oh so close to the perfect race for me. It's been a long time since I've had a race where the swim/bike/run have all come together and just been perfect. If not for the Swim, this would have been it. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Morning started off ok with breakfast and gatorade, was ready to go and was just watching tv. We headed out around 6:15 to get there nice and early to get setup, warmed up and ready. Felt good on the bike ride over to the race site, it was about 2 miles so I used it as my bike warmup with the first mile easy, then picked up the pace to race pace for the last bit. Racked the bike setup a little before going to get the chip and body marking. Found out that the swim was not going to be wetsuit legal as the water temp was 79 degrees. With a bike ride over I didn't have shoes to walk around in so I was barefooting it and normally that doesn't bother me, more on this later. After getting all organized, went for a quick mile warmup, legs were feeling good, not great, but good and it was still early so my hopes were up. After warmup and final check of transition I still had 30 minutes to wait, but I couldn't take the transition area anymore so I headed to the lake. With about 15 minutes to start I got in for a quick swim warmup. After warmup I was standing around in the water and my left foot cramped up. I walked it out and was thinking this is good because now it won't happen on the swim.
Swim: 18:26, started off great, had a good line and was out in front. Was just starting to settle in when my right foot started to cramp up. normally it will work itself out, but it just kept getting worse and worse until I had to stop and massage it out. I thought this was a bad omen, but once it was gone, I started back up and tried to stay on line and just go at a good pace. Got out of the water in 17:30 and crossed the timing mat in 18:26.
T1: 2:18 took a little too much time here, but was still sulking about my foot cramp.
Bike: 40:14, Ended up getting 2nd in my division on the bike, didn't think it was that great, but it was windy and it must have affected everyone the same as I was really pushing the bike, the first lap and the second even more. Can't wait to see the pics as my face was just in pain the whole way. The only time I wasn't pushing hard was the last 200 yards when I pulled my feet out of the shoes to get ready to transition. I was also happy to see that there wasn't a lot of drafting out there.
T2: 1:42 Was not expecting much on the run after that hard ass bike but still I didn't dawdle here, got my socks and shoes on, took off the helmet, got my race number and hat and jogged out.
26:10 Started running and I was like wow, my legs feel good, what's up with that. I figured it wouldn't last, but still I wanted to keep a 9 min pace and try to settle in and get right around 27. I just kept going and my legs kept getting better and better. Got to the turn around in 13:36. last year it was 14:11. half way there and I just needed a 13:24 to break 27 on the way back. When I hit the water stop I grabbed some to splash on my head, took a quick swallow and picked up the pace one more time for the last 1. I was averaging 8:40 at this time and new I still had some left. Made the final left onto the main road and turned it up again. I did not want to get passed on the final stretch. But as fate would have it I was passed by one guy in my division. He flew by me and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep pace. 3 seconds later another guy went by me. But he as going just a bit faster, so I slid in behind him and tried to get ready for the final kick. We hit the final straight away and I tried to go around him, we ran neck and neck for the last 30 yards, but my legs just wouldn't go any faster and he got me on the line.
Total time 1:28:48 good for 5th in Master Clydesdale's but without that foot cramp would have gotten third. I'm over it now, but it took a while. Very happy about my bike and run, not so about the swim which is usually my strong suit. I've got woodlake coming up on the 23rd. That was my best race last year so got to be ready
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
First brick of the season
When I saw this one on my schedule I was like cool, first brick of the season. Sure it was 30 miles of biking and 2 miles of running, but since I haven't run in forever, any kind of running is good for me. Woke up Saturday morning and was not in any kind of mood to go out and ride. Lilyan had two birthday parties to go to so I had to hit the road by 8 in order to get done in time to pick her up from ballet at 11 and rush her over to the first party. Wanted to get going at 7:30, but procrastinated enough that I didn't get started until 7:45. I decided to do the 27 mile route I had done a couple weeks back which is fairly easy to not get lost on. While last time there were no dogs to be seen, for some reason there seemed to be a dog barking every where I turned. But luckily I was not chased by any of them. Of course it helped to get me moving faster each time I heard the barking. It was going really well and getting more used to my aerobars again so I was quite happy. I made the turn home and started to eat my powerbar. 30 minutes later I pull into my driveway and start the transition to run. I start off and my legs are killing me, I feel like I am running like 12 min miles and like it is so hard. After 1/2 mile I look at my watch and see I'm doing 9:45 / mile and I'm like woo hoo, no wonder why this hurts so much. At that same time I start a long down hill section so I slow down and let the heart rate come down a little. finished the first mile in 9:42. Start feeling good now and pick up the pace and finish the second mile in 8:55. Great workout, gives me some confidence for my tri coming up on the 10th.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Me, Myself, and I
The three of us went for a ride together on Saturday. I told myself it was going to be an easy 30 miles as written on our schedule, but myself objected and said we should go more since it's so nice out. I was not hearing any of it but me popped up and voted with myself and I was overruled. So I looked up the loop that we've done in the past and it was 36 miles. All of us agreed that was enough and out we went. I was a bit cold and I was bitching up a storm the first ten minutes. But finally I warmed up and got into an easy rhythm. The first 20 miles was a southeast route and the wind was out of the west south west so it was easy going and we averaged 19 miles an hour and kept our heart rate down. I knew we were going to be in deep doo doo on the way back but just kept it to myself.
