That's a pretty blunt title but, much has been happening regarding the upcoming season and decisions need to be made.
First off, I finished February with a win in my division in the Moscow Masters Champs in the 3000. That's the good news. The bad news is I didn't feel great that day and posted my worst time since 2010- CRAP! WTF.Fitness wise, I'm fine, just did not feel good that day. Sorry, don't have any pix from that one. I have been way too busy to keep up with this blog lately. Eat, sleep,run. work, repeat.
March 2nd, I won another 2 mile what was supposed to be an xc race. Wellllll the forest was still an icy mess because we are having early early breakup and record warmth. Surprise- I arrived to see they had moved us to pavement! SHIT all I have are my ICEBUGS. I was not alone as I heard the clicking and clacking of other spikes out there too and saw others stuck in their trail shoes on the pavement. We were literally relegated to the narrow sidewalk. I noticed a lady about 15-16 sec ahead after the first km so I decided to pick it up in the midsection to catch and pass by the 2nd km. With 500m to go coming off the last turnaround, she was 13 seconds back. Ok, I'll just hold pace to the finish. My strength is opening gaps along the way because I can't run the blazing fast 100m to the finish but I can switch gears along the way at any distance.I hear her coming up on me and picked it up over the final stretch. I wasn't sure who got the win so I asked and the official said it was me. We were a second apart. I need the points for the final standings. It turned out she was in the 19 and under group not the 20-39 where I dwell. Ah well, I just didn't want to give up a win after opening a nice big gap midway.
March 8th-Women's Day Run. This is how this one went from my post earlier in the week:
I almost skipped it,but it might be the last yr for this run since they keep killing all the good races that have been around for many many yrs. Wednesday- did workout was fine but just a bit tired. Wed evening after class-barely crawled my ass home feeling dead. Tired is normal after a hard track day but dead is not. Wed dropped dead upon arrival home slept almost 11 hours. Yeah smthg was up. That ain't normal. Thurs felt ok daytime/evening. Came home was ok. 3AM - wake up to sore throat from hell. Great. Finally getting in shape and I can forget about racing Sat worth dick. Friday- deliberately sleep til noon to try and sleep the worst of it off. Today- throat still scratchy early morning and still damn tired. Ok, I'll go I'm not coughing profusely (hey at least I cover my trap when I do wish to hell everyone else did) - no boogers ,so won't share the love with everyone else. Figured just go slow about 4 min/km pace slower if I feel exceptionally shitty. Last yr's pace was 3.50 according to my garmin log.(course a bit short but this yr 140 long) BUT it was super windy too. This yr- 3.46?! I was by no means pushing the pace either-went out not uber fast. Did cooldown in order to get in 35k for the day-yeah due for a long run.
The virus is known as " careless parents who fail to cancel lessons when the whole damn house is SICK". The cure may be as simple as giving someone on my waiting list who really wants those slots sooner than later. Said person on the wait list is from a family that has already had the decency to cancel earlier in the winter when someone was ill. Common sense and courtesy go a long way.
Now- for the shit or get off the pot part. As of this week, Worlds for the 100k have been moved to Quatar in November. First off, it will be hot even if they run us at night. Secondly, it's expensive for all of us. Thirdly, I do not feel comfortable in that part of the world because I am a WOMAN who believes WOMEN are PEOPLE!!! I am waiting for word from my manager as to whether or not the Euros will be a go this yr or not. If they are not going to happen say in the fall, then I am seriously looking to do the 100k in St Pete the first weekend in September. This is a fast course and USUALLY the weather is cool....USUALLY ....ha like USUALLY it is in Winschoten too.....save for 2011. I had eyed St Pete and Winschoten as 2 feasible 100k possibilities. I want to run FAST and go for a PR. I train too hard and put too much time and work into this to deliberately go and run in an oven ie Doha. I know recently some ppl have been running kickass times in St Pete and this may be the last yr for this race sadly. I will need my crew-hello coach :) Winschoten will be costly to go there on my own. St Pete doesn't even require a border crossing (which I am charged almost 100euros for each time I return to Russia to register my work visa so I only go out for a race when it's profitable to do so because it ain't cheap). St Pete is on a 4km flat loop too so getting my eats and drinks should be ez peasy. I would otherwise never consider doing anything over a half marathon seriously in Russia, but I have heard very good reviews over the past few yrs on this race. It's also the only 100k road race left in Russia too which is a damn shame. This is actually a Russia Cup race too. Our 50k will be mid July in Daugavpils along with a 100k. I will do the 50 if it's not 30 degrees. Summer is not a time for a 100k. That needs to be spring or fall to minimize the heat risk and maximize chances for a good performance.
