I had signed up for a 10k race with good ole MEC. It was a last minute decision. I needed to get a few extra k's under my feet but I didn't want to exhaust myself with a race. The idea, I decided, was to practise.
I had two goals in mind:
1. To discover what it feels like (at this point) to run at my goal race pace for 10k
2. To work on my running cadence and form.
When the gun went off, I enjoyed the lack of self-inflicted pressure to perform well. I hung towards the back of the crowd.
It was interesting to be taking it easy. I passed some people at the 2nd km that were already gasping. I'm not sure how they were going to manage the next 8k!
As far as goal 1 goes, I wasn't expecting much. In half marathons I can usually keep on target race pace until 12k or so, and then I start slowing down. So just to go 10k, I didn't think I'd hit that point of fatigue. And I didn't.
But I got a good feel for what a 5min40sec pace feels like, and with the exception of the 8k mark, every other km was within 5sec of that goal time. I felt slightly fatigued at the end but nothing unmanageable. Still, I have a long way to go before I could maintain that pace for twice the distance.
It was also of interest to note how many people I passed on the second half of the course. Ah yes, those runners just like me who deceive themselves into believing "I can hold this pace for 10k easy!" and then don't. Poor suckers. How well I know your frustrations!
I focussed on keeping as steady a pace as I could, and at the same time I periodically counted my cadence, to see how fast my feet were hitting the pavement.
I've been told that ideally a person's cadence is 180 foot strikes per minute. There is no way I could count every footstep (and it is in fact especially hard when I am near other runners and get confused as to who's foot is hitting the ground when), so I did what most people do and divided in half to count every step on one foot. So my goal number ended up being 90. I really worked on keeping my cadence fast. But this also typically means my speed picks up, so it was a joint effort of fast cadence/easy pace.
Most times I got 86. There were a few 84s and I even went down as slow as 80 when I wasn't paying attention. But no matter how "fast" I told my feet to go, I seemed stuck at 86.
Oh well. At least it's not too far off!
Monday, July 28, 2014
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Yikes
The small little 1:50 pace group that started out with three people (one myself, one my sis, and one a gal slower than me) has suddenly grown to Really Good athletes! Yikes!!! What have I gotten myself into?
Tuesday was okay. We did hill training. Which everyone knows involves doing laps. After a couple of years of weekly hill training for 1 hour on the daunting Mt Coot-tha, this was rather tame by comparison! The hill took me approximately 1min30sec to get to the top. Note I don't say "bottom to top", because we didn't actually start on the bottom.
And instead of doing 1 hour of constant repeats, we did 3 repeats! Well, the half marathon group did 3 repeats, while the marathon group did 4 repeats. Since I've been missing a few runs, I decided to do a bonus run up the hill with the marathon group. I forgot how exhausting hill repeats are!!! If you think of it, 1.5min x 4 = 6min. So I was only doing about 6minutes of intense cardio. But my legs were shaking and my lungs were burning. I rarely got passed on the way up but was consistently passed on the way down. Most of the people in my group were taking the hill slow and steady. Me? I've been trained that hill repeats mean sprint up the hill and recover on the way down, so up I sprinted, and down I staggered. Repeatedly
Wednesday was a big Challenge. This was when all these super fast athletes decided to join my group for a 4k tempo run. My best 4k tempo run pace this year is around 5.08. Yet the tempo pace I was supposed to lead was 4.45-4.57min. Hmmm. I whispered to my sis that I was planning to go a bit slower, since I couldn't hold the faster pace. She gave me an "Are You Crazy?" look and told me aloud, "of coooooourse you can run that fast. Just give it a try!"
Ha! If only I weren't in the habit of listening to my older, sometimes wiser sister.
I planned to keep around the 5.00 pace mark. And then the 2-hour pace group set off before me and they were so fast. My competitive nature got the best of me and I decided to show them fast! (Yes, you can see where this all starts to spiral downhill...)
The first km I ran a blistering 4.51min/km. As a reference point, when I did 1k repeats last year with a long rest break in between, 4.45-4.50 was my average on each km.
The second km I ran at 4.56min/km. Slower, but still on target!
