2011 in Review and Plans for 2012

2011 in Review and Plans for 2012

Well 2011 was an interesting year. I hit part of the Bucket List  scoring a sweet 21min PR in the 50K at the World Cup in July. I finished 2nd in a dogfight over the final KMs though. Winning both the 50K and 100K Latvian National Championships was also very cool. I would have never expected two national titles in 1 yr.The 100K PR was long from happening though sadly because of the seriously nasty heat and humidity we had that day. I was the only woman on our team who even finished and we lost a guy too. The race itself had a 40%dropout rate and I learned all about heat sickness and stroke. I had the "joy" of goosebumps all over my body at 92km -never had things got so bad that that happened! Being the stubborn git that I am though I just gutted it out albeit at over 9 min mile pace by that point! I was actually running like a metronome til the late 60sK near 70 when I just started getting sick from the heat. My legs were good but it was definitely too hot. It very much reminded me of Chicago in 2007 when they shut the marathon course. I ran my career worst there and the medics were carting poeople off left and right but in Chicago there were people out there that flat out should not have been. This was the World Championships and after a few hours into the race the medics were carting people off the course much like that day in Chicago! That was scary and I figured better to slow down and get the job done then end up in the hospital.

I recovered fast this time around and put down a marathon and another 50k all within a 7 week stretch! I do not recommend this approach for the faint of heart! Marathon was 4 weeks after the 100k and the 50k was 3 weeks later where I was 4 minutes slower than I was in the summer, but hell, I was no longer as fresh after running the 100. I approached the marathon as an intermediate long run between the 100 and 50k.

November meant rest and then I gradually started moving again 3 weeks ago at the Zelenograd Marathon. I was due for a long run and this and the marathon in St Pete in January are our premier winter marathons. Winning Zelenograd was a nice surprise. It had occurred to me I hadn't won a marathon yet this yeear-scratch that one off the Bucket List. Actually, I did not train seriously for a fast marathon this year. Well I did early spring. It was supposed to be Riga and I pulled out 2 days before, a decision I'm not sure was the best since I may not be able to chase down another marathon PR again. Every marathon I ran this year was just a long training run to prep me for the 50 and 100k My goal was to PR there.
Which brings me to plans for 2012-
I'm focusing on the 100k Worlds in April. Yes, I have to peak a month EARLIER than usual this spring. 2011 saw change and change for the better. I finally did what I needed to do long ago and quit my job in early September after finally finding a way to be self employed again. I was working split shifts for crummy pay and the huge disruption in my sleep schedule was destroying me. I was also turning into a crabby, aggressive bitch because I never got enough sleep.  I cannot walk in the door long after I need to be in bed sleeping in order to teach an early class the next day. I have battled insomnia since my teens and I need to get up and go to bed at roughly the same time every day. I'm now back to doing what I did until early 2008 and taking clients from the 2nd half of the day and training during the first. Bottom line is if my work day starts at 8 then it needs to end by 4 ish not the 9 and 10pm I was dealing with at the old job. Sure I had a break in the afternoon but too often I could not even get the necessary nap after my workout just to make it back for the second shift. I had 2-3 occasionally 4 commutes a day averaging an hour one way. Another year of that and I was heading for some health problems. Since rehabilitating my body from that ridiculousness, not only can I train more effectively like I used to back in Alaska, and my times even at the shorter distances have dropped dramatically. The best supplement for recovery isn't glutamine and all that crap, it's good ol' fashioned SLEEP! There is still a reserve left in me but my asinine schedule was ruining it. So I'm going to spend 2012 seeing how far I can tap into that reserve. You only live once and I do not know how many years I'll have the opportunity to compete on the top level. I have my whole life to take a desk job and grow an ass(well we teachers are usually on our feet), but I know I won't be able to do what I do forever.

