Union Hospital Half Marathon 6 days before Nashville

I haven't wrote here in over 2 weeks, probably the longest gap since we started this thing, just got busy and forgot I guess. I ran the Union Hospital half again this year mostly because it was my very first half 1 year ago and I wanted to run it again. I had my second thoughts about it being only 6 days before Nashville but figured I just run it easy as I was pacing Marsha at the marathon so I thought I'd go ahead and do it. It was a great morning, maybe a little warm by the end but very nice starting in the low 60's. I decided to pace my running buddy Bill Henry for the first few miles and then take off and try to break 1:40. We did a mile or so warm up just before the start of the race and took off a little to fast for Bill hitting the 1st mile in 7:20 then easing up a bit just under 8 the next few miles, later Bill told me I was killing him but I was trying to let him set our pace but I guess I was making him go to fast. I stayed with Bill til we hit the split mats at mile 6 at about 47:25 and said goodbye. Marsha found me a couple times out on the course and ran with me which was very nice and told me at one point Beth Woodward was right in front of me, which I thought was very odd since I ran so easy the first half and she is such a great runner. I pulled up next to Beth about mile 11 and really expected to have to pick it up to go in with her but later found out she was sick. She said she tried to stay with me but just couldn't. I ended up placing 33rd out of 277 runners with a finishing time of 1:40:09.
I did make one mistake here and it could have been bad, I decided to wear my asics trainers that I had only worn for a few 5k's mostly because my chip was already laced on these shoes and we got to the race and they are using the D TAG and I didn't need my chip, so somewhere around mile 10 or 11 I feel a hot spot under my big toe on my left foot and low and behold I have the biggest blister I have ever had with 6 days til a Marathon. I let it go til Tuesday but felt it while out for my last run before Nashville so I cut off the loose skin about the size of a quarter and got it some air and it healed pretty good by Saturday because it didn't bother me a bit. Lucky for me.

Country Music Marathon - Nashville, TN - April 25, 2009

Well, to say the least I didn't accomplish what I wanted to. But, we had a wonderful weekend! Ladd and I got to spend lots of time together, celebrating our anniversary a month early. A highlight of the weekend was when I got to meet Denise Austin at the Expo.

The temps skyrocketed to near 90 on race day and that really took a toll on me. My heart started palpitating at around 18 miles, and the chest pains were intense! I tried walking it off, but couldn't get it to stop. We walked and ran the last 6-8 miles (15 minutes each for miles 24 & 25....) I ran the last 1/2 mile to the finish line where Ladd led me accross the finish line and into the medical tent where they worked hard to get my core temp and heart rate (pulse was at 120) down, I was out of it, but Ladd says it was quite a scary site, people icing and sponging me down, dumping salt in my mouth, etc. I was fine after 30 minutes in the tent.

I am fine! I had no leg pains, and will try again soon, maybe June in Minnesota at Grandmas with Abra. . .

Ladd was such a wonderful guy! He really tried to keep me on pace, but realized when to quit trying, he tried to get me to follow him into the medical tent at 25, but I was finishing!

Just to let you know, I am sane, I would have gone to the medical tent at 20 if I hadn't been with Ladd, I only continued on because I knew he was there. Final Time 4:40 (mile 20 split was 3:18)

There were 4 Medina County Road Runners at the Nashville Marathon: Lisa Grafton - 1st Full 5:19, Charles Elkins - 1/2 marathon - 2:03, everyone struggled!

Group Run, April 11, 2009

We planned a group run starting at our house and doing the Chippewa route. Dan was doing a 20 miler today so he ran 4.5 miles to our house before the run so he could get his 20 in when he got home. We had a total of 9 runners, 6 guys and 3 gals. Ladd, Dan, Pete, Chris, Randy and his friend Tim, Marsha, Kim and Lisa. It was about 35 degrees and windy but a pretty nice run. We ended up doing almost 12 miles and while we were down in Chippewa we ran down to the old park entrance to catch a glimpse of the roller coaster and the ferris wheel. We averaged 8:09 per mile, a little fast for a long run and now for a couple days off, ok maybe 1 then an easy speedwork session on Wednesday to get ready for the 1st anniversary of my 1st half marathon next weekend, Union Hospital. I can't run this one to hard so my plan is to pace Bill H. for the 1st couple miles then ease into a comfortable pace and maybe just break 1:40 so I will be ready for Nashville 6 days later.

Spring Classic Half Marathon 4/04/09

I was a little concerned about this race a day or two ago, we decided to take it easy at speedwork Wednesday evening but it didn't work out to be easy. We ran a ladder up and down with a timed mile in the middle, with a 400 cool down after every fast lap, 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 that all got faster than the first half. Then I thought I would take 2 days off before the half but it was a beautiful 70 degree day Thursday so Marsha and I ran 5.75 miles and I felt terrible with tight calves, sore knees and other minor things, then I woke up Friday morning with a sore throat. All the negative thoughts started running through my head, how could I PR with all this going on. Went to bed a little early knowing I never sleep well the night before a big event and nothing changed, woke up at 5:00 while the alarm was set for 6:00. We picked up Charles and arrived about 7:25 with a 9:00 start time. And what a nice showing from the MCRR group with 10 members present : Ladd, Marsha, Charles, Dan, Heather, Bailey, Debbie, Nancy, Jean and Phil. Dan and I set the Garmins and we were off, we decided to start off with a slow mile and started near the middle of the pack but ended up having to run out in the gravel and grass to get around everyone but then we settled in at right around a 7:00 minute pace. Still not crazy about double loops and windy days but we had a great race with Dan and I running the first 10 miles together til he picked it up. We both finished with new PR's with unofficial times of 1:32:15 and 1:33:15. I placed third in the 40-44 age group. Now for a few rest days and easy days to fully recover from a good effort.