Race Report: C Mile Test

Previous PR: 6:06 (10/18/20, 10/25/20)

90% Goal: 6:15
50% Goal: 6:10
10% Goal: 5:59
Result: 6:06 (PR-reaffirmation)

Training:

I opted into something different this time. A friend/teammate of mine with a ton of knowledge/experience in the field offered to write a plan for me (and my training partner) based on our specific desires and schedules. We ended up with a flexible plan that offered:

• 5-6 runs a week (1 day w/hills or strides, 1 beastly track workout, 1 fartlek/tempo, 1 long run day, and 1-2 easy, short run days)
• ~30-40mpw

I generally ran 5 days a week, struggled a bit with stroller fartleks (and switched halfway to doing these solo), and did LIIFT4 (lifting + HIIT) workouts on 3-4 days each week. I also struggled with nutrition this time around. For the past couple weeks, I haven't been planning out meals/snacks, and that's meant a lot of not-so-great choices have been made since I'm feeling hungry all the time and over-eating. 

Before:

I had a rough week of the trial, dealing with some form of illness/allergies Saturday through Tuesday. Work was a bit stressful. Food choices weren't the greatest (example: entire box of crackers on Monday). I really wasn't sure I'd even run the mile on Thursday. 

I did zero mental prep for this race. Even the goals on the top of this page were all written after-the-fact, based on what I think I thought I could do. I literally showed up to the track this morning still unsure if I'd run a full mile. My body felt fine enough, but what was "fine enough" when I was trying to run faster than I've ever run before less than 48 hours after feeling so crappy I laid in bed for two hours during the morning napping? 

My legs did not feel ready during the warm-up, but, having two miles did help. I felt better and more ready by the end of it, at least. I'd planned on giving it a whirl and seeing how I was at the two lap mark. If I was close to 3:00, I'd keep going. If I was already dead, I'd cut and plan on making a second attempt this weekend. I think in a lot of ways, I was already planning on a second attempt, and today was just a "see where you're at" trial. 

Mile:

Lap 1 87s

Even with the bonus 9m at the start of this lap (to make it a true mile and not just 1600m), I hit the 100m (109m) line in 20s. Too fast. This lap felt comfortable enough as I settled in, though. I didn't look at my watch again, trusting my teammate for my split. Just gotta get through one more lap and then see how you feel... 

Lap 2 ?

It was on this lap that I felt like "oh, hey, maybe I can do this today". Pace seemed reasonable, though it certainly required effort to maintain. I remember hearing 2:52, 2:53 from my teammate as I crossed the line (whether that's actually what she said or not, I'm not sure, because she told me she'd started accidentally counting aloud in her native language at one point- maybe I mis-heard). I remember thinking "ooh, just hang on" and "nice job banking so much time". 

Lap 3 93s?

Banking time is a terrible, terrible thought to have during a mile. It's too short. There is no "banking time", only "wasting effort". I definitely felt like the first half of this lap was hard. The third lap is always the worst. You're more than halfway,  but you've gotta run a whole lap before you can say "just one more".  My quads started burning on this one, and I started noticing the wind on the back stretch of the track. 

Lap 4 ???

In my head, I could still make it, but I also knew it was going to take a lot to get there. My legs hurt. I wanted to slow down, to recover enough to kick more at the end, but I also knew that wasn't an option. Well, my head did at least. Per my pace graph, it looks like I might've slowed down in anticipation of a final kick for the last 100m. 

Garmin on top, Polar on bottom

I wasn't thinking about time for the last few laps, though. I was just thinking "give this a good, solid effort, and you can be done with it". . 

Post-Mile Reflections:

I'm not excited about my 6:06 finish time, but I'm also not disappointed with today's performance either. The fact that I'm now regularly defaulting to a 6:06 mile is pretty freaking awesome. 

I went into today without focus, without a real goal, and without any sort of pacing plan... and still half-a__ed my way to hitting my PR. That's kind of a win, right? 

Yet again, I feel like my inability to commit to 90s laps for the first 800m is my biggest problem. In my head, I'm so worried of not giving myself any wiggle room on Lap 4, that I tend to go out too fast... which bites me in the end. I learned this lesson several times before, but never commit to executing a 3:00 800m when I go for the mile because I'm worried about being too slow. 

