Mountains 2 Beach Half Marathon: Week 4 Training Log

When I realized that last week was only one month back in training mode, I was kind of surprised. It feels like I've been training for longer! Coach Jess kept this week super easy since I wanted to race the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday. Here's how things shook out.


Mountains 2 Beach Half Marathon: Week 4 Training Log


Monday: Easy physical therapy (no strength work).


Tuesday: PM 30 minutes on the elliptical (121 avg HR).

Watched more of The People v. O.J. Simpson. Seriously, the show is so good! I was going to do strength work, but then emails kept coming in, so I headed back home to keep working. It was a late night since we had a closing the next morning.


Wednesday: Physical therapy + PM easy run (6 miles) + core.

Thumbs up for closing a deal.

Six miles easy at Back Bay in the late afternoon. After getting four hours of sleep, I kept working till we closed around 8 a.m., then headed in to the office for a corporate department meeting at 9 a.m. I took care of a few small post-closing items, then went home and napped before driving to physical therapy. I had plenty of time so could do the full PT massage, exercises, stretching and icing rigmarole (which takes about two hours).

Gotta say, I feel really lucky that I can do things like go home and crash for a few hours after a closing. Yes, I sometimes have to work till the wee hours of the morning, but once a deal closes, I can usually take some down time.

I ran six miles easy at Back Bay later in the afternoon. Nothing much to report -- minor headwind (10ish mph), low 60s and sunny. I was exhausted so kept it very easy, also my calves were tight, but they loosened up a lot as I ran.

Stats -  6 miles in 1:01:17 for 10:13 avg pace (with a nice negative split), avg HR 131.


Thursday: PM easy run (4 miles) + strides at Back Bay.

6:45pm at Back Bay, high 50s to low 60s, sunny. Felt much better/looser than the previous day.

Stats - 4.32 miles in 42:56 for 9:56 avg pace (incl strides), 134 avg HR, 4x20 sec strides (~6:30-7:10 pace)


Friday: PM strength workout.

Office wifey and I accidentally twinned -- on April Fools Day. Obviously worthy of a photo.

Did glute prep using resistance bands since I hadn't done it on Tuesday. I made a video to show what it looks like, but it turned out that it was just close up shots of my butt moving back and forth across the screen sooo that was promptly deleted and shall never see the light of day.

2x15 (unless noted):
(1) Lunges w/ rotation (x10) - 20#
(2) Chest presses - 40#
(3) Row - 20# each arm
(4) Glute bridges
(5) Single leg deadlifts (x10) - 20#
(6) Shoulder press - 10# each arm
(7) Lat pull down - 45#
(8) Bird dogs
(9) Mountain climbers
(10) Shoulder taps in plank


Saturday: 47 minutes easy.

Another evening run. They're my absolutely favorites, unless I'm miraculously well rested and spring out of bed at the break of dawn naturally, in which case I am also a fan of sunrise runs.

Ran at Back Bay, temps were in the 60s. Kept it super easy since I had a race the next day!

Stats - 4.6 miles in 47:00 for 10:13 avg pace; 130 avg HR


Sunday: 8 mile "long" run (including Carlsbad 5000 race).

I will recap the race soon! Long story short, I was initially a bit bummed to just miss a PR, but upon retrospection during my cool down miles, I'm happy with the result. I think 7 seconds off a PR is promising for the rest of training, given that I was barely running from post-marathon in December till late February. And as I noted earlier in this post, I kind of forgot I'd only been training for four weeks! Also, I thought the race was very well run, so I want to recap the logistics of it.

Ran 3 very slow, easy miles to warm up, raced, then ran 2 very very slow, easy miles to cool down.

Race Splits - (1) 7:34/160 HR, (2) 7:53/165 HR <-- it's always the damn second mile!, (3) 7:36/166 HR, (.13) at 6:46 pace and 165 HR. 

My right hamstring was tight after, which freaked me out, but with stretching and some ice, it was totally fine on Monday when PT Sam checked it out.


Total Mileage = ~23 miles

Race Recap: 2015 City of Cypress 5K

On Saturday morning, I raced my first 5K of 2015, the City of Cypress 5K. I had been looking for a 5K to race as a fitness check-in for a couple of weeks. I figured it would be good to know where I stood speed-wise before I start marathon training.

The race was only the second time I've raced in 2015. I was honestly not sure I wanted to run the race, since I had to wake up at 5:00 a.m. on Friday to drive up to Downtown Los Angeles for a pro bono hearing (I'm doing an asylum case; as a corporate lawyer, appearing in court is not something I ever do). The closest 5K I could find was in Cypress, which is a 30 minute drive from my apartment, and I'd need to get there before 7:00 a.m. to register for the race and get in a warm-up.

I was still undecided about running the 5K on Friday night. Sourabh had a Mexican food craving (specifically for queso fundido; apparently studying for the bar exam gives you weirdly specific cravings like being pregnant does), and since he was just four days out from the bar on Friday, I wasn't about to turn him down. Also it's very difficult for me to turn down Mexican food...

When I went to bed Friday night, I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m., but thought I probably wouldn't want to race. Only I naturally woke up at 4:58 a.m. and felt pretty awake, and I knew if I did try to go back to sleep I'd just sit there in the dark feeling annoyed at myself for not racing. So I hauled my ass out of bed and got ready.

I ate half a Picky Bar, picked up an iced coffee from McDonald's for the 30 minute drive (this is totally a Lazy American cliche, but I really love the convenience of drive-thrus, especially early in the morning), and hit the 405 to head north to Cypress.

