After this past Sunday's run (Omaha half + 8 more miles), I feel I'm ready for the Des Moines Marathon. I've been waiting to officially register, just to make sure. My knee has been the overriding factor this whole time. In fact, I could wait until the day before the race to make a final decision, but I feel I'm ready. The long runs have been progressing, and the pain in my knee is mostly not an issue. I see no reason why I couldn't run the Des Moines marathon, so decided to officially register today. At this point, I'm committed (or do I need to be committed, ha).
And now, the taper begins. The taper does not mean that I don't run, it just means that I'll continue to ramp down my training over the next three weeks, to ensure that my legs are as fresh as can be. The runs will still be at the same intensity, but the mileage will progressively drop each successive week. This is also a time when self doubt begins, and the sinking feeling that you're losing all that you've accomplished over the previous 18 weeks. Those are normal feelings, everyone has them, but in reality, they're just fantom concerns.
The main thing will be to stay healthy! That may be easier said than done. The training cycle leading up to this point has put my body under incredible strain. But, at the same time, my immune system has been bolstered (hopefully) by the hard training. It will be a delicate balance. My wife is a teacher, and my daughter is an 8th grader. There are several cases of H1N1 going through her school, including a couple of my wife's co teachers, and a couple of my daughters classmates. Must stay healthy! Must stay healthy!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
2009 Omaha, NE Half Marathon
I decided to participate in the Omaha Marathon this weekend, only doing the half, as part of a long training run for my Des Moines race in three weeks. Leading up to this, I helped volunteer a couple of different times, with packet stuffing a couple of weeks ago, and also helped yesterday at the Expo to hand out race packets and t-shirts.
I didn't really intend to race the half today, since I had to run a total of 21 miles. After doing the half marathon, I thought I'd take a quick break to grab a snack and a drink, then get back on the path and do another 8 miles or so to round out the day.
Did my normal pre-race routine though by eating what I would normally eat. The weather was perfect this morning, clear skies, cool temperatures in the 40s, just a beautiful day for a race. It couldn't have gotten any better. I arrived about 1/2 hour before the race, to take a picture with my fellow runners in the Omaha Running Club. After that, I thought I'd better grab a spot in the porta potty line since start time of 7 am was fast approaching. With about 6 people still in front of me, and 2 minutes to the gun, I opted to pee behind a a tree instead. I was desperate.
The race itself was very uneventful, just a really nice run. I didn't push this at all, but just ran at a leisurely pace to get the miles in. Finish time was 2:13:12. My knee was feeling strong today, with no problems, so I could have run it a lot faster. But, knowing that I had another 8 miles to do after the race held me back. The most interesting part of the race occurred around mile 3. While running past a local firehouse, it was apparent they were cooking breakfast, as the smell of sausage, bacon, and pancakes filled the air. It was almost cruel to do that to us! Ha.
After the race, I did grab a banana, a bagel, and a bottle of Gatorade, but then got back onto the trail to finish out my long run. After 8 more miles, my legs were starting to give out and I was really slowing down. I finished the day at 21.6, and headed to the nearest Village Inn to grab a refreshing meal.
All in all, I'd have to say I'm ready for the Des Moines marathon. I've been holding off registering as I wasn't sure I'd be ready, especially given my ITB strain earlier this year. After today, I feel I've got the necessary endurance to complete the full marathon. While I won't be speedy, I know I should be able to finish, and to me, that's what's important.
I didn't really intend to race the half today, since I had to run a total of 21 miles. After doing the half marathon, I thought I'd take a quick break to grab a snack and a drink, then get back on the path and do another 8 miles or so to round out the day.
Did my normal pre-race routine though by eating what I would normally eat. The weather was perfect this morning, clear skies, cool temperatures in the 40s, just a beautiful day for a race. It couldn't have gotten any better. I arrived about 1/2 hour before the race, to take a picture with my fellow runners in the Omaha Running Club. After that, I thought I'd better grab a spot in the porta potty line since start time of 7 am was fast approaching. With about 6 people still in front of me, and 2 minutes to the gun, I opted to pee behind a a tree instead. I was desperate.