When we hit the left turn and started the ride back our speed dropped from the 20's right to 15. The way back is also slightly uphill. Me told us just to put are head's down and just try to keep the ave speed over 16 so I hit the lap button on my watch and started to push. Myself, whose idea it was to do the extra 6 miles was in charge of the open areas where the wind was full on. He would get down into the drops and be as aero as possible and push as hard as possible. When he got tired, me would take over and sit up to recover before I would take over on the break heads and pedal a consistent pace. Me was in charge of the hills. There isn't a lot of hills on the way back, just some bumps, but with the wind, even a bump is a hill. The three of us would split time, at about mile 7 of the 16 I was dying and ready to quit. Myself had just given it all for a mile and still the average dropped from 16.4 to 16.1 and the wind just wouldn't stop. Just then me took over and did an easy pull and let our average drop. Somehow we manage to keep it at 16 and came to an easy spot. This gave us some hope and at mile 10 we must have hit the end of the climb because I was able to keep the pace over 16 without hitting to high of an hr. At mile 10 myself took over and did a hard pull to get us back to 16.3, then each of the next 3 miles the average went up .1 until we were at mile 14 and at 16.6. I knew we would make the goal of over 16 mph ave for the return trip so we sat up and coasted in the last mile or so.
It just so happened that the last mile was not into the wind anymore so we ended 16 miles at 16.6 and combined with the first 20 at 19 gave us a 17.9 ave mph. I was worried there at mile 8 on the way back that evil bill was going to show up and ruin everything, but we were able to keep him under wraps, at least for the time being.
It was tough ride at the end of a tough week with 4 bikes and 3 swims, and then 12 hours of yard work/staining was still ahead. I think I should have taken Monday off from work as I really needed a vacation from my weekend
When we hit the left turn and started the ride back our speed dropped from the 20's right to 15. The way back is also slightly uphill. Me told us just to put are head's down and just try to keep the ave speed over 16 so I hit the lap button on my watch and started to push. Myself, whose idea it was to do the extra 6 miles was in charge of the open areas where the wind was full on. He would get down into the drops and be as aero as possible and push as hard as possible. When he got tired, me would take over and sit up to recover before I would take over on the break heads and pedal a consistent pace. Me was in charge of the hills. There isn't a lot of hills on the way back, just some bumps, but with the wind, even a bump is a hill. The three of us would split time, at about mile 7 of the 16 I was dying and ready to quit. Myself had just given it all for a mile and still the average dropped from 16.4 to 16.1 and the wind just wouldn't stop. Just then me took over and did an easy pull and let our average drop. Somehow we manage to keep it at 16 and came to an easy spot. This gave us some hope and at mile 10 we must have hit the end of the climb because I was able to keep the pace over 16 without hitting to high of an hr. At mile 10 myself took over and did a hard pull to get us back to 16.3, then each of the next 3 miles the average went up .1 until we were at mile 14 and at 16.6. I knew we would make the goal of over 16 mph ave for the return trip so we sat up and coasted in the last mile or so.
It just so happened that the last mile was not into the wind anymore so we ended 16 miles at 16.6 and combined with the first 20 at 19 gave us a 17.9 ave mph. I was worried there at mile 8 on the way back that evil bill was going to show up and ruin everything, but we were able to keep him under wraps, at least for the time being.
