Halloween!

So, this post is unrelated to running, which is why it's separate from the previous post! But, since it's basically October at this point, I wanted to share my new classroom door for the month.  My goal is to change the door monthly this year, just to add a little pep to the third floor hallway. If you recall, my September door was a Minion from Despicable Me.  This month, I had to go Halloween themed, obviously.

Meet Frank. He's my newest creation using only fadeless bulletin board paper, some scissors, and a black marker. I added the bowtie because I like my door to have some class. (hahaha, get it!) Anyways, this was actually even easier than the Minion, believe it or not.  All I did was layer two long strips of green paper down the door for the base and cut out a handle hole.  Then I flipped the scraps over and cut out two eyes. Luckily the back of the paper is white, so it makes everything easier.  For the hair I took pieces of construction paper and cut out random chunks. I used the scraps from that to make the eyebrows, bolts, and scars on his face.  Then I used a separate piece to make two eyes, and a another piece for the mouth background.  The teeth are the leftover scraps from Frankie's bowtie, and I drew the nose on with a sharpie. Seriously, so easy, a caveman could do it. Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with a cute saying to go with it this time, so it's just Frank hanging out.  Stayed tuned for next month, I already have something in mind!

Head for the hills!

I'll admit, my training hasn't been that great now that I'm back at school.  I really do aim for at least four runs a week, but I'd actually like to do more.  Generally I don't like having more than two off days in a week because I start to feel lazy.  But, last week was one of those weeks where running just didn't work out. Do you ever have a week like that after a really good run? I was so pumped about my super half marathon but then I felt like the rest of my runs were sub-par all week.  Who knows, maybe it was just my imagination.  After all, I didn't get much in anyways.  Sunday I ran with Ryan and did some toe running, which made my calf muscles burn for days.  Monday I took an off day. Tuesday I did speed work and boxing.  Wednesday I had planned to go for four - five miles, but got stuck at work later than planned and ended up only doing 2 before boxing.  Thursday was an off day and then I did 7 on Friday.  I'm ok with Friday's run because I went through Nahant to get in some hill work, and I most definitely did that.  As tough as hills are, I'll admit, I love doing them.  No, not because I get to go downhill, I just really like the challenge of getting up to the top.

Link to my 7 miler through Nahant: enjoy this picture of my beautiful Hoka's instead of a picture of my running map in the meantime.


After that though, I knew the chances of running Saturday and Sunday were slim.  We went to Vermont on Saturday and stayed overnight and then I had a family party on Sunday.  By the time everything was over, I was just too tired to run.  We did manage to walk about 2.5 miles on Sunday, so not all was lost. Even though I was planning on running on Monday, I ended up not having time between school, meetings, and boxing.  But at least I got in a workout, so I felt ok.  Today I did speed work on the treadmill at Title before doing the power hour. It wasn't terrible, but I still hate the treadmill.  Wednesday and Thursday this week I have crazy work meetings and so I'm going to have to tough it out and run between the end of the regular school day and the beginning of the meetings. I'm determined to get in at least 5 miles tomorrow and another long run by Friday night.  Saturday I have class all day, so that's probably going to be my off day this week.  Hopefully Sunday will set everything right again, and I can go back to long run Sundays and hills, speed, and short runs during the week!

