Marblehead Tempo Test

Goal:
50 Min Progression from 6:30-600 pace

Actual:
3.3 mile warmup
8 mile tempo at 610 pace
2.5 mile cool down for 13.8 miles total

I had so much fun in Marblehead with Meagan and Jordan that I didn't take the time to update my blog when I was there.  It was a blast to reunite with the Kinlo's in New England for three days and get in some solid runs.  Meagan is very fortunate that she has Jordan to run along with because he's always been the best pacemaker.  Anyone that is heading to the Boston Marathon needs to take the extra drive to say hello and see their beautiful home that overlooks a sound and Fort Sewall.

Fortunately for me, Jordan and Meagan bost recapped the workout on their blog.  Since I'm still struggling a bit with the lack-of-iron thing, I completed 1.5 laps of glory with Meagan before beginning to feel like absolute crap.  Jordan came back to run with me for about .75 miles before running the third lap with Meagan to finish it out.  For the last 3 miles I was alone, but I battled through my physical deficiencies and mental barriers to finish a strong 8 mile tempo, considering everything.  In fact, I ran faster than I had originally intended, which is always a step in the right direction.  My breathing was too labored and my legs felt too heavy, but I will get to the point where I feel like normal again. 

After the workout, we cooled down on a bike path back to Marblehead before beginning a stretching session in the Kinlo dining room.  All in all, it was definitely the right decision to come visit. 

Breaking the Funk!

So what's a better way to get out of a funk than to visit two of your best friends / former running partners / owners of your second favorite kitty?  There isn't a better way!!  That's right, I just booked a ticket to go to Boston for a quick weekend getaway to visit Meagan and Jordan!  Well, it will be a quick trip if Boston isn't slammed with three feet of snow in the middle of November.  I'll bring my work laptop just in case I get stuck in some unforeseen New England blizzard.  

I'm trading a weekend with my boyfriend in Charlotte for a weekend with Meagan and Jordan in Marblehead.  I'll pretend like I'm their surrogate child, tag along for runs, and eat at lots of yummy restaurants. I'm secretly hoping we'll play Scrabble!!  Most importantly, Meagan I will reminisce about our glory days - like 13.1 Minneapolis and the Heart and Sole Women's 5 Miler. 

3x3 Miles at Booty Loop

Goal:
3x3 miles with 4 min rest at Goal 25k Pace (18:00)

Actual:
2.5 mile warmup
3x3 miles @ 17:34 (552, 556, 545), 17:39 (551, 600, 547), 17:47 (559, 604, 542)
~2.5 mile cool down

Sometimes I really wish I was fast enough to pace Jordan in his workouts because I would like to repay him for pacing me in tough workouts like this one.  I'll just keep him company on his slow doubles so that he can hit a weekly mileage in the triple digits.

Since I'm house sitting in Matthews, I woke up this morning and drove to my house in uptown to warm up and meet Jordan at the tennis courts in Freedom Park.  On the way over, I could tell that my stomach was not happy and that I was likely to have stomach issues throughout the workout. 

The plan was to run my standard Twin Cities Booty Loop course, which is a hilly first mile, a flat second mile, and a mostly downhill third mile. 

On the first interval, we began with the hilly mile.  Everything felt harder than it should; my legs were heavy, my breathing was labored, and my shoulders tense.  We went through the first mile in 552, mainly because I was setting the pace.  I heard the garmin beep, saw the pace, and said "Shit."  I think I said that because 1) I knew that I would need to maintain that pace for the next 2 intervals and 2) I already felt really terrible 1 mile into a 9 mile workout.  It was going to be a long one.

I always seem to struggle on the flat portion of the Booty Loop, and that was no exception today.  One thing that I have learned about myself is that I tend to run very well on rolling terrain with gradual hills versus flat courses or really steep hills. Today, I really had to mentally focus on the flat portion. I think Jordan could tell I really struggled on that section, so we offered words of encouragement to keep me focused on the landmarks. 

For the second and third interval, I just felt like my legs were hitting the ground too hard and that I was using up a lot of energy on my ineffecient stride and arm movement.  My entire body felt really tense.  When I finished the second one, I questioned my ability to even do the third one.  I really didn't want to do it because I knew that my body really was pushing hard to maintain a pace under 18:00.  Luckily Jordan was there, so I couldn't just duck out. I am actually quite surprised with how the third set went considering that I was mentally falling apart in the first mile and that I had some GI issues.  However, I felt like I really made a conscious effort to start pushing again after the Garmin beeped for mile 2.  I was able to finish up with my fastest split of the day - 5:42.  It's always great to end your last mile with the fastest time.

All in all, while the effort was excruciating and while the pace gradually slowed, I am happy that I was able to run faster than I've ever run on this course.  Also considering that this is my third week over 80 miles, I am confident that after a week of taper, my legs will be ready to run 6:00 pace for 15.5 miles in just 23 days. 

For historical purposes, I did this workout twice before Twin Cities, on August 24th, 2010 and July 29, 2010.  

In August, my splits were:  18:53, 18:17, 18:00.

