Running On, Feb 21-27

[colby]

Hooray, Yellow!! Here's to a speedy (yet safe) recovery.

Thanks for the book recommendation, URLea, I'm going to pick it up. I could use the tips.

Congrats OakLeaf on your 22 miles. You're practically there.

[Grog]

Wow, Yellow, that sounds great! Now no headstands until the weekend, ok?

**

The weather was GORGEOUS yesterday - sunny skies, 2 Celcius at the start, just a bit of wind - but I had an okay half-marathon. Exactly on time, but not on 'energy budget'. To meet my time goal (1 hour 55 minutes) I had to run 5m27s per kilometer. However it's a very hilly course. I did 5 minute kilometers for a while until I started hitting the big hills, thinking I'd "save" a few seconds for later use. Well maybe that wasn't such a good strategy: I have been training for distance, not for speed, and I did not often run that fast recently. Moreover, the race was not that well organized and there wasn't enough water on the course, and I didn't bring my own, so I was pretty much unable to eat, having only two Clif bloks (maybe 60 calories???) over the whole distance.

At around 17 km I realized that I had more big hills and no slack if I wanted to meet my time goal. I "pressed the pace" (which by that time was quite relative) but it really wasn't fun. I love to finish a race feeling like I could still go five more kilometers, but really that was not the case yesterday.

Thankfully water and food were plentiful after the race, but by then it was a bit too late. They even had diluted tomato soup, which felt great.

Lesson: I will need to do a little bit of speed work as I prepare for my marathon. Not a lot, I need to focus on distance. But a little.

**

On a separate note: The race started and finished in some historic fort built at the beginning of the British Columbia colony (Fort Langley). In one of the historic building there was an exhibit containing the governor's diary from year 1828, opened at the week of February 18th or so. On the same date, 182 years ago, the weather was the same - crisp, beautiful views of the mountains, sunny - but much colder: the river in front of the fort was frozen over, although not so hard since some guy was recorded to have drowned when the ice broke under his weight. That river hasn't been frozen in a while...

[colby]

The weather was GORGEOUS yesterday - sunny skies, 2 Celcius at the start, just a bit of wind - but I had an okay half-marathon. Exactly on time, but not on 'energy budget'. To meet my time goal (1 hour 55 minutes) I had to run 5m27s per kilometer. However it's a very hilly course. I did 5 minute kilometers for a while until I started hitting the big hills, thinking I'd "save" a few seconds for later use. Well maybe that wasn't such a good strategy: I have been training for distance, not for speed, and I did not often run that fast recently. Moreover, the race was not that well organized and there wasn't enough water on the course, and I didn't bring my own, so I was pretty much unable to eat, having only two Clif bloks (maybe 60 calories???) over the whole distance.

At around 17 km I realized that I had more big hills and no slack if I wanted to meet my time goal. I "pressed the pace" (which by that time was quite relative) but it really wasn't fun. I love to finish a race feeling like I could still go five more kilometers, but really that was not the case yesterday.

Thankfully water and food were plentiful after the race, but by then it was a bit too late. They even had diluted tomato soup, which felt great.

Lesson: I will need to do a little bit of speed work as I prepare for my marathon. Not a lot, I need to focus on distance. But a little.

**

On a separate note: The race started and finished in some historic fort built at the beginning of the British Columbia colony (Fort Langley). In one of the historic building there was an exhibit containing the governor's diary from year 1828, opened at the week of February 18th or so. On the same date, 182 years ago, the weather was the same - crisp, beautiful views of the mountains, sunny - but much colder: the river in front of the fort was frozen over, although not so hard since some guy was recorded to have drowned when the ice broke under his weight. That river hasn't been frozen in a while...

That's really cool, Grog. Well, the part about the beautiful weather and the diary. The part about being short on water sounds really rough. I'm glad you made it on time, though, and learned something.

Congrats! Now you earned some rest (and food).

[Bike Chick]

Congrats on your half, Grog! It sounds like a really tough race--especially the limited water part.

Yellow, I'm glad your surgery was a success and you are doing so well. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself!

[OakLeaf]

Grog, good job meeting your time goal, especially under those conditions! Congratulations.

That stinks about not having enough water. That race looks big enough that it really should have been better organized.

Glad the weather was nice for you though, and the history sounds cool. Now enjoy your recovery!

[Grog]

Now where's Kat??

[Bike Chick]

We haven't heard from Kat, have we? I wonder how she did.

I'm out of town for work but am trying to stay on my half marathon schedule. My legs are so sore! Is this normal? I was supposed to do 4 miles tonight but could only eek out 3 with walking in between. Went back to my room and sat in a tub of cold water.

[Urlea]

BikeChick When I was training for my 1st half marathon my legs hurt/were tired quite a bit. Thankfully your body will adjust it just takes time. Hang in there!

[katluvr]

[QUOTE=Bike Chick;493382]We haven't heard from Kat, have we? I wonder how she did.QUOTE]

Hi!
Just posted my race report. Been busy!

Hope to be posting a few runs here in the near future. In fact I need to read some to get caught up on what everyone is doing.

K