80.5 Miles
14 Mile Long Run
10 Mile Race in 1:00:52
$420 earned in Chapel Hill
9 Runs
3 Cities - Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Orlando
After a short 2-day trip to Orlando and after a short drive to Chapel Hill, it should be no surprise that my body feels like it has taken a beating. I'm exhausted! However, this week has definitely been a good one both in social and running terms. I had such a great time visiting with Garrett during his two days off from work and was able to get in a solid workout there. I kept the mileage high despite heading to Chapel Hill for a 10 Miler.
I won $420 at the NC 10 Mile Championships, which is always a great thing. I wish I got paid $420 an hour all the time! I can put this toward the massages that I need to get this next month. I've got a couple more weeks of 80-85 miles and then I'll be lowering the mileage to prepare for the USA 25k Champs.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tar Heel 10 Miler Race Recap
Goal:
10 Miles at 6:10 for a Tempo
Actual:
~3 miles warmup
10 miles at 6:05 for a Race in 1:00:52
~1 mile cool down for 14 miles total
A couple weeks ago, I noticed that I had a 60 minute tempo on tap during the same week as the NC USATF 10 Mile Championship in Chapel Hill, NC. After clearance from Mark Hadley, I was ready to run this race in hopes to get a good effort in and to win some cash (1st - $400, 2nd - $200, 3rd - $100).
In order to give myself a later wake up call, I spent the night at the guest quarters of Joel Tull, owner of The Human Touch massage. Of course, I got a wonderful massage as well to prepare for the race. At 5am, I woke up and drove to Chapel Hill, making it to the designated parking spot at 620am...70 minutes prior to the start of the race.
Unfortunately for me, I do not know the UNC campus well and set off in what I thought was the direction of the football stadium. Boy was I wrong. I headed in the opposite direction, ended up in a nice neighborhood that edged the campus. To make matter worse, I had to use the rest room. Eventually, I made my way to woods, where I found a folded twenty dollar bill. I decided after that the the odds were in my favor. I was going to win today because I found $20.
I finally found the stadium, picked up my bib, skipped the long line to get the t-shirts (have enough as it is) and ran the mile back to my car to take off my sweats. By the time I made it back to the start, I had 10 minutes for drills. I noticed a woman that I knew was my former Wake teammate's (Brian Smith) wife. I couldn't remember her name though because she went to Wisconsin and I only met her once. She came up to me though and asked if I was Caitlin and I found out her name was Lindsey. Then we both figured out we were shooting for the same time. We ended up working together the entire race, and she pushed me enough so that I ran faster than my goal time.
The gun went off and I settled into a relaxed clip slightly behind Lindsey because she took off pretty fast in the first 200m. I think she eventually noticed that I wasn't near her because she slowed down to run alongside me. We exchanged some short stories with each other in those first five miles. We also saw Brian at numerous spots throughout the course, along with her friend Heidi, who was also pushing Lindsey's baby Hudson in a stroller. Other than that, the cheering was pretty sparse throughout.
For the first 8 miles, the course was rolling, and with each uphill, there was a nice downhill to follow. I actually think it is a very fast course for those first 8 miles. The last two miles are tough because of the steep uphill, however. Lindsey's company helped make the race go by faster and helped keep me focus. It also gave me a buddy to run with because the number of men around us was slim.
Around mile 6, we converged with the 4 miler racers. We had to weave in and out of them for miles 6-7 and then it eventually thinned out. It was definitely a huge pain to dodge walkers and runners alike. At one point we didn't even know if we were on the right course and Lindsey yelled to a ten year old who was directing us and he pointed his flag in the direction of where the masses of 4 milers were. We weren't sure if we should trust this young kid, but eventually we passed the 7 mile marker, so I guess he actually knew what he was doing.
