After getting home from Boulder, I had approximately 48 hours to shake the cobwebs from my vacation-ified brain and get ready for...another vacation.
Kind of.
Because on Friday, my running team headed to Duluth, home of Grandma's Marathon, for a retreat. A retreat where we'd run the first 22 miles of the race course. What kind of vacation is that?!?
A handful of Lifetime run clubs met in Duluth - apparently it's some sort of Lifetime tradition. On Friday night, We carb loaded, had a pow-wow, met elite runner Katie Koski, and headed to bed early-ish.
Let me take two steps back. Before all of this happened on Friday evening, I went to see my PT. My IT band issues are nearly gone, but I wanted to touch base with her to get a few more questions answered and to add a few more exercises to my repertoire. And while I was there she Worked Me To Death. My muscles! The burning! But man, it felt good to work hard.
Anyway. Back to Duluth.
I knew things were going to be ugly when the alarm went off at 5am. My hamstrings were screaming. My glutes were screaming. And my throat was tingling. CURSES! I had my ass handed to me once again by Physical Therapy. Getting out of bed was painful. Sitting down was painful. Tying my shoes was painful. So I hopped on my travel foam roller (alias: Stumpy - appropriately named by Jen, as it's only 1 foot long, as opposed to the 3 foot Foam Roller of Doom that lives at home) and rolled those hammies and glutes like there was no tomorrow.
Regular LSD morning activities ensued. Breakfast...freaking out...blah blah blah...
And then we crammed into the hotel shuttle and headed to...bum bum bummmmm...the starting line of the race course. Grandmas's is a straight shot - you start in Two Harbors and run to Duluth. No looping, no out-and-backs, just run the highway. There was no turning back. On the drive out, a family of deer ran across the street and our coach mentioned that "you don't see THAT on the treadmill!" - which would end up becoming the quote of the day.
We piled out of the van, had a quick pep talk, and we were off.
We spotted a bald eagle around mile 3. You don't see THAT on the treadmill!
We spotted a deer around mile 10. You don't see THAT on the treadmill!
Thanks to Melissa for the photo
We spotted 3-4 more deer around mile 15. You don't see THAT on the treadmill!
I was officially the slowest person. I brought up the caboose for the entire run. I ran the first 5 miles by myself, ran the middle 13 with the group, and ran the last 4 by myself.
One of the chicks in the group was doing 10-1s - run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute. It really screwed with my pace. I would have liked to have ran until I NEEDED to walk, but I'll admit...when those walk breaks came around, I wasn't complaining at the time. It just makes me nervous for race day. In hindsight, I kind of wish that I would have just run my own pace the entire run...but it seemed mentally daunting to run 22 miles All By Myself. So I walked when the group walked and took water stops when the group took water stops (the Lifetime group had water stops set up along the course to mock race day - miles 5, 7, 9, 11...all the way to 21. Our volunteers were amazing!!). While we walked or stopped, I rubbed my hamstrings and glutes to keep them loose. Because they were peesed.
The other thing that I would have done differently - I felt like I started out too fast. The group that I run with tends to start the runs by going fast-ish and then they slow down into a consistent pace after a few miles. I'm the opposite. I like to start off slow and get into the groove, and then speed up until I'm at my desired pace. So I feel like it takes a lot out of me to keep up with the group for the first few miles. While I ran alone those first few miles, I was still going faster than I would have liked. I didn't want them to ditch me completely - I had no idea where I was going and I didn't want to get lost. Little did I know that we would stay on the same road for the ENTIRE 22 MILES. Oh well.
In the end, it was a great run. I ran 22.5 miles, including the dreaded "Lemon Drop Hill". It gives me a huge confidence boost, knowing that I Can and Will finish Grandma's...for real...in three weeks.
5/31/08
Mile 1: 10:01
Mile 2: 10:24
Mile 3: 10:25
Mile 4: 10:39
Mile 5: 10:44
Mile 6: 13:01
Mile 7: 12:25
Mile 8: 11:45
Mile 9: 11:02
Mile 10: 12:24
Mile 11: 12:07
Mile 12: 13:11
Mile 13: 14:47
Mile 14: 10:39
Mile 15: 13:30
Mile 16: 14:16
Mile 17: 11:05
Mile 18: 14:40
Mile 19: 11:28
Mile 20: 12:11
Mile 21: 11:44
Mile 22: 11:49
Mile 22.5: 5:49 (11:41 pace)
Average pace: 12:00
Total time: 4:30:17
Average HR: 171
Three words to describe this run: Exciting, Relaxed, Gorgeous
Kind of.
Because on Friday, my running team headed to Duluth, home of Grandma's Marathon, for a retreat. A retreat where we'd run the first 22 miles of the race course. What kind of vacation is that?!?
A handful of Lifetime run clubs met in Duluth - apparently it's some sort of Lifetime tradition. On Friday night, We carb loaded, had a pow-wow, met elite runner Katie Koski, and headed to bed early-ish.
Let me take two steps back. Before all of this happened on Friday evening, I went to see my PT. My IT band issues are nearly gone, but I wanted to touch base with her to get a few more questions answered and to add a few more exercises to my repertoire. And while I was there she Worked Me To Death. My muscles! The burning! But man, it felt good to work hard.
