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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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The Jig Is Up
Plan: rest
With the, eh hem, half marathon coming up on Sunday
, today was supposed to be a rest day - and I took that to mean "do not run" - and took that to mean "you can swim", so swim I did. It was just a nice an easy steady swim to loosen the body and clear the mind. Which it did. And I feel grand. 
Actual: 2,000 easy breezy lemon squeezy yards0 -
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The Jig Is Up
Plan: rest
With the, eh hem, half marathon coming up on Sunday, today was supposed to be a rest day - and I took that to mean "do not run" - and took that to mean "you can swim", so swim I did. It was just a nice an easy steady swim to loosen the body and clear the mind. Which it did. And I feel grand.
Actual: 2,000 easy breezy lemon squeezy yards
Easy steady? Surely thats an oxymoron to get around coaching instructions :P0 -
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Marine Corp Half Marathon
Dory Dory: I would lovelovelove to go sub 1:40.
Characteristically wise and succinct response by fellow boardsie: Off you go then, no one stopping you.
Of course! Brilliant!!
This one was signed up sneaky JB style in the hopes of somehow redeeming the 24 weeks of training I did for Boston as I honestly felt that my performance in Boston did not accurately reflect my running fitness at that time. I was actually looking for a full marathon to sign up for and not a half, but I can honestly say that that would have been a huge mistake since my body was battered and broken in the weeks immediately after the race, so it was a blessing that the only marathon I could find was full and not accepting additional runners. Cue the Marine Corp Half Marathon....
I basically took 2 weeks off from any running post Boston(except for perhaps the odd recovery run), however I concentrated on the trainer, then added swimming once my pool became an acceptable swimming temperature for my <cough, cough>delicate body. Knowing I had this race coming up, Ecoli started adding a little structure to my running by feeding me some light and fluffy weekly plans, and slowly but surely my body came around and started to feel the love once more. Happy days!!! His weekly plans got me back to a good place, but the longest run in those weeks was just under 8 miles, and I did very little hill work, so I was a bit concerned about that heading into this half marathon race and wondered how it would translate.
I traveled with a girlfriend on Saturday to the race location as the organizers very shrewdly required you to pick up your bib at the Expo the day before the race. Translation: hotel room....meals out...throw down some money at the Expo. That's okay, I doubt very seriously that I would have wanted to travel Sunday morning for the 7am start time. Our hotel room was borderline skanky, smelled of bug spray, and it was street level affording us a front row seat to all the urban noises on a Saturday night....and when we arrived back from the race this morning with only 20 minutes until we were to check out but had yet to shower and change, the front desk was less than pleased with me when I asked if we could have an extra 15 minutes to hose off our race stench and make ourselves presentable....which begs the question: where's all that southern hospitality we in the south are known for??
But enough chit chat, let's get down to the nitty gritty - the race. The misty, rainy start was at 7am sharp after a prayer, the national anthem, a gun shot AND a muzzle loader firing - I'm not totally sure if there was any commentary in such redundancy, but we runners didn't have to be asked twice to get our groove going. I positioned myself in the 1:30 - 1:45 corral and I had plenty of wonderful room to maneuver from the get-go as I was very close to the very front line of runners which made me realize the comparative quality of the field I was in. Toto, we're not in Boston anymore.
Miles 1-3 - I was instructed to take these first 3 miles easy, and easy I did, but the pace was slightly faster than I had intended due to the perfectly gentle slope that was this section....and I had to smile to myself as quite a few runners around me (including a waiter from the restaurant we ate at last night) passed me whistling dixie. I had a sneaky feeling I'd be meeting back up with many of these peeps before this race was done and dusted. 7:19, 7:12, 7:17
Miles 4-5 - This section was a very nice net downhill, so the plan was for me to go sub HM pace. No problem. Loved this section, kept things loosey goosey, and I was mindful of my quads. 7:09, 7:09
Miles 6-10 - Other than some quick and dirty ups and downs, and other than the hill that began/was in mile 10 (which you can detect it in my drop in pace), I was to embrace my race pace for these 5 miles. I was feeling really good, passing several prematurely ambitious runners (including my waiter friend) and was definitely in a zone. I took 3 shot bloks at mile 6 and then again at mile 9 - also took on sufficient amounts of water and Gatorade that I was carrying with me. There were times during these 5 miles I felt like I could put the hammer down and have at it, but I knew that miles 11 and 12 were all uphill so I refrained from pushing out of my comfort zone to avoid a total blowup on the hills. 7:24, 7:21, 7:22, 7:28, 7:38
Miles 11-12 - The plan for these 2 miles was to work it, but to expect the pace to drop. They were uphill, but honestly the hills weren't any worse than any I've trained on. I was hoping to keep the pace as close to 7:45 as possible but I fell short of that mark, making me wonder if I didn't work hard enough (I never started hating life on these miles), or if my decision to stop looking at my Garmin and to listen to my body was a mistake, or if my lack of recent hill work was showing. 7:57, 7:55
Miles 13-13.1 - From this point to the finish, it was just a matter of opening it up and hoofing it home. Mile 13 had a nice little hill early on, but then things leveled off and I found my happy rhythm once more while passing quite a few people, including a gal in a yellow top I'd had my eye on for quite sometime. Actually, I had passed little miss yellow top on the hills of miles 11/12, but then we played leap frog on mile 13, and eventually I handed her the loss with less than a quarter mile to go. She was very sweet and came up to me after we crossed the finish line and told me I got her up those hills on miles 11/12. Yay. Love that I helped someone.
