It's FALL!

I love the beautiful Fall weather. Nothing like running on colored leaves and smelling the crisp air...and not getting drenched in your own sweat, yuck!

It's been an interesting time since my last post. I have done a lot of running, and even completed a running streak! Look at that!

After almost 5 years of intense racing, it has been so freeing to let go of goals and just run. Initially I thought I would slack and the absence of a goal would make me choose to sip on an extra cup of coffee rather than go out and run, but that did not happen. Instead, I ran almost daily, mostly without a watch, sometimes for 4 miles only, other times for 15 (although lately 12 miles has been my longest run), sometimes on asphalt but mostly on trails. Happy Running!

Most of my runs have been easy, though once in a while I turn on my Garmin for a mile or so and am mostly pleasantly surprised by my pace, given that I have done no speed in many months, and my only tempo runs have consisted of attempts to keep up with my 8 year old's biking.

Not racing this summer has led to many family adventures including an amazing trip to Paris for my birthday


Looks there was even a race in Jardin de Luxemburg!

 Me with my lovies!

My boy in front of our studio!

My happy traveler already planning a trip to Japan (and a job to pay for said trip!).

Life is good. Running without racing can be awesome. Who knew?

Running to the beat of my own drum

...or the foot strike of my own Brooks, or something...


Hello, hello, whomever is still there! Time for a blog update! It's been a while, but when you have a running blog and you are taking a break from racing, it is a bit hard to find topics to blog about. At least for me it is. And since I deleted a post I had already written and I want to duck out for a short run before picking up my darling boy from after school, a bullet point update it is:

* Things are good! This is the first summer in many when I am not training for anything. I usually spend my summers scrambling to find time to fit in long runs (in preparation for a fall marathon) in addition to family activities. This summer, I decided I wanted a break from all the scrambling. It hasn't been easy, I've had thoughts of being lost without a training plan, and considered training for shorter distances. But after a few weeks, I kind of like it:)

* I am still running. In fact, I needed a goal so I decided to work toward a 100 day running streak. Just for fun! I am at day 69, averaging about 9 miles/day. My longest streak before was two winters ago, 85 days, 9.2 miles/day. So yes, I am running some 60-65 miles per week*. But the thing is, I run them how I want to and when I want to, if I want to. I do a lot of trail running, a lot of listening to podcasts and a lot of talking with Chris. I run without a watch and pretty easy unless someone passes me and then I have to catch them back:). While my fast twitch muscle fibers are atrophying, I enjoy being  fully immersed into family fun this summer, without being overly tired or concerned about fitting my runs in. Coming Fall, things will change. Maybe. Potentially. Too far along to think about. But that's for another blog post.

* I am also vicariously training through a dear friend, who decided to put herself in my training hands. I think she had no idea what she'd get herself into, ha! Writing workouts and watching Jenn commit to them even when they seemed overwhelming on paper has been so wonderful for me. I love running, writing workouts, trying to figure out the progression that can lead to great things...I truly believe that pushing the body hard is the only way to get faster. No shortcuts, no 7 minute abs, no BS. Jenn has been inspirational in how she managed to run some super hard workouts while working full time, mothering 3 busy kids and nourishing one of the strongest marriages I have ever heard off. It's been interesting balancing the friend and the coach and had to make myself move away from the computer at times when I would read about her days and think how in this world would she be able to complete hard tempos at 7pm after being up since 5 or so for work and kids. But she has always completed them. She might have swore at me a little (or a lot) during those runs, but she got the work done, ha! And no matter what will happen on race day, she is PRing every workout so far!

* I have a lot of adventures planned for the summer: hikes in the White Mountains, long bike rides with Petru, a white water rafting trip (an old favorite of mine) with Petru (his first), camping trips, visits to my MIL's house on the beach, lots of barbecues,  a fun girls' trip, and a birthday celebration in Paris in early fall, just me and Chris (and mom for a few days).

* I am still reading blogs, mostly on my phone on the way to and from work. I know what you are ALL up to (those who posts, I often wonder about this fastie and what she is up to...) and am so excited for all the races you have planned.

______________

* I don't recommend a running streak. I would not keep one up if I were training. Since my runs are easy and very easy these days, I can get away with the streak.

