Another Running Dream...

So, I had another running dream. This one was about balance.

It was a transition from some other dream sequence where I was reunited with a high school friend, Jason, and we were talking. Then I went for a "walk" along the Lake Michigan shoreline with someone who was supposed to be my mom but wasn't my mom. The person reminded me of Jason's mom, but it wasn't my her either. In the dream, it was my mom... but it wasn't.

So the "mom" sort of floated in front of me, leading the way toward the shore. I was wearing my running shoes, and I could really feel them (my current shoe, the Brooks Ghost, is just a wonderful match for my foot). So part of the run--the part toward the shore--was over scrubby undergrowth and sandy soil. For part of it, I was floating. Then there was a sequence on the beach, feeling my feet go into the sand. Then, suddenly, I was on the deck of a large cottage going down stairs. The stairs were angular and filled with small pebbles. I could feel my forefoot land on each stair; I was keenly aware of gravity and lean. I felt myself stand up straight and recall my balance.

This dream took place between my first waking up and taking my actual run. As I ran, I could feel the kind of balance I felt in the dream. I kept my shoulders back and together; I stood up very straight and swung my legs back. For the first time, I could really feel my stride opening up behind me. I returned to my "stand tall/step small" mantra and realized something was missing, but I could not put my finger on it.

Building A Base

Okay, it's time to start building a base of running. New rules:

• No watch
• 4 runs during the work week
• 1 long run on the weekend

I think the above will force me to moderate my pace and listen to my body.

Here Goes Nothing

Well, I had a great day with my Dad today. I think I'm ready for a race! Let's go out there and see what we can do.

Official Results

Are posted here, but the highights:

• 10k Split: 54:46 (8:49/M)
• 13.1 Chip: 2:02:56 (9:23/M)

Done. Splits:

1. 9.31
2. 8.55
3. 8.29
4. 8.33
5. 9.02
6. 9.19
7. 9.19
   
8. 9.54 * bathroom break *
   
9. 9.02 // charlie horses //
   
10. 9.05
11. 9.46
12. 11.05
13. 11.33 (includes .1)

Analysis

00-05M | 43:30 (8:42/M)
06-10M | 46:39 (9:19/M)
11-FIN | 32.24 (10:25/M)

Replay

Remember to write about the following:

The night before the race, my Dad and I walked down to Dupont Circle to grab some takeout from Al Tiramisu, which is a fantastic Tuscan restaurant. I got some grilled salmon with a nice orange glaze and polenta, which was too good not to enjoy with a glass of wine. I hit the sack and set 3 alarms for 5:15 the next morning.

I got up before the alarms after some real sleep--I actually got some rest! It only took me a while to get dressed and ready; I put on my $3 Goodwill hoodie and Dad's 1980s black velour Fila sweatpants and headed out to Dupont. When I got to the Metro station at 5:40, the place was packed with runners. I barely got on the Red Line train. When I swtiched at Metro Center to go to the Stadium, I was the very last person who could fit in the train! It was a packed ride to the race.

Once I got into the Armory, it was easy to check my bag and make my way to the start. I put myself in the 8:40 corrall and waited for the start in my raggedy sweats. I took them off, folded them, and tossed them neatly next to a tree. When the starting gun went off, we waited and waited. It took 5 minutes for the line to start moving.

The first mile was slow!

• Metro ride down to the race area
• Starting line
• First mile (slow--traffic)
• Guy with two hats
  
• Strong feeling in first 5 miles
• Logistics of drink/eat/pee
• Water @ M5
  
• Bathroom break after M7
• 4:00 pace group
• Howard Univ.
• The first charlie horse (higher in the leg)
• The feeling of the calf charlie horses and your reaction
• Mental calcuations about goal time
• Poweraid fill @ M9
  
• Foil wrapper
• Ride home with DNF man
• Five Guys!!!

Another bite at the apple on 4/24? Borgess Run for the Health of It Half Marathon.

Or this one on April 10: Martian Half Marathon.

Future Races

I may have found my next races. I thought it would be cool to run a race on my birthday; well, there's a very cool 6K in Midland that is part of a world-wide initiative on potable water. Then there is this awesome-looking trail marathon/half marathon on April 25, 2010.

I have been intrigued by this 3-loop half marathon in Saginaw on July 25, 2010.

It would be cool to do another half marathon. A trail half would be great. Not sure about the marathon. That would be before the Crim (Aug 28), which I am obviously going to do. And I had thought about the Free Press Marathon, too.

13.1 Strategy/Tactics

GOAL: To finish in under 2 hours, and as close to 1:50 as possible.

