Duke City 1/2 MarathonA year ago I did my first 1/2 marathon in Albuquerque, so I was nurturing some fantasy that I would have a faster than light transition and become a runner in the past year and do this repeat race in less than three hours. Last year it took me 3 hours and 47 minutes, this year it took me 3 hours and 48 minutes. Yes, you read that right.... I ADDED a minute to the 13.1 miles. Grrrr. Now I realized at about the five mile mark, because there is plenty of time to think while you are running at an incredibly slow place (my excruciatingly slow pace) that the IT bands I've been working so diligently to stretch were not just murmuring, they were actually arguing across my pelvis with each other. There was an actual IT band shouting match as they vied for which one would get the most attention for most painful on this run. The pain escalated with each step, and it was one of those pains that actually increased if I walked. You would think this would spur me to an enhanced pace and thus a better time, no such luck. You see, the pain just shortened my stride, altered my gait, and reinforced that I need a much more intimate relationship with my foam roller.
It was a beautiful day, and I had a wonderful time. I also realized that this was an absolute case of "training fail" on my part. I spent a lot of time getting ready for Elephant Man, so I did not log very many long runs getting geared up and prepped for this 1/2 marathon. My longest run going into the 1/2 was 8 miles, and I should have had several runs of 10 miles going into this race. Another possible, okay, probable issue is that on Friday I had synthetic cartilage injected in both knees. The doc said I was okay to run, but I do know both knees were 'stiff' feeling and it probably would have been a bit better if I'd had a week more to let everything get settled. I am pretty bullheaded, and the nice thing is that now there is only greater success ahead :-)
My next athletic adventure is the Aggie Autumn Triathlon in Las Cruces at NMSU on November 13th. I am jazzed about that tri. After that I've got a double-header weekend planned. Now what is a double-header weekend, you may ask? Well, on December 3rd there is the Polar Bear Triathlon at White Sands and on December 4th there is the City of Las Cruces 1/2 Marathon. I am planning on doing both events. A smart friend told me to think of it as "a catered training weekend with t-shirts" and I love that thought. Yes, I know it will be some serious endurance work, but it will be a load of fun. I will make sure and hydrate extremely well the week going into the double events, and will have to do some good hydration on Saturday afternoon to try to make sure I am as prepped as I can be for Sunday's 1/2 marathon. I've not done the Las Cruces 1/2 before, but I know it is a well supported race, so there will be plenty of water stations along the way. I always used G-2 when I run, and take the powder with me so I can fill my water bottle with me along the way and mix my own. Regular Gatorade has too much sugar for me to tolerate it. Running events fill the gap before the triathlon season begins again, so I've got the Pecos Valley Stampede 1/2 at the end of February. On the 5th February there is the El Paso Marathon, and I am considering doing the full distance..... yikes. They've changed the course so that runners start at the top of Tramway, and this will make it a super fast course. I will see how training goes between now and Christmas and make my decision. The half was great last year. I am also thinking about doing the Bataan Memorial Death March on March 25th too, but just the 15 mile, not the full distance due to the rigors of the terrain.
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| Marcy Oxford and Patricia Miller before Live, Love Tri |
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