Taper Time!

It's hard to believe as I sit here typing this after a leisurely, relaxed 10-miler with Jordan, Larissa and Sarah, but one week from now I'll have finished the Vermont City Marathon! The hay is in the barn and all those other metaphorical ways to say that the hard work has been done; now it's time to start focusing on all the little things--sleep, nutrition, not drinking a bottle of wine every night--that will help me make it from here to the finish line as quickly as possible.

Technically speaking, my taper officially began after my final substantial workout on Thursday morning. On paper, it looked to be incredibly, suspiciously easy--so much so that I wondered if Coach Jordan had made a mistake, but I wasn't going to say anything. As it turned out, I didn't have to, because as we were warming up he casually mentioned that the workout was to be adjusted "slightly" from what he'd originally written. By "slightly," he meant all the paces would be considerably faster and all the rest significantly shorter. Fortunately I handled this curveball with ease and finished up feeling strong and confident. The most painful part of the entire session was during the third mile repeat when I ran up a little too close behind Jordan and managed to perfectly connect my injured knee with his back kick. (Up to that point it had been healing quite nicely.) The constant throbbing for the remainder of the workout diverted all attention away from the rest of my body.

Original target: 3xmile @5:50 w/2 mins. rest; 8x400 @85 w/1 min. rest
New target: 3xmile @5:50 w/45 secs. rest; 8x400 @82 w/100m jog recovery (35-40 secs.)
Actual: 5:46, 5:46, 5:44; 82 (39 jog), 81 (38), 81 (38), 82 (39), 81 (36), 81 (36), 80 (35), 80

So that's that. I've put in the doubles, the long runs, the tempos, the short intervals--can't wait to see it all pay off next Sunday!

First order of taper business: sunbathing with Larissa at our own private waterfront spot in Marblehead. #nofilter, for realz

Larissa modeling in front of the Marblehead harbor (and our old house) near Fort Sewall

 

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If It Looks Like Marathon Training...

3/3-3/9:
98 miles
4 doubles
3 workouts
20.5 mile-long run

2/24-3/2
82 miles
4 doubles
2 workouts
19-mile long run

If last week represented my first tentative steps onto the big-girl diving board, then this week was the headfirst plunge into the mileage abyss. Not only did I complete three workouts (well, one of those was a mini-workout--more on that in a minute) and a 20+ mile long run, but I actually felt strong and healthy and pretty darn good the entire week.

The week started out strong (and chilly) bright and early on Tuesday morning with another near-single digit road workout with Larissa. I was a bit apprehensive about this, both due to the temperature and the fact that I'd completed my longest run in months less than 48 hours prior, but we somehow managed to stay warm and positive enough to take care of business. (At least until my body temperature plummeted on the aptly named cooldown, rendering my extremities totally numb and my fingers incapable of even grasping and inserting my housekey into the door without Larissa's assistance.)

Workout #1: 2x1.5 mile progression w/2 min. jog, each 800m @3:10, 3:00, 2:50; 4x600m @5:20 pace (2:00) w/2 min. jog = 9 miles total

My next (mini-)workout took place during Thursday's lunch hour with my boss and two coworkers. They're all training for a late spring marathon and had 6x800m on tap at 5k pace. The problem is, they're fairly new runners and rarely race 5k's, so the pace was approximated to be 6:30 although I suspected they could go faster. Sure enough:

Workout #2: 6x800m w/3 mins. jog in 3:10, 3:10, 3:07, 3:07, 3:00, 2:59 = 7 miles total

From my perspective, it felt great to open up the legs a little bit without being too taxing, and I loved helping my comrades achieve the feeling of triumph that comes with exceeding your expectations and physical limitations. (Seriously, when's the last time you thought, "Well golly, I just couldn't seem to run slow enough during that workout!" Yeah, me neither. But I'm happy that such a euphoria apparently exists for others.)

But without a doubt, and like a true American weekend warrior, my two biggest days of the week took place on Saturday and Sunday. I'd planned well in advance for a long run on Sunday with Sarah Cummings, who was making a quick trip to Boston, and then I somehow found myself getting roped into (read: eagerly volunteering for) Sarah Bard's lengthy Saturday workout as well. On an unseasonably warm morning (or perhaps only unseasonable relative to the rest of the week/month/year), Sarah and I joined Kevin and another BAA male escort whose name escapes me for some 4-3-2-1 mile action on the Charles.

Workout #3: 4 mile (6:03, 6:02, 6:05, 6:08), 3:30 jog, 3 mile (6:00, 6:07, 5:57), 2:30 jog, 2 mile (5:50, 5:45), 1:30 jog, 1 mile (5:43) = 16 miles total

Takeaways from this workout were:

1. Sarah is really fit.
2. There may be hope for me yet.
3. I love seeing happy, active people enjoying the river on a Saturday morning--except when they're in my way.
4. 50 degrees is, indeed, warm enough to comfortably slam a post-run Frappuccino.

Though I questioned my weary body's ability to move, I somehow managed to remain bipedal and reasonably functional for an "easy" 20-miler (2:30 and 20.66 miles to be exact, not that I am enslaved to my new Garmin or anything) with the Sarahs and a few different male BAA escorts on Sunday. During that time we saw over half the Boston course and a 60-year-old man running shirtless wearing khaki pants and oven mitts, so I can't help but consider it a win.

Will I be able to walk tomorrow? Debatable. Am I officially training for some sort of spring marathon? It sure looks that way... 

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RepliCAITing the Down Ladder (4-3-2-1)

3 mile w/u + strides
Target: Mimic Caitlin's workout of 4mi-3mi-2mi-1mi
4 mile @6-6:05 pace; 3 mile @5:55-6 pace; 2 mile @5:50-5:55 pace; 1 mile faster all w/4 min. jog rest
Actual: 24:01 (6:00 pace); 18:30 for 5k (5:57 pace); 11:00 for 3k (5:52 pace); 5:35 for 1 mile
2k c/d
Total: 16 miles

See what I did there in the title...I wanted to repliCAIT the workout...because her name is Caitlin...anyway.

So, basically this almost went off the rails before it even happened thanks to the hip situation that abruptly developed in between my workout and cooldown on Tuesday. The next two days were spent limping through "easy" runs and trying not to panic despite seeing an entire summer's worth of work flash before my eyes. On Wednesday morning I sent a text to my boss's girlfriend (and our good friend) Anne, who just happens to be a chiropractor, with the general sentiment of: "HELP!" She took one look at me and basically said my entire left side from the knee down was completely out of alignment. After two treatments from her magic hands, I was cautiously optimistic that I actually might not be throwing my hopes of marathon glory into the Beverly High School dumpster. I took Friday super easy, went to bed early, and crossed my fingers that everything would be operational for Saturday's workout.