Recovering, assessing and a 5K TT

Anyone who reads this blog should know that any time I don't post for a while I am either injured (knock on wood, not the case this time) or conflicted (about running!). After the winter season that was not - due to 2 races that were cancelled - I knew I had to rest a bit. I had a few niggles that needed to go away. I also had a mind that did not want to try anymore. I took about 2 weeks off of training. I ran almost daily but as long as I wanted, with no structure and no watch. I let go. I thought things over. I listened to podcasts. I listened to my thoughts. I thought about choices, priorities, goals, desires, you know, the big things. Here is the scoop. This will never be one of those "open book" blogs. I censor myself here for various reasons, most important being that I want to create happy memories. I believe that we create our own memories in many different ways - how we think, what we do, and also what we choose to write about. This may not be for everyone, but it is for me. I want to look back at this public journal years from now and remember the good runs, the races, the beautiful runs. I want to put a positive spin on everything in my life, and I want to train my mind to remember the positives.

Lately I have been doing some "happy running". Last week I did a 5K TT in 20:09. It was very controlled, not all out, with a very slow first mile bc I had not done any 5K specific training in many many months. Then I went to the track twice. Today I ran another 5K TT, on the track in 18:28:59, 5:56 pace. It was hard. I vomited at the end (not as much as I did on Monday during the 3x1mile @ 5:45). I was happy. I wanted to break 19 in the 5K for so long. Although this is not an official time, and the track is much faster than the road, today I did not care. Today I felt strong. And many hours later my legs feel strong and happy, niggle free. The rest of me is exhausted, as I usually am at the end of a full day.

More happy will follow tomorrow. My good friend, one of the special ones who "gets me" is coming to Boston for a few days. Then Saturday another friend, quite an opposite to myself in some sense, but one very, very close to my heart is coming over again. It's been too long since I've seen them both and I can't wait. Then Monday I get to watch the Boston marathon. I am happy I am not running it this year. I am nervous for a couple of truly inspirational runner that are close to my heart, and can't wait to see them run strong on Monday.

Here is to my favorite Boston Marathon 2013 runners; Katie, Tia, Amanda, Robin, Kristina...and everyone else I might have forgotten. The chorus is for you!

The process

At the beginning of this training cycle, some 18-20 weeks ago, I made a pact with myself that I will work hard not to get attached to a race outcome. I wanted to make sure I enjoyed the process, I kept my priorities in check and I did not make sacrifices for my training (e.g. I stayed up late with friends Friday nights, I did not skip on life events due to my running schedule, etc). This is a different strategy than I have employed in the past. It was nothing to brisk, but rather a process of growth (for me) from my early years of racing 2009-2011, when at times I was fused with training.

This training cycle has gone amazingly well for me. I have seen myself get faster than I have ever been.  Although not attached to training, I have worked harder than ever before. My body has been able to handle more quality than ever before. I did not get injured. I made the correct call on 3 niggles - knee pain, ball of foot pain and back pain - and ran through them and watched them disappear. I have also learned valuable lessons about my body, and have put a lot of thought into where I want my running to go. It has become clear to me that although my musculoskeletal system can handle a ton of work, my hormonal and nervous systems get tired after about 18 weeks. This is something new for me, which I first noticed last year. In the past, I was able to run hard year round (though the hard at that time is the moderate to easy now).

So where am I now? My second half marathon this winter got cancelled. When I first heard the news, I felt disappointment, but it was pretty easy to move on, and honestly felt relief that I could immediately go run hard. Taper is difficult for me. My body likes homeostasis and when I decrease miles by 50% on the last week of taper, things become challenging. The run yesterday was a bliss, even though it was on the TM.

Yesterday I watched on FB people posting negative comments about the race cancellation and the RD and I smiled. I got that. I was there in the past. And it felt good not to be, to be able to move on and enjoy my day, to be able to sit with the uncertainty of whether the race will get rescheduled and when, whether I have already peaked and might not be able to have the race that I could have had, whether I would have to sit through another dreaded taper again.

I look at my 7 year old who is now figuring out emotions. He is learning about disappointment on the small scale. He is completely attached to outcomes. He often tells me that "this is not fair". I help him through, hold him, and when he is out of his 'stress response' I whisper in his ear: "Sweety, life is not fair. Things don't always happen for a reason", and then I take him on an imaginary waterslide and watch his little face turn into a smile.

So there it goes...an training cycle with little to show for, objectively (for now), but a full load of experiences and growth! I'll take it! And now I go run....

