Soul Buster Lite

Today was supposed to be the first of the Team Rogue Soul Busters. Last season was my first experience with the Soul Busters, and I only ran one because of an injury and because my race was 3 weeks earlier than everyone else's. I was really excited to run the planned SB, which was 3 miles warm up, 1 mile all out on a track, 20 mile cool down. After the pulled hamstring issue last Sunday, I knew that SB would not happen for me. There is no way I could go all out on a mile right now. The good news is plans changed for the whole team. A lot of people had a super hard run last week, so the SB became "lite" for today. It was an 8 mile descent, followed by an 8 mile ascent, then 4 miles at marathon goal pace on the track.

I met up 30 minutes early with Ken to get a 3 mile warm up. It takes me forever to warm up now with my hamstring issues so it was a nice thing to get that it. Then we started the descent. At first, there wasn't too much of a descent...it was all rollers. We did hit some nice downhills before the uphills. The uphills were rough. We ran on Pecos over to Mt. Bonnell all the way across 2222, then hit some nice hills in there...include Mountain Villa and Mountain Climber. It was like one massive uphill after the other. This part of the workout was the real soul buster for me. My legs were dead, my hamstring was tight, and I just didn't think I'd make it up the hills. I feel like I'm doing a better job recovering on the smaller uphills and flats, but I still don't feel very strong on the hills. It's either that or everyone I'm running with kicks butt on hills :) After the hills it was straight to the track. At this point I was a little worried about holding MGP for 4 miles. Originally it sounded easy by my legs were trashed.

According to mcmillan, my MGP is a 6:41 mile. I dropped that to 6:40 to make the math easy, so each lap on the track needed to be 100 seconds. No one in our group was shooting for that (some faster, some just a bit behind) so this was a good experience for me to lock in to a pace by myself, something I struggle with. I got so spoiled last season running with the 3:10 train there were times I didn't were a watch but I knew I could just lock in with them and be right on. My mile splits were pretty consistent. On the last 800m Steve told me to pick it up and try and gain ground on Larry and Ken. I knew there'd be know throwing down the hammer because if that happened I probably be sidelined with the hamstring. I did gain ground though, so that was good. Here are my splits:
6:37
6:40
6:37
6:13

All in all I'd say it was a successful day. I'm exhausted but pushed through it enough to hit my goals on the track.

pluses: good workout, time with family

minuses: sitting in a car driving to Houston

not so much of a recovery day

Friday is usually an off day or recovery day for me. My mileage was a little low for the week so I decided to go out and do 8 with Mike and Chris. Then I also had an afernoon invite to run with my friend who is recovering from a knee injury. We planned to have cupcakes afterwards, so I could say no. That put my mileage at 13 for the day. My legs felt tired and really heavy.

pluses: awesome weather, cupcakes

minuses: overtired

changing my blog

I'm changing my blog because I thought it was weird to have one that was titled kristenweber when that isn't my name anymore :) The new one is http://eyesontheprizekb.blogspot.com/

You'll notice it's quite similar..just a different name. That was my attempt at being kind of creative :)

11/19 gym time

Went back to Gold's today for the first time in awhile. I really wanted to run with the train this morning but I knew that wasn't the smartest thing. So I tried the whole "listening" to my body thing and decided to go spinning instead. My legs felt a lot better afterwards. I haven't been as sore as I thought I would be, but felt tightness in my quads and hips. After the spinning class most of that has gone away. I also did some core work and stretching which needs to become a more regular thing for me.

pluses: dinner and a massage with Laura!

