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September 11, 2004
A PR...Barely
This morning at the IKEA-Montour Trail 1/2 Marathon I ran a PR 1:26:50. It beat my previous best by a mere 15 seconds. Not much of a PR considering that was 15 seconds over 13.1 miles. But hey, I'm not complaining. I'll take it! :)
The race played out like this. Woke up at 5:15 and was pretty excited to run. I ate a PowerBar, drank some Gatorade and water, stretched some and then O and I were off to the west end of Pittsburgh. It was an absolutely beautiful morning once the sun rose. It was probably about 55-60 degrees once the race actually started, not very humid and very sunny. A picture perfect day!
We got to IKEA around 6:45, used the bathrooms, got my race packet and then walked around some. The race started at 8 am. I started my warmup with O around 7:15 and as we started to jog easy I spotted one of my best friends MB (whom I didn't know was coming). She was a roommate and teammate in college and for the past 2 years has lived in France (teaching English in French schools). It was very exciting to see her. She is home for a few weeks before returning for the new school year in France (which apparently begins in October). MB was also running the 1/2 marathon, but not competitively, just as more of a long run.
So O and I did a 17 minute warmup with a 3 minute "pick-up" in the middle to wake my body up. Stretched, put on the racing flats and race number and headed over to the starting line. I don't get very nervous for races anymore. I'm not quite sure why because I was usually a bundle of nerves for all my races in high school and college (starting about 2-3 days BEFORE the race). I get "excited" for races, just not very nervous. I think part of that is because I've really only been running longer races the past several years and I figure there is plenty of time in 1/2 marathons and marathons to work things out. No need to get anxious at the start.
I should mention that I felt pretty good on my warmup. And as the race started I felt pretty good too. My goal was to PR, but I also wanted to run as evenly as possibly, between 6:35 and 6:40 for as long as possible.
I started with a 5:48 mile. That's okay though because about 3/4 of the mile was down a huge hill. It would probably have taken more energy to run slower down that hill than to just let go and run as I felt. After the downhill first mile, the entire race (which was an out and back) was run on a flat, crushed limestone trail. It was an incredibly fast course in that it was very flat but at the same time, the trail was pretty soft in places and likely not as fast as running on a hard road.
My next few miles were 6:33, 6:38, 6:32, 6:45, 6:39, and then 13:23 for the next two miles (I lost track of the mile markers because during this stretch we made the turn around to head back towards the finish), 6:33, 6:43 and then 6:40. That brought me up to mile 11 with only 2.1 to go. I felt very good for 9 miles, marginal for miles 10 and 11 and then the last two miles were...well...I guess you could call them "rough". :) By that point I was pretty much in no-man's land with nobody behind me and the nearest male probably about 1 minute in front of me. It was a mental battle from 11 on in to say the least. I finished with a 6:56 and a 6:52 (and then about a 42 second last 0.1 mile), which considering how I was feeling, weren't as bad as I thought they would be. Several times during those last 2 miles I told myself..."okay, run hard for the next minute", but I'm not sure how much it helped! I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a finish line! (okay, that's probably a lie...I was EXTREMELY happy to see the finish line in my two marathons...so much so that I actually cried :)
I ended up 5th place overall for the women which netted me $50 at IKEA. This race has gotten progressively more competitive over the years. When it first started a 1:26:50 could have placed as high as 2nd. This year the winning time was around 1:20-1:21 with 4th place in the 1:24s. I didn't see the top women really at all. I was ahead of 4th place for a while, but she passed me like I was standing still around mile 5. Once the official race results are posted, they can be found here. Mary Alico was the race winner. She is a previous Grandma's Marathon winner with a PR around 2:32. She's now a masters runner but continues to impress at races all around our area.
All in all I was pleased with the race. Until the last two miles I ran relatively even and felt good, and one can never be disappointed with a PR (even if it is only by 15 seconds!). At the very least, this race will make my marathon pace seem much easier!
After the race I drug myself through 15 minutes of a VERY easy jog for a cooldown...and then the trouble began. My stomach...oh my stomach. I knew I had to eat something so I drank some Gatorade and had a granola bar as well. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or bad idea. As I was eating I knew trouble was brewing in my GI tract. I've written before about how running long and/or hard usually upsets my stomach, and today was no different. We sat through the awards ceremony and then talking some more with MB and the whole time I felt pretty sick. After MB left, O and I decided to take a quick run through IKEA to see what we could buy for $50 and as we were walking through the store (which is huge by the way) the stomach situation was becoming quite serious. We finally reached the checkout and when we walked outside I knew something bad was going to happen. I wretched a few times and then I did something I haven't done in about 15 years...yup...I threw up...right there in the parking lot of IKEA. I was so embarrassed. A man walked past and asked if I was okay. Luckily O was with me to answer.
I felt generally wretched and tired the whole way home but I took a shower, stretched really well and fell asleep for an hour and I feel considerably better now. It sometimes makes me wonder why in the world I choose to continue to do this crazy thing we call distance running! :)
One last comment. I'm always so encouraged by watching other runners do their thing, regardless of how fast or slow they are. Runners always seem like such positive, friendly people! Just about every single person cheered for me or said an encouraging word once I passed the turn around point was heading back (while some were still heading out), and I tried to do the same. I love the feeling of unity a race provides, especially a race like the marathon where the feeling is "we are all in this together, whether I'm running 5 minutes/mile or 10 minutes/mile"!
Posted by beth at September 11, 2004 4:19 PM
Comments
Congratulations on your great race!!
Posted by: Alison at September 11, 2004 8:18 PM
Congrats on a great race... Sorry about the afterward illness. Guess that means you raced hard! Nice job!
Posted by: Meghan at September 11, 2004 10:22 PM
Congratulations on setting a PR. A PR is a PR, no matter by how much! I hope that your stomach is feeling settled now.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at September 12, 2004 12:40 PM
Great job! That's a significant 15 seconds, you know. It gives you a whole minute if you're ever asked what your pr is. It's no longer "1:27" but now "1:26." I know this, see, because last year I went from a 1:29:05 to a 1:28:53. (I felt the exact same way you did, too - I'll take it!)
So sorry you got sick. No fun. Maybe you should have covered by saying something like "that's the ugliest furniture I've ever seen!" Or something.
Posted by: jenandmats at September 12, 2004 2:52 PM
Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I really wish I would have thought to cover like you suggested Jen...that would have been good. :) Unfortunately I wasn't that quick witted... :)
Posted by: Beth at September 12, 2004 8:30 PM
Great job Beth! Congrats on the PR!!
Sorry to hear about your stomach. That has got to be the worst feeling :( I think sleeping is the only cure.
Posted by: barb at September 13, 2004 1:05 PM