Declaring Blog Post Draft Bankruptcy

Hello friends! Long time no post!

One of the reasons I stopped blogging in Fall of 2019 was because I was REALLY GOOD at starting new blog posts and also REALLY BAD at finishing them & getting them up. Turns out, the more things change, the more they they stay the same, sigh.

But also a lot has happened since my last post, sooooo in the interest of trying to not completely disappear into the void again, I'm going to try to just post *some* kind of update, even if it is short and incomplete. So here ya go, a lightening recap of the last, oh, six weeks or so:

Revvin' that marathon engine

Whew, okay, so now you know I've got a marathon in the chamber! And we can start labeling training logs appropriately. 

After that shit show of a (not-) 10K, I was pretty excited to move on to marathon training. I was looking forward to having a nice strong 10K time to boost my confidence, but alas we can't always get what we want. I am happy to report that Week 1 was a pretty solid first week of training, with 42+ miles and the longest run I've done since Big Sur Marathon in May 2018.

 

 ~*~*~ CIM Week 1 of  15 ~*~*~

Grand Total: 42.3 miles

* 17.9 easy
* 8.4 tempo/threshold
* 16 long

Of Marathons & Qualifying Times (Here Be An Announcement)

Remember those days when bloggers would, like, *announce* that they would be *making an announcement* like they were some kind of celebrity and everyone was just waiting around on tenterhooks to hear about what was happening next in their lives? It always made me think that maybe the announcement was something so terrible, so horrific, so shocking that we all needed to collectively prepare ourselves and brace for impact. 

And then after days upon days of Twitter-stalking or hitting refresh on their blog, the "huge announcement" would be, "Hey, I'm an ambassador for this race!" or even just "I'm running this race!" or "I am running a *different kind of race* than I usually run!" or even "Some random brand gave me some socks to give away" or something.

Like Jesus, Stacy. I thought you were giving birth to octuplets or starring in your own limited-run HBO mini-series. Don't toy with my emotions like this.

Which is all to say, sorry if I am taking you off guard, just MAKING AN ANNOUNCEMENT all WILLY NILLY like this without warning you first and giving you time to prepare your smelling salts and fainting couch.

So, like. Here is the announcement:

The Art of Racing in the Rain (er, an Utter Deluge)

The year was 2012.

I'd run my first marathon a year before in what I thought was a pretty decent time for me, considering it was my first and *especially* considering that I'd been sick recently & run the whole thing with an asthma attack. 2012 had been a pretty epic year for me running-wise; in spite of not really training all that hard, I'd PR'd the 5K, 10K, and half marathon, and could not wait to take my second crack at the full. Since CIM had been so good to me the year before, I saw no reason to mess with any other race and signed up to run it again the first week of December.

Fast forward to the night before the race, with forecasters using words like "winter typhoon" and "atmospheric river" and "pineapple express". Weather people predicted multiple inches of rain between 5am & 10am (so, like, *right* during the race window) and 20-40mph headwinds. Several of us stayed the night before the race with Courtney's parents, just a short car ride from the start, and were definitely feeling more than a little trepidation about the weather.

This shot of Heather's will never not be the one I include
in any discussion of CIM 2012. Because, no. NO, SERIOUSLY.

Race Report: California International Marathon 2016 (Logistical Info)

(This post is about the all the logistical stuff you might be interested in if you're thinking of running CIM. If you want to read about how my race went, check out this post.)

Location: Folsom to Sacramento, CA

Date: Early December (Dec 4, 2016 this year)

Why run it? CIM is my favorite marathon to date, but the reason I was running it this year in particular is because when I had to skip the Santa Rosa Marathon in August 2015 due to a stress fracture, I'd signed up for CIM that December, thinking I'd let my leg heal, then keep building on my summer 2015 training, & be ready for a strong marathon in Sacramento. Alas, the healing took longer than I expected, and I lost a lot more fitness than I thought I would. I probably could have run CIM that year and finished just fine, but I didn't want to just finish, I wanted to run my best marathon ever. So instead I deferred my entry to 2016. (Pure luck that that was the first year they offered deferrals!)

