Concord Distance Classic Half Marathon

Didn't get as good enough sleep as I wanted due to having to get my son somewhere by 10:30pm and then pick up and drop somewhere else at 2:30am, I wasn't going to give him my car since I need it in the morning and I also do not feel comfortable with him drive that late at night by himself since I know he will be tired. This was all revolving around After prom and sleepover.

Had the alarm set for 5:30am but finally got up at 6am, got dress wearing my Brooks Skort and under Armour top , made a peanut butter sandwich and my caffeinated energy and electrolyte mix to go. I got to the race site by 7:38am and was directed by a volunteer to a parking lot.

I went over to Value Fitness and picked up my race packet which went smoothly, the massage therapist were already there given pre-race massage but I decided to skip. I went back to the car to drop off the race packet and to take off the long sleeve top that I added on my way out of the house.

After dropping things off on the car, got back out and did Fitzgerald's Dynamic Flexibility and 1 mile warmup run, noticed a slight twinge in my right knee but everything else felt fine. Went over to Bellasano's Coffee Shop one of the wonderful businesses that opened up their restroom to us, smell of coffee and pastry was heavenly.

Got back out and watch the start of the wheelchair division which started at 8am and the 5k and HM started at the same but from 2 different locations, went off actually not too bad. The intention was to run mile 1 slow to see how the right knee feels but was surprise when the Garmin showed 8:19 pace and the volunteer at mile 1 said 8:29 but felt fine so decided to slow a bit but not too much since I know what was ahead.

Miles 1-5.5 was somewhat of a downhill except for what I consider speed bumps even though they really didn't show up on the elevation chart there are little hilly sections but not close together so they were bearable, and yes this was the easy part of the whole race.

Mile 4, wardrobe malfunction #1, I noticed 2 things at once at the start of mile 4, more breeze at my back and longer length to my skort, my brain finally click in, my skort was falling. I had my hand held water bottle, so proceeded to hold this with my teeth while I wrestle my skort back up and try to tie tighter to prevent any more expose. I really hope there is no picture.

Then the rolling hills began, I think this was more of a rolling climb because the downhills were insignificant, both my hamstrings and quad were killing me because the hills just will not let up. I know the rolling goes on till mile 8 but enough already. Took a vanilla GU at mile 5.5.

Mile 6.7, wardrobe malfunction #2, I hate to have my girls(boobs) bouncing, it drives me crazy, even drives me crazy when somebody elses bounce, so they are always locked up tight and secure. To my horror I notice a slight bounce on my right side and then a full swingy bounce, then it registered, the strap was loose or broken. So the hand held went back between my teeth and I proceed to find out if the strap was broken or just came off, this is a Nike no sew sport bra comfortable and no chafting don't even know I have it on. Well, it was broken, now what to do to keep things secure, mind you I was still running, handheld in mouth, top hike up trying to secure strap to the back loop to minimize the bounce, hopefully, no picture of this one either.

Just when you thought the hills couldn't get any worse, when you get about mile 8.5, it even shows on the elevation chart, you are on flat and notice 2 things the downhill and the steep climb ahead. This was a 0.9mile climb, the climb itself wasn't back but the previous 9 miles of up and down had taken their toil on my legs and no matter how much I willed them, they just were not moving, so I knew at the point that I wasn't going to meet my time goal, so during the climb I came up with goal 2, can I finish the climb and still run as close to goal pace for the next 3 miles at least to me that will prove that I am capable of running under 2hrs on a flat course. I was planning on taking another GU at mile 9.5 but they only have Gatorade go I skipped it but in all honesty I was sure I needed it since endurance wise I was fine.

So after the climb, shook out the legs and proceeded to get to goal pace (9:02) for each mile remaining, everyone kept on saying it's all downhill from here but I didn't feel it, I think there were only 2 sections in the whole race that felt like a downhill, the one by mile 1.5 and the also before the big climb, I was so ready to be done, saw the Sunoco gas station sign and knew it was almost over and I just have to hammer down for the last mile, I never looked at my Garmin so didn't know how fast I was running or what my time was, just wanted to be done and I felt fine.

