i want adventure in the great wide somewhere - running journal! (comments welcome)

[lookingforsunshine]

I read Reckless Girls during MW travels. I thought it was okay!

 

[xjillianpaige]

I'm impressed with your run! I have run Boston twice, and also did the Runner's World Heartbreak half and have yet to manage those hills.

Thank you! Anyone who manages to run any portion of those hills is a superhero in my book. Yikes.

I read Reckless Girls during MW travels. I thought it was okay!

It was a fun read - nothing groundbreaking! I didn't see the twist at the end coming - I knew it was going to get dark I just didn't know how dark.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training Week 8​

Did I accidentally PR a half marathon again today? By 5 minutes? Maybe. Also my watch had the nerve to call me unproductive. So rude.

March 15: 4.01 miles • 42:56 • 10:43 avg pace
I ran with Casey and Kristin on the 3 mile loop then added on a solo mile that was real quick (9:55) especially once I heard some weird rattling along a fence and decided I needed to outrun a monster.

I finally decided where to put the sticker my friend made me! I will have to very carefully hand wash and avoid any sort of friction to keep the blue vinyl nice. ​

March 16: skipped
My stomach was a little bit off but that could have just been because I was a little stressy and depressy. And I didn't want to. So that was that.

March 17: 4.15 miles • 44:20 • 10:41 avg pace
A nice early morning run again followed by sit down coffee since I didn't have to rush to work. I stuck with Janet for this one who is a speedy lady so I was faster than usual. All my miles sub-11.

Book number 4! I'm finally caught up and back on track for my reading goal. ​

March 19: 15.01 miles • 2:46:29 • 11:06 avg pace
I didn't mean to get another half marathon PR (2:24:46) but here we are. Did 15 miles with a few of the girls from the club and the rain mostly held off until the last 3 miles when it down poured. Followed up with coffee and a donut. This run felt different than last week, but it was also much flatter since it wasn't on the marathon course (155 ascent versus last week's 546 ascent). I felt good and my splits were much steadier instead of the major slow down like last week.

11:14 • 11:36 • 10:26 • 10:46 • 11:19 • 10:49 • 11:59 • 10:52 • 10:46 • 11:42 • 11:02 • 10:57 • 10:45 • 11:14 • 10:57

Post run treat! So delicious and real strawberry frosting!​

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training Week 9​

This is going to be a short one because I raced yesterday. My goal is to post that recap tomorrow night. Work is very very busy right now so I'll do my best.

March 22: 4.00 miles • 44:02 • 11:00 avg pace
Ran with the whole group tonight. Had a few new members and a very big group for post-run drinks & dinner. I ran with Cathy (the woman I ran 15 with last weekend) and felt pretty good.

March 23: skipped
Work has been very busy and I had to go into the office today, followed by an evening volunteer engagement. Getting these longer mid-week runs in has been very challenging and I expect it to get even more challenging as I am back to the office 4 days a week starting in April. I should be able to work it in this coming week, but the week after that I am at an off-site training all day followed by a Passover Seder with the nonprofit I volunteer with. Hopefully these missed runs don't have too much of an impact on training.

March 24: 4.01 miles • 40:29 • 10:06 avg pace
This was a very fast solo run. I was at a conference so I got my miles in at the end of the day before our team dinner. It was also a part of the course I was running on Saturday, so I got to practice the massive uphill and downhill. You can really see how the hill impacted me in my splits: 10:32 (flat); 10:46 (uphill) 10:04 (downhill) 9:02 (flat final mile).

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training
Shamrock Half Marathon Race Recap

Bib Pick Up/Pre-Race​

I was already in Manchester for a conference beginning on Thursday morning. The conference went until Saturday, so work paid for my hotel through Saturday morning (a.k.a. race day) so I was able to go to the bib pick up Friday night after the sessions were done. My coworker was running with me, so we drove together to the pick up spot. We waited in a short line, then poked around the store. I picked up another pair of Goodrs (color: flamingos on a booze cruise) and she grabbed a flip belt and Goodrs. Since we spent $20 we each got a pint glass. We then went back to the hotel (which was literally across from the start line) to park and walked down the main road/race course to an Italian place for chicken parmesan.