In July, my splits were:  18:31, 18:03, 18:13.

Granted, it was a lot hotter last year when I did these, but I think that the times I posted today showed a little improvement in my fitness.

Long Run + Tempo with Jordan

Goal:
10 Miles, 5k tempo, 2 mile cooldown

Actual:
10 miles, 3 miles @ 17:31 (5:47, 5:58, 5:45), 1 mile cooldown, IT Band Messed up

Jordan worked out with me on Friday, worked out with John Compton, Richard Falcone, and Ben Hovis on Saturday, and decided it would be "fun" to work out with me as well. You can question his sanity, but I won't since his decisions are obviously benefiting me. We left my house and ran around Freedom Park, on the Booty Loop and back up to our favorite workout loop, the Dilworth Speed Loop. I was rocking my new Craft running tights and Gore head band that I bought from Jordan. Craft is definitely my new favorite brand for winter running gear. Their tights make me feel almost like I've got nothing on. Obviously, they provide that warmth, but the material is so smooth that it feels invisible on my skin. I'm a believer.

Anyways, there isn't much to report on the first 10 miles of our run as nothing really happened besides talking about training and increasing your VO2 Max for the marathon. Once we got to Rebecca's, Jordan stripped down to a t-shirt and shorts because the weather was so nice and I took off my gloves. We ran a lap and a half of the Dilworth speed loop. My goal was just to run 5:55-6:00 pace in an effort to simulate the final 5k of my half marathon in just 13 days.

Guess what? We went out too fast (5:47), but I felt relaxed and controlled. When my Garmin beeped, Jordan said, "Is that the mile?" I responded, "Apparently..." I thought he was doubting the Garmin's accuracy, but really he was just confirmed that we were running fast. He responded "We're ROLLING!" To further highlight our first mile, a rather attractive blonde took the time to roll down her window and cry out "nice pace!" to us. I figured we knew her. Jordan said we did not. She just thought Jordan was hot probably.

The second mile was mainly uphill, so we slowed down a bit to 5:58. There wasn't much to report except that I was thinking about how badly I wanted to run faster in the last mile. During the third mile, Jordan put on his personal trainer hat and spoke words of encouragement to keep me motivated to finish strong. He told me that we had four minutes left, two minutes left, and then told me to focus on objects like a fire hydrant. We finished up with a 5:45 and I bent over to catch my breath. I was shocked that we had run a pace close to the pace we ran just two days ago in the 3x2 mile workout on the same loop. After I regained my composure, we began the jaunt back to Rebecca's. It was exactly 1 mile there, and my entire body felt absolutely perfect. There was no pain in my knee, no (apparent) tightness in my IT Band or glute, and I felt strong.

Then I took one step down the stairs of Rebecca's porch and it felt like someone stabbed my in the outside of my left knee. As soon as my leg bent to a 45 degree angle, a stabbing sensation rocked through my leg and brought back the memories from two weeks ago in California. I said some profanity and exclaimed that I think I messed up my leg. I was not sure until I attempted three steps of jogging and could barely pick up my leg. I had to stop and, at my second attempt, I told Jordan that I did not think I could run home. He was a good sport and said he'd run to my house (2 Miles away) and come pick me. And so began the trek home...I walked about 3/4 of a mile, stopped every now and then to stretch my IT Band, and waited for Jordan on the street corner like an exhausted prostitute in running attire.

When Jordan picked me up, he had a bag of ice ready in the car and I thought to myself that I'm lucky to have such a nice friend (and training partner). Apparently when Meagan goes out of town, Jordan just likes to hang out with John and I so that he doesn't think about how much he misses her.

Now I'm sitting here icing and stretching. I'm confident that I'll be able to run tomorrow, but know that I will need to take off at least 3-5 days when I finish the Houston Half.

3x2 mile at Dilworth Speed Loop

Goal:
3x2 Mile at Same Pace or Faster than last time (5:40-5:45 pace)

Actual:
4.1 miles warmup
3x2 Mile at 11:33 (5:47/5:45), 11:33 (5:46/5:47), and 11:30 (5:50/5:40)
2 miles cooldown

Before I start with anything else, admittedly, this workout went much better than I had expected. Considering that the last week of the year I had to take two days off due to an IT Band pain in my knee, I was skeptical of whether my leg would hold up during this workout. Fortunately, things seemed to be looking up for me because last night I ran for the first time in over two weeks entirely pain free. Jordan and I ventured up and down hills throughout the Dilworth neighborhoods, which also indicated that my IT Band was feeling better since it was holding up over hills. I will credit my Physical Therapist at Carolinas Rehab for getting me back to a pain free state.

Regardless, Jordan nursed his Achilles back to normal health and was game for working out with me. Typical of Jordan, he immediately agreed, without a second thought, to working out with me on Friday night. We warmed up on the Sugar Creek Path and through Dilworth for four miles and then dropped our stuff off at Rebecca's porch, even though she is in Africa. From our Thursday run, Jordan and I were expecting three patches of ice that were about 5-10m in length. At these parts, we would be forced to run defensively and with tentative, slower steps than on the other surfaces.

