This week - still not improving

I'm not improving. But then again, I haven't rested well. I wanted to, but with the bathroom remodel comes certain obligations, unless I want to spend even more money, and it's already stupid expensive. I took Sunday & Monday as rest days, but I had to paint on Monday & Tuesday (Tuesday was a holiday here, and I'd arranged for the long weekend). I didn't want to, but that was how the timing went with the remodel. I did have some help from Kathryn (church friend) and Calvin, thank goodness, but even with that it was VERY taxing. It's not a small room, and I had to do the ceiling, and I wanted to do a really, really good job since the rest of the room will be a high end remodel thanks to my amazing contractor Jesse. I got it done, but at the cost of my health I'm afraid.

Add in the 10K "race" I was registered for that I did on Tuesday (the Deseret News 10K, which I usually LOVE to do), walking casually with Calvin, and racewalking just 3K (time 1:22), and that put me over the edge. I was really just dead on my feet. 

I went back to work on Wednesday and felt terrible. Definitely no exercising. I intended to just work a few hours and take some sick time, because of how I felt, but I ended up staying for my usual ~7 hours. Same on Thursday, though I felt a bit less terrible and did 20 min elliptical before work. On Friday I actually felt better, and did 30 min elliptical before work.

On Friday I also had an appointment with the hematologist to see what he thought about my anemia. Remember, I have mild anemia with a hemoglobin of 12.3 and hematocrit of 37.5. Normal for women is 13 and 39, minimum. I have a history of at least 7 years of mild anemia and my family doc thought I should get it worked up with my continuing fatigue and my desire to racewalk competitively. Add in a low white count and mild neutropenia (low # of neutrophils, which help fight infection) and it was cause to get a referral. The hematologist was excellent (and in fact, knows my boss in a roundabout manner), and we hit it off well. He looked me over carefully, took a thorough history, and had good news and bad news. The good news is that I don't have a major hematologic disorder (like, say, blood cancer). The bad news is that I have what they call "anemia of chronic disease", which means that my anemia is merely symptomatic of some other disease process, likely chronic inflammation of some type or some autoimmune disorder. Since I've been to rheumatology (the autoimmune specialists) and they didn't find anything, this is more perplexing. There is something wrong, but no one knows what it is. He suggested an immunologist, perhaps, but the direction is a bit unclear from here. I am definitely going to go back to my family medicine doc and sports medicine doc and see if they have further advice.

Meanwhile, something is very, very wrong, and I have no idea what or how to feel better. It's bad enough now that it is affecting my work and personal life, which is worse than just affecting racewalking. It's bad enough that social media is painful because then I see all my racewalker friends' accomplishments and feel worse. On the bright side, I seem to be over the worst of it as far as my antidepressant withdrawal. I'm still pretty emotional, but the nausea, dizziness, headaches, and brain zaps are gone. Still, it will take my body a while to make more serotonin, and I'm likely to feel fairly lousy for a bit because of that, which is definitely not helping things. I'll get through this, but it's not fun.

SLC Half Marathon - 2017 edition

Friday: rest day, with some gentle hiking with my friend Lois in Red Butte Garden. Awesome.

Saturday: Salt Lake City Half Marathon!

I woke ready to go and feeling pretty good. Had a banana and grabbed my stuff, but forgot my Garmin. At least I have my fitbit, but I can't do splits on it. Oh well! I didn't mind too much as I was doing this just as a training race. I was excited to get out there and enjoy the camaraderie, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Started off low 40s (~5C) and sunny and calm, and ended at probably 50F (10C).

Took it easy for the first 5 miles (a couple small steep uphills but mostly gentle downhill), and then through mile 6.5 it's a relentless though gentle uphill. That takes a lot out of you, but I took it easy and it was OK. A little more downhill and then one more difficult uphill (hard to racewalk legally near the top) before coasting down to mile 8-9. The kids were supposed to greet me at mile 8.5 but didn't :/ ah well.

