Sunday, October 30, 2016

Quivering Quads II 2016

I signed up for QQII 3 days before the race. I waned to see what the weather was going to do before I committed. Weather was lovely, maybe a little bit too warm, but DRY. I've never seen dry trails at the Cuivre River State Park.

I didn't realize that this was a different course from last year until the day before the race. I ran this race with my friend Ann, and this was her first trail race. I loved the new course! The majority of the race was running around the lake. It was kind of tough at times... the trail was so narrow and I felt like I could easily trip and end up in the lake.


I am not a speedy trail runner... I take it easy. I don't want to slip or trip. We got passed up by several runners, but that's fine! We finished with a time of 1:51:18. Better than last year, but this course wasn't very hilly (and I liked that!).

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Go! Halloween Half Marathon 2016

This is the course I PR'd on...

I'm not sure why. I think it's sort of tough. You start out climbing the Market Street hill. There's also a long hill up Broadway in Soulard. But there are beautiful downhills too. I say that 2016 was the year of Disney... but it was also the year of Go!

I did the April Marathon relay (8 miler), the June KT82 relay (14-ish miler), the June All American 5k, and now.. the October Halloween Half Marathon.

Race Start.
I went into this race knowing I wanted to do better than I have been. I decided to push myself. I actually felt good. I was running in new shoes, which was a bit scary, but my other shoes were killing my feet so I didn't think it would get any worse. I loved my new shoes.

Mile 1: 9:07
Mile 2: 9:10
Mile 3: 8:53

Oh shit, I thought. Why am I going this fast? There's no way I can keep up with this pace. But, I stuck with it.

Mile 4: 9:14
Mile 5: 9:34
Mile 6: 9:18

Mile 7 is the start of a long hill. I wasn't going to allow myself to think it was okay to walk some of it.

Mile 7: 9:57 (I'm proud of this time, I could have walked it, but I wasn't going to give in)
Mile 8: 9:31
Mile 9: 9:58 (starting to feel it)

This is when the metal game started. I knew I wasn't going to come in under 2 hours, but I could maybe PR.

Mile 10: 9:50
Mile 11: 10:11
Mile 12:10:10

Up until this point, I ran everything except the water breaks. I was so pleased with myself. But the last mile was tough. Again, I could feel that I was undertrained and my legs just hurt. I felt like I had nothing left. So I walked a bit in that last mile, but even with some walking, my time didn't suck.

Mile 13: 9:59

Finish Photo.
I finished with a time of 02:05:15. Uggghhhhh. I was so upset with myself at the finish. Why did I walk a bit of that last mile? If I didn't walk, could I have PR'd? Will I ever run a sub-2 hour half? I cried a bit because I was so angry with myself... BUT this was my fastest race of the year.

HM #26 complete!

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Mo' Cowbell 2016

I decided to run Mo' Cowbell last Wednesday... four days before the race. I know I ran a half marathon a month ago, but the most that I did in between races were a couple 6 milers. And I can honestly say that I didn't train well for Disneyland Dumbo. But, I did it. I ran to support my friend Ann in her first half.

Pre-Race Photo.
I started out way too fast for my "training." I tried to slow down, and just couldn't. It was pretty humid out (but cloudy)... and then I felt so stupid for running this race, let alone running a pace that I couldn't hold.

1, 9:26
2, 9:23
3, 9:27
4, 9:39
5, 9:47
6, 9:50
7, 10:05
8, 10:12...

Then I crashed and burned. Not surprising. The last 5 miles were tough. Plus I was wearing new shoes and my toe nails were killing me. Again, not surprised. I was dumb.

This was not a Mo' Cowbell personal best... But I'm super happy with my time w/ my lack of training. I finished with a time of 2:17:12. And look, I'm smiling!!

Race Finish.
See, it wasn't so bad. lol.

Half Marathon #25 Complete!