Running Chick

 

This was my third year running the Fox Cities (insert big sponsor here) Half Marathon.  The first year I was very undertrained, not to mention 10-15 pounds heavier.  My longest run was 10 miles, the last five of which I did after turning my ankle and taking a nasty fall in the middle of the road.   At the end of that run, my ankle, knee and hand were swollen and angry and I had blood pouring down my knee.  I remember spending an agonizingly long time (although it was probably a few minutes) sitting in the bathroom while Josh picked rocks out of my knee.  My knee bears the scars from this crash, there goes my modeling career.

The second year, I was better trained and was 15 pounds lighter but I had muscle strains in both my calves.  I could barely run 2 miles let alone 13.1 but  I ran it anyway and regretted it from mile seven to the end.  Painful, painful, painful.  The next day, I could barely walk.

This year, I had high hopes that I would finally enter this race healthy and ready.  Enter medial tibial stress syndrome/tendonitis.  The custom orthotics took care of the primary problems, but the tendonitis is taking longer to go away.  I think it just needs rest.  Lots of rest.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of rest time to give it. So I tried to keep up my training as much as I could without aggravating my legs.  It worked, but I was barely making 13 miles/week.  I pondered just skipping the HM altogether because I didn’t want a repeat of last year.  Even when I picked up my packet at the expo, I was still undecided about what I was going to do.  The day before the race, I decided to do it and have fun.

I didn’t pay much attention to my watch and the average pace I was keeping, I just ran at a comfortable pace.  I knew I was doing pretty well when I made it through miles six to nine without my usual mental breakdown.  I met Josh around seven miles and gave my legs a preventative dose of topical pain-killer, which I think helped in the later miles.  Mile eleven came and went without issue.  It wasn’t until mile twelve that my legs finally started to give me some trouble, but it wasn’t from the tendonitis, it was from the pounding they were taking from the concrete.  I switched to a 3:1 interval and actually ran some negative interval splits in this last mile.  That’s a first for me.

So, let’s compare the last three years:

2007: 2:39:48 @ 12:12 (6.9 mile 1:21:14)

2008: 2:23:27 @ 10:57 (6.9 mile 1:13:27)

2009: 2:23:07 @ 10:55 (6.9 mile 1:13:55)

I wasn’t really expecting to be so close to my time last year, not did I expect my pace to pretty much maintain the entire time.  Somehow, with no expectations and and no pressure, I was able to run that race without feeling like I could have done better in the end.  Go figure.

What’s up next?  Well, the only thing that’s going to make my tendonitis go away for good is not running.  So, it’s a whole lotta rest for me.  Although I must admit I really wanted to go for a trail run yesterday.  It’s a sickness. 

Usually I look like I'm about to keel over, but these ones turned out pretty well. Here's a couple, the rest are in the gallery.

Gratuitous food picture! 

 

You just can’t beat the taste of food on a charcoal grill.

Gravel, giant long hill, gravel, long downhill, more gravel, beach sand, finish. That pretty much sums up this morning's race. I did a lot better than I was expecting myself to do. I was hoping to come in around 51 or 52 minutes and thanks to the last thee miles being downhill, I was able to crank out some really zippy miles and come in a smidge over 49 minutes.

Pre-race: I hung around and waited for the 2nd bus, which was running late. We got the the start at 8:58, the race was supposed to start at 9:00. No warm up for me! Mile 1 & 2: Gun went off, everybody jumped and some women screamed. Pretty funny. The first quarter-mile was on loose gravel. It was like running on marbles. Yuck. People were passing me left and right. I looked back after the turn onto pavement and there were two runners behind me and then I could see the walkers. I figured I was in for my first DFL finish, great. The first mile marker passed and I glanced at my watch and saw 10:08! The second mile was a long grind uphill. Man, that was unpleasant and I was significantly slower - 10:43. MEH. Mile 3 & 4: More freaking loose gravel for the next mile, but it was downhill so I was able to make up some of the time I lost on the uphill section. Then, we were on pavement and it was all downhill from here. I was feeling great and thanks to gravity, I started to pass people. Four people in total, actually. I purposely decided not to show the pace on my Garmin because all I end up doing is obsessing about it, so I didn't realize that I ran this mile in 9:11 until I downloaded it when I got home. Mile 5: I was seriously zeroing in on a 48-ish minute 5 miler until this mile. Part pavement, part gravel and BEACH SAND. What the hell, were they trying to kill us? I barely maintained my pace and was gasping and wheezing and feeling a bit pukey when I crossed the finish line. Man, my finishing photos are going look so hot! I stumbled past Josh who said "Congratulations!" to which I replied "I think I'm going to puke." Folks, the romance is still there! In all, it was a fun, local race. I'll totally do it again next year. Except I'll train more. And do more hills. Go Red Wings!