This was my third year running the Fox Cities (insert big sponsor here) Half Marathon.  The first year I was very undertrained, not to mention 10-15 pounds heavier.  My longest run was 10 miles, the last five of which I did after turning my ankle and taking a nasty fall in the middle of the road.   At the end of that run, my ankle, knee and hand were swollen and angry and I had blood pouring down my knee.  I remember spending an agonizingly long time (although it was probably a few minutes) sitting in the bathroom while Josh picked rocks out of my knee.  My knee bears the scars from this crash, there goes my modeling career.

The second year, I was better trained and was 15 pounds lighter but I had muscle strains in both my calves.  I could barely run 2 miles let alone 13.1 but  I ran it anyway and regretted it from mile seven to the end.  Painful, painful, painful.  The next day, I could barely walk.

This year, I had high hopes that I would finally enter this race healthy and ready.  Enter medial tibial stress syndrome/tendonitis.  The custom orthotics took care of the primary problems, but the tendonitis is taking longer to go away.  I think it just needs rest.  Lots of rest.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of rest time to give it. So I tried to keep up my training as much as I could without aggravating my legs.  It worked, but I was barely making 13 miles/week.  I pondered just skipping the HM altogether because I didn’t want a repeat of last year.  Even when I picked up my packet at the expo, I was still undecided about what I was going to do.  The day before the race, I decided to do it and have fun.

I didn’t pay much attention to my watch and the average pace I was keeping, I just ran at a comfortable pace.  I knew I was doing pretty well when I made it through miles six to nine without my usual mental breakdown.  I met Josh around seven miles and gave my legs a preventative dose of topical pain-killer, which I think helped in the later miles.  Mile eleven came and went without issue.  It wasn’t until mile twelve that my legs finally started to give me some trouble, but it wasn’t from the tendonitis, it was from the pounding they were taking from the concrete.  I switched to a 3:1 interval and actually ran some negative interval splits in this last mile.  That’s a first for me.

So, let’s compare the last three years:

2007: 2:39:48 @ 12:12 (6.9 mile 1:21:14)

2008: 2:23:27 @ 10:57 (6.9 mile 1:13:27)

2009: 2:23:07 @ 10:55 (6.9 mile 1:13:55)

I wasn’t really expecting to be so close to my time last year, not did I expect my pace to pretty much maintain the entire time.  Somehow, with no expectations and and no pressure, I was able to run that race without feeling like I could have done better in the end.  Go figure.

What’s up next?  Well, the only thing that’s going to make my tendonitis go away for good is not running.  So, it’s a whole lotta rest for me.  Although I must admit I really wanted to go for a trail run yesterday.  It’s a sickness. 

Usually I look like I'm about to keel over, but these ones turned out pretty well. Here's a couple, the rest are in the gallery.

Gratuitous food picture! 

 

You just can’t beat the taste of food on a charcoal grill.

Gravel, giant long hill, gravel, long downhill, more gravel, beach sand, finish.

That pretty much sums up this morning's race. I did a lot better than I was expecting myself to do. I was hoping to come in around 51 or 52 minutes and thanks to the last thee miles being downhill, I was able to crank out some really zippy miles and come in a smidge over 49 minutes.

Pre-race: I hung around and waited for the 2nd bus, which was running late. We got the the start at 8:58, the race was supposed to start at 9:00. No warm up for me!

Mile 1 & 2: Gun went off, everybody jumped and some women screamed. Pretty funny. The first quarter-mile was on loose gravel. It was like running on marbles. Yuck. People were passing me left and right. I looked back after the turn onto pavement and there were two runners behind me and then I could see the walkers. I figured I was in for my first DFL finish, great. The first mile marker passed and I glanced at my watch and saw 10:08! The second mile was a long grind uphill. Man, that was unpleasant and I was significantly slower - 10:43. MEH.

Mile 3 & 4: More freaking loose gravel for the next mile, but it was downhill so I was able to make up some of the time I lost on the uphill section. Then, we were on pavement and it was all downhill from here. I was feeling great and thanks to gravity, I started to pass people. Four people in total, actually. I purposely decided not to show the pace on my Garmin because all I end up doing is obsessing about it, so I didn't realize that I ran this mile in 9:11 until I downloaded it when I got home.

Mile 5: I was seriously zeroing in on a 48-ish minute 5 miler until this mile. Part pavement, part gravel and BEACH SAND. What the hell, were they trying to kill us? I barely maintained my pace and was gasping and wheezing and feeling a bit pukey when I crossed the finish line. Man, my finishing photos are going look so hot!

