Category: Geek Girl Runner

Marathon Thoughts
Did anyone else watch the Olympic women’s marathon yesterday? It was fantastic. I thought it would be boring to watch people run for 2.5 hours, but I was pretty much mesmerised by the strategy and form of the runners. Some of them ran the way I dream of running: relaxed, springy, with a rock steady upper body and a confident expression. But there were also several who run the way I fear I run: tense, shuffling, with arms, shoulders, and neck heaving all over the place. Like the commentators, I spent the first half of the race focussed on Paula Radcliffe, who was coming back from a recent stress fracture. (I hear her voice on the Nike+ quite a bit, so somehow I felt like I should barrack for her.) It became pretty obvious though that Paula wasn’t going to be a medal contender in this one. Then out of nowhere, some random 38-year-old took off from the pack in a sprint. The commentators – and myself – scoffed at her strategy and started predicting how long it would be before they caught her. BUT THEY NEVER DID. It was awesome. I couldn’t believe it as Constantina Tomescu extended her lead out to a minute-and-a-half. She ran the entire second half of that race by herself. How did she do it? I find it difficult to push myself on a solo training run; I can’t imagine the mental effort in sustaining her speed up there alone. And hello? SHE’S 38. It was inspiring to think that maybe my own best running years are still ahead of me.

I really like this schedule of having a hard week followed by a recovery week. It was good to back off a bit after pushing through the jet lag and the City 2 Surf. It felt great to get back out on my usual neighborhood routes. I realise now that all the aches and pains and struggles I had in LA were purely due to running on a treadmill. I hate treadmills! Out on the road I can do 45 minutes without feeling bored at all.

Week 6 distance: 11.5mi (18.43km)
Week 7 distance: 17mi (27.2km)
Week 8 distance: 12.25mi (19.6km)

This week was a step-down of nearly 30% from last week, but it was still a slight increase from my last recovery week. Yesterday’s workout was meant to be speed-intervals… but man, I suck at them. I just don’t think I’m meant to run fast. I was doing laps around Victoria Park with intervals of 90 seconds at my goal pace of 6:00/km. The problem was that I’d take off much faster than that, usually somewhere between 5:00-5:30/km. Then I’d try to slow down a bit only to realise that I still had 45 seconds to go, and I’d struggle just to finish out the interval without stopping. Then I’d walk for a few minutes and berate myself for being a big lumbering slow-poke. Repeat ad infinitum. Also, I have very little willpower and I find it difficult to push myself beyond my comfort zone. Running a bit farther isn’t hard, but running faster involves getting into that anaerobic zone where it’s hard to breathe. Maybe I need to actually get a coach for these sessions, someone who can motivate me to push a bit harder…

Official City2Surf Results and Photos
The official race results and pictures are now up, though the site’s been getting hammered all day: me, Rodd. If you watch the videos, we come running up pretty much in the middle. (I’m wearing a navy blue baseball cap, if that helps.) Our time was 105:46, which meant we placed 27,294th out of more than 50,000 finishers. They got LOADS of photos of us this year, and thankfully I don’t look too stupid in any of them. I’ve archived them here if you want to have a look.

It was a week of ups and downs. I had a couple horrible runs on the treadmill in LA, but the City2Surf turned out way better than I expected.

Week 5 distance: 16.45mi (26.3km)
Week 6 distance: 11.5mi (18.43km)
Week 7 distance: 17mi (27.2km)

It was only a tiny increase from Week 5 (less than 5%), but least I’m going in the right direction again. I had a GREAT four-miler this morning so I have a feeling I’m going to get back on track quickly. The Snook and I are officially signed up for the 9K Bridge Run next month, which will be our third consecutive year running it. I’m also making my diet and nutrition a focus right now. I’d like to drop some weight before the half-marathon in October, so I’m using Calorie King to keep a food/exercise diary. I’ll let you know how I go!

