Ran 6

Posted on September 25, 2008 by threlkeld

Just did six slow miles outside. No, I didn’t really feel like running, but I got a pep talk this afternoon from a certain someone who can’t run at all at the moment. So I went out there and ran six for The Gipper.

My legs were stiff, and since it’s five days before my cycle, I feel like I weigh a thousand pounds and haven’t slept in a week. But I ran them.

It’s supposed to start pouring this evening and basically not stop until Sunday morning. So I figured I’d better get outside while the getting is good.

One day at a time.

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Feeling really bad again

Posted on September 25, 2008 by threlkeld

This, the first week of my three week taper, has not gone well. I took Monday and Tuesday off deliberately. Yesterday I felt horrible — elevated heart rate, slight nausea, general malaise, the whole nine yards. I struggled through two recovery runs anyway: a 3 miler in the morning and 5.5 miles in the evening.

This morning I work up feeling worse and with a resting heart rate even higher than yesterday’s. I actually feel fluish, although I don’t have a fever or other obvious symptoms of having picked up a bug. Needless to say, the 16 miler planned for this morning was right out. I took a bath, and lay down for awhile, neither of which helped.

So now I’m at a loss. I think I’m going to wait until I feel right again (and actually want to go running) before attempting another run. But I have no idea when that will be. In the meantime, my carefully planned taper training is going out the window.

I’ve worked so hard since May to train for this race, yet I have no confidence in my training and this latest week of feeling like crap isn’t helping. I’m beginning to wonder if I should bag the race altogether if things don’t look up soon.

I am not happy.

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Music for a long, fast run

Posted on September 20, 2008 by threlkeld

When I’m faced with the prospect of having to suffer through a fast run that will take me in the neighborhood of three hours to complete, I look to my MP3 player for distraction. Nay, inspiration! And, since I have to run fast, podcasts and audiobooks don’t cut it. No, I need the loudest, most testosterone-fueled sonic bombast that I can get my hands on.

Here is what I listened to on this morning’s run:

1. The Thousand Names Of God – Motorhead
2. Anarchy In The U.K. – The Sex Pistols
3. God Save The Queen – The Sex Pistols
4. Holidays In The Sun – The Sex Pistols
5. Bodies – The Sex Pistols
6. No Feelings – The Sex Pistols
7. Liar! – The Sex Pistols
8. Problems – The Sex Pistols
9. Seventeen – The Sex Pistols
10. Submission – The Sex Pistols
11. Pretty Vacant – The Sex Pistols
12. New York – The Sex Pistols
13. EMI – The Sex Pistols
14. Bonzo Goes To Bitburg – The Ramones
15. Going Underground – The Jam
16. That’s Entertainment – The Jam
17. 20th Century Boy – T. Rex
18. Crown Of Thorns – Social Distortion
19. Cold Feelings – Social Distortion
20. When The Angels Sing – Social Distortion
21. I Was Wrong – Social Distortion
22. Ring Of Fire – Social Distortion
23. Soul Kitchen – X
24. White Girl (Single Mix) – X
25. Los Angeles – X
26. No Cars Go – Arcade Fire
27. The Bell And The Butterfly – Charlatans U.K.
28. Around The World / Harder Better Faster Stronger – Daft Punk
29. Superheroes / Human After All / Rock’n Roll – Daft Punk
30. Only Happy When It Rains – Garbage
31. When I Grow Up – Garbage
32. Special – Garbage
33. Vow – Garbage
34. Celebrity Skin – Hole
35. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
36. North American Scum – LCD Soundsystem
37. That’s How People Grow Up – Morrissey
38. The Hand That Feeds – Nine Inch Nails
39. It’s My Life – No Doubt
40. Switch On – Paul Oakenfold
41. Think Tank – Public Image Ltd.
42. Dear Lover – Social Distortion
43. Untitled – Social Distortion
44. More Human Than Human – (Meet Bambi In The King’s Harem mix) – White Zombie
45. Problem Child – AC/DC
46. Get It Hot – AC/DC
47. Touch Too Much – AC/DC
48. Girls Got Rhythm – AC/DC
49. Highway To Hell – AC/DC
50. High Voltage – AC/DC
51. Back in Black – AC/DC
52. You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC

Lots of odd choices for a post-modern feminist like myself. But I guess that’s what makes me post modern.

