RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 1

Image courtesy of Rock n Roll

Looks like we are back at with another round of half marathon training. Also, this will be my second time running Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon. Hopefully, I will have a better experience than last year.

From what I remember, I thought the course was pretty cool giving us a grand tour of Washington DC with a small taste of Virginia. I do remember a huge hill in Rock Creek Park, so I'm not looking forward to that. ;)

Since I'm still figuring out what's going on with my back, I'm taking a "Que será, será" approach to training for this half marathon. Basically, my goal is to run better than I did in last year's half. With a time of 2:39, I do not think it will be that difficult to beat this time. Hey, if I run the half in 2:38, I've accomplished my goal. Also, I am not trying to put too much stress on myself (in particular, my back) training for this thing because I only have like 1.5 months to train.

Training Plan:

I think my training plan is pretty straightforward. I will admit that I asked ChatGPT to help devise a training plan. While it gave me a decent training plan, it was not anything too groundbreaking. I guess that makes sense, since ChatGPT pretty much regurgitates what's already out there. Also the plan it gave me was more or less similar to what I was going to do anyway.

The plan

• Monday: Rest day (from running) / yoga / strength training

• Tuesday: Easy run (3 - 5 miles)

• Wednesday: Strength training

• Thursday : Speed work

• Friday: Yoga / light strength training / rest day

• Saturday: Long run

• Sunday: Easy cardio - biking, row machine, Cize (a dance workout), or absolutely nothing.

For stength training, I'm kind of getting back to basis, and I plan to work through Joel Freeman's LIIFT 4 from Beachbody (oh they go by BODi nowadays). I will admit that I do like looking at a muscular dude with an oblong-shaped head. ;)

Image adapted from Beachbody

The 35 - 40 minute workouts are pretty straightforward with each workout targeting two 1-2 muscle groups. In terms of time, I think the workouts are ok. However, I think that I might start doing two workouts at a time once I start getting into my groove. If I make it through the eight weeks, I'll write a brief review.

Workout update:

So I did not follow my training workout to the T. I hope ChatGPT will not get me. However, I did manage to get in my easy run (4 mi), my long run (6 mi), and a couple of strength training. Unfortunately, the weather as been extremely cold in the mid-Atlantic region so my runs were pretty much treadmill runs.

Unless I absolutely have to, I refuse to run in temps under 35F, so treadmill running was my go-to Also, a lot of the sidewalks and trails have not been cleared of all the snow and ice, and I am not trying to take a spill.

One thing about Planet Fitness, they really know how to motivate me. ;)

Speaking of treadmills, check out our wonderful set up in my apartment building's "gym".

One thing about this building - NOTHING is ever in working order. Also, the gym is a joke because some of our wonderful neighbors have stolen pretty much all of the dumbbells that are under 65 pounds. Ugh! i cannot wait until we move in June.

Since I have other stuff to do, this update was short and somewhat sweet.

Goals for the week:

-Since it takes me a minute to get moving in the morning, I need to prepare my gym stuff the night before.

-Actually pay attention to my alarm and do my stretches on a nightly basis. I have been good with doing my stretches, planks, pushups, and/or situps throughout the day.

-Since I have been pretty good with my 14-hr intermittent fasts, I wanna increase my fasts to 16 hours. To be honest, I accidentally did a couple of 16-hr fasts last week bc I forgot to eat. In the near future, I would like to attempt one 24-hr fast during the work week.

Playlist for the Week:

Since we are in the beginning stages of Eurovision 2025. Well, the beginning stages of the participating countries' national selections, this week's playlist is from the Benidorm Fest (Spain's national selection) playlist.

RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 0

Yikes sometime during the Christmas holiday, I remembered that I registered for this March Half Marathon. My only real goal for this half marathon is to have a better finishing time compared to last year’s. I’m not sure if this will happen because I have about seven weeks until this half marathon. Ok, seven weeks is a decent amount of time to train for a half marathon IF you are already in decent running shape. However, I have not really done anything running-related since Richmond’s Half Marathon (Nov. 16/17, 2024). Also, I was dealing with a back issue from Thanksgiving to about the middle/end of December. So, this might be one of those run just to finish situations. Then again, I think last year’s Rock n Roll DC Half was a run just to finish situation.

Back Pain Updates:

Last week or maybe the week before, I finally had a chance to see a spine and back specialist regarding my lower back issues.

