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Oakland Marathon 2014 Training: 10 weeks out

Oakland Marathon 2014 Training: 10 weeks out

10 weeks out / week 3 – Week of January 13, 2014

 

OakMarathonLogo

 

The theme of this week seemed to be two-fold: mental callousing and opportunities… or maybe they’re one in the same. This week also marked our first full week in our new digs in SJ. Just when I had gotten used to the GRT and had begun to get my bearings in our old ‘hood on the north side of SJ, we moved. Lots of miles this week = lots of exploring opportunities though, so definitely no complaints. I thank my lucky stars that I have the luxury to do this stuff for kicks every day.

 

I also learned this week that I was selected to be a social media race ambassador for a race here in SJ, the 408k, which is part of the Run the Bay Challenge (run with me! discount code for $4.08 off: 408hookup). The race is pretty fantastically timed with my Oakland training, so I’m pretty stoked. I love to race (not sure if I love to train more… it’s a close call), but I’m really looking forward to meeting more SJ runners in the process and, on race day, to run through some new-to-me ‘hoods.

408kIn addition, I also learned that I’ll be running on a Ragnar SoCal relay team headed up by fellow #TSFM and Nuun hydration wonderful ambassador extraordinaire, Chris, in early April, just a couple weeks post-Oakland, and in part to help promote #TSFM. I’ve run two Ragnars before, from Madison-Chicago, and they’re a blast. I am really looking forward to exploring SoCal with a bunch of somewhat strangers. 🙂

 

Tangential, but related to #TSFM mention: consider trekkin’ to SF and running with Chris and my fellow ambassadors and me in July at The San Francisco Marathon! 🙂 The full course is awesome, but if that’s not your bag, the first half is super scenic and hilly, the second half is wicked fast, and there’s always the 5k option, too. And, uh, pretty perfect race-day weather in late July. 🙂 (discount code for $10 any event: DSC10TSFM2014A26)

 

Anyway, training…

 

Monday, January 13

plan: R/XT

actual: rest + push-ups 🙂

 

Rocked the rest day. It also helped that all our stuff arrived from Chicago, so I relegated myself to sitting at our table, or standing in the kitchen, so I could stay out of the movers’ way. So begins Boxapalooza that has since taken over our townhouse.

 

Tuesday, January 14

plan: general aerobic + speed: 9 miles with 10x100m strides

actual: 9.1 miles, [7:51 average; 8:41, 7:53, :42, :48; :36, :45, :45, :54, :42] + PUs

 

First run from the new place. The East Foothills are pretty close to us, but since I’ve only been there once so far—with friends, and during the daylight hours—I didn’t want my first time sola there to be in the pre-dawn darkness. I’m a little freaked out by the bobcats. Instead, I stuck to running on Capitol, which appears to be a main road in our section of SJ. It’s extremely well-lit, and I only felt like I needed my headlamp a couple times. Bonus: I got to run by some sort of executive airport. Seeing the planes up close and personal like that was pretty neat. In the absence of running with people, I get amused by the little things on my runs these days… Anyway, I started doing the 100m strides at my turn-around, and everything felt good. No complaints.

 

Wednesday, January 15

plan: MLR 14

actual: recovery 4.6 with A [average: uncertain: botched my watch] + PUs

 

Fuck. Woke up to run and decided (for reasons I can’t remember now) that I’d do this run later, and partially with A, with the plan being do something like 6 with her, drop her off at home once C got back from work, and then do the balance by myself. I was pissed with myself for most of Wednesday for blowing off this run in the morning because there are fewer variables for me for early morning versus late afternoon/evening runs—read: smaller likelihood of having a ‘shitty’ run—and yeah… this run gave me a big smack in the face reminder. Once my stomach probs began around 2.3 miles in, and I had to stop to use some sufficiently disgusting bathrooms three times on my 2.3 miles back home, I swore to myself that I’d use this run as a great reminder the next time I’m “too tired” to wake up in the 3 o’clock hour to run at 4am. Lesson learned. And man, my stomach kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilled for the rest of the night. To the fetal position I promptly went.

