Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

[run.minnie.miles]

I think you played it smart on a hot day. Way to go on another great race!

 

[SarahDisney]

I think you played it smart on a hot day. Way to go on another great race!

Thank you! I definitely think that for the weather, this was the safe choice. (I actually ended up sick when I got home because I hadn't hydrated properly, so I'm really glad I didn't push any harder)

 

[SarahDisney]

Manhattan 7 Mile Recap
(sorry guys, no fun title for this one. There just wasn't anything super title-worthy that happened)
​

Pre-Race:
Packet Pickup - I went after work on Wednesday. Not a big deal, except for some train construction issues, but it really wasn't a problem, just a mild inconvenience.

Getting There - The problem with living out in the sticks is that I either show up way too early for races or like 5 minutes before they start (both of which make me a little nervous). I left the house at 6:30, caught a bus right away, waited for the train to leave (which was normal for a Sunday), then waited like 6-7 minutes for a 6 at 51st. The thing I do love about taking the subway to the race is that there are always other runners on the train, so I don't have to know where I'm going, I just follow people.

I like the angle on this picture because you can barely see the bags under my eyes...

Race Time:
The plan for this race was continuous running. Coach @DopeyBadger had suggested that I start at a 13:00 min/mi pace (+ T+D adjustment), but I really struggle to run slowly during races, so I ended up starting much faster than that. I kept trying to slow down, but I was having a lot of trouble. I told myself to do "single leg walking" - act like I was walking, but never have both feet down on the ground at the same time (kinesiologically, the difference between running and walking is that when you walk, there's a point where both feet are on the ground at the same time, but when you run, there is not) - but even that didn't slow me down enough. I had been planning to stop at every water stop (and walk, because I can't run the water stops), but I ended up skipping the first stop (I did stop and walk at the second water stop, though).

By the end of the second mile, I really wasn't feeling great. I tried to keep pushing through, but there was a point in mile 3 where I knew I was having hydration/electrolyte issue, so I had to stop and eat something (thankfully, I had refilled my jelly bean bag last night and packed it in my belt). After I finished eating, I walked until I was feeling closer to 100%, and then tried to keep running from there. I needed to eat again early in mile 4 ... and at that point I knew I wouldn't be able to run continuously for the rest of the race. I just had to decide what to do.

Race was at a moderate event alert level due to the heat/humidity.

As I was walking, I remembered a conversation I had during my volunteer experience in February. One of my fellow volunteers was a new runner, and our team lead had told her not to race during the summer. I mentioned that I do run races during the summer, but I always bring my water bottle, and only run races that I'm okay walking. In my excitement over the new race distance, I had forgotten that. I don't do well with summer, and especially on such a hot day, this was not the right goal for me. I'm 100% sure that had the weather been 20* cooler, I would have been fine with continuous running. But summer races are ones where I need to be prepared to walk the whole thing if necessary, and I forgot that when I started planning for this race.

Once I had remembered what summer races are all about for me, I knew I would be fine with whatever adjustment I made. At about 3.5 miles (or halfway through the race), I decided to just use my 60/30 run/walk intervals. One of the things I love about the Vivoactive3 (that I couldn't do on my old watch) is that I can adjust the run settings mid-run - so it was super easy to just turn on my intervals. I also decided that I was going to eat two jelly beans every mile to help with the electrolyte situation.

I almost went off the course right before the mile 5 marker to use real bathrooms, but I didn't want to lose the time (and wasn't sure I'd be let back on the course). Other than that, nothing too eventful. I stopped at every water stop, walked as I drank, and when I was done drinking, poured any remaining water over my head. I contemplated taking Gatorade at one stop, but I haven't had any sports drink in a really long time, and I just don't know how I'd react to it, and I didn't want to risk it.

When I got a little past the 6 mile marker, I decided that I wanted to try to run the whole last half mile. I started off feeling good, but then I started coughing, so I slowed to a walk so that I could slosh some water around my mouth, which seemed to help with the coughing (no idea why I did that or why it helped, just btw). Once the coughing had subsided, I went back to running, and crossed the finish line feeling pretty decent.

