"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

Palio Half Marathon, Saratoga Springs, NY

And here I am, less than 1 month away from the marathon!  Yesterday I ran the Palio half marathon in Saratoga Springs, NY, here is how the weekend unfolded:

Friday the 13th....sure did live up its stigma here in Colorado.  That week Colorado saw the most rain it has ever seen in such a short period, ever.  Total rainfall was equivalent to what is seen over the course of the entire year.  I was awaken Thursday night to flash flooding alarms and again on Friday at 4:00 a.m.  I managed to fall back asleep Friday morning before getting up to go to the airport.  I left my apartment just after 7:00 a.m. and started my short 50 minute drive to DIA... but to my surprise they closed the interstate!  It ended up taking me 2 1/2 hours and I made my flight with 5 minutes to spare.  Luckily, security at DIA was a ghost town, which was an oddity.  I arrived into Syracuse at 6:00 p.m. and we stopped for dinner in Utica.  I finally made it back to good old scotia at 9:45 and was in my bed by 11:00.

Saturday, September 14th- I met Crystal and Mac daddy in Clifton Park and we headed to the race expo in Saratoga.  We did a 3.5 mile shake out run on the first part of the course.  Mile 1 was a major hill!  After a little photo session we drove the rest of the course and headed home.  I finished the day off with a soccer reunion and some family time that evening, catching up with my brother and his girlfriend.  

Sunday, September 15th- RACE DAY!!!  Woke up at 5:30 a.m. (Still on 3:30 mountain time)!  We picked up Crystal and her sister-in-law, Kelly, and arrived around 6:35.  After an easy warmup run, I got rid of some layers, changed into my racers and headed to the start to finish my drills and strides.  

Mile 1- went out easy.  The pack I was running with must have thought I was running too fast or something because they were saying rather loudly how it is a long race and people shouldn't go out too fast.  I decided to engage in their conversation and talk to them normally so they knew I was running at easy effort despite the uphill mile, we only went through the first mile in 6:17... clearly slower than my overall pace.  From then on I essentially ran the rest of the race alone, which was fine because mentally I can hit my pace without the help of anyone else or a pace group.  I hit the 5k in 19:00.  10k in 38:11.  15k in 57:30.  I threw out my gloves at mile 6.5, which I regretted later.  Miles 7-9 were tough for me.  There was an uphill just after 7, and a 180 turn around just before mile 8.  I also started to feel a bit of a headwind at this time and took it on completely solo.  Miles 10-11.5 went well, then the last mile and half got a little confusing.  There was no one near me and the volunteers were just kind of standing around talking amongst each other.  I wasn't exactly sure where I was turning until I reached the turn, which was kind of annoying, especially in the last mile because there were a lot of turns!  I finished the race in 1:21:21, a minute and 56 second PR. 

I am extremely thankful for all the volunteers (although I wish they were a little more directive the last 2 miles when I was alone and trying to look for the turns), but overall it was a well organized event.  From the expo, to the water stations, everything was great.  My only complaint was the 11:30 start time for the awards ceremony.  The ceremony included those for the 5k, which started at 7:35 as well as the half, which the majority of winners were done by 9:00 a.m.  It was such a perfect fall day and great to see so many people out there working hard and achieving their goals.  

