Carlsbad Half
After running AFC Half last year, I decided to go for my triple crown of local half marathons this year. Sunday was the Carlsbad Half marathon, which is the first of the series.
For AFC last year, I ran the event at my training pace. This year, I planned to go for time and I'd never done an event this long at a hard effort. I had no idea what I could do or what to expect. I used an online race time projection based on my Holiday Bowl 5K time (whoops--I should have blogged about that race!) and decided that I'd shoot for a time of under 2 hours, which is a 9:09 pace. Then the day before the race, Coach Gurujan gave me a projected time of 1:53 at a pace of 9:45 for the first two miles, then 8:29 for the rest. I thought that was absolutely insane, but I still really wanted to try my best and see what I could do.
When Deb and I trained for AFC last year, we followed a training plan that Nike.com generated for us, but on event day, Deb got a stress fracture in her leg right at mile 12 and wasn't able to run for months afterwards. This season, I've been doing a lot more running and have been having some problems with shin splints, then 2 weeks before the race, I started having a lot of pain in my heel. I was really worried about getting a stress fracture myself and went to see Dr. Martinez of Coastal Sports Medicine to see if I was in danger. He didn't think I was, but I was still really worried I'd be in pain or break something on race day.
So because of all this, on race morning, I was a total mess! I was out of my mind nervous and scared. I was totally in tears while listening to my race warmup music on my drive up to the race. I had already decided that my leg was going to hurt and my heel was going to hurt and that I would just totally put that out of my mind. I was actually mainly scared of finding out what my true limits were--trying to shoot for a goal that seemed insane to me and being scared that I'd fail. I was just going crazy that morning--I'm really glad I didn't end up driving with anyone else cause I wouldn't want anyone else to see me like that. :)
I got to the race about an hour before the start and wandered around on my own for a while. My heel was already hurting, but I tried to do some warmup jogs. I ran into Jen F. and Alexis in the morning and talked to them for a few minutes, but most of the time, I was all on my own. This was my first race where I didn't really have a big group around in the morning. I lined up at the start all by myself and didn't talk to anyone.
Finally the gun went off and people slowly started walking to the start. Fortunately they had it all arranged so there was enough room to start running by the time we crossed the start.
I thought I was running pretty slow the first mile, but once I hit the marker, I was at 8:55! I tried to slow down a little for the second mile, but ended up doing that one in 8:30! The next two miles I did in 8:43, but then started to feel fatigued and ran the 5th mile in 9:03. I started to think then that there's no way I would be able to keep up the 8:30 pace coach wanted and that I'd have to go back to trying to make under 2 hours. Right around then, Kim W ran past me. I asked her what pace she was at and she said 8:30. I told her that's the pace coach wanted me at, so she said "Well, come on!" I thought there's no way I'd be able to keep up with her, but figured I'd give it shot and picked up the pace. I got into a really good rhythm and we started passing a bunch of people who had passed me before. At this point, I was feeling really good. My heartrate was up at 88% and my respiration was high, but not as labored and loud as it normally is when I feel like I'm pushing too hard. Kim and I ran the next 4 miles in 8:22, 8:25, 8:15, and 8:20 and that included some good hills!
Then right around the 9 mile marker, I started to feel like I was running out of energy, so I tried to take a Cliff Shot Block like I've been using on my training runs. Unfortunately my respiration was so much higher during this race that I couldn't chew the block. It took me a half mile just to get the thing down and by that time I had fallen back from Kim. I still have her in sight and she called back to make sure I was okay. I tried to catch back up to her, but didn't have it in me, so I just kept a constant distance from her and did this mile in 8:34. Somewhere after this, I lost sight of Kim. It may have been the aid station where someone cut in front of me and I almost fell. Or it may have just been when a big group of people passed me. I really don't remember.
