All-comers track meet

On Friday night I dragged myself out to Metairie for the New Orleans Track Club's final free-for-all track meet of the summer. It's the only one I've made it to this year, unfortunately. It's really an excellent event: when else will slow folks like me get to participate in a track meet?

But the timing was really bad. First of all, I worked late because of a particularly obnoxious patient family member. I know this person from prior dealings, and she refuses to believe that her husband doesn't have drug coverage through his Medicare...because he never signed up for a part D plan. She gets very irate, shouting at me that Obama gave everyone insurance, so where is her husband's? I explain how to enroll in Medicare part D, but she never does it, and every time her spouse is hospitalized, we go through the same thing. This time she refused to leave the pharmacy until I gave him his "free drugs" and threatened to call her congressman. I finally persuaded her to purchase the most important drugs on a discount card, and left with only half an hour to change, drive to Metairie, and warm up for the mile.
Second of all, you know how Hanson's plan is based on cumulative fatigue? Well, I'm cumulatively fatigued alright. I had a tough tempo on Thursday and ten tired miles the morning of the track meet, and I was sore just walking by the time I got to the track. My legs just felt heavy, dead, tired, sore...anything but fast and fresh.
To make matters worse, I didn't have enough time to really warm up. The first race is the mile, and I would prefer to warm up for a mile and then do some strides, but I only had time to run to the bathroom, grab some water, and jog around the track once before it was time to line up.

Since I didn't take pictures, here's an artists
rendition of what went down. I should
considera new career in courtroom art. 

The field for the mile was large - over twenty people - but they didn't want to run two heats. I immediately got boxed in behind children and teens going slower than my goal. I couldn't escape, and the first lap was 1:38! Finally, at 100m into lap two, I scooted around one child and sort of got clear, although I wasn't fully free until the 800m mark. But that whole race just sucked. My legs hurt so much and I was working way too hard to end up with a ...wait for it...6:13. I mean, what?! I can't even break 6 minutes?! Ugh! I had a moment to catch my breath and wonder what went wrong while they ran the 100m - obviously not my event - but all too soon the 800 meter was lining up. I was super tired, but I came out to the track meet to run! I wasn't just going to do the mile and go home. So I lined up. And I actually did well in this race. A very fit woman was in front of me the whole way, and I heard her talking before hand about running the 800 in college, but I actually managed to out-sprint her into the finish, and basically leaned at the line to beat her! Still slow (2:48), but at least I remembered to race at the end.
The 800 was followed by a kids race, and even though my legs were literally shaking with fatigue by that point, I lined up for the 400m. I had the inglorious distinction of being LAST in my heat at 77 seconds, but I was glad I made myself do it. The free summer races are one of the perks of being a New Orleans Track Club member, and I like to take advantage of them when I can. Since this was the last track meet of the summer, I'm happy I did it, even though I think I ran personal worsts at all distances! I guess now I know what it feels like to run a mile race on top of 55 - 60 mile weeks with ten miles earlier in the day!

What's going on at work

While I've been busy running and sweating and taking classes, work has been buzzing in the background, too. This has been a pretty good year for my store. 

- I successfully pursued and added a new line of specialty business that has made up for some big losses due to contract changes
- My sales are the highest in my district fiscal year to date, which is kind of crazy since I'm only a pharmacy: no front end. So my little shoebox-sized pharmacy brings in more dollars than the huge store on the corner that sells sundresses, wine, vitamins, and school supplies.
- My pharmacy volume is up 36% year over year.
- I have been battling a competitor for a certain specific type of patient from a specific provider, and I finally got the upper hand. This competitor has locations in Mississippi, so getting licensed in Mississippi was a big part of overtaking them; the truth is, though, they hurt themselves by being dishonest with the client. Because Medicare gets to make whatever rules they want, the limited drugs covered under Medicare part B are reimbursed at the generic rate, regardless of whether you dispense brand or generic. So if the doctor requested brand, the competitor would report, "Oh, brand is not covered for that patient." Well, that's not true. Brand IS covered, but the pharmacy looses some money on it. But those are not the same thing! Once the client realized what was going on, they were understandably annoyed, and I finally started getting the bulk of the referrals.
- With my newly increased hours (this spring), I've been able to get out and do more clinical work. This week I did an inservice on PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV) for some of the doctors, which was a great way to collaborate and share ideas on the topic.

