Running Chick

When I ended up finishing in 2:17:45 in Eagle River, which was a 2-ish minute PR, I set a secret goal of finishing in 2:15 for the Fox Cities HM.  I figured that four months of training, adding in speed work and bumping up my running days from three to four per week would allow me to pull it off.  But then we got hit with a heat wave that lasted all summer long and wreaked havoc on my body.  I struggled through my speed sessions, suffered leg cramping during my peak mileage weeks and overall, my pace wasn’t showing any improvement.  The closer the race got, the more I felt like my 2:15 goal was slipping away.

I had been mulling over joining the 2:15 pace group, but since I wasn’t feeling very confident about being able to keep up with them, I didn’t officially sign up. I figured I’d find them at the start, hang with them as long as I could, then finish by myself.  Both the marathon and half marathon started at the same time, so the starting line was just a sea of people (around 5,000 participated) and it took me forever to find the 2:15 group.  I finally joined them about 45 seconds before the start, just as the leader was giving out instructions which included not passing her, keeping her in sight at all times, and following her lead through aid stations.  Next thing I knew, the gun went off and we were making our way to the start line. I think it took three minutes to cross the timing mat.

I spent the first three miles weaving around & dodging slower traffic in order to keep up with the pace leader.  I could sort of tell by the chatter around me who was in the group, but for the most part I had no clue, so I kept a close eye on her.  We skipped the first aid station, but hit the rest of them. The plan was to walk through, so the pace leader would tell us when to start walking and then tell us when to take off. I don’t think we walked for more than 10 seconds through any of them.  It was really efficient.  She also told us when to take our gels, but I was taking mine at different intervals.

My legs started feeling a little fatigued around miles seven & eight and I figured that this would be the point where the group would leave me behind and I’d be on my own, but I took my last gel and I felt fine.  In fact, I felt way better than I imagined I would.  We were averaging right around a 10:06 pace, which is fast for me for that duration, and I didn’t even feel like I was pushing it.  Then we were at mile eleven and the pace leader told us that her job was done and we were on our own.  I looked around and there was just three of us left in the group. I noticed that people started to fall back around mile six, but never really paid attention until that moment so I have no idea where they went.  The three of us continued on to the end, picking up the pace in the last two miles and I crossed the finish in 2:12:16 for a new PR.  Here are my splits:

I’m really pleased with my time, I didn’t really expect much because of how my summer training went, but I guess all that suffering did end up paying off in the end.  Feels good, man!

Speaking of PRs, Josh earned a HUGE one.  He finished Eagle River in 2:45:11 and finished this one in 2:24:55 for a 20 minute improvement! I’d better start putting in some serious training, or he’s going to end up leaving me in the dust before too long.

Overall, this is a great race.  The course is mostly flat with three hills (one highway overpass and two bridge crossings).  It starts in Appleton, and winds through residential neighborhoods in Menasha and ends in Riverside Park in Neenah.  There was lots of crowd support the entire way from the spectators.  All the aid station volunteers were energetic and enthusiastic and I especially liked the multiple DJs along the course.  The finish line  was quick and efficient – you cross the line, somebody wraps you in a space blanket, another person puts your medal around your neck, you get herded over to get your t-shirt then into the food line and then you get released into the crowd.  I guess it has to operate that smoothly with that many people coming through or it’d be a disaster.  I wish it would have been a little warmer so we could have hung around at the finish line longer, but it was cold & windy and generally unpleasant for someone wearing damp, sweaty clothes so we left right after we collected our drop bags.

Up next is the Whistlestop HM on October 13th, which is 18 days away. I’m not quite certain how I should go about training for it, I guess I’ll see what the intertubes have to say and play it by ear.

Posting from my tablet is really painful so this will be short and sweet.  New PR of 2:12:16, thanks to the Pacesetters pacing group.  That's about 5:30 faster than Eagle River. I'm really pleased.  Congrats to Josh on his finish, which was 20 minutes faster.

Doggie update: Venus the run-away dog made it home. Her owners were out looking for her so she wasn't at the shelter for long.

The first race of the season is over. It was a lot warmer & hillier than I remembered, but I ended up with a new (and unexpected) PR, so I’m happy.

The course starts in Conover, WI and meanders it’s way down several country roads which probably don’t see much traffic other than fishermen and the few local residents who live out in the boonies.

Josh and I and around 400 other half-marathoners were bussed to the starting line, which was literally a line spray painted on the road.  The road wasn’t closed to traffic, so every time a car had to go through, somebody would yell Car! and people would move to either side of the road to make a path through. I’m pretty sure the parting of the Red Sea happened the same way.  Surprisingly, for that many people milling about, we never had to wait more than a few minutes for a porta-potty. I think we have the trees to thank for that.

The course is pretty quiet and desolate.

The county was doing some ditch work, so that just added to the post-apocalyptic vibe.

This turkey was also out doing some course checks.

The very small Eagle River, WI airport had some activity when we drove by, but it was quiet on race day.

We got to do some off-roading on the final stretch to the finish line.

The finish line at Riverside Park.

Race day weather was sunny and warm. The course didn’t have much shade so by the mid-way point, I was feeling pretty toasty and eventually ended up with a zorched nose & shoulders. 

Even though this was my third time doing this event, I’d completely forgotten how hilly it was.  There’s a couple of larger extended hills around miles 7-9, but the rest of the course is full of rollers that didn’t seem like much of a bother, until I hit mile 10 and wondered why my quads felt so trashed.  However, I will proudly admit that all the hill training I did this winter paid off because while most people where walking up those larger hills, I was zipping up them without any problems.  I guess I’ll just have to remind myself of this achievement during this summer’s hill sessions when I’m doubled over at the top, gasping for breath and feeling like I’m about to toss my cookies.

The last mile is through a residential area and lots of people were out offering encouraging advice, which was nice, but I swear, if I heard You’re almost done! Keep going! The finish is just around the corner! one more time I was going to have to kill someone.  One lady told me that I had a quarter mile to the corner, then a few more corners and I was done.  It’s really funny now, but then? Not so much.  Anyway, I finished feeling pretty wasted, and I had absolutely no clue what my time was.  Of the twelve different fields I have on my gps watch, I didn’t think to set one of them to elapsed time.  Pretty smart.  Fortunately, my watch does have a history and I was shocked to find that it read 2:17:45.  That’s a completely unexpected 2 minute PR for me, so I was very pleased.

I slammed a couple cups of Gatorade, crammed a few bananas into my mouth then headed back up course to find Josh.  He had about three-quarters of a mile to go when I found him.  I didn’t want to confuse the finish volunteers by coming through a second time, so I stayed with him as long as I could, then ran ahead and met him at the finish line.  It was pretty awesome to see him cross. He put a lot of work into his training and has improved quite a bit in the short time he’s been at it. He laments about how slow he thinks he is, but I predict that before long it’ll be me struggling to keep up with him. Good job, Josh!

Looking forward, I’m planning on taking a short running break for the next week, maybe two, to tackle some projects around the house and possibly spend some quality time with my road bike.  We’re registered for the Fox Cities Half Marathon in Appleton, WI in mid-September and are contemplating doing the Canal Run in mid-July, but that’s about it.  I’m glad to be done with training!