September 2017 Mileage

149.17

This should have been a lot bigger.

That is what I think when I look at this number, despite the fact that I can't go back and change how September rolled out.  It was a bit of a shit storm.  After many months of being able to prioritize running, I wasn't able to do that.  Don't worry - I tell myself all the things.  Still stings a bit though.

On a positive note, it is well above my 100 miles/month goal and not too out of whack for the last couple months (July = 157.36, August =153.14).

My annual mileage at the end of September was 1381.53 miles, 

• a 52.8% increase from what my 2016 mileage was at the end of September of that year, and 
• a 79.6% increase from what my 2015 mileage was at the end of September at that year.  

So I'm still building and remaining consistent.  Keep on truckin'.

Milwaukee Marathon Half Marathon Training: Week 16 Recap

Last week was going to be a hectic one, I knew it from the outset.  It lived up to its billing and I had a terrible mileage week.  On top of that, my throat started to hurt last Sunday (Sept 24) and thus I was on a combo of Flonase, Sudafed, Zyrtec all week. I am still battling all the sinus things today.

We also were going to be out of town Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon for the Hall of Fame activities which threw a bit of a wrench in things.  Hall of Fame activities = I was inducted into my high school's athletic hall of fame over the weekend which included a dinner/ceremony Friday evening and a football game Saturday.  Here's my wave from the field:

I also wanted to cheer for peeps running the Lakefront Marathon on Sunday morning so by the time the weekend was over, I was so run down that I just skipped all running all weekend and got up super early this morning to get a long run in.  If I counted my long run today in last week's mileage, it would look a little more respectable, but I won't cheat the stats for you :)

Monday, September 25
Plan says: Rest

What I do:  Rest.  I had a night of sporadic sleep due to post-nasal drip.

Tuesday, September 26
Plan says: 1.5 mile warm up, 4 x 1.5 miles at 10K pace (0.5 mile jog in-between), 1.5 miles cool down

What I do:  My son woke up....(I just wondered how many days of training begin with this phrase!) at 4 AM.  Luckily this was a rare occasion where he went back to sleep.   I did not and thus was dressed and out the door.  It was another warm morning and I told myself to enjoy it because soon enough it will be FREEZING for months on end.  63 degrees and 77% humidity.

Once again, goal pace for my strength workouts is 6:34.

1.5 mile warm up, 12:50 (8:33 avg pace)

1.5 miles, 9:48.6 (6:32 avg pace) / 0.5 miles, 4:33.4 (9:08 avg pace)
1.5 miles, 9:45.1 (6:30 avg pace) / 0.53 miles, 4:48.4 (9:04 avg pace)
1.5 miles, 9:45.6 (6:30 avg pace) / 0.5 miles, 4:26.4 (8:53 avg pace)
1.5 miles, 9:46.3 (6:31 avg pace)

1.5 mile cool down, 13:01 (8:37 avg pace)

Total: 10.54 miles

The first rep of this workout was tough.  I was huffing and puffing and my throat was on fire.  Thankfully once I got the first one out of the way and a chance to feel the pace, the other three fell into place.  I did these slightly faster than the first time I did this workout on 9/5:

1.5 miles, 10:01 (6:40 pace) / 0.5 miles, 4:25.7 (8:50 pace)
1.5 miles, 9:46.3 (6:30 pace) / 0.5 miles, 4:21.4 (8:43 pace)
1.5 miles, 9:50.3 (6:33 pace) / 0.5 miles, 4:23.1 (8:48 pace)
1.5 miles, 9:48.2 (6:32 pace)

So funny that my second rep is the fastest in both cases.

Wednesday, September 27
Plan says: 6 miles easy

What I do: 6.2 miles in my new supernovas.  I love them!  51:27 (8:17/mi avg pace).

Thursday, September 28
Plan says: 5 miles easy

What I do:  Squeezed in 5 miles at the end of the day.  It was a glorious fall day.

