The Week in Workouts and Pictures

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Jen

This has been a tough week of training, as I did every run with the stroller and did about double the mileage of the week before. (To be honest though, I was sick the week before and had incredibly low mileage since I took a few days completely off.) I wanted to run more mileage this week and I definitely accomplished that goal despite a toddler who wasn’t loving the stroller and my own tired body. Here’s the breakdown:

Monday: As mentioned earlier this week, ran to grocery store the long way, loaded the stroller with food, then ran home the short way.

Tuesday: Currie wasn’t excited about the stroller run but I told her we would run to the zoo and she was happy. Went the long way which was 5 miles, pushed pretty hard up the hills (was sore the next day) and played at the zoo for a few hours before running back home the medium distance way, 3.25 miles. Added bonus, Currie was happy the whole time, played with her favorite ZooMorphs and slept on the run home.

Gotta love the Zoo Morphs, available on amazon.com

Wednesday: Jeff worked from ~~home~~ coffee shops which means he came home and did a family run with us midday. Approximately 6.5 miles on some trails and bike path. Death grip on stroller entire time thanks to bumps that can easily send the stroller flying.

Sure, the jog strollers have improved a lot in the past few years, but they still don't deal with bumps like this very well...

Thursday: Ran with a few Oiselle ladies, including my buddy Sarah K who was in town for the day. I was so happy to be running with them that I didn’t notice when my happy hoodie fell out of the bottom of the stroller! After 5.37 miles, we were back at Oiselle HQ and I noticed it was gone. Currie and I ran the route backwards, and eventually found it, but not before I accused a girl who happened to be carrying the same hoodie in the same color (violet!) about a mile from where it was found. (“Oh, did you just find that jacket? It’s yours? Are you SURE it’s YOURS? Well, if YOU ARE SURE it’s YOURS”) Oops, sorry girl! So, I ran about 10 miles when I planned on going about 6. Currie asked me along the way “mommy, why are you running so slow? Just speed up please!” Oh my.

Reunited and it feels so good!

Also, Currie took her first picture of me with an iPhone:

Apparently she didn't think my face was important in this photo. Wearing the new Oiselle Mesh Tank

And a more professional pic, Oiselle Mesh Tank in Violet. Pairs well with Indigo Roga short in my opinion!

Friday: Ran a loop around the lake with Oiselle Team manager and friend, Kristin. Then ran the short way, 2 miles to the zoo with Currie, once again pushing the long uphill portion hard. Finished with a 2 mile run back home a few hours later. Thank goodness the zoo is just 2 miles away. I can always keep Currie happy about the jog stroller if I say we are ending at the zoo! It also means I get a good burn pushing hard up the hills to get there.

She calls this "the fountain".

Saturday: early 3.1 miles around the lake with my friend Em and Currie in stroller. About 2 hours later, pushed Currie to a track with Jeff where he did a real workout and I did maybe 8-10 strides as Currie ran around the field. I felt so fast and light and wonderful. Today would have been a good race day!

Currie runs, one shoe off and one shoe on.

Mommy, they have a sandbox here!

Go Mommy!

I did a lot of random miles this week. Lots of stop and go which makes me sort of feel more tired than running all the miles at once. I was happy to get more miles this week. I also wanted to do a real workout, but it wasn’t happening with the stroller. I’m counting my 2 hard uphill days as semi-solid workouts and my strides got my legs turning over faster than they have for the past month so that’s progress! Tomorrow I get to do a long run stroller-free! Yay!

Have you ever lost something on the run? Did you find it? I was devastated when I lost my hoodie! How is your weekend going?

Airport 5k 2012 – Race Recap

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Jen

I ended up running the local 5k on Saturday. It was at the airport and a very cool race for a few reasons:

They closed down some runways and that’s where we raced! How often does that happen?
The course was spectator friendly and flat. It went up one runway, then back, then up another runway and back.
Frank Shorter was there to give a talk, sign autographs, run the race, and hand out awards!
Entertaining for kids. The zoomobile was there, the US Army National Guard had a display aircraft and there was a kids race.

