don't think just run; south shore half marathon
Today's race is supposed to be a warm up for Green Bay in 5 weeks. When I think about how I felt at the finish, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have been able to turn around and do it all again.
But, that said, I ran it like a race, not a training run, and managed to PR with a time of 2:08:25, a full minute and seven seconds faster than last year on the same course. As for the conditions, well, let's just say that they were the same in most aspects, and worse or better in others. Last year: 30 degrees, flurries, heavy wind off the lake the whole time. This year; 39 degrees, rain/drizzle, start with little wind from the north (tailwind), which picked up steadily as the race went on, and blasted the last 5 miles with strong, constant wind in the face. Add to that ankle deep standing water in about 10 places on the course, with the option of running through it and soaking your shoes and legs, or running around it through the ankle deep mud.
I love running. And mud. No surprise that I'm trying to be an archaeologist.
In any case: Mile 1 took me 9 minutes, mile two was 18:09, mile three was 27:20, etc so I kept my goal pace for the first half of the race, with a split of 1 hour, 1 minute and some change at the turn around of 6.55 miles. I was feeling a bit tired from my heavy, wet shoes by the time I got there. Had a GU near mile 6 at the water station; I still don't know if those things actually help. In those first few miles, I was just enjoying the run on the familiar territory and picking off people, stayed behind one guy with abnormally (even for a runner) nice looking calves, sort of watching his feet and imagining that he was doing all the work and I was just sort of floating back there. I am definitely a head case when it comes to running, always worrying about times and strategizing, and thinking about little twinges and tiredness, so the poor conditions on the course gave me something to think about, like not wiping out on the slippery mud.
By the turn around, I could tell the wind was going to be bad coming back. The first mile (from about 6.5-7.5) back is in a relatively wooded area, so the wind wasn't bad, but my pace was down to about a 10:15/20 mile. I've never been much of a mantra runner, but the squishing and water made the steps especially loud, and I setting into a rhythm of don't think just run don't think just run for miles 7-9. At 9 (by the shooting range, i believe) we came out into the open for the entire stretch basically past the golf course, through Sheridan, and down right along the open beach/lakefront, and the wind was just brutal. I just checked the weather and currently, the wind is 18 mph from the north, with gusts of up to 34 mph. Yeah, that sounds about right. I was getting tired by the end, and the wind was so hard to run in to (just like last year, actually). I remember the points where I walked (the trees at the S. end of the valley, up the hill by the condos) and I just kept running, slow but kept running because I knew that if I was going to beat my time, those were the points to pick up the seconds. The last 2 miles sucked. I'm pretty sure I was running between a 10:40 and 11 minute pace... hmm, quick math: The first half of the race (let's pick a time of 1:01:30) is a pace of 9:23, whereas the last half (a time of 1:06:55)is a 10:13 pace. A difference of almost 50 seconds. And phew, that's the most math I've done in a long time!! It seems that it was more of a gradual slowdown than a run into a wind-wall, so I'm wondering if my training had anything to do with it.
It was a good race today, a good solid run. My mom and dad were out there to see it, and I really felt great about getting out there and doing this.
I'm a bit concerned about the full marathon coming up because I just haven't had the time to train as much as I did for the last one, but I'm sure that if I can do a half, I can do a full.
That's all for now.
Miles today: 31.1
Miles on the Supernova Tigers (which performed really well, and I'm definitely using them in the marathon): 18.1
Miles this week: 20.1
Miles in 2008: 198.1 (kinda makes me wanna do a two miler tomorrow!)
But, that said, I ran it like a race, not a training run, and managed to PR with a time of 2:08:25, a full minute and seven seconds faster than last year on the same course. As for the conditions, well, let's just say that they were the same in most aspects, and worse or better in others. Last year: 30 degrees, flurries, heavy wind off the lake the whole time. This year; 39 degrees, rain/drizzle, start with little wind from the north (tailwind), which picked up steadily as the race went on, and blasted the last 5 miles with strong, constant wind in the face. Add to that ankle deep standing water in about 10 places on the course, with the option of running through it and soaking your shoes and legs, or running around it through the ankle deep mud.
I love running. And mud. No surprise that I'm trying to be an archaeologist.
In any case: Mile 1 took me 9 minutes, mile two was 18:09, mile three was 27:20, etc so I kept my goal pace for the first half of the race, with a split of 1 hour, 1 minute and some change at the turn around of 6.55 miles. I was feeling a bit tired from my heavy, wet shoes by the time I got there. Had a GU near mile 6 at the water station; I still don't know if those things actually help. In those first few miles, I was just enjoying the run on the familiar territory and picking off people, stayed behind one guy with abnormally (even for a runner) nice looking calves, sort of watching his feet and imagining that he was doing all the work and I was just sort of floating back there. I am definitely a head case when it comes to running, always worrying about times and strategizing, and thinking about little twinges and tiredness, so the poor conditions on the course gave me something to think about, like not wiping out on the slippery mud.
By the turn around, I could tell the wind was going to be bad coming back. The first mile (from about 6.5-7.5) back is in a relatively wooded area, so the wind wasn't bad, but my pace was down to about a 10:15/20 mile. I've never been much of a mantra runner, but the squishing and water made the steps especially loud, and I setting into a rhythm of don't think just run don't think just run for miles 7-9. At 9 (by the shooting range, i believe) we came out into the open for the entire stretch basically past the golf course, through Sheridan, and down right along the open beach/lakefront, and the wind was just brutal. I just checked the weather and currently, the wind is 18 mph from the north, with gusts of up to 34 mph. Yeah, that sounds about right. I was getting tired by the end, and the wind was so hard to run in to (just like last year, actually). I remember the points where I walked (the trees at the S. end of the valley, up the hill by the condos) and I just kept running, slow but kept running because I knew that if I was going to beat my time, those were the points to pick up the seconds. The last 2 miles sucked. I'm pretty sure I was running between a 10:40 and 11 minute pace... hmm, quick math: The first half of the race (let's pick a time of 1:01:30) is a pace of 9:23, whereas the last half (a time of 1:06:55)is a 10:13 pace. A difference of almost 50 seconds. And phew, that's the most math I've done in a long time!! It seems that it was more of a gradual slowdown than a run into a wind-wall, so I'm wondering if my training had anything to do with it.
It was a good race today, a good solid run. My mom and dad were out there to see it, and I really felt great about getting out there and doing this.
I'm a bit concerned about the full marathon coming up because I just haven't had the time to train as much as I did for the last one, but I'm sure that if I can do a half, I can do a full.
That's all for now.
Miles today: 31.1
Miles on the Supernova Tigers (which performed really well, and I'm definitely using them in the marathon): 18.1
Miles this week: 20.1
Miles in 2008: 198.1 (kinda makes me wanna do a two miler tomorrow!)