5 miles, 38:11.4 (7:38/mi avg pace).

Friday, September 29
Plan says: 1.5 mi warm up, 7 miles tempo, 1.5 mi cool down

What I do:  Half that.  I was wrangling children in the early morning hours so I got out of the house late.  I was only going to be able to get this done in the morning so I had to get out and get what I could done.  I figured some was better than none.  I ended up being way late for work but oh well.  I had so much snot during this run.  The snot rockets were epic.  Gross.

1 mile warm up (8:07), 3 miles tempo (6:47, 6:40, 6:42), 1 mile cool down (7:49).

5 miles, 36:09 (7:13/mi avg pace).

Saturday, September 30
Plan says: 14 miles long

What I do:  0 miles

Sunday, October 1
Plan says: 7 miles easy

What I do:  0 miles

Plan Miles: 53
Total Weekly Miles: 26.76  YIKES  That is the worst total miles/plan miles ratio I have had all year.

NEW SHOES!

Fun times! I got not one, but TWO new pairs of running shoes! 

First pair:  Hoka Clifton 4

I went to a local running store on Saturday afternoon to get a new pair of shoes (Performance Running Outfitters in case there are any local readers!).  I had a $25 gift card for taking 2nd in the Race for Bacon.  I have had consistent good luck with Adidas running shoes, but I have been very curious about Hokas for a while, as well as some other brands, so I asked to try on a variety.  It has been a while since I have done that!

Generally I look for a neutral shoe, with a good responsive/cushion mix.  Most of the time the drop  of shoes that I like is between 8 and 12 mm. 

I first tried on a Brooks Glycerine 15.  Years ago, I ran in the Glycerine 12 and liked it, but didn't like the 13 when I tried it on.  I didn't like the 15 either.  Nothing specific, just didn't love it.

Next I tried on a New Balance 1080.  I liked this better than the Glycerine but felt a little wide in the toebox for me.

I tried on the Hoka Clifton 4 next.  I was surprised at how light they felt given the ENORMOUS sole.  I liked them particularly how they fit around my whole foot.  I don't think I have a particularly narrow foot but many times I find toeboxes too wide.  They were very comfy.

I tried on a new pair of Adidas Ultraboost for comparison and I still love those shoes.  So much bounce!  The ONLY problem I have with the Ultraboost is that I don't foresee them lasting as long as other shoes have lasted for me.  I just crossed the 200 mile mark with them and they have significant wear on them already.  I feel like I will be lucky if they get to 300 miles.

Finally, I tried on a pair of Adidas Supernovas.  I had no intention of buying these because I knew a pair was going to be coming in the mail (more later) but was curious.  Upon try on, I liked them a lot, although not as much as the Ultraboost.

I decided to go for it on the Hokas.  Having gift cards always makes me in the "treat yo self" mindset so I did.  I ran 3.25 miles in them on Sunday and liked them a lot.  They have a smaller drop in them (5 mm) so I'm planning on slowly easing into them lest I end up in the land of calf pain like I did after trying Brooks Pure Flows.

Second Pair: Adidas Supernova

I entered the Jack Rabbit #BoostGameStrong contest...and won!  I was one of five winners of a new pair of Adidas running shoes.  HUGE SCORE since I am a big fan of this brand and Boost technology.  I was able to choose between the Adios, Supernova, Energy Boost, and Supernova ST lines.  OH the agony.  I have had three previous pairs of Energy Boost and loved all of them BUT have been very curious about the Supernova after Anna Weber posted on Facebook that she got almost 800 miles out of a pair.  WHAT?!

I ended up going with the unknown, since it was a contest and I wasn't paying for them anyways.  They showed up on my doorstep last night and I plan on taking them for a spin tomorrow!

As a side note, I am really impressed with the running shoe descriptions on the Jack Rabbit website!  So so informative!

