Monday, April 13, 2015

Race week fun!

Marathon Training Week 10 Recap

Well, I'm officially over half way through my training plan. It really is hard to believe that in less than 10 weeks I will be running a marathon! When I started, I 'm not sure I realistically believed that I would even make this far into training before I gave up...then when I was a quarter of the way through and I almost DID give up, I didn't know that I would ever feel strong again. Well, this was a good week all around for making me feel like I made the right decision by not throwing in the towel!

Monday was the last day my in laws were in town and we had a very exciting activity on the agenda, lunch with Kayley at school! I'm not sure how many of you have attended an elementary school lunch hour as an adult, but I'm telling you, it's not for the faint of heart. Anyway, because of this outing, I got to the Y early to get my workout in, so no yoga this week for me. I decided I needed to give my biking legs some attention, so I pounded out 10 miles on the stationary bike (while watching Kimmy Schmidt of course, if you've been watching, the "fight" between Logan and Dong at Kimmy's birthday party had me cracking up to the point I had to slow down to breathe!) I was pretty happy to have done 10 miles in a little over 24 minutes, maybe the odometer on the bike was off, but I felt really strong to have held such a quick speed. After the bike I did a little ab work and finished off with some yoga-like stretching. I say "yoga-like" since I am not super good at remembering any of the postures from class, so I just do a lot of down dogs and child's pose and other general stuff that feels like I am stretching in some sort of way.

Tuesday was supposed to be a run day, but I had an appointment with my Physical Therapist that day to talk about my ankle, knee and hamstrings issues. I wasn't sure what she was going to have me do, so I didn't want to run before the meeting. After telling her what has been going on she had me do a bunch of different strength tests and as it turns out, I'm a lazy ass! Okay, not technically,  but I do have weak Gluteus Medius muscles on both sides of my butt, more predominantly on my right side. Because of this my other muscles have been overcompensating and are now causing me pain. I have lots of new exercises to incorporate into my daily routine to start the strengthening process. I see her again next week for a gait analysis. She was pretty happy with the changes I made to my training plan to help avoid injury, so YAY for additional confirmation that I'm on the right track. I supposed I could have run after my appointment that day, but I was too excited to get home and get Kayley to her first night of swim team practice. Man, that little girl inspires me big time. I'm so glad to be able to continue to set a good example for her and Logan to follow when it comes to exercising and sticking with it!

Wednesday was awesome! Why you ask? Because after almost three long months I finally got to run with my BRF again! We have both been so busy that it has been impossible to do more than text or chat over email, so I couldn't wait to get outside with her again.  We started out easy, like we had never missed a day running together, heading down our familiar path on East River Parkway. Then, in true Brandi fashion, she suggested we detour through some neighborhoods. This is one of my favorite things about running with her, she is always up for a new route and exploring new places.....something I don't always have the confidence for on my own. We headed back towards our offices, and for the first time in a long time, I had no idea how many miles I had run. I was just so happy to be running with her again and having the time fly like it was nothing. She asked if I wanted to keep going, but I was good. Never underestimate the power of a running buddy!

Thursday I was going to hit the treadmill since it was a little windy and cool, but the lure of the campus trails is strong and I decided to brave it and bundle up for an outside run. My plan called for 4 miles, but I felt like I just wanted to run until I didn't want to run anymore. I ended up with 5 and a half, and ran the fastest pace I've done for a long time, holding each mile under 10 minutes. Now, I won't lie and tell you I didn't really care about my pace...I was ecstatic that I had run that fast. It was really energizing to feel like my legs could sustain that speed again without feeling like they were going to give out. I am being realistic though and understand that this doesn't mean I'm going to go out and run a 4:30 marathon now, but I was so glad I decided to get out on the trails today and to push myself just a little bit.

Friday was swim day...and I had a really great workout planned....which will have to wait until next week. I just got super busy at work and didn't manage to get away for a lunch time swim like I wanted. When I got home, the kids wanted to come to the Y with me, so I obliged. Logan recently passed his "blue wristband" test, which means he can go into the shallow pool without me in the water now. I made a deal with them that if they played in the shallow pool while I did my laps that we could stop and get a pizza on the way home. They of course agreed (pizza is a STRONG motivator in our house) and I managed to get 1800 yards done. I didn't really do any sets, I just kind of swam and rested, swam and rested. It was nice not to worry about intervals, and it felt good to get some longer yardage in. After that, the three of us played in the pool for another half hour and then went home and scarfed down some well-earned pizza!

I was so excited for Saturday to get here....my first race of the season, Goldy's Run! For those who know me, you know of my deep adoration for Goldy Gopher and all things University of Minnesota, so a run around campus, hosted by the best college mascot in the country, and I am totally there! Last year the Goldy's Run marked my first ever running race. I did the 5K and I remember dropping my bag and starting to line up for the corrals and seeing all the 10-mile bibs. I thought to myself "Wow, 10-miles, I will never run that far!" What a difference a year makes. Here I was, getting ready to start the second 10-mile race of my running career, and thinking, "okay, 10-miles, piece of cake!" The morning was cool, about 38-degrees at start time. I really wanted to wear my shirt from last year's run along with my Minnesota Swimming shorts and my Goldy socks. I opted to put a long sleeve shirt under my t-shirt and to wear a beanie instead of a head band.


