Moody Street 5K

So, after my HM on May 1, I took a little time off from running.  not a lot, but just relaxed a bit, didn't push myself too hard.  The weather got crappy, so it was hard to fit in outdoor training and I H.A.T.E. the dreadmill. For the past couple of weeks I've done a few speed workouts though.  partially on purpose, partly by accident and partly by necessity - as in "I don't have time to get much done, so let's try and see how fast I can go".

I'm running a 10K on July 4, and I'd really really really like to run sub-60.  I ran 1:01 something on my last one, so I think I can get there, especially if the weather cooperates on race day.

Anyway, this 1st Annual Moody Street 5K was being held right in my backyard, so we reassembled members of Team Missile Toes for the occasion.  Unfortunately, one member lives in DC (Hi Anamarie) and one member was in the hospital (get well soon, sweetie!), so 3 of us ran.

L-R: me, Geno and Joanna

The first 3/4 mile was uphill through the retail district of Moody Street.  I remember when this hill would kill me.  Pleased to say that now it was nothing.  I looked down at my Garmin and was shocked to see how fast a speed I was sustaining while still managing to fall behind my sister and my nephew.  My nephew was going to be out of sight in no time, I didn't worry about it.  My sister starts fast and then falls off, so I wasn't worried about her getting too far ahead.  I caught up to her right after the 1 mile mark and we ran together for a mile, cheering for the leaders who were passing us heading back out. We kept a pretty good pace on this one mile loop of "the island" section of town. Nice and flat with a water station that was well staffed and easy to maneuver.  Soon after the 2 mile mark I knew I was slowing down a bit, cuz I'm just really not ready for speeding along for that long.  Neither is my sister, and she fell back into the pack while I just kept repeating to myself "you have run a g-d half marathon, you can gut this one out" and "there IS more gas left in the tank".  While I took the sharp turn onto a paved riverside path, I knew there was .6 left to go in the race, and I run this path often as it is a block from my home.  I know every tree, turn, bench and duck on the path, so I was pacing myself well to have something left for the finish.  I plodded along with my mantras hoping and praying that I might PR.

I made the final turn off the path (cursing the sharp turn which forces you to slow down) and just had to run over a bridge.  I waved to my family and charged for the finish line.... to a PR!  My Garmin read 27.26.  The "official" time is 27.36.  we were not chip timed, so they don't have a net time.  BOO.  My nephew pulled off a 25:15 (he's 14) and my sister clocked at 28:01. 

If you like Garmin data, you can enjoy my positive splits (oh well).  :)

Go Team Missile Toes (we named ourselves for a Jingle run...but thought the "missile" speed was fun - my nephew kept calling our logo "bomb feet" so if you look at his shirt, we made him a special one)!!

Recovery Drinks...

So, I read all kinds of stuff on sports, been to a few expos and ran a few races... everyone's got an idea about recovery drinks.

As WLS athletes, some of us have issues with dumping or other special needs, so I'm wondering what people are doing for recovery drinks.

I've been using G2 mostly, and old fashioned water.

I tasted some coconut water by Zico on Sunday, in Lime flavor, and not being a big fan of coconut, I was not thrilled with the taste.  Needed more Lime for sure!  John thought it was "ok", and he also later tried the PomBerry flavored Zico, and it got an "ok, if you like coconut" review from him.

I also got a couple of ounces of chocolate milk after the race, good for the sweet tooth.

The Boston Marathon expo had POM juice telling me it was the best thing.

I also saw Cherry juice being acclaimed as a great recovery beverage.

I don't see any reason to change what I'm doing with water and G2, but of course, would love to know if you've got some good miracle story of super fast recovery with something.

So, whatcha drinking??

fun race slideshow!

A photographer put together a great slide show of this past weekend's race.  I made the cut!  I'm at 1:04.

Great running birthday gifts!

So, my birthday is this week, and my family celebrated on Sunday after my race since I was going to be super-close to my sister's house.  We went out to a nice brunch, and then went back to my sister's house for presents and dessert.

My sister and family got me a new running skirt, a new sports bra in HOT PINK and a matching running tank.  woot!

My boyfriend got me 2 major running tools.  The first is something a friend let me try out a few weeks ago, and it's like the old foam roller, but BETTER!!!  Meet Trigger Point!  Hurts so good!!!  and it doesn't warp!

Also, we had a coupon for REI, which is an outdoorsy store - clothes/gear/etc for biking, hiking, running, camping, etc.  We wandered around to see if there was anything we wanted/needed that we could justify spending money on, and after a long stroll through the store, we both walked up to the Vibram Five fingers running "shoes".

I think we mostly just wanted to see what they were like, so we each tried a pair on.  The women's didn't come big enough for me (or maybe they just didn't have any larger), so I tried on John's since he was trying something else on.  I ran around the store with them, and thought it was pretty interesting. 

Anyway, long story short, we decided that we both wanted to give them a try for so long, that we got them!  He bought my pair for me as a present!  YAY!  The silly part is that we got identical pairs in the same size.  We're going to have to mark them so we know which is which.  LOL  I think I'm going to start out just wearing them to walk around before I even think about running any real distance in them. 

John ran in them for a short run on Saturday and said that they felt pretty good.  He was having calf issues anyway...so he can't say they were better or worse.  Anyway, I look forward to reviewing them as I get to use them. 

RACE REPORT: Cox Rhode Race Half Marathon, May 1, 2011, Providence, RI

Finally, my 3rd Half Marathon arrived!

