Race Report - Philly Half (Sort of...) + Important Lesson in Iphone Usage

Some people celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary with a trip to Bermuda.  My husband and I, we get my dad to come and babysit for the weekend so we can run.  Hey, whatever floats your boat.

Jamie only decided to run the Philly marathon 10 weeks ago, right before it sold out, and I am already registered for the California International in two weeks, so I decided to sort of do the half marathon.  They don't really care at Philly what bib you are wearing on any part of the course, as long as you have a bib, so instead of doing the south loop, I jumped in for the north loop to run with my training partner Brittany who was attempting to qualify for Boston.  It seemed pointless to run the first half with her since that's not where it gets mentally tough.  And plus I didn't really want to race all out when the marathon is only two weeks away.  I assumed she would do 8:10ish miles, which would be a good pace run for my own race.

We were staying at the airport Courtyard hotel (as all the downtown hotels were booked) and set off for the starting line at 5:30 a.m.  All was going smoothly til we got to the exit for the Art Museum (where the start line is.)  It was backed up.  Crazy backed up.  Brittany and Jamie still needed to check their bags, and the traffic was not moving.  So I figured I'd try the next exit and backtrack.  Except.. oops.  We ended up over the river.  And the traffic going the other way on the interstate was backed up for miles.  I guess this is what happens when you put 33,000 runners at the start line all at the same time and there isn't really a great public transportation option.   It was already 6:25... race starts at 7.  I said I would check in their bags.  We finally got to an exit (though not the one we wanted) and noticed runner after runner hopping out of their cars.  My GPS said we were .7 miles from the start.  So Brittany and Jamie jumped out and I went to go find parking. I was able to get off on the left exit, which let me out at Rittenhouse Square.  I found a parking lot, stuck the ticket on my window, and ran the 1.5 miles to the start with both of their gear check bags.

As it turned out, I didn't really need to be concerned.  Plenty of people were still checking gear bags at 7 when I arrived... and past 7.  In fact, people were still being dropped off at the starting line at 7:25.  At 7:37 they made an announcement that they really needed everyone racing to cross the start line because the first half wheelchair participant would be over the line in less than ten minutes and they needed to change it to record the finish instead of the start.  Guess we were not the only ones with traffic problems.

I headed over to Whole Foods to have some coffee and wait for auto texts with Jamie and Brittany's 10K splits.  Jamie's came first, saying he was on pace for a 3:21 and Brittany's next, at 3:33.  I still had some time.  I chatted with some people, used the bathroom, and waited for the 20K split.  Except it wasn't 20K, it was half -- Jamie's came in (on pace for 3:18) and I realized I needed to get back to the start line to catch Brittany for the North Loop.  I bolted out and grabbed my phone -- no text yet.  Phew, I hadn't missed her. I was freaking out that I was the worst friend in the world who was more interested in my coffee than helping a friend through a grueling 13.1 miles when I heard "Gretchen!  I'm here!"  And we were off.

The north loop runs up the Schuykill River and had some nice fall views, but it definitely isn't the most interesting half -- I was glad I had Brittany to talk to.  Our pace was just conversational - we weren't out of breath, but if I ran any faster I would have to quit talking.  Jamie had my Garmin on and so I had my old Forerunner and I turned off the pace since this was Brittany's race, not mine. I did notice that we were getting further and further ahead of the 3:35 pacer, to the point where we couldn't see him anymore.

Soon we saw the lead man come down the other way.  As the out and back crowd got thicker, we tried to keep an eye out for Tuan and Jamie.  Then I got another text that my darling husband had crossed the 30K on pace for a 3:15.  Seriously?  The guys runs 40 mile a week max for 10 weeks and is on pace to qualify for Boston?  Around that time we passed Tuan, who was right alongside the 3:05 pacer and only had two miles to go.  He was definitely going to Boston.  Brittany, I was pretty sure at this point, was going to Boston.  Jamie had a chance of going to Boston.  Talk about putting on the pressure for my next race.

