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Duluth, MN - half marathon

Monday, October 22, 2012

Rockin and Rollin through St.Louis

What a weekend!

Goal: 1st place, 13.1 miles @ sub 1:18
Actual: 1st place, 13.1 miles @ 1:17:19
Results

This was a loooong weekend, but so worth it. Anthony and I headed to St.Louis Saturday afternoon, and after a 3.5+ hour drive, went straight to the expo to pick up my packet. We're too cheap to pay for parking ($10!) so I went in by myself to enjoy the numerous free samples and all sorts of running goodies. I made it fairly quick since Anthony was waiting in some random parking lot, and we headed to Forest Park for a quick shake-out run to loosen up after the long drive.

Sunday morning came very quickly, and we woke up way earlier than anyone should have to on the weekend. The race started at 7am, and it was a cool, brisk morning. I managed to get to the elite starting corral with a few minutes to spare, when they announced a 5 minute delay :( Five long minutes of freezing my butt off. I tried to tuck in behind some of the others in hope that they would block some of the wind.

When we finally took off, I could tell pretty quick that this was going to be a dual between me and the lady that took second. I actually recognized her as she ran Hospital Hill in June. We came through 2 miles together, and she was quickly dropped as we made our way through the water station. At this point, I realized that I would get my own bicyclist since I was the lead woman :)

Around 2-3 miles. . . headband is already off and gloves are getting ready to come off
I ran scared the next couple miles and finally decided to sneak a peek behind me (I'll admit it) as I rounded a corner. To my surprise, I saw no females. In fact there were only a couple guys. My bicyclist saw me take a peek and she offered to find out how far behind 2nd place was. About half mile later, she informed me that 2nd was about 40 seconds back. Yes! I had already made a significant gap a mere 4.5 miles in. Of course I tried not to get to0 excited and tried to continue running as if I was going to get caught. With the exception of Hospital Hill, I've been known to drop a couple 6:teens-6:20's during some of those middle miles. I smiled and teasingly asked, "you didn't tell her I was looking for her, did you?" She replied with a laugh and a "hell no, I wouldn't do that!"

I tagged on (sort of) to a group of three guys who pulled me through the next 4 miles. They were all friendly and buddy-buddy towards each other, but once I tried to tuck in or *gasp* pull even, they'd surge and try to drop me. So my bicyclist and I stayed about 5 feet back (which they were content with) while I tried to hold on as long as I could. They must have started to actually race each other around mile 8 because all of a sudden they were a good 15 seconds ahead. My bicyclist had check points in which she called in splits to the finish line so they could announce to the crowd who was in the lead, pace, etc. Well, she had no phone service, so she stopped to text in my split. About quarter mile later, just past 10 miles, she caught back up and informed me that 2nd place wasn't even in site :)

The clock kept ticking, and my bicyclist kept me honest. When we got to the point where the marathoners split off and the half marathoners turned to head to the finish, my bicyclist congratulated me, told me to finish strong, and bid me farewell. I'm so glad she was there. Even if we didn't talk very much (I was winded) it made the run less lonely and easy to keep the pace honest.

My Garmin had been beeping earlier than the marked miles, so I was hoping the entire time that it would work itself out because according to the Garmin I was on PR pace. Unfortunately, it didn't work out (13.23 says Garmin). Even by looking at the clocks on the course, I knew it was going to have to run my last 4k in 18 minutes and some change to break 1:17. Well, it didn't happen, but I have no regrets. Hospital Hill was a huge (2 min) PR for me, and I was hoping it wasn't a fluke. So I'm quite relieved to have come within 4 seconds of my PR. I am now confident that if I can find the right race, one with more front runners (and not quite as hilly), I'd be able to run in the 1:16 or even under!
Chilly Morning
At the finish line, everyone was sooo happy for me! I had reporters getting quotes and a 2-3 different photographers asking for pictures. I even had a volunteer request a photo with me, I felt like a celebrity :) It was awesome! They were happy to see a Brooks uniform cross the line first, seeing as how Brooks puts on all the Rock-n-Roll races. They gave me an extra VIP wrist band, so I could take a guest into the VIP area. This was the first time I got to enjoy the benefits of the VIP. We had our own port-a-potties and gear check in. They had gourmet breakfast, and after the concert we came back for lunch before we hit the road. It was divine.

After the awards
Cheers with the Michelob Ultra sponsors.
The awards ceremony was nice, and the announcer took a quick bio of the top three. Immediately after, the band 3OH!3 was going to play some songs. Anthony and I only knew a couple of their songs, but they sounded really good live and it was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
The after race concert

Monday, October 8, 2012

2 x 3 mile and Hill Repeats

Week in Review
65 miles
2 workouts
1 day off
14 mile long run

2 weeks to go until St.Louis! These races just sneak up on me. It seems like no matter how I prepare, I just never feel fully ready for these big races. Everything looks good on paper, so hopefully I will have b-e-a-u-tiful weather for the upcoming race. I have started toi decrease my long runs in hopes of fresh legs, but regular runs have still been kept up pretty high.


Hill Repeats (10/6)
2.5 w/u
12 x 400m hill repeats
1.5 c/d
10 mi total

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate hill repeats. I blame Jamie for making me do them almost every week in undergrad ;) but seriously, I feel like they give me an advantage over other runners. I tend to run really well on hilly courses. Anthony and I found a hill out at my Mom and Dad's house that was a quarter mile to the top. It starts out with a pretty good size hill, flattens out for about 5 seconds, and then continues up even steeper! Several of our repeats were under 6 min pace or right at. Not too shabby, and did I mention we did TWELVE?! Ya, we were out there for what felt like forever. We almost got run over by the Mennonites, had a farmer recruit us to work, and saw three dogs that were as big as cows, but we survived.

