Tweaks & Keeps

This winter/spring training cycle was the most successful of my running career. I managed to stay injury free with only a couple short-lived niggles here and there. I prioritized rest and recovery, and I backed off training when I was under a lot of stress at work. And what do ya know . . . I PRed in the 5K, 10 mile, 15K, and in two half marathons and placed higher than ever before in my age group in a bunch of races.

It’s like I actually learned lessons. From my prior experiences!

But there are always more lessons to learn. So here’s how I plan to tweak my training for my next race – which is . . . drumroll . . . America’s Finest City* Half Marathon on August 17.

*In case you didn’t know, America’s Finest City is San Diego. 

Tweaks

1. Longer long runs. 

2. Longer tempo runs.

3. Or possibly combine long and tempo runs. 

4. Make easy runs a wee bit longer.

After running steady in the 30-40 mile range, I am ready for a little more mileage. And I think with these tweaks I won't run out of gas again, like I did in the final miles of the SD RnR Half. But a lot went right last time around, so I want to keep on doing some of the same going forward.

Keeps

1. Weight training (legs). Need strong legs to power down the hills at the beginning of the AFC course.

2. Yoga, stretching, foam rolling. Duh! 

3. Prioritize rest and recovery. Commit to back off as needed and during times of high stress.

4. Keep mileage bumps ups reasonable.

5. Run a few races as break through workouts / tough tempo efforts.

6. Keep the pressure off myself. I need to stay patient and not get greedy with the number of seconds I want to shave off the PR.

One more new thing this training cycle. I joined San Diego Track Club and am training 2 days a week with the group. I think I ran alone every single run in 2014 until recently, so it's been fun to make some new connections with some local runners!

Two Little Runners

Kristen 

San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon

The start. Ryan Hall on very far left in orange.

Off to a slow start . . . My strategy was to run at 6:55 and see how I felt at the 10K split. And hopefully feel great and speed up after that. Mile 1 was according to plan. I was up pretty close to the front of Wave 1, so I didn’t have to waste much time weaving (6:56). Mile 2 had one of the few sustained hills, and I pressed my effort a little here. Only to be delayed by a crossing fire truck! (7:03). Mile 3 was perfectly flat, and I was in the groove (6:52). Mile 4 had a 47 foot climb – which shouldn’t have slowed me down as much as it did. I became aware of my legs this mile. They were not feeling fresh (7:06). (I noted to myself that I need to taper for longer than 7 days when running the faster paces I am training for now.)

The Meb miles . . . Then the plan went out the window. Meb Keflezighi was the 1:30 pacer, and the Meb group caught up with me in mile 5. I got swept into the Meb pack, and it was a blast. The crowds were cheering for Meb, and when there weren’t crowds around runners were asking Meb about his training and life. I felt inspired and decided I could hang with Meb (6:50). Mile 6 I was still in Meb-party mode (6:42). When I saw 6:42 display on my watch, I panicked and decided not to look at my watch any more. I was still determined to hang with the Meb pack. I felt good in mile 7 (6:48), but by mile 8, I had fallen behind into the Meb-chaser pack (6:49).

Losing focus . . . Then there was mile 9. I lost sight of the Meb pack, fell out of the Meb-chaser pack at a water station, and momentarily lost my inspiration. The mile was a net 50 feet downhill but I clocked my worst mile of the race. I had started looking at my watch again and did not like what I saw (7:07).

And regaining focus, briefly . . . Mile 10 was more downhill, which allowed me to pick myself back up (6:53). I took focus off of the letdown of losing the Meb pack (later, I found out they finished at 1:29) and focused on getting the 1:30:XX. I did some quick math, and it was going to be close. I honestly don’t know what happened in mile 11, another starting in '7' (7:03).

A big push for the 1:30:XX . . . Mile 12 was my fastest mile of the race and also the biggest downhill. I was making up time for those 7:XX miles (6:37). The last mile was slightly downhill, but felt like I was running uphill. I was trying to will myself into another 6:40 mile . . . but I didn’t have anything left (6:57).

The final stretch.

