hiatus

My blog is going to take a little hiatus. I'm not doing much training-wise for the next couple of weeks as I allow my iron stores to recover (hopefully!), and I need a little blog rest as well. Don't forget about me, though! I'll be back blogging probably in mid-August, or whenever I start my new training schedule.

USATF National Masters Championships 10K photos

I finally uploaded them. There are 641 photos! There are shots of almost every walker in the race. Enjoy! Thanks to my brother Alex for the great photos & video :).

a little recovery

Today I woke up a little sore in the hamstrings. Also a tiny bit sore in the calves and adductors, but all the soreness is pretty minor, thankfully. I'm not surprised that I'm sore, as my coach says I'm not using my glutes enough and so my hamstrings are overworking. I know the best remedy for sore muscles is to gently work them to get the blood flow going; at least that always makes me feel better. Coach has limited me to 30 min exercise per day, but that would be enough to help.

So I went for an easy 30 minute walk. I intended to do a 6:45-7:00/k pace, but I'm so used to doing 6:30 on my easy days now that that's what came out. It felt sore for 10 min, and then good for 20 min. I'm happy I went.

I was to focus on my technique. There are a bunch of minor tweaks that need to be made in the next 6 wk or so of easy training while we wait for my iron levels to come up. Here's what the coach says: use glutes more, rotate right hip further back, change centre (his spelling :)) of gravity slightly to the front foot, bring hips through lower, and push hard off the toes. I tried to think about all those things while I was out. Surprisingly, it felt good. I think the one that helped the most was the suggestion to bring my hips through lower. When I thought about doing that, the other things started happening more. Of course, it's going to take a while to break some of my bad habits, but I'm excited about the possibility of being faster, even if it's just a little bit faster. I did wish that my coach could be here to watch me do it and tell me if it was right, but since there are no RW coaches in Utah I will have to make do. Besides, he's really good at biomechanics, and that kind of expertise is rare, so I'm excited to take advantage of it. After a few weeks of practicing I'll make another video and send it and see if I look better.

Workout summary: 4.66 km in 30:17 for 6:30/km with ave HR of 141.

Videos of the 10K

I asked my brother to shoot more videos of the 10K than he did of the 5K, so there are a lot, and many of them are of the other walkers. I thought people would like to see themselves! So if you know some of the walkers, please pass these on. Enjoy!

bittersweet

This 10K was bittersweet.

Sweet:
1. I was healthy and able to race.
2. I showed my RW friends my before pictures after the race, and had a great sense of just how far I've come.
3. I gave it my all and held nothing back.
4. My brother was there cheering me on all the way, and got LOTS of great photos (I will post them later; if you want higher resolution just comment w/the photo #).
5. It was so wonderful to be out there with over 70 other RWers from around the country, and to be inspired by the 70 and 80-year-old athletes still doing it. I want to be like all of them when I grow up!
6. The weather was perfect. About 60F and sunny, with lots of shade on the nice, flat, fast course.
7. I was legal, with just one caution on lifting from the same judge that was at the track Friday. I guess he just doesn't like my form! However, he gave Vicki P. some super nice compliments at the end, and so he's clearly a very nice guy :).
8. Breakfast at IHOP after the race with my RW friends was the greatest! I got the chocolate chip pancakes w/a side of fruit, and only ate 2 of the pancakes, just like I planned (300 cal for the pancakes). They were delicious!
9. Nothing hurts now that I am done. I am just as healthy after as I was going in.
10. The first 6k was pretty good, and it was my best 10K of the season (though that's not saying much!).

Bitter:
1. The last 4k was not so good; I just ran out of gas.
2. I was hoping for a 58:30 and got a 60:02; did not even finish under 60 despite giving it my all on the last 2K loop.
3. I was 1:19 slower than my PR, despite perfect conditions.
4. I will confess I feel a bit sad that I couldn't do any better, and will admit that part of me wonders if I'm deluding myself that I'm any good at this. Of course I'm no elite, but am I even really above average? At 40, I was definitely one of the youngest out there (the youngest woman, I'm sure), and I did get beaten by a woman 20 yr older than me (Maryann M., who had a very fine race) as well as by Katie, who did a very fast 58:12.

But looking over these lists, I'm struck by the fact that the sweet list is much longer. I have much to be thankful for, and really, there are good reasons I was slow today. Please note that these are not excuses or what-ifs, just reasons that I should not beat myself up over this. My ferritin is undoubtedly still quite low, and that has a huge impact on the oxygen-carrying capacity of my blood. Couple that with a hard 5K two days ago, and with my recoveries being very sluggish this spring, and you have a recipe for a slower race. In addition, because of my lousy recoveries this spring, I was unable to do enough longer harder workouts to really be ready enough for a fast 10K. In my heart of hearts I knew this going in, but chose to be positive and think that I might be able to do 58:30 or 58:45, and so did set myself up for a little disappointment.

***
A little about the race: I started strong and felt very good. I tried to focus on allowing my hips to rotate a little more freely and using my glutes a bit more, as my coach thought the 5K videos showed a lack of that, especially on my right side. I did feel good and free and pretty fast for the first 2K. I felt I settled into a good pace and was able to keep it for a reasonable time, before I ran out of gas. I actually really enjoyed the first 5-6K, and then it got progressively more painful. I kept thinking I'd be able to pass Yoko E. and Marianne M., but it just didn't happen; I did finally pass Yoko in the last 500m and finished 20 sec ahead of her. However, she's 20 yr older than me so that's not saying much! I never did pass Marianne, and Katie was way too far out of reach. I admired her fine technique and great fitness from behind. She was so encouraging to me, calling out to me each time we passed on the 2K loop course.

Speaking of the course, it was quite nice - shaded, only one gentle curve, and then 2 tight U-turns on each end. There were a TON of judges out there, and quite a few people got DQ'd, including my friend John M. That really put things in perspective for me - I was legal and finished the race, and that is something to be thankful for. The other thing I liked about the course was that I could see the other walkers all the time, and it was easy to tell exactly where the competition was. It was also so fabulous to see my friends so many times during the race and call out to them as I was able. Walking with 70+ other RWers is a beautiful thing! I wish I could do it more often.

The last 4K was hard. I knew I was slowing, but just didn't have the lungs to go any faster, and the legs were tired, too. Still, I am proud to say that I gave it my all and finished as hard as I could. The last 500m seemed like an eternity, as I sped toward the finish. I thought I'd make under 60 min, but I just missed it. My watch said 1:00 exactly, but the unofficial times posted right after had me at 60:02. We'll see what comes out on the website (it's not up yet, or I'd have posted that).

