Monday, April 30, 2007

Boston!

Yeah, not me, IronMo! However, I wasn't exactly slacking off. As a proud alumna of the Scream Tunnel, I had a repuation to uphold. IronMo did an awesome job, and totally inspired me to work on speed so that someday I might run Boston (though hopefully not in a nor'easter).

Monday, April 02, 2007

2007: The year I decided to run fast(er)

Okay, so a couple days post-race, the endorphins are long gone, and I'm seriously smarting over that 24 seconds. I wanna run fast! I mean, faster than 11:02/mile. I've had a few long runs where I averaged 10:45-ish, and I'd love to do that on a regular basis, not just when the stars align. I really, really want to break 30 min in a 5K, which is a heck of a lot faster than 10:45. I have a few sub-10:00 in my recent history, I know I can do it. But how do I do it regularly without requiring an act of god?

I have decided I am not doing the Cville Half, nor am I doing the tri in June (sorry Mo and Louise - it's just too much to think about right now). I'm not writing off tri's forever, just for now. And I'm not entirely writing off the possibility of doing Richmond again this year (though I did just miss out on the $55 entry). Distance is good, but it SUCKS being in the bottom 15%.

So, then, how do I get fast? All those things I strenuously avoided last year, like fartleks and hill repeats and track workouts, I need to start doing them. And maybe some more cross-training would be a good idea. And maybe, just maybe, the Mother's Day fairy (or anniversary fairy or xmas fairy or birthday fairy) will send me to the speed clinic.

Short term goal: get a different workout plan. The past year, it's been all about the miles. This year, it's about quality.

Intermediate goal: Break 30 min in a 5K some time this year. The last chance for that in 2007 will be the Turkey Trot. Upcoming chance is the VIA 5k, in 2 weeks.

Long goal: Break 100 min in the 10 miler. Maybe next year, maybe sometime in the future. But it's out there. I'm gonna do it someday!

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Race Report: The Ten Miler

NW4S0942.jpg
Mama, feelin' crummy, lookin' good around mile 8.

I had another prerace nightmare, this time that when I crossed the finish, my time was too good, and I knew that I had forgotten to run part of the course. I had lopped off the stadium, or Lexington, like we often do in training, and had to try to go back out and run it. It was getting dark, and I was having trouble finding it.

So when the alarm went off, I didn't dilly-dally much. Okay, one snooze, but then right out of bed, and into the inky darkness. I had prepacked so well the night before, that I was ready to go in record time, and rather than sit around the house, I decided to get underway. I arrived at U Hall at 6:40, for the 7:45 start, so I stayed in my warm car for a while, listening to the latest Modest Mouse album. Finally got out of the car around 7, and headed inside. I used the bathroom and wandered around looking for the merch table (I never found it, not even when I went looking after the race) and the bag check (also never found it). I started running into people I knew - Donny and Louise, Sadie, Jim, all the runners whose faces I know but names I don't, some friends from my airline days, and the other Max's Mom.

At the start, I was impressed at how many people there were. The race was almost at capacity of 2500 entrants (though only 1900 or so finishers - I think there were a lot of no-shows), and the start was packed. As usual for us slowpokes, we couldn't hear the PA system at all, and only knew it was time to start when the crowd started to move. It took me a little over a minute to cross the line, and then there was some serious shuffling up the hill a little bit. By the time we made the first big left, the crowd was spreading out a little, though I almost got sideswiped by some jackass pushing his TWO KIDS in their DOUBLE JOGGING STROLLER. Dude, not only is that against the rules, but it is seriously, seriously not cool. A pox on you. And a pox on the fact that he smoked both me and Louise, who was significantly faster.

I was aiming for 11:00 min miles for the race, and kept mile 1 nice and slow. The big uphill and slow start helped. I hit it at 10:40. The stadium portion sucked as usual, but I hit Mile 2 at well under 22:00. (I will have to get one of those fancy watches that shows splits, because my hypoxic brain cannot remember them post-race.) Mile 3 came just after the pitifully tiny Pep Band contingent at the Chapel. I know it's early for you college kids, but come ON! The ones who were there did seriously represent, though. I think I hit it around 32:00, which is truly awesome for me, considering all the uphill on the first 3 miles.