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:)

Week in review and a few other things

The weather in New England has been brutal this week. I love winter running and cold weather, but running in -10-20 degrees (due to wind chill) has required a great deal of preparation. Sure, I can always choose the treadmill, but I dislike it so much that I will do anything to avoid it.

This week was a planned recovery week. It did not end up being a recovery week per se, but I made myself cut down my miles to 65. I also replaced my typical moderate progression run on Tuesday with an easy run. I did not feel I needed more recovery, because overall I feel great. My knee has been fine (untaped) for about 2 weeks now, and I have no niggles or concerns about my body. Sure, my legs are tired, but it is the kind of tired that you are supposed to feel when running hard, the kind of tired that leads to adaptation...at least this is what I tell myself:)

So here are the details:

Monday: 
a.m. 8.5 miles @ 6:50 with 8x 3 min @ 5:50-6:10 on 1 min rest (full stop and walk). These were supposed to be done @ 10K pace, but I decided that I would benefit from a bit more actual speed and after the first couple @ 6:10, I pushed the pace a bit and allowed myself to walk for recovery. Competitor running had a nice article this past week about how walking for recovery leads to similar physiological adaptations as easy running for recovery (though it is so much easier for me to walk than run for recovery, ha!). These were hard for me. Funny how I used to love intervals because I was used to them, and now I hate them and really like tempos (which I used to hate) because I am doing a lot of tempo work. Ha!

p.m. 3.5 miles recovery very easy no watch.

Tuesday:
p.m. 10 miles easy with 1.5 mile uphill. No watch. Very cold!

Wednesday:
a.m. 6 miles easy on trails with no watch. Felt good so did 10x10 secs hill sprints. Very cold, did not think I would make it the entire way.

Thursday:
a.m. 10 miles @ 7:06 as progression, first 5 miles MAF+5, last 5 miles building up to MAF+10, +15 and all out last mile. Last 5 miles were sub 7 with last mile 6:13 HR 186 (my 5 K HR). Very cold and windy. Water bottles froze so had no water. My neck warmer got wet from my breathing and froze. Crazy temps!

p.m. 3.5 miles recovery no watch. Legs felt pretty good so ended up running faster than usual, no watch though.

Friday
p.m. 4 miles recovery. Felt great so added 5x20 secs strides.

Saturday
a.m 14.5 miles. Thirteen miles @ 7:05 like this: first 5 miles @ 7:25 to the Fresh Pond race; five minute bathroom stop before the race started; race: 4.95 miles in 33:09 6:41; 5 minute or so rest, then 3 miles @ 7:25. Then 1.5 mile straight uphill with no watch (made a deal with myself to take this route but allow myself to go super slow, which I did, like 9 minute miles or slower probably).

Sunday:
4.5 miles planned, no watch, on trails.

I feel pretty good about this week. My fitness in up there. This is the first time I did the Fresh Pond race with the hills added on, and, as much as I hated them, I reminded myself that they will make me stronger. The race was more of a TT, as I ran alone the entire time (only person who did the 2 loops, I think), and considering the conditions and the unstable footing (packed snow), I ran very well. I also did not push as hard as I could have, which is a theme for this training cycle. I am not pushing my workouts all out anymore, except in the last few minutes of the last interval or mile of a tempo. Not sure if this is fear of suffering or being smart, but since I am certainly getting faster, I'll keep doing what I am doing.

Four more weeks until my first half marathon. Two or 3 more Fresh Pond races to get myself used to being in a ~ race situation again. Super excited to see a huge breakthrough at a certain race tomorrow, by a certain someone who is going to surprise everyone who does not check her daily mile with her performances this year!

Another training week and some observations

This was was supposed to be a recovery week, but somehow I am going to end up with another 70 mile week. I'll take it. Three in a row and next week must be 60 or less. I will make it happen:) My legs feel surprisingly good. My legs feel very fatigued when I first up the miles, but then they adjust and adapt. They certainly do not feel fresh at all and I need time to warm up, but I find that doing a 30 min slow recovery run the day after a hard run helps a ton with recovery. I am also thinking that running on tired legs would make the paces feel much easier once I am tapered...will see:)

Here is how it went down.

