Ten Miles - take 2

The plan this weekend was going to go a little like this:

Saturday - Clarendon Day, run ~10 miles
Sunday - Rest
Monday - 6 miles
Tuesday - 3 miles (tapering off)

However, in light of my non-starter on Clarendon Day yesterday, my schedule shifted to the following

Saturday - Clarendon Day, ~4.5 miles
Sunday - 10 miles
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 3 miles

This morning, I pulled myself out of bed and went for my 2nd 10 miler. For breakfast, I switched it up (more later) and had a smoothie and a Starbucks VIA.

Side note: Starbucks VIA are phenom. for runners. I do not want to make an entire pot of coffee before I run because I will not drink it when I get back.

So out I went with two gatorade aqua pods - hoping that National Harbor would have water fountains, like the Mt Vernon trail does every 2.5 miles or so. More on THIS later too.

The first two miles were good - I have run that trail at least three miles a week. Then I went up the bridge. I always forget how long the bridge really is - mostly because when I'm driving it, I'm going about 75 miles an hour on the beltway.

The bridge incline is higher on the Virginia side, and so it was easy trails going downward. However, I started to feel dizzy and not really energetic. I drank some of my gatorade and pushed through.

At the end of the bridge is a ramp to take walkers across the beltway to the other side towards National Harbor. It's not that bad going the way I'll be running on the WW1/2, which is great.

The one thing I'm really concerned about during this half is the shell path that leads to National Harbor. It's about .25miles, and I'm not very good at running on non-asphalt. Good to report, however, that the shells are pretty densely packed, and it wasn't so bad running. So yay on that.

Now I'm in National Harbor, and looking around for any kind of a water fountain. For future reference, THERE ARE NONE. Stupid national harbor. Passed by a restroom, though.

I had pre-mapped my course to make sure I did the full 10, and ended up going around an unfinished park with a muddy trail, and around back of the Gaylord (the big hotel there). Not going to lie, afraid I was going to get kidnapped. Real sketch.

Here, I decided to walk. I was thirsty, my stomach was upset again, and I was really grumpy.

Knowing that there would be no more water fountains, I decided to head back over to that restroom, pause my workout, regroup, and fill my water bottles with nasty water.

Don't judge, I was really thirsty.

I also opted to take my goo here, with the availability of water. Note I did not take my goo prior to the beginning of the run, and I don't think I'll make that mistake next weekend. I can really tell a difference in performance and energy level.

So I looked at myself in the mirror and said, "Snickle, you have to run home, you know. You have your water, you have your goo, and you are good to go."

Out I went, super stoked to finish!

Then BAM.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMP.

Not the muscle kind, either.

It was so bad, it nearly made me cry. But I said, Damn you, I will run this. I have three miles to go. Screw you, pain.

Pushed through it and was back on the up ramp to cross over 495. Going the opposite way is a lot harder than going to National Harbor, but I did it. And I forced myself to smile.

Then I got back on the bridge, and realized that running close to the bridge wall (it's more like a fence) makes me dizzy. I have this same problem when driving near trees where the sun is filtering through them - the blinking lights make my head spin. Good to know for the race, I guess.

But I heard on my little run keeper that I was at mile 8 - which meant only 2 more miles to go. Well that put me in a DAMN fine mood, and I hit my runner's high (and the goo probably kicked in finally). So, like last week, I sauntered along, grinning like an idiot, and singing along to my music.

Hitting mile 9, my body started to slow down, and I walked a bit to find a pick-me-up song. Lately, I'm into Britney.

Ran/walked the final mile, and ended up with the following:

Runkeeper Result: 

Total Distance: 10.07 miles
Total Time: 2:01:48
Avg Speed: 4.96
Elevation Climb: 394 feet

All in all, I'm very proud of this run. Considering my stummy wants to kill me, and I ran a race yesterday, and I didn't have goo this morning, and all of that, I still managed to finish at an acceptable pace (my goal for my half is to finish with a 12 min/mile pace).

Not to mention that I feel fully prepared for my race now. I've gone most of the way down to the starting line, and I've gone to the finish line. Now just have to put them together.

This week is tapering. I love tapering.

Milestone - 10 miles

Last Sunday, I ran for 10 miles.

You got that - Ten Miles.

My very first double-digit run.

Not only that, but I ran it at an 11:30 pace.

RunKeeper Result

I'm not going to go into super detail on this,but I will say a few things:

- My proverbial "wall" is around 7.5 miles.
- Eating goo at 5 miles is too early - need to do it around 6 to prepare for proverbial wall.
- I grinned like an idiot the last two miles
- Napping is essential post-run (HAH!)

Tomorrow I will go north - over the bridge and into National Harbor on the actual path I will be running next Sunday. This is good, because that's the part that I'm most concerned about (the bridge and the final loop around). I should be hitting the bridge (going back) right around the same mileage as during the real race.

