Race Report: Alpharetta Women's Half

 Previous PR: 1:47:02 (Thanksgiving 2018)

90% Goal: 2:10
50% Goal: 2:05
10% Goal: sub 2
Result: 1:59:04

Training: Let's be real here: I haven't trained. I kinda half-assed a few weeks of effort, but there's been no actual training going on. 

Pre-Race: Parked about 50yd from the start, and sat in my car with the seat heaters on with my best friend until it was port-a-potty time .We found a friend pacing 2:00 at the start, said "hello", and then went on our own ways. I had no idea what I would do today, but knew I didn't want any pressure of keeping with a pace group or having a goal time in my head. 

Race: I took off on the downhill, just wanting to run whatever my body felt. Turns out, it felt pretty flipping strong for the first few miles. This course, though, SUCKS. I think it's the worst course I run, and I only keep signing up for this race because it's crazy convenient and cheap.

The first ~6mi are "rolling hills", then there's about 4mi on the greenway (flat, but boring as all get-out) before running STRAIGHT UP for the last ~5K towards the finish, which is also uphill. Every year, I hate this course, yet, every year, I sign up to do it again. 

I was plagued by visions of pacers for the first bit, with 1;55 ahead of me and 2:00 coming into view sometimes, but generally being being me. I hated the feeling of being chased. I wanted to just run, without thinking about pace or finish time, but that was impossible when I saw the little white flags and their taunting numbers. 

The mileage signs also threw me for a loop. I wear two watches when I run: a Polar and a Garmin. This started because I've got a lot of history with Garmin and like keeping my stats in one place, but won a Polar and wanted to give it a whirl. Now it's a habit for me to have both on when running. Normally, they're not super synced up on distance. Today, they were... but both about 0.1-0.15 ahead of the course's official mileage signs. It was insanely hard not to get riled up feeling like I was running hard , hitting sub-9s on my watch when it auto-lapped, but seeing a 9:30 or more on my watch when I passed a mileage sign. 

Around mile 4, I found myself comfortably alone on the course, between a few pods of runners. By the time I hit the greenway, it was even sparser. I liked it. I could just run. I told myself to "settle in" to the greenway, and enjoy the chalk messages one of the training group coaches had written every ~15s or so for the entire four miles. I felt some stomach/diaphragm cramps, and wondered if I was breathing wrong or just feeling yesterday's core workout, but continued. 

It sucked. It sucked so much. I let myself ease up on the pressure, thinking I could run with less effort than before because it was flat... but then people started passing me, and I saw a 9:41 on my watch. WTF, was I really going THAT slowly? 

Yes. Yes, I was. 

Some mental math told me that, if my watch's distance had been right to start, I could probably 10min/mi and still come close to 2. Ugh. "Close". I didn't want to finish in 2:00:10, if sub-2 was a possibility. That meant I had to try. 

I did something I never do and turned on some music, then shoved my phone back in my shorts pocket and tried to lean into the Luis Fonsi and my latino jams. It helped. My next mile was faster. 

I counted down the miles until the beast of a hill around ~11. It took FOREVER to get from 8 to 10, but I got there. The YMCA hill at mile 11 wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. I slowed a lot, but didn't walk. 

...but then the hills just kept coming. I walked for about 15s on the subsequent crest, thinking I'd probably be moving faster than my trudge/jog, then resumed the suck. 

I hate the last two miles of this course. SO MUCH. 

The entire time, I kept thinking I could keep a 10min pace and still hit sub-2, but then doubted myself because, if the course mile signs were correct, I'd miss it by about 2-3min. Can't let up. 

I felt miserable going up the final hill and miserable coming down the shoot, but I could see the 1:59 on the clock and the 1:59 on my watch, and knew that I was NOT going to enjoy any sort of buffer. I kicked, hating every second, but was SO proud to cross that line in under 2:00.  

splits

blue = pace, green = altitude/elevation (note the beast of a hill around 1:45)

Reflections:

Every time I run a half, I have this feeling that 2:00 should feel as easy as a 30min 5K (despite being about a min/mile faster), and am so frustrated when it doesn't. I ran a 1;47 pregnant four years ago. Why is it so hard to do this now? Why do I see Instagram stories of other mom friends who seem to be able to stay so fit so effortlessly? It's definitely hard not to compare/contrast and get jealous... 

I'm proud of what I did today, though, and am choosing to be grateful that I can even be out here running and pushing myself. I couldn't have done that last year. 