Field Size:

6174 Finishers. The cap is 7,500 plus the guaranteed entries (see below) and CIM always sells out, so this number of finishers seems awfully low to me. I wonder if that is partly due to the new deferral option.

Pricing & Deadlines/sellout factor:

dotting i's, crossing t's, etc.

Race report here, ICYMI.

In case you're dying to know what went on BEHIND THE SCENES of Sunday's gift of a race, I figured I might as well tie all this up with a nice neat bow. Without further ado, I present to you Week 18.

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Grand Total:

Race Report: California International Marathon 2016 (My Race)

Sooooo it turns out that if you get your act together and actually, like, train hard for stuff, pretty amazing things can happen.

WHO KNEW besides everyone?

On the plus side (at least as far as CIM was concerned), my talk in Monterey on Saturday was cancelled, which meant I was actually able to get some good sleep Friday night and get to Sacramento before dinner time. Don & I got to the expo on Saturday around 4pm, a little later than intended due to bad traffic, but still in plenty of time for me to grab my bib & shirt & hunt around for a pair of sunglasses (having left mine in Palm Springs a few weeks back).

HERE WE GO.........

Well, here we are.

As I said previously, it's been quite a ride, and no matter what happens on Sunday, I couldn't be happier with how this training cycle has gone. (I mean. I could have done without the knee drama in weeks 8 & 9. But still.) I feel like I've trained well & am prepared for a solid race, and the time will be whatever it will be.

However. I *do* have to make some decisions about pacing ahead of time, and I have to base that on *something*. (I'm not experienced enough at marathons to run them by feel.) My original thought was that as long as I was healthy and feeling reasonably good and the weather isn't doing anything ridiculous, it wasn't TOO audacious for me to go out with the 3:35 pace group (8:12/mile) and see how it feels. But, that was before I learned that apparently there is no longer a 3:35 pace group, only a 3:38 group & a 3:33 group, presumably to give people a shot at actually *getting in* to Boston should they qualify. SO NOW WHAT???

Eh, whatever. I'll probably start with the 3:38 group & then see how I feel & maybe work my way up (er, hopefully that's how it will work). My recent 10K and half marathon times back up a time somewhere in there, and my training has been simply head and shoulders stronger than the year I ran 3:36. There is definitely something kind of freeing about being able to look back on this training cycle and say, In this training cycle, I ran 35% more miles than ever before. I hit 50 miles or more in twice as many weeks. I did twice times as many runs of 16 miles or more. I did three times as many runs of 12 miles or more. I did longer and harder speed and tempo workouts than I've ever done before in my life. I did multiple workouts that scared the pants off of me.

Still, since I have never run faster than 3:36, I think it's probably smart to be a little conservative and plan to run no faster than 3:35 pace for at least the first half. If I'm feeling absolutely amazing, then maybe I can think about pushing just a tiny bit harder after that, and around 20-22 basically run as fast as I think I can manage.

But, I'm also completely prepared for 8:12 to feel just barely manageable start to finish. And also for it to feel too hard. I know I should be feeling pretty happy & comfortable for the first 13-18 miles, & if that's not what 3:35 pace brings on Sunday, I'm more than willing to back off a bit in the interest of running a negative split.

So, we'll see. At this point I've done all there is to do, training wise; all that's left is to remember to pack everything & not oversleep. D:

(BUT SERIOUSLY IF YOU HAVE ANY PACING SUGGESTIONS OR ADVICE I AM TOTALLY TAKING THEM.)

See you on the flip side of this thing!

Evolution of a Distance Runner: Systems & Process Goals

I wrote a few weeks back about how I'm not really hitching myself to a particular time goal in this race. I've done that lots of times in the past because it's a very bloggerly thing to do ("My A/B/C/D goals for xx race next week are this/that/the other thing!") and because if you're not setting goals how will you ever make any progress ("goals are dreams with deadlines" or some such). Regardless of whether I achieved the goal or not, though, something about defining things that way always felt kind of...off.

