My grand plans for the Poppy Half (and beyond!)

I've had a week to reflect and recover, but now I'm ready to RUMBLE!

My GRAND PLAN is a long term blueprint that carries me through until my first marathon in May 2012. Phase I starts NOW.

Phase I
I have 7 weeks until the Poppy Half and I want to continue building a strong running base. So my running volume is staying largely the same but I'm adding strength training and dynamic warm ups. I've decided to try reformer pilates (pilates with weight resistance) and then a day of traditional weight training.

My inspiration for this plan came from Runner's World ultimate training plans, and one of my favorite running websites, Strength Running (http://strengthrunning.com/). I'm going to use this as a high level guide, but will make adjustments based on how I feel....and how my body adjusts to the new changes.

Phase II will be training for the Brighton Half in February. I'll add swimming on my easy days in anticipation of doing a triathlon one day. (Although for me, cycling will be the real challenge!)

Phase III will be training for the Edinburgh Marathon in May. Hopefully I will have a good solid running base by then, and be ready for those truly long runs!

And then who knows what's next?

So it all kicks off tomorrow, and of course I'm still trying to follow my 'Get in the best shape of my life' commandments. I'm excited and scared, but now that I have the time to do it, I'M GOING TO DO IT!

Lessons learned from the Dublin Half

Why, why, WHY didn't I break 2:00 hours? That's the question I've been asking myself the most often since I ran the Dublin Half on Saturday.

I know I shouldn't be disappointed. This was my first half since my injury, and I got a PB by about 6 minutes. But I thought I had done more than I needed in preparation for this race. More total miles. Highest weekly volume. Longest ever runs. I'm pretty sure I had that sub-2:00 in me, but where was it on the day?

I've had some time to reflect, and I think it comes down to 3 simple mistakes on race day:

1. I didn't have a race strategy.
This seems elementary and I'm not sure why I didn't....but I just didn't. I remember thinking that I would just run and listen to my body. Settle into a comfortable pace. Maybe it stems from my first two races where I didn't even wear a watch! And part of me just wanted to run and enjoy, not keep looking down at my pace (which of course, I did anyway). Maybe I thought that I had trained enough not to worry about it. Whatever the reason, I just didn't think this through. I didn't have a plan for the start. I didn't have a plan for what I would do if I wasn't on pace. No plan.

2. There was a big hill.
My friend told me that the race was in a park, mostly flat. The race website also didn't talk too much about the course. So I just assumed it was flat and didn't train for any hills at all. Boy, was I surprised when I noticed around mile 4 there was a hill ahead. It wasn't especially steep, but it was massive. At least it was in two parts, where it leveled off for a little while before climbing again. I wasn't prepared for this hill in so many ways--I didn't train on hills, I didn't know the best way to run it, I didn't know what I was supposed to do now that it was here. I panicked. In the end I tried to push and keep pace on the hill. Wrong move. It totally zapped me and I really struggled during the middle of the race. There was also a cheeky hill in the last mile to get to the finish line. It destroyed my chances of finishing with a strong final mile.

3. I ran the first few miles too fast.
An amateur error and I should have known better. I thought I had learned this lesson long ago when I was running a lot of 10Ks. In one of my early races, I started off way too fast at someone else's pace and just died at the end. From then on I knew I had to just keep a steady pace at the beginning. Even when I train, I always do better when I don't go too fast the first 3 or 4 miles. I then find it much easier to pick things up.

After mile 3, I looked at my watch and saw my pace: 8:40/mile. Not fast for most people, but that's like light speed for me! I should have slowed down then, pulled it back. But I didn't. I was feeling good, and  I had trained so much. And a small, little voice in the back of my head said, Maybe I've done it! Maybe it's happened! I've morphed into an amazing runner and this is my new pace now. This is easy. I'm going to get faster and faster. Hooray! For a few glorious miles, I believed! Of course, reality hit in the second half of the race.


So what have I learned?

Have a race strategy. No matter how simple, I should have a plan and stick to it. I should also have an idea on what I should do if things go wrong.

Know the course and train for it. I was too lax about it this time, and I didn't even think there might be a hill. From now on I'll take time to research the course, get thoughts from other runners, and then train for whatever obstacles are there. Oh, and I should probably be doing hill training anyway!

Don't start off too fast. In fact, err on the side of being slightly slower. This has been proven to me time and again, both in training and races. Resist the temptation. Don't do it.


So Dublin has been the key to helping me understand what I need to get right for my next race, in fact--for all the races I'll be doing in the future. And I've quelled that little voice and accepted the reality. No matter how hard I train, I won't magically turn into a fast runner overnight. I will have take it a step at a time by doing things the right way--including running smart races--and hopefully one day I'll get there.

I still have dreams of running a sub-2:00 half marathon, and my next chance will be in 7 weeks at the Poppy Half Marathon on 13 November in Bexhill-on-Sea.

I'll be there and this time....I'll be ready to race.

Rest Week Review: National Lottery Half Marathon, Dublin - 17 September 2011

On Saturday I ran my 3rd half marathon in Dublin. The race was suggested by my colleague and running buddy who has family there. It was near the city center and I'd never been to Dublin before so I thought....why not?

Not a huge amount of contact from the race organizers before the race, as the half is just part of a race series leading up to the Dublin Marathon in October. But I got my race number on time the week before the race, which is all I really worry about!

