I swear, training for a marathon (or any other endurance event) is like being in a long term relationship. There are periods of time where it seems to be the best thing in your life - you can't stop smiling, the world is made up of unicorns and rainbows, and people start sending you hate mail based off of the happy bullshit you post online.
Then the world turns, and its the biggest pain in the ass on the planet. Everything is wrong. You just can't even. You don't post this crap online, because, hey, who needs to see that you had a shitty day and are consoling yourself with a bag of M&Ms and a glass of wine. And you look for the closest victim to unleash your bitchiness on (who usually is your significant other...unless he's the problem, then god help him :-P)
But no, this is not about Greg. I swear. Ahem. This is about running. Last week seemed to be my "meh" week, where I seriously started to reconsider everything related to running, especially doing it fast. While I got everything done, running 10 miles at an 8:45 pace was a ginormous chore, leading that nasty logic mode of my brain to question how I expect to hold an 8:05-8:30 pace for 26.2 miles (I always calculate based off 26.5, as no one runs a perfect marathon...to go under 3:45 I need to run an 8:30 pace, to BQ, I need under 3:35, which is an 8:05 pace). While I intend to go for the former this marathon, I have absolutely no qualm about taking the latter :-D.
Then, the cyclical nature of coming off a back week intervened this week. I nailed my tempo run, even with a bathroom stop. (8 miles at 8:05). I slayed my half mile repeats (currently at 7:15 pace - I need to re evaluate this). And my long run. Oh, my long run.
I've blogged about my runs with the Irondequoit Bay Runners before - a great group of (mostly) guys who are serious runners - training for Boston, running a sub 1:30 half, or a 4:30 half ironman. You know, simple goals like that. I wish they would get ambitious. I've run with them a few times, at the behest of my friend Ken, who is an ageless wonder that seems to get faster as he ages up (and also happens to be a great guy). The loop they run is 14 miles, has 800 feet elevation gain, most of which lives in 2 steep hills in the last 3 miles. The first time I ran it with them, I hit my 13.1 mark in 1:48, which was a minute faster than my half marathon race PR. The second time, amidst black ice, we hit the half marathon mark in 1:47. These crazy guys, while running much faster than I really should for a long run (these are usually done one to two minutes slower than race pace - Hansons method calls for a bit faster - my long run pace is 8:45).
I've used the IBR guys to help pace me every other week, lest I burn out. Sunday called for 15 miles. Friday, I managed to jack up my calf swimming (don't ask) so I ditched my run for a bike ride Saturday and compressioned and soaked the shit out of it. Sunday dawned a beautiful 20 degrees with light winds at 7am - perfect February weather when you live in NY. I met up with Ken, Kevin, and a new runner (to me) Jeff to start our trek round the bay. I ran out of gu's, so I stole my son's Mario fruit snacks (which were delish). I made the tactical error of telling these speed demons I needed 15 instead of 14, so they planned for an extra out and back in Webster at mile 6 (thereby killing my bailing proclivities). And we were off. I have to say, when you find yourself running faster than your mile repeat time (that would be a 7:25) 3 miles into a long run, you should either pray, start drinking, or tactically cover up your garmin. I admit to the first one, amidst a ton of bad jokes (these poor guys - I don't know how they put up with me.) As we trekked on, Ken and I pulled ahead about mile 8, and I noticed at mile 9 I was going to go under 8 minute miles for 10 miles - something I had never done before. Sure enough, we hit 10 miles in 1:18 and change, and I noticed Ken starting to strategically check his watch. I reminded him the goal was not to break my half PR every week, and he smirked at me. I started doing mental math and realized not only was he trying to break my PR - he was trying to get me under 1:45. We had a good laugh about that, as the hills hit.
And managed to hit mile 13 not in 1:45. Or 1:44. But in 1:43:14. I just broke my friggin half PR (from 2 weeks ago) by 4 minutes. Oh my freaking god. I swear I proposed to Ken right out by the bay. It was super romantic. Then I remembered I was married and also, quite gross looking (and smelling) after almost 2 hours of effort. Which one mattered more, I'll never tell. I'm pretty sure we postponed ay wedding planning....but he still wins the prize for making my day!
With that high in the bag, we finished out our run with the goal of doing 15 miles in under 2 hours, and even with the steepest hill on the route at mile 14, we handily finished 15.1 miles in 1:59:21, with a pace of 7:54.
I can't even begin to explain to you what this run did to me. I actually felt I could keep going and bag in 11 more miles in 95 minutes, which is giving me very, very dangerous thoughts. Boston thoughts. I also can't even believe that we averaged a 7:52 pace for a half marathon - a race I never believed I would go under an 8 minute mile...on a hilly course, nonetheless.It's a crazy feeling. For years, I have enjoyed running, and in the last few years, embraced it with a passion that brings me to run nearly every day. But there's a big difference between what I thought I could do and what I am actually doing now. It's surreal to be called "fast" or a "bad ass" by people that I consider to be both. To be asked to help pace someone that I think is way too fast for me. To be included with the "big dogs" and not feel as though I don't belong, or am holding them back.
And while it's still scary as shit, its exhilarating. And so damn exciting. I am so amped for this race season, I practically dance every time I think about it. (Which no one wants to see, so I keep that to my own space most of the time).
So week 9, thank you for bringing the faith back. I promise to remember you when I invariably hit the struggle bus at least one more time in the next 7 weeks...and to reread this post when I hit taper.
But for now, I think I'll give my pal Des(i Linden) a call. See what she's got planned for a long run this week and all.
