Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal





Run As One (4M) By JP Morgan Chase
Part One: The Prep​

So ... this thing.

Packet Pickup: (and the aftermath)
I went up to the NYRR RUNCENTER after work on Wednesday to pick up my bib and t-shirt. T-shirt pickup is upstairs in the NB RunHub, so while I was there, I wanted to buy the new 880v8.
Turns out, all the color debating we had here was moot - they didn't have the Blue Iris. So I asked for Guava, but said I wasn't sure about size (my current ones are a 7.5, but I thought I might need an 8).
The first thing they did was put me on a fancy machine to measure my arch and shoe size:
27765656468_905178d0a3_c.jpg


As you can see, I'm between sizes (also, my feet are different slightly different sizes, my right arch is abnormally high, and my right foot pronates a bit ... but my insoles correct the pronation), but they recommended that I size up to an 8.
I tried on the 8, which they only had in Black, and it felt a little big. Because it's a new shoe, they were offering test runs of the 880, and they brought me a 7.5 test run shoe to try (the test runs were in particular pairs of shoes, not the pair you were going to buy). They seemed okay. I tried on one 7.5 and one 8, and the 7.5 definitely felt better, so I decided I was going to take those for a test run (also, they didn't have the size 8 test run shoes).

To backtrack a bit ... at some point during this shoe process, my friend Tzippy, who is also a local runner (that's not how I know her, though - I know her from college), stopped by to pick up her race stuff and saw me trying on shoes. She is also in the market for new shoes, having had some trouble with the new model of her old shoes, so she also decided to test run the 880s. So my solo test run was now a group test run ... which I wouldn't have minded, except that Tzippy's a lot faster than me. And she didn't listen to me when I said slow. So what I had originally planned as a nice, easy, 1-2 mile test run turned into this ...
27765649228_618c71fae2_c.jpg


The GPS was drunk and I didn't pause for traffic lights or water breaks (although I did pause for Tzippy's pee break), so the stats here are a little off, but we ran about 2.5 miles in just over 23 minutes ... which comes out to about a 9:15 pace.
Eek!

After Tzippy tried on another few shoes, I ended up asking for the 7.5 in Guava, which they didn't have in stock, so they ordered it for me. They'll call me when it comes in and I'll just swing by after work one day to pick up the shoes.

Anyway ...
The original plan was rest day Wednesday and 2.5 easy miles Thursday, but based on what had happened, I knew I needed to modify.
I decided to scrap Thursday's planned easy run, but I also asked Billy if he thought there was anything I needed to do to "make up" for this unexpected tempo run. For some strange reason, Coach seemed a little more interested in the run itself than in any potential modifications. Apparently running at that pace for 2.5 miles without wanting to die at the end means I'm underselling my fitness ... which means faster paces. (Although there was some discussion about whether I was underselling my fitness or I just don't care).

So that was Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Last week (or the week before, I can't remember anymore), as we discussed future races, I threw out a goal time of 1:45 for my 10 mile race in September. Coach Billy said that it was ambitious but might be possible. In light of this possible new pace information, I asked Billy if his thoughts on the 1:45 goal had changed. Apparently ... with a 9:15ish 5K pace, a 1:45 10 miler is very achievable. But first we had to see what happened at the race to see where the paces should be.

That got the wheels turning. My traitorous imagination came up with a finish time that started with 39 (I think it was 39:45), and then ... I spiraled. I'm not going to go into all the details, because you guys lived through some of it, but I had reached a point where I was 100% sure that if I attempted this race I was going to disappoint myself, my friend Tzippy, and Coach Billy (yes, @DopeyBadger, I know that you wouldn't have been disappointed, even if I had done terribly, because you would have understood that it just wasn't my day ... I never said any of this was rational) and I was strongly considering just skipping the race.

Against my better instincts, I decided to post here about my mental struggle. Turns out, my better instincts were wrong. I got a lot of really helpful encouragement and advice from you guys, and that plus tea, fresh air, and perspective (I walked to Washington Square Park and saw a National School Walkout protest going on) helped me understand that I don't have to fail.

By Saturday night, I was a lot calmer, but I still made myself a cup of Earl Gray to keep that calm and packed my bag check bag (which included a change of clothes (which I didn't use), my belt, water bottle, and bib (which I would put on at the race), and an extra water bottle and snack). I went to bed around 11:15 but had trouble falling asleep. The alarm was set for 5:28 ... so yay, I got to sleep in a bit!

Coming Next: Race Day!
I will try to get the race day recap up tonight, but I don't know if I will get to it, because I have a few other things to do. I'm going to a baseball game tomorrow night, so if I don't get it up tonight, it will have to wait until Tuesday.
 
ZellyB said:
Dang girl! That was one speedy little test run!! I'm excited to read the race recap!
Click to expand...

A little (or a lot) too speedy, actually.

jennamfeo said:
And now it all makes sense........ can't wait to hear about the race!!
Click to expand...

Exactly! There is method to my madness (sometimes)

Bree said:
Looking forward to your race recap. Now I see why you were stressing!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was definitely stressful. And I wasn't really ready to talk about it last week because I was so stressed about it. Ah!

