CVS Downtown 5K - US Road Champs

Monday, September 15: 1:30 PM - Short Interval WO
16 x 550m on grass (Avg = 1:40) w/ 1 min jog
1:44, 1:41, 1:40, 1:41, 1:40, 1:41, 1:41, 1:41,
1:41, 1:42, 1:42, 1:39, 1:39, 1:40, 1:39, 1:35
18 min w/u, 14 min c/d (11 Miles total)
Tuesday, September 16: 7:00 AM - 10 Miles, 68 min
5:30 PM - 5 Miles, 35 min
Wednesday, September 17: 4:30 PM - Short Interval WO
8 x 300m on grass (50 sec) w/ 1 min jog
27 min w/u, 22 min c/d (10 Miles total)
Thursday, September 18: 8:00 AM - 10 Miles, 67 min
Friday, September 19: 3:30 AM - 5 Miles, 35 min
(14 hours of travel to Providence)
10:00 PM - 3 Miles, 20 min
Saturday, September 20: 11:30 AM - 6 Miles, 42 min w/ strides after
(2:30 PM - 30 min massage)
Sunday, September 21: 7:15 AM - 10 min shakeout
11:15 AM - CVS Downtown 5K - 15:09, 28th place, 25th American
4:36, 9:34 (4:58), 14:33 (4:59)
20 min w/u, 20 min c/d
6:00 PM - 7.5 Miles, 50 min

Week Total = 79 Miles, 10 Runs, 1 Race

Monday, September 22: 6:00 AM - 7 Miles, 49 min
(20 hours of travel to Chino Hills)
Tuesday, September 23: 5:00 PM - 10 Miles, 68 min
Wednesday, September 24: 1:30 PM - Medium Interval WO
6 x Mile @ 88% (I'll explain later) w/ 3 min rest
4:52, 4:51, 4:55, 4:51, 4:54, 4:51 (Avg = 4:52)
18 min w/u, 12 min c/d (10 Miles total)

It was a pretty low key week leading up to the 5K. I had a solid workout on Monday and then a shorter but slightly faster workout on Wednesday. I was feeling pretty good health-wise and was excited to test myself at this stage in my training.

Steve and I left really early on Friday and had a very long 14 hours of travel. Fortunately, one of our long layovers was in Houston, which happens to be where Steve is from. Because of this, we were able to meet up with his family, have lunch, and see his house. As many of you know, Hurricane Ike has recently destroyed much of that area and while we were there, we saw the horrible aftermath all around us. Power was still out in most places and businesses were still closed all over the city.

We finally made it to Providence late Friday night and were picked up at the airport by the Elite Race Coordinator, Tony Vinci. We stayed at a hotel near the airport for the first night, but Tony was kind enough to put us up in the host hotel for the other two nights putting us at the heart of all the action.

Once we arrived at the host hotel, we met up with Ben Bruce and Phil Reid to go for a run, covering the race course and running around the Brown campus for a while. The rest of the afternoon was pretty laid back as we went to lunch with those guys, got a massage courtesy of the race, and attended the race clinic with all the other elites, including several Olympians. Later in the evening, my parents arrived after driving down from Maine and we joined them for a nice dinner and watched the Waterfire show in the center of the city. It was very nice.

I woke up the next morning feeling good and believed I was ready to race well. The plan was to go out relatively conservative (realizing that the field would start out quick in this race) and then try to be aggressive in the 2nd and 3rd miles. There was a downhill section in the first 400m, which added to the already eager field and quickened the pace. We were then thrown into a maze of turns and thus I had trouble finding a rhythm. I reached the mile mark in about 4:36 and I don't think I was even in the top 25. I didn't panic, but I tried to adjust and settle in the next half mile or so. Settling turned into fading and by 2 miles, I was just in survivor mode. I tried to key off of a few guys ahead of me that I've raced before, but most of this part was done by myself. I was able to recover somewhat in the last 1000m, passing 3 guys in front of me, but I was too far back to make much of a difference. I came up over the final hill and saw the clock turn to 15:00 as I entered the final meters of the race. It was disheartening to see 15 something, as I really thought I'd be under 15 minutes in this race. When I see 15:09 next to my name, I don't think "elite" time, I think "girl elite" time.

