2016 in review, e.g., why I think I have more to give!

I'm excited to report:  I think 2016 was my best running year as an adult!  Although it had a rocky start with a missed marathon and a tendon injury, it concluded with PRs in four distances, and I broke some significant barriers that I wasn't sure I'd ever beat.  Even better, I am healthy, I think I have more to give, and I'm wrapping up the year with some workout times I've never hit before (en route to a goal half in January and a goal full in February).

I ended the year with 2290.1 running miles according to Strava (and 42,710 feet of elevation gain!).  I’ve never set a yearly mileage goal, but it's fun to see what I end up with.  It’s nice to be over 2016 miles – and also to know I have more to give since I had 8 weeks of no running mileage in 2016.  Those weeks almost completely accounted for my cycling mileage total of 876, as I got a little obsessed with biking over 100 miles per week for a hot second (this quickly changed to 0 once I could run again, haha!).

I figured out my weekly mileage average - 2290 divided by the 44 weeks I was running - and it came out to be 52.05 miles per week.  If you count the 8 weeks I was off running and take 2290 divided by 52 total weeks in the year, it's only 44 miles per week average, so I like the first calculation better.  Now I might pay attention to this in 2017!

My race results (with disclaimers!) for the year are below.  I raced quite a bit – 19 times to be exact! – so there would have been no way for me to be at peak for all of them, and in fact I trained through more of them than not since my fall marathons were my big goals.  My performances early in the year showed that I was coming off an injury and didn’t have the mileage base I needed to run my best (looking at the big picture now, I’m not sure why I expected to race any better than I did on as little training as I’d had, but I guess I was hoping to ride on my 2015 fitness).  Overall, I’d say that I was at worst reasonably happy with my performance in every race from September on (I never seem to be completely satisfied with anything I run!), so I’ve listed them in reverse order.  PRs are bolded.  I also added my Garmin paces after my friend Liz did it on her 2016 running review, as I thought that was a clever idea, especially for the non-certified races!

