Striders 1/2 marathon. Cold and snowy at the start, occasional blustery wind thru mile 9, then the mother of all headwinds to the finish. I had been fighting a cold all week and had a bummer of a Tuesday workout, but felt I could do ok. Splits were 5:39, 5:52, 5:56, 5:58, 5:56, 6:05, 6:05, 6:17, 6:27, 6:20, 6:50, 6:47, 6:44, .1 in :38.
The first mile was a bit quick but felt ok. I ran with Jeff MacArthur thru mile 5, then he made a huge move, had a great race, and caught 2 people, beating my by 2.5 minutes. I ran alone the rest of the way, with the closest guys 2 min ahead and 1 min behind. I did ok till about mile 8 then started tiring. The huge, strong, steady headwind from mile 9 to the finish absolutely sapped any remaining strength, making it a slow, slow slog to the finish. I think the wind in the last 4 miles was stronger than last year's, which is amazing- it was so strong it was literally knocking my upwind leg into my other leg mid-stride... never had that happen before. The sad part is my time this year is 45 seconds slower than last year, even though we had a headwind the entire race last year and I had practically been on my deathbed the week before with an illness (although I did have someone to work with last year to conquer the wind). Pretty lousy race- the highlight was food and hot cocoa at the finish, followed by about 45 minutes warming up in Paul's car- we were shivering popsicles at the finish.
I just have to believe that if I keep putting in the miles and working hard, eventually things will improve. Oh yeah, and quit getting sick, which has happened about 2-3 times/month since December. Not kidding. It's getting really old by now.
Lots of good food at the finish, and ran 3 miles cooldown with Paul and Cody. 10 min pace. To add some adventure, the parking lot was a muddy field, so we helped push 3 or 4 cars out before heading home. So of course we were covered in mud and spread it to Paul's car. Sorry.
I have been getting headaches this week and started getting one after the race. During the drive home, it became incredibly, incredibly painful- by far the most excruciating headache of my life. By the time we got home, I could hardly stand or open my eyes, and almost threw up. Excruciating pain. But I felt better a few hours later after drugs and a nap. I truly empathize for anyone who gets regular migraines- I can't imagine what it would be like to experience that every day.
For the record, the weather at Striders 1/2 stinks- strong headwind 2 out of 2 years. | 