Race Report: Peachtree 2022

Previous Distance PR: 0:47:53 (Flying Pig 2017)

Goals:

When I registered for Peachtree, I was hoping to use it as a way to get back in shape after spending July 2021 - January 2022 dealing with one health thing after another (a terrible few months of skin rash, RSV, sudden unilateral deafness, and a bunch of other random viruses from daycare, etc). I'd hoped for a sub-50, which would put me solidly in shape for a speedier fall training cycle. 

Getting COVID in April crippled any chance of that happening. Not only was I not able to run, but it took about two months before I could even function through my normal work/family day without extreme fatigue. Even a week before Peachtree, I was still modifying my workout routine and struggling to figure out what my body could (and couldn't) handle. 

I showed up at the start line with zero goals and zero plans. About ten minutes before the gun went off, I decided to do intervals, and hastily programmed my watch. I opted for 4min run/30s walk. While I'd wanted to "run the whole thing", the past few weeks of training showed me I had less of a chance of post-exertional malaise symptoms with walk breaks. 

My training partner asked me about what I was planning to run, and I shrugged off her question, but she eventually did get me to say I'd guess we'd average 9:15. 

Result: 57:34 (9:16/mi/avg) though that does include getting stopped for an ambulance on-course... 

Training: HA. The past twelve weeks have been about just existing. I've had just under half of the days this year affected by sickness/injury/illness. I've had exactly 3 runs close to a 10K distance, and averaged about 15-20mi a week (compared to a typical long run of 10-12 each week and ~35-40mi/week in a normal year). 

Race: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9138291211

I felt surprisingly good for the first 5K of the race, and enjoyed it. I kept a solid pace for 14-15min/mi for the walk breaks, and was in a mid-8 for the runs. I finished the first 5K in 27:32 (8:51/mi avg) and loved it. After that, I knew my body probably couldn't/shouldn't continue that push, and opted to relax a bit on the runs (but kept the pace on the walks). Despite it being overcast, it was still HOT and HUMID. 

The second half of the course was more of a 9:40/mi pace, and the last mile was tough, but I was just so grateful to be able to be out here DOING IT. Back in May, I honestly didn't think I would be able to walk 6.2 mi today.... at ANY pace. 

Peachtree #10 in the books.

Reflections:

Race Report: Alpharetta Women's Half 2021

Previous PR: 1:47:02 ((Thanksgiving 2018)

90% Goal: sub-2

50% Goal: whatever an 8:50 pace was
10% Goal: whatever an 8:40 pace was

Result: 1:53:37

Training: I started a phenomenal and intense 18 weeks of Marathon Training for my training partner's September goal race in May. I was definitely in the best shape of my running life for awhile. Until the last week of August, I pretty much stuck to her workouts, with a few hiccups for illness. In early September, I had another bout of illness, became suddenly and profoundly deaf in one ear, ran a PR marathon as a coping method the following weekend, and then took a few weeks off from workouts.

I made a half-baked attempt to train for this race over the last three weeks, but only went over 30mpw once, so did I really train? 

Pre-Race:

One of the great things about being an athlete is that I feel like I've got a really good feel for what's happening with my body at all times. I've known for awhile that this race wasn't going to be extraordinary. My workouts just weren't happened the way they ought to for me to have any shot at a PR. So, until yesterday, I was still toying with the idea of fun-running this with my littlest in the stroller. 

Yesterday morning, though, I had an intense bout of fatigue that had me basically falling asleep on the couch from 7-9am, While I seemed to recover a bit throughout the day (after another midday nap), I took that as a sign that my body did not want to push a stroller full of 30+ lb kiddo for two hours. With that decision made, I ate a few Snickers peanut butter bars that my husband had bought for next weekend's trick-or-treaters, took my older kid to a Halloween party, and ate some nachos in bed, because that's just what kind of mood I was in. 

I had a terrible time getting to sleep, woke up before my alarm, went back to sleep, and just generally wasn't feeling it when I woke up. I remember thinking to myself this might be the day that I didn't break 2 in a half marathon. Ugh. That was a rough pill to swallow. Sub-2 used to be something I thought of as a given.

I met up with my training partner, did a mile warm-up, and then headed over to the corrals. She suggested we line up with the 1:50 group, and just see what happened. I laughed and told her to go ahead... but then found myself standing next to the 1:50 pacers as the gun went off anyways...

Race:

The race starts with a downhill, immediately followed by a steep climb. I enjoyed taking off on the downhill, passing a few women who, despite being lined up with the 1:50 pace team, began the race at a WALK. I stuck with the pace group for the first mile, thinking that maaaaybe I'd just hang for a bit. Our first mile was an 8:08. I knew better than to hang on to that. I did not feel like having a "crash and burn" kind of race. 

