Tuesday, July 19, 2011

See Jane Run Half-Marathon Report

Sometimes I am an idiot.  Witness Sunday when I "ran" the See Jane Run Half-Marathon.  Why does this make me an idiot?  Because I haven't been training at all.  By at all I mean since February 12th when I pulled my calf-muscle (and still stupidly ran four miles) I have ran a grand total of...........wait for it............. 59.34 miles.  Yeah that's right.  In a five month period I have averaged 12 miles per month with the longest run being a four miler I did back in April.  It is a bit of an understatement to say that makes me completely untrained and unfit for a half-marathon.  But I went ahead and did it anyway.

Back in February when I agreed to run this race it seemed like a sure thing.  I would have completed my marathon two months before and should be in great shape for a half.  Plus, it was my friend Amber's idea to run this as a sort of last run of singledom since she would be getting married a mere five days after the run.  It sounded like fun.  Oh, if I only had a crystal ball and could see the three hours of suck that awaited me.

This was the hardest physical thing I have done.  I was exhausted and hurting by the time I crossed the finish line three hours after I started.  The race just went on and on and on.  It was a push and a slog the whole way.  I never felt good out there.  Gee, wasn't my "training" sufficient?

I had set the Garmin to a 3:1 walk/run ratio so I could at least get some running in.  No way did I want to walk the entire 13.1.  I remembered how difficult it was to walk quickly for 13.1 from my Eugene experience and I didn't want to repeat that so I cobbled together this plan the day before.  By the end of the run I was ready to chuck the friggin' Garmin into the Fremont Canal.  Everytime it beeped to tell me to run for my one minute I cursed it; cursed it out loud on occasion.  But onward I pushed.
My final time was 3:02 which was over 12 minutes faster then I did Eugene in May and was good for an even 14:00 minute mile pace.  My times for the running portions were actually faster than they probably should have been and I tried to keep a decent walking pace.  But there was no way I could have pressed faster to bring it in under three hours.  Ouch. 

I met Amber after the finish, grabbed my champagne glass filled with chocolates, declined Amber's offer of lunch and drove home.  My legs were killing me and I felt like crap.  Shooting pain from the sciatica down my right leg and soreness and stiffness everywhere else.  I was so stiff getting out of the car that I had to barely shuffle for the first few steps until I could get my legs moving again.  I knew how difficult walking and moving from sitting to standing was the day after Eugene and I didn't want that to happen again.  So I immediately went upstairs and climbed in the tub and turned on the cold water faucet.  Only the cold water by the way.  Yes, I was desperate enough to take an ice bath.  Kevin was kind enough to dump the contents of the ice maker into the tub with me and I soaked for 15 freezing minutes.  He also brought me some Ibuprofen and then got a whole bunch of warm blankets on the bed to warm me back up when I was done.  Good husband.  I ran just enough water to cover my hips and very low back.  No need to soak the non-running parts in ice water.  I'm not that stupid.  Oh, and the ice water triggered the uncontrollable cold water peeing so I am sitting in ice cold urine water seriously contemplating my choice of hobbies and how it has lead me to this moment.  Awesome.

The ice bath and Ibuprofen worked.  I was a little stiff that day and on Monday but nothing like after Eugene.  I have vowed to not do a race like this again unless I am trained and prepared.  I am lucky I didn't injure myself and I am not risking that again.  Looking back over my running numbers for the year has also opened my eyes.  I am determined to get myself back in shape and to complete a half-marathon this year; one I can actually be proud of.  And I will also remember to pee before I ever climb into an ice bath again.  Lessons were learned on Sunday.

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