I don't know what else to say. Am I happy with the race? Yes and no. I did learn a lot, though, and it has made me even more determined to get my iron up, train my rear end off, and do really well next summer at World Masters. I'm glad my coach is coming to the States in December so that he can give me and Erin & Dave (2 of his other RWers) some personal help. Actually, he's coming to go to a wedding not just to train us, but while he's here he has graciously consented to visit with us for a few days in NY to kick our butts into shape :). I'm going to train hard, eat well, take my iron supplements, and be much more ready for worlds next summer.

Splits: The 1K splits are not at all accurate; the course wasn't symmetrical. The 2K splits are good though, and here they are: 11:52, 11:50, 12:07, 12:03, 12:06. Hmmm, that adds up to 59:58; well, rounding errors? Anyway, looking at these for the first time now, they are more consistent than I thought they'd be; I thought I did the 3rd 2K faster and the last one slower. Still, they aren't bad. They just show that I didn't have the stamina today to keep the pace. I went out like my coach said to (more or less; he said 11:45 for 5:53/k) but just couldn't hold it. I'm still proud of my effort.

Garmin connect data here.

There are a TON of photos of every walker in the race; I will upload them later. Please pass them on to your friends if you were in the race, and I have higher resolution ones if you want. Just comment on that post to get the ones you want, FREE of course :).

videos of the 5K

FINALLY! We got them uploaded to YouTube. More or less in order, taken approximately every other lap of the 5K.

easy 12 minutes

Today I was supposed to do 12 minutes easy. That turned into 14 minutes, but I think my coach will be OK with that. I wanted to RW the 2K loop that I'm going to do tomorrow for the 10K, so that's what I did. It's very flat (almost everything in Sacramento is really flat!) and on the road behind the stadium. It's NOT the same course they'll use for worlds next year, unfortunately; that course will be in Land Park, about a 10 minute drive from the stadium. I would have liked to race on it beforehand, but I guess that doesn't matter too much. At 7:45 am when I racewalked this morning, it was nice and cool, and most of the course was shaded (about 2/3 of it). The race is at 7:30 am, so I'm optimistic that the conditions will be fairly ideal.

I ran into - or should I say racewalked into - Vicki P. and John M. out on the course. I enjoyed a little chat w/them, and then finished up my walk before heading in to the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) meeting at 8 am. That was quite interesting! They are going to drug test a sample of the masters athletes next summer at worlds, and I learned some important things. Basically, anything I put into my body medication-wise needs to be checked against their list of prohibited substances online. For example, the cortisone shot I had in my foot last fall would be considered a banned substance, and I'd have to get a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption) in order to have the shot. Presumably that's out of my system by now since it's been 10 months, but if it wasn't, and I got randomly selected for a drug test and failed, I'd lose my medals and face sanctions. Anyway, you even need to check cold and flu medications, as pseudoephedrine is a banned substance. It was an informative meeting, marred only by the extremely idiotic questions that some people posed, and by the bad attitude of some in the audience who seemed to simply want to challenge the patient instructor.

***

I'm tired, because I was up too late skype-ing with my coach :). I know, not smart, but I like to chat racewalking, so why not? My plan now, since it's 4 pm, is to simply stay up until about 8:30 pm and then go to bed. I'll get up at 4:30 am, eat breakfast before the race like I did on Friday, and head to the race. I'll try to arrive an hour beforehand to declare and warm-up, and then it will be race time. I'm a little less nervous than for the 5K, but still apprehensive. I want to do my best, and am just hoping that it will work out OK. I'm as prepared as I'm going to be, so it's silly to be nervous, but it's just the usual race day jitters and those will be what they will be.

Last night at dinner with some racewalking friends, most of us were agreeing that the 10K is just a tough race. It's fast, almost as fast as the 5K, but goes on longer, and so the pain is longer in some respects. Yeah, the first 6K can't be too hard or you won't have anything left, but it's hard enough to wear on you, and then the last 4K just hurts a lot. I am not really looking forward to the pain, but the sense of accomplishment when you are done is worth it when you have a good race.

***

It's different having a coach for these events. It's very nice mentally to have someone to chat with and help you decompress as well as instill confidence in you prior to the race. It's also nice not to second-guess how I trained; when I coached myself it was always a guessing game, and while I've read a lot, I don't know anywhere near as much as Jim does about training. I'm learning a lot and enjoying it. I have highly recommended Jim before, and will do so again now - even if you don't think you need a coach, you might consider it. Here's his website. So I'm offering a public thanks to Jim for the last 4 months of coaching. It's been invaluable. I know I'd be in lots worse shape both physically and mentally without his help.

USATF National Masters Championships - 5K track racewalk

I woke up and checked my heart rate before I got out of bed. Resting HR was about 46-48, which is pretty normal for me. Good - off to a good start! I got dressed and ate a bowl of Kashi GoLean Crunch with peaches and vanilla soymilk about 7:00 am. I knew I'd need the breakfast since the race wasn't until 9:15 am.

Pretty soon it was time to head to the track. I drove over there (about 30 min from my brother's house in Davis), got a parking permit, and declared at the race tent. I ran into Katie & Karen K., and enjoyed chatting for a few minutes. I also met Vicki P., Nana B., and Rebecca G. - a pleasure to meet all of them in person, finally! We all chatted for a while and then I returned to the car to stow my sweatshirt and fanny pack (for you Aussies, bum bag, sorry, but my American friends won't get that ;)!). Then I warmed up with an easy 1600m with strides plus my dynamic flexibility drills. I went back to check in because we were supposed to be there 15 min before the race, and it was time. My brother met me over at the tent where we were checking in, and I was really glad to see him. I sat down in the shade (it was already warm in the sun) and tried to relax. My HR was 80-90 just sitting there - nerves!