I do remember that this is where the run finally started to hurt. I was getting really fatigued. I really wanted to stop and walk for a minute, but I knew if I did that, I wouldn't get started again. Even more, I realized that I still had a chance to make coach's projected time and that if I walked at all, I would be giving up and wouldn't have a chance to make that time. So these last 3 miles were entirely a mental challenge. My legs were sore, but they would keep moving. I just had to convince myself to make them go. I just tried to maintain my pace. Thanks to the GPS, I knew each quarter mile and knew I wanted to be at 2:07 for each quarter mile in order to hit 8:28 miles. At this point, I knew I wasn't making it and my next two miles I did in 9:05 and 9:18. Then with 1.1 miles to go, I had 10 minutes left to make coach's projection. I thought I'd be able to do that if I kept going, so I used that as extra motivation not to let myself stop. Those last 3 miles I kept calculating the time left and telling myself "Just 27 more minutes and then you can rest. You can make it another 27 minutes." and "Okay--now just another 10 minutes. You can hold this pace for another 10 minutes." Also during this time, I started thinking how I really wanted more base for my next race. I had done a 15 mile run 2 weeks before, but I think for my next race, I'll try to get at least 3 runs of 15 or more miles beforehand.
With half a mile to go, I was worried I wasn't going to make the time, so I picked up the pace. I could finally see the mall again and thought I knew where the finish was. I got my heartrate up to 92% and just kept pushing. Then I turned a corner expecting to see the finish, but it wasn't there. I turned another corner and it wasn't there either. Finally after I turned yet another corner, I finally saw the finish and ran in. My final time was 1:55:26!! My GPS mileage was 13.36 miles. I don't know if this is more accurate or not (it may have been because I didn't run the shortest distance over the entire course), but it was what I was basing all of my calculations on during the run, so I would have run the race a little different if I went off the marked course mileage, which is what I think I'll do next time.
Once I crossed the finish line, I could barely stand. My arms and legs were tingling and I had a really hard time standing for them to take my chip off. Once I got past the chip removal and got my medal, I was again totally emotional. I pushed myself WAY harder than I ever thought I could. I came really close to coach's projected time. (In fact, I did hit coach's projected time when my GPS was at 13.1 miles.) I thought I might pass out or puke, but I really just wanted to lay down and cry. But just then, a cute girl I had talked to several times during the race as we passed each other showed up and I started talking to her, so I had to be all manly and not break down in tears. :)
So let me give a big thank you to coach for giving me a projected time that seemed insane to me, but was within my reach, so it made me really push myself beyond what I thought was possible.
And another huge thank you to Kim for running past me at just the right time and making me run with her! There's no way I would have gotten anywhere close to the time I got with you!
Of course I also have to give huge thanks to Jen for being a great training partner and for making me do that 15 mile run before the race!
And finally, thank you Lisa and Melissa for coming out and cheering! (Good thing I was looking strong when I passed you guys!) And thank you to Heather for running with me and encouraging me when I passed the aid station you were working!
After I finished, a bunch of us gathered and we watched the first place woman's full marathon finisher cross the finish line. She looked strong coming in, but as soon as she crossed the line, she collapsed into the arms of two guys who helped carry her over to get her medal. Once again it was a reminder that this is hard for EVERYONE and no matter what your time, it's a hard effort! (Well, assuming you want it to be.)
One of my other goals for this race was to see how I felt the next day and see how long it took me to recover. After the 15 mile training run, I felt pretty bad both physically and mentally the next day. This race was over a lot faster, but it was also a much harder effort, so I was looking forward to seeing how I felt the next day. Unfortunately, I ended up drinking a little too much (okay--a LOT too much) while watching the Charger's lose that afternoon, so I couldn't really tell how I felt mentally. I was pretty hung over the next day. I could tell that my legs were really sore and I could tell I felt pretty bad mentally, but I couldn't tell how much of that was from the race and how much was from the alcohol. I'll have to avoid drinking that much after my next race. (Although I certainly did have a good time that afternoon and evening with all the partying. :)
Stay tuned for my next race update after La Jolla Half (or sooner if I get inspired).