Garmin 13.16 2:03:24 (9:23 pace)
Unofficial Official 2:03:16 (9:24 pace) posted result but they are still double checking


So based on my goal of

A: 9:02 pace (1:58:34)
B: 9:42 pace (2:07:06)
C:10:19 pace (2:15:09)

I didn't meet my A goal but surpass my B goal and considering the fact I ran this faster than my recent Hermes 10 miler (9:34) which was on a flat course I am very happy, this is also a new PR. Previous PR was 2:15:10 in Akron, so can I run under 2 hrs, I believe I can under the right conditions and with more training. Need to find a good hill close by for hill repeats, need hill training.

For a first race, it was very well organized and things went pretty smooth considering they got more runners than they were expecting especially at the last minute, the volunteers were great and the course was well marked, not that many spectators but the few that were out were very vocal and there were lots of little kids with signs and shouts of "you can do it". The road was not close to traffic but it wasn't that bad and the cops were waiting to help out at the main intersections. I will probably do this race again, something about it calls you back.

After the race walked and jogged for about a mile, got a cup of water, granola bar and Popsicle then got in line for a message, there was other stuff to eat but I skipped then and the running store also had some stuff on sale there.

Drove back, picked up the kid from sleepover then went over to IHOP for a well deserve breakfast, got home soak in cold water then helped son #2 with science project, no significant aches or pain just the usual reoccurring one.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 894 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: +17 ft Date: 05/31/09 Up/Downhill: [+853/-836] Time: 08:08 AM Difficulty: 3.7 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 13.16 miles Time: 2:03:24 Speed: 6.4 mph Pace: 9' 23 /mi Heart Rate: 160 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1711 199 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.03 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 30m 24% 3.11 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 1h 45m 85% 11.40 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 00m 0% 0.06 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 00m 0% 0.01 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 19 -1' 04 7.2 +0.8 157 0 ft 2 8' 57 -0' 26 6.7 +0.3 161 -3 ft 3 8' 56 -0' 27 6.7 +0.3 159 -49 ft 4 9' 04 -0' 19 6.6 +0.2 155 -79 ft 5 8' 52 -0' 31 6.8 +0.4 158 -92 ft 6 9' 18 -0' 05 6.5 +0.1 160 +29 ft 7 9' 42 +0' 19 6.2 -0.2 161 +59 ft 8 10' 07 +0' 44 5.9 -0.5 162 +105 ft 9 9' 50 +0' 27 6.1 -0.3 160 +46 ft 10 11' 10 +1' 47 5.4 -1.0 161 +180 ft 11 9' 04 -0' 19 6.6 +0.2 161 -52 ft 12 9' 06 -0' 17 6.6 +0.2 160 -56 ft 13 8' 57 -0' 26 6.7 +0.3 163 -62 ft end 8' 29 -0' 54 7.1 +0.7 163 -9 ft Versus average of 9' 23 min/mile

Posted from bimlog.com

	Event Name & Course		State	Date	Plc A	Plc G	Plc O	Pace	Final	Prev	Diff
		Cleveland Fall Classic 2007 - Run - Half Marathon	OH	11/18/07	33/35	174/190	441/467	10:46	2:21:13	---	+6:03
		2007 Stomp The Grapes Half Marathon - Half-Marathon	OH	10/19/07	16/20	105/141	237/292	10:41	2:20:10	-1:03	+5:00
		Road Runner Akron Marathon - RUN-HALF-MARATHON	OH	9/29/07	37/65	304/538	773/1132	10:19	2:15:10	-5:00	P.R.
		Buckeye Half Marathon & 5K 2007 - RUN ::: HALF MARATHON	OH	9/9/07	28/33	120/143	341/370	11:00	2:24:13	+9:03	+9:03

