Northland Half Marathon & 5K

After the slight disappointment of not hitting sub-30 in California with AB, I had two take-aways: 

1. I really need to start incorporating speed work and I'm ready for that.
2. One's mental state of mind is everything

I had signed up for this 5K as a spur of the moment - several friends were running the half marathon and I thought, oh hey, I'll just run the 5K, then hang out and cheer friends in as they finish. The day before, I was wondering why the heck I thought that sounded like a good idea. 

I hadn't been running a whole lot since California. MJ is a little cranky, and I keep trying to do plyometrics with my Daily Burn workouts for whatever reason. So, I'm perpetuating the achiness out of sheer .... idiocy, I suppose. All that being said, I thought it would be a good use of a tempo run (start that speed work!), and decided to aim for around 10mms. Quick, but not racing. Good. 

I get to the race early, do a long warm up, see my friends, say hi and good luck and realize it's way too warm for my arm warmers and jog back to the car to return with the perfect amount of time to pee and then get in line. This race had actual, flushing toilet restrooms at the start/finish, which was luxurious ... until one toilet got clogged. 

So, I line up, wait for the start and take off. After settling in, there is a duo that I tell myself to keep within spitting distance of - they are going nearly the perfect pace and I wanted to make life easy. Mile 1 ticked off in 10:08. 

Can you find me???

The course went out and up over a bridge, then down onto a hard surface trail. All the downhill made things pick up a little bit, and as we neared the 5K turnaround, I noticed very few people actually turning around, and very few women about my age. The wheels were turning and I realized it was one of those races where I may actually have a shot at placing well. Mile 2 ticks off in 9:50. 

So, I'm climbing back up the hill and bridge, thinking I'm tired and maybe I'll just go back to tempo, when a voice says, no, do it for AB. Give him the race he should have gotten with you in Cali. Well, when a voice tells you to do something for a running friend, you sort of just do it. Plus, I knew that most of the course was downhill from there. I decide to ignore my watch and just run. I pick up the pace and just keep going, "do it for AB, do it for AB." Naturally, I realize I should also be doing this for myself. I mean, I'm the one with the sub-30 to chase. And I'm just good of a reason to do this as AB is, so I just go. And go. And go. I'm not even sure what my time is, as I refuse to look at my watch. All I can think is, just give it your best effort (and don't let that woman you passed pass you back). I round the final turn and see the finish line, UGH, it looks like it's forever away. I see part of the clock, with a 2 in it and as it comes into view, I see the clock turn over to 30:00. I think I actually made some sort of frustrated noise out loud, but then I realize I'm the only person running for the finish line at the moment, so I pose for the cameras as I cross the finish.

PT would be proud of that straight line my hips are making.

I'm all annoyed until I stop my watch and look down at it. 

29:57

Holy shit, I think. What's the official time???

I get in line, give the person my number and he says, "okay, you got second in your age group." "I did?" I say as I take the slip he gives me. Then, I nearly forget about that part as I read the piece of paper: 

I looked up and around, as if there would be someone I knew to share the joy with and reached for my cell phone, which was in my car. Damn. Oh well. Instead, I shared a quiet, glorious moment, as I stood there, holding this tiny piece of paper close, grinning like an idiot. 

Then, I went and got some free beer and coffee. And of course, texted AB. 

Santa Anita Derby Day 5K

"How are you feeling?" Atombuddy asked me as we warmed up. 
"Nervous," I tittered.

It's not that I haven't wanted a PR before or chased down a goal. It's that I've never made such a statement to the Loop, nor asked a fellow Loopster to pace me. That's what happens when you do a vlog immediately after a disappointing run, though, and you are an emoter like me. Crazy stuff just comes out. It created a weight on my shoulders, though - not one I couldn't bear, simply one I wasn't used to - and I wasn't comfortable with it. Then again, no one ever said racing a 5K was comfortable. 

A day later, I was cozied up on the couch at Chez AB, a lovely B&B in Pasadena, California with great rates for residents of Loopville, writing in my Believe Training journal, with a serendipitous 4 week check-in. The theme of this check-in: Resistance. 

The start of the Santa Anita Derby Day 5K was in the parking lot of a mall. After a thorough warm-up, complete with striders, AB and I lined up at the starting gates. I anxiously awaited our turn to run through the 1930's starting gate for the Santa Anita Race Track. AB and I had worked out a plan: start slightly slower than goal pace, progress through mile 2 and finish with a kick at the end. 

