USATF Half Marathon Championship

Well, the 2014 USATF road racing series has begun!  I'm pumped.  Let's do this.  Unfortunately it started in January with the Half Marathon Championship.  Arguably my favorite and best distance, the half marathon was a race I ran well at last year in Duluth in June.  However, because of world competition considerations instead of having until June to get in shape, the race took place this past weekend.  Hmmm...it's been almost six months since I've raced over 7.5 miles.  This was going to be tricky.

The good news is that I have been feeling much better, in general, without gluten in my life.  See ya later, gluten!  I thought, given the shape I was in, shooting for a 1:15 in Houston (the site of the race) would be realistic.  Then somehow I was able to whip out a near personal best of 4:57 in the mile at a recent indoor track meet.  Given this development, I felt optimistic that I might be able to drop a 1:12:00 or 1:13:00...no small feat, but within my reach.  You see, before my "break-through performance" of last year, 1:18 was my best half, and I felt super human at that!  So to be sitting and having a conversation with Coach Ron about realistically running a 72-73 was kind of surreal, but that was the plan.

The race took place in Houston, and let me tell you, it was wonderful.  It was January and in this magical place called "the south," winter wasn't miserable!  I walked around the streets the day before the race in amazement that there was no snow or ice to deal with, the sun had warmth, and I was comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt!  Jeans and t-shirt?!  I did a shake out run and I actually broke a sweat that didn't immediately turn into frost on my skin.  Glorious!  But I digress...

Race day recap:
4:15am - Wake for a quick shake out mile.  It is pure fog/mist in the air.  The humidity is basically 100%.  This magical weather could be problematic...

4:30am - Breakfast and ready myself.  Fashion choices for the day include sweet New Balance warm-up and race gear, and a spectacularly neon yellow Twin Cities Track Club jersey.

                                                 Only photo from the weekend...

5:30am - Board the elite bus for the shuttle to the start. 

6:00am - Warm up time, which was a bit absurd.  Basically the race officials had this great tent area blocked off for elites, but then only allowed us to run about 1/4 mile up and down the start area for warm up.  We were not allowed to leave that area.  My TCTC teammate, Stephanie Price, and I must have done about 20 "laps" of this ridiculously short and crowded warm-up corral.  Everything else about the race and race organization was great, but they totally dropped the ball on this.

6:55am - Go time!  The men and women started together, but within about a minute, the dudes were gone.  They are so darn fast.  Ridic.  I settled in with a lead pack of about 10 women and felt like I was jogging.  That 4:57 mile on Monday had given me a new perspective on speed and pace.  The bad thing about that is that I went out faster than I probably should have.  I have been doing decent mileage, but not enough and at a high enough intensity to support the way I started the race.  But I don't regret it.  This was a great test of my fitness and it was a golden racing/learning opportunity. 

Back to the race...by mile 3 I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay with the lead pack.  The fact that I threw up in my mouth was a good reminder that this was no regular field of competitors.  They were putting me in the hurt locker and my body was letting me know.  I backed off a bit and got passed by a handful of solo ladies.  Each time one went by, I tested for a few steps to see if I could hang, and it just wasn't happening.  I spent miles 3 to 7 convincing myself that I would make it to the finish.  It wasn't going to be a day of glory and a PR, but darn it, I was going to give whatever I had.

At mile 7 a group of about 6 ladies came up on me and I forced myself to get pulled along.  I knew I was over half-way to the finish, and if I kept letting people pass me by the result could get real ugly, real fast.  This was a field of pros.  Not many of them were going to fade as the race neared the finish.  If anything, they were going to turn on the after-burners.  From miles 7-10 I hung on for dear life to my pack which was good, but required a lot of effort.  At mile 10, the pack made a little move and I had no response.  My legs were dead. 

Miles 10-13 were a grind.  Saw only one other woman and we had a bit of back and forth, which was good to keep me engaged in the race, but in the final 1/2 mile when she re-passed me, every fiber in my brain was screaming, "GO WITH HER," but every fiber in my body was like, "mehhh...." 

