Indianapolis 500

Michele, which marathon are you pacing? Is this for a friend or part of the pace groups? Hopefully it won't be warm like the one you did recently.

I'm set to pace the Leading Ladies marathon in Spearfish, SD.  I hope I get there as it is always two steps forward and one step back these days as I am sure you can relate!

After taking two days off from running, cycling on Tuesday, stretching and doing my normal core session, I am happy to report that I ran 5 pain free miles this morning.  They were not spectacular and I felt a bit sluggish which is due more to lack of sleep and poor diet choices the last few days, but still no pain, so I am very pleased.  My plan is to ride tomorrow, run Friday, ride Saturday and run long on Sunday.  Hopefully, with the foam roller work, etc., I'll be easily pacing next Sunday morning in beautiful South Dakota.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:After taking two days off from running, cycling on Tuesday, stretching and doing my normal core session, I am happy to report that I ran 5 pain free miles this morning.  They were not spectacular and I felt a bit sluggish which is due more to lack of sleep and poor diet choices the last few days, but still no pain, so I am very pleased.  My plan is to ride tomorrow, run Friday, ride Saturday and run long on Sunday.  Hopefully, with the foam roller work, etc., I'll be easily pacing next Sunday morning in beautiful South Dakota.

As I journey farther into my late 50s, I can say with some certainty that any pain-free run is a spectacular run! That's good news. My only recollections of South Dakota are flat (well, at least east of the Black Hills) and empty.

Well, Michael, this run isn't flat, and it isn't up hill either - apparently, it is mostly if not all downhill at a very slight grade.  I am a good downhill runner and I've always had the quads for it, so I am not too worried.  

Rain aborted my plans to ride this morning, and I decided not to run early either since it was still drizzly and the roads were wet.  I could just see myself slipping and going down (yes, I've done it before) and getting seriously hurt.  I will go to the gym and work with my trainer and then I might just run as we changed the ride to tomorrow.  I'm trying to be cautious, so I'm not sure if I should run or not, but things seemed to have worked themselves out as of now.  I do have this pacing gig next weekend, and I am going to run long on Sunday.  Just not sure that I need to push it after being out with a minor setback for a few days.

Did my longest ride of the season this morning - 45 miles of pure hills.  At least we rewarded ourselves with a hearty breakfast when we were done!!!!

Oof! Those are some serious hills! Good work.

Wow, definitely looks like you earned your breakfast!!!

Looks like a fun, challenging ride.  I need to find someone to ride with and try some new routes.  I always just ride to the pool which is pretty much the race route for the triathlon but need to change things up.  Your ride looks like it would be a fun challenge.

I know you've been getting a bit more rain than we have lately.  Seems like it keeps rumbling across the lake from Michigan.  But the cool temperatures have been delicious.  I just wish I could run in them...or even bike.  You're going to do fine in SD.  Sounds like a fantastic race.

Easy week after strange hip issue.  Things seem to have worked themselves out - well really with a (painful) massage and the foam roller, but I am back on my way.  Took it kind of easy, but not too easy (as you will see).  The 4:40 pacer dropped out for next weekend, so the captain shuffled us around.  I'm now taking the 4:25 group, so a 10 min pace which shouldn't be much of an issue especially now since I seem to have worked out my hip issue.  It may actually have been a tough to find knot in the quad area near my ITband, but I found it, and all seems back together.  Of course, I have not yet tried to push the pace - in fact, I have been trying to run slower due to next weeks race.

Mon - Day off,  Massage to work on hip area
Tues - Cycle 20 miles, core and strength work
Wed - Easy 5 miles 
Thu - 3 miles (in the heat) with striders, core, strength, and agility work
Fri - 45 min elliptical
Sat - Cycle 45 miles
Sun - Run 15 miles.  Tried to stay at 10 min pace as I am now pacing the 4:25 group due to us having to shuffle around pacers. also ran late purposely.

WTD: 23 miles running, 65 miles cycling.

Way to fight through the tricky/unusual hip issue.  It looks like everything should be ok for your pace group, even though you got bumped up a bit.  Good luck this week.  I hope the issue is in the past!!

Man, those hip problems are just annoying!  Mine is bugging me again after about a month of being in good shape, but the miles have taken their toll and I have to go in and get all the kinks worked out with a massage again myself.  Looks like you should be good to go for pacing with the easy 15 this last weekend.

Glad you've resolved the hip issue for now... but how disruptive is it to have your pacing target adjusted like that? Both times are well within your capabilities, of course, but it seems like the disruption in plans might be annoying.

Mark B wrote:Glad you've resolved the hip issue for now... but how disruptive is it to have your pacing target adjusted like that? Both times are well within your capabilities, of course, but it seems like the disruption in plans might be annoying.

I'm not Michele, but having done the job in the past, it usually takes me a mile or two to get dialed into the pace and then I'm good to go for the rest of the day.  Once I find a rhythm, I have no issues with it at all.

That was a long time in the saddle on Saturday's ride Michele - good job!  I've used the roller I got sporadically and I am somewhere between hating it and loving it right now.  That sucker hurts sometimes!

Well, my pacing job is now officially down, and it was a success.  I ended up leading a group of roughly 5 ladies to the finish.  They stuck with me until mile 23 when I told them to go ahead.  One stayed with me and then drifted behind slightly (it was her first marathon and she finished in 4:26) and the others went on to run strong races with two in the bunch running PRs.  At the halfway point, I actually had a group of about 8 with three of them moving ahead of us around mile 18 and they all ran between 4:18 and 4:20.  So it was a very productive day.  The course was absolutely beautiful as we ran basically downhill through the Spearfish Canyon from Lead to Spearfish, SD.  After the race we were able to take some sight seeing time and visit a winery as well as Mt. Rushmore.  From what I saw of the northwestern corner of South Dakota, it is a beautiful state.  

Now for a week of easy mileage and recovery and on to the push for Monumental on November 2nd.  I was able to register for Boston today as a deferred runner and if I run the time I would like at Monumental, I can submit it right after the race for corral placement.  I hope that I can stay healthy until then as my goal is to run 3:45ish (at least under 3:50) and then I hope to be able to carry that fitness to April.

Well, after getting up long before the sun for the last couple of days, I'm off for a nap.

Nice work on the pacing, Michele! I'm sure your pack of runners appreciated your help.

So, out of all the marathons you've run, how many have been as a pacer? It seems like a good strategy if you're on one of those Marathon Maniac plans to run all 50 states and such.

Glad to see you've signed up for Boston. I'm betting it's going to be a special one.

Congratulations on the pacing, sounds like it went really well. I wish I could do that but it's such a struggle to try to qualify for Boston lately that I can't just throw in a marathon now and then as I used to do. Oh well, I'm glad it worked out well for you and the weather must have been good. Those downhill marathons must be really nice.

Gratz, 1L, I'm sure your pacers and the race organizers appreciate your pacing prowess.  Well done!

Excellent job, Michele!  You continue your streak pacing and motivating other runners to their goals.  And congratulations on another state.  That sounds like a marathon I'd like to do someday...if I can stay off of the injured list.

So my splits for Sunday's race were as follows:  

    2:12:49   First half
    2:11:30   Second half

I'd say that was/is pretty darn good.

Sounds perfect to me! My first experience with a pacer was my first marathon and he dropped back after the first half and left me alone.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:So my splits for Sunday's race were as follows:  

    2:12:49   First half
    2:11:30   Second half

I'd say that was/is pretty darn good.

Now that is what I call a good pacer

My friend Laura says you were "FANTASTIC and really made it enjoyable." So you're more than just great at pacing.