Now my shoe rotation looks like:

Asics GT 2000 5 (current mileage = 267.64 miles)
Adidas Ultraboost X (current mileage = 207.32)
Hoka Clifton 4 (current mileage = 3.25)
Adidas Supernova (current mileage = 0)

I love talking shoes!  What are you currently running in?

Milwaukee Marathon Half Marathon Training: Week 15 Recap

Last week had some curveballs, personally and professionally, so running was not able to be at the top of the priority list.  I only logged runs 5 of the 7 days, and our weather has been CRAZY.  Temps the last three days were in the mid-90s.  So we celebrated the arrival of autumn by sweating like crazy. 

Monday, September 18
Plan says: Rest

What I do:  Rest.

Tuesday, September 19
Plan says: 1.5 mile warm up, 3 x 2 miles at 10K pace (0.5 mile jog in-between), 1.5 miles cool down

What I do:  My son woke up at 5 just as my alarm was going off and insisted I lay with him.  Unfortunately this early morning rising behavior has been a consistent trend that is annoying to say the least when you are trying to get up and get out of the house before waking anyone up.  My morning workout was therefore shot.  Maybe I could leave work early and get some portion of this in before the bus arrives...

...except that I had been waiting to get in to my primary care doctor and they had an afternoon appointment so I took it.  Maybe I could switch up the plan and get some miles in on the treadmill after the kids are in bed...

...except by that point I was done in.  I went to bed at 8:15.

0 miles

Wednesday, September 20
Plan says: 7 mi tempo with 1.5 mile warm up & cool down

What I do: Wake up to my daughter's tapping at 4:30 AM.  Go with her and lay in her bed for a bit until she falls back asleep and then get dressed to do Tuesday's strength workout that did not get done.  I was anticipating it to be a typical cool fall morning and boy was I wrong.  The humidity as disgusting as I opened the door to outside.  And it was FOGGY.

Goal pace: 6:34 or 13:08 for 2 mi repeats.

1.55 mile warm up, 12:33 (8:05 avg pace)

2 miles, 13:13 (6:36 avg pace)  / 0.51 miles, 4:40.5 (9:12 avg pace)
2 miles, 13:01 (6:30 avg pace)  / 0.5 miles, 4:39.0 (9:15 avg pace)
2.01 miles, 13:01 (6:29 avg pace)

1.55 mile cool down, 13:07 (8:28 avg pace)

I was soaking wet by the time this was done, including my hair.  GROSS.  At times I felt like I was running through one of those rockstar smoke machines!

Thursday, September 21
Plan says: 6 miles easy

What I do: Unfortunately/Fortunately I woke up at 4 this morning because of...you guessed it, one of the kids and never fell back asleep.  This meant I was up and on the roads.  Again it was 83% humidity and 68 degrees.  AT 5 AM.  IN WISCONSIN.  In mid-September.  ?????  Easy 10K this morning.

6.2 miles, 51:19 (8:17 avg pace)

Friday, September 22
Plan says: 5 miles easy

What I do:  I ran after work and it was, no joke, 96 degrees and full sun outside.  I was miserable.  I was never so excited to see a school bus in my life.

3.55 miles, 27:51 (7:50 avg pace)

Saturday, September 23
Plan says: 10 miles long

What I do:  I got out early because it was going to be another scorcher.  I actually probably ran another 0.25 miles than what my Garmin logged because I stopped to quick change my iPod from podcast to song and, duh, forgot to restart my watch for a bit.  I was excited to see that my fastest pace during this run was 6:44.

10.06 miles, 1:17:06 (7:40 avg pace)

Sunday, September 24
Plan says: 5 miles easy

What I do:  Set my alarm for another early morning to beat the heat.  I bought new running shoes on Saturday afternoon that I was excited to test out so I ran the first part of this in my new Hoka Cliftons, leaving my Asics on the porch to change into for the second part.