They escorted us onto the track for some strides, but I was already warm so I didn't do much - just walked slowly. They lined us up on the start line, by age, so I was all the way on the end. That's only fair. The gun went off, and I quickly made my way to the center lane. I did the first 200m in about 1:06 and the second in about 1:08 for 2:14. Nice! Good pacing from the start. I held that pace for the first 1K, feeling very easy about it, and got to 1K in 5:36. I couldn't keep that rhythm, though, so I eased up just a touch to reach 2K in 11:18.6, for 5:43 for the 2nd km. I was still feeling good but was hot; I dumped water on my head on just about every lap. My mouth was dry and I tried to drink some, but gagged and spit it out. Oh well. It was only about 65F according to the National Weather Service (at the airport, not the track though) but it felt hotter in the sun. It might have been 70F at the track. My car thermometer said 64F when I was driving in, and that was over an hour before the race. Not that hot, but hot enough to feel it.

I started to really feel it in the 3rd km, as usual. But I told myself I had to keep the pace! I watched the clock every 200m and was doing mostly 1:08-1:09 so I figured I was doing well enough. I pulled off a 5:44 for the 3rd km, and the pain really began at that point, typical for a 5K. I focused on keeping my rhythm, even though my breathing became more labored and I was grimacing with the effort (see the pictures...nasty faces!). I did a good job of holding it, only slowing a little for a 5:47 for the 4th km. I thought, "only 1km left...I can do it...keep going" and imagined racewalking on the cool path on the Provo River Trail. I also imagined all of my RW friends and my family in the stands cheering; my brother was there cheering, so I didn't have to imagine him - that was awesome! I gave it my all for a 5:48 to finish in 28:39.55 official time, only 3 seconds slower than my track PR in Spokane two years ago. Fabulous, given my iron levels and my less-rigorous training as a result of the iron issue.

It was a bit of a lonely race, as I only passed one person the whole time. From the start, Maryanne D. and Katie G. were ahead of me, as was Vicki P. I passed Vicki about 600m into the race, and then was just about 1/2-3/4 lap behind Maryanne and Katie for most of the race. Vicki finished only about 20 sec behind me, and someone else was pretty close, too, but I never really knew they were there (hmmm, maybe I should have paid attention?!?). I just focused on doing my own race the best that I could, and I didn't get discouraged at all that I couldn't catch anyone. Katie had a new PR of 27:11 (awesome! congrats to her!) and I know I can't do that (yet!) so don't feel bad at all, just happy for her. And Maryanne got a new American record in her age group (50-54) with her 26:27, an amazingly fast time.

Third overall, a gold medal in my age group, and 3 seconds slower than my PR. A good, solid race. I'll take it! Thanks to my coach for helping me believe that I could do it, with all the setbacks I've had this year.

More photos here. There are A LOT of me (also a bunch of my friend Don from the men's race - I took some for him); my brother went crazy. I have movies too but there's a compatibility issue I have to sort out. Also, I'm looking at the photos aghast at the extra skin/flab on my legs. Ugh! Makes me want plastic surgery...seriously...losing all that weight, well, it was great, but left me looking kinda nasty. Actually, I probably still could use to shed a few pounds; coach says I am OK but hard to believe looking at the photos. I weighed 147.2 this morning, so not too bad, but I wonder if I'd be better at say, 140? But I also do not want to lose too much muscle, as one of the things that makes me reasonably fast is that I'm pretty strong.

Tonight I'm going to boost my iron stores with a visit to Outback steakhouse with Katie, Karen, Nana, & Rebecca :).

Garmin connect data here.

Edited, thanks to Ollie: 28:39.55 not 29!!!!! I worked hard for that minute!!! :)

checking in

I checked in today at the USATF National Masters Championships. Got my bibs and safety pins and all that good stuff for my events. They don't know yet where the 10K road course is for Sunday; at least they couldn't tell me. Ummmm, ultra lame!!!! C'mon, guys, get a little more organized. In Spokane 2 yr ago they gave us all a course map when we checked in. Oh well...it will be flat, that's for sure, and should be fast. I'd just like to see it beforehand, y'know?

I walked over to the track to check it out. Looks nice, but not many spectators there (there weren't in Spokane either). Hopefully at worlds there will be more. It was still fun to walk around a bit and see some other athletes. I find it very inspiring to watch people of all ages compete in track & field events. I also took a few photos of the souvenir T-shirts and hats for my friend David in Australia, who wants a hat.

I picked up a few World Masters entry booklets while I was there; they give the dates for the various races next year. The 5K for women is July 7, 10K is July 12, and 20K is July 16. With that schedule, my coach will probably have me do 5K and 20K, because it might be hard to do the 10K and be adequately recovered for a good 20K only 4 days later. We'll see. I'd like to do all three if possible, because if you're there you might as well, but I don't want to ruin my 20K by doing the 10K too hard.

Here are my photos of the stadium & souvenirs.

short but sweet

I was craving a RW, seriously...and I wanted to stay out longer. But I didn't. Coach said 15 min w/strides, and that's what I did. I did about 8 min easy and then did 5 x 30sec strides with easy in between until HR was in the low 140s before starting the next one. No Garmin this time; used my old HRM because Garmins won't be allowed in the race. I'm not sure they will allow HRM either. The World Masters Athletics is not going to allow HRM or even watches next year, which is INCREDIBLY STUPID IMO. They are affiliated with the IAAF, so why do they not use the same IAAF rules? If the elites can use watches and HRM, why can't we? DUH! End of rant :).

I waited until 9:15 am to go; same time as my race tomorrow. It was 68F and it felt pretty warm in the sun. Heat will be a factor, but not too awful I think. I'm glad the 5K is a shorter race or it might be dicey. Thankfully, the 10K is at 7:30 am which will be much better.

I was up late helping with the baby last night and was a bit cranky this morning, but the 15 min of exercise helped my mood. It was a sweet little jaunt. I'm excited to race tomorrow.

Karis

I get to hold my niece, Karis, for the first time :).

More photos here.

another rest day

I'm in Davis, CA, visiting my brother now. I got to meet my new niece last night :). She's very cute! I'll post some pictures sometime later.

The weather here is awesome. It was 55F this morning and beautiful. Hopefully it will be like that for the weekend; the prediction is that the cool weather will hold for the most part. Of course, the 5K is at 9:15 am so it will be warmer then, but still should be in the 60s, which isn't bad at all. The 10K is at 7:30 am so that will be even better - perfect conditions, probably. If I could choose race weather, I'd choose 55-60F, clear, no wind.

