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Oakland Marathon 2014 training: 11 weeks out

Oakland Marathon 2014 training: 11 weeks out

11 weeks out / week 2 — week of January 6, 2014

OakMarathonLogo

I knew that this week would be decidedly different from last, mainly because I anticipated running most, if not all, of my miles by myself, in SJ, on the GRT; it’s not a big deal (though I am getting used to running by myself—that definitely wasn’t the norm in Chicago!). Some runners are die-hard loners on their runs, while others swing the opposite way. I guess I’m somewhere in the middle; I dig the variety.

Monday, January 6

plan: rest/XT

actual: rest like a rockstar + push-ups

Rest is a relative term when you chase after care for mostly chase after your 2.5 year-old all day, but we rocked this rest day like superstars. Aside from taking a walk to the post office, just a couple miles round-trip, and some playground time, we took it pretty easy. I noticed that I felt well after my first week of training, even with the uptick in miles and in trail runs, yet my hip flexors felt a little… funny. The best way I could describe it is that it felt like I had a ton of relaxin coursing through my body (and if you don’t know what that is, no shame… I only remember it from my pregnancy). I didn’t really feel sore or tight, but I felt like my hips and ankles were kinda like Gumby, like my body decided to take a great big deep exhale and just let it allllllllllll ouuuuuuuuuuuuuut. Weird.

A dailymile friend recently posted something about a push-up app that piqued my interest, so now I’m getting into the habit of doing them (standard, non-modified!) right before bed each night. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, and dare I say it’s even somewhat… fun.  Besides daily push-ups, anytime A and I are at the playground, I hop on a bar and work on my negatives in my chin-up and pull-up attempts. Slowly but surely…

Tuesday, January 7

plan: lactate threshold: 9 miles with 4 at 15kRP/HMRP

actual: recovery 5.1 with A [8:14 avg] + 2 rounds RYBQ 10×10 + push-ups

Just like last week, A slept poorly on Monday night, scheming against me and my planned tempo run, and rather than try to have a quality speed sesh on piss-poor sleep, I decided to take a recovery 5 with her mid-morning. No real complaints here, only that on our run, we went to a few different stores for bubbles and sidewalk chalk (don’t hate me) because it’s sunny (please don’t hate me) and mid-to-upper 60s (I love you?) every day here, so sidewalk chalk and bubbles are musts right now! In the ‘weather is relative’ department, a sales associate told me that her store doesn’t stock those items during the winter because they’re ‘seasonal.’ Insert snarky-ass comment here about what winter constitutes…

a little Chicago love
a little Chicago love

During naptime, I did a couple rounds of the RYBQ 10×10. Although it’s bodyweight-based, compared to the Hereford, the 10×10 is a pretty thorough work-out. It feels quite nice to do it post-run.

Wednesday, January 8

plan: MLR 11

actual: lactate threshold: 9.1 miles with 4 at 15kRP or HMRP [7:56 avg OA; 7:23 avg on tempo miles] + push-ups

First legit speed sesh of Oakland training. I love the speed stuff, but if given the option between tempo or track, I always choose the latter; there’s something about the tempo stuff that (unnecessarily) intimidates me. It took me some time to mentally prepare for this run, and when I started in the 4 o’clock hour, I was surprised to see that the streets of SJ and the GRT were completely soaked, since it had rained/was raining (or very strongly misting) overnight and into the pre-dawn hours…somewhat remarkable only because SJ barely got 3.5” of rain last year. It made for some seriously precarious footing on parts of the GRT, and combined with running fast and running in darkness, save for the light of a headlamp, this tempo was way more challenging than it needed to be. I already can’t turn corners for shit when I’m tempo-ing, but when the pavement is wet and my thoughts keep reverting to what do I need to do to stay out of faceplanting and falling in the riverbed, yea… I welcomed the opportunity to slow things down a bit.

Pfitz suggests that more “experienced” marathoners use their HMRP for these tempo runs, instead of their 15kRP, so I typically aim for a range (which, based on my most recent race times for both distances, equates to a 7:13-21). The pace was hard to find, in no small part due to the aforementioned semi-miraculous weather conditions, so I ultimately averaged just shy of HMRP, a 7:23. Initially, I was pissed about this because of course, I want to be breaking world records here!, but I think given the conditions and where I am in my training right now—along with the very incidental detail that I haven’t done any concerted speedwork in a few months, since my Chicago/NYC training—I’ll take it.

Thursday, January 9

plan: recovery 5

actual: faster finish MLR 12.03 [8:10 avg, range from 8:28-7:32] + push-ups

A speedwork-MLR turnaround is usually tiring for me, but experience has taught me that it’s uber important, too, since it does wonders for my endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and ‘mental’ muscle. Yet again, it rained/fogged/heavily misted in the wee a.m. hours, but this time around, it was more of a treat than a stressor to run in, since I wasn’t going after a certain pace. By the time I finished this run, I looked like I had just taken a shower in my running clothes. It was awesome.

