Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Yay! Team San Francisco!


Last week we had a TNT social at The Park, which is this great bar in Chelsea. Here's a pic of some of the San Francisco runners with Coach Ramon and Coach Steve.

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Weekend of Races

This weekend I had two races.

The first was the Pride Race on Saturday. Even though I knew I was running again on Sunday, I decided to do this race because:
1. It is a qualifier for the NYC marathon, and my Sunday race was not
2. The t-shirts are usually a lot better than the other race t-shirts you get (they are usually navy with some kind of rainbow, not white with some kind of lame logo)
3. You get a rainbow popsicle at the end
(When you run a lot of races it's the little things that make the difference :)

I decided to run this race at my long, slow distance pace, seeing that I knew our coaches would not be looking at these results, but they WOULD be looking at Sunday's results, so I was saving my energy.

As I told Lauren the next day, running a race instead of racing a race is so enjoyable. I had a lot of fun, never felt like I was dying (even though Cat Hill was at the end) AND I learned how to drink and run at the same time!!! (which I have never been able to do). I averaged a 8:42 pace, which I was happy with...right on track with my long runs!

Sunday was a different story.

I was going for a sub 8 pace. I was not too worried about this, because my "test" from 2 weeks ago yielded a 7:58 pace and I felt like I could go a smidge faster then. The strategy was to go easy on the first two miles and kick it up for the last three, keeping in mind that Cat Hill was in the second mile and would therefore be the slowest mile. (It was the same course as the Pride course, just starting and ending at different points).

First mile was a 8:04. PERFECT! Second was an 8:36. Not incredibly bad.

I don't know WHAT happened after that. For one, my legs felt like LEAD. Now I know this is a symptom of lactic acid buildup, but I really didn't feel like I took it out too fast. My breathing was under control and I felt really good. I started throwing up in my mouth, which is just awful. I was overheating. I decided to walk the next water stop, even though I had just perfected running through them. I could use the break.

Next mile was a 9:07. Oooh. Not so good.

I wanted to pick it up but was doing the mouth throw-up thing again. 8:36. Ptttt. With my sub-8 no longer possible I decided to just finish the thing.

I walked a long time through that next water stop.

My legs REALLY felt like lead now. I just kept thinking 'Form! Form! Form!' But it wasn't in the cards. Even Bill said that it looked like my form had fallen apart at the end. That's crazy because even when I feel like I'm dying people usually say that my running form looks good.

I felt bad, but when I passed the happy cheering huge squad of TNT coaches yelling "Go Emily" I must have looked REALLY bad because one of them was like "uh, oh."

I was mad. I had a 42:17, which I knew was not that much faster than yesterday, when I wasn't trying. I also had this gut feeling that this time was slower than last year's Hope and Possibility run, which had been a PR for me at the time.

It wasn't. Last year I got a 43:25. But it still ticked me off. I am running so much faster this year, so I feel like my times should be a lot faster.

My average pace was an 8:27. According to my chart of all of my races this is still a PR for a race, but I was not happy with it. :(

Oh well. I decided to chalk it up to a bad day. An hour later, when I was eating my favorite McDonald's breakfast, I was already over it. ;)

P.S. My resting heartrate is usually 64-68 bpm, but before the race on Saturday...remember, the one I was not trying to race...my resting HR was 80. Bill thinks this is proof that I get worked up before races, even if feel calm. I would have to agree with him. I'd hate to have seen what my resting HR was Sunday.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

If Only It Were That Easy...

Words of wisdom from Ramon about our upcoming race this Sunday:

I understand that you may be a little tiny bit nervous, and it is ok, but I think I can help you with that. How? Easy!! I just gonna remind you that you have no chance of winning the race, sooooo....why should you be nervous??
Just relax, enjoy it!! A race is nothing more that a measured distance run, with lots of people with numbers on the chest, a clock at the finish, people running in the same direction, people lining up under a banner that says 'Start' and people spending minutes looking for this thing that says "Finish" ...simple... just look for that finish thingy and then you are done,
no pressure !!!

If only I can keep that in mind, everything will be good :)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Love Those Lampposts

Last night was my first time running again since last Tuesday and boy, could I tell! I had taken the week off because my knee was in some major pain, which I think has to do with me pushing so hard.

