My poor blog, I've been so neglectful! Life, as always, is crazy, and gets in the way of blogging. Someday I am sure I will find the time to fit it in on a regular basis. Until then, you'll have to be happy with the combination entries such as this one. I'm going to review (this training cycle), recap (today's race) and preview (my race in two weeks)! No pictures this time--I have limited time to get this blog done and want to enjoy the final hours of my spring break!
Review
After the Indianapolis Monumental marathon in November, I blogged that I had decided on my spring goal: A BQ marathon. So, this winter has been all about building up my mileage while attempting to stay injury-free. And I ALMOST did it. Training has been going pretty darn well! I have been able to up my miles, continue to bike a couple of times a week and swim once a week, and do strength (Body Pump class) a couple of times a week. I had one tiny blip a couple of weeks ago, when I had some soreness in my left foot. Fortunately, I was able to will it away with ice, compression, and an extra day of rest. The one thing that didn't happen this training cycle that I'd hoped would was the addition of speed work. My coach had me doing intervals once a week (where I would run short bursts of speed, 60-90 seconds, within a run), but that ended after my tweaky foot thing. And if I'm being honest with myself, it wasn't enough speed to warrant an attempt at a BQ. I have confidence in myself, but I also know that in order for me to be able to run a marathon at an 8:25-ish pace, I need to have some faster miles in my training. I'm not giving any excuses... just stating the obvious, and despite a pretty solid season of training, I am obviously not ready to run a sub-3:45 marathon right now.
Recap
A few months ago, my friend Emily mentioned that she'd like to run a sub-2 half marathon this spring. I offered to pace her at the Xenia half, the same race I helped my friend Jamie PR at four years ago! Unfortunately, Emily has been injured, so the pacing gig was cancelled. I had registered for the race when it was super-cheap back in December, though, so I still wanted to do it. My friend Katie was running the full, so I figured, why not tag along with her for the first 7 miles, til the marathoners split off? We both loved the idea, and even better, our friend Amy decided to sign up at the last minute and join us.
Katie wanted to run the first several miles at around an 8:50-9:00/mile pace. My coach agreed that this was a good, solid pace for me to try. I was a little nervous, as I really don't ever run this pace. My runs all pretty much stay in the 9:10-9:30 range. Occasionally I dip into the high 8's, but it's rare. Turns out I had nothing at all to worry about :)
Amy and I rode together to the race. Xenia is about 1 hr 15 min from my house, so we left Westerville right before 6 AM with plenty of time to get there. The race is small, but well-organized. It's based at the Xenia YMCA. We grabbed our bibs, and I stood in the uber-long bathroom line. It was super cold out (the real-feel was sub-20!), so it was nice to have the indoor facility! I met Amy back at the car where we stayed toasty warm until it was time to race. The race started right on time without a hitch! We were unable to find Katie, but she found us about 3 miles into the race. That gave us a nice little 4 mile stretch to chat. It felt like a normal training run! The first 5ish miles of the race are the most hilly, at least compared to our usual running routes, but they're not TOO awful. I fueled once, at mile 7, just as Katie was leaving us. Amy and I spent the rest of the race talking about whatever random stuff we usually talk about during our runs. I had to keep her in check a few times, as the goal was to NOT go faster than 8:45. I accomplished this until the final mile, when she decided we should just go with the downhill that the course was giving us LOL! My final time was a 1:55:51. My pre-race goal was 1:55-1:58, with an average heart rate in the low 150's. It ended up being a 151--woo hoo! More than anything, I needed some confidence for my marathon in two weeks, and this race gave that to me. The best part about Xenia: the post-race food! Pizza, salad, cans of pop, and delicious cookies. YAY! Amy and I left after our meal, as we both had busy days back at home ahead of us.
Quick wardrobe notes for the future: a real-feel in the high-teens/low-20's warrants a lot of calculation! I ended up with: tights (not fleece lined), a short-sleeve shirt under a long-sleeved half-zip (thin tech material), gloves and an ear warmer. I was cold at the start, but ended up very happy with my decisions!
Preview
So... in two weeks, I have a marathon. Back to Glass City I go! I actually just registered for it a few days ago! I swear, I have PTSD over registering for races and not getting to run in them, especially with this race (Glass City). I talked to my coach last week about the plans for this race. I wondered if I was even ready for a marathon, given the amount of training that I'd done, but he said he felt I was. The big question: how fast would I want to go? I proposed starting out at around an 8:50-9:00 pace, and then, at the half, seeing how I felt... going faster if I was feeling it, maintaining my pace if not. He thought it was a great idea, and said using Xenia as a barometer would be a good plan.
Well, if Xenia was my barometer, I am feeling pretty good about the race plan we've laid out. Still very nervous... it's one thing to run 13 miles at an 8:50 pace. It's a completely different thing to run 26 miles at that pace! If I can hold it, though, I will end up with a very respectable 3:51ish. I would be happy with that! It's not the 3:41 that I am dreaming of, but it's still a solid time. And... it sets me up for another marathon in the near future. (Just a little bit of foreshadowing there LOL!)
No comments:
Post a Comment