Tapering again

After the race that did not happen, I pushed again for a few days trying to make up for the fitness boost that I was planning to get from my first half marathon. On Saturday I ran Fresh Pond again after 4 hard miles, and experienced the benefits of having faster women around to push me. On Monday I I ran a great 5x2K @ 10K pace. On Tuesday I ran my fastest progression of this training cycle and today I ran my last quality workout, 2x15 min @ 10K pace. My legs are tired for sure, not sore, just tired and tight. I like this feeling as it gives me some tangible proof of hard work. There is a sense of relief that comes from knowing that I don't have any real hard workouts left. I have been dreading some of my hard runs lately (I can say this now because they are all done and in the bank). This is always a sign for me that I have gotten close to my limit. It is a nice feeling to have, because I can tell myself that I worked as hard as I could, and the voice inside my head that says things like you could have done that split a little faster, etc, is getting silenced.

I spent some time comparing my training this year with my training for my last HM in March 2011. I am MUCH faster. I have done MORE miles, MORE quality. I can't even compare really how much stronger I am on paper at this point. Sure, in 2011 I was into triathlons so I used to bike a lot of hours a week and swim a few times as well in addition to running, but if we think of specific running fitness, I am a much better runner now.

I don't know what this all means. Honestly, I don't know what my HM pace is. I will figure that one out as I run. I have a bit of a range in my head, but the race conditions, course (it has changed since 2011 and there are about 6 hills, with 3 of them in miles 9, 10 and 11) and the state of my legs will be the deciding factors. Regardless of what happens, I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of the last 16 weeks. I am excited to switch things up after this race, rest a bit, go back to the gym for some strength training and some spinning, enjoy some spring and summer trail running, and then see if my mind is still set on running the Baystate marathon in the fall!

Things are changing for sure, but the feeling of accomplishment and pure joy I get at the end of a hard run is a constant that I know I will always cherish it.

Good luck to all the runners racing this weekend! I am SO excited thinking about all the great races ahead, and will be stalking you on Saturday and Sunday!

Catching up!

The past couple of weeks have been awesome training wise. I ran 65 and 60 miles, suffered through some treadmill induced soreness and had a major fall in the middle of a tempo run on a turn on an icy spot, which led immediately to a bloody knee and more recently to some back pain (grr!! and maybe not even related). Speaking of pain, my R foot has also been giving me a bit of grief lately; luckily the pain is on the bottom of the foot and caused by some kind of ligament inflammation, not the bone (phew!). At this point, the back is more of an issue, although truth be told, I will not take a break for these little niggles.

I also have a little race on Sunday. Except that the race might not happen.

"Currently the race is planned to go on. However we are watching the weather carefully and we estimate that it is a 10% chance the race will be held. and a 90% likelyhood it will be cancelled.

We will post the final decision as early as possible - Our goal is to post the decision by mid-day Friday, but reserve the right to hold off until Sunday 5AM in case the weather forecast changes. (very low probability of that)". 

HA?
 I've tapered this week and ran only 30 miles thus far, mostly easy.  The snow is supposed to hit on Saturday afternoon so I should be able to have a Fresh Pond race on Saturday morning! In 2 weeks I am scheduled to run another HM, so all is well really. And truth be told, I needed a bit of a break:) I scheduled a massage tomorrow in hope of getting some relief for the back, but I know that back pain is something that kinda takes its time. I've been here before:)

In other news, vacation week is almost over for my son and my husband. Lots of adventures for them and a bit of jealousy on my part, ha! Chris and I got to enjoy a nice dinner out and some blue grass music last night. I may or may not have had my phone confiscated while I was checking emails under the table during sets:) Chris's drumming band is playing a "real gig" on March 1st and am so excited to go hear him play. So proud of him for picking up drumming a year ago, sticking to it and having a ton of fun in the process. Plus, as much as I love him, I also love a Thursday night all alone in the house. As much as I love racing, I think I am ready for another "high", particularly as I approach 40 and my body is starting to screech! We shall see what will come to me! Trail running seems very very attractive! Raina, if only you lived closer:)

Sore back from shoveling, sore legs from TM running, and making things work out

I woke up this morning and everything hurt: back, arms, neck, shoulders, quads, hamstrings, calves! What???? What's going on?

Most of you probably know that we've got hit with a blizzard this past weekend. I am one of the weird people who loves blizzards. I love watching people's reactions, the lines in the grocery stores (hm, do you really need all that meat and icecream if you are concerned about losing power? how about some canned goods?), the snow, the enthusiasm expressed by kids, and, I confess, the anxiety about the car that my hubby experiences when the weather gets bad (mean, I know!).

On Saturday I had 14 miles planned. The gym was closed. At 11 am a snowplow finally made it up a hill and onto my street. I was antsy. I was cranky. Petru was busy making tunnels in the snow with his friends. I shoveled for about 1 hour and made a path to the street. Then Chris sent me out for a run. I reluctantly left thinking I might walk/run for 30 min or so. I ended up running 10 miles @ maybe 7:40 pace in the middle of the perfectly plowed main road (driving was banned on Saturday!). The wind was evil, 30MPH with 50MPH gusts, so 5 miles felt like running uphill, but the next 5 miles were effortless. I am estimating the pace here because I did not wear a watch. I felt much happier when I was done, and managed a bit of backyard sledding too!

