I didn't finish in the time that I was hoping (or place for that matter) but for now I am just happy to be able to say that I did finish (in 1:31:24 for 11th female). Somewhere around mile 9 I started to hit the wall and by mile 12 I really didn't know if I was going to finish. I was hanging on for dear life at 7:30 pace as people were flying past me to finish. The medics grabbed me as soon a I got across the line and wanted to wrap me in blankets because I was pretty white and my lips were purple. I knew I was getting pretty cold on the last stretch into the wind but didn't realize how bad I was until I stopped. I didn't care about the blankets but I was pretty desperate for some sugar... I grabbed some oranges and gatorade and that seemed to get me out of the haze a little. I have never bonked on a run but from what I have been told it seems pretty similar to what I experienced during the race. But it doesn't seem right that I could have bonked during a half marathon.
I went out exactly as I had planned... hitting 6:35's for the first 4 miles and was feeling really strong. The next few miles were a little slower (6:48 averages over 3 miles... I missed the individual mile splits) but it was windy and I wasn't running in a group so I was still ok with the splits. Things seemed to be on track and I was reeling some of the women in that had gone out a little quicker. Mile 8 was really tough mentally... into the wind and I was by myself.. I could feel that I was dropping off the pace a little and then a spectator told me I was the 7th female. I thought there were only 4 ahead of me so that set me back a little too. I tried to dig in a little and tough it out and actually got down into the 6:30's again during the middle part of that mile. I felt better as I picked it up a little but just couldn't keep the pace by myself. It ended up being a 7:03 mile and things just kept getting worse from there. I was really starting to get cold (it was 56 degrees at the start of the race but dropping so that it was in the 40's by the end and the wind was steady at 20 mph gusting to 25 straight out of the north). My hands and forearms were really bad and from mile 10 on I was really struggling. Honestly, while I am not too happy with my time or place, I am just happy that I was able to finish.
So now what? I really want to know what happened. I am pretty sure that with the training that I was doing (even though it was only for 6 months) that I was in shape to do better than that. Maybe not. Maybe I was expecting too much and I died because I went out faster than what I could handle. I don't really know... but I want to run another half marathon! I am not sure when but for now I am going to take a week of reduced mileage (40ish) and then get back into some base miles.
2 comments:
I think a little hypothermia can do wonders for adding minutes to a half marathon time. I imagine the circulatory system was having a field day trying to figure out if the blood was supposed to go to the brain, the legs, or to the arms (in an effort to warm you up).
The fact that you were craving sugar indicates to me that you had bottomed out on glycogen, but like you I'm surprised that it happened as quickly as it did.
I was a little worried about the days a few weeks back where 7 minute pace had you at a 180 heart rate while you were planning on running 6:38 pace for 13 miles. However, I don't really know where your heart rate usually is so I didn't feel qualified to comment.
All this being said, you showed your strength and spirit by continuing on and finishing under difficult circumstances, and you are clearly hungry for more. I hope you are proud of yourself, as I truly believe you should be given your finish time.
It will be nice to see you all for Twin Cities, and I look forward to reading about yours and Eric's preparations.
It sounds like starting out too fast combined with the cold weather was enough to use up my glycogen pretty quick (thanks for the explanation, Mystery Coach). I actually have been told now by a couple of other people that they have had similar experiences in a half. Good to know for the future, I guess.
We are looking forward to seeing you at Twin Cities as well. We think you should bring the fam =)
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