Go the Distance

I’m in San Jose today for work, so this morning I woke up early and hit the nearby Los Gatos Creek Trail for a run. I had to smile whenever I passed a native Californian; I was in shorts and a tshirt, and many of them were bundled up in long pants, a sweatshirt and a hat!

It was very humid and foggy in the morning, to the point where I could see ducks on the water, but the water and the sky blended together in a transparent mist. I ran along, marvelling at the different flora and fauna only a few hours from “home”.

Every few days it appears I get some validation that training is going well. I set out for my run today, and easily fell into my “target easy pace” between 8:45 and 8:15:
8:30, 8:40, 8:24, 8:17, 8:06, 8:07, 7:56, 8:04, 8:04.

I am so thankful that I am healthy and strong enough to do the running I do. I’m glad that I am able to get up day after day and pound the ground and feel happy and alive.

Today’s workout was a “choice” - hills or fartlek. I went with the fartlek workout,

15-30 min warmup
5x (5min fast, 3min recovery)
15-30 min cooldown.

I set my garmin, and headed towards the Highline Canal Trail. It was the first really chilly morning, so I was bundled up in pants, a long sleeved shirt, a fleece, a hat and gloves. Before I started the first fast bit, however, I took off the fleece, and kept taking off and putting on my gloves. There was a bit of a wind, that made for a challenging run in some parts.

warmup: 9:14mm
speed1: 6:53mm
speed2: 7:09mm - I was already pooped after this, so my “recovery jog” became a walk
speed3: 6:59mm
speed4: 7:23mm - wind was brutal here. actually stopped my watch for a bit, then restarted
speed5: 7:08mm
cooldown: 8:57mm

I didn’t feel great during the fast sections, 5 minutes is a long time to be cruising. I tried to aim for roughly 5K pace (7:04) but after the first section, I wasn’t pushing myself as much as I could have been.

My leg started hurting during the last speed section, so I took it easier on the way back than I may have hoped (my distance was 7.91, an even 8 would have made me happy). The tongue of my shoe kept slipping, which caused me to start tensing my foot and holding it differently. I know that’s the main problem, so I’ll really have to look at how to remedy that.

As well, last night I bought CytoMax, which is what they serve at the Rock and Roll races. I didn’t bring any with me, but I had some after the run. It’s not horrible, it just tastes like powdered orange drink - less like sports beverage. I’ll keep trying it so that I get used to the flavor come game day!

When I decided to move to Denver, I purchased the book Run the Rockies: Classic Trail Runs in Colorado’s Front Range. Earlier in the week I had wondered aloud on facebook what I should do this weekend, and a friend recommended Castlewood Canyon, to run or hike. It turned out to be in my book, so I decided to go for it!

The trail drops quickly into Castlewood Canyon and stays there until reaching the ruins of the old Castlewood Canyon Dam, which is over 100 years old. The canyon portion of this run affords one an easy cruise through the spectacular canyon walls.

Something important to note is that the Rim Rock Trail can be difficult to follow in places, and also requires a stiff hike of several hundred vertical feed to reach. Rattlesnakes have been found on the Rim Rock Trail.

When I left my apartment, I was a bit chilly, so I had on pants, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt and a headband, I also had packed a vest in case. But by the time I got to the canyon, it was gorgeous out, so I headed out in just my t-shirt and pants.

The book was good at highlighting the specs of the run: it was rated “easy to moderate”, a distance of 6.7 miles loop. The starting elevation is 6,280ft and the elevation gain is 800 ft, with an estimated running time of 1.25 hours. I will admit I did my best to remember the various turns from the description, but there were a fair amount of trails to pick up and follow and switch to.

It wasn’t long after I started that I shed my t-shirt as well, and became one of those runners in a sports bra. Thankfully there weren’t too many folks out: I saw maybe a dozen people and 4 or 5 dogs. The course was technical, which I like. I will admit I was astonished to come across one point in the “trail” where I had to walk across a boulder to continue on! I was glad I’d brought along a disposable camera, and stopped frequently to snap pics.