I still felt pretty good in miles 8-10; legs got pretty tired around mile 10 but I took a gel and that seemed to revive me a bit (or it was just a coincidence!). Either way, I was able to do the last couple miles pushing it just a little (moderate-moderately hard) and I felt very good - tired, but good. After crossing the finish line I felt fine and recovered well the rest of the day, although it was a bit of a crazy schedule. Church stuff has been super busy with being on the search committee for a new pastor, and we had a lot of stuff to do this weekend, so that made recovery harder, but I am hoping to sleep well tonight.

Oh, and my time? A reasonably respectable 2:21:37 - for out of shape and just enough training to go the distance, I will take that. Fitbit data here. 

I'm definitely sore today, probably from the hills and the extra effort the last couple miles, but it's a good kind of sore. Hoping to hit the gym for some weights this week and do a lot of cross-training. Onward! Need to get ready for Portland to Coast in August, and then still setting my sights on WMA in Malaga, Spain in 2018.

Emigration Canyon 10-miler (16K), 6K

Busy week (as usual lately - too busy - am working to change this). Not proud of it and hoping things will calm down a bit.

Saturday I did the Emigration Canyon 10 mile race (16K) and enjoyed it a lot despite being slow and getting quite sore because of the large amount of downhill. It was uphill for 2k and then downhill for 13K and then more or less flattish for 1K. Tough course but so pretty. I finished in 1:46:01 for 6:33 per km (my watch said 16.2km), which is slow for that much downhill, but I don't care right now. Just glad I did it. That afternoon I worked very hard in the yard for 3 hr, getting rid of major weed problems. Yay spring :) for flowers but :( for weed eradication and the resumption of yard work. I'm not a fan.

Sunday I cross-trained 45 min on the elliptical followed by a soak in the hot tub at the gym to ease my muscles and help me relax. It felt great.

My muscles were still quite sore today and it really hurt to start racewalking but once I'd done about 500m it felt better, and though I was slow again, at least it got done. 6K in 40:22 for 6:44/km with ave HR 143. Yeah...slow...oh well. I'm heavy and out of shape, but hey, I got out there and got it done.

Now if I can just sleep enough to keep the fatigue at bay and help with weight management. I'm still attending my Weight Watchers meetings and am down over 7lb since January but still have a ways to go.

One of the things that's keeping me really busy is that I'm on the pulpit committee at church, helping us find a new pastor (our previous pastor got a great new job at a large church in New York City; we miss him). It's a ton of work and lots of meetings, but actually has been interesting and fun.

OK...got to run...lots to do :). Including SLEEP hopefully.

Canyonlands 5-miler; feeling better

I've been feeling better since mid-February or so, which is great. I've been trying to get more sleep, but other than that I'm not sure what the difference is. It seems kind of random, as it has for the past 4 years, so I guess I'm just happy to be feeling better.

On Saturday (the 18th) I did the Canyonlands 5-miler. I was originally registered for the half marathon, but after the 2 weeks of fatigue in January I had to drop to the 5-miler. I was a bit bummed about that, but glad I could at least still do something. Calvin was slated for the 5-miler as was my friend Diane, so that worked well; plus, the weather was crazy warm on Saturday and the people doing the half really suffered at the end, so I guess it all worked out for the best.

I have actually been able to ramp up my long day just a little the past few weeks, from 8km to 10km, and so I decided to do 12km on race day. I did 2km out and back before the race started, and had the whole road to myself, which was absolutely stunning (at left). I got back just about 1min before the gun went off (perfect timing!) and then did the 8km of the race. My total time worked out to 6:36/km for the 12km, which was great considering how out of shape I am and also the hills and the warmth of the day, which I'm not used to yet.

Calvin and Diane had very good races and placed well in their age groups, I got Loren a couple beers at the finish line beer garden, and Grace enjoyed playing on the playground in the park, so we all had a great time. Plus add in some great food, swimming/hot tub at the hotel, and some amazing hikes (Saturday: Tower Arch; Sunday: Delicate Arch) and it was a great weekend. The only downer was the crazy 4WD road in Arches that totally tore up our car (eeek!); it was designed for high clearance vehicles but there was no sign advertising this and so we were in over our heads in our Rav4. Fortunately Loren was quite skillful so we didn't get stuck or roll the car (both very real possibilities on this crazy road) and the only damage was to our muffler. We got it fixed today for $182 so that could've been a lot worse.

