Tammy's Tidbits

15K

2012-02-11T15:44:00.001-07:00

I'm sooooo sleepy and tired so this will be quick --- I just finished cleaning up after a party for my kids. Whew. Lots of kids, lots of fun, lots of noise. I'm exhausted!

***

This morning I was to do 15K. It was pretty warm for February at 34F (2C), with only a slight breeze. It was a nice morning! I was glad to be out, and I felt good. I could tell after the first few km that this might be a good one, though I worried about my legs tiring. They didn't get tired until about 13K, which wasn't too bad, and even then I was able to keep my speed pretty consistent. Very consistent. 5K splits: 31:05, 30:58, 30:59 for 1:33:03 total (6:12/km or 9:59/mile) with ave HR 148. Obviously, I felt good. The 5K fartlek appears to have kicked me into gear. I felt smoother and stronger today than I have. I guess I just needed to get the muscles firing together on all cylinders.

Garmin connect data here.

5K fartlek

2012-02-09T18:31:00.001-07:00

I went to the track this morning to do the workout, and guess what? Despite the fact that it was above freezing, the track was super icy from the night's snow/rain mix. Bummer. I had already had a rough morning, finding out upon waking that my beloved grandma (in photo, with Calvin, in 2005) had died last night (expected, as she had end-stage Alzheimer's, good that she is not suffering, but hard for those of us who will miss her). Plus I was running late...so I decided to bag it and try to get in the workout later in the day. I have cross-training tomorrow so I figured it wouldn't mess anything up.

So, after a difficult day at work due to missing grandma and making plans for travel, etc., I finally managed to escape while my restriction digests were incubating, at 3 pm. Yeah, we have lab meeting at 3 pm on Thursdays, so I played hooky. My boss is on call this week in the hospital, and we were having journal club and I hadn't read the paper. It was no big deal to miss one, so I just decided I needed the exercise more than I needed journal club. Good call. I felt SO much better after working out. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

The high school cross-country/track team was just heading out for a workout when I arrived at the track (I chatted with their coach a bit when they got back, after my workout). The weather was so nice - 43F (6C) and cloudy and calm. Ahhhhh, warm for February. I'm loving it! Tights and a long-sleeved shirt were perfectly adequate, and I even pushed up the sleeves on my shirt. I warmed up for a few times around the track; I'd already racewalked to my car from work (about 1km) so a couple times was enough to get nice and warm, with some strides thrown in. I could tell on the strides that my muscles were in for a workout!

I started off well, though, surprising myself. I figured I'd be happy with anything under 30 minutes today, since I'd had a layoff of a month since the 50K. But I was faster than that! My first 1km was 5:26, and then I did 2:55, 2:46, 2:56, 2:47, 2:59, 2:48, 2:59, and 2:48 to finish with 28:29! Wow! My legs were tired, I was breathing really hard and working it all the way, but still, I'm pleased. That's my 3rd fastest 5K fartlek ever, and so I feel like I'm starting off well. I'm optimistic that I can attain the All-American standard for the 15K in May, which is 1:26:37 for my age group.

Total: 28:29 for 5:42/km (9:10/mile) with ave HR 163.

Garmin connect data here.

I did go back to work and run my digests on a gel and finish up a few more things before heading home for the day :).

slow 10K

2012-02-08T21:15:00.002-07:00

I'm just slow this week. Good thing I have a 5K fartlek tomorrow to work on those fast-twitch muscles and kick everything into gear. I'm not looking forward to it, oddly enough...first speed work in a while always hurts. But it will kick-start things, and that's what I need.

This morning the weather was very nice for February. It was 34F (1C) and calm and slightly overcast. It felt very warm compared to the 20s. I enjoyed walking w/o fleece! My legs were pretty tired by about 4km, but I finished fine - just slowly. Still, it's a lot faster than coming off my layoff last year, so I'm not complaining.

Total time: 1:04:13 for 6:25/km with ave HR 141. Garmin data here.

After my walk, I drove to the gym and got in some hip abductors on the machine, tricep extensions, assisted pull-ups, bench press, and something else that I can't remember now. Plus I did a bunch of core stuff with Lisa.

I was going to write some other stuff, but it's late, I'm tired after a very long day, and I can't remember what I was going to write.

slow 12K

2012-02-07T13:04:00.001-07:00

I felt OK today, but I was slow. I figured I would be, so it wasn't surprising. My legs were tired after about 4K, but not horribly tired. Just tired enough that I was slow. Getting back into training after a layoff is usually this way...sigh...but I'm OK with it. I'm just glad that my coach is easing me back into things.

I did 12K this morning; it was 28F (-2C) which is relatively warm. However, it was windy. Quite windy. Not windy enough to mess up my performance until the last 2K when I was walking into the wind (the rest of the walk was not into the wind - mostly with it to the side), but windy enough to make it colder. The wind chill was supposedly 19F, and I'll buy that. I wasn't too cold in my fleece top and bottom over tights and a long-sleeved shirt, though.

Not much else to be said about this one. It's in the books now. Total 1:17:46 for 6:29/km with ave HR 139 (funny, I felt like I was working harder than that).

Garmin connect data here.

10K - sluggish

2012-02-06T13:45:00.002-07:00

Not an auspicious start to the new training cycle (I got my schedule from Jim and it started today), but on the other hand, I got out there and got it done.

Some background: the dog woke us at 3 am by vomiting. After that, I had several very nasty horrible nightmares. Sleep quality = poor. I overslept my alarm by 45 min so didn't make it to the gym after my walk to lift weights.

It was 24F (-4.5C) when I walked this morning, and calm and clear. I was going to say sunny, but the sun wasn't up yet.

I felt OK when I started, but I just was not fast at all this morning. I was sluggish. My legs are pretty tired now, too. I just felt "off" today, and I know that's normal and it happens, especially after sleeping the way I did (or didn't).

Total: 1:04:04 for the 10K, 6:24/km (slow!) and ave HR of 146.

Garmin connect data here.

***

Edited to add: yesterday was a rest day, though I did practice figure skating for an hour with the kids, and managed to fall and smack my knee while working on 2-foot spins. Oops. Fortunately it's just fine today.

hilly & windy 12K

2012-02-04T17:29:00.001-07:00

The weather was somewhat uncooperative today. It wasn't raining or snowing, but it was windy. VERY windy. And cold. It was 25F (-4C) when I woke up, and I decided that since my parents had the kids until noon that I'd walk later. So that's what I did. It was about 34F (1C) when I went later, and it was still chilly but it was better. I chose a hilly route, however, and that slowed me down, as did the wind. It wasn't too bad; I was at 6:20/km through 10K and then the last 2K the wind, the slight uphill, and my legs that were tired from weight training yesterday and spinning and 10K of racewalking had had enough. By the time I got home I was at 6:25/km! Still, it was a decent walk and I am sure I haven't lost too much fitness on my break. Even if I had, I have a few months until my next big race - the 15K in Riverside, CA on May 13th.

My splits were totally erratic and varied from 2:48-3:59/500m due to wind and hills. Here's my Garmin data.

***

After lunch we took the kids figure skating. I got some good practice in, but my Mohawks are still not good. They are better, though! My backward crossovers and backward gliding on each edge are much better. The only elements I'm not sure that will pass muster are the Mohawk and the spin. The spin makes me so dizzy! It's just a basic 2-foot spin, but I'm just not so sure that people over 40 can spin like that :). I'll keep trying.

what I've been up to

2012-02-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

Tuesday afternoon I did indeed manage 2.4 miles racewalking on the treadmill before Kindermusik and figure skating that afternoon/evening. Then Michelle fell and did this to her chin at figure skating, requiring 6 stitches:

***

Wednesday I did the elliptical for around 45 min, and ditto for Thursday. I had planned to racewalk Thursday, but the weather was iffy - it was snowing lightly and it looked slippery; in hindsight, I could have done it, but the gym was warm and the elliptical was not slippery :).

***

This morning I took a spinning class. It's been a while since I've done any sort of hard workout, and I figured that spinning might be a good way to ease back into it. Today we did standing sprints, and that was just right. Challenging enough to keep me going and get my HR up into the high 150s.

After spinning I actually lifted weights. Yup, it's been a while...and I feel bad about that. I need to lift to stay strong for racewalking. I did some dumbbell bench presses, walking lunges, lat pull-downs, one-legged hamstring dead lifts, calf raises, and tricep extensions. Then Lisa and I did a good hard ab set including ball crunches front and oblique, plank, and V-sits.

***

It looks like my rest is over, though. Coach says we start up again on Monday. I'm OK with that, as long as we start gently. He offered another week off, but honestly, I'm ready to train as long as it's not vigorous to start with. It will be good to ease back into the groove.

enjoying the easy week

2012-01-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying this easy week, because my coach just informed me it's the last one. Training starts up again next week. I'm not sure I'm 100% ready for that - physically, yes, but mentally maybe not. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I did 7 miles on the elliptical.

Today I racewalked around Liberty Park; only 6.3K and I was kind of slow, but didn't care :). Ave of 6:18/km with ave HR somewhere in the upper 140s.

Later if I have time I'll hit the treadmill for a bit - I had wanted to walk farther but had to get in to work a little earlier than usual. I might be able to squeeze in a few miles before Kindermusik and figure skating this afternoon.

nice fast 12K

2012-01-29T19:20:00.002-07:00

I'm baaaaack! I feel like I'm well-recovered now. After 10K yesterday I did 12K today (first time walking 2 days in a row since the 50K), and I was pretty fast. Happy! Best of all, nothing is hurting.

I went later than usual because when I woke this morning I was just not in the mood for a walk in the dark and the cold. So, somehow I conned my husband into taking the kids to Costco after church to pick up some items, and I got to go for a walk. Midday. In the sun. In 36F (2.4C). Much better than dark and cold :). Thank you, Loren!

The warm sun agreed with me, I guess. Though I felt a little stiff when I started out, I was nice and fast this morning. I had decided to do 12K before I went, because I know I'll want my mileage base to be a little bigger than it has been when Jim sends me my new schedule, which I suspect will be in a week or two. I don't want to be struggling too much when I start training; it's usually hard to start up again as it is. Anyway, I loosened up after a km or so and was feeling good and worked hard on getting my right knee to come through lower. That's been a problem and in the 50K photos I could tell it was still not right. In addition, my right shin hurt quite a bit after the 50K and I don't want to re-injure the darn thing. So, time for some technique tweaking.

Total time: 1:14:21 for 12K (6:12/km) with ave HR around 150 (HR monitor was spiking at the start, so the 152 in the data is wrong for sure; it might be even a bit lower). Nice.

Garmin connect data here.

***

Other random stuff:

After a little lunch, I took the kids ice skating and practiced my moves for an hour. I'm getting better, but I'm nothing to look at on the ice. I'm lucky when I don't fall flat on my face :).

My dad came over for dinner, since my mom is in Dallas visiting her sister. Dad and I made salmon on the bbq and enjoyed a good visit. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, except for the bad news that my grandma, who has been suffering from Alzheimer's, had to be taken to the hospital. She was released pretty quickly once they determined that she'd had a stroke; with her advanced Alzheimer's there was nothing they could or should do. I'm sad to know that she will probably not be around much longer; still, I'm glad her suffering will be over. Mixed feelings.

almost 10K

2012-01-28T09:45:00.002-07:00

I felt good this morning and was in the mood for a walk, and the weather cooperated. Sure, it was cold (21F, -6C), but it wasn't windy or snowing so I knew I'd be comfortable. If you dress warmly and in layers it's no big deal to walk in the cold, especially for a shorter walk.

I planned on 10K, but I ended up doing 9.8km and that was fine. I felt good and fast for the first 5km and then my lack of racewalking since the 50K caught up with me; I was doing about a 6:09/km pace until then, and then I had to slow down a little. I finished with a 6:20/km pace, which is still decent, so I was happy with that.

I'm thinking I'll walk 12K tomorrow, as the weather is still supposed to be good. I'll have to take it nice & easy, but it's just good to be out walking again and feeling decent.

Garmin connect data here.

busy work week; iffy weather

2012-01-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

This was the scene last Sunday when I walked and when it was super slippery. We've had a couple more snows since then and so I've been inside quite a bit this week. It's nice to not be training hard; if the weather is not to my liking I can just do the elliptical. I did the elliptical on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday this week. I took a rest day on Wednesday (slug!), and on Thursday I did racewalk 8.6K. I finally feel like I'm over my cold, and also finally feel like I'm fully recovered from the 50K (at least from what I can tell). The 8.6K racewalk didn't make my legs sore the next day, and it felt fine. Other than losing my second toenail on my right foot (it's not all the way off yet, but it will be soon), I'm feeling good. I'm not mentally ready to start training yet; but my coach said I'd have the rest of January off so I'm guessing I'll have next week to continue my recovery.

I will admit that I've not been eating particularly well, either. However, I seem to have only gained about a pound, which is a relief. I've exercised enough to keep it at bay. Whew. Seriously, though, I shouldn't worry about it, because that pound will come off when I start training again, and I'll eat better too. It's easier for me to eat better when I'm training, oddly enough. Part of that is the fear factor - if I eat too much garbage, I'll have GI problems on my walk the next day, and that's not pleasant. Part of it is just that when I'm training I'm burning more calories so I have a bit more leeway in my diet. I still fit in my small jeans though, so I'm fine.

I haven't posted much this week, mostly because I've been really busy at work this week. Work is going well, so this is not a problem, but I'm glad I'm not training hard right now for that reason too. I'm enjoying the challenges of the job right now, and feel like I'm getting a chance to learn some fascinating new things and work on a very interesting project. I also heard some great talks this week and read a few interesting papers. But it's been busy, and I'm going to have to go in tomorrow morning for a couple hours. But before I do, I'll be sure to get in at least a good 10K of racewalking :). It's supposed to be chilly in the morning (22F) but at least not windy or snowing, so it should be a good morning for a walk.

exciting day

2012-01-22T22:39:00.001-07:00

Today my friend Erin Taylor-Talcott racewalked in the 50K Olympic Trials and turned in a fabulous 4:33:22 time for a new women's American record, and also went down as the 8th fastest woman in history. John Nunn and Tim Seaman dueled it out for 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in 4:04:38 and 4:05:50 (close!!!).

Later, the Giants and 49ers battled it out in overtime. Sadly, the 49ers lost, but what a game!

***

I did manage to squeeze in some workout time this weekend. Saturday I did an hour on the elliptical (8.4 miles), and then did some figure skating practice in the afternoon for about 45 min w/the kids. Today I went out for an easy walk in the morning, thinking to do 10-12km. Nope. It was SUPER icy out there after yesterday's snowstorm. Like a skating rink in most places; some streets were better than others, and Liberty Park was just dreadful. 600 East was not so good, but 800 East was OK. Yeah, I tried them all :). I got in about 8K (5 miles) at a ridiculously slow 6:43/km and that was enough. My glutes were whining, probably because of the awkward technique. Because I felt a bit sore all day, I did another 2 miles on the treadmill this evening to loosen up. It felt good, and it was at a much more reasonable 5.8 mph pace.

Tomorrow I'll either walk or do the elliptical, depending on the weather and my mood. I'm really enjoying some time off of the hard workouts!

cross training; 50K awards video

2012-01-20T21:55:00.002-07:00

This morning I managed 45 min on the elliptical despite feeling rather ill and not sleeping well last night. Made it through the day at work and the work party on adrenaline...quite tired now.

Wii dance party at the lab party - we hooked up a Wii to the department's portable projector. Great fun!

***

50K award video:

a little better

2012-01-19T13:53:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling a bit better. I'm definitely still under the weather but it's not too bad. Whew.

My legs felt shaky this morning but I figured a good walk couldn't hurt. That was partly true. I felt great until 6K, and then it did start to hurt a bit. My legs got tired...more from being sick than from anything else I suspect. My heart rate was uncharacteristically high during the workout this morning (like mid to high 150s) even though I didn't feel I was working that hard. I even stopped at one point and took my pulse manually because I didn't believe the HR monitor, but it was right on. Anyway, I made it through to 10K just fine, though a bit slower than usual with higher HR (ave 155). My Garmin messed up the first 500m somehow (didn't beep it until about 600m on my route!) so I stopped at 9.9k and calculated everything from there. My average pace was 6:20/km and total time was 1:03:18.

catching up

2012-01-18T07:17:00.002-07:00

I haven't been blogging...sorry!

Saturday: 45 min elliptical

Sunday: Sooooo nice and warm outside (for January!) at 38F (3C) in the morning. I went out sans fleece and just in tights and a long-sleeved shirt. I did a hilly 8.5K at a 6:19/km pace and felt great. Awesome. I'm recovering well, I think.

