This Week's Long Run

Coach Christine Wanted:  13 miles with middle 6 miles at Race Pace
I Delivered: 13 miles with middle 6 pretty darn close to Race Pace (woohoo!)

Trying out my possible race day outfit! Boston Wicked Strong!

This week has been absolutely crazy-we got a call on Monday at 4 pm asking us if we could move on Tuesday morning at 8. Um, yes? We had known that we would have to move to a new house in Brasilia but we had thought it wouldn't be for a couple more weeks. So we did what we could to get ready and then just spent the day apologizing to the movers for all the chaos and mess. They packed us up in one day and moved us 2 miles down the road the next day. By Wednesday night we were sleeping amongst the boxes in our new house!

Luckily I was able to stick to my running schedule and got my hill workout done on Wednesday and did my 4 miler from our new place on Friday. It's definitely strange to be running on the same roads but starting and ending at a different place. The best part is that we moved down my beloved hill so I don't have to end every run trudging up it! Yeah! 

For my long run on Saturday I was supposed to attempt a race pace workout again. I was a little nervous after my spectacular flameout last time but I tried to use my positive mental powers and convince myself that I could do it. Coach Christine wanted me to do 6 miles at race pace in the middle of a 13 mile run and I knew that I had to work on controlling my pace in the first part so that I didn't tire myself out. I started out slow and hit the 3 mile mark as I was going up the hill after the JK Bridge.

For the next 6 miles, I really really tried to stay on the pace. I pushed myself, I yelled at myself, I tried not to give up. And I almost did it! I needed to be around 8:16 and I only had one mile at that pace but all the miles were around 8:30 so that's not too horrible. It was a good boost, I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of this! Then I still had to run 4 miles home and I almost vomited at one point but other than that it was just a slow trudge back home. Of course my body got all excited when I got near my old hill and thought we were all done. Nope, 2 more miles to go! I think it will take a while to get oriented to my new house. 

Me in our new living room, it's huge!

This week it's back on, crouton! I have a 10 mile run tomorrow, 9x800 on Wednesday and then duh duh 22 MILES on Saturday for a grand total of a 50 mile week! Lord help me! I'm having some minor left leg pain that I'm hoping will go away soon but I'm just going to try to stay off my feet when I'm not running, drink lots of water, take lots of Advil, and eat lots of jelly beans. Hopefully I'll emerge from this week stronger and not beat down. 

She's 5!

Happy Birthday Eleanor!

Giving our new hammock a try!

This Week's Really Long Run

Coach Christine Wanted: 18 miles with 10 minutes of Strong Finish
I Delivered: 18 miles with 10 minutes of Strong Finish!!!! YES!!!

A little blurry due to lack of upper arm strength

This week's long run was really loooooong and I was hoping to recover from last week's debacle and actually do the workout correctly. Coach Christine told me that I've been doing my long runs too fast and that I should start out much slower and try to not spazz out but keep the pace slow and controlled. Then I'd have more energy at the end for whatever crazy plans she has for me. This week was easier, I just had to do 10 minutes of fast finish at the very end of the 18 miles. 

I tried to pick a more flat course to run this time because I know the marathon course is pretty flat except for one hill at mile 18 or something horrible like that. I started out too fast as usual and it was definitely a struggle for me to keep my pace slow but I tried to be conscious of it and really work at it. I did a four mile loop and then headed out on the main road for the rest of the run. There were a lot of bikers out but I didn't see any runners until I was on my way back, they must have been sleeping in. 

Compression socks + compression shorts=that's tight!

The best part of the run was that I finally took advantage of the water fountains that are at every gas station. When I run on the main road, there are gas stations about every 1.5 miles and I had noticed other runners and bikers filling their water bottles there but had never done it myself. Instead I lugged 2 bottles of water which is a giant pain or I hid a bottle but then I could never remember which bush it was under when I came back to get it. So this time when I saw a gas station after about 12 miles, I filled up my water bottle and headed on my way. When I took a drink I was so happy to taste cold water! It was so refreshing and gave me a little boost right when I needed it!

Then I just focused on keeping my pace slow and steady and heading towards my fast finish which I planned to start at 16.9 miles. I got a good song going, turned it up and picked up my feet! And this week they listened to me! I was cruising along at a good pace and then boo! I hit an intersection and couldn't go around it, I had to stop. Yuck. But I started up again and got back up to my race pace and just pumped my arms and chugged along. I felt tired but strong and I DID IT!! I ran the last mile in 8:07 which is faster than race pace! Woohoo! 

Just as I finished and was turning off my Garmin, I looked up and saw our car pulled over on the side of the road and Eleanor hanging out with a water bottle for me! Matt and the kids had come to cheer me on and give me oranges and ice water. Wow-oranges never tasted so good! I was supposed to do a cooldown run up the hill but I took a ride instead. Especially because they were willing to let me get in the car in my super sweaty stinky state. That's love!

Eleanor looking for tips for me from Ironman Champion Chrissie Wellington's book

All in all it was a much better run than last week. The crazies never really came and I just pounded out the miles without feeling like I was dead tired. I'm beginning to be convinced that Coach Christine is on to something with this start slow finish fast idea, I'd rather have more energy at the end when I'm going to need to really pick up the pace than at the beginning. The vision of the finish line clock with 3:35 on it is getting stronger and stronger in my mind. BQ! BQ! BQ!

Back at home with the kids

This week is a recovery week so the runs aren't as long which is nice. My body needs a break before we gear up again the week after this. I'm keeping my eyes on the prize...

This Week's Long Run (was an epic fail)

Coach Christine Wanted: 17 miles with the last 7 at Marathon Race Pace
I Delivered: 17 miles with no miles at Marathon Race Pace

My pre-run portrait

Yesterday I set out for a more unusual long run. I was supposed to run the first 10 miles of my 17 miler at my usual slow long run pace and then pick up the pace for last 7 miles. I had never done a workout like that before but I kept telling myself that it would be ok, it was shorter than last week, I could do it. WRONG!

