Training Log Archive: Kat

Warm-up jogging with Aleksey and a few friends.

Several strides on the grass.

RACE: Henry Isola Cross Country Classic, Van Cortland Park, 4 miles
COURSE: Consisted of two identical loops. Each loop started off with flat running on grass, then went into the hilly section with gravel paths, followed by a relatively steep downhill and out to the grassy field again.
MY RUN: I knew that people would start out way too fast (they always do). By looking at my watch, I saw that when the gun went off I was doing 5:37 min/mile. I slowed down and let people pass me as I settled into a fast pace of about 6:20 min/mile. [The ones who were going too fast for their own good, such as Aleksey, were passed by me at a later point in the course. =) ] I stayed at this pace all around the grassy flat section, then slowed down once I got to the hilly wooded section. I tried to focus on the shoulders of the person in front of me, as I've been told to do instead of looking down, but unfortunately I didn't find anybody I wanted to pace with. People were either too fast or too slow or just not keeping a steady pace. There was one girl who was pretty fast who I considered running with, but she was slower than me on the downhills and faster on the flats, so I just kept my own pace all throughout the course and didn't stay with anybody. This was alright in the wooded section, but sucked out in the open. When I was running toward the finish line, for instance, the wind was blowing straight at me and I had nobody to block it for me! This was one of the reasons I didn't have a good finish kick today.
I was doing really well all throughout the first loop and on to the second, but once I got into the woods section for the second time, I got a really bad cramp on my right side, which forced me to walk for about 30 seconds. I started running again, but it took some time for the cramp to go away and I never felt completely fine after that.
RESULTS: I've never run in Van Cortland before, but before racing I looked up last year's results and saw that the winning time for my category (women 15-19) was about 30:20. I thought this was doable, so this is the time I aimed for. According to my watch, I did 30:26 and without the cramp, I could definitely have broken 30. I ended up being second in my category, with the first girl just 18 seconds ahead.

Jogging with Adam along the grass after the race - VERY slowly.

Several random things:
(1) I beat Aleksey and Adam today.
(2) My Polar distance-measuring device is more accurate than I thought! I knew the footpod works well on tracks and on flat roads, but today I've determined that it works quite well on hilly dirt and gravel paths as well. I tried to stay to the inside curves of the course as much as possible to minimize running extra distance, and my watch recorded 4.09 miles run. That's pretty cool!
(3) The max heart rate for today, 192, is the highest I've ever recorded. That's pretty cool as well.

C • 192? 2

A morning run with Aleksey along the Hudson. It was very wet and windy, but otherwise nice weather for running. I tested out my new Nike Pegasus, which I bought yesterday. They seem comfortable, but I don't know how well they'll hold up with the type of running I do. I hope they'll be better than the three pairs of Asics I've worn in the past year.

An "easy" trail run in Harriman, the same one I highlighted for Aleksey to run last weekend. Even though I meant for this to be easy, it didn't quite turn out to be. The trails are very rocky and I almost tripped several times when I was going too slowly and not lifting my feet high enough. Also, the trails are hilly. Once, when I was jogging up a hill, I looked at my watch and saw that my heart rate was 172, which is way too high for an easy run. So I walked up that hill and then began running again. In a few spots the trail was indistinct and I had to hesitate to find the tree markers, but otherwise I was moving the entire time. When I got back to the car, I did a few strides on the gravel. Running without obstacles is so much easier!

I'm taking two weeks off now, with some occasional training, but mostly just rest.

C • Enjoy the rest! I'll send you... 2

Running with Aleksey and Daniel around the block.