It's hard to come out of strength training to run a race like this as my first one, where so many guys are coming off of phenomenal track seasons or a summer on the roads. I was disappointed at first, but by the time I was able to catch my breath and regain my composure, I was already feeling better about it. I'm still not thrilled with my performance, as I would have liked to mix it up a little more in that race, but I know that I'm not supposed to be running that fast right now. Despite that fact, I can't help but compare myself to those guys and see myself so far behind them. I just need to put those thoughts aside right now and be patient.

Overall, the weekend was an incredible experience. This was some of the best treatment I've ever gotten from a race. Both the Race Director (Charlie Breagy) and the Elite Coordinator (Tony Vinci) did so much for us and made us feel very welcome there. Outside of my race experience in Ireland, this was the first time that I was able to take advantage of the benefits of an elite athlete, and the first time that I actually felt like a professional. I really hope I have the opportunity to race here again and have the chance to run a race that is actually deserving of that treatment.

This weekend was also really great because I had a chance to see a lot of friends and get to know the other elites a lot better. I went for a run with Dan Browne, I ate breakfast across from Matt Tegenkamp, I had dinner with Sean Brosnan and Christian Hesch, I shared a room with Ian Burrell, and I spent an evening with the Run Providence crew as well as a couple Zap Fitness studs. On top of all that, my parents and both my sisters were able to watch me run and join us for lunch afterward. I also had a chance to see many of my former NB Boston teammates (who ran phenomenal by the way), and catch up with my former coach, Kevin Curtin. Here in Chino Hills, we don't do a whole lot more than run, eat, and sleep, so an event like this is a nice change of pace, while it also helps to balance that social part of my life.

To finish up the weekend, we had another terribly long travel day on Monday, but this time it was 20 hours. Again we went through Houston and had dinner with Steve's Family, but by the time we got home, I was exhausted. You may be asking why our travel was so long. I was asking the same thing. Apparently the person that booked our flights just looked at the price and didn't pay much attention to the travel time involved. I can assure you that the next time we travel, I'll be involved in making the travel plans. I didn't run the next morning and felt like crap for the next couple days. I knew Wednesday's workout would be tough because of it, but it was tougher than I expected. We were supposed to do 6 x mile at 88% of all out pace (coming directly from a training table that Marco gave us). Since my mile PR is 4:12, 88% put me at around 4:42. However, I'm pretty sure I can't run 4:12 right now so Marco told us to average that with our two mile repeat pace (which for me, was about 4:58). So when you do the math, my goal pace for this workout was around 4:50. I was pretty close on the first two, but it didn't feel good. I struggled with the rest of the workout, but was thankful that I could at least toughen it out and not blow up at the end.

In general, I feel like I'm finally starting to come into form (both figuratively and literally). I'm feeling fitter, stronger, faster, and lighter. When I first arrived here in July, I was about 15 pounds heavier than when I was running my best. In the last 10 weeks or so, I've lost about 7-8 pounds and I'm feeling better because of it (also, my jeans are finally fitting better again). However, I still have another 7-8 pounds to lose. I know I need to continue doing it slowly so I am in no hurry to lose them right away, but that doesn't stop it from being on my mind. I know I have a while before the end of my season, but it's not that long. I also know that in order to accomplish the things I want to do this year, it is crucial that I lose those pounds (again, doing it the right way). We are almost into October, and soon after that will be November, and then December. It goes by quicker than we think and we always feel like we have plenty of time to get these things done. I believe now that I will have a successful season, because I believe I can work hard enough, and get all these things done to get me there. For these reasons, I am not worried about what I did on Sep 21, I am just anxious for what I want to do on Dec 13 ...and beyond. I can now see this past race as a positive stepping stone, but I also see it as an indicator of how much work I still have to do. Now is the time to work hard for that success, now is the time to determine how badly I want it all. And in doing that, I hope I'll find what I'm looking for somewhere along the way.

Quote:

Make a wish, place it in your heart. Anything you want, everything you want.
Do you have it?
Good. Now believe it can come true.
You never know where the next miracle is gonna come from ...the next smile ...the next wish come true. But if you believe that it's right around the corner, and you open your heart and mind to the possibility of it, to the certainty of it ...you just might get the thing you're wishing for. The world is full of magic ...you just have to believe in it. So make your wish...
Do you have it?
Good. Now believe in it ...with all your heart!
~Anonymous