Sunday, July 13, 2014

2014 Johnnycake Jog 5 miler

     "A" 31:30
     "B" 32:30
     "C" 33:30
     I found out about this race through one of my running buddies, Dan, and had to check it out since it sounded fast. It was so cheap to pre-register that I couldn't pass it up. Of course then I got on google maps and found out it was an hour away! I decided that was within reasonable distance though. I car-pooled with four running buddies: Dan, John, Pam and Chip. The drive was pretty easy, mostly on the interstate. Fun to car-pool with them and conversation took my mind off the race.
     I did not feel nervous for this race until about half an hour before the start. I wore my favorite (most comfortable) running shorts and it was hot enough (74 degrees) to wear a sports bra. In the summer a sports bra is kind of my speed trigger. I do track workouts and tempo runs in one and it lets me know it is time to run fast. This doesn't work in the winter of course, but I was able to find a couple of outfits that gave me the same mental boost.
     I warmed up with Dan for maybe 1.5 miles at an easy pace and then did three run outs at race pace and two short sprints. I only do runouts for 10k or below. I was going to approach this race like a 5k. Go out pretty fast and then settle into a good pace, kick it in from one mile out. I stood in about the third row to start and tucked in behind the elite crowd right after the gun. Within about 400 meters I could tell the front three or four ladies were going to go sub six minute pace. There was one girl that seemed to be right around 6:10 pace and I tried to go with her but some physical warning bells (heartrate!) let me know that wasn't wise. I hung back from her. She ended up finishing 6th about a minute in front of me. At about 1500 meters a lady passed me moving very fast, definitely sub 6:00 and she ended up going on to finish fourth. That was one calm start for her! Fortunately, that is the only woman that passed me the whole race. There were a handful of guys that passed me, but I passed a few as well. Mile 1 was 6:20 and didn't feel that good. It was really windy and rainy and humid as hell. I think the dewpoint was around 80 percent. I took a sip of water at the first water stop and dumped water on myself at every water stop.
     The middle of the race is a bit of a blur, but here are my splits.
2 mile: 13:08
3 mile: 19:36
4 mile: 26:09
Finish: 32:35
Seventh female and age group winner since the first lady in my age group finished in the money.
     That second mile was SLOW. Most of the guys that passed me, passed me in this mile. I had thrown out my "treat it like a 5k" theory and gone into 10k mode. In the past 10k has been the worst distance for me. In the middle miles I do what I call "falling asleep" and tend to be over-cautious on effort. To be honest, there might be a tad bit of laziness involved as well. I kind of cruise at a more comfortable pace than I should. When I got to mile 4 and calculated that I'd need to run in the 6:20s to get a 32 mid, I tried picking it up. You can see the finish line a long ways off in this race. Near the finish a guy passed me, but I stayed on his heels and then used him as a target to sprint past in the last hundred meters. I try to do this at every race. It usually means a cut of a few seconds for the overall time and a second or two off the overall pace. Sure enough, he averaged 6:32 and I averaged 6:31. Besides, it is a good opportunity to practice kicking, even though I'm not really competing with these guys.
     After I finished, I asked some of the top finishers their times and places and found a new developing elite runner to follow on Twitter. I love to follow runners that are working towards elite status. So inspiring to watch their journeys. I cheered in the running buddies that I came with, as well as club members, Becky and Alan. They all had pretty good races despite the humidity. As usual, I felt fine about the race until after the awards and then I started picking it apart. Really wanted a high 6 teens or 6:20s for this distance, but it is what it is. I guess I should work on being grateful for the improvement over the past 10 months. Last June I did a mile all out in 6:48, so five at 6:31 is not too bad. Marathon training is going to start in earnest now!
Result and finishing video for Renee Harden: http://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-7436

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Strength training and injury prevention

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor of any sort and am not giving advice in this blog post. This is just what I do.

