one week, three races

is three races in one week too much?

sunday november 22 - race to deliver 4m in central park
thursday november 26 - pptc turkey trot 5m in prospect park
saturday november 28 - abvm turkey trot 5k in havertown, pa


race to deliver 4 miler:
- annoying start (wasn't allowed into my designated corral and had to start further back in the field)
- awesome to run with a fellow pptc teammate (a surprise, and quite motivating)
- banished negative thinking (like, "okay, we're halfway through") with positive affirmations (such as, "you LOVE running and you LOVE racing - this is what you love to do - enjoy it!" and "a five mile run is nothing, you do this all the time, you know exactly how to do this") -- and felt totally rejuvenated!
- weird splits, but i felt great at the end and rocked the last mile at a 6:55 pace
- distracted, as usual, by dry mouth. i used to run with my mouth closed, but now, in the interest of deep breathing and oxygen circulation, i often run with my mouth open. the dryness i experience reminds me of riding in the backseat of my father' car as a child, head hanging out of the window, eyes closed, mouth open -- and really really dry. so yeah, it's distracting.
- (29:02, pace 7:15/mile)

pptc turkey trot 5 miler:
- decided to take it easy during this run
- 1/2 mile in, my legs felt so tired and heavy...
- found a second wind around mile 3
- pleased to run negative splits (according to my watch. the splits on the course were weird...)
- i really felt that i wasn't pushing myself, but i still ran the same average pace per mile as in sunday's race
- (36:15, pace 7:15/mile)

turkey trot 5k in pa:
- ran this small community fundraiser with some non-running friends and really had it in mind to take it easy, again...
- about 1/2 mile in, the course turned onto a steep and long downhill
- then, at about the 1.25 mile mark, we turned around and came back uphill....
- ugh, that hill felt brutal for such a family-friendly event...
- not to mention the headwinds...
- i had no steam left for the last 1/4 mile. heard a woman behind me, breathing down my neck, and had to let her pass.
- finished 1st in my age group, 4th overall
- (21:44, pace 7:00/mile)

a lovely week of running, three fun races.

ego

i was totally psyched to run in last sunday's xc 5k in van cortlandt park. i'd arranged to ride with coach tony and charlene, and i thought it would be a great chance to run with my team, the prospect park track club. on saturday, after helping out with the beginner's workshop in the chilly rain, i started to feel a scratchy throat, headache, and body aches.... when i awoke on sunday morning, there was no denying that i felt like crap. i did, though, try to deny it, and took a shower, put on my running gear, ate breakfast... finally, though, i had to give in to the head cold and called coach to say i wasn't going to make it to the race. i was concerned about the head cold morphing into a bronchial infection, and with three races planned in the next two weeks (at least one of which i need for guaranteed entry into the 2010 nyc marathon), i didn't want to risk it.

i was bummed all day.

i was even more bummed when i saw just how many of my teammates did the race, and how well the women did -- our women's team placed second in the team championships! ugh, i wanted to be a part of that, and to add to the team's success.

at work on monday, i was telling a coworker about this, and she asked, 'what, are you training for the olympics?', because she really couldn't understand why i'd be so bummed about missing a race, or why i spend so much time running and training to begin with.

her comment has me thinking. why DO i spend so much time running, training, reading about running, thinking about running....? i have a long and growing list of the reasons why i run. but i don't just run -- i train. i want to run faster, longer and better. i expect to see improvements in my pace over time. i want to run with the best economy and form i can manage, and with few injuries.

so what will happen if/when my pace stops improving? i still think of myself as a beginner, and so far my times continue to improve. but i have to expect that i'll reach a plateau, and probably soon. what if my love for running is too intricately connected to the ego-gratification of 'good' performance, and my current trend toward improvement and goal-reaching? what if 'being good at it' is what fuels me?

but that's part of what's so great about running -- it teaches me so much about myself. and even if ego is involved (sure it is), there's no denying how i feel when i'm running, and how i feel after a run, and how i feel when gearing up for a race.

so no, i'm not training for the olympics. i'll never be a local elite. i don't want to be 'the fastest', but i do want to continue to grow as a runner, to improve, to challenge myself, to set goals and meet them. if i learn along the way how to be flexible with myself, all the better.

this stupid head cold has persisted through the week, and i have a 4 mile race on sunday which i'm determined to run. but i will allow myself the flexibility to take it easy during the race if i need to. so what if i don't meet my pace goal? maybe the ego could use that disappointment.

400 meter sprints at cadman plaza

jogged to cadman plaza tonight, then did 400 meter sprint repeats. some industrious soul has marked out 400, 600 and 800 meters on the jogging loop, which makes it an okay place to do speed work. it's not a flat course, so there's a challenge that's not present on a traditional track. not sure what the surface is -- seems soft, but also left my lower back feeling out of sorts.

my times, with a ~90 second recovery jog between sprints:
1st: 1:36
2nd: 1:34
3rd: 1:42
4th: 1:39

i'd planned to do more, but my running partner (who was doing a basic run, not the 400s) and i were both feeling low on energy so we bagged it early in favor of dinner.

i'm accustomed to running negative splits, but i could definitely feel myself slowing down in the last two sprints. i haven't felt well this week, and i have three races next week and didn't want to overdo it (sunday 4 mile, thursday 5 mile turkey trot, saturday 5k).

late to the game

i feel late to the game, starting a blog now. i've avoided it out of a fear of the first post. how to begin?

so i started typing about 'how i became a runner', but that got convoluted and involved, and i already know the story, and it'll be who knows how long before i have any 'followers', so i scratched that. or saved it for later maybe.

i guess i've decided to just type something, just to get this first post out of the way. then i'll take it from there.

i've always had a thing for words, a minor knack for writing. but i'm a perfectionist and it's often just so hard to find the perfect word, or the perfect combination of words, or to capture a specific thought or feeling or image in words. and i guess i'm lazy.

so we'll see how this goes, if it goes anywhere.