10/28/07: Houston Half Marathon Race Report!

1:54:47.0.

A MAJOR PR for me today.....wow.

Is a 4:00 marathon really out of my reach this year?!

More shortly...

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I definetely felt more prepared about this race then I did about the 10 Miler just two weeks ago, both physically and mentally. Two consistant and strong weeks of 30 miles/week helped put me in that frame of mind I think:)

Anyhow, I went into this race well-rested (okay-5 hours, but I napped a lot on Saturday!) and wearing new shoes. I know some of you probably think that new shoes are a bad omen right before a race, but I haven't bought into that way of thinking. (I do believe, however, that new CLOTHES are usually not a good thing before a race!!!) I actually bought the new shoes (well, same as my old shoes, but the newer, unforunetely more expensive model) on a whim that my sore knees and my old shoes (about 330 miles now that I look back on it) were related. Sure enough after this race, I couldn't have been happier on my decision to go with a new race-day shoe:)

I lined up as close to the front as I could comfortably get and stretched and drank a little gatorade I brought with me to settle my stomach (I always have an uneasy stomach on race day!) I didn't feel nervous but I certainly felt determined. 13.1 miles is nothing to joke about. Just think, two years ago, my 'goal distance.' Now, just a stepping stone to longer journies...

Although I forgot my split-pace band, (again!) I knew my main goal was to run consistant 9:00/miles the entire race. However, I knew I always got a slow start at this, so I would settle for negative splits in the second half of the race. I quickly ran into Strider Cari and we setlleed into a very comfortable 9:00/mile pace. Soon we saw Strider Pony and Cari ran to catch up with her. I was happy with my pace, so I stayed behind and took a Carbboom. This was around Mile 3.

That sucker kicked in pretty quick though, and before I knew it, I was arm-in-arm with the two ladies:) We ran a very comfortable pace for about 3 miles together, all speeding up about 10 seconds/mile until we finally got seperated at a the mile 6 water station. I told them that I would slow down and they would catch up with me. However, this never happened. I mean, I am sure they tried to catch back up to me and were running their 9:00/mile, but something WEIRD was happening-I was speeding up!!!

And I continued to speed up! Although I accidently deleted my splits right after the race (URGHHH!) I believe I ran negative splits the entire race! Is that possible?! I am still amazed by it, after the fact...I just ran and ran and ran. What do I say? Attribute it to great weather? A great feeling pair of new running shoes? I don't know. I just ran and ran and ran.

I did start to 'finally' feel bad at mile 10. Almost like clockwork, I think, with the 5k left to go. I wanted to slow bad so much, and I would tell my legs to put the brakes on, and nothing happened. I hammered the 'downhills' and trotted the 'uphills.' People that saw me running said I looked very good and strong. All of the Striders cheering for me had to have helped too:) (thank you, thank you to you all!) I felt like a million dollars.

Around mile 11 or 12 Strider Ruben saw me and started running with me. I just wanted to be done with the race at this point because I have an eye infection and the sun rising from Downtown was stinging my eye soo bad! So yes, if you saw a crazy-looking girl with an orange hat and a towel over her eye, that was probably me! (I don't know how I ran like that, by the way, with one eye covered I mean...haha. I must have been swerving all over the road...)

Anyhow, Ruben just kept my mind occupied and we talked a lot, mostly about trusting your training. I told him I didn't know why I was running so fast! I must have sounded crazy at that point: don't most of us want to run fast?! Why should I question that?! We kept speeding up, and ran mile 13 in 8:20. Wow, lightning fast (to me) although I didn't feel *that* fast. He, Bless his soul, kept me going though. I wanted to walk, I wanted to stop and felt whiny all of a sudden. I even started to hypervenilate because I felt emotional and ready to be done with the damn race. But he said it best--'You've done the Marathon, you can do this!'

I finished strongly, sprinting, and probably with a crazy look of determination and a dumb bit-of-a-smile on my face. And you know what? I don't care HOW dumb I looked. This was absoulutely MY race to run strongly and have such a huge personal best: 4 minutes and 12 seconds:) I still can't believe it! As the famous 'first Boston Marathon' woman K. Switzer once said about her best race (the 1975 Boston Marathon):

"It felt as though the road just meet me."

