Super September

September 2022 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 353.5

• August 29-Sep. 4: 101.2
• Sep. 5-11: 102.3
• Sep. 12-18:  85.5
• Sep. 19-25:  70.5
• Sep. 25-Oct. 2: 67.4

#sowellfueledseptember

Races:

• Sep. 11: Plaza 10k in 38:16 (gun time) for 3rd overall female, first masters female, and a new Missouri state road racing record for age 41. I was definitely not fresh for this one (a few days off of a 24 mile workout and in a 102 mile week), but what better way than to train for a marathon than to race a 10k when your legs are tired, right? I wasn't thrilled with my time, but I was really proud of myself for holding my own with a lot of fast 20-something women in the field.

Workouts:

• Sep. 3: Long run workout of 4 easy, 5 in 6:39, 6:42, 6:34, 6:36, 6:35, 0.5 jog, 4 in 6:30, 6:39, 6:30, 6:39, 0.5 jog, 2 in 6:36, 6:15, 5 easy for 21 miles total. This was okay. I would have liked to have run faster (shocker!), but in a dew point of 70* and on a hilly course, I think I did alright. My flat course/good weather goal paces for the 3 segments were 6:30, 6:20, 6:10, and my actual averages were 6:37, 6:32, 6:25, so although I wasn't there, I did get faster each one and I finished strong. The course had 790 ft of elevation gain so it wasn't atrocious but it sure wasn't flat. After this workout I kept thinking about how running an early fall marathon requires a lot of faith, because summer paces are never truly representative of fitness!
• Sep. 7: Long run workout of 10 at 7:30ish, 10 at 6:30ish, 4 easy.  I ended up with 24 miles at 7:08 pace for the whole shebang, and my MP miles were: 6:39, 6:32, 6:25, 6:23, 6:26, 6:28, 6:22, 6:46, 6:40, 6:13 (6:29 average). I have never done this workout before and was really hoping it would go well since it was The Big One for this cycle! I was happy with it, especially because I had just run a long run workout a few days before on Sep. 3. This ideally would have been done on Sep. 10 but since I was racing on Sep. 11 this was how things ended up. It was 68*/dew point 68* for this run, I started at 5 a.m. on a Wednesday, and the course had 804 ft elevation gain. I drifted on my MP during miles 18-19, which felt a bit like the end of a marathon, but I was able to kick it in during the final mile of pace work. David ran the first 8 miles with me, then Casey did the next 13, so I only had 3 easy miles alone at the end. While I hope I can run a marathon faster than 6:29 pace at some point in good weather, I would be very happy with 6:29 pace next month.
• Sep. 14:  Wave tempo of 2 x (3 x 0.5 at MP/0.5 at 5k pace) with 3:00 jog between sets (11.4 miles total). My splits were: 3:09, 2:52, 3:11, 2:54, 3:08, 2:53 | 3:06, 2:52, 3:13, 2:55, 3:14, 2:48 - so averaged right around 6:20 for the MP and 5:45 for the 5k pace.  The MP segments felt smooth and relatively easy, and the 5k pace segments were hard but I felt strong. I did a wave tempo last month where the MP sections felt really hard and the sub-6:00 sections felt passing-out hard, so this was a nice upgrade. Casey and Spencer ran this one with me and everyone had a fantastic workout.
• Sep. 17: 18 mile workout of 4 easy, 4 at MP, 0.5 easy, 3 at MP, 0.5 easy, 2 at MP, easy to 18. I ran this on hills to prepare for the long climb from mile 20-23 at Twin Cities, and it was definitely good for me. The 4 and 3 mile sections were net uphill. I was aiming for 6:30 effort on the 4, and my grade-adjusted paces (GAPs) were 6:30, 6:33, 6:31, 6:30; I was aiming for 6:20 effort on the 3, and my GAPs were 6:16, 6:29, 6:23 (definitely the fastest I've ever run that particular stretch of road). I used Spencer's premium Strava for my GAPs, but he didn't do the same 2 mile course as me so I don't know what those GAPs were, but my actual splits were 6:30, 6:23, which were not great because I think those miles of the route were easier, but it was what I had left in my legs.
• Sep. 21: 15:00 at MP (6:32), 2 x 0.5 at threshold (6:10 on incline, 5:47 on decline), 15:00 at MP (6:16) with 3:00 jogs between each. My running buddy Casey did this with me and we both said we thought it was a short workout, then realized it was almost 6 miles of quality (12 miles total)...clearly we are used to marathon workouts. On the first MP segment my breathing was relaxed but my legs were protesting and I did not feel like I was going to have a good day, then the threshold part felt better and the second MP segment was a lot better. A good reminder that a given pace can get better as the run goes on!
• Sep. 24: 5 easy, 4 at MP (6:29, 6:31, 6:28, 6:29), 5 easy for my last long run workout. I did well being a metronome at 6:30, but as almost always in training MP felt much harder than I'd like it to.
• Sep. 28: 20:00 a little faster than MP in 6:22, 6:18, 6:09 (5:49 for the final 0.2) for my race week workout. I felt tapered - this is the one workout of the season where MP didn't feel much harder than I'd like.
• Strides: September 6, 10, 13, 20, 27.
• Doubles: September 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 22.
• Strength training: I lightened up my strength work at the end of the month, but consistency did it twice a week for the first 3 weeks. I also did a separate ~10 minute core workout 2-3 times a week, which I've been doing for years but usually don't note.
• Favorite workout: The September 14 wave tempo felt really great.