Monday:
a.m. Hill workout; 8.5 miles @ 7:46. Warmed up on the bike path and than ran 6x2 min @ 6% incline and 7:30 pace (equivalent to 5:43 pace on a flat road per Daniels). I wanted to do this run on the TM thinking it would perhaps leave me less sore than if I ran it outside. My glutes get a beating from hill repeats. This was hard for me. 2 minutes is a manageable interval, but felt hard to me.
p.m. Recovery on hilly terrain; 3.5 miles, no watch.

Tuesday: Aerobic run by HR @ MAF+5 beats. 7:30 pace. Very sore from the hill repeats.

Wednesday; Recovery/Easy. 6 miles on fresh snow, no watch. Still sore. Beautiful run.

Thursday:
a.m 13.5 @ 7:12 with 12x90secs 10K (ended up being 6:10-6:24) on 90 secs easy (7:30-8:15). Ran 4 miles tempoish (MAF+10 secs) before the intervals to tire the legs. Windy day, hard run.
p.m. Recovery on hilly terrain; 3.5 miles, no watch.

Friday:
Recovery 3.5 on flat soft trail. Very easy. No watch.

Saturday:
13.5 miles with 10 progression from MAF to all out. .5 warm up @ 8 pace. 10 @ 6:57 with last mile all out @ 6:06, all into 15-20MPH wind; 3 miles cool down super easy back home with 1.25 mile straight uphill. Felt manageable, but the last 4 miles of the tempo @ 6:29 pace felt very hard.

Sunday: 8 easy with 10x10 secs hill sprints on trails (planned).
######

Some observations:
# I am still hosting a "who knows what bug" and had a headcold the past 2 weeks. Did not really feel it affecting my run today. A normal person would take a Tylenol or something...ha!
# I think my pace at Hampton is going to be dictated by weather. If we get weather like today with crazy wind, I will need to adjust. I am going to go with whatever feels comfortable.
# I love the Pure Flow 2s. Hated the Pure flow 1s, but the 2s are a much better fit for me. They fit like the Cadence 1 which is interesting. I am still getting used to the pink...
# I need to make it to Fresh Pond for a few 'races' before Hampton. This means not staying up late drinking wine and eating chocolate.
# I am realizing that I am not willing to make sacrifices for running right now. See above as perfect example. Does this mean I don't "want" the PR as much as I did before? Not sure. All I know is that I really love running fast (for me!) right now.

Training this week

Another solid week of training in the books! I feel tired! I am looking forward to a nap this afternoon while my boys go to a basketball game!

This is how it went down.

Monday: 8.5miles @ 7:22 am  with 4 miles fartlek 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3 @ 5K pace on 400m jog (5:30-6 pace). The intervals were unexpectedly HARD; 3.5 easy no watch 8:30-9 pace in the evening on hilly terrain.

Tuesday: 12 planned became 8 easy @ 8:06. Sick, could not inhale. Blah!

Wednesday: 6 planned became 8 easy on trails @ 8:23; 10x10 secs hill sprints. Still unable to inhale without a screechy sound. Blah!

Thursday: 11 tempo am @ 7:15 pace. 20 MPH winds. 6 miles tempo @ 6:30 pace broken down into 3 miles @ 6:39, and 2x1.5 @ 6:22 and 6:15. I would have liked to have done 6 continuous miles, but the wind was a killer. It was either 6 miles @ close to 7, or 6 quality miles broken down. I decided I would benefit from the 6 quality miles at this point. Even with the break my average HR for the last interval was 187, which is very high for me. I tell you, the wind is a killer when you try to run fast. 3.5 miles recovery in the evening, no watch, probably 8:30-9. Legs really tired. Still sick, but able to inhale deeply!!!

Friday: 4.5 recovery on trails, no watch, probably 8:30 pace. Legs felt great!

Saturday: 15.5 miles @ 7:24; first 7.5 @ 7:48 easy, then 3 @ MAF HR+5/10 beats, then 2 @ threshold, then 2 @ HR not higher than 185 (VO2 max for me). No wind today but the last 4 miles were hard! I was lucky to "race" with a speedy guy and he really pushed me so that I managed the last 2 miles @ 6:38 and 6:31. Only 5 miles sub 7 today. Legs surely tired!! Fun to run by HR!

Sunday: 6.5-8 planned, easy on trails, no watch, with 10x10 secs hill sprints.