I let my training partner go up ahead, and felt a little guilty when she'd look over her shoulder to "check on me" for the next few miles. I was pleasantly pleased to see I was actually still running mid-8s... even though it was definite work. I'd made the decision pre-race that I didn't want to care about my time too much, but did want to have a race where I felt like I pushed the whole way-- not a "make it hurt" race, but a tempo-run kind of race. 

My husband and kiddos were waiting around mile 4 for me. It was great to see them, strip off my sleeves and earband, and have a little company for a bit. I got to see them again closer to mile 6 for a bit, too, and then it was just me and the greenway, and a few other runners up ahead. 

I've decided that the greenway is a miserable place to race. The next five miles were mentally really tough. I was grateful for the chalk messages, because they were the only thing that helped differentiate one 400m from the next. I spent the bulk of the time trying to decide how much I actually cared about this race, and whether it was worth making myself miserable for the next seven miles. I counted down miles. I did lots of mental math, always realizing that I could keep about a ten minute pace for the rest of the race and still be within striking distance of the 1:55, which was just enough to keep me kind of going. After all, once I got off the greenway, I'd have to climb the worst hill of the course at the YMCA.

I kept hoping that once I hit mile 11, and only had two miles to go, I'd find my kick and be able to float up the hill, super strong.

Nope. That hill hit me like a ton of bricks. If there hadn't been spectators, I totally would have walked. It was awful. 

We had a slight downhill after that beast, and then another hill leading into the finish. I was able to take that one a bit stronger, and finally kick down the chute, but, man, I was just so glad to be DONE. 

Splits:

8:08

8:20

8:19

8:15

Then I found my husband and kids, and fell back from the pack.

8:27

8:25

Entering the greenway, and monotony 

8:40

8:51

8:42

8:46

8:49

9:15 (big hill climbing out of the greenway)

Final push

8:20 

Reflections:

I think I summed it up best talking to a few of my teammates: 

"I'm disappointed that I wasn't in the mental or physical shape to do better today, That said, I achieved my realistic-for-today goal and am proud of myself for not just giving up and crapping out on the whole race."

Race Report: Peachtree Road Race

 Previous PR: 47:53 (5/6/2017)

90% Goal: 8:30/mi (52:49)
50% Goal: 8:00/mi (49:43)
10% Goal: 7:45/mi (48:09)
Result: 48:58 official (though, by GPS watch distance, it was 7:45/mi)

Oh, look. I got an "A Wave" bib this year! :D 
(thanks, COVID)

Training:

I'm in the middle of training for a marathon I'm not running with my training partner. The plan we're doing is a custom one by Coach Betsy, and is probably the hardest/most intense plan I've done. We have three workouts a week (not new), and there's almost always a workout component to our long runs (this is new to me). Mileage has been in the high 40s, though I've had a few illnesses over the past few weeks that have taken me out a couple days.

I'm not doing any strength training or yoga while in this six-day-a-week plan, and that's been a bit of a change for me. I'd love to, but now that I'm back in the office full-time, and going to chorus rehearsals on Tuesday nights, and have two kids in daycare/school (read: Contagion Land), it's just tough. 

Coming into Peachtree, here's what my last ~10 days looked like:

Takeaway: there was no "taper" for this race. 

Before:

This was a weird Peachtree, namely because it's the first one I've ever done without my husband. Every year we've lived here, we've traveled to/from the race together, with our pre-race pump-you-up jams blasting while we brush our teeth in the morning and make the drive over to the MARTA station. This year, we opted to split our races between the two available days, hoping to take the kids down to cheer on the running parent (didn't end up happening to due to sick kid). 

Fortunately, my training partner and I ended up carpooling together, which made a huge difference for me. I was beyond grateful to not be heading down to the race "alone", and to have her to warm-up with, talk to, etc. until the start. 

Weee, start line!

Race: 

I wasn't sure how my body would do today, but was kind of hoping for around a 50:00 10K (~8:00). I was also hoping it would feel relatively easy. 

Nope. 

I checked my pace a couple times in the first mile, and was disappointed to see that I was just over an 8:00 pace. This was supposed to be the fast part of the race, the downhill part. If I couldn't get under 8:00 here, there was no way I was going to "make it up" on the latter, uphill half. 

The second and third miles were better, but I remember still feeling like I wanted it to be easier than it was. Every time I looked, I was still perilously close to the 8:00 mark. I desperately wished I were either well under (and could make it an "easy run") or well above (and could say, "eh, never mind"... and make it an easy run without the guilt). 

5K Split: 25:00

Daaaaaaangit. 

I was always just close enough that the sub-50 was within my grasp... if I didn't give up. 