Next on the bill...nursing my soreness away, getting rid of this eye infection and the 25k in only two weeks! Woohoo! Another PR in store? Hmmm, only hard work and time will tell...

THE STATS:

13.1 miles @ave 8:49/mile

1:54:47 official chip time

8:56/first half average

8:35/second half average

9:02, 9:02, 9:00, 8:44,
8:40, 8:40, ?, ?,
?, ?, 8:40, 8:35, 8:20, .48
(splits I remember)

Week of 10/22-10/28 Workouts!

10/23/07: 6 Miles by my House
total running: 58:32
ave 9:45/mile

Heart-rate: n/a

Weather: warm
Notes: For some reason my left knee started bothering me and I am not sure why. It could either be from today or it can be from my efforts on Saturday. My legs and head just felt really heavy too. Today was not a good day...

10/25/07: 6 Miles of Smartie Hop!
17:32 wu
18:30 2 miles
18:16 cd

Heart-rate: n/a

Weather: cool
Notes: Today was a better day. Still felt a wierd tinge of pain in my left knee and this was not the workout for me to do, especially with the Half Marathon coming up this weekend. I think it maybe shoe related, as in I am running in an old pair of shoes and I need to get new ones. Yikes, I don't think I have the money for them :( I plan on running easy the rest of the week.

10/27/07: 2 easy Miles in Upper River Oaks

about 20 minutes running
Heart-rate: n/a

Weather: nice but really sunny
Notes: I decided to get new shoes although I know this is not the wisest thing to do right before a (big) race. Running a tiny bit in the new shoes is certainly Heaven...and guess what? My knee isn't bothering me, eureka!

10/28/07: Houston Half Marathon!
(Please read about the race in a seperate race report!)

Week of 10/15-10/21 Workouts!

10/16/07: 3 Slow Miles-30 Minutes in my Neighborhood
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: warm
Notes: I didn't have a lot of energy to run after Sunday's efforts so I decided to do an easy-peasy three miles in the neighborhood. My legs felt really slow but about 20 minutes into the run they finally loosened up. Then I stopped running:)

10/19/07: 6 Miles @ Memorial Park
57:12 total running
ave 9:32/mile
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool breeze
Notes: I did two loops of Memorial Park tonight. Not the most exciting of runs, and certainly not the quickest either, but I felt 'good' overall on this run.

10/20/07: 15 Miles at Bear Creek Park!
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: nice
Notes: Wow. 15 miles. I am freakin' beat but I did it. Thanks to Strider Debbie and my feet for not giving up on me. Now it's time to really kick it into marathon overdrive and really get ready for this thing...

10/14/07: Clear Lake USA 10 Mile Race Report!

To be honest with you, I didn't know HOW I would do in this race. First of all, I can't remember the last time I did a 'proper' long run this Marathon season. Plus I am fighting a mean little cold right now. Plus I only got three hours of sleep before the race. Urgh. Okay, okay, okay--I realize those of all things sound like excuses. The reality of the matter is that I ran pretty decent considering my self-induced situation, and missed a PR by only 25 seconds.

That's right, 25 measily seconds. :

Considering I couldn't even remember what my 10 mile PR was going into this race, I guess I am not too annoyed. It's just...I was sooo sooo close! Anyhow, I managed to get to the race site with about 20 minutes to spare and a little on the drowsy side. This allowed me enough time to get my packet and chip, stretch for a few minutes, warmup for about 5 minutes and then line up for the race. Good thing I didn't have to use the portolets. The lines were pretty long even 5 minutes before the race :(.

I, of course, found myself too far back before the start (AGAIN!!!). About 37 seconds before I crossed the start line...and ALREADY behind walkers and people just out to run 'for fun and health,' I guess. ha...no. urggh. I was on a mission to run hard...and after I finished my Carbboom and drank some Gatorade I brought with me I was ready to run...too bad my legs didn't want to do the same and cooperate. The first two miles felt 'okay' but miles 3-5 felt horrible. At the halfway point when I saw Strider Stacie and Claude, I wanted to quit. Seriously. 5 miles in and my legs felt done.

But...I took another Carbboom and tried to keep up with Strider Mark who had passed me a mile earlier. I knew he would run about a 9:05/mile pace and that's about what I wanted to do. In fact, other then actually finishing the race, my other immediate goal was to finish with a 9:00/mile pace or so (you know, 4:00 marathon....). Soo....I went to work. I started to pick off people to pass. I wanted to pass every 'young' looking girl I saw, and was doing it.