Post-race posing by display aircraft

Awards happened quickly after the race and there was decent prize money.

We had a neighborhood block party the night before so I ended up eating cheese (on pizza) and watermelon (I have a bad history with watermelon the night before hard efforts) plus lots of desserts and snack foods. Not the ideal pre-race foods but they didn’t effect me so I got lucky! Our friends came to the race site to watch our daughter so both Jeff and I could race. Amazing! We were so thankful!

I lined up on the start line this week, and guess who planted himself right in front of me? Frank Shorter! I was star-struck, but tried to keep my cool. I made a little small talk, he made a little small talk, and I found out he was planning to run 10 minute miles. I was planning to run 5:28-5:38 so I knew our time next to each other was short.

The gun went off and I felt pretty good. I did a 5:24 first mile which was exactly what I was planning. The women’s leader did a 5:13. I’m glad I didn’t hang, that would have been too fast and resulted in a slower time because my speedwork has been lacking. I didn’t see the 2 mile or 3 mile markers, but I obviously slowed down as I finished in 17:32 and second woman. This was 16 seconds slower than my 5k 2 weeks ago, but 17 seconds faster than my 5k last weekend. All courses were USATF certified. The female winner ran 17:11 and I wanted to run 17-17:05 which is probably unrealistic until I do some more track work which I haven’t done in over 3 weeks now.

You can view the race highlights in the video below by Team Boyce. If you would like to see me struggling toward the finish, check out around 2:40 into the video. I can also be seen at :40, 1:07, and 1:34 of the video.

After the race we ran around trying to get our daughter signed up for the kids run, since she was really excited about doing it. We actually skipped our cooldown! She was so excited to be on the starting line. I positioned myself at the finish and my husband was all set to take video. All of a sudden, my husband lost sight of my daughter (she is VERY quick!) Thankfully, our buddy, Joe, was standing there and spotted her heading the wrong direction. Jeff redirected her and she was off and running in her first race ever!

Currie's first race. Pushing in to the finish to get a low-5 from Frank Shorter!

Currie was so happy to get a bottle of water and ribbon post-race!

Jeff took a video of the kids race, which can be seen below. You can see Currie give Frank a low-5 and he says “ha-ha! I love it!”

Shortly after the kids race, it was time for the 5k awards ceremony. They were really on top of things! Again, no time to do the cooldown. We slurped down frozen cappuccinos and listened to the awards. The women’s awards were initially messed up because they had me entered as a male. That was quickly straightened out and I collected my $100 (first place got $200). Jeff was 1st in his age group and got a family four pack of tickets to the Rochester Science Museum.

Frank Shorter gave out the awards. Very cool experience!

After the awards, we had Frank sign our bibs and Currie’s ribbon. He was a really nice guy. I love runners! What a fun race! While I wasn’t ecstatic about my time or place, I had a great day and was glad the whole family could join in on the race action.

Posing with Frank after autographs!

Our autographed bibs, ribbon and prizes from the race.

Have you met any famous runners (or famous people in general)?

Pre-Race

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Jen

Ok, I made my decision and I’m going to race the local 5k on Saturday. The deciding factors were:

Comments from you! Thanks for the thoughts/advice!
The race is close to my house and awards are scheduled to happen quickly after the race so I’ll still have time to get stuff done for our move.
This is my last Rochester race of the summer before moving to Seattle.
I haven’t done any speedwork this week, and this will ensure I get it done.
Frank Shorter is giving a talk and handing out awards!
My daughter loves to watch me race and cheer for all the runners and there will be entertainment for her before and after.
I’d like to win some cash for new running shoes.

Sign daughter (with help from daddy) made before a race earlier this year!

Today is my pre-race day where I usually run 4-5 miles. I used to try to relax the day before a race and sat around thinking/worrying about the race all day, but I found that doesn’t help – it makes me run worse! So now I take it easy on the running, short and easy pace, but keep the rest of my day as active as ever. Plus, how can you take it easy the day before a race when you have an extremely active toddler?

