10K: Week One

This first week will be a little experimental trying to figure out how to best tailor the training plan to fit my week. This is what I've come up with so far. I may make a few tweaks like possibly switching my fri and sat runs so I'm still doing my long run on sat as the last run of the week.

Mon 2.5mi+core- Just did an easy 2.5mi around the whitewater channel loop and hawfield road. I'd never measured the Hawfield road bit before. It's nice to know it's longer than I thought. I may use it more.

Tue 30min split+strength- Happy St Patrick's Day! Ran for 15min around the park and then stationary biked in the gym for 15min also. Since I didn't do core yesterday I'm gunna ease myself into doing more weights and core with this 10k schedule by doing the RW hip and core workouts.
This wast the first day of the year I've run at the peak of 80 degree sunny weather- I need to hydrate more. After the run the bike resistance I've been using felt a little easy so I bumped it up and down a few times while still concentrating on using the right muscles. I noticed that wearing different shoes affect height of seat because they have different stack heights or sole thicknesses.

Wed 2mi- A fast two miles around Mt Holly. I pushed the pace in hopes of holding better form. I could feel my quads and especially gluts working more during this run. I do have a small amount of achillies pain after the run today that I'll need to keep tabs on. I had the same at the beginning of the 5k plan but it seems strange to occur now with less running mileage and more cross training.

Fri 40min split+core- Happy First Day of Spring! YAY! ran around the park for 20min Then used the stationary bike in the gym for 20min. I bumped up the resistance again at the beginning but then kept it at a more standard pace for the rest.

Sat 3mi- Oops. I got a week ahead of myself in the plan again and did 3.5mi. My right ankle and left knee are quite sore after. Perhaps it's because by body isn't used to running the day sfter my long run? I'll try to do core tomorrow.

I'm not quite pleased  with my asics running shoes. I feel like the thick heel is causing a little runners knee. My feet are wanting to contact the ground under and slightly behind my body. Hopefully doing more weights and core will help strengthen weak muscles and improve this. They'll probuby be good for long runs but not so much shorter training runs. If this struggle continues I may try to go ahead and acquire my next pair of running shoes that will satisfy more of the requirements that I was trying to work toward with my current running shoes. I hope a lower heel drop and more flexible shoe may help when mixed into my running routine.

Not quite sure how I feel with just a lower mileage taper week between these two training plans. I guess that will be part of this experiment too. I will likely add at least 3 days if not a full rest weekbefore starting the half marathon plan.

Color Me Green 5K: Race Complete!

At first, I wasn't so sure how I felt about doing a color run. I don't really believe in the idea of spreading colorful powdered stuff out into the environment to be washed into the soil and water systems. "The Color Run" uses powdered paint that I'm sure is not good for the environment. But, I was pleased to discover that the USNWC , since it is an environmentally conscious place, used something with a more natural chemical makeup. Simply- corn starch dyed with food coloring. So, what is it about a color run that's so interesting? How fantastic can running through clouds of green corn starch be? Especially on a rainy day? Well, it was more interesting than I thought it would be.

 

 They had two different shades of green a lime and a forest color. The corn starch didn't taste bad at all, it almost melted away since the powder is so fine. I also didn't experience any interference with my breathing especially as we ran through the huge cloud at the start. However, I did have slightly green boogers for the next two days.  It also took two showers to wash all the green off my skin. I looked like I was turning into the hulk in tiny little splotches on the fronts of my ankles, my left collar bone, and my left wrist. I may have been stained in more places if I hadn't washed it off so soon after the race. Because of the cooler and wetter weather than expected, before the start of the race, I ran the first 300meters in my rain coat. It is still caked with green powder even though I took it in the shower with me after the race. My white t-shirt that I wore during the race is still a little tie-dyed even after washing it. You can see the nice white square where my race number was pinned, red clay mud spots on the back from my shoe,s and swirly colors of green.

 

This was an untimed event with prizes given to the top five male and female finishers and the cleanest and greenest runners. I tried to be one of the cleanest runners to make it to the finish line. I realize now that maybe I cheated without meaning to by wearing my jacket at the start through the largest amount of green that we encountered during the race. But I didn't have time to wait around for awards anyway because I knew the locker room showers would get swamped quickly. Luckily I was one of the first people in before the long line formed and I even had time to help with cleaning up the start/finish line before I had to clock in for work.

