. At mile 15 on my way back I was very thirsty. And then I saw them, the Dana Farber Marathon team table with water bottles! Water bottles! I passed by, but then I turned around and told them I'd like to buy one. Of course they offered one for free. I started talking story about the frozen water bottles, and then I realized that one of the people at the stand was Jack Fultz! So I introduced myself and started talking marathon. It was great! I had a hard time unfreezing the tops of my bottles, so he actually did that for me, and filled my water bottles. This man is so humble, sitting in the freezing cold, cheering on the DF team, and filling water bottles for fans with frozen hands like myself. After about 5 minutes I left. Any wander that my last splits were all sub 7:30, with the last 2 7:10?

Stats: 20.5 miles, 20@ 7:53 (this, by the way, was my MP by Garmin at Baystate in October).

I was super happy with the run, mostly because I felt great. Sure, the last miles were hard, but that's expected! I really think that my race last weekend has done wanders for my speed, and I am very excited about the other races that I have planned before Boston. This is different than my usual approach, where I race very little, if at all before a marathon. I have a feeling that I am going to rock Boston if I don't get injured. I do have to tame down the speed, but I am a speed addict (not that kind of speed), so I can't help it....I am really enjoying the journey without focusing solely on the destination, and that is a good thing!

Fate, probabilities...and some running, of course

I tend to think in probabilities. Perhaps this has something to do with my line of work, or perhaps this is just my make-up. I have always been a bit of a skeptic, always looking for the evidence, always challenging my intuitions and looking for proof. This has served me well, I believe, in that I don't nurse any fears that are not justified (and when I do, I challenge them). I know, for example, that my chances of dieing of colon cancer are very high (since everyone on my mom's side seems to get it sooner or later), much higher than, dieing in a train car on the red line, going from Charles MGH to Alewife (since I take the train 3 times/week, and really, when did you last hear of someone dieing due to a malfunction on the red line?). Today, though, the probabilities turned on me. I was in the last car of the train and after one stop, I start smelling gas. I look around and see others getting a bit impatient. The smell starts getting stronger and stronger, and the fumes are making it harder and harder to see and breath. The train keeps going. I feel trapped and start thinking about, well, what if we don't make it to the station. People start standing up and looking around. Noone says anything, though, which strikes me as unusual, since in moments of fear I tend to want to connect. Some people even keep on reading (????). The train enters Central square, and while I get out, I see flames in a car ahead. I jot out of the train station while the conductor starts screaming :"I don't know what the hell is wrong".

I still don't know what the hell was wrong. Perhaps on the news tonight I will hear some version of what happened. I hope everyone on the train was OK. It's situations like this where you wonder about things like fate (or shall we call it, chance). Sometimes a small probability can get you quicker than a big one. But of course it does not help anyone to think this way. I should just tell myself that my chances of getting into any issues on the red line are getting very close to 0 after this incident. And that would be true, and even enough in a day or so.

So I did go for the run. 9 miles on sore quads, with 2x1600m @ 6:18 and 6:15, and 2X800m @ 6:04 and 6:01. Not to bad for having raced on Sunday. Then I played all evening with my boys!

