running

Spring Running Goals: 2017

As I alluded to last week, I set my goals for “spring” (let’s call that March-May).

  1. Race a distance I have not raced before.
    This will probably be a 10K or a 10 miler, in March.
  2. Run a race where I’m not sure I can make the cutoff.
    I have a fear of getting swept, so I’ve always signed up for races with extremely generous cutoffs (either walk/runs, or trail races where there are longer distances). I’m going to want to run those longer distances one day, so I’m going to need to face my fear eventually. Chippewa Moraine 50K, with a 4 hour cutoff at the halfway point, and a 9 hour overall cutoff, will be my first chance to face my fear.
  3. PR at the 50K distance.
    My PR is 10:25, so it’s PR or bust at CM50K.
  4. Help my team for Be The Match 5K raise $2000.
    Last year we raised $1286.66, so $2000 would be a huge PR!
  5. Improve my time at Superior 25K.
    Last year was rough, because it was so hot. I am hoping for cooler weather, or if not cooler weather, then better coping skills.

The most ambitious of the goals might be the fundraising goal. Maybe this year someone other than my mom and me will solicit donations. The rest are pretty conservative, but since spring running up here is so unpredictable, sometimes even conservative goals are hard to achieve (see: Superior 25K).

Chippewa Moraine 50K Training: Week 1?

It’s not really week 1, but I don’t know what else to say.

Monday: 5.4 mi, road (Lakewalk + Minnesota Point)
Tuesday: rest (FE prep course)
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 5.4 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Friday: 7.2 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Saturday: 5.2 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Sunday: 8.1 mi, trail (Hartley)
Total: 31.3 mi

I’m back! After 3 weeks of minimal running, I was able to have a week worthy of being considered training. Although I’ve had to drag myself out for almost every run. That was a theme this week: lollygagging around, finding excuses not to leave the house. On Monday I didn’t start running til 7 PM. On Sunday, I didn’t start til after 3. This isn’t going to work very well as I return to higher mileage, but as it gets warmer, I hope it’ll get easier to get out.

Monday, once I did get it, was amazing. I ran on the Lakewalk, and while it was windy, it wasn’t horribly cold. The lake was roaring, like it was going to vomit the Edmund Fitzgerald back up onto the shore. It was invigorating, and I was smiling the whole time. I love living here.

Tuesday, it snowed, so I did shovel twice. That counts as a strength workout. Wednesday I stayed late at work, and decided not to run. Since I was only planning on running about 30 miles, 2 rest days worked out.

After suffering through a cold one on Thursday (it was in the low teens, though a bit warmed than predicted), Friday was invigorating. It was 38 F, even at like 6 PM, and the moon was full. It was perfect, other than a bit of GI cramping that turned out to be nothing.

Saturday I got up early and walked about a mile to the counter protest in solidarity with Planned Parenthood. It lasted about 2 hours, and then I walked home. I was a bit cold (although I remembered to bring some Hot Hands with me) and my legs were kind of tired from standing for 2 hours, so I rested before my run. Even though it was just below freezing (and therefore relatively nice), I was still chilled when I headed out to run. It was damp and the air was misty, so it took a little while before I felt comfortable. By chance, I saw my boss while I was running through Lakeside, which was nice.

Sunday I ran at Hartley, which was a great confidence booster. I ran the 8 miles at a 15:02 pace, which is a great sign for the race. Like I said previously, I need to run the first 25K at about a 15:2X pace in order to make the intermediate cutoff. If I can run 8 at Hartley under that, while running on soft snow and going up some challenging hills, I am in a good spot.

I’m happy to be back to training and to have a concrete goal race. I’m also happy I haven’t lost that much fitness, despite my setbacks. The forecast for the near future looks great, so maybe that will help with the procrastination. My focus for this upcoming week will be quality sleep. I’ve been staying up way too late lately (I’m reading The Plot Against America by Philip Roth, and it’s riveting), and I need to get more than 5 hours of sleep a night. My resting heart rate is higher than I’d like it to be, so I’m hoping additional sleep will help.

Race Calendar: Chippewa Moraine 50K

Today after my WD50K running partner signed up for Zumbro 50, I decided it was time to register for my new spring goal race, Chippewa Moraine 50K.