More pics:

Delicate Arch

Pasta Jay's (Calvin's fave!)

***

Monday I did some elliptical to let my body recover.

Today I went out for a gentle 6K and my legs were still a little sore from the hiking, etc. so I wasn't surprised to be a bit slow at 6:48/km. But it felt fine and I plan on 8K on Thursday and 14K on Saturday. Fingers crossed to keep feeling good as I have a race registration for the Salt Lake Half in April and I can do it if things keep going all right.

Off to bed - I have been finding that extra sleep is very helpful with the fatigue thing.

I'm baaaaack!

Well, after a relaxing vacation and then a 3-day weekend last weekend (including a 10K race that I was ill-prepared for but did anyway (1:03:35....ugh! But what did I expect?)), I feel ready to train again. I wasn't sure I would, but I really do want to do it. My hamstring is MUCH better - 95% of normal I'd guess - and I want to refocus. I'm thinking of doing the national 30K in NY on November 6, and that seems like a reasonable goal, as it's 15 weeks away and though I'm out of shape I've been walking enough that we can ramp up fairly quickly, assuming I continue to feel well.

Speaking of that, I have been a bit fatigued the past week (since returning from vacation) which seems pretty normal, but it seems to be a bit more than I'd expect. Plus I have a nagging toothache, and I got the tooth checked out by the dentist and it's FINE (he's checked twice, including x-rays). It occurred to me this morning that maybe I have some sinusitis going on (!) and that is causing the pain and fatigue. So I made a doctor's appointment for Monday to get it checked out. My dentist is awesome so I really believe there is nothing wrong with the tooth, and it's not unusual for me to have tooth pain with sinusitis, so maybe that's it. A strong decongestant and possibly antibiotics might do the trick?

Anyway, this morning I did a track workout, albeit a short one. East High is done being resurfaced and it is really nice now! Plus it was unlocked!!! YAY!

I did a 1600m warm-up with strides in 10:12, and then some dynamic drills. Guess what? The hamstring one did NOT hurt for the first time since December! WOOHOO! My 3x1km was pretty bad, but 1) I did a whole bunch of hammy PT at the gym yesterday and my legs were still sore, and 2) on Monday I did a 10K race plus a moderately hard hike, so yeah, my legs were feeling it. My times were (ugh!) 5:57.2, 6:03.1, 6:00.8. HR was in upper 160s-low 170s at the end of each of the last two, so I was working hard, but apparently I have no more fast twitch muscles, haha! That'll change.  Garmin data here.

15K national championships

As you might expect, given my lack of conditioning, I was slow. But I didn't think I'd be *THIS* slow. I figured I could at least manage 6:25/km. Nope. About 8km in I was hurting, and slow, and chafing, and I started to cry when Karen S (>60yo, very fast, but still...much older than me) passed me...and I couldn't see Marianne M (>65yo, also very fast) either. Neither of them has ever beaten me before. I could hardly breathe for a while because I was crying while walking :(. I mean, I should have known, but it was just hard to see how truly awful I've become.

Coach assures me that with speed work more regularly and longer, that in 3-4 months I'll be better. That's a long time. Not good enough to make plans for Perth WMA, so I'm probably not going. Better to save $ for Spain in 2018 and take the family with me, since the kids are learning Spanish in school (dual immersion program).

The nice thing about the 15K was the girlfriends' weekend (though poor Diane was very, very sick and we had to take her to the ER on the way down; she's doing better now and will be OK), getting away and relaxing, seeing RW friends, and best of all, walking a lap with some very good American racewalkers from the past - Curt Clausen and Susan Armenta. That was pretty fun - I even have pics of me with them. If I'd been in shape I could've kept up with them easily and that would've been even more fun, but as it was, I couldn't hold even that pace.

The other good thing? Hammy and foot didn't bother me much; pain at most 1/10.