Friday, January 10

plan: MLR 11

actual: MLR 11.02 [8:15 avg] + push-ups

I typically change Pfitz’s schedule a bit each week so I can do a LR on Saturday (instead of Sunday), so oftentimes I’ll end up having a MLR right before a LR—another way to tire out my legs—but the volume I posted this week in 4 consecutive days (W-Sa) is something that I usually wouldn’t subject myself to. Fortunately, on Friday, the ground was dry, so the pre-dawn running felt serene and relaxing. I managed to oversleep my first two alarms, so I got out a little later than usual and had to haul ass to make it home by 6am… only to find that C, too, had overslept his alarms and was still in bed and barely alive to the world. By then, I was at 10.41 miles, and I knew that he’d need at least 10 minutes to get ready, so once I dropped off my headlamp and hydration belt, I flew back outside to finish the rest of my miles. Don’t judge me because I know for a fact that most of you would have done the same, if given the opportunity. 🙂

Also, WE CLOSED TODAY! Woohoo, California homeownership!

Excited faces :)
Excited faces 🙂

Saturday, January 11

plan: recovery 5

actual: faster finish LR 17.01 [8:08 avg, miles 8-17 progression from 8:30-7:17] + moving! + push-ups

Thinking I’d try something new, I picked up the GRT and went to its northern-most point, Alviso, and decided to run the entirety, or almost-entirety, of the path, all the way through downtown San Jose. I’ve only gotten a little south of the SJ airport before, so I was looking forward to doing some exploring. For whatever reason though, this run was pretty mentally exhausting and tough for me until I had a moment with myself around mile 12.3 and decided I would let myself ‘kick’ on the back 4-and-change miles. Perhaps the run was tough because 17 is a bit formidable, and especially if you’re going at it all on your lonesome, but I seriously felt like my head was up my ass for the majority of the run. Of course, this is normal—not every run will be sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns—but dammit. Blerg. My thoughts ranged from changing this LR 17 into a recovery 5, to bagging it altogether and calling C to come fetch me, yadda yadda yadda… Just one of those runs.

the saving grace
the only enjoyable aspect of the first dozen miles on Saturday

If nothing else, I’ll be able to tuck this experience in my “mental callousing” file so the next time I have a sub-par run, I’ll be able to remind myself what I did to turn this one around. Another Pfitz (and StrengthRunning) staple is a fast-finish LR, so I try to get in the habit of posting hearty negative splits on my LRs in anticipation of when I’ll do it on race day. It definitely teaches me patience and has helped my pacing tremendously, too. I’m super pleased that I was able to finish this run strong and significantly, significantly happier 🙂

And, for the record, the section of the GRT that winds through downtown SJ is quite nice. I imagine it’s just darling when everything is in bloom. And, strangely, parts of the GRT Saturday morning alternatingly smelled like skunk (somewhat normal, from my experiences so far), something sweet (interesting), and Indian food (what?????). Finally, as I was finishing up my run, I realized that I had miscalculated my distance and was going to end up running closer to 19-20 unless I took a shortcut back, so I chased my LR with a recovery walk home, with as many shortcuts as possible 🙂

I was planning to do a couple rounds of the 10×10 later in the day, but I opted for some real-world functional fitness and strength: moving personal effects from a studio to a 3-story townhouse (lifting! squatting! stairs!). I’ll call that a draw.

Sunday, January 12

plan: LR 17

actual: recovery 5.02 [8:23 avg] + push-ups

A long night of moving made me welcome the thought of doing an easy recovery mid-day, during naptime, since my usual recovery partner decided she didn’t want to run with me (a first!). My legs were definitely tired when I began, probably more from all the moving than from the run, but they felt progressively better as the run continued. Since this was my first run from our new place, I wanted to check out Penitencia Creek Trail/Park but somehow botched it, and once I figured it out, I didn’t have a ton of mileage left. From what I saw, though, it’s quite lovely and with beautiful views of the east foothills.

hey.
hey.

All in all, I’d call this a successful week. I’m getting adjusted to the training volume, which, surprisingly, is less noticeable in my fatigue than it is in my never-ending desire to eat anything and everything salty; I feel like I just need to buy a salt lick to keep on hand. This past week, I also began to think about goals for Oakland and began to do some research on previous years’ times. While I realize that I’m still quite early in my training, I think I’ve set a pretty ambitious goal for myself, and I’m pretty stoked to chase after it like hell soon. More to come on this one real soon. Most importantly, I learned that Lynton is coming out to Oakland to run the half!!!! Between seeing him in late March and seeing Austin and Erin again in early February for the Kaiser Half, I think I will be starting to count down the weeks in no time here 🙂

with Lynton, immediately after finishing NYC, and the beginning of celebrating his massive PR
with Lynton, immediately after finishing NYC, and the beginning of celebrating his massive PR. SO excited he’s gonna run Oakland’s half!!!!!