But we have had major challenges, too.

- Turnover. Gah. Nothing but. I loose pharmacists like crazy over here. I train them well, then they get promoted! And one tech had a baby and decided to leave the workforce.
- I am so over my manager. He has no idea what I do and therefore only bothers me with the most trivial and trifling of tasks, ignoring the fact that I am doing better than any of the other stores he manages. He's completely out of touch with the business. Luckily, the way our company works...no way is he going to be around forever if he doesn't change.
- Every single piece of equipment in my pharmacy has broken this month.
- Contracting is always an issue. We lose huge dollars and loyal customers over contracting changes.

Anyway, I'm surviving, busy, and still enjoying my job, so that's a plus! How's your work?

Marathon training week 3

Training for Twin Cities Marathon, October 9:

Monday: 6 miles easy

Tuesday: 4 mils total warm up and cool down. Workout was a ladder, which is probably the most interesting workout I'll do with Hanson's - their track workouts are mostly repeats of the same distance, like 12x40 etc. So this was a nice change. 400 (1:32), 800 (3:11), 1200 (4:44), 1600 (6:30), 1200 (4:48), 800 (3:12), 400 (1:32). With 400 jog between each. I didn't hate it, and I was close to the right pace most of the time. It was a trillion degrees.

Wednesday: Morning rest, but in the evening I went to the New Orleans Track Club 2 mile summer series. That got me about 4 miles, including warm up and cool down (ha, as if I needed a warm-up). The short distance of the race made me feel like it was ok to sub it for a rest day, and to continue my regular schedule, which included a tempo ten hours later. 

Thursday: Total close to 11 miles, including a 7 mile tempo. Despite the heat, I managed to limit it to one real "break" at mile 6.15 (seriously, why?). I did have another shoelace untie at mile 3.5, but I retied it quickly. I don't know what it is about the Kinvara laces, but mine always come untied. This never happens with other shoes. My Kinvara laces even came undone in my PR marathon, and I had to stop and tie them - restarting was so miserable. I think I'm going to save my laces from the next pair of non-Kinvara shoes I get rid of and switch the laces out. Anyway, this tempo felt much better, so I think I am getting a little better at them. Pace 7:12 for the tempo portion.

Friday: 8 miles easy. These day-after-tempo runs are SO slow. My "easy" paces for Hanson's should be 8:40 - 8:59ish on recovery days, and I actually don't even know if I'm hitting that. I feel like I'm crawling.

Saturday: 14 miles with 15 hill repeats. I actually skipped my favorite hill out on the levee because I just didn't think I could run 1.5 miles out to the hill, 1.5 miles on the hill, and 1.5 miles back with no shade at all. It was probably close to 100 degrees on the levee, as it's totally exposed and the asphalt absorbs heat from the sun. The heat index was already 100 when I checked the weather at 7 am, so...kind of a warm run. Hanson's has long run paces that are more like a moderate pace than easy, and the range is broad. I've been in the 7:40's to 7:50's, all within range, so far. This run was 7:48, but it felt harder than last week, the high mileage this week plus the heat must be getting to me! 

Sunday: 7 miles easy on dirt track. Except it didn't feel easy. It felt very hard to run about 9 minute miles. Once again, we got an oddly cool day (the low was 77!) on a day when I didn't need it. Can I please get a cool day for my long run?

Total: 60 miles - probably one of my highest mileage weeks ever. But that's partly due to running on my rest day, which I did in preparation for a potential switch of rest days. I think I am going to switch to a Monday day off. This will allow me to run the day before my tempos, which felt better this week. However, it means that I don't run the day before track, so that might just change which day is more of a struggle!

I slipped on my strength work this week, mostly because of some early work mornings and evening events. But I am going to get back to it this week: I can feel a difference already. My muscles are fatigued and my hips are a little stiff. I think strength and weights make a big difference in level of muscle fatigue, which in turn impacts how much of the workload my joints take on. So next week, back to real, legitimate strength every single day. 

