I just woke up from what experts call the most important night of sleep before the marathon- two nights out. Now today I'm being very careful of what I put into my stomach and what time I do so, to make everything go as smoothly as possible tomorrow.
Bill and I wrapped up our race-day strategy this week, here we go:
No watch! This might bother me a bit since my training involved timed intervals and maintaining a specific pace. But as we talked about, over these months I've developed a "toolbox" of different effort levels that I can call upon at any time.
Miles 0-5 - At the top of this toolbox is my relaxed long run pace, about 9 minutes/mile. This is what I'll do for the first five miles of Grandma's. Minimal focus will be needed to maintain this pace, I'm sure I'll have to focus more on slowing down than speeding up. At the 5 mile mark, I'm sure I'll feel good, have a decent sweat going, and have plenty left in the tank.
Miles 5-20 - For this 15 mile stretch, the pace will be 8:15/8:45 per mile. This is a bit slower than what I did for an hour last weekend. This will require consistent focus, but not completely locked in 100% of the time (it'll take about 2.5 hours!). I'll walk through all water stops and take walking breaks as needed.
I've developed a pretty good gauge of when my body needs a break and also when it's ready to get rolling again. So during this stretch, I'll be more focused on how I'm doing and if I need any adjustments (breaks, water, etc).
Miles 20-26.2 - Anyone who reads this who has done a marathon will appreciate that I included the last 0.2 miles! For this last stretch, we don't have a specific target pace. I will take an inventory at mile 20 and see what I have left. I'm sure I'll need some walking breaks and my upper quads will be screaming at me. Hopefully some ibuprofin will help out with that.
Ideally, I'll hit mile 20 before the 3 hour mark and have an hour to do the last 10K. I hope to have enough gas in the tank to cruise to the finish at a 9:30 pace (including walking) over the last 6.2 miles and cross the line in under four hours.
There are a few things we talked about doing along the entire 26.2. One is continually sucking on a cinnamon candy. So I bought a bag at Target and will bring a handful to the start and keep the rest in my backpack - which, by the way, will be carried by my support-gal-extraordinaire girlfriend :)
I need to make sure to take a couple Electrolyte tablets about half an hour before the start, and one at least every hour throughout the race. In 2008, I was an absolute salty mess at the finish, head to toe. My sister still talks about this. During this year's training, the tablets really helped.
I have a TON of gels in the backpack. I'll probably use 5-6 max for the race, so Anne can give out extras to anyone in need. I don't imagine I'll be doing a long run for a while after this :)
I only trained with water as an in-run drink, so I'll be good there. On the drive up today, I'll take a look at the map to get familiar when water stops will come up on the course.
I'm a little torn on music during the race. There's no better sound than hearing 7000 sets of feet running around you on race day. Plus you can take in the energy of all the other runners, and maybe strike up a conversation with someone running a similar pace.
On the other hand, I did all my long training runs alone with my iPod. I have a familiar set of about 100 songs that carry me through the tough miles.
I think I'll start the race without the iPod and have it available in the backpack in case I want it later. I'll give it back to Anne at our last in-race meeting so I cross the finish line with just me. the headphones are big and goofy, and I want a beautiful picture of me crossing the line :) I can be such a girl sometimes....
OK, time to start the day. I need to finish packing, do some stretching, and refill my glass of water. We'll leave the Twin Cities at about 11am, and have lunch on the way up. The plan is to eat dinner early (around 5pm), watch Anne and others do the 5K, and get to bed by 10.
Please keep me in your thoughts at 7:30am tomorrow! If anyone reads this before then, feel free to follow my progress via text messages. Check out the Grandma's website for details.
Here we go!!!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday 6/17 Core
Actually I'll briefly cover two Core sessions today since there isn't a whole lot to report. I totally took it easy at the Monday and Wednesday sessions leading up to Saturday's marathon.
The primary focus was stretching. I really want to stay loose this week, and I find it tough to find the motivation to stretch on my own.
I did about 60% of the exercises to stay "warm" and have some fun with the group. I avoided running on the bleachers again for fear of injury.
Coach Bill stopped by and we chatted about a new race strategy. I'll have an entry devoted to that later today.
The primary focus was stretching. I really want to stay loose this week, and I find it tough to find the motivation to stretch on my own.
I did about 60% of the exercises to stay "warm" and have some fun with the group. I avoided running on the bleachers again for fear of injury.
Coach Bill stopped by and we chatted about a new race strategy. I'll have an entry devoted to that later today.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Saturday 6/12 one hour run, last "long" one!
Bill said to do an hour run this weekend at a 7:45-8:00 pace, with a 10 minute warmup and cooldown before and after.
The forecast called for rain at about 10am today (Saturday) and sunny skies tomorrow. I took it easy last night and got up early today to get it done with. I figured an extra day removed from my last long run will help me a little on marathon day.
