Running Down the Dream: September 2024

Monday, September 30, 2024

Sad September

September 2024 in review

Total mileage for the month: 354.9

Sep. 2-8: 87.3
Sep. 9-15: 91.0
Sep. 16-22: 71.3
Sep. 23-29: 85.1

Wave tempo Wednesday

Races:

Sep. 14: One Sole Purpose 10k in 42:35 for 1st overall female. I have always avoided this race because the course is ridiculously challenging (including a 2 mile hill), but I won a free entry to the event this year so gave it a go. My main goals were to win OAF and get in 20 miles for the morning, both of which I accomplished.

Elise's birthday long run

Workouts:

Sep. 3: 6 x 1 mile progressive with 1:00 recoveries, with the goal of starting slower than threshold and finishing faster, averaging threshold. My splits were 6:35, 6:23, 6:21, 6:10, 5:57, 5:55 (6:13 average) and I got in 14 miles which is a good Tuesday morning!
Sep. 7: 20 miles via 10 easy + 10 moderate. I averaged 7:24 for the moderate and finished with my fastest mile uphill, but more importantly finished feeling great. That hadn't happened on a long run for awhile. I think I'm getting more sensitive to heat every year.
Sep. 10: 6 x 400 m w/ 200 m jogs, 5 miles steady, 4 x 0.25ish w/ 0.12ish jogs. The last part was supposed to be another 6 x 400 m but I didn't calculate the amount of time this workout would take very well and ran too long of a warm-up (4 miles), so had to run back to my car for that portion of the workout in lieu of a cool down. The 400s were 1:31, 1:27, 1:29, 1:29, 1:28, 1:27 (targeting 1:28-1:29), the steady on hills was 7:15, 7:13, 7:39, 7:21, 6:57 (targeting 7:20-7:30), and the final 0.25ish were also on hills so paces varied but were 6:00, 6:26, 6:00, 6:07 (would have been targeting 1:28-1:29 on the track but instead it was just "hard").
Sep. 14: 20.4 miles via 4.1 easy, One Sole Purpose 10k, 10.1 easy. This was warm and very humid morning so I was thankful I got it done.
Sep. 18: 6 mile wave tempo targeting 0.5 at MP/0.5 at 10k pace. I had a conundrum on what paces to target and settled on 7:00/6:30. My MP segments were 3:27, 3:30, 3:24, 3:27, 3:22, 3:25 and 10k segments were 3:02, 3:03, 3:05, 3:04, 3:05, 3:01. On flat ground and in decent weather I averaged 6:29 pace for 6 miles the hard way (uneven pacing), quite a bit faster than my hot and hilly 10k race a few days prior, and I also felt far better.
Sep. 21: 16 miles via 3 easy, 2 threshold effort, 7.2 easy, 2 threshold effort, 1.8 easy. Threshold effort only got me 7:02, 6:51, 7:02, 6:44, which was disappointing. I had an exhausting week and kind of feared this one wouldn't go well, then it was in the 70s with 100% humidity this morning. The first 2 were more uphill and the second 2 had more downhill but I was more tired too. I ended up getting a sore throat and congestion this evening so suspect that heavily contributed to failing this workout.
Sep. 25: 7 x (0.75 threshold, 0.25 hard, 1:30 jog). I had low expectations for this workout since I was getting over a cold, and didn't look at my watch during it. I ended up running pretty even with splits of: 4:57, 1:31, 5:02, 1:32, 5:02, 1:33, 5:02, 1:31, 5:03, 1:33, 5:05, 1:25, 5:03, 1:33. This wasn't wonderful but it wasn't as bad as I expected!
Favorite workout: September 3 because it felt great and I executed the progression so well.

Sweaty September

Long Runs:

Sep. 7: 20 miles (7:55)
Sep. 14: 20.4 miles
Sep. 21: 16 miles (7:51)
Sep. 28: 22.1 miles (7:51), which I was shocked to complete after 2.5 days of crying and not sleeping. I had a workout scheduled but did not do it, and I gave myself possible outs around 13 when Lisa finished and 16 when Paul finished, but I ended up running the final 6 miles my fastest by some miracle.
Favorite long run: September 7 felt the best!

Something September

Smiling September

Smiling & sweaty September

Running Highlights:

For some reason it doesn't really feel like I'm marathon training even with having done 4 x 20+ milers, but at this point I only have 3 more big long runs.

Smiling & sweaty

More smiling & sweaty

Life Stuff:

We lost our cat Nugget on September 25, one of the worst experiences of my life. He survived saddle thrombus in July and had recovered well and was doing great on his meds. I knew that the chances of reoccurrence were high and that cats with his heart condition can be fine one minute and pass the next, but that didn't prepare me. He went to the vet around noon for another saddle thrombus, but it was less severe than his first, he began treatment very quickly, and he was recovering well at 2:45. Around 3:20 he threw another clot that went into his lungs and the vet was unable to save him. From all of the veterinary articles I've read on Nugget's conditions, I know the vet used the current recommended course of treatment, and I am grateful he called us when Nugget started declining. Jon, Albani, and I rushed to the vet and were able to be with him when he passed around 4:00. I was thankful he had pain medication and oxygen, and that we did not have to make the decision to euthanize him. He was a fighter and I know if he could have possibly survived he would have! I am thankful we got almost 11 more weeks with him after his first clot, as only 10% of cats survive them. I don't know if really any cats survive a second clot, though I think he would have survived his second had he not had the third clot go into his lungs. I just feel like I'm walking around in a numb haze right now. I wrote a very long post about it all here.
September was busy with something big almost every weekend:

Girls dinner in Webb City
Lauren's wedding and Amelia Earhart touring in Atchinson
Silver Dollar City with 4 teenagers

We celebrated Albani's birthday and Jon and my wedding anniversary.