Once I got there, I registered, which took about 5 minutes since the organization was fantastic, then hit the bathroom. There were three real bathrooms by the registration area, and then about 15-20 porta potties near the start line.

I stretched a bit, jogged around for 15 minutes, did my dynamic warm-up routine, ran a couple strides, then hit the bathroom two more times because, ahem, Mexican food (sorry).

I ate a salted caramel Gu and sipped some water since the water station was before the finish line (it was meant for the 10K runners, but they were offering water to everyone before the race). Then I headed to the start line and listened to my psych-up playlist, which includes such gems as Fort Minor's "Remember the Name" and Eminem's "Lose Yourself". Fun story: I listened to this playlist before the first day of the California bar exam.

No corrals, but it was easy to get to the front.

As soon as the race started, I immediately regretted my decision to run with a shirt on. It had been cloudy up until about five minutes before the race started, but the sun had finally broken through the marine layer, and I was HOT.

Mentally, I just wasn't "right" for the whole race. I never felt like I pushed hard enough, but when I tried to get myself to kick it into another gear, I just couldn't find the mental discipline to do so. I almost always start races thinking, "why am I about to do this?" But this time that mentality didn't go away in the first half mile like it normally does.

The course is basically a large square through residential streets of Cypress, and it's all flat, so it wasn't super interesting, but plenty of families came out to watch so there were distractions. I mainly tried to pick people ahead of me to catch up to and then pick new ones.

Extremely sweaty post-race.

I ended up finishing in 24:06, which is 17 seconds off my PR of 23:49. My splits were: (1) 7:31, (2) 7:50, (3) 7:56, (.11) 0:47 (6:53 pace) <--- positive splitting like a champ.

I started the race well and just could not keep it up. I can't possibly blame the heat or the Mexican food or anything else for my failure to PR on Saturday because it was 100% a mental issue. I know that physically a 5K PR is within my ability, and Saturday's race was all about my inability to stay mentally strong in the latter half of the race.

I plan to run several more short course races in the next few months (with Coach Jess's blessing, of course) so that I can focus on the mental aspect of racing. I've definitely been a lot mentally stronger in races in the past, but I haven't raced much in the past year. I think more races can only be a good thing as long as they're shorter and aren't putting me at risk of injury.

One big, shining positive, however: I was first in my age group! I think most of the "fast" runners were running the 10K, but hey, any time you can end up with an age group win, the race can't be a total bust, right?

I hung around to eat a popsicle and cheer on the lead women for the 10K before jogging for 8 minutes or so as a cool-down, then drove home and took a nap.

First woman in the 10K coming in like a boss. Look at that gorgeous stride.

Now, I'm on the hunt for another 5K to try to redeem myself and PR. 

Race Facts

• Parking: Free. I think as long as you arrived 30 minutes before you'd be able to park relatively close to the start line.  
• Course: Loop of closed roads. This is not a scenic route. You're running on neighborhood streets, but it's kind of fun because a lot of families were sitting outside their homes, watching the runners. The 10K runs two loops of the 5K course. I would not personally be a fan of this because the idea of doing a loop and seeing the finish line so close then veering to the right to do the loop all over again would mentally kill me.
• Bathroom situation: Six real bathrooms (three for men, three for women) near the registration/finish line area, and plenty of porta potties near the start. 
• Swag: No medal unless you're doing the race as part of a series of Orange County races. Cotton t-shirt is included in registration price.
• Price: $25 early registration (until roughly two weeks before), $35 "late" registration.
• Corrals: No corrals, but I had no problem situating myself close to the front, and the race takes up about half a city street so it doesn't get too congested if you're towards the front.
• Post-Race Food: Popsicles, bagels, bananas, and water bottles. The race is also part of the City of Cypress Festival, which has a pancake breakfast.

I would 100% recommend the City of Cypress 5K/10K if you're looking for a late July short course race. The organization was superb and the course was flat and fast.

A Fantastic Race-Free Weekend and June/July Plans

If you follow me on Instagram, you learned I didn't run the RnR San Diego Half Marathon on Sunday. I feel 99% at peace with the decision (there's always that irrational 1%, right?).

If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen mountains -- for those not familiar with San Diego, it is not in the mountains.

On Friday evening, after learning my deal was on hold so I wouldn't have to work that weekend, I ran 4 miles. I figured I'd warm up for a mile then see what kind of speed my legs could carry. Turns out, they could barely hold a sub-9:00 pace. It wasn't that it felt hard. It's that it felt impossible.

I have no idea what's going on with my legs (or was going on? I did some intervals on the treadmill last night for 20 minutes before doing some lifting and they actually felt ok...), but I've run a few longer distance races where I felt shitty before, and in retrospect I wish I hadn't run them. It just sucks, and it leaves you feeling defeated.

I thought about heading to San Diego and at least trying to run, but honestly, I had no desire to wake up at 4:30 a.m. (and wake Sourabh up as well) only to realize after a few miles that my legs wouldn't be cooperating. It would make the weekend a lot less fun.

I texted with Jess, who will be coaching me for the California International Marathon, telling her how I was feeling, both physically and mentally. She was, as always, awesome; straight-forward and realistic but positive as well. (Also, she was responding at 10 p.m. her time on a Friday night.) Jess said given how my legs had been the past few weeks, it was pretty unlikely I could PR. She framed the question as: would I be more disappointed not to have tried or to try and fail?

Given that 4:30 a.m. wake-up and how I've felt after other poor races, I knew I'd be more disappointed to head to San Diego, curtail our enjoyment of the city (I wouldn't eat Mexican/Indian/Thai/other delicious foods in anticipation of running, and we'd be going to bed at 9 p.m.), then run a poor race.