For the first interval, my breathing felt more labored than it should be and I hoped that I could maintain an average of 5:45 for the entirety of the workout. It was frustrating to slow down on the patches of ice, and I told myself that I would be running faster if the ice wasn't getting in my way. However, I did not want the ice to be an excuse for not hitting my goal times, so Jordan lead the way for us to still hit an average of 5:45.

After we finished this set, Jordan and I both agreed that my breathing was labored so he told me to focus on pushing the uphills on the second set and to focus on the downhills on the third set. This method would hopefully get my mind less focused on the pace, and more on my form and other, less stressful things.

By the second and third sets, I was more relaxed and tucking in behind Jordan as he did all of the work. I didn't really like focusing on the uphills because it seemed that the majority of the loop was uphill as opposed to downhill, but it did help me keep rolling. We finished up and I was really pleased that 1) I had hit my goal times and that 2) my IT Band hadn't bothered me at all! On the third set, we ran both the slowest split of the day (5:50) and the fastest split of the day (5:40). What was great about the workout is that each set was around the same total time, but each was run with a completely different strategy which allowed my mind to practice more techniques and allowed my body to adjust accordingly to changes in pace.

After we picked up the remainder of our warm weather gear, Jordan and I cool down 2 miles back to my house, where we stretched, ate dinner, and hung out with John and Anne Marie. We watched Inception on Bluray.

15 Days until USA Half Marathon Championships!

6x5 Min at McAlpine

Goal:
6x5 Min at sub 5:45 pace with 2 min rest

Actual:
2.64 miles warmup
6x5 Min at 5:37-5:42 pace with 2 min jog rest
~1 mile cool down for 10 miles total

I recruited Meagan and Heidi to run this workout with me so that I would have some company at McAlpine. Heidi runs for NYAC, graduated from Duke XC/TF in '04, and heard about the CRC through the Club XC race. Jordan of course showed up to support his girlfriend and to pace us ladies through the mud.

I was worried about my IT Band rubbing against my knee, so I took all the necessary precautions beforehand: I alternated ice/heat (ending with heat), stretched, and performed my strengthening exercises that I found on youtube. I even curled up on my heated blanket to ensure that my entire IT Band received enough warmth to be ready for the soon-to-be assault on my body. Finally, I tucked a hand warmer into my capris so that my IT Band connector would be warm.

After a 20 minute warmup, we made our way to the 1.75 mile marker at McAlpine in an effort to avoid all hills (big or small) and all cambered surfaces. The plan was to make our way towards Old Bell, turn around and then head back onto the first two miles of the XC Course, skipping the hill. Jordan and I lead the way for the first 2, and I felt strong and consistent on these. My breathing felt a little out of whack, so I'm not sure what that was all about. By the 3rd and 4th intervals, Meagan and Jordan had created a 5 meter gap on me, so I made a surge to finish back up with Meagan by the finish. I was not as lucky on the 5th and 6th ones, as Jordan and Meagan made a sizable gap on me of at least 10-20 meters. I was still maintaining my original pace of 5:40, so I'm guessing she was running 5:30-5:34 pace.

For each of the intervals, I tended to finish about halfway in between the 1.2k and 1.6k marks, a little past 1.4k. I felt the worst on the 5th and 6th intervals because my IT Bands on both sides just felt very weak and fatigued. It could be from the exercises I've been doing, or just from general weakness in those areas. It could also have been from the increased number of turns and the uneven, soft surfaces that were causing me to utilize my IT Band more for balance. ALl said and done, considering that I felt no pain in the side of my knee and that I hit a faster pace than my goal Half Marathon pace, I am really pleased with this workout.

Meagan should be very happy and confident about her workout as well because not only did she rock the 6x5 min portion of the workout, but then she knocked out a 20 min tempo afterward. While her decision to run the Houston Marathon is still to be determined, it is clear that she is definitely strong enough to post some fast times within the next couple of weeks. It will be fun to watch, even if from behind!

Splits
1: 5:40 pace (.88 miles)
2: 5:37 pace (.89 miles)
3: 5:37 pace (.89 miles)
4: 5:40 pace (.88 miles)
5: 5:42 pace (.875 miles)
6: 5:42 pace (.875 miles)

Now I'm off to see Dr. Price, in hopes that he can give me some more pointers to getting my IT Band back to normal!

Last Workout Before USATF Club XC

3.72 mile warmup

Goal:
Fartlek cut Down

Actual:
~3-2-2-3-2-1 with ~ 2 min rest @ ~5:14-5:25 pace

~ 4 miles cool down

Jordan is running the Thunder Road Marathon on Saturday. This didn't stop him from doing a workout with me today...or from putting in over 20 miles on each of those days. Despite the three days until his 26.2, he has run two workouts with me in the past week. He not only ran two workouts with me, but before each workout, he already put in at least 9 miles with a different group. Take, for instance, last Saturday: Jordan ran the Thunder Road course preview run for 13 miles, and then ran over 14 miles with us at McAlpine for a tempo. Today, his running schedule was a bit tamer as he had "only" run 8.6 miles prior to meeting up with me, where we ran at least 11-12 miles. While this sort of training approach would probably tear my Achilles in half, this seems to be working fine for him as he has not been injured in over a year. It will be exciting to see how Jordan does on Saturday. He's definitely put in the work.