Going into 7.75 miles, I used the momentum coming off of a decent downhill to pick it up, and I gapped Lindsey by a little bit (I ran a 5:42 this mile). Little did I know that shortly after mile 8, a huge hill on Laurel Road would be ahead. I passed over a mat and then a steep, one mile hill presented itself to me. At this point, I could barely lift my legs and I kept waiting for Lindsey to come blowing past me. I contemplated dropping out, but not because I wasn't in the race mentally, but because I really don't think my legs could keep moving. Unlike the Houston Half, where I wanted to drop out because I mentally was not in the race, at the Tar Heel Ten Miler, I wanted to drop out because my body had hit the wall. Yes, I hit the wall in a 10 miler. I could barely lift them up enough to make the next step forward up the 1 mile hill on Laurel Road. I wanted to walk, but I knew that $400 or $200 were at stake here. I decided to run up that hill, even if it was at 7 min pace.
Brian even told me afterward that he thought I was done on Laurel Hill based on how I looked. It was obviously ugly.
After I passed mile 9, the terrain leveled out a bit and I felt a huge sense of relief mixed with confidence pass over me and I found it within myself to keep pushing forward. To my great dismay, however, there was another hill that was big enough to put my legs to their true test and I crumbled.
At mile 9.25 Lindsey passed me, but only created a 4-5 meter lead on me. There was a slight downhill as we were about to turn into the final 400m stretch to the final. I found a second gear and pushed through the downhill to pass Lindsey for the second time. I held on and hoped that I could hold her off through the final hill to the finish. Somehow I was able to and closed the finish in 1:00:52. Lindsey came through five seconds later.
I've never been so happy for a finish line. My legs were toast. I could tell that I had not tapered at all for this race and that I had 80 miles under my belt. I was upset with myself for running a slower pace on a hill at the 9th mile of a race than during the 22nd mile of my marathon in Twin Cities. However, I competed really well with the way that my legs were feeling this day. Now, I know that it will be very important to take a nice taper before the 25k Champs in May.
Fortunately, I was still able to negative split during the second half of this race. I went 30:32 during the first half and then 30:20 for the second half.
A huge perk for the race was the pancake bar from a local restaurant in Chapel Hill. That was pretty cool!
Splits:
1 - 607
2 - 608
3 - 608
4 - 608
5 - 601 (30:32)
6 - 600 (downhill)
7 - 550
8 - 542 (48:09) (downhill)
9 - 630 (54:39) (uphill)
10 - 613 (100:52) (uphill) (30:20 2nd half)
10 Miles at 6:10 for a Tempo
Actual:
~3 miles warmup
10 miles at 6:05 for a Race in 1:00:52
~1 mile cool down for 14 miles total
A couple weeks ago, I noticed that I had a 60 minute tempo on tap during the same week as the NC USATF 10 Mile Championship in Chapel Hill, NC. After clearance from Mark Hadley, I was ready to run this race in hopes to get a good effort in and to win some cash (1st - $400, 2nd - $200, 3rd - $100).
In order to give myself a later wake up call, I spent the night at the guest quarters of Joel Tull, owner of The Human Touch massage. Of course, I got a wonderful massage as well to prepare for the race. At 5am, I woke up and drove to Chapel Hill, making it to the designated parking spot at 620am...70 minutes prior to the start of the race.
Unfortunately for me, I do not know the UNC campus well and set off in what I thought was the direction of the football stadium. Boy was I wrong. I headed in the opposite direction, ended up in a nice neighborhood that edged the campus. To make matter worse, I had to use the rest room. Eventually, I made my way to woods, where I found a folded twenty dollar bill. I decided after that the the odds were in my favor. I was going to win today because I found $20.
I finally found the stadium, picked up my bib, skipped the long line to get the t-shirts (have enough as it is) and ran the mile back to my car to take off my sweats. By the time I made it back to the start, I had 10 minutes for drills. I noticed a woman that I knew was my former Wake teammate's (Brian Smith) wife. I couldn't remember her name though because she went to Wisconsin and I only met her once. She came up to me though and asked if I was Caitlin and I found out her name was Lindsey. Then we both figured out we were shooting for the same time. We ended up working together the entire race, and she pushed me enough so that I ran faster than my goal time.
