Running Shorts

Eugene Marathon!

Everyone has to go to Eugene!!!  That's what J4 and I have been telling people.  We had an amazing trip to the Portland/Eugene area, and we want to go back and race at Eugene again next year.  We were lucky to stay with one of our groosmen (for our upcoming wedding-it hasn't happened yet!) in Portland and he kindly gave us an awesome tour of the city and surrounding area before and after the marathon.  One day I organized TREE CLIMBING for us in Williamette National Forest and it was one of the best things I've ever done in my life.  It was the three of us and two guides and we climbed 220 feet up a tree, looked around for a while, and then each got in our own hammock to hang out for a few hours.  They gave us sandwhiches and cookies.  In the tree.  We talked.  Ate our cookies.  And then I slept for an hour.  It was the best.  Descending was easy, quick, and fun.  Here is me 200 feet up in my hammock.

And Eugene...Hayward Field was incredible to visit.  Hayward Field was also incredible to race on!!  Both J4 and my races ended on the Hayward Field oval.  We took a zillion pictures.  We just loved it so much.  We also went to Pre's Rock and Pre's Trail.  AND, we saw the racing pancake.  He ran a 17:07 5K-including the time he spent giving high fives down the home stretch.  Delicious!

As for my 1/2 marathon...it was one of the best races I've ever run-and also quite humbling since I couldn't keep up with two women who ran faster than me (I tried to keep up but couldn't past three miles) for the entire MARATHON distance.  #Humbled.

I started out with a 6:45 min/mile and then I was running averages of 6:55s.  Around mile three I started to get nervous...oh dear...this is not easy...and I also got grateful...woohooo...I am SO glad i am not running the marathon!  I kept up the pace and slogged through the mile 9 hill cursing the race directors.  I HATE WHEN PEOPLE ADVERTISE THEIR COURSES AS FLAT AND FAST WHEN I AM CLEARLY ON A HILL.  It was a low moment for me.  And everyone was passing me!  I live and train in DC (with Capitol HILL and Georgetown, AKA, the HILLTOP) and Arlington, VA.  I train on hills EVERY DAY.  Why was I getting passed??!!  GRRRRRRR.

After the hill I focused on picking up any speed I could on the downhill and as things leveled out (the race actually does have a pretty favorable elevation profile with a net of 0) I concentrated on staying sub-7 min/miles.  It was hard.  I was not in a happy place.  And I was nervous.  I wanted to run a good race pretty badly but I didn't know if I could do it.  A woman passed me and she encouraged me and that was helpful.

At mile 10.5 the marathoners and 1/2 marathoners split off from each other.  From there on I was doing a lot of self-talk and telling myself to keep it together.  Keep pushing.  Then...I hit the mile 13 mark and things got special.  You turn onto Hayward field and the last tenth of the race is on the track.

I made it on the track and I saw I was going to PR and wanted the PR to be as low as possible.  I picked it up.  I clearly had something left in the tank since I ran in at 5:54 min/mile pace.  It's crazy b/c moments before my sprint I was still questioning whether I could finish (one of my common racing thought :)  So, in sum, I ran a 1:31:16 (6:58 min/mile) half marathon which is almost a minute PR (previous: 1:32:11).  WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!

It was a great race.  A great course.  A great venue.  I loved racing the 1/2 at this marathon/half event b/c I got to race really close to the front of the field.  I remember being so crowded at the Philadelphia marathon (people were getting tripped and falling hard) back where I was while J4 and my other male friends had smooth sailing up ahead with the faster runners.  It was awesome to have lots of space to do my thing.

After I finished I got a massage and picked up my clothes from bag check and then went into the grandstands of Hayward to watch J4 finish.  Oh the drama of that finish.  J4 had the best kick I've ever seen...and a 3:10:03 finish.  Three seconds off his BQ.  Yeah, there were a few tears (mine) and it stings a bit for him.  As a runner I understand.  Ugh.  Even with that finish (I will note it shouldn't be lost it was his third fastest out of 11 marathons!) J4 has nothing but good things to say about the race and he wants to go back next year.  So next year we will hopefully be in Boston for me and Eugene two weeks later for J4 (where I will race the pancake the day before he races the marathon).

