Monday – Easy: 8 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 9.6 miles
Wednesday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 6 X 1 mile @ threshold, 2 mi. CD + PM – Pilates
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles
Friday AM – Elliptical: 60 minutes + PM – 5 miles
Saturday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 5 X 1:30 + 2 mi. @ critical velocity, 2 mi. CD
Sunday – Easy: 14 miles
Totals – 65 miles running + 45 minutes Pilates + 60 minutes elliptical
2024 Training Log – WEEK 6
Hey friends! Catching up on the training log today. Week 6 was a crazy week. Richard was out of town all week, Ward has yet another ear infection and tax season is in full swing. I was supposed to do a one mile race on Sunday, but I honestly just was not feeling it at all. I was exhausted from a stressful week and I came up with a lot of excuses to not race. A friend reminded me this morning that sometimes excuses are perfectly valid. I needed to hear that! At this point, I think I am shifting my goal of going for every state record from the mile to the marathon to coincide with my birth year, which actually makes a lot more sense anyway. I’ll go for all of them in my 39th year and if I happen to get a few 38 year old records along the way, that’ll just be icing on the cake!
Monday – Easy: 6.4 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles
Wednesday – Easy: 7.1 miles
Thursday AM – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 12 X 1:00 on/off, 3 mi. CD + PM – 30 minutes elliptical
Friday – Easy: 6 miles
Saturday – Easy: 6 miles
Sunday – Easy 10 miles
Totals – 54 miles running + 30 minutes elliptical
Talk to you guys soon!
2024 Training Log – Week 5
Hey friends!
Monday – Easy: 7 miles
Tuesday – Easy: 9 miles
Wednesday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 4 X 7 minutes, 2 mi. CD + PM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, [6, 5, 4, 3] minutes, 2 mi. CD
Thursday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Pilates
Friday – Easy: 8 miles
Saturday – Easy: 8.6 miles
Sunday – Quality: 4 mi. WU, 4 X 400, 4 X 300, 4 X 200, 3 mi. CD
Totals – 70 miles running, 6 miles walking + 45 minutes of Pilates
Talk to you guys soon!
2024 Training Log – Week 4
Hey friends!
Monday – Easy: 6 miles
Sunday’s double threshold day necessitated a few “easy like Sunday Monday morning” miles to start the week. I was very sore and very cold for this run. The former was due to the fact that I slightly overran the second “threshold” workout the day before (thus slightly changing the intent of the workout and the system that was worked) and the latter was due to the fact that I slightly underdressed for temps that were still in the low 30s.
Tuesday – Easy: 8.5 miles
I was able to meet Rebecca for some easy miles Tuesday morning. Luckily we got this one in between rain showers in our area. I’m not gonna lie, I feel pretty accomplished on the mornings when we have eight miles done before 5:30 a.m.
Wednesday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – Easy: 5 miles
I was originally supposed to have a quality session on Wednesday. It was going to be 6 X 5:00 at “critical velocity” pace (i.e., slightly below threshold). My legs were still very sore and I knew about 30 seconds in to the first repeat that the workout was not going to happen. I ran easy instead. After a brief discussion with John, we determined that I essentially ran the second “threshold” workout at critical velocity pace. He tweaked the plan for the remainder of the week based on the feedback that I gave him. Here is your friendly reminder to run the intent of the workout!
Thursday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 12 X 200, 2 mi. CD + PM – Pilates
Thursday’s workout ended up being a two mile warm up, 12 X 200 with a 1:00 walking recovery and a two mile cool down. I didn’t go to the track for the 200s as I typically would. Instead these were more like some strides thrown into an easy run. The goal wasn’t to do them all out, but just to get the legs turning over without overdoing anything. After a rainy morning, I got this one in around lunchtime. Holy moly … it was in the seventies with a dew point of seventy-one! After the frigid temperatures we had the week before, that was a harsh jolt back to reality!
Friday – Easy: 12 miles
Saturday AM – Elliptical + PM – Easy: 5.5 miles
Sunday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 15 X 1:00, 2 mi. CD
Sunday’s workout was a two mile warm up, 15 X minute “on” minute “off” and a two mile cool down. This was meant to be a fartlek type of run with no specific focus on paces. The temperature ended up being basically perfect for this one (mid-forties), which was a relief. There was nothing too notable about this one except for that minute on minute off workout always end up being a bit sneaky and harder than you think. I averaged 5:46 for the minutes on (paces ranged from 5:34 to 5:59). As I mentioned, there wasn’t a big focus on the pace, but of course I like to check it out afterwards. My next race coming up is a one mile race and I don’t even know if I can hold my fastest one minute interval pace for a mile at this point. We shall find out in a couple of weeks!