Sourabh suggested we head into the mountains, which I was obviously on board with. So Saturday morning we drove up to Big Bear Lake in the San Gabriel Mountains and hiked seven miles on the Pine Knot Trail.

The trail climbs about 1400 ft over 3.25 miles (we parked 1/4 mile away from the trailhead making it 7 miles total for us).

The hike had gorgeous views of the lake and San Gorgonio Peak (over 11,000 ft tall!). 

Still some snow left from the May snowstorm the mountains got a few weeks ago!

San Gorgonio is the tallest peak in Southern California, and just like the other 10K peaks (San Jacinto Peak, Mt. San Antonio -- AKA Mt. Baldy, and San Bernardino Peak), you can hike to the top of it. Yes, hiking all four peaks is definitely on my SoCal Bucket List.

Alpine flowers

Initially we'd wanted to hike the Skyline Trail, which is a new addition to Big Bear, but there was a mountain bike race using the trail. After jumping out of the way of speeding mountain bikes three times, we decided we'd find a different route, especially given that we had Mason with us. I've heard Skyline is an absolutely stunning trail, though, so we'll be back to hike it at some point.

Big Bear Lake!

I know I made the right decision legs-wise, since the hike wasn't difficult by my normal standards and my legs felt incredibly fatigued the whole time. There is just no way I was PRing on them.

Summit snapshot

After we got back to Orange County on Saturday night, we feasted at our favorite local Mexican place, Taqueria Zamora, then watched a movie without regard for what time we were in bed because hey, no race in the morning!

Sunday we grabbed breakfast at my current favorite diner-type breakfast spot, Alta Coffee Warehouse & Restaurant, on Newport Peninsula. Then we headed to the Irvine Farmer's Market at the Irvine Great Park (it's a work in progress, but in a few years this park will be larger than Central Park!). I spent the rest of the afternoon reading Americanah, which is fantastic so far, and doing some food prep for the week ahead.

I am completely comfortable with my decision not to run RnR San Diego. Yes, it always sucks when you work hard at something and it doesn't pan out, especially when you were working hard for twelve weeks. But I was training to PR, and I didn't feel like running a race and not doing that. Instead, after several busy weekends filled with work or taking my parents places, we had a completely relaxing weekend filled with some of my favorite things: exploring, reading and eating.

Sometimes, not running a race really is the best decision.

June/July Training Plans

If hearing about someone else's running-free weekend bores you, then you're in luck! That part of this blog post is now done. Let's talk about my plans for June and July.

After discussing training with Jess over lunch in NYC, we agreed I'll be starting CIM training at the beginning of August. That will give me an 18 week training cycle, allowing me some leeway in case work gets extra intense for a few weeks.

The plan for the next two months is to focus on strength and short bursts of speed, capping my mileage at about 20 miles per week, with the goal being to get stronger and lean out a bit. I put together a lifting plan for myself that has me doing four strength workouts a week (two upper body and two lower body).

For running, I'll be doing two 20 minute rounds of intervals (with a 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool-down) each week, one shorter easy run of 4-6 miles and one longer easy run of 8-10 miles. I'm also going to try to fit in a yoga class each week.

Monday's lifting routine.

I've put together lifting workouts for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (lower body, upper body, lower body, upper body) that I'll repeat through the month of June, keeping track of the weight I'm lifting to track improvements. I'll probably switch the workouts up for July.

Now, obviously this is the goal and I can never predict when work will make a workout impossible, but I'm hoping to get as many of the planned workouts in as possible. I think I should see some real improvements and (hopefully) drop a few pounds over the next two months.


Here's a question for you -- would you be interested in seeing the full plan? I'd be happy to make the schedule and weight lifting tracker a Google doc available for download if people are interested. 

Life Lately

I haven't done much life updating in a while, so I thought it would be kind of fun to do that for my family/friends who read here to know what's happening down here in SoCal. Lately I've been...



Studying...

I just started my three week bar exam leave. If you've been reading for a while, you might recall that I spent summer of 2013 studying for the New York bar exam (and I passed, phew). Unfortunately, a lot of states do not accept the bar admittances of other states, so I have to retake the bar exam in California. Where it is three days instead of two. And instead of a summer, I have three weeks. Thankfully I wasn't too busy at work the past two weeks so got a fair amount of studying in, which was good. I will gladly be accepting all good luck wishes and/or condolences at having to retake the bar.


Listening to...



Still jamming out to my Surf City Half playlist. Some of these are "oldies" that show up on my playlists routinely and some are new to me. The MVP of the race's playlist was definitely David Guetta's "When Love Takes Over". I hadn't listened to it more than once before and it gave me such an energy boost heading up a hill, so I added it to the playlist mid-race, figuring I'd want that feeling at the end (I did).

Resting...

Today was my first day working out since race day. I'm really glad that I took five days to rest and recover. I stretched and foam rolled each day, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't jumping back into working out without giving myself both a mental and physical break. I think it worked because I was excited for my training session today (it went well) and can't wait to spin for two hours tomorrow in support of Cycle for Survival. I think giving yourself a mental break after a race is just as important as a physical one. By Friday, I was eagerly anticipating my first run on Monday, and that's the feeling I want to have about running.

Reading...

Well, mainly bar materials, but I've also been reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel before I go to bed at night. I'm trying to be strict about getting enough sleep, so I usually only read for 15-20 minutes, meaning it's slow going (the book is about 600 pages long), but it's reminding me why I was so fascinated by the Tudor period of England's history in undergrad. Thanks to a research grant, I actually spent a month in London doing research on Anne Boleyn and writing a paper on her impact on British culture and religion the summer after my freshman year of college. Wolf Hall focuses on Thomas Cromwell, a lawyer/banker/councillor of the king. It's part of a trilogy but the third book hasn't come out yet.


