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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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El Director wrote: »Hey DD! What's up? I'm back logging and was wondering if you were still around these parts
Your last log wasn't that long ago so you can't be too far away Hope all is well in your world.
El D!!!! Howdy!! I am here, but I have not been on boards in ages. 
So many reasons why, but mainly a lack of time and my fierce desire to do everything with gusto. (It's a curse, really. 
) But I just participated in my first race in over a year (over a year due to injuries) - a fantastic 10 mile running race that took place in Washington, D.C. - The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I've been contemplating logging a little race report, but have been dragging my feet to do so....but perhaps you are the kick in my arse to get me going. And I have my sights on a HIM in June. Big step for me considering the crap year I had in 2016, but I committed to it just last Sunday (clarity came to me while I was riding my bike on what was an incredibly gorgeous day here). I hope you are well. I will take the time this weekend to read your log from start to finish, and then I will also peek in at all the other logs I have neglected these few months. Thank you, El D, for popping in here and dusting off some of the cobwebs. 0 -
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El D!!!! Howdy!! I am here, but I have not been on boards in ages. So many reasons why, but mainly a lack of time and my fierce desire to do everything with gusto. (It's a curse, really. ) But I just participated in my first race in over a year (over a year due to injuries) - a fantastic 10 mile running race that took place in Washington, D.C. - The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I've been contemplating logging a little race report, but have been dragging my feet to do so....but perhaps you are the kick in my arse to get me going. And I have my sights on a HIM in June. Big step for me considering the crap year I had in 2016, but I committed to it just last Sunday (clarity came to me while I was riding my bike on what was an incredibly gorgeous day here). I hope you are well. I will take the time this weekend to read your log from start to finish, and then I will also peek in at all the other logs I have neglected these few months. Thank you, El D, for popping in here and dusting off some of the cobwebs.
Great to hear from you! Don't bother reading the whole log, some of it is 3 years old and irrelevant now!
Even if 2016 was been crap, 2017 is a whole new year and there is 63% of it left so plenty of time to do something special. The main thingh is to try. Most poeple don't, so so long as you are doing something - that's called winning in my books :cool:0 -
Hello training log. It's been a long, long time. :eek: I find logging here after such an extended absence feels like stepping into church after missing a sinful number of Sundays. :eek: But, it occurred to me on my run last night that this weekend marks the halfway point between my last event and my next event, so I thought how appropriate for me to pop in here and do a wee bit of catching up! And I'll start with my very brief race report from my last event!Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
Washington, DC
Sunday, April 2, 2017
This was a race that I've had my eye on for a few years. Its appeal was location, course, distance and prestige. The location is my old stomping grounds, the course is flat and scenic, the distance is one I've never raced before, and the event draws international elites and well respected heroes in the running world. Entry is structured like the New York City marathon - you either have to qualify for it, or you go into a lottery. I believe there were 16,000 runners in this year's race. Prior to this event, I had not raced in anything in over a year due to injuries and surgeries...but as luck would have it, my very last event before being sidelined was a half marathon in March 2016 that qualified me for this 10 miler. Small miracles.
I traveled to DC from Luray Saturday morning and spent the early afternoon in Old Town Alexandria with a friend. We had a fun lunch, did a bit of shopping (hello Lululemon!), grabbed some ice cream....and then I headed into DC where I was staying with friends. I was shuttled to the expo, checked in and got my bib and race shirts, listened to a few speakers, purchased some headbands, then walked the 2 miles back to my friends' place via the White House where there was some fun protesting going on.
We did dinner out with friends, then I hit the sack by 10.
I was up early Sunday morning and ate my breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios, milk, orange juice and banana on the floor with the house cat. She and I were the only ones stirring at 4:30 in the morning. One of my hosts drove me to the start line, where I met up with a friend who was running this event in preparation for the Boston Marathon just 2 weeks away. The weather was good - no rain, a wee bit overcast, a slight breeze, and relatively cool. I had on a tank, capris, and gloves that I ended up tossing after a mile or two.
