Prefontaine Memorial 10K Race report

No PR.
No Sub 40.
No problem.

Sometimes it's worth sacrificing a  PR just to learn something new, gain some first-hand information or try taking on the seemingly impossible.

I put some goals out there and worked my butt off for them. I researched. I was nervous. I hoped. But I didn't do it this time.

After racing the Prefontaine Memorial 10K, I can now say:

• I didn't PR (for the first time in two years)
  
• There are some terrific people who were pulling for me. They left comments on my preview post, sent gifts by mail (you are both AWESOME and you know who you are!!), and gave cyber (non-)coaching advice (you are awesome too!!). Love was poured out on me! THANK YOU! I am incredibly blessed.
• Without a doubt, this was the hardest 10K course I have done yet (I am still pretty inexperienced, though).  I have avoided this one, and purposefully looked for easier, flatter races. I found a challenge here, (but not a sub 40- not by a long shot- or even a PR).

Pre Race:
I got a pretty good night's sleep thanks to my parents who went out of their way and booked a hotel for us on the bay. It was a breezy 49F at 8 am- but warmed up by race time (which was 10).

For breakfast I ate oatmeal and drank coffee with milk and sugar (usually I use stevia). I also had some Gatorade about an hour before the race, and had been drinking a bottle of Powerade Zero for each of the 4 days leading up to the race. I put on my Brooks Launch and headed to downtown Coos Bay, OR.

When I got to the start it was still pretty early, so I looked around and ran into Ronda. We visited awhile and then I started my warm up.

After about a mile and a half of easy running I did some strides in an alley way (6 x 50-100 meters fast), since the crowd was getting pretty thick at the start. The high school runners started their 5K (due to OSAA rules, they can no longer compete in the 10K with all other racers- boo!).

There was a good-sized crowd for such a small town (The late Steve Prefontaine's Hometown), and no timing chips or mats.

I ran into an acquaintance who is the cross country coach for Yoncalla High School. I asked, and he told me he was shooting for under 45 minutes.

The community college cross country athletes lined up on the line and I got right behind them. Behind me were about 800 people, many of them in crazy costumes. Lots of fairies and a few dinosaurs and even a pair of gorillas. Music from the 80's and early 90's hair bands was blasting, and they played "The Final Countdown," just before starting us on our way.

 Not sure where this photo (above ) was taken, but if it looks flat, it is deceiving.

The course was essentially out and back: uphill for the first mile, downhill for the second, uphill for the third, downhill for the fourth, uphill for the 5th and downhill for the last mile- until the end, which was flat for a few blocks before heading up the hill to the finish.

My goal was to try to run under 6:40 uphill and under 6:15 downhill (I realize now that this still doesn't average to 6:25 pace, so maybe I need to work on my math too!). My splits are messed up due to my hitting the lap button 12 seconds into the race, but more or less they show where I struggled:
12 secs..
mile 1 -6:40 (on goal)
mile 2- 6:14 (on goal)

 Heel striking and trying to catch the man in the neon tutu.

mile 3- 6:52 (12 secs slower than goal, nice hill)
mile 4- 6:20 (5+ secs slower than goal)
For a while I could see the second female in front of me, keeping a steady pace and leading by 50M or so. I finally caught her and we ran together part of miles 4 and 5 in a stretch called agony hill. People were cheering because they knew we were 2nd and 3rd at that point. Then she got ahead of me on the downhill.  I tried to reel her in, but to no avail.

mile 5- 7:24 (way off of goal- 44 secs slow)
mile 6- 6:20 (5 secs off of goal)

As I entered the track for the last .2, it seemed as though the finish line was so far away still. I did my best to put some power in my kick, but got passed twice! First, the coach from Yoncalla came out of nowhere, and passed me like I was walking. Hitting his top speed, he left me in his dust! Then, as if that wasn't enough, as I got close to the clock and could see the BIG old 40 (turning to 41) already on there, another guy sprints by me. DUDED TWICE! ha :) I had nothing left.

When I finally crossed the line at 41:09 I wasn't upset about it. This time I knew I gave it my best and just couldn't hit that time goal on that course. Nothing really went wrong, I just couldn't hit three hills that were a mile long each, and maintain my goal pace. I still feel I could hit a sub 40 on a flatter course right now. I want to do the Scandia Run over again!

Post race refreshments were all types of Gatorade on the Marshfield High School football field.

Thanks to Ronda for sticking around to watch the chaos of a super-long awards ceremony.

There's a lot more I could put in here about the stress of awards ceremonies and mostly potty trained 2 year-olds, but I will save that. I am just glad I found my bag with my wallet after I left it in the bleachers.

Stats:
41:09 gun time
3 / 391 females
1 / 51 35-39 age group (AG record on this course is 38:05)
35 / 803  overall

Late Edit: You can read the online newspaper article about the race HERE.