"I always seem to have enough for a kick," I said. 

The wave start minimized the need for bobbing and weaving, and AB had me off to a hard but not uncomfortable pace - exactly what we had wanted. As we turned for the nearby arboretum, I couldn't help but wonder if I could sustain this. "Can I do this? I'm not sure. I guess we will found out. I can ... I dunno ... maybe I can't." Thoughts like these tumbled in my brain. 

"How do you feel?"
"Heh .... scared."

Mile 1: 9:31

Resistance: She's your inner critic, ruining your best intentions, pulling you into negative self talk, giving you plenty of excuses and leaving your mired in doubt. Your mind plays a big role in performance; resistance can stand in the way of goals if you let it. These self-sabotaging thoughts thrive on fear, procrastination, drama, distraction, fear of failure and indecision. Well, damn, maybe I should have done this check-in before the big race. 

As mile 1 clicked off below goal pace, AB was nothing but encouraging. "You just have to maintain this and you are golden," he said (or something to that effect). The pace felt harder than I thought it should. Or maybe it felt just right. Having never actually raced a 5K, how should I have known what to feel? Honestly, I sort of went off of Peg's and Bangle's blogs but they are crazy people, so who really knows how accurate that is?? As we rolled into a slight uphill, my pace slowed, I could feel it slowing and the doubts just taking over "I can't, I can't, I can't". Yet, AB was still there, dragging me along. I hadn't bothered to be completely honest about how much MJ had been bothering me that week. I didn't want the damn hip to be an excuse anymore, I was tired of it being an excuse, and yet there MJ was, making her presence known, not moving as fluidly as she should. Somehow, AB's advice of shorter strides helped and there I was, back in the game. 

Mile 2: 9:44

Looking back, one of the biggest components of a successful 5K is confidence. Man, if you don't have that, you are pretty much screwed. I know it sounds obvious, but it's one of those lessons I never really learned. This is what happens when you don't allow yourself to pursue greatness for fear of missing the mark. It's a lesson I eventually was going to need to learn. And there I was, learning it in Southern California. 

We crossed into the back area of the Santa Anita Race track, the smells of the tack pens reminding me of my childhoods at the county and state fairs in Iowa. AB keeps encouraging me, telling me that I can pick up the pace. This felt like the longest 3.1 miles of my life. I was getting told exactly what to do, and I almost responded "I'll try", but I thought no, no try, must do so I said, "Okay, let's Yoda this"; somehow I picked up the pace. AB says "You are at an 8:50 pace, you are doing great!" Immediately, I panicked. I got so scared and my brain started sounding alarms and it felt like my entire being wanted to run and hide. I slowed. I slowed and I knew sub-30 was slipping away and it was my own mental game to blame for it. I knew it, I could see it and feel it right then and there, but I couldn't overcome it. My legs were dead, I had no spring, but it was my mind that was holding me back the most. As we rounded the final turn to go onto the practice race track, AB was ready to gun for it. Ugh, I could see how much he wanted to race in with me to the finish, but I was swimming in sand, with people passing me left and right.AB literally dragging me to the finish. Photo cred: JunBlack13 (check out his Instagram for other awesome photos from race day) 

It was a crappy feeling, knowing the goal was slipping away. It was even worse knowing my pacer had done everything right and my own mental game was destroying all of his work. "I can still PR", a small voice somewhere in the back of my mind whispered, and somehow, I managed a small surge and crossed the finish. 

Mile 3: 9:41
Total time: 30:16
Average pace: 9:45 mm

 Later, as AB and I talked and I reflected on my own, I let go of all the weight I had been keeping on my shoulders. I finally got a PR, one that hadn't been broken in 4 years, and that is something. I am looking forward to the next cycle, when I can confidently incorporate speed work. 

But man, oh man, I couldn't help but see the irony of reading that 4 week trading journal check-in a day after the race. 

 Seriously. Self-doubt and fear, you are going out the window. Now that I've made you known, there isn't really anywhere to hide anyway. 

When You're Like, "WTF, Running?"

So there I was, on a roll, having some really good runs and wondering whether or not I should have just said, "Screw it" and done speedwork for this training cycle. 

