June 25, 2015 by Darlene

Thining Out Loud Thursday: Racing, Confidence & Walking

So I’m linking up today with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

Until recently I have felt that I had been racing more than running. In fact, I know I have.
- 3-14-15 – Runnin of the Green 4 m
- 3-22-15 – Shamrock Shuffle 5m
- 3-29-15 – Delmar Dash 5m
- 4-11-15 – Bacon Hill Bonanza 5k
- 4-18-15 – Asbury Park Half Marathon (in NJ)
- 4-26-15 – Cherry Blossom 5k
- 5-02-15 – Spring Run Off 10K
- 5-07-15 – Albany Law Day 5K against DV
- 5-09-15 – Mastodon 5k
- 5-10-15 – Mother’s Day 5K (for GOTR)
- 5-25-15 – Vermont City Marathon Relay
- 5-30-15 – Freihofer’s Run for Women
- 6-07-15 – Betar Byway 5K & Morea u M ile
- 6-13-15 – Walkway Half Marathon
- ~~6-21-15 –~~ ~~Adirondack Distance 10m~~ ~~(my flight got cancelled so I missed it)~~

That’s 14 (almost 15) races in 4 months.

When I first started running, I would sign up for races as a motivator to get out there and run during the week. I knew that my race performance would suffer if I didn’t.

Once I started running half marathons, I followed a plan so I would run during the week to train for the race.

I ran in order to race.

Many runners don’t race much at all. They just run. And that’s perfectly fine.

But I need to race. I enjoy it. I am not sure that I would run if I didn’t race.

I think that I have lost my confidence! From September to March, this is what happened:

5K PR– 27:11 (Run for the Roc -9/28/14)
10 mi PR – 1:38:45 (Perfect 10 Miler – 10/26/14)
15K PR – 1:33:23 (Stockade-athon – 11/09/14)
10K PR– 57:03 (Troy Turkey Trot- 11/27/14)
Half Marathon PR – 2:09:40 (West Palm Beach Half – 1/17/15)
7K PR – 44:24 (HMRRC Winter Series #5 – 2/2/14)
4 mi PR – 37:27 (Runnin’ of the Green – 3/14/15)
5 mi PR – 45:26 (Delmar Dash – 3/29/15)

Yup, that’s a PR at every distance!! Even after several serious injuries and being OLD! What a confidence booster!

Since April, things have slowed down. I have still been racing a lot but my times have been slow! (That is slow for me. Others would complain if they ran a mile in over 8 minutes. Some would be thrilled run one in 10 minutes. We’re all different.)

I feel like I have gone backwards…to the time when I struggled to finish a 5k under 30 minutes and a half marathon under 2 1/2 hours.

Being the analytical person that I am, I have searched for the reasons…

–my feet started hurting during my April half (which was annoying to say the least)
— I have cut back on my mileage (skipped runs)
–I have been running solo (no group runs)
–It is warmer (and humid)

All are very valid reasons. I don’t expect PRs. But I would like to have a good race to bring my confidence back.

Galloway may have a point. Lately I have been reading his tips on several blogs. His most recent is about walking. If you have read any of my race recaps, you know that I DO WALK.

According to Galloway:

Compared to running constantly, the 1-minute walk break still results in runners feeling better, staying healthier, and going faster, but it can get even better! Limiting walk breaks to 30 seconds, or in some cases even less, while cutting the run time accordingly, gives all the same benefits, with even less fatigue and even faster times.

Why?

The greatest benefit of the walk break comes in the first 30 sec. Our heart rates come down, the running muscles relax, we catch our breaths, and the fatigue melts away. After 30 seconds of walking, we tend to slow down.
As fatigue sets in, that walk gets slower… This means faster running is needed to stay on pace, which creates more fatigue at the end of each running segment, so the walk will get slower, and so goes the downward spiral at the end of the race.

I do not officially use the RUN/WALK method. But I do walk.

When I first started running, my goal was to run a race without walking. I was thrilled when I could. However, I didn’t get faster until I allowed myself to walk.

Not one of my PR times above were accomplished without walking.

