“Whatever doesn’t hurt is just your comfort zone”

~ Daniela Ryf, 2015 Women’s Ironman World Champion

After a great race experience at the Crawlin’ Crab Half Marathon a few weeks ago (4^th Female / 1:28:45), I decided to test my speed in a 5K race in Williamsburg on October 31^st. Even though I just got back in the swing of things with training on the road, I had pretty high expectations for this race – I won it in 2013 and 2014. 

I thought an 18:40 was possible or perhaps a PR (sub 18:26). I had planned to go through the first mile in 5:55 and gradually work my way down, consistently getting faster each mile. Unfortunately, my body had other plans. I went through the first mile in 6:06 and felt absolutely…..flat. It only got worse from there. It’s so hard to keep going when you’re running completely off pace. I crossed the finish line in 19:11 (6:10 mile pace).

2013: 19:14
2014: 18:50
2015: 19:11

Needless to say I was not happy. Winning for the third consecutive year didn’t even feel like a consolation prize… In fact, I felt like I barely made any progress from 2013. Once the negative thoughts and emotions started rolling in at full speed I decided to call my Dad. Side note: My Dad is not my coach, but athletically he knows me better than anyone. He keeps me in check when I’m overdoing it. He tells me to suck it up and keep going when I’m feeling lazy. He helps keeps things in perspective when I’m over thinking. I’ve relied on his guidance in all things sports-related since I was a kid. Thank you Daddy.

Dad and I

Don't let his looks fool you. This man is in his 60s.

Back to that phone call … I think it went something like “I suck. That sucked. I have no speed. What the hell is going on? I suck.” Ok so this is when a coach usually comes in handy. Lucky for me my Dad is also an athlete and was able to analyze the situation properly. We discovered 3 key reasons why I fell apart/felt flat/couldn’t hit the splits: 1) I am training for a marathon (yes, that’s right) and I had back to back high mileage weeks, 2) I hadn’t done a 5K since April 25^th and my body hadn’t quite adjusted to that kind of speed, and 3) (I discovered this one on my own) it was that time of the month. For my female readers – I’ll blog about this at another time. It’s been a hindrance for me athletically, but I finally started working with a Dietitian (http://www.customizednutritionworks.com/) and I’m already noticing a difference J

The things that always cheer me up...dog lovin’, girlfriend time, wine, good food

On to the next one …. A week after that not-so-fun 5K (I still love this race and will do it every year J), I had a half marathon scheduled for Sunday, November 8^th. After the convo with my Dad, I decided to take a day off that week – no running, no swimming, no biking. Just having that one day off made all the difference in the world.

I did this race back in 2012

I remember being super excited with my time and place. I also remember seeing the women’s winning time and thinking “how on earth did she run a 1:28:37”. I couldn’t fathom running that fast or winning for that matter.

Fast forward to Sunday, November 8, 2015….I lined up at the starting line feeling fresh, energetic and ready to go. Had a quick convo with David Lockard (fellow Colonial Road Runner) who volunteered to pace me through the first half of the race (THANK YOU DAVID) and we were off. For me, the goal is to always run my own race no matter what the other women are doing. My plan was to stay 10 seconds off of David’s pace then gradually reel him in around mile 4, run together through mile 7, then start racing at mile 8. Ultimately I wanted to PR (break 1:28:45). I thought I was in shape to possible run 1:27:30.

Mile       Average Pace

1              6:59

2              6:46

3              6:54

4              6:38 … caught up to David and passed the two lead women

5              6:46

6              6:35 … passed by my co-worker/good friend’s house and she was outside, alone, screaming at the top of her lungs at 7:40 in the morning. Catherine – thank you for cheering for me…you are the best J

7              6:48 … bridge/hill

There’s a U-turn/out-and-back at this point in the race and I was able to see where I was compared to the other women. I usually don’t start significantly dropping my pace until mile 10…when I know I can hold it to the finish line. But it looked like I had a big enough cushion that if I went too fast and started slowing down the last couple of miles I’d still be able to hold on for first.

Mile       Average Pace

8              6:37

9              6:28

10            6:29

Even though I was exhausted and my brain started to malfunction, I calculated that I would need a sub 19:30 final 5K to break 1:27:00. Remember I only ran a 19:11 5K the weekend before…and I didn’t have to run 10 freakin miles first.

Mile       Average Pace

11           6:20

12           6:17

13           6:11

.22          5:29

Final Time

Remember the crazy lady screaming alone, in a quiet residential area, at mile 6, at 7:40 in the morning? Well she had a 5K at the same race at 9:15 am so I quickly made my way over to the start. We discussed her plan…run 8:20s, try to break 26 minutes. She decided not to look at her watch and let me pace her. I’m familiar with her training so I knew she was in MUCH better shape than that.