Date	Race	Time	What was good	Why I have more to give*
Dec. 10	Christmas Mile “5K”	19:08; actual 5K was 18:30ish (5:57 pace)	I averaged 5:57 pace on my Garmin and won overall female.	The race director announced on the starting line that the course was long, so I know I can and did run better than my official time.  The course was mediocre (hair pin turn, two sharp turns you had to slow down for to avoid running into a brick planter or a tree, some elevation), so I know I can also go faster on a better course.  The windchill was 18 degrees, I didn’t rest for the race, and I’d run a hard mile less than 30 minutes before.
Dec. 10	Christmas Mile	5:34	I raced a mile “for fun” and without panicking!  The course was nice and I won overall female.	The windchill was 18 degrees (a little too cold to run fast!), most of the race was into a headwind, and I didn’t rest for the race.
Nov. 24	Joplin Turkey Trot 5K	18:42 (6:01 pace)	I ran in the 18’s on a certified course, the weather was great, and I won overall female.	The course had 160+ ft elevation gain, and I was 5 days off of a half marathon.
Nov. 19	White River Half Marathon	1:22:37 (6:18 pace)	Everything!  PR and strongest performance of my year!  If I don't find anything to be disappointed about, things were nearly perfect.  The course was perfect, the temperature was perfect (mid-30s), I ran a beautiful negative split, I won overall female, and I felt great.  I beat my 10K PR in the final 10K and my 15K PR in the final 15K.	I’m not sure I do…however, I am going to try!  I hope that running a larger event with other runners (and particularly other women) around me will help me run faster.  I guess in theory not being 13 days off my second marathon within a month should also help!
Nov. 6	Bass Pro Marathon	2:59:04 (6:44 pace)	I paced well and ran a nice negative split and strong final 10K, the weather was great, and I won 3rd overall female.  I ran my second sub-3:00 marathon 4 weeks after my first!	I ran 0.20+ over the course distance due a wrong turn in mile 20, which cost me a PR…and I am still very mad at myself about it.  This was my ‘B’ marathon so I didn’t peak for it (although my coach did work to find the formula for another sub-3:00 for me, and he did well), and the course was mediocre.
Oct. 22	Ozark Rotary Trick or Trot 5K	18:46 (6:02 pace)	I ran a 5K in the 18s and beat all the men and women!	It was 74 degrees, a tiny 5:00 p.m. race, and I trained through it, including a double on race day.
Oct. 15	Waddell & Reed Half Marathon (for training)	1:33:04 (7:02 pace/ training run)	I had fun and ran at a training-ish pace until the final 5K.  Unbeknownst to me until afterwards, I was 4th overall female in a huge race.	I didn’t race this one since it was 6 days after a marathon and I didn’t want to sabotage my recovery for my next marathon (I had a free entry or I wouldn’t have run it at all); I believe I'd have run about 10 minutes faster had I raced it, but I also might have bonked with Prairie Fire just on my legs.  I almost caught the 3rd female at the end so kind of wished I'd run the final 4 miles harder instead of just the final 3...or that I'd run it at my marathon pace since that would have gotten me the win.
Oct. 9	Prairie Fire Marathon	2:58:53 (6:47 pace)	Marathon PR and my first sub-3:00!  9th fastest marathon ever run by a female in the state of Kansas, and 3rd fastest for age group 35-39 (although only 4th overall in this race!).	I ran 20 miles of the race solo, the course was mediocre, and it was a tad too warm (55-60 degrees).  I had a horrible stomach bug that landed me in Urgent Care 10 days before the race, which certainly couldn’t have helped.
Sep. 18	Tiger Trot 15K	59:19 (6:20 pace)	PR and my first sub-1:00 15K, and beat all the men and women.	2 miles of the course were on horrible rocky dirt roads and those miles were significantly slower (30ish seconds) than all my others; without them I’d have easily been in the mid-58s.  It was 70 degrees, I ran solo from mile 4 on, and I was 4 days off of a 24 miler.  I ran faster in the final 15K of my half PR, so I know I’ve got more in me!
Sep. 5	Run for a Child’s Hunger 10K	38:43 (6:13 pace)	PR and my first sub-39:00 certified 10K!  I was 3rd female behind two pros.	It was Labor Day in Arkansas (hot and humid), the course had 220+ ft elevation gain, and I was 5 days off a 22 miler.  I ran faster in the final 10K of my half PR, so I know I’ve got that in me for an official one!
Sep. 3	K-Life “5K”	20:31; actual 5K was 19:20ish (6:13 pace)	I accomplished my goal of winning overall by running at 10K effort, and also nailed my 10K pace as shown two days later!	I didn’t run all-out because I wanted to save my legs for my 10K two days later.
July 23	Bentley Fund 5K	19:36 (6:12 pace)	……………………….. Well, I guess I did not bonk at mile 1.	I bonked at mile 2 and my final mile was slower than my half marathon pace.  It was hot and humid, but I’m not really sure why I ran so poorly or felt so horrible.  I didn’t rest for it, but it was only a 5K.
June 25	Sertoma Duck Waddle 5K	19:35 (6:18)	I beat all of the men and women, and won a gift certificate for free pet sitting!	I didn’t have anyone to run with, it was super warm and humid, I ran this as a progressive tempo during a long run, and I wasn’t rested.
June 4	River Run 10K	42:08 (6:43 pace)	This had the same final 2 miles as the Prairie Fire Marathon, and my Strava kindly told me that my best times on segments on that stretch were run in the marathon (that’s how bad the final 2 miles of this 10K were).  I did still win my age group.	I felt like death in this race and called it my Epic Fail of 2016.  I’d been in Chicago for work the week before, and I guess I just had nothing left to give.  I learned not to race under these circumstances again - something is always learned!
May 14	Scout Strong Half Marathon	1:29:04 (6:44 pace)	I ran this more for place than time, and accomplished my goal of winning overall female.  I also met a new friend who I've kept in touch with!	See “what was good.”  Also it was SUPER windy.
May 7	Bradleyville 5K	19:16 (Garmin would not work in the remote location - course splits were 6:14, 6:18, 6:03 but likely wrong)	It was a miracle I pulled this time off on 6.5 weeks of running training…although I’m skeptical that the course was accurate because I wasn’t in good enough shape to run this on the crazy hills of that course or really even on a good course (it was not certified).	This course was the hilliest 5K I’ve ever run, it was warm when we weren’t yet used to warm weather running, I was 6 days off of the Prairie Fire Half, and I wasn't in the best shape.
May 1	Prairie Fire Half Marathon	1:27:51 (6:42 pace)	It was a miracle I pulled this time off on 6 weeks of running training and after food poisoning on Thursday evening before the Sunday race; I was worried I wouldn’t break 1:30.  The temperature was nice and I ran a negative split.	Honestly this went as well as it could have considering; obviously having more training on my legs and not having food poisoning on Thursday would have helped.  Also it was windy as per usual in Kansas.
April 2	Big Party Half Marathon – Pace Group Leader	1:39:15; paced the 1:40 group (7:33 pace)	Pacer, free entry, great charity, and running at base pace to help others!  I ended up getting an age group award too.	Not racing was hard, and the course was a little short or I’d have been 1:39:5X (I was a good pacer, I promise!)!  My bicep got sore from carrying the pace sign.
March 26	Easter Sun Run 10K	41:13 (6:35 pace)	The only redeeming factor for this race was that I won $100.	I was a last-minute entry; I’d run a 6 mile tempo run at 6:26 pace a few days before this race on almost no running training (how exactly I am not sure! - was my Garmin off that day?!), but I quickly learned I was not in good enough shape to run a solid race with no rest before.

*I initially titled this section “What was bad”, but decided this title was more optimistic and also more consistent with my title!

I’m excited to say this:  2016 will be hard to top.  But I know I have more to give!  Will I always say this after every race?  Most likely!  There will always be age-graded bests to chase, right?

My 2015 race results are shown here.

I encourage everyone to go out and be your best in 2017!

Here are also my favorite running-related photos of 2016.  I probably don't have more to give as far as race photos go; I've given up on taking good running photos except during my warm-up!

We all ran an event at the Prairie Fire spring races

This one is photogenic

Race face in the Sparky Kids Mile, haha!

