Avenue of the Giants

My official chip time was 3:19:49. I thought the race was great, it was a beautiful course, shaded with some rolling hills but for the most part, the uphills did not feel hard with the exception of the last uphill right before the finish, and alot of the course felt like it was downhill or flat. I really felt in the groove for about 80% of this race.

The race started and I fell into step with a guy named Bob who was shooting for a time a little faster than I was but he was planning on starting slower then picking it up. We ended up running together for 16.5 miles. We also picked up a guy from Columbus and a local gal who ended up being the first master.

The first half of the race had more uphills than I had expected and the road was in really bad need of a paving job, infact, you didn't want to look to long at the gorgeous scenery for fear of tripping. Even though there was a lot of uphill in the first 6.5, I was really in the groove and the miles were flying by. When we turned around, we started picking up the pace and going with the flow, our little group was all feeling really good through these miles.

At the halfway point, I saw Jim and Scooter which put a little bounce in my step! We made a right hand turn and headed up the hill over the bridge. Soon Bob and I ran into a guy from one of the local running groups, I almost didn't recognize him at first. The three of us ran together for a while in a really nice rythme. Around 16.5, I started having problems. We had just passed a water stop when I started having trouble breathing. This has happened before, at the end of the Mississauga marathon just as I was crossing the finish line, but never during the actual run. Anyway, I wasn't sure if I should stop so I tried to relax and breathe deeply and within a minute or so, my breathing returned to normal. This happend about 4 more times during the race, and I tell you it was quite distressing. I used to use an inhaler but haven't needed it for years, guess I should get one just in case. Around the same time as the breathing trouble started, my heart rate also jumped up 10-15 beats. I was in the high 150's - low 160's for the first 16.5 miles, then it went up to the mid 170's and stayed there until the end of the race.

I still managed to hold onto my pace pretty good until mile 23, then I really started slowing, with 25 and 26 in the low 8's!

I know this is a certified course and the distance is accurate, but there was no one yelling splits, so I relied on my Garmin for pace and distance. Well my Garmin gave me 26.73 miles for the race which came out to a 7:29 pace. So what happened? Did I really run almost a half a mile extra due to all the turns or did my watch just over estimate the distance? I kept thinking the mile markers were off and eventually everything would even out, but as I got closer to the end I realized that it was not so. A little bit of a dissapointment since you think you are on pace for a certain time but then have almost a half mile more to run!

Here are the splits and official finish time
CHIP CHIP AGE PLACE SEX GUN GUN TIME TO 6.5 MILE 1/2 MAR 19.60 MILE BOSTON MAR
NO. NAME CITY & STATE RACE # SEX AGE TIME PACE DIV OVERALL OVERALL TIME PACE START LINE SPLIT PACE SPLIT PACE SPLIT PACE QUALIFYER
4. Joann Pavlovcak San Francisco, CA 43 F 37 3:19:49 7:37 2 / 21 22 / 416 4 / 181 3:19:51 7:37 0:02 0:48:20 7:26 2:26:05 7:27 BMQ

So 7:27 pace when I paced the last turn around at 19.60 miles, and overall pace was 7:37.

These are the splits my Garmin gave me.




This is the course and the course profile. Notice the red arrows, that is the 'killer' hill, it wasn't bad on the way out, but on the way back it was torture :)




Before the start of the race.


Rolling through the half way point with my posse.


Not much further now!


And on to the finish!!

April 13th to 19th, 2009

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Recovery
5.03 mi, 8:41/mi, 126 bpm

Wednesday
Aerobic + Speed
7.06 mi, 7:47/mi, 147 bpm
Did 8x100 pickups

Thursday
Unplanned off day. Didn't feel like running in the morning, was going to do it after work, but by the end of they day I was really tired and decided to just take an extra day off this week.

Friday
Med-Long
12.01 mi, 8:29/mi, 133 bpm
This run started out in the dark of the morning with me tripping over a speed bump because I was forced off the sidewalk due to a parked car! Let me tell you that dark speed bumps without yellow paint are very hard to see before the sun rises! Anyway, luckily I was wearing tights so I only removed 1 layer of skin from my knee! I walked off the pain for about 5 minutes and then decided I could still run so off I went! The rest of the run was great, it was a perfect morning with temps in the low 50's and plenty of sun once it came up.

Saturday
Aerobic
10.09 mi, 8:39/mi, 127 bpm

Sunday
Long Run
17.02 mi, 8:25/mi, 136 bpm
This run started out really great, it was a lot warmer than usual and I was very excited about that. When I left the apartment it was 72 and when I returned it was 82. I guess I am not used to the heat though becuase half way through the run I started getting extremely thirsty to the point that I was changing my route so that I could run by water fountains. Oh my, I don't know how I made it through the last few miles, I can't remember the last time I felt so dehydrated during a run...actually I do, it was the summer of 2007, running the towpath with TM and it was 90+ and very humid at about 8am.