7:37, 2:12 (6:59)
I was greeted by a uniformed marine who congratulated me and placed an obscenely large medal around my neck - OMG it's huge! I felt I should have saluted him, but between being exhausted from the run and concerned about how I was to carry this weight around my neck without falling over, the idea of saluting him became relatively insignificant. There was an equally impressive selection of recovery drinks and food down the finishing area, all proffered by even more uniformed marines who were congratulating each and every runner who passed by, which really put a nice exclamation point on a very well run and enjoyable race.
Per Garmin: 13.3 miles in 1:39:04 for an average pace of 7:26 min/mile
The official unofficial (got that?) reported time also clocked me at 1:39:04, ranked me first in my age group, 32nd woman (out of 3,077 entries), and 247th overall (out of 6,276 entries).
So, in summary...I'm pretty pleased with this race. I PBed by over 2 minutes from my previous PB (my half split at Boston), but I'd be lying to you if I told you that I wasn't secretly hoping for more. (Boy we can be a greedy lot, can't we??) I do believe, however, that this was a very honest run and it accurately represents where I am fitness-wise at this particular moment. It also indicates that DCM is now catweazle's to lose as he has the advantage over me at the moment with a PB of 1:39:01...a 1:39:01 that he indicated was a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park while sipping champagne and carrying a parasol. Cue Ecoli working his marathon magic....and Dory Dory being the obedient and disciplined student that she is. DCM here we come!! (After we get through a few 5ks, 10ks, and triathlons...) Whoop whoop!! 0 -
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Marthastew wrote: »Congrats on a fantastic race DD, I'm delighted you've made such a great recovery after Boston, I predict a summer of PBs for you. What was your AG prize? An even bigger medal?
I baked some Jacques Torres chocolate banana bread in your honour:) it is YUM!
(BTW banana bread counts as one of your five a day;))
Aw O!! That banana bread looks a-fecking-mazing!!! October and your baking cannot come quick enough for me!!!!
I don't know yet what my AG prize is as they will send it by post. I'm hoping for something pretty and/or useful, but it is the Marines you know.
Speaking of pretty, you should see the medal that was on display at the Expo for the Divas Half Marathon!! OMG....it was all pretty in shiny and sparkly pink bling and screaming I AM A PRINCESS!! :eek: 0 -
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^^^ Thank you everyone!
And so it begins....
...another training cycle. <gulp> But truth be told, I'm really looking forward to putting in quality work with the hope of doing some serious damage to my current PBs (even if some are softer than others). This will be my 4th marathon training cycle, and there is no doubt that I am starting this cycle way stronger than I have started any cycle before. I will post my race plans later this week as there will be no more sneaky tiptoeing around you peeps, especially after Oryx gave me the old stink eye from all the way across the pond.
Plan: recovery
Stormy, stormy evening with equal parts thunder, lightning, and pouring down rain.....so there went my idea of a nice recovery field run followed by a nice easy swim in the pool!
Oh well. Plan B was an easy trot on the treadie followed by upper body, abs and some wonderful stretching. Plan B done and dusted. And my legs feel not as stiff, sore and creaky because of it. Lovin' me some recovery!
Actual: 3 miles on the treadie for 30 minutes at a very easy 10 min/mile pace, upper body, abs, stretching0 -
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A little bit of the DOMS
Plan: recovery
Hot, hot day.....and, because I'd like to avoid dissolving into a puddle of sweat on the sidewalk of Main Street on an insanely steamy day, I'm starting to wonder if I need to consider running early in the morning before work since I'm usually awake at an obscenely early hour....BUT, as quickly as those thoughts enter my mind, my running subconscious reminds me how awful the body feels running before it's been properly pumped and primed with sufficient pre-run vertical time. Oh well. Nice thought.