Racing Through Training

Sunday, August 4th, 2013 
Evergreen Town Race

 First road 10k in how long? I anticipated running somewhere between 37:50-38:30, and as the race drew closer the more nervous I became about my performance. I wasn't tapering for this race, I was doing a couple solid workouts that week. Also, the race started at 7500 feet. Yes, it is downhill, which totally helps, but I was still nervous considering I was receiving another 2 iron infusions that week. My ferritin, iron, and % binding all dropped.  In addition to the iron issues I feel I cannot perform at altitude the same as other runners who have lived here for years... heck my most recent H&H represented something like 12.7 & 38, which is only slightly higher than it was at sea level. Thus, when I was on the starting line I just hoped I would finish without dying. And then the gun went off. I went out in 5:56 pace and started to question what side of the road I should be running on. The course is pretty curvy and it was difficult to not get involved in too much weaving from side to side that would add unnecessary distance to the race. I went through the 5k in 18:45ish... and then for some reason felt the need to relax... like a lot. My mile dropped to 6:22 during mile 4. Luckily I realized I had a lot left in my legs and closed the last 2 miles around 6:06 pace. The biggest disappointment was my watch, which went off relatively close to each mile marker, until the last one... I then thought maybe they just skipped the mile 6 marker. I was certain I would be close to 37:50...until I then saw the mile 6 marker.. really? At the finish line my watch read 38:13 for 6.31 miles. I was bummed. If I had known my watch would be off would I pushed more at the end? The other downside of this race was the annoying runner (sorry, but it was!) that decided he would pace off of me/ then try to pace me. He literally ran on my heals... look at the race photos for evidence, then would jump off in front of me and stop!!! Then come back at me full sprint, telling me "come on lets go". Really??? Talk about messing up my stride, I purposely tried to slow down for a few strides to let him pass, but he wouldn't, he just tucked inside of me before jumping off to the side again to stop before starting a full out sprint again. I eventually told him to just go ahead around mile 5.7, but he didn't feel the need until the last 0.1. I was super annoyed. Anyway, I finished 7th overall and 3rd in my age group, talk about some good competition! A 4+ mile cool-down and then headed home.

August 10th, 2013 Georgetown to Idaho Springs 

That week I kept the miles up. From Sunday, August 4th to Saturday, August 10th, I ran 70 miles which included the 10k race along with a 13.1 mile race, a day off and a solid workout on Wednesday. I went into the half marathon Saturday thinking the same thing at the starting line, please let me get through this. The half was a lot harder. It started at 8500 feet and the first 2.5 miles were dead flat. Then as we started the descent, we had rolling hills during every mile for the next several miles. I wanted to pull out around mile 5 and didn't know how I was going to finish. Luckily miles 6 & 7 were slightly better and then we got onto a dirt trail for the next mile. I was able to basically run the first and second half evenly, which is huge for me (splits below). I finished 3rd overall in a time of 1:24:24. Not my best half, but considering the elevation and training with no taper, I am quite happy. There were still 530 feet of elevation gain at that altitude I had to suffer through despite the net downhill! I added on another 3.7 miles after the race for a total of 19 for the day.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
1	6:24.0	--	--
2	6:36.0	0.00	--
3	6:26.6	0.00	0
4	6:21.9	0.00	0
5	6:40.5	0.00	0
6	6:21.3	0.00	0
7	6:21.1	0.00	0
8	6:18.2	0.00	0
9	6:24.2	0.00	0
10	6:22.1	0.00	0
11	6:22.5	0.00	0
12	6:27.9	0.00	0
13.1	7:18.3	0.00	0
Summary	1:24:24.5	0.00

Marathon Training Continued....

Firekracker 5k

Thursday, July 4th, 2013.  Well actually this starts the night before.  My parents were flying in from NY and their scheduled flight was suppose to get into DIA around 8:00 p.m.  Not too late.  However, their flight into and out of Atlanta was delayed and they had to change their route, putting them into DIA around 11:00 p.m.  I drove to the airport, picked them up and finally got home around 12:30 a.m.  Not ideal for a girl who loves her 8 hours of sleep!  Anyway, the race went o.k.  It wasn't a great race for me, but I suppose it could have been worse.  The race was scheduled to start at 8:00, which we were ready for.  However, a few minutes before 8, as we were finishing our strides, they told us they were now starting at 8:10.  Ug!  Anyway, the start felt slow, the second mile was bad and then I finished in 19:05.  Like I said, not great, but with the elevation and heat that day I'm not crying myself to sleep over it.  I finished fourth, missing prize money by 1 place, however did get a pretty sweet piece of pottery!

Long Runs!