USA Onesie

Actually, I bought a twosie.  Since Juneish 2012 I have been talking about the USA onesie I wanted (my main reason for going to Sprint Triathlon Nationals in August 2012) and TODAY I bought my USA race kit for Worlds in London in September.  Now I know I'm no Olympian or elite athlete, BUT, I am so excited to represent the USA.  I even have my name on my butt.  I asked J4 if he would split the cost of the kit with me if I put his last name on there (he's been asking me to since I qualified!) but 1) we won't be married yet 2) i'm not planning on legally changing my name when we do get married and 3) he said "Ha-no."  I went with the two piece option b/c I always race in a two piece and I like it better, but I concede the one piece has stars and stripes on the side that looked pretty sweet.  I spent some time today googling images of triathletes with their names on their kits to see if I should go all capital letters or have only the first letter capitalized.  In case anyone is interested, it looks like all capitals is more common so I went with that.  I can't wait for it to get here.  USA!  USA!

The Eugene half (for me) and marathon (for J4) is next week and I can't wait to head out there on Wednesday.  We are both excited for a vacation to somewhere we have never been and think we'll love.  The race organizers are planning to do quite a few things to honor Boston and I am so looking forward to those gestures.  This week has been awful and J4 and I, like a lot of our friends who have moved from Boston, feel a pull to the city.  With that in mind, it feels like a very poignant time to order my USA kit and prepare to represent the US.  I think a lot of Americans are taking a special pride in our country this week and I certainly feel very lucky and proud to 1) be able to compete-at any level and 2) wear the red, white, and blue.  It is a privilege.

Pretty Blossoms

The Cherry Blossom 10-miler was this past weekend.  I went into the race with a 1:09:56 PR from February 2013 on a hilly course so I thought a 1:08:XX on this flat course was possible.  My friend from college was in town for the race and she stayed with me and we went over to the race together.  It was a great day for running.  While it was cold waiting for the race to start-and I had to wear my puffy ski mittens for 9/10 miles-I wore shorts and a short-sleeve shirt during the race.  As usual lots of people commented on my gloves but what can I do??  I get REALLY cold hands!  Even in the relatively warm DC winters, even WITH my ski mittens, my wrists get too cold and I sometimes can't rotate them to turn the key to get into my apartment after a run.  But I digress...

So the race was gorgeous-CHERRY BLOSSOMS, MONUMENTS, SUNSHINE, COOL WEATHER-and I was on pace.  I hit the 5 mile mark around 34:30 but shortly thereafter the course loops around Hains Point and there was a FIERCE headwind.  I tried tucking in behind big men but it simply did not help.  My pace rose to 7:15 min/miles.  We turned around with about 2.5 miles left and with the wind at my back my pace dropped to just under 7 min/miles.  I told myself to hold it together but don't kick too soon but don't slow down, just be consistent, but I would have to push the last mile to PR, and I really should be able to run be able to run a sub-7 min/mile for 1 mile, but don't go too soon.  That was pretty much my thought process for over two miles.

I will share that I have a whole bunch photos from the race and in almost all of them I look ROUGH.  My finish line pics are ugly-but so are my 6 mile pics.  If nothing else, I certainly look like I was out there trying hard!!  This is one of the better pics.  It is from mile 9.25.

With 3/4 of a mile to go J4 cheered me in.  I was running close to my limit.  I soon saw the clock and sprinted.  The finishing pics seem to comically show I was trying harder (and/or simply looked worse) than those around me.  I rolled in with a 1:09:38 (6:57 pace).

PR!  Yay.

And I am very happy with it.

My previous results from this race:

2003: 1:19:00 (7:54 pace)
2004: 1:23:34 (8:21 pace-with bronchitis)

I am at a place in my running that is far beyond where I ever thought I could be.  I remember fighting to stay under 8 min/miles back in 2003 and being thrilled with the result.  That was huge.  So this year's race is just bonkers to me and I am trying to appreciate the moment.  I mean, you never know when your lifetime PR will be, right?  A lot of people get pregnant to have babies!  And being preggers throws a wrench in your training.  Hopefully that will be me one day and I think knowing I need to get my run on now makes me run faster!

