Indianapolis Marathon and Half Marathon, 2013

Last weekend, John, Kira, and Kira's mom, Karen, ran the Indianapolis Marathon (and Half Marathon, for Karen) in Historic Fort Harrison. John wrote his own race report for the event, so I thought I would post that here. My version of the story is a lot more boring: I stood outside in the rain for 3 hours, waiting for them to finish and hoping that none of them had hypothermia. And I got a cold. Kira also had a huge PR that I hope she will write about at some point on her blog. The end. 

So heeeeere's Johnny!

I know I don't post much on the blog, but I wanted to write up a report for my first ever full Marathon. In September of 2012 Abby and I ran our first half marathon with friend of the blog Kira. Ever since then, the thought of a full seemed increasingly plausible. I trained for the half using the 10k plan out of Run Less, Run Faster. I know it sounds silly to use a 10k plan for a race that is twice that distance, but the 10k plan included long runs of ten miles at an aggressive pace. Knowing that I could run ten miles in about seventy-five minutes, I figured that I could at least finish the half and I even ran a 13 mile long run on my own to confirm this. After doing well in the half and loving the atmosphere a full seemed increasingly attractive. 

In February of 2013 I decided that I would attempt to train for a full marathon: the Indianapolis Marathon. I consulted friends such as Kira who had run a marathon, and I also decided on a few rules. If I was going to train for a full I had to: 1use the roller everyday, stretch for 10+ minutes after all workouts, and I had to avoid injury by strength training. There were certainly a few days when I forgot to roll, but I'm sure I averaged a good home roll at least 6 days a week, often more. Training for the marathon went well, and come October I felt strong and confident. 

The day of the race finally came, and I lined up on a cold and rainy Saturday morning in Lawrence, IN to run 26.2 miles. The previous Saturday had been spent in bed as I tried to get over a cold. It lingered all week, but by Friday, I was confident I could at least start. I had four tiers of goals: 1 Finish the marathon; 2 finish in under four hours; 3 finish with the 3:30 pace group; 4 finish under 3:30. I had trained for a 7:45 pace, but I didn't expect to be able to execute a 3:23 for my first run, and many experts advise against having time goals for your first marathon This turned out to be good advice. 

The first 13.1 miles really whizzed by. I know that sounds crazy to anybody who's never run that far, but after training on my own for 15 mile, 18 mile, and 20 mile long runs, having people to run with and fans to cheer us on felt amazing. I posted a 1:44:18 for the half, right on schedule for my third tier goal! This, however, was to prove the end of my 3:30 dreams. Soon after 13.1, I started to feel tired and tight in three danger zones: my glutes, hip flexors, and ham strings. Previous experience had taught me that combined stress in these areas indicated fatigue. Under similar circumstances in a few training runs, I had ended early because of such feelings. At around 15.5 miles I attempted to stretch my hamstrings, only to find them especially tight. I knew I was in trouble. 

For the remaining 11 or so miles, my pace became erratic and I battled leg cramps. The worst stretch was from 15.5 to 20 miles. During this stretch, I was not at all convinced I could finish the race. I knew that if the pain increased, I would have to drop out. Furthermore, I had ditched my shirt, as planned, but the stopping and starting contributed to a lower than planned core temperature. Basically, the race was far from over, I experiencing new pain, and I was running shirtless in 45 degree weather. Not ideal. 

I basically just kept running. at a little turn around, I saw my 3:30 pace friends, one of whom yelled "Enjoy it!" I took his advice, focused on my first tier goal of finishing, and set about moving in bursts. Once my watch read 32KM (20 miles), I knew I would be able to finish. It was still difficult. At one point I had to ask a volunteer to help me tie my shoe because I had to remove a pebble. My hands were too cold to tie them back on. I just kept going, and attempted to enjoy myself. I had never run farther than 20 miles, so every new mile was an accomplishment. I clung to such thoughts like an emotional life preserver as I kept moving, and other runners kept passing me. 

