Beginners and Beyond

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Frist HM on Saturday ***Updated with RR*** (Read 268 times)

jwcarlile


    1.  Fighting back what appears to be something happening to my sinuses.  Why is it that runners who have a race coming up seem to develop some sort of malady at a rate higher than than average person?   Am I making this up?

    2.  The weather forecast for Saturday morning at 8am is 65 degrees and 100% humidity.  This is December, right?

     

    c.  Hard to focus on anything other than this race.

     

    4.  I feel good about my training plan, nutrition, and my recent 10k race time.  Visualizing everything coming together on Saturday morning. 

     

    Any other folks running their first on Saturday?

    Anybody running a HM at all on Saturday?

    Docket_Rocket


      The sinuses issue is probably taper madness (hopefully it is not illness for real).  I am always achy before a marathon.

       

      I am doing a HM on Sunday as well.

       

      Good luck!

      Damaris

       

      As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

      Fundraising Page


      delicate flower

        Yeah, hopefully you don't have a real sinus issue coming on, but I usually get overly paranoid of sickness or injury when a big race is getting close.  Seems like I always feel *something* coming on and every little ache and pain feels like an injury. 

         

        Good luck!  You won't get your brain back until this race is over.  Smile 

        <3


        Not quite right

          Ran my first HM couple weeks back . It's seemed with it being the first my mind was all over the place. Do I feel good maybe I should lower my goal should I hook up with pace group . The list went on and on . Honestly after running was probably my funnest and greatest running event to this date which is not a lot of events. I think in the end it set my mind strait and let me know that even though everything did not go as planned when training and the week build was mentally crazy it was all worth it. 

          muppy


            Jwcarlile, good luck on Saturday! Where are you running at? I know what you mean, I have a half on Sunday and the temps are gonna be about the same as yours, I was hoping for low 30's for the temp, oh well.
            buchy2009


            Bjørnmannen

              Running my first half a week from Sunday! 

              Nevrgivup


                Good luck with your race! I will always remember my first. Be sure to write a RR. Smile

                Running is my mental-Ctrl-Alt-Del. 

                  Good luck on your first half!!  Most importantly, remember that you've trained for this, and have fun!  Hope you're not really getting sick!!  My first half started the same way, except I was feeling it in my throat.  I loaded up on Echinacea and I never ended up getting sick.

                  jwcarlile


                    Thanks for the well wishes, everyone.  And good luck right back to those running this weekend (or soon, anyway).  I've targeted this HM (the only one in my hometown... Lake Charles, LA) for nearly a year.  Going to be a big day for me. 

                     

                    I've always heard about/read about "taper madness."  Hopefully, as some of you suggest, that's all I'm experiencing and nothing really "serious".   

                     

                    I've taken plenty of vitamin C, zinc lozenges, and some strange natural remedy called Umcka that my wife swears by for cold-like ailments.

                     

                    I'm sure my nerves are on overdrive, but I feel positive that I'll be all good once that gun goes off.  As long as I can get them reigned in enough for me not to start out too fast (a common race day problem for me). 


                    Shakedown Street

                      HM on sunday

                       

                      did 6 easy, did not feel right, took temp 2 hours later = 100

                       

                      fawk

                      Started-5/12, RWOL refugee,5k-24:23 (1/12/13),10K-55:37(9/15/12),HM-1:52:59(3/24/13)

                      runmomto3boys


                        How did your race go???

                        jwcarlile


                          On Saturday I ran the Swamp Stomp Half Marathon at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Moss Bluff, LA.  It was 65 degrees, 100% humidity.  Yuck.   

                           

                          Miles 1-3:  All is well.  I always start races too fast.  Miraculously I was able to hold back and run a nice 9:40 pace for the first mile, which for me is a normal warm up pace.   I picked it up for the next two miles and was running at a 9:15 pace by the end of the 3rd mile. 

                          Miles 4-6:  My goal was to finish in 2:00 and to do that I’d need to average 9:10 for 13 miles.  I gradually increased my pace over these three miles just as I planned to do.  I typically run the middle portion of my longer runs faster than the beginning or end, so everything is breaking just as I thought it would.  My average pace was slowly dropping after each of these miles. I took a Gu after mile 5.   I’m at a 9:05 average pace after the 6th mile and feeling good.  All is still well.

                           

                          Miles 7-9:  This was an out and back course.  At the turnaround I was at 57 minutes and change, so I was feeling good about the 2:00 finish.  Worst case scenario, I thought, I’ll come in at 2:05 for my first Half.    Jinxed myself.  Somewhere about mile 7.25 my hip flexor, which had flared up during the last 3 weeks of my training, reared its ugly head.  The deep pain in my hip was terrible and it seemed to get worse with every step.  At this point my goal changed:  Good bye 2:00-2:05, hello Just Finish.  I took another Gu after mile 8 hoping that it might give me a little extra (mental or physical) push through the pain.  Taking this 2nd Gu now was earlier in the race than I had planned, but whatever.  Anything to help at this point. 

                           

                          Miles 10-13:  Holy crap.  My hip was screaming at this point.  I felt like I was swinging my leg forward at the hip rather than having the hip flexor muscle(s) properly move my thigh forward.  I’m a fan of the Walking Dead; surely this is as close as I’ll ever come to appearing as a zombie on the show.  I must have looked pathetic.  More than one runner passed me up and called out words of encouragement for which I was thankful.  I’d give a thumbs up and keep shuffling forward.  The final water station was at mile 11.  I normally don’t take water on long runs, and maybe I was searching for a reason to stop, but I decided this time I would.  I took my emergency third Gu and walked through the water stop just long enough to swallow the water and rinse down the Gu.  Walking hurt worse than running.  I managed to get shuffling again and headed toward the finish.

                           

                          The Last .1:  The finish was around a little bend in the road, so you really don’t see the end until you’re just about right on top of it.  I somehow managed to get my legs working enough to something resembling normal running form (seeing my wife and kids at the line helped, certainly) and crossed the line at 2:21:06. 

                           

                          I tried to stay moving while drinking some Gatorade, but my hip muscle seemed to just seize up.  I ate some jambalaya (never a bad thing) and drank more Gatorade while watching some other runners finish before shuffling to my truck and heading to the house. 

                          I did not accomplish my time goal, which was disappointing.  But my dad reminded me after the race that not just anybody can complete a Half Marathon.  I think running 13.1 is something I took for granted, if that’s even possible for someone running their first.  We run so many miles while training and become so singularly focused (at least speaking for myself) on one thing that we forget the big picture.  I was not a runner when I decided nearly a year ago to run this HM.  Now I am.

                          tracilynn


                            Great job! Sorry about the hip flexor issue but love your attitude. Very true words.

                            ~~~~~~~

                            Traci

                             


                            SheCan

                              Congratulations on completing your first HM race!   I'm sorry it didn't go smoothly   Sounds like you handled the pain the best you could.  Glad you were able to cross that finish line in front of your wife and kids.  To have come from being a non-runner to running a HM in a year is super good, congratulations again.

                              Cherie

                              "We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. "  ---- Shasta Nelson

                              Docket_Rocket


                                Congrats. Hope the hip flexor issue is minor.

                                Damaris

                                 

                                As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                                Fundraising Page

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