There could be a lot of reasons for that. This research, for example, that found that stating a goal publicly can actually make you less likely to achieve it, because "announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed." And if you set a goal and then don't achieve it, how do you understand that? Or this bit from Scott Adams' Secret of Success: Failure:

"If your goal is to [accomplish x], you will spend every moment until you reach the goal—if you reach it at all—feeling as if you were short of your goal. In other words, goal-oriented people exist in a state of nearly continuous failure that they hope will be temporary. If you achieve your goal, you celebrate and feel terrific, but only until you realize that you just lost the thing that gave you purpose and direction. Your options are to feel empty and useless, perhaps enjoying the spoils of your success until they bore you, or to set new goals and re-enter the cycle of permanent presuccess failure."

CIM WEEK 17 of 18: Deep Breathes

Man, I do NOT understand people who talk about the "taper crazies." I love taper. I'm great at it. I don't even see why I have to run as much during taper as I do. I still had a couple of workouts this week, but outside of that, put my feet up, you say? Get lots of extra sleep, you say? Eat plenty of carbs, you say?

Done, done, and done.

CIM WEEK 16 of 18: Opioids, speed work, & a soggy weekend.

The upside of shorter days is catching these gorgeous sunsets at the track.

Oof. Taper is here, & not a moment too soon. I'm super excited to have made it through my last big(ish) week of training injury-free, but I can tell the miles are beginning to pile up & take a toll on my body. My feet & lower legs ache constantly, & my hip/glute/hamstring muscles are reaching that point where my brain says "Let's go!!" but the muscles are like, "Sorry, Chief, that's all we've got." Cumulative fatigue: It's a thing!

CIM WEEK 15 of 18: Hang in there.

Sunrise at the Berkeley Marina

Ugh. This week.

I'm not sure what I can possibly say that hasn't been said a thousand times. However, if you're having a hard time right now like so many of us are, here are some things I read in those first couple of days that didn't make me feel better, exactly, but maybe gave me a tiny bit more courage. I am the type of person that feels calmest when I have concrete things I can *do* (as opposed to wringing my hands or sharing alarmist articles of questionable origin or writing misty-eyed Facebook statuses), and some of these posts have been very helpful with that. So maybe they will be useful to someone else as well.

• Here's Why We Grieve Today, by Jay Pavlovitz
• What Now? I Have A Couple of Ideas, by Fit & Feminist
• A List of Pro-Women, Pro-Immigrant, Pro-Earth, Anti-Bigotry Organizations That Need Your Support, by Joanna Rothkopf
• How to Survive an Authoritarian Regime (In 10 easy steps!), by Jay Burns
• Okay, Fine. Here's What You Should Do Post-Election, by Ruby-Beth Buitekant
• So You Want To Wear A Safety Pin, by What A Witch
• Speak Up: Responding to Every Day Bigotry, by the Southern Poverty Law Center
• How to set boundaries with people who think boundaries and hurt are manipulative, by Captain Awkward

CIM WEEK 11 of 18: Texas Half Marathon #1 (+ my sister's wedding!)

Cool western fonts are the best.

This big news this week, of course, was OMG MY LITTLE SISTER GETTING MARRIED!!!! Of course there were a ton of professional pictures taken, but I managed to snap a few decent ones with my phone.

CIM WEEK 10 of 18: Train kept a-rollin'... (+ free shoes!)

Grand Total: 57 miles

* 21.25 easy
* 7.5 speed
* 8.25 race pace
* 20 long with fast finish (...ish)

Week 10 definitely goes in the "win" column. I ran all the miles (basically) as written and didn't make my knee worse, including in some ways the easiest 20-miler I can remember. It's been my biggest training week so far this cycle and frankly one of my biggest in *years*, and a big boost of confidence to know that I can handle several long, tough workouts in the same week and not end up with completely dead legs.

Tempo run distance PR?

So Friday's tempo run (for very loose definitions of 'tempo,' can we all just roll with it) was 2.5 warm up, 6 x 2K @ half marathon pace / 1:15 jog, 2.5 cool down. My watch can auto lap 1.25 miles a lot easier than 1.24, so I just rounded up to that.

This was another workout I've been sort of intimidated by all week because my legs are tired and half marathon pace is even faster than marathon pace, but it turns out that after 61 miles in 7 days, if you think "10K pace!," you can just manage to eek out HM pace.

I am nothing if not consistent.

