Taji 100 - 2020 - Week 1

Taji 100 has begun.  The mission to walk, run, elliptical 100 miles in the month of February.

I have a few personal goals this year as well.
1) To walk at least 1 mile every day of the challenge
2) To complete the challenge by Feb 24th.

Week 1

Saturday: Ran 10 mile long run for my marathon training. Had planned on 12 but left the house late and had to make bathroom stop at the 3 mile mark. Hit a wall around 6 miles and was getting super annoyed at all the crosswalks with lights. On a happy note, that completes Amherst St/101A in Nashua for my Run All the Roads in Nashua. I need to do some more focus in fueling while running. My basal metabolism has increased and I spent most of this run hungry expect for the mile and a half trying to find a bathroom and the 15 mins after I ate a gu. The Clif bloks didn't do anything to take the edge off the hunger.

Sunday: Ran Freeze Your Buns 5k, which my watch says is just short of a 5k, so I missed out on the badge. Good race, didn't push myself but my legs were tired and my son hasn't been running, so his legs were not up for pushing it. He alternated between he doesn't want to be last and he doesn't mind being last when I pointed out that if he kept walking he'd be last.

Monday: This is a rest day according to my training plan. That didn't stop me from getting miles. I walked 0.75 miles with my husband during our afternoon shift. After work I went to Fleet Feet to participate in Winter Warriors and walked another 3.1 with one of my favorite running friends.

Tuesday: An actual training day. Plan was for 3 on the schedule. Snuck out for an hour at work for a 3.5 mile loop of hills.

Wednesday: Mid week long run day for marathon training.  Plan was for 6 and I ran 6.11 miles. I forgot to stop my garmin when I got to the chiropractor for my weekly adjustment, which messed up the avg mile pace.  First mile was 12:36 and last mile was 10:24, so I'm thinking I may be taking it too easy on myself when I run.

Thursday: Snow, and slush and muck on the roads convinced me a lunchtime run on the track at the Y was a much better plan than waiting for it to freeze into a sheet of ice to run on during Winter Warriors. Bumped into another Strider, running on the treadmill. She reminded me that this weather is one of the challenges of training for Boston and a few indoor runs are not a bad idea to be comfortable running in the heat because who knows what the weather will be the day of the marathon.

This blog post is incomplete, but I'm posting it anyway. Next post will have some updates in pictures. I'm pretty sure Friday was two half mile walks due to mismanagement of free time and desire to hibernate.

January Wrap Up

Marathon training continues.

Over the month I have run a few 5ks, Freeze Your Buns, Snowflake Shuffle and Fudgesicle.

Here is the training update. I've had some struggles with the Wednesday run getting longer, but I'm working to find solutions to that. I realized this week as I was running that in a month it will be warmer than it is colder. There is something about the 30 degree temperature line. Above that temp is far easier to run, than below. In four weeks we'll be over 30 more than we'll be under it.

Green = complete, yellow = less than desired miles, blue = more than planned miles
red= skipped, pink = cross training

Cross training has started to take a hit, and I need to get back to that. Find some routine of body weight strength I can do. My pace is slowly improving, I am able to run further without walk breaks, and when I'm having a heavy legs struggle run, I'm running at my fast pace for last fall. The consistency is helping, along with the strength work I started in November.

The biggest challenge has honestly been finding time, which was the challenge last time as well. Saturday I ran from home to the Westwood branch of the Nashua YMCA and meet up with my family there. Sunday morning I ran Freeze Your Buns to complete the needed miles.

I'm starting to plan out my 2020 race schedule. The two big anchor races at the moment are Boston Marathon and Mt Washington. Eastern States is a secondary now that Boston is confirmed. Other races will be all the mountains leading up to Mt Washington, and I might just do one more after to get Goat status again. I'm hoping to complete the New Hampshire Grand Prix and possibly the USATF All Terrain Runner series. My fall running schedule will need some fluidity to accommodate my youngest running cross country.

Now onto February and striving towards completing Taji 100!

How far is a marathon?

We all know a marathon is 26.2 miles, but how far is that really? I've joked I run further than most people will drive for dinner.

Boston Marathon Course Map
Gate City Marathon 2018 - This was my first marathon, the route changed last year but is still 26.2 miles.

I live in South Nashua. Using my place near Shaws off Spit Brook Road as a starting point.

Here is a list of places less than a 26.2 mile walk from my place using googlemaps to create the route.  Walking avoids all highways that don't allow pedestrians and adds in any rail trails or walking paths.

The Burlington Mall in Massachusetts

Nelson's Candy and Music in Wilton, NH

Canobie Lake Park(less than 20 miles)

Manchester Airport

deCorvoda Museum


Other places less than 26.2 miles apart on foot

Fenway Park and Salem Mass

Providence RI to Gillette Stadium

January Updates

“Stop gambling with British Bookies” my Dad’s response to I’ve lost 10 pounds since November.

Plan spreadsheet. Green = run completed; Yellow = less than planned miles
Red = Skipped; Pink = cross training; Blue = More than planned miles

Week 5 of Boston Marathon/Eastern States training and I’ve been struggling. I walked on Monday when I should have rested and it really messed up my training week. My head has been in a funk and I’ve felt physically sluggish. Yesterday I finally checked my cycle and put it all together. PMS can be cruel.

