Thursday
I have so much packing and vacation prep to do... it's crazy.
I did manage to get my 4 mile run in this morning before work. It was supposed to be a "pace" run which I believe means my anticipated marathon pace. However, I have no idea what my marathon pace will be, other than "slow"! I think my goal is to aim for 10:00 to 10:30 pace, but I honestly don't know yet.
Anyway, my 4 mile loop from home has some really big hills and a couple of long inclines and I find it very difficult to maintain a very fast pace on this particular loop. Today's stats:
4.02 miles in 41:08 (10:14 pace; 5.9 mph)
I found this morning's run was pretty consistent with my before-work runs. I find them a bit harder because I don't eat breakfast first (not enough time for it to settle) and my legs don't get a chance to recover from the previous night's cross-training. It didn't feel bad, it just felt like more work. There was no temptation to walk however, so that's a good thing. It does feel good to get those shorter runs done without any walk breaks.
Elevation for today's run:
Tomorrow is a "rest" day.
Now... time to make some lists so I don't forget anything!
New Plan - Day 2
We picked up our trailer this evening from the RV shop where a thing-a-ma-jig was being installed so that it met some new regulation. I picked up some of our camping grocery items at lunch today. I am sooooo ready for this vacation to begin, it isn't funny. I hope to get three runs in next week (hopefully one or two along the marathon route) but the cross-training will have to come from walking around and playing on the beach with DS.
I just cannot wait to get there!!! We all look forward to this vacation so much each year. I think going back year after year has made it a very special spot for my family. We have memories of taking DS there when he was just a year old and we've gone back every year since then. DS will often bring up memories of past vacations that continually surprise us (like the time Daddy forgot his clothes at home and he had to go buy all new clothes lol).
Tomorrow morning, I hope to get my little 4 mile run in before work and then tomorrow night will be spent with laundry and packing. The worst part of camping is getting ready to go but it's certainly worth the effort. Thank goodness Friday is a planned rest day so I can use the time to get everything packed and ready to go!
Anyway... the plan... Day 2DH unplugged the bike by mistake when I was a little over 5 minutes into my program, so my mileage got reset. So, I did a few extra seconds to compensate for lost time but I don't know my exact mileage.
Bike - Program 7 (45+ minutes; ~18 km)
Tuesday
Thanks for the encouraging comments for my half on Sunday :)
I think I have mentally recovered from my run and I have been obsessively over-analyzing it ever since lol. I actually think it may have been a good experience for me to go through. I now know what hitting the wall feels like and I know that I can push my way through it. Now, hopefully I never, ever, ever hit it again (could I be so lucky?).
Back to over-analyzing. I looked at the elevation chart for Sunday's run. From the 7.5 mile mark to the 12 mile mark, the route was uphill. It was a gradual incline with a few "real" hills thrown in for good measure. I was okay from about 7.5 miles to the 10 mile mark and then I'd had enough. The next couple of miles were extremely difficult. I hadn't prepared myself for that many hills and thought I could maintain the same pace for the second half of the route that I used for the first half. Big mistake. I could not.
So, last night, I completely redesigned my training program. I decided that I needed something slightly more "intense" to better prepare me. My new program has longer runs on Tuesdays (my previous plan only had 5-6 mile runs on weekdays) and it has much longer cross-training sessions on Sundays. This plan still only has 3 running days per week and it has 2 rest days. So, in that sense, it's very similar to my old plan. The main difference is in the duration of Tuesday's run. I'm excited about this plan. I think I will be much better prepared. At least I hope so. This is a
slightly modified Hal Higdon "novice" marathon plan:
Tuesday Run7.13 miles in 1:12:29 (10:10 pace; 5.9 speed)
I considered this run a "recovery" run since I've only had one rest day since my half. My legs and feet are still feeling Sunday's run in a big way. With that in mind, I wanted to keep tonight's run
very easy and relaxed, so I went with a 5:1 run/walk ratio. I did a route with several hills and wouldn't you know, my walk breaks tended to coincide with the downhill portions, rather than uphill! The run felt really good. I think that I push myself too hard sometimes and end up not enjoying the run as much as I could otherwise. Tonight's run was very enjoyable. Nice cool temp for running.