Splits:

8:03

7:49

7:37

8:12

7:40

7:33

and then a kick to close in 48:58. 

so grateful for running friends

Post-Mile Reflections:

I remember when a sub-50 10K was a pipe dream. Today, I did it in the middle of marathon training, on a couple rough nights of sleep, without too much effort. For being as fit as I am now, though, it still felt harder than I wanted. Guess I need to give credit to those "extenuating circumstances". 

I'm proud of my run, happy to have had such a great experience, and also grateful that I did actually beat my Virtual Peachtree 2020 time of 49:37 (with a stroller... but also on flats). Weeeeee, running. 

Oh, and if my counting skills work, I think I might've come away with a "Top 1000" mug for the year, too... !!!! 

This picture represents SO much work over the past 10 years :)

So grateful for everything running has given me.

Race Report: Miler Method #4, Take 2

Knowing I'm physically capable of my goal time, but being held back by mental strategy/execution is a weird sort of purgatory...

Previous PR: 6:06 (10/17/2020)

90% Goal: 6:10
50% Goal: 6:00
10% Goal: 5:XX
Result: 6:06ish

Training:

This was a second take at a mile time trial following the six-week Miler Method bootcamp, with Coaches Sierra and Nick Willis. 

• 6 runs a week (1 hill or strides, 1 tempo + track intervals, 1 tempo, and 3 "easy" days)
• intermittent core/strength workouts (that I actually did most of this time around)
• ~35-40mpw
• one additional week with some easy running and some pacing drills three days out from the mile

Before:
After a whole lot of distractions going into my original mile trial last week, I made a conscious effort to prioritize myself and my running goals this week. I ate well. I thought about running a little bit every day. I planned my work week out (hour by hour) on Monday so that I could just execute tasks instead of having to expend energy figuring out what to do, how to do it, and prioritizing (note: this didn't actually work because my deadine was shifted again, but I didn't let that knock me off my game the same was I did last week). 

There's no wind forecast for "race day", but the temperatures are a good bit higher than they were last weekend (64 vs 48) and we've got 100% humidity and a chance of drizzle. I'm not too thrilled about this, but I'm also trying to remember that I ran a 6:08 earlier in the year, during July.... in Atlanta. Surely I can handle a little heat. 

I feel confident. I did a couple easy miles on the treadmill this morning (day before the mile) and felt so strong. My core felt engaged. My legs felt energized. I felt like I had all of this energy and enthusiasm inside just waiting to be unleashed. 

I'm also a bit nervous. What if I can't control that energy and I go out too fast. What if I aim for even splits, nail 90s each time, but then totally biff the last lap? What if, what if, what if... 

I want to write "I'm going to break 6 tomorrow" right now. But I'm scared to make a claim that I can't guarantee. I know I'm capable of it. This might be as confident as I've ever been about any race/time goal in my life, but writing it down is cocky, and then, if I don't get it... well, then it's embarrassing. 

Night Before:

Had tacos and a shot of bourbon (for luck), did some yoga, laid out my clothes, and set an alarm... Let's do this. 

Pre-Mile: 

I woke up at 3:45am, sans alarm, again, after a relatively good night of sleep. The warm-up felt... warm. While we didn't have any wind, it was 100% humidity and mid-60s, much warmer than last week. By the end of the 15min WU, I'd taken my singlet off, and was solidly moist. 

After my strides, I still didn't feel "ready", but I never truly do. My teammate lined up at mile start, and I jogged up to punch it at the line... and then, hearing "No" from her, stopped and turned around. 

"I said 'Go'," she said, confused. 

"Oh... I thought you said 'no', and hadn't hit your stopwatch yet.... sorry."

Mile:

Lap 1 a very manufactured 89s split (but probably more like 84-85s)

We had a second start, and this time the start was a bit off on my end since I wasn't sure I'd actually hit my watch at the line. It took me about 20m to verify it was good, and then hit my stride.

I hit the 100m in 19s. It should have been 22.5, if it were truly 100m (but it's a little longer with those extra ~9 for the full mile on a 400m track). In my head, I knew I was too fast, but let myself reason it away, saying that I always kick a little to start, but settle in. Plus, I'd had an 88s start last week, with wind, with a bad attitude, and still had a good time. I should be fine.

200m split: 41 (should have been 45)

I should have stopped here... taken a breath, maybe let my teammate run first, and then tried again... but that wasn't even a thought in my mind. Instead, I just kept running, thinking how easy this felt. 

As I came down the straightaway to close Lap 1, I shouted to my teammate to read the split times louder, since I couldn't hear her.

"81, 82, 83..."

Considering I was going for 90, I really should have stopped then. Instead, I kind of did a weird artificial slow-down to hit my first 400m in a far more reasonable 88-89ish seconds.