To do this, I need to beat a pace of 9:09/M. I am confident I can do this. To finish in 1:50, I need to beat a pace of 8:23/M, which seems much harder. The best pace I have had in a race is 8:17/M for a 5K. My 10K best was much higher at 8:48/M. Based on my best race time, Craig's Running Calculator predicts a finish time of 1:57:04 for me. That's a pace of 8:55/M. I think I can do this.

STRATEGY: 5M+5M+5K. That's here.

I am going to break the race down into 3 separate runs.

[1] Pennsylvania Ave. The first 5 miles, I need to be smooth and relaxed. I am going to try to do a "negative split" on 8:30/M pace. The first run ends at Pennsylvania Ave, and I hope to get there by 43 or 44 minutes. I need to focus on not being freaked if it's a little longer than that.

[2] New York Ave. The second 5 miles, I need to be strong and steady. If I hit my mark during the first 5, I need to kick it up just a hair. This is the part of the race I think I should be doing 8:30/M even. If I feel better, I can go faster, but not too much faster. Any splits in the 8:20/M range should be cause for concern; back off a bit. I hope to get here by 1:27 or so. Even 1:30 would be acceptable.

[3] K Street. Just before I turn East onto K Street, I can think about the rest of the race as my training run at home: 3 miles. I'll be running through Gallery Place-Chinatown near Dad's office, and I should be excited. I do think that this part of the race is really going to suck--it will be painful. During my 13 mile run, I did finish the last 5K at an 8:30/M pace; however, I had run the previous miles very slowly--above 10 minutes per mile.

TACTICS: Where to Drink/Eat/Pee

There are lots of aid stations and places to pee on this course. They occur at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. That's great. I will need to change this plan as I go, but I plan to fill my water bottle at mile 3 and 7. That means I'd drink 36oz of fluid for the whole race, which is fine. I plan to eat as I go--no need to plan this. I think I should pee at 5 and 9 unless I need it before then. If I can go at mile 3, I should. The good thing about all those porta-potties is that I won't be anxious about not having a place to go!

Goodwill Tracksuit

For $6 I bought myself a cheap used track suit at Goodwill. I can wear it to the starting area and leave it on the side of the road, where it will be collected and donated. Perfect solution!

Good Weather


Looks like the weather is shaping up to be perfect for the race. Awesome!

Endgame

A black toenail is apparently a runner's badge of honor. It's called a subungual hematoma. I'm hoping the thing doesn't fall off. It doesn't hurt. I'm actually glad I put this photo up here--I keep looking at the toe to see if it has changed/progressed, and it's really staying the same. I think I'm actually going to keep the nail.

TUE: Did 2 quick miles at work during a break. Wore the new blue Ghosts. Some soreness in the front lower legs--not pain, just sore. Mostly a test of what to wear. Prelim results:

• You will bake in your Saucony running pants. It was 47F and I was toasty. Ran the last half mile in shorts only and it was fine.
  
• The new Nike top is almost too much. Consider that blue Addidas (worn in previous 5K/10K races in the high 40s/low 50s) or use the short sleeve Nike.
• Headband = not necessary.

WED: Did a 3-mile tempo run at about 8:28/M pace. It was hard. A little less soreness in the front lower legs. No pain in knees. My legs just felt spent, but not as bad as Tues. This run was on the indoor track at Genesys, and it felt pretty good at the end.

THU: Today is a day off. I see that tomorrow morning will be in the mid 40s with a 30% chance of rain. I think I'll do an outdoor 3-miler at race pace to see how the clothing feels. Right now I am going back and forth on shoes. I've only put a few miles on the Blue Ghosts, and since the Red ones only have about 150 miles on them, I think I might just use them. It's new cushion vs. broken in. Since I don't think the Reds are shot, I think they are the safer bet. I'm also thinking Reebok shorts instead of the Nike ones.

FRI: Did a nice 3 mile tempo run on the usual route. I wore exactly what I think I will wear during the race. It was about 42F when I left, and I was fine in shorts and short sleeves. The first half mile was a little chilly, but no problem. I will find some pants and a shirt to wear to the race that I can ditch later. I went a little fast this morning: 8:13/M. I need to take it down a bit in my next few runs and really watch myself during the first 5 miles of the race.

SAT. Decided against doing a 4-miler today and stuck to 3. Wore the new Goodwill Track Suit and shed the top after 3/4 of a mile and the pants at 1.5 miles. That is going to work fine--I went back in the car to pick them up. On race day, they'll be gone. Did the first mile at approx 8:30/M but backed off; a slight pain in lower front left leg. I think that's from going fast yesterday. Take tomorrow off, then do the Minnesota 4-milers super slow. Sounds like a plan. Overall pace was 9:08/M. No running faster than that until next Saturday!

SUN: Off.

