Trifecta reflection

Whew!  School's finally out and all those Spring events are now fond memories.  Among them is my Spring 2011 trifecta.  I thought it sounded like a great idea to train for 3 events at once.  The very opitimy of multi-tasking: 3 running events in 3 weeks.  And this from someone who usually does 3 events in a year. 

The Poco Loco started the madness in me.  Initially I thought this was a 4 mile run and then learned it was a 13.1 mile run.  Hmmmm.  Well, I figured I would have to train for it, but it would be worth traveling to Boston and meeting Adam, Eddie, and Steve who have accompanied me for miles and miles of training via podcast. The event also introduced me to other podcasters and bloggers, all of whom I now follow on blog, twitter, and/or facebook.  Shortly after returning from Boston, I wrote about these wonderful people.

The Poco Loco event was very laid back.  I'm not sure how long it took us to run the 13+ miles, but I know it was more than 3.5 hours.  We stopped frequently to ensure we didn't get too spread out and to switch up who was running with who.  We ran in a large group the first 3 miles or so and then split into fast, medium, and slower groups.  I was usually in a medium group but ran beside different people after each stop.  It was a wonderful new experience to run with a group and talk and such.  I'm usually silent while I listen to the voices through my earphones.  Running and talking requires slowing down a bit and more breath control.

Event #2 was a week later at home, in Columbus Ohio, where I ran the Capital City Half Marathon in 2 hours and 24 minutes, almost a full 5 minutes faster than I ran the event in 2008 (before breast cancer).  I was thrilled with the accomplishment!

Before the race, I was standing in the 2:15-2:29 corral and having dillusions of grandeur.

This is great. I've been here before.  I can do this.  I may even stick with the pace person and do a 2:20.  I'm in shape.  I'm faster than last time.

Oooo, and when I'm done with this race I will have done a full marathon if I add last week's half to this week's half.  I wonder if I could put it all together and do the full marathon in October.  I'll bet I could.  Especially if I used my new gymboss to run-walk-run the race. 

Yes, that's it, I'll knock out this race, do the Race for the Cure next week, and then just keep training at this level and do the full marathon. It will be amazing!

At mile 8, the 2:20 pace person passed me and kept pulling away.  At that point, I was somewhere totally different in my self-talk.

She isn't walking much through those water stops like she promised.  She must be going too fast.  Why can't I keep up with her?  I've been in front of her for more than half the race.  Grrrrrr.  Damn, this is hard.  I really need to find a portapotty soon.  Why did I think I could ever do a marathon.  That's crazy.  How am I even going to finish this race?

Between miles 8 and 13, I struggled and did a lot more walking than I wanted.  To compensate, I ran faster than I should have, too.  It was not a race run strategically.  It was a pure "hold on to the end" type of event.  but it was great to come in with a new PR. 

The last event in my trifecta was the Race for the Cure 5K.  I ran this with my daughter and she kicked my butt big time. I beat her by 10 minutes last year and she beat me by 1:17 this year.  I didn't see her the whole last mile.  I was very proud of her run and mine too. In 2008, I ran the race in under 30 minutes, but didn't have a chip and so I had no official time.  This year, I got the official sub-30 time: 29:53. 

Since the wildly successful completion of the trifecta, I have been wildly unsuccessful at keeping my training going.  I had a week or two during which I didn't run at all because of an issue with my right hip flexor and IT band.  Typically, though, I've run about twice a week for about 3 miles each run.  My 5Ks have been about 32 or 33 minutes.  On 5/31, I went crazy and did a 4 miler in 45:35.  I've been playing softball, volleyball, and mowing the lawn to supplement the lack of running.  But it's just not nearly the same level of exercise.

It's time to get back on the road.  I've missed it.  The music is calling me now.  Maybe I'll listen to music for a few runs and then catch up with my podcasts.

Need to mix it up now

I haven't run since my 5K personal record on Sunday.  However, I played competitive volleyball on Sunday night.  Neither of those activities gave me a hint that I was injured.  Evidently I am.  Or something crazy is going on with my right hip flexor and IT band.   

We had a significant rain storm all day today so I went to RPAC (OSU's Recreation and Physical Activities Center) to run on the track that got me through my winter training.  I felt fine climbing the 4 flights of stairs to the track, but on the first step I knew I was in trouble.  I tried running a lap (1/8 mile) to loosen up, but I was limping badly.  So I stopped and stretched for about 10 minutes, focusing on hip flexor, IT band, and lower back.  I also did lunges.  My second running attempt wasn't any better.  So I got on a stationary bike located inside the track.