Splits: (per Garmin, which hit the miles a little before the markers)
Mile 1 Split: 10:55
Mile 2 Split: 11:51
Mile 3 Split: 12:05
Mile 4 Split: 13:46
Mile 5 Split: 13:46
Mile 6 Split: 13:20
Mile 7 Split: 12:36

My splits were really all over the place...

Post-Race Logo Picture

Overall Stats:
Gun Time: 1:34:35
Garmin Time: 1:29:39 (for 7.12 miles)
Chip Time: 1:29:36 (12:48/mile)
Overall Place: 3,992 (of 4,500)
Age Group (F 30-34) Place: 385 (of 461)
Gender Place: 1,819 (of 2,199)

This race was not what I had originally wanted it to be, but it was what worked best for me today. I'm happy with how it went. On a day like today, crossing the finish line upright is all I could have asked for, and I actually finished somewhat strong, so I got more than that. Continuous running as a possibility will always be there. I'll get it next time.

Post-Race:
They were giving out ice-cold rags (which they called towels) post race, so I took one and wrapped it around my neck, and then over my head. It was awkward:

I also grabbed some water, an apple, and a bagel (probably should have grabbed a cup of gatorade), and went to stretch my legs a little (while eating my bagel - I'm a master multitasker). The post-race festival area was cool, with Marino's italian ices (I went cherry ... aka the best flavor, other than the cola one which is hard to find), photo ops (see logo picture above), and some post-race yoga (I did the 10am session ... it was less awkward than I thought it would be, mostly I think because we do some of this stuff in barre3 classes).

It wouldn't be a NYC race without a yellow cab...

After hanging around there for a while, I made my way to a not-so-close bathroom (and later realized that I think there was one right by the festival area ... oops), then went to Dunkin' Donuts for coffee (it was drinkable, but not great), and went home.

I did not hydrate well at and after this race. I know this because when I got home and went to shower, I was so lightheaded that I had to hold on to the wall of the shower so that I didn't fall. I ate something as soon as I got out of the shower and was feeling a little better, but I still wasn't feeling great. I had originally planned to go visit my grandfather after the race, but I wasn't feeling up to it (hopefully I'll go see him next week).

The Aftermath:

7+1 down, 2 to go
Is this really happening? Am I really two races away from guaranteed entry to the marathon?
Holy crap...

What's Next:
As of right now, my next race is also my next goal race - the New Balance Bronx 10 Mile on September 30th.
This is going to be my last shot at POT for Disney. Goal is to get below 1:45, which I'm hoping will get me in the sub-5 hr corral.
Originally, my thought was that if today's race went well, I would go for continuous running as a secondary goal for this race. That goal is on the table.
Primary goal is absolutely the time goal. If Coach and I don't think I can run a continuous tempo pace for 10 miles by the end of September, then I'll do intervals. But if I can aim for a sub-1:45 while running continuous ... that's what I'm going for.
I made up a plan for myself that I'm fairly certain I can stick to. I am going to try to write it up coherently tonight or tomorrow, and I'll send it along to Billy to change/update/whatever as he sees fit (with certain "rules" set by me - some of which are schedule-related, and others are actual substance-of-runs related). Hopefully between the two of us we can make a plan that will get me to my goal and that I will follow.

 

[SarahDisney]

Also ... two things:
1 - I'm scheduled for a barre3 class tomorrow, but I might cancel, depending on how things are going at work. I'll make the decision around noonish. I have a really inconvenient meeting tomorrow, but I can't get out of it.
2 - I can't really share more than this, because it's not my story to tell, but there's a minor thing going on with my family tomorrow (or today for those of you reading this Monday), and it would be cool if you guys could send us some pixie dust. Not expecting anything to be wrong, but pixie dust never hurts. (Sorry that was so vague, but ... not my story to tell)

 

[ZellyB]

Great race recap! Heat kills me too so very smart to adjust mid-race. Only 2 more races!!!

Sending you pixie dust for your family situation.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

I always enjoy reading about your races- great recap!
I hope you're back to feeling 100% and sending good vibes for your fam!