Boston prep 16 miler race report aka practicing death one hill at a time

Garmin results: 16.06m, 2:05:11, 7:47 pace (and for brief moments I actually felt like I was jetting around like a 747)
Official results: 16m, 2:04:11, 7:50 pace (9/94 30-39 AG; 23/279 gender)
When I posted my racing schedule for 2010, I noted that I will run the Derry Boston Prep 16 miler as a training run, @ 8:25 pace. But then I changed my mind. You see, I have a running confidence issue. I always start races too slow, and end up feeling like I could have gone faster. I am a strong believer in exposure therapy; you fear something, you go do what you fear. Simple on paper, not always in practice. The thing is, it works. So I set out today to start out too fast. It was easier than I thought, mostly because I had no idea how to pace a hilly 16 miler and because the race did not really amount to much (it's not a half marathon/marathon/10K/5K, it is an automatic PR, it is early in training, I have not run this race before, so there was no "race time" that I had to beat, etc, etc). So after a couple of miles I got enough space to pick it up. And I did. By mile 6 I was at a 7:25 min/mile average, feeling good in spite of the rolling hill. I knew that I am going to pay for this in a major way, but, the endorphins were doing their magic, and I really did not care about the near future. By mile 8 I started to feel some pain in my legs. Looking at my splits, my pace was anything but even. Heck, it was the most uneven I've ever run. I think I started to slow down around mile 9, when the hills got steeper, and the downhills shorter. I kept waiting and waiting for the monster 1.5 mile hill at mile 10.5, and let me tell you it did not disappoint. A quarter mile into it and I had to walk. My quads were done. It did not help that others were also walking....I guess misery loves company. I walked/ran this 1.5 mile section, not paying attention to the "and why are you doing this?" kinda thoughts, and telling myself that after mile 12 the hills will get easier. And they did. And I managed to pick up the pace a little, which felt good. I pushed the pace a bit, but then more hills showed up on the horizon and I slowed down. I finally picked it up on the last mile, which thank goodness it was downhill.
Here are my splits:
Mile 1: 7:57
Mile 2: 7:27
Mile 3: 7:00
Mile 4: 7:24
Mile5: 8:01
Mile 6: 7:38
Mile 7: 7:34
Mile 8: 7:28
Mile 9: 7:39
Mile 10: 8:20 -the monster hill
Mile 11: 8:32 - the monster hill
Mile 12: 9:03 - the monster hill
Mile 13: 7:39
Mile 14: 7:54
Mile 15: 7:54
Mile 16: 7:12
.06: 6:22

Overall I am happy that I started out too fast. It led to some good old suffering, which is what I needed. I think this will help me with future races, in that it will give me the confidence to start out faster than I think I can go, as opposed to regretting going too slow when the race is over. I am a little disappointed that I did not really care much about this race and my finishing pace. I did not work the race mentally. I could have certainly run all the hills, I could have certainly run the last few miles faster. But I did not. Normally I work hard to pass women who are in front of me, but not this time. Before races that are important to me, I work out the mental part a lot, but I did not do any of that this time. I am still super happy with my time, and have confidence that I can run a 7:40 pace in Boston 3 months from now. Blah, blah, blah...

Onto more exciting things.... I got to meet Mary which was fun. She ran a kick ass race, as expected (7:30 pace or something impressive like that!!!). She is exactly how I expected her to be, a little nice ball of energy! My friend Mary also had a great race, even though her furthest run lately has been 12 miles. So now, I can't wait to race again. Can you believe it? A few hours ago I was swearing running off (well, not really), and now I can't wait to race again! I think the DSM-IV needs a new diagnosis, something like Runner's Insanity Syndrome, NOS.

Happy things

Jenn from Running Sane and Carpeviam from Copia Verborum tagged me to list 10 things that make me happy. Here we go. The first 10 "things" that I can think of which make me happy:

1. My little guy - comedian, imitator, pain in the ass! He gives the best kisses and keeps me grounded to what is really important in life.

2. My husband - as my mom says, "I don't know how he puts up with you". Yup, I am complicated and difficult, but so is he, and we make a good team.

3. My mom - keeps me honest. I hope to look like her when I get to be 66.

4. Running - enough said!

5. A good fiction book - I rarely read fiction. I devour nonfiction books, but I have a hard time finding a fiction book that captivates me. When I do find it, I absolutely love getting lost in it.

6. My work - it is challenging, stressful, but I would not be whole without it.

7. Chocolate - my world would be sad without my daily treat.

8. Friday night game night - adds excitement and reliability to my week. Great food, great friends, awesome games, and a little competition make for a perfect evening in my book.