I crossed the line in 1:15:05, 21st place.  Not bad, but not good.  Mediocre.  And to be honest, it's a bit of a kick in the pants because 1:15 is a benchmark in the running community.  There are more race opportunities and perks if you can say you've run sub 1:15...grrrrrr.  I was disappointed, of course, but I'm trying not to beat myself up too much (good luck with that).  No excuses, I didn't have the talent this past weekend, but there's a lot of time left in the season and I'm ready to work smarter and harder than ever...

Syonara 2013!

2013 recap.  I'll try keep this fairly short.  It's mostly my running stuff with just a few fun side notes.

January - started off with a bang!  H1N1 flu and pneumonia.  Most of the month was spent in a miserable state of sickness and confusion on the couch (the photo is not me, but it's basically what I felt like)... Side notes:  I also cut a sweet, one-year sponsorship deal with LUNA (yummmmmm), and enlisted the help of both Coach Ron Byland (http://www.miletomarathon.com/) and Luke Carlson, the owner of Discover Strength (http://www.discoverstrength.com/) to get me to the cliche "next level" in running. 

 
February - shook off the sicky ickies and headed to Osaka, Japan to run the Senshu International Marathon as part of the Bloomington Sister City Organization runner exchange program.  Not a stellar run, 3:04, but an amazing cultural experience!

March - made an attempt to tune up for the Boston Marathon (in April) by doing a couple of local races.  The Irish Run 8k, where I learned that in short races, you should run faster (who knew?!).  Then had a better day at the MDRA 7-miler, I believe setting a new women's course record on a challenging (hilly) course (40:51).

 April - my first Boston Marathon.  Wow.  What to say about this experience?  Got to run as an elite woman = pretty unbelievable.  The explosions at the finish line = even more and tragically unbelievable.  Didn't have a great run (2:50), but appreciative that everyone I knew made it through the ordeal safe and sound.  Also did one of my only adventure races of the year.  Headed to Boone, IA for the 12-hour Boonecrusher race with the GearJunkie/WEDALI crew.  Had a blast, but adventure racing will be taking a back seat to running for a while.

May - after a horrible winter and a lackluster spring, the tides started to turn for me in May.  I bought a house, obviously not running related, but I was pumped about it.  And I started my summer racing schedule with a huge PR and women's course record at the Brian Kraft Memorial 5k (16:03).

June - a banner month!  Finished my MBA program, moved into my new house, and cranked out a few of my best races ever.  Started with Dam to Dam 20k in Iowa (1:10:02 - fourth fastest female time in the race's history), then a fun run 8k in my hometown (26:33), and finally 3rd place at the USA Track & Field Half Marathon Championship (1:11:32).  Somebody pinch me, because I still don't believe that happened.

July - things started getting funky and not in the good James Brown kind of way.  Started going to the doctor with symptoms of fatigue, headaches, body aches, and tummy issues.  Kept trying to compete and turned in a couple of decent, but declining performances.  First, a meager 1:17 at the April Sorenson Memorial Half Marathon in a monsoon (seriously, this was rain unlike anything I had ever seen before at a race, or ever really).  And then a 52:15 at the 15k state championship. 

August - the only thing on the agenda was a fundraiser 5k (no official clock and/or results) for one of my good friend's daughter who was born with cystic fibrosis.  Pretty cool to run for a good cause and my prize of getting to go on the field and meet the Twins during batting practice wasn't too shabby either.   

September - "sickness" reached an all-time unbearable point. After ruling out all of the regular runner maladies:  low iron, low hemoglobin, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, low vitamin D, even auto-immune diseases, I skeptically decided to go gluten-free to see what would happen.  In the meantime, I tried to race at the USA Track & Field 20k Championship and had one of the worst races of my life.  In the scope of world problems, a bad race ranks pretty low, but for a competitive runner the performance I turned in was a big embarrassment and the proverbial final straw...I had to figure out what was going on with my body.  

