Training, racing, adopting a parrotlet, and everything in between was July. I did race less and train more as I do have 50k World Cup coming up on Aug 25th among other fall plans. I opened up July as planned running the 2 mile xc and finishing 2nd just over 12 on a still not dried out course like it was last year. We have been having a RAINY summer but I'll take rainy and cool and even MUDDY over hot hot hot anytime. My speed is finally where it should be (HA just in time to destroy it again with fall 50ks and maybe a marathon in between them).
At the outset, I had only planned to race the 2 mile and then do a 15k xc run as a tempo workout on the 24th. Well, Adidas announced a 10k on the 13th. The start was in the heat of the day and 27C and sunny so given that when I'm in 38-39 speed shape in cool weather I haven't got a hope in hell of going under 40 in hot I reasonably predicted I would be slow as molasses possibly as slow as some of my May 10ks were right after the 100k. I did have a little motivation though. top 13 get a sweet pair of shoes:
http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/products/ADI1674/
I love this model actually. I got a pair from the 10k in May and they worked out for me. They are nice and cushioned and lightweight. My feet are happy in well cushioned shoes. They do not like shoes with not enough cushioning and will let me know the next day. it must be old age setting in :-( gotta have soft shoes. Top 100 in this race get tickets to the Worlds here in Moscow 10-18 Aug. So, my goal was not to run for time but to try my damnest to make top 13. I went out close to 4 min/km considering it was hot. I figured given that I can't remember ever pulling a sub 40 in high heat I'd better not be stupid and go out fast. I'm easily way under 40 in cold weather but lose on average a minute and a half sometimes up to THREE if it's too damn hot. I counted from the first turnaround and I was sitting in 15th just before the 5k. Lots of top ladies obviously showed up with the prizes being as good as they were. At the 5k I felt ok given the fact I'd not busted ass early and gone out too fast. I picked it up a little and passed 3 girls along the way. With about 2k to go there was another turnaround and I saw I was 12th but the chase pack was not far off maybe 15-20 sec so I needed to bust ass to not let anyone by. yes, I was boiling and with about 1500 to go I was feeling sick-that nauseous kind of sick I feel from the heat. I knew I was pushing my luck and kept going. I picked up the final km in 3.42 REALLY not wanting to get my butt kicked at the finish and ended up way the hell under 40 for 12th overall. 10 and 11 were just a few seconds ahead but my goal was top 13 and I was pushing the envelope as it was and did not want to risk blacking out from being overheated. I immediately found a patch of trees and bushes in the shade after the finish so I could proceed to keel over and try to breathe. So I got the shoes and a good ticket on the 18th for the finals and closing ceremony! YAY!
Back to training and I was in for a couple of intense weeks with long runs up to 38km in there along with some bitchin' workouts like 5,3,2,1 followed by the 15k xc tempo run as a tune up before the half on Aug.4th.
This brought us to the 15k at Sokolniki Park on some nice trails. Luzhniki is shut now for Worlds and so is the other decent track at the sports school where we trained last summer when Luzhniki was being renovated. Summer means work is slow and I happened to have Wednesday off. OK the plan was a 15k tempo run on the track at 4.10 km pacesooo we just moved it to the trails. I figured since my xc times are considerably slower I could run 4.15-20is for that 15k and that would be my 4.10 effort on the track. This race was super well organized and there were trail markers every 20m or so on the trees and they even painted some of the big roots yellow so you wouldn't miss them! They also had volunteers at every confusing turn so you couldn't get lost as some people had managed to do in the past. I was sure this time it would be my turn to get lost but I didn't Marina ran the first 5km with me(she is really getting fast) and we tucked in behind some of the guys. She dropped back some and I just kept catching up to and passing boys along the way -a great way to avoid getting lost. The course was 2 loops and I ran the first one carefully so as to get familiar with the course in case I was on my own in the second loop. I had guys to follow most of the way until the final 2 km but the course was well marked so I was ok. First loop was just over 31 I picked up a little in the last 5k because Marina was only about 100m back and I had to open a gap if I wanted to win. I finished in 1:01!!! That's a decent ROAD time much less a mud time! A 1:01 split in a half yields me a time about 1:25-26 ish. Hell I was 1:03 at Zvezdniy Gorodok before the 100k just screwing around doing a tempo run and ended up 1:28. I was shocked and had not planned to run that fast. I ran a pace that was a good effort but not totally busting my ass after all this was supposed to be a fun workout. It was muddy and puddly in some spots but I didn't think it was bad at all and not slippery. I was afraid it would be much worse because it had rained pretty much every day for the past week and the trails in the park near where I live had become downright un-runnable in spots!!! I really liked the course and the scenery around the ponds. I should have run this in June for fun- but didn't want to bother rescheduling a Wednesday lesson then. The next 15k is on the 21st just 4 days before the 50 for me so I probably will have to miss it. I would run it if it were up to 7 days out but not 4. I really need to attack the half on the 4th!!!!
