Mind Games

So I decided that my goal for running this year is to (eventually) get back to my corral. I am pretty sure that NYRR must keep your best pace on file for two years, because my bib still says my fastest pace is an 8:03. This is so not true. I have been much much slower since pregnancy and haven't quite been able to get back to the times I was used to two years ago.

I ran the Run for Central Park this week with the idea that I would try to get around a 9:30 pace (baby steps, right?). I had extra cheering from my mom and dad who were visiting, and of course, Bill and Liam.

Liam and Mommy before the race

Unfortunately in the morning rush, I kind of forgot my Garmin. Oh well. No biggie. It was only a four mile race anyways. Bill suggested that I count my strides (now that I know that I do about 90 per mile normally). I was just going to wing it and run how I felt. This is often how I get my best times anyways.

Liam watches for mommy

And it was HOT, so I knew I would be making lots of pit stops for water (I hate chugging and running at the same time).

I felt pretty good, like I was keeping a nine minute pace, but I had no idea if this was true or not.

When I got to mile 2 the heat was kind of getting to me, which I know can make me very drained. So I decided to try the whole counting thing. I figured it was at least a good distraction from the little hills on the west side.

It actually was very distracting, which was great. So I decided to step it up a notch. I would count 100 footfalls on the right side and then start another 100. Each 100 would have to get progressively faster. It actually worked really well! I found it was a lot easier to pick up the pace bit by bit instead of thinking 'I should pick this up soon and then probably a little more'. Because inevitably my next thought is 'But I'm soooooo tiiiiiiiiiiired!' This way the whole pick up the pace thing seemed manageable. Mind games. It's what I've needed to work on with my running for so long and now I've finally figured it out.

By the last turn of the race I was flying! My final kick felt impressive. And I got a 34:01!!! That is a 8:32 pace! Hurrah! I was very proud of myself!

Oh yeah and did I mention that I ran the race in my Vibrams? That was fun too. :)

"I Want To Go Fast"

This seems to be becoming my mantra for running. I think this is okay, because I am just starting out in the season, and it is a loooooooong season.

Last night we had an "enjoyable" five mile run. It was the last of our easy runs before we started speedwork and hills on Tuesdays. I ran next to Lauren, another mentor that I've been running with lately, because we go about the same pace. (Side note...Lauren drops time like I do. Actually, she about doubles my drops. She has run 2 marathons, and in her second she PRed by 40 minutes.)

We started in the middle of the SanFrancisco pack and took the first mile to find our place. This took about 10 minutes. After that, we started running with the fast girls. When I say fast, I mean fast. To get an idea of how fast we were going, I will tell you that in the 5.32 miles that we ran, with the first being a 10 minute mile, my average pace for the whole thing was an 8:35.

When Lauren and I looked behind us at mile three, none of our group was left. It was just us and the three fast girls. "I feel like we are going FAST," she said. And when I looked down at my Garmin it read 7:42, which was indeed, fast. I was honestly surprised that we were still holding on a conversation at that point (although it was getting more difficult). Lauren and I decided to step off. And then, when we got to mile four, she decided to stop her workout because she had a horrid side stitch.

I was now on my own, and dropped the pace significantly because my legs felt SO HEAVY.

At the end, the fast girls were cheering me on. I told them that they were wicked fast, and they admitted that they usually do not run that fast. The rest of the little group that was still with us before mile 3 was right behind me. They commented that all of us were way fast. I'm glad they felt that way, because now I know who to run with to get my real (faster) pace. The girl who works in the LLS office said that she was impressed that there were this many people who could hold this fast pace in one marathon group (there were 8 of us) and that this would be good for training. Good point.

When I went home and checked my Garmin, I found that my pace pretty much ranged from 7:01-10:00, but that I pretty much stayed in the 7:35-8:09 range for most of the run.

My legs were TIRED last night, and I had NO trouble falling asleep. :)

I'm a Pacer

This Saturday I was all excited to run my 8 miles. ESPECIALLY since I found out I was going to be in the 9:00 mile group.

So we got into our little sub-groups. Mine included both advanced runners and beginner runners because we were basically doing the same loop. (But the advanced people were doing it twice). Steve called for pacing mentors. He had one for ten minutes. He called for an 11:00 pacer. No one volunteers. He looks at all of the mentors. Silence.

