Mom's Version of Twin Cities

The local running club in my home town, River to River Runners, published my blog and my mom's account of the events from the Twin Cities Marathon in their latest newsletter. Since this is only a print version, I figured some of you might want to read the article my mom wrote. I know it's a little late, but my mom's article is as heartfelt as any mother's recap would be. I hope you enjoy. My parents are Bruce and Maryanne, and both have completed the Boston Marathon on numerous occasions.

In March, 1985, I gave my heartfelt wishes to a good friend who was expecting and adamantly asserted that as she gave birth in October I would be jubilantly running past the cameras at the Chicago Marathon. Two months later, I lost my morning smoothie as I crossed the Lifestyle 10K finish line. It was not the stomach flu. Two days later, I called my friend to join her ranks of soon-to-be four kid families. I put my “Marathon Mom” book away and reduced my daily runs to a measly three miles. Little did we suspect then that it would be this spunky last-born who would be the one waving at the cameras as she exceeded my wildest marathon dreams.

In fact, Chicago was also the race Caitlin earmarked for her 26.2 debut but she had to pull out when friends chose that same day to marry 450 miles away. After some research, she learned the 4th largest USA marathon, the Medtronic Twin Cities (MTC), got rave reviews for its beautiful course, cool weather, fast times, and amazing crowd support. Although it had already closed, Caitlin was delighted that her 2010 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler finish time netted a no fee, elite entry.

Race weekend arrived six rigorous training months later. Bruce and I drove to Madison for an overnight and then picked up Cait who flew in Friday morning with Mike and Bill, two Charlotte Running Club teammates. We happily got an early check-in but then Caitlin’s toe got smashed when a heavy Rummikub game set fell off the luggage cart. She iced her foot a bit and still went for a run with Bruce and Mike while I took in the river walk near us. Upon returning, Caitlin, ever the tease, impishly claimed her toe was really hurting and only after my forlorn face did she confess she barely felt it! After quick showers, we walked the six blocks to the Expo to pick up her packet, including our elite credentials, and Cait compared notes with a runner named Ruth who just happened to be across the hall from us. She also introduced us to Newton shoes which are not just flashy cute but also simulate barefoot running. Dinner with everyone at an Italian deli was the perfect cap to our first day in the magnificent Twin Cities.

We all slept soundly and Saturday morning got out to preview the last four miles of the course. The brisk wind and temps in the low 30’s were a tad cold for us and that day’s 5K and Kid-K events. At noon, we stopped in at the elite suite, and appreciated the buffet spread before attending the USATF rules meeting. Every elite athlete was required to attend; otherwise he/she would be disqualified from the race. An auditorium full of runners were told they needed to bring their IDs to the race in case they were selected for random drug testing. This was followed by a bus tour of the entire course, but Caitlin opted out of joining Ruth for this three hour adventure. Instead, we enjoyed “Toy Story 3” in our room, read and chatted before walking back to the race dinner.

Nothing to write home about, but we had a good lunch, a stash of energy bars, and neither our local Echo Valley apples nor our treasures from Trader Joe’s had run out yet. Besides, getting back early gave Cait time to organize her gear and Bruce time to plan logistics over the phone with her high school coach and longtime mentor, “Uncle Gary” Holda. We were all blessed that he had caught a last minute flight deal to join our small but mighty support crew.

Race day dawned cold but calm. No winds! Caitlin was up and showered before we woke. Once bundled up, Bruce packed her zoom camera and he and Dean drove Ruth, Mike and Caitlin to the bus that would take them to the start. Bruce and Dean wished the runners luck and then picked up Gary from his hotel. The “cheering trio” would have liked to catch the race start but also wanted to avoid driving through Metrodome congestion on streets they did not know. Staking out a spot at 9 miles let them relax.

As for me, my shoulder was still fragile from a bike accident, so I was relegated to walking Summit Street’s majestic promenade and then pacing in the viewing stands at the Finish Line. The cell phone system that was supposed to give us her splits was not working but the guys reported that Cait was in a tight pack with Ruth at 9, smiling broadly at 17, and starting to break away at 20. Because road closures made navigation hard, Bruce was also racing: he dropped off Gary and Dean, parked at the hotel, and ran the uphill mile to the finish area across from me with only minutes to spare. At 2:40 on the race clock he was waving wildly, pointing. In disbelief, I could see a redhead coming down the hill from the cathedral. I screamed: “It is Caitlin! Come on Caitlin, baby! Whoo Hoo! Good job, Cait! Good job!” She was flying in at a blistering 6:03 pace!

As she was escorted through the finish chute, I lurched out of the viewing stands, blinded by tears. Gary ran past just then and directed me through the barricade checkpoint for elite credentials.

He screamed in that distinct Holda voice, “Caitlin! Nice job, Caitlin!”

It wasn’t until we later watched what I filmed during those dazed moments that we heard the race announcer proclaiming, “Under 2:46. So watch the clock now. They’ve got 2½ minutes in which to get that qualifier for the US Olympic trials. We’ve seen two come in so far, Caitlin Chrisman and, we just had Ruth Perkins.”

As Gary enfolded Caitlin in a hug, she gushed, “I negative split!”
Caitlin was smiling in her mylar sheath as I approached. “Yeah, I worked with those girls. We alternated our leads and then at 20, I felt good, and I just went. But, I mean Ruth… Ruth.”

Caitlin squeezed my hand as she looked back toward the chute, her words slurred, “I hope she makes it. I’m gonna wait for her.”

Gary patted her back. “How bad didja feel?” he asked.

Caitlin paced back and forth in her mylar sheath. “I don’t feel bad! I mean, my, my calves, I could feel them in the last two miles. But… I felt great! My last six, six miles, I was like, fast!”

The conversations continued in the post-race tent. Her friend Bill was pumped that he had finished five minutes faster than his goal time and without doubt he was also worn out. It stumped him that, “Caitlin looked like she could have gone another ten miles!”

Bruce and I held each other close. We had watched breathlessly as our grinning daughter delivered a performance so stellar even she was stunned that she had broken her half marathon PR in the second half of her first marathon! Not only that, she beamed as she shared with Ruth that their winning formula was so powerful that “all the girls who came with us qualified!”

Ruth was ecstatic. “I’m so thrilled! We just killed it today!”
Cait agreed, “We did. And like, at the Trials, we have to do the exact same thing.”
Ruth sealed the deal with every racer’s aspiration, “Or better!”

Twin Cities Marathon: A Race to Remember

Goal: Qualify for Olympic Trials B Standard...2:45:30 and don't die
Actual: 2:41:53 with a negative split (1:21:37, 1:20:16)

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Sunday morning finally arrived. I had a fitful night of sleep from 3am and on, and finally got out of bed at 445am, 15 minutes before I had set for my alarm to go off. I immediately ate a white chocolate macadamia nut Clif Bar and then got all my race gear on. I ate a bowl of oatmeal mixed with Silk around 515am too. By 530am, I was ready to roll. I asked my dad to go down to the garage to grab the car and wait in front of the hotel so that we could easily jump into the car once Ruth, Mike and I met in the lobby.

I knocked on Ruth's door at 535am to tell her I'd be heading down soon, and I swear she must have thought I was crazy because the Elite buses did not leave until 6am, and we were only a two minute drive from the buses. However, she was a good sport and was ready to go right on time. We waited for a couple of minutes in the lobby for Mike and we all jumped into the car that my dad had already warmed up. He's the best. :o)

We pulled up in front of the race headquarters - the Crowne Plaza - and made our separate ways to our respective buses. Mike and I hugged each other good luck before he boarded the citizen buses and Ruth and I boarded the Elite bus. I sat in a seat with Bill and Ruth settled across from us. Bill and I enjoyed a great conversation with a woman from Buffalo and we shared stories about the differences in weather in our states. It was a great way to keep our mind off of the race.