Kharkov Marathon April 12th- I have been kicking it around all winter to do it or not to do it. Side note- I hate politics and politicians no matter where they are from. They are all crooks and thieves, so I am distancing myself from all this political bullshit with Russia and Ukraine. I have friends in both places and we all tend to speak the language of running not politics. Anyhow,I'm not quite masters ....yet and not in a hurry to get there. I don't know maybe I could place in the 40+ division andhelp offset the travel costs. Actually, Ukraine is affordable and close.That's not so much the issue. I'm honestly not sure I can PR in the marathon anymore so not motivated to go run "just another marathon...ho hum", but I haven't given it a serious try since Riga in 2009. My coach thinks I should do one, but the marathon has been the disappointment of my running career over the yrs (so what go run another marathon right at 3 hours ...borrring) so I'm focusing on what I CAN still do well and that's the ultras. The other issue is that there are two good halves here in Moscow immediately after that I'd be out of. Ahem...one of which is one of my favs where I got the smart TV last yr just before I did 100k Euros. I also have May plans that will require me not to go trashing my speed just yet. Yes, mentally, I guess I just can't arse myself to train balls out for another damn marathon only to have another disappointment time wise. I just got so sick of beating that dead horse and feel so much more in my element in the 50 and 100 and in the ultras. I know it makes no sense at all, but I can't do much for a marathon but 50, 100 and beyond, BRING IT ON :) Hell, even if it does end up being St Pete, at least I will be motivated to train for SOMETHING this season!
First off, I finished February with a win in my division in the Moscow Masters Champs in the 3000. That's the good news. The bad news is I didn't feel great that day and posted my worst time since 2010- CRAP! WTF.Fitness wise, I'm fine, just did not feel good that day. Sorry, don't have any pix from that one. I have been way too busy to keep up with this blog lately. Eat, sleep,run. work, repeat.
March 2nd, I won another 2 mile what was supposed to be an xc race. Wellllll the forest was still an icy mess because we are having early early breakup and record warmth. Surprise- I arrived to see they had moved us to pavement! SHIT all I have are my ICEBUGS. I was not alone as I heard the clicking and clacking of other spikes out there too and saw others stuck in their trail shoes on the pavement. We were literally relegated to the narrow sidewalk. I noticed a lady about 15-16 sec ahead after the first km so I decided to pick it up in the midsection to catch and pass by the 2nd km. With 500m to go coming off the last turnaround, she was 13 seconds back. Ok, I'll just hold pace to the finish. My strength is opening gaps along the way because I can't run the blazing fast 100m to the finish but I can switch gears along the way at any distance.I hear her coming up on me and picked it up over the final stretch. I wasn't sure who got the win so I asked and the official said it was me. We were a second apart. I need the points for the final standings. It turned out she was in the 19 and under group not the 20-39 where I dwell. Ah well, I just didn't want to give up a win after opening a nice big gap midway.
