66 Turns

This morning I got up as early as I've ever gotten up for running...315 am!!! Today was the Queens Half Marathon, which is part of a Half Marathon Grand Prix. Each borough has it's own half and they are all spread throughout the year. I can't complain too much about the early start because it is supposed to get up to 90 today which is unseasonably warm. The weather was bad enough as it was for our 7am race....hazy and warm, 71 degrees but with the dewpoint felt like 81 with 75% humidity! And luckily, Bill got up early to come and cheer me on (he is such a good husband!)

We took a cab across the island (it is so weird to me that Manhattan is an island) so that we could catch the NYRR shuttle. Coach Ramon had highly suggested buying tickets for this instead of taking public transport because the marathon was way way out of the way. The only thing that stunk is that the buses left at 4:30am. This got us to the half site at around 4:50, so we still got to wait around until 7.

For awhile there it looked like we were going to have a coachless race. The TNT team was all at our meeting spot but with no coaches. Then, at 6:40, Coach Steve (the coach who spends most of his time coaching the advanced group) showed up. He had JUST gotten there, even though he left to take the 7 train and the free shuttle buses at 4:30am (the same time Bill and left). Yuck. I would have totally been panicking if I was in that situation because I get super antsy before a race.

Just like clockwork the race started immediately at 7.

The start was CRAZY. I don't know if people just lied to get into the wrong corrals or what but it seemed like there was a lot more pushing and shoving than normal and people whizzing past and shouldering people. Plus, of course there was a bottleneck at the first turn. The Queens half is known for it's millions of turns. One guy said on his blog that he counted them last year and came up with 66. I was pretty sure he was just exaggerating, so I decided to count them myself. The course is also pretty darn hilly. I was planning for some hills but there were a LOT.

My strategy for the race was to follow Ramon's strategy. I figured he has helped me get my best times and I haven't had a horrible race yet so it was probably a good idea. In summary, we were supposed to:

• Take the first 6 miles out a little slower than usual. This meant that we should feel like we were holding back. According to Ramon's calculations, this would put me at a 9:10 min mile for miles 1-6.
• Take stock of how you feel after mile 6...if you feel good, take 10 seconds off per mile (a 9 min mile for me) for the next 4 miles.
• Take stock of how you feel , if you feel great, race it in for the last 3.

So I was looking forward to my 1:57.

I panicked a LITTLE at the first mile when I looked at my watch. It said 9:55.22. I figured that this was because of the slow start though, and told myself not to panic, I could pick it up a smidge for the next mile.

Next mile? 8:55.62. Whoops, not that much.

I reigned it back in for the next mile, which was a 9:12.66. Perfect! Now just keep that pace.

When I got to the 4th mile I figured I should stop and get some water. It was also a perfect time to try out running through the water stops. (I usually walk these, because every time I try to drink on the run I choke and cough.) I figured this was my longest practice race before the marathon and I should be trying all of this stuff out now. No go. I choked it down and decided maybe it was better to just walk through the stops. 9:19.64.

I was trying to follow this guy who has this t-shirt on that had written on the back of it, huge, in a Sharpie "WHAT?!!!....I AM THE QUEENS BLVD." I have no idea what this meant, but he seemed to be running exactly my pace....between 9:10s and 9:20s. Lots of turns, lots of hills and lots of confused bystanders. In fact, I think in some places it was only Bill and maybe two other people cheering. And those were the big cheering spots. Mile 5: 9:32.36. Luckily, with all of these turns the miles were FLYING by. Every time I got to a mile marker I was like "Oh wow. Really?" and checked my watch, like "Yeah, I guess that's right."
Last mile to go slow...9:27.69.

At this point, I was wondering if I should pick it up. I was mostly like, "YES." because I could tell that I was holding back a little on all of those miles. But I also thought no, because it just didn't feel like I was holding back that much. I figured that mile 7 would be a transition mile into my new pace, so I was shooting for around a 9:10. I just kept visualizing my legs turning over faster, not necessarily picking up the pace. I got a 9:27.07. Not EXACTLY what I was hoping for, but then again, I didn't really feel like I was going any faster either.

