Week 10 + Race Report: Wilson Bridge Half Marathon...

First week 9 ended with me opting to not do the Reston Oly. Race morning I awoke to rain. I’d already raced (Columbia Oly) in the rain this season. And now I was a lot closer to my true “A” race, the Marine Corps Marathon. I really did not want to chance anything bad happening out there. So since my bike was not racked ahead of time, I talked myself out of going. Looking at the results later in the week it looked like others did the same as there were not the usual amount of finishers. Stupid rain.

So, last week was a ‘new’ week – meaning I was trying to get ‘back on track’ with marathon training! All in all I had a pretty good week. I did not do things exactly as scheduled, but it was a fairly solid training week, ending with a half marathon race – the inaugural Wilson Bridge Half! This was actually my third inaugural race of the year. Funny! You can read about my first and second inaugural races in case you are curious... Anyway, back to week 10.

Monday – 5.02 mile run
Tuesday – 1.34 mile swim, 4.02 mile run
Wednesday – 5.12 mile run, with some speed work
Thursday – 3 mile run
Friday – rest
Saturday – rest/packet pick-up
Sunday – Wilson Bridge Half Marathon 13.1 miles; 3.5 mile run (3)/walk (.5)

Total Run Miles – 33.76

Now on to the half marathon... I decided to run this race because (1) it sounded kind of cool, running over the bridge AND being an inaugural event; (2) because the company* I work for has had folks assigned to the bridge renovation project since it started way back in 1997, which is also pretty cool; and finally (3) as an employee of this company I was able to attend both of the opening ceremonies in 2006 and 2008 of each span. So I'd actually walked upon each span before they were opened to general traffic.

My friend Marlene from Team Z also signed up and another old childhood friend did as well. On race morning we ran into a few other Z-mates, too! Race morning was cool-ish out and a perfect morning for a run! Now, I've never run the GW Parkway Classic (or whatever it is) but I'd heard the course was friendly and this course was a net downhill. My goal for the race was 2:15, slightly faster than my Shamrock Half time from March.

The course immediately started on a little down hill and I think the bulk of the first 8 miles was mostly in the shade. There were small groups of people cheering along the parkway, too, which was nice and while I did not need to stop at the water stops (I carried my own), they all seemed pretty friendly as well. The biggest 'hill' on the course was of course the bridge itself. And actually, that was not too bad. After crossing and coming back down you did have to go up and over the pedestrian walkway but again, not too bad. Finally you got on to the property at National Harbor and again a little 'uphill' but not too bad. The last mile-ish of the course switched from pavement to gravel and dirt! Kind of unexpected but not too awful. Glad I've continued to do my ankle strengthening exercises! Finally the last 1/10-ish switched back to the waterfront walkway at the harbor to the finish line. And it was a pretty cool finish! There were lots of folks lining the finish area.

So I took advantage of the net downhill and managed to run my second fastest (2:07:23) half marathon time ever. I was pretty psyched! And the very best thing was that I ran the entire 13.1 miles. Yes, I did not walk one step until after I'd crossed the finish line. I was very stoked about that! After I got through the finisher's area I found my childhood friend and found a place to get a latte. Then I hung out to see Marlene come through the finish. Despite her serious lack of training(!) she pulled off a great race! Yay Marlene!!

This week is so far so good. I did take Monday off as my legs were feeling the effects of a hard effort at the half marathon. Tuesday morning I swam 1.34 miles and rested in the evening. I started today (Wednesday) with a 5.02 mile treadmill run. Yay!

Week 11 training is supposed to look like this:

Monday – 8 easy miles (I took off)
Tuesday – rest! (I swam)
Wednesday – 7 miles, tempo of 5 (I did 5 easy miles)
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Thursday – 7 easy miles (I expect to swim as well)
Friday – rest!
Saturday – 16 miles – long run
Sunday – rest (I hope to get in a very easy run <5>

Week 12 training looks like this:

Monday - 8 easy miles
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 8 easy miles
Thursday - 7 easy miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 7 easy miles
Sunday - rest (This is the Race for the Cure day!)

Yay for a recovery week!

So, I'm very excited about the upcoming Maryland Komen Race for the Cure. Two old friends of mine have signed up for it as well, and one is bringing two of her daughters! We are planing to have a slumber party the night before at the one's house and hopefully race morning I will be able to meet up with my family doing the walk portion (which starts at 8:30) afterwards as the run starts at 8:00 and I am of course planning to push and see what kind of 5K time I can get. If I remember correctly from last year it is not a particularly hilly course! Of course, I don't want to go and jinx myself, but...there's nothing wrong with hoping!

If you would like to support Komen and this amazing cause, please consider signing up to run or walk or just make a donation. No amount is too small. Click here to go to my personal donation page.

Happy and Healthy Training!

*Note: My company's website is currently moving from one host to another and sort of 'down'...it should be back up soon-ish. I hope!

Racing for...

...the Cure. I signed up to do the Maryland Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, October 3. I walked this last year (the 8:30 AM start) with various family, including my Aunt Shirley, who is a survivor! I plan to run it this year. My aunt and cousins will be out there walking. Hopefully there won't be snowy/slushy stuff the night before, like last year!

Please consider joining me that day! Or if you cannot run or walk, please consider making a donation. I know these are tough times - no donation is too small. You will find my personal donation page here.

Thank you!

Happy and Healthy Training!

Week 8 & 9 MCM Training...

The long overdue summary of the past couple of MCM training weeks...

And so now this is the second of two weeks (in a row) that have not been 'good' training weeks! Argh... On a positive note, I do have another tri this weekend - the Reston Oly - so at least I'm not 'overtrained' for that.

