Or, you could call this post Simple Pleasures.
I eeked out out a new PR (maybe 10 seconds) along with a top 50 woman placement with complementary cheesy plastic beer stein award and free beer. TOTALLY AWESOME.
Like most of my PRs, the race was unplanned. Relaxed. Had a really hard spin class in the morning so I didn't expect much from the run this evening. I prefer to race/train mornings before life gets in the way. But fortunately my wonderful brother and his beautiful bride suggested we run this 5K after Thanksgiving. It was at night but the Oldsmar Taphouse sponsored the race so there would be good beer. Well....free beer, I'm in.
Nothing too big pre race. I ate a big breakfast and had a decent lunch at 2pm. No wheat, mostly chili and fish dip. No plans to PR, just wanted to enjoy the evening with my peeps. Most of my friends needed a little run savvy. We spent some time putting the bibs on the front of the shirt. I also tried to convince them to move back in the crowd because we were close to the front and these would be the fast kids.
But they didn't move. So when the air gun sounded, I did.
The crowd started at 8 minute miles. Even without a warm up it felt normal, strong. And so I decided to hang on for dear life. There were a few disappointed men who wheezed as I cruised by. A few middle school boys who thought they could hang on. And definitely a lot of women who thought it would be fun to play cat and mouse. But in the end, I could surge the pace and hold it. They dropped back.
It was hard. Too hard. But rather than focus on the pain, I used my normal strategy which is to focus on the next 30 seconds with an eye on the next mile. No more, no less. Just hold on.
And beyond my wildest dreams, the beer stein was mine. They don't do age group awards. The top 50 women overall receive the world's cheeziest plastic beer stein. That means I was a Top 50 overall woman finisher!!! Sure, it wasn't the most competitive 5K in the world but remember that my first half marathon all those years ago was in the 3:20-3:30 range. Events like today were beyond my wildest dreams. Please remember that the next time you meet a slower runner. Please remember that I walked those miles in her moccasins. Which is what made today's race such a simple pleasure.
P.S. I love it when a "plan" comes together. It drives me CRAZY when people want a blow by blow list for my PR races. First off, PRs are like Scarlett O'Hara. Finicky on a good day. The best plan in the world goes to hell. Better to go in well trained for a bunch of races and see which day falls your way. The plan is not the race day script but rather the months of training before race day. Onward to Gasparilla.
--------------------
Other stuff to remember
Ultra flat course, even for Florida
Garmin said the course was accurate (within the error of the GPS)
Did not look at Garmin after the first mile. Didn't plan on a PR, the goal was to get back some of my mental toughness: focus on pushing the pace hard without saying "I can't!" and walking.
Evening race
Cool temps, ~51F, little wind
Wore shorts and a short sleeved shirt with IMFL hat
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
RR: Women's Half Marathon
Even St. Petersburg had enjoyed morning lows in the 60s and low humidity the last few weeks. But not on race day. 70F with about 90% humidity. Definitely not PR weather.
This was the first year for this event. Very well run overall. My suggestions for next year:
- create real corrals before the start. The small self-seeding pace signs were woefully inadequate. You had 4000 runners but just a few pace signs that stopped at 10 minute miles. Everyone else was a walker. Um, plenty of people run slower than 10 minute miles. Forcing someone who runs a 2:20 half marathon to line up with walkers caused a lot of problems on the course.
- add more water stops, make them longer and give us more water. It's OK to have water stops every 2 miles but expect that all 4000 of us will be stopping for water. And we will want more than one cup with 3 oz of water in it. Especially on a warm day. For $100 entry fee, I expect reasonably easy access to a full glass of water. Instead, I usually had to stop and go back to get water.
My race plan had been to start at 10:20 miles, drop down to 9:50s for 2-4, then see if I could go a little lower for 5-10. At mile 10, run the last 5K as fast as possible.
The first 3 miles were tough because there wasn't an organized seeding system at the starting line. The course was very very crowded. 5-6 people next to each other, completely blocking the lane. It's not about speed, it's about race courtesy. Stay to the right unless passing, move off the course to tie shoes and never stop in the center of the lane to stretch out your legs. So, instead of settling into a pace, the first 3 miles were spent playing dodgeball with the less experienced runners. Nothing tragic but it took a lot more effort than I had planned.
