I ran my first full marathon! 4:04:22 according to my Garmin. Somehow it was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Easier because I had no pain (aside from my quads burning) right up until the 20 mile mark, but exponentially harder in the last 8km than I expected. I guess I “hit the wall” at 20 miles. I was nailing my goal pace of 5:30/km right up until that point... then the walk breaks started. 😅
At 38km sub-4 was still in reach, but I was feeling nauseous and consciously decided not to go for it. I feel zero guilt and zero disappointment. I’m just so happy. My partner, best friend and her partner were at the finish line and my heart just exploded.
I am currently walking like I’m 80 years old and looking forward to some rest and recovery. I think I’ll be back for another shot at sub-4.... but maybe not till next year! Full recap to come - hopefully with pictures!
Today I made a brand new 5k route that took me down a bunch of small residential streets near me that I've somehow never seen before. I usually stick to major streets for running so I don't have to turn too much since I have absolutely no sense of direction. But this run was beautiful and so much quieter and I didn't even get lost! I should do this more
Marathon training has officially started! First workout is already in the books 🏃🏽♀️
1.6 mile warm up
3 miles at pace (8:05, 8:05, 8:02)
1.6 mile cool down
Ten rainy Memorial Day miles on the W&OD Trail with my running buddy. I checked the weather when I got up, and it was in the mid 60s with 98% humidity.... and when I walked outside, I realized that the reason for the humidity was because it was actually raining. 😂 It poured the first three miles or so, then stopped, and the humidity started to kick in for real. I have some really excellent blisters now, ugh. Miles 8 and 9 were especially tough, but 10 got easier? We have a half on Saturday morning, so hopefully I’m a little more prepared now! Finished the morning with coffee, a bagel, and a nap. 🙌🏼
So, I “ran” a Ragnar... specifically the Zion, Utah trail relay. Here’s how it went:
Green loop, 3.1 miles, 10 AM ish Friday morning. This loop was relatively flat, but the elevation and terrain kicked my ass quick. Zion’s elevation is similar to the ski mountain I spend every weekend on all winter (and some in the summer), so I wasn’t worried about that. But apparently “similar” didn’t cut it, breathing was hard! The terrain was mostly sand, the super soft kind you can’t get a grip on at all. Even if I had actually tried to do some trail training, there’s nothing at home that would have proved to be a good training ground for what I encountered. Still, the green loop was pretty good overall, I ran when I could and walked when I had to and did it in a little under an hour.
Red loop, 7.8 miles, 10:45 PM Friday night. This run was my personal hell. I still had the elevation and terrain issues, and this time I couldn’t see much around me, either. Most of it was single track, which meant I spent a lot of time stepping out of people’s way and hearing them say “Good job! You’re almost there!” when I was doing a terrible job and was nowhere near “there”. I kept reminding myself that if I went faster it’d be over sooner, but every time I tried I started slipping in sand or tripping on rocks. And I forgot my headphones. While I was trudging along, completely miserable, seriously fighting back tears, I’d pretty much talked myself into never running again. The only reason I even kept going instead of like sitting down until morning was I knew our next runner was waiting at the transition tent. Three and a half hours later (longer than my half marathon time, though admittedly not by much), I finally handed the bib off, trudged over to our campsite, and climbed in my sleeping bag, absolutely positive that this was my last ever trail running experience, and maybe the last time I’d ever run over five miles at once.
Yellow loop, 4.3 miles, 11:30 AM ish Saturday morning. After the red loop had me feeling like I needed to pick a new hobby, I was seriously dreading this one. I figured I’d make it through, but wasn’t gonna be surprised if I was limping at the end, or if it took just as long as the longer loop. In the morning, it was cool and cloudy, even rained a little, but the sun came out right before I took off on this one. The first part of the loop goes through the camping area so I stopped and “borrowed” some sunscreen. This loop was definitely harder than the green one, and I definitely didn’t run much, but it was much better for me than the red loop. I think it took about an hour and a half, but I didn’t track it, I’m not really sure. My feet did start to hurt a little bit about halfway through, but honestly not even as much as during Bloomsday. This was a good way to end, because even though I’m still positive that trail running, any sort of training, and most events aren’t my thing, at least by the end I’d talked myself out of giving up entirely. Although I didn’t borrow quite enough sunscreen.
The non-running part was super fun. And I feel like we learned a lot that would make the next one even better, even if my times were the same (or worse!). So even though I said I was never doing it again... idk, I might do it again.
I’m taking this week off, partly to recover and partly because my new running shoes won’t be here until tomorrow. I’m restarting the couch to 10K on Monday and, at least for the summer, only running for fun, no more training!
5 miles this morning as 2 easy, 2 goal pace, & 1 easy (11:25, 11:27, 10:41, 10:47, 11:24). Ironically the easy miles were the hardest, sometimes that’s the way it goes.
It's finally, finally my weekend after 7 days of work and a 12 hour day yesterday, and also IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! And also also I ran this in 27:04 which is my fastest 5k post-injury. Super excited for birthday celebration tonight and to see what 23 brings me.