minuses: staff mtg

11/16 Race Report

So I figured I should write this today while many of the details are still fresh. Once we got to SA yesterday things just seemed to fall in to place...I got to eat at my favorite Italian restuarant without a wait which was a huge suprise. I called for reservations but they were booked, and when we got there they had 1 table left! Woo hoo. So once some things started to fall in to place, I started to feel more confident. I got a decent nights sleep (slept well until 3am which was better than expected). Steve picked up my mom and I this morning at the hotel and Brian and his mom, Robin, were following behind. I was a bit late to my corral, but right when I walked in the corral I saw Ron, Larry, and Angie. What a relief! I knew I'd have a better shot at staying controlled early if I went out with Larry and Ron who were dead set on 3:15 pace. The race started fine. My legs were a little stiff but I think it was due to the short shorts and cold weather :) I started out the first 5k right on 3:15 pace. It took about that long for my legs to feel like they were working again. We started to get a little quicker...and in the next three miles dropped the pace about 3 seconds a mile...no big deail. At mile 10 I wanted to still be at 3:15 pace...but we were a little closer to 3:12:30. Ron had to stop for a bathroom break so I started to pull away a little bit. I felt really controlled and started focusing on the 3:12:30 paceband. I figured if I stayed right on that until 16-18, then I'd have a good shot at meeting my goal (3:10) by the end of the race. So far on the course I'd seen Brian, Robin, Tim, my Mom, Steve, Foho, Dee, Roger, Julia, John, Laura...so lots of support. It was great. I was smiling the whole way! Around 16 miles I realized I was actually under 3:12:30 pace but I still felt good. At 18 miles I had a bit of a dip in the run, just was feeling a little tired. I was debating if I should try to go for the 3:10...I had yet to look at my 3:10 pace band because I didn't want to chase that too early. I finally looked down and realized I was 60 seconds off of 3:10 pace. I decided I'd go for it and at that time I threw off the 3:12:30 band...it was kind of a mental way of telling myself there was NO looking back. At mile 19 I was only 45 seconds slow for 3:10 pace so I knew this was a good sign. I saw Steve here and told him where I was at and he told me to keep going and I'd run them down. With some renewed confident, I took that to heart and started pushing a bit more. I'm not really sure how this happened, but by mile 22 I was alread 1 minute AHEAD of 3:10 pace. I never saw the pace group so I was kind of confused on how this happened, but I figured I'd take it :) Then I just had to bring it home. Brian, Robin, and Tim were all riding with me on the course on their bikes. I started getting a bad side stitch at 24 and kept thinking about how I needed the Train. Right about then Brian rode up on my left, Tim on my right, and Robin right behind me. It was like I had my own escort and it was a HUGE help. At mile 25 I took my watch off and gave it to Tim and just told him to get me there. I kept looking down at it like every 30 seconds which was not helping time go by quickly. So they rode me in to the chute and I crossed the line with clock time of 3:09:32. I was hoping this meant I broke 3:09 but either way I knew I nailed my A goal. I was so happy! Later I found out my actual finish time was 3:08:47 and I placed 2nd in my age group and 16th overall for the women. Not bad :) Some random pace breakdowns from the website are below:
first 5k: 7:26
from 5k to 6.1 miles: 7:23
from 6.1 to 10m: 7:12
from 10m to 13.1m: 7:15
from 13.1m to 17:m 7:02 THIS MADE THE DIFFERENCE!
from 17m to 20m: 7:15
from 20m to 24m: 7:10
last 2.2 miles: 6:48

BOOM!

Looking back I learned A LOT from this race. First of all, I learned that marathons are more fun when you train :) Something I missed out on my last few go arounds. The next thing I learned is that I am good at closing on a race. Steve told me if I went out at 3:10 pace there wasn't any way I'd meet my goal but I HAD to run negative. That is something I was really bad at in college so I was a little bit nervous and I really didn't beleive him that I could make up 5 minutes in the last part of the race. I'm glad I trusted his plan...cause he was right! I also learned that running with friends makes a huge difference. I have a lot more confidence than before because I really doubted the 3:10 goal. My previous PR was in Austin 2007 at a 3:29:52 and the last marathon I ran was around a 3:42 in Boston. I also learned some things I could do to help me out more next time around. First of all...I HAVE to add weight training and core to my regime. My back has been bothering me a lot lately and today wasn't much different. I didn't notice it during the race, but it's not feeling too good now. That and I need to be more consistent with my long runs early in the training period.