The Garmin 305 came in handy. With all the stops and starts I simply tried to keep my pace between 9:30 and 9:50 when I wasn't dodging people. No matter how hard I ran (average HR for the race was 177), the mile splits always told me that my pace was over 10 minute miles. Very frustrating but it was a warm day and I simply had to be tough and run as hard as I could. That gets tougher and tougher as the day goes on. I ran with out an ipod and without company so it's pretty lonely when the pace starts to hurt. Around mile 10 I really wanted to walk. And slow down. And get some water. Running through the Tampa Bay Rays stadium was very fun and the air conditioning gave me a mental reset. My PR was on the line. I could
A - take the "just walk a little bit" crack and come up with a million reasons why I didn't PR (it's hot, my right hip tightened up, not enough water) OR
B - I could suck it up and run as hard as possible.
I chose B. Which hurt. About half way to the finish line my right calf started to cramp but I wasn't having it. We crested the tiny tiny hill and I took off. Managed to see one set of friends along the finishers chute but there wasn't a lot of air to spare. My reward was 2:13:39 on a course that was 13.48 miles according to my Garmin Forerunner 305. Finished in the top 30% of my age group so I'm very happy with that.
Definitely a good race. A little more experience and cooler temps will help. Next big race: Gasparilla Half Marathon in February
Other things to note for posterity:
NO GI DISTRESS DURING THE RACE
- yes, read it again. I did not visit one blue box during the race.
Never had the urge.
- had to visit the bathroom a few times before the race but nothing during the race. I'm very happy. I ate taco salad for lunch, dinner at a Mexican place (ate only corn tortillas with beef and bean filling).
Race nutrition
- breakfast: egg casserole (eggs, veggies, and cheese only, ~100 calories), coffee with cream
- during the race: half of a caffeinated hammergel every 2 miles.
- 6 oz of water at every water stop (also 2 miles apart),
- only 3 Lava Salts before the race.
Cramping
- should have brought a few extra lava salts, took 3 before the race but obviously I needed more on a warmer day like that.
Achilles Tendon
- no problems during the race but it was sore afterward
- right hip flexors were sore starting around mile 10, they feel fine today
- my friend Lisa is a sports therapist and was in town for the race.
She says tight hamstrings and calves are the source of the achilles problems.
My last half marathon PR was set at the Florida Half Marathon in
December of 2007 not long after Ironman Florida. That was 2:15:02.
This was the first year for this event. Very well run overall. My suggestions for next year:
- create real corrals before the start. The small self-seeding pace signs were woefully inadequate. You had 4000 runners but just a few pace signs that stopped at 10 minute miles. Everyone else was a walker. Um, plenty of people run slower than 10 minute miles. Forcing someone who runs a 2:20 half marathon to line up with walkers caused a lot of problems on the course.
- add more water stops, make them longer and give us more water. It's OK to have water stops every 2 miles but expect that all 4000 of us will be stopping for water. And we will want more than one cup with 3 oz of water in it. Especially on a warm day. For $100 entry fee, I expect reasonably easy access to a full glass of water. Instead, I usually had to stop and go back to get water.
My race plan had been to start at 10:20 miles, drop down to 9:50s for 2-4, then see if I could go a little lower for 5-10. At mile 10, run the last 5K as fast as possible.
The first 3 miles were tough because there wasn't an organized seeding system at the starting line. The course was very very crowded. 5-6 people next to each other, completely blocking the lane. It's not about speed, it's about race courtesy. Stay to the right unless passing, move off the course to tie shoes and never stop in the center of the lane to stretch out your legs. So, instead of settling into a pace, the first 3 miles were spent playing dodgeball with the less experienced runners. Nothing tragic but it took a lot more effort than I had planned.
The Garmin 305 came in handy. With all the stops and starts I simply tried to keep my pace between 9:30 and 9:50 when I wasn't dodging people. No matter how hard I ran (average HR for the race was 177), the mile splits always told me that my pace was over 10 minute miles. Very frustrating but it was a warm day and I simply had to be tough and run as hard as I could. That gets tougher and tougher as the day goes on. I ran with out an ipod and without company so it's pretty lonely when the pace starts to hurt. Around mile 10 I really wanted to walk. And slow down. And get some water. Running through the Tampa Bay Rays stadium was very fun and the air conditioning gave me a mental reset. My PR was on the line. I could
A - take the "just walk a little bit" crack and come up with a million reasons why I didn't PR (it's hot, my right hip tightened up, not enough water) OR
B - I could suck it up and run as hard as possible.