9. Four leaf clovers - I have a huge collection, which I started when I was a little girl. My mom and my grandmother also collected them. I find them easily, sometimes during my runs on the bikepath.

10. Being healthy - the older I get, the more I appreciate how healthy I am and how much I can do.

To keep the game going, I am tagging the first 5 people who commented on my last post:

Melissa

Meg

Charissa

Jill

Kerri

****************
My tempo run went well today. The bikepath was clear and I decided to take advantage of it. 9.5 miles @ 2mile@ 7;00, 30 secs rest, 2@ 6:55. Next week I am going to force myself to decrease the mileage a bit and rest my legs. I am running higher mileage than I had initially planned, and faster! Good but not good.

My training plan

A while back Paul has asked me to write about my training plan. So here it is, for you, Paul. Hopefully others may be interested.
Those who have read this blog for a while know that I love speed and am not a fan of slow running. My plan reflects that. It is based primarily on FIRST, with a little Hudson and Fitzgerald. The mileage ranges from 40-55, and drops down to 20 during taper. The plan consists of 3 key workouts and 2 recovery runs spiced up by 1 mile of rolling hills, strides during the last mile, or nothing if I feel sore or tired. In addition to the runs, I try to swim and bike a bit, too, and also do some core exercises and exercises to prevent ITB issues.
Here is a typical week:
Monday: speed; 8-10 miles with 1-3.5 miles track workouts (paces are set for each interval, but the type of interval I do changes from week to week); core work and ITB ex (about 30 min or so)
Tuesday: recovery run; 5 miles with 1 mile hills at the end; IT ex and 30 pushups, and weights (20 min)
Wednesday: tempo; 8-10 miles with 4-7 tempo miles at 3 different paces which vary from week to week; toward the end of training these are replaced with MP runs of 10-13 miles; core work and ITB ex
Thursday: recovery run; 5 miles with strides; IT ex and 30 pushups, and weights.
Friday: swim: 1 mile; bike: 10 miles (one or both)
Saturday: long run: 13-22 with last miles faster.
Sunday: swim: 1 mile; bike: 10 miles (one or both)

*
Training wise things are OK. Monday I ended up running 6 miles in the slushy snow, and went to the YMCA for the 3.1 miles (5X1000m @ 6:10) on the treadmill. Lets just say that I enjoyed the outdoor run much more, even though my I-pod died at mile 2, my feet got soaked by mile 1, and my face got pricked by the freezing rain drops. Today I ran my recovery run at a slow pace which seemed much faster since I was practically skating. When I got to the hills at mile 4, I literally slid a couple of times. Scary (since there were cars on the road) but also fun. Tomorrow is tempo and honestly I have no idea where I am going to run. Certainly not on the treadmill. No way I can make it on for 9 miles.
Hope your weather is more running friendly!

A little procrastination

It's 1pm and I finished my long run, showered, ate, got some laundry started, checked out a few blogs and got myself ready to do a bit of work. Chris took Petru to a birthday party and then up to New Castle to visit his mom for the day, all so that I can finish up a grant that is due on Wednesday. So I made a deal with myself that I am going to write a little post, then work for 3 hours, then read for 30 min and work for 3 more hours before the boys get home. That should be enough, hopefully. Speaking of reading, I am currently enjoying Liz Gilbert's new book "Committed", which I think every woman married or thinking about getting married should read.

