Half-Assed Runner

Archive for April, 2012

Runs: 16
Miles: 115.19
Races: 4 (32.24 miles)
Outdoors: 15 (112.08 miles)
Indoors: 0 (0.00 miles)
Treadmill: 1 (3.11 miles)
Longest: 20.56 miles

Another month of personal records: most miles in a month (115.19), most miles in a week (38.21), longest run (20.56), longest run with no walk breaks (13.1), and PRs in 1/2 Marathon, 10 mile, 5K, and 6 mile (automatic PR as it’s the only race I’ve run at this distance).  Along with these high points were some lows: crashing 14 miles into my 20 miler and a disappointing 10 mile race.  I finished the month by enduring a very cold and wet half marathon then – two days later – absolutely slaying a hilly 10K route.  A great way to end a great month.

April 2012 Mileage

I’ve been doing my long runs every other week utilizing a 3:1 run/walk ratio.  This month brought my two longest runs of my life: 17 miles and 20 miles.  The 17 miler went great.  Two weeks later I mismanaged my 20 miler so badly that I ended up walking most of the last 6 miles.  This month I will be starting the long run ladder again (15, 17, then 20 miles) but with a different run/walk ratio (probably a 4:1, but I might try to stretch it to a 4.5:1).  I will be running a half marathon 3 of the 4 weekends this month.  I’m guessing that means that I will have another 100+ mile month in May.

Right now I’m feeling pretty good about my running.  I’m improving in all areas.  I’ve become faster on my shorter runs (5K) and – withstanding the 10 mile fail – I’m improving my stamina on longer runs.  I’ve had no injuries, other than extreme calf cramps brought on by dehydration on my 20 miler.  My feet have adapted to my shoes by becoming calloused (is that a verb?) along the part of my foot that was getting blistered.  I’m planning on buying new shoes this month.

I’m 1/12 of the way through my “12 Half Marathons in 2012” goal.  By the end of May I will be 1/3 of the way through, including my first out-of-state half marathon (Fargo, ND).

The marathon training class is going well.  I’ve been late to the last few lectures as I am very busy at work, but have made all of the training runs.

I celebrated my 1 year “runiversary” in April.  I ran outside (I don’t count the treadmill runs that began 3 months before) for the first time on 12 April 2011.  I barely managed 1/4 mile before needing a walk break and ended up completing 2.19 (albeit hilly) miles in a blistering 29:41 (13:33 minute miles).

I am still intimidated at the prospect of running a full marathon in October.  As I completed my half marathon, I thought to myself  “I can’t imagine running this far only to have it be the turnaround point”.

Purple lips, goosebumps, and 13.1 miles.

Today I completed the first of my (over?) ambitious goal of running 12 half marathons in 2012.  The Get In Gear Half Marathon marked my first half marathon as well as the beginning of 4 half marathons in 4 weeks.

Packet pickup was held on Friday in the same park that would serve as the start and finish for the race.  I had initially planned on picking up my packet on race day.  I re-read the website as the race approached and it looked like the “limited race day pickup” would be only for out-of-town runners.  I decided not to gamble on whether or not I was an “out-of-towner” and planned to pick up my packet on the night before the race.  When I mapped the address I saw that it was within a few miles of where my wife works so I enlisted her to pick up my packet for me.  She told me it was a bit of a clusterfuck, but was in and out within 15 minutes.

I had been worried about the weather for this race.  There was a forecast that included a possibility of snow the morning of the race.  When I went to bed it was still 50 degrees, so I doubted that the white stuff was on the way.  When I woke up, it was cold, overcast, and windy.  No snow and very little rain.  As I drove into the Cities there was very sparse drizzle.

Dreary Day

I arrived over an hour before the start of the race.  Parking was a breeze (well-marked and police were directing drivers into the lot).  I gathered up my Gu Chomps, “sweat handkerchief”, jawbreakers, and phone.  It had started to sprinkle a bit by then, so I decided at the last second to wear a windbreaker.  I was wearing a short-sleeved tech shirt and shorts.  I knew that once I was chugging along this would be sufficient to keep me warm but I would probably need the jacket while waiting for the start.

