Running Renaissance: One Skip Ahead of my Doom

[nancipants]

Congrats! Love the mascot pic.

 

[GollyGadget]

Dam to DSM Training - Week 3

Thank you! I’m hoping to get an even shinier one in two weeks but that’ll likely depend on the weather

Amazing job on the PR!

Fun game of chasing down your partner too, I love that!

Thanks! I highly recommend the strategy. It definitely helped me stay on task and not settle into a more comfortable pace.

Congrats on the PR! Having to catch your partner is really good motivation.

Thank you! I definitely recommend! And if not your partner, maybe someone else. For my first half, my goal was to beat the elites running the marathon

Congrats! Love the mascot pic.

Thanks! I somehow always miss him at this race so was really glad to get the pic this year.

 

[GollyGadget]

Dam to DSM Training - Week 4
Training is going fine. I still have some opportunity to be more consistent, but even with that, I feel training is in a much better place than when I was following Garmin’s advice. Highlight of the week was obviously the 10K race recapped above.

Tuesday I ran 10x150m and it went pretty well. My first three reps were on the slow side but the last 7 were all right near 6:30 min/mi and I was really pleased with that. The most interesting part of the run was weigh in results. My nutritionist suggested weighing myself before and after to estimate fluid loss via sweat. I dropped nearly 2 lbs in under 90 minutes! this blew my mind.

Wednesday was an easy run and I decided to weigh myself again just to compare. Only half a pound loss so effort level definitely makes a difference. I also ran in the am because my Wednesday’s continue to be hectic so it was a tad cooler.

Thursday was a scheduled day of rest and Friday was supposed to be another easy day. Somehow even though I had the day off work, the day totally slipped away from me and I ended up skipping this run.

Saturday was race day . The only other thing I wanted to mention is how garmin reacted. All of a sudden it thinks I can run a faster 10K because I had run faster



When I woke up on Sunday my back was surprisingly sore and my hamstrings were unsurprisingly sore. It also rained all day. However, I didn’t let either of those get in my way and I completed my scheduled easy 4 miles. I was literally the only human outside in the 40 degree rain but I felt much better afterward.

My race last weekend kicked off the Drake relays and this week is full of fun T&F festivities. Tonight (Tuesday), I’ll be running the road mile and really hoping that I don’t blow up

 

[col1]

Dam to DSM Training - Week 4
Training is going fine. I still have some opportunity to be more consistent, but even with that, I feel training is in a much better place than when I was following Garmin’s advice. Highlight of the week was obviously the 10K race recapped above.

Tuesday I ran 10x150m and it went pretty well. My first three reps were on the slow side but the last 7 were all right near 6:30 min/mi and I was really pleased with that. The most interesting part of the run was weigh in results. My nutritionist suggested weighing myself before and after to estimate fluid loss via sweat. I dropped nearly 2 lbs in under 90 minutes! this blew my mind.

Wednesday was an easy run and I decided to weigh myself again just to compare. Only half a pound loss so effort level definitely makes a difference. I also ran in the am because my Wednesday’s continue to be hectic so it was a tad cooler.

Thursday was a scheduled day of rest and Friday was supposed to be another easy day. Somehow even though I had the day off work, the day totally slipped away from me and I ended up skipping this run.

Saturday was race day . The only other thing I wanted to mention is how garmin reacted. All of a sudden it thinks I can run a faster 10K because I had run faster

View attachment 959222

When I woke up on Sunday my back was surprisingly sore and my hamstrings were unsurprisingly sore. It also rained all day. However, I didn’t let either of those get in my way and I completed my scheduled easy 4 miles. I was literally the only human outside in the 40 degree rain but I felt much better afterward.

My race last weekend kicked off the Drake relays and this week is full of fun T&F festivities. Tonight (Tuesday), I’ll be running the road mile and really hoping that I don’t blow up

Good luck for the road mile

 

[GollyGadget]

Grand Blue Mile Recap
Heading into this race, I was questioning my sanity. Anytime someone would ask about it, I would mention that I do not recommend it. Nothing against the race itself, it's the distance. Running a mile at max effort is difficult and painful.

