Intentional accidental

Today was a nice fall day for running, the sun came out but it was on the cooler side. I ran today and continued to stick with my training plan (Furman First), I ran 5 X 1000m with 400m rest intervals. Overall it was about 7.5 mile run.

I was a little "all over the place" with my splits because I couldn't decide whether to push it a bit for confidence, or to go easy because I'm a bit stiff and achy in the hip area. (I ran everything from a 5:02 to a 5:13) Typically, I'm more consistent than that --but like I said... I couldn't decide what I was doing! ;)

5:17's were the prescribed pace for training for a 4:30 marathon; and 4:59 for a 4:15. I'm aiming for in between there, and my times in training have been consistently "in between" there. So what I ran today was still on target.
Then, this evening was my 11 year old son's first cross country meet! I'm not sure how many kids were in his race but I'm guess around fifty and he was toward the front of the pack and got tenth place!! This was his first race ever! I think he did awesome!

I think he was a little surprised how tough it was to push through an entire race, and he said he felt like he might throw up. He also said that once during the race he thought about just intentionally "accidentally" tripping and then he wouldn't have to keep going. This made me laugh because it told me he was pushing himself enough to be uncomfortable. I can remember having those kind of thoughts during x-country races in high school-- even when I was in the lead and winning! Every runner knows doing your very best hurts!! You have to learn to conquer the mental sabotage monsters!He is in the center of this picture in all blue and yellow shoes.
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Marathon: rants and goals.

We've had some fall weather sweep into the Northwest. Yesterday was cool and rainy, and today the forecast calls for a high near 65 degrees and possibly a bit more rain. No, nothing drastic--I'm just saying --feels like fall. I think my body feels it, for the past two days I've had a sinus headache and I've been tired. Topping it all off, half my kids seem to have colds they'd like to share. So--

I was browsing over at Nick's blog and noticed this tip from Hal Higdon at the bottom of his post:

Hal’s Tip of the Week: Research suggests that runners often catch a cold or the flu the final week before the marathon, or the week after the marathon. That’s because in building to a mileage peak, they often overdo it and temporarily suppress their immune systems. Marathoners thus are more vulnerable to any viruses they might encounter. To avoid colds, try to avoid people who have them. And get plenty of rest.

This has been my experience--just when you hope to feel your best you don't! The weather changing, or training progression or combination of it all--I don't know, but I definitely don't feel my best.

Continuing my rant, I also am experiencing that stiffness and pain in my right hip again--I believe I've narrowed it down to hip bursitis. (Argh, last marathon it was piriformis syndrome in the left butt) The right hip is tender but I don't believe it is going to cause me problems for the marathon. (Not like piriformis syndrome did--I was hurting the whole marathon)Nevertheless, I still have a two week taper to go. I will be ready to go October 5!!

Okay, so I've griped about how bad I currently feel, but how do I think I'm going to perform? Actually, I think I've got a chance to have a personal marathon record. I really, really want to run a 4:20 or better. I will reluctantly take a 4:30 and I will be extremely disappointed if I don't PR. (better than 4:38 and change) There, you have my hopes spelled out.

I will make a post soon explaining what I have planned after the marathon, it should be interesting.

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Sliding on in to the marathon.

It's kind of hard for me to believe, but I'm in the final homestretch to the Portland Marathon on Oct 5. The longest training run is done. I ran 21 miles last Friday. I ran it a day earlier than scheduled so that I could fit a short trip to visit my 92 year old Grandma on Saturday.

Now the toughest workouts left will be a couple tempo runs, some 800 repeats and 1k repeats. The temptation at this point is always to try and do more mileage to "make-up" for anything I may be lacking. I've got to stick to the plan!
On the way to see grandma...I grabbed this photo of some wind turbines on the way that were not working...maybe no transmission lines yet, I don't know. They looked ready to go but just sitting there.

Sunday, at church, a lot of people had some sort of virus. A lot of nose blowing going on.... so of course, I am trying to be careful to wash my hands, not touch my face and all that precautionary stuff. Who wants to run a marathon with a cold!

Overall, I was not real impressed with my 21 mile long run. It ended up being a 10:17 pace I think. I never pushed the pace-- I just did the miles, but then again I never was tempted to push the pace because I did not feel great. I started about 7 am and the temperature was about 59 degrees, by the end it was warming up to the mid seventies. I drank Orange-Ginger Nuun out of a single amphipod 8oz SnapFlask bottle I refilled every few miles. (I drank some during the stop as well.) The plan was to take Clif shot blocks with the Nuun. (Nuun has no carbohydrates and since it takes me awhile to cover 21 miles I need the calories.) But, I just couldn't eat the blocks, my stomach did not want it.

Finally, about mile 14, I made a quick stop at the house, looked in the refrigerator and spotted a can of coke. I drank it all down on my way out the door and finished up the run with no problem. I usually have no problem getting down shot blocks with just water but I am considering taking in sports drink earlier on in the marathon just to make sure I'm getting what I need-- just in case I have the same problem.