It was tough ride at the end of a tough week with 4 bikes and 3 swims, and then 12 hours of yard work/staining was still ahead. I think I should have taken Monday off from work as I really needed a vacation from my weekend
20 years ago
Well actually it's 21, but that's close enough. It was 1988, I was a junior in college at University of Florida, I got on the scale and it said less than 220. That was the last time I can remember that an accurate scale registered less than 220. Until last month. I was training for a marathon and my weight was down in the low 220's but still could not get under 220. It was warm day and I had an 8 mile run scheduled, the scale in the morning said 223. After the run I got on the scale and it was 218. Of course I knew that it was all water, but still it was nice to actually see it. The next day it was back at 224.
Then the event occurred. I finally admitted my hip was injured enough that I wouldn't be able to do the marathon. I went to the ortho doctor and he told me it was bursitis, gave me a steroid shot and said no running for 4 weeks. With 4 weeks of no running in my future, I did not want to gain back up to the low 230's where I was when I started the marathon training so I began tracking my calories in vs out and watching what I ate. Two days later I weighed 219. It was quite a shock since the last time I weighed myself it was 226. How did a lose 7 lbs in 3 days? I was going a lot, but I was also drinking a lot of water and had not exercised in 5 days so I just thought it was water lose combined with my body flushing out all the junk and figured it would go back up again.
Two weeks later I am still hovering right around 218 - 221. My scale's body fat percent has returned to what it was before the shot so no dehydration. I have resumed exercise, bike and swim and weights, but still watching the cals in vs out. I am aiming for 90% of what I need to stay at current weight so I can lose gradually without getting too hungry or sending my body into store mode. I will admit that I have been hungry probably 80% of the time for the last two weeks, but with the scale cooperating it has been easier to keep it up. So I am going to officially count it and hope that next week when I start running again I can keep it going and finally get down to the 210 - 215 mark that I really would feel comfortable with. If by some miracle I can get under 200 that would be 1985. Maybe next year on the 25th anniversary :-).
Then the event occurred. I finally admitted my hip was injured enough that I wouldn't be able to do the marathon. I went to the ortho doctor and he told me it was bursitis, gave me a steroid shot and said no running for 4 weeks. With 4 weeks of no running in my future, I did not want to gain back up to the low 230's where I was when I started the marathon training so I began tracking my calories in vs out and watching what I ate. Two days later I weighed 219. It was quite a shock since the last time I weighed myself it was 226. How did a lose 7 lbs in 3 days? I was going a lot, but I was also drinking a lot of water and had not exercised in 5 days so I just thought it was water lose combined with my body flushing out all the junk and figured it would go back up again.
Two weeks later I am still hovering right around 218 - 221. My scale's body fat percent has returned to what it was before the shot so no dehydration. I have resumed exercise, bike and swim and weights, but still watching the cals in vs out. I am aiming for 90% of what I need to stay at current weight so I can lose gradually without getting too hungry or sending my body into store mode. I will admit that I have been hungry probably 80% of the time for the last two weeks, but with the scale cooperating it has been easier to keep it up. So I am going to officially count it and hope that next week when I start running again I can keep it going and finally get down to the 210 - 215 mark that I really would feel comfortable with. If by some miracle I can get under 200 that would be 1985. Maybe next year on the 25th anniversary :-).
Saturday, March 7, 2009
National Marathon training week 19
this was supposed to be the first week of my taper. And it started off that way, but my coach emails me that I should do a big double on the weekend and add a 10 mile run on sunday instead of my swim. After some bargaining, we agree to add 2 miles to thursday, and 1 mile to saturday, then 6 on Sunday. This way I don't have to drive some where to run on Sunday, I can just run from the house and save a bunch o time and keep the wife and girl happy since i will be done before they get out of bed.
Monday: 4.5 miles
On tap for today, 4 miles easy, then 5 x 100 strides. Well it's cold and icy out so I hit the treadmill for 44 minutes easy, then do my strides of fast for 30 seconds, easy 15 seconds to end up with 48 minutes and close to 4.5 miles.