It's crazy how taking a week off can totally throw you off, though.

I was huffing and puffing at the beginning of the workout and it just didn't feel right.

I had decided to run with the Intermediate group last night because I knew that just being in the environment of the Advanced group would make me push too hard and just make me injured again. It sort of drove me crazy mentally to do this, but I know it would have been bad news if I ran with them.

So OUR workout was a pacing workout. We ran from the Indian Statue in the Park all the way up to the Reservoir loop (a little over a mile) going effort level 4 (not a sprint, but darn close) for 6 lampposts and effort level 1 (recovery run pace) for 3 lampposts. Repeat repeat repeat. When we got to the reservoir, we did 2 loops doing the same thing. The posts here were closer together, which meant that your fast part was over so much faster, but then again, so was your recovery.

I tried not to sprint (like I would have in the Advanced group) but keep a good pace and effort. Since the intervals were so short I didn't really time them. Besides, Coach Christine told us not to do this. We were supposed to be going on an equal amount of effort...so our later ones would probably be slower if we were doing the exercise correctly.

I was monitoring my heartrate though. My resting HR is between 64-67 bpm. When I finished an EL4 portion my HR was consistently 174 over and over. During the way short recovery period it went down to 164-166.

I didn't realize how hard this workout was until I got about 3/4 of the way around the first loop. I was dying for my 6th lamppost and when I reached it there was no EL1 running for me. I slowed that baby down to a walk for three lampposts and hoped that the coaches didn't see me.

I did this twice more on the second loop because I just couldn't handle those intervals!

It was funny, though.

When we got back and were stretching as a group, Coach Christine said she saw some of us walking on the recovery. I was like 'Uh oh. Caught!' But she said that was ok, because it meant that we were really pushing ourselves on the other part, which is what we were supposed to do, and we SHOULD be tired.

Good.

I also talked to Ramon about my knee. He prescribed lots of cross-training and strength exercises, which I kind of thought. That's good though. I think the cross-training really IS helping my running. I will learn to love those 90 degree squats, I just know it.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Oh Yeah! Test #1

I think Ramon has it in for the advanced group.

Tuesday we had our first "test". Now, last year I missed the first test, but I was told that it was running 3 miles at 80% and then running 1 mile as fast as you can. That timed mile was your "base" for the rest of the season.

This year it was a five mile test.

I got very nervous when I read the email detailing the test and had to try not to think about it all day. Apparently, my running buddy, Lauren, felt the same way. We were both NOT looking forward to it.

Luckily, it was the first Tuesday that was not either unbearably muggy or rainy. Although, Lauren said, it almost made it worse because we had no excuse if we did poorly :)

We all met on the bridal path at 86th. Steve described the test as a "5-mile race" and we should treat it as such. Therefore, faster than a tempo run but without the crowd support or water stops of a race. Yuck. We were supposed to ditch our running buddies and run for ourselves. Oh yeah. And to save some for the end, because Cat Hill was in the last mile and a half. :( My goal was to not take it out too fast because that is my fatal flaw when it comes to running. We warmed up to 90th and then took off on our loop.

I didn't have to worry about running with my running buddy, because she took off and was maintaining about a 50 foot lead on me. I was thinking "Nice and easy, nice and easy." And I felt really good. I looked at my watch on the first mile. 7:28. Whoops. That's not exactly nice or easy. Who even knows what Lauren did! She was about 75 feet ahead of me now. I gave up on following her (this is a big deal for me ;) and concentrated on slowing it down.

Second mile: 8:28. (Lauren was too far ahead to even worry about). I have to admit, even though my plan was to get this pace, I was a little disappointed with myself. Coach Steve was standing on the path by W86th and said "Now's the time for you to pick it up, Em! But be sure to save some for Cat Hill!" I was very confused. Because he said to pick it up halfway. According to Mr. Garmin we were around 2.2. I was thinking "Whatever. I can't pick it up yet!" But I said "OK! Thanks!"

But I guess I did pick it up because my next mile was 8:01.

Now we were in the dreaded lower loop and coming up on what I call the "tricky hills" (they don't look like hills but they FEEL like them). I could swear that I was closing in on Lauren.

