Madison Mini-Marathon and arbitrary numbers

Yesterday I laced up for the Madison Mini-Marathon.  I'm not very good at tapering.  Really, there is no tapering that exists for me.  I get to the long run and then just stop running any distance over 5 miles.  It's more of a drop off.  I try to help this by doing my long run only about 2 weeks out from the race, but how much it actually helps is debatable.

After the 10 mile long run on a Sunday two weeks ago, I've only ran a 5k race, two 4 mile runs, and then a 6 mile run this past Wednesday.  I kept up with the yoga and did some biking, but made myself do no exercise whatsoever on Friday.

Yesterday morning, I got up and got on the scale and clocked in at my heaviest.  Ugh, I thought.  Recently, I've been thinking some about this number on the scale and my difficulty in letting it go.  I've gotten better at not dwelling on the number, but I still have to mentally justify that number each time I step on the scale.  Even though I feel healthy and fit, I still struggle with just letting the scale be what it is. 

Race starts at 7am, and I was supposed to meet Barry at 6am at his place to ride downtown together.  I set the alarm for 5:15, and slowly rolled out of bed.  I spent a good 10 minutes dousing myself in sunscreen, trying my best to reach my back without any help.  After digging around for running clothes, I made a cup of tea and only had about half of it before I went out the door with a granola bar in hand.  At 6:02, I was in my car on Barry's driveway.  Barry was running later than me, so I munched on my granola bar and sipped water to make sure I was well hydrated.  We got downtown about 6:25am and parked at a metered spot, deciding to risk a ticket.  Thankfully, it was easy to find a parking spot downtown despite how close it was to race start.

I don't own a running watch.  People ask sometimes how do I know how fast I'm going.  I tell that that I usually just listen to my body.  I aim to push in training and my body tells me when it's too much.  So when I formulate race strategies, it's more of a mental game and throughout the race, it's a constant loop in my head of "remember the miles to go".  For this race, I debated starting with the 2:00 group or the 2:10 group.  Since I was in Corral G, only the 2:10 pacers were in my corral, so I decided to start a bit behind them and to aim to chase down the 2:00 pacers.  Barry had plans of dropping out of the race or to walk for large chunks of the second half.  I wasn't sure what he was going to do, but I knew that running with him is always a bad idea for me.  He's like the watch that I don't need when I want to stay tuned in to how my body is feeling.  I resolve to ignore where he is when the gun goes off.

The race starts and my legs feel fatigued already, but I catch up to the 2:00 pacers pretty quickly.  At this point, I know I'm running sub-9:00 min miles to have caught up to 2:00 pacers about 2 miles in.  But I'm feeling good despite a nagging fatigue in my legs, so I maintain pace and run with the 2:00 group for a while.  I get a little bit ahead of them in anticipation of the water stops, but somewhere around mile 4, I'm feeling really good and I get pretty far ahead of the 2:00 group.  I know they're behind me, but I'm not sure where.  I walk through every water stop.  At this point, I'm resolving to not let the 2:00 group pass me until mile 8.  We get to mile 8, and my pace has slowed.  I know the distance between me and the 2:00 group is shortening when I hear spectators cheer the 2:00 pacers just as we exit the Arboretum.

Right before mile 9 marker is Cemetery Hill.  This was a daunting, daunting hill.  We went up at a sharp incline, leveled for a bit, and then went up some more.  A lot, a lot of people around me were walking at this point and I aim to just make it up the hill.  The hill took a lot out of me and not too long after, the 2:00 pacers pass me.  I keep them in sight though, and slowly recover enough to catch up to them again.  By mile 11, when we turned onto Lakeshore Path, I'm shadowing the 2:00 pacers, and there is hardly anyone around them.  Either everyone's found their legs and managing to stay well ahead of them, or they're lost the 2:00 group.  I know I've got a little bit of a cushion having started behind the 2:00 pacers, but I have no idea how much.  Knowing I'm near the end and almost done keeps my speed up.  When we get to the Memorial Union, I hear the pacers say to each other how they try to tell those in their group to hurry up ahead of them to guarantee a sub-2:00.  I wasn't expecting to have any speed left in me, but when we round that final corner, I catch up to and pass the 2:00 pacers.  I hear them say they've got 40 seconds to cross the finish and make sub-2:00 and they are right on target with their time.  The finish is downhill and I sped down that faster than I had imagined possible at that point.  I felt good despite the blister that I knew had formed around mile 10. 

1:58:47 was my final time.  Sub-2:00 was a PR that I've been chasing for about 2 years now.  I'm happy to have gotten there, but the thrill of achieving a PR is not what it used to be.  I noticed this after the Full Moon 5k.  It was a great PR, but it was mostly just another race.  We attach more importance to reaching a sub-2:00 time, but the difference between a 1:59 and a 2:02 is the same as 2:02 and 2:05.  It's just the difference between a good race day and a bad race day.  Ultimately, I'm still just a 2:00 half marathoner.  

But numbers are useful for lines in the sand and setting a goal.  I'd like to run sub-2:00's consistently and see times closer to a 1:55.  