Tuesday: 7 miles
Track day, today is 4 x 1 mile at 9:45, Well the track was closed, so my 1.5 mile warmup, ended up being 2 miles and we ran around the soccer field which is 3 laps per mile instead of 4. The first two were a little fast at 9:35 and 9:39, then the 3rd one I was starting to feel good and my hr was coming down so I just decided to skip the recovery and do a 2 mile rep. in 19:05 for a 9:32 pace. Then when I finished, I decided to just cut across the field to meet the other people who were already done and waiting on the other side, when I stepped on the ice and slipped and fell. Luckily I hit the grass and not the trail, but still it hurt. I did get up and do my 1/2 mile cool down to get my 7 for the day.
Wednesday:
Did a little weight training and mulching today instead of back to the core.
Thursday: 7.1 miles
This was supposed to be 5 easy, but as noted above it got changed to 7. Felt good for the first 5. Did the umstead loop with Frank, Kendel and Melissa at about 10:10 pace then they cut off and I did the last 2 miles solo and at mile 6 really started to feel it. My legs just started hurting and getting tired. finished off my 7 and hit the showers.
Friday: day off
Woke up and was really sore, especially the whole right side of my body.
Saturday: 14 miles
Still sore, but not as bad as yesterday. I was "supposed" to do a 3 mile warmup, then 10 miles at marathon pace, then 1 mile cool down. I knew when I got up, this wasn't going to happen. The first 3 miles were painful, knees, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back, everything hurt. I was running solo today and was ready to just give up and pack it in, but somehow managed to keep myself going. Was running at shelley lake and started out towards the mall. When I hit the turn around I was just thinking, when I get back, cut off the last mile and just do 13, but once again, I managed to convince myself to finish off the run. Splits below
lap / time / ave hr
1 10:49 139
2 11:06 141
3 10:31 144
4 10:36 143
5 10:14 143
6 10:13 146
7 11:58 139 long walk to get a gel in
8 10:17 143
9 9:48 152 Best lap of the run
10 10:38 149
11 10:13 152
12 10:59 151 starting to fall apart now...
13 11:45 149 long walk
14 11:20 151 two walks
Once again, my recovery week after a long run sucked, and I'm not going to run tomorrow like I'm supposed to. It just hurt too much for the speed I was doing. I need to rest my body to get ready for the race, more than I need to get those 6 miles in. My confidence is a bit shaken again this week, but I still have hope with 2 weeks of rest, just hope the hips and legs will recover in time.
Sunday:
Woke up stiff and sore er then yesterday, no surprise there, so I took the day off, I did get in the pool, but just to watch the girl swim and make sure she didn't drown.
weekly miles: 33
Monday: 4.5 miles
On tap for today, 4 miles easy, then 5 x 100 strides. Well it's cold and icy out so I hit the treadmill for 44 minutes easy, then do my strides of fast for 30 seconds, easy 15 seconds to end up with 48 minutes and close to 4.5 miles.
Tuesday: 7 miles
Track day, today is 4 x 1 mile at 9:45, Well the track was closed, so my 1.5 mile warmup, ended up being 2 miles and we ran around the soccer field which is 3 laps per mile instead of 4. The first two were a little fast at 9:35 and 9:39, then the 3rd one I was starting to feel good and my hr was coming down so I just decided to skip the recovery and do a 2 mile rep. in 19:05 for a 9:32 pace. Then when I finished, I decided to just cut across the field to meet the other people who were already done and waiting on the other side, when I stepped on the ice and slipped and fell. Luckily I hit the grass and not the trail, but still it hurt. I did get up and do my 1/2 mile cool down to get my 7 for the day.
Wednesday:
Did a little weight training and mulching today instead of back to the core.
Thursday: 7.1 miles
This was supposed to be 5 easy, but as noted above it got changed to 7. Felt good for the first 5. Did the umstead loop with Frank, Kendel and Melissa at about 10:10 pace then they cut off and I did the last 2 miles solo and at mile 6 really started to feel it. My legs just started hurting and getting tired. finished off my 7 and hit the showers.
Friday: day off
Woke up and was really sore, especially the whole right side of my body.
Saturday: 14 miles
Still sore, but not as bad as yesterday. I was "supposed" to do a 3 mile warmup, then 10 miles at marathon pace, then 1 mile cool down. I knew when I got up, this wasn't going to happen. The first 3 miles were painful, knees, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back, everything hurt. I was running solo today and was ready to just give up and pack it in, but somehow managed to keep myself going. Was running at shelley lake and started out towards the mall. When I hit the turn around I was just thinking, when I get back, cut off the last mile and just do 13, but once again, I managed to convince myself to finish off the run. Splits below
lap / time / ave hr
1 10:49 139
2 11:06 141
3 10:31 144
4 10:36 143
5 10:14 143
6 10:13 146
7 11:58 139 long walk to get a gel in
8 10:17 143
9 9:48 152 Best lap of the run
10 10:38 149
11 10:13 152
12 10:59 151 starting to fall apart now...