Eating...

I had a fantastic Korean dinner with a friend at Tang 190 last night. I love the fact that there are so many different cuisines in Irvine. I was a bit worried before we moved to Orange County that it would be all Applebee's and Chili's, but I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality and type of food here.

This probably doesn't look great, but it was delicious -- crispy chicken thighs with kumquat relish over freekeh with Swiss chard.

Sourabh and I recently signed up for Blue Apron, the ingredient-and-recipe delivery service, and have been enjoying it so far. It forces us to cook more and gives us recipes and ingredients we wouldn't normally think of making. We'll see if it's still feasible when we're both working, but for now, it's been a fun change of pace. I'd recommend it for home cooks who have a hard time making anything but standard, simple recipes (that would be me).


Wearing...

This awesome Beast Mode hat. Marshawn Lynch is my favorite Seahawk (please read this great article on him and why he doesn't talk to the media), so Sourabh surprised me with a Beast Mode hat. He ordered it before the Super Bowl, so it wasn't just a "please don't hate me because my team won" gift. Which is good because I'm still a bit bitter...


And that's about it. I don't know how much I'll be posting over the next few weeks as I cram for the bar, especially since I won't be training for anything, but if I do go silent, I'll hopefully have a triumphant return in March!

Race Recap: 2014 Orange County Turkey Trot 5K

(source)

Yesterday I ran my fourth 5K! The Orange County Turkey Trot 5K had some issues -- it started late because there weren't enough porta-potties or people to check in morning-of registrants. I overheard that it was the first year of the race so it makes sense there would be kinks to iron out. All the volunteers and coordinators were very nice, too. It was a nice and flat out-and-back course with a medal at the end and lots of food and drinks, so I was happy with the race. And... I PR'd so I have nothing to complain about!

PR smiles

I was dreading the race the night before. My parents and I went to see Aziz Ansari (he was fantastic -- really funny and insightful -- and the tickets were only $35, thank you, Orange County!) and we didn't get home till 11:30 p.m., which is after my bedtime on a normal night, let alone the night before a race. I was so tempted to bag the race entirely since my legs felt a bit sore and I knew I was coming off not a lot of sleep. And in all honesty, I wondered if I could hit a similar pace to my July 2013 PR (7:59 avg) and didn't want to run the race at all if I'd be way off. 

But thankfully I didn't give in to my lazier/cowardly urges because the race went fantastically! I PR'd, I got to cheer my dad on through the finish line, and I had my mom and Mason there cheering.

The cheer squad

I hate having much in my stomach for short runs, so all I ate was a tiny end-piece of bread with some almond butter and honey at about 7 a.m., an hour before the start, and a salted caramel Gu right before the start.

The course was an out-and-back that took us around the Irvine Valley College campus. There were quite a few kids running and one of the top 15 was an 8 year-old boy who ran a 19:18! The little girl running a 7:30 pace in front of me was my inspiration for the first two miles.

Irvine Valley Campus includes some pretty farmland that we raced around.

I've written before about the mental side of running, and while I didn't initially want to be running, I just refused to let that affect me mentally once I started. (It helped that it was only a 5K.) I kept my mental game very positive the whole time and focused on the fact that Tuesday I had just run six 800m repeats at a 7:00 pace. I thought of this as a longer version of that workout and it helped me push the pace.

It was a gorgeous day for a 5K.

Splits
(1) 7:44
(2) 7:55 <-- always the hardest mile for me in 5Ks
(3) 7:28

Finish Time -- 23:49

(The race started without much warning so I didn't start my Garmin right away and only have 3 miles of splits.)

"Can't-talk-about-to-puke" snapshot

I nearly threw up after crossing the finish line so I think that's a pretty good sign I ran the last mile hard.

Gear

• Oiselle distance shorts
• My beloved Saucony Kinvara 4's
• Nike dri fit tank and sports bra
• Sparkly Soul thin headband
• Sunglasses I picked up for free from a Sweet'N Low booth two years ago and still feel guilty for wearing because Sweet'N Low is gross but they just work so well for running...

Mason had to be in every picture, obviously.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving, Americans! Hope everyone had a great day filled with fun, food, family, and friends.

NYC Half 2014 Training - Week 1 Recap

Hi all!

Hope you all had a great weekend. It warmed up in Manhattan a bit, thankfully,

My weekend was packed -- Sourabh and I had dinner and saw Her with a friend from undergrad on Friday night. Then on Saturday I ran a 10K (details below), went to Steph's birthday brunch (I love my runner friends SO MUCH), attended a self defense workshop at Uplift Studios (awesome -- and they're doing another one!), watched the Seahawks game (nearly passed out at the anxiety), and said goodbye to Laura at her farewell party (she's moving to Denver! I'm sad to say good bye but so excited for her new adventures -- also, Laura, come back soon!!!).

Finally, yesterday I did a recovery run with friends and took a yoga class. I really needed a bit of downtime after a busy week at work and a crazy Saturday. Sourabh and I also had to give the Golden Globes our full attention. To say I love awards shows is an understatement. It's our winter pastime -- watching the Globes, the BAFTAs, all the different Guilds shows, and of course... the Oscars!



NYC Half 2014 Training - Week 1 Recap

Monday: 55 min. Refine Method class.