So back to the workout. Jordan and I left our respective houses to meet halfway on the Sugar Creek Greenway. I got a late start and pushed the first two miles of my "warmup" to run under 7 min pace for both miles. Once I caught Jordan, we eased the pace back down to a more respectable range. I like to keep my workouts before races as fun and low key as possible. So, today I decided to do something different. Jordan and I would run around the Dilworth Speed Loop twice for our workout. I just chose markers to run fast towards, and once we reached those markers, we slowed to a jog rest. We repeated this cycle for two loops and ended up running at a pretty speedy clip. I really just wanted to maintain a solid form, control my breathing, and focus on the target. Although Jordan created a gap between us on several occasions, I visualized picking off girls in the race.

Splits On (off)
3:18 (1:36) at 5:22 pace
2:06 (1:44) at 5:23 pace
2:01 (2:02) at 5:14 pace
3:07 (2:20) at 5:30 pace (felt terrible)
2:18 (1:36) at 5:20 pace
1:16 for 400m

My splits were faster than anything I've done since the summer, which would explain why I felt so oxygen-deprived on the third interval. I got a boost of energy on the last 400m when Rebecca drove by and shouted words of encouragement. As we finished, we walked back to her house to check for some water, and, as a testament to how much Corbett and Rebecca support runners, they had water bottles conveniently out on the porch since the water dispenser wasn't out. I'll keep dreaming up the day that I own a house on the Dilworth speed loop and do the same thing.

In other news, Garrett took me to a homeopathic doctor in Kings Mountain, NC. His great aunt goes to this place, and they told me lot of cool stuff about my iron deficiency and then gave me a vile of liquid that I'm to take twice a day. They told me that I had had the flu (just got over that a week ago) and a bout of food poisoning (no idea) recently and that I'd been exposed to pesticides. Considering that I eat mostly organic, the only thing that could explain the pesticides exposure would be when I got the house sprayed for ants. Anyways, it was a great birthday present for a wannabe hippie like me. Now let's see what happens to my iron levels. Granted, it would be best for me to get my iron checked right now, before I start taking the liquid concoction. Stay tuned.

50 Min Tempo with Friends

Goal:
14-15 miles with 8 mile tempo in between at ave. 610-615 pace

Actual:
34 min warmup, 14.5 miles with 8 mile tempo at 610 ave pace

Today I woke up at a normal hour of 8am to meet a group of 20+ runners for a long run, and, for those who wanted to hurt a little bit more, a tempo mixed in. I rolled into the parking lot at McAlpine to find a slew of runners, some of which I had never met, and some familiar faces. Once we got on the trail, we picked up another group so that combined we had over 20 runners. The best part was that there was an equal ratio of females to males, which is a rarity in itself. After 33 minutes of fun with the large group, about half of us split off for a restroom break before we started the tempo. Thomas, Lat, John, Ben, Meagan, Jordan, and a new guy joined us for this. John warned us that after the four mile mark, he would be picking it up, so we started off at a respectable pace Meagan and I leading the entourage of men. Fortunately, Jordan took over pacing duties after Meagan "gently" urged him to take over the pacing efforts.

The first four miles of the tempo were fun as we made our way from the start line of the course, to the 4 mile mark, and then back around to the course. Then we did the back loop of the third mile of the 5k course, and around there my pace group of Meagan and Thomas stopped at mile five. At this point, John and Jordan had picked up the pace to something under 5:40 and I could see them pulling away. Lat had joined them, and I didn't want to run the next three miles of this tempo watching as everyone pulled away from me at a quicker pace. For this reason, I decided to turn in the opposite direction of them, and to circle backwards onto the XC course from mile 1.5 back to the start. This was definitely the toughest part of the tempo, as I was solo, but I pushed a good bit to keep the effort solid. I ended with an overall average pace of 610, and was pleased with the strength I was able to maintain for the latter parts. I am finally getting over my sickness, and I hit my target pace for the workout. Ironic how this is the same pace I ran in the marathon over two months ago, but I know that with time I will begin to feel stronger. The sooner the better!

Splits
6:17
6:11
6:00
6:08
6:09
6:11
6:08
6:12 for 49:21 total

Jordan's Club XC Workout for Meagan

3+ Mile Warmup
Goal:
Set 1: 3x6 min w/ 1st 90 sec hard (3 min jog rest) from Club XC Start Line to past the mile mark
Set 2: 4x McAlpine hill loop (500m) (1 min jog rest)
Actual:
Set 1: 3x6 min w/ mile splits of 5:42, 5:34, 5:32
Set 2: 3x McAlpine hill loop @ ave 1:53
1.8 Mile Cool Down

Meagan asked me to do parts of this workout that Jordan had crafted specifically for her upcoming race at Club XC in just 10 days. I blindly gave in to Meagan's pleas for company, knowing nothing except for the fact that Jordan was creating a workout that would (hopefully) make Meagan puke. Since I am coming off a sickness, I figured I could jump in for parts of it, and once Jordan sent me the workout, I was pleased to find that it was similar to what I had on schedule originally (5x5 min) and to find that I could jump out 2/3 the way through without feeling like I had let Meagan down too much.