I will say that I thought this appointment was super productive, and I really liked the MD. Why? The doc actually listened to me describe my issues. Extra points because he did not cut me off while I was in the middle of a sentence or a thought – something this annoys the SHIT out of me. Nowadays, I feel like doctors do not have the time to fully listen to their patients due to time constraints imposed by insurance companies. Years ago, someone who worked in health insurance told me that insurance companies highly recommend (or rather, mandate) doctors spend 20-30 minutes with their patients. This is annoying because sometimes, it will take a good 10-15 minutes to really discuss what’s doing on especially if: 1. you have dealing with an issue for years; and 2. if it’s your first time seeing the doctor. After his somewhat comprehensive examination, he came to the conclusion that I suffer from Flat Back Syndrome. However, he would like for me to have an MRI just to confirm a couple of things and to have a baseline. BTW, the copay for my MRI is going to be close to $350! I do not think that I’ve ever paid that much for an MRI (then again, my last one was a good 12 years ago). Also, we are very early in the year, so perhaps, my out of pocket price is so high because I have not met my deductible yet.

Image adapted from Medical News Today.

Simply put, Flat Back Syndrome (as the name would suggest) is a condition where the spine loses it curvature and becomes more flat over time. This syndrome can lead to regular back pain and an inability to stand straight. Let’s check out some of the characteristics.

• An inability to stand up straight ✅

• A bent forward posture ✅

• Bent hips and knees to maintain an upright posture. I did not know I had this but ✅. The doctor told me to stand up. When I did (or thought I did), he asked me to stand up straight without having a slight bend in my knees. Boy, I definitely felt the difference. Once I put my knees a completely straight position, I felt I slight pain in my lower back.

• Fatigue due to strain on the lower back and leg muscles. ✅

• Reduced spinal curvature (my previous X-ray showed this). ✅

• Back pain. ✅ ✅ ✅

What’s next?

At this point, the specialist wants me to focus on doing back stretches and exercises before upping the treatment regimen (e.g., surgery), and I kind of agree. Some exercises that I can/should do include:

Images from Northwest Florida Spine.

The kick in the face:

Since I really want to get my back issues behind me (pun intended), I asked how long would it take to see improvements. He said 4-6 freaking months. BUT, here is the other kick in the face. Since my last back pain flare up (August 2023), I pretty much have been doing these stretches on a daily (well near daily basis). So, I'm kind of side eyeing his recommendation and thinking this regimen might be a way for him to get me out of his hair for a few months. Then again, since this is my first time visiting him, he probably needs a baseline of my situation without hard core medical intervention. Also, maybe doing these these stretches since August 2023 have improved some issues, but the improvements are so small that I have not really noticed it. While the jury is still out, I guess we are moving towards some progress.

Goals for the week:

-Start training for my upcoming half marathon.

-Get on a REAL stretching plan.

Race Report: Frederick Half Marathon

DATE: May 05, 2024

DISTANCE: Half Marathon (13.1mi/21km)

PLACE: Frederick, Maryland

WEATHER:  52F and rainy

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 2:27 / 11:15 min/mi

FINISHERS: 2452

SWAG: Sweatshirt, medal, two post-race beers, and random bits and pieces from the post-race festival

Woo hoo! My first official Maryland half marathon as a resident of Maryland. This half took me to the town of Frederick, which is about 30-40 miles from Washington DC.

EXPO:

There really wasn't much to the expo, because I picked up my bib and bounced. Actually, I take that back. I just realized that I picked up my race stuff at an off-site at a local running store rather than picking up my materials at the official expo. For me, it did not make much sense to drive 30 miles to Frederick to pick up my bib, drive 30 miles back to Silver Spring, then make that same trip one or two days later. I guess I should be grateful that the organizers had a couple options to pick up race materials outside of the expo.

Pre-race:

To be honest, I was over the half marathon before starting it. While driving to Frederick around 5 am, I was very concerned with the early morning downpours. There were a couple of times during my drive that I considered turning around. One time I had this thought was when I had to pull off onto the shoulder of the interstate to pee in the rain. Some folks may know that I absolutely HATE running in the rain. I don't really understand why because I tend to sweat a lot, so it's not like I'm NOT going to get wet while running. Maybe it's my fear of slipping on wet surfaces. In Frederick (about 30 min before lining up), I had to internally tell myself: Look! Stop complaining about the rain. Either shut up and run the half or get in the car and drive home. I think my internal pep talk help. ;)

You know, this is the first time that I've seen corrals marked with pace rather that letters of numbers that's supposed to represent a pace cutoffs.

