Run DC National Half Marathon

Friday at 5pm I got off of work and headed down to DC for my first race of the season.  This past week and a half had included some pretty tough workouts.  Plus, this past week was supposed to be an easy week but I was really determined to complete the treadmill workout that I failed to complete the week before so I added that in to this week’s workouts.

OK – I better back up here.  First of all, I did not listen to my coach.  Karen had me scheduled for an easy week leading up to the half marathon.  I was to do a tempo run, a treadmill workout and the race.  Also, 2 bikes and 2 short swims.  Well, the weather here in CNY was gorgeous and I managed to have some time free of children just when the sun was shining so I just had to take advantage.  In addition to that, the week before had a treadmill workout scheduled that I thought should be simple for me to complete that I was not even able to get halfway through (1mi at 8.3, 1.5mi at 8.6, 1.5mi at 8.9 and 1.5mi at 9.2).  I had the  brilliant idea of throwing that workout in on Thursday to prove I could do it.  So Thursday looked like this:  treadmill workout at 6am, 2200yard swim at 10am and 36mi ride at 2pm. Friday I cycled indoors for 40 minutes and then raced on Saturday.  The rest of the week…Monday was a tempo run and 40 minute ride, Tuesday was a 2000+ yard swim plus the treadmill workout and Wednesday was a day off.  So for a rest week, I ended up doing way too much.  I know…you are saying why didn’t you just listen to your coach? Well, I should have.  I guess its a good time to learn when it is a B or C race and not my big A race for the year.

My legs had been tired all week…and Saturday was to be no different.  Scott and I got up at 5:30am.  We stayed with his sister on Bolling Air Force Base so we were about 5 minutes from the start.  We showered and headed over in my car.  Well, so did the other 11,998 people running the race!!  We got within 1 mile of the parking area and came to a stand still.  I had to use the bathroom so badly and could see the starting line and porta-potties from where we were on the road.  Scott took over driving and I ran over to “squeeze the lemon”.  When I got out and ran back to the car, Scott had not moved.  The race was starting in 20 minutes and I started freaking out a bit.  Scott could see the anxiety building and sent me over to the start while he waited for the cars to start moving.  I kissed him, wished him luck and took off.  I was really upset about leaving him but he made me go.

I ran around the start, peed a couple of more times and then jogged back while they began singing the national anthem.  Before the song was over Scott was by my side.  He could see me visibly relax…we were ready to race!  I was sooo glad he made it.  The half marathon and marathon all started together so it was pretty crowded.  Scott and I started up at the front so we didn’t have too many people to navigate through but it was still congested.

The race took off and we headed for the Capitol Building.  Mile 1 passed in 6:26 (Scott was already ahead), mile 2 6:14, mile 3 6:06, mile 4 and 5 6:24, mile 6 6:46, mile 7 6:34, mile 8 through mile 13.1 all were around 6:20 pace.  The course was very hilly – much more than I expected.  Apparently more than others expected, too, because everyone around me was begging for the hills to end.  I was glad I wasn’t running the full marathon today!  At 9.5 miles, I could see Scott just ahead of me.  I felt good enough that I could catch him.  I decided to slowly work my way up.  In the meantime, another 2 women came up on me.  One went by and I tried to stay with her.  I could hear cries of “Go Joanie” and assumed that was the name of someone near me.  I did not want anyone else to pass me so I pushed it as hard as I could.  I was psyched at how much strength I still had at the end.  At about 11 miles I caught Scott.  He cheered me on as I ran by him.  We both admitted our exhaustion to each other.  There was a long uphill going to 13mi and then the last 0.1 mile was downhill.  I still heard the cheers for Joanie but figured I had her  beat, whoever she was.  After I crossed the finish line (in 1:23:05) I turned around to see Joan Benoit Samuelson crossing the line – no wonder I heard so many people calling her name!!!  Scott crossed right after her in 1:23:20.

I was kind of disappointed at first with my effort.  I really felt tired and weak during the race.  I also thought it was kind of a slow time.  Later on in the day Scott and I checked our results from races last year and I discovered it was only 10 seconds off of my best time in 2009.  I think that is a pretty encouraging way to start the season!  Karen said I was right on where she wanted me to be.  I think if I had rested even a little and knew the course ahead of time, I could have easily run under 1:22:55.  It turns out I won my age group, too (11th overall) and really, that’s all I need to do at Buffalo Springs!!

April 11th, Scott and I will have a rematch in Ithaca at the Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon – stay tuned to see who will prevail!

Another Outdoor Ride

Today was another 50 degree day in CNY and for once I had a 3 hour block where I was not working and did not have my girls.  Both of them were at school in the morning.  Phoebe left the house completely excited for her Brownie sleepover this evening and Maggie…well, Maggie,as always, has her own story.  She had her school picture scheduled for today.  Her dad had bought her a super cute spring outfit at Old Navy.  One of the few outfits she has that does not have food stains on it.  I got her tights on, the skirt, the tank top and had one arm in the sleeve when she informed she was not wearing this today.  “I want to wear wings” she stated adamantly.  I argued back and forth, explained about the school picture and didn’t she want to wear the cute outfit daddy got her…to no avail.  She said I want to wear the Tinkerbell dress I got for Christmas, with the wings and the slippers (green satin slippers with a pom-pom).  Well, I really wanted to get her to school on time so I would have enough time to ride so I said fine.  I got her all dressed and even was allowed to put her hair in a ponytail (“because that’s how Tinkerbell wears it, mommy”) with a cute flower barrette.  She looked absolutely adorable.  She wouldn’t wear a coat, though, because her wings would get crumpled.