About the run...
I dilly dallied in the am, chugging cars and trains with Petru to sooth the guilt of having him spend the entire day with his dad. Around 9:30 am they took off for the party, I took off for my run. The plan was to do 17@8:26. The plan was also to stick with the pace, but that did not happen. I kept the average around 8:15 for the first few miles, until I got to the Fresh Pond loop which is packed with runners on Saturday mornings. Here is when I got in trouble. I did not want anyone to pass me, so I ended up pushing the pace so that by mile 11 after 3 loops my pace was 7:54. I headed into Belmont for the hills. This is where I died. A painful death. My legs felt like jello and I had to stop in the middle of the hills to stretch and catch my breath. After 3 miles of hills, with breaks, mind you, my pace went up to a 7:58. I took advantage of some downhills and got my pace down to a 7:55 again. I picked it up for the last mile (7:08) and finished with an average of 7:51. I would have been very happy with this pace but I took lots of breaks on the hills, so really, I have no idea what my real pace was (since I stopped the Garmin). Lesson learned, though. I need to keep the pace down so that I can do the hills at the end of the run. I just have to figure out how to do that. I also think that all the hills I did this week, along with the high mileage (47 miles for the week) left my legs glycogen depleted (even though I had a big dinner last night). I have to remind myself that this is so early in training, and I am actually running way faster than my plan is telling me to. If I manage to stay healthy, I am going to have a great marathon. Anyhow, I truly hope that all this hill work got me ready for next Sunday....

On a second thought, I don't think anything would have gotten me ready for this race. It's going to be a slow, painful, quad stubbing, nauseating death. At least it's going to be in great company - I hear this is the race of the beautiful and fit. Lets hope the weather will be as great as today!



Moderately challenging? Are you KIDDING ME?

Running adventure

This afternoon I set out to run 9 miles, with 5@7:24 in the middle. The bikepath where I typically run (and which is the only fairly flat area around) is still covered with snow and ice, so I decided that probably running tempo pace on hills is a better option to risking a broken ankle... My husband had a suggestion about a route, which was great, because it's so nice to be able to blame someone if something goes wrong with a run.

Off I went around 4 pm. I started on Mass Ave for 2 miles, and then took a left on Pleasant street, as Chris suggested, and started my tempo. Holly hills! By .5 miles I was cursing in my head and getting very discouraged, but I plugged along telling myself that I can stop at the halfway point. I took a few turns on a couple of streets (mainly to avoid hills, unsuccessfully), and then went on a main road, still super hilly. After a mile or so, I noticed that my legs were much stronger on hills; I managed to keep a 7:20 pace while cursing and blasting rap (fitting, ha?). By mile 2.4 I saw a gigantic hill in front of me and decided to turn around into a complex and run the .10 there rather than run up the hill. I took a breather at 2.5 miles, and turned around. I ran and ran, faster and faster, and ended up with average of 7:14 for the 5 miles. I was flying over those hills, and missed my turn toward Mass Ave and back home.

I found myself at a gas station where a Russian guy told me to go back, take some turns, and surely I could find my way back. Good! I turned around and followed the directions, which took me to a v busy street with cars at a couple of inches from me. After a mile or so, I started getting a little nervous bc nothing around looked familiar. My pace was getting fast for a recovery run even though I was trying to run slow (how can I get myself a surge of adrenaline in races????). I ended up knocking on a random door to ask for directions again. A woman who obviously was undergoing chemo or radiations, came out in her pjs to explain to me how to get home. I felt so bad to disturb her, though she told me that it was a good thing for her to get some fresh air (thank you!!!). Her directions were great, and I managed to find my way in a little over .5 miles. By this point it was getting dark, I was getting cold and hungry! I got home with a total of 10 miles, 2@ 8:30, 5@7:14, 3@8:14, stuck my butt in front of the fireplace for a few minutes, and made a huge smoked salmon and tomato sandwich on rye to hold me over until dinner. I was to run 5 hilly miles tomorrow, but since I did all my runs on hills this week, and I am planning on running hills as part of my long run on Saturday, I will run 5 slug-like miles on flats tomorrow aka snowy bike path). With all the hills, I am praying my legs won't get mad at me!