     I've managed to run for 18 plus years without an injury significant enough to make me stop running for more than a day. That being said, I've never trained for a marathon and have never gone over 60 miles for a week. So an injury is practically imminent. I'll do my best to avoid it. I also spent most of my college running years under-trained and running pretty slow, so there wasn't much opportunity to get injured there.
    When I started 10k training last fall (September 2013) I was having a terrible time with neck and shoulder pain every time I did speedwork. I even wrenched my shoulder badly enough that I would need help getting my running tank off when I got home from a run. The weather was good and hot during these workouts and I would be drenched with sweat and having to employ Adam or Danielle in peeling off my stinky tank top! I decided to add some pushups to my usual ab routine to get rid of this pain, which I'm sure was from being relatively weak in my whole upper body. I've pretty much had the same ab routine since I was 13 and the results have been mostly flat, if not toned abs. I started with just 5 pushups (real ones) and 30 seconds of planking every day. During the winter I apparently was a little bored with life in general and decided to aim for a long term goal of getting six pack abs. This is ridiculous, since I'm pretty sure my muscles just won't do that. I'd read that it would make me faster, first of all, but I was all about looking a little more intimidating that the softy I looked like at the time. Whatever my reasons were, it got me into a much more intense strength routine starting in December of 2013. Below is what I do now, six days a week. I take Monday off of both strength training and running.

Specific running injury prevention:

20 squats (I'm horrible at these, but getting better)
20 lunges on each leg
10 one legged squats on each leg
60 second wall sit
hip flexor exercises that can be found here http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/11/training/monday-minute-wall-soas-hold_6064

arabesque, first on right foot then on left for 30 seconds unsupported
100 ups (I'm only up to 40)

Core routine:

90 second plank
140 crunches
Pilates sit ups (roll ups)until muscle failure (usually 30-40)
Pilates 100s (count to 100 while in a hollow position, legs straight, not bent for higher difficulty)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBArDPf0zqk
Handstands on a raised surface, such as a chair or bench
Walking on hands for as long as possible (I'm up to about 10 steps)
Straddle to handstand (I don't have this yet, but getting close)

Upper body:

3 fingertip pullups
10-15 pushups
Monkey bars back and forth when we go to the park (about once a week)
A few round offs and cartwheels a week

Stretching:

Mostly Pilates stretches and I stretch whatever feels tight. I try to do a backbend bridge every day but am very inflexible in my back.



Monday, July 7, 2014

Medina Twin Sizzler 5k

"A" goal time: 18:45
"B" goal time: 19:19
"C" goal time: 19:40

Felt very nervous and sick going into this race. Weather was a little cooler than I would have liked it but I decided to wear a t-shirt instead of a sports bra to counteract this. I jogged up to the square and met running club buds for a club picture, where I look surprisingly relaxed! I did a quick warmup and managed to squeeze in a pre run pee at the elementary school. I lined up in the second row, hoping to avoid weaving around the overly ambitious young runners. For this race, most of those that went out at sub six minute pace, stayed sub six. There was  long line of guys, plus a few women ahead of me from the start. Was passed by one woman and passed two women. Mile one was 6:10 and felt too fast. I was pretty discouraged by this and ready to throw out my first goal time. Passed one woman this mile. Kept working and passed a couple of guys. Saw Dave up ahead of me and decided I might catch him. Mile two passed in 12:22. A couple of girls passed me and bystanders cheered for them, so I knew they were local. One of them was working too hard and I passed her about half a mile from the finish. Nice downhill in the third mile before leading up to the square. I caught Dave but he wouldn't let me pass him. I was feeling pretty bad and didn't try very hard. I could hear the young girl behind me and people cheering for her, so I knew there was no relaxing unless I wanted to lose a place. Leading up to the finish line, there were people cheering for her and ANOTHER girl. Seriously? This was my only motivation to kick in the last few hundred meters, let me tell you. I sort of saw the clock but I don't think it was registering that I was so close to sub 19 because in my mind, the pace was too slow for that anyway. I had forgotten the course is short! I realized after I crossed that I had a 19:02. I felt fine about this until a couple of days later (now) as I sit here kicking myself for not realizing that a 6:15 pace would get me a sub 19 on this course! I'll know better for next year.
Saw bunches of running club buds after the race and volunteered for the 10k, which was fun! I never get to see the front and back of a race and would like to do this more often.
I ended up third female officially because the girl that passed me and stayed ahead of me was unofficial. She had a blastingly fast last mile and I am very impressed with her, whoever she is. Running the Johnnycake Jog in Painsville this coming Sunday. Goal times will be 31:30, 32:30 and 33:30.

