Confluence of events

Bad run days happen. It sucks when there are many different factors likely contributing to the problem that you can't figure out how much should be attributed to what factor.

Today, my run was supposed to be 2 miles @ 7:35, 3 miles @ 6:40, 2 miles @ 7:35. Given that I was running in 72F heat and 95% humidity, I knew those paces were NOT going to happen. I know the rule of thumb to adjust for temperature, and was set to do 8:00, 7:00, 8:00 instead.

Alas, that wasn't happening either. While my first two miles were actually slightly under 8:00 each, the next two miles were mostly uphill, and with that humidity, I was fortunate to just keep my 8:00 pace. But my legs were plenty sore from yesterday's double, and by the time I was heading back, given the totality of pace, temp, and humidity (and any factor that COVID-19 might be playing, though I suspect minimal), my HR was sky-high (~190). The last 3.5 miles were done at a walking pace. (Whether I wanted the full mileage or not, I had to do it, since my run took me 4 miles away from my apartment before turning around.)

So, how much of today's poor effort can be attributed to which factor? At the end of the day, obviously, it doesn't really matter. Work on a successful run again tomorrow.

Forced to run in the heat?

So, this just happened this morning...

Sigh. 

Thankfully, the only appreciable symptom I have is a very lightly sore/scratchy throat. No fever, no aches, no cough. Random sneeze, but that's pretty normal for me. Need to stay home from work rest of week (ugh) and should isolate - so, no gym for me.

Luckily, my apartment basically abuts a running trail, so it's easy enough for me to get out to do my runs. Hopefully I can manage to do so when it's on the cooler side of temps, though they are going to be pretty hot. (At least we've broken out 12-day (?) heat wave, finally.) Wish me luck in the heat.

WMM Disappointment

As I've mentioned multiple times this year, I'm aiming to qualify for the 2023 Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Championships. (As of tonight, I am now ranked 81st -- and only the Top 65 in my age group will be invited.) I have one great result, and one mediocre result that I am looking to vastly improve on this fall. If I get a 2nd sub-3 result, I'm fairly confident that would be sufficient to bring be back into the Top 65.

I was hoping that the 2023 Age Championships would be in London, again, given how difficult it is to get in by a non-UK resident via lottery, since I really don't want to go the charity bib route again -- very expensive. And if not London, then getting into Tokyo, both because of the cost of the charity bib as well as the dreadfully painful registration process they have.

Alas, the other night, I got an e-mail from Abbott indicating that the 2023 Age Championships would be held at a U.S. major in the 4th quarter of 2023. That means it will be either Chicago (Oct) or New York City (Nov). I was already planning on registering for both of those, since I have qualifying times for them. 

Despite that, I'll certainly accept the invite, if earned. While I have zero illusion that I will podium in my age group, getting the medal for competing in the championship would be HUGE.

The Mile You're In

While I've not read Ryan Hall's book "Run the Mile You're In," the sentiment very much speaks for itself, I think. 

This morning, I had a tough training run, the bulk of which was running five mile-long sprints at 9.5mph pace. Each of them was quite difficult, and at the beginning of the run, I wasn't sure I was really up to the task today -- just generally tired. But I made it through that first sprint to my two-minute walking rest/recovery. Then the next. And before I knew it, I was actually getting energized during my third sprint, and knew I was going to manage to finish. However, if I thought about the entirety of the set at the beginning, I may well have given up on it and either done a slower pace (and few miles) or shifted entirely over to the elliptical. But breaking the run down one mile at a time, and even within each of those miles, breaking it down even further, was exactly what I needed to finish it off.

Obviously, this also has its applications to other areas of life than just running. If you have a daunting task, break it down into parts and then just focus on the individual part that you're working on. It will make things much more attainable.

Volunteering at Crossroads 15k / Belleau Woods 8k

Today was the day that I was volunteering with the Marines at these races.Woke up at 3:30am -- ugh! It's my weekend, what the heck am I doing?! I got out the door and on the road at 4am, and arrived at Marine Corps Base Quantico a few minutes before 5am -- when we had been told to arrive by. Trouble was, the entrance was closed. A Marine finally came out and opened up one of the lanes right at 5am. A few minutes later, unclear for a bit whether I had missed a turn since many of the streets on base were unnamed, I was parking in the right area. Checked in and was eventually pointed to the van that would transport us to the water point -- a few miles away and about ¼ mile into the woods from one of the roadways. Oy, I didn't quite appreciate the course being a full trail race in the woods. I was wearing shorts and singlet (since I was planning on doing my run at the gym after finishing up at the race), and the insects were quite happy to have the exposed skin. Thankfully they had some Off on-hand. I wound up spraying lots of it about three times throughout the morning. While the bugs were annoying, now, several hourse later, it doesn't seem like I was eaten up, so it worked well.

There were 4 of us, excluding the two course marshalls who went in either direction away from our position, and the ham operator and medical staff who eventually arrived. Setting up only took a few minutes. We started out setting out 7 cases of water (490 8oz bottles) on 3 folding tables, and 5 garbage pails. More than enough for the maybe 400 people who were expecting to run the race, but we had lots more cases in case it was necessary. We were done setting up by about 6:15am or so. The race didn't start until 7am.