3.25 miles, 26:52 (8:16 avg pace) - Hokas
3.75 miles, 30:17 (8:04 avg pace) - Asics

Total - 7 miles

Plan Miles: 46
Total Weekly Miles: 36.94 (womp womp)

THREE MORE WEEKS UNTIL RACE DAY! (Let's hope the weather cools down a ton before then!)

Consistency in Mileage

I recently listened to a Real Talk Radio with Nicole Antoinette with Jason Fitzpatrick.  This is from the first season of the podcast, which I am trying to get through all of the episodes that are out, having become familiar with it during Season 10. 

It was fun to listen to a running coach talk about, you guessed it, running.  One takeaway I had from listening to this is the importance of consistency.  This was not the first time that I have heard of the importance of consistency in running but given that I am trying to improve my consistency this year, it was a message I was open to hearing.

Consistency is what I am banking on to get me through the half marathon in a 1:28:xx this year.  I have NOT followed my 18 week training plan to a T and when I get down on that, I think of how much more running I have been doing this year than last.  This led me to wondering, I wonder how many more miles have I run leading up to this race than last year?

Last year I ran the PNC Milwaukee Running Festival Half Marathon on Nov 7.  I used Kara Goucher's 10 week training plan for Oiselle, which I started on August 29.  I logged 250.66 miles using that plan prior to the 13.1 which I ran in 1:29:22 (6:49 avg pace), significantly under my 7:00/mile goal pace that I trained for.  The day of the race was PERFECT for running.

This year, I planned on running the same half marathon which went through a name change and a management change, and thus, a course change.  So while it won't be perfectly correlated with last year, it will be similar.  The race this year is also 3 weeks earlier - so greater chance of being warmer.  I picked an 18 week, Hanson plan to train this year.

July 4 would have been day 1 of an 18 week training plan for the race last year.  I logged 340.95 total miles for the 18 weeks leading up to my half last year.  At this point, I am 15.5 weeks into an 18 week training plan.  15.5 weeks in last year would be Oct 13, 2016.   During July 4 - Oct 13 2016,  I logged 254.91 miles. 

I began training on June 13 this year for my 18 week training plan.  During June 13 - September 21 2017, I have logged 497.14 miles which is already more than I did in the total 18 weeks prior to last year's race.  Day for day, I am 242.23 miles ahead of last year.  That is pretty incredible! 

I plotted my monthly mileage totals for the last 3 years (through August) below.  Purple is 2017, Red is 2016, Blue is 2015.  You can see peaks in spring for all three years because I have trained for and ran a marathon all 3 years.   I anticipate that the purple line will have a similar peak as the red line once I get through the remainder of training.  My goal for 2017 is to hit 100 miles every month (dashed black line below) and so far (*knock on wood*), I have met that goal.

Milwaukee Marathon Half Marathon Training Week 14 Recap

Last week was decent.  I had a race on Saturday so I moved things around and that meant I was doing long run the day after a race, which isn't ideal but I made it through.  And honestly, my house was a shit storm yesterday so it was much better being out there slogging through a long run. 

I have been retiring shoes like crazy lately so I'm down to rotating between two pairs - my Adidas Ultraboost X and my Asics GT2000.  Good thing I won ANOTHER pair of running shoes!  Just waiting for a pair of Adidas Supernovas to show up at my doorstep.  I do have to get to our local running store to get another new pair though to beef my rotation up because my Asics are what I ran my spring marathon in so they are getting up there and I generally save my Ultraboosts for speed/tempos.  In the past I have noticed that I get around 400 miles out of a pair of shoes, but the last several pairs haven't made it that far before I've noticed weird things.  Are shoes not as well made? Do you get harder on shoes with age?  I dunno but annoying nonetheless.

