 |
| Kelly |
January 1, 2011
So it turns out I remembered to take everything I needed to Kelly's house except for the throw away sweatshirt I bought at Wal-Mart and my bagel with peanut butter ... neither of which are irreplaceable! We make the drive, bundle up to walk down for packet pick-up, and hide in my car until we absolutely HAVE to go back out in the cold. But finally it's time - I have to say, this is my least favorite part of race day. Waiting in the cold for the gun. *UGH* My second-least favorite part? The first 3 miles.
It took me a long time to find a comfort zone during this race. I'm always afraid to go out too fast, afraid that I'll be too concerned about my time goal and start so quick that I'll totally blow it in the end. I didn't have too many good long runs during this training cycle and that had me pretty worried. I kept White Rock in the back of my head. I PR'd that half just 4 weeks before, and I felt strong when I finished .. so I KNEW that I had to at least cross the finish in 2:32. The first 3ish miles were just miserable. I was fidgeting with my iPod shuffle, trying to get warmed up, trying to get "in the zone". I think it took me almost 36 or 37 minutes to run the first few ... this was heartbreaking. If I kept this pace up, I would finish slower than WR. I skipped over my intervals for a couple repetitions (I was doing a walk/run ration of 3/1) to make up some time. Here's what the first few looked like - I'm putting down the run pace as well as the walk pace (run/walk alternating):
10:46, 14:56, 11:18, 14:37, 10:39, 12:34, 11:06, 17:05, 13:04, 17:18, 10:49,14:52, 11:36, 10:35, 11:03, 15:04. As you can see, I'm all over the place!
After a while, I found my groove. Kelly was at the halfway point, the mile 7 water stop. When I got to her, I needed to be no more than an hour and 15 min into it. It's hard not to stare at the Garmin every second when I'm going for a time goal, but I looked down around mile 5, hoping that I was under 60min ... and I was sitting right around 55min. That gave me a HUGE boost. I was back on track. I passed Kelly at the mile 7 stop and was able to tell her my time so far - 1:15 (I think). So far, so good. I kept saying to myself, "can't slow down, can't slow down."
10:45, 14:16, 10:15, 14:27, 10:29, 13:57, 10:05, 13:53, 10:34, 14:45, 10:21, 14:33, 10:14, 14:11, 10:29, 15:40, 10:55, 14:18, 10:21, 15:07, 10:26, 14:07, 10:26, 13:30, 10:12, 13:57, 10:27, 14:03, 9:57, 13:30, 10:00, 14:35, 10:11, 14:12, 10:20, 13:54, 10:18, 13:54, 10:11, 13:43, 10:03, 15:17, 10:25, 14:57, 10:55 ... (It's a lot of numbers, I know!)
There was a woman (in front of me, I should say) that was walking the race ... power walking. During the first few miles, she was ahead of me and my struggle to keep a 12min pace. As far as walking was concerned, she was booking it! I passed her (thank goodness!), but I wanted to find her at the end and thank her. I've never thought too much about my walking pace until recently. According to Jeff Galloway and his interval plan, if you keep a fast walk, you should only lose around 15-30sec off your mile pace. I'd been losing somewhere around/above 1min. But when I saw her walk, everything that I've been reading about came to life. My walk is just as important as my run. It's not a "rest", but a recovery. It's not a time to wipe the sweat off my brow and enjoy the scenery, it's a moment that saves my body from tiring too quickly. (More on this later in a blog entry I will dedicate to Jeff Galloway and his intervals). So I copied her. I was able to keep my walk pace much quicker than I have tried to during training runs, which I have NO DOUBT helped me hit my PR.
The last 6 miles were somewhat boring. I hate to say it, but the course wasn't exactly thrilling. There were so many little loop-de-loops - I felt like I had run 7 miles in place and wasn't gaining ground. I think I crossed the same bridge 4 times!! Then it happened. Mile 10. I looked at my watch and realized that even if I walked the last 3 miles at 14min pace, I would at least finish in 2:30. I could feel the emotion creep up my throat and I had to force myself to not cry! It wasn't over just yet!! Man, that last mile is the worst!! You know you're SOOO close - that's when the tired sets in for me. I had already grasped that I was about to PR, and walking the last mile wouldn't effect that too much, but I wanted to run!! I came around the corner at the last stretch and there was Michelle. That was it, the tears were coming. She tried to talk to me as she was running me in, but I had to *shush* her - if I opened my mouth the tears would flow and that might slow me down. Then I looked up and saw my mom, dad and sister. Nothing but emotion after that.
14:52, 10:25, 15:12, 10:46, 15:07, 10:46, 14:48, run through to the finish 11:38, 10:46 10:39, 9:57, last .15 @ 8:54 ...
10:45, 14:16, 10:15, 14:27, 10:29, 13:57, 10:05, 13:53, 10:34, 14:45, 10:21, 14:33, 10:14, 14:11, 10:29, 15:40, 10:55, 14:18, 10:21, 15:07, 10:26, 14:07, 10:26, 13:30, 10:12, 13:57, 10:27, 14:03, 9:57, 13:30, 10:00, 14:35, 10:11, 14:12, 10:20, 13:54, 10:18, 13:54, 10:11, 13:43, 10:03, 15:17, 10:25, 14:57, 10:55 ... (It's a lot of numbers, I know!)
There was a woman (in front of me, I should say) that was walking the race ... power walking. During the first few miles, she was ahead of me and my struggle to keep a 12min pace. As far as walking was concerned, she was booking it! I passed her (thank goodness!), but I wanted to find her at the end and thank her. I've never thought too much about my walking pace until recently. According to Jeff Galloway and his interval plan, if you keep a fast walk, you should only lose around 15-30sec off your mile pace. I'd been losing somewhere around/above 1min. But when I saw her walk, everything that I've been reading about came to life. My walk is just as important as my run. It's not a "rest", but a recovery. It's not a time to wipe the sweat off my brow and enjoy the scenery, it's a moment that saves my body from tiring too quickly. (More on this later in a blog entry I will dedicate to Jeff Galloway and his intervals). So I copied her. I was able to keep my walk pace much quicker than I have tried to during training runs, which I have NO DOUBT helped me hit my PR.
The last 6 miles were somewhat boring. I hate to say it, but the course wasn't exactly thrilling. There were so many little loop-de-loops - I felt like I had run 7 miles in place and wasn't gaining ground. I think I crossed the same bridge 4 times!! Then it happened. Mile 10. I looked at my watch and realized that even if I walked the last 3 miles at 14min pace, I would at least finish in 2:30. I could feel the emotion creep up my throat and I had to force myself to not cry! It wasn't over just yet!! Man, that last mile is the worst!! You know you're SOOO close - that's when the tired sets in for me. I had already grasped that I was about to PR, and walking the last mile wouldn't effect that too much, but I wanted to run!! I came around the corner at the last stretch and there was Michelle. That was it, the tears were coming. She tried to talk to me as she was running me in, but I had to *shush* her - if I opened my mouth the tears would flow and that might slow me down. Then I looked up and saw my mom, dad and sister. Nothing but emotion after that. 14:52, 10:25, 15:12, 10:46, 15:07, 10:46, 14:48, run through to the finish 11:38, 10:46 10:39, 9:57, last .15 @ 8:54 ...
Official time and Personal Record! 2:25:33
No comments:
Post a Comment