I was just short of 25 miles when I stopped again. Another runner who had been with me for some time encouraged me to continue, saying "Oh, come on!" He said this in a good way, as in "you're so close, don't stop now." I started running again. About .75 miles to the finish, I saw Matt, the 3:30 pacer appeared and ran toward me. He matched my pace (something like an 11 minute mile) and started pouring encouragement into me. 
"This is your first marathon," he said. "You're already faster than most everybody who runs a marathon," he said. "Do you have someone waiting for you at the finish with a jacket?" 
I probably could have finished without Matt, but when he appeared and started running with me, I felt like I could be proud of what I had done. I will never forget seeing him and the unconditional support he offered. With less than half a mile to go, he asked if I could make it on my own. I said I could and he left to go run with others. I don't think I sped up, but I kept running, even passing a few people before the final turn. Once in the finishing chute, I saw and heard Abby. As usual she was angrily screaming at me to run faster and finish. I heard my name called out, and then heard the beep as the mats registered my chip. Total time: 3:51:12. 

All in all, it was and continues to be an amazing experience. I keep remembering that I actually ran a full marathon. I don't know for sure what happened with my legs. I usually do some dynamic stretches at about 2-3 miles, but I skipped that. It was also a bit colder than I had been training, and it rained a lot. I also stopped to pee twice during the first half and ran hard to catch the group (a serious tactical error). Whatever the cause of my troubles, I still managed to finish (and I trounced that lying son of a bitch Paul Ryan, a goal that helped keep me moving). I think the training plan I used worked wonderfully, and I love how I only had to do three runs a week (plus cross training and strength. I loved having Abby there to catch me at the end and to think for me when I was too exhausted to remember to put my pants on. And I can't wait to do it again. 

Pre-race photos:

Lining up in the corrals: 

Abby, warming her gloves by the fire, during the race:

Awesome race sign:

Post-race photos:

Summer Running and Summer Salads

John and I are about to take some time off for the wedding. Ever since my area exam I've been working what I think of as regular hours on my dissertation in order to take a long period of time off this summer. My brain feels something like this Rameau tornado:

Some day I'll write a real post about my dissertation research, but you know, not right now. Suffice to say I'm ready for a break. 

In the mean time, John and I have been running a lot of miles and making a lot of salads out of Appetite for Reduction. I wanted to save the salad recipes for the summer when veggies are fresh and haven't traveled as far. So far, the salads in this book are blowing my mind. Every one of them is so good and has a dressing so delicious I could eat it with a spoon.

Above: Goddess Niçoise, with green beans, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and a delicious green dressing with chives, cilantro, and miso, among other ingredients. 

Below: Edamame Sushi Roll Salad. Holy crap, this is good. We served it with dressing on the side, and as suggested, a dish with soy sauce and a little wasabi. I dipped each bite in both and it tasted so much like sushi! The salad itself has edamame and brown rice sprinkled on lettuce, with carrots, cucumbers, avocado, and sesame seeds. And the dressing tastes a lot like the ginger dressing common in Japanese restaurants. I wanted to lick the bowl.

And, since blogging transitions are for chumps, here's some running stuff. 

This summer, I've been following the 10k training plan from Run Less, Run Faster. The point was to sort of shake things up, since I feel like I'm not really running up to my potential in races and I was getting kind of bored with my routine. I wanted to be challenged, and I'm getting my wish. Every work out has very specific time goals based on previous race times, and every single one has been HARD. But hard in a good way. I don't think I'm hurting myself and I've noticed a lot of improvement in the five weeks or so that I've been using the plan. Every run has a very definite purpose now, and it's more mentally engaging than what I was used to. 

Since I'm running a half marathon in October, I'm just using the 10k plan now to get in shape to do the half marathon plan. And it's a pretty tough 10k plan compared to what I've done. Last week's longest run was 10 miles, meant to be run at a 9:38-per-mile pace. I've been able to run most of the runs at the proscribed time, but I've taken breaks that are not part of the plan. Even though every run is specifically timed, I've tried to maintain flexibility in my attitude, since I'm just sort of training to train at this point. I just want to get used to running this way, internalizing different paces. It can be mentally grueling and difficult for a perfectionist such as myself if I take the times too literally. All the sudden a 10:00-per-mile average pace for a 9 mile run can feel like a failure because it wasn't the proscribed time. That's crazy talk and it's ultimately not helping.

