August 12th-19th I went back to Colorado for a week. After a long travel day Tuesday, I woke up Wednesday morning and headed for Boulder Reservoir. Given that I had a hard workout Tuesday morning before starting the travel and getting into my hotel late Wednesday morning I had no expectations for my first run at altitude. Surprisingly that first day felt O.K. I ran 8 miles that morning, then went to Fort Collins and ran another 5 that evening with Ellie and Abby, still feeling good. Thursday morning was another story. My "workout" was a disaster. Friday was even worse, I went out for a run in Highlands Ranch that felt ridiculously hard. Somehow I made it to Saturday and had a decent 21 miler (averaged 7:02 pace), which I found acceptable given I was unacclimated to altitude. Maybe it was the pancakes at Snooze that were waiting for me after the run. On my final day at altitude I had put in 91 miles the last 7 days. That was hard.
The Good: Back to NY and the Chris Thater 5k.
Saturday, August 23rd, 2014.
I drove out to Binghamton with Emily and Vince Saturday afternoon to race the Chris Thater Memorial 5k. The race started at 5:15 p.m., which made the day a little tricky, but at least we got to sleep in. When we got to Binghamton it was raining. The rain stopped just before the race and was still pretty humid, but the sun wasn't out, which was good. I went out pretty hard the first mile, 5:30, and then ran miles 2 and 3 pretty evenly. I finished 5th place overall in 17:33, an eleven second PR. After the race I had a workout, which I ran a little slower than I was suppose to, but I figured with the PR, it was okay. :). The post-race refreshments were good as well as the overall race organization and of course, the entertainment from our friend Lori.
The Not so Good: New Haven 20k.
Monday, September 1st, 2014.
Labor Day was the USATF National 20k Championship in New Haven, CT. Prior to knowing what the weather would be weeks in advance, we anticipated me to run low-mid 1:14. The predicted forecast leading up to the race however did not look promising. Sunday evening we had an elite tech meeting, which was pretty cool since we got to sing Happy Birthday to Molly Huddle (how many people can say they did that?!) and then I went to dinner with fellow Willow Street runner, Scott, and Katie, who I met the weekend prior at Chris Thater. At the start of the race Monday morning the temperature was already 79 degrees, 90% humidity and sunny. It was brutal and only got worse from there. Clearly goal times were out the window and it was all about racing for place. I went out with a group of girls who I decided to let go around mile 3. I settled into my own pace and continued the death march... Around mile 10 I started to catch a couple girls, and then at mile 11 caught 2 more. I finished 1:17:2x for 15th place. Overall I was very happy with where I finished place-wise. I think I speak for everyone at that race, NO ONE was running their goal time that day. It was by far the worst/hardest conditions I have ever raced in. My feet were so saturated that my insole slide out and was halfway up the back of my heel the last couple of miles. Despite the conditions, the experience being in the elite field/tent with Olympians and other big runners was awesome.
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The Hardest: Last Hard Week.
Last high week. This week was pretty tough. Today I've run 96 miles the past 7 days (although my week ends tomorrow so I will be at 91 for the week). Tuesday I had 8 x 1000m (all between 3:27-3:30) with 90 second rest between. Thursday's workout was another hard one; 3 mile warmup, 4 miles averaged 6:09, 4 minute rest, 3 miles (6:14 pace), 3 minute rest, 2 miles (average 6:08), 2 minute rest, 1 mile 6:12, 2.5 cool down. Then 22 miles today. I'm beat! But overall I feel strong and hope that coming down in mileage these next 4 weeks refreshes me for the marathon!