I was warming up so this photo is okay

Post-10K PR

Albani had a photo finish half mile after I ran my 15K PR

My first sub-3:00, at Prairie Fire

Post-marathon emotion & exhaustion

Fall Prairie Fire Kids Marathon = happier photos

Bass Pro Expo

My second sub-3:00, although I ran farther than 26.2, at Bass Pro

Half PR + double chin

White River Half awards

Proof I ran in the 18s in a certified 5K

Somewhere, someone colder than you is running

Week of December 12-18, 2016

Mileage: 56.1, with a fartlek, a double, a set of strides, a long run with a little workout, two bootcamps, and a bit of a sore throat/stuffy nose cold.  A bit of motivation is always, "Somewhere, someone busier than you is running,", but this week I changed "busier" to "colder", as I continued to talk myself into not being a winter wimp.  The cold weather didn't fatigue me as much as it did last week, which was a step in the right direction!

Snuggled up back in November when we had it good!

Monday - Cross-training manic Monday with 30 minutes on the elliptical to warm up and 45 minutes of bootcamp.  On Sunday evening I got a headache and sore throat, and I assumed I was run down from my weekend of two Saturday races plus a Sunday long run, all in not optimal weather.  I then woke up in the middle of the night with my throat feeling more sore, and thinking that I might not be going to bootcamp or to work on Monday.  However, when I woke up to my alarm, my headache was gone and my throat was much less sore, so I gargled with salt water and decided to give it a go.  I felt about normal for coming off a hard weekend.

Tuesday - 10.1 miles with the "Flipping Fartlek" workout:  3 miles warm-up, 6', 5', 4', 3', 2', 1' pushes with recoveries of 1', 2', 3', 4', 5, then cool-down to 10 miles.  This workout is weird because the recoveries are so short between the longer pushes, then so long between the shorter pushes.  It also forces you to positive split on your miles splits (due to your hard/easy proportions), which Miss Negative Split here does not like!  I kept all of my pushes sub-6:00 as was my goal (exact splits below).  I still had a sore throat but felt fine otherwise, and decided I couldn't really be sick or I wouldn't be running sub-6:00s on this.  Missy and I ran our warm-up together, and she also had a sore throat, so we decided that it was from our windy long run on Sunday and also possibly from talking for 15 miles while running in those conditions!  We talked much less on this run (she ran a hard tempo while I was doing my fartlek).

Flipping Fartlek living up to it's name

Wednesday - 12.3 miles total:  8.1 miles a.m. (7:45) with 547 ft elevation gain with Missy, and 4.2 miles runch (7:29).  I titled the morning run "Technical difficulties" on Strava, as it included the following:  me running late due to my cat puking twice right as I was about to leave, both Missy and I having almost dead batteries in our headlamps ("I hope there's no potholes on this road!"), me taking my hood on and off about 50 times in an attempt to regulate temperature, Missy giving me her jacket mid-run when she was hot and I was freezing, us being very indecisive about which way to turn after a pee break/jacket exchange, and Missy having to help me take off the jacket at the end of the run because my fingers were too cold to remove the cuffs!  We were quite the sight I think!  I enjoyed the run, we found a new hilly route that was exactly 8 miles, and my sore throat was gone (replaced by excessive nasal drainage!), so there were victories.  At lunch I ran from my office, and things went more smoothly.  The most embarrassing/amusing part of running from my office at lunch is running past the smokers gathered on the sidewalk just off the property line of our smoke free campus.

Any nutritionists out there, please tell me what/when to eat between my two runs to optimize recovery and performance (and minimize digestive issues) when I start the first around 5:30 a.m. and the second around 1:00 p.m.  This is a puzzle I am still figuring out!

Thursday - 8.2 miles with 6 or 7 x strides at the end (7:23).  I lost count of my strides as per 90% of the time.  I was solo on this run and got to start later than usual, at 6:45 a.m., so it was daylight!  I wish I could go into work at 9:00 a.m. every day!  I was still having a ton of nasal drainage on Thursday.

Friday - 3.1 mile shake out (7:30) and bootcamp.  Typically, I want to run farther than 3 miles when I have these short runs scheduled, but today was not one of those days due to the 20 mph wind!  The wind chill was 12 degrees, and I was okay with only being out for 23 minutes.

Saturday - 16.2 mile long run (7:17), with 10 miles steady, then for the first 1:00 of the last 6 miles I was supposed to pick it up to 6:30 pace, followed by the remainder of the mile at regular relaxed pace.  I ran this one solo, as none of us could quite coordinate.  Saturday was the first morning I woke up and didn't have to immediately blow 5 lbs of mucus out of my nose!

I stalked the hourly forecast multiple times on Friday to figure out the optimal time to start this run.  I almost couldn't believe the forecast, which had temperatures rising from 30 degrees on Friday afternoon to over 50 degrees from 2:00-7:00 a.m., and then dropping dramatically along with sleet/ice/freezing rain/snow and wind on Saturday.  I made the sensible decision to aim to finish my run before the temperature dropped dramatically, which was supposed to happen around 8 a.m.  I woke up at my normal time of 5:00 a.m. and started around 5:30 a.m.  It wasn't quite as warm as forecasted, but 44 degrees felt amazing!  I had my long sleeves rolled up for the first 9 miles, but then the wind picked up and the temperature started dropping.  It was also slightly drizzly, and really it was dark for the entire run, even after the sun came up.