In short, things in life are good.  I love being engaged.  I love running a lot.  I love planning for the future.

Tread carefully

On Wednesday I was staying in a handicapped accessible hotel room and when my dinner delivery order came the delivery man pressed the doorbell which caused a loud buzzing noise (I'm not sure why that is a handicapped accessible feature-it seems like blinking lights would be better than a notification device that makes noise like a knock...but i digress).  Anyway, hearing this loud buzzing noise caused me to feel an (irrational) sense of urgency and I ran to the door.  Mid-way there I stubbed my right little toe on the bedstand.  HARD.  I paid for my food while thinking, "OMG I JUST BROKE MY TOE."  Once I was alone I sat down on the floor.  I was afraid to take off my sock.  What would my toe look like?  Would it be at a crazy angle?  Would it be swollen?  I took off my sock.  BLOOD!  I was not expecting blood AT ALL.  I had a pretty deep gash along the right side of my toe down to my nail.  There was a flap of skin hanging off.  And my toe hurt.

So I texted my parents, who are retired healthcare providers, a picture of my toe and called them to ask if I needed stitches.  They responded that my toe definitely did not look good but it was hard to tell over the phone.  My mom recommended that I go to the ER.  [I later learned my parents, who now live in VA, were with a group of people who had come from a wine tasting and all of their friends wanted to see my toe so they passed the bloody picture around the dinner table.]  So after my mom confirmed my suspicion that I should get my toe looked at I started crying and agreed to go.  I've broken my toes before and a broken toe is typically NOT a big deal in a healthy person-unless you are a runner.  I was sad.

Fortunately I was staying in NJ in my HOMETOWN in the 'burbs.  Talk about fortuitous.  Sometimes I stay in busy cities and sometimes I am in remote areas.  I was so fortunate to have close access to good medical care and that my mom could recommend a hospital.  So off I went.

Long story short: After convincing the ER staff that even though I hadn't gotten my period in six weeks I was NOT pregnant (that's normal for me when I run a lot) they got me an x-ray.  The result-my toe was NOT broken.  THEN, the Physician Assistant who was taking care of me decided the cut was superficial enough that I didn't need stitches and he could GLUE the skin together as a biological barrier while the skin underneath healed.  And I could run.  I got glued, got a tetanus shot, and was good to go shortly after arriving.  As I signed my discharge paperwork I was giddy.  They said I was the happiest patient ever in the ER and I told them that the health outcome was so much better than I had anticipated and I was thrilled.

I took one day off of running to not torture my poor bruised toe and delicate skin.  Then I started running again.  Today I ran a 1:09:56 10 mile PR on a wicked hilly course.  My previous times on this course are below:

2011: 1:12:20
2012: 1:12:13

I feel so lucky.  I have been wearing slippers and trying to practice safe preventative foot care (the hospital gave me a handout...)

Busy busy

I have been so, so busy with work. And I have been traveling.  Since I've posted I've been in NJ, AZ, and IL. I've had long days, early mornings, and lots of treadmill running.  I missed a couple of days of running due to my taylor's bunion being inflamed (I think it was from hiking in boots (that I now know need to be professionally stretched in the front) followed by a week of work that involved A LOT of walking) which was annoying and I missed another run b/c of my work hours which hasn't happened...ever?  I needed to sleep that extra hour though.  So things have been busy.  I am currently on the worst sleep schedule ever.  I took long naps Saturday and Sunday (today) so I am sure I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Today J4 and I defended our fastest boyfriend/girlfriend title at a Valentine's day 5K.  I ran a 20:37 which I wasn't thrilled with, but it's a hard course and that is 20 seconds faster than last year.  J4 ran about a minute and 30 seconds faster than his time last year and scored a 2nd place age group finish to help pull our team to the top!  Next year will be a problem though...the husband/wife category is more competitive than the boyfriend/girlfriend category-by a lot!  No complaints though-it's a nice problem to have.

So the running is, barring minor difficulty, still getting done.  I have a day trip to NYC this week but other than that I am home the entire week.  Yay.

50 mpw. nbd.