13 11:45 149 long walk
14 11:20 151 two walks
Once again, my recovery week after a long run sucked, and I'm not going to run tomorrow like I'm supposed to. It just hurt too much for the speed I was doing. I need to rest my body to get ready for the race, more than I need to get those 6 miles in. My confidence is a bit shaken again this week, but I still have hope with 2 weeks of rest, just hope the hips and legs will recover in time.
Sunday:
Woke up stiff and sore er then yesterday, no surprise there, so I took the day off, I did get in the pool, but just to watch the girl swim and make sure she didn't drown.
weekly miles: 33
Thursday, February 26, 2009
National Marathon Training week 18
This is the last big week before the taper begins. I'm a little nervous as my last big run was not so good, and then I got sick so my next 20 miler was actually 0. Coming off of coach bubba I started feeling a bit better so my confidence is growing.
Monday: 5 miles
5 mile easy recovery run. It was cold, very cold, like 28 degrees in the morning when I went out. usually when I wear my thick running gloves, they come off after 1 mile, but today it was mile 3. I took it easy and stayed in zone 3 except for the big hill at mile 4, and then I did my 5 x 100 meter strides at the end.
Tuesday: 8 miles
today's track workout was 1 mile warmup, 3 x 2 miles at just under marathon pace, 1 mile cool down. I decided to do 2 x 3 miles instead to make it go by faster. Felt pretty good on these, my hr was hovering right around zone 4, and I would prefer it to be 3.8, but as my hip and legs felt good the whole time and just zoned out on the heavy metal it was alright.
Wednesday: swim 1.2
Did a little bit harder swim today than usual, but still felt good and worked on my breathing technique and keeping my legs up.
Thursday: 6 miles
I had an easy 6 miles today, so I ran down harrison to black creek, at the point where I would turn back for the 4 mile loop I just kept going for another mile and back and made 6. kept hr low except on the hill back up to harrison. Felt good on the hills and hips and legs still feeling good. Friday is off and my confidence is growing, but still Saturday looms and now it's going to be rainy and cold. oh joy.
Friday:
day off
Saturday: 20 miles
on the plan was 22 miles at comfortable pace. This one could get a little wordy since it was a really long run. Friday comes along and the forecast for the weekend is 50 degrees and steady rain all day long saturday. I'm thinking maybe sunday this week, but then I look at sunday and it's 30's and rain all day, so back to Saturday. So I wake up Saturday morning, eat breakfast and start to get ready. The phone rings and it's downstairs, but I know it's Erin, calling to say she is not going. I get the phone mail, and it's Erin, saying she is not going. So I call her back and tell her I am going anyway and it's ok that she isn't going. She tries to convince me to go tuesday, but I am so ready to get this over and start tapering and it's really only 4 hours out of my life and I need to be done so I can have the next 21 days to rest and get ready. Anyway she changes her mind and is going to go. We start off and head towards umstead from north cary park, the first few miles not so good but then we get to the airport overlook and things level off and I start feeling a bit better. We loop around and head up the spill way, my favorite hill, only had to walk once, then at the top we head to the rest rooms for a quick pit stop before heading down harrison. Next we turn down ready creek to cary cafe, pick up an extra mile in the cary slums behind the cafe and then head down harrison to pick the greenway back up. Things are still going good when we hit dynasty and take a nice walk break up the mean hill, then decide to loop back to maynard via sudbury to get two more miles in so we don't have to go back up to the airport overlook. We run until we get back to the mean hill on dynasty, then run back to north cary park. Now we are on mile 16 and once again my legs/feet start the normal after 16 revolt so I give Erin the key and send her on her way. After the turn around at the gate, i am resigned to walk 30 seconds, run to the next 1/4 mile post, then walk 30 seconds, until I reach the 20 mile mark and then I am done. This run didn't really help my confidence as it was at 11 min pace so I am hoping the taper and rest will help, but have already started lowering my expectations and questioning if I am really cut out to do marathons. I guess part of the draw for me is the fact that it is such a challenge, but I was really hoping this time I might be able to get to the point where 18 - 20 didn't just kill me and make me suffer as much.
