Revels of Peach Keane (Redux Part III)

@Paula Sue wrote:

@Michele "1L" Keane wrote:I won't be back until after Shannon graduates this coming May - so fall of 2012. John is looking at property now in the western suburbs - Bay Village. Rocky River since his company is in Westlake. I'd love to live downtown or Ohio City, but since I'll be by myself a lot it probably isn't prudent to live somewhere where you can't go out after dark alone even if it is 6pm.

Bay Village and Rocky River are two excellent choices...and you know those areas are runner friendly. Which club were you associated with when you last lived in Cleveland?

Second sole which is out of River. John grew up there, so we know it quite well.

@Liz R wrote:You are never boring!

Interesting about not resting the Dead Butt. I am finding the same thing. Rest does NOT help. I am not liking the constant need to stretch and strengthen, but I guess that is getting older.

I guess so - still sucks though.


Ok, I thought I left the heat and humidity in Georgia, but I guess not! Although the temps have been in the mid-60s the last two mornings, the humidity is in the 95% range - yikes! I must say that this humidity makes me feel very out of shape. That combined with the hills and I'm not really enjoying myself running here yet.

My dead butt is also slow to decide to quit nagging, but I know it will as it did last year. I'm off to the gym later today as that always seems to help.

If it makes you feel any better, this piriformis thing that I deal with (it's just kind of annoyingly there, but not really bothersome) is worse the lower my mileage is. It's kind of weird, if I'm up above 45 miles or so, I don't even notice it, but under 40 and it seems to be much more of an issue.

After a couple of tough weeks, I am on the mend and getting back into it. I'll post more when I get a chance, but I'm off to a lecture..........

@mul21 wrote:If it makes you feel any better, this piriformis thing that I deal with (it's just kind of annoyingly there, but not really bothersome) is worse the lower my mileage is. It's kind of weird, if I'm up above 45 miles or so, I don't even notice it, but under 40 and it seems to be much more of an issue.

I guess running more miles makes sense for you!

@Michele "1L" Keane wrote:

@Schuey wrote:

@KathyK wrote:glute bridges. sigh
I hate those suckers...but that's what my PT told me to do for my LAS (lazy ass syndrome)....

I hear you on hating those suckers! Since I started doing them they sure have made a difference. Whenever I do them in the gym I feel like I doing some 80's aerobic move. haha

Ha - more like a porno flick

Try doing them with your trainer (male) watching you...

@Michele "1L" Keane wrote:After a couple of tough weeks, I am on the mend and getting back into it. I'll post more when I get a chance, but I'm off to a lecture..........

I hope everything is getting better Michele.

I've been very busy trying to buy a condo/townhouse in Cleveland this week and things are still not finalized. If the seller doesn't like out last counter, then well, we move onto the next one which will mean another drive to Cleveland and back (2 1/2 hrs each way). My running really suffered the first week I was here. My glute/hammie thingie really acted up and I'm contributing it's annoyance to a number of things including the 12 hour drive from Atlanta, poor stretching and foam roller use over the last month, and even some hormonal stuff. I seem to have turned the corner; however, with a pretty good last few days including a longish run of 10 miles this morning over a hilly course where I averaged a 9 min pace (with the last 3 flatter miles around 8:30). I probably would have picked it up more but for the running company - two women that I love to run with, but they are a bit slower than I on the long runs and a lot faster than I on the bike - so we balance each other out great.

Since the glute/hammie seems to have calmed down, I'm most definitely still going to run the Boilermaker next weekend (7/10). It is a tough course and although the morning temps have been cool this week (low 60s), the humidity has been in the 85-95% range in the mornings. I have heard that this race is notorious for humid weather and regardless of how many miles I put in down in the heat of Atlanta, I still have trouble racing in humidity. I'm also not sure that I ready to race the rather tough course. I am also planning on running a half the following weekend, and I doubt I could ever "race" both of them. The half course is very flat in comparison to the Boilermaker 15K course (below).



I ended the week with a solid 35 miles and I'll be running a tempo run on Monday during the local 10K. Might as well pay my $5 entry fee, get a t-shirt, support the local community here in NY and get water/sports drink.

Thanks all for your support and assistance (Schuey) while dealing with the butt issues. I should know better, but never do.

I meant to ask you where in NY you've been and what brought you there.
As far as your glut/hamstring issues, I know from my experience that sitting in the car is about the worst thing for it. So those long car drives that you've been doing could not have been fun. I'm glad you're pretty much over it now.
Your run today looked good and pretty close to mine. We'd probably run well together.

I'm at the Chautauqua Institute www.ciweb.org. It is a wonderful place, but very, very difficult to explain. Essentially, lake Chautauqua and Chautauqua county are about as far west as you can get in NY state without being in Erie, PA. The closest NY city that people have heard of is "Jamestown" which is on the southern end of the lake. Buffalo is 1.25 hrs to the east and slightly north.

