And 3, 2, 1, And Boston Is Around The Corner

Tapering went well though I would've loved to have more rest during this last week. I had more work that I could chew and have to spend 12 hours a day to get a lot of things done. Good I was not running much so no needed my regular 10-11 hours of sleep.

I ran a race 2 weeks before and it was my race #199 - Cupcake Half Marathon in Arlington, WA - Mar 30, 2013 - 1:55:36 (8:49 min/mile). The goal  was to run at the pace I plan for Boston (8:49) and I succeeded on that. I ran the run with a friend and we talked all the way. I never talk while I run a race but I felt very comfortable doing it this time. 

The following week I bailed on the race I had planned Birch Bay 15K. It was the perfect distance for the week prior to the marathon but I wanted to spend the weekend with my Hubby and I not have to get up early to drive a considerable distance. I didn't regret. It happened to be a warm and sunny day in Seattle which was spent playing very carefully in our yards. And without planning it Boston will become my race #200.

So the time is here and now. I'll be flying tonight for THE marathon that I never thought I would ever run. And with jitters, enthusiasm, and joy I hope to have the race of my life. I don't use to dedicate races much, but I thought that I could give thanks to some people that one way or another have contributed positively in my running "career". To them some of the miles. The rest, well... I need to focus!!!

• Mile 1 to Mary Yuliet Yanez. The first time I ever went for a jog was with her in 1997
• Mile 2 to Julio Navarro, thefirst coach that taught me how to do intervals and invited me to my first ever race, a 12K – 1997
• Mile 5 to Michelle Barnes, because rain or shine we get up early to run 5 miles together, and because of her I learned how to run for fun and not because I have to.
• Mile 7 to Craig, Chris, Kevin, Charlie, Shirley, because in 2007 I met these running  folks in the blogging world on my route to my first marathon
• Mile 10 to Bart Yasso because the TEN 800s is the hardest workout I've ever done, and they have improved considerably my speed and understanding of pace.
• Mile 12 to my Sole Sisters Jessica, Marie, Kristen, Kris, Ginger, Maryanne… Because we were twelve. Includes two good men: John and Tony.
• Mile 13.1 to Angie Brionez because 13.1 is the distance that brought us together.
• Mile 17 to Petra Duguid because at her mile 17 in Berlin and at my mile 17 in St. George we were about to quit the race and DNF.  Then we put our acts together and we not only finished, we got our BQ.
• Mile 21 to my Washington State running peeps, because this will be Heartbreak Hill mile and we hell know how to run hills.
• Mile 22 to my adorable husband Randy, because without his TOTAL support my running would have not been possible.
• Mile 23 to my son David because someday he will have to put up with me at least in Colorado.
• Mile 24 to my son Diego because he is there waiting for me at the end of a race every time he can.
• Mile 25 to my daughter Alejandra because she brought me to the marathon world, and I would have never done it if we would have not run alone but together.
• Mile 26.2 It's
  
  mine. And when I see “one mile to go” on the ground I will soak myself in the experience of the final stretch and be forever thankful for the opportunity.

7, 6, 5, 4... Run, Work, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

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.

1-800-10-YASSO

After doing an evaluation of my training and results last week, I realized that I had lost anaerobic capacity. The HMs were costing me a little bit more than during the last quarter of 2012. I recognized that it is because I have done only  a handful of anaerobic work after St. George (STG). Then I told to myself, or you do your Yassos, or you do your Yassos. 

The 800s is more an anaerobic than aerobic work, but it’s a well-balanced distance because you must have anaerobic power for speed, and must have aerobic power to race it. Imagine if you have to do 10 of them!. Of course you are not racing them but you want to run them as fast as you can keeping each of them at the same pace (or close); you want to do them consistent).

On Feb 14 I ran a short run in the morning planning on 5 Yassos in the afternoon. After work, I went to the lockers and decided "no, I won’t do them, I’ll rest." When I came back to my desk, I knew that I was simply afraid of doing them. I wasn’t tired, I didn’t need to rest, I was just afraid of running the distance which is hard, and I was more afraid of not being able to keep up with my pre-STG paces. Then I said: "You’re such an idiot."