The elusive 1:30:XX . . . I crossed the finish in 1:31:24. Off by just 25 seconds! But still a 2 minute PR, and I’m really happy with my race. I would have loved crossing the finish line with the Meb pack. Or with a 1:30:XX. I’m just not quite there yet.

But I have come a long way in a pretty short time. My first race back after a 6 month break from spraining my ankle was a 3 mile Turkey Trot in November 2013, where my average pace was 6:50. By design, I didn’t run very many miles this training cycle (averaged 26.5 miles a week), as I needed to build a base and some durability.

But now, it’s on. Next time,  the 1:30:XX is mine!

Split	Time
1	06:56.0
2	07:03.9
3	06:52.8	5K	22:04	(7:07)
4	07:06.6
5	06:50.0
6	06:42.0	10K	43:26	(7:00)
7	06:48.7
8	06:49.1
9	07:07.7
10	06:53.8	10 mi	1:10:01	(7:00)
11	07:03.1
12	06:37.9
13	06:57.1
0.1	01:38.6	(6:00)
	1:31:24	(6:59)

Two Little Runners
Kristen

Friends/Pool Maintenance Guy Negate Injury

So Im still here, still injured and still spending an inordinate amount of time here...

...out-staring the pool maintenance man who bewilderedly witnesses the spectacle of me pool running in the mornings.

Ive been interspersing my pool running with bouts of stationary bike and weight lifting. Bike/pool to maintain that aerobic fitness, weights so I can wear gloves and grunt and act hard core like all the bros in my gym.

I hate myself quite a lot for taking a selfie in the lift. But it's demonstrative of said gloves and overall hard-coreness.

Anyway, I would love to give you an injury update but the long and short is we dont know what it is! Ive had an xray and ultrasound, all of which show some healthy bones and unmolested tendons, and a very happy and healthy plantar fascia. The only remaining cause could be neuro; ie, a nerve entrapment of some type in my foot. My podiatrist said its actually a good thing, because my foot is so generally healthy, and at least we know what not to look for now. 

Tomorrow im going to see a specialist sports med guy who will likely give me an MRI to confirm and hopefully a rehab schedule to follow. Unfortunately all the things my podiatrist was doing for the more obvious and common diagnoses - myofascial release (ie just a massage that induces a cold sweating, white knuckled response), orthotics, and tight taping of my foot - were likely squashing the nerve even further and generally making it worse. Since we've stopped those things, its gotten a lot better again! And given Ive gotten it to almost 100% before on my own, im hopeful that i can do it again with the right rehab.

In the meantime, Im not going to lie... I have had some very strong and violent urges when passing by basically every runner in Sydney ever... With all their stupid neon running gear (like all my stupid neon running gear), their ridiculous garmins (I heart my garmin) and their absurdly happy endorphin glow (must....have.... endorphins....).

The thing that has actually kept me most sane while injured are my favorite people. Obviously Kristen (who is racing San Diego RnR tomorrow with Meb - good luck!!) - duh...but also because she has been through a looooong injury before and knows exactly where I am at. Sam and Racer, amazing runners in their own rights who have suffered more than their fair share of injuries... My Dad who got me into this damned sport in the first place and who knows the heart ache of missing out on the miles... (And who has never stopped talking about witnessing my first marathon finish). My new workmates (most of whom just think im insane for loving running this much) have also been great. Especially GML, (you can stop complaining - consider this your shoutout on the blog) my bestie and coffee-partner at work, who has to listen to me endlessly discuss running and bear witness to my awesomely attractive pairings of corporate attire + grungey running shoes. 

But in reality its also about realizing that its JUST running. Even for professional runners its just running. Im thankful for friends who listen and care about it, but also remind me that there is more to life than this somewhat selfish and narcississtic pursuit of ours. Im grateful to have a lot of other things that keep me sane and grounded and happy until i get to run again.

In the meantime, I also have the unlikely bond I am developing with pool maintenance guy... And am cherishing his ever-increasing bewilderment at me and my horrendously fugly jogging belt. 

