Fast is happening to me

Crap. I'm getting faster. And it's all at the wrong time!

Like usual, when I race and don't give it EVERYTHING, I have a really fast next workout. Saturday's race was not everything I had, even though it was a PR. So I had some speed left in my legs! That's ok if I can quickly sign up for another race, and use that peak before I plummet, but this time, my schedule just won't allow it.

So I'll just race my training, sure, why not?

This looks accurate.

So I guess this is accurate, too?!

Er. Because running a 5k PR that includes a two-miler as fast as last Saturday's race during a hill workout makes total sense. But that's what I did on a regular old Tuesday night! Ack! Disaster! Must immediately find a race!

Please keep in mind that this is 30 seconds faster than my current 5k PR. WHAT THE.

Also, I definitely questioned my Garmin on this one. But I did go back and enlarge the Garmin connect map and I think it's telling the truth. No weird tangents or cutoffs. But I do think the hills somehow help. I was FLYING on the downhill. But really. I need to find me a 5k STAT!

Finally, A PR

It's been more than four years since I ran a PR, so Saturday night was sweet. I was third female at the Blue Doo two mile race,  breaking a four year old PR 0f 12:19 with a 12:00.9. The thrill was dampened a little bit by consensus that the course was short - again? What gives, New Orleans Track Club? - but even extrapolating out, I would have run 12:06, still a gigantic PR.

Most notable about this PR is that this is the first time I've PR'd since my hip surgeries three years ago (interestingly, my last PR was also the 2 mile!). A big goal for me coming out of surgery was to PR again, and I am very happy to have done so! And at one of my worst distances, too, with no specific training. This bodes well for upcoming races!

The Blue Doo is a night race that starts at 5pm on Tulane's uptown campus. It's a little hard to figure out how to plan your day around it: we're in the thick of marathon training, so we had a scheduled ten-miler that morning for those of us in our group planning to run the race. I slept in, so I wasn't running until late, getting home after 10 am. I wrapped up the run with six 100m strides, for leg turnover purposes. I do these on our nice, newly paved street most of the time. I definitely felt the ten miles, and I wasn't sure how fresh my legs would feel later. It would probably have been wise to have done the miles earlier in the day. However, my total weekly mileage was pretty low going into the race - around 35 miles. I ate a slightly late lunch (soup) and hoped for the best as far as my stomach was concerned.

Conditions and lead up to the race weren't ideal, so I thought I'd probably do well, since that seems to be how my races go. I'm a little paradox of a runner. I had cramps (always!), I had ten miles on my legs, and it was a little hot - 87 at the start (side note: I wish this race started at 7, when the sun is starting to set). But I knew I'd PR. I've been running lots of miles and hitting all my workout paces, and when I compared Tuesday's Moneghetti workout to the one we did a month ago, I ran a tenth of a mile further in the same amount of time for this time-based workout. It was time for a PR!

I jogged a little over half a mile to the start, planning to pick up my bib, jog home, change shoes, and jog back as a warmup. Then I would also fit in some strides. However, when I got to the front of the pre-registered line, my bib was nowhere to be found. My name was on the list, but my actual bib was missing. I was directed to get out of line and re-register, then come back into line and wait. Finally, officials copied my info onto some other form and gave me a bib, but it took much longer than I'd planned. By the time I jogged home, switched shoes, grabbed some water, and made a bathroom stop, I was cutting it a little close. I actually barely made it, so getting near the front was a struggle (it's a narrow starting line, too, so the crowds are thick). I couldn't get up as close as I wanted, and I didn't have time to do any strides or pre-race stuff, but I was ready.

