Leg Strong

Running Times

2012-01-13T20:10:00.000-06:00

Hey all, here is another interview done by Sarah Barker for Running Times. Check back soon for the race and weekend recap!

5 Minutes with Meghan Armstrong Peyton

This former middle-distance specialist talks about her evolution to long-distance runner in time for the Olympic trials marathon

By Sarah Barker
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine

If you had told Meghan Armstrong Peyton a year ago she’d be doing a 3-hour run on a treadmill and thinking about mid-race nutrition, she’d have laughed at you. As a 4:17 1500m runner, Peyton, like most middle-distance runners, thought of patience in terms of seconds, not hours. But a paradigm-shifting 1:13:56 half marathon two years ago in Houston qualified her for the 2012 Olympic trials marathon and set the gears in motion. In the past six months, she’s transformed herself into a mid-race fueling marathoner. Recently, she placed seventh (1:14:57) in a tune-up race at the Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon in December, was second in the Manchester Road Race (4.75 miles, 25:03) in November and placed sixth (in a 55:09 PB) at the U.S. 10-mile championships in Minneapolis in October. The Olympic trials marathon on Jan. 14 in Houston will be her first attempt at the 26.2-mile distance.

Running Times: You were a 3K/1500m specialist throughout high school and college until your last year at Iowa in 2008, when you moved up to the 10K. Why this big jump to the marathon?

Meghan Armstrong Peyton: I strongly believed I was a miler until my junior year at Iowa when I went to nationals and did not make finals again. I was heartbroken. My coach tried to convince me that I could be good at longer distances, and I liked 5K, so I thought I’d give the 10K a shot. I ran 10K at the Peyton Jordan Invite and exceeded my expectations. [She ran a 32:59.11 at Peyton Jordan last May in Palo Alto, Calif.] History repeated itself when I joined Team USA Minnesota. Dennis Barker [coach of Team USA Minnesota] first planted the seed of the marathon in early 2011, maybe March. I laughed at him, told him I didn’t think so. He just told me we didn’t need to decide right away, that we could wait until after track season. Well, track didn’t end the way I thought it would, and I was forced to do a lot of soul searching. I looked at other people who had improved on the track after doing a marathon. And I’m not one to back down from a challenge. If it goes well, fine. And if it doesn’t, it will make me stronger on the track.

RT: When was your first 20+ mile run? First 3-hour run? How did that go?

MAP: At Iowa, I never ran more than 13 or 14 miles at a go. Until the fall of 2011, I had never done more than 20 miles. My first 3-hour run, in early October, didn’t go so hot. I ate while I was at work four hours prior, then went out by myself with one GU packet. That’s it. No fluids. The last couple miles, I felt like my head was disconnected from my body — I had to physically slap my face to clear my head. The next one was on a treadmill, not because I love the treadmill, but because I know Houston will be in the 50s and it was in the 20s here in Minnesota, so I wanted to prepare for the heat. I also had fluids right there and I tried out this Perpetuem drink by Hammer that I intend to use in the actual race. It went really well; I felt good the whole time and had no stomach issues. I was mentally fatigued from being on treadmill.

RT: What’s been your most challenging marathon workout?

MAP: Probably an hour tempo run at 5:40 pace, followed immediately by 30 minutes of alternating 1-minute hard/1-minute easy. I warmed up about 3 miles and eked out a mile cool down. I accomplished the goal of the workout, which was to run a long time at slightly faster than marathon pace. It was encouraging.

RT: I assume you’ve had to really exercise patience.

MAP: Yeah. I’ve certainly gone out too fast in a 3K and it wasn’t pretty, but I finished. The price [of going out too fast] is higher in a marathon. I’ve practiced going out slower and being happy with that and knowing it’s the best thing to do because no one knows or cares who’s in the lead at half way or 20 — I want to be there at the end.

RT: Have you had company on your long runs?

MAP: A lot of them, no, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are going to be segments of the race when I’m not feeling good and it feels like you’re the only one suffering, but by training alone, I know I can get through that. I was able to do 23 miles once with Katie [McGregor] and I was asking her what to expect, picked her brain. That was really helpful.

RT: Your coach is into visualization — what’s the marathon you’re envisioning? What possible problems are you preparing for?

MAP: I’ve envisioned being strong at the end. I don’t want to think about all the things that could go wrong — don’t want to psyche myself out. I’ve thought about missing a water bottle — I’ll try and grab water at a regular water station — but mostly, I try not to freak out about things I can’t control. It’s too much to expect to escape without something — chafing or blisters or whatever — but in the race, you’re so focused on competition, I’m just thinking about clipping away miles and finishing strong.

RT: This trials has more virgin marathoners than any previous — how do you think that will effect the race?

MAP: Probably not in a way that I would personally notice. I’ve been watching the known big hitters like Shalane and Desiree. In the past, the low 2:30s got on the podium, but I’m wondering if that will be true this year. It sounds like Desiree has been training for 2:22 pace. If she goes out hard, I can imagine Shalane would be on her heels. So there may be some people going out very fast. I’m prepared to be patient, sit back a ways and go with a pace I know is for me, probably 5:45-5:50 to start.

RT: You’ve been called a 'wild card' for the trials — what are you holding? What are your goals?

MAP: I wasn’t really aware I was called a wild card. [laughs] I’ve been happy with my races this fall and I beat some people that have run impressive times in the marathon. Like many people, my goal is to make the Olympic team. If that happened, I’d be ecstatic. But I’d be happy in the top 10.

RT: Do you have a pre-race ritual?

MAP: I shave my legs the night before. Must be the night before the race.

RT: Will you become a marathoner from here on out?

MAP: I can’t answer that question until I finish the race. The training is tough but doable. I’ll see how I feel. I will definitely go for the 10,000m on the track in Eugene, and I'm thinking about doubling in the 5K, too.

Marathon Week Interview

2012-01-11T12:00:00.000-06:00

A nice interview done by Lance Bergeson from the Des Moines Register...

Meghan Armstrong Peyton will be a huge wild card when the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials begin on the morning of Jan. 14 in Houston.

The former University of Iowa four-time All-American has a half marathon best of 1 hour, 13 minutes, 43 seconds and finished a respectable fifth at the 2011 USA 5-kilometer and 15k championships and sixth at the 10-mile championships last year.

But the 25-year-old Team USA Minnesota runner has never attempted the marathon distance.

“Obviously since it’s my first one I have some trepidation going into it,” Peyton, pictured, said Tuesday. “I’m nervous, but I believe that when I get to the hard part of the race, mile 20, I have to believe in the hard work and training I did. I’ve done the best training I can.

“I would really like to think that I am a wild card. I intend to be vying for one of the top spots. That’s my goal.”

Peyton is a track runner by nature. She was the 2008 Big Ten champion in both the indoor 3,000 meters and the outdoor 10,000. She also holds the Iowa school record in the 1,500 meters (4:17.41).

She didn’t believe it was too much of a strech to try a marathon, especially after taking seventh at the Dec. 4 Las Vegas half marathon during a difficult training cycle.

“I told (coach) Dennis (Barker) when we first went into this that I didn’t have a desire just to do a marathon,” Peyton said. “I wanted to do it to be a contender (at the trials). I did some soul-searching before I started training. I did think I could do it. He (Barker) thought I had the talent to do it.”

Peyton has mixed fast-paced tempo runs with longer runs. She had never gone past 18 miles until training for the marathon. She has bumped up her mileage from 90 miles to 110 during her marathon cycle. She even completed the marathon distance on a treadmill to acclimate herself to any possible heat Houston will have.

“I’ve tended to trade off between fast workouts and marathon workouts to work every muscle fiber,” said Peyton, a physiology major at Iowa. “I’m a strong believer in working every system. Knowing that I can cover the distance definitely gives me the confidence that I can make it through the race.