Soon enough we could see the Metrodome in the distance, and I knew we were close to the start. The bus pulled to stop in front of the Church that had kindly offered its basement to the Elite Athletes to lounge in before the 8am start. Since we arrived at the church around 630am, I thought the 75 minutes we had to wait would feel like an eternity. The minutes actually flew by. The elite coordinators had put out gatorade, water, coffee, bars, and vaseline for the athletes to use. There was also a nice bathroom facility that never seemed to have a long line. Bill and I chatted a bit and had a good conversation with another masters runner. By looking around the room, I noticed that were several more elite masters runners than Open Elite runners. This made sense since it was the USA Masters Championship. I checked some emails on my phone and listened to a couple of songs with my legs elevated on the wall.

Before I knew it, I had bundled all of my stuff into the bag they had provided and threw it into the gear truck. I did a couple minutes of jogging in the parking lot and heard someone calling my name. I looked around, clueless, and finally I noticed that it was Mike calling my name. I was thrilled to see him! We gave each other a high five and scoped out the finish line. I did a couple of strides and then I found Adam Mayes...Such a great way to start a marathon by seeing your own folk. After the wheeler start at 755am, Ruth and I found our way to the front of the start line. Of course, once the elite men came out, they pushed us back a couple of feet, but we were still within one second of the gun time with our chip time, so we did a pretty good job.

The gun went off and I used my elbows to ensure I wasn't tripped. I situated myself with Ruth in my site. After about 400m, I heard Mike come up and he attached himself to Bill who was in front of me. I had an urge to go with Bill and sped up a bit, but Ruth, the true marathon veteran, called to me that we were too fast and to fall back with her. Bless her soul, because she saved my marathon only 400m into it.

Over the course of the next 20 miles, I shared in an unforgettable, unique experience. Ruth and I became captain and co-captain of a pack of four to five women as we maneuvered through the sea of marathoners. Five goals of making an Olympic Trials Qualifier became one goal; our camaraderie propelled us forward, to eventually pass over eight women together as a group and to all gain the Olympic Trials Qualifying B Standard. By encouraging each other, we had so much fun and made the marathon feel almost effortless for the first 18 miles. My advice to everyone is to make friends and to run as tightly together as possible to work together. If you do that, your chances of success in the final 10k should be much greater.

Now to get into a bit more detail...Ruth and I ran together for the first 2 miles and we eventually came upon two other women - Carol and Krista - who ran for LaSalle and were looking to run a qualifying time. Ruth's proposal for them to group up with us must have seemed pretty good, because they accepted and we all tucked in together. Ruth coached us in those first minutes - she told us that we needed to glue to each other and that we needed to all cut as close to the turns as possible so that we run the shortest possible distance. She also realized that it would be best for us to alternate leads. Carol and Krista took it starting from mile 3 and we alternated from that point forward. Eventually, we realized it was best to lead in pairs, so Carol and Krista became a pair, while Ruth and I became the other pair.

Ruth and I ended up sharing my special fluids water bottles, and it worked out perfectly. I would grab the bottle, take a swig of water, and then hand it over to Ruth. Once she was done, I would have another opportunity to take another sip, and then hand it back. After we were both through with it, we would toss the bottle to the wayside. I took my first Honey Stinger Gel at mile 5. I also held the bottle for Ruth while she took a Gel Block.

The first half of the course looped through three different lakes in Minneapolis. The crowds here were amazing...it felt like they had taken a class in Marathon Cheering 101 because they were saying all the right things. The synergy in our group was visible to outsiders as they shouted to us "Looking great ladies - great way to work together" or other things similar to that. It made us smile and feel confident that our teamwork was going to serve as the catalyst to achieving our goals.

Before mile 9, I advised the girls that my dad, high school coach Holda, and Ruth's husband would be at miles 9, 17, and 20.5 to cheer us on. The three men had mapped out the four spots where they would see us and utilized my dad's car to hit those spots on a point-to-point course. I'm impressed with their ability to navigate the streets of Minneapolis while the roads were closed off. We heard them cheering at mile 9 and, as you can see in the picture, I was quite happy to see them.

If a fly had situated itself on my shoulder from miles 9-13, it would have heard so many positive statements coming out of our mouths...Ruth always instructed us when to cut the tangents, I reminded us to relax on the downhills and use them to our advantage, and Krista and Carol affirmed that we were doing great. When we passed one woman, we invited her to tuck in with our group. When someone was falling off, we offered those words to encourage them to stick to us.

Mile 11 came up and I took another Honey Stinger. At this point, there was very sharp, but quick pain that came up in my lower hamstring. I had a slight moment of panic, but the feeling of pain went away in less than 1 second. It happened one more time, but eventually it wore out, so I pushed any doubts out of my mind. I told myself that my legs would hold up. I also did not tell any of the other girls this because I wanted everyone to maintain a positive attitude.

At the half marathon mark, we came through in 1:21:36 and we all stated how we were right on pace, with some cushion room for the last 10k, where the hills were. Our pack had been cruising along at an average of 613 pace. I kept waiting for my legs to start to ache or for my breathing to get out of control, but it never came. The miles from 13-18 flew by. The crowd support never ceased. People were hanging out and cheering us in, so happy to see women together in a pack. We kept on trucking. At mile 17.5, the Caitlin/Ruth fan club cheered us from over a bridge and Holda screamed to me that we looked great and relaxed.

In the next couple of miles, I started to feel really good. I took my last Honey Stinger at mile 19, and here I decided that I wanted to keep going at good clip before the hills hit around mile 21. I pulled away a little after mile 20, after Ruth and I shared our last water bottle together. I urged her to come with me, and then I went for it.

The hills approached and I kept looking straight ahead, focusing on the next guy that I could pass. I used the cheers from the spectators as my fuel - they told me that I (#54) looked really strong and were amazed. At least ten spectators told me this. They could have been lying to me, but in my mind, they were there to cheer just for me. Miles 21-23 are where the biggest hills were, and I barely noticed. My miles splits here were 606, 611, 613. What helped most is that the hill would have a decent incline for 200m, and then level off for 50m, which allowed me time to recuperate. Then it would incline again, but I was catching people, so it flew by and I barely even noticed that I had already covered the worst of the hills. Suddenly I had turned onto Summit Street, where there were only about 4 more miles to go. I remembered what Ruth had said earlier in the race: "Ladies, when we get to Summit, it's in the bag!" I was feeling great. I had already passed 10 people, and two women. Up ahead, I saw Mike Beigay and my heart sank. I knew how well his training went this summer and he had high hopes for a big PR. I cried his name out and tried to encourage him to come with me. He told me to go on.

On Summit Street, the crowds were ridiculous crazy! It's a long straightaway for a mile and a half and I decided it was best to latch onto a young man to get my mind off the huge stretch of road that I could see in the distance. He turned around, said "DAMN!" and kept at it. I didn't want to waste a breath so I didn't say anything. In my head, I thanked him. I was worried about hitting the wall but figured if I just kept barreling forward, I might hit the wall or I might not, so I made a decision: I should just go for it and run with all my heart. Turns out that decision was a good one; it worked out great.

I felt fabulous on Summit Street. I felt like I was running free and that all of my training had prepared me for this final 10k and that these thousands of people out there were cheering just for me. I kept my head up and pushed forward to pass more and more people. In the last 10k, I was so focused that I didn't even notice the mile markers. I didn't catch the mile splits but was able to catch the two-mile splits. I looked down and saw 12:10. I was rolling. At mile 23, I took my last water bottle and was sad that I didn't have Ruth there to share it with me. I tried to throw it in the street so that if she could see me, she could maybe pick it up (I found out later that she did see me throw it and contemplated grabbing it!).