After a few tentative steps on the warmup, it seemed as though my hip would cooperate. It was functioning at a steady discomfort level of 2 to 2.5, as compared to the 7.5 to 8 of the previous few days, and actually felt even better after a few long strides. However, my hip wouldn't be the only thing working against me. For some reason I've since forgotten, Jordan decided it would be a great idea to do this workout on the Marblehead Neck--one of my favorite places to run, but also one of the hilliest. Since it's surrounded on all sides by water, it also runs the risk of being quite windy, and unfortunately today was even worse than usual. It was going to take an incredibly focused effort and the help of my favorite queenmaker to execute this anywhere near my goal paces.

For the first kilometer, on the flat causeway with the wind at my back, I felt amazing. Then I hit the Neck's first hill and was jolted back to reality. Unlike Caitlin, who according to her blog post was just chit chatting away throughout her own version of this workout, I felt like I was struggling to hang on the entire time. And this is supposed to be marathon pace?! The 3-mile segment actually felt a little bit better--and apparently the last kilometer was going well enough that Jordan decided on the fly to extend to a full 5k, which isn't actually what someone wants to hear 17 minutes through what they think will only be an 18-minute interval--but unfortunately it put us at a bad spot geographically. "There's no way this isn't going to be hard," Jordan said just before the start of the 2-mile-turned-3k, and he was right. From where we were starting, all of our options would send us on a hilly path and finishing into a stiff headwind. The last two minutes headed back on the causeway were particularly brutal, but I also knew that the farther I went in one direction, the more time I could spend with the wind at my back when I turned around for the final one-mile interval. Despite the cumulative fatigue setting in, I was confident I could crush the mile thanks to a tailwind for the first half. It worked, and I felt pretty darn good for a few minutes, except for the fact that I hadn't been able to jog quite far enough in the opposite direction on my cooldown. In a cruel twist of fate, the final 30 seconds of the mile sent me straight up the steepest hill on the entire course. My dream of breaking 5:30 came to a near-standstill, but I was able to hold it together enough to close in a respectable 5:35.

Overall, I wish that hitting my goal paces had felt easier, but given the wind and undulating terrain I'm pleased with the effort. More importantly, my hip seems to be on the mend and a full-blown crisis has been averted. Whew!

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Fast Finish Mile Repeats

2 mile w/u + 1 lap of stride the straights, jog the curves
Target: 6-8 xmile w/2 min. rest; first 3 laps at 1/2 marathon/marathon pace, last lap @5k pace
Actual: 5:44 (last lap 80), 5:43 (79), 5:44 (79), 5:43 (80), 5:42 (79), 5:40 (80)
1+ mile c/d
Total: 9.5-10 miles

This workout came about somewhat unexpectedly as I was in the midst of an epic Michigan/Wisconsin/Illinois work trip. (I think I was even in Indiana for a few minutes, although I can't be certain.) On Wednesday morning I did a light fartlek as prescribed by Jordan to wake up the legs in preparation for another yet-to-be-determined workout on Friday morning. Since I would be spending the night in Naperville, Illinois (a Chicago burb), I reached out to my new friend Amber, the apparel buyer at Naperville Running Company, to see if she wanted to meet for some easy miles on Thursday morning. She was game for meeting up, but said she was planning on a mile repeat workout, some crash training after her recent wedding and honeymoon in advance of the upcoming Naperville Half-Marathon. Having not worked out or raced in many moons, she was loosely targeting 5:50-6:00 pace with a relatively brief rest.

I wanted to make it work, but wasn't sure how her plan could be adapted into something that would be optimal for me. I conferred with Jordan, and he suggested that I run her pace for three laps and then kick it up a notch for the final 400 meters. That way we could still start and finish together and utilize each other's presence for the bulk of the intervals. Plus, my legs would be slightly fatigued from the fartlek 24 hours prior, making this a good simulation of the latter stages of a race. Amber was game with this plan as well, so it seemed like a stellar arrangement.

Unfortunately, I awoke on Thursday morning to my absolute least favorite workout (and general life) conditions: 45 degrees, windy and raining. Yuck. If Amber weren't picking me up, I would've probably rolled over for a few more minutes and then hit up the hotel treadmill. Instead, we drove into downtown Naperville to her alma mater, North Central College, and met up with one of her coworkers and male training partners (whose name escapes me--good thing he's not reading this). He had just run a marathon the weekend before and was looking to loosen up the legs and help set the pace with us, which seemed ideal. 

Despite the weather (which only worsened as our workout progressed), this went pretty well. Amber ran great for her first track workout in months, and I was semi-successful in dropping the pace on the last lap of each interval. I'd hoped to be able to close in 76-78, but in soggy trainers on race-weary legs I couldn't overcome the invisible governor that hovered around 80. The faster last lap made the rest period seem shorter than it actually was, which meant I had to use the first few laps of the subsequent interval to recover while running marathon pace or faster. If you think (like I did!) that this workout sounds super easy on paper, try it sometime!

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Mile Repeat Tuneup

2.5 mile w/u + strides
Target: 5-6 x1 mile @5:40 or faster w/3 mins. rest
Actual: 5:38, 5:39, 5:38, 5:36, 5:31
1.5 mile c/d
Total: 15k

Another early, chilly morning with Jordan on the roads. The objective today was to get in some quicker--but not ridiculous--mile repeats; enough to tax the legs but not so much as to leave them exhausted for Saturday's race. I accomplished this well enough and felt pretty good. I could've probably recovered enough after #5 to bang out one more rep in the 5:35-5:40 range, but instead I opted to leave a little in the tank for Saturday. Hope it pays off!

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Back to the Track

AM: 8k easy
PM: 5k w/u
6xmile w/2 mins. jog in 5:40, 5:35, 5:33, 5:30, 5:28, 5:25
Actual: 5:40, 5:34, 5:32, 5:28, 5:29, 5:24
2 mile c/d
Total: 11 miles
Daily total: 16 miles

After a few days of stellar runs in DC, including a strong 15-miler on Monday, I returned home on Tuesday night after multiple delays to dreary, cold, rainy Boston weather. Plenty of other areas of the country seem to be celebrating spring, but New England clearly hasn't gotten the memo.

That said, thanks to the time change and clearing skies, I was able to hit the Beverly High track after work on Wednesday wearing shorts (and gloves...but I'll take baby steps) and with plenty of daylight. The plan was to start out conservatively, around 15k pace, then gradually work down to nearly 5k pace by the end. Jordan planned to tow me through each interval and then continue running while I jogged 200 meters before joining forces again. As we took off on our first lap, he mentioned that he "might" have me lead alternating laps "for the first few intervals." Little did I know this actually meant I would "definitely" be leading alternating laps "the entire time," which proved increasingly difficult as the workout progressed and the wind intensified on the backstretch. Still, we hit or exceeded all of the splits (while Jordan maintained the pace continuously--impressive!) and finished up near 7pm in relative daylight. In my book that constitutes a win on all counts.

