Now although I have been sick and not logging in the training miles needed my plan going in was to try from the start for a PR and if it didn't feel right, I'd adjust my goal as need be...
I set myself up with the 2 hour pace group and at the start I dropped it like its hot, naturally ;), and hit the ground with low 8 mins miles, on par for what I wanted to do at the beginning, as it was downhill, and then hoped to hold onto 8:30/9 min miles for the remainder....
Well, low and behold my Garmin died... I have no idea why as I only went on one run with it since charging it! Clearly I need to charge it every time I'm going to go for a run (and this is also why I wore two watches a month or so ago when I went running). So at mile 2.5 I was watchless and to make the scenario even more unfortunate... I had brought my iPod shuffle with me, which left me with no way of timing myself (maybe these people who run with iPhones are onto something).
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| Hey Mom! Can you take my Garmin as it is no longer of purpose and will just cause a tan line? |
But I saw my mom and friend, waived, said hi, gave a hug and told her how my Garmin had died but I was feeling good. I gave her my watch as I didn't see the point in pretending that I had any way of pacing myself and tried to find someone to try and stick with. Unfortunately I just could not get myself into the groove. I put my headphones in and tried to hit the pavement but it just wasn't happening. When the 2 hour pace group caught up to me I tried to stick with them but I was so hot it all just seemed so unbearable. At that point I then tried to find some of the people I knew running the race to join in with them but despite my attempts we missed one another and the will to keep going just wasn't there.
So, after hitting the 10 km mark way off pace (1:05) and hoarking like the champ I am (thanks awesome nasal/chest/cold yuckness I have) I figured whats the worse that can happen? So I walked, with small intervals of running (I do not think I even ran for a whole song worth), and the heat got to me like crazy. Normally, mid 20 C- 30 C is my kind of running temp, but because I haven't been feeling that well my core body temperature seems to be a lot higher, or at least thats my theory and I'm sticking to it.
An 11 km walk well everyone else ran and passed me :) always good to have that big serving of humble pie, but honestly, all I could do was laugh and enjoy the scenery and try to encourage those around me. When the wheels have fallen off and you know they have there is no sense in getting annoyed, it just happens. Oh the cold slap of reality, how brisk you can be but heck, it was still a lot of fun.
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| Almost done, gotta at least run the last 1/4 km! |
My Mom and friend had a leopard print balloon so that I would be able to easily spot them at the view points we had previously discussed. (Lessons learned from the NWM 26.2 in San Fran). So as I came to the end and saw them, I bee lined it over, once again hugged, and thanked them for coming out and spending a Sunday morning chasing my friends and I around the BMO Vancouver running course. I then proceeded to sprint to the finish and likely confuse many people around me in the process (i.e. how does she have so much energy!?).
Honestly, my body's inability to perform was an indicator of just how poorly I have been training and treating it (or how sick it has been?). I have 4 weeks to get myself back on track, and if I do not feel confident I will switch from the Rock'N'Roll Seattle full to the half. Running (or attempting) 13.1 miles at mediocre health is achievable for me, but 26.2 miles is not. I often say, 'I know my limits and I play within them', and this is an example of that.
My final time for the BMO Half Marathon was 2:23:41, the slowest I have ever 'ran' 13.1 miles, and although it wasn't reflective of me as a runner, I still had a great time and my only regret is that I didn't pace my friend who was running her first ever half marathon... I got greedy and thought maybe my body would be able to pull one out (competitive streak). Although it may not have happened this time, I was reminded of how much work needs to go into being the runner that I want to be.
Happy Monday, and for anyone who did a race this weekend, I hope yours was a success!
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