I spent miles 22-23 staring at my phone, willing it to text me right at 10:22.  It did not.  Jamie had not made it across in a sub-3:15.  His final time was 3:17:43.  Which doesn't qualify him as a 41 year old man.  It does, however, qualify him as a 41 year old woman, which he was mistakenly entered as.  This is the second time this has happened.  Last December he won the female masters division of the Jingle Bell 5K in 20:05.  He does not check the female box.  These things just happen when your name is Jamie.

When we got to 25 (12 for me) I looked down at my watch and said "Brittany, you could stop and walk this mile and you would still go to Boston."  She looked at me and said "Are you crazy?  I'm not walking!"  "Yeah, I didn't say you should walk.  I just meant you are killing this thing.  You are pretty easy to 'pace' since all you do is speed up."  Which she did.  When we got to the 26 mile marker, I turned the pace back on my Garmin.  We ran to the finish at a 6:45.  She killed it.  3:30.  I was so excited for her!  Our half split was 1:43:48 which is definitely not the 8:10 pace I was looking for today.  More like 7:55.  Oops.

And here is where things got interesting...

The plan was to walk back to Rittenhouse Square, have brunch, get the car, and get home at 4:30 or so.  I went to get the car while Jamie was paying his bill.  I went to the lot where I thought I had left it.  No car.  I went to to the kiosk and noticed it was $15/ day.  My lot was $11/ day.  Wrong lot.  I asked the attendant where the next lot was. He told me.  I walked there.  Wrong lot.  That attendant gave me another address.  Nope. Wrong lot.  I took out my phone to try to google map where lots were, and my phone promptly died.  Then I got lost.  I had no phone, no way to find Jamie, and no idea where I was.  I walked.  And walked.  For an hour and a half.  I didn't find the car, and when I got back to the restaurant, Jamie was gone.  The waitress let me use her phone and Jamie answered.  He was in a coffee shop flipping out that I'd been mugged.  I went to find him, and as soon as I arrived, his phone died too. So we had no car, no phone, and no way of getting ahold of my dad, who thought I was missing.  Jamie's legs were too sore to walk, so I told him I'd figure out where the car was if he could just stay at Starbucks.  I walked for another hour, 6 other parking lots, no car.  Back to Starbucks.  Jamie had been talking to a woman there who suggested I go to the Apple Store and charge my phone.  At this point I had probably walked 6 or 7 miles in the same 2 mile radius.  I knew my car was right by that park.  What was I supposed to do?  I called my dad once my phone was charged, and he thought my car had probably been towed.  But I had yet to find an $11 lot.

Finally, I went to the police.  "Did you pay with a credit card?"  they asked.  "Why yes, I did."  "Well, call the credit card company and ask which lot you used."  So I did.  And they told me.  And it was pretty much right in the vicinity I had walked up and down and up and down and up and down, except it was kind of up an alley and hidden by four very tall buildings.  Yup, less than 2 blocks from the Apple Store and the place we had brunch.  There was another very visible lot right across the street, which I had frustratingly visited about 10 times in my search.  I picked up Jamie and we headed off.

As we pulled out onto the highway, I noticed that my head was throbbing.  I was seeing spots.  I told Jamie he had to drive.  It felt all too familiar to my Ironman finish and my last marathon finish.  Sure enough, in similar fashion, I started puking.  Jamie pulled over but it was too late.  We headed to a rest stop where I cleaned up.  I tried to drink some Gatorade.   20 minutes later I was puking again.  Then the tingling arms.  Another case of severe dehydration.  Not from the race, I don't think -- I had Gatorade at every stop.  Nope, I think this was from the three hours that I power walked the streets of Philadelphia searching for our car and didn't drink anything.   The 2.5 hour drive home was pretty much torture.  When I took off my socks, my feet were swollen up like pillows.  Dehydration symptom #782.

I got home and Susanna says "Mommy how was your race?  Did you have to go to the doctor again?  Are you sick again?"

After a soak in the tub, a half a bottle of Powerade, and a slice of pizza, I started to feel somewhat normal.  So much for my taper.  I ran 15 miles total - 13 a little faster than I should have - and probably walked 7 or 8.  Hopefully I will be fully recovered in two weeks.  Tomorrow will be a rest day, and I may cut my mileage a little more than originally planned this week - the legs are very sore, which wasn't in the plan.

