by smuldowney | Aug 11, 2015 | Training
Monday – 3 easy miles in the neighborhood. I felt pretty good and was able to run faster than I have recently with little effort. Average pace: 10:31
Tuesday – 6.5 easy miles around Nashua – sunny 79* – 6pm – average pace: 10:53
Wednesday – 1 hour yoga class
Thursday – 5 miles with mid 3 @ tempo – avg. 9:25 felt hard (9:11 not quite) with 1 mile w/u and 1 mile c/d on NRRT – average pace: 9:58
friday – I decided to bail on my easy 3 miles today because my right shin was hurting me and my long run was on Saturday. This was my first missed run but I think it was the right decision for me because I had no pain on my long run.
Saturday – long run – Brian dropped me off at the end of the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Wellfleet near our campground. I ran 15.2 miles at an average pace of 11:45 and managed a negative split for my second half. I wore my Saucony and Sof Sole socks and hydrated using my pack and fueled with gels and Sport Beans. I had no issues but was tired by the end. The trail was relatively flT but exposed to the sun with little shade.
Sunday – Rest Day – travelled home from Cape Cod
Total weekly mileage – 29.7 miles
by smuldowney | Aug 6, 2015 | Race Recaps
TD BEACH TO BEACON 10K ROAD RACE – Cape Elizabeth, Maine – August 1st, 2015
The excitement about this race really started on the day registration opened -March 13, 2015. I remember having the webpage open and ready for registration. I was so nervous since I knew that it was extremely challenging to get in and there was no room for clumsy fingers when entering in personal information into the many fields. My heart was racing and I was wondering how Sarah, my bestie, was fairing at her house – doing the same thing. The good news is – we both got in through the regular registration. This year, 4,000 runners registered in a record-setting time – 4:15. The 1,950 remaining bibs were made available through the lottery.
Sarah and I went to the 2015 Expo and packet pick-up at Cape Elizabeth High School on Friday after we checked into our hotel in South Portland. It was bigger than most I’ve been to and had some nice samples. Bib pick-up was easy in one gym and then we moved into a different gym which had many vendors. This is where we got our tech t-shirts as well as a surprise [$10 gift card to Olympia Sports]! We left the Expo and headed back to the hotel to pickup our families and head to the kid’s race at Fort Williams.
dinner since we everyone was hungry and we wanted it to be an early night. We enjoyed dinner at Sebago Brewing Company near our hotel [Courtyard Portland Airport] and then hung out in Sarah’s room for a bit while the kids watched the premiere of The Descendants!
On Saturday morning, we met at 5:45 and headed out to find coffee before going to one of the parking lots with shuttles. We decided that the Hannaford Corporate building was close and easy to get to and were on the second bus. Soon after boarding the bus and leaving, I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses in the car. The ride to the start line was about 30-40 minutes. I can’t remember exactly. Once we arrived, there were table with sunscreen, bug spray, free chapstick, water, gatorade, and DDs coffee. It was a great setup on a closed street and there were 1000s of people milling around. The porta-potties were organized like I have never seen before with 4 facing the street and the next 4 facing a grassy area and so forth. There were short lines on both sides, which was awesome.
We did a 10 minute run/walk warm up on an intersecting road which felt good, although I was already very warm. It was 70* and sunny at the start and the race announcer kept reminding us to hydrate. It took about 8 minutes after the horn sounded for us to cross the start line. My plan was to walk through each aid station in order to stay hydrated, which worked great for me. I smiled the whole way and loved when spectators cheered for us, called our names, or commented on our matching outfits. One of my favorite sights was the American flag hanging from two fire truck ladders across main street.
The spectators at this race were by far the best I have ever seen! They lined most of streets except for the first 1/2-3/4 mile. They came out with pots/pans and wooden spoons, signs, bells, and there was even a guy playing his guitar and signing in her front lawn. One house was cooking bacon in the front yard. I’m not sure how that was supposed to motivate people to continue running. I smiled the whole way – as you can see by this photo taken by the course photographers. [There were many others like this one.]
Some of my favorites were taken at the finish line.
This is a race worth doing if you can get in! I am so grateful that I was able to share this experience with my best friend.
6009 425/479 F4044 1:17:34 12:29 1:24:23 Sandra Muldowney 44 F 2100 Merrimack NH
by smuldowney | Aug 5, 2015 | Training
*** I switched up my training plan for this week to accommodate my race on Saturday.
Monday – 3 easy miles + 8 strides this morning was not so easy with full sun out early and 73*. I took no fuel or water and managed 3.85 miles in the neighborhood.
