First Half Marathon Race Report 4/27/09

Beep. Beep. Beep. Snooze once.

Beep. Beep. Beep Snooze twice

Beep. Beep. Beep...so wanted to Snooze a third time but that would be pushin' it.

It was time to get up except....

ugh. My legs. They feel so fatigued...so heavy..like bricks.

It was the day of my first half marathon, the Santa Cruz Half, and it was on the last day of a particularly tough triathlon week.


Needless to say, this was NOT the ideal time to be doing a half marathon, let alone my first one ever.

I had known that when I had signed up for this race on a whim...that my legs would not feel up for it the morning of the race.

I had known that. So this wasn't a surprise to me.

But my shins hurt too. and my hamstrings were a little sore. and my glutes, and my hips were tight....and..gosh I could come up with an infinite list of things that weren't ideal to sabotage myself for what's to come.

Truth be told...i was scared of this race. Of the three disciplines in triathlon...I find myself most at home when I'm running. Running is a very personal thing for me. My body's built for distance running.

At 5'1" and 100 lbs I'm too small to be a really powerful cyclist. My arms are too short have a really powerful pull in the water...but on land, as a runner...my genetics don't go completely against me.

At 5' 1" and 100 lbs...I'm not too short for distance running. Deanna Kastor, the Olympic medalist and American Marathon Record Holder is only 5' 4"...not too far off from me.

And that's why I feel so deeply attached to running...like I have a shot of some sort. Like my size isn't working against me.

My legs, my quads my glutes...all were excuses. The fact is, I was scared. I had been training consistently...true. But I had no idea of how fast I was.

Back when I was training for my first half marathon in 2007 but pulled out last minute due to IT band issues, I had a goal in mind. 1:59:59.

Now, two years, later, as I was getting ready to finally compete in my first stand alone half marathon. I hadn't forgotten about that goal.

Despite the tough triathlon week. Despite the less than ideal conditions...I hadn't forgotten about that goal.

And I had told myself it would be okay if I didn't make my goal.

After all, my legs weren't fresh. I was not well rested. I have a huge race coming up in two weeks (the WildFlower Half Ironman) that is far more important than this teensy little half mary. That it was okay if i was slow...that I should be cautious because I don't want to injure myself before the Big Race coming up...

But deep down inside...deep, deep down inside. I knew. I knew that no matter what, I'd be disappointed if I hadn't met my original Goal.

I thought about all of this as I finally got out of bed and started getting dressed. I tried to put it all in the back of my head and just get ready. 20 minutes later, I was all ready to go.

I hadn't picked up my race numbers for the race yet, so I strolled along to the registration booth, got my registration packet, pinned the race number on my shirt and had 15 minutes or so to spare before lining up to the race start.

I did a quick little .5 mile warm up with some short speedy 'pick me ups' to get the blood going in my legs.

And u know what I noticed?...I noticed that the stiffness in my legs was melting away...

I stretched a bit before and after the warm up...

and noticed that the stiffness was going away some more..

Whew. Maybe I do have a shot at my goal? Maybe I can be positive about this race? Maybe I can realize that 1:59:59 is just a number, and I should just run with my heart.

I should run because running makes me happy...and no matter what happens, I should be thankful that I'm alive and able to do this.

And if I make that under '2h goal'...well, that'll just be the icing on the cake.

With that attitude...I lined up on the start line, ready to go.

I seeded myself 1/3 of the way in...thinking 'you know, i'm not that fast, i shouldn't start out all the way in the front' Boy was I wrong

I should really have been more selfish. As soon as the gun went off, I realized..this race consisted of wayyy too many Selfish people. People that had no business being in the front (i.e. the walkers).

Now, no disrespect, I think it's amazing how some people can walk that entire thing, but please consider the fact that you're blocking so many people who are trying to hit their target goals etc! have some consideration ppl Move the heck outa the way and start towards the back!

Well, lucky for me, right off the bat, within .1 mi we get this steep-ish hill. Here we go, i'm good on hills, time to power charge up and pass some walkers and slower runners. and I did. But I definitely felt a little tinge of pain in my sore little bum bum.

