At Least Two Halves Crazy!

I totally surprised myself last weekend and somehow ended up on another 13.1 mile run to add to my half crazy challenge to run 13 half marathons in 2013.

I was surprised mainly because I headed over to Lou's for a trail run that she estimated would be 'about 10 miles'. I should've known better because the two of us rarely manage a run without some sort of adventure. This week's 'adventure' included gale force winds, big hills, flooded roads (bbrrr snow melt water = cold toes) and getting (very) lost.
Our 'about 10 mile' run turned out to be 14.5 (ouch!)

Don't get me wrong, we get a bit lost quite often but it rarely takes us 4 AND A HALF MILES away from our intended route! Believe it or not we weren't actually lost in the photo above... we were just having a look at the trail we were going to run which unfortunately had disappeared under several feet of flood water!

This shows you what we were up against on a fairly regular basis....  Just as your feet were warming up from the last paddle, you'd be faced with another one! Then there was the wind; rough does not even come close to explaining the two steps forward three steps back feeling we had. And how is it never behind you??

I can't believe after the fairly challenging runs I've been encountering recently that I'd have another hard one so soon. I'm happy that I kept with it though (not that I had much choice.. I had to get back to my car) ;). Surely I must be due an easy one soon, but if not, I hope all these experiences might prepare me well for races in the future!

High Knees!

I wanted to post a couple of photos from yesterday's run just because it was so awesome! I hadn't planned to run locally but I couldn't make it to my friend's house as the roads weren't clear. I still really wanted to run though so I laced up my Cascadia's and headed out...

Several people took time away from snow shovelling to mention that they thought I was completely mad which just makes me smile and run further! I have to admit it was really hard work and felt like 5.5km of high knees to get through the snow but I enjoyed every crazy, stupid minute of it!

That bbbrrrr time of year already

It's that time of year where running isn't just about putting on a pair of shorts and a tshirt... winter seems to be approaching way too fast. I'm just getting back into training and loving it, but already I've noticed the nights drawing in and the mornings staying dark later. I'm not a big fan of running in the dark by myself so this is massively reducing my 'time to run' window! 

Secondly it's cold already. Now I struggle with the cold pretty much all the time, that is except for while I'm running when, as long as my hands and feet are warm, I'm fine. What I learned tonight is never to listen to anyone else about how many layers I need! I usually go by the rule, wear what I think I need...then take something off (obviously not in the summer when I'm down to minimum layers...that could end up being embarrassing!) I had opted tonight for a tshirt and gloves instead of a top with full length arms.. However on the way out of the door I got told I'd 'need a jumper' (!!!) because it was freezing outside. I didn't believe for a second that I needed a-whole-nother layer on but I did put on my arm warmers just in case... and of course folded them down before I'd even gone a mile!
So here's to winter running again.... layers, hats, gloves, thermals, rain, mud, ice and wind. There's one thing I know for sure... it'll take a lot more than some adverse weather to stop me ;)

The Gusher Marathon

I can't believe how quickly this week is flying!... the race was on Saturday and it's now Tuesday, but between travelling, recovery, day to day life and not feeling well, somehow time has got away with me.

I set off on Friday afternoon, packed up with all my essentials (several clothing options, sport beans, forgoodness shakes, puppies and Paul) and headed to Beaumont. 

It couldn't have been a worse evening to travel, the rain was pouring like crazy. Once we got to Beaumont we had to go to the supermarket to pick up some things I needed for dinner and breakfast, and we also needed to go to packet pickup in the city centre for my race number and timing chip. 

I have never got so wet running in and out of buildings and I was starting to get nervous about the forecast for Saturday morning.  I had been checking weather underground all week and storms had been forecast until the last minute.

Somehow, despite this forecast, a little miracle happened and Saturday was clear all day 

As expected I got a rubbish night sleep on Friday as I was full of nerves, excitement and anticipation. I got up at 5 to get some breakfast and we got there just in enough time for a photo of me looking nervous and to get to the start.

The first loop was great as there were plenty of people to run and pace with and lots of supporters along the route. I finished the first half in 2.03.31 then started on the loneliest 13.1 miles of my running life so far! 

Initially I was feeling strong after the first half as I headed out onto the MLK freeway. It's such a long stretch and the wind was picking up which started making life a little more difficult. When I got into the town centre it was so much quieter than the first loop. Many of the supporters had called it a day as it wasn't worth hanging around for the more occasional marathon runners. Local businesses were closed because the roads were closed so it was dead as a dodo! I had a few guys behind me and a couple up ahead but there were definitely not crowds of runners encouraging you to push along. That's where the mind games began. The urge to walk was overwhelming sometimes and the pain in my quads started to wear me down.

