May 6, 2007 | Filed under: I Run Therefore I Am
2 hours, 21 minutes, 11.4 seconds for an overall pace of 10:47/mile.
Nothing to be insanely jealous of, considering the top female finisher had a pace of 6:10, but definitely faster than I had hoped for. I figured I’d be in the 11:30-12:00/mile range — the same pace as my training runs typically are. Under 11 minutes is a great stat, especially since it’s nearly a minute faster than my last race and yesterday’s distance was more than double the 10k. Considerable improvement.
Highlights from the race:
Starting Line — Damn, it’s cold! Can’t wait to be running, just to warm up, but at least I won’t have to worry about heat exhaustion. Bad news for the knee, though, as things are definitely tight and will be for a good long while. Have already lost track of how many Advil I’ve taken today. Four? Six? Something like that.
Mile 1 — Aid station, woo! Must consume sports drink. They were serving Gu which, as was so aptly described, tastes like ass. It smells awful, too. AND, there were chunks of ice floating in my cup, which I nearly choked on. Not helpful when you’re trying to drink and run at the same time, people! Wondered if I could get away with only drinking water the rest of the way, because that was an experience I didn’t need to repeat. Doubtful.
Mile 3 — iPod selects Beck’s “Loser” for my amusement. Good thing it’s early in the race, or I might not be so amused.
Mile 4-ish — Aid station, woo! Consider only water, decide against it. Sports drink surprisingly tasty. Wonder if my body was that desperate already.
Mile 4.5 — See lead runner on his way to the finish line. 46 minutes into the race, he had already completed 2/3 of the course. Bastard.
Mile 5 — Aid station, woo! Sports drink. Oooh, it’s Gatorade, this time, not Gu. No wonder it doesn’t taste like crap. That explains it. Probably explains the previous aid station, too.
Mile 6.55 — Turn-around point. Oh, the chafing. Dammit. How much further do we have to go? Oh right, the entire way back. Damn.
Mile 7 — Pre-appointed time for gel. Ew. Reminds me of the jelly part of a jelly-filled donut, only with a thicker consistency and less delicious flavor. Decide closest comparison is that of eating toothpaste — sorta tastes good, sorta doesn’t resemble food at all. Use skills honed in college to essentially do shots of the stuff, trying to not actually have it in my mouth/taste it for more than 2 seconds. Decide the mile 10 Gu is not happening unless I really, really need it.
Mile 9 — La, la, la, this is so lovely. Maybe I should run the Marine Corps Marathon. That could be fun.
Mile 9.012 — I’m bored. How much further? Four miles? $%*&#! And you were thinking about running an entire marathon? Moron.
Mile 9.5-ish — Eek. Landed funny running downhill and tweaked my knee a bit. No no no no no no no no no! Breathe. Seems to be ok, just be a little more careful.
Mile 10-ish — Hmm. Blisters. Awesome. Thankfully, between the chafing and the blistering, the knee pain is much less noticable.
Mile 11 — Pause for some stretching and station identification. We are almost done and my rapidly tightening up calves are not going to be the death of me!
Mile 12 — Final aid station. Gu. Still as gross as the first time. The smell reminds me of … something. Dirty dishwater? A camping experience? Can’t put my finger on it, but it’s definitely not enticing. Gag down two mouthfuls.*
Mile 12.5-ish — Almost there, time to pick up the pace.
Mile 13 — “There is only one way to finish, and that is: you finish hard.” Thanks, Coach Dye. Am forced to sprint the last tenth of a mile.**
Finish Line — Someone is cutting the timing chip off my shoe and someone else is shoving the medal in my hand. Meanwhile, I’m trying to (a) suck as much oxygen into my lungs as possible and (b) locate water. Who the hell is saying my name? Oh, the announcer guy. Well that’s nice. Can you point me to the water?
Saturday afternoon — The hardest part was getting out of the car when I got home. Oh, the legs were not happy with me. I made it up to them by not leaving the couch the rest of the day.
Sunday — Did you know that wearing heels makes your knees work a lot harder to stabilize you while walking? Yes, well good for you. I found out the hard way. Decide flip-flops are “work appropriate” this week, as they may be the only flats I own.
Monday — Yoga class and post-race massage. Cannot wait.
Tuesday — It’s been 72 hours. Must go for a run before I develop the shakes.
* Upon further reflection, I think it’s the smell of the ocean — very salty with that vague fishy/seaweedy/decaying essence. Yummy.
** My high school track coach, a million years ago. And by “sprint,” I mean “run faster than I have all day,” because, let me tell you, there was no actual sprinting going on.
Posted by Daily Tragedies @ 12:21 pm | Make a Comment
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I’m very proud of you!!!
May 6th, 2007 at 5:36 pmNice commerative medal, but, between us, you may want to take another picture *after* you wax your chest.
May 6th, 2007 at 6:32 pmStill extremely impressed. I hope you’re able to walk tomorrow. Wait, I hope I am able to walk tomorrow!!
May 6th, 2007 at 7:14 pmYou beat me by almost 15 minutes for my half time! THATS AWESOME!!!
And I love those medals…
May 7th, 2007 at 6:32 amThat’s fabulous!! Congratulations. I know the finish line was a great feeling.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:23 amMost impressive. I never doubted your dogged Katie determination for a moment, but the whole thing still boggles my mind. If you want to run while you’re here, either dog would be quite pleased to accompany you. Trying to spot the cats before they do could add a whole new element to your run.
May 7th, 2007 at 12:54 pm