For AFC last year, I ran the event at my training pace. This year, I planned to go for time and I'd never done an event this long at a hard effort. I had no idea what I could do or what to expect. I used an online race time projection based on my Holiday Bowl 5K time (whoops--I should have blogged about that race!) and decided that I'd shoot for a time of under 2 hours, which is a 9:09 pace. Then the day before the race, Coach Gurujan gave me a projected time of 1:53 at a pace of 9:45 for the first two miles, then 8:29 for the rest. I thought that was absolutely insane, but I still really wanted to try my best and see what I could do.
When Deb and I trained for AFC last year, we followed a training plan that Nike.com generated for us, but on event day, Deb got a stress fracture in her leg right at mile 12 and wasn't able to run for months afterwards. This season, I've been doing a lot more running and have been having some problems with shin splints, then 2 weeks before the race, I started having a lot of pain in my heel. I was really worried about getting a stress fracture myself and went to see Dr. Martinez of Coastal Sports Medicine to see if I was in danger. He didn't think I was, but I was still really worried I'd be in pain or break something on race day.
So because of all this, on race morning, I was a total mess! I was out of my mind nervous and scared. I was totally in tears while listening to my race warmup music on my drive up to the race. I had already decided that my leg was going to hurt and my heel was going to hurt and that I would just totally put that out of my mind. I was actually mainly scared of finding out what my true limits were--trying to shoot for a goal that seemed insane to me and being scared that I'd fail. I was just going crazy that morning--I'm really glad I didn't end up driving with anyone else cause I wouldn't want anyone else to see me like that. :)
I got to the race about an hour before the start and wandered around on my own for a while. My heel was already hurting, but I tried to do some warmup jogs. I ran into Jen F. and Alexis in the morning and talked to them for a few minutes, but most of the time, I was all on my own. This was my first race where I didn't really have a big group around in the morning. I lined up at the start all by myself and didn't talk to anyone.
Finally the gun went off and people slowly started walking to the start. Fortunately they had it all arranged so there was enough room to start running by the time we crossed the start.
I thought I was running pretty slow the first mile, but once I hit the marker, I was at 8:55! I tried to slow down a little for the second mile, but ended up doing that one in 8:30! The next two miles I did in 8:43, but then started to feel fatigued and ran the 5th mile in 9:03. I started to think then that there's no way I would be able to keep up the 8:30 pace coach wanted and that I'd have to go back to trying to make under 2 hours. Right around then, Kim W ran past me. I asked her what pace she was at and she said 8:30. I told her that's the pace coach wanted me at, so she said "Well, come on!" I thought there's no way I'd be able to keep up with her, but figured I'd give it shot and picked up the pace. I got into a really good rhythm and we started passing a bunch of people who had passed me before. At this point, I was feeling really good. My heartrate was up at 88% and my respiration was high, but not as labored and loud as it normally is when I feel like I'm pushing too hard. Kim and I ran the next 4 miles in 8:22, 8:25, 8:15, and 8:20 and that included some good hills!
Then right around the 9 mile marker, I started to feel like I was running out of energy, so I tried to take a Cliff Shot Block like I've been using on my training runs. Unfortunately my respiration was so much higher during this race that I couldn't chew the block. It took me a half mile just to get the thing down and by that time I had fallen back from Kim. I still have her in sight and she called back to make sure I was okay. I tried to catch back up to her, but didn't have it in me, so I just kept a constant distance from her and did this mile in 8:34. Somewhere after this, I lost sight of Kim. It may have been the aid station where someone cut in front of me and I almost fell. Or it may have just been when a big group of people passed me. I really don't remember.