Finally, at about 7:15am, the lead runner zipped by us at high speed, declining the water. The bicyclist who was the "lead vehicle" to keep up with him was basically left in the dust, given the mud and hills were much harder for him on two wheels than it was for the runner. Slowly but sure, we then had every else passing by in fits and spurts. Twice for those running the 15k, and once for those running the 8k (who, apparently, had a later start than the 15k). 

Many people took the water, one woman yelling loudly in advance of her arriving at the table "open it!" so that she could simply pour once she got the bottle. (It's not always easy to open these things when you're running and sweaty, so I totally appreciated the request.) Everyone we handed a bottle to, and even many who declined, thanked us. Cheering them on, sometimes sincerely and sometimes with sarcastic wit (depending on what the runner was saying) definitely helped the runners and helped us pass the time.

Slowly, as the time went by, enough bottles were handed out that we condensed down to two tables, and then to one. We had about ½ of a table left when the last person (walking the 8k) came by. After she departed, we took a few minutes to pack up what remained and load back into the U-Haul, at which point the ham operator heard a report from the central operations that we shouldn't leave -- apparently there were 70 people who were still on course (though unclear where), including the lead runner and 6 others from that pack who made a wrong turn at the end and rather than going towards the finish line, they got back on course for a third lap. (Oops!) Turns out that report seemed to be in error though. After waiting an extra 15 minutes, and one of the sweepers backtracking the course to find any runners - to no avail - we were finally released. Where we had been told that we would be going to 11 or 11:30am, we were done by 9am.

Interesting time, and a good group of people to work with. It's definitely worth your time to volunteer at a race at some point (or often). The races really can't be run without sufficient on-course volunteers.

Switch it up - volunteer at a race

I've volunteered once at a marathon -- my first Chicago Marathon, where I spent several hours at the expo in the area arranging for and handing out t-shirts to the registered runners. And while I've paced multiple races officially previously, I've not taken on one of the on-course volunteer roles before. 

Recently, I saw a notice on the MCM Facebook page seeking volunteers for their upcoming Crossroads 15k / Belleau Woods 8k in < 2 weeks from now. What the heck? It's reasonably close, so I can drive down, volunteer, and be back -- no need to get a room down there. It should be interesting to see just what it's like from the other side of the table -- setting up the cups, pouring some of the water / Gatorade, handing out cups of water / Gatorade, raking up the dropped/thrown cups -- whatever they have me doing at Water Stop #2. While I always carry my own water for drink, and only ever avail myself of the water stations' water when I need to douse myself on hot days, I always make it a point to thank the volunteers for coming out (despite not taking the water, typically).

The race starts at 7am, and we need to be at the water station at 5:30am to begin the set-up. Which means I need to wake up at oh-dark-thirty so that I can drive down to Quantico (about 45 minutes at that hour) and find my way to the meet-up location. Yes, it'll be a long morning (the shift ends at 11:30am), but it'll be worth it to help the runners get across the finish line, both by providing the water as well as the moral support cheering them on, on an otherwise quiet course.

Regardless of what your running (or other fitness) goals are, consider volunteering at a local race.

Another training cycle begins

The seemingly endless "interim" period between my last marathon (Big Sur, in April) and the beginning of my training for my sub-3 attempt in October has finally come to an end. While I was doing plenty of running, I was doing it all simply to comfort -- just keep the legs going, no worries about pace.

I'm generally copying the same training cycle as I did the last time I had a full cycle. Which means that I kicked things off with a 10k time trial today. While the first 5k -- in fact, the first 4 miles -- went swimmingly well, I just wasn't able to keep the pace up to finish this distance in 40 minutes. No shame in that; it's a good benchmark to see where I am. So, after 4 miles, my heart rate was just far too high, 9.3mph was too much of an effort for that long. So, I dropped down to 8mph -- in itself not too shabby a pace -- to finish out the remainder of the 10k. While the effort was certainly better from a breathing/heart rate POV, my legs were not happy with me by the end of the run and cooldown walk. So much so that I spent the majority of the day sitting at my desk, rather than using the standing desk elevated. Currently, as I sit typing this, my legs are ok and I think I should be able to run tomorrow's 5k time trial in under 20 minutes.

While I am generally copying my prior cycle, I am going to start out attempting to up the mileage. I have read many things lately talking about more mileage (even at slower speeds) being important to hitting time goals, and my friend Laura keeps on hitting PRs at various distance races with all the extra mileage she puts in (thanks to her kids being interested in running, so she joins them on their afternoon runs, in addition to her morning workouts). So, I'm going to give a shot at adding mileage. Granted, I won't be increasing the mileage done at the high speeds -- it will be at a comfortable "easy" pace (aka "sexypace" as Laura is wont to call it) -- but getting the additional mileage just might help. We'll see if it increases the fatigue too much and hampers my "SOS" ("something of substance") runs. If it seems to have a negative effect, I'll revert back and not include that extra mileage. Time will tell.