I maintained this another half km or so. And then in dismay I saw the pace on my watch creeping up: 5.01...5.03...5.04...
I gasped to Heather and the nearest runner to keep that pace, since I knew I was fading. They strongly encouraged me "no way, you're doing great!" and then blistered on ahead. The next three runners responded in a similar way when I told them to follow my sis and the other guy if they wanted to maintain the correct pace. "No thanks, we like your pace! It's too hot to go faster!" And off they sprinted as I dropped farther, and farther back.
The two hour pacer breezed by me with less than 500m to go. He encouraged me to stick with him, but I just couldn't. I had eaten way too much dinner, my legs were sore from the hills the day before and - let's all be honest here - I had [once again] started off way too fast!
But on the bright side, I set a kick-ass pace for over half the distance, I kept to my own personal tempo pace goal of sub-5.15min average (At the finish my gps watch told me I'd averaged 5.11min/km. Woohoo!). And I got to remind myself - once again - why running negative splits is so much better than starting out too fast and burning up halfway through. Will I ever learn?
Tuesday was okay. We did hill training. Which everyone knows involves doing laps. After a couple of years of weekly hill training for 1 hour on the daunting Mt Coot-tha, this was rather tame by comparison! The hill took me approximately 1min30sec to get to the top. Note I don't say "bottom to top", because we didn't actually start on the bottom.
And instead of doing 1 hour of constant repeats, we did 3 repeats! Well, the half marathon group did 3 repeats, while the marathon group did 4 repeats. Since I've been missing a few runs, I decided to do a bonus run up the hill with the marathon group. I forgot how exhausting hill repeats are!!! If you think of it, 1.5min x 4 = 6min. So I was only doing about 6minutes of intense cardio. But my legs were shaking and my lungs were burning. I rarely got passed on the way up but was consistently passed on the way down. Most of the people in my group were taking the hill slow and steady. Me? I've been trained that hill repeats mean sprint up the hill and recover on the way down, so up I sprinted, and down I staggered. Repeatedly
Wednesday was a big Challenge. This was when all these super fast athletes decided to join my group for a 4k tempo run. My best 4k tempo run pace this year is around 5.08. Yet the tempo pace I was supposed to lead was 4.45-4.57min. Hmmm. I whispered to my sis that I was planning to go a bit slower, since I couldn't hold the faster pace. She gave me an "Are You Crazy?" look and told me aloud, "of coooooourse you can run that fast. Just give it a try!"
Ha! If only I weren't in the habit of listening to my older, sometimes wiser sister.
I planned to keep around the 5.00 pace mark. And then the 2-hour pace group set off before me and they were so fast. My competitive nature got the best of me and I decided to show them fast! (Yes, you can see where this all starts to spiral downhill...)
The first km I ran a blistering 4.51min/km. As a reference point, when I did 1k repeats last year with a long rest break in between, 4.45-4.50 was my average on each km.
The second km I ran at 4.56min/km. Slower, but still on target!
I maintained this another half km or so. And then in dismay I saw the pace on my watch creeping up: 5.01...5.03...5.04...
I gasped to Heather and the nearest runner to keep that pace, since I knew I was fading. They strongly encouraged me "no way, you're doing great!" and then blistered on ahead. The next three runners responded in a similar way when I told them to follow my sis and the other guy if they wanted to maintain the correct pace. "No thanks, we like your pace! It's too hot to go faster!" And off they sprinted as I dropped farther, and farther back.
The two hour pacer breezed by me with less than 500m to go. He encouraged me to stick with him, but I just couldn't. I had eaten way too much dinner, my legs were sore from the hills the day before and - let's all be honest here - I had [once again] started off way too fast!
But on the bright side, I set a kick-ass pace for over half the distance, I kept to my own personal tempo pace goal of sub-5.15min average (At the finish my gps watch told me I'd averaged 5.11min/km. Woohoo!). And I got to remind myself - once again - why running negative splits is so much better than starting out too fast and burning up halfway through. Will I ever learn?
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
You Can't Avoid the Politics
Ahh, politics! What would we complain about if not for them? Besides the weather, I mean.