The gun went off and I settled into a relaxed clip slightly behind Lindsey because she took off pretty fast in the first 200m. I think she eventually noticed that I wasn't near her because she slowed down to run alongside me. We exchanged some short stories with each other in those first five miles. We also saw Brian at numerous spots throughout the course, along with her friend Heidi, who was also pushing Lindsey's baby Hudson in a stroller. Other than that, the cheering was pretty sparse throughout.
For the first 8 miles, the course was rolling, and with each uphill, there was a nice downhill to follow. I actually think it is a very fast course for those first 8 miles. The last two miles are tough because of the steep uphill, however. Lindsey's company helped make the race go by faster and helped keep me focus. It also gave me a buddy to run with because the number of men around us was slim.
Around mile 6, we converged with the 4 miler racers. We had to weave in and out of them for miles 6-7 and then it eventually thinned out. It was definitely a huge pain to dodge walkers and runners alike. At one point we didn't even know if we were on the right course and Lindsey yelled to a ten year old who was directing us and he pointed his flag in the direction of where the masses of 4 milers were. We weren't sure if we should trust this young kid, but eventually we passed the 7 mile marker, so I guess he actually knew what he was doing.
Going into 7.75 miles, I used the momentum coming off of a decent downhill to pick it up, and I gapped Lindsey by a little bit (I ran a 5:42 this mile). Little did I know that shortly after mile 8, a huge hill on Laurel Road would be ahead. I passed over a mat and then a steep, one mile hill presented itself to me. At this point, I could barely lift my legs and I kept waiting for Lindsey to come blowing past me. I contemplated dropping out, but not because I wasn't in the race mentally, but because I really don't think my legs could keep moving. Unlike the Houston Half, where I wanted to drop out because I mentally was not in the race, at the Tar Heel Ten Miler, I wanted to drop out because my body had hit the wall. Yes, I hit the wall in a 10 miler. I could barely lift them up enough to make the next step forward up the 1 mile hill on Laurel Road. I wanted to walk, but I knew that $400 or $200 were at stake here. I decided to run up that hill, even if it was at 7 min pace.
Brian even told me afterward that he thought I was done on Laurel Hill based on how I looked. It was obviously ugly.
After I passed mile 9, the terrain leveled out a bit and I felt a huge sense of relief mixed with confidence pass over me and I found it within myself to keep pushing forward. To my great dismay, however, there was another hill that was big enough to put my legs to their true test and I crumbled.
At mile 9.25 Lindsey passed me, but only created a 4-5 meter lead on me. There was a slight downhill as we were about to turn into the final 400m stretch to the final. I found a second gear and pushed through the downhill to pass Lindsey for the second time. I held on and hoped that I could hold her off through the final hill to the finish. Somehow I was able to and closed the finish in 1:00:52. Lindsey came through five seconds later.
I've never been so happy for a finish line. My legs were toast. I could tell that I had not tapered at all for this race and that I had 80 miles under my belt. I was upset with myself for running a slower pace on a hill at the 9th mile of a race than during the 22nd mile of my marathon in Twin Cities. However, I competed really well with the way that my legs were feeling this day. Now, I know that it will be very important to take a nice taper before the 25k Champs in May.
Fortunately, I was still able to negative split during the second half of this race. I went 30:32 during the first half and then 30:20 for the second half.
A huge perk for the race was the pancake bar from a local restaurant in Chapel Hill. That was pretty cool!
