I ran in the Salt Lake City Half-Marathon yesterday (I'm using the word "ran" very liberally here...it was more like a fast jog.) I'd actually planned to participate in the full marathon back in January, but around the last week of March when I realized that I hadn't run for over a month I started thinking that maybe I should scale down to the half.
This was my seventh half-marathon and I didn't set a PR by any means! My training for this particular event was sporadic (if not non-existent!) because of work and a lot of traveling (I know--excuses, excuses...) The last time I'd run before the race was April 9th when I ran 2 miles for my PT test (which I also did not train for--geez!) I ended up in the lower mid-pack with a finish of 2:21:11 (that's a 10:46 pace--I was runner # 1748 out of a field of 2882.) This isn't the first half that I've run with no training and I always kick myself afterwards--if my performance is relatively mediocre without training, it'd be nice to see what I could do WITH some training!
Even if I didn't do as well as I'd have liked, I really enjoyed the whole experience. Bruce was an excellent cheerleader/support team, and I had a lot of fun during the actual run. Unfortunately, the battery to my camera died so I didn't get to take any photos--huge bummer because it was a perfect day and I kept seeing things during the run that I wanted to take pictures of: a nail salon in Sugarhouse with a sign advertising for pedicures and asking, "Do your feet hurt?"...Two girls running together in bright red tutus...A sweet, sweet 9-year-old little girl running (with perfect form, may I add!) alongside her mom ...An older gentleman who ran the entire half marathon while pushing a man in a wheelchair that was adorned with flags...A guy on the side of the route wearing a purple feathered hat and playing his guitar for the runners...
I was able to stick with the pose running for the first 4 miles and actually felt great until about mile 9. Once I got to the (evil and COMPLETELY uphill!) street leading up to the Capitol Building at about mile 11.5, I was definitely ready to finish! At that point all I could think about were the bananas, ice cream bars, and Paradise Bakery rolls waiting for me at the end...I was SO hungry!
All in all, I had a lot of fun, but I definitely need to work on training before events (I'm not as young as I used to be!!) It was a beautiful day today and I was able to get a short jog/walk in this afternoon to work out some of the soreness. I do have a lovely dime-sized blister the color of a watermelon Jolly Rancher on my toe as a souvenir, but I don't feel as tired or as achy today as I thought I would. So I guess that means I have no excuse not to show up to a WOD tomorrow at CFUV, right?? :-)
Marie, you amaze me!! I could never do a half marathon without training (of course, I have never done a half marathon, let alone train for one)!
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you should mention pose running, because I have been reading the book about the Pose Technique and it makes so much sense. I finally got to the part about actually drilling and using it, so yesterday when we did the Murph WOD, I ran both miles trying my best to stay on toes, using my hamstrings to lift my feet, and letting gravity to the rest... My calves and are pretty darn tight today, but I could tell that I wasn't near as tired from the running as I used to be.
I'll be the one walking kinda funny at CrossFit tomorrow. Hopefully there won't be any running... :-/
Yea for you!! I would have "excused" myself right out of the race entirely!! I'm still waiting for the desire to do another half...I hope the desire never comes back! Love you, miss you!
ReplyDelete