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Central Park Workout With Sarah

Fri AM: 4 miles
PM: 10 miles w/Jay in Central Park

Sat AM: 3.5 mile w/u
Target: 3 miles @6-6:10; 1 mile @7ish; 2 miles @5:50-6; 1 mile @7ish; 1 mile @5:40-50
Actual: 3 miles @17:35; 2 miles @11:37; 1 mile @5:40ish
2 mile c/d
Total: 13.5-14 miles

For a rare treat, I'm spending an entire weekend in New York doing absolutely nothing work-related. I'm sure Betsy invited me to her baby shower hoping I would just send an elaborate and expensive gift without actually showing up, but (un)lucky for her all it took was the promise of a few good group runs, quality time with my favorite news producer and a $48 fare on Jet Blue (helloooo, Popcorners) to seal the deal: NYC, here I come!

Friday was an absolute blast. I arrived at Jay's just in time to make us late to meet Jerry's Kids (an Oklahoma-to-NYC transplant) for a run in Central Park. Fortunately we bumped into him midway through and shortly thereafter stumbled upon a solid and previously undiscovered bathroom location, making the run a win on all counts. Upon returning to Jay's, we were so cold--yet so thirsty--that we were forced to double-fist wine and coffee (with Bailey's) while waiting for Jordan to arrive and discussing Facebook etiquette nuances, the details of which are unprintable here at Jay's behest. After taking turns reveling in what is "probably the best shower in New York City," the three of us headed out to eat, drink and be merry with friends for the remainder of the evening.

Saturday morning, at the leisurely hour of 9:30, a group assembled at Columbus Circle with varying agendas in mind. The entourage I'd envisioned for Sarah's workout somehow dwindled down to myself, her and Jordan (always the queenmaker, never the...queen?), and despite some mid-week bravado our enthusiasm was greatly diminished due to, well, apathy. And also the ridiculous wind. We'd previously discussed starting the first, relatively slow interval in the park and then meandering down to the West Side Highway for a completely flat second half, but the promise of a 25-mph headwind quickly dissuaded us. Instead we would take on the undulating terrain of the park, hopefully avoiding the brunt of the wind. To give us a nice boost out of the gate, we set out down a generous downhill with the wind at our backs. Hitting six-minute pace should be no problem, we reasoned.

We split 5:40. Whoops.

As Sarah said shortly after her watch beeped, "That was the easiest 5:40 I've run in a while." Sure, but 5:40 wasn't the problem. Everything thereafter was--at least for me. Sarah seemed to have an easy time sticking close to Jordan's heels, but I struggled mightily from there on out. Maybe the previous day's mileage was a little aggressive at this stage in my training, maybe I'm a big baby, or maybe I'm simply just not very fit yet--whatever the reason, I spent the remainder of the workout straining toward the singular objective of not getting dropped, a goal that was met with varying degrees of success. Even omitting the Harlem hills, Central Park is no joke, nor was the wind that still seemed to find us deep within the protection of the Manhattan skyline. By the end of this effort I was frustrated and thoroughly exhausted, but at the same time pleased with my resolve to keep pushing despite getting my doors utterly blown off. I trust the process and am well-acquainted with the work it takes to get back in shape after an extended down period, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant in the moment. Still, it was fun to work out with Sarah and will provide a good excuse to gorge myself on finger sandwiches and chocolate-covered deliciousness at this afternoon's baby festivities.
  

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Eight By Mile By Moonlight

2.5 mile w/u
Target: 8xmile w/1 min. rest: 2x5:50, 2x5:40,2x5:35, 2x5:30
Actual: 5:47, 5:48, 5:38, 5:39, 5:37, 5:36, 5:34, 5:32
0.5 mile c/d
Total: 11 miles

Actually, there wasn't much moonlight. I just liked the alliteration. In reality, this evening was just as drizzly and cloudy and gloomy as the handful that have preceded it. The only bright spot was a metaphorical one, the opportunity to work out with a strong contingent of BAA ladies. For the first time in many months, I made the trek down to Harvard for the Wednesday night workout and ended up being incredibly glad I did. This lengthy but not particularly fast workout, which looked benign enough on paper, ended up being a bit of a grind. I suppose that mentally I was flashing back to the last time I did mile repeats on this track, a cool spring evening almost six months ago when I'd clicked off six repeats with two minutes rest and averaged around 5:20. Never mind that I'd been at the peak of my spring fitness and running significantly less weekly volume; in my mind, running just two more intervals at a significantly slower pace should be a breeze.

In summary: it wasn't. But with a little help from my friends, I got through it.

For the first two intervals, I jumped in with a group that was running 1200 repeats. Unsure of what 5:50 pace was supposed to feel like, I tucked in at the back of the pack and hoped we would settle into a rhythm. Instead our first few laps were all over the place, resulting in me overcompensating and inadvertently splitting an 81 last lap to ultimately finish ahead of schedule in 5:47. That may not have been the smartest move on my part, but I reasoned that I'd rather be a few seconds ahead than a few seconds behind. (Easy to say at that point.) Emily and Hilary--the girl who gave me a good throttling at 13.1 Boston a few weeks ago--entered the workout at the start of the third interval and immediately picked up the pace. For the next several repeats I found myself a good 20 meters behind Emily with Hilary equidistant between us, but fortunately there were plenty of other girls around to help me settle in and not get discouraged. I was quickly learning that the term "one minute recovery" was somewhat of an oxymoron, and as we progressed through the workout like clockwork my legs grew increasingly heavy.

By this point, the track was almost completely dark save for the ambient light spilling over from the adjacent soccer fields. (Apparently one of the richest institutions in the country does not have an endowment dedicated to lighting its outdoor track facilities, or at the very least its track alums are not as beneficent as its soccer alums.) Most of the other girls had departed for their cooldown, leaving just Emily, Hilary and myself with the always trusty Terry holding the stopwatch. Unlike the previous intervals, I actually led off for the first lap of this one and stuck close to the girls until they pulled away on the final straightaway. Hilary, less than two weeks removed from her goal marathon, was finished at this point--as were my legs. Had Emily suggested bagging the final repeat I would've struggled to find a reason to demur, but instead I found myself to agreeing to trade off leading each lap. Both of us were obviously laboring--myself clearly more so--but when your training partner is putting forth such a team effort there's really no justification for giving up. 

Overall, I'm pleased with completing the workout but a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to achieve the desired progression. My average was probably right on, but instead of overachieving on the first half it would've been nice to feel strong clicking off low- or sub-5:30s through the second half. Regardless, I have no doubt I'll reap tangible fitness gains from both the pace and volume of this workout.