Actually, I think this a better way to assign corrals. IMO, I think runners would be a bit more "honest" (or rather, cognizant) of their running level/state when the corral's pace is clearly visible. A pace is consistent from race to race, but Corral letters/numbers are not. For instance, Corral E might have a pace cutoff of 11 min/mi for one race, but Corral E might have a pace cutoff of 10 min/mi for another.

The Course:

Overall, I really enjoyed this course because it was very flat and had a few twists and turns that allowed us to explore the historic town of Frederick. I don't know why, but I really appreciate a course that has a few turns. I think it's a mental thing for me because making a turn kind of gives me a mental reset.

You know, 50F weather is kind of annoying because it can feel too cold or too hot. I was planning to run in a short technical T-shirt, but I figured that it would be too cold for that. Fortunately, I packed a long-sleeved tech shirt. Unfortunately, my long sleeve shirt was too tight to put over my regular shirt, so I put the long-sleeved tech shirt under my short-sleeved tech shirt and thought nothing of it. About 3/4 of a mile into the race, I realized that I was going to become too hot running with this set up. Begrudgingly, I had to stop and rearrange my outfit, which involved:

• Finding a spot off the course to change.

• Taking off all of my shirts and putting the long-sleeved tech shirt around my waist. Since I really like this long tech shirt (I think it's from one of my NYC marathons), I didn't want to toss it.

• Unpin the four safety pins and transfer my bib from my shirt to my shorts. I did this just in case, I would need to put my long sleeve tech shirt over my t-shirt.

I guess doing this took longer than I thought because I was VERY far in the back of the pack by the time I finished.

Ha! I think there were about 10 runners and course sweepers behind me by the time I finished dealing with my wardrobe "malfunction".

General Recap:

In previous half marathons, I typically will run 0.8 miles and walk 0.2 miles intervals. For this half, I tried to push myself a little bit by running 0.9 miles and walking 0.1 miles. I'm not sure if it made a HUGE difference, but my time for this half marathon (~2:27) was a bit faster than the one I ran in March (~2:34). Around Mile 7, I decide to push myself a bit more by walking my 0.1 miles after running 2 miles instead of after each mile. Also, I incorporated fartlets and 0.25 mile "sprints" during Miles 8, 10, and 12.

I wonder if Cow Tales are anything like Duck Tales.

At the post-race festival, I learned that Cow Tales are a chewy candy. Although this candy has been around since the 80s, I don't recall ever seeing them.

I'll say that for 80% of the race, I did not feel like I was struggling. I didn't feel super strong, BUT I did not feel weak while running. I hate to admit this, but I think the rainy weather might have had something to do with my improved performance because the rain prevented me from getting too hot while running.

HA! I was ecstatic to run past Olde Mother Brewery, which produces one of my (newly) favorite beers.

Once again, I will say that I was quite impressed by the city of Frederick, and I would not mind visiting again for a day trip.

I'll say that it was very interesting to finish up the half marathon on a racetrack (for motorcycles, I think).

Post-Race:

Overall, I thought the post-race festival was very nice because there was plenty to do...on paper. However, the rainy weather kind of put a damper (pun intended) on the festival because the festival area was full of mud. I remember almost slipping on a few occasion while making may way from point A to B to C...

However, I did not let a little mud stop me from enjoying my post-race beers.

Because of state or city mandates, they had to open and serve BOTH cans of beers, so I guess everyone was double fisting beers. While the race and post-race party were organized very well, I think in the future they should provide runners with 21+ wristbands. Many runners were turned away from grabbing their post-race beers because they did not have an ID. So, folks had to walk a bit to go to the back check (which was outside of the post-race festival area), get their ID, and return for their beer. Had it not be for the mud and coldish weather, I would have stayed a bit longer at the festival.

However, I was getting cold and really wanted to get my dry bag to put on my sweatshirt.

I have to LOL about the sweatshirt. When I picked up my race materials at the "expo", I thought that it was kind of dumb to provide a sweatshirt for a May half marathon. However, the sweatshirt definitely kept me warm after the race, AND it's a very nice really nice sweatshirt. I thought it was kind of funny that I saw so many discarded race sweatshirts along the course. Maybe these folks have run this half marathon a few times and didn't need (or want) another sweatshirt.