My time was about 1:38:12. Ughhhhh. I was 7th overall so didn't even get an open medal (they give them for 1-6). I did get first in my age group, but I was the only one...geez.... :(

***

Monday - rest day after the race; drove all the way home. Hammy didn't like that, but after a night's sleep it recovered.

Tuesday - 6K easy with Calvin and the dogs, in ~39:15 (watch was waaaay off the first 500m so this is a guesstimate) for 6:32/km. Not too bad. Nothing hurt much; hammy a little sore at times, but mostly 0-1/10.

Today - elliptical and PT exercises.

Salt Lake Half Marathon - 10th consecutive year! 2007-2016 :)

Yes, this was my first half marathon in 2007, and I've done it every year since, even in 2014 when I walked it in just over 3 hr (slowly!) because I was too sick to go faster. My fastest time was 2:03 and change, before the course got harder 3 years ago; that's still my half marathon PR. This year I was 2:19 and change. I took my time and made sure my hamstring survived OK. The hills on the new course are really tough, and despite that it's a net downhill it is still a very challenging course and I was happy to finish.

My hamstring didn't bother me much - at most it was sometimes a 2/10, but it was 0-1/10 pain level for most of the race. My legs felt strong and good until about the last 2km, when my right leg got very tired and I felt that my hamstring and calf on the right were a bit wobbly/iffy. I probably was compensating for weak/tired/injured left leg, so I have to be careful of that this week. Otherwise, everything was good and I think my recovery is proceeding.

The weather was cold but not windy until after the race (yay!) and it was beautifully clear (yay!). The temps were about 2.2C to start (36F) and about 46-48F at the finish (8-9C).

Garmin data here. 

I'm way tired and trying to get some sleep soon so not gonna write more now - seems like this pretty much sums it up. Photos from the last 10 years:

Canyonlands Half Marathon 2016 edition

Pre-race: we got here late last night, at about 9:45pm, because Grace had skiing lessons at Snowbird until 4:30pm. But the drive went well, and we arrived feeling good. I discovered that if I leaned the front seat back quite far that my hamstring was much happier, and Grace (sitting behind me) did OK with that, for which I was very thankful.

This morning: My hamstring felt good, and my legs felt rested and ready to go. We picked up our packets at the late packet pick-up, got Calvin on the bus for the 5-miler, and then Diane and I (we drove my friend Diane down for the race) walked to the half marathon buses. The scenic drive up the canyon next to the Colorado River on highway 128 is great, and even better, we got to traverse that route for the race :). Have I said yet that I love this race? All except the last 2 miles, on highway 191 back into town, which is hot and noisy, and by then you're tired! 

The race: The weather was amazing; it was calm for a while when we were waiting for the start (they bus you up there 1.5-2 hr before the race), and it was the warmest it's been pre-race. It was 13.9C (57F) at the start at 10 am. Lovely! The wind picked up and was 16kph (10mph) but it was swirling and wasn't too much of a factor as it wasn't a headwind most of the time, only occasionally. 

I felt great and quite strong for almost the whole race. I focused a LOT on my form and keeping my pelvis properly aligned. I did get quite tired at about 18.5-19km, but hey, with how little training I've had, to only have the last 2-2.5km be difficult was terrific. 

And yes, I was slow - slowest I've done this race - but it actually felt better than the last two years when I really lost it the last 3-4 miles. This time I felt much stronger. I'm pretty pleased with my slow time :), especially because the hamstring only bothered me a bit - pain was mostly 0-1/10, with occasional spikes to 2, but easily controlled with form adjustments. I think I'm finally pretty much better!!!

Oh, and I got a fun compliment about mile 11. A runner passed me, and she said, "I think you are SO bad-ass for walking this whole thing" :). 

2:18:58 for 6:35/km (hilly race, so this is pretty good I think, compared to recent workouts), with ave HR 155. 

***

Best of all, Calvin did the 5-miler and got FIRST PLACE in the 11 and under age group!!!! I am so proud of him!!!!!!!! :)

Happy New Year! New Year's Revolution Run 2016

On the first lap I knew this was going to be a tough day. I don't know why, but my left piriformis/other muscles were quite annoyed today without any racewalking. My best guess is that the cross-country skiing I did yesterday afternoon with the kids aggravated it? I didn't feel it hurting but who knows? I did fall once going downhill, 'cause I stink at skiing :). But the fall was gentle and I didn't have any pain afterward. I'll probably never know. 

