Shakin' Up the Wine (Country)

You guys, I'm so far behind on posting. Alright, let's be real. I'm so far behind on the rest of my life too. But I suppose I should start filling you in on everything. First things first -- the Santa Rosa Marathon! (Since I left off with my race week thoughts.)

I heard about this race from an expo for another race, and among other draws were running through Sonoma (an area of CA that I had never been), a bottle of wine for all runners, and a finisher party involving wine, pancakes, and watermelon. I suggested it to Erin when we were planning our 2014 rundezvous calendar. She signed up, and it was like, "Oh crap, guess this means I better sign up now." I eventually did...on New Years Eve after active.com sent me a $10 coupon for registration.

So Race Week kicked off with a massage. I initially scheduled a 60 minute massage, but about 45 minutes in, he asked if I wanted to do the 90 minute massage because he "wouldn't be able to do everything that he wanted to in 60 minutes." Okay, maybe that was his polite way of expressing pity for my legs and feet, but who am I to turn down an extra 30 minutes of massage?

The rest of that week entailed some shakeout runs, a big presentation at work, quite a few coffee stops, and plenty of carb loading (burrito bowl, dairy-free milkshake, shrimp fried rice, and so on). Oh, and packing for the trip. I have a list of race essentials (shorts, shirt, compression socks, and some other gear), and I just go off of that. This time, I just set everything out on the bed, and then packed it all into my gym bag and backpack.

And before we knew it, Race Eve hit. I woke up at 4am to get ready to head to the airport for my 7:30am flight. I'd say that that's an ungodly hour, but compared to my usual wake-up call of 4:30am, it wasn't that bad. But I'm sure it was ridiculous for my work spouse Leah, who kindly agreed to pick me up at 5:30am to drive me to the airport.

Once I was at the airport, I snagged coffee, went to the gate, and got myself "upgraded" to an exit row seat (and by that, I mean that I asked and they moved me - where do they get off making those premium seats anyway).

Erin picked me up at the airport, and we made our way toward Santa Rosa. However, we didn't exactly listen to Google Maps (we were catching up and just tuned it out), and ended up missing a turn. So we decided to get off the next exit and turn around. Except we found Denny's when we got off the freeway, so we decided to seize the opportunity to stop off for a carblicious breakfast. Denny's BYO Grand Slam for the win! (Mine consisted of eggs, hashbrowns, grits, and oatmeal. Photo not taken because I didn't think it was necessary. Yes, I'm aware that oats aren't exactly GF, but I didn't think of merely getting a double order of grits until after our food arrived.)

Upon leaving, we decided to take another detour to Safeway (it was down the street) for race eve/day provisions (bananas, sugary lemonade, and a slew of other salty and sweet snacks).

After all of our detours, we made it to SR around 1:45, and just went straight to the expo at DeLoach Vineyards (the premier sponsor of the race). Mile 10 of the race goes through DeLoach's barrel room.

Made it to the Expo!

Picking up my bottle of wine. Photo courtesy of Erin

We checked in with E's pacer crew (including Ko, who would be camping out with us at The Sandman Inn), and then I proceeded to get my swag. E and I then did a shakeout run in the area. Unfortunately, the country roads did not make for the safest running conditions, so we just stuck to four loops around the same cul-de-sac.

Around 5, we checked into the hotel. I had a near panic attack because I couldn't find my millet porridge in my bag, and so I immediately thought I left it in Oregon. (Spoiler alert: It was in my bag, and I only found it after buying backup instant oatmeal and KIND granola. Story of my life.) Shortly thereafter, we headed to Ko's friends for dinner and more eating. Seriously, I felt like I was eating nonstop. Chips and salsa, sugary treats, fruit, pasta (note: TJs GF rice pasta is a tasty and, at $1.99/lb, a relatively affordable option), potatoes, and some beef and salad. But the food was good, and the company was fantastic. We left around 9, and we were all in bed by 10 (despite our trip to Safeway for the oatmeal and granola that later became unnecessary).