All that said, I didn't have any lofty goals. I was hoping to be sub 7. Theoretically, that shouldn't be a problem based on my other races results. In practice though? Time would tell. Compounding my uncertainty was the fact that I hadn't done any practice sessions. Sure, I've been running, but I haven't been doing anything mile specific, especially not time trials. Despite all this, I still felt confident sub 7 was reasonable.

As for the race itself, there are several events. The first is Spike's Sprint, a children's event. It was really fun to watch while I did my warmup. After that was the recreational division mile. This event is the most chaotic, even more chaotic than Spike. It has the most participants and also the most variation. There are folks in the recreation division that run sub 5 and others that take 20 minutes. My neighbor was running the recreational division this year and looked really strong! But she also looked really bewildered by the crowds at the beginning. There is also a mascot race that happens at the very end of the recreational race.

The next race is the women's competitive mile. I always feel a bit of imposter syndrome being in the competitive division but the guidelines are 8min and under so I definitely belong. I also appreciate not dealing with the masses

I had warmed up for about 20 minutes during the other races and was as ready as I could be. I hung back at the start line because there were some definite speedsters in the mix and I didn't want to get sucked into going out too fast at their pace.

It didn't matter, we were off with a bang. One of the participants next to me even made some remark about how this was way too quick. I checked my watch and sure enough, it was too quick. 5:xx too quick! I tried to slow down but the adrenaline and other racers kept pulling me along. The first quarter mile was done in 1:33

Of course, we weren't even halfway through so I still felt good. I even heard lots of cheers of my name. I have an extremely common first name so I assumed it was for someone else but I still have no idea . Right at the halfway point was the first turn and officially I crossed that mat at 3:17. My watch said 3:15 though and at this point I was delusional enough to think that if I could "just hang on" I could finish in 6:30

After the sharp left turn was a slight uphill which erased all my delusions as now I was fighting to finish. This was quickly followed by another left turn onto Grand, the race's namesake. The local drum corps was performing here and all those drums bouncing off the building was making my head pound . This is not the drum corps' fault. They are one of the highlights of the race. Undoubtedly this was past Katie's fault for drinking 3 glasses of wine at a concert the night prior.

My official time at 3/4 mile was 5:09 so definitely slowing down. Colleen Quigley had made a post on Instagram about turning it on with 400 to go so I tried to follow her advice. I was giving it all I had but could not find another gear. As I approached the finish line, the clock was ticking up near 7. It still seemed feasible that I would make it but then I realized it was a lot further away than it appeared. As I entered the finish chute, I watched the seconds click by in disbelief. I knew I wasn't crossing that line without the clock saying 7.




At least I look like I'm flying .

I collected my Bulldog Double Medal and a Powerade and then found my partner. He was really excited and celebrating that I beat my goal. I was very confused what clock he was looking at . Regardless, I knew I did what I could on the day. Honestly I think that's part of why I keep doing this race. The mile is just as hard to master as the marathon. I know if I could figure out my pacing, I could knock a few more seconds off.

My first official time running the mile in 2023 my splits were 1:31, 3:15, 5:03 & 6:55. Last year was pretty similar with 1:34, 3:18, ??? & 6:59. Obviously third time wasn't a charm. Maybe I'll learn my lesson in time for next year

We stuck around to watch the elites run for the USATF road mile championship. It was a lot of fun to watch Karissa Schweizer earn a spot on Team USA in front of a hometown crowd. I was quite sad afterward when I heard the world athletics road championships were cancelled.

P.S. My official time was 6:58 so I guess I did meet my goal, and one second faster than last year

 

[col1]

2 PBs in a week!! way to go

 

[RuntheMouse]

Nice job!!!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

That is a great picture!

It is wayyyy too easy to go out too fast in a mile race. Congrats on hanging in there for a very respectable time!

 

[GollyGadget]

2 PBs in a week!! way to go

Not quite a PB. That is officially still 6:55 from two years ago. I was never training specifically for this race though so I didn't really expect a new one this time around. Maybe next year

Nice job!!!

Thank you!

That is a great picture!

It is wayyyy too easy to go out too fast in a mile race. Congrats on hanging in there for a very respectable time!