~ Penny

And 20 weeks later, we reach taper week

I agreed to write a law journal article on a topic that 99.9% of lawyers don't care about, and my deadline is Friday. Of course, I didn’t start working on it in April when I said yes. So here I sit in the office working evenings this week to pull this thing together. It’s a good thing it’s TAPER WEEK!

April and May were full of tough races and intense training. So, in addition to having to commit extra time to work, I welcomed taper week just for some physical relaxation!

As part of my elaborate efforts to avoid working on the law article, I’ve been reading articles on tapering. Most of the information I've found is geared toward elite-level runners. The suggested taper plans are almost harder than my hardest week of training. Not much out there on tapering for the hobbyist half marathoner. I gather that the basic idea is to assess the state of your body and what your training was like. And then you just have to trust your training. “The hay is in the barn,” as a runner friend of mine told me.

I was pretty low mileage, but my legs have accumulated fatigue from April and May. So for my taper, I decided that one week would be enough because I’ve never tapered for more than a week for any of my half marathons. And I'm planning on about 20 mile this week - half of my average weekly mileage over the last month. I’m keeping it to all easy miles and perhaps a couple of miles at race pace just for fun.

But trusting your training is the hardest part. I violated the-hay-is-in-the-barn principle of tapering on Saturday when I ran 16 miles for my final long run (the longest run of my entire 20 week training cycle, and probably the longest in the last 12 months). It was a mistake. My legs still have not quite regained their spring, and it’s almost Friday!

Speaking of almost Friday! . . . back to that law review article that no one but my editor cares about.

Two Little Runners

Kristen

"A Life Beyond 'Do What You Love'"

"Perhaps you relish running marathons. Perhaps you even think of your exercise regimen as a form of self-improvement. But if your “something higher” is, say, justice and equality, those ideals might behoove you to delegate some of the many hours spent pounding the track on tutoring kids at the youth center. Our desires should not be the ultimate arbiters of vocation. Sometimes we should do what we hate, or what most needs doing, and do it as best we can."

"A Life Beyond 'Do What You Love'" - Gordon Marino, NY Times, 17 May 2014

~ Penny

Navy’s Coronado Bay Bridge Run (4 miles)

This race starts on the Embarcadero by the Convention Center and goes over the Coronado Bridge, finishing over in Coronado’s Tidelands Park. It’s the only time the bridge is open to foot traffic all year. So it’s a must do for any San Diegan! (It would also be a fantastic destination race.) Over 10,000 people showed up to run (or walk) and raised money for wounded warriors and other worthy causes.

The race lends itself to a fun run, and I wanted to run this race as a fun run, but I just don’t have that in me. I raced it – but I didn’t race it too hard, after a pretty intense week of running. Plus one more intense week to go before I start tapering for the San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon on June 1.

This was a tough race from the start. Maybe it was my fatigued legs, but I struggled with the baby hills in the first mile (6:30). And then, the big climb up the bridge (complete with headwind)  was in mile 2 (7:30, no Garmin data on elevation on the bridge – shows a flat line). By the time I crested the bridge, I could barely be bothered to enjoy the 360 degree views of the Silver Strand, Pacific Ocean, San Diego Harbor, Coronado, and downtown. My legs were burning on the hill, and I felt pukey. So I coasted downhill on the bridge in mile 3 (6:42). (I could have pushed a lot harder here, but eh…) I was well recovered for the 4th mile, which was totally flat (6:13).

My average pace was 6:47 – which, on paper, is a bit troubling because I am going for 6:50-6:55 pace in my half. But I feel really positive about the 6:13 in the final mile. It felt almost effortless after several very tough miles that I recovered from pretty quickly.

This earned me 3rd place female overall, so I stayed to enjoy the post-race party and collect my rewards! I took advantage of a free massage, enjoyed the band, and collected a record amount of freebies, which thank god I had to munch on because I decided to spend the extra time to wait to take the free race ferry back to downtown.

Splits

1 – 6:30

2 – 7:30

3 – 6:42

7 – 6:13

27:07 (6:47)

3rd female of 2548 / 54th overall of 4840 runners (over 10,000 runners and walkers!)

