I was feeling pretty confident I might be ready for a decent 50k coming off my final tune up at the 15k 8 days earlier. 4 days before the race, I did a fartlek with a 3k pickup at 4.30 km pace to simulate planned 50k pace. Then just tapered off a bit . With the race being Sunday, I took the overnight train Thursday into Friday morning so I could sleep that off upon arrival Friday. The road to Daugavpils from Moscow is kind of a PITA as there is no easy way to get there. It involves a 13hr overnight train that has you getting off just past 6AM at the first stop past the border. That is followed by about an hour and a half on a bus where I usually hit drool sleep along the way. So, that put me into Daugavpils just before 9AM where our team manager met me and walked me over to the dorm where we stay. I got the same nice quiet corner room I had last yr-YEAAA. Grocery run, bite to eat, then I proceeded to sleep for about 4 hours in the afternoon. I got stuck next to a cougher/ snorer in the bunk above me on the train who woke me up all night long so sleep was first and foremost on the agenda.
Now, last week at the 15k, I won a cool little toy- a new e-reader that I uploaded lost of recent episodes of some of my favorite shows like Weeds, Anger Management , Modern Family, and some new Warehouse 13 onto. I needed something to help me pass the time on the train and then chill in the evening in my room before bed to help take my mind off the race. So after an evening walk on Friday and some dinner, I curled up with some Weeds and Anger Management and sleepy mint tea and then proceeded to sleep for another 10 hours. Saturday was Do Nothing Day except for the usual shakeout run and my task was to eat, eat,and eat some more.
walking around a bit....
Team Russia- Marina Zhalybina (2011 100k world champ 3rd at Comrades this yr), Svetlana Savoskina (former 100k world champ) , and Igor Tyashkorob (multi 100K Russian national champ) showed up Saturday morning after getting their visas very last minute. That does suck and I had hoped we'd all get on the same train Thursday and try to get tickets so we could bunk next to each other so as not to bother each other as we all needed some sleep. No such luck. :-( They were down the hall from me. So, as I was munching dinner, Inita Bistrova and Nadya Kvastkina joined me as they had just come in from Riga .Nadya is 76 and althought she dropped out of the 100k at Worlds last yr in the horrid weather conditions while attempting an age gp world record, she does own the national record for her age group. She is awesome! Respect! Inita has also been o n the 100k team before I was.
So off to chill then sleep. Melatonin, mint tea, and Weeds:=) I was such a good girl and it was sooooo quiet in my room I fell asleep just after 11 and slept til 6. That almost never happens the night before.
RACE DAY! Up just past 6 so I could get in my oatmeal and carbs from a couple bottles of Vitargo+ the obligatory caffeine and have time to let it digest by the 10 AM start. Breakfast, done, hydrating, done....what to do to chill....hmmm there is still an episode or 2 of Weeds waiting ...yes, I've fallen behind this season and wanted to catch up on back episodes. Just after 9, I walked out with my gear and headed to the start a 5 min walk up the street. I needed to get there in time to set my table with Vitargo bottles for each 4k loop (course is 2k+12x4k)+ extra Roctane, and a Vespa Jr for roughly the 30k point. Table set, potty visited, off to the start.
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yeah need to find a better way of stuffing that salt stick in my top...no I don't have boobs it's the salt stick!