Total:
51.21 miles
Avg pace 8:25/mi
Avg HR 134

April 6th to April 12th, 2009

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Recovery
AM - 6.38 mi
PM - 4.33 mi

Wednesday
Med-Long
11.14 mi, 8:54/mi, 127 bpm

Thursday
Med-Long
14.14 mi, 8:10/mi, 136 bpm

Friday
Aerobic
8.23 mi, 8:31/mi, 125 bpm

Saturday
Recovery
5.27 mi, 8:43/mi, 121 bpm

Sunday
Long Run
20.01 mi, 8:31/mi, 135 bpm

Total:
69.50 miles

March 30th to April 5th, 2009

Monday
Recovery
3.77 mi, 9:22/mi, 120 bpm

Tuesday
VO2 Max
9.27 mi, 8:00/mi, 140 bpm
5x600's, I wasn't too technical about this run, since I wasn't at the track, just ran 5 x 2:30, so the pace ranged from 6:30 to just under 7. I have a hard time moving fast so early in the morning, so the first interval is always way too slow. I suppose I should add an extra one on in the future to make up for it.

Wednesday
Aerobic
8.12 mi, 8:29/mi, 130 bpm

Thursday
Recovery
5.33 mi, 9:03/mi, 119 bpm

Friday
Med-Long
13.25 mi, 8:33/mi, 129 bpm
Was supposed to do this run on Wednesday, but kept putting it off because I was tired and got out of the house too late in the morning.

Saturday
Recovery
6.06 mi, 8:30/mi, 126 bpm

Sunday
Race + Long Run
18.17 mi, 8:03/mi, 139 bpm
Did a 10k race today in Golden Gate Park, it was a beautiful day for a race! I jogged from the apartment to the start of the race which is about 2.5 miles and then warmed up a little more for a total of 3 miles. Prior to leaving for the race and even while jogging there, I was doubting even doing the race! I reminded myself that it would be good company for part of my long run, so just do it even if you won't be fast! Anyway, the race started and the first mile has a bit of a climb and was also into the wind, but by some amazing force, there was this nice tall runner running about the same pace as me so I tucked in behind him and used him as a shield until the course turned and headed east - thanks buddy! After I broke away from him, I caught up to the next group ahead of me and stuck with them for a bit, but soon I dropped them and started catching up to the next group. By this time I started realizing that I was feeling really good and these sub-7 miles were feeling pretty easy! I couldn't believe it, I thought I was going to struggle but it was quite the opposite, the training feels like it was really starting to payoff! About mile 3 we started down a downhill stretch and that's when a guy in the pack I was in said he couldn't keep up anymore and started falling off the back of the our little group, I tried to encourage him to stick with us and he told me to stick with the guy ahead of us to which I replied I was trying! This guy was about 50 yards ahead of me by this point, I had already made up some ground though because he was well ahead of me for the first 2 miles. Anyway, I stuck with him all the way to the 6 mile marker and we were picking off other runners along the way, it felt great! After the last mile marker though, he found another gear and dropped me. I was really pleased how this run turned out, I felt really strong through the entire run, uphill and downhill. The last 1.25 miles is all uphill, so my pace did slow down, but I always felt strong. Anyway, I did not get a PR today, but I feel this race was a good indication that my training is progressing nicely!


Total:
63.96 miles
Avg pace 8:24/mi
Avg HR 132

March 23rd to March 29th, 2009

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Recovery
4.02 mi, 9:18/mi, 117 bpm

Wednesday
Med-Long
12.33 mi, 8:23/mi, 131 bpm

Thursday
Med-Long
15.25 mi, 8:13/mi, 136 bpm

Friday
AM - Recovery
5.09 mi, 9:35/mi, 114 bpm
Really tired this morning

PM - Aerobic
7.00 mi, 8:18/mi, 135 bpm

Saturday
Aerobic
10.16 mi, 8:55/mi, 126 bpm
Legs feeling a little dead this morning.

Sunday
Long Run
17.03 mi, 7:46/mi, 142 bpm
Did 10 miles at 'marathon pace', which I didn't really know what pace I should run, but decided to let my legs decide. There was a 25 mile per hour wind from the west, so half the run was running right into the wind. I ended up averaging about 7:40 for the marathon paced miles, not bad considering the wind. I also noticed that my heart rate is getting closer to where it was when I was running my best back in 2006, so that is a good sign.