That said, I've socked some money away for a trip to either Kyrgystan or Kislovodsk for altitude training this March before the 100k. I'm considering investing in an altitude tent too-just not sure how I'd fit the generator into my tiny flat. I'm not sure I could sleep in the tent in the summer though because it gets so damn hot in my room. I need to do some more homework as it is not a cheap investment. It might only be feasible if I get AC and turn it down to freezing cold.

After the Worlds I'll rest then look for some ultras in the fall probably in the US. I have good support from Vitargo and an incentive to do well at US ultras.Those guys rock and I finally found a product that has enough calories I can absorb in long races. Plus, it does not give my picky tummy tummy issues.

 Fast marathon???That's the compromise,sadly probably not. I would have to find something in Feb/March in Europe before the 100k and frankly because I'm processing a new work visa, I won't be able to come and go as I please til late Feb early March I suspect. Fall marathon??? Possibly, I'd like to return to Valmiera, but it's not a blazing fast course although I really like that race and it's well organized. I'm not sure Daugavpils will happen this year. I had hoped there would be another 50K again.  Riga? I doubt it. Four weeks off the 100, I am unlikely to burn down the barn in a marathon. If I find a fast 50k in the second half of the year, I'd like to chase down another PR.For now, progress in the 100K is priority as is staying healthy and injury free.
Cheers and happy New Year!

BIM Winter Marathon Zelenograd (Moscow) 10 Dec

http://video.mail.ru/mail/tersol/_myvideo/4.html
Link to video-yes that's ICE underfoot!

Boris Prokopiev, the editor of Бег и Мы (Running and Us), the top Russian running magazine, has put this marathon on since 2000. Although I have been running his half marathon since 98 (which sadly he no longer organizes but still helps out with), I have never given his marathon a try. When I lived in Alaska, I used to miss it by a day or two when I would fly in for Christmas break as it used to be the 3rd Saturday in December. Then, a few years back, it was moved to the first Saturday in December. This year it was moved back a week because of the elections on the 4th. Still, I never bothered running it despite hearing nothing but good reviews on it. Truth is, by the time December rolls around, it's the end of the season, it's friggin' dark, and I'm often suffering from severus assus dragus. Yes, my butt moves this time of year, just slowly as molasses. After a season of marathoning and or ultras, I just don'tt feel like going out and running an embarrassingly slow time in the middle of the winter. Conversely, by the time the winter marathon in St. Pete rolls around at the end of January, I feel more up do doing a marathon as a nice long training run to lay the base for the upcoming season.
Well, next year my main spring race is going to be a month earlier than usual as the 100K Worlds are in April and usually I train for Riga in May. That means I need to start getting in good long runs and moving my butt in December as opposed to January whereas I used to take November and December as easy mileage months post season. In December I would hit the indoor track once a week  for maintenance and in January, I started the real work. So, after I ran the 50K in Chicago six weeks ago, I came back to Moscow and did easy distance with one serious hill workout per week and a baby midweek pickup session of short intervals 100-400m never more than 5k total in a session and often less.I honestly felt like I was doing nothing. I kept on a diet of hills because I had already spent a month on them in the US and need to continue the process for strength. Hills were my secret weapon workout back in Alaska and 1 hellacious hill session per week was all I needed all winter  to stay in good form. Truth is the rest was needed in Nov after the very intense 7 weeks of racing at the end of the season. Soooowith my total volume as a paltry 487km for November and my longest "long" run being a wimpy 23km. I decided to use Boris' marathon as one of my December long runs. I signed up in mid November just before it closed too. My goal was to go out and run an "I Don't Care Race" (no pressure) and just have fun and take the "whatever" approach. Ironically, those no pressure "whatever" races often turn out to be some of my best probably because there's no pressure and I just go out and have fun.  The course is all in the woods on trails and paths and the air is better in Zelenograd just outside the city.