We were back to the hotel room by 8:00 and we packed up and got into bed nice and early. In the morning we had an 8:00 meeting (and free breakfast) that got out early at 8:30 and we organized ourselves, left our bags at the conference, then went outside for an 8:50 race start.

The Race​

We met the 2 other girls from my club and my coworker took a photo of us. Then she headed back to the 12:00-13:00 pace area and I stuck in the 10:00-11:00 with Andrea and Michelle. We all started about a minute after the race started and off we went.

We all immediately separated. Michelle is very quick (and got 2nd in her age group) and Andrea is also quite quick even on her slower days. I had my headphones and just got to it.

This route was a bit confusing. We ran up the same hill like, 3 times. Twice we went off to the left and back down it and one we went to the right and ran down through neighborhoods parallel. Anyway, here are my splits.

Mile 1: 10:53
Mile 2: 11:16
The first two miles were mostly flat with a bit of an uphill. I had run this hill on Thursday and made it to the top without stopping, and here I ran the whole hill this first time, taking it easy. We didn't get all the way to the top, turning left, then right, then right again and going down the hill.

Mile 3: 11:04
Mile 4: 10:55
Mile 5: 10:31
Three and four were down the hill. The 3 mile marker was literally at the top of the hill. Four flattened out again and then five brought us back around the hotel, around the starting line, and back up the hill.

​

Mile 6: 11:00
Mile 7: 11:46
Six was pretty flat, with the bulk of the hill in mile 7. I did some walking here to get to the top. Quick note on fuel - I took about 4 bloks at the 3 mile mark. Then I did half a package of margarita bloks with salt around mile 6/7 and again later on. I needed it - I was covered in salt at the end of the race. I might have taken some more at some point? Maybe 2 bloks each around mile 4 and 5?

Mile 8: 10:35
Mile 9: 10:39
Mille 10: 11:03
Mile 11: 11:51
Mile 8 was all downhill and then mile 9 flattened out and looped behind the start line and then guess what happened after the flat of mile 10? That's right, mile 11 was all uphill. I took some more fuel as I walked up the hill (the third time up this dang hill). The bright side is I had a plan. Make it to to the top, ride the downhill, punch it the last mile. Also maybe I cried around mile 8 and it caused me to have an asthma attack. Let's not get into it.

Mile 12: 10:52
Maybe I yelled "Last mile PUNCH IT!" when I got to this mile marker.

Mile 13.1: 9:42
And the last little bit! Ran it in. Felt tired but had enough in me to finish strong. Wondered a bit about how much more I could have given the hills or some of the flats/downhills. I wanted to take it easy in the first half so I could finish strong. I definitely did that.

​

Okay, so what do I have to say? After crossing the finish line, I saw Andrea, Michelle & a few other girls from the club who came up to see us finish! It was a lovely surprise to see them. I figured we would run and then just go home. I got my medal and chatted with them a bit. Andrea was meeting her sister and the rest were meeting at a restaurant just out of the city for lunch. I told them I would meet them after I saw my coworker run it in.

I walked over to spectate at the finish and was able to get video of my coworker crossing. I met her and she was crying (same, girl. I cry every race) and she KILLED it. First half and she was under 3:00:00. We went over for some photos and then back to our cars to head out.

Oh, did I mention this was a PR for me? By about 9 minutes? My October half was 2:32 and change. NBD. Anyway, right now my top 3 goals for the marathon are 1. get to the start line 2. break 6 hours and 3. achieve around 5:30.

FINAL TIME: 2:23:52​

 

[jmasgat]

Congrats on the PR, and on a course with hills, no less. I hate loop courses (and that one looks funky!). They can be real motivation sucks depending on how you feel. Your race photos are great. I will never be a person who smiles in a race!

 

[GollyGadget]

Congrats on the pr and not getting lost! I can't imagine having that many loops.

 

[DopeyBadger]

You are on fire! Looks like your endurance is catching up to your speed. Link to a discussion based on your 5k PR in December 2021 (link). You're starting to close in on sub-5 marathon level fitness let alone sub-6. Keep up the good work.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Congrats on the PR, and on a course with hills, no less. I hate loop courses (and that one looks funky!). They can be real motivation sucks depending on how you feel. Your race photos are great. I will never be a person who smiles in a race!