(still waiting on pix from the 15k)
I did the Nike Run Moscow 5k (more of a fun run thing) 3 days later as my secondary speed workout of the week not pushing the pace and came up with 18.58. It was cool and rainy so that would explain why I ran a bit faster there than planned. Same thing, I was not going all out (they weren't posting results anyways so why bother?) just a nice workout effort 5k. Now, it's time to rest a little for the half. If it's not insanely hot I really want to run a good time.
Off the track, I've been working on a family addition- a sweet little parrotlet. My friend's pair discovered sex this spring and had 2 boys and a girl. As soon as he's weaned, I'll take a little boy. We are hoping he will be resdy to come home with me after the half. He will be 6 weeks by then. I have had birds from 5th grade up until I left Alaska and miss their company. I always had parakeets before, but have been warned that parrotlets are little birds with BIG BIRD smarts and behavior. I have had the opportunity to meet and handle this birdie from week 2 so he and his siblings are very people friendly.
Here are some pics- my next post will have more :)
At the outset, I had only planned to race the 2 mile and then do a 15k xc run as a tempo workout on the 24th. Well, Adidas announced a 10k on the 13th. The start was in the heat of the day and 27C and sunny so given that when I'm in 38-39 speed shape in cool weather I haven't got a hope in hell of going under 40 in hot I reasonably predicted I would be slow as molasses possibly as slow as some of my May 10ks were right after the 100k. I did have a little motivation though. top 13 get a sweet pair of shoes:
http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/products/ADI1674/
I love this model actually. I got a pair from the 10k in May and they worked out for me. They are nice and cushioned and lightweight. My feet are happy in well cushioned shoes. They do not like shoes with not enough cushioning and will let me know the next day. it must be old age setting in :-( gotta have soft shoes. Top 100 in this race get tickets to the Worlds here in Moscow 10-18 Aug. So, my goal was not to run for time but to try my damnest to make top 13. I went out close to 4 min/km considering it was hot. I figured given that I can't remember ever pulling a sub 40 in high heat I'd better not be stupid and go out fast. I'm easily way under 40 in cold weather but lose on average a minute and a half sometimes up to THREE if it's too damn hot. I counted from the first turnaround and I was sitting in 15th just before the 5k. Lots of top ladies obviously showed up with the prizes being as good as they were. At the 5k I felt ok given the fact I'd not busted ass early and gone out too fast. I picked it up a little and passed 3 girls along the way. With about 2k to go there was another turnaround and I saw I was 12th but the chase pack was not far off maybe 15-20 sec so I needed to bust ass to not let anyone by. yes, I was boiling and with about 1500 to go I was feeling sick-that nauseous kind of sick I feel from the heat. I knew I was pushing my luck and kept going. I picked up the final km in 3.42 REALLY not wanting to get my butt kicked at the finish and ended up way the hell under 40 for 12th overall. 10 and 11 were just a few seconds ahead but my goal was top 13 and I was pushing the envelope as it was and did not want to risk blacking out from being overheated. I immediately found a patch of trees and bushes in the shade after the finish so I could proceed to keel over and try to breathe. So I got the shoes and a good ticket on the 18th for the finals and closing ceremony! YAY!