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Harvard Track Mile Repeats

2.5 mile w/u + strides
Target: 6xmile @5:20 avg. w/2 mins. rest
Actual: 5:23, 5:24, 5:19, 5:19, 5:21, 5:21
2.5 mile c/d
Total: 11-11.5 miles

Just as Jordan and I were debating several undesirable options for our Wednesday track workout--Crack of dawn at the Village track? Push our limits with a two-hour lunch break? Wait until after work and race the sunset?--my inbox pinged with an email from Terry. Turns out one of the BAA workout groups would be doing 5xmile, which was almost identical to the 6xmile that Jordan had suggested for me. The decision was simple. Less than 24 hours later we hit the road from Beverly into Boston, Jordan's newly arrived mom in tow, hoping we could avoid rush hour traffic and drop her off at a coffee shop or some other pleasant diversion while still making it to the workout on time. Miraculously, all of the above happened relatively smoothly, and at 6am on the dot we were ready to rock and roll.

After a leisurely warmup and costume change, the group assembled on the track. It quickly became apparent that while there were several dozen other athletes preparing to work out, very few of them would actually be doing the exact same regimen as me. Specifically, Jordan would be assuming his standard role of queenmaker for me and Emily while Melissa jumped in and out for several 400-meter repeats, but other than that we were on our own. To be honest, that didn't make things all that much different than if we'd hung back and done the workout at home, but just feeling the group energy and positive buzz was enough to convince us we'd made the right decision by coming down.

For the first two intervals, everything felt ridiculously easy as Emily and I naturally fell into a single file line behind Jordan. Even from the early stages I could tell her breathing was labored--turns out she preferred to spend her recent European vacation frolicking around exotic locales and eating exotic pastries instead of slaving away at the banality of hitting mileage goals--but talent like hers doesn't go away overnight. Sticking close to my side, she and I both tucked in behind Jordan and let him set the metronomic pace. Once the splits dropped to sub-5:20 on interval #3, my comfort level immediately dissipated. As crazy as it sounds, 5:24 felt like an absolute jog while 5:19 immediately felt like a sprint. Emily, too, was tiring quickly, but gamely stuck around through interval #4 even after initially planning to drop after #3. She's so tough, and I know the time will come sooner than later when I'll be seeing nothing but her back during sessions like these.


With two intervals to go, it was down to Jordan and myself with Terry at the watch. The wind began to gain strength as the rain that had threatened finally began to fall in sharp, angry droplets. This was the point in the workout when I'd envisioned triumphantly surging ahead and powering away to sub-5:15 splits...instead, I struggled to hang on to something resembling 5:20. The final few laps were particularly ugly, and though those splits were nothing impressive I can assure you that I gave it everything I had.

Putting things in perspective, tonight's 5:21 average was identical to three weeks ago when Jordan led me through mile repeats on the Beverly High track, only tonight I did two more intervals and took a minute less rest between each. Though I was disappointed in my inability to close out today's workout with some faster splits, overall this effort was clearly superior to the previous one and indicative of my ever-increasing fitness. I hope this translates into a respectable performance at the New Balance Twilight 10k next weekend.

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Mile Repeats With JSK

2.5 mile w/u + strides
Target: 4x1600 starting @5:22-25 and getting faster, 3 mins. jog
Actual: 5:25, 5:22, 5:20, 5:15
2 mile c/d
Total: 9 miles

After several days of uncharacteristically warm weather (an understatement for all the marathon runners), Wednesday seemed to take a turn in the opposite direction. A day that started off sunny and breezy turned overcast and blustery by late afternoon, just in time for me to take to the Beverly High oval with Jordan. He'd agreed to play queenmaker and pull me through some quick mile repeats, and though I'm always grateful for his presence the wind made me feel especially so this afternoon.

Though I knew the intervals were supposed to be fast, I also realized that the workout would go best if I just relied on Jordan's pacing and didn't check my watch every 20 seconds. So from the outset, I resolved to only check my split at the end of each interval and simply run by feel. The first mile was intended to be the slowest, and it felt that way. Still, I was a bit surprised/disappointed to see a 5:25 split as my legs sensed it to be a bit faster. That would be the theme throughout the workout; each split getting gradually quicker but feeling just a little harder than I'd like. I was pleased to set a new mile PR (pathetic, ha!) of 5:15 after the final push, but it didn't come easily. I'll need to be rattling off 5:15s with no problem if I hope to achieve my 10k goals later in the season. I look forward to revisiting this workout a month from now to see how much I've improved!

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BAA 5k Pre-Race Workout

PM: 2 mile w/u + strides
Target: 1600 @5:22-25, 2x800 @2:40, 2x400 @75 all w/2 mins. jog
Actual: 5:21, 2:37, 2:36, 72, 70
2 mile c/d
Total: 7 miles

Yes, I'm behind on my blog. Yes, I have multiple entries to catch up on. (Though I'm back-dating this entry for the sake of consistency, I'm actually writing it a full week later. Shhhh, don't tell.) I'll do my best to accomplish this in the next few days, but for the entire past week I've been caught up in Boston Marathon fervor. The agony, the ecstasy, the heat stroke...none of those words describe my own personal Marathon Monday experience, but I'm pretty sure I saw a little bit of all three out there on the course.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Last Wednesday, before the weekend craziness ensued, I ventured out to the Beverly High School track on my lunch hour to knock out a light, fast pre-race workout. Jordan and I invited several of our co-workers, most of whom dabble in running but are decidedly categorized on the cycling side of the industry, and it was actually quite fun fostering a group atmosphere even if we weren't all literally running together. For my part, I tucked behind Jordan and let him block the wind and set the pace. I was pleasantly surprised with my splits, particularly the 400s which felt completely relaxed. It was always a running joke (pun intended, obv) at Queens that I could never break 70 seconds for the quarter regardless of where it fell during my training cycle or within an individual workout, even when I was in 16:30 shape. I didn't do so today either, but I also wasn't trying to. I actually see this as quite an encouraging sign and indicator that I might be in better shape than I think. I'll have my first chance to prove that on Sunday at the BAA 5k.

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Piedmont Park Workout

2.5 mile w/u
Target: 2xmile @5:30-35 w/3 min. jog; 3x1200 @4:08-09 w/3 min; 2x800 @2:40 w/2:00; 2x600 @2:00 w/2:00
Actual: 5:29 (3 min jog), 5:26 (3:00); 4:00 (3:00), 3:59 (3:00), 4:01 (3:00); 2:40 (3:00), 2:35 (2:30); 600 @1:58 (1:30); 400 @73
1.5 mile c/d
Total: 11+ miles

I don't really have time to write about this right now, but I'll have even less time until Monday so I want to at least jot the details down. A few quick points:

• Did this on a ~one mile road loop in Piedmont Park. I'd planned to use the crushed gravel Active Oval but upon arrival we found it was quite muddy with several ankle-deep puddles.We made a game time decision to switch to the road.
  