Thank you! This course was WILD - hosted by Millennium running. What's wild is that they somehow made a half marathon take place within what's essentially a 2 mile loop. If I never run that hill again it'll be too soon.

Congrats on the pr and not getting lost! I can't imagine having that many loops.

Thank you! This company does a great job with managing a course - lots of volunteers and very well marked. I saw a car try to go past a barrier and I yelled at the woman directing her husband and right around the corner was a staff person I could inform.

You are on fire! Looks like your endurance is catching up to your speed. Link to a discussion based on your 5k PR in December 2021 (link). You're starting to close in on sub-5 marathon level fitness let alone sub-6. Keep up the good work.

Thank you! I genuinely can't believe that there could be a time in my life when I might say "my goal is sub-5." Never could have anticipated this when I got back into the hobby. I have 17 miles this weekend (followed by 18, 13, 19, 12, 20, taper). I'm over halfway to marathon weekend!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training Week 10
Black Cat 10 Miler Race Recap​

This is a two for one special, friends. Both my training for the week plus my race today that was also a 17 mile training run. Who doesn't love bonus content?

March 29: 4.82 miles • 52:49 • 10:57 avg pace
I actually stopped at 4.75 but forgot to stop my watch! So it clocked my walk to my car! Luckily it hardly affected my stats. A good run with the club. Cathy is tapering for Boston and we ran together a bit.

March 30: skipped
Another insane work from home day that didn't end until 6:30. Next week I start back 4 days a week, but of course in week 1 I'm out for a full week of training that doesn't end until 5:30 (+ on Wednesday I have a volunteer commitment after the training). My hope is the week after I'll be able to fit in 5-8 miles after work. I'll change at work so I can get home and get right out.

March 31: 4.01 miles • 43:13 • 10:47 avg pace
A nice normal morning where I could run then sit for coffee. Not a whole lot to report.

I also finished book #5 of the year this week. About to read this whole series.​

April 3: 17.00 miles • 3:16:26 • 11:33 avg pace
This was not a great example of how to fuel. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast - not a great start. Then in my head I was running 4-5 miles (fuel not needed) followed by a 10 mile race (minimal fuel needed) followed by a 2-3 mile cool down (no fuel needed). Well, dummy over here forgot that all those total 17 miles! Of training! That require some serious fuel!

But it's okay, because we learn from the bad runs.

Anyway, I ran 5 miles with Michelle before the race and my splits were 11:10, 10:58, 10:52, 10:50, and 10:49. Pretty steady there.

Next up was the race, a hilly 10 miler in Salem. (For the record, bib pick up was very easy. I was parked by 6:46 and walked across the street to the hotel to get my bib and was on the road for my run by 6:58. I "saved" $10 by opting out of a shirt. The hotel also had coffee and tea and some refreshments before and after the race which was really nice). Let's look at those splits: 10:53, 10:54, 11:13, 11:54, 11:31, 11:32, 11:49, 11:47, 12:10, 11:20.

​

We can discuss for days the what's and why's and how's of the slowdown. Fuel. Hills. Too fast in the first 7 miles. Headspace. Whatever. When I saw I was running in the 10s, I made a conscious effort to slow down a bit but even that didn't save me. Even with the slow down, I do think this is about a 4 minute PR. For fuel I did some mountain berry bloks (maybe 3 or 4 bloks?) and then around mile... 6? I took some of the watermelon (salted) bloks - I liked this flavor. Not as much salt as in the margarita though. Finished stronger than I thought I would.

Then I had my last 2 miles to add on as a "cool down" so I dropped some stuff to my car (didn't want to run with my medal) before going out. These were quite slow. Splits of 13:12 and 13:31 respectively. The last mile I ran for .2 miles, then walked for .05. Rinse and repeat until I hit .75. Ran the last quarter mile in full.

After the race I went to meet everyone in the hotel. We took home 4 age group awards and two team awards (biggest and second place team). Got a hat because of it! That was nice since I wasn't going to have any swag due to the t-shirt "discount." Then we went out for celebratory breakfast.