This will be my first out of state race (but will actually be closer than Zumbro), and will be the first race where I’ll be legitimately chasing cutoffs. The cutoff is 9 hours, with an intermediate cutoff of 4 hours at the turnaround. That means I need to run the first 25K in 4 hours. When I raced Superior 25K last May, I finished that in 4:51. So uhhh… there’s work to do.

It’s not really as bad as all that. During Zumbro 17, I probably ran 25K about half an hour faster than that. (It’s hard to tell, my GPS data was off and added about a mile extra.) And I’m a better runner now than I was then. Probably. Definitely. I just have to run the first 25K at a pace of 15:27 or faster. If the course isn’t extremely challenging, I can do that. And if the course is extremely challenging, maybe I won’t do it, and maybe I’ll get swept.

This had to immediately be elevated to goal race status, due to the length as well as the cutoff issue. Superior 25K is still somewhat of a goal race, since I really want to get redemption on that darn course, but since it is less than a month after CM50K and I’ll be running Be The Match the weekend before, I’m not going to be at peak fitness. (I also may or may not do a timed race in June. We’ll see.)

I’m pretty excited for this race, and to take a risk. One of my racing goals for the year (which I haven’t spelled out yet) is to run a race where I have a chance to DNF. Even though I don’t think I’m really at that point with this race, I don’t know the course and I could underestimate the toll that it takes on me (it sounds like it’s a bit technical and has lots of little hills), the cut-off is still an hour and 20-some minutes faster than my current 50K PR. And my training has not been superb, though I still have 12 weeks (11.5 at this writing, I guess) to go.

My spring race calendar is now:
4/29: Chippewa Moraine 50K
5/13: Be the Match Minneapolis 5K
5/20: Superior 25K

I might add a race in March while I am down in the Twin Cities, simply because I’m bored of not racing and apparently just want to spend lots of money, and also I guess to gauge my fitness.

Interlude

So I’ve run maybe… 15-16 miles in the past two weeks. I can’t even call those weeks training weeks. Not the best.

The last full week of January, I was still recovering from my cold. I ran both weekend days, and was ready to ease back into running while on a work trip. I stayed at the same hotel I did last time I went to Edmonton, thinking I would be able to use the workout room. It was under renovation this time. I hadn’t packed for outdoor running and I didn’t know the city well enough to run outside anyway. So that was a major downer. I did manage to walk a lot. I commuted to and from work on foot, walked to get lunch, and walked to after-work events (I went to an Oilers-Wild game on Tuesday even!). I walked in the airports to keep from going stir crazy during layovers. I did my best to eat somewhat healthy; we’ll see if I’ve gained a lot of weight since I’ve been sick and sedentary. My cold is almost entirely gone – I’ve just got a bit of a lingering cough, but my energy is back and my head isn’t stuffy anymore. I was concerned I’d catch something new and exotic on the flight, but unless I acquired an illness with a very long incubation period, I’m good to go.

Friday I got home at about 3 PM (Central), which gave me time to run, but I’d been traveling since 4:30 AM (Mountain), so I was wiped out. Saturday, I let myself sleep as late as I felt like, and then decided not to run. And yesterday, I almost didn’t run. I waffled about it for a couple hours before I finally got dressed and got out of the house. I really, really, really cannot wait for the days when I can just throw on shorts and a tank top and head out. I wanted to quit less than a mile in, but managed to hang on and run about 5.7 miles, putting my grand total for the week at 5.7 miles. Woo.

Real training restarts today. 12 weeks until Chippewa Moraine. Hit it.

Zumbro 50 Training: Week 5

Zero miles.

Already looking for a backup race. I kind of needed a backup race anyway, due to a possible trip to the NCAA Frozen Four the same weekend.

I am hoping to get back to running on Wednesday. My energy has mostly returned today, but I’ve still got crap to clear from my lungs. Tuesday is my scheduled rest day for the next few months, due to my Fundamentals of Engineering exam prep course, so Wednesday is my target date to run again. Just in time for the temperatures to start going down, but not terribly so!

The Bright Side

I’m still suffering through an unpleasant cold, which started in my chest and migrated to my head (the opposite of what usually happens, so that’s a fun twist!), and I need to change my outlook. While I’m unable at present to look on the bright side of what’s happening in this country, I can at least try to put this break in running in perspective.

