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Boston Week 12 Recap

March 28, 2012 by Kristy 29 Comments

Taper time! Well, taper time mileage-wise that is. I still have 22 miles to bang out on Saturday (the final dress rehearsal) and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a wee bit nervous.

The Boston welcome package came in the mail this weekend and confirmed what I already knew: I’m representin’ the rear of Wave 2!

I can’t be surprised. Remember, I just made the cut-off for Boston.

If a bug flew in my eye or I sneezed violently, I wouldn’t be running Boston.

I’m just so happy to be in Wave 2 Smile

Boston Week 12 Recap
MON: 7 easy – my legs were so tired at the beginning of the week. I kept Monday and Tuesday’s runs easy.
TUE: 8 easy
WED: 11 tempo with 9 at MP – during this run I realized that this was my 5th consecutive day of running, or 52 miles. No wonder I felt like crap.
THU: rest!!!
FRI: 4 easy
SAT: 15 hilly miles (8:32 average pace)
SUN: 5 easy – up bright and early at 6AM to get this in!

So my peak week that wasn’t turned out pretty good! 50 miles total, which I was happy about considering how tired my legs were in the beginning of the week.

Less than 3 weeks to go…

Three Torturous Loops

March 26, 2012 by Kristy 17 Comments

For the past few weeks I’ve been studying the Boston course. A book, YouTube videos, race recaps from other bloggers – you name it, I probably read it.

I’m not so concerned with the quad-thrashing downhills. I ran Steamtown in 2010 – a course where the first 8 miles are practically downhill – and I was fine for the later uphill miles. I’m so glad I had the experience of Steamtown before Boston.

I’m more concerned with my ability to maintain MP over all the hills. Let me rephrase that…I know I won’t be able to maintain MP on all the uphills so I’m worried about it affecting my overall time. Definitely a valid concern.

My typical long run route is a hilly 5-mile loop with the perfect mix of all types of hills: long, windy stretches, short, steep climbs, and rolling hills. The flat stretches are few and far between and rarely last a half mile. I generally do 2 loops and then transition to a flat, paved trail for the final miles.

This week I did 3 torturous loops totaling 15 miles. Whoa, was it tough. I’m hoping this is a worst case scenario and Boston is a bit easier! I climbed the hills strong and tried to pick up the pace in between. I finished in 2:08 (8:32 average pace).

I wore my Oiselle distance shorts and, as suspected, they were perfect.

Taken post-run. I was a sweaty beast.

On Sunday, I spectated the OD Marathon since my sister was running it. Spectating is almost as fun as running one! The race was so small – my sister said they capped it around1500 runners. Can you believe the race wasn’t chip timed? I think that’s terrible for a marathon.

Just before Mile 12

Finishing strong!

My sister did a great job and she said it was the best she has ever felt in a marathon.

Have you ever run a marathon that wasn’t chip timed? Or a half marathon? Luckily, I haven’t. Most of the 5Ks I’ve done were not but that’s expected…and potentially dangerous if you have a large, competitive field. Everyone wants to be in the front but not everyone is going to start off running a 6:00 minute mile.

The peak week that wasn’t…

March 23, 2012 by Kristy 20 Comments

I find it hard to write a post solely on 1 topic these days. It seems my head is bouncing back and forth. It’s going to be a long 3 week taper…bear with me Smile

5 days in-a-row or 52 miles
I generally never run 5 consecutive days. I had to be a little creative with getting all my runs in this week so I ended up with running 5 days in-a-row. I didn’t really realize it until the 5th day, which called for 11 miles with 9 at MP. My legs felt like lead the entire time and MP felt difficult. I couldn’t figure out why until it dawned on me that I ran 52 miles in the last 5 days. No shit my legs are tired. Funny how we can miss the little details.

So my grand plans for hitting 50 miles this week were foiled. Thursday was a much needed rest day and this morning I ran 4 easy miles to be on the safe side. I have 15 tomorrow that I hope to do at MP.

Does all this matter? No. I had a great training cycle and I’m healthy going into the taper. That’s what matters.

Can I freeze time?
I was excited for Boston for so long (or I guess I should say waited for Boston for so long); I’m already a little sad that time is passing so quickly. These next 3 weeks will fly by and before I know it, it’ll all be over. I am going to savor these last few weeks and enjoy each and every mile.

My new love: Oiselle Distance Shorts
Umm, these are awesome. It’s like running without shorts on (that’s the more accurate way I can describe it). The length is perfect, the fit is perfect, they don’t bunch, they don’t chafe. They are perfect. Once I get another long run in them, they will be my marathon shorts.

They run a little big. I have 2 Oiselle tops – a jacket and a long-sleeved T – that run small (I normally wear a small but have a medium in these items). I initially got a size medium thinking they would run small and the mediums were too big. The small fits great (sidenote: if you want to gauge what size to buy I wear a small in the Nike tempo shorts).

Shout-outs
My sister is running the OD Marathon on Sunday! Karyn, you WILL do great. We’ll see you at the halfway point and finish! Run strong!!!

Good luck to Beth who is running her first ultra on Saturday!

Got a favorite pair of running shorts to rave about?

Things that go bump in the night and Boston week 11 recap

March 20, 2012 by Kristy 25 Comments

Thanks to Daylight Savings, my early morning runs begin in complete darkness. Luckily, my neighbor (Maximus, his blog alias) has been running weekdays with me. It’s really nice having a “bodyguard” so to speak. Without him, I would be running a well lit section of trail – a span of about 2 miles – back and forth until the sun came up and I could enter the “woods”.

