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November 11, 2007
Still Alive!
And grudgingly back home in cold and cloudy Pittsburgh. I wore shorts and sandels on the plane ride home this morning knowing it was going to be my last chance to do so for quite some time. I was reminded quite quickly how NOT warm it is here as I was waiting outside with the luggage at the Pittsburgh airport for O to bring the car around! Grrr... We very clearly need TWO homes, one in Pittsburgh for the summer and one in Florida/South Carolina/anywhere in the south for the winter. :)
ANYWAY - the race! What the heck? Well, when all was said and done and the dust settled I will say that I was marginally pleased with the race. Thrilled with my effort, but only sort of pleased with the results. Sometimes you'll have that though.
Full race report to follow but the short story is I was 12th and went 4:47:46. It was a PR which I've learned one should never take for granted, but also a fast course and very PR worthy. What I was most proud of was the fact that I put myself in the position to acheive my "A" goal - I was 5th off the bike and all I needed to break 4:40 was a 1:37 half marathon. And putting myself in that position is half the battle. Unfortunately I didn't have it in my legs to finish off the battle and run strong. Although my hamstring didn't hurt in the race, I could definitely feel a loss of run fitness from not doing long runs or hard workouts for close to 2 months. Running 7:20-7:30 pace was requiring way to much effort after about 5 miles! And so my strength, the run, did me in. I struggled home with a 1:43. But I will also say this - I never gave up. I crossed the 12 mile mark of the half marathon at 4:40:xx. It's very defeating to realize that this was my goal FINISH time and here I was with 1.1 miles to go. But instead of crying over what I hadn't achieved I put my head down and decided to run as hard as I possibly could to still try and PR. And I don't think the last mile of a race has ever hurt so bad. But after running 8+ min miles with a couple 8:30s and 8:40s I ran mile 13 in 7:09. I can guarantee I've never hurt so bad for a 7:09 but I'll tell you it was worth all the pain and more.
For now I'm going to try and heal all my wounds. And let me tell you, I have quite a few to heal! I am in some rough shape right now with:
1) Rub, rub and more rub! Salt water is an evil thing and very corrosive. This I learned. I also left a good amount of my skin on my seat/seat post. Mmm, open wounds.
2) Total body soreness. Back, arms, and legs...oh, the legs...
3) Sunburn. Yeah, those of us from Pittsburgh aren't really familar with sun and what it will do to you if you stay out in it for close to 5 hours with no suntan lotion.
4) One nasty, nasty blister on my foot. Pouring water (and sometimes Gatorade - I was desperate on the run!) on myself felt sooooo good at the time but soaking wet socks and a bunched up patch of foot skin left me with what felt like a knife stabbing me with every foot step. I did pop the blister this morning though and it feels much better.
So I have many more thoughts on the race and lots to tell! It was a great experience overall. Full race report, pics and all that jazz to come after I get myself organized. I do, afterall, have some name-dropping to do considering there were pros crawling all over the place! :)
One last thing - huge thanks to everyone for their well wishes, good lucks and prayers! Your emails, notes and blog comments mean so very much to me. You guys are the greatest!
Posted by beth at November 11, 2007 5:01 PM
Comments
so how about that? You swam and biked to need a 1h37 half-marathon. Mission very accomplished. Very accomplished. Repair your body. Winning times are around the corner. Great job.
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at November 11, 2007 5:44 PM
so how about that? You swam and biked to need a 1h37 half-marathon. Mission very accomplished. Very accomplished. Repair your body. Winning times are around the corner. Great job.
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at November 11, 2007 5:46 PM
so how about that? You swam and biked to need a 1h37 half-marathon. Mission very accomplished. Very accomplished. Repair your body. Winning times are around the corner. Great job.
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at November 11, 2007 5:47 PM
Wow. I am SO proud of you. I am especially proud of the way you finished strong. It's been a long season, huh? :) Enjoy some well-earned downtime and, just, wow. That's pretty wicked fast. I can't wait for the full report.
Mwah!!
Posted by: Audrey at November 11, 2007 6:40 PM
Congratulations on your awesome PR and that speedy last mile! Impressive! Oh, and I loved the article in your hometown paper. I just can't believe how long it's been since the accident. You've come a long way!
Posted by: Caitlin at November 11, 2007 8:58 PM
Congratulations on competing so well! That's really the best you can ask for each time you line up to race. If you do that enough times, you will be rewarded with your "A" goal (or better) one of these days. I think that it's excellent news that the run was your weaker link this time, because that's definitely something you know how to work on once your body cooperates.
Now I hope you get some good rest. We are all very proud of you!
Posted by: Alison at November 11, 2007 9:27 PM
you still did an awesome job... you have to remember you came back from an accident and a bum hamstring... now rest and recover...
Posted by: Kranky C Dale at November 12, 2007 8:10 AM