In this week's episode, Elena interviews Katie about her recent breakthrough performance at the Baystate Half Marathon, where she ran a huge PR at just under nine months postpartum. We dive into the training, mindset, and race-day strategies that helped make this possible, from building fitness on a lower-volume, flexible training plan to prioritizing strength, recovery, and consistency while navigating life as a new mom. Katie shares how her goals evolved throughout the training cycle, why approaching workouts with curiosity rather than rigid expectations made this one of her happiest and most successful builds yet, and how she developed the confidence to chase a faster time than she initially thought possible. We also break down the race itself, including pacing strategy, mental preparation, fueling, and the value of trusting your training when it's time to push. Finally, we reflect on the importance of patience in pursuing big goals, what Katie has learned from her postpartum return to sport, and how she's thinking about recovery and her next build to the Boston Marathon. Check it out!
Katie:
Baystate Half Marathon Insights/Recap!
Inspired by your recent pod on not needing to do the same level of targeted mental prep for Kodiak since you have gotten so many reps in of mental prep in the past, I felt that I had a lot of the pre-race mental work covered! Normally we recommend the following sections:
Strategy
Mental work/reframing
Stuff to remember
Cookie jar
Mantras
An expedited version that worked well for me this time around was (1) strategy and (2) condensed stuff to remember/mantras section. My mindset was overall quite positive WRT mental work/reframing (not a huge baseline negative narrative surrounding this race) and with so much racing experience at this point, the stuff to remember and cookie jar kind of naturally just existed in my brain.
A few mantras/things to remember that helped me for race mindset:
Taylor Knibb quote: "There are only two things you can ask of yourself. Number 1 is to give your best effort and Number 2 is to appreciate the opportunity."
Both very controllable!
Anne Hathaway quote, not related to racing but very applicable: “When you start to get a little tired ask yourself, ‘do you like the reason that you’re tired’?”
In a race context, it is such a privilege to get to push to your limits!
My 9 month old’s favorite book “Katy and the Big Snow,” which is about a “beautiful read crawler tractor” who “belonged to the Highway Department of the City of Geoppolis” and saves the town in the context of a massive blizzard. As she goes around and plows out all of the different businesses and people who need her help, there is a page that reads: “Katy was beginning to get a little tired but she wouldn’t stop. NOT KATY”
For me, a reminder that (1) yes I will get tired but (2) I am not the type of person who quits
And related, the reminder that in every race I have ever done I have gotten tired and at least entertained the idea of wanting to quit, and I haven’t done it, so we aren’t going to do it today → confidence demands evidence!
Race logistics
Selected for this race because of the location (close by, sleep at home), relatively flat course, likely good weather, and smooth logistics -- i.e. in alignment with the goal of running a fast HM. “Business trip!”
Baystate absolutely crushed it in terms of all of these logistics. A few particular details that I found very helpful:
Plenty of parking
Plenty of bathrooms
Mailed option for bib pickup
Easy gear drop with gear available at the finish line
No frills with awards ceremony or post-race food, basically just come and run and leave
Mile markers were exactly right for me
All of this, in combination with being within driving distance from my house on the morning of the race, removed a lot of mental stress in the lead up! Definitely something to consider when selecting for a race in which you want to go fast
Race goals, strategy, and recap
Original running goals when I was newly postpartum: sub 19 5K, sub 40 10K, sub 90 half, and eventually sub 3 marathon.
First attempt at sub 40 10K at 5 months PP didn’t go very well - hot day and pacing issues, and generally felt a little out of practice with racing.
But as the half training went on and we got (1) more heat acclimation through the summer and then eventually (2) cooler fall temps, my fitness started to really take off
Nearly hit 5k and 10k time goals within workouts and not even going all out, which suggested my HM goal was a little too conservative
This is where conversations with a coach + goals evolution helped a lot! OK to shift time goals down as fitness builds, or up as life gets in the way!