Also, within our club here we have a six team marathon match and this year I got elected as one of the team captains. Based on the scoring system, women's times get more weight than men's times. Two of the women on my team were already on the list to run and things are really close. Doing my long run at home will not help the cause, but doing it at the marathon could very well make the difference in how we finish the season. With three of my four ladies running plus a few of the guys, things could be interesting. The day before the race, I ran in summer shoes and roads were clean. The weather went south in the evening and it began to snow, then dump, then stopped for the night.  By the time I got to Zelenograd in the morning and went out to check out the course before the race, to decide which shoes to wear,it was obvious that it was going to be the INOV8s as there was nothing but a nasty thick layer of ICE under the snow on the trails we would be running in the woods. Murphy's flippin' law that course conditions would go to hell the night before the race. I decided against Yaktrax on my summer flats because Yaks suck on pavement and there were a few parts of bare pavement we cut across coming in and out of the woods. Icebugs are good but a bit heavy for a marathon.

This is Baba Raya (Raisa Nikitina). She is my hero and one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. I knew she'd be running here and had to wish her luck before the race.Her story is simply a miracle of life. She is 85 and still runs marathons in about 6 hours. She is also the 70-74 and 75-79 age group world record holder in the 100K. Yes, at 71, this woman ran a 100K in 11:23! She really didn't get into running til she was 69 after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and having 3/4 of a lung removed! She chose to heal herself via traditional medicine and so far, she is healthy as a horse! When she first told me her story several years ago I couldn't believe the woman was still alive much less still kicking butt in these marathons! And so she was off to tackle the ice rink of a course! Go Baba Raya!

                                                         Before the start....that is ICE under my feet!

Just before the start, we all placed flowers on the nearby WWII memorial to honor the veterans. Soon we were off

The course was 1 loop of 2k and change followed by 8x5k loops. There were several hairpin turns and they were slick as sh!t. You could see the ice under the snow and the volunteers at the turns were warning ppl it was really slick in those spots. Several people fell and more than once. After the first loop, my only goal was to finish this without breaking a bone. I had good shoes that grip well in snow but I could still feel sliding fron the ice underneath and in the spots were there was nothing but bare ice, especially in the evil turns, I just put on the brakes or I would have done a faceplant or an assplant. My strongest competition was probably Lena Simutina -we ran Belochka in the summer when the genius organizers sent us and the rest of the leaders in the wrong direction and we ended up running an extra 3k! Lena ran an 8:38 at the 100K in St Pete in early September and has had a really good season. She's on the Russian 100K team and we will see each other again in Italy at the Worlds in April. Lena went out about a minute ahead of me and I just sat back and ran even splits. I was sticking to 4.50-5 min km pace in the woods anything under 4.45 and I started feeling myself slide. 3 unplanned pitstops at about 20 sec a piece in the first half didn't help the cause either. So, yes I was relegated to training pace because of the conditions on the course. In the few bare spots I was easily running 4.15-20 pace but as soon as I got back in the woods it was like one step forward and two back! At the end of the 6th lap a couple guys told me Lena was tired (ha right she's a 100k and 24 hr runner, she doesn't get tired but runs smart and even).I did count only 20 seconds between us as the turnaround at the end of loop 7. A few meters up Coach was there to hand off a Vespa and a bottle of Vitargo and told me she was about 100m ahead. Honestly, where am I going to speed up and close a gap on this  damn ICE?!

                                                      icy turn

                                     snow and ice and everything that makes winter running less than nice....

                                                                    finish

                                                             feeding-vitargo and a vespa for up the road

                                                     finish
 My legs were good because I was running an easy pace and I had a lot of gas left in the tank, but it was near impossible to go fast on this course today. About 1k into the 8th loop, I started picking off a few guys and then I could see Lena up ahead. I used a bare patch of pavement to pick it up about 3k into the loop to close the gap. I passed her at about 35k and did my darnest to open a gap because she could always come back and get me  if I don't try and open a big gap. I kind of felt bad I got her so close to the end-it just sucks when you get passed late in a race you have led the whole day. At the turnaround going into the end of that loop, I had only 40 seconds on her. This was it, one lap to go I still had to try and open it up in the less slippery spots. I passed several guys in that loop but my goal was to keep opening that gap. The course got worse with each loop as people packed that snow -ice making it slicker each time and it had been snowing all day to boot. I saw a few guys wipe out in the turns. Going into the last turnaround I did not see Lena which meant she was over four minutes back. I finished and Lena came in just over 5 min later and Irina Koval who was 3rd when we ran this summer finished in 3:38. That's impressive in the conditions we had and if you age grade her, she'd beat us all!