“The biggest thing I learned about myself is that I’m stronger than I previously have known. I’ve put in these long runs without added effort.”

The Oregon native has taken advantage of a mild November and December in the Twin Cities. “We have really lucked out,” she said.

Peyton also vacationed with her husband’s family in Hawaii for nine days over Christmas. After returning from Maui, she was instructed by her coach to do all of her final workouts on a treadmill to maintain the benefits of training in the Hawaii heat.

“Probably the biggest factor is the heat (in Houston),” Peyton said. “I’ve practiced taking in my fluids. That shouldn’t be a drawback. I’ve got to hope for the best for the weather. I’ve covered my bases with my treadmill training.”

All of the racing Peyton did in 2011, which included a win in the Miami Half Marathon, has prepared her for the race conditions she’ll face in Houston.

“I definitely think it (2011 racing season) was a big step in the right direction,” Peyton said. “It was fun to go out to these races and be in the hunt and post fast times.”

Peyton knows she has to be smart with the marathon. She cannot go out too fast or risk having a meltdown in Texas’ largest city.

“I want to get in a pace that’s in the 5:45 or 5:50 range,” Peyton said. “Clip away the first 10 or 15 miles or so and then really drive it home from there. It will come down to the day and how I feel from there. The biggest thing is not to get too anxious and believe in myself.”

UP NEXT: West Des Moines’ Jason Flogel has battled to stay healthy for his first Olympic marathon trials race.

To read more about running and triathlons, follow me on Twitter (@LanceBergeson)

Tags: meghan peyton

T-minus 10 days to the OT Marathon!

2012-01-03T22:34:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! It is now T-minus 10 days. I can’t believeit is the last two weeks of training before the Olympic Trials Marathon. Ourholiday trip to Hawaii flew by. Cole and I spent 9 wonderful days with thePeyton side of the family on the island of Maui. The trip was planned over ayear ago, but it turned out to be perfect timing to get in some great heattraining just in time for the marathon.

Since returning to Minneapolis, I have strict instructions todo all my runs on the treadmill so that I can maintain any benefits that I gotwhile in Maui. Because although by Minnesota standards this is still a verymild winter, the mercury here is still far below any thermometers you will findin Houston. I don’t have any room to complain though, because at this point inmy marathon cycle the runs are far shorter than ones that I completed just afew weeks ago.

My taper has really kicked in now. This week I am onlyscheduled to run 61 miles and next week in the 40’s and that includes the 26.2mile race. The legs are feeling good and alive! It’s a feeling one onlyunderstands after putting your body through the ringer week, after week, afterweek. Like a New Years Eve firework…you light the fuse and the rocket works sohard to obtain lift-off, and it continues to burn and work as it gainsaltitude, and finally BANG! All of the remaining energy is put into onebrilliant and beautiful moment. For me, that moment will begin with the BANG ofthe gun at 8:15am on Saturday January 14, 2012!

If you need some inspiration, or a reason to tune in to NBC’sbroadcast of the trials then take a look at this short video clip that featuresfour of my Team USA Minnesota teammates! I got goosebumps watching it.

WATCH HERE!

Make sure to stay tuned next week for the final countdown.

GO TEAM USA!

Practice Makes Perfect - Inaugural Life Time Treadmill Marathon

2011-12-18T22:41:00.000-06:00

Another two weeks have flown by and I have been trainingjust as hard as usual. Starting with last week, my mileage has started to drop.But, first things first – the Last Vegas Half Marathon – didn’t go asplanned. I finished in 7^thplace overall, which isn’t terrible, but my time was less than exceptional. Ithink this was largely due to not tapering all that much for the race andtherefore going into the race with tired legs. My finishing time was 1:14:56. Idon’t want to be a Debbie Downer, so enough said.

My training since the race has been great! On the Thursdayafter the race I ran 26.2 miles on a treadmill! Yes, I did. It was a fantasticday outside for Minnesota in December, but I wanted to make sure to get in someheat training and be able to have the fluids (Hammer’s Perpeteum) I plan onusing during the Trials on hand because these are both important aspects ofwhat I will have to deal with during the actual race.

I managed to make itan impressive 14 miles on the treadmill before I lifted the towel that I hadcovering the mileage display. Hiding the time and mileage counter helps the runnot feel as long. However, as anyone would suspect, the last few miles turnedinto a mental grind. I kept trying to make deals with myself about when I wouldstop the run, as I couldn’t help but look at the mileage just about every mile.Coach Dennis had only told me to go 24 miles, so as the proverbial hamster inmy head started to get tired, I tried to convince myself that it was OK to justrun 24 miles. But, in the end I was able to defeat my own weakness by remindingmyself how much I want to be an Olympian, and to do that I have to give 100%.So 26.2 miles and three hours after I first set foot on the treadmill at LifeTime Fitness, I stepped off the treadmill, full of hope and proud of myaccomplishment.

In the last week I have also put in some good workouts thatI know will really count when it comes to the marathon in January. Repeat1,000’s on Tuesday and a real ringer of a workout today – 1 hour at marathonpace followed by 30 minutes of alternating 1-minute-hard / 1-minute-easy. BAM!Because this workout was so long and similar to an actual race I prepared forthe workout just as I anticipate doing for the marathon.

Schedule:

5:00am:Alarm 1 goes off – time to eat breakfast, then back to sleep

7:30am:Alarm 2 goes off – time to get out of bed, make some coffee and get ready torumble

8:45am:Meet Dennis and the guys at Highland Park Life Time Fitness

9:15am:Warm-ups are finished, Dennis has given us instructions about the out and backcourse that we will using and where hewill set up our water bottle stations.

9:16am:WE ARE OFF! Clipping off the miles at a little under 5:40 pace

9:35am:Making first 180 degree U-turn. We are practicing this because there areU-turns in the marathon course. So we want to make sure our legs know what itfeels like to decelerate, make a 180 degree turn and get back up to speed. Ifyou have ever done the common drill of “suicides” at like basketball practice,you will know how much energy it takes to stop your moving body, turn and getback up to speed as quickly as possible. A lot! But with practice this processshould go much more smoothly and not be as much of a shock to our legs duringthe race.

9:54:Bottle stations #2 – have you ever tried drinking while running at quick pace?Not the easiest thing to do and I end up feeling that I must resemble a verythirsty dog – sucking on my bottle, spit flying, while also trying to gasp forair. Not a very pretty sight.

10:16am:First hour complete, managing to run over 10 ½ miles during that time, but Istill have another hard half an hour to go.

10:46am:The workout is finally complete and I am gingerly running my cool down back tothe gym because I have managed to get a blood blister on my left foot. I woresocks that were a little too thick because I had thought that my feet would becold otherwise. However, it was a very beautiful 35 degree day and the thicksock turned out to just be a mistake. Lesson learned.

By 11:30 I have made it home after I stop and get myself awell deserved drink from Starbucks and I am full of relief. I had gone into theworkout with a bit of trepidation, but now it is all over and I can relax.

Next week I am off to Hawaii for a family vacation! I havenever been to Hawaii and I am extremely excited. So next time I write I hope that it will befrom the one of the beautiful white sandy beaches of Maui. For now, Aloha andMerry Christmas!

Happy training,

Meghan

Manchester Road Race - 75 Years of World-Class Racing!

