The Stuff great runs are made of

Today I had one of those great runs. The kind that feels better and better the longer you go. The kind where you look up to the sky and see the white clouds scattered among the brilliant blue and you say, "Thank you, God." It was so fulfilling. When I got home and opened my log book I wrote, "Whatever great runs are made of, I felt it today."

Here's what I think made my run so wonderful today.
It was the morning sun combined with the cooler temperature of 67-degrees.
It was the first mile feeling so smooth and loosening up my sleepy body, and not realizing until the second mile that I was breathing through my nose with my mouth closed until that point.
It was hitting the dirt path after the first mile and feeling the soft surface under my feet.
It was feeling my ankles and feet wake up as a result of the soft, uneven surface.
It was feeling like ONE with the earth beneath me.
It was paying attention to where my feet fell on the dirt.
It was singing songs in my head and out loud as I ran.
It was looking at my Garmin every time it beeped and surprisingly seeing that I was running each mile faster than the last.
It was that feeling when even though you're getting faster with each mile the run just keeps feeling easier.
It was hitting the turnaround point and actually forcing myself to turn around and go back.
It was hearing my breathing get more rapid yet remain completely calm and under control.
It was not feeling one stitch of pain or fatigue or soreness at all during the run.
It was getting back to the pavement and feeling my legs turn over more quickly.
It was being aware of that and then holding myself back and saying, "It is not about running fast today."
It was waving at every single person I saw on the run.
It was stopping briefly to chat with my neighbor who told me she was training for her first Half Marathon.
It was finishing the last half mile with a few fast, smooth striders and feeling so fresh.
It was drinking iced cold water when I was done.
It was walking the Half Marathon issue of Runner's World over to my neighbor's house to give her the copy.
It was walking back in to my house, looking at the mess and saying, "I'm finally going to clean it all up."
It was writing about it in my running log and sharing my happiness about it with anybody that cares to read this.

What a beautiful run. I thank God for every step!

Cross Country = The miracle cure for my running sadness

Yesterday I ran my first Cross Country race for the first time in over 23 years. I had been looking forward to running Cross Country again for over a year when I first signed up as a member of the PAUSATF in August '08. But last fall I was in the thick of marathon training and had nothing else on the brain. This year I have already run most of the Spring and early summer PA road races and I will run a couple more in the fall, but I really put it into my brain that I would run as many cross country races as possible in 2009. I had made up my mind about this way back in January and looked forward to XC all year.

I think my urge to run XC might have been the beginning of the end of the coach/athlete relationship with Pete. Yes, my ultimate goal is to be a sub-3:00 marathon runner, but a huge goal of mine is to enjoy every aspect of running along the way. Remember when I was feeling like not running anymore? It was because training on the roads and focusing on the marathon started to make me feel anxious, tired and bored. I really liked running the shorter stuff over the Spring, culminating with the Shriners 8K in June. Then the San Francisco Half was thrown in there to determine how to proceed with marathon training in the Fall. The entire time I kept thinking, "I can't wait to run XC!"

When I asked Pete about running XC while building up the miles for the marathon I didn't get the answer I wanted but I was willing to forego the XC season and run just a couple XC races at the end... but I was bummed. I think he sensed that, and shortly afterward things started to crumble between us. I went through a mourning period after we went our separate ways. I also felt hurt, as though he did not believe in me and that I was not good enough to be coached by someone like him. I felt pretty down on running for a few days and didn't run for 4 days last week, but opted to cross train for 2 of the 4 days.

This brings me back to the present. Knowing that I wanted to run the first XC meet of the season yesterday, I did an easy run with technique drills on Thursday. LOL. Just one running day between last Sunday and yesterday's race.

RACE DAY:
I was up at 5:00 a.m. and after a quick cup of java, drove 2-1/2 hours to Santa Cruz for the meet. Got there at 8:00 a.m., just in time to turn in my registration and pick up my bib. I met Tara and we ran a 2 mile warm up together on the course, then met up with the rest of the team.

