I knew going into this race I had a lot going against me. I hadn't run distance since April, in spite of all my best efforts to do so. Then I'd gotten sick... it was all just a big mess.
Still, I felt pretty refreshed earlier in the week after a few days of rest while being sick. I noticed over the weekend my legs began to feel tight which was definitely not exciting. I also didn't feel very excited for this race because I hadn't been doing well with distance and half marathons are getting to be kind of unexciting for me. As we got out of the car, I told Joel I wished I was doing the full, or even capable of doing it, because I'd be so much more excited.
At the start line with friends, I didn't feel very nervous. My friend Hannah was anxious with nervous energy. I'm normally like that, but instead I was sort of happy-go-lucky and not very focused. I tried to stretch out my hamstring a few times to no avail.
As we took off, I set out at solid 9:30 pace. My goal was 2:05. 9:30s were actually feeling really good! We ran through a few miles and I could feel my legs tightening up. The tightness started in my hamstrings and calves. I still felt like I had a good stride though. As we approached the uphill into the zoo I felt great! I'd never felt so much adrenaline and comfort surging up a hill. My knee drive was forward and I felt relaxed.
As we turned into the zoo, the tightness grew worse, now in my quads. I kept pushing - watching for animals, I saw an elephant, hippo, ostrich, donkey, camels... and then the zoo was over. As we set out to mile 5, I told myself this was all flat, but it didn't feel flat. Joel was supposed to be between miles 4 & 5, but I didn't see him. That threw me off. The running felt uphill and the ground uneven. I took a gu before mile 6.
6-8 felt ok, but I felt the tightness moving into my quads, hips, and IT bands. I was starting to breakdown.
As I looped around through 9, this was when I finally fell below 10 min pace. I came through 8 miles at 1hr 20 and I never saw it again. The last time I had water was about 7.6 miles, we had gone through 9 and still no water stop in sight. Up a hill, in the sun, I felt defeated. I remembered this was where I felt defeated last year too. Finally, at mile 10, there was water. I walked. I took a minute just past the stop to bend over and stretch my legs, now painfully tight.
I ran until my Garmin said 11 miles, which was 10.8 by the markings on the course. I walked to the mile 11 marker from there. I told myself only 2.1 miles to go and again started to run. It was horrible. It was painful and slow and some of the worst running I've ever done. As I came into the park, with about .1 mile to go (by my watch...it actually was more like .3) I started to walk again. My legs were falling apart.
I pushed into the finish, finally finding Joel near the shoot - I was holding back tears.
I hardly cared about the medal as I stood around to get through the crowd. I barely had the energy to make it through the end. I grabbed a bottle of water and a protein shake, skipping everything else. Finding Joel, and saying goodbye to some friends, I limped out of the crowds. A few feet through the park I started crying in pain. I usually don't cry from pain. I told Joel I had to sit and take a break from walking. We sat in the grass for a few moments while I wiped my face and tried to stretch my legs.
We got up again and made it to the car. Joel drove home and made me a small breakfast once we got there. I drank water and put ice on my legs. It genuinely hurt to move.
In the end, it was just a really rough day. I hit the wall and it was my worst half marathon time to date.
I have a sport massage/torture session this weekend potentially followed by BolderBoulder on Monday. Let's hope - if I am recovered - that that goes MUCH better :)
No comments:
Post a Comment