Chocolate And Wind

I decided to take 2 to 3 weeks off after the Moro Marathon and before starting my Houston Marathon training (race on Jan 15, 2012). I still would run my scheduled races during the weekends, but the week would be free of running. And for the lazy gal I am, this was awesome.

A bunch of Sole Sisters, and other runners teamed up to run You Go Girl in Tacoma mid September. Ginger, one of our über fast girls, put the team together, and because she likes chocolate, we would be in brown: Chocolate Covered Runners was the team’s name. Our Sole Sister’s Captain Jessica would turn 40 that day, and that would be a great reason to run with her and celebrate afterwards (i.e. beer). Tony Seabolt, the guy in the PNW who does whatever for his running girls, would be adding also one more year to his life. Double beer!

We met for a team photo, and then we took off to run at our own pace. 

This race was one week after my New Zealand marathon so I took it as an easy long run. The temperature was in mid 50s but it felt muggy to me. At the end of mile 3 I was not feeling well. I was heavily sweating. Fortunately by my mile 4 it started to drizzle and it felt nice and cool after that. I went as I normally go now by effort and though I didn’t have negative splits, the hills at the end were not as bad as they could’ve been if I’ve run by pace instead. 

With Jess in her awesome 40th B'day

Mile 1 – 10:02 – HR 160

Mile 2 – 10:04 – HR 163

Mile 3 – 11:03 – HR 164 (this is when I felt the air muggy and I wasn’t feeling good)

Mile 4 – 10:39 – HR 168 (a mist shows up and I am feeling better now)

Mile 5 – 9:14 – HR 165 (a downhill… Lower effort, but faster)\

Mile 6 – 9:43 – HR 168 (Increased the effort, but ran much better that mile 4)

Mile 7 – 10:11 – HR 168

Mile 8 – 10:21 – HR 169

Mile 9 – 10:15 – HR 170

Mile 10 – 10:28 – HR 166 (lowered my effort, for some reason that I don’t remember. Tired maybe?

Mile 11 – 10:29 – HR 169

Mile 12 – 10:18 – HR 176 (a lot of effort and I sped up a little but not much)

Mile 13 – 9:45 – HR 183 (all effort)

I finished in 2:13:32 for 10:12 min/mile. Not bad considering I ran a marathon the week before, and arrived three days before from New Zealand after a 24-hour flight with lay-overs included!!!

Tony and Jess celebrating b'days

Food, beers, and friendship with Tony, Kristen and Marie

Following a week of nothingness I went to run Bellingham Bay Half. I love this course and the race. I was more rested now, so it would feel OK… until I checked the weather for race day. It came with a red bar on top: Severe weather alert / wind advisory. Winds of 30 mph with gusts of 45 to 60 mph (up to 100 km/h).... snapping tree branches, and causing local power outage. Sad to say, the weatherman was right on the money. The winds were so fast that there were points where runners could barely walk. I finished the race with literally nothing left. And I literally puked after crossing the finish line at 2:27:29. I was so dizzy that the medical personnel wanted to take me to the medical tent. They brought me water, and helped me to get the chip off. After 5 minutes I told them I was OK, and simply moved on!!!!

Some of the comments the following day around the running world were:

·        Uli Steidl (marathon winner) battled tough winds…

·        Not all runners were able to get through the race or Sunday's wind without hiccups like Steidl did. Kirkland's Brian Patenaude, who crossed the finish line shoes in hand, struggled against gusty conditions most of the race. "I totally fell off my routine," Patenaude said. "I was vomiting and dizzy. I totally wasn't prepared for the wind. I feel dumb for not looking into it, and I had to take my shoes off at mile 23. I was trying to PR, but I didn't."

·        The wind was horrible...

·        I had the best day yesterday (minus the wind)

·        Fantastic race yesterday (despite the wind.)

·        Great race, great shirt, and great medal... Can you spell W-I-N-D???

·        Thank you for a nice course! Next time, maybe you could turn the wind machine down just a smidge?

·        Where were the mile markers? On the ground !!!

·        The wind almost knocked us over at the waterfront.

You got the idea... and  you will also get the idea if compare Bellingham splits with You Go Girl splits.

Mile 1 – 10:32 – HR 149

Mile 2 – 10:32 – HR 158

Mile 3 – 10:46 – HR 161 (we had here tailwinds of 50mph. Do you think will help? Not really, you think you are going to be run over)

Mile 4 – 10:50 – HR 170 (Now is a hill with headwinds)

Mile 5 – 10:49 – HR 168

Mile 6 – 10:37 – HR 170

Mile 7 – 10:37 – HR 173

Mile 8 – 11:05 – HR 171 – I started dying at this point.

Mile 9 – 12:20 – HR 169 – This is a battle now. At 92% and I am above 12min/mile which I kept for horrible next three miles). Regularly, when running above 12min/mile in recovery runs I am at 70%, below 140bpm)

Mile 10 – 12:15 – HR 168

Mile 11 – 12:19 – HR 166

Mile 12 – 11:36 – HR 173 (Saw the angelical face of niece Angie. This really cheered me on, and helped me to speed up. Thanks Angie)

Mile 13 – 10:45 – HR 175 (My max effort is 183 but with a pace above 10. I had nothing left not even for a sprint. Last week same effort was a 9:45 pace, and for my PR past August, my last mile with this effort was 8:19).

Close to puking...3301 be careful, and how come the wind didn't delete that smile???

Angie and Captain Che America who went to the race to cheer me on... And how much it helped!!!

These were my Half Marathons # 29 and # 30. Every race is different, and the beauty of this difference is that they continue teaching me how the elements can change the outcome for similar levels of effort.

This is how I learn to run better, with Chocolate And Wind.