And you are right, Seth, we run about the same training paces and even race paces (except you race a faster marathon).

@Michele "1L" Keane wrote:I'm at the Chautauqua Institute www.ciweb.org. It is a wonderful place, but very, very difficult to explain. Essentially, lake Chautauqua and Chautauqua county are about as far west as you can get in NY state without being in Erie, PA. The closest NY city that people have heard of is "Jamestown" which is on the southern end of the lake. Buffalo is 1.25 hrs to the east and slightly north.

And you are right, Seth, we run about the same training paces and even race paces (except you race a faster marathon).

I know the Chautauqua Institute. It's a very cool place. What workshops, courses, etc. are you there for?
I went to school in western NY, (Buffalo and Rochester) so I'm pretty familiar with part of the state.

I'm anxious to see how disciplined you are on Monday when you are at the starting line for the 10k. Go Michele!

@Seth Harrison wrote:

@Michele "1L" Keane wrote:I'm at the Chautauqua Institute www.ciweb.org. It is a wonderful place, but very, very difficult to explain. Essentially, lake Chautauqua and Chautauqua county are about as far west as you can get in NY state without being in Erie, PA. The closest NY city that people have heard of is "Jamestown" which is on the southern end of the lake. Buffalo is 1.25 hrs to the east and slightly north.

And you are right, Seth, we run about the same training paces and even race paces (except you race a faster marathon).

I know the Chautauqua Institute. It's a very cool place. What workshops, courses, etc. are you there for?
I went to school in western NY, (Buffalo and Rochester) so I'm pretty familiar with part of the state.

I'm taking a course on "Knife Skills" but that is it this year. I work from here and partake in the lectures, woman's softball, lots of volunteering and the CLSC which is the oldest bookclub in America.

Natalie Wolf wrote:I'm anxious to see how disciplined you are on Monday when you are at the starting line for the 10k. Go Michele!

Thank God I have a partner in crime - we both have races next weekend and will keep each other honest!

Michele, you really get around the country. It will be quite different for you running in Cleveland after all the humidity of Atlanta. Still between the two, I think I'd pick Atlanta though I don't know Cleveland too much.

Don't have much of a choice, John, and I lived in Cleveland before. My husband also grew up there and it is 10 hrs closer to my summer home here in NY. Believe me, it is humid here in western NY state in the summer - sometimes even more so than Atlanta.

My running friend here and I decided to skip the 10K since it didn't start until 9 am - so I ran a solid 7 mile tempo run over the hills here. My leg felt great until the very last climb which was good. I'm thinking I can probably shoot for 1:15 or better next weekend at the Boilermaker. I talked to a guy here yesterday (who road here from Rochester, NY which is 2.5 hr by car!) and he and his buds have run the Boilermaker 15 times. He told me that the climb wasn't that bad, but that the humidity usually is. Think Peachtree for 15K instead of a 10K - 9 miles of humidity with 14,999 of your closest friends. I know that I should be used to warm weather, but humidity always knocks me for a loop.

Hey Michele no problem with the help with the butt issues! Haha! I'm glad to hear that things are feeling better, you know the other thing that you can try if you can is try to cut out some of the hilly runs if possible. I know that might be hard to do but I have found and I'm not sure if I told you but this issue that you and I have come up with can be caused by downhill running. I found that once those muscles start getting fatigued it can cause the issues that we have been faced with. Anyway I thought I would add that in.

Also good luck on the condo/townhouse in Cleveland and also hope you and the family have a great 4th today! Keep up the training and if we dont' see you at Grand Rapids, really look forwarded to seeing you in Boston.

Man, you are busy and on the move. I hear ya about those eighties moves.

Mich - good luck this weekend in Utica lets hope the humidity stays at bay. Also, did you get the singlet in NY?

My race report from this past weekend:


Earning that Beer in Utica!

I’ve always wanted to run the Boilermaker 15K and it has been on my bucket list of “old time. Classic races to run” for years. Since I was feeling good in March and I wasn’t running a spring marathon, I figured that I wouldn’t be beat up, so that this was the year to run it. Utica is only a 4 hr drive east from where I summer, and for years, I’ve heard stories from the local running community here about the race. So, it was decided that this was the year.

Of course feeling good in March did not necessarily translate to feeling good in mid-July. After a decent Spring, my re-occurring glute/hammie thing kicked into gear in early June and I’ve been dealing with some female issues as well that have both hurt my training some. I was not even sure 2 weeks ago if I would make it to Utica as I doubted some that I could really “run” a 9 mile race without some butt pain. But the weeks here went by and I got some training in, so I decided to dial back my expectations and run the race anyway.

