Attack of the Killer Gnats

AM: 58 mins.
8 miles
PM: Travel

Today is a new day. When I woke up I resolved to shut down my pity party and change my attitude for the rest of the trip. A bad race is simply that, a bad race. Life goes on.

Though Sunday is traditionally a long run day, Coach Simmons wanted us to keep this jaunt extremely easy and short. Recovery was more important than gaining fitness from a longer run, and we needed to get showered and packed up in order to head to the airport on time. We set out for the same place we did our Sunday run last time we were here, a dirt trail in the marshlands just off the bay. Tanya and I had liked it because it was completely flat and simple to navigate, so we brought Pezz and Sean along with us this time.

Today we found the trail to be just as agreeable as last time, save for one minor difference: gnats. Lots of them. Tons of them. A veritable swarm of them. The first mile of our run we felt like we were in the midst of some sort of plague. Fortunately I wore sunglasses, which kept them out of my eyes, but my nose and mouth and ears were fair game. Every time I wiped my brow I murdered an entire extended family of the little pests. We were thisclose to turning around and abandoning our effort--with absolutely no Plan B in mind--but we passed a woman walking with her husband who noticed our choking and gasping and assured us that things got better "just around the corner." Clearly we have different conceptions of distance because it was at least another half mile until the little bastards relented. This was hands down one of the grossest running experiences of my life--and the worst part was, we knew they would be waiting for us in the same spot on our return trip. My legs felt pretty crappy on the run, but that paled in comparison to the Hitchcock-ian terror that we had to endure. Needless to say, we all took extra long showers after this one.

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Payton Jordan Invitational 10k

AM: 3 miles
PM: 2 mile w/u + strides
10k race @34:38 (17:10, 17:28 5k splits)
2 mile c/d
Total: 10 miles

I went out hard from the gun. Maybe a little too hard, but I wanted to try to latch onto a group if at all possible. I went through the first mile in 5:22 and was just off the back of a group of half a dozen. I kept telling myself they would relax and come back to me before the end of the second mile, but they never did. At the time I thought it was because they were speeding up, but in reality I was probably slowing down. There was no one for me to run with at this point except for a girl from Adams State who had gone out at about the same pace. I fell in with her during the second mile and would end up running with her for the rest of the race. Needless to say, we were at the back.

I was lapped by Molly Huddle just before 5k, which I passed through in 17:10. To be honest, this was slightly slower than I'd planned to come through in, but I felt terrible. I thought I'd feel very relaxed at this point, like last time, but I was anything but. This was when I realized without a doubt that I would not hit my goal for the race. It was also the first time--but certainly not the last--I considered dropping out. I would toy with that notion for the majority of the next two miles, contemplating creative ways to make it look as though I were injured or something rather than just giving up. (In case you were wondering, I'd all but decided to go with staggering around for a few seconds, then passing out on the infield). In the end, I chose to finish for one reason and one reason only, and that is because I knew I would never hear the end of it from Jordan if I dropped. There was no personal pride involved in my decision at all, just self-preservation.

With eight laps to go, I knew I'd slowed down enough that I would not PR. This thought was absolutely incredulous to me. In all the scenarios I'd run through my mind prior to the race, it had honestly never occurred to me that I might actually run slower than last time. At this point I just wanted to get the rest of the stupid race over with. There were no competitive instincts, no tactics like the last time I'd run, just a sense of grim resignation.

Tanya lapped me with a few laps to go, herself en route to a huge PR. Her finishing time of 33:09 would end up being less than four seconds off of the D2 all-time national record. It was a tremendous achievement. As for myself, I shuffled home--still within a second of the Adams girl, as I'd been for the entire race--in 34:38, exactly one second slower than the last time. I'd positive split the race like it was my job, and finished last save for one Auburn girl who was even off the back of us from the beginning. It was not my finest hour.

Nor was the temper tantrum I threw afterward. I was sullen during the cooldown, indifferent when Chris Solinsky set the American record in the 10k, and less than cordial when texting with Jordan and Jenna. At one point I decided I wanted to walk the two miles from the track to motel, so I set off into the night by myself. I made it about halfway when Tanya's parents rolled up and forced me to get in their van, but I wasn't happy about it. I've since had time to reflect and appraise the race more judiciously, but at the time I was angry and embarrassed. This was not the plan. This wasn't even worth coming all the way out here for, to be honest. Five weeks ago I was absolutely elated to run this time. Tonight I expected more from myself.

