Half-Assed Runner

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.