I'm pretty sure I only woke up in the last 15 minutes of class after a shitty night of sleep, but once I woke up things seemed to be going well. Haven't taken Becca's class in a long time (I think my last class was on my law school graduation day!), and while I liked her then, I think she's an even better instructor now. Lots of hands-on modifications and corrections, and she moved around the room really well. Go Becca!

Class consisted of rows while bending over boxes, box step-ups, squat-to-overhead presses, tricep extensions, jumping squats, moving planks, regular planks, single leg deadlifts, sit-to-stands from the boxes with kettlebells racked, and box push-ups (I think that was it). Typical cardio interludes: high knee sprints, jumping jacks, etc. Hopped out of class 5 minutes early to grab a shower, hence the 55 minute class time.


Tuesday: 4 mile easy run on TM at 0% incline with Abby.

Unfortunately the treadmill screen was broken so I could only see my pace and mileage, not my final time. I started around 9:30 and ran the list mile in the high 8:00s because I had to get back to my apartment to change for work. It was SO cold out that treadmill was the only option for me. Chatted with Abby, who joined me on the treadmills, and it went really quickly!


Wednesday: 5 mile (45:00) treadmill run on TM at .5% incline.

Scheduled to do hill repeats but the continued deep freeze meant my lungs would have given up on life if I'd tried to run hard. Coach Jess switched me to a treadmill tempo run.

This was a total victory. Well, sort of. Alarm went off at 6:20 and I decided to reset it for 8:15, thinking I needed sleep after multiple nights of 6.5 hrs or less. But after 5 minutes, I realized I wasn't falling back asleep, so I got up and pounded it out. Surprisingly felt really good!

w/u - 9:30ish, mile 1 - 8:34, mile 2 - 8:20, mile 3 - 7:53, c/d - 9:50ish.

I think I could have run the first two a bit faster since I wasn't really breathing that hard. Huge shock since I struggled to maintain a sub-8:00 pace for 1/4 mile a year ago. Progress = AWESOME.


Thursday: 60 min. strength training with Amanda.

Warmed up with some dynamic movement and foam rolling then moved into TRX work coupled with boxing rounds of 2 minutes each. TRX moves included pull-ups, mountain climbers, pike-ups, reverse crunches, and one legged squats with a one arm fly holding a 5 lb weight. Boxing intervals included push-ups and star jumps. Also did one legged lunges with one foot on the wall, wall walk-ups for the hamstrings, and back rows. I think that was it? Felt tired and out of breath after only getting 5 hours of sleep.


Friday: Rest day.

Should have foam rolled and stretched. Didn't. Big mistake...


Saturday: .7 mile w/u + 6.2 mile (57:28) long run in Central Park - Joe Kleinerman 10K Race

Jogged to the start line at the east side of the 102nd St Transverse because I was running late (pun intended). It was a really dreary day, and on the lower loop you could barely see anything in the fog.

Ran this race as long run with a plan of 9:10-9:15 for most of the race then to drop the pace the final mile to "comfortably hard." Unfortunately I was stupid and didn't foam roll Friday and my legs felt really tight, unlike during my runs earlier this week. Bah. Lesson learned (I hope).

Not sure of my exact splits because my Garmin randomly died for 1/2 a mile, but here's what I have:
(1) 9:17, (2) 9:18, (3) 9:14, (4) 9:27, (.5) 9:38 (.5) ???, (6) 8:04, (.2) 8:03

I really fell off in miles 4-5 on the lower loop. Not sure why -- maybe the thick fog or some personal issues -- but since this was supposed to be an easy paced long run, I didn't want to push myself really hard and so I let my pace slow a bit. I was still able to kick it into high gear for the final mile, which made me happy.


Sunday: (1) 3.06 mile (29:11) recovery run in Central Park with Julianne and Ruthie. (2) 75 min. yoga class at Strala Yoga with Theodora.

Easy miles in Central Park. I didn't realize how windy it was and was underdressed -- took me an hour to warm up post-run! Legs felt pretty tired after my highest mileage week in a while, but fun to chat with friends.

Always love Strala's classes. Hadn't been there in ages because SoHo seems sooo far away, but glad I made it down there today. Fantastic class taught by Mike left me feeling so much looser. Yay yoga!


On Deck for the Week of 1/13

Phew, week 1 down and 9 weeks to go. Since the cold weather was insane last week, the hill repeats were pushed to this week.

Soo here we go!
• 1 yoga class
• 2 easy runs
• 1 session of hill repeats
• 2 strength workouts
• 1 long run


How was your weekend? Did you watch the Golden Globes?

Race Recap: 2013 Join the Voices! 5M

First off... happy birthday to my sister, Priyanka!!!

I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! Sending lots of virtual hugs. You're the best!!!

On Sunday, I ran the Join the Voices 5 mile race for the second year in a row. Heading to the park, I was filled with an overwhelming desire to turn around and head home. I really didn't want to run. It was a gross morning (chilly but humid -- 83% -- possibly one of the worst combinations), I'd just run 8 miles with Laura the day before, I didn't think I'd PR from the previous year (8:55 average pace) and worst of all, I was feeling sick.

Still, when you pay as much as you do for NYRR races (this one was $30 I think?), it seems like a waste of money not to run. And yes, for those of you who are criticizing my handle on economic theory, I know that it's a sunk cost since I've already spent the money on the race entry and can't get it back either way, but hush. I didn't major in economics for a reason.

And besides, it was only 5 miles, right? Oh, how the marathon messes with your mind. A year ago I'd never have said "only 5 miles"!

I added a few songs to my 5K race playlist to make it last for the 5 mile race while waiting in my corral. I had gotten there a bit late, so they were just about to sing the national anthem as I finished up my playlist. I popped in my earbuds and we were off!