At mile 10 I started my 1:00 pushes at the beginning of each mile, and I did not do very well with them.  My first one was a little fast but not too far off (6:16), but then in my subsequent ones I could not find 6:30 pace to save my life!  I'd push and suddenly be running 5:50 pace, then I'd try to not pick it up so much on my next and I'd be running 7:00 pace.  I couldn't find the nice in between on any of them.  On the last mile I was just ready to be finished so ended up running the whole mile in 6:38, but that was the only time I could find the 6:30s!  The pushes made me feel kind of wonky -- like end-of-the-marathon-need-sustenance wonky -- and I guess since they are supposed to help my body learn how to conserve glycogen then maybe they served the purpose.  It was just kind of a weird run, because I felt good but "off" at the same time.  I blame the weather.

Sunday - 6.2 recovery miles on the treadmill (7:46).  As much as I'm working to embrace winter, I'm not up for running in windchills of -15 with patchy ice on the road!  So on this morning, someone colder than me was running for sure (i.e., anyone running outdoors!).  When we were driving to church and I saw the road conditions on the back roads where I'd have run, I knew I made the right decision, as much as I do not prefer the treadmill.

Finally, the below post popped up on my Facebook memories this week.  I remember that tempo run, as I was training to break 1:30 in the half at the time (something I'd done 3 times before then, but I'd been out with an injury for a long while and was trying to get back to it).  I had a good laugh at it, because absolutely nothing has changed in regard to me always being hungry for a few more seconds!  But it also made me so appreciative of my progress since then, as last week I ran my 4 mile tempo run in 24:03 on the exact same course...and obviously wanted 4 more seconds. I ran a 1:29:5X half on 12/27/14 on a horrible weather day after that tempo run, so it also made me thankful for taking over 7 minutes off of that time in 2 years!  It makes my goal of taking 3 minutes off in the next year seem a little less crazy I guess (I will for sure need a good weather day, though!).

Merry Christmas Mile & "5K"!

Few things are more intimidating than racing a hard 5K, but racing a hard mile is one of those things!  I entered my local Christmas mile and 5K events because I needed one more short race for my running club's 2016 Runner of the Year (ROTY) program.  It was the same price to run both races - only $20! - so it also seemed like a crime not to do both.  Since the courses weren't certified, I knew there was a good chance they would be off, and that if I managed a 5K PR it wouldn't officially count.  I hoped that at least one race distance would be close enough to count for ROTY, and I decided to chance it since I couldn't find any certified races closer than a 1.5 hour drive or really justify driving anywhere to run a 5K (after justifying going to Arizona twice this winter, I am justified out!).

As race day drew closer, the forecast got colder and colder, so in the end I never got intimidated by trying to run these short races fast, because I was instead intimidated by running them in super cold temperatures!  Since I expected my performance to decline in the cold, the races became more about just getting them in to get my final required ROTY races combination.

Luckily, race morning wasn't as cold as forecasted, but it was 26 degrees with a wind chill of 18.  I donned a red long sleeve shirt and tights, and Jon questioned if I was actually racing "in that?!", as I very rarely race in tights (I can think of only one other time that I have as an adult, when it was 12 degrees at the 2008 Gobbler Grind).  I just didn't want to be cold!  If it had been a half or full marathon I would've worn shorts and a short sleeve shirt with arm warmers that I could shed, but I figured I wouldn't be running long enough to ever get hot (spoiler alert - I was wrong!).  I also wore Christmas compression socks over my tights to be more festive, and fleece mittens (also a headband to warm-up and between the races, but it ended up around my neck during the races).  For once in winter I was not the person wearing the least clothing on the starting line!

Christmas Mile Ambassadors!

I ran a 3 mile warm-up with about 4 minutes uptempo (6:15ish), and arrived at the starting line of the mile with 8 minutes to spare.  This was perfect timing since I didn't want to be standing around in the cold!  I did leg swings, drills, and strides, and was ready to go!  However, at 8:00 a.m. when the race was supposed to start, there were a lot of runners still making their way to the starting line.  It was a point-to-point course, with parking, registration, and indoor facilities by the finish line, and without the best communication about where the starting line was.  So the starter waited on them.  Then there was another group in sight and we waited some more.  I kept jogging back and forth around the starting area to stay loose and warm, and I also asked the starter if the 5K was still going to start at 8:30 or if it would be pushed back, because at the rate we were going, I was going to have to finish the mile then hightail it to the 5K start, which was in a third location.  He told us they would "probably" push the 5K start time back, and that we also needed to pick up another chip if we were doing the 5K in addition to the mile.  Uncertainty and last-minute stuff is not my forte, so all of this messed with me, but in effect also kept me from worrying about the pain of racing a mile.

The mile finally got started around 8:15 a.m.  Too bad I didn't keep my Garmin running to count that extra mileage I ran while waiting, haha!  I didn't expect too much because of the cold and because the point-to-point course was into a headwind for about 0.8 (also because I wasn't sure if I could run a mile any faster than 5K pace anyhow!); I told Jon to expect me 5:50ish.  At the gun, several men got out fast, and I was in lead female position from the gate.  I was pretty much in throw-down mode from the gun, because, well, it was a mile.  Initially there were about 10 men ahead of me, and a few I passed within the first 200 meters, and then I spent most of the race picking off one after another until I was in second overall when we turned out of the wind with about 0.2 to go.  The man in first was significantly ahead of me (20 seconds in the end), and I'd picked him at the start to be fast because he'd been doing drills and strides and also wearing a Drury singlet.