I was still a good quarter mile from home after the prescribed 2.5 cool down, so I kept running & made it a nice round 13.5 for the day.

Also, I think this might be the longest tempo/threshold/whatever workout (including the warm/up cool down) that I've ever done in my life.

This Sunday is also my first 20 miler of the cycle (with fast finish), including Healdsburg Half Marathon with these ladies:

Healdsburg 2012. Memories! Look how young & fresh-faced we were!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have go put myself to bed before I pass out on the couch.

* * *

GOOD LUCK, ALL YOU AWESOME PEOPLE RUNNING CHICAGO & TWIN CITIES & KONA & LOUISEVILLE & ALL THE OTHER THINGS THIS WEEKEND!!!! SHINE WITH THE WHITE-HOT LIGHT OF TEN THOUSAND BEYONCÉS!!!

CIM WEEK 9 of 18: Improvement on the knee front!

I know, sorry....I had no good pictures this week
because I spent it mostly hoping my leg wouldn't fall off.

Not an amazing week, but honestly, considering the shape my knee was in last week, it was better than I'd hoped for. This was a scheduled off-week from lifting, but I still did at least a little body weight strength work & stretching for glutes, hamstrings, and hips every most days.

CIM WEEK 8 of 18: Knee Troubles :(

I am always superstitious about filling out my weekly logs before the runs are actually done, like it's somehow going to jinx me & cause me to get sick or hurt or some kind of emergency to come up. But this week I had some extra time early in the week & just thought, "Eh, that's stupid, let me just get this stuff typed up now while I have time." Three days later, I kid you not, I could barely walk.

Here's how the week went down:

Monday 9/19: a.m. strength work / p.m. karate.

This was the day after my 19.5 miles in Half Moon Bay, and I felt totally fine. No knee pain. Now, I was quite tired so pushed strength work to Tuesday, but throughout karate I was completely fine--no hint whatsoever that anything was wrong.

Tuesday 9/20: a.m. strength work / p.m. 2 warm-up, 6 x 200m / 200m jog, 4 miles marathon pace, 6 x 200m / 200m jog, 2 cool down = 11 total

Good solid track workout; again, not a twinge anywhere. I finished it thinking how weird it felt to have these double-digit track workouts starting to feel normal.

Wednesday 9/21: Rest

I had planned a short, easy run as long as I felt good, but in the grand tradition of WTF Wednesdays, I felt awful and exhausted and spent most of the evening sleeping, rising only to devour Shalane's recovery salad & a slice of marathon lasagna.

CIM WEEK 7 of 18: Big week & feelin' fine!

This week I started my weekend off with 13 miles on Friday afternoon: 2 warm up, 70:00 @ marathon pace, 2.25 cool down. #gobig

Much like Tuesday's track workout, this one had been out there looming in my mind, definitely the longest race pace training run (short of racing a half, which I don't really count) I've ever done during a marathon cycle. 70:00 worked out to ~8.75 miles, & I think in the past I've usually capped those race pace runs at around 6 miles, or sometimes two-mile chunks on and off during a long run. I also can't even remember the last time I did a training run this far that was not a long run. Maybe never. So, you can maybe see why, after Tuesday's shin-buster and two days of exhausting travel, I was shall we say curious to see how it would go.

CIM WEEK 6 of 18: french toast, trail shoes, & a little race fatigue...

There's a big orange bridge in there somewhere....

Grand Total:

48 miles + 3:00:00 strength

* 30 easy
* 18 long

Since I raced hard on Sunday 9/4, this week was just a bunch of easy running. It's so funny how I felt fine after the race, mostly fine for the rest of the day, kind of tired on Monday, and then by Tuesday & Wednesday I finally felt the full effect of all-out race exhaustion in my legs.

CIM WEEK 5 of 18: That cutback feeling

Blogger land leads me to believe that this is the part where I say "Ohhhh, it was so WEIRD to have a cut-back week after all these 45+ WEEKS, I felt like I BARELY RAN, I was going STIR CRAZY doing normal-people things instead of running a BAJILLION miles" but eff that noise, you guys. Other than the race (which, yeah, was awesome), this week sucked balls and I am not too proud to tell you about it.