Monday: 45 min on the elliptical, and an hour of figure skating practice.

Tuesday: slept a bit late - didn't feel great - so no elliptical, but I did go to my figure skating lesson in the evening and learned some new things: forward edges (inside and out) on S-curves, backward edges on a circle, backward snowplow stops, and more mohawk practice.

Today: I'm not feeling well this morning. Cough, sore throat, and malaise. After making the kids' lunches, I was tired enough that I needed to lie down. I'm skipping the gym. If I feel better later I'll try to skate w/the kids and/or get in some treadmill at home. If not, well, a rest day might be in order. At least I got this AFTER the 50K!

more 50K photos

2012-01-14T21:38:00.002-07:00

Janet Jones took these great 50K photos. This one is my favorite, as it conveys the joy I felt at the end of the race:

Here are the rest:

more cross-training

2012-01-13T15:12:00.001-07:00

After yesterday, I decided that I'm not quite ready to racewalk a lot just yet, so I decided to cross-train again. I was hoping to get some weights in, but again, like on Wednesday, I got up a bit too late and just managed 45 min on the elliptical. I guess I'm allowed a week of slacking after winning the 50K.

***

Was thinking I might go figure skating at lunch time, but alas, I left my pass at home and it would be out of the way to go get it; besides, I ended up attending a very interesting Research In Progress seminar at work instead.

8K

2012-01-12T13:02:00.001-07:00

I racewalked today! I felt like I could manage at least 6-10K, and went out toward Liberty Park, playing it by ear as to the distance. It was only 16F (-9C) this morning, but there was no snow and it was not windy, so not too bad for January.

I felt pretty good, considering. My right shin is still a bit sore, and I know why it was bothering me during the race --- I am getting in that bad old habit of bringing my knee and hip through too high on that side. I had to work today to keep it low so it wouldn't bother me too much. My glutes are still a little tired, too, but other than that I felt pretty good.

I took it nice and easy, and finished 7.93K in 50:28 for 6:23/km with ave HR 143. Kinda slow, but that's not surprising. I'm going to take another day or 2 off and walk again on the weekend.

Garmin connect data here.

***

Figure skating - I had lessons on Tuesday, and last night (Wednesday night), the kids and Loren and I all went skating to practice. The rink was really crowded and it was challenging to practice, but I just did what I could. We had a pretty good time anyway! I worked on my backward crossovers, mohawks (these are hard and I'm not getting them at all yet!), and progressives.

cross-training again

2012-01-11T13:09:00.001-07:00

Today I planned on elliptical and weights. I got up late, and so I just did the elliptical. It's nice to be a bit of a slacker sometimes :). 43 min, 6 miles.

***

My bee sting is finally getting a bit better, which is good news. In other post-race news, my muscles feel good today (I really could have lifted...sigh...) but my 2nd toe on the right foot is still a bit of a mess. It seemed to be somewhat infected today, so I liberally applied H2O2 and triple antibiotic cream plus a bandaid. The blisters from the race were pretty large and the toenail is still pretty sore - reminiscent of the black toenail I had from the Seattle RNR marathon in June '09, so I figure I'm going to lose it. It's really pretty small in the scheme of things, though, and totally worth it!

taking it easy

2012-01-10T12:03:00.001-07:00

I rested this morning, because I could. I just didn't feel like doing much, so I didn't. My muscles are still sore, though a bit less than yesterday, so I really have no excuse. However, later I am going to figure skating lessons with my kids - all 3 of us are taking lessons - so I will get some exercise today.

***

USATF posted the results of the 50K on its website. Cool. I feel famous!

aftermath

2012-01-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday: rest day...travel day...arrived home around noon. Definitely fairly stiff and starting to get sore, but it just feels good somehow :). My 2nd toe on my right foot had a large blister, and the toenail is quite bruised. I might lose it. Oh, I guess it wasn't a TOTAL rest day, as I took a little hike (about 40 minutes) with my mom, nice and easy. It helped me stay loose. The weather was quite cold and there is still snow from the snowstorm on Saturday (which I'm happy to say I missed!). Welcome back to winter...

Monday: Woke up stiff and quite sore, especially in the arms. My legs are sore too, mostly in glutes, hammies, and adductors, though also in the right shin and calf. Toward the end of the race my right shin (the one I injured in the spring) was really feeling it, but it's apparently OK despite the abuse. I think it's a technique thing - I'm still overstriding a smidge w/my right leg and bringing my right knee and hip through a bit too high. I will have to work on that. Anyway, I decided that a little bit of elliptical this morning would loosen things up, so I did 6.4 miles on the elliptical in 45 min, and then did some core work with Lisa and then some stretching. It all felt great, actually, and I would say that my soreness is relatively minor. It feels like I just had a pretty good total-body weightlifting session.

The bee sting is actually more noticeable than the muscle soreness. I took this photo this morning, and if anything it's more swollen now; it's itchy too.

50K race report

2012-01-08T04:50:00.000-07:00

The John Evans National 50K racewalk gets its name from the late John Evans. Here's his obituary, from the racewalking yahoo group:

John Evans died Wednesday (June 1, 2005) in Titusville, Florida at the age of
85. John established Houston's race walking community, the oldest continuous race
walking program in the southern United States, in 1975 with the first of over
100 meets he would direct. A national-class race walker before serving in the
Army in World War II, John didn't return to competition until he began distance
running in Houston in the late 1960's. Upon the urging of other local runners,
he began conducting race walk events and giving free instruction to anyone
interested. John himself set numerous national age records before retiring from
competition in the 1990's. He served ten years as local committee chair for race
walking in the Amateur Athletic Union and the subsequent governing body, The
Athletics Congress.

Race morning dawned partly cloudy, warm and humid at about 60F (15C). It was a bit foggy here and there on the drive to the park where the race was held. I was privileged to have my friend Maryann (that I'd only known on Facebook up until now) meet me at the airport Friday and also drive me to and from the race and everywhere else I needed to go on Saturday (notably, dinner!). She was amazing, keeping me calm with her lively personality and her infectious enthusiasm for the race.

It was still dark when we arrived at the race site at 6:30 am. I set out my nutrition on the designated table: 6 gels, zipfizz, water, and small bottles to drink zipfizz, water, and gatorade (supplied by the race) out of. I find it tricky to drink out of cups and the bottles are better. What a luxury to have a loop course where I don't have to carry my own bottles, and where there are incredible volunteers (Conrad & Karen from Portland were wonderful - Karen is a 50K National Champion from 2009, so she totally gets it!) to help you with your aid.

After I set out my nutrition, I warmed up. Yeah, I don't usually do that before a marathon, but this was a judged walk and my coach said a 500m-1km warm-up was a good idea to get the neuromuscular system firing on all cylinders. You certainly do NOT want to get a red card right out of the gate in a 50k race! I did a short 4-minute warm-up at a 6:17/km pace and felt that was enough. I was as ready as I was going to be. After one last pre-race pit stop (no lines! how nice!), it was time to get going.

The race started a little late (10 min?) as they were setting out the timing mat, etc. There were 6 of us doing the 50K. Men: Omar Nash from Ohio and Bruce (?last name?) from Houston. Women: me, Katie Grimes (Portland, OR), Darlene Backlund (Palm Springs, CA) and Sherry Watts (London, Ontario, Canada). There was also a 5K race (at 8 am) with quite a few walkers, including some young guys, and a 20K race (at 9 am) with a good number of walkers as well. But at the start the course was quiet, with just the footsteps of the 6 of us.

The gun went off, and Omar surged to the front (he wanted a sub-5hr race), with Katie, Bruce, and I right behind. Katie and I walked together for almost 20K, when she pulled in front of me a bit, as her watch insistently beeped every lap letting her know she was slightly behind her goal pace. I'm not sure what lap time she had it set for; probably about 7:22-7:25 per lap? For my part, I wanted to quickly settle in to a 7:29-7:30/lap pace (6:20/km) and hold that until the real race started at 35k. My coach says a 50K race starts at 35K, and he's definitely right about that one. Until then, you just try to walk smart (i.e. do NOT go out too fast!) and conserve as much energy as possible.

It was certainly nice to have company at the start, though Katie and I didn't chat too much to save energy. We did talk a little, chatting about Portland-to-Coast since we're on the same mixed masters (men & women over age 40) team for the race in August this year. We also commented about other stuff, like the cop sitting in his car on the course who was smoking (!) and wafting the carcinogens our way every lap. It was a closed loop and they could keep the traffic out at the other end, so I'm not sure why he was parked there to begin with?

I had expected that Katie would walk faster than me at the start, as that's what she usually does. It was good to have company, but it was also a bit awkward for settling into my pace, as the road was not super wide and I wanted to cut the tangents and didn't want to spend energy to pass her unnecessarily. For the most part, she was ahead of me in the beginning, though I did lead for a few laps. Still, it was hard to get settled in, and our pace was a little irregular, though by 15-20K we did settle in a bit more.

Around 20K, Katie moved ahead and I was enjoying my pace and comfortable with my 7:30 laps so I let her go. I was still feeling quite good at 20K, which was a relief, as I knew then that the early pace (slightly faster than what I had planned, though pretty close) had been all right. At 25K there was a little excitement, as I wondered if I'd hit American record time for W40-44; the race director was awesome and had the requisite 3 watches on us for all the 5K splits at 25K onward (except 45K, which is not a record distance). However, I was about a minute off the record, which was fine with me as I can get it some other time when I'm not racing to 50K! The 30K and 40K records are considerably faster than the 25K record, so then I was only shooting for the 50K record of 5:30:35, set in 1988 by Jeannie Bocci (who was ranked by the Ohio Racewalker as 3rd in the country at the 10K distance in her prime, in 1981).

By 30K I was feeling tired but not too bad. I figured I could keep the pace for a while longer. At this point, Katie was as much as 25-30 sec in front of me (I would time from where she was until I got to that point), but with 20K to go that is not much of a cushion so I wasn't too worried. I figured I'd wait for her to tire and pass her when I got a chance later in the race. Meanwhile, I focused on maintaining my pace and keeping even splits as much as I could.

At 35K, Katie still had a good lead on me, and everyone's legs were surely tiring. Mine were, but I had plenty to keep my splits at 7:30 or below, and knew there was another gear when I needed it. Every time we passed the aid stations and the race announcer (A.C. Jaime, a great guy!), he cheered us both on, and kept telling me not to let Katie go. I kind of chuckled inwardly, as I didn't mind her having a small lead at this point. Only 15K to go now!

With 10K to go, I knew it would soon be time to make a move if I was going to. I wanted to wait until I was sure I would have enough for a convincing pass and to finish the race strong enough to hold Katie off if possible, so I held on for a few more km. I reached 42.2km (the marathon distance) somewhere around 4:27, and I was pretty happy with that for the flat course with little shade and a hot day. I have neglected to mention the weather again, but it was partly sunny and warming up fast; by race end it was sunny and 75F. Each lap at the end, Conrad would hand me a cup full of ice-cold water and tell me to pour it over my head. The bracing cold felt amazing and somehow kept me cool enough to keep the pace. It was great!

Right about the time I got to 42km I felt it was time to put on the gas. I sped up, doing a 7:14 lap followed by a 7:19 lap, passing Katie as convincingly as I could. I got two cautions (but not red cards) from two different judges for lifting at this point! I heard her footsteps close behind for a while, then they faded a bit, and then mysteriously I couldn't hear them at all. The park loop was such that I could see across to where she was, and after I pulled off a 7:29 lap I could see that she was about half a loop (600m) behind me. I wondered what had happened (found out later she'd had to stop for the bathroom) but knew that with just 4.3 laps left I had a good shot at winning the race now. I could not keep the pace any more and slowed a bit, but held on for dear life with my HR soaring into the mid-160s by race end. Those last 4 laps were agonizingly difficult at 7:35, 7:39, 7:44, and 7:41. I gritted my teeth and was SO determined to hold on; you can see it in the pictures here. My sister-in-law showed up near race end and took a bunch of great photos, and Maryann also took all the wonderful early photos with my camera. Thanks to both of them for the amazing shots!

At the very end my legs were so tired that I was really worried about holding my form, and though I was tempted slightly to do the last bit fast, I didn't want to risk getting disqualified at this point! And I was so tired that I just wanted to be done...so I just held on, and finished the race in 5:16:20, setting a new American record. I actually was sobbing with joy at the finish for accomplishing my goal. I held on to a very nice guy named Bob Cella (spelling?) to keep from falling over as I walked it off and cheered Katie in to the finish.

Post-race there was some seriously good bbq, which I ate about 45 min afterward when I was finally hungry. I also got stung on the finger by a bee while just sitting there talking on the phone w/my husband; I'm somewhat sensitive to bee stings so a kind EMT gave me some Benadryl, and it was just fine. I didn't swell up too much, thankfully.

The awards were later, after Darlene and Sherry finished, and the plaque is amazing - it's beautiful and big - see the pictures.

Garmin connect data here.

John Evans National 50K racewalk

2012-01-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

In brief - no time now to post more - just the results and my Garmin data for my coach.

1. Tammy Stevenson 5:16:20, new American Record (old one was 5:30:35 by Jeannie Bocci, set in 1988), and a PR (this was my first 50K, so it is automatically a PR).
2. Katie Grimes 5:19:52
3. Darlene Backlund about 6:45
4. Sherry Watts - don't know her time, sorry

I'm ecstatic!

Garmin connect data here.

15 min easy w/strides

2012-01-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

This morning before catching the plane I did 15 min easy w/strides. It was 25F (-4C) and calm. Quite a contrast to Houston, where the high was 77F today. It's warm and humid here, which will make things interesting.

I loved getting to finally meet Maryann, who picked me up at the airport. I also met MJ Baglin from Reno, and sat at dinner with those two plus the other 50K women: Katie Grimes, Darlene Backlund, and Sherry Watts.

Time to get some sleep. Everything is as ready as it's going to be.

cross-training

2012-01-05T10:12:00.001-07:00

Today was a cross-training day. I did 6 miles on the elliptical in 42 min and then called it quits because I had to take the kids to school and get to work. The elliptical workout went just fine; however, I'm feeling a bit sleepy now. I didn't go to bed quite early enough last night. That will have to change tonight.

I leave for Houston early tomorrow morning, after I do a 15-min easy racewalk with some strides. Loren and the kids will stay home and hold down the fort while I'm gone.

8K fartlek - 14 second PR!

2012-01-04T13:05:00.002-07:00

I liked last week when I got to work out in the daylight. But, we're back to work and school and all that good stuff, so it was out to the track for a dark 8K fartlek. The weather wasn't bad for Jan 4th though: 25F (-4C) and calm. I warmed up and felt smooth and fast today. I did 1600m in 9:55 and then some dynamic stretches. Then I tossed off my fleece jacket (didn't need it - just the long-sleeved shirt and tights with shorts and T-shirt underneath was enough, along with gloves and hat) and got started before I could get cold. I surprised myself with the first 1km in 5:24, and I felt great. Nice. When my first 500m medium effort was a 2:54 and my first 500m hard effort was 2:43, I knew it would be a great day. It was. I got to 5K in 28:04, just 6 sec shy of my 5K fartlek PR, and feeling strong. 8K came at 45:15, 14 seconds faster than my previous PR for an 8K fartlek. I felt really strong on the last 500m hard effort, doing it in 2:43! All my hard efforts were 2:43-2:46, and my medium efforts were 2:54-2:59. Very nice. I feel very confident and ready to take on the 50K.

Total for 8K: 45:15, 5:39/km (9:06/mile) with ave HR just 159. I was working hard, but the HR was not as high as it was on Saturday for the 10K fartlek.

Afterward, I went to the gym and did core exercises with Lisa. After the 50K I'm going to get back to some serious lifting again to stay strong for upcoming races :).

Garmin connect data here

***

Also, a HUGE shout-out to my mom, who reached her goal today in Weight Watchers. I forgot to ask her what her total is, but it's in the neighborhood of 35 pounds, and she looks FANTASTIC! Way to go, mom!!!!!

cross-training

2012-01-03T11:51:00.002-07:00

Got up and did 45 min on the elliptical (about 6.3 miles) this morning. My stomach still seems to be a bit "off". I can eat, but I have to be careful what and how much. Michelle said her stomach hurt this morning and so we let her stay home, but we told her she had to stay in bed and read or sleep. By 10:30 she was either better or bored or something so off to school she went.

Less than 72 hr until I leave for Houston!

10K

2012-01-02T11:07:00.001-07:00

Saturday night I was pretty miserable - nauseated and could hardly eat. Ditto for Sunday morning, though by last night I was definitely feeling a bit better. Needless to say, I took a rest day yesterday.