I hammered the final stretch with all I had, having no idea where I was at because I didn't look at my watch because, well, it was a mile and pretty much just all out the whole way!  In hindsight, I wish I'd set my Garmin to autolap every 0.25 so I could see how even I paced, though.  The finishing clock wasn't working (luckily the chip timing was!), so while cheering for me Jon yelled, "They couldn't get the clock to work!".  He didn't want me to expend energy trying to decode the random numbers it was flashing, but it made me laugh.  I had my Garmin going but I ran through the finish without stopping it because, well, it was a mile, and then I couldn't get it stopped immediately after because I had on mittens.  It did say 1.00 on the nose though!  I went around to the timing table to see my official time on their screen, which was 5:34.  With the cold temperature and headwind, I was pleased with this time.  Had it been 45 degrees, I would have really wanted to be in the 5:20's, but this was definitely better than my 5:50 prediction, my best mile as an adult, and I think my fastest road mile since all of my faster times in high school were run on the track (I think).

The cold & non-working clock really messed with Jon's finish photo precision

After I finished the mile, I got my chip for the 5K, which took longer than expected.  Then I ran inside to the bathroom, then back out to where I thought the 5K started, only to find out it started elsewhere.  So then I ran to the other side of the building, also helping other runners find the 5K start.  I had planned to keep running between the races to stay warmed up, but I didn't like feeling scattered with not knowing where I was going (however, again it distracted me from worry about the pain of racing a 5K).  I found the 5K start and the starter acted like they were about to start it, then said we were going to wait because some people needed their chips still.  At packet pick up they only gave out the 1 mile chips I guess.  So I again jogged back and forth around the area while they called out all of the names of people who needed another chip.  I also talked to the guy who had won the mile, and he asked me what I was planning to run the 5K in and said he was also going to be close to 6:00 pace.  This time I kept my Garmin going while I was jogging around to count my mileage for the day!

At 8:43 a.m. they were ready to start the 5K.  The race director made some announcements noting where the course ran, to be cautious when turning into the neighborhood on the narrow sidewalk between a tree and a brick planter, and that, oh, the 5K course was long.  This irked me because he knew it was long, and based on where we were starting it would have been really easy to move the starting line up however far was needed to make it correct.  There was not a starting line chip mat even; it would have been as easy as moving two cones!  I was glad that the mile had been accurate to use for ROTY.  But, what could I do at that point except for make the race of an unknown 5Kish distance into a good workout?

We took off, and after things got sorted out I was in second overall, behind the Drury singlet man who had won the mile.  He started out faster than me, but then I was pretty steady in my distance behind him - about 10-15 seconds.  I wasn't getting closer, but he wasn't pulling away.  I went through my first mile, which had a long but minor incline, in 6:00 per my Garmin (there were no course mile markers), and pushed my long sleeves up.  I kept telling myself, "just stay on his butt", because I'd recently read a blog post where a gal told herself "just stay on their butts" throughout most of her marathon with a 2:42 pace group when she was working to get an Olympic Trials marathon qualifying time at California International Marathon (before the standard changed to 2:45), and it seemed like a good mantra when you had someone to try to hang close to.  I figured if I worked to stay as close to him as I could, and to reel him in if I could, I would keep up a good pace.  I was also just hoping that "long" didn't mean 3.8 miles!

Mile 2 was 5:54, and I kept telling myself to "just stay on his butt".  It was hard, and it actually felt longer than usual for a 5K following that 1 mile!  But at the same time, I knew I could do another mile around 6:00, even though I wasn't loving the course.  It had a hairpin turn, two times where we took very sharp turns onto a thin sidewalk between trees and a brick planter to get onto a different road, and another straight where we ran on a crappy sidewalk uphill for 2 blocks.  It was flatter than the Joplin Turkey Trot 5K, but not as good as my tempo course.  I continued to keep as close to the overall male as I could, still 10-15 seconds.

As we were coming around towards the end I could tell it wasn't going to be super long (no 3.8 miles, whew!), but that it would be long enough that a good time was out.  My watch beeped 6:00 for mile 3 (why couldn't I find 1 more second on miles 1 and 3?!), and for a bit I kind of quit trying because I knew no matter how strong I finished I wouldn't have the time to show for it.  The guy I'd been hanging on had a good 10 seconds on me still so there was also no hope of catching him.  But then, I told myself to suck it up buttercup; I could still run a solid Garmin 5K even though it wouldn't be official.  So my final 0.21 ended up being 5:54, but I'd say it was more like 0.1 at 6:25 (giving up) then 0.1 at 5:25 (sprinting).

My official time was 19:07, but my Garmin had my average pace at 5:57, which is an 18:30ish 5K.  I knew that I had no chance at an "official" PR in this race going into it, since it wasn't certified, and I am almost glad I didn't average 5:55 pace (what I need to beat my current PR), because then I'd have been really disappointed I didn't go to a different race...admittedly, I still kind of am.  Doing this with no pre-race rest, in the cold, and on a mediocre course was enough for me to know for sure that I can run faster than my current PR, though.  I know I have a sub-18:25 in me, and I am going to find a nice certified course and make that happen in the spring!

5:57 average, wahoo!

I ran a bit of a cool-down, then went inside for the awards ceremony.  They had coffee, donuts, and cuties for us, and also Santa for the kids as well as Christmas crafts.  Albani completed every craft they offered while I stretched and we waited for the awards, and they gave her a crafting medal!  She loves to run 1 mile races but it was too cold for her to do this one (she stayed in the car parked right by the finish while Jon cheered me in at the finishes).