It was a good thing that I brought the jacket as it was nasty outside.  I made my way to the bus pickup area and joined a long line of shivering runners.  They were running four school busses between the parking lot and the starting area (about a 20 minute roundtrip).  The rain had picked up a bit, but was still pretty much a sparse drizzle.  Combined with the 42 degree weather and the stiff wind, I was pretty quickly chilled.

Vendor Area

It took about 30 minutes to get on a bus.  By the time I exited it, the start of the race was about 15 minutes away.  I looked for a bathroom, but only found the wall of porta-potties.  One look at the lines and I knew I would never make the race start if I jumped in line.

I snapped a few pictures and made my way to the starting line.  This is a huge race.  It’s the largest 10K race in Minnesota (15th largest in the USA).  There were 7,000 10K runners and about 1,200 half marathoners.  They all  started together.  I eventually found a place at the end of the line.  I couldn’t see the start line I was so far back.

Get In Gear

The race began and it took nearly five minutes for me to cross the starting line.  This was fine with me as I was in no hurry.  My goals for this race were to finish and possibly break the 10 minute per mile mark.

Get In Gear

The course was crowded, but I’m used to this by now.  It was run on roads so there was plenty of room to run around the slower runners.  The course seemed to be a slight downhill slope for most of the first two miles.  For whatever reason, my brain started to protest almost immediately.  The combination of the foul weather and the realization that a mile in only meant that I was 1/13 of the way to completion.  Around the two-mile mark my brain finally shut the fuck up and let my legs do the work.

The rain had picked up a bit, but my jacket does not breathe at all so I kept unzipping it a bit more as I progressed.  I knew that eventually I would need to take it off and tie it around my waist.

Get In Gear Start Line

I hit the first water station around the three-mile mark.  I had not yet started my music and was surprised to hear someone speak my name.  It was a runner from my marathon running group.  She was running the 10K.  For the next 3 miles we ran together and chatted.  I was happy to do this as it took my mind off of the race.  She even offered to take my jacket when the half marathoners and 10K runners split.  I happily took her up on the offer.

The races split near an overpass.  The 10K runners turned and finished their last quarter-mile or so, while the half marathoner ran straight ahead.  After that split the field thinned considerably.

Can't see the start line

At this point I turned on my music and settled into a groove.  The rain had picked up again, but I was riding a mini runner’s high and felt good.  Prior to the split, I had remarked that the course was remarkably non-hilly especially for running along the Mississippi river.  Of course the first hill appeared right after the split.  It was a long, but minor hill as all of the hills would be on this course.

I was now trudging along and unfortunately splashing though puddles of water.  I was soaked but my body temperature was still warm enough that I felt fine.  My goal was to not walk at all on this run and the fact that if I walked I would most likely start freezing kept my legs chugging along.

Rainy at mile 6

The course went straight out until a turnaround at the 9 mile mark.  I started seeing the elite runners coming back the other way just before the 8 mile marker.  This was the only part of the race that I did not like.  It was a slight uphill and I kept anticipating the turnaround long before it came.  Eventually the nine mile mark appeared and I turned around.  I felt better at this point as I knew I was in the final stretch and I was still feeling fine.

Endomondo was measuring the miles shorter than the mile markers.  I chalked this up to the cloudy raining day and the havoc it can wreak on GPS.  It is interesting that a number of the race recaps showed GPS readings near what mine read for the course: 13.35.  That’s probably more due to the weather than the course being long.

