Crazylegs 2013

I saw this on a website and I found it amusing. 

Yeah, today was that kind of a day.

I said last year that I didn't know if I'd run Crazylegs again, but nearly every runner I know runs Crazylegs.  It's hard to not join in on the fun.  Plus, there aren't any other races in Madison when Crazylegs is happening.  It is a nearly 20,000 runner race and it draws some of the fastest runners in Wisconsin.  I felt like I had an easier time navigating the course this year than last year.  I thought at first that maybe there were less runners on the course, but Barry pointed out that I was a more seasoned racer and navigating is perhaps easier with experience.  I was still annoyed with those running more than two abreast though. 

Wave Y this year.  Last year I was wave X.

It was warm at the start, about 54 degrees when I left the house and since I was in wave Y, it quickly warmed to the high 60s by the time I started running down Wisconsin Avenue.  I started feeling energized and I was among the first of my wave to get on Wisconsin Avenue.  I ran the first mile in 8 minutes according to the clock.  I even made it up Bascom Hill, but I started to have the familiar feelings that told me this race would quickly go downhill.  Cramps set in after I made it down past Charter St, and I started walking.  I knew that if I pushed it, I'd regret it.  I'd end up on the side of the road, trying to not faint.  I was ready to just walk the whole damn thing. The pain subsided by the time I hit the mile 2 marker, so I started running again slowly.  Mile 2 split was 12 minutes.  I'm averaging 10 minute miles, which I figured isn't horrible, but was a far, far cry from last week's 8:41/mile pace.  I thought I'd just try and maintain this pace, get under 50 minutes and call it a day.

Mad City 50k Relay

Does it still count as a PR if it was part of a relay?  I think so.

The Mad City 100k event is three races.  There is the 100k and 50k race for the hardcore ultra marathoners.  And then there's the 50k relay.  The instructions for the relay were simple.  At least 2 members for a team, and each member must do at least a 10k.  Age brackets were calculated based on aggregate age, with someone's age twice if they run two laps.  The 100k started at 6:30am and the 50k starts at 8am.

Ear warmers as race swag for the relay runners.

Barry suggested back in February getting a team together to run the 50k relay.  He suggested Ellie as a part of our team with Ellie doing one lap and me and him each doing two laps.  But Ellie wasn't sure she'd be in town that weekend, so we asked fellow runner and trivia teammate Joe to join us and run our fifth lap.  Come the day before, Barry and I reassessed our abilities to do two laps.  I'd been sick all week after my 20 miler and Arboretum Spring Sprint and hadn't gotten any miles in because of a sore throat.  The course for all three races was my beloved Arboretum loop. I've been training on the Arboretum loop for almost all of my runs outdoors, but I've always ran it in the "wrong" direction, i.e. I run it clockwise on a map so the mile posts count down rather than up. Joe warned me that the "correct" direction feels like quite a different course and the hills more difficult.  I tried the course the "correct" way Friday morning with 20 mph wind and hail blowing in my face.  I ran it in 1 hour and 20 minutes because I had to stop and walk.  Oh boy.  Barry had ran the course on Monday in 54:01, but he felt terrible after.  Neither he nor I felt sure about a second lap.  So Friday morning, after my trial run on the course, I asked Ellie again if she wanted to take a lap since she will be in town after all.  She thought about it, looked at her schedule for work and said, "ok," if she can take the first lap that starts at 8am so she can make it to work by 10:30am.  Hooray, Barry and I thought, and decided that he and I would flip for the last lap depending on how we felt after the first one tomorrow. 

Sometimes I don't understand.

What's weird is that the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary didn't affect me the way it seemed to affect everyone else.  I was dismayed when I had heard, but it didn't feel personal.

What happened today at the Boston Marathon felt personal.  I don't know if it was because it was bombs instead of guns or if it's because they still don't have a suspect which makes it feel more anonymously senseless, or if it's because I'm in the midst of training for my first marathon and Boston is a dream.  Despite the graphic warnings, I sift through the online photos of the tragedy.  I read about those who've lost limbs and think about how devastating to never take another step.  It freaks me out.

I feel helpless and sad.

20 miles and Spring Sprint at the Arb 5k

Last season's training for the half marathon had a motto.  It was, "make it to 13.1 miles."  I didn't follow any training plans.  I just ran with the idea that I had to be able to run the half marathon.  This season when I started training for the marathon, I decided to follow a training plan.  Part of the reason was because I wasn't ready to jump back into training and I knew I didn't have the motivation and gusto I had last spring for the half.  So the motto started out as, "stick to the plan." Well, that went out the window pretty quick.  Instead, this season's training motto has morphed to "listen to your body."

Last week, despite the 18 mile long run I had on the schedule, I skipped it.  My body was telling me that it does not want to go out there and run.  I went out there on Wednesday and started a planned 8 mile run.  Instead, 1 mile in I had to stop and walk.  My muscles were more fatigued than usual.  I was getting nauseous.  I did some mental math and knew that this was the week.  This was the week once a month where the running thing just doesn't work for me.  After a half mile walk, I felt a bit better and finished out the run with 6 miles, but I knew the long run wouldn't happen that week.

So I took it easy for the next 5 days and didn't run because I just didn't feel like it.  Unfortunately, the weather decided to take a downturn for the worst too.  It was cold, raining, freezing, and windy this week.  I ran a couple of times that week, but nothing of note.  Come Friday, I walked out that morning and felt great.  The weather felt warmer than I expected though it was still only 40, and I felt that today was my day for the 20 mile long run.

It's amazing how easy 15 miles can feel when my body feels ready for it.  Even one mile felt like the hardest thing ever when my body just doesn't want to run.  Mile 16-17 was hard though.  I hit the wall there and I slowed to a crawl.  But one foot after another and I started to find a second wind around mile 19.  Suddenly, I was nearing mile 20 and I was picking up my speed.  I thought to myself, "holy crap, did I just do that?"  3:35 on the clock. 

Saturday morning though, I had signed up for a 5k at the Arboretum.  Barry and I parked near Seminole highway and then walked about .9 mile on the trail to the start line at the Arboretum center.  I thought this would for sure be my slowest 5k yet.  My legs definitely felt tired from the 20 miler.  It was also chillier and windier than I anticipated.  Barry and I warmed up for about .5 miles, reassessed our clothing choices (I decided to go with a hat and gloves along with a light jacket), and waited at the start line.  It was a simple out and back and mile 2 was definitely the hardest.  I finished with 28:23.  Not a PR, but not my worst either.  And it was better than February's Valentine's 5k when I first started running again this season.