avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

I feel for you on that fall. I had something similar happen to me a couple of summers ago - tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and down I went, badly scraping a knee, an elbow, and a hand. I haven’t ran on sidewalks since! That’s good that your hubby was around to pick you up, even if it was the shortest rescue ever!

I figure it had to happen eventually if I ran for long enough. And the other paths I run on have bumps in them, too, so I can't say it's strictly the sidewalk's fault. I was almost done with the run and just wasn't paying attention as much. I was glad that a I didn't bang up my knees much, because that might have been much more of an issue so close to my race.

ETA: Also, I successfully ran that route again on the neighborhood sidewalks on Thursday, uneventfully. But I am done with that route until next fall, now that it's going to be daylight for longer after work. I can run some of the trails that I prefer!
 
Mar. 11 - 15, 2019

Running
  • Tuesday, Mar. 12: 5EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:38, 11:53, 11:47, 11:46, 11:48. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Wednesday, Mar. 13: 4EB, target pace 11:08, splits 11:07, 11:04, 11:06, 11:11. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Thursday, Mar. 14: 3EA, T+D 118 (1%), target pace 12:03, splits 11:54, 11:57, 12:03. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
Tomorrow I have 2EB, which I will do before breakfast.


Other
  • Monday:
    • morning: prehab routine, foam rolling and stretching
    • evening: walk on treadmill
  • Tuesday morning: prehab routine, foam rolling and stretching
  • Wednesday morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • Thursday morning: foam rolling and stretching

Health
  • Headache continues. Not too bad most of the week, but kind of bad today. Who knows.
I am driving down to Virginia Beach tomorrow for packet pick-up. I am staying there overnight.

The weather forecast is good for the race on Sunday: low of 38 F the night before and high 51 F race day. No rain. Perfect.
 
2019 Shamrock Marathon Race Report

This marathon was in Virginia Beach, VA, on Sunday, March 17, 2019.

I chose this marathon as my second marathon because the time of year pretty much guaranteed cool weather, the course is flat, and I've heard good things about this race.

I drove down to Virginia Beach from Maryland the day before. I stopped by the expo to pick up my bib and get a corral change. When I registered for the race long ago, I put 5:00 as my goal time, but DopeyBadger predicted I should run between 4:25 - 4:35, so I changed to the 4:35 pace group, in corral 9. This seems to be a "fast" race, as most runners complete it in pretty fast times - the last pace group is for 5:00 and there are only 11 corrals. This is in big contrast to my first marathon, the MCM in 2017, where there are a lot of runners finishing well over 5 and even 6 hours.

The expo was blissfully uncrowded, so I actually looked around for like 10 minutes, which may be a PR for me at expos. :) I picked up some merchandise and went to my hotel. My hotel was right on the beach (Holiday Inn & Suites North Shore), and so I did a short walk along the boardwalk. I saw the Neptune statue, which is where the race ends.

I was carb loading that day, following DopeyBadger's plan, which I had tested a month or so previously. I ate exactly the same thing that day. I also brought all my food for breakfast, since I had a fridge and microwave. The hotel was quite nice for what I needed. I got to bed around 9:30pm.

I woke up at 4:30am and ate my usual full breakfast and 24 oz water. I went back to bed and dozed from about 5 - 6am. Got up and got dressed. Went outside to find the start line, which was about 2 blocks from my hotel. I did some very easy running for about 15 minutes or so. At about 15 minutes before the start time, I went back to my hotel room for a final bathroom break and took off my throw-away clothes. I have never had a hotel at the start line before, and I have to admit that it is really nice.

The weather was perfect. Dry and about 40 F to start. It was breezy, so I decided on the v-neck long-sleeved shirt and shorts. I probably would've been fine in my short-sleeved shirt. It was sunny, but the Sun didn't get high enough until about halfway to heat things up much. It was high 40s F by the time I finished.

Found my 4:35 pace group. Our pacers were Cathy and Tim. Cathy was 45 years old (my age!) and started running about 10 years ago after she had twins. She was 100 lbs heavier then and started running to improve her health. Now she had qualified for Boston with a 3:27 marathon. She was pacing us for her last long run before Boston. She was amazing and somehow managed to talk non-stop throughout the race, telling stories, cheering everyone on, and so. Tim had to work a bit to get a word in edgewise, but he was also very good at the pacing. We had about a dozen in our group to start.