As you can read in Meagan's post, she was a little worried about it, and I was too. After all, I hadn't worked out in 8 days and was still feeling congested and tired. Regardless, I made the drive out to McAlpine, arrived a little early, and began the warmup early. Eventually Meagan and Jordan arrived, and we enjoyed a nice warmup on the first miles of the course. After that, I did a couple of drills, 1 stride before we headed to the USATF Club XC Start Line. Jordan wanted to simulate the start of the race with the first 90 seconds hard, and that's exactly what we did. I tried to tuck in behind Jordan, expecting me to feel terrible, but I soon realized that I actually felt pretty good so I ran alongside him. After the first 90 seconds, Jordan always said "Settle" which at first I thought it meant slow down, but I soon used that phrase as a mental note for me to just relax, but maintain a pace fairly similar to the quick 90 second pace. It worked quite well. I felt much stronger on this section that I was expecting. Meagan tucked in behind us and her presence was reassuring. I envisioned it to be like this at the actual race - side by side! To be quite honest, I was guessing that I would have had a hard time hitting 6 min pace.

Then we went straight to the hill. This is the part where I went from having a great workout to a mediocre one as it was fairly difficult for me to keep my breath even with the symptoms from my cold and sore throat. I felt pretty good on the 1st one, but the 1 minute rest was too short for me given the circumstances. I felt lightheaded on the third one, and cut the workout short. I guess I could have given myself an extra minute and gutted out the fourth one, but it didn't seem worth it. Meagan continued on to dominate the third part and I was definitely amazed. I cooled down a short bit and drove back to get to work on time.

On my drive home, I reflected on the fact that the Charlotte Running Club team could have a strong appearance next weekend at McAlpine. While we are missing the speedy legs of Megan Hovis, I am confident we can represent our city! Be on the lookout for the CRC Jerseys on both men and women!

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

My New Ride

No, it's not what you think. I did not replace the Redbirdmobile with a newer, fancier car. Although my windows are broken, my cigarette lighter out, my cd player dead, and my gear shifter in pieces, I still am rocking my Red Oldsmobile.

My new ride really is a new pair of shoes: the Karhu Forward Ride. I haven't tried any other shoe besides the Nike Pegasus in over 7 years. I decided to try this shoe out after I compared the bottom to my Nike Pegasus Wide shoe, and to my delight, I found that they were the same in width. I did the typical things a runner would do; I put my inserts into the shoe and walked around in them for a couple of days before actually wearing them on a run. Finally, I was ready to lace them up for the trial run. During an hour's worth of running, I was able to determine that (1) the shoe felt just like my Nike Pegasus and (2) the shoe did not cause any blisters and (3) they are cute. For me, that's all I need so now I'm a believer. Next I'll have to try out the racer, but they don't sell the women's racer in Charlotte.

You can get Karhus at Charlotte Running Company. Oh - and if you like watching Jordan Kinley race - you could support him as well by buying a pair or two.

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!

New Products in my Running Life

For those that don't know, Jordan just started carrying Nuun Hydration Tablets. Since Jordan is pretty much the most generous person ever, he let me try the Lemon Lime flavor after an easy 4 miler in the 100 degree heat on Wednesday. I really liked it because it's a sugar free solution to stay hydrated and doesn't leave me feeling like I just drank a juicy fruit in liquid form. There are 12 tablets in one case, which is enough to fill up 12 water bottles. To prove how much I like it, I've already consumed 12 tablets and I just got my Nuun on Saturday at 1pm. It's now Monday...

In other fueling news, I decided to google "natural energy bars" and came across the Honey Stinger Brand. Made with mostly organic / natural ingedients, and honey as the main source of energy, this brand boasts a variety of different snacks - a 20g protein bar, a 10g protein bar, organic gels that taste mainly like honey, energy bars and energy chews. I like the old school flavor of simple things such as honey, so this brand now carries all my favorite protein bars and chews. I ordered the Fruit Smoothie energy chews and Meagan and I chopped them down after our Sunday recovery run. I ordered these from Amazon.com because I have free two-day shipping, but if anyone knows where I can get this in Charlotte, please let me know because I'm addicted!

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!

Hot n Humid

Summer is approaching like an ominous thunder cloud into the Charlotte region. Along with summer comes humidity and the dire effects of said humidity on workouts (or attempted workouts).

Take for instance Friday: I woke up at 550am to meet Thomas at McAlpine at 615am. I had intended to do 3x10 minutes, but modified it to 3x8 minutes since I was crunched for time to make it to work at an acceptable hour. In the end, I modified the modified workout to run 2x8 minutes, 2 min rest, 2 min hard. On the first 8 minutes, both Thomas and I felt stretched to be running 6 minute pace. On the second interval, it felt as though my feet were dragging through a hot sand pit. The last two minutes after we passed the mile marker could be categorized as agony, horrible, and seemingly neverending. I kept asking Thomas how much time was left and we were both exasperated.