I didn't look at my Garmin at all in the first mile. I wanted to see what felt comfortable. So when it ticked 1 mile and I saw it was an 8:19 mile, I was kind of shocked. "Okay then, let's go with that," I thought. My goal was suddenly to keep my pace sub-8:30 the whole way.

Of course, the second mile had Cat Hill, which wasn't exactly the best way to keep my pace speedy. I ran a pretty good tangent up the hill to minimize my time climbing and snapped a picture to distract myself. This was the only time I ran a good tangent, by the way... I ended up overrunning the course by .11, which is quite a lot in a 5 mile race.

I kept thinking I must be slowing down a lot because my pace continued to feel fairly comfortable, but my Garmin said I wasn't, so I trusted it, knowing my race pace would be a bit slower because I was clearly going to overrun the course.

In the first three miles, I really never felt uncomfortable. Maybe I should have pushed harder? The fourth mile, though, which included the rolling hills on the west side, definitely felt tough. I tried to "get comfortable with discomfort," and kept repeating positive mantras to myself as I climbed each of the three. I actually think the northernmost hill is the worst because it's fairly gradual but seems to go on forever, so mantras were most important here.

I've mentioned this several times, notably in my 5K PR recap and my post on the mental tricks I used for the Chicago Marathon, but the shift in my mental game has been huge this year. I truly believe that race day performance is at least 50% mental.

In this race, I set tiny goals, like keeping my pace sub-8:30 going up Cat Hill or dropping my pace along the straightaway on the east side of the reservoir. The smaller goals helped keep me focused and distracted me from thoughts like "eek I have the rolling hills to get through still."

Finally, I hit the last mile. My mini goal was to run it sub-8:00 since it's a net downhill, with a finish that went slightly uphill heading east along the 72nd St Transverse. Mission accomplished! I was pretty proud that after four hilly-by-NYC-standards miles I could pull out a sub-8:00 mile. Or maybe it just means I could have pushed harder? The last .11 was sub-7:00, but it's only a tenth of a mile, so who knows how accurate it was. I just know I was sprinting as hard as I could to pass as many people as possible.

I stopped my watch and looked down to see 41:56, a nearly 3 minute PR from last year's 44:50, and a NYRR pace PR of 8:24. YES! Apparently training for a marathon does make you stronger! I guess that means I should thank Coach Jess for those tempo runs and mile repeats she made me do?

As a final note, I really love racing in my Saucony Kinvaras. They feel extremely light without hurting my feet, which is rare for me. I got these shoes for free in May at the FITNESS Magazine Meet & Tweet, but I'll be buying a new pair shortly since I've put a ton of miles on them. I was just looking them up to gauge price point, and it looks like they're $10-20 cheaper on Amazon than elsewhere online. Figured I'd mention this in case anyone needs something to add to their Christmas lists!

RACE STATS

Distance: 5 miles

Time: 41:56

Average Pace: 8:24

Splits: (1) 8:19, (2) 8:27, (3) 8:09, (4) 8:28, (5) 7:53, (.11) 6:13


Did you run a race this weekend? How'd it go?

Race Recap: 2013 Dash to the Finish Line 5K

On the day before the ING New York City Marathon, New York Road Runners holds a 5K that takes you through the streets of Midtown up to Central Park and through the marathon finish line.

As soon as I saw the route, I wanted to run this race. My favorite part of the NYC Half was running through Midtown, and getting to pass under the marathon finish line would be an awesome preview of what so many of my friends would be doing the next day.

The race is a bit expensive ($40 I think?), but when you consider how many major streets are shut down for the race, including part of 42nd Street, I considered it fair.

We were lucky, and after a couple of gloomy days last week, Saturday was gorgeous running weather. High 50s and sunny. I was surprised by how many runners were in long sleeves and tights! I wore shorts and a tee shirt and ended up feeling warm during the race (but I also "run hot").

HUGE thanks to Gianna, who made running the race possible! The only place you could pick up your bib was at the NYC Marathon Expo at Javits Center, which is on the far west side of Midtown, about 4 long avenue blocks from the subway, and the hours were 10 AM - 7 PM Thursday and Friday. Since I work in Midtown East and a typical day runs from 9 AM to 7 or 8 PM, there was no way I could have gotten my bib if not for Gianna. She volunteered to pick it up for me while picking up her own, which was so helpful. Thanks so much, Gianna!

We met up at the start line around 8 AM and chatted about our "race strategies." Neither one of us was out to PR -- I ran my first marathon three weeks ago and she was running NYC the next day, so it would have been a bad idea for either of us to race this.

I decided my goal was going to be to beat my previous New York Road Runners pace PR (an 8:55) and Gianna was using the race as a shakeout run before the marathon.

I think a lot of runners were doing the same thing, since the race was surprisingly crowded. It's a great option if families travel in from out of town to cheer at the marathon and want something fun to do the day before. I saw a lot of people who seemed to be in groups running together.

The race course starts you off right in front of the UN building on the East River. Is it shocking to say that I'd never been there? I've seen it in many movies (notably, the 1966 Batman movie, which was a favorite of mine when I was an oh-so-cool little kid), so it made the start line extra fun.

As soon as we took off, I realized that this was not a race to "race." The course was incredibly packed, despite taking up all of 42nd Street. I think that for a lot of runners visiting from out of town, they use this race as a fun run pre-marathon to check out the city and the sights. Lots of runners had flags painted on their faces (or hanging down their backs) and I saw so many people stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures. I couldn't be annoyed, though, because how can you hate on so much enthusiasm for your city?