Splits:
1 - 607
2 - 608
3 - 608
4 - 608
5 - 601 (30:32)
6 - 600 (downhill)
7 - 550
8 - 542 (48:09) (downhill)
9 - 630 (54:39) (uphill)
10 - 613 (100:52) (uphill) (30:20 2nd half)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Week in Review
63.5 Miles
6 Runs
1 Day off
14 Mile Long Run
10k Race in 35:43
I thoroughly enjoyed this down week because it allowed me some much needed restSme of the highlights:. I got in runs with Will, Jay, Aaron, Megan, Paul, Matt and many other friends. I ran a PR of 35:43 at Richmond. Now I'm only 50 seconds away from my college 10k PR! I rode the Megabus from Richmond to Charlotte and enjoyed a jostling ride as the bus was pulled side to side by the high winds.
Next week will be pretty exciting as I'm off to Orlando for 48 hours from Monday to Wednesday to visit Garrett on his off days. On Friday, I'll be staying the night in Greensboro and then making the trek to Chapel Hill on Saturday morning for the Tar Heel Miler. I'll be a traveling queen. Looking forward to logging 80 miles a week again and spending time with the beau.
Ukrop's 10k Race Recap
Goal:
Top 7 and 35:45
Actual:
3 mile warmup
10k race in 35:43 (18:02, 17:41) with mile splits of 5:42, 5:47, 5:54, 5:45, 5:45, 5:39, :69 for 12th place overall female
2.5 mile cooldown for ~11.5 miles total
Just glancing at the breakdown of events above, it is clear that I made a conscious decision after the 5k mark of this race to get my rear in gear and pick it up a bit. I'll get to that later though...
After packing for much warmer weather than what actually was the case in Richmond, I loaded my things into my car on Thursday night and drove up to Matt's parent's house to spend the first night of my Richmond adventure there. I am extremely grateful for Matt's parent's generosity as this was my second time staying there for a race.
On Friday, I picked up my race bib and number. Luckily for me, the Elite Race Coordinator Thom was holding my race bib and chip at the Double Tree downtown so that we could avoid the traffic near the expo for the 42,000 person race.Thom was so helpful. He told me about the women's field, during which I made a silent mental note to myself that getting top 7 was not going to be realistic any more. They provided me with a room to myself that was only three blocks from the start and one block from the finish. It was such a great opportunity and I thank the Richmond Road Runners and Road Runner for their support during this race.
Race morning finally came and I warmed up 20 minutes with Paul. I met another guy who is the Treasurer of the Richmond Road Runners and he held our bags at the start line so we could dump our clothes into them. I was stupid enough to think that it would actually be warm in Richmond this weekend, so I didn't bring much in terms of cold weather gear. I only had my Craft tights and a GoreTex shirt that Jordan had given to me. Usually I don't write much about the gear I wear, but I was so impressed with how it blocked the cold wind from getting to my skin! We had a pretty nasty headwind on the first mile of our warmup, and I felt all cozy and warm with just the shirt on and nothing else. Too bad they don't carry GoreTex in any of the Charlotte Running stores. Jordan tells me my best bet is at the Fleet Feet in Winston-Salem.
After lots of drills and strides, I put on my Zoom Marathoners and stood in the Elite corral. I met Emily Potter again (US Army Athlete of the Year) and exchanged some pleasantries with her. A tall, slender woman looked at me and said "I need to run 5:45 pace" and situated herself behind the first row of Kenyan runners. I told her I was hoping to do the same. We decided to try to work together for as long as we could. I learned later that she is Samia Akbar, a 2:34 Marathoner. I'm sure I'll be seeing her at the Trials!
I also wished Megan Wright good luck - last year's winner. She went to WVU and is Canadian. She was really nice. I saw her at the turn around and wished that I could look as speedy as her at the 4 mile mark of a 10k. In case you wondering, Megan ended up winning and Samia surpassed her goal of running 5:45 pace.
The race went off with a uneventful "Runners, set, go" by a woman. Samia and I situated ourselves in such a way that we were getting passed left and right from the male runners from the A corral. I glanced at my Garmin about 800m and saw 5:20 pace and eased off the pace a little bit. I didn't want to get myself into oxygen debt 1 mile in.