2011-12-04T13:56:00.001-06:00

It has been a busy last week and a half. Thanksgiving Daywas wonderful in a number of ways. To start out, I competed in the famedManchester Road Race on Thanksgiving morning. It was a very exciting race dueto the fact that they were celebrating their 75^th anniversary, whichcalled for a lot of fanfare complete with a pre-race flyover by a plane thatwas used in the Berlin Airlift. The race was a huge celebration of the history ofroad racing. The first woman to evercompete in a professional road race was there to run, 50 years after the firsttime she ran the race! She even wore the same garment that she wore 50 yearsago – a blue dress. Yes ladies, a dress! It was really awesome to see all thehistory surrounding the Thanksgiving Day race, and on top of that it was agreat success for me. The course is 4.7 miles long with a huge 1 mile hill inthe second mile. The race went out, and in my head I was thinking “man, I am in6^th place and this pace doesn’t feel comfortable.” The mile clock loomedand I looked over to see 4:58. A little yellow light bulb lit up in my head “well,that is why the pace didn’t feel good. Now I will just settle in and use aslittle energy as possible to get up this huge hill and then I will let the legsfly!” Up the hill we went. I held on to the back of the pack and worked up thehill, towards the end passing the majority of the girls in the pack. Once at the top we made a hard left turn andstarted down the hill we had just climbed. I moved to second place, dueling itout with one other girl for a short distance, but once I finally got in front Inever saw her or any of the other girls again. I was looking ahead for SallyKipyego who went out really hard and stayed there the entire race. I could seeher a ways ahead, but for the time being I was running with a group of twoguys. As the race progressed I was still feeling pretty good, but the guys Iwas running right behind were starting to slow down. I didn’t want to have tocut my stride and slow down to go around the two men…so I did the next bestthing, gave them each a love tap right at their center of gravity, a.k.a. theirhips, and they moved to the side and I went right between them. The next milewent by uneventfully, I caught another man who obviously took exception tobeing caught by a woman because every time I made it to his shoulder he wouldput in a quick sprint and be 5 meters ahead of me again. I largely tried toignore him and just continue to run hard, trying to see if I could make up anytime on Sally. Finally 800 meters to go, and the guy next to me was broughtsharply back to my attention because – and I have to admire his competitive spirit– he began to dry heave….once, twice, three times. I swerved far to the rightso as to avoid any type of substantive eruption and began to surge for thefinish. Soon the finish line loomed, I crossed it still in 2^nd in atime of 25:02. Another success!

Afterthe race I quickly cooled down and jumped straight into my host family Bill andCarol Oneill's car. Carol whisked me away to catch my flight that was scheduledto take off only 2 hours and 10min after I finished the race. I flew toTennessee where my husband and I spent a few quality days with my familycelebrating Thanksgiving. I have a lot to be thankful for, I have a trulyblessed life and consider myself very lucky. Thank you to my family, friends, and all of you who have joined me on this journey. And, the many people and organizations that make my life as a professional runner possible - Team USA Minnesota, Road Runners Club of America, Life Time Fitness, Twin Cities in Motion, Ron Wayne at Mizuno, and many more.

Now, asI am writing this blog I am sitting in Las Vegas, getting ready for the Rockand Roll Las Vegas Half marathon – The Strip at Night! The race starts at5:30pm, so the strip will be fully lit up. It should make for a fun race. Canyou imagine it?! I am using the race totest my fitness and see where I am in my preparation for the OT Marathon. Iwill keep you all posted and let you know how it goes, stay tuned!

MinneSNOWta - You betcha!

2011-11-20T21:42:00.001-06:00

I have gotten a little off of my schedule in the last twoweeks, but now I am back! In the last two weeks a couple of significant eventshave occurred in my training. Firstly, I completed my first almost-marathon, a26 mile training run. It was a combination of good, bad and ugly.

I went into the run with the idea that I would treat it justlike race day, the only difference being that it wouldn’t be at race pace. So Igot up in the morning and ate a bagel with cream cheese and a banana, and spentthe rest of the morning drinking the fluids that I plan on using during the OTMarathon. The only problem was that after I ate my breakfast I had to go towork for about 3 hours before doing my run. So I ate my breakfast at 9am and thenleft work to go do my run at 12:30. The first part of the run was fine, butonce I got to about 18-20 miles I started to get the feeling that my head wasfloating away from my body, like a kite on a string. I was conscious that I wasstill running, but I felt like I was floating. I shook my head a few times andwas able to focus again, but the rest of the run was really long. I think myproblem was that I had not consumed enough calories for the run, and I had onlytaken one Hammer Gel with me, which was not enough. I guess I learned thatlesson the hard way.

The second event that occurred during the past week and a halfis that it finally decided to snow here in minneSNOWta, which officially marksthe end of doing workouts outside. So yesterday, while it sleeted miserablyoutside I made my merry way to Life Time Fitness in Eden Prairie and jumped ona treadmill to do a 20 mile run. Life Time’s facilities are really fantasticand top notch, so it was the best possible alternative to running outside. Icranked the treadmill up and put it at 1% grade, to compensate for the factthat I am running on a treadmill not the ground, and settled in at 6:53 pace. Thefirst 15 miles passed by quickly enough because I was watching the Michigan V.Nebraska game – quick shout out to my friend Katie McGregor, GO BIG BLUE! It wasn’t much of a game as Michigan crushedthe Corn Huskers 45 to 17, but hey, it kept my mind from spelling out M-O-N-O-T-O-N-Ywith every stride. The last 5 mileswhich I ran at close to my threshold pace – aka 5:45 min/mile – were a test ofmy mental fortitude…but I guess I need some of that during my training for amarathon.

Emily Brown and me dressed as presents, participating in the Life Time Fitness Reindeer Run 2010. It is is hard to run when you can't use your arms!

My fitness continues to progress and I am excited to seewhat the next two weeks will hold as I prepare to run in the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving day and the Rock’n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon on Dec. 4^th.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Make it a good one and don’t forget to getyour run in before you eat Turkey, because although it is just a wives’ talethat the tryptophan found in Turkey makes you sleepy, I know there is something about a Thanksgiving Feastthat makes you not want to get in a run after it.

ING New York City Marathon Weekend

2011-11-10T13:34:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the late post, but what a weekend! I flew into LaGuardia Airport on Thursdayfor a long weekend in NYC. After a bit of a hairy drive from LGA to theSheraton hotel in Manhatten, I was tired and ready for bed. But first I had toget in a run for the day, so I got changed and made my way to Central Park to doan easy 6 miles. I returned to the hotel… 9 miles later! Central Park is a very beautiful place torun, and much bigger than I anticipated it would be. On a normal day I wouldn’tmind getting a few extra miles in by accident, but it made me slightly nervousdue to the fact that I would be racing in two days. I decided to put it out ofmind; I had felt good on the run and that is all that mattered.

Friday was full of a lot of different and excitingactivities. The first activity of note being the technical meeting for the NYRRDash to the Finish 5k. At 2pm on Friday the group of about 30 elite athletesgathered together to listen to the rules that would be governing the race, goover the course, transportation of baggage and athletes, and most importantlyof all: receive our timing chips….and boy were there a lot of those! Eachrunner was assigned four timing chips. There were two “B” tags which are chipsthat a placed on the back of the runner’s bibs. One attaches to the front ofour uniform and one attaches to the back. There were also two “D” tags whichare chips that are looped onto your shoe and form into the shape of a D – onefor each foot. The race organizers wanted to reassure us that we would get atime because it was important to them that we wouldn’t be pushing our watchesin the race. Can you guess why?

Because they didn’t want us to ruin the pictures that theywere going to be taking by looking down at our watches and pushing buttons.They wanted us – especially the winner – to raise our arms in victory. Icompletely agree that these kinds of pictures are a lot more fun to look at,but I still think four timing chips was probably overkill.