Haunted Hustle Half Marathon 2013

I ran the Haunted Hustle this past Sunday, and this will probably be the last time I run this race.  I don't know who puts on the Haunted Hustle, but it occurred to me after this race that they may not be runners.

This was my slowest half marathon yet.  I could feel it Saturday night that I didn't have it in me to go fast Sunday morning.  I was hoping for maybe better than 2:10, but I felt like I had lost a lot of the strength I had built over the summer.  My running became nonexistent after the Quad Cities Half marathon.  The weather's turned cold and the lure of warm blankets and pillows have made me soft.  I need to remember, no long races after the first week of October in Wisconsin. The temperatures are comparable, but 40 degrees in the fall has a different effect on my running than 40 degrees in the spring. 

Quad Cities Half Marathon

Final time: 2:02:12 (PR)
10k split: 56:00

A lot of this marathon reminded me of the Flying Pig.  There was a marathon and a half marathon event that started out on the same course before the half marathoners turned off somewhere before mile 9.  There was also a relay component for the marathon.  They had a Pump N' Run event, and a shorter 5k event.  The course also traversed more than one state and ran across a couple of bridges and interstates.

We drove down Saturday afternoon and picked up my race packet.  Like the Flying Pig, swag included a poster of the Quad Cities marathon, but I declined the poster.  I was trying to give my Flying Pig one away to my sister even.  The shirt didn't feel like a dri-fit shirt, though the label claims otherwise.  It was soft, and made for a nice sleep shirt.  We also got a Quad Cities bandana. I chose a blue and green one to match the colors of the marathon.

All races except the kid's race started at 7:30am on Sunday in Moline, IL.  Our hotel was only a 5 minute drive away and AWAY from the race which meant very little traffic.  It was 42 degrees at the start, though expected to warm up to 50s mid morning and low 60s by noon.  I chose a sleeveless singlet to wear along with some capris, though I suspected I'd be too warm.  I got to the start shortly before 7am and was cold standing around, so I ducked inside a building until about 7:15am.  Then I lined up with the other runners and was surrounded by body heat.

It was crowded at the start.  Unlike Flying Pig which was strictly corralled, the Quad Cities allowed runners to line up according to what their perceived pace was.  Though there were pacers with signs, I felt they were spaced much too closely together.  The 2:10 pacer was really close to the 2:00 pacer, and I was planning to start between the two.  In the end, I chose to line up with the 2:10 pacer.  I find that starting with the 2:10 group and chasing the 2:00 group has worked well for me.  I crossed the start line with 1:20 on the clock.

Madison Mini-Marathon 2013

Bottle opener medal

Remember how I had all these plans to train for this half marathon?  Remember how I said I was going to do some speed training, some hill workouts?  Despite our lovely cool summer, I didn't train.  Instead, life decisions happened and I forgot about the running.  Well, I didn't forget so much as running and training just wasn't on my mind and as such, I forgot about the countdown toward the Mini-Marathon.  Instead, I stressed about moving and making life decisions.

So, I didn't have much expectations going in.  My legs were feeling much more fatigued than usual and I knew that was going to be an issue going in.  I had done some speed training on the treadmill this summer and hit some nice PRs in the shorter distance races, but I didn't put the time in to do any long distances.  I knew that I was likely to peter out by mile 8.

Fort Atkinson Half Marathon

The half marathon distance is probably my favorite distance.  I find that I never quite enjoy a run until I reach about mile 6.  I'm always amazed at what might have felt like a difficult first 6 miles suddenly becomes an enjoyable and easy run when I see that mile 7 marker.  It probably helps that come mile 7, I'm slowly and steadily passing people rather than struggling to keep up with those around me.  The miles start to feel like they're just flying by and I feel much more relaxed.  Barry said that running a half marathon always convinces him that he does not want to ever run a marathon.  For me, running the half marathon is what convinces me that I may want to run a marathon.

I ran the Fort Atkinson Half Marathon Saturday.  This is a small local race technically in its 4th year with a field of only about 350 runners.  I say technically because according to Barry, this used to be a 10k event for many years until they recently upgraded it to a half marathon distance.  There's also a 5k event that's new this year with only about 150 runners.  The half marathon started at 7am, and the 5k started 10 minutes later.  The fairly flat course took us through and around Fort Atkinson.  There were small bunny hills throughout, but I hardly noticed them.  It kept the course interesting without adding any real difficulty though I heard others disagreeing.

Get Lucky Triple 7k (Half Marathon)

I had low expectations time wise for this half marathon.  I had been running at least one double digit run a week for the past month, and I didn't feel like my muscles were recovered enough for this.  I laid off on the Thursday 6 mile run that I had scheduled.  I knew I needed a couple more days.  While I still didn't reach my sub-2:00 goal, it was still a PR at 2:03:25.

At last year's Get Lucky Half Marathon, the weather at the start was a beautiful 60 degrees.  This year's temperatures at the start was a cold and chilly 22 degrees Fahrenheit.  I looked at the forecast for the whole week, and it seemed for a while that with Friday's high of 41, we might get at least into the mid or upper 30s for Saturday's race.  No such luck.  Friday never quite reached that high and instead had some snow in the evening.  The forecast for Saturday now read "26 degree high, with chance of snow in the AM."  I started wondering whether I should've sold my bib and let someone else run the race.