I go away for one weekend and my running group goes into a huge upheaval. There are whispers and speculations and uncertainties. I know you're thinking it is all because I - huge running advocate that I am - betrayed my sport to run my first triathlon instead, but that was surprisingly not the reason for such chaos.
I won't get into the juicy gossip on this forum, but let's just say that as of now our half marathon clinic has merged with the full marathon clinic and our former coach is no longer with us.
So along with our new coach, we had an awkward clinic about nutrition (which turned into a sales pitch for a specific supplement) and then split off into pace groups for the first time.
And then the even More Unexpected happened: I volunteered to lead a pace group.
Yet not just any pace group! I volunteered to lead the 1hour 50minute pace group. I realize those of you who have seen me run may have burst out laughing at my ambition. But to be fair, in the pace group tonight was myself, my sister, and one other girl, who happens to be slower than myself. And the way the training program is set up, I'm slightly too fast for the 2hour pace group (I know, right?!) and slightly too slow for the 1.50 pace group. I spoke with my new coach and explained my dilemma over offering to pace the faster 1.50 group and she cared not a wit, telling me to go for it and do my best.
So this is me, about to go for it and do my best! With over 40 members signed up for the half marathon clinic surely there are others who will slink into my group and outrun me. But for right now, I'm enjoying the strange but awesome feeling of being one of the fastest runners in the clinic.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Heart of the Rockies Triathlon
My first triathlon. A sprint version, but I'm happy. I've heard comparison that a "sprint triathlon" is like running a half marathon (time wise) and an "Olympic triathlon" is like running a marathon.
With this handy comparison, I had some idea of what I was getting into.
A-Goal: sub-2hours. My mental breakdown of my race was: 20min for the swim, 60min for the bike, and 30min for the run, with 10min allowed for the two transitions (swim to bike, then bike to run).
B-Goal: just finish. My first tri and all that.
The weather was perfect in Invermere for the 8am start and Lake Windermere was calm and a blessed 22C or thereabouts - warm for a mountain lake!
The shore was extremely rocky so I was glad we started in the water. This race was - so other athletes told me - one of the most low key (this year being the first year they used such things as timing chips), and one of the toughest courses. Great. My one and only triathlon I happen to pick the toughest!
As I ran onto the shore, adrenaline kept me from feeling any of the sharp rocks under my pampered bare feet. I was so excited waving to the crowd I may have forgotten to start taking off my wetsuit as I raced to the transition. Sort of.
I geared up in what felt like a long time (in reality, it was as far as triathletes are concerned...more on that later). Fortunately, Heather was there waiting for me as promised so we could set off on the bike together.
I had two big concerns for the bike portion:
1. All the hills. Especially the Really Big Hill in the first 2k of the bike section. It was definitely all about the rolling hills! I don't do very well on hills. Maybe I would be better if I'd learned to bike with those fancy clip-in shoes. Alas, it was just me and my runners.
2. The un-covered cattle guard. We were assured by the race director there was a path over it. Sure there was. The path was at most 30cm wide and had a post sticking out of the side that you could easily clip a pedal on if your foot was at the bottom of the pedal stroke when you went across.
Heather kept an easy chatter as I wheezed along the bike. Those hills were TOUGH!!! But I did make it over the cattle guard without falling off the bike. And I did manage to make it up all those hills without having to walk. I consider the bike a success!
Heather raced ahead of me down the final hill to the transition, as she had to change from her fancy clip-in shoes to her running shoes, whereas I didn't have to change any shoes, so I knew I'd be faster. We had a bit of a mix-up over where we left the transition point to start the run, but some helpful volunteers quickly re-directed us.
On to what had to be one of the hilliest 5k races I've ever done (I'm talking to you, Ipswich Park2Park!!!). I had not timed myself for the swim. On the bike, I used the speed and distance gauge, but only glanced at the clock twice. On the run, I strapped on a timer watch. I couldn't resist! I'm a runner, after all. I really wanted to do the 5k in under 30 minutes, hills and all. It started with a steep uphill along the sidewalk before going off on a narrow dusty trail that sharply descended back to the lake. Then it was a matter of short but steep rolling hills until we looped back to go up an even Bigger and Steeper hill than before. I passed three walkers on the way up that rotten hill. I checked my watch at the top. With just over 1.5k to go, the 30 minute goal would be close. I pushed it down the hill and kept on pushing hard for the finish.