Blurry Mile 12 marker

I was just below 10 minute miles for the first two miles.  I had taken out my earbuds as I ran with my running club buddy so I missed the times for miles 3 though 5, but the time elapsed divided by distance run was almost exactly 10 minutes per mile, so I was on point.  Starting with mile 6, I surprised myself by getting a bit faster (9:40, 9:45, 9:38, 9:57, 9:52, 9:50, and a “blistering” 9:14 for mile 13).  I was going to meet my secondary goal of logging sub 10 minute miles.  Well…almost.  I did barely accomplish this goal as Endomondo was logging the miles shorter than the mile markers, so my splits were actually slower than what Endomondo was announcing.

I was never really in any danger of taking a walk break.  I actually got stronger over the last three miles.  I passed a bunch of runners during that time (and was only passed by about 3 runners).  Even the sight of a number of people walking those last few miles did not convince my legs to take a break.  My fastest mile of the whole race was mile 13.

We returned to the point that the 10K and half marathon split and it was now our turn to run over the Mississippi and finish the race.  Surprisingly there was still a pretty good-sized crowd near the end of the race despite the weather and the fact that the 10K runners were all done by that point.  I high-fived a little girl and then started my sprint.  I crossed one set of mats and saw another set about 50 yards ahead so I continued my sprint to cross them.  I looked up and saw a clock reading 1:50.  What!?!  No chance.  I knew I was finishing just under 2:10 and the clock should be reading about 2:15 due to my last start.  I think I figured out what happened: there was 5K race that started after the 10K/half marathon and that was most likely the clock for that race.

Anyhoo…I happily collected my medal and grabbed a banana and some water.  I tried some chocolate milk, then remembered how much I hate chocolate milk.  I was feeling remarkably good.  My legs were not hurting, but I could feel them tightening a bit after I stopped running.  The biggest problem was that I was now getting very cold.  I was completely drenched and it was still 40 degrees and windy.

The wait for the return bus was thankfully short.  I did feel a bit of pain as I climbed the three steps onto the bus.  My legs have a tendency to burn a bit after long runs and I was hoping that they would not start doing this as I sat in the cramped school bus seat.  I was still shivering like crazy.

Shirt and medal

We got back to the parking lot and of course I forgot where I parked.  I wandered the gigantic parking lot looking for my car while shivering like crazy and nursing now painful legs.  I eventually found my car.  I had to crank the heat and try to warm up a little before driving and I could not stop shaking.  A quick glance in the rear view mirror showed that my lips were a light shade of purple.  I had goosebumps the size of small pebbles (okay, a slight exaggeration) running up and down my arms.  It took a good 45 minutes before I finally felt warm.

My legs were fine about 20 minutes after the run and I spent the rest of the miserable day cleaning the garage then drinking too much wine at a friend’s party.

I guess that the Get In Gear has been cold and rainy each of the last three years.  I would recommend the run for the course and the thrill of running with nearly 10,000 other runners (if you find that thrilling), but hopefully the run of bad weather ends.

Get In Gear Half Marathon Map

Today I ran the Minneapolis Recycle Run 5k around Lake Harriet.  This is the third time I’ve run this same course (Reindeer Run and 100% Irish).  It’s a pretty course and is relatively flat, but it gets crowded.  That, coupled with the fact that I ran a hilly 6 mile race yesterday, set my expectations to: slow and easy.

Lake Calhoun...we ran Lake Harriet :-)

I was only doing this run to check off my first race on the Explore Minnesota Challenge series.  I signed up for this series back in December.  You have to complete 8 races (from a list of about 25) in 2012.  You have to complete at least one race in four areas of Minnesota (Northern, Southern, Central, and Metro).  This race counted as a Metro race.  For each area you complete a race in, you get a pin.  Complete all 8 races with at least 1 in each area and you get a medal.  You also get some other swag (hat, magazines, MDRA membership) when you sign up.

Anyhoo…I got a late start (quelle surprise) and parked .7 miles away at about 8:40.  I got my “warm up run” in by jogging from my car to the registration area.  I lucked out again as no one was in the line for my particular chunk of the alphabet.  I nabbed my bib and timing chip along with the green cotton race shirt and aluminum water bottle.  I wore shorts with big pockets so I was able to stuff the folded shirt into one of the pockets.  I would have to carry the water bottle.