Ok - here's the long form recap:

Monday, September 11
Plan says: Rest

What I do:  Rest.  Ok, so really Tuesday was supposed to be the rest day but I slept through my alarm.  In writing this recap, I switched the plan says portion of Monday and Tuesday to make it easier to read :)

Tuesday, September 5
Plan says: 1.5 mile warm up, 2 x 3 miles at 10K pace (1 mile jog in-between), 1.5 miles cool down

What I do:  My alarm went off at 5 AM and I lagged in getting out of bed.  I finally got out of bed and hit the road to do this.  I had pre-ordered a new Oiselle crop top which arrived over the weekend.  I wanted to wear it for the race on Saturday so I tested it out on this workout.  Two thumbs up (even though I like how my old Oiselle crop fits better).

This workout is the top of the strength workout ladder in the Hanson plan.  After 2 x 3 miles, you work back down the ladder and do all the workouts you already did.  It is a hard workout and I was nervous going into it.

Goal pace was 6:34.

1.5 mile warm up 12:37 (8:24 avg pace)

3 miles, 19:45 [6:45, 6:35, 6:23] (6:34 avg pace)

1 mile jog, 8:38

3 miles, 19:36 [6:40, 6:31, 6:24] (6:32 avg pace)

0.6 mile cool down, 5:17 (8:52 avg pace)

SHAZAM!  I was pumped after this workout.  I had executed it perfectly according to how I wanted to - start each 3 mile segment slower and gradually get faster.

During marathon training, my 3 mile segments for this workout (goal 7:05) on April 17 were:

3 miles, 20:36 (6:51 avg pace) (Mile splits: 6:57, 6:45, 6:52)

3 miles, 20:30 (6:49 avg pace) (Mile splits: 6:48, 6:51, 6:49)

Wednesday, September 6
Plan says: 5 miles easy

What I do: 5 miles easy.  Nothing else to say about that one.

5 miles, 42:44 (8:32 avg pace)

Thursday, September 7
Plan says: 6 miles easy

What I do: Overslept so had to do this after work/before bus dropoff, which usually means I get in around 4.5 miles.  So...I knew once my watch beeped 5 miles that something was off.  Turns out the bus totally skipped our neighborhood so I had to SPRINT after it.  Hilarious, in hindsight.  In the moment, I was an adrenaline fueled mom on a mission.

5.06 miles, 39:13 (7:45 avg pace)

Friday, September 8
Plan says: 5 miles easy

What I do:  Another post-work run.  Getting lots of hot weather running in this week. The bus did NOT miss our neighborhood this time.

4.33 miles, 32:55 (7:44 avg pace)

Saturday, September 9
Plan says: 8K RACE

What I do:  My race report is here.

Garmin: 5.03 miles, 32:20 (6:26 avg pace)

Sunday, September 10
Plan says: long 12

What I do:  OMG.  This was a DAY.  My plan was to get up at 5 and get this in before church.  Then at 4:30 AM my son woke up and threw a fit that I only could lay with him.  He never ended up going back to sleep.  Then we moved on to my daughter who threw a L-O-N-G tantrum over having to do a piano lesson worksheet.  This was all before 7 AM.  ARGH.  The day could only get better, right?  Nope.  45 minute scream tantrum from my son at naptime.  After he FINALLY fell asleep, I went downstairs and said, "I'M OUT."

11 miles, 1:26:09 (7:50 avg pace).

Amended Plan Miles: 43
Total Weekly Miles: 39.53

40th Annual Briggs and Al's Run for Children's Hospital Race Recap

Today I had the annual Al's Run, which I have ran for the past 4 years.  I spent some time last night filling out the race prep sheet in the Believe Training Journal.  In there I wrote the following goals:

1.  Pace myself in the first one-two miles.  I always GO OUT TOO FAST in this race.  The crowd and the downhill get too exciting.  (Long story short - I did not meet this goal.)

2. Try to do a progression run, or a steady state.  No positive split.  (Long story short - I did not meet this goal.)

3.  6:30 avg pace is the goal.  If shit hits the fan, try to make it a tempo run (6:44 pace).  (Long story short - my avg pace was 6:30! BAM!)

The race start is 10:30 AM which is late.  Like last year, it was a hot one.  As we were driving to the race at 9, the car temperature gauge indicated it was 77 degrees.