At mile 24, I could feel the bottom of my feet, and I remembered what Jordan told me once that he'd rather wear flats and have feet that hurt for a couple of miles than wear trainers that could potentially slow you down due to the added weight. I decided that my feet really didn't hurt after all. Sure enough, I forgot about how my feet felt. I checked the elapsed time on my watch and calculated that I could potentially run a 2:43 (obviously my math was wrong). I felt my legs in Mile 25 and worried for a moment about their ability to pound on the approaching downhill to the finish. I was afraid they'd turn to rubber and wobble, forcing me to tumble down the hill instead of cruising down it. Fortunately, my legs cooperated and I sprinted toward the finish, with a tingling feeling the entire time. If there were any water stops at miles 24 and 25, I didn't see them and I worried that I would bonk because of the lack of fluids in the final miles. Fortunately, I must have done a good job in the earlier portions of the marathon of hydrating because it did not effect me in the final two miles.

I knew the finish was coming after I rounded a left turn and I felt so great, so fast, and so grateful. Grateful for the women who worked together, grateful for the man who let me latch onto him, grateful for my parents cruising around the course, grateful for the opportunity to run as an elite, grateful for the Minnesotans who cheered for me, grateful for Mark Hadley's coaching, and grateful for the Charlotte Running Community. I thought about all of that in the final .2 of the marathon; how all of those things had culminated into making this debut a success. Those thoughts helped me reach the finish line, and I crossed it with pride.

I didn't even look at the official finish clock, so I didn't realize what my time had been until I looked at my own stopwatch. 2:41:53. A negative split with a second half marathon time of 1:20:17 on the hillier part of the course. My last six miles of the course were: 606, 611, 613, 603, 602, 600. I closed stronger than I started. I was waiting for my legs to give way, but they didn't. I felt fabulous. I was elated. I looked around expectantly for my parents and Holda. They showed up and ran right into the finish chute and gave me hugs. Holda was so happy. I know that my mom wished she could have driven/run with them around the course, but her injured shouldered kept her sidelined at the finish. Next marathon, she'll be with them!

I looked back at the finish line, looking for Ruth, but didn't see her so I congratulated a couple of guys who had helped me out, and then an escort came and ushered me to the elite tent. Inside, I found the room where I could change and spotted Bill and found how that he ran OOO - out of control! He ran a 2:40:02. I'm so proud of him. He bruised his ribs just a little over two months ago and here he was sitting in his chair, having run faster than he did at OBX last year.

Soon, all the ladies who had been part of my pack, came in. Ruth, Carol and Krista all run under the 2:46:00 mark to make it the Trials. Ruth and I hugged and already began talking about how we would do this again at the Trials in January 2012, work together as a group and make the most of our camaraderie.

It was in the tent where I discovered a flood of texts from supportive friends, family, and running partners. I cannot express what a wonderful feeling of elation this provoked from me. I am so happy to be a part of the Charlotte running scene and I am so thankful for all the love that was showcased throughout this weekend. A special shout out goes to Rebecca Thomason for sending me a bottle of wine and two Guinness Chocolate Mousse cups from room service. I want to list off all the people who texted, called, or facebooked me, but you know who you are, and please know that it did not go unnoticed.

Reflecting upon my first marathon, I got spoiled. Everything was perfect. My fueling strategy, my race tactics, and the weather. I know that not every marathon from this point forward will be as perfect as this one; it will always hold a special place in a my heart.

I was lucky: four girls to talk to for over two hours. 40 Degrees. Parents cheering. Water Bottles. No injuries. Everything about this spoiled me, but I'll always be able to use this race as a motivation in those others where I might not get so lucky. Until then, I'm going to relish in its grandeur.

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/51943909

Twin Cities Marathon: Saturday

On Saturday morning, Mike, Bill and I scoped out the final four miles of the marathon on a run. The night before at dinner, my mom had suggested we take a driving tour of the last 10k of the marathon course, and then get dropped off at the 22 mile mark to check out the final miles of the marathon. We all thought it was a great idea, one that we had stolen from Ruth who was going on the Marathon Tour bus with other elites. I didn’t like the idea of sitting on a bus for two hours the day before the marathon, so I opted out and did this instead.

Around 8am, we all met in the lobby and piled into my parent’s VW Jetta Diesel. We drove the biggest hills from mile 20 and on, and then turned back around to head back to mile 22. We stopped at a gas station and got out of the car. It was cold this morning and I quietly hoped it would be above 40 degrees tomorrow morning. The three of us ran together and noticed there was a gradual incline of maybe about 1% grade. It didn’t seem so bad, but at the same time, we hadn’t covered 22 miles at a much faster clip yet. The houses along Summit Street were absolutely beautiful and I soaked in the beautiful scenery of the fall leaves with a vibrant array of colors. We rounded a turn and a nice downhill awaited us and Mike informed us that this was the final 1200m of the course. He also told us that a photographer would be here to take a picture of us coming down the hill, with a huge Catholic Church in the background.

After we finished the run, I did a portion of the Tabata workout with Mike and Bill and then we walked back to the hotel since the Holiday Inn is just two blocks from the finish line. I drove Bill back to the Crowne Plaza and on my way back in, I saw Mile walking on the street. I immediately called him and asked if he was looking for breakfast. I told him that he should turn around and drive with me to get a bagel from Bruegger’s Bagels. He agreed. After some navigation, we eventually found the downtown bagel shop and ordered our breakfast.

After I got back to the hotel, it was already time to head back to the Crowne Plaza for the Elite Technical meeting, which was mandatory for all elites to attend. Before we headed to the conference room, I stopped by the Hospitality Suite and, to my delight, found an array of prepared sandwiches for the elite athletes. I immediately thought they would not have a vegetarian option, but fortunately they did! It was delicious and free. My mom even got one too! We arrived at the Great River Room to hear a presentation of how the events would unfold the next morning. Really, the presentation just reiterated everything that we had received in our elite packet of information.

My mom, dad, and I walked back to our hotel five blocks away and ordered Toy Story 3 on demand. It was a great movie! The day flew by as we headed to the Marathon Pasta Dinner at 5pm. I had a simple dinner of spaghetti with marinara sauce and salad with parmesan cheese. I also had a cookie because I felt hungry still. I’m glad I had that cookie.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, my dad had coordinated with my high school coach where to see us the next day. They would be at miles 9, 17, 20.5, and 26.2. I got all my gear ready to go, with my bag packed full of Body Glide, two “This Apple walked into a bar” Bars, water, Gatorade, and cold weather gear. Ruth knocked on our door and we figured out the rides for the next morning and her husband, Dean, would join my dad and Holda to see us throughout the course and take pictures. All in all, everything was falling into place. Lights were out at 9pm.

Twin Cities Marathon: Friday

This is the first of my three posts from the Marathon. I had to break it down because otherwise it would be a novel. This is more of a journal recap of events so that I know what works for me on marathon weekend.

I woke up at 545am to get ready for Michelle Hazelton to pick me up. I had a mango smoothie with rice protein powder and was soon ready to go. Michelle arrived right on time and dropped me off at the airport, where I checked one bag and made my way through the security and to the gate. I hung out with Mike, Andrea and Bill until we boarded our plane. I was able to read most of my book and the two-hour flight flew by.

I arrived to the Twin Cities on Friday in mid-morning and Bill and I almost couldn't find our luggage because the carousels were confusing and unmarked. Somehow Mike found it though and had already grabbed my bag, which was rocking a WF label since it was my official travel bag back in my college XC days. My parents picked me up from the airport and we went to Holiday Inn - St. Paul in hopes of checking in early. Fortunately for us, they let us check in around 10am, which was amazing! As soon as we got to the room, I pulled my parent's luggage off of the luggage carrier, and a game in a 5-lb box crashed onto my left big toe, causing it to bleed and bruise. I immediately iced and tried not to freak out as it was throbbing. I decided to give it a go by running with Mike. We met in the lobby for an easy 5 miles along the Mississippi River with Chloe Shea in the jogger, and my dad in tow. I could feel my toe if I landed on my foot a certain way, but my thoughts of worry vanished as I realized it wouldn't affect my marathon in just two days' time.