Today is a rest day. Again. I confess I'm feeling fidgety and would like to take a walk, but I won't. I'm going to save the energy for Friday. I will probably do grocery shopping and help my brother as needed, though. Also I plan to relax and read books :)!

short track workout: 3x800m

Today I was to do 3x800m at 80-85% effort. It was a gorgeous day at the track; sunny and mild, about 65F (18C). The sprinklers were on the football field, and of course they spill over on to the track, so I had to play a bit of sprinkler dodge-'em. Mostly I was able to stay in lane 1; I guess if I wanted a shower I could have stayed there the whole time.

I warmed up with an easy 1600m in 10:19, then did the usual dynamic flexibility drills. I felt good this morning. I realized I'm a bit insecure about my 10K pace, so I decided to try and do my 800s about 10K pace and see how that felt, effort-wise. That seemed to work well; 10K pace would be about 4:42 for 800m, and I did them in 4:42 and 4:41 at 80% effort, and then did the last one at about 85% effort in 4:39. Not bad. I felt like I could do a lot at that pace, which is good, since I'll need to sustain it for almost an hour. My coach says 57 min ;)! Of course I'd love to be that fast...we'll see :). I feel like now I have the pace in my head a little better, which is great.

After I finished, I cooled down with a very easy 1600m, and then walked slowly around the track with a guy named Bob, who was walking there for some exercise and struck up a conversation with me about racewalking. I enjoyed sharing a little about the sport with him.

Tomorrow is a rest day, and Thursday is an easy 15 min with strides, and then the 5K on Friday, 12 min easy on Saturday, and the 10K on Sunday.

Garmin connect data here.

sling

I got out the baby sling today. I'm going to visit my brother and his wife in Davis, CA (near Sacramento), and I know I'll get some good baby-holding time with my niece, Karis. I used the baby sling a LOT with my two kids when they were smaller. Now that they weight 42 lb (yup, both of them weigh the same!) I don't do that any more. However, when they saw it they both wanted to sit in it for a bit, so I obliged. It was cute! And yes, they still fit in it, which is amazing. It actually was not that hard to carry them in it for a short time, and it was super cuddly :).

8K

After a rest day yesterday, just an 8K today. I am really liking the taper :). I'm still working on the positive thinking, and was feeling good this morning mentally. I am doing my best to get in the right head space.

It was hot again this morning, but since I wasn't going hard, I didn't care too much. It was 75F (24C), on its way up to probably about 98F this afternoon (it was 102 yesterday). Fortunately, the weather for Sacramento this Friday is looking about as good as it gets this time of year; it's supposed to be in the low 90s for a high, and in the upper 50s for lows. It will probably be about 65-70 for the 5K at 9:15 am. That's hotter than I'd like but not so hot that it will ruin the race, thankfully.

Today I didn't feel like I was working hard, but every time I looked at my Garmin, my HR was about 150. Not sure what that's all about, but the workout felt very pleasant. I did the hilly route around SugarHouse Park because I had no particular time goals to meet and I like that route. I did 2 loops of the park to get my 8K total.

Total 53:43 for the 8.03K for 6:41/km; ave HR 145.

Rest day

Today was an "optional" day on the training schedule, but Jim has encouraged me to rest more as the races approach. I'm more than happy to do that today, as I feel my body needs it. I've been very tired this spring, probably from the low iron levels and the hard training. A couple days of rest this week can't hurt! Now I just have to be careful about what I eat. That's the harder part.

In the spirit of resting, I took a short nap this afternoon, and it felt great.

hot 5K fartlek

It was hot this morning. Yesterday it was 102F (39C) in the afternoon, and when it gets that hot, the mornings aren't usually very cool either. This morning it was 79F (26.1C) and quite humid by our desert standards at 46%. I figured it might be a slow morning because of that if nothing else. This is the warmest morning I remember here in a LONG time.

I had a good workout. Yeah, the heat got to me at the end and I slowed down, but it was a good hard workout and I gave it my all. I was only 19 seconds slower than my last 5K fartlek, even though it was 14 degrees F warmer.

I decided to go to Liberty Park instead of doing the 5K fartlek on the street like I've been doing. I was just in the mood for something different, and I was also worried about possible intestinal distress because I ate pizza last night (Liberty Park has convenient restrooms!). The intestinal distress never materialized, thankfully, but I was still glad I went there.

I warmed up with the walk over to the park, and I used the restroom before I started, so I ended up starting in the middle of the park. I did my dynamic flexibility drills, and then steeled myself for the upcoming pain :). I knew somehow that this would be a tough one.

I felt OK for the first 3K, but then I knew I was dragging from the heat. I just didn't have anything left in the tank. I passed my friends Sarah, Jessica, and Sarah just around the 4.5K mark and said hi but of course did not stop. I didn't know they were at the park and I was glad to see them. It gave me motivation to give it my all for the last 0.5K, which was on the uphill end of the park (uh, why in the world did I arrange it to end on an uphill?!?) and thus even more painful. Yeah, the last 0.5K was really slow despite working really hard.

Here are my splits:
1K fast 5:38, HR 157 ave/169 max
500m med 3:02, HR 163/169
500m fast 2:40, HR 170/172
500m med 3:16, HR 166/172
500m fast 2:54, HR 173/175
500m med 3:13, HR 167/175
500m fast 2:53, HR 172/174
500m med 3:21, HR 166/174
500m fast 3:04, HR 174/176
Total time: 30:04

As you can see, I totally died at the end. My last "fast" 500m was slower than my first "medium" 500m. Ouch. And that last 500m medium in 3:21 was not very speedy either. Oh well...heat will do that to you. I'm trying to stay as positive as possible, though I'm a bit disappointed that the heat got to me so much. The 5K in Sacramento could be hot, as it's at 9:15 am. I didn't have time to do as much heat training as I'd like, so I'll just have to go with what I've done and visualize a great race anyway.

In a little side note, I went to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning and they handed out a sheet on positive self-talk. I know I need to work on this in conjunction with my racewalking, so it was very apropos. Funny, I've seen that handout a million times and feel like I do pretty well on it as regards my eating, but I know that I've been weak on that with racewalking. So this week I'm going to visualize lots of speed, lots of stamina, and think positive as much as I can. I think it will be a challenge, but in the spirit of positive self-talk, I think I can do it. End side note :).

I was happy to be at Liberty Park again when I finished. There's a natural spring water fountain at the southeast corner, where I finished, and I liberally splashed the cool water all over and had a long drink. It felt great!!! Then I enjoyed some conversation with the Sarahs and Jessica before walking home. My legs were pretty trashed on the uphill home.

Garmin workout data.