Sunday:
standard sunday swim except legs are really sore and lower back not feeling good. Did my swim and some stretching in the pool then got out to start my birthday...
weekly miles: 39
Monday: 5 miles
5 mile easy recovery run. It was cold, very cold, like 28 degrees in the morning when I went out. usually when I wear my thick running gloves, they come off after 1 mile, but today it was mile 3. I took it easy and stayed in zone 3 except for the big hill at mile 4, and then I did my 5 x 100 meter strides at the end.
Tuesday: 8 miles
today's track workout was 1 mile warmup, 3 x 2 miles at just under marathon pace, 1 mile cool down. I decided to do 2 x 3 miles instead to make it go by faster. Felt pretty good on these, my hr was hovering right around zone 4, and I would prefer it to be 3.8, but as my hip and legs felt good the whole time and just zoned out on the heavy metal it was alright.
Wednesday: swim 1.2
Did a little bit harder swim today than usual, but still felt good and worked on my breathing technique and keeping my legs up.
Thursday: 6 miles
I had an easy 6 miles today, so I ran down harrison to black creek, at the point where I would turn back for the 4 mile loop I just kept going for another mile and back and made 6. kept hr low except on the hill back up to harrison. Felt good on the hills and hips and legs still feeling good. Friday is off and my confidence is growing, but still Saturday looms and now it's going to be rainy and cold. oh joy.
Friday:
day off
Saturday: 20 miles
on the plan was 22 miles at comfortable pace. This one could get a little wordy since it was a really long run. Friday comes along and the forecast for the weekend is 50 degrees and steady rain all day long saturday. I'm thinking maybe sunday this week, but then I look at sunday and it's 30's and rain all day, so back to Saturday. So I wake up Saturday morning, eat breakfast and start to get ready. The phone rings and it's downstairs, but I know it's Erin, calling to say she is not going. I get the phone mail, and it's Erin, saying she is not going. So I call her back and tell her I am going anyway and it's ok that she isn't going. She tries to convince me to go tuesday, but I am so ready to get this over and start tapering and it's really only 4 hours out of my life and I need to be done so I can have the next 21 days to rest and get ready. Anyway she changes her mind and is going to go. We start off and head towards umstead from north cary park, the first few miles not so good but then we get to the airport overlook and things level off and I start feeling a bit better. We loop around and head up the spill way, my favorite hill, only had to walk once, then at the top we head to the rest rooms for a quick pit stop before heading down harrison. Next we turn down ready creek to cary cafe, pick up an extra mile in the cary slums behind the cafe and then head down harrison to pick the greenway back up. Things are still going good when we hit dynasty and take a nice walk break up the mean hill, then decide to loop back to maynard via sudbury to get two more miles in so we don't have to go back up to the airport overlook. We run until we get back to the mean hill on dynasty, then run back to north cary park. Now we are on mile 16 and once again my legs/feet start the normal after 16 revolt so I give Erin the key and send her on her way. After the turn around at the gate, i am resigned to walk 30 seconds, run to the next 1/4 mile post, then walk 30 seconds, until I reach the 20 mile mark and then I am done. This run didn't really help my confidence as it was at 11 min pace so I am hoping the taper and rest will help, but have already started lowering my expectations and questioning if I am really cut out to do marathons. I guess part of the draw for me is the fact that it is such a challenge, but I was really hoping this time I might be able to get to the point where 18 - 20 didn't just kill me and make me suffer as much.
Sunday:
standard sunday swim except legs are really sore and lower back not feeling good. Did my swim and some stretching in the pool then got out to start my birthday...
weekly miles: 39
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Coach Bubba Race Report
Gotta do this while it's still fresh in my head...
Started off about 2.5 miles away from the race. Since I only ran 4 miles total the week before my original race plan was out the door and I was supposed to run 17 miles total for the day. I ran the 2.5 mile warmup, then got my chip and hit the bathroom and waited for the start. Started off with Cindy, who was not thinking today :-), but lost her at about the 1/2 mile mark. I was hoping to stay around 10 min pace through the beginning hilly part in the neighborhoods, then when I hit the tobacco trail, see what I could do.
