mama go for a run

King of the Mountain 4 mile race

mamagoforarun — Sat, 11 May 2013 19:30:25 +0000

We’re back home on Lookout Mountain for a quick weekend trip, and who I am to pass up on a race?! The King of the Mountain has always been a favorite. And with the Gate to Gate 4.4 miler coming up on Memorial Day, I knew this would be a good one for me to do.

I hate making excuses and never want to be that one who crosses the finish line with an array of reasons … so the short answer is I just wasn’t feelin it today. The honest/making excuses answer is we travelled up yesterday and I didn’t get much sleep last night, I’ve been fighting a head cold all week, in spite of the head cold I still got in a tough week of training. Ah yes, making excuses.

I felt sluggish/dead legged from the beginning. The 1st mile is gradual up hill. Mile 2 has some rolling hills, and mile 3 and 4 are mostly down hill with 1 hill at the end.

My splits were 6:45 - 6:31 - 6:31 - 6:24. I ended up as the 2nd place woman in 26:12. I had a 3 tiered goal – to run sub 25, sub 26 or PR. I did PR (in 2009 I ran 26:32). SO at least I got 1 :)

It is frustrating when I’ve been training HARD and nailing my speed workouts, for it not to pay off in a race. I have 2 more chances before things shut down for the summer and I take a much needed down time in my training. As I mentioned at the start, the Gate to Gate 4.4 miler and Billy Bowlegs 5K on June 1.

Heritage Museum 5K

mamagoforarun — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:30:43 +0000

Several friends and I ran a small local 5K on Saturday. Several of our kids did the 1 mile run as well. It was fun to share a race with friends!

This was my first 5K since June of last year, and this spring I have been training much more focused on 5Ks, so I knew a PR was possible. My speed workout has been specifically geared towards 5K paces – I’ve been doing it at 6 min pace, which would be 18:38 5K.

Going out, we were running into a nasty wind coming in off the water. My legs were feeling heavy and I was beginning to think it wouldn’t happen. There were 3 guys in front of me. I hit mile 1 in 5:53 – no wonder my legs felt heavy! That was exactly where I wanted to be. Just before the turnaround, I pass a guy and am closing on the next guy. The leader is enough out in front that I know I’ll never see him. I pull even with the guy in 2nd and we run together. Mile 2 is 6:05 – a bit slower than I wanted but still in good shape. I love having someone to work with! I pull ahead probably around 2.75 miles. I was pretty sure he’d have a good kick. Sure enough, when we round the corner for the final stretch, he bolts past me.

I hit the line in 18:39! Exactly the pace I’ve been training for – and a 15 second PR!!

I felt really good, and honestly felt like I had a bit left that I could have used in that last mile. Normally I finish a 5K and think “Ugh I hated that! I hate 5Ks! Never again!” But this time it was “Wow, when’s the next?!” I guess the speed workouts are working!! :)

And I guess I need to start doing speed workouts at a 5:55 pace (18:22 5K).

transitioning from Half Marathon to 5K

mamagoforarun — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:55:36 +0000

A week or so after the Seaside half, I read a great article in Runner’s World about several elite runners who ran PRs on the track soon after a great marathon. Granted I just came off a half not a full, but it’s still very applicable. The main point of the article was that you not only need to re-develop your foot speed, but you need to re-train your body and mind to endure the short lived intense pain of a 5K. In a marathon, and in my half marathon, it’s more of a long dull ache with pain coming on towards the end. A 5K often hurts from soon after the gun goes off!

In reality, I HATE 5Ks. I hate that intense pain. It hurts! I’ve had more thoughts of dropping out of a race in 5Ks than in any other distance. It’s so mental.

Thus, the article was great for me to read. It also gave 5 workouts that help you train your body and mind for the transition. I’ve done the first 3 and they’ve been really good. I’ve been doing them on the treadmill at a 6 min pace (10.0 MPH) which would be a 18:38 5K. Aiming high!