I chose B. Which hurt. About half way to the finish line my right calf started to cramp but I wasn't having it. We crested the tiny tiny hill and I took off. Managed to see one set of friends along the finishers chute but there wasn't a lot of air to spare. My reward was 2:13:39 on a course that was 13.48 miles according to my Garmin Forerunner 305. Finished in the top 30% of my age group so I'm very happy with that.
Definitely a good race. A little more experience and cooler temps will help. Next big race: Gasparilla Half Marathon in February
Other things to note for posterity:
NO GI DISTRESS DURING THE RACE
- yes, read it again. I did not visit one blue box during the race.
Never had the urge.
- had to visit the bathroom a few times before the race but nothing during the race. I'm very happy. I ate taco salad for lunch, dinner at a Mexican place (ate only corn tortillas with beef and bean filling).
Race nutrition
- breakfast: egg casserole (eggs, veggies, and cheese only, ~100 calories), coffee with cream
- during the race: half of a caffeinated hammergel every 2 miles.
- 6 oz of water at every water stop (also 2 miles apart),
- only 3 Lava Salts before the race.
Cramping
- should have brought a few extra lava salts, took 3 before the race but obviously I needed more on a warmer day like that.
Achilles Tendon
- no problems during the race but it was sore afterward
- right hip flexors were sore starting around mile 10, they feel fine today
- my friend Lisa is a sports therapist and was in town for the race.
She says tight hamstrings and calves are the source of the achilles problems.
My last half marathon PR was set at the Florida Half Marathon in
December of 2007 not long after Ironman Florida. That was 2:15:02.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Beach to Battleship Posterity Post: Nutrition
This is a self serving blog entry. Even though my achilles tendon did not allow me to finish Beach to Battleship 140.6, the rest of the race was very successful. So I want to record what I did, what I ate, etc, so that I know what worked when I return to ironman racing, probably in 2011 or 2012. For posterity, I weighed 140-142 on race day (didn't bring a scale to know the exact number).
Pre-race food
Thursday: Did not worry about what I ate. We were driving most of the day.
Breakfast: Eggo waffles for breakfast
Lunch: Burger King (Whopper Jr value meal, cheapest they offered)
Dinner: Hot chicken wings and beer
Friday (day before the race):
Breakfast: Plain bagel with cheddar cheese, coffee with cream
Lunch: Cheddar cheese soup, mixed greens salad, and a glass of locally brewed beer
Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan and wine
Yes, I ate out for both lunch and dinner. Did not want to do this but there was no way around it given that we were stuck in a small hotel room with no microwave or fridge. However, I made every attempt to avoid wheat. I was stuck eating a bagel for breakfast but otherwise avoided bread with lunch or dinner. The garlic bread with dinner smelled SO GOOD. However, I've learned that wheat will haunt me during a big workout so I stood my ground. As for hydration, I made no attempt to hydrate or take extra electrolytes. Just drank my normal amount of water/coffee/wine during the day.
Saturday (race morning):
Breakfast: One package of instant maple&brown sugar oatmeal, one boiled egg, 24 oz of coffee with half-n-half
16 oz of water on the bus to the starting line
Race Nutrition
Swim: Nothing, forgot to bring a hammergel along, oh well.
Bike: Nothing for the first 20 minutes to let my stomach settle. I do this for all my 70.3 and 140.6 races.
Started taking in food and electrolytes at 30 minutes
Hours 1-4:
5 Lava Salt capsules each hour (3 at the top and 2 at bottom of the hour)
Drink fluids every 10 minutes, alternate a big swig of Linae's Own Sports Drink+2 swigs water with 3-4 swigs of water. When I drank only water, I took a bite of homemade Flour Free Oatmeal Cookies. This worked out to ~200 calories per hour between the the sports drink and oatmeal cookies.
Hours 5-7:
Drink 3-4 sips of water every 10 minutes. Slurp1/3 of a hammergel with 25mg caffeine. Tropical flavor. Again, about 200 calories per hour but no solid food to get my stomach ready to run.
Run: 3 sips of water and 3 sips of coke at each aid station (about 1 mile apart). Walked the water stops. I had planned on taking hammergel but they didn't have the flavor I wanted so I used the coke instead. My pace was about 11-11.5 minutes per mile. Worked great. Again 5 Lava Salt capsules each hour.