So while today was a HUGE success, I look at it as a new beginning. It is a learning experience and something that I will grow from. I am happy now but am already contemplating the next goal that lies ahead.

pluses: race high, no more distractions before wedding

minuses: moving tomorrow and still have a paper due :(

11/13 easy 7

Great run today. We took off from Rogue and went down to the lake. Angie and I ran out for 25 minutes and then turned around and headed back. It went by really fast...which was a great sign. Angie and I talked about the race for most of the run, and then just like that we were done. I'm feeling good. Confident, focused, and good :)

pluses: ruth has an extra pair of shorts for me!!!

minuses: meetings all day

11/12 25 min easy

The main point of the run today was to wear my racing shorts for the first time. I'm not going to lie, they're definitely not my favorite shorts...but oh well. My favorite shorts are old mesh-like cross country shorts that I got from Trinity. I'd like to wear them this weekend...but I'm not sure the maroon would go too well with the rogue top. My legs felt fine today and I tried to ingore any phantom pain I may have in my back :) I am really ready to get this marathon checked off of my list. I want to run well, and fast...but more than that I want to start the new training cycle and improve on the things I know I lacked this last time around. I know I'll need to be consistent with weights, core, yoga, etc...all things that I completely let go about 2 months ago. Life is hectic...but in the next two weeks, hopefully some of the craziness will die down.

pluses: no Bible study tonight so i have time to pack up my room

minuses: shorts suck

11/11 quality

Today we did 3x 2k at critical velocity pace. I ran the first one, and felt ok. My back has been really tight in the morning...but that may just be mental. I feel like I'm looking for something to go wrong before the race. I spent a few minutes talking to Steve after the first rep...so I missed running with the train on the next two repeats. The next repeat was about 10 seconds fast and I didn't start my watch on the third one. I loosened up and felt fine. I just need to block out all of the other craziness that is going on and really focus on the race!

pluses: productive at work

minuses: another paper coming up

11/10 easy run

I ran about 4 miles today just to make sure my legs still worked. My goal was to get in a least one run on the retreat over the weekend, but that didn't really happen. The good news is my legs felt fine when I ran today. I want to run just a little bit each day so my legs don't start to feel too heavy. I'm ready to race.

pluses: retreat went well and is over...get to focus on marathon

minuses: packing and organizing isn't fun

11/7 long run (not really long anymore!)

Today was the last "long run" before the marathon. I went around 12 miles from Barton Springs, around the lake, and back. It was a really nice and easy run. I went with my friend Tim. We had great conversation, great weather...couldn't have asked for a better run. I think it was nice that this felt so easy. It was a good reminder that I really may be ready for the race next weekend!

pluses: trip to Red Bud Isle with Brian, Mason, and Bailey

minuses: ate way too much tonight

11/6 tempo

Today was a 2 mile warm up, 4 mile tempo, and about a mile cool down. The tempo was a little tricky because the ground was slippery. I felt like I was having to give a bit more effort than usual. I would guess I was around 6:35 pace. It did take a bit of time to loosen up but all in all I felt fine. I took yesterday off because I was pretty much busy all day with getting ready for things for the retreat. I'm looking forward to the weekend being over so I can really focus on the race. Obviously it's in the back of my mind all of the time...but I can't really make it a focus right now.

pluses: first thursday happy hour and shower with work friends

minuses: still a lot to do for the retreat

11/4 20 x 200m

Today we ran over to the east side track to do 20 200m repeats with a 100m diagonal recovery jog. My legs felt really good. We were supposed to be going 5k pace but I did each of mine more like a build/stride. I love running fast. So on a workout like this, it feels great to open up my stride and just run. I felt comfortable the whole time and was glad that my legs felt much stronger than yesterday.