FOUR of the women on our team yesterday have experience that I can only dream of. One of the women is an Olympian. She has run 4 OT, was on the World Championship team in '95 and on the the Olympic Team in 1996. She's now 48 but still ran at the Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston in '08. The 2nd woman is now 42 and ran in the World Championship Marathon 3 times, and in a couple of Olympic Marathon Trials. She just had her 2nd baby 8 months ago, so yesterday was her first race in a LONG time. The third woman ran in the OT for the 10,000m last year and the 4th woman ran in two Olympic Marathon Trials. Despite their credentials, these women are super sweet, motivating to the whole team and quite modest. Very cool and very inspiring.

So the gun goes off and the first mile is a good uphill climb for most of the way. Coupled with lots of loose rocks and tree stumps, it made for a slow mile (for almost the entire field according to post race recaps). As I ran the first mile I got passed a lot and the negative chatter began. I thought, "I don't belong here. I'm fat. What am I doing here? I'm a joke." The first mile felt plain bad and I ran it in 8:00.

After the first mile the climb leveled off but we still climbed a bit to the 2nd mile (the turnaround point). The 2nd mile was in the sun. My body started to recover from the steeper climb in the first mile so I could feel myself picking up the pace. As I felt stronger and started to gain on a couple of runners I thought, "I deserve to be here. I'm better than this. I can totally take these women." I passed the two runners.

I could smell the smoke in the air from the Santa Cruz wildfires, and I could see the smoky haze all around us. The cool part was I got to see the front runners as they ran back toward the finish after the turnaround.

The woman in first place was the 48-year old former Olympian on our team! I was working too hard to yell for her, but she was seriously focused and kicking ass. I have NEVER seen such determination and hard work on the face of a runner like that before. At this moment I thought, So THAT is what race effort is supposed to look like. With that I picked up the pace and passed two more women before the turn around. My 2nd mile was 7:29.

On my way to the turnaround I noticed that 4 of our runners were in the top 5 women overall! Definitely a sweep victory of this meet. That's how they finished, too. Awesome. And Tara took the 5th spot on our team, so in her first XC race ever she scored points for the team!!! She looked so strong. I was inspired to pick up the pace and just give it everything I had.

After the turnaround the course went down hill a bit and back into the heavily wooded forest. I focused on two more women who were probably about 5 seconds ahead of me. They were running strong though. Just as I thought I was getting closer, they'd hear me and pick it up and pull further ahead. It went on like this for the last 1-1/2 miles. My third mile was 7:00.

The last mile veered into a different direction than the way we came, so the course was not an out and back. The last mile was my favorite as it was heavily wooded with very soft, soft ground and was comprised of rolling hills the entire way. The tricky part was making sure not to twist an ankle on the rocks or on the tree stumps. Nevertheless, the dense trees and the soft ground made me feel fresh and strong and I ran it as hard as I could in order to catch the two women ahead of me. The women further ahead just took off, and for a while I caught the other one and we stuck together for about the last half mile, then truly raced each other to the finish line. She pulled ahead of me with about 10 meters to go and finished about two feet in front of me. My last mile was 6:37. She thanked me for pushing her and I thanked her for pulling me!

I was the last woman on my team to finish but that's okay. What I got out of the experience was purely positive. Not one negative thing. I took my negative brain talk and shut it down. I got faster with every mile. I passed 4 women and did not get passed after the first mile. I pushed myself through the rough spots and did not finish anywhere near last place! (That was my fear).

The best thing about yesterday was it made me excited to start consistent training again... even for the marathon. So I'm going to run about 4 more XC races this season while building my mileage up for the marathon in December. I'll use the XC races as speed sessions and cut out any other hard stuff (except the long run) during the weeks I run them. In off race weeks I'll alternate tempo runs, long hill repeats and technique drills, as well as the long run. Around mid October I'll switch out the technique drills for shorter speed intervals.

I love Cross Country and don't want to give it up when I don't have to. Yesterday's race shook me awake and told me that I don't need a coach to believe in me... I need ME to believe in me. And at the risk of sounding like an old Saturday Night Live sketch, I'm good enough, I'm strong enough, I deserve to be out there running, racing and training as much as anybody else.

I love our team, I love running. I feel so blessed!

Self Coached

Pete and I have decided to part ways for now, but the split was amicable! He's such a helpful coach, even though he is no longer my coach. We just couldn't get things to gel in the last couple of weeks and decided I should give it a go on my own for marathon training. I'm nervous and excited. He gave me some excellent tips and advice on how to create my own schedule. His advice, combined with a schedule I found written by Joe Rubio (runningwarehouse.com co-owner and Aggies Running Club coach) should get me running strong and keep me injury free ... knock on wood.

