Maria's Running Blog

Tough run today. It was very warm, 57F and sunny, but very windy. I got dehydrated as the water I took with me wasn't enough. Took 2 gels, but didn't feel that great and legs were very tired. This run didn't give me any confidence for the marathon in 2 weeks. Time 2:20:04 (8:41 pace).

Ran after work in the complete darkness. There are no lights at all at the Regents Park perimeter, except from passing cars. I didn't like it one bit, the sidewalk is very uneven. While it's not a problem in daylight as I can see all the bumps and have the time to adjust, in the dark I was tripping a lot, especially when I would pick up the pace on strides. It was also pretty cold today, in the 40s again after few really warm days. So, not a great run, but I'm glad I got out. Time 1:02:23 (8:47 pace).

I managed to sneak in a quick run before going to an off-site meeting in Richmond that ran from 2PM to 10PM. I felt good, but it was frustrating that I only had 50 minutes to run. Garmin was out of battery, so I took a regular watch, and I think that I didn't press the start button fully after one of the stops at intersections, because the time was 43:48, which amounts to 7:57 pace. It's quite impossible for me to run that fast on an easy run.

I'm hoping I will be able to run at work at lunch or right after work - I work in a business park in West London, on the outskirts in a rather rural area overall. Business park is nice, with golf course and few lakes, and I even found a map of running routes on its web site, which is encouraging. Even more important, my building has showers on every floor, and lockers (although I think they're too small for a sports bag), so it should be possible to run and have a place to shower and change. I hope to try it out some time soon, when I'm more comfortable at work, and won't feel stressed by going running and not being available for meetings or ad-hoc discussions. But right now it's tough as I feel like my routine is completely broken. And it's a bad timing too, 1.5 weeks before the marathon.

Good news - beginning of a 4 day Easter weekend. I'll have a chance to run every day and try to salvage the week the best I can.

I did tempo intervals today, 3x2000m with 2:30-3:00 jog recovery. The first one felt very easy and comfortable and I even had to hold back a little, time was 9:21. I jogged for 2:30 before starting on the second. It felt a lot harder right from the start, but I made it in 9:19. Jogged for 3:00 before the third one. I really struggled and it felt like I was working way too hard for a threshold pace, maybe even went anaerobic in the end, time was 9:22. I was totally out of breath after that, and decided that the 4th repeat I would slide a lot, so I stopped at three, and just jogged home.

I don't really know what to make of this workout. Times were about the same as in November, only I did 4th repeat then and did slide off the pace a lot. But the sharp increase in perceived effort after the first repeat today tells me my stamina and endurance are not where they should be. Overall, I don't feel good about my running right now, and think that I lost some of the endurance in the last few weeks. Mostly because of inconsistent training and lower mileage. I didn't hit more than 37 mi/week for the last 3 weeks, and this week will be the same. My last 21 mile run was 3 weeks ago. I feel that it's too much of a cutback, and I will pay for it on marathon day. I'm thinking about scaling back my expectations and start the marathon no faster than 8:15-8:20 and hold it for at least 20 miles. If I feel good after that, I can pick it up, but I doubt it will happen. I've never been able to run negative splits in a marathon. My best result was running second half about 1 min. slower than the first.

easy run in Regents Park, 56:18 for 6.3mi (8:56 pace) + 4x100m strides towards the end. Felt okay, but not great. Weather has been beautiful last couple of days, so that's a plus. Lots of people to dodge in the park too, very crowded due to good weather and Easter weekend.

Today was my last marathon paced run before Rotterdam. Plan was to run total of 12 miles, but somewhere out there I miscalculated, and ended up with almost 13. It was very warm, in the 60s, and there were tons of people in the park and on the sidewalks around it. Few times I had to stop dead in my tracks just to navigate through people!