I drove down to Providence (which is about 50 minutes from where I live) on Friday afternoon for packet pick-up and the Expo (lame, especially after attending the Boston Marathon Expo a few weeks back).  The Convention Center in Providence is attached to a Mall, so needless to say, I made the most of the situation by getting some shopping done while I was there.  :)  It was all pretty uneventful, except that I wore a pair of sandals that were a little too new, and ended up with a blister on my little toe.  stupid stupid stupid.

Anyway, race day was Sunday and I was all carb-loaded and foam rolled.  The alarm went off at 5:15am for a race start at 8am.  I stretched for about 15 minutes before getting out of bed (which is normal for me every day).  John got up and put on the coffee and made my protein drink - he pretty much makes my shake for me every day that we're together regardless of whose house we are at.  LOVE THAT!  We were on the road by 6:05am, which wasn't bad considering he asked me for stuff that I didn't anticipate ahead of time (I had all MY stuff packed/laid out, etc the night before).

We got to the race, parked, etc and I had plenty of time to stretch and relax and pee (3 cheers for flushable toilets to use at the convention center).  About 15 minutes to start time we wandered over to the corrals and I ate my first Gu, handed over my fleece top and John went off to watch the start.   I turned on my MP3 player and then put it on pause so that I could chat up the runner next to me about his shorts since I'd wondered about them - they have exterior pockets like a cyclist jersey.  He had nothing but great things to say about them.  Anyway, when I went to turn on my MP3 player again, NOTHING. silence.  I tried everything I could think of, but nothing.  I almost spent the first mile of the race screwing with it.  I gave up, tried again at mile 4, but nothing.  I gave up.

I like to be identifiable, but OMG, this shirt got small. Oh, electrical tape for the name. lasted 13.1 miles!

I was feeling awfully tight before the race, in places I don't normally feel anything.  My hamstrings were awfully stiff and my quads weren't much better. Oh well.

The race started on a short downhill, with the Marathoners and Half Marathoners running together.  The full marathoners broke off at the top of a hill at mile 2.  I made sure I had studied a bit of the course map to know when/where that would happen, cuz I didn't want to be one of those people who goes the wrong way.  The race crew did a GREAT job of making it all VERY clear, with signs, by telling us repeatedly before the start, and again telling us as we approached the split.  I shouted a good luck to those folks, and we continued on.

The rest of the course was pretty flat, with the exception of one very noteworthy downhill (short, but STEEP) at mile 6.something.  It was really a lovely course, and I was very happy to see my sister, brother-in-law, nephew and niece (and their dog!) at mile 4.7 and 7.7.  I had worn my name on my shirt for people to cheer for me, but it's extra-nice when you know the people cheering for you!

I had been working hard at conserving on the front half of the race, and to save some kick for the end, and I wonder if not having music was helping me stay on task for the race.  I tried really hard not to look at my Garmin too much, I knew that since I felt so tight at the start (and throughout the race) that I didn't want to worry about a PR the whole way since I might hurt myself.  I just tried to feel good and enjoy the people around me, follow what I knew I needed to do, which was Gu every 4 miles or so, and walk to use my inhaler every 3-4 miles.  I carry Gatorade with me and took water at most of the stations.  Right before Mile 10 a spectator told us we were under a 10:00/mile pace, and the pretend goal in my head was a 10:30, so I was excited to see how it would turn out.

I met a woman around 10.5 miles and chatted with her a bit, and as the crowds got bigger I was hearing more "GO SUE" coming from people.  I felt as good as I did the whole race, so I told myself to take one last walk to use the inhaler, one last Gu and then it was time to GO.  The scenery was gorgeous, it was sunny and high 50s outside.... I couldn't ask for more... until I rounded the last corner and could hear the PA system.  I'm pressing faster (I have to really build up to speed thanks to my asthma) and I hear "and here comes SUE" over the PA.  I laughed and was excited to hear him talk about me for 5 seconds or so.  I knew John knew I had finished - I didn't see him but he caught me with the camera before they started talking about me.  I saw the clock time at 2:19 something when I crossed, which was awesome cuz I had a few goals coming into the race.
Goal 1: PR - anything under 2:20 was a "win"
Goal 2: 2:17 would be a 10:30 pace, which I thought was a good push, but attainable
Goal 3: 2:15  maybe for next month's race, but no complaints if I did it!
Goal 4: no STOPPING to use restroom or stretch.

3 out of 4 goals ain't bad!  My official time:

1818  2539 Sue                  Doucet                     2:17:30 10:30 2:19:18 36 1000/1450 F 292/412 F3039

Here's my Garmin accounting, that shows my very pride-inducing negative splits at the end.

I'll get that 2:15.  If not in June, then maybe in August.

Post-race I met up with John at our designated meeting area.  I drank a bottle of water, ate a slice of pizza, ate some pretzel MnMs, half a Twix bar, a 15g RTD Protein drink and did some stretching.  Sitting down felt good, though I worried about getting back up.  I did use the ice packs from the mini cooler on my hams, then quads, then calfs, then feet.  I enjoyed about 30 minutes of rest and food (and some clothing changes) before I went in search of my free beer.  (priorities!).  Scored a Narraganset Light and box of Coconut water (they were giving away boxes! - 12 bottles, figured it was worth a try).  I also managed to get a shot of chocolate milk, and then we headed out.

20 minutes in the car was enough for my toes and calf muscles to cramp up and make John laugh at my pathetic inability to speak or get out of the car.  Jerk. standing up helped a lot, once I finally managed to get out (he undid my seatbelt at my request).  i had another bottle of water, a bottle of diet coke and half a bottle of lime coconut water (my review is ICK).

After a shower and another clothing change, I was ready - we - my family, John, my best friend Gina and her stepdaugher - went out for brunch in celebration of my birthday which is Tuesday.

Good day, all around!!!