Running back up the long stretch of MLK (somehow into the wind again!) was the hardest part for me. I had never run over 20 miles so this stretch was pushing me physically and mentally. On the positive side, running down the middle of 6 lanes of motorway all to yourself is pretty awesome!

The run up to this marathon had been far from perfect. I had been sick for the 2 weeks prior to the race, worst of all that I was so ill I didn't eat a thing on Monday or Tuesday. I spent the rest of the week trying to get some food in me and make an attempt at carb loading. I was still struggling with pain on the day of the race and had to make a couple of stops but I was determined not to give in... I had trained for too long to not finish the race!
Somehow I surprised myself and finished in a gun time of 4.26.09 and chip time of 4.25.40. I was 4th in my age group which I'm so pleased with considering it was my first marathon... then I realised if I had been just a couple of months older I would have been 1st in my age group... FIRST!!!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT??!!

I'm so pleased to have run a full 26.2 miles and feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment. I trained hard for this and know that it paid off. My legs hate me right now... I couldn't get up the steps to the house which was just silly... followed by cuddling the dog on the floor and getting stuck down there, which was even sillier!

However today I'm starting to move a little better and I don't regret it for a moment... it was totally worth the aches and pains!

Between you and me I'm already planning my next one....

Galveston Half Marathon

Sunday was the day of my first race of 2012.... the Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon. I ran the half in preparation for my marathon next month, although I'd seriously considered signing up for the marathon as I knew it would be a really flat course and quite scenic along the beach front.... I'm so glad I didn't as it couldn't have been a worse day for it! I've never been in Galveston in the winter and hadn't expected such English weather!

Cold, wet and windy does not even begin to describe the weather on Sunday. Sheltering in the truck before the race Paul pointed out that the palm trees looked as though a hurricane was coming! This is the weather map that I looked at in the morning... if you look very closely you can see Galveston Island and this whole weather system (green being rain, yellow being bad rain and red being torrential rain) was moving slowly in a North Easterly direction fighting against a windy cool front moving down from the North... therefore staying over the island the whole morning and on into the afternoon. The one thing I am thankful for is that it didn't start to thunder and lightning like the day before. I don't know what I'd have done if it did because lightning scares me silly plus it was so open, especially at the most northerly part of the course. 

I'm not sure that the rain was the worst of it! I don't ever run with a hat on but the race organisers luckily gave us a cap in our pre-race goodybag.... I decided to wear it to shelter my face from the driving rain and was glad I did as I hate having rain wash out my contact lenses. The worst thing I had to deal with was the wind which was blowing directly at us for what felt like 80% of the race

The race itself was awesome. I have no doubt that it's one of the flattest courses I will ever run, it was also one of the straightest, right along the Seawall Boulevard from one end to the other (hence the problem having to fight that headwind all the way along the front).

Click here to see video of the start of the race (I'm about 1 minute 41)
I had my Garmin Virtual Partner set on my watch to 5.25/km. This is basically the pace at which I ran my last half marathon, so if I wanted to beat my personal best I would need to run at that pace or quicker throughout the race. I had a plan to run a steady first half and strong, fast second half though the wind was making that pretty impossible. I felt like I was spending twice as much energy along the straight than I would usually spend running along a flat length of road. I wasn't sure I'd benefit from a tail wind at any point as the return length was shorter and sheltered in the main streets so I was determined not to drop my pace.

Here's my lap times and, despite my struggles, I think I just about managed to stick with my pace plan and speed up over the last few km. It wasn't the 'start steady, finish strong' that I'd imagined but wasn't bad considering the conditions

km 1: 5.22

km 2: 5.23

km 3: 5.17

km 4: 5.21

km 5: 5.25

km 6: 5.27

km 7: 5.28

km 8: 5.24

km 9: 5.22

km 10: 5.26

km 11: 5.24

km 12: 5.22

km 13: 5.31

km 14: 5.24

km 15: 5.16

km 16: 5.19

km 17: 5.14

km 18: 5.08

km 19: 5.07

km 20: 5.08

km 21: 4.51

click here to see video of my big finish!

Race Results

I finished 6th in my age group

147th out of 1014 half marathon runners

in a personal best time of 1:52:12 

Overall I had a great race and fantastic time in Galveston with Paul and the puppies. This experience just reminds me why I love to travel and love to race. I'm excited about the marathon next month so after a couple of rest days I'll be right back into my training plan. Wish me luck!

A very quick Galveston update...

It looks like it could be a very wet & stormy ferry ride over to Galveston Island on Saturday....

 Followed by a soggy race on Sunday morning!

I've never run a race in the rain before. I'm hoping the forecast is wrong but guess I'm going to have to be prepared for rain!