Race Recap: Seacoast Turkey Trot

Now that my family's running rank order is back in place (Kevin, Robyn, Mom, Dad), and with Kevin beating me by 2 minutes instead of 30 seconds, I'm feeling good about things. Although my 5K times over the last several months don't really reflect much of a change in my fitness, trust me, a lot has changed. I really don't mind that I keep hovering around 20:30 for 5K despite getting in better shape. There are a few reasons for that...

1. I feel good running! Sounds dumb, but I have not felt good running, lifting, walking, speedworking, or racing for months (a full year even?).
2. My asthma has returned to a manageable level.
3. I'm back on the track and starting to feel fast again. <3 track
4. I always always always plateau for ever and then have a huge breakthrough. Fingers crossed that's coming this indoor season.

I broke my 'sponsorship' rules and didn't wear anything LOCO at the turkey trot, opting for some classic Colby gear instead. Also, felt the strong urge to go ninja that morning. My actual race goal, no joke, was to run faster than Kat's marathon pace from Philadelphia. Which I probably would have done if the roads weren't so slick from the snowstorm, I was a few seconds too slow. Mad props/spirit fingers/snaps to her for keeping that up for 26.2; I'll stick with my 3.1 for now. Also, I'm not going to bother even recapping the Philadelphia marathon on here, if you know at least one runner from the New England area, you've definitely already heard all about the amazing feat accomplished by Dan Vassallo. I can't explain how incredible it was to be there and witness that race, surely will be one of my favorite running memories for years to come.
With that, I'm very thankful this year for having fast friends, of both the speedy and steadfast variety. (pun intended, gosh where do I come up with these things?)

Trotted my way to a decent time and a more than decent meal on Thursday.

Sincerely,
Robyn "wishing the water stops were gravy stops" Runner

P.S. Stay tuned for my post-collegiate track debut TBD at a December mini-meet at BU!

What happens when you don't think and just run: Newport Half Marathon

A proud Oiselle bird

A couple of weeks ago, I ran my fourth half marathon. I had almost everything going against me: a cold, hip issues, severe lack of sleep and colder weather. Because of all these factors, I abandoned my hopes and dreams of a new half marathon PR (that 1:35 keeps eluding me) and just decided to run what I could. This mentality ended up being quite liberating and I was able to really enjoy the run.

The race took us all around beautiful Newport, RI. We ran through neighborhoods of mansions and parks, by marinas and golf courses, and were treated with stunning views of the water for about half of the race. It was really windy but the day was nearly perfect, dry and cool, and as I took in all the scenery I wished I had my iPhone with me to capture the views. The beauty of the course helped to ease the pain in my legs as I pushed through.

As with most races, the first mile of the course was congested. Just a half mile in, I started to feel my hip hurt. A few days before the race I had been really worried that this would happen and even considered not running the race at all. In this moment, I thought about dropping out. I went through the first mile in 8:37, a good pace for a training run but not for a half marathon. I tried to pick it up a bit, and ended up dropping over a minute on my next mile: 7:28. I hovered around the 7:30s for the rest of the race, and once I forgot about my hip I felt really good. The course had just enough twists and turns to keep it interesting, and the hills really weren't that bad. I saw (and passed) a number of Oiselle birds, both Volée team members and some Flock members as well, and it was so exciting to have an instant bond with other runners. That's definitely one of the best parts of being a Oiselle bird now!

The rest of the race happened without incident. The hills got harder and I could feel my legs working. But I kept passing people and the thrill of moving up pushed me to keep at it. Once we hit mile 10, it was go time. I hadn't looked at the course map before so I had no idea where I was or what I had left. Ignorance is bliss, right? I kicked and even when I felt like I was letting up, I tried to maintain that kick. Luckily it was flat to down hill, and I was able to finish strong. I ran 1:41:37, and though it wasn't a PR, it was actually pretty close. I felt a good as one can feel racing and my splits were consistent. Aside from running my fastest half marathon time, I can't complain about my performance.

As soon as I crossed the line, my legs tightened up--a sign of a race well run. I looked at the marathoners who were only half way done and couldn't even imagine continuing to repeat what I had just run. Some day, for sure, but not this day.

Friends and colleagues

The week that followed was painful as well, and I wanted to take time off. On day 3, I wobbled down the stairs and stationary biked for 25 minutes. I had to talk to someone afterwards and hopped over to his office. I didn't even realize that my legs all of a sudden felt better, but getting them moving again and draining that built-up lactic acid was the key. I did mile repeats with my team the next day and have been running regularly since then. I'm still working with my PT to strengthen my legs and correct a number of imbalances that have appeared this year. I plan on running a turkey trot on Thanksgiving, so I've gotta get moving once again!