Last Sunday I did a 15 miler on the Poudre Trail.  I finished in 1:46 averaging 7:05's for the run.  I had 4 miles under 7:00's and the last half was faster than the first.  It did take a little toll on me for the week considering I've been bumping my mileage up quite a bit for me.  Today's long run was 16.3 miles in 1:57, 7:12 average pace.  The first half and second half were fairly even, however the second was slightly faster.  After today's run I've hit 71 miles for the past 7 days, which is my second highest!  But really my mileage will be 62 for the week since I start my weeks on Mondays.  I had 2 decent workouts during the week and although my legs are tired, nothing really hurts!  We will see how this next week goes!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/341836092#.UeGFVGtH0LI.facebook

Marathon Training Begins.

Corporate Challenge 8k

Last Thursday was the Corporate Challenge 8k race in Louisville.  The race was held at 6:00 p.m. and for those that haven't been to Colorado, the hottest part of the day is between 5:00-6:00 in the evening.  The high for the day was 92, which had me extremely worried after my disaster at Freihofer's.  In addition, the physicians at work insisted we have BBQ for lunch that day.  Overall, the race was a decent effort.  Did I absolutely kill myself?  No.  It was a loop (a square) course, 1.65 miles x 3.  A slight downhill, followed by flat, followed by a gradual uphill, followed by flat again.  I really didn't push too hard on the gradual climb and lost all my time there (I need to work on hills), but running fairly comfortable (understatement in the heat I suppose) I finished third in 30:43.  My teammate, Abby, finished first in a blazing time of 28:45, and our team won the women's division.

This week the heat hasn't let up at all and has actually gotten worse!  Saturday I ran 12 miles with Ellie and Leigh Ann (averaged 7:15's) and felt good.  This upcoming Saturday I will move up to 14 miles.  I decided to not run the Bristol Mile this Saturday evening so I could do a long run.  I had a quick speed workout Tuesday morning, then yesterday Abby, Ellie, Leigh Ann and I ran in 97 degrees, closing our last 3 miles in 6:57, 6:43, and 6:47.  Today I ran an easy, yet decent progression run in 99 degrees.  It actually does not feel that bad at all compared to 97 or 99 degrees in NY.  I will be just over 50 miles by the end of the week, which isn't too bad going into my first week of actual marathon training.  The plan for this training cycle is to boost my mileage.  My weekly high for the last marathon was 67 miles, which is a typical max for me during marathon training.  I look forward to increasing the miles for this marathon and hope it helps!  I'm feeling pretty good, my foot was a slight issue after being in NY.  The combination of racing two 5k' in a week, along with 2 workouts on the track and walking around NYC in dress shoes for several days took it's toll.  I've been in sneakers since I came back (most of the time), alternating between asphalt and dirt and icing again.  It seems to be helping, so I am sticking to it!  Next Thursday is the Firekracker 5k in Ft. Collins, we will see what a 5k at altitude is like compared to my last one almost a month ago at sea level!

Race Report... and then some

Freihofer's 

Friday, May 31st, 11:00 p.m. I finally entered my house in Scotia, NY.  I left my apartment in Colorado around 6:30 a.m. that day to go into work for an hour before driving to the airport.  Once I was settled in at DIA, I found out that the plane was delayed an hour.  Ug.  Then the 3 hour 45 minute flight turned into 4 and 1/2 hours thanks to some harsh storms in the midwest.  Finally, I arrived at LGA airport.  When my mother picked me up at the airport we started our journey to upstate NY... but not so fast.  Good old NYC traffic.  We eventually made it out of the city and just when we thought it was smooth sailing we hit another traffic jam outside of Nyack. I begged my mother to stop so we could eat, it was already past 7:00.  After we ate dinner (which wasn't so great), we got back in the car and finished our drive home.  As soon as I got home I went to bed, 6:45 was going to come quickly, especially for a girl on Mountain Time.  