Then I got sick and had to take a week and a half off. If that doesn't kill momentum, I don't know what does. 

Ever since, I've just been "meh" about runs. Sure, I got in 3 of 4 last week - Saturday, I just wasn't having it, so I did an at-home workout instead and still got the heart pumping. 

Sure, the runs were all fine. Tuesday was 3 miles in 34:59, just under 11:45 pace (easy, good); Thursday was 3.1 in 33:27, 10:42 pace (nice, comfortable effort) and Sunday was 4.3 in 51:11, 11:56 pace (another easy, yay). 

But I was over much of the running before it even started. Same with my strength workouts. Got them all in, made the effort, keeping the legs looking fab with lots of lunges. Maybe it's because MJ is a bit cranky and moody. First, she was all annoyed that we took so much time off and then she was annoyed that we were doing so much. Sometimes, I can't win with her. Sunday, I did skip the running group to trot along the crushed gravel path, which made her happy. I have a feeling another ice bath will be coming along soon. 

It's been a minute since I've just been "meh" about things. Then, I realized, this is legitimately the first real running training cycle I've had since I trained for the Dublin Marathon and the first real training cycle since I hired a personal trainer and stuck to a ridiculous training schedule for 13 weeks, which was over 2 years ago.

So no wonder I've hit a mental wall. I'm not used to this stuff. 

With that realization, I've been nicer to myself and to running this week. It's been cold and rainy and damp and who wants to run in that, but I've stuck to the plan and am just enjoying things. The goal 5K is a week from Saturday, so there isn't anything of substance I can do to prepare at this point (except pick out my race outfit). So, I'm just enjoying it. Today will be a progression run, because we are supposed to get rain all day and I'm just going to hide on the treadmill. I hate being cold AND wet. Ew. 

PS - ICYMI on insta, been cooking my way around Run Fast, Eat Slow and loving every recipe I've tried. 

Yummmmmmmmm

Now, if I can get the Running Fast and Eating Slow part down (I like to do the opposite, LOL)

EDIT and PPS: Thursday's run was spot on. Did a progression run on the treadmill because that's the only way I stay sane on the darn thing. Mile 1: 12:35, mile 2 (flew by!): 11:45 and mile 3: 11:06 (I dunno, that's what the TM told me). Done and happily sweaty by the end. Yay!

Weekly Recap

After the previous week's butt-kicking cold, I still felt less-than-normal Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I did do mobility work and probably should have stretched or did some yoga, but I didn't. 

So when Thursday rolled around, I just really needed to see how a short (and I really mean short) run would go. Hit up one of my usual trails for 2 miles. Figured that would be enough to see if my lungs were as good as I thought they were and a nice little test to see if I'd lost any fitness. 

And I hit 2.01 miles in 20:13. Not bad. 

Friday and Saturday were spent working in the yard, trying to get things ready for spring. Is it already time to spend all my free time in my yard again? And where did all these leaves come from? 

In any case, Sunday morning came really early and I got myself ready for Sunday Runday club. Our 7 AM start was delayed by 10 minutes by a quick but substantial rain; with the weather at 53* and windy, not many of us wanted to start a run in a cold rain as well. Naturally, Mother Nature got us back by doing the same thing about 15 minutes later. Thanks, lady, now my toes are wet. And cold. 

As one of the slower ones, I have gotten used to having the speedies run by me on their return on the out-and-back course. This time, however, I only encountered one. I guess it's evident we are in the peak miles of training programs; everyone seemed to be going long that day. Me? I was doing 4 and thankful that 4 felt like no thing at all. 

3.98 miles in 47:04, 11:50 avg

Based on those two runs, I'm jumping back in this week, with only minor adjustments to what I had planned. Yay!

Sick & Injured

I, have no run reports because I've been recovering from a cold that just kicked my butt this past week. Started out with simply a coughing, snot-fest and turned into something more. I ended up taking three days off from work and probably should have taken one more day, but I wasn't infectious at that point, just still exhausted. 

Oh well. 

And then I ruptured my ear drum with a Q-tip. Did you know Q-tips aren't recommended for cleaning ears anymore? I seriously had no idea, but the NP at the employee health clinic made me repeat twice "Nothing smaller than my elbow in my ear", LOL. 

