Long Slow Distance

Some days running just seems daunting. That's how this Saturday was to me. I was in a bad mood in the morning and the last thing I wanted to do was go for a ten-mile run. Also, Bill was nursing a foot injury, so I would have had to do it by myself. Normally, I wouldn't have minded, but I just did not want to even do one mile.

Bill made me a deal...he would RICE all day and try at least part of the run tomorrow with me. The only bad part was that Saturday was sunny and Sunday was supposed to be gloomy. I also pretty much hate putting my long run off until Sunday, but at the same time, I have learned it is so not good for me to run when I don't feel like it.

Besides, I have been trying very hard to follow Coach Ramon's advice:

"Run only if the run you are about to conquer has meaning and satisfies both your body and mind. stay away from senseless runs, they only damage your confidence and your body."

So, I took it easy on Saturday and on Sunday I actually felt like running!

I was a little nervous since it was my longest run of the year so far. I was also a little nervous because I was trying out some new equipment (my Amphipod handheld bottle) and a new Gu (Pineapple Roctane). But I decided to suck it up.

The plan was a full loop of the park (6 miles) and a middle loop. I wanted to start out at about 10 minute miles and end up with 9:30s-9:40s, averaging a 9:50ish pace. Just some nice, long, slow, distance.

Well, I totally forgot the Colon Cancer 15k was going on, so Bill and I just joined the runners for our first loop, knowing we would lose them at the top of the park when they broke off.

I have a love/hate relationship with doing races when I'm not racing. Obviously it is crowded, which makes it a little harder to find space. But it is also very distracting (in a nice way). There is no pressure to get a good time, so I kind of settle into the rhythm of the race and go with it. This whole thing is pretty funny to me because I am a very high-strung anal-retentive person at other times in my life...but when I'm not going for a PR I tend to be very Zen about running. (This is also something I am trying to do ALL the time in running).

Bill, on the other hand, has a different mindset during the whole doing-races-while-not-racing thing. He turns on his competitive edge (almost like he IS racing). Sometimes it takes the Zen mindset right away from me (Note: Bill and I are exact opposites...so it makes sense that we would be opposites here too. Yes, we drive each other crazy, but I think we would drive each other crazy more if we were exactly the same. So I know it sounds like I am giving Bill a hard time/the most awful person in the world, but its not true.) :)

I have to keep verbally reminding him that "we do have 9 more of these you know." And physically reminding him by just slowing down the pace, and then he eventually realizes that he isn't running with me anymore.

I knew this would all be over at 102nd street though (where I was pretty sure the race would break off as we continued north) so I wasn't tooooo worried. We were consistently taking about 15 seconds off of each mile, starting with a 9:42 (whoops), so I was going to try and pace a little better. I knew Harlem Hill was coming up, so I wouldn't have to worry long.

Harlem Hill has been my breaking point all season thus far, so I set out to exorcise my demons this time. That meant NO stopping! It's rough, because as soon as you hit the top of the park you can feel it in your legs, and that's just the BEGINNING of the incline.

Luckily though, I muddled through. I think I was the one driving Bill crazy now. I was very much trying to stay in the zone, listening to my breathing, my footfalls, concentrating on my body...but Bill kept encouraging me to try and talk. He just wanted to make sure that I wasn't overexerting. But I was trying to concentrate and kept giving him short "yes!" answers. Then he would prompt me, asking if I could say more than one word. Finally I said "Absolutely, I can say more than one word. I am just TRYING very HARD to CONCENTRATE."

The hill was tough, but I managed a 10:00 pace for that mile. I was very happy for that because I have learned that no matter what, Harlem Hill adds 40 seconds onto my pace time. No fail. Every single time.
So I had to be pretty happy with that.

I actually felt very very good during the first 6 miles...the next loop seemed very doable in my head.

And it was...

Except for the fact that my pace was way off. I was hitting 10:18s and thinking "This can't be right...I feel more like we are doing 9:40s." The next one I did pick up to a 9:42, which made me feel better. But then I was back to 10:00. ARGH.