 

Thursday, January 16

plan: recovery 5

actual: 14.01 [8:10 average; 8:26, 07, 01, 08, 11, 22, 16; 13, 14, 7:58, 59, 8:14, 19, 7:56] + PUs

 

So much better than Wednesday’s run fewer than 12 hours prior. Went back the same way on Capitol as I did on Tuesday and noticed that my stomach was rockin’ the audible slushy sound/feeling, so I decided to stop at my place on my loop before picking up Capitol in the opposite direction. My idea was that I could pee out the slushy feeling, that perhaps I had drunk too much tea and water that morning, but post-pee, the feeling was still there. Ugh. Though counterintuitive, I thought that drinking about 8 oz of Gatorade—which I rarely drink, because it usually gives me intense GI issues—would somehow settle my stomach, and surprisingly, it did. The back 8 of this run were far more enjoyable than the front 6. Of course, once I finished the run, when I got home and drank the rest of the Gatorade, I doubled over in searing pain from what felt like knives stabbing my midsection and radiating inward, but hey… at least it didn’t happen on the run, right? Yeeeouch.

 

Friday, January 17

plan: MLR 12

actual: 12.03 [8:16 average; 8:25, 14, 03, 07, 15, 24; 27, 20, 26, 18, 23, 7:54] + PUs

 

Lots of mileage for me in the second part of the week due to some schedule shuffling, and though my legs weren’t lead, I could feel the fatigue setting in around miles 5-8 of this run. After doing 8 miles out and back on Capitol, I swung by home again to see if I could dump the slushiness feeling, but again, no dice… and again, a small amount of Gatorade seemed to do the trick. After the first 8 miles of the run, I headed out into a neighborhood near mine, one that is decently lit, for the 4 mile balance. I saw more people out on Friday morning on Capitol and in the neighborhood than I had seen all week, on all days combined, which was a little strange. My stomach felt fine once I finished the run—no knife-like searing pain—so I’m thinking the issues earlier this week were either caused by poor timing or by poor dietary choices. Again, lessons learned. This is what training’s all about.

 

Saturday, January 18 – #megsmiles

plan: recovery 5

actual: 18.02 on the Oakland Marathon course! [8:09 pace; 9:29, 25, 8:37, 10, 36, 7:32, 53, 53, 52, 49, 8, 7:54, 8; 02, 7:48, 8:03, 8:12, 7:35] & AG & water around 4.5, 8.5, 13.5

 

megsmile-fb

 

Honored to be part of the worldwide movement to commemorate the life of Meg Cross Menzies, a SAHM of three young children and runner, training for Boston, who was killed by a drunk driver on her morning run earlier in the week. The running community is one-of-a-kind, and the fact that a running group in Richmond, Virginia, could spark a worldwide virtual run to memorialize a runner whom 99% of us had never met is just awesome. I couldn’t read any of the #megsmiles postings throughout the day on DailyMile or Twitter without the waterworks flowin’. This just hits too close to home on so many levels. This can happen to any of us, at any time of day or night, and it just sucks when it does. Absolutely, positively sucks. My heart and soul ache for Meg’s family.

 

Saturday’s LR was special, then, not only because of the solemnity of running to memorialize a fallen sister but also because I got to run part of the Oakland Marathon course as a supported LR with others training for the half or full. It was absolutely worth the drive, and I’m so glad I went. Right from the start, we tackled the hills that Oakland’s known for; the joke is that there’s only one hill in Oakland, but it’s from miles 5-11.

 

 

the Oakland full course profile
the Oakland full course profile, according to the ORF website

 

for perspective: Oakland vs TSFM course profile. Thanks to http://www.atrailrunnersblog.com/2010/03/fun-and-hilly-oakland-marathon.html for this
for perspective: Oakland vs TSFM course profile. Thanks to http://www.atrailrunnersblog.com/2010/03/fun-and-hilly-oakland-marathon.html for this

 

This run was a huge boost of confidence for me because I think if I pace intelligently during the race, I’ll be able to do well and chase the experience that I’m after.

