Half Marathon #4

I signed up for a local half marathon about a month ago.

One month is not nearly enough time to properly train, but I had been running and logging quite a few miles, so I went for it. Plus? A lot of it was on the trail that I run several times a week. Familiarity!

I approached this race as just another long saturday run. I wasn't nervous at all. I was mostly curious to see what effect training with pacing myself would have on my time.

I knew that towards the end of the race, there would be a hill. Maybe a steep one. I took Skybo running one day, to check it out. I had never been on that trail. At the trail head, it forked in two directions. One was a really well maintained and wide trail. The other took off into the woods. A race like this would obviously take the nicer bigger trail, RIGHT?! Well, we never made it to the hill part, but I felt better getting a feel for the trail and didnt think it would be so bad.

Race day.

The first 5 miles were out and back on the part of the trail that I run ALL the time. I was cruising, feeling great. My timing was almost a full minute faster per mile than my previous races. LOOK AT ME GO.

The race options were 5 miles or a half marathon, so a bunch of people split, after that. My previous 3 halfs were huge events, tons of cheering spectators, runners all over the place, bands every mile, and completely flat.

This was the opposite. I was running alone for most of it, and there was not one spectator. As I used the spectators and bands as welcomed distractions before, I was proud to be keeping up such a fast pace. My foot was bothering me, but I kept chugging along.

We got to the fork in the trail, and the flags pointed me in the direction of the foresty hiking trail.

Wait.

Wtf?

The trail narrowed to about a foot wide, and there were runners AND regular hikers. And it was a hiking trail. It was steep and rocky and HOLY CRAP WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO.

The trail broke into a clearing that I was familiar with. This clearing is just below the trail that we hike all the time. The flags pointed me away from the start of that hiking trail, so I was instantly relieved. I bet it would take me back down to the fork and I'd be on the home stretch.

It didn't.

It took me to the start of "my" hiking trail.

HIKING trail.

It was steep, straight uphill, for probably close to a mile. I mildly panicked. Running a half marathon is hard enough without throwing an effing mountain into the  middle of it. I stopped running (because LOL YEAH RIGHT AM I RUNNING UP A STEEP MOUNTAIN 8 MILES INTO THIS RACE), and put  my hiking face on. Growing up hiking with my dad was a huge benefit. I always had to take big strides uphill and keep a fast pace to keep up with him, and that is what I did. The few runners that I could see stopped and walked. I stopped and hiked. I knew that running uphill was absolutely not going to happen, but I refused to waste any additional time and made sure that I ran/jogged on any flat or downhill parts.

I came to another fork in the road. Hiking, I have always gone left, and never once went straight. I knew that going left would have been an even steeper hill, so I was relieved to start heading downhill, going straight.

It was a nice break. Until the downhill became so steep that I couldnt even shuffle step down it, I had to slowly pick my way down an absurdly steep hill.

WHO PICKED THIS ROUTE.

It was so steep that going back up, there was no long stride hiking. I had to slowly pick my way up the hill, gasping for air, with my calves starting to cramp. GOOD TIMES, PEOPLE. Good times.

Any hopes of a good time for the overall race were absolutely shattered. I took the rest of the race, calves still cramping, hating my life, to get my average pace back down as much as I could. Keep on keepin on.

I knew that the finish line was at the top of a short but steep little hill (cruel joke). Hills like that, I always try to sprint up, because the momentum is huge.

I ran past LeGreg, Skybo and my mom, barely smiling, because I'M DYING. I sprint up the hill and my dad is taking pics. It's cool, though, because I'm sprinting so fast and I'm pretty sure I look like a Nike commercial right now with my fast long strides.

Or not. 

In the end, despite having to walk for probably a mile or so, my time was only 2 mins slower than my personal best for the half marathon. 

I will go ahead and file that under WIN. 

Now I'm REALLY curious to see what my time would be for a flat half, buuuut.....ugh, not for a while. 