Since I have a enough base to build upon and work with, I'll start official training next week. This is going to be interesting!

Now if only I could get rid of this cold... it left, and now it's back. :(

Great Topic for Discussion! Building that Aerobic Base

I got a message from Cynthia (hi Cynthia!) and wanted to respond. Here's part of her message:

"Glad to hear you are doing well. I wonder what you think about the training philosophy posted at ... hadds-approach-to-distance-running... This approach - developing a strong aerobic foundation first via long easy distance... Another post on that site (Miles make champions) argues that as training has changed to shorter higher intensity work, less and less people (in the US at least) are becoming competitive at races and are not qualifying for Boston at the rates they used to. My husband ... has progressed very well despite not pushing himself very often. Do you have any experience or thoughts on this?"

I haven't checked out the site yet, Cynthia, but I will! In my own personal experience I do believe I was a better all around runner when I ran more miles at a general aerobic pace or slightly slower (i.e.: easy pace). Recovery pace makes me run too slow, which is good for recovery days but not so optimal on other easy run days. My easy run pace is faster than my recovery pace, and likewise my general aerobic pace is faster than my easy pace, but definitely NOT near my lactate threshold pace. Does that make sense?

I also run better and feel less broken when I stick to the following "hard" workouts every other week, basically I alternate the following each week so I never do the same thing two weeks in a row:
- hill repeats run at a strong pace, but not race pace, with full recoveries between (an example is 6 x 1:30 - 1:45 long), jog back down the hill and then walk the recovery for 3:00 or so, not more than 5:00).
- technique drills like skipping, high skipping, marching, high knees, butt kicks
- tempo runs, can be done in one long shot (i.e.: 40:00) or broken into pieces (i.e.: 2 x 20:00 with 3:00 jog between)
- fartelk, for example I will run 30 minutes of 2-3 minutes hard with 1-2 minutes easy.

I run a long run EVERY week (usually a minimum of 90:00 and will be up to 2:30-2:45 during marathon training).

I follow the "hard" workout with a recovery day, where I run as slow as my body dictates (even stopping to walk if I want to), but never fast. The rest of my days are "easy" pace, or sometimes faster at general aerobic pace (where I finish pleasantly tired).

This fall I will probably precede my long run with a "hard" workout. I've wanted to try that for a while and feel strong enough to do it now, maybe twice a month.

About Boston: I ran 4 qualifying times on a plan that peaked at no more than 58 miles per week and included a long run, a tempo run and a speed session each week, in addition to easy/recovery runs. So essentially two hard sessions and a long run each week. BQ times for women are relatively easy to get on less mileage and higher intensity training... but I think getting FASTER than BQ times (specifically a woman trying to attain the men's BQ times, or even a sub-3) requires higher volume overall.

So in my case, in order to run faster LONGER, I think I need to run more miles. But as I get older I have to be careful of too much intensity.

So I hope that answers your question. :) I do believe that as I get older, my body will get more out of running at easier or general aerobic paces with some "harder" paces mixed in every now and then. I also believe that recovery, rest, sleep & flexibility are really helpful for me. The technique drills and core exercises make me use muscles that I often neglect with running alone.

I love running and with the combination above, I think I'll be strong enough to run well into my Senior years (God willing).

Why Do I Do This?

I had a really good run today. First day back after being up at elevation and I felt a little sluggish this morning, although I slept great last night. My husband was kind enough to ride his bike along side me today as I ran. (My older kids are at their dad's and my youngest is at preschool). So I ran for 20:00, then picked it up for 30:00 of tempo effort, then ran 20:00 at an easy/recovery pace.

I felt fine during the warm up, but still kind of tingly like I felt during the hill repeats at elevation. It was like my scalp and my skin were tingling all over. Hard to explain, but I know it was the elevation that made me feel that way on Tuesday. I still felt it today. I started the 30:00 tempo portion at a comfortable 7:13-7:14 pace and ended up finishing faster because my overall average for the workout was 7:09/mile. (I remember when my tempo effort used to be 6:45-6:50/mile... ho hum, woe is me).

The last 8-10 minutes were tough, but the last 3-4 minutes were down right HARD. I really concentrated on relaxing and staying smooth. Every time I felt my form slip, I'd fix it right away. I think the hill repeats and the drills I've been doing make me more conscious of my form during harder workouts and I like that.

