Worst of Both Worlds

So yesterday morning on my commute I think it got as bad as it can get -- it was sunny and raining at the same time.  Ugh.

And I was utterly unprepared for the latter.  Double ugh.

I have been newly wearing sunglasses (only about two weeks now?) when commuting.  It's just getting so frigging sunny and warm in the evenings, I thought it might help.

And my commute in the morning is northeast (mostly north), and I run on the correct side of the street (left), meaning the eastward run is directly into the sun and the northward run has little shade (of course the wrong side of the street seems to have plenty). 

 And my commute in the evening is southwest (mostly south), and I run on the correct side of the street (left), meaning the westward run is directly into the sun and the southward run has little shade (of course the wrong side of the street seems to have plenty). 

So anyway, I thought sunglasses would help.  If I'd anticipated rain, I would have skipped the sunglasses and instead worn a cap to keep most of the rain off my face, I would have put my cell phone in a ziplock inside of the ifitness belt, and I'd have worn shoes I don't mind getting wet. 

But instead, I wore sunglasses, new-ish shoes, no hat, and phone (face out) in the belt.  After about a mile, I noticed that the sky to my left seemed very dark. 

I got hit with a couple random drops of rain and I actually looked at them -- I seriously thought they each could be bird $hit since there was no way it would actually rain.

But by 1.5 miles, sure enough, it was coming down -- but it was still sunny!  So frustrating.  I've been lucky to dodge the rain almost every single commute (and I think I'm at about 60 commutes total now).  Dallas isn't a rainy place, so that's not too crazy, but there have still been several mornings where I've felt lucky to dodge it. 

So yesterday I did it -- I ran in the rain and in the sun.  Thankfully no lightning, but still a P-I-T-A.  And of course that meant my clothes didn't really dry off before I had to run home.

Oh well, just felt like bitching. 

Another Marathon Registration

I just did something kind of crazy:

 

Yes, that's my registration for the Houston Marathon in January. It's been on my list of marathons that I want to run for years. But I've never pulled the trigger because of horrible timing for me.

The marathon is held on Jan. 19 -- which means training over Christmas. I think I could handle that if we stayed in town for the holidays, but we don't.  Actually, that marathon date is particularly inconvenient because we go home to see my parents in the great white north for about a week for Christmas. And after about a solid decade of running now, I have only motivated myself maybe twice EVER to run outside there over Christmas, and maybe about 10 times EVER at the gym up there on a treadmill. They usually have several feet of snow and it's insanely cold. I have a series of pictures of the car thermometer when we drive to church on Christmas Eve and one year I remember it saying -25. As in -25 not counting wind chill. Dear God, that's why I moved to Texas!

The thought of running in sub-zero temperatures, or pounding out 20 miles on a treadmill ... eh, I really can't see either happening in all honesty.

And to make matters worse, this year, there is a chance we will spend the week of Christmas with my folks up north, and then fly directly to visit hubby's parents in Pittsburgh for another week or so leading up to New Year's. We did that one other year and I didn't enjoy it at all -- it was hard to pack up all our gifts and everything and then not fly home. But since it's really important to me that we spend Christmas with my family, I've told hubby I am willing to be with his family all 362 or so other days of the year (actually, Christmas Eve and the day after are also really important to me). So if he wants to go straight to Pittsburgh, there's no way I'm going to fight it.

But I really can't imagine what would happen to my training if I took about 2 weeks off less than a month before the marathon. It's slightly easier for me to run when we go see his family. It's usually not as cold there in the winter, and there's never as much snow (and they live in a more suburban area anyway, so streets are plowed and there are sidewalks). And I also don't mind the gym/treadmill setup there. Maybe it's because I love my folks more than I do his? It's painful for me to spend 2 hours running at the gym when I could be home with my mama, but somehow it's easier when I'm with the in-laws (and don't get me wrong, I really love them too).  Aye, maybe I shouldn't admit that, but I suppose it's normal. 

Anyway... so registering for Houston is going to mean 6 very difficult weeks of training between the Dallas Marathon (aka White Rock) on Dec. 8 and Houston on Jan. 19. I'm not planning to run the full at White Rock, but many friends will, and then I won't have many people to run with when that's over.  It will be hard to avoid having motivation and mileage take a serious hit beginning on Dec. 9. 

Oh well, it will be a challenge, but it will be nice to cross Houston off my list!

And I get to stay at my favorite hotel in Houston, which was where I practically lived for much of the first year after I met my husband and before we started dating (I was semi-permanently there for never-ending depositions for work).  And it should be a great race.  So it was a good decision, even if it means my fall running plan would be considered totally crazy by many...

FMM: A Little About Me

My weekend was good.  The highlight was probably a 5k race on Saturday morning.  I did a short review of it here.  Short version is that I did not PR, and I only ran about 3 seconds faster than last weekend's 5k (so I'm still about 30 seconds off where I should be).  But this race, my pacing was different.  I held a PR pace for 2 miles, which was 1 flat mile, and then 1 hilly mile.  But then I slowed a lot (about 30 seconds) for the 3rd mile, and was back to PR pace for the last .1.  I possibly did well enough for an AG award, but we don't know that quite yet (results screwed up)!  Either way, I was happy enough.  At least matching last weekend's time means that's a solid indication of where I am right now. 