Clearly, I need to re-think that approach, because stubbornly running "whatever comes out" in the first 800m for these past few trials hasn't yielded the results I want to see. :P 

Post-Training Cycle Reflections

(1) workout I found most helpful:

• the confidence I gained from my 2:47 800m TT was incredible, but my body probably got more out of the extended fartlek workout I did on the treadmill:  

2 x [2 min hard (2 min easy), 3 min hard (3 min easy), 4 min hard (4 min easy)] at 5K pace

It felt like I had to keep digging deeper and deeper to execute the next hard interval, and that was really good for me. 

(2) things I learned:

• I can't get the most out of a pace-changing workout if I'm pushing a stroller, especially one with the baby in it.  The only times I had success with stroller workouts were doing longer intervals with my older one. 
• Thinking about fartleks or time-based workouts as track workouts helps me execute them better. Thinking about doing "8x45s @ MP" leads me to underperform, but thinking about 8x200m makes me focus more on pace, imagine visual distance markers, and execute the workout much better... even though they're exactly the same workout for me.

(3) things I'm proud of: 

• becoming a consistent 6:06-on-a-not-so-great-day miler
• making the 7-8mi long workouts happen (at pace!) on Thursdays before work, even if it means a 3:45am alarm
• being able to run a ~95s 400m for my training partner's lap lap of her mile (though this also means that I didn't beat my legs up enough since I did that < 5min after finishing my own mile) 

So, yet again, here we are, six months later, and I'm closing out another mile time trial entry with the same line: 

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

C Mile Plan: Week 4/6

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Week 4 of 6? Already? 

Monday

Scheduled: 3-5mi easy or rest

Did: 1mi walk, 5mi run @ 9:34/mi avg), 2mi walk-- all with stroller

Sick day for baby = afternoon at the river for us. It was nice to get some easy stroller miles in today, and spend time outside with my little one.

and we spent SO much time afterwards hanging with the geese :)

Tuesday

Scheduled: 10KT, 6x15s striders

Did: 7.07mi @ 9:40/mi avg

I loved this workout so much more than last Tuesday's. I got a nice easy 10K to talk with my friends, and then pushed the pace for a few short bursts towards the end. Garmin must not be loving the short intervals, though, because I know I was faster than the paces it reported... 

9:00/mi? That's some BS. I was hauling on all of these.

definitely faster than a 7min pace for those striders... 

Continued the "hard days hard/easy days easy" philosophy by doing some back-to-back chest/biceps/back/triceps lifting with a HIIT component at lunch. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: rest

Did: LIIFT4 W6 shoulders, 3.6mi walk

Today was not a great day. I didn't do a good job planning food, and ended up eating a TON of carb-y things this morning, without any real satisfaction. Blergh. Walked at lunch with my husband, and fit in a quick shoulder-focused weight lifting/HIIT session before getting the kids. Definitely did NOT set myself up for success on tomorrow's time trial... oh well. 

Thursday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 800m Time Trial, 2mi CD

Did: as scheduled 5.0mi total @ 9:31/mi avg (2:47 800m TT), LIIFT4 Leg Day

Today's warm-up flew by. One minute, I was talking with my teammate, and the next, we felt our watches notify us that we'd finished our second mile. Guess it's time to knock this out, eh?

I did zero mental prep for this run. I didn't even know what my last time trial was/ought to be. I read through Coach's instruction to my teammate (who'd had the foresight to actually ask about pacing/goals). For a goal mile of 15s slower than mine, she'd be instructed to run 3:00. I figured I'd probably want to be in the 2:50ish range. I think I was around 2:50 last time I did an 800m TT. Maybe?

When I started off, I remember having a loose goal in my head of being around 1:25 for each 400m split. I hit the 100 in 18s, the 200 in 39, and decided I should probably cool it a bit... but tried to balance that with the idea that this was my race, and I needed to leave it all out there.

I crossed the first 400 in 1:23 and felt pretty solid, continued that to the 600m and then tried to let it fly. I did, but I also realized that, when I crossed the line, I had so much more left in my tank. For a moment, I was tempted to keep running, just to see how much faster/further I could go, but I opted against it. Today was an 800m trial, not any more. Trust the plan. 