FINAL TIME: 1:56:18​

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training Week 11​

I spent the past week in an adventure programming training, so I was sore this week. I had muscles aching in my arms, core, and legs that I didn't know existed. Plus I ran on Tuesday night and Thursday morning. They told us to keep up our usual activity.

April 5: 5.07 miles • 55:07 • 10:52 avg pace
I'm up to 5 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Not a lot to note about this one. I went after my training.

April 6: skipped
After my training I had a seder with the nonprofit I volunteer with so no time to do anything. Eight miles before the training felt impossible.

April 7: 5.01 miles • 54:01 • 10:48 avg pace
I joined the 5:30 am group since I had to be at my training for 8:30 am. That gave me time to get a coffee to go and shower. The 4 am wake up was hard. Looking forward to going back to the 6:30 group.

April 9: 13.01 miles • 2:22:24 • 10:57 avg pace
The original plan here was 18 miles, building another week. But due to upcoming real life stuff, and on the advice of Dopey Badger (these forum updates won't let me tag - so rude) I dropped to 13 this week and will run 19 next week. Anyway, I did my 13 today with 3 others who had 11-18 miles on their plan. We mixed up our usual route and did a moderately hilly (246 gain) route to the lake that I sometimes run around. I'm pretty pleased with my pace considering I was sort of feeling it by the end and the hills were - well - hilly. Next week will be quite the test.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training Week 12​

This was not a good week. But it's okay. They can't all be good weeks. Let's get to it.

April 12: 5.05 miles • 56:12 • 11:08 avg pace
Your usual Tuesday group run. Met a group at 6:40 for the first early mile then did 4 with the rest. I think I finished the second Bridgerton book this night? Or at some point this week? Either way, book 6 of the year. A kindle read. I think the books are okay - the series is better.

​

April 13: skipped
Wednesday after work was our Boston Marathon kick off party for our 7 runners toeing the start line in Hopkinton on Monday. I wouldn't have been able to run the 5 scheduled here anyway, but then I started puking and cut out of the party early. So then I *really* wasn't running.

April 14: skipped
Every time I woke up in the middle of the night, I texted my mom. Just because you move out doesn't mean you have to stop making your problems your mom's problems, too. Anyway, my last puke was at 2 am and at that point I was terrified to sleep so I just laid awake and willed myself to not vomit, dozing off here and there. Needless to say, I was not meeting anybody at a run at any point. I spent the day recuperating and trying to rest.

April 17: 12.01 miles • 2:42:23 • 13:32 avg pace
The plan was 19 miles, but all the advice I got both on these boards and from my IRL friends was to take it easy. So I did. As you can see, I ran about 2 minutes slower per mile. I solely ran based on my heart rate, turning my watch to that screen and leaving it there. The original plan was to go out for 6.5 miles and back - for a total of 13. Then add on 3 out and back to hit that 19. I hit 6 and decided to turn back, giving me 12 miles. At around mile 7/8 I started getting real tired. My effort was not changing but my heart rate was increasing. I took a short walk break when I fueled at mile 6 and then some again later on just because I wanted to go as easy on my body as I possibly could. I'm not going to share my splits - it doesn't matter. What matters are the things I learned from having my body be hit by the worst illness I've experienced since 2012 when I had bronchitis and trying to go for a run while recovering from that illness.

1. A plan is a plan, it's not inscribed in stone. It can and will shift. Go with it.
2. Easy miles (keeping that HR in the blue/green) feels really good and sometimes when you shift to see your pace it'll surprise you.
3. Your body will tell you what it needs - listen to it.
4. It's okay to cry a little bit in your car afterward even if you are proud of a really challenging 12 miles because your training feels like it's getting derailed because you don't have the time to run that you had before you went to work 4 days a week and social stuff is getting in the way and it's really hard to make the time even if you want to and you're worried some of your slightly loftier but still reachable goals are slipping away
5. One run won't make or break your race

Here are some pretty pictures from the route.

​

Tomorrow is Boston Marathon day! One of my favorite days of the year. I'll be volunteering again at mile 22, so if you're running and want me to track you, drop your bib number in my messages! I'll post a photo of what I'm wearing/look like tomorrow if you want to try to say "hey."

 

[jmasgat]

Have a good time volunteering. I am going to be doing Gear Check on Boylston St, so disboard is well represented!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Have a good time volunteering. I am going to be doing Gear Check on Boylston St, so disboard is well represented!