In order to combat that rigidity, I decided that for my 10 mile run last week I would ditch my usual route and try a new part of town, complete with a woodsy trail system I'd never visited called Medway Forest. I ran from home to Huron College, the Anglican college affiliated with Western. There's an entrance to the trail system just behind the college. I hoped to approximate a route, based on the map and John's previous experience, that included about 2 miles on the trail system. But it's virtually impossible to know exactly how far the trail goes just by looking at the map, so I knew the route I mapped was just a guess. On top of that, trails tend to slow me down. The whole run provided a much needed refresher from the Run Less, Run Faster method. 

What was meant to be 2 miles turned out to be more like 3. Even though the trails on the map look like they kind of dead end, they are mostly connected by smaller, unofficial trails, some very rocky and some pleasantly wide and run-able. I got out my phone a couple of times to look myself up on the GPS (and snap a photo), but I knew to keep the river to my right. I eventually popped out of the trail system on Wonderland, a main drag in town, and kept going for about 5 more miles. 

I have to say, Medway Forest is kind of amazing. It's beautiful, and much bigger than it looks on the map, and the trees are tall like the ones at the Pinery. I truly felt like I was miles away from London, which was another mental escape. I definitely want to incorporate it again, maybe with the GPS watch so that I know how far I've really run.

This run was so encouraging. Running the trail portion at a slower-than-proscribed pace made the rest of the run feel amazing. I ended up taking 1:42:xx to run about 10 miles, and I'm pretty pleased with that, since I did some walking and maneuvering on the trail. I didn't feel like I'd been hit by a truck at the end of the run, and while I'm sure the cooler weather helped with that, I think it also means the new running plan is paying off. And that just gave me more motivation to get back into the plan this week! Of course, traveling for the wedding will mean some slight alterations in the plan, and at some point I have to actually switch from the 10k plan to the half marathon plan. But I'm enjoying all the fast running. Pushing myself has been so rewarding thus far.

John's Birthday and Ollie's Visit

This weekend was definitely the best of the summer so far, especially because we got to dog-sit for our friend Gwen. Her very sweet and well behaved dog, Ollie, came to stay at Auntie Abby's house for three nights.

 I took him to Gibbons Park and we walked the woodsy trail there. It was fairly damp that day, so Ollie wore his camp-raincoat.

John and I also took him to an empty ball diamond very near our house so that he could play fetch and run around. This dog cannot get enough fetch. He ran some of my speed work out this afternoon and he was pretty wiped after the second repeat. I let him sit out of the second two, not wanting to give him heat stroke. But when we got home, he rolled his orange ball over to my foot, as if to say, "I'M READY! FETCH!"

Thanks for the update, Facebook. 

John's birthday started out with a game of fetch with Ollie, followed by diner breakfast at Prince Albert's Diner, a local institution. 

We also hit up the Western Fair Farmer's Market before coming home to watch Die Hard and try out the mojito jello shots I made. This was my first time making jello shots, and I have to admit, it was great. They're really easy to make and truly did taste like a jello-y mojito.

For dinner we went to Milo's.

I tried to get a reflective shot of John doing a funny dance, but he always spots me right when I get the camera out.

Mean while, I had arranged for several friends to set out some party supplies and food at the house. John loves to be surprised, and as hard as it was to keep all of the party planning a secret, it was so worth it. I think he thought he was having a nightmare at the moment when they jumped out to surprise him. His scream was high pitched and epic. So worth it. 

I made IPA lemon bars from the Beeroness for the party and they were much better than I expected. I'm not a big lemon dessert fan, but these were really buttery and delicious, with just a hint of IPA.

Our friends generously brought more beer and snacks, and we sampled various bottles for a few hours. John said he doesn't think I can top this year's birthday, but I was going for something big because, holy crap, he's 30 now! John is old! 

Road Tripping in May

John and I had some more wedding business to attend to. We headed down to Bloomington in the time between finals and my area exam (which I passed! Woo! Subject for a separate post). In order to break up the drive, we decided to spend the night in Marshall, MI* and eat an enormous meal at Dark Horse Brewery. We've stopped there before and I wanted to come back when I knew we didn't have to get back on the road after eating. So we spent something like 3 hours at Dark Horse, trying various beers and pizzas.