Here are the workouts …

5 x (5 x 200m @ 5K pace) with 30-second rests between repeats and 3 minutes rest between sets

5 x (400m, 400m, 200m @ 5K pace) with 45-second rests between repeats and 3 minutes rest between sets

5 x (600m, 400m @ 5K pace) with 1-minute rests between repeats and 3 minutes rest between sets

5 x 800m @ 5K pace with 3-minute rests, then 5 x 200m a little faster than 5K pace with 45-60 seconds rest

2 x (1K, 800m, 600m, 400m @ 5K pace) with 2-minute rests between repeats and 4-5 minutes rest between sets

5–6 x 1K with 3-minute rests; start slower than 5K pace and progress to running goal pace for the last 3 repeats

Spring plan

mamagoforarun — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:48:50 +0000

The Seaside Half Marathon was a serious HIGH for me. I floated on cloud 9 for several days. Actually, until the throw up bug knocked me and the kids out. My body was whipped. Every part of my body was sore – even my arms! And then being sick, I had ZERO energy, and was forced to rest a few more days than I wanted or planned. Which was good!

My loose plan has been to do some local 5Ks (had hoped for a 10K this weekend but based on recent runs and lack there of, it isn’t worth it), ending with the Billy Bowlegs on June 1 where I hope to defend my title from last year!

I’ll then back off for the summer. Fall is undecided. Partly because my body is tired and I don’t know if I’ll be ready to train for a Fall marathon. I wonder if it makes more sense to spend the Fall building, and then train for a Spring marathon (hopefully Boston!!!). Yet also, I’m not even sure where we’ll be living this Fall – could be still here in FL, or could be anywhere. So it’s a bit hard to plan. So back to focusing on the present – hopefully a 5K PR this Spring!!!!

Seaside Half Marathon

mamagoforarun — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:11:57 +0000

Last Sunday, I ran the Seaside Half Marathon for the 2nd year in a row. And I was 2nd again. Yet this year could not have been more different! Last year I was sick and still managed to run 1:31:53 – only 18 seconds off my PR from 2010.

So this year … It was COLD! Temps in the 30s and windy! After getting warm in the Pensacola race a month ago, I bought arm sleeves to wear with my tank, and wore compression socks with shorts.

Lisa and I start off tucked in with a pack of 3 women and 3 men. The 3 men are “pacing” 1 of the women with a sub-1:30 goal. That was our goal too, and given the WIND, we were content to tuck in with them.

Mile 1 = 6:45. Perfect.

Mile 2 = 6:55. I got nervous about slowing too much. 2 girls had pulled away. We pulled ahead of the girl with her 3 guys pacing.

Mile 3 = 6:50. Right where I wanted to be. Lisa was hoping to be closer to 7 min miles and I could tell she was a bit nervous by the pace.

Mile 4 = 6:48. I was feeling great and new I needed to go for it. I pulled away from Lisa and started closing on the 2 lead women over the next 2 miles. Mile 5 & 6 were 6:45 and 6:41. I was steadily closing. I pulled even with them as we approached the turn around. Being an out and back, I knew they’d see me as we turned so wanted to be even with them rather than them ahead, see me closing, and get energized to pull away. It worked – they were surprised.

The 3 of us girls ran even for a bit and then 1 of the girls fell back. The other girl pulled right on my shoulder. Yes, she drafted. Big time. And I got mad. I tried to slow to let her take the lead, but she slowed. I surged and she matched it. She was seriously driving me insane. Yet I didn’t want to slow too much and sacrifice my time. So I kept telling myself to run my race and not worry about her. Easier said than done!!!

Miles 7-11 were 6:34 - 6:37 - 6:37 - 6:34 - 6:44.

I kept thinking I needed to pull away but just couldn’t. I was also internally beginning to freak out about my time!

Mile 11 – 6:21. She was still right with me.

Mile 12 – 6:21. We were killing it!

We’re coming through Watercolor, I see the 1/2 mile to go sign, and I think I am pulling away ever so slightly. This is my day I think! HOLY FREAKING COW. She turned on rockets and dropped me like no body’s business! And honestly, at that point, I didn’t even care. I had NOTHING left and simply fought to get to the finish line. Apparently I looked right at my family but I have no recollection of seeing them.