I'm still glad I ran this, but it again reaffirmed my plans to only run certified courses!  Also if I compete in ROTY next year I will not wait until December to get any races I need -- that mainly happened this year due to being off for 7 weeks in February and March with a tendon injury.  In December through February, I like to practice the wait-and-see method with local races - wait until a few days before the event and see what the forecast is like before committing!

Race results for both events can be found here (just remember that the 5K was not a 5K when looking at everyone's times/paces!).

We look like we are over it here

Crafting winner!

Afterwards, we went to Walmart & saw Santa, again

Winter's here!

Week of December 5-11, 2016

Mileage 55.6, with a break-through tempo run, a double, a set of strides, two races (same event), a long run, a bootcamp, and some additional scattered core.  This week marked the arrival of our first really cold weather (wind chills in the single digits), and I will admit I started wondering why I decided to run a February marathon!  Running in the cold seemed to take more out of me than running in nicer temperatures, which I don't really remember happening in past winters, so I'm hoping that I will get more used to it.  I typically toughen up as winter goes on!

Monday - Cross-training MonYay with 40 minutes on the elliptical to warm up and 50 minutes of bootcamp.  I was still a little sore from jumping lunges on Friday, so I was thankful we didn't do lunges in this class!  We did plenty of squat variations and weighted swings though, and at one point enough push-ups to make me drop to my knees (6 sets in a row of 6 push-ups/6 plank jacks, holding plank position the entire time, was a little too much for my arm and chest muscles...I know I can do 36 push-ups in a row so it had to be the plank jacks between that put it over the edge).

Tuesday - 9.2 miles total (2.6 warm-up, 4 mile tempo in 24:03, 2.6 cool-down); warm-up and cool-down with Missy.  This was my first tempo run of my new training cycle, and I felt like it was a major victory (except for wishing I'd run 1 second/mile faster...it's always something, bahaha!)!  It was just a really good day, and temperatures in the mid-30s seem to agree with me.  My coach sped up my tempo goal pace range to 6:05-6:20 this training cycle, and said to start slower and speed up as the workout progressed for this one, as usual.  I felt good from the gate and went through my first mile in 6:05, and then I figured I'd try to stay at the bottom of the range throughout, because as you know I am obsessed with negative splitting everything.  I really worked on running by feel instead of by my watch on this tempo, as I ran 5 laps around my 0.8 neighborhood loop -- one long side is a gradual decline and today the wind was behind me on that portion, making it the "fast side"; the other long side is a gradual incline and today the 12-15 mph wind was in my face on that portion, making it the "slow side" -- otherwise I don't think I'd have started quite so fast.

Mile 2 was 6:03, and I still felt good and like I could sustain 6:05ish for the second half of the workout.  The way this loop lines up and based on where I start, mile 3 is always fast (you get to do a nice decline portion twice in this mile - since the entire loop is 0.8 you're repeating the fast part to get to 1.0), and I ended up with a 5:58 third mile.  I'd already been thinking that I'd try to get mile 4 under 6:00, and after mile 3 being under I really wanted to go for it!  Mile 4 on this course is always harder (you get to do an incline portion twice on this mile), so I knew I'd have to push to keep it under 6:00, but I was able to do that with a 5:54.  I finished feeling like I had a solid workout, but not pounded, and definitely like I could race a 10K at about that pace, especially if I hadn't sped up the final mile.

When I saved the workout, my Garmin told me that I ran my best 5K during it!  The course I ran was certainly easier than the Joplin Turkey Trot course, so that was the ticket.  I'm going to have to find a certified 5K and go for under 18:25 for sure!  My gut reaction is "You'd better find a 5K, like tomorrow, to do this!" and "Find a 10K - you can run under 6:05 pace for a 10K, you need to do it now!"- because I've been so conditioned to think I need to race ASAP when I'm in good shape in case I get injured and don't have another chance.  But I'm not so worried about it right now; I am staying healthy following my coach's plan, and if I work to achieve the crazy half and full marathon goal times I've dreamed up, my 5K and 10K times will have to fall in conjunction.  Or maybe the real reason is that there are no certified 5Ks or 10Ks nearby at this time of year, haha!  I know this because I looked for one on December 10!

I looked back at the 4 mile tempo I did at the beginning of my Prairie Fire training cycle (under Thursday here), and I averaged 6:12 pace on it and was very happy with that at the time, so it was really nice to see my improvement from then to now (I ran the exact same course both times).  The temperature was better on this run than on June 9; however, the wind was definitely harder today so I'll rationalize it that way.  When I went inside after this run, I told Jon, "Now I 'just' have to work up to running 13.1 miles at that pace."  Hah.  Between now and my Arizona races, my tempos will get longer and my goal pace range will stay the same, so hopefully I can rise to the occasion and stay in the 6:0Xs or at least at 6:15 on the 6, 8, and 10 mile tempos to come!