I have friends and family who think it's crazy that I can run half marathons but completely refuse to do any activity involving a cycle.  I know it's great cross training.  And I know most people think cycling is much easier than running.  I don't. 

I pedaled 2 miles in 11:20.  That's sad, I know: Many people can run that distance faster than I can cycle it.  At just 5 minutes, sweat was already pouring off me.  After the tortuous 2 miles, I went back to the track to try to run again.  No dice. So I walked a mile. Then I did the 2 miles on the bike again.  And another mile walk.

I finished up the workout in the weight room. I spent 30 minutes on arms, chest, abs, and back.  No leg work, though. 

After my crazy trifecta of running events (2 half marathons and a 5K in 3 weeks), I've been thinking I need to mix it up a little and add some other activities to my training.  I guess this injury forced the issue today. 

I should have hit the pool, but I was already in running clothes and it's been so long since I swam.  Since the bilateral mastectomy, swimming is so much different than before.  I used to be a pretty good swimmer and had a lot of upper-body strength.  Now it's tough to do even my favorite stroke, breaststroke.  Butterfly is impossible (not that I could do it well before the surgery, though).  I even get tired pretty quickly with freestyle and can't keep a straight line during backstroke.  I guess all those excuses should be reasons for starting to swim again instead of excuses not to do so.  Maybe.  Then there is the embarrassment of putting a flabby belly in a swim suit.  Oh yea, I guess that's another reason that is masquerading as an excuse.  Drats. 

2011 Race for the Cure 5K

After a tough training run on Thursday (5K in 32:19), I wished I didn't have a timing chip for today's race.  I thought that I should just run it slowly with my daughter, Valerie (13).  Val also had a timing chip, but I thought about giving it away to a friend who wanted one.  Now I'm so glad we both had timing chips. 

As it turned out, I would have loved to stay with Val during the race - she kicked butt.  She ran the 3.1 miles in 28 minutes and 36 seconds (28:36) with an average mile pace at 9:14.  She beat me by a minute and 17 seconds.  Since she had not trained for the distance, I suggested she do a run-walk-run plan and gave her my new Gymboss to help her do 3 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking.  She wore the Gymboss, but said she "followed what [her] body said" instead - look out Zen Runner, Val is joining your following. 

Michelle (my sister-in-law) and I ran with Val for the first mile which was a brisk 9:35. We keep calling to Val to slow down and stay with us.  Michelle was going to stay with Val while I took off, but we realized early in the race that our plan was flawed. She was certainly pushing us hard.

Val and Michelle slowed for a walk interval at about mile 1 and I kept running.  Just a few minutes later, Val caught up to me.  She and I ran a little while together and then she took off ahead.  I knew she had her phone, so I just let her go.  She was feeling good and having fun I just couldn't match her pace.  I was running an 8:30 pace at the time and she was leaving me in the dust, so I slowed to a reasonable pace for me and let her go. 

I caught a glimpse of Val several times during mile 2 because she walked occasionally and I almost caught her once.  But I don't think I saw her at all during the last mile.

I had my Garmin which tracked my miles at 9:35, 9:40, and 9:09. According to official race results, my time was 29:53 with an average pace of 9:38.  Val ran 28:36 with a 9:14 pace.  Val was 19th in her age group for runners with time chips.  I was 51st in my age group.  Out of survivors, I was 17th out of 31 timed survivors.  I was surprised how few were timed.  There were over 50,000 people at the event today and just 31 of them were timed 5K running survivors.  Crazy!  Just being in that small minority was an honor. 

After the run, we got freebees and caught up with another member of our team, Nate Agnoli (age 15) who ran the race in something crazy like 20 minutes.  Then we walked against the current and found some others on our team (Jason, Ken, Ken's mother, my brother-in-law, and 3 young nephews) who did the 1 mile fun walk.  We finished the walk with them and then spent about as much time trying to get out of the parking garage as we did on the run/walk course. 

So that's my (and Val's) race report for the 2011 Komen Race for the Cure in Columbus, Ohio.  It was  a great day and great run.  However, it was just the beginning of a great day for Val.  She is hanging out with her cousins in the afternoon, has a softball scrimmage at 4pm, and a formal dance (Jr High May Dance) at 7pm.  She will sleep well tonight!

