Half Marathon Pre-training

One big downfall of my 2013 race season was that I didn't have a good running base.  I'd done most of Couch to 5K, then swapped to the Galloway Method and immediately started training for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler.  Probably not the greatest plan in the world for someone who had never run before.  This year, I'm making a point of building a good solid base and upping mileage before the training plan starts.

After I finished C25K this go-round, I added a couple of minutes of running to each run until I could run 35 minutes straight, which is the minimum for the Coach Jenny 10K run/walk plan I've picked to get my mileage up.  I'll finish up this plan about 2 weeks before my half marathon training plan begins, so I will have about 3 weeks of 6 mile long runs and 12-15 mile weeks.  The plan also adds a fourth day of running to my week, which should make it easier to do the same as I move into HM training.  I'm really working to up my miles per week for upcoming HMs.

I've chosen a run/walk plan because I believe at this point in my running career that is what is right for me.  What I like about the Coach Jenny plans is that they increase not only the distance, but the running interval, so by the end of the plan you are running 3-5 minutes per segment more than at the beginning, automatically making my pace faster.  For this training cycle, I'm running only for time and not for mileage.  This seems to take the pressure off for me to hit distances and paces.  I might change to running for distance for future cycles.

Half Marathon Pre-training

Week 1
Mon: run 35 minutes - the heat & humidity really killed me here.  I thought I was going to die.  My pace is really taking a hit as the summer rolls in.
Tues: yoga  Rest - work event
Wed: run/walk 42 min - my mileage is starting to creep up, and I can feel it by the end of the run.
Thurs: weights  yoga - finally!  I haven't been in a couple of weeks, and my hips were SOOO tight, they were sore the next day!
Fri: rest  weights
Sat: run/walk 42 min - I might be starting to acclimate to the humidity.  This run was slightly faster, but more importantly felt a lot better.  And no cramps!
Sun: weights

Via Bolt 5K

What was I thinking signing up for a race in south Alabama in June?  Apparently I momentarily forgot how freakin' hot and humid it gets down here.  But I can do anything for 3 miles, right?  Especially with the promise of post-race margaritas.

Packet pick-up did not bode well for this race.  The local race production company had not delivered the bibs or the final registration list.  Neither Mark nor I appeared on the list they did have, but they did have a swag bag for me.  That's right, a SWAG BAG for a local 5K with less than 100 participants.  Pretty cool.  But by the time I got there, 7 whole minutes after packet pickup opened, they had run out of my size t shirt.  Did I mention I was the 4th person in line?  Not sure what was going on there.

Since my effort to pick up our bibs the day before was foiled, we still had to get to the race early to get our bibs, and hold our breathe they'ed actually have bibs for us.  Spoiler - bib pickup wasn't an issue!

We got there a few minutes early and picked up our bibs.  Man, it was hot.  It was 77 degrees with 96% humidity when we got out of the car!   Via is a senior citizen's activity center, and they had the building open so people could wait in the A/C and use real bathrooms!  Score!

We walked about a quarter mile to the start.  I'd looked at the course ahead of time and saw we were running through pancake flat Midtown Mobile neighborhoods with old growth oaks and lots of shade, so my race plan involved running for a mile then walking a minute, repeat 3 times and BAM - under 40 minutes.  I did not take into account the extreme weather.  I didn't make it through running the first mile without some walking.  Mark had a better plan to run 10 minutes/ walk 1, but the heat even got to him.

I did love the course.  Some rough pavement (because the city cannot afford to keep its roads paved), but nice and flat and mostly shady, with lovely older homes and great people who left their sprinklers on for us.  One family even sat out with his hose to shower the runners.  That was much needed.

Pancake Flat

I walked probably a quarter of the race.  My legs felt great for the first two miles, but it was just so hot. All the runners I chatted with commented on the heat and how much slower they were because of it.  Even though I did PR (by one whole minute!), I was disappointed, because I knew I had more in me.  And I won't lie - the promise of a margarita did get me through the second half of the race.