Two Little Runners ~ Kristen

Happy Blogiversary to Us

A few days ago, this blog turned two years old.

Kristen and I have been besties for about 2-3 years now. Its hard to pinpoint exactly when we fell in friend-love with each other. But somewhere after the time I began working in an office next to hers at our law firm, (and we began our daily coffee trips together) we fell into the beginning of the wonderful friendship we have today. Kristen had the unique distinction of getting me completely trashed on tequila on my first mexican/bar experience in California after I found out I passed the bar exam. 

And honestly? We've been through quite a lot of shit together in the last few years. Probably some of the hardest times in our lives so far. We've shared so much; and often in quite close proximity to one another. We've shared bosses, desks, cases, briefs, hotel rooms, clothes, relationship advice, training advice, the editing of our firm newsletter, injury diagnoses, food recommendations, 16 hour days in a windowless room while at trial... Not to mention sharing each others shoulders to cry on, when the going just got a little too tough. 

But before we get toooo sentimental here, there needs to be a bit of a disclaimer. Sometimes we probably fall into perhaps over-sharing. Is there such a thing? Here are a selections of things we've felt the need to share with one another (usually by free text message) even after moving a half a world away:

New arm-warmers complete with muscle shots:

Precisely how much I sweat while running in the South Australian heat.

What we've been snacking on lately...

New bizarre grains we've tried to cook up

And some less-old but massively delicious kitchen creations

New injuries 

New hair

Of course our new shoes

Lulu shopping trips

(This happens shockingly frequently)

New bags

And offices

And hotel rooms

Stretches we've been loving lately...

(This is not me!)

Or other training/injury advice

Come to think of it, we email/msg/send each other a lot of random crap:

Including some much needed venting sessions..

But despite being half a world away, Im thankful on a daily basis (because we actually do talk/email/msg that frequently) for having such a dear friend in this world, with whom I can share so much. Be it the heart-breaks of life, the tough circumstances we face at work, our latest grueling tempo runs, or the prettiest running shorts we can find. 

So on the two year anniversary of Two Little Runners - just one more thing we share - I want to say: 

Kristen, thanks for being my friend. You rock. 

Love,

Penny

Seen while running - Little Free Library

Unlimited candy, cookies, and sweets. Ice cream and pizza for dinner! And no discipline! That's life at Grandma and Grandpa's house - a kid's anarchic paradise! This week I'm reliving those summer weeks spent at my grandparent's house as a kid. I'm spending the week with Grandma and Grandpa - in Sun Prairie, WI (just outside of Madison) - helping out as my grandpa recovers from surgery.  

My mom and grandma know how much I love to run, so they scoped out a bike path for me that runs right behind the house. I've already run 25 miles on it and haven't run out of trail! It's awesome!

On my first trip out, I saw this curious little box:

There were about 20 books in the box - from kids' books to novels! Upon further investigation, I found out it was a Little Free Library - which is a mailbox full of books! The boxes are put up and maintained by a volunteer. Any one can take a book, and any one can drop one off. How cute is that? It's a worldwide project - and it all started right here in Wisconsin!

Two Little Runners
Kristen 

El Take It Easy

There used to be a Mexican restaurant in San Diego by this name. Brilliant! They served the cuisine of the Guadalupe Valley, which is the wine region of Baja California. And they had tons of mescal martinis. Mescal is sort of tequila’s smoky, piney cousin.

El take it easy is not just an out-of-business restaurant – it was also my training motto this week.

My legs were trashed after the La Jolla Half Marathon. Specifically, below the knees - from clomping down a pretty steep hill at max speed. Calves were tight, shins were sore, and my joints/bones/connective tissue felt generally pounded out. Therefore, el take it easy this week!

Monday, I needed to get in some sunshine before a work trip to NYC. 4 miles easy through the neighborhood.

Tuesday, in NYC. I wasn’t even tempted to run. It was cold, windy, and raining! 45 minutes on the elliptical. Ate dinner at Il Postino, classic NY Italian. Great service, not that impressed with the food.