Ok…so I got her to school, rushed home, got out on my new bike and started to fly.  I felt so good, the bike felt smooth, I could feel air on my legs because it was warm enough for shorts!!  And then I started to sink.  The seat loosened again and so I decided to loop back home and get the old bike.  I am getting super frustrated with this seat issue.  Scott promised he would look at it sometime Saturday before we go to the symphony (yes.. a real grown-up date with a babysitter back at the house and everything!!).  I switched tires, pumped them up, moved the water bottles and headed out again.  I was still really tired on the hills and with the wind at my face was working super hard.  I was frustrated when I got halfway with the speed at 17.5mph.  But then I hit the end of the lake.  I headed back, downhill and into the wind and was seriously flying!  I was up over 25mph most of the way back.  I ended the ride at 35.7mi avg 19.6mph.  Definitely an improvement from the last time I rode a few weeks ago when I averaged 19.0mph.

Unfortunately, even with the good ride, I am feeling less than fit this week.  I was unable to complete Karen’s treadmill workout Wednesday.  I have been tired during my swims and my weight is up a bit (too much food and drink in Seattle?? ) .  Do I need more rest, better nutrition, something else?  Karen and I will bat that around a bit and see if she needs to tweak the workouts in the future.  In the meantime, I have to remind myself that her job is to push me to my limits, to get the most out of my training time and that if I can’t do something it does not mean I am out of shape.  My job is to get the most out of my rest time.  Next week that will be my focus up until Saturday when Scott and I hit the streets of DC for our 1st race of the year.

By the way, a shout out to Karen, my coach.  She was recently accepted into the Level 2 USAT Coaching Certification camp out in Colorado for USAT coaches.  I wonder what new forms of torture she will return with!!

Only a Workout . . . Right?

Wow – I just realized it’s been quite a long time since I have blogged.  So much has been going on that I just have not found the time to sit and write.  Don’t worry, I have been fitting in the workouts though!  I finished month 2 (week while I was out visiting some of Scott’s family in Seattle. Lots of good food and good wine (but that’s a story for another blog ).  The tests at the end of the month went great! I am definitely seeing improvements already.  Both the swim and the run were faster than last month and my heart rate was 7bpm lower during the run (so I am running faster with less effort!).  I am still on the trainer indoors for the bike so I am not sure how my fitness is doing in that discipline.

Karen now has me doing a “run block.”  Which basically means that I am running more than swimming or biking for the next 3 weeks.  I only had 2 bikes and 3 swims this week but 5 runs.  One of the runs was a “2-a-day” session designed to keep my effort up but stress on the body down.  I ran this with Scott out in Seattle…it was tough!!  We ran the first workout in the morning…60 mins at 6:55 pace.

Then we all had a brilliant idea…lets go to SkyHigh Trampoline and jump on the trampolines for an hour.  This place was so cool! It is basically a warehouse filled with billions of connected trampolines (no, not billions ) and a big foam pit.  You just go jump and jump and jump some more!  We went with Scott’s 4yo niece and 2yo nephew.  What a blast!  I even broke out some old gymnastics tricks – even doing a double front into the foam pit.  The kids were so hot and sweaty when we were done (yes, I am including Scott!).

Later that afternoon, we went out for the 2nd session.  I have never done “2-a-days” so this was going to be a new experience for me.  I was not sure at all how I would feel.  Of course I’ve run and swim, or run and biked in 1 day so I figured I would make it – but how much would it hurt?  The workout was to run 50 minutes at 6:45 pace.  Scott and I finished together at 6:42 pace.  The 10 minute cool down lasted forever but we had made it!  It was easier than I had thought but still a tough workout.

Today I had the dreaded treadmill workout scheduled.  Due to the traveling this week, I had to swim 3 days in a row.  Today was the 3rd swim and I decided to do it before the run.  I was sooo tired in the pool.  My arms and legs just had that numb feeling you get when the bloodflow is sluggish getting there.  I made it through and hit the times I was suppsoed to but was obsessing about the run during the whole swim!  I got out of the pool, decided I was going to finish the workout no matter what and headed up to the treadmills at the Y.  I ran 5 mins at 8.6, 5mins at 8.9 and 10 mins at 9.2.  I had 5 mins of ez jogging before repeating.  I felt pretty strong and thought I had a good chance of making it.  I started the next set and felt really good.  I did the 8.6 then the 8.9 took a deep breath and started the 9.2 (6:31 pace).  The first 5 minutes seemed really tough and I decided to make my goal just making it further than last time (5mins).  Every minute that went by after 5 minutes, I had the same thought – just make it 1 more minute.  I did that all the way to 10 minutes!!!  I have had this awesome feeling of accomplishment all day.  Yeah, it was only a workout but hey, whatever lifts your spirits and makes you feel good about being you…right?