I drove down to the Lakes around 8am. I took a look to see if there were any 5K's or other events going on, as these really disrupt the trails. It looked like there were running/walking events being set up on both Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet, but very few people were hanging around the tents. So I figured the events probably wouldn't start until 9am at the earliest. I was in the clear :)
I took off on the 10 minute warmup feeling a little tired but ready to go. Turns out the 10 minute warmup was almost exactly a mile, going 1.01 in that span.
It was a little difficult to settle into the 7:45-8:00 pace in the first "real" mile because I decided to run up to Lake Harriet. Right away I had to cross a street and go up several steep hills to get over there. But once I hit the flat path along the lake I did just fine.
Here are the splits of the "real" miles:
1 - 8:15/mile
2 - 7:56
3 - 7:53
4 - 7:53
5 - 7:53
6 - 7:51
7 - I forgot to hit my watch here, as I finished up the hour of running. I'm pretty sure I was in the 7:50's.
When I got to the one hour point, I slowed to a slow jog. I've always hated the cooldown jog, it seems more difficult to me than the faster pace. But it helps recovery I guess, so I did it. I didn't quite reach 10 minutes because I ran into my ALARC friend Alberto and we walked and talked for a while. See you in Duluth, Alberto!
I thought through my various perceived paces during this run. There's the mile-for-time pace which now 6:10, there's the 10K pace which is about 7:20, the half marathon pace (racing) which is about 8:15, and my comfortable-run-forever pace which is 9:00.
So today's 7:50 pace was kind of in no-man's land. It took some focus, especially early on. When I'd realize I was slowing down a bit, it wasn't tough to adjust. It didn't feel like a lot more effort, it just kind of took a quick breath in and thinking "OK, gotta get back on track here."
I think with all this work, the 9:00 comfort pace that Bill and I discussed is moving more toward about 8:20. Woo hoo! This might be a good pace to target in the marathon, along with some walking, but Bill and I will discuss that during the week.
The forecast called for rain at about 10am today (Saturday) and sunny skies tomorrow. I took it easy last night and got up early today to get it done with. I figured an extra day removed from my last long run will help me a little on marathon day.
I drove down to the Lakes around 8am. I took a look to see if there were any 5K's or other events going on, as these really disrupt the trails. It looked like there were running/walking events being set up on both Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet, but very few people were hanging around the tents. So I figured the events probably wouldn't start until 9am at the earliest. I was in the clear :)
I took off on the 10 minute warmup feeling a little tired but ready to go. Turns out the 10 minute warmup was almost exactly a mile, going 1.01 in that span.
It was a little difficult to settle into the 7:45-8:00 pace in the first "real" mile because I decided to run up to Lake Harriet. Right away I had to cross a street and go up several steep hills to get over there. But once I hit the flat path along the lake I did just fine.
Here are the splits of the "real" miles:
1 - 8:15/mile
2 - 7:56
3 - 7:53
4 - 7:53
5 - 7:53
6 - 7:51
7 - I forgot to hit my watch here, as I finished up the hour of running. I'm pretty sure I was in the 7:50's.
When I got to the one hour point, I slowed to a slow jog. I've always hated the cooldown jog, it seems more difficult to me than the faster pace. But it helps recovery I guess, so I did it. I didn't quite reach 10 minutes because I ran into my ALARC friend Alberto and we walked and talked for a while. See you in Duluth, Alberto!
I thought through my various perceived paces during this run. There's the mile-for-time pace which now 6:10, there's the 10K pace which is about 7:20, the half marathon pace (racing) which is about 8:15, and my comfortable-run-forever pace which is 9:00.
So today's 7:50 pace was kind of in no-man's land. It took some focus, especially early on. When I'd realize I was slowing down a bit, it wasn't tough to adjust. It didn't feel like a lot more effort, it just kind of took a quick breath in and thinking "OK, gotta get back on track here."
I think with all this work, the 9:00 comfort pace that Bill and I discussed is moving more toward about 8:20. Woo hoo! This might be a good pace to target in the marathon, along with some walking, but Bill and I will discuss that during the week.
Wednesday 6/9 Core
Wednesday is speed day on the track. I couldn't find my notes on what I was scheduled to do today, so I just kind of winged it. I wasn't in the mood to run around the track (this is rare), so I joined the Core group to do some last-minute strengthening before Grandma's in 10 days.
I did all the exercises, but skipped most of the running between circuits. The group ran up and down the bleacher stairs, and I was too chicken to do this, fearing an injury. I tend to get like this in the days leading up to a big race.
After the workout, we went to the Spur - my last junk food and alcohol before the race. Time to cleanse!
I did all the exercises, but skipped most of the running between circuits. The group ran up and down the bleacher stairs, and I was too chicken to do this, fearing an injury. I tend to get like this in the days leading up to a big race.
After the workout, we went to the Spur - my last junk food and alcohol before the race. Time to cleanse!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Monday 6/7 ALARC Core
Thought I'd take a little break from running tonight and do some circuits. I had to go pretty much straight from work to the workout. I usually like some time to unwind and get some food in my stomach, but tonight was pretty rushed.