This was my last really hard workout before my races next weekend; I do have 3x800m on Tuesday, but that's such a short workout that it barely counts. I'm glad to be done with the hard work. Now I'm ready to race (positive self-talk)!!!

a little cross-training

I biked to the gym this morning, lifted weights, then showered & biked up to work. Short & sweet workout. For the weights, I did: one-legged squats with 20lb/cable crossovers (chest); row/hamstring curls; lateral raises/calf raises; bicep curls/tricep extensions. Then Lisa and I did a tough ab set. That's it!

I'm feeling a bit tired today. Maybe I didn't sleep well; had an odd dream (very odd!!!) and then woke up and had to use the bathroom. I did manage to go back to sleep just fine, and I was asleep for about 8 hours, but I don't feel well-rested. I guess I'll have to go to bed earlier tonight if I can.

5K

Today's workout was very easy - just a 5K! My legs felt a little tired from yesterday's track workout (not sure why, since it was short), so this was welcome. I brought Copper, my dog, because I figured she could keep up with me for 5K. She did, but just barely; she was dragging at the end. I guess she's out of shape from not walking with me much recently. And besides, she's 9 years old and has cancer, so I suppose she's doing pretty well in the scheme of things.

I did the 5K in 31:24 for 6:17/km; ave HR 143. Pretty easy to go a little faster on a short workout.

ferritin

I had my doctor check my ferritin levels at my routine physical last week. I tried to give platelets twice, and was turned away for low hematocrit of 35 (normal 36-44, so not that low, but low), so I decided to have some checking done on my iron levels. Turns out my ferritin is low at 20. My doctor says that less than 35 is low, even though the reference value starts at 10. He recommended iron supplements, which I have been taking for a couple weeks already. He said continuing to take those for a few weeks more should do the trick.

Another lab value, the TIBC, or Total Iron Binding Capacity, was high at 454 (normal 250-450). This value indicates that my body is desperately trying to scrounge for every available bit of iron, and confirms that low iron is a problem for me.

My serum iron should be low, but it was actually on the high end of the scale at 164 (normal 40-175). The doctor thinks this can be explained by the iron supplements I've been taking raising my serum iron, but it hasn't been long enough for the ferritin to increase yet.

Why is all this important? Well, low iron = lower amount of hemoglobin = less oxygen getting carried to muscles. Obviously that's not good for someone who fancies herself an endurance athlete. So, I'll continue taking the iron supplements, as well as vitamin C (aids in absorption). The low ferritin levels might explain in part my poor recovery from my layoff last winter, and why I've felt pretty sluggish in most of my races this year. The level was drawn a few weeks after I'd started taking the iron supplements, so I wonder how low it was before that? Scary! At least I know that I can improve this, and in a way, this is good news as it's an explanation for why I've been feeling a bit off.

In other health news, my thyroid (TSH) was normal, and my vitamin D was low. The doctor recommended taking some vitamin D supplements, too. Vitamin D is important in osteoporosis prevention, and since there is quite a bit of family history of osteoporosis, I definitely want to avoid that.

Finally, my pap smear was normal too :). That means 3 more years before I have to have another one. Yay! However, seeing as how I am now 40, the doc said I have to get a mammogram. Oh well...beats the alternative I guess.

Naked workout

THAT got your attention, didn't it ;)?

I wasn't actually naked. I just felt naked. My Garmin batteries were not charged, and I did the workout without a watch of any kind. Hmmm, not easy for a track workout, but I made do. I kept looking at my wrist, to no avail.

The weather was superb, 65F and sunny, though the sun didn't hit the track until my 4th repeat.

I was to do 4x800/200 with 30 sec rest between 800 & 200, and 3 min rest between sets, at 90-95% effort. I did them nice and hard, though I have no idea of my times. For the 30 sec rest, I counted "one-one thousand, two-one thousand..." and for the 3 min I walked about as far as usual on the track and waited until my breathing was normal again; it seemed reasonably close to 3 minutes!

It was fun to do this workout w/o a stopwatch. I liked the "no pressure" aspect of it very much. I have the feeling I was slow today; my quads got tired in the 3rd repeat, and quads and calves were tired in the 4th repeat. However, I really don't know how fast I was, and I don't care!!! I did the workout, gave it a good hard effort, and imagined passing the competition on the last 200m. It was good to do a hard workout and not care if I met anyone's time standard. I highly recommend it.

Stylish?

Apparently I'm stylish this summer ;).

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/2010/07/12/2010-07-12_rearing_to_go_big_butts_are_summer_2010s_hottest_trend.html

Thanks to Ollie for the story.

cross-training

Today I was to cross-train. I was initially thinking I'd go swimming, but for some reason I just wasn't in the mood. Instead, I did the elliptical for 40 min and biked to work (23 min very hard uphill - took me 27 min the first day...hmmm, getting better? Or did I just try harder today?). It all felt very good. My L knee (IT band) bothered me slightly on the elliptical until I consciously shifted the knee laterally a bit, and then it was fine. I obviously need to keep tabs on my form while I train to avoid trouble, and need to keep the hips strong.

I'm feeling so much more confident going into my races next Friday & Sunday (23rd & 25th) than I did prior to Saturday's race. Now I know that I have it in me to do a good race this year, and that gives me such a much-needed boost. Granted, the competition is stiff (track 5K in 28:08 last weekend) but I'm optimistic that I will have a good race, regardless of what anyone else does or doesn't do.

***

In other news, we have decided to refinance our house to a 15-yr loan. With interest rates at 3.75%, it was almost a no-brainer. Yeah, our monthly payment will be a little higher, but we will pay off the loan 10 years sooner and save about $80,000 in interest. It's just a giant hassle to do it, and life is already busy, but it's definitely worth the effort to save that much money.

12K

Let the taper begin! I like the taper, and hate it. I like not working as hard on the hard days, but I do get restless if there are too many rest days and too many short workouts. This time, though, I'm glad for it, because I have worked very hard and need the rest, I think.

I was to do 12K today. I forgot to ask Jim if I should go for 6:30/km, or just go easy. I woke feeling decent and decided to try for 6:30/km and see what happened. That plan worked out pretty well. I felt reasonably good during the walk; my muscles weren't too sore from Saturday (minor soreness in right hip and that's it), and though I do have to push a little and concentrate to stay on 6:30/km, it wasn't too hard to do this morning.

