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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