This weekend as we made our way to our half marathon and lingered about the starting/finishing area we were given Boston Strong stickers to adorn as we ran. It was a nice touch. Often times as I was running thru my half I’d look down at my sticker and as it started to bubble up and want to fly away with the wind I felt the need to constantly press it back down to grasp onto any amount of stickiness it might possess despite the torments of my own body sweat and eventual rain and wind that would come down upon it. I am not even sure why I felt so inclined, but alas, I kept pounding my fist over the sticker to ensure its survival. Perhaps it was an activity to keep me entertained upon the run, or perhaps it was some deeper meaning that I felt proud to be running and wanted to acknowledge the significance of the Boston marathon and all it stands for.
The more half’s I run, the more I begin to think about proper care and conditioning for them. By that I mean, I am considering the fuel I am using, the prep that I take or do not take as the case may be. Most half’s the first couple miles are simply terrible for me on the energy front. This particular one I felt great, but I drank some good energy drink before running and that really helped. Of course over the duration of 2 plus hours I start to burn out, but I burn out no matter what which leaves me wondering if I actually carried some energy drink substance in a bottle with me on the course would I be able to push thru more efficiently at the end? Just a thought. Also, as I was running I noticed a lot of women had that tape on their legs and wondered if perhaps the one area that always seems to end up a little tight would benefit from a little tape. And of course as the final 2 miles were run in rain and wind yet again I started to feel that sock rub against the shoes, i.e., blisters. I do not; have never gotten blisters from just running. It is the addition of rain that brings them on. The thought finally occurred to me that if there is the slightest chance of rain in the forecast perhaps I should apply some blister prevention shit to my feet beforehand.
And of course, I do good physically post runs, but I always get slight digestive issues. That is my only post run body malfunction. I don’t want to eat, and then I get gassy. Sorry, too much information, but my body just takes a little while to readjust. It occurred to me that I should probably bring some like Tums or something for post run. And then it occurred to me that maybe I’d benefit from pre run Tums as well. Just thinking about it. Funny how I have ran 9 half marathons since last September now and this is the first time that I am actually thinking about any of this stuff.
The half marathon on Saturday was gorgeous. It was without a doubt my favorite local race I have run thus far. The course was amazing, the race itself was well organized, the swag was very cool and the race atmosphere was just beyond compare. I LOVED this race. I loved the theme. I just loved it.
Because of the aforementioned energy mix before the race and probably in part to the slightly later start time of 8:15 I was actually feeling more awake and ready to go for this one. We started running and I felt quite good. I did however fail to actually start my run keeper and noticed about a mile in that I was not getting the race updates in my ear and looked down and realized it was paused. So I didn’t start my run keeper until 9 minutes into my run, but oh well. My Garmin on my wrist was tracking accurately to give me all the information I really cared about anyway. We started out running a mile in one direction and then turning around back around and heading back to the start line where we ventured out on a gorgeous bike path around a lake by the airport. From one direction we got to see a gorgeous lake with boats and the other direction airplanes taking off and landing. It was a fun run. This was an out and back course so we got to see runners coming by us as they turned around and then as I was running the other direction the people still heading towards the half way mark. It was nice to constantly have people around but not right on you as a Rock N Roll race does tend to produce.
This was an Easter race and lots of people dressed up with cute bunny ears and tutus and various other themed stuff. I did not. But in hindsight I really wanted bunny ears because they were dang cute. The weather was quite rain threatening most of the run. A few times early on I felt sprinkles and was fearful but it held off. It was however very windy. Running into wind sucks. Just an extra challenge. I was maintaining a good pace for a solid 7 or 8 miles. Once I cross that half way mark I always instantly feel so much better. There is just something about those first 6.55 miles knowing you aren’t even half done yet that is terribly daunting. Once you cross the half-way point it’s all downhill from there, metaphorically speaking, not literally of course. I feel a sense of relief at the half point because I know no matter what happens beyond this point I can finish and even if forced to I could walk. It’s a mental thing.
I ran. But at some point I started to get slower as typically happens and one would expect. The energy mix had worn off and I was feeling the effects of an hour and a half of running. I wanted to walk but then I was like, really, why? You’ll instantly regret it so just keep running, even if it’s slow. So I did. And then the sky got grayer and grayer. And it got colder and I knew that I was going to be in for some rain. A little before mile 11, it started. And I literally said, and here is the rain. And while it wasn’t awful all things considered, and given the forecast the reality of only having to endure a little over 2 miles of rain was actually not that bad. But for some reason cold rain coming down on you when you are already tired just instantly sucks all the wind out of your sails. I have got to figure out how to get better in the rain so it doesn’t instantly destroy me all the time. I do live in Oregon after all and imagine that many a race in my life will have to be completed in some amounts of rain.