The race was held in Phoenix Park, a walled park at the edge of the city center. Our taxi driver told us that it was the biggest walled park in Europe. There was a shuttle for runners from Parkgate Street, which is near the park entrance, to the race start. Since our hotel was about 2 miles from the park, we took a taxi and asked the driver to take us as close to the race start as possible. Unfortunately they had started to close off some of the roads in preparation for the race. So while we made it into the park, we and others who had parked their cars nearby were left with a good 15-20 minute walk to the race.

The race had a good atmosphere with everyone trying to keep warm in the chilly temps. I headed straight for the toilets and while there seemed to be at least 30 or 40 port-a-loos, it was a good 20 minute wait. By then I had just 15 minutes to get to the race start about a 5 minute walk away through a field.

Runners arriving near the start in Phoenix Park

There were 3 waves for the race: 1) sub-100 minutes, 2) 100-120 minutes, and 3) 120 minutes plus. The 'pens' were clearly marked with the wave times and there was more than enough spacing in between. It was great not to feel like you were being squashed in. No pre-selected pen assignments--you could just find the wave that suited you best. My buddy and I decided to start at the back of wave 2.

Then we were off! The start was a little late but it didn't take us too long to cross the starting line. As always it was quite crowded in the beginning but thinned out after the first few miles. About 8,500 runners meant it wasn't too crazy but consistently busy from start to finish.

The park provided lovely views throughout the run, but unlike street races there weren't too many spectators along the course. Around mile 4 there was a mildly ascending but relatively long hill...and there was also another one in the final mile just before the finish. Otherwise the course was mostly flat with some downhill sections. Water stations were every 3 miles as advertised.

Lots of crowds and cheering at the finish. After we crossed the line we were led through a finishing area where we collected a goody bag, technical t-shirt, bananas, water and gels. The same shuttle buses were available to take runners back to Parkgate Street after the race.

Overall I thought it was a great race. My only small quibbles were:

1. Organizers could have more clearly stated the distance to the race start from the park entrance (we would have taken the shuttle if we had known it was such a long walk to the start)
2. There were no race medals! Not the end of the world but always a nice souvenir
3. Getting an Asics technical t-shirt was great but unisex sizing means mine is actually too big for me to wear!

Overview:
A well-organized race in a beautiful park, close to Dublin city center. Looped coursed on paved roads. Not a hilly race but a long hill in the first half plus a hill in the last mile to the finish. Worth considering if you are looking for a race just a short plane ride away.

Stats in 2011:
Date: 17 September
Entry Fee: €20
Number of runners: 8,500
Timing chip on race number
Goody bag + technical t-shirt - no medal

A sub-2:00 half - are the odds in my favor?

I've run almost 403 miles since the beginning of June to train for the Dublin Half Marathon this Saturday. But has it been enough for me to run 13.1 miles in under 2 hours?

This race has been a long time in the making. In July 2010, I was feeling great about my training. I'd done two half marathons already with the goal to break 2 hours at the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October. I had finally gotten myself a GPS watch, and for the first time experienced the benefits of knowing my pace. Not only did the times on my training runs seem to be dropping, but I was also doing strength training, boxing and yoga. Gone was the tiredness that I experienced when training for my very first half, so I didn't feel like I was overdoing it.

Then it happened. Running through Hyde Park with some colleagues one day, I felt a twinge on my run. Okay, so I admit it. It was more than a twinge, and after we stopped at a traffic light it really hurt to get going again. But I ignored it, figured it would go away and that I could just stretch it out when we got back to the office. By that evening, I had to call my husband to pick me up from the tube station because I didn't think I could walk home. To make a long story short, after about 3 weeks of denial and rest, I finally went to see a physiotherapist. I couldn't run without being in pain and had to miss the Royal Parks Half. By the time I had recovered and started running seriously again it was January 2011, it felt like I was starting again from scratch.

So here I am almost a year after I should have done the Royal Parks Half, with the same goal of running a sub-2:00 half marathon in Dublin. I'm happy with where I am but there are some worries:

• My running has been far from perfect. Missed some runs in my training plan, and while I had some good runs, I feel like I had an equal number of bad ones! Not sure if I ever got to the point of feeling really comfortable on my long runs, and for many I didn't even hit my target pace.
• I didn't cross train or do strength training this time around. I worried that I was just doing too much when I got injured, so this time I focused solely on running. But has that been to my detriment? Would I have been stronger if I had cross trained?
• I spent my taper week on holiday in Prague. This was an unplanned break at nearly the worst time, but I couldn't pass up the last minute opportunity. Long walks in the heat on cobbled streets and running on the treadmill for the first time in months was probably not the ideal way to spend my taper week!

But at the same time there are things that I have never done before which I hope will get me to the finish line faster:

• I hit my highest weekly volume of 36.43 miles. Previously I never ran more than about 23 miles a week.
• For the first time my longest long run was more than half marathon distance, 14.52 miles. I did 14-mile long runs 4 times, versus a maximum long run of 11 or 12 miles.
• Being on a career break means that I am more well-rested than I have ever been! I consistently get an average of 8 hours of sleep.

I know I'm ready to run in Dublin, but what are my chances of breaking a sub-2:00 half?


Whatever the outcome, I'm really happy to be where I am at the moment with my running and fitness.....and I promise you it will only get better from here! No matter what, I know I will finish this race. I have absolutely no doubts about that. I'm comforted by the fact that if I don't run a sub-2:00 half this time, I have the Poppy Half in November, Brighton Half in February...and the rest of my life! Because I'm not going to give up until I do it!

Dublin here I come!