#sadseptember or #splishsplashseptember

#sweatyseptember

#superseptember

It is #stillseptember

Long Runs:

• Sep. 2: 21 miles with a workout, described above.
• Sep. 7: 24 miles (7:08) with a workout, described above - on a Wednesday before work!
• Sep. 17:  18.1 miles with a workout, described above.
• Sep. 24: 14 miles (7:20), with a workout, described above.
• Favorite long run: The Big One, the 24.

#soakingwetseptember (100% humidity)

#somuchrunningseptember (24 miles)

Running Highlights:

• I set a new rolling 7 day mileage PR from September 1-7. I had two really long runs during these 7 days, so it felt like cheating, but I'll take PRs when I can get 'em!

bRUNch

Running Lowlights:

• The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon cancelled their October 2 race on September 9. You can read the explanation here, but that put a hitch in my marathon plans! The Twin Cities Marathon, which also takes place on October 2, was kind enough to accept me into their pro field without much notice. It isn't a course I'd have normally chosen, but I was super thankful to find another option on the date that I've been targeting for months - even though the reasons I was excited about Milwaukee don't translate.

How my dad told me he was coming to my marathon

Life Highlights:

• Jon and I celebrated our wedding anniversary on September 17, then...
• Albani turned 15 on September 18!

First acrylic nails - something I've never
done but the only thing she wanted for
her 15th birthday

She isn't the biggest fan of photos

Books:

• The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
• A Star is Bored by Byron Lane
• The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
• The Measure by Nikki Erlick
• Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
• The Love of My Life by Rose Walsh
• Nothing More To Tell by Karen M. McManus
• The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle
• Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library by Amanda Oliver

Theme for the month:

• This changed every day!

Nugget helps with post-run rolling

It's hard to resist the Plaza 10k!

The short:

Racing during a ~100 mile week went "so well" last month that I decided to do it again! In my head I am faster than I ran at the Plaza 10k, but I was proud of myself for putting myself in there with a lot of women who were about 15 years younger than me. I ended up 3rd overall female and 1st masters female, and set a new state road racing record for age 41 with 38:16. It was also my first time racing a few days after a 24 mile workout!

Results are here.

My state record is here.

My Strava activity is here.

On the Plaza mid-race

The long:

In my opinion, the Plaza 10k is the best 10k road race in Missouri by far, and this year was my fifth time running it. Being in mid-September, it always falls during marathon training for me, and previously I've run 3-4 miles before and 8-10 miles after the race to make it into a big day. My coach didn't want me to do that this year; he wanted me to get in a 24 mile workout around the time of the race, so after weighing our options we landed on doing the 24 mile workout on Wednesday, September 7. That gave me 3 days between the workout and Plaza on September 11, although those recovery days weren't short either - because it was also peak mileage week!