I started with 2L of Tailwind in my hydration vest and over 0.5L in a throw-away bottle. In my previous and only marathon, I ran out of the 2L I carried too early, so I didn't want that to happen here. I also had two packs of Jelly Belly sport beans.

The start was 7:30am, and the race started on time, but since we were corral 9, we didn't cross the start until about 7:45am. Our group took off. We needed to keep a bit under a 10:30 min/mile pace. Cathy and Tim did an awesome job of this. My splits look more uneven than they really were, since my GPS kept flip-flopping between being early and late compared to the race mile markers. They double-checked our elapsed time on every mile to make sure we were on schedule.

The first few miles were easy.
Mile 1: 10:39
Mile 2: 10:27
Mile 3: 10:23
Official 5K split: 32:49 (10:33 pace)

We turned inland a bit and ran through some woods, which was pleasant. Somewhere along here we passed a 75-year old man who had started running sometime in middle-age or later, and he was on 100+ marathons. Wow.
Mile 4: 10:29
Mile 5: 10:19

Finished my throw-away bottle of Tailwind. Started drinking from my hydration vest every mile.

Mile 6: 10:23
Official 10K split: 1:04:57 (10:28 pace)


We turned around toward the shore, although we were just enough inland to not really be able to see the ocean. Cruising along. Ate one of the Sport Beans packets during mile 7.
Mile 7: 10:21
Mile 8: 10:81
Mile 9: 10:21
Mile 10: 10:24
Mile 11: 10:14
Mile 12: 10:14

The half-marathon runners had been running on the same course as us marathoners. They split off after mile 12 to go to the finish line. The race hadn't been crowded before, but even so, it really thinned out here.

Mile 13: 10:10
Official 13.1 split: 2:16:23 (10:25 pace)
Mile 14: 10:26

The end of the marathon was going in the opposite direction right beside us in the other half of the street here, so we started seeing the first marathoners coming in for their last mile.

Mile 15: 10:17

Somewhere between miles 15 and 16 was the Rudee Bridge, over a bit of water. A short, but steep climb. We were starting to turn inland for a bit. I ate my other Sport Bean packet.

Mile 16: 10:24

I was still keeping up with the pace group, but it was starting to get a lot harder. I was getting the sinking feeling that I wasn't going to be able to stick with the pace group for the rest of the race, but hoped I could do it for a while longer.

Mile 17: 10:19
Mile 18: 10:23
Somehow I missed the 18.4 split...

After mile 18, I didn't really have to decide to fall back from my pace group...my legs just wouldn't keep turning over fast enough to stay with them. My heart rate was getting up pretty high that I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain that for another 8 miles, although my breathing wasn't that bad. So I gradually slowed down. During this mile, we hit a u-turn in the street to start heading back toward the shore, so I got to say good-bye to the others in my pace group, ha ha.

Mile 19: 11:14

I still wasn't really recovering enough and had to keep slowing.

Mile 20: 11:51

We started doing some zig-zagging through Camp Pendleton. This part of the course was really barren - no crowd support - and no shade. It is a rotten area to be running alone and trying to keep going. I pulled out one earbud to start some music to try to distract me and maybe get a pick-me-up. My legs felt like lead. Nothing in particular was hurting, just overall dead.

Mile 21: 12:19
Mile 22: 12:37

During mile 23, we had to cross back over the bridge. I was a little worried that if I ran the incline, although short, it would sap the energy I had left in my legs. So I briskly walked the incline and then ran from the top - the only walking I did in the whole race, which I am very proud of. I think it was a good decision, because it actually gave me a just a bit of rest.

Mile 23: 13:06

The next few miles were the reverse of what we'd run before, but there were no marathoners left going the other way to cheer me in. In fact, it felt like there weren't many racers left at all, which was kind of depressing, since I was still on pace for a finish well under 5 hours. But was still some crowd support, and I certainly appreciated everyone cheering for the remaining runners. Whoever came up with the idea of letting you print your name on your bib was a genius, because it was so awesome hearing people cheer my name, even though I know they didn't really know me.

Mile 24: 12:36

The course turns out right along the shore going north on the boardwalk. I knew that the course ended on the boardwalk, so I got excited that I was on the homestretch. But no, you turn inland for a few blocks again. Not there yet!

