But maybe you coming might help for the first time in 5 years.

Now there's some positivity!  

 

Most people that enter the lottery get in.  Case in point, me.

True. I should probably decide on a spring marathon too before  a fall one lol

 

Who knew? It's been years since I've heard Columbus Day even mentioned. I'd bet most people in the US have no idea that today is Columbus Day.

I always thought it was October 12th.

 

 I am not wasting precious vacation time on the treadmill!

This for me. Ha, I can be all smug about it now that I don't have real winters anymore. Or summers.

But in general on vacations I like running, because things tend to be less tightly scheduled. And I end up awake before anyone else anyway, so taking the time to squeeze one in usually isn't a problem. It can get a bit dicier if I need to work in a LR.

MTA: although running on a cruise ship was just stupid.

I did some sort of workout (elliptical, weights, walking on the treadmill, etc.) while on vacation for years before I became a runner. A gym in the hotel was an absolute necessity for me not because working out was something I just "did", it was a lifestyle. Something I did every day regardless of where I was.

Running essentially replaced all other forms of working out for me so I don't necessarily view it as training while on vacation. As such I don't even check for a hotel gym anymore. Instead, I check the surrounding areas for places to run.

 

Yeah, nobody outside .gov. I was just being a smartass. Columbus is kind of a laughable guy to celebrate anyway, if you read about him.

I'm also quasi affected by this questionable holiday... I really expected the California legislature would have axed it by now--it would figure, but the Superior (county) courts are also closed, so I'm at work, but in flip flops and a sweatshirt.  Although, who am I kidding?  This is what I wear most days.

I ran my yearly goal 1/2 yesterday.  It went "ok."  Like not horrible, but not great.  I feel fine today, not sore at all, nothing hurts, so now I think maybe I didn't try hard enough.  I'm planning something later today, have no idea what, but 4-5 probably.  Next up is a 5K in 6 1/2 weeks.  Turkey Trot.  We'll see how that goes, I'm less injured than last year (although also slower), so it could be a good race or not.

I don't know how you all do RR here, so I'll just plug it in here.

I ran the Long Beach 1/2.  This is my 6th time running it, and my 5th consecutive year.  I know the course pretty well, which is nice.  It's a beautiful location and mostly flat.  It's a pretty big race, the half had a little less than 8,000 finishers, but 13,000 signed up.  There's also a full, 3,000 signed up for that.

My training got sidelined the first 5ish weeks.  I aggravated my Achilles tendons early on (both of them ), so tried to rehab them and get into the cycle by just jumping in later.  That had mixed results.  I got some help from OFR, and we overhauled the schedule to get rid of some workouts that just end in injury and add in some more VO2 max stuff and rework the threshold training.  All in all, I ended up with about 8 weeks of solid training before the race.  Prior to injury I was averaging about 40 mpw for 3 or so months, mid to high 30s before that, so an endurance base was there, just not speed.  My peak week was 50.

Goals were as follows:

A: 1:45-1:48 range

B: anything under 1:50

C: anything under 2:00

D: finish upright under my own power.  (I always have a backup reachable goal! )

You can skip the rest if you want, I got B to happen.

Weather was 66 degrees, 88% humidity, overcast.  Start time was 7:30 a.m.  I had a Gu w/ 20mg of caffeine at 6:50.  I had another one at 7:20.

My goal pace was around 8:05-8:10.  I didn't catch my first mile split, so had no idea how I was pacing (turns out it was 8:12), but the second mile I saw was 8:11, so doing ok.  Next couple were good, 8:01, 8:06, then mile 5 came in at 8:12... ruh-roh.  Not that it was so far off, but I felt like I was working like a dog, and that's not a good sign at mile 5.  I ate a Gu.

Miles 6-10 are flat and straight along the boardwalk of the beach.  Flat is good, but there was a pretty stiff headwind.  Probably about 7-8 mph, but it was very noticeable.  Things got worse.  8:27 (stopped for a Nunn here), 8:29, 8:30 (stopped for a water), 8:53 (oh shit moment--I realized I had lost focus in a big way), 8:30 (I'd sped up, but stopped to pound two more cups of water).  About this time I was at the, "I may as well throw in the towel, this is horrible, there is nothing good in this world, and I will pretend it didn't happen and glare at anyone and everyone who asks about it, FML," stage.