Photo Credits to John J. McCarroll (top) and Beth's Dad (bottom)

Results:

http://www.ohiochallengeseries.com/client_images/events/index.cfm?form_result_id=6881

5k Training in three weeks

I had three weeks plus a taper week between my half marathon and my goal 5k. These are my workouts transferred from my log.

Week 6-2-14: Rest week of 49 miles mostly easy pace (ranges from 7:45-8:30 depending on how I feel) Ran Hinckley 9 mile loop both Sat and Sun
Week 6-9-14: Tues (9) Wed (8) Thur (10) Fri (6) Sat (5) Sun (8) Total: 49
     Tues AM: 10 short hill repeats at 5k effort
     Tues PM: 3x800, 600, 400, 200 ladder workout
          800s: 2:59, 3:03, 3:00 600s: 2:10, 2:14, 2:12 400s: 82, 83, 82 200s: 36, 40, 38
     Wed: 8 easy
     Thur AM: 1.5 miles at 6:09 pace, 0.5 miles at 5:50 pace, 0.5 miles at 5:18 pace two-three mins rest between each
     Thur PM: 5 miles easy with mix of trails
     Fri: 6 on trails super slow
     Sat: 5 easy
     Sun: 8 mini long run kind of fast
Week 6-16-14: Tues (10) Wed (6) Thur (11) Fri (9) Sat (9) Sun (9) Total: 54
     Tues AM: 8xlong hills at 5k effort
     Tues PM: 9x400 all in 85 except #4 in 84 one lap jog break between
     Wed: 6 easy
     Thur AM: 1.36 at 5:57 pace, 0.55 at 5:53 pace, 0.89 at 6:05 pace. Strict three minutes or less between repeats. Hard workout and was very tired afterwards.
     Thur PM: 5 miles with Second Sole group a little fast
     Fri AM: 4 miles easy
     Fri PM: 5 miles easy with mix of trails
     Sat: 9 mile mini long run on trails
     Sun: 9 mile mini long run on Hinckley loop in 1:11 with Rick. Very tired after this week.
Week 6-23-14: Tues (10) Wed (5) Thur (9) Fri (9) Sat (14) Sun (5) Total: 52
     Tues AM: 400/800 workout. Kept 400s at low 80s with 800s at 3:02-3:08, no rest between but one lap jog between sets. Very hot and hard.
     Tues PM: 4 or so easy
     Wed: 5 easy with mix of trails
     Thur AM: 1.2 at 5:55 pace, 1 mile at 5:58 pace, 1 mile at 6:05 pace (uphill)...confident at aiming for sub 19 mins. Don't adjust goal time.
     Fri AM: 4 miles easy
     Fri PM: 5 miles on trails...I prefer the single track at Hinckley to the gravel path
     Sat: 14 long with buds
     Sun: 5 miles easy with mix of trails...stick with Reagan since there are fewer bikes.
Week 6-30-14: Tues (5) Wed (4) Thur (2) Fri (6) Sat (16) Sun (5) Total: 38
     Tue: Miserable 400/200x2 at the track. Too hot. Not timed.
     Wed: 4 easy felt light
     Thur: 2 easy...too nervous for this race
     Fri: 5k race (3.05) in 19:02. 6:10 first mile and felt like crap from warmup on. Fit enough to run a decent pace but missed "A" goal time of 18:45. Met "B" goal time of 19:19. Third female (fourth unofficially) and managed to outkick those close behind me. Not a total loss, but still looking for a short race where I feel good.
    Sat: 16 mile long run on towpath with buds. Nice and easy until last three miles where pace sped up a bit. Felt sore for about 12 hours afterwards.
    Sun: 5 miles easy...weird knee pain that went up to hip at mile 2, so went to trails and cut run from 8 to 5. Moving into marathon training.