Well, I haven't been keeping up on blogging BUT, I haven't been sitting on my butt. After I recovered from Vineman 70.3, I started training for this half marathon. Something finally clicked. I was having one surprisingly good training run after another. I knew I was going to finally break my half marathon plateau.
But first, a little background...
I've done a fall half marathon for the last 4 years. Last year, I decided that I wanted my season to be done in October instead of dragging through the end of November. I picked the Morgan Hill Half Marathon thinking it was on the east side of the valley (flat farm land). How wrong I was! This year, I went for FLAT FLAT FLAT.
The OktobeRun Half Marathon takes place about 40 minutes north along the marsh land of the San Francisco bay. The city puts on a big Oktoberfest in conjunction with this race so, Grumpy would have something to keep him entertained. And did I mention that it was flat?
This is an out and back going over an overpass at miles 1 and 12. It then goes over a small bridge that crosses a small channel at miles 2 and 11. I have no recollection of what was at miles 3 and 10 to make the blips that are shown in the picture above.
The last 2 weeks was very stressful at work and I missed a few swim workouts. My asthma was out of control and I was not sleeping well. My run workouts were not at normal times and they also suffered. But, I didn't focus on them. I knew my long runs had been solid. I understood that the current life stress was playing havoc on my training.
As I wrote my race plan, I focused on making this race as close to those great long runs as I could. I programmed it all into my Garmin as I've done for my long runs. There were programmed target pace ranges but, I knew exactly what pace I needed at each stage in order to make my overall goal.
The morning of the race, I woke with a mild migraine (slight head ache and sour stomach). I would have loved to be able to stay in bed but, I knew if I could just get moving on my day, I'd get through it. Grumpy and I arrived early to find parking was a breeze. Nothing was open so, we sat and watched all the swank people do static stretches (especially this tall, thin, hard core running attired woman that seemed to know EVERYONE).
This week, the temperature suddenly dropped to the upper 40's. 15 minutes prior to start, it was time to take off the warm cozy jacket and "warm up". The plan was a simple 5 minute jog with some strides thrown in....
THISSUCKSTHISISHARDTHISSUCKSTHISISHARDTHISSUCKSTHISISHARD...
I could barely do 12:00/mile. How was I ever going to meet the day's goal??? I told myself that this is like the first 5 minutes of my training runs and that I never look at how fast I go then because it is always sucky. (Not going to panic).
5 minutes later I met up with Grumpy and agreed where to meet and when after the race. I really didn't think I could do this race the way coach and I had planned. But, I shifted my thinking "this is just a long run like she's had you do before". I recalled that my long runs had been great, they had been done with some what tired legs, and I was well tapered. Just stick to the plan. The plan was solid.
There was no seeding so I just positioned myself in the middle and with all the people, it felt warmer (took off the arm warmers before the horn went off). The horn went off and we were all moving.
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| Race Start |
First 26 minutes: Plan was to build to a peppy but, not fast pace. Then, build to goal pace for a few minutes. Then, wake the legs up by building to slightly faster than goal pace. Finally, back off to slightly less than goal pace. Not surprisingly, lots of people passed me. But, I also passed people.
By this time, I was running along side the bay. My plan relied on me running as close to a 13.1 race as possible. I tried to keep the line to the shortest possible but, at times it was 4 people across. I was easily running at goal pace and took the bridge over the channel with only slightly more effort. I started to think about picking people to pass and immediately shut that down. Stick to the plan. This felt exactly how my training had been.... stick to the plan. My plan was to run MY race not go off the rails.
I had programmed the Garmin such that I'd run at goal for a while and then get to drop to slightly below goal for a couple of minutes. I descended the length of each goal pace stretch so that as I got tired, the breaks came sooner. Mentally, this helped me keep the pace up. I had to keep it up for less and less amount of time.
As I hit the 6 mile mark, I suddenly spotted Miss I Know Everyone and passed her like she was standing still. I was passing men too. I hit the turnaround and kept chugging along. I found that if I kept my cadence between 90 and 93, I would begin to feel less discomfort. I made sure my arms were swinging properly - not across my body. The more tired I got, the more I made sure I kept my form correct (or at least as correct as I ever am).
Between 7 and 8 miles, my stomach started to get a little upset. I held off on the next scheduled gel and just took in water. The field was really starting to thin out. I passed a woman who was walking while her partner tried to talk her into running again. I passed a man who was hunched over making thudding noise with every foot fall. And OMG, I passed some guy that really should have showered BEFORE the race (may be even twice).
Miles 9 and 10 were a blur. I followed the Garmin and I just kept plugging away. I hit the down hill of the bridge over the channel and my knee SCREAMED. I'd pay for that later. I made it up and over the overpass at mile 11 passing a couple more people at the bottom.
Mile 12 was just keeping the pace until I hit my last "break". But I knew I had this. After the break, the Garmin showed "Haul Ass" on the screen. This was a quarter mile out and I could see the turn to the finish line. The finish line was just around that corner. I had not programmed any target. The plan was to give what ever was left in the tank. I was so close to my goal and it actually felt good to push. I guess I looked really strong because the comments I was getting was a lot different than the woman just ahead of me. I came around the corner and crowd applauded. I kept pushing strong until I was done.
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| I swear I was hauling ass and there was a crowd! |
Result: 2:13:24
Not only did I meet my goal of sub 2:15 (set in December 2012). I met coach's goal of sub 2:14!
With that, my planned 2013 season is over. I'm a little sad to see it end as I feel like things are finally coming together. But, I'm also very excited about events I'm looking at for my 2014 schedule.
For all that you have done to help make 2013 a wonderful year, thank you to:
- Grumpy for all the times you came to my races and you had to wait for me to finish my workouts.
- My coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat, who is patiently working miracles.
- My friends and family that have given support and humor.
