Septemberness

September 2021 in review!  

Total mileage for the month:  360.3

• August 30-Sep. 5:  97
• Sep. 6-12:  90.4
• Sep. 13-19:  90.8
• Sep. 20-26:  78.1
• Sep. 27-Oct. 3:  70.0

Deciding between #swoleseptember,
#smallseptember, & #stuckupseptember

#speedyseptember

Races:

• Sep. 12: Plaza 10k in 38:12 for 2nd overall female, making it both my worst Plaza 10k and best Plaza 10k.

#celebratingseptember

Workouts:

• Sep. 4:  23 miles via 3.3 easy, 4 x 5:00 tempos, 8 miles easy, 4 x 5:00 tempos, 2.7 cool down, with 2:00 jogs between tempo portions.  This was one of those workouts where I never felt great, but gritting through and hitting goal paces was possible.  My tempo paces were 5:58, 6:00, 5:54, 5:57, 5:57, 5:55, 5:59, 5:55 (goal 5:55-6:05), which I was very pleased with in 74*/dew point 73* and considering how I felt.  After I finished the first set of tempos, I thought there was no way I could run another set at that pace, and certainly not after running 8 more miles, but turns out I could.  I love workouts like this and think those tempos near the end really pay off!  Casey and Colin ran the same workout, and I got Colin to run on the outside of the loop (farthest path) while I ran on the inside (shortest path) and I was able to stay close enough to him that it helped pull me along.
• Sep. 7:  3 x 10:00 at tempo at 6:02, 6:00, 5:58 with 2:00 jog recoveries (3.6 warm up, 2.4 cool down). This was another one of those workouts where I never felt great, but I could grit through it.  Must be high mileage marathon training!
• Sep. 15:  20:00 tempo (6:05, 6:22, 6:22, 6:18), 4:00 jog, 10:00 tempo (6:26, 6:23), 3:00 jog, 5:00 tempo (6:12), in a 15.2 mile run.  Oof.  My body felt trashed on this run, and even though I didn't hit my goal pace on anything except the first mile, I was strangely satisfied that I stayed 6:12-6:26 when I had nothing.  Running the Plaza 10k and 20.2 miles total when not at all rested on Sep. 12 and being away from home longer than planned took its toll on me (I worked in Kansas City the two days after the race then stayed an extra night before going straight to SE Kansas for funerals).  Andrew and Josh ran this with me at the Downtown Kansas City Airport, and I was thankful because I needed all the help I could get!
• Sep. 19:  18.7 miles with 10 easy, 2 MP (6:20, 6:21), 0.5 easy, 1 MP (6:08), 3.7 easy, 1 MP (6:19). This workout could be titled Indecision!  I was scheduled to run 2 x 6 miles at MP in an 18 miler, but I didn't think I had it in me mentally or physically to hit that workout due to the week I'd had - plus I'd made Sep. 15 into a long run workout since I didn't think I'd have time to do a second run that day and ran all my miles in the morning.  I went back and forth a lot about what to do on Sep. 19, and settled on doing 18 easy, reminding myself that I hadn't missed or modified a single workout the whole training cycle, and cutting this one was better than trying it and digging myself into a hole 2 weeks before my marathon.  I felt okay during the run, and Casey was running 12 with a 2 mile fast finish, so I decided to do those fast finish miles with her.  Then I decided I'd do another MP mile so I'd have 3 at MP, or 25% of the original plan (it seemed sensible at the time!).  Then I ran into Colin towards the end of his 2 x 6 miles and ran one more MP mile with him to finish off my run, which was also why I ran 18.7 instead of 18.  I'm still not sure if I did the right thing, but it's done!  From the 4 miles at MP I did, I can say I wouldn't have hit the 2 x 6.
• Sep. 22:  2 x 6 miles at MP with 0.5 recovery, or Third Time's a Charm, because after missing this workout on Sep. 19 I was planning to run it on Sep. 21, but a severe thunderstorm delayed my run start by 45 minutes that day and I didn't have time to run a 15 mile workout before work at that point.  I was beginning to wonder if I was just not meant to run this workout, but I am glad I was able to.  After a poor workout on Sep. 15 and a reduced workout on Sep. 19, I really needed a confidence boost before racing, and this workout helped.  I ran the first 6 miles as I plan to run the first 6 miles of my marathon, aiming for 6:25 pace.  I averaged 6:23 via 6:30, 6:23, 6:29, 6:19, 6:28, 6:10 (1, 3, and 5 were into the wind and 2, 4, 6 had a tailwind).  I ran the second 6 miles at what I hope to run the final 6 miles of my marathon at, aiming for 6:10 pace.  I averaged 6:12 via 6:15, 6:11, 6:09, 6:20, 6:13, 6:06 (the 6:20 mile was mostly into the wind, the rest were a mix).  The first 6 miles were gently rolling and the second 6 relatively flat.  My average for the whole shebang was 6:17.5...who knows the significance of that?  Hah.  As much as I wanted my marathon pace to be 6:15 this cycle, this workout made me think that it is probably 6:20.
• Sep. 25:  4 miles at marathon effort within a 12.3 mile run.  I went by effort and not pace since we were on a hilly route and since that's best for me at this point in training.  My splits were 6:13, 6:21, 6:33, 6:19, with the first mile having more downhill and the third being mostly up. 6:21 average seemed about right, and that was also right were I was on miles 2 and 4 which were more equal with their rolling hills throughout.  I ran this with Colin, who then had 3-2-1 mile progressive tempos after the 4 at marathon pace.  My 12 miles with some pace work the week before a marathon never inspires confidence and this one was no different!
• Sep. 28:  3 x 1 mile at MP with 1:30 recovery in 6:12, 6:16, 6:12.  I don't think this is my marathon pace and because my sinuses were really stuffed up it sure didn't feel like it.  I've done this enough that a not-confidence inspiring taper week workout is just par for the course.
• Strides: Sep. 6, 11, 17, 20, 21, 24, 27, and at least a couple before workouts/races.
• Doubles: Sep. 2, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 21, 23, 28.