Coming into the finish line. Smiley and Wheezy. I'll let you figure out who was who. (Hint: at the recommendations of my "family doctor", I will try to remember to get inhalers in future)
Overall goal time: 2 hours
Actual time: 1.53.09* (ranked 7/10 in age group; 43/67 females overall)
Swim goal: sub-20min
Actual swim time: 20.31* (age rank 8/10; overall 49/67)
[Transition swim > bike: 4.16min (age rank 9/10; overall 61/67. Yes, this is slow in triathlete terms. But faster than the 6-8minutes I was predicting!)]
Bike goal: sub-60min
Actual bike time: 56.21 (age rank 7/10; overall 52/67)
[Transition bike>run: 1.38min (age rank 7/10; overall 39/67)]
Run goal: sub-30min
Actual run time: 29.50 (age rank 5/10; overall 29/67)
*Remember that this includes my 15-20second delay prior to the swim starting! This time would have been added on to my overall swim time.
With this handy comparison, I had some idea of what I was getting into.
A-Goal: sub-2hours. My mental breakdown of my race was: 20min for the swim, 60min for the bike, and 30min for the run, with 10min allowed for the two transitions (swim to bike, then bike to run).
B-Goal: just finish. My first tri and all that.
The weather was perfect in Invermere for the 8am start and Lake Windermere was calm and a blessed 22C or thereabouts - warm for a mountain lake!
The shore was extremely rocky so I was glad we started in the water. This race was - so other athletes told me - one of the most low key (this year being the first year they used such things as timing chips), and one of the toughest courses. Great. My one and only triathlon I happen to pick the toughest!
This picture sums up the sentiments of us sisters going into the tri.
Putting on a brave face before the swim. My sister's friend was also doing her first triathlon sprint, so we adopted her into our family for the weekend.
The gun went off (figuratively speaking) and I...waited. Yep. One of the
best pieces of advice I got from a triathlete before I ever dreamed of
doing a tri was to wait for 30 seconds at the start line and let all the
competitive swimmers kick each other in the heads, while I followed behind in my own sweet time.
Well at the back of the pack, just getting ready to start the swim (I'm on the left, in the shorty wetsuit, Heather is directly to my right already in the water)
It was an out-and-back course. The way out felt a lot harder than
the way back. I don't think it had anything to do with wind or
currents, because there were none, but everything to do with the
mentality of seeing how far that turn around buoy looked and struggling
to get into a decent rhythm. By the return trip I felt much more
settled, but I didn't want to push it out of fear I would burn out later in the course.
As I ran onto the shore, adrenaline kept me from feeling any of the sharp rocks under my pampered bare feet. I was so excited waving to the crowd I may have forgotten to start taking off my wetsuit as I raced to the transition. Sort of.
After I reached my bike I realized that I should have been stripping off my wetsuit like the lady right in front of me. Oops!
I geared up in what felt like a long time (in reality, it was as far as triathletes are concerned...more on that later). Fortunately, Heather was there waiting for me as promised so we could set off on the bike together.
Heather ready to go, me finally remembering to take off my wetsuit.
1. All the hills. Especially the Really Big Hill in the first 2k of the bike section. It was definitely all about the rolling hills! I don't do very well on hills. Maybe I would be better if I'd learned to bike with those fancy clip-in shoes. Alas, it was just me and my runners.
2. The un-covered cattle guard. We were assured by the race director there was a path over it. Sure there was. The path was at most 30cm wide and had a post sticking out of the side that you could easily clip a pedal on if your foot was at the bottom of the pedal stroke when you went across.
Heather kept an easy chatter as I wheezed along the bike. Those hills were TOUGH!!! But I did make it over the cattle guard without falling off the bike. And I did manage to make it up all those hills without having to walk. I consider the bike a success!
Finishing the bike! I wave in happiness knowing there are no more cattle guards between me and the transition zone, 200m ahead. Woohoo!
