Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Age place: 15th of 34, Overall place 411 of 1,619. Time from gun to start mat: 2:14!
40F, light wind (except strong head wind last mile), occasional light rain
2 Accelgels
Attire (worked quite well): Nike tights (light), thin tech shirt plus thicker half-zip top, cap, Smartwool gloves

Splits 9:28, 9:27, 9:08 , 9:20 , 8:53 , 9:08, 9:01, 919  , 9:01 , 10:12 , 8:58 ,10:05, (last .1) 9:32  PR of about 2 minutes.

I am very happy about my results, but not very happy with the race overall.  I did not enjoy myself as much I thought I would, for reasons below, and I do not think I paced myself well. But I learned a lot and it was an excellent workout.  It is very gratifying to see my time come down, especially given the challenging course.

If I said I had a course PR of 3 minutes, that would only be about 70% true, as at least 1/3 of the course was completely new to me, including the challenging finish miles.  The happy me says, "This course is gorgeous: woods and beautiful homes and Lake Washington views almost all the time!"  The grumpy me says, "This course is nothing but hills, hills, hills! When you're not going up, you're going down. It's a Leg Eater. It's a series of ski hills, minus the chairlifts."  So, yin and yang and all that jazz.

The start area was up an alley behind the Community Center. Not good.  All of us late-porta-potty users scrambling to get into the alley entrance without going near the chip mat and trying to move down to our own corral through a mass of bodies. Not pretty.   It took me about 4.5 miles to stop feeling boxed in by slower runners, and I really think it's because people felt relieved just to make it into the alley, let alone move back to where they belong by pace.  

Around mile 5 I was no longer fighting bodies to keep my pace and I had a few fun miles on the "rollers."  The long hills come later in the race, when your legs are nice and thrashed.  But until around mile 9 I was pretty happy.  I saw I was on course for a possible sub-2, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't last.  As I mentioned before, the pacing just didn't click for me early and I spent a lot of energy trying to get around people.  

Mile 10, the dark times.  Here is where one of my great character flaws comes in.  When I get to a certain level of tiredness, I have a hard time caring.  Goals are reevaluated.  Not walking becomes a great virtue.   Mile 11, I rallied, as you can see.  Mile 12, I had the school spirit but no pom-poms.  Did my best.  The last .1 is uphill. Dang those hills.

The good: beautiful course, perfect running temperature.  DD & DH were there at the finish as well as my Ravelry friend, who won 1st in the 10K for our age group.
The bad: rotten start area, poor endurance through the hills (despite where I live! sheesh!).
The ugly: trying to get away from the guy at mile 11 who was retelling the account of his friend's eyewitness report of Rwanda.  Machete count.... I don't want to know!!!

Burning questions:  Does a hilly, tough, 2:02 half-m mean I have a shot at my 4:05 BQ in May (on flat)?  Should I be worried that I actually faded at mile 10, despite my 50 mpw and hilly terrain running?  Did I have a "bad day," but it doesn't show as much because I am just so.... (stop laughing!)?  Did the 5K I raced last weekend have a lingering effect on me today?  If I loved, loved loved these shoes at 13 miles, will they be ok for a full 26.2?  If my calves are hurting already (usually there is at least 24 hours delay), does that mean the shoes aren't ok for distance, or was it just the hills?  

Best thought of the day:  I was about 2 minutes faster today than I was on my half in January, on a harder course!  Thanks everyone, for encouraging me along!!! 

Objective: recovery. Oh so slow.

5:20 AM: 37F, wind 10-15 mph, dry.

Survey of body parts below the waist: ain't nobody happy.  Loudest complainer: the calves, which are so sore that they actually woke me up at night a couple of times when I moved my legs. I might have to carry the Stick around with me all day today.

So I guess I'll be changing my blog title now.  I had a little bit of dim daylight towards the end of my run and the birds are singing.  I didn't realize how much I missed that. I ran well through the winter and my reward is to know, now and forever, that I can do it.

I wanted to share a little mental trick upon which I stumbled yesterday, but the race report was getting so long that I left it out.  But I think it could be useful to others and I certainly will be using it again.  You know how so much of distance racing is a mental game, battling self doubts and uncomfortable periods of running? Well, this is something that bolstered my psyche more than once yesterday. I don't know how I thought to do it, but I suspect there is a tiny place in my brain called The Department of Cheerful Thought.  Ok, so this is what I started telling myself: "I am actually an 8:30 pace marathoner. I'm holding back right now. I could be running about 30-60 seconds faster if I wanted to.  I just feel like taking it easy.  8:30 is my normal pace."  In fact, 8:30 is more like my 5K pace, but pretending somehow made the true pace feel easier, even though I knew quite well it was a hoax. 

Objective: recovery

5:30 AM: 39F,  light rain at times. 

20 min. abs, upper body, stretching, and massage.

I am the kind of person who gets Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, so I wasn't surprised to find myself getting more stiff and sore throughout the day yesterday.  By noon, my quads had joined the mutinous calf muscles and by evening, after seeing me hobble around, my family was making comments like, "But it was only a half!!"  YYYep. 

So, I resigned myself to a sort of "hair of the dog that bit you" workout this morning.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to run at all, and overdressed a bit in case walking might be all I could manage.  A walk wouldn't have been a whole lot slower than the thing I was doing.  I won't call it "running."  But, velocity was not the point, was it?  I really hope I get my legs back in the next couple of days. I've got work to do! 

I am still in a quandary over the shoes.  I know I busted myself on the hills Sunday, but I also believe that my beloved ST3's make my feet (and hence, my calves) work harder.  Is it too much for 26.2?  Should I wear them on my long runs for further testing? Or is it foolish for someone at my fitness level to consider wearing racing shoes for a full marathon?   The Triax 12 shoes have worked well for me in the past; maybe I should just stick with those?  Any ideas/input welcome!

Objective: recovery, still - ug

5:20 AM:   33F, wet snow mixed w/ rain coming down, white blanket on yards, plants, cars, & slush on streets and sidewalks.  Bright side: no wind.

How surprising, to wake up to  a white world when our forecast called for 38F and raining.  I don't know who told Winter he could have a curtain call. 

My legs feel better today, though they are still sore.  It's nice to see them getting better rather than worse (as happened between Monday and Tuesday).  Mentally, I am really ready to get back to my normal mileage and routine so it's a bit frustrating to have to wait for the lower-body-part gang to catch up. 

I decided on another blog title that I like even more.  It's a bit more positive, and sums up where my head is at right now.  Of course, I"m old enough to be Deena's mother and have none of her inborn talent, but her passion for running and her intelligence are part of my ideal goals.  Some favorite Deena moments:

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/speaker/2-deena-kastor/208-choices

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/speaker/2-deena-kastor/63-140-miles-a-week (Favorite quote: "People talk about overtraining. For most people it's not a question of overtraining, but of under-resting..."  (I love sleep!))

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/speaker/2-deena-kastor/13405-deena-kastor

http://www.deenakastor.com/

Objective: easy

5:05 AM:  34F, clear and starry, wind 10-15 mph, a bit of black ice where water remains from yesterday.

15 min. abs, upper body, and stretch-n-Stick

A very pleasant run.  My legs feel much better, though still a little "dead."  But I got my pace below 11:00 for the first time since the race, and even went down to 9:30 when I lost track of time and had to rush the last 1.5 miles.

Long ago, this morning, I had a very nice run.  When I arrived home, I found my husband seriously ill and we all piled in the car to the ER.  Serious, but not life threatening, and he will be ok.  I'll just say that it is really, really hard to watch someone you love writhing in pain.  We got home from the hospital around 6:30 PM. It's been a long day.