Ran about 4 miles warmup, and started on the tempo segment. Garmin was acting up again, and I really couldn't trust it, it was in and out.First tempo loop at about 8:05 pace, feeling okay, but not in the mood to go faster. At that point, I saw a woman running in fron of me, maybe 30m ahead. She kept very good strong pace, and I tried to keep up with her. At London Zoo, she moved into the road, because it was impossible to run on the sidewalk, and I followed her, even though I am usually terrified to run on the road with the traffic, because I can't see the cars coming from behind. But I was running behind her, and it gave me some peace of mind, not to mention made it easier to run without dodging people. I followed her for the next 3 miles, and my average pace dropped to 7:56. But I could fel that I was working a bit too hard, and the last 0.5 mi. I backed off a little to a more comfortable effort. In the end, I averaged 7:58 pace for 6 miles. Then jogged home around 9:30 pace (more people dodging). By the end, I felt very tired - I also didn't drink or eat anything on this run. Total time 1:47:24.

I'm starting to worry about the weather being too warm for marathon in Rotterdam. As of now, forecast for next Sunday is 61F and sunny.

ran very easy, 48:16 (8:46 pace). I felt surprisingly good after yesterday. Maybe my loss of fitness is at least as much psychological as it is physical. I have only 5 days to go...

Late run after work. Today was the last workout before Rotterdam, low end threshold repeats 4x1000m with 200m jog recovery (about 1:15). Felt a little sluggush at first, but then began feeling better. The effort felt the same, although the pace was getting faster. I did 4:50, 4:40, 4:38 and 4:26. Overall, felt good and recovered quickly in between repeats.

Now just some easy running until the race with possible one more day off (Friday?).

This is probably my last run before the marathon. It felt good and easy, time was 43:29 (8:41 pace). Flying out tonight. My main concern now is not to tire my legs out at the expo tomorrow - I love marathon expos and tend to wander around longer than I should.

Another big concern is the weather. Opposite to Boston, Rotterdam is forecasted to be very warm and sunny, with temps in the 70s, and given 11 AM start, we're bound to run at the peak of it. I've never run a marathon in such warm conditions, although I trained for one in the summer in NJ. Looks like my time goal is going out the window, and my adjusted goal may be to run faster than 3:45 to qualify for London next year (and Boston). They're introducing new drinking system this year, where water cups will have sponge lids on them with 2 cut-outs for drinking. This should allow for less spilling and using the sponge lids as, well...sponges. Sounds interesting, but water stations are only every 3 miles, which may not be enough in the hot weather (although it looks like they are adding 2 more stations - see below).

Today I received the following from Rotterdam marathon:

This is the short version, details to follow when I get back to London. It was very ugly today, temps 77F, but in the sun easily over 80. Running under blazing sun and bright skies. I was boxed in first 3 miles on a narrow road and Erasmus bridge -> slow pace from the start. I also adjusted pace for the weather, half in about 1:52:30. It got really tough after 35km, but at 38 I kind of hit the wall, I think, as I slowed down a lot. It felt like a training long run, not a race. I was ready for at least 3:40. When I was at 39km, organizers announced that the marathon is "stopped" and everyone should just walk to the finish, due to the heat and many people dropping out (14 people were hosptalized). Very upsetting. I decided to keep running and ignore their "order". Not sure if the results will even be counted. Nothing is posted on the website yet, I might have barely qualified for Boston and London, but I also might have just missed it by few seconds. Finish clock said 3:47:xx, but it took me about 2 min. to cross the starting line. It may not even matter, if results are not counted.

UPDATE - 04/16/07 - I do have a time posted, chip time 3:45:45, gun time 3:48:00, 24th in age group. Here are official splits from 5km posts (in Dutch, but self explanatory):

===================

Startnummer F1150

Naam Maria Imas Woonplaats London (GBR) Afstand Fortis Marathon Rotterdam Categorie V35 Totaal plaats 1171 / 4337 Categorie plaats 24 / 114 Snelheid 11,215 km/uur Netto tussentijden (verschil) 5 kilometer 27:22 (27:22) 10 kilometer 53:47 (26:25) 15 kilometer 1:20:05 (26:18) 20 kilometer 1:46:23 (26:18) Halve marathon 1:52:15 25 kilometer 2:12:36 (26:13) 30 kilometer 2:39:07 (26:31) 35 kilometer 3:05:54 (26:47) 40 kilometer 3:33:06 (27:12) Bruto tijd 3:48:00 Netto tijd 3:45:45 ========================= So it looks like I'm okay for BQ, but not good enough for London, has to be <= 3:45:00, although I may check with them to be sure. Full report still to follow, it's too late now (just got back home from the airport).