Pre-race fiesta. Photo courtesy of Erin

Eating time! Photo courtesy of Erin

Race Morning

Because of the 6am start, we set the alarms for 3am. Popped my iron and vitamin C (along with vitamin D, because otherwise, I won't remember to take it) pills, and then plugged in my headphones to listen to my prerace music. At 3:20, we felt the room start shaking. Yes, that's right, folks - earthquake! (I should also add that because we were on the second floor, its effects were much more pronounced.) Each of us reacted in a different way. Erin, having never experienced one before, applied her tornado training and huddled on the floor in the bathroom doorway (distanced from the windows). Ko crawled underneath the table. And what did I do? Stood there unphased because I figured it'd be over in about 30 seconds. (Signs I may belong in CA - I hate the cold and the gray, and don't mind earthquakes.)

After the rockin’ party, I ate my millet and drank my coffee. One cup did not seem to wake up my GI tract, so I ended up having two. I took a banana to-go and ate that shortly before the race began.

At the starting area, ready to tackle SRM! Photo courtesy of Erin

Race Itself

I'll have you know that I made sure to do a dynamic warmup before the start of this race! I may not have always remembered this while training, but I remembered this time.

I wore the fellrnr pace bracelet (as I did with MCM and Newport). What I did differently was wait until after hitting the mile marker to compare my watch time to the target on the bracelet. I was between the safe and target zones for the first 20-21 miles of the race.

We started out by winding through downtown Santa Rosa, but after mile 2, turned onto a bike path. At this point, I was by myself and able to get into a good zone. The first four miles were in the dark (in case the previous photo wasn't an indication of that), and given the scenery, I expected a brilliant sunrise. Nope, not so much. But what I lacked in beautiful sunrises, I made up for with epiphanies. Such as my theory that the Boston Marathon has a unicorn logo to signify that running it is a dream for many runners.

Since I was by myself, I was able to appreciate the scenery on the course, which was nothing short of beautiful! Tree-lined bike path, vineyards all around. It reminded me of the back half of the Eugene course. Except that the Eugene course did not run along any vineyards. I had to stop around mile 4.5 to tie my shoe. Well, it was either that or risk tripping over it. I figured tying it was worth the 30ish seconds. I also felt like I had to poop, but that urge didn't feel major enough to merit stopping. (Fortunately, I made it through the whole race without that urge returning/getting worse.)

Source: Runner's World

At mile 8, we turned off of the bike path and onto country roads. My plan was to take gels at miles 8, 13, 17, and 22.5 (in line with water stops). Took #1 (salted caramel Gu) at mile 8, except the next water stop was Gatorade only.

The barrel room run was a new addition to this year's race, and surely a unique one at that.

It was a rager in that barrel room. Photo courtesy of SRM

Between miles 12 and 13, I heard, "Water and Gatorade up ahead!" And used that as an opportunity to take gel #2 (Honey Stinger vanilla. The same thing happened around 17 and 21. (Gel #3: Pocket Fuel mocha cold brew. Gel #4: Honey Stinger original.) At those last two, I had the gel in one hand and the water in the other. Double-fisting, runner style.

Once I hit mile 19, I started experiencing some runner's knee pain in my left knee. I reminded myself to just keep pushing, and that you don’t always do what you want to do, but you always do what you have to do. I hit mile 20 in about 2:17, so I needed to run the last 10K in about 42-43 min to hit my goal, and 46-47 min to PR. Considering that I had yet to run any 7+ min miles according to Garmin, the latter seemed super feasible.

With 6 miles left to go, we veered back on the bike path and merged with the half-marathoners. I thought I was going quickly, because I was passing all of them. However, my perception was skewed by the fact that these people were going at a 10-12 min pace. It didn't help that the path was completely clogged. So ultimately, these were my slowest miles of the race. It was around 21-22 that the sub-3 started slipping away from me.

Faking happiness at mile 24. Photo courtesy of SRM

Just before mile 26, we turned off the bike path and onto the roads. I knew that once I hit the mile 26 marker, I just had one turn and then it was straight to the finish. I reached the 26 mile mark in just over 3 hours, so I knew that a sub-3 wasn't possible, but a sub-3:02 and PR surely were. Once I made that turn and saw that the clock had just hit 3:01, I just gunned it. The way they had the finish line structured, it seemed like marathoners and 5K runners were supposed to finish on the right and half-marathoners were supposed to finish on the left. Unfortunately, there was a group of about 4 women nearly blocking my path. I was able to swerve around them, but the thought of them preventing a sub-3:02 finish caused a few seconds of anxiety. The announcer called out my name, and I crossed the finish line with the clock reading "3:01:47”.

