Monday, April 18, 2011

From Wenatchee To Boston

I got a PR by 4 minutes in the half distance this weekend, but for some reason, I was not totally happy about it. The race was in beautiful Wenatchee, my first US home, on a very familiar course - I have run part of it in my earlier US runs. After driving around Wenatchee, Apple Capital of the World, and around memory lane, hubby and I had a nice dinner, and retire early to our hotel.



At the onset of the race we had a sunny day in the high 40's, with no wind. Perfect. Chuck told me to run 9ish, and I expected to do so: to run this Half as a test race, and see where could I go and for how long. First mile was at 9:11, and increased to 9:30s from mile 1 to 4. At mile 5 got a climb to a viaduct that cost me the pace for a couple of miles. Then got the pace down and ran good after the turn around, but at mile 11 I started to get tired. My legs and cardio didn't feel bad, but I was running out of gas. However, I wasn't spent. I compared this "out of gas" with the same I had in AZ marathon after having run half of the race, to get a second wind and a good recovery at mile 17 that led me to a strong finish.

On Sunday I rested the whole day while my head asked a million questions about the results. I am not sure I learned something. I don't think the 9ish is out of question nor that I went too fast at the beginning, nor that I was really spent, but I didn't find any answer. I'll talk with Chuck and ask for advice.

Today, Patriot's Day, I ran with US and world elite men and women, as I have done in the past. Bought Boston Marathon live coverage and set up my laptop in front of my treadmill. I ran with them side by side... half of the distance, though. A very interesting race, with a heart attach finish for the women field. Desiree Davila: Hats off, what a race!!!

First than anything, congrats to my good friend Petra, from the UK, who finished her Boston Marathon in 3:47. She qualified to run it in 2010, but a volcano was in her way. Her entry was deferred to 2011 and, with a dormant volcano, she crossed the pond safely.

Congrats also to all Chuckit Runners that ran Boston....my special congrats to Jason (The Intimidator, intimidator in a good way) who achieved his goal, an awesome sub-3 - 2:54.

A definitely excited weekend, all the way From Wenatchee to Boston.



Ready to run Boston with US and World elite field !!!

Running Boston.... virtually!!!!!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the PR.
I'm still kickin' :)

Irish Blue said...

Wow, you are getting so fast and looking so damn fit! Way to go. Love what you are doing with your running.

Petraruns said...

You are getting SO fast Lizzie Lee - the coaching and racing is really helping I think. Thank you SO much for your phonecall and support and shoutouts - means SO much to me.