Days 146-157/the SF Half Marathon

I am humbled. I ran the San Francisco Half Marathon this morning (the first Half) and ran my slowest Half Marathon in years. I did it in 2h14m49s - and to think that I was hoping to do it under 2 hours like I did last year. Wow what a difference a year makes. The good thing about it is that I finished. And I started out feeling pretty good. But around mile 7.5 I started to feel nauseous and dizzy and started to listen to the stuff that was going through my head. I couldn't get out of my head. I also made the mistake of taking a GU while I haven't used GUs in my training. I guess I didn't think it would be a big deal because I've trained using GUs in the past but just not this year. It just didn't taste good and I had to force it down. And that's when my stomach started to bother me. Then I stopped to throw out the GU packet and that's when I started to feel dizzy. So I walked for a little while. Then I started to run again and my stomach just didn't feel great. Then after we got off of the Golden Gate bridge and ran up the hill, I decided that I needed to walk. And so it went. As soon as I realized that I wasn't going to make my goal, I let myself walk the hills. I kind of gave up trying very hard which was disappointing.

But rather than beat myself up, I have taken this as a good learning experience - I am going to change training programs to one that is published by someone associated with the NY Marathon. The program that I'm on now has me running 16 miles this coming weekend, 18 the next, 6 the next and then 20. At this stage, I'm not ready psychologically for those distances and the new plan ramps up to those miles better. It has me running 6 days a week instead of 5 so the weekly miles are similar but the plan is probably a better one for me. We shall see.

I have a huge job ahead of me and I have to take all of this much more seriously. I have been serious but I have allowed travel plans to interfere with my running. No longer.

I was in Louisiana last week and didn't run at all. I did run on Tuesday then had a migraine on Wedensday then the half today. Time to get serious!

Days 137-145

I can't believe I've been tracking my activity for 145 days. That's pretty great. It was a big week with lots of miles and a very tough 12 miles over the weekend.

Highlights of the week include a new track group. The Tuesday PM group that I have gone to the track workouts had a track meet last week so I went to the Thursday morning track group instead and I'm really glad that I did. The group was very welcoming and nice and while serious, they were also pretty laid back. I was instructed to run with a woman who was doing the B group workout (I'm definitely in the Tuesday PM's C group). And the coach is a really nice guy who said "we've got to get you in under 4 hours" when I told him I was doing the New York Marathon. I liked hearing that.

Last week, I was able to average under 10 minute miles on my 4 and 6 mile runs that include a good climb to the open space near my house. It wasn't much under 10 but it was under. But this morning, I was over 10 so...I am seeing improvement in my pace but I have to continue to work hard to make it stick.

I also picked out a great route for my 12 miler but it was hard. Lots of climbing (over 2,000 feet) and even though the last 2 miles were flat to downhill, I was tired. I usually finish strong but not on this one. I started in the Headlands and went over to Muir Beach and then back into the Headlands. The next day was a tough 19 mile mountain bike ride starting by going up Mount Tam and then going down to Muir Beach and then heading up to the Headlands then back to Mill Valley. It was fun but my legs were flat. They were super tired and appreciated it when the ride was over. Photo is from the Saturday 12 miler. It was a super foggy day so there weren't many views that I could capture in a photo.

Summary:
Monday: 2 miles w/Uli and 4 on my own
1.86 in 31:07 at avg of 16:47 +95 in elevation
4.34 in 43:11 at avg of 9:56 + 414 in elevation

Tuesday: 2 miles with Uli and 6 on my own
2.11 in 32:52 at avg of 15:34 +81
6.12 in 1:00:42 at avg of 9:54 +628

Wednesday: 2 with Uli and 4 on my own
1.98 in 29:38 at avg of 14:56 +90
4.01 in 39:11 at avg of 9:47 +416

Thursday: Track workout. I forgot my GPS watch but I think I ran around 5 miles

Saturday: 12.01 in 2:31:20 at an avg of 12:35 with +2,257 elevation gain

Sunday: 19.05 mountain bike ride in 3:23 with a +3,330 elevation gain

Monday: Bikram

Tuesday: 2 with Uli and 4 on my own
2.05 in 33:19 at avg of 16:14 and +78
4.01 in 43:13 at avg of 10:47 and +387

Days 119-136

I was in Colorado for fun and work for a few days last week and thought I would get a run or two in but nope. The one day I had plenty of time to do it, I was staying in a crappy hotel near a busy road and I didn't know where I could go. So...I will be making up missed miles this week.

But what was pretty interesting is that in today's run, I found that I was hitting a good pace so it made me want to run a little harder. And even though there is the climb up to the open space, I still averaged under a 10 minute mile for the run (not much under, but still under). And also at the end of the run I was feeling a bit nauseous and that is what happens when I push myself a little hard. So I just need to find the balance between running a good pace without getting sick at the end. And speaking of getting sick, the very next day I was sick. My stomach was upset so maybe I hadn’t pushed myself to run too fast, maybe I was just starting to get sick that day.

And then it was off to Ojai for the July 4th weekend so my plan of making up miles wasn’t very successful. Photo is from the car on the way down to Southern California. I did run in Ojai on Saturday and it was a beautiful warm day. So warm, in fact, that I had to stop and walk for some of mile 5 and most of mile 6. Ouch. I’m used to running in the 60s – it was somewhere in the 80s in Ojai and I melted. I feel like I’ve had a lot of excuses for not running lately but I recognize that and will not allow that to become a long-term trend. I can’t.

This week was a pretty good one but I didn’t feel as strong as I had the week before (before I got sick). I did 10 miles yesterday and felt great so I think I’m getting back on track.

OK so here is the summary:
Thursday: 2 miles w/Uli & 4 on my own:
2.1 m in 29:11 at an avg pace of 13:52 +117 in elevation
4.01m in 41:51 at an avg pace of 10:25 +373 in elevation

Friday: 2 miles w/Uli and 8 on my own (and I was done by 8:30am!)
2.11 m in 33:29 at an avg pace of 15:51 +88 in elevation
8.16m in 1:27:29 at an avg pace of 10:42 and +891 in elevation

Wednesday: 2 miles w/Uli and 6 on my own
2.02m in 29:18 at an avg pace of 14:29 and +86 in elevation
6.01m in 59:14 at an avg pace of 9:50 and +584 in elevation

Saturday (in Ojai): 6.01 miles in 1:07:52 at an average pace of 11:16. (Hot day)

Tuesday: 2 miles w/Uli and 2 on my own followed by a track workout in the PM
2.01 in 35:20 at 17:32 + 99
2.04 in 19:15 at 9:25 +63
track: 5.25 in 43:51 at 8:20 (includes warm-up laps in the avg pace)

Wednesday: 2 miles w/Uli and 4 on my own
2.15 in 41:40 at an avg pace of 19:21 and +140 in elevation
4.00 in 41:40 at an avg pace of 11:16 and +418 in elevation

Thursday: 2 miles w/Uli and 3 on my own
2.01 in 33:45 at an avg pace of 16:46 and +144 in elevation
3.01 in 33:09 at an avg pace of 10:59 and +659 in elevation

Friday: Bikram

Saturday: 10 miles in 1h49min at an avg pace of 10:56 and +1,121 in elevation

Also, one thing about the Garmin watch compared to the Nike + GPS App is that the Garmin is far more consistent in reporting the same mile markers while the Nike+ GPS App is kind of all over the place. But it's ok because I try to run until both devices say I hit my mileage goal so that psychologically, when I am ready to fall over at the 26 mile marker and realize that I have another .2 to go, I'll be used to it.