I'm still recovering, as even chasing the dog around the house starts me coughing again. Naturally, it's a little disappointing, since I felt like I was really gaining some momentum towards that elusive sub-30 5K, but I have to be patient. The next three weeks will have to be adjusted, and tomorrow, I'll try a brisk walk at an incline to see how things go. 

the one where I actually write about running

So I'm one of those folks who is still running and doesn't necessarily post about it. I suppose that's because I feel a little silly, we went through all of that trouble to give Mary Jane a name and now I barely mention her. 

I mean, that's totally a good thing, but if all it took was naming her, I would've done that a long time ago.

The last running update was two weeks ago. Whoops. At least I'm better with WILFTB recaps, although, where the heck is Running Nole, who was one of the people who kept asking for it?!?!?!

Anyway, the week of Feb 13-19 looked like this: 

Monday: 3 miles (wrote about that one, a lovely little jaunt around my old stomping grounds)
Tuesday: Tactical Bodyweight Training speed session
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: unplanned rest day - felt like garbage 
Friday: Tactical Bodyweight Training endurance session
Saturday: 3 miles, mobility work
Sunday: 5 miles with running group

Last week I tried to be more realistic with my planning. Work is taking up a good chunk of my energy in a fantastic way that previous jobs never have, but on the flip side, I am drained at the end of the day, and was trying to get in too much for the sake of "following the program", which honestly is just silly. 

Monday: planned rest day
Tuesday: 3.02 miles in 37:18, 12:21 pace

This was a great run because I thought I'd try hill repeats that day. I had recently hung out with some old friends and we were talking about how the one thing I was really good at was hill repeats, and I thought MJ had been feeling good enough that I'd try them out. I had a hill in mind, and did a mile warmup, only to realize that the hill I'd picked wasn't that great because it was curvy and there were lots of people walking and biking that day. So, I kept on, thinking there was another hill coming up, but it was almost another mile by the time I got there. Oh well. 

Thought maybe I'd try for 9 repeats, since it was the number of months that I could not run after surgery. Ended up with 5 because I was totes gassed by then and still had to run back to my car. The first repeat, I started with a grin, looking at the hill as if to say, "Hello, friend, we are going to have fun today". The second repeat, I was doing while an older gentleman was walking and on my way back down, he chuckled and said to me, "You have some gumption." I laughed and thanked him. The third repeat made me question if I could do six more and I thought I'd see how the fourth went. When the fifth felt like I had slowed significantly (and Polar Polly confirmed I had), I thought, that's good. 

It seemed like it was a good workout and choice to stop then and there, when I whimpered out loud when I had to climb a different hill on the way back to my car. Still felt good to do a little work, though. And MJ was just fine - my hip flexor was a little sore, but to be expected.

Wednesday: TBT speed session (tabatas this round)
Thursday: mobility (really need to start running in the morning)
Friday: TBT endurance session 
Saturday: had a community meeting to attend and then lunch with my co-worker and I nearly didn't go for a run, but I figured I could get one in since it was a relatively nice day. It turned into a tempo run and then an impromptu 5K time trial, which came painfully close to my PR. I was really disappointed and talked it out for y'all here: 

Weekend Wrap Up and WILFTB

Friday morning was spent doing a WTF Daily Burn video that stands for Workout to Failure. It could definitely also stand for the other WTF and no one on earth believes the name of that workout series is coincidental. It was three rounds of some length of time of some exercises I don't remember anymore, but I was short on time and it was a good workout. 

Saturday morning, I found myself in Colorado (on purpose) with lovely morning weather and this sunrise:

Colorful, indeed. 

While exploring the paved trails, I stumbled upon a little wilderness area that had unpaved trails!!!! It was super exciting, although any little hill climb just kicked my rear end to Sunday. Turns out, one does not adjust to altitude changes in 12 hours, LOL In any case, I was having such a good time that I was nearly skipping with delight and yelled out loud "This is so fun!" while going down a little hill. Then, I felt the intense need to re-do that little bit and film it, which many of you saw on Instagram. It really was that much fun.

TRAILS! 

In the end, I hit 3.24 miles in 42:20, because I don't pause my watch when I stop to admire the view and did a bit of walking because of the altitude. WHO CARES THOUGH? I trail ran in Colorado and it was so much fun. 

Sunday I was scheduled for 6 but knew better than to try that distance at altitude, so just gave myself a rest day, did some mobilization when I got home from the airport and decided it would be okay. 