1:27:22!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For real, I could NOT believe it! I had gotten 2nd by a mere 13 seconds – but I had run a 4+ minute PR!!! 3 years and baby #3 later – I SMASHED my PR from 2010!

Leading up to the race, all I could think about was sub-1:30. Looking at the McMillian calculator from my 15K time, it predicted a 1:28:40 and I thought oh that’s not possible!!

So to run 1:27:22 – a 6:40 pace – I was over the moon! Yes, wining would have been awesome and it getting 2nd 2 years in a row is a bit of a dud, but I’ll take it! I know I gave it every single ounce in me and had absolutely nothing left.

This race is probably tied with Boston for my favorite race ever :)

Pensacola Double Bridge 15K

mamagoforarun — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:05:54 +0000

For the 3 years we’ve lived here for this race, I’ve always had ~~a reason~~ an excuse not to run it. So over Christmas, I didn’t want to wait and decide not to, so I went ahead and registered.

Race time was 7am. It starts in downtown Pensacola, and you run over 2 bridges, ending in Pensacola Beach. Being a point to point race, you park near the finish line, and take a shuttle to the start. Shuttles ran 5am-6am. So I had to leave the house by 4am to be safe. So I was up at 3:30am to eat my standard pre-race oatmeal and banana with peanut butter.

Thank goodness they have a bag check at the start because it was a cold morning (mid 30′s and windy). I went back and forth about what to race in, but ended up going with shorts, compression socks, and a long sleeve shirt. By mid race, I was really wishing for a short sleeve shirt!

I had a long shot goal of being under an hour, but between the wind and the hills of the bridge, new it was a LOOOOONG shot.

I (in my typically not always so smart tendency) went out hard. Apart from the 3 elites gunning for the price money, there was only 1 girl ahead of me. I caught her early on the 1st bridge (which is 3+ miles long). I had slowed a bit, but was running a strong pace.

Coming off bridge 1, I didn’t realize how much ground was covered before bridge 2. The only silver lining of that stretch was TONS of crowd support. That’s always a huge boost for me!

BUT … mid way across that stretch I hear a pack of people closing on me and dang it, a girl is with them. They pull away a bit. A guy comes up on my shoulder and starts (in a great way) encouraging me that she is mine, I can get her, use the hills, etc … I’d close on her a bit, and then she’d pull away a bit.

I never could get her. She ended up beating me by 21 seconds. But I will say, that guy encouraging me was huge. It kept me in the fight.

I finished in 1:01:37 – so I was very happy with the race! That’s a 6:37 pace. So only 8 seconds per mile slower than my 10K and under my goal half marathon pace for Seaside coming up a month later.

I was the 5th woman overall – and 2nd of the non “invited elites” – so in my book, that’s kind of like 2nd overall :)

And I must say, the Double Bridge run is a top-notch road race – they do things right and do things well. If we’re still living here next year, I definitely want to do it again!

NWF Ballet 10K

mamagoforarun — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:38:38 +0000

I ran a local 10K on January 19th. I felt I needed a “kick start” to my training and help getting back in my racing mind. A year ago I was coming off a rough patch of training and did a 10K in 42:15. I knew I was a lot stronger then than, so was hoping for at least under 41, with a major long shot goal of sub-40.

The 5K and 10K started together and a girl TOOK off. I was definitely happy when she turned around at the 5K turnaround :) From basically 1 mile in, I was running alone.

I finished in 40:15. 6:28 pace. So not only was it 2 while minutes faster than a year ago – I ran it alone almost the whole way! As much as sub 40 would have been GREAT, I was super happy!

The best part of the day was when I got my award – and saw that it included 2 FREE nights at a local high end beach front resort!! I seriously almost cried! They block it out during the tourist season (March-August) so we’re booked for a weekend in late September :)

catching up

mamagoforarun — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:04:46 +0000

A lot A LOT A LOT has happened since my last post. While my updates fell off the cliff, my running did not. In late December, I started increasing miles and intensity. It was a great stretch of consistent training and racing. I’ve run 3 races in 2013 – a 10K on January 19, a 15K on February 2 and a half marathon on March 3 – and all were PRs.