AND I learned from my father the important "Drop Pin" feature on the Iphone.  I did not know you could basically bookmark your location.  An important feature that would have saved me 3 hours of panic.

Overall, a great weekend, and since I am Gretchen, it wouldn't be complete without a "Gretchen Story", now would it?

CIM Training Week #9 - Peak Weeks Complete

The peak weeks are finished.  5 weeks at 70 miles a week.  I did it.

I don't think I've gotten much faster, but I definitely have developed more endurance.  I think my half marathon proved that.  I had the speed to go 7:40 for ten miles, and I was able to bump that up to 13 miles for the half marathon.  But my tempo pace still seems to be right there at 7:40. Hopefully what this means is that I can hold an 8:10 pace for a lot longer than I used to be able to -- 26.2 miles?  We shall see.

I have to remember that despite all this insane training it's just a race.  I've had a lot of friends or acquaintances that have bonked or DNFed on recent races they spent months training for.  I guess the important this to remember is that I don't just do the training for the race outcome.  The training itself is the biggest benefit, not whether I can cross the finish line in 3:35.  The training is where I've met good friends, where I've had some of my best solo thought processing, where I've pushed my limits, and where I've squashed some of the stress that comes with being a full time working mother.

So now the taper begins... (and at 58 miles this week, which is where I peaked the last training cycle, it doesn't seem like much of a taper.)  

CIM Training Week #8 - A Bit of Burnout

This marks the fourth week in a row that I have hit 70 miles. For the most part, I've enjoyed the training.  But at the end of this week I hit a little bit of burnout.

The week began with Hurricane Sandy, whose arrival was enough to get us out of work for two days, but just grazed the DC area and didn't even cause us to lose power.  (My friends in NYC and Jersey were not nearly as lucky and some of them still do not have power or heat.)   It wasn't really safe to run outside on Monday but I did get in 9 miles on the treadmill.  On Tuesday the rain and wind were virtually gone by 10am so I put out a post to the "Moms Run This Town" group and found someone crazy enough to want to do a long run with me on the Accotink Trail.  It was great to run with good company and I got in 15 miles.  Wednesday my alarm went off for my usual recovery run with my neighbor, but she texted and said she was tired and I could not motivate myself to run solo so I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep.  I had a dentist appointment at 4:30 and was taking my kids trick-or-treating that evening so I had no idea how I was going to get in seven miles.... I finally decided to run from work to the dentist and then run back to my car and drive home.  I made it home by 5:45pm with seven miles run and clean teeth.  Thursday the motivation was still waning... I was supposed to do 12 miles with 10 X 100 meter strides before work but I kept hitting snooze and only wound up with 9.5, so I then forced myself to do the strides on the treadmill with the kids in gym daycare (took less than 20 minutes) before we hit family swim.  Friday was supposed to be a 10 mile recovery run.  Again, I hit snooze and didn't get up.  Jamie said he was fine picking up the kids and I could run after work, so I left as soon as school finished. I wanted to quit two blocks into the run.  I figured I'd feel better once I hit two miles or so.  Nope.  At 2 miles I still wanted to quit.  And I still had three more to go before the turnaround.  At three miles in I really wanted to quit.  At 3.5 I really, really really wanted to quit... so I turned around and figured I would do the other three miles on Sunday.  

Saturday was chilly and I showed up at the marina at 6:30 so I could get in three miles before meeting Tuan and Brittany for the remaining 14. I put on my headlamp and took off on the Mount Vernon Trail -- and immediately started freaking out.  Where were all the other runners?  Normally they are out in full force, but I guess the Marine Corps Marathon put an end to that. I guess most of them were done training for the season.  I was all alone on a dark trail along the Potomac River.  I turned around and ran across the 14th Street Bridge over and over for the remaining 20 minutes.  At least that was well lit.  I was very glad when 7 o'clock rolled around and I had company for the remaining 2 hours...

So my mileage was at 68 and I swore I'd hit 5 weeks of 70 and I really REALLY did not want to run on Sunday.  At all.  I took the kids to swim lessons, soaked in the hot tub, had a great afternoon with the kids and then forced myself to do a 2 mile recovery run at 5pm before we went to our neighbors for dinner.

