marathon

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Race Report

April 4, 2011 by Kristy 16 Comments

Matt and I made it back to Philly safe and sound, albeit a little sore from yesterday’s race. We had a great weekend in DC and realized how much we miss living there. Thankfully, we get to visit quite often!

I loved this race and would definitely do it again. Fast and flat course, much like Philly’s Broad Street Run. Well organized with the exception of numerous locked porta potties pre-race. Apparently no one had the key either so race officials had to literally hammer the locks off. Nice. The weather ended up being perfect too; just a little cold at the start.

The only goal I made known to the blog world was to PR (beat my 1:23 time). I was pretty sure I could do this. On the way down to DC, I told Matt that I wanted to break 1:20. Lofty? Yes. I knew exactly what that entailed – maintaining a sub-8:00 pace for 10 miles. I wasn’t sure if I could do that…but I needed to try.

My strategy was to start out slow (always the best way to go) and then pick up the pace to just below 8:00 and keep it there. We had to check in our bags pretty early so we were left hanging in the cold for almost a 1/2 hour. My body was literally trembling and my muscles were getting stiff. I knew I needed to take the first mile easy to allow my body to warm up.

Mile 1 (8:14): right on target. This is exactly what I wanted to do. We started by running down a small hill and I heard someone say that we get to come back up the hill at the end of the race. I was hoping he was wrong and they had somehow changed to course.

Mile 2 (7:51): a little fast but my breathing was nice and controlled. By this time I had completely warmed up.

Mile 3 (7:43): this is where I committed to running a sub-1:20. I felt good and I wanted to give it a shot. I figured if I crashed and burned at Mile 6 I would probably still PR. I just had to try.

Miles 4 and 5 (both ~ 7:49): I missed the mile marker for Mile 4. Saying that I was glued to my Garmin would be an understatement. I must have glanced at it every 10 seconds.

Miles 6 (7:49) and 7 (7:50): a beautiful section of the course. We entered East Potomac Park and were running between rows of cherry blossoms along the river.

Miles 8 (7:49) and 9 (7:48): I start to get tired and I have to really push to maintain pace. I kept thinking back to my last marathon and how I felt like slowing down at Mile 23 but didn’t allow myself to give in. There was no way I was going to work my butt off for 23 miles and then slow down for the last 3?! That just didn’t make sense. I used the same thinking here – you came this far, do NOT give up.

Mile 10 (7:42): Remember the slight hill I mentioned during Mile 1? Well it reappeared during the last 1/4 mile. Fun. I plowed up it and then saw the finish line. I can’t believe I ran the last mile in 7:42!!!! I wanted that sub-1:20!!!

Official results:
1:19:12 (7:56 pace)
age group: 135/1857 (woo hoo!)

This is so helpful mentally with a marathon less than 4 weeks away 🙂

Matt’s results: 1:42:57 (10:18 pace). Matt doesn’t train at all. Literally rolls out of bed and pulls 10:00 min/miles outta nowhere!

Now for the fun stuff – pictures! I was a good blogger and made sure I snapped a few along the way…

DSCN0193 — Foam roller doubles as a tripod. Can you spot the White Chocolate Wonderful in the background?!

Washington-20110403-00029 — Sun rising over the Washington Monument

Washington-20110403-00032 — Post-race...so pretty!

I have to provide some background for the next picture. Matt has these gloves from a race he did a few years ago. They say “one more mile” on them. Every time he puts them on he says to me, “You know me…just one more mile. That’s my mantra”. If you know Matt, this is hysterical. Remember, he doesn’t train. One more mile is torture to him. After I took this picture, I almost peed myself.

I hope I didn’t bore you to tears! Thank you for your kind comments on my PR. They meant a lot to me and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them!

Hawk Does D.C.

April 2, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

Greetings from D.C.! Matt and I are happy to be back. We lived here for 3 years after college for grad school. We have so many good memories of this place and met so many great people (Matt and I lovingly refer to them as the “DC peeps”; we are still friends with all of them to this day).

We hit up the expo which was very crowded and uneventful, except for the weather. One minute sun…

The next minute crazy wind and hail. Yeah, waiting in line outside was fun.

Then we took Mr. Hawk for a long walk into Georgetown.