Totals – 63 miles running, 3 miles walking, 60 minutes of elliptical + 45 minutes of Pilates
Talk to you guys soon!
2024 Training Log – Week 3
Hey friends! What. a. week! 2024 is off to chaotic start and how is this only the third week of the year?! It feels like it’s been an entire year at this point. Ha. Week 3 was marked by icy roads, below freezing temps (not all that common here in lower Alabama), daycare closures, unexpected work travel and a whole lot of schedule shuffling! As most of you can probably relate (Type A runners unite!), I do not do well when things don’t go as planned, especially when it is out of my control.
Monday – Easy: 12 miles
I met Rebecca Monday morning for my “long run” of the week. I don’t typically start the week with a long run, but as I was naively planning out my schedule for the week, this seemed to make the most sense. The rest of the week didn’t go as planned, so this probably didn’t actually make sense, but oh well. Regardless, it was a nice run and a nice way to start the week!
Tuesday – Easy: 7.5 miles
I was supposed to go to the office Tuesday, but ultimately icy road conditions prevented me from traveling. I got up and went to the gym fairly early. On my way home, the icy rain really started to come down. At least I got my run in! Daycare was closed, meetings were either postponed or handled remotely and the day went on. My dad was a huge lifesaver as Richard and I both had busy workdays, but there is still something so stressful to me about being out of sync with our regular schedule. I know this is something that I need to work on, because the level of anxiety I felt this week was off the charts. When I take a step back, I know that nothing we were dealing with necessitated such levels of anxiety!
Wednesday AM – 60 minute elliptical + PM – Easy: 5.25 miles & Pilates
Wednesday morning daycare had a delayed opening. I had to give a presentation at work (with hundreds of people in attendance (hello anxiety!)) and Richard unexpectedly had to go out of town for work (hello more anxiety!), so I hopped on the elliptical and watched videos on YouTube of other people presenting on the topic I was covering. In my mind, I felt like I really *needed* to get some form of movement in before my presentation. However, I also know that this was just my anxious brain needing some sort of outlet. Perhaps I should learn to knit or something?!
After sitting in meetings from 9 until 3, I was able to get out for a short run Wednesday afternoon before heading to Pilates.
Thursday – Easy: 8 miles
Thursday afternoon I ran from home. I was able to wait until the warmest part of the day to run, which is something that I don’t take for granted.
Friday AM – Easy: 6 miles + PM – Easy: 6.75 miles
Saturday – Easy: 6 miles
I met Rebecca and Kara Saturday morning for six below-freezing miles. The feels like temperature was in the teens! I wore two pairs of tights, two pairs of gloves, tall socks, a fleece-line long sleeve shirt, a vest, a jacket, ear warmers and a toboggan. I was cold until about the last mile of the run, when thankfully the wind was at our back and the sun had started to warm things up a touch. I don’t know how you guys living basically anywhere else in the country do it! We did post-run coffee hangs afterwards, which was warming to the mind, body and soul!
Sunday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 8 X 4:00, 2 mi. CD + PM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 3 X 6:00, 2 mi. CD
After moving workouts around and basically not doing any sort of quality work all week, Sunday was finally the day to tackle my second double threshold workout! I am only doing these every other week or so and I was looking forward to seeing how this one went. I did the first workout on the treadmill. After running outdoors in below-freezing temperatures dressed like the Michelin Man the day before, I knew that I would not be able to run *fast* in all. the. layers. My goal pace for the threshold portion was 6:11. I warmed up for 2 miles by increasing my speed on the treadmill by 0.2 mph every 2 minutes. For the workout portion I alternated between 9.7 mph on the intervals and 7 mph on the recoveries. There was a one minute recovery between each four minute interval. I start bumping the speed back up at 45 seconds so that I am fully back at speed once the next interval starts. I felt really good for this one! I was tempted to run some of them faster, but knowing that I had a second workout to do later in the day made me think better of it.