#sleeveseptember or #sleeverlessseptember

Long Runs:

• Sep. 4: 23.1 miles (7:27), with a workout described above.  I had 3 friends (Casey, Colin, and Christian) running 20+ this day too!
• Sep. 5:  12.3 miles (8:03) with Elise, David, Colin, Casey, and Zach.
• Sep. 8:  12.1 miles (8:06) with a big Wednesday morning crew!
• Sep. 12:  20.4 miles via 3.2 miles warm up, the Plaza 10k, and 11 miles addendum (too long to call a cool down)!
• Sep. 15:  15.2 miles, with a workout (described above), in lieu of running 11 miles in the morning and 4 in the afternoon.
• Sep. 18:  18.7 miles (7:31), with a little work (described above).
• Sep. 21:  15.1 miles, with a big workout, described above.
• Sep. 25:  12.3 miles (7:23) with 4 at marathon pace.
• Note: I defined 12 miles+ in a single run as a long run for the purposes of this section this month.

Running Highlights:

• My mention in my niece's collegiate athlete bio pretty much made my month!  Read it here.
• I hit 104.3 miles on my rolling 7 for September 2-8, but didn't realize it until September 9 (e.g., was unable to add 1.8 miles that would have gotten me a new 7-day mileage PR).  I try not to be too obsessed with mileage numbers but I kind of am...
• This is more a low-light but needs mentioning.  My coach is taking a hiatus from coaching due to a new job and life stuff, so I'm back to self-coaching temporarily.  It went okay when I did it this spring, so I'm optimistic, but I also know I can't be 100% objective about my own training.
• My running buddy, who I also coach, Casey ran an awesome PR in Berlin with a 2:52:37.  I was so excited about this I felt like I'd PRed!  Seeing it all come together for her was thrilling!

Life Highlights:

• Jon and I celebrated our anniversary on Sep. 17, and Albani's birthday on Sep. 18!

School picture day for someone who
currently hates photos

Birthday - she did not want photos

Celebrating

Also celebrating

I wouldn't let her eat cake until we
took pictures

Anniversary!

Books:

• All We Ever Wanted by Emily Griffin
• The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
• My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
• The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
• Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
• True Colors by Kristin Hannah
• Mean Streak by Sandra Brown
• The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

Theme for the month:

• It's just running.  One of my friends lost her 24-year-old son and another lost her 40-year-old husband this month, which made running seem really unimportant.  In the midst of an unplanned trip to Kansas to attend their funerals, I trained as scheduled, but I was not emotionally invested in it then or really for the remainder of the month.  I'm running a marathon on October 3 but I can't seem to care about it like I usually do.

It was my best Plaza 10k, it was my worst Plaza 10k

The short:

I nabbed my best ever overall placing with what was by far my slowest time at this race, with 2nd overall female in 38:15.  Due to various factors (the heat, peak marathon training, seeing two friends suffer devastating losses in the days before the race), my expectations for the race were not high.  In retrospect, I am quite happy with the place and quite meh about the time.

