Category: 2016 Race Training

I ran my race this morning in 40 windy degrees and constant rain. No kidding, it rained from the moment my husband dropped me off to the moment we got home. I have been known to be a big baby about the wind and rain, but it wasn’t that bad. It really was just fine!

This course is said to be hilly. I was dreading two points in the race but they were easy-peasy. Either I’m toughening up, or the course was easy.  I think it’s a combo of both!

My husband brought my kids out to multiple points on the course and that was great for my soul! It helped that they brought orange wedges for me to chomp on quickly.  I stopped once for water and twice to kiss my boys and grab an orange, so we’re thinking I spent an entire minute during those 3 stops. The third stop entailed digging out my phone to give to my husband because I was worried the rain was killing it (turned out it was my headphones that were being destroyed), so that stop was a long one!

Having my family there to cheer me on was the best thing ever. I started to cry at the start of the race knowing that they were going to brave the constant rain to cheer me on. They had signs and a cheer memorized and melted my heart with them! ❤

It was cold… So cold. My fingers were useless for getting my phone out, unzipping my coat, opening water bottles, etc. But somehow, I ran faster than I’ve ever run a long distance (considering my stops).  I can’t believe it! I’m beyond thrilled!!

So what did I use that was packed?  I wore my pants and they were worth every penny!!! I ended up wearing a jacket over my tank top and that was perfect. I ate the energy chews throughout the race according to the directions and I believe they helped me quite a bit – I will do that again for sure. We didn’t use anything in the relief bag until after the race when my husband rushed me, soaking wet and freezing, to his downtown office to shower so that I could warm up (he’s very thoughtful this way). Then I used the dry shoes, socks, and the other clothes from my post-race bag. Had it stopped raining, I would have switched to dry shoes and socks for sure prior to finishing, but that wasn’t an option. The relief bag was and is a great idea that we’ll do again if it rains during a long race.

2:04:18

I did it in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 18 seconds in constant rain and wind. That’s a 9:30 per mile pace without taking it my stops. I am super happy!!!

 

 

 

I am all trained and ready to race tomorrow!  My last training run was last night and it was just a short 20-minute, easy run.  I ran 2.0 miles and then walked another 2.0 miles to keep my legs moving – my left shin felt funny.  I will do ab work and PiYo tonight and then I’m going to bed to rest up!

It’s supposed to rain the ENTIRE time tomorrow, and the winds are expected to be 20 mph with gusts in the upper 20 mph range.  I’m not going to think too much about it – it is what it is.  I do know that this is not going to be my fastest distance run, which is just fine.  There’s another half on June 4th I’m doing that is actually much flatter and easier, so there’s another chance at a new PB for me.

The rain concerns me from a clothing perspective.  I always run in shorts if it’s above 40 degrees – I do not own summer running pants.  Well… I didn’t… until today.  Because of my fear of chafing badly again, I decided that pants are the way to go so I bought some this morning.  They’re not cheap.  I always said I’d never buy expensive running pants but here I am with a pair because I want to do it right and I have had no luck with cheap winter running pants.  This is not the time to skimp.  I also will need a dry hat for mid-race when I see my husband and kids, so I bought a second running hat today.  This is not how I expected this to go at all.  😉

The rain has also forced me to consider packing a “relief bag” for my husband to keep with him that has a dry shirt, socks, shoes, hat and an extra water bottle, applesauce pouch, and energy chews.  That bag was my husband’s idea and he was spot-on, I’m glad he suggested it.  He also mentioned packing a separate bag of dry clothes for after the race.  In the old days, I never took dry clothes for post-race but I’m old, and I don’t like being wet and cold.

I have everything out for my flipbelt and I feel good about what I’m taking with me.  Because it will likely be raining and windy the entire time, I may need to go inward so I am bringing headphones.  I never run with headphones but I may need to this time.

Here is my running outfit – not too bad for having to wear pants (oh the dread!).  I am wearing a short-sleeved top over my preferred tank to stay warm pre-race.  It’s lightweight so if it gets to be a bother, I’ll take it off and carry it until I see my husband at some point.  I’ve done this before – no biggie!  My bib is attached to my flipbelt so that it doesn’t accidently get left with my husband when I switch shirts.  I love my new hat!

People have asked what I pack in my flipbelt for long runs.  It will be packed pretty full but won’t have keys this time, so that’s nice.  I’ll take headphones, a water bottle, a sweatband, an applesauce pouch, energy chews, an extra hair tie, and my phone with me in my flipbelt.  The pictured socks and bodyglide are for the morning when I get dressed.  Which reminds me… bodyglide.  USE IT!

My relief bag (top picture below) is packed in a red Nike backpack that my husband can transport easily with the kids from point to point.  In it is a pair of dry (and broken in) shoes, socks, shirt, sweatband, and hat along with bodyglide in case I need more, a filled water bottle, and energy chews.  I bet I only need the shoes, socks, and hat.

My post-race bag (bottom picture below) has dry pants, socks, undies, bra, socks, and shirt.  All of them are too large because I’ll be putting them on a wet body and why would I want to have to fight to get them on, am I right?

My bathroom counter has everything laid out and ready!  The bags are in my car and my bib number is attached to my flipbelt.  Nothing is going to be forgotten, and that’s nice!