This was, after all, a trail run in higher altitude than I’m used to, so the pace was nice and easy, even if my heart rate was reasonably high. I tried my best to remember what trail I was on, so that I could come back to specific points. The River Rim trail was gorgeous, including a view of a waterfall and the ruins of the Castlewood Canyon Dam. It’s the sort of place that I resolved to take my parents to when they come to visit in a few weeks.

Despite the gorgeous day, I came across a small patch of snow (!) beside the path, reminding me that this is Colorado, and I was smart to start my trail running adventures before it gets too late in the season.

With all the photo taking, twists and turns, I was frequently turning off my watch and starting it again. And what is the hazard in doing that? Yes, you guessed it. Just shy of 5 miles I hit the stop button and it was a full half hour later that I realized it was stopped. So I really have no good idea how far I ran.

At one point a father and young daughter ran by me out on the Inner Canyon Trail. This was the point where I was realizing I had deviated from the route the book had laid out. Another young boy ran by me and I followed him for a short while. Then I took a wrong turn and was surveying the grounds to figure which path to take when the father and daughter caught up with me and pointed me to the correct route. I followed them, thinking that going a bit slower than I could was a good alternative to not being sure of the way. After a short while, the father asked if I wanted to pass them, to which I replied that I had been planning to just follow. And of course, runners are runners, so we started chatting. His two kids (aged 10 and 11) had just taken up trail running and were participating in a trail running series in Colorado Springs. With two races down and two to go, the siblings were leading the competition by 2.5 minutes. It was great to hear the pride in his voice, even as he advised his daughter to keep her weight forward or to watch her step over the fallen leaves. We chatted for quite awhile, and despite how much I’d enjoyed running on my own earlier, it was nice to connect with other runners. They were parked at a different lot than I, and so I decided to follow them that way and then take the road to my car. As we approached the West lot, I remarked that I had run up this way earlier. The father asked how far I’d run that day, which is when I realized that I had stopped my watch at some point. They were doing 6 miles and I know I did at least a few more than that.

Based on my first 5 miles, I was doing over an 11 min mile, so I could have gotten just shy of three miles in that “dead zone” time. That would put me in at about 8 miles or so, which I’m perfectly content with!

My knee had been hurting before the run, but it felt ok as I ran. Afterwards, it felt stiff again, but I still decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to Garden of the Gods to walk around. The steady motion helped my knee, and by the next day it was back to 100%. It’s funny, but I honestly do find that I feel better running daily. My knee tends to get stiff when I take that day off. That bodes well for my training cycle!

There has been some buzz lately about the fastest participant in the Nike Women’s marathon not winning. Evidently Arien O’Connell ran a fantastic PR race, the only sub-three marathon of the event. Yet because she was not registered as elite, she was not awarded the prize money.

For many people, this seems absolutely ludicrous. Was the whole point of chip timing not to ensure that the fastest runner, not the first to cross the line, received their proper reward?

According to Jim Estes (associate director of the long-distance running program for USA Track and Field): “The theory is that, because they had separate starts, they weren’t in the same race,” Estes said. “The woman who is winning the elite field doesn’t have the opportunity to know she was racing someone else.”

Here’s the thing, though… with ‘only’ a 20 minute head start, it’s not as though Arien could have benefited from knowing how the woman winning the elite field was doing either.

This brings up something that has always struck me about distance running: who are we racing, the clock, or other competitors? There has been a general tendency for records only to be set when there is not competition between runners to “win”. It appears the strategies for racing against the clock vs another are different. In races where participants are jockeying for position, there tend to be more surges. From what I understand, a race where a record is at stake is often more of a steady-pace. A game plan can be set out in advance, and then orchestrated hopefully without deviation.

So what happened last weekend? Arien went out to run the best race she could. She set a 12 minute PR. She was racing the clock. Evidently the woman who ran the elite race is supposed to have been racing the other elites. Is that what makes it a different race? The differing goals?

I know personally, I need to have a strict time goal in mind to race well. Any time I view the event as a “race to place”, I crash and burn (see: Marshall Race Report). How do we determine motivation?

People sometimes ask me “what next” after learning the number of marathons I’ve run. The fact is, I continue to learn with each one.