For my first beer, I ordered the Amber, expecting it to be kind of run of the mill, like a lot of ambers. But it was so nice! Very smooth, and slightly sweet, almost like a Belgian. I ended up giving it to John because he ordered an IPA with a strong grapefruit taste that he didn't really care for. That IPA was perfect for me since it was less bitter than the average IPA. Either would be great for summer. 

Next, I ordered the Black Ale, which I've had before. It's very chocolatey and kind of thick for a black ale, and I wished I had waited for dessert to order it. John had something called the Arctic (IPA), which he described as hoppy, bitter, and full-bodied. We also kind of shared the Sapient Trip Ale, a triple (trip-ale, get it?), and John was smitten with it. I wrote down his reaction: "Do I like this beer? I LOVE this beer!" He also said it was better than Fin du Monde. It's fun to see what Dark Horse has on tap, since it's often beer that they don't distribute. 

All of Dark Horse's beers are fairly boozy, so we wanted to stick around and have some dessert before going the mile or so back to the Comfort Inn (...woo). We ordered an elephant ear for dessert. While it wasn't exactly the funnel-cake style elephant ear of my childhood, it was delicious. They basically make a sweet version of their pizza dough and spread cinnamon-sugar icing all over it. Yes, we ate the whole thing. 

Our plan for the next day was to work off all those beer and dough calories with what we thought would be a relaxing run at Pokagon State Park. The park is about 40 miles south of Marshall, MI, and about 40 miles north of Fort Wayne, and it's famous for its toboggan run during the winter months. I told John that the trails looked fairly wide and even on the website, and that it was northeast Indiana! How hilly could it be?! 

Famous last words. You can see where this is going.

It was one of the hilliest runs I've ever done. I got tons of practice swinging my arms for momentum on the uphills, and we were both pooped by the end. Most of the trails are described as moderate and the longest one is only 2-2.5 miles. We figured we would do 2-3 of the 2 mile routes and make sure we got enough mileage in. Turns out, it took us about 51 minutes to run just over 4.5 miles. There were a few flat spots, like this one that reminded me of a cabbage patch.

In general, the park is lovely. I hear the trails nearer the lake are less hilly, and all the trails we took were well maintained and pretty wide. We were able to enter without paying a vehicle fee for some mysterious reason, and the Potawatomi Inn has plenty of bathrooms and water in the gift shop. It's also really conveniently located off I-69, so we will probably try something like this on a future trip down to Bloomington.

Somehow, even on this very overcast day, John's white chest is just blinding.

We were in Bloomington over graduation weekend at IU, and my cousin Jeff graduated from the business school. The festivities started off with sushi, where Jeff, his mom, Aunt Becky, and John all did sake bombs.

John and I helped put the graduation party together while my mom went with Becky and my cousin Halley and her husband to the graduation ceremony. Mom ordered this cake from BluBoy** but wasn't sure what sentiment to add. So she went with this very apt message:

The weather cooperated and we were able to host Jeff and his roommates out on my parents' deck.

Aside from meeting with a florist, meeting with our venue coordinator, and a dress fitting, we did a few non-wedding related things. For instance, Mom worked on her ability to read Molly's mind.

The run at Pokagon was the first in a week of very hilly runs, including some speed work in the rain at Olcott Park.

I also had my trial appointment for my wedding make up. Afterward, I tried with moderate success to persuade Toby to sit for a photo.

We have about 6 weeks to go until the wedding, and even less before we leave for Bloomington to do all the final tweaks to our plans. In the mean time, I have food from the Rick Bayless cookbook to show you, and I'd like to do a little post summarizing my dissertation progress thus far, including the area exam.

I hope the weather where you are is appropriate for May - it sleeted in Southwestern Ontario today! Happy Spring!





*If you're curious, we stayed at the Comfort Inn. It was cheap and well located, but nothing to write home about. I will say that when hot air started coming out of the air conditioner, the staff immediately moved us to a better room with no trouble at all. If you happen to be looking for a room in Marshall, MI, I would recommend staying there. Just know, it's cheaper than the Hampton for a reason - but it's nice enough for one night.
**Not shown: for me and Halley, vegan peanut butter-chocolate rice crispy treat, and vegan cupcakes (salted caramel and sugar n' spice) from The Owlery, one of my new Bloomington favorites.