Indoor training, quada's, and a bad pun

I goo-PhD (goofed, get it?) and have not blogged in a while since starting my PhD has kept me extra busy. Well, I submitted my first grant application tonight, and so I'm back!

A lot has gone on in my life since the last time I wrote. Some good, some challenging. For the sake of optimism, I'll fill you in on mostly the good stuff! First, my lungs have made their 100% recovery from pneumonia based on lack of chest pain in recent races (and verified by an x-ray). Second, I've transitioned out of base building and have started speed work for indoor track season!

I would be greatly remiss if I did not share with you some pieces written about my aunt who battled pancreatic cancer. She was a tough cookie and we're gonna miss her. Now, every time I log a mile, half, quarter, quarter workout, you'll know I was digging deep for her inspiration.
Links:
Washington Times - Quada Quada bench
Coloradoan story

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My training plan for the year is going to focus a lot on longer speed. I think I tend to get sucked into doing shorter repeats and playing with less recovery, more repeats, ladders, etc. But to be perfectly honest with myself (and you) I was doing these last winter because they are easier for me. What I really need in order to get fast at the mile is to do the killer 800 workouts à la Deb 2009. A.K.A. attempt (and fail) to run 4 x 800m at 5 seconds faster than goal mile pace. Which means if I want to get to low 5:xx this season, I need to be able to do 800 repeats in about 2:30. Yeah, 2:30. Also known as the typical pace I used to race in any given mid-season 4x800. No big. So how am I going to go about getting down to that pace in workouts? Well, I'm going to stop shying away from longer repeats, meaning 1600,1200, 1000 is something I may have to face, and like it. And those ridiculously fun 200's? Those will be my reward when I'm in killer shape in 2-3 months. And 400's, those will be a tack-on if I'm feeling good that day.

On another topic, it's been a Colby-filled summer and autumn. Moving back to New England has been great and oh how I missed running with people! From meeting up with people over the summer, seeing a horde of mules at the extra rainy Open NE's at Franklin park, an epic 40mph wind track workout with Kat, to pacing some miles of the LOCO marathon with Kate, it's been so much fun. Really looking forward to more mule encounters coming up.

The matching outfits was unintentional, but maybe it was the key to our perfect 7:25 pacing for some Boston marathon qualifier hopefuls! (or it could have been our incessant chatting that kept the group distracted)

Until next time,
Robyn "track is back" Runner

Race Recap: Goodwin Forest Trail Race

Fun facts: It's been a month and half since I've posted on here (sorry) and alsooooo I'm racing a half marathon in 3 weeks.

My training has been going well so far but hasn't taken off like I was hoping it would. I've been enjoying my long runs, cross training, and doing strength work but I'm missing the crucial speed work that will allow me to run a good race. I would like to PR, and my goal is 1:35, but honestly I don't think that I'm in shape to run 7:15 per mile for 13 miles. In an effort to engage my fast twitch muscles, I signed up for a local 10k trail race.

Let me preface this by saying that I have never run a trail race before. I assumed it was like running cross country, and since I'm knee-deep into my team's cross country season, I was fired up. In fact, I borrowed back my college cross country spikes from my top runner so that I could fly through the trails. But fly I did not. The first mile was pretty flat but a little rocky and I was completely disheartened to see my watch beep at 7:57 for the first split. From there, the race just got worse. I had a blister on my heel that was rubbing annoyingly, the footing was hard and the trails were narrow. I wanted to go faster but I was afraid of falling. Those cross country spikes were actually not a good idea because although I could grip the humid ground well, my feet and ankles weren't supported. During the rougher patches, ankles were slightly rolled, paces slowed and many choice words were uttered. The race also was advertised as a 10k but even the website admitted it was only 5.8 miles. Once I hit 4 miles, I knew it was time to go. My hopes of finishing in any sort of respectable time had long flown the coop but I wanted to at least make up some ground. I saw that there was a woman behind me and if there's one thing I can't stand in races it's losing to people I shouldn't. I wanted some sort of female award (top female? 1st age group?) so instead of letting her overtake me, I focused on the hairy dude* in front of me and reeled him in.

*Sidenote: I think I'll need to do some more research, but I think trail runners are a different breed of human. Lots of crazy hair and too many hydration belts for my comfort level. I felt very out of place.

As I turned the corner and headed up the last quarter mile stretch of the path, one man who had already finished yelled at me that there was someone hot on my tail. I was still frustrated with the whole race and feeling tired from the trail, the humidity, and life, but I gave it one last push. I was not  about to let that girl beat me so as to at least have something good to say about the race, and I opened up the gap and finished strong. Turns out, it was hairy dude who was behind me and then the woman, so I shouldn't have been too worried, but feeling that pressure definitely propelled me to run faster than I wanted to.