Me and the group of women. Photo courtesy of SRM

Post-race:

I was just floored. My tenth marathon was in the books, and I clocked a two minute PR (and extended my marathon PR streak to 8). I got my medal and some post-race food. I saw someone with a Portland Marathon space blanket, and my thought was, “Aww, my people!” Moments later, I saw volunteers handing out these blankets to runners. Yes, I traveled 500 miles to get paraphernalia from my home marathon.

I talked to a couple other runners who I saw on the course, and they echoed my thoughts on the last 10K messing with our perception of speed.

In addition to the race shirt, Santa Rosa also distributed full-zip hooded sweatshirts to all finishers. The sweatshirt is really nice, but the process of distributing/retrieving them was a nightmare. They tried to group everything by runner’s last name, but all of the lines still ended up merging together and snaking around the finisher area. (My recommendation is to follow the Portland Marathon’s example and hand them out with the medals, and mark everyone’s bib as he/she receives it.). I digress though.

While waiting in that crazy long line, I talked to another runner and his wife. He had just PRed by about 10 minutes and BQed, and she was kind enough to look up my finish time on her phone. Net time: 3:01:41!!

Over the next 20-30 minutes, I got my finisher sweatshirt, made a pitstop, got my and Erin’s stuff from bag check (as we did at Newport, we checked our stuff in the same bag), and video chatted with my mom. By then, Erin and Ko made it to the finisher area, and I learned that they led the 3:35 pace group to a 3:34:38 finish, and as a result, led several runners to new PRs and BQs. How awesome are they???

Erin and Anil

Erin, Ko, and their pacer sign. Check out those fine space blankets! Photo courtesy of Erin

Erin and me, keeping it real with the Porta-potties in the background

We didn't stick around for the post-race party, because it was super crowded and we had to check out of the hotel. So we headed back, showered, and then Erin and I drove back to her place in the Bay Area.

I'm sure I was smiling like crazy for the next few days after that. I've probably said this before, but I'll say it again now. When I started this marathoning business in 2007, I never believed that I'd run a marathon in under 3:10 (the Boston Qualifying standard at that time), let alone under 3:02. At initial glance, the race went off with unnoticeable errors. I ran the race pretty evenly (first half: 1:29:48, second half: 1:31:53), executed my fueling plan the way that I intended (i.e., taking gels with water), and just pushing through. It all made for a nice runner's high. However, I knew there had to have been something I could do differently, because nothing is perfect and I missed that goal by 1:41.

What to do next time:

It was hard to pick apart a race that went very well, but once the runner's high started wearing off, I was able to identify a few things that I could do differently next time around.

1. Run more miles. This seems simple, but mileage is required for any marathon training program. And  I ran more miles during my Newport training than I did during my SR training.
2. Do more speed work. Over the twelve weeks of training, I only did two legit speed sessions (and by "legit speed session", I mean track workout).
3. Work on form. At times, I started hunching and had to tell myself, "Back straight, eyes forward, and fly."  

And what is next, you ask? Currently, I don't have any races on my calendar. After the last 10+ months of having at least one race scheduled, it feels so weird to have NOTHING on my calendar. It's refreshing, but also weird. But more on that later.

Summertime!

Summer's finally here (almost)! How can I tell? At 9 pm, it's still bright outside. I live for these long days!

You know what else screams "summer" to me? Ice cream. The other half recently introduced me to Coconut Bliss ice cream. Coconut milk-based, minimal ingredients, maximal flavor. Despite the fact that I seem to be unable to put have trouble putting the pint back in the freezer once I take it out, I highly recommend it! To be honest though, soft serve is more my thing. Back to Eden (the absolutely wonderful vegan, gluten-free bakery I finally tried about two weeks ago) apparently has soft-serve, dairy-free ice cream, and so I may have to go back there and get some to celebrate the official start of summer.

Another summer delight: mojitos. Fortunately, rum is distilled from sugarcane (and not grain), so I can still enjoy those. Unlike my former friend, the vodka-soda with lemon.