Two 70 mile weeks in a row and 3 days/week of quality and I think I am ready for a cut back in mileage! I am also going to start going to Fresh Pond to test my fitness in a low pressure race. I have NO IDEA what my real HMP is. I am surely running more miles and much faster than in 2011 when I ran a 1:32 in February at Hampton in awful conditions and 1:28 in March at Quincy in great conditions, but running sub 6:50 does not feel anywhere close to comfortable at this point in time.

My nonscientific recipe for kicking a cold bug's a$$

It's winter. I run outside. I sweat a lot. I don't always get a chance to change clothes immediately after a run as I rush to pick up Petru from school, or do an errand. I work in a hospital. I hang out with kids a lot. I train hard. So, every winter I embrace the fact that I am going to be sick. However, I try to be proactive as the first signs of a cold, and most of the time I manage to kick it out of my system quickly, or at least be able to run through it.

My run Monday was harder than it should have been. I chucked it up to a "bad day", and did not think much of it. On Tuesday I felt chills and fatigue and cut my run down from 12 miles to 8. Breathing was hard. HR was high for the pace. Wednesday I ran another 8 easy, while listening to the screeching sound I made any time I tried to inhale deeply. I had a threshold run planned for today, and was concerned, so I pulled out all the nonscientific remedies:

Kambucha - love the taste, and the fact that noone in my household can stand that stuff. All for ME!
Blueberries - ate one pint/day!
Fruits and veggies: ate a huge serving of stir fry heavy on the spinach and broccoli for lunch.
Chicken soup for dinner.
Bundled up during my Wednesday run, to make myself sweat more than usual.
Took hot baths with epsom salt.
Took a nap after work yesterday.

I woke up this morning feeling much better. Sure, I still had a cough and my nose was running like a water faucet. But the screeching sound was gone. I was able to inhale deeply (which is something I need to be able to do when I run hard) and I had a great threshold run to boot!

Oh, and the knee is doing very well, in case you are wondering!

I am curious what do you do when you are sick? Take a rest day from running, ignore the symptoms, adjust your runs? Any scientific or nonscientific "tricks" to get yourself feeling better?

The magic of kinesiotape!

OK, so I sheepishly mentioned some knee pain during my trip to Florida. It was a bit of a surprise and frankly annoying. I did cut my miles down to 49+7 miles on the eliptical that week, but ended up running 70 last week. With some pain. But not much.

A while back I purchased some kinesiotape from REI. Frankly, I am very skeptical of all runner gimmicks: ice baths (particularly in line of current research which shows that icebaths actually prevent muscles from getting stronger because it reduces inflammation, which is the body's way of getting stronger; unless I am injured, I am off the ice!), ART, Graston, kinesiotape, you name it. I am going to pay money for something if I know its efficacy is documented by science. Except the kinesiotape was cheap and pink and I could not resist. And when one is injured, the need the science kind off goes down the drain (at least for me, unless we are talking really expensive or dangerous procedures).

So 2 Saturdays ago  I had 13 miles with 6@ HMP and I knew I needed to get the run done. I pulled out the tape and followed the directions on the box for "full knee support". The moment I put the tape on I felt coolness in my leg and absolutely no pain. Boom! I could not believe it. The knee had a bit of pain during the warm up, but it went away and I had no issues during that run and subsequent runs. I kept the tape on until Wednesday morning. I wore stalkings at work so took the tape off (vanity, vanity!). That day I had nonstop knee pain. I was getting worried. I got home, put the tape back on, and boom, no pain. I now had 3 runs with absolutely no pain, and am thinking of waiting a couple more days before going tapeless. Not sure what to make of this. The research is lacking. What I know for sure is that I will be taping any little niggle I might develop, as I learn what are things I can  (knee pain, ITB, ankle pain, back pain - all things I was successful in managing in the past without taking a break from running) and  can't (e.g., bone issues such as shin splints/stress fractures) run through.

Getting down to business!

I have been running well lately. I've discovered that tempo runs are really the most important factor in getting me running strong. Perhaps I have a natural talent for fast and short intervals, and so my body does not benefit from them as much as it does from tempo runs.

With about 8 weeks to go until my first half marathon, I picked it up a bit this week.
Here is how it went down.

Monday: 11 miles @ 7:17, all easy except 15X1 min 5:05-5:45. Cold and icy. Intervals felt hard probably because I did not run sub 6 since November!