Mile 1: 5:42...Perfect.
The perfect pace, but I wasn't feeling too good. I could feel the slight incline affecting me. I accidentally spit on a guy and actually cared...If I was really focused I would have ignored it.
Mile 2 - 5:47...Slowing down.
I told myself it was just the slight incline and that the next mile I would be back on the 5:45 goal pace. Samia had already gapped me by about 5-10 meters, so I could tell she was right on the target pace that I was supposed to be at too.
Mile 3 - 5:54...What?
I saw this mile split and lost a breath or two. A few strides later, I crossed the 5k mark and saw my watch tick 18:02. I started calling myself bad names. I cursed myself, and thought (clean version): "Caitlin you came here to run sub-36 and you are not going home without that. So pick it up." Guess what? I did. I listened to myself. I willed myself to pick it up and to achieve my goal. Ok - so maybe the slight decline also helped me pick it up, but at least I made the decision to actually start trying.
Mile 4 - 5:45...Here we go
I found a guy wearing a Fleet Feet Winston Sale jersey and vowed that he would not beat me. He was my bait.
Mile 5 - 5:45...Even.
I kept my eyes glued to a guy wearing a blue jersey. I eventually caught him and then surpassed him.
Mile 6 - 5:39...Rolling
I passed 4-6 guys here, but I think that they all passed me in the final 400m as they went to their sixth gear and I switched to a measly third gear.
Finish - 35:43.
I crossed the finish line, stopped, bent over, and then suddenly gagged. I was able to hold back for the first gag, but for the second gag, I actually threw up. I hadn't done that since the Adidas National Track Meet in 2003. I was slightly embarassed so I stopped myself from throwing up more (I definitely had some left), grabbed my bag from the Elite guy, and found Paul. I didn't want to face anyone who may have seen me throw up, and fortunately Paul missed it. I'm waiting for the professional photos to come out so I can see if my fine moment was caught mid-stream.
Yes, I did achieve a PR but I wish I had stayed more laser focused for the first 3 miles of this race and gotten closer to 35:10. I didn't commit myself to the first three miles of the race, and I paid for it in the final 3 miles. However, I am proud of myself for making a decision to stop being a baby and to really race with all my heart.
All in all, I am pleased with this effort right now, especially given how my training was off to a rough start for the first 8 weeks of 2011. I want to be able to run my marathon at 6:00 pace, and this is a stepping stone to get me there. I think it is a good indicator that I will be able to run sub-6:05 pace at the USA25k Champs in May. I would definitely run this race again as there were bands every block and that definitely kept my mind occupied.
Top 7 and 35:45
Actual:
3 mile warmup
10k race in 35:43 (18:02, 17:41) with mile splits of 5:42, 5:47, 5:54, 5:45, 5:45, 5:39, :69 for 12th place overall female
2.5 mile cooldown for ~11.5 miles total
Just glancing at the breakdown of events above, it is clear that I made a conscious decision after the 5k mark of this race to get my rear in gear and pick it up a bit. I'll get to that later though...
After packing for much warmer weather than what actually was the case in Richmond, I loaded my things into my car on Thursday night and drove up to Matt's parent's house to spend the first night of my Richmond adventure there. I am extremely grateful for Matt's parent's generosity as this was my second time staying there for a race.
On Friday, I picked up my race bib and number. Luckily for me, the Elite Race Coordinator Thom was holding my race bib and chip at the Double Tree downtown so that we could avoid the traffic near the expo for the 42,000 person race.Thom was so helpful. He told me about the women's field, during which I made a silent mental note to myself that getting top 7 was not going to be realistic any more. They provided me with a room to myself that was only three blocks from the start and one block from the finish. It was such a great opportunity and I thank the Richmond Road Runners and Road Runner for their support during this race.