(I crack myself up).
Week 9 Mileage:
Running: 51.2
Swimming: 3.5
Biking: 35
Also...asking for a friend...if you PR on a training run....does that legit count as a new PR? (Strava says I did it....just sayin).
Then the world turns, and its the biggest pain in the ass on the planet. Everything is wrong. You just can't even. You don't post this crap online, because, hey, who needs to see that you had a shitty day and are consoling yourself with a bag of M&Ms and a glass of wine. And you look for the closest victim to unleash your bitchiness on (who usually is your significant other...unless he's the problem, then god help him :-P)
But no, this is not about Greg. I swear. Ahem. This is about running. Last week seemed to be my "meh" week, where I seriously started to reconsider everything related to running, especially doing it fast. While I got everything done, running 10 miles at an 8:45 pace was a ginormous chore, leading that nasty logic mode of my brain to question how I expect to hold an 8:05-8:30 pace for 26.2 miles (I always calculate based off 26.5, as no one runs a perfect marathon...to go under 3:45 I need to run an 8:30 pace, to BQ, I need under 3:35, which is an 8:05 pace). While I intend to go for the former this marathon, I have absolutely no qualm about taking the latter :-D.
Then, the cyclical nature of coming off a back week intervened this week. I nailed my tempo run, even with a bathroom stop. (8 miles at 8:05). I slayed my half mile repeats (currently at 7:15 pace - I need to re evaluate this). And my long run. Oh, my long run.I've blogged about my runs with the Irondequoit Bay Runners before - a great group of (mostly) guys who are serious runners - training for Boston, running a sub 1:30 half, or a 4:30 half ironman. You know, simple goals like that. I wish they would get ambitious. I've run with them a few times, at the behest of my friend Ken, who is an ageless wonder that seems to get faster as he ages up (and also happens to be a great guy). The loop they run is 14 miles, has 800 feet elevation gain, most of which lives in 2 steep hills in the last 3 miles. The first time I ran it with them, I hit my 13.1 mark in 1:48, which was a minute faster than my half marathon race PR. The second time, amidst black ice, we hit the half marathon mark in 1:47. These crazy guys, while running much faster than I really should for a long run (these are usually done one to two minutes slower than race pace - Hansons method calls for a bit faster - my long run pace is 8:45).
I've used the IBR guys to help pace me every other week, lest I burn out. Sunday called for 15 miles. Friday, I managed to jack up my calf swimming (don't ask) so I ditched my run for a bike ride Saturday and compressioned and soaked the shit out of it. Sunday dawned a beautiful 20 degrees with light winds at 7am - perfect February weather when you live in NY. I met up with Ken, Kevin, and a new runner (to me) Jeff to start our trek round the bay. I ran out of gu's, so I stole my son's Mario fruit snacks (which were delish). I made the tactical error of telling these speed demons I needed 15 instead of 14, so they planned for an extra out and back in Webster at mile 6 (thereby killing my bailing proclivities). And we were off. I have to say, when you find yourself running faster than your mile repeat time (that would be a 7:25) 3 miles into a long run, you should either pray, start drinking, or tactically cover up your garmin. I admit to the first one, amidst a ton of bad jokes (these poor guys - I don't know how they put up with me.) As we trekked on, Ken and I pulled ahead about mile 8, and I noticed at mile 9 I was going to go under 8 minute miles for 10 miles - something I had never done before. Sure enough, we hit 10 miles in 1:18 and change, and I noticed Ken starting to strategically check his watch. I reminded him the goal was not to break my half PR every week, and he smirked at me. I started doing mental math and realized not only was he trying to break my PR - he was trying to get me under 1:45. We had a good laugh about that, as the hills hit.
And managed to hit mile 13 not in 1:45. Or 1:44. But in 1:43:14. I just broke my friggin half PR (from 2 weeks ago) by 4 minutes. Oh my freaking god. I swear I proposed to Ken right out by the bay. It was super romantic. Then I remembered I was married and also, quite gross looking (and smelling) after almost 2 hours of effort. Which one mattered more, I'll never tell. I'm pretty sure we postponed ay wedding planning....but he still wins the prize for making my day!
I can't even begin to explain to you what this run did to me. I actually felt I could keep going and bag in 11 more miles in 95 minutes, which is giving me very, very dangerous thoughts. Boston thoughts. I also can't even believe that we averaged a 7:52 pace for a half marathon - a race I never believed I would go under an 8 minute mile...on a hilly course, nonetheless.It's a crazy feeling. For years, I have enjoyed running, and in the last few years, embraced it with a passion that brings me to run nearly every day. But there's a big difference between what I thought I could do and what I am actually doing now. It's surreal to be called "fast" or a "bad ass" by people that I consider to be both. To be asked to help pace someone that I think is way too fast for me. To be included with the "big dogs" and not feel as though I don't belong, or am holding them back.
And while it's still scary as shit, its exhilarating. And so damn exciting. I am so amped for this race season, I practically dance every time I think about it. (Which no one wants to see, so I keep that to my own space most of the time).
So week 9, thank you for bringing the faith back. I promise to remember you when I invariably hit the struggle bus at least one more time in the next 7 weeks...and to reread this post when I hit taper.
But for now, I think I'll give my pal Des(i Linden) a call. See what she's got planned for a long run this week and all.
(I crack myself up).
Week 9 Mileage:
Running: 51.2
Swimming: 3.5
Biking: 35
Also...asking for a friend...if you PR on a training run....does that legit count as a new PR? (Strava says I did it....just sayin).
You rock girl
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