Tuesday – 6 miles will all negative splits on the NRRT. This was supposed to be a 3-2-1 but once I started with negative splits, I decided to do each mile faster than the one before it. I took no fuel or water. This run felt great although warm [sunny and 78*].
Wednesday – Crosstraining – I decided to take my daughter to the beach for 4 hours, where we played in the water and walked the shoreline. I also went to the park for a 30-minute Beachbody workout. It was still 91* at 7pm.
Thursday – long run – 14.5 miles on NRRT @ 11:58 with the first 7 miles being negative splits. My biggest issue was with sucking from my new hydration pack. [I have yet to figure out what the problem was.] I used gels and beans every 30 minutes and felt great. I listed to an audiobook which helped pass the time [2:53:33] and I ventured new territory!
Friday – Rest Day – We spent the day in Maine at our friend’s camp.
Saturday – Beach to Beacon 10K – Cape Elizabeth, ME – This was my easy 6 miles this week and probably the best workout ever, but I will save the details for my race review [coming soon]. I did have a very cool bib number!
Sunday – Rest Day – We travelled back from Portland, ME and spent some time at the beach.
I can’t believe I am 1/3 of the way done with training. At this point, I have no complaints. Things have been going really well and I have not missed any training days. My pace in general is about 1:30 slower than last summer and I can’t figure out why. I am trying to follow my pacing suggestions given my results from the Newport 10 miler.
by smuldowney | Jul 26, 2015 | Training
*** I made some adjustments to this week’s training schedule given our wedding on Saturday.
Monday: 1 hour yoga class at the Y felt amazing and was much needed. I have been missing my twice weekly classes, so it was great to get back to it.
Tuesday: 6 easy [not so much] miles on the rail trail. I can’t say this was a good run because it was muggy and the mosquitos were swarming around my face for most the way! I did use my new hydration pack which was a challenge to adjust and was cutting into my left shoulder – next time: no tank top. I did wear my new top.
Wednesday: 45 minute Zumba class with a friend in a local park.
Thursday: 72* and sunny – My longest run to date was today and it felt amazing. My pace averaged at 11:24 and was fairly consistent until the last mile, which I purposefully sped up to 10:38. I fueled with Cliff gels and sport beans. My pack felt much better today. This is what an amazing 14 miles looks like.
Friday: 3 easy miles – I was surprisingly not sore for this morning’s run and averaged 10:30/mile.
Saturday: 64* and cloudy – I was not looking forward to this tempo run, but headed out to the rail trail where I found the parking lot to be full. Brian headed to the other lot and I met him there [1 mile]. I set out to do my first tempo interval [1.5 miles] and then he caught up to me and we ran together for my .5 mile recovery before I set off on my own again. Overall, it was not a bad run, but challenging to get up to my tempo pace [9:11]. I did manage 9:34 and 9:28 for each of the first miles of the tempo interval. It was hard to track my pace for the full interval given the .5 mile.
Sunday: Rest Day [much needed after lots of dancing at the wedding last night and not much sleep last night]
by smuldowney | Jul 21, 2015 | Training
Monday: I decided to run my 3 easy miles at the 2015 Mine Falls Trail Series-#7 in Nashua, NH, on July 13, 2015. My bestie ran with me and we chatted for most of it. I finished in 35.5 minutes and placed 109/140. I also received this message today!
Tuesday: I ran my 5 miles with the mid-3 at race pace [10:13]. It was 81* and cloudy this afternoon after work. My legs felt heavy and it was hard to get to my race pace (10:04-10:08).
Wednesday: Today’s cross training consisted of a 45 minute boot camp session in a park. This was a different kind of workout for me and it definitely challenged me.
Thursday: Today’s negative split 6 mile run felt great and I was able to do the 2-2-2 without much difficulty. It was 64* and sunny. The rail trail was a perfect place for this run.
Friday: 66* and sunny made for a great easy 3 miles at a 10:15 pace. This run felt really good and I probably went faster than I should have for an easy run.
Saturday: Today’s afternoon run felt good. It was 77* and cloudy for my 8 miles on the Nashua River Rail Trail. I averaged a 10:43 pace. ** I need to remember bug spray next time!!! I used my Fuel belt with some Gatorade and gels. This turned out to be a great run.
Sunday: REST DAY
Total Weekly Mileage: 25.5