A better tempo

I mentioned last week that I have struggled with my tempo runs - basically with the part that makes them a tempo, NOT STOPPING!
The way my schedule is set up, I run track on Tuesday (8 to 10 miles), rest on Wednesday, then tempo on Thursday (up to 11 miles now and climbing). So far, Thursdays have been hard for me: I get up early to fit the miles in, so I'm tired, and I'm running in heavy early morning humidity. The no-stops-for-water part has been impossible. But this Thursday was a slight improvement: I think I'm headed in the right direction.

Thursday should have been awful: I had to get out of the house very early so I could be at work an hour early for some training, and a late coffee on Wednesday meant I was up all night and only got about three hours of sleep. But something else was different, and in a good way: I wasn't running on totally rested legs. I ran four miles the night before because of the Summer Series two mile race. And instead of making my legs heavy and tired, I was more ready to run. I have always known that I don't run well the day after a rest day: that's why I run even the day before a marathon. So perhaps I need to swap an easy day on my schedule with my Wednesday rest day.

Not that my tempo was perfect. I actually had two small stops - one right at the turnaround point in the 7-mile tempo, but that was just to very quickly tie my shoe, and I waited until the turnaround when I'd be slowing to make a tight U-turn on the levee anyway to minimize the benefit from rest; the other was just mentally giving up. I planned my tempo on the Fly (the park on the river) and the levee so it would be a straight out and back with no temptation to stop at a water fountain. However, I DID pass a fountain: right at the beginning and end of the tempo I passed the fountain on the Fly. At mile 6.15 I stopped for water! And that was just me being a wimp. Of course as soon as I stopped I was kicking myself when I saw how close I was to being entirely finished. I ended up with a 7:12 average, which is the low end of my goal. If I exclude the last mile (assuming I had a speed benefit from my water break) it was a 7:13 average.

Two take-aways from this Thursday's tempo:

1. I run fast better if I don't take a rest day first
2. I need to plan a route away from tempting fountains

Perhaps it's time to make some schedule and route changes!

"Day off" Summer Series 2-miler

Wednesdays are my off days, but how could I say no to the last NOTC summer series 2-miler in City Park? Of course I had to go!
After work, I changed into running clothes grabbed my Garmin - just as it started raining. The NOTC's Facebook page didn't say the event was cancelled, so I grabbed my and David's running ball caps and headed out anyway. It was still sprinkling by the time I registered for the race (it's free for club members, $10 for non-members), but as I warmed up the rain stopped. I was supposed to meet David at the start with his hat per our text conversation, but since it wasn't raining I ran back to my car and dropped them off. I stopped for this quick selfie to show you how much I was sweating with under a mile run at this point!

Dripping sweat after less than a mile. Yay..

Back at the start, I expected to run about 13 minutes for the 2 miler. Yeah, not super fast, but that's about the level of speed and fitness that I am basing my marathon training off of. If I was way off that pace, I'd definitely need to reconsider some of the workouts I'm running. If I was a little over 13 - just a few seconds - I'd blame my tired legs: I did speed work Tuesday morning and a squats workout late Tuesday night and my legs felt tired.

I started out ten to twelve rows back, but luckily the start did not feel very congested. We were moving freely in about a tenth of a mile. It was sketchy at first, though - the path was wet and there were a lot of puddles, so my footing wasn't very secure. I held back to avoid sprinting away with the high school boys.
It was, unfortunately, very muggy. I hoped the rain would cool the temperatures, but instead the sun came back out and steam floated off the grass. It wasn't the worst 2-miler temperatures I've endured, but it was very humid. Mile one hit just as I passed a girl I'd been running behind the whole time, and it was a 6:28. Right on pace!
The second half was pretty uneventful, as I just tried to maintain pace. I was passed by a fast group, which I didn't like, especially since one was a girl being paced by a well-known runner (one of the "local elites", as I call them) and I was dreadfully jealous that she was so fast in the second half. My legs definitely didn't like the pace, but I ignored the soreness and didn't totally fall apart. I managed not to puke and finished in 12:57.

So, I'm just about where I should be right now. Yes, I wish I was faster - I ran my PR 2 miler at one of these events, and I think it was 12:18? Much faster. I want to get back there, but I'm not getting any younger. I'll take a 12:57 for now.