I hope you had fun at the marathon! It was a long day - I was sore by the end of it because I spent a lot of time shivering. Celebrated with margaritas!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training Week 13​

We're back, baby! Redemption!

April 19: 5.05 miles • 56:37 • 11:12 avg pace
I met with the group for 1 mile, then did the 4 route with the group. Couldn't get my usual dinner of Caesar salad with Buffalo chicken because of last week's debacle. It'll be a long time before I have a buffalo chicken cutlet again.

April 20: Track Week 1
I started with a nice easy warm up (1 mile • 12:29 • HR green). We did drills and strides, then 2 400s (both around 1:50-2:00). Then a mile time trial (9:04). I'm really happy with my mile time. My goal was sub 10 and we can all see how I did. My plan was to take the first lap on the easier side, then settle in for the next two laps, then kick it up for the last lap with a sprint at the end.

​

I got home from track and finished book #8 of the year

April 21: 5 miles • 55:20 • 11:04 avg pace
I had work 9-5, so I met up with my friend Ellen after work and we ran around the lake near my house. She ran the Brooklyn half this weekend! Didn't quite PR this time, but I know she's close to breaking 2:30.

April 24: 14.00 miles • 2:42:01 • 11:34 avg pace
Want to hear something crazy? This was about 40 seconds faster than my 12 miles last week. That's how much better I am a week later after the stomach bug/food poisoning from you know where. The original plan was 19, the new plan was 13, I did 14.

I was in Nantucket for the weekend with a couple of friends, so my time to get this done was Sunday morning at 6 am. I don't know the island at all, so was surprised by the hills (232 ascent). It was a very pretty run and I saw 4 deer on the route (an out and back from the main drag of Nantucket out to Madaket Harbor). I was trying to follow the half marathon course but I messed it up. Either way, I made it out 7 and back. And I made it back for breakfast at our B&B.

Splits because I feel good about them (I had a tailwind on my way out and a headwind back): 12:19, 12:02, 12:09, 11:54, 11:34, 11;33, 11:16, 11:14, 11:26, 11:18, 11:28, 11:27, 11:43, 10:37.

I'm also really proud because this is my longest solo run without stopping to take walking breaks. I've done plenty of long runs without walking, but they'e always been with a group of people or at a race. I wasn't sure I could do it alone but I can!

​

 

[jmasgat]

I hope you had fun at the marathon! It was a long day - I was sore by the end of it because I spent a lot of time shivering. Celebrated with margaritas!

It was windy out there! Definitely made it chillier. Fortunately, I spent most of my time on a school bus. It was good. (But I did send them LOTS of comments/suggestions in the survey I got.)

 

[xjillianpaige]

It was windy out there! Definitely made it chillier. Fortunately, I spent most of my time on a school bus. It was good. (But I did send them LOTS of comments/suggestions in the survey I got.)

LOL I also sent lots of feedback in my survey.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Vermont City Marathon Training Week 14​

One month to race day!! Ahhhhh! Big week for me, too.

April 26: 5.00 miles • 53:52 • 10:46 avg pace
This was a rainy one. I got there late and had to fly through my first mile (10:36) so I would finish in time to met the group. We did 4 all together, which started at 11:26 and ended at 10:20. Did a full change in the car before dinner. I got the salad with shrimp gran marnier.

April 27: Track Week 2
As always, a 1 mile warm up to start (11:21) with drills. My workout was a 3x1 mile with alternating laps of marathon pace (11:00) and 10k pace (10:15) for an average of 10:30 miles, with a standing rest between each mile. Then a 1 mile cool down (10:32). It's crazy how there are runs where an 11:30-12:00 pace feels like it saps all my energy, then there are runs (this one) where 10:30 feels so easy and the 11:00 laps feel so slow and I want to go faster.

April 28: 5.01 miles • 54:02 • 10:48 avg pace
The morning of the annual awards banquet! We met at 6:15 am for the first mile, then circled back to do 4 more with the rest of the 6:30 runners. This was one of those days where the pace felt hard. My first 3 miles were around an 11:00 pace (11:06, 11:08, and 11:06 to be exact). Then the last 2 miles were both 10:19. I'm very steady. I know it probably felt hard because my recovery was barely 12 hours, and it's good practice to run on tired legs.