The rest of the weekend consisted of stuff that needed to be done.  Writing some long overdue thank you notes, doing some dinner party planning for this month (possibly a party for everyone going to Germany with us for the marathon, and possibly that would be the same weekend as I host book club), balancing my checkbook, sending some lengthy emails, working on homeowner's association stuff, cleaning up email accounts, generally getting organized.  All good. 

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

A Little About Me

 

1. Have you ever experienced love at first sight?  No, I don't think I believe in love at first sight.  Lust or attraction, yes, and lust or attraction that can develop into love, yes, but not actual love at first sight.  When I first saw my husband, we were in a class together.  I thought he was cute, and I realized right away that he spoke Italian well and was funny and seemed very friendly and outgoing and talkative, all things I'd come to love, but at first, he was just a hottie...

2. What channel is your TV on most? Hmm, if I'm watching, probably Lifetime or USA (only if there's a Law & Order marathon).  If my husband is watching, CNN or RAI (Italian news) or EuroNews.  But mostly we just watch stuff from the DVR. 

3. Share one quality that you’re proud to have. I’m proud to be reliable.  If I commit to doing something with someone, I won't flake out unless I'm on my death bed. 

4. Describe your idea of a great evening.  Having friends over to our house for dinner -- the dream is that they show up and we're sitting on the couch drinking wine and listening to music, appetizers are all set out and ready, dinner is in the oven, dessert is done, dishwasher is empty, kitchen is clean, table is beautifully set, house is clean -- it never seems to work out that way, but having friends in our home for a meal is a great night to me. 

5. If your friends were asked to describe you in three words, which words would they choose?  Funny, moving/going/busy, reliable. 

6. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas!  Followed by Mardi Gras, the Fourth, and Thanksgiving. 

7. If you could change one thing that would make your life easier instantly, what would it be? I would have a live-in housekeeper -- who also cooks and undertakes organizational projects and does things like sell stuff we don't need on ebay. 

8. What is one healthy food that you crave?  Grapes, I eat them almost daily almost all year, sometimes an expensive habit. 

9. Do you wear socks when you sleep? No.

10. Share at least three things for which you are thankful.  (1) My family (husband, brothers, parents, sisters-in-law) and I (even my grandpa who is still in a rehab hospital after his stroke) are healthy and all are happy -- all happily married first go around, no sicknesses or diseases, all working out a lot (sometimes together), all financially sound, all happy in general I think.  (2) My husband and I have jobs we love that provide the standard of living (and travel!) that we love.  (3) My friends, near and far, are dear to me; they keep me accountable, they listen to me, they make me laugh, and they seem to love me almost as much as I love them. 

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments. Happy Monday!

Another 5k race mess

Dallas is a great place to live as a runner as there are tons of different race series and training programs to choose from.  Most weekends there are at least half a dozen area 5ks to choose from.  Sometimes you choose well, sometimes not. 

I've said it before, I'm not sure why I do any races in the Mellew series any more. 

The last one in that series I did was a donut themed run earlier this year that delayed the start by more than 20 minutes just because they wanted to maximize their profits.  It was very frustrating.  I wasn't going for a PR, since I wasn't in shape for it, I was running with a friend, and I was stopping at all 5 donut stations on the course.  But still, you plan what and when you eat, when you pee, when you warm-up, everything, based on an on-time start.  When they screw with that, nothing good comes of it. 

And you can read about what happened a couple weeks ago at the series' full and half marathon this year here according to Kim -- the lead car took an early wrong turn, adding about a mile to both the half and full courses.  I had a friend who was pacing the 3:45 group and he ended up with 27.36 miles in 3:48.  He threw in a few miles around a 7:55-8:00 pace to attempt to make up for the extra distance, but it wasn't enough.  So frustrating. 

And those are just from two of their three local races so far this year.  I've done their races other years and experienced other past disasters -- last minute course changes, starts delayed more than an hour, 50% unstaffed water stops in a full marathon because most volunteers didn't show (that was maybe 2008?), and just a general lack of organization.  But sometimes I go back to these races -- either they have good calendar spots when I need a race, or a friend really wants to do it, or something sounds like a fun theme.  But there is nearly always some issue with the race that makes me regret it. 

Given that history, I had low expectations for the series' 5k vineyard run that was set for this weekend. 

But personally, I had relatively high expectations.  Last weekend's 5k was 30 seconds off a PR and it was in the mid- to upper-60s and humid, and the course was pretty hilly.  And this week, I had a personal record on my commute to work, but aside from that, I took it easy on my legs and slept in a couple days.  And most of all, there is a freak cold front in town.  Yesterday was into the 40s, and the race start was going to be in the 40s (or so I thought, it was actually 54, but still 10 degrees better than last weekend). 