Marathon training week 2

Training for Twin Cities Marathon, October 9:

Monday: 6+ miles easy

Tuesday: Speed work. I only got in a half-mile warm up, which made the reps a little harder: 1200's in about 4:47, which could have been faster. Two and a half miles to cool down. It was dreadfully hot. I brought two towels and a trash bag in an attempt to keep my car clean.

Wednesday: Off.

Thursday: Tempo. Slightly better: Water stop at mile four, and a quick shoelace break later, but mostly consistent: 7:21, 7:10, 7:10, 7:10, 7:15, 7:08, 7:14

Friday: 10 miles easy, including a really bad fall at mile 8.5. I also worked in 14 hill repeats: I should have done more, but the train was coming, and I didn't want to get stranded on the river side of the park.

Saturday: 8+ mile long run...although this was not my longest run at all this week! Nice weather in the 80's - astonishing.

Sunday: 6 miles easy on dirt track. 

Total: 49 miles. I also did strength four days a week and core three days a week, plus Myrtles every day. I am definitely questioning my goal given how hard my tempo runs have seemed. Am I overdoing it? Or is it just hot? 

Otherwise, nothing feels injured except my ripped up knees and arm, so that's positive. 

Oh, this again.

I really wish I could stop falling on my face while I run.

The left knee is more cut up, but the bruising on the right...it's severe. Ouch.
I fell because I was rubbernecking the construction in the park. Our park path is being repaved, so not only was I running along the driveway entrance where I don't usually run as I skirted the construction, I was also not paying attention - and I tripped on a speed bump. Then I bit the dust in front of a dozen construction workers, nearly all of whom gallantly offered their help (accompanied by some leering. Bleah).

I can move fairly well, so hopefully I didn't do any lasting damage. 

A marathon experiment: Hanson's marathon method

After some internal debate, bouncing thoughts off David, and making a pros and cons list, I decided to train for my next marathon using the Hanson's method.

 In brief, the plan relies on cumulative fatigue in the legs with weekly speed work that becomes more marathon-specific closer to race day and a weekly tempo at marathon pace. The long runs are shorter than many plans, maxing at 16 miles. I know there are mixed thoughts on Hanson's, so I thought I'd share my pros and cons list:

Pros:

• Now is a good time to experiment: an early fall race after a hot summer will automatically be slow anyway.
• Shorter long runs make more sense in the summer, when long runs for hours in the high 90's are brutal. 
• Not-insane paces for speed work seems doable even for injury prone me. 
• The long runs are run at a reasonable pace. I really don't like slow long runs. Hanson's aren't fast, but they're more a moderate pace. 
• The book was on sale for $7.
• I don't really care about this race very much, since I mostly registered as an excuse to visit my brother.

Cons: 

• Long miles on weekdays will be hard to manage.
• Speed work and tempo every week might lead to injury. I have never done well with two hard days per week.
• I often have stomach upset when trying to eat during long runs and races, and I worry that long runs no longer than 16 miles won't give me adequate practice and experimentation time with fueling.
• I'm afraid I'll bonk.
• I'm afraid I won't be able to hit my tempo paces. I hate tempos.

Has anyone else done Hanson's? What are your thoughts, whether or not you've completed one of their training plans?

Marathon training week 1

Training for Twin Cities Marathon, October 9:

Monday: Four on the Fourth race plus warm up and cool down for 6 miles total.

Tuesday: Speed work: 2 mile warm up, 5x1000 at goal 4 min with 400m active rest, 2 mile cool down. 3:59, 3:58, 4:00, 4:02, 4:00. All by myself on the track in super high humidity. My track is right next to NOPSI the Sewage and Water Board, and is surrounded by water tanks that fill the morning air with steamy dampness. I was still tired from the race, so this felt hard.

Wednesday: Off.

Thursday: Tempo fail again. Warm up 2 miles, six mile tempo: 7:12, 7:11, 7:12, 7:09, 7:14, 7:07. But I had to stop for water after mile four. I was dying. Cool down 2 miles.

Friday: 6.5 miles easy.

Saturday: 12 mile long run at 7:46 pace with 15 levee repeats. I remembered to wear a hat to protect against the beating sun on the levee, which helped. 

Sunday: 7 miles easy on dirt track. I woke up to an astonishingly cool morning, and had a pleasant run in just 83 degrees. I won't see that kind of weather again until September!