The Via folks did a great job, from the goody bags and luau theme to having a water stop every mile and a water gun tunnel at the finish.  It would be an awesome race if they'ed move it back a few weeks.  The after party was really awesome.  They had all the usual goodies, the promised margaritas, cake and locally made ice cream.  Could this be the new chocolate milk for recovery?

The Margarita Lady

Based on this race, I know I have a sub-40 minute 5K in me right now.  Unfortunately, this will have to wait until sometime this fall, since race season around here has pretty much shut down for the summer.  At least I have something to look forward to in the fall!  And my new rule is no more summer races!

Results:
43:14 (1 minute PR!)
Overall: 70/98
Gender: 35/54
Women 35-39: 8/10

photos courtesy of Via Health, Fitness, and Enrichment Center

#Oiselle Showdown: Rogas vs. Gameday shorts

Disclaimer:  I purchased the products in this post.  All opinions are my own. But Oiselle can send me free clothes anytime!

Recently, a couple of deal of the day sites (here and here are my referral links if you feel so inclined) featured Oiselle at some great prices.  I love all Oiselle clothes, and I've been wanting to try some of their running shorts, so I snatched up a pair of Game Day shorts and a pair of what almost every runner on the internet raves about, the Rogas.  The Game Day's are basically a longer Roga with a wider leg.  Based on my experience with Oiselle tops and advice from the interwebz, I sized up to a large.

Both pairs of shorts have built in undies, an inside key pocket and an outside back zip packet, and a drawstring, which is a must-have for me in running gear.  They are the same lightweight tech fabric, which is soft and super comfortable, and has some crazy wicking skillz.


Roga Shorts

Obviously this isn't my belly.

Man, they are not kidding when they call these shorts!  Mark definitely gave these the thumbs up.  They are form fitting, and much shorter than my standby Nike's. I wore them for 10 minute running intervals (Couch to 5K Week 6 Day 2), and even though they rode up my big gal thighs some while I walked, they didn't ride up at all when I ran, which is good, because as short as these are there's not a whole lot of places to go!


Game Day Shorts

There is several more inches of fabric covering my upper thighs, which is a plus in my opinion.  The legs fit looser too, but they didn't give me diaper butt like Nike's do.  I wore these for 5 min run/3 min walk intervals (Couch to 5K Week 5 Day1) on the dreadmill in the stifling hot gym. I LOVE these shorts!  They wicked sweat something fierce, nothing chafed, the waist didn't ride up or fall down, and they didn't ride up at all in the legs.  WIN!


The Verdict

I like the Game Day shorts because they are roomier on my big girl thighs and hips and provide more coverage than the Rogas.  I can't find them on the Oiselle website, so I'll be a sad runner if they've been discontinued.

The May Rundown

Couch to 5K Graduate!  Last time I did this program I quit midway through and started running intervals.  Now I can run for 30+ minutes straight!

Ran my first race back since my injury!

Put 30 miles on the Brooks.  Took a couple of days off for some pain in my foot.  All a part of recovery, I guess.

REALLY sick of running 3/4 mile loops around my tiny neighborhood.

Where do I go from here?  Pushing the length of time I can run at one shot until I get to 35 minutes.  In a week or two I'm starting a Bridge to 10K training plan.  No, no race planned at the end of that one (way too hot in the middle of summer here for distance racing), but using it to build my base for half marathon training come September.  Both my 10K and half plans involve a run/walk strategy, which I embrace whole-heartedly, but with much longer run intervals than I did the first time around.  Hello PR!

How did your May shape up?

Probably Not Proper Fueling

Mark loves steak.  I cannot put into words how much Mark loves steak.  I have witnessed him eat steak with a side of steak. Hand to God.  We lucked up and scored some tickets from his employer to the Fairhope Rotary Steak Cookoff a couple of weeks ago.  All you can eat steak, beer and wine, and the Molly Ringwalds - the world's greatest '80's cover band- all for free?  Why sure, I'll change out of my snugly jammies for THAT!