Results are here.

My Strava activity is here.

Better together

The long:

I continued my hot weather racing streak at the Plaza 10k, with no clouds in the sky and 80 degrees on race morning.  Because the race fell 3 weeks before my season goal marathon, I planned to train right through it, and the forecast made me confident that was the right decision (i.e., I won't run a fast time at 80 degrees no matter how rested I am).  The week before the race I had workouts that never felt good but that I hit my paces on, which is typical for me in the throes of marathon training, and a few days before the race I saw 104 miles on my rolling 7.  I don't think racing without a taper necessarily hurts my performance, but I certainly don't feel as fresh; I just grit it out when feeling tired like I do in a lot of workouts during marathon training!

Before things went downhill in the days leading up to the race, my goal was to place as high as I could.  The best I'd ever placed at the race previously was 6th overall female.  I also hoped to win overall masters female, and to break the Missouri age 40 state record of 38:04.  Race morning I warmed up with friends and tried to enjoy the moment, but had a really hard time getting my head in the game.  In the few days prior to the race, I had a friend who lost her son unexpectedly and another friend who lost her husband, so it was difficult to place importance on the race.  My heart wasn't in the race, it was with them.

We all saw the photographer on a ladder at the start!

I saw several fast Kansas City women on the starting line, and knew they would push me in the race.  From the gun a woman I didn't know was ahead for the first half mile or so, then me and the ladies I was running with (Chandler and Amy) passed into the top 3 female positions.  I knew both Chandler and Amy were talented runners, and I was hopeful for a top 3 finish because our start felt very conservative (6:13 on the flat first mile) and no other women were around.

Race instinct took over to some degree, and I slowly upped the effort.  Like every Kansas City race, this isn't an even split course, though this is the flattest course I run in that area with about 170 feet of elevation gain.  Mile 2 was 6:03 and mile 3 6:11, though as usual I didn't look at my watch during the race.  Typically this race has a clock at the 5k but this year they didn't have a clock or timing mat, which I missed!  Sometime around the halfway point, Chandler and I pulled away from Amy.  I felt confident that I could hold onto 1 and 2 with Chandler; I had no pep but the pace also didn't feel that hard, and I knew Amy had to be feeling a lot worse than I was to let us gap her.

Running with Chandler is always a pleasure!  I really enjoyed sharing most of this race and most of Rock the Parkway with her.  She is kind, positive, and helps me get the best out of myself.  With where I was mentally and emotionally for this one, running with a friend beside me was extra helpful.

Mile 4 is downhill and usually my favorite mile of this race, but this year they were doing road construction in that area and it was all rivety.  It was not ideal terrain for Next % shoes, that's for sure!  My friend Andrew, who went out faster than me, hopped up on the sidewalk for a moment to avoid the crappy road, and I considered following him but it cut a corner off the course slightly so I didn't because I sure wasn't getting disqualified in my one chance of a top 2 finish at this event!  He realized the situation soon and jumped back on the I'm-going-to-twist-an-ankle road, and shortly after that Chandler and I passed him.  I encouraged him to go with us, but his faster start had caught up with him a bit.  My 4th mile was 5:51.

Laughing at Brent around mile 4

Mile 5 goes back up the incline the course goes down in mile 4, on the opposite side of the divided road.  Some years I have loathed that climb, but it was okay this time, possibly because I was running so much slower than I ever have at this race!  The split was 6:13, which is about even effort to our other miles with the elevation gain.  Chandler and I were still side-by-side.  Shortly after we passed mile 4, there was an aid station on the side I was on.  She mentioned she was going to get a water, telling me because she was going to have to cross either right in front of or behind me to grab it.  I told her I'd grab it for her since it was on my side.  I picked up a bottle and passed it to her, and it was caught on camera.  Despite the shot being unflattering of me, I absolutely love it!

Team work makes the dream work!

We passed mile 5 together, and right after Chandler began pulling away.  I tried to stay with her but I didn't have any get up and go.  She gradually extended her lead, and I tried not to give up but my heart really wasn't in it and I settled to some degree.  If I'd kept at it mentally, she'd have still gotten me, but not by as much - she finished 15 seconds ahead of me and my last mile was 6:02 and final kick 5:45 pace.

