MOM's 5K race report

aka almost there in 2 ways: sub 20 and puking.

Here it goes.

Chris asked me a few days ago what I wanted for Mother's Day and I replied: "A race". After a little searching I found a nice little race close to home, in Davis Square Somerville. Perfect. The start was at 10am, which meant that I would be all set eating breakfast at 7am, so no need to wake up at ungodly hours. Perfect. Temps were cool, high 50s. Perfect. The winds though, were not pretty. Holly molly, I could hear them throughout the night and into the early morning. But you gotta roll with what you have, and, really, this is not a marathon! So lets go.

We got to the race around 9am, I picked up a nice race bag including an Adidas Tshirt. I gutted it out and went outside and warmed up for a mile or so, on the course. Two words: holly mother of hills and wind! I almost fell on a downhill (no joke!).

The race was not chip timed, so as we got close to 10am I proceeded to get close to the start line. I let the fast Somerville runners fill the first couple of lines, and positioned myself in the center toward the front. Off we go.

Mile 1: Don't rush! 6:25 average
I started out around 6:30, where I wanted to be. Pretty soon I was the second woman, with the first woman pretty close. I was working harder than a 6:30, which was annoying. The wind was really strong, and since the race was small (250 people) there was noone to draft off of. At .5 there was a .25 hill and I slowed down to a 6:40, but got myself on pace and passed the first woman in the process. That made me speed up!

Mile 2: Keep it up! 6:20 average
Mile 2 was nice, as the wind was coming from the back and I really felt it pushing me. The second woman was right behind me, though. Right next to me was a guy, and we were running the same pace. A couple of rollers here, but not too bad. I was in the zone.

Mile 3: Don't puke! 6:26 average
After mile 2 we turned a corner and the wind was again in front pushing us behind. 2 long hills, not very steep, but with the wind, very difficult to tackle. I put my head down, and all of a sudden I see the second place woman passing me. Darn! I started to go faster, but at 2.5 miles I started gagging and knew that I am going to puke if I push it more. In retrospect, maybe I should have puked already! At 2.75, this woman flies by me and then by the first woman sprinting her way toward first place. I looked behind to make sure there were no other women, and try to push the pace.

.16: Gag! Gag! Gag! 5:55 pace!
I put my head down and sprinted. Saw the clock saying 19:55, and though that maybe I could still go under 20. Nope! After the finish I gagged for a minute or so. I could not stop. The man who ran most race near me came to check on me, asking if I was OK. I was, I just could not stop gagging. Finally I drank some water and the gagging stopped!

Final time:
Garmin: 3.16 miles; 20:12; 6:23 pace; 3rd woman overall!
Official time: 20:12.

SO this is a PR by 13 seconds, but it is not the sub 20 I wanted. I could take some comfort into the fact that my time at 3.1 was 19:48, but I won't because the official time is what counts! Darn, weaving always gets me!

I do feel I gave it my all today, and that feels good. The winning time (women) was 19:57, which is a slow time for a woman's win in Massachusetts, so I bet the weather slowed everyone down a bit!

And what's next? I will find a flat 5K this summer and hopefully manage to go under 20. And yes, I won't bike 50 miles on rolling hills the day before:)

Oh, and I got a gift certificate for a 30 min sports massage, flowers, a trophy which I will probably donate (why oh why are we given medals and trophies, does anyone really keep those things?), a nice tech shirt and lots of great food! For $25 registration, I take it!

A day in my life

5:00am UP
6:00am arrive work
7:00 research meeting
7:30 clinic starts
1:30 clinic ends
2pm home
2:15-3:15 8 mile run
3:30-5:00 trainer
5:00-5:20 - icebath and quick shower
5:30 pick Petru up from school (30 min early, what a mom:)
5:45 home, cook special dinner with Petru, to celebrate that Chris got a summer job teaching engineering to 4th graders.
6:30 Chris gets home, dinner
7:00 "Gallop" (Petru) to Brigham's for icecream.
7:45 back home, bath for Petru
8:00 bedtime stories with Petru (my turn!)
8:30 collapsed on the couch;
8:45 write notes from this morning, revise manuscript (hopefully) while "watching" the basketball game with Chris.
10:30 hopefully in bed!