Of course, the event fell on the night before my big RETURN TO RACING (yes, that deserves to be in all caps), and I'm not sure unlimited red meat and red wine is the *best* way to fuel for a race, but heck, it was just a 5K, and it's not like I was really gunning for a PR (or at least shouldn't have been!).

The rain barely put a damper on all the good food (and beer).  Yes, we paid for it the next day, but it was tons of fun.

I Am a Runner

Two years ago I took a dive into Couch to 5K for the first time.  I had never, ever run a step in my life.  Since then, I've run several races, finished a half-marathon, and run hundreds of miles. But finally, last Thursday, for the first time, I felt like a real runner.

Did I go fast?  No, in fact, the heat and humidity is starting to slow me down.

Did I finish without stopping?  No, I still had to stop once to catch my breath and recoup.

Was it suddenly easy?  No, it was still hard to finish those last few minutes.

So what changed?  I'm not exactly sure, but I think it was that, for the first time, I didn't question whether or not I would be able to go the distance, to finish the run.  I didn't have to bargain with myself as to how many times I would stop, and I didn't worry about being too slow or running too fast.  I barely glanced at my Garmin, except to not go out too fast and to time Mark through his intervals.  I just went out and ran, and at the end, I felt LIKE A RUNNER!

Return to Racing: Southern Napa Beer Run 5K

I made my triumphant return to racing this past Saturday!  It was my first race back since the Wine & Dine half last fall, and the first race that I haven't started with the intention of using run/walk intervals*.  So yay for me, and for you, because that means no more 8 month old race reports to read!  But since it's my first one back, it's gonna be really long, so hang in there!

 The Southern Napa Beer Run 5K wasn't a true beer run, just a 5K preceding the Southern Napa 99 Bottles of Beer on the Lawn festival, and yes, I realize that both my last 2 races have alcohol in the title, and no, I don't always run races with an alcohol theme, but yes, that does help.

Technically, I won't finish Couch to 5k until Friday, and I know there's no way I'm running 10 minute miles even if I was done with the program, but I decided that I'd run at least my scheduled 28 minutes and push as much as I could past that.  I mean, it's not like I'd break my foot or something.  Probably.

And really, I shouldn't have gone into this race gunning down a PR.  Coming back from an injury is goal enough.  But I've got this damn competitive streak, so I wasn't gonna be happy unless I got not just a PR, but like, a 5 minute PR.  I should be committed.

The run started at noon, so my body was already not liking that, and it was hard to fuel the morning of without making myself sick.  And for you it might just now be spring, with bunnies and flowers and 60 degree highs, but here in the Deep South it is nearly full on summer. It rained all Friday night and Saturday morning, but lucky for us the sun came out just in time for the race.  Full sun + wet asphalt = full on sauna.  It was 80+ degrees with 80%+ humidity.

It was a very small local race, just Mark, me, and 73 of our closest friends.  Very fast friends, by the way.

 I've run this area of town before, and I knew there would be hills, but I forgot just how big those hills were.  The route was a net uphill.  It might not seem like a lot to you, but I'm from Flatlandia, people!  These are mountains!
.

I planned to walk the hills, since my legs haven't seen a hill since October.  That didn't stop me from getting a calf cramp in the second mile.  I'm glad I wore my ProCompression sleeves, or else I might not have made it the rest of the route. I walked more than I wanted to, and really just wanted to go home and take a nap around mile 1.3.  Every time I'd get into a decent running rhythm, I'd have to stop and walk another hill.  But I put out my very best effort.  Mark did great too, coming back from his ITBS issues.  He beat me, again.

It is just mean to make you finish a race up hill.

Splits:

Mile 1 was mostly downhill.  Very much uphill over the next 2 miles.  And yes, the course was short.  I am irrationally angry about this, since I was well on  my way to at least a 2 minute PR.  At least Athlinks will forever think it was a PR that I will take years to beat.

I mentioned the field was a lot faster than me.

68/75
12/12 Female age group 36-45
36/41 female

Official time: 39:46

And then it was time for recovery.

*I'm not giving up on run/walk intervals.  They are still part of my long run plan.  But I want to be able to run a 5K without walk breaks and to run longer intervals for longer distances.