Vendor Area

I then went to the Explore Minnesota Challenge table and checked in (you have to do this before each race to get credit).  They checked my name and gave me my Metro pin.  At that point I had just enough time to pin on my bib and timing chip before I had to head to the starting area.

Explore Minnesota Metro Pin

The last two races here have been pretty crowded.  This one ended up having around 500 runners.  That’s about a 1/3 the size of the other two races I’ve run there.  I chose a spot I figured would be in the middle of the pack, but it ended up being in the back 10%.  Soon after getting my music queued and Endomondo app ready, an air horn sounded and we were off.

Start Line

I spent the first 1/2 mile doing the normal zig-zagging bit to get around walkers (few and far between) and slower runners (it’s hard to believe that there are runners slower than me).  This didn’t bother me as much as usual as I was running this one just for fun and only wanted to complete it without walking and under 30 minutes.  When I looked at my pace around .3 miles in, I was at 10:30/mile.  No chance of a PR today.

The weather was chilly: 42 degrees and overcast with a slight wind.  Once I got warmed up, it felt great.  The course circles Lake Harriet, so there were plenty of lake views along with expensive houses and gardens to look at.

I’m still getting used to Endomondo.  One thing that I don’t like is that you only get voice updates every mile (or kilometer if you choose) and you cannot change it.  I’m used to my .5 mile updates from Runmeter.  I was very surprised to hear that I was at a 9:02 pace at the one mile mark, especially with the slow start.  I am very impressed with Endomondo (or the RAZR MAXX) GPS.  I got my mile updates within a few feet of the mile marker signs each time (as I did on the 6 mile race yesterday).

At the one mile mark I started my music.  I was feeling surprisingly good.  I was concerned that my legs would be dead today, but I felt pretty good.  The pack was not crowded at this point and I started pacing off of other runners (passing a few of them along the way).  The course has two minor hills, so my hill climbing muscles got a well deserved day off.

There was no water stop on this race.  I felt fine, but probably should have filled the aluminum bottle with water since I was stuck carrying it. 

At the 2 mile mark I was surprised again to hear that my total time was 17 something.  My pace for the second mile (I wish Endomondo would give average for the entire run rather than just split times) was under 9 minutes.  This put me in a position to get a PR.  I was surprised and pretty doubtful that this would happen, but I vowed to keep my current pace.

As I’ve said, I’ve run this course 3 times now.  I’ve never walked a step on it.  Today, I never felt the desire to walk at all.  I also did not feel like I was pushing myself very hard.

Much sooner than I expected, I could see the band shell across the lake.  It looked very close.  I checked Endomondo and it said I was running an 8 minute pace and I was 2.7 miles in.  I knew it was too early to start sprinting, but I made sure to keep my current pace and started to find runners to pace and/or pass.

I hit the 3 mile marker and heard 26 something in my ear.  I could PR this bitch.  The final portion is a slight hill followed by a downhill to the finish.  I chugged up the hill and once I could see the finish line I picked up my pace.  I saw TC Bear (Minnesota Twins mascot) about 50 yards from the finish line.  By that point I was sprinting.  TC gave me a “paw’s up” and I nodded knowingly back at him.  You damn right, TC.  I’m  about to crush this PR.  I crossed the finish line with 27 something on the clock.  I showed my time as 27:18.  The chip time was actually a few seconds faster than that.  I had PR’d.  Hell, I had PR’d and run negative splits.  I almost felt like a real runner. 

Finish Line

A volunteer snipped off my timing chip and I snapped a few pics of the finish area.  I left shortly afterward as I had to get showered and on my way.

Recycle Run Shirt

All in all, a nice run around a pretty area.  The weather was a bit gloomy, but probably aided my time as much as the flat course.  As soon as I saw my time I started to think that I could have shaved at least 30 seconds off that first mile.  Looks like my new 5K goal is to break 27 minutes. 

Next week is the first of three consecutive weekends of half marathons.