One thing I will say, no Ironman for me until I retire! There is no way I could incorporate that kind of training into my life at this point!

I think I am catching a bug...

I ended my first week of base building for the Half Ironman.

Swim: 4800m, 3 sessions
RUN: 32 m, 5 sessions (yes, I am running more than I should, I know)
BIKE: 92 miles, 3 sessions

Hurray! Loved it, loved it, loved it!

My running legs came back this week and I ran comfortably close to my "predicted" MP. Sweet!
I have the hardest time keeping the easy days easy and I have to constantly check the Garmin and slow myself down. I know that is important, so I do it.

I am seeing progress in the pool. Every time I go, I spend 5-10 minutes watching swimmers who know what they are doing, asking questions, etc. People are so nice and encouraging and...liars (e.g.," such a nice stroke you have!" No, I don't, really!) I feel much more comfortable swimming, and for the first time, this week, I felt pain in my arms from lactic acid accumulation, even though I was not out of breath! I've lost one minute or so in the 400m test, so that is awesome! Early June the outdoor pool at the Y will open and will be there everyday, which means I'll sneak in a few yards daily!

Today I fell in love with biking. I wanted to ride 40 miles, 10 more than last week, but had no clue where to go. I ended up going on the bike path till the end (8 miles), and then followed this guy (who lost me pretty quickly) toward Bedford, Billerica, Chamsford. The terrain was rolling, which was great as I got to practice going up and down hills and shifting. I did not care about speed and just focused on keeping my cadence over 90 (yeah, that is not easy for me, but I am getting better). There were very few cars on the road, and tons of bikers. The weather was perfect and I felt like a kid with a new toy. It helped that Roostom from the Quad Cycles (who's son is one of Petru's favorite playmates) in Arlington tuned my bike, changed my back tire that was close to explosion from too much trainer work, installed my odometer and a new cascate (?, I think - note to self, register for a learn the bike workshop!). I had the best time for those 2 and a half (?) hours I spent riding; not one minute did I feel like I wanted the ride to end, which is awesome! I think my bike has a great fit, because I had zero pain during or after the ride! Another thing I love about riding is that I get to eat real food (peanut butter and jelly, yum!) as opposed to gels, like I do in running.

So, a very successful week for this runner who is playing with the triathlon!
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As a side note, I discovered what caused my awfull marathon blister. A pebble! Yes, a tiny pebble got caught in the tread sole of my Nike Frees! I am saving that one, as a symbol and a reminder that little things can cause big trouble!

triathloning

I decided to start building a triathlon base. Not sure yet if that will result in me actually signing up and doing the Vermont Journey Half Ironman. I am changing my mind all the time these days, and really like the flexibility of being noncommittal in one aspect of my life. I am only 2 days into this, but I am loving 2 workouts/day, and it is not hard (so far) to fit them in with my schedule. I absolutely love the 2 90 min/week trainer workouts, when I get a chance to watch a movie or TV without being pulled in all directions by outside "happenings". Will see how it will go. I will start the actual training sometime in May. I took Paul's advice and created a program based on the FIRST running guide, which goes something like this:

M: Run speed (6-13) and Bike Speed or Hills (20-30) (these will be bricks later)
Tue: Swim (1-2) and easy run (5); core work
Wed: Run tempo (6-13) and Bike tempo (20-30) (these will be bricks later)
Thursday: Swim (1-2) and easy run (5) ; core work
Friday: rest (or fit in one workout missed during the week)
Saturday: Endurance run (10-22 during marathon training) and Endurance swim (1-2 miles)
Sunday: Endurance Bike (40-70); core work

Yes, I am doing more running than I need to, but I have a fight to pick with the marathon in the Fall, so I want to keep my mileage up 30-40sh at least until July when I start actual marathon training and will go into the 50s.