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As usual, I wanted to go out conservatively then pick up later on. The weather gods were kind, 15C and clouds with a breeze! Yeah, I thought, I don't get too many days where the weather gods and I agree so I'd better try to put down smthg solid. Svetlana ran the first 6k with me then dropped back. After she dropped back I was ALONE THE REST OF THE DAY:-( I was chilling at 4.33-35km pace (just over 7 min miles)not pushing but staying in that comfort zone. I had trouble last yr in the final 2 laps for some reason and didn't care to go there again. I started hitting each lap in just over 18 min like a metronome. Ok autopilot is good- no pushing First half mary- not barn blazing just under 1:37, first 25K 1:55. I tried not to freak out when I realized I was up nearly 5 min over last yr's half way split. Ok, If I hold this I might see 3:50 today were my thoughts. Each lap was sitting right at 18 min some just under now. Mentally, I wanted to get through to lap 10 without issues and if there was gas left in the tank then go. So, I chose to autopilot just over 4.30 for now because I was confident I could hold that. Picking up too soon could cause trouble too. Just before 30K I downed my Vespa and felt pretty damn good. Ok just get to lap 10 at this pace and then work. Beginning lap 10 with 12k to go.....ok still feeling really good legs responding well and time to start picking up a little. i started ducking under 4.30 -Marathon 3:09.55 hmmm I remember telling my coach in order to break 3:50 I need to not be afraid to have a marathon split of about 3:10....check that off the list. ONly 8k togo and 2 laps. The hill isn;t getting bigger today and the loops are not getting longer and i'm parking at just under 18 on the 4k. It was here I realized I had a good shot at cracking 3:50. Entering the last lap, I figured now I'm going to have a huge PR if I don't screw this up the question is by how much....ok hang on after 100k races what's another 4k? Hammertime! It was starting to sprinkle and getting just a bit windier...no biggie bring on the cooler air! I understood I HAD to do this. There many not be a next yr at my age and the conditions were perfect,my stomach was behaving, and my legs wanted to GO! Coming down the last stretch entering the park before the finish I just went last couple km were 4.15 (sub 7min mile ) and nailed it- finish just over 3:46 for an over 8 min PR! Holy crap! I nearly caught Aigars- one of our 100k studs! He finished in 3:43. I just ran my own pace which required discipline and contenctation and running by feel since I was alone. Thank God for Garmin! I passed some guys in the 2nd half but none went with me:-(
Marina won in 3:29 and Sada Buiskiene of Lithuania was 3rd again this yr in 4:09. I won the Latvian national champonship for the 2nd yr in a row.
Awards (first time I ever saw Andris in uniform:))
Top3 -Latvia :) -The 2 ladies are running the 24 hr Worlds/Euros next month!
Nadya! 76 and kicking ass!
top 3 men
Marina Zhalybina :-)
Can of worms/Pandora's Box- open. See women under 3:50 and men under 3:20 get invited to the World Cup 50k final in Italy 20 October....ugh. I didn't think I would.....This is a good thing/bad thing. It will be cool to do this and Gunars Kegis (we have been on two 100k teams together) also qualified running a 3:18 and setting a new national record! Our manager wants to take us both if we get the funding. Ok cool. I wisely did not purchase tickets to the US yet until after I ran this race. Ok.... I had planned to go after the course record in Chicago at the 50k 26 Oct-the record is 3:49-doable !!!! That's now off as is my 20 yr HS reunion the 13th after I told everyone I'd be there because it was like 99% sure I didn't think I'd make the final. WOOPS! Oh, and yeah when i got back to Moscow, I found out Chicago marathon gave me the A start based on my 15k time the week before...are you kidding me? Why does everything have to be schedued at the same time! Needless to say, I'm now re-shoppong for an ultra in the Midwest early mid-Nov. The CLOSEST I found was a 50k in NASHVILLE that looks good but my ass will fall off from the 12 hr drive! WHATTODO WHATTODOWHATTODO....
medal for 1st place Latvian NC
2nd in 35-39 gp
Monday walking around to shake out legs
infamous hill along the course
room and view from my window
Now, last week at the 15k, I won a cool little toy- a new e-reader that I uploaded lost of recent episodes of some of my favorite shows like Weeds, Anger Management , Modern Family, and some new Warehouse 13 onto. I needed something to help me pass the time on the train and then chill in the evening in my room before bed to help take my mind off the race. So after an evening walk on Friday and some dinner, I curled up with some Weeds and Anger Management and sleepy mint tea and then proceeded to sleep for another 10 hours. Saturday was Do Nothing Day except for the usual shakeout run and my task was to eat, eat,and eat some more.
Team Russia- Marina Zhalybina (2011 100k world champ 3rd at Comrades this yr), Svetlana Savoskina (former 100k world champ) , and Igor Tyashkorob (multi 100K Russian national champ) showed up Saturday morning after getting their visas very last minute. That does suck and I had hoped we'd all get on the same train Thursday and try to get tickets so we could bunk next to each other so as not to bother each other as we all needed some sleep. No such luck. :-( They were down the hall from me. So, as I was munching dinner, Inita Bistrova and Nadya Kvastkina joined me as they had just come in from Riga .Nadya is 76 and althought she dropped out of the 100k at Worlds last yr in the horrid weather conditions while attempting an age gp world record, she does own the national record for her age group. She is awesome! Respect! Inita has also been o n the 100k team before I was.
So off to chill then sleep. Melatonin, mint tea, and Weeds:=) I was such a good girl and it was sooooo quiet in my room I fell asleep just after 11 and slept til 6. That almost never happens the night before.