My stomach is feeling better today. I'm still a little weak, and have to be careful how much I eat, but I woke feeling up to at least attempting the planned 10K. Such a short little easy workout - but not so much when you are coming off being ill. Still, it wasn't so bad.

The weather was OK for this time of year, at 23F (-5C) and calm and clear. I've actually really lucked out with the weather for my 50K training this year - it's been unusually dry in December, which has helped out a lot. I've only had to take a few workouts inside.

I started off feeling pretty decent. I was a little stiff/sore from the combination of Saturday's hard 10K fartlek and Sunday's lying around in bed, but I started off OK. However, by 3K I was noticing my tired legs, and I just knew I had to keep it nice and easy and not push too hard. Time didn't matter on this one, just getting it done. By 5K I was more tired, but I got a little bit of a second wind and was able to cruise to the end, slowing yes, but not too badly. I could really feel how my training kept me going when my body was tired, which was a good feeling.

Total time: 1:03:16 for 6:20/km (10:11/mile) with ave HR 144.

Garmin connect data here.

Racewalking Year in Review

2011-12-31T11:56:00.003-07:00

It's fitting on the last day of the year to look back and reflect. Here goes!

January started off rough, as I was still recovering from a mysterious viral illness that had me out of commission for most of November and December of 2010. However, by the end of the month I was training well again and that continued through the end of February when - SURPRISE! - I discovered I was pregnant. I had to stop training hard, but kept walking; sadly, I miscarried 3 weeks later. In retrospect it's still sad, though somewhat of a relief - mixed feelings.

So, in mid-March we resumed training, and I did the Salt Lake Half Marathon in April to get things going, under strict orders to take it easy. I did, but still set a 4-minute PR! This was just the beginning of great things to come this year.

But first, another test. I was training well for the national 15K in May in Riverside, and just 6 days before the race I incurred a shin injury. MRIs later would show it was a tear of my anterior tibialis with tendonitis in the front of my ankle as well. I rested up for the race, did it anyway, and set a new PR (well, OK, it was my first 15K race, so it was going to be a PR anyway!) of 1:29:03. I was quite happy with the time, which earned me a silver medal in the OPEN division (!) as well as a gold medal in my age group.

After resting and some physical therapy, I was able to start training hard again in June. I only had about 6-7 weeks until the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sacramento, CA. Not enough time to be as fast as I wanted to be, but still enough to do well if we trained through the 5K and 10K races. I worked really hard and pulled off three new PRs at WMA: 28:04 in the 5K, 57:35 in the 10K, and 2:00:37 in the 20K. I had wanted to break 2 hr for the 20K, but I was just too fatigued from the previous efforts. Still, I was very pleased to have three PRs and three silver medals, coming in second to my good friend and training partner Nyle Sunderland from New Zealand in all three races.

A few weeks' recovery were in order, including a week in Disneyland with the family. After that, it was time to start training again, as I planned on doing a marathon in September, and there was not much time to get my mileage up. Jim wrote me a great program that got me ready in time; however, because of the short training time it was a tough race. At the Top of Utah marathon in Logan, UT, I smashed my marathon PR by 9 minutes. It would have been more except for the last 5 miles - I hit the wall and got glycogen-depleted, and it hurt! I was still ecstatic to break my PR by so much and to know I could keep training for more.

I continued hard training, this time with the goal of being ready for a fast 50K in January, 2012. Our walking club had our first judged race in October, and though it was a short 3K I really wanted to do it to support the club. Despite training for longer distances and not doing much short fast stuff, I broke my 3K PR in that race with a 16:24.

Continuing my training for the 50K, I had a few key races along the way, the first being the Two Cities Half Marathon in Fresno in November. Since I was traveling to do the race (as well as to visit my husband's family in Bakersfield), I wanted to race it hard and do well. Coach said I could do that as long as we trained through it and didn't taper, which was fine with me. I figured my half marathon PR was ripe for smashing, and it was! I won the racewalking division with a new PR of 2:05:33 and also won a beautiful necklace, a plaque, and a free pair of New Balance shoes.

Some friends suggested I racewalk the Mesquite Marathon with them in November, and I thought that sounded like a fun girls' weekend. It was! Jim said I could do it IF I approached it as a training walk and took it easy. Cool. I was very careful not to push hard (except the last km or so!) and on this nice fast downhill course I smashed my PR with a 4:19:27, even taking it easy! Wow. I was gaining confidence for the 50K with each workout, and this race showed what I could do. Now I just had to continue to work hard for a few more weeks and increase my fitness as much as possible before the 50K.

I've trained well the last month, continuing to break PRs in various workouts that Jim gives me, and I feel my confidence growing. It's been a great year! Total mileage for the year, despite illness and injury, was 1560 miles or 2510 km. That's a lot better than 2010 :). And I set new PRs at every distance: 3K, 5K, 10K, 15K, 20K, half marathon, and marathon. I'm ready for the 50K just one week from today. Bring on 2012!

10K fartlek - 41 second PR!

2011-12-31T11:56:00.001-07:00

The stomach flu is going around in the family. First my brother and sister-in-law and niece had it. Bad. Then my husband and my dad got it. Then last night poor Calvin was throwing up repeatedly.

I woke this morning feeling queasy and with a roiling stomach. I knew I was to do a 10K fartlek, and I figured I'd better at least try to eat a banana. It went down OK and I went to work for an hour to stain some slides. The slides have to incubate with the primary antibody for at least an hour so I figured I'd go do my track workout during the incubation and then go back to work to finish up the staining after the workout. At work, I felt OK and ate a few crackers. Still queasyish but I felt up for a workout.

It was sunny and clear and beautiful at the track, albeit a bit windy and not terribly warm at 34F (~1C). The wind chilled me every time I went around the north side of the track. I did have some entertainment though, as Roland, the coach of Central City Cheetahs track club for kids, was there with a bunch of kids working on jumping skills. They were jumping on a springboard and then onto a padded mat, without a bar at first and then with a bar. Later, they did small hurdles and some other stuff. They were still there when I finished, and I chatted with Roland a bit about teaching some of the kids to racewalk in the spring - he seemed quite amenable! Calvin and Michelle will both be in the club this year (it's for ages 6-18) so that should be fun.

I warmed up for 1600m in 9:51 and felt OK, though slightly tight and with some minor soreness in glutes and hammies. I stretched out with some good dynamic stretches, and then got going. The first 4K or so felt a bit strained, though I was fast enough. I had to stop briefly at 4K to remove my fleece, as I was getting hot despite the wind (the wind makes it really tricky to decide how to dress for a workout!). After I took the fleece top and pants off (I still had on tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves and a hat) I felt much smoother and faster. Weird. Not sure if it was just being more warmed-up, or if it was that the fleece inhibited my motion, but I felt better. Lots better. By 5-6K I was feeling stronger and better and as the workout went on I just felt good, amazingly. The only caveat was that I had some GI cramps around 8.5-10k, but they weren't too awful and I was able to continue without slowing or stopping.

My times were nice and fast - the first km was 5:29, all of the recoveries were 3:00 or less, and all of the fast segments were 2:49 or less except for one, which was the 4th km in 2:52 (but then I had a fast recovery there because of the rest while removing the fleece). My 5K split was 28:32, 8K was 45:53, and the 10K was 57:28. Wow, fast! This is actually my 2nd fastest 10K ever. Today's time was 7 seconds faster than my time at World Masters in Sacramento, and only the very-much-downhill Deseret News 10K this July was faster, at 56:32. I felt really strong today, too, and my average HR was not that high at 162. That's probably about where it ought to be for a hard 10K workout, actually.

I'm VERY happy with this workout. I am feeling confident about next Saturday's 50K, but this gives me another boost going in. Now if my stomach will just settle down...it's actually feeling OK right now so maybe I can avoid the stomach flu? Maybe? Hoping so, because now would be a bad time for it.

Garmin connect data here.

12K

2011-12-30T13:46:00.001-07:00

It was amazingly, gloriously gorgeous outside this morning. Sunny, with a temperature of 40F (4C) when I hit the Jordan River Trail at 8 am. I went 4K before meeting up with my friend Sue for another 8K. I've talked about Sue before I think...she's a friend from Team in Training and a very good runner. She's qualified for and run the Boston marathon and I really enjoy racewalking with her and chatting. She was a bit apprehensive about keeping up with me today, but she needn't have been - she was fine. She's been sick and hasn't been running much, so we did walk for a minute to give her a breather at 4K (8K for me).

Brief tangent - go look at Sue's artwork - she's very talented. I'm thinking of buying a couple of her paintings. I have one in my kitchen and love it, so now I "need" another one :).

Anyway, I felt great today until about 9k and then I still felt good but my legs were a little tired, probably because we had a nice fast pace going. We kept it up and I could have gone longer at that pace easily, but it was good to stop and save my energy for the 50K next Saturday. Wow...only 8 days left.

Total: 12K in 1:14:03 for 6:10/km (9:56/mile) with ave HR 141. Low HR for that speed :).

The taper always makes me feel weird. First I am glad to have some rest. Then I start to wonder if I'm getting out of shape from fewer miles. Intellectually I know that is not true, but you still have silly nagging doubts. Add in the holidays this time and having off work this week and I feel very well-rested. Good, but odd. I feel fidgety and nervous and just want to get it all over with already! But I'm also excited for the trip and looking forward to a good time.

Garmin connect data here.

10K

2011-12-29T11:03:00.002-07:00

Easy 10K today, and I felt terrific. It didn't hurt that the weather was glorious (for December!). It was 37F (3C) and overcast, but a nice rain (rain! not snow!) had cleared out the inversion and the air was clear and clean. Lovely! I didn't even need to wear fleece on my workout and it felt so nice just in tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves.

I felt smooth, fast, and strong today, like I hope to feel next Saturday at the 50K (at least for the first 30K! after that, I know it's gonna hurt!).

Total time: 1:01:48 for 6:11/km (9:57/mile) with ave HR 150.

Garmin connect data here.

cross-training

2011-12-28T19:08:00.002-07:00

Today I cross-trained sensibly. My legs were (understandably) a bit sore this morning. Not bad, but definitely sore. I got on the elliptical and it did take about 5-10 min before I settled into a pace that was comfortable; my legs felt better when I was done. I opted to only do 30 min because I felt like I needed to take it easy, and besides, I had to go to work and inject some embryos this morning, so I didn't have a lot of time.

One thing I'm loving about this week is the extra sleep I've been getting with not having to be in to work so much. Last night, for example, I slept from 9:15 pm to 6:15 am. Ahhhhhhhhh. It felt good. I like not having to get up at any specific time, and I've been relaxed enough that I can sleep a bit later (for me). Sleep is good. :)

15K kickdown

2011-12-27T12:44:00.002-07:00

I'm glad this one is over.

I felt fresh and ready to go, but I obviously wasn't, because even in the first 5K, I knew this workout was going to hurt a lot. The good thing is that I stuck with it and finished it.

I was to do a 15K kickdown, in 3 progressively faster 5K splits. I did actually accomplish that, though I was much slower than I would have liked. And it hurt. A lot. Really a lot. By 12K, I felt I was racewalking through molasses, and that someone had one of those giant PT elastic bands around my hips and was pulling me backward with each stride. Ouch. Slog. Painful.

Here are my splits:

31:12, ave HR 148; 30:29 ave HR 157; 29:52 ave HR 163. Yeah, for me in the shape I'm in right now, that's really ugly. A 29:52 5K should feel pretty easyish...not today, it didn't :(.

I don't feel so good now, about 2 hr after the workout. I just feel really tired and like all my muscles are Jell-O. I almost wonder if I am coming down with something, but I think I'm just very tired.

Jim says that I left my legs in the pool yesterday. An hour of swimming on unaccustomed legs was a bit too much in his opinion. I did kick quite a bit, as we had 2x200 kick intervals, so maybe he's right. I didn't feel sore at all from the swimming, but I guess I didn't have to for it to affect me this way.

I'm tired. Now I have a dinner to prepare for 9 people and my house is a mess. I'd better get to work.

Garmin connect data here.

rest day, cross training

2011-12-26T21:38:00.002-07:00

Sunday: rest day

***

Today: cross-training. I went to the gym in the morning and did 30 min on the elliptical. Later in the day I went back with my sister-in-law, Erica, and we did a masters swimming workout. I hadn't been swimming in a very long time, and it was decent. Still not my favorite, but a good solid workout and something different as I approach the 50K. My legs are feeling really good after a couple days off of racewalking. Anyway, I did about 2300 yd of swimming in an hour, including some freestyle, some kicking, some breaststroke, some intervals.

10K kickdown - HUGE PR!

2011-12-24T13:48:00.001-07:00

I felt fresh and rested this morning. My legs weren't really that sore after the 25K on Thursday, and so I felt pretty good even yesterday. By this morning, I felt great. I was to do a 10K kickdown in four splits of 2.5K, each progressively faster and the last all-out.

I decided to go later than usual so it would be slightly warmer and the sun would be out. Then I wouldn't have to wear all the reflective gear, and it's mentally so much better to be in the sun than in the dark. I just had to teach a couple piano students later in the morning, so I figured an 8am-ish start would work. It was more like 8:45 by the time I started though!

It was quite cold this morning. My thermometer at home said 16F (-9C). By the time I got back home from the workout it was up to 24F, which is still pretty cold! Still, with the sun out, it wasn't too bad. I wore my tights and a long-sleeved shirt, with fleece layers on top of that, my balaclava, and my fleece headband, plus my gloves. It was just right.

I started off a little awkwardly for the first 500m but soon settled in and once my HR monitor calmed down my HR was in the low 140s and I was doing a good 6:10/km. Nice! My first 2.5K was 3:04.0, 3:07.7, 3:05.5, 3:04.0, 3:02.6 for a total of 15:23.8. (Oh, and the little HR dip was when my piano student for this morning called me...I had to stop and take care of business quickly!). That first 2.5K was faster than I'd planned, but my HR was low and I felt good. The next 2.5K was the slight downhill (very slight) into the park and I took advantage of it, doing 2:56.3, 2:59.4, 2:58.8, 3:04.5 (this split on this part of the park is always slower - weird!), 2:59.6 for a total of 14:58.6 and still feeling great. Now I was thinking this was gonna be a good one! I was psyched!

I knew I'd have to work the third 2.5K as it's a very slight uphill grade, and I did kick it down faster, going 2:56.1, 2:57.2, 2:55.6, 2:59.0, 2:53.4 for a total of 14:41.3. I knew I still had just a little left, and the slight downhill helped as I raced back into the park. I was really working it hard and it felt tough but I felt strong and knew I had it in me to finish well. I was surprisingly fast, doing 2:49.3, 2:46.2, 2:48.4, 2:55.4 (that's that slow split in the park!), 2:49.2 for 14:08.5! Average HR for the workout (substituting 142 for the funky spiking intervals at the start) was 156, and I was up to a max of 175 at the end, which shows how hard I worked this one. And yeah, the last 5K was 28:50 :).

These hard workouts mess with your brain - at the end, I was looking at my watch and thinking I wasn't going to break 60 min and was disappointed...then the watch turned over from :59 to :00 and it was at 59 not 60! Haha couldn't even read my watch!

Total time was 59:12.2, smashing my old PR of 60:28 by over a minute and giving me lots of confidence in my body and my training as I approach the 50K race, which is now just 2 weeks from today.

cross-training

2011-12-23T14:18:00.001-07:00

Today I was happy to have a little break from racewalking. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then some core exercises and stretching with Lisa.

Jim has rewritten my taper, so now I have a 10K kickdown tomorrow instead of 20K. I'm not complaining!!!!!

***

Funny Michelle prayer the other night when she was at my parents' house, "Dear God, I hope we have a good dessert and help me to be good because Santa's coming soon. In Jesus' name, Amen."

25K on the indoor track

2011-12-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

It snowed last night. Not very much; about 1 inch (2.5cm), but that was enough to make the streets slippery. They did plow, and the big streets were clear, but the smaller streets that I'd be walking on were slick for sure, so I opted for the indoor track. I drove over there, paid my $3 fee, and got started.

I felt basically pretty good this morning, and was able to keep a pretty consistent pace throughout the workout. Since the track is 442m, I had to extrapolate a little bit to get my 5K splits. They were: 31:30, 31:13, 31:13, 31:33, 31:36. Despite the consistency of the workout, my legs were quite tired at the end of the 25K, and I was glad to be done. That is surely attributable to the workouts I've already done this week. Still, I was reasonably fast today, completing the 25K in 2:36:05 for 6:15/km (10:03/mile). It was a fairly good effort to keep that pace today, though. My watch said my average HR was only 145 but it felt harder than that. Go figure.