My First Failure :'(

So I'm being melodramatic. It wasn't a failure, and I got a PR, and it's not super important.

BUT I'M SO BUMMED OUT.

Backstory:

Clarendon Day Race   is a 5k/10k double race. I thought, oh, you know I can do a 5k, and I can do a 10k. So I can do both! Besides, that, plus an additional mile back to the starting point, is about 10 miles - right where I need to be doing!

The thing was, you have to run the 5K in about 30 minutes or so, then run back to the starting line, and be ready to go at 9:05. So basically, 45 minutes to run ~4.5 miles.

To begin with , I did not have coffee this morning, did not have any sort of bread-carb (just a smoothie), and did not sleep very well. Had sushi last night (what was I thinking), and my stomach hurt.

I think you know where this is going.

BOOM - Like a crazy jack-rabbit, I go flying out of the start line, going a cool 9 minutes/mile. One mile down, feeling awesome, one and a half, feeling....meh... Two miles in...oh my god what did I do. Two and a quarter, walking. Two and a half, slow jogging. Two and three quarters, walking. Three miles, I really have to run teh rest of this.

But I was still ok, time-wise, and jogged my way back.

Up a hill worse than the Hill of Doom.

Actually, let's just be frank here, I was walking.

By the time I was almost back, the race had started, and people were jogging. By now, I was feeling just the worst, and was looking at another 6 miles.

So I did what I have been so good to not do recently - I gave up.

Here's my 5k result - a personal record of 30:07.

I've been kicking myself all day for giving up, wondering "what if I had just done x or not been so y." But, you know, this was really outside the box of anything that I have ever done before, and I am always energy conscious (trying not to do too much too fast too early). And to get a PR on a 5k is really awesome - and then to walk all the way up the hill again is pretty cool too.

Besides that, doing 10 miles today would not have been a good training exercise for my half. Quick bursts of speed are not the way (for me) to complete my race (in one week YIKES!). Slow and steady is my strategy.

So in the morning, I will drag myself out of bed for my very last "long run" prior to my half marathon, where I will run my second 10 miler (did my first last week, didn't blog about it, oh well :P).

There is a reason for everything, I guess. I'll take this as a learning experience, and do even better next year.

Interval Make Up

RunKeeper Result

Total Distance: 5.9 miles
Total Time: 1:09:07
Avg Pace: 11:42

This morning, I had one final run to do before I made my mileage this week. And that was the make-up intervals from Thursday. I let myself sleep in an extra hour this morning, and ended up getting out at 8:30. But luckily it was cool and I ran through a shaded route so the heat wasn't that big of an impact.

Out I went, and immediately, my legs felt like lead. Great start....

I promised myself at the first mile, I would stop and stretch. I really regret not doing yoga these past few weeks - I've got a 20 class pass, I need to get my ass over there and do it. I did the mile, and stopped to stretch out my IT band and hamstrings, and then I felt better.

Between miles 2 and 3 of the 3 mile first section, I started to feel the SIML - that is, the S...chtuff In My Lungs. Usually happens when I've recently had a sinus headache (ahem, Wine Festival on Saturday), or I haven't taken my inhaler in a while. And it usually results with me coughing up narsties on the side of the trail like a pack-a-day smoker.

But I muddled through to 3 miles and stopped to catch my breath before heading out to do intervals. I knew run keeper was off by about .25 of a mile, because I had passed the 4 mile marker - and I started before the 7 mile marker. But no matter, I kept going until it told me to start intervals.

Let me just tell you - intervals are my least favorite part of training. I hate running uncomfortably, and intervals push me out of my comfort zone. However, I know they're good for me, so I have to do them anyways.

Today's intervals were 2:30 minutes, 3:00 minutes, and another 2:30. Blargh! I hate intervals. I had to stop at the end of my last one to cough up another lung.

Once I got into the grove of my 2 miles back, I honestly felt a lot better. Probably because I was lost in my thoughts. But before I knew it I was done!

Although I hate intervals, I know they are good for me, and will help me increase my speed and stamina. I foresee doing a lot of them over the winter, when I focus on getting up to 9:30/avg for 4 miles and under. So I might as well get used to them.

Early Mornin' With Pacers!

In addition to the Tuesday and Thursday runs, Pacers also has a fun run early on Saturday morning. These are designed for those who need a long run - either preparing for a marathon or half like me. I, however, chose to run with Pacers butt-crack early on Saturday morning because my training called for running a 10k race on Saturday. With no 10ks to speak of (and I didn't want to spend any money :P), I opted to run out with them.

