*Disclaimer – lots of running stats in this post…*
I had set some lofty goals back in January for my half marathon this spring. Of course that was before 6-8 weeks of dealing with a herniated disk in my neck. When I was struggling to run 2-3 miles at my “easy” pace in February. To not feeling completely healed even now with the slight tingling in my thumb sometimes. But, I had a goal. 13.1 miles at a 9:30 pace. Doable. I’d done this same race two years ago at a 9:38 overall pace. Eight seconds faster per mile? Sure.
Nope.
I forgot my last bit of marathon training advice – start slower than you finish. I went out TOO fast. My first 5K was 27:44… to put that in perspective… my 5K PR is 25:39 from February 2016. Though I recovered, and regained a more realistic pace, the 30-40 second per mile I went out too fast over goal pace affected the last part of this race. Miles 11-12 go into a park, on a sandy road, slightly uphill both ways if that is even possible and this is my fifth year running it. I KNOW about saving something for miles 11-12. I did slightly better there this year than in the past but could I have been even stronger? Who knows.
Other things about this race – some years its sunny and bright without a ton of leaves on the trees yet to help get some relief. Then there are the years like 2016 and this year – rainy almost the whole way. I do much better in rainy races. So I had that on my side. Also – I know a TON of people running and my family is always waiting at the end. I think that pushes me but also puts more pressure to perform. It would be really interesting to run a race completely on my own with no one knowing what to expect from me.
All that being said – I was over two minutes faster this year than last year. 2017 I finished in 2:09:50. I finished this year 2:07:42. My best year was 2016 and 2:07:07. 2015 saw a 2:07:52 finish and 2014 was my first year getting into serious distance and I finished 2:18.
So – I’m two-three years older, coming off an injury, and not listening to my own running advice. But – I’m not making any excuses. I know I have a 2:05 half marathon in me – that would be around a 9:30 pace. But, the stars need to align. Maybe I needed to miss this goal so that it pushes me a bit more.
Its back to work. My recovery from this race isn’t really a recovery – my legs and back felt amazingly fine Monday morning. So good that I went to Crossfit and did a bunch of squat cleans and wall balls. The new shoes have helped my heel and foot pain and for the first time in a while I wake up and jump right out of bed and put both feet on the floor. Today I did a consistent 3.5 mile run in the 10:15 pace which felt hard at times but then easy. I have to remember that I’m lucky. I get to do this. I choose to push myself
I need to set my next goal. 4:29:30 full marathon. October 7, 2018. Hold me to it Runner Chick followers…
