Blog Posts From Kat Ran Antarctica Tagged With hills

RR: Bawlmer (Baltimore) Marathon 2009, Hon.

DCtoPgh — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:13:14 GMT

Background: The 2004 Baltimore half-marathon was my first-ever distance beyond 10K. I had a miserable race and crossed the finish line proclaiming to my support crew that I would never run again. I really thought I meant it! This year’s marathon would serve as training for JFK50, with my plan being to run it as a training run (not race), take some pictures and video for this blog and encourage others along the way.

Now I should add: I love Baltimore. A lot. I spent a year living in Baltimore with my best friend, Hannah, while working at the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a post-bac fellow. It was one of the best years of my life and I love so much about the city- the cobblestone streets (created from stones that used to weight the ships that came into Baltimore harbor), the original Washington Monument, Hon culture, the farmer’s market under 83 and crabs. I loved the fries at Brewers Art, the beautiful architecture of the old mansions, gelato from Vaccaro’s and nights out in Canton Square. I am Baltimore’s #1 fan.

Pre-race: At the expo I meet up with my friend from college, Jamie.

Me and Jamie at the Expo

Jamie was one of the first people I met at Maryland and he was always floating around since he was friends with all of my roommates. We got back in touch and are going to do the Columbia triathlon together next May and I won’t let him forget that he pitched Kilimanjaro in 2011. We wandered what I thought was a very good expo and I was thrilled to see that the tech shirt was a women’s specific tech shirt! Good job, Under Armor! I’m sick of “small” race shirts that are longer than my shorts with sleeves down to my elbows. I split up with Jamie to head to my best friend Andy’s place where we spend the night drinking beer and playing the drums. Awesome way to relax pre-race.

Andy's drum room: Awesome.

Race day: I’m up early and the moment I step out the door, I am stunned by how hot (~65 at 5 am!) and humid it is. The weather stays warm and humid all day. I get to the start and try to find Jamie but instead befriend Sam, a Marine who is about to run his first marathon. I found the start to be very disorganized and there was no partition between the runners and the spectators meaning that some spectators formed a wall that prevented runners from entering the start. One bonus was that there was a confetti canon. Every marathon start should have a confetti canon.

Starting Line

We take off north and the first few miles are uphill but I keep a steady 9:45 pace. We run through the zoo and botanical gardens which I think are beautiful. I find a guy in a Steelers jersey and try to stay near him, deflecting a few comments from Raven’s fans who are not thrilled to see a Steeler on their territory.

I also find two guys decked out as Ravens- beaks, feathers, wings, the whole 9 yards.

We turn south and nostalgia sets in as we run by where my good friend Adrienne used to live, and me and Hannah’s old apartment. I see Oscar, a former co-worker, and run over to him for a quick hug before continuing forward (I have somehow had friends spectating at every marathon I’ve ever run! Even Antarctica. How lucky am I?!). I’ve passed the 4:15 pace group and I know I should slow down but I feel so strong as I head into downtown and my pace drops to around 9:15.

Lobster dog!! I saw him and asked the owners if I could take a picture. The dog was so super sweet, incredibly cute and very happy that one of the runners (me!) came to play with it!

I thought I would love Federal Hill, and while the first mile in and the last mile out were beautiful and had incredible spectator support, there was a three-mile loop that was no-man’s land; it also starts to rain.

The Star Spangled Banner was written after Francis Scott Key witnessed bombings in Baltimore's Fort Henry (wiki)

On the left is the Visionary Art Museum. It's facade is a mirror mosaic.

We come back through downtown and head over to Fells Point where I remember playing credit card roulette, drinking bellinis at a gorgeous waterfront bar, and even a very romantic first kiss on the water.