The race itself was very uneventful, just a really nice run. I didn't push this at all, but just ran at a leisurely pace to get the miles in. Finish time was 2:13:12. My knee was feeling strong today, with no problems, so I could have run it a lot faster. But, knowing that I had another 8 miles to do after the race held me back. The most interesting part of the race occurred around mile 3. While running past a local firehouse, it was apparent they were cooking breakfast, as the smell of sausage, bacon, and pancakes filled the air. It was almost cruel to do that to us! Ha. After the race, I did grab a banana, a bagel, and a bottle of Gatorade, but then got back onto the trail to finish out my long run. After 8 more miles, my legs were starting to give out and I was really slowing down. I finished the day at 21.6, and headed to the nearest Village Inn to grab a refreshing meal.
All in all, I'd have to say I'm ready for the Des Moines marathon. I've been holding off registering as I wasn't sure I'd be ready, especially given my ITB strain earlier this year. After today, I feel I've got the necessary endurance to complete the full marathon. While I won't be speedy, I know I should be able to finish, and to me, that's what's important.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
2009 Omaha, NE 10K Corporate Cup
I decided to run the Omaha Corporate Cup 10k race this morning (proceeds benefit the American Lung Association), even though I was working the midnight shift. I mainly did it to help out a friend at work, and wasn’t really looking forward to the race. It was a beautiful morning though, absolutely gorgeous, and made the PR of 51:46 a very special moment, which is a 1 1/2 minute PR over my previous 10k pace, although this is my first official 10k race.
I loaded up on a pot of coffee during my night shift at work in hopes that it would keep me going. It did, in fact, during the 1 hour before the race start, I think I went 3 different times, and once in the bushes behind an electrical junction box immediately before the race start. (Sssshhh, don't tell.) But, it also gave me the caffeine boost that I needed I guess. I did a 1 mile warmup jog, then settled in for the start. The event also included a 2 mile walk in addition to the 10k. The instructions were very clear that walkers were supposed to line up at the back, but I was slightly annoyed to find out that a horde of walkers were also up front. Guess they felt that had every right to line up wherever they wanted.
My initial goal was to just run this event as a nice run, since I was tired, and my knee hurt quite a bit during my warmup jog. But, the warmup loosened me up and I started out strong. Since I was in a mood to get the hell away from all the walkers up front, I weaved my way through them, and finally got into some clear air in about one quarter mile. Everything just felt good today, so I continued to put the hammer down. The knee ached throughout the run, but not enough to slow me down.
The course was a flat and fast, an out and back. At just over 2 miles in, the lead men were already on their way back, so seeing the Speedy Gonzales folks at the front was inspiring and made me want to push it even harder. Saw my PT as the lead woman of the pack, and that inspired me to keep pushing. At the 3.1 turnaround, I was just 20 seconds off my 5k PR pace and still feeling good, so I told myself to lay it all on the line. The last mile was a complete blur, as I just focused on my breathing, watched the ground in front of me as I continued to pick folks off left and right. My lungs were burning, my knee hurt like hell, but I gave it my all. I tried for a hard kick in the last 0.2 of the race, and found I still had a little to give, although I don’t really remember crossing the finish line. Then did a 1 mile cooldown just enjoying the moment.
All in all, it was an awesome race, despite being dog tired from working the midnight shift, and initially not wanting to do this race at all. I grabbed a water and covertly grabbed bagel from one of the corporate sponsor tables after the race, grabbed my souvenir koozy cooler (no medals for this race, bummer), then stopped at Mcdonald’s for my celebratory meal of Pancakes and coffee, which has become a tradition of sorts after long or hard runs. My pace splits were 8:33, 8:29, 8:15, 8:09, 8:11, 8:09, and 7.55 for the last 0.2, for a total of 51:46, which is 1 1/2 minutes faster than my previous 10k pace earlier this spring. Overall, I’m super pleased with that time, even though it's still within the back of the pack for my age group (35-39). The second 5k would definitely be a PR for me also.
It was a beautiful morning, couldn’t have asked for better weather, and I had a great time, and I got a PR! Priceless!