Mile 11 has an uphill--it's not a lot, but it's 37 feet in a short burst, so it takes it out of of you.  8:41.

But then we get to the end.  Mile 12 and 13, per usual, are the part where I inevitability have the conversation with myself where I convince myself that we need to get into the puke zone because this is almost over, it's mostly downhill, and it's now or never, so sack up ho and do this.  Despite what felt Herculean, the splits were only 8:00 and 8:02.  Not as good as how hard it felt like I was working, but getting me toward realistically achieving the B goal.

The last .1 is always amusing.  Sometimes I realize I kicked it too early and now I'm screwed.  Other times, like yesterday, I see someone who looks like she might be in my age group, and I get that "no guts no glory" mentality and decide if nothing else happens right today, Imma beat that lady.  So final tenth of a mile was at a 6:17 pace.  And I beat that one lady.

Final time was 1:49:03.16.  So B goal achieved, yay!

Thoughts on what I need to do better next time: I really screwed up on my second to final week before the race (the penultimate week if you want to get fancy).  I had worked up to 50 mpw, and then I went on a trip, took an unintended RD, didn't make it up, and ended that week at 41.  I had only planned (and really think you only need) 1 week of taper, but ended up with an unintentional 2.  I think this definitely caused me to peak too early.  My final week was 37 miles--which would have been fine if I had keep up the intensity the week prior.  I don't know how much of this was physical and how much was mental, but either way, I will not make that mistake again.

Obviously an extra 4 weeks of training at the beginning of the cycle would have benefited me as well, injuries are never a good thing.

I ate like absolute crap the week before the race.  And I mean crap.  The three days before the race were Jewish holidays, and I ate stupidly.  I woke up feeling bloated and shitty on race morning, and my legs felt swollen and dead.  That was 100% due to my very poor decision making, and FFS, I need to exercise better self control.

But there is some good too: I feel really good.  And I mean, really good, physically.  My ATs are happy campers, no DOMS at all.  So clearly I ran this at a pace that I have the fitness to support.  And I'M NOT INJURED!!!!!!!!  Last couple years I have been hobbling due to injuries and I'm not dealing with those in the slightest.  (For those who remember, I had the jacked up piriformis and some sort of crazy hamstring thing last year, along with having effed up my L5-S1 discs moving a table... It's so wonderful not to hurt!)

Also, I learned a couple things about how certain types of workouts work or DO NOT work for me.  I always thought it was mileage that wrecked me, but it's not.  It's sprinting.  Of any kind.  I just cannot do it at all, it's a road that leads only to pain, and it's not a necessary skill for someone who races 5K to 1/2.  I'm not a sprinter, and I'm too old for that explosive stuff.  After stopping all hill sprints and strides, everything started feeling better.

And the "I need to figure this out but have no clue what I'm doing wrong": My stomach during the race was fine.  It was even fine for about an hour or so afterward.  But OMG, the next 5 hours were absolute hell.  My guess is Gu is fine for energy, but it just sits there and after you stop working so hard, your stomach is like, "WTF am I supposed to do with this crap, this is making me angry and I shall punish you for consuming it."  Thankfully it's better now, and I've stopped bargaining with the Lord about the situation.

I'm excited to read a few more reports, Poppy should have one, and a few other peeps!  Hope you all had great races!

I don't know how you all do RR here, so I'll just plug it in here.

 

 

Usually people start a separate thread if it's anything in-depth like this. To make sure to get all the accolades coming to you. Also, people may not have time to read the whole thing when it's posted, and will forget to go back to it when it's buried in the dailies.

 

Usually people start a separate thread if it's anything in-depth like this. To make sure to get all the accolades coming to you. Also, people may not have time to read the whole thing when it's posted, and will forget to go back to it when it's buried in the dailies.

Yeah, I suggest you start another thread and copy-paste your post. I don't have time to read it right now and I'm not sure I'll remember to come back to this exact page of the dailies.