                                                    getting the job done

                                                        about to chick this guy heading into the last lap

Soon after the three of us finished it went from snowing to downright DUMPING!. It was just below freezing all day and I was seriously glad the snow did not turn to freezing rain or it would have been a nightmare. I never hit any kind of wall and my legs were fine I think mostly due to the fact that I ran much slower than I otherwise would have in normal conditions.

I got inside and got into my drys and Boris did the awards later. Same top 3 women from Belochka in the summer Lena and I just switched places this time. We have been taking turns catching each other like that for a good 10 or so years now. She had won this marathon twice before. After the awards they had a nice pelmeni dinner for all the runners so no one went home hungry. I'd have to give the organizers a big thumbs up on this one and a super big thumbs up for having ppl out on every turn making sure no one got lost because there were several spots one could easily make a wrong turn. Course was well marked too.

                                            left to right-me,Lena, Irina, and Boris-race director-I've known Boris for over 13 yrs my how time flies!

SriChinmoy 2 Mile 3 December

After a nice week of training in Vilnius and I mean some SERIOUS HILL training, I returned to run the 2 mile xc run in Moscow on the 3rd. In the morning, I was greeted by a surprise...a WHITE surprise. I awoke to sideways snow and the wind that was responsible for the sideways snow was HOWLING. Ok, winter's here. It was just barely below freezing but the snow had stuck. What to wear was a no brainer-the INOV8 xtalon 212s were it.
When I got to the woods where we would run,yes it was snowed under. The shoes turned out to be my saving grace. It was warm out but we were going to be on fresh snow today. I had a solid group to run with. There were 4 of us and I'm embarrassed to admit my competition was a good 13 or more yrs my junior. All these girls put down 5:3x or better miles on Sunday. Ahhh but I totally felt like I was cheating, the girls had on regular summer shoes. No, I just didn't care to fall and bust my ass on a slippery root hiding under the new snow! First loop we stuck in a pack going out just over 4min /km pace. Halfway through the 2nd loop one girl dropped back and then we were three. We would spend this loop passing and catching each other. My shoes gripped the snow like glue and I was not slipping at all woo hoo! WE really picked up the 2nd k coming in in 3:58! 3rd loop this continued and I ended up 3rd in the final kick to the finish. Anna was 2nd in Novemer and won this one while Marina was 2nd here and won in November. The 4th girl was just behind me. This is a new series of xc races that runs in 6 month increments whereas themile series is a 4 race series Nov-Feb. I am now kicking myself in the tail for skipping the October run or I'd be leading the series. I'm now second as Anna and Marina are tied for first after having run 2 races. I ran in November a couple days after getting off the plane from the US. My time on a clean course then was 12.54 on snow it was 12.51 which is a new snow PR. I've never been much better than 13.20 on snow even in my heyday in Alaska. Interesting how they score points for the series though. it's tough enough I'm in the 20-50 age group but they give you points based on how you place among men/women ie. if you chick guys, you get more points! They then take top 3 men/women in each division at the end of the series in March. Yup, the shoes + some sweet strength and hill training are doing something for me:)

Having a HILL of a time in Vilnius week of 28 Nov-super awesome +6C weather and no snow!

                                                     Thanks Vladas for the hill workout it's better with company!

This is wht it looked like on Nov 5th ...SEVEN days after I ran the 50k in chicago mind you. I felt like a total zombie here as I had some serious jet lag-