Pulled my previous HM data from athlinks, this is a wonderful website that has all your race results and it is so easy to go get the ones they don't have as long as you have a website, so my previous fastest HM is Akron at a pace of 10:19. I have been training using Matt Fitzgerald's Brain Training for Runners Book to be able to run this HM at a 9:02 pace (1:58:34). I plug in my most recent 10K and 10 miler result into the Mcmillian calculator based on 10K race of 8:33 pace, I can run the HM pace as written by Fitzgerald, based on the 10 miler pace of 9:34, I can run the HM at a pace of 9:42 (2:07:06)

I felt the training went well but I think for this race, just like I found out when I did the last 10K race it is not that I can't run the pace it that I have to mentally focus to run it and start out slow on pace and in control.

So goal

A: 9:02 pace (1:58:34)
B: 9:42 pace (2:07:06)
C:10:19 pace (2:15:09)

I will be using the Training Partner on my Garmin, it really help keep me on pace either to slow down or go faster. The race director has been great emailing us update as things are happening since this is the first year for the race.

This has really been a different training year, I can actually say I trained instead of just running and it really was fun because I get to see what my body is capable of doing at the age of 41 considering the fact that I have never been athletic or participate in sport growing up. So regardless of what happen tomorrow, I know I can do the pace but it may not be my day but I plan on giving it my best shot and finishing.

Last training run today, after a 1 mile warmup @ recovery pace did 2 miles at HM pace and finish with a 1 mile cool down. Did Dynamic Flexibility before and Barry's Mission Specialist Lower Body Advanced after. Kind of excited and nervous but looking forward to race. Looking at the profile it is very hilly towards the end so I really need to take very good advantage of the first 5 miles that are flat.

Thursday
Kathy Smith Total Body Lift did warmup, Upper body lift, leg lift and butt lift skipped the abs lift.

Wednesday
Spinning
Barry's Mission Specialist Upper Body and Core Advanced.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel this morning after spending all day yesterday moving and spreading 14 yards mulch, I woke up and laid stiff in bed afraid to move a muscle, close to 20 mins later I gingerly got out of bed and nothing hurt, took a step still nothing, wow I feel great. No reason not to get the scheduled run in.

Did Fitzgerald's Dynamic Flexibility, love this just works great to loosen things up and then got on the treadmill to do mix intervals;

1 mile warm up @ 4-5.4mph (recovery pace)
2k@ 6.6mph (HM pace)/2 mins recovery
1 mile @ 7.0mph (10pace)/2 mins recovery
1K @ 7.2mph (5k pace)/2 mins recovery
Cool down to 5 miles (recovery pace)

Thorough stretch on my own, hoping to get in a strength leg workout after work.

Woke up late due to having the day off and went outside to get in my base pace 5 miler, since this is taper week, I really made an effort to keep the pace really easy as recommended, it was a lot hotter than I thought. 5 miles 10:55 pace

Back at home did Barry's Bootcamp MS Upper Body Beginner, MS Abs Beginner and the stretch from the Lower body workout, then spent the rest of the day moving 14 yards of mulch.

