March 2018 Running Challenge

@PastorVincent sorry to hear about your troubles with your half today. I apologize for not picking up on your sarcasm about PRing all three races though I know you weren't offended.
Race report
I had planned the day with an ambitious approach from the start. The race being so large there is a shuttle service from a community college that is about the half way point f the race. I decided that a 3 mile slow warm up in and an optional 3 mile cool down after meant I should park there and jog in. I would arrive an hour before the race and there was a clothing item drop off I could use to relieve myself of extra layers and retrieve them after for warmth. It was a chilly 36 degrees with a real feel of 19 due to wind. As I approach the race start I spotted my mom, dad, youngest brother, a sister and two of my younger male cousins. Unbeknownst to me my father had a wager on me to beat my brother in the race. We chatted a little and then headed toward the starting line. Along the way, I ran into my older brother and his girlfriend who were staying at the start/finish location for the race. I decided that it was better to trust my keys and phone with him then to put it all in my clothes drop off.
I headed to the clothes drop of with 50 minutes to gun time. Some part of me wanted to keep the extra layers for as long as I could but another part of me wanted to be ready to race. Being ready would also involve a quick stop at the portapotties as I had hydrated well. Good thing I didn't dawdle. From 12:20 to 12:45 I got the privilege of standing in a cold line needing to like a race horse. That accomplished I went to the corral.
Runners, who would start with the first gun were given orange (elite) or green (non-elite) race numbers. I had envisioned that a green tag would mean runners racing at 9 or 8 minutes a mile or better.(poor vision on my part) So into the chute I went much further back then I should have been but I accepted the fact I would be ok. Just 4 minutes before the gun I set up the virtual pacer on my watch. An acquaintance of mine whom I was chatting with asked about the process as he had the same watch and I quickly instructed him on the procedure. It was actually my first use of the pacer so I wasn't sure how well it would go. The gun goes off and we shuffle and slowly but steadily move taking about 45 seconds to cross the start line. Not bad, now to work my way past the slow runners who just had to bein the front of the pack.
The first mile is a relatively flat one and run too fast by many. I wanted to avoid this. I weaved and worked my way through the crowd looking for space to be able to run comfortably. I had gotten there by about three quarters of a mile when my watch indicated I was ahead of pace. Ok, I backed off slightly. I reached the mile mark at the race clock read 8:27 but my watch had 7:27. I decided not to worry about the race clock and concentrate as now the hills began.
A little more weaving and working as I began the first hill of mile 2. Rabbit runners are dropping back. Those weak on hills are slowing their pace. Not me, I'm feeling strong and I'm only worrying that at some point a muscle will cramp or strain. As I near the 2 mile mark I'm looking for family which is often found at this location. I spot them and wave.the clock is at about 16 minutes and my watch at 15. I running negative splits but I can still do this. Mile 3 is killer hills and again I'm passing runners and staying strong. As I pass the mile marker and head up the last great hill I'm thinking I'm going to be close to 45minutes. Just before mile 4 my virtual pacer indicated that I am at the 7:15 pace. Great but I need to make up time from the first 3 miles. Thankfully, the downhills are in front of me. I don't press too much but I let gravity ush me along. Ahead of me slightly is a runner with a bright yellow shirt. Could this be the 45 minute pacer runner? I'm not sure they even have those for this race but I decide to catch him and find out. About mile five I do and he's just another runner. I look down and see I've run a 6:22 mile. What? I haven't run a 6:22 mile since high school.(Granted this was a down hill mile) I've got this. Mile 6 includes a slight uphill but it's followed by more downhill fun. 6:50 and the race clock says 43 minutes. .2 to go. Down the last runway with a few runners I past in mile 6 taking back their positions to the finish line. I look up and the clock reads 45:00. They call my name over the megaphone and ask the crowd to cheer me on. I pump my first in the air and cross the line ith 45:17 looking at me on the clock. My watch says 44:35. Screw it if the clocks wrong I know I did it. Official results later give me 44:32. Younger brother who was just behind me at mile 2 finished in 51:17. Not bad considering I'm almost 20 years older.

3/1: 2.5
3/3: 3
3/4: 4
3/6: 3
3/9: 1.7 of hill repeats
3/11: 3
3/12: 3
3/18: 4

24.2/50 miles for March

This week has been rough, and I missed 3 planned runs due to going on-call for someone who was sick and assisting a new staff member with being on call. Everyone seems to be in crisis this week. I forced myself up early today to get in 4 miles before today’s drama starts. If I can stay on track with all of my planned runs for the month, and squeeze in another 3 miler at some point, I should make my 50 mile goal.

2.8km on the elliptical. I wish winter would just end already! It was -17°C(1.4°F) this morning.

I have been really struggling the last two months. After hurting my foot/ankle in February and the cold weather I have no motivation to run. The few times I have been out it's been frustrating how much progress I've lost in such little time.
I know that this is probably a good thing and that I was doing too much too fast. I now have a chance to restart and reset.