I continued power charging, with bursts of sprints to move around slow people and weaving in and out of walkers etc...In between all this commotion I looked to my left and was awe-stricken by the amazing view. The ocean looked maginificent...scinilating under the morning sun. Waves ebbing and flowing...gently crashing on the rocks. Speckled with surfers trying to take advantage of it all at the start of the day.

Before i knew it, the first mile was up. I looked down at the time...hmm, 9:06. ok. not bad. considering the super slow start early on, i'll take it.

The second mile was also a lot of running, weaving, dodging,'scuse me runner coming through make way', charging...ooh look Ocean ooh pretty.. charging, weaving, dodging and before i knew it mile two was up as well.

I looked down at the time on my watch to see how mile 2 measured up and...wth? an 8:23 minute mile huh? That sure didn't feel like it. In order to meet my 1:59:59 goal, I had to run at a 9:09 pace and at this point i was running at a sub 9:09 pace with a quite ease

8:23 was great but...slow down! Don't go out too hard now. You don't want to crash later. A teensy part of me wonders how long i could have kept that pace up before crashing...

Somewhere between mile 2 and mile 3, I realized...The pain in the legs, the fear, the anxiety...all were disappearing.

And...as Mile 3 rolled around and I clocked in another sub 9 min mile...I realized..I have a decent shot at meeting my goal. Even though I was running faster than I have been during my training..quite a bit faster actually...it felt great...almost effortless.

Somewhere between mile 2 and mile 3...I had hit that zone. That zone that the endurance runners talk about. That runner's high, that feeling that I could run forever and ever with not a care in the world.

I hit my zone, and nothing was gonna stop me.

Miles 4 and 5 came by and I continued to feel great and on pace to meet my goal.

At mile 6, however, we hit the trails. Here we go. The paths got really narrow and it got more and more difficult to pass people. And considering that I was on pace, I decided to chill out and hold the pace instead of focusing on passing people

At this point, I noticed that I was starting to slow down. Legs aren't going as fast as they were going earlier and as mile 7 came around, I clock in a 9:30. Mile 8...same thing, a 9:30.

I was starting to get a little nervous. I knew I was capable of putting in a teensy bit more effort, but wasn't sure if that meant I was gonna burn out and start hurting or limping later.

I tried to not pay attention to that nagging voice of reason and put in just a little more of a kick.

Mile 9...

Mile 10 ...

Mile 11...

...and now I am 1h:40m:38s into this race.

I have less than 20 minutes to go 2.1 miles and still meet my goal.

"I can do this", I thought to myself. "It's gonna be close but I can do this"

"But gosh my thighs sure do hurt."

Don't pay attention, just focus and run and focus and ouch. A stitch in my side. Ouch. Well tune it out girl! Tune it out!

But gosh it's hard to tune these things out sometimes.

Just chug a long, just chug a long..and wait, where's the mile 12 marker? Must have missed it. Oops. Oh well.

Breathing was starting to get hard at this point. This last bit was definitely tough. Did I want to stop? Absolutely. Did I want to not care about my goal and just walk? Oh you betcha. But did I succumb to any of those thoughts...no ma'm.

I continued. Ow. huff. ow. puff. ow. just..a little...huff puff ..longer...

At some point during all of this 'The Adventure' by 'Angels and Airwaves' came on my Ipod and took a hold of my spirit.

"I can't live I can't breathe unless you do this with me"

I felt the tattoo of the circle on my wrist. I looked up to the sky. I talked to the Big Boss up stairs.


"I can't live I can't breathe unless you do this with me"

I thought of all the people in my life.

My friends who adoringly call me 'IronWoman' and want to fly all the way to Arizona to watch me compete in Ironman and support me.

My mom who told me I could quit my crazy hours job, come live with my parents, train for Ironman and live my dream. I had no idea she supported me that much.

My Phil who's been so amazing, and caring and there for me through it all.

"I can't live I can't breathe unless you do this with me"

All of a sudden, I felt overwhelmed with emotions. I teared up.

I'm running.

I'm running my first half marathon when I couldn't even run half a mile without stopping in High School.

And I've got some wonderful people in my life who are behind me every step of the way.

"I can't live I can't breathe unless you do this with me"


It was the final stretch now. I could see the beach to the finish line far off around the bend...and I had 4 minutes left to get there. I was excited and nervous to find out if I was gonna make it.