There was so much riding on my scheduled long run today, this is the last long run before the goal race I have been training for for the past 14 weeks but the last 2 long runs have been hard and completely off pace, even thou they were only suppose to be run at base pace. This week my legs have been great and I have been able to train on pace as scheduled so with a more challenging run of 8 miles at marathon pace scheduled for today, I needed this run as a confident booster for next week. Woke up early and ate a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, never had cereal before a run before and also made a mix of energy and electrolyte drink for the road. Did my dynamic flexibility warmup and then off I went to conquer my Marathon pace demons. Did my 1 mile warmup then set the Garmin virtual partner for 8 miles @ 9:20 pace, my goal was to run at marathon pace or faster as long as it felt comfortable and not that I am pushing and also not to fade at the end. The 8 miles went great, the weather was slightly cold when I started but I warmed up real fast and was sweating by mile 2, had on Brooks Skort and Adidas sleeveless top. Had on a new pair of the Mizuno Wave Inspire 4 that I found on sale at Dick's and bought since I had a $20 gift card/coupon combo, I bought this in a woman's size which I hardly ever do since the toe box are always too narrow. Oh I digress... Mile 2 was actually 9:12, I stopped to adjust my mp3 player since the music playing was depressing me. There is also a discrepancy with mile 4, Gamin indicate 8:35 pace and I do not remember stopping but got a GPS weak signal beep. all in all a very good training run my legs were fine, the shoe is not perfect but will work for shorter runs. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 991 ft Location: Solon, OH Elev. Gain: +72 ft Date: 05/23/09 Up/Downhill: [+567/-495] Time: 07:00 AM Difficulty: 3.2 / 5.0 Weather: A Few Clouds 52 F temp; 50% humidity 52 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 8.01 miles Time: 1:12:58 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 07 /mi Heart Rate: 160 bpm (Avg) Calories: 955 173 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 24m 33% 2.69 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 0h 51m 69% 5.45 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 01m 1% 0.12 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 01m 1% 0.04 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 53 -0' 14 6.8 +0.2 154 +43 ft 2 11' 04 +1' 57 5.4 -1.2 153 -23 ft 3 9' 26 +0' 19 6.4 -0.2 158 +9 ft 4 9' 04 -0' 03 6.6 +0.0 158 +10 ft 5 9' 25 +0' 18 6.4 -0.2 161 -3 ft 6 8' 59 -0' 08 6.7 +0.1 161 +16 ft 7 9' 26 +0' 19 6.4 -0.2 164 +13 ft end 9' 06 -0' 01 6.6 +0.0 166 +13 ft Versus average of 9' 07 min/mile

Posted from bimlog.com

Normally don't see Jen my neighbor much and have never had a chance to run with her so when I was about to start my cool down mile after the 8 mile marathon pace run, I saw her coming towards me so I turned around and ran with her since she said she was only doing about 3 miles. It really was a good way to catch up with her and the pace was nice and comfortable and I felt great afterward. She is planning on running the Solon Yates 5K 1st weekend in June and is using a beginner 5k program from Runner's world. Got back home did Barry Bootcamp Mission Specialist Lower Body Beginner and Yogamazing: yoga for runners, now to go tackle the yard. I feel really good, minor aches in left leg but quite fine. :) Then went outside to work on the yard for about 4 hours before heading to a graduation party. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 994 ft Location: Solon, OH Elev. Gain: -23 ft Date: 05/23/09 Up/Downhill: [+193/-216] Time: 08:18 AM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0 Weather: A Few Clouds 52 F temp; 50% humidity 52 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 2.84 miles Time: 0:28:57 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 12 /mi Heart Rate: 153 bpm (Avg) Calories: 361 179 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 00m 2% 0.08 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 0h 27m 95% 2.70 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 01m 3% 0.10 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 05 -0' 07 6.0 +0.1 151 -36 ft 2 10' 13 +0' 01 5.9 -0.0 154 +10 ft end 10' 12 +0' 00 5.9 -0.0 155 +4 ft Versus average of 10' 12 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

I get it, I get it now, the tempo run had been at my 10k pace and were very hard but today the tempo run was at HM pace and it was a breeze, well it felt great and for the first time in a long time my legs felt great all day, no aches or pain :) Did Fitzgerald Dynamic Flexibility before the run. 5 miles 10:10 average pace

1 mile @ 4-5.3mph
4 miles @ 6.6mph ( was suppose to do 5 but cut it short since I had to get to work by 7am)
Skipped the cooldown mile but did a thorough stretch on my own.

After work, join the Thursday trail for four miles starting at the station road train stop. Nancy and I kept a pretty good pace, running the 4 miles in less than 43mins, even thou we walked one hill. Legs still felt great, after the run joined the group at Panini but they decided to sit at the bar instead of tables and since I don't drink I find it hard sitting at a bar drinking water so I made an early exit.



Got back home and did Kathy Smith Leg and Butt lift, nice workout to get into the did little muscle of the butt and leg, no weigh and boy can I feel it remind me of callanetics.