Afterwards, my parents and I headed to Whole Foods for a healthy lunch of a sandwich with some salad. Once we returned to the hotel, we walked to the expo which was across the street from our hotel. I met Bill briefly, but we eventually lost him in the flurry of activity and the bustling crowd. Jordan texted me and told me to stop by a booth where his co-worker from The Genesis Agency was and to ask for Lee. I did just that. I bought two pairs of Balega socks and, in return, Lee gave me three packs of Nuun, and a Nuun water bottle. I was a happy camper and glad to support my favorite training partner's company. I walked by the Cascadian Farms and Larabar booths three times so I could get as many free samples as possible. I came out on top.

I also learned something about big marathon expos: get your marathon gear the first day of the expo, or as soon as it opens, so that you can get the size you want in Official Marathon Gear. I was lucky enough that my parents bought me a really nice Brooks all-weather jacket that had a nice emblem of the marathon's logo on the right side. When I went again on Saturday, all of the jackets were gone, except for ten Extra Larges.

Next, my parents and I made our way to the Elite Hospitality Suite at the Crowne Plaza, which was about five blocks from the expo. There were snacks such as crackers, Fig Newton's, bagels, peanut butter, and soft drinks and gatorade for the elites. It was a very nice setup on the 20th floor, overlooking the Mississippi. I picked up my race number and my bag for gear. Soon, it was time for the massage I had made on Thursday, and I headed to the pool area where I would wait for the therapist to come get me. I noticed a young blonde woman sitting at another table, and I wondered if she was another elite. Turns out we ended up in the same massage room.

Meeting Ruth Perkins was the best thing that could have happened to me this weekend. A bubbly blond, an alum of Seattle Pacific University, mother of two toddlers and a personal trainer, Ruth made me feel at ease and confident. After asserting that she got faster after having two kids, I found out that her marathon PR was 2:50 and that she was also going for the qualifier, with a race plan to run 2:44, an average of 6:15 pace. We found out that our other PRs were right around the same time, so she offered that we work together. The kicker was that she wanted to go out in 6:10, but I wanted to go out in 6:30. We both agreed it wasn't good to steer away from our respective race plans and dropped the subject. Little did I know that we would end up working together and actually recruiting other women to run with us during the race.

After our massages, we found out that Ruth and her husband Dean were also staying in the Holiday Inn, so we invited them to walk back to the hotel with us. They checked in, and when they walked to their room, they could hear our voices, and Ruth knocked on our door to tell us that they were just across from us! Fate brought us together on this trip, I swear. Ruth gave us the idea of running the last four miles of the course, since she was taking the bus tour of the marathon course on Saturay, and then jumping off at Mile 22. I didn't like the idea of sitting on a school bus for two hours, so we stole from her the next morning and had my parents drive us.

Already it was time for an early dinner, so I coordinated with Mike and Bill to meet at an Italian restaurant just down the street from the Holiday Inn. Bill walked from the Crowne Plaza to join us and we had a great conversation and enjoyed watching Chloe Shea eat her ravioli with her fingers. I could tell my parents were having a great time, talking running with Bill and learning more about Andrea and Mike. They loved hanging out with the CRC crew!

Once we got back, I watched Dexter on my mom's laptop and read some of my book that I needed to read by the time I got back to Charlotte so that Meagan could read it for our book club meeting in a week. Lights were off at 9pm and I put in my ear plugs and slept until around 2am, when the people in the room next to ours were having a party with twelve people. I found out the next morning that Ruth went over and told them to be quiet, and then when they didn't listen to her after another 15 minutes, called the front desk. We were all woken up from their rowdiness. Other than that, I slept great!

Check for the Saturday's course of events soon.

Mental Preparation and a Simple Workout

Justin keeps telling me how much fun he is having during my taper phase because he's enjoying the easier pace in workouts. I, on the other hand, am scrambling to find things that will keep my mind relaxed and peaceful. I don't want to waste critical mental energy by putting too much thought into a race. To a normal person, this may sound easy, but to a typical runner, we can all relate as to how hard it is to keep the mind in a calm, confident state. The key is to find a healthy form of mental preparation for a race that does not create a stressful mental state before the race. It's important to consider different scenarios that could unfold and to visualize your goal race, but not to the extent that it begins to stress you out.

During this time, it is critical to remember all the work that has been done to prepare you for the upcoming big event and to maintain the confidence level that you exuded before, during, and after those workouts you've already completed. The key for me in these final weeks is to go into a different mental realm, one in which running is not present. This is to ensure that I do not waste key mental energy before race day is even here; essentially, going into this other realm allows me to conserve all the mental energy that I need for race day. Garrett learned that this mental technique is critical to being a successful athlete from a renowned sport psychologist and so I've tried to implement it into my own routine.

The hardest part is to find what activity will take me into that other realm. It has to be something that you enjoy but that is not physically nor mentally taxing. So far, I've found that reading fiction books and watching mindless TV shows such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are good activities for me right now. Cleaning is another activity that helps keep my mind off of my training or upcoming race. Walking to work is also a meditative moment for me. Obviously, for each person, this activity is going to vary. For instance, Garrett performs Tai Chi. Mike Beigay devotes his time to his daughter. Bernard Lagat plays with his kids. For these athletes, they are practicing mental control every day so that come race day, they can experience a time of solidity, mental toughness, and centeredness. This is the feeling that I hope I can exhibit on Sunday.

Now that I've gone on my soapbox about mental preparation, I'll enlighten you with my second to last workout with Justin Breland. It was a simple fartlek of 7-6-5-4 minutes with half the rest of what you just ran. In the end, we turned it into a version of a progressive workout. The splits were as follows:

7:00 @ 6:00 pace for 1.17 miles (3:00 rest)
6:00 @ 5:55 pace for 1.02 miles (3:00 rest)
5:00 @ 5:50 pace for 0.85 miles (2:00 rest)
4:00 @ 5:50 pace for 0.70 miles

My legs felt good, and my mind felt ready. Only 9 more days until the start!

60 Min Tempo Flop

Goal: 60 min at 615-620 pace
Actual: 50 min at 610 pace

Mr. Stephen Spada is always reliable for a midweek tempo since it's part of his weekly training cycle so I reached out to him yesterday to organize a tempo together. The plan was for this to be my last big marathon workout before Twin Cities in just 12 days. I was surprised to find Jordan in the parking lot when I arrived because he just came back from a two week adventure from DC to California to Providence. Regardless, I was excited for the extra company. We would start from our respective McAlpine locations at 530 and run towards each other and then the tempo from Old Bell and circle through the flat trails of McAlpine and Margaret Wallace.

From the get-go, I never felt comfortable with the pace. My stomach was sloshing and I felt sluggish. It's ironic how much better I felt last week doing a 60 minute tempo AFTER ten miles of warmup! Anyways, what went wrong? It was completely dark in the woods, I had to pull off after five miles to make a pit stop in the woods, and after the pit stop I battled with my stomach cramps the rest of way. Since I've been running for about 14 years now, I know my body well enough to know that it is not worth it to push through an extra 10 minutes. As soon as my Garmin beeped for mile 8, I slowed to a jog and cheered Jordan and Steve on for their final leg.

Splits
1 - 6:12
2 - 6:13
3 - 6:10
4 - 6:08
5 - 6:15 (turnaround, bathroom break)
6 - 6:12
7 - 6:12
8 - 6:04

Steve, of course, dominated as usual! It will be exciting to see what he gets at NYC.