October - well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!  After about 5 weeks of being g-free, I started feeling like my old self, yippee!  Gone were the headaches, gone was the constant and overwhelming fatigue, and my stomach wasn't in constant turmoil anymore.  It didn't really make much sense (I tested negative for Celiac's disease), but the proof was in the pudding for me.  With gluten, I felt like garbage.  Without gluten, I felt like my old self.  So syonara delicious gluten!  It was the g-free lifestyle for me from now on.  Had planned to run the Twin Cities Marathon but was forced to bow out due the previous few months of health issues.

November - switched running clubs, from MN RED to Twin Cities Track Club, started getting back into the swing of things training-wise, and ran my first cross-country race since college.  I had to test out my xc legs because I was going to be joining the TCTC crew for the club cross-country nationals in Bend, OR in December.  I also ran in the first-ever USA Track & Field Road Racing Championship 12k.  I didn't have my best race ever (41:31), but I was happy just to feel "normal" out there again.  The Comeback was on! 

December - first race with the TCTC crew:  USA Track & Field Club Cross-Country Nationals 6k. Ran unexpectedly well (22:29) on a pretty technical course (by roadie standards). 15th place which meant I was invited to two different world championship cross-country races IF anyone in the top 9 couldn't/didn't want to go.  Unfortunately I missed the chance to represent the US in international competition by THIS MUCH, but I have my eyes on that prize for next year.  

And to end the year on a high note:  I was named USA Track & Field MN female runner of the year!  Boomyah.

USA Track & Field Club Cross-Country Nationals

Saturday, Dec 14 was the USA Track & Field Club Cross-Country National Meet.  It was an awesome opportunity to return to the good ol' days of ripping it up on the cross-country course, and break in my new spot on the Twin Cities Track Club roster.

        Check out the awesomeness at the start of the men's masters...gorgeous!

Side note:  when I started racing competitively, I was originally a part of the fantastic MN RED club, but recently I decided to switch things up and join TCTC.  I'm still working with my same coach (Ron Byland - http://www.miletomarathon.com/), but the time seemed right to switch my club/team affiliation.

TCTC was fielding both a male and female team for the weekend's event, and as we descended upon Bend, OR and the River's Edge Golf Course where the race was taking place, we knew we were in for a treat! The weather was great:  40 degrees and sunny, which felt tropical considering what the weather in Minneapolis had been lately.  There was snow on the ground, but race officials had been nice and snow-plowed most of the race course.  And the course itself was insane!  It was a 2k loop (women would be racing a 6k, men a 10k) that climbed pretty much every hill in sight or involved side-hill running (always tricky), snaked through rough/out-of-bounds areas of the golf course, and even had a sweet hurdle of hay bales along the way. 


Pics from the course.  Hay bale hurdle on the left, super tricky downhill/side-hill/uphill/corner combo on the right...saw a lot of people digger (fall) here.

The TCTC crew did a quick run of the course on Friday as a team.  We took note of particularly good and bad lines on the course and discussed strategy (taking the tangent, which is always done in road racing, was not always advisable on this course).  With a field of 300 talented women and a course that didn't have a lot of good spots for making moves/passing, it was going to be important to be in a good position from the start.

Race day -  I'm up at dawn for an easy morning jog and because my body is still functioning on Central Time so 6am in Oregon feels like 8am (did I just blow your mind?). Luckily we don't race until noon so after the jog, I have plenty of time to grab some breakfast, get my gear together and head to the course.  We arrive, go through the pre-race warm-up routine and it quickly becomes "go time!"

The race starts and it's a mad dash up a 200m hill to a sharp right turn.  Everyone is jockeying for position and a major bottleneck occurs at the corner.  I end up kind of walk-running for several strides.

Great pic at the start of the race.  I wish I could say I was fist-pumping in excitement (I was on the inside), but in reality I was carefully executing a swim-move around another competitor.  It was a choppy sea of elbows and sharp spikes at the start.

