Week 12
35 miles, speed 2 x 2 miles tempo run and half marathon. My goal is to run around 8:25 the first 10-12 miles and then pick up the pace. I am not sure if there will be a pacer around my time or if I’ll be on my own. I would love for the first ¾ of the race to feel comfortable and then see what I can do at the finish. I also know from previous years that this course is long, so the pacers go faster than their posted time.
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4/18/2023
Full day of work with most of the afternoon sitting, running after work continues to be my nemesis! Not drinking enough water and being starved added to my discomfort, so I inhaled a banana and peanut butter before heading out into the WIND!!! If I had to choose a day to complete speed work, this would not be that day. I started out running into the wind and it really didn’t feel too bad but as soon as I turned around to begin my first 2 mile I had to go to the bathroom, not the quick kind! I powered through and somehow hit my goal pace. My half mile recovery into the wind felt terrible. I considered cutting my run short and heading home but I have goals, so continued. My second 2 mile was a mind over matter and was slower. I felt like I was running through the darn peanut butter I just ate.
Discouraged after that tough run I reviewed my heart rate and VO2 max and was shocked to see my numbers were amazing and should’ve pushed the pace. Apparently my heart and body are not on the same page.
4/20/2023
Today was a rest day. Winter came back again, heavy wet snow. All after school activities were canceled. The feels like temp is predicted to be 15 at race start Saturday with a nasty wind.
4/22/2023
The forecast was unfortunately accurate, chilly and windy. The temp actually didn't feel bad while we were running and the first half of the course I was able to tuck into the pace group to hide from the wind. My energy level was good, I drank a serving of UCAN and ate half a peanut butter sandwich 45 minutes before the start. Most of the first half I just told myself it was a tempo run and it certainly felt better than my tempo run on Tuesday! I was grabbing water at most of the water stops and trying to drink it without spilling to much on my hand. I was also taking a Salt Stick FastChew every 3-4 miles and snacking on a few fruit snacks. I really could've used more water but didn't want to deal with carrying water with the cold temps.
Heading into mile 10 our group really started to thin out with people falling behind or surging ahead. Around mile 11 we had a hill that was straight into the wind. It. Was. Tough! My niece had a cheer zone with her dance team and that was definitely the highlight of the mile of torture! The last 3 miles were windy with very few places to escape.
My last two half marathons I’ve mentally hit the wall during miles 10-13 and slowed way down. On my way to the race I listened to Elite Minds by Dr. Stan Beecham for motivation. The point that stuck out to me was that my mind is going to give out before my body. We had a water stop around mile 12 and I was slowing down. I lost the pace group. I could see them about half a block ahead and had to decide to push myself or fade. Push on! I slowly kept grinding, focusing on the backs and shoes of the two pacer.
Proverbs 16:9
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
I wrote this verse on my arm, along with a list of names to pray for. So as I focused on the steps of the pacers I prayed for God to determine my steps and lifted the needs of the special person I was praying for through the tough mile. Before mile 13 I was back on their heels. We rounded the corner for the final stretch, I was able to muster some speed and finish ahead of them. My time was 9 seconds off my time from last year and the conditioners were worse this year. The biggest win for me today was mentally overcoming the desire to back off on my pace when it got tough.
Shout out to the Lost Dog Pacers who kept the pace, so I didn't have to think about it! I couldn't have pushed through this one without these two paving the way for me.
Post Race Thoughts
I’ve crunched the numbers and my goal of 3:45 is a long shot. Reflecting on the course, it was more hilly than the Fargo Marathon will be, was about a quarter mile long, so we actually raced closer to 13.35 than 13.1 and it was windy. Going into this race I wanted to run comfortably with the 1:50 pacer, although I was able to run it, I would not describe it as comfortable. I’m going to keep plugging away with my training and see what happens over the next 4 weeks.