Finally I was like "I'll do it."

I know I didn't sound very enthusiastic.

I didn't know if I was even going to be able to pace 11:00 miles. Luckily I had my Garmin. Well, I did end up pacing those four miles. We were right on track the whole time: 11:03, 11:08, 11:01 and 11:00.

What frustrated me though was that there were other mentors in my group that were running this pace because this was their pace. Why didn't THEY volunteer to pace? I know pacing makes people uncomfortable, but it makes me uncomfortable too. I'm no more qualified than they are. And then I was in a quandry over what to do because I felt like I didn't really work out as hard as I should. Should I run 4 more miles at my real pace? Or should I just chalk this up to an easy run for me and do my 8 miles tomorrow?

I decided to ask Coach Christine.

We ended up talking about my goals for the season. I told her almost everything about my running history and she asked what my goal pace was for the marathon since I was doing 9:00 miles for my long slow distance runs. I said "8:50." And she made a weird face. So then I confessed that I had no idea because I used to run a 12:00 mile and after this test we had on Tuesday I was in the 9:00 mile group.

She said I was underestimating myself and that if I was running 9:00 miles for my LSD that my goal pace would probably be an 8:30.

I was like "WHAT?! You're kidding, right?"

She said there are lots of factors to consider of course, but that shouldn't be too hard for me to do. I told her how I psyche myself out all the time. She said that we would work on that this season. The most important thing was to train with the advanced group on Tuesday nights (speed and hillwork night). I told her that I think that was what made me so fast this year. She said that I need to keep in touch with her all through the season and we'd work towards my goal, but that I should work towards an 8:30 pace.

I was floored. That seems insanely fast.

But, Christine knows what she is talking about, so who am I to doubt her?

She also told me that I need to run the other 4 miles today. Obviously it wasn't ideal to pace the 11:00 group and that she understood if I was frustrated, but adding on 4 miles to a 4 mile easy run this early in the season would be fine. I should finish the run at my pace and enjoy my night (not having to worry about getting up in the morning to run).

She said that it is important to be a mentor and to do mentor things (like pacing with a slower group when it is needed) but that it is important to her that the mentors get to reach their running goals too.

She made me feel a lot better :)

So I finished my 4 miles in the blistering heat with an 8:45 average pace.

So Tired

Uh oh. I hope I am not coming down with something. I am soooooo tired. Yesterday I pretty much didn't do anything except for sleep and run. I slept until 11 in the morning, took a two hour nap and was still tired. My run revitalized me until about mile 5.5, when my stomach felt awful. (Luckily I only had .5 miles left at that point).

I had thought about taking something like Airborne or Zicam, but I've taken them before when I've felt this way and all they do is hold off the sickness until you feel a little bit better but not completely. You end up stopping them because you just want to get sick and get it over with. My co-worker also went through this last week. This is NOT optimal timing for me to get sick. I have too much to do at work and of course, the marathon is Sunday. (Oh, and a 12 hour drive home. I guess luckily, Bill is doing the driving.)

OR maybe I am not sick at all. My sister visited us this weekend and we ate food that was a LOT richer than normal. We had a lot more fat too. That DOES always make me feel a little more sluggish and makes my stomach hurt a little. I also felt a little like this when I was fat-loading for the Chicago marathon.

Anyway, I can't believe that the marathon is this week! On one hand, it seems like I've been training forever, but on the other hand the whole thing seems so soon!

Bill and I are going to run together until the marathoners and half-marathoners split up. We have decided that runningwise we are good for each other. I help him keep pace so that he's not tired at the end and he keeps me chatting, which helps the run go faster. I also hope to run with Sarah from the Roncker's group. She's good for me too, for the same reason (plus she is good at helping me keep my pace!)

I am planning on running with the 4:30 pace group, and then if I have extra energy at the end, picking it up for the last few miles.