I think next year my goal will be to cover the first quarter in over 100 seconds. It's so hard though. You feel so good and everyone else is going fast too. It's real easy to get sucked right in.

 

[GollyGadget]

Dam to DSM Training - Week 5
Training might be a bit of a stretch for week 5. Racing & recovery was the name of the game this week. Plus lots of live spectating track & field events . My evenings were hectic. Dawes concert on Monday. Grand Blue Mile on Tuesday. Crochet class and the first World Shot Put Series on Wednesday. Thursday-Saturday were the Drake Relays plus a Bright Eyes concert (as if I wasn't already exhausted ).

Monday was a rest day and Tuesday was the Grand Blue Mile. Wednesday was an easy 5 miles. I was scheduled for a couple more but 5 was plenty. Sadly, I didn't see any Olympians even if one did run by my house earlier in the week and ran the same bridge that I ran across 6 times this week. Not that I'm a bitter. I didn't even see them run past my house. My husband did.

Friday was supposed to be an LT session but my legs wanted a break so I obliged. Saturday was supposed to be another easy session but I forgot about the concert and by the time I realized it was too late to adjust my schedule. Whoops.

For once, I was actually responsible at the concert and only drank waters. On deck was my second attempt at a 12 mile progression run and I didn't want to self sabotage it this time around.

As expected, I woke up quite tired so after morning dog walk and breakfast, I took a nap . I woke up from my nap with barely enough time to get myself organized and out the door in time to make it back for the Blues noon puck drop. In my haste, I thought I miscalculated the amount of fuel I needed, but I was actually spot on. I also remembered my water this time, so that was a move in the right direction. Two weeks ago, I had to turn around and run back home for it. Also in my favor was the fact that it was 30-40 degrees cooler this time. There was some wind that was annoying but luckily I only felt it in a few spots.

I have desired pace ranges for the miles but my body was still a little beat up (both from running and from life) so I decided I would take it easier and make sure I could complete the run while still speeding up each mile. I was really doubting myself for the first few miles but things started to feel much better around mile 4. Things got a little tougher around mile 8 when I realized I still had 4 miles to go but I persisted. Halfway through mile 10 someone stopped me and asked for directions. She was very lost despite having gps on her smart phone. Her English also wasn't great so I hope that I was able to help enough that she found her destination. After that, I knew I didn't have much left so I kept pushing. I'm supposed to finish the run at lactate threshold pace, and I tried but my body was toast. I was debating between a mile or half mile cool down and decided for the half mile but as you can see in my paces below, I probably should have gone for the mile. I was not able to hang for that very last mile near LT.



Regardless, I'm pretty happy with how it went and glad to have that gremlin off my back. After the run (and the Blues victory ), I went to collect my age group award from the 10K last week. Sadly, no relay baton this year but I did get a $10 gc and this neat sticker.



The beginning of this coming week should be a bit back to normal. However, I'm registered for a 5K Saturday evening and a 10K on Sunday so the end of the week is going to be interesting. Still not sure my plans for those races yet. It will probably depend a lot on the weather.

Happy running folks!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Sadly, I didn't see any Olympians even if one did run by my house earlier in the week and ran the same bridge that I ran across 6 times this week. Not that I'm a bitter. I didn't even see them run past my house. My husband did.

Ooohh, who was it??

I'm supposed to finish the run at lactate threshold pace, and I tried but my body was toast. I was debating between a mile or half mile cool down and decided for the half mile but as you can see in my paces below, I probably should have gone for the mile. I was not able to hang for that very last mile near LT.

One thing I have finally begun to internalize as I've been running much slower than expected recently is that effort matters more than pace in terms of training. If the effort to run at your theoretical LT pace is more than your blood lactate threshold, then it's actually counterproductive to try to hit the prescribed pace. So probably you made a good decision!

 

[RuntheMouse]

Cheers to you for listening to your body and easing up a bit!

 

[GollyGadget]

Ooohh, who was it??

