training run

Distance: 4.73 miles
Time: 46:36
Pace: 9:52/mile

Perfect running weather today (57 and sunny). Not perfect--getting honked at and yelled at from cars the whole time. Near the end I was tempted to cut the run short but did not because I ran away from one particularly annoying car-yeller.

race report: boston run to remember

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 44:48
Pace: 8:58/mile

Age Group: 100/418
Overall: 558/1702

Mile splits:
1: 9:20
2-3: 19:08
4: 8:32
5: 7:48

Yesterday my long run partner told me to take it easy, so I did for the first few miles. I couldn't resist picking up the pace for the last few miles and setting mini-goals (e.g., passing the Quincy Police men, passing other girls in running skirts, and finally passing a girl in a Varitek shirt near the end). I almost passed another guy (#9038) after passing Varitek but think he must have been so pissed at the idea of being beat by a girl that he picked up the pace too.

long run with CRC

Distance: 8.43 miles
Time: 1:31:32
Pace: 10:52/mile

The CRC long run was hosted in Cambridge this weekend, quite close to my apartment. Luckily, the guy who ran the track workout with me last week was there so I didn't have to run by myself. Everyone else was doing at least 7:30/mile so I definitely would have been by myself! We ran out to Brookline/Brighton, following Comm Ave and then coming back on the same route. The weather was incredible--if only Boston was like this all the time. I probably shouldn't have run a full 90 minutes the day before a five-mile race--tomorrow's Run to Remember might be a wee bit painful.

71 degrees in boston

Distance: 3.34 miles
Time: 31:26
Pace: 9:25/mile

It's gorgeous today in Cambridge! However, I realized that trying to run through Harvard Square is a CF in the middle of the day. Will not be doing that again. I think I definitely could have pushed myself harder today.

outside run today

Distance: 3.62 miles
Time: 31:19
Pace: 8:40/mile

I think I'm going to post here for a while to streamline my blogging. I meant to run Custis at 6:30 a.m., but that totally didn't happen. After an hour-long snoozefest, I skipped my run because I had to head out to the airport.

Maybe Custis yesterday made me faster for Boston, because today's run went fairly well! I was a bit cranky because I only had a chicken biscuit, coffee, a cookie, and a little Diet Coke today, and because my 2:30 interview got pushed back to 3:30, which made me end my run prematurely (was supposed to do 40:00) so that I'd have enough time to make it out to happy hour and then to work on a demo lesson for tomorrow. The endorphins helped the crankiness go away though.

Race Report: Cleveland Marathon, May 18, 2008

After a lackluster training session this winter and spring, I arrived in Cleveland with serious doubt about completing a full marathon. Most last-minute training programs demand a peak run about four weeks before the actual marathon of 20 miles; I had peaked just last week at 15 miles, having built up my long run miles slowly to avoid injury.

Why was I running the Cleveland Marathon? I went to grad school in the City That Rocks and was coming back for a reunion of sorts in addition to running in the marathon. I’ve previously only run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. which I was reminded as I went to the Race Expo that it is truly a larger race than others. The total number of finishers in the combined 10K, Half Marathon and Full Marathon was a cozy 8027. This number was small enough to not ever feel too crowded, except perhaps at the start line.

The race started at East 13th and Saint Clair in downtown Cleveland at 7 am. In Cleveland-fashion, a steady downpour that had started earlier in the morning started to peter out as the morning progressed. At 55 degrees, it was a bit chilly as I waited in my trash bag. One bizarre phenomenon was that the runners refused to begin running until they were at the start line! I think the philosophy was that all running should be done on the race course exclusively.

I ran with my friend Wendy, who was doing the half-marathon that morning; the race course covers the same route for the first 12 miles or so, before the lucky marathoners have to break off for their second half of the race. I kept to a steady 10 or 10:30 pace, but broke off a little bit when Wendy had to visit a bathroom around mile 4. The course winds through downtown before heading to the West side, through a nice residential neighborhood before turning around down a major business thoroughfare back to downtown Cleveland. After Wendy caught up to me at the split, I said goodbye and continued down desolate Chester Ave, which was even quieter now that it was just the marathoners. (Only about 1800 marathon finishers this day.) It was pleasant to jog through University Circle and past my old school building and my old neighborhood.

What came next however was not pleasant. Every marathon course I suppose has a challenging stretch of miles. For Cleveland, it is the portion along Lake Erie, a good three or four miles of high wind, quiet and little crowd support. These were the miles that I also hit a bit of a wall and had to resort to trying to find some “drafting” support to get through the wind. Even when we reached downtown and winded around through the streets to meet our 26.2 miles the wind was strong and rarely behind our backs.

I certainly enjoyed the marathon for its small size and friendliness. The weather rose to a respectable 60 degrees and was warmer in the sun. My biggest complaint is the wind, but other than that it was a delight to be in the City That Rocks.

As for my personal time, this being my fourth marathon and my first post-winter training, I set a new Personal Record(PR) at 4:42. I finished with a great sprint for the last 0.2 miles which suggests that I held back on the energy I had; so, there’s still room for improvement and a chance for more in the future.

In terms of injuries and recovery, I had no leg cramps for the first time during the race, though I did cramp later after the race on my long walk back to my friend’s apartment. It was difficult to move quickly and I developed my usual fever, which I took a 325 mg of Tylenol for. Today, I am only mildly sore and doing fairly well. I expect and hope to be doing runs again in a week.

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Credit: Picture Courtesy The Plain Dealer, Lisa DeJong

cambridge running club

I tried out the Cambridge Running Club tonight at the Harvard outdoor track. My friend Alett invited me, and I came along because I wanted to try out track workouts and to meet new people. At first I was terrified because I am the poky little puppy when it comes to running and thought they would be super intense like the DC Road Runners at W&L track. Granted, there are some intense folk (e.g., Alett's sub-3-hour marathoner fiance Hugh) but they welcome runners of all levels. I ran 5 800m repeats at 9:00/mile pace with a guy named David. It was nice to learn how to pace rather than just going at whatever speed I felt like and guessing that it was 9:00/mile. I'm also psyched that the pace felt comfortable--Berryline goal, you are mine! I'm looking forward to joining the club and participating in more workouts!

MCM training starts tomorrow!

I was supposed to do my inital run today per the 4:40 training program on the MCM web site, but sleeping for two hours last night made me so cranky that I came home and went to bed at 7:30 p.m. Now I'm awake again and regretting not running. I'll run early tomorrow and just shift my schedule a bit.

I have also signed up for the Boston Run to Remember (pictured above). It's a five mile road race through the city of Boston, and spring is likely to have sprung by then. D.C. folks, you are lucky to have nice weather--it barely cracked 50 degrees today and many of the runners I passed on the way to school were in long sleeves and sweats.

In other news, my Run KQB Run has been flagged and deleted as a spam blog. That's minorly irritating.