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34:38

Yup, you're reading that correctly. I ran virtually the exact same time I ran five weeks ago. The irony is, last time I was beside myself with excitement and today I'm just frustrated and disappointed.

I'll recap the race in all its gory details when I get home. Or not. To be determined.

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Palo Alto Down Time

AM: 5 miles
PM: 3 miles incl. 2x60 secs., 2x30 secs.
2 laps jog the curves, stride the straights

Typically when we travel to meets we arrive the day before, particularly when traveling out west. Since Payton Jordan is a Saturday only meet, our Thursday arrival meant we had an entire day--almost two, since our race isn't until late Saturday night--of down time before racing. Today was that day.

I started things off with a relaxed AM run from the motel with Pezz. Yes, I said motel. To call it a hotel would be doing a disservice to fine establishments everywhere, but that's a whole different story. At any rate, the morning run was relaxed and enjoyable. A few minutes after the run, Pezz took a call from Allison Grace, one of the Zap Fitness athletes who was also in town for the race. The Zappos were headed to a late brunch at Hobee's, a Palo Alto institution, so Pezz and I decided to tag along. Everyone knows breakfast is my favorite meal, and I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity for some tasty deliciousness. I was quickly realizing there are some benefits to not racing the day after our arrival.

After a few hours of relaxing (and trying to dissolve the blueberry coffee cake that was sitting like an anvil in my stomach), we headed over to the track for our afternoon shakeout. The stadium was hopping with athletes getting in their pre-race prep, and we spent a few extra minutes soaking up the buzz. The energy around here is truly contagious. I found myself getting excited for tomorrow night for the first time since I got here.

Here's the thing though. The fields are stacked. Galen Rupp is going for a new American Record in the men's 10k. In the women's 5k, Olympians Shalane Flanagan, Amy Yoder-Begley and Shannon Rowbury will be duking it out with current NCAA 10k record holder Lisa Koll (who ran 31:18 at the first Stanford meet in March). And so on and so forth throughout the meet. While my race isn't the headliner of the night, there are several girls who are more than capable of running under 32 minutes. The field is populated with about an equal mix of professionals and D1 standouts; the only D2ers in the race are Tanya, myself, Sarah Porter from Western Washington and one Adams State girl. In short, I need to run the race of my life. No scratch that; it is very possible that I could indeed run the race of my life, break 34 minutes and still be very near the back of the pack. I find this prospect equal parts intimidating and exciting. If I run smart and tough, I should be able to latch onto a few people and get carried along to a big PR. That's the plan.

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An Interesting Flight

AM: 6 miles
PM: 4 miles

Today's waking hours were largely dominated by coast-to-coast travel. Seems like just yesterday Tanya and I were headed out west for the Stanford Invite...now, five weeks later, we're making a return trip with Pezz and Mike in tow (Simmons and Futsum to join us tomorrow). Everything was progressing as usual until our layover at Dulles airport in DC, which is when things took an unexpected turn for the better (and more coincidental). I'll excerpt from Jilane's blog to share the story:

Also of "running world" note... Dan [Jilane's boyfriend] took off for San Francisco this morning for a squash tournament, only to be booked on the same flight as the Queens team! How jealous was I?? Meago is heading to the Pacific to throw down another sick 10k out at Stanford, so two of my all-time favs got to bond a bit in the terminal before boarding. Further confirming the "damn this world is small" thing, Dan and Mike Crouch were seated next to each other on the flight. Dan attempted to explain how he knows Jeff and Meagan, but something got lost in translation, as 15 minutes later in the conversation, Mike cuts him off to say, "Wait, just so we're on the same page here, you're dating Jeff?"

Can't make that stuff up.

Yup, that's right, less than a week after I had some delightful care and share with Jilane at Penn, I end up on the same flight as her boyfriend headed to California. And, apparently Mike thinks he and Jeff are dating. I love it.