Born to Run

This is the Clif Notes version of the book I'm reading, Born To Run. I may or may not be totally and completely obsessed with it right now. The book is SO interesting.  I think my brother told me about it a long time ago, and I saw it for super cheap at a bookstore and decided to pick it up. As a rookie runner, it's fascinating.

10/16/11

With the half marathon done, I'm excited to get back in the gym and work on some strength....WHILE continuing to run. I don't want that to completely fall off this time like it did after my last half.

Back to my buddy, LG Crossfit!

Today's workout:

Workout:
Hang Squat Snatch
Find 1 RM. Then back off 15-20 pounds and do 3 doubles.
(I got to 65 lbs. Definitely not a true max but, as I've said before, I'm not comfortable failing at my gym, so it's hard to go too heavy. HeaviEST I've done in a while, though, so there's that!)


Then:
7 Rounds
5 KB Clean and Push Press (L/R)
7 KB Snatch (L/R)
10 KB Swings

(I did this with a 12kg in 14:20. I haven't done ANY real kbs in a while, so this felt pretty good)


I finished my workout with a 3 mile run. In converse. If barefoot (or close to) is truly the best thing for you, shouldn't no support Converse also be good? Thought I'd give it a try. It actually felt pretty good. It's amazing how much more you can feel about where you're placing pressure on  your feet when you don't have a bunch of cushion under them. Not sure I"ll run in them every time, but I liked it.

Run run!

I ran my first half marathon two years ago. At the start, I could already tell it was one of my "on" days. I felt great and light and moved pretty well. At mile 10, I totally psyched myself out, because I had never run more than 10 miles before. IN MY LIFE. Those last 3 miles were torture and whoever said you get an adrenalin rush at the last mile could suck it because every step was heavy and hard. After that race, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. And insanity. I could barely walk for 3 days, thought I broke or fractured my foot and I never wanted to do it again and didn't run for 2 years when I...decided to do it again? Is this like the decision to have a second baby? The memory isn't nearly as bad as the event actually was?

I started training 3 months ago.  It started off a little rough, but got better. Then I fell on my face. No big deal.

3 weeks before the run, Nicole decided to do it with me. 2 days before the race her boyfriend, Rob, decided to do it, too. I thought they were slightly insane for signing up so close to it, but they're both super athletic and I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to plant a seed of doubt. That's the worst.

We showed up bright and early yesterday morning with my #1 cheerleader, LeGreg. After checking in a bag and getting ready and stretching and meeting up with another friend and doing all the things, it was go time.

I had said from the get go that I wasn't planning on staying with anyone during the run. Not because I was sure I'd be a speed demon, or something, but because the race was SO hard for me last time that I knew adding an unpredictable element, like worrying about someone else's pace, would be detrimental. It's had enough focusing on your own pace when you're surrounded by thousands of people. I stuck with our other friend for 3 miles before she told me she was going to walk for a while. Then I was allllll alone.

This race was SO much better than the last time. I considered walking for juuuuust a block or so about 83x last time, although I never actually did. I didn't have that at all this time. I hit the 10 mile marker and got pumped that I only had 3 miles left. 3 miles sounds a lot shorter than 35 mins, so I opted to not think of the time. The last 3 miles felt like they flew by, especially the last one. So different than 2 years ago. SO much more...enjoyable! During and after the run, I felt confident that I could make this an annual event. I mean....we'll see, but at least it's a thought this time!

I crossed the finish line to find LeGreg, his parents, my mom and her friend, and my brother/sis in law/nephew waiting. The support was awesome!

Nic and Rob finished shortly after I did, both running more than twice as far as they'd ever run before. EVER. BEFORE. That is so legit. They kicked ass.

After all was said and done, we hobbled back to my parents house for a no pool pool party and lounged around, eating mac n cheese and drinking beer for the rest of the afternoon.

I was passed out by 9pm last night. Felt pretty damn good!

8/29/11

7 miles!!

It's interesting, feeling both terrified and excited for a run.