In all seriousness though, after two weeks of minimal gluten and dairy, my stomach seems to have dropped the swords of revenge. Maybe not 100% (my GI system seemed to retaliate a bit after drinking gin, and I later learned that gin is also distilled from grain), but compared to how it felt the week before Newport, I'll take that.

I'm still being mindful of my caffeine intake, and my energy levels have still been pretty consistent. I kid you not, I wake up after about 5 hours of sleep, only have 1 (sometimes 2) cup of coffee, and can still last about 18 hours. It's crazy! Maybe there is something to that extra iron dose (and pairing it with vitamin C, while limiting my coffee and wine consumption).

So now let's switch from food to training. I can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm already 2+ weeks into my multi-marathon training plan. All of the workouts have been either recovery runs or general aerobic (GA) runs, so it feels more like funning at times. But the "fun" is what keeps us coming back for more. Am I right or am I right?

To force myself to do ancillary work, I wrote it into my multi-marathon plan. After 1 week of testing that trick (because week 1 of this plan was simply recovering from Newport), I think it's working. A brief recap of weeks 1 and 2 of workouts.

Week 1 (Planned/Actual)
Mon - Rest or cross training / 4.43 mi of cycling in 20 min
Tues - Rest or 5 mi / rest
Wed - Recovery 5 mi / 5.16 mi at 7:41/mi
Thurs - Rest or cross training / rest
Fri - Recovery 5 mi / 5.06 mi at 7:36/mi
Sat - Recovery 5 mi / 7.19 mi at 7:40/mi
Sun - Recovery 7 mi / 5.13 mi at 7:40/mi + foam rolling
Total - 22-27 mi / 22.54 mi running + 4.43 mi cycling

Week 2 (Planned/Actual)
Mon - Rest or cross training / rest
Tues - Standard warm-up, recovery 6 mi, 2 x 1' standard core / Standard warm-up, 6.24 mi at 7:45/mi, 2 x 1' standard core
Wed - DS routine, recovery 5 mi, IT Band rehab routine / DS routine, 5.01 mi at 7:40/mi, IT Band rehab routine
Thurs - Rest or cross training / rest
Fri - Standard warm-up, GA 7 mi + 8 x 100m strides, strength workout / Standard warm-up, 7.07 mi at 7:34/mi, 2 rounds of 10x10 RYBQ strength routine
Sat - Standard warm-up, recovery 5 mi, DS routine / Standard warm-up, 5.06 mi at 7:40/mi, DS routine
Sun - Standard warm-up, GA 10 mi, 2 x 1' standard core / rest (unless walking around all day in honor of PDX Pride counts)
Total - 33 mi / 23.38 mi

How's your training going? What do you think of the briefer recaps?

The Science of Newport: A Race Analysis

When we last spoke, I had revealed my mile-by-mile recap of the Newport Marathon, and the emotional side of the race. "The Art of Newport," if you will. (If you need to catch up, go read that recap first.) This will be more about the technical side of the race.

It has been said that those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And before I begin training for Santa Rosa, I want to visit Newport one last time to determine what went right, what went wrong, and what I could do differently on August 24.

So what went right?

First, the speed work in the Pfitzinger plans. Maybe not all of the tempo runs went according to plan, but I remember all of the track workouts when I felt like I was going to die during the intervals, and ended up nailing my target splits.

On a related note, I did most of the runs as prescribed in the training plan, and one of the keys to improving as a runner is to run high mileage (or so Jason at Strength Running tells me).

Source

All Willy Wonka memes aside, I logged 56 miles for my peak week (the only time I ran more miles in a week during Eugene '13 training when I ran 57 miles in a week. But I wasn't working full-time then, so I'm chalking this one up as a win). Furthermore, April 2014 was the first time I logged 200 miles in a month.

With the exception of the last week of training, I was more mindful of what I ate. Sure, I had my cheat moments, but I know that I paid more attention to keeping gluten and dairy out of my diet when I went out to eat. Also, my issues with iron absorption compelled me to reduce my coffee consumption (because coffee hinders iron absorption) during the second half of training. I cut back from about 3 cups a day to 1 cup, and none after noon (well, most of the time). Once the nasty, wicked headaches subsided, I felt like my energy levels were more consistent. Less caffeine, more energy...maybe it really WAS messing with my iron absorption.

