1,000 Miles

I hit the 1,000 mile mark for the year this morning!  It's always exciting to see that number.  The breakdown by month:

January: 189.44
February: 156.30
March: 118.12
April: 162.06
May: 165.54
June: 170.64
Partial July: 44.36

Total: 1,006.46

Breakdown by activity:

Running:  405.27
Walking:  101.04
Cycling:  500.15

Almost identical numbers on my feet vs. on my bike!

I had an amazing run this morning.  We are still on Oahu so I headed up Tantalus.  I ended up running my third fastest on the entire 10 mile loop and my second fastest on the second half which is all downhill.  Strava also gave me my third best 5k!  It's funny - I'm not training for anything but I'm running strong these days.  Pressure free running = getting the joy back.

We're just past halfway, how is 2017 treating you?


Quick edit:  If you are a Strava user, check out Relive.  The site has been providing 3D videos of rides for quite some time but now they're also doing runs.  Here is my run from this morning: https://www.relive.cc/view/1075721591

Of PRs and Long Runs, but Not PRs on Long Runs (Week 14/52)

This was week seven of marathon training and I really mixed things up by flying to Hawaii on Tuesday.

Sunday - Rode 13.02 miles
This was an uneventful ride, but I knew it would be my last time on the bike for a few weeks.

Monday - Rested
I had good intentions but I spent Thursday through Sunday participating in a music workshop at our church.  Long days and nights finally caught up with me.

Tuesday - Travel Day

Wednesday - Walked 3.6 miles

Thursday - Ran 9.28 miles
This was my best run of the week!  I ran to and around Diamond Head.  I also went up the road that leads into the crater.  There is a short segment called the "Pokapahu Climb."  It is 0.2 of a mile with 234 feet of elevation gain.  My PR on this, from 2013, is 2:56.  I ran it in 2:57 on Thursday!  For some silly reason this accomplishment did not show up in Strava even though it is clearly recorded in the file.  I also had two PRs on the run - "Downhill Chicken Suey" - that I have run 38 times and a big one "Diamond Head Cliff Westbound" 1.4 miles with 108 feet of elevation gain.  I have run this 34 times, including during the Honolulu Marathon.
Also walked 2 miles

Friday - Walked 4.93 miles

Saturday - LSD Ran 13.44 miles
My training plan called for 16 miles and that's what I had intended to do.  My legs were dead.  I kept saying, "never trust the first mile."  I kept saying it through the first three miles and knew it was gonna be a long morning.  I almost turned around at mile 5.  I had nothing.  I paid for those Thursday PRs big time.  I finally got my first wind around mile 6 and kept a good pace for about 2 1/2 miles.  Then it was back to Bonksville.  I crawled home and was happy to be off my feet.  A day later I'm not feeling too bad about it.  I know I pushed hard on Thursday, which I normally wouldn't do.  I am also not at all acclimated to the weather.  But the scenery makes even a bonk beautiful!

Total:
Running:  22.72
Walking: 10.53
Cycling: 13.02
Total:  46.27

When it comes to bonking, it's a coin toss to keep going or turn around.  What do you do when you bonk?

What a Week! And It's Only Wednesday...

Me and my Valentine

This is turning out to be an interesting week!  Sunday was our typical up early so Les could prepare a Sunday school lesson while I went for an easy spin.

Monday morning we hopped on the mountain bikes and hit the trail.  My legs were like lead and I couldn't seem to get warmed up.  Once we got to the trail I told Les to go for it and I'd meet him at the turn around.  After about a mile on the trail my legs finally loosened up.  Then it was pedal to the medal and I got my 3rd best time, only 8 seconds slower than my PR!

We bombed our way back down but because of the rain there is a barrier that we can't ride over. We had to get off the bikes for a few steps.  When we got back on the street it's downhill for about a mile with a stop sign about a third of the way down.  We were just rolling from the stop sign when Les realized he was in the wrong gear and almost came to a complete stop.  I didn't realize until it was too late and my front tire clipped his back tire.  I was on the ground before I had a chance to process what was happening.  My right knee is bruised and slightly scraped but no major damage thanks to good tights and full finger gloves.