As far as eating goes, that will be fairly normal too, but I’ll try to avoid dairy since I’m lactose intolerant. Usually I eat a lot of cheese which I can handle normally, but for racing it doesn’t sit well in my stomach. I’ll have pasta with red sauce or tofu with brown rice for dinner and I will try to go to bed early enough to get 7-8 hours of sleep. (dependent on toddler’s sleep schedule). Before bed, I’ll lay out everything I need to race in the morning so when I wake up I’m not digging around waking up the family.

That’s my pre-race routine! Nothing too fancy!

What’s your pre-race routing like? Are you racing this weekend?

Time to Get Serious

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Jen

2011 was an awesome year of racing for me. I believe I ran 17 races (including 2 marathons and 2 half marathons), and won 12 of them. I got PRs in almost every distance and I never felt a sign of burnout or injury. I had the negative Cleveland Marathon experience, but I immediately began training for the Columbus Marathon and was able to push it out of my mind for awhile. My fitness kept improving and I was able to get my 5k PR of 16:40 at the USATF Niagara 5k Championships in Bergen, NY.

Racing to a PR in Bergen

A few months later I had another disappointing marathon experience in Columbus and that’s where my running took a negative turn. I have not been able to get my mojo back. I haven’t lost my love for running, but I definitely lost my love for fast workouts. The workouts that once got me excited and kept my running interesting filled me with dread and negative thoughts.

I decided it was time to take a few months of easy running, no workouts unless I got the urge, and just occasional races to ride out my previous year’s fitness as long as possible. A few months turned into 6 months, and I found myself feeling like 2011 happened a lifetime ago. My current trip to Ohio has come with some soul searching and I feel that it’s finally time to stop feeling sorry for myself and my situation and time to get tough again.

Last night I went out to feel like my old self again. I went to my high school track (though it is in a different location than when I lived here) and set out to do 5 sets of 5×200. I ran the 2 miles there with my flats in hand, at 7pm when it was still near 80 degrees just to find there was a football scrimmage going on and I couldn’t get on the track. I was really disappointed, ran back to my parents’ house and dropped off my flats, then finished my “10k a day“. I decided right then I was going to get up at 5am this morning and get after my workout at 6am.

When my dad woke me up at 5:40am I was feeling full from last night’s indulgences, exhausted from a sleepless toddler, and unmotivated for a track workout. However, I forced down a peanut butter sandwich and a half cup of coffee plus a large water and was out the door by 6am. On my warmup I was sluggish and groggy but I kept a positive attitude. I witnessed a beautiful sunrise and made it to the track before a single car arrived at the school. It was 50 degrees, clear skies, and little wind. I nailed that workout like I’d never stopped. The whole process brought tears to my eyes. I truly got a little weepy on my last 200, knowing I’d completed an entire workout, faster than expected, and felt good the whole time.

Matchy-matchy at its finest! Oiselle apparel + New Balance shoes!

I came home to a supportive dad who didn’t complain even though my late return (7:15am) made him a little late for work, a sleeping daughter and mom, and a feeling that anything might be possible.

10K a Day

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Jen

Here comes another post inspired by my dad! We were talking about how to approach our current training. My easy runs are always 30-40 mins, 4-5 miles. With marathon training, this increased, but I’m not in a training cycle so I have been ~~slacking a little~~ more laid back in the mileage department.

Heading out for a run I asked my dad how far he wanted to go. He said “let’s make it at least a 10k. I like to do at least 10k a day.” I didn’t realize he made this “daily goal” but it got me thinking about my own training and how I’ve definitely been dropping my mileage. I think having a daily goal is a great idea. The goal would be different for everyone, depending on their goal race or general fitness goals. It could even be a mile a day. I find when I don’t have a goal distance (or amount of time) to run per day, it’s so much easier to tell myself “one more easy 4 miler and tomorrow I’ll go longer”. With the 10k a day goal, my mind is made up and the shorter run isn’t even an option.

I’m following dad with a goal of 10k a day. Will you join me in making a goal?

Me and Dad before Glass City Half Marathon 2011, photo courtesy of Larry Herrett.

Because I Can!

