Carlene, Jacquie and Ken’s Excellent Half-Marathon Adventure Web Site!
May 1/02 — Carlene: KD Mini PR!
April 29, 2002 April 15 - Off. Massage
April 16 - Easy run. Approx. 3.2K
April 17 - Club run. Approx 5.5K. Happy Birthday!
April 18 - Off. Work in garden
April 19 - LSD run. Approx 8.2K
April 20 - Off
April 21 - Bike 48 min.
Run 16.9K, Crosstrain 48 minApril 22 - Run. Approx 5K
April 23 - Off
April 24 - Club run. Approx 5.5K
April 25 - Easy run. Approx 2.6K
April 26 - Off. Fly to Kentucky. Walk all over.
April 27 - Race Kentucky Derby Mini. 21.1K. Walk all over
April 28 - Off. Visit Churchill Downs and walk all over. Fly home to SNOW!
Run 34.2K, Crosstrain 0 (officially, tons of walking though)*********************************************
Well... the past 2 weeks have been focused on one thing -- tapering properly for the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon. I kept telling myself that I could not do too little because I was tapering and resting was my job.
While I was running with the club on Wednesday I spoke with one of our club members named Wanda who has been setting PRs this year and we talked about my upcoming race. She told me that the key for her in her last 1/2 (the weekend before) was to really put it on the line from the start and risk having the wheels come off later in the race. She set out to do her best and was rewarded. I pondered that but was unsure. When I had discussed my goals with my coach, Jane had suggested that I select goals like "finishing strong" and "feeling good" instead of strong time goals. After all, KD Mini was a challenging course. Add to that unpredictable weather and my small injuries of late and anything could happen. Finally, constantly improving your time in each race is unsustainable. Eventually, those improvements slow down and stop. I knew I had been blessed with a huge improvement last fall and asking for more now was unrealistic.
During my last run before the race I felt terrible. My right knee hurt unlike anything I had felt during training (where I had some ITB issues). I persevered and ran long enough for my body to warm up and get rid of that knee pain. That run felt like an eternity but really only lasted 16 cold minutes. However, I really
didn't know what race day would bring and was unsure what I really wanted.Friday in Louisville while talking with the Penguins Bill Kramer asked me I wanted to join the Penguin Pace Group they were putting together for the race. I asked what pace they were planning on and he replied "2:20". Without thinking first I replied "Nope. I want to run faster than that." The Penguins in the room all started laughing and I felt extremely embarrassed. I went on to explain that I would like to match my PR time of 2:10 set last October. My training times for this race were similar to those of last fall, and I thought matching my time on this more difficult course would be fine.
Bill, sweetie that he is, decided he would like to pace me. We were both a little nervous about this. Bill is a faster runner than I am, and I didn't want to hold him back. On the other hand, he had been planning to run with the 2:20 group and not try to run for a PR, so running with me would not destroy any of his goals. I have also never run a race with a stronger runner to pace me for the whole way. Since a 1/2 is a long race I was worried that I might not be up to the challenge of avoiding the Bite Me Zone and being pleasant for over 2 hours.
Friday night we went to the delicious Penguin Pasta dinner organized by Bill and his wife Jody. A lot of fun was had by all. The laughter was contagious and I started to relax. Saturday morning we caught the bus the start and I proceeded to make umpteen trips to the bathrooms. I handed over my jacket to Kathryn Lye prior to the start and held on to a long-sleeved shirt
because I still felt cold. Bill and I lined up near the 10 minute pace marker with Mary D and some other Penguins around us. I usually run races entirely by heart rate -- taking the occasional splits for afterwards and ignoring my watch. This race was very
different from most because there were clocks and split callers at every mile. Ignoring the clock would be impossible. We started and I realized that I still felt like another trip to the bathroom would have been welcome and I was hungry. Ooops!There were thousands of people and we spent a lot of the race trying to find our own space. We bumped arms many times as we were crowded on the course. We finished the first mile in 10:20 on my watch and we learned it had taken us about 3 minutes to reach the mats. About 3 miles into the race we had looped back to Iroquois Park and the hills began. The next 3 miles of winding up and down felt challenging but good. The park was beautiful and the winding hills were easier to take mentally than a long straight incline.
