Berbee Derby 10K race report

I had run this race last year in 57:50 (a 9:18/mile pace), so obviously I wanted to beat that (hopefully easy goal). My medium goal was to run it all under a 9:00 pace. And my ridiculously hard goal was to run it at an 8:26 pace, because race calculators would predict my next marathon time at 4:00. I pretty much knew that that wasn't going to happen, since 8 weeks ago I ran my marathon in 4:38. And I've taken it fairly easy since then.

So off we went. I didn't have too much of a strategy besides to run at whatever pace below 9:00 felt manageable. There were 1540 other people running the 10k, and I had lined up near the back, so the first mile was spent dodging people. The first mile felt good, and I think I did that in about 8:40. By the second mile, I could definitely feel that I was running harder than normal. But that's okay, it's a race! My 5k time was 26:54, which I was very happy about. I decided my goal at that point was 54:00.

I was still passing people, but I couldn't tell if I was maintaining/increasing my pace or if others were just slowing down more than me. Once I reached mile 5, I could hear the announcer, so even though I desperately wanted to slow down at that point, I knew it was almost over. And yet, it seemed so far away. I remembered that the final 1.2 miles seemed awfully difficult last year, and the same thing happened this year! There were a couple of decent hills that I remembered, so I thought I was in the clear after that. But then there was one more big one. My watch said 50:00, so I knew that if I met my goal, there was just 4 more minutes of this to go. I pushed. I passed an 11 year old boy who was running with his dad, begging him to slow down (they did for the hill, and then they still beat me by 20 seconds :)). Mile 6 came and I gave it all I had, which didn't end up being a sprint, but something faster than what I had been running. I had to dogde 5K walkers who were finishing at the same time, which I found very annoying. And then, I finished!

Final chip time: 54:19 (8:45 pace).

I'm pretty pleased with how I ran this race. Although I had positive splits, the second half's pace was just 10 seconds slower than the first half. Considering the hills and the strong headwind, I don't think that's too bad. AND, I'm happy that I had raced hard enough that I didn't have the energy to sprint the last bit to the end. Even in my marathon, I sprinted to the finish. I'm glad that I had given it my all during this race and had nothing left over. And it's pretty awesome that I shaved 3:30 off my time from last year. :) Next year's goal: sub-50:00.

I should also note that my non-running husband and younger brother ran the 5K in 24:31. Must be nice to be naturally gifted... :-P And I did not end up kicking my older brother's/SIL's butts, as they wussed out (slept in; they got in from Boston around 1am the night before).

Indoor half training plan

Well, the indoor half that I'm signed up for is in a little more than 8 weeks. That means I have 8 weeks to uh... get my butt in gear. So I'm publishing my training plan here in hopes that I will actually stick to it:



Basically, it's 3 weeks of base building (SLOW miles), 1 week step-back, 3 weeks that include speedwork, and 1 quick taper week before the race. I haven't decided quite yet what my speedwork will entail. Yasso 800s? Tempo runs at 10k pace?

If I can stick with this, I'll be golden to run under 2 hours. I analyzed my marathon training a bit further, and I came to the shocking realization that the average mileage of my 18 weeks of training came out to... 22.7. Yeah. 22.7 miles. No wonder I didn't have any injuries to deal with. No wonder I didn't lose any weight. (I do wonder how I didn't gain weight, actually. It was the summer of junk food.)

Anyway. That number makes me feel bad because, well, it's pitiful. I wasn't even busy at work this summer. I had plenty of time to run. 22.7 miles per week is no way to train for a marathon. On the other hand, it gives me lots and lots of hope. I ran a 4:38 marathon on awful training. What can I do on 40 mpw? 50? 60? Ooh, the possibilities!

Now I need to go to bed so that I can get up and run the 10k! This is the first time I've raced a distance previously, so there's a little added pressure to destroy my old time. I'll let you know how I did tomorrow. :)

wah wah

I've been in a funk all day. I guess that's what happens when you lay around the house all day in your pajamas. Or maybe pajamas are a result of the funk. Well, in any case, it's one of those all too common grey, depressing Wisconsin fall days. I had meant to get up and go for a ten mile run this morning, but instead I ate candy and watched TV. Then my husband left for work, and I sort of just stared off into space on the couch. I tried to nap, but I couldn't relax. I tried to read, but I couldn't focus (also hard to do with a cat clinging to your chest).

Then I realized I had a choice: I could sit around and feel like crap, or I could go for a run and feel better. So even though it seemed like the least enjoyable thing to do, running was better than doing nothing. I got my stuff on, and off I went. I ran an out and back route, where the turnaround is right at the peak of a gigantic hill. Right around there is when I realized that this run was SUCKING. My pace felt comfortable, but I was exhausted and a little dizzy. I finished up with negative splits and a good pace (9:55/mi), but there were no endorphins to make me say, "Yay!" Or perhaps there were endorphins, but just not enough to cover up how crappy the run was.

Luckily bad runs like these are few and far between. I'm hoping it means that I'm coming down with a bug, because the alternative (the "I've lost a crap ton of fitness in the 6 weeks since my marathon, and running just 6 miles kicks my butt" alternative) is scary.

So today is still depressing. Running didn't make me feel much better. But it got me out for a little while, and sometimes that's all you can ask of it.

Motivation in the Winter

Today I signed up for an indoor half marathon in January. "What does an indoor half marathon entail?" you might ask. Apparently it involves running 47 laps around an ice rink.

This sounded incredibly boring to me until I read the reviews from the inaugural race last year. People loved it! They got to see their fans every lap, they had an aid station every lap, they got to lap (or be lapped by) other runners. They asked for song requests to be played during the race, too. My three requests are:

Quiet Dog Bite Hard - Mos Def

Girls Say - Groove Armada

Keep It Coming Love - KC & the Sunshine Band

I have only run one other half marathon. This was in May, after having slacked off since March. I had run 20 miles in March, 20 miles in April, and 30-some in May before the race. I finished in 2:28:03. I ran the first half of my marathon in 2:14:19. I'd like to do this one in under 2 hours.

I know that in my last post, I had said that I was happy to not be training for anything. But the truth is that I've been itching to plan! Now I have an excuse to, as this race is 11 weeks away.