I am signed up for the Seattle Rock 'n Roll ½ Marathon at the end of this month. It's been on my calendar since June 28, 2009 when we received the early-bird discount e-mail for the 2010 race. The reality is that I wanted to run the race again after last year's performance when I bonked in the 2nd half of the race. The truth is that I had been sick leading up to that race, but I really thought I had it in me to rally on race day. Yeah, not so much.
As mentioned in an earlier entry, the week following the LI ½ marathon was rough on me physically. Obviously I was really pleased with the outcome but I didn't plan on the flight back home kicking the crap out of me. And I didn't plan on not feeling like working out at all for almost the entire week following the race. When I looked at the calendar and saw that RnR was less than 60 days away, I knew I cut it a bit too close on scheduling the two ½ marathons so close together. Ideally I probably would have liked a couple of weeks to have some easy workouts before throwing on the higher intensity stuff but the situation was laid out. Skipping the RnR was not an option as I wanted revenge after last year's debacle.
The other wrench that was thrown in was that Marc and I were going to be away for a week at the end of May, which would also be a key time to get some of the longer mileage in. This presented Coach Lesley with a ton of constraints when figuring out my workouts for the months of May and June. I started to feel a little less stressed when I got out for 8 miles on the Saturday after the race. I was initially scheduled for 6 miles, but felt good enough to do 8 so I was pleased.
I still was a bit tired and opted not to do "Beat the Bridge" the following week because I just didn't feel that great the morning of the race. It's for a cause that is near and dear to my heart (JDRF), but at the end of the day, I felt that not racing that day was actually better for me mentally. I didn't confer with Coach when I was making the call, but when I told her after the fact, she agreed with the decision and more importantly, the thought process. It is good that my instincts are mostly leading me in the right direction as I try to improve, and it does a ton for my confidence.
Before I left, I managed to squeeze in a 12-mile run with Tricia and Lesley. The weather was pretty good – rain was expected for much of the run, but it only stuck around for the 1st mile or so. I got to run on some trails that I had never run on before, including in the Arboretum and some of the trails by UW near the Montlake Cut. The run had a bit of everything – nice scenery, pavement, trail, banter, swearing, rolling hills, etc. – but I was able to get in half of the miles at race pace, which was the goal. It was a good way to head into my vacation as Lesley and I worked that out to be an "easy" week, which it was.
Came back from vacation and hit Ladies Night at the track later in the week. I found a similar workout from almost 3 months earlier and it was nice to see some improvement. And given that the same people hit the track workouts, that means we have all gotten a bit quicker in our track workouts since we all pace each other. Go Team! Track workouts are hard because they are so intense. A typical track workout may not take more than 45 minutes but you are going extremely hard for chunks of it.
Two days later, I found myself preparing to run 14 miles for only the 2nd time ever. I'll admit that the initial run of 14 miles a couple of months earlier really did help on race day given that a ½ marathon is 13.1 miles, so I was keen on doing it again. Saturday was warmer and more humid than I expected. I figured it would be cooler because of the location of the run and because the path was completely shaded. Fortunately I wasn't too over-dressed and put in a solid effort on a course that was a gradual, yet steady uphill for the 1st 11 miles. I ran with Jen, one of my teammates from the Mt. Si relay, for the 1st 8 miles and then I was on my own. I was hoping to meet up with Tricia, PNak and Sjohn later in the run, but unfortunately that didn't work out so I was on my own for the last 6 miles.
Other than the 1st mile having part of the trail washed out and me having to jump in the water to get through (yes, that meant running in wet socks for 13 ½ miles – lovely), I really enjoyed it. The sounds from the local gun club were a little disturbing, but I remembered we had a similar warning when we did the Mt. Si relay. We were told that the club sounds a lot closer than it is – uh, ok. I felt pretty good about my splits after the run and other then getting pulled over by a police officer, who also happened to be a first-class jerk, the morning was a success – wet socks and all.
I still have a little ache on my left side and while I wish I could have had a bit more cushion between the races, it is what it is. I'm getting close to where I would like to be on race day, but work still remains. I have one more long run left and then the taper starts. Given that there are more hills on the RnR course than the LI course, I do not expect to PR, but I am hoping to put in a solid effort to make up for what happened in 2009.