The 10lbs is a problem, I can’t really lose anymore, that was the issue I had last time so I’m trying to incorporate more 200 calorie healthy snacks and not skip breakfast. 

Garmin screen shot of the 5
activites this week.

I’ve been beating myself up about not making my miles, until I realized I needed 11 mid-week miles and I got them. Some I walked, some I ran slow, but I got them all. Tomorrow is a rest day to prep for 10 miles on Saturday in 10 degree weather before the snow. 

A few other wins this week, I've been able to run after eating, or more accurately not in a complete fasting state. Yesterday I ate a huge lunch at around 2pm. Realizing I had some free time in the afternoon and a desire to not running 23 mph winds, I went to the Y and ran 3 miles on a treadmill around 4 pm. In the past for a meal of that size, I would wait 3+ hours before running. It slowed me down a bit but I didn't feel sick which is good. Eating and being able to move after is one of the things I need to train if I want to run an ultra. 

Last weekend I managed to complete another road, on my Run Nashua challenge. I haven't been focused much on this the last year or two and I don't want creative routes to get in the way of proper training. If it doesn't become a scheduling nightmare, I may try to run one or two of my 3 mile runs a month in a new area.

Most recent map of roads run. New roads are in the upper left corner.

Week 6 starts in on the challenge of mid-week longer runs. This was my challenge last time. I'll dedicate some time with my husband to help brain storm so answers that hopefully don't include wake up at 4:30am.

2020 Race Plans

Just like last year, this is the list of my planned 2020 races. I'll update as I complete and register. Plus some of the dates may be off and need to be adjusted.



Completed
Jan 1 R - Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k  - With the boys
Jan 25 R - Blizzard Blast Obstacle Course

Planned (if there is an R next to race name, I've already registered)


Jan/Feb R - Freeze Your Buns 5k Series - With my youngest
Feb R- Fudgicle Series
February R -Taji 100 Virtual -
Mar 14 R - LebRec Shamrock Shuffle 5k - NH GP
Mar 29 R Eastern States 20 Miler
Apr 5 R - Nashua Soup Kitchen 5k - NH GP With my youngest
Apr 20 R - Boston Marathon!!
Apr 26 R - Sleepy Hollow
May 3 - Pack Monadnock
May 9 R - Narrow River in RI with my best friend
May 17 - Gate City Half Marathon (May run full)
May 23 - Wachusett Mtn Race (USATF ATR)
Jun 7 - Cranmore Mtn Race
Jun 13 - Ascutney Mtn Race
Jan 14  - Flag Day 5k Amherst
Jun 20 R- Mt Washington Road Race
Jun 27 - Capital City 10k NHGP
Jun/Jul - Mine Falls Trail Series
July 25 - Track Outdoor Championships (USATF ATR)
Aug 9 - Santown 5 miler  NH GP
Sept 7- St Charles 5k (USATF ATR)
Sept 26 - Hogsback Half with my best friend
Oct 18 - Baystate
Oct 20 R   - New England Half Marathon - NH  GP (Won at GCS Awards Dinner)
Nov 8 - NE Cross Country Championships (USATF ATR)
Nov 22 - Great Gobbler Thanksgiving Race
Nov 24 - Novemberfest

Dec ? - Mill Cities Relay (Awaiting team placement with Gate City Striders)

2020 Training has begun

I registered for Eastern States as soon as registration opened. I love my low bib numbers, and this time I might get number 1, as it was a few minutes past midnight. 

Last weekend my son wrapped up his cross country season by running in the USATF Nationals in Wisconsin! I'm super proud of him and this was the first season. He ran a 7:50 pace, which is not his fastest, but the ground was not a nice running surface. He enjoyed running and has committed to joining me for many 5ks this year to prep for next season. If you are southern NH local and have kids that love to run, consider checking out Gate City PAL Striders in the fall. This is the first sport in which we never had to ask him twice to get ready for practice, never had to listen to him negotiate to skip 'just this one'. His entire team was supportive of each other, I never saw the connection with his baseball teammates that I saw with cross country teammates. 

Back to my upcoming season. I'm committed to Eastern States 20 Miler. I'll register Mt. Washington once I can with my Mountain Goat status. I started strength training with EnduraFit a few months ago as I want to be a stronger and faster runner. I didn't train running or otherwise in 2019, I just ran many races and for most of the mountains I came in the last 10 or DFL. I'd like to do better this year. NH Grand Prix has a conflict with Mt. Washington, so while I'll run most of those races, 2021 will have to be my Granite Runner year. I'm going to run a half and 10k with my best friend. I'm going to run another full marathon. I haven't picked one yet, but Providence is the most likely candidate as it lines up nicely Eastern States. I entered the NYC Marathon lotto. but I'm not optimistic, with the Brittany Runs A Marathon Movie out, I suspect they will have a record high number of entries this year. By the way, if you haven't seen that movie, find time this winter to do so.  