Then, last night I went for a 6 mile run just to get the legs moving because I was in the car a lot on Saturday after the long run Friday. It was hot and there were little gnats out everywhere. They go in your eyes and stick to the sweat on your skin--ick! Somehow though, it was just one of those runs that remind me of why I love it so much... the sun was going down over my favorite trees, and I was actually enjoying all those bugs and sweat!

And tonight, my son has his first cross-country practice and he is nervous. ;) I love it....

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Get more out of your favorite loop.

The Portland Marathon is a less than a month away now. It will be my second marathon and my second marathon this year. At this point, I am doing well physically I have no major injury plagues. Training is going well too, I consistently run the paces (or better) suggested to me in the FIRST program. (Furman Institute of Running)

I've been doing the suggested "3PLUS2" program, which each week consisting of 3 quality runs, including track repeats, a tempo run, and a long run. In addition to the runs, I do 2 (actually I've been doing 3, or even 4) cross-training workouts, which essentially was my training for the sprint tri I did. This is much different from the run only approach I took for the Eugene marathon in the spring but I think it has been overall, better for me. I guess the marathon will tell.

As I mentioned in my last post, my swimming has improved from two years ago (at least some), but my cycling...well, not so much. I'd like to improve both. I'm pretty inexperienced in biking and swimming, I've run competitively since I was 9 or 10, but I only started the other two sports because I wanted to do triathlons. It takes time to develop skill and fitness for each discipline so I've been thinking about what I need to do.

I appreciate the couple comments left for me on the last post because they have directed me the right way I think. And today, I came across an article that seems to be written for folk like me...I thought I'd share the link. Get more out of your favorite loop. It's a place for me to start anyway. Thanks for stopping by.

Sprint tri report.

Overall time 140:14
division place 7/12
swim time 18:07
bike trans 4:10
bike 49:23
run trans 1:57
run 26:36

The morning started at 4:45 am with one of my kids throwing up over the side of the top bunk. I heard it clearly because I had not slept well. (I don't before races.) This happened to also be the child that had wanted to come watch the race the most.

We decided on having my oldest daughter (almost 19 years old) stay home with her. This was hard for me, even after the swim began I was thinking about her home sick.

Fast forward to 7ish we arrived at the lake. I set up my transition. The rack was so full I had to squish in where there was really no room. (typical) In my nervousness, I proceeded to put on my race bracelet without the timing chip attached to it. Well, duh!! My husband had to go ask for another bracelet.

The weather was in the low 50's and it was calm even though wind had been predicted. The water was warm--in the 70's. I brought a sleeveless Zoot wetsuit.

When my swim wave began I started to the outside and back because I'm not a fast swimmer and I don't enjoy being mowed over. It turned out to be a different swim for me. First of all, I usually have to battle some fear for a minute or two at the beginning. Not this time!! There was no fear--I just took off feeling comfortable right away.

I looked for feet to draft off and found some. It wasn't long before I realized those feet were too slow and swam around looking for new feet, all the while keeping the next buoy in site. The swim continued this way. I passed a lot of people. I now know it is not necessary for me to start to the back and outside, I can swim somewhere in the middle. As I cornered the last buoy I was a bit disappointed because the swim was nearly over and I was having such a good time. In the past, I would have been glad to be about done. So this was a big breakthrough for me!

Next, I jogged up to the transition area where I had a usual slow transition. It takes me too long to get my wetsuit off and road shoes on. It would help if I had triathlon bike shoes.

It was fun getting to ride my new triathlon bike. I stayed in the aero bars about 85-90% of the time. (The pic was taken right before a sharp turn and down the hill into transition so I was out of the aeros.) This is a very hilly course. I am not a fast cyclist either. It would really help me to spend more time riding. ;)

My bike training consisted of what I have been doing as cross training for the Portland Marathon following the Furst program. So it hasn't been serious, not to mention I have limited time I can get out on the roads to ride. Anyway, it is what it is, I did the best I could.

Next, the run. After coming off the bike tired, I immediately got my running legs and felt strong for the run. Unfortunately, I waited far too long to ramp up the pace thinking I had a ways to go yet. What was I thinking!!! 5 k is not far and I can read the signs. (1 mile, 2 miles...) Well, my brain had shut down on the bike I guess. I ended up having a lot left in the legs at the end and not enough road left to use it.

In all, I did the course in over 2 minutes faster than I did it 2 years ago. And 2 years ago the swim portion was really short due to low water levels at the time. (The coordinates for the buoys had been measured when the water was higher.) So no complaints!!

Now my focus is on getting ready for the Portland Marathon. (Today I got a 20 mile run in.) I tried out a crank e gel. They are bigger than normal gels and I couldn't get it all down so I rolled the top over and put it in my running belt. Well guess what, it leaked out. I was not a happy camper. I didn't really like the taste of the gel either. I guess they aren't the best choice for me. I will stick with hammer gels or cliff shots.

By the way, anyone who reads my blog who wants to offer me some tips (a plan?) for training to get my cycling times down-- (specifics, I don't know much)--I'd be happy to get any help offered for the coming months leading into next summer's season.

thanks for stopping by!