Analysis:
My nutrition plan earns a B+. Switching to a sports drink without protein has eliminated 85% of my GI distress. No gassiness or nausea on the bike like I had at IMFL in 2007. I did have some stomach cramps on the run but it turned out to be just gas, not diarrhea, so I was able to run through it. Plenty of energy on both the bike and the run. No problems with finger swelling or cramps so I believe my electrolyte replacement was well balanced for race day conditions.
Recipes:
Linae's Own Sports Drink
Mix in a 24 oz bottle with water:
4 scoops of CarboPro
1 tsp of unsugared Kool-Aid mix, lemonade flavor
1 tsp of sugar
Flour-Free Oatmeal Cookies (recipe found on Cooks.com)
Pre-race food
Thursday: Did not worry about what I ate. We were driving most of the day.
Breakfast: Eggo waffles for breakfast
Lunch: Burger King (Whopper Jr value meal, cheapest they offered)
Dinner: Hot chicken wings and beer
Friday (day before the race):
Breakfast: Plain bagel with cheddar cheese, coffee with cream
Lunch: Cheddar cheese soup, mixed greens salad, and a glass of locally brewed beer
Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan and wine
Yes, I ate out for both lunch and dinner. Did not want to do this but there was no way around it given that we were stuck in a small hotel room with no microwave or fridge. However, I made every attempt to avoid wheat. I was stuck eating a bagel for breakfast but otherwise avoided bread with lunch or dinner. The garlic bread with dinner smelled SO GOOD. However, I've learned that wheat will haunt me during a big workout so I stood my ground. As for hydration, I made no attempt to hydrate or take extra electrolytes. Just drank my normal amount of water/coffee/wine during the day.
Saturday (race morning):
Breakfast: One package of instant maple&brown sugar oatmeal, one boiled egg, 24 oz of coffee with half-n-half
16 oz of water on the bus to the starting line
Race Nutrition
Swim: Nothing, forgot to bring a hammergel along, oh well.
Bike: Nothing for the first 20 minutes to let my stomach settle. I do this for all my 70.3 and 140.6 races.
Started taking in food and electrolytes at 30 minutes
Hours 1-4:
5 Lava Salt capsules each hour (3 at the top and 2 at bottom of the hour)
Drink fluids every 10 minutes, alternate a big swig of Linae's Own Sports Drink+2 swigs water with 3-4 swigs of water. When I drank only water, I took a bite of homemade Flour Free Oatmeal Cookies. This worked out to ~200 calories per hour between the the sports drink and oatmeal cookies.
Hours 5-7:
Drink 3-4 sips of water every 10 minutes. Slurp1/3 of a hammergel with 25mg caffeine. Tropical flavor. Again, about 200 calories per hour but no solid food to get my stomach ready to run.
Run: 3 sips of water and 3 sips of coke at each aid station (about 1 mile apart). Walked the water stops. I had planned on taking hammergel but they didn't have the flavor I wanted so I used the coke instead. My pace was about 11-11.5 minutes per mile. Worked great. Again 5 Lava Salt capsules each hour.
Analysis:
My nutrition plan earns a B+. Switching to a sports drink without protein has eliminated 85% of my GI distress. No gassiness or nausea on the bike like I had at IMFL in 2007. I did have some stomach cramps on the run but it turned out to be just gas, not diarrhea, so I was able to run through it. Plenty of energy on both the bike and the run. No problems with finger swelling or cramps so I believe my electrolyte replacement was well balanced for race day conditions.
Recipes:
Linae's Own Sports Drink
Mix in a 24 oz bottle with water:
4 scoops of CarboPro
1 tsp of unsugared Kool-Aid mix, lemonade flavor
1 tsp of sugar
Flour-Free Oatmeal Cookies (recipe found on Cooks.com)
| "FLOUR - FREE OATMEAL COOKIES" | |
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 c. oatmeal 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 c. light or dark brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1 egg Mix all ingredients. Chill if batter is too wet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until just lightly browned all over. I prefer to overcook the cookies so that they are crisp. They hold up better on the bike that way. | |
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Beach to Battleship DNF
By now many of you have noticed I don't have a finish time for the Beach 2 Battleship 140.6 race.
I chose to pull myself at the turnaround for the marathon. At that point I had been walking for 2 miles with pain, limping up the bridges. It was pretty clear that slogging out another 13.1 miles could do long term damage. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement.