Luckily for me there was a Planet Fitness about a few miles away. I decided to hit up the Frederick Planet Fitness, to stretch, use a hydromassage table, take a shower, and change into clean clothes. After that, I drove by home, picked up the husband, and had brunch (fish n grits and mimosas) at a local Creole (or as my friend says "Beyonce Creole, not Haitian Creole") restaurant in Silver Spring.

While the mimosas were delicious, my fish n grits were off because the dish was way too salty. Although Sunday was Cinco de Mayo, I really did not want to go to a Mexican or margarita spot for my post-race feeding...and drinking. I was tired and did not want to be around a million and three people guzzling down margaritas, wearing sombreros, and being loud.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

-The half marathon did not go as well as I would have liked (weatherwise), but I definitely want to run this half again next year. Also, I might be interested in checking out one of race challenges.

-The quaint, historic city of Frederick is very nice and deserves a non-racing day trip.

-While I did not achieve the time I wanted, I am somewhat happy that my time improved from my last half. Actually, I take that back because I never set a time goal for this half.

Playlists:

Since Eurovision 2024 is this week, I gave the Class of 2024 one more complete listen before the contest's kick off.

Race Report: Spin in the Woods (4 mi)

DATE: March 30, 2024

DISTANCE: 4 miles

PLACE: Wheaton, MD

WEATHER:  mid 40s F

OFFICIAL TIME (mm:ss) / PACE (min/mi): 44:26/11:03

FINISHERS: ???

SWAG: Nada

LOL. This weekend's "impromptu" race was my first official trail race in my 10 or so years of running. What do I mean by impromptu? Recently, I joined Montgomery County Road Runners Club (link: MCRRC), but I had forgotten that the club organizes what they call "low-key" races throughout the year, which are free for members. Last week, I was randomly looking for some races for April and saw that there was a race in a couple of days. Since I was supposed to run 10 miles over the weekend and the location of the race was a couple of miles from my apt, I figured why not add a race to my long run.

I kind of like the concept of the club's Low Key Race Series. For these, there are no medals, no shirts, no swag bags, and no huge expos, you pretty much show up, grab your bib, run the race, and go home. ;) These races kind of remind me of my cross country meets during my high school years.

One minor drawback to these races, I'm responsible for keeping track of my red tracker for the entire race season. I didn't know folks still used the tracking chips that you have to attach to your shoes.

The Spin in the Woods took us through two loops in Springbrook Forest. Since I'm training for another half marathon in May, I sandwiched this race between a 2-mile pre-race run and a 2.5-mile post-race run.

Ha! A couple of deer even "greeted" me along Sligo Creek Trail during the 2-mile pre-race run.

I know that deer are pretty peaceful animals, but they do scare the sh*t out of me when they just randomly cross the path and stare at you before running away.

While I was supposed to run 10 miles this weekend, I did not feel like adding another 1.5 miles to the 2.5 mile post-race run . . . especially bc I was really close to my home. Looking back, I kind of wish that I pushed out that those extra 1.5 miles bc I do feel a little guilty about not running them. Oh well, there's always next weekend's long run.

Overall, I thought the trail race was nice, and I have no complaints about the course and organization. I will admit that I was VERY nervous about tripping and/or twisting my ankle on rocks, tree roots, or the uneven surfaces. Fortunately, I did not trip over anything and bruise something like my ego. ;) Since I'm a bit slower these days, I was also a bit nervous about getting lost somewhere in the woods after the thinning of the pack. Fortunately, that did not happen.

The course was a little challenging because there were a couple of hills (the blue circle in the pic below indicating the race's elevation profile), but it wasn't anything that I could not handle. Actually, the hills kind of surprised me because I did not look up the course's elevation since it was "only" four miles.

All in all, it was nice to try something new, and I'm open to running another trail race in the future. However (at least for now), I think that I prefer road races over trail races. I thought the MCRCC did a great job with marking the course because there were plenty of orange flags throughout the course. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were a couple of water stations along the course. I wasn't expecting that because 1) it's a low-key race; and 2) concerns over runners tossing their paper cups into the wilderness. This experience reminds that I have to remember to sign up to volunteer for one of the club's races in the near future: 1) to the return the favor of the volunteers for this race and other races; 2) to meet some new people in the area.

Playlist:

Speaking of trying something new, I decided to listen to Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album while running this race. In this album, Beyonce is doing something a bit different and taking a crack at Country music. I thought it was a decent album; however, I wasn't blown away by the album. I have to admit that I don't really listen to Country music, but the album sounded more Country-Pop with R&B and hints of Trap music.