NASDAQ

After we finished with the technical meeting we made our waydown to Times Square to participate in the coolest event of the day: we got toclose the NASDAQ stock exchange for the weekend! It was really fantastic. Wewent into the NASDAQ and they took us into this room where there were all kindsof video cameras and other special equipment, we were given instructions on howthe events would occur and then they put us all on stage and we went live! Itwasn’t exactly 15 minutes of fame, but we were on national TV for about 3 minutesas we helped to close down the market for the weekend. The event was even more exciting because itwas the first day that Groupon had gone public – a significant development inthe financial world.

Race Day

Next up, race day! The NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K was scheduled to begin at 8:30amright outside the United Nations building. So to start off the day my alarmwent off at 5:30am so that I could get some breakfast in my belly. At about5:50am I was done eating my bagel, a banana and drinking some Gatorade and Ihad the coffee brewing in the little hotel coffee pot.

As the aroma of coffee filled the room I went about piningon my bibs and putting the D-tags on my shoes. Once those were arranged I puton all my racing attire and packed up my bag to get ready to meet all the otherrunners down in the hotel lobby at 7am so that we could make our way to thestart area. Once I finished packing Igot my coffee and went through a mental checklist to make sure I was preparedfor the race:

-uniform

-racing flats

-bibs

-water/Gatorade

-gloves/hat/arm sleeves

Check,check, check, check, check….READY TO GO!

All the runners meet downstairs and we walk a little over amile on a brisk NY morning to the start line for the race. Once there we allsplit off into different groups and begin our warm-ups. For myself that involves a 15min warm-up jogto get the muscles loose and blood moving, a good stretch, drills and strides.

Ten Minutes until race time!

My warm-up is complete now; I take some deep belly breathsto help calm my nerves, repeat to myself over and over “you can do this” andjog about lightly to keep my body warm.

Five Minutes until race time!

We are told to take off all of our warm-ups and get on thestart line. The only thing that I have left on are my buns, singlet, gloves andarm sleeves – like I said it was a brisk morning so I opted for gloves and armsleeves to keep me just a little warmer and so that my upper body wouldn't gettight. I put my right hand over my heartas they play the national anthem and stare at the Star Spangled Banner, the UnitedNations as the back-drop to it all. Introductions are made, race commands areuttered and BANG!

The race is on…the race is out slow, 5:15 at the mile, sonaturally there is a big group with all the women still together. But peopleare starting to get antsy, the pace starts to pick up but so do the hills -5:10 for the second mile. There is still a big group but it is starting tospread out a little more. The last mile heads into central park where thebiggest hill in the race is and then a very sharp left turn to head towards thefinish. I make it up the hill and make the almost about-face turn and I am onlya few seconds behind the leaders. The hill has really strung the field out aspeople are starting to hurt, the last mile is only slightly faster than thesecond mile timewise, but the effort is considerably more. So what on paper isa mile split of about 5:09, in my legs feels like 5:00 flat. 400 meters to go andI think I am somewhere around 9^th place, I kick hard still feelingstrong and start passing women over the next 200m. 200 meters and one last hillto the finish line. Still running hard, my legs are starting to fatigue but Iam so close, my brain doesn’t see or hear anything, it just keep repeating “push”like a broken record. Under the blue banner that is the finish line not onlyfor this race but also the ING NYC Marathon – 5^th place! I did it!

USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency)

I cross the finish line and take a big deep breath, thinkingmy work is done for the day. I start to walk with the other women and I amimmediately stopped in my tracks…”Hello, I am a representative of USADA (UnitedStates Anti-Doping Agency), you have been selected for drug testing”. DANG IT!

I have no problem submitting a sample for testing because Iwant to keep our sport fair and clean, but the process of providing a sample isnot the most pleasant of experiences. First I have to fill out a bunch of paperwork,but my hands are freezing and my motor skills are almost non-existent. I manageto scribble out my name, address, etc. as I get checked-in. Now I have towait…I have to wait without any warm clothes in an unheated tent and drink coldbeverages, with the aim of trying to produce a 90ml urine sample. I wait…andwait…and wait. Two people go before me to try and get samples; both come backwith only partial sample so they have to try again. I am shivering violently,teeth chattering, when I finally think I am ready to try. I am taken to the porta-potty,where I am instructed to wash my hands, dry them and open a sterile sample cup.Now the fun part – produce a sample WHILE the lady is staring straight at yourcrotch to make sure you don’t contaminate your sample. Stage fright much?! This isn’t my first time, so after a fewseconds I am able to get the job done. Another victory! The rest of the processis equally as tedious – pouring the sample into different containers fortesting and making sure it is all sealed and packaged correctly so that itisn’t tampered with. An hour later I am finally done and can leave to go getwarm. Hallelujah!

The rest of the weekend is a whimsical breeze. I spend sometime doing touristy things around NYC with some family (Jeanie and BruceCoopersmith) who came down to watch my race from upstate NY. THANKS GUYS! And,I get to watch the ING New York City Marathon from one of the best seats in thehouse - the first row in the finish line grandstands. The races didn’t disappoint,both the men’s and women’s course records were conquered and the women’s racewas gut-wrenching to watch (click here for a full recap).

All in all it was a very exciting weekend and I am lookingforward to getting back to training and my next race…the Manchester Road Raceon Thanksgiving Day!

Race Prep - Time to Lock and Load

2011-10-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloweeeeeen!Another week has gone by and I have spent it in preparation for the NYRR Dashto the Finish Line 5K, which according to a recent press release boasts somebig time names in the world of professional running:

“The inaugural NYRR Dashto the Finish Line willdraw some big names, including Olympians Deena Kastor and Dathan Ritzenhein, onSaturday, November 5, during ING New York City Marathon weekend.

Therace will offer a flat and fast 3.1-mile course through the heart of Manhattan,starting near the United Nations, crossing Midtown on famed 42nd Street, andheading uptown to Central Park for the last dash across the world-renowned INGNew York City Marathon finish line.”

The start of the ING NYC Marathon

WhenI read these names along with a host of other names mentioned later in thearticle, namely USA 5K record holder Molly Huddle, multiple time OlympianMagdalena Lewy Boulet, and Kenyan superstar and silver medalist at 10,000m atthe World Championships Sally Kipyego, my initial instinct is to take a big“gulp” and think “oh crap, what have I gotten myself into”. In years past, Iwould dwell on the fact that the current credentials of these women are moreimpressive than mine and waste a lot of energy thinking about that fact insteadof putting it all into the race. But, that was the old me.

Somepeople assume that at this point in my running career I don’t get nervousanymore, but that assumption is far from true. I have just learned, through anumber of different resources, to control my anxiety and use the energy that Icould have wasted thinking about things out of my control to channel thatenergy into racing. The fact of the matter is that all the women (and men) wholine up on race day put their singlets, shorts and shoes on the same way that Ido. So when I start to feel a wave of adrenaline rush over my body, I remindmyself that I belong. I put in the hours of training every day of every week, Igo to bed early even if it isn’t the “cool” thing to do, and I attempt to eatmore healthy foods than unhealthy foods – and boy is that a challenge because Ihave one wicked sweet tooth! In short, I do my best to live the life of anOlympian.

So,looking ahead to this Saturday in New York, my goal is to keep reminding myselfthat I belong until that blissful moment when the gun goes off, my mind goesblank and the world becomes quiet as every ounce of energy become focused onthe task at hand. If I can accomplish this then I know that when I walk awayfrom the finish line I will be able to hold my head up high and say “I gave itmy best shot today”.

Questionsand comment are welcome…so fire away!

-Meghan

Meghan's Patented Weight Loss Formula: Lose one pound per hour!

