Saturday, October 31, 2009

Monster Half Race Re-Cap

I did it!! I totally beat all the time goals I had set for myself and PR'd! Scroll down to the bottom if you want the details on splits & final time. Here's my race recap.

I so was not worried for this race. Usually I am kind of a basket case the night before a big race. I think I had trained harder & smarter for this race, though, so just didn't have the pre-race jitters I usually had. My night before the race was pretty typical. Had some carbs and laid out all my gear, like I usually.


Can you tell I like the color pink?

I had no trouble falling asleep. I was, however, awoken at 4 am by the sound of the wind rattling my windows. I told myself - don't freak out, you race is over 4 hours away, the winds will die down by then.

When my alarm went off at 6:45, the windows were still rattling and on weather.com it said winds were in the 10-15 mph range with 20 mph gust. Yah, not ideal running conditions.

So I decided that instead of wearing this:



I'd add a fleece to that and wear this (I had always planned to wear the hat, it just didn't make it into the first pic):


Turns out I totally underestimated how warm I'd get and totally overestimated how cold the wind would make me. I should have stuck with my original outfit. Lesson learned. Having that fleece was great when I was waiting around for the race to start, but about 1.5 miles into the run, I was HOT. So I wasted at least a minute taking the fleece off and moving my race number, garmin, and iPod from outside of the fleece. I had recently bought that fleece so I just couldn't stand the thought of throwing it away (most runners will wear a layer that they will throw away as they warm up during a run like this). So I tied it around my waist and carried on.

I lost quite a bit of time during that wardrobe rearrangement, so I kind of felt like I was behind the 8 ball very early. Thank God I had my trusty Garmin. I was able to make up for lost time pretty quickly, but my overall time could have been better if not for that wardrobe switcheroo.

The whole run went really well, though. I had some knee/hip pain around the middle but other than that, it was a pretty smooth run. I didn't realize how hilly it would be, so my glutes are definitely feeling it this afternoon!

Now for the data!!

Mile 1: 9:40
Mile 2: 10:24 (stupid wardrobe rearrangement)
Mile 3: 9:06 (ok, good, made up for lost time during this mile)
Mile 4: 9:17
Mile 5: 9:27
Mile 6: 9:31
Mile 7: 9:24
Mile 8: 9:05 (I saw all the runners from back from the out & back turnaround at this point so turned on some speed)
Mile 9: 9:14
Mile 10: 9:14
Mile 11: 9:18
Mile 12: 9:18
Mile 13: 9:02
The rest: 2:24 - (8:31 mi/min - was supposed to be .1 mi, according to my Garmin it was .28 mi)

Average pace: 9:22
Total time: 2:04:24

If you recall, my 'hard goal' from yesterday's post was 2:07 so I totally nailed it! I'm really proud of myself for achieving this goal. All that hard work totally paid off and I think I have more speeds in my legs than I thought.

That said, I might have pushed it a little too hard or something. I felt totally fine after the race but spent this afternoon with some pretty un-fun digestion issues. Not going to TMI you guys and get into that, but I have been pretty miserable and had to miss my friend's son's birthday party. :( I remember feeling like this after the half I did back in May of 2007, but I did not train for that (yes, I was an idiot), so I was not surprised when my body revolted the way it did. I shouldn't feel the way I do now. So maybe I didn't drink enough. Or maybe I didn't eat the right meal last night. Or maybe it was the post-run latte? Who knows. I guess I'll have to figure it out by trial and error. I'm already starting to feel better after downing some Gatorade and taking a little nap.

What's next? I'm not quite sure. There is a half in January, called the "Frozen Half" that I might do with some co-workers (my employer has a running club - how cool is that?). But I am kind of scared to think what the temps might be like in January in Minnesota. So I might take a break from training and focus on cross training and then will probably try to do a half in the spring - followed by a marathon in the fall. Which I will be running with some fellow bloggers (stay tuned for details on that!!)


So there you have it! I hope you are all having a safe and fun Halloween! Time to push some more liquids and watch a movie! Gosh I'm exciting, aren't I!!

18 comments:

Mandy said...

So glad that today went well. I thought of you this morning and hoped it went well. Enjoy your nice quiet evening. I am doing the same thing and love every second of it.

Unknown said...

I thought of you this morning and sent good vibes in your direction. Congratulations on exceeding your goal. I hope you feel better. Do you need some chicken soup delivered? Let me know!! I promise it will be gluten free. Rest well. We are having a quiet evening here as well. Well, except for Paul yelling at the television during the game(s).

Cherry Blossoms said...

That is so awesome Lisa! I think I may need to hire you as my running coach!

Nicole said...

Congratulations on your PR and surpassing your goals!! Great work!!

Lisa-Marie said...

Hurrah! Well done Lisa! I am proud of you! Dave and I watched the X Factor, that was my exciting evening!

aimee said...

congrats! i'm glad to hear the race went so well. a race in jan sounds really cold, assuming MN weather in jan is similar to WI weather in jan! enjoy your sunday! hope you're feeling better@@

Abby said...

Good job, Lisa! That is so awesome!! You totally BLEW away your goal time! :) 2:04--that is amazing!

I want to do a marathon with you in the fall :( And that "frozen half" sounds very intense! Wow! A frozen half in AZ would be a race in 50-degree temps ;)

(So many of my fellow classmates thought I was out of my mind for running this week when it was in the 40-50's in the morning)

I hope you feel better today! I am sure you do after getting rehydrated and replenished.

I am SO proud of you!!! :)

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

congratulations!!

Mama Nastase said...

Congratulations! Again, I am in awe of you and your sister (and all you runners out there). You should be soo proud!

P.s.-You look DARLING in pink!

Amber said...

Woohoo!! You did soo awesome I'm so excited for you. You totally blew your time goals out of the water (I had a feeling you would)!

LOVE your bright pink shirt; super cute!!

Jessica said...

Congrats!! You did awesome!!

Hope you're feeling better today!

Becky said...

Congratulations!!!

Nicole said...

Yay, congrats on beating your goal! And I love all the pink! The last 5K I ran I thought I was going to be cold, but halfway through I got really hot. I can't believe though that people will just throw away their extra layer! I need to go hang out around races and pick up extra clothes, haha!

Anonymous said...

I am SO Proud of you. Was thinking of you all day and hoping that the race went well for you. (And was also so thrilled to get your email, which I'm responding to shortly. How sweet of you to think of me during your day!)

J said...

Congrats on the half! I love all the pink! Really cute!

Anais said...

Awesome awesome awesome, soooo proud of you!! I can't believe you beat your hard goal by that much even after stopping to take off your sweater (I have to say, I laughed when I realized all that went along with removing it:, bib, etc.).

As for the indigestion issues, I wish I knew of anything that would help. I think you're right, you'll learn through trial and error! Hopefully sooner than later :)

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Nice work Lisa! I love the pink!!

Marlys said...

I am so proud of you & Abby for being runners! I never did try it and now my knees just couldn't take it, but I am loving working out on my new Wii fitness program! Nothing to compare to running but for a 60+ old grandma, it fits my style!