My winter hill training was paying off. My heartrate was climbing in the high 180s, higher than I normally run at for the first half of a race, but I felt good. I was warm enough that the shirt came off. We reached the 6-mile mark in the park and were very close to my 10K PR time. I knew that if I could keep this pace up I could succeed in my time goal.
As we came out of the park I told Bill to look for Kathryn Lye's pink hat as I wanted to drop my long-sleeved shirt with her if at all possible. We found Kathryn and Bill gave her my shirt and stopped for a kiss. I continued on -- afraid to break pace lest I lose it. Bill quickly caught me and we kept moving along. Just prior to 9 miles we approached an aid station with Powerade. I stopped for a brief walk to down a glass of Powerade and pour another into my water bottle. My fingers were swollen and salt was caking my face. Gradually things had begun to get harder. I was running between 182 and 187 HR without talking. I told Bill that, although I didn't have a ton of energy to spare chatting with him because I was working so hard, I really appreciated his company. I was really hot and was pouring water over my wrists and appreciating every cool breeze. Bill on the other hand, was remarking that he was cold. LOL!
Throughout the race we had numerous discussions about our pace. Generally they went something like this: Me "Hmmm... this time at X marker... If we run the next X miles in X minutes we'll make my time." Bill "I think we're running faster than that. We have been running a 9:3X something pace for the whole race." Me "Did I mention that I can't do math while I run? Hmmm... tell me about that [tree, plant, building]."
Eventually the miles ticked by. I knew we were on a PR pace. Bill was relentlessly dragging me towards the finish line. We were doing little fartleks with each person we passed and I was working hard. Bill looked as fresh as ever and I was jealous! I was tired. I had no energy to chat with him. Since mile 9 we had been able to see downtown approaching but they cruelly make you wind around to the actual finish.
Finally we reached 12 miles. My internal arguing went like this "I'm tired... I want to slow down. Don't be an idiot... this is the END. Don't blow it now. You can rest in a few more minutes. This mile must have been marked wrong... it is taking FOREVER! Think of your keywords... Fast... Strong... Easy" (Repeat tirade endlessly) Bill was dragging me along. He was
about a metre ahead of me and I was certain he was speeding up. I was struggling. I was gasping like a fish out of water and making horrible breathing noises. I am sure the other runners thought I was about to have a cardiac arrest. He ignored my
distress and kept dragging me along. Finally we turned the last corner and could see the finish line. We ran side-by-side and I tried to sprint across the mat. It was done.Clock time 2:09:51. Watch/chip time 2:05:55 (9:37 pace)
Our splits were:
1 mile = 10:20
6 miles = 58:35 (9:46 pace)
10 miles = 1:36:35 (9:40 pace)
12 miles = 1:55:40 (9:38 pace)
Final 1.1 = 10:14 (9:18 pace)WOW!
We got our medals and some food and started heading for our shirts. We ran into Josh Saak and started talking about our races. (Josh ran a speedy 1:24:24 and placed 84th male.) I handed Bill my food, sat down on the road and began stretching. I was, and remain, sore. Hammering through those hills and negative splitting that course has beat up my legs. However, I am still grinning and it was worth it.
Over the course of the weekend I met lots of great folks. All of them were SUPER nice. All had different goals. It is rare for me to finish before the people I go to the race with. I have a lot to learn about navigating crowds and being back at the finish to see others finish their races. Despite missing all the other 1/2 marathon finishes, every Penguin I met rushed to ask me how I had done and CROWED when they learned that Bill had paced me to a new PR. I was blown away at how happy everyone was
that I had exceeded my expectations. From time to time we have discussions about what makes people Penguins. That unconditional support and celebration of someone else's success defines it for me.I will not be able to name all the folks I met over the weekend or all the locals who were so very helpful and hospitable to us. I had a fantastic time meeting everyone. The conversations, stretching demos, shopping trips, eating extravaganzas and general silliness were AWESOME. I wish I could go back tomorrow and do it all over again (although my legs might have something to say about that). Thanks to everyone for everything.
Flipper hugs
Carlene-30-
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