My prep for this race was not with a running focus. I've honestly been focusing more on the bike, in part because my body keeps wanting to break when I run. Prior to this race, I doubt I had run on land more than 15 miles in any given week. I also have shelved the Garmin - it's detrimental to me, both physically and psychologically in training - so I pretty much had no real idea how this race was going to go. I honestly had no idea what pace I should target. Hell, I wasn't even sure I would finish in under 90 minutes. Truth. I only knew that I would have to let my body, and what I've learned from running by feel, dictate the pace. I wore my Garmin, but only for the purpose of recording data to review later, and not with the intention of influencing me in real time.
I lined up in back of my yellow corral - knowing I could not match my qualifying time that earned me this corral, I wanted to be considerate of the other runners around me. The elite women went off first (including Katherine Switzer of Boston Marathon fame!!), then the wheelchair division, then the elite men and all of us regular peeps. The start was smooth and not too terribly congested. My memory of the race itself is a little fuzzy (5 weeks later!), but I remember the first mile being a nice downhill (read: fast!)....and I was shocked when I saw that there was a pace clock at the first mile marker that indicated I was running a sub 7:30. :eek: I never expected that. (See above reference to the low bar being set at a sub 90 minute race.) So I tried to settle a bit and not burn too many matches as the last thing I wanted to do on my debut was to crash and burn. The next several miles were nothing too remarkable - we had started at the Washington Monument then trotted over the Memorial Bridge...onto Rockcreek Parkway and then we made our way out to Haines Point. Haines Point was definitely the most scenic with all the gorgeous cherry blossoms still in glorious bloom. I had been warned, however, about Haines Point. It's an out and back into the Potomac River, and I had been forewarned about the cruel wind that might smack me in the face upon my return. Yep. Hello cruel wind with 2.5 miles to go. :eek: I tried to draft off of a few runners, and did so briefly, but honestly there weren't enough runners around me at that point to pick from so I just gave up. I had taken my one and only gel just before the water station at mile 7, and I was hoping it would kick in to give me a little boost to help battle the wind...however, I found myself a bit nauseated by the time I got to mile 9 and wondered if it was the gel or the increased effort....or maybe both.
By this point I could see the Washington Monument coming into view - yay! The good news about seeing the Washington Monument was I knew I only had 8ish minutes to go before I crossed the finish line. The bad news was I knew it was going to be uphill. Gah. I had not looked at my watch one single time during these 10 miles, however with digital pace clocks posted at each mile, I had been keeping track of my paces with some fancy mental math, and I had been moving my targeted time up as the miles ticked by. Unless something horrible happened on this last mile, I was looking at a sub 1:20, and that delighted me to no end. The hill was awful (why do they always put an uphill at the end of a race??!!!), but I hung in there and even passed one or two in that last push. I crossed the line in 1:17:34, and was tickled with myself that I had 1) completed a race (any race!), and 2) done it in a time I could live with.
Obviously the pace I ran in this race is not the fastest I've ever gone as my fastest marathon had a pace quicker than this 10 miler...but...I am so thankful to be where I am considering what I've been through, and I feel my result accurately reflects where I am...or rather, where I was on this race day. Additionally, some real positives on the day include 1) relatively even pacing (until wind and hill at the end) while running by feel (I know, I had the digital clocks every mile, but I was not glancing at my Garmin!!!)...and, 2) taking on water (a few sips) at every water station (except for the final one) without slowing down or impacting my pace.
Mile splits from my Garmin:
7:27, 7:37, 7:42, 7:34, 7:41
7:44, 7:41, 7:48, 7:57, 8:03
Data from race tracking:
5 miles - 38:16
10k - 47:44
9 miles - 1:09:38
10 miles - 1:17:34
I was 14th in my division (all things considered, I'll take that!), and I beat Katherine Switzer. Sure, she's 70 years old, but I still beat her fair and square.
My time qualifies me for seeded entry into next year's race, and I very well may sign up when registration opens at the end of this year. I really enjoyed this race - it was well organized, friendly, and in a lovely setting. And 10 miles is a great distance!! No fuss....no big nutritional strategy to worrry about! A big enough challenge without being too challenging. A great (re-)intro into racing for me! Happy camper! 0 -
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RacoonQueen wrote: »Ah Dory...I keep meaning to text you to see how you're getting on. Great to see an update...and well done on the race! Whats the next big one?