I went back to the lockers, changed to running gear, and went to the track. Plan: 5 Yassos. Go do it. I warmed up and after my first Yasso, I knew how off I was: 15 to 20 seconds. That’s a lot considering is half a mile. Next message to myself: "Keep doing them, better being 20 seconds off than not doing them at all." I completed 6 to exceed my own expectations and give me a pat in the back (equivalent to a cookie for a dog). Results were 3:40 - 3:35 - 3:41 - 3:35 - 3:39 - 3: 38. Prior to STG on my same week of training the Yassos were: 3:27 - 3:25 - 3:25 - 3:25 - 3:20. The conclusion was “You have work to do!”

This week, I went for 7 Yassos. I ran 8 (I wanted that cookie). They were pretty much consistent with last week’s:  3:28 - 3:37 - 3:34 - 3:44 - 3:44 - 3:40 - 3:40 - 3:38, still off compared to the very same week prior to STG (3:17 - 3:20 - 3:22 - 3:23 - 3:24 - 3:24) but at least I was working my heart out (and legs) instead of being afraid. 

Curiously, after the 6 Yassos I ran a great HM in Birch Bay. What happened was that the Yassos reminded me how the anaerobic breathing was. I ran very hard the second half of Birch Bay but not uncomfortable, and I had great negative splits of (57:20 1st Half; 54:16 2nd Half). Then this weekend I ran a 15-miler race and it felt easier from the start without even breathing too hard. I was surprise with the speed change. Coincidence? I don’t know, but next week I’ll go for 9, with one under the sleeve to achieve 10 (and get the cookie). I am so happy that I battled the fear calling 1-800-10YASSO.

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Race #190 - First Call President's Day Half Marathon - Bothell, WA - Feb 16, 2013 - 1:57:15 - 8:58 min/mile. First half ran at 9:10 (1:00:00), second half ran at 8:45 (57:15). Adrian Call had a nice fire ready for us to get warm after the race.

The course was longer than a 13.1 course. My splits (measured against the trail posts) indicated that they were in the 1st half around 9 min/mile and in the 2nd half between 8:08 and 8:40. People with GPS told me it was 0.2 longer.
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Race #191 - Birch Bay Half Marathon - Birch Bay, WA - Feb 17, 2013 - 1:51:36 - 8:32 min/mile. EXCELLENT RACE, great splits. Felt awesome ALL the way. Pouring rain from mile 5 to 8.5.

The best part: Have you ever been pulled over by a cop while running a race? Well, ME!!!. Coming down the hill after mile 8 at 6:55 min/mile and under heavy rain: I decided to cross the road before it was supposed to be crossed. A cop saw me and took his radio/megaphone, and yelled: "Runners must face traffic." I kept going because I was pretty close to the intersection, and he goes: "Runner 135, cross the road. You must face traffic." The next thing I hear is a car coming at full speed and stopping by me. "Cross the road!." Darn it, I did, to cross it back again 100 yards later. I was thinking "If he pulls me over, I ain't stopping".

Splits:
1- 9:17
2- 8:30
3- 9:11
4- 8:41
5- 8:21
6- 8:41
7- 9:10
8- 9:11
9- 6:55
10- 8:16
11- 8:38
12- 8:00
13- 7:53
13.1 - 0:47 (7:53)
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Race #192 - Ft. Steilacoom 15 miles/24Km - Steilacoom, WA - Feb 23, 2013 - 2:11:04 - 8:45 min/mile. Great run, but was pretty much wiped out after mile 9...PR by 18 min. In 2011 I ran this race in 2:49, in 2012 in 2:29, so I was planning running this one in 2:09 for another 20 min cut. At the turn around I was exactly in 1:04:30 but I knew I was going to lose some ground. 2 min that I could care less. I am very happy! (and got the division)!

1- 8:48
2- 8:37
3- 8:50
4- 8:10
5- 8:22
6- 8:42
7- 8:43
8- 8:43
9- 8:54
10- 8:38
11- 8:58
12- 9:23 (that hill!)
13- 8:40
14- 9:01
15- 8:27