Yes I am a runner, but no, I have not been following a
plan. I am pretty consistent in my
mileage each week between 20-50 miles per week.
My average mileage for the last 4 weeks (according to my Garmin Fenix
5s) was 29.3 miles. My average mileage
walking for the last 4 weeks was 12.1 miles (walking Miles ToGo). I am getting mileage in, but it is
erratic. I can’t seem to want to bring
myself to train for any races, although I am pacing quite a bit this year which
is always fun.
Last weekend was a baseline run to see where I need to
work. I ran in the Wrightsville Beach
half marathon and promised myself to run happy and strong and not push it. I was good about pulling back when I felt my
heartrate start to climb. I did not look
at my watch for pace or distance the whole race, but I did have it on my
heartrate screen so I could just run by feel.
I was thrilled to be so consistent throughout the race. Here is a breakdown of the mileage:
Made the conscious decision that since I was fun running it
I would not warm up at all and just try to start slow and work my way into the
race. Mile 1 was probably a little fast,
but it felt really slow: 7:40. 7:40 on
another day would feel fast but with the excitement, adrenaline and all the
runners surrounding you it felt
slow. I guess it felt slow enough that
subconsciously I picked it up. We had wind at our back during most of mile 2 so
it felt effortless at 7:17.
During mile 3 there are many people along the side of the
road and it is always fun to read the signs, chat with people and thank all the
people cheering for you. I wore a St.
Patrick’s Day outfit and received lots of extra cheering for my costume. In fact, a couple of men that were right
behind me said they wanted to stay near me as long as possible because of all
the loud cheers. They dropped off around
mile 7 and I ran alone most of the way unless I was passing someone, or someone
passing me. Mile 3 was 7:29 which felt
comfortable.
Mile 4 is a mental blur for me, so I will just leave it at
my time for that mile; 7:33.
Mile 5 is in Land Fall where my friend, Josie, has a
house. My hubby and her hubby were
supposed to cheer us on at the end of their street, but they never made
it. The pillow was just too tempting….lucky
them! I was anticipating seeing them so
it pushed me along at a 7:27 mile. I had
one Honey Stinger Fruit Smoothie flavor chomp during this mile.
Mile 6 was still in Land Fall and the neighborhood residents
are really great at coming out and cheering for us. They had cute signs and many had
cowbells. Everyone needs more cowbells
in their life! 7:29.
Mile 7 is where I took in nutrition with my salted caramel
Gu. Yummy. I was wearing a costume, so I had no
pockets. I wore a wrist band that had a
zipper compartment and I had my chomps in there in a small baggie. Well….when I took out my Gu I did not zipper
the wristband up correctly (while running, mind you) and the rest of my chomps
all fell out. I was certainly not going
to stop in the middle of the race, so I hope there are some happy squirrels and
rabbits feeling nourished. I dismissed
any negativity here because I like a couple of more chomps before I get to mile
11-12 to finish strong. This mile was a
7:28 .6
Mile 8 was a blur probably because we were running around
the circles at Mayfair Center;
7:28.5. It is odd to me when you
lock and load during a race and you remember nothing, but stay very consistent.
Mile 9 was a 7:28.6.
We started on the greenway and thus started the quiet part of the
course. I felt good here and kept
pulling myself back when I felt my heartrate started to rise. I was sweating so much at this point (cotton
t-shirt, I am looking at you) that I was
starting to get concerned about not having any nutrition on me. I cannot tolerate Gatorade because of the
sugars so water was my friend on the course.
I am hoping maybe I can convince the race director to switch to Nuun….wouldn’t
that be awesome.
During Mile 10 a gentleman came up on me and I picked it up
a little to chat and run with him. He
then picked up the pace and I wished him well as I wanted to stay
comfortable. 7:25 was my pace this mile
and to me it felt much slower.
At Mile 11 I had decided that I was too stinking hot and I
wanted food. Anything edible. I focused on my heartrate a bunch during this
mile because I could feel it creeping up.
7:27 was my pace during this mile but it didn’t feel this fast. I thought I was in the low 8’s at this point.
Mile 12…this mile was the mile I felt. I felt every blessed step. I was hangry by this point. I kept pulling back my pace because I started
to get a little lightheaded everytime I tried to up the pace a little. I knew I needed water and food. I was trying to pick up the pace to get
FINISHED. I saw the beer tent at the WVU water stop and knew THAT was not going
to work, but I don’t remember any water from 10 miles on. I either missed it or drank it and don’t
remember. Either way, this was my
slowest mile since mile 1; 7:35.
Ahh….Mile 13. Heaven
help me. Loved getting to this point,
however…….insert screeching sound here.
When my watched vibrated at 13, I was nowhere near the finish line. I picked up the pace a little and finished
this mile at 7:31. The competitor in me
would have really worked this mile, but it was actually nice to f e
e l good
coming in towards the finish line. The
last .31 was an average of a 6:47 mile.
My watch and many others had this course as long. I am the queen of ‘as the crow flies’ and
know the roads to know when I should be on the left, middle or right. According to my watch, my overall pace was a
7:28 average mile, and the results show a 7:35.
Either way, I was happy to be done and get food and drink!
My official time was 1:39.24 and I placed first in my age
group out of 104 runners. This was a
great starting point and now I get to start working. I need to work at varying
my workouts. I need more speed workouts
in my life. Who am I kidding…I need to
START speed workouts again. I love speed
workouts so I have NO idea why I stopped.
I am putting my intentions out here in print and for the
world to see. Plan your work, work your
plan. I want to see where this
goes. I am excited to create a running
plan!
Meanwhile, if you are looking for a fun, yet challenging half
marathon the Foothills Brewing to Kick off NC
Beer Month with the 2nd Annual HopSwap Half Marathon powered by
OrthoCarolina is on Saturday, March 31st. I am pacing the 1:45 half….please join me!