It was at that point that I decided to modify the workout and just do a two minute interval at a fast pace. I'm fairly certain that it was at the same pace that we had been running the eight minute intervals in, but I didn't actually clock it for that very reason.

Thomas and I warmed down a bit and parted our own ways. I typically have two bad workouts a month, so here is my tally for this month! I made up for the workout by enjoying my weekend to the fullest.

I spent some quality time with old pals from Wake Forest, went to Thomas Street Tavern for the first time and loved it, and enjoyed a long run at Davidson with a big group. I also made some homemade black bean dip, sesame tofu (just for Megan), and summer rice and white bean salad. I would classify this weekend as a winner in terms of the cooking. (Trying to get ready for wifehood...jk). After a night of playing Wii with Meagan and Jordan, I am now considering to buy a fourth wii-mote as well as another Numchuck so that I can try to beat Jordan in Boxing.

Cherry Blossom Ten Miler Race Recap 4.11.10

I woke up Sunday morning at 557am to the voice of a monotone, groggy John saying "Caitlinnnn...." I had been wearing my earplugs during the night because my mom was snoring in the same bed as me. I could not hear the incessant ringing of the alarm clock, and John wanted me to turn it off!

I jumped out of bed and immediately grabbed my Trader Joe's version of a nutrigrain bar out of my snack bag. I also made up a quick batch of oatmeal, which tasted disgusting and opted to eat a Kid's Clif Bar instead. Once I had all of my gear on and ready, I made my way downstairs to run a couple of extra minutes with Megan at 640am. Soon, the rest of the crew was out ready to warmup to the starting line, which was approximately .88 miles away.

Mike led the group and dropped Megan and I off at the expo, where he continued to warmup with Matt. From there on out, Megan and I were left to figure out the race start logistics on our own. We immediately went on a search for a short line at the porta-johns. Of course, there was not a short line, but we waited anyways. After that, I realized there was actually an elite tent that Megan and I could be utilizing! We ran off, asking every race official if they knew where it was. After three unsuccessful attempts, we finally found a person who pointed us in the right direction.

For what I will be most thankful for in the elite tent: private restrooms! I feel very lucky that I was given this opportunity and I thank the Cherry Blossom Elite Cooridnator for providing both Megan and I with such a privilege. In the tent, Megan and I were the only people who actually brought the plastic bags that were given to us at the Expo. Everyone else had brought their own Nike sports bags because they knew their stuff was going to be secure in the tent. Clearly, we are novices at this game.

With 15 minutes until the start, a man started pushing us out of the tent to go to the starting line. They were going to take all of our sweats for us, so we got to keep our warm clothes on. I shed my pants, but kept my CRC long sleeve for my strides at the start line. Once we were there, I noticed that Joan Benoit was not in the advance start corral with us. I had about 5 seconds of panic because I thought there would be no one for me to run with. I calmed myself down and revised my goal to stay relaxed through the first mile.

Megan and I strategically placed ourselves in row two of the start so that the Ethiopians who were much faster than us would not have to trip over us. The gun went off promptly at 730am, and we were off in a race that included only 20 women in the advance start.


From the get-go, it appeared to me that two main groups formed, and Megan and I situated ourselves comfortably into Group 2. Our group comprised of two women that I had competed against while running at Wake Forest - a runner from NC State and one from Duke. This made me feel more comfortable with the people I was racing against. The group of six or so settled into a nice rhythm and the pace didn't feel out of control fast. In fact, it felt comfortable. We went through the first mile in 551. Perfect!

The second mile I felt Megan at my side and felt safe. It was nice to know that my occasiosonal long run buddy was right there beside me. After a little ways though, I noticed that she was touching her side, and knew that she was not feeling too hot. I sent my feel good vibes her way. We continued to run together and apparently the 2nd mile we slowed up a bit: Mile 2 - 6:00.

Going into the third mile, Megan fell back and I was still catching a break from the wind behind Lucinda Hull (her name might have changed now). I could tell that the pace had quickened because all of the girls had seen the 6:00 2nd mile and panicked. Beyond our small group, there was not a runner in sight, so I knew that I needed to stay with this group as long as possible. Third mile: 545.

During the fourth mile, I could see some of the runners from the big race, and two people cheered my name. I have no idea who they were, but that alone encouraged me to stay with the group for as long as I could. I fell off a little bit, but made a slight surge to catch back up. Mile four: 552.