So I'm a girl and I'm going to my wedding dress fitting soon so I want to eat clean and such so I'm thin.  But in reality I'm starving and eating a lot and constantly making brownies.  J4 asked me to count up our running miles from last week for training purposes and since I'm logging them (for the first time ever) due to the USAT winter challenge I was able to figure out we ran 50 miles each.  Best I can tell that pretty much matches my previous all time high-and that was from a week I accidently ran 7 days.  This time it was a normal training week (6 days of running).  Yay!  [and that explains my hunger].  It would be SUPER SUPER awesome to have a 60 mile week before the Eugene half marathon in April, my A race, but I am also focused on quality.  J4 and I went to our club's track practice this past week and tomorrow we are doing a tempo run.  We have a couple of low-key races on the calendar along with our bigger ones.  For me, the main ones this spring:

Valentine's Day 5K 

RRCA 10 Mile Challenge

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

Eugene Half Marathon

J4 and I went hiking at Annapolis Rock and Black Rock Cliff today.  Here is a picture from Black Rock.

Most racing in a week

On Saturday J4 and I had our third race in six days-a free 10 mile race put on by our running club.  It was an out and back on the Rock Creek trail out in Maryland.  A bit hilly.  Brisk weather.  A pretty good race.  The only flaw was that one major road the trail crossed over wasn't closed to traffic and I had to stop for about 20 seconds until the cars cleared and the park rangers gave myself and the other runners collecting at the intersection the go ahead.  But, you get what you pay for and such is life.  No big deal.  My legs were feeling tired pre-race and I was racing just to be social with my club and get a good hard run in.  I raced ~1:14 and with a warm-up and cool-down hit about 12.4 miles for the day.

For the next couple of weeks my running goals are to increase my mileage and get in some hard running.  I have a bit of work travel (and long work hours) coming up late this month which will actually be pretty tricky.  I might have to double, splitting the mileage up before and after work on the treadmill.  We'll see.

Other than that J4 and I have been doing a bit of wedding planning, movie watching, and errand running.  Nothing too strenuous.

Double double

On New Year's Day the group was smaller, but three of us runners from the night before headed to an 11AM 5K: J4's dad, J4, and myself.  I've never run a double before, two races in one weekend, so I was interested in this idea even though I was feeling a bit spent from the race 12 hours earlier.  It was hard mentally to get psyched as I raced hard the night before, but running is fun so off I went with the group.

I enjoyed this course a lot.  It was a square.  I lined up on the starting line and encouraged J4 to join his dad and I up there as well.  We were soon off!  I started in the low 6s but I slowed.  My legs were fatigued and I could see that J4 was putting way more distance on me than last night-but no excuses!  Run!  Plus, I had the fun of being in the lead which is always cool, and scary, but definitely more cool than scary.  For a while I couldn't see the second place woman and the race was mine to lose.  She was getting close to me towards the end but I picked it up at the 3 mile mark once a spectator told me #2 was gaining.  I won in 20:57 by 6 seconds.  J4 was third overall, his first overall podium finish, and I was very excited for him.  J4's dad was second in his age group, missing first by two seconds to his perennial age group rival.  J4's dad has quite the kick and I have what I think is a really good picture of him red-lining it to the finish.

It was fun to double like that.  My time was way off of my 20:12 from the night before, but J4 was 6 seconds FASTER than the previous night and his dad was only 5 seconds slower.  That's craziness.

I'm in the local newspaper, at least the e-version.  It's cute.  It's like high school sports.  The headline is: "Local roundup: Male Winner, RunningShorts race to 5K victories."  Adorable :)  It really does remind me of the local high school news!  It's nice to be in a small town!

Night running

J4 and I spent NYE...wait for it...WAIT FOR IT...running.  I know, we are so WILD AND CRAZY WITH SO MANY INTERESTS :)  J4 has a big running family and we (myself, J4, J4's sister, J4's brother, J4's sister-in-law, and J4's dad) went to a military base/hospital to run a 11:35 PM race where the goal was to beat the Times Square ball drop.  The finish line had a giant tv projection of Times Square set-up so you could see the countdown.  It was pretty awesome.