I went over to my mom and dad’s house for my second threshold session (thresh-sesh!). They were able to watch Ward while I ran, which worked out really well. I ended up running on the track, which wasn’t really necessary, but was easier in the sense that I didn’t have to think about planning a route. I wasn’t entirely sure what the traffic would be like on Sunday afternoon and I didn’t want to have to bail back and forth to the sidewalk while trying to maintain a steady pace. It has been years since I have run at the track by my mom and dad’s house. I had completely forgotten how fast it feels running there! The track surface is much springier than the one I typically run on. My legs felt surprisingly good and luckily it warmed up enough that I was able to run in shorts. I ended up overrunning the workout a tad, but I also know that the splits are artificially inflated because of the GPS inaccuracy on the track. My watch shows the paces for the six minute intervals to be 5:52, 5:45 & 5:43. I think we can add 8-10 seconds per mile to those. Either which way, it was a success! After my workout, someone at the track commented to me that I just made everyone else at the track tired, to which I responded, “Including myself!”
Totals – 68.5 miles running, 3 miles walking, 60 minutes of elliptical + 45 minutes of Pilates
Talk to you guys soon!
2024 Training Log – Week 2
Hi. It’s only the second week of the year (err well technically the third week as I am writing this) and yet, somehow things are already heck to the tick (i.e., hectic). Week two of the year was marked by crazy storms, work travel, bronchitis (me) and pneumonia (Richard).
Monday – Easy: 7.5 miles
Tuesday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 16 X 0:45 Hills, 2 mi. CD
Wednesday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – 30 minute elliptical
Thursday – Easy: 11 miles
Friday AM – Easy: 8 miles + PM – 40 minute elliptical
Saturday – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 20 X 200 w/ 200 recoveries, 3 mi. CD
200s were 39, 40, 41, 40, 40, 39, 39, 39, 40, 39, 38, 40, 39, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 39, 37! Whew. Lots of reps!
Sunday – Easy: 7 miles
Totals – 61.5 miles running, 3 miles walking, 70 minutes elliptical
Talk to you guys soon!
2024 Training Log – Week 1
Hi. Hey! HELLO! Happy New Year! Is it too late for that?! Probably so, but oh well.
After sharing my goals for 2024, I mentioned that I planned to update the training logs at least somewhat regularly. So, here we are! But first, let’s back up for a minute. After CIM, I took one week completely off from running. I eased back into things the second and third weeks with some short, easy runs. I did one mini “quality” session during the third week with 12 X 20 second strides, but I wouldn’t really consider that as a workout in and of itself.
The week of Christmas I did two workouts. One was a 2 mile warm up, 16 X 200m w/ 200m jogging recovery and a 2 mile cool down (done at the track) and the other was a 3 mile warm up, 8 X 3:00 w/ 1:30 jogging recovery and a 3 mile cool down (done on the treadmill). I went to the track on Christmas Day after all of the festivities while Ward was napping. It was a sunny, beautiful day (70° w/ dew point of 64°). I just so happen to LOVE 200s (actually I just love running at the track in general (it feels so fast!)), so Merry Christmas to me! I averaged 39 seconds for the 200s and was happy to get some turnover going.
The second workout of the week was done while we were in Michigan visiting family. It was damp and COLD, so I decided to do the workout on the treadmill. Thankfully three minute intervals are fairly well suited for the treadmill anyway. I ran all of the intervals at exactly 10 mph (goal pace was 5:56, so that was close enough) and I felt really smooth and controlled. Call me crazy, but I love a good treadmill workout every now and then!
That catches us up and brings us to present day, where I find myself four weeks post-marathon and one week into the new year!
Monday – Easy: 9 miles
Monday was Rebecca’s 45th birthday, so we did 4 + 5 = 9 miles! Birthday runs with friends are the best and even better when they fall on a holiday (in this case, New Year’s Day). We were able to meet a little later than our typical dark o’clock time and we were also able to hang out for coffee, mimosas and brunch at Kara’s house after our run. I can’t think of a much better way to start the new year! Sadly there is no photographic evidence of any of this, which was a major fail.
Tuesday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 3 mile tempo, 6 X 400, 2 mi. CD
Since school was not back in session, I was able to run at the track Tuesday! It is very rare that I am able to run at the track these days, so this felt like a treat. I was able to wait until it warmed up a little bit, which also made it more of a treat. My workout was a two mile warm up, 3 miles at threshold pace with a 3 minute walking recovery, 6 X 400m at interval pace with 90 second walking recoveries and a two mile cool down. The goal pace for the threshold miles was 6:09. I ran 5:58, 5:55 & 5:53 and felt wonderful! That was a nice surprise. The goal for the 400s was 1:24 per rep (5:40 pace) and I somehow managed to average 1:17 per rep (5:10 pace)! I haven’t run 400s that quick in YEARS! There were actually a couple high school runners working out at the track while I was there and I think that contributed to my faster paces. I’m not competitive at all! Ha.
