The Dallas Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon was a race I signed up for 11 days after I found out I had a stress fracture in my foot. I think I signed up because I wanted to feel well and not injured. I had no clue what my comeback plan would be like or how quickly I would be able to come back.
After all was said and done, I had about 7 weeks to build enough mileage to complete a 13.1 race. Since that is not much time to just work up to the mileage, not even think about racing I decided to use the Galloway method mixing running with walk breaks - I used a 4:1 ratio. It worked beautifully and I was able to complete 11 miles 6 weeks after being able to run again. What I didn't take into account was the overall weekly mileage and how it would impact game day performance. I was only doing a 3 miler and a short 2-3 miler during the week, my weekly mileage was only at 18 or so, barely over the 13.1 race distance. I looked at some of my quality workouts and a 5K race and saw that I was running well at 9:00 pace and thought "I can do this for 13.1 with the Galloway method..." WRONG!
Race morning was beautiful - which translated into a really hot race day. Temperature was already 60* at the start of the race and it only climbed from there. I felt good the first few miles. It was tough to stop and walk with everyone running around me but I forced myself from the start. I didn't really focus on my interval paces, only on my overall which was staying around a 9:40 pace. There were some killer hills in the first 3 miles and I really started to feel them on my legs around mile 4. That with the heat and it all started unraveling quickly. I ran with a new friend for about 1.5 miles in here which was great for keeping my mind off the conditions.
I was really feeling the length of the course and the 13.1 miles after the 10K mark. There were some long stretches on straight roads - and while there were lots of spectators, there wasn't much to look at, and no shade. My pace on the runs started to drop drastically, and my walks got slower and slower. I kept telling myself that I would complete this race 4 minutes at a time - which got me through the race. I don't remember much of the last 3 miles of the course, just the road and the people in front of me. I was really doing a death march by the end, my head was pounding and I was so thristy - definitely had some dehydration and heat exhaustion there.
I finished the race in 2:15:53. I'm proud of that time. I know that I was crazy thinking I could keep a great pace after being off for so long, and looking back on my training I didn't have enough miles to keep a good pace either. I'm just grateful that I finished with a smile on my face. I enjoyed running with fellow Red Coyote racers. I've decided that I just don't mesh well with the Dallas RnR course though - not sure why but I've crashed there twice. Make me wonder if Dallas White Rock is a bad idea for a marathon...
I will regroup - I'm going to focus on running the full 13 now. Cutting out the walk breaks. While they are benefical, I don't really like them. I need to accept my current training load and run my paces to it. I'm not down, I just hope that I learned from this!
Monday, March 26
Thursday, March 15
Guideance from an Elite for Run Lucky 5K
Some the name of this blog is to encompass three non-related items I'm going to talk about - they just went into the title nicely like this!
Guidance
So at the weekly Pack the Pint Run at Red Coyote last week, the Brooks rep was there with Ravenna shoes for us to try on and take out for a test run. I had wondered in the past if I need a shoe with a little more guidance to wear on longer runs and give me a little more support so I was happy to put on a pair. After a few minutes of getting my foot use to the extra support under the arch I was able to settle in and really critique the shoe. First I loved the lighter feel (compared to my Glycerins) which reminded me of the Brooks Ghost 3 (my favorite shoe all time); after I got use to the extra support it was actually very comfortable (on my long run 2 days later I could immediately feel that the support wasn't there in my normal shoes); and overall I just liked the way they feel.
From this run I decided that I need to get a new pair of lighter shoes to start running in. Before the stress fracture I was slowly getting away from the heavy cushioned shoes, and I went back to them to help cushion my foot as I got back into running. But now I'm wanting to transition away from these big shoes again. I also decided that I need to do the gait analysis and make sure that I get either the neutral or cushion as it suggests. I was scared to do this before because I didn't want to lose my Ghosts, but if the Ravenna is going to give me the same warm fuzzies then I can go out on a limb...
Dinner with an Elite
So my friend Jane from college was having a birthday party at a local restaurant, and a night out having a margarita and catching up with old friends sounded like a lot of fun. Now I knew that her sister is an elite marathoner (Camille Herron), but I didn't realize she would be at dinner till the day before. I didn't want to come off as a crazy stalker so I decided to play it cool and pretend like I didn't know (even though I had been messaging her about stress fractures just that week). Well for the first part of dinner my plan went off without a hitch - but midway through dinner when everyone turned to stories about their children, the two of us broke off into our own world and started talking running. I can't tell you how excited I was to get to chat to an elite about running!
We talked about a wide range of things. Talked some about coming back from stress fractures and what type of training is best to prevent future injuries along with how quickly to come back (she of course was back up to 100 miles in two weeks, but since I was only running 30 to begin with I won't be there any time soon!). We then turned to talking about different destination races (for me vacations, for her a job) and where some of the best ones were. Of course the Maui race was thrown in there and she talked about one in Alaska. Finally we talked about how running creates such a small world (like how Rebecca was having dinner with her just last week) and how meeting someone at a race on one side of the US can translate to an experience with the same person at a race on the opposite coast - and other similar stories. I felt like a rockstar after dinner - it's like eating dinner with a famous movie star and having a one on one conversation with them!!!