I really, really wanted to do the half marathon though. About lap 20 (of 47, in lane 2 (448.3m/lap) - that's 21.07km but I did walk one lap slowly at the end to ensure a full half haha!) I thought maybe it wasn't gonna happen. But with massage and glute activation every 9-10 laps, and stopping briefly to grab snacks in the latter half of the race (ate a Gu and also some cheez-its (yummy! and no tummy problems!), water, gatorade) I made it. If the pain got bad I would have stopped - but it never really got bad. It hovered at about a 1-2 of 10 the whole time, pushing a 3 at the end, but not enough to make me stop. Some of the discomfort, honestly, seemed to be in my glutes themselves, as I know those muscles are adjusting. 

I am sure I had really good posture and used my glutes for the whole race. I worked very, very hard to concentrate and hold it, which I am sure also contributed to the difficulty. This was my slowest half marathon ever, but I did the whole darn thing. 

The kids did great too - Grace did 5K and Calvin did 10K, running some and walking some. My friend Sarah did a half as well, and Diane and Nancy were there too. Diane did a half, and Nancy went farther, doing 15.87 miles (over 25K). Go Nancy!!! She looked good, too. She's been working hard on her form. 

Total time was 2:26:24 for 6:57/km (hey, it was under 7 min....slow but I'll take it, with good form).

Cold Turkey 6K - 2015 edition

Thanksgiving Day! Time for the annual turkey trot. Ours starts at the State Capitol and goes up City Creek Canyon before turning around and descending through Memory Grove. It's a net downhill, but a tough course. I figured if I could do 6:00/km that'd be good, in my current shape. The race is billed as a 6K, but every year my Garmin says 6.22 or 6.23, and the course isn't certified, so I figure it's long and usually go with my Garmin for distance (I know Garmin is not as accurate as a certified course, but I know the race director and he measured it with GPS once, so...yeah...).

Calvin came with me and was hoping to get 1st in his age group like last year (though I repeatedly told him it's all about who shows up!) or at least a PR. The latter seemed entirely feasible, as he's in good shape from soccer and enjoys a good hard run.

We did a short warm-up because we were a bit late (dog puked on carpet...sigh....good thing I have a carpet cleaner!). The weather was much warmer than expected; not that it was warm, but it was predicted to be 18F (-8C) and was actually 30F (-1C). With the sun out at the race start, I removed the sleeves from my jacket and pocketed them, wearing just a long-sleeve with the now short-sleeved jacket. I was warm enough, though in the canyon with no direct sun it was chillier.

When we started off I knew this wasn't going to be easy. It's a slight uphill to start but I was very slow off the line, with my first 500m in 3:12. Ugh. I sped up and did two 3:07s before the real hill started, and then all bets were off because I've done ZERO hill training! I tried to keep it a little under what I was capable of, knowing there would still be 3k after the turnaround. I did 3:15, 3:19 (!) and 3:15 up the hill...geez, slow. But the downhill was reasonably fast, and I finished in 37:12 by the chip for 5:59/km with a low ave HR of 156. I felt I was pushing hard, but I think I could've pushed harder up the hill and a bit after the turnaround (my HR went down after the turnaround so I guess I should've gone faster). The problem was that I wasn't confident enough on the hill to push that hard and know I'd have something left. Too cautious. Oh well! It's still my 4th best on this course, and given where I'm coming from I think it's reasonable. It was fun to be out there.

Calvin did a PR of 31:27, but the competition was stiff this year and he finished 6th with a time that would've won 1st in the age 9-11 group last year. This is his last year in that age group, so he was hoping to do better, but he was pretty good about it and said he had run a good hard race and was very happy with his time, even if he was disappointed with the fact that all the fast boys showed up. The male overall winner did just under 20 min (wow!!!) and the female overall winner did just over 22 min (and was only 17! wow!).