Monday I was picking up Jeff the dog from his godparents (yes, I have legally designated people to take my dog in case something happens to me) about an hour after I was done with work, which left just the right amount of time to fit in a 3 mile run. I decided to run in my old stomping grounds and just enjoyed every bit of it. I purposefully planned the route so the longest hill in the history of time would be towards the end of the 3 miles, because hills are good for you. Ended up with exactly 3 miles in 33:41, 11:12 average. I'm liking these 3 milers. I'm really liking 5k training. It might become my jam, y'all. 

WILFTB

I sort of dropped the ball on this one because I decided to have a heart shaped pizza and half a bottle of pinot noir and was a bit distracted by that amazing combination and forgot to take notes at first. But here's what I learned this week: 

*Bimini is an island in the Bahamas. It's much nicer than St. Thomas in the fall. 

*Yachting is a popular date. Jumping off of one is a popular date activity. 

*To get my boyfriends attention, I should strip down to my bikini in front of him and his two other girlfriends and then pose as if to say "Tah-dahhhhh!"

*Get the inner thigh because you don't want that sunburnt. 

*Sharks have 3 rows of teeth.

*If two of my boyfriends girlfriends get eaten by sharks, then I'm sure to get the group date rose.

*This season in particular makes me want to drink more champagne.

*I eat a lot of cheese when I'm nervous.

*If my boyfriend says I'm fun with have fun with, he's totally not into me. 

*Time flies when you are having rum .... or in my experience a heart shaped pizza, Pinot noir and dark chocolate covered pecans

 Ack! I almost forgot the tweet of the week: 

That Time She Forgot Her Sports Bra

After last week's poor showing of getting actual runs in (two of four, seriously?), she entered this week with a renewed determination and started Monday off just as planned. 

With a rest day. 

Tuesday she found herself waking up at 3:45, then 4:45 and she just knew she would have gotten up right then and there, but stayed under the warm covers until the alarm began singing to her at 5:30. And then she shushed it for 9 minutes. 

At 5:39, she dragged herself out of bed, and crept downstairs, careful to not wake Jeff the dog, who somehow was still snoozing in the guest room across the hall and turned on The Daily Burn. TBT this week was a 20 minute challenge of three exercises and 15 total reps every minute, on the minute. Yikes. Heaving and hawing after 5 rounds, and pressed for time, she cut the workout short by 5 minutes, knowing there was an evening run in store for her anyway. At least her legs were not sore like they were after that first workout. 

Gym bag packed, and ready for a change of scenery for her run (perhaps she'd run on a trail near work), our heroine was annoyed with herself at the end of the day when she found her gym bag had everything .... except running shoes. After a sigh, she headed home instead, took Sir Jeff for his evening walk, then bundled up and headed out for the Tuesday 3 in the neighborhood. It was chilly and the legs were feeling good, so instead of a threasy, she went for a moderate-effort tempo. Perhaps this would be half marathon pace one day. Not really paying attention to pace, the effort felt good but not hard. In the end, a nearly perfect 3 miles (3.01) in 33:56, an 11:16 pace. Faster than long run pace, yay! 

Wednesday had intended to be an afternoon TBT day, but by mid-afternoon, our heroine was feeling run down and exhausted. Was she finally coming down with whatever was going around the office?!?!?! She wisely chose to rest and relax and enjoy a few episodes of The Americans, which she joyously found she could watch with her Amazon Prime membership.

Thursday morning was a sleep in day, and the gym bag again was packed, ready for a treadmill run at the gym after work. Again, run plans were thwarted when she realized she had forgotten her @#$@#$%@  sports bra. UGH, for a moment she considered going home and just going for a run outside. But it was 4 miles today and it would be too dark to be running that far alone. So an alternative plan was conceived. Elliptical! Surely an elliptical would not result in so much bouncing that an underwire couldn't handle it. 

Well .... the underwire could barely handle it and our heroine learned how much core work it takes to keep from bouncing so much (an ironic lesson?) and also how much the elliptical once again drives her bonkers. Still, she managed to hold onto her sanity for 4 miles in 45 minutes, consistent with running pace.

Also, she is probably getting rid of that underwire, because man, it was so obvious how little it did. 

Until next time ....

Same run time, same run blog.