A pic of me after the race, before heading to bed, showing off my koozy! Sorry it's so grainy and off-color, the Iphone camera doesn't do very well sometimes.
I loaded up on a pot of coffee during my night shift at work in hopes that it would keep me going. It did, in fact, during the 1 hour before the race start, I think I went 3 different times, and once in the bushes behind an electrical junction box immediately before the race start. (Sssshhh, don't tell.) But, it also gave me the caffeine boost that I needed I guess. I did a 1 mile warmup jog, then settled in for the start. The event also included a 2 mile walk in addition to the 10k. The instructions were very clear that walkers were supposed to line up at the back, but I was slightly annoyed to find out that a horde of walkers were also up front. Guess they felt that had every right to line up wherever they wanted.
My initial goal was to just run this event as a nice run, since I was tired, and my knee hurt quite a bit during my warmup jog. But, the warmup loosened me up and I started out strong. Since I was in a mood to get the hell away from all the walkers up front, I weaved my way through them, and finally got into some clear air in about one quarter mile. Everything just felt good today, so I continued to put the hammer down. The knee ached throughout the run, but not enough to slow me down.
The course was a flat and fast, an out and back. At just over 2 miles in, the lead men were already on their way back, so seeing the Speedy Gonzales folks at the front was inspiring and made me want to push it even harder. Saw my PT as the lead woman of the pack, and that inspired me to keep pushing. At the 3.1 turnaround, I was just 20 seconds off my 5k PR pace and still feeling good, so I told myself to lay it all on the line. The last mile was a complete blur, as I just focused on my breathing, watched the ground in front of me as I continued to pick folks off left and right. My lungs were burning, my knee hurt like hell, but I gave it my all. I tried for a hard kick in the last 0.2 of the race, and found I still had a little to give, although I don’t really remember crossing the finish line. Then did a 1 mile cooldown just enjoying the moment.
All in all, it was an awesome race, despite being dog tired from working the midnight shift, and initially not wanting to do this race at all. I grabbed a water and covertly grabbed bagel from one of the corporate sponsor tables after the race, grabbed my souvenir koozy cooler (no medals for this race, bummer), then stopped at Mcdonald’s for my celebratory meal of Pancakes and coffee, which has become a tradition of sorts after long or hard runs. My pace splits were 8:33, 8:29, 8:15, 8:09, 8:11, 8:09, and 7.55 for the last 0.2, for a total of 51:46, which is 1 1/2 minutes faster than my previous 10k pace earlier this spring. Overall, I’m super pleased with that time, even though it's still within the back of the pack for my age group (35-39). The second 5k would definitely be a PR for me also.
It was a beautiful morning, couldn’t have asked for better weather, and I had a great time, and I got a PR! Priceless!
A pic of me after the race, before heading to bed, showing off my koozy! Sorry it's so grainy and off-color, the Iphone camera doesn't do very well sometimes.Saturday, September 5, 2009
2009 Bill Seymour Grand Island Half Marathon
Short version: Just completed the Bill Seymour HM in Grand Island, NE this morning. This was a new PR for me by about 3 minutes, with a time of 1:56:31! Woohoo, am super excited! This was an awesome race!
Long Version: Met up with some Runner's World forum-ites (Lacer and Keenagirl) before the race started, it was a pleasure to be able meet you. Didn't know how fast I wanted to run this race, but had a preliminary goal of running this as a marathon-pace long run in about 2:10sh. However, I've felt really healthy this past week or two, and thought I might have a legitimate shot at a new PR. I strained my ITB on my 2nd HM earlier this year (see previous posts) but am back to nearly 100%. PR time of 1:59:29 in May went to a PW time of 2:24 in the next race in June in Denver (due to ITBS), and then back to 2:12 at a race in July.
Awoke this morning to a thick, dense shroud of fog, and it was pretty chilly. Couldn't even hardly see across the street it was so thick. Ate my normal pre-race breakfast of bagel, peanut butter, banana, and Gatorade, got dressed and headed to the course. Met up with Lacer and Keena, said hello, then did a little warmup jog of about 1/2 mile (to stay warm) and then the race began.
