Friday, August 20, 2010
recovery
well Monday I felt exhausted. Tuesday I started coughing. Tuesday pm I went to the doc and I have a chest infection. Now, I don't think this was the problem Sunday, at all, really. BUT it still made me feel a bit better. I've been out of commission all week. I've been in bed, coughing, showering repeatedly, on meds etc. I'm feeling better today but a 30 min walk with errands knocks me out sooo we'll see. I copied some pics from the Bronx. Ha, I look like I'm dying!!!!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Race Report- Bronx HALF
Well folks I wish I had better news. I really do. Let’s start with the positive- I course PR’d by 4+ minutes with a finish time of 2:22:28 or a 10:52 pace. In Feb 2009, I ran the same course in 2:27:12. So yes, that’s a huge improvement. However, that day I stopped and had stomach issues so really most of that time differential is in that. My goal was really to beat my longstanding ½ marathon PR set in October 2008 at Grete’s Gallop, 2:20:18. So here’s what happened.
I woke up at 5 am on the dot, got ready, ate a roll with jelly and met TNT peeps to share a car (which was ridiculously overpriced by the way at $20 a head for 5 of us in a shitty minivan. SCAM! Regardless, I was there at 6:25 which is better than most people can say. D, from TNT was supposed to pace me, but didn’t catch up to me until m2 because of train issues. I was nervous but ran m1 with S from TNT who I met the first day. We went out a bit faster but I felt comfortable, m1 10:14. M2 there is a bit of an incline but I felt great, legs felt springy and happy 10:29. M3 still felt great, felt like I was getting into a groove, 9:58 which is obviously too fast. M4 we were on the moshulu pkwy uphill section, 10:37, it’s a tough hill. M5 had some downhill 10:21. M6 was partially uphill but all I could think was ‘wow I’m doing this, this is awesome’ 10:26. M7 we turned onto the grand concourse, I was mentally prepared (or so I thought) to hang on to this pace, I really was so excited to be on pace for a 2:13 half. It was at this point that really knew at that point I would be able to BREAK my PR. BUST THROUGH. KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK.
M8 was the 2nd half of the first out on the grand concourse 10:45 and I started feeling heavy. I ate a gel at the water stop. M9 was the turnaround part on the grand concourse, which starts with a hill. I needed a break bad at this point so I took a 90-120-second walk break figuring it would invigorate me. BAD IDEA. M9 was 11:25, which is so slow in comparison to what we’d been running. But with a huge walk break it’s not so bad. I was out of my groove at this point and started experiencing major swelling. I don’t know if I over salted or underwatered or what but my hands were bright red and swollen.
I couldn’t even make a fist!!! M10 which is the middle of the back on the concourse was a pathetic 12:40. I stopped and started a bunch. Drank water, felt my hands, blew out my ear- I was a MESS! M11 marked just a bit more on the concourse and then the turn off to the moshulu. I knew if I would run 10:30s back I would still break my PR, however, minimal the breakage. I took off knowing what I needed to do. I made it all the way to m12 and died. The time is deceiving because I didn’t run all of m11, 11:43. M12 I pushed, then walked, pushed, then stopped. I couldn’t get my body to buy in. I felt like I ran out of gas, 11:06. M13 was the most pathetic but also a sure sign I just didn’t have it in me, 11:31. Usually I can hack it but I just couldn’t this time around. The 0.1 was 58 seconds. I gave it all I had.
I was and still am very disappointed. While it was humid I shouldn’t have had those issues. In addition, please don’t tell me I went out too fast. My race plan was to stick to 10:15s and 10:30s and hike it up to 10 and 9:45 after the ‘back’ on the grand concourse. With the exception of m3 (which we made up in m4) I followed that until I died. Now, perhaps my race plan was flawed but at least now I know I can make it 8m at that pace!!
Honestly though, I was really upset. I didn't cry, but I was pissed and bummed. More so that I couldnt do it, even with such a strong start AND now that I have to tell people I didnt do as well as I had hoped.
I woke up at 5 am on the dot, got ready, ate a roll with jelly and met TNT peeps to share a car (which was ridiculously overpriced by the way at $20 a head for 5 of us in a shitty minivan. SCAM! Regardless, I was there at 6:25 which is better than most people can say. D, from TNT was supposed to pace me, but didn’t catch up to me until m2 because of train issues. I was nervous but ran m1 with S from TNT who I met the first day. We went out a bit faster but I felt comfortable, m1 10:14. M2 there is a bit of an incline but I felt great, legs felt springy and happy 10:29. M3 still felt great, felt like I was getting into a groove, 9:58 which is obviously too fast. M4 we were on the moshulu pkwy uphill section, 10:37, it’s a tough hill. M5 had some downhill 10:21. M6 was partially uphill but all I could think was ‘wow I’m doing this, this is awesome’ 10:26. M7 we turned onto the grand concourse, I was mentally prepared (or so I thought) to hang on to this pace, I really was so excited to be on pace for a 2:13 half. It was at this point that really knew at that point I would be able to BREAK my PR. BUST THROUGH. KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK.
M8 was the 2nd half of the first out on the grand concourse 10:45 and I started feeling heavy. I ate a gel at the water stop. M9 was the turnaround part on the grand concourse, which starts with a hill. I needed a break bad at this point so I took a 90-120-second walk break figuring it would invigorate me. BAD IDEA. M9 was 11:25, which is so slow in comparison to what we’d been running. But with a huge walk break it’s not so bad. I was out of my groove at this point and started experiencing major swelling. I don’t know if I over salted or underwatered or what but my hands were bright red and swollen.
I was and still am very disappointed. While it was humid I shouldn’t have had those issues. In addition, please don’t tell me I went out too fast. My race plan was to stick to 10:15s and 10:30s and hike it up to 10 and 9:45 after the ‘back’ on the grand concourse. With the exception of m3 (which we made up in m4) I followed that until I died. Now, perhaps my race plan was flawed but at least now I know I can make it 8m at that pace!!
Honestly though, I was really upset. I didn't cry, but I was pissed and bummed. More so that I couldnt do it, even with such a strong start AND now that I have to tell people I didnt do as well as I had hoped.
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