It was around the 4.5 point that I fell off of my little training group. From here on out, it was going to me, myself, and I. I knew that I needed to focus a ton in the final half of the race in order to reach my goal of sub-60. If I fell off the girls that I was feeding off of, it was going to make that a much harded endeavor. Luckily, my mom was around taking pictures and she screamed her lungs out for me. You can see in the picture me falling off the pack.
Mile five: 555


I really hadn't looked at my splits up for the entire race; I was going mainly off feel. The next five miles could best be described as meditative because it was really a race against myself. I discovered new focus techniques that I had not used before in efforts to keep my pace honest. Since I was in no-man's land, I knew it would be a long day out on the roads of DC with few people to pick people off and use them as prey to catch. Therefore, I kept my eye on the next woman ahead of me (about 15m away), focused on my breathing and sometimes even counted each time I took a breath in. During these key miles, I repeated to myself whatever phrase someone had cheered to me. For instance, one man said “Keep it going Number 56!” and I just turned that phrase over and over in my head for miles six and seven. In fact, at mile six, I forgot to split my watch because I was too busy trying to grab water while running six min pace. It was during mile seven when I hurt the most, and I'm guessing I ran about a 608-612 for this split.
Combined 6/7: 12:14

Mile 8 was when the Kenyan males (who had started ten minutes later) began to pass me. Of course, I knew they were coming when the lead police motorcycle passed by me. However, I was not prepared for the speed in which the number one male passed me with. In fact, I found out later that he was running about 415-420 pace so it makes sense why I sped up a bit on this mile. I didn't want to completely look like a turtle compared to these guys.
Mile 8: 554

For the 9th mile, I was really ready to have the finish nearby. I saw the Washington Memorial in the distance and knew it was almost time to finish. Unforunately, the mile marker was completely in the wrong spot, and my watch told me I ran 630 pace. Slightly disheartening, if you ask me.
Mile 9: 630 (however it was probably more like 613 or something)

For the tenth mile, more men continued to pass me and I just didn't want any white guy to pass me, especially not Bert. I ended up accomplishing that goal and in the final 800m stretch, there was a hill strategically placed - the one and only hill on the entire course - and I was mad at that hill. I thought of the Twin Cities marathon and how miles 22-25 are all uphill, and told myself I was just preparing for that in a mini way. After the hill, I could see the finish and began to really push it in. Unfortunately a woman with a stroller decided to run in front of me with two children in tow. Luckily, an official yelled at her and she stopped just before I would have plummeled into her.
Mile 10: 543 (however, since mile 9 was off, this was probably more like 6 minute pace)

Overall time: 59:48! Woohoo! In the finish chute, I congratulated Phoebe and thanked a girl named Caroline for helping me out during the race. I saw Megan come in and we shared a half-hug and made our way to the tent to get some food and drink real quick. I hijacked my camera from my mom and we ran to cheer the guys in as they came in to the finish. That was pretty exciting to get to see the guys finish for once.

Once John, Dan, Jordan, Ben, Chad, Matt all came in, we said our congratulations and went our separate ways to get our cool down gear on. Megan and I never found Jocelyn or Kelly, but we found Danielle, so we cooled down with her and Chad around the WWII Memorial and other monuments. It was an absolutely beautiful cooldown on a sunny cool day in DC.

On the cooldown, I was able to reflect on a couple of things. First, I feel very honored and appreciative of having the opportunity to run with the advance start. On the other hand, running by myself helped me appreciate the company of others on all the training runs I’ve enjoyed with the Charlotte Running Club. I realized that I truly benefit from the camaraderie and energy in a large field of runners. I find running with others keeps my energy focused and pace on target for the duration of the race. There’s something unique about latching onto a runner, who ends up being your racing buddy throughout the rest of the race. At the finish line, there’s a shared moment because you both helped the other accomplish their goals. I didn't really get this with the advance start, so next time I will opt to start with everyone else.

After the cool down, Megan and I rushed back to the hotel to shower because we thought we would be getting an award. We were wrong. They just announced our names. On the website, however, it says the top 25 females will receive an award, so that was definitely false advertising.

We walked back to the hotel to get ready to enjoy some lunch! On the way back, my Uncle Joe took Megan, my mom and I through the Smithsonian Gardens!

In the end, all of the various CRC members and cars made their way back to Charlotte. However, the caravan of Caitlin, Matt, John, and my mom wanted to enjoy the weather in DC and we headed to Adam's Morgan to eat a delicious brunch/lunch and walk around. I got a double serving of Mochi in my frozen yogurt, so Matt and I were in Mochi heaven. We also hit up Dupont Circle and departed DC around 3pm.

To top it all off, our women's team won the Running Club, Open Female Team Division by over 12 minutes!!

1. Charlotte Running Club Feline Fatale

59:48 1:00:48 1:01:52 (1:01:55) (1:03:28) = 3:02:28

Caitlin Chrisman, Megan Hovis, Kelly Fillnow, Danielle Walther, Jocelyn Sikora

Our men's team placed third!

3. Charlotte Running Club

53:29 53:33 53:58 ( 56:19) ( 59:09) = 2:41:00

John Compton, Jordan Kinley, Ben Hovis, Mike Beigay M, Chad Crockford

Spoiled Rotten

Over the past two months, I’ve had two workouts in which I was supposed to run 55-60 minutes at a pace faster than 6:30 minutes per mile. For both of those workouts, I was lucky enough to have a pacer the entire time.