Since I’m all about honesty on Run The Long Road, I must make a confession. I broke down and ate a cupcake. I even photographed my evidence! If you missed my post a few days ago, I gave up sweets until after the marathon. I made it about a week. Maybe I should just focus on giving up DQ Blizzards until after the marathon?! In my defense, we barely ate lunch and my blood sugar was dropping to dangerously low levels.

DSCN0191 — Vanilla bean cupcake - it was delicious!

Off to dinner…and then to bed. Got a very early wake-up call tomorrow.

Tapering For A Tune-Up Race

March 28, 2011 by Kristy 8 Comments

3/28/11

6 miles easy

57:30

9:35 avg pace

Brr, still chilly Philly here…with no end in sight. Waaah!

As I mentioned yesterday, my training this week will be switched up a bit to allow for a mini-taper for Sunday’s Cherry Blossom 10-Miler. I really want to PR in this race (previous 10-mile PR is 1:23) but I still need to maintain my weekly mileage and key workouts. Also, since I’m knee deep into the Monster Month, my legs aren’t as fresh for racing. So this mini-taper is really necessary. So how do you finagle a mini-taper into marathon training for a tune-up race?

With the race on Sunday, I know I want 2 days of complete rest (meaning no running; an easy yoga class is OK). This has worked well for me in the past. So Friday and Saturday are mandatory rest days. I got my easy run out of the way today and I will do my long run tomorrow morning (thankfully, it’s only 15 miles this week). This will allow enough time for recovery before Sunday. That leaves a tempo run and speed work. I’m counting my race on Sunday as my speed work for this week (I will be running like someone is chasing me) and my tempo run will be on Thursday. The tempo will also be at an easier pace (goal marathon pace) so I can recover faster. For you visual people:

MON: easy run
TUE: long run
WED: rest/yoga
THU: tempo
FRI: rest/yoga
SAT: rest
SUN: race

I’m still getting in my 39 miles for the week and still hitting my key workouts.

I’m a big advocate for doing tune-up races during marathon or half marathon training. Your tune-up race can be great practice for the “big event”. But sometimes fitting them in your training schedule can be difficult. It’ll require some planning and a little knowledge about your own recovery but it’s totally worth it 🙂

Do you have any mini-taper tips? How do you handle racing and training at the same time?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2011 by Kristy 4 Comments

3/17/11

6 miles easy

10:00 pace

A nice, easy run on the treadmill this morning while catching up on Teen Mom 2.

I hope everyone is sportin’ some green today! I am! I love SPD…one of my favorite days of the year (even though I no longer actively celebrate the holiday 🙁 ). It also means the start of March Madness and the first day of Spring is around the corner. YEAH!

Earlier this week, Aron wrote a post about the fear of racing. I completely related to her post and commented about something I read last year before my marathon. The timing of this article could not have been better. I was about to enter the taper period and was struggling with self-doubt. I knew I was capable of a sub-4:00 marathon but I knew my obstacles were all in my head. I was sitting in a doctor’s office mindlessly paging through an issue of Liberty Sports Magazine. I came across an article called The Myth of Positive Thinking. Needless to say I was curious. I remember a light bulb going off when I finished the article. This makes sense! I equated dropping the rope as “letting go” of any negative thoughts. Come race day, this was my mantra. I must have said “let go” a thousand times. For the first time ever during a marathon, my mind was relaxed and at peace. It really worked!

20 Miles – Take 2

February 19, 2011 by Kristy 5 Comments

2/19/11

20 miles

3:05

9:15 avg pace (damn you wind)

Lesson learned: don’t run 20 miles when there is a wind advisory. When I checked weather.com last night, it said 25 mph winds with gusts up to 40 mph. Hmmm. I really wanted to get this done on Saturday and not push the run to Sunday so I figured it would be a training in mental toughness. Oh it was. I threw all hopes of maintaining a consistent pace out the window and just tried to run along with and against the wind. At certain points I must have looked like the biggest jackass because the gusts were so severe my running slowed to a crawl (I seriously thought I was going to levitate).

running in the wind — That was me...minus the palm trees

(source)

Two things made this run bearable: (1) it’s not that cold so the wind wasn’t that biting, straight-to-your-bones feeling and (2) my neighbor, “Maximus“, joined me for the first 8 miles!

I won’t bore you with splits. To be honest, I’m exhausted and don’t feel like retrieving them. Let’s just say that eastbound was great (wind at my back) and westbound was a nightmare.