***

Afterwards we found Danny! Everyone except my parents (way too exhausted after watching the boys all morning) went to a pizza and play place.

Danny got in the bounce house and ALL the kids came running! 

Matthew and Nathan found some moose and bears to hunt (that is a Lollipop- not a cigarette!)

.

Ronda let Danny win at air hockey. :)

 Levi made some hoops!

 ***

We were blessed to have some exceptional weather on the coast. 

It was a beautiful day at Sunset Bay on Friday (day before the race)- so the boys and I relaxed there for few hours soaking up the sunshine and the last days of summer.

Here I leave you with a few photos:

Prefontaine 10K (goal race) Preview

It's just a 10k. Right?

It's not normal for me to be this anxious before a race. I have several questions in my mind and I am trying very hard to quiet the noise..

This might surprise you (or maybe not), but I haven't ever trained for a 10K, (or a 5K, or a half marathon). This marks the first time. Yes, I have raced those distances, but not with a solid plan that led up to that race. My method was to run a certain baseline mileage, maybe do day or two of tempo or fartlek each week, and take a day or two off before a race and seeing what happened.

So, my reason for doing this training period was based on curiosity-- to see what I could accomplish if I trained specifically for the distance. I have a funny feeling I will still be left with bunches of questions after Saturday's race, though.
***

 I am hoping that the energy of racing on the roads that Steve Prefontaine ran, with so many other people (including many high school cross country teams), will inspire me to dig deep-
deeper than ever before in a race--

because I picked a tricky course for a final exam.

This blogger's post on the race last year provided me with some helpful Garmin course profile info:

I hope it's not as scary as it looks: 160ft gain in about a mile, and about 120ft in mile 2- but there is downhill too! Oh yeah...and mile 4.

Just for comparison, the Butte to Butte 10K only had one big hill:  250ft  gain in the first mile- then all downhill and flat.




OK. So it's not a perfect course. But it will provide a chance to recover between hills, right?
***
Preparation

Ten weeks of training for this race should help.      I hope.

I didn't follow my plan exactly. I did execute the quality days to the best of my abilities and hit my max planned mileage 65 MPW +/-,  though it ended up being sooner than planned. Some days were good, some fell a little under my goals. Most of my easy paced running was done at 20-30 secs slower than my current Vdot lists.

My most recent speed workout was Tuesday night:

• 4x1200 Threshold pace (goal 6:41 pace) with 2 minute recovery run,  
• 4x200 Repetition pace (goal 42 secs)

I had the wind at my back going uphill and in my face going downhill.
What I ran was:

• Warm up at 8:53 for 1.5 miles
• 4x 1200 Threshold   6:28 & 6:37 (uphill/tailwind), 6:43, 6:48 (mostly downhill/ headwind) 2 minute easy run recovery between each
• 4x200 Repetition  42, 41, 43, 42 with 1.5-2 minute recoveries 
• Total: 6.58 miles

Wednesday I ran under 4 miles, easy, and I plan to run one more 3 mile (or less) run either today or Friday.

A few questions I have right now are:

• Did I start reducing mileage soon enough?
• How strong should I attack the hills? Still not sure here.
• If not sub 40 on this hard course- can I still PR?
• Can I distract myself from this race, take my negative thoughts captive, and turn them into positive thinking? I admit I am struggling with this. I really hope that God will just quiet my heart and give me some peace regarding this race and other events surrounding this week.
• Will I be brave enough to wear the skirt Amanda sent me? Or will I even remember to pack it?  (I forgot to pack another skirt for my July race.)
• What will be waiting for me at the post office today?? :D

A few positive things to focus on:

• In this training cycle I have learned a LOT about myself as a runner. I know now that high mileage is good, but a lot of quality work (speed days) makes it very hard to maintain high mileage & longer runs. I stayed with my mileage goals, but learned to reduce my long run in favor of quality work.
• I have had some excellent training days, and despite not running my easy paces at goal, most of my speed work was at goal, or very close (both faster and slower).
• During the 10 weeks I did something I haven't done during a cycle before- raced- and set new personal records both times. (Scandia Run 10K and Eugene Celebration Mile)

Eugene Celebration Mile in August

• Noteworthy stuff: I was able train hard and make it 10 weeks without getting injured!! That, in itself, will keep me with Jack Daniels formula.
• I will get to run this race with friends - Ronda, Danny, and a high school-aged neighbor!! (and hundreds of other cross country team members).
• It will most likely be perfect race weather, (60's F), so long as it's not windy. 

• I have some really awesome support  (bloggers, facebook friends, high school friends, and family, especially my husband and parents) who support my insanity habits. YOUR encouragement has meant the world to me. I honestly don't think I would have ran my last race without some of that encouragement. Thank you!!! I am Blessed!