Junior picture

Girls' night

Nugget's fall pose

Bandit's fall pose

Lauren's wedding

Beautiful Kansas scenery

17!

Jon tried to get me an anniversary cake, lol

Silver Dollar City birthday celebration

Books:

She's Not Sorry by Mary Cubica
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
The Housemaid is Watching (The Housemaid #3) by Freida McFadden
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story by Linda Sue Park
Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear by Jinger Duggar Vuolo
Bad Graces by Kyrie McCauley

Theme for the month:

It's hard for me to call it anything but Sad September now. Earlier in the month we did smiling, sweaty, speedy, and smelly September. I also had most of this post written in advance.

Friday, September 20, 2024

I won a free entry to the One Sole Purpose 10k through my running club, so gave this super hilly Springfield race a try for the first time. Race morning was warm with 100% humidity, plus I wanted to run 20 miles total for the day, so I did not have ambitious time goals for the race. I did hope I could manage an overall female win, though.

I ran 4.2 miles before the race to "warm up", i.e. become drenched in sweat and probably dehydrated. I tried to time it so I wouldn't be standing around for very long, but the race started a few minutes later than scheduled so I probably had about 7 minutes of waiting. Not terrible, but not ideal in the middle of a long run.

Pre-race

I started conservatively and in second female position. I suspected the teenage girl ahead of me was in the 5k but the effort felt comfortable for the distance, so I stayed pretty close to her. Some men that I usually run with or finish in front of were ahead of me, but I reminded myself they were likely not making it into a 20 mile day like I was. I also didn't feel very motivated to push; I think I was tired from the week.

The race started up a short hill then went down a fairly long decline. I relaxed down it but knowing I had to run back up it didn't excite me. I'd run the course on easy runs before so knew what I was in for. I also knew my splits would be all over the place. The course had several turns and at each one there was a volunteer holding an big arrow that displayed the distance on it. Our first turn was shortly after the start and their arrow said 0.1 which made me giggle. Throughout the race I ended up really liking the distance arrows since I always knew where I was at.

By the mile mark I was in first female position for both races with several men ahead of me. I didn't feel good but I felt like I could maintain my effort level. The second mile was up and down and up and down, and at 1.8 the 5k split off and headed back towards the finish. The 5k ran one big loop and the 10k did the same loop with an added "tail". We started our out-and-back section after the 5k split off. We had another downhill bit that again was hard to enjoy knowing we'd come back up it, plus I got a bad side ache on it. I passed a couple of men on that section and wasn't sure what overall place I was in but didn't think there were too many more in front of me.

The next turnaround was at mile 3.4 and then we started our trek up a 2.1 mile hill. I counted my overall position at the turn around, and there were 5 men in front of me. I also timed my lead on the second female and it was about 1:20 so felt pretty secure. I ended up passing 4 men going up the long hill, which is surprising since I'm not at all good at hills. Perhaps the timing of it in the race and my marathon strength helped me there. My side ache went away going uphill, making me think I was doing something different with my form running downhill (really the only other times I've had side aches in races is running into headwinds, and I know it's because the wind changes my form). One of the men stayed with me for quite awhile when I passed him, which helped me power through the hill. We also started going through 5k runners from about mile 5 on, and as usual rapidly passing people gave a boost.

At 5.5 we finished the long hill then had a short downhill, during which my side ache returned. I actually didn't mind going back uphill to the finish because going uphill it again went away! I heard someone coming up on me as I neared the finish line, and it was the man who I'd run with for awhile on the long hill. I didn't make an effort to kick on the incline to the finish, so he ended up finishing ahead of me. I just didn't have it in me knowing I had 10 more miles to run and a solid female win. Maybe I'm getting wimpy!

I tried to smile here

While on the course I was thinking it'd be a miracle if I ran under 7:00 pace on that course in that weather, so I was happy enough when my watch told me I averaged 6:51 pace. My official time was 42:35. It is somewhat sad that my PR is over 6 minutes faster (i.e., over a minute per mile), even though 2017-2019 Sara would not have run anywhere near a PR on that course either. I finished ahead of a man I've run portions of several Bass Pro Marathons with (who also runs sub-3 at that race almost every year), which brought some comfort.

I jogged to my car to grab a drink and a gel, and to meet my friend Sally for 10 more miles. She wanted to sleep in later than the main group run that day and was kind enough to meet me after my race. I didn't feel like a million bucks on the rest of the run, but it wasn't awful either, and the company really helped. I ended up with 20.4 total miles and I was glad to get it in! I had a out-of-town wedding the day after the race and didn't want to leave the 20 for Sunday.