All in all, a great way to start our holiday weekend.  Photos below, including one of the hilarious costume of a hunter...in camo tights with flannel hat and reflective vest and fake gun and nothing else --- brrrr!

catching up!!! 3x800/200; 20 min w/strides; PA-USATF 20K racewalk (regional champs); 10K; 6K fartlek

I got very behind on my blog due to traveling to Chicago for work for 6 days and then to California for the 20K race just one day after I got back from Chicago. After that, it was only 5 days until our housewarming party, and to make matters more complicated, I pulled an abdominal muscle lifting a bag of dog food and was incapacitated for a day. Geez!

I know that my readers (all two of them ;)!) are completely fascinated with my workouts, so I wouldn't want them to miss any. Here's a recap (more for me and my coach...!):

Thursday 10/22 3x800/200 - could NOT catch my breath this morning; freshly back from Chicago, which is much closer to sea level. Maybe I'm a little de-acclimated to altitude? Seems fast, but...anyway, 800/200s were 4:38.4, 1:01.2, 4:38.8, 1:00.5, 4:37.3, 59.6. HA! Faster on each one, even though they were about 5 sec slower than last week's. Oh well.

Friday 10/23 elliptical for 30 min

Saturday 10/24 20 min with strides, at 6:01/km (fast! with Stevie...!). Pulled my left hamstring just a touch on 2nd stride; rested and iced it and it was fine for the race. Whew. Felt good being at sea level, or something :).

Sunday 10/25 PA-USATF 20K racewalk. My apologies for the brief race report...but...well, this is what happens when you get a bit too busy. Something has to give, and I guess it's my blog. We drove to California on Friday (after I did the elliptical) and stayed with my brother in Davis. We being me, Stevie (16yo from Orem), and Stevie's dad, Jim. Jim drove (yay!) and just asked that I chat to keep him company. No problem! We then had all day Saturday to chill, visit the Jelly Belly factory - I brought Calvin too, and Stevie also wanted to go - and try not to do too much. That was easily enough accomplished. Played some Scrabble, helped my brother assemble a dresser, hung out with everyone. Then on Sunday we drove the 30 min to the race in Sacramento, registered, and did the 5K (Calvin) and the 20K (me, Stevie). I am obviously not in shape for a fast 20K, but was at least in shape to DO the distance, and I am soooooo sick of just racing 5Ks that I really wanted to do the 20K, so I did, even though my coach Jim recommended that I do the 5K. I almost always listen to his advice, but this time I just couldn't bring myself to do 5K.

Anyway, in a nutshell: first 10K felt great (31:04 5K, 1:02:15 10K) and then my legs started to tire but still made it to 15K the fastest I've done in a while, and faster than my 15K race in May by a minute (1:33:42 - thought it was:33, but it was :42!). Then the last 5K I really ran out of steam and got a cramp in my left calf which made me very nervous about maintaining form. I was able to hang on and finish in 2:06:03 though, and I'm happy with that especially given my lack of conditioning (hadn't walked 20K since June) and my HR was only an average of 151 for the race! So I think I'm on track for good things if I can stay healthy. Weather was good - 65 at end of race; 55ish at start, humid. A little warm but really very nice.

Monday 10/26 rest day

Tuesday 10/27 elliptical; bike to work

Wednesday 10/28 muscle strain from lifting bag of dog food :( - took off work; didn't work out

Thursday 10/29 muscle strain - better; back at work; didn't work out

Friday 10/30 30 min elliptical - felt fine :)!

Saturday 10/31 easy 10K; muscle strain hurt a bit at the start but was OK after 1k or so. Total time 1:03:10 for 6:19/km. Happy with that.

Sunday 11/1 rest day

Monday 11/2 6K fartlek. This went great! Some muscle strain pain at the start but then all was fine. The weather was nice and warm for November - 49F (10C) and calm and clear early in the morning, with a beautiful sunrise as we were finishing the workout. Kelly met me and did 60 min easy while I did the fartlek; I did the last 7 min with her, jogging slowly, after I finished my workout.