Heather raced ahead of me down the final hill to the transition, as she had to change from her fancy clip-in shoes to her running shoes, whereas I didn't have to change any shoes, so I knew I'd be faster. We had a bit of a mix-up over where we left the transition point to start the run, but some helpful volunteers quickly re-directed us.
My favourite section! At last!
On to what had to be one of the hilliest 5k races I've ever done (I'm talking to you, Ipswich Park2Park!!!). I had not timed myself for the swim. On the bike, I used the speed and distance gauge, but only glanced at the clock twice. On the run, I strapped on a timer watch. I couldn't resist! I'm a runner, after all. I really wanted to do the 5k in under 30 minutes, hills and all. It started with a steep uphill along the sidewalk before going off on a narrow dusty trail that sharply descended back to the lake. Then it was a matter of short but steep rolling hills until we looped back to go up an even Bigger and Steeper hill than before. I passed three walkers on the way up that rotten hill. I checked my watch at the top. With just over 1.5k to go, the 30 minute goal would be close. I pushed it down the hill and kept on pushing hard for the finish.
Overall goal time: 2 hours
Actual time: 1.53.09* (ranked 7/10 in age group; 43/67 females overall)
Swim goal: sub-20min
Actual swim time: 20.31* (age rank 8/10; overall 49/67)
[Transition swim > bike: 4.16min (age rank 9/10; overall 61/67. Yes, this is slow in triathlete terms. But faster than the 6-8minutes I was predicting!)]
Bike goal: sub-60min
Actual bike time: 56.21 (age rank 7/10; overall 52/67)
[Transition bike>run: 1.38min (age rank 7/10; overall 39/67)]
Run goal: sub-30min
Actual run time: 29.50 (age rank 5/10; overall 29/67)
VICTORY!!!
*Remember that this includes my 15-20second delay prior to the swim starting! This time would have been added on to my overall swim time.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Short and Sweet
It has been a bit of a kick-ass week for my running.
Goal 1: Run tempo runs at 5.15min/km pace
Goal 2: Stretch after every run
Goal 3: do runs outside of scheduled runs.
All three goals get a big TICK!
Goal 1: I had two other short tempo runs in the past week - one about 3k, and tonight's about 4k. For the 3k I managed a time of 5.10min/km once again. Tonight the distance was closer to 4.3km, and I had a killer 5.08min/km, and it felt much easier than the previous tempo runs. I credit my wonderful sister, who pushed me to run harder and it felt slightly less painful. It seems, though, that I just can't keep a 5.15min/km pace. I think a big part of my problem is I worry I'll go to slow and won't be able to keep up the time. I am supposed to be doing negative splits. While I haven't exactly been doing negative splits, at least there has been no significant drop in my times as the kms roll out.
Goal 2: Stretch? Why yes, I will, thanks! It is super helpful that my running crew all stretches after as well. If I'm going to stand around and talk / gasp for air, I might as well thank my body for it's hard work by stretching out after. And the visual reminders of seeing others stretch is a big key in this.
Goal 3: I love short runs! I did a lovely 5k with a friend (unfortunately, I made the ambitious suggestion of running up Nose Hill and proceeded to regret every step of the first 1.3k until we reached the top). I also did an easy steady run of 4k. Out and back. Niiiice and short! This was a steady run, with the goal of running at about 5.50min/km. I may have cheated just a little. I spoke with a few runners who suggested that I practise the run at my target race pace. Since that is just 9 seconds faster (5.41min/km), I thought I might aim for a nice median of about 5.45min/km.
One thing I have learned: I am pretty good at measuring my times in 1k reps. After doing weekly 1k reps for months on end in Australia, I got to be pretty good at judging my speed and determining if I needed to speed up or slow down. But the trouble is, that is going flat out for 1k reps (I was usually aiming for around 4.45min/km). My ability to judge speed for a tempo run or steady run is poor at best. I am therefore reliant on my Garmin watch which isn't all that reliable. As such, when aiming for a 5.15 pace I often say "oh no! 5.33...better speed up. Wait! Yikes! 4.47... that's way too fast!" and back and forth I go, rarely hitting that sweet spot of my target pace. But perhaps, if I continue this week after week for months on end, I will be able to fine tune my self-judgement of pace. Maybe in the end, I won't even need a fancy watch!