• The loop was relatively flat and fast. First 800m was gradually uphill with a sharp, almost 180-degree turn at 600m, while the second 800m was slightly downhill to flat.
• From the first interval, I was running hard. Really hard. I had to augment the rest and change the last two intervals because I didn't think I could do another 600 at the same pace. I took advantage of the slightly downhill section and cranked out a hard 400 instead.
• This was likely the first, last and only time I've ever dropped Jordan in a workout. Clearly he is coming back from injury and hasn't worked out in several months, but that doesn't mean I won't give him a hard time about it.
  
• I'm still light years away from where I need to be in May, but today's effort gives me hope. Everything was done at my current 5k pace or faster.
• I'm glad to have my workout buddy back!
  

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Return to the Track

3 mile w/u
Target: 2x200m strides @40; 1x400m @80; mile @5:20; 1k @3:20; 600m @2:00
Actual: 37.7 (200m jog); 41.9 (200m jog); 79.3 (2:00 jog); 5:15.2 (4:00); 3:18.4 (3:00); 1:54.3
1 mile c/d
Total: ~7.5 miles

According to Jordan, it was necessary for me to step on the track so I could wake my body up and kindly remind it that workouts below 6-minute pace do exist. Okay, fair enough. But it's been so incredibly long since I've done a track workout, even longer since I've done one without Jordan pacing me and longer still since I've touched 5:20 pace--take all that into account and, suffice it to say, I was feeling a bit nervous about hitting the oval today. But I suppose it had to be done.

After delaying things as long as possible until a 2pm "lunch" hour, it was finally time. Fortunately our office is located literally a quarter mile away from the Beverly High School track, which is actually quite a nice facility. I jogged a comfortably long warmup while Jordan, who is still recovering from various ailments, also put in some time on his feet. Once I stepped onto the track for the workout portion, he promptly took my watch. I would be running on nothing more than feel and the splits he would call out at every 200 meters. Jordan purposely started things off with 2x200m and 1x400m, all intended to help me hone in on 80-second pace--which, as I mentioned, isn't exactly a familiar feeling. (In fact, I'm pretty sure the last time I ran an entire mile in 5:20 was when I "paced" Alana at the High Point 5k last year. I say "paced" in quotations because essentially I ran four laps before she left me in her dust. Needless to say, this memory did not set my hopes sky high for today's effort.)

As you can see from the splits above, the 200s were wildly inconsistent. It didn't help that I was facing a stiff 15+ mph headwind on the backstretch, which made it even more difficult to correlate pace and effort. I was able to settle down and dial things closer to the correct tempo with the 400, but I still remained skeptical I'd be able to run the same pace for four consecutive laps. What's sad is that plenty of high school girls run 5:20 miles every day, but for me it's about as rare as leap year. Taking that into account, I was quite surprised to not only run well under 5:20, but to do so completely solo and largely into the wind. Thanks to the ample recovery jog (plenty of time for my nausea to subside), I was able to maintain basically the same pace for the 1000 and 600 as well. I didn't exactly break any records, but for my first such outing in quite some time it was pretty much best case scenario. And just think, if I can just string together five more 5:15 miles back-to-back I just might have a shot at making the 10k Trials! Actually, when you put it like that, I definitely won't quit my day job.

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Longest Track Workout Ever

3 mile w/u + strides
Target: 3200, 2000, 1600, 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200 all w/400m jog
Actual: 11:50 (5:55/5:55), 7:14 (5:46 through mile), 5:44, 4:14 (2:49 through 800), 3:30 (2:48 through 800), 2:44, 2:01 (79 through 400), 76, 35
Total time: 58:17 for 14.2k/8.8 miles (11k workout plus 3200m jogging)
3k cooldown
Total: ~14 miles

Any way you dice it, this workout was destined to take up a large chunk of time. Jordan and I were up well before 6am to prepare, and after firing off a few work emails we put on our costumes and headed out the door. Continuing with the past week's trend it was unseasonably warm this morning, and I was already sweating in my light windbreaker by the time we reached our destination at Village School. (This is the track that eluded me several weeks ago which I erroneously thought was located at Marblehead High. Turns out it's not that far away, and Jordan and I have been using the adjacent grass fields for some of our evening shakeout runs ever since.) The warm weather also brought with it a prevailing wind which would prove especially obnoxious on the top curve of the track, but fortunately my trusty coach and pacer would be front and center to provide me with a significant drafting opportunity throughout the workout.

Last night when we were discussing this morning's details, we revisited the blog archives to find a similar effort that took place when we were visiting my parents for Thanksgiving last year. This time around I wouldn't necessarily be shooting for drastically faster times, but rather increasing the total workout volume from 8k (6 miles including jog recoveries) to 11k (8.8 miles including jogs). Two weeks after that session last year I ran 21:05 for 6k at USATF Club XC Champs, so I certainly wasn't in terrible shape at the time. With all that in mind, I was interested and not just a little bit eager to see if I could sustain similar paces today for a longer duration.

As is often the case with me, the first half of the first interval felt uncomfortable and a bit choppy. It took well over a mile for me to settle in and allow my limbs and breathing to relax. I quickly learned that checking my watch after each lap would make for an extremely long morning, so I decided just to glance at key markers in each interval and otherwise simply focus on tucking in behind Jordan. There was a point midway through when I had a minor mental freakout--for some reason I thought the sequence went "1600, 1200, 800" and I had no idea there was actually a bonus 1000 tucked in there--but otherwise I grew more comfortable and confident as the workout progressed. Once the 1000 came and went, I knew the most difficult sections were behind me. While Jordan added on an extra 200 meters hard after each of my intervals, I tried to keep the 400-meter jogs between 2:15 and 2:25. This seemed to be just the perfect amount of time to allow my legs and lungs to recover, maybe even a bit long as the interval length decreased. I may or may not have run blades out for the final 200, which was more of an homage to my training with Tanya at Queens than an actual attempt to muster up more speed; either way, the lighthearted moment indicated that I hadn't completely drained my energy or gone to the well.

Overall I was satisfied with my execution of the workout, especially compared with the November 2010 workout, and I could tell that Jordan was as well. I cannot stress enough how much of a help he was from start to finish--I literally could not have done this, physically or mentally, without him. So often he sacrifices his own training to improve mine, and I try never to take that for granted. His efforts certainly did not go unnoticed today. I know Caitlin and I both are already looking forward to him doing the same for Friday's tempo. It will be just like old times! Just a few easy runs between now and then before the band gets back together again. Can't wait!

