cherry tree relay 2012 report

So for only the 2nd time in history, the Flyers actually had a relay team for the Cherry Tree 10-miler and Relay.  And the ironic thing?  After years of me always advertising for relay partners (and having to crash another club’s team twice!) I was actually considering doing the full 10 this time around.  But then I got an email from my teammate AG saying that he and LR were forming a team and wanted to know if I wanted to be “the cream between their cookies” (TWSS!)   How could I say no to that?  Hence, Team Lickety Split was born.

So race day dawned, probably the warmest it’s ever been for this race (I have memories of being freezing last year-so much that it scarred one of my New York Flyer Gurls relay teammates from doing this one again, hehe.)  Not quite shorts weather, but certainly capris…and…pink compression sox.  In fact, all 3 of us were gonna be wearing them!  (What have I started? )

So AG drove me and a couple of other teammates out to Brooklyn-nice and easy (hey bus driver from last year’s Flyer bus to the Brooklyn Half-take note!)  We stopped by the school to get our bibs, souvenirs (fleecey-type caps were ok for something different but I really really miss the long-sleeve shirts-bring them back please! ) and the finishing touches on our “costumes.”  AG brought black stuff to put under our eyes (like baseball and football players)…to make us look tough in spite of the pink, methinks?   We then decided on our pecking order-I’d start off, LR would be 2nd, AG would anchor.  With everything done, we then jogged to Prospect Park for a warmup (well I did, I needed it before something short like this!)

When we got to the relay zone, there was still a few minutes to kill, so I practiced relay slap bracelet handoff with LR-took a couple of tries but we got it down.  In fact, one of the officials wanted us to demonstrate for the other teams…yeah, like we’d give up our advantage?  I don’t think so!   So then with about 10 minutes to go, I headed to the start…different this year, instead of on the main park drive it was near where the Brooklyn half usually starts-meaning the 1st mile would be a little less downhill than usual-which may be a good thing since I always take that mile out too fast!  So we waited for the starting signal-and it was actually a horn, no “Go!” or something like that

As for my leg-once again, I’m reminded why I don’t like racing short in the winter!  My legs just felt “tight” and not really warmed up-at least not til well into the 3rd mile   The 1st mile was slower than expected but that may have been partially due to less downhill than in the past…plus I think I was holding back a little.  Though the mile split may not show it, I actually didn’t feel too bad on the hilly mile 2, and actually had enough to pick it up for mile 3 (whereas in the past I remember barely holding on!)  I see the mile 3 marker and know I only have about a quarter mile left…pick it up a little more.  I pass another relay team runner (relayers had red bibs on whereas the full 10 had white) but as we approached the relay handoff area it was pretty much a dead heat!  I handed off to LR and my job was done.  25:03 for 3.25 miles, 7:43 pace.  Obviously not where I was last summer, but still better than last year’s race…for whatever reason, I never seem to run well here.  Too early in the season perhaps?  But as this chart shows, probably better paced than in previous years?

2012	2011	2010	2009
7:39.3	7:37.1	7:22.8	7:17.8
8:11.4	8:31.3	8:20.3	8:09.4
7:32.3	7:58.9	7:51.0	7:41.7
1:40.3 (.25 mile-6:36 pace)	1:18.0 (.19 mile-6:52 pace)	2:31.8 (.36 mile-6:57 pace)	2:31.5 (.37 mile-6:50 pace)

*Note-2011/2012 I had the first leg, 2009/2010 I was the anchor, hence the .1 mile discrepancy.

So now my role was playing cheerleader for all the Flyers running the 10-miler and being lookout for LR.  But there was a minor freak-out when the bib AG was wearing was a little bent-since he was the anchor, he had the bib with the B-tag on it and it got bent since he was wearing it on a race # belt.  I just told him to take note of our time from the clock in case we didn’t get a final time (but as it turned out, was fine.)  LR finished up his leg with a smooth transition to AG.  And then we got to see and cheer on the finishers…oh but wait, not without incidident, as there was one point where there were 2 horses crossing the roadway-right after where the runners are making the turn to the finish and making their finishing kick!  I think I did see a runner or 2 run into one of the horses, thank god no one seemed to get hurt…but I don’t know WTF those riders were thinking!