 

Also cool: I had the pleasure of running with a small group of runners, including John, whose group, the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders, is the pacing and training program responsible for the ORF; Allen, who was our unofficial pacer (and who has similar race-day goals as me); Cynthia, the only other woman in our little group (and who gave me the compliment of the year by saying that I look beautiful when I run and that I make it look effortless… someone give this woman some money!); and a Masters runner, whose name I didn’t catch, who led the run with us and literally marked the course for everyone else. In other words, Mr. Masters ran with a roll of arrow stickers, and every time we needed to make a turn, he stopped, affixed an arrow in the appropriate direction on the pavement, and caught back up to us.

 

At least 100 people came out for the sunny run, and it was a blast, in no small part because Oakland kept things interesting. Parts of the city are quite beautiful and cute—little downtown area, neat little local shops, gorgeously enormous churches and temples, eclectic and diverse neighborhoods—while other sections are pretty ugly–graffiti-ed up highways overpasses, prostitutes walkin’ the streets at 9am, drug use out in the open. In a way, sections of Oakland remind me of Uptown, so it’s hard not to get nostalgic. I’m looking forward to returning in early March for a 20+ mi supported LR with my new-found buddies.

 

just a handful of the Oakland course runners congregating before we took off
just a handful of the Oakland course runners congregating before we took off

 

Sunday, January 19

plan: LR 18

actual: recovery 6.02 [9:22 avg] + PUs

 

Easy like Sunday morning was the name of the game. Last weekend, I had set out to find Penitencia Creek park but didn’t—practically only a half mile from my front door—but I finally came upon it during a MLR during the week. It’s not super long, so it wouldn’t be ideal for LR or MLRs, but for these short recoveries, it’d be wonderful. I kept things leisurely after some big mileage this week and just enjoyed the scenery, including the aforementioned ‘creek’ in the park name.

 

part of the 'creek' in Penitencia Creek
part of the ‘creek’ in Penitencia Creek

 

Very happy with my training this week. I completely slacked on any formal strength stuff, outside of the nightly push-up routine (which, regardless of what I tell myself, isn’t sufficient), so that’ll be a goal for next week. Peace and love to all from SJ.

 

Weekly Mileage

plan: 63

actual: 63.78

 

How were your runs this week? Did you dedicate any of your week’s miles to #megsmiles? What safety precautions do you take on your runs?

Oakland Marathon 2014 training: 11 weeks out

Oakland Marathon 2014 training: 11 weeks out

11 weeks out / week 2 — week of January 6, 2014

OakMarathonLogo

I knew that this week would be decidedly different from last, mainly because I anticipated running most, if not all, of my miles by myself, in SJ, on the GRT; it’s not a big deal (though I am getting used to running by myself—that definitely wasn’t the norm in Chicago!). Some runners are die-hard loners on their runs, while others swing the opposite way. I guess I’m somewhere in the middle; I dig the variety.

Monday, January 6

plan: rest/XT

actual: rest like a rockstar + push-ups

Rest is a relative term when you chase after care for mostly chase after your 2.5 year-old all day, but we rocked this rest day like superstars. Aside from taking a walk to the post office, just a couple miles round-trip, and some playground time, we took it pretty easy. I noticed that I felt well after my first week of training, even with the uptick in miles and in trail runs, yet my hip flexors felt a little… funny. The best way I could describe it is that it felt like I had a ton of relaxin coursing through my body (and if you don’t know what that is, no shame… I only remember it from my pregnancy). I didn’t really feel sore or tight, but I felt like my hips and ankles were kinda like Gumby, like my body decided to take a great big deep exhale and just let it allllllllllll ouuuuuuuuuuuuuut. Weird.

A dailymile friend recently posted something about a push-up app that piqued my interest, so now I’m getting into the habit of doing them (standard, non-modified!) right before bed each night. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, and dare I say it’s even somewhat… fun.  Besides daily push-ups, anytime A and I are at the playground, I hop on a bar and work on my negatives in my chin-up and pull-up attempts. Slowly but surely…