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Katy Trail Mile Repeats, or "The Time I Beat Troy Aikman"

2+ mile w/u
Target: 5xmile @5:35-5:40 w/2-3 mins. jog
Actual: 5:41 (2), 5:34 (2), 5:38 (3), 5:34 (2), 5:36
2 mile c/d
Total: 10 miles

Ah, the best laid plans.

I woke up at 6am on Tuesday morning with every intention of completing this workout on the high school track in Marblehead. Only problem was, once I jogged over to the track I discovered it wasn't a track at all, just a football field with nothing around it. Awesome. By the time I realized where the actual track was I didn't have enough time to run over there and utilize it before work. Fail #1. My fallback was the Beverly High School track which is located a mere 400 meters from our office. However, they're currently redoing the infield so when I jogged past on my second run at lunch there were men in hard hats and bulldozers and the like making a mess of the place. Fail #2. This left me with only one option, and that was to attempt to squeeze this in mid-day Wednesday after waking at 5am and flying until noon and before working all afternoon at the 13.1 Dallas packet pickup at Luke's Locker. That the pieces all fell together in such a way that I was afforded a full 90 minutes to squeeze this in was a miracle in itself. So, while feeling as though I'd already lived through a full exhausting day prior to a solo hard effort might not be ideal pre-workout protocol, it was all I had.

Originally, when the workout plan was Tuesday, Jordan had prescribed six faster intervals with two minutes rest. Given the switch to Wednesday and my upcoming half-marathon on Saturday, the decision was made to decrease the volume and intensity slightly with the intention of preserving my legs. But if I'd thought that mid-5:30s would feel easy, I was wrong. The fact of the matter is I'm just a horrible solo pacer, particularly on a completely straight stretch of pavement such as that of the Katy Trail. At least it was marked every quarter mile, though I question how precise some of those measurements are. I'd like to blame my erratic splits on the potentially erratic markings, but the reality is just what I stated earlier. I'm a horrible solo pacer, and traveling for eight hours before working out sucks.

As alluded to in my blog title, the highlight of this working was beating Troy Aikman. (Just in case you, like Caitlin, are one of two people on earth who doesn't know who he is, see here.) To be precise, he had no idea we were racing. We just happened to be covering the same ground at the same time. Although--and I'm being completely honest here--it really wasn't a race because of how fast I blew past him. The first time I thought, "Hmm, that guy looks a lot like Troy Aikman." The second time, when we made eye contact, I amended that to, "That guy is definitely Troy Aikman. And I'm definitely kicking his ass."

So no matter what happens at 13.1 on Saturday, at least I have that going for me. Which is nice.

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McAlpine Death March

3 mile w/u
Target: 3 mile @17-low; 2 mile @11-low; 1 mile @5:30 all w/800m jog
Revised target: 3 mile @sub-18; 2 mile @ 11:30; 1 mile @sub-5:40
Re-revised target: Don't drop out; try to hang on to Spada
Actual: 17:37 (5:50, 5:50, 5:57); 11:52 (5:53, 5:59); 5:41
1 mile c/d
Total: 11 miles

I realize that reading about how brutal the weather is might be getting a little old. And I swear, I'm doing my best to not dwell on it in every single post. But today in particular merits an exception, so please humor me as I address it up front and then move on to the nitty gritty details. The facts themselves need little elaboration: upon finishing the workout, I consulted my personal weatherman (i.e., the iPhone) and learned that the temperature was 78 degrees, with 91% humidity and a dew point of 73. The temperature wasn't the issue. Rather, it was the stifling, sweltering, stagnant air that had me literally flinging sweat off my body in every direction less than two miles into the warmup jog. Around this time last year I posted a blog written by Paul's coach, Tim Budic, which succinctly argues why the dew point is the most reliable indicator of how weather affects performance. Similarly, a current LetsRun thread explains dew point and even offers one person's aptly titled "Misery Index," or a combination of the temperature and dew point. Peruse both of these useful links at your leisure, but just know that today's weather was bordering on dangerous.

Regardless, there was work to be done. As Jordan, Paul, Spada and I set off on our warmup jog we tried not to dwell on the weather, but nonetheless noted we'd be amending our ambitious prescribed paces in favor of survival. Spada and I decided to start out at 5:50 pace for the first three-mile segment, which I knew might prove difficult considering the conditions, but I was willing to give it a shot. For me personally, I knew the most important thing was not to lose contact with Spada or else I'd be left sputtering in no-man's land indefinitely.

The first mile, which began with a slight downhill from the three-mile marker on the trail, felt comfortable enough. By a mile and a half, however, my breathing began to noticeably labor, and despite passing through two miles at Spada's side I could tell he had more in the tank than me. He pulled ahead for the third mile, during which I made a conscious decision to back off or risk not finishing the workout. Even at that, I contemplated dropping out. After all, the interval finished at the Old Bell parking lot--how easy would it be to just call it a day and slink wearily back to the car??

But of course, we pressed on. The half mile recovery jog was over before we knew it, and within seconds of starting the second interval Spada had already dropped me. For the first mile I kept my eyes trained on his back, marveling with jealousy at the ease of his stride. It looked like he was barely jogging! I silently reminded myself to apologize to him after the workout for doing so little to help him run faster. A few minutes later, however, I noticed something strange: despite how much I was struggling and how much he appeared to be doing quite the opposite, the gap between us was almost imperceptibly narrowing. With each stride I gained another fraction of a meter, and by the time we reached 1.5 I'd pulled up alongside. He had towed me along for the first mile and a half, and now I would return the favor for the remaining 800 meters. Though this would be our slowest mile split of the day, it was also when we were working the hardest to fight through the cloying air and piercing sunlight to simply hold the workout together. We finished side by side, our breath ragged and gasping.

With only one hard mile to go, you'd think we would be elated. Instead, I again questioned my ability to continue. The only saving grace was knowing that Jordan had stashed a Nuun bottle at the start of the Footlocker course where we'd begin our final interval. If I could just take in a few precious sips, hopefully I'd be able to regulate my body temperature enough to finish strong. As Spada and I shuffled along beside each other, I voiced what I knew he was thinking: even if we barely broke six minutes for the mile--even if it was the hardest six-minute mile of our lives--we'd still be running under our goal marathon pace. For today, that would be enough. My spirits began to lift ever so slightly as I offered him encouraging words. Suddenly: disaster! Jordan had taken the water bottle! In hindsight, the action makes perfect sense; we weren't returning to that spot again, so if he didn't snag it on his way past then we might not get it back. In the moment, I was crestfallen. I literally asked Spada for an extra 30 seconds of rest to mentally regroup, which he didn't seem to mind allowing.