I decided to do a big loop that would take me across one bridge, then along the lake, then back across the JK Bridge and back to my house. I wasn't sure exactly how long it would be but I hoped I would only have to add a little at the end. I like running a loop so that the scenery is always changing and I don't go by anything twice. But after I crossed the first bridge I had to run through fields with really uneven footing and I was terrified that I was going to twist an ankle or step in a giant hole. I don't like that feeling, I much prefer pounding on the sidewalks which are at least flat and predictable.

Not even my new Boston Strong headband could help me

I hit 10 miles as I was heading down to the JK Bridge, ate a gel, and tried to slowly pick up the pace. Coach Christine had warned me not to start sprinting or doing anything crazy in that first mile but to gradually work up to race pace. So I wasn't too worried when the split for the first mile was 8:31 which is about 15 seconds slower than race pace. But then I started to feel like my legs weren't responding to the urgent messages from my brain telling them to run faster. The next mile was 8:33 and the one after that the same and I knew I was in deep trouble. I could not shift into a faster gear, I felt tired and sluggish and felt like I couldn't run any faster. It was very frustrating and I couldn't figure out how to get moving. I needed a bear to chase me or something at that point, it was that bad.

Then I slowed down even more and by mile 16 I think I just gave up. The splits for the last two miles were over 9 minutes and that's really not good. It's so far off from race pace, it makes me a feel like I'm delusional for thinking I can actually run that pace for 26 miles. This was only for 7 miles and I couldn't do it.

I finished in the middle of my hill and felt a mix of emotions. On the one hand I was proud of myself that I  had run 17 miles which is a huge accomplishment. Yeah! But on the other hand I didn't do what my coach had asked. Boo! And I didn't show that I could run at race pace on tired legs. Boo!

I sent a slightly panicked message to Coach Christine telling her what had happened and asking for her help. She is running a marathon herself today so she just wrote back a quick message telling me not to freak out and promising that she would help me figure it all out this week. As I said before, this was the first time I had ever done a workout like this in my whole long distance running career so maybe it was just unexpected for my body? It's strange to me that I can maintain race pace if I start at it but it's hard for me to shift into that gear if I'm running slowly at first. The idea behind the exercise is supposed to be to get me ready to kick into high gear during the second half of the marathon when my legs will be very tired and I may well have to really pick up the pace in order to meet my BQ time goal. I'm hoping Coach Christine will have some tips for me and I'll be able to work through this and do it more successfully next time. All is not lost!

I forgot to take a picture right after my run, this is post-shower

I'm taking today off, enjoying some Mother's Day love, and eating lots of yummy food. Happy Mother's Day to my mom who was my first running role model and all the moms out there!

This Week's Long Run + A New Coach!

Coach Christine Wanted: 11 miles with 9 at Race Pace
I Delivered: 11 miles with most of 9 faster than Race Pace!

Rockin' my new visor!

I've been thinking a lot about my goal to run a Boston Qualifier at Rio and how important it is to me to achieve this goal. While I like the plan that Coach BB made for me, I've been feeling nervous about following it on my own and not having a coach to give me feedback on workouts and make changes to the plan if necessary. Last week I was listening to a Another Mother Runner podcast and they were discussing training for a marathon and one of their tips was to hire a coach to help you with your training. Then they mentioned Christine Hinton who wrote all training plans for their book Train Like A Mother. So I contacted her and explained my situation and she agreed to help me. She took a look at my training plan and made some adjustments to it, including moving the longer pace runs which I had been doing on Fridays into the long runs on Saturdays. Obviously she's not here so I can't do workouts with her but we'll talk by phone and email and she will hopefully help boost my confidence and keep me on track for achieving my BQ goal. 

So Coach Christine's instructions for this week's long run were to run 11 miles with one mile as a warmup, then 9 miles at race pace, then one mile as a cool down. On Friday I started getting really nervous for my Saturday run and I was feeling like I wouldn't be able to hit the pace for 9 miles and that would show Coach Christine that I couldn't really run a 3:35 marathon. Just the usual noise that goes on in my head before any hard workout or race. But this time I really tried to push those negative thoughts out of my head and remind myself that I COULD hit the pace and I COULD show her what I am capable of. 

Needless to say I had a lot of nervous energy when I started the run but I really tried to start slow and use that first mile as a warmup. Then the real workout started and I pushed it! I really felt like I was going much faster than my usual stompfest. The first mile of the nine came in right on pace at 8:15 and then they just kept getting faster: 8:10, 8:06. Then I spotted a guy up ahead and picked it up even more to try and catch up to him. I passed him right before I got on the JK Bridge and then I heard him behind me and that motivated me to run even faster: 7:59. I turned around and headed back and managed to keep the pace around 8:00 minute miles for the rest of the run. Woohoo! I loved having the last mile as a cooldown because it meant I could go slowly up my beloved hill.

I was so happy when I was done! I had pushed myself, I had run fast and it was hard but not impossible! It was such a boost for me and gave me a lot of confidence that my training so far has been working. Then I had the nice problem of having to tell Coach Christine that I had actually done the 9 miles faster than race pace. If the point of the workout was for me to feel what 9 miles at race pace feels like, I didn't achieve that because I ran too fast. But she wasn't mad, she was happy with how well it had gone and she said that it's hard for most people to figure out their pace, it just takes practice. Whew! 

So I'm feeling like this was a really good decision for me to start working with Coach Christine and I'm hoping that with her help I'll get my BQ! Eight 800s on Wednesday-fun times!!!

Eleanor's post-run portrait of me