Porta-potty strategy brings PR!

The second race of my trifecta was this weekend. The Capital City Half Marathon was in downtown Columbus and I was there bright and early for an 8am start.  The weather was perfect!

I went out pretty fast and felt great, but was ready to hang up the towel before mile 9. Oops. The numbers don't show the total story because I really struggled the last 4 or 5 miles. My Garmin line graph illustrates the run much more effectively as it shows me alternating fast and slow paces very frequently during the last 5K.  This is a bad habit for me when I lose patience.  It is not an efficient use of energy.

Depite the struggle to hang on, I was able to pull off a 2:24:18 finish, a personal record (PR) for me by almost 5 minutes. My splits were 10:18, 10:19, 10:36, 10:31, 10:27, 11:17, 10:53, 10:31, 10:52, 12:26, 11:40, 11:28, and 11:02.

This was only my 2nd official half marathon race. In 2008, I was just looking to finish and was thrilled to come in under 2:30. Comparing that race to this one, I notice the following:

1. I tanked much earlier in this race (mile 9 instead of 11).
2. I had a quicker turn-over rate and more speed when I had the energy to turn it on.  My speed training was much more effective this year.
3. The extra GUs I consumed during the race didn't seem to solve the problem of losing energy.  I really wanted to just stop running and walk the last 4 miles.  Then, again, it could have been even worse without those 3 GUs.
4. My legs were tired.  I'm not sure if this was because of the sore IT bands I've been battling the past month or so. Or perhaps this is to be expected after running 13 miles just a week earlier for the Poco Loco.  Then again, maybe I just don't have as much endurance as I did in 2008.  For whatever reason, my legs tired early and I've been much more sore post-race than ever before.
5. This year I cut out a porta-potty stop: 2 in 2008 and 1 in 2011.

I cared more about my time in this race since I wanted to do at least as well as in 2008.  Because I was watching the clock, I was more deliberate with my porta-potty strategy.  In 2008, I stopped twice and waited in line both times.  During this race, I passed many porta-potty lines even though I knew my bladder couldn't handle the whole race without a pit stop.  During training runs I plan a loop back by my house or the library to ensure I don't resort to hiding in the bushes.  My refusal to wait in line allowed me to hit the perfect porta-potty during mile 10.  It was right on the sidewalk and had absolutely no line.  Woo Hoo!  I was in and out very fast.

I trained well for this race and worked hard to hang on when I was tired.  However, I know the real reason I got this PR was my porta-potty strategy.

Poco Loco - the people

I ran the first time since the Poco Loco today.  I put in 5 miles in 50:46 with splits at 10:39, 10:39, 10:33, 9:36, and 9:17.  I was surprised to feel issues in my right thigh again today.  I had almost no trouble with my hip flexor or IT band during the 13.7 miles of the Poco Loco, so I thought I kicked that almost-injury.  I didn't run at all for 6 days prior to the run in a last ditch attempt to solve the problem. However, it flared up again during my training run today.  I fell off the wagon and quit maintaining the Aleve meds, so perhaps that's contributing to the recurrance.

But enough of injuries and training updates.  I promised an update about the Poco Loco.

I ran with everyone in the group at some time during the event and had a great time.  Eddie and Adam posted a great pic of the group.

Steve Runner - Steve grew up just outside of Boston and lives just a few hours from there now.  He was our host for the Poco Loco and did a great job organizing the event. The pre-party at Grendel's Den was a good time and I loved hanging out on Harvard Square before the event. I even stopped to see the headquarters of Car Talk, a fun radio show on NPR. The post party was at Sunset Grill and Tap which had a huge beer list and great food. I already knew a lot about Steve from listening to his podcasts, Phedippidations and Intervals for several years. I found him to be much like I experience him when he's in my head on a long run. He has a way of inspiring others while being humble and even self-deprecating at times.  It works for him, though. I especially love the way Steve encourages runners of all abilities. He marvels at the fast and ultra runners and is equally impressed with new runners who are struggling with just a mile or two.

Zen Runner - Adam Tinkoff is the founder of the Mojo Loco (of which the Poco Loco was one event) and is such a great guy.  He and Eddie Marathon host the Slow Runner's Club, on which I was a guest in January.  Adam believes strongly in the run-walk-run method and has done 2 marathons and is scheduled for 3 more.  He really walks the talk about taking it easy and enjoying the running experience.  He's also the nicest guy you'll ever meet. Adam was giving hugs and encouragement all the time. I learned that Adam is an art director for a major consulting company and I know one of his colleagues from the HR Technology Conference I attend each year.