Although I felt like I was dying a slow death by about half-way, my pace didn't change and I finished the whole thing without walking. That's a good sign. For me, being "in shape" doesn't mean that the run is easy. It means that I'm able to just keep going even when it's HARD.

My middle of the week runs have been inconsistent and definitely not as long as they're supposed to be. I sub hiking sometimes, the eliptical sometimes. I'm fine with it. When I religiously stuck to the training program last time, I had way more aches and pains. I make sure to do my long run every week when I'm supposed to. I know that if those go well, my training is fine.

One side of me is stoked that I've crossed a threshold and have done a run that's over half the distance of the full race.

The other side is a little panicky because it was really hard and ONLY just over half the distance.

But that whole "being able to keep going when it sucks and your legs feel like they're going to fall off" thing make me think that I'll be just fine.

8/17/11

ran 6 miles.

Thought it was a death wish, but it actually wasn't too bad.

Except for the HEARTBURN. Holy shit. Heartburn so bad I though I was going to barf a couple times. So that was weird.

By the end of the run, when everything but my esophagus felt pretty good, I realized that I should take my own advise. Not really advise, but my favorite thing to say to people when I was coaching/training.

I'm stronger than I think I am.

Ok, not brute strength. But I can do more than I think I can.

Which is pretty rad.

8/8/11

5 miles, again!

This week was SO much easier than last week. I think the distance sort of took me by surprise last week. I knew what to expect this week, so I paced myself and didn't have any trouble. In fact, the last quarter mile was probably the fastest of the whole run. Kick ass.

7/25/11

Saturday we ran about a mile and a half, very hilly.

Sunday we hiked.

Yesterday I ran 4 miles and it was WAY easier than I was expecting! Probably because I was forcing myself to take it nice and slow. Not that I'm a speed demon anyway, but still.

Bought a new iPod shuffle, which means I'll find my lost one today, probably. I NEED one though. They are ideal for working out, and long runs can be so effing boring without music.

7/20/11

Ok, the whole running thing isn't going particularly smoothly just yet!! But I'm giving myself a couple weeks to get back into it.

Sumo deadlift 5 reps/
20 alternating snatches
5 sets

1R/1L, 2R/2L, 3/R/3L kb press x 2sets

2 mile run (....jog)

My hips have been feeling really tight, so I did the sumo DL to open them up a bit. I feel like DL, snatches, and presses are a solid base right now to build my foundation strength back up. The combo sorta hits everything and it doesn't take very long to do. My hands are getting nice and ugly again!

The run went pretty well. I tend to forget that one of the hardest aspects of running for my is my shoulders. My left shoulder gets a really strong pulling feeling in it, and it effing hurts!!! It's deep down, right about half way between my shoulder and my neck. Can't quite figure out how to stretch it yet. I know if I'm better at warming it up, it will help.

Another big issue is that my iPod shuffle has disappeared. Workouts, especially running, with no music?! EFF. I know as soon as I fork over the money for a new one, I'll find it...damn it.

Weight: -1lb

7/14/11

3 miles.

Last time I ran the half, I ran a mile or two a couple times a week for about a month before starting this training program. Now I missed almost all of the first week with zero build-up. Damn. It!

I walked for about a minute between miles because 3 miles is effing FAR when I haven't ran in foreeeeever!!!

I know that if I just do the miles, even if I have to go slow or walk a little, I'll catch up.

New things!!

right when I decide to re-commit to the deadlift program, I realize it's time to start training for my next half marathon. Damn it!! Also, I've never EVER had a weight loss goal. I think I'm going to try one. 10 lbs.

Mon
Deadlift max - 185 (better than I thought it would be!)
Weight (start point): 0

Today:
Deadlift 5x2 (135 lbs), with 10 snatches on each side after each set
Weight: +1.5 lbs (oops?)

I havent been home almost at all in 3 weeks. So my workout was super short because I knew I needed to get it done, but just wanted to be HOME! And my weight?....ummm....need to eat better. Bottom line. (and I"m a little bloaty on lady time. Can we blame that?)