Anyway. Back to Duluth.
I knew things were going to be ugly when the alarm went off at 5am. My hamstrings were screaming. My glutes were screaming. And my throat was tingling. CURSES! I had my ass handed to me once again by Physical Therapy. Getting out of bed was painful. Sitting down was painful. Tying my shoes was painful. So I hopped on my travel foam roller (alias: Stumpy - appropriately named by Jen, as it's only 1 foot long, as opposed to the 3 foot Foam Roller of Doom that lives at home) and rolled those hammies and glutes like there was no tomorrow.
Regular LSD morning activities ensued. Breakfast...freaking out...blah blah blah...
And then we crammed into the hotel shuttle and headed to...bum bum bummmmm...the starting line of the race course. Grandmas's is a straight shot - you start in Two Harbors and run to Duluth. No looping, no out-and-backs, just run the highway. There was no turning back. On the drive out, a family of deer ran across the street and our coach mentioned that "you don't see THAT on the treadmill!" - which would end up becoming the quote of the day.
We piled out of the van, had a quick pep talk, and we were off.
We spotted a bald eagle around mile 3. You don't see THAT on the treadmill!
We spotted a deer around mile 10. You don't see THAT on the treadmill!
Thanks to Melissa for the photo
We spotted 3-4 more deer around mile 15. You don't see THAT on the treadmill!
I was officially the slowest person. I brought up the caboose for the entire run. I ran the first 5 miles by myself, ran the middle 13 with the group, and ran the last 4 by myself.
One of the chicks in the group was doing 10-1s - run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute. It really screwed with my pace. I would have liked to have ran until I NEEDED to walk, but I'll admit...when those walk breaks came around, I wasn't complaining at the time. It just makes me nervous for race day. In hindsight, I kind of wish that I would have just run my own pace the entire run...but it seemed mentally daunting to run 22 miles All By Myself. So I walked when the group walked and took water stops when the group took water stops (the Lifetime group had water stops set up along the course to mock race day - miles 5, 7, 9, 11...all the way to 21. Our volunteers were amazing!!). While we walked or stopped, I rubbed my hamstrings and glutes to keep them loose. Because they were peesed.
The other thing that I would have done differently - I felt like I started out too fast. The group that I run with tends to start the runs by going fast-ish and then they slow down into a consistent pace after a few miles. I'm the opposite. I like to start off slow and get into the groove, and then speed up until I'm at my desired pace. So I feel like it takes a lot out of me to keep up with the group for the first few miles. While I ran alone those first few miles, I was still going faster than I would have liked. I didn't want them to ditch me completely - I had no idea where I was going and I didn't want to get lost. Little did I know that we would stay on the same road for the ENTIRE 22 MILES. Oh well.
In the end, it was a great run. I ran 22.5 miles, including the dreaded "Lemon Drop Hill". It gives me a huge confidence boost, knowing that I Can and Will finish Grandma's...for real...in three weeks.
5/31/08
Mile 1: 10:01
Mile 2: 10:24
Mile 3: 10:25
Mile 4: 10:39
Mile 5: 10:44
Mile 6: 13:01
Mile 7: 12:25
Mile 8: 11:45
Mile 9: 11:02
Mile 10: 12:24
Mile 11: 12:07
Mile 12: 13:11
Mile 13: 14:47
Mile 14: 10:39
Mile 15: 13:30
Mile 16: 14:16
Mile 17: 11:05
Mile 18: 14:40
Mile 19: 11:28
Mile 20: 12:11
Mile 21: 11:44
Mile 22: 11:49
Mile 22.5: 5:49 (11:41 pace)
Average pace: 12:00
Total time: 4:30:17
Average HR: 171
Three words to describe this run: Exciting, Relaxed, Gorgeous
6 Comments:
GREAT job on the run!!! sooo fun seeing all the deer :)
my 22 miler is at the end of the month - eek!
I really have to get better at rolling. I have one, i just don't use the damn thing.
Great job on the run! YOU ARE READY!
Well Done! You are going to do awesome. I've done the 10/1 on runs with people who do it and messes with me too ... after a few stops a minute seems really short!
Here are some other things you can do in 4.5 hours. Watch the entire season of the Office plus maybe 1/2 of the next. Drive to Des Moines. Plenty of time to see any sporting event. Fly to Hawaii. Hell, my cell phone battery doesn't even last 4.5 hours (of talking)!! Not many people can say they can run that long. Great job!
Your instincts are totally right on about starting off slow. It's tough to do (especially on race day), but your body will appreciate it. If you do it right, you'll be passing people at the end who passed you in the beginning!
(Now I just have to remind myself to do the same during tomorrow's marathon!)
yeah what you said. so much of that (not running your own pace, starting too fast) is what happened to me in Fargo for my first Half. So I too plan to attack Grandma's differently.
you are gonna be da bomb @ Grandma's, you'll finish awesomely and we will be all sorts of celebrating after the finish.
I'm so sad I missed the retreat but loved reading the post...
hugs to stumpy! (who i wish could have come to Italy!)
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