Hopefully the recap will be up tomorrow ... I just got home and I think I'm gonna head to bed. Still have to write up my stats/notes from today's run, but I might be changing how I do that, so it'll wait until tomorrow. It's way past my bedtime.
Really good Yankees game, though. I made an attempt to document it through an Instagram Story, but I'm terrible at Instagram, so it was probably bad.
 
SarahDisney said:
Really good Yankees game, though. I made an attempt to document it through an Instagram Story, but I'm terrible at Instagram, so it was probably bad.
Click to expand...
The YMCA part made me LOL. I had to show my husband it. I love how they did their thing and then immediately went back to work.
 
jennamfeo said:
The YMCA part made me LOL. I had to show my husband it. I love how they did their thing and then immediately went back to work.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty well known thing at Yankees games. Happens before the 7th inning at every home game. I'm pretty sure being willing to do the YMCA in public is a requirement for being part of the grounds crew.
 
Run As One (4M) By JP Morgan Chase
Part Two: Race Day​

We're a few days removed from race day, so I'm hoping I still remember some of what happened.

Getting to the Race: Like I said, super easy. For once. There was a train in the station when I got there (I walked the 0.8ish miles from my house to the train because bus schedules are stupid), and even though I was on the wrong part of the train (I'm a little upset with myself for that ... I take that train almost every day, you'd think I'd know which part of the train I need), I didn't have much trouble getting off the train. I was planning to do a light jog to the park as a warmup, but my Garmin was having issues, so I just walked the whole way to the park.

40742695985_ca90fa04a2_c.jpg


Pre-Race: I put on my belt and bib, then went to drop off my bag. I had been getting SWDS alerts all morning, and I saw that @Bree had just gotten an awesome PR, so that definitely put me in a good mood for the race. I made my way to the corrals, and did a quick 5 minute warm up jogging before settling in corral K. It took way longer than I thought it would to get the corrals out, and I ended up starting around 8:43.

Mile 1: The plan for this race was an aggressive pace for as long as I could handle it. Started off definitely pushing, and decided that my approach was going to be to eliminate any gaps between me and people in front of me - any time I saw a gap, I filled it in. Didn’t even weave around that much. Felt like I was pushing but not dying – and that includes on Cat Hill! (Although really, whoever's idea it was to put a big hill in mile one of a race needs to get their race planning skills checked)
Mile 1 Split: (per Garmin) 9:44

Mile 2: Started off still pushing, but struggled and decided to back off about halfway through. I was hot and dehydrated and didn’t want to push anymore, but I was okay with that – as long as I didn’t stop running.
Mile 2 Split: (per Garmin) 9:45

Mile 3: Walked the water stop at the beginning, then maintained a more casual pace. Survived the "three sisters" rolling hills (because one hill just isn't enough, and nobody wants an even number of hills).
Mile 3 Split: (per Garmin) 10:45

Mile 4: Walked a water stop at the very beginning. Tried to push hard and was somewhat successful, but never got back to mile 1 paces. Finished decently.
Mile 4 Split: (per Garmin) 10:01

At some point in either mile 3 or 4, I was passed by a group of guys who were chanting "Work! Work! Keep Working! Work!" It was encouraging (which was their intention), but also somewhat discouraging because seeing/hearing them didn't make me work any harder.

OFFICIAL TIME: 40:32

Overall Race Thoughts:
When I was in my coding bootcamp, we were often told that we had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It was something I struggled with. Well, that popped into my head a lot during this race. I was definitely uncomfortable, but I was trying to be comfortable with that.
At the end of the day, I probably could have pushed harder for more of the race. I probably could have skipped one (or both) of the water stops where I walked. But on that day, I think I made the right decisions. I came out of this race knowing that I gave a good effort, but I can do better.
Surprisingly, I wasn't at all disappointed to be so close to sub-40, because I knew that I hadn't given it my all. I am now 100% sure that I can run a sub-40 4-mile race. In fact, if I had been better hydrated and/or more appropriately dressed, I probably would have gotten sub-40 on Sunday.

I will do it on May 13th at my next race.

Post-Race:
I walked around a little to keep my legs moving, then grabbed my bag and met up with my friend Tzippy (who, btw, set her own amazing PR with an average pace of 8:29 ... so apparently our 9:15 shoe test run was slow for her). She had plans post-race that she was headed to, so we did a light cool down run to 86th, where we parted ways and I ran a little more to get to a mile for the cool down. I stopped off at Starbucks and grabbed a coffee (unsweetened iced coffee with nonfat milk), got annoyed at the bathroom being closed, and then walked to the train and went home. The end.

27765654638_f4bde74f71_c.jpg



What's Next:
Next race is Japan Run (4M) on May 13th, when I will be wearing my INKnBURN Kaze Tech and debuting my black skirt. Most likely I will be doing this at a 10 min/mile with Tzippy as my pacer. I will probably do my usual "I see the finish line! Sprint!" and plan to come in just under 40.

I've got a bunch of small races coming up as part of this training cycle, culminating in my next goal race, the Manhattan 7 mile on August 5th. Coach Billy made me a really awesome plan that seems very varied and interesting, and I'm excited to see how it goes.

In addition to running, I REALLY!!!! need to get my eating back under control (it's very bad right now, my weight is very up, and I feel like a crappy bottomless pit).
I also would like to throw in some cross training beyond my mid-day post-lunch walks, but ... I have to figure that out.
 
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