70 miles.  Done.  One more week of this craziness.  And reading the above... well, it really does sound a bit crazy.  Hopefully this week will be filled with a bit more motivation.

CIM Training Week #7 - The Calm Before The Storm

This week training went pretty smoothly.  I also got to enjoy much of my running with company.  71 miles total.  A quick recap:

Monday - REST!  No really, I did.  For the first time in 11 days.
Tuesday - 15 BEFORE I started teaching.  I can't believe I actually did it - the mid week long run.  I found this group online called "Moms Run This Town" and they were meeting at 5am for 7 miles.... so I set my alarm for 4:30am, was out the door by 4:40, ran with them for 7, ran back home, another few in my neighborood, showered and got the kids ready for school, and then finished up with 2.5 with the boys running club I coach.
Wednesday - 7 recovery.  I did 4 with my neighbor and finished up on my own.  Entire run was finished by 6:30am.
Thursday - I did three in the morning with the running club (and paced a speedy little 5th grader for the last mile to figure out a goal pace for his 5K.  He did an 8 minute mile for his last mile, after already doing 2.5 --I'm not sure I'll be able to pace him for the actual 5K, which is a week after the marathon!)  Then I did a 9 mile tempo run on the W&OD with Brittany.  Our goal was to hold half marathon pace for 7 miles, with a 1 mile warm up and cool down.  Our average was about 7:35 for the tempo miles, but we did stop a couple of times to drink/ Gu/ complain that the last 3.5 miles were uphill.  So we sort of did a tempo run, and vowed that next time we will only stop once.  And then the next time we won't stop at all.  Ya know... we gotta build up to being real runners.  Who follow real plans.
Friday - 6 recovery miles with an awesome co-worker right after work.
Saturday - 22 miles with Tuan and Brittany at 6am.  We were supposed to pick up the pace at the end.   The first 16 miles were between 8:45 - 9:10 (aside from one ridiculously slow mile right at the beginning.), and the last 6 were between 8:22 (that was the fastest one) and 8:40.  So the last 6 were all within 30 second of marathon pace.  Booyah.  (However, I am not sure I could have held actual marathon pace for those last six miles...  within 30 seconds was hard enough.)
Sunday - This was my first year to spectate at the Marine Corps Marathon.  My friend Michelle was trying to break 4:30 and I said I'd meet her at The Wall (AKA Mile 20) and push her til she wanted to punch me in the face.  Which I did.  And she finished in 4:25 -- PR of about 20 minutes!  I ran to the metro and up and down the 14th Bridge -- got in a total of about 9 miles.

I greatly enjoyed being a spectator.  We held up this sign:

The real runners totally got it.  Some of them even asked us what their Paul Ryan Projected Finish time was.  But some people thought were there supporting the Romney/ Ryan ticket -- I guess I should have work the shirt I wore to MCM 2008:

(Sidenote:  Yes, that's a pregnant tummy, and no I didn't run the whole marathon in 2008 -- only the 10K.)

So there is a HURRICANE on the way and I have no idea what that's going to do to next week's mileage, which is supposed to be another peak week.  I may have to rest on Tuesday since that's when we're supposed to have monsoons and 50-60mph winds.  And possibly power outages.  Ugh.  I'm already worried about the food in my freezer.  They have called off school for the next two days.  I think I may need to get out and run just to keep my sanity - two kids and a house with likely no electricity is going to be... interesting.

At least my massage therapist called and said she will be doing massages by candlelight tomorrow as long as we can get there.   :)

CIM Training Week 6 - We Are Halfway There

Really?  I'm halfway through training? Three more weeks of 70 plus miles and then three weeks of taper.  And then I put my body to the ultimate test.

I've already decided I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself.  If I don't sub 3:40, I'll sign up for a spring marathon and try again.  Maybe I'll have to try again and again and again.  My half marathon time says I have the ability to meet the goal.  But it was a race with ideal conditions where pretty much everything went right.  Races are unpredictable.