 

[SarahDisney]

Great race recap! Heat kills me too so very smart to adjust mid-race. Only 2 more races!!!

Thanks! Heat is definitely a killer, and that adjustment was definitely the right move for me.
2 races! Ahhh!!!

Sending you pixie dust for your family situation.

Thank you!

I always enjoy reading about your races- great recap!

Thanks

I hope you're back to feeling 100% and sending good vibes for your fam!

Thank you. I'm feeling much better today, and thanks for the good vibes!

---
Okay, today's stuff:
1 - So far so good on the family stuff. There's still a little more to go, but so far all good. Thanks for the pixie dust and good vibes!
2 - I cancelled my barre3 reservation, even though I probably need the stress relief, because I'd rather be home. And also because I don't want to have to leave work early today.
3 - I actually typed the phrase "Surprisingly enough, I know how to read" in a Slack message. Because I'm done with this for today. I said I was running my tests, not yours, because something that needs to work to run yours doesn't work. I have a meeting in 5, and after that I need to talk to our mutual boss about this. I can't deal with this guy. I don't work for him. My job is to basically eliminate most of his job. It's not to to take orders from him.
4 - There was a 4, but I forgot it. Oh yeah. Working in an industry where free food is the norm when you had dietary restrictions that mean you can't eat any of that food really sucks. And I learned today that the reason nobody's ever asked me if I want food isn't because they know about my dietary restrictions, it's because they don't care. Yay. Not.

 

[SarahDisney]

I committed the cardinal sin of coffee and poured hot coffee over ice. It's exactly as disgusting as I thought it was gonna be. But ain't nobody got time to leave the building.

 

[jennamfeo]

2 - I can't really share more than this, because it's not my story to tell, but there's a minor thing going on with my family tomorrow (or today for those of you reading this Monday), and it would be cool if you guys could send us some pixie dust. Not expecting anything to be wrong, but pixie dust never hurts. (Sorry that was so vague, but ... not my story to tell)

I just now got around to reading this and saw that you did update on it. But I needed to comment that I saw a shirt that said "Faith, Trust, and Churro Dust" that I definitely need. So I am sending over some last minute churro dust.

Glad you listened to your body for your race. Running in the heat is not fun. Trust me, I know. Haha. I am sure you will hit your goal! And OMG TWO MORE RACES!!!

 

[Jules76126]

Good job on the race. Yesterday was definitely steamy and I can totally understand needing to walk part of it. Just think about how nice those cool fall days will feel after the hot summer.

 

[SarahDisney]

I just now got around to reading this and saw that you did update on it. But I needed to comment that I saw a shirt that said "Faith, Trust, and Churro Dust" that I definitely need. So I am sending over some last minute churro dust.

Thank you! The churro dust is much appreciated

Glad you listened to your body for your race. Running in the heat is not fun. Trust me, I know. Haha. I am sure you will hit your goal! And OMG TWO MORE RACES!!!

Yeah, I really don't know how you run in Arizona. Any time the temperature gets above 75 I'm done, and then when you add in humidity ... nope.
This two races thing is kinda freaking me out. It's getting real!

Good job on the race. Yesterday was definitely steamy and I can totally understand needing to walk part of it. Just think about how nice those cool fall days will feel after the hot summer.

Thanks! I'm very excited for long sleeve weather to be here. It can't come soon enough...

 

[SarahDisney]

Last post of the day.

- Continued thanks for all the good thoughts and pixie dust.
- I thought I sent my Bronx 10 Mile plan to Coach last night to look at. I didn't. I may or may not have sent it on my way home from work. Based on how out of it I was late last night, it probably doesn't make any sense.
- Scheduled for 2.5 miles or 30 minutes tomorrow (whichever is shorter ...probably the 30 minutes). T+D will be around 150. Haven't decided if I'm going to run/walk, walk, or hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. I do not particularly want to work another 9 hour day tomorrow. I kinda want to just show up at 10:15, but I also know that I can't actually do that because I get really freaked out any time I show up after 9:30. I do not take enough advantage of flexible hours.
- I need to talk to my scrum master tomorrow. I will probably chicken out. Ugh. I'm so frustrated and I'm fairly certain that having this conversation with her will help, but I just can't bring myself to do it. It's even harder now that her desk moved and I can't just stop by on my way to the bathroom anymore.

