Ok, I'll say it up front... this is the first race all year where I did not PR. And I'm ok with that!
I was so worried about the weather on this one, and DH kept telling me, don't worry, it won't rain till after you're done. So, ok, here's a time I should've listened to him. Went to bed a little later than I'd planned (went outside and looked heavenward for a bit...skies clearing?), and woke up at 4 with terrible tummy trouble. Oh man, why now? 6 trips to the loo between 4 and 6... ugh. 4 more trips before we left the house at 7:20. Double ugh.
Temp was about 45 when we left the house but no rain, and the clouds looked "almost" like they'd be breaking up. Got to the student rec center (start and finish) in time for another trip to the restroom (false alarm) and a quick jog around the field. Lined up and at 8 a.m., off we went.
This goofy race starts with a steep climb up the old ski hill to the main road, then off we go down the road and onto the ski trails behind campus. I'd planned on a 10 minute first mile to walk up the hill and take it easy getting into things on the trail. First mile past in 9:20. Rut Ro. Here we go again? I couldn't see how I was going too fast cuz I was stuck in a mass of relay runners (but they're going fast cuz they only go a little over 8 miles... I was going 26.2!) and heading into the single track trail section it's just single file running. The rain and wind we've had made the roots on the trails wet... and leaf covered. I saw Roger a little after mile 2 and waved Hi.
Basically everything went ok and pretty much as planned. I had a pace chart for my pie-in-the-sky time goal of 4:15, and I nailed it right thru mile 11. I lost a bit of time going up the steep road section to the top but figured I'd make it up on the downhills later. The out-and-back felt really tough, not sure why, and I was bothered by a pain in my knee (lower outer side) that I haven't had before. Hit the turnaround about 5 minutes behind my schedue, oh well. Climbing back up I got something else I've ever had before... cramping in my calves and inner thighs! WTF?? This is my third Equinox, 5th marathon overall, and I've never felt anything like that. Ow. So, I trudged on but much slower.
I'd given my gloves to my son at the first relay point (his XC team was working the relay points), and really regretted it at the top of Ester Dome. I had my hands tucked under my arms for parts of that course. Was going to give my top shirt to DH after mile 11, but because of the wind I decided to keep it.
The cramping in my legs kept me from doing "my thing" on the downhill section. I was really ******... At mile 18 I should've been about 3:02 for time, and I was 3:12... ok, so the 4:15 was a best case scenario. It would be nice to beat my inaugural time of 4:26... still possible? Eh, maybe not. I had to jog/walk down the hills and walk/jog the straight sections. Called DH at mile 24 to tell him what I was doing, and he said, "That's fine, just bring it on home and don't hurt yourself!" (Too late for that, I thought to myself.)
I did pass a bunch of people those last two miles. Seems that hill took a lot out of quite a few folks today! I managed to finish in 4:37:50, almost 12 minutes slower than 2005. But that's ok, this is my second marathon in four weeks... and I'm still nuts enuf to want to do Bellingham on Oct. 7!
My photos aren't anywhere near as good as Holly's, but the trash can one is kind of fun... (sorry they're blurry... DH isn't real steady....)
Here's me crossing the finish line (see that hill? that's what we started up):
Getting a hug from my dad (mom on the left)... he's about to pop my head off!
And standing in the trashcan icebath after some snacks:
Best thing: with this race I clinched the first place for 45-49 AG for our local race series (Flint Hills Series), second year in a row. Kewl. Thanks for reading, sorry it's so long!
(edited to fix time interval between marathons!)
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evanflein[/URL" target="_blank">
http://This message has been edited by evanflein (edited Sep-17-2007).
I was so worried about the weather on this one, and DH kept telling me, don't worry, it won't rain till after you're done. So, ok, here's a time I should've listened to him. Went to bed a little later than I'd planned (went outside and looked heavenward for a bit...skies clearing?), and woke up at 4 with terrible tummy trouble. Oh man, why now? 6 trips to the loo between 4 and 6... ugh. 4 more trips before we left the house at 7:20. Double ugh.
Temp was about 45 when we left the house but no rain, and the clouds looked "almost" like they'd be breaking up. Got to the student rec center (start and finish) in time for another trip to the restroom (false alarm) and a quick jog around the field. Lined up and at 8 a.m., off we went.
This goofy race starts with a steep climb up the old ski hill to the main road, then off we go down the road and onto the ski trails behind campus. I'd planned on a 10 minute first mile to walk up the hill and take it easy getting into things on the trail. First mile past in 9:20. Rut Ro. Here we go again? I couldn't see how I was going too fast cuz I was stuck in a mass of relay runners (but they're going fast cuz they only go a little over 8 miles... I was going 26.2!) and heading into the single track trail section it's just single file running. The rain and wind we've had made the roots on the trails wet... and leaf covered. I saw Roger a little after mile 2 and waved Hi.
Basically everything went ok and pretty much as planned. I had a pace chart for my pie-in-the-sky time goal of 4:15, and I nailed it right thru mile 11. I lost a bit of time going up the steep road section to the top but figured I'd make it up on the downhills later. The out-and-back felt really tough, not sure why, and I was bothered by a pain in my knee (lower outer side) that I haven't had before. Hit the turnaround about 5 minutes behind my schedue, oh well. Climbing back up I got something else I've ever had before... cramping in my calves and inner thighs! WTF?? This is my third Equinox, 5th marathon overall, and I've never felt anything like that. Ow. So, I trudged on but much slower.
I'd given my gloves to my son at the first relay point (his XC team was working the relay points), and really regretted it at the top of Ester Dome. I had my hands tucked under my arms for parts of that course. Was going to give my top shirt to DH after mile 11, but because of the wind I decided to keep it.
The cramping in my legs kept me from doing "my thing" on the downhill section. I was really ******... At mile 18 I should've been about 3:02 for time, and I was 3:12... ok, so the 4:15 was a best case scenario. It would be nice to beat my inaugural time of 4:26... still possible? Eh, maybe not. I had to jog/walk down the hills and walk/jog the straight sections. Called DH at mile 24 to tell him what I was doing, and he said, "That's fine, just bring it on home and don't hurt yourself!" (Too late for that, I thought to myself.)
I did pass a bunch of people those last two miles. Seems that hill took a lot out of quite a few folks today! I managed to finish in 4:37:50, almost 12 minutes slower than 2005. But that's ok, this is my second marathon in four weeks... and I'm still nuts enuf to want to do Bellingham on Oct. 7!
My photos aren't anywhere near as good as Holly's, but the trash can one is kind of fun... (sorry they're blurry... DH isn't real steady....)
Here's me crossing the finish line (see that hill? that's what we started up):
Getting a hug from my dad (mom on the left)... he's about to pop my head off!
And standing in the trashcan icebath after some snacks:
Best thing: with this race I clinched the first place for 45-49 AG for our local race series (Flint Hills Series), second year in a row. Kewl. Thanks for reading, sorry it's so long!
(edited to fix time interval between marathons!)
------------------
evanflein[/URL" target="_blank">
http://This message has been edited by evanflein (edited Sep-17-2007).