Day 1 of the new plan went well :)
"Race" Report
Miramichi Half-Marathon Route
(from my Garmin)
I hesitate to refer to this as a "race" report since this was
clearly no race for me!
We were up at 6am and went down to the breakfast room for bagels while we watched the rain fall from the sky. I had put on my running clothes before breakfast so after we ate, while DH got ready, I laid down on the bed and relaxed for close to an hour. Then we headed out to pick up our timing chips. It was about a 1km walk and fortunately the rain had stopped. The weather was actually perfect this morning for the entire run.
My first few miles were
stellar. I was very happy with my performance up to mile 7. I didn't think I started out too fast, I didn't feel out of breath, I seemed to have a great pace (for me). The second bridge (with the long, steady incline) had a huge hill leading up to it. I walked a good portion of that hill so I wouldn't run out of steam for the bridge. The bridge was somewhere around the 7th mile. I still didn't feel too badly at this point, but my time for mile 7 reflects some of my walking to conserve energy.
I think it was somewhere around the 15-16km (10 mile) mark that I found my "wall" on today's run. That's where it fell apart. I've read that your wall shifts as you gain endurance and the purpose of your long runs is to extend your wall further and further. Well, I believe my less than stellar training over the 3 weeks prior to my taper (car accident / overtime / overtime) has shifted my wall in the wrong direction.
Back to today, it was at the 16km point that I made the conscious decision to not worry about my time and just worry about finishing. If I felt like walking the inclines, I walked them. There were many more inclines (no huge hills, thankfully) than I remembered seeing on yesterday's drive! It's funny how you don't always "see" hills when you're in a moving vehicle. I treated the remainder of the race like my weekly long run. I think a mistake that I made today was in my run-walk ratio. I set my Garmin for a 10:1 and I should have gone for more frequent walk breaks based on my recent training.
Today's run makes me
very worried about the marathon route in October since it has a lot of hills. DH has tried to reassure me that everyone has a bad run and this was mine. I don't know.
I did finish in
less than my Tallahassee time in February, so I was happy about that. I would have been happier to come in a couple of minutes sooner though lol. I keep reminding myself that a year ago, a half-marathon was not even in my radar and now I've completed my third this year. (Go me!)
The race was very well organized (
way better than May's event). My only complaint is a minor one. At some point after DH finished, they ran out of finisher's medals so I didn't get one!! I
need the finisher's medal. It gives my finish meaning since I will never see a real award lol. Fortunately, one will be mailed to me, so it will all be fine in a few weeks. At least they still had loads of chocolate milk, water, granola bars, fruit and lots of other snacks at the finish line. I had a short rest, some water/chocolate milk and then we started walking back to the hotel (over 2km away). I would definitely recommend this event to anyone, despite my own short-comings ;)
As for DH, he had a great run. He finished with a personal best time for the half!! I'll attribute his performance to the breakfast of champions he had back at the hotel lol. He also got lots of rest while he waited for me to finish. Good thing, since we had a 2 km walk back to the hotel (since Mom and DS decided not to come and pick us up!).
Here are my stats (click for a detailed image... the freakish time for lap 22 is when my Garmin lost the satellites). I finished with an avg pace of 10:24; avg speed of 5.8 mph; 2:16:55 from my Garmin (2:17:05 from gun time):
Saturday
Well, we've picked up our race kits, driven the race route and had our pasta dinner. Now we're just sitting back in the hotel with Madagascar 2 in the dvd player (free movies at the hotel) and our books and magazines to pass the time this evening. Our rule is to do *nothing* the night before a race, no long walks for sight-seeing or shopping!
We had a nice drive down this afternoon after lunch. We checked into our hotel and learned that checkout is not until noon so we shouldn't have a problem getting back here for a shower after the run (my mom and son probably appreciate driving back with non-stinky people!).