My week in a review:
Monday - 6 recovery miles before work and 4 at 10pm (no I didn't want 10pm.  Susanna wouldn't sleep.)  Legs were still pretty tight from the race the day before.
Tuesday- Rest (although I did two with the boys running club I coach -- Tuesday is not a good day to choose "rest" because those boys won't let me.)
Wednesday- GA (general aerobic) pace 9 before work, 6 after.
Thursday- 3 with the running club before work and then insane speedwork -- .75 mile repeats at a 6:45 pace with .25 jog recoveries plus warm up and cool down.  So 8 more miles.
Friday- 6 recovery miles in the morning, 2 in the afternoon
Saturday- 17 at 8:45ish pace
Sunday- 9 recovery miles
Total mileage:  72.  Another record.

Tomorrow is rest. WHAT?  I have run for 11 days straight, and my mind is having trouble grasping this concept of rest.  I have a feeling the taper is going to be very, very itchy come November.

A couple things I learned this week:

1.  I can't run at 5am every morning.  I need a couple mornings a week where I can relax and not feel rushed and sleep in a bit longer.  I also hate speedwork in the mornings.  So it looks like Thursdays will be my "Run After Work Day."

2. Though all these solo runs are great for mental toughness, I really enjoy running with others.  Saturday long runs I always do with the DSG folks.  These past two weeks I've met up with Brittany once outside of DSG to do a run.   I also started doing my Wednesday moring recovery runs with a neighbor.  It's hard to fit in a social life with two kids and a full time job (and, er, running 70 mile a week) -- this helps.

This week Brittany and I are meeting up for speedwork on Thursday.  We are somehow supposed to hold half marathon pace (about 7:40) for 7 miles, sandwiched between a mile warm up and cool down.  I have no idea how I'm supposed to run that fast if I don't have a timing chip on and someone to chase down, but we'll see how it goes.

CIM Training Week 5 + Heritage Half Race Report

This was a recovery week and oh did I need it.  After giving blood and running 71 miles last week, I was happy to cut back my mileage to 50 to mini-taper for my half marathon tune up race.  I didn't have a lot going on in the evenings, Monday was a holiday, and so I also didn't get up early to run -- I figured I could catch up on some much needed sleep.

So.... Monday was 9 on the Accotink Trail - ran from the gym while the kids were in daycare and Jamie was on the treadmill, then we all did family swim.  Tuesday I did 2 with the Guys on the Go team I coach (3rd - 6th grade boys... wasn't sure if I should count these miles in my training since I usually do them super slow and stop a lot to motivate the kiddos, but hey why not?) and 6 at the Tysons Running Store, Wednesday I rested for the first time in 11 days, Thursday was 2 with the Guys on the Go plus 3 miles of speed training after work, Friday I ran 6 with Brittany right after work from the marina before heading off to Pentagon City to get a new iphone (note to all:  do not put your brand new iphone in your running jacket, then throw all your sweaty clothes in the laundry without checking your pockets...) -- it is SO nice to run with someone else who is my pace, wish she lived closer -- and then Saturday was insane and all I could manage was to run home from swim lessons before jumping in the car and heading to an inservice for work.  At any rate, I felt pretty tapered for the race today.

Brittany (who was NOT tapered as she decided to run 14 miles yesterday) picked me up at 5:30am and we headed off to Gainesville.  The weather was pretty perfect for running -- 50 degrees, no wind.  We picked up our bibs and did a warm-up lap around the track, then I went to the bathroom (for the record, I went to the bathroom 5 times before the race started.  Yes, that is five times between 6:15am and 7:00am.  I am always terrified I'm going to have to lose precious seconds during the race in a port-a-potty, but I think Brittany thought this was a bit ridiculous by the 4th time....)  Then I drank a bottle of Gatorade, did one more lap, (visited the ladies room a few more times), and got in line for the race.