Wednesday, in NYC. In the morning, I did an easy 3 miles on the treadmill (still raining). Flight cancelled, so in the evening did 30 minutes on the elliptical and a pull-up workout (still raining). Total rain for the day = 5 inches! But I managed to dodge the rain drops to get to Eataly and devoured a delicious pizza!

Thursday, back in San Diego where it was very hot! 99 degrees. 4 miles easy in Balboa Park.

Friday, core/legs at the gym. Another hot day – headed to Fathom for a beer after work. This is a little tap room/sausage place on the pier at Shelter Island.

Saturday, still hot . . . ran 5 hot miles in Balboa Park in the morning, and headed to the ocean for 3 miles of kayaking at La Jolla Shores. Saw sea lions, seals, and dolphins out swimming! So cool!!

So with the race and el take it easy the rest of the week, it was a 30 mile week (not counting the kayaking).

Two Little Runners

Kristen

I Run Because _____.

Gonna try not to get too deep and serious here. But it’s a topic Penny and I have been discussing lately. I’ve been the optimistic one lately because I’ve had – more or less – an injury-free 2014. Penny has been a little gloomy on the topic, as she works her way back from injury again and all the emotions that come with it. 

Why do I run?

Really, there are tons of reasons. And every day is different . . . 

I run because I’m in better shape at 33 than I was at 23.

I run to have fun. 

I run because I'm an athlete. 

I run because I want sunshine.

I run because I want the runner’s high. 

I run because I'm dedicated.

I run to get sexy racer back tan lines.

I run because I want a PR.

I run to look good.

I run to be healthy and fit.

I run to explore my surroundings. 

I run because then I get to eat 3,000 calories a day.

I run because it’s gorgeous outside.

I run because my training plan tells me to.

I run to race.

I run to wear bright colors.

I run because I’m a goal-driven overachiever.

Two Little Runners

Kristen 

La Jolla Half Marathon

I loved this race – one of my all-time favorites! It’s a challenging course that starts at the Del Mar race track and heads south along the 101 to La Jolla cove – climbing up and down The Torrey Pines Hill. Not a course for PR-ing, with an elevation gain of 951 and elevation loss of 933. But I’m glad I didn’t let that keep me away! This is the first time in a major race that I’ve ever placed in the top of my age group. Second in F30-34!

A point-to-point course means shuttle buses. I was spooked by the very strongly worded final race instructions about timing and road closures, arrived early, and ended up catching one of the first shuttles. So I arrived at the start at 5:45 a.m. – 1 hour and 45 minutes before the start! Oh, that was a long wait. Although weather was great for racing, 57 and mostly cloudy, it was cold waiting around! I made a new friend on the shuttle bus and spent the time chatting, going to the bathroom, stretching, eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, warming up, going to the bathroom. You know, the things you do to pass the time!

I know this course well, as this was my training ground for lots of years! So my plan was to go out at 7:30 for the first few miles – which were flat. Needed to save some energy for those hills! I knew I’d have to slow down some for the hill starting around Del Mar Heights Road, but then I could pick up some speed on the first big downhill. Which I perfectly executed.

1 – 7:29

2 – 7:23 (73+, 80-)

3 – 7:31 (72+)

4 – 7:53 (110+)

5 – 6:50 (23+, 193-)

Then it was big hill time! I felt pretty comfortable running up The Torrey Pines Hill. Just went by effort. Passed a lot of people, which always produces that extra boost and spring in the step.

6 – 8:41 (259+)

7 – 7:55 (234+, 89-)

Then came a couple of flat miles. I wanted to speed up these flat miles to more in the range of my current half marathon pace. Passed tons of people in these miles.

8 – 7:15 (31+, 24-)

9 – 7:00 (19+, 69-)

10 – 7:13 (21+, 19-)

Then the big downhill. This was steep. But because I have been religious about leg workouts in the gym for the last year, and especially tough workouts in the last 3 months, I was able to keep my form under control. And I fleeeeew down the hill. Well, more like tromped.