I got there early and got my packet, met some friends, and warmed up.  For my warmup, I like to run the last mile or so of the race so I know what to expect. 

This course is best summarized in two words:  u-turns and hills.  Neither of those are good words to be associated with a 5k. 

In attempting to run the last mile, because of the course design, I also ran about the first half of the second mile (there was a lot of overlap).  So at least I knew what to expect:

An incline of about 55 feet in less than a quarter mile right at the start of mile 2.  And then another 65 feet in a less than a quarter mile mid-way through mile 3. 

I didn't know what the rest of the course held, but those two things made me fairly certain I couldn't expect much from my performance.  I am very strong on downhills and very weak on uphills.  Most runners are average on both, or at least average on downhills.  But I think I am exceedingly strong and weak at hills. 

After my warm-up, I realized it was substantially warmer than I expected. 

I'd decided to wear my running skirt (only second time since I got it for Christmas, and I still feel totally ridiculous when I wear it), and my sleeveless team running shirt, along with arm-warmers and gloves.  I had an earband in the car, but I figured that wouldn't be necessary.

After the warm-up, I ditched the arm sleeves.  And then in line to start, I realized we still had a few minutes (assuming an on-time start, which I was reluctant to do), I decided I didn't need the gloves.  One great thing about the race was that I'd gotten there early to get my packet (the packet pick-up options were only on Friday and horribly inconvenient), so I'd gotten great parking.  I decided to dart over to my car and ditch my gloves.  Very smart! 

I lined up fairly near the front and to my surprise, we started right on time! 

 

If that picture works, we started at the green dot, turned west, u-turned, ran southeast, u-turned, then made a turn back onto the street where we'd started.  We ran past the starting line on the other side of the street, then we made a right turn. 

 

That was the first big hill.  Up until that point, the course had been amazingly flat -- but with two u-turns, still not exactly fast. 

 

We made the right turn onto Hughes Rd, ran up and down the hill, then we made a right to run south again.  Pretty flat but we were running toward another u-turn.  Enough already! 

 

We turned around and ran north, passing mile marker 2 and then hitting a couple smaller hills.  At the very top of the map, we made a left turn to go south again.  We were running in a neighborhood and we hit the most bizarre part of the course -- we essentially ran on a sidewalk between two houses and into a parking lot that was basically in their backyard.  It was so strange!  A bit more of a hill, then a right turn back onto Hughes Rd -- which meant up the big hill again.  Then it was all downhill to the finish line. 

 

My first flat mile was 4 seconds ahead of PR pace.  My second mile with the first steep hill (about 55 feet in a quarter mile) was 4 seconds slower than PR pace.  So at that point, I was right on track. 

 

But I didn't have enough left in the tank.  Mile 3 had a couple hills, including the steep hill again (65 feet in a quarter mile going up the back of it and a bit in the neighborhood), so I was about 25 seconds slower than PR pace.  Even with an awesome downhill last half mile, I couldn't pull it together.

 

This is what my pace data looked like (higher is faster, lower is slower):

 

 

You can see that the pace takes a sharp dip pretty early, at a u-turn, and then there's another V at the second u-turn.  Then it gradually goes slower and slower approaching the first third or so climbing the hill, but then I pick it up and stay steady.  There's a sharp drop toward the middle for the last u-turn, and again, it stays relatively steady until I hit the cliff right around 3/4 of the way done -- that was that final 65 foot climb and the pace was sad, sad, sad...

 

I think I ended up finishing about 3 seconds faster than last weekend, but that's still nearly 30 seconds off my 5k PR, which is now getting very old! 

 

But hmm, there's something weird about that last sentence, particularly given that the race was this morning and it's now after 2:00.  Why on earth would I say I "think" I ended up about 3 seconds faster?

 

Why? 

 

Why?

 

Oh yeah, because it's a Mellew race.  Turns out that all those u-turns weren't a good idea not just because they slow you down so much.  The course design meant we ran back past the starting line about .8 miles after we'd started.  Well, the timing device somehow picked us up again at that point.

 

Nice! 

 

So I hung out with friends after the race.  They had a really fun jazz band playing and there were 4 different kinds of wine to taste.  We were taking pictures and just enjoying ourselves.  I was a little puzzled they hadn't posted results yet, but I wasn't worried.  

 

But I definitely wanted to stay -- the AG awards were wine glasses, and I thought that was kind of unique and fun.  And I thought I had a decent chance of placing in my age group.  Finally about 2 hours after the race had started, they made the annoucement about the timing system malfunction.  So apparently, they're going to sort it out, will post the results when they can, and will mail the AG awards. 

 

Again, why would I have expected anything else with one of these races?  If the race logistics are okay through the race, of course there would be a problem after the race.  And I definitely didn't love the hills, but it's not really fair to complain about that just because I'm a sucky hill runner. 

 

But this time, I really swear off these races!