I passed Mark before mile 7. I was starting to feel good and I was starting to pick up the pace...A LOT. I always knew I am a stronger 'second-half' runner, but now I was even feeling suprised. I began passing people left and right and continued to speed up. I felt a little nervous that I was going 'that' fast with over 3 miles to go, but I knew I had to do it.
Mile 8 was at 8:58 and I told myself 'this is it, lay the hammer down and run as hard as possible for under 20 more minutes!'

I kept telling myself '14 more minutes, 9 more minutes...3 more minutes...' It really helped. I was really flying the last half a mile. Well, at least I would like to think I was. I probably was shuffling along pretty bad but with momentum and Carbboom and the thought of finishing fresh in my mind, I went for it.

The clock read 1:31 and I was immediately annoyed although releaved by my hard efforts. I knew I probably came very close to PRing...but how close? I saw Coach Steeeeeeeeve and found out it was 25 seconds close, but 25 seconds TOO slow. Ah well. I just have to go get that PR in two weeks at the Houston Half. What will help me do it? Running smart and hard the next two weeks. And having a game plan on race day...not just showing up and hoping for the best.

Til then-lots of hard work to do-and no more skipping long runs!!!

THE STATS:
10 miles @
ave 9:04/mile

1:30:37 official chip time
9:19/first half average
8:48/second half average

9:23, 9:29, 9:19. 9:16, 9:11
8:48, 9:05, 8:58, 8:43, 8:25

Week of 10/8-10/14 Workouts!

10/11/07: 6 mile SMARTie HOP
17:12 wu
30:50 cd
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: humid
Notes: This ended up being my only 'regular' run this week due to scheduling conflicts and still being sick :( I mustered through this tough workout though and finished it feeling a sense of accomplishment. Onwards to the 10 mile race on Sunday!

10/14/07: Clear Lake USA 10 Miler!
(Please read about this race in a seperate entry)

Week of 10/1-10/7 Workouts!

10/2/07: 6 Miles SMARTie run with Lee!
total running: 1:18 or so (with stops)
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool (upper 70s)
Notes: Since this is the first week of the cross-country Tuesday runs (which, I unfortunately can't do anymore due to my ankles), Strider Lee and I ran together from Memorial to Dairy Ashford and then "around the keyhole" and back to Memorial. The weather was cooling off and nice, and although the rest of the group only did 4 miles, Lee and I did an extra two. A great run and overall a great time, my legs felt okay and only slightly tired after Sunday's efforts!

10/4/07: One Mile Trial with the SMARTies!
Heart-rate: n/a2 mile wu
1 mile cd
6:58 mile trial!!!
Notes: I felt great going into this workout. When I mean I feel great, I mean my legs felt ready to run fast and burn some track up. But, my poor lungs and my poor head were saying otherwise. I just absolutely dread these short distance fast runs-I have simply never been a short-distance running. Even back in elementary school I would opt to do field events or the mile relay (running a 400m leg). Coach Sttttttteeeeeve asked what we thought our times would be beforehand. Surely I could 'easily' run a 7:00/mile, ehhh? But I had to choose a group run with, and I chose the 'Under 7:00/mile' group, knowing full-well I would be last.

I didn't care really--and I just ran my little heart out. My lungs burned the entire time and my legs couldn't go any faster, but knowing I would finish under 7:00 minutes was the greatest feeling in the world. You would have thought I won the lottery:) This was a 1:15 or so improvement over my mile a year ago...woohoo and a big deal! Overall, all the SMARTies did well on their trials and mad props to Vic for finishing under 10:00! Love ya Vic!

10/6/07: 6 SMART miles as part of 15 x 60/60s!
about 1:16 total running
2 mile wu
15 x 60/60's (tough, and BARELY doable!)
1 mile cd
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: super humid!
Notes: This was one of the toughest workouts I have done in a while, primarily because of the horrible humidity we had today AND the fact I am coming down with a cold!!!! It surely scortched me, but somehow I completed those evil 60/60's without walking. Everytime I thought of walking, I would bite my lip, dig a little deeper, and keep on running. Overall, I was happy to finish the ***$ing workout and then we all had a treat of Starbucks afterwards, compliments of the club! :)