The long run this week began at Gravelly Point and worked its way up the Potomac. Talk about the most gorgeous view of DC you can get! I passed the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument (of course, I can see that from my house, it's so damn big), and the Capitol.

I also began my experimentation with CLIF Energy Shots. Pacers had them out for sampling, so I took four. For this run, I tried the Mocha one - simply because it had caffeine in it, and I didn't feel like breaking out my coffee. I was a little nervous because sometimes too much sugar or caffeine - combined with my inhaler - can give me the shakes, but surprisingly, I had no real issues. Not even a digestive issue! So I'll look into these.

RunKeeper Result

Total Distance: 6.22 Miles
Total Time: 1:11:41
Avg Pace: 11:32 min/mile

The first half I actually ran at a race pace - 10:44/mile. Then I decided to call my folks (why? I dunno, just because). Unfortunately, that slowed me down a bit, because I had to be able to talk and run at the same time. Oh well - got a good 30 minute talk in with my parents anyways!

I definitely felt the 4 miles I had done the night before, but the GU stuff actually helped keep me not braindead. Definitely only going to be used for the longer runs - it's hard to eat, actually.

All in all, pretty good run!

Oh yeah, and while I only did 6 - the rest of the group did 15.5. One day Snickle, one day...

Monsoons = Not Good

So, in addition to the earthquake, hurricane, and threat of terror attack that Washington DC has experienced in the past month, we also had a monsoon the past few days. The remains of TS Lee were stuck over us for three days - causing widespread flooding and road issues and such. Living in a  flood plane (why, oh why did I do that again?), I was concerned for my home and property, so I teleworked for three days.

After three days of staying indoors - no running, no nothing, this is what happens:

And also, you get crappy runs.

RunKeeper Result

Total Distance: 4 Miles

Total Time: 47:22

Avg Speed: 5.08

I was supposed to do intervals on Thursday with Pacers, but, as with last week, schtuff got in the way. AKA it was flooding and monsooning. By the time I got out, it was already getting dark, and I didn't have time to do a full 6 miles. So I switched around Sunday's and Thursdays, and opted to do 4 miles instead.

Let's just be short and sweet with this and say this was not a good run. I tried to go super fast on the outset - still feeling good from Tuesday's run - and it completely screwed me over. In addition, I brought no water, didn't fully hydrate, and was supah!hungry.

However, I did end up jogging halfway up the WW bridge, which is the path I'll be taking on my half. I hope to run that at least three or four more times prior to my race.

I did walk some of it, which was, you know, not what I'm supposed to be doing here, but I forgave myself.

It had been a weird week.

Kicking Ass and Taking Names

Last night was Tuesday, and Tuesday means the Russell Route for Pacers.

So I start out, back of the pack, running my merry way. Right around the normal point - about 1 mile in when it starts to get a bit hilly - I lose the rest of the group - as they are much better at running up the hill.

Then my music stops and I hear my phone ringing.

"...This is Whitney..."

"HEYYYY!"

".... Hello?"

"HEY WHITNEY!"

It's my baby cousin.

"H-Hey bubs, how are you?"

"I'm bored."

(Starting up the Hill of Doom (R))

"That's cool, how's school going?"

"It's good, I like my classes."

"(puff puff) That's awesome! What classes are you taking?"

"Oh, you know...." (tells me his classes)

"(puff puff puff puff) Uh-huh!"

(Continuing to talk)

"(puff puff puff puff puff puff puff puiff) That's wonderful!"

(Continuing to talk)

"Hey bubs, I'm going to have to call you later, I'm at the top of the hill."

"Oh Ok."

"Love you KIDDO!"

---

Yeah, you read that right, ran to the top of the hill, still able to talk.

Not only that, but the awesomeness continued with running with a couple of fun runners all the way home.

RunKeeper Result

Total Distance: 5.4 miles
Total Time: 56:41 (new record!)
Avg. Pace: 10:30/mile (new record!)


I also read an interesting article today that talked about lactic acid build up. It basically said that you have to train to increase your ability to exercise without lactic acid build up, and that everyone's body had a different threshold. I can honestly say though that I did not have any pain or soreness after this run.

Hooray!

Sunday Runday

I attempted to take a picture at the 4 mile halfway point and it killed my run keeper. So I had to do two separate run tracker thingies, but here they are:

Part 1 - 4.18 miles
Part 2 - 3.86 miles

Total Distance: 8 miles (New distance!)
Total Time: 1:36:53
Total Elevation: 84 feet
Avg Pace: ~12 min/mile

What I ate: 3/4 of a Balance Bar, Starbucks VIA coffee + Chocolate milk (as I was out of regular coffee and regular milk; Ingenuity!), half a banana

So I wanted to try and fall asleep during the first mile, but no such luck this week. I opted to head south this time, following the trail of the WW1/2 to get intimately familiar with it. Now, of course on Friday, I had some issues with run keeper, but for the meantime, it appeared to be working this time.