3/1 6.86miles
3/2 rest
3/3 10miles
3/4 rest
3/5 6.57miles
3/6 5miles
3/7 6miles
3/8 5miles
3/9 10miles
3/10 4miles
3/11 rest
3/12 4miles
3/13 5.2miles
3/14 5.35miles
3/15 rest
3/16 3miles
3/17 rest
3/18 13.1miles!! Shamrock race!!!

Well, I did it!! Race report follows!

I had my husband drop me as close to the start as possible so I only had to wait about 20 minutes. It was freezing, but once I started it didn’t take long to feel warm. I’m glad I went with one long sleeve shirt instead of layers. My nerves made my legs feel like jello for about 2 miles!

This race is huge and the marathoners and half marathoners all ran together this year - I ran with lots of people the entire time. I’m not sure how I felt about it, I need to think about it some more.

The cheering crowds were awesome. They had Jell-O shots! I refrained since I haven’t trained with those yet

There were lots of water stations and I’m pretty sure I got more Gatorade up my nose than down my throat, I guess however it goes down counts!

By mile 11 I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep pace until the end, but I told myself to keep going until I couldn’t anymore. I’d already passed the 2:00 pacers so I figured as long as they didn’t pass me I was ok.

When we made the turn onto the boardwalk I knew I had it. My legs were spent and I couldn’t kick at the end, but I crossed the finish in 1:57:42!!!! PR baby!!!

I’m so happy it’s done and I’m so happy I ran well! I rang the PR bell!



I got this at the expo yesterday




3/18/2018 Shamrock half marathon
10/7/2018 Crawlin Crab half marathon
10/13/2018 Joggin for Frogmen 5K
11/18/2018 Norfolk Harbor half marathon

Congrats to all of you who raced this weekend! @PastorVincent sorry yours didn't go as well as you'd hoped. And thanks to @7lenny7 for the great link. I also recommend the Peak Performance book, which was written before all of this happened, but is still very valuable for running and life in general.

Wow, what a weekend! Friday night we got a snowstorm, at least 7 inches from our unofficial measurement on top of our trash can. The trail for Saturday's 5k was a mess. Ok, the drive there and parking in the woods was a mess! I've been sick all week and was feeling worn down and like my whole respiratory system is covered in a layer of gunk. I wasn't even sure I was going to run. Kids races were first. One little boy got so discouraged he sat down off to the side and buried his face in his knees. He was refusing to finish (we finally got him going though). My 2 kiddos had fun. As I considered what to do next, I had the thought that if I didn't run, I'd miss out on the worst trail conditions we've had all year. This could be fun. Haha. So I tried to run it easy, but there was ńo easy about running through this snow, getting traction was pretty much a joke and everyone's times were about 5 minutes slower than their normal. There was basically a single lane tracked out by the first runners; if you wanted to pass, you had to go in snow above your ankles. At one point a lady was right behind me, not appearing to want to pass (but making an annoying constant throat clearing thing and I wasn't in the mood), so right before a steep downhill, I abruptly stepped to the side and then jumped back in behind her, basically giving her no choice but to lead the way if she liked my pace so much. Later there was a guy right behind me, but I didn't mind as he wasn't doing anything annoying. I felt he was pacing off of me, and suspected he would pass me close to the end. I figured if he didn't mind my miserable coughing and flailing around trying to propel myself forward without falling, more power to him. It felt like we were suffering together. He passed me in the last 750 meters, right after I had the thought, "if I was him, I'd make my move right here." When I passed where the little boy had been sitting earlier, I could totally relate to how he was feeling; I SO just wanted to do the same thing. I thought about @JessicaMcB running miles and miles further in even worse conditions, and that helped Had a coughing fit at the finish line so grabbed my hot tea and rice cakes and immediately started walking back to the car where my "I'm too lazy to go get a new inhaler but I'll carry this slower-working pill instead" medicine was waiting. My time ended up being my worst 5k race time ever. Is a PW a thing? It should be, I was pretty proud of it!

My husband had some work to do after the race, and when he was done we drove to Warsaw. The roads were a little better by then, and the capital city didn't get as much snow as we did. Got settled into a hotel room and went to bed. Around midnight a noisy group arrived in the hallway and woke us all up. I can still near the one guy laughing in my head. Got a good breakfast and headed out to the race early. It was a bit cold, but sunny and the trail was perfectly packed down. Our race interrupted a gathering of the cross country ski club, but I guess they got over it. After yesterday, I had to instruct the kids that "You are running 300 meters, you do not need walk breaks!" and they both did great I'm still having breathing issues, but was getting into my "going for it" zone, so went for a warmup run and switched into the screw shoes. Decided to do my best and see what I could do today, on a flat, wide course. It was challenging, especially finding balance between holding goal pace and making sure I could still breathe. But it was worth it! I am living proof that you can run a personal worst one day, and a PR the next. You guys - I got my PR!!! Needless to say, I'm thrilled!




5k PR goal: DONE!
New goal: Get healthy again!
Picture from Saturday's race (from the start where the snow wasn't as bad):

Good weekend. Made up for a bleh Wednesday and not doing my swim Thursday.