This was one of those workouts that gives you a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, your fastest days are still ahead! My text to my coach post-workout was something along the lines of, “I am in better shape than I realized.” Part of me feels like I didn’t get a chance to really showcase my fitness at CIM, while the other part of me knows that I ran exactly what I trained to do. However, at this point, I will say that it certainly seems like the the fitness gains were not lost and after a short break post-marathon, it seems that my fitness base is starting even higher than it did for the last cycle!
Wednesday AM – Easy: 7 miles + PM – 45 minutes of Pilates
It was raining Wednesday morning, so I went to the gym and knocked out some easy miles after dropping Ward off at school and before starting my work day. Wednesday afternoon I got a good stretching and strengthening in with a 45 minute Reformer Pilates session.
Thursday – Easy: 7 miles
Thursday morning Rebecca and I were back to our usual dark o’clock running time. We got in 7 miles and it flew by in the way that running while catching up with a friend always seems to do!
Friday AM – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 5 X 4:00, 2 mi. CD + PM – Quality: 1 mi. WU, 6 X 3:00, 1 mi. CD
Friday was my first double threshold workout! I don’t know a ton about double threshold workouts in general at this point, but I do know that they are a staple of Norwegian training and have become increasingly popular in other countries now as well. The basic premise is that double threshold training focuses on improving both anaerobic and aerobic thresholds. By targeting both aerobic and anaerobic systems, you get enhanced cardiovascular health, increased metabolic efficiency, and better overall endurance. Based on past experience, the key to improvement (for me!) tends to be shaking things up and introducing new training stimuli. Time to shake it up!
My first workout was a two mile warm up, five by four minutes at threshold effort (with a goal pace 6:10) with a one minute walking recovery and a two mile cool down. I did the first session at the mall around 7:30 on Friday morning after dropping Ward off at school. I averaged 6:06 for the 20 minutes of work. I was happy with that and cautiously optimistic about how the afternoon session would go. I can’t think of any other time that I’ve ever run two “workouts” in one day. The closest thing I can think of is a Ragnar Relay where you run three legs at a hard effort over a 24 hour period.
My second workout was a one mile warm up, six by three minutes at threshold effort (with a goal pace 6:10) with a one minute walking recovery and a one mile cool down. At first, I mistakenly read workout as four by three minutes. Twelve minutes of hard running seemed totally doable. It was quite a rude awakening when I started my watch and realized that it was actually six by three minutes. Eighteen minutes of work was almost the same amount as I had done that morning!
If I had to guess beforehand, I would’ve said that my motivation to do the second workout would’ve been high but my legs would’ve been toast. When it came down to it, my motivation was totally gone (this is why I am not typically an evening runner), but my legs felt fine. I haven’t done any running doubles in quite some time, so it was a tad stressful and I felt like I was literally running against the clock as it was about to get dark (and rain!) and I had to get to the daycare before 5:30 to pick up Ward. I thought about doing this workout on the treadmill, but since I was presented with the perfect window of time before it got dark and stormed, I decided to go for it outdoors. I ran from home, which meant a hillier route than my morning workout. I averaged 6:00 for the 18 minutes of work. I was shocked that my legs were able to make this happen!
Saturday – Easy: 6.75 miles
My legs were toast for Saturday’s easy run. This obviously makes sense given the previous day’s training load, but wow. This run was more of a struggle than the double threshold runs combined!
Sunday – Easy: 12.75 miles
Thankfully my legs felt back to normal (ish) on Sunday and I was able to meet up with Rebecca and Kara for an easy long run. We ran from Rebecca’s house, which made for a nice change of scenery for me. It’s always nice to cap the week off with a long run with friends!
Totals – 66 miles running, 10 miles walking, 45 minutes of Pilates
Well, I’m going to say that the first week of the year was a success on the training front! I feel like I’ve got a good amount of momentum and I hope I can keep it rolling into the coming weeks as well. Before tax season sucks the life out of my soul …
Talk to you guys soon!
2024 Race Goals!
Hey friends!
I have come up with a fun challenge for myself for 2024. My goal is to go for every Alabama age group state record from the mile to the marathon! I will turn 39 in August. This likely goes without saying, but any records I go for before my birthday will be based on the current 38 year old records and any records I go for after my birthday will be based on the current 39 year old records. This goal is perhaps better suited as a birth year vs. a calendar year thing, so my thinking is that once I turn 39, I will circle back and try to get any that I don’t have (i.e., the ones that I *hopefully* get when I am 38) before turning 40! Wowza. I can’t believe that 40 is so close on the horizon!