11 – 6:12 (341-)

The course flattened out for one mile, and I continued to pass a lot of runners.  Then there was the cruel and unusual punishment of a very tough hill in first half of the last mile. I got passed back by about a handful of guys. I thought I ran the last hill pretty well (faster than the first smaller hill of the same size), but these guys powered up! I couldn't match. 

12 – 7:01 (-14)

13 – 7:48 (+109, -66)

And a downhill sprint to the finish for 1:37:31 (7:27 average pace). 2nd of 550 in F30-34. 24th woman of 3085. And 165 overall of 5891.          

And that's the finish line: 

         

Two Little Runners

Kristen 

ran / rested / ran / rested / recovered

So last week's big deal was the 16K trail race with over 1000 feet of elevation gain. And > 1000 feet loss. All in one course! This produced SORE QUADS and a lingering fatigue even after the soreness was gone. But then . . . some thing cool happened ~~~~~~~

Day after the race – MONDAY the 14th of April 2014 – I did a 4.5 mile easy (and very, very slow) run through my neighborhood – MISSION HILLS – and tried to avoid those HILLS! But really, you can’t. It's hilly EVERYWHERE. Then I hopped on a plane to NYC. 6 hours later, I emerged an angry (temporary) New Yorker.

TUESDAY (4/15) – I had a quick workout at the hotel gym (Affinia 50, pretty nice). 20 minutes elliptical (very easy) and some yoga. LEGS SORE. Especially the LEFT Quad.

Noted, NYC just isn't as fun without Penny. :-(

WEDNESDAY (April 16) – complete rest. And another 6 hour flight back to SD. Ah, the joys of work travel. LEGS still SORE.

THURSDAY (the 17th!) – Soreness almost gone, but I underestimated the LINGERING FATIGUE in my attempt at a THRESHOLD RUN OF 6 MILES AT GOAL HALF MARATHON PACE (6:50!!) = 9 miles total. I didn’t hit G-HM-P at all! Not a single mile:  1 - 6:54, 2 - 7:08, 3 - 7:11, 4 - 7:04, 5 - 7:18, 6 - 7:03.

Reasons?

• Well, I was not well fueled (ran at 2:30 p.m., supposed to run at 1 p.m. but CONFERENCE CALLS interfered!!!). 
• And I was tired from my quick, 36 hours trip to NYC. 
• Legs were still wrecked from Sunday’s trail race. 
• It was also windy, and I ran in Balboa Park – which is quite hilly . . . 
• and I afterwards, I felt that I was not fit enough for this tough workout, given my low mileage in February, March, and April (only 20 miles most weeks). 

The thought went through my HEAD: the 1:30:xx may not be in my FUTURE just yet . . .

FRIDAY, April 18 – core/legs/whatever weights workout at THE GYM.

By Saturday (19), I felt awesome! Easy run along Ocean Beach bike PATH. 7.5 miles at an effortless 8:10ish pace.

Sunday 4/20 – LONG RUN of 13 miles on Ocean Beach bike path to the Ocean Beach Pier and back. Did most miles at 8:15ish and last 2 miles MODERATE at 7:30 + slightly uphill. I was floating through this run. Legs felt strong again!!

Is this CrAZZzzzY? I think that 16K trail race that I ran 8 days ago made a noticeable improvement in my fitness . . . could those hills (up and down!) have really made an impact already??? ? ??

Perhaps the 1:30:xx at SD RnR Half (jUne 1) is STILL possible ? ? ? ?

Two Little Runners ~ Kristen

PS - it's boring without a picture. The HILLS of MissIOn hIlLS

Xterra Black Mountain Trail Race 16k (April 13, 2014)

I was contemplating where to run on Sunday for a long run of between 10 and 13 miles. I decided to check out the local race calendars. A race sounded like much more fun than a lonely long run, and there is always a race going on this time of year.

I saw a 16k trail race by Xterra at Black Mountain in San Diego – the 6th race in a 7 race series throughout SoCal. The course was described as the flattest and fastest in this series, so I was in for promises of a spring trail run that wouldn’t totally destroy me . . . right.