Forest City Road Races 2013

Today was the Forest City Road Races, London's biggest day of races, including a 5k, 10k, and a half marathon. I realized this year that I've run the FCRR (5K and 10K combined) more than any other single race, and it's kind of special to me in that way. 

In 2010, John and I both did the 5k. It was right after we had both started to lose weight, and John walked most of the course. 

In 2011, it was about 40 degrees and raining. I looked and felt like a drowned rat after the 10K, and I began to think of this particular 10K course as a personal challenge. I swore I would be back to conquer it. I don't have any pictures of John from that year, but he managed to run the 5K in just over 22 minutes. 

I couldn't find any photos of 2012, probably my worst performance ever at this race. I was sick and probably should have stayed home. John didn't run at all. It's a race I guess I'd care to forget, but it's good to acknowledge that I trained well for it. A new PR just wasn't in the cards. 

This year, the conditions were perfect. About 50 degrees and partly sunny. I'm not sick. 

We arrived early for John and Ian to run the 5K. They wanted to break 20 minutes and had trained hard for it. While they warmed up by running around, I watched the group exercise warm up in the park.

 After a moment of silence for Boston, the 5K began.

I watched a 12 year old boy WIN the race (!) with a time of 18:34. I knew soon after that John and Ian wouldn't break 20. But John had a pretty amazing race. He left Ian around the 2K mark, per their contingency plan, and finished in 20:23. I saw him round the corner for the finish around 20:00 and knew he would get a new PR by close to 45 seconds - a significant drop. It was so exciting to see him finish! John was 15th over all. The 2nd place male over all was in his age group, and since they don't duplicate awards, that bumped John up to 3rd in his age group.

Ian finished about a minute later and also ran a very strong race. They have a lot to be proud of. John pointed out to me that he has actually cut his 5K time in half since the first FCRR we did in 2010. His original time was almost 40 minutes, and today is was just over 20. Amazing!

About an hour later, I ran the 10K course. My goal was to finish under 60:00 and possibly get a new PR. While it was a very strong race, I knew after a few KM that I needed to focus on finishing in under an hour and not worry about a new PR. This course is hilly and it's easy to go out to fast and then wipe out. I held strong today. When I got to the last KM, my watch read 53:XX, so I kicked into the highest gear I had left and tried to eek out the last KM in under 6 minutes. 

Here's where things got complicated. I saw 59:11 when I rounded the corner to the finish, and I thought I could just barely get there before the minute was up. I stepped across the finish mat at 1:00:00 exactly, and I know this - I saw it. However, my watch read 59:55. I started my watch when I crossed the starting mat a few seconds after the gun went off, meaning my watch time/chip time should be a few seconds less than the gun time (that's the whole purpose of the chip, really). But my chip time also said 1:00:00, and I know that cannot possibly be, since it took several seconds for me to cross the starting line. I don't know what happened, but I was disappointed to see that my official time is 1:00:00. I feel like my watch is correct. 

                                

I don't want to focus on that, though, because it was a great race for me. Most importantly, my foot did not hurt at all during the race - that's a huge victory, since it's been injured since last year's FCRR. It means that the physio exercises are working, and that massage therapy is actually allowing me to do the exercises without getting motion sick. There will be other races, and if my foot is healthy, I can actually plan on running them. It's also by far the best run I've had on this particular course. As 10K courses go, it's a tough one to try to use to PR - much hillier than the Halloween Haunting 10K where I did PR in the fall. 

Despite the timing weirdness, it was a great day at the races. Everything about FCRR is well organized and it was a pleasure to take part in this event for the fourth year in a row.

I hope to find a summer race to try, but our schedule is so busy this summer that it's somewhat unlikely to happen. Of course, that is, besides the 5K fun run that John and I have planned for the Friday before our wedding (more on that another time). It's more of a group run than a competition. I'm registered for the Indianapolis (Marathon and) Half Marathon in October, and I'll begin to focus on that in the summer.