We were up a little after 4:00 yesterday morning for our 7:45 flight to Honolulu.  After picking up our car at Les' office, we headed to the Ilikai where we'll be staying this time.  I opened my emails and saw this:

A free entry to the Utah Valley Marathon!  I may have shrieked a little in the car!!  I never win anything.  I am so excited to have a won!  The Utah Valley Marathon claims "its gentle downhill course not only enhances your speed but won’t beat up your legs."  The course elevation looks like this:

And before you think I'm crazy for running downhill, let me remind you of my most recent marathon, the Revel Canyon City Marathon:

It looks like the Utah Valley Marathon is going to be much more gentle!

So what happens now?  I pulled up TrainingPeaks to reapply my marathon training plan and guess when my 16 week training starts?  Next week!  The timing couldn't be better. Thank you, Wendy, for hosting this giveaway!!  I am so excited to have this race on my calendar.  Once again I'll be posting my training schedule each week followed by a weekly recap.

When is your next race?  Downhill running - yay or nay?
Anyone running the Utah Valley Marathon?  Have you run it in the past?  Any advice?

This Week in Hawaii Kai

I'm really happy that I had a great week!

It's been a long time since I've done a weekly review.  When I am closely following a training plan I like to post the plan and how it went.  I haven't been following a plan at all but this was a great week.

Sunday - Bill Beauchamp 10k Race - Ran 6.35 miles in 1:02:34, 9:51 pace
This was a great race for me, placing 2nd in my age group.  I felt really strong the entire time.
Also did a short warm up of 0.82 miles

Monday - Walked 2.26 miles
My legs didn't feel too bad but I have some new walking shoes that I bought for our trip.  The first time I wore them I got a blister, so I've been getting out and walking in them several times a week.  I think they'll be fine.

Tuesday - Rode 11.19 miles in 1:03:38, 10.5 mph
This was a pre-work ride with Les.  We rode up "Heartbreak Hill" which I PRd.  Les took a left to go up Kamehame while I continued on to Sandy Beach (PRd that segment, too.)  I was back at the corner before Les was, so I started up Kamehame until we met.  I'm not ready to conquer that climb yet, but hopefully soon!
Also walked 2.44 miles

Wednesday - Rest day
Drove in to Waikiki to have lunch with Les.  We walked to our favorite little pizza place for lunch.  Since we both had plans to hit Tantalus on Thursday morning we decided to eat a big meal at lunch time.  This worked like a charm!  I had great energy and no GI distress on Thursday morning.
Walked 1.2 miles

Thursday - Ran 10 miles in 1:49:05, 10:55 pace.
Anytime I can run Tantalus with an average of under 11 minutes/mile I am really happy!

Friday - Rest day
My legs were sore within an hour of getting home on Thursday.  I knew I would need this rest day.

Saturday - Rode 16.49 miles in 1:14:49, 13.2 mph
My legs are still sore and I thought an easy spin was in order.  Les was meeting his cycling team in Waikiki at 7:00, so I rode the Kalanianaole Highway with him and turned back before we started the climb over Diamond Head.  There were large groups of cyclists everywhere.  They get up early and get going around here.

Totals:
Running:  17.17
Walking:  5.90
Cycling: 27.68
Total:  50.75

Tantalus Thursday

It's been quite a while since I ran Tantalus.  It was all the way back on January 16th!  Now that we don't live in Waikiki it takes a bit more planning to get up and over there before traffic is too bad.  Les wanted to ride it on his way to work this morning so I said I'd take his backpack in the car so he wouldn't have to wear it going up the mountain.  I was up and out the door around 5:15 and started running at 5:45.  My legs felt pretty good.  I had no plan and I didn't know what my previous PR was, but I did know Les and his friend Rob would be coming up behind me on their bikes so I wanted to keep moving!