Lap 2 92s

I don't know why I didn't process in the moment that I'd completely overrun my time and what, exactly that was going to do to my last couple of laps. On Lap 2, I still felt good. I don't remember what my split was, but I think it was somewhere around 91-92. I also remember feeling vaguely pleased that I was "on pace" (cough, for that lap, cough).

Lap 3 96s

"Ugh, it's hot," I remember thinking on this lap. This is where it started to huuuuuuurt. Unlike last week, I couldn't "lean in" to this lap. It just sucked the whole way through. I felt myself spiraling downward, and knew it was gonna be a bad lap as soon as it started.... 96s. Ouch, there's no coming back from that one. 

Lap 4 ?

Still, I did what I could to try to slowly build that last 400. It was a lost cause, though. I hated every single second of that lap. I thought about cutting the course to make up time... but you can't cut the course on a track. lol. Even if I'd been able to, it wouldn't have done anything. Everything hurt, but I still tried to build effort, if not speed, throughout the last lap. 

My watch had 5:34 with a little under 200m to go. Knowing there was no way I was running a 26s 200m, it was hard to not just throw in the towel and jog it in... but doing that would mean I wouldn't know what that last bit felt like, so I kept going.

"Don't give up. This isn't going to be what you wanted, but you can still get something worthwhile out of it."

I didn't know what my time was when I crossed the line, but remember telling my teammate:

"Don't go out too fast. OMG, don't do it. It's the absolute worst."

If you ask my teammate, she had ~6:07 on her clock. I split my watch at 6:05.9. So, we'll call it 6:06ish. 

^how not to run a mile

Post-Mile Reflections:

I'll admit I was disappointed with how this run shook out. After a stellar performance on way too much bourbon, taco shells, poptarts, and an IDAFG attitude last week with wind, I had a ton of confidence going into this weekend.

...and, again, I proved to myself that I need to find something between those two extremes in terms of mental prep. I wasn't nervous about this "race". Truly, I thought I had it in the bag. Maybe I was so rarin' to go that I didn't let myself have the right sort of calm, collected approach that I end up with on my more carefree days. 

Whatever it was, I was absolutely amazed that I could run the same(ish) time as last week, and have it feel completely different. Last week didn't feel easy, but it felt strong, and hard in all the right aways. This week, it was just horrible. So much horrible, hard, and exhausting... all too soon. 

So, takeaways:

1. There might be something to that comment a friend made that:

 "Maybe that’s the trick, you train so well that you enter the goal race with an “idgaf” attitude and bam, PR. You say you always have your best races when you don’t care 😉"

2. I think I could benefit from having one of my faster friends pace me through the first 400m and the last 200m. I did this for my teammate today, and absolutely loved being able to keep her on pace (or, at the very least, show her how far ahead she was at the 200m and slow her down before it was too late) and then bring out a kick for her in the end. Either way, I could use some practice pacing myself. 

3. It's really satisfying to have the confidence to say "I can run a 6:00 mile" even though I haven't done it yet. It's also really frustrating to know that it isn't physical ability holding me back; it's mental. Physical ability seems like it's "easier" to handle. If you can't run that fast, then you can't run that fast, and there's something concrete that makes the goal unattainable for you right now. There's a reason it can't happen, and reason that can't just "go away" with some positive thinking. 

Knowing that the reason I haven't hit 6 yet is mental is harder for me. It's me holding me back. It kind of feels like I'm 16 again, learning how to drive, and I'm trying over and over again to keep my car on the driveway as I go around and around our little turnaround circle...  My parents are telling me "constant radius" over and over, reminding me that this is "simple", and there's nothing wrong with the car; it's me who has to figure out when to turn the wheel and when to STOP TURNING IT FURTHER. But, instead of finding the direction the wheel needs to go and holding it there, I'm messing with it the whole time, unable to settle in, over-correcting and under-correcting and, as a result, going all over (or off, rather) the path. 

My body's capable of a 6min mile. I just need to figure out how to execute it.

Next Steps:

I really want to try again soon, and get it done, cross this goal off of my list... but I also know that I need a bit of a break from these moving deadlines (man, both this one and work are just killing me right now. I hate not being able to cross anything off as "complete"). 

So, I'll take some time, enjoy getting back to my regularly scheduled long runs, instead of extending the "taper madness" for another week. Maybe I'll give it another go in early November on a day where I'm "feeling cute, might PR". Maybe I'll decide to do another round through the training plan I covered these past six weeks before trying again. I'm not sure yet, but I'll give it another go sometime. I'm capable of it...  I just have to get out of my own way.