My breathing was still good and not audible, so I decided to pick it up for real this time. I willed my legs to turn over faster, and you know what? It worked!!! I felt like I was going a smidge faster, but not that much. However, I logged an 8:55.04. Hurrah!

The miles were still coming fast at this point even though the hills seemed to be multiplying. I was stupid at the next mile and forgot to push the lap button, so I don't remember what that split was, but the next two combined were 18:53.59. After these two miles I was just like "Forget it. I'm done. I'm not running anymore." I was so tired. Plus, my GU from mile 6 kept coming up which is an awful, gross feeling. My tank and short were SOAKED which was incredibly uncomfortable. I was just done. No more. So, according to Ramon's plan I was dropping out. I meaured how I felt after 10 miles and decided from that point just to finish the race.

It was a pain to run the next miles. More hills and MORE turns. Luckily, there was some funny/friendly banter from the runners ahead of me about Sarah Palin (for and against, despite the fact that in NY everyone is a democrat). It was cracking me up, which was good because it took my mind off of everything.

It was here that this woman came up to me and said "You're doing great. I've been following you from mile 1 and you still look like you're doing good. Keep it up." She of course passed me. But I thanked her tremendously because I totally needed that at this point (even if it wasn't true). I knew I was running awful and tired and I didn't care. Mile 11: 10:04.10. I wasn't even surprised and I didn't care.

Now the miles were DRAGGING. I kept thinking, "Aren't we almost there?" Some guy asked a course volunteer what mileage we were at and he said "11.5" and I groaned audibly.

It was here that I ran into Coach Steve. He ran up to me and started running with me. He asked me how I felt, and instead of smiling through the pain and saying "Oh, just fine." like I used to do in Cincinnati during my practices, I said "I feel like crap." He said "Of course you do." (I was like WHAT?! Really?) "It's really really hot and humid out there. You look good and you're almost finished. Make sure you get water at the next stop which is right around the corner and then just finish strong and we'll be there to cheer you on." The whole time he was telling me this he was running next to me and it didn't escape me that he was increasing my turnaround by just a smidge. Yay. For some reason, all of this made me feel better. Mile 12: 9:22.13. Hurrah!

Here I saw Bill, and even though I was feeling a little better I gave him the thumbs down to let him know that I was completely off my plan, and overall not feeling so hot. He gave me some words of encouragement to push through. And guess what else was there for me? A HUGE hill. Maybe the second largest on the course? Now that was just MEAN.

I was SOOOOO tired. Mile 13: 10:10.93, but I didn't even look at the watch on that one because I was totally focused on the finish.

I finished with a 2:04.17.

I guess it's a PR since I've never done a half before ;)

I definitely wasn't ecstatic, but I felt like considering the circumstances I did ok.

But the thing that stunk? No medals! Pttt. Well, at least the shirts were cool.

Oh, and I lost count of the turns when my race started to fall apart, but at that time it was around 50, so it is quite possible that there really are 66 turns in the Queens Half Marathon.

In the Big Scheme of Things...

Saturday was our group run at 10 miles. Our route was an 8 mile loop, ending at the store and then you could add on 2, 3, 4, or 5 miles depending on which marathon you were running.

I started out just fine, with the group I have been running with (I am HORRIBLE at keeping pace, so I now make sure I am running with the same four people...they keep me on track). I actually felt like I had more energy than usual. We ran all the way down to the area by CrossRoads, and when I turned back to start making it into Norwood I DIED. I felt like someone took a powerful magic ray and just ZAPPED all of the energy out of me...you know, like in the cartoons. I stopped for my first water break, hoping I was just in need of some liquid or something. Mind you, I was only at 3.25 miles at this point. My hair was already soaking wet (did I mention that I don't usually sweat?). The water did help a little, but then I just felt zapped again. It didn't help that by this time most of the group had split up even further. This always happens at water stops, because some people take longer than others. But usually we all catch up with each other after a little bit. So I was running solo for what seemed like forever. It was funny too, because we ran this route a few weeks ago (but backwards) and it just flew by. I passed a guy that can usually kick my butt, who was walking. I passed some more people walking. It was awful, but I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one dying. It made me feel less like it was just a mental block or something.