Today’s take-aways:

1. I am good at sticking with an established plan and meeting my goals. I flounder if I don’t have a set goal in mind.
2. Clif shots don’t do it for me. I had one at mile 7 and spent the rest of the race belching when I tried to ingest anything.
3. Bring ID to a race, especially if it’s known a beer garden will be at the finish.
4. Put flip flops in your gear bag!

Today was the Denver marathon. Having just moved to Colorado two weeks ago and not having followed a formal training program, today’s run was ‘just to finish’. In the few days leading up to the race, I wasn’t preparing as for a target run: I spent Saturday wandering Boulder with a friend, had a beer and no bananas! My last short run the day before, my knee seemed a bit out of whack. And, I moved from the Saucony Omni Moderate 5 to 7 on Tuesday, leaving me only a few miles to test them out before race day. Lastly, last night my ear started ringing and my lips felt chapped, so I was a bit concerned I may have had a cold coming on.

Still, this morning I rose at 5:30 and prepared for the race. It was forecast to be warm, so I was prepared for a potential sports-bra appearance. I headed downtown and had no problems finding a parking spot. I was pleasantly surprised as I arrived in Civic Center Park: they had a nice large starting area. It took a few moments to locate the gear check, but it was well-manned and organized, and then it was time to toe the line!

I started off behind the 3:40 group a bit. I knew my goal was sub-four, but I figured a 3:40 would be REALLY nice! The race started, and I went out at what I felt was a conservative pace. The 3:40 group pulled away, and I let them, because I knew I wasn’t tied to a time goal. Imagine my surprise when I hit the first mile marker at 8:14! I kept trucking along, and the second mile came in at 7:56. By this time I was closing in on the 3:40 group, and I wondered how his math was so different than mine (3:40 is an 8:24 average). The first water stop was around mile 2, and I learned that the Denver marathon organizers do NOT water down their gatorade!

My Garmin beeped at me that we’d done three miles a mere 7:48 later, and I wondered about the strategy of the pace group leader. Obviously, I’ve never led a group, but I’ve always guessed that running too aggressively at the beginning probably discourages runners. Mile 4: 8:00.

Before I’d started running, I’d checked on Meredith’s time in the Columbus marathon. She had a goal of 3:30, and I knew she was aiming for an eight minute mile pace. I knew I didn’t have the same training or goal, so I wasn’t sure why my own splits were mirroring hers.

I’ve done this enough, you’d think I would know better. Around mile 4 or so I pulled ahead of the 3:40 pace group, and I hit the 5th mile in 7:42. This is definitely not the race I should have been running, I knew. Yet I didn’t have a firm goal, so it was hard to reel it in.

The Denver marathon is only in their third year, so they may have had a few things to work out yet. No plastic cups is one of those things. Water was served in plastic cups that didn’t fold well, so I found that if I wanted to actually get some in my mouth without spilling or choking, I had to walk a little. My 6th mile was a more acceptable 8:07 before I rebounded to 7:56 for the 7th mile.

I should mention that as the race went on, my mile splits from my Garmin became further and further off from the official markers. in the end, my Garmin had a distance of 26.49. Therefore, my splits are somewhat more aggressive than the official splits.

They had clif shots at mile 8, and I simply must learn that Clif shots are not my friend. It was very hard to choke down even with water (walking), and after this point for much of the race I belched anytime I tried to take in anything. Free gels aren’t worth not being able to properly fuel later!

I have a few personal checkpoints in any marathon. I generally tell myself that I shouldn’t feel anything until mile 8; the time should just fly by til then. In this race I felt pretty good at mile 8. Yes, my pace was starting to slow a bit but I knew it was still definitely a good clip. Mile 9: 8:10

The course was really pretty: for many of the early miles we were running through downtown and I was admiring buildings. Around mile 9/10 we were running around a beautiful park. It was a gorgeous day to be outside, and the beautiful blue sky was just gorgeous.