 

 The race was quite light hearted because it was untimed and focused more on the colorful clouds of green. Mike Kafsky, our USNWC Guest Experience Director, dressed up as an aproximatly 6'5" tall green painted, red hair dyed, top hat and contact lens wearing leprechaun who started the race with us on a cruiser bicycle. The race also kicked off our first festival of the year- The Green River Revival. Though I have worked at the USNWC for over two years now this is the first time I've gotten to witness the water turning green. It's so brilliantly neon green your eyes can hardly believe it!

 

 

I went in undecided about how to run the race since, in the grander scheme of things I'm just starting this journey, and am technically just barely beginning to build mileage. Should I run casually just to see how my body would act in a race environment or did I really want to race and try to place in the top five ladies? I kind of settled somewhere in between. I knew that with an untimed race, and a very muddy, wet, and rainy day anything could happen. Without chip timing chances are most of the runners would be casual runners there just to have fun getting colored green. I decided I would start toward the front of the starting line but I tried to go out at my own pace and not get caught in race start adrenaline. I did run at least a few steps with my eyes closed and my breath slightly held  as we passed through the foggy shower of buckets full of green just after the start. It stopped raining almost exactly when the race started and I got warm quickly so I chucked my rain coat on our land sport office deck as we ran past to begin our journey on the trails.

 

I am glad, and it makes sense that, the race was mostly on the service roads instead of our single track trails. The USNWC closes it's trails depending on how wet they are so that runners and bikers don't cause terrible erosion problems in muddy conditions. The service roads are much wider an allowed us to have room to pass people and hop back and forth on the trail to avoid some of the deep puddles and small rivers of water. I noticed that the powder would clump a little, perhaps because it had gotten wet In the rain, so when I got green thrown at me it was like watching a small green comet with a powdery green tail and you'd get hit with a small soft mass. I did start to wonder if my face got more serious the further along in the race I went because It seemed that the green starch throwers weren't as interested in dousing me.

 

We did run on small section of single track trail downhill and I got a little frustrated when I had a dad and his two smallish (early middle school age maybe) kids in front of me going slower than my long legs wanted to go. The final straw was when a gal passed me and the family by cutting across the inside of a sharp turn. The competitive side of me snapped and I kind of tried to jump over or around the little guy  on the last steep part of the down hill and nearly knocked him over. I'm sorry little guy, you where doing awesome! And your dad was being an awesome parent to run with you and your sister to encourage you guys to run the whole race.

 

I paced behind the gal and then a guy who passed me on the next long, rocky, muddy, loose gravel downhill, that intimidated me a little- but I didn't mentally let them go. I stuck behind them for the next quarter to half mile until we got back on the main gravel loop around the white water channel to return to the Finish. I managed to gradually pick up the pace beyond what I'd physically expected to feel, and kick it in a lot harder than I'd anticipated I would.  I passed the guy and gal and then several other people who tried to stick with me to the finish. When I rounded the final corner to the finish and could see a general time clock running, I notice it had just rolled over to 24 minutes and I suddenly found one more gear before crossing the finish line. As soon as I crossed the line Adam Bratton, our Sponsorship and Events race guy at the USNWC, showed up in my field of vision and handed me a certificate and medal along with a sticker that he told me to take to the sponsor tent to pick up a pair of free socks. I thought he was just being nice since I know him and work there because, before the start of the race they made an announcement that if your race bib had a sponsor logo sticker on it you could go get a free piece of merchandise.

 

I gave Adam a high five and then turned around and gave the guy that finished behind me, and had tried to stay with me, a high five too. He asked what my finish time was and said he saw maybe 25min15sec on the clock when he finished. I began to clean off a small spot on the bottom of my bib number and stuck on the sticker Adam had given me, when the gal I had paced in the race came up to me to say good job as well. When she did, I congratulated her too and noticed she was also carrying a paper certificate. When she walked away I looked down at the things I was holding in my hands and read the paper which to my complete surprise read second female over all! Yay! I had no idea! I was just climbing people during the whole race and I felt pretty comfortable and relaxed. Not my usual stressed-outness that I get. I am rather proud of myself that I didn't allow anyone to out pace and pass me over the net distance.