I just looked over the last week - from Saturday's 35K through today's 25K, I have done a total of 95km (59 miles) in 6 days. No wonder I was tired after today's workout! I'm looking forward to a bit easier week next week...though first I have a 20K kickdown on Saturday. No rest for the weary, I guess.

Garmin connect data here.

10K

2011-12-21T13:47:00.001-07:00

Only 10K today, and the weather was decent for December, with temps of 27F (-3C) and calm. I wore my balaclava but got too warm and had to take it off.

I started off feeling a little heavy-legged but with plenty of energy. About 7.5K I started to feel the effects of yesterday's 12K fartlek and it definitely slowed me down going back up the gentle hill. Up until then I'd been keeping a 6:13/km pace, but my total today was 1:03:08 for 6:19/km with ave HR 142.

Garmin connect data here.

12K fartlek

2011-12-20T13:52:00.001-07:00

Today's workout was a tough one: 12K fartlek. I slept a little funny last night because I drank a lot of coffee. I was having a girls' night out with Michelle (while Loren and Calvin watched Monday Night Football at my parents' house) and I took her to IHOP to have breakfast for dinner :). I drank about 3 cups of coffee there, and then took her to Starbucks for tea and cookies, and I had a skinny peppermint mocha there. Yeah, that was a lot of coffee. I fell asleep just fine (coffee never seems to keep me from falling asleep!) but woke up around 2 am to use the restroom, and I was feeling a bit wired. I settled back down to sleep and woke up again at 5:15 am, and tossed and turned a bit. I got up at 5:30 so I could get to the track and do my workout. My legs felt a bit shaky (caffeine probably) so I had a banana before heading to the track.

Weather: 27F (-3C) and fog, but with a slight cutting breeze every time I went around the south end of the track. The track itself was mostly clear with a very few icy spots on the south end; I lost a little toe push on one or two strides only each time I went around, but I don't think it was enough to make a significant difference in my performance.

I warmed up for 1600m in the low-10-minute range, and felt slightly sluggish. I knew I'd have to start conservatively, so I did, doing the first 1km in 5:38. I struggled a bit to settle into a comfortable pace, and was slower than I wanted to be on my fast 500s. Other than the first one (the fastest, at 2:49), they were all 2:50-2:54. However, my recoveries weren't too bad, with 8/11 3:04 or faster, and the other 3 at 3:06, 3:06, and 3:08.

This workout was hard for me today, though. Like I said, I struggled to find a comfortable pace, and didn't feel like I settled in very well until about 7 or 8k into the workout. At the beginning of the 7th km, I actually stopped for about 15 seconds, and had a little chat with myself. It wasn't going the way I wanted, with 5K in 29:10, and feeling a bit flat, and so I told myself I HAD TO FINISH this one. I knew I had to be mentally tough. The 50K demands it. I started repeating to myself, "national champions don't give up" and continued that mantra in my head for the rest of the workout. If I want to be the national champion, I have got to be in the game mentally as well as physically. This workout for me was more about the mental toughness than the physical toughness. Of course I'm sure I'm benefiting physically from the workout, but to know that I hung in there, did not give up, and worked it hard to the end is gratifying.

My self-chat seemed to help me settle in, and I felt a bit smoother and stronger and finished just fine. In fact, I thought I could have done a few more if I'd had to at that same pace. I was glad I didn't have to, though!

Oh, and since this is the first time I've done a 12K fartlek, I guess it's a PR for this workout...for whatever that is worth!

Total time 1:10:50 with average HR 162.

Garmin connect data here.

slow and slippery 12K

2011-12-19T13:04:00.002-07:00

On the agenda for today: 12K.

Weather: a huge factor today. It was 24F (-4C) with a slight wind and fog (yeah, weird but true) and light snow. There was a dusting of snow on the ground but definitely more than last week's dusting of snow. It was very, very slippery. Seriously, I had about zero toe push-off today. How important is toe push-off in racewalking? VERY important.

So, I knew I'd be slow, and took it really easy. My legs felt fine. My right knee is slightly petulant (I suspect it's residual IT band issues?). It doesn't actually HURT, but it feels a little "off". I'm being really careful with my form, but today's slippery snow ~~probably~~ did make my form a bit odd, so I'm sure that explains it.

All that matters about this one is that I got the workout done...so are you curious how much the snow slowed me down? Drum roll....

Total time for 12K was 1:21:55, for 6:49/km with ave HR of 140.

I might have been a bit flat today anyway; hard to say, though. I felt fine! But yeah, this was at least 30 sec/km slower than I'd have been with a dry road. No matter. I got in the km.

Garmin connect data here.

35K - last one!

2011-12-17T17:24:00.001-07:00

Today's task was 35K - last really long one before the 50K!

The weather was decent for December; it was 20F (-7C) and foggy with lots of frost on everything (including my eyelashes!). By the end of my 35K it had warmed up to 33F (1C). I started out wearing shorts (the ones I plan to wear for the 50K - testing them out) under tights, with fleece pants on top. I wore 2 shirts and a fleece top, with my balaclava, hat, and gloves. I stayed warm enough in that, though my feet were a bit numb until about 8K when they finally thawed out. At 25K when I stopped at my car to refill my water bottles, I took off the balaclava and the fleece top, and that worked out well.

Frost photo - taken a few days ago, but the grass looked like this today too:

I felt good today - much better than last Saturday. I got tired, yes, but it was a normal tired for 35K and I felt that I could keep a decent pace today. I did have one 500m that was 3:18 but that was because of a very slippery spot on the plastic boardwalk on the trail. Anyway, I did feel that I could have kept going when I finished. Did I WANT to do another 15K? No, I didn't, but I felt I could have continued for at least another 5-10K without totally wasting myself, so that was good. I am still intimidated a bit by the distance, but I figure I've done 42.2K (marathon) enough times that I've got the distance in there somewhere. One thing I'm sure of: it's going to hurt. A lot. But that's part of the insanity of it all!

Interesting things I saw on the trail: 1) a woman pushing a dog in a stroller (have seen this before...yikes! Spoiled little dogs), 2) a guy wearing shorts (brrrrr!), 3) between 4500S and 3900S they are laying pipe that is about 2 ft across; I had to step over it going each way, 4) my friend Diane and another woman (who is a new member of our walking club) at 13K and then again at 23K - of course I stopped to talk to them :). Diane was very encouraging and reminded me that they are all so excited that I have a shot at the American record for my age group.

5K splits: 30:30.9, 31:27.8, 31:11.4, 31:10.3, 31:39.3, 31:29.9, 31:27.0
Total: 3:38:56, 6:15/km (10:04/mile), ave HR 152.

Garmin connect data here.

5K fartlek

2011-12-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

First, something I forgot to mention. I was to cross-train on Wednesday, and I DID do it. I did 45 min on the elliptical.

***

Here's the link to my aborted 5x2K workout from yesterday, for Jim if he wants to see it...I recommend ignoring it :).

***

Today Jim changed my workout to a 5K fartlek so that I could get in some speed work this week, since I aborted the interval workout yesterday.

The weather was decent for December, at 27F (-3C) with a slight wind. I wore 2 shirts and a fleece on top, tights and fleece on the bottom, and a hat and gloves. Usually I peel off the fleece but that wind was chilling so I left it on.

I started off well, warming up for 1600m in 9:33 (fast!) and then with the 1st km of the fartlek in 5:26. My legs felt very fresh and rested and I was ready to go. I thought I'd have a nice fast fartlek, but it ended up being just OK. My heart rate was much higher than usual (average 168 for the 5K!) and I'm not sure why. I felt really good the whole time, though I knew I was pushing pretty hard.

Here are my times: 5:26, 2:55, 2:45, 2:59, 2:47, 2:59, 2:47, 2:59, 2:45. Total time 28:25. Nice and consistent anyway, if not super speedy. It was a good, solid workout. Later in the day, my legs feel pretty good, which is a relief as I have 35K (22 miles) tomorrow. At least the weather looks cooperative.

Garmin connect data here.

5x2K - NOT!

2011-12-15T09:26:00.001-07:00

I suppose this had to happen sooner or later.

I gave up on a workout, for no other reason than that I mentally just could not do it.

I woke up a bit late and rushed over to the track. I started my warm-up, and 10 steps in we had a problem. The track was slippery, like a skating rink. The thin layer of snow had melted yesterday and refrozen overnight leaving a very fine layer of ice and leaving me with no toe push. (It was 25F (-4C) this morning and foggy).

What to do...what to do?

I drove down to 800 East, a nice flat stretch of road, and did an abbreviated 1km warm-up. I felt sluggish. I started the intervals anyway: 500m in 2:52 (slow), 2:50 (still slow) and 2:56 (even slower). My heart rate was not budging form the low 150s. When I saw the 2:56, I gave up mentally. The thought of 4 more intervals like this was daunting, like a horse looking at a jump that is just too high and balking. I balked. I walked slowly back to the car (1.97km in 11:58) and drove home. I spent a while beating myself up, but at the sight of my kids and how cute they were this morning, I cheered up a little.

I texted Jim to call me if he was awake. He called about 90 min later and sounded very sleepy. Oops. I had woken him up (his phone keeps beeping every so often when he gets a text, which I didn't know or I wouldn't have done it). He told me it would be OK that we could sort it out. So now I'm to do a 5K fartlek tomorrow (instead of 10K recovery) and then continue with the regularly scheduled 35K on Saturday.

I still feel disappointed in myself. But maybe it was the right thing to stop. I don't know.

14K kickdown

2011-12-13T13:05:00.001-07:00

This was supposed to be a 15K kickdown, but I overslept my alarm a little bit (was up late helping Calvin on his class project) and I had to cut out 1K - as it was, I barely got the kids to school on time. Whew.

I was to do 3 splits of 5K/5K/5K, but I did 4K/5K/5K instead. The weather was OK; 31F (-1C) and light snow, with a dusting of snow on the road. Mostly it wasn't terribly slippery, but at all the intersections it was a bit iffy, and in a few other places as well. I don't think I lost much time due to the conditions, but I'm not really 100% sure.

I started off slowly and sluggishly. I was not mentally into it - still sleepy and a bit groggy I think. The first 4K I had a watch issue - pressed stop for a second and somehow didn't restart and lost a little more than 0.5km - that 3:40 in there isn't right because I wasn't moving for part of it while I was figuring out what was wrong, and thought the watch was stopped though it wasn't. Oops. The average of my other 500s was 3:08 (6:16/km), which would have been a 31:20 5K. My heart rate was low this morning - Jim says that sometimes when you work out in the morning you have a slow metabolism and no matter what you do the HR won't budge. That's kind of how it was - I gave it 90%+ effort at the end and my HR was about 160, which is low for this workout. No matter.

The second 5K I felt quite good - surprisingly. I told myself I had to get my mind into the workout, and it worked! I just ticked off the km and felt good, finishing that 5K in 30:09 for 6:02/km. I paused for a second before starting the third 5K and told myself "It's a 5K race - go for it!". My legs were moving but the heart rate wasn't; I felt I should have been faster and it was frustrating. However, I did manage to finish in 29:20 for the last 5K, which is pretty good for a kickdown workout. Jim says usually the last split of a kickdown is a bit slower than race pace for the distance. My 15K race in May was 1:29 (29:40/5K) and so this was faster than that by a good bit, reflecting my improved fitness. Still...I think if I'd felt 100% this morning I might have had a sub-29 in me. Well, I get to try again next week for a 20K kickdown!

Average HR for the workout was only 144, with a max of 163.

Garmin connect data here.

12K

2011-12-12T15:26:00.001-07:00

Weather: pretty nice for December, at 27F (-3C) and hazy. We are in inversion season, which means a lot of polluted air gets trapped in the valley causing the temps to be lower here than up in the mountains, hence a temperature "inversion". It's probably not good for my exercise-induced asthma, but I had no problems today with coughing, so go figure.

12K was on the agenda for today. I felt well-recovered from Saturday's walk and ready to go. I started off well, but I did slow and get a little tired in the legs by about 7.5-8K. I was able to pick it up a little, but then heading up the slight incline at the end slowed me down again. Still, not bad for 2 days after a long 35K. My legs feel great now (3:30 pm) and hopefully they'll be fine for the 15K kickdown tomorrow.

Total 1:15:32 for 6:18/km with ave HR 149.

Garmin connect data here.

35K

2011-12-10T15:39:00.001-07:00

Weather: 20F (-6.7C) to start, and 38F when I finished; no wind or snow, so it was a good weather day for December.

How I felt: Felt rested and fresh to start, but around 10K-14K I really felt fairly lousy. I wondered how I'd finish. Jim called me 3 times, once at 8K (I didn't answer), once between 8K and 14K (I didn't answer), and then once at almost 14K (I finally did answer). I was so annoyed with how I was doing that I really needed to talk to him. He said what I expected: that I was a bit flat from so many km this week and not to worry, and to stop if my legs really died. Well, lucky for me they didn't. I felt a bit better within a few km; Jim called again about 18K and I told him I was doing OK. Then I figured I'd be able to finish. From 14K-the end, I made it my goal to think positive thoughts and not dwell on any negative ones that crept in (i.e. how the heck am I going to do 50K when I can't even do 15K?). I thought about the cute drawings my kids made for me this morning, and about how nice the weather was (cold, but nice for December), about how I was going to finish and get this one in the books, how happy I was that I had no GI issues, no chafing or blisters, etc. It actually helped - yeah, I know it's cheesy, but it did work.

Totals: Though I stopped multiple times for phone calls (thanks, Jim! sorry I was ranting at you at 14K!), nutrition, water bottle refills (ugh...at 29.5K I really needed H2O and the bathroom on the trail was locked! Grrrr! Had to wait until 32.5K to get water - wow, that was the best water I've had in a while!), stretch breaks, etc., I pushed stop on my watch, so my actual moving time was 3:41:44 for 6:20/km (10:12/mile) with ave HR 154. That's not bad considering I wanted to quit at 14K. 5K splits: 30:48.7, 31:47.7, 31:57.2, 31:21.4, 32:01.3, 31:32.2, 32:16.5. A bit variable, but that was how I was feeling today - variable.

Miscellaneous: My water bottles froze up again. I have got to remember to make my water and zipfizz with HOT water so that they don't freeze. Fortunately I had larger bottles in my car, and I was able to stop at 16K for a refill and it thawed out my bottles a bit and I didn't have any more trouble (also, it got warmer!). Around 31.5K, I met a couple ladies on the trail who shouted to me, "Hey we know you from Weight Watchers!". I stopped for a couple minutes to talk to them - they had met me last week when I got my key for another year at Lifetime, and I had told my story, including how I am going to do the 50K. They said that I was really inspiring. Standing there all sweaty and feeling icky tired I didn't feel very inspiring, but it did buoy my spirits to talk with them. They said they really want to know how the race goes, so of course I'll have to show up at my meeting after the 50K to tell everyone. Also, I saw at least 3 guys out there today in SHORTS (they had long-sleeved shirts and gloves on, but still...). Pretty crazy. One of the guys is someone I've talked with before - last year he did the Top of Utah marathon and then 2 weeks later did the St. George Marathon, so yeah, he's hardcore.

I'm glad this one's on the books. It's a hard week ahead (Jim just sent me my schedule until the 50K) with another 35K next Saturday, but I have tomorrow to recuperate and reset. One day and one step at a time, I will get there. I'm determined.

Garmin connect data here.

Here are the pictures my kids drew for me.

10K

2011-12-09T13:48:00.001-07:00

I was to do 10K today. Weather was decent for December; 21F (-6C) with no wind or snow. I'll take it.

I felt pretty good today, surprisingly. I wasn't very fast, but I did feel all right, and my legs seem to have recovered well from yesterday.

Totals: 1:02:58 for 6:18/km with ave HR 150.

Garmin connect data here.

biology humor

2011-12-08T21:12:00.001-07:00

I loved this:

My favorites? Dry ice grenades...callus on thumb...open toothpaste with one hand...you're very good at transferring small amounts of liquid between containers...you've used kimwipes as kleenex...timer clipped to the hip...

5x2K

2011-12-08T13:35:00.001-07:00

At least it's done. That's all I can say about this one.

The weather was OK. It was chilly but not as cold as it's been; it was 24F (-4.4C) but very still and calm. In fact, there was a bit of fog at the track (cold fog!). My legs felt recovered from Monday & Tuesday, and I was ready to go. I felt a little sluggish on my warm-up, but when I started my first 2K I felt pretty good. That was the last time I felt good until I was done...

