Date: Sept 1, 2008 Race: Super Jock n’ Jill Half Marathon Place: Redhook Brewery, Woodinville, WA I was pretty keyed up about this race. My running had been going great all summer and I even thought I had picked up some speed. I attributed this boost to doing some gnarly trail runs that had finally put a bit of strength into my legs. And my speedwork was going great. And a tempo run I did last Friday (10 days before the race) indicated that I might get a big PR on this half marathon. Basically I had run 6 miles at 9:15 pace on a hilly route, and never felt like I was pushing it that hard. So…I figured 9:20 pace on a flat 13.1 miles should be doable. And someone even planted the seed in my head that I could potentially crack 2 hours, a dreamy long term goal I keep close to my heart. My previous PR was in March, 2:07:49, I think that’s a 9:46 pace (was 9:40 on the Garmin). I felt I could do much better this time. I assumed a small PR was a given. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I agonized over two different pacing strategies: Plan A: 9:40 first 4 miles, 9:30 next 3 miles, 9:20 or less last 6.1 miles. Plan B: 9:20 every mile, if I can pick it up at the end, great, if not, still great. But I was stupid. I had been mildly sick all week with a low grade fever, some kind of virus I guess. My appetite had been a bit off (lost 2 pounds), and I was feeling more tired than usual. I cancelled two runs during the week because I felt crappy. It started probably on Tuesday and Sunday before the race I still had that low grade fever 37.6 C (99.6) that wouldn’t go away. Monday morning I felt fine, why not give it a shot? At least my legs were well rested. I decided on the more aggressive Plan B. Pretty stupid eh? Well I paid for it, big time. As I was talking to someone before the start, I saw some bare feet walk by. Hey, there was Tetsujin! So we got to meet and chat before the race. He said something about going under 2 hours. I didn’t think he usually ran that fast, but after the gun went off he took off in front of me and I never saw him again! The course is mostly flat. The first 4 miles go along a wide open road, which is good because there were a lot more people at this race in this small town than I expected. I settled into my 9:20 pace by half a mile and ran smoothly. I expected to have to adjust my pace up or down a lot in the first miles but I didn’t. Every time I looked at the Garmin, it was about right where I wanted it to be, 9:20-9:30. These miles felt pretty good, but I noticed that I was feeling hot by 1.5 miles, in my tank top. Starting temp was about 56 and finishing about 63, or so that is what the weather site predicted, I don’t know the actual temperatures. It was completely overcast. There was the usual high humidity we get in the PNW, but not too bad. Yes, 56 F felt too hot to me (warning sign!). Around 4 miles, the course goes onto a bike path and towards the University of Washington’s satellite campus in Bothell. There were lots of trees and bushes to the side and I saw a few men dash in and out of them. I cheered one guy when he came out but I guess he didn’t really want the attention. I won’t do that again. This part was nice, but I started to think that my next “checkpoint” at 7 miles (where I would decide if I could go faster the last 6.1) was a still a really really long way off (warning sign!). And this is when my pace started to slip. Plus the hills started at mile 6. I stopped for a Gu and water at mile 6, and found myself walking for a lot longer than I usually do (warning sign!). I admit that at this point I knew holding a 9:20 pace would be impossible, but I still thought I could PR. Here the course does several crazy out and back loops, forming a pretzel shape, or maybe a tied up bow, so when you reach the knot of the bow you can see faster runners 2 miles ahead of you running in one direction and also see, at the same time, runners 1 or 2 miles behind you just entering the pretzel (and you think, wow, I’m glad I’m not them!). All these loops were just weird, not cool at all. I felt like a rodent running through a maze that was seemingly going nowhere. And things just kept getting worse. My pace was out of my control. I felt lousy, really lousy. Only a little bit nauseous but an intense all over total yuck feeling had me as it's prisoner, and the finish seemed so far away. Eventually my Garmin cumulative pace slipped to 9:45, over my PR pace and I debated whether or not it would be wise to push it for a tiny PR of a few seconds. I remembered how strong and great I felt during that PR run last March and decided it was not worth it. Not worth PR’ing by a few seconds and risking total meltdown and puking at the finish. So I did what pace I could hold and still feel human. Which turned out to be an extremely slow pace. Slower than my LR pace. I even took several walk breaks (which I didn’t absolutely need) the last few miles (which were completely flat), just to spite the running gods that had been so cruel to me today. I swore to them I would never do another race. Why should I, when they feel so awful? I was following a woman here, she was kind of beefy and had long curly blonde hair. I zoned out looking at her backside, but noticed she had extremely hairy legs. Then she looked to the side. Hey, it was a GUY! That Aerosmith song immediately popped into my head, and I couldn’t get it out “dude looks like a lady………dude looks like a lady”. That occupied me for a while. At least I was getting my sense of humour back. I also saw earlier, around mile 3, a woman get slimed by an exploding road Gu that was detonated by the fellow in front of her. He apologized profusely but boy was she mad. The finish was finally close. I took a walk break just before the last half mile, to save up some energy so that I wouldn’t have to been seen walking by the spectators congregated near the finish. I even contemplated limping a bit after the finish to conceal the real reason for my dismal race, in case I ran into anyone I knew. I saw Tetsujin again and was disappointed that I hadn’t thought to bring my camera. I was even willing to take my shoes and socks off for him and pose for a naked feet picture together. Next time. Whoops, there is going to be a next time? Ridiculously horrible splits: 9:25, 9:30, 9:26, 9:45, 9:29, 10:13, 10:27, 9:45, 10:12, 10:12, 10:57, 11:45, 11:23, 2:27 (last 0.26 as measured by my Garmin; 9:18 pace). 2:15:00 on my watch.