I wound up with a 2:47, and was pretty pleased. I didn't recall it at the time, but that's a PR by 4s over what I ran for Miler Method last year... and I felt like I could've run it faster. 

During our cooldown, my teammate pointed out that I should be really proud of what I did do, especially since I hadn't really set myself up for success yesterday. I joked back, "Actually, not setting myself up for success is how I set myself up for success." 

When I "try" and put any sort of pressure on myself to perform, it rarely goes well. When I don't stress and just "show up and run", I get days like today- one of the easiest PRs I've ever run. Maybe I'm actually a lot fitter than I think? 

My first 800m trial, when I was attempting to hit 6 for the first time (very unrealistically, I might add, though I didn't know it at the time), was 3:02. (end result: 6:19 mile)

My next was 3:00 (end result: 6:08 mile)

And then I tried again and got 2:51 (end result: 6:06 mile)

I feel oddly optimistic about where I'm at right now... 

Also did a leg/HIIT workout in the evening. How am I feeling this good after a PR 800m? 

Friday

Scheduled: rest or 3-5mi easy 

Did: 4.07mi @ 9:07/mi avg, 2.9mi walk

I felt great this morning and took advantage of some beautiful running weather. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 10-12mi long run

Did: 12.23mi @ 9:20/mi avg

Mid-60s at 4:30am? Sure! Today's run was nice. I'm always amazed how much faster our average pace is on long run days from some other "easy run" days, especially since today's route wasn't exactly greenway-flat. We planned on 10, with an optional +2. My legs were pretty tired, but I was enjoying myself too much to cut off at 10. 

Sunday

Scheduled: 15min WU, 8x 2min @ 5K or 10K pace/1min recovery, 15min CD

Did: as scheduled with stroller = 6.1mi @ 9:07/mi avg

Heeey, I think I might've figured out this Sunday workout thing. :D Today's weather was absolute perfection, and I couldn't wait to get started. I took only the older kiddo today, and that was the right call. I was able to focus on my workout, but still really enjoy being with my baby. I had a few big gusts of wind, which were hard with the stroller, and it took me a few intervals to really hone in on what my recovery pace ought to be to keep pace on all the intervals, but this workout felt really satisfying and successful. 

Gorgeous Morning :) SO grateful for these moments with my littles.

Total Weekly Mileage: 39.4

Week-ending Thoughts:

• SUCH a change from last week. I feel really confident in where I'm at after some really successful workouts, and great other runs. I seem to have found a schedule that works well for my body, and am looking forward to the last two weeks of this training.

Miler Method #4: Week 4/6

Week-beginning Thoughts:

How is it almost October? So many of the default events I use to mark the passage of time (USATF Nationals, Peachtree, summer vacation, etc) haven't happened, and it's really throwing my mind for a loop. 

Monday

Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 4x5min tempo/90s recovery, 10-15min CD

Did: as scheduled = 5.57mi @ 9:09/mi avg

Man, I need to stretch more. As soon as I started running this morning, I had a tightness in both upper glutes that was almost debilitating. Eek. I was able to push through, though.

Tempo was hard. I think that's probably indicative that I shouldn't have swapped prescribed days around the way I did (i.e. in such a way that I ended up having back to back tempo days). Oh well. Even if I didn't hit the paces I wanted, I definitely exerted the right amount of effort for the day. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: 5-7mi easy + 2-3xCore

Did: 2x Core, 10KTuesday @ 9:40/mi avg

Weee, did my core before the run today. Having someone else in the training FB group as a pseudo accountability partner is definitely helping with this. :)

My glutes still hurt a lot during 10KT. I think I've realized this is because I was trying to work on my forward lean during the weekend's runs (I tend to lean back when I run... a lot). However, instead of doing it properly, I was leaning forward at the waist, wreaking havoc on my upper glutes. Soooo, lesson learned. Don't do that. :P 

Wednesday

Scheduled: rest

Did: yoga

I set a stretching alarm a few times throughout the day to work on my hips/glutes, and indulged in some runners' yoga before bed. Here's to a better tomorrow!