Tuesday: 16 total; 12 easy @ 7:40 on ice and snow with 10x 10-20 secs hill sprints in the am, and 4 recovery on the TM @ 8:40.

Wednesday: work 7-7, no run.

Thursday: 15 total; 11 @7:20 (with 2x15 min @ 6:21 and 6:19 in the middle) in the am (-5 degrees!) and 4 recovery with no watch, probably 8:30-9 pace on hills in the afternoon.

Friday: 6 easy on trails, no watch, probably 8:30-9 pace, with 4 strides: 15, 20, 25 an 30 secs.

Saturday: 14 miles @ 7:05, with 7 @ 6:35 in the middle (4@ 6:46, stop for 1 min, then 3 @ 6:15); 16-19MPH wind, so really happy with this run. The last 3 miles of the tempo was hard on the legs, though the HR was good!

Sunday (planned): 8 miles recovery on trails, no watch, with 10x10 secs hill sprints, to finish up with 70 miles for the week!

I still have no idea what pace to shoot for for my first HM, and will decide when I get closer to the race.   For now, I am really enjoying my training!

And so it begins

Chris and I spent last evening together on the couch watching "Breaking bad" in our pajamas, curled up under a blanket, eating pretzels, almonds and dark chocolate. It felt peaceful. At 11:45 we switched to regular TV to watch the ball drop. I had absolutely no envy for those sitting in the middle of all that excitement watching in Time Square. I was blissfully happy to be in my own home, to dream about the new possibilities the new year brings, and to feel such comfort and security in my home, in my life. I tip toed upstairs and woke Petru up at midnight, as promised, for a first 2013 kiss for him (second for me!). He did not believe me it was midnight and had to check his own watch before falling right back to sleep. And like that, a new year has just begun.

I don't make new year resolutions, but I do like to assess my own life and think ahead. As I clear out all the wrapping paper and boxes we collected over the past month, I realize that I want to own less, not more "stuff" in 2013. I also want more art on my walls, not expensive art, but meaningful art - some of my mom's work, some of my son's intricate railroad crossing/traffic lights black ink cities, and some art from my old home back in Romania. For every piece of clothing I get, I want to give one away. For every toy my son gets, I want him to choose to give one away. I want to foster more independence in my son, which means working through some of my own issues, so that I can let go. I want to be more patient with Chris, and break through some of the cultural issues that I have come to understand at a deeper level recently. I want to continue to enjoy my work and be challenged by it. I want to run, aim high, and be comfortable with whatever low that high might end up being. I want to work on embracing the changes that life brings, particularly when those changes include things that are unpleasant.

Happy New Year! What do you want in 2013?

Vacation, training and hello 2013

We have just returned from a wonderful trip to Florida, where we saw family and enjoyed some sunshine. I actually have a tan now, which is much welcomed - the older I get, the more having a tan helps:) Aside from a nightmare trip back, with a cancelled flight,  a 7 year old sleeping on the floor in the airport and a luggage that arrived more than 24 hours after our flight, we had a wonderful time. We managed to avoid Disney, and went to Legoland, Wet & Wild, the Science Center and a few mini golf places instead - my son's preferences! We spent a lot of time with family and my mom, which was truly the highlight of the trip.

The moment I stepped off the plane and felt the 80 degree weather I decided that I will completely abandon my training plan. I did not want to wake up before 8am (to avoid the heat) during vacation, and generally wanted to be relaxed and not concerned about fitting training in. The weeks before I had run 65 and 70 miles, so I felt comfortable looking at this week as  recovery. I still ended up with 61 miles and 3 solid progressions with last 3-5 miles sub 7, and last mile @ 5K pace. Good enough.

I ran on concrete the entire week. By the last day my L knee started hurting a bit. I guess going from doing 50% of my runs on trails to 100% on concrete pissed my knee off. So I took it to the elliptical on Thursday, and then ran 8 slow miles on trails yesterday. Today I wanted to do 13 (my longest run the past week was 10 miles), with 6 miles @ 6:30. Last night I used some KT tape on my knee, and by morning I felt awesome. The knee was fine during the run, and I ended up running 10 miles @ 6:55, with 5 @ 6:25 followed by 2x800m @ 6:05. I had to stop at 5 miles bc I got to an intersection/stoplight, and then .5 mile after I stopped to talk to a friend. Still happy with the run. Then ran 3 miles easy back home, for a total of 13 @ 7:05. Pretty happy with this. Now if only my knee would not give me grief!!!!. Running in the 30 degree morning felt so good compared to the 70-80 degrees of Florida. I think I am a cold weather girl at heart:)