My pre-race massage also ended up being a wise choice. I did this a week before MCM because my legs were extremely tight, and after the success I had there, I decided to work a pre-race massage into my recovery week calendar. Groupon was also offering a deal for a LMT near my office, and how could I pass that up? My legs definitely felt fresher after that.

But what went wrong?

While I got enough sleep for me, I don't think I got enough for a recovery week. In the days leading up to the race, I only got about 4-5 hours of sleep per night. If you know me, you'll know that my attitude on sleep is along the lines of "I'll sleep when I'm dead." I just try to cram as much as possible into my days (because I don't know how to sit idly), and it usually catches up with me. I know that sleep is important in recovery, and that these same benefits probably apply to the taper as well.

The GI issues I had during recovery week and the race itself. Before I received the results from the celiac blood test, I took "potential celiac disease diagnosis" to mean, "You should go enjoy a burrito in case the test comes back positive (since ignorance is bliss)." And while I enjoyed said burrito as I ate it, the hours of GI distress that ensued was less than optimal. If I had to guess, I'd say that my mid-race GI distress was either due to the extra coffee I drank on race morning (normally, I'll have one cup of coffee before the marathon, but I ended up having about 1.5 cups this time) or to the gluten- and sugar-rich race eve eats (because my system wasn't used to them).

Per usual, I started out way too quickly. Between race morning excitement and jumping into an unofficial sub-3 pace group in the first mile, my pace for the first mile was my fastest lap of the whole race. I knew as soon as I saw that lap that I went out too quickly, and also knew that it was too late to do anything to prevent the damage.

My gel and water stops didn't correspond perfectly. I took the gels as planned, but on a couple occasions, the next water stop wasn't for another mile after I consumed the gel. You need water to help metabolize the glucose that's in the gels, so I couldn't reap the full benefits of them. Or so is my guess. And I'm sticking with it.

How can I improve?

Coordinate my Gu and water stops.

Get more sleep in the days leading up to the race.

Make a more concerted effort to figure out what foods work and don't work for me. Though I may not have full-blown celiac disease, I can't rule out the possibility of a gluten sensitivity (especially after the issues with that burrito). Also, the adjustments I made based on my iron absorption problems seemed to help improve my energy levels. With that being said, I think continuing to pay closer attention to what I eat and my body's reaction to it could be greatly beneficial.

Do more core and strength work. I put in the miles for this race, but more often than not, I'd skip out on the ancillary work. I did more strength work in the weeks leading up to MCM, and I'd like to think it paid off there.

Do some predawn long runs. I'm putting this on my list only because Santa Rosa has a 6am start time, and I think it'd behoove me to get used to starting long runs at that hour.

Do you have any more suggestions?

Analysis Paralysis: 25 Days to Newport

Hola! Happy Seis de Mayo! Or belated Cinco de Mayo. Whatever you want to call it.

Source

Yes, yes, I know, I owe you all an apology for being AWOL the last two weeks. Unlike my last absence, I can't say that I was on any epic adventures. Unless long runs count.

First things first. Let's all take a moment of silence to mourn the lost of my beloved Garmin Forerunner 305. The intermittent issues from a few weeks ago became more frequent, and after rounds of troubleshooting at 6am with Garmin Tech Support (because 6am is the only time I can catch them while they're open), I accepted that I needed to buy a new watch. Fortunately, Garmin has this awesome program where you can send in your old watch for a $99 credit toward a new one. New Garmin at a discounted price? Yes, please! So I ordered the Garmin Forerunner 220. It has yet to arrive, but when it does, I will be writing a review on it. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a photo from their website.

Source

While I've been (im)patiently awaiting its arrival, I've been running my standard routes. Half the time, I haven't bothered to time them. The other half, I use the iPhone stopwatch, and use that as my excuse to run with music. It's been nice to become temporarily unplugged, but the data nerd analyst in me can't wait to get my new watch so I can resume recording my runs and poring over splits, etc.