From there, things start rolling.  I can see my TCTC teammates Melissa Agnew and Stephanie Price just ahead, we're all sitting in top 40 (or so spectators are yelling at us), and I feel like we're in a great spot.  Not out too hard so that we blow up, but near the front of the pack and together.  By the time we come around the first loop, I'm shoulder-to-shoulder with Steph and Melissa, and hope to work together, but we end up splintering.  I move ahead and end up running the next two loops in a pretty steady position from 12th to 17th throughout.  The backstretch of the final loop arrives and it's a long, gradual climb that culminates in a super steep short hill and then the hay bales before cruising downhill to the finish.  I give it the beans, but I am cashed.  I had forgotten how painful cross-country can be.  Don't get me wrong, it's exhilarating and I love it, but you are basically blowing yourself up for 20 minutes of pain.  Surges, hill climbs, maneuvering on crappy footing...it's a whole different ball game than regular road running.

                                                    Need...more...oxygen...

Cross the line in 22:29, not a particularly impressive time for a 6k on the roads, but considering the terrain of the race, was good enough for 15th place.  I'm pumped.  Had no idea what to expect and this is a pleasant surprise.  I also am handed a card at the finish line that informs me I have just qualified for world competitions (one race in Scotland and one in Trinidad & Tobego)!  Boomyah.  Unfortunately, I'm the last on the list of people invited to the party (I was 15th and they only take 5-9 athletes, so the first finishers get first dibs).  By now I've learned that I will not be traveling with the USA national team, but it was a thrill to even be in the mix of consideration, and it gives me a good goal for next year.

Finally, and most importantly, big props to my new TCTC crew.  The women's team placed 8th and the men's team was 17th (with Joe Moore leading the pack and placing a phenomenal 11th place!).

The girlies - Melissa Agnes, me, Stephanie Price, Lisa Baumert, Laura Paulsen




   \
                                                                              Joe Moore...look at that great hair

 Additional fun photos of the event here:  http://www.mikealbright.com/Galleries/Sports/Running-Events/2013-XC-Club-National

US.Dot Road Racing Championship Recap & Media Links

All right, it has been way too long since I've had some race news to report, but I'm happy say that I am BACK IN THE GAME!  Booyah.

         This is a perfect illustration of where I'm at racing-wise right now.
           Mentally: I am ready to rip.  Physically: there's work to be done.  :)

A little over a week ago I went out to Alexandria, VA for the US.Dot Road Racing Championship 12k.  This race was the first of its kind.  It was an invite-only, culmination-of-the-season, cherry-on-the-top of the USA Track and Field summer circuit of road races.  Competitors were able to toe the start line only if they had placed in the top 10 at one of the USA T & F championship races earlier in the summer.  This meant that the field of runners was insanely fast and talented.  I had earned my way via my 3rd place finish at the Half Marathon Championship.

Luckily, I am FINALLY starting to feel healthy.  It only took three darn months!  But I haven't been able to train with any consistency so my level of fitness is pretty low (relatively-speaking).  However, despite this, I figured I had to participate because...why the heck not?!  I earned my spot and I am planning on getting right back on the horse and kicking butt sooner rather than later, so let The Comeback begin!

Flew out to VA on Friday.  Chilled at the hotel on Saturday.  Race day on Sunday.  Weather was perfection.  Mild (40-50 degrees), calm, and overcast.  The course was mostly flat (which I think actually helped me since I'm kind of a slug right now).  Only three significant climbs/inclines, which were tough, but manageable.  There was going to be NO WHERE to hide since the field was so small.  My plan was to go out conservatively.  After all, considering the competition, even a "conservative" effort was going to be laying down some serious tracks.  Oh and my two goals for the race:  finish in 42 minutes (5:40 pace) and don't get DFL (that's "dead flippin' last," for those who don't know).  

 

Race morning selfie...aw yeah! Actually felt great, low expectations = no reason to stress. 

Time to play!

Went out mid-to-back of the pack and basically maintained position throughout.  Crossed the line in 41:31 and 18th place.  Mediocre by comparison to the other women, but holy cows, I was super pumped!  I mean, when the top two women set the world record (or world "best" since road races don't officially count as "world records"... which don't even get me started because now I'm getting off topic), the field of competitors is basically all professionals, AND I'm not anywhere near my peak?  I'll take it.  I'll take it like Adrian Peterson...ALL DAY!