I’m hoping I learn a lot from this race since I have 3 more (and maybe 4 or 5 more) long distance races after it.  I’m sure I’m over-packed, but we won’t know until we go.  I’m lucky to have my husband coming to the first two races to cheer me on so he can take my discards and bring me dry stuff.  He’s a good man!

*****

Running these races is not cheap.  Entry fees for half marathons range between $45 and $80 depending on when you register.  I registered later than I usually do for this one and it cost $65.  The half on June 4th cost $43 on opening day but the one on July 23rd cost $70 for early registration.  It’s all over the board.  I’ve been in the running world long enough to know that the cost doesn’t stop with registration fees – there are shoes, clothing, and gear that creep up and are truly needed to run comfortably.  In the spirit of transparency to myself and everyone else, here is what my race schedule has cost me so far this year:

Registration for 4/30 half – $65

Registration for 5/7 relay – $79

Registration for 6/4 half – $43

Registration for 7/23 half – $70

Flipbelt – $29

Water bottles for Flipbelt – $11

Bluetooth headphones – $25

Summer running pants – $60

Running hat – $25

Energy chews – $3

Shoes – $90 (regularly $160 but I bought last year’s model)

Shoes *2 – $90 (you will go through two pair with this kind of schedule)

Total – $590

 

 

 

 

Next Saturday, I run my first half marathon in almost 6 years! The last time I ran a half, I was ill prepared and probably 15-20 pounds heavier. It was June 2010 and my finishing time was an abysmal 2:46. Prior to that, I’d run 2-3 20k’s and my best time, when I was pretty fit, was 2:16 with an average pace of 10:36 per mile. I remember being pretty happy with that!

This time around, I’ve done speed and hill training and aggressively trained with a 6-week training plan. Every long run averages about 9:40 per mile no matter how far I run, so for today’s 11.2+ (18k) training run, I expected to finish around 9:40 per mile.

NOPE!

I finished 11.6 miles in 1:49:50 with an average pace of 9:28 per mile. I could not believe it! This is, by far, my best long run pace of all time. I was planning to run in a 2:15:00 pace group next weekend, but I’m thinking of joining the 2:00:00 pace group instead. I almost decided to just add another 1.5 miles to do a full marathon today, because I felt like I could for sure keep going, but I listened to reason and quit at 11.6 miles.

This next week has one goal – keep strong and uninjured for Saturday. I cannot get hurt!

I have my first race of the season, a half marathon, a week from Saturday.  I think about it a lot – I think about the pace I want to hold, my finish time, what I’ll take with me on the race, the hills… it’s on my mind probably 50% of my waking hours.  In the past, I’ve never been so concerned about such things, but I’m much more prepared for this half than any in the past, so I have goals this time.  Real goals!

I usually do my long runs on Mondays, but given that I have my little procedure next Monday, I’ve moved my long run to Saturday – a two day jump.  That’s forced me to squeeze the other training runs back into this week, so I’m going to try to do a double tomorrow, a 5K on Thursday, a rest on Friday, and then the 18K (11.18 miles) training run on Saturday.  I’ll rest on Sunday and then do a simple little 5K on Monday after my procedure and then be back on the proper schedule to run the race on Saturday.

After that, I’ll coast until the Market to Market relay race and then start again with another 5 weeks of training before the next half on June 4.  My plan is working out almost exactly as planned, and that makes me happy!  Now I just need to stay injury-free until July 24!

I do my long runs on Mondays. Both kids are in school, no weekend plans get in the way, and it’s entirely up to me to get it done. I like running on my terms and working around a husband and kids to do the necessary long run is just not enticing to me.

Today was a scheduled 16k (9.94 miles). I mapped out a 10.5 mile route because I like to exceed the scheduled distance, but my thighs were chafing so badly that it was hard to get that extra 0.06 in (I’m not even kidding!). Today isn’t a failure, but it doesn’t feel like the success that Mondays usually feel like for me.

Oh well.

I am excited about my pace though. Mile 4 involved technical difficulties with my phone and mile 7 involved a stop for my apple sauce pouch snack (great running snack!!!). I never stop my timer and this is reflective of my other long runs. As I’m adding distance, my pace is not changing… And that’s what I want!

I hate running hills. I’ve become more accepting of them, but I still dread them. For the first time ever, I’m doing some real speed training for a half marathon and that involves hill sprints. Because the first leg of the relay I’m running is hilly and described as, “hard,” I thought I’d better stick to the training plan and tackle some hills.

I had planned a particular stretch of road but it’s busy and noisy and I’d feel too exposed, so I changed my plan. There’s a pretty decent hill by the kids’ school that I usually avoid (ha ha!) so I measured it and its grade – it was 0.16 miles and almost a 6% grade. That would work!

I started my fitness band (which has the plan programmed into it so it beeps at me when it’s time to transition) and was off on my 15:00 warm-up run. I finished the warm-up at the bottom of the hill and went straight into it. I charged up that thing for 1:30:00 and then jogged another minute and a half back down to do it again. I did that 10 times – it took 30 minutes and ended up being 3.2 miles of my 6.0 mile run, half of which was up that hill. My pace suffered some but in was still under a 10:00 pace and had I run down the hill faster, it would have been similar to Mondays run (I had to pace myself down the hill to not over-shoot my starting point to run up the hill again).

And do you know what? I kind of liked it. I did. I’m learning to really enjoy the directed training runs (intervals, hills, tempo) quite a bit. I’ve never been one to coast through challenges but that is exact what I’ve usually done in regards to distance running training. It’s time to push myself.