I should add that “You Shook Me All Night Long” is my favorite running “power song.” I also hold the sincere opinion that it is one of the greatest musical recordings ever produced.

Filed under: music, tracks, training | 3 Comments »

The hay is in the barn.

Posted on September 20, 2008 by threlkeld

Today was my last big training run: a 22 miler with 9(ish) miles in the middle run not quite at (desired) marathon pace; more like as fast as I could muster. Which means 15-25 seconds slower than (desired) marathon pace. I am now questioning my fitness to run my (desired) marathon pace in three weeks, considering I’ve barely run more than a few miles in any given training run at it.

Was it the dreadful summer heat and humidity? Not enough recovery? Failure to adapt to training enough to reach my desired level of fitness? All of the above? What speed I can reliably hold over 26.2 miles is anyone’s guess right now. And I don’t like that.

Perhaps I will undergo a miraculous regeneration in the coming few weeks and, with (I hope) cooler temperatures, I’ll pull a rabbit out of my hat (or shorts) on race day. But a part of me is thinking I need to readjust my plans and expectations. What I do know is that the first 10 miles of a marathon should feel ridiculously easy and slow. So I think my entire strategy is going to be built around that maxim: Find a pace in the first few miles that seems absurdly easy and stick with it through the halfway point. Then start turning up the heat and engaging in my favorite marathon game of chance: “Guess When Julie Will Blow Up!”

The weather was astonishing this morning. Perfect. It was in the low sixties and dry. It was, as always, very windy (both coming and going). But I felt good until around mile 18 when I started to bonk. But, with only four miles to go (and a Powerbar in the car), I was fine.

I parked the car at Hartsdale Station and ran down to Bronxville with an 8 mile warmup at easy pace. Then I turned on the jets (cough cough) on the way back and ran all the way up to the Kensico Dam in Valhalla. Availed myself of the Ladies Room, sat on a bench inwardly whining for awhile, and then hit the road again for the last 5.5 miles.

There was not one but two huge training groups out there. I think one was a Team in Training group, since about a quarter of them had their distinctive purple TNT singlets on. There must have been 30 people, judging by the collection of bags they left in the park in Hartsdale. The other group was operating out of a van in the North White Plains train station parking lot. They were all so young, fresh and enthusiastic. Not at all like me! I wonder if they’re training for the New York marathon. It was nice to share the path with so many friendly runners today.

I did my big run today because tomorrow we drive up to Connecticut for what my uncle’s wife, Diane, is calling The World’s Smallest Family Reunion, and I’d like to be able to display something resembling a lively personality (which is out of the question after a hard 22 miler). I’m meeting one of my two second cousins, (father’s side), Ann (and her husband, Greg) for the first time in probably around 35 years. My dad and his wife, and my uncle and his are also coming. Except for going to Iowa in the spring for my grandmother’s demise, followed by her funeral, I’ve not traveled at all this year. And I don’t exactly count those two trips as “vacations.” So, even though it’s just two nights away, I booked us a tony suite in a B&B. I have extensive family history, good food and wine, and the possibility of getting to help cook in a real restaurant kitchen on Monday evening to look forward to. And, I’m certain, a lot of great conversation and company.

Filed under: eating, everyday life, training, travel | 3 Comments »

Better

Posted on September 18, 2008 by threlkeld

I felt better yesterday morning, so I went out and did the planned 14 miler at easy/general aerobic (Pfitz’s term) pace of 8:15 average. I didn’t throw in any hills, as my calves and achilles’ were quite sore and I didn’t want to irritate them further. Then I did a four mile recovery run in the evening and was quite tired (not surprisingly; that second run of the day after a hard run in the morning is usually pretty difficult).

I slept 9+ hours last night and, although I feel pretty good this morning, I’m skipping the planned morning run. I’ll see how I feel later in the day. I may take the whole day off if I still feel tired.

It’s supposed to get very cool starting tomorrow. So I’m hoping to be fully recovered for a big run on Saturday morning. If I’m not, I’ll push it into next week. Or skip it.