The Harbor from Federal Hill

It gets better as we run by the bakery that fills the air with the smell of fresh bread- one of my favorite things of this part of Baltimore (me and Han used to roll our windows down every time we went by). Right as I am reminiscing about me and Adrienne playing hooky on the first spring day to get our nails done and drink beer on a patio, the 4:15 pace group passes me. Let the mental games begin. We turn towards Canton Square and once we head towards Patterson Park I start to fall apart. This is compounded by the fact that this is where:

The second half of the hills begin
The half marathon joins the marathon (the slower marathons were joining with us, so a lot were walking and some lacked the etiquette to move to the side which created lots of people to run around)
We again head into an area almost devoid of spectators

THIS is where I bonked! Ugh!

I find a gu to snack on, start thinking mantras (“Who’s a runner? Kat’s a runner!” “Thankful. Focused. Calm.” “Breath”) and do anything I can to keep my head in the game, but I start to walk the hills. I check out. It turns from a good run to “just” a training run. My pace get closer to 11 minute miles. Then I get to mile 20 where there is a clock: 3:22. What?!?! I wasn’t watching time, just my pace, and I realize if I have a strong 10K I can PR. What?! I snap into action and just when I think I’m thirsty and could see another gu I see that both are available from Terp volunteers! Awesome! As we leave Lake Montebello one of the more passionate spectators had stopped cheering. “Hey!” I yell at him, “You stopped cheering!” He starts cheering so ferociously that about 5 runners around me start to laugh. I tell them my favorite running secret: If you cheer for spectators, they cheer for you!

I have this insane burst of energy from miles 22-24. Some runners have their names on their backs and as I pass a girl named Julia, I tell her she’s doing great. “OMG! THANK YOU!” she screams loud enough to startle me, “You have no idea how much I needed that!” Yay! I was a race angel! I see an older man standing watching the runners and I wave to him and yell good morning. He perks right up and tells me, “You look great, sweetheart!” I love when people call me sweetheart. As we go up yet another hill, I turn to a guy who seems to be having a tough time. I’m hamming it up and ask “Do the hills ever go down in this city?!” He is too tired to appreciate my humor and sadly shakes his head. I feel bad and immediately shout, “Yes! They go down! Really!!!” A few seconds later a relay runner passes me, saying “You are the friendliest runner I’ve ever seen!” Yay! That’s the best thing someone could ever say to me. The race could stop here and it would be a good one. But the race doesn’t end here, in fact here is the gummy bear station! One group of volunteers bough and distributed 400 POUNDS of gummy bears! I read this in a pre-race e-mail last week while at work and I frantically turned to my office mate: “OMG, Brian!” I pause to see if Brian is working or looking at sports scores. Just sports scores, so I continue: “Brian! There’s going to be a gummy bear man with 400 pounds of gummy bears at my race this weekend! That’s me, you, and Brooke (our boss), in gummy bears!!!!” Brian just shook his head.

Awesome spectators!!

This person was there 5 years ago! I never forgot them! So psyched I captured it this time!

We run through sections with amazing spectators and around mile 24 drivers stuck in traffic have gotten out of their cars to cheer for the runners. The final stretch is downhill and we pass my old apartment again, as well as my brother’s old apartment. I come upon a guy I’d been leapfrogging with the whole race. I told him he’d better beat me and he conceded that I could finish first as he dropped back…. Only to sprint ahead a few seconds later! I cheer for him and head to the finish line myself.

The girls on the left were holding hands as they ran towards the finish line.

Finish time: 4:23:47. I missed my PR by 47 seconds. In some ways that hurts- so close! But in other ways, it’s amazing. I ran 30 miles last weekend and an ultra three weekends ago meaning that my legs are anything but fresh and rested. This was a hilly course, I wasn’t going out to race, and I even stopped several times to take pictures and video. And I finished having fun unlike my 4:23:00 PR where the last 6 miles were miserable and I was gutting it out. It may not be reflected in the time, but this race shows me that my fitness is improving, which is great.

Post-Race: This race was only one very small part of a big weekend. I left the race to head to the Chesapeake Bay to surprise my best friend for her birthday. She was surely surprised (“OMG, Kitty! I can’t believe you’re here! I want to keep touching you to make sure you’re real!”) and we spent the rest of the weekend gabbing like only best friends can and eating incredible food courtesy of her wonderful husband. We even went to the beach across the street from the new (five bedroom!) house they’re building.