I had a lot of fun creating this schedule! I learned about several races that I had no clue even existed.
Date | Name | Projected Time | State Record for 38 | State Record for 39 |
---|---|---|---|---|
02/11/2024 | Joe Cain Classic 1 Mile | 5:11 | 5:39 | 5:36 |
02/17/2024 | Battle of Mobile Bay 5k | 17:49 | 17:52 | 18:42 |
03/23/2024 | Azalea Trail 10k | 36:56 | 36:58 | 34:49 |
04/20/2024 | Old Mobile 8k | 29:13 | 30:44 | 30:57 |
08/10/2024 | Satsuma 2 Miler | 11:06 | 12:03 | 11:50 |
10/12/2024 | Monte Sano 15k | 56:46 | 1:01:42 | 1:04:25 |
11/16/2024 | Turkey 10 Miler | 1:01:11 | 1:02:02 | 1:06:38 |
11/30/2024 | Coastal Half Marathon | 1:21:42 | 1:21:16 | 1:25:10 |
12/07/2024 | Bayou 4 Miler | 23:15 | 24:44 | 26:28 |
12/15/2024 | Rocket City Marathon | 2:50:41 | 2:59:58 | 2:50:14 |
There are a lot of things to consider, such as timing, access to races, travel, feasibility of goals, etc. I will likely need to make multiple attempts at some of the distances and I haven’t accounted for that at this point. My projected times are based on my current VDOT score. The 5k, 10k, half marathon & full marathon records are all really, really close to what we think I am currently capable of, but the challenge will be maintaining, or ideally improving, my fitness throughout the year to achieve these goals. Also, if I get sick or injured, I will have to juggle and potentially scramble to find other race options. There are very few 4 mile, 8k & 15k races to choose from. I think this kinda adds to the fun of it! Granted, I am certainly not hoping to have to juggle things around too much, but I have a toddler … so … sickness is inevitable!
I realize that these goals are all more outcome than process oriented goals, but my process goals aren’t really changing with the turning of the calendar year. Here are some of the processes that I have been and continue to remain committed to in the new year:
- Running 6-7x/week w/ 1-2 quality sessions/week (depending on where we are in the training cycle)
- Pilates 1x/week
- Strength training 1-2x/week
- Cross training 1-2x/week (my primary forms of cross training are walking and the elliptical)
- Sleep 8-9 hours/night
- Bloodwork 1x/quarter (my current goals are to increase iron stores and decrease cortisol levels)
- Daily supplementation (current rotation includes AG1, Vital Proteins collagen, Thorne adrenal cortex (for cortisol), Thorne iron bisglycinate, Ferrosom liposomal iron & Vega protein powder)
- More attention to hydration needs, including electrolytes (mainly sodium, potassium and magnesium)
- More whole foods (seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, protein, whole-grain carbs, etc.)
- Less reliance on processed foods (protein bars, protein shakes, etc.)
I plan to continue documenting my training in some form here on the blog. I’m not sure if that will be weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. at this point, but I hope that it is on the more frequent than less frequent side of things. On that note, it is time for me to start on this week’s training log!
Talk to you soon!
Race Recap – California International Marathon
Well y’all … I did it! My first postpartum marathon (and first marathon in almost 4 years) is in the books. I ran the California International Marathon (CIM) in 2:55:48. Consider the band-aid ripped!
I find it a little tricky to dive headfirst into a race recap without some background. Let’s catch up on what life and training have looked like in the last 4 years! Kidding, kidding. No one has time for that! I actually did a decent job of recapping some of the more granular details of my training cycle, so I think I first want to take a step back and look at the training cycle as a whole.
The Training Cycle
I started my “base” building in mid-August and shifted more into an official marathon training cycle towards the end of September. I did six 20+ mile runs (more than in the past!). Within those six long runs there were 60 miles run at marathon pace. My tally comes up to about 60 miles with an average marathon pace of 6:40. I also did quite a bit of threshold work during this training cycle. My tally comes up to about 55 miles with an average threshold pace of 6:05. There were also several shorter, quicker one minute on, two minutes on, etc. type of workouts sprinkled in as well. I did not do any sort of tally on those. Such a slacker. I know.
