I am running a half marathon this Sunday (the Flower City Challenge). The race is held within the city limits of Rochester and is put on by the local Fleet Feet. I also ran this race last year, its inaugural year.
Last year I ran a 1:50. I was plagued with some "bathroom issues" midway through the race and I did a big ride the day before. The course is relatively flat except for one decent hill up Goodman St. (I have run this hill 100+ times since I lived in that neighborhood for 3 years) halfway through that brings you into a large cemetery that you then run though (sadly enough, this cemetery is actually an attraction of our city). (Check out the elevation profile). Seriously.. 100 ft elevation gain - that's it.
My current marathon PR is 1:41 from 2009. As is everyone else, I am always gunning for PRs. However, I am realistic and know that it's not always possible. Depending on where you are in a training cycle, the race may be better suited as a training run at tempo pace. Sometimes, you race either having run beforehand or knowing you have to add on miles afterwards. Sometimes, the weather sucks, or you have equipment failure, or you have an off day. Sometimes, it's just not possible to PR. Last year, it was not possible for me to PR. I was coming off a big bike ride and my legs weren't fresh. Add to that the fact that I barely made it into a porta-potty in time.. yeah.. not a PR day for me. And I didn't expect it to be.
But this year?
I am coming off a rest week last week. The week before that I ran 40 miles. 40 SOLID miles. I am practically tapering into this half-marathon with NO long ride on Saturday (seriously, how is that even possible). I am friends with the 1:40 pace leader.
I think I am gonna go for it!
Showing posts with label half-marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label half-marathon. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
swimming, sweatpants & Syracuse marathon!
Just want to wish Coach Mary and her family good luck as they travel to Panama City for IMFL today! Matt C. will be joining them down there at some point as well. Ironman day is Saturday!
I don't know where my brain has run off to lately. Yesterday was my first swim workout for the new season. Swimming is my least favorite of the 3 things to do, but I understand that it needs to be done so I go and I do my workouts. I may whine, but I get that shit done. I printed my swim set at work, stuck it in my purse, and then went straight to the gym after work. I was all ready to go - swimsuit on, cap and goggles in hand - when I realized I had left the workout in my car. Which was parked half a mile away in the parking garage. F%*&. There went my motivation. The tiniest thing can derail my motivation to swim because it's BARELY there to begin with. I did not want to have to put all of my clothes back on and walk back to the 3rd floor of the parking garage for a piece of paper. This is where having a cell phone with internet capabilities would be so very useful. Unfortunately, I am stuck with a 3 year old ghetto cell phone that likes to turn off at random. Anyways, I decided to pull my workout out of my ass. The only thing I could remember was the drill that I was supposed to do. So I did a warmup. Made up a set. Then I did the drill work.
Not the way I wanted to get back into swimming, but oh well.
I went home after the gym, changed, then walked to my polling site and VOTED! Yeah America!
On my walk home from voting, my friend Mark over at TriDadofFive called me. He wanted to see how my training was going. Also, he is hosting one of my Syracuse teammates (teammate AND Train-This coach), Kelly (TriMommyLife), for a 50K in the Rochester area this weekend. I think they know each other from grad school maybe? Not sure. Anyways, while I was talking to Mark, Kelly called him. And this is what ensued..
Mark: Hang on, Kelly is calling me on the other line.
Me: ok
Mark (comes back to the line I'm on): Kelly wants to know if you're wearing pants.
hahahahahah! I think these crazy triathletes know me a little too well.
Unfortunately, I was wearing pants. It is just too cold in my apartment now to go pantsless. :( It is a sad day for Alexa when the weather turns cold and forces me to slip into my winter version of no-pants: giant sweatpants.
On a final note, Ultra Adam brought this to my attention last night - Syracuse is getting a marathon (and half-marathon)! It's surprising to me that Syracuse does not already have a marathon, but good for them!
http://empirestatemarathon.com/
I'm always up for a half-marathon within driving distance. It's kind of funny, the course is just a giant loop around Onondaga Lake, which I believe is one of the most polluted lake in the USA. Maybe the runners can pass the time by looking for wildlife with odd-numbered legs. However, October in Syracuse is very pretty so that will be nice! So all of you NY state residents, keep that one on your radar!