I’m not one of those runners who is always champing at the bit to run, who eschews rest days, who sees “off-season” as a slur. If it was still frigid, I wouldn’t mind as much, probably. Maybe. But it has been unseasonably warm, and while the long term implications of that are downright terrifying, I am acting like a petulant, spoiled brat. I suffered through those frigid days; I deserve to be running now that it’s warmer. I have to accept reality, because clutching tightly to this frustration is not helping me. Especially since one of the benefits of being unexpectedly sidelined is:

  1. I am taking a mental break from running.
    I didn’t have to put on stinky clothes one day this week (sorry, I can’t afford to buy a ton of winter gear, and it is not good for my clothes or for the environment to wash them after every use. I will stink and that’s it). I didn’t have to ponder how slow I am this week. I didn’t have to step aside into knee-deep snow for a biker; or run over someone’s unshoveled, icy sidewalk; or run down a completely deserted road only to encounter the only car I’ve seen for 15 minutes just as I reach an intersection, leading to an awkward encounter where they try to wave me through even though they got there first, or where I got there first and they don’t even see me and then I swear at them. Running will be fresh and new and delightful when I start up.
  2. I am taking a physical break from running.
    The twinges in my knees, back, hips, and feet are going away. My skin isn’t exposed to stinging cold. This is a very good thing.
  3. I have time to run errands or do other things.
    I went to Target. I got my hair cut. I sat on the couch and did nothing. I don’t have to do an extra load of laundry.
  4. I would really feel worse if it was colder and I was sick.
    Going out in the frigid temps with the baritone cough I’ve been blessed with would be torture. I know I said it would be easier to not run, but everything else would be worse.
  5. I could be, and have been, sicker.
    I’m not breaking out into a sweat just standing. I’m not out of breath walking from my bedroom to the bathroom. I have been able to work at least part of every day this week, and I am extremely fortunate to have a fair sick leave policy. I am doing the right thing by resting, rather than trying to run through this illness or come back to running too soon. When I tried to do that, I was so out of commission I had to leave what was supposed to be a week-long training in the first hour.

I found 5 reasons to be positive! That’s pretty darn good, I think.

Zumbro 50 Training: Week 4

Monday: 8 mi, road (Minnesota Point)
Tuesday: 6 mi, road (UMD campus)
Wednesday: 6.1 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Thursday: 5.1 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Friday: rest
Saturday: 7.2 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk)
Sunday: 8 mi, trail (Hartley)
Total: 40.5 mi

Well, another week below the 50 mile mark. This was an unintentional cutback week, but things happen.

I suffered through several bitterly cold days before a milder weekend. I am pretty proud of myself for getting my butt out there and running when it was super cold. Tuesday it snowed about 3 inches, and I still went out and ran on UMD’s campus (the only place I was certain was plowed) in a biting wind. Wednesday I ended up covered in ice pellets and had to scrape my car off. Thursday I just gritted my teeth and ran what I could stand to run, so that I wouldn’t have to run before Friday’s hockey game.

Saturday and Sunday, I got late starts. I really need to stop doing that. I had hockey games on Saturday and a movie (Hidden Figures) to see on Sunday, so I had hard deadlines to finish running. I wasn’t on time to Saturday’s hockey game, though. Sunday I had no problem getting to the movie on time, because my planned 18 mile run turned into an 8 mile run. My heart was not in the run, almost from the beginning. Running at Hartley has become somewhat frustrating as the trails are much shorter than they used to be (most likely due to the storms this summer) and I was trying to piece together a loop. After an off-leash dog (actually, a dog wearing a leash allowed to run free) jumped on me without an apology from its owner, and a group of probably 12 bikers stopped on the trail while they each very slowly went over one of the wooden footbridges, forcing me to pass them all on the side of the trail in shin-deep snow, I was done. I forced myself to make it to 8 miles (which would give me 40 miles for the week), and even that was rough.

It turned out to be best to cap the run at 8 miles, as I’m down for the count with a cold. (Yes, just as the temps warmed up, I’ve come down with a chest cold.) But this is not a good sign – 4 weeks in, I still haven’t run 50 miles in a week, but yet I still want to run 50 miles in a day. Yikes.