500m fast times were all 2:50-2:53 and medium effort 500m were all 3:05-3:10. Total time 35:41! I'm happy with that. My legs got pretty tired for the last couple km but I held it together fine and finished well.

Jim actually gave me a real program going all the way to our 1hr postal on Dec 19! I'm so excited to be feeling good enough to have an extended training program. Hopefully I'll be able to follow it.

Photos: sunrise this morning, and Kelly and I at the track.

USATF-Utah Association 5K racewalk

Yesterday: 30 min elliptical with Kelly. I was exhausted; had worked 12 days in a row as of yesterday, and with all the house stuff it was a lot. My boss let me off a couple hr early (he's grateful for all the work I did) but did I rest? Only a little, because I'd promised Calvin I'd take him to the bookstore to get a book he's been wanting. When we got home, I did rest for about 30 min, but then we were off to a 50th birthday party and then the symphony. Whew.

Photos: race finishers, at left. Stevie, me, Shelly, Kathy. Below - judges, volunteers, racers.

Today: I wasn't really at all in the mood to race this morning. I had no energy left to mentally put into a race after all the mental energy expended for work and house stuff this week. So while I raced as hard as I could this morning, I think if I'd been in a better mental space I'd have been able to race harder. My heart rate only averaged 162 for the race, which for me is low for a 5K, though I did push very hard the last 500m and my HR got up to 175 max, which is pretty typical for the end of a 5K. Nancy (who was judging today) said that I looked sluggish at the beginning, but that the 2nd time around the park I looked like I was in my game. But in GOOD news, both Jim (also judging) and Nancy said that my posture looked fantastic. HA! I've been working very hard on that, especially with the recent hamstring issue. My hamstring did bother me a bit today, but it wasn't bad, and I did focus a lot on the form.

So - the race. I started off somewhat conservatively, effort-wise, because I really wanted to make sure I had enough gas in the tank for the full 5K. Good thing I did, because my first km was my fastest at 5:47.5 (each km is marked on this well-measured course). Of course, Liberty Park is NOT completely flat, and actually I do not think it's a fast course because of that. But that's not an excuse. I'm clearly not in my best shape, physically or mentally. My 2nd km was the slowest at 5:57.8, but it also has the most uphill of any of the km on this course, and again, I was trying not to go out too hard. I kept a steady effort on the 3rd km, and with its slight downhill it was a bit faster at 5:53.6. The 4th km I held on and tried to pick it up a bit, but with the slight uphill I only managed 5:56.4. I am proud of the hard effort I put forth on the last km; I wanted to do well, and pulled off a 5:52.7.

Total time 29:28.0. Not great, but considering the last 6 weeks, I'll definitely take it. Good speed work to build towards a 20K race at the end of October in Sacramento.

Oh, and for the record, the weather was awesome for this 8am race. Calm, clear, 8.9C (48F). Shorts and T-shirt; a bit chilly in the hands but otherwise good.

Garmin data here. 

Portland to Coast 2015

I was on the winning team again this year; first to the coast of 400 teams! I went in a bit undertrained and it showed on the last leg, but the conditions were adverse so it's hard to know what would've happened otherwise. Regardless, all my teammates put forth astounding efforts and despite a storm for the books, we arrived at the beach only 5 minutes past our predicted time, in 22 hr 19 minutes. Now that's amazing.

Leg 14 (my first leg; the 2nd leg of Portland to Coast). I'd done this one once before, back in 2009, and found it challenging because of the length (6.04 miles) and the gradual hill the last 2 miles for a total of 40m elevation gain and 32m elevation loss in the distance according to my Garmin (though they've changed the leg because it was 5.49 miles in 2009). This time I had someone to chase, as Ashley, a fast 31yo RW that Carmen is working with, got a 30 second head start on me. I narrowed that gap a little to about 20 seconds, but then couldn't hold the pace and ended up finishing about 2 min 30 sec behind her. Still, I'm pleased with my aggressive effort. My HR was quite high for much of the leg (>170 for the last 30 min or so) and it was warm outside and sunny (only 18.9C at the start of the leg, but I am sure it got a lot hotter by the end) and uncharacteristically humid for Portland. I finished in 59:35 (pushed start on my watch a bit late) for 6:08/km (assuming distance as marked in race handbook). The last ~4km were a very hard effort, harder than I'd have liked because of my unpreparedness, but Garmin data here. 

