So, really, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I just haven't had much to say for the past few months. I have been training for the Moab Canyonlands 1/2 Marathon. Everything went according to plan. Tempo runs, sprint intervals, long runs - I've done the mileage at a pace that was good for me. Since I put in the work I figured Canyonlands would be a good gauge of how back to "normal" I am.
Last year at Canyonlands I ran the 1/2 in 1:48:18. My ultimate goal is to run a 1/2 in 1:45:00. The most recent 1/2 I ran was a few weeks before the marathon - way back in September. My time was awful, but I was also running on a messed up foot (probably an indication of the torn ligament to come during the marathon, but I digress). I figured I could probably run this year's Canyonlands between 1:50:00 and 1:55:00. My training pace was around 9:13, on long runs.
So...on to the race report.
I headed to Moab on Friday afternoon and stop in Grand Junction to pick up a friend of mine and her daughter who were also racing at Canyonlands in the 5-miler. We arrived in Moab and headed to the expo to pick up our packets around 6:00. By then we were all famished so we went to my favorite restaurant in Moab - Miguel's Baja Grill. They have the most delicious portabello mushroom enchiladas! After I stuffed my belly full of yummy food we attempted to find the condo we were sharing with some other friends. It was starting to get dark which made seeing road signs a bit difficult. Eventually we found the condo and got settled in for the night. Put the chips on our shoes, bibs on our shirts, laid out our clothes for the race, yada, yada, yada.
Our wake up call was 5:30 on Saturday morning. The race didn't start until 10:00, but since it's in a canyon it is a logistical nightmare to get everyone to the start line any earlier. Ate my breakfast (oatmeal, banana, yogurt) and started to get ready. Karah, Alexis and I left the house around 7:00 to head to the bus pick up area. We found a parking spot pretty easily so we just chilled in the car "people watching" until about 7:30. Hit the port-a-potty lines - OK sidenote...the port-a-potty company was called 'Prairie Dawg' (hee hee), and then hit the bus lines.
The buses snaked up the canyon to the starting line. I rode up with my friend Cindy and her sister and brother-in-law. A couple more potty stops and it was time for the race to begin. It was a cold wait in the canyon, but once we got going the weather was absolutely perfect!!
I decided not to line up with a pace group because it was SOOO crowded. I hung at the back of the pack where people were a bit more spread out. Since it was chip timed I figured I would avoid having to weave and bob through the first mile. We started with a nice down hill and continued on rolling hills until mile 9 where there's a "big" hill. Since I live in an area where you can't go anywhere without going up or down a hill during a run it didn't bother me too much. I took water at the first aid station, Gatorade at the second, water and my Honey Stingers at the third station (mile 6), and then Gatorade at 8, water at 10, and Gatorade and water at 12. Since it was hotter than it has been during any of my recent runs I figured I should really be careful with hydration. I slowed down and walked during aid stations but ran the rest of the time.
About mile 8 my calves started cramping something awful. Not so bad that I had to stop running, but I knew if I moved them in the wrong way, I'd be done for good. So I had a very uncomfortable run after mile 8, but kept going. I was really trying not to look at the Garmin too much. I didn't want it to mess with my head. I was most focused on enjoying the beautiful weather and the beautiful scenery. Between mile 9 and 10 there were drummers - that was a great sound - the reverberation off of the canyon walls, the river - awesome! That's what this race is all about.
Mile 10 spits you out on to the main road in Moab. It's not a fun part of the run - more like a death march, but that's when the crowds start to appear which helps a ton. I continued through town and finally made my approach to the finish line. I knew at mile 10 I was not going to hit my goal. Now I was focused on finishing in under 2 hours. I was a bit disappointed in myself, but I had nothing else to give during the race - the leg cramps got me. I headed into the chute and saw the clock time at 2:05. I knew my chip time was about 4 minutes delayed. My Garmin read 1:59:00. Close enough.
Here are the splits...
Mile 1 - 9:01
Mile 2 - 8:23
Mile 3 - 8:49
Mile 4 - 8:51
Mile 5 - 8:39
Mile 6 - 9:26 (trying to eat Stingers apparently slows you down!)
Mile 7 - 9:10
Mile 8 - 9:37
Mile 9 - 9:08
Mile 10 - 10:03 (the wheels came off here)
Mile 11 - 9:26
Mile 12 - 10:00
Mile 13.1 - 9:07
So...where do I go from here? That's the question I'm left with. Do I just chalk this up to a not so great race and trust that I'm still headed in the right direction - a 1:45:00 is possible this year? Do I set my sights a little lower and aim for 1:50-1:55 in May? I don't know. The only variable that is still out there is my weight...I'm about 7-8 pounds heavier than I was at this time last year. Is that really making a difference?
I'm still trying to sort out my goals for my next attempt, but one thing I definitely need to work on is evening out my splits...I feel like I'm all over the place! I'm also going to work on losing a few pounds and see if that makes a difference. I am ready to start training for the Colfax 1/2 Marathon on May 17. This week is going to be a recovery week and training starts next Sunday. Wish me luck!