Music and running

Until a few months ago, I did not believe in racing with music. I felt that I needed to concentrate on my own body, and be one with the run. That did not go too bad. I did do all my training runs with music, but I chose the same music I typically listen to at home: Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams, David Gray, The Jayhawks, etc, etc. Yes, this kind of music is not conducive to fast running. After listening to some wisdom from the blogosphere (yes, you), I got for some hip-hop, rap, 80s type music, and made a few playlists. Wow! I believe these playlists deserve at least 1/2 the credit for my PRs in the half-marathon and marathon. And 3 Black Eyed Peas songs got me the PR in a recent 5K.

It's pretty amazing how fast music gets legs moving faster. Take today, for example. I was dragging my speedwork at the wee hours this morning. I work from home on Mondays but I like to get the run done at 7am or so, so that I can focus on work the rest of the day. The track is covered in snow. The bike path, the only flat-ish part of my town (Arlington HEIGHTS) is covered with packed snow and ice. Arhhh!!! A new playlist got me out of the house and excited about running fast. I used "Rhythm is a dancer" (those of you in your 20s have no idea what I am talking about) for 4 of my 5 intervals! I killed them all (1200 @ 5:59 pace, 1000m @ 6:05, 800m@6:05, 600m@ 6:04, 400m @ 6:00) in spite of running them on mild rolling hills!
The only problem with depending on music for runs is that playlists get old fast. I bet by next week I won't be able to stand listening to "Rhythm is a dancer" (though I am not a user and discarder in real life:). So, any suggestions for good running music? What do you listen to when you want to run fast???? And if you are not using music for your runs, try it out, you'll love it!

2000-2010 in Living and Running

I liked the idea of a decade in review, which I have seen on several blogs. It's a nice way to look back and contemplate life events. I will only list, not contemplate here. Too much self disclosure, just like too much privacy is not my thing.

So here we go:

2000
- got into grad school
- got married (to a man 9 years older than me)
- honeymoon in Hawaii hiking the islands
- moved to Ohio for grad school.
- experienced huge culture shock
- had my first cry in front of my husband over an upcoming statistics test. He read the entire book and explained everything to me, including the fact that I was smart enough to get a PhD. Statistics became my strength.
-spent way too much time studying and secured the "know it all, nerd status" on campus.
-ran 4-5 miles 5-6days/week, including in the winter, which led to eyebrow raises by both professors and students.

2001
- school, school, school
- got a cat even though I hated cats at the time, as Chris felt lonely while I was in the lab all day long. Squeeky changed my impression about cats.
-made great friends.
-continued running 4-5 miles 5-6 days a week.
-ran a 5K and placed 2nd overall with a 8:XX pace (yes, I know, that would never happen in New England).

2002
-defended masters
-spent way to much time studying, but loved every moment of it.
-dad died of cancer, I studied some more.
-kept up with running
-lots of hiking and white water rafting.

2003
-more school
-loved school and the success I was having
-did some teaching, started to publish a bit.
-lots of cross country skying and hiking.

2004
-defended dissertation
-had to leave USA due to immigration issues (INS lost my marriage paperwork).
-became an illegal immigrant with a PhD
-left the country in tears, along with Chris
-got pregnant by accident
-New Years in Romania
- ran the streets of Bucharest while being chased by dogs.

2005
-toughest year ever
-fought for permanent residency
-applied for psychology residency in US and Canada (since it was uncertain whether I would be able to get back to the US)
- had phone interviews while mom's dog barked in the other room. I think the dog got me into Harvard (my interviewer was a dog lover).
-returned to US in May
-started residency in July.
-gave birth to Petru John on August 10th, 2005. Easy birth which later on left me feeling a bit inferior to all the horror birth stories I heard from other moms.
-back to residency October 1st. Chris stayed home with Petru.
-somehow I (we) survived.
-ran with the jogging stroller and loved it!

2006
-Chris took a full time job teaching inner city. I worked full time as a postdoc. Petru was in daycare full time. Lots of frozen pizza, messy house. Somehow we survived.
-little running with the jogger.
-game night with friends kept us sane.