One thing that stands out to me as I am doing this deeper dive into my training cycle is that there didn’t seem to be as much tangible progress throughout the cycle. For example, my first big threshold workout at the end of August was 8 X 1k and I averaged 5:59 pace. My last big threshold workout in the middle of December was 7 X 1 mile and I also averaged exactly 5:59 pace. Also, my first marathon pace workout at the end of August had 6 miles at marathon pace and I averaged 6:47 pace. My last marathon pace workout had 10 miles at marathon pace and I averaged 6:49. My fitness was in a really good spot at the beginning of the cycle, but typically you would still expect to see more progress throughout the training cycle.
I might’ve been overreaching a tad in my training. I know for sure that I felt more tired and more run down than I ever recall feeling during a marathon training cycle in the past. Granted my life looks a good bit different at this point than it has during past training cycles! Training for a marathon while working full time and being a mom is A LOT.
CIM is advertised as one of the fastest races in the country, but I will politely disagree. While there is technically a net downhill of approximately 300 feet, there is over 600 feet of uphill in there as well! According to one website, “The net downhill, point-to-point California International Marathon (CIM) course is one of the fastest courses in the country. It has long been a popular destination for runners seeking PRs and BQs. The fast course coupled with typically favorable weather, makes the California International Marathon one of the best races for PRs and BQs.” In my humble opinion, a “fast” course is a pancake flat course!
However, I have always known that CIM had rolling hills and I trained accordingly. My elevation gain for this year-to-date according to Strava is over 82k feet, so I definitely run on some hills. In my mind, I was training on way more intense hills than what I would encounter in the race. In reality, this was not the case and I wasn’t as prepared as I would’ve liked to have been. This is not to dismiss my training at all, because I put in a lot of work. Really what I needed was just more time. When I registered for CIM, I was taking a huge gamble on myself and holding on to the tiniest glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, I’d have the training cycle of a lifetime and somehow shave 12 minutes off of my personal best. Realistic? No. Have crazier things happened? Probably.
Now that I have sufficiently rambled on about my training, let’s get to the race … shall we?!
The Race Plan
My race plan was to start out at approximately 6:35 pace. Due to the rolling nature of the course, I was expecting to see splits anywhere plus or minus 10 seconds from this pace. The goal was to run relaxed and be patient in the first half. At halfway, I planned to run closer to 6:30 pace with less variation as the course flattens out somewhat. The goal was to run with purpose and be gritty in the second half. At mile 21 (after the last small incline), I planned to negative split each mile. Of course this is absolutely easier said than done! If I executed this plan with exact precision, I had a shot at a small PR (I needed to run faster than 2:49:16). That was my A goal.
I had a very specific fueling plan as well. I recently tried out the Gatorade Gx sweat patch. I’ve been running for 20+ years and never taken a sweat test! My sweat rate is low (this part didn’t surprise me), but my sodium concentration is moderate (30 mg per ounce), meaning that I need to take in more sodium than I previously realized. I estimated that I would lose 15 oz. of sweat per hour. Running for approximately 3 hours meant that I needed 45 oz. X 30 mg per ounce = 1,440 mg of sodium! Wowza. My fueling plan was to take 12 oz. of water each hour, which meant I needed to get at least 2 oz. of water at every aid station along the course. The plan was to alternate Huma and Maurten gels every 25 minutes, as this is what I trained with. Maurten gels have a negligible amount of sodium, so my salt intake was coming primarily from the Huma gels. I wish I had realized all of this sooner! Next time around, I will not be using Maurten gels at all. Give me all the salt!
The Actual Race
Race morning came with an early wake up of 3 a.m. PST (5 a.m. CST). We had to load the busses at 4:30 a.m. and had to walk a little less than a mile to get there. I ate a banana and a bagel and drank about 12 oz. of coffee in the room while we got ready. We arrived in Folsom about an hour and a half before the race started. We got off of the bus to go to the bathroom, then got back on the bus to stay warm and stay off of our feet. I ate graham crackers and drank 12 oz. of water with Nuun while we waited. Pro tip: make your Nuun the night before and put it in the fridge overnight to eliminate the carbonation on race morning!
The weather on race day left a little bit to be desired. It was mid fifties at the start and mid sixties by the end with high humidity. Granted, these are the exact conditions that I trained in most of the training cycle, so it wasn’t terrible! I was just really hoping for the as advertised “typically favorable weather.” I think it is usually in the low to mid forties with less humidity. But alas, this is not the hand we were dealt this year.
Let’s break this thing down into 5Ks!
