she's gotta be strong / and she's gotta be fast
My nitty gritty race report (part 1) of the Pittsburgh Half Marathon from yesterday, which I finished in 2:00:50, while dressed in costume (costume details are next post).
the race
The preface to the race seemed like it was going well in March, but then April happened. I suspect training a little too enthusiastically was a likely contributor to my fracture, which then kept me from running for most of the 5 weeks immediately leading up to the race. Not the best circumstances.
On race day I woke up slightly late, which wasn't a problem as I had budgeted plenty of time, although I did opt to skip breakfast as I was too jittery. But I didn't count on being turned around as I approached my intended bike parking spot, and having to go the long way around, nor did I count on the slight change in start location. This meant that I got stuck further back in the start mob than I wanted, nowhere in sight of the 2:00/4:00 pacers I had really hoped to follow. By the time my section moved to the start, I was only near the 4:45 pace group, and surrounded by people running 10-11 minute miles, when I wanted to be doing 9s. So the first two miles were spent alternating dodging other runners, getting stuck behind slow clumps, and hopping up on the sidewalk to sprint ahead. Amazingly, I kept to my intended pace on average, but I'm sure I expended way more energy than I should have in the process. It took me until I caught up to the 4:15 group before I realized that if I ever actually caught the 4:00 group, I'd be ridiculously ahead of my time by the finish, and that probably wasn't reasonable. So once the pack evened out I just held my pace and did the rest of the race alone.
The 10k mark went by and I was still doing reasonable well and a minute or so ahead of my goal, although definitely tired. I had also managed to give about a zillion high fives, which was great. At 8 miles I was still on target, but shortly thereafter I started majorly lagging, similar to last year. I lost about 3 minutes in the next 2-2.5 miles, which made me fairly sure I was not going to make my goal. But, well, what could I do but keep running? On the theory that it might simply be calories, I grabbed a half powerbar and a few cups of gatorade at the next few stops, which tasted pretty good (except for the icky aftertaste, as I suspect they used the splenda-enhanced versions), so it may or may not have helped.
Mile 11 was the bottom of the last bridge, with the big hill to go, but I did this one last year and knew it was there. I decided just to attack it, and I did, either with the renewed caloric energy or perhaps with just sheer stubbornness. The top of the hill around mile 12 came and I just hurt. My feet hurt and my knees hurt and my hips hurt but a glance at my clock and I realized I actually was reasonably close to the 2 hour mark after all, with mostly downhill to go, so I pushed on as hard as I could, damn all the hurting things. I think I hit 2:00 right around mile 13, and the finish shortly thereafter.
Afterwards, everything from my waist down hurt. A lot. I zombie-hobbled down the finish stretch into the park, grabbing water and some carbs along the way. I checked my final time, ate more food, and got one of the most needed massages of my life, which helped mostly everything but my right knee. Changed into dry clothes and attempted to bike back home, but after about 3 blocks I realized that my knee was not going to be at all happy with that, so I just slowly rode the flat trail and hitched a ride with Xuth at the end. At home was a shower and a very delightful nap and then a very rewarding beer.
It feels SO GOOD to not be running right now.
+/-
+ Totally a PR! I beat last year's time by almost 10 minutes. Detailed results from Xacte.
- didn't beat my 2:00 goal. Although all things considered, I'm also not terribly surprised (or disappointed)
+ Right foot (the fractured one) didn't bother me at all!
- Might have injured the left. Fortunately it's mostly stopped bothering me a day later.
+ Left knee didn't bother me at all, and neither really got swollen!
- Right knee had a big flare up of the PFPS from 1.5 years ago. At least this time I know what it is and how to treat it. I'm putting myself on a strict no running, only gentle biking, and lots of yoga/stretches body diet for the next week.
+ Nothing else actually injured, afaict! Every other muscle in my body is sore, but it's just regular soreness.
- OMG sore. Everything hurts. Going down stairs really sucks. Fortunately, massage and yoga and alcohol have been helping a lot.
+ Ran with a SUPER AWESOME costume that I MADE MYSELF and got lots of positive attention for it.
- Forgot to get any pictures of myself at the finish line and race photos are stupid expensive. (I do have some photo evidence, though. next post!)
for next year
- Figure out how to run more and more regularly over winter so I don't try to go from 0-20 MPW as soon as spring thaw hits. Also probably get slightly more padded shoes.
- Figure out how much and when to eat things on runs >10miles so I don't run out of everything. Probably includes eating breakfast.
- Take care of my knee and strengthen up all those muscles and hips. Also remember to check my form when I'm exhausted.
- Find the pacers pre-race! Or at least be at the start or end of the corral, not the middle. Approach the start line from a side street, as the masses in the main road completely blocked forward progress.