The first 2K was fine; I finished in 11:14. I forgot to turn off the auto lap so had to stop briefly at 500m to turn the darn thing off. I started the second 2K and by a few laps in I knew this was going to be a tough day. I did finish it in 11:17, but I'd had to work pretty hard to get that time, and I still had THREE 2Ks left. Uh-oh. Well as you might guess, it just got harder. The 3rd one was 11:25, and the fourth 11:34. My legs just had nothing. I really wanted to quit after the third one, but I knew I had to finish the workout no matter how much it hurt. The most benefit is achieved from enduring despite the pain. During the rest interval after the fourth one (only 2 minutes between each!), I actually started to cry a bit out of frustration. I really felt bad that I was doing so poorly. I was trying not to be too negative, telling myself that I was doing the best that I could, but I could not help worrying since I've had a few poor workouts now - Monday's 30K was solid, but with a high HR; Tuesday's workout was a disaster, and then today. Anyway, on the last 2K my legs just felt like stumps. I was just hanging on for dear life and finished in 11:36. Ugh. It's not like I wasn't working hard - my ave/max HR for the last 4 intervals was 163/168, 164/170, 164/169, 164/170.

There is less than a month now until the 50K. I have to stay mentally strong. I can do this.

Garmin connect data here.

Graduation!

2011-12-07T09:33:00.001-07:00

Michelle and I graduated from our figure skating classes!

I finished Adult levels 1 and 2 in one session :)!

We plan to take the next set of classes in January. I'll do Adult level 3, and Michelle will do Snowplow Sam level 2 (kids 3-5). Calvin says he wants to join us, taking Basic 1 (for kids older than 5).

***

Training today: cross-training; I did 30 min on the elliptical. Yeah, should have done more, but I was a little pressed for time. I feel I'm recovering well from Monday's 30K and hopefully will be ready for a good interval workout tomorrow: 5x2km (gulp!) with only 2 min rest. Jim says this is for endurance more than for raw speed. It's a hard one, but I think it will be OK. Still cold here, but at least it's not windy or snowing.

very slow, but OK with it

2011-12-06T12:07:00.001-07:00

Today I was to do 12K; originally it was 12K with 2x6' fast segments, but that was before we had to switch today's workout and yesterday's workout due to a work meeting I had this morning at 9 am.

My legs were really beat-up after yesterday's workout. 30K at 80% effort will do that to you! I was seriously tired and sore. When I started out today I knew it would be slow, and happily I didn't really care too much. It was very cold (14F; -10C) but calm. I dressed warmly, wearing my balaclava (essentially a ski mask that just shows eyes, though I pulled it down over nose and mouth to aid breathing), but my face still got fairly cold. I talked to a crossing guard and my words were all slurred because my mouth was so cold! However, there were lots of people out despite the cold. I saw about 10 runners (including my friend from church, Pete), along with a few dog-walkers, a fitness walker, and lots of people waiting for the bus or walking to school.

Anyway, yeah, I was quite slow. Ridiculously slow. My legs just felt tired, sore, and heavy, but I'm glad I went because I think it really loosened up things quite a bit to do the walk. I ended up cutting the 12K short a bit - I did about 10.75K; it got late (partly because I started a few minutes late and partly because I was so slow that the walk took longer than I'd planned) and I had to take the kids to school. I also felt like my body had really had enough. It was the right amount to stop when I did.

Totals: 10.77 km at 6:38/km; 1:11:24 for the workout. Ave HR 136 - obviously my legs were the problem here not my cardiorespiratory fitness!

I'm glad for a cross-training day tomorrow. I obviously need it.

Garmin connect data here.

30K on the indoor track - 442m

2011-12-05T15:46:00.001-07:00

It wasn't quite as cold as they predicted; instead of 15F it was 18F. Still, with the wind, it was most unpleasant outside, and I didn't want to spend 3 hours freezing. So I drove the 25 min to the Olympic Oval and did my workout there on the 442m track located just outside of the 400m long-track speed skating course.

30000m/442m = 67.87 laps. Oh yay. However, it was climate-controlled to 63-65F year-round (17.2-18.3C) and there were plenty of things to look at while I walked: other runners (a few), short track speed skaters, the Zamboni (spent a while "chasing" it), and long track speed skaters. A few school groups showed up later in my workout, and I was amused by the kids walking backwards with bean bags on their heads (not sure why!), doing push-ups, sit-ups, and touring the facility.

Before I left, I calculated that 2:45.75 per lap would be 6:15/km, so I decided to try and keep my laps at 2:45 or faster if possible. I started off well and it wasn't too hard at the beginning to keep them there with a reasonable heart rate. I was to do an 80% effort today, and that was good, because I needed to in order to keep that pace. By the end, my HR was in the low 160s (though honestly it FELT like mid-150s) and I was working pretty hard to churn out laps that fast. Still, I achieved my goal, finishing the 30K in 3:07:18 for 6:14/km (10:03/mile). I still have a bit of a cough from that cold last week, and I felt a bit tired this morning, so that probably explains the higher HR, but who knows?

When I finished my legs were VERY tired. I stretched a bit and drank a chocolate milk for recovery; I'd stopped briefly to take gels at about 8K, 15.5K, and 23K, and I did drink a lot of water. I think it was pretty dry in there.

Edited to add: I thought my watch said ave HR of 154 this morning, but when I downloaded it actually says 149...odd...looking at the HR graph, it appears that 154 is more accurate. Whatever...

Garmin connect data here.

Some photos of the facility are below. I have to admit that it is more inspiring working out in an Olympic venue with serious athletes training there.

how cold is too cold for 30K?

2011-12-04T20:28:00.001-07:00

Our weather forecast for Sunday night and Monday, with temps in F:

Tonight: A 40 percent chance of snow before 11pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 15. Wind chill values as low as zero. Blustery, with a east northeast wind 10 to 13 mph increasing to between 20 and 23 mph. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 25. Wind chill values as low as -2. East northeast wind between 10 and 20 mph.

***

Well...I think that is too cold for me. I'm going to the indoor 442m track tomorrow. I could do 10K outside tomorrow, maybe, but not 30K. With that wind, it's just going to be way, way too cold. 68 laps of the indoor track is preferable in this case.

catching up

2011-12-03T11:20:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged in a few days. Time to catch up!

Thursday: this was an optional day, so I opted for 30 min on the elliptical - busy day at work but still managed to squeeze something in. Very glad I did the 5K fartlek on the track 1 day early, because the winds were unbelievable, toppling 16 semis on the freeway, and gusting to 100mph (160kph) in Centerville, not far from here.

Friday: x-training day; did 55 min on the elliptical.

Today: 10K with 2x6' at 20K race pace. It was cold this morning; 25F (-4C) with a light dusting of snow on parts of the road and sidewalks. I don't think it slowed me down too much; maybe 30 sec for the whole 10K? More problematic was the fact that I just did not feel good this morning. My legs felt tired, heavy, sluggish. I have no idea why, as I have had the easiest week in a long time this week. I'm supposed to feel rested! Maybe it's the lingering cold? I am still coughing up phlegm, but other than that I feel totally fine. I didn't get enough sleep last night and feel a bit off because of that, too.

Anyway, it was not my best day, and I'm now feeling anxious about things. Silly, because it's just one workout, and I wasn't that slow. But the perceived effort was pretty great for the time I got. I did the 10K in 1:02:32 for 6:15/km, and my 20K pace segments were my 4th km (2:56, 3:01) and km 6.5-7.5 (2:54, 2:56). That all looks fine on paper, but I felt I had to work really hard for those relatively slow 500s, and now my glutes are sore. I feel cranky and out of sorts. I kept thinking "what if I had a day like this on race day?" as I walked. Not good.

The pressure is starting to get to me. I'm anxious about how I'll do the next 3 weeks of hard training, with Christmas approaching, busyness at work (things are good at work, but there's lots to do and our lab is moving to a new (nicer!) location in 2 weeks), and lots of stuff for the kids going on. I'm worried that I'll have a bad day on race day and totally tank. That would be so depressing after all the hard work I have put in to get this far. I should feel confident and ready to go, since I'm turning out all these fast times in workouts and races, but for some reason I keep focusing on the things that can go wrong.

Good news: the 50K race organizers are paying for hotel rooms for 2 nights for those who can show that they are likely to finish the 50K in under 8 hours (ouch...8 hours? I'd better not be out there that long!). All I'll need to pay is plane and food then, and maybe a car (but maybe not?). There are cash prizes, too - $300 for first, $200 for second, and $100 for third. Hopefully I can win some cash to help pay for the plane ticket!

Garmin connect data here.

5K fartlek - new PR! Under 28 min!

2011-11-30T12:45:00.001-07:00

This was to be tomorrow's workout, but seeing as how this is the weather forecast, "This Afternoon: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 46. Breezy, with a northwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 19 and 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight: A 50 percent chance of snow before 11pm. Cloudy, with a low around 28. Blustery, with a northeast wind 15 to 18 mph increasing to between 25 and 28 mph. Winds could gust as high as 41 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible." I decided to do the workout today rather than tomorrow in the snow and 41 mph (65 kph) wind gusts. It was actually fairly nice this morning, at 32F (0C) with no wind and partly cloudy.

I warmed up well, doing 1600m in 9:45 or so, and I felt good. My IT band (which niggled me the tiniest bit yesterday) felt completely fine today (and still does! Yay!), and my legs weren't really sore at all. I felt ready to go. I stretched a bit and then started the 5K fartlek. I decided to push pretty hard, because after all I was only to do 5K. I confess I wanted to see what would happen! The first km came in 5:24.4, nice and fast (for me!). My medium 500s were all fast today, and I pushed it hard to the end on the fast 500s. I saw on the last one that if I was fast enough I'd make it under 28 minutes. I had to go all-out for the last few hundred meters to make it happen, but I got it! Here are my times: 2:53.6, 2:42.9, 2:55.0, 2:44.5, 2:55.9, 2:46.1, 2:54.9, 2:41.1 (!). Total time: 27:58.6, ave HR 163, max 175 (!). It was hard to get that 2:41! Average pace 5:36/km or 9:00/mile.

This is only the 3rd time I've gone under 28 minutes for 5K, ever (that I can recall). Once was this summer at the Art Attack 5K race (27:45), and once was last summer (2010) on a downhill course for a 5K club race (27:57). Another comparison - my time at WMA this summer (in the heat, admittedly) for the 5K track race was 28:04, so this was even faster than that. I figure this puts me possibly in the 26-minute range for a 5K race under perfect conditions. Not too shabby. I'm super happy with this! Now I just have to stay healthy and train hard for a little bit longer until the 50K.

In other exciting news, my friend Dave Talcott was named USATF athlete of the week for qualifying for the men's 50K Olympic Trials at age 51. Check it out!

sick, and 12K

2011-11-29T16:25:00.001-07:00

I have a cold. So far it's not TOO awful, but it's not great either. I'm really tired, coughing a fair amount, and have a runny nose. Like I said, not too bad. I worried that the cough would hurt my racewalking, but I did the 12K anyway, and it was all right. Yeah, I coughed more than usual, but I did get through the workout. My legs felt good, technique felt smooth and fast, but I wasn't fast. I wasn't terribly slow, either. I'll take it, given how I'm feeling.

Totals: 1:15:15 for 6:16/km (10:06/mile) with ave HR 142.

Garmin connect data here.

resting up; a few records to break

2011-11-28T12:27:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a rest day, and today I did the elliptical for 45 minutes. It's my easy recovery week...ahhhhh.

***

I have some records to break! The world single-age best for my age (41) for the 50K is 5:56. I can do that! How cool would that be?

Also, the American record for 50K road racewalk for age 40-44 is 5:30. That should also be quite do-able, assuming I have a decent day. I'm excited!

Edited to add: The American record for 25K for age 40-44 is 2:37:15, which I might be able to break on my way to 50K if I'm having a good day (I've gone faster than that for 25K numerous times this season in training, but of course that doesn't count for breaking the record!).

30K

2011-11-26T11:57:00.001-07:00

Brrrrrr! 25F (-4C) but at least it was calm and clear. To combat the chill, I decided on mid-thigh shorts with tights over the top, a long-sleeved shirt, fleece jacket, fleece hat, and gloves. That was just about right; I did have to push up the sleeves on the fleece jacket (by the end of my walk it had warmed up to 37F), but I was glad I was wearing it. I brought along some water bottles with zipfizz and water, and they FROZE. I had to stop for a while to drink because the top of the bottles (the part that pulls out to drink) got frozen first and so I had to unscrew the lids to actually drink. My gels were very thick and goopy, too. The joys of winter. Yay. Can you tell it's my favorite season?

The walk itself went quite well this morning. I started off a bit slow and sluggish (a couple 3:10s for 500m) because my adductors (especially the left one) were very sore initially. I think it might be from ice skating! But they loosened up quickly and didn't give me any more trouble. This was another one of those really consistent walks where I found a good pace and rhythm and was able to hold it. My 5K splits were: 31:02, 31:09 (1:02:11), 30:48 (1:32:59), 31:02 (2:04:00), 31:02 (2:35:03), 31:13 (3:06:19).

The bad part? Well, about 28K, my right knee started to hurt. Not too bad, but bad enough that I thought it might be a problem. At first I could not identify the pain precisely, but after I finished and visited the restroom (so glad Liberty Park has restrooms!) I was walking down a couple stairs and OUCH it HURT! I knew EXACTLY what was wrong...yeah, the ol' IT band was acting up. I could not figure out why for a little bit, but then I remembered that after the Cold Turkey race on Thursday that I had run about 5 minutes DOWNHILL with my work colleague after the race. She came with me walking uphill to my car to get my jacket while we waited for the awards (she won her age group!), and then when we started back toward the finish line she suggested we jog a little. I didn't think twice about it (dumb, I know, but I really didn't think!) and ran with her. I had no pain after that but today it's two days later, and the 30K of racewalking was enough to bring it out. I'm pretty sure that's what did it, and if that's the case, then a couple days off (which I have now because this week is an "easy" week), ibuprofen, ice, and foam roller should do the trick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have promised Jim that I will not run even ONE more step before the 50K!

I also got quite tired today by the end - the last 5K was a bit tough, and I will confess that today's walk was more like an 80% effort than an easy walk. I figured that would be OK since I have an easy week coming up, and overall I felt quite good today, so I wanted to see how I'd do pushing it a little. However, I am pretty sure that today I could NOT have held that pace for another 20km. That makes me a little worried, except that 1) I'm only one week out from the marathon, and 2) I still have a good 4 weeks of training to give me a little more staying power.

All in all, it was a good day. I'm icing my knee now and I'm going to relax this afternoon!

Edited to add totals: 3:06:19, 6:13/km (10:00/mile), ave HR 147.

Garmin connect data here.

elliptical & figure skating

2011-11-25T14:27:00.001-07:00

Today I did the elliptical for 45 min at the gym, and enjoyed reading Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi (very fun sci-fi) on my Kindle (new). I loved not having to hold my book open...it was pretty nice to read on the Kindle.

Afterward I headed home and fed the kids some homemade French toast. They ate it up...slowly...as kids do, and then we headed back to the gym for some skating. It was Calvin's first time on skates, and he did very well. He's quite cautious compared to daredevil Michelle. She's getting a lot better after skating for a month now. I am getting better too - I worked on my turns (front to back, back to front), front pivots, crossover skating, and gliding backwards on left leg and then on right leg. I figure it's good cross-training for racewalking, as it strengthens a lot of leg muscles and uses different muscles than walking. Plus it's fun!

Here are some videos of the kids:

Cold Turkey 6K

2011-11-24T13:01:00.001-07:00

The race didn't live up to it's name this year - it was not cold! Unlike last year, when it was verrrry cold, this year was warm and windy in advance of a storm that will arrive tomorrow. It was 51F (10C) at the start; I should have worn shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, but it was all right wearing capris and a long-sleeved shirt - I just pushed the sleeves up. The wind was a non-factor as it was breezy but not gusty or blowing really hard; it just blew my hair in my face but nothing else of note.

I warmed up for about 1.5K with strides, and felt ready to go. However, I started off a bit sluggish with a 3:00 500m. I left my watch on auto lap for 500m because this race has no mile markers. It's supposed to be 6K, but it was long - my Garmin said 6.22km and my friend's said 3.89 miles (6.26km). Anyway, I pushed a little harder and then the hill came...it's UP for 90m (about 300 feet) in just 2.5k or so, and then a nice 140m downhill. However, the uphill is hard and steep and not easy at all. I still managed low 3:00s for most of the 500s but did have one 3:13. Then the downhill :)! I did all 2:35-2:39 on the downhill and finished in a fast 35:05 (5:38/km according to my Garmin). I was working really hard, and my HR was 170 at the finish.