Colleen Quigley. I knew she was racing here this week so I was catching up on her insta stories on Monday when my husband looked over my shoulder and said "who's that? She ran past our house today." He tried to find security camera footage but couldn't find it. Her, Karissa Schweizer, and several other elites were also at a group run a half mile from my house on Wednesday evening. I didn't know about it until after the fact . I might have skipped crochet class had I known

One thing I have finally begun to internalize as I've been running much slower than expected recently is that effort matters more than pace in terms of training. If the effort to run at your theoretical LT pace is more than your blood lactate threshold, then it's actually counterproductive to try to hit the prescribed pace. So probably you made a good decision!

As I was on my run I was thinking that it might make more sense to setup the workout based on HR. I'll probably keep it as is with paces for goals but not stress if I don't quite hit them. Tbh, that's how I've done my last two training cycles. I thought that a little more discipline might do be some good but I'm not so sure.

 

[jmasgat]

Pretty fine time for "not training"! Also, did you change your blog title recently (but not "nom de plume") or am I just, as usual, totally oblivious?

 

[GollyGadget]

Pretty fine time for "not training"! Also, did you change your blog title recently (but not "nom de plume") or am I just, as usual, totally oblivious?

Thank you!

I just changed it yesterday. It was marathon weekend 2025 focused so a few months overdue. I don't have any rD events planned so went for something more generic. Also, running sometimes feels like I'm on the verge of doom.

 

[GollyGadget]

Dam to DSM Training - Week 6
Somehow, it's only 4 weeks until race day. I'm really not sure how that happened. There's still a few more weeks, but usually I get really unmotivated toward the end of my spring training and I haven't yet, so I'm considering that a success. I guess we'll see how I feel next week

For some reason, I decided this was a good week to start strength training again. I may or may not have forgotten I had races this weekend when I made this decision. I really don't know how or why, but it sort of just slipped off my calendar. Whoops. I think a lot of it is because I know that I should do it after my speed sessions. However, I always run out of time and then it just doesn't happen.

On Tuesday, I decided to do it before work since it's easier to fit in a 30 min lift than a 90 min run. The workout was fine but my legs were definitely tired afterward. I'm not sure they were even fully recovered from the 10K + mile in the 10 days prior. Anyway, this made my hill repeats extra grueling but I did it. I also thought it might be good practice for running on tired legs so maybe it’s not a terrible idea to do strength in the am and running after work.

Wednesday was our Girls on the Run 5K. That was the only running I did that day which was definitely less than intended but still better than nothing. Plus my legs were toast.

I figured I’d be okay by Friday, but I was still quite worn down. I did go for my run but only made it about 3 miles because I was feeling pretty beat up and I wanted to be somewhat recovered for the races Saturday & Sunday. Speaking of, race recap coming soon

That’s pretty much it for the running this week. Turns out there isn’t a lot of time for training when you have two races.

Happy running ya’ll!

 

[LSUlakes]

The most interesting part of the run was weigh in results. My nutritionist suggested weighing myself before and after to estimate fluid loss via sweat. I dropped nearly 2 lbs in under 90 minutes! this blew my mind.

I do the same from time to time, especially in the summer for long runs. The biggest before / after water loss is in the 8-10 lbs range. This is during Louisiana summer and I tried to take in a lot of water on Friday and ran 13 miles that morning. I drank about 30oz of fluids during the run, than had 16oz chocolate milk plus about 10oz of water on the drive home. Its crazy how much water weight can move during our runs. It is a good thing to keep track of though so if you struggle a day or so later you can see if its just dehydration or something else.

 

[GollyGadget]

I do the same from time to time, especially in the summer for long runs. The biggest before / after water loss is in the 8-10 lbs range. This is during Louisiana summer and I tried to take in a lot of water on Friday and ran 13 miles that morning. I drank about 30oz of fluids during the run, than had 16oz chocolate milk plus about 10oz of water on the drive home. Its crazy how much water weight can move during our runs. It is a good thing to keep track of though so if you struggle a day or so later you can see if its just dehydration or something else.

8-10lbs!!! That’s intense! I’ll have to try again once summer hits and to check the difference.