pluses: new blinds at the house

minuses: have to listen to the class i missed last week, and go to class too

11/3 easy run

Today was my first day back running after my two slacker days over the weekend. I thought about going for an easy jog on Saturday or Sunday, but just never got around to it. I was in the middle of the hill country hunting...and that seemed more enjoyable than running :) I think it was smart to take the two days off though. After last week my body was feeling pretty beat up. The race is still 13 days away, but I did not like the direction things were heading. I was feeling worse than I had in awhile, but I think taking the weekend off was a huge help. I felt fine on my run today. I took my usual 5 mile loop through my neighborhood. My legs were a little lethargic but that was kind of expected. I didn't have any aches and pains, so that is a good sign. I'm looking forward to the upcoming week of running...which means the break was worth it!!

pluses: time to hang out w/ Brian today

minuses: lots of little details to take care of in the next three weeks

10/31 long run

I met up with a friday long run group today to run 16-18 miles, closing at mgp. I think we ended up closer to 16, but I was ok with that. We ran from Jack and Adams to the 10 mile loop on the trail, but then cut off under the scary tunnel by the dam and ran that back part of the trail. Mandy's GPS had us at about 15 when we parted ways. Angie and I were supposed to close the last 6 miles, but it probably ended up being closer to 4.

I was pretty worn out today from the workout yesterday. The closing part actually didn't feel bad, it just felt like the rest of the run was really dragging on slowly. Good company and conversation, but really heavy legs. I went for a massage at 11am and that was probably a smart choice. My left calf muscle was pretty knotted up...and having that worked on was a less than pleasant experience. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow but I'm hoping my legs start to feel like they're ready to race within the next 16 days!

pluses: going to Mason today to go hunting

minuses: not enough sleep this week

10/30 The Burn

The goal was 40 laps on the track alternating mgp pace and 10k pace. If we were 2.99 seconds slow or 2.99 seconds fast on any of the laps, you're done. I'm pretty sure Steve's words were "If your slow, I'm pulling you off the track. If you're fast, I'll pull you off the track and shoot you." And he said he didn't want to motivate us...

I started the run pretty sore. My shins, calfs, and ankles are still feeling kind of beat up from the hill running. I really appreciated the opportunity to run on the track instead of pavement. I knew we'd be successful as a group because no one wanted to fail. The "train" has really turned into a strong team...and it's great to be a part of. Whenever I felt like quitting, I knew there'd be one other person in our group that was feeling strong and could carry us. Sometimes I was the strong person, and sometimes I was the one being carried.

Are splits are as follows (and yes, I did steal these from Mike. I wore a watch, but, uh, had some problem with it).

MGP ... 10K1
1--1:48 ... 1:38
2--1:47 ... 1:35
3--1:43 ... 1:35
4--1:44 ... 1:37
5-- 1:43 ... 1:37
6-- 1:45 ... 1:38
7-- 1:45 ... 1:37
8-- 1:45 ... 1:37
9-- 1:44 ... 1:38
10- 1:45 ... 1:38
11- 1:45 ... 1:37
12- 1:44 ... 1:37
13- 1:46 ... 1:37
14- 1:45 ... 1:37
15- 1:46 ... 1:37
16- 1:46 ... 1:37
17- 1:46 ... 1:37
18- 1:47 ... 1:34
19- 1:45 ... 1:36
20- 1:46 ... 1:36
total:
35:13 ... 32:23
7:02Pace ... 6:28Pace

Feeling great about the workout...but need to get myself in gear for the long run tomorrow. 16-18, closing the last 6. It doesn't sound hard at all...but I know my body is tired and sore.

pluses: new sunglasses

minuses: sick of spending time in my car

10/29 recovery run

Today I did the 7 mile loop at town lake. My ankles, shins, and feet are feeling really stiff from all of the pounding on the concrete downhills yesterday. I started to notice that a bit on the long run on Saturday. Yesterday just seemed to make things worse. It felt good to run on the trail today. I went a little under 8 min pace and feel like I got a good recovery. Looking forward to the burn tomorrow...