Eddie Marathon - Eddie made my day several times during the Poco Loco.  He was really supportive and genuine and it just felt great to be around him. I was also very inspired by his story and zest for life.  Eddie is also a cancer survivor.  He beat it, too and now is amazingly fit and healthy and runs events and races, including marathons, all the time.  He and Adam (Zen Runner) are running the Chicago Marathon to raise awareness and support for the Diabetes Action Team.  Eddie's mother recently passed away because of complications with Diabetes.  Contribute to their run and this great cause! 

Jim Snyder - Jim is the runswim2 follower on this blog. He frequently comments on my posts and is always either encouraging or funny or both.  Jim gets credit for encouraging me to begin running. I had spent 4 years working out with a trainer and knew I needed to add cardio to continue making progress. I had never seriously considered running until I met Jim at a conference and he talked about the marathons and triathlons he was doing. Actually, he was running the Columbus Marathon just a few days after the conference. It wasn't long after that meeting that I decided to train for the Race for the Cure 5K.  Since then, Jim has been a great mentor to me for things related to HR technology, leadership, and running.  He is also a great friend. During the Poco Loco, he seemed to appear out of nowhere just when I was fading and needing some encouragement.

Nicole Wong - Nik (Painter Nik) is a strong runner and all around fit person. She was also very fun to hang out with.  She, Tim C, Jim, and I ran the last couple miles together and I really enjoyed that leg of the event.  Nik was laughing and joining in with Tim as they teased me for kicking into a different gear at the end of the run. I was running about a 9:30 pace for the last mile or so. I could see the end and wanted to take off.  I sat by Nik at the post-party and we both had martinis. Hers was melon and mine was sour apple. They were great.  I hope to get a chance to hang out with Nik again.  You can learn more about Nik and Dan at http://4feetrunning.blogspot.com/.

Mister Fonzie - Dan is Nik's husband and he was the only other runner besides me who has never run a marathon.  He's done 5 half marathons and has been working on increasing his speed for shorter distances. I got turned on to Nik and Dan's podcast, 4 Feet Running, just as they put it on hiatus.  I listened to many archived episodes, though and enjoyed them very much.  I'm very much looking forward to their post-Poco Loco podcast. Dan and Nik rode with Jim and I to the post-party and we had a great time encouraging Jim to be a rebel and do a U-turn to park right in front of the place.  It was the best parking place we had the whole trip - and he put the car just two inches from the curb too.  Dan was so funny when he just had to get a picture of that expert parking job. 

Tim Cleary - Tim was so great to run with! He's a much faster runner, but he made a point of running with me several times along the course. He even asked me about HR technology so we were able to talk a bit of shop during the run. I was impressed that he really did his homework on his teammates. Tim was really fun toward the end of the race when he was convinced I had underreported my pace as I kicked it up a notch. He was tracking the pace with his Garmin and was surprised as we picked it up at the end.  I also loved Tim's Poco Loco head band that he wore to the pre-party.  It was a pleasure to run with Tim. You can find him at http://www.abueloruns.com/

Tim Doiron - Tim has a great spirit for life and a very impressive story.  He has successfully kicked type 2 diabetes with diet and exercise.  He's lost 50 pounds and now runs marathons as well as many other races.  He extended the offer through Slow Runner's Club to coach others through the process of kicking type2 diabetes, too. Tim's wife, Deborah, made celebratory cup cakes for us (they were GREAT!) and Tim got Poco Loco t-shirts made for the team too.  Find Tim at http://www.rundervrun.blogspot.com/.

Deb Kumar - Deb amazed me with her 12 year career of running marathons, half marathons, and even competing in triathlons.  She is a mother of two daughters and talked to me about wanting to be an example for her daughters as she continues to be active and healthy. I'm very impressed with her dedication to training while being a mom and holding a full time job as a high school science teacher.  I know it's not easy to balance all of that!  Also, her husband, Jay, is a runner too and so they have to juggle their schedules to ensure they both get their training done. 