Wicked Half 2014

Last year I got a PR at the Wicked Half in Salem, so obviously I figured I'd run it again this year.  It's funny, because it's definitely NOT a flat race.  It goes up through Marblehead neck, which is straight rolling hills, and even parts of Salem that are just up and downs for what seems like miles. (But is really only probably 1 mile max.) So this year, I figured with the Tailwind and the Hoka's, there was no way I couldn't PR.  I know, I know, hubris and everything, but still.  Since I did just Tailwind during and a hard-boiled egg for breakfast last week before the 10K, I thought I'd go for a fuller breakfast and Tailwind before the run this time. By the time I got to the start line I had already finished half of my bottle of Tailwind, so I was ready! Now, there's usually only a few of us running, but today one of the runners brought her brother, who is training hard for the Lowell Marathon coming up next month.  He wanted to be at the front of the pack, so we started right at the line, which is something we don't usually do.  It wasn't too bad though, no bottlenecking, so that was nice.  When we went out, we went out fast, about an 8:00 min/mile. For me, it wasn't too bad, but there was a nice hill to begin on, so that wasn't the best choice, but I think it was worse for the girls I was with.  They're not used to that pace, so I think starting off hard really slowed them down for a bit. I felt bad about that, but they did pretty good in the end anyways, coming in at 2:12. So, right off the bat I lost everyone, the boys sped up and the girls fell behind and then it was just me and my jacket.  You see, it was actually fairly chilly this morning, so I wore my green Adidas fleece to the start, thinking I could leave it on someone's car, but no one parked close enough.  I knew Cynthia would be waiting somewhere around mile 5, so I just carried it with me until then. Let me tell you, there is nothing as heavy as carrying a fleece jacket and a water bottle in one hand while running.  Dropping that off with Cynthia was the biggest relief of the race, and I stopped to use the Porta-potties, so that's saying something! I'll admit, I was flying along for the first half, even after the bathroom stop. I hit mile 6.2 (10K) at 52 and some change, which was my fastest 10K pace ever.  Once I got past 6, it was all easy peasy anyways, because really, it's half over by then.  Everything was lovely until mile 10/11, when I got a wicked pain up my back.  It started on the mid to lower left side and eventually spread across the whole back. I honestly thought my kidneys were seizing up or something equally as strange.  I've never gotten a pain like this before, and I swear it started in the kidney, so I figure it was a side effect of the caffeinated Tailwind, but I can't be sure.  All I know is that it wasn't normal, so at the next two water stops I grabbed some water, which seemed to be the cure. (Another reason I believe it was a kidney issue, but I'm not a doctor, so what do I know?) I caught up with Murdock around the same time my back started to hurt and we toughed it out together until the middle of 12 when he took a bathroom break and I kept going.  I came through the finish line at a nice easy time of 1:54!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right, a full 3 minutes off my fastest 1/2 and that was with hills!  Sure, it wasn't 1:29, which is what Katie's brother came in at, but it was good enough for me.  I will admit, I was a little disappointed, I was hoping for a 1:48, but I'll save that for a flat half, if I ever find one. Anyways, I'm pretty jazzed about the whole thing, from start to finish it was a good race, even if I did run it alone. Obviously I'll have to keep up this training, but at this rate, I might be able to pull a full in the 4:20 range!

                                                                   My garmin page stats

Finisher photo!

Ohhhhh yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Ok, not to be super lame, but really, it's my moment of glory.  Totally got my name in the local paper for coming in first the other night at the woods.  I don't have the paper, but here's the listing from the paper's website.

In the 2.5-mile left on Goat Path race, John Tomaz of Peabody finished first (19:19) followed by Dan Curtis of Danvers (19:55) and David Quinn of Lynn (20:15). Allison Runyan of Lynn was the top female finisher, taking fifth overall (22:38).

To recap - I'm awesome. Go me! :)