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Jen

I was talking to my dad the other day about the stupid things people in cars do to runners as they pass us along the road. I had my war stories of people yelling inappropriate things out the window, people I don’t know aggressively honking and waving, cars not stopping in designated cross walks and almost killing me, etc. My dad shared one story, though I know he has many more. He told me a teenage boy “hollered” at him as he was running by mockingly asking “hey old man, why are you running?” My dad simply answered “because I can”. At the time I didn’t really respond to my dad, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the statement and how powerful it really is. “Because I can” is such a great message that can resonate with so many people.

My dad could have quit running long ago when he and my mom were raising 4 kids and working around 60 hours a week. He could have quit running when my mom was going through multiple cancer diagnoses. He could have quit after suffering multiple running injuries, burnouts, and years without many great races. But he kept on going. Now, at 56 years old, he’s still competing at a high level. I see myself doing the same thing. Very cool, Dad!

My dad recent and high school. Photos courtesy of my dad's buddy, Larry Herrett.

What crazy things have you heard on a run? What does “because I can” mean to you?

What is The Local Elite?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Jen

I’ve been thinking, talking, somewhat even dreaming about starting a running blog for years. Thanks to a little extra push from real-life friends, online friends, and especially my husband, I’m finally making it a reality!

The Local Elite is a place where I will blog about my journey as a local elite runner. People have different ideas of what it means to be a “local elite”. Here are some of the things it means to me:

I know I will never be the best of the best, but I train day after day, and sacrifice a lot to see what I might accomplish. I test my limits!
I place in the top few at local races and run as many local races as possible.
I dream of qualifying for the Olympic Trials!
I want to run big races and hope to break into one of the top American spots.
I have a regular life/interests/job other than running.
I am not afraid to have children because I think it will hurt my running career.
I obsess over little details about my running life even though it may only get me seconds faster.

This is my blog! Hope you enjoy!

Flower City Half Marathon 2012 Recap

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Jen

I ran the Flower City Half yesterday in 1:22:18. I was 4^th woman and got $200. The race was won is 1:20:12. I knew going into the race I would be slower than last year at this time when I was able to fairly easily run a 1:18 at the Glass City Half. Since November I have been running every day, but my workouts have been few and far between and the ones I have done have been short and not as fast as usual. This was my 4^th race of the year and my best workouts have been my races. I had lowered expectations because of the lack of fast workouts and the lack of long runs other than a 15 miler in Seattle with Oiselle ladies and a 14 miler last weekend. Still, I had confidence that I could come out and do something magical.

In an attempt to gain some fitness, I crammed a few workouts the 2 weeks before the half. Though some would argue I went in tired, I think the workouts helped. I’ve never tapered for a half (I think it is a good idea for people trying to peak for one!) and have run well on tired legs many times. The problem I ran into was having an emotionally exhausting week leading up to the race. Most of the time I can brush off, resolve, or put away things that are bothering me and possibly even use them to fuel a race, but when things build and I can’t find peace with them, it is hard for me to race well. This is my weakness.

I began this post with how the race played out, and there’s really nothing to note from during the race. I ran some miles. I mostly maintained 4^th place the whole race. I existed. I was okay with the race yesterday, but woke up being angry with myself. I thought about it during my 5.5 mile recovery run today. I was just existing during the race. I wasn’t racing. I wasn’t really tempo-ing either. I was just out there existing. Sure, I enjoyed the run. I waved to spectators – the whole time! I smiled at people as I passed. That’s a great thing, and I respect people who race like that, but it’s not me. I like to put myself through pain and take chances and fight to the finish with someone, hoping to take the whole field down. I didn’t have that spark in me yesterday and it makes me sad. I was just existing. I wasn’t racing. I wasn’t responding to my competitors’ moves. I wasn’t being myself.

I’m moving on from yesterday’s race. I think writing about it and identifying the problem will make that easier. I hope to no longer just exist but get out there and do something special!

Look at tiny little me hiding in there among the crowd.

Yep, that’s me sporting the Oiselle singlet and roga shorts!

Do you finish races feeling like you had something left in the tank? Are you ok with it? Do you regret it the next day?

The Local Elite

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