It was pretty comfortable outside, temperature-wise. I forgot to look at the thermometer, but if I had to guess I'd say it was around 65F (18C). There was no wind, and it was sunny and beautiful. I'm thoroughly enjoying the summer weather while it lasts.

I did the first 2k (downhill) in 12:34, which was pretty fast. Then I settled in, and did 13:02 for 2K, 26:09 for 4K, 12:55 for 2K, and managed 13:03 for the last 2K uphill! Yay! Ave HR was 145. Total time 1:17:46 for 6:28/km. Here's the rest of the data.

After I got home, I drove to the gym and did a short set of weights and some abs. Here's what I did: abductor machine/chest press machine; one-legged squats w/20lb in one hand/row; military press/lateral walks w/band; abs (crunches & oblique crunches on ball, back extensions on ball, rowing (for lower abs) and hip-ups (also lower abs), stretching.

Biking in City Creek

I like bicycling a lot, at least biking outside. If I couldn't RW any more, I think I could get by on biking, if I lived somewhere where it was warm enough to bike outside all year. The stationary bike is far too stultifying for me to survive on all winter! (Hmmm, somewhat like the treadmill).

Today was an optional day, but since I took a rest day Friday I thought I'd do something today. First I took inventory of my muscles. I feel a little sore in my obliques and lower back muscles and some soreness in abductors. But it's very minor, and I actually feel great muscle-wise. I'm still overtired, since instead of going to bed on time I chatted with my coach about all things racewalking. Fun, but probably not the smartest thing I could do. I'm such a morning person that if I'm up late I just cannot sleep in. I wake up at 5:30-6 no matter what. This morning, of course, I woke up at 5:30. I did try a little to sleep but gave up quickly and decided to ride my bike. If I can't sleep, the best way to feel more awake is to exercise :). I don't drink coffee in the morning (get too jittery!), so I knew I needed to do something.

It was showering a bit when I left so I brought a jacket. The sky had clear blue patches, though, so I figured it wouldn't be bad, and it wasn't. I got a few raindrops here and there, but the jacket stayed tied around my waist.

I biked over to City Creek Canyon from my house. The hills in the Avenues are killers, but if you take them slowly it's not a big deal, and the view is a great payoff. Also seen along the way: a very cute hummingbird, lots of songbirds, the beautiful creek (with its accompanying cool air - chilly on the ride down), and runners doing a 5K for the YMCA. I cheered them on from my bike, feeling the camaraderie with people who got up early to work out.

1:11:29 for 22.42 km; 379m elevation change up then back; ave HR only 123, max 148. That's the one down side to biking...I had my HR plenty high for a good part of the ride (at least 130 for probably 45 min) but just can't keep it high on the downhills, so if you want to keep your HR high for a certain period of time, you have to be out there longer, or bike on the flat.

Wasatch Walkers 4th handicapped 5K - 2010

This race made up for all the bad races I've had this season, I think. It was amazing. Yes, it hurt a lot, because I pushed very, very hard. But I didn't run out of steam, and had my best 5K ever.

The race was in Provo, about an hour south of Salt Lake City, on the Provo River trail. The trail goes right behind the house of one of our club members, Boyd, who is an amazing 81-yr-old racewalker. It's a gentle downhill trail along the river, and Boyd's wife and son drove us up to the start so we could race downhill to his house at the finish. The trail meanders a bit, and it does have some uphills as well; my Garmin said 10m uphill and 70m downhill for the 5K, for a net 60m downhill. That's 196 feet, so it's a pretty decent amount, though not so steep that it's bothersome. Just FAST!

Before we went to the start, I warmed up for about 10 min for 1.6k and did a bunch flexibility drills, just like I do for track workouts. I wanted to let my body know that I was about to really work it.

Then we drove up to the start, and it was chilly up there. I don't know the temperature, but it was 64F (17.8C) at Boyd's house, and probably about 62ish at the start, because it's a bit higher and next to the river. 64F is not that cold but it was quite windy, and so all of us were racewalking a bit to stay warm while we waited for our start in the handicapped race (slower walkers started first).

It seemed like my turn to start came pretty quickly, even though I was the last to go and had to wait 13:59 before I started. I was off like a shot. The trail has marks every 100m, so it's really easy to know your splits and monitor your time. I was so focused on my efforts that I didn't do a good job of that though! I missed my split at 3 km and hit my lap timer at 3.1 instead...oops. My last split was correspondingly shorter. Anyway, back to the race. I reached 1K at 5:25 and thought, "Uh-oh, I've gone out way too fast", but quickly squelched that thought and replaced it with "It's a downhill, and I'll be OK". The first km didn't feel that hard, and my average HR was 159, which wasn't that high. The second km went by pretty quickly as well, and I had settled into a nice pace, reaching it in 5:39. There were quite a few runners on the trail, most of whom were pretty friendly; one guy going the opposite way called out "are you guys racewalkers?". Wow, he actually got the word right! Most of the time people call me a "speed walker".

The third km is where things usually start to get painful. I start to look at my watch more, and the km begin to creep by more slowly as the pain level increases. This is also where I have to be more vigilant about the pace. I was relieved to get to 3.1 km in 6:14, for an average pace of 5:36/km (I'm not THAT good at doing math in my head, but I do know that 36 sec is 0.1 km at 6 min/km, so I subtracted 36 sec in my head and knew I was on pace).

After that I knew I was on pace for a seriously nice PR if I could just hold the pace for 2 more km. I was determined to do so. I dug in and focused and endured the pain. Pretty soon I had the distraction of passing some of my fellow Wasatch Walkers, starting at about 3.5 km. I continued to pass them one by one, and passed the last person not long before the finish line. I passed Leah sometime in the 4th km, and remarked to her, "I'm dying! I think I went out too fast!". But I was also thinking I only had to hold it for a little over 1 km more.

My next split was at 4.1 km (so 1km from the last one), and it was 5:39, just like the 2nd km. "Awesome," I thought, "if I can just hold this for 0.9k I will have an amazing PR". I gritted my teeth, was breathing incredibly hard, and dug down deep for that little bit more. I had a few more people to pass at that point, and that was a good enough distraction to keep me racing very hard. I gave it my all, and the finish line was in sight. I knew I would make it! I held the pace and even sped up a little for a final split of 4:58 for the 0.9km (about a 5:31/km!).