Thursday

Scheduled: 15-20min WU, 4x70m pickup strides (faster than MP), catch breath, 2x200m @ goal 800m pace (0:40s with 2:30min recovery), 5-10min rest, then 800m (2:40=1:20/400m = 0:40/200m = 0:20/100m), 10min CD, 2-3x Strength

Did: mostly as scheduled, 4.48mi @ 9:13/mi avg (2:51.3 TT), plus 2x Strength

MM#4: 800m Time Trial

Friday

Scheduled: 5-7mi easy

Did: 5.05 @ 9:53/mi avg

Mmm. Today felt really nice. 49 degrees, light breeze, and absolutely no repeats, pace requirements, hills, or anything "extra" assigned-- just run. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 8-12mi long, 2-3xCore

Did: 6.13mi @ 9:50/mi avg, plus 3.74mi stroller walk

Swapped Sunday/Saturday because we'd planned on getting up and out early to go apple picking. The original plan was to do this as a family run, but I was wide awake at 4:30am and really itching to just get it done. That was SUCH a good plan. The kids ended up being sick and throwing all plans out the door :P I'm glad I got my run done ahead of all that chaos.

The five easy felt good. I ran a new route as a "special treat" (lol) and then finished out with the strides. I'm still certain I'm not doing these "right", despite watching videos and such... 

Also did nearly 4mi of stroller walking in the afternoon to help the the littlest calm down and sleep a bit. 

Sunday

Scheduled: 5-7mi easy + 6x100m strides (easy, med, med, med-fast, fast, med)

Did: 10.09mi @ 9:32/mi avg, 2x Core

Pretty sure I'm about to get sick with how my kiddos have been this weekend... Blergh. Glad today was an easy run day. Felt great during the entirety of our family ten miler, and even picked up the pace at the end. 

Total Weekly Mileage: 37.7

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I'm going to run a 6:00 mile. If it doesn't happen in two weeks at my trial, it will definitely happen soon. I feel so confident and so strong right now. 
• That said, my diet has sucked this and last week. Definitely need to get back on the veggie bandwagon and stop snacking on taco shells/banana bread. 
• Also, I really hope I don't get whatever my kids have. All the congestion.... :P 

Miler Method #4: 800m Time Trial

MM#4: 800m Time Trial

Scheduled: 

• 15-20min WU
• 4x70m pickup strides (faster than MP), catch breath
• 2x200m @ goal 800m pace (0:40s with 2:30min recovery)
• 5-10min rest, then 800m (2:40=1:20/400m = 0:40/200m = 0:20/100m)
• 10min CD
• 2-3x Strength

Did: mostly as scheduled, 4.48mi @ 9:13/mi avg, plus 2x Strength

I had a very fitful night of sleep, waking up a handful of times in the night, anxious about the trial. Blergh.

The last time, when I saw 3:45am on my clock, I figured it was close enough to my 4:05 alarm that I might as well get up. My legs were not awake, but my glutes felt much better than they have the past few days. Hooray, yoga/stretching. 

Warm-up

It was chillier than usual today (53), so I actually had to look at my "what to wear" spreadsheet to figure out what would be comfortable. I opted for shorts, calf sleeves/socks, and a singlet, with a light long sleeve for the warm-up/cool-down, and an earband. This was a good call. 

I could tell when I drove up that the lights were already on at the track. This was NOT a good sign. The track is usually pitch black. Now we had to worry about being kicked off by the school. :/ 

My training partner and I opted to warm-up on the roads instead today. If there was a chance we'd only have 5min of time on the track, we wanted that to be used for our 800m time trials, not for warm-up. 

The warm-up was hilly, but nice. My legs still didn't feel totally warmed up as we headed to the track for the workout, but I reassured myself by remembering I never feel completely warmed up. 

Strides

I hate being on the track when the lights are on. I feel so... exposed, like a fish in bowl. Plus, there's always the fear that football practice is going to start, people will show up, and we'll be asked to leave. 

Seriously, why are the lights on at 4:45am?!?!

I did my strides, trying to let my legs remember how to turn over, thinking about "greasing the wheels" instead of "using up fuel". I don't know what pace I did them at, or exactly how far I went, but attempted to do about 3/4 between the track's 100m marks, slowly making my way around the oval, with little recoveries in-between. 