Speaking of analyzing things, I've been analyzing my performance this training cycle to the point where I'm mentally psyching myself out. It's a problem, people. (The psyching myself out, not the data interpretation.) The last couple weeks, I hadn't felt as springy on some of my workouts. I tried to figure out whether it was due to not sleeping enough, not eating/drinking enough, pushing myself too much on the hard days, or something else. The other day, I had coffee before my run and felt much faster. And then it dawned on me that cutting back on my caffeine could be contributing to this issue. 

Yes people, I tried cutting out coffee to help with the iron issue. The first few days involved agonizing headaches and withdrawal.

Source

Then I did some more research, and found that polyphenol intake shouldn't occur within an hour of consuming an iron-rich meal. I'm taking that to mean that my mid-morning mug of coffee is still within limits, but all the other cups I had been drinking are not.

But back to my analysis issues. We're 25 days out (holy whoa...), and because some of my workouts haven't gone according to plan, I've been doubting wondering if I have a sub-3 hour marathon in me. I know I've put in the miles, but I just haven't felt fresh and my workout times (for recovery and GA runs) seem slower than they were during MCM and Eugene '13 training. I think I just need to "trust the training" and trust the Pfitzinger plan, and also silence the demon between my ears (i.e., my brain). But still, what if? And what if I can't fix my issues in 3.5 weeks?

Alright, I know that this is complete stream-of-consciousness, but that's the story of my life.

How do you silence your demon and stop wondering, "What if?"

Halfway to Newport: Week 6 Training Recap

What's happening out there?

So 6 weeks down, and 6 weeks to go. I'm officially halfway done with the Pfitz 55/12 plan, which is just mind-blowing. Where have the last six weeks gone? I know I was in Puerto Rico, but April is just a giant blur. I feel like my life this month has been run, eat, work, shower, sleep, and maybe socialize a bit. Yes, I've hit my weekly mileage goals for the last two weeks (and for 4/6 weeks of this cycle), which makes me happy. But I still feel like my life is work and running.

And speaking of time zooming by, my birthday's tomorrow. Where the hell have all of these years gone? I need a drink right now. But for the sake of my sleep cycle, I'll be good. Because the last thing I need during the 55-mile week of my training plan is a bout of insomnia. 

I finally returned to my doctor on Thursday for follow-up lab work. Despite the iron supplementation, my iron levels managed to drop. Actually, I think plummet would be a more accurate description of the change. I know that endurance training breaks up your hemoglobin stores, but between the last test and this one, my weekly mileage has only increased by about 10 miles. So this had to be due to something else. With that, I turned to the Google. And learned the following:

-Polyphenols (present in coffee, tea, and wine) inhibit iron absorption (Source)

I don't care so much about the tea, but for those of you new to my blog/life, coffee and wine are two of my favorite things.

Source

Source

-Eggs and dairy inhibit iron absorption (Source)

As a result of my lactose intolerance, I consume little dairy. However, I consume 3-4 eggs a day. Damn you, chicken eggs! Why must you be so delicious?

-Symptoms of iron deficiency include fatigue and increased sensitivity to the cold (Source)

Over the last few weeks, I was feeling really tired (which I just assumed was due to not sleeping enough), and noticed that my Raynaud's flare-ups were becoming more frequent. (I kid you not, I would drink a smoothie in my house, and my fingers would go numb and white.) I hadn't opened up too much about this in my previous recaps, because I didn't have a real explanation for why (and neither gluten nor dairy seemed to be a good explanation). So we'll see if proper/increased iron supplementation will help this. In the meantime, I have an appointment scheduled to see a specialist next month.

What is "proper supplementation"? Well, I'm glad you asked! To promote absorption, it should either be taken on an empty stomach, or with vitamin C (e.g., orange juice). I mentioned my medical issues in a dailymile post, and one of my DM friends (who has a similar issue) suggested taking it first thing in the morning, and right before bed, and not eating for an hour before or after either dose. She also suggested cutting back on my beloved caffeine, and reassured me that even though it'll be painful, it'll be worthwhile.

And now, onto my workouts!

After reviewing my training log (aka dailymile), I concluded that the big theme of this week's training was the mental game. Namely, the challenge of sucking it up, putting on your big boy shorts, and dragging your ass outside. And even though we discussed that last week, the mental component is huge in this sport because of how much time you spend on the streets/trails with you and your thoughts.