This is a race to be enjoyed. You run by iconic sites like the UN building, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, and Radio City Music Hall. I loved seeing so many people having fun on the streets of Manhattan.

And of course, the race concludes with the finish line of the NYC Marathon.

I finished in 26:58. Not a PR by a long shot, but I did chop 13 seconds off my NYRR pace PR (from 8:55 to 8:42 average pace). Woot! 

This race is such a fun celebration of running and NYC, and even better, it's one that doesn't require you to train for a marathon! 

Did you run a race this weekend? Do you like races that celebrate the city they're in?

Random Thoughts on the Mental Side of Racing

Thank you all SO much for your incredibly sweet comments on my marathon recap. I had such an incredible day on Sunday. I've continued to listen to my marathon playlist throughout the past few days. I brought my medal in to work to place by my computer. And every time I got an email with a comment notification, I smiled at your support and got to relive one of the most amazing experiences of my life. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!

(Oh, and my legs continue to remind me about the miles I ran on Sunday. I'm not sure they're giving me positive reminders, though.)

Pre-marathon -- AHHH!!!

I wrote on Monday that my legs never felt great on Sunday. From the start, my right piriformis was angry, and my right hamstring and other muscles hurt pretty early on. What felt great was my mind.

I exchanged a bunch of emails with Beth yesterday, and in the continuing post-marathon high, I dumped a ton of thoughts on her about the mental aspect. Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I've gone from feeling so shitty during races, mentally, to feeling really strong. These are the things I've done and what I did on Sunday. So, in no particular order:

• I let myself say it was hard but never that I couldn't do it. I told myself nothing but things like "you are killing it! You're doing SO well!" I didn't let a single negative thought creep into my head. If something negative started to appear, I'd read a sign and repeat it to myself. (NOT the "worst parade ever" ones -- can we retire that sign please?? -- but things like "someday you won't be able to run 26.2 miles ... today is not that day!")
• I planned for the rest of the race thinking I'd do well, not that I'd fall apart. Think about what you'll do if that happens before the race, and have a plan, but don't let those thoughts get to you during the race. 

• I thought about all the tough training runs I'd had: up the Hollywood Hills in 85 degree heat, hilly trails at 5,000 ft elevation, running tempo runs on tired and tight legs. The last part of the marathon was so hard -- reminding myself of how I'd powered through discomfort time and time again in my training helped a lot.
• More importantly, I kept thinking about the two best long runs I had. First, the 10 miles I ran at all under-10:00 miles, after running 10 miles already that day. Then, the 20 miler that I did completely alone, slowly to protect my hamstring, but was still able to speed up in the last two miles. Especially as I sped up after the first ten miles, I thought of that broken-up 20 miler, and how I finished with those sub-10:00 miles at 4,500 ft elevation.

yes, I'm a race photographer ham.

• Saving music for the last ten miles really helped. I had a list of songs that amp me up, and I didn't listen to them while training for about 2-3 weeks prior to the marathon. I wanted to save them so I'd have all of their boosting juice to power me through miles 17-26! It really worked well, and I was so happy to hear music that makes me want to go fast.
• As for which songs to pick, I went with the ones that helped me get through tough tempo runs and mile repeats. I associated that music with the pain of pushing but also the incredible joy I'd feel at hitting paces I didn't think I could. Having those songs play in the toughest miles reminded me of kicking the ass of speed workouts, and helped me push hard.

These are the things that helped me through 26.2 miles. They may or may not work for you! However, I hope you'll think about how to prep your mind before your race day. Study after study shows that physical limits are far past what our brain tells us our limits are. Positive thinking can go a huge way to overcoming the mental hurdles our brain creates. 

Also, here's my marathon playlist! A few are Chicago-specific, but I think there are some awesome amp-you-up tunes on there.

Tell me -- what are your mental techniques for race day? 

Race Recap: 2013 Chicago Marathon

I'M A MARATHONER!!!

So, with that out of the way...

I didn't take a lot of photos yesterday. Katie managed to snag two of me on the course, which provide a delightful illustration of mile 2 versus mile 21, and we took pictures after the race. But before the race, I was just totally keyed in and for once didn't feel the need to take any picture. I just wanted to start... and was also totally scared of starting. (I may or may not have said "oh f-ck, oh f-ck, oh f-ck" as we got within sight of the start line. May or may not have.)

But once we crossed the start line, I felt ready. I just started in at a roughly 10:15 pace... 15 seconds faster than I'd thought I was going to when I chatted with Jess. We'd decided I'd start at a comfortable pace for the first 10 miles, then shift gears for 10-20, and then see how I felt for the last six. I suggested 10:30 as an optimal pace, based on my injury and my A goal -- that I thought was out of reach, post-hamstring strain -- had been an average 10:00 pace.

My legs didn't actually feel great. My calves were tight and my right piriformis was loudly proclaiming its displeasure with moving. Yet somehow, mentally, I felt fantastic. I started a podcast that I only half-listened to, just using it as conversation to listen to while paying attention to the crowds.

Crowd Support
Oh man, the CROWDS! Chicago deserves a million high fives for the fantastic crowd support. There were maybe three miles in total that didn't have people lining the sides cheering, handing out water, bananas, and even beer.

I'd written my name on my charity team singlet (Lurie Children's Hospital! WOO!), so people kept cheering me on, which was awesome. And I kept yelling "thank you!" with a giant smile on my face. I was running a marathon!

The Amazing Course

2012 map, but don't think it changed (source)

In addition to the fantastic crowd support, the course is just wonderful. It's essentially three large out-and-backs, on different roads, with extra curves. That means spectators can see you at multiple points -- I got to see Sourabh, Katie, my mom, and my aunt six times! (They split up at the end so they could see me multiple times) They were AMAZING. Seeing their faces helped me so much each time.