I'll probably only run this one again if I win another free entry, but the trophy was adorable and I am sure it was good for me!

Results are here.

Sunday, September 1, 2024

August Angst

August 2024 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 330.1

July 29-Aug. 4: 76.1
Aug. 5-11: 80.0
Aug. 12-18: 65.7
Aug. 19-25: 82.6
Aug. 26-Sep. 1: 67

Hot angsty long run

Workouts:

August 6: 8 x 400 m w/ 200 m jogs + 2 x 1 mile threshold effort w/ 1:30 jog. This was my third workout back after 7 weeks off workouts, and I am always amazed at how quickly I improve after starting back (because in any other scenario that is not the case)! My 400s were: 1:26, 1:27, 1:25, 1:26, 1:27, 1:25, 1:26, 1:25 and my miles were 6:22, 6:19. The week before I did 1 threshold effort mile in 6:41 and expected this would be similar, so was really pleased when I saw my splits afterwards! Casey ran the 400s with me for her first workout back after Grandma's, which was nice.
August 10: 2.3 progressive fast finish on the tail end of an 18.3 mile run in 7:23, 7:01, (6:38 pace for 0.3).
August 14: 4 x 0:45 hills, 3 mile threshold effort, 2 x 0:45 hills. The hills were hard and ranged from 5:50-6:07 pace, and the threshold felt strong and was 6:28, 6:26, 6:12.
August 17: 10 x 1:00 picks ups around the beginning of each mile from 3 to the end of a 13.2 mile cut-back long run.
August 21: 4 x 300 m, 3 mile threshold effort, 4 x 1:00 hills. Recoveries were 1:00 between 300s (jog 100 m then stand for a bit), jog to the tempo loop, jog to the hill, and jog down the hill, respectively. This workout went well, likely because it was 64*! My 300s were 1:03, 1:03, 1:01, 1:00, my threshold (with a kick) was 6:18, 6:13, 5:59, and my hill paces were 6:12-6:19. I think my watch reads a little fast on that tempo loop so the splits were probably more like 6:23, 6:18, 6:04, but I'm happy with those too. It's also the same route I used for every other threshold this month, so splits are comparable but all may be a little quick, if that makes sense.
August 28: 6 x 400 m w/ 200m jogs + 4 x 1 mile threshold effort w/ 1:30 jogs. This went far better than I expected in a temperate of 77* and dew point of 74* at 5:15 a.m.! My 400s were 1:30, 1:26, 1:28, 1:27, 1:27, 1:25 and my miles were 6:27, 6:20, 6:15, 6:04. I was happy with my averages and also the way in which I executed this workout with negative splits. Much like the two threshold workouts before, the last half mile included a significant speed up that was faster than threshold effort but felt strong. I ended up getting a little but the day after this workout so maybe I pushed too hard - but almost everyone I work with also had it so maybe nothing would have helped.
Favorite workout: August 21 because it was cooler and felt great.

My main workout buddies this month
(Lisa: "It's hard to look angsty after a good workout!")

Long Runs:

August 3: 16.5 miles, which were hot and draggy until I picked up the pace for mile 16 and strangely felt much better.
August 10: 18.3 miles, with the final 2.3 fast finish
August 17: 13.2 miles, with 10 x 1:00.
August 24: 20.2 miles, with random hill pushes (just whenever we hit a hill). I planned to do 18 but 20 happened!
August 31: 16 miles, with 6 attempted at steady (7:20-7:30). I planned to do 18 but was getting over a minor illness and felt really weak by 16 so stopped.
Favorite long run: I don't know that any of these were great, so I'll go with the 20 miler.

Hot humid long

Running Highlights:

I got to run with my 21-year-old niece each morning on our Eureka Springs trip.

Story nailed the dramatic angst

We forgot about this one until after we'd
showered (nephew in background)

Life Highlights:

Albani and I did a long weekend getaway in Holiday Island, Arkansas with my sister's family (Jon stayed home with Nugget). I got to do some hilly runs with my niece Story who runs for Columbia University.
Albani and I also did a Labor Day weekend getaway to Kansas City for a friend's wedding and IKEA trip. Jon doesn't like going to weddings and again stayed with Nugget. We then tried to remember if he's gone to any weddings with me except ours, and we figured out he has attended 1.25 (he fully attended one and came to the very end of the reception of another). I've taken Albani to at least 5 and she enjoys them!
Nugget is doing really well overall! He eats, sleeps, grooms, plays, and gets around well, and just seems happy (for about 36 hours during/after the clot he was not happy). As of August 31 he is 7 weeks past saddle thrombus. The risk of reoccurrence is highest during the first 30 days so we are thankful he is past that and feel a little better about leaving him home alone for short periods of time. He takes 3 medications daily so cannot be left alone if we travel though. We have done a lot of physical therapy with him and he continues to make progress towards walking completely normally again. Throughout this whole thing he has never not made it into his litter box, which I found really impressive, especially during the initial episode - and we are very fortunate because some cats end up needing diapers after this type of clot.
Albani started her junior year of high school.