I was way faster than last year's 39:09 (I was sick last year), and smashed my course PR of 36:26 (set in 2008). I am a little disappointed I wasn't faster, but the course was longer than advertised and it was hilly. It was a good workout, anyway! Sure beat doing a 10K fartlek on the track alone, and I have a pretty ceramic medal to show for it as well.

Garmin connect data here.

15K

2011-11-23T14:15:00.001-07:00

Darn it! I left my Garmin at home and can't upload my workout. I think it was 1:33:28 (+/- a few seconds) for the 15K, for 6:14/km or thereabouts. I will update this later when I upload it. The weather was good: 34F (about 1C) and calm and clear (was going to say sunny, but the sun wasn't up yet).

Jim said I was supposed to do this at an easy pace. Well...I did and I didn't. I got into a rhythm, and it was a little on the hard side, and then I kept it. It was probably the 80% effort that this workout was originally supposed to be. This wasn't that fast for 80% effort...however, it's only been a few days since the marathon. I'm still sore in my abductors and adductors, though it's getting better. My other excuse? My right deltoid is sore from the flu shot I got yesterday. Verrrrrry sore! It is tender to the touch, and hurts when I lift my arm. But seriously, I don't think that mattered.

My right ankle in the front was a bit sore this morning - I think it's related to the old anterior tibialis/tendonitis thing from this spring. I'm hoping that it just feels OK tomorrow and that it will be nothing to worry about.

More later...

***

Edited: Yes, it was 1:33:28 for 6:14/km or 10:02/mile with ave HR 149. My glutes are sore now and I'm generally quite tired. I have a 6K race in the morning (local turkey trot) but if I'm lousy I don't really care so much. A good hard workout is what I'm after, whether fast or slow. This race is pretty slow because of the serious uphill for the first couple miles; yes, then there is a downhill, but overall it's not a fast course.

Garmin connect data here.

10K

2011-11-22T11:00:00.001-07:00

First walk after the marathon. I was hoping it would be OK, because I want to keep training at a high intensity for the 50K on January 7th, as that is my goal race.

The national weather service said it was 36F - not too bad. However, when I stepped outside there was frost everywhere, and there was quite a bit of black ice on the roads since it had rained yesterday morning. Plus it FELT colder than 36. Turns out it was about 32F (0C). My footing was pretty good for most of the 10K; however, there were a significant number of spots where it wasn't so good. I don't think it slowed me too much; perhaps 30 seconds over the 10K but not more.

I felt good this morning, which was a huge relief. I started off slowish but caught a good rhythm around 5.5K and felt strong after that. My legs did get slightly tired at the end but nothing remarkable.

I did 1:02:46 for the 10K with an ave HR of 146; 6:17/km (10:06/mile).

Garmin connect data here.

aftermath; cross-training

2011-11-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

I'm still sore, though not as sore as I was the day after the race. My glutes and abductors are sore, with adductors slightly sore. I actually feel pretty darn good, surprisingly. I only had a little chafing during the race, which is already all better. I rested on Sunday, and this morning I got up early to cross-train. I thought I'd attend the spinning class. I got there right on time, but all the bikes were already taken. Bummer! So I did the elliptical for 45 min and the stationary bike for 15 min, and then did core and stretching with Lisa. I'm glad today was a x-training day - originally I was to do 10K today, but Jim wisely changed it. I am sure I'll be much more ready to do 10K tomorrow than I was today.

Here are the official race results from the marathon. I was 94th of 187 in the race (men AND women), and 4th of 9 in my age group. Not too bad, considering they were all runners! Even my friends that walked most of it did do some running.

Mesquite TriStates Marathon

2011-11-19T16:50:00.001-07:00

Today was a celebration of 5 years of keeping off the 100lb (45 kilos) that I lost. In November, 2006, I attained lifetime status in Weight Watchers. Today I weigh pretty much exactly the same as I did 5 years ago. I racewalked the Mesquite TriStates Marathon in celebration.

BEFORE (Feb 4, 2005)

AFTER (Nov 11, 2006)
(

And today, I set a huge PR in the marathon - almost 10 minutes off of my time from September 17, 2011, and I was under strict orders to take it easy. I did obey them! My heart rate was pretty much in the upper 130s to upper 140s the whole time, though I did work the last 1km because I knew I was on track for a sub-4:20 marathon. Yup, sub-4:20. Wow. I can't believe I'm even typing that. I never, ever dreamed I'd be this fast.

This race has an amazing downhill for the first 13 miles, from 1222m to 560m above sea level. It wasn't leg-pounding though! I was just able to go FAST. I actually broke my PR for the half marathon (today's was 2:04:05!!!) taking it easy. The downhill really helped. However, the last 13 miles has a lot of hills - it's up and down and up and down, etc. I continued to take it easy and did the second half in 2:15:22 for a total of 4:19:27 for the race. I walked up those hills at a good clip, but didn't push too hard, and hopefully I'll be OK for the planned tough week of workouts ahead of me.

Oh, another fun thing about this race was the food. They had gummy bears, bananas, MnMs, gels, and pretzels at the aid stations. I enjoyed sampling all of them :)!

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The views coming down the hill were incredible, and the mountains, Joshua trees, canyons, etc. were amazing. I felt so privileged to be out there, and there was nothing I'd rather have been doing than racing today. The weather was picture-perfect too - if I'd have ordered it, it could not have been nicer. It was about 50F (10C) at the start and just under 60F (15C) at the finish, partly sunny, and calm until about 30K, when the wind picked up. That was the only negative - pretty strong headwind for the last few miles combined with the hills could have been better.

What else is there to say? I had some fun conversations with runners; I was with a group of runners for a couple miles near the 10K mark, and we chatted about racewalking, the rules, how fun it is, etc. I got another comment about Zumba, "I was watching your hips and I think you'd be really good at that Zumba thing". Hahaha. Clever, but I've heard that one before. And lots of the usual, "Wow, you walk faster than I can run". One woman about mile 20 as I passed her said, "Darn it! I KNEW you'd pass me!". It does have to be disheartening as a runner to get passed by a racewalker, but it sure is fun for me. I passed quite a few runners in the last 10K, and only one passed me that I noticed. That was nice! I even passed a group of very fit-looking women right at mile 26.0 and outsprinted them to the finish. FUN!

I felt SO good and SO strong for this race. I am feeling very optimistic about my chances in the 50K in January. Nothing really hurt today; my foot was slightly achy, and I got a blister on my 2nd right toe (in the usual spot), and a little chafing, but all minor stuff. I am very happy to be fit, training well, and uninjured. Let's hope it stays that way. Only 7 weeks until the 50K!!!!!

More pictures here.

Garmin connect data here.

sloooooowwwwww 10K

2011-11-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

I felt OK this morning; legs were a bit stiff/sore, but not too bad. I thought I'd have a good walk. NOT! I was so slow, my legs felt heavy and tired, and I did not push at all because of the marathon tomorrow. Hopefully that will still go OK.

Weather was nice - 50F (10C) and windy. The "warm before the storm" is here, as it's supposed to snow tonight. Hahaha! I get to miss it! I'm headed south now to Mesquite, NV for the race. Race weather looks like low 40s to start and possibly windy, but no precipitation predicted.

Total time: 1:05:04 (slowest in a very long time...) for 6:30/km and ave HR 139. Ugh.

Garmin connect data here.

***

I may not have internet access until tomorrow, or maybe not until Sunday (the hotel charges $10 for it...ugh!), so if you need to get a hold of me, please call me on my cell or text me.

8K fartlek - 11 second PR!

2011-11-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

Today's workout: another 8K fartlek. Last night I was dreading it a bit. It's not that long, but it's hard, and I'm feeling a bit tired. Life is busy, and I've been feeling slightly sluggish about everything this week (work, stuff at home, etc) so it's not just the workouts. Anyway, I felt better this morning when I woke up.

Weather: It was supposed to be 34F for the low, but it was actually 31F (-0.6C). Chilly, but it's going to get colder as winter arrives, and it honestly wasn't bad once I was warmed up. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts, tights, headband, and gloves, and that was good. It helped that there was no wind.

I warmed up in about 9:44 for 1600m including some strides in the last 400m, and then did some dynamic stretching. It was still dark when I started the fartlek, but by about 3-4K it was light enough to see my watch without my headlamp. I felt good and fast just like I did last Thursday, and started off with a 5:26 for the first km. I surprised myself with a 2:54 for the first medium speed 500m, and followed that up with a 2:44 fast one. Then I thought maybe this would be a really good day. It was! All my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47 (the last one I worked really hard and got 2:45!) and my medium 500s were mostly 2:56 and 2:57 with one 2:59.

Intermediate splits: 16:48 for 3K, 28:16 for 5K (a PR for this distance for a fartlek!).

Total time: 45:29, ave HR 162, 5:41/km or 9:09/mile. Smokin'!

Garmin connect data here.

***

Tomorrow is an easy 10K, and then Saturday I'm doing the Tri-States Marathon starting near St. George, UT, and going through Arizona to finish in Mesquite, NV. It's a nice downhill course, and I'm under STRICT orders from the coach to be sure to keep the effort easy and do the race at a training pace. I could still be pretty fast if I have a good day (but Jim - I promise not to push it!!!).

***

Some fun quotes about the 50K from my friend Karen Karavanic's website:

"Fifty-kilometer racewalkers consider themselves the toughest of the tough" -- Elliott Denman

"Veinte kilometros es para ninos y cincuenta kilometros es una distancia para las mujeres." -- Mexican saying, in translation "20k is for children and 50K is a distance for WOMEN" :)

lazy

2011-11-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

Got up a bit late. Only did 25 min on the elliptical, and then core work with Lisa. I was lazy today...

20K @80% effort

2011-11-15T09:17:00.001-07:00

My coach changed the workout from 25K to 20K yesterday, which I wasn't going to complain about! I'm doing a marathon on Saturday at training pace and he didn't want me to be overtaxed going into it.

Weather: 38F (3.3C) and overcast and calm. Pretty nice weather for November. I'll take it! I wore tights, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves (which I took on and off a few times), and a fleece headband, and that all kept me comfortable. Minor chafing under my right arm was eased by a little body glide at 15K.

I had to really concentrate to stay at 80% effort this morning. It required a lot of mental focus not to lapse into an "easy" pace. Fortunately, most of the time I was able to keep my focus, and the walk went well. My legs felt quite fresh to start, and though they got a bit tired at the end, I was able to hold my pace well.

5K splits: 30:18, 30:37, 30:59, 30:33.

Total time: 2:02:31, ave HR 147, ave pace 6:08/km (9:52/mile).

Garmin connect data here.

shoe wear

2011-11-14T13:07:00.001-07:00

As of today, this pair has 334 miles on them. They're ready to be retired. But you can see that I'm getting a good toe-off by the wear pattern :).

12K with 2x6' at 20K pace

2011-11-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

I overslept a bit this morning. I needed to be up earlier so I could hit the gym with Lisa after my 12K, but I was too tired to get up that early. I seem to need more sleep the more miles I do, which makes sense. I'm just not good at fitting that in in addition to the higher training volume needed for the 50K.

It was relatively warm this morning, compared to how it's been. It was 36F (2.2C) and calm, and it was a nice morning to be out. I still wasn't really in the mood to racewalk this morning. I think the hard slog of the 30K was still uppermost in my mind, and I was sleepy, so even though 12K isn't all that far I wasn't really looking forward to it.

Because I got up late, it was getting light by the time I'd done about 3K, which was nice. About that time a friend from church (Kristin) ran by me going the other way and we waved hi to each other - sometime she and I are going to go together, I think!

I decided to do my first 6' at 20K pace from 3.5-4.5 km on my route, since that part of the route is flat/slight uphill and it's hard for me to stay motivated there. I did the 500s in 2:56 and 2:55, slightly faster than 20K pace (20K pace in the race I just did was about 5:56/km). I continued, feeling pretty good. My legs felt fresh, which surprised me a bit, as I think I expected them to feel lousy after Saturday's 30K. I did my next fast segment from 8.5-9.5km, and pushed a little harder, doing the 500s in 2:54 and 2:50. I still felt good and was able to push a bit up the hill to the end.

Total time: 1:14:06 for 6:11/km (9:56/mile) with ave HR of 143.

Of note: my left foot is bothering me just the slightest bit now. It feels a bit warmish. I have to be careful with my technique so that I do not re-injure it doing so many km. My right shin is also just a bit tired. Hopefully both will be OK despite the fact that I have to do 25K tomorrow.

Garmin connect data here.

a little figure skating

2011-11-12T19:58:00.001-07:00

Michelle and I are taking figure skating lessons!

Though maybe I should stick with racewalking! Seriously, it was really good this afternoon - I skated for 50 min and it loosened up my stiff muscles a lot. Excellent...feeling much better now.

slow 30K

2011-11-12T09:51:00.001-07:00

The weather wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. It wasn't good, either. It was pretty warm, considering, at 48F (~9C), but it was extremely windy. Gusts almost took my baseball cap off, and the wind blew rain into my face when I walked south. It was at my back walking north, but still icky. I did four 7.5km loops, and on the first loop it merely drizzled. The second and third loops it was raining lightly but with the wind it was cold and I put on my rain jacket for the 3rd loop. By the 4th loop it stopped raining but was still quite windy.

It was not a good walk. I had GI trouble (stops at 15K and 23K), and my legs were totally done by 15K. Seriously, they were kind of numb-feeling, if that makes sense. I just kept plodding - every 500m, my watch reminded me that I was very slow, and I tried to keep a positive outlook. But with the wind and the rain and the cold and the tired legs, I got a bit discouraged. My coach called me around 25K and asked how I was, and I said, "I feel like CRAP!". He and I attribute it to a lot of km this week (about 89...just shy of 56 miles), with the hard half marathon to start the week. In any case, I finished the walk, and it wasn't pretty but I did it.

Total time: 3:14:49 for 6:30/km (10:27/mile) with ave HR of 142.

Garmin connect data here.

Photos and video: Two Cities Half Marathon

2011-11-11T16:13:00.001-07:00

Here are the race photos.

Here's the video. I'm at 4:00-4:20 into the video, more or less, and I'm wearing a blue top and black shorts and have very white legs :).

12K

2011-11-11T13:17:00.001-07:00

It was really cold this morning. Though it was 27F (-3C), same as yesterday, it felt colder today. I'm not sure why, as it wasn't windy. Maybe it was more humid?

I started early so I could go to the gym afterward and lift with Lisa. However, once at the gym I ended up talking to someone I hadn't seen in a while, and then I talked to Lisa, and so I ended up just stretching and doing core work. I really ought to lift more...and do Pilates...but I'm not a full-time athlete and it's hard just fitting in the 50K training, never mind all that stuff too.

Anyway, I felt OK this morning. Not great, not bad, just OK. My legs got fairly tired around 6-7k, but I perked up a bit about 8.5k on the very slight downhill back to Liberty Park. Now, at lunch time, I feel very sleepy (a very boring/incomprehensible Research In Progress talk did not help matters much) and a bit stiff. I hope my legs recover, because I have 30K tomorrow. It's supposed to be very icky out, too - cold and rainy, turning to snow by afternoon, with lots of wind. It's possible that I'll do the 30K indoors if it's really bad. There's a 442m track around the Utah Olympic Oval (speed skating venue from the 2002 Olympics) that is a possibility if necessary.

Totals: 12K in 1:14:44 for 6:14/km (10:01/mile) with ave HR 141.

Garmin connect data here.

8K fartlek - 27-second PR!

2011-11-10T12:53:00.001-07:00

Happy me! I keep getting faster! I'm not sure where it's coming from, but I don't mind at all. Today I was only about a minute slower than Erin was when she came here last summer and did this workout. Of course, she is MUCH faster now, but still...it made me happy to be even somewhat close to her slow times.

It's been pretty cold all week in the mornings. Yesterday it was 26F (-3C) and it was the same today. Once I'm warmed up, though, it's not so bad, because it's been calm and dry. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts today, long tights, a headband, and gloves, and that was fine. Add a bit of wind and rain or snow, and it gets ugly. It's supposed to rain Saturday morning for my 30K. Ugh.

I didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning, and was slightly sore in my legs. I'm glad I did, though! Once I got to the track I had an unremarkable warm-up (about 10 min for 1600) and felt decent. I started off quite fast, with 5:27 for my first 1K, and stayed fast. All of my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47, with one 2:48. My medium 500s were all under 3 min, at 2:56-2:59! I was working it pretty hard, but I was able to focus on my technique and I felt quite smooth and strong.