Total: 50 miles. FIFTY. I averaged under 30 per week for my last marathon (although a lot of that was due to missing weeks with runner's knee - if you exclude that, it was probably closer to 42 miles). I just think 50 is a lot. Hopefully I won't get injured. I am trying to be diligent to strengthen every day and I never miss my Myrtles! 

Four on the Fourth. Why not?

I said I wanted to race more this year, and that includes races that I already know will be terrible. Like the Greek Fest 5k with the flu, for recent example. So even though Four on the Fourth was on a Monday, and I had just started running again on Wednesday, and since that time had run 37 miles on very, very, very sore and tired legs, I showed up to "race" anyway. But I knew I would be slow from the get-go.

This fun race is in Covington, so it's marginally cooler than our blistering New Orleans weather (it's "only" 97 now, but Weather.com tells me that the humidity is 60% with a dew point of 76%, and if you add in the UV index, you get a heat warning!). The course has a lot of shade, too, although they've been moving the course around and it was less shaded this time (last year they moved it a good quarter mile short...).
I noticed that the new fast running teams showed up, so I lined up several rows behind them. The race starts with fireworks (cute)! And we were off. Slowly. I just had nothing, right from the start. There were girls around me whom I usually pass, but I was nowhere near them today. My legs felt like lead. Right at the start of mile two, I got a side stitch! Now that is when you know you haven't been running enough. I haven't gotten a side stitch in a race in many years. I was running around 6:50's for the first two miles, but I slowed pathetically in mile three - my slowest mile - and trundled in to the finish somewhere in the 27:50's. Boo.
But the morning got better. I decided to try my skill at the beer mile! No, I didn't run the whole thing: I'd regret that. Instead, I joined a relay. We decided to do it very last minute, so I ended up going first because the other girls were still tying their shoes. I lined up at the table and the guy next to me said, "Uh, you probably want to be back there," pointing to the back of the table. I was like, "Excuse me?" And he said, "Like, we're running this direction, so you should be over there (pointing behind him)." As if! I mean, like the four feet of table would make a difference? Was he seriously telling me to move behind him and get out of his way? I said, "You think I should line up behind you, in other words? Ha. NO."

And, while he certainly drank his beer much faster than I did, I was super gratified to blow his doors off in the quarter mile, and our team beat his, too. In fact, our team ran a solid 8:20 mile, pretty good for four girls who don't like beer.

The beer mile was fun. But best part of the race was the swag - American flag shorts rather than T-shirts, and liberal door prizes: this year we came home with a free entry to the Louisiana Marathon! David won it... Should I steal it from him?

Hope you all had a very happy Independence Day!

Let's try this again

Last we left off running, I was feeling pretty strong and ready for a great summer full of New Orleans Track Club summer series 2-milers and free-for-all track meets.
Then I got some weird, debilitating flu-like illness for weeks. I managed to run a little, reduced volume and intensity, for the weeks I was sick, but I definitely felt the strength speedily leaving my muscles. And I soon as I felt well, I was hit with another sickness, this one preventing me from running at all for about two weeks. I had very sharp stomach pains with any kind of rapid or up and down movement, so all I could really do for weeks was light weights (and no core exercises besides planks, so now my waist is rubber).
Anyway, last week I finally turned the corner, and because I am not so bright, I jumped right back into my schedule. So you can expect to see me injured in a few days.

I'm spending more time watching running than actually running.

Wednesday: 6.5 miles easy
Thursday: Planned to do a 6 mile tempo with 2 miles warm up and cool down, but ended up with 10 miles (uh, actually, I got up an hour early and was just fuzzy-brained and didn't realize until I turned around on my straight out-and-back route that I had done a 2 mile warm up, not a one miler I had planned! So ten miles it was, and I really had to rush getting ready to make it to an early meeting where I was presenting. Stressful.). The tempo totally did not work out, either. I was not in shape for that at all. I ended up with two 2-mile repeats and a really sad final mile, all barely at tempo pace, feeling very hot, tired, and sore. Next week I will see if the tempo is doable, and if it is still a struggle, I'll reassess. I might be overreaching with my pace.
And then Friday? Oh, boy. I was sore, and my legs were so heavy. I barely cranked out 6 miles at close to 9 minute pace.
I think my struggles are due to a combination of three factors:

1. I was sick for over six weeks this spring - that's just tough on the body. I think I'm still weak.
2. It's hot! By no means is it the worst summer on record, but it's typical July weather with most of my runs being done in the 90's or upper 80's, with our usual high humidity. I didn't acclimate well this year, and I am really feeling the heat.
3. I dug myself into a fitness hole in the past two months. I only took two weeks off running with my stomach issues, but since I was sick for so long, I had several weeks of running that was necessarily reduced in volume, speed, and intensity.