2x200m

I knew these were supposed to be at 0:40, and I also knew I could do that. I did the first in 39, and it felt HARD. That's okay, though, it's supposed to hurt. 

I was supposed to take 2:30 recovery, but didn't remember that and only took 90s. 

The second one was exactly 40s. OK, cool. Now, just do that four times.

After the 200s, I was supposed to take 5-10min rest. Between worries of getting kicked off the track and neither my training partner nor I remembering this step (we recalled the "catch your breath" instruction, which was supposed to separate the strides from the 200s, instead), I only ended up taking three minutes to recover before the time trial. 

800m

My coaches advised me to try to hit the first lap in 85s, aiming for 2:48 (much more comfortable of a stretch goal than the original, rough estimate of "800m @ MP, subtract 20s").

When I started off, though, I had the original 2:40 "goal" in my head. I didn't think it was a realistic goal for me, but I also wanted something to strive for that would make me push as hard as I could. 

Let's start with the positives:

• No injuries.
• I ended up running the fastest 800m I've ever run. (wooo, PR)
• My splits were consistent/I was able to hone in on a pace and keep it
• I had a little left in the tank to kick.
• We did NOT get asked to leave the track.
• I learned what NOT to do. 

So, what went wrong? In a word, self-sabotage. In addition to not letting myself recover enough from the strides/200s, I did a really silly thing that I'm so embarrassed to admit:

I thought it was a good idea to lap my watch every 100m so that, "after the trial", I could see how my pace changed over the 800m.

My husband's reaction, when I told him after the fact, was a facial expression I cannot even begin to describe, and an incredulous: "YOU LAPPED YOUR WATCH EVERY 20 SECONDS?!?!?"

Erm... uh... yes. 

When you put it that way, it sounds just as ludicrous as it was/is. That meant every 20s, I was thinking about reaching across my body, then interrupting my stride/form to find and push a button, before returning to form. While it's not like I stopped to press the button, I'm certain this impacted my time by at least 2-3s because I was thinking about lapping my watch and going through those motions for a good portion of the very short time I was running... instead of, y'know, just running fast.

...but I have data?

(totally NOT worth it)

I could have had my partner record my splits, or only lapped at the 400m... or just realized there was no actual reason I needed this data whatsoever and NOT WASTED ANYTIME. :P

The run itself was tough. It hurt a bit at times, but I think I was more concerned about:

1) trying to listen for noises of people coming to use the track/tell us to leave

2) when my next stupid lap button press had to happen

3) "saving some" for the next lap, next 200m, whatever

than running as fast as I could. 

It was far more challenging mentally than physically for me, which I think is true every time I run a hard mile. I felt the same sort of "concrete block" feeling that I had during the West End Mile in 2017, where I knew I could go faster, but my body wasn't doing it.  My legs also felt like jell-o at times. Lots of feelings, and lots of mental distractions. 

That said, I still had something "in the tank" to kick a bit on my last 100m, which was a nice feeling. 

Actual Time: 2:51.3 (i.e. I totally could've/should've hit 2:48...)

Reflections

Despite PR-ing today, I'm not nearly as satisfied as I should be. I had a lot of distractions and poor choices that contributed to not running my best. Still, I think I've learned a lot from today's exercise that'll help me on the mile in two weeks. 

Oh, and I got my strength circuits done post-run, too. (sidenote: the planks were much harder than usual)

Miler Method: Week 4/6

Week-beginning Thoughts:
I had a slight pain in my left calf while out in my backyard with my kid yesterday, and it's got me a little worried about how this week'll go... 

Monday

Did: T25 workout, 2.3mi of treadmill desk walking
Opted for a quick Beachbody workout this morning instead of a run to let my calf do whatever it needed to do. Wore compression sleeves all day. Felt a slight pinch in my calf during some of the jumping exercises, and stopped those immediately. 

Tuesday

Did: WU, 4x45s hill repeats, 4x60s hill repeats, CD = 6.22mi @ 9:59/mi avg, Chalene Extreme workout

I didn't sleep well last night. Went to bed around 8:15, but woke up at 9pm and 10pm on my own. Then baby was up at 11:20pm... and didn't go back down until almost 1:30am. Ugggghhhh. I'm proud of myself, though, for the way I handled it. Got myself back to sleep by 2am, dismissed my 4:30am alarm, and woke up at 5:40am.