On Sunday the driving ban was lifted and I knew there would be no way I could run on the narrow roads. Plus, I wanted to do a bit of quality running. So, I went to the gym. I decided to do 3x5K by HR, since I know TMs are different from the road. I ran the intervals @ 6:46, 6:40 and 6:35, but ended up with one hand on the rail most of the time for balance. I know that is "bad", but it was really the only way for me, because otherwise I would oscillate from touching the front of the TM band to almost being spilled out of the TM. My HR was around my planned HM HR, so I am fine with the run. Then more sledding in the afternoon:)

Back to this morning....sore, sore, sore. I can't bend down (that's the pain from shoveling). My quads in particular are super sore. Oh, and I had to run another session on the TM. Today I had 5x2K @ 10K pace, as part of a 10 mile run. I decided on the pace based on HR, and pushed the last 2 a bit to. For some reason the 2Ks (6:22 to 6:10 pace for the last one) seemed easier to me that then 5K intervals, even though the pace was faster. Hmmm, now I can barely walk. Ha!

This brings me to my conclusion that TM running is different than road running. Dahhh!I mean, last Monday I ran 5x1K @ 5:35-5:50 on the road and did not even feel the run the next day. I ran a nice progression immediately the next day and I was fine. I read that the TM overworks the quads and does not engage the hamstrings but my quads and my hamstrings are now sore. Still, I have to say that I agree now that running intervals on the TM is easier mentally and I might incorporate it in the future.

I am not worried, of course. I will be fine, and perhaps this new training stimulus will help. The bike path is now plowed and I am hoping that the rain that we are getting now is not going to make it more appropriate for skating than for running. I have my last important run on Thursday morning and would really like to be able to do it outside! Will see!

My mental strategy

It's typical for me to start getting less excited about hard runs during the last few weeks before a race. I don't typically write or talk about this issue, because I feel like the more I talk about it, the more it becomes reality, and so I like to use little tricks instead to move along.

 I train hard, and my life, although very good, is rather complex as I work FT and parent FT. As my body gets fitter, I get more tired. It is a mostly happy tradeoff, one that I embrace and consider a normal part of training. Since I want to keep my running grounded, and not give it too much focus - because lets face it, family, work, friends will always take precedence to running for me - I don't make "sacrifices" like giving up on life stuff for more sleep, and so my body gets perhaps a bit more tired than it would on say 10 hours/night, no outside home work, you get the idea! To each her own, and this is what I do!

I am at "that" point in training right now. For today, my plan (on paper) was to run 15 miles, with 5 @ 7, and then the Fresh Pond 5 miler at a pace faster than last week's (6:39), then run easy back home. This morning I found myself dilly dallying and knew that I needed to mentally trick myself into getting out the door. So, I told myself that I have to go run the first 5 miles faster than last week (7:23), and that I can do only one loop (2.5) of the race if I wanted to. This lowered pressure got me out the door and once I started running, my mind immediately went into "well, lets see how 7 feels", except that in order to assure a 7 pace I had to go a bit faster because what if I get tired and have to slow down. The results was 5 miles @ 6:45 pace. There were 2 stops at lights, but they did not bother me. I felt OK, not super, but OK.

Once I got to Fresh Pond I had to wait about 5 minutes before the race started. My plan was to start easy, and stop after one loop if I wanted (because I had already done 5 hard miles). Lots of people showed up today and the path was cleared. We started and I felt the headwind, so decided to tuck behind the second pack from the front. They were moving @ 6:35 and although I felt that might be a bit too fast, I decided to keep it there with them. I hung out for 1 mile, but then they slowed down and I moved up, trying to catch one guy in front of me so I could draft him. The first pack was long gone, and I thought those were all the 2.5 mile racers. I caught and passed the guy on the hill at mile 2, and I was on my own thereafter. I felt pretty good so went for the second lap, telling myself that I could slow down if I needed to. At mile 3.5 I saw a blue jacket in front of me, a woman. I started focusing on her and almost caught her, making my last mile with a big hill a 6:26. So 6:32 pace for 4.95 miles. Interestingly, my HR for last mile got into the 190s, which is something I rarely see outside of a 5K, but  this HR did not seem that uncomfortable to me, showing that my LT has been improving, and I have the ability to  reach and hold a higher HR for a longer amount of time. This is good. I was super happy to have more people at the race, and have a woman who was faster than me who I could use as a rabbit.

After the race I changed my plan again, and decided that I would do a few 800ms back home. I ended up doing 6 of them for an average of 6:42 for 3 miles. Now, I have no delusions here and  I know those 6x800 are not equivalent to 3 continuous miles, and the 10-30 secs rest intervals in between helped a ton. I made this decision to rest primarily because of where I am in training right now. While my body is strong and I do not have any niggles, I am tired, my immunity is surely lowered, and I wanted to protect my body from surges in cortisol, while assuring that my legs would get stronger and prepared to run 13.1 hard miles in 3 weeks.

So this is the story of how Ana-Maria went from not really wanted to run hard today, to having a run that evolved from meh to great to super (for ME). This was a run done after many weeks of 65-70 miles, a 31 day streak averaging 10+ miles/day, a last week that included intervals (4x1 mile @ 5:55-6:04), tempo (3x10 min @ 6:15-6:20), and a moderate progression (7:23) along with 5 other 30 minute runs. I am hoping that with a nice taper, these legs and this mind will be able to run a strong winter race! We shall see:)