RACE DAY! Up just past 6 so I could get in my oatmeal and carbs from a couple bottles of Vitargo+ the obligatory caffeine and have time to let it digest by the 10 AM start. Breakfast, done, hydrating, done....what to do to chill....hmmm there is still an episode or 2 of Weeds waiting ...yes, I've fallen behind this season and wanted to catch up on back episodes. Just after 9, I walked out with my gear and headed to the start a 5 min walk up the street. I needed to get there in time to set my table with Vitargo bottles for each 4k loop (course is 2k+12x4k)+ extra Roctane, and a Vespa Jr for roughly the 30k point. Table set, potty visited, off to the start.
+%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%BB%D0%B5+%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D0%94%D1%83%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0+012.jpg)
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As usual, I wanted to go out conservatively then pick up later on. The weather gods were kind, 15C and clouds with a breeze! Yeah, I thought, I don't get too many days where the weather gods and I agree so I'd better try to put down smthg solid. Svetlana ran the first 6k with me then dropped back. After she dropped back I was ALONE THE REST OF THE DAY:-( I was chilling at 4.33-35km pace (just over 7 min miles)not pushing but staying in that comfort zone. I had trouble last yr in the final 2 laps for some reason and didn't care to go there again. I started hitting each lap in just over 18 min like a metronome. Ok autopilot is good- no pushing First half mary- not barn blazing just under 1:37, first 25K 1:55. I tried not to freak out when I realized I was up nearly 5 min over last yr's half way split. Ok, If I hold this I might see 3:50 today were my thoughts. Each lap was sitting right at 18 min some just under now. Mentally, I wanted to get through to lap 10 without issues and if there was gas left in the tank then go. So, I chose to autopilot just over 4.30 for now because I was confident I could hold that. Picking up too soon could cause trouble too. Just before 30K I downed my Vespa and felt pretty damn good. Ok just get to lap 10 at this pace and then work. Beginning lap 10 with 12k to go.....ok still feeling really good legs responding well and time to start picking up a little. i started ducking under 4.30 -Marathon 3:09.55 hmmm I remember telling my coach in order to break 3:50 I need to not be afraid to have a marathon split of about 3:10....check that off the list. ONly 8k togo and 2 laps. The hill isn;t getting bigger today and the loops are not getting longer and i'm parking at just under 18 on the 4k. It was here I realized I had a good shot at cracking 3:50. Entering the last lap, I figured now I'm going to have a huge PR if I don't screw this up the question is by how much....ok hang on after 100k races what's another 4k? Hammertime! It was starting to sprinkle and getting just a bit windier...no biggie bring on the cooler air! I understood I HAD to do this. There many not be a next yr at my age and the conditions were perfect,my stomach was behaving, and my legs wanted to GO! Coming down the last stretch entering the park before the finish I just went last couple km were 4.15 (sub 7min mile ) and nailed it- finish just over 3:46 for an over 8 min PR! Holy crap! I nearly caught Aigars- one of our 100k studs! He finished in 3:43. I just ran my own pace which required discipline and contenctation and running by feel since I was alone. Thank God for Garmin! I passed some guys in the 2nd half but none went with me:-(
Marina won in 3:29 and Sada Buiskiene of Lithuania was 3rd again this yr in 4:09. I won the Latvian national champonship for the 2nd yr in a row.
Awards (first time I ever saw Andris in uniform:))
Can of worms/Pandora's Box- open. See women under 3:50 and men under 3:20 get invited to the World Cup 50k final in Italy 20 October....ugh. I didn't think I would.....This is a good thing/bad thing. It will be cool to do this and Gunars Kegis (we have been on two 100k teams together) also qualified running a 3:18 and setting a new national record! Our manager wants to take us both if we get the funding. Ok cool. I wisely did not purchase tickets to the US yet until after I ran this race. Ok.... I had planned to go after the course record in Chicago at the 50k 26 Oct-the record is 3:49-doable !!!! That's now off as is my 20 yr HS reunion the 13th after I told everyone I'd be there because it was like 99% sure I didn't think I'd make the final. WOOPS! Oh, and yeah when i got back to Moscow, I found out Chicago marathon gave me the A start based on my 15k time the week before...are you kidding me? Why does everything have to be schedued at the same time! Needless to say, I'm now re-shoppong for an ultra in the Midwest early mid-Nov. The CLOSEST I found was a 50k in NASHVILLE that looks good but my ass will fall off from the 12 hr drive! WHATTODO WHATTODOWHATTODO....
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