"Small" nachos. We also had steak, brown rice with almonds, asparagus and onion, and ravioli with sauteed baby eggplant. The man is also a rocket scientist. Seriously.

Breakfast!Sweet potato hash, turkey bacon, eggs and waffles.

Morning walk on the beach

This weekend had it all: I saw old co-workers, my family, two of my best friends, toured one of my favorite cities and running the marathon was the keystone that brought it all together.

Super Sweet 17

DCtoPgh — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:59:44 GMT

Today I ran my 17 miles in North Park which has a 5-mile paved running/biking loop around a beautiful lake about 30 minutes north of Pittsburgh. The course has rolling hills which I really like because where I live in Pittsburgh the hills are moderate to steep and completely unavoidable, even on short runs.

I was up at 5:45 and was at North Park by around 7:15 in the morning. It was a brisk 51 degrees. Recently I've been struggling with my paces... not struggling in that I haven't been able to keep them, but struggling in that I'm not sure how fast I can go. I've had a fairly successful string of long runs this training season, but I was still hesitant to push my pace. Based on planned marathon pace (9:40) I should be running my long runs at 10:30 pace slower, but I ran my 15 miles in 9:55 pace two weeks ago.

The first few miles I went out conservatively because with long runs, who knows what the day might hold (miles 1-5, average pace: 10:13). Then, I just started feeling strong and the pace kind of picked up on its own (miles 6-11, average pace: 9:31, including mile 11 which came in at 8:59 and included this absurd fist pumping wiggle dance while running after I saw that split). Now, with 6 miles left I had to make a decision about whether I should try to keep my fast pace or slow down. I thought that I would try to hold on to my fast pace as long as I could; even if I had to slow down substantially, it was still going to be a great run. Miles 12-17 average pace: 8:47!!!! Holy sh!t, I can't run that fast! But I did run that fast!! My last mile was 8:39 and my last three miles were 30 seconds faster than my hilly trail 5K last weekend! Overall pace for the run was 9:28; 30 seconds/mile faster than the last long run I did (15 miles at 9:55) and a full minute faster than my long runs should be based on PMP. I ran 17 miles in 2:40?!

It was a great way to end a landmark month: highest long run (17 miles), highest mileage week (42 miles), and highest mileage month (160 miles!) this training season.

Maybe that sub-4 is within reach after all?

Bulgarian Split Squats

DCtoPgh — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:32:14 GMT

Because my training had been progressing successfully with faster and easier runs, I thought that I'd incorporate some core work into my routine. Since I was at the gym I decided to throw in some Bulgarian split squats, demonstrated in the video below:

Even though I have strong legs, these are hard. I should have known better when my boyfriend, who pushes vans in the desert for a leg workout, recommended them to me. I did two sets of 8 on each leg with 2 5-pound weights. As a result, I have been unable to walk for the last two days. I've been the kind of sore where I tripped because I couldn't lift my leg high enough to keep my stiletto from catching a crack in the sidewalk. I've been the kind of sore where the pain woke me up at night when I was sleeping. On Wednesday, after a session with a client I went to stand up and couldn't without using my arms to push me up out of the chair. Those Bulgarian split squats put me in my place and showed me who was boss (not me).

Even though I was sore, I decided to get my runs in, hoping they'd help me loosen up. My 6 miles on Wednesday night were a complete and utter disaster. I knew my legs were shot but it was hot so I wanted to run through the park because there are water fountains. One of my favorite trails (Panther Hollow in Schenley Park) has a long, steady uphill that I usually run from the bottom up. Since my legs were so dead I thought I'd take the "easy" way out and run it downhill. Nope, that didn't work at all. In fact, my slowest mile was the downhill part because my quads were already shot. My pace for this 6 mile run was slower than my marathon pace from last year! It was the first bad run I've had in well over a month so I chalked it up to a bad day and figured it was due.