City2Surf 2008
Well, we made it! I didn’t quite meet my goal of 100 minutes – we finished in about 105 – but that’s still an improvement of about 15 minutes on last year’s time. And what’s more, I felt really great during this year’s run. As I said to my Mom in an email afterwards: “The legs are sore from the hills, but other than that, I’m all good. I guess that’s what my training has gotten me so far. Yes, I’m a little bit faster, but more importantly I didn’t hurt myself and I’ll be able to run again in a day or two.” (That hit home even more this morning when I learned that a 26-year-old guy collapsed at the finish line and died about ten minutes before we came through.)

Anyway, back to the beginning. We got to the city early to meet up with the Snook’s co-workers and drop off our stuff. (They were having a BBQ at Bondi afterwards so we were able to send over a change of clothes.) We joined the crowd in the HSBC Start group (blue bibs) and waited for the gun. The weather was PERFECT, cool and slightly overcast with a breeze. I hoped that the sun would stay away for a while longer. The preferred runners took off at 9am, and about ten minutes later our group took off. It took us another ten minutes to make it to the starting line. Fortunately this year we’d all been given timing chips, so you didn’t have to worry about losing time by starting in the back. The run down Williams Street was great as usual. It’s an amazing feeling to be carried along in a great wave of thousands of runners. Of course, there was also the usual irritation of having to zig-zag around groups of walkers, baby strollers, and idiots in costumes, all of whom should’ve been in the “Back of the Pack” starting group. In fact, as we passed one guy in a full chicken suit, I growled loudly: “CHICKENS SHOULD BE BACK OF THE PACK.” So, yeah, Grumpy Old Lady Kristy was in attendance.We ran the first few kilometers before taking a quick one-minute walk break to catch our breath. After that, we timed our walk breaks with the water stations. The 80’s hair band was rocking out on the roof of the pub before Heartbreak Hill, same as the last two years. Then we climbed. We ran the first half of the Hill (about 1km) before joining the rest of the crowd in a walk. It was just hard. I was nursing stitches in both sides. Snookums was hurting in his calves and feet. At the one hour mark, I had an energy gel and it really picked me up. The last few kilometers downhill into Bondi were great. We knew we probably weren’t going to make our goal, but we tried to maintain our pace and finish strong. (Interestingly, according to my Nike+ we did finish the 14km in 100 minutes… but the actual finish line was at 14.5km. So either Nike+ was incorrect, the course distance was incorrect, or we ran an extra half-kilometer dodging around people.) As we came up to the finish, I noticed how much better I felt than in previous years. I didn’t feel like bursting into tears, and though I was tired, I didn’t feel like I was about to physically fall apart. We collected our medals and walked down to the beach. We took off our shoes and socks and waded into the surf. The sun had come out and the sky was just the most amazing shade of blue. The water was cold and each wave came up to our calves, soothing our aching muscles. As we walked down Bondi Beach towards our friends at the barbecue, the Snook gestured to the horizon and said, “When they ask you to move to L.A., this is why you tell them you won’t go.” I really couldn’t agree more.

We stayed with the Snook’s co-workers for a while, snacking on fruit and cheese. I joined a neverending queue for the ladies’ bathroom so I could change out of my stinky clothes. By the time I emerged, the sky had darkened. “What’s happening?” I asked. “It’s the cold change coming through,” Snookums said. We said our goodbyes and headed off just as the rain began to fall. There were still thousands of people making their way down the hill to the finish line. We were trying to get to Bondi Junction (where my company was having an after-race function) but the queues for the buses were just ridiculous. We ended up walking the whole way. It was hard on the legs but it was probably good for us to keep moving. We got rained on but eventually it stopped and the sun returned. We made it to the bar and joined my friends for food and beer. A few hours later, we caught a bus back to the city and made our way home. I had a hot shower and collapsed into bed at about 6:30pm. It was a good day.