Total time: 45:40, for 5:42/km (9:11/mile), with ave HR of 160. Yup, that is 27 seconds faster than last week's 46:07!

Garmin connect data here.

15K

2011-11-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling pretty well-recovered after the race. My legs were sore and stiff on Sunday, but felt OK on Monday (rest day) despite the 10-hr car ride. Yesterday I did the elliptical for 45 minutes, and it felt great.

I was only a little sore this morning when I woke up, and I figured I'd have a good walk. It did feel good until about 10K (5K split around 31, 10K around 1:02:20), and then my legs were fairly tired and heavy to the finish. I still kept a decent pace, finishing the 15K in 1:33:57 for 6:16/km with ave HR of 145. I'm not so sure how I'll feel tomorrow for my 8K fartlek, but no matter. If I'm tired, I'll just do the best I can and get a good workout in.

Garmin connect data here.

Two Cities Half Marathon

2011-11-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

Weather: about 50F (10C), or maybe upper 40s, calm, and clear. The promised showers never materialized, thankfully. Really perfect race weather. I wore my new arm-warmers for the first 3 miles or so then stuffed them in my shorts waistband because I didn't need them after that.

Warm-up: about 1500m with Diana, pretty fast, about 5:45/km. It was fun! We also hung out with Becky & Art Klein, Doreen, and Alex before the race (all racewalkers).

The race: It felt easy at the start to do a 5:45/k pace, so we started off at that speed, getting to the first mile in 9:21. Then the 2nd mile was a bit uphill, and my shoelace came untied because I forgot to double-knot the right one (and hadn't yet put lace locks on these shoes - bit mistake!). Diana went ahead, but after I tied my shoe I accelerated and caught her. Unfortunately, I pushed "stop" on my watch when I tied my shoe (habit from workouts...grrrrr) and then thought I hit start but actually didn't. I didn't notice for about 1km, until I got to 2 miles and looked at my splits in confusion. Uh-oh. How annoying! I felt very good through about 4-5 miles (Diana says our 5K was about 29:30ish; she was right behind me), and then I had to push a bit more to keep the pace. I was slowing, still, but after 10K (in about 59:30) I picked it up going down the nice hill and did a 9:14 mile. That helped my cadence increase a bit, and I felt able to push through the next mile (9:25) and then up the hill at a 9:50 pace, much faster than last year's pace up the hill. The hill seemed smaller this year, too, though the gradual incline after the big hill makes it hard to keep pushing to the finish. Still, I pulled off a 9:32, then a 9:36, and finally 2 miles in 19:07 (forgot to press lap at mile 12) and then 1:02 for the last 0.1 (slight uphill there).

Total time from the chip: 2:05:33 for 5:57/km (9:35/mile) and a new PR by almost 2 minutes! Jim figures that my 20K was just under 1:59 (seems right). I'm pleased that I walked a very consistent pace from start to finish (except for the hill) and that I felt so good pushing to the finish this year. Last year it was really tough those last 2-3 miles, but this year, while I was working hard, it was much better - I felt stronger and able to push, and kept my pace all the way to the finish.
Family photo post-race:

Awards: LOVE this race...post-race they give out sundaes, a hot breakfast, a finisher sweatshirt (in addition to the tech-T in the goody bag at the expo), AND great awards. For winning the 1/2 I got a gift certificate from a local running store for a FREE pair of New Balance shoes! I picked out these NB1400s (awesome shoes BTW). I also got a gorgeous charm necklace from www.endureshop.com, worth $68+. It has 2 charms, one that says XIII.I (13.1) and one that has the race logo on it.

Garmin connect data here.

elliptical

2011-11-05T21:40:00.002-06:00

Today I did 30 min on the very lousy elliptical at the hotel. I wanted to do longer, but let's just say that the machine frustrated me, and the room was too hot. Enough said.

My legs are still quite sore from the driving on Thursday. I hope that I can still RW fast tomorrow for the 1/2 marathon.

I enjoyed a wonderful pre-race taco bar dinner with the walkers from the SF Bay Area. Very enjoyable to hang out, eat delicious tacos, and talk racewalking. It will be super to see everyone in the morning and walk with them!

10K with 2x6' at 20K pace

2011-11-04T10:09:00.000-06:00

I felt stiff and very sore this morning. It really hurts to do a hard 8K fartlek and then sit in the car all day :(. I wasn't optimistic for this morning's 10K, but it turned out pretty well. I'm not so sure about the GPS readings this morning - sometimes when I went pretty easy my times were fast for 500s, and sometimes when going hard (on the 2nd fast 6' segment, for example) the times seemed slow. Who knows. Doesn't matter.

The weather was good - 50F (10C) and humid, with slight drizzles here and there.

The workout - started fast, with a few 2:59s for 500s, and then when I sped it up for the first fast 6' segment it wasn't much faster, at 2:55 and 2:52 from 2K-3K. Then I eased up a bit until 6K and my 2nd fast segment was 2:52 and 2:59 (? really? working harder than that...weird).

Total time 1:00:53 for 6:05/km (9:49/mile) with ave HR 147.

Now to rest up (x-training tomorrow) a bit before Sunday's race (Two Cities Half Marathon).

Garmin connect data here.

cross-training; 8K fartlek PR

2011-11-03T10:02:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I cross-trained; 1 hr on elliptical and core exercises with Lisa, including a 2 minute plank :).

***

Today: 8K fartlek.
Weather: 35F (about 1.5C?), clear, and calm. Chilly.
Other: ate a banana before the workout and it sat like a rock in my stomach. I often have a banana so not sure what was up this morning; later in the workout I got a bit of a side stitch. Didn't seem to affect me too much.

I felt good and fast. 5:28 for the first km, then fasts were all 2:45-2:48 and medium 500s were 2:58-3:03. Total time - new PR of 46:07. Ave HR was 165 - working it good and hard. I'm tired now.

Garmin connect data here.

an off day

2011-11-01T13:08:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I took a day off. Today I had an off day.

I was to do 12K. First, I overslept by about 15 minutes. Then, it was raining. And, I felt nauseated for most of the workout (Michelle had some stomach flu thing and threw up twice on Friday, and my stomach has been off since Sunday night).

As for the rain, at first there was not much - just drizzles, but during the last 4-5k of my walk it was raining pretty hard. I wore my baseball cap and my new waterproof jacket (works pretty well!); it was 40F (4C) and I was as comfortable as one can be in the rain I suppose. My legs got a bit chilled (wearing tights, but they did get wet) and though I started off reasonably well, with my first 5K in 30:40, but by about 7.5K I really lost it (think splits of 3:22, 3:23, etc), and my 2nd 5K was 32:20. I just could not keep my legs moving very fast. It felt weird. Between the rain and the nausea and the chilly legs I was fairly miserable and just wanted to be done. Plus I was late and had to get the kids to school. I gave up, and packed it in before I could finish the last 1.8K.

Total: 1:04:24 for 10.18K, 6:18/km, ave HR 145.

I forgot to bring my Garmin cable so no connect data right now.

I still feel icky. Wish I could get a nap this afternoon, but there's no way that's going to happen...sigh...

30K

2011-10-30T13:00:00.002-06:00

In a hurry so this will be brief. Weather: 36F (2C) to start; 40F (4C) when I finished. It was clear, calm, and fair. A bit chilly, but warmer than yesterday and overall pretty nice walking weather. It was dark for the first 15K but at least then it was light for the rest of the workout.

I felt pretty good today but not great like last weekend. At 7.5K I had to stop to take a few puffs from my inhaler, as I was coughing a fair amount. It seemed to help; I took a few more puffs when I finished, and despite that I still had a giant coughing fit when I got home. Anyway, at 8K I stopped for the restroom (no GI trouble, just hydrated well I guess!). I was feeling good and moving well for the whole workout for the most part. I took candy or gels at 10K, 17.5K and 25K, along with some water and electrolyte solution. My legs were definitely feeling it the last 5-10K, but I wasn't overly sore, just the normal amount of tired from going so far.

My 5K splits were nice and consistent: 31:06, 31:15 (1:02:21), 31:07 (1:33:28), 31:11 (2:04:39), 30:59 (2:35:38), 31:11 (3:06:52); my HR rose throughout the workout since I kept a steady pace.

Total time: 3:06:52, 6:14/km (10:01/mile), ave HR 148.

Garmin connect data here.

USATF-Utah/Wasatch Walkers 3K race

2011-10-29T17:03:00.001-06:00

Our club had our first judged race in 3 years, so I rearranged my training schedule to be able to do it; I'll do my scheduled 30K walk tomorrow instead.

It was cold (33F, 0.5C) but calm and fair at the 8 am start. My warm-up was short (just 1k) as I got to the race a bit late because I had to bring my husband (he was timing) and kids (Calvin took video, and Michelle just watched). I took off as fast as I could while keeping good technique, but I wasn't as fast as I wanted to be. I was hoping for perhaps a 5:20 pace, but my splits were 5:23, 5:27, and 5:33. Sigh...no fast twitch muscles right now, which is what happens when you are training for a 50K. I was working it really hard and there was just nothing there.

Still, it's a 23-second PR, so I can't be too unhappy with it, but I admit I was a bit disappointed. My coach said he was thinking I'd do low 16s...I thought that 16:30 was more likely, honestly, but I was hoping the coach was right. I was closer to the truth. Jim says my fast twitch muscles are just not properly activated, and that if I did another 3K soon it would be lots better.

When I finished I had a serious coughing fit. My exercise-induced asthma hates the cold. I've got to start remembering to bring my inhaler with me on the cold days. My face was also really cold and numb-ish. I noticed I had a bit of trouble talking just after I finished - the muscles around my mouth didn't work quite right! Funny, because it wasn't THAT cold, but I guess I'm not used to it after the nice warm summer and fall. Bummer...

The weather is supposed to be a bit warmer (41F, 4C) for my 30K tomorrow, for which I'm grateful. Now to figure out a convenient route near home.

Side note about the 500m splits: the watch automatically did the splits at 500m, 1.5k, and 2.5k; they were close but not exact - the 1k, 2k and finish splits I did manually at the marked splits, which were measured with a measuring wheel.

Garmin connect data here.

10K

2011-10-28T20:39:00.002-06:00

It was cold again this morning, at 31F (-0.5C), and dark of course. I wanted to finish my 10K by 7 am so I could meet Lisa at the gym, but I was late getting out of bed and I was therefore quite late to the gym. I still went, and did some core work with her, but I wished I could have done more. Sort of :).

I was tired and heavy-legged this morning, and I knew after a few km that I wouldn't be fast. However, that's totally irrelevant, as I did a very hard 10k workout yesterday, and as my coach says, "The body is not a robot". No kidding. It has a mind of its own.

Total time 1:02:44 for 6:16/km (10:06/mile). Average HR 142.

Garmin connect data here.

10K fartlek - 39 second PR!

2011-10-27T09:53:00.001-06:00

We had a cold front come through and it's quite chilly. While it's cold, it's not rainy or windy, so it wasn't too bad this morning. But I admit that getting up in the cold and dark to hit the track for a 10K fartlek is not easy at all. It was 31F (-0.5C) and there was a slight breeze at the track, which is not particular pleasant when it's that cold. However, I was warm enough; I wore tights, 2 long-sleeved shirts, the fleece Nyle gave me (just for 800m of the warm-up, at which point I was too warm in it), gloves, and a headband/ear warmer. Towards the end of the workout I even pushed the sleeves up on the shirts.

I felt good on the warm-up. I did the 1600m in 9:42, with some strides on the last lap. I stretched out a bit and got going.

Today's workout was strong and very consistent, and I'm proud of it. I focused a lot on keeping my technique smooth, bringing my knees and hips through low, and using my glutes. I worked hard on the last 4km to keep my pace up on the fast 500s, because I really wanted them all to be under 2:50. They were :), with almost all of them 2:48-2:49. And most of my medium effort 500s were about 3:02; the fastest was 2:57 and slowest was 3:05. It was a good workout, despite the cold and dark (it remained quite dark until the last 2km or so). I worked hard, but not excessively so. It's great to have my heart rate monitor back again! My ave HR was just 157, and my max 165, so I had a bit of room to spare. Mind you, I was not taking it easy at all though! I was just doing a good, hard, workout at a pace that was hard without bludgeoning myself.

Splits: 5K 28:47, 8K 46:24, 10K 58:09 (5:49/km; 9:22/mile).

Fun side note: there was a runner on the track too, and I lapped her about 5 times :). Yeah, she was slow, but still...I love passing runners!

Garmin connect data here.

cross-training

2011-10-27T09:28:00.001-06:00

Busy day yesterday, so I didn't post. My cross-training consisted of the following: 1) 30' on the elliptical at the gym (4.22 miles), 2) weight training for 30 min + core with Lisa, and 3) biking up the hill to work (23' or so).

I was very tired and wanted to go to bed early, but I'm reading a friend's masters' thesis and was up a bit late working on it. I'm still not done and am meeting with her at 3pm today. Yikes! I'll fit it in somehow.

20K @80% effort

2011-10-25T20:44:00.001-06:00

Sue and I at the 2008 Nike Women's Marathon (my first marathon)

Today's workout was 20K at 80% effort. It was a bit tough, for sure. I knew by 5K that I was working harder than on Saturday but wasn't any faster (in fact, I was a bit slower than on Saturday for the 25K). Darn. But what matters is getting out there and putting out the good effort.

The weather was decent; 48F when I started (9ishC?) and 46F when I finished - yes, a cold front is coming through and it might freeze tonight or tomorrow night. 48F is nice and warm for this time of year but it was a bit windy.

My legs felt heavy by 7.5K so I stopped for some Clif Shot Blocks and water, briefly. I was definitely working harder than on Saturday...ugh! I went on to 10K where I met my friend Sue, a talented runner (she's done the Boston Marathon), who had agreed to run with me/pace me for the last 10K. I was so glad to see her, as I was tired. She did help me to keep the pace; we stopped briefly at 15K for some more Clif Shot Blocks and also at 17.5K for a bathroom break (she needed it, but so did I as my GI system was acting up a little bit). My last 10K was about the same as the first 10K, despite how tired I was. Friends help. I wish I could train with Nyle...oh well...half a world apart.

5K splits: 30:33, 31:09 (1:01:42), 30:50 (1:32:32), 30:50 (2:03:22) for 6:10/km average and ave HR 145 (got my new HR monitor!).

Garmin connect data here.

almost 12K

2011-10-24T11:30:00.001-06:00

Have to post quickly today - lots to do, sorry! I was to do 12K today, and I did 11.74 of it. My #$&@^ alarm clock didn't go off and I woke up late, so not only did I miss going to the gym w/Lisa, but I barely had time for a workout before taking the kids to school. I cut it a little short because I was so pressed for time :(. Oh well, close enough.

Weather - still really nice for late October. The computer (national weather service) said it was 50F (10C) so I dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, but when I got upstairs my thermometer said 44F (6.7C). Drat! I didn't have time to put on a long-sleeved shirt but I did throw on a pair of gloves. I was a bit chilly but not too bad, as it wasn't windy today. Calm and very beautiful by the end of my workout when the sun finally came up.

My 12K was to have 2x6' bursts at 20K pace. I've been improving a lot so I have no idea what 20K race pace is these days, but I figured it didn't matter much. I'd just push it nice and hard for 6 minutes and see what came out. My first 6' burst was 2:51 and 2:50 (fast!), and after that I did slow down a little. By the time I was about to do my 2nd burst, my legs felt sluggish and I pulled a few slower 500s (3:09). The 2nd burst was a little slower at 2:56 and then 2:51, but still a nice effort. It kicked my legs back into gear and I finished the workout pretty fast, even pulling some 3:08-3:09s up the hill.

Total time for 11.74km was 1:11:47 for 6:07/km (9:50/mile). I have no idea what my heart rate was, as the new heart rate monitor is not here yet; it will probably be a week or so before I have it.

Garmin connect data here.

awesome 25K

2011-10-22T11:19:00.003-06:00

I ate a few questionable things last night (not TOO many, but a few, and not too much, which matters as well) so I was hoping that it would be OK on my long walk today. I know, that wasn't smart, but sometimes...yeah, well. I got away with it though. No GI problems whatsoever. In fact, this walk was almost easy and it felt fantastic.

I started off a bit later than I have lately, because I didn't have to rush at the end to pick up the kids, or get to work, etc. That was a luxury. I'm telling you, training time is something that is not that easy to come by as a working mother. I'm glad I work, as I really enjoy my job, and I love my kids too, but it forces me to be ultra-organized to pack it all in. It was nice this morning to get up at 6 am instead of 4:30 am to do a long walk.