Anyhow, that encounter was by far the highlight of the day. By the time we arrived at SFO, claimed our luggage, checked in to the Super 8 Palo Alto (which was a headache I don't have the time nor energy to detail here) and made it to Stanford for our shakeout, it was close to 7pm. Worse, the wind was gusting upwards of 25mph--waaaaay too much for comfort. If it's like this on Saturday I could straight up cry. But since it's Stanford and the racing conditions are always perfect here, I'm choosing to push that unpleasant thought out of my mind altogether.

I'm tired. It's been a long day. Must sleep.

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Homeward Bound

AM: 72 mins. (10 miles)
PM: Travel

In the interest of time, my burgeoning sickness and race recovery, we opted to forego today's scheduled long run in favor of a medium-length effort. The three of us headed back out to the bay--only a different parking lot this time, several miles closer than the one we'd started from previously--for a relaxed, flat out-and-back along the dirt trail. Despite vowing to keep the pace in check, Tanya and I settled into a faster-than-prescribed clip. Blame it on the flat surface and the cool, crisp air I suppose. At any rate, it felt easy, and though my legs are a bit sore from Friday night they didn't seem to mind.

The remainder of the day was spent traveling back East. All was well until the last bit of our flight back into Charlotte, when we flew straight into the path of a nasty storm that was lambasting the area. I'm not exaggerating when I say the turbulence was so bad that two grown men on the plane, one of whom was seated directly behind me, threw up in flight. Needless to say, I have never been happier to exit an aircraft in one piece and with clean clothes in my entire life.

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34:37!!!

AM: 3 miles
PM: 2 mile w/u + strides
Target: 10k race @35:30 or faster (5:42 pace)
Actual: 34:37 (5:34 pace); 5k splits 17:23; 17:13
10 min. c/d (1+ mile)
Results

So this was unexpected. I mean, I figured I was fit enough to beat 35:30, but given my lack of 10k-specific training I honestly thought low-35 was best case scenario. I was wrong.

Leading up to the track meet, Tanya and I enjoyed a pretty relaxed day. In the morning we took a field trip out to the bay with Simmons to get in a light shakeout, if for no other reason than to kill some time. We drove past the Google campus to the same spot we hit up last year and spent a few minutes on our feet soaking up the morning sunshine. The rest of the day was spent lounging around the hotel and hanging out at Starbucks before finally heading up to the track around 7. Tanya would be racing in the fast heat of the 5k at 8:30, and when she left to go warmup I booked it back to the car. The air grew chilly as soon as the sun disappeared behind the trees, and I knew it wasn't smart to sit around shivering for the next three hours.

I emerged from our rented Dodge Charger (ballin!) in time to watch Tanya's race from the top of the home curve. Hoping to break 16 minutes, she ran smart and stuck onto the lead group from the gun. I cheered like a mad woman every time she passed me, willing her keep her with the pack. She ran smart and very tough, digging for every second on the last lap, but ultimately came up just a few seconds shy in 16:03. D2 star Jessica Pixler absolutely dominated the field and cruised to a 15:44 victory, firmly establishing herself as the woman to beat regardless of division. Watch her ridiculous performance here.

Before I knew it, warmup time had arrived. I set off into the darkness along the same path that Tanya and I ran last night, alone with my thoughts. This is when I had my first inkling that the race was going to be good. Normally on my warmup I'm able to assess how my legs feel, whether it be tired and heavy, fresh and light, or somewhere in between. Tonight I felt nothing. I knew I was running and I knew my legs were carrying me, but I didn't feel them at all. It was quite strange, actually. At the time I took it as a good sign and hoped the feeling would carry over into the race.

10:10pm was go time. I lined up on the track with 30 other girls, all of us shivering. I would warm up as soon as the race began, but in the minutes leading up to the start the air was downright cold. Just like at indoor Nationals, I felt absolutely calm on the line. I knew that parts of the next 35 minutes would hurt like hell, but I was prepared for anything.