Oh, and also ( a bit of patting myself on the back here) I guess I really HAVE lost some belly fat. (I always start to doubt this when I look in the mirror. I guess I just get used to the way I look.) I put my pants on today that I just bought in September for my high school reunion and they don't fit!They are down by my hip bones and my belt doesn't even HAVE a notch to make them fit (it would have to be about an inch and a half out from the last notch). And when I looked at the most worn notch from before, it was the second to last one! So I don't feel AS bad about indulging on two donuts yesterday :)

Hurrah for Me!

I had a surprisingly good run this weekend.

The thing is, I felt REALLY SLOW. I kept telling myself "That's okay. You slacked off this week and it's just paying you back. Don't worry about the time. Just get the miles in. You can worry about the time next week."

I know that I should have an idea of my pace, but I seriously canNOT look at my watch during a run. Bill is the opposite. He asks me about every two minutes if we are on pace. We've even fought about it during a run. So, when I'm on my own, I do not look at my watch at all. It just seems to make my run longer if I do and also I then become obsessive about going too slow or too fast. I suppose on my longer runs I try to keep track of it more, but this was a 9-miler, so I figured that I shouldn't obsess about it. I had some other signs that I was just about at the right pace anyway. Like, in my running mix every time I get up to Harlem at the top of the park "Pump It" is finishing and "O.P.P." is starting. Since I listen to one of two mixes every single time it is a good way to figure out my pace. I thought I was a little off because "O.P.P." didn't start when I thought it should have.

Turns out I was actually going FASTER than usual. When I started moving across town to Riverside Park I looked at my watch and didn't believe it! Seeing my time gave me an extra boost of energy and I finished with a 1:18.52!!! NO WAY!!! That is an 8:45 pace for NINE MILES!

I was so very excited.

Yasso 800s

Tonight is Yasso 800s again. This time I have to do 5 of them. I am kind of looking forward to them. I decided to do these with a 1% incline on the treadmill to make up for wind resistance. I ALSO decided to pick up the pace a smidge, based on my last few runs, which have been at sub 10:00 paces. I would be so pumped if I could run a marathon at a 4:22. I think I can do it. And I might as well start training that way now, right?

Last night, Bill and I stuck to our goal of maintaining a recovery pace. It was difficult to do at first, and I kept wanting to speed up. I felt like I was just trudging along (which is funny, because that used to be my pace not all that long ago). I could definitely tell the difference though, because on the short and middle runs I usually hold a conversation with Bill. Usually , I can feel myself taking deeper breaths while I am doing this. But last night I talked the whole time and it was almost as if I wasn't running.

It was nice, because I just felt like it was a nice opportunity to shake out my legs and warm up my muscles a little bit (which I guess is the point of an SRR). Then I went home and did an arm weight workout in front of "The Biggest Loser." I think Bill thinks that it's funny that I do this every week during the show. But I asked him "How could you watch that show and NOT feel like you have to do something?" Besides, we all know that strong arms make you run faster. :)

New Goal?

So, as I was looking back at my long runs, I realized, maybe a 10:13 pace run is NOT that out-of-the-ordinary for me. At least not in this training season.

I have to wonder why this is though.

I mean, I know I have been working hard, but this is quite an improvement from where I started. It makes me excited though, to think that I may want to revise my goal of a 4:45 marathon. At the same time though, I am wondering if I may be jumping the gun.

I HAVE definitely felt faster on my runs. But it is a comfortable fast...I am certainly pushing myself but not so hard that I can't breathe or continue.

Maybe it is my diet. I am eating healthier AND I have lost 7 pounds since January. I have never lost weight during marathon training. In fact, I have gained about 5-7 pounds during training in the past and then lost it when I stopped. I attributed this to muscle gain/loss, but I am actually getting a lot more muscular (AND a lot leaner...when Bill and I were in the gym last week I looked over to the mirror and had to ask him "Uh, what happened to my pot belly?"). So maybe my new, healthier eating plan is making me run faster. Bill says carrying 7 less pounds would do it too, but then I reminded him that I made up for those pounds with my new water bottle belt.

At any rate, I want to see how my 8-mile run tomorrow goes. If it does go well, I think I'm going to look at a new goal. Maybe a 4:30 marathon (a 10:20 pace).

It's just that that number is so insane for me. Last year at the Pig I finished with a 5:16. 45 minutes difference? That's huge!

Whatever I do, I am definitely running with a pace group again.