        Post-race:  not anywhere near the winners, but SO happy with my race! 

Pretty pleased to be among these amazing athletes:  Shalane Flanagan (2nd place) & Molly Huddle (women's champ).  Both women finished the 12k race faster than the current world record.  Yowzers! 

Also, since this was the first time USA T & F put on this event, they made a solid effort to generate a lot of press around the race.  Here are a few fun links to some of my interviews and press from the weekend:

Pre-race interview with Runnerspace.com:

http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=101134


Pre-race interview with MN T & F:
http://youtu.be/lhYeMdcybDQ

Post-race interview with Runnerspace.com (what is with my googly eyes?):
http://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=30069&do=videos&video_id=101198

Recipe Index

By the way...

Check out my new feature on the right:  a recipe index!  BAM!  Wait, is Emeril going to sue me for saying that?  Let's hope not.

Anyway, as I make this transition to being g-free, I've rediscovered my passion for cooking.  Sure it takes a bit longer than grabbing a quick bite from a fast food joint and/or restaurant.  And yes, it involves a little planning to get the right ingredients stocked in the kitchen.  BUT it's totally worth it when you take that first, delicious bite and realize you've just made something fantastic.  And personally, it gives me the warm-fuzzies to know I've made something that isn't going to result in me being sick for the next 3-4 days because I accidentally munched some gluten.

Now cooking is pretty manageable in today's gluten-conscious world, but baking is the real challenge to g-free living.  Baking is a science and taking gluten out of the equation can really throw a monkey wrench in the process.  However, since anyone who knows me knows how much I love my delicious desserts (especially baked goods), I will be trying my hand at some g-free baking soon.  My kitchen is already stocked with xantham gum and brown rice flour!

I'll only post things that I've made and enjoyed.  Hopefully that will limit the amount of dud recipes that I pass along.  And keep in mind, most regular recipes can be translated into g-free versions with just a few modifications.  If I find something like that, I'll try to post the modifications I made in the post's title so I don't lead you astray.

Final note:  if any of you have good g-free recipes, and don't mind sharing, send them my way.  I'd love to create a nice little recipe box for anyone looking for a g-free dinner idea.

Bon appetit!

                               Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas...NOM NOM

R.I.P. Gluten?!

Despite having no race report to contribute, I thought I'd give another "regular" post a shot.  So, what's on the proverbial menu?  Gluten.  Or rather, gluten is NOT on the menu.  Anyone who knows me, or anyone who read my last post, knows that I've been dealing with some mysterious health issues for the last few months.  And not mysterious in a fun, entertaining, Scooby-Doo sort of way.  Mysterious in this scenario means I continue to have my delicious blood stolen away by lab vampires, and yet the doctors continue to scratch their heads and I continue to feel sub-par everyday.

                      The perfect pictorial representation of how I've been feeling...
                                   thanks again, Hyperbole & A Half.

Also as mentioned in my last post, the best course of action so far has been to do a trial run of eating gluten-free (lactose has been re-instated, thank god.  Long-live cheese!).  Now, some of you smarties are probably wondering why not just test for Celiac's disease (a digestive disease in which people cannot tolerate gluten, a protein that is in wheat, rye, and barley).  That's a great idea, but unfortunately, it seems the answer isn't quite that easy.  You see, people don't have to test positive for and/or have full-blown Celiac's to suffer from gluten sensitivity.  This article is pretty interesting (in a depressing way):  http://www.rodalenews.com/gluten-free-diets?cm_mmc=MSN-_-Is%20This%20Healthy%20Plant%20Wrecking%20Your%20Health-_-Article-_-Some%20People%20Really%20Are%20Gluten%20Sensitive. 

This is what I imagine gluten looks like...