Next week should give me a better idea of how I am actually doing as far as fitness goes, and then I can solidify training plans and goals. 

Anyone else training for a marathon over the summer? 

Switching shoes: How I like the New Balance Zante so far

Remember my rules for staying uninjured, which include not switching shoes? Apparently, money matters more to me than health. It's eating me alive that my last Kinvaras only made it for 400 miles. That's why I'm giving the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante a chance (watch them die at 300 miles. It will kill me).

Here are my observations so far:
Fit: I like the foot-shaped fit of the Zante. As I mentioned, I got a mens 8.5 wide. I have really wide feet, and these are the first running shoes that don't pinch at the sides. The shoe looks to be built on a semi-curved last, which is good for people with bunions like myself (I like curved lasts. I also have very high arches, and I think there is a correlation there). The shoe has a wide toe box, although it is not very deep, and a more fitted midfoot. The collar is low-slung. The shoe is not a high-volume shoe: any less depth to the upper and it would be tight. But it's almost a glove-like fit, which I like.
A note for low-arched people: I definitely feel like there is some support in the arch of these shoes. Now, New Balance mentions nothing about this, and these are by no means any sort of support shoe. But I feel an arch. This is not a problem for my mountain arches, but I bet it would bug a low-arched individual.
Feel: This shoe is right between "firm ride" and "cushioned". It's not as soft as the Kinvara, and you ride close to the ground. The forefoot feels firmer than the heel, which seems very padded to me. You could totally get away with a long run in these, but I did start to feel the ground underfoot at about mile 10. Because there is little to no structure in the upper, you will have to engage some auxiliary muscles or your form will suffer (you should also ensure a correct fit, as the structureless upper allows a lot of movement within the shoe - a too-loose shoe would let your foot slide around).
Flexibility: The shoe's sole is an all-over pattern that allows some flexibility, but also a little stiffness - which helps with rebound, I believe - since the same material covers the whole bottom. Some shoes only have small areas of firmer rubber and the rest foam - this increases flexibility. The reduced sole flexibility is not a problem for the Zante, though. It adds just enough control to the shoe, which is otherwise almost sock-like.
Uses: I would not use these shoes for speed work on a track, because they feel a little too bulky, but I did wear them for a road tempo and they were just fine. I'd say they'd be fine for anything from a tempo run to a long run. I would not recommend them for runners with oversupination or overpronation to any appreciable degree - they are best for an efficient, neutral runner. The low fit, flexible upper, and wide toe box all add up to very little support for the lower legs and feet.
Weight: Mine are a little over 8 ounces according to my postal scale, which is about half an ounce heavier than the Kinvara. As long as I'm under 9, I'm happy.
Pros: I really like the foot-shaped fit and I'm ecstatic that they're in wide. So far I love the price, but let's wait and see how the shoe holds up!
Cons: The same-material-all-over sole makes these slippery in wet weather. The forefoot is a little too firm for my bunion, which is bearing most of my weight. The upper is marginally warmer than the Kinvara, although nowhere near as stifling as some shoes, like Brooks. Less support than even the Kinvara, which may matter over time.
The next day: It's always better to review a shoe the day after a run. And I'll tell you what I discovered: my calves hurt in the front. Something about the heel-to-toe drop, the firm forefoot, and the unrestrictive upper created a problem. I wasn't used to the fit or feel and laced them too tightly, and my muscles and tendons complained. Even after adjusting my lacing and adding an arch wrap for some support (a trick I use in light, flexible shoes to prevent medial tibial stress syndrome - see it in picture above), I do still feel like my lower legs and feet get more pounding in these compared to the Kinvara. I am sure I will get used to it, but I thought it was worth a mention, and it's one reason I'm trying to slowly work the shoe into rotation instead of switching over all at once.