We woke up Saturday morning and the temperature was 37 degrees. Burrr! I dread the cold weather. I have Raynauds, so my hands get frigid and numb even when it's not that cold out. I have these really awesome mittens, but I feel slightly silly wearing them when it isn't really that cold out. None the less, this was the first time of the fall season I had to dig the capris, long sleeves, gloves, and headband. Ok, I'll admit, I even layered a t-shirt over my base layer. . . I'm a wimp when it comes to cold weather.



2 x 3mile (10/3)
2.25 w/u
Goal: 2 x 3 miles @ 17:45, 17:30
Actual: 3 miles @ 17:58 and 17:46 w/one mile between sets
1.75c/d

After coming off a high from Sunday, I had really high hopes for this workout. I just ran a 10 mile tempo at 6:05 pace, and thought for sure I could run these mere 3 mile tempos at 5:50 pace or faster. Well, I fell short and was a bit disappointed. I could have easily stopped after the first 3 mile tempo, but wanted to press on. It's not that I felt bad during this workout. I actually felt pretty good, I just wasn't moving as fast as I felt like I was moving. On the bright side, at least I averaged under 6 min pace on both tempos. I remember a time not too long ago when tempo runs consisted of only 3 miles and nothing more, so I can't really complain too much.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

10 Mile tempo success + Review

 
Well, last everyone heard, I had just run the Stampede and it was a huge success! It was only 2
weeks ago, put I've had a lot of good runs since then ;)
 
Week in Review (9/24-9/30)
68 miles
2 workouts
15 mile long run

With only 3 weeks until St.Louis, Anthony and I have started to cut back on our long runs and increase our workouts to 2/week.

10 mile temp success!(9/30)
2.5 w/u
Goal: 10 miles @ 1:01:40 (Avg-6:10)
Actual: 10 miles @ 1:00:45
2.5 c/d

I can't describe how relieved I am that this workout went smooth, fast, and easy. The plan was to average about 6:10 pace. Anthony and I warmed up, changed into my go-fast shoes, and got down to business. We briefly discussed whether we just wanted to run even splits, or start out around 6:20 and work the average down to 6:10. We decided to just start out and see what happened. We opened with a 6:07, and from then on we never fell off pace. In fact, or slowest mile of the tempo was mile 5 when we split a 6:10. I got a side-stitch at mile 4.5 and that slowed us down for a little bit, but not for long.

This tempo was run on the Frisco Highline Trail in Springfield. It follows the old railroad track, so it has long gradual inclines/declines which make for a fast run. So gradual that it appears flat. We started getting excited towards the end, realizing that there was a chance we could break 61 minutes. We closed with the last two miles under 6:00! and it felt so easy and good to run that fast. The entire run felt better than some shorter (4 mile) tempos that I try to run at 6:00 pace. . . crazy. It was a big confidence builder and I feel more prepared for St.Louis Rock-n-Roll. This time is actually faster than my 10 mile race PR I ran last December (Jack Frost 10 mile). However, that race was run in the cold and wind, and right after I had taken a down week.

My go-fast shoes. Brooks Launch, a light weight trainer. Now they are extinct :(
 
Fartlek (9/25)
2.25 w/u
goal: 6 mi of 2on/2off
actual: above; 6 mi @ 37:36
1.75 c/d

This was a solo effort on my own at the Frisco Greenway Trail in Joplin. Despite the decrease in miles, my legs didn't feel so good this week. It was really windy this day which meant during the first two miles I felt like I was going backwards on my "on" segments running around 5:50 pace. After seeing this, I stopped splitting the Garmin and just ran on feel. I finally got to the portion of the trail that is blocked from wind and manged to finally start running a decent pace ~ 5:35ish pace.

Week in Review(9/17-9/23)
68 miles
1 workout
1 race
16 mile long run
1 Tour of Missouri

Roots and Blues 10k
goal: 10 @ 35:30
actual: 10k @ 35:47

This race actually went better than it sounds. I was on pace to break 35:30, running consistently between 5:30-5:40 pace through four miles. Immediately after we hit the four mile mark, we came to this HUGE hill. It was steep, then when you think you reach the top, it kept going! No kidding, I dropped a 6:24 (no, this is not a typo) on this mile :( If that tells you anything about this mile. I managed to run the last mile back on pace splitting a 5:45. Even if I could have managed to run a 6:00 mile, I'd have been under goal pace, so I'm really still pleased with this race.

Nothining like BBQ and beer at 9AM (just kidding, I saved mine for later, I did eat the BBQ though)
The race was in Columbia, so we took a tour of Missouri on the way back and shopped until we dropped. We went to the Columbia mall, had a great lunch, hit up Central Dairy in Jeff City, and took on the Outlet Mall in Lake of the Ozarks. The most fun weekend we've had in a loooong time :)

The workout earlier in the week was 10 x 800 w/quarter mile recovery. Run on the trail rather than the track. I can't recall many of the details. My splits ranged from 2:44-2:39 depending on which part of the trail I was on. Usually I only do about 6 800's (sometimes 8?) so for me to do 10 was a pretty big deal :)
Photo
Central Dairy in Jeff City. Same as it was back in high school. We went there after state every year. Anthony had never been!