I’m not the best at training. I skip runs. I walk when I should be running. I stop and take photos. I do lots of things that have very little to making myself a better runner. That’s why I sign up for so may races, so that I’m forced to run.
After my first half in 2011, (Las Vegas) I had arm surgery just a few weeks later. It took forever to heal, but when I did, I got back into things, so I could run the 2012 Wine & Dine Half and then Vegas. There have been many races since then, but the pattern has been pretty consistent: I take a break after January Disneyland run until after Hawaii and Coachella trips, then start everything all over again. The last two years I ran Duvall on June 1ish as my first race and then trained my ass off to get back to where I was before my break.
This year was a little different. First, I got married in February. Then I got sick. Well I live sick every day, but the sick came back full force and I had to get used to some new meds so my intestines would stop stabbing me from the inside. Then we didn’t go to Coachella. That, perhaps, is the worst part of this tale, but for another time. And finally, I registered for races in May. And not 10ks, but half marathons.
So to recap, between January 18 and May 10, I did speed work maybe a dozen times on the treadmill. My first outside run was 6 miles on April 19. On April 26, I ran 8 miles. On May 2, I planned to run 10 miles. Planned.
That brings us to May 10 when I ran the Kirkland Mother’s Day Half Marathon on its new fast course. I’m positive it would have been a fast course even with the uphill start and the insane killer hill at the half way point, if you train that is.
In the line for the bathrooms (25 minutes I waited. Judging by announcements, they postponed start 5 minutes because of the long potty line I believe) and in the corral, I heard plenty of people talking about lack of training, failure to carb load, and general unpreparedness. With a four hour time limit, no one was worried.
We spent the race around Trevor’s mom who was ahead of her son and finished shortly after us. She was great fun. We ran some, walked some, and basically kept moving forward. Around mile 6 my ankle started hurting and after the insane uphill my hip (sciatic nerve, lower back, hip, and psoas whatever) started hurting–a lot. By the time we hit the trail again, I was shuffling on the loose gravel and couldn’t keep a decent pace.
My lungs felt fine. My brain knew 13 miles was easy. There was no wall or bonk. Just pain.
It’s Wednesday and my pain is there. My legs are stiff. I have been resting, icing, compressing, and elevating, along with ibuprofen and generally trying to fell better. The pain is lessening and I plan on a short treadmill workout to see where I’m at. Why is it so important? I’ve got a half this weekend.
No one ever accused me of being fast, just crazy!