Of course, it was still dark at 6 am (it stays pretty dark until almost 7:30 these days), and it was colder than I thought. At my house it was 46F (7.8C) but at the Jordan River Parkway it was 42F (5.6C), and I'd forgotten my gloves. Uh-oh. Serious bummer. My hands were pretty cold for the first 20K, and then it did warm up a bit with the sun (it was 52F (11.1C) when I finished), and they felt better by the end. But if that's the only complaint I have about this walk, that's pretty minor.

As usual, I was a bit apprehensive about how I would feel and how the walk would go. It's really not fun when you're doing a long one and you start to tank! My first 5K split was nice and fast (30:43) but I felt great and was taking it pretty easy, so I figured it was all right. By 10K (30:48, 1:01:32) I knew things were going well; I still felt fast and smooth and concentrated on my technique and on using my glutes as much as possible.

I stopped briefly to take a gel at 10K, as my hands were really cold and opening one on the run (on the walk?!?) was almost impossible. Side note: I got a whole bunch of gels at about a 50% discount (in bulk) through my friend Nancy, and I was eager to try them. First up today was GU tangerine flavor, which was pretty good, and the second gel was GU Roctane pineapple flavor, which was about as good as a gel gets. Seriously, the toothpaste consistency doesn't help them much at all.

I figured if I made it to 15K feeling fast I would be pretty sure of a good day, and my split of 30:39 (1:32:12) was definitely reassuring. I wished my heart rate monitor was working, because I really don't feel I was pushing all that hard, and yet I was still fast. I felt like it was a 75% effort for most of the walk, with maybe an 80% effort for the last 5K. Now that it was light out, I really enjoyed the beautiful fall weather (chilly, yes, but calm, sunny, and generally gorgeous!), the scenery on the trail, the changing leaves, and seeing the many people out on the trail running, walking, and bicycling. This walk was quite fun! I think it also helped that I allowed myself to listen to my iPod. Usually I don't, as you are not allowed to wear headphones in USATF races like the 50K that I'm training for, but today I decided that a few "This American Life" podcasts and some music (starting at 17.5K) would be just the thing. Yes, at 17.5K I stopped briefly to take another gel (hands still freezing) and change my playlist. Then I was off again, and got to 20K in my fastest split, 30:20 (2:02:32). Wow! I decided to push a little for the last 5K, because I felt so good and I knew I could do it with a rest day coming tomorrow. It wasn't hard to push; my legs were tired, yes, but I still felt pretty fresh. I finished up with a 30:40 for 2:33:11 total; 6:08/km or 9:52/mile. Nice!

Garmin connect data here.

10K. Tired.

2011-10-21T13:18:00.002-06:00

I'm tired. Don't know why I'm so tired, as this hasn't been a super crazy week, but I am. Maybe it's the mileage increase, unaccompanied by extra sleep. I have to try to do better on my sleep habits. It's almost as hard as working on eating habits!

I am still sore today from weights on Wednesday (shoulders, mostly) and my legs are a bit sore, too, probably from the fartlek yesterday. Still, I was able to do a decent job on today's 10K, finishing in 1:02:19 for 6:14/km. The weather was good (clear, calm, 46F (8C)), and there was nothing too remarkable about the workout.

After getting ready for work, I biked up to work again. I was really slow on the bike today - legs were just tired. I actually didn't feel much like working today, which is somewhat unusual for me since I like my job. But like I said, I'm tired.

Hoping for a good night's sleep to help me with my 25K tomorrow.

Garmin connect data here.

10K fartlek PR

2011-10-20T12:49:00.003-06:00

It remains seasonably nice here. The days are beautiful, with highs around 65-70 (about 18-20C), and the fall colors are in full display. It was 43F (6C) this morning when I went to the track, and of course it was still pitch black out. But it was calm and really pretty nice. I wore gloves, tights, and a long-sleeved shirt, but ditched the gloves at about 6 or 7k into the fartlek.

I warmed up with 1600m in 9:53, with a few strides, followed by some dynamic stretching. I felt a bit sluggish on the warm-up, and that continued through the workout. My muscles are a bit sore from yesterday's rowing/weights/etc. but I'm not sure that's why I didn't feel 100%. Regardless, I never felt strong like I did last week, but I felt good enough to get it done and set a new PR. My legs felt quite tired even at 5K, and it was a hard effort to keep the pace, but I (mostly) succeeded. All my fast 500m intervals were 2:48-2:52, and my medium 500m intervals were 2:59-3:05 with one 3:07 (the last one). I screwed up my watch during the 6th km - forgot to push lap on time for my fast interval, and then pushed STOP when I realized my mistake and somehow didn't start it again until about 300ish meters had passed. Oops. My splits read 3:18 and 1:04 for that, but assuming they were actually more like 3:05 and 2:52, then my total for the 10K fartlek was 58:46. I'm happy with that, though I know on a day when I felt a bit stronger I could go faster. Gives me something to shoot for next week, I guess!

Splits: 5:33 (1K), 2:59, 2:49, 3:02, 2:50, 3:03, 2:52, 3:04, 2:52, 3:18 (probably 3:04 or 3:05?), 1:04 (probably 2:52?), 3:04, 2:51, 3:04, 2:52, 3:05, 2:52, 3:07, 2:50.

Other notes: The Army ROTC guys showed up at the track when I was halfway through my workout; however, they did some calisthenics and then played ultimate frisbee on the field, so they weren't in my way at all. Also, my heart rate monitor is still pretty much useless, but the good news is that Garmin is sending me a brand-new one! Yay! Good customer service this time. Finally, after I cleaned up and ate breakfast, I biked uphill to work. My legs were pretty much done when I got here! I'm feeling in need of a nap now, but I have to keep working for a bit longer.

Garmin connect data here.

cross-training

2011-10-19T21:15:00.000-06:00

Rowing (10 min), elliptical (20 min), weight training and core (30 min). Then I biked to work (25 min).

***

It's my mom's birthday, so I made dinner for everyone to celebrate. Homemade whole-wheat spaghetti (yup, used my pasta machine!), salad, spaghetti squash, and chocolate chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert. Happy Birthday, Mom!

nice fast 20K

2011-10-18T15:34:00.002-06:00

Today's workout was another 20K, but this time I was to shoot for 6:10-6:15/km. Basically, Jim wanted me to push it a little bit harder than usual. So I did, giving it probably 80% effort. Though my legs were a bit tired from yesterday, I was able to coax them into a good effort for a couple of hours. In other good news, I had no GI problems, and the weather was seasonably nice. By that I mean that it was chilly, but that it was a pretty nice morning for late October. It was 40F (4C) and calm and clear.

The first 5K was a bit harder than yesterday, but at 30:26 I wasn't complaining. The next 5K was definitely a bit harder, but I got in a good rhythm and was able to hold the pace, and finished it in 30:45 for 1:01:11 for 10K. Nice! I was a bit worried my legs would crash on me, as they were getting tired, but they didn't feel heavy and nasty and glycogen-depleted. I had forgotten my water (but not my sports beans, thankfully!) so I had to make sure I was in Liberty Park at the water fountain around 10K and 15K when I ate the jelly beans. That worked out fine, and I pushed to make it back to the park at 15K, with splits of 30:40 (1:31:50). I did tire during the last 5K; however, it's a slight uphill, and noticeable when your legs are tired. I still finished it in 31:11 for a total of 2:03:03. That's even faster than the fast 20K I did on Saturday :). Of course, I did push harder, so I'm glad I was faster. I think my heart rate was probably close to 150 most of the time, and more like 155 at the end. My HR monitor is still not really working, but it did have some readings at the end that looked OK. I'm waiting on Garmin customer support to get back to me.

I had a busy day at work, so I'm just now finishing this up at 3:30 pm, and I'm feeling decent. My legs are definitely sore and a little stiff, but it's not too bad. Tomorrow is a cross-training day, so at least they'll get a little rest from racewalking before my 10K fartlek on Thursday.

Garmin connect data here.

12K

2011-10-17T15:40:00.001-06:00

The weather fooled me today. It looked overcast but dry; however by the time I got dressed and went out it started to rain, and it was 50F (10C). So I went back in and put on my new waterproof jacket and a baseball cap. It didn't rain very hard, but it rained moderately for about 20-30 min of my walk, so I was glad I had the jacket. Then it stopped and was clear. Not too bad, all things considered.

I felt good and walked pretty fast. I got to 5K in just about 30:10 (slight downhill). I figured this would be a good walk, as I was well-recovered from my 20K on Saturday (I took a rest day yesterday) and my legs were barely sore after the 20K anyway. About 10K I saw two girls with a kitten; I turned around just after seeing them (planned) and they were staring up a tree. The kitten had gone higher than they could reach. I asked if I could help, and they said yes. I got the kitten (easily within my reach) and asked if I could help them take it home. They said they were late to school for breakfast, and that their kitten had followed them and they were worried about it. They told me where they lived and I returned the kitten to their house (their uncle answered the door and was quite confused when I handed him the kitten - though he did figure it out!).

This must have been my day for adventures, because around 11K I crossed 700E and said hi to the school crossing guard stationed there. We chatted while I was waiting for the light and he asked me if I wanted a piece of gum...sure, why not? It turned out to be the new Extra dessert gum, mint-chocolate-chip flavor. Mmmmmm.

I went home a different way than usual, and it had a bit less uphill. I might do that again! It was nice!

Total time: 1:13:21 for 12K, 6:07/km and average HR is unknown (I finally have initiated a Garmin service request, so hopefully I'll be able to get a new HR monitor soon). If I had to guess I'd say my HR was about 150, but I really have no idea for sure. I'm feeling good about this walk and hoping for a good 20K tomorrow as well.

Garmin connect data here.

***

In other developments, I tried to give platelets again on Saturday. I haven't tried at all this year because of all the races/business/etc., and besides, I wanted my iron levels to have plenty of time to return to normal. Turns out that my hematocrit, which was as low as 35 last spring, is now 38 :). That's high enough to donate! However, I found out that ear piercing disqualifies you from donating for a year. I had mine pierced in June. Bummer. I was pretty disappointed about not being able to donate, but at least I know my hematocrit is better now.

a little video

2011-10-15T21:12:00.003-06:00

Here's a video of me racewalking on Thursday afternoon; I'd done an 8K fartlek that morning so I was a bit stiff and hadn't warmed up all the way, but it looks all right despite that. Just a few minor form comments by the coach, so that's good.

fast 20K :)

2011-10-15T13:44:00.003-06:00

Finally! A nice fast distance session!

Everything was great today - even the weather cooperated. It was 55F (13C) to start, and 61F (16C) when I finished. It was clear, with just a slight breeze, and really lovely. Fall here can be SO very nice. Of course, it can also snow randomly on you. Hopefully we'll get a few more weeks of nice weather.

I had no GI distress today at all. Zip. Zero. Nada. Now if only I could figure out why today was so good, and other days are so bad. I know that too much fiber is not good, and too much dairy is not good. But I'm thinking now that too much gluten also might be bad. Of course, too much food in general is not good either. Arrrrgh! Too many things to avoid. Seriously, I read somewhere recently (Runner's World?) that this one guy eats nothing but rice the day before a race. I'm thinking that might not be a bad idea!

I did the usual first 5K - 31:04, and was feeling good. I figured I'd tire soon enough; after all, I'd started out fairly sore from the last couple days of racewalking. But I was surprised to get to 10K in 1:02:07 (31:03), and stopped briefly for some jellybeans and water, and to refill my water bottles. My legs did get tired around 12-13K or so, but I was able to keep the pace and they never got heavy and slow like the last couple 20Ks. When I got to 15K in 1:33:10 (31:03) I was quite pleased and decided to push a bit to the finish to see if I could have a nice fast time. My last 5K was the fastest, in 30:59, which should total 2:04:09, but with rounding I guess it's not quite right, because my total was 2:04:06 :). Yay! That's the fastest 20K in a while. Actually, I just looked - it's my fastest 20K of the year besides races, and with really even splits too. Not too shabby at all! I'll take it!

Garmin connect data here.

10K

2011-10-14T14:26:00.001-06:00

10K easy was on the agenda for today. I was definitely a bit sore this morning after yesterday's workout, and by 6K my legs were quite tired. I still managed a respectable time for the 10K, though. I finished in 1:02:58 for 6:18/km, and my HR was in the upper 140s (HR monitor still acting up of course...tried to change the battery but even my small screwdrivers aren't working on it...grrr!). My legs were really tired when I finished, but I still rode my bike to work. It was too nice out not to!

I'm enjoying the great fall weather. It's gone back to being nice and sunny and warm again, with highs in the upper 60s and low 70s, and lows in the upper 40s. This morning, it was 47F (8.3C) and clear and calm; I wore a T-shirt and shorts and was a bit chilly but it felt invigorating. It's supposed to stay nice through next week, though they really can't predict well more than 48 hours in advance here. Regardless, I'm enjoying it.

Yesterday my friend Nancy and I taught a racewalking clinic for our club in the afternoon. We got some good video of the club members and used it for instant feedback. With me behind the camera and Nancy giving everyone valuable tips, it was a lot of fun and everyone looked better at the end of the clinic. I think we may do this more often - it's not hard, and it was really enjoyable.

Hopefully I'll recover well and be ready for 20K tomorrow. If not, I'll be slow, but that doesn't matter. Time on my feet is what counts right now.

Garmin connect data here.

8K fartlek - 39 second PR!

2011-10-13T12:22:00.000-06:00

Today's workout went fabulously well. I felt great, I was fast, and I felt strong for the whole thing. I needed the confidence boost, as I've been feeling a bit sore, slow, and even a little discouraged since the marathon.

The weather was quite nice, at 44F (6.7C), calm, and partly cloudy. I wore capris and a long-sleeved shirt, and wore gloves and a jacket for my warm-up. After a short warm-up (I was running late) of 1200m, I discarded the jacket and started the workout. I felt very strong for the first 3K (5:29.9, 2:56.7, 2:46.7, 3:00.2, 2:47.2) and realized that I was on track for a huge 5K fartlek PR. I then started to worry that I'd gone out too fast, and kept thinking that I'd fatigue and have to slow down a lot, but it never happened. I got to 3K in 17:01, and 5K in 28:38 - wow, that 28:38 is just 2 seconds off my previous track PR. Like I said, I thought I'd fatigue, but I didn't, and my fast 500s were all 2:48 or less. My recoveries were all from 2:56-3:04. Total time: 46:13, and yes, that's 39 seconds faster than my previous PR for this workout (46:52).

I'm really happy with this workout, obviously, and hoping that I didn't go so hard that I won't be able to do my 10km tomorrow and 20km on Saturday. I have no idea what my heart rate was, because my heart rate monitor is worse than useless at the moment - the graph of my HR is all over the place. I really need to call Garmin and get a new one, but I keep forgetting. It's hard to keep track of things for the whole family (for example, I forgot to send my kids to school with their forms for their school pictures today, and had to drive back over there with them later). Anyway, I digress. I'm not feeling terribly sore now (a few hours later, at lunch time), and hopefully I'll stay feeling pretty good.

Garmin connect data here.

***

Edited to add: Forgot to post yesterday, but I did 30 min on the elliptical, some weight training and core with Lisa, and then I biked to work. A good cross-training day.

slow 20K

2011-10-11T12:52:00.000-06:00

I knew this one would be slow, and it was. I was still a bit sore from yesterday/Saturday/weight training/whatever. My coach even said it was OK to be slow today, but that didn't really make me feel any better about it. It's discouraging to feel like you're starting all over again! I know I'm not, that I have a good base, but still...ugh! Mentally I was fighting the discouragement for the whole walk, once I realized it wasn't going to go so well. I tried to think positively, but gave up after a while.

I started off fine, doing the first 5K in about 31 min, but then it got dicey fast. My legs just got tired. I felt a bit tired from 5-15K, and at 15K I just wanted to be done. The last 5K was ugly; my legs were heavy and tired. Oh well. I got it done. I'm glad tomorrow is cross-training.

On the bright side, the weather was OK (50F, 10C; calm and overcast with slight drizzle occasionally) and I had no GI problems at all :). And I discovered that the strawberry-banana GU is pretty tasty, well, as tasty as GU can be I suppose!

Total time: 2:09:23 for 6:28/km with ave HR in the upper 140s. My heart rate monitor is still acting up, though it was better on the last 1/2 of the walk. It said my ave HR was 153 but that is definitely wrong as it was spiking a lot in the first 5K.

Garmin connect data here.