Also ... I have a headache. I probably didn't eat enough dinner. But it's bedtime, so whatever.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Catching up.

1. Glad to know that things at least began well on the family front. Hopefully they continue to get better.

2. Nice job on your race especially the part about realizing that you needed to go slower that day. Sometimes I think success in running comes when we recognize that while goals are tremendous and help us improve as a runner, that there will be moments when we have to give up on a goal for that day because continued pursuit of that goal will cause greater harm in the long run.

This is not to say that we should never set goals. Rather that we should not lose sight of the bigger picture including our overall health and fitness.

 

[SarahDisney]

1. Glad to know that things at least began well on the family front. Hopefully they continue to get better.

Thank you! So far still good ... I'll probably know a little more in a few hours, but this definitely looks like a happy ending situation.

2. Nice job on your race especially the part about realizing that you needed to go slower that day. Sometimes I think success in running comes when we recognize that while goals are tremendous and help us improve as a runner, that there will be moments when we have to give up on a goal for that day because continued pursuit of that goal will cause greater harm in the long run.

This is not to say that we should never set goals. Rather that we should not lose sight of the bigger picture including our overall health and fitness.

Yes! I love the way you said this!
Goals are awesome, but sometimes they need to be set aside temporarily to focus on the bigger picture.

 

[Bree]

You are almost done with your 9+1!!! That is awesome. The weather looks like it was miserable for racing. Smart choice to slow it down!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Thank you! So far still good ... I'll probably know a little more in a few hours, but this definitely looks like a happy ending situation.

Yes! I love the way you said this!
Goals are awesome, but sometimes they need to be set aside temporarily to focus on the bigger picture.

Thanks. I sort of worry that my thoughts on the pursuit of goals can be misinterpreted. But when obsessive pursuit of a goal leads to overtraining, injury, or worse then what good did pursuit of said goal accomplish? If I obsessively pursue a finish time at my upcoming race to get me a better corral for Disney, but that pursuit leads to injury because I refuse to listen when my body tells me it's not happening on that day, then I might wind up missing out on both goals. I started way too fast during my first race and nearly injured myself. But I had enough sense to slow down and keep working towards the finish line. Honestly, had I injured myself and been unable to finish, I can guarantee that I would decided right then and there that I'm not meant to run. And I would have wistfully wished I could run when all sorts of future fun running opportunities (Star Wars races!!) came along.

Hal Higdon recently said on Twitter that he has never met a slow runner. He further commented that he meets all sorts of runners of differing speeds, but any runner out there running is automatically faster than anyone sitting on the couch.

 

[SarahDisney]

You are almost done with your 9+1!!! That is awesome. The weather looks like it was miserable for racing. Smart choice to slow it down!

This 9+1 thing is really starting to feel real ... am I really gonna run the NYC marathon next year? That's crazy!
The weather was pretty miserable. I don't know how you run outside at all in Florida right now ...

Thanks. I sort of worry that my thoughts on the pursuit of goals can be misinterpreted. But when obsessive pursuit of a goal leads to overtraining, injury, or worse then what good did pursuit of said goal accomplish? If I obsessively pursue a finish time at my upcoming race to get me a better corral for Disney, but that pursuit leads to injury because I refuse to listen when my body tells me it's not happening on that day, then I might wind up missing out on both goals. I started way too fast during my first race and nearly injured myself. But I had enough sense to slow down and keep working towards the finish line. Honestly, had I injured myself and been unable to finish, I can guarantee that I would decided right then and there that I'm not meant to run. And I would have wistfully wished I could run when all sorts of future fun running opportunities (Star Wars races!!) came along.

Yeah, I get this. I think some people are so goal focused that they don't understand that sometimes you need to either pull back or maintain the status quo so that you don't jeopardize your ability to reach that goal. I get that sometimes people feel like the goal is what matters, no matter what, but I wish more people understood that you have to listen to your body and adjust your goals/plans so that you don't end up doing something that ends your pursuit of that goal.