I look too happy on this cool down

Once I crossed the finish line, I learned two things. 1: I was the 2nd female, yay! 2: Only 1st female got a prize, bummer. I chatted with the race director about the trails and training for my upcoming half marathon. He pointed out that while I didn't work my speed as much as I had hoped, I definitely worked on my running strength, and I liked this perspective. Perhaps all was not lost with this race. Another runner (tall skinny guy) started talking to me, but he was a little creepy, so I peaced out with the excuse of a long cool down to hit my 10 miles for the day. After standing around for a while, the cool down started out rough, and especially my butt felt heavy. I understood what the race director meant by running strength as I took my first couple steps. I headed onto the local Airline Trails that bisect this state forest, knowing the the trails are flat and smooth. I slogged 3 miles, took a selfie to show my incredibly sweaty Oiselle #flystyle, and finished at the pavilion to get one more drink of water and steal a banana. As I arrived, I heard the race director call out my name; I won a loaf of zucchini bread after all. Turns out all was not lost, and actually, I'm pretty glad I did this race.

Exciting news and a not-so-exciting race

Those of you who know me well, or have been following me closely on the blog know that I've been talking a lot about Oiselle recently. This by-women, for-women company makes awesome clothes and sponsors a number of elite and non-elite athletes throughout the country. Last year, I applied too late to be considered to join their team, but I couldn't let it go. Oiselle fosters a great community that's so inspirational, plus their clothes are so stylin'. I kept in touch with the team manager throughout the year, and I'm pleased to finally officially announce that I'm one of the newest members of the Oiselle Volée team! If you don't believe me, check out my profile on the Oiselle website. I am already really feeling the love--women that I've never met wished me luck on my race via Twitter and I can't wait to meet up with some of the more local ones. And now I'm essentially sister-runners with the likes of Lauren Fleshman, Kate Grace and Kara Goucher. It's going to be a great year.

My awesome Volée welcome kit

I had my first race running for Oiselle this past weekend. As you'll surely recall, I'm up in Vermont for the summer, and Middlebury put on a 5k fun run to benefit student scholarships. The race took place on their cross country course, which forms part of their incredible TAM-trail around Middlebury. I run this section of the TAM at least twice a week; it's well groomed and keeps me on my toes due to the rolling hills. That being said, I knew that this 5k was not going to be my fastest.

Spot the bird! Some of the Spanish school before the race.

Even though this race was small and local, I wanted to run well because it was my first race repping Oiselle. Like any well-trained runner, my intentions started days before with track workouts, proper hydration and attention to sleep...except that I'm also taking advantage of my Spanish summer and have been going out dancing salsa. So while my plan for the Saturday race was to get a solid 8 hours of sleep on Thursday night (sleep runs on a 2 days cycle and this Thursday is the night before the night before, we've talked about this right?), I ended up dancing until at least 1 in the morning with class at 9 AM the following day. Friday night wasn't much better so I was worried how this serious lack of sleep would affect my performance. 

Going into the race I had a couple of goals. It was being "scored" by language school and the top 3 runners of each school were to win a prize. This prize ended up being a tiny plastic trophy so it wasn't worth much. What I was more aiming for was to be one of the top women, and to run a respectable time. As I warmed up and stretched out before the race, I was able to size up the competition--there wasn't much. A couple of girls looked like they could maybe be fast, but this was a small race so I figured that I could do well. 

None of us paying attention, on purpose

The course was an out and back that was heavily downhill for the first half, and regrettably uphill the second half. I knew my splits were going to be fast for the first half and I was ready. I also knew (and let me get up on my soapbox here for a minute) that a lot of the people running this race were doing so for fun, and didn't have a great sense of pacing. The race went out fast but I stayed just a little behind the lead group. Sure enough, within half a mile, I was passing some of them already. There was one girl in front of me, wearing spikes, who looked pretty legit. I tried to hang on but she already had a lead on me. I settled in to make sure no other girls were around me, and that a couple of buddies stayed behind me. My first (extremely) downhill mile was a 7:10. I was happy with that and tried to keep pushing myself, because a 5k at 7:10 pace on this course would be awesome. Unfortunately, things went, only figuratively, downhill from there. I turned around at the halfway mark, tried to focus on running the tangents and hit my second mile at 7:42. Not great, but I could work with it. 