 

[GollyGadget]

Des Moines Women’s Race(s) Recap
A little context before the recap: I do not remember registering for this race . Specifically, I do not remember signing up to run a 5K followed by a 10K ~12 hours later. I have no idea what I was thinking. Maybe it’s in my journal, but I’m not going to look it up. This race has historically had bad weather: storms, high humidity and/or both. My best guess is that I signed up for both races because then I had two chances for decent weather.

Why do I sign up for a race with bad weather? The vibes of course. It’s also close enough to my house that I can do my warm up on my way to the start. Last but not least, free wine at the end .

Packet pickup was on Saturday and I stopped by after my volunteer shift at the zoo. They had a free outdoor spin class just before I arrived. Events of the day also included yoga and a boot camp class. I’ve never partaken in any of these but I love that it makes the weekend more substantial. Maybe someday when I don’t take my running so seriously I’ll give one a try .

Anyway, the actual bib collection was easy. Tell someone your name, get your bib then collect your swag. 5K participants get a short sleeve tech shirt. 10K & half get a 1/4 zip. Everyone gets a wine glass!


I was pretty sure that I was meant to get another gift for doing both days of races, but I didn’t see anything at pickup. I did later find this post on insta claiming I would receive a wristlet. not sure what happened with that…Mostly I’m happy that I didn’t just totally make it up.

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DSM Girl 5K
I spent most of the day Saturday trying to decide how to approach the races. Originally, my plan was to race whichever one had better weather. Much to my surprise, both events were scheduled to have goodish weather. I wanted to try to break my 10K time from a couple of weeks ago so I decided that I would take the 5K easy. That decision didn’t stick for very long . It was 50 and overcast most of the day and I don’t get to race 5K very often so I decided that I would send it and live with the consequences on Sunday.

During my two mile warm up, I noticed my left quad was noticeably sore. Nothing too intense, but enough to make me worried. This didn’t change my plan however. I would adjust mid race if needed. My goal was ~7:20 pace. That’s not PR pace, but it was close to my best 5K time in the last 5 years.

By 5pm, the clouds were starting to break and the temps were starting to rise. I still decided to just see how things went. I lined up a few rows from the front. I wanted to be out of the masses but also didn’t want to be a roadblock to any speedsters. This race attracts a lot of casual runners and first timers so most everyone lines up in the back. It’s quite the opposite of a Disney race. They practically have to beg folks to start near the front.

The race starts with a sharp right turn within the first 50 ft and then a sharp left turn within 100m. It makes for an interesting start but luckily it’s not too crowded so it’s easy to navigate. True to form, I started out too quick and did my best to rein it in. I actually made the adjustment pretty easily and was happy when the first mile was completed in 7:22.

At the start of the second mile, I realized my pace was really far off and I needed to pick up the pace. By this point the lead pack was well out of reach and I was mostly on my own. That is my one complaint of the weekend, the smaller field and lack of men make it easy to end up running alone. It’s easier to push the pace when there’s someone to catch . Really nothing else too exciting about this mile. Since the course is so close to my house, I am very familiar with the route so at least there were no surprises. Pace for the mile was 7:40. Definitely slower than I wanted but not too bad considering I had started the mile with an 8:20 pace. I was confident that I could still recover.

The start of third mile was a mental battle. The last mile of a 5K is always hard, but this was worse than usual. It seemed like the more I pushed, the slower I went. Eventually, I resigned that it just wasn’t my day and decided I would just keep a steady pace. I did need to be able to complete a 10K the next morning after all. It was a bit weird approaching the finish and not kicking it in, but at least I was having fun.



I even managed to finish in 24:54. Not bad for deciding to call it with a half mile left . The time was good enough for 15th overall and 2nd in my AG. Best part was that my quad didn’t bother me during the race at all.

There’s a big post race party but since i was racing the following day, I didn’t stick around. They had a DJ, wine, and one of the best post race spreads I’ve even seen. If I have one regret from the day, it’s that I didn’t take a photo of the snacks. Tables overflowing with strawberries, grapes, cheese, pretzels, crackers, and chocolate. Yum.

BTW, I checked the temp at the finish. It was 53 during my warm up, 58 at race start and 75 at the finish! That is quite the temperate jump in an hour. That at least partially explains why my body couldn’t hang.