The course elevation map is a bit deceptive as in actuality, the course uphill (in the beginning) does not really start until mile 3 (but does last until mile4), and what looks like a solid downhill finish really isn’t as well. I was fortunate enough to meet up with a fellow runner from Buffalo when I got to my hotel and he and his wife gave me the course run down at dinner (there is a local restaurant in Utica called Babes Macaroni Grill and Bar that gives free pasta meals to any runner the night before the race that brings in their number). He noted that the first 2 miles were actually rolling with just a little more downhill than it looks like. Mile 3 starts the climb through the golf course which is pretty steep and last until mile 4, and then there is mile 4 which is a sweet downhill that lasts until mile 5. Russ then warned me that miles 5-7 were actually a gradual uphill which looks flat, but isn’t and even though the road widens, it is not shaded. Mile 7 was fairly flat, but mile 8 was/is another steady incline until you reach the turn at mile 9 and head downhill to the finish. Based on what Russ told me, I aimed to go out conservatively and hoped to run 24-25 min 5K splits for the first two 5ks and then hopefully pick it up a bit from there. My goal was to run faster than 1:15 and hope to beat 1:10.

So race day morning comes and I head to the buses to the start. The weather feels cool (it was 58F) but humid and I hope that the cloud cover stays so that the sun doesn’t beat down on us later (the race is notorious for its warm temps and humidity). After a couple of potty runs, we line up in our corrals and we are off. The first two miles are indeed rolling but very shaded and filled with spectators. When we turn the corner at roughly 3 miles, the climb begins, but it doesn’t seem too bad. However, I’m not feeling real comfortable here and I feel like I’m working much harder than the time on my watch dictates. I also realize that my stomach is not really settled and I back off on taking water and instead take lots of cups of ice which I put on my head, down my running singlet, etc. Once I get to the top of the hill, the downhill feels like heaven and I run comfortably down passing a lot of runners. I’m happy with myself that after all these years I’ve learned to run downhill well, but I’m still not feeling as comfortable as I would like. Mile 5 takes you onto a parkway lined with spectators and music, but also out in the direct sunlight. I pass a building that indicates that the temperature is already 72F, and I realize that my stomach is not settling like I want it to. I press on, but I’m increasingly uncomfortable, and when I see the multiple port-a-potties at just after the 10K mark (and the start of the 5K which is why there were so many), I just dive into one. My 10K split is right on the money though with which I’m pleased.

After the quick break, I feel better but it takes me a bit to get back into the groove and I keep looking for the signs for the hospital and college as that is where the turn is (and another small hill) towards town. Mile 7 is ok, but as Russ predicted, I felt like I was bleeding time over mile 8 and its gradual incline to the final descent. The sun is out in full now, and runners around me are most definitely slowing down. I try to keep a steady pace, but the heat is getting to me now and honestly, I cannot wait for the finish. The crowds are enthusiastic at this point and I feel like I’m going to die but not until the finish line. Once I turn and see the 9 mile mark and final downhill, I give it whatever is left and I’m happy to cross the line in 1:12:27.

The post-race party is great with Saranac beer flowing everywhere. Good food (Chiobani yogurt which is made near Utica), popsicles, Pepsi, and beer, beer, beer. This is not your Mich Ultra but a true microbrew and despite my feeling beat up and tired, it goes down smoothly and I feel that it has been well earned.

Mile splits:

1 - 7:43

2 - 7:41

3 - 8:03

4 - 8:09

5 – 6:38

6 - 7:18

7 - 9:33

8 - 7:10

9 – 7:39

0.3 – 2:33

My time was good enough for 1613 overall, 239^th woman, and 30^th in my AG. Interestingly enough had I already been 50, my time would have been good enough for 4^th place in the 50-55 AG. Hmm, maybe I’ll have to come back next year.

This looks like a really great race. The temperature really spiked quickly from the start to mid-race, but you kept your splits very consistent. You should definitely return next year and try to take home some hardware!

Nice job on the 15K! I've heard of that race but not run it, and it sounds like a good one. Especially if they serve locally brewed beer afterwards Congrats, and I agree, definitely head back next year and pick up an age group award!

If that is "dialing back the expectations", I would think the race was awesome. That sounds like a cruel placement of the hills, but your splits looked pretty consistent (other than the mile where you grew wings and flew down a hill!). Great race report - sounds like a well organized event...

@John Kilpatrick wrote:If that is "dialing back the expectations", I would think the race was awesome. That sounds like a cruel placement of the hills, but your splits looked pretty consistent (other than the mile where you grew wings and flew down a hill!). Great race report - sounds like a well organized event...

Wings that is my normal pace, John

If I have learned anything from training in hilly country, it is how to run downhill.

Nice job on the 15K, Michele!! Going back next year sounds like a great idea. I've only done a 15K once but I really liked the distance, just a nice happy medium not as all-out fast as a 10K and not a half marathon either.

So getting older can be a good thing.

Nice job on the 15K, Michele.