Yes, yes. I am talking about the Barry Manilow song released almost 40 years ago. Barry creeped back into my head after I heard that at my 25 year high school reunion, some of my former classmates were doing some karaoke to one or two of this songs. Where was Lola? Was she a showgirl?
I couldn't make the timing work to attend the reunion back on Long Island, but fortunately Facebook has provided me with some laughs at the goofiness and good-natured fun that seems to have taken place over the 2 day event.
As the regulars of this blog know, I have been running regularly since 2008 (started in late 2004). Going back to the 1st quarter of 2014, I was still working with my awesome running coach, Teresa, but I was struggling with getting my workouts in. The Upower launch and everything associated with that was getting in the way of following a regimented training plan. And yes, Upower is going really, really well thanks to the commitment and the passion of our great team.
Teresa was understanding about "life getting in the way" but ultimately I just kept feeling worse about not hitting my plan on any level. So I dropped coaching back in April, which was a tough but necessary realization. Teresa couldn't have been more gracious. But I did "break up" with running and training for races.
I thought of the song in today's blog post title because I participated in Ragnar NW Passage this past weekend. It had been a couple of years since running it with my friends and last year I needed to take off after not being able to train because of the "unexpected broken hand" thing, etc.
Lissa, our good friend, always runs a great team and I knew the gang had been short because of an injury. I finally volunteered a month ago with the disclaimer that I wasn't doing much on the running front as opposed to '11 and '12. [Translation: SLOW] She didn't care and the gang accepted me back with open arms.
I knew that I needed to give myself a chance not to get injured by building up on the mileage front. My regular friends and running buds were happy to have me back on their weekend runs. I was happy to be back with Tricia, PNak, Caryn and Molly. So I threw in some regular runs over the past month with the hope I wouldn't embarrass myself on the course.
I had about 16 miles between my 3 legs. I'd say that the 1st 2 were pretty easy. I wasn't overly concerned other than the timing of the 2nd one and limited van support for that leg. The 3rd one had some hills and of course had the extra "lack of sleep and completely exhausted" factor thrown in. Oy.
I ran my 1st leg exactly as I wanted to. Used the downhill to recover and not go crazy, and then kept things steady in other parts of the run. I knew I had 2 legs to go, so I needed to save myself. Mission accomplished. 8:20 pace for 6 miles. Very happy with that. Felt good about sticking to my plan and still giving a strong effort.
I ran my 2nd leg like a sprint, which was sort of my plan. I just didn't feel safe running at night with a few random people walking around at night. Part of the leg didn't have van support and we were the 7th team in, so I didn't have other runners around me. 8:41 pace for 2.8 miles. My time wasn't "fast", but I ran as fast as could without causing myself to puke after. And I made it safely to hand-off. Success.
As with every Ragnar, you can't expect to sleep any meaningful amount overnight (unless you are a doctor who is used to cat naps). Our van slowly got ourselves together around 5:30am to wait for our other 6 teammates to come in. I felt exhausted. Legs, brain, you name it. And I still had my toughest leg ahead.
My original plan had me just taking it easy on the uphills, recover on the downhills, and then see how it all went. I was targeting a 9:15 pace for the 6.8 miles. Paps, one of my teammates and probably the strongest runner out of all of us, came flying in and handed the wristband off to me. I was off and slightly nervous.
Everyone in the van and on the team as a whole had been running well. Darn. What if I had to walk because I just wasn't trained up enough? Anyway, I trudged up the first hill at a steady pace. Everything felt hard and I was hitting my pace. Started telling myself to "just get up the hill, Jill." Knee hurt, plantar hurt.
I knew the boys (my 5 van mates were all guys) would be waiting for me at 2.5 miles in and they already came by with the cowbell. Just told myself to get to them and sort it out there. I made it to the top of the hill at mile 2 and then I saw something better than my guys.
I saw another runner ahead. Hmmm. Hello "roadkill" possibility. :-) I had to then remind myself to not get ahead of myself and speed up. I had much more work to do, including more hill work. So I followed their pace to see if I was getting closer even at my reduced pace. I was. I know Teresa is smiling reading this.
I stuck to my plan and things got easier. Not easy, but easier. At mile 4 exactly, I got my roadkill. I was pumped. I continued to stay with my plan. I came in at a 9:12 pace. I was absolutely elated! The guys were psyched and I knew I ran well. It was my slowest run of the bunch, but I was proud of pushing through doubts/aches, getting a little fired up and sticking to my overall strategy for Ragnar, however misguided.
Not sure where I am with my running and my training, but I know that I am in a better place than I was 72 hours ago. And that's a good step. But hopefully we're closer to getting back that feeling again.