2011-10-24T20:15:00.000-05:00

I left off last week with a mission to find out how much fluidI lose per hour when running hard. Last Thursday before a hard workout of 2 ½ milerepeats I weighed myself right before I headed out the door and again an hourand half later when I returned to the gym exhausted. I hopped on the scale and it said I was 1.5lbslighter than when I started out that morning. I hope that doesn’t make me too unfeminine,because women don’t sweat right?! Thatmeans that on this day I lost approximately 16 oz of fluid per hour (actually15.3 fluid ounces using 1.043 dry ounces = 1 water ounce near sea level, but Iwould rather round up slightly than down). However, I think I will test thisout a few more times before the marathon in January, because I want to makesure that I get a good average.

Earlier this morning I was filling out the “fluids form”provided by the Houston Marathon Committee, and I was able to find out wherethey will have the fluid tables set up on the day of the marathon.

Mile 3.2, Mile 6.0, Mile 8.6, Mile 11.2, Mile 14.0, Mile 16.6, Mile 19.2, Mile 22.0, Mile 24.6

If my average sweat rate does indeedturn out to be 16floz per hour than I will need to consume 2 cups of fluid perhour in the marathon for a total of about 5 cups during the entire race. As youcan see above there will be 9 fluid stations available. So between now andJanuary I will need to devise a plan of how to use those 9 stations to get inall the fluids that I will need to help me run my best. But before I can decideon the best approach I will need to do some more experiments. The mostimportant of these being, how much fluid I can comfortably consume while runningsub 6min mile pace. It sounds so easy tojust take a drink, but when you take into account that I hope to be running5:50-5:45 pace or faster, breathing hard, carrying a bottle along for a short ways,and trying to contend with the other women in the race to get to my bottle, youquickly realize it is more than just taking a drink. More aptly put by anotherfantastic runner, Lauren Fleshman, “When you have never done a marathon, it isscary as s%#!”

Lauren is currently training for the ING New York City Marathon, which will be her first. I have really enjoyed readingher humorous blogs posts as she trains for the 5 boroughs marathon. I am reallypumped to get to be in NYC on the weekend of the marathon where I will competein the NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K the day before I watch Lauren and anotherinspirational runner – Jen Rhines – compete in the ING New York CityMarathon!

Good luck to these ladies and to anyof my readers who will be running. I will be cheering loudly and losing myvoice in all the excitement!

Fluid Therapy

2011-10-16T22:23:00.001-05:00

Hard core marathon training has finally begun. I had beenlooking forward to it with equal parts trepidation and excitement. I’m nervousbecause I am entering a whole new world of training but at the same time I amexcited because I know that this training is going to help me get strongeracross every event that I run. The greatest motivation comes from knowing that Iam training for such an exciting event – the USA Olympic Team Marathon Trials.

In the past two weeks I have logged over 100 miles per week –hitting an average of 16 miles a day. Not only have my average runs gottenlonger, but so have the workouts. As my coach Dennis keeps telling me, I haveto train to put more force into the ground for a long time. That will be thekey to running a fast marathon in January.

So far my body is holding up pretty well, not really any illeffects due to the increased mileage. I am cautious because I am entering newterritory and don’t know 100% how my body will react, but at the same time Iwant to push the envelope and test the strength of my spirit. I want to see how far my body can go, becausewhen I cross the finish line on Jan. 14^th, 2012 (13 weeks from now) –I want to be able to say “I trained my very best, and I did my best today”.

Now that the intense marathon training has started it isalso time for me to figure out what kinds of fluids and supplements I cantolerate and work best for me to use during the marathon. First, I am going toneed to figure out my sweat rate – this will determine how much fluid I need totake in and how often it needs to be done during the race. It soundscomplicated, but I have found out that it is relatively easy to determine –weighmyself before and after a hard hour run. The drop in weight will determine howmuch fluid I lost through sweat and therefore how much I need to take in perhour. I will also test out different kinds of supplements I can take. I don’twant to take something that is going to upset my stomach and cause any morediscomfort than I am going to feel simply because I am running 26.2 miles. I am going to test out several different kinds: Gu, Hammer Gel, Sport Beans or take a page of out of Kenny Moore's book "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon" and drink flat coke. It will all come down to which will be easiest to take and not cause any adverse effects. I guess we will see.

Cheers to happy running! I am off to do my experiments… adiosand feel free to share any tips that have worked for you!

Bunny ears for Jennifer, one of my Auggie Runners!

Where are the Superfans?

2011-10-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile

The Medtronic Twin Cities 10mile/ USA 10mile championships were a pretty good race for me. I ran an 11 second PRcovering the 10mile course in a time of 55:09. I say it was only a pretty good race and not a great race because I knowI could have run faster…probably able to break the 55min barrier. However, Ihad about a half mile, just after the 5mile mark, where I had a lapse in myfocus. I had decided against wearing my arm sleeves and opted for just gloves.For that half mile, midway through the race, all I could think about was howcold and tight my arms felt. My pace slowed and the lead pack put some distanceon me. Once I realized what I was doing – letting negative thoughts dictate myrace – I snapped back to attention. I told myself, “relax your upper body, takea deep breath and run.” And that is exactly what I did. Once I relaxed my arms and hands they didn’thurt anymore and they actually seemed to warm up and I was able to get back tobusiness. Unfortunately the damage was already done. I spent the next 4 ½ mileschasing the pack that was slowly disintegrating in front of me. I ran hard catchingthree runners and getting to within 8 seconds of the ladies in 4^thand 5^th place before I ran out of real-estate. Darn!

Overall it was a pretty good race– 6^th place, a new 10mile PR and a pretty nice payday for anon-marathon road race. I can attribute the payday to the great organizationTwin Cities in Motion which has a deep passion for runners.

Payday

Speaking of paydays, have youread the blog by Toni Reavis, who is touted by Runner’s World Magazine as the ‘mostinsightful and funny talking head in running’? The blog is titled Dear Nick Symmonds in response to Nick’s new Facebook page thatasks: “Could someone please explain to me why NASCAR drivers can have literallyDOZENS of ads on their competition uniforms, cars, etc. and track and field athletesare FORBIDDEN to have ANY corporate logo on their warm-ups or competitionuniforms? Track and field athletes arenot even allowed to put corporate logos on their arms as temporary tattoos.These asinine rules have been created by our governing bodies USATF and IAAFand are crippling our sport by preventing the flow of dollars into it”.

There is some very interesting chattergoing on in the running world these days about sponsorship dollars in the worldof professional running. You can read the article which hits too many pointsfor me to summarize here and form your own opinion, but here are my thoughts:

I am not discounting NickSymmonds’ or Toni Reavis’ arguments at all; I think their arguments are valid.However, I believe that the lack of sponsorship dollars flowing into track hasmore to do with our inability to convert Joe and Jane Jogger into superfans thanit does with USATF or IAAF sanctions. Nick and Toni compare our sport to NASCAR, butthe only similarity between running and NASCAR that I can see is that they bothrace in circles. I think that track and field is more similar to the sports ofgolf and tennis with high fan participation at the amateur level and a deepsense of history and class. So how do the PGA and the USTA manage to pull in millionsof dollars for their athletes at every tournament? Is a 4 day golf tournament or2 hour tennis match really any more exhilarating than a 10,000m race? Notreally, and yet these athletes make millions wearing a limited number of logos.The reasons that fans watch golf and tennis is that their competitions are televisedon major networks and the commentators are entertaining and knowledgeable tolisten to. Commentators help make theevents fun to watch even when there might be a lull in the competition. Plus,these sports have well-known and decorated champions that come out to compete headto head at almost all of the major competitions. So how do we add theseelements to the sport of running to get Joe and Jane Jogger to care?

I think small steps have beenmade with the formation of the USA Running Circuit and the Visa Championship Series. Media coverage by organization such as RunnerSpace and Flo Track hashelped connect small pockets of superfans around the US in cities such as Eugeneand New York City to their elite athletes. But we need more!

