Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Stars Come Out



This weekend was time for the Kal-Haven Relay Race.  It really is a fun race because it gives the chance to spectate and cheer, but also race.  We've been running a bunch, but it's not very often we all get to go as a group.  Even though we are all in Run Camp, different schedules cause us to miss each other and even if we all show up on a given week, we are in a couple different pace groups.  It just seems like it's been awhile for us to all get together and get a run in.  To say it's an adventure being in a vehicle with four women, is an understatement. Oh, the things I learn, yet I really don't even want to know.

Last year, I remember printing everybody out a map, had break downs of each person's leg of the race with expected times.  This year, I don't think we knew the full plan until about fifteen minutes prior to the race starting.  Maybe my name Slack Ass does apply.  Besides the cell phone call in a panic that we made a vehicle mistake as the gun was going off, things went very well.

Just like last year, even though it's a relay, we don't run it that way.  Each of us had a distance in mind that we wanted to do, then went from there.  None of us were in top form and all seem to be nursing various injuries. Even with that said, we improved our time by 10 minutes this year and place by 4 positions.

Without looking back on my blog, I can't remember the exact number, but I think it was something like 34 people passed.  Always need motivation when running, so when it was my turn, that was the game.  In my first leg, passed 31.  Second leg my number was up to 43, though one person passed me for sure and I think two more got by me at the water/relay stop.  It's hard to say if I passed those two again because I'm fairly sure they switched teammates.  In the end, I passed a total of 54 people.  Heck, even if I never caught the two that got by me, 54-3 isn't too bad.         






Sunday, March 18, 2012

Luck of the Irish, 19:43



Luck of the Irish?  Sure, I've seen my share of BS blown referee calls to help Notre Dame, that might be luck of the Irish.  Their program hasn't been relevant in twenty years, that's hardly lucky though.  When I think of Ireland, the first thing that comes to mind is potato famine, not exactly lucky.  Where does this luck come from?  I'll tell you, Beginner's Luck, Luck of the Irish, it's all made up.  Okay, you probably already know that, but I thought it needed to be said anyway.  There's no such thing as luck, it's all about increasing your chances.

Last year I set a goal for myself of getting a 5K under twenty minutes.  I came close, but wasn't able to accomplish that goal.  The goal remained the same this year, but it's something that became less important as I think about what I want to do in my marathon.  The only 5K I had even considered doing this year was my hometown one and that was only because CT wants the trophy badly given to the top person in each age group.  Even though I don't have a strong desire to run a crazy amount of 5K's like I did last year, it's still hard to turn down the opportunity to run when a friend is doing one.  That's what the Irish Jig became.

Holy people!  Close to 5,000 runners!  My theory why the event is that popular, it gives people an excuse to wear that horribly colored green clothing.  As far as I know, this is the first race that I've ever ran that had cash money for prizes.  Walking up and seeing people with coaches, doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

I'd be lying if I said didn't have hopes of getting my goal.  While I've been running well, it's all been for distance. I haven't done any speed work and to top it off my toe injury, my confidence wasn't there.  I did set my watch's pace for what I'd need for my goal, but looking at the pace I'd need looked daunting. It was over a minute faster than my best per mile pace doing my distance runs lately. 

Blaaaaaaargh, goes the bag pipes to start the race.  I had completely forgot what a pain it is to run in a crowd of people.  Where I felt guilty trying to be anywhere near the front because of my lack of training for this and my sore toe, it turned to fueled anger trying to maneuver around all the people that had no business being up closer than I was.  When I hit the mile mark, I was right at the pace I needed to be at, which was amazing considering how much zig zagging I had to do and practically walked around one of the corners.  Mile 2, things finally were spaced out, and it wasn't a traffic jam.  I felt scared to look at my watch, but when I did, I was shocked to still be on pace.  This actually might be possible, it's also when it dawned on me that my toe didn't hurt.  Was it the speed, adrenaline, lack of blood?  Whatever, I didn't feel it and all I had to do was maintain my pace for another mile.

"Never give up" flashed in my head.  I rounded the final corner to see 20:11 on the clock.  Dammit!  So close, but I missed it, again!  Luck wasn't a factor, because Ace has been putting in the work.  Yeah, the clock said 20:11, but it doesn't account for the fact it took me almost thirty seconds to get to the starting line, when I looked at my watch, 19:43!  New PR! 

The Green Mambas that bit me, also got me the PR I've been dying to get.  No luck here, miles and miles of training and dedication got me to this goal.  I'll save my luck for the lotto.                                       

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Blistering Speed



I love my new Asics shoes, which I've named the Green Mambas.  Wearing them, I feel fast.  It could be purely psychological, but I'm looking forward to trying them out on race day, to rule that out.  I've designated them my racing shoes for this year.

This month, I've already logged 60 miles in my quest for 200.  Coming into this weekend's long run, I was nervous because towards the end of the week, my legs felt very fatigued and Saturday's run was a 20 mile run.  The last time I was nervous heading into a long run, I laced up the Green Mambas and had a record run.  The GM's need some miles to get broken in and the written (or unwritten made up rule that I follow) is if you can run 20 miles, you can run 26.2, so I decided to get a feel for them as my marathon shoe.

Twenty one miles later, the Green Mambas didn't let me down.  Yeah, I said twenty one, I happened to take a wrong turn, it's all about going the extra mile anyway.  While I ran in control and never really pushed it, I easily had five more miles in me and my pace was exactly where I hoped to be come marathon time.  But, as you can see from the picture, my Green Mambas bit me!  The toe box is smaller, I probably didn't wear the best sock, and doing that kind of distance my foot swelled enough to cause this blister.  Everybody always asks me do I still have toe nails with all my running, never had an issue before.  For the first time in addition to the blister, the nail on my big toe is also very sensitive, I finally learned the toe nail thing.

This is going to be an interesting week. For the first time since the last marathon I've got injuries.  This coming weekend I have a 5K race.  While I really wasn't going to prepare for it, I had hoped to do some speed work this week to get an idea of what I'd be capable of.  Hoping my Green Mamba bite isn't too serious and can get over the pain.      


Thursday, March 1, 2012

The Goal, 200



Training for the marathon this time around is different.  The emotions are completely different, I miss the excitement of the unknown.  This time around, I know full well I can do the scheduled long run for the week, so the motivation isn't the same.  By missing that element, it makes it easy to slack, and I have been.  I knew my weekly miles were less than last year, but when I looked at my stats for the month of February, it was like a slap to the face comparing last year to this year's totals. 151 miles last year to 127 this year and the worst part this year was a leap year, I had an extra day!

I'm not even sure how exactly this came about, but coincidentally my new running nickname is Slack Ass.  The running friend who bestowed me with this title has no idea of my past running totals, or my involvement in the Slackers in high school, so that makes the choice of that title even more disturbing.  While I might be stuck with the name, I don't have to live down to it.  I'm going to embrace it for the irony it's going to represent! 
  
My single best month last year was March, with at total of 163 miles.  This month's goal, I'm running for 200 miles!  Slack Ass is gonna bust ass this month.