And four weeks have past. No blogging, no log for
words, only for miles, work, calories and hours of sleep. The training is
done. I am ready.
10x800 on weeks 7, 5, & 4. I was very ill on week 6.
Week 7 -
Pretty darn consistent 800s: 3:34 -
3:38 - 3:37 - 3:37 -3:38 - 3:38 - 3:38 - 3:38 - 3:38 - 3:38. And this is
without pace monitor, so definitely my body knows how the pace feels....
400 jogging in between. 1.75 miles warm up.
Week 5
- 3:45; 3:43. 3:38; 3:36; 3:40; 3:39; 3:41; 3:42; 3:39; 3:42 - Not as
consistent but still within range. Week 6 was a serious bad week.
Week 4 - 3:40; 3:34; 3:35; 3:36; 3:32; 3:44; 3:40; 3:40; 3:42; 3:43. I felt my legs after a couple of hard races the weekend before.
Bart told me to run them also on week 3, so, I will run them tomorrow or Tuesday!
Races:
Week 7 - Race
#193 - Run for the Honeywagon Half Marathon - 13.1 miles/21K - Everson,
WA - Mar 03, 2013 - 1:50:37 (8:27 min/mile). WINDY! gusting to 40mph.
The last 2 miles were like running through marshmallow. Regardless I
felt very, very good having good negative splits. Placed 4th.
1- 8:36
2- 8:52
3- 8:40
4- 8:54
5- 8:39
6- 8:23
7- 8:21
8- 8:07
9- 8:17
10- 8:11
11- 7:46
12- 8:47
13- 8:15
0.1- 0:44 (7:20)
Week 6 - Race #194 - Lake Sammamish Half Marathon -
13.1 miles/21K - Redmond, WA - Mar 09, 2013 - 2:08:54 (9:50 min/mile).
38th place. I fell ill on Tue perhaps after the amount of stress lived
during past
days. I was winded and nauseated. I could work only part time, coming
home after a few hours at the office. Things were getting complicated
and I could not consume any food (water and Gatorade were my saviors).
On Thu morning I started to shut down and at noon I went to bed till 6
am Friday (18 hours sleeping on and off). I could have taken advantage
of getting a colonoscopy given the levels of diarrhea :) . By Friday
noon I had been 80 hours without food. The only thought of it made me
sick. Then I forced myself to eat a little bit of pasta on Friday night
to see if I could run this race. Plan was to run as my body asked me to
do. I set a pace that "seemed" comfortable at the moment, 9:30ish. By
mile 6 I am starting to feel tired, and dropped the pace, then at some
point I decided to go back to my previous pace, and before mile 11 I
almost knocked the door of an ambulance in Issaquah's traffic to take me
in. Knowing it was not a "race" ambulance, I waited to the next aid
station to ask for help. I was about to faint. They got me water, and I
stayed there a few minutes to decide whether pulling off the run or
continue. I felt much better after the little rest and kept going. One
decision I made was to not run my Sunday's race (that would change the
morning after :)
1- 9:03
2- 9:32
3- 9:27
4- 9:37
5- 9:32
6- 9:54
7- 9:57
8- 9:59
9- 9:08
10-9:39
11- 12:13
12- 11:18
13- 8:39
13.1 - 0:51
Race #195 - Golden Ears Half Marathon - 13.1 miles/21K - Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada - Mar 10, 2013 - 1:59:15 (9:07 min/mile).
The day after a HM where I almost called the ambulance at mile 10,
alarm went off at 3:30 "I'm not going"; went back to bed. Woke up at
4:40 "I'm going to regret"; got up, "nah, I'm not going". Back to bed.
4:50, "get up, darn it." I got up, got ready in 10 min and left to
Canada. Had a nice drive; met new people; ran my first international
Half Marathon on a pretty course (too much gravel though, like the day
before, not for me!!!); crossed the gorgeous Golden Ears bridge (as
beautiful as the Tacoma Narrows but without the wind); and got the
division with a nice $50 certificate from a local running store that
visited right away to cash it. As always, no regrets.
Splits in Kms
1- 5:35
2- 5:39
3- 5:39
4- 5:50
5- 5:56
6- 6:54
7- 5:35
8- 4:50
9- 4:40
10- 5:37
11- 5:33
12- 5:43
13- 5:45
14- 5:45
15- 5:39
16- 5;50
17- 5:43
18- 5:46
19- 5:52
20- 5:21
21- 5:39
Week 5 - Race #196 - St. Paddy Run Tacoma Half Marathon - 13.1 miles/21K - Tacoma, WA - Mar 16, 2013 - 1:48:45 (8:18 min/mile).
Fantastic Leprechaun race where all of us got a pot o' gold at the end
of the rainbow. Lots of friends. Felt awesome all the way, and finished
very strong. Got the division. Here with Mandy, who got an awesome 1:36
for 5th female overall.
1- 8:24
2- 8:57
3- 8:30
4- 7:27
5- 8:28
6- 8:46
7- 8:48
8- 8:20
9- 7:23
10- 8:19
11- 8:12
12- 8:21
13- 7:58
13.1 - 0:49 (8:00)
Race
#197 - St. Patrick's Day Centennial Trail Half Marathon - 13.1
miles/21K - Snohomish, WA - Mar 17, 2013 - 1:53:58 (8:42 min/mile). Inaugural Half Marathon put together by Race Director Eric Hanson.
We couldn't ask for more. It was an AWESOME run, by pretty rural
Snohomish, on a cold, dry, and gorgeous day. A lot of food, and drinks. I
went by feel (what's new). Course was not marked but the trail
had 0.5 mile markers on the ground so I knew my pace along the course. I
clocked 1:00:00 exactly at the turn around for a 9:10 min/mile pace and
I was the 4th female at that spot. I pushed the pace for a faster 2nd
half. At mile 8ish I passed one girl, and settled for 3rd. At mile
10ish, the gal that was leading during the first half was walking, I
passed her and I saw at the distance the female leader of the race. I
had a lot of strength and decided to get her. I pushed to a tempo pace
(under 8 min/mile), and passed her at mile 12. My last mile was at 7:47.
I don't know where I got that kick for such negative splits. My second
half was 53:58. Got a nice beer trophy, and was very, very pleased with
the weekend results. Happy Leprechaun Day, people!
Week 4 - Race #198 - Ft. Steilacoom 20 miles/32Km - Steilacoom, WA - Mar 23, 2013 - 2:56:15 (8:49 min/mile). 14 min PR.
I went with the goal to break 3 hours, and I am very happy I got it. I
was very tired from the hard races last weekend, plus the 10x800 this
week. I ran with brand new kicks... they were heavy and stiff... breaking them in!!! Tried to run at a faster pace for the last 3 miles, but I
couldn't. I still got my negative splits, and I got what I wanted. This
is my last race before Boston (as in
"racing", not as in "participating"), and this will be the pace I'll
shoot for. Tapering officially starts, let's the rest begin!
1- 9:18
2- 8:58
3- 9:30
4- 8:33
5- 8:43
6- 8:59
7- 8:42
8- 8:45
9- 9:13
10- 8:46 (half point - 1:29:32)
11- 8:25
12- 9:02
13- 8:53
14- 8:35
15- 8:56
16- 8:47
17- 9:11
18- 8:20
19- 8:20
20- 8:11 (2nd half - 1:26:43)
Weeks 7, 6, 5, 4... Run, Work, Eat, Sleep, Repeat.