 

after we both big PRed at Eugene in April '13 (also the last time I saw him! what?!)
with Austin, after we both big PRed at Eugene in April ’13 (also the last time I saw him! what?!). Kaiser can’t be here soon enough!! (the first of a handful of our run-cations this year… join us!)

 

Erins!
Erins! local run bud, yea!! stoked to see her and run with her again super soon!

 

Weekly Mileage

plan: 59

actual: 59.28

 How were your runs this week? When in your training do you begin to start considering your goals for your upcoming race(s)? Do you schedule race or training rundezvous with friends (and count down weeks in advance?!)?

From the other side

From the other side

True to form, it has been a while.

I’ve written, and re-written, a 2013 “how did I fare?” recap blog post, many times now, only to promptly trash it and start anew, usually several hundred words into writing it. I’m happy to report that I surprised myself repeatedly throughout the year–most notably, staying healthy, dropping my marathon PR three out of my four races (and chopping off 11+ minutes in the process), hitting a yearly PDR, and most importantly, meeting a shit ton of amazing runners who have since become my close friends–but I didn’t think that really warranted its own post. I’ve written a lot about basically all of those things already, either here or on dailymile, and I don’t want to belabor anything anymore.

Instead, thanks to our big cross-country move that basically took over my life from early November, right after NYC, until December 21, when A and I boarded a one-way flight to SFO, it’s actually somewhat hard for me to sit down to write about anything but that when I think about 2013 and what I was, or wasn’t, able to accomplish.  And fortunately, while we are here now with C, as a family living under one roof, in the same state, in the same part of the country (imagine that), I still feel like I’m holding my breath a bit until we close on our new place in a couple weeks.

family selfie attempt
family selfie attempt from NYE

 

At this rate, I feel like I’ve been slowly relocating for months now…and in a way, I guess we kinda have been.

Naturally, what has kept me grounded and, to be quite honest, probably tolerable to be around, has been running. For the first week, week-and-a-half that we were all here, I ran just for the purity of the sport. Pace expectations were nonexistent, mileage didn’t really matter (though I had set an arbitrary goal of hitting 2,200 miles before the end of 2013 because I was so close already), and I didn’t really care about anything but simply moving my body in a forward motion each day. In the process, I’ve begun to get some semblance of an idea of the Guadalupe River Trail, one of San Jose’s many trail systems, that I’ve been running on on an almost daily basis. It’s really quite pretty–the pictures can speak for themselves–and a bonus is that I can get to it in just under .8 mile from our current residence 🙂

on Zanker Rd, looking at the eastern foothills (I think)
on Zanker Rd, looking at the eastern foothills (I think)

 

On the Guadalupe River Trail
On the Guadalupe River Trail

 

on N First St, checking out the foothills
on N First St, checking out the foothills

 

holla!
holla!

 

A paved path, a dry riverbed, and a crushed limestone path comprise this section of the GRT
A paved path, a dry riverbed, and a crushed limestone path comprise this section of the GRT

 

Love the curviness of this path; it makes for some cool pictures
Love the curviness of this path; it makes for some cool pictures

 

the GRT also conveniently dumps you at the San Jose airport
the GRT also conveniently dumps you at the San Jose airport

 

While I don’t think I can quite call SJ “home” just yet, I feel like I’m making progress. Thank god for social media on this one, since I’ve been able to connect with some local runners and groups and have been planning to meet up with them for long runs, trail runs (yup, you read that correctly), and the like. Here, too, randomly applying for, and then being selected to represent, the San Francisco Marathon as a social media ambassador has been huge because it’s giving me an easy outlet to meet some Bay-area runners… all of whom just happen to be planning to run an awesome event in July 😉  (discount code DSC10TSFM2014A26 for the 5k, first or second half, or the full! Come run with me in July!).  I just keep reminding myself that I’ve been here for all of two weeks now, and it takes time to meet people and get my bearings and feel as comfortable as I did when left Chicago, after living there for 11 years  (though I’ve already run with TSFM run bud Paulette! you rock, lady!)

In addition, this week marked the beginning of my Pfitzinger 70/12 training for Oakland,  and I’m toying with the idea of writing weekly training recaps this time around for my own edification, though I think it might be a bit overkill with doing that and dailymile. Thoughts? I always enjoy reading my friends’ weekly training logs, even though I tend to also read their DM stuff as well, yet the idea of doing both, myself, sounds like a waste of time because I doubt anyone would want to read it… funny how that works.

Anyway, no real point to this post, besides checking in and sending some love and some sun from SJ to wherever you are.

“If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.”  – Dean Karnazes