The goodie bags were great! They put the last race's goodie bags to shame (but what wouldn't? those goodie bags consisted of *an empty bag*!!). Anyway, these bags had: advil samples, bottled water, packs of gum, a great technical t-shirt, chapstick and a $10 gift card for a local pharmacy. I love free stuff and samples :)
The race route looks pretty flat with the exception of one huge bridge. HUGE. The route
starts on one side of the river, crosses a bridge and goes along the other side of the river, then crosses the huge-ridiculously-steep bridge and comes back along the first side of the river. I'm just relieved that it's rather flat. This will be my first event that isn't an out-and-back. I'm wondering if that will affect me mentally? I'm used to setting landmarks for myself for the "return trip" on my way out so I know when I'm getting close to the finish.
We went to Boston pizza for our pre-race pasta meal. DH "conveniently" forgot his wallet lol. The pasta was yummy. I stuck with a basic pasta with red sauce... no meat. DS's kids' meal came with a cookie that looked so good, I had DH stop at a grocery store so I could pick up some cookies from their bakery. Perfect dessert :)
Well, enough rambling... this looks like a cute movie so I need to concentrate!
Friday
Gotta love the
Rock 'n Taper (stole that phrase from my hubby who has skipped the Rock 'n Taper and has been training full-speed ahead this week). The "
Rock 'n Run" half marathon is in TWO days!!
We will be leaving after lunch tomorrow so we can pick up our race kits and become familiar with where we have to drive/park for the race. As usual, my biggest worry is about what I'll eat tomorrow and if it will affect me on Sunday. I try to stick with *very* basic food the day before an event because so many foods bother me. This entire week has been relatively "clean" with lots of veggies and fruits. I usually go with a sandwich for lunch and a meatless pasta dish for dinner the day before, so hopefully I can stick with that tomorrow (depending on our restaurant choices). My "morning of" meal is always a bagel.
I read an article a few months ago that mentioned people spend lots of money on running-related purchases during their taper period. Maybe that's what happened to me this week? For some reason, I seem to have placed a rather large order with my favourite online shop (RunningSkirts.com). I
love their skirts!!! I love the fabric, the pockets, the liner and the colours.
My order?
2 skirts on sale (half price!!!)
1 skirt full price
1 tank
1 sports bra
I sincerely doubt this purchase was caused by my taper but rather the magnetic forces that draw me to sales lol.
Now I should be set for the rest of the summer. I find skirts are sooooo much more comfortable than shorts and I like the fact that I don't have to worry about buying a ton of dry-fit underwear since that's part of the skirt. I currently have 2 favourite running skirts and an athletic skirt (don't really care for the compression shorts that line the athletic skirt, but it will do in a pinch) that I wear all the time.
Guess I should start thinking about what to pack and what food I might want to bring to the hotel!
Thursday
FoodFirst of all, the "ravioli" lasagna was EXCELLENT! I will definitely be scheduling this in our meal plan regularly. It took about 10 minutes to throw together and it was great with a salad and garlic bread. I'd definitely use the cheese-asparagus ravioli again too, the flavour was fantastic.
"Race" NewsI think I'm entering another event this summer! I'm not sure how it happened, but all of a sudden, we were talking about entering the
Midsummer Night's Run when we're in Toronto this summer. DH plans to do the 30k event and I'm considering the 15k. It didn't come completely out of the blue, my sister-in-law emailed DH and told him about it last night in case we were interested. The timing works :)
Thursday - 2 mile taper! 2.02 miles in 19:00 (9:24 pace; 6.4 mph)
mile 1 - 9:26
mile 2 - 9:20
My stats
lie a little here. It looks like I had a nice easy run since I came in at 19:00 minutes for the 2 miles. However, I went out for my run a little too soon after dinner so it wasn't one of those "smooth" nice feeling runs. Ah well... now I just need to wait until Sunday and hope for the best!
Before I wrap it up, let me just say,
CONGRATULATIONS LISA!!!!! Oh my gosh... what a fantastic prize! I can't wait to follow your progress when you get your blog set up. Good luck with your training!! (Lisa is going to be training for the London marathon!!)