Bill told me he felt great and could pick it up, but I just couldn't. I needed to stay in my pace, even if it was 10:00 miles. Luckily Bill is a nice and understanding partner and we finished it together (with a 1:38/9:50 pace).

I felt quite accomplished.

This was the first long run I did this season without stopping to walk AND the most mileage I've done so far this year. I just kept thinking that adding 3 miles on for the half marathon in a month is totally and completely doable.

My goal for this week is to work on negative splitting my runs. I think I do much better when I do that. But I think I needed to run an entire long run without walking before I could worry about that.

Sometimes I feel like I am learning to be a distance runner all over again. :)

Saturday in the Park

I think this weekend was the first truly nice weekend that we've had since about October. It was very warm AND sunny! I was looking forward to spending the whole weekend outside and just being sort of lazy.

So, in the whole "being lazy" vein, I decided to not set my alarm to get up and run, but sleep in instead. Normally this would be okay, but I kind of forgot about the heat being more intense as it gets later. I also kind of forgot that every single person in New York City would want to spend time in Central Park. Whoops.

Oh well. :)

Bill and I set off for the park around noon (yeah, the hottest time of the day) for our 8-miler. The plan was one full loop (ACK! Harlem Hill!) and one more lower loop (ACK! Tourist-city!). The plan was also to take it easy since it was in the mid-70s for the first time and also since it was our longest run so far by 2 miles.

Matters were not made easier by the fact that my fuel belt doesn't really fit anymore. It is a small, and it seems in the off-season I have gained a few inches around my middle. Whoops. So I was relying on the myriad of water fountains around the park as well as Bill, who was carrying Gatorade in his fuel belt.

As we rounded the first lower loop I was actually feeling pretty good. I was right on pace at a 9:22 mile and I was feeling pretty hydrated. Maybe too hydrated...so we stopped at the Boat Basin, which is only about 1.5 miles into the run. Embarassing. :) I noticed when I was standing in line for the Women's room (why is there ALWAYS a line?) that I was also sweating profusely. So I took some of Bill's Gatorade too, and we started up Cat Hill, which was kind of cheating I guess, since we had such a long break before it.

We seemed to be able to keep pace, until we reached Harlem Hill. I did have every intention of running it without stopping, but it was just too hot. So I took a mid-way stop at the water fountain (good excuse) and had some of the best and coldest water ever.

After that there really wasn't too much stopping. I just kept telling myself that the first hot run of the year is torture, and you have to listen to your body. I think I ran it smart, and as such, I was pretty happy with myself. We even finished under a 10-minute pace (which includes all of that walking, because I didn't stop my watch)!

Even though it seemed to take forever I was so glad that I did it and glad that I got to spend the pretty spring day doing something that I love anyway :)

Long(ish) Run Triumph!

Ok, let me start by saying this: I am probably NOT the person to emulate when it comes to training for long-distance runs. I have the best intentions of following schedules, but it never actually happens. Even with a simple training plan like the one I am following for the More Half Marathon, I just don't seem to log the mileage I am supposed to log.

This time especially. I am just not so gung-ho about the whole running thing and finding it hard to get up the energy to follow the plan. So I modified it (big surprise) the way I usually modify plans...I use the long run as a strict guideline that I must do on the weekend. During the week, I try to get in 2 runs. These runs vary in distance, but usually one tends to be a measly 2-3 miles and the other is a 4 miler. On the other days of the week I do some cross-training.

Now, the number of days I do mirrors the training plan, but the mileage, not so much.

Last night I told Bill we were going to do a longer run than normal because it was so nice out (I was even wearing my shorts!). Instead of doing our Riverside run up to our old apartment, we were going to do that run, plus our run from our old apartment to Grant's tomb (which was our old "standard run").

It seemed long. And I didn't realize how long until we got almost to the turnaround and Bill started talking about mileage (which I try not to think about these days). Turns out, I did exactly what I was supposed to do on the schedule last night...5 miles! (We actually did 5.42).

Despite being EXTREMELY tired at the end, it was a good run!