Then, right by the carousel, I passed her. I know that the only reason this happened was because she took that first mile out so quickly, but the competitive girl in me was like "Yay!"

But then karma bit me on the butt because my shoe came untied and I had to stop to tie it. My shoe has NEVER come untied. I soon passed her again but we had Cat Hill. She told me I was kicking ass (I didn't feel like it) but I couldn't respond because I was breathing way too hard. I tried not to psych myself out AND I tried to run like her. (Lauren has a super efficient short and quick stride and therefore flies up the hills, passing everyone. I am definitely trying to learn that from her.) No dice. Lauren, the hill killer, killed me on the hills. :)

Somewhere in there, my 4th mile was a 7:56.

I was all excited now. I love a challenge, AND I love running with Lauren. We are really good for each other because we are like, exactly the same pace, AND we are both competitive. My goal was to catch her again and finish together.

I caught her right around the bend. She was like, "6 blocks to go!" I said, "Thank God!" (I was eyeing those block markers on the lampposts too.) Those 6 blocks lasted forever. But we finished (pretty much) together (she finished like 2 seconds ahead of me.)

According to Garmin, my time was 40:57 for those 5.14 miles. That's an average pace of 7:58!

Yay!

And my other running buddy, Molly, was right behind us. Unbeknownst to me, she was doing the same thing I was doing. She said that she just kept looking for my pink shirt and trying to pace off of me and that I kept her on track the entire time. She thanked me for it, because she said she never would have finished the test like she did without me. I guess I paid karma back for the time that David did the same thing for me. :)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Long Run

OK. Enough of this humidity. I am officially tired of it.

Saturday we had an 8-10 mile run in the park. I had planned on 10 miles at a 9 minute pace since this was our long, slow distance run. We broke into groups and then further dissected into pace groups. Steve was leading our group and asked how many 9 minute milers there were. Since there were only like 8 of us (out of the 30 or so advanced runners) and the rest of the group was shooting for 9:30s or 10:00s we were the "fastest" group.

This kind of setup has gotten me into trouble more than once.

Why?

Well because since the 9:00 pace group is the fastest, it means that the faster boys have no other choice than to run with us. 9:00 is slow for them but they're leading the pack. Since I am still figuring out my pace (I am now getting MUCH closer to knowing what 9:00 feels like vs 8:30, but am still not there yet) I have a hard time with this. My running buddy Lauren and I dropped back from those boys within the first mile, but according to my Garmin we were still running fast.

Up at 102nd we lost the back of the group, and as we turned the corner we lost the fast boys.

So from mile 2ish onward it was just me, Lauren, the other Emily and Coach Steve.

I was feeling sluggish and I think it was due to the pace more than the humidity, although the humidity didn't help either. I was like "10 miles is sounding a bit ambitious to me today." Lauren agreed right away, so that made me feel like less of a wimp. We now planned on an 8-miler.

With 4 miles completed, we had an average 8:40 pace. I told the girls I was going to drop back a little. They were actually okay with dropping back with me. Steve went back to check on the girls behind us. It was just too gross out, and taking that pace 20 seconds faster than planned for four miles took it's toll on me.

We just planned on running the rest easy. Like, for real easy. I think it actually helped that Coach Steve was NOT running with us.

Turns out that my "really comfortable easy pace" for those next four miles was 9:20. So...

The entire thing average out to a perfect 9:00 pace for 8 miles.

Now we just have to flip it so that we negative split the thing. If we had done that, I bet we would have felt much better.

Friday, June 12, 2009

The X-Training Run

My friends and I are a little bit sick...

I say this, because we were really excited for Coach Ramon's cross-training run on Tuesday. I thought I was the only crazy one who liked this run, but as I was talking to the other advanced group runners in our warm-up I found out that I was not alone.

What is the cross-training run?

Well, Ramon puts all of the intermediate and advanced runners in a big circle and divides that circle down the middle. The first group (this was my group) goes on a 12 minute run (6 minutes out and back) while the second group does cross-training exercises. This consists mainly of lots and lots and lots of squats, some balancing exercises, some pilates and crunches, etc. But mainly lots of squats. We then switch groups. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. All in all, my group did 3 turns at running and 2 at cross-training. The other group did 3 cross-training and 2 running. (I wished I was in that group). Oh yeah, and it had rained all week, so the ground was nice and squishy and wet.