I did some pre-race recon of last year's results and I felt like I could be competitive, but a win probably wasn't in the cards.  Once I got to the race I looked around for the women I thought would be my competition and I recognized a couple as I've raced in that part of the state a few times.  In addition, J4's dad has raced in that area for 20+ years and he pointed out the women I should keep my eye on.

We put on some glowing necklaces, which we soon took off b/c they were annoying to run in, and warmed up with some loops around a dark helipad.  Then we lined up and were, very promptly, off!

Mile 1-I dodged the slower people that lined up on the starting line.  Running in the dark was not a problem and I was the #3 woman for most of this mile.  I hit the mile marker (with a very nice lit clock) at ~6:05 minutes and I didn't feel horrible.  I felt confident.  I thought, I can go sub-20.  I can do it!!!  And then I started to get passed by women.

Mile 2-I felt like my pace was strong but I was probably slowing a touch.  I do tend to go out a bit fast for my abilities.  I was soon the #6 woman.  I kept on trucking.   I hit the two mile marker around ~13:00.  I thought (and there was later group consensus) the mile was long.  I didn't really believe I had followed my 6 min/mile with a 7 min/mile.

Mile 3-There is a local woman who is 50+ that has beat me before and she has a lot of clothing flair.  She is very recognizable and since she's beat me and I think she is a total beastette (in a very complimentary way!) I am a little intimidated by her.  But I passed her.  This made me the #5 woman.  I kept trying to move up in the field, passing a couple of men.  In general I don't like to run behind people b/c I think I slow to their speed so even though it was windy out I ran next to other people without the protection of a shielding runner in front of me.  I soon passed another woman (making me #4) and I hustled my butt around the LONG helicopter pad to the finish with fear of her catching me pushing me onward.  I really hustled.

.1-With under .1 to go I turned the corner and saw the clock at 20:0X.  SPRINT!!!  PR!!!!  I finished with a 20:12, a 10 second PR that is, yes, very much over 20 minutes for the 5K.  But J4, who had gone sub-20, soon joined me and shortly thereafter I got my NYE midnight kiss so all is well that ends well :)

My year in review

This has been a pretty special year for me.  I got engaged and promoted (actually, those events both took place on the same DAY!) and my running was the best it's ever been.  There were also certainly some lows that I didn't blog about, but I picked myself up and pulled it together (what choice does one really have?).

To write this post I read through my 2012 blog entries and that was pretty fun.  It's nice to have a record of the year, from my sports-related activities to the personal.  In the sports realm, some highlights are:

*Being named my running club's 2011 female runner of the year (I remain totally not worthy, but the award was very fun to receive).

*Two race wins (x-country ~5K and a road race of pi distance).  These were small races but, not going to lie, winning is always fun!

*Fastest boyfriend/girlfriend couple at the Valentine's day race on an epically cold day.

*1 mile, 10K, 1/2 marathon, marathon PRs.

*Qualified for ITU short course worlds in London for 2013 (still blows my mind).

*BQ-5.

It's been a hard year (often I didn't sleep much) but a committed year.  I'll add, I did not achieve my long-standing goal of a sub-20 minute 5K.  I have one more chance on New Year's Eve.  The race starts at 11:35 PM-so if I go sub-20 in 2012 it will be by the skin of my teeth!

In fun news, J4 and I have matching singlets for the first time!  My DC running club FINALLY got singlets and since J4 and I are on the same team now (unlike when we met) we match!  I am so excited to have a team singlet again.

I am currently super sore from my club's holiday relays on Wednesday night.  For the race everyone is paired up and your team runs 20X400, with each person running 10X400 (with alternating runners).  It was painful.  My legs and lungs hurt and afterwards there was a very real danger of throwing up.  It was that good kind of hurt though (now that's it's over...).  M (a new club member) and I were second, falling to a pair that contained my newest female rival!  I think she will be a good running partner for me in 2013.

I leave you with some pictures from my tri team's holiday lights run.  The first picture is my view every time I get off the train at DC's Union Station.  You walk out to get a taxi and are greeted with a view of the Capitol (lower right of the picture).  It's breathtaking and a great welcome home.  The second picture is the Capitol Christmas tree (with reflective runners descending on it).