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Je suis fatigué

Posted on September 16, 2008 by threlkeld

When I mapped out my training schedule for the fall, I knew I’d be tired this week. For the past 12 weeks I’ve run an average of just under 90 miles per week; for the seven weeks prior to that I averaged 78 mpw. The majority of days I’ve run twice a day. I’ve had just four full recovery weeks since mid May. During nearly all of the non-recovery weeks I’ve done a long run and two other hard workouts.

Here’s where all this leads — the apex of exhaustion (or nadir of energy, if you like): I slept nine hours last night but woke up feeling drained and sleep-deprived anyway. I sat in a near coma for an hour or two, attempting to motivate myself to go out and do a 10 mile run with hills. Then I went to lie down for an hour. I finally managed to drag myself out the door for a five mile recovery run. Five hours later I feel like I ran a race this morning.

I remember being very tired at the peak of training last season, so I was expecting this. But it’s amazing how pervasive and all-consuming the fatigue is today. And, naturally, I beat myself up for missing a key workout (even though I’d noted in the schedule to “drop this run if too tired” — prescient, no?).

I’m also famished basically all the time. I crave very specific foods, like sunflower seeds, honey and pineapple. I am shoveling food in like coal into a roaring furnace.

Whether to try another run later on today is something I’m still mulling over. I’m hoping that, as so often happens, I’ll awake tomorrow a new woman, full of vim and vigor and aching to get my 6.6 oz. racing flats out on the road tomorrow morning. If that’s the case, I’ll do my 14 miler as planned and maybe even throw in some hill repeats to boot. If I still wake up feeling like warmed over dog food, I’ll take it easy again tomorrow.

This is my 18th week of training and I feel as if I’ve been dropped from a high building. I’ve seen marathon training plans that go for 24 or 26 weeks. I think I’d be dead right now if I tried to follow one of those.

What’s funny — and this is why experience is such a good thing — is that I know in two weeks I’ll feel like a million bucks. And in three weeks I’ll feel like a billion. Then I’ll be on the starting line, with my legs feeling like two lit rockets, and I’ll actually have to hold myself back. I can’t imagine a more foreign sensation right now, yet I know it’s coming.

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Fall Training: Weeks 16 and 17

Posted on September 14, 2008 by threlkeld

And…yet another twofer report. It’s just been easier to bunch these up into fortnightly reports, especially since in my current haze of exhaustion the weeks are a total blur anyway.

The first week of September provided somewhat drier, yet still warm, temperatures — up until the end of the week. It’s hurricane season — I know: so what? — well, we get the hurricanes after they flatten villages and kill people in the Gulf. They don’t kill us, but they irritate the hell out of us.

I started extending the length of my recovery runs by a mile or two to bump up the mileage. Other than that, things looked the same as in previous weeks: Lots of recovery running plus two or three hard sessions per week.

Week 16 consisted of 13 sessions, most of them (as per usual) recovery runs. Highlights included another sorry attempt at one of Frank’s Killer Tempo Runs. Given the weather and the fact that I seem to be incapable of running fast on the track, I approached this run loosely, doing 25 laps on and off heart rate in the high 80s/low 80s. Good enough. On Thursday I attempted another marathon pace run. I made adjustments due to the conditions (high dew point and windy). I hit 7:15 for a couple of the miles, but was slower for most others. Then the week was capped with a 10 mile race in South Nyack, a normally sticky race made even stickier by Hurricane Gustav. Again, slower than I wanted to go, but it was okay.

In week 17, this past week, also featured 13 sessions. I did another, longish tempo run, but this time on the roads. Instead of doing mile repeats as originally planned, I decided to do quarter mile surges at a pace anywhere from tempo to slightly faster than marathon pace, followed by quarter-to-half-mile easy pace recoveries. With temps in the 60s and a dew point of 55, this run went extremely well. Since the weather was really bad for the first part of the week, I moved the tempo run to Wednesday. Which meant I had to skip the midweek long run if I wanted to be in decent shape for the weekend. So I spent the next few days focusing on recovery so I could get ready for another big weekend effort in Central Park: 20+ miles with 12 miles at marathon pace effort.