I don't know where my brain has run off to lately. Yesterday was my first swim workout for the new season. Swimming is my least favorite of the 3 things to do, but I understand that it needs to be done so I go and I do my workouts. I may whine, but I get that shit done. I printed my swim set at work, stuck it in my purse, and then went straight to the gym after work. I was all ready to go - swimsuit on, cap and goggles in hand - when I realized I had left the workout in my car. Which was parked half a mile away in the parking garage. F%*&. There went my motivation. The tiniest thing can derail my motivation to swim because it's BARELY there to begin with. I did not want to have to put all of my clothes back on and walk back to the 3rd floor of the parking garage for a piece of paper. This is where having a cell phone with internet capabilities would be so very useful. Unfortunately, I am stuck with a 3 year old ghetto cell phone that likes to turn off at random. Anyways, I decided to pull my workout out of my ass. The only thing I could remember was the drill that I was supposed to do. So I did a warmup. Made up a set. Then I did the drill work.
Not the way I wanted to get back into swimming, but oh well.
I went home after the gym, changed, then walked to my polling site and VOTED! Yeah America!
On my walk home from voting, my friend Mark over at TriDadofFive called me. He wanted to see how my training was going. Also, he is hosting one of my Syracuse teammates (teammate AND Train-This coach), Kelly (TriMommyLife), for a 50K in the Rochester area this weekend. I think they know each other from grad school maybe? Not sure. Anyways, while I was talking to Mark, Kelly called him. And this is what ensued..
Mark: Hang on, Kelly is calling me on the other line.
Me: ok
Mark (comes back to the line I'm on): Kelly wants to know if you're wearing pants.
hahahahahah! I think these crazy triathletes know me a little too well.
Unfortunately, I was wearing pants. It is just too cold in my apartment now to go pantsless. :( It is a sad day for Alexa when the weather turns cold and forces me to slip into my winter version of no-pants: giant sweatpants.
On a final note, Ultra Adam brought this to my attention last night - Syracuse is getting a marathon (and half-marathon)! It's surprising to me that Syracuse does not already have a marathon, but good for them!
http://empirestatemarathon.com/
I'm always up for a half-marathon within driving distance. It's kind of funny, the course is just a giant loop around Onondaga Lake, which I believe is one of the most polluted lake in the USA. Maybe the runners can pass the time by looking for wildlife with odd-numbered legs. However, October in Syracuse is very pretty so that will be nice! So all of you NY state residents, keep that one on your radar!
Monday, September 7, 2009
VDOT
The Rochester Half-Marathon is in less than 1 week. I originally wasn't going to do it because Finger Lakes Triathlon is a week after the half and that is what I am focusing on. However, it's hard for me to pass up a race, especially since my boyfriend is also doing it. I haven't done a long run since before Musselman, which was in July. Yesterday I did 9 miles which was fine, and hopefully what I've done will be sufficient. I've been reading Daniels' Running Formula and according to my last 5K time of 22:02, my VDOT is 44. I don't totally understand the VDOT.. it's sort of a pseudo VO2Max (my eyes glaze over reading the physiology - brings me back to being a biology major) but it allows you to take the time you've run over a certain distance and use that to estimate how you will do at other race distances. According to my VDOT (ascertained by my 5K time) I should be able to run a marathon in 3:32:23, which is a pace of 8:06. I should be able to run a half-marathon in 1:42:17, which is a pace of 7:48. I think the half time is doable (I ran my 1st, hilly half-marathon in 1:48 last October on very minimal training), but I'm not so sure about the full marathon. And then I don't know whether or not I should try to run the half at race pace or if I should do it at marathon pace and use it as a training run. I probably SHOULD use it as a training run, but I've never had a lot of self control in races. I just don't want the half to mess up my legs for the week after when I still have a marathon training plan to follow AND an olympic distance race at which I would like to PR and be competitive (and kick Andy's ass). Really, I just like to worry! I also don't know if it's OK to run the half-marathon in my sports bra. I bought some new ones at Fleet Feet this weekend because mine are all old and super nasty, and the new ones are so pretty! I do all my runs in the summer in a sports bra, and I will race in them sometimes. I overheat easily and I'd like to race in just shorts and a sports bra, and I probably will, so if you are behind me or you see me, I apologize!
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