FULL REPORT - 04/17/07

No running, but lots of walking, as we went to Amsterdam and spent the day there. The weather was still great (for the beach, that is, not the marathon!), so we took a boat tour on the canals. It was beautiful. Lots of walking around the city and going down the stairs (ouch!). It was painful to start walking after sitting, but once I got going, it wasn't too bad.

No running yet, but walked about 30 min. at work, because I had a meeting in another building which is 15 min. away. Quads feel a lot better, only slight soreness remains, mostly in IT bands. This is by far the fastest recovery from the marathon I've had. I think I'll try running tomorrow.

Very easy run, could have gone longer, but decided not to push it. Right IT band still a bit sore as well as left hip and hamstring. Otherwise, I felt pretty good. Didn't look at the watch, just followed whatever pace my body felt like running. It felt like 9:00-9:15 min/mile, but ended up at 32:03 (9:42 pace). I don't remember ever running so slow in the past 1.5 years. Just goes to show how much marathon takes out of you.

With all noticable soreness gone from my legs, I was able to run a bit faster today. Got 42:37 (8:31 pace). Started at about 9:00 pace, but then progressively dropped it. Right hip got tight about 1.5 mi. into the run, but then losened up and I didn't feel it anymore. Right hamstring decided to cramp up at about 4 miles - I never experienced it before, but then also got better. I attribute all of this to post marathon funkiness.

London marathon is tomorrow. There is much hype about it in the press, mostly due to very strong elite field. I really want to watch it, but my daughter is competing in a big swim meet tomorrow in North London, and so I will be there with her the whole day and won't even watch it on TV. I doubt there will be super fast times, as it is too warm again - but better than conditions in Rotterdam. Forecast is 72F and sunny. The start is earlier in the morning than Rotterdam, so perhaps the elites will finish before the real heat begins.

No running today. Spent the entire day (from 7AM to 6:30PM) at the pool watching my daughter swim in Middlesex Development Meet. It was a county-wide meet for those who didn't qualify for county championships held back in February, sort of a consolation meet, but welcome by us, since Lisa didn't have a chance to compete since last December.

She swam 4 events and got all 4 PRs, and even medaled in all events in 14 y.o. age group, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes. So, she (and her coach) were very happy.

She did 100m Ind. Medley - 1:22.74 (silver), 50m freestyle - 33.44 (bronze), 50m butterfly - 36.53 (silver) and 100m back - 1:19.20 (bronze).

Of course, I didn't get to watch London marathon, but now I see that Ryan Hall ran 2:08:24 - absolutely stunning debut. The weather wasn't perfect, although it was better than in Rotterdam, but still too warm, around 68-70F plus the sun. I think times could have been better by 1-2 min. if the weather was ideal.

Ran very easy today, because I think I overdid it on Saturday. Yesterday, my left adductor was sore and I could still feel my right hamstring that cramped up. So I ran very comfortably and ended up with 46:46. Garmin was in and out again and only measured 4.2mi. which is obviously too short. I estimate that I ran 5mi, so 9:21 pace. It's slow, but I have to be patient until I recover fully. I certainly don't want to get injured now.

felt good today, time 32:17 (8:43 pace).

easy run that felt good. Time 1:01:16 (8:52 pace). I think I'm starting to feel better.

Another full day at my daughter's swimming meet. It was all worth it, though - she again got 4 big PRs and 4 "speeding tickets", meaning that she swam all 4 events faster than the "no faster than" qualifying standard for this meet. She won 100m fly and 200 IM outright, was 2nd in 100m. free and 3rd in 200m free. Her 200m free was about 1.5 sec. slower than performance tables indicate for her 100m time - she can use some work on endurance (or speed endurance), something runners all too familiar with.

I think I'm slowly getting back to 100% again. This was a comfortable run and it felt slow at times, but it was the same exact course as I ran on Friday and felt slower, however the time was faster. I ran exactly 1:00:00 (8:41 pace).

I'm going to do one more week of recovery runs, and then start the next cycle.

another short and easy run, 40:44 (9:03 pace). Nothing remarkable, except that it was fairly windy. My goal this week is to not skip days.