That, however was just the beginning. On Thursday I went running with my friend Steph who ran XC in college and qualified for Boston on her first marathon. Steph can easily place in local races and hopes to BQ again at Chicago this year. Let's just put this in perspective by saying that her planned marathon pace is about my 5K PR pace. We ran together because a) my tempo runs could be very slow recovery runs for her) and b) she knows the trails in Frick Park, which I've never run on and wanted to learn. I made a few critical mistakes: 1) Do not plan tempo runs on trails. 2) Do not run on new, technical trails on days where you can barely get out of bed. This run was abysmal. In a 3.5 mile run I had to stop twice to walk, which is uncharacteristic of me and terribly embarrassing in front of my very accomplished runner friend (who, I should mention, is the nicest person in the world and wouldn't be the type to judge). My "tempo" run which should have been about 8:45 pace ended up at a 10 minute pace. In some ways I think I'm being hard on myself because I was recovering from a tough few sessions and the terrain was more technical than I've ever run before, but it is disappointing to not meet goals that you've set for yourself.

What I've learned:

Bulgarian split squats are a great workout, but if executed should probably be left for Thursdays so I can recover with a rest day on Friday.
I love the trails in Frick Park! They are so beautiful and I can't wait to run there more.
I love running with other people, the time goes by so much faster. Steph and I blew through mile 1.
I need to be less hard on myself and keep in mind that external factors can effect my running and that bad days will pop up. And when bad days do pop up, you can only learn from them and move forward.

Resilience

DCtoPgh — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:14:35 GMT

My body's resilience always amazes me. Last training season, I couldn't believe how I could push myself in races, make time for my training, and run 16 miles less than a week after a tumble made my knees look like this:

What I'm not sure of is why I'm underestimating it now. After running MCM I was so excited about maintaining my fitness, I'd put in so much hard work I didn't want to lose it. That was fine and dandy until two weeks after the race I was cutting a bagel and cut my finger so badly I was out of running for three months, had lots of PT and have permanent nerve damage (if I do anything, I do it all the way, apparently). Chris, my boyfriend, told me the other day that Baghdad is safer than my kitchen... he survived Baghdad with only a scar on his shoulder while I have permanent nerve damage! About three weeks after being cleared to run post- accidental self-knifing, I was sidelined again with pneumonia. Three weeks of not breathing and not running sucked. By this time about 4 1/2 months had passed since the marathon and I was completely bummed that I was going to need to start from scratch. Or did I?

If you read my blog you will notice a theme: hills. Pittsburgh has LOTS of hills. You can't avoid them. Long hills that are deceptive in that over a mile their elevation will creep up a few hundred feet. Short hills that are so steep you can't run down them, you need to walk down them. And lots of hills in between! So today when I set out for my 4 miles, there was one of those long deceptive hills that I had to conquer. To give you perspective on this hill, Chris is a fit guy, a natural athlete. He ran a marathon with ONE "long" run of 8 miles and no other training. Just winged the sucker. Last Fall we went running together and I told him we'd just do four miles and I'd pick a pretty easy route... just so happened it included this hill. Half way up the hill, Chris was panting, and if he wasn't such a gentleman to me, he would have been cursing (he still reminds me of this run). The hill put him in his place- he made it because he's a tough guy and a great athlete, but it reminded me that "easy" routes in Pittsburgh aren't always so easy.

So I haven't run that particular hill since probably October 2007 and today I was a little nervous about it. I gave myself a pep talk. Reminded myself that in the past I've found it hard, Chris found it hard, and whenever I run it, I always see people walking it. Then I went out to conquer the sucker. To my surprise and delight, no problems, I coasted up the hill, finished my run and felt good the whole way. No panting, no cussing, no walking. I think getting back into my training, this was a really awesome reminder of how resilient my body is. After depriving it of running for about 5 months it (I) can still tackle running in Pittsburgh