{"id":860,"date":"2014-04-05T16:12:26","date_gmt":"2014-04-05T20:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/?p=860"},"modified":"2014-04-05T18:36:40","modified_gmt":"2014-04-05T22:36:40","slug":"how-did-i-run-such-a-solid-30k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/?p=860","title":{"rendered":"How Did I Run Such a Solid 30k?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wouldn&#8217;t it be nice if I had one simple answer to this question! \u00a0I have been thinking about this question all week largely because I would love to manage a repeat performance. \u00a0Of course a good race is a culmination of factors; some beyond your control, some entirely of your own making. \u00a0Here are some of the factors that I think led to a successful run:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Perfect weather:<\/strong> Completely out of my control but was I ever thankful for the conditions last Sunday. \u00a0I&#8217;m a cool weather runner, so a few degrees above 0 is just right for me. \u00a0A little less wind would have been nice, but thankfully it did not become a major hurdle in the race. \u00a0Considering the winter we have had (as I am writing this on April 5th, it is snowing outside, AGAIN!) I can&#8217;t believe how lucky we were to have such a great running day. \u00a0It was a little strange not being surrounded by snow. \u00a0Southern Ontario is way ahead of us in terms of thawing out. \u00a0As proof check out these pictures taken at my home this week:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_864\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilfools-e1396726622173.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-864\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-864\" alt=\"April 1, 2014: Mother Nature's joke on us :(\" src=\"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilfools-e1396726622173-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilfools-e1396726622173-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilfools-e1396726622173.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-864\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">April 1, 2014: Mother Nature&#8217;s joke on us.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_865\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilsnow-e1396726595775.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-865\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-865\" alt=\"April 4th: It will melt one day, right?\" src=\"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilsnow-e1396726595775-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilsnow-e1396726595775-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/aprilsnow-e1396726595775.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-865\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">April 4th: It will melt one day, right?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fuel:<\/strong> \u00a0I have been experimenting with natural foods for refueling. \u00a0On training runs I love taking a walk and eating raisins and chopped almonds. \u00a0Unfortunately they are just not convenient for a race situation since I prefer to not have to take a walk break if I am feeling good. \u00a0The last few training runs I practiced using honey mixed with no-nut butter (no peanut butter in my house due to Luke&#8217;s allergy) and a little sea salt. \u00a0I originally put my mix into sandwich bags but then a friend picked up some &#8220;mini&#8221; zip lock bags at the dollar store in the craft section. \u00a0They store easily in my fuel belt pocket and each &#8220;shot&#8221; costs only cents. \u00a0One word of warning though, make sure the &#8220;zips&#8221; are actually zipped tightly. \u00a0Apparently I did not and my belt pocket ended up one sticky mess.\u00a0 My gels tasted significantly better than store-bought gels and there are no ingredients I can&#8217;t pronounce. \u00a0I took one at approximately 8k, 15k and 23k and they seemed to do the trick. \u00a0I also had most of a Cliff Bar during the half hour before the start of the race.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hydration:<\/strong> \u00a0In the two weeks before the race I really concentrated on drinking lots of water. \u00a0Memories of pregnancy came back as I made multiple trips to the bathroom each day. \u00a0During the race I used my fuel belt and carried 4 bottles of water as I am still not comfortable relying on water tables. \u00a0I have heard some runners complain about the distance between some of the tables on the course. \u00a0I didn&#8217;t really notice how far apart they were but I do know that the one time I was going to grab a cup (not to drink but to try to get rid of the honey on my hands) there were no cups ready on the table &#8211; though a volunteer was doing his best to fill more quickly. \u00a0I made sure to take water from my bottles after every honey shot as well as every couple of kms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Winter Training:<\/strong> \u00a0Winter training is a challenge any year. \u00a0This year&#8217;s never ending winter meant even tougher training conditions. \u00a0I ran on ice, deep snow, packed snow and slush. \u00a0I shared the roads with cars since the sidewalks were at worst buried, at best \u00a0a mix of pavement and ice. \u00a0I wore more layers than any runner should ever need to, and in turn did more running gear laundry than ever before. \u00a0All of these challenges had to make me a stronger runner. \u00a0Well, maybe not the laundry part. \u00a0And of all the runs, that 15k run in a snowstorm two weeks before race day both physically and