Black Mountain

My strategy in trail races has generally been to run fast at the beginning to get ahead of slower runners before the trail narrows. Then when I can, I run fast – on flat, comfortable downhill, and non-technical surfaces.  I “recover” on uphills, steep downhills, and technical terrain (rocky, slippery, narrow, or otherwise scary). Trail races for me are like speed workouts, except the recoveries are on hills!

Looking at the elevation profile of the route and talking to runners before the race, I decided to employ the usual strategy, and it would be very important to start out fast because the trail narrowed quickly to single track for quite a long ways. Then I planned to run the early and middle miles as fast as the course permitted. I wasn’t planning on saving much for the late miles because the hills were so steep for so long. It wouldn’t matter how tired I was – those hills would bring the pain either way.

This is the elevation profile on the race website. Not too bad, right?

Actual elevation profile from my Garmin - no hill smoothing!

So I lined up near the front and got off to a very fast start. This first mile of the race was the best mile I’ve ever run. I got a good position before the trail narrowed to single track. It was downhill and rocky, but there was no slowing down given the train of runners behind me. I concentrated on foot placement, freaked out about my ankle a little bit (sprained about a year ago, finally healed about 6 months ago), and kept up with the runner in front of me so that no one tried to pass me. It was awesome!

In the second mile I realized that I was going to run much slower than I anticipated. Although the general trend of the first half of the course is downhill, there were a ton of steep up and downs not depicted on the race website's elevation profile – and I felt them for the first time in the second mile. Miles 2 and 3 were just under 7:00.

Miles 4 and 5 had a lot of rollers, but I kept a good pace. Both were just under 7:30.

Mile 6 was 9:44, which is explained by (1) water station (walked and stood to drink - never done that before!), (2) lots of very steep downhills where I had to apply the brakes, and (3) walking up a hill that was too steep to run. As I was hiking up it, my hand were almost hitting the ground it was such a steep slope! Legs were JELLO at the end of this mile. I couldn’t take downhills as fast after this because I lost control and stability on the big downhills in this mile.

Mile 7 had a creek crossing, which was a first for me. I stopped, and said, “Oh shit,” while the guys running around me just blasted right through . . . It had about 18 inches of water in it! It took me 3 or 4 steps to get across it. My shoes were so heavy after that! Decent mile at 7:30ish.

Mile 8 marked the start of the massive hill until the end of the race (9.66 miles by my watch). Mile 8 started at 250 feet, and we climbed to 720 feet by the end. Really really really steep from mile 9 to the end. I walked for a second time. The finish line was perched at the very top of this hill. I have never seen so many people walking in the last paces before the finish line. What a tough finish! My quads are complaining today!!

Is it over yet?

Splits (elevation loss (-) and elevation gain (+) in feet)

1 – 6:36 (-247/+5)

2 – 6:56 (-171/+81)

3 – 6:55 (-115)

4 – 7:27 (-65/+85)

5 – 7:25 (-133/+147)

6 – 9:44 (-136/+194)

7 – 7:29 (-187/+32)                                                                 

8 – 8:13 (+65)

9 – 10:02 (+263)

9.66 (16k) – 7:54 (10:30 pace) (+184)

TOTALS: 1:17:07 (8:03 pace) (-1059/+1055) – 4th female and 46th of 326 overall.

Two Little Runners

Kristen

Copycat 1Q 2014 Update: Running, Running.... Injury Again

Its been a long time between posts; longer than usual! My life in Sydney has finally settled into a bit of a routine. All our stuff arrived from America only a few weeks ago, and up until then we had been using a cardboard box as a couch, and eating with plastic cutlery. Not exactly a third world situation, given this occurred in an inner city high rise apartment, but not the funnest.

When I began this post, my first sentence was "The last two months have been a good mileage build up for me." And they have been.... until three weeks ago.

So lets go back a step. As I canvassed in my last post about recovering from injury, my mileage in January was: 28, 26, 32, 35 miles for each week. Mostly all easy. I had two notable attempts at tempo runs (2 x 2 miles at HM pace), which came in around 6:50-6:55avg paces. Not great, but not terrible given the amount of time I had off running. I also tried another treadmill speed workout: 6 x 800m at 5K pace with 400m jog recoveries (1.5% incline). Wow. Yeah... so these still hurt as much as I remembered them. But I was very pleased with the result. I ran 4 of the 5 at 6:27, then the last at 6:20. It was hard, but not vomit-inducing hard, so that was encouraging.