Started off really strong, and everything just clicked today so I just kept putting the hammer down. Absolutely no knee pain at all. Best split was 8:40 at mile 7. But overall, this was just an awesome race! It's pancake flat, so that really helped. At about mile 9.5, my right ankle cramped pretty badly. It did that last week on my long slow run at mile 13.5, so I'm going to have to figure out what's going on there. The cramp worked itself out by about mile 11 thankfully. I was also having some minor gut issues, not sure why since I changed nothing at all in my pre-race routine, although we did do a tailgate lunch at work yesterday, and I did have a Dairy Queen blizzard last night before bed. Hmm. Don't think I'll do that again.
I'm not going to lie, the last 1 1/2 miles of the race was rough. I just maintained my pace, and didn't really have enough for a strong kick at the end. I knew I had already nabbed a new PR so didn't feel the need to push it any harder. Final time was 1:56:35, my previous PR was 1:59:29, so I'm super proud that I was able to shave a full 3 minutes off my time, and have fully recovered from my ITB injury earlier in the year!
After the race, I milled around for just a bit to meet up with Lacer and Keena again, and then headed back to the motel for an ice bath and a quick race report, and then headed back on the road to go to work this afternoon. Am a little sore, even after the ice bath, but I really pushed the pace hard today, so it's a good sore, and I'm totally loving it. Now, I get to eat all the food I want. Yeah!
The Des Moines marathon looms in 6 weeks, and this race has given me enough confidence to keep going!
Here is a post race picture. I'm not particularly excited about this picture, but it's still documentation that I ran the event.
Race on!
Long Version: Met up with some Runner's World forum-ites (Lacer and Keenagirl) before the race started, it was a pleasure to be able meet you. Didn't know how fast I wanted to run this race, but had a preliminary goal of running this as a marathon-pace long run in about 2:10sh. However, I've felt really healthy this past week or two, and thought I might have a legitimate shot at a new PR. I strained my ITB on my 2nd HM earlier this year (see previous posts) but am back to nearly 100%. PR time of 1:59:29 in May went to a PW time of 2:24 in the next race in June in Denver (due to ITBS), and then back to 2:12 at a race in July.
Awoke this morning to a thick, dense shroud of fog, and it was pretty chilly. Couldn't even hardly see across the street it was so thick. Ate my normal pre-race breakfast of bagel, peanut butter, banana, and Gatorade, got dressed and headed to the course. Met up with Lacer and Keena, said hello, then did a little warmup jog of about 1/2 mile (to stay warm) and then the race began.
Started off really strong, and everything just clicked today so I just kept putting the hammer down. Absolutely no knee pain at all. Best split was 8:40 at mile 7. But overall, this was just an awesome race! It's pancake flat, so that really helped. At about mile 9.5, my right ankle cramped pretty badly. It did that last week on my long slow run at mile 13.5, so I'm going to have to figure out what's going on there. The cramp worked itself out by about mile 11 thankfully. I was also having some minor gut issues, not sure why since I changed nothing at all in my pre-race routine, although we did do a tailgate lunch at work yesterday, and I did have a Dairy Queen blizzard last night before bed. Hmm. Don't think I'll do that again.
I'm not going to lie, the last 1 1/2 miles of the race was rough. I just maintained my pace, and didn't really have enough for a strong kick at the end. I knew I had already nabbed a new PR so didn't feel the need to push it any harder. Final time was 1:56:35, my previous PR was 1:59:29, so I'm super proud that I was able to shave a full 3 minutes off my time, and have fully recovered from my ITB injury earlier in the year!
After the race, I milled around for just a bit to meet up with Lacer and Keena again, and then headed back to the motel for an ice bath and a quick race report, and then headed back on the road to go to work this afternoon. Am a little sore, even after the ice bath, but I really pushed the pace hard today, so it's a good sore, and I'm totally loving it. Now, I get to eat all the food I want. Yeah!
The Des Moines marathon looms in 6 weeks, and this race has given me enough confidence to keep going!
Here is a post race picture. I'm not particularly excited about this picture, but it's still documentation that I ran the event. Race on!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)