Clock shot

I ended up finishing in 38:15 gun time.  They didn't give chip times to the overall winners (i.e., results have chip and gun time as the same, since that is how overall prizes are awarded), but I figured since I started between Christian and Andrew, whose chip times were -10 seconds and -12 seconds respectively, my chip time would have been 38:04 (tying the state record).  State records go by gun time so gun time is all that matters there, but of course that would happen to me!  Much like in the half marathon, I know I can run significantly faster than the record time, but I cannot do it in 80 degrees.

Post-race fist bump caught on film

After the race, I headed out on the Trolley Trail for 11 more miles, which is too long to call a cool down.  I felt fine running very easy, and finished up my final 20+ mile day before my next marathon.  Andrew accompanied me for the whole addendum as part of his Chicago Marathon training, which was quite helpful.  

I'm not sure what the future holds for my next race or for everything else in life, but I know who holds the future!  God's plan often doesn't make sense to us on earth, but it's always best.

Miles from Mentor

Splits

Rock the Parkway: Heat Advisory Edition

The short:

I ran my fifth Rock the Parkway half marathon on 8/28/21 - the first time the race took place in August! I placed 3rd overall female for the third time; I can't seem to move up in my placing at this race (I've also been 4th), but I'm not fading at age 40, so I'll consider that a win.  I didn't have a time goal since it was over 80 degrees at the start and nearly 90 by the finish.  However, based on my Hospital Hill performance I figured if I could run 1:25ish it would be a good day, so I was satisfied with my 1:24:19 finish time, though I missed the Missouri state record for age 40 by 34 seconds. This was also my first time running a half marathon during a 90 mile week, but I really don't think that hurt me and blame any and all difficulty on the heat and humidity.  Racing is always a blessing, and I enjoyed myself greatly, but I also didn't feel super stoked about this one before or after, which I of course blame on summer!

Official results are here.

My dad's video of the start is here (enjoy the race officials yelling that only waves AA and A were supposed to be in the chute or starting, and a lot of people ignoring it, hah!).

My dad's video of the finish is here.

My Strava activity with splits and elevation is here.

Smiles for miles with Chandler

Pain face near the finish

The long:

Rock the Parkway is one of the races I return to year after year.  2021 was my fifth time running it.  The April 2020 event was postponed to August 2020 and then cancelled.  When race organizers cancelled they noted they were rescheduling for August 2021 with the hopes that COVID would allow them to hold a normal event by then.  After my heat debacle at the USATF Masters National meet in July, I wasn't particularly excited to run an August half, but I really love this race and knew I would have fun no matter what!

I'm loving my rabbit elite kit!

This race was 5 weeks out from my first fall marathon, and there was no reason to "waste" a taper on an 80+ degree half, so I trained right through it, including a workout with almost 7 miles of sub-6:00 running on Tuesday, 13 miles on Thursday, and 90 miles total during race week.  I've run solid halves during 80-some mile weeks before so this part didn't worry me.  I tend to feel worse if I taper too much!

I never expected the weather would be good, but when weather.com told me it was 79 degrees when I woke up on race morning, I knew things were going to be even worse than I'd expected by the 7:00 a.m. start.  My goal was to place as high as I could, and while I'd thought that I could probably just barely break the age 40 state record of 1:23:45 at 70-75 degrees, I knew it would be a stretch at 80-90 degrees.  I race by effort anyway, and this course is hilly in a way that you really need to run by effort instead of splits, so I figured I'd just start off about marathon effort and see what I got!

Not the best temperature to 
see at 4:44 a.m.!

I warmed up for a little over 2 miles with my running buddies Casey, Christian, and Andrew, we all complained about the weather, and we lined up in the elite wave.  I greeted my fast friend Chandler in the corral, saw another fast Kansas City area runner Connie, and had a brief conversation about the course elevation profile with a runner I didn't know, Kristen (names were on our bibs).  I was open about my plan to go out very easy, since the heat sneaks up on me if I don't, and I also told the others that miles 2 and 3 of the course have a lot of elevation gain so it's best to keep things really in check for the first 3 miles.

Miles from Mentor teammates

After the start, Connie was quickly out front for the women, followed by Kristen.  Chandler, Casey, Christian, and I were all together, with Andrew and several other men around as well.  Chandler and I ran most of the 2019 Grandma's Marathon together, and she told me that she was going to stick with me in this race since she thought I was the best pacer (aww).  I shared my course strategy mile by mile with her, and after getting up the climbs in miles 2-3, we notched down the effort and started trying to chase down Kristen.  At that point we lost the others who'd been running with us.