A few thank yous and shout-outs: First of all to Allan from Running With the Pack, who gave me the great advice to stay on “LA time” as long as I could. I think that definitely helped minimise the effects of jet lag on my performance. Also thank you to my Mom and step-dad Joe, who ran with me in Indiana last weekend. And lastly, big thanks to the Snook for being there every step of the way. He hadn’t done much training so he’s definitely hurting today. Without his encouragement though, I would’ve been tempted to rely on excuses and not push as hard. I love that we’ve done this race together three times now, and I hope we can do it many more times in the future. (Next year in under 100 minutes!)

It’s been pretty rough lately. I’ve just felt so sluggish and tired on my runs. Small wonder, given that I’ve been on eight airplanes in three weeks and I’ve been eating nothing but takeaways and junk food.

Week 4 distance: 9.7mi (15.6km)
Week 5 distance: 16.45mi (26.3km)
Week 6 distance: 11.5mi (18.43km)

So I dropped off again this week by about 30%. That’s okay; I was meant to be having a recovery week. I’m just disappointed that I didn’t have the energy to do my speed workout on Sunday when I was at my Mom’s. I’ve also been experiencing some lower leg pain, which may well be shin splints. (My calves have been really tight and crampy lately, which could be related.) So I think these easier days have probably been better for me in the long run.

The big question mark though is the City 2 Surf this Sunday. A month ago I was on track to beat my goal of 100 minutes. Now… I’m not even sure I’ll be able to run it. I may have to settle for walking. Even at peak performance it was always going to be a big ask to run 14km the day after flying home. I’m going to try not to feel disappointed if it doesn’t work out.

Neat! My Mom got her very own shout-out at the end of this week’s Running With the Pack podcast. You’re a real runner now, Ma!

This week was a return to my half-marathon preparation in earnest after the shorter recovery workouts last week. On Tuesday and Thursday I ran on the treadmill at the apartment. It was the first time I’d ever used the Nike+ on a treadmill, and I was prepared for it to be pretty inaccurate. Instead to my surprise it agreed pretty closely with the machine itself. Huh. Anyway, today I did my long slow run – 8.5 miles – around my sister’s house in Petaluma. Quite a lot of the run was on walking and bike paths, which made for a pleasant change of pace. I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible since it was turning into a hot and sunny day. I picked up a bottle of water at the halfway point and swigged a mouthful every time I slowed for a walk break (which became increasingly frequent as I progressed). Still, I managed the distance at a 12-minute pace, which is pretty good considering the heat. I feel great right now.

Week 3 distance: 13.4mi (21.48km)
Week 4 distance: 9.7mi (15.6km)
Week 5 distance: 16.45mi (26.3km)

That’s a 22% increase over my last long distance week two weeks ago. I made sure to have a nice cool-down walk at the end of my long one today, and I took the time to stretch in the backyard afterwards. My lower back is still feeling pretty good. My left hamstring and shin were giving me a little trouble today, but nothing too serious. Here’s to staying healthy all the way until October 12!

Congratulations to Miss Fee for her awesome finish in the Bay Run yesterday! Well done. My team got somebody else to run in my spot, but to my dismay, she finished slower than I predicted I would. Oh well.

This week was fortunately a shorter week. (My training plan cuts back every third week so you don’t get worn out.) Instead of a long slow run on Sunday, I was meant to do 4 x 800m speed intervals. I went down to the treadmill in the hotel last night to do them… and just didn’t have the energy. I managed one of them, but after that I just did a slow jog for a while. I was pretty worn out from all the walking I did earlier in the day though, so I don’t feel too bad about it. (Plus, you know, I did spend 13 hours on a plane the day before.)

Week 3 distance: 13.4mi (21.48km)
Week 4 distance: 9.7mi (15.6km)
Week 4 distance (including walk): 14mi (22.57km)

So in terms of running, that was a decrease of about 27%. I feel pretty good about that. Tomorrow I’m going to do my morning run along the beach, I think!