The Freedom Of Running By Feel

I’ve fallen behind in my blog posting. Reason? No idea, but I did. So I will just briefly account that I started my endurance training for Boston logging good mileage. I started my running commute with about 10 miles in the morning and 5 in the afternoon and no surprise to anyone that I have kept racing as much as I can: A couple of short races for speed work, and a trilogy of Half Marathons.

A day after my birthday I ran my first race being 56 years old: 5K Green Lake Gobble in 23:33 for a 7:35 min/mile. I was very pleased because I had not done any speed work in the last 2 months. I got 3rd place, and all the rain my body could soak. I have run this race the last four years and I love it. 

Then I went for three Half Marathons during the Thanksgiving Holidays. They were part of the Quadzilla/Quadzuki but I skipped Friday’s run which was a muddy and technical trail run. Not for me. The first race was on Thanksgiving Thursday: Wittle Waddle Half Marathon. I had a good run, clocking 1:54 and giving thanks for life, family, running, and hugging friends! Race started in Gas Works Park and was run on Burke-Gilman trail.

On Saturday I ran the Seattle Ghost which is run in the original Seattle Marathon's course. This race was beyond fantastic. It was my Half Marathon # 80 and I clocked 1:53. I confirmed once again that running is definitely magical, but more magical when shared and lived with amazing friends. The race goes along Lake Washington Boulevard. I know so well every inch of this course as I ran all my long runs there, back in 2007 when I prepared for my first marathon ever. The post-race party was a delight, and my friends and I took the advantage of the cold water to get a soak of our tired legs, while having beer or chicken soup! It was indeed an amazing party.

And on Sunday Nov 27, my favorite race: Seattle. On a day like this, Nov 25, 2007, 5 years ago, thanks to my daughter Alejandra, I ran my first marathon: Seattle Marathon. On the same very weekend, in 2009, I ran my first Half: Seattle HM. Today, I was proud to cross this finish line again, a line that means the world to me. My HM #81, the third on the weekend: 1:54:34 and 4th place in my division. I was very happy to run very consistently the three races. 1:54, 1:53 and 1:54. A great Thanksgiving running feast. 

Thanks to my son Diego who's made the tradition to be at this finish line for me.

Seattle Splits:
1- 8:57
2- 8:48
3- 9:03
4- 8:58
5- 8:49
6- 8:22
7- 8:33
8- 9:31 (can you spell Madison?)
9- 8:38
10- 8:40
11- 8:28
12- 8:41
13- 8:16
13.1- 0:49 (8:10)

On December 8^th I ran Christmas Rush 10K. I went to run as hard as I could, and honestly I didn’t expect that the hard run was going to be my best (time-wise). Again, I haven’t started speed work. My pleasant surprise is that my hard was also my best. I PRd by 33 seconds and got 3rd place in the division: 47:50 - 7:42 min/mile. I wrapped that PR as a gift for my Alejandra, my daughter's birthday, and many, many thanks to my Diego, for being there in the home stretch, and for his company, and the coffee... and the jokes...and the laugh, and the pictures... and the jacket... and just for being my son.

Splits:
1- 7:42  -
2- 7:46
3- 7:48
4- 7:39
5- 7:41
6- 7:45
6.2 - 7:15

I would like to close saying that I am at the point where running is definitely embedded in me. I dropped pace monitor, music, heart rate monitor. I don’t know what pace I am running in a race but after the fact when I lap my chronometer as I run by the mile marker. If the race doesn’t have mile markers I simply don’t know how I am doing or what my splits were. I appreciate having gone through all the steps and phases of running with different gadgets because thanks to them and to the analysis of the numbers I learned how my body performed in every different circumstance. Now I am gadget-less. The three Thanksgiving Half Marathons and yesterday’s 10K, with so consistent splits, tells me how my body understands it now. I am very happy. I feel freedom. The Freedom Of Running By Feel.