Training Log Archive: Linear Ice

Event: Get In Gear
 

Another Rip van Winkel moment, as I ran my first 10K in over 30 years.
This was a nice run, along both sides of the Mississippi River starting at Minnehaha Park. LOTS of people there, I have heard this is one of the top fifteen 10K events in the country. LOTS of people that wouldn't have been running 30 years ago.... this is an amazing combination of really top competitors and people who were glad to be able to finish the distance, and/or who saw it as a social event to get to run with friends. Good to see such a range of enthusiasts.

I warmed up in the rain, opted for my trail shoes and wool socks because I knew I could handle those for six miles in these conditions and wasn't sure about my well-worn Asics.

Decided I'd better get to the start with 12 minutes to go (hard to warm up when you're packed like a sardine)... everyone was already in the chutes calm and tight as could be, as if Temple Grandin had designed the metal barriers and crowd control specifically for the event.
I couldn't bear the thought of going to the back as suggested (loudly) by the announcer, so I hopped the barriers near the front. Which put me in a great position to be passed by lots and lots of people over the first couple of miles and STILL be going out too fast myself. Better than being in back though!

I was calm, not super excited to do this, but ready to move at START.
I never felt super fast, definitely felt like I was plodding the last couple of miles and was pleasantly surprised to find at the splits that it wasn't as bad as it felt.
I never seemed like a race... maybe that's what races are like when there are thousands of people around, none of whom you really know. Disturbing, somewhat, not to find a fierce competitive spirit. On the other hand, I didn't suffer from extreme nerves....so that's maybe the positive counter.
My legs handled this fine, but each time I'd try to speed up near the end, I thought I might get sick and things looked a little darker, so I kept my "not too slow" pace. It was hard to pinpoint why I wasn't moving faster....I feel like I was working hard, but maybe there was more there? I don't really have any recent benchmarks to know how I should have done.

approximate splits
6.48 6:58 7:20 7:15 five?? six?? finish 44:39 (7:12 avg)

I was aiming for about 7:15 splits, so the average was okay. Not the best way to get there. Despite my attempts at tempo runs, I just really have no feel for my pace yet.

pl 303/3658 overall, F61/2040, F40-49 13/441
(Hate these high numbers.....but on the plus side, only 2 women over 49 ahead of me, so next year may be good if I decide to try again!)

Slow jog w Alice and Rita, made even slower by a pleasant 1/2 mile chat along river --after running into Jan and her two dogs.

Night time slow jog with dog, loosening up some tight muscles.

The roads around Battle Creek, a bit hillier than I had remembered in my mind.
7:14 up 7:02 up 6:08 down
hmmmm didn't seem that fast. confused.

I was driving w my daughter the other day, and told her that I was going to be a model. She actually turned her head so I wouldn't see (that was the nice part) and started laughing (that was the honest part).
When I explained that I was just a "runner model" and that I would be wearing Scotchlite, and that it would be filmed at night and my face and body wouldn't be visible, she gave an understanding nod.

Actually, it was even worse than that. I didn't even get to wear the highly reflective Scotchlite (same stuff that's worn by highway workers on their vests, but now used by New Balance, Harley and the intent is, based on this video shoot... many others). Yes, the sad truth: for many of the shots, I was a BEFORE model.... hahaha. So, really there to demonstrate that I was invisible when a car was coming at me... until about 50-100 feet. (I'm sure everyone has had that experience of suddenly seeing a pedestrian or runner at night along the road...... I was one of the idiots who was running in the middle of the road).

The video shoot was at 3M's traffic control test site.... a fake highway with lots of traffic signs, road paint, traffic lights--all 3M products, and couple of two lane roads. With the camera crew at one end, we were asked to run in various groups (1000 feet towards camera, 1000 feet away from camera).

I first wore fluorescent 3M product at twilight- highly visible --along with people wearing white, black, or various reflective . (YES, I was a AFTER model here, and since it was twilight, perhaps I might even be distinguishable). We did this a lot of times. Then we took a break and waited for dark, and did it some more.

I have read that white is not that visible at night, and truly... it was hard to see the white runners until they were very close to the headlight (camera). The fluorescent was just fine at twilight, but also pretty pathetic at night. The competitive reflective materials really were not that visible, but the 3M stuff was a light-house beacon. I think the clothing needs some better designers... the runners looked a little like agile firemen.

I probably ran back and forth about 15 times or so, really not sure. Various speeds, depending mostly on the slowest person in the group....we ran with 4-10 people at a time, in a tight somewhat unnatural configuration. As a workout, I'd characterize this as running slow intervals with long breaks in between...just enough time to get almost stiff and then have to run again.

Went back to William O'Brien after work, took Alice along (she has been neglected) with the thought to re-do Sunday's course.
But, to add to my series of misfortunes regarding WOB, the first thing I did was hide my keys in a hiding place (the grill of my car) and they got eaten up and I couldn't get them anymore! So I called back to Afton for a new pair of keys, and had time for about four controls prior to having my keys arrive.
Warm up/down--> .9 miles to start, and the trail run back.

I am going to try again on Thursday.

BTW: Thanks to the recommendations of a few of you, I wore long sleeves to work today. Those few who DID happen to see my arms gasped "what happened to YOU?" and had a horrid look on their face so thanks for the suggestion.

Event: MNOC - William O'Brien State Park
 

I was hoping to post my GPS track on the map, but now that I loaded it all up, it looks as if the GPS tracker took pity on me and turned itself off about half way through this event.
My first few controls went really well, and everything looked clear to me. Surprisingly clear, and I felt really good, physically and mentally strong, picking APs, routes, etc.
But it all fell apart on Control 4. I couldn't even remember which control I was running for (had I done 3 already?) and was off the map. Completely. My mind just fell apart at this point, and everything that seemed so clear now just seemed muddled. Maybe because the terrain changed a bit, was subtle or different, not sure. But I found myself stumbling around, wondering if I should go back to 3, 4.... I think this one leg took me about 40 minutes.
I never really did get it back altogether, although a few legs weren't too bad, but at this point I was double-guessing everything. And the controls were well placed I thought... had to be right on the feature to see them.
But, I finished before the course closed!

Warm-up w Pete prior to event and to start
Control retrieval-- requested evil #4 and four others.

Red - Splits