- Totally doing the costume thing again.
the race
The preface to the race seemed like it was going well in March, but then April happened. I suspect training a little too enthusiastically was a likely contributor to my fracture, which then kept me from running for most of the 5 weeks immediately leading up to the race. Not the best circumstances.
On race day I woke up slightly late, which wasn't a problem as I had budgeted plenty of time, although I did opt to skip breakfast as I was too jittery. But I didn't count on being turned around as I approached my intended bike parking spot, and having to go the long way around, nor did I count on the slight change in start location. This meant that I got stuck further back in the start mob than I wanted, nowhere in sight of the 2:00/4:00 pacers I had really hoped to follow. By the time my section moved to the start, I was only near the 4:45 pace group, and surrounded by people running 10-11 minute miles, when I wanted to be doing 9s. So the first two miles were spent alternating dodging other runners, getting stuck behind slow clumps, and hopping up on the sidewalk to sprint ahead. Amazingly, I kept to my intended pace on average, but I'm sure I expended way more energy than I should have in the process. It took me until I caught up to the 4:15 group before I realized that if I ever actually caught the 4:00 group, I'd be ridiculously ahead of my time by the finish, and that probably wasn't reasonable. So once the pack evened out I just held my pace and did the rest of the race alone.
The 10k mark went by and I was still doing reasonable well and a minute or so ahead of my goal, although definitely tired. I had also managed to give about a zillion high fives, which was great. At 8 miles I was still on target, but shortly thereafter I started majorly lagging, similar to last year. I lost about 3 minutes in the next 2-2.5 miles, which made me fairly sure I was not going to make my goal. But, well, what could I do but keep running? On the theory that it might simply be calories, I grabbed a half powerbar and a few cups of gatorade at the next few stops, which tasted pretty good (except for the icky aftertaste, as I suspect they used the splenda-enhanced versions), so it may or may not have helped.
Mile 11 was the bottom of the last bridge, with the big hill to go, but I did this one last year and knew it was there. I decided just to attack it, and I did, either with the renewed caloric energy or perhaps with just sheer stubbornness. The top of the hill around mile 12 came and I just hurt. My feet hurt and my knees hurt and my hips hurt but a glance at my clock and I realized I actually was reasonably close to the 2 hour mark after all, with mostly downhill to go, so I pushed on as hard as I could, damn all the hurting things. I think I hit 2:00 right around mile 13, and the finish shortly thereafter.
Afterwards, everything from my waist down hurt. A lot. I zombie-hobbled down the finish stretch into the park, grabbing water and some carbs along the way. I checked my final time, ate more food, and got one of the most needed massages of my life, which helped mostly everything but my right knee. Changed into dry clothes and attempted to bike back home, but after about 3 blocks I realized that my knee was not going to be at all happy with that, so I just slowly rode the flat trail and hitched a ride with Xuth at the end. At home was a shower and a very delightful nap and then a very rewarding beer.
It feels SO GOOD to not be running right now.
+/-
+ Totally a PR! I beat last year's time by almost 10 minutes. Detailed results from Xacte.
- didn't beat my 2:00 goal. Although all things considered, I'm also not terribly surprised (or disappointed)
+ Right foot (the fractured one) didn't bother me at all!
- Might have injured the left. Fortunately it's mostly stopped bothering me a day later.
+ Left knee didn't bother me at all, and neither really got swollen!
- Right knee had a big flare up of the PFPS from 1.5 years ago. At least this time I know what it is and how to treat it. I'm putting myself on a strict no running, only gentle biking, and lots of yoga/stretches body diet for the next week.
+ Nothing else actually injured, afaict! Every other muscle in my body is sore, but it's just regular soreness.
- OMG sore. Everything hurts. Going down stairs really sucks. Fortunately, massage and yoga and alcohol have been helping a lot.
+ Ran with a SUPER AWESOME costume that I MADE MYSELF and got lots of positive attention for it.
- Forgot to get any pictures of myself at the finish line and race photos are stupid expensive. (I do have some photo evidence, though. next post!)
for next year
- Figure out how to run more and more regularly over winter so I don't try to go from 0-20 MPW as soon as spring thaw hits. Also probably get slightly more padded shoes.
- Figure out how much and when to eat things on runs >10miles so I don't run out of everything. Probably includes eating breakfast.
- Take care of my knee and strengthen up all those muscles and hips. Also remember to check my form when I'm exhausted.
- Find the pacers pre-race! Or at least be at the start or end of the corral, not the middle. Approach the start line from a side street, as the masses in the main road completely blocked forward progress.
- Totally doing the costume thing again.