Second water stop, two miles to go. The longest two miles of my life. The endless debate started in my head 'can I stop at 8? No, you have to do 10. But I am sooooo tired. Too bad, you signed up for this...are you going to stop in the marathon when you are tired?' I passed another walking girl. I saw the woman ahead of me stop to walk. I now looked like I had taken a shower. I made a deal with myself: 'if you RUN the rest of the way back to the store...no walking, you can stop at 8.' So I did it. I figured in the big scheme of things 2 miles was not going to make a difference when I felt like I did.

When I went up to get my keys, I saw that a lot of other people in my general pace group were stopping too. And on the way to my car I saw the woman who was in front of me in the last two miles. She told me she just didn't think she could go any more, and she wanted to do 5 more miles. I said "No way. I'm quitting. I wanted to do two more but it is just way too humid out here." I still feel like a quitter, even through all of my rationalization :)

I Totally Renege

I know. I know. I go on and on about how I hate running in Glendale. And how I hate doing loops. But I actually had a really really nice, enjoyable run this weekend. DESPITE the fact that I ended up running up and down one street 4 times in order to get all of my mileage in.

Since I was on the upper end of mileage for the group this weekend I did:
1. a 6.6 mile loop around Glendale (the most BORING part was a street that wrapped around by UPS that seemed to go on forever)
2. a 2.4 mile loop around by the Grande Finale which seemed extremely short
3. a 2.5 mile loop in the neighborhoods of Glendale, by where the Black Squirrel 5k is usually run
4. a 1.2 mile loop along the RR tracks (again!) to get me close to the 13-14 miles I needed to run.

I should have probably done another 1.2 miles to actually get me up to 13.9 instead of 12.7, but really, I could not run that whole RR track thing another time without going insane.

I think the weather makes all the difference. I was beating myself up in my past runs because I was doing between a 11-14 minute mile throughout the runs and walking up some of the hills. I felt totally out of shape and angry with myself. I guess it truly must be the heat/humidity though. Saturday I did 10 minute miles the entire way. That's more like it! It was beautiful out, and not the normal 85+ and humid. So my confidence is restored.

Even better, after the run I rewarded myself by going to pick up the new Harry Potter which I had on reserve so I could read it at the pool all day. Because I am a big believer in the theory that you have to reward yourself. :)

Tonight is an easy 3-mile run, which means my husband will be running with me. (Which also means I have to pick up the pace a bit). Oh well, I need to do speedwork.

Sweaty Girl

It has been sooooo humid lately!

I went for my negative split run last night (and actually for real did a negative split...in fact, I had two minutes left over) and when I came back I was so sweaty. I actually had a film of sweat all over me, and I was only out for 40 minutes! (I don't really sweat very much ever. I could run 9 miles usually and not sweat). It was gross.

But even grosser (is that a word?) is that I had a softball game afterwards. I basically just keep my running clothes on and pull my t-shirt over. Well, I change my shoes of course too. But I was being finicky about my pigtails and decided to redo them. I could have wrung them out. Nasty. I do not like all of this sweat. It was even worse on the field.

I am so done with this humidity. It is really throwing my times off. I just have to keep telling myself that I am running slower because of all this heat and humidity. Apparantly other people are feeling it too, because Coach Joe F sent out an email telling us not to get discouraged if we felt slow, because the heat and humidity are so bad that they are bound to slow us down.

By the way, I just looked at the humidity for yesterday...it got up to 93%. Gross.