Mile 10: 8:20
Mile 11: 7:56
Mile 12: 7:49

We split off from the half marathoners at about mile 11, and I actually felt like a bit of my energy left as well. All of a sudden the course was half (or less!) as full. I’m actually surprised to see my splits above! There was a bit of an out-and-back at the half way point, and I was surprised to see that I seemed closer to the 3:30 group than the 3:40 group. I toyed with the idea of catching them for a moment, and then was actually prudent enough to realize that was silly. I wanted to keep running my race and see what happened.

So, remember the new shoes I bought this week? Up until the middle of this race, I’d forgotten what specifically I didn’t like about the Omni 6. I found I had an ongoing problem with the tongue of the shoe sliding to the side. I made the unpleasant discovery that the Omni 7s suffer from the same problem. However, they did it not just in the right shoe (as the 6), but in both. I don’t know how many times I slowed to adjust my shoes, and as I type this now, the tops of my ankles are sore from the friction. I also found that the banked roads caused the sides of my ankles to become sore as well, as though my feet weren’t aligned straight forward.

Mile 13: 8:37
Mile 14: 8:18
Mile 15: 8:14
Mile 16: 7:51

Since Steamtown in 2005, my other personal checkpoint for marathons is mile 16. In fact, I like to tell myself that the race doesn’t start til 16. Although my pace had started to slip a little, the checkpoint helped me get my head back in the game again.

And then, I’m not really sure where my head went. Or my legs, for that matter. I wasn’t sore (other than my ankles), I wasn’t overly hot, but I stopped to walk water breaks (I even started mixing gatorade and water in a cup to overcome the too-strong gatorade and the plastic water cups), and my mile splits reflected it.

Mile 17: 8:43
Mile 18: 9:09
Mile 19: 8:21
Mile 20: 9:04

Mile 20 made me happy. I was in a decent place in my head: it was the first time I realized that 20 miles is roughly 75% done. Sometimes in a rough race hitting mile 20 can be demoralizing, that you still have so far to go, but I knew it was just a matter of bringing it in. I stopped at mile 20 to adjust my shoes yet again, and when I looked up, the 3:40 pace group had passed me! For the next two miles, my eyes were fixed on those balloons bobbing up ahead. Based on my garmin overall pace, I was still on track for sub-3:40 (which, remember, wasn’t a REAL goal anyway) so I just kept plugging along.

Mile 21: 8:45
Mile 22: 8:10
Mile 23: 9:40 (Another “walk-and-mix-gatorade” break.)
Mile 24: 8:34

Although the pace doesn’t reflect it, I felt like these miles flew by. At 21, it was easy to think “only 5 more miles” and believe it. Probably the worst part of the last few miles was that it was a straight shot up Santa Fe, which was concrete and ran right next to traffic. Yuck!

By mile 25, I knew I wasn’t making 3:40. So in true Andrea fashion, I decided to walk some.

Mile 25: 9:45
Mile 26: 8:51

I think that one of the hardest parts of a marathon are those signs that people hold up that say “1/2 mile to go” when they’re wrong. My advice to any spectators, don’t do that!! I ran past a 1/2 mile to go sign.. and ran…and ran.

The end of the race did end ok, with a few twists and turns and then there was the finish ahead of you! I don’t like a long finish. Although I knew I was ready to be done, I managed to pick off a few people in the final stretch, and was happy to hit the finish mats in 3:42:20.

Despite the heat, I felt ok upon finishing (unlike Edmonton!). I grabbed some water, apples (thanks, McDonald’s!) and made my way out of the athlete section. At mile 19 the announcers had been talking about the Left Hand Brewing Company being at the finish line, so I grabbed my gear and headed over to the Beer Garden, to be greeted with an “ID Required” sign. What?? In all the races I’ve seen beer at before, I’ve never needed ID before. The Canadian in me questioned how any runner could be under 18, and then I remembered this was the US and the drinking age was 21. Whoops! So, no beer for me!

I wandered the rest of the little expo, and was really impressed. There were samples of 
“runner’s chocolate”, a few massage tents, and my personal favorite: the Melting Pot was giving away trays of chocolate sauce for marshmallows, strawberries and pineapple. Attention race directors: get the Melting Pot at your next expo! I was happy to hear that Helen and Meredith did well at the Columbus marathon, and then I happily headed home, another race under my belt!