Of course, I wish I was strong enough to run fast and not have to walk. But unfortunately I am not.

Happy Running! Any thoughts today? What do you think about racing, PRs and/or walking?

June 18, 2015 by Darlene

Racing with Doubts

So I’m linking up today with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

I subscribe to Runner’s World magazine and finally sat to read it last week before my half marathon. I flipped right to “No Pity: It Takes a Lot of Courage to Run a Sucky Race,” by Lauren Fleshman. (I guess I thought that my upcoming half may be sucky…)

The title drew me in and I love Lauren Fleshman. I began to read Lauren’s article and proceeded to get teary-eyed.

She described pushing through doubt, facing failure head on in the wake of big goals, and embracing how important it is to try anyway during the Olympic Trials in 2012. The article led me to think about on my own personal courage.

I haven’t been feeling the “running” lately. I have skipped weekday runs. The ones I have done have been filled with walking and a pace of over 12 minutes. My longs runs since April have been non-existent other than the VCM relay. (That one was unplanned and so my goal was just to have fun.)

I doubted my ability to run another half marathon well. Yes, I could finish it. But I was embarrassed to just finish again. I am not injured and I have finished a half marathon this year in 2:09. So why attempt one when I knew the results in advance. I did not train well enough to do well. Should I still try?

On the fear of failing in a very public way and feeling sorry for herself well in advance of any failure, Lauren wrote:

“I would think, This is the very thing that holds people back from trying things. From having experiences. This fear that failing makes you a failure. In our core, we want to believe that trying matters, regardless of the outcome. That having the courage to see things through to their mysterious ends is worthwhile. That fighting well with what you have is enough.”

I realized after reading this article, that my race was more than just a finish time. It was an experience. Running 13.1 miles. Meeting new people. Seeing new places. Challenging myself.

If I didn’t try, I would miss all this.

So I ran the Walkway Half Marathon and gave it my best shot. And I didn’t have a PR. My time was even slower than my last half marathon (that I just ran for fun.) But that was okay and expected.

Trying is enough. Seeing things through to that mysterious end is worth it. Fighting with what I have is enough.

“…the reason we set big goals is not to achieve them, but to set ourselves on a road trip toward them, and that trip is where all the good loving is.”

Happy Running! Do you agree? Did you get a chance to read the article?

May 28, 2015 by Darlene

My Favorite Race Changes its Course

This Thursday is for thinking… so I am linking up with Running With Spoons…

I am thinking today, of course, about my upcoming 5K race…

This is the only race that I’ve run every year!

Due to construction, they are changing the course.

So it is even more exciting?

They say that this course will be faster…less congestion and less steep hill at the start.

As with this race every year, I never know what will happen…

Will I be on the first page of the sports section again?

Schenectady Gazette 2010

that’s me 2nd from left (2010) – Timesunon

me again in the purple (2012) – Timesunon

I should be recovering not running a 5K. I just race a half marathon last Sunday.

But how could I miss my 8th Freihofer’s Run for Women?

FRW – 2008

FRW – 2009

FRW – 2011

FRW – 2012

FRW 2012

FRW – 2014

Yes, for the 8th time, I am running this race. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

The Freihofer Run for Women is my favorite race:

It is ALL women – all ages – all sizes – veterans – newbies – elites – walkers
It is a real USATF race with Olympic runners in it.
It feels so good to be a part of its excitement.
The results are printed in the local newspaper and even though I finish around 2000, I am happy if I finish in the top half.
You always meet someone you know.
Running it in 2008 made realize that I actually was a runner.
Being part of other runners’ first 5k in 2010 made me proud.
2011 was my FRW PR year.
Finishing it in 2012 (after serious ankle surgery) helped me believe that I could be a runner again.
I broke my foot at the beginning of the race in 2013 and still gutted out a finish under 30 minutes!
In 2014, I ran as part of a team to raise money for a former student who was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It ends with a downhill 🙂
Maybe I’ll make the newspapers again…

This is the first time I trained with a running group.