Saturday, June 1st-  That morning was hot, even at 7:25 a.m. when I left my house to meet a couple friends to carpool to the race with.  When I got there, I met my running buddy, Crystal, to go for a warmup.  Eventually it was time to head to the start line.  I stood in front of the corral with Crystal, Kristina, Renee, Gretchen and Jodie.  I passed around my water bottle as it is already 85 degrees with around 80% humidity.  It was brutal.   When the gun went off I went out where I thought I should be given recent race performances this year.  The first kilometer felt easy, then something happened.  I am not sure what.  My legs didn't hurt. I wasn't breathing heavy, I was just tired, hot, and didn't have the desire to race.  I finished a very disappointing 46th place in a time of 19:28.  I couldn't really explain what happened, but I wasn't overly upset either.  I was happy that my legs didn't hurt, I didn't feel like I died or went out too fast, I just felt tired and like I didn't want to run.  

The next morning I met Kristina, Meghan and Emily for a run in Amsterdam.  We started around 7:30 a.m. to beat the heat as Sunday was predicted to be in the 90's as well.  We started off slow around an 8:30 pace.  Shortly after we were clipping miles off around 7:15-7:20 pace.  After 12 miles we averaged 7:30's and we were relieved to be done as it was already 80 degrees and ridiculously humid. 

Central Park, NYC

June 6th- my Birthday!  I had a conference in NYC on Friday so I went down on Thursday to meet some friends for dinner that evening.  I planned my trip accordingly so when I arrived in the city I would have enough time to go for a run in Central Park.  The Oakley Mini 10k was going on that Saturday, thus I knew some of the elite would be around and naturally I wanted to go look for them!  As I entered Central Park, running north, a girl passed me running south that looked like Des Daliva.  I turned around and dropped to a 6:30 pace on my "easy" run to catch the girl.  Well I finally did and when I turned to acknowledge her she kept looking straight forward, completely focused.  I debated whether or not to ask if she was Des, then it started to seem awkward as I stared at her waiting for her to turn her head, so I kept running past her.  I am pretty sure that girl decked out in Brooks apparel was her.

OK 5k- Kinderhook, NY

Saturday, June 8th- my redemption day!  I warmed up with Crystal and Kristina on the course.  My legs didn't feel particularly good and although the temperature was a vast improvement from the weekend prior, it was still humid.  The race started and I went out behind Emily and Kristina.  As we passed through the first mile I thought the man reading splits at the mile marker was yelling 5:52, 5:53, 5:54, 5:55.  I kept plugging along.  At the mile 2 mark I was convinced he yelled out 11:58, which meant I was not on pace to run a PR.  It wasn't until mile 3 when I actually looked at my watch and read 17:38.  With just 0.1 of a mile left I knew I was going to PR.  I crossed the finish line in 18:15, a 14 second PR for third place.  I was so happy!  Apparently I was hearing the mile splits incorrectly or something, my splits on my garmin read 5:45, 5:57, 5:58.

Photo Shoot!

Sunday, June 9th- I came home and helped get some shots for Injinji in Poudre Canyon and Lions Park.  It was a lot of fun and Matt took some amazing shots!

Back to The Racing Scene

This weekend will be my first race back after running the Colorado Marathon.  The first race back after a marathon is always unpredictable.  I think I took some good time off, I didn't kill myself with too many miles too soon and I got in a couple of quick, short, speed workouts last week.  Although my mileage is at half it was peaking for the marathon (last week 33), I am running a 5k, not another marathon.

I did go to the hematologist last week and need another iron infusion tomorrow.  Unfortunately, an iron infusion tomorrow isn't going to do much good for my race this Saturday.  I am feeling the symptoms of iron deficiency again, which is never a good sign.  I have been chomping on popsicles, having major shortness of breath and some minor leg cramps.  I am hoping I feel this more now since I am at altitude and when I get to NY on Friday these symptoms dissipate.  The other aspect of this is figuring out why I am iron deficient and not absorbing any oral supplements (liquid or pill form).  I will have blood work done tomorrow as well to check for the antibodies for Celiac's Disease.

So what does the race schedule look like over the next few months?!