It's been nearly a month since I cut gluten from my diet, and I must say, I think it's the solution.  My energy level seems to be slowly returning to normal, the aches and pains in my head and body have significantly improved, and my tummy is much happier these days.  Not only that, but on several occasions I have relapsed and had stretches of days of feeling like absolute garbage.  And without fail, I've been able to trace back and make a connection between my "illness" and eating something that likely had gluten in it (spices, salad dressings, restaurant food that I thought would be safe but wasn't labeled gluten-free, etc.).

So as much as the idea of having to be high-maintenance and gluten-free for the rest of my days totally bums me out, the alternative of feeling sick is much worse.  And looking on the bright side, the prevalence of gluten-sensitivity and Celiac's seems to be on the rise.  As a result, more and more restaurants and food companies are offering/labeling g-free items which helps fill the hole in my soul created when I cut out delicious g-filled treats.

From a running/performance standpoint, this whole situation has definitely taken a toll.  I am miles and miles, figuratively and literally, from where I was at the beginning of the summer and unfortunately there's no magic switch to turn my fitness back on.  But hopefully, I've found the solution to what's been ailing me, which is a huge first step.  With the mystery apparently solved, I have no doubt that gradually, I'll make up what's been lost and be ready to rip next year.

                                      Who doesn't get inspired by Rocky?

By the way, a huge THANK YOU to all of my friends, family and competitors who have been an amazing support system through this all.  So many of you have offered suggestions about ailments to check for, advice on good docs to see, recipe ideas, and general well wishes.  Seriously...you guys and gals are amazing!

Twin Cities Marathon - Better Luck Next Time

Sunday marks race day for the Twin Cities Marathon which, this year, also happens to be the USA Track & Field Marathon Championship race.  How exciting!  TC is one of my favorite races not only because it's on my home turf, but because the scenery along the 26.2 mile route is fantastic and the crowd support is unparalleled.  I don't think I've ever felt good during one of the four TC marathons I've done (cramping issues, no tapering, etc.), but despite this I have always enjoyed myself because of the sheer awesomeness of the event.  And my fond feelings can also probably be partly attributed to the fact that I've been able to run some decent times at this race.

                         Snapshot of the start line on race day...it gives me goosebumps!!!

This year TC was my main goal for the racing season and I was ready to rip.  I had an awesome start to the summer, setting personal bests right and left, and feeling fabulous doing it!  Not only that, but with the help of my new coach, Ron Byland (Mile to Marathon, LLC), I was putting in some serious training.  Starting in late June and consistently through early September, I was killing it on training runs (if I don't mind saying so).  100+ miles per week, always hitting goal paces, and arguably mentally tougher than ever because of the wave of confidence I was riding from early summer results.  Then, mid-July things started getting...weird...

I won't bore you with too many details, but I just started feeling like crap.  Exhausted all of the time, weak, dead legs, head aches, stomach aches, and all kinds of other fun stuff.  I went to the doctor multiple times and each time was told, "you just need to rest."  This was beyond frustrating. For someone who is accustomed to not only being active, but competitive, being trapped in this lethargic state was maddening.  The docs didn't seem to realize that I had already cut WAY back on training and I was still miserable almost all of the time. 

Fast-forward two months and the latest development is a recommendation to go gluten and lactose free.  Not ideal for someone (me) who loves to eat, and particularly loves delicious gluten-containing treats.  There is sneaky gluten EVERYWHERE!  But at this point, although it's annoying and kind of embarrassing, I'm willing to try anything to get myself back to feeling normal.

         There is gluten in all the things I want to eat!  (photo credit:  Hyperbole & A Half)

Oh, and because of this on-going mystery, I have been forced to withdraw from the TC Marathon.  I might be able to finish a marathon, but there's no way I'd be able to race one.  And although it might sound conceited or arrogant, if I can't be at 100%, I don't want to be out there at all.  Not only that, but at this point, trying to scrape together a decent  marathon (not even great, just decent) would likely put me deeper in the hole of feeling icky.  So Plan B = no race this weekend, a few more trips to the doc to figure out what's going on, and then back to ripping it up!

  And finally, here is a picture of a puppy in a cup...because it makes me feel better.  Enjoy.