The highest course elevation is just after the turn on Grady, at mile 3. And then there is a screaming downhill for that next mile. I totally let it out Phoebe-style. I found length to my stride I didn't know I had. It was awesome. I think I did mile 4 in about 4 minutes. Seriously, though, I'm pretty darn sure it was my fastest mile of the race, definitely under 10:30. Some more downill, then a little uphill on to the Mall, and a flat stretch to mile 5. I didn't realize it was mile 5 - there was a timing mat, and I figured it was some random timing mat, because I couldn't possibly have reached mile 5 in only 53 minutes. But yeah, when I got to mile 6 (in the middle of bitchin' hilly Lexington), I realize I had totally smoked miles 4 AND 5. Go me! I got knocked right of that high horse during 7. The hills are tiny and steep during this portion, relentlessly up and down. I think they're described as "rolling" but that's really not accurate. More "roller coaster." So at 7 I'm feeling pretty happy that I've got only 3 miles left, and forget about how much uphill there is in 8.

Oh, mile 8. Mile 8. What can I say. I lost a lot of time from 7.5-8, and then in most of 9, which is a deceptive uphill. The only walking I did on the course (aside from into and out of water stops, since I can't run and drink from a cup) was in mile 9. If I recall correctly, my time in Mile 8 wasn't so awful, but at 9 I was seriously doubting I'd hit my goal. One bright spot, right at Elliewood, who should I spy but Max, zoned out in his stroller eating crackers. Yep, Papa was there with his giant lens. It was great to see them. I hollered at Big Boy a few times, but he was deep in contemplation about his crackers. I slowed down to let Papa do his photog thing, and tried to get Max to look at me. I am less interesting than crackers.

So, at mile 9, I knew I had to run a pretty well sub-11:00 to make my time. I can't remember the split exactly, but I wasn't hugely far off at this point, like, I needed a 10:30, which isn't totally out of my league. The hills on Alderman, which are more legitimately described as rolling than those on Lexington, were kind of eating me alive. But I leveraged the downhills for all they were worth. Wheeeeeee!

Can I say that I utterly despise that the 10 miler finish is uphill? It's actually flat, but the bit leading up to the flat is uphill. So not fair.

Just before the finish, there was my mom. She begged me to stop for a picture, but I did no more than slow down a little. I think she got a picture of my hand. Some guy behind me practically shoved me out of the way in his sprint to the finish (jeez, fella, it's not like you're in danger of winning), perhaps in his own quest for 110 minutes. I crossed the line and wooooooo! I knew I was close. A volunteer knelt down and pulled the chip off my shoe, and another volunteer handed me a medal! Awesome.

So many things in life are worthy of a medal and don't result in one. Childbirth. Parenting. Great personal sacrifice. Running 10 miles? Not really, but hey, I'll take it.

My dad met me just at the end of the chute, with good picture of me coming to the finish. I went in search of food and water. Hello? Where the hell was the food and water? There was none, no water, no gatorade, at the finish. If there was, the signage was about as good as that for the bag check and the merch table (see above). So I had to schlep back down to U Hall. Even the medical tent was a pretty decent hike from the finish, and totally unmarked, though there was a prominently parked ambulance nearby.

Some oranges, some bagels, a little water, and I was feeling fine. Spent some time chatting with an old airline buddy, had mom take a picture of me with my medal in front of U Hall. And that was it! I had a blast, and my 1:50:24 time was close enough for government work.

Today (the day after), I realize why we don't go all out on downhills during training. My knees are actually a little sore, and I now know, for the first time, exactly where my IT band is located. Nothing that a little (okay, a lot) of ibuprofen won't take care of, but I can see why one wouldn't do that on a regular basis.