I had no idea that I was going to go sub-28:00. It's just too hard to do the math when your brain is otherwise occupied with racing hard. When I got to the finish and pushed the button on my watch, I could hardly believe my eyes: 27:57!!!!! A new PR by 39 seconds! OK, granted, the course is downhill, but still, I was extremely pleased. I feel my confidence starting to return, just in time for the big races to come in just two weeks in Sacramento.

Right after I crossed the finish line, I was dying and gasping for breath, but I whipped out my camera anyway to get some shots of the other walkers finishing. Boyd finished just 19 seconds behind me, with a 34:33, which is a very good time for him (age graded it's a 21:30!!!). Since I didn't get any pictures of me finishing, I had one of the walkers shoot a few of me afterward; I was giving him a few pointers on toe push-off and hip flexibility and wanted him to have some visual aids.

Here are all the photos. Here's my Garmin data (again).

27:57!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (downhill, but still!)

Can't post much right now; more details later, but I did a 27:57 in our club 5K this morning.

Here's the data.

Resting

I'm tired. I needed a day off. I was supposed to x-train, but I'm not. I'm just going to rest!

Tomorrow I'll do our club 5K race and we'll see how things are going.

12K easy

I was to do 12K very easy today. Good thing, because after all the hard workouts (4 quality workouts in the past 7 days), my legs were tired today. I enjoyed being out, and I was glad to take it easy; however, I was still tired at the end and happy to stop. I did my favorite 12K route, hilly for the first 6K and flatter for the second 6K.

My knee had a few twinges but nothing more. I'm more and more convinced that it is my IT band again, so I'm really focusing on form to keep things in line.

12K in 1:21:47, 6:48/km, ave HR 137.

Here's the data.

6x400m, weights

Today I had a short workout: 6x400m at 85% with 2 min recovery. The weather was nice, except for the wind. It was 60F (15C) but the wind was blowing very hard with extremely strong gusts. From 50-100m on the track it was a horrible headwind, and down the backstretch it was windy too. Then I got a tailwind coming in for the last 100m. Still, it was most unpleasant.

Despite that, my times were OK. I warmed up for 1600m in 10:06, accelerating throughout as much as I could with the wind. I was worried about my left knee, but it was fine on the warm-up. I concentrated on bringing my leg straight through as my coach suggested, and thought about using my glutes and inner quads. That must have helped.

After doing my dynamic flexibility drills, I started in on the workout. I felt fine the whole time; my legs were perhaps a little tired, but with the wind it's hard to tell. Here are my times: 2:10, 2:13, 2:13, 2:10, 2:15 (huge wind gusts on this one almost knocked me over), 2:11. Ave HR 149-153; max 160-166. Seems about right for 400s. My left knee never bothered me except for a twinge during one of the recoveries, and I just did an IT band stretch which seemed to help.

I cooled down with 1600m easy, and stretched thoroughly. Edited to add: Here's the workout on Garmin connect.

Then I went to the gym and did one-legged 1/2 squats (coach recommended) looking in the mirror to monitor knee drift (it looked fine)/chest press w/30lb dumbbells. Next abductors on hip machine/calf raises. Then lat pull-downs/balance on dyna disc (for L foot)/abductors with band. Didn't have time for abs because my husband had an early meeting. Will do my best to do something later today.

I'm just grateful that my knee is probably OK. I do think now that it's my old nemesis, the IT band. I wasn't so sure yesterday because it hurts in a little different spot. However, the foam roller plus IT band stretches seemed to help today. Plus I've been neglecting my abductors a bit the past few weeks, so it makes sense.

knee update

At lunch. Knee hurting when I'm walking around work. Iced it thoroughly and found some ibuprofen to take, since I forgot my Rx anti-inflammatory this morning. Hopefully that will help.

Gym - The New Catholic Church?

A Single Soprano's Random Thoughts: Gym - The New Catholic Church?

I'm sharing this because I enjoyed reading it...funny, well-written, and I just liked it :). Enjoy!

Karis

My new niece has arrived! 8 lb 5 oz, 20 3/4", born July 5th at 8:49 pm. Her name is Karis, which means "grace" (Greek).

She's so beautiful! I'm a proud aunt, I guess!!!

10K

I was feeling great today, except for my left knee, which I'll get into later. But it didn't seem to hold me up too much.

Coach wanted me to take it easy, so I did...sort of. After a few km, I realized I was feeling great, so I decided to keep the 6:30/km pace. It was such an amazingly beautiful morning. 57F (14C), sunny, calm, birds chirping, and the Liberty Park sidewalk is open again on the south side. Near the end of my 10K route it's uphill, so I did push a little to get to the finish, because I wanted to. I did have to stop for a long stoplight at about 35 min into my walk; you can see the HR dip on the graph at Garmin connect. I just felt GOOD today. Fast, fluid, efficient. I hope I feel like this for my races in a few weeks.

10.01k in 1:04:56 for 6:29/km; ave HR 139, max 158 (on that uphill at the end).

About my left knee - it was a bit sore during my warm-up yesterday at the track and also last night but not even enough that I thought about it at all. I didn't even mention it to my coach. This morning it felt a little sore too. It hurts on the lateral side just below the kneecap near where the bone sticks out. OK, that's a vague and non-medical description if there ever was one. It could possibly be IT band pain but it feels a little different than that. I've had ITBS before, if you recall. The pain was mostly dull and achy but a couple times during my walk it felt more sharp and stabby. At one point, maybe 20 min into my walk, I briefly considered packing it in after it hurt for maybe 30 sec, but then the pain eased and I really felt fine. Weird. Now it still hurts a little, especially if I press on the area with my fingers. I'm not sure what is going on, but I don't really like it, and I'm hoping that it will just go away. To make matters worse, I forgot to take my anti-inflammatory this morning.

Michelle's Party!

We had a party for Michelle today :). OK, so it was 2 weeks after the fact...but at least we finally had a real party with her friends. We were outside in the back yard a lot playing in the water, as the weather was really nice. We bbq'd hot dogs and sausages, and had corn on the cob, salad, watermelon, chips, pretzels, and of course CAKE! I had so much fun making her cake, and watching her have fun at the party was marvelous too.

Sun & Mon workouts

Sunday: REST day. I did absolutely nothing other than baking for my daughter's birthday party which will be today (Monday).