Hal Higdon recently said on Twitter that he has never met a slow runner. He further commented that he meets all sorts of runners of differing speeds, but any runner out there running is automatically faster than anyone sitting on the couch.

I love this. I actually follow him on twitter and while I don't love everything he says (something about running being a cheap sport ... and then two days later a tweet about needing multiple pairs of shoes), this is great. Every pace is a faster than nothing.

 

[SarahDisney]

Oh, life update:
- Thanks for all the good thoughts on the family stuff. Long story short, there was a minor surgery involved (a planned one), and the person who had the surgery is home now. Still in some pain and there is more recovery to come, but hopefully this is temporary pain and it fixes what was a much bigger issue.
- Currently finishing up the details on the Bronx 10 Mile plan. If I have time, I'd like to write up a post about this plan, because I think I did some interesting things with it. Coach suggested adding strides to the plan. I can see myself either loving or hating strides, but nothing in the middle. I'll try them out next week or the week after and see how I feel.
- Worked 10ish to 5ish today. I actually managed to leave early despite showing up late! Tomorrow is gonna be another long day, but at least I won't be in at 9 like I was on Monday because I have some stuff to do around the house before I leave.
- Seriously with the eating. Banana overnight oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow, pb&j for lunch. Just gotta figure out my snacks. And I have to track it. And no more chocolate this week. The stressful part of the week is over.
- I ran/walked this morning. Avg pace a drop under 14, which is pretty much exactly where I want to be for a recovery run. Thursday will be 30-45 minutes (depending on what time I get out of the house) at a slightly faster pace, then 60 minutes Sunday at or a little slower than easy pace. Then next week the hard work part of the new plan starts (I'm technically already on the new plan).
- Barre3 tomorrow. I'm excited. I shouldn't have skipped Monday's class.
- I've been thinking about starting an Instagram where I post my runs and my food logs, but I won't care enough to keep up with it. Even though it's probably a good idea for accountability.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Yeah, I get this. I think some people are so goal focused that they don't understand that sometimes you need to either pull back or maintain the status quo so that you don't jeopardize your ability to reach that goal. I get that sometimes people feel like the goal is what matters, no matter what, but I wish more people understood that you have to listen to your body and adjust your goals/plans so that you don't end up doing something that ends your pursuit of that goal.

Exactly this. I like the idea of setting a focus goal and stretch goals leading up to it. The stretch goals are designed to push you so you don't become complacent, but these goals can be modified or even abandoned if the pursuit of them will wreak havoc with the focus goal. I dreamed of getting faster before Dark Side this year. I suppose this was partially due to a mental barrier of needing to run a sub 3 half before committing to a full. I was training faster for about 2 weeks or so in January. And then knee pain hit. In the past I had been able to fix most pain problems with a day or two at most of rest and then work through it. This time that didn't happen. I had to decide what I really wanted. Do I want that sub 3 at all costs? Or did I really just want to finish all 3 Dark Side races? And if a sub 3 half is some kind of mental barrier for attempting a full, why is that keeping me away from attempting a marathon? If Disney gives me 7 hours, why am I so obsessed with wanting to do it in 6 hours?

So I adjusted my pace after taking a couple of weeks off and trained at a pace that I knew had led to successfully finishing in the past.

I love this. I actually follow him on twitter and while I don't love everything he says (something about running being a cheap sport ... and then two days later a tweet about needing multiple pairs of shoes), this is great. Every pace is a faster than nothing.

Yeah. I don't love everything he says either, but I've learned a lot from him. And yes, running can get very expensive. At least my marathon weekend gear order that showed up today was heavily discounted. So that was nice.

- Thanks for all the good thoughts on the family stuff. Long story short, there was a minor surgery involved (a planned one), and the person who had the surgery is home now. Still in some pain and there is more recovery to come, but hopefully this is temporary pain and it fixes what was a much bigger issue

Wonderful news on the family front.

 

[ZellyB]

So glad to hear that the family situation worked out! I'm excited to read your new training plan. I've not done any strides in my plan, so I'll be curious to hear how it goes.