How do we convert all of thosethousands of runners who run in events like the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, the Gate River Run 15K, and the Peachtree 10K to actually care about the professionalaspect of the sport?

With this food for thought I bidyou adieu.

NEXT race four weeks…theDash to the Finish Line 5K in NYC!!! (Saturday before the ING New York City Marathon). I can’t wait!

P.S. If you don’t have this month’scopy of Runner’s World, you should pick one up because yours truly is in it!

The Great Equalizer

2011-10-01T20:00:00.000-05:00

This Sunday plays host to the largest running event in Minnesota: the 30th running of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and a host of other Twin Cities in Motion races – including the Medtronic TC 10mile/ USA 10mile Championships. It is always an exciting weekend with lots of events to attend and there is a special kind of buzz in the air as thousands and thousands of runners gear up for the races. Walk into any local grocery store and their PowerAde and Gatorade stocks have been depleted, the massage therapist I see, Gregg Sievsind was booked solid all week doing at least 9 one-hour massages per day, and the port-a-potty companies’ employees have to be well into overtime by now.

To add to all the excitement, Twin Cities in Motion has thrown an additional curve-ball into to the 10mile championship race – the Equalizer! The women’s championship race will start 7 minutes before the men’s championship race. The first runner to cross the finish line 10 miles later, man or woman, will win an extra $10,000!

It is going to be a good race, both fields are stacked – official race entries HERE.

Another popular blog here in the Twin Cities, Down the Backstretch, posed the question: “Yes/No: Will a male runner win the “Equalizer Bonus” at the 2011 USA 10 Mile Championships?”. The blog argues that a man will win the equalizer, but I personally believe a woman will win. I think it is going to be a great race that comes down to the final 400m downhill finish but I think a woman will prevail in the end. I don’t really have an argument for why I think this, other than it is just a gut feeling. I guess tomorrow at around 8am we will find out.

Tune into the race live at http://www.runnerspace.com/USA-10mile

I finished 4th at this race last year in a time of 55:20, cheer me on to a podium spot and let me know your prediction --Who do you think is going to win? Man or woman?!

Pre-Race Interview:

USA 10 Mile Championships - Official Website - Videos - Meghan Peyton Pre-Race - USA 10 Mile Championships 2011

Bittersweet

2011-09-25T15:48:00.001-05:00

This week didn’t exactly go how Iimagined it would.

The week started off on a high,having returned home from the CVS/Pharmacy Downtown 5K/ USA 5K championshipswhere I placed 5^th by a nose (the wrong side of the nose)! I placed5^th by .02 seconds….going up the final hill – a ¼ mile sprint uphillto the finish. 4^th place was two steps in front of me and 3^rdwas 15m ahead. Both women looked like they were just hanging on for the finish.I saw my opening, I looked up at 3^rd place and said “I think I cando it” and started gunning for the finish line. I passed Sara Hall in 4^thplace and was still running as hard as I could closing on 3^rd, but thenout of the corner of my eye I saw that Sara hadn’t given up yet. We were bothsprinting with every ounce of energy we had to get to the finish line. I was sofocused on the finish I felt like I couldn’t even see; all the energy was goingto my legs, willing them to carry me ever faster. In the end Sara was able tojust out-lean me at the line and Emily Brown in 3^rd place was ableto stay 2 seconds out of reach. My final time: 15:58 and new road 5K PR. Iwalked away with my head held high because I knew I gave it everything I hadand was happy to run as quickly as I did considering that I am training for amarathon, not the 5K. I think this race was a reflection of how strong I amgetting with my training. Hopefully that strength will pay off next weekend inthe Medtronic TC 10 mile/ USA 10 mile Championships, which are hosted by Twin Cities in Motion right here in my own back yard!

USA 5 km Championships - Official Website - Videos - Women's Live Race Replay - USA 5 km Championships 2011

However, once hump day rolledaround, what had started out as a great week quickly hit rock bottom. EarlyWednesday morning I got an email from Dennis saying that one of the men on theAugsburg Cross Country team had been killed in a hit and run late on Tuesdaynight. Jason Stevens was a freshman on our team and double majoring in Physicsand Calculus. The team was crushed by sadness and anger. “How can someone justdrive away?” “Why did this happen? The loss of a great friend and strongcompetitor brought the Auggies to their emotional knees. Yet, as I watched theteam and tried to be a strong shoulder to cry on, what I witnessed was amazing.This huge loss brought this team even closer together than they were previously;they each learned that their teammates were people that they could rely on evenin the toughest of situations. They came back two days later and had some ofthe best workouts of their lives. My wishis that they can continue to honor the memory of Jason by competing with asmuch heart and guts as Jason did. Rest in peace Jason, and know that you wereloved by many.

North Vs. South

2011-09-15T12:01:00.001-05:00

As fall starts to settle in (I use the word “settle” looselyas it was in the 30’s this morning) some thoughts keep nagging at me about someimportant winter training decisions I need to make. The big question: Stay here in Minneapolis where temperaturescan dip to a brutal -40 degrees Fahrenheit or make like Tom and Cruise on southfor the winter?

With the Olympic Team Trials Marathon being in Houston, theanswer almost looks obvious – go south. But it isn’t that easy.

The Pros to staying in Minneapolis:

- My loving husband and biggest supporter is here.

-I get to stay in my routine, doing the things that I knowwork for me. Sleep in my own bed.

-I have my coach close at hand, where he can watch myworkouts and make assessments.

-I have access to all the facilities that I could possiblyneed with all the support I get from Team USA Minnesota and Life Time Fitness –including indoor training facilities, massage, and so on.

The Cons to staying in Minneapolis:

-The cost of the trip.

-Did I mention yet how cold it gets in Minneapolis, or howmuch snow falls during an average winter? I have trained through the winterhere in Minneapolis for the past three years without being any worse for thewear. So why am I even questioning whether I should stay in Minneapolis or not?Well, the reason is because in January the average daytime temperature inHouston, TX is 63 degrees while in Minneapolis it is 22 degrees. Those 40 degrees make a big differencebecause my body would have to acclimate for the trip to Houston in January forthe marathon trials. Although normally 63 degrees isn’t that warm, when my bodyis used to being exposed to 20 degree temps and then is suddenly put into muchwarmer temperatures, running at peak performance is asking a lot.

So this is where my quandary begins: to stay or to go? Atfirst I thought that the answer was obvious, that I should go south. However, after listening to an interview by Tera Moody after she completed the 2011 World Marathon in Daegu, South Korea,(she was the first American to cross the line, finishing in 18^thplace overall) I am not so sure. She mentions in her interview with LetsRun.comthat one of the reasons she was able to cope with the very warm and humid conditionsin Daegue was due to the fact that she spent a lot of time training on thetreadmill, where room temp is often in the 70’s and there is no wind to helpkeep you cool.

After listening to her interview, I only have one strongaversion to staying….and that is that I really hate running on treadmills. Ilike having the road under my feet and the scenery passing by. However, at thesame time I can’t ignore all of the pros that would come with staying put.

For now I guess I will continue to soul search….at leastwhile fall is still settling in and the abundant trees of Minnesota begin toturn their beautiful red and gold colors.

Any thoughts?

Color Blind

2011-09-07T13:23:00.001-05:00

How something as simple as a color can be such a strong metaphor is beyond me, but nonetheless you can find colorful metaphors used in literature everywhere. Examples can be found almost every time you crack open another spine; The Color Purple by Alice Walker and one of my favorite books and authors The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, just to name a few. But why am I talking about colors and metaphors? This is a blog about running right! Well, the answer, you will soon see is because last night I came upon the most beautiful running metaphor ever…DRUM ROLL PLEASE:

Running the Edge

“Many people openly express their disbelief that someone would deliberately choose to run. As a runner, you have probably heard it all: ‘I only run when I am being chased.’ ‘How can you just run?’ 'I hate running!’ ‘I don’t understand how someone can run for fun.’” Well now I have my answer, complete with a colorful metaphor. “’ Pretend I am a person who can only see the world in black-and-white. Now imagine you need to explain to me what the color blue looks like. How would you do it?’