My goal for the race was to try to keep the same pace I did for the ten miler in June - 1:17:13, so a 7:43 pace.  I figured, hey, it's only three miles longer, I can do it, right?  So I took off at what I thought was somewhere around 7:40.  The Garmin buzzed and I looked down.  7:22.  Oops.  Anyhow, whatever. I didn't feel like I was pushing it and figured I'd settle back into a groove once the first mile adrenaline wore off.  Sure enough mile 2 was 7:44.  Then 7:42, 7:46, 7:55, -- these were all downhill and I was feeling great til I quickly realized this was going to be UPHILL on this out and back course and that the UPHILL would come when I was much more tired, AURGH - 7:44, 7:48 7:42, (and here comes that downhill-now-backwards-meaning-the-devil-uphill) 8:02, -- despite the fact that my 10th mile was the slowest of them all, I was thrilled that I crossed it right at 1:17, so I was on top of my goal - 7:59, 7:55, 8:03 (completely uphill! - elevation here if you are curious:  http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/68254160/), AND finally we are at the last 1.1 -- no more hills, and there was a girl who looked like she might be in my age group within sight of me... I tried to catch her, and as we made it onto the track for the last 400 meters, I ran past her.  I was a pretty good distance ahead and had my music blaring, looked back at the curb and thought I had her. My Garmin said I was running towards the finish at about a 6:50 pace... and then as I got to the last straightaway she somehow managed to kick it up to like a 4 minute/ mile pace, I swear, and she blew ahead of me by like 5 seconds.  I felt like I was going to throw up, but only for the last .15 miles.  I did the last 1.1 in 7:29, I think.... my watch and and my official time were not in agreement.  Final chip time was 1:41:05.  7:42 pace = Goal Met.

Last year the 3rd place winner in my AG was 1:43 so I decided to stick around for the results.  Brittany is in the next AG down so we were not competing, but she had finished around the same time I did.  We waited and waited in the cold for the race to end.... then we got in her car... then we got back out and waited some more.  Finally about an hour and 15 minutes later they posted preliminary results.  I was 6th in my AG and Brittany was 7th in hers.... oh well.  Guess they had a speedier field (or perhaps better race conditions) this year.

Overall I'm happy -- that was a PR by 3:49.  See happy photo:

My schedule called for 18 miles today with 12 at race pace... I counted our .5 mile warm-up, then ran from my house to Firehouse Subs when I got home to get in another 4.5.  Jamie met me there with the kiddos.  It was a slog - 10:20 pace (I walked up Pickett Hill) - but I knew if I didn't do the run right when I got home it wasn't going to happen.

Next week the training plan is back to insanity, and my week is kind of ridiculous as well.  My tenth anniversary is Tuesday so I don't think I can really run after work.... we will see how/if I get in all 70 miles on the schedule.....

CIM Training Week #4 - A Lesson Learned in Blood Donation Timing

Giving blood is good.  Giving blood when your marathon training plan calls for the heaviest volume you have ever done in your life may not be so good.  And giving blood two weeks before a key race -- definitely not the brightest idea.

You would think I would have learned my lesson after last year's 5K debacle.    The Inova Blood Center has been calling me since I was eligible in July, but I had so many races over the summer, plus the Ironman training was pretty intense, so I promised them I would give when the Ironman was over.  I meant to give mid-September before the training volume got too heavy but then work got busy and I kept putting it off.  After the 5th voicemail (Hello Mrs. Lynch, we have noted that you said you would give after August 26th... we have a shortage and you are the universal donor... please call us and make an appointment.) the guilt really hit. So after my 18 miler last weekend, I scheduled a donation.  I figured since Sunday was a rest day, I could relax and I remembered I felt pretty recovered (despite the horrible 5K) by Wednesday the last time around.  However,  last April I wasn't doing much that was high intensity, I wasn't running as much and I definitely wasn't running as far.

Monday I had 13 miles scheduled - 9 in the morning and 4 after work.  I headed out at 5am and noticed my "steady" pace was considerably slower than it normally is.  I was annoyed with myself the whole run, but I couldn't get my pace under 8:50 without feeling like I was pushing it.  The afternoon pace was no better.  The next day was even worse - 9:20 pace in the morning and so pathetic after work that I turned off my Garmin (the fact that Susanna was in the stroller didn't help matters.) Wednesday was a recovery day so I have no idea what the pace was.  Thursday was my tempo run.  I left my house at 5:20am and did a two mile warm-up without looking at the pace, then I shot off at what I thought was my Lactate Threshold.... I figured my first mile was about 7:25 based on my effort.  The Garmin clicked off and I glanced down -- 8:19.  !?!?!?!?!  I started running harder and assumed the next mile would be at least 7:50.  When the watch buzzed again, it said 8:09.  Seriously?  I decided to bag the tempo at that point and just ran to the 4.5 mile halfway point.  I glanced at my watch and saw that it was already 6:04am.  Uh oh.  How in the world did it take me that long to get that far?   I had exactly 41 minutes to run 4.5 miles and get to my front door.  Of course then I realized that I had to go to the bathroom.  I zoomed into the Exxon station, waved to the attendant (we've become 6am friends), and then booked it as fast as I could. Luckily the elevation on my 9 mile route is uphill out, downhill back.  Somehow I made it to my door exactly at my deadline (Jamie was waiting by the window.)