2007
-Chris quit his job and started teaching PT. I continued working full time. Petru went to day care part-time. Everyone was happier.
-joined a running group of moms.
-ran my first 1/2 marathon injured and finished in 2:06 limping.
-healed and continued to run with the group.
-got faster.

2008
-PRed in 3 half marathons and got my time down to a 1:44. Got 2 stress fractures in the meantime.
-loved my job.
-got my first grants and more independence.
-lots of trail running in the summer.
-forced myself to get over a water phobia.
-taught myself to swim breast stroke.

2009
-got over my fear of injury and started training for Boston along with 2 friends (for charity).
-loved the training.
-became more and more passionate about running.
-started reading about running and learned that, hm, one should never run all out all the time...
-no injuries.
-ran 2 marathons; PRed
-ran 2 half marathons; PRed
-ran a 5K; Pred.
-race my first triathlon.
-realized I need to race more.
-taught myself how to swim free style.
-bought my first road bike and did lots of summer biking.
-a few work changes but landed on my feet and secured a pretty nice setup.
-loved parenting more than any of the prior years.

I'm back

No, I am not back home, my flight is tomorrow am. I am in Miami resting in a hotel room. Will go for a swim in a little while - outdoor pool, don't hate me, though:)

I've had a great time seeing family in Miami and traveling with more family (uncle, aunt, mom and son) cruisin' to Jamaica for a few days! My husband stayed home and, after speaking with him over the phone today we both agreed that he had a better time than I did. While I chased my son around the boat, he chased...nights with friends, concerts in Cambridge, games of Carcasson and Alhambra, dinners and late nights watching sports. While I was up at the wee hours, he got to sleep in. While i worried that Petru will somehow disappear when I turn my head, he got to be worry free. But that's OK, since our 2010 "vacation apart" (which we've been doing for a while now and has been one of the best decisions ever!) I will be the one sans kid!

But let's talk about running....
I was smart enough to do my long run before leaving for Miami. I knew that I could not run 13 miles on a treadmill, and I was right! I had a hard time doing even 5-6. However, I do see a positive to treadmill running - so much easier on the joints. I got on the cruise with bilateral knee pain, which magically disappeared after 5 days of treadmill only running. Nice!

Here is the weekly recap:
Week 18:

Monday 12/28 - 13miles @ 7:58
Tuesday 12/29 - 5 miles recovery @ 8:40; 800m free swim
Wednesday 12/30 - 9.5 miles with 3x1600m @ 6:15, 6:19, 6:17.
Thursday 12/31 - about 2 h swim (here is when I let all the kids squirt water over my head while swimming laps - what wouldn't a mom do for some exercise?)
Friday 01/01 - 8 miles easy (was supposed to be with 2 miles tempo); Garmin died which was a good thing because, well, I felt sluggish - this turned out to be a stomach bug that made me friends with the toilet for 24 hours.
Saturday 01/02 - nada!
Sunday 01/03 - 6 miles w/ 4x800m @ 6:06 on the treadmill! Why are these so much harder than on the track? And no, I did not mean to do 2 speed sessions in one week, but since I skipped the tempo miles on Friday, I switched things around; 10 mile bike.
T: 41 miles

Week 17:
Monday 01/04 - 5 miles @ 8:30-8:00; 1 mile swim.
Tuesday 01/05 - 5 miles @ 8:30-8:00; 4 miles on Arc
Wednesday 01/06 - 6 miles w/ 2@6:50 on treadmill; 5.5 miles Arc
I have 5 easy miles tomorrow, and a 15 miler over the weekend, in the cold New England which I actually miss. I miss my home and I miss my husband getting Petru in the morning while I sleep in. Yes, I am spoiled and I like it that way!

Happy New Year to everyone. No resolutions for me. Life is good, not perfect, but good enough. When it comes to running, I'd like some PRs, a dose of confidence and some Newton's and I know that eventually I will get them. Mostly, I want to continue being healthy and enjoy the life I am making for myself!