Back to Fresh Pond and marathon training week #3

Hudson likes to get his marathoners used to racing, and I completely get his point. He called for a 10K today, but darn, 10Ks are rare in this part of the country during summer time. All I could find was some trail 10K 1 hour away, no thanks! And then, ding, ding, ding, Fresh Pond. I could run 5 miles there, race the 5 mile course (more like 4:65-4:75), and then get a ride back home (since this is a cut back week).

I love Fresh Pond. It's beautiful. I have gotten used to the off leash dog rule (and really good at dodging the little ones who, when they see you, get squirrely and have no idea which way to go), and the lovely people who have not seen each other in so long and thus start conversations in the middle of the path. What I did not get used to? The heat. The race is at 10am. We had 91 degrees, 95 feel, 57% humidity this morning at 10am. But, I checked my ego at the door (so to speak), and decided to go for it. Hudson would want me. Petru wanted me (he really wanted some good uninterrupted train time with daddy and then some donuts since I was to get picked up at a Dunkin Donuts). Chris wanted me (heck, as long as I am not HIM training, he just goes with the flow).

So, I put my trusty Lulu shorts and a sports bra on and left the house at 9:10, just as the entire street was outside, kids playing, parents chatting. I jogged progressively to the race and got there all sweaty and ready for some faster miles. And holy batman! The race was packed. There were some 25-30 people, which is double, triple what I was used to in the winter. And I knew no one! This race must have a winter crowd, and a summer crowd. The winter crowd has the "real runners" - no water, skinny as hell, tough, wearing racing flats, fairly intense. The summer crowd is more varied: shape, sizes, outfits, age. No one was stretching or sprinting, aside from a woman who spent over 20 minutes sprinting and stretching. I started talking to a few people, Tufts cross country graduates, and all of a sudden was very happy about leaving my ego home. ha!

And we are off. I feel good. I am running 5:45 at .25. Eventually I slow down to HM pace, which is what I want to run. I keep it there, and then go a bit faster. I pass people, and then I am alone. I am feeling good until I start lap 2, when I start feeling the nausea. But, what can I do? I keep going. This is the beauty of races. The nausea gets more and more intense and I slow down a little. This is where I wished there were other women around me, I needed some competition. Without it, my brain had good arguments to not push "that" hard. I mean, I was winning! So I ended up with a 31:13, which is not my worst (31:31, on my first FP) or my best (30:01on my last FP) on this course. I feel OK about the effort. I could have pushed harder, but alas, I pushed hard enough. I know I run much faster in cooler temps (in fact, I had some faster workouts in this training cycle, in early am cooler temps). And a win is a win. Feels good. Always. Though remember, my ego stayed home:)

And the rest of week #3?
Easy peasy! I had a 15 miler easy, which I ran early in the morning, at a comfortable pace and finished with a few faster miles, lots of easy runs with harder yet short efforts sprinkled in, and a 4X6min @ 10K run, all which went well. I have 8 easy miles tomorrow and will finish the week with 57 miles! I also biked 2 hours, and by Sunday I will total 4 miles of swimming.
I feel great!

I had so much fun at Fresh Pond that I am really working on how to incorporate the race into marathon training. I can't "race" it weekly like I did in the winter, mostly because that would be risky and actually not helpful for the marathon. But, perhaps I could run these races at the end of some of my long runs...Thinking out loud here...Will see!