Once the race began, I settled comfortably into a chase pack. Chico State runner (and fellow D2 competitor) Tori Tyler shot out to the lead, gapping both my pack and a smaller pack in front of me after the first mile. I didn't know enough about her to know if the strategy was courageous or reckless; in the end it would turn out to be the latter. In the moment, I told myself to stay relaxed in the pack and find a rhythm. It wasn't until the first mile that I glanced at the clock; it read 5:32. A little faster than goal pace, but it felt like a jog. I rolled with it. In fact, the entire first 5k felt like a jog. Normally I'm in race mode and incapable of having coherent thoughts, but tonight I felt aware of everything: the announcer, the shouts of encouragement from Tanya and Simmons, the mindless songs floating in and out of my head. I don't have any other way to put it except that I knew I was in the middle of something good. I was running with the pack, moving up when necessary. I passed through 5k in 17:23, well ahead of 35:30 pace. I remember thinking how easy it felt, and for the first time the thought of negative splitting the race entered my mind. My breathing was still very controlled, and sounded much more relaxed than the breathing of those around me. But even though I still felt good and was tempted to pick up the pace, I held back. The 10k is a long race, longer than I'd remembered, and there was still plenty of running to be done. I told myself to stay on pace for at least another mile before making a move.

Meanwhile, Chico State's Tyler was moving backwards. Within the span of a few laps she was swallowed up by the lead pack and spit out the back, and I knew I could catch her before the end of the race. I was still undecided about when to make a move, but fortunately I didn't have to think about it much longer. Rhiannon Jones, an athlete from UAB, swung around me and picked up the pace, and I made the split-second decision to go with her. Though I hadn't met Jones, I knew who she was; my good buddy Blake Boldon coaches her and we share similar PR's from indoors. Miles 4 and 5 passed with me sitting firmly on her shoulder, still feeling comfortable but definitely noticing the shift in pace. I felt antsy, ready to kick, but there were still several laps left. I told myself that with three to go I would move. I swung around Jones, expecting her to fall back, but she responded and stayed right with me. We passed a sputtering Tyler with two laps left, and at this point I finally felt the weight of the race descending upon me. I was ready to finish the thing. At the same time, I knew I was running the race of my life, and part of me wanted to hold onto it for a little while longer. I've never really experienced that in a race before, but I felt it tonight.

At the bell lap, I gave the clock a passing glance and quickly calculated that I would be well clear of 35 minutes. I thought of a text message Simon had sent me earlier in the day--"remember, nobody has beaten you on the last lap in 2010"--and went for it. Jones didn't respond. My legs and lungs burned all the way to the finish, but I never felt out of control. I watched the clock ticking ever closer to 34:40 as I approached, but when I crossed the line I knew I had beaten that time. It was actually hard to believe, that I'd run the time feeling as good as I did. I wasn't truly pressing until the last mile and a half, but even then there was never a doubt in my mind that I had something left.

So, there it is. Almost a 2-minute PR (my previous best was 36:12 from this race last year). I know I still have a long way to go. But, like I said yesterday, it's pretty rewarding to see how far I've come.

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Go West

AM: 6 miles
PM: 3 miles + 800m on/off strides = 3.5 miles

What. A. Long. Day. In case I'd forgotten since our trip to Albuquerque a few weeks ago, today reminded me what a pain it is to travel across the country. Despite leaving for the Charlotte airport at 9:30am, we didn't arrive at our hotel in Palo Alto until past 6pm Pacific time. In other words, 12 hours later. This included a layover in Houston and a delayed second leg of our trip, which was already scheduled at four hours long to begin with. Even though I'd been snacking sporadically throughout the day--and by "sporadically" I mean about once an hour--I was beyond ravenous when we got to the hotel. Unfortunately for me, we still needed to get in a shakeout run at the Stanford track before getting dinner.

Coach Simmons, Tanya and I rolled up to the track just as the sun was setting. There were a few stragglers still going over their preparations for tomorrow's races, but for the most part we were on our own. Tanya and I set off on an easy jog on the campus trails, enjoying the fresh air and the opportunity to finally be outside. Believe it or not, all my hunger and frustration melted away as we set off into the night, and after a few sluggish minutes my body felt the best it had all day. Funny how a run can do that sometimes. As the miles clicked by, Tanya and I reminisced about how each of us had gotten to this point. Three years ago Tanya attended the Stanford meet as a spectator, fresh off a then-PR of 18:10 in the Carlsbad 5k. Tomorrow she will try to break 16 minutes for the same distance. I came here for the first time last year, as wide-eyed as an 18-year-old freshman in my first collegiate outdoor track race, hoping to best my previous road PR of 37:50. Now my goal is to run at least as fast as the 35:30 automatic qualifying time for Nationals. Not to say that we're out here breaking records now, but we're both pretty proud of how far we've come. Now it's time to put everything together when it counts.