Mile 25: 12:46
Official 25.2 split: 4:37:42 (11:00 pace)

Just a bit before hitting mile 26, the course turns to go right out along the shore on the boardwalk, this time going south (we had circled around the finish line when we went inland). I knew that meant I was almost there, so I did manage to convince my legs to pick things up a bit.

Mile 26: 12:22
Extra bit: 11:06 (almost 0.4 miles on my GPS)
Official finish time (chip): 4:49:29 (11:03 pace)

Collected my medal and fleece blanket along with some liquids and snacks in the finishers' chute. Unfortunately the chute walked me even farther away from my hotel, so I had a 20-minute walk back. My core temperature dropped almost immediately, so I put the blanket to good use right away. :)

Turns out that I had about 0.75L left in my 2L reservoir. I probably didn't drink enough Tailwind, although I sometimes felt like I had too much. My ear was plugged up at the end, suggesting not enough hydration. While showering and changing, everything wanted to cramp up. Fun.

I had paid for a late checkout at 2:00pm, so I could go back and take a shower. Lovely. And then a 4-hour drive home, which turned into a 5-hour drive with a big backup on I-95. Sigh.

So this race did not go as well as I had hoped and planned for. I had been very confident going into the race, as my previous 10K race performed exactly as predicted, and I felt like I followed my training plan very well. But, marathons are hard. I certainly did much better than my previous and only marathon, where the wheels fell off by halfway through. I feel like I managed this race much better, keeping myself going at the end. My 4:49:29 time is over a 35-minute PR, which is great. I will do even better in the next one!

I finished 1148 out of 1675 runners (68.5%). With how empty the course was as I was finishing, it's hard for me to believe that 1/3 of the runners came in after me! I was 434 out of 720 women (60.3%) and 45/89 in my age group (50.5%). Those stats could all use some improvement.

Overall, this race was well-organized and supported. There was good crowd support along a lot of the course, and a lot of the locals were out with signs or food or high-fives. There were lots and lots of aid stations, it seems like, although I carried all of my own stuff and didn't use them. The race wasn't so crowded that it was hard to run on the course, and as I commented before, my pace leaders were awesome. I will certainly consider doing this race again, if it fits into my overall goals.
 
I had been very confident going into the race, as my previous 10K race performed exactly as predicted, and I felt like I followed my training plan very well.

You were and you did on all occasions.

But, marathons are hard.

::yes::

And that's it really. A marathon like no other race can be so brutal even when things are seemingly perfectly in line. Just sometimes it isn't your day. And we brush ourselves off and say:

I will do even better in the next one!

:thumbsup2

My 4:49:29 time is over a 35-minute PR, which is great.

Phenomenal! That's an 11% improvement from one marathon to the next. That's a pretty good return on investment. So not quite the max return of 4:20-4:35, but close.

Turns out that I had about 0.75L left in my 2L reservoir. I probably didn't drink enough Tailwind, although I sometimes felt like I had too much. My ear was plugged up at the end, suggesting not enough hydration. While showering and changing, everything wanted to cramp up. Fun.

Sounds like that could have been an issue. Did you ever feel thirsty?
 


@DopeyBadger , no I'm not sure I ever really felt thirsty. Toward the end of my HMs and even my first marathon, I tend to not feel like eating or drinking anything. My first marathon ended up being so warm that I did eventually get thirsty - more when I was walking.

So I try to drink at the mile markers, whether I feel thirsty or not. I also do this in long training runs. It was a cool day with some wind, so I wasn't dripping with sweat, but I got a salt crust on my sleeves and salt really coating my headband. Tailwind has a lot of sodium, which is something I like about it, since I think I am a very salty sweater.
 


Mar. 18 - 24, 2019

No official running training plan until after the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run on April 7. I will just be doing some easy running.

Running
  • Sunday, Mar. 24: 3EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:54, 11:52, 11:53. Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north.
My legs are tired, but fortunately I don't seem to have any more serious problems.