5 pm group. There are 3 other groups

Training is a loose term. I kinda just showed up. Monday runs were always after a Sunday long run and I never attended the Saturday runs. But it will be fun to share the excitement of all the runners who will be finishing their FIRST 5k. And see my “advanced” buddies who will hopefully PR.

In such a crowded race, it is impossible to have time goal. But finishing under 30 minutes (AND NOT GETTING INJURED) would make me happy. A race PR (under 28:14) would make me super happy!

I would love at least to reverse the “run a 5k and get slower with each one” trend.

Cherry Blossom 5k – 27:56
Albany Law Day 5K – 29:16
Mother’s Day 5K – 30:16

Happy Running! Do you have a favorite race?

May 21, 2015 by Darlene

Marathon Relay (Half Marathon #13)

So I’m linking up today with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

May 24, 2015

As I have mentioned, lucky AJH got us accepted in the VCM relay. I was surprised and excited but not exactly training for this one.

I asked AJH if I could do the first half. (I would be too nervous to wait around…)

She’s done the first half before:

hope she doesn’t mind borrowing her photo from 2011

So this will be my route:

Since this race was unplanned and I have another half marathon in 3 weeks, I plan to run it for fun – Try to enjoy the experience and scenery without the pressure of a PR.

And I developed a sore foot during my last half so my training has been not been spectacular.

I have been doing my short week day runs but the weekends…

April 18 – 13.1 painful miles
April 26 – 5k plus 6 more painful miles = 11
May 2 – 10k plus 4 more painful miles = 10.2
May 9-10 – two 5ks in 2 days = 6.2 (should have been 12)
May 16-17 – 3 miles in Florida (should have been 8)

Since I skipped my long run last weekend when I was on vacation in Florida, this will be my last long run, as well.

Speaking of last week, spending 8 days with 9 of your closest friends is exhausting – tennis, shopping, beach, restaurants, etc. but it also was fun.

AJH has been nice enough to let me stay with her the night before so I don’t have to do the long drive in the morning and can go to the expo.

Will I have enough energy to run? And my feet? Will they hurt LESS than my last half!! I hope so and not keep AJH waiting too many hours.

My post ankle injury half marathons have been between 2:35 and 2:09 but none has been really hilly. And then’s there the foot… and the lack of long runs. We’ll see.

So I guess my goal is to finish around 2:30… but if I have to walk a lot, it may be closer to 2:45.

I am hoping that this half will be less painful and more enjoyable than my last one. (Foot, be good, please!!)

Happy Running! Anyone running or have run the VCM?

May 7, 2015 by Darlene

My Birthday Race

So I’m linking up today with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

And my birthday is Saturday.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

This race is a new one for me.

Normally I run my birthday race every year on Mother’s Day. I will be this year but as a running buddy for the GOTR program.

So this is my serious race and I can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday.

This is how the course is described:

Both races start at the Cohoes Falls in a park named after a heroic Vietnam War Veteran – Colonel Robert Craner – Craner Park.

After that we take you:

Past the Historic Harmony Mills – now luxury loft apartments,

By the Restored Cohoes Music Hall which produces some of the best entertainment this side of Broadway!

By the business district, with great architecture

Past a historic Armory soon to be turned into a Brewery/Restaurant.

Next, you run through a park and on the old Erie Canal Towpath which brings you up to

The Mohawk Bike Trail (where the whole thing started!). The path is shaded this time of year, but don’t get comfortable because the hill that brought you to it is just the beginning.

Once you are off the path, you pass by wonderful schools, parks and neighborhoods but they come at a cost.

From there you run up 4 hills that hurt and lots of inclines along the way….don’t worry – we have 8 water stops and entertainment along the route to keep you going. From church groups to Boy Scouts and schoolchildren, to the High School Band… we are here to welcome you and make this as painless as possible. Our volunteers are at every corner and they are so excited you can’t help but appreciate their enthusiasm. Watch out for paper mache mastodons on the sidewalks!

Once you hit mile 7 and 8 you are golden! We take you back to the shade of the Bike Path and down a couple of hills with the mist from the Beautiful Cohoes Falls ahead of you.

Sweet.

Challenging.