The start was really, really crowded, and right after the gun we were all jostling. Of course, I was entangled in a crowd; I could see the other girls in our group, all ahead of me, but I'd have to work to get to them. There was plenty of clipping, ribbing and bumping, but finally I was running free: and right behind my teammate Kate. Now, Kate ran for LSU, so I have no doubts about her ability, but she's also mainly a track girl (her 400m DESTROYS me). However, she's been improving wildly on the roads, too, this year. Could I beat her? I thought so, maybe. Two miles might be the far end of her skill set. She's definitely more of a sprinter. Yet there she was, ahead of me, and as we closed in on the first mile, her pace was steady and strong. I passed her right before the turnaround, and it was a mistake. She grabbed on and stayed right behind me, and she didn't budge!

Kate on my tail!

Pain face! 

Meanwhile, Paige and Morgan, our two speediest ladies, were neck-and-neck for first place. All our PowerMiler women were working together! But man. Did Kate ever give me a run for my money! She definitely kept me moving in mile two: she was glued to me, and I knew I had to try to shake her before the finish, because she has a killer sprint. Mile one had been six flat, and I was exhausted, because that's fast for me, but Kate's presence prevented a major slowdown. Her footfalls behind me (very obvious to me, because she has a long stride, so her steps don't match up with mine) were like a warning bell. I pushed hard from about 1.5 to 1.75, gaining maybe another second, and I was so glad: as we saw the finish, I did my best to sprint, but with Kate's strong finish, she finished just one second behind me! Paige had won; Morgan was second. With my third place and Kate's fourth, plus Daniella's fifth, our five women members went top five!

'Bye, Strava

I signed up for Strava this year, but after a few months, I deleted the account. It just didn't suit me. There are a few reasons why:
1. You can't add miles to shoes, so if you have existing miles before you start logging them in Strava, the total is all wrong. Annoying. I realize that this is a problem that would go away over time, as I got new shoes, but it bothered me immensely.
2. You have to put a run duration. I often run without a watch, so I'm left guessing this. I only use my Garmin two or three times a week.
3. Unless you go premium, you can only see garmin mile splits, not lap splits.
4. I never used the segments, challenges, etc. that Strava is known for.

I'm now using Final Surge instead. By linking it to Garmin Connect, I now automatically upload workouts to Final Surge, and much like Strava, can edit them later. But Final Surge has much more detailed data fields available, and since it's Garmin Connect data, it shows lap splits, too. When you manually add a run, a time isn't required, and yes, you can also manually add miles to shoes. Furthermore, since it's a coaching app, I can share my workout data with our running group coach...I mean, if we ever start doing that. So far, I like it, it's easy to use, and it avoids all my little pet peeves.

How about you? Strava? Spreadsheet? Workout journal?

Smithsonian Day Live

David and I love to take advantage of free  museum entries for Smithsonian Day Live each year. The list of partnering museums, though, is not huge, and we've actually been to all the museums on the list at least once (including the really pathetic joke of a Voodoo museum: do not waste your money or time if you're in NOLA). Next year, we'll maybe plan better and travel to a farther museum: one in Mississippi or Baton Rouge, perhaps.
But for this year, we opted for a quick trip to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

There were a few new pieces.

It's a small museum, and there wasn't much new there, but I took the time to study a pastel work that is remarkably similar to something I was working on. The subject matter, that is. I was using watercolor, and I don't love it, so now I'm considering throwing it out and starting fresh with pastels. How did he get oil pastels to look so watery???

We also got some rooftop views of the city, even though it was very much like the surface of the sun up there (Friday was 95 degrees and Saturday was close).

The national WWII museum

Lee's Circle - with empty pedestal!

We had planned to eat at Cuzco for dinner, a Peruvian family restaurant on Freret street, so David suggested getting a drink first at the Catahoula Bar. They offer a variety of pisco drinks. We walked over and had a pisco sour, which was fine, but - man. That place was DISGUSTING. It was nearly empty, and there were bored employees lounging all over, but it was filthy inside. Heavy burned grease hung in the air; the floor was littered with dried up limes; dirty cups with dead flies sat on half the tables; plastic wrappings littered the seating area. As soon as you walk in, and also from the bar seating area, you can see right into the kitchen, and it was not only dirty, it featured a full industrial mop bucket that reeked of dirty mop water. The patio had a never-been-dumped ashtray on every table. It was bizarre. It's supposed to be a kind of posh little bar in a boutique hotel, but it looked like a college dive bar.
Cuzco, though? Never disappoints! Incredible food and excellent prices, plus it brings back nostalgic memories of our trip to Peru.

