Denver Half Marathon Race Report

First of all, this was the most fun half marathon EVER!!! I had so much fun, mostly because my friend, Erika, from college was here. She is such a blast to hang out with and even more fun to run with. I usually run by myself, especailly over long distances, so it was a nice change to run with people.

So, Dan and Noah and I piled into the car on race day and went into downtown Denver. It was an easy drive, Noah was really good, and we found Erika and her group easily at the big red chair with the horse on it near the Denver Library. Noah was wearing his skeleton jammies and refused to take them off the rest of the day, in spite of the fact that it was 80 degrees by 11:00.

We all headed to the bathroom and then to the starting line with 10,000 of our closest friends and we were off! Dan and Noah cheered us on, but the crowd was so big I couldn't even see them. They went to breakfast during the race and then watched us at the finish line, but I didn't see them there either. Poor Erika was freezing at the starting line so she had on a trash bag. Race chic!

The race itself was uneventful and really really nice up until about Mile 10. At Mile 10, it felt like someone was trying to hammer a big old nail up into my heel. It was the plantar fasciitis acting up again. I knew I was in for it because I didn't take enough time off running after Pike's, but I was hoping I could just get through this race and THEN rest. Not so much.

Erika was so nice. She coaches running teams and she totally got me through the last three miles. My foot hurt so freaking bad I just wanted to stop every second. But she kept me talking and we ran all the way to the end. The last three miles were pretty slow, but we made it! Our official time was 2:14:53. I was ok with that considering the foot.

After the race, Erika and I had a few beers. I took this picture of Erika through the fence that they had around the beer garden. I was joking that they wouldn't let her out because she drank too much. We both kept getting tickets for free beer (through no fault of our own, haha)!

Dan and Noah played by the stage (they had bands playing. Noah was very happy with a ball he got at the post race expo. He named the ball Scott.

I am so glad I ran this race. It is a great one. Next year it is going to be the Rock N Roll Denver Marathon, which will make it even better. Erika wants to make it an annual tradition and I am all over that! I may even be up for the full, depending on what I do for Pike's next year. If you are looking at running a half or full marathon, I HIGHLY recommend Denver. They had some great sponsors and everything was really well run.

Denver Half Marathon

My half marathon is tomorrow. Dan and Noah and I just got back from picking up my race packet at the Expo. We met my friend Erika there (the one who flew in from St. Louis to run the race). She was cracking me up telling me that she can't breathe and doesn't know how she will run tomorrow. She is in great shape and I'm sure she will be dragging my butt along by Mile 10.

Overtrained

I. Am. So. Frustrated.

I had a rough couple of runs this week. Especially Thursday's tempo run. I was supposed to run 4-5 miles at race pace to race pace minus 30. I made 2.

It is just feeling like I am running harder and I should be getting faster but I am getting slower instead. My foot hurts, my knee hurts, and my whole body is just achy and tired all the freakin' time.

So I did a little reading on the internet and consulted my running coach friend at work. The reading and the coach confirmed what I already knew.

I am overtraining and I need to take more recovery time. It's not like I'm 18 anymore, ya know?

Problem is, running is how I manage stress. It makes me feel good and it makes me a pleasant person to be around. I have found no other workouts that work quite as well. So, what do I do?

Option #1: Take a few days off and see how I feel. Let go of my 2 hour goal because I am apparently pushing myself too hard to get there.

Option #2: Go ahead and go hard for one more week and then start my taper for the race a little early and really take it easy. Again, I am probably going to have to let go of the 2 hour goal because continuing to push it clearly isn't working.

I guess it doesn't matter much which one I pick because either way the odds of a sub-2 hour half are pretty slim at this point.

So, what am I learning from this?

1. Take a week off after a long race. I didn't let my body recover enough after Pike's before I got into this 1/2 training, which I pretty much already knew.

2. Take even longer off before resuming speed work after a race. At least one day per mile. That means I should have waited at least 13 days before speed training after Pike's, probably more because of the nature of that race and I didn't even come close to that.

3. Take a rest day at the first signs of overtraining. I have been struggling with aches and pains and fatigue that I have been denying for at least 3 weeks, maybe a month. If I had taken a little more time then I might not be in this situation so close to race day.