1st 5K – 20:14 (6:30 pace): I was getting passed by a steady stream of runners and having a hard time settling in with a pack. I had a seeded bib, which put me in the corral with a bunch of really fast people. In hindsight, I really wished I had moved back into a regular corral.
2nd 5K – 19:47 (6:23 pace): I took my first Huma gel at about 25 minutes into the race and finally seemed to find a couple women to work with. One of them was of another McKirdy Trained athlete (shoutout to Kat!). We chatted briefly and discovered that we essentially had the same race plan. Her presence was very calming and we worked together for several miles. She’s in the green crop top and black shorts (same as me!).
3rd 5K – 20:42 (6:41 pace): I was running almost exactly what the race plan called for, but already knew that it felt harder than it should. I took a Maurten gel at 50 minutes in. I don’t know if it was because I was in my head about the sodium intake, but I distinctly remember feeling like the Maurten gel didn’t give me any sort of “boost.”
4th 5K – 20:25 (6:35 pace): I came through half with Kat exactly on pace at 1:25:31. I took my third gel a little bit early at 70 minutes (instead of at 75 minutes).
5th 5K – 20:25 (6:35 pace): The course flattened out a bit, but my energy also seemed to flatten out as well. I was scheduled to take a Maurten at an hour and forty minutes in, but ended up taking another Huma instead. Unfortunately this was my last Huma gel! I knew I was going to need more sodium, so I grabbed a Gu salted lime gel from one of the on-course fueling stations.
6th 5K – 21:33 (6:57 pace): Things started to kind of fall apart at this point. My splits were fading and I was working harder than I needed to be to maintain a slowing pace. My stomach also started to feel questionable. While it wasn’t an all out emergency, I decided to make a pit stop in hopes that I would feel more comfortable afterwards. I also took my next Maurten gel at two hours in, continuing with the theme of taking them a little earlier than planned.
7th 5K – 21:21 (6:53 pace): The original plan was to pick it up once I got to mile 20. This changed to just hold on for dear life and don’t let the wheels fall off completely. I took my last gel (the salted lime Gu) and prayed it would be enough to sustain me until the end.
8th 5K – 22:09 (7:09 pace): The last 5K felt like sweet, sweet relief. I knew I was *almost* there and I knew most of my wheels were still in tact (as opposed to falling off completely). My heart rate came back down a little bit during the last 5K as well. Looking back I feel like I could’ve pushed myself more in the last few miles, but in the moment I was doing everything I could!
My finishing time was 2:55:48 (6:39 pace!). Remember what my marathon pace miles averaged out to be in training? Yep! 6:40. I guess you might say that I ran exactly what my training indicated I was capable of! While I didn’t hit my A goal, in the back of my mind, I knew going into the race that I wasn’t in the best shape of my life. When I ran 2:49 in Indy, I was consistently able to run 17:20 in the 5K. I haven’t run faster than 18:20 in the 5K since becoming a mom. The shorter distance stuff is typically my stronger suit (I realize that this may change a tad with age). My shorter distance races typically predict a much faster marathon than I am able to run. This training cycle, I was holding out hope that my shorter distance races predicted exactly what I would be able to run. For some people, this might be the case, but I am not one of those people.
Random Takeaways
- The marathon is hard. It’s also not my favorite distance to race!
- Travelling to races is overrated. Local races are underrated.
- CIM is overrated (hot take!).
- Humidity is dumb and I am a salty sweater.
- Rebecca is an awesome friend! I am so thankful that she travelled with me!
- I should not be in charge of booking airline travel.
- Strength training can be fun!
- It is difficult to keep a marathon race recap very concise! My apologies.
Whew. It is time to get back to some shorter distance races! Stay tuned!
CIM TRAINING LOG – WEEK 14 + RACE RECAP – Battleship 12k
Hey friends!
Coming at you today with a recap of week 14 of CIM training as well as a recap of the Battleship 12k.
Week of November 6 – November 12
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6.25 miles easy (56° w/ dew point of 50°)
Wednesday: 6 miles easy (62° w/ dew point of 59°)
Thursday: 11 miles w/ quality (treadmill)
Friday: 5 miles easy (60° w/ dew point of 54°)
Saturday: 5 miles easy (60℉ w/ dew point of 54°)
Sunday: 17 miles w/ Battleship 12k! (53℉ w/ dew point of 43°)
Wednesday’s workout was a two mile warm up, 8-12 X 1k (depending on how I felt) and a two mile cool down. The goal pace for the kilometer repeats was 6:04. I ended up doing 8 X 1k at 5:59 average and then one mile also at 5:59.