Boy, sorry that you felt so bad during your run, enkie. It sounds like a pretty good event, and I'm sure you would have PR'd under better circumstances. Having even a low-grade fever can take more out of you than you might realize. I sincerely hope that you have better results the next time! By the way, your line about someone being "slimed by an exploding road Gu" had me laughing out loud. I can just picture that.

I even took several walk breaks (which I didn’t absolutely need) the last few miles (which were completely flat), just to spite the running gods that had been so cruel to me today.

enke - me too. my planned walk breaks for the first ten miles turned into slower-than-crawl breaks that I didn’t even want to take any more for the last three miles. The high clouds lulled a lot of runners into the long-sleeved event shirts that were soon around so many waists along the way but even running in our singlets couldn’t make the unusual humidity any cooler. Keep up your hill work at the end of your upcoming weekend long runs and you’ll end up owning the Seattle Half Mary this year. ps - where's the footbridge? it looks like Bellingham Bay except wood.

Dang virus. Get your health back, and employ Plan A at the next half--and yes, I do really hope (and believe) there will be a next time, no whoops, ok? The hard ones are the ones that teach us most, if we let them. You did that, as anyone can see from your analysis. Agree the gu story was funny, but I'm really chuckling over the dude who looks like a lady! And you got to visit with Jon, so I'm jealous. grins, A

Hugs, Enke! You toughed it out in spite of your illness and still did a fine job. I predict you'll recover and be back for more. You'll get that sub-2 hour half!!!

what a bummer you felt so lousy - reminds me of the hyannis 1/2 marathon i did a few years ago when i had a nasty stomach bug during the week - so not fun!!! but you did it and you finished with a respectable time and didn't totally wipe yourself out in the process..........i'm sure that sub2 hour 1/2 marathon will be yours in no time!! still chuckling at "dude looks like a lady"

enke, you gave it a good shot after a bout of illness and toughed it out to a respectable race. Whey you do the next one healthy, you'll do great. Congrats on your perseverence. TomS

We all will have to make a choice at some time in our running careers about whether to run or to stay home. We won't always make the correct call . At least you gave it your all. That's all you can expect of yourself. Great job and way to tough it out. The next one will seem like a breeze. Larry