Race reports are coming soon!!

what’s next?

mamagoforarun — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:45:09 +0000

It’s been almost a month since the Pensacola Marathon. I took a full week off. Since then, I’ve been taking it easy. Running about 4 days a week, not too hard, not too far. I’ve needed this break – physically and mentally. Next week is my last week of down time, and then I plan to pick it back up, training for 2 races … Pensacola Double Bridge 15K on February 2 and Seaside Half Marathon on March 3. I am still chasing that [somewhat] elusive sub-1:30 half marathon, so that will be my focus as I train.

In an attempt to reach that goal, and to be stronger in general, I plan to add more core and strength work. I’m the first to admit it – I am a slacker when it comes to any exercise but running! I rarely stretch, rarely do core, and never do leg stuff.

My initial leg routine is this: 20 squat-jumps, 30 lunges (with weights), 40 single leg toe touches, 50 second wall set, 100 second jumping jacks, 50 second wall set, 40 toe touches, 30 lunges (with weights), 20 squats (with weights). I could barely walk for 3 days after the first time I did this! The 2nd time went much better :) My goal is twice a week. Plus twice a week for core.

Pensacola Marathon race report

mamagoforarun — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:50:31 +0000

The facts: 3:25:32 (4 min 26 sec PR), 23rd overall, 4th female, 2nd in my age group (30-34)

Overall, a 7:50 pace. BUT …
1st half average pace = 7:30
2nd half average pace = 8:12

While I am happy with my PR and am hopeful it will get me into Boston 2014, overall it was a hard and frustrating race. I’ll list my splits below, but I started off too fast and paid for it in the end. I was also running alone for most of the race, and the last 2-3 miles, we ran into a MAJOR headwind. It was brutal. The 2 marathons I ran in 2008 (Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville Beach and Boston) both had much more crowd support, and I was running with people the entire time. That makes a big difference!

So all that to say, it was hard. My goal had been 3:19 and I honestly think I could have nailed it if I’d run a smarter race. So I do feel the need for redemption. Yet I don’t know when it’ll come. Maybe next Fall. Maybe Boston 2014. This Spring I am signed up for a half in early March. I guess there is also the possibility of carrying my half marathon training into a full, but I doubt it.

Here are my splits:
missed mile 1 marker which sure didn’t help as I was 2 miles in before I had a clue as to how fast I was going)
mile 2 – 13:55
mile 3 – 7:16
mile 4 – 7:18
mile 5 – 7:28
mile 6 – 7:22
mile 7 – 7:20
mile 8 – 7:36
mile 9 – 7:33
mile 10 – 7:32
mile 11 – 7:30
mile 12 – 7:34
mile 13 & 14 – 14:44
mile 15 & 16 – 15:45
mile 17 – 7:46
mile 18 – 8:00
mile 19 – 7:54
mile 20 – 8:07
mile 21 – 8:45 (walked a tinny bit)
mile 22 – 8:21
mile 23 – 9:16 (walked more)
mile 24 – 8:32
mile 25 – 9:46 (yes I walked even more)
mile 26 – 8:31

So yes, the wheels came off towards to end. I knew by mile 16 that I was in trouble. I was the 2nd woman for most the race. A girl charged by me around mile 20. She finished strong and got my goal – a 3:19. Closer to mile 23, another girl passed me. She remained in site and only finished 20 seconds or so ahead of me. But for the life of me I could not catch her. I was hanging on for dear life.

On a happier note, my parents, husband, and kids were AMAZING – they drove all over Pensacola cheering me on. Hearing my 19 month old son yell “GO MAMA!” was seriously the high light of the day. As hard as it got, I kept thinking about those 3 precious kids and how I wanted to be able to say “It was so hard but Mama did it!” – thinking of them carried me.

So there is my hodge-podge race recap! I ran this morning for the 1st time since the race. My legs felt a bit tired, but it felt good to run :)