Quick pause in running recapping to talk about our awards banquet. This annual banquet/awards ceremony is so fun! Everyone gets so glam and there's dinner and a DJ. I met up with some of the girls at a hotel nearby and we got ready there, including hiring a make up artist. I got my nails done in the morning, got my make up done at the hotel, then did my own hair.

Leading up to this night, at least one person had told me that she voted for me for the Outstanding Improvement Award, so I felt like I had a decent chance, especially when I thought about all my PRs and growth since joining the club in 2020. I wasn't sure if anyone else had improved as much as I did. Anyway, it came time for the awards and they start with some made up superlatives which are lots of fun! Then they do the other awards. Kayla (who is lovely and has had great PRs this year) won for Outstanding Improvement. A few people must have voted for me, because when they started to announce it I got some looks, but they said the winner had run her first marathon in 2021 - and my was obviously in 2022. I was a little disappointed, but Kayla was so deserving, too!

When they got to the personal achievement award, the MC (our VP) said that this runner would know if she read the PRs from the year, but she was going to read them anyway. I knew it was me when they said the 1 mile PR was 8:48. It's really cool to be voted for an award by your peers, and it's equally as cool for the committee to read your list of PRs and select you as a winner. Oh... and my dress as I went to accept the award? The train billowed - it was very Hollywood awards show.

​

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled running journal.

April 30: 17.01 miles • 3:12:45 • 11:20 avg pace
I took this week to be another rebuilding week, going up to 17 miles from my 14 last week (will do 20 next week then taper). I did 17 miles about a month ago, and that time was 3 minutes slower (average pace of 11:33) with terrible fueling, a too fast first 5 miles, a hilly 10 mile race in the middle, and two very slow post-race miles.

This week was much better. I was worried about fuel because I only had 3 Clif Blok packages, but I got creative. We went out on a rail trail and did 4 miles out and back to start. I fueled at mile 6 for the first time instead of fueling every mile like normal. Quick pause at the car to ditch layers (goodbye gloves) and grab sunglasses, then another 2 miles out and back in the opposite direction (another package of bloks at mile 9). Mile 12 was another pit stop at the car where I shed my long sleeves and ate a cookies & cream honey stinger waffle (and REALLY liked it - will have to add it to my fuel) then back out for our last 2.5 out and back. Michelle and I stuck together for these miles, until the last one where we decided to give it our all so she did her super speedy thing and I did my version of speediness.

Splits: 11:17 • 11:17 • 11:05 • 10:57 • 10:55 • 10:52 • 10:58 • 10:50 • 11:04 • 11:22 • 13:58 (fuel walk) • 11:42 • 11:27 • 11:18 • 11:52 • 11:25 • 10:23

And just for fun, comparison from the last 17 miler: 11:10 • 10:58 • 10:52 • 10:50 • 10:49 • 10:53 • 10:54 • 11:13 • 11:54 • 11:31 • 11:32 • 11:49 • 11:47 • 12:10 • 11:20 • 13:12 • 13:31

I did still have a bit of a slowdown at the end with some slightly too fast miles in the middle. The coach who runs Wednesday track has me estimated at an 11:00 marathon pace so I still feel good about these splits and overall pace.

 

[striker1064]

I got the salad with shrimp gran marnier.

This is breaking my brain a little bit. Did you get a salad with a shrimp-infused Grand Marnier? A shrimp salad tossed in Grand Marnier? A pour of Grand Marnier to go with your shrimp salad? I must know! Honestly, I would also do any/all of these.

Congratulations on your award and that awesome 17-miler!

 

[xjillianpaige]

This is breaking my brain a little bit. Did you get a salad with a shrimp-infused Grand Marnier? A shrimp salad tossed in Grand Marnier? A pour of Grand Marnier to go with your shrimp salad? I must know! Honestly, I would also do any/all of these.

Congratulations on your award and that awesome 17-miler!

shrimp grand marnier is an app at the restaurant we go to. It’s shrimp lightly fried with a grand marnier sauce! Soooo delicious. So I decided to throw it on a Caesar salad!

& thank you!