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It's Like An Alarm Clock

46 mins.
6 miles

So picking up where we left off, my throbbing legs gave me a rather rude awakening circa 5:30 this morning. Awesome. Since I was unable to go back to sleep, I occupied my time by blogging, talking to Jordan, walking to the drug store to procure some ibuprofen, and watching the news on KRON 4 (home of the now-famous "Whistles Go Woooo!" news story that I suggest you watch immediately if you've never had the privilege before).

Around 8:30, Mike and I piled into the rental with Scott and headed out to some trail by the bay that Scott knew about. It was actually just past the Google corporate campus and several other Silicon Valley companies in Mountain View. The morning was warm and a touch humid, especially near the marshy area where we were running, but it felt good to loosen up the legs and put in a few easy miles. The view certainly didn't hurt either; after seeing the bay on one side and mountains on the other, I was having a hard time remembering exactly why I lived in North Carolina instead of here.


View of the bay at sunrise from the trails in Mountain View

The rest of the day was spent traveling, which is always exhausting, but by 11pm I was asleep in my own (twin extra-long prison issue) bed. Time to rest up and hopefully make up for last night's fitful sleep.

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Stanford Invite 10k

AM: 20 mins.
2.5 miles
PM: 20 min. w/u + strides (2.5 miles)
Target: 10k race @35:50 (5:45 pace)
Actual: 36:12 (5:48 pace: 1 mile @5:43; 5k @17:57)
12 min. c/d (1.5 miles)
Total: 10-10.5 miles

I should still be sleeping. As I'm typing this post-dated entry, it's 5:45am on Saturday morning. Our flight isn't until 12:30 and Mike and I don't even have to go do our recovery runs until 8:30, which is, yup, almost 3 hours from now. However, because my body is still out of whack from the time difference and because my legs are literally throbbing, here I am. So, instead of sleeping, I will attempt to recap my day and 10k race.

Yesterday started out quite pleasantly, and unlike this morning I was able to sleep until almost 8:30. When I awoke I peeked outside and was greeted by clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine; by the time I headed out for my shakeout around 10, it was clear this was going to be another positively gorgeous day. I wished I could've run much farther because it was so nice out, but reminded myself I'm not here to merely go for a jog. Likewise, as I stared wistfully outside my hotel (or, let's be real, motel) room window all afternoon yearning to be laying outside at the beach, I had to remind myself I wasn't here for vacation. Which is unfortunate, because I wouldn't mind spending another day or 20 here.

After sitting around all day--and I do mean all day; it was as boring as it sounds--we headed up to the track around 5:30pm. For me this meant more sitting around, just in a different location, but it was pretty fun watching many of the other distance races. To be honest it was also quite humbling to be in the presence of so many talented runners, and to realize that there were literally dozens if not hundreds of girls there who could beat me any day of the week without a second thought. I quickly learned that everyone is fast at the Stanford Invite, with very few exceptions.

I'll spare you the minutiae of the next few hours and skip to Mike's race, which went off just before I was to commence my warmup. He was in the fast section of the 5k--probably the only D2 runner in that section, and one of the few D2 runners in the entire 5k field--and held his own, kicking hard and passing a ton of guys in the final lap to finish in a comfortable PR of 13:46. As soon as I finished cheering for him, I threw on my trainers and headed out to warm up. I was greeted by a truly great surprise when I made it back to the track and started doing my strides: Ryan Graddy and Nick Sarro! Jordan and I ran with Graddy, who is in med school at Brown, when we were in San Diego over Christmas break, but I hadn't seen Sarro since Senior Week almost a year ago. It was great to see them and, later, hear them cheering for me during my race. Definitely made my day.