***

Monday: Track workout. 6x800/200 (30 sec rest after 800m, 3 min rest after 200m). I had a bad day today. It started off OK, but by the third set I knew I was in trouble. My legs were a little tired on the first two, but on the third one they got really tired. My muscles felt like Jell-O, especially my quads, and my legs just didn't respond. My heart rate was not as high as usual and I just had no leg speed. My coach pointed out that these things sometimes happen, and everyone has bad days. Yeah, that's true, and I have had some good workouts these past couple of weeks, so I am going to try and move on and not think about this too much. I seriously contemplated quitting after the 3rd one, but I didn't, and I finished the whole workout, so that was good. I just wish I could have some more fast workouts to build my confidence before my races.

Possibly related: Tried again yesterday to donate platelets. My hematocrit was only 35 this time and so they turned me away again; your hematocrit has to be 38 to donate. Hematocrit is packed cell volume, and the fact that mine is low means I have fewer red cells than I ought to. Normal for women is 36-44. 35 is not so good, especially for someone who fancies herself to be an endurance athlete. I have been taking iron supplements (prenatal vitamins, since I have a bunch left from when I was pregnant) for a couple weeks but it's not helping yet. I think I'll make an appointment just to get things checked out.

Times: 4:29, 1:00; 4:30, 1:01; 4:34, 1:03; 4:43, 1:02; 4:43, 1:06 (!); extra rest here 4:42, 1:01. I took the extra rest because I started talking to a guy at the track; he coaches some youth and I mentioned that I might be interested in helping to coach some youth racewalking sometime. Maybe I'm too busy for that...but we'll see. I probably had 6 min rest; not that it helped, because my legs were wasted.

Workout data here.

Murray Fun Days 5K 2010

Train hard, race hard, but not much in the way of results. That's kind of the way it's been, but I am doing the best I can, and I'm trying to stay positive.

I had a great first 3K (17:14), and then I ran out of gas. Not sure why. I gave it my best effort, so I am pleased with that. And I did get a season's best time of 29:23 (my watch) or 29:19 (official). Still, it's slower than I hoped for, but I guess I still have a few more weeks before the big races. Anything can happen. I'm working VERY hard to be positive here; being negative won't help anyway.

The first 1K was uphill (14m), and I did it in 5:51, ave HR 161. That seemed like a good pace to start the race, given the hill. Then I kept it up and did 5:40 on the second km (uphill 4m), ave HR 172. On the third km, I really kept in mind that I wanted to hold the pace. I tend to slow a bit on it when I'm not focused, and my coach didn't want me to lose time there. I held the pace very well on this nice downhill (10m) in 5:43, ave HR 177. I was working hard, though, and was concerned about hanging on. My friend Sarah, who got a new PR today in the 5K run, passed me right about here. I was happy for her and surprised to see her pass me. That was a bit disheartening but then again, she was running, and I really was happy that she was having a good race (she finished with a 28:55! Yay Sarah!). My thought here was that I was on PR pace if I could just keep the pace to the finish. But the slight uphill on the 4th km going up State St to Vine St really took the wind out of my sails. I only managed a 5:56 with ave HR of 176. I didn't have any gas left in the tank, yet again. I must confess that I am really sick of running out of steam in races this year. This has never happened to me before and it's frustrating. The last km was hot. The weather was really good for July (65F, 18C) with a nice breeze and low humidity, but there wasn't much breeze on Vine Street and the sun was beating down on me. I don't think the heat did me in though; I was already cooked for whatever reason. The last km was 1.07 km on my Garmin, so perhaps the course was slightly long? No, couldn't be...my Garmin is just off. This is a USATF road racing circuit race, and I am sure the course was properly measured. Anyway, the last 1.07 km on my Garmin was a whopping 6:12. That works out to 5:48/km so I guess it wasn't too bad, but somewhere something is off, so we'll never know for sure.

Anyway, I have mixed feelings about this. I am happy for a season's best time, but disappointed that I didn't break 29 minutes. I thought for sure I'd do that today. On the good side, I really enjoyed seeing my friends there, and they all did well. Sarah got her PR, Diane (age 70, my hero!) got a 39:09 (walking!) for first in her age group vs runners, and Kathy (walking!) got a 38:09 and 3rd in her age group vs runners. I finished 13th in my age group; they didn't list how many 40-44 there were so I'm not sure of my placement. I did note that the 3rd place runner in my age group finished in just under 26 minutes, and I feel sure I could do that time running. If I was in this for the glory part I guess I'd have to start running; as a racewalker I won't win any prizes in a running race at my age.

The kids did the kids' 1/2 mile race right after the adults' 5K race. It was SO cute, and Calvin and Michelle both ran the whole thing. Poor Michelle tripped at the finish line and scraped her hands, but they both finished and got their T-shirts, Murray Fun Days 5K dog tags, and goody bag. Then we watched the parade and the kids collected a whole bunch of candy that was being tossed out from the floats. The best part of today was not the race but all the fun I had with family and friends. That's what it's about anyway.

Race details (splits etc. on Garmin Connect - note that I pushed my watch button after the race was long over for about 1-2 sec, so the last km isn't right - it was 6:12 not 6:13, and race time was 29:23 on the watch).

More pictures on Picasa.

hot intervals

It was hot this morning. 75F (24C) and 36% humidity, which is a lot for here. I was to do 3K/2K/4x500 with 4', 3', and 2' rest. I was not at all in the mood for a hard workout, but I seldom am. They always feel so much better when you are done. This was a track type of workout but I didn't do it on the track; I did it on the street because the long intervals are a drag on the track.

I was slowish today; probably the heat. I don't care though, as I did my best and got a hard workout under my belt. I felt pretty wasted on the 2K, and it showed in the time. I almost gave up and went home, but decided I had to finish. I'm glad I did because a couple of my 500m were pretty darn fast.

Here are my times: 3K 17:37, 2K 12:07, 500m 2:57, 2:44, 2:46, 2:52.

Workout data here, including HR, elevation, etc.

My foot ached a bit but nothing too serious. I think it's going to be OK.

***

My boss started a contest for riding your bike to work in July & August. I'm only part-time, so it probably is impossible for me to win (we will have to discuss the rules for me), but I still want to do it. I'll have to bike home after work to get the car and then pick up the kids, so it will take a lot longer, but what the heck. It should be fun.

This morning I biked up and got my shirt wet from sweat because my computer backpack was on my back. I think I'll put it on my bike rack next time! It's quite the hill to work; 191m in just 5.57km (about 650 feet in 3.5 miles - roughly). My legs feel quite tired now.