Wednesday night runs

As you might be aware, I've been running the Lynn Woods runs this Spring/Summer.  This year we haven't been as good at keeping up with the runs.  Last year though, we had the MCM at the end of October, so it was more necessary to participate in the long runs and actually make an effort to push through them.  This year, my training is far from needing long runs in the woods, not to mention that some people were carrying babies and couldn't run towards the end.  So, it's been a bit sporadic this year, but we've still been going and at least walking the route, so that's something.  Now, you should also know by now that I've been testing out Tailwind and making decisions based on it's powers.  Sure, I had already decided that it was worth it, but tonight really drove that point home.
Today I went for a nice 5K before boxing, because I wasn't sure if I was going to run the woods or not, and I definitely wanted to get some miles in.  I went out on my now regular route behind the boxing club and down the rail trail.  When  I set out, I wasn't planning on going hard or fast, but I guess Tailwind had different ideas.  My first mile was done in 7:59.  The last two miles were both done in 8:11.  (Yea consistency!) Overall, my 5K was done in 25:13, which, according to Garmin is a new PR for me.  Woo Woo! That came on a Wednesday, after working all day, just drinking Tailwind, with no intention of trying. Needless to say, I was pleased with myself and of course bragged all about it to the trainers at Title when I got back.  Sure, they definitely didn't care, but whatever, it was my moment.  So I did my power hour 8 rounds of boxing, ate a PB&J while driving to the woods, and decided to run the short run after all.  Again, still mostly under the influence of Tailwind.  No one else from the group was running tonight, but that's ok, I've done plenty of solo runs before.  When the short run was lined up, I jumped in and hit the trails.  Lynn Woods has some lovely hills and the run is famous for starting on the incline, so everyone slows down at first.  As I was running in, I was passing people left and right and was feeling pretty good about it, even though I figured it wouldn't last.  But, the longer we ran, the more people I passed, until I was all alone.  Up in the distance I could see a figure in a purple shirt, but I just couldn't quite catch him.  Then again, I wasn't trying that hard either.  I was convinced that I was in first place for a while, but when I caught sight of that shirt, I realized I wasn't.  However, I knew I must be close, because I had passed so many people and there was no one around me.  To the point where I couldn't even hear feet coming up behind me, so I don't even think there was anyone close to me.  Never look back, that's the first rule of running a race, so I kept my eyes forward and chased that purple shirt.  Sure, I never did catch him, but I did manage to pull out a 9:00 minute mile in the woods.  Maybe that's not that impressive, but it was enough to keep me in FIRST PLACE for female finishers.  That's right, after two years of woods runs, I finally came in first. Top five actually, even if I was number five.  Anyways, I'm proud of myself but I'm fairly certain I owe most of it to the Tailwind.  If I didn't believe it worked before, I definitely do now.

PROOF!

                                     

Click here for my Garmin Connect

And my 5K from earlier today

*These are both double links. One click will take you to the picture page. You have to click view details on that to get to the Garmin page.

Oh and here's a lovely picture I drew, just because I like the way it came out. Well, most of it. I don't love Anna's eyes. I do love how Elsa came out though. I so should have been a Disney animator.  Also, a sign for Matt D's surprise party this past Saturday. In case you're wondering, I take requests.

Tailwind update

Ok so I've used it twice now and I think I'm ready to form an opinion on the product.  One use wasn't enough to convince me either way so I really wanted to be sure I used it the way it was intended and then the way I wanted to, just to be sure my opinion would be solid.  Before I tell you my thoughts, let me take you back to my weekend workouts. (Those include today because it's a holiday.)

     Saturday morning we went for our lovely long run.  Nothing too crazy, we were shooting for 10 - 11 miles and we made it roughly 10.5, so I consider that an accomplishment.  Our plan was to meet in Wakefield and run around there, mostly because the lake is an easy 3 mile loop, so we knew we'd at least have that.  Like fools, we decided to run the lake last and went off on an adventure through Wakefield first.  Not that we haven't run through other parts of Wakefield before, but this was a new route.  Unfortunately, the first road we took once we crossed from the lake was a giant hill.  Nothing like starting off the beginning of the run on a steep uphill! Once we got over that though, the roads weren't too bad, and we just followed it straight for 4 miles into Stoneham.  The plan was 4 out, 4 back and then the 3 around the lake. So I'm not really sure how we came out to 10.5 instead of 11, except that I don't think we accounted for the first .4 or so that we ran down to the giant hill.  Anyways, this isn't about where I ran, it's about the tailwind.  For Saturdays run I decided to try the mandarin orange flavor.  I'm not a huge lemon fan, and I didn't want to use berry or the caffeinated raspberry yet.  I mixed up the TW the night before and put it in the freezer/fridge.  Since the bottle was so full, I didn't want to risk the chance of freezing the whole thing and ruining my bottle, so I switched it fairly early.   In the morning the water was cold, but like all cold things in the summer, it didn't stay that way very long after we started running.
     The very first thing I noticed about the orange flavor was that it was absolutely the saltiest thing I've ever tasted.  On the TW website and the packages it recommends mixing a whole packet with 20 - 24 oz of water.  My water bottle is slightly over 20 oz, so I figured it would be ok.  I was wrong.  Pre-run, it was hard to even think about taking a sip of water.  During the run it got a little easier, because at that point I needed the water and the salt.  Around mile 9 we stopped so my running partners could refill their bottles, and when I did that, the taste finally diluted enough to not be a salt mine anymore.  So, what I learned from Saturday is that if you're going to mix the whole packet, maybe do it in more than 20 oz, maybe even more than 24 if possible.  Aside from the taste though, the performance seemed to live up to it's hype.  But I couldn't be certain because I also ate a honey stinger waffle for breakfast before running, so it could have just as easily been that.  I do know that I did not feel the need for any gels, blocks, or other kinds of fuel in the middle of the run.  This has actually been a pattern lately, where I don't feel like I need more fuel, but I also end up dropping in time a bit towards the end.  On Saturday I didn't feel the need and I didn't drop in speed.  In fact, and this might be the biggest deciding factor in whether or not tailwind works, I will now reveal my splits, as recorded by the trusty Garmin ForeRunner 10.   I know it's huge, I apologize, but the re-sizing options made it basically unreadable.