At this point, I was in no man's land. The guy (in Vibrams, what?) in front of me was gone, and there wasn't anyone behind me, breathing down my neck to push me forward. I came out of the woods onto the grass that approached the hill. It is a massive hill, and it killed me. I hadn't felt lactic acid burn in my legs like that for ages. I realized then, in that moment, that despite the great and consistent track workouts I'd been doing for weeks, I hadn't trained on hills. My body couldn't respond. I was a little embarrassed at my lack of training foresight and totally sucking air. As I crested the hill, I tried to shake it out and keep up whatever momentum I had left. Then my Garmin struck again, and my 3rd mile showed up as 8:17. I was toast. I finished in 24:25--definitely NOT my best time, and ended up 5th overall for the Spanish school but 2nd girl. It was a hard race but given my limitations, I don't know that I could have done any better. Afterwards, I talked to the girl who finished ahead of me. She talked in Portuguese and I in Spanish, and she told me that she had run mid-distance at Lafayette, a DI school. I didn't feel so bad after that; she would have beaten me any day. We cheered the rest of the runners in, I cooled down and headed first to brunch, then to a lake, then to a local beer festival. Despite not running a fast time, it was a great way to start the day. 

Recently Played

Hola from grad school!

This summer I'm up in the beautiful green mountains of Vermont starting my first of 4 summers working towards my master's degree. It's insanely beautiful here and I'm constantly inspired to go running. Those of you who follow me on Instagram saw a photo recently where I mentioned a great run and a rockin' playlist. As I'm listening to more and more music in Spanish, I've found certain songs whose rhythm and beats really pump me up. (On a side note, I'm also learning to dance salsa, and some of these songs are great for that too.) I wanted to share my playlist here for those of you looking for new music. I recommend these songs for when you need a boost, either on a long run or during a workout. I think you'll find it's hard not to pick up the pace with them!

¡Que disfruten!

Race Recap: Hollis Fast 5k

Finally, a fast 5k! (Try saying that five times fast)

After scouring the web for a good race with which to end my spring racing circuit, I settled on running the Hollis Fast 5k, up in NH. Our speedy friend Kat had run it the year before, and after runner-stalking her and being impressed with her time, I signed up myself.

Unlike my last race, this 5k was very well put together. It was point-to-point, which was super cool and I got to see the whole course as I drove to the parking lot. The course was very downhill (hence the Fast 5k name) and was clearly marked. I got there early enough to have plenty of time to use the bathroom, drink lots of water and get bussed to the starting line. I warmed up thoroughly and even did some Dynamic Mobility exercises to kill the time. There were lots of people there; some of whom were there just for an evening jog (did I mention this race was 6:30 pm on a Thursday?) and some of whom were ready to rock it. I spied a number of team singlets: Western Mass Distance Project, Greater Boston Track Club, etc. I even spied some other women wearing Oiselle duds. I myself was enjoying being seen by everyone in this Oiselle Big O Burnout Tank in fresh green, with my neon yellow Strappy Bra poking through. Some of these women looked fast, so as the race started out I picked a couple and tried to stay with them.

I'll say it before and I'll say it again, I do not like going out too fast in a race. Some of the women that I had my eyes on took off and I was tempted to go with them. But I knew that if I ran a smart race, I'd be able to reel many of them back in. So I settled for a comfortably hard effort and ran my own race. I hit the first mile in 7:07, and that was exciting because I did not feel like I was running that fast yet. The second mile was slightly slower, 7:09, but still pretty good. After Mile 2, I felt like I was starting to slow down, and some of those women were pulling away from me. After two pretty quick miles, I was expecting to feel tired and run-down, but I did a quick body-scan and realized that I felt fine. Why not push it a little more? I set my targets on a woman in purple and a very sweaty man. As we closed in on the final stretch of the race, we had to zigzag through some of the slower people in front of us, and I lost the purple woman. However, my Garmin beeped at me for the last mile: 7:05. I crossed the line and immediately checked my time (22:10) and Age Group position. I hadn't thought I even had a chance to "Age Group" but it turns out I was 4th. I think I said a couple of choice words out loud at missing 3rd, and headed back to the banquet hall and parking lot to cool down.

The Hollis Fast 5K definitely lives up to its name, and my splits showed how beneficial a downhill can be. I like to think my time was due to weekly track sessions and some solid milage, but in reality the negative slope did most of the work for me. I'm still really happy with my time and my effort. I ran a smart race, and I will never complain about negative splitting. I initially was bummed that I missed getting an AG medal and was worried that the purple woman, who beat me by 5 seconds, got it instead. Turns out, however, that she was 40+ years old, and that 3rd in my AG ran almost a minute faster than I did, so there's no shame in my 4th place after all. 

The biggest disappointment is that there is no photographic evidence! It was a weird sensation driving to the race all by myself and not knowing anyone there. I didn't have a change to snap any selfies, and the official race photographer apparently decided to take a break for about 2 minutes, during which time I crossed the finish line. Suffice it to say, it was a good race but I'll have to go back next year to get my proof.