Mon

Planned: rest or xt

Actual: rest (and maybe some foam rolling)

Tues

Planned: Recovery 5 mi

Actual: Recovery 5.01 mi at 7:50/mi pace

Thanks to an Instagram post from one of my Bostonian friends, I remembered that today marks the one year anniversary of the Boston Bombings. I had to dedicate part of this run to them, and just think about how lucky I am that I'm still alive and able to partake in this sport.

After my Boston dedication, my thoughts drifted to other things - my training plan (and whether I can pull off this crazy-ass goal in 6.5 weeks), my job, and smaller matters like my upcoming birthday plans, and what I was going to eat when I got back home. I love recovery runs, because they give me a chance to just run and think about something other than target paces.

Wed

Planned: VO2 max 10 mi with 5 x 1000m at 5K race pace (6:33/mi); jog 2 min between

Actual: VO2 max 10.09 mi with 5 x 1000m at 6:26/mi pace

This was my first time doing a VO2 max workout, and I'd be lying if I said I weren't intimidated by it. The workout: 10 miles with 5x1000m at 5K pace (6:33/mi) and 2 min jogging in between. So I did a 3.19 mi warmup (1 mile to the track, and 2.19 on the track), then this workout, and then a 2.65 mi cooldown (1.6ish on the track, and the rest was the route back home).

For this, I used the Workout option in the Garmin settings (first time ever for that!), and for the sake of accuracy, temporarily switched my Garmin to metric settings. So I ran this, and then checked the results when I was done. Before I converted it back to statute (to get the splits), I saw "5.00km, 19:58", and was floored (I'll save you the math, 20:00 for 5km = 6:26/mi pace). Once I converted it to units I can understand, I was even more stoked.

Splits: 6:18, 6:14, 6:32, 6:30, 6:32

I'm still shocked that I hit my target pace for every interval, my pace for 2 of the 5 intervals was faster than my goal 5K pace, and my overall pace for the speed work was faster than said goal 5K pace. After the last week of workouts, this was a nice confidence booster.

Thurs

Planned: MLR 12 mi

Actual: 2 rounds of the RYBQ 10x10 strength routine

I had a charity event to go to on Thurs night, and decided to use Thurs morning to get the follow-up lab work done. So as a result, I swapped my MLR and rest days. And decided to use this rest day for ancillary strength work

Fri

Planned: rest or xt

Actual: 5.01 mi at 8:06/mi pace (am); 7.03 mi at 7:46/mi pace (pm)

Part 1: This might be the one time I felt more cranky after a run. First, it was cold (39°). Second, my stomach was not feeling so hot. Excuses, excuses. The gist of it is that I wasn't feeling very springy. Also, I think my Garmin was having an off day as well. It tried saying that my usual 5.03 mi route was 4.96 mi.

Part 2: Well, I can say that tonight's run was much better than this morning's. For starters, it had to have been about 20 degrees warmer.

I ran through my neighborhood again. I should really branch out, except I was feeling lazy and didn't feel like thinking of a new route. Initially, I didn't want to go out, but by the first mile, I felt glad I was out there. During mile 4, I thought of Erin's comment on my latest blog post, and started thinking about US states and capitals (for some of the states), and then the capitals for some foreign countries. That's probably the highlight from this run. Well, that and it felt like redemption for this morning's awful run.

Sat

Planned: Recovery + speed 6 mi with 6 x 100m strides

Actual: 6 mi at an unknown pace + 8 x 1 block strides

So my Garmin decided to crap out again. Except this time, I didn't even hear it beep. I just looked at it around the time I expected it to beep for mile 1, and it said 0.36 mi. I was at the MAX station, so rather than try restarting it, I just decided to take the MAX to 24 Hour and deal with the treadmill. Once I started on the treadmill, I couldn't get into a groove. So I left (feeling all defeated), went home, and after some hemming and hawing, decided to run my usual 5M loop with my headphones and phone, and time myself with the stopwatch. Music definitely helped get me back into a groove.