I hit the five mile mark in 1:05:09, a 13:02 pace.  This is the meat of the run with almost 1500' feet of climbing.  Les and Rob caught me during mile five and I was running strong.  Of course mile six is the real killer because it descends a while then kicks back up.  I powered up that section and was feeling really good about my chances of PRing the entire loop.   I not only PRd, I crushed my previous best!    After uploading my file to Strava, I saw that I was 9th overall on the entire loop (a new PR), plus 8th overall on the descent (another PR!)  I PRd the climb and am 15th overall on it.

I beat every stat from January!  (Mile 10 was 13 seconds slower but traffic was getting heavy and I know I was trying to dodge cars.)  Today's splits:

My splits from January 16th:

Now I can really go on vacation and not worry about my fitness level!

Santa Susana Pass Road Revisited

We're back in California for a bit so I've been hitting some of my favorite training routes.  Santa Su is one I did while training for the Revel Canyon City Marathon.  It was my final long training run on November first.  It's eight miles that I think of as four segments - 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles back up, and 2 miles back down.

Saturday night I looked up my previous run to see what my best time was.  I thought it said 1:20:37, so just a little over 10 minutes a mile.  With that in mind I headed out yesterday morning.  It was a cool 42 degrees, clear and no wind.  I hit the halfway point in 40:36, 10:09 pace.  I knew if I was going to beat my previous best that I needed to be even faster!  So I took a GU and a selfie and headed back up...

Somewhere during mile five my legs started cramping.  I always take Hammer Endurolytes in Hawaii, but didn't think I would need them here in the cooler temps.  Wrong!  I took multiple walk breaks and saw my time get slower.  I ran those two miles in 25:59 and my total time at six miles was 1:06:36.  I knew I wasn't going to run my last two miles in 14 minutes, but I decided to see if I could at least PR the segment.  I ran those two miles in 15:47, overall time 1:22:35, 10:16 pace.  I got home and uploaded to Strava and saw this:

Turns out I had NOT run this in 1:20:37!  My previous best was 1:23:04. I was four seconds a mile faster, good enough for top woman on both 2 mile downhill segments and my second best 2 mile effort.

The lesson here - if you think you've been faster, you believe you can be faster!

Round Top ~ Reverse Tantalus Loop

The moon as I was leaving our hotel

I headed back to Tantalus this morning, but opted to run the loop in reverse, going up Round Top road and down Tantalus this time.  It's been a long time since I've run the loop this way.  I forgot how tough going up Round Top is!  Miles 2 and 3 are straight into the wind.  Tantalus is more protected, but Round Top is exposed.

My pace for the first 5 miles was 13:34 - last week it was 13:47.  I paid slightly for that and my pace for the second 5 miles was 8:39 (8:29 last week.)  My overall pace was 11:12 and last week it was 11:07.

My Stryd was working perfectly again and I knocked out some really great power numbers. I also crushed the last three miles.  According to Strava I had my fastest 5k at 24:50 and my fastest 2 miles at 15:46.  I PRd two climbs and the entire loop, taking second overall female!  That brings my total PRs to 17 for the year (I earned one yesterday during a short 3 miler, too!)

I spent the latter part of 2014 and much of 2015 dealing with hormonal issues.  Anxiety, night sweats, anxiety, insomnia and anxiety.  I know I'm not completely done with those issues, but I am so happy with how I'm feeling both physically and emotionally these days.  So if I sound like a broken record, sorry, but I'm just so happy to be feeling good again!

How is 2016 treating you so far?

January - A Month for PRs!

I had another great run this morning!  Today I ran along the Ala Wai canal, then the four mile Diamond Head circle.  And yep, two more PRs!  This brings my total PRs for the month to eleven.  Since I've run these routes for years, getting a PR is a big thing.  This many PRs is surprising to me.  And now I've probably jinxed myself and my next run will be horrible ;)

This view does not get old! Sorry to my friends running in the snow!

The first PR was the Ala Wai canal.  This is 1.4 miles, totally flat.  I ran it in 13:44, 9:46 pace.  I have run this segment 63 times.  This is right at the beginning of my run, so it's kind of a test to see how the run it going to go.