Race Recap – Battleship 12k
The Battleship 12k is a patriotic event [typically on] Veterans Day weekend honoring those who serve our country. I’ve run this race several times in the past (2016, 2017 & 2021 (with baby on board!)). It’s a great race that supports a great cause! The race starts on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, runs across the Bay on the Causeway and finishes at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather! It was a crisp 50℉ when I started my warm up and it only rose to 60℉ by the end of the race. The humidity and wind were low, making for very favorable running conditions. I got to the race at 7 a.m. for an 8 a.m. start time. Technically bib pick up was from 6 to 7 a.m., but I didn’t have any issues getting my bib. After three warm up miles and a couple of strides, it was time to get rolling!
The race starts at an elevation of 110 feet and drops to 25 feet within the first mile. After that, it is relatively flat with the exception of two small bridges (approximately 15 feet of climbing each) and one slightly larger bridge (approximately 40 feet of climbing). The larger bridge happens to be in the last mile of the race, so it feels a bit more noticeable at that point than it otherwise would.
I planned to start at 6:20 pace and hopefully drop it down to 6:00 pace (or slightly under) by the end. The pacing plan was very similar to my strategy at Turkey 10 the weekend before. Seeing as how I was not able to execute said strategy at Turkey 10, I was really hoping for a more favorable result this time around. The Battleship 12k was basically the last major training stimulus before CIM. As I head into the taper, mentally, I needed a win.
I ran the first mile very relaxed. My split was 6:11, but the grade-adjusted pace was 6:23, meaning that the effort was perfect! I was able to chat with a couple people here and there. At that point in the race there were a lot of people to run with, which was so nice. I got to see my family at the first mile marker. Richard was holding Ward and they gave me a high-five as I passed. My mom and dad were there as well! Having my loved ones at a race makes it so much more special these days!
I was probably in about 5th or so for the females after the first mile and maybe 50th or so overall. You can kind of tell from the picture below that there was a steady string of people ahead of me (I’m in the blue singlet and blue shorts).
After that I made it my mission to steadily reel in the other runners. I stayed side by side with the man in the orange shorts for about 4 miles of the race. Our second mile split was 6:08, our third mile was 6:00 and our fourth mile was 5:57. We never really spoke, but I felt like we were working together with a common goal of catching as many people as possible. I later found out that he ran the course before the race, so the actual race was his second go-around! I did the opposite and ran the course again afterwards. His way was definitely harder and more impressive!
I worked my way up to second female after we crossed the fourth mile marker. I was steadily reeling in the first place girl and I was loving every second. I saw my mom and dad several more times along the route and my dad was encouraging me to “growl” (i.e., dig deep) and catch her. At one point I told him it was a little too early to growl, but that it was in the plan. Ha. The course is actually very spectator friendly as your loved ones can just drive along the Causeway, stopping wherever they want to cheer you on. It reminds me of a Ragnar Relay where you leapfrog your runner along the route.
I passed the first female during the fifth mile. She was running with a couple other guys as well and at the point that we passed them, I also lost my other “friend” that I had been running with. I didn’t necessarily speed up, but I quickly put a pretty big gap on the rest of the pack. My split for mile 5 was 5:57. From then on, I ran solo. I am totally used to this, so it didn’t bother me, but it sure was nice to have people to work with during the first half of the race.
I passed another runner or two along the way, eventually making my way into ninth overall. My split for mile 6 was 6:02 and my split for mile 7 was 6:06 (grade-adjusted pace was 5:59). I am happy with the way that I ran on the bridge. I have run SO MANY hills in my training for CIM! I focused on keeping my effort steady and thought back about all the hills that I have run, reminding myself that I was more than prepared for this one.
Shortly after you come off of the bridge, you make a left turn into Battleship Park and there are volunteers at the last water stop handing out American flags. This is one of my favorite things about the race. It’s so cool to carry the American flag across the finish line!
I finished with a time of 45:09 and a slight negative split!
First 4 Miles | 24:19.73 | 6:05 |
Last 3.456 Miles | 20:49.56 | 6:02 |
After the race I finished up my long run for the day by running the course backwards, back across the bay towards home. I wasn’t anticipating having company for this part of the run, but as it turned out, I was not the only one with this plan. It would’ve been a long solo cool down, so I was very thankful to have a buddy!
All in all, this race was EXACTLY what I needed. If you live close by (or not!), you need to add this race to your list!