I call it the “woods” although it’s anything but. Essentially the paved trail moves into a tree lined section. I never enter the “woods” without complete daylight. It’s scary when it’s dark. Even running with Maximus we are both on high alert. Like yesterday when I ran behind Maximus and over to the other side of the trail because I mistook a trash can as a person crouching down and ready to attack (told you it was dark)! I really need to lay off the I Survived the night before a run (sidenote: does anyone watch that show? It’s great!).

Anyways, this week is my last big push mileage-wise before Boston. Most people running Boston are doing their 22-miler this weekend. I’m running 15 this weekend and then 22 next weekend. I do a 3-week taper in terms of mileage but a 2-week taper in terms of my long run. It’s different but it works well for me.

Boston Week 11 Recap
MON: 8 easy
TUE: 10 tempo: 4 faster than MP and 3 at HMP (plus WU and CD miles) + barre class –> I definitely took the bus to crazy town this day. I was exhausted at the end of barre and my legs felt like jello. Never again!
WED: rest!
THU: 7 speed –> and a sub-7:00 min/mi appearance!
FRI: rest
SAT: 20 18 miles –> tough run; my legs were trashed!
SUN: 8 easy

51 miles for the week!

Ever run in the dark and think things like stop signs are out to get you? Or is that just me? We also see bikers with headlights riding 2 across and it looks like a car on the trail coming at us <– that is scary!

Anyone running Boston doing a 2-week taper? Anyone a fan of the 2-week taper?

Boston Week 11 Recap

Weekend Updates

March 19, 2012 by Kristy 22 Comments

In no particular order…

My new lucky number…
Is 17983. That’s what bib number I’ll be wearing on April 16th! Boston released bib, wave, and corral info on Friday. I’m in Wave 2, Corral 9…or 2/9, my birthday Smile

The 20-miler that wasn’t…
I was supposed to run 20 miles on Saturday (20-miler #4). By mile 12, I was aware of 3 things: (1) my legs were trashed. Maybe mile repeats 2 days before wasn’t the best idea or maybe all the miles and intensity of the Monster Month are getting to me? (2) my right hamstring was tight. This is 100% my fault, as I’ve slacked off a bit with my PT exercises. And (3) damn, it’s hot out!

I decided to back off my pace (I was running 8:30s up until that point). There is no sense in pushing the pace when my hammie feels tight. By mile 16 I wanted to be DONE. Oh god, was I hating life. I followed my gut and cut it short at mile 18. I wasn’t doing my legs any favors by running 2 more miles “just to make it 20”. I finished in 2:40 (8:53 average pace).

On Sunday I ran 8 easy and felt good. Just some residual soreness but otherwise OK. My gut is always right!

Low-key St. Patty’s Day
Staying home and drinking beer on the deck and watching basketball was the perfect SPD celebration.

Miller Lite looks classy in a frosted glass

So very true…
I saw this on Run The Edge’s FB page over the weekend. When I read through the comments, I couldn’t believe how many people didn’t get it or are completely void of a sense of humor.

Any part of the meme ring true to you? I love “what my mom thinks I do”. If you can’t read it, it’s basically a creepy man asking if you want to come to his house for candy. And…aren’t we all Kara and Shalane when we run?!

Check out my guest post on Terzah’s blog!

Peaking!

March 16, 2012 by Kristy 21 Comments

Said to the tune of “WINNING”.

Winning, Courtney-style (via)

I’ve mentioned numerous times that this training cycle has been tough mentally. I felt like I wasn’t getting faster, wasn’t seeing improvement, blah, blah, blah. Self doubt at its best. Even though I know I don’t generally see improvement until the end of a training cycle, I was still impatient.

I was getting the most frustrated at the track. Track workouts aren’t my favorite to begin with and my times were pretty stagnant and wreaking havoc mentally. So I took a break from the track. We needed some time apart.

For the past 3 weeks, I continued with speed work but instead of repeats I added more hills, tempo, and progression runs. As the wise Meggie said, solid and consistent hard work doesn’t disappear or go to waste. Remember that. Thank you Meggie for that comment. Those words have been in the back of my mind for the past few weeks.

Thursday I returned to the track for 3×1-mile repeats. I already decided I would do them at 10K pace (roughly 7:35-7:40) since I have 20 miles on Saturday. It was dark out and I couldn’t see my Garmin so I went by effort. After the first lap I took a peek at my Garmin was pretty shocked to see 6:40 as my average pace. WHAT?! I knew I had 3 laps to go and would never maintain that pace. I have never run a sub-7:00 minute/mile in my life.

With a half lap to go I peeked again and saw 7:02 average pace. I kicked it up a notch and finished in 6:59!!! Just barely under 7:00 but I’ll take it. The best part? I wasn’t dying. Yes, it was faster than 10K effort but my breathing was more controlled than expected.

My next 2 repeats were closer to 10K pace (7:19 and 7:20), but still faster than I predicted.

I’m definitely peaking as they say. I’m also running on some very tired legs. I hope this all translates into a sub-3:40 at Boston! Speaking of which, today marks the 1-month countdown!

Got a running breakthrough to brag about? It doesn’t have to be a PR…maybe a distance you never though you’d run or a pace you never thought you’d hit.