I spent some time thinking about 2012. Not much racing for me due to 3 injuries, a bitter sweet 19:00 5K PR, but a lot of knowledge gained when it comes to running, and some great friendships through this blog. This year, particularly the last half was parenting heavy for me, as my son moved more into academics, and I've become the parent responsible for that. Running took a bit of a secondary place in my life - I do not need it as much to cope with things, and this has given me freedom and confidence. At the same time, I do want the PRs, and I do want the fast running. I just want it for different reasons now. The thrill of running fast, and the feeling I carry with me for the rest of the day is, for me, better than any PR.

Thanks for following along and have the 2013 that you want to have:)

Thoughts, training, life and news

With little time on my hands, here we go bullet point style.

* TRAINING  -is going really well. After a couple of weeks where my legs were terribly confused, heavy and sore, I am finally noticing that I am gaining fitness. And this is very motivating. My legs are adjusting to the increase in mileage (65 last week, 70 this week - I won't go higher than this) and feel great. I am not sure exactly what I will be going for at my first HM in February, and will let the workouts I do dictate that. So far comparing my training to 2011 (last time I trained for a HM), I am running more miles, faster average pace, faster intervals and faster tempos. This increases my confidence.

Some great workouts this past week:
 9 miles tempo, 3 @ MAF, 4 @ 10K-HM (6:20 pace), 2@ MAF.
13 miles progression, 6.5 @ MAF, 3 @ MAF+10, 2@ MAF+15, 1@ MAF+20, .5 cool down (7:12 pace)

Still taking it slow here, but working in HMP miles when I feel good.

* CORE CHALLENGE - I am in the middle of a 30 day core challenge. This means I committed to doing 10 min core exercises/day. I have 3 cycles I circle through, to keep things interesting. I feel so much stronger and able to keep my form when my legs get tired, that I think I will keep this in. I may have skipped a couple of days in there, but made up the time the next day, so it is all good.

* LIFE - going to Florida for a little vacation to see family, Legoland and Seaworld (happy that my son has no interest in Disney...I have no interest in spending my time waiting in line, ha!).

* PARENTING - I won't say much here, but do want to mention that all those people with babies who think that raising little kids is hard...just wait until school starts. Oh, my! Between homework, daily reading and activities I am finding that my free time is shrinking and shrinking. Parenting is more interesting, for sure, but much more demanding for older kids, at least for me.

* WHO's getting faster? Katie is! Holy Batman I am impressed on a daily bases by how fast she is getting and how quickly.

* NEWS - I am very excited to be part of the Brooks ID program again this year. I love Brooks and I love the opportunity they give to non elite runners through the ID program.

Observations

I've completed 2 weeks of training for my 2 upcoming half marathons. Things have not been going as smoothly as I would have liked them to go. My legs needed time to adjust to the increase in mileage. I had to slow down my pace on some runs due to higher HR. I was rather puzzled for a bit there, but kept track of the data (both HR, weather, sleep, diet, stress, etc). I now have clear proof that my HR is higher when under stress and/or when I don't sleep enough. Dah!!! But for me, having the data really made a difference. I have always been really good about sleep, but lately I have been staying up too late enjoying time with Chris at the end of some pretty stressful days. There isn't much to do about stress but to ride it out, problem solve and take care of yourself; I had been partly neglecting the take care of yourself part, the part that I have control over.

Anyway, I am out of the stressful patch. Went to bed at a reasonable time last night, got 9 hours of sleep, and today I had a really good run. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was a simple progression, but my HR was lower than I have seen it in a long time, and I felt really strong. I ran 14 miles @ 7:20, 7 miles building up from MAF-10 beats to MAF (aerobic HR) @ 7:45, 3.5 miles @ MAF+5 beats and then 3.5 @ MAF+10 beats, which ended up being 6:52 pace. Nothing hard in this run, just a progression from easy to moderate, on a cool and rainy day, on rolling terrain. Happy!