Recycle Run Bottle

Today I participated in a local 6 mile race: Walk On Waconia.  I love the Lake Waconia area (it’s where I do my long training runs) and the event was cheap ($18) and pretty small (400 participants with a lot of walkers and spread across two distances).

Walk On Waconia Shirt

The weather was a bit ugly.  The forecast had called for rain and it was overcast with temps in the mid-40s with a decent wind.  I decided to go with shorts and a tech shirt and never got too cold.

Walk On Waconia Start

For once I was early to the packet pickup.  Parking was plentiful and I parked about 200 feet from the finish line/packet pick up.  I grabbed my bib and long-sleeved cotton shirt and dropped off some food items (the race is a benefit for the local food shelf).  We were to be bussed to the far side of the lake to the starting area for the 6 mile race.  This initially was a 5.5 mile race (even says it on the race shirts) but a few days before the run the race director sent out an email stating that the race was now 6 miles and to “enjoy the extra steps”.

I got on the first of two buses and went to sit in the back seat (high school flashback).  There were only a dozen or so people on the bus at that time.  I just figured that most of the people were on the other bus.  About 15 minutes later, a huge stream of people poured out of the building where the packet pickup took place and started to board the busses.  Both busses were packed by the time we left.

Dirt Road

When we exited the bus I was happy to see familiar ground.  The race would start on the same trail I use for my long runs.  At 9:10 the race director counted down from 5 and we were off.

I planned to run this race slow and easy.  I hoped to finish under 60 minutes, but was going to just try to run without stopping, especially after last weekend’s 10 mile fiasco.

We only spent about a quarter-mile on the trail before veering off onto a dirt road to hug the lake.  I was hoping that this would not be the surface for too long.  It wasn’t.  We started running on pavement again about a half mile later.  It was at this point that we hit the first water stop.  This surprised me a bit, but made sense that the 10 milers would be hitting mile 4.5 at this point.  The water stops were well stocked with water, energy drinks, and fruit.

Around Lake Waconia

I had been slowly passing runners since the beginning.  I finally hit a good pace and shared it with a tall woman for most of the race.  I would stay stride for stride with her until the second water stop where I would very slowing increase the distance between us over the final 3 miles.

This was a hilly run.  All but one hill were of the long, slow climb variety.  I was able to handle the hills pretty well.  My legs won the battle with my brain this time.

Walk On Waconia

This was only my second time using Endomondo and my new phone (RAZR Maxx). The phone is larger than my old iPhone, but it wasn’t a pain to carry.  I really miss Runmeter.  I especially miss being able to set the interval at which the app announces your split times.  Endomondo only does mile announcements.  I will say that the GPS seems to be VERY accurate as I received the mile announcements within feet of the mile markers on the course.

Given that I just wanted to keep under a 10 minute per mile pace, I was happy to be around a 9:40 pace through the first 3 miles.  Especially with the hills.  We spent a good chunk of miles 2 through 4 on a rural highway hugging the left shoulder.  There were still good views of the lake and I had hit a comfortable stride, so I enjoyed this stretch.

City Paths

At mile 4 we headed east back into town.  I was still running around 9:30 per mile.  I felt pretty good.  I had also been closing on the larger pack of runners I could see in front of me.  All of this lead to me picking up the pace and I finished mile 5 just under 9 minutes.

By this point I had picked off two runners and was closing on a third.  We were now running on trails inside the city.  A few drops of rain did fall at this point.  I very much welcomed them, but was only rewarded with a few dozen fat drops.  There were a number of hills, but they were shorter ones rather than the long slow climbs earlier.  I finally picked off the runner ahead of me with about a third of a mile left (at the top of one of the short, steep hills).  I enjoyed a downhill and could see the giant church where the race finished ahead on my right.  I made the right turn and saw yet another hill.  I said to the race volunteer “Another hill?” and he replied “It’s the last one and it’s short.  Enjoy it.”

