Long and less Long Runs - 4/30/07 to 5/06/07

[tattiefritter]

Did 8 miles on Tuesday, still a bit warm but managed to cope ok. Had obviously managed to move my foot pod into a different position on my shoe, didn't notice at first but started to question the reading when it was telling me I was running 9:30 mm but I was busting a gut (felt like interval effort), looked at my shoe and it had worked round so put it back and it started reading normal pace again however by this time I had done two miles far too hard. Got round the rest of the 6 miles in a more sensible pace but did pay for the hard set off.

On wednesday did a hard evening MTB ride of about 20 miles, its normally a ride we do at the weekend when we want a resonable length ride without taking all day. Its about a three hour ride including faff and food stops, we started at 1850 and didn't get back to the car until gone 10. By the time I got home it was after 11 and I didn't get to bed until gone midnight and found it hard to wind down. It was a fantastic ride but I'm still paying for it now.

Woke up yesterday feeling really tired, was scheduled to do 6x3min intervals with 3 min recoveries. I decided to have a go even though when I set off running I obviously had someone else's legs (must have left mine on a hill in Yorkshire on Wed night), felt like Bambi on ice, no coordination at all. After a mile and a half I had regained some semblance of control and started the intervals, the first was really hard but managed the other 5 ok with an average pace of 7:30 mm which I was really pleased about, however I needed the full three minutes recovery as I was quite obviously not recovered from the night before. 6 miles in total.

I am really tired today and decided not to cycle in to work (riding tomorrow instead) which was sensible of me , of course today is the day there decides to be a major "incident" (a jumper I think) which closed the motorway I need to take to work - ho hum would have been quicker to cycle in this morning.

I am ready for easy week methinks.

[btchance]

So I got 3 runs in this week. One 3.3mi run on Tuesday morning, then another 3mi on Thursday evening. Then today I did a 6miler. All were pretty slow, I was just wanting to get some miles into my legs without killing them. I also swam quite a bit this week, 3 times, once dragging a friend who's an awesome swimmer with me to get some pointers. Now I've got drills to work on, and I can already tell the difference. I also did one night of ballet. No bike this week, but that will be corrected tomorrow.

[Grog]

Yeah! Done with the half-marathon! I even smoked my goals (less than two hours) by over 7 minutes.

The Vancouver Half (and the Full, too) is run on a spectacular, scenic course. Too bad it was lightly raining for about half of the time. It was nice though, perfect weather for running as far as I'm concerned (if it would have been sunny I would have thought 'I wanna be on my bike').

I think I could have ran faster but that long, almost 3 km downhill hurt my quads, and I didn't want to handicap my Cycling Renewal Week!

I've had lots of rest and some cafeine (and lots of food too), now is time to get to work!

I'll be running only the "less-long" type of runs from now on until the fall! But I'm looking for a half-marathon in the PNW in late-November or early-December (or even January). Any ideas?

[limewave]

Yesterday I did a 10-miler. I felt pretty good until mile 8 when my back started to ache badly. For those who don't know, I've been in PT for my back for the last few weeks, I injured it in a bad mountain biking accident. PT said it is okay to run so long as the back pain doesn't increase. And it's been alright, really.

The thing is, I am just not motivated like I was last summer. I've been struggling with a minor relapse with my depression. Basically I don't have the motivation to do anything right now. I'm on the road to recovering again, but I think that I have too many expectations on myself right now. So, after talking to DH, I have decided it might be best to not worry about the marathon this year.

I am so relieved already. Now I can ride my bike when I want to and not worry about having to recover for a long run. I will run another marathon eventually, and I still have goals to keep me very active this summer--but it's nice to have one thing off of my plate.

[Grog]

{{{{{{{{{{{{ Limewave }}}}}}}}}}}

Sometimes it's good to make a decision, isn't it?

[Wahine]

Congratulations Grog!! Sorry I couldn't make it there for the race. I wanted to come up but life's just too crazy right now. 1:53!!! Awesome.

((((((((Limewave)))))))))) It's hard to let these things go but it sounds like the right thing to do. Take care.

I ran a measely 9.5 miles this week. One 6 miler and a 3.5 off the bike yesterday. Hmmmmm. Not exactly Ironman mileage but that's OK. I've decided that this year is the year of the bike. I'm going to smoke the IM Can course. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish the marathon in reasonable time with dead legs from the ride.

[colby]

I'll be running only the "less-long" type of runs from now on until the fall! But I'm looking for a half-marathon in the PNW in late-November or early-December (or even January). Any ideas?

Congrats, Grog!

The Seattle Marathon (and Half) is the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure of any others. It's a little late (and was a little chilly last year) for PNW running

[colby]

Colby's 12k, or: ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR so close!

Sunday, 12k race. Last year I finished in 1:25 (11:23 pace). My maybe reachable goal this year is 1:15 or better (10:00 pace) and ideally 1:12 or better to qualify for an earlier start next year (9:40 pace). We'll see, it's hilly, but relatively short.

Well, me and 39,381 of my closest friends were joined on a great morning for running (a little sunny, I would have preferred overcast). I missed my friends, and my dad and husband decided not to go, so I was on my own. Lonely, usually my husband joins me at least to watch. I didn't meet up with my friends afterward either, they walked right past me (it's easy not to find each other with that many people).

It felt different than last year. Maybe it's because running a marathon puts everything in a different perspective, but it didn't hurt as much as I'd expected. I was able to control my heart rate a lot more than last year, but relatively, that felt pretty similar. I was certainly moving faster than last year.

My finishing time was 1:13:44. I beat my 1:15:00 or better goal, but was 1:44 off my 1:12 stretch goal. So close!! I'm not sure what I'd have done different. My first couple of miles were under 9 minutes (flat/downhill), then a somewhat uphill mile or two, then a seriously uphill mile, then a couple of flat miles. I picked it up at mile 6 when I realised I took the hilly mile at an 11 minute pace, and I did make up that time, but I didn't make up the extra 1:44. Bummer!

Last year:
Finish Time: 1:25:40
Ran with a pace of 11:29 per mile

This year:
Finish Time: 1:13:44
Ran with a pace of 9:53 per mile

Last year my half marathon pace was 20 seconds faster than my 12k pace, because the courses are so different. I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out this year. This year's HM is on May 27th, my birthday.

[Grog]

Congrats, Grog!

The Seattle Marathon (and Half) is the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure of any others. It's a little late (and was a little chilly last year) for PNW running

What do you mean? I do 80% of my PNW running in wet, cold weather!!!!

Good job on your 12K race. Too bad you didn't quite meet your goal, but I'm sure you'll tackle those hills in the next few months and get even faster soon!!

[colby]

What do you mean? I do 80% of my PNW running in wet, cold weather!!!!

Well, yeah, I'll give you that. Last November was a little abnormally chilly for Seattle. I find that in places with more visible seasons (especially summer), I really miss overcast and misty days. Those chilly, overcast mornings are perfect for running. I honestly don't think I could do a fall/winter race in a warmer climate anyway, by then we've already started acclimating to the chilly temps.

A little closer to you, the Bellingham Bay Marathon is in October. From the calendars I've seen, there's not much after the Seattle Marathon in November (the 25th).