June 1st- Freihofer's Run for Women 5k, Albany, NY
June 8th- OK 5k, Kinderhook, NY
June 20th- Corporate Challenge Colorado- Lousiville, CO
June 29th- Bristol Mile- Colorado Springs, CO
July 4th- Firecracker 5k, Fort. Collins, CO
August 10th- Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon, CO
October 13th- Mohawk Hudson Marathon, Albany, NY

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

Colorado Marathon & RR postrace

On May 5th, 2013 I ran an 8 minute marathon PR.  Although I knew my last marathon should have been a lot faster (I got sick and had to stop for several minutes at mile 23 dropping my predicted finish from 3:01-2 to 3:07), I was still happy. The first 14 miles of the Colorado Marathon was downhill, which was a good thing given the race started at 6,200 feet elevation, however it still did damage.  My quads were destroyed and I felt it by mile 18.   Despite some GI cramps the last 2 miles of the marathon I still felt good.  I never really hit a "wall".  Every time I went to pick up the pace and run faster my quads screamed at me!  So I settled into a 7:15 minute mile pace at the end of the race, knowing it would be good enough to still break 3-hours.  If it weren't for my quads I know I could have finished a lot faster.  So we will see what a flat, non-damaging downhill marathon at sea-level, Mohawk Hudson Marathon, will allow me to crank out this fall! :)

After the marathon I finally went to get blood work done that I was putting off until after the race, I needed all my blood in my body to race at that elevation!  What did I find out?  My ferritin, stored iron, had dropped to a level the majority of runners would experience negative results in their training and performance.    Last summer when I was doing a long run with my best marathon training partner, Crystal Perno, I started to suck wind and get way behind on any incline.  I called my doctor the next day and asked to have iron studies done.  My ferritin had always been low throughout my life, and ridiculously low for a serious runner (8,9,11).  However, no doctor seemed to care and know how much I was training to race faster.  Of course I wasn't going to get that much faster no matter how much I trained with my iron so low!  Well my ferritin came back at 4.  Sedentary people can have a ferritin as low as 12 without too many symptoms.  Runners, especially those who race shouldn't be below 30 (some even argue 50), otherwise their training and performance takes a hit.  Well with a ferritin of 4 it finally all made sense.  Constant leg cramps and thrashing of my legs at night (I started taking medication for restless leg syndrome thinking that was the problem), ice crunching, constant naps despite sleeping 9 hours a night as well as dizziness and hair loss, I went to a hematologist.  They decided in give my 8 IV iron infusions immediately.  What a difference!  I felt amazing afterwards.  My ferritin went up to 210!  After moving out to Colorado I had my iron studies done again in January.  Ferritin 112.  Still felt amazing!  Then after this marathon, ferritin 24.  Damn it.  I am on the path for iron infusions again.  I see the hematologist next week, so we will see.

May 5th, 2013- Colorado Marathon- 2:59:40, 2nd overall female

April 14th, 2013- Delmar Dash 5 Miler- 30:12, 3rd overall female

March 17th, 2013- New Bedford Half Marathon- 1:23:17

New Bedford Half Marathon

I was 6 weeks back into training.  Not ideal to race a half marathon PR.  Usually 10 weeks is prime for training for a half, even if you are in shape.  I was not.  I raced Chicago Marathon in October and given my disappointing 3:07, I signed up for CIM that December, knowing I could break 3 hours.  I started to train too soon and knotted my calf up pretty bad.  The next day and for months after that last track workout that hurt my calf, the dreaded Plantar Fascitis started.  It was awful.  I never knew how bad it hurt and I could barely run.  By the end of December I felt like I could start running normal again.  I still had bad burning pain, but for the most part I was able to run through it.  My coach had me stay off the track and stay on soft dirt surfaces.  I didn't have any significant confidence boosting workouts, especially here at altitude, I was doing everything at a threshold pace, no faster, so I wasn't expecting too much from NB half marathon.  My PR was 1:27:52 and I thought I could do that, maybe I could even break 1:27, but I had no idea I was going to run 1:23:17!  In fact, I was so unfamiliar with calculating that pace in my head I didn't even know I was going to run that until the final mile.  If I had known, I am confident I could have broken 1:23.   I just realized it a little too late.