This must have been right after
an aid station, because Chandler 
was never behind me

Running with Chandler was great.  We chatted a bit, I gave her a heads up on course hills and upcoming turns, and we encouraged each other that we could overtake the woman ahead of us.  We gained on her, but I could see she was also passing men who'd gone out fast so I didn't think she was dying.  I kept my eyes on her, and before a hill around mile 8, I told Chandler we should ease up the hill then really chase her down.  At this time we were 3rd and 4th females behind Connie and Kristen.

Towards the end

I've learned that in the heat, instead of a slow burn to fatigue, it often hits me all at once.  Instead of going from feeling good to feeling okay to feeling a little tired to feeling pretty beat, I go from feeling good to feeling pretty beat all at once!  This happened around mile 9.5 of this race.  I began struggling to stay with Chandler, and hung on for maybe a quarter mile but then she gapped me.  Shortly after,  I saw Connie standing on the side of the road, having dropped out due to overheating.  She'd gone out pretty fast for the conditions, and of course I'd hoped I could catch back up to her, but not like that!  At that point I was 3rd female, with Chandler looking strong.  I hoped that Chandler could catch the first woman, and better yet, that both Chandler and I could catch her.  She still had a significant lead on us, but heat is an X factor for everyone.  I felt myself fading but reminded myself that the heat could hit the others hard at any time so I should keep pressing.  Sometimes I wish I could try a run in someone else's body and see if it feels different!

How the final 3.5 miles felt

I'm pretty good at negative splitting long races in cool weather, but it's much more difficult for me to do in the heat.  I had a far weaker final 5k than I typically do in this race, but I fought with all I had and didn't let myself settle for 3rd until I saw Chandler crossing the finish line.  The final mile of the race is downhill, though you've earned it after climbing the same hill in mile 2, and normally it's a relatively smooth mile, but this year it felt like the longest mile ever!  I just kept thinking, "when am I going to see the finish line?!"  I'd looked at my watch at mile 11 to see if I had a chance at the state record to try to motivate my tired body and my mind that was telling me 3rd was just fine, and by my very loose calculations I thought I could get it if I ran the final 2 miles at about 6:00 pace.  I have done that on this course in 45 degree weather, but it wasn't to be on this day.  I know I can break the record significantly in decent conditions, but I don't have another half in Missouri planned before I turn 41 so it would have been nice to sneak by in this one!

Clock shot!

The announcer announced "another top female finisher coming in" as I crossed the line in 1:24:19.  After bending over for a moment and congratulating Chandler and Kristen, I turned around to watch for my friends coming in.  Andrew came through in 1:25:58 (I think he is in better shape than me but the heat bothers him more), and Casey in 1:28.  We snapped some pictures and I knew I'd better get moving pretty quickly or my 6.5 more miles for the day weren't going to happen!  Christian came through in 1:34 then I jogged to my car to change my shoes, drink multiple bottles, and grab a gel and chews.  I'd planned to take a gel in the race since I had a 22 mile day, but the thought of stomaching one was not appealing!  Generally I don't take a gel in a half, but I've learned that when I'm tacking on a lot of miles after the race I need to take one to stay on top of my fueling, and I later paid for not taking it.

Casey showing how we all felt, Andrew staying on
top of hydration, & my awesome parents

Andrew ran the 6.5 additional miles with me, which was much appreciated!  We ran back on the course since the road was closed to traffic, and I ended up picking up water from two aid stations along the way, and when I started bonking I stopped and drank 3 cups of Gatorade, which saved the rest of the miles.  The extra miles were quite easy paced, but we successfully finished them off, another step towards our next 26.2s!

Please refer to age percentages ;-)

All in all, I'm content with this race.  I'm not super pumped or proud of it, but I'm also not disappointed.  I don't really think I could have done anything differently to improve my performance.  It's always a competitive event, and I'd love to move up to 1st or 2nd some day, but this wasn't my year for that.  The two women who beat me both competed in the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials and are currently training for fall marathons, so I had my work cut out for me.  I also think it was a take-what-you're-in-shape-for-and-add 5:00 kind of day for most!  Strava said this course had 525 ft of elevation gain, while it said Hospital Hill had 590 ft, but it was nearly 10 degrees warmer for this race so I think that means I ran better than at Hospital Hill - and I definitely ran better than at Masters Nationals with a non-flat middle 10k of about 38:30 in this race.  I also think I'll get some nice training gains from the race and from gutting through the miles afterwards.  And as always, any day we can run is certainly a God-given gift!

Am I the only one who keeps their
plaques in the plastic?