How was your weekend?

Nike's best

A few months ago, I reviewed a new pair of Nike shorts: the Crew, a kind of cheap option for running shorts. But just a couple of weeks into ownership, one pair developed a hole in the key pocket! I contacted Nike customer service, and they asked me to mail them the pair for inspection. Shortly thereafter, I received a voucher for $35 to the Nike online store. The company policy is to give a voucher for the price of the product new, which is nice, and the whole process was pretty easy. You do have to pay to send your item to them - no shipping label provided - so I can see how it may not be worth it. These shorts were light and flat enough to stick in an envelope with a couple of stamps, but shoot, Fed Ex is like ten bucks a package! And if Nike decides that the damage isn't due to workmanship, you're just out that ten dollars (not sure if you have to pay them to return ship to you or not; I do know that you have an option to ask them to recycle your damaged item, rather than return it to you, if they choose not to refund you).

So now, here I am, with $35 worth of Nike product to buy, but - I don't know what to buy! I used to wear tempo shorts, and the last two pairs I owned lasted for many years. I also ran many, many races in a pair of black Nike shorts I got on Ebay that I think are tempos, but fit a little shorter and slimmer. I like these shorts a lot, because lately tempos seem voluminous and big all over, which fast becomes uncomfortable in sweaty conditions. So if I could find something like this I'd buy it. I still have those shorts, but I "save" them, so I rarely wear them; a second pair would be nice.

Crescent City Classic, my 10kPR...in black tempo shorts

Acutely tearing already damaged hip labrum thanks
to many misdiagnoses - and winning overall female -
in black tempo shorts

Marathon PR and one of my funniest race pictures...in black tempo shorts.

If you know what variation these shorts are, and if something similar is still available, let me know! Otherwise, what's your favorite Nike running product? Suggestions?

Career twist

I got an MBA, I've been killing it at work, and I've been here for a while - the next step is to move into management obviously, right?
Well, no. It would make sense. But I have now turned down a promotion three times. I did get the MBA with the assumption that I'd eventually be forced to move into management and out of my pharmacy, but with another restructuring (we've done one every year for three years) it looks like I might have a loophole. And I'll take it.

I just kind of want to stay a pharmacist. So the career twist is that I want to stay just where I am. I know it's not a smart longterm move: never turn down a promotion! But a promotion would take me totally out of patient care, and straight into a very different area of work. I'm not ruling out an eventual move up, but for now I want to stay with my patients.

And as for career incentives, well, I'm never really sure what's next with my company. Since management roles keep changing, I could be setting myself up for a job with less interest to me, or one that could be eliminated in the future. But a pharmacist? A pharmacist is always needed.

Showing my age

Ten birthday miles

Happy birthday to me, I can't wait to go grocery shopping and then buy a new mop tonight!
Woot.
I feel every bit of 35 as I try to take care of my rogue knee. I went to my doctor and he's not concerned. Imaging showed no damage or even signs of arthritis (yay!), so he thinks it's an inflamed fat pad under my knee cap. I'm supposed to take some antiinflamatories, but you know how that usually goes - I am kind of anti-NSAIDs.
Meanwhile, I switched out my regular shoes, since my last pair had close to 450 miles. Better safe than sorry!

This morning I ventured out with the group for 2k cutbacks with 3 min jogs, which I ran (far behind the others) in 6:54, 6:42, and 6:38 pace. Not bad considering it was 92% humidity (but only 80 degrees). Now off to celebrate at the grocery store...because, yeah, I saved my least-favorite chores for tonight.