Probably one of my favorite training runs to date. I started out at the Hobble Creek Golf course and ran the 7 miles up to the start of HC half marathon. 7.15 miles @ 8:10 AP. It was not nearly as steep as I had anticipated and actually felt really good and dare I say easy? I felt like I wasn't pushing at all but just enjoying the scenary and the cool morning air. The hardest part about this 7 miles was dodging the buses that were driving up and down the canyon.
Anyway Once I got to the top I chatted with a bunch of friends and prepared to pace my friend Ashley to a PR. The race started late which I guess is tradition or something? Anyway we finally started around 7:50 I think. My friend was going for a 1:45, 8 min AP. The start was incredibly chaotic and I tried to keep her calm and just ease into a pace. We probably started a little fast for her but it was difficult to find a steady pace with all of the people and the gradual downhill grade. Once we finally settled into a comfortable pace something crazy happened. I fell flat on my face hard! I am not usually a clumsy runner and I'm not real sure what happened but I just got right up and kept going not wanting Ashley to get off pace. This was right after the 3 mile aid station and I figured I would get a bandaid at the next station. I could tell I was cut up but just kept going because it wasn't bad enough to slow down. We kept a good 7:55 pace and I went ahead of her a bit to get to the aid station in hopes they would have a bandaid. I was not in pain but I was bleeding kinda bad. When I asked for a bandaid at the aid station there response was "why would we have bandaids?" Hmmm maybe because its an aid station! Anyway I got water for Ashley and helped hand out water for a bit until she got there. We carried on and I just decided I would worry about my bleeding arm at the finish. Once we got to the golf course (mile 7) Ashley slowed down quite a bit. I think she wore herself out in the beginning and her pace slowed to a 9 min AP. I could tell from her breathing that a PR was going to be difficult but we just kept moving forward. It was getting hot but I felt really good running a slower pace. I though a few times about whether or not I would have ran good had I been "racing". But it didn't really matter, I was having fun and getting my 20 miles in. Towards the end Ashley really started to hit a wall. It was hot and I think she was a little dehydrated and she also started getting stomach cramps. At mile 12 I encouraged her to push it and we ran pretty hard to the finish finishing in just over 1:50. It was not a PR for her but it just wasn't her day and she still did great.
After we finished I ran back for my friend Julia and ran her into the finish. Finally after getting some water and talking to a few friends I headed over to the medic tent to get my arm looked at. They said it is a deep cut and might need stiches. But they slapped some neosporin and a bandaid on it and off I went. I still cannot believe I fell, but I am really glad I wasn't racing because it would have totally messed me up.
Anyway overall it was a fun day. 20.66 miles with an overall AP 8:30. I kinda wanted to finish it out and just run 6 more miles. I felt really good today. | 