Phoenix Marathon- About time for a PR!

I want to write this while it is still fresh in my mind. I gave the spoiler in the title, but that's because I am so excited!! When I signed up for this marathon in January, I promised myself it was so I could practice the nutrition and starting slower. I knew I would have to run "fast" but I wasn't necessarily trying to BQ. It wasn't until I ran my half marathon that I even started to think about getting a BQ. I still needed to keep my original goal in mind. I wanted my PR!! Last year my biggest disappointment was working so hard and not even having a PR to show for it.

So, here goes.

Thursday night, I slept a full 7 1/2 hours. It was fabulous. I had been carb loading all day and we had arrived in Phoenix at 8pm.

On Friday, we met Annie's family for breakfast and then went to the Expo and met new friends from Instagram. :-) I will write more later.  We went to the temple together which was really wonderful and then ate dinner at the house.

I woke up at 3:15 and ate my larabar and banana as planned at 3:30. I mixed up 2 packages of superstarch and took them to the race. We left at 4am and loaded the bus at 4:30am. We got in line at the Porta Pottys and I drank my superstarch 45 minutes before the race started. The porta potty line took forever and the race actually started while I was in there. I finally started the race completely alone. :-) This was actually okay. I loved starting at the back of the pack. It was very symbolic for me. The first pacer I passed was the 5:10 pacer. My first marathon was a 5:11 so I felt like this was nostalgic. I was running about an 8:18 pace. It was a steep descent and that was the slowest I could go without changing my gait. I ran the next mile at 8:20 for the same reason. Once it wasn't so steep I could get to my planned pace easier.

Mile 3- 8:32, very happy to see the 8:30. :-) My heart rate was doing great
Mile 4-8:28- still on plan and getting ready for the hill
Mile 5-8:38- slowing down a little as we start to climb
Mile 6-8:44- really wanted to keep my heart rate down until I got to the top
Mile 7- 8:11- so excited to be done with the hill that I was enjoying the downhill. :-)  Took a hammer gel
Mile 8-8:29- Back on track.
Mile 9-8:23- My next 20k I was wanting to run 8:20
Mile 10-8:18
Mile 11-8:19
Mile 12-8:22- A little bit of uphill in here.
Mile 13-8:15- 1st half- 1:50- Exactly where I wanted to be- woo hoo!
Mile 14-8:18- Trying to stick with the 8:20 plan but feeling good
Mile 15-8:18
Mile 16-8:21 At mile 16 I wanted to feel better than I ever have at that point and I did.
Mile 17-8:21
Mile 18-8:28 This is the end of the second 20k, but I didn't quite feel ready to step on the gas.
Mile 19-8:19
Mile 20-8:29- Here is where I checked my total time and I was at 2:47, I knew to qualify I needed a 53 minute 10k and I was trying to do the math, but I thought that was about an 8:20 or 8:30, I thought it was still possible.
Mile 21-8:25- I was starting to feel really hot. I took a honey stinger gel and was out of water.
Mile 22- 9:14- I was slowing down to get water and fill my bottles
Mile 23- 11:32- Gave in and used a porto potty(I had been needing to use it since Mile 3)
Mile 24-9:52- Trying to get back in the running, but my quads were feeling trashed
Mile 25-8:38- Tried to figure out if I could still PR, pushing as hard as I could
Mile 26- 8:08- The fluid is kicking in and I am feeling a second wind, time to give it all I had!
Mile .2- 7:38- Finishing as hard as I can! Final time 3:45:15- A 3 1/2 minute PR! Yeah!! I get to ring the PR bell.

Nutrition was great. I took Gatorade at every aid station. I took a couple of hammer gels throughout the race and some sports beans. I didn't feel like I ever bonked. I think the fat load helped me lose a few pounds before the carb load. I just think the heat affected me for that mile 21 and I needed fluid. I am glad I was able to recover and get a PR, but of course I still want that BQ.  I will be in the next age category in September. :-) So, now I know I can get a 3:45 with a walk/potty break!

Marathon Training Update and Marathon Goals

Well, after the half marathon I still had to come back strong! It wasn't quite the taper yet. I had 2 more fast Tuesday runs and 2 more pace runs. It was kind of a taper, but not really. :-) The Hanson's Method seems to have more of a 7-10 day taper.

Well, it is the night before the marathon and I should be in bed, so I am doing this quickly.  My last speed workouts went really well and for one of my tempo runs, I decided to do a 16 mile pace run. My half marathon was the day I was supposed to do my last long run, so I decided to do this instead. It was going to be my practice run. I got up 3 hours before to eat a banana and a larabar. I went back to bed and then got up to drink Superstarch- 2 packets. I ran with Heather Smith and told her that I wanted to practice pacing. These are what our splits looked like:

8:19
8:21
8:12
8:12
8:26
8:14
8:21
8:24
8:24
8:11
8:20
8:25
8:16
8:25
8:04
8:14

I was very pleased with how this run went. My heart rate was getting up but not too crazy. I really felt like I could have run more and faster. I am planning on starting this marathon slower. We are in Phoenix right now. We ran part of the course at 6:30 this morning. It was cool to start (55) but it got warm. I am a little nervous about the heat, but I am hoping to finish before it is too bad. My main goal with this race is to run smart. I have to prove to myself that I can start slow.

First 10k- 8:30
Next 20K- 8:20
Next 10k-8:10
Last 2k- Sub 8 if possible!