I am crossing my fingers that what happened today will not happen on race day. These things happen every so often and I'm glad it happened today because maybe it will get everything out of my system by the time the gun goes off in 12 days. I didn't eat the typical large salad the night before my workout, so this could be why I was experiencing stomach problems. In the end, I can just hope that everything falls into place.

Now begins the real taper time...65 miles this week with a 13 mile long run and a day off. Next week will feature one workout and then it's go time!

Solo 800m Fartlek at McAlpine

Goal: 8x800m with 200m jog rest at 240-245
Actual: 8x2:45 with 1:00 rest at 245-250

Well, this was my first solo workout in Charlotte in a long time. Usually if I'm working out by myself it means that I'm out of town, but this just shows what happens when all of your running buddies are either (1) running the Blue Ridge Relay, (2) running the Davidson half, (3) injured, (4) too fast for you. Again, I switched work out dates around to accommodate for my sore calf and for my newly busy social schedule which included dates with the boyfriend. Instead of working out Friday, I slept in and did this work out on Saturday morning at McAlpine. In an effort to keep my calf as a loose as possible and so as to not worsen its current condition, I vetoed the track and opted for the trails at McAlpine.

I warmed up five miles and then programmed my Garmin to beep at me every 2 minutes and 45 seconds for the interval and every 1 minute for the rest. In the end, the first 4 intervals were directly into the wind, and the last 4 interval were with the wind at my back. Since these were merely based on effort, it's hard to tell how fast they actually were, but I felt smooth and controlled. The garmin told me I was running 250 pace for the first 4 and then 245 for the last 4. This is slower than what I've done in the past at McAlpine, but I was working against both the wind and my own mind since I was solo. In the end, I'll take it because my calves are still in good shape and didn't knot up any more!

Once I finished the workout, I drove back home to do more things that a typical couple does, like learn how to use the TRX training system with my boyfriend and go on a double date with Jay and Lauren. Great times!

Adding the Tutor to the Mix

Goal: 3x2 mile at 610, 600, and 550 pace ave with 2 min rest
Actual: 3x2 mile at 610, 550, 542 pace ave with 3 min rest

While two of my regular training partners are out of commission (Meagan Nedlo has an injured foot and Thomas Eggar is getting trained in OKC), I've been scrambling to find workout buddies during the week. Of course in order to find people, I used every tool in the book to convince two guys to come work out with me. Okay...so that was a lie; I barely had to lift a finger. To get Lat out, all I had to do was email him and switch my workout day from Tuesday to Wednesday to accommodate his work travel schedule. To get the newcomer Eric Bilbrey out, all I had to do was ping him at work via MS Communicator. Eric also happens to be really smart and talented in tutoring schmucks like myself on the GMAT. I am so grateful to have found both a tutor and a new running buddy! It seems that as this training cycle progresses, I want to give back more and more to people for all the good things that they've done for me!

All in all, it worked out better for me because it gave me more time to nurse my calf back to its normal form. I was out the door at 6am to meet the guys outside of Rebecca Thomason's house so that we could run on the two-mile Dilworth Speed Loop. Since all three of us had run from our respective houses, we were all warmed up and ready to start the workout.

Splits:
1: 12:20 (613, 607 for 610 ave)
2: 11:40 (551, 549 for 550 ave)
3: 11:25 (542, 543 for 542 ave)

Overall, I was very pleased with this effort because of the consistency of pace throughout each set. I was able to run with both the guys on the first two sets. On the third set, I "gave Lat permission" to take off, and he waited until the second mile to do so. Eric, who had fallen off a couple of meters, pulled himself together in the final 400m to speed past me and try to catch Lat. While the boys had a negative split for the third repetition, I still maintained an even pace, which was exactly my intent. It was great to have company for each of these as it would have been much tougher mentally to do this on my own.

Life as a Minor League Player's Girlfriend

I've decided that the best thing I could have ever decided this spring was to run a marathon. Other than the obvious reason that I love running, the other main reason why I decided to start training for a marathon is that it would serve as a way to preoccupy myself while Garrett played baseball for the Astros. I knew that I needed something to keep me absorbed with my friends' lives, to take up time outside of my normal routine to to keep my mind from missing Garrett. After thinking that he was getting back to the Carolinas on September 1st, to then thinking he was getting back on September 10th (ish) to then thinking he was getting back on September 14th, a combination of great friends and marathon training is really what kept me sane.

In the end, it's the best for both of us. While I'm off running 22 miles at 530am, he's sleeping on a bus en route to Troy from Batavia, NY. He gets to experience being in a playoff Championship Series while I get to run more than 10 hours a week (excluding stretching, drills, driving etc). Running combined with a new job and studying for the GMAT, I'm a pretty busy girl. However, now that Garrett's official arrival date is September 15th, instead of arriving right in the middle of my marathon specific training, he's coming during my tapering stage, which means less time for running and more time for hanging out with G!

Here's what Garrett does:

Here's what I do:

To wrap up one of the final weeks of marathon training, I decided to go out with my longest run yet - 22 miles - featuring a 9.7 mile tempo in the end. Fortunately enough, it was quite easy for me to find some company for this as I met a large group of guys at the Huntersville Business Park - Steve, Jay, Paul, Mike, Bill, Adam, Nathan, and Derrick. I will note that I dearly miss my favorite female training partners - Meagan Nedlo and Megan Hovis - and that it would have been fabulous to have had them out there.

I woke up at 440am to get all prepared, and drove over to Jay's house so that we could carpool together. We arrived 4 minutes early and everyone was already there, ready to go before 530am! Nathan and Bill guided us around the Huntersville neighborhoods before the sun came up and we averaged about 7:45 pace for 10.5 miles. We made a pit stop back at our cars for some gel and water before we all started the various tempos that we had on tap. Bill was kind enough to have marked the course with pink spray paint that was extremely visible to people like me, who had never run out here before. The plan was for me to go on the 12 mile loop with Mike, Bill, Steve, and Adam starting at 630 pace and dropping down to 615. Since I only needed 60 minutes of effort, Mike was going to signal for me to turn at a spot that would cut off about 1.5 miles from the 12 mile loop. My goal was to stay as relaxed as possible and to really focus on my breathing to keep it controlled. In the end, I accomplished just that even though our pace dropped pretty quickly after mile 3.

Splits

1: 642

2: 645 (after this split, Mike took off for mile 3 and we all stayed with him)

3: 558 (panic moment)

4: 603

5: 612

6: 603 (Beigay gapped Steve and I here)

7: 607 (Steve and I working together)

8: 601 (from mile 7 and on, i was on my own because I turned a different way)

9: 600

.69: 406 (600 pace)

Average: 6:11 pace

Average for 7.7 miles: 6:02 pace

As you can see, we went out very relaxed for the first two miles and then dropped a hammer on the third mile. Admittedly, I did have a slight panic moment for about 2 seconds and then I focused on what I wanted to accomplished today - feeling almost effortless with controlled breathing. That must have helped me because I felt great the rest of the way. Steve, Mike and I settled into a nice grove together for the first 5 miles and then Mike began to gap Steve and I. From miles 6-7 Steve and I worked together on a big highway. Really, Steve just blocked the wind from me and I took advantage of my spot behind him. For the last 2.7 miles of the tempo, I was on my own since I went on a different route to shorten the course. I felt GREAT on this portion of the run. Once my watch hit the 60 minute mark, I slowed to a jog and ran enough miles to log 22 for the day.

Overall, I am extremely satisfied with this workout. I think that Mike is really going to shine at Twin Cities and it will be a fun trip to share with so many Charlotte people that have been an integral part to my marathon training this fall (Mike, Bill and Adam). A huge thanks to Nathan Stanford for taking pictures of us and for providing bananas and Gatorade.