Other
  • Monday, Mar. 18: walk; I had to take my car in for service and walked the 2.6 miles home.
  • Tuesday, Mar. 19: walk around the neighborhood, 1.7 miles.
  • Wednesday, Mar. 20: walk on treadmill
  • Thursday, Mar. 21: visiting my family over spring break; 1.8-mi walk
  • Saturday, Mar. 23: walk on treadmill
Seriously, this is the least activity that I've done in a week in a really long time. I barely got as many steps in the whole week as I got on the day of my marathon! I'm trying to keep in mind the whole recovery thing. :)

Health
  • Neurologist appointment on Tuesday. He says that although he's not surprised the PT wasn't very effective in stopping the headaches, he still thinks it's a neck issue. He's ramping up my amitriptyline dosage to try to stop the pain.
  • Definitely still have the headache. Riding in a car for long periods (driving or as a passenger) definitely makes it bad, so the 4-hour drive to/from Virginia Beach and then 5-hours to/from my mother's house didn't help things. Particularly bad the day before my marathon.
 
Week Mar. 25 - 31, 2019

Running
  • Monday, Mar. 25: 3EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:52, 11:54, 11:55. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going south. A little rain.
  • Tuesday, Mar. 26: 4EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:56, 11:51, 11:57, 11:55. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Wednesday, Mar. 27: 4EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:53, 11:50, 11:53, 11:54. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Thursday, Mar. 28: 5EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:47, 11:48, 11:49, 11:57, 11:54. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Sunday, Mar. 31: 5EB + 1EA, T+D 108 = 0.5% correction, target paces 11:11, 11:59, splits 10:55, 11:09, 11:10, 11:01 11:16, 11:52. Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north. Rained the whole time.
I am not following a plan right now - I'm just running easy. I have the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run on April 7. My legs are definitely still very tired.

Other
  • Monday morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • Tuesday morning: prehab routine, like previous, and foam rolling and stretching
  • Wednesday morning: new core routine, followed by foam rolling and stretching
    • Back extensions on a stability ball: 2 x 12
    • Crunches with a twist: 2 x 12 each side
    • Plank: 3 x 60 sec
    • Starfish side plank: 3 x 30 sec each side
    • Plank roll-out with stability ball: 2 x 12
  • Thursday
    • morning: new strength routine, followed by foam rolling and stretching
      • Squat: 2 x 12 with 60 lbs
      • Bench press: 2 x 12 with 60 lbs
      • Romanian deadlift: 2 x 12 with 50 lbs
      • Pull-ups: 2 sets, 4 unassisted and 4 negative
      • Reverse lunges: 2 x 12 each side with 30 lbs
      • Shoulder press: 2 x 12 with 20 lbs per arm
      • Upright row: 2 x 12 with 30 lbs
    • evening: my husband and I emergency subbed into a mixed doubles tennis match. I had finished my 5EA run less than 2 hours before and my husband was playing tennis the 2 hours immediately prior. Fortunately we won the match in short order, and our team won overall!
  • Friday morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • Saturday
    • morning: 90-minute tennis live ball clinic
    • evening: tennis doubles match - my partner and I won, and our team won overall!
Getting back into strength training after a few weeks off around my marathon guaranteed that I would be really sore, and that happened after Thursday morning's routine. Doing the run plus the unexpected match Thursday night was rather painful!

Health
  • Headache continues. Some days better than others.
  • I stopped taking the new muscle relaxer, at the suggestion of the neurology doctor. Things don't seem worse without it, so at least one fewer med for the moment.
 
Week Apr. 1 - 7, 2019

Running
  • Monday, Apr. 1: 5EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:37, 11:48, 11:50, 11:51, 11:53. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Sunday, Apr. 7: Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run, 1:43:51 - race report in next post

Other
  • Monday morning: new prehab routine, and foam rolling and stretching
    • slow clamshells: 3 x 15 per leg
    • hamstring plate drag: 2 x 15 per leg with 10 lb
    • hip strengtheners: 2 x 15 per leg
    • straight-leg eccentric heel drop: 1 x 15 per leg
    • bent-knee eccentric heel drop: 1 x 15 per leg
    • rotator cuff rotation: 3 x 15 with 5 lb per arm
    • wrist curls: 3 x 15 per hand with 3 - 5 lb ea
    • reverse wrist curls: 3 x 15 per hand with 3 - 5 lb ea
    • wrist supination and pronation: 3 x 15 per arm with 3 - 5 lb ea
  • Tuesday:
    • morning: new strength routine as described previously, same reps
    • evening: tennis doubles match - my partner and I won 6-4, 2-6, 1-0, but unfortunately our team lost overall.
  • Wednesday:
    • morning: new core routine as described previously, with one more rep per set; planks were 65-s each and side planks were 35-s each
    • evening: tennis mixed doubles match with my husband - we lost 3-6, 6-3, 1-0, but fortunately our team won overall.
  • Thursday:
    • morning: foam rolling and stretching
    • evening: tennis doubles match - we won 7-5, 6-7 in a timed match, and our team won overall, too!
  • Friday morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • Saturday morning: 2-hour tennis practice, all doubles