Valerie thought for a moment and then began with a confident ‘Blue is like…’ She Paused. Her eyes rolled up as she searched the ceiling and walls of the office for a single word that could help me understand blue. I stopped her before she tried to speak again.

‘That is exactly what it is like trying to explain running to a non-runner. Being a runner is like being able to see the color blue. When two people share these common experiences, they do not need to talk about them or try to describe them in words. But without common experience, it is difficult for me, or any other runner, to help you understand why we are so passionate about this sport. If you really want answers, you need to become a runner and develop color vision.’”

This excerpt is from the book just released called Running the Edge by Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano. I got my copy in the mail last week, signed by the authors and everything…if you don’t have a copy yet I highly suggest that you pick one up. The small section I have included here is only the tip of the iceberg. Anyhow, when I read this metaphor for running, big yellow light bulbs went off all around my head because even though unfortunately it is not my own original idea, it is a simple and profound way to explain to those people that I encounter almost every day why they can’t understand why I love to run.

Stratton Faxon New Haven 20K/USA 20K Championships – Sept. 5^th

My love of running has taken my many amazing places in my life, and I hope that it will take me to a lot more. This past weekend it took me to the small city of New Haven, CT (also the home of Yale University) where I competed in the USA 20K Championships where I placed 7^th in a time of 1:10:28. I was in 4^th place for a long time, chasing down 3^rd, but a stiff early pace and the need to get in some more long workouts and runs left me running on fumes that last few miles. I am happy with the race, as it is a good measure of my current level of fitness…but now it is back to the roads and more training. I am going to get stronger and more fit as the fall progresses and make my way towards the USA Marathon Trials in January.

Next up of the race calendar: CVS Caremark Downtown 5K/USA 5K Championships on Sept. 18^th

Wish me luck!

Pyramid Schemes

2011-08-31T18:47:00.000-05:00

Last night, I went to a “Tupperware Party”. Although, by definition it isn’t really a Pyramid Scheme (because Tupperware is a publically traded company and couldn’t be committing fraud), when you are sitting there listening to the Tupperware consultant tell you about how she drives two cars paid for by Tupperware, how much she makes a month, and oh by the way “you can do it too!”, it sure feels like you are listening to the opening lecture of Pyramids 101. OHHHH, and I was the lucky individual at the party that was selected to host my own Tupperware Party....I said “no thanks”, much to the chagrin of the consultant.

There is only one type of pyramid scheme that I believe in, and that is the running for performance pyramid:

Races

Speed workouts

VO2 workouts, VO2 workouts

Threshold work, threshold work, threshold work

Base miles, base miles, base miles, base miles, base miles

Right now I am in between the base miles phase and the threshold work phase. I am running quite a few miles, logging 95 miles last week and working in some longer threshold pace workouts. This is also the time of year where I feel tired quite a bit because of all the miles and long workouts, but it is an extremely important and necessary phase of the year. If I don’t “put in the miles” now, I’ll lack the strength and endurance to run to my full potential. Even sprinters do “over-distance”; a term that makes me laugh because a sprinter’s over-distance still seems pretty short to someone training for races between 5K and the marathon.

Why put in the base miles or over distance? Like I eluded to in the previous paragraph it helps build strength and cardiovascular endurance. Stronger muscles fatigue less quickly, therefore helping to maintain a given speed for longer – which will in turn help me to win a race or achieve a personal best. There are other factors of course that play into the equation, like desire and experience, but these parts of the equation are the building blocks. So I’m taking care of the part I can control now and putting in the hard work of building up the running pyramid.

Last week’s race results from the LTF Torchlight 5K: 1^st place – 15:58

Up next: USA 20K championships on Sept. 5^th – the results will be in next week’s post!

Coach Peyton

2011-08-26T16:03:00.005-05:00

I am not sure how the idiom of “wearing many hats” came about, but with the changing of the seasons it is time for me to once again get out my coaching hat, dust it off, and be prepared for an adventure. My official title is “assistant women’s cross country and track coach” at Augsburg College. However, in practice I try to be a number of things: coach, inspirer, confidant…the list goes on. Whatever I may be at the moment, I know one thing for sure, I get just as much benefit out of coaching as the girls do. Helping the Auggie girls reach their goals and dreams helps me to remember that every time I step out the door to go for a run, I am doing it because I love it.

Above: Auggie Harriers out to cheer me on. "Go Meghan" written on their stomachs.

Augsburg is a highly accredited college, but it is also a NCAA Div. III school, meaning there are no scholarships to persuade athletes to commit to our program. All the athletes there training and getting an education are doing so because they love the sport too. Being around these young ladies really helps to remind me every day that I am here doing what I love and I should be very grateful for all the fantastic opportunities that I have in my life.

Life Time Fitness Torchlight 5K

Tonight I am changing my hat again, back to athlete. I am competing in a local 5K, to help support one of Team USA Minnesota’s biggest sponsors – Life Time Fitness (LTF). I spend time at one of the many LTF’s around the twin cities almost every day and in the winter sometimes multiple times in a day. Without their state of the art facilities and support of our team, training in Minnesota in the winter time would be very tough. However, supporting the Torchlight 5K really is a no-brainer…race a 5K and then attend a free party! As my younger sister would say “no duh”, I am going to run.

It will be nice to run off some of the rust tonight in the 5K, after some tough weeks of training, I am looking forward to it. Last Friday I did a really tough workout of 2 ½ mile repeats over a very hilly course. I obviously didn’t learn from my 7mile race, because I once again went out too fast on the first 2 ½ miles, running under 5:20/mile pace…boy did that bite me in the butt. I was still able to finish the workout at 5:30/ mile pace, but it made the workout tough mentally. My coach Dennis had to step in and help me realize that I am stronger than I think I am, and when I put my mind to it I can do anything. Another thing I am very grateful for when it comes to coaching, that I have my own great coach.

So now, I tip my blogger hat to you and say thank you for joining me on my journey. Thank you for supporting me in my quest of becoming an Olympian!

New Balance Falmouth Road Race Weekend

2011-08-18T22:46:00.001-05:00

38:25 – my time for the 7 mile New Balance Falmouth Road Race. That time was good enough to finish 13^th overall and 11^th American. It is a race that I can walk away from and be OK with because it was the best I had that day. It wasn’t the ideal race that I would have loved to run, but with only 2 weeks of workouts behind me I think I am still lacking some speed and endurance. I also need to remember to exercise some patience. I went out a little bit harder than was probably ideal for my current fitness, clocking the first mile a 5:10 pace. I usually run fairly even splits, but I got a little too excited and when the gun went BANG I was out hard. Patience and pacing is one of the hardest things for all runners to learn. Even amazing runners like Shalane Flanagan have to remind themselves to be patient – see great Runners World article “The Killer Inside Her” profiling Shalane and how she learned to be patient in races.

Falmouth was as beautiful a race as I imagined it would be. It was a great day, a little cloudy and humid, but that is pretty good weather for a race, so no one was complaining. They had to start the race 10 minutes late because the buses that were transporting the participants to the start were running behind. The town of Falmouth is a very quaint little place with narrow streets and beautiful old architecture, which makes it a really fun place to visit. But it makes holding a race with 11,000 participants a great exercise in planning and execution. I give major props to the race organizers for making the event go as smoothly as it did. I really look forward to running the New Balance Falmouth Road Race again next year. For now I am looking forward to my next race – the Stratton Faxon New Haven 20K which will be held on Labor Day (which also happens to be Cole’s and my 1 year anniversary). Hopefully I can finish a lot higher in the 20K and make it an even better anniversary than I know it will be.