I felt pretty slow the whole time, but we ended with a 48:18, which means we were doing an 8:54 pace!
I was ecstatic with this, since my goal these days is to do under 10 minute miles on my runs. Also, I didn't end up stopping to walk, which I keep doing on distances over 4 miles!

I will take every little victory where I can :)

Slacking Again

So, I took an entire week off of running. Well, actually, an entire week off of working out. I could say it was because I was traveling a lot last week, or because I felt like it was more important to get sleep when I was stressed than run, or that it was just too cold and rainy, but the reality is that I just didn't feel like it. I even had a day off on Friday and I still didn't run...and then I tried to tell myself that since I cleaned like a maniac all day that that had to count for some kind of physical activity.

So, last night I FORCED myself to run...EVEN THOUGH it was still cold and rainy (and windy). It was rough for sure, it always is after you take a week off. But luckily Bill was battling it out with me. And I do always like running in Central Park. This is probably because I spend so much of my life there, running. This winter has seemed especially long, which I'm going to say has a lot to do with my not wanting to run. I realized this when I told Bill last night "Hey! Maybe on Wednesday I can wear shorts on our run!" It is supposed to be sunny and in the 60s from Wednesday onward, so I'm hoping that will help.

And what do you know? After being exhausted from our little run last night, I slept like a rock!..which is something I can't say that I've done for awhile. I guess that's reason enough to keep it up.

Coogan's Salsa and Blues Festival 5k

This weekend I ran twice (I haven't done that in a loooooong time). Saturday morning I added on mileage all the way up to 6 :) I can't say that the run went very well. There was a lot of stopping and walking and starting again. I started out at a 7:51 pace and ended with an average 10:18 pace...so you can kind of see what I mean. :(

I guess, this was kind of good though, because it set up my expectations for my first race of the year. I knew not to take it out too fast, at least.

Sunday was also fun because all of my friends were running this race as well...AND it was my birthday! I think all in all there were 10 of us, and for 2 of them it was their race debut! We all basically ran in pairs, which was helpful because everyone had some moral support. I was so glad that Bill ran with me, because that way I didn't beat myself up for my newly-found slower pace.

Here is a (long)video of the race. I actually found myself in the crowd at 1:45. (I'm probably like the only one in a tank top.)

I decided to shoot for 9:30s for each mile...especially since I had heard the course was hilly.

And it WAS hilly...but it was okay too, because it was a beautiful course, and a beautiful, warm day (like the first real day of spring!) and about every 200 feet there was a band playing. I told Bill that if they had that much entertainment during a marathon, that would be the best marathon ever. But that would also mean there had to be like 400 bands. (Actually, I just checked it out and it would be 691 bands).

Our first mile was a 9:22, which made me happy. I felt pretty good, but knew I couldn't push it a ton more. I was really happy that I stayed on pace and didn't push it too much.

Since I did feel so good, I picked it up a smidge (but only as much as I felt comfortable). I definitely felt like I was pushing, but not over-the-top. I did feel a lot slower on the hills. The next mile was a 9:10.

The third mile I felt like I had more energy and could really pick up my stride a bit. I was pushing, but I could still talk to Bill fairly easily. Luckily, he was encouraging me the whole way up the hill. I was watching my heartrate rise rise rise on the monitor as I went up, and go down down down as I went down the hill. That last mile was an 8:15!!! And with all the energy I had left, I really kicked it in for the finish.

I felt GREAT! (It was also funny to see my HR at the end of the race at 173, plunge back down to 89 in a matter of seconds). I was very happy with myself because I knew I did the absolute best I could. My finishing time was 28:10.

It was also really fun to run a race and not worry so much about the time. I think last year I would have beat myself up if I got anything more than an 8:00 pace. Especially since 8:03 was my best 10k pace from last year and I was hitting 7:30s-7:40s in practices for 4-5 miles. But really, this was so much more fun and relaxing. I was happy with myself for setting a reasonable goal and attaining it.

I was also very proud of my non-running friends. The both finished a tough course with lots of hills in their first event ever!

I would have to say that it was a great birthday run!