I had a great week of sleep and outside of the 2x3mi speed workout I did on Tuesday, my runs on Wed, Thurs, Fri were all easy paced.  I did try something new - the sample of Picky Bars oatmeal I received with my Picky Bars shipment this month.  It didn't seem too out of the norm so I ate it. (Side note: DELICIOUS.)  I drank too much coffee and not enough water.

We did our usual park in the middle of the start and finish area and walk.   I earned a fundraising prize so I ran to the far end of the start area for a warm up to claim it and I realized that I didn't have any timing strip on my bib.  I stopped by the registration tent and they gave me a timing chip strip.  Phew! Glad I realized that!

This race allows you to get an "elite" number if you think your finishing time will be under 35 minutes, which is generous.  Because of this, I always get an elite number.  Hey - it's the only race where I can claim to be an elite - I'm going to take it!

I did a porta potty stop and grabbed a cup of water from the volunteer table.  My mouth was so dry.  Upon reading my race recaps from previous years, this is a common theme.  I am terrible at hydration.

I made my way to the starting line.  I opted to wear my new Oiselle ombre crop and a pair of Oiselle distance shorts, along with my Boco Gear visor and Goodr sunglasses with my Adidas Ultraboost shoes.  I felt these were great choices.

The gun went off and I felt like I was holding back while running that first mile so I didn't bother checking my pace, which, of course, when one of your goals and tendencies is that you start this race too fast, was a poor choice.  My first mile was 6:04.  YIKES.

I approached the first aid station and dumped a cup of water on my head.  I really wanted to drink it.  My mouth was DRY.  I reigned it in on mile 2 which came in on my Garmin at 6:36.  A little slow but closer to goal pace than the first mile.

We then got to go down a big hill and round a corner onto Lake Shore Drive.  I hate this part of the race.  It seems to go on forever and the sun just beats down on you.  In my race-day plan, I wrote down "focus on lake stretch".  I was so determined to just keep running.  Stay Strong. Smile.  Don't let that stroller-pushing dad beat you.  Mile 3 beeped in at 6:29.  Phew.  Just keep going.

I have felt, in years past, totally spent by mile 4 in this race.   I was happy that although I was hot and thirsty at mile 4, I didn't feel totally done.  Pace beeped in at 6:38.  Another slow one. Time to pick it up.

JUST KEEPING GOING.  Get to the end of Lake Shore Drive.  Turn on Clybourn.

YES.

Ok, checked the watch and was at 4.5 miles.  Thinking, "I can eek out another 0.5 miles".  Pretend you are chasing that bus.

I rounded the corner and saw the finish clock just turn over to 32:00.  Woah!  I could maybe pull this off.  I tried to go as fast as I could, and crossed the finish in 32:18, which is 6 seconds shy of my PR.

My official pace was 6:30 on the money.  YEAH!

My Garmin had this a little over 5 miles, so my time was 6:26 avg on there. Mile splits were 6:04, 6:36, 6:29, 6:38, 6:23.

My finish was good for #1 in my age group, #6 female, #53 overall (and I beat stroller-pushing dad  - phew!).  The leading woman was 31:16 or 6:17 avg pace.

I have to think that if it were not 82 degrees and sunny during this race, I would have been faster.  Another highlight - last year I ran a 32:50 and weeks later had a half marathon PR. Let's hope that trend holds this year too!

I was curious about my history with this race so I looked back.  I haven't come very far in 8K land in 4 years, AND I haven't lost very much either.

2014     32:12     2nd place AG, 13 woman, 105 total (6:29 avg)
2015     32:17     2nd place AG, 9 woman, 87 total (6:30 avg)
2016     32:50     1st place AG, 5 woman, 58 total (6:36 avg)
2017     32:18     1st place, AG, 6 woman, 53 total (6:30 avg)

In other news, my mom who is self-proclaims she is #notarunner broke an hour in the race!  Woohoo!