The other awesome thing that happened is that our team agreed to wear Upower shirts to help us get the word out about our "soon-to-be" running program. It was a wonderful gesture from the team and even better when they announced us as "Team Clif Bar and Upower" as we crossed the finish together.
I couldn't make the timing work to attend the reunion back on Long Island, but fortunately Facebook has provided me with some laughs at the goofiness and good-natured fun that seems to have taken place over the 2 day event.
As the regulars of this blog know, I have been running regularly since 2008 (started in late 2004). Going back to the 1st quarter of 2014, I was still working with my awesome running coach, Teresa, but I was struggling with getting my workouts in. The Upower launch and everything associated with that was getting in the way of following a regimented training plan. And yes, Upower is going really, really well thanks to the commitment and the passion of our great team.Teresa was understanding about "life getting in the way" but ultimately I just kept feeling worse about not hitting my plan on any level. So I dropped coaching back in April, which was a tough but necessary realization. Teresa couldn't have been more gracious. But I did "break up" with running and training for races.
I thought of the song in today's blog post title because I participated in Ragnar NW Passage this past weekend. It had been a couple of years since running it with my friends and last year I needed to take off after not being able to train because of the "unexpected broken hand" thing, etc.
Lissa, our good friend, always runs a great team and I knew the gang had been short because of an injury. I finally volunteered a month ago with the disclaimer that I wasn't doing much on the running front as opposed to '11 and '12. [Translation: SLOW] She didn't care and the gang accepted me back with open arms.
I knew that I needed to give myself a chance not to get injured by building up on the mileage front. My regular friends and running buds were happy to have me back on their weekend runs. I was happy to be back with Tricia, PNak, Caryn and Molly. So I threw in some regular runs over the past month with the hope I wouldn't embarrass myself on the course.I had about 16 miles between my 3 legs. I'd say that the 1st 2 were pretty easy. I wasn't overly concerned other than the timing of the 2nd one and limited van support for that leg. The 3rd one had some hills and of course had the extra "lack of sleep and completely exhausted" factor thrown in. Oy.
I ran my 1st leg exactly as I wanted to. Used the downhill to recover and not go crazy, and then kept things steady in other parts of the run. I knew I had 2 legs to go, so I needed to save myself. Mission accomplished. 8:20 pace for 6 miles. Very happy with that. Felt good about sticking to my plan and still giving a strong effort.
I ran my 2nd leg like a sprint, which was sort of my plan. I just didn't feel safe running at night with a few random people walking around at night. Part of the leg didn't have van support and we were the 7th team in, so I didn't have other runners around me. 8:41 pace for 2.8 miles. My time wasn't "fast", but I ran as fast as could without causing myself to puke after. And I made it safely to hand-off. Success.
As with every Ragnar, you can't expect to sleep any meaningful amount overnight (unless you are a doctor who is used to cat naps). Our van slowly got ourselves together around 5:30am to wait for our other 6 teammates to come in. I felt exhausted. Legs, brain, you name it. And I still had my toughest leg ahead. My original plan had me just taking it easy on the uphills, recover on the downhills, and then see how it all went. I was targeting a 9:15 pace for the 6.8 miles. Paps, one of my teammates and probably the strongest runner out of all of us, came flying in and handed the wristband off to me. I was off and slightly nervous.
Everyone in the van and on the team as a whole had been running well. Darn. What if I had to walk because I just wasn't trained up enough? Anyway, I trudged up the first hill at a steady pace. Everything felt hard and I was hitting my pace. Started telling myself to "just get up the hill, Jill." Knee hurt, plantar hurt.
I knew the boys (my 5 van mates were all guys) would be waiting for me at 2.5 miles in and they already came by with the cowbell. Just told myself to get to them and sort it out there. I made it to the top of the hill at mile 2 and then I saw something better than my guys.
I saw another runner ahead. Hmmm. Hello "roadkill" possibility. :-) I had to then remind myself to not get ahead of myself and speed up. I had much more work to do, including more hill work. So I followed their pace to see if I was getting closer even at my reduced pace. I was. I know Teresa is smiling reading this.I stuck to my plan and things got easier. Not easy, but easier. At mile 4 exactly, I got my roadkill. I was pumped. I continued to stay with my plan. I came in at a 9:12 pace. I was absolutely elated! The guys were psyched and I knew I ran well. It was my slowest run of the bunch, but I was proud of pushing through doubts/aches, getting a little fired up and sticking to my overall strategy for Ragnar, however misguided.
Not sure where I am with my running and my training, but I know that I am in a better place than I was 72 hours ago. And that's a good step. But hopefully we're closer to getting back that feeling again.
The other awesome thing that happened is that our team agreed to wear Upower shirts to help us get the word out about our "soon-to-be" running program. It was a wonderful gesture from the team and even better when they announced us as "Team Clif Bar and Upower" as we crossed the finish together.