Remiss

I have been completely and inexcusably remiss in my blogging duties over the last 2 weeks. I apologize to the two or three of you who check it regularly. So here is a little update on everything going on here:

Noah:
Still my amazingly talented-in-every-way-athletic-little genius! ;) He has gotten into playing the "guitar," which he made at school out of a shoebox, a pencil, and a few rubber bands. It is hilarious and I really need to get a video posted of him playing and singing. His school year is in full swing and they have started phonics, a little bit of writing, and Spanish! My kid already officially knows more Spanish than I do. Sad, I know, but I am just so proud I don't even care.

Dan:
He is finally riding his bike again, which is cool. He took a little break after his big race in August but he is glad to be back in the saddle again, so to speak. He is happy and cool as usual. When I married him, I had no idea how much strength that guy has and I am amazed every day at his positivity and his openness to whatever the universe throws at him. He rocks!

Japhy:
Annoying dog as ever...but we love him!

Work:
Well, let's just say that work is a big reason I haven't been blogging. I have never had a position that left me as drained at the end of the day as I am now. But it also has parts I absolutely love and I am not leaving, at least not today, hehe. We are in a situation right now that requires a LOT of paperwork and I don't like the amount of time it is taking away from kids, but it is temporary. And I treasure the time I CAN get with kids that much more! I am pretty sure that sometime before I retire (you know, when I am 101 years old), I will go back to teaching in a classroom. I don't care what anyone says, that is the most important job in education and it is the only place where you can develop that unique close relationship with kids.

Running:
Running is going pretty well, even the speed work. For my training plan right now, I have target paces for every run that will help me hit 1:59:59 in the half marathon. I have hit target pace for every run except for one (I would blame that on my watch because I messed it up in the middle of a 4 mile tempo run, but I know that is a cop-out.). My foot has been hurting and my legs are pretty sore, but other than that, it feels great to work on speed again. The only bummer is that I am not doing much trail running right now since I am working on speed (and because it is dark in the morning when I run now). I miss it, but I will get right back to it after the Denver Half. I have also added one day of biking/week for cross training and I am really liking the change from running.

That about wraps it up. It was my birthday last weekend so I am 37 now. I can't believe it. I don't feel 37. I feel about 24 most days (ask Dan... I still laugh at fart jokes). I even laughed today when my boss said "arrears." Hahahaha! She said "rear." Seriously. Good thing she is cool.

Back in Training Mode

It seems like I feel lost these days without something to train for. Like my whole life is meaningless. Just kidding. But I did struggle with letting my body heal up after Pikes. I finally forced myself to take a week off. It lasted 3 days, but it worked. I am back to a full schedule of running plus one day of biking (thanks again to Dan for fixing my mountain bike!). So I am officially training for the Denver Half Marathon, which is only six weeks away. Yikes! I should probably get myself registered.

I am changing up the schedule though a little to add some speed work because I would like to finish this 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours. I am realistic though so I will be happy with anything under 2:05, and I can live with anything under 2:11. The 1/2 is October 18, so I have to be ok with the fact that there could be snow on the ground for it, or it could be sunny and hot.

My speedwork consists of intervals on the track on Tuesdays and tempo runs on Thursdays. So far, my paces are right on track with what MacMillan says I need to do to finish in under 2 hours. It's definitely different than the Pikes training I did, but it is nice to be running fast (or at least faster) again.

I Have a Butt Problem

But probably not the kind you are thinking.

Basically, I am pretty sure I jacked up a muscle (either my glute or my high left hamstring) by picking up running again too quickly after Pikes Peak. I probably should have waited longer than 3 days to resume running. The pain started last weekend when I bent down to pick up one of Noah's ridiculously large array of toys and I felt a twinge. That's when I told Dan that my butt hurt. Hence the title of this blog post.

Then I did intervals on Tuesday because I am trying to get speedier for the Denver Half Marathon. While running a 46 second 200M (a 200M PR for me), I felt the twinge again but this time it really hurt.

Yesterday I didn't run at all, which I think probably helped. But this morning I attempted a 3 mile tempo run and it went from bad to worse. As I was going up my first uphill, I saw that a dude running with his dog was gaining on me. Pride goeth before a fall. I know that is true because I really picked up the pace because I didn't want him to pass me. Big mistake. By the time I got to the top of the hill, the guy was passing me anyway and my legs were wasted. Now everything hurts and I am relegated to taking a week off of running.

The good news is that Dan fixed my mountain bike today. So I will be biking and maybe swimming for the next week instead of running. I am also due for new running shoes, so I am going to get those tomorrow. Hopefully by this time next week, my legs will feel better and I'll be back on track to my next 1/2 Marathon PR.