Goal 1: Run tempo runs at 5.15min/km pace
Goal 2: Stretch after every run
Goal 3: do runs outside of scheduled runs.
All three goals get a big TICK!
Goal 1: I had two other short tempo runs in the past week - one about 3k, and tonight's about 4k. For the 3k I managed a time of 5.10min/km once again. Tonight the distance was closer to 4.3km, and I had a killer 5.08min/km, and it felt much easier than the previous tempo runs. I credit my wonderful sister, who pushed me to run harder and it felt slightly less painful. It seems, though, that I just can't keep a 5.15min/km pace. I think a big part of my problem is I worry I'll go to slow and won't be able to keep up the time. I am supposed to be doing negative splits. While I haven't exactly been doing negative splits, at least there has been no significant drop in my times as the kms roll out.
Goal 2: Stretch? Why yes, I will, thanks! It is super helpful that my running crew all stretches after as well. If I'm going to stand around and talk / gasp for air, I might as well thank my body for it's hard work by stretching out after. And the visual reminders of seeing others stretch is a big key in this.
Goal 3: I love short runs! I did a lovely 5k with a friend (unfortunately, I made the ambitious suggestion of running up Nose Hill and proceeded to regret every step of the first 1.3k until we reached the top). I also did an easy steady run of 4k. Out and back. Niiiice and short! This was a steady run, with the goal of running at about 5.50min/km. I may have cheated just a little. I spoke with a few runners who suggested that I practise the run at my target race pace. Since that is just 9 seconds faster (5.41min/km), I thought I might aim for a nice median of about 5.45min/km.
One thing I have learned: I am pretty good at measuring my times in 1k reps. After doing weekly 1k reps for months on end in Australia, I got to be pretty good at judging my speed and determining if I needed to speed up or slow down. But the trouble is, that is going flat out for 1k reps (I was usually aiming for around 4.45min/km). My ability to judge speed for a tempo run or steady run is poor at best. I am therefore reliant on my Garmin watch which isn't all that reliable. As such, when aiming for a 5.15 pace I often say "oh no! 5.33...better speed up. Wait! Yikes! 4.47... that's way too fast!" and back and forth I go, rarely hitting that sweet spot of my target pace. But perhaps, if I continue this week after week for months on end, I will be able to fine tune my self-judgement of pace. Maybe in the end, I won't even need a fancy watch!
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Mind Over Muscle
Happy Canada Day! To celebrate, I met up with my group for a run. Fun times! It was our "clinic night" which meant a chat followed by a run. I had emailed my coach earlier with my goal of running a sub-2 hour along with one of my Australian coaches. Wow! So much great advice has come pouring in!
To start, we were doing a 4k "steady" run. My coach recommended I run that at a 5.15min/km pace.
Gulp! I was nervous. I wasn't sure how I would do.
The first hundred metres was thick with people (Eau Claire being THE place to celebrate Canada Day, apparently), but this quickly thinned out.
The goal of our group was two-fold:
1. Run a steady pace (my pace was 5.15).
2. Run negative splits. This is always a weak point with me!
First km - pretty easy. Feeling okay. I was pulling myself back a few times. 5.10min/km split.
Second km - getting tough! Where is the freaking turn-around point? WHERE??? 5.14min/km split.
Third km - I can't do this. I just can't. But...I need to give it my best shot. And sheesh it's almost over. Mind over muscle! You've got this. Don't give in. 5.10min/km split
Fourth km - wow, this sucks. I am really struggling. All I want to do is stop. I just want to stop!!! This is misery. But if I slow down, then I'll know it was because I gave up on myself. And...if I slow down, that will just be prolonging the agony! 5.06min/km split.
Total time: 20.14
Total distance: 3.90km
Average pace: 5.10min/km. Comfortably under my goal time!
It may not sound like much. It may not even mean much, but getting under that goal time even when things got really tough and I just wanted to give up...that felt pretty awesome.
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