Back to Work

For the time being, it will back to work. Tomorrow I will be doing a tough workout of 2.5 mile repeats with short rest. I am a little anxious for the workout because I know it will be tough, but it is also a very important workout because it will help me gain the stamina that I need not only for the 20K in two weeks but also for my ultimate goal on the horizon – the USA Olympic Marathon Trials.

Until next week…cheers!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2011-08-11T15:23:00.000-05:00

Tonight I am going to Target Field to watch the Minnesota Twins whoop up on the Boston Red Sox! Or, at least that is the outcome that I am hoping for. At this point the Twins have not won enough games to make it to the playoffs, but on the bright side maybe we will get to see Jim Thome hit his 600^th career home run. I wanted to make a sign to try and get Bert Blyleven to “circle me Bert”, but then I thought “oh wait, I am in the 300 sections, I am not sure that the TV camera’s pan that high up! And besides my nose will probably get a bleed and it will get on the sign anyways.”

New Balance Falmouth 7mile

After the game the Red Sox are going to go to Seattle and I am going to Boston. Boston is a beautiful city, and one you should put on your bucket list if you have never been there. Sadly I will not be spending very long in Boston proper, but I will take a shuttle down to Falmouth, Massachusetts to participate in the New Balance Falmouth Road Race. I have never been to Falmouth before, but I am really looking forward to it. The course starts out in Woods Hole and winds its way along the coast line into the Falmouth. The course footage provided by the race organization and pictures from past races make it look very picturesque! Not that I will be admiring the scenery during the race, but rather sizing up the competition.

Course Tour Video

Another unique aspect about the New Balance Falmouth Road Race is that competitors don’t stay at a hotel over the race weekend, but rather with a host family. I have never done this before for a race, but I am looking forward to it also because I think it will be more relaxing – a home away from home. I will be staying with a good friend of mine Bob Gusmini who I originally met at the World’s Best 10K in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After the race Bob will be holding a very lively BBQ at his house. If my training in the past few weeks is any indication, I hope there will be a lot to celebrate at the BBQ.

Tune in next week for race results!

P.S. The Twinkies won last night, breaking their 5 game losing streak. We had a blast!

Got Gills?

2011-08-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

Monday’s workout was a harsh one. Difficult to do even on the best of days, so it didn’t help that, as my coach Dennis Barker put it, “You are going to need gills for this run”. Even at 8am when I began the workout it was in the 80’s and it was close to 100% humidity (it began to rain later in the morning). Nonetheless, like any running addict I pulled on my shoes and got out there in the elements and completed my workout of 1000m repeats. The workout went really well despite the weather, which was due in part to being properly fueled and dressed for the weather.

On those hot and sticky summer days when we wish we are fish, it’s important to be smart about the way you dress and hydrate. If you have any questions, visit the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) website for lots of great tips.

There are sadly too many tragic stories across all disciplines of sport that happen due to poor hydration. The girls I run with and I always plan our runs along the paths that are populated with drinking fountains, especially on days where we are going to be out in the heat for long run. Don’t have access to drinking fountains? Get yourself a fuel belt or take your car out before your run and plant some water bottles strategically along the course. Where there is a will, there is a way! Running in the heat or any other extreme elements is possible; it just takes a little more planning. For tips from a master of planning for long runs, in all kinds of elements read the book Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes. You don’t have to be an ultra runner to appreciate and benefit from his wisdom and humor.

Until next time, anyone have a pair of gills I can borrow?

Workouts Begin

2011-07-27T18:12:00.000-05:00

Three weeks of building up my mileage and now it is time to get back to doing workouts. I was pretty excited after completing my first workout back. Not only did it not feel as treacherous as I had anticipated, but I was running the same times as the end of my fall training cycle last year and exerting the same effort (effort = heart rate)!

First Workouts of Yore

Why was I expecting the workout to be so hard? Although this first workout back was an exception to the rule, I have plenty of vivid and not always pleasant memories of first workouts in the past. One that is particularly vivid was the summer of 2007 before my senior year at the University of Iowa. I was home in Tualatin, Oregon and it was a bright sunny morning without any rain (which is rare in Oregon!). My now husband Cole decided to be a good sport and ride the road bike along with me as I set out with the quest of completing my first workout back after a two week break – a 30 minute tempo run. I warmed up for a few miles and then rolled right into the workout, but things were not going my way. Meanwhile, Cole was riding beside me happy as a clam, chatting away about some nonsense or another. I tried to concentrate, let my body continue to warm up and find my rhythm. Running, struggling, battling… “STOP!!!” I yelled. Just a few miles into the workout I came to a dead stop and burst into tears. “How did I ever run so fast without it hurting so much?” Cole asked me if I was OK, I snapped back that I was fine, that the workout was just hard. I didn’t know how I could run any faster and him being so happy wasn’t making it any better! I immediately felt even more terrible about treating him so badly, when he was doing me the favor of riding along with me. I eventually calmed down and was able to finish the workout, though it was at a little more conservative pace.

Running for Yourself

This retrospection brings me to a point. When I am out meeting new people and I explain what I do, I get the frequent response of “You run how much?! My refrigerator is running, and that is about how far I run too, from my couch to the refrigerator”. Many people express their interest in running, but say that every time the start they end up quitting.

Running is a difficult sport, no doubt, but is also one that can be extremely self fulfilling when given the chance. It is my strong belief that the people out there that say that “can’t run”, have not given the sport a real chance. You have to start out slow, building into it. That may mean you have to start out alternating walking and running, until you gain the stamina and cardiovascular fitness to run your entire route. As Christopher McDougall wrote, people are ‘Born to Run’. So my advice to those of you naysayers out there is to give running a real chance. Start out slower than you think is necessary and set long term goals. In the end you will be reward with increased fitness and a soaring self-esteem!

The Journey Begins

2011-07-20T13:06:00.004-05:00

My first marathon is looming in the distance; true it is still six months away, but the journey begins now.

~~History~~

I began running in 7^th grade and haven’t stopped since. However, like many people running wasn’t always my passion. Although I had already been running for a few years, I didn’t become passionate about the sport until I was a junior at Tualatin High School in Oregon. It was about this time that I decided that competitive running was probably something I could do even into my college years.

After winning 6 state titles in Oregon, I planted myself in the Hawkeye State under the coaching of Layne Anderson at the University of Iowa. Like the abundant corn fields that grow and blanket the Iowa countryside, my running career also flourished.

I left Iowa a 4-time NCAA All-American, 2-time Big Ten Champion and school record holder. But, could I really make it at the next level?

~~Professional Career~~

I graduated from Iowa in the spring of 2008 and joined Team USA Minnesota under the guidance of Coach Dennis Barker and management of Pat Goodwin. I chose to stay in our nation's “bread basket” because Team USA Minnesota was impossible to turn down. With so much support from organizations like Life Time Fitness and Twin Cities in Motion, Minneapolis represents an aspiring Olympians dream come true.

So here I am now, three years later. I recently married my high school sweetheart Cole and so my last name changed from Armstrong to Peyton (hence the title of this blog “Leg Strong”, which middle school classmates used to call me after I informed them that NO, I am not related to Lance). As of July, I am training for my first marathon. I love the track and will not be giving it up any time soon, but I want to try my hand at the 26.2 mile distance next winter at the Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston, Texas. Follow me in my training and give me tips along the way… "Citius, Altius, Fortius."