mentally helped set me up for success. \u00a0It may have been a ridiculously slow run but it was a real workout and nothing short of empowering. \u00a0It really did make me feel like I could do anything. \u00a0Unfortunately that is a weather related factor, so may be hard to repeat for another race. \u00a0Though the way this<del> winter\u00a0<\/del> spring is going, it is possible I will have another run like it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Not Overtraining:<\/strong> \u00a0I will never be a five run a week person. \u00a0It is \u00a0not that I never do 5 runs in seven days, I just can&#8217;t do it consistently. \u00a0I have decided that this is o.k. \u00a0My body likes the recovery time, in fact it thrives off of it. \u00a0Perhaps more importantly, I am mentally stronger if I am sure to take some days off. \u00a0I took not two but three days off running before the race and I felt refreshed and ready race morning. \u00a0There was a point in marathon training last fall that running sort of lost its &#8220;feel good&#8221; factor. \u00a0I don&#8217;t expect every run to feel amazing; there is no avoiding crappy runs. \u00a0But overall, I want to head out for a run and smile. \u00a0I want to be grateful for having the time and the health (not to mention an ever so patient husband) to be out there clicking off the kms. \u00a0For the past two months, running has been fun for me. \u00a0There have been several runs where I have found myself in that happy zone, where running feels amazing regardless of the pace or finish time. \u00a0I don&#8217;t want to lose that feeling. \u00a0I still want to work hard, I still want to push past my comfort zone, I still want to feel that complete and utter exhaustion after a hard workout. \u00a0But ultimately, I do not want to overtrain and take away all that is fun about running. \u00a0These past few months I have been successful in hitting that balance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quality Workouts:<\/strong> \u00a0Weather conditions did shorten many of my runs. \u00a0I went into ATB worried that I had not done enough long runs. \u00a0My over 20k runs consisted of a 22k, a 24.5k (done in two parts because I hit the wall at 12k) and a 27k. \u00a0Even now I look at that and am surprised it was enough for me complete the 30k in the time I did. \u00a0But while I did not have a lot of long runs, I had many good runs. \u00a0There was lots of hill work &#8211; not even hill repeats, just running on hilly routes, and of course lots of interesting footing to deal with. \u00a0As this year progresses I am going to try to worry a little less about those long runs and focus more on my weekday runs. \u00a0It is also time to suck it up and do some intervals!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoiding Running Stress<\/strong>: \u00a0What does this mean? \u00a0In short, I didn&#8217;t take it too seriously. \u00a0I went into ATB with the knowledge that even if the day was a disaster, just entering the race had made me do three great months of training. \u00a0I felt good physically. \u00a0That day I hit the wall in my 25k training run, I had to laugh. \u00a0Rather than freaking out, I decided that it would be a day for two runs. \u00a0One way or another I knew I had to run; I had to get back to my car after all! \u00a0But I was o.k with taking a long break and having the opportunity to regroup both mentally and physically. \u00a0Last fall when I was marathon training I would have been in tears over such a run.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pacing:<\/strong> \u00a0I think I nailed my pacing last Sunday. \u00a0It is hard to know how hard to push on a course you don&#8217;t know. \u00a0All of the advice said don&#8217;t go out too fast or you would have nothing left for the hills. \u00a0I made a pretty last minute decision to stay around a 6 minute pace for the first 20km, then see what I could do. \u00a0Originally I had planned to go out much slower. \u00a0Now that I know the course I think I would actually try to pick up the pace a bit in the middle of the race. \u00a0And one lesson learned &#8211; \u00a0I should have paid more attention to the fact that my Garmin was reaching km markings before the signs were showing up on the course. \u00a0I was aiming for the first two sets of 10km to be about an hour each. \u00a0By my Garmin I was actually a little under that goal but by the 10 and 20k timing mats I was a little over. \u00a0I should have compensated for the difference and I certainly could have since I was stopping myself from speeding up during the first 2\/3 of the race.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hopefully I will be able to use what I learned at ATB for some more successful runs. \u00a0My next race (number 6 of the 14 race challenge) will be the Manotick 10 miler on April 27th. \u00a0One month after that will be Ottawa Race Weekend. \u00a0I will definitely be there, the question is will it be as a half marathon or a full marathon participant? \u00a0Still working on that one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wouldn&#8217;t it be nice if I had one simple answer to this question! \u00a0I have been thinking about this question all week largely because I would love to manage a repeat performance. \u00a0Of course a good race is a culmination of factors; some beyond your control, some entirely of your own making. \u00a0Here are some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-running"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3amQ2-dS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions\/868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}