Marathon Specific Phase at a Glance

With just one week left in my marathon specific phase, I was curious to see the breakdown of what I've done since July 26. In a nutshell, I've hit pretty much hit all my targeted paces on workouts and did all of my long run distances. One thing that I did skip out on was doing Marathon Pace tempos for a couple of miles in my long runs. Most of these decisions were based on how my body was feeling.

Mileage since 7/26 with long runs

7/26: 80 miles / 20 mile long run
8/2: 78 miles / 19 mile long run
8/7: 80 miles / 21 mile long run
8/14: 70 miles / 14 mile long run (down week with a 10k race)
8/21: 83.7 miles / 19 mile long run with a 15 mile Marathon Pace tempo
8/28: 80 miles / 18.5 mile long run
9/6: 83 miles / 22 mile long run with a 10 mile MP tempo

I'm really pleased with the consistency shown with the mileage and long runs above. This week will feature my third long run over 20 miles, so I will will have a solid base under my feet come race day in 24 days. I also hit my weekly mileage by doing only one double a week, so the majority of my runs were over an hour. I've been fortunate enough to have stayed healthy throughout this entire phase. Currently, I'm nursing some tight calves back to life, so I'll continue to monitor that to ensure I continue to stay healthy. It's all about making smart decisions now.

After this week, my mileage will dip back down into the 70's and then starting the week of 9/20 I will begin tapering for the big day. I'm excited to travel with Mike Beigay and Bill Shires. Although it saddens me very much that Megan Hovis and Meagan Nedlo will no longer be participating, I'll have a good time with the guys.

Simulation Run

Goal: 15 miles at Goal Marathon Pace (6:18) and learn how to eat Gel and Gatorade on the run
Actual: 15 miles at 6:11 average and choked down the Gel and Gatorade

Before I go into the details, it would be most appropriate to start this post by thanking everyone who came out to support me. Major kudos to Jordan Kinley, who ran with me the entire way, showed me how to pinch a cup of gatorade, explained the basics of eating Gel, and provided words of encouragement when my breathing was getting wacky. Not to mention four other huge workouts that he's helped me out with, I'm fairly certain I owe Jordan about 48 beers or so by now. A trip to Costco is in order. Shout outs also go to Billy Shue, Stephen Spada, and Justin Breland for jumping in with me for numerous parts of this workout. Finally, Mark Hadley and his son, Bryce, were the best water boys I could have ever asked for by jumping around to three different locations to ensure that we had gatorade or water every 3-4 miles.

I also cannot leave out the other Charlotte Running Club members that were out there for a run, who cheered my entourage on during difficult portions. It's so amazing how much the running community has transformed since Fall of 2008 compared to today. I feel like we are all part of a team, each of us happy to help the other succeed.

So now I need to start at the beginning. The night prior to this, I ate everything as though I would before my marathon in five weeks. I had a big spinach salad and then a nice bowl of whole wheat pasta with sesame tofu . Obviously in Minneapolis I won't have my own kitchen, but I plan on going to Whole Foods and eating something from the hot bar. If that fails, Olive Garden is always a nice alternative.

The next morning, I ate a bowl of oatmeal approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes before "start time" and drank tons of water. I hopped in my car to meet Jordan, Mark, and Stephen at McMullen. Steve and I ran around for about 9 minutes for an easy 1 mile warmup and I explained the course: to run to the Starbucks on Rea Road, and then run two loops around the big Church and back past the Starbucks until we looped back onto the course again. It would be a perfect 15 miles. The loops around the Church were hilly, located around miles 6-9 of our run. Soon, Jordan arrived and we started promptly at 7am.

Splits:
1 - 6:36
2 - 6:20
3 - 6:10
4 - 6:16 (taking a gu)
5 - 6:15
6 - 6:07
7 - 5:58 (uphill on Rea Road)
8 - 6:00 (downhill/flat near Starbucks)
9 - 6:02 (uphill on Rea Road)
10 - 6:02 (back onto the McMullen Trail
11 - 6:20 (taking a gu)
12 - 6:10
13 - 6:09 (1:21:40 half marathon split)
14 - 6:10
15 - 6:01

I don't want to bore you with an analysis of each mile, so I'll summarize the main themes.

1) Stay under control. We went out great for the first two miles - 636 then 620 - but then dropped to a 610. On race day, it is critical that I stay around 615-618 pace for those early miles so that I can run the 605-615 pace miles later and feel more relaxed. Also, even though today I felt great on the hilly portion of the run around miles 6-9 and dropped some 6 min miles, at Twin Cities, I'd rather not run 6 min miles until after the halfway point.

2) Eat gel slowly. I took the first Honey Stinger Gel too fast, but it didn't bother my stomach. I dreaded taking the second Honey Stinger and Jordan instructed me to take it slowly, even over the course of an entire mile, and I wanted to chuck that Gel onto the path and stomp all over it, but I didn't. I'm really going to have to will myself to take those things.

3) Stay relaxed. In miles 11-14 I started to tense, which affected my breathing. Given the fact that I will not have the luxury of Jordan coaching me how to relax, I will really need to focus on keeping my body relaxed so that my breathing will stay controlled during the final miles of Twin Cities.

4) Positive thinking. At one point, I really wanted to call it day at the 13.1 point of the workout. Come race day, I need to keep the end in sight and repeat the magical words that Jordan told me today: "Only 20 more minutes of running, only fifteen more minutes of running, etc".

5) Place gels in safe spots. Keep a Gel in my bra, but not on my hip. The one on my hip fell off after two miles and I was fidgeting with it from the get go.

In the end, I didn't have any bathroom issues (my stomach kind of hurt at the end, but it went away after I cooled down three miles), so that was a success. Obviously, I still need to run 11.2 more miles to get a marathon in, but this was a good indicator as to where my fitness stands and what my realistic goal can be going into the marathon on October 3.

Unfortunately, I am writing this 15 hours later, and I can't sleep because my stomach is growling so much that I had to get up to eat more food. Even though I feel like I consumed tons of food, apparently I miscalculated that one...Off to eat my toast and peanut butter with flax seed....

The day before the simulation run, I paced Meagan for a 5:30 third mile of the Greek Fest 5k

Three Miles Repeats - Take Two!

Goal: 3x3 miles at 605-610 pace with 4 min rest
Actual: 3x3 miles at 18:53 (640, 613, 600), 18:17 (611, 618, 548), 18:00 (607, 606, 547)

This morning Mike Beigay was kind enough to meet up a little bit earlier than usual (for me at least) at 530am at the Dowd YMCA. This meant that I needed to wake up before 5am so that I could be out of my house at 518am to run the 1.5 miles over to the Dowd and meet him. For the first time in a while, our workout group was just a pack of 2. Lat Purser joined in eventually, but I'll get to that later.

Mike and I headed down Morehead and onto Kings to conclude our warmup in front of the tennis courts. Since the Booty Loop is just shy of 3 miles at 2.88, we wanted to push our starting line back so that we didn't have to go through the stop light at East Blvd and Kings. Turns out we picked the perfect starting line because we ended just short of the traffic light.

Mike and I came out to the Booty Loop on the assumption that it would be as well lit as a modern city should be. Well, we were wrong. We took off on the first set and realized immediately that Queens Road has 1 street light every 400 meters. This made it for a tricky footing situation as we trekked up the Queens hill in the pitch black. To make matters worse, when cars approached, their headlamps blinded us so that all we could see was a beam of light. This explains the 640 first mile split. Hey - at least we went out relaxed! On the flat portion, we cruised to a 613 and then closed on the downhill mile with a 600. I could tell by Mike's breathing that he was relaxed and controlled.

After a swig of water, our 4 minute rest had already ended and we took off again, with just enough light so that we could see the divots in the sidewalk. Again, on this set I felt relaxed and controlled. I felt my glutes and quads in the second mile of this set, and both Mike and I were startled when someone came sprinting behind us. Lat Purser was our surprise accomplice who had chased us down from the start of this set. He conquered his first interval and we cruised to the finish. I still couldn't hear any labored breathing coming from Mike. He was on fire!