Ramon sort of reminds me of Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser during this workout.

He goes around and makes sure everyone has perfect form. He will push you into perfect form if you don't have it. And squats in perfect form HURT. Especially when you have to hold them for so long. Oh yeah, and no complaining. Because if you do complain either more seconds or more reps are added on.

My legs were shaking by the 6th round of squats (we did multiple rounds of squats in each 12 minute cycle).

Now, I will say, that since I do a lot of these exercises at home now on my cross-training days, that this WAS a lot easier than last year. But I also realized that at home I am not doing these exercises in perfect form (no 90 degree squats for me). So I will have to work on that. Even though it hurts.

We all left to go home on the subway covered in lots of grass and sweat. Three of us were headed to my neighborhood, so I didn't look like the only freak on the train. :)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Women's Mini

This weekend I ran the Women's Mini, which is a pretty big women's only (duh) race. It was cool, because lots of famous runners were also participating (first prize was $10,000) including Deena Kastor, Rose Kosgei, Serena Burla, Hirut Mandefro, Catherine “the Great” Ndereba, and USA Half-Marathon champion Magdalena Lewy Boulet. Actually, Runner's World wrote all about this race in last month's issue.

My big goal was to get under an 8 minute pace.

But when I woke up to take my dog out, I realized it was a hot day. There was absolutely no chill in the air, like there usually is in the morning and not a cloud in the sky.

I didn't revise my goal.

The plan was to take out the first two miles at around an 8:30 and to drop from there.

I realized in the first mile that this was going to be impossible. The race was SO CROWDED. I was in the green coral even though my friends were in the red because NYRR had my best pace for a race over 2 miles listed as an 8:45 (not true). So I was stepping all over people and it was too crowded to really pass anyone. I felt like I wasted a lot of time zigzagging. But surprisingly, when I hit the turn into the park (the first mile) I found that I had clocked an 8:29. Awesome. Right on pace.
Me in the background (Hey! I didn't even realize that I was running RIGHT by my friend, Shawnessy...she's in the foreground in the pink)

I decided to keep the same pace for the next mile.

It was still pretty crowded and I think I was annoying people because I was clipping their heels. I really didn't mean to, but it was just because I couldn't get around anyone and I was in the wrong pace category.
My next mile was a 7:58 and I felt really good...breathing steady, still had a lot of energy.

Good thing, because we were now going up the back of Harlem Hill, right by the Lasker Pool. I realized as I was running this hill that we hadn't really trained Harlem Hill AT ALL yet this season. I could definitely feel it. I hate running this hill clockwise. I feel like it is so much harder than counterclockwise. My next mile was 8:14.

This is when it fell apart.

I was DYING. I was sweating like crazy and I desperately needed water. (Too bad I had just passed up some...that meant that there wasn't going to be any for AT LEAST a mile). I didn't feel sore or anything, just hot and tired. I didn't really understand it, because I felt like my Tuesday night runs had been more humid than this, and really, they were only 1 mile less. Now I was throwing up in my mouth (sorry, I know that is gross.) My stomach was in horrible knots.

I had to slow down a lot.

In my head I realized that I was NOT going to get my time goal. This was when I decided to take it easy and just pretend it was a practice run (and not a Tuesday night speed session). It was no use in running my body down when I felt like I would have to pass out in order to make my time goal.

Yes, this felt a lot better.

I even walked through the water stop. Like walked really slowly. This was mostly because I couldn't keep the water down. I had to keep spitting it out and then trying to drink more slowly. By the time I pass the water stop there were no longer any garbage cans (that should tell you how long I was walking...I would say at LEAST 30 seconds). I think my split was 8:14 though, which was pretty amazing. I felt like I was running a nice, easy 10 minute mile.

That actually made me feel better about slowing it down and I REALLY started to slow it down, and just tried to enjoy the run (even though the heat still sucked). Luckily they had a spray station somewhere right before Cleopatra's needle.

I saw Bill! Yay!

One mile to go!

I shouted to him "Did I say sub-8? I totally meant sub-9!" which I think made us both laugh a little.