P.S.
If you see a midget, dressed as an old man, running around the slot machines at the Mill Casino, it just might be my oldest trying to win Mama a trip to Boston!

Running, At the track, and (warning) dead animal pictures

Would you rather run when it's 90F at 3 pm, or would you rather see this ?

I have been running some crazy hours lately. For the most part, I really don't mind. The only thing that really bothers me, didn't use to bother me. 

For two years I ran without a headlamp. In a reflective vest and with just the moon and stars. No glowing eyeballs. Looking back I can't believe I avoided major injury! Risky...I know. Those potholes can sneak up on you, never mind the eyeballs.

I would rather run in the day time- when it's not 90F. 

In the last month I have probably ran 2 or 3 times in total daylight, an prefer to see things like this:

And have the option to wear my ipod.

This is a good transition into why I have been running odd hours.
One reason has to do with my husband's hunting season. The best hours for Elk hunting are dusk/dawn. So I have been saving my running for later.
Before you think I am some kind of wife hero for "letting" him hunt, I should tell you that i have been a little grumpy about it at times. So...if you are reading, honey,  I AM SORRY. Now go get the dang elk, already!!

I think Jon might have been bummed when he and his hunting buddy, Brandon, decided to take a break for a few days, then Brandon went out "just to look" for some elk and ran across one of these:

The bear part of the combo tag got filled, and I feel a bit safer running at night again.

***
Running strange hours also led to an interesting speed workout.

I happened to be visiting at my parents house and left after the kids were asleep (Yes, I did come back for them, eventually!). I also forgot to pack my Garmin, which I have started to get a little attached to. This seemed like a good test for me to withdraw from the pace babysitter. I brought my regular wristwatch, a written assignment for intervals and repetitions, and headed to the track under the lights.

Sidenote: I had never done a track workout in my life. (ok once a year in PE and once for a mile last summer). All this speed work I have been doing has been on the road with the beeps and measurements programmed into my watch. "RUN 200M" and other things flash instructions to me at the right time and place, and I follow the prompts, hoping the satellites are tracking-- and that what I typed/wrote on my hand was correct.

Just as the softball teams were wrapping up, I stepped out to the narrow oval of gravel track, and - blink- the lights went out. On went my headlamp.

I placed a waterbottle near the first turn so I could have a marker, and proceeded to warm up and visualize the workout I had coming up. It was one I had done recently:

4 x 200M @ repetition pace (42 secs using my VDot)
3 x 1000M @ interval pace (3:50)
2 x 400M @ repetition pace (1:25)

What followed was not pretty.

These are the notes I copied from my log:


At my parents house and left my Garmin at home.
I really have no idea what my total miles were tonight. I think i ran about 26 laps +/- on the track, but lost count, plus back to their house.
warmed up 2 1/2 miles I think....

Speed workout = Baah. Not one of those confidence boosters.
Gravel track at middle school: weeds, in the dark. no markings- just guessing. And. oh do I hope it's a 440 (440 yard track)- but I doubt it.

200 Reps, GP= 42 secs- 45,44,41,43 plenty of recovery
3x1000 - 2 minute rests (What the hecK?? That's 2 1/2 laps around right?) G =3:50 Not a chance after the 200s. 4:12, 4:01, 4:02
2x400 Reps G= 1:25---- 1:32, 1:36 with adequate recovery.

I will chalk this up as:
a) gravel
b) just a **appy workout
c) hormones
d) I am in the wrong training VDOT despite my races
e) long track
f) uphill track
g) dark night without good markings
h) anything else I can blame

So much for my first track workout! I rocked!
 ***
I did get a little neurotic about missing all my goal times, and posted a comment to a friend (who- I am sure- has ran many a lap on that middle school track). I was told that it was, indeed, a 440 track, and therefore just a bit longer than the metric kind. That made me feel a bit better. Until I looked up the difference in distance.

400 Meters = 437.4453193350831 Yards           440 Yards = 402.336 Meters 

Now I am not great at math, (or measuring where to start or stop on the track), but that doesn't look like much of a difference to me. But who's counting, right?

With my goal race now less than 2 weeks away, and this little "dandy" under my belt, I think it's safe to say:

Time to taper a bit.

***

Just for kicks

I saw another blogger post (not too long ago) some of the internet searches that brought people to his blog. So I thought I'd share some of mine from the last month. Enjoy!

prime rib

red running skirts

running room 10k training schedule

bananas running in fear

confused head

decaf coffee

galloway training plan 10k

geetah straw

should i wear racing flats for a marathon? 10k training running room -v8 veg juice plain hot dog redneck ducttape holder cute patriotic running socks