Health
  • The headache continues. A really bad day on Friday. I've ramped up to the max amitriptyline dosage my neurologist told me, but I'm not sure it's doing much better.
 
Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run Race Report
April 7, 2019

This race wasn't originally on my list for this year, but a friend of mine really wanted us to run it together. We both got in via the lottery, so it was a "go". I ran a marathon PR 3 weeks before, so this wasn't going to be a particularly fast race for me.

Picked up my bib and shirt at the race expo the day before. It was extremely crowded. I don't like crowds and I don't like people trying to sell me stuff, so I was in and out of the expo quickly.

Due to work commitments, I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep prior to the race. The night before the race I was up after 11:00pm making sure my students controlling a telescope in New Mexico (via the internet) were starting out OK. Then I got up at 4:30am to have a full breakfast - 7:30am start for the race.

I was planning to spend some time after breakfast doing some foam rolling and warm up moves, but instead got involved with checking the students' telescope images - they finished at 7:00am and a set of students observing with a telescope in Australia was to start at 7:00am. So no foam rolling or warm-up. (And my student probably wasn't expecting me to text him at 5am!)

Drove to my friend's house to carpool with her into downtown DC - she is more familiar with the roads and where to park. She is also much more casual about getting to the race early than I am - but I was letting that go, since this wasn't a big goal race for me. I realized partway into town that I had brought my hydration vest but left the reservoir with the Tailwind in the fridge. Oops. Got too involved with my students' images and had just rushed out the door. I figured that I would drink at the water stops.

By the time we parked and walked to the start area, it was about 7:00am. Enough time to make a bathroom stop and check my bag. We headed to my friend's start corral, since it was closest. We both took selfies of us together, and I slipped my phone into my hydration vest pocket, like I always do - but not this time.

I moved up to my corral (earlier start than my friend) and that's when I realized I didn't have my phone. Sheer panic as I patted myself down - like I had any other place to put it, in my tank top and compression shorts! I realized that I must have missed slipping it into my pocket after the selfie. Or after that, when I took off my throw-away sweater. I started calling out that my phone was on the ground, and did anyone see it? And then frantically began retracing my steps, all the while calling out for people to look for a phone on the ground. But there were just HORDES of people - over 17,000 in the race and it was just about start time, so everyone was RIGHT THERE.

Of course, I didn't find it, but I was amazed at how many people actually stopped to look down, at least. I got back to where I had left my friend, but she had moved farther into the corral, and so I didn't see her. No phone. I had everyone there looking on the ground. Someone offered to call it - I hadn't thought about that in my panic. We couldn't hear it ringing, but someone answered! A woman had picked it up and answered it - I got directions to where she was and took off, pinballing off the hordes of people. I had to get one more person to call my phone when I got close in order to get more specific directions, and then I found the woman holding my phone! So amazing! I cannot believe I actually got it back. I don't think she was expecting the wild hug I gave her!

So I got back to my corral, trying to calm down a bit. (For the rest of the day, I kept having moments of panic about where my phone was.) I was originally going to try to start with the 10:00 min/mi pacers, but there was no way I could find them now.

The weather was lovely - by race start it was a bit above 50 F and enough clouds that I didn't need sunglasses. By the end of the race, I wouldn't have minded if it was a bit cooler, but honestly, I couldn't complain about the weather.

I was back in the third wave or so, so I didn't get across the start line until about 7:45am. A little prior to that, the announcer had said that the elite women were already at the 5-mile mark (they started at 7:18am). Wow.

Well, after the scare with my phone, the race itself was almost an anti-climax. :) If I could keep a 10-min mile, I would have a chance at a PR. That seemed unlikely, but I thought I'd see how long I could keep the pace.

Mile 1: 10 14. It was really crowded at the start, so hard to get a good pace going.