I felt some tightness in my thighs in the first mile, so I stopped for a minute and stretched it out. Afterwards, no real pain, so hooray! After the first two miles, then we got into "new territory." At this point on Friday, I was starting to get all sorts of annoyed, so I didn't really have time to enjoy the scenery. Today was different, though, and I went along my merry way!

The last time I had been this far south on the Mt Vernon trail, I was on a bike, so all of the hills and valleys were great - use the speed from the valley to push me up the hill. Unfortunately, running has no wheels, so everything was manual :P But it was still nice - there are a lot of bridges and gorgeous vistas of the Potomac river.

Happily, I hit the four mile mark just outside of Fort Hunt Park, where I stopped to take pictures!

Sadly, that's when my Runkeeper died. Or rather, it showed my progress in all 0's, which scared the bejesus out of me. Silly Snickle, you should know that you can't expect your phone to do three things at once right now. It's delicate.

After screwing with it for a minute, I finally decided to give up and start a new run. On the way back, it didn't give me any audio cues, but I knew I had turned around at the halfway mark, so I was ok with it!

Around mile 5, I started to really wish I had brought NUUN or Gatorade or something other than water. I didn't drink any NUUN prior to my run, which in hindsight was a mistake. Although I think that I might just do a hybrid of Gatorade and NUUN as my hydration strategy - sorry, but those NUUNs still make me feel ill.

I stopped at the 6 mile mark water station and refilled and poured water over my head. Then I kept going!

So I felt like I hit "the wall" around mile 6.5 and 7 - just felt my energy go downhill fast. But I kept up my strategy of giving myself three "I want to quits" before quitting, and I am happy to report that I did NOT quit period. It's amazing what you can do if you allow yourself.

So the lessons learned from this run are as follows:

1. Drink NUUN/Gatorade before
2. Bring something to eat during the run if I'm doing over 7 miles. I saw on the WW1/2 course that they will be providing ACCEL Gels at the 7 mile mark. I might have to go invest in some so that I can make sure they work for me.
3. Bring Gatorade in one of my bottles - I need that extra something. Water is great, but isn't going to cut it. Especially if I've got a water stop on the way (which I do).

Overall, this week was full of technology malfunctions, and I did not run my 3-4 miles on Saturday. However, I'm learning more about what my body needs in order to complete this half marathon, and I am starting to feel more and more prepared.

Technology is teh worst sometimes

I live in an area where AT&T fails miserably at times. Today was one of those times.

So my run yesterday was postponed in lieu of helping a friend move, so this morning after doing a few hours of work and study, I headed out for my interval training. 

I'm beginning my run and wondering...gee...these quarter mile alerts are coming pretty fast - and its saying I'm running super fast. Wonder what's up?

But hey! I went with it!

Until about a mile and a half in, I wondered why I hadn't been hearing ANY audio alerts. Looked at my phone and run keeper was stuck on 1.05. 

Brilliant. 

I fiddle-faddled with it and did the usual shenanigans, but to no avail. So I quit the run and re-started.

Except my freaking AT&T signal wouldn't work. Thanks dude, will be moving to VZW when Steve Tim (Cook) releases the new iPhone. Kthxbye

So I said, Ok, I'll run another quarter mile (lucky for me I've done this route a lot, so I know about where the markers are), time it, and then add it. 

Long Story Short - I spent about 10 minutes trying to get a freaking signal before it finally worked. 

By this point, I was all flustered - not the least bit because I had almost been run over a bunch of times by rude bikers. Then Boo called, and I snapped at him for calling, then I had to go do intervals, and my freaking thing wasn't still working and oh yeah, my inhaler is on empty, so I wasn't getting any medicine when I puffed. 

Add all of that together, and I pretty well damn near had either an asthma attack or a panic attack. I pushed myself into a little wooded area and told myself to Calm The $^#T$ Down. Took some time to catch my breath and then continued. 

Although RunKeeper says I didn't do but 5 miles, I know I turned around after the 3 mile point, so I'm going to say I fulfilled my obligation of my intervals today.

The intervals were not the worst, if I do say so myself. They were 2 x 2 minutes and 2x 2:30 with a minute slow in-between, and I believe I did a fairly good job on the majority of them! 

The biggest accomplishment today was that I was able to recognize an impending panic/asthma attack and stop it before I got hysterical. Even before it was anything more than a tingling in the chest. I also was able to push myself to keep running for around 80% of the run - which isn't bad considering all of the freaking issues.

I also repeat that unless AT&T improves service in my neck of the woods, I'm switching back to VZW. It's 2011 kids, should not be dealing with this issue. 

Oh Yeah - and no joint pain - period :D