I stumbled past Josh who said "Congratulations!" to which I replied "I think I'm going to puke." Folks, the romance is still there!

In all, it was a fun, local race. I'll totally do it again next year. Except I'll train more. And do more hills.

Go Red Wings!

I sort of forgot I had a blog there for a minute. Well, actually I didn't, I've just been lazy and not feeling very bloggy.

The Eagle River HM went pretty well. I was secretly shooting for 2:15, but I guess 2:19 is fine too. That averages out to a 10:38 pace, but I'm not happy that I ran positive splits throughout. I'm going to attribute that to heading out of the gate way too fast. I checked my watch at the first mile marker and it was around a 9:30, and that's waaay to fast especially with 12 more miles ahead of me. I purposely slowed down after that, but since my Garmin was all over the place with my pace (one time it would show 11:30, I'd speed up and a second later it'd show 9:15) so I just couldn't keep anything consistent. Meh.

I didn't do as much hill training this time around because I had some calf issues toward the end of training that forced me to stick to mostly flat surfaces. This HM is hilly. It's not "OMG that's a giant hill up ahead" hilly, but there are little rollers along the entire course, one long climb from miles 7-8.5 and another nice roller around mile 11.5 that really take their toll. My quads were really feeling it in the last mile.

Race highlights:

- Snow! rain! wind! cold! Yes, the weather sucked. But, it was the beginning of May in Northern Wisconsin. We're lucky we didn't have a blizzard.
- The girl who accidentally set her Garmin 305 to give time alerts EVERY SECOND and couldn't figure out how to turn them off. I was so not running next to her for the next 13 miles, so I offered to fix it for her. I got thanks from several people after that.
- Noticing Bauer's Dam Resort/Bar at the mile 2 water stop. If I would have had cash, I would have stopped for a beer. It still counts as hydration, right?
- Making the mistake of telling a first time HM'r that there was a giant hill at mile 7. She about quit where she was. I had to do some serious back-pedaling on that one. Sorry, newbie.
- Stopping to chat with Josh, who took deer trails to make it to mile 4.5 and saved me from the weirdo who actually asked me if "...I come here often...". Dude, it's a race. Pay attention to your running and quit hitting on every girl that passes you. Sheesh.
- The old dude who cut me off at the 9 mile water station, then apologized and shared his Gatorade with me. We passed each other several times before I finally got him in the last half mile.
- Being pissed off because I couldn't beat the first power walker to the finish. I caught him on the last hill and I would have had him if he'd have stopped at the last water station like I did. The bugger.

Post-race highlights:

- Having my medal engraved with my name and time. Incorrectly. They sent me a new medal, correctly engraved a few days afterward, but that's the last time I get that done.
- The hot tub at the hotel. After being outside in the cold and wind for 2+ hours, it felt so good. But, I paid with seriously sore legs the next day.
- Booze-cruising! What else is there to do on a cold, windy day in Eagle River, WI but explore back-woods bars? We visited quite a few, but my personal favorite was Bauer's Dam Resort/Bar. Best nachos ever, and useful tips on how not to get arrested in downtown Eagle River after dark. Score.
- Josh wondering if the walls at Nero's Restaurant were going to collapse before we were done with our dinner. They didn't, but it was close.
- Secretly thanking the management at the hotel for requiring that people wear shoes and shirts to breakfast. Come on, people! We do not want to see your flabby beer guts while we're eating breakfast. You're not in your own house, you know. Totally gross.

So, it's been two weeks since the HM. I've been trying to get out running three times/week at least for some short 3-4 mile trail runs, which I'm really enjoying. Unfortunately I don't think I can effectively train for another HM by running trails alone so I'll be back on the road before long.

I've got some race pictures and a running skirt review to post, but I'll leave that for another time.

Ciao, peeps.

2:19:12 @ 10:38

I was hoping for faster, but the damn hills got to me in the end. They also got to my knees because they were seriously aching after the race. They're fine today, but my quads? Oh man. Last year I must have either run more hills in training or my pokey slow pace didn't lead to any post-race soreness because I sure don't remember being this sore. Stairs, curbs, getting in and out of the car..ooof.

I'm feeling coldy and sinusy and non-bloggy so I'll eventually get to the full race report. For now, I'll leave you with this awesome video that gave me a pretty good giggle.