Mile 2: 10:05. I had a faster pace going, but then a lot of us got held up by a big group running together. They were supporting a double-leg-amputee runner, which is great, but no need to clog everything up.

Mile 3: 9:47. Mile 4: 9:58. These miles felt reasonably good, but I could tell I was going to have to slow things down a bit. The first few miles had some boring scenery but the last half or two-thirds was all very scenic with the cherry blossoms just past peak bloom.

Mile 5: 10:11. Slowed down a bit more after this.

Mile 6: 10:34. Mile 7: 10:26. OK, maybe a little slower. Enjoying the blooms around the Tidal Basin and Haines Point.

Mile 8: 10:55. Mile 9: 10:53. Oddly, near a water stop around here, I came right up behind a 10:00 pacer. I had thought they would have been way ahead of me in my corral, since I ended up getting to the corral so late. I thought about trying to catch up, but didn't have the legs for that.

I did have the legs for a little more speed in the last mile, despite an annoying uphill grade a few tenths before the finish line. Mile 10: 10:24.

My chip time was 1:43:46, which is my second-fastest 10-mile race time. (It's only my fourth 10-mile race.) Despite the fact that I was tired, this race felt so short and quick compared to my marathon 3 weeks ago. :)

I went through the chute and got water. Remember how I was going to drink at the aid stations because I forgot my drink? Nope, didn't happen. I've always hated fighting the crowds at aid stations and trying to drink out of the little cups. So, no, didn't drink anything during the race. The Tailwind was going to be my calories, so no calories, either.

I got in the line to retrieve my checked bag, which had sweats, because I always get really, really cold after the race. This began the most annoying part of the whole day. They had stored the bags in UPS vans according to bib number - not unlike many other races. However, they apparently didn't distribute us very well between the vans - it seems like all of the people who got done at about the same time had their bags in the same van. So my van's line was really, really long, but the van next to me had almost no one waiting. I ended up waiting 40 minutes in the line. If I'd known, I could have walked back to our car in that time and been just as warm! Grrr. They did at least come by the lines and give out the medals (these were optional, not for all finishers) and bananas, so I didn't have to get in the medal line.

While I was waiting in the bag line, a woman passed by and said, "Hey, did you find your phone?" :) Turns out she was someone in the area while I was searching for it and remembered me, ha ha.

My friend finished in 1:48:01 (and she's 62!). She very patiently waited in line with me. Then we went to take some pics in front of the cherry blossoms. After that, we headed home.

It was a fun race, but I'm not sure if I'll do it again or not. The crowds were pretty bad, and the organization of the bag check was very annoying. From what I heard, the bag check organizational scheme was new this year, so maybe they'll do better in the future. Otherwise, I thought the organization was pretty good, and the volunteers were great. They had so many volunteers on the course shouting directions and cheering us on.

ETA: I'm trying to figure out how to include pictures. I'm not sure why it is so difficult.

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Congrats on the race. I would have freaked as well if I couldn't find my phone (or other belongings). Glad you were able to find it, and still get your mind right for the race.

ETA: I'm trying to figure out how to include pictures. I'm not sure why it is so difficult.

I just use "upload a file" personally. As long as the pic is under 1MB, it works.
 
Congrats on the race. I would have freaked as well if I couldn't find my phone (or other belongings). Glad you were able to find it, and still get your mind right for the race.



I just use "upload a file" personally. As long as the pic is under 1MB, it works.

Oh my goodness. I knew there was an "upload a file" option and I looked and looked for it... at the top of the editing window. It's at the bottom. Sheesh.
 

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Just got this from the Cherry Blossom organizers:

---
We have a bit of unfortunate news to announce at the end of a glorious weekend - the turn around in West Potomac Park on our revised course was misplaced, causing the course to be 80 yards short of a full 10 miles (the actual measurement is 9.96 miles). The organizers profoundly regret this unfortunate error in our event, which has prided itself for 47 years on organizational excellence and support for elite athletes, as well as the masses of runners who follow them. Unfortunately the short course negates Stanley Kebenei's time of 46:00 from being considered as the new American Record and Rosemary Wanjiru's time of 50:42 from being considered as a U.S. Women's All Comers record. The event will still pay Kebenei the $10,000 bonus for a new American record and the time bonuses for the two men and two women who broke 46:00 and 52:00 respectively. When we publish the results, we will include everyone's pace per mile for 9.96 miles. Just to put matters in perspective, we have included a chart below to give you an idea of the amount of difference the shortness would make at various paces.