I will admit, the last few miles weren’t as great as they could have been. But overall I wasn’t sore, or defeated. This was my first marathon in Colorado, two weeks after moving to altitude. I expected battered lungs and a struggle. I ended up with a pretty decent time for any course! Now I just have a week to recover before I can start training for Arizona!

Average heart rate: 172
Max heart rate: 186

Overall: 359 of 1719
F30-34: 19 of 143
Gender: 77 of 685

photo.jpg,
originally uploaded by afhill.

At the 10K last Saturday, I received a coupon for $10 off a new pair of shoes if I recycled my old ones. As my old shoes are ripe for replacement, I decided to do some shopping.

I went in to the local Runners Roost on Monday and they didn’t have the Omni Moderate, only the Ultimate. I gave it a try, but I didn’t want to make too dramatic a change this week. When I told the sales staff I had to have the shoes broken in by Sunday for the marathon, they asked if it was my first time. Uh, no. I know it’s a typical newbie mistake, but I’m definitely a repeat offender! I just don’t worry too much about optimizing everything for the race.

In the end, they ordered the Moderate from another store, and I went in to pick them up last night. They have peach/pinkish trim! I put them on and they felt ok. Still, the sales staff didn’t want to leave me stranded before the race, so they told me they’d honour the coupon, but to keep my training shoes just in case, and bring them in later. I am sure the new shoes will be fine, but it is a relief to have the back-up pair.

Sure enough, I went for a run this morning, and the new kicks felt just fine! Good support, but yet they felt really nice and springy! I’m glad I got them before Sunday!

Lately I’ve been doing some workouts that have included some faster running with Meredith. These have been good for me, to break out of the monotony and “easy” running I’ve become used to. And..it may be paying off!

I missed my 20 miler this weekend, there is just so much going on. Lately many of my workouts have been running errands: yesterday to the bank, today to the car rental place and then from a stop to drop off my car (it’s now en route to Colorado, where I’m flying on Sunday).

Today on my runs I felt GREAT! The run out to the car rental place was 2.15 miles, down a bit of a sloping hill. I felt like I was flying, and as it turned out, my pace was 7:21 overall. That’s 7:50 for the first mile, 7:02 for the second, and then 6:05mm for the last .15miles. I’m not sure what the guy at Enterprise thought about giving the sweaty girl the keys to the car

Later on, I had to drop off my car for transport. He offered to drive me home, but I decided I’d run it as well. For some reason, I pushed it even harder than this morning. I stopped at a traffic light just as my watch hit a mile: 7:32. Nice! I kept going, and just as I hit mile 2, I stopped to walk. I glanced at my watch: 6:54. Well darnit, if I’m running that well, I can’t walk! I was flying (and dying!) when I hit the third mile at 6:38. At this point I could do enough math to realize that my 5K PR of 7:04 wasn’t holding up. So when I got home at 2.93 miles I knew I had to keep running. I ran until I saw 3.1: finish time was 21:36 (6:58mm)

So, despite not having trained for a 5K, and having run two fast (for me) miles this morning, I tore out a darned good effort! This makes me feel good about my upcoming race. After 21 marathons, the distance isn’t the challenge anymore: its moving beyond that comfort pace. Today I pushed myself just that extra step, and I feel pretty good about it!

(oh - heart rate this morning: average 162, max 181; heart rate this afternoon: average 167, max 191.)

Last year was the first year I recall the Boston Marathon actually filled up. This year, they are anticipating meeting the registration cap by January.

I re-qualified last year at Boston, running 3:36:08. However, I have my eyes on a big PR at the Rock and Roll Arizona race in January. I was conflicted; do I register now to ensure I get in, or wait until I have that faster time?

I contacted the BAA, and their response was as follows:

If you achieve a faster time, please notify us by February 13, 2009 so we may update your registration.

We cannot update qualifying times after February 13th.

So, I can go ahead and register to ensure the hotel I’ve already booked doesn’t go to waste!

Today I met with Meredith for another of her scheduled workouts.