I’m looking forward to hanging in tonight with Matt and Hawk and watching Friday Night Lights. A beer or two may be consumed. And lots of carbs.

Have a great weekend everyone!

PS: Wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Anne who just completed her first race this morning, the Frostbite 5 Miler. She did awesome, despite all the wind. Apparently power lines were down and they had to re-route the course. She ran a great race…I’m very proud of her!

New Boston Qualifying Standards

February 16, 2011 by Kristy 2 Comments

So much for celebrating my jump to the next age category in Boston (read about that here)! Today the B.A.A. announced new registration guidelines for 2012 and new qualifying standards for 2013.

Thanks to Cindi for posting this info on her blog!

Jeez, looks like I need that 3:40 after all…unless I qualify for the 2012 race and then cross my fingers that I can register with their new “rolling admission”! I got my work cut out for me!

2012 Boston Marathon

For the 2012 Boston Marathon, registration will extend for two weeks, beginning on Monday, September 12, 2011 and continuing until Friday, September 23, 2011. The qualifying times for the 2012 Boston Marathon will not change from recent past years since the standards had been previously announced and have been in effect since last September. However, the new registration process addresses the increased demand among qualified runners to participate in the Boston Marathon and will accommodate those who are the fastest qualifiers first.

Registration will occur on a “rolling admission” schedule until the maximum field size is reached, beginning with the fastest qualifiers. On the first day of registration for the 2012 Boston Marathon, those who are eligible for entry by having met the qualifying standards for their age and gender group by 20 minutes or more will be able to enter on the first day of registration (September 12). On the third day (September 14), registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by 10 minutes or more. On the fifth day (September 16), registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by five minutes or more. During this first week of registration, applicants will be notified as they are accepted and their qualifying performance verified.

If the field size is not reached after the first week and additional space remains, then registration will open to all qualifiers at the beginning of Week Two (September 19) and those who have met the qualifying standards by any amount of time will be able to apply for entry. The application process will remain open for the entire week, closing on September 23. At the conclusion of Week Two, those who are the fastest among the pool of applicants in their age and gender will be accepted. Accepted athletes will be notified on September 28.

If space remains available after this two week process, registration will remain open to any qualifier on a first come, first served basis until the maximum field size is reached.

The field size for the 2012 Boston Marathon will not represent a significant increase from the most recent years.

Registration Process for the 2012 Boston Marathon

Date	registration opens for runners with times…
September 12, 2011	20 min., 00sec. or more below their qualifying time (based on age/gender)
September 14, 2011	10 min., 00 sec. or more below their qualifying time (based on age/gender)
September 16, 2011	5 min., 00 sec. or more below their qualifying time (based on age/gender)
Second Week
September 19, 2011	All Qualified Runners
September 23, 2011	Registration closes for qualified applicants
September 28, 2011 (appx)	Qualifiers from entry during second week of registration are notified of their acceptance.

If the field is not filled at the conclusion of the two weeks, then registration will remain open and qualifiers will be accepted on a first come, first served basis until the maximum field size is reached.

2013 Boston Marathon

For the 2013 Boston Marathon, in addition to the new “rolling admission” process for registration which will be in effect for the 2012 Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. will adjust the qualifying times by lowering them by five minutes from the times which have been in effect in recent past years. The adjusted qualifying times will go into effect on September 24, 2011, and are as follows:

2013 Qualifying Times (effective September 24, 2011)

Age Group	Men	Women
18-34	3hrs 05min 00sec	3hrs 35min 00sec
35-39	3hrs 10min 00sec	3hrs 40min 00sec
40-44	3hrs 15min 00sec	3hrs 45min 00sec
45-49	3hrs 25min 00sec	3hrs 55min 00sec
50-54	3hrs 30min 00sec	4hrs 00min 00sec
55-59	3hrs 40min 00sec	4hrs 10min 00sec
60-64	3hrs 55min 00sec	4hrs 25min 00sec
65-69	4hrs 10min 00sec	4hrs 40min 00sec
70-74	4hrs 25min 00sec	4hrs 55min 00sec
75-79	4hrs 40min 00sec	5hrs 10min 00sec
80 and over	4hrs 55min 00sec	5hrs 25min 00sec
*Unlike previous years, an additional 59 seconds will NOT be accepted for each age group time standard