But really, check out those splits....and that elevation.  Whew.  So, as far as I can tell, the tailwind at least made it more consistent, if not actually better.  I still felt like I couldn't really judge yet though, because the last few miles of our run were downhill and then flat, so I am almost positive that had something to do with the negative splits.  Although, that's a fairly huge difference, so maybe it was partly thanks to the TW.

Anyways, so to be sure that I felt ok about using TW and that maybe it was just my fault the orange was like eating a block of salt, I gave the lemon a try today.  This time though, I only used half the packet in a full 20 oz bottle.  That definitely removed the salt taste, but it also really diluted the entire taste, which one would expect. It was almost as if there was nothing in my water, but you could still taste a hint of lemon. In the end, I probably could have used a bit more, but if that continues, then I'd just have a mess of leftover flavor scraps and nothing to do with them.  So, today I went for a short run and then went to a regular 1 hour Power Hour at boxing.  My run was 2.6, because I wanted to be able to combine it with Saturdays to equal 13.  Now, when I'm by myself I tend to run faster anyways, and usually that destroys my pacing for the later miles.  Since I only went 2.5, I don't really have much to compare it to, except last Wednesdays 4, which was done in similar weather. Hot, humid, sunny, all around miserable, if we're being honest.  To compare, last Wednesday I ran at 3:00 p.m. According to Garmin, the weather was 90 degrees, felt like 95, with a humidity level of 52%. I managed to get those 4 done in 38:22, with my splits going up all the time. I started at a 9:02 and ended at a 10:04, each mile getting progressively slower in between. Like I said, it was gross out. After that run, I did a Power Hour at boxing and I really felt awful.  It was hot, sweaty, and just all around awful.  I took a  lot of breaks during that hour. Just to preface, I usually try to get in a few miles before boxing and then do the Power Hour and it's usually fine.  I eat a banana or a gel in between and then go "hit it hard" if you will.  Usually I don't feel as miserable as I did after that run on Wednesday.
     Today, I ran at 10:30 a.m. with Tailwind. According to Garmin, the weather was 81 degrees, felt like 85, with a humidity level of 74%. I got those 2.6 miles done in 22:13, with my splits staying fairly close to each other.  1st mile was 8:08, 2nd mile was 8:33. My third mile, had I made it, would have been around an 8:50.  So, in that regard, maybe not too much better than Wednesday except I was just all around faster.  The difference for me was the boxing.  I didn't bring anything to eat in between and just kept drinking the tailwind.  I did add some more to the bottle when I added more water, but I still have a fair amount left from the lemon flavor.  This is where I felt the difference.  When it came time to box, I wasn't tired, I didn't feel worn out, and I was able to go as hard/fast as I wanted to, until the club got too hot to handle.  By which, I mean, their a.c. is broken and it was actually getting too hot in there.  And when I left, I felt like I could go run another 4 miles if I had to or if I wanted to.  I didn't, but I could have.
So, faithful readers, who have followed this entire thread with a least half interest, my final opinion so far is that Tailwind is worth it.  Sure, it could be a placebo effect, where I think it works, so it does, but really, does that matter?  In the end, all that matters is that it seems to work and it gets me over the finish line in a timely fashion.