For the third set, we ran a negative split perfectly. Mike warned me before the 2 mile that he was going to take off for the third mile, so for the last mile I was by my lonesome, but it was fun watching Mike switch to a different gear and watching Lat react. I didn't feel nearly as spent after this workout as I did the last time, so I feel like that it a step in the right direction. I'm pleased with how the workout turned out and I don't feel nearly as exhausted as I expected I would.

Steam Bath

Plan: 10-8-6-4-2-1 with half rest...starting at 610 pace and getting faster on each interval
Actual: 10-8-6-2-1 with half rest...starting at 554 pace and getting faster on each interval. Paces for the intervals through the mile marker:
10 - 554 (1.70 miles)
8 - 549 (1.38 miles)
6 - 533 (1.08 miles)

After enjoying an impromptu family dinner with Meagan and Jordan last night, it was time to bust our chops bright and early this morning. Fortunately, some of Charlotte's finest women (we still need to get them all out together though!) came out to join me for a little jaunt in McAlpine Creek Park on a very muggy day. Of course, Jordan wanted in on the fun so he came along for the ride with Meagan, Pezz and I. I shouldn't leave out the fact that Jordan was under the wrong assumption that there would be other people out there to keep his feelings of male bravado up, but no other male companions showed so Jordan was left to run with the girls.

Pezz and I met before the sun was up at the Main entrance and went off towards the Sardis entrance to meet Jordan and Meagan halfway on the greenway. I fortunately had my headlamp so I served as the light source for the first fifteen minutes of the warmup. After a pit stop at the restrooms, everyone was ready to get going. During our strides and drills, Meagan and Jordan decided it would be "fun" to jump in the workout with us - Jordan for the entirety and Meagan for just the 10 and 8 min portions - despite the small fact that they had both done hill repeats the day before. Apparently when runners date each other they get a little crazy with their workouts together.

We set off for the first 10 minute interval at the start line of the course and came through the mile in 554. However, we all seemed pretty relaxed and our breathing was controlled as we continued to add on the addition 4 minutes and 6 seconds that were left. Despite going out a little faster than what we had anticipated, we recuperated very nicely with the 5 minute rest and geared up for the 8 min interval. I told myself that once I had the 10 and the 8 out of the way, the rest of the workout was a piece of cake. Fortunately, we continued by quickening the pace and ran a 549 through the mile split. We got a little but more rest here because we were waiting for Pezz to change her shoes. In the next 6 min interval, we were rolling! Meagan and I pretty much ran perfectly even to a 533 and Pezz was a couple of strides ahead of us. Meagan called it a day and then Jordan and I closed with a 2 and a 1, while Pezz did the 4-2-1.

Overall, I was very satisfied with this workout going into the OrthoCarolina 10k this Saturday. We did a great job of working together while working to drop the pace for each increment. I'm looking forward to more workouts with this group!

Owning the Booty Loop

Plan: 3x12 with 2 min rest at Booty Loop at 12:10-12:40
Actual: 3x2 mile with 3:00-3:30 min rest at 12:08 (600, 608)...11:42 (550, 552)...11:33 (543, 550)

This workout almost felt tougher than the 3x3 mile workout! The plan was to meet Meagan, Justin, Lat, Beigay, and Billy for a 3x2 mile workout on the infamous Booty Loop. We wanted to run the loop two times and stop when Mr. Garmin beeped for Mile 2. I warmed up 3.5 miles from my house to the Dowd and then to Freedom.

To start off our first set, Meagan and I volunteered Mike to lead because he's good at the whole pacing thing. We started at the bottom of the big hill on East Blvd and I felt terrible for the first incline. Once the mile split passed, we all knew why: we went through in 6:00 flat. At this point, Meagan put on her team captain hat and used her words to calm us. She told us to just relax on the next flat mile so that we wouldn't crash and burn on the next two sets. Sure enough, we relaxed back into a 6:08 for the second mile of that set. (Side note - I've decided that Meagan would be a great coach or personal trainer because she definitely knows what to say to keep us focused and positive).

For the second set, we made a collective decision and decided to take 3:00 rest instead of 2:00 so that we could recover from our studly 6 min mile on a filthy incline. This set featured a downhill first mile and an uphill second mile. For the downhill mile, we came through in 5:50 and then the second mile on this set was tough for me. The core group of Meagan, Billy, and Mike began to gain about five meters on me, and Lat pulled ahead to join them. On a slight downhill, I made a burst to tuck in behind them again, only to find that when the final uphill came into sight, I was maintaing my pace, and they were increasing their pace. I came through in 5:52, which is pretty good considering it was uphill. Meagan and company probably came through in 5:48.

For the third set, we rewarded ourselves with 3:30 rest. This set featured a flat first mile and a downhill/flat second mile. Apparently we all felt prety good, with Mike and Meagan leading the way, we came through this mile in 5:43 (this wasn't even on a downhill segment!). At this point, Mike and Meagan split off again on the downhill portion while I maintained my 5:45 pace. We reached the East Blvd / Kings light and Lat and I got stuck so we had to slow down a bit before we crossed over into Freedom Park. With the slower jog, Lat and I still posted a 5:50 final mile (Meagan probably got a 543 and Mike a 538). Overall, we all ran pretty awesome, so Mike, Meagan, and I should feel pretty good about our races in Twin Cities in less than seven weeks.

We finished with a nice walk to the water fountain, reassured Billy that his workout was great, and went our separate ways back to our cars. I cooled down a little over 2 miles and even walked the last block to my house. It was glorious.

Negative Split at McAlpine

I'm debating using the blog as my running log, mirroring the format that Meagan Nedlo and Jordan Kinley showcase in their respective blogs. However, I am weary to do this because I'm afraid that my blog would get really boring since I don't have much humor in my writing. If anyone has any suggestions or opinions for one way or the other, let me know!

Until I make a decision, I'll maintain the potpourri posts that cover any topic from workouts, long runs, baseball, and family vacations. Today's theme: a workout.

During my Monday morning run, Meagan and I figured out our training schedules for the week. Specifically, I switched up my Tuesday workout to sync up with Meagan's workout outlined in her training plan that she recently received from her coach. In exchange, she swapped her 2x3 mile workout for a 3x2 mile workout with me on Thursday. Since we seem to work out really well together, it makes most sense for the two of us to blend our respective training plans into a Mark Hadley / Scott Simmons hybrid plan.

With that being said, I woke up Tuesday morning at 519am to Katy Pery's "California Girls" and completed the necessary pre-workout tasks that would ensure I felt as awesome as possible during the 800m repeats. John was supposed to meet the early group at 530am, but I could tell when I went upstairs that he hadn't even awakened yet. He would eventually get up and make his way to McAlpine by 615am, which is still awesome because he rarely joins the early morning workouts.

Following our standard pattern, I parked at the Main entrance and met one of our smallest workout groups yet - just Meagan and Thomas - halfway on the McAlpine bike path. We warmed up by scoping out each and every 800m stretch between the 1.75 and .25 marker, eventually deciding that the stretch between .75 and 1.25 marks featured the best footing / solid terrain. Keep in mind that this terrain was much more difficult to run on compared to the asphault at the Dilworth Speed Loop that we ran on two weeks ago.

After 27 minutes of warmup, we stashed our water bottles full of Nuun next to the mile marker post and I did a couple of light strides and other drills. A couple minutes later, we toed the imaginary starting line, acknowledged the pain we were going to endure telepathically, and sprinted off into the distance.