I do remember that this is where the run finally started to hurt. I was getting really fatigued. I really wanted to stop and walk for a minute, but I knew if I did that, I wouldn't get started again. Even more, I realized that I still had a chance to make coach's projected time and that if I walked at all, I would be giving up and wouldn't have a chance to make that time. So these last 3 miles were entirely a mental challenge. My legs were sore, but they would keep moving. I just had to convince myself to make them go. I just tried to maintain my pace. Thanks to the GPS, I knew each quarter mile and knew I wanted to be at 2:07 for each quarter mile in order to hit 8:28 miles. At this point, I knew I wasn't making it and my next two miles I did in 9:05 and 9:18. Then with 1.1 miles to go, I had 10 minutes left to make coach's projection. I thought I'd be able to do that if I kept going, so I used that as extra motivation not to let myself stop. Those last 3 miles I kept calculating the time left and telling myself "Just 27 more minutes and then you can rest. You can make it another 27 minutes." and "Okay--now just another 10 minutes. You can hold this pace for another 10 minutes." Also during this time, I started thinking how I really wanted more base for my next race. I had done a 15 mile run 2 weeks before, but I think for my next race, I'll try to get at least 3 runs of 15 or more miles beforehand.
With half a mile to go, I was worried I wasn't going to make the time, so I picked up the pace. I could finally see the mall again and thought I knew where the finish was. I got my heartrate up to 92% and just kept pushing. Then I turned a corner expecting to see the finish, but it wasn't there. I turned another corner and it wasn't there either. Finally after I turned yet another corner, I finally saw the finish and ran in. My final time was 1:55:26!! My GPS mileage was 13.36 miles. I don't know if this is more accurate or not (it may have been because I didn't run the shortest distance over the entire course), but it was what I was basing all of my calculations on during the run, so I would have run the race a little different if I went off the marked course mileage, which is what I think I'll do next time.
Once I crossed the finish line, I could barely stand. My arms and legs were tingling and I had a really hard time standing for them to take my chip off. Once I got past the chip removal and got my medal, I was again totally emotional. I pushed myself WAY harder than I ever thought I could. I came really close to coach's projected time. (In fact, I did hit coach's projected time when my GPS was at 13.1 miles.) I thought I might pass out or puke, but I really just wanted to lay down and cry. But just then, a cute girl I had talked to several times during the race as we passed each other showed up and I started talking to her, so I had to be all manly and not break down in tears. :)
So let me give a big thank you to coach for giving me a projected time that seemed insane to me, but was within my reach, so it made me really push myself beyond what I thought was possible.
And another huge thank you to Kim for running past me at just the right time and making me run with her! There's no way I would have gotten anywhere close to the time I got with you!
Of course I also have to give huge thanks to Jen for being a great training partner and for making me do that 15 mile run before the race!
And finally, thank you Lisa and Melissa for coming out and cheering! (Good thing I was looking strong when I passed you guys!) And thank you to Heather for running with me and encouraging me when I passed the aid station you were working!
After I finished, a bunch of us gathered and we watched the first place woman's full marathon finisher cross the finish line. She looked strong coming in, but as soon as she crossed the line, she collapsed into the arms of two guys who helped carry her over to get her medal. Once again it was a reminder that this is hard for EVERYONE and no matter what your time, it's a hard effort! (Well, assuming you want it to be.)
One of my other goals for this race was to see how I felt the next day and see how long it took me to recover. After the 15 mile training run, I felt pretty bad both physically and mentally the next day. This race was over a lot faster, but it was also a much harder effort, so I was looking forward to seeing how I felt the next day. Unfortunately, I ended up drinking a little too much (okay--a LOT too much) while watching the Charger's lose that afternoon, so I couldn't really tell how I felt mentally. I was pretty hung over the next day. I could tell that my legs were really sore and I could tell I felt pretty bad mentally, but I couldn't tell how much of that was from the race and how much was from the alcohol. I'll have to avoid drinking that much after my next race. (Although I certainly did have a good time that afternoon and evening with all the partying. :)
Stay tuned for my next race update after La Jolla Half (or sooner if I get inspired).
