After Ragnar came and went, the following Tuesday, June 14th was my birthday, and I turned 34. Giddy up. Accordingly, I did two things I love: 1) Run and 2) Eat. Simple enough, right?
The run was a medium-length run of 14 miles, in which I ran what has now become my favorite route - the North Branch trails. Because I didn't get in a longer run the previous week, I wanted to get it in early in this week, and Monday I was still pretty beat up from the relay, so it became a Tuesday run. The weather was fantastic, I saw deer, and I ran further north than I ever had before on this path, seeing some new parts of the Skokie lagoons.
The dinner was at a family favorite - Maggiano's. Perhaps this is a chink in my armor, but one of the great by-products of distance-running training is the ability to eat just about whatever I want, knowing that I will likely completely burn it off the next day. I'm sure this holds me back from having that incredibly attractive stick-like physique, but I can't help it - I love to eat, and this night was no exception.
So now I'm 34, and getting ready to move to a potentially easier age group, which means more age group bling, aww yeah! I'm also pumped because even though they are making the standards to get into Boston harder for the 2013 race, I'm moving to a different age group, and so I still get to enjoy the same standard (3:10) that I've enjoyed this year. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.
Racking Up Miles...Just Because
I'm between marathon cycles right now, which is kind of fun. Mostly I'm just doing a lot of slow running, which I am really enjoying. In fact, since Ragnar, I've done one run with strides and one tempo run (which I will go into some detail about later), so really not much quality at all. Obviously that's going to change next month when I officially pledge myself to the teachings of the almighty Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas, and use the 12 week plan peaking at 70 miles per week, so I am enjoying the time now to run a lot of no-pressure easy miles.
I'm also loving the fact that I am on vacation now and can pretty much run whenever I damn well please. Mostly this means waking up early (yeah I can never sleep in anymore, boo hoo) enjoying a nice breakfast and then a couple of hours later, do my run for the day without worrying about rushing off to work afterward. This is such an incredible concept...the "whew, I'm all done, now I can relax and enjoy the rest of the day" feeling you get from doing a long effort on the weekends is what I get to now experience every day. Awesome.
I also managed a weekly mileage PR for the week of 6/13 - 56.34 miles, and then followed that up this week with 55.80 miles, which might have been a little higher, if not for the need to cut a run short in the heat this past Tuesday...that sucked. If you really want to see details on the weeks, you can check out the little gadget I have on the right from Garmin Connect, or click here.
Now What?
I've had several conversations over the course of the last couple of weeks about what the next goal is. I fulfilled a long-time goal of qualifying for Boston last month, and now that that quest is completed, there needs to be a new goal. Part of me wants to not think about this at all and just enjoy the aforementioned easy running, but I'd be totally lying if I told you I haven't thought about the next giant albatross of a milestone staring me in the face - and that would be a sub-3 marathon.
Mostly right now, it's just little tidbits that keep reminding me of this. Walter making a comment in the Green Bay race report about it. Paul bringing it up on a lunch time run. My friends in the 3:20 thread on Runners World talking it up. Then after this last long run it came up again with a pacer buddy in CES. Obviously I would love to put this notch on my belt at some point, but I am trying so hard not to worry about this right now and just run.
So now what? My focus right now has to be to simply build my overall mileage and prepare my body for the beating it's going to take starting next month. Once I get well into training and run a tune-up race or two, perhaps I can start to entertain these thoughts, but right now I'm not there yet and I have a lot of work to do, so why worry about it.
Speaking of Races...
I think I have my summer race plans sorted out. The 4th of July weekend has quickly crept up, and with it comes the Wilmette Fun Run, which is a 4-mile race. Innocent enough name, I suppose...but don't be fooled - this is a competitive race and there are a lot of strong runners in this area. I think this will be a nice test for me to see where my speed is at for this upcoming cycle, and also give me a nice opportunity to run on a familiar course with some stiff competition to get my competitive juices flowing. It also has 10-year age groups (20-29, 30-39, etc) and an age-group win here would really be nice.