We did the circuits on the football field. It felt great to do some push-ups, wall-sits, ab work, and hand weight exercises. Not a whole lot out of the ordinary to report this evening. Probably a 6 out of 10 on the difficulty level.
We did the circuits on the football field. It felt great to do some push-ups, wall-sits, ab work, and hand weight exercises. Not a whole lot out of the ordinary to report this evening. Probably a 6 out of 10 on the difficulty level.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
ALARC Legends 10K
Today was the annual ALARC Legends 10K and 5K. I have volunteered for this race the past 3-4 years, and haven't run in it in about 4-5 years.
This is weekend #1 of the taper before Grandma's. I wanted to go all-out in this race and see where I am speed-wise at this distance. My 10K PR is around 46:40, and I was hoping to finish under 46 minutes.
My friend Tom and I were talking at the starting line, and discovered we had similar goals in this one. Tom is historically much faster than I am, so it was going to be a good test.
It was a cloudy day and a little muggy at the start. By the end, the temperature rose quickly as did the humidity. I went out fast, hoping to do around a 7:10 mile and try to hold it as long as I could. Things felt "heavy" right away and I could tell I wasn't at my all-time best this morning. Hills were more a struggle than my best days, and there were some rolling hills in the first mile. I tried to get it out of my head, remembering that my best miles are typically 4-8 on my long runs.
But it never went away. The humidity got to me, and even the smallest hills felt like mountains.
At about mile 4, I accepted that it wasn't my day and just wanted to stay strong and do the best I could. Here are the splits:
1 - 7:05, probably too fast, likely affected the rest of the race
2 - 7:19, settled in a bit
3 - 7:36, included the turn-around and a water stop. started feeling tired here, slowed down
4 - 7:41, rolling hills, was having a hard time with them
5 - 7:40, close to the finish, focused on staying strong
6 - 7:54, legs were screaming at me to take a walking break. took about a 20 step walking break through a water stop
6.2 - The last quarter mile sucked. Up a hill and to the finish. But it felt great to finish and join many of my friends for pancakes and awards.
Overall result: 46:52, 9th overall, 2nd in men 35-40. Award certificate is up on the fridge already :)
This is weekend #1 of the taper before Grandma's. I wanted to go all-out in this race and see where I am speed-wise at this distance. My 10K PR is around 46:40, and I was hoping to finish under 46 minutes.
My friend Tom and I were talking at the starting line, and discovered we had similar goals in this one. Tom is historically much faster than I am, so it was going to be a good test.
It was a cloudy day and a little muggy at the start. By the end, the temperature rose quickly as did the humidity. I went out fast, hoping to do around a 7:10 mile and try to hold it as long as I could. Things felt "heavy" right away and I could tell I wasn't at my all-time best this morning. Hills were more a struggle than my best days, and there were some rolling hills in the first mile. I tried to get it out of my head, remembering that my best miles are typically 4-8 on my long runs.
But it never went away. The humidity got to me, and even the smallest hills felt like mountains.
At about mile 4, I accepted that it wasn't my day and just wanted to stay strong and do the best I could. Here are the splits:
1 - 7:05, probably too fast, likely affected the rest of the race
2 - 7:19, settled in a bit
3 - 7:36, included the turn-around and a water stop. started feeling tired here, slowed down
4 - 7:41, rolling hills, was having a hard time with them
5 - 7:40, close to the finish, focused on staying strong
6 - 7:54, legs were screaming at me to take a walking break. took about a 20 step walking break through a water stop
6.2 - The last quarter mile sucked. Up a hill and to the finish. But it felt great to finish and join many of my friends for pancakes and awards.
Overall result: 46:52, 9th overall, 2nd in men 35-40. Award certificate is up on the fridge already :)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Mile for time, Wednesday track
I've started tapering for Grandma's so I was a little unsure as to what workout to do today. Last week I did 14 quarter miles on the track, so I thought I'd dial it back a bit.
What better time to check where my speed is at, after a couple months of training?
I suggested the group do a mile for time, and about ten of us lined up at the starting line (actually 9 meters behind it). My previous best was 6:35. I've been doing 90 second quarter-miles, so I wondered how close I could get to 6 minutes. Who knows, maybe even under six!
I ended up doing a 6:09, and was very happy with it. I was completely exhausted after it, but I think I left a few seconds out there on the track. So maybe my post-marathon goal can be a sub-six mile. We'll see, after Grandma's.
After the mile, I took a long time to catch my breath and rest. Then I joined the circuit group for some pushups and ab work.
What better time to check where my speed is at, after a couple months of training?
I suggested the group do a mile for time, and about ten of us lined up at the starting line (actually 9 meters behind it). My previous best was 6:35. I've been doing 90 second quarter-miles, so I wondered how close I could get to 6 minutes. Who knows, maybe even under six!
I ended up doing a 6:09, and was very happy with it. I was completely exhausted after it, but I think I left a few seconds out there on the track. So maybe my post-marathon goal can be a sub-six mile. We'll see, after Grandma's.
After the mile, I took a long time to catch my breath and rest. Then I joined the circuit group for some pushups and ab work.
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