Three Races

Apologies to those of you who haven’t heard much from me in the past weeks. I have been trying to get faster and improve my fitness and really haven’t been racing nearly as much in 2009 as I did in 2008. Then again, 48 races is a bit tough to match or improve upon!! Here’s where I’ve been since the end of January:

Mardi-Gras Half Marathon (2/1/09): This was an interesting race in the Big Easy and I was hoping to better my personal best for the half marathon I’d set in Warner-Robins a few weeks prior. I had talked to my friend and coach (Jay) for a running plan. I’d never really had a time plan before but the goal was a 3 ½ minute PR. Unfortunately when I woke up on race morning the temperatures were in the low 50’s and were supposed to get in the 60’s by the finish. While that’s not terribly warm, it’s a far cry from the teens and 20’s I’d been training. I walked from my hotel to the start line and waited for the 7am gun. My plan was to hang between the 4 and 4:15 marathon pacers for as long as I could then once passed by the 4:15 group, stay as close as I could until the 13 mile mark.

The race starts at the SuperDome, passes through the French Quarter, through Bourbon Street, then southwest where it goes through a park/golf course and back turning before the French Quarter. At the start of the race, I made my first mistake. I felt really good and running through the French Quarter had me amped a little. I looked up and saw the pacer sign they were carrying. Unfortunately it was the 3:40 sign! Because of the confines of the street, it was nearly impossible to slow down for the first 4k and I was pushed, poked and prodded for most of it by runners who HAD to stay by the 3:40 pacer. Once we left the French Quarter the road opened up a bit and I slowed down to a more normal gait for me. By mile 4 I was just behind the 4 hour group. I felt a little spent from going out far too hard! Just past the 4 mile water stop, I was passed by the 4:15 group and realized they were actually on about 4:05 pace (they were just behind the 4 hour group). I was a little disheartened for some reason and by mile 6 I felt like I was just hanging on. My 10 minute mile pace was slowing to the 10:20’s and I was gassed! I finally gave in to being fatigued by mile 9 and the 10:20’s turned to 10:50’s with some walking. We made the final turn around mile 12 and at that point I wanted to be done. I limped to the finish some 6 ½ minutes slower than goal. I was disappointed at first but then realized it was still the 2nd fastest half I’d done and my bad day was much better than my best day only months ago.

All in all it was a fun time but a race I’d probably not do again. I’m less of a fan of New Orleans than some and the city is a good place to go once in awhile.

Last chance for Boston 10k (2/15/09): Not much to say about this one. You run 1 mile loops in a circle. I’ve done this race a few times and used this as a training run to get some tempo in. I can’t imagine doing much more than a 10k on this course but I know many people who love it. I ran 8 laps in total and my official 10k finishing time is a few minutes slower than my actual time (I had originally signed up for the half and that started 2 minutes ahead of the 10k and full). I think I averaged 9:42 for the distance.

Catch a Leprechaun 30k (3/8/09): I’ve run this course in Avon Lake about 5 or so times. It’s a 15k loop and REALLY flat. It makes the Columbus Marathon seem hilly! I had a goal to break 3:20 (about 10:42 pace) which would have been a 25 minute PR. I went with Geri and we woke up to a nice 40 degree day filled with a steady rain. The race was supposed to start at 7am but due to daylight savings it was moved to 7:30. We had a few issues with daylight savings and ended up getting up around 4:15 (damn blackberry!!). Fortunately it gave us ample time to get breakfast, coffee and what have you. The hope was the rain would let up and it would be just damp.

This race is more for the 5k and 15k entrants and the rain must have scared off many people because there were probably 100-150 total entrants with about 35 or so doing the 30k. At the start, the rain was a little heavier and I was absolutely soaked before we started. My plan was to go out relatively easy then pick it up a little for as long as I could then try to hang on to beat my goal. Early on, I realized it was going to be a struggle with the wind and driving rain so my plan was quickly one of survival. I missed the 2 mile marker and before mile 3 the rain killed my iPod. That coupled with there being so few entrants and I knew it would be pretty lonely out there! My mile splits were pretty consistent for the first 8 miles. They were slower than I’d hoped but were still respectable for me. I passed Geri right before 9 when she was hitting close to her 10th mile and we talked for a few seconds. I knew when I hit the half way point it would be VERY lonely out there! I hit the 10 mile mark about a minute slower than I’d hoped but still in the window where I knew if I could stay consistent I’d set a pretty big PR in the distance. By mile 11 the police had made us move to a different side of the road (increasing the distance a little) and told us the road we were running on would be closed to vehicles due to flooding. They also seemed a little miffed we were running the course again. I hit miles 11-13 in consistent fashion with the previous few and actually caught two runners who had stopped for a minute to rid themselves of excess fluids. By 15 I had caught back up to my goal time but realized I was pretty spent. I thought I could push on and finish in around 3:12 which would have been a 33 minute PR and 8 minutes faster than goal. What I didn’t realize is I’d run completely out of gas at 17! The 18th mile was a full minute slower than anything else I’d done and my hope of 3:12 turned to 3:15 pretty quickly. I limped to the finish line in 3:15:09 and had a new PR by 30 minutes. I was soaked to the bone but relieved all my training was paying off.

2 PR’s this year! Let’s hope the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach affords me yet another!!