Maybe it was the extra recovery, or the knowledge that we were almost done, or the motivation of finally being able to match Spada stride for stride, but for whatever reason I felt surprisingly strong on the mile. After expecting to barely break six, I found myself passing through the halfway point comfortably on 5:40 pace. I kept the effort level high, but never straining, and was pleased to finish up with my fastest split of the day without going to the well. Considering that just minutes earlier I'd questioned even attempting the mile, it's hard to not look at that as a victory. Overall, though my splits were unremarkable, this workout actually ended up being a surprise confidence booster. If I can run below marathon pace in these conditions, I have to think that when the weather breaks--in, you know, three or four months--the same pace will feel like a breeze. A cool, dry, delightfully comfortable breeze.

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13.1 Chicago Pre-Race Workout

3 mile w/u + strides
Target: 2xmile @5:35-40 w/4 mins rest; 2x1k @3:25 w/3 mins. rest; 4x300m strides
Actual: 5:35, 5:29, 3:21, 3:22, 54, 54, 54, 53
2 mile c/d
Total: 10 miles

Though I haven't done one in some time, pre-race workouts were a staple of my training while at Queens. Rather than being designed to elicit fitness gains or blazing fast times, the objective is simply to turn the legs over at race pace or faster and emerge feeling comfortable and confident in your upcoming race plan. In theory, it makes perfect sense. In practice, it often works like a charm. Today, I felt like death.

To be honest, I have no one to blame but myself. And perhaps Mother Nature. Sure, I could've started before sunrise, but I naively thought that departing my house for the AG track at 7:30am would still give me plenty of time to complete the relatively short workout before the heat and humidity became too oppressive. I was grossly mistaken. I'd also forgotten how much of the track--really, all but about 20 meters surrounding the starting line--is completely exposed to the sun. By the time I finished my warmup and strides I was already wilting rapidly. The first two mile repeats and their lengthy rest should've felt easy and relaxed, but instead every part of my body felt tense and heavy and almost unbearably warm.

I had just finished the second mile repeat and was slowly trotting around the top of the curve when I spotted a familiar face jogging toward me. My friend and CRC teammate John Fillette had just arrived for his own workout but graciously offered to run with me for the remainder of mine. What a difference his presence made! My first 1k, which I did solo while John finished his warmup, was as much a chore as the preceding mile repeats. But I felt instantly, inexplicably better once John jumped in for the second one. Just having someone else running alongside me translated to a tangible difference in my level of perceived exertion. Thanks to his company I finished out the 300s feeling relaxed and strong--albeit indescribably thirsty--and to offer a small token of my appreciation I stuck around and cheered him through a solo mile repeat at the end. He even joined me for part of my cooldown, which was an added bonus. I have no doubt John will crush it at the King Tiger 5k when he toes the line this weekend!

As for myself, this workout did little to affect my confidence in either direction for my upcoming race. On the one hand, the entire thing was a struggle. On the other hand, I was still able to run faster than my prescribed paces despite feeling terrible from the first few steps. I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for better weather in Chicago this weekend, but either way I know I'm in solid shape. And it's not like the weather is going to improve any time soon, so I might as well get used to it. Game on, summer.

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Great Harvest 5k

3 mile w/u + strides
Target: win some Great Harvest Bread, then 3xmile on the greenway w/3 mins. jog
Actual: 17:44; 5:39, 5:38, 2:38 for 800m
Results
1 mile c/d
Total: ~10 miles

Last year Jordan and I had a blast running the Great Harvest 5k and winning plenty of free baked goods to boot. Because I am a fat kid trapped inside a skinny kid's body, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do the same this year. Plus, the race was taking place just down the road from the TrySports grand re-opening where I'd be hosting a group run later in the morning (which sounded like a much better idea in theory than after actually running a workout and a race), so there was really no reason not to participate.

As I warmed up on the first mile of the course with Billy, Paul and Eric, I came to the sobering realization that the course was much, much hillier than I remembered. To be honest I could recollect very little about the course from last year, and I'd sort of assumed that everyone who complained about its excessive hilliness were just being big babies. It didn't take long this morning for me to admit that they were correct. The first mile started on an uphill grade and only got worse from there, its difficulty further exacerbated by the number and frequency of sharp turns. I made the game time decision to consciously be conservative on the first half of the course so that I could truly run a "tempo" effort and save something for the mile repeats I had planned for afterward.

I have to say, standing on the starting line of a RFYL Grand Prix race without Jordan by my side was a little strange. For at least the millionth time in the past month I wished he were there with me, but fortunately I was still surrounded by a solid group that included Rebecca, Michelle, Danielle, Alice, Lat and several others. The clock ticked past 7:30 as we waited for a tardy Mike Moran to scramble over to the starting line, and then we were off into the morning sunshine. I found myself pulling up alongside Billy and Chad, both of whom I knew would be running close to 17-flat, and was surprised to see them starting so conservatively. For a few minutes I had inclinations to surge ahead, but then I reminded myself that they would be picking up the pace soon enough and it would serve me well to try to hang on then. Sure enough, just before the mile marker Chad kicked into another gear--they probably split 5:40ish to my 5:44--and before long I had another companion, my warmup buddy Eric. For the rest of the race he and I would work together, occasionally exchanging the lead but otherwise matching each other stride for stride. The second mile came and went quickly due to its mostly downhill nature--I split a controlled 5:41--but the final mile meant several long uphill sections as we retraced our steps toward the finish. With about 800 to go I could see John Fillette almost imperceptibly moving backwards toward us, and I quietly encouraged Eric to focus on John's back and reel him in. (John, if you're reading this, it was all in the spirit of friendly competition!) Sure enough, as we rounded the final uphill turn into the parking lot (who decided that was a good idea??) Eric took off and pulled up alongside John. I finished a few seconds later, more exhausted than I'd hoped to be and pretty happy to be done. I'd originally planned to take just five minutes before starting my mile repeats, but I could tell right away that there was no way I'd be recovered by then. Instead I took about 10 minutes to cheer in some friends, guzzle about a gallon of water and wring out my sweat-soaked shirt before begrudgingly making my way down to the adjacent greenway. (As a side note, how is the greenway so flat when the nearby neighborhoods are so hilly?? I liked Danielle's suggestion earlier today of running an alternate Great Harvest course out and back along the greenway--sure, it might be a tad congested, but it's still bound to produce speedier times!)