 

I forgot to stop my watch after the race but, my race time was something under 25min I think. Not fast but ok for where I am in my training now. The purpose of running the race in my training plan is to get used to the racing mindset again and to establish a baseline race time to gauge future training runs on. I found myself thinking about the fact that there wasn't much difference in my race practice training run and the actual race. This makes me think I would definitely benefit from doing a  little speed work. But, at the same time, with my ultimate marathon goal being to break 3hours35minutes in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon, the race pace for that is 8min miles- which I'm not too far off of now. There is a big difference between 3.1 and 26.2 miles but I will build endurance over my time training.

 Here's some footage on the USNWC's YouTube channel from last years Green River Revival

5K: Week Nine

I extended the 8 week Hal Higdon training plan by a week so that I could run a slightly later race at the USNWC with my staff discount. My body is ready for this taper week before the race on Saturday.

Mon 3mi- It's been warm (in the mid 60's) for the past two days and the trails finally dried out enough to open. I ran the 3mi pink loop, which I believe will be the race rout, and was pleasantly surprised to find it felt rather short and easy. I probably should have stuck closer to the exact race rout posted on the website, but if I did run less than three miles I can't imagine it was much less. I felt like I was running rather slow. My quads and gluts are having a little trouble engaging again. The change in running shoes and form is working different muscles. I'm humbled and reminded I'm still just building mileage. Maybe it's good this race won't be timed. I'm running more slowly and timidly down hill than usual for me which may be causing some excess impact forces, slight runners knee, and tight hamstrings.

Tue 20min XT+strength- I was without a running car today so I took the road bike to the gym which took me about 6 minutes. I got lucky with the traffic light. I did a 15min bike in the gym because I figured the bike to and from the gym would make up for the 5min I didn't do on the stationary bike. I also did the lite weight circuit I've been doing in the gym. It's always nice to leave the gym with my muscles shaking a little. Reminds me that even though I don't feel I'm doing much it's maybe more than I think. I noticed a difference from skipping the weights in the previous week. Need to do more core.

Wed 2mi- Beautiful 70 degree day with a light misty rain. Was likely a brisker pace but It's my last training run before the race and I couldn't resist letting loose just a little bit. The imbalances in my legs seem to be evening out a bit. My mental attempts to monitor my supination is a little exhausting though.

Fri 15min easy- A little frustrated with myself. I should have run at work as soon as I got off but I had some other errands I needed to run and I lost the daylight. I decided I didn't want to run in the dark cold rain so I went to the gym. Running late, I only did 11 min on the very old elliptical machine which has a very unnatural running stride. I should have just run on the treadmill instead.

Sat Race!- I went in undecided about how to run the race. Do I run casually just to see how my body acts in a race scenario? Or am I in it to try win it. I eventually chose something in between. I knew that with an untimed race and a very muddy wet and rainy day anything could happen. I started toward the front of the starting line but tried to go out at my own pace and not get caught in race start adrenaline. I paced one guy and girl that passed me for about a half mile but I managed to kick it in a lot more that I'd anticipated I would, and I passed them and several other people to the finish to be- to my surprise- the second female over all. Yay! I had no idea. I was just climbing people during the whole race.  I am rather proud of myself that I didn't allow anyone to out pace and pass me over the net distance. My race time was something under 25min. Not fast but ok for where I am in my training now. I do feel bad I almost trampled a little guy trying to pass on a tight turn.  The race course was different than I'd expected- more on the service roads than single track trails but I think it made it a little better- easier to pass people. I seem to be better mentally prepared for racing than last year when I ran the Frigid 5k.

I'd like some arch support when not running. I'm trying putting arch supports in a pair of my minimalist racing flats from high school. The arch supports don't seem to be too much since the shoes are flexy. I'm hoping they'll allow my feet to get stronger and move as there supposed to. I like the combination so far but I feel like wearing these for more than one day in a row doesn't work. I wobble a little funny when I walk and have to think about using my feet the right way.