Lots of gaps to fill in, but not this morning. One more marathon under my belt, and a Double Dipsea...
For now, though, let's just say I'm feeling on the upswing again after some mild plantar fasciitis and I'm hoping the dry weather lasts a bit longer this winter to let me get some dry runs in.
Just some random facts about the Bay to Breakers yesterday:
My Garmin died a mile and a half in, so I didn't have all the splits I would have liked. Comparing last year's run to this year's, however, was interesting to me.
I made it to the top of the Hayes Street Hill 18 seconds faster this year -- 19:55 vs. 20:13. The rest of the run took a lot longer -- 34:33 vs. 33:10. I was closer to the front this year, and with the staggered starts we had fewer people to dodge. On the other hand, my training hasn't been what I would have liked, and it's not surprising my stamina wasn't there.
I also don't have my heart rate info because my Garmin ran out of battery. Running without that feedback meant I had to listen to my body instead of watch the numbers. I think in this case I might have been able to push it a little harder if I'd known my splits coming off the hill and realized I had a chance at coming in very close to last year's time.
I need to break 51:00 for a 12K to qualify for sub-seeded. If we end up doing the caterpillar next year, then I won't get a chance to PR for a while. I really hope this summer I can get some good solid mileage in -- with the extra teaching this year I'm just scraping by.
I know, I haven't posted since the Dipsea Race. Here's what you missed:
Golden Hills Trail Marathon 10/9/10: 26.2 miles (25.62 by the Garmin), 5:11:59, average pulse 164, 3164 calories. A daunting 7700 feet of up and 8000 down. This race was my "I'm just going to run it and not worry about a time" race. Mission accomplished.
US Half Marathon 11/7/10: 13.1 miles (13.22 by my Garmin!), 1:42:37 for a PR, 1759 calories, and a HR monitor that crapped out during the last 4 miles.
Total stats for the year: 200 runs, 1370.05 miles, average pulse 156, and almost 180K calories. Average pace 8:57. I made my marathon-a-week goal (even including the extra 1/7 of a week in a year!) and I'm deliberately not setting one for this year. We'll see how I feel.
Best month? April (151 miles!). Worst month? February (73). Fastest month? February (8:31 min/mile including the KP Half). Slowest? October (10:01 min/mi including the trail marathon, 9:20 without).
Upcoming races? Oakland Marathon in March, Roller Coaster 5K in April, the 100th Bay to Breakers in May. After that, we'll see. I would love to set PRs in 2011 for:
the marathon (have to break 3:57:55) Roller Coaster (21:24) B2B (53:22) 5K (20:18)
The Mother's Day 5K has been good to me, but I think this year I need to skip it. St. Patrick's Day 5K is March 13 and also a flat, fast course.... and it's the week I get back from San Diego...
OK, it went very badly for me. But I'm kind of all right with it. I'm not injured, life is still good, and I am going to take June to get back to running for fun rather than to put pressure on myself for PRs and the like.
The quick and dirty details: 6.8 miles (yay for shortcuts!), 1:26:27, 643rd place.
I truly am not beating myself up about it. It was a rough day, and I know I wasn't setting myself up for success. But it's certainly not the end of the world, and other than a toenail that's bruised and a sore calf, I made it through in one piece. Back to running for the joy of running! My dog will certainly be happier that I can take him out a lot in June, that's for sure.
I will run this year's Dipsea Race faster than last year's. To that end:
Last year I made it to the top of Windy Gap in 14:10. Across the creek in 21:01. Top of Cardiac in 49:18. I averaged 8:00s on the downhills. 13:05s on the uphills. My average heartrate was 182.
This year I will make Windy Gap in under 14. Across the creek in 20. Top of Cardiac in 47. Which should get me to Stinson in the 1:09 I think I need.
I will run alongside the stairs on the downhills when I have the option. I will skip stairs on the downhills when I can.
I will take one hundred steps after I finish the Steps and Dynamite and Cardiac and Insult before I think about whether I need to catch my breath.
I will relax on the downhills and get my body over my center of gravity. I will think about Luis' tips regarding EASE.
The heat will hurt others more than it hurts me. I will do this.
Bottom of hill (Green and Lyon) to top of steps: 2:01. Top of steps to Jackson (top of hill): :56.
Knocked thirty seconds off my time from last summer, and one point off the max heartrate for the same run. Next time I do the steps I'm walking, but skipping steps and seeing how fast THAT goes.
Compare it to these halves I ran: KP Half 2010: 1:47:22, average pulse 172, +360, -561 feet. Today's run twice as hilly, 100 seconds slower, average pulse 15 bpm less. Rock'N'Roll 2007: 1:58:32, average pulse around 170, essentially flat. Training run June 2008: 13.1 miles, 1:56:31, average pulse 158, +1246, -997. Less flat to work with, but much slower at the same pulse.
No taper today, one drink of water at the halfway point. And I did 45 miles last week.
I'm at 21.5 miles this week, plus I'm doing 13 on Thursday. So with 7.5 tomorrow, I just have one 8-miler to go to hit 50. That's the trick. 50 isn't so bad if you can do 2 runs of more than 10.
I made it to 45 this week. Next week I'm trying to do 50. I've never done more than 46 in a week. I try to believe that I'm making significant progress, but sometimes during the runs I doubt. "Why doesn't it feel easier, if I'm putting in all this work?" I have to come back and look at my wonky data to convince myself.
Easter Roller Coaster 5K 2008: 23:40, average pulse: 174. Easter Roller Coaster 5K 2009: 22:07, average pulse: 173. Easter Roller Coaster 5K 2010: 21:24, average pulse: 174.
Bay to Breakers 2008: 1:02:39 Bay to Breakers 2009: 57:43
Walt Stack 10K 2008: 47:24, average pulse: 174. Walt Stack 10K 2009: 44:37: average pulse: 174.
KP Half Marathon 2007: 2:14:54, average pulse: 159. KP Half Marathon 2008: 1:55:32, average pulse: 169. KP Half Marathon 2009: 1:43:09, average pulse: 170. KP Half Marathon 2010 (head cold): 1:47:22, average pulse: 172.
I know I can run longer than I used to -- and it's easier -- but I want to be LOTS better than I am now. And it will take time.
Beating the women's course records, of course -- men's are way out of my league:
April 25 is Coastal Trail Challenge 10K. May 2 is Stern Grove 4M. July 18 is Daly City Scenic Run 5K (and 12K). September 26 is Oyster Point 5M. October 17 is Rockaway Beach 5K. December 5 is Ferry Building 4M.
Here's hoping my rehearsal schedule lets me run as much as I want to!
3.06 miles. 21:45. 399 calories. Average pulse: 175.
I feel like I ran this one about as smart as I could. I didn't go out too hard, and ran it with negative splits(7:14, 7:07, 6:35, 5:40), which given the giant hill in the middle isn't a big surprise. I finished in front of many of the "wily veterans" of the DSE, and would have broken the women's course record by over a minute if a woman hadn't finished 6th today and set a new record by over three minutes.
I think i'm proudest of my last 1.1 miles. Even after the big hill (145 feet above our starting line) I still had enough to run a 6:16 for over a mile. Yes, it was a little downhill. But I proved to myself yet again that I can charge up hills faster than most people. Let's hear it for all the vertical I've been doing lately!
calm