A look back at training week 16:

  • Monday: 7 miles recovery pace (AM); 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 7.4 miles tempo pace (AM); 6.8 miles recovery pace (pm)
  • Wednesday: 6.9 miles recovery pace (AM); 6.2 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Thursday: 14 miles marathon pace (AM); 4.8 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Friday: 6.9 miles recovery pace (AM); 4.6 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Saturday: 6.9 miles recovery pace (AM); 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Sunday: 10 mile race (AM)

Total mileage: 91.2 miles

And training week 17:

  • Monday: 7.1 miles recovery pace (AM); 6.2 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 6.9 miles recovery pace (AM); 6.2 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Wednesday: 9.8 miles tempo pace (AM); 4.8 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Thursday: 6.9 miles recovery pace (AM); 6 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Friday: 6.8 miles recovery pace (AM); 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Saturday: 20.4 mile long run with 12 miles at marathon effort (AM); lots of eating and sleeping (PM)
  • Sunday: 6.9 miles recovery pace (AM); 6.1 miles recovery pace (PM)

Total mileage: 99 miles

Paces these past two weeks:

  • Recovery: 9:30 – 10:45
  • Tempo: 6:32 – 7:21
  • Marathon pace: 7:15 – 7:30
  • Long: 8:04

Right now we’re in the grip of Ike’s heat and humidity. This morning was another run in Hades, followed by a run in a slightly higher circle of Hell in the evening. It was only after catching up on my blog reading that I realized that the Queens Half Marathon was held this morning. Bravo to the hardy souls, including Pigtails Flying (who PR’ed! Yay!), who braved 87% humidity to run that race this morning. I’m glad I wasn’t there…

Coming up in Training Week 18: This is the last big week of training before my three week taper begins. I have 100 miles planned, with hill work, a midweek long run, and another very long run on the weekend with lots of fast miles.

Filed under: central park, racing, training | 1 Comment »

Ugh!

Posted on September 4, 2008 by threlkeld

Thursday temperatures could meet or exceed the 91 degree record from 1961. Realfeel temps expected to be 94.
— Weather.com

So here I am, having dutifully gotten up at 5AM in order to do my 14 miler with 8-10 at Mpace+20 seconds per mile. And it’s already hot and humid. The sun’s not even up yet.

The forecast for Sunday’s race in South Nyack is even better: Pouring rain, high humidity (obviously) and possible high winds.

All things considered, at least I don’t live in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or along the Gulf Coast (for a variety of reasons, not limited to bad weather, I am thankful for this). I’ve chosen not to live in the path of hurricanes. So why must I — and my training — still suffer? Why? Why?

Which also begs the question: Should I bother going running this morning? Or should I just go back to bed and shoot myself?

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What is it about the track?

Posted on September 2, 2008 by threlkeld

I did a tempo run on the Bronxville track this morning. Sort of. Due to residual tiredness from Sunday’s hard run plus the usual (and by now quite tiresome) factors of heat, humidity and wind, it ended up turning into another marathon pace run, since I couldn’t run fast enough to hit the tempo paces.

I realized today that I hate running on the track. I hate it. Yes, “hate” is a strong word. It’s the word I want: Hate. I hate the track.

Why is it that I can run +/- 7:00 minutes per mile in a race or during a longer run on the road, with hills even, but I have so much trouble managing that pace on a nice, flat track? I think it must be mental. Going round and round, knowing exactly how fast (or, in my case, how slow) you’re going, orange and white, orange and white, orange and white. Gack.

I wonder if it’s possible to become a very fast marathon runner without ever setting foot on a track.

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Fall Training: Weeks 14 and 15

Posted on September 1, 2008 by threlkeld

Another twofer report. I’ve been astonishingly busy lately with work and other things. I promised I’d get caught up on the training reports today, so here I am.

Week 14 was a recovery week in which I’d planned to run about 55 miles, most of them recovery miles. Things were going well until the weekend. The week’s mileage got cut down to just under 40 due to (as Alka Seltzer puts it in quaint nineteenth century parlance) “overindulgence in food and drink.”