So now I am really excited. And scared. Will my body be able to handle this all? Am I sabotaging my marathon training by doing so much swim bike over the summer? Maybe, maybe not. But for today, this seems like a good plan, and I am having lots of fun thinking things through, facing my open water phobia, and stepping into the unknown...For today, this sounds like a great idea! Will see if tomorrow I'll feel the same...

Daily ramblings

Here is how last week went down:

1. Monday: "I suck"; "Running on that toe shows more mental toughness than any other race I've done in the past"; "True, but I suck"; how about "my time sucks?, can we go with that?", "No, not yet", OK...
2. Tuesday: "Can we please NOT talk about my toe?"; "I am so happy I am not running this week"; "Running sucks"; "Swimming sucks, I am sinking today"; "Man, I am not even sore, that's so pathetic".
3. Wednesday: "I am so tired"; "I love swimming"; "It's really all about triathlons"; "F marathons!"; "F marathons after I get the 3:15!; which marathon???" " Why did I wake up with this pain in my foot" "Stress fracture, that would be lovely, no running for 6 weeks"
4. Thursday: "Foot still hurts" "I really don't want a stress fracture"; "I am not even telling people at work about my toe, I really don't want to talk about it"; "I love biking"
5. Friday: " Lots of October marathons, but how about my half ironman?"; "The truth is that if I had gotten the 3:20, I would have still felt like I wanted to run an even faster marathon in the fall. I need to remember that I absolutely love to train!
6. Saturday: "30+ mile bike ride; man I love this". "Foot is not hurting". "I miss running, a little". "I want to do some trail running this summer. I miss long runs in the woods without a watch. I miss my trail running friends".
7. Sunday: " Maybe I can run a little tomorrow?" "I really don't need to make any decisions now".

(Thank you, thank you, thank you "infinite+1" as my son says, for all your support!!!!)

Boston marathon 2010 - when not getting what you want may be good for you

OK, so I take it back! I AM disappointed with my time; not in a "you suck as a runner, you'll never reach your goals" catastrophizing kind of way, but more in a "the weather was perfect, the training was amazing, based on your half marathon 3 weeks ago you could have ran a 3:15" kind of way.

But let's backtrack. I'll keep it brief, I think.

No stress getting to the start. My A+ husband drove me and a neighbour to the 21B exit into Hopkinton, dropped us over there at 8:00am, we got a bus to the Athletes' village, no problem. Low stress, no worries. People in the village were great, super excited. I was feeling great, too!

The start was a bit difficult and slow, but I pretty much managed to stay a little slower than goal pace, as planned. At mile 3 I noticed a little blood on my R shoe, but did not pay attention to it. I did not feel super well, but I knew I need at least 5 miles to wake my legs up, so I was fine. By mile 5 I was feeling great, and trying to get into a groove. This was very hard, particularly because somehow I always end up behind a group of folks talking, and I have to weave around them. No biggie, though, I knew this would happen. And I knew I'd end up running 26.5 at least (I ran 26.57), so I was prepared. By mile 11 I noticed that my stride was weird, and that my R foot was supinating. I tried to correct my stride, and then I heard a pop, and saw blood taking over the front of my shoe. And that is when the pain started. It was burning and stinging. Initially I thought I'd tough it out and just run like I normally do, but that was impossible. I admit I had a little melt down here, a tear or two might have been shed, but I remembered Alberto Salazar (of all people) and how he used to run through foot stress fractures by landing on a different side of his foot. So I did that. I started to land on the R side of my foot. The blister pain was better, just pulsating, but it hurt like hell when the terrain was changing and my toe would tough the ground. By the half point I knew I would not be able to get my 3:20. I seriously fantasized about dropping out, kept the option open but kept deferring it. I think it was a good strategy for me. At mile 14.5 I saw my friends Sue M and Sue C, and their kiddies. At that point, I also had a L sided stomach cramp that I was trying to get rid off by breathing when the opposite leg landed, so I probably looked like hell at that point. Anyway, seeing them out there and particularly their little kiddies reminded me of Petru and I knew I would finish. I stopped looking at my pace tat, and just ran. The downhill at mile 15.5 was the worst for me. I had to walk it. In general, the downhills were tough bc my toe would inadvertently touch the ground. I walked all the steep downhills and ran the uphills on the R side of my foot. It worked. I also really started enjoying the crowd. I knew I had to get out of my head - it was not pretty in there, I admit - and just enjoy the race. I think I did, the last few miles. I saw Chris at mile 19.5, and got some Gu from him. He saw my bloody shoe and the look on his face broke my heart. Man it helped to see him out there! I made it to the finish line pretty much on one leg. It was comical, I wonder if the photographs captured any of this. I crossed the finish line relieved and puzzled.