Awesome race swag:
hoodie instead of a T-shirt.

The Get Lucky event is two races in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis.  The 7k run is a loop that starts in Minneapolis, whereas the half marathon is an out and back course that starts and ends at the Ford Plant in St. Paul. I thought it was interesting that the start of the two events were actually 7 miles apart.  It actually worked out in my favor.  I was worried that this was going to be too big a race.  The website mentioned that they usually have about 12,000 people registered for this event. The 7k had about 10,000 people registered, and the half marathon 2700.  As it was, parts of the half marathon course were kind of narrow for the amount of people.

The other nice thing about the two separate races was that parking for the half marathon was super easy and free.  While one could opt for the paid parking in the Ford Plant, parking in the local residential neighborhood streets was just as easy.  I got there at about 7:10am and only parked a block away.

It was cold.  I had on 3 layers and planned to keep them all on during the race.  I also had my hat and my gloves.  After I gear checked an extra hoodie and pair of sweats for post-race, I started my warm-up with some easy jogging.  The warm-up actually kept my spirits up as I felt less cold once I started going.  I appreciated that the start line had nice large banners for estimated min/mile pace.  I lined up right before the 9:30 mile marker.  The pace teams also came out nice and early.

I decided right from the start that I wasn't going to try and keep with the 2:00 pace group.  I wasn't trying for a PR or goal.  I just wanted a good training run.  I wanted to run a smart race, one that I'll recover easily from and still be able to do my 16 mile training run 5 days later.  I told Ellie on Friday that I'm hoping for better than my worst half marathon time of 2:10, but I'd be happy with anything less than 2:20.  Throughout the race, I kept telling myself, "smart race, smart race, not a fast race." 

Haunted Hustle 2012

The Haunted Hustle half marathon was tougher than I had expected.  I signed up for this one back in May because my friend Joe had told me it was a flat beautiful course through the woods.  In August, they changed the course.  Did you know there are hills in Middleton?

About two weeks before, I went to a good form running clinic at a local shoe store.  I was tired of injuries from the half I've been doing and I didn't see how I'd be able to train and complete a marathon if injuries keep cropping up and keep me from running for a week or more.  Hell, I'm starting to think about possibly completing an Iron Man someday.  So my friend suggested I attend this clinic and figure out what some of the issues are.  It was a 2 hour course that had a lot of information that I already knew, but the 15 minutes of information I didn't know were pretty valuable.  I tried this out at my next run and I was a convert.

They warned us, however, that there will need to be some retraining of muscles since we haven't been using them.  I had gotten up to 8 miles running this way, but nothing in the double digits. The 8 miles felt good, almost easy, so I figured 13 would be okay.  Even for the Mini-Marathon in August, I'd similarly only gotten up to 8 miles the week before.  What was perhaps a mistake was me going on a couple of long bike rides the week before.  The weather was nice and I knew I didn't have many more opportunities for my bike, so I went out for a 16 mile ride.  I should've worked up to 16 miles.  My hip flexors were sore up until the day before the race.

Madison Mini-Marathon

I just want one perfect weather, injury free half marathon.  Well, October it is.

Beautiful 50 degree weather at the start this morning for the Mini-Marathon.  Too bad, I had a bothersome ankle that now post-race is developing into an ugly bruise.  I thought about dropping out of the race at about mile 6.  I didn't want to exacerbate an injury that might prevent me from someday running a full marathon.  At mile 7, either the pain has numbed feeling in the ankle or it's subsided, but I no longer felt pain with every step.  I get in a couple of good miles and then the pain comes back in and out for the remaining race.  

Somehow, I finished, and even managed to have exactly the results I expected though not hoped for.   

Split times:
5 mile- 44:32
10 mile- 1:35:17
Last 5k- 29:29
Finish- 2:04:45
Overall pace- 9:32

Madison Half Marathon

I worked hard for this medal.

The full marathon was canceled due to a forecast high of 93 on Sunday.  Temperatures were supposed to reach 80 before 10 am.  The Green Bay marathon a week before had also high but not as bad temperatures and the race directors had to shut down the course about 2.5 hours after the race started.  Trying to head off a similar situation, the Madison full marathon was canceled.  Registered runners got some sort of credit for next year's marathon and were all automatically transferred to running the half marathon.  We were originally required to finish the half marathon in 3 hours before they pulled us off the course, but due to the heat, they left the course open for an additional hour and a half.  I was disappointed that my very first half marathon would be completed in less than ideal conditions.

After Lake Monona 20k, running the half marathon in under 2 hours looked to be very possible.  I was expected to come in just seconds before the 2 hour mark, so I knew there would be little leeway.  I had to be running my best.  Unfortunately, the heat picked up in Madison not long after that 20k race and with a bothersome knee, my training took a dive.  I was struggling to get 5 miles in, and was only finally able to work up to a 10k in 80 degree weather about 5 days before the half.  This would be tough.  I began preparing myself to let go of my original goal.  I have had little to no training in these kinds of conditions and risking heat exhaustion or something worse might take me out of future races.