We had friends over on Saturday evening, and they brought not only hours of good conversation with them but also a huge box of delicious treats from Billy’s Bakery consisting of highly concentrated amounts of sugar and fat. Yum. They left at midnight, but we were so wired that we stayed up until around 3AM watching the Tivo’d mens Olympic marathon and pouring ourselves more buckets of wine. Needless to say, that 14 miler I’d planned for Sunday morning was conveniently forgotten about.

So that week was a lot easier than originally planned. Not surprisingly, I felt very recovered going into week 15. I think I may experiment with radical mileage cut downs during some recovery weeks (to a third rather than half) during the next training cycle, since my workouts this past week went very well. Could being adequately rested have had something to do with that?

Last week was crazy busy with work (both my full-time contracting gig and extra freelance). Long hours punctuated by lots of running. I also slept horribly during the early part of the week for mysterious reasons. I had a good general aerobic (easy) run on Tuesday, and threw in some strides. Then did a longer recovery run on Wednesday, and then felt horrible that evening: Heavy legs, no energy, crappy attitude. I went to bed that night believing that I’d feel better the next day, and, lo, I did. So much better that I knocked out a 21 mile progressive long run, which averaged an 8:03 pace and even featured the last two-thirds of a mile at 6:35 pace!*

Was I satisfied with that? Of course not. 72 hours later I proceeded to go out and run a smokin‘ hot marathon pace run on Sunday morning: 12+ miles with 4 marathon pace miles thrown in at various points in the run. I met or exceeded my target pace of 7:10 too, with my heart rate right about where it should be during each Mpace mile interval. Go, me.

A look back at training week 14 (recovery week):

  • Monday: Off
  • Tuesday: Off
  • Wednesday: 5.2 miles recovery pace (AM); 4.2 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Thursday: 9.9 miles recovery pace (AM)
  • Friday: 5.2 miles recovery pace (AM); 4.6 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Saturday: 10.4 miles recovery pace (AM); Bacchanalian merriment and self abuse (PM)
  • Sunday: Off

Total mileage: 39.6 miles

And training week 15:

  • Monday: 7.4 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 7.2 easy run + strides (AM); 4.2 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Wednesday: 9.7 miles recovery pace (AM); 2 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Thursday: 21 mile long run (progressive) (AM); what, are you kidding? (PM)
  • Friday: 7.1 miles recovery pace (AM); 5.1 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Saturday: 6.8 miles recovery pace (AM); 5 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Sunday: 12.2 miles marathon pace (AM); 4.3 miles recovery pace (PM)

Total mileage: 91.7 miles

Paces these past two weeks:

  • Recovery: 8:48 – 10:58
  • Easy: 7:45 – 8:15
  • Marathon pace: 7:05 – 7:08
  • Long: 6:35 – 8:55

In other news, I made the rather radical decision to cut off huge amounts of my hair. I now have a haircut that makes me look pretty much like a slightly taller Cindy Lou Who. Now that I’m used to it, I’m now thinking it’s not short enough. I may go for a Mia Farrow During the Sinatra Years cut next time…

Also, since drinking and TV constitute two of the remaining joys (and vices) in my life, I will share the recent discovery that a vodka martini with two olives contains a mere 220 calories! Also, there’s a new series on Sundance starting next weekend, written by and starring Jennifer Saunders, The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle. Between this and the new season of Dexter, I am beside myself.

Coming up in Fall Training Week 16: Another one of Frank’s Killer Tempo runs on Tuesday, a 14 miler run at 105% marathon pace on Thursday and an exciting 10 mile race on Sunday.

* Why did I run this fast? Because there was a guy on my heels for the last 3-4 miles who was driving me a little nuts. Since my run was a progressive/fast finish effort, I was running those miles faster and faster. I’d speed up. Then he’d speed up. Finally, toward the end, I could hear him closing in on me.

I decided that I may as well use the opportunity to work on “mental toughness.” So I pretended we were in a race (which I suppose we sort of were) and that there was no way I was going to let him beat me to the finish. Since he kept speeding up, I guess 6:35 was what I had to run in order to “win”. I had no clue I could even run that fast over that distance, let alone at the end of a hard 20 miler. I suppose it’s a good illustration of how racing environments can introduce motivational factors that are very difficult to duplicate in a solo training run.

Filed under: humor, training | 4 Comments »

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