Pace Difference between time for 9.96 miles and 10 miles
6:00 Add 14 seconds to official race time
7:00 Add 17 seconds to official race time
8:00 Add 19 seconds to official race time
9:00 Add 22 seconds to official race time
10:00 Add 24 seconds to official race time
11:00 Add 27 seconds to official race time
12:00 Add 29 seconds to official race time
13:00 Add 32 seconds to official race time
14:00 Add 34 seconds to official race time

---

That's too bad for the really fast folks who are affected by this. My average pace for the race was close to 10:30 min/mi, so I suppose my time should have been about 25.5 seconds higher. Not a big deal. It's still definitively my second-fastest 10-mile race.
 
Week Apr. 8 - 14, 2019

Running
  • Saturday, Apr. 13: 3EA, T+D 125 (1.5%), target pace 12:06, splits 11:54, 12:06, 12:02. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north. I was well into this run when I realized I forgot about the T+D adjustment and it was really blasted humid. Slowed down a bit. :)
  • Sunday, Apr. 14: 3EA, T+D 123 (1.5%), target pace 12:06, splits 12:03, 12:05, 11:52. Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north.
Working with DopeyBadger on my upcoming race plans. Current thinking:
  • 5K on May 27 or June 2 (not an "A" race)
  • Pocahontas Half Marathon July 14 (not an "A" race)
  • Space Coast Marathon Dec. 1 ("A" race)
I don't do well running in the heat, so I'm trying not to get super-obsessed with the summer races. I was hoping to do a team relay race in late October, but we didn't get enough runners for our team. :(


Other
  • Monday evening: walk on the treadmill
  • Tuesday
    • morning: tennis strength phase 1 - like previous
    • evening: tennis mixed doubles match. My last match with my husband this season. We won 6-2, 6-3, and our team won overall, too!
  • Wednesday
    • morning: core routine - like previous
    • evening: walk around the neighborhood - everything is blooming and it's so pretty!
  • Thursday
    • morning: tennis strength phase 1 - increased all sets by 1 rep except pull-ups; foam rolling and stretching
    • evening: tennis lesson
  • Saturday afternoon: walk on the treadmill

Health
  • Headache continues, and the last couple of days have been especially bad for some reason. I'm trying to remember to do more of the PT stretching, because looking back at the pain levels recorded in my headache app, during PT was when I was feeling the least pain. I'm starting to think this is never going to go away. I could have worse problems.

ETA: I forgot to include my Sunday evening tennis doubles match, since it happened after I wrote this post. Unfortunately we lost 6-4, 7-5 and the team lost overall, too.
 
Last edited:
Week Apr. 15 - 21, 2019

Running
  • Monday, Apr. 15: 3EA, target pace 11:56, splits 11:52, 11:52, 11:57. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going south.
  • Tuesday, Apr. 16: 4EA, target pace 11:56, splits 12:00, 11:52, 11:55, 11:57. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Wednesday, Apr. 17: 4EA, T+D 111 = 1%, target pace 12:03, splits 11:59, 11:56, 11:59, 11:53. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Thursday, Apr. 18: 4EA, T+D 130 = 2%, target pace 12:10, splits 12:10, 12:02, 12:12, 11:55. Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Friday, Apr. 19, 3EA, T+D 118 = 1%, target pace 12:03, splits 12:04, 11:53, 11:59. Route Sligo Creek Trail, going north.

I start with my 5K training plan tomorrow!


Other
  • Tuesday morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • Wednesday morning: core routine (like before) and foam rolling and stretching
  • Thursday morning: tennis strength phase 1 routine (like before)
  • Friday afternoon: 3-hour tennis clinic
  • Saturday
    • morning: 1-hour walk
    • afternoon: 2-hour tennis practice
    • afternoon: 3-hour tennis clinic
  • Sunday: 2-hour tennis clinic
The tennis clinics were on a weekend away at Wintergreen Resort in Virginia. A group of my tennis friends go once or twice a year, and it's one of my favorite things in the world to do!


Health
  • My headache was bad this week, especially this weekend. Long car rides never help it, and all the tennis definitely does things to my shoulders and neck that are transmitted right up to my head.
 

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