The second PR was the Monsarrat Mile.  This is 0.9 miles at 3% grade with 154 feet of elevation gain.  I ran it in 11:01, 11:11 pace. I have run this segment 46 times.  My previous best was in 2013 when I was running this route on a regular basis.

The Monsarrat "mile" that isn't a mile

I had a little issue my Stryd power meter this week.  I couldn't get a heart rate or power reading on Tuesday.   I came home and the unit was blinking.  Found out it was a dead battery (new unit, but it had been sitting in the warehouse a while.)  Today I got heart rate but no power.  I couldn't figure out what was going on.  When I uploaded the file it showed an average of almost 2000 watts!  I've been averaging 160-180 watts, so I knew something was crazy wrong.

Today's power (orange) and heart rate (purple)

I left a comment on the Stryd forum and was contacted for a video chat.  It ended up being a simple fix - apparently there's a little bug that changes body weight when a new battery is installed.  It changes weight to an extremely high number (just what every woman wants to hear) and that makes the power number crazy.

Saturday's power (orange) and heart rate (purple)

I was very impressed with the customer service from Stryd.  They were quick to respond and offered several suggestions not only to fix this error but ways to keep the battery from dying prematurely.  I suggested they put the information about changing body weight in the forum discussion and they have already done so.  As a brand new company they seem to be working hard to keep their customers happy.

Devices - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!

That Time I PR'd the Tantalus Loop (Another Runner's HI Run)

Since I started running on Oahu in 2013, my favorite loop is the 10 mile loop up and down Tantalus.  I've blogged about it plenty, but here is the elevation profile from Saturday:

10 miles.  First 5 with 1,654' elevation gained, second 5 with 1,437' elevation lost.  It was a rare completely dry and clear morning on the mountain.  I started out early and even saw stars!  There was more traffic than usual.  I didn't know it at the the time, but the HURT 100 trail race was going on.

I stuck to the road

My pace for the first 5 miles was 13:47.  My pace for the second 5 miles was 8:29.  The key in hitting a PR for this run is mile 6.  It's the first mile that finally starts going down, but then it kicks back up!  I don't know if I've ever run that entire mile before - it seems like when I get to the reversal my legs just refuse to run up anymore.  Not Saturday!  I kept turning 'em and hit that mile in 8:59.  I was feeling really good and kept right on pushing.

During mile 9 I saw a runner up ahead.  I couldn't even tell if it was a man or woman they were so far ahead of me.  I slowly caught them, and saw it was a young woman (late 20s, early 30s, I'd guess.)  I caught her, passed her, and never looked back!  That's a rare occurrence, so I savored it a bit!

After uploading my file to Strava, I saw that I was 9th overall on the entire loop (a new PR), plus 9th overall on the descent (another PR!)  I PRd the climb but am only 14th overall on it.  Les commented about it, and I agree, I am still reaping the benefits from my last marathon.  I didn't go through weeks of burn out or muscle soreness, I will say it again - cross training works!

Revel Canyon City Marathon Report

I'll get into all the numbers tomorrow, but here's how marathon #4 went for me:

Friday - Packet Pickup
This was the smallest expo I've ever been to, but I didn't mind.  The volunteer handling my letter (L-M) spent the entire time talking to a friend, which I always find a bit rude, but I got my packet and was on my way.  They had a mat set up to make sure your timing chip worked, then I picked up my shirt.  I had paid a little extra for long sleeve and really like it.

Dinner, of course, was pizza.  We went to Aviolo's in Covina.  I had my normal two pieces and lots of water.

Wearing my Life Is Good "Gotta Run" shirt!

We checked into the DoubleTree hotel in Monrovia.  This was about 9 miles from the start line.  We were given a little information packet and told that breakfast bags would be available at 4:00 a.m.  That was an unexpected surprise and while I didn't eat what was in the bag before the race, the water, apple and Nutri Grain bar really hit the spot on the drive home!

Saturday - Before O'Dark Thirty
As usual, I didn't sleep great.  I was awake about every 30 minutes from 11:30 on and finally got up for good at 3:00.  We had to be on the buses for the marathon between 4:00 and 5:00.  Because there was a problem at one of their earlier races this year, I wasn't going to take a chance on missing the bus!  We left the room just before 4:00, grabbed our breakfast bags and headed to Azusa Pacific University.