Up until that point it had been an epic day. PRs all around. 1:07 Swim, 7:05ish for the bike in spite of a diabolical headwind for the last 40 miles, The first 6.5 miles of the marathon rocked. Passed it in 1:15 with energy to spare. I was easily sliding into 10:20 pace but made a point to hold back so I could maintain for the rest of the marathon. But the aching in my achilles tendon that had started on the bike had never gone away and its voice grew louder and louder until it would not be denied. Walk intervals didn't help. Walking only didn't help. Lots of time to think. And my decision was crystal clear.
So I chose to stop and fight another day. I have big plans for next year and 3 months of rehab would not fit in my plan for world domination. It was the right choice but it still makes me cry.
The support has been overwhelming even though I know many would have made a different choice. Leaving the course at mile 127.5 was not an easy decision nor was it the first thing that popped in my head. Believe me, I thought about all the scorn that could come my way. I abandoned the race with the same despair that you would abandon a beloved sailboat that sank in a sudden storm. I have come so far. It was such an epic day! But there is too much at stake to mess up my achilles tendon to satisfy my ego.
I chose to pull myself at the turnaround for the marathon. At that point I had been walking for 2 miles with pain, limping up the bridges. It was pretty clear that slogging out another 13.1 miles could do long term damage. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement.
Up until that point it had been an epic day. PRs all around. 1:07 Swim, 7:05ish for the bike in spite of a diabolical headwind for the last 40 miles, The first 6.5 miles of the marathon rocked. Passed it in 1:15 with energy to spare. I was easily sliding into 10:20 pace but made a point to hold back so I could maintain for the rest of the marathon. But the aching in my achilles tendon that had started on the bike had never gone away and its voice grew louder and louder until it would not be denied. Walk intervals didn't help. Walking only didn't help. Lots of time to think. And my decision was crystal clear.
So I chose to stop and fight another day. I have big plans for next year and 3 months of rehab would not fit in my plan for world domination. It was the right choice but it still makes me cry.
The support has been overwhelming even though I know many would have made a different choice. Leaving the course at mile 127.5 was not an easy decision nor was it the first thing that popped in my head. Believe me, I thought about all the scorn that could come my way. I abandoned the race with the same despair that you would abandon a beloved sailboat that sank in a sudden storm. I have come so far. It was such an epic day! But there is too much at stake to mess up my achilles tendon to satisfy my ego.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Not excited.
The Beach to Battleship full ironman is waiting for me on Saturday. And I could not be less excited. If one more person dares me to race their training partner or asks me how fast I will finish, I will scream. When you're an ironman fledgling like me, time predictions seems so arrogant. In a perfect world I'd be hoping for 13:something but that never happened. Quite the opposite. So much has gone wrong along the way. My jeans are falling off but I've been sick most of my taper. Have a sore throat and cough today, in fact. Either Gatens is right and I'm apathetic because of hidden confidence or....I'm f$cked.
But I do know that my body can go 140.6 if I'm healthy. Maybe not as fast as I'd hoped but my head is in the right place. And most of this race is mental. You have to believe that if you rode 120 miles on lemonade and oatmeal cookies you can make it to the run. And having earned the ironman title means I have nothing to prove on race day. Nothing to lose by pushing hard at the end of the run. Nothing to lose by calling it a day if old injuries seek vengeance. I won't know until I get there, assuming I get there.
It's just such a long day. It will be cold for this Florida girl in a short sleeved wetsuit. And I know it will hurt because it's a freaking ironman. Plus the unknowable crisis that awaits. I can't teach 2 classes without a crisis. Who knows what will happen on race day? The key is to make it out of the swim, then have a fun ride through North Carolina coastline, then see the sites through downtown Wilmington. Right? I hope.
But I do know that my body can go 140.6 if I'm healthy. Maybe not as fast as I'd hoped but my head is in the right place. And most of this race is mental. You have to believe that if you rode 120 miles on lemonade and oatmeal cookies you can make it to the run. And having earned the ironman title means I have nothing to prove on race day. Nothing to lose by pushing hard at the end of the run. Nothing to lose by calling it a day if old injuries seek vengeance. I won't know until I get there, assuming I get there.
It's just such a long day. It will be cold for this Florida girl in a short sleeved wetsuit. And I know it will hurt because it's a freaking ironman. Plus the unknowable crisis that awaits. I can't teach 2 classes without a crisis. Who knows what will happen on race day? The key is to make it out of the swim, then have a fun ride through North Carolina coastline, then see the sites through downtown Wilmington. Right? I hope.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