And February saw some good running, especially after we moved into our new place. I even took a few pictures of my new routes. We live in the center of the Sydney CBD, so my running takes me all around Sydney harbor, over all the bridges, around the Opera House and through the Botanical Gardens. Having run all over my two fabulous countries, I have to say this city is the most beautiful running city I have lived in so far. It truly does have everything; the sights of New York, the weather of San Diego... doesnt quite rival the hipness of Melbourne, but getting there ;)

You can run right around the Opera House, to my delight!

Several of my routes take me directly beneath or over the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Part of the 'Domain' run, which takes you through the Botanical Gardens and down towards the Opera House

Harbor bridge from the Opera House

One of my many bridges; this is Victoria Road bridge, part of the Iron Cove run

Iron cove run. My photography sucks. But this was stunning.

February mileage: 42, 44, 44, 38 (a down week)

March mileage: I made the jump to the 50s: 51, 50... aaaaaand 10. Before I tell you what happened, I did have one great workout in there... 6 x 1 mile repeats at an average of about 6:40 pace, which was great. About the same pace before my injury last year, so I was at least back to my old fitness levels, pre-hip injury.

Now. Cue the judgey "look at that mileage bump you idiot" faces.

Ok, so let me explain. I had read some really good research demonstrating that the 10% rule is just as likely as anything else to generate injuries. A better injury prevention technique is actually to use down-weeks. You can increase your mileage by, say, 5-6 miles (my jump from 44-50) by inserting down weeks. Seemed like a good plan, and I actually still believe in it.

The real reason I got injured was that I was failing to do all the other stuff you need to do while increasing mileage to avoid injury. I basically completely wagged stretching and foam rolling, because I didn't want to waste valuable running time. I was fueling right, and still strength training pretty well, but the other recovery stuff was not happening. Let me tell you, as soon as I got on a foam roller after my injury... OW. Yeah. Silly girl.

So, the injury itself happened in a fairly miserable way. I stopped running at 10 miles into a very hot 14-miler, with foot pain. Up til that time, I had been reeeally dehydrated, and was not feeling good at all. I tried to call a cab, but couldn't get one, so called my husband to come and get me. Then it started pouring rain.Oh, and the city was celebrating St Patricks day, so it took us about 45 minutes to drive 4 miles home. Kill me.

Anyway, the self-diagnosis is plantar fascitis. I knew it as soon as I felt it.

As anyone who has had this injury knows, its on its own healing schedule. I feel glad that I stopped running when I did; its been three weeks since I last ran, and my foot is finally feeling a lot better. I am going to take another week of non-impact exercise before I try running again. I'm super paranoid about it because my husband has had this injury for years from his time in the Marine Corps, so I am not going to tempt fate with it!

So....enter the pool running! We have a really lovely pool in our apartment building, and my morning workouts there last about 45-60 mins, and I always always do intervals! Favorites so far are:
Sprints: 20 x 1 min hard, 1 min easy;
Ladders: 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 mins hard, with 1 min easy in between
Blocks: 8 x (2 mins hard, 1 min hard with 1 min recoveries)
(always with 5-10 mins warmup, then 5 mins cool down).
I like adding 10 x 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy onto the workouts if I'm feeling good. With these, I go as hard as possible, with a real focus on using my core. Its a great core workout!

I have been doing those about 5 times a week (as often as I run) with one strength day, and one rest day. Its not running, but it keeps me sane... and its actually a really pleasant way to start the day! I attach my ipod mini to my head band, put my flotation belt on, and try to ignore the extremely odd and bewildered looks I get from the poor fellow who has to clean the pool in the mornings. As much as pool running is the best workout for injured runners... its not a sight we need to share with the world.

So there you have it. The beginning of 2014: was injury recovery, running, running, injury again. Such is the life of a distance runner, right?