The first repeat felt terrible, but Meagan reminded me afterwards that the first one always does. Once we got into the groove, Meagan, Thomas, and I created a tight pack for the first four intervals and maintained 242-243. For the second set, we managed to run faster than the first set, getting a nice negative split into the books. For 5 and 6, we pushed too hard for the first half, so we decided to make a conscious effort to go out more controlled on intervals 7 and 8. It's amazing how those intervals felt so much better, even though we were posting the exact same times for our splits. Pretty cool that just by convincing ourselves that we were going easier made our bodies feel lighter.

243 (200)
243 (200)
242 (200)
242 (159)
240 (159)
241 (229)
240 (229)
239

Compared to the 6x800m workout Meagan and I did two weeks ago, this felt much more strenuous and difficult, most likely due to the change in terrain. Overall, we, the three amigos, left feeling satisfied with our times and completed our cool downs together until we had to part ways towards our cars. I luckily managed to find John en route back to the Main entrance so we got to catch up on our respective workouts. It was a nice treat to run with him for a couple of minutes. We picked up Billy along the way, who misinterpreted a 5k workout and crafted it into a marathon workout by absoluting dominating it.

Power in Numbers at the Booty Loop

This week marks a significant turning point in the training that I've ever known. I've switched from doing short, speedy workouts and 4-6 mile tempos to doing 8-10 mile grueling tempos that make your stomach hurt three hours after completion, 3x3 mile workouts that give you over 14 miles for your total daily mileage, and long runs that last about as long as it takes me to drive to see my boyfriend. While reading that makes me practically cringe, I've taken this first week of marathon specific training and pretty much enjoyed it.

Mostly, I'm enjoying it because of the people who have braved the 100 degree heat index and who have run some of the grueling miles with me. Just this morning, Mike Beigay and I had a 3x3 mile workout and I expected only Meagan Nedlo and Justin Breland to show up. To my pleasant surprise, we had a few stragglers jump in: Lat Purser, Jordan Kinley, and Brian McMahon. When there are two girls leading a pack of five guys, it feels pretty awesome and I think it gives my legs that added spring of life that is typically hard to find before the sun is up.

This impromptu crowd of runners appearing at a group run is what I hope to accomplish for all pace groups and locations in the Charlotte Running Club. The power in numbers stems from the motivation and the encouragement that we all share with each other. Looking forward to more miles to come!

Side note: Lat Purser has by pure chance jumped into two workouts this week with Meagan and I. He absolutely destroyed us in our 6x800m workout and was rolling like 229-232 on the Dilworth 800m loop. It's nice having him out there!

The Long Run Starts the Weekend

Since Aaron is out of commission with his strained calf, I took it upon myself to organize a group long run at McAlpine. I was pleasantly surprised when all my CRC buddies showed up, right on time at 630am, ready to roll. We had a solid group of guys mainly – Paul, Steve, John, Ben, Mike, Jason, Jordan, Thomas - and a pair of girls – Michelle and I. We started off nice and easy, which is expected during the early morning hours. We started a good 50m ahead of Jordan as he used the first 10 minutes to wake himself up. When his legs finally got rolling, he greeted us by spanking John so hard that I thought it was John’s foot hitting the pavement. For the first half of the run, I participated in some small talk with various people, but mainly enjoyed the weather. After all, it seemed like the winds from Northern California had blown their cool weather our way so it makes sense that I was thoroughly enjoying the 60 degree temperature and the low heat index.

That being said, the first hour of the run went by fairly slowly and I was hoping that the second half would go by much quicker. Once we got out of the Boyce trails, we began to pick up the pace. Jordan and I began to run down a very slender / muscular middle-aged man who was running at decent clip. As we were chasing him, Jordan and I lead the pack to a pace in the 630s. Right when we thought we were about to catch him, he turned the opposite way as we turned onto the cross country course.

At this moment, I made a silent decision to pick up the pace. My legs felt fresh and the weather was great, so I figured – why not? I assumed the guys would follow my lead, and fortunately they did with no complaint. We got in a solid mile on the XC course, and then once we hit the trail, Jordan took off hard, with Steve following. Mike and I held on together to complete the mile with the hill in a solid 613. We eased up to “cool down” to find out later that even during our cool down, we were still going at a clip of 630. It felt easy and relaxed and I ended the run with my endorphins running high. Damn, I felt good!

After some light stretching, Thomas, Michelle, Jordan, John and I all met up at Zada Jane’s to enjoy some berry pancakes and biscuits smeared with the best apple butter in town. It is true that we went to Zada Jane’s directly after our long run, without having taken any sort of shower. That’s how runners do it!

The long run and breakfast were a great way to start the rest of my weekend, which featured a getaway to the grand town of Greeneville, Tennessee to reunite with Garrett and his family and enjoy some minor league baseball at the same time!

Better late than never...

My dad received his joint father's day/birthday present from my sister and I today in the mail. He received all of his favorite fruits (both dried and fresh) in a nice little package today unexpectedly! I get there tomorrow night, so I'm crossing my fingers that he'll let his two favorite daughters try a bite of the California Mission Figs that were in that tightly packed box! Although he received this two weeks after his birthday and two days after Father's Day, it's better late than never...and let's be honest, his best present of all will be a visit from three of his children this weekend! I'm looking forward to the food that my mom is going to be feeding us!

In anticipation of my weekend in Carbondale, the heart of SO ILL, I worked out this morning by myself. It was rather peaceful and also happened to be the first time that I had worked out on my own in quite some time. I did a simple little fartlek of sorts - 5-5-4-3-2-1 - with half rest of what you just ran. Indeed, it went quite well most likely because I wasn't timing it. I wanted to just get out there and enjoy the workout in the humid morning air. I'm in the middle of a down week, making it actually very important since it helps keep my mind and body fresh, ready to peak in October. If I don't find time to work out this weekend while I'm at home, it will probably be for the best...to give my legs a fresh start for next week.

Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 96...the hottest temperature this summer. I'm hypothesizing that this summer is going to be a brutal one. By the time fall comes around, we'll all be tough as nails.

Workout In Before Will's Baby Out

Today my regular workout partner, Will Isenhour, and I planned to meet at 6pm at the Dowd YMCA to start a warm-up for a workout. The plan was 7x3 minutes with 2:30 jog rest. John joined us as well because he had forgotten his shoes at home, so he did not run at his usual location of McAlpine. This was great! I thoroughly enjoyed John’s company on this workout because it mixed the conversation up a bit.

On the run over to the Dilworth Road East loop, I joked with Will that I was going to savor my next couple of weeks with him before his baby was born. Little did I know that 12 hours later, Will’s baby (Thomas Isenhour) would be born five weeks early, healthy and with a full head of hair! Congratulations to him and his wife!

On the warmup, my legs felt fairly beat up, and I was hoping that once the work out got under way that they would feel much better. To my luck, I made an extra effort to go out relaxed on the first one and John, Will, and I kept it pretty close together. I ran around a 2:41 going through the 800m mark and was pleased. For the remainder of the intervals, I maintained 240-241 pace and each time we jogged back to the starting line, I was surprised at how well my legs were carrying me through the intervals, considering that my quads and hamstrings were feeling lethargic.

John and I parted ways with Will at the Morehead/McDowell intersection and jogged very slowly back to the house. After 21 minutes of running at 520 pace, our legs were tired and our stomachs hungry.

On Wednesday and Thursday following the workout, my legs have felt absolutely trashed. They'll shape up tomorrow for my first work out with Thomas Eggar since January.

Marathon Swap - Chicago for Twin Cities

I'm most likely going to be switching my fall marathon from Chicago on 10.10.10 to the Twin Cities Marathon on 10.3.10. The main reason I'm doing the switch is because one of my old teammates from Wake Forest (Matt Owen) is getting married the same day as Chicago! Of course, a wedding only happens once and it is more important than a marathon! So...Twin Cities it is.

I've heard that the course is beautiful, with a good set of hills from miles 22-25. This is a bit intimidating, but I'm crossing my fingers that some good mental training and hillwork can help me own those hills.