I felt great considering going into the race, and the temperature had cooled down enough to feel like an amazing contrast, at 56* on race morning. I met my friend Andrew, who was kind enough to pick up my race packet on Saturday for me, and ran a warm up with him and a couple of his Kansas City friends. My uptempo running and strides during my warm up felt smooth, and I was excited to give it a go.

Start

I saw numerous fast women warming up and on the starting line. I wanted to podium, but my bigger goal was to set the state record for my age (41), so initially I prioritized pacing well over competing. I got out at a pace that felt sustainable for a 10k, which ended up being a 6:02 first mile. This course isn't an even pacing course due to the hills, but mile 1 is flat. I didn't look at my splits until afterward, but that was probably a pretty perfect start.

The course turns right just before the mile mark, and it's easy to see the runners in front of you. At that point I counted that I was in 9th female, but the majority of the women ahead of me were relatively close. My competitive nature kicked in and I forgot about my time goals and began chasing down the women in front of me. I'd moved up to 6th by the end of mile 2, which has some ups and downs but is a net downhill. My split was 5:54.

By the halfway point, I'd moved into the 3rd female position. Mile 3 has some ups and downs and is a net uphill, and my split was 6:11. The course used to have a clock at the 5k mark, and I kind of miss that but also kind of don't - in past years I'd always think, "that's my fastest 5k this season", and this year was the same!

Mile 4 has a long gradual decline, with some flats. It is usually my fastest mile, though this year I ended up splitting 5:56, so not quite. The women in 4th and 5th were right on my tail and I could tell they were friends working together. They passed me back just before the mile 4 marker, but I wasn't going to let them go and latched on.

I'm not sure where this is at, but the 
woman who was 4th is visible

Mile 5 in a long incline, a little downhill, then another long incline, and it's always my slowest mile of this race. I felt really strong and passed the two women back plus passed a couple of men, even though my split was only 6:18. The two women were not letting up though, and it wasn't long before they were trying to pass me back. I decided that if they beat me and congratulated me in the finish chute I was going to tell them I was old enough to be their mother, haha!

I wasn't fresh, but I had marathon strength and was able to put some distance on the two ladies in the final mile. I felt really strong and sure thought I was running sub-6:00 pace, but my split was 6:08. There are several little hills in the final mile and they add up! However, what I had was enough to maintain my lead on the next two women, plus the 6th woman who was right on their heels. I kept telling myself "Go, go, go, they are coming!" I really started pressing when I passed the mile 6 sign, which seemed earlier than in years passed - then when I heard my Gamin beep mile 6 probably 200 m after the sign I knew the sign was early and I probably still had 0.3 to go because my Garmin always reads long at this race [note to self: all of the mile markers seemed to be estimations, with mile 1 also being early].

When I saw the finishing clock I knew I'd better get in quick to get the state record. The record I broke was 38:24, so I had it by 8 seconds with my 38:16 but it's always hard to judge just how far you are from the finish line. My chip time was probably 38:14, but they only give gun time for overall winners, and gun time is used for records anyway.

Sure looks like 38:15 to me though!

I wasn't thrilled with my time, but I was thrilled with the state record and for holding my own with all of the younger ladies in that race! I never really understood why people were so into masters running and age grading times until recently. 5 years ago I'd have thought nothing about going head-to-head with a bunch of 25 year olds, but now I am pretty proud when I can.

I ran a 4 mile cool down - definitely the shortest I've ever run after this race - for about 13.5 miles on the day. I then enjoyed the rest of the day in Kansas City! I visited a restaurant and shops on the Plaza, Loose Park, and City Market before dinner with a friend in downtown Parkville.

Sidebar: I've been training for the Milwaukee Marathon for months, and on September 9 they cancelled the race due to the city not issuing the verbally promised permits. I did not see that coming! I scrambled to find another marathon that I would be excited about and could drive to on the same date, October 2 - I'd already done my 24 miler after all! After a few days of communication, on September 14 I was officially accepted into the professional field at the Twin Cities Marathon. I am thankful Twin Cities let me in at the last minute, and that I'm able to keep the same targeted race date!

Plaza Chiefs support

Loose Park rose garden

City Market