I have learned that this is called "Flat Linda" and that I am supposed to post a picture of my outfit the night before a race so folks know how to find me!

I was perfectly layered for the time being! I dropped my bag and checked in with Brandi, she is teaching a running class and her students were all competing in the 5K race that day. She introduced me to them and gave them my quick running history, I gave them some pearls of wisdom (okay, I really just told them all to have fun and hit the porta-potty line early), and then I headed out to try to connect with some women from the Moms Run This Town Facebook group I've been a part of for a few weeks. It was nearly impossible to try to find anyone in the crowd, let alone people I've never met in person before, so I gave up and decided just to head to the start corral. I was one of the first ones there, so I had an urge to get right up at the start line, but I quickly suppressed it, reminding myself that I was going to start the race with the 10:30/mile pace group. None of the pacers were at the start area yet, so I just started walking to the back of the corral. Slowly the pacers started making their way in, and I quickly connected with Hannah, the 10:30 pace sign holder. I told her that my plan was to stick with her for the first half and then hopefully finish just ahead of her. She asked if I was training for something and when I told her I was going to run Grandma's she said "I love that race, I do it every year!" When I told her it would be my first marathon, she told me it was her first too, and how now she feels like such a veteran when she's there. Now mind, you, she couldn't have been a day over 21, but it was fun to talk to her and pick up her sense of enthusiasm for the race. I then started talking to another woman named Gemma who said she was doing her first marathon this year too. She is doing the Twin Cities marathon and commended me on picking a marathon I had to train during winter for. After a little more chit chat, we heard the national anthem start and we were off!

The first few miles went off like most races, slow and stuttering since the crowd is so, well, crowded. Gemma and I made easy conversation with Hannah and some of the others in the 10:30 group and after about two miles the crowd started to thin a bit. It was also really starting to warm up and by mile three I was regretting my long sleeves and beanie choices. But, I wasn't in a position to chuck either of them, so I pushed up my sleeves, and turned up the ear flaps on the beanie and soldiered on. By about mile four, Gemma, who was wearing a Garmin, commented that our pace group was a little on the fast side, clocking in at about a 10:10 per mile pace. But, we both concurred that we felt pretty good and just kept on with them. I ate some gel right before mile five since I could see a water stop ahead. I didn't really feel like I needed it, but figured it was better to take it before I started to bonk. We hit the half way mark and noticed a bunch of buses and a large group of runners standing around. I had totally forgot that there was a 10-mile relay option. This was actually pretty awesome because there were so many runners and volunteers cheering for us, it really started the second half of the race out on a fun note. Now, we had encountered several hills, both big and small up until this point, but I'm telling you the next few hills seemed like small torture. I was so glad to be running with Gemma though, we both encouraged each other just when we needed it, and before we knew it, we passed the seven mile marker and were headed back to the stadium with just a 5K to go!

We hit another water station at about the seven and a half mile marker and walked quickly thorough it. I was really sweating with my long sleeves and knee high socks, so the water and Powerade were a godsend! We climbed one last massive hill right before mile nine, and at that point, I knew we were home free. The stadium was a nice, flat, crowd-lined mile away. As we approached the stadium I told Gemma that if she needed to pull away and get to the finish line, to go for it, but she said "no way, I'm sticking with you, you have really pushed me today". That was awesome to hear, as I felt the same way. We crossed University Avenue and headed into the stadium grounds, one lap around the outside, then through the tunnel to the finish on the 50-yard line. I was surprised how much of a jolt I felt when I got inside the tunnel and picked up my speed in the finish shoot. I heard "Go Linda" on my right and looked over to see Terry and Ryan, two of the Gopher swim coaches (they had run the 5K) cheering me on. It was a great way to finish such a fun race. After we got our medals, Gemma and I shared a high five and parted ways. She is running the Monster Dash half marathon in October too, so we planned to try to meet up with the 10:30 pace group there and recount our respective marathon stories to each other. Not sure if this will happen, but I hope it does. I finished with an official time of 1:41.50, three minutes ahead of Hannah and the 10:30 pace group. I negative split the race and felt really strong the whole way. After that, I met Bill and the kids who were finishing up breakfast at Applebee's and we all headed over for the Goldy's Gallup. Kayley jetted off to line up with the other 6-7 year olds, while Logan and I stood next to the "4 year olds" sign. Bill headed to the finish line to meet us there. I didn't get to see Kayley race, but Bill said she was a rocket. Last year, Logan made me carry him the entire way, until I practically forced him to walk across the finish line. This year, he said he wanted to run, so with his hand in mine the whole way, we ran the half mile around the stadium and down the finish shoot to the 50-yard line. He was smiling the whole way, and so was I. What a great day!



Happy post-race runners! Check out my enormous medal!

1 comment:

  1. Congrats on your race!! Sounds like a great venue too.

    ReplyDelete