Leg 24 was a new leg for me, but I liked it. Mostly flat, 4.87 miles (7.84km), and I started at 7:30pm when it was a bit cooler out. Still humid, still warm, but not too bad. I felt pretty good for the first 6K, and only the last 2K were difficult, and I was able to go a bit faster at 6:02/km (assuming the distance was as marked in race handbook) with average HR only 160 this time; smaller hills and cooler weather helped a lot (though oddly enough Garmin says it was hotter...22.8C...maybe it was, but no sun and some breeze was great).  Garmin data here. 

In between 24 and 34: a little nap (2 hr), some spaghetti and meatballs, and some digestive upset (not too awful, but a few porta-potty visits required). And a storm came in...

Leg 34. Yeah, leg 34. I'd done this one last year a lot faster. But the conditions were perfect last year, and were horrific this year. Yes, horrific. The temperature was OK, but it was raining sideways and the wind was a steady 32kph or 20mph with gusts MUCH stronger, and oh yeah, it was a headwind. And there were hills. And my legs were done. And I found out about an hour before doing this leg that the buyers we were under contract with backed out and the house is back on the market. Long story...but if you know anyone who's looking in the area, have them contact our realtor, Elaine, at 801-573-4109. So I was NOT in a good frame of mind, and when I hit the first difficult hill (and there were 30m of elevation gain in this 5.59km leg) and my 500m split was about 3:30 I just determined I'd finish and hold on for dear life. Actually, though, given the conditions, I think in retrospect that my time was pretty good. I went 35:50 for 6:27/km, which was only 1:02 slower than my predicted 34:48 (I knew I'd be tired for that last leg). So to only lose 14 sec/km with a 32kph headwind I think is pretty good, especially given my mental state. I cried when the van gave me aid but kept pushing as hard as I had stamina for. I think I forgot to wear my HR monitor, because I have no HR data! Funny, that...the weird stuff you do at 4:30 am on 2 hr of sleep and poor mental state. Y'know, I'm actually proudest of this leg because I stuck it out and didn't give up, and put in a good performance given the poor conditions. Garmin data here. 

When we arrived in Seaside just a couple hours later, the weather had worsened enormously. The tents at the beach finish were in near-ruins, and the finish was moved onto the promenade and then later onto a street in town because of the danger of the blowing sand (I got sand in my eyes, mouth, etc. - nasty!). Despite all the horrid conditions of the last 5 legs for our team, we were only 5 min off our predicted pace of 22hr 14min, finishing in 22hr, 19 min. We were first to the beach (as we advertised on our van :)!) and got our photo with Bob Foote, the race founder, and a few TV interviews. It was cool. Oh, and did I mention I am the youngest on our 10-person team at 45? Everyone else is over 50. Coolest and strongest bunch of "Antiques and Collectibles" (our team name) that I know. I'm proud to have been a part of this team.

Photos here. 

I'm back.....3K Pacific Association USATF Grand Prix

In brief: trying to sell our home and under contract on another a block away. VERY busy preparing home for sale, so training took a back seat; did 10K last Sunday slowly (6:32/km-ish?) and cross-trained a few days this week but no RW. Drove to Carson City, NV on Saturday with Jim and Stevie Berry (Stevie is a 16yo RWer from Orem, UT, and Jim is his dad) and then raced this morning and drove home. Crazy, as it's a 10-hr drive! But it was fun, and I needed the break getting out of town.

The race was at 6280 feet of altitude, which is 1914m, and is 1930 feet (588m) higher than where I live, which is definitely significant. I felt it, too, especially in the last km (a slow 5:59 with a very high average heart rate of 182 for the last 500m!), and my time was a slowish 17:35.8; but altitude-adjusted via a spreadsheet that Alex Price of the PA-Association came up with, my time was a respectable 17:05.6. Not great, but lots better, and more representative of my training.

Need some sleep so won't upload Garmin data now, but have a few pictures.