pluses: feeling positive about racing

minuses: feeling torn about big decisions

10/28 Stratford Loops

Today was pretty interesting. I started out the run with a pretty negative attitude. I'm not sure why, but I just wasn't feeling it. I think I am still in recovery mode from yesterday, where I did a whole lot of nothing. I had a pretty slow warm-up and then almost immediately got dropped by the 3:10 train on the first loop up the hills. That's when I started getting really down on myself. We recovered on red bud, mostly steep downhills. Then we hit tempo pace on Lake Austin. Actually, it was way faster than tempo pace. Geezer told me he was trying to drop me the whole time...and I was trying to hang on. We ended up at 6:31 pace. On the second round of hills I was a lot more positive. It felt easier. I was running by myself so I wasn't thinking about who was behind me or ahead of me...which was nice. I just kind of hit a nice stride, and stopped thinking. That seemed to solve the problem with the negative mind-set. On the second tempo I spotted Ramon so decided to try and catch up to him. I caught him towards the end of Lake Austin. I'm not sure what my pace was, but it felt like 10k pace, but felt good.

So although things didn't start out well, I think I ended things on a positive note. Now I just need to keep that positive thinking going for the next 3 weeks. I see the light at the end of the tunnel!

pluses: great weather

minuses: teens stink at turning in paperwork

10/26 pumpkin run

I went to help out at the pumpkin run this morning...and was very thankful that I didn't have to do the 7 or 10 mile run :) My legs are really feeling that back to back quality workouts on Thursday and Friday and then the long run yesterday. I ran an easy 4-5 with the pumpkin run crew and was glad to call it a day. I think I'm going to take tomorrow off. I don't have to work...so I'm envisioning a day with a lot of rest. My body feels tired and I'm a little overwhelmed with wedding stuff, etc. I'm looking forward to the much needed recovery and I'm hoping that puts me back on track for the rest of the week!

pluses: easy night at church

minuses: too much to do and not enough time to do it in

10/25 mgp long run

Today's run was meant to help me determine whether I'd go out at 3:15 pace or 3:10 pace in SA in three weeks. Unfortunately, I don't think I have my answer. My goal was to run right on 3:10 pace (7:15 a mile) and see how that felt. If things felt good, then my plan was to go out at that pace for SA. I ran with the "3:10 train", but somehow we turned into something closer to the 3:06 train. I'm waiting for some splits from Bruce to see what they really were. Every mile was about 5-10 seconds fast, with the exception of mile 5 on the loop (uphill). We did a 5 mile loops x 3 with about a two minute rest between each set. The rest was a nice time for lactic acid to build up before we started running again. After looking back on the run I'd say it was kind of up and down. Sometimes things felt pretty easy, other times I felt myself fading. I'm not sure where this leaves me as far as the marathon. Yes, the run was a bit harder then I'd like for it to have felt, but there was more than one factor affecting how I felt. First, I ran back to back quality workouts on Thursday and Friday. Second, I've only had 10 hours of sleep combined in the past two days. Next, I went to bed at 1am and had a few more drinks than I should have...and lastly, we were running faster than 3:10. So in a way I think all of those sounds like excuses, but when I think about it, those are all things to consider when figuring out my goal. Hopefully some office hours on Tuesday will help me decide...

10/24 CV, again

Being a good friend won out over being a smart runner today :) Angie missed the workout yesterday and was looking for someone to run it with her this morning. My legs feel totally recovered, so I figured why not. We were shooting for 1:45s per a quarter. We weren't totally consistent...but that probably ended up being our average. We started at Jack and Adams and ran to the Austin High track (about 14 min warmup) and took the long way back (20 min). I felt good. I was a little worried about feeling tired by the end of the workout but fatigue never set in. I'm going to aqua-jog this afternoon and hopefully that'll get the legs ready for tomorrow's long run!

pluses: corey morrow concert tonight, weekend!

minuses: can't find my cell phone