March 8th-Women's Day Run. This is how this one went from my post earlier in the week:
I almost skipped it,but it might be the last yr for this run since they keep killing all the good races that have been around for many many yrs. Wednesday- did workout was fine but just a bit tired. Wed evening after class-barely crawled my ass home feeling dead. Tired is normal after a hard track day but dead is not. Wed dropped dead upon arrival home slept almost 11 hours. Yeah smthg was up. That ain't normal. Thurs felt ok daytime/evening. Came home was ok. 3AM - wake up to sore throat from hell. Great. Finally getting in shape and I can forget about racing Sat worth dick. Friday- deliberately sleep til noon to try and sleep the worst of it off. Today- throat still scratchy early morning and still damn tired. Ok, I'll go I'm not coughing profusely (hey at least I cover my trap when I do wish to hell everyone else did) - no boogers ,so won't share the love with everyone else. Figured just go slow about 4 min/km pace slower if I feel exceptionally shitty. Last yr's pace was 3.50 according to my garmin log.(course a bit short but this yr 140 long) BUT it was super windy too. This yr- 3.46?! I was by no means pushing the pace either-went out not uber fast. Did cooldown in order to get in 35k for the day-yeah due for a long run.
The virus is known as " careless parents who fail to cancel lessons when the whole damn house is SICK". The cure may be as simple as giving someone on my waiting list who really wants those slots sooner than later. Said person on the wait list is from a family that has already had the decency to cancel earlier in the winter when someone was ill. Common sense and courtesy go a long way.
Now- for the shit or get off the pot part. As of this week, Worlds for the 100k have been moved to Quatar in November. First off, it will be hot even if they run us at night. Secondly, it's expensive for all of us. Thirdly, I do not feel comfortable in that part of the world because I am a WOMAN who believes WOMEN are PEOPLE!!! I am waiting for word from my manager as to whether or not the Euros will be a go this yr or not. If they are not going to happen say in the fall, then I am seriously looking to do the 100k in St Pete the first weekend in September. This is a fast course and USUALLY the weather is cool....USUALLY ....ha like USUALLY it is in Winschoten too.....save for 2011. I had eyed St Pete and Winschoten as 2 feasible 100k possibilities. I want to run FAST and go for a PR. I train too hard and put too much time and work into this to deliberately go and run in an oven ie Doha. I know recently some ppl have been running kickass times in St Pete and this may be the last yr for this race sadly. I will need my crew-hello coach :) Winschoten will be costly to go there on my own. St Pete doesn't even require a border crossing (which I am charged almost 100euros for each time I return to Russia to register my work visa so I only go out for a race when it's profitable to do so because it ain't cheap). St Pete is on a 4km flat loop too so getting my eats and drinks should be ez peasy. I would otherwise never consider doing anything over a half marathon seriously in Russia, but I have heard very good reviews over the past few yrs on this race. It's also the only 100k road race left in Russia too which is a damn shame. This is actually a Russia Cup race too. Our 50k will be mid July in Daugavpils along with a 100k. I will do the 50 if it's not 30 degrees. Summer is not a time for a 100k. That needs to be spring or fall to minimize the heat risk and maximize chances for a good performance.
Kharkov Marathon April 12th- I have been kicking it around all winter to do it or not to do it. Side note- I hate politics and politicians no matter where they are from. They are all crooks and thieves, so I am distancing myself from all this political bullshit with Russia and Ukraine. I have friends in both places and we all tend to speak the language of running not politics. Anyhow,I'm not quite masters ....yet and not in a hurry to get there. I don't know maybe I could place in the 40+ division andhelp offset the travel costs. Actually, Ukraine is affordable and close.That's not so much the issue. I'm honestly not sure I can PR in the marathon anymore so not motivated to go run "just another marathon...ho hum", but I haven't given it a serious try since Riga in 2009. My coach thinks I should do one, but the marathon has been the disappointment of my running career over the yrs (so what go run another marathon right at 3 hours ...borrring) so I'm focusing on what I CAN still do well and that's the ultras. The other issue is that there are two good halves here in Moscow immediately after that I'd be out of. Ahem...one of which is one of my favs where I got the smart TV last yr just before I did 100k Euros. I also have May plans that will require me not to go trashing my speed just yet. Yes, mentally, I guess I just can't arse myself to train balls out for another damn marathon only to have another disappointment time wise. I just got so sick of beating that dead horse and feel so much more in my element in the 50 and 100 and in the ultras. I know it makes no sense at all, but I can't do much for a marathon but 50, 100 and beyond, BRING IT ON :) Hell, even if it does end up being St Pete, at least I will be motivated to train for SOMETHING this season!