MON: Ran an easy 4 here in Minneapolis--great route around a lake. 9:09/M pace, so I wasn't pushing it too much; I consciously backed off. Felt much better this morning than last night when I scouted out the route. I am tempted to do 6 tomorrow, rest on Wed, then do an easy 4 on Thurs. Hmmmm. Maybe I just do 4-4-4. Who knows.

TUE: Resisted the temptation to do 6 this morning, and just did the 4. Not really enough daylight to get it all in before the conference started anyway. Besides, the lower L leg is a little soft in the front outside. I didn't even take the watch, but I guess my pace was in the high 9:00/M range, maybe even 10:00/M, which is good. Going to take tomorrow off. I'm debating what to do about THU. My guess is that a 4-miler will be fine for that day; maybe just take it super easy.

Last Long Run is Done!!!

So, that was pretty cool. I started out remarkably under-enthused about the whole thing. At mile 2, I was thinking that the whole morning was going to suck. I decided to change things up a bit and did the following loop set: 3-4-3-3. I did the King's Green loop first, then I did the regular 4-miler backwards, the I did the King's Green loop again but backwards, and ended on my classic 3-miler. Here's how I did time-wise:

• 3 miles: 31.59 @ 10.39/M
• //bathroom break//
• 4 miles: 41.17 @ 10.19/M
• //bathroom break//
• 3 miles: 28.08 @ 9.22/M
• 3 miles: 25.31 @ 8.30/M

For the first time, I did a couple of my loops backwards to break up the monotony. It works.

At the end, I cycled back to the XTC song "Spinning Top," which is a great song to end on. "I like it so much that I'm never gonna stop... Unh!"

2:06:50 @ 9:40/M

The Cold Plunge Is A Lifesaver!

I did a water cycle today, and I think that will help in recovery. Here's what I did:

• 5 min Hot Tub (104F)
• 6 min Cold Plunge (48F)
• 5 min Hot Tub
• 2 min Cold Plunge
• * WARM SHOWER *
  
• 2 min Cold Plunge

I've read you should always end on the cold end of the cycle, as the whole point is vasodilation (hot) and vasoconstriction (cold). BEGONE LACTIC ACID!!! BEGONE!

Race Strategy

• Negative Splits of 8:30/M
• Walk breaks when you need them
• Drink 3 12oz bottles of Elixir
• Eat 8 GuChomps
• Shoot for 1:50:00

Could be:

3 @ 9:00/M = 27
6 @ 8:40/M = 52
3 @ 8:30/M = 25.30
1.1 @ 8:20/M = 9:14

TOTAL TIME = 1:53:44

Last Long Run... Tomorrow

Well, I put off the 13-miler by one day due to an extra margarita and an hour of street hockey. It just didn't seem advisable this morning. Tomorrow, I will do it. I think I'll do 3-3-3-2-2. This gives lots of time for water refills, bathroom breaks, etc. I also need to make sure I hit the gym and use the cold plunge.

Tomorrow is also my last day to experiment with food and drink, but the experimentation is really over. I drink 24oz every 30 minutes or so, eat a Gu Chomp every 10-15 min. 3 half tablets of electrolyte and 12 Chomps easily fit in the pouch of my Amphipod handheld. Good to Go.

Whatever Shall I Wear?

I'm thinking the National Half will be 45F, which is hard to dress for. I've done two races close to this temp back in November. I did a 10K @ 55F and a 5K @ 45F wearing the same thing: my Saucony Boston pants and a lightweight, non-zip, long-sleeve technical. I think that a slight tweak on this will be fine: wear the Bostons and a lightweight, zippered, long-sleeve technical. Got the perfect one yesterday. I will run in it tomorrow.

I just go back and forth on wearing shorts. I would hate to be cold. 5 degrees colder and I would not worry about it. 45F just appears to be a tipping point. If it's windy at all, I'd be screwed in shorts--I'm not used to it. I am just going with the Bostons; I ran a 10K race in them when it was 10 degrees warmer and I specifically blogged about how it felt. I said I didn't feel hot, but that I might have been better able to cool with shorts on. The new Nike is going to be perfect, I think. Here it is:



I would rather feel a tad warm than cold. At 45F, I don't think that's going to happen. I think I remember briefly wondering if shorts would have worked during that 5K, but only because it was just 25 minutes at very intense effort. No question: my wardrobe is going to be:

• Nike Essential Soft Running Shirt
• Saucony Boston Pants
• Under Armor CoolMax socks
• Brooks headband
• Dollar gloves (disposable)
  

Home Stretch

Feeling great... no problems in the knee. Running regularly with one more long run left. 13 miles this Saturday. Temperature info for the race:

5-YEAR Average Temp @ 7AM on March 20 = 45F

• 2009 / 43F
• 2008 / 45F
• 2007 / 55F
• 2006 / 37F
• 2005 / 46F

DC Armory
Metro Stadium/Armory Stop off Orange/Blue Line