And now I have to contain my enthusiasm and make sure I won't push it too hard too soon. I have a tendency to run myself into the ground by working too hard too soon. I love running hard and pushing my runs to the limit. But I know that I am not a spring chicken and need to be smart about how hard I push and when I push. My February HM is a B race. My goal race is in March. Plenty of time to push much later on! For now, my main focus will be on making sure I get enough sleep and don't run myself into the ground. Because the big goal is to run myself into a PR:) in March.

The beauty of a fresh start

One of my favorite things about running is planning my season and creating a training plan. I love the possibilities, the creativity, the progression of workouts and the unknowns. Tomorrow I start my 12 week training plan for the Hampton Half marathon in New Hampshire. My A race will come 3 weeks after, at Quincy Half Marathon. I worked on my training plan yesterday and made same decisions with regard to mileage, long runs, and races along the way. My 19:00 5K predicts a 1:27:XX which seems like a lofty goal now. However, I might be aiming for a bit faster (ha!), because I think that I am in better shape than a 19:00 5K right now, and will get even faster in 12 weeks, assuming all will go well. Will see.

I have been thinking a lot about running goals. I confess that I am  a not in the "believe it and it will happen camp". I am more in the "work for it and it may happen camp". However, I do believe in setting lofty goals. I mean, why not? There is no prize to be paid for not meeting a running goal, as long as one is having fun. And I love running and training. So, I decided to work toward running goals without taking myself too seriously and without putting unnecessary expectations on myself. I do what I love to do, how I like to do it, try my best and not stress over the process or results. I am approaching this training cycle with curiosity and excitement to see what this 39 year old body can do. I am seriously considering racing track for a club once I turn 40, so this may be my last HM training cycle for a while.

Another 5K and a couple of things I love

So I ran another 5K last Sunday. It went well. I PRed on an accurate 5K course and ran it 19 flat. My watch had me @ 18:59.6 for elapsed time and 18:57 for moving time, but whatever. It is a 19 and I am going to be happy with it. I mean, a second more or less, same thing. I ran a good race and although I feel like I should be running a much faster 5K based on my training runs, I am not yet able to deliver. I think I don't know how to race 5Ks still. I plan on running many more of them in 2013. They are cheap and they boost my fitness. On Tuesday this week I ran my easy run at the pace (within my easy HR zone) I used to run my easy runs prior to my injury in April. This made me happy. I was also happy when I calculated my age graded 5K time (18:15 if I were 34 or younger). I am going to be using the age graded calculator more and more bc it feels so good:)

During the past week I spent a lot of time reviewing my training log from 2011. That was one of my best years of running. I PRed in the HM with a 1:28 and in the 5K with a 19:26 (from a 20:12, with no specific 5K training). I ran a 5K on January 1st 2011 in 20:26, and by March I was able to run a HM at a pace that was 10-15 seconds faster than that 5K. My 19 minutes 5K right now before starting any HM training is a really good baseline. I am confident that with more experience and tries, rather than more specific 5K training, I will learn how to race a sub 19 5K. I tend to achieve my short term goals easily, so not getting the sub 19 is actually good for me and makes me want it even more; in fact, I think I am easily capable to run an 18:30 and I will.

With Thanksgiving in mind, I want to share some of the things I am enjoying these days, in no particular order.
This book:

This book is AMAZING! I don't think it is for everyone, but if you are into nonfiction, learning the ways of the mind and into getting humbled, read it. I think it has great applications for athletes and I hope someday someone will apply the concepts presented in the book to athletics.

Shoes:

Brooks Pure Connects. Marketed as neutral shoes, they offer a tad of stability and arch support with no added weight. They fit like a glove and make you feel light on your feet.

Homework with my son:
I confess that I dreaded first grade and the American system (at least in the greater Boston area) where parents are required to do homework with kids. That was not what we did when I was growing up. In fact, I don't remember ever having my homework checked by my parents and it served me well. But, I confess that I love homework time. There is something magical about seeing your kid learn, and how quickly that happens. One days they struggle reading a couple of sentences and a week later they are fluent readers. One day they seem to know almost nothing, and the next day they tell you things you had no clue when they learned. I am not saying that homework time always goes smoothly, because it does not. There are times when we are both tired and just not into it. But generally we find a way to move pass that and create positive associations to learning that hopefully he will be able to take with him the rest of his life. Few things in life are more magical than learning.

Speaking of learning, off to learn more about racing a 5K from this speedy lady who ran with me on Sunday and finished some 25 seconds ahead of me:) Rockstar she is!