Based off of my half-marathon PR, McMillan says I should shoot for a 24:31, so let's make that a nice round number- 24:00 is the time goal for this race. That's going to be a very tough number for me to hit, but I'll be thrilled if I can take it down, or even get close. I expect it to be every bit as hard as a 5k is, except you get to run another very hard 0.9 of a mile just for shits and giggles.
After this race, I'm going to do another relay. I got hooked up through Facebook with a group doing a 200-mile relay race which begins in Grand Rapids, MI, goes to Cadillac, and then ends back in Grand Rapids. I believe it's called the Fred Meijer White Pine 200 Mile Relay, and it's an inaugural event. It will take place the last weekend of my summer break - August 12-13.
I was a little unsure I wanted to do another overnight relay so close to having completed Madison to Chicago, but it was such a positive experience that Catherine and I wanted to do another. This kind of fell into our laps as well - the organizers of the team offered to cover literally all expenses for us so we jumped at the opportunity. I don't think this is going to be a balls to the wall effort though - I may have to run longer legs to make up for the fact that we have a small team, and they are not giving out prizes for who finishes first so it's more of an adventure rather than a race. It will still be fun to meet some new people and experience the craziness of the relay format again.
After that, I'm looking at doing a tune-up half-marathon for Toronto, and for that I'm going to run the Batavia Half Madness race sponsored by Peapod on August 28th. A lot of people I know are doing the Rock and Roll race - I can't justify spending over $100 for a half-marathon course that I've already run several times and is going to be super crowded. One thing I learned this year is that I really enjoy lower-key races, and I think this race in Batavia fits the bill. I've heard it's a pretty challenging course though - perhaps similar to the North Shore Half in Highland Park - so a PR there might be quite a challenge, but it will be a good indicator of how the training in the summer went, and what kind of goal is realistic for my next marathon in October, in Toronto.
The Tempo Run with Mom
For the first time in who knows how long (maybe ever?) I did a workout with my Mom. I had a hard 9-mile tempo run planned this past Thursday and I thought it might be fun for my Mom to come with me on the bike. Against her better judgement, and because she loves me and supports me, she agreed to come with.
Little did I know that this would be a huge struggle for her. After a three-mile warm-up, in which she trailed behind without too much trouble, I was about to turn onto the Green Bay trail to begin my harder miles and I heard a yell behind me - my mom had fallen. Fortunately, she sensed what was happening and was able to fall gently on the grass, but it was still a little scary.
We got going again and she seemed OK, so I started hammering the threshold miles. It took me a bit to shift gears - first split was 6:46 - and we hit some construction near the trail which would force me to change the return trip - more on that in a bit. After that I got into a good rhythm once I could just head straight on the trail and hit a 6:34 and 6:32. It felt pretty tough though - it's really amazing how much harder this pace feels when you're doing it on your own and not in the context of a race.
My poor mom was having a tough time keeping up and eventually let me go, and waited for me to turn around before catching back up. Coming back on the trail I tried to avoid the construction by cutting through a school and of course there were a million kids playing on the playground - it looked like a day camp of some sort, so I had to come to a complete stop and help my mom through. Honestly at that point, whatever quality I hoped to gain from the workout was over at that point, but I wanted to finish the workout as planned, so I stubbornly tried to work back up to speed, but I struggled to a final mile split of 6:54. At least Mom was keeping up better.
During the cool down miles we had to go up a little hill to get back to the house, and this broke poor Mom. She had to walk her bike up the hill, but promised me she could find her way back and told me to go on. Eventually, she caught up to me before I made it home and finished the ride strong. She was so excited to have completed a 9-mile bike ride, she ended up calling one of her friends and telling her all about it.
It was really fun having my mom come with me on a workout, but this particular one was obviously not the best choice. My mom was an incredible trooper to see this through and I think ultimately the experience left her with a positive memory. Although it was a mediocre threshold workout for me, it was more important that she got to share something with me that has become incredibly important to me, and that's what I can take away from the experience.
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