Elevation Chart - Check out that last hill

I started to power up the hill.  This bugger was STEEP.  In the span of two blocks I would go from lake level to what felt like a mountain top.  There was no way I was going to stop now, but by the time I crested the beast I felt a bit woozy.  I felt sick to my stomach for a brief period of time.  I recovered, but I had nothing left so I did not sprint the final 100 feet to the finish line.

Finish Line

I finished in just over 56 minutes.  My last mile was under 9 minutes.  I had run the last 4 miles progressively faster.  Negative splits.  I felt like a real runner.  Then I saw the first 10 miler finish about 5 minutes after it took me to finish 6 miles and that “real runner” feeling faded fast. 

I was really happy I ran this race.  It was nice to get a “win” after last weekend.  I tend to focus on my failures far more than my successes and was starting to doubt whether I had it in me to complete one half marathon…let alone 12.  My running mojo seems to be back now though.

Walk On Waconia Course Map

Today was not my day.

I got up right before my alarm went off at 5:45.  I showered, packed my gym bag, and generally dicked around.  My plan was to get to the race by 7:15 am to park, pick up my packet, and get ready to pound out 10 miles.  I ended up leaving the house around 6:40 which meant that 7:30 was a more likely arrival time.  I had to get gas, so that slowed me up as well.  My planned bowl of oatmeal and/or bagel for pre-race carb loading (my excuse to carb out) went out the window as the monkey had managed to eat the last bagel and the last packet of oatmeal.  I grabbed a Twix bar at the gas station instead.
I actually made really good time and hit the Huron exit at 7:20 am.  Plenty of time…except that this race was far more popular than I realized (the 10 miler sold out) and I spent the next 20 minutes moving about .75 miles.  Much like the Monster Dash, I needed to break from my planned course of action and go into panic mode.  I took a different route to campus and parked in the medical center ramp.  I then jogged the half mile or so to the football stadium.  As I approached I heard “ten minutes to race time” over the loud-speaker.  I weaved my way through the crowd and headed to the third floor to get my packet.  There was a packet pickup on Friday, but I did not have time to make it down to campus last night.

The packet pickup lines were based on first letter of your last name.  For the first (and only time) today something went my way: my line only had two people ahead of me.  I checked in and got my bib and shirt.  I signed up for a large shirt, but was told only 2XL were available.  Fuck it, I can use it as a tent.

It was now less than 5 minutes until the start of the race.  As I headed downstairs and outside, I deftly pinned my bib and tied the shirt around my waist (good thing it was a long-sleeved tech shirt).  I followed two other time-challenged 10 milers to the starting area.  The national anthem was just completing as I wiggled into the starting wave.  Very soon after that, we were off.

Shortly after crossing the starting line, I noticed that I was right next to the 10 minute/mile pacer.  My goal for this race was to complete it with no stops and to finish with sub-10 minute miles.  I decided to follow the pacer.

This lasted until the end of the first mile.  Runmeter was telling me that I was at a nearly 11 minute pace (not sure how accurate that was as Runmeter tends to give me splits that are slower than what it actually records).  I felt good so I decided to leave the pacer.  I figured that I would bank some time and if I lost steam I could always fall back and rejoin the group.

The next 6 miles went very well.  My average went from 11ish to 9:36.  It bounced up again to 9:48 around the 7 mile mark.  I was well on my way to hitting my goals.

The weather was once again glorious.  60 degrees, low humidity, sunny and clear with a slight wind.  Just 10 hours earlier it was 40 something, cloudy, and raining.

We crossed a bridge over the Mississippi river right before the halfway mark.  A bald eagle swooped down and fly about 20 feet above our heads.  I was feeling great.

2.5 miles later I lost my mojo.  There were a couple of hills before this point.  Two pretty good-sized ones (one really early in the run).  I had peeped the race profile and thought that the worst hills were around the 4 mile mark.  I was wrong.  Starting around the 7.5 mile mark the combination of hills and loss of energy did me in.