So when we began to see peeps that were running near me on my leg, I knew AG wouldn’t be that far behind…and he wrapped up a strong last leg for Team Lickety Split!!  Total time for our team-1:16:19 (though based on a couple of my teammate’s times that I crossed the line with, looks like 14 seconds should be taken off of that…so 1:16:05 unofficial “net” time.)

And afterwards, even though I wanted the bagels and hot chocolate back at the school, the preference amongst our crew was pancakes and coffee (and for me, a mimosa!) before stopping off at Farrell’s for watered-down beer in a 32 oz styrofoam cup…yummy

So yet another fun time in Brooklyn!!  Til next year

 

Flyers representing. With Team Lickety Split and all our pink-socked glory in the center.

 

practice makes perfect?

OK, I really have been trying to get back into the groove since my last post, and will have knocked off 2 decent weeks since then.  Pretty much each week consisted of the downtown run with the Flyers, a long interval workout (800s and 1000s), long tempo intervals (1800s) and a long run, and yeah, one other day.

Last week’s intervals were a struggle.  But this past week’s not so bad.  Still a far cry from where I was last summer, but moving in the right direction.  Of course, it may have helped that one of the newer members of our group was pacing with me (the girl who used to be my pacing buddy left at the end of last summer!)…not to mention it was a certain evil holiday this past Tuesday so I may have had a little extra something firing me up

As for tempos, while last week’s went well (same person was pacing with me), this week’s was just meh.  Of course it was cold and rainy and crappy out so I hoping just the fact that I showed up counts for something?

As for long stuff, last week 18 miles, this week 15.  Been averaging closer to 9:15-9:20 as opposed to the 9′s of last summer but again, just getting it in (and who knows, maybe the extra time on my feet will help me out on race day?)  Last week’s 18…well I was debating Saturday (when it was predicted snow) or Sunday (sub-freezing temps)  Even though the forecast was wrong for Saturday, I was still leaning towards that day anyway-just so the water in my bottle wouldn’t freeze   Anyway faced with the prospect of another solo long run, I figured the only way to get through it was decent music on the iPod and a creative route…down the west side, around the southern tip of Manhattan (stopping at the only known working water fountain in Manhattan-purposely planned!), up the east side, over the Williamsburg, Pulaski, and Queensboro bridges…and finally ending around Union Square.  And not one iota in Central Park!

As for this weekend, since I’m semi-racing tomorrow, I took advantage of a half-day and got my long run done in the late afternoon yesterday.  Though the last 2 miles running from Central Park South to City Bakery were quite an adventure-WTF was I thinking running through midtown?  But I had to partake in the hot chocolate flavor of the day-Brooklyn Brewery Beer Hot Chocolate (sounds weird I’m sure, but actually recommended-the chcoolate stout cuts the super-sweetness a bit!)

So even though the “in” thing is minimal fueling during long runs and the cool thing to do is do your long runs with as little water and gel as possible, I’m using my long runs to try and get the nutrition issues dealt with, as I do not want a repeat of what happened in NYCM.  One thing I’m looking into this time around is gels without caffeine.  I had been using PowerGel tangerine flavor which had double caffeine, and I’m wondering if the caffeine had been part of the issue.  Especially since it did give me issues back in 2009.  (I did use them in MCM and Chicago…but both those races had other issues, as you know!)  My go-to gel flavor for the longest time was PowerGel’s Plain Energy Flavor-I used it in 2006 and 2008 NYCMs-but sadly it has been discontinued!  And I am quite picky when it comes to gel flavors.

However, GU has introduced this goodness:

Which I swear, is the best-tasting gel flavor I have ever had.

Only concerns?  The texture is a bit thicker than PowerGel.  And I don’t think it has as many electrolytes as PowerGel either.  I’ve also been dabbling with PowerGel’s Kona Punch flavor…tolerable I guess.