In the mean time, I've decided to commit to trying one of the training plans in Run Less, Run Faster, since John has found it to be very helpful in developing speed. I'm not sure how strictly I will follow the plan, since I enjoy running 4 days a week, rather than the 3 it recommends. But some added structure would be helpful. I'm also considering joining the London Runner Distance Club at the recreational level, since I think a structured environment would also be helpful to me at this point. But that will have to wait until some of the first activities of the summer have passed. I'd like to improve pretty much all of my race times, but I feel like that's part of a bigger step I need to take toward all around improvement. It's not a matter of dropping a few seconds to get a new PR - I don't think I can keep getting new PRs unless something more fundamental changes. I feel like it's about the next phase of running. I just have to figure out what that looks like.

"All or Nothing at All."

That's the title of the O-Town song playing right now on my Songza playlist - "A 90s School Dance." I have no words for how much I love the 90s stations on Songza. Unbelievable. So far it's included Daydream/Mariah Carey, Spice Girls, and Aqua.

John is in Portland giving a paper. Meanwhile, I'm in that limbo stage where I've submitted my proposal but haven't defended it yet, so I basically have nothing to do. This is the first time I've had this much time on my hands since Christmas and I've been a little unsure about what to do with myself (except, oh yeah, all those things on my to-do list that I've put off for months).

So speaking of the 90s, tonight I watched Sleepless in Seattle on Netflix. I used a screenshot to gather further evidence that my friend James looks like Bill Pullman (yes, he's is in that movie). The resemblance is strongest in Independence Day, but I feel like he and Bill look a lot alike here, too - if only James's hair was a shade lighter.

See what I mean? 

John and I have also made a few more recipes from Appetite from Reduction, such as: 

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Toasted Cumin Seeds:

This was good, but a few avocado slices would make it great. To be fair, I think it's me, not the salad. I don't really like quinoa - there, I said it. You can take away my yuppy card now.

This Eggplant-Chickpea Curry, on the other hand lacked nothing. It was really easy and so good. The eggplant really does break down into a velvety kind of sauce for the chickpeas.

Tonight I made this Mushroom and Cannellini Paprikas. It's basically mushrooms and white beans cooked in broth and red wine. It wasn't as amazing as I hoped, and it's totally my fault for leaving out the fresh thyme. I'm anxious to try it again as directed because it was easy and so good. I ate it over pearl barley, as recommended....and then I ate some more barely on its own, right out of the pot. Home alone for the weekend! 

Last week we made tacos out of the Coriander Mushrooms and Tomatoes, from the section of the book on veggies/sides. The author recommends them as a taco filling, and they were perfect in that context, especially with a little cilantro on top. And yes, we added cheese (take my veg card away, too, while you're at it). They'd be great on their own without cheese!

Complete non-sequiter....

A few weeks ago I had my first macaron. Holy crap! Why did I ever wait?! They are amazing!

This made me really want to make them, but I need to acquire a candy thermometer first. Maybe after the wedding. They seem kind of complicated, but once you have the knack of them, it seems like the possibilities are endless!

And in completely unrelated, running news...
This time of year, the weather alternates between fabulous and crap. Here are some pics I took after the crap weather days from last week:

             

I'm completely soaking wet in both of those pictures because I had to run in the rain a few times. Other days, it's been in the 50s and sunny - pretty much the best running weather ever. 

I'm running in the Forest City 10k next week, and I realized that I will have run this race (or race series, 5K or 10K) more than any other race ever - four consecutive years. At this point, I have a race plan, and I also have a back up plan. 

Goal #1: New PR. I'll have the fancy new gps watch to help me keep track of how I'm doing during the race. I'll write out splits ahead of time. I know the course well; I know not to go out too fast (easily done since the first 2K are downhill) and to save something for the hill on Talbot St. in the last 2k. I can visualize it easily.

Goal #2 Run a strong race without being sick.

I may have to ditch goal #1 the day of, we'll see. This training cycle has been more sporadic than normal because I've going out of town twice, and then gotten sick right after each trip. On the other hand, I've lifted weights and worked on speed more consistently than ever before. 

Really, I just need to stay flexible mentally since the weather is all over the place this time of year. It could be 70 degrees and sunny, or it could snow. That's what happened this week, anyways - 72 on Thursday, snow today. I know I can handle either of those, if I have a good attitude. John, Ian, and Matthew are running the 5k an hour prior to my race, so I will get to watch and cheer for them and get into the race spirit. 

What about you? Any upcoming races or new recipes? 
Enjoy the last few days of April!