OK, I can still make my run happen and get the kids out of the house around 7am.

...but then the baby was up again... and the older one was even up. WHYYYYYYYY.

Maybe I'll just run later? 

...but then I have to cross busy roads and run up/down a hill with a lot of traffic. Not a good plan.

OK, so maybe I can at least get the workout in with minimal WU/CD.

Yeah, let's do that.

So, I set off and super husband manned both kids to enable my morning meditation time on the road.

I was a little worried about my calf, but felt nothing throughout the warm-up. I took the 45s hills a bit easier than I had last week, and struggled through the 60s ones (my watch workout got set up wrong), but made it happen. 

...and even had enough time to finish out the 10K, shower, and be back at my desk before 8am. 

...and then drank a whole carafe of coffee over the next three hours. 

Wednesday

Did: 3.3mi @ 9:55/mi avg

Scouted some places for tomorrow's time trial, easy running. 

Thursday

Did: 800m Time Trial

Friday

Did: 5.05mi @ 9:41/mi avg

Oooh, yeah, my legs can tell I pushed them hard yesterday. I was planning for an easy 3 this morning, but saw "5-7mi recovery run" on my plan. Guess I'm running 5mi today...

Got up at 4 with the baby, then worked for a couple hours, dropped kids at school, and hit the greenway for my mileage, telling myself: 

It doesn't have to be fast. Just enjoy being outside. This is a recovery run. 

Slow, steady, and enjoyable it was. Best part: I came back to an ice-cold protein coffee shake in my car, courtesy of freezing some coffee into ice cubes the night before. Winning! 

Saturday

Did: 12.05mi @ 9:55/mi avg, Big 5

Nice, easy run with the family along our local greenway. 

Sunday

Did: 15min WU, 16min tempo (2.01mi @  7:58mi), 15min CD = 5.03mi with double stroller @ 9:09/mi avg
and 1.7mi run/walk with double stroller @ 10+mi/hr

and 2.5mi run/walk alongside older kid biking @ 14:19/mi avg

= 9.24mi total @ 10:57/mi avg

Uggggh. Today was a struggle. We stayed up late (~9:30pm) last night to do a pretend mountain vacation for my oldest, catching lightening bugs and making smores. I passed out while I was waiting for him to put on pajamas post-shower, and my husband had to take over... Oops. 

Then baby got up at 12:30am, and stayed up until 2am. I finally got back to sleep around 2:30am... and promptly slept until... wait for it... 8am. 

OMG, I haven't slept that late in forever. It felt like I'd wasted the entire day. Uggggh.

...and then I had to run tempo with the double at the river... later than I wanted, which meant lots of people (obstacles) to dodge while pushing the pace. 

Warm-up was slooooooow (like 10:30/mi). I really thought the tempo was going to be close to 9-9:30, but, surprisingly, I was able to drop it to around 8:00. Yessss.

...but, man, I really needed that cool-down. I took it super easy, and then let the older one out of the stroller for his own "run" at the end. That ended up only lasting about a half mile before he had to go to the bathroom... which meant I went from a walk to another pseudo tempo run to get him home in time. 

...and then we finished the afternoon with my oldest's first bike ride along the greenway. I knew I'd be running alongside him, but I never thought I'd see 6.8mph on my watch while doing it. OOF.

Lots of stops/starts and sprints/slows, but we made it 2.5mi. SO PROUD.

...and now for some serious re-fueling.

Total Weekly Mileage: 40.1mi

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Woooo, another 40mi week (I mean, there was some walk/run in there, but still)
• It's amazing to be able to share fitness and outside recreation with my kids
• I'm still feeling the time trial from Thursday in my legs, but really proud that I was able to run another 26mi in the three days following it 
• Pink Elephants on Parade is still trekking across the country. We're currently 131mi from the Nebraska border :D 

Track us here: http://trackleaders.com/greatamerican20i.php?name=Pink_Elephants_on_Parade

Follow us on Ista: https://www.instagram.com/pinkelephantsonparade_relay/