Hey RQ! Text me anytime!
The next race is Eagleman 70.3....in exactly 5 weeks!!! :eek: I've now signed up for this race four times, yet have only made it to the start once thus far. Fingers crossed number two is just weeks away!0 -
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I've missed those race reports Dory, delighted to see you back
How is your body holding up through this cycle of training?
Thank you! And I've been slowly making my way thru various logs in the forum. :eek:
My body is doing pretty well. I think I've found a mix of training that is agreeing with my bones - emphasis on cycling, a healthy dose of swimming, and then a necessary mix of running in water, treadmill and grass. It's rare that I actually run on asphalt, but I do so every now and then. I'm also drinking a boat load of milk. !!!!! However, I had another bone scan done recently and it appears my bone density has drifted a little in the wrong direction. Ugh. Fingers crossed it improves, or at least stops moving in the negative. 0 -
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... a necessary mix of running in water, treadmill and grass. It's rare that I actually run on asphalt, but I do so every now and then. I'm also drinking a boat load of milk. !!!!! However, I had another bone scan done recently and it appears my bone density has drifted a little in the wrong direction. Ugh. Fingers crossed it improves, or at least stops moving in the negative.
Could the lack of weight-bearing exercise be exacerbating the bone density reduction? Just a thought...0 -
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I'm also drinking a boat load of milk. !!!!! However, I had another bone scan done recently and it appears my bone density has drifted a little in the wrong direction. Ugh. Fingers crossed it improves, or at least stops moving in the negative.
Sorry to hear your bone density is drifting in the wrong direction Dory.
...... but to put a positive spin on it, it's that the best excuse ever for a trip to Ireland to drink our creamy milk and bucket loads of whipped ice cream that we're eating by the bucket load now that the sun has come out 0 -
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El Director wrote: »Brilliant read DD! Sounds like a terrific race! Interesting that one could do such a good time with such small mileage. You have a good base though and experience. The biking also helps I'm sure. Fingers crossed for you now that you keep unbroken ��
The running mileage in general has definitely decreased from a year ago, however I have supplemented my land miles with running-in-water miles during this prolonged period of recovery and I'm sure that has helped me with my running fitness. And, as you noted above, I did/do have a base...and the cycling (and swimming?) contribute to my overall fitness too. I'm far from where I was a year ago, but I can't complain...in fact, I feel pretty lucky. 0 -
I'm now a mere 4 weeks away from Eagleman 70.3 and I feel totally unprepared. I remember reading on these logs once that most of us rarely ever actually feel 100% ready for a HIM, IM, marathon, ultra marathon, or any other crazy event we might have signed up for while under the influence of romantic and dreamy thoughts of how fun race day will be....but rather we basically just run out of training time and, boom, it's go time.
For this log entry I thought I'd just ramble on a bit about how my weeks are generally structured for training. This should be short but sweet....and maybe a little boring. Apologies.
So....my week starts with a rest day on Monday, and then from there it typically looks like this:
Tuesday: swim during lunch, then a 90 minute trainer session after work in the evening.
Wednesday: treadmill speed session, TRX
Thursday: 90 to 100 minute trainer session followed by a 30 minute run off the bike either in water or on land, depending on how I feel.
Friday: TRX during lunch, then an evening swim set immediately followed by an hour run. I used to do these runs exclusively in water, but now I am doing these in the field. Yay!
Saturday: "long" proper bike - anywhere from 2 hours to 3.5 hours - followed by a 20 minute field run off the bike.
Sunday: "long" proper run - have built up to 90 minutes at this point - and then later in the day an easy swim to loosen up the body.