Ok, now on to the race itself: basically, this was the hardest I have ever run in my entire life. Or, at least, it hurt as much or more than any race I have ever run. I missed the auto time of 35:50 but I can assure you it wasn't for lack of trying. I felt awesome through the mile, comfortable through the 5k, and then the monkey jumped on my piano (or whatever that metaphor is). By 6k I was hurting and desperately trying to keep with my original strategy of staying with a pack. I competed well, passing girls who were falling off pace and catching up with girls who were running ahead of me, but after a while everyone was strung out and I found myself out there in no man's land. When I crossed the line with what I thought was 5 laps to go, I heard Scott yell "6 laps to go!" Um, I cannot quote for you verbatim the thought that crossed my mind in case any women and children are reading, but suffice it to say I was not thrilled. The final mile was absolutely torturous, but I amused myself with thinking of creative ways to sustain an injury and drop out of the race. By the time I hit a lap to go, I was in the red and basically willing myself to keep it together. I passed one girl on the final straight and kicked (if that's how you could describe it) with everything I had, but I had already known for quite some time that it wouldn't be enough to bring me under 36 minutes.

Now that the dust has settled and I've spoken with Scott and Jeff, I can analyze this race relatively objectively. Initially I was crestfallen to have missed the time after putting in so much hard work--and, more importantly, after believing I was fit enough to run it--but I have to look at this as a great first step. This was my first outdoor track race since high school, first 10k track race ever, and first time competing against this caliber of competition. My time was also well below the provisional standard of 37:2x needed for nationals, so there's a strong chance I will get in with this time anyway. As Jeff said, when you look at how my fitness has progressed over the past few months, our strongest feeling should be one of excitement. I have made some huge jumps in fitness and I know I can continue to do so over the course of this outdoor season. I remember running a 10k road race in Dallas almost exactly a year ago and texting Jordan (who I wasn't dating yet but he was so obviously trying to woo me), absolutely thrilled that I ran 37:55 and notched a huge PR (I'm embarrassed to say I don't think I'd broken 39 minutes before). To look back and realize how much my mindset and my personal standards have changed since then...well, it's a great feeling. The glass truly is half full.

Apologies on the length. Photos to come if I feel like it.

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Do You Know the Way to San Jose

AM: 45 mins.
6 miles
PM: 3 miles + strides

Welcome to the longest day of my life. I mean, not literally, but it had to be up there. It all started when I woke up early to finish packing and squeeze in a run prior to meeting Scott and Mike. My run was pretty craptastic but I'm not super concerned about it. We left for the airport at 9:30, eager to get to California so we could mentally and physically prepare for tomorrow night's races.

The first leg of our trip, Charlotte to Phoenix, commenced just a few minutes off schedule. We were in the air by 11:30 but, to our dismay, were seated in the very back of the plane. As in, literally the very back seat. As the flight progressed it became increasingly apparent that we would be cutting it very close for making our connection in Phoenix. The time between flights was a mere 30 minutes, which is pretty iffy even under the best of circumstances, and these certainly weren't the best of circumstances. By the time the entire planeload of people filed out and we made it into the terminal, we were looking at about 15 minutes until our flight was supposed to take off. "Don't worry," the flight attendant on our flight had said, "they know you're coming."

Well, they may have known, but they certainly didn't care. We reached our gate at 1:24 only to discover that the boarding door has been irreversibly closed at 1:22. FML. Long story short, we ended up getting booked on the next flight...which didn't leave until 5pm Pacific time. Sigh. I suppose the silver lining is that by the time we arrived in San Jose, procured our rental car, checked in to our hotel, changed clothes and headed to Stanford for our shakeout, it was well past 9pm. Since I'm not racing until 10:10 tomorrow night (which will be 1:10am to my poor, bedraggled body), at least I would have a chance to simulate what the late-night running would feel like.

To my pleasant surprise, I felt amazing on tonight's jog. I guess what everyone says is true; the air around here is magical. Mike, Scott and I opened up the run by taking in a few laps on the Stanford track. Talk about surreal; to think that the very place where I was casually jogging tonight would be the site of my long-awaited race tomorrow night was hard to wrap my brain around. There were a few other athletes milling around and getting in their last-minute race prep (including Sara Hall, who was apparently just learning how to go over the water barrier for her debut 3000m steeplechase), and after a few laps we decided to cruise down the bike path/gravel trail around campus for the rest of the jaunt. I finished up on the track around 22 minutes for some stretching and a few strides. The air was completely still, as evidenced by the motionless flags hanging on the pole, and I can only hope for a replica of tonight's weather tomorrow.

Once Mike and I were finished with our respective routines, Scott picked us up and we packed it in for the night. I'm exhausted and need to get in a good night's sleep. I'm also beyond nervous and could very well vomit by the time you're reading this. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

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