1. Get a BQ- sub 3:40 (Ideally a 3:38)
2. Get a PR- sub 3:48
3. Finish strong and happy no matter what

I would like to do the first half in 1:49-1:50 and still be feeling good. I want to feel good until at least mile 16, if not mile 20. Then it is time to bring it home! I can do this!!! I have had a fantastic training cycle. My speed is there. I just am hoping the nutrition is there.

I will report back. Time for bed!

Roaring River Run Half Marathon 2016

My morning started a little crazy as I woke up to hearing my cell phone ring downstairs and realized I had missed my alarm!! Good thing I had laid out my clothes the night before. And, good thing my friends were nice enough to wait even though it would make them late.  We had an hour and 15 minute drive and I was able to relax my nerves and just chat with my friends.

Nutrition notes: At 6:30am when I woke up, I ate a banana and a Cashew Cookie larabar and then filled up a water bottle with Nuun. I also prepared a Generation UCAN bottle with one scoop. I brought sports beans and gatorade chews with me. I don't worry too much about nutrition in a half. I wish this was the case in the Full.

I run with very fast people! Rich and Annie were both going for sub 1:30 which is a 6:50 pace. Wow!! Heather was aiming for a sub 1:40 but could probably even run faster. Shauna said she was going to stay with me as long as she could. She would normally start faster than me, but she had some injuries this training cycle so was not going to run as fast as she usually would. We took some pictures and then the gun went off. My plan was to start in the high 7:50's and then get faster after about Mile 9. Well, this course has a little bit of uphill to start but then gets into the mild downhill fairly quickly. Shauna and I had a hard time slowing ourselves down. The first mile was around 7:45, but then the second mile we were getting in the 7:30's. My watch decided to wig out and turn itself off for a little bit and when it came back on, it had lost some mileage because of the out and back. Say what? So, I just relied on Shauna and decided to leave my watch on the screen that just showed the immediate mile. I never again switched screen to look at my overall time or pace because I knew it would be wrong and bug me. :-) Here are the paces with some explanations.

Mile 1- 7:51
Mile .59-4:26(7:36 pace)
Mile 2-7:44
Mile 3-7:41
Mile 4-7:49
Mile 5- 7:44
Mile 6-7:52 Shauna and I were trying to slow it down so we didn't fly and die.
Mile 7- 7:38 (This is where it went single file and she told me to go ahead, I tried to turn on music but it didn't work. )
Mile 8- 7:48, This was the part in last year's race that I started feeling really tired legs. I was very happily surprised that I was feeling pretty good running in the 7:40's.
Mile 9-7:44
Mile 10-7:43- At this point I knew I was going to PR as long as I didn't fall apart. I was so happy when I saw the 10 mile marker. I cheered and ran with a guy for a second and I said "Only a 5k to go. I am so excited to be in double digits! He said, "You seem really happy. I want to stay with you but I don't think I can."
Mile 11- 7:38 I was surprised by this second wind, but I knew that I had done these 2 mile workouts and was trying to get the 7:35 pace. This gave me confidence.
Mile 12- 7:55 (This is the last uphill mile, Rich had come by me after finishing and told me I was going to PR. :-) I also heard him tell the person behind me to catch me. I wanted to speed up but all I could do was hold on. I just didn't want to see an 8 in my miles.
Mile 13- Here is where we hit downhill and I could speed up into the park. 1:28 for .2 miles- that is a 7:00 pace! I still didn't know my overall time but I knew it was going to be a big PR. I saw the clock at 1:42 something and I was so excited. I finally looked down at my watch but I wasn't quite to 13.1 so I had to keep running around. I felt really dumb but I really wanted to have the time on my watch.
Last little bit- .3 miles in 2:20, that is a 7:57 pace. Not bad for just running in circles. My watch stopped at 1:41:45. I knew it was probably wrong but was hoping maybe I did get sub 1:42. I finally got my official time and it was 1:42:13. That is a 7:48 pace. It was not a negative split but pretty evenly paced. I am very, very, very happy with this race!!! Shauna ended up coming in a little over a minute behind me. Heather finished in 1:40. She had a sideache at mile 5 and would have even ran faster! She is a amazing. Rich ran a 1:27 and Annie ran a 1:30. Awesome runners who push me to work hard! I feel so blessed.

I am most shocked at how well my heart rate did. It stayed in the 180's until mile 12. That is unheard of for me. I felt great! Maybe my marathon will go better than planned. I am getting excited. I still have to start off slow though. :-)

Feeling Strong

Okay, so I haven't been as good about updates as I would like, but I feel the need to give one now! Today's run gave me so much confidence! It was a 3x2mile repeat. We have been doing these "strength" workouts for a few weeks ago. They are always a total of 6 fast miles. The goal pace is 10 seconds faster than half marathon pace (we were training for a half marathon first!) so that is around 7:35. That has been hard for me to do. Last week and this week, I think I broke through!

Today's paces: 7:21, 7:27, 7:20, 7:28, 7:12, 7:26. I was so happy with this! I really need to run a 5K and 10K to see how fast I am. :-) The best part is that my heart rate didn't even get as high as it has been getting. Yeah for getting faster at a lower heart rate!

I feel like my eating is going well. I am at a healthy weight and I am trying to get more sleep. Hopefully my half marathon this Saturday will show my improvements.

Goal is to not see a mile with an 8 in it. I want to start at 7:59 and end in the 7:30's. My PR is this same course last year and it was a 1:47:20. So, here are my 3 levels of goals.

1. sub 1:45
2. sub 1:47:20
3. Finish strong and smiling. :-)

I am ready for this! I am excited to see what I can do!