So far I have managed to stay injury free with this training structure. I push when I'm supposed to push, and I keep things easy when the plan calls for easy. As I mentioned in a previous post, I do not run with my Garmin - and while that could change in the future, for now I am happiest without it while training and doing easy runs. And tonight was a big night here in the land of Dory - tonight was the season opener for the outdoor pool. Whoop whoop!! Yep, it was a bit brisk at first, but once I got going it felt great. And what a difference in feel from the endless pool - and each year I am surprised at the difference in feel, but each year the body adjusts relatively quickly. Proper swimming from here on out. Good times!! 0 -
Popping in for my weekly update!! This past week was a bit up and down for me, and that's not ideal with only 3 weeks to go until show time, but that's the way things go sometimes, right? The biggest issue this week was my knee - the knee I had surgery on last summer - decided to swell up on my at the beginning of the week. I'm not totally sure why (increased running mileage?), but it did. That was on Monday. By Wednesday I thought it was good enough to do my speed treadmill session on, but obviously it wasn't because when I awoke Thursday morning it was swollen and sore again. Ugh.
No land running the rest of the week for me! Additionally, there is a bug going around at work and I felt fatigued all week long, so last night I ended up sleeping 10 hours. I needed it!!
But the positives for the week include a really good swim session in the outdoor pool Friday night. I'm getting my "feel" back, and this was a quality session that was 3,000 yards and included some spiffy sprinting with active recoveries just to keep me moving. Another positive is the proper bike ride I did today on the Black Cat. Three and a half hours, most of which was in the bars. This is only my third proper ride on her in recent times (like, in over a year! :eek:), and I was at total ease. There was a lot of out and backs on this ride, so the overall speed is a bit lower than I'd like to see, but that's just the nature of slowing and turning around. One thing I noticed today (and have seen it in previous Garmin race data) is my power doesn't seem to translate well from the trainer to the road. My power goes down on the road. I know I'm going from a static environment to a dynamic one, but I think it's more than that. I suspect part of it is my lack of experience on the road....my lack of technique. Something to work on.
And with 3 weeks to go I've been getting everything race related in order - trying to prevent any last minute "oh sh*t" moments. I've even had to change two tires in the past two weeks!! And one was while on the road!! I blew a back tire while zooming down a mountain, and that was interesting. Yikes. That back tire was all over the place, but I stayed upright....and got some good experience changing the blown tire on the side of the road. And wouldn't you know it, not a single vehicle came by while I was sitting in the grass working on my bike. ??? Oh, and one cool thing the bike shop did for me that I never thought about doing - they attached the necessary valve extenders to the two spare tires I carry on the Black Cat, that way I won't have to fiddle with that little matter (taking them off blown tire and installing them on fresh tire) if/when I blow a tire in a race. Brilliant!! Perhaps that's obvious to the rest of you, but I'm still pretty inexperienced, so I'm tickled to death to now have this short cut to save time and stress! 0 -
Kurt, you rang???
Of course you did...but then then in classic, adorable Kurt style, you hung up and erased your message. (Was that typical of donothoponpop too??? Gee, whatever happened to that fella who lured me in??? ) Any way....you really want to hear the disaster that was Eagleman? It's not pretty...it's not inspiring...it's not representative of my past performances/posts/how I think of myself. You decide. 0 -
Kurt, you rang???
Of course you did...but then then in classic, adorable Kurt style, you hung up and erased your message. (Was that typical of donothoponpop too??? Gee, whatever happened to that fella who lured me in??? ) Any way....you really want to hear the disaster that was Eagleman? It's not pretty...it's not inspiring...it's not representative of my past performances/posts/how I think of myself. You decide. The insufferable chasm between nosiness and privacy- glad it stirred you from your slumber though! Good to see a post from you Dory, and representative of past performances or not, its a performance that seemed unlikely for a long time given your setbacks.
I decide we want to hear about it! 0 -
Well putKurt.Godel wrote: » The insufferable chasm between nosiness and privacy
+1Kurt.Godel wrote: »I decide we want to hear about it!0 -
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Okay. I will sit down tonight with a glass of Pinot Grigio (that I have chilling!) and tell my tale of a very hot day in Maryland that sucked as bad as any ever had in the triathlon life of Dory. It'll be more O. Henry and less Leo Tolstoy in length. I can't promise about the tone though. 0
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Okay. I will sit down tonight with a glass of Pinot Grigio (that I have chilling!) and tell my tale of a very hot day in Maryland that sucked as bad as any ever had in the triathlon life of Dory. It'll be more O. Henry and less Leo Tolstoy in length. I can't promise about the tone though.
Working on it....0 -
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