Tuesday, January 7

plan: lactate threshold: 9 miles with 4 at 15kRP/HMRP

actual: recovery 5.1 with A [8:14 avg] + 2 rounds RYBQ 10×10 + push-ups

Just like last week, A slept poorly on Monday night, scheming against me and my planned tempo run, and rather than try to have a quality speed sesh on piss-poor sleep, I decided to take a recovery 5 with her mid-morning. No real complaints here, only that on our run, we went to a few different stores for bubbles and sidewalk chalk (don’t hate me) because it’s sunny (please don’t hate me) and mid-to-upper 60s (I love you?) every day here, so sidewalk chalk and bubbles are musts right now! In the ‘weather is relative’ department, a sales associate told me that her store doesn’t stock those items during the winter because they’re ‘seasonal.’ Insert snarky-ass comment here about what winter constitutes…

a little Chicago love
a little Chicago love

During naptime, I did a couple rounds of the RYBQ 10×10. Although it’s bodyweight-based, compared to the Hereford, the 10×10 is a pretty thorough work-out. It feels quite nice to do it post-run.

Wednesday, January 8

plan: MLR 11

actual: lactate threshold: 9.1 miles with 4 at 15kRP or HMRP [7:56 avg OA; 7:23 avg on tempo miles] + push-ups

First legit speed sesh of Oakland training. I love the speed stuff, but if given the option between tempo or track, I always choose the latter; there’s something about the tempo stuff that (unnecessarily) intimidates me. It took me some time to mentally prepare for this run, and when I started in the 4 o’clock hour, I was surprised to see that the streets of SJ and the GRT were completely soaked, since it had rained/was raining (or very strongly misting) overnight and into the pre-dawn hours…somewhat remarkable only because SJ barely got 3.5” of rain last year. It made for some seriously precarious footing on parts of the GRT, and combined with running fast and running in darkness, save for the light of a headlamp, this tempo was way more challenging than it needed to be. I already can’t turn corners for shit when I’m tempo-ing, but when the pavement is wet and my thoughts keep reverting to what do I need to do to stay out of faceplanting and falling in the riverbed, yea… I welcomed the opportunity to slow things down a bit.

Pfitz suggests that more “experienced” marathoners use their HMRP for these tempo runs, instead of their 15kRP, so I typically aim for a range (which, based on my most recent race times for both distances, equates to a 7:13-21). The pace was hard to find, in no small part due to the aforementioned semi-miraculous weather conditions, so I ultimately averaged just shy of HMRP, a 7:23. Initially, I was pissed about this because of course, I want to be breaking world records here!, but I think given the conditions and where I am in my training right now—along with the very incidental detail that I haven’t done any concerted speedwork in a few months, since my Chicago/NYC training—I’ll take it.

Thursday, January 9

plan: recovery 5

actual: faster finish MLR 12.03 [8:10 avg, range from 8:28-7:32] + push-ups

A speedwork-MLR turnaround is usually tiring for me, but experience has taught me that it’s uber important, too, since it does wonders for my endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and ‘mental’ muscle. Yet again, it rained/fogged/heavily misted in the wee a.m. hours, but this time around, it was more of a treat than a stressor to run in, since I wasn’t going after a certain pace. By the time I finished this run, I looked like I had just taken a shower in my running clothes. It was awesome.

Friday, January 10

plan: MLR 11

actual: MLR 11.02 [8:15 avg] + push-ups

I typically change Pfitz’s schedule a bit each week so I can do a LR on Saturday (instead of Sunday), so oftentimes I’ll end up having a MLR right before a LR—another way to tire out my legs—but the volume I posted this week in 4 consecutive days (W-Sa) is something that I usually wouldn’t subject myself to. Fortunately, on Friday, the ground was dry, so the pre-dawn running felt serene and relaxing. I managed to oversleep my first two alarms, so I got out a little later than usual and had to haul ass to make it home by 6am… only to find that C, too, had overslept his alarms and was still in bed and barely alive to the world. By then, I was at 10.41 miles, and I knew that he’d need at least 10 minutes to get ready, so once I dropped off my headlamp and hydration belt, I flew back outside to finish the rest of my miles. Don’t judge me because I know for a fact that most of you would have done the same, if given the opportunity. 🙂

Also, WE CLOSED TODAY! Woohoo, California homeownership!

