TexasLindsey

The race today was HOT... it sure lived up to it's name "The Hottest Half".   It was 85 when we started and 95 when I finished.  By 11 am, they said it was over 100. Today's high ended up being 108.  So it was HOT!!!  and HUMID!  I've been doing most of my running at 5:30 in the morning in the dark...  Today's race started at 7:30.  I have to say the sun today really hurt my feelings!  

I wrote a Plan A splits on my left arm for running an 8:23 pace to finish 1:49:49 and Plan B splits on the right arm for running an 8:45 pace to finish 1:54:30.  Well, I didn't end up with A or B....  I ended up finishing in 1:57:49 which was 8:54 pace. 

Actually, I mostly did run between 8 and 8:45 pace the whole way.  What happened was I stopped at every single water station at every mile.  At first I only gulped and continued on.  But by about mile 6, I started walking a little while I drank... As the race progressed, I took longer and longer at the water stops.  So that was my problem.  I was freaking HOT!!!!   When I'd go through long stretches in the shade, I'd look at my watch and I'd be going along 8:25 pace or so.... even at mile 9, I was doing that.  Then in the sun patches I'd look and it'd be 8:45 mostly... my slowest pace was 9:15 in mile 12.  

I did have a very powerful kick at the end.  I started sprinting in the last hundred yards and I was going SO fast!  I'm sure I have gone that fast in HS but that was the fastest time I ever recorded on my watch...  at my fastest I registered 4:49 pace.  I can't wait to see the photos... I bet they are hilarious!!  

I'm a little surprised that I didn't PR today.  Two years ago I ran this exact same race and I got a 1:54:45.   I feel like I should be in better shape now than then....  However, the winner of the 2008 race was the same guy who won the 2010 race today.  In 2008, his time was 1:10:37.  Today, his time was 1:15:01.  So maybe it was just a more brutal hot day this time.  I think that's the story I'm going to tell myself!  Ha, ha!   

Also, in 2008 I ran the first 8 miles at a 9:00 pace, then I cranked it up and passed tons of people in the final 5 miles.  This year I started out at a 8:00 pace and my times got slower and slower.  I'm just not sure if going out slower would have helped me though... I think it was the heat... I'm thinking I would have slowed down either way.  In 2008 I was running alot in the evenings.  This year I'm running in pre-dawn dark.  Who knows. 

Splits- included water stops in each mile

mile 1 - 8:02

mile 2 - 8:29

mile 3 - 8:32

mile 4 - 8:39

mile 5 - 8:31

mile 6 - 8:57

mile 7 - 9:02

mile 8 - 8:56

mile 9 - 9:07

mile 10 - 9:14

mile 11 - 9:35

mile 12 - 9:45

mile 13 - 9:20

final .26 miles (according to my garmin, the remainder was .26 - not .1) - 7:09  BEST 4:49

Rest day after race.  No aches or pains to complain of.  Feeling pretty darn good considering I raced a half marathon yesterday. 

My 3 year old had nightmares and I laid down with him in his room at 4 am... and overslept without my alarm.  So I didn't run this morning.

But when my husband got home, I went out for a run about 5:30 pm.  It was 104 degrees.  On the plus side though, only 10% humidity.  I decided to only run 3 miles in the heat.  I was only running 9 min miles but it felt tempo speed in the heat.   

Splits:

853

845

920

7 miles at 5:30 am.  Averaged about 10:30 a mile for all of them.  Just taking it easy today. 

8 miles at 5:30am.  Really slow and easy today. 

There are alot of fields and undeveloped land by where I live.  We kinda live on the edge of a city.  If you go only 2 blocks to the west of my house you'd think you were in the middle of nowhere. There are no more neighborhoods and just fields as far as you can see... an occasional farm house maybe. 

There's this dog that I see sometimes on my runs.  I’ve decided to name him Sam.  I've been seeing him at random times around my neighborhood for the 4 years I've lived at this house.  I started seeing him more often ever since I started running in the dark at 5:30 am. I think he comes out mostly at night.  He's a mutt about the size of a lab, mostly black with some white markings.  He has kind eyes... when I look at him, he just seems like an old soul to me.  I don’t know what it is about him, but that’s what I think every time I see him.  He has a dirty old red collar on his neck so I think he used to be someone's pet.  He's always pretty dirty himself so I'm pretty sure he doesn't belong to anyone anymore. 

I'm impressed with what a smart dog Sam is.  He runs whenever a person approaches but he seems interested in watching people from a safe distance.  He creeps close to houses and cars kind of like a cat-- not out in the open like a most dogs.  Sometimes I don't even notice him until he runs away from me.  I bet it'd be hard to catch him.  I’ve seen him cross busy streets:  He crouches down low where no one can see him and waits until there are no cars and then runs across.  So smart!

I love when I run into him on a run.  I'll turn a corner in the dark and there he is... he'll run away but then stop and turn around and look at me.  Sometimes I stop too and we will just stand there looking.  A couple of times, I saw him when I was in my front yard and I got food out and made a big effort to get him to come eat it.  He stops and looks from a distance and then runs off.  The food will be gone the next day… I hope he came back and got it before the neighbor’s cat did.

Occasionally, I'll think it would be neat to catch Sam and make him my pet and running partner... but then I think that would be like catching a bird and putting it in a cage.  Four years at least Sam has evaded capture and is successfully living on it's own.  He just seems like a free spirit.  

The other morning I saw him with another dog for the first time.   I thought what a great thing that Sam has found a friend!  The other dog looks like a German Shepard mix but he isn't as stealthy as Sam and acts more like normal dogs, frolicking around sniffing and peeing on things.  He also doesn't seem to be as scared of people.

They were together a second morning too.  It was dark out and I had just begun my run.  I turned a corner and the two of them were eating something in the middle of the road.  As usual, Sam immediately ran away to a safe distance, stopped and turned around to look.  The German Shepherd mix was reluctant to leave the food.  I could tell this made Sam nervous... he wanted his new friend to follow him.  Sam seemed to linger longer than usual waiting on his friend.   I waited too because I didn’t know whether the German Shepherd mix was as friendly as Sam… but he seems like he’s a nice dog.  Now I'm always looking for them when I run.

Splits

1112

1044

1021

1004

1001

1004

1012

948

Ran 14.5 miles this morning with my running group.  The first 5.5 miles I ran with a woman and we were doing about 8:45 miles.  Then she turned around to go in and I started running with another group.  The new group was going slower. 

The new group's pace started fluctuating between 9:15 and 10:30 and then we stopped in both miles 9 and 10.   I never could get a good rhythm going because the group's pace was all over the place.  Somewhere in there I got a bug stuck in the back of my throat that kept tickling my thoat and making me cough.  I think the bug and the getting slower and faster and slower and faster triggered a stitch in my side.  By mile 12, it felt like a stabbing pain.  I stopped at the water stop and walked about 3 minutes... I hate that! 

I think I should have just left the group and maintained a steady pace and I would have been fine.  Oh well.  It was a good workout anyways! 

Splits:

mile 1- 852

mile 2- 849

mile 3- 927 (time includes water stop)

mile 4- 837

mile 5- 915 (time includes water stop)

mile 6- 1026 (started running with new group)

mile 7- 1033

mile 8- 927

mile 9- 1051 (time includes water stop)

mile 10- 1042 (time includes water stop)

mile 11- 928

mile 12- 1305 (walked for 3 minutes because of stitch)

mile 13- 944

mile 14- 943

last .5 mile- 909