This run was done born-free-field-style as the sun was shining happily down upon me. Well, actually the sun was more at a 25 to 30 degree angle, so perhaps that's not considered "shining happily down upon me", but for these purposes it's close enough. Nice run....stiff, creaky and achy to start with, but once the legs started turning over, I realized they felt better while in motion than not. My thighs feel huge. :eek:
Actual: ~2.7 miles in my sun shiny field
I followed this recovery run with a steady 2,000 yard easy swim. (no oxymoron intended) I've kept my swimming very easy on purpose thus far (been working on getting my swimming fins legs back and focusing on last Sunday's half marathon), but it's getting to be time to start incorporating some quality into my swim sessions. Perhaps I'll ask our resident swimming guru (hello interested!) about some structure to my sessions since I'd much prefer just swimming in my happy-as-a-clam-la-la-land and avoid any real effort at this point. I think I just need a kick in the can to snap me out of my dreamy state regarding my pool and swimming....it's just too heavenly swimming at one speed and at a relaxing and repetitive rhythm.....I don't want to let go of my happy place, but perhaps I can be coaxed to relax my grip on it.
Actual: 2,000 wonderful yards0 -
but it's getting to be time to start incorporating some quality into my swim sessions. Perhaps I'll ask our resident swimming guru (hello interested!) about some structure to my sessions since I'd much prefer just swimming in my happy-as-a-clam-la-la-land and avoid any real effort at this point. I think I just need a kick in the can to snap me out of my dreamy state regarding my pool and swimming....it's just too heavenly swimming at one speed and at a relaxing and repetitive rhythm.....I don't want to let go of my happy place, but perhaps I can be coaxed to relax my grip on it.
To be honest, as a runner, I think it's just great that you swim. With or without a clock there are big benefits to be had from non impact, slow swimming, drifting up and down day dreaming and allowing the body to recover.
For triathlon is just necessary to swim at a pace that will allow you to maintain efficient stroke for the duration of the swim - to get to the bike and to get to the run. At this time of the year, the focus should be be a blend of short sharp efforts to ensure your body knows what it is to go fast again - as prep for the race start. But knowing what pace you can sustain comfortably is all about the pool work done between November and April rather than now.
Not sure when or what you intend to do triathlon wise this summer DD but let us know. I think if you can get someone to take a look at your stroke and eradicate the low hanging fruit in terms of stroke problems then it should be possible for you to make it through a 750m swim this summer.
Great running at the weekend by the way. You runners amaze me with some of the times you can put out only weeks after a marathon like Boston.
Laters. 0 -
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interested wrote: »To be honest, as a runner, I think it's just great that you swim. With or without a clock there are big benefits to be had from non impact, slow swimming, drifting up and down day dreaming and allowing the body to recover.
For triathlon is just necessary to swim at a pace that will allow you to maintain efficient stroke for the duration of the swim - to get to the bike and to get to the run. At this time of the year, the focus should be be a blend of short sharp efforts to ensure your body knows what it is to go fast again - as prep for the race start. But knowing what pace you can sustain comfortably is all about the pool work done between November and April rather than now.
Not sure when or what you intend to do triathlon wise this summer DD but let us know. I think if you can get someone to take a look at your stroke and eradicate the low hanging fruit in terms of stroke problems then it should be possible for you to make it through a 750m swim this summer.
Great running at the weekend by the way. You runners amaze me with some of the times you can put out only weeks after a marathon like Boston.
Laters.
Ah, I see you are in rare form this morning....but your memory must not be as good as your swimming is for in your uncontained enthusiasm to assist my damsel in distress condition, you have forgotten the golden rule amonst us aquatic creatures - once a swimmer, always a swimmer.
But back to your wealth of information contained above...
....drifting and daydreaming - I got that covered.
....short sharp efforts - I may have a bit of extra time next weekend to work on that, so perhaps you can feed me some short sharp effort sets/drills to get stuck into then.
....between November and April - well, that didn't happen in the pool.......
....triathlon wise - my plan is our local Olympic and Sprint tris in August.
....look at my stroke?:eek:....stroke problems??:eek:....make it through a 750m swim???:eek: - oh don't make me discuss low lying fruit with you!!!
....great running....I amaze you - we aim to please, Mr. W.:D 0 -
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interested wrote: »So true and, in truth, a little too easy. Laters ...
Double entendre or subliminal?(don't even take the bait!!!) 0 -
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Kurt Godel wrote: »I've a picture in my mind of interested stroking Dory's back as she picks apples in some Virginian orchard. Its so unsubliminal you could paint it:)
Totally. Cracking. Up. 0 -
Kurt Godel wrote: »I've a picture in my mind of interested stroking Dory's back as she picks apples in some Virginian orchard. Its so unsubliminal you could paint it:) kinda glad that DD wasn't a breastroker after that comment ... LOL ... but I had heard you'd a twisted mind from others round these parts. 0
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