Excited faces :)
Excited faces 🙂

Saturday, January 11

plan: recovery 5

actual: faster finish LR 17.01 [8:08 avg, miles 8-17 progression from 8:30-7:17] + moving! + push-ups

Thinking I’d try something new, I picked up the GRT and went to its northern-most point, Alviso, and decided to run the entirety, or almost-entirety, of the path, all the way through downtown San Jose. I’ve only gotten a little south of the SJ airport before, so I was looking forward to doing some exploring. For whatever reason though, this run was pretty mentally exhausting and tough for me until I had a moment with myself around mile 12.3 and decided I would let myself ‘kick’ on the back 4-and-change miles. Perhaps the run was tough because 17 is a bit formidable, and especially if you’re going at it all on your lonesome, but I seriously felt like my head was up my ass for the majority of the run. Of course, this is normal—not every run will be sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns—but dammit. Blerg. My thoughts ranged from changing this LR 17 into a recovery 5, to bagging it altogether and calling C to come fetch me, yadda yadda yadda… Just one of those runs.

the saving grace
the only enjoyable aspect of the first dozen miles on Saturday

If nothing else, I’ll be able to tuck this experience in my “mental callousing” file so the next time I have a sub-par run, I’ll be able to remind myself what I did to turn this one around. Another Pfitz (and StrengthRunning) staple is a fast-finish LR, so I try to get in the habit of posting hearty negative splits on my LRs in anticipation of when I’ll do it on race day. It definitely teaches me patience and has helped my pacing tremendously, too. I’m super pleased that I was able to finish this run strong and significantly, significantly happier 🙂

And, for the record, the section of the GRT that winds through downtown SJ is quite nice. I imagine it’s just darling when everything is in bloom. And, strangely, parts of the GRT Saturday morning alternatingly smelled like skunk (somewhat normal, from my experiences so far), something sweet (interesting), and Indian food (what?????). Finally, as I was finishing up my run, I realized that I had miscalculated my distance and was going to end up running closer to 19-20 unless I took a shortcut back, so I chased my LR with a recovery walk home, with as many shortcuts as possible 🙂

I was planning to do a couple rounds of the 10×10 later in the day, but I opted for some real-world functional fitness and strength: moving personal effects from a studio to a 3-story townhouse (lifting! squatting! stairs!). I’ll call that a draw.

Sunday, January 12

plan: LR 17

actual: recovery 5.02 [8:23 avg] + push-ups

A long night of moving made me welcome the thought of doing an easy recovery mid-day, during naptime, since my usual recovery partner decided she didn’t want to run with me (a first!). My legs were definitely tired when I began, probably more from all the moving than from the run, but they felt progressively better as the run continued. Since this was my first run from our new place, I wanted to check out Penitencia Creek Trail/Park but somehow botched it, and once I figured it out, I didn’t have a ton of mileage left. From what I saw, though, it’s quite lovely and with beautiful views of the east foothills.

hey.
hey.

All in all, I’d call this a successful week. I’m getting adjusted to the training volume, which, surprisingly, is less noticeable in my fatigue than it is in my never-ending desire to eat anything and everything salty; I feel like I just need to buy a salt lick to keep on hand. This past week, I also began to think about goals for Oakland and began to do some research on previous years’ times. While I realize that I’m still quite early in my training, I think I’ve set a pretty ambitious goal for myself, and I’m pretty stoked to chase after it like hell soon. More to come on this one real soon. Most importantly, I learned that Lynton is coming out to Oakland to run the half!!!! Between seeing him in late March and seeing Austin and Erin again in early February for the Kaiser Half, I think I will be starting to count down the weeks in no time here 🙂

with Lynton, immediately after finishing NYC, and the beginning of celebrating his massive PR
with Lynton, immediately after finishing NYC, and the beginning of celebrating his massive PR. SO excited he’s gonna run Oakland’s half!!!!!

 

after we both big PRed at Eugene in April '13 (also the last time I saw him! what?!)
with Austin, after we both big PRed at Eugene in April ’13 (also the last time I saw him! what?!). Kaiser can’t be here soon enough!! (the first of a handful of our run-cations this year… join us!)

 

Erins!
Erins! local run bud, yea!! stoked to see her and run with her again super soon!

 

Weekly Mileage

plan: 59

actual: 59.28

 How were your runs this week? When in your training do you begin to start considering your goals for your upcoming race(s)? Do you schedule race or training rundezvous with friends (and count down weeks in advance?!)?