Relieved - because I finished; because I got an almost 5 minute course PR; because my R hip was quiet; because I was feeling pretty good outside of the blister.
Puzzled - because I have had blisters before. After Boston last year, I lost a bunch of toenails and had blisters on all my toes, yet I did not feel any pain and managed to have a great race; because someone does not run a 1:32:XX half marathon and a 3:40:18 marathon one month after. Also, what happened to my endorphins, weren't they supposed to take over the pain? Hrr

But I wanted to be happy. I needed to be happy. And darn I was happy. I hung out and watched others finish, I got my medal, some food. Then I met Chris and we took the train back home and I got to feel like a little celebrity in the train, with my bloody foot and all. Chris wanted to carry me home, that's how concerned he was, but darn, it was only a blister! Poor guy drove me to Hopkinton, then drove to Newton with my mom in law and Petru, gave me GU at mile 19, then hopped on the train to meet me at the finish. And I am a B+ wife on a good day. Yes, I am that lucky! (BTW, he just got back from tennis with a Nutrageous, my fav candy bar!)

OK, back to the race. Lessons learned. Many, I think! Some are still feelings and those will pass, and probably become concrete lessons in the days to come. I know I'll be thinking about this for a while now.

For now, a couple of things:
1. The blister pain completely took me by surprise. I knew that I could get some hip pain, and had prepared mentally for that. I knew I'd get blisters, like I did last year, but I did not think they'd give me a hard time during the race. This took me by surprise and played with me mentally. I think that even with the blister I should have been able to do better than I did.

2. This marathon was a good lesson for me. Although I always say "life is NOT fair, you can work hard and NOT get what you want, etc", the truth is that I have always gotten what I wanted in life; I knew what that was, and went for it. And always worked my ass off, no shortcuts! In my romantic life, school life, work life, family life and athletics, I pretty much never failed at anything, or never not gotten what I expected based on the amount of work I put in it. I expected to do well in this race, because, well, I worked hard! And the truth is that without that blister I would have probably gotten my goal. But the truth is that marathoning is not supposed to always work out for you, as much as you work out the details and control everything that you can control. I am OK with that. I needed this lesson. This makes me hungrier for my next marathon. I am going to try for a 3:15 in October! I am going to trust that half marathon time, and train my a$$ off again! And I will get that 3;15. This Boston 2010 IS a means to a happy end!

More later, after my thoughts have a chance to brew a little longer!
Congrats to all those who ran Boston today! Hope you had a better day than I did!

Not what I hoped for....

I have never imagined that a little blister would stop me from running, but it did. It was the toughest race I have ever ran. I had to run the last half of the race on my heel, which made the downhills nearly impossible. A report to follow.





3:40:15, not a PR, but a course PR by 4 min and change. I'll take it. I am not disapointed, but proud I forced myself to finish! The Nike frees and I will have to have a talk, though:)