Total:
70.88 miles
Avg pace 8:25/mi
Avg HR 132

301!

Woohoo! Just finished the biggest running month ever by cracking the 300 mile marker with a grand total of 301!!! 27 running days, 4 days off, average of just over 11 miles per day, 8:29/mile, heartrate of 133 bpm.

March 16th - 22nd, 2009

This week was interesting, I definitely saw some of the fruits of my labour paying off, I also got into an impromptu race of sorts in the park and finished the week off with a free exfoliating treatment.

On Wednesday I had the day off from work so rather than running in the morning, I went out in the afternoon to enjoy the warmth and the sun while I ran. I ran to Golden Gate Park and as is the norm, there were lots of people out walking kids, dogs, etc and lots of runners as well. One runner in particular was a ways ahead of me on the path, he was an older guy, maybe in his mid to late 50's and looked to be jogging at a leisurely pace. Well, it didn't take long for me to catch up to him and pass him, but as soon as I passed him, he proceeded to pass me back! Well, now he was just a step ahead of me and I wanted some space so I proceeded to pass him again and he kept picking up the pace to prevent me from doing so! I could not believe that he was doing that, I mean really??? So I ran up along side of him and turned my head to start a conversation and he wouldn't even acknowledge me so I decided to give him a run for his money and see how long he could keep this up. I kept picking up the pace until we were running around 6:30 or so and then finally after about 3/4 of a mile of this game, he peeled off...and I declared victory!!! Well, this run was supposed to be 14 miles and I had not planned on turning it into a tempo, but once he bailed on our little game, my legs wanted to keep moving, so I ran 4 more miles at sub-7 pace and was pretty pleased with how good I felt and where my heart rate was. I finished up the rest of the miles at a decent pace, so thank you to the stranger in the park who helped me run a really good unplanned tempo!


Monday
Off

Tuesday
AM - Recovery
3.80 mi, 9:12/mi, 120 bpm
My left foot was sore this morning so I aborted the run to try again later in the day.

PM - VO2
6.26 mi, 7:35/mi, 156 bpm
I wore my Brooks Glycerin for this run and my foot did not hurt. My Mizuno's may be getting close to retirement. This was a good run, did 5x600's.

Wednesday
Med-Long with Tempo
14.01 mi, 7:48/mi, 148 bpm
7:32 (143)
6:57 (157)
6:51 (162)
6:58 (161)
6:47 (162)
Great run!


Thursday
Recovery
9.14 mi, 9:28/mi, 119 bpm
Pretty sore, slow recovery run.

Friday
AM - Recovery
5.21 mi, 9:20/mi, 119 bpm
Still a little sore and tired from Wednesday's effort.

PM - Aerobic
7.09 mi, 7:28/mi, 154 bpm
Wow, that morning run must have really helped out because I felt really great for this run, the legs were just flowing. I ended up running faster than I planned, but hey, sometimes you just have to go with the flow!
7:30 (148)
7:29 (153)
7:19 (158)
7:07 (161)
7:16 (161)

Saturday
Recovery
5.03 mi, 8:47/mi, 123 bpm

Sunday
Race + Long Run
18.01 mi, 8:29/mi, 140 bpm
Did a 12k race today at Chrissy Field, and wow, it was windy! 27mph with gusts up to 32mph! The wind kicking the sand up and in my face made me feel like I had just had an exfoliating treatment done! I wasn't expecting to go too hard in the race since I already had 3 hard runs this week, I know, I should have saved myself for the race, but when I feel good, I want to go with it. Anyway, the first mile or so of this race was OK, then my legs started getting sore, I was really thinking of just dropping out since it was really a low-key local race etc, but then I thought what the heck, I am here anyway and have to run today, who cares if my time sucks! So on I went. There was a really big hill in this race, just one, most of the course was flat aside from that. The terrain was a mix of packed sand and pavement, however, three was a section on the path with 3 sets of barricades that you had to navigate in a zig-zag around twice, so that was a bit of a slowdown. Anyway, halfway through the race, my legs started coming around and I started picking up the pace even into the strong headwind and started to pick off a few people. Once we hit the final turn around, we finally got a break from the head wind and now it was at our backs which was great because my legs started moving faster and faster and I was passing more people. With less than a half mile to go, I saw the 2nd place women ahead of me, so I picked it up and flew past her, so I ended up 2nd. After the race, I still had 10 more miles to run, but there was no way I wanted to stay by the bay since my face was already burning from wind and sand, so I drove back home parked the car and did the rest at Golden Gate Park.

Total:
68.55 miles
Avg pace 8:25/mi
Avg HR 136