Les walked me to the bus then headed back to the car.  He waited around until about 5:30 then got on his bike.  Because he knows the back roads, his plan was to ride to the intersection of highway 39 (that we would be running) and East Fork Road.  We weren't sure if it would work, but I got to see him at mile 15!  Since the road was closed to all traffic, there were no spectators on the course, so that was an awesome moment.

I sat next to Tom on the bus ride.  He ran Canyon City last year in 4:02, missing a BQ by 2 minutes since he is 61.  His plan was to run the first half aggressively and hope to finish a little faster this year.  He, along with every other runner I talked to, was so friendly.  I ran with many people throughout the morning and the camaraderie/commiserating on the course was awesome!

We were at Crystal Lake Cafe by about 5:30 and everyone made use of the gloves and blankets included in our packets.  I had an extra layer that I planned on donating to the road at some point and was glad for it as well.  All drop bags had to be on the truck by 6:45, then it was just 15 minutes until go time.

Because I wanted to run my first half a little faster, I talked to the 3:45 pacer.  She said she planned on doing about an 8:25 pace.  I felt comfortable with that for the start and hung out with the group that was going to run with her.  Many had the same goal as me - sub 4:00.

Without any fanfare, right at 7:00 we were off!  I hung with my group but felt like I was really working hard.  I looked at my pace and saw 7:55!  Uh oh.  I know I'm not that fast.  My fastest recorded time was 6:32 (probably for about a second) and I dipped below the 8 minute/mile range during 9 of the first 10 miles.
 

I let the 3:45 group go after about 3 miles and just got into my own rhythm.  I felt good but didn't want to blow up.  I blew up anyway!   I hit the halfway point at 1:54:28, 8:44 pace.  But the road turned up and my legs were too beat up to respond like I wanted them to.  I walked and ran, walked and ran some more.

My stomach did really well.  I felt nauseated a couple of times, but not too bad.  I stopped twice to use the port-a-potty and once to re-tie my shoes, but other than that I was able to keep moving.  Sometimes at a snail's pace, but moving closer to the finish line.

The next official time check was at 23.1, I ran those ten miles in 2:09:06, a 12:54 pace, bringing my overall pace to 10:32.  The final 5k was a disappointing 42:57, 13:51 pace!  According to Strava, my first 5k was in 25:18!

There was a small 30 foot climb during mile 26 that felt especially cruel, but then there were 2 right turns with 30 feet of descending to the finish line!  I found the energy to run the last 0.2 at a 10:04 pace.

I loved the finish line - they had two mats to cross, one that got your name to the announcer so that when you officially crossed you heard your name.  Then there were the humongous medals, followed by water and towels that were dripping with ice cold water!

After taking my official PR photo, I collapsed in a chair and Les took my shoes off for me!  I have a couple of small blisters, but nothing like the giant one I got when I did my training run up there.  I put mole skin on my heels before the race and I'm pretty sure it saved me.

Best foot massage (by the best husband) ever!

I was really impressed with the organization of this race.  I love the free pictures, especially since there was no way for spectators to take any.  (I'm still waiting for my finish line shot, hopefully I can post it tomorrow.)  The volunteers were fantastic.  At one of the later water stops, a volunteer was holding a large jug of water and yelling, "I'll top of your water bottle for you!"  That really helped.  I've stood pouring water from cups into my water bottle more than once.  It warmed up to about 70 by the end, so I made sure I took in plenty of fluids.  My overall energy was good - my legs were just too beat up to maintain the pace I wanted.

Official time 4:46:31, 10:56 pace.  7 minutes and 2 seconds faster than my previous best - Ojai to Ocean in 2012!

Marathon PR!

I finished marathon #4!  It was, without a doubt, the hardest run I've ever done.  The first half was all downhill and my legs were completely beat up for the second half.  Official finishing time 4:46:31, 10:56 pace.  27/48 in my age group.  345/536 females.  846/1199 finishers.

Full details coming soon!