Green - miles completed; Yellow - Less than planned Miles; Pink - cross training; Red- skipped

Week One Training

Tuesday

Goal 3 miles

Actual: 3 miles, outside running laps around my building and garage in the snow. I should have worn my Yax but thankfully I did not slip.

Wednesday

Goal: 3 miles

Actual: 1.5 miles. Once again laps around my building and garage, but it was a comedy of errors to start. I left my gps garmin at the office, so I used my step tracker garmin, which is very generous with miles. I'm fairly certain I did not run a 9:45 pace. I cut the run early due to the need for a bathroom and never got back out, but the ground was worse than when it was snowing. I followed it up with an hour session with Chris(trainer). Considering I did clockwork planks and the alphabet on the bosu ball, I'm going to not be upset that I missed my mile mark. 

Thursday

Goal: 3 miles

Actual: 3 miles. Due to single digit temps and windchill, I opted out of Winter Warriors and headed to the Nashua Y instead. My son joined me to keep up his running. He didn't need to run all 3 miles, but I wanted him to do at least 1. I ran the entire 3 miles. I've never done that before. I've always taken a moment to walk. The last 3 laps, Jack joined me on the track again and when I told him what I was about to accomplish, he cheered me on while running along side me. Just the way I cheered him on when he was running. I used my gps watch on indoor mode, to count laps. 3 miles is 27 laps on that track. 

Friday

Body weight strength training and extended foam rolling.

Saturday

Goal: 6 miles

Actual: 6 miles on a treadmill.  Another first, ran for 56 mins at 12 min pace without a walk break. Ran until the treadmill shut off and needed to be restarted. Discovered after I was done that it would warm up  over the weekend to better running temps. Went to Star Wars after.

Sunday

Goal: Cross training

Actual: While sipping my morning coffee, I thought about the week and decided that I'd take Sunday as a rest day. I had body work strength on Monday planned.  This is my first week back to serious training and rest is important for success.

Cambridge Half Marathon Review

Date: 3 November 2019
Location: Cambridge, MA

Cambridge Half Marathon

TLDR: This a beautiful course with some nice swag, but if you run in the back of the pack, skip this one.

Hanging out in the starting corral waiting for the blue wave to move forward.

This was a second half marathon in 2 weeks. My best friend had chosen this as her first half marathon and I didn't want her to run alone, so I registered to join her.

This is a hard review to write, I knew we were going to have some time challenges with this race. There were annoyances that day that could have been anticipated and there were a few things I was disappointed in. I dislike writing anything negative about a race, as I understand how much work goes into making them happen. Running in the back of the pack is not new to me and I'm not sure I would have chosen this race on my own due to the 3 hour cut off. While I'm starting to put in the work to make a 3 hour cut off something I don't concern myself with, I'm not sure I could have pulled that off this seasons twice 2 weeks apart. When reading this review, keep in mind I'm a back of the pack runner(right now) and if you run a half in 2 hrs or less, your experience and opinion of a race may be entirely different.

Harvard football field. 

The Good

• Easy Check In
• Nice swag shirts, I will definitely be wearing this in the future.
• Beautiful flat course.
• Parking pass for 4 more visits to the Galleria which just happens to be a 10 min walk from the Museum of Science.
• We ran the Harvard football field. That was fun. There were people running the stadium stairs and cheering us on.
• Race director good about responding to emails before race.

The Reasons I Won't Likely Return

• Expensive. Compared to other half marathons, this one is expensive. 
• No one checked in on us. We were sent to the side walk early on, and when we were in a complicated part of the course volunteers just walked off their posts rather than wait the 10-15 minutes for us to clear the area. No one came by to just say "hey the race is being packed up, you're welcome to continue, but the finish line and the med tent will be gone when you get there". I get it we were going slow, which is why I'm not upset that the water stops were gone after the first 4-5 miles. 
• I don't drink beer. A 3 beer after party is not an incentive to me. I want an uncut underripe banana and a bottle of water, maybe a bag of salty potato chips, but that's it.
• Race photos were not free. Official Photos Here.  I got a good jump shot so you'll need to go there to see them.
• With no rain that day, our experience could have been improved with some simple sidewalk chalk arrows on the path. 

The Weird

• The cups for the water stop we did use made the water taste minty. 

Garmin record of finish

This is my first DNF (did not finish). While we did walk/run all 13.1 miles plus some bonus distance as I'm sure we got a bit lost following the course map online, the lack of finishing mats means we are not in the final results. We did take a picture in front of the Best Buy sign to prove we made it!

Finished!

Now this it's several days later, I can laugh at the loss of all the water stops, using gu packets like bread crumbs to know if we were on the right route, and the disappearance of the mile markers around mile 10. We were in an area I knew well in the early 2000's and we said hello twice to a building I used to work in. It feels like a lifetime ago that I spent all my time there and knew all the streets and where to park a car. We went out on the bike path west more than I had ever explored when I was there, I may have driven through the area at times but never stopped long enough to acknowledge it.

I had a great time with my best friend and I'm super proud of her accomplishment. There is a different kind of toughness needed to power through 13.1 miles as we did. Once I have my racing schedule for next year, we can plan another half together.