Now to go 10 seconds faster in a certified race

Splits - didn't quite get my watch stopped immediately

Wednesday - 13.3 total, with 10.3 base miles (7:36) on one of our hillier routes bright and early with Missy, and 3 late runch (7:44).  The morning run was dark and cold (22 degrees), but it's so much easier to run 10 dark and cold miles with someone else than by yourself!  And I was thankful for no wind.  And soon 22 degrees at 5:30 a.m. will not even be cold (oy!)!  The second run was a bit of a struggle-fest; you think that 3 miles at a relaxed pace is insignificant pretty no matter what, but I started it at 2:20 p.m. and hadn't yet eaten lunch, and I ended up with a horrible side cramp, probably from needing sustenance!  I'm aiming to do all of my second runs at lunch, albeit usually earlier than 2:20 p.m. (work interfered with that on this one, although it was probably still easier than going out into the cold dark snow flurries at 6:00 p.m.), and I will definitely ensure I fuel better next week between my two runs.

Related fun fact:  whenever I stop runs on the nose on my mileage (e.g., 3.0 instead of 3.1 or 3.2), it means I either felt crappy or was in a hurry!  The 3 miler was the former.

Thursday - 8.2 miles with 6 x strides in the last mile at lunch (7:27). This was my first run of more than 4 miles from my current office, as we expanded into a new building in April 2016 and I only run my main runs over lunch when it's really cold out, so I'd only done short second runs a few times from this location.  I tried a route I ended up liking pretty well that included a Springfield Greenway trail (it was 1.7 miles to the trail).  It was 23 degrees with a 14 degree windchill on this run, but that was much better than 6 degree wind chill and dark at 5:30 a.m.!  I was fine temperature-wise, and it's amazing how much warmer the same temperature feels in sunshine vs. pitch dark!

Friday - No running today, in the cold and blustery 14 degrees.  I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and a 15 minute core/arm strength workout; no bootcamp due to my Saturday races.

Saturday - 9.8 miles total, including the Christmas Mile and "5K" races (race reports here)!  My mile time was 5:34, and I ran the long 5K course at 5:57 pace (6:00, 5:54, 6:00 mile splits and 5:54 final 0.21).  The race director announced that the 5K course was long at the starting line, so it was hard to give 110% knowing that the course wasn't accurate, but I did my best and would have finished an actual 5K in about 18:30, beating my Tuesday tempo time on a harder course (but I missed the Garmin "Fastest 5K" photo!).  The 1 mile was accurate and a nice point-to-point course (the only downside was that it was against the wind most of the way, but the race organizers can't control that part!).  I wasn't the most excited about these races due to the forecast for them, but I needed them for a 2016 competition I'm doing through my local running club.  It ended up being a little warmer than expected (26 degrees/"feels like" 18), but I still raced in tights, which is a very rare occurrence.  I was very pleased with my times in that temperature, as performance starts declining when it's that cold.  I placed overall female in both events, behind the same one man in both.

Sunday - 15.1 mile base pace steady long run (7:34), with Missy on farm roads.  The wind was insane this morning, making me even more thankful to have Missy along!  I was also thankful that it was 42 degrees, because that wind at 15 degrees would have been awful.  We ran out into the wind a little slower than usual (7:45-7:50), but I told her that I guaranteed that when we turned around we'd be running 7:20 pace at the same effort, and that is exactly what happened!  15 felt short and I am ready to ramp up my long run distance and also have some workouts during long runs in the upcoming weeks!

I have my training schedule through the Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Half on January 15, so it's feeling pretty real!  I am thankful that I have that race to kind of split up my marathon training, as it's 5 weeks away so feels pretty close.  The Phoenix marathon is 11 weeks away, and for me that would be a very long time to go with no races!  I know I'll question why I picked a February marathon on every really cold day, and certainly on any treadmill runs I do, but big goals know no off season!

Arizona x 2!

As I mentioned here, I'm running the Phoenix Marathon in February, and this has been the plan since, well, last February when I was unable to run it due to a tendon injury.  My coach mentioned that it would be good to run a half marathon the weekend of January 28-29 during my marathon build-up, or the weekend of January 14-15 as a second best option.  Finding halves in January in the Midwest is no easy task!  I found one in St. Louis, the Frostbite Series Half, and tentatively planned it for January 28.  I ran the event in 2014, and while the St. Louis track club puts on a wonderful event, the course is not certified or fast, and the weather is always going to be a roll of the dice for that one (and any other one in Missouri in January).  I also thought I might just run a half time trial on my own, or probably with a training partner or two, that weekend.

I then decided I'd look at race options in cities that Allegiant Air flies directly to out of Springfield.  I found one in the Phoenix area, the Arizona Rock 'n' Roll half marathon in Mesa on January 15.  I looked at it kind of in jest, and mentioned it to Jon also mostly in jest ("but it would be a great practice trip before the marathon!").  A few weeks later, the topic of that race came up during a training run, as Amy ran the full marathon at the event several years ago and said it was a great course.  At that point, I was fresh off my half PR at White River, freshly aware of how much difference an amazing course could make, and salivating to schedule a half (and one with a competitive field - even better!).  Still on my runner's high after that training run, I researched the event a little more, and discovered that I met their elite time standards for a comp entry, deducting a potential expense and getting me in the elite corral.  I then mentioned the possibility to my dad, as I knew Jon and I both couldn't go to Phoenix twice this winter, and because I would need to fly out of Wichita (near where my parents live) anyway because the returning flight to Springfield was too early on January 15.