Race morning finally came and I warmed up 20 minutes with Paul. I met another guy who is the Treasurer of the Richmond Road Runners and he held our bags at the start line so we could dump our clothes into them. I was stupid enough to think that it would actually be warm in Richmond this weekend, so I didn't bring much in terms of cold weather gear. I only had my Craft tights and a GoreTex shirt that Jordan had given to me. Usually I don't write much about the gear I wear, but I was so impressed with how it blocked the cold wind from getting to my skin! We had a pretty nasty headwind on the first mile of our warmup, and I felt all cozy and warm with just the shirt on and nothing else. Too bad they don't carry GoreTex in any of the Charlotte Running stores. Jordan tells me my best bet is at the Fleet Feet in Winston-Salem.
 |
| Showing off my new Gore Tex shirt pre-race |
I also wished Megan Wright good luck - last year's winner. She went to WVU and is Canadian. She was really nice. I saw her at the turn around and wished that I could look as speedy as her at the 4 mile mark of a 10k. In case you wondering, Megan ended up winning and Samia surpassed her goal of running 5:45 pace.
The race went off with a uneventful "Runners, set, go" by a woman. Samia and I situated ourselves in such a way that we were getting passed left and right from the male runners from the A corral. I glanced at my Garmin about 800m and saw 5:20 pace and eased off the pace a little bit. I didn't want to get myself into oxygen debt 1 mile in.
Mile 1: 5:42...Perfect.
The perfect pace, but I wasn't feeling too good. I could feel the slight incline affecting me. I accidentally spit on a guy and actually cared...If I was really focused I would have ignored it.
Mile 2 - 5:47...Slowing down.
I told myself it was just the slight incline and that the next mile I would be back on the 5:45 goal pace. Samia had already gapped me by about 5-10 meters, so I could tell she was right on the target pace that I was supposed to be at too.
Mile 3 - 5:54...What?
I saw this mile split and lost a breath or two. A few strides later, I crossed the 5k mark and saw my watch tick 18:02. I started calling myself bad names. I cursed myself, and thought (clean version): "Caitlin you came here to run sub-36 and you are not going home without that. So pick it up." Guess what? I did. I listened to myself. I willed myself to pick it up and to achieve my goal. Ok - so maybe the slight decline also helped me pick it up, but at least I made the decision to actually start trying.
Mile 4 - 5:45...Here we go
I found a guy wearing a Fleet Feet Winston Sale jersey and vowed that he would not beat me. He was my bait.
Mile 5 - 5:45...Even.
I kept my eyes glued to a guy wearing a blue jersey. I eventually caught him and then surpassed him.
Mile 6 - 5:39...Rolling
I passed 4-6 guys here, but I think that they all passed me in the final 400m as they went to their sixth gear and I switched to a measly third gear.
Finish - 35:43.
I crossed the finish line, stopped, bent over, and then suddenly gagged. I was able to hold back for the first gag, but for the second gag, I actually threw up. I hadn't done that since the Adidas National Track Meet in 2003. I was slightly embarassed so I stopped myself from throwing up more (I definitely had some left), grabbed my bag from the Elite guy, and found Paul. I didn't want to face anyone who may have seen me throw up, and fortunately Paul missed it. I'm waiting for the professional photos to come out so I can see if my fine moment was caught mid-stream.
Yes, I did achieve a PR but I wish I had stayed more laser focused for the first 3 miles of this race and gotten closer to 35:10. I didn't commit myself to the first three miles of the race, and I paid for it in the final 3 miles. However, I am proud of myself for making a decision to stop being a baby and to really race with all my heart.
All in all, I am pleased with this effort right now, especially given how my training was off to a rough start for the first 8 weeks of 2011. I want to be able to run my marathon at 6:00 pace, and this is a stepping stone to get me there. I think it is a good indicator that I will be able to run sub-6:05 pace at the USA25k Champs in May. I would definitely run this race again as there were bands every block and that definitely kept my mind occupied.
 | ||||||||
| Matt, Caitlin, and Paul post-race (and post-puke for me) |
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