20 minutes warm-up, 15x(1:00 @ 5K pace, 1:00 recovery), 15 minutes cooldown.

We met in the middle of the afternoon, when it was nice and steamy. After a few repeats, we switched to walking part of the recovery.
Overall, it was a decent workout. Certainly not easy, but that’s what makes it a workout, right?

The biggest challenge with “5K pace” is determining what that is! My PR is a 7:04 pace, so I had my garmin set for a 6:30-7:15 range. However, Meredith didn’t realize it was beeping at the upper limit as well, so sometimes she’d push HARDER after it beeped that we were going too fast.

So how did our repeats go? Overall, I’m pretty content:
1: 7:01 - avgHR 167 - maxHR 175
2: 7:02 - avgHR 171 - maxHR 179
3: 7:18 - avgHR 172 - maxHR 179
4: 7:06 - avgHR 174 - maxHR 180
5: 6:37 - avgHR 176 - maxHR 180
6: 6:45 - avgHR 171 - maxHR 180
7: 6:41 - avgHR 171 - maxHR 179
8: 6:42 - avgHR 171 - maxHR 179
9: 6:50 - avgHR 172 - maxHR 181
10:6:33 - avgHR 173 - maxHR 181
11:7:02 - avgHR 172 - maxHR 180
12:6:52 - avgHR 172 - maxHR 181
13:7:05 - avgHR 168 - maxHR 178
14:6:52 - avgHR 172 - maxHR 181

Despite the heat, we definitely kept the repeats going strong. It was hard to try to keep a conversation going with all the intervals, but it was a good workout and I’m happy to sneak in any running I can with folks before I leave.

Hard to believe the marathon is in just over three weeks!

I was in Denver this past week, working and trying to find a place to live! I’ve read plenty about the benefits of running at altitude, but of course the flipside is that you need to become accustomed to the thinner air in order to reap the benefits in the long run!

They say it can take up to 6 weeks to adapt. I’m moving on Oct 6th, and the Denver Marathon is Oct 19th, so I’m already anticipating a hard go at it. Yet I was just reviewing my runs I took there this week, and I feel all right about them!

On Thursday, after 2 days in Denver, I took my first outdoor run. It was 6 miles in and around the hotel area. I came across the Greenwood Village Trail system, which was fantastic!

Splits: 10:11, 9:52, 9:24, 9:25, 9:16, 9:12.

Wow, looking back it appears I was getting acclimatized even during the run itself! The overall pace was 9:34, which is nothing outstanding but certainly not anything out of the ordinary for a general aerobic run. (to put it in perspective, my heart rate was an average 147 and my max was 166).

Then on Saturday I took a longer run out to an apartment complex I was thinking about. Yes, I decided to run the 6 miles to the complex and then run home. The run there was all right, and then I decided to take a different route home. I hadn’t gone for very far when I came across a beautiful trail. Every cross roads had a map and a distance to the next cross road. There were plenty of folks out running and walking their dogs. The path was hard-packed dirt rather than concrete. It turns out I’d come across the famed “High Line Canal Trail”, which is 58 miles of pathway! The path ran past streams and several parks. Everyone I passed was friendly, and as I ran, I decided I had to live in an apartment this close to the trail!

Did I mention that I hadn’t had breakfast before heading out? After awhile I could feel the distance was long, so I started to pay more attention to exactly where I was. There were so many trails that crossed each other and looped around that I was worried about becoming disoriented. But I just needed to ask for directions once and realized I was only a few blocks from the road my hotel was on (just several miles down). I was frustrated when I realized at 11.39 miles that I’d stopped my watch awhile earlier at a water fountain, and hadn’t restarted it.

All in all, my watch registered 14miles in 2:03:49, which is an 8:50 pace. Well heck, that’s also nothing to slouch at! I hit my highest heart rate in the first mile, and it was also one of the only miles where my pace was over 9 minutes. Evidently I do have a little something to get used to!

I don’t know how a race on 10/19 will go, but I also feel like it won’t be a complete death march. Based on the running I’ve done here so far, I’m sure it will be gorgeous!