Part of this was mental.  Around the 7 mile mark I saw runners turning left and hitting a good-sized hill that lead to an overpass.  I noted that they looked like they were speeding up.  As I made it to this point I found out that I would not be making that left…I would continue to the right and hit a turnaround.  The runners on the left were on their way back and they looked faster because they were faster.  This section went uphill, then downhill, then REALLY uphill.  I finally broke down and took a walk break on the “really uphill” section.  I felt a little defeated, but I kept it short and told myself I would make it up on the downhill.  Which I did.  Then I hit the uphill to the overpass and all was lost.

At this point I was not the only one walking, but that did not make me feel any better.  To add to my disappointment, the 10 minute pace group passed me at the top of the hill.  This crushed my spirit.  I had been doing mental math and figured that since I had been running 12 seconds per mile faster over nearly 8 miles, that I was about 1.5 minutes ahead of them.  My two walk breaks had eaten up all my “banked” seconds.

I pulled myself together and decided my goal over the last couple of miles would be to catch and pass the pacer.  This plan failed at the next (slight) hill.  Once you take that first walk break, it just becomes easier and easier to take more.  I even started walking on flat areas.  I was running out of steam.

The finish line is on the field that the Gophers play football on.  This is fitting as they play football about as well as I run.  As we neared the stadium I summoned my last bit of pride and told myself I would run the rest of the way.  This should be easy: completely flat, cheering crowds, and only .5 miles to go.  I ended up walking…TWICE.  Before you enter the stadium you run around the outside.  I was not mentally prepared for that.  I kept thinking “Where the fuck is the entrance?  When will this hell be over?”

When I finally ran down the tunnel and hit the turf, I did pick up the pace.  The finish line is televised on the jumbotron so I got to see my sweaty beaten ass cross the finish line on a huge screen.

Finally it was over.  I was really disappointed.  I did manage to get a 19 second PR.  LOL.  Since I’ve only run two 10 milers (well, 1.75 because whatever the hell I was doing at the end of this one did NOT count as running) this was not much of a win for me.

What went wrong:

1) I glossed over the fact that 10 miles is still a long ways for me.  I did 17 miles on Tuesday.  That was a very flat course and I ran 3 minutes then walked 1 minute.  Running 10 miles with no walk breaks and hills was much more difficult.

2) Hills.  I keep saying it, but I really need to start doing hill repeats.

3) Mental game.  Once I took that first walk break, they just kept getting easier and easier to justify.

I was also wicked thirsty towards the end. I drank at all the water stops and I ended up drinking three cups (2 water, 1 red stuff) on the last water stop.  I downed a bottle of water within seconds of crossing the finish line.  I probably need to start carrying water as I will not make it through summer half marathons at this rate.  I also skipped bringing “nutrition” with me, except for the Wintogreen lifesavers I suck on.  I doubt this was a big issue, but I will definitely bring some Gu and/or Sport Beans on all future long runs in case I feel zapped and pure sugar isn’t doing the trick.

I’m thinking that the Sauconys need to go.  I’m 100 plus miles into these suckers and I’m still getting blisters on long runs.  This didn’t directly to my downfall, but it added to the “things to bitch about as I barely finish this run” list.  This pisses me off a bit as they are my first pair of “real” running shoes.  I will break in future shoes on the treadmill first so I can return them if they give me any problems.

The course itself was great and the volunteers were plentiful and wonderful.  After the first couple of miles I was never crowded.

The final insult occurred in the parking garage.  I lost my iPhone.  I think that I put it on top of my car.  It’s out of contact (old 3GS) and there does not have voice/data capability at this point, but I had just gotten ATT to unlock it the day before.  I had planned to do a month to month data/voice plan until the iPhone 5 rolled out in June and join the rest of my family in Verizonland at that time.  That plan is out the window now along with my photos from this race.  I also got to spend a couple of hours changing all my passwords.  Oh, and the parking ramp ended up costing me $15.  I must have seriously pissed off the running gods today.