Anyway, I still have 8 weeks to go, and I’m gonna use that time to keep experimenting!  Which means if I have to take a gel every 5-6 miles during my long run, so be it.  I want to practice this so that there are no surprises or issues on race day!  Which when you think about it, isn’t that what we’re supposed to use our long runs for?  Practice?

Tomorrow is gonna be the Cherry Tree Relay, and for the 2nd time in history, the Flyers will have a team.  This time I’ll be with a couple of my male teammates as part of team Lickety Split!  But a short race?  In cold weather?  yeah, this is gonna be interesting.

winter training and me

So I received a nice little reminder in my email inbox today.

Thanks for addressing me as a Boston Marathoner. Thanks also for reminding me I have less than 10 weeks left to train.

Oh the irony that the B.A.A. specifically says they hope that “everyone’s Winter training is going well” because honestly, all I’ve been thinking over the last couple of weeks is that if I didn’t have this to train for, I wouldn’t bother making any goal races for earlier in the year, and save them for the summer (yes, you heard that right) and the fall.

As for the mileage, with the exception of the one week that was derailed by illness, I’ve been on track, getting it all in, getting the intervals, tempos, hills, long runs done.  The problem?  I don’t seem to have the speed I had last summer.  My intervals and tempos are definitely slower than usual.  What was supposed to be a fun last 5 miles on my long run last weekend as a group run to City Bakery turned out not-so-fun when I got dropped because I couldn’t speed up to anything faster than a 9 minute pace (which last year was my go-to-long run pace, mind you.)  And mentally it gets to me.  These speeds aren’t worthy of a Boston Qualifier.  What right do I have to be running Boston?  How the hell did they ever let me into the race in the first place?

That aside, I do feel that in many ways, winter training just does not agree with me.  I know a lot of you love running in the winter, but hear me out.  And even with this winter being milder than normal, it’s still not ideal weather for me.  Outside of running, in the spring and summer, I like to be out and about.  Cold weather makes me want to hibernate.  Which leads to less sunlight which leads to vitamin D deficiency which leads to tired and cranky me.  And I’ve noticed it’s much easier to eat better in summer (love watermelon and berries that are plentiful and in-season in the summer!) whereas now we gravitate towards more comfort foods and hot chocolate (or in the case of City Bakery, a melted chocolate bar.  I did run 15.5 miles to earn that though!)

Motivation?  With the exception of my speed/tempo workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s been a struggle to force myself out the door, even for long runs.  I miss all the organized long runs of last summer, and I’m not looking forward to doing all my 20′s on my own.  (Or even I have 18 on tap this weekend, which won’t be a picnic either.)  One disadvantage to our “hometown” marathon being in the fall I guess…

And just to add to my complaint list :-p  The fast stuff has been tough, my lungs do not deal well with having to breathe in cold, icy air, which is an issue with interval workouts and short races.  Guess the Cherry Tree relay in a week and a half will be interesting, huh?  Ideally I’d pass on all short races for a couple of months, but I got my arm twisted into this one, as I was originally planning on yes, the 10-miler as a training run.  Maybe this is why I got all my short distance PRs (the 4 and 5-milers) in the summer last year?  Hell, even my 5K PR was a summer race…

And maybe it was just too soon after NYCM to jump back into training.  Coach T has even said it himself, that the fall-then-spring marathon thing takes a lot out of you and he wishes most people would take the spring off after a fall marathon cycle (well not take it off, but not have a marathon as a goal race.)  And honestly, had I not already been registered for Boston, I would have had no desire to run another marathon in the near future.  But this may be my one and only chance, so I had to take advantage.

I know what you all are thinking, getting into Boston and running it is my dream, why aren’t I more excited?  Believe me, I am excited, I really wish I had a DeLorean to skip forward to April 16th   It’s just all the putting in the work to get there.  There’s a difference between just going through the motions and stepping it up a notch, and I feel my training so far has been the former.  I am adjusting my goals, I don’t think I have a realistic shot at a PR or re-qualifying, but I do respect the distance, and would like to at least have a respectable performance that doesn’t end like it did in NYC.

For all of you who thrive on winter training…how *do* you do it?  How do you beat the winter blahs?