Top 4 women: me, Alice, Michelle and Danielle, Photo courtesy of
Danielle (and Chad) Crockford

Originally I'd made tentative plans to round up Johnny C. (the decisive men's winner), Alice (female runner-up) and Lat (her trusty sidekick) to bang out these repeats with me. When the time came, however, I couldn't spot John anywhere and failed in my repeated attempts to get Alice and Lat's attention. Rather than extending my recovery even longer, I opted to begin by myself. The first two intervals went surprisingly well; as expected, my legs felt fatigued, but my breathing was controlled and I never felt like I was straining to hit the pace. If anything, the biggest obstacle was the congestion from other runners and walkers, cyclists and people cooling down from the race. Tired and thirsty, I'd already decided to cut out the final repeat when I ran into my race partner Eric cooling down. He agreed to help lead me through a final 800 and did a great job of keeping the tempo honest when all I wanted to do was sit down and take a break. We finished up just in time to jog back over to the race site for the awards. As expected, I received the awesome prize of Great Harvest bread and cookies and a set of Great Harvest oven mitts. These will make a great addition to the apron and chef's hat I won last year for all those hours I spend slaving away in the kitchen.

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6 x Mile Solo Effort

3 mile w/u + drills and strides
Target: 6xmile @5:40 or faster w/3 mins. jog
Actual: 5:40, 5:38, 5:37, 5:36, 5:38, 5:34
2 mile c/d
Total: 12-12.5 miles

Q: What takes longer than doing a 6xmile workout? A: Doing a 6xmile workout by yourself.

Okay, so maybe it doesn't literally take longer, but it certainly feels that way. Because Jordan's hip is still banged up and because I'm too lazy to get up and do this at 6am, I had the privilege of taking a solo trip to McAlpine to attempt one of my longest workouts of the season. Jordan set the bar at a challenging, but achievable, level, and I went into it confident I could hit the mark. My legs felt light and fresh during the warmup, due in no small part to yesterday's massage from Byron, and I actually took extra time to do the drills and stretches that Jenna introduced to me last week.

After that, it was time for the real work to begin. I decided to stick to the first mile of the Footlocker course, which meant miles 1, 3 and 5 would go in one direction and mile 2, 4 and 6 would go in the other. In this way I was able to mentally break the workout up into three sets of two, which somehow seemed less tedious than six individual efforts. Though temperatures were "only" in the mid-70s, the air was thick with humidity, a harbinger of tonight's impending thunderstorms. Luckily cloud cover prevailed for most of my workout, because otherwise I think the weather would've taken a toll. Instead I felt strong and fluid throughout, with no objections from my knee, and the only time I truly faltered was on the penultimate interval. I was running down the long straight stretch from the woods back to the starting line of the Footlocker course, and at that point the wind in my face began to wear on me. I swear I felt like I was slogging through at 6-minute pace, but somehow I managed to still dip below 5:40. The downside of that extra effort is that I was spent. Instead of jogging around casually during the rest segment like I'd done for the previous four, this time I opted to stand and drink from my Nuun bottle and simply take a few minutes to catch my breath. For the briefest of moments I contemplated bagging the final interval, but then I tricked myself into thinking that having the previously hindering wind at my back would surely make sub-5:35 seem like cake. While that wasn't exactly the case, I did manage to dig in and find another gear to just dip under my goal time.

Remember in my Week in Review when I talked about focusing on incremental fitness gains? While today's workout wasn't remarkable, I definitely come away from it feeling confident that such gains will be made. Furthermore, I averaged only a few seconds slower per mile than when Jordan dragged me through the same workout last March. Why is this significant? Because a week later I ran 34:37 at Stanford. Now, I am a realist, and by no means do I think this translates to me being in 34:xx shape right this minute. However, it does give me the confidence to believe I should be able to run sub-36 on the roads (barring a ridic course like the 5 Miler last weekend). I'll have the chance to put that prediction into motion when I attempt to do just that at the Capital City Classic in Raleigh on Saturday. It won't be easy, but after today I definitely think it's doable.

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Playing Queenmaker

AM: 61 mins. (8 miles)
PM: 3 mile w/u + strides
Target: Pacing Alana @81 per lap for 1.5 miles
Actual: 5:19 (mile)
Total: 4-4.5 miles

Earlier this week, I got a call from Jenna saying she was having a difficult time finding someone to rabbit Alana Hadley for the 5k at the High Point home track meet. Alana, a 14-year-old Charlotte eighth grader who also happens to be one of the fastest youth runners in the country, was hoping to lower her 17:09 PR to a mind-boggling sub-17. I'm pretty sure when I was in eighth grade I was stoked to run the mile in sub-6:30 at the Pittsburg Middle School track meet, but that's neither here nor there. When on Saturday afternoon Jenna still hadn't located a pacer, I sent her a text that read something like this:

1. I just raced 10k today; 2. My ITB is still screwy; 3. I'm on my second glass of wine. If you accept these preconditions and understand that I promise you nothing, I will gladly attempt to pace Alana for as long as physically possible tomorrow.

Given that auspicious pretense, I was pretty excited to discover that I didn't feel half bad when warming up along the HPU greenway before the 5k. Jordan and I made the trip up with our surrogate child Caitlin in tow, and in contrast to Saturday's monsoons there was nary a cloud in the sky on Sunday afternoon. The only fault to the afternoon's weather was a brisk headwind that made itself known on the backstretch and top of the first curve. I told Alana and her father Mark that I would run on pace for as long as I could but would step aside when I feared that I would cause the tempo to drag. They both seemed amenable to this plan, so we assembled near the starting line with about a dozen other girls and waited for our chance to toe the line. Wearing hip number one, Alana was situated in the corresponding lane. As a late addition to the field, I filed in on the far right of the starting line. Alana and Mark told me just before the start that she was planning to go out in 78-79 before settling into pace, so our positioning would work to my favor as I could allow her to dictate the tempo around the first turn before falling in front of her on the home straight.

From the gun, it was clear that no one wanted to go with us. Right on plan, I took my place in front of Alana about 150 meters into the race and led us through the first lap in 78. I could tell after this lap that the headwind on the home stretch would be more of a factor than I'd originally thought. Alana would benefit from having me to block her for a while, but I wouldn't be able to last very long. I could tell after the third lap that I wouldn't be able to maintain the current pace for much longer, so true to my word I stepped aside after successfully bringing her through mile one. In hindsight, I should've stuck around for a few more laps. I wouldn't have been able to maintain 80s, but I could've definitely still managed a few 82s and at least helped bear the brunt of the wind for a few more laps. Instead I switched into cheering mode and immediately began covering the infield to cheer for Alana at different points around the track. All alone for the duration, her splits began to lag through the middle section of the race before she put together a strong finishing kick and powered home in 17:06. The sub-17 clocking eluded her, but she still notched a PR and a definitive win in windy conditions. Oh, and for those of you who didn't catch it the first time, she's only in eighth grade. Amazing.

All in all, I was happy that I had a hand in helping Alana and even happier that I can apparently still run a sub-5:20 mile. After months of marathon training and less than groundbreaking workouts, I would estimate this is the fastest mile I've run since sometime last summer. Sad, yes, but I'll take the small victories where I can get them. More importantly, huge props go to Alana for her stellar race and to Jenna for hosting a flawlessly run meet.

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