By no means was this epically as horrible as that Lincoln City run I endured in the monsoon rainstorm, so on some level I felt fine with it all. But it was really sucky. Yup, just sucky is what I’m saying. I told myself at least I’m only 2 miles out and not 5 or 6. And my mind shifted to those hundreds of runners/walkers I saw on the course that were still going the opposite direction as me, not having cleared the turnaround point yet. And I felt bad for them, because this rain surely was going to suck. My pace utterly slowed at this point. I was previously on a good track to finish around my time of 2:15 and then somehow I was just miserable and this leads to moving slower.
I was cold and tired and energy depleted and the wind was crazy blowing and I came across the finishing stretch and just sprinted it out, I crossed at like 2:20 something. I got my gorgeous medal and then Chris was instantly there handing me a rain coat. I completely appreciated this in that moment. He finished earlier than me and went to the car for the jackets when the rain started coming down. It was so nice to have a rain jacket with a hood in that moment. The rain started to pick up so we made our way to the “tents” that had our post-race mimosas and catered food. At this point it was really raining and I felt so bad for the runners still on the course.
In the end, as per typical my “stat’s” put me pretty much right in the middle of the pack in all age/group categories. I was right in the middle of the about 700 runners who participated, about the middle of all women and about middle of my particular age group. I am solidly in the middle and I am completely comfortable with that. Quite frankly I don’t train to be anything better than I am. I work hard during the week on other things, pushing my body constantly but not training to improve my time. I am completely comfortable and have accepted my place in the 2:15-2:30 running pace. I’m not breaking records with my time but it’s not awful either. You can’t walk a half in that time, you have to run in order to get to the finish at that pace and that’s okay with me. My big mental victory was that I walked like 99.9 percent of that half and that is what I was after.
It was really coming down hard after I finished so we didn’t stick around too long. We got in the car to try and warm up. The funny thing is, about an hour or two after there was actually sun in the sky, which was good for us because we had a 5k race to get to at 4PM. Yup, we went and got some sub sandwiches for lunch and then headed to the outlet mall where we hit up the Asics outlet store and then we headed out and met up with my mom and sister and brother in law for a nice 5k thru a park. I was once again quite concerned about the weather especially because the forecast was indicating afternoon showers all along. It threatened us with some yucky rain at points but when the race started at 4 PM it was actually pretty clear out. Only once during the 5k did I feel drops of rain. It was a nice walk with my family and while clearly I am not running for an epic time, there is something inherently fun and special about these races for me because I get to do them with my mom and sister. It’s a nice time to talk and be healthy and have them partake in a little bit of what I’m experiencing by doing these races.
Post 5k, we collected our awesome medals, had a hot dog and fruit snack and headed home. We showered up, which was much needed and then ended up at my mom’s house where my other sister and cousin joined us to hang out for a bit. Eventually we all headed out to Applebee’s for dinner where I partook in 2 margaritas, because gosh dang-it, I earned it. I was pretty exhausted honestly and was quite looking forward to bed. I am fairly certain the moment my head touched the pillow I was out.
Yesterday ended up being a nice recovery and rest day. Chris went fishing with one of my uncles. I ended up hanging out with mom and another one of my sisters. We watched Frozen, which I had not seen yet but OMG, completely loved. Frozen was amazing! One of my favorite Disney movies ever. Ridiculously cute. It was a nice relaxing day that I totally needed for recovery all around.
Tonight I am back to the gym to lift some heavy weights. It’s been a while since I lifted heavy, last Wed/Thur and I am ready to hit it up again. This is the beauty of the plan that I am on. I’d probably punch you in the fact if you told me to run today, but I don’t have to. I get to rest my legs a little and work on strength training. Now it’s back to the gym life for me.
Great weekend, totally fun, glad it’s over to. Now on to the next challenge for me. Life is good. I hope everyone had an awesome weekend and a great Easter.
2 comments:
Look at you! That medals case keeps getting fuller and fuller each week! Pretty soon you will need to get another display.
Ah, Frozen is so good.
Counting up your half-marathons so far this year, it looks like you are already halfway to your goal of 14 races for the year. . . and it's only April 21st! Good for you! :-)
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