So how long was it going to take me to recover?  As I made the kids' breakfast, I googled "Blood Donation and Marathon Training."  Here's what I found:

When you donate blood, you give up a pint of fluid containing mostly water along with various proteins and cells in solution. During high-intensity endurance activities however, it is hemoglobin, found within our red blood cells, that is most important.  Hemoglobin delivers oxygen to our tissues, and when we exercise our muscles require increased amounts of oxygen. If we lack sufficient hemoglobin, anaerobic, or without oxygen, metabolism will ensue (producing lactic acid) at even seemingly moderate levels of intensity. Donating a pint (450cc) of blood results in a depletion of about 10 percent of your total blood volume. Of that, only about 160cc are red blood cells. The fluid component, the remaining 290cc, is replaced within hours, but the red blood cell replacement takes about two months, (which is why you may not donate more often than every two months). What then are the lasting effects of this red blood cell loss?  Assuming that your cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped by the heart) remains constant, a drop in hemoglobin concentration associated with donating blood will reduce your oxygen delivery to working muscles by 10 percent. Still, when you are at rest, or even during moderate levels of exercise, oxygen delivery, even at this decreased capacity, far outpaces demand. However, once you reach a heart rate that is around 5 to 10 percent below your usual anaerobic threshold, your body's demand for oxygen will outpace its supply. For example, if your metabolism typically becomes anaerobic at a heart rate of 170, then after donating blood you will become anaerobic at a heart rate of between 157 and 164 beats per minute. 

Well, that explains why my Lactate Threshold run felt like Death-On-Toast.

I decided to take it easy the rest of the week.  Friday was a recovery day and I did 4 miles after work at about a 10 minute pace (just guessing as I left work at 4:20 and got back at 5.)  Today, luckily, was a Long Slow Distance run -- 18 miles at 60-90 seconds above planned race pace.  I didn't look at my watch at all, told Tuan to run without me (he was being SO kind and going at my plodding pace, but since his BQ requires a 7:23 pace, I told him to run with Fast-Ethiopian-Jake.)  I could make new friends.  I met a guy visiting from Arizona who was training for his first Ironman and ran with him for awhile.  I finished the 18 miles in 2:53 - almost 20 minutes slower than last week.  Which is fine because last week was a pace run (2/3 of the run at Marathon Pace - 8:12.)  9:38 is still within that 60-90 second window, so overall not a bad run.

Weekly totals:  66 miles in 6 days.  That's definitely a record for me.

Next week is a recovery week - a drop back to about 45 miles and culminating in a half marathon race on Sunday.  And this is why I am SOOO mad at myself for the timing of this blood donation.  This race was supposed to be my crystal ball into what pace I should run on December 2.   Missing my red blood cells is not going to give me the ability to race to my full potential so the race isn't really going to tell me anything.  Apparently they have tested hemoglobin levels of those who donate blood on a regular basis and it takes anywhere from 20 to 56 days for it to be back to normal (with 36 days being the average.)  The more you weigh and the more athletic you are, the faster the recovery time.  So I've got the fitness on my side, but at 127 lbs (speaking of which, the scale did not budge this week) I lost a larger percentage of my blood volume than a 180 lb athlete such as my husband.

Don't get me wrong.  I am glad I gave blood.  If people didn't donate, the hospitals couldn't save lives.  However - I should have donated THREE WEEKS AGO!!!!

On another note, my husband also ran 18 miles today.  In 2:20.  Somehow I think he is still going to hold the Lynch Marathon Record in 2012.  Just like he did in 2011.  And 2010.  And 2009....  Sigh.... no matter how many more miles I run, he will always be faster than me.