Back to training and I was in for a couple of intense weeks with long runs up to 38km in there along with some bitchin' workouts like 5,3,2,1 followed by the 15k xc tempo run as a tune up before the half on Aug.4th.
This brought us to the 15k at Sokolniki Park on some nice trails. Luzhniki is shut now for Worlds and so is the other decent track at the sports school where we trained last summer when Luzhniki was being renovated. Summer means work is slow and I happened to have Wednesday off. OK the plan was a 15k tempo run on the track at 4.10 km pacesooo we just moved it to the trails. I figured since my xc times are considerably slower I could run 4.15-20is for that 15k and that would be my 4.10 effort on the track. This race was super well organized and there were trail markers every 20m or so on the trees and they even painted some of the big roots yellow so you wouldn't miss them! They also had volunteers at every confusing turn so you couldn't get lost as some people had managed to do in the past. I was sure this time it would be my turn to get lost but I didn't Marina ran the first 5km with me(she is really getting fast) and we tucked in behind some of the guys. She dropped back some and I just kept catching up to and passing boys along the way -a great way to avoid getting lost. The course was 2 loops and I ran the first one carefully so as to get familiar with the course in case I was on my own in the second loop. I had guys to follow most of the way until the final 2 km but the course was well marked so I was ok. First loop was just over 31 I picked up a little in the last 5k because Marina was only about 100m back and I had to open a gap if I wanted to win. I finished in 1:01!!! That's a decent ROAD time much less a mud time! A 1:01 split in a half yields me a time about 1:25-26 ish. Hell I was 1:03 at Zvezdniy Gorodok before the 100k just screwing around doing a tempo run and ended up 1:28. I was shocked and had not planned to run that fast. I ran a pace that was a good effort but not totally busting my ass after all this was supposed to be a fun workout. It was muddy and puddly in some spots but I didn't think it was bad at all and not slippery. I was afraid it would be much worse because it had rained pretty much every day for the past week and the trails in the park near where I live had become downright un-runnable in spots!!! I really liked the course and the scenery around the ponds. I should have run this in June for fun- but didn't want to bother rescheduling a Wednesday lesson then. The next 15k is on the 21st just 4 days before the 50 for me so I probably will have to miss it. I would run it if it were up to 7 days out but not 4. I really need to attack the half on the 4th!!!!
(still waiting on pix from the 15k)
I did the Nike Run Moscow 5k (more of a fun run thing) 3 days later as my secondary speed workout of the week not pushing the pace and came up with 18.58. It was cool and rainy so that would explain why I ran a bit faster there than planned. Same thing, I was not going all out (they weren't posting results anyways so why bother?) just a nice workout effort 5k. Now, it's time to rest a little for the half. If it's not insanely hot I really want to run a good time.
Off the track, I've been working on a family addition- a sweet little parrotlet. My friend's pair discovered sex this spring and had 2 boys and a girl. As soon as he's weaned, I'll take a little boy. We are hoping he will be resdy to come home with me after the half. He will be 6 weeks by then. I have had birds from 5th grade up until I left Alaska and miss their company. I always had parakeets before, but have been warned that parrotlets are little birds with BIG BIRD smarts and behavior. I have had the opportunity to meet and handle this birdie from week 2 so he and his siblings are very people friendly.
Here are some pics- my next post will have more :)
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| Little Scrapper at about 5 weeks just 2 days ago helping himself to my dinner ! |
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| 2 little boys mine is on the left |
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| One big happy birdie family Papa on the left, my little boy left of Papa,Momma facing the camera,little girl left of Momma and little boy on the end at 4weeks(they all hatched about 2 days apart) |
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| Learning to CLIMB that ladder! |