My dad told me he would love to go to the race with me, but at that point I still felt it was hard to justify going to Arizona twice over the winter for races, as much as I wanted to...I mean, look at my past patterns; I ran two Midwest marathons this season to avoid race trips and have only flown to one race in my 25 years of running, the Portland Marathon in 2009.  A few days later, my dad told me he saw that the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction is the same weekend just outside Phoenix in Scottsdale.  My dad is a big “car guy”, and has been to this event once before and loved it (loved it enough to drive to it from Kansas when all of the flights were sold out!).  I could tell he was really excited about this possibility when we discussed it in person on Thanksgiving, so that pushed this race from a distant thought to something I really might do.

It snowballed from there, and I went ahead and applied for an elite entry the day after Thanksgiving.  When we found a Cyber Monday deal for round trip tickets on a direct flight from Wichita to Phoenix for about $80 (plus fees; there were fees) and I found several decent cheap hotel options within 2 miles of the start and finish lines, I almost felt like it would be a crime not to run this race!  So we booked our flights!  The following day I received confirmation of my elite entry, and a request for my information to include on "the start list" (I learned that this includes stats on race wins, PRs, records, etc. that they may use to announce top entrants; I immediately felt like a huge imposter, a feeling which I know will continue as I stand in the elite corral among actual elite runners).

I’m going to Arizona twice this winter!  I’m not making these trips to not go for PRs, so I am ready to get out and train for these puppies!  When does my mileage increase to 60 and when do long tempos start again?  Am I really only 4 weeks off of the Bass Pro Marathon?!?!

Phoenix and Beyond

Since I ran my first marathon in 2003, my running status could nearly always be classified into one of two categories:  1) marathon training or 2) injured.  I feel very fortunate to be steady on the first path recently, and the key to that has been my coach.  I’ve worked with him for two marathon training cycles now, and I ran two marathons 100% healthy with each cycle (Bass Pro and Dallas in 2015 and Prairie Fire and Bass Pro in 2016).  I also ran several other PRs during both cycles, including significant half marathon PRs (Waddell & Reed 2015 and White River 2016).  These 4 marathons were my 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 5^th best marathons ever (Bass Pro 2015 being the slowest of the four and my 5^th fastest, which was still surprising since it was treated as a training run sandwiched between two 20 milers the weekends before and after, and I didn't taper or run all out).  I tried to go at it on my own again between these two cycles at the beginning of 2016, in an effort to avenge my 3:01 at Dallas, but the only place that got me was injured and sitting out my planned February 2016 marathon, which was the 2016 Phoenix Marathon.

Even though I'm a control freak, I'm not dumb enough to try to do it on my own again, and I am now on my Phoenix 2017 build!  This cycle begins with a recovery phase, though, before building my mileage back up, and this will without a doubt be the most maddening part of the training cycle (winter weather will likely be the second most maddening part)!  This is where I would screw it all up if I were on my own; I’m on a high coming off of my half PR at White River, it feels like the Bass Pro Marathon was forever ago, I even ran a solid 5K, I’m feeling enthusiastic and good, I am ready to jump into harder training, and I wouldn’t take recovery time on my own accord.  But, I’ve learned that less is more sometimes, and I am following my coach’s recovery plan (I think my exact words to him were, “I will follow the plan and not be crazy.”).  Looking at it objectively, it also makes sense to take these easier weeks when I’m still feeling good instead of getting run-down and then trying to come back from that. 

I get back to up 50 miles a week before too long – the week of December 5-11 – but I’m ready for 60+ miles weeks!  I will peak at around 65 mpw this training cycle, compared to 60 mpw in my last cycle, so it’s a conservative increase.  I've also learned that consistent weekly mileage over time means so much more than peak week mileage; running an 80 mile peak week after several weeks in the 50s probably won't help you more than running a 65 mile peak week after several weeks at 55-62 (the latter being what I'll do), and too big of a jump for peak week could get me injured anyhow.

I'm going into the cycle fitter than I've ever been, and it's a shorter build up due to the amount of time between Bass Pro and Phoenix (16 weeks total, so really 4 recovery weeks then a 12 week schedule).  But I’ve also been thinking:  "How am I going to run a marathon PR only increasing by 5 miles a week?  Shouldn’t I be doing 75, 80, or even 90 mpw?!  Look at everyone else trying to improve marathon PRs – aren't they all doing more?  People are running triple digits!  I'm not doing enough!"  Are you gaining some insight into how I end up injuring myself when I made my own schedule?  Haha!  Making long-term plans helps my patience, and I’ve learned that miles and patience are probably more helpful than anything else in marathon training.  My future builds will also be longer than the 12 weeks of this one.  Perhaps my long-term development with mileage and marathon training cycles will look like this:

• February 2017 – Phoenix, peak at 65 mpw
• Fall 2017 – one I can drive to, and probably Bass Pro as as B race, peak at 70-75 mpw
• May or June 2018 – maybe Lincoln or Grandmas, peak at 80 mpw
• December 2018 – perhaps California International Marathon, peak at 90 mpw

Right now, this is all very tentative and CIM is my hope to run my dream time if I can step up to it, hopefully along with Liz (who has inspired me to even consider it!)!  Who knows if these thoughts are even reasonable; I may not be able to tolerate that mileage, period, or be able to handle it along with life as a full-time working mother (time to hire a cleaning service, honey!).  For now, I’m going to run my recovery 40 mile weeks and remember to be patient!  I am super excited to be working towards Phoenix, and in true Sara form I officially committed the day after the White River Half (I got an elite entry!).

Dream big - it's the only way it will come true!