Mile 1: 7:50

Catherine: Are we on pace?

Sika: Yeppppp (7:50 or 8:20 who’s going to notice the difference)

Mile 2: 7:53ish

Catherine: Sika this is feeling really hard.

Sika: I know. It’s ok. We’re averaging 7:50s.

Catherine: WHAT?!?!?!!?

Sika: Just keep going you’re doing great.
Catherine: I feel like I'm going to die.
ummm who holds a conversation during a race? Keep running dammit.

About a quarter of a mile before the finish line I dropped out (I didn’t pay to race the 5K and it would have been wrong of me to cross the finish line). I kept shouting words of encouragement and kept my eyes on the clock.

She ran a 24:27..HUGE PR….and won her age group!!!!

We earned this beer :)

If you can't win the big things, take pride in the small accomplishments

After a disappointing end to my triathlon season in mid-September, I decided to take some time off. I usually have a hard time being inactive, but this time it was easy. I was mentally drained, physically exhausted and I had a busy two weeks of traveling planned: Kansas City for work and an amazing trip to the Bahamas with my family the week after.

During this time, I was able to reflect on the season as a whole. After sulking and feeling sorry for myself initially, I compared last year’s results to this year’s. And you know what? I improved by leaps and bounds. It’s so easy to get caught up on one bad race. Last year I never made it on the podium. Not even an age group award. This year I qualified for the US Triathlon National Championships (I opted to do another race instead…expenses made the ultimate decision). I also placed in every race I competed in, including a 2nd place overall finish at the Queen of the Crest Tri at the Jersey Shore and a surprising 4th place finish at Quantico. And I had the fastest female run split in the last four triathlons I did {including a 19:37 5K at the end of a sprint tri in Hampton}.

I’m not saying all this to brag….I have a longggg way to go before I earn bragging rights. But it paints a much larger picture. It shows how far you can come in a year with focus, motivation and consistent training. So although my last race pretty much sucked and I nearly dropped out a hundred times, I’m proud of the season I had. All the hours spent in the pool (staring at that black line), the countless brick (bike-run) workouts … they were all worth it! Note to self – always look at the bigger picture.

With the season behind me, I recently started focusing on road racing again. I hadn’t done a road race since April! In the past I would usually do a few 5ks/10ks and a half marathon during the summer. I was much more of a “running is my priority, swimming and biking is secondary” kind of athlete. This year (after the marathon) I decided to focus solely on triathlons: cut back run mileage and spend more time in the pool and on the bike. Since I mostly focus on Sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons, there’s no need for me to do super long runs. In fact, I think my longest run this summer was around 10 miles…that’s probably about all I could’ve handled with the heat/humidity anyway.

There were days when training felt unbearable!

With a half marathon (13.1 miles) on the schedule for October 18^th, I had to kick my butt into gear. Last week (a few days before the race) I was extremely nervous; more nervous than usual. For once, I felt completely under trained. I worried that if I went out too fast I might end up walking, or worse, not finish. I decided to put a plan in place and adjust my expectations to something reasonable.

A look back at last year

I trained hard for this race and broke the 1 hour 30 minute mark for the first time.

Went out at 6 min 52 sec per mile pace and held it for 13.1 miles.

9th woman.

This year I decided to go out with the 1:35 pace group (7:15 mile pace) for the first two miles and then get faster with each mile. {I would have been okay with a 1:30:xx and ecstatic with a time faster than last year (1:29:56)}

Splits

mile 1    7:17.... "slow down. don't go out too fast." ~my thoughts

mile 2    6:58

mile 3    6:55 ... I think I was in 8th (for women) at this point in the race

mile 4    6:47

mile 5    6:33 ....I felt good so I decided to pick up the pace and pass a few women

mile 6    6:44

mile 7    6:36 ....Spotted the 5th female (with a group of men). Decided to catch up and run with them

mile 8    6:40

mile 9    6:46....At this point in the race I was completely satisfied with 5th and what looked to be a sub 1:30 half marathon

mile 10  6:37....But I still felt great so I decided to run the last 5k as hard as I could.

mile 11  6:46....and then there was a hill and a direct head wind :( I began to hurt...really bad.

mile 12  6:40.....I spotted the 4th place woman (and another hill). I put my head down and went for it.

mile 13  6:20.....My last mile happened to be my fastest mile.

This Year

Over a minute faster than last year.

4th woman.

I was ecstatic with my time and place. I feel like with proper preparation I can go a lot faster. Next up... a 5k on Halloween and then another half marathon in November.

Daily Press (local newspaper) Article on the race :)