My gracious guest? Jordan Kinley. You’ve probably heard of him. If not, I’ll spark your memory. He won Charlotte’s Thunder Road Marathon after deciding to run it the night before. He placed third at the Shamrock 4 Miler two weeks ago. The following morning, he bounced right back at 3am for a drive to Raleigh to eventually place 2nd at the Tobacco Road Marathon.

Of course, Jordan uses a much better term to describe pacing me, but I’ll let you read it on his blog. To further prove how studly Jordan can really be, he ran a 60 minute tempo with me approximately five days after achieving a new marathon PR. Selfishly, I was pretty happy that his legs were recuperating from 26.2 miles because it meant that he would be keeping me company.

The clouds were looking pretty ominous as I drove out to McAlpine after work, but luckily the rain came after the workout. At McAlpine, we started running and enjoyed some casual conversation. I noticed that Jordan did not wear a watch and knew that he was really just out there to help me get through this workout successfully. We didn’t really warm-up because I started pushing the pace after the first mile (640).

After that, I just wanted to get the workout done as quickly as possible so tried to work hard at what I thought was 630 pace. I was wrong. We went through the second and third miles in 612/613. At that point, I was still able to hold a decent conversation with Jordan, which is a feat I am rather proud of. I learned more about his job, and also about Meagan’s options post-graduation. After the fourth mile (606), I stopped talking for obvious reasons.

It was also around this point when I was stressing about my ability to finish the workout because my quads were screaming. This in turn made it much more difficult for me to breathe. When I psych myself out and tense up, my breathing goes crazy. You can see this mini mental breakdown with my times in miles 5 and 6 – in which I ran 611 and 620 respectively. During the sixth mile, I gave myself a mental “break” and told myself that it was okay for me to go slower since I was already going faster than 630.

Eventually I saw that Jordan was trying to maintain the same pace I had been running because he was a couple of meters ahead of me. I decided to man up and pushed aside thoughts of not finishing the workout and replaced them with thoughts of getting my breathing back under control. This helped me finish up the last 2.5 miles because I had something to focus on rather than the lethargic feeling in my quads. My last two miles were 613 and 608 and the clock could not have turned any sooner than it did!

Jordan and I ran very slowly for the cool down and I told him how horrible I felt and then told him I owed him a beer. Overall, I am very appreciative of the cameo appearances Jordan makes in my workout schedule. I still owe him a beer or three, and didn’t even buy him one that night when Matt, John, Jordan, and I all went to Dixie’s. I’m sure there will be a CRC Social in which I can repay him for his speedy legs.

To further prop him up onto a pedestal, I found out that the next day, Jordan paced Ben Hovis in a tempo. Now that’s what I call awesome. Jordan also officially joined the Charlotte Running Club, so I'm sure you'll see his name more often in the newsletter.

A real pain in the butt

I have a real pain in the ass right now.

To elaborate....

This Tuesday, I ran a 5x1200m workout at McAlpine because we wanted to get in some quality intervals with a soft surface. I met up with my favorite running boys (Justin, Aaron, Jay, Jordan, and Will) and we all ran some good times on the back wooded loop, starting from the 3200m mark. Since Aaron is training for a marathon and I'm training for a 10 miler, Aaron was kind enough to run with me for my first 5 repeats around 4:00 min pace. This time he didn't come from behind, yelling "Choo Choo, here comes the Old Man Train!" Instead, he kept it more tame and gave me some encouraging feedback throughout the intervals, sticking next to me the entire time. It really helped on the last one, when I really wanted to get under 4:00, which we did. After that, he went on to run 3 more 1200s at a much faster pace around 3:45s. He reminded me afterwards that I would be doing similar sort of stuff this coming Fall for my own Chicago marathon training , and I tried my best not to cringe. ;o)

I cooled down with everyone else and my legs felt great. I drove home. I ate some eggs. I had spinach with olive oil and vinegar. I played virus buster on my Nintendo DS. I slept.

The next morning, I crawled out of bed at 540am to get ready to run to the Dowd YMCA...and all I could feel was my right butt cheek (aka glute). Really, it felt like the entire muscle had two baseballs lodged between all of the key muscles and ligaments that are essential for creating the running motion. I limped my way to my closet to put on my clothes, and crossed my fingers that once I laced up my shoes, it would stop hurting. Of course, the pain did not subside, and I walked out the door regardless. With that, I limped my way through the first mile, and the tightness eventually subsided so that it felt like I was just using a rusty lever to propel my legs forward.

Since with most runs, your mind tunes out any pain that you have, I didn't notice anything once I passed the four mile mark. Once I got home, however, I went into emergency recovery mode. I stretched extensively, did all of my Mark Kane physical therapy exercises and used a lacrosse ball to dig out the huge knots that had inconveniently situated themselves in my gluteus during my slumber. On my walk to work, however, I was limping slightly because it was too difficult to bring my right leg forward. I immediately made an appointment to get it rubbed out by a massage therapist that night.

Extensive icing, exercises, and self massages have seemed to solve my injury, but now I realize the importance of doing the injury prevention exercises that Mark Kane had given me a month ago. Now I know why Garrett is so diligent in performing all of his exercises...even if they decrease his chances of getting an injury by 25%, that's still better than nothing!