Mile 1 was 9:50 and I had to constantly slow myself or I would have gone too fast.
Mile 2 was 9:42, but now I really had that feeling that I needed to go so I was looking for somewhere, but nothing
Mile 3 was 10:58, found a port a let and had to wait for one person, but better than going in someones front yard.
Mile 4 was 9:41, this pace was good and I was feeling good even on the hills
Mile 5 10:07, this was the hilliest mile of the race
Mile 6 9:32, Feeling good, but probably going too fast
Mile 7 9:46, with a walk break at the rest stop, I was planning to take a gel at this stop, and I did, but I was doing 9:15 when I came on the rest stop and after I hit the gel and got some water, it almost came right back up. Had to coast a while to recover.
Mile 8, 9:38 feeling good again and picking up the pace to try to break 2 hours.
Mile 9, 10:17 oops, had a gatorade at the turn around and once again had to hold it back or it was coming back up, and now my stomach was feeling sour. Time to abandon my hopes of breaking 2 hours. the plan now was just hold marathon race pace.
Mile 10, 9:44 doing ok, but stomach not happy
Mile 11, 9:48 starting to feel better, but this is mile 13.5 for me and my legs are saying, um you haven't held sub 10's for this long before what are you thinking?
Mile 12, 10:29 walk break at the last water stop. Just got water and it went down fine.
Mile 12.5, 4:27 for a 9:29 pace, it was all I could do to not take a walk break at the mile 12 sign, but there was a nice lady there cheering us on and I just couldn't do it to HER.
When I got done I was supposed to do a 2 mile cool down for 17 total, but did not. Instead I caught a ride to breakfast and my car. The way I was feeling it was for the best...
I really do like this race and all the miles I've put in made the hilly section easier. I think I could have broken 2 hours this year, but the 2.5 mile warmup and the bathroom break and then the gels did not help. I was taking nutrition for 17 miles, but doing a pace for 12.5 miles, not really the best way to do it. Live and learn.
Started off about 2.5 miles away from the race. Since I only ran 4 miles total the week before my original race plan was out the door and I was supposed to run 17 miles total for the day. I ran the 2.5 mile warmup, then got my chip and hit the bathroom and waited for the start. Started off with Cindy, who was not thinking today :-), but lost her at about the 1/2 mile mark. I was hoping to stay around 10 min pace through the beginning hilly part in the neighborhoods, then when I hit the tobacco trail, see what I could do.
Mile 1 was 9:50 and I had to constantly slow myself or I would have gone too fast.
Mile 2 was 9:42, but now I really had that feeling that I needed to go so I was looking for somewhere, but nothing
Mile 3 was 10:58, found a port a let and had to wait for one person, but better than going in someones front yard.
Mile 4 was 9:41, this pace was good and I was feeling good even on the hills
Mile 5 10:07, this was the hilliest mile of the race
Mile 6 9:32, Feeling good, but probably going too fast
Mile 7 9:46, with a walk break at the rest stop, I was planning to take a gel at this stop, and I did, but I was doing 9:15 when I came on the rest stop and after I hit the gel and got some water, it almost came right back up. Had to coast a while to recover.
Mile 8, 9:38 feeling good again and picking up the pace to try to break 2 hours.
Mile 9, 10:17 oops, had a gatorade at the turn around and once again had to hold it back or it was coming back up, and now my stomach was feeling sour. Time to abandon my hopes of breaking 2 hours. the plan now was just hold marathon race pace.
Mile 10, 9:44 doing ok, but stomach not happy
Mile 11, 9:48 starting to feel better, but this is mile 13.5 for me and my legs are saying, um you haven't held sub 10's for this long before what are you thinking?
Mile 12, 10:29 walk break at the last water stop. Just got water and it went down fine.
Mile 12.5, 4:27 for a 9:29 pace, it was all I could do to not take a walk break at the mile 12 sign, but there was a nice lady there cheering us on and I just couldn't do it to HER.
When I got done I was supposed to do a 2 mile cool down for 17 total, but did not. Instead I caught a ride to breakfast and my car. The way I was feeling it was for the best...
I really do like this race and all the miles I've put in made the hilly section easier. I think I could have broken 2 hours this year, but the 2.5 mile warmup and the bathroom break and then the gels did not help. I was taking nutrition for 17 miles, but doing a pace for 12.5 miles, not really the best way to do it. Live and learn.
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