Run Lucky 5K
Well my training schedule had me racing a 5K the day after my longest long run of this training cycle (11 miler), so I had to take the 5K in stride. I didn't mind this too much because really the Run Lucky is just a huge costume party with beer at the end - so party on! I decided to just run the way I felt - not push the pace too much (started back at the 10:00 pace banner) and have fun. The beginning of the race was slow going - it had rained alot that weekend and people didn't want to get their shoes wet (really???) so we had to puddle dodge for awhile. That with a crowded lane at the start, it took me a good 1K to get out of the pack and find a pace. Once I did I felt great and just ran for fun. First mile split was 9:35, not bad for as slow going as the start was. Around this time we were going into a gradual uphill and I dug in and enjoyed the uphill. I was starting to pass all the people that went flying out of the gate and didn't understand pacing...I love passing people! Next split was 8:51! Really!!! Didn't even feel like I was running that hard. I knew the next mile would start getting tough, but the run actually felt really short so I wasn't too concerned about how long I had left. The last mile had a pretty steep uphill and I really pushed it and passed a lot of people (someone that was chasing me actually told me after the race that he thought he would catch up to me on the hill before I smoked it!) and was rewarded with a gentle down hill towards the finish line. With the crowds cheering I was able to dig in and push just a little more. Mile 3 split was 8:46 and 7:28 for the last .1.
Final time was 28:03 - while this was a good 90 seconds off my PR, I was very proud. I have only been back running for 6 weeks and I haven't done much speed training at all. I finished the race with alot left in the legs and the lungs, so I know with a few more weeks of recovery that I will be able to start working on the speed and hopefully tackle the PR this summer! Finish = drinking up the green beer!
Guidance
So at the weekly Pack the Pint Run at Red Coyote last week, the Brooks rep was there with Ravenna shoes for us to try on and take out for a test run. I had wondered in the past if I need a shoe with a little more guidance to wear on longer runs and give me a little more support so I was happy to put on a pair. After a few minutes of getting my foot use to the extra support under the arch I was able to settle in and really critique the shoe. First I loved the lighter feel (compared to my Glycerins) which reminded me of the Brooks Ghost 3 (my favorite shoe all time); after I got use to the extra support it was actually very comfortable (on my long run 2 days later I could immediately feel that the support wasn't there in my normal shoes); and overall I just liked the way they feel.
From this run I decided that I need to get a new pair of lighter shoes to start running in. Before the stress fracture I was slowly getting away from the heavy cushioned shoes, and I went back to them to help cushion my foot as I got back into running. But now I'm wanting to transition away from these big shoes again. I also decided that I need to do the gait analysis and make sure that I get either the neutral or cushion as it suggests. I was scared to do this before because I didn't want to lose my Ghosts, but if the Ravenna is going to give me the same warm fuzzies then I can go out on a limb...
Dinner with an Elite
So my friend Jane from college was having a birthday party at a local restaurant, and a night out having a margarita and catching up with old friends sounded like a lot of fun. Now I knew that her sister is an elite marathoner (Camille Herron), but I didn't realize she would be at dinner till the day before. I didn't want to come off as a crazy stalker so I decided to play it cool and pretend like I didn't know (even though I had been messaging her about stress fractures just that week). Well for the first part of dinner my plan went off without a hitch - but midway through dinner when everyone turned to stories about their children, the two of us broke off into our own world and started talking running. I can't tell you how excited I was to get to chat to an elite about running!
We talked about a wide range of things. Talked some about coming back from stress fractures and what type of training is best to prevent future injuries along with how quickly to come back (she of course was back up to 100 miles in two weeks, but since I was only running 30 to begin with I won't be there any time soon!). We then turned to talking about different destination races (for me vacations, for her a job) and where some of the best ones were. Of course the Maui race was thrown in there and she talked about one in Alaska. Finally we talked about how running creates such a small world (like how Rebecca was having dinner with her just last week) and how meeting someone at a race on one side of the US can translate to an experience with the same person at a race on the opposite coast - and other similar stories. I felt like a rockstar after dinner - it's like eating dinner with a famous movie star and having a one on one conversation with them!!!
Run Lucky 5K
Well my training schedule had me racing a 5K the day after my longest long run of this training cycle (11 miler), so I had to take the 5K in stride. I didn't mind this too much because really the Run Lucky is just a huge costume party with beer at the end - so party on! I decided to just run the way I felt - not push the pace too much (started back at the 10:00 pace banner) and have fun. The beginning of the race was slow going - it had rained alot that weekend and people didn't want to get their shoes wet (really???) so we had to puddle dodge for awhile. That with a crowded lane at the start, it took me a good 1K to get out of the pack and find a pace. Once I did I felt great and just ran for fun. First mile split was 9:35, not bad for as slow going as the start was. Around this time we were going into a gradual uphill and I dug in and enjoyed the uphill. I was starting to pass all the people that went flying out of the gate and didn't understand pacing...I love passing people! Next split was 8:51! Really!!! Didn't even feel like I was running that hard. I knew the next mile would start getting tough, but the run actually felt really short so I wasn't too concerned about how long I had left. The last mile had a pretty steep uphill and I really pushed it and passed a lot of people (someone that was chasing me actually told me after the race that he thought he would catch up to me on the hill before I smoked it!) and was rewarded with a gentle down hill towards the finish line. With the crowds cheering I was able to dig in and push just a little more. Mile 3 split was 8:46 and 7:28 for the last .1.
Final time was 28:03 - while this was a good 90 seconds off my PR, I was very proud. I have only been back running for 6 weeks and I haven't done much speed training at all. I finished the race with alot left in the legs and the lungs, so I know with a few more weeks of recovery that I will be able to start working on the speed and hopefully tackle the PR this summer! Finish = drinking up the green beer!
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