Did I ever mention that I hate the lower loop in Central Park? Oh, I did? Like in every post where I write about the lower loop? Well, unfortunately this was the end of the race. And they had it marked out in meters (agonizing!!!) And the guy standing by the "800 m to go" sign felt the need to translate that into miles for us ("Just a half mile to go, ladies!"). I was thinking, "No! Don't tell me that. I KNOW that, but translating it makes seem it so much longer."

200 m to go. Are you kidding? I can't run any more.

I finished with a 53:02, which is an 8:33 pace. I do have to say, I was happy with that time. ESPECIALLY after I found all of my friends at the end of the race and talked to them. EVERYONE fell off pace because EVERYONE felt it was the most horrible, hot, disgustingly humid race ever. :)

We got a medal at the end. And when I walked into my building afterwards with Bill, my doorman was like "Hey! You won!"

I just laughed. :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Tempo Run

Yesterday we had our first speedwork practice.

I must say, I was dreading it all day. The advanced group was to do a 5 mile run...1.5 miles of a nice, easy warmup and 3.75 miles of a tempo run. Our tempo was supposed to be our 10k pace, which I didn't really know, because I haven't run a 10k in a long time, plus I am still trying to figure out my pace. Luckily, Coach Steve always talks more about "effort-levels" instead of time goals. He said we were normally supposed to be running our tempo run at 80-85%, which, by "talk-test" meant that you would be able to get out a few words to your running partner, but only between deep gusty breaths. :) That, I can understand.

However, it was really really muggy yesterday. I was already sweating as I was standing there just listening to the coaches explain the workout. (And when I saw people in my group running, there was steam coming off of them....crazy!) So Steve told us that we should stay more on the 80% effort side, and maybe be able to get out a whole sentence.

My friends and I took out a nice, easy 10:30 pace for the first 1.5. When we hit the 72nd Street Transverse I took off into my tempo run. I lost my entire group.

I felt good though, and I wanted to keep it up, so I pulled back a smidge. Just as I was hitting the 102nd Street Transverse (about 2 miles into the tempo run), my teammate David caught up to me. He said his goal was to catch me after the Transverse, but he was concentrating on his form and caught me. I was feeling a little tired by this point (understatement) and could hear myself breathing. It was very controlled breathing, but definitely loud.

David would NOT stop talking. And I was DYING.

He was talking about Rent (the musical), he was talking about the Japan Day races and all of the little kids who ran it, he kept reminding me that we were way ahead of the group. He was talking about how close we were even though we hadn't hit Engineer's Gate yet. He kept saying hello to everyone in the park. I wanted to tell him to go ahead because I knew I was holding him back and I was dying. (I would normally welcome this type of thing on a run, but I was pushing too hard and felt like quitting, so I was not happy to have company.)

At the same time, I knew David was keeping me on pace. I was pushing, and I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't there. Part of me was like, "Pull back, Emily. It is humid as hell and you can't handle it." But the other part of me was like "Stick with it. Run it in with David and you will be finished faster."

The thing was, my legs weren't tired...but my lungs were (yay humidity).

We finally hit Cleopatra's Needle, so I knew we were close. David kept reminding me that we were still ahead. I kept reminding him that I took it out too fast and felt awful. I was DRENCHED in sweat. It was so gross.

Maybe I should mention...

David is a Leukemia survivor and one of our honored teammates. So the fact that I was bitching and moaning about this stupid tempo run while he was running it in with me all happy and cheery made me feel like I was a wimp. If he could go through this AND Leukemia I figured I had no right to complain.

So I thanked him at the end. My friends caught up to us about 3-4 minutes later and told me that I was FAST. I told them that there was NO WAY I would have been that fast without David pushing me. He overheard me and said "I didn't run it for you. You did that."

I am not going to complain about my workouts anymore.

Just kidding, I'm sure I will, but having a survivor like that running with you who is SO POSITIVE the entire way kind of makes you want to not complain.

Besides, I always feel like I really accomplished something after those Tuesday night workouts. But pushing so hard during them DOES suck.

I hadn't looked at my watch the whole time because I felt like it would take too much energy. When I got home I hooked up my Garmin and found out that my pace for the tempo run was 8:23. Cool.

Now I'm ready for the next speed workout. :)