This last bit right here is definitely a bit of a blur.

I remember thinking 'crap my running form is definitely out the window right now'

and 'boy that pain in the side is getting tougher to ignore'

and 'a handful of minutes worth of pain and it'll all be over, just tough it out'


and before I knew it, I was rounding out the corner to the finish line.

A surge of energy came over me as the finish line came into view.

I took everything I had in me and I starting sprinting like there's no tomorrow.

Run, Run, Harder, Harder, Run, Faster, Faster, Go-Go-Go-Go Annnnddddd...YESSSS!!!

I crossed the finish line.

I FINISHED!

I looked down at my watch.

1:59:46.

OMG!

I did it!

I MADE MY GOAL!!

Boy did I cut it close.

But boy does it feel good. I don't care if I made it by a few seconds..I did it. I made me proud :)

Breakthroughs and Progress

This weekend, my friends, was a breakthrough work out weekend. I haven't had one of those in a very very long time. In fact, I really can't remember the last time I had a 'true' breakthrough work out.

This weekend, I did a 60 mile bike ride followed by a 35 min brick run. The workout started off with the usual 'I don't wanna do this ride' feeling since I was riding alone. Predictably, at around mile 20 or so, my negative feelings turned into positive ones and as usual, around mile 40, my left knee started giving me trouble.

Yawn. Shocker. What's so 'break-through' about that right? Well. I'll tell ya.

I was aero ~70%-80% of the time.

That means that, instead of riding normally on the handle-bars like I usually do, I forced myself to be in the aero-dynamic triathlon position almost the entire ride. I only got up on the handle bars when I had to break at stop lights, or I needed to stretch a bit, or I was climbing a hill.

Aside from that, I stayed snug and tight and in the aero position.

And you know what? Besides letting me bike just a little bit faster, being Aero did something MONUMENTAL for me.

Being in AERO let me RUN right after riding 60 miles almost INSTANTANEOUSLY!! That's HUGE!!

Normally it takes me ~15 minutes, sometimes 20 minutes of run-walking to adjust to running after riding my bike. My legs feel cramped up like bricks (that makes no sense), and I have to force and convince myself to chill out. It's painful, uncomfortable and I-Just-don't-like- it.

Well...not this time folks! The aero position is designed to not only provide you with a little more speed, but it also allows your 'running muscles' (mainly hamstrings and glutes) to be less fatigued so that you can run after biking more easily.


So this sunday:

1) I feuled right (almost 2 bottles of gatorade, 1 bottle of water, 2 gels 1 bonk-breaker bar = ~800 calories on the bike)

and

2) I stayed in aero

and as a result

3) I ran ran ran ran at a sub 10 min mile pace right off the bat and felt A-MAZING!



I don't know what my exact pace was, but it felt like 9:45/9:30 min miles. After my 35 min brick run was over, I felt like I could have run at that pace for another hour if I just had some fluids and a gel. To give you an idea of what an improvement that is, I normally run ~10:30-11:00 min miles when I first get off the bike, until my legs have adjusted to running.

I get it!! I finally get why Aero is so key! And I finally get what a proper positioning on the bike can do for you!

And that, my friend, is called a break through workout.

I didn't even know that an almost instantaneous transition was possible until now and I'm sooo excited about it!

I'm gonna stay aero during the WildFlower Half Iron for as much and as long as I can help it, and hopefully, things will run just as smoothly during the WildFlower race (pun definitely intended) as they did on Sunday.


I also had a 'break through' in my understanding of friendships and relationships in general.

I realized that sometimes, you gotta cut your friends some slack. That you gotta cut people some slack.

I realized that sometime good, amazing people can have momentary lapses of judgement.

I realized that not everyone is perfect (I certainly am not) and that's ok.

I realized that everyone is allowed to be a little selfish every now and then.

I realized that If you care enough, you just gotta let people know when they're doing something that is inadvertly hurting you.

Chances are, if they're your close friends and care about you, they'll realize this and will rectify the situation, or apologize if it isn't salvageable.

I realized that You gotta trust people, especially your close friends and have a little faith.

Because ultimately, in many, many situations in life, If you ain't got faith, and you ain't got Hope... what else do you got?