First things first: Last Sunday I completed the 2010 South Riding Triathlon! This was a sprint distance with a 400 meter pool swim, a 12 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. I was 6 out of 16 in my age group with fairly consistent results across the board (4th in swim, 5th in T1, 6th in the bike, 7th in T2 and the run). And the very best part? My run split of 26:39 was probably my 5th fastest 5K. Ever! It was also my second fast Sprint Tri 5K split ever. I am so very excited about that! And I pulled that off after swimming and biking. I'm pretty excited about my average pace on the bike, too - 18.1! My splits are below:

Swim - 4 - 7:17
T1 - 5 - 1:42
Bike - 6 - 39:46(18.1)
T2 - 7 - 1:08
Run - 7 - 26:39(8:41)
Total - 6 - 1:16:30.8

So, to back up a bit, last week was my recovery week, and I was recovering all right. I ran 7 Monday night instead of 4 (?-not sure how I mis-read that!), and 5 on Wednesday morning instead of 7. I did another 5-ish on Thursday. The rest of what I planned flew out the window. Oh well - on Friday I moved! The movers (Two Guys and a Truck [4 guys actually]) arrived on schedule at 8:00 AM and were working by 8:15. They were done unloading at the house by 1:15! The cable guy was there too, working around them. He was there all day - he totally rocked! Last Saturday morning I had packet pick-up and did that first thing so I could do more unpacking and such. On Sunday - after the race - I had a cookout! My first stab at entertaining! Some old high school friends who were recently married were in town for various reasons so I hosted them and a few others. It was just really nice! Here's a picture of the group:














Now wer are into the current week... And week 9 is unfolding like this:

Monday – long run, 20 miles – FAIL 1.54 miles on tired race legs!
Tuesday – rest/xt
Wednesday – easy run, 3 miles at 31:40
Thursday – rest/xt
Friday – remains to be seen...
Saturday – remains to be seen...but I will attend the following: packet pick-up for the Reston Oly; my son Patrick's first Cross Country meet (don't know which will happen first); and the Toby Keith/Trace Adkins concert. I also WILL take a real good nap on Saturday
Sunday – Reston Oly (1 mile swim/22.3 mile bike/6.2 mile run)

I have not swam since Sunday, and that was all of 400 meters! Not the best swim shape I'd like going into the race, but oh well. I am staying positive in that I will be able to get into my sleeveless wetsuit since I've lost a few pounds. Looking at the things though it does not appear possible!!! But there is just too much going on! I just want to keep unpacking stuff. Next week I really need to get back on track though, because as of THIS Sunday there are only have 7 weeks till race day! Race being the Marine Corps Marathon!

So...Happy and Healthy Training!!

Week 7 – MCM Training...

OK, this was not the ‘best’ training week, and it became somewhat of a ‘recovery’ week – but I had good intentions! And it is only one week out of my 16 week plan.

Week 7 – Scheduled:

Monday – 4 miles easy
Tuesday – rest/xt
Wednesday – 6 miles tempo run with 4 at 9:35
Thursday – 4 miles easy
Friday – rest/xt
Saturday – 20 miles
Sunday – rest/xt

Week 7 – Actual:

Thursday – swim 2.02 miles; run – modified tempo 5.33 miles
Friday - easy run 5.01
Saturday - easy run 5.99; 6.08 mile very easy bike ride with some of my girl friends

Here was the bike ride route:

(And at the moment, I cannot remember why I missed workouts earlier in the week...I think because my sinus infection? But I thought that was the week before...?)

Needless to say, it was not the week of workouts originally scheduled! Going into the weekend I had already modified it because I knew I did not want to do 20 on the treadmill. I’ve already got plans to do my 20 miles at Prince William Forest Park on Labor Day – how appropriate! (And Carol said it was a nice place to run, too!) I was heading out of town for the weekend, starting at 2PM on Friday and I ended up running Thursday night, Friday morning, and Saturday morning. Was supposed to run Sunday morning, but as you can see, that did NOT happen. But the missed run was totally worth it...

And as just mentioned, I was out of town. It was another girls’ weekend away – the MOTRs Rock St. Michaels. And we did!! We stayed in the cutest little cottage! This was a ‘planning’ weekend to plan our 2011 trip to Boston ("The MOTRs are Coming... Boston or Bust"), which had been previously decided upon. In between visits to the spa, and delicious meals, and the above mentioned bike ride, we agreed to the third weekend in May and discovered we need to think more about lodging as our connection became ‘unconnected’. I have family up that way, so who knows; maybe I can figure something out. Or not! Another MOTR also has connections in New England...

So, this week IS my recovery week, and I’m recovering all right. I ran 7 Monday night instead of 4(?-not sure how I mis-read that!), and 5 this morning instead of 7. I have 7 again tomorrow and maybe 3 on Friday morning and a super short pre-race brick (bike 15 minutes/run 10 minutes) on Saturday morning as I have the South Riding Sprint Tri on Sunday morning! Team Z is a sponsor of this race, too, which will be a big boost to the fairly new “Team Z West” group, which is sort of based out in the area that the race is in.

Looking ahead, Week 9 looks like this:

Monday – long run, 20 miles
Tuesday – rest/xt
Wednesday – tempo run, 7 miles including 5 at 9:28
Thursday – easy run, 6 miles (may switch Wednesday for Thursday though for more rest after the long run)
Friday – rest/xt
Saturday – easy run 4-6 (or maybe another short brick); because
Sunday – Reston Oly (1 mile swim/22.3 mile bike/6.2 mile run)

Oh, and I'm moving this weekend! Friday actually, from the townhouse I'm in now to my childhood home! My kids and I are quite excited!! And still to come there will be more fun and exciting news related to the move...

Happy and Healthy Training!