In pre race meeting with Coach Jay, I said that on an A+ day I thought I could go sub 1:25, and he said he envisioned 1:25 as more of a B day/ encouraged me to not rule out faster. Then we came up with a race strategy that involved going out at 1:25 pace and then seeing what I had left to push faster or maintain. Great example of the synergy of belief in yourself + even more belief from a coach reinforcing each other, grounded in a shared understanding of your capabilities from months/years of training together
Updated A/B/C goals: A goal sub 1:25, B goal 1:25 to sub 1:30, C goal 1:30 (original A goal). Contingency plan re-do HM at Cambridgeside in 2 weeks if disaster struck. If, e.g., I got sick right before, I would rather just try again at a later date with more cards stacked in my favor.
The strategy itself: 2 loop course on either side of a river with turnaround bridges which I loved -- first loop on pace, second loop see what I have left to push a bit more on the way out and really send it on the way back.
Personal goal to not go out too fast given that was an issue in my 10K. Really wanted to execute a solid negative split or at least consistent pacing.
Lesson: in the past I have recommended a 10/10/6 or 5/5/5K strategy for pacing M and HM with athletes, but it is also worth developing a strategy in line with the course itself -- 5/5/5K wouldn’t have been the most intuitive breakdown in this case
Definitely hard to hold back in the opening miles! 1-3 felt very easy. And noticed some energy wasted on jockeying and running the speed of traffic. Surged a little to get around a big marathon pace group before mile 2 and had to really hold myself back and not stay at that surge pace because it would have been too fast. This is where the gear shifting intervals I talked about last week really shined!
Some rolling hills, which surprised me a little bit because the course was described as very flat. I would always pass people on the hills though and kept reminding myself “hills are your skill” whenever the hill made it feel a little harder
Rest of the race was textbook execution! Kept at race pace for the first loop (just under 6:30), worked down into 6-teens/low 6 20s for the beginning of the second loop, and closed 6:12 pace with a final kick when I knew I could finish under 1:24. Time 1:23:49! Massive PR and smashed my A goal, but didn’t feel wrecked or even consider easing up until after mile 11.5, which made me wonder if I could have gone harder -- no regrets but I think I could have, which is exciting! Overall a conservative race and an incredibly fun experience. (I also feel great after, which is a good sign for recovery and fitness)
Big takeaways and what’s next
Main reason I am proud of this race -- reflects healthy and longevity-focused postpartum return to sport. SO cool to see that I could end up way faster than I ever was before, but did so in a healthy/patient/intentional way
LOVE shorter races!
Recall that I originally was going to do the marathon and then it sold out; I eventually did get off the waitlist but was actually so glad that I stuck to the half! Much more manageable summer training, much more manageable with a baby/broken sleep/still breastfeeding, something new because I haven’t raced a half in forever, and really led to some cool speed development that will serve me really well going forward in a Boston Marathon build
Factors that helped me with the fast time -- kept reminding myself “here are so many levers that we haven’t pulled in training that will elevate your performance; we don’t know the ceiling”
Perfect weather conditions. Only downside was sketchy ice bridge which lasted <20 seconds both times
Solid taper -- reminded myself that every single other workout I had done was done tired and not tapered
100g carbs during the race, higher than in training
Ever so slightly better sleep the week leading up!
Having Coach Jay on course was awesome and something to look forward to at miles 3/9.5. Have part of your plan be course support at different times so you can look forward to seeing different people if you can!
Mom life has really put a lot into perspective for me, specifically gratitude for being able to toe any start line and a greater appreciation for the bigger picture/ all of this being about fun and doing something for me
What’s next:
Really redefined what I think is possible for me in running, which made me excited to use this fitness towards a Boston build
A couple of weeks of chill fun running/ no workouts, some biking, and heavy strength focus into the new year
Then build for Boston Marathon, with goal of sub 3 or maybe faster!
Challenge of the week
Katie: Keep track of/ write down mantras that resonate with you even if not racing soon - they may come in handy later!
Elena: Set a small, simple strength goal
Gear pick of the week
Katie: Coros HRM
Elena: Create creatine and electrolyte mix