Anyway, as soon as I finished that portion and slowed to a walk-jog to get my breath back, I asked myself, "Why do I do this?" I really had no answer. But the more I think about it the more I believe I do this simply because I am able to... because I can. I like to race and all, but there's more to it than just preparing for races. I simply like to push my body just because. It feels good to make my body do what does not feel normal and I don't know about you guys and gals but running hard for more than 5-10 minutes does not feel normal to me. It does feel fun, though! Sometimes I also think, "Wow, I can't believe I can do this!"

I was happy during the last 20:00 of the run because it was nice and easy... the temperature was 82 degrees when I finished. No wonder I felt a bit sluggish. I downed a ton of water and just finished my post run Slim Fast shake. Getting ready to eat a good lunch.

The week before school

We had a great getaway trip to my younger brother's cabin somewhere northwest of Lake Tahoe. The cabin and plot of land actually belongs to his wife's family and she's been going there since she was a little girl. I took the kids up there on Monday and my husband met us in between work days on Tuesday, but he was able to get half a day off on Wednesday for his long drive back to work.

We spent about 5-1/2 hours each day on my brother's boat, lounging, swimming in the lake, tubing, knee boarding. My brother, his wife and kids wake boarded and wake surfed. I gave wake boarding a try but couldn't get up and after three tries I was ready to get back on the boat and have my Bud Light Lime. I enjoyed the relaxation a lot, and loved seeing the kids have a great time with their cousins.

We all slept in and averaged at least 9-10 hours sleep each night. I'd run in the morning around 10, and my brother joined me for a medium long run with some hill repeats. We were only at 5500' elevation, but I could still feel it working my body. Anyway, we'd all head out on the boat sometime after lunch and not come in until after 7:30 at night. Dinner was at 9 p.m. and it was always healthy (my sister in law's business is fitness so they are a very health conscious family). I'd roll into bed by 10:30 and up and at 'em at 8 a.m. Good stuff!

I wish I took pictures, but the beauty of the Lake and the surroundings is fresh in my noggin. It was a last minute trip and so well worth the schedule changes. Time to get ready for school to start next week. I can't believe how fast the summer went by.

Finally... Justice for Jeff

In the Fall of 2001 my coworker and friend, Jeff Fontana, was shot and killed in an instant while making a car stop during his patrol shift. That was one of the darkest, saddest days of my life.

The man who killed him was finally sentenced today to life in prison plus 47 years.
Amen!

Rest peacefully, Jeff. You are missed.

18 Weeks

The California International Marathon is 18 weeks away. I want to run it and I'm planning on it. Just have to shape up a bit and stay healthy/uninjured. I would very much like to improve upon my current marathon PR set in April '08, which is 3:17:45. Ideally I'd like to get it down to the 3:10 range or faster this Fall, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

I've been battling a summer cold with a teeny temperature since last Friday. I took Friday and Saturday off and have run very easy miles yesterday and today. I feel a lot better but probably won't push the pace just yet, depending on what Pete says.

Speaking of Pete, in our weekly phone conversation on Saturday we talked about my running last year when I was down to 122 pounds. He said in all fairness I really cannot compare my current race fitness to what it was back then, not so much because I am rebuilding after time off due to injury, but mostly because I am 11 pounds heavier right now! He said if I were still 122 pounds and running 7 minutes slower than my half marathon PR, then he'd be worried.

Therein lies the reason for this post... I'm going to get back on that weight loss train and get serious about getting my race fitness back. I can keep spinning my wheels and doing all the work, but if I'm currently 8 pounds over my "recommended" average weight for my height (which is 5'5), then I'm running and training with a lot of unnecessary baggage. What I'm going to do, God willing, is get back down to at least my average healthy weight of 125 and then reevaluate. If I'm still feeling strong, I'll possible go even lighter. I felt good at 122, so maybe 120 will be where I stop.

Apparently elite distance runners who are my height have an "ideal race weight" of 106 pounds. I am laughing hysterically as I type that. I am not an elite distance runner, nor do I want to be 106 pounds. I think my family and friends would really get worried about me if I lost that much weight. I'd probably get worried about me!

Okay, so it's out there. Wish me luck!