It was great to be able to split up the course in terms of seeing my cheer squad. I knew I'd see them at miles 2, 13, 17, 21, and 25, and possibly at mile 9/10 as well. Leticia was visiting Chicago and cheering, and I knew she'd be around miles 8-9. I'd start looking out for them for a half mile before the planned area, which was a great distraction. It was so nice to break the marathon into mini chunks, so I just had to get through a few miles before seeing my loved ones. And seriously, I love these people. At mile 21, I shouted "I LOVE YOU GUYS!" at Katie and Sourabh. 21 was my toughest mile, and seeing them then helped so much. I may have been a tad bit emotional.

Fueling
Additionally, I had my miles broken down further by fueling -- 4, 8, 12, 16, and 21. I couldn't find any place that sold Vega gels near me, which I'd used early on for fueling and liked, so I stuck with Honey Stingers, another more natural fueling method. I took four chews at mile 4, five at mile 8, half a Honey Stinger waffle at mile 12, half at mile 16, and a Honey Stinger gel at mile 21.

I also kept Nuun in my handheld and used that for electrolyte replacement, taking roughly a swig or two every mile. Oh, and in the craziest news, I didn't actually stop running the entire time. I ran through the water stops. Jess said I could make a game-time decision based on how I felt, and I somehow just... didn't want to stop running? I can't explain it, but running through the water stops just felt right, so I went with it!


Mile Breakdown
Miles 1-9: Like I said earlier, I didn't feel fantastic legs-wise, but somehow I just tuned that out and focused on the amazing things, like the fact that I was running a marathon. In August 2012, I couldn't run a mile straight. And here I was running a marathon. I smiled at the crowds and enjoyed the loop through Lincoln Park. I had thought I would aim for 10:30 as my comfortable pace, but 10:15ish felt right, so I stuck around that pace.

I'm running a marathon! I'm so happy!

Splits - (1) 8:54 - messed up because of tunnel, not accurate! may be the reason my Garmin was so off on distance, (2) 9:24, (3) 10:39, (4) 10:14, (5) 10:04, (6) 10:16, (7) 10:13, (8) 10:12, (9) 10:15

Miles 10-20: Jess had said to check in with my body and see how I felt at mile 10. If I was up to it, I could bump the pace 20-30 seconds. If I wasn't feeling good, I should lower the pace, since my goal was to have a celebration marathon -- rejoicing in everything that has happened this year (graduation, starting work, taking the bar, running my first marathon).

I still didn't feel great in my legs, but everything else felt good, and I thought I could bump it up a notch, so I increased my pace to the 9:30s-9:40s, and ended up never looking back!

In fact, I missed my family at the 13 mile mark because I'd sped up so much! Before the marathon, I told them I'd definitely be running over 10:00/mile paces, so something like four miles would be 43-44 minutes. As I increased my pace, I didn't even think about the fact that I was speeding up so much that they might miss me! Thankfully, they calculated my splits and realized I was going faster, so they adjusted accordingly for the rest of the planned cheer spots.

At mile 16, I switched from slightly distracting podcasts to loud, bouncy music to give me a boost for the rest of the race. I started with "Lake Shore Drive," by Skip Haynes, about the highway that runs along Lake Michigan and gives you a gorgeous view of the Chicago skyline. It's my favorite song about Chicago, and it made me smile even wider for the next few miles.

Splits - (10) 10:02, (11) 9:37, (12) 9:39, (13) 9:34, (14) 9:35, (15) 9:44, (16) 9:53, (17) 9:46, (18) 9:49, (19) 9:34, (20) 9:49

Miles 21-26.2: Ow. I'm so happy that I didn't hit the wall until mile 21, because even then, telling myself it was only 5.2 miles left, less than 50 minutes at the paces I was running, I had a hard time continuing my pace. My legs really started hurting -- not just my piriformis, but my knees, my left quad, my right hamstring, my left hip. Basically everything below my waist was unhappy with me for running a ridiculous distance.

I swear I was smiling and waving at them...

Mile 21 was the slowest of my second half splits, but when I saw Katie and Sourabh near the end of mile 21, it gave me a boost and I picked it up through the end.

I wanted to push for that final 5K, but honestly I just didn't have anything left to go faster. I was able to keep up my pace, but doing so felt like I was actually pushing faster. The final 2 mile straightaway hurt so much, but I knew I was about to finish a marathon. At that point, though, I was more excited to finish than to be a marathoner.

I saw Sourabh and Katie again at mile 25, blew them a kiss, then powered through to the end. Oh, by the way, the biggest hill of the entire course is RIGHT at the end, in the last 1/4 mile leading to the finish line. You go up a ramp then turn left to the finish. OW that hurt.

Because I was running for a charity, my mom and aunt got special wristbands that allowed them to sit in the bleachers by the finish line, so I got to see them right before I crossed the finish.

Splits - (21) 9:57, (22) 9:42, (23) 9:28, (24) 9:34, (25) 9:48, (26) 9:40, (.57) 8:41 pace

Final time -- 4:20:17 <--- data-blogger-escaped-br="" data-blogger-escaped-in="" data-blogger-escaped-shock="" data-blogger-escaped-still=""> The Finish!

Thank you so much to my family, Katie and Sourabh.

And a huge thank you to all the incredible people who I knew were following me online via tracking and Twitter. Every time I passed a trackpad, I got excited thinking of all my friends who I knew would be rooting for me to keep up my pace. It was an additional boost in a race that was already extraordinary. Thank you!!!!!