Jay Kumar - Jay is another one of "those guys" - those faster runners.  He was inspired to run when he met Deb and she was training for Boston.  He caught the bug too and has run 14 marathons and many relays.  After the Poco Loco run, Jay and Deb came up to my suite as several of us took turns in the shower.  While we were waiting, they turned on a hockey game and I learned that Jay also plays hockey and soccer.  They are both big hockey fans.  Jay ay hosts the non-running themed podcast Completely Conspicuous and writes a column about running in the Salem News.

Chris Russell - Chris is another Massachusetts local.  He is the host of a very popular running podcast, Run Run Live and the author of The Mid-Packer’s Lament and The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris was one of the fast runners in the group but took the time to run with some of us slower team members, too.  He is very out-going and had me smiling at his Hawaiian shirt prior to the race.  Chris is very active on twitter. You can find him all over the web at cyktrussell.

Kevin Zelechoski - Kevin is tall.  Really tall.  He is also a long distance runner.  Really long distance.  Kevin does ultra-distance running; 50K and 50 mile races.  In 2010, he did a 100 mile race!  Yes, 100 miles on foot!  Kevin was in the faster running group and really looks the part: His gear is a cut above what I have ever seen in a race. The faster group included several different people at different times, Neil, Chris, Kevin, Jay, and others. When they got too far ahead, they stopped and waited for the other groups. Then we all took off again and the groups changed a bit as some of the faster runners joined other groups. I was impressed that the fast guys were intentional about hanging with the rest of us even though they could have finished the course in a quarter of the time.

Alett Mekler - Alett was injured and so she rode her bike for part of the course with us.  She was at the pre-party too.  She was very fun to talk with and her energy was contagious.  Alett was supposed to be running a marathon elsewhere during the Poco Loco, but she joined the group when she was slowed by her calf injury. 

Neil Bearse - Neil did the unthinkable.  He interested Steve in an Apple product.  No kidding.  He showed Steve around his iPad and Steve got hooked - even after countless skits on Pheddipedations about how inferior the apple products are, Steve finally gave in.  Neil is very heavy into social media and knows much about web based marketing.  He is also the host of a new podcast, the Ghost of Radio, which features independent musicians.  Find out more about Neil at http://neilbearse.com/

John Ellis - John wasn't able to run with us, but he took the time to meet us outside the Museum of Science along the route.  He talked with us there and some of the techies, Steve and Eddie, I think, got audio of the event. We were all standing around John as his disciples. John also attended the post-run party. John advises many runners as they train for marathons, including Steve, and he lives along the Boston marathon course.

So you see, the Poco Loco event was heavily stocked with interesting and fun people.  I had a wonderful time and encourage others to host Mojo Loco events.  Invite these and other fun and inspirational runners to run and play with you! 

Poco Loco Boston

What an incredible weekend in Boston at the Poco Loco!  A group of 16 runners got together to run a half marathon course around the Charles river and I was fortunate enough to be one of them.

I don't have time to write now since I just walked in the door, but I wanted to get a quick note posted tonight.  I'll write more later. 

The reason for the Poco Loco event was to get together with runners who know each other via social media (blogs, podcasts, twitter, facebook, etc.).  We had a meet-up on Friday night at a bar on Harvard Square, ran the course on Saturday morning/afternoon, and then went out for a dinner and post-run party on Saturday night. 

As for the run itself, I did very well.  The course ended up being a bit long, something like 13.7 miles and we stopped a lot, including a very long stop after about 7 miles where I went to my hotel room, washed the salt off my face, ate an energy bar, and refilled my waterbottle.  It was a very slow pace most of the run, but the last mile or so, I did in under 10 minutes, maybe under 9:30.  I didn't have my Garmin on (it was low on batteries), so I just asked others about pace and such.  A day later and I'm a little sore going down stairs, but other than that, I'm just fine.  Yea!

It was incredible to meet everyone and so many people inspired and impressed me. I want to write about them so look for a post very soon.

Tight 7 miler

One week until the Poco Loco half marathon in Boston! 

I'm going to require some serious tapering this week or perhaps I will completely lay off running and try to repair.  My IT bands and hip flexors are incredibly tight and sore.  They are decreasing my mobility significantly.  At times during my run today, I was almost limping while doing a slow jog.  Not good.  I'm not really in pain, though, just uncomfortable and annoyed.  It's definitely a muscle thing, so I should heal fairly quickly, right?

Well, I got my run in today, but I did it slowly and with long, frequent walk breaks.  I put in 7 miles in 1:22 with splits at 11:02, 11:15, 11:27, 11:52, 11:28, 13:02, and 12:03.