My playlist gave me flashbacks to the following events: Dad Vails '06, Eugene '12, Chicago '12, R Baby 4 Miler '09 (first race I averaged a sub-7 pace), and maybe some others that I'm not thinking of. Also, I saw two different CT license plates on this run (aww nostalgia time! haha). It was like a journey through the last (almost) 28 years.

Based on the Garmin time from run #1 and the stopwatch time from run #2, I'm estimating that my total time for this 6 was 47 min.

Sun
Planned: Marathon specific 15 mi with 12 mi at marathon race pace
Actual: 15.03 mi at 7:27/mi pace, with the last 12 being at an average pace of 7:19/mi

After Easter brunch, a nap, and accepting the fact that I had no valid excuse for missing this run (partly thanks to everyone's FB, IG, and DM posts about Boston), I headed out for an early evening run.

Today's workout: 15M with 12 at marathon goal pace

After a 3 mile warmup (and a side-5 from a diner at my neighborhood taqueria), I picked up the pace, except my legs were not feeling sub-7 minute miles. Somewhere between mile 4 and 5, I had the thought of, "Oh crap, did I lock my front door?" And one of the last places you want to have that thought is in the insular midst of the Springwater Corridor. So I decided to make this workout into one 10M loop and one 5M loop. Once I hit mile 5, turned around, and continued at a speedy clip back home. Fortunately, I had locked my door.

For my 5M loop, I just headed down my street 2.5 miles, and then turned around. I heard some kid belting out "Let it Go" from "Frozen," which just made me laugh. Started thinking about random things, like the US states and their capitals (rattled off all 50 of each in my head). Oh, and how lovely the houses are, along with how much apartment rents are over there. At some point during my run back home (probably around mile 14 of 15), I felt like the lactic acid had been flushed from my legs.

MGP may not have happened (average pace for the 12 was 7:19), but I gave this what my legs had in them. More importantly, I sucked it up, put on my big boy shorts, and got out there. And THAT is the bigger win, in my book.

Planned total: 48 mi
Actual total: 48.17 mi

How do you maintain a healthy balance between your running/professional life and your personal life? 

Do you own a GPS watch? And if so, has it given you satellite reception issues?

I Passed!

I know, I know -- my recap is a day late. Sue me. It's been an eventful week in these parts.

For starters, I passed my thesis defense on Thursday!

Naturally, this required a celebratory happy hour. And then two more days of celebrating/doing what I wanted. Run in the morning, drink wine with friends in the evening. 

But back to the running (since that's the focus of this blog). 

Last week's workouts (week ending 6/9)
Running - x5 (35.24 miles total)
Cycling - N/A
Core - x3
Strength - x2
Foam rolling - x2 (or maybe 3 -- I didn't do a good job of logging my foam rolling sessions)
Salt bath - N/A

I ran more miles last week, and did an extra day of core. I feel like the core work may actually be helping my posture. Or maybe that's just in my head.

I decided to run along the Leif Erickson Trail on Sunday. I had a long run planned (10M), and needed to clear my head, so a trail adventure seemed perfect. During the first mile, the scab from my heel friction wound ripped off. Once it ripped off, I didn't feel any pain and I just got lost in my thoughts and the trails. It felt so good that I decided to extend it another mile. Once I finished, I discovered a very blood-stained Achilles. (I'll refrain from posting pictures, but it took 3 rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton balls to clean the blood and trail dirt.) I'm convinced it was due to the PureFlows (when I wear the Mirages, I don't notice any bloodshed), which is odd because I've used those shoes without issue for two months. Looks like it's back to the Mirages for a little while...

During my 6M run on Wednesday morning, my mind was in it, but my body was not. My legs just felt like lead weights, and I felt under-fueled. It was as if I didn't eat enough or drink enough water, which is possible -- when I'm stressed, my appetite tends to decrease. Another possible explanation: maybe caffeine gives me an added boost?

Overall though, I'm happy with the mileage (my first week of 35+ miles in about two months), and met my goals for ancillary core and strength work. Using one of my rest days for core work seemed to work out nicely.

So what's next (on the running front)? I think I should try a morning run (about 5M) right after waking up and without any fuel (food or coffee) beforehand. That should (hopefully) answer my questions about my issues from last week. Also, keep gradually upping the mileage (MCM training starts in a few weeks!), and keep up the core and strength work.