Mercer Island Half Marathon Recap

 

Official results posted. The time I saw when I crossed the finish must have been my gun time; official time- 2:13:01. Woot woot! That is pretty cool - PR by 9 minutes! 

There were races of all distances - Kids dash, 5 and 10K's and Half Marathon Walk and Run in this one. They staggered the times and the run didn't start until 9am--which is later than normal for these kinds of races. I was glad--we got there early in plenty of time to watch my best friend's son run the kids dash. He had fun and I think I've been successful in pulling in a new recruit! 

So I may have mentioned- this was a super hilly course. The course followed Mercer Way around the island, which is heavily wooded and really just one rolling hill after another. Up and down. Up and down. The weather was perfect though. It was sunny, in the high 40's and was just really beautiful, especially when you could see the lake. 

Things started to get a little more exciting around mile 9-10. There seemed to be more people out and I just got a surge of energy when I started seeing the mileage get higher and higher. The hills towards the end were no joke though. Last half mile to the finish was uphill. And there was one huge one - much steeper grade and longer it felt like - around mile 11. I kept running up the stupid hill and was pretty excited to find a Gatorade station at the top. 

Until, again, I pulled a rookie mistake. Didn't slow down enough, nor did I pinch the cup at the top and ended up literally inhaling it. Face full of Gatorade. Just like I did in the Seattle half...won't be doing that again...I hope.

Even with the hills, I enjoyed this race a lot. I felt strong the whole time and really ended up doing much better than I thought I would. A 9 minute PR. I have visions of a sub 2 hour half in my future!

 

Splits below--you can definitely tell where the biggest hills were!

Mile 1 - 9:38

Mile 2 - 9:29

Mile 3 - 9:43

Mile 4 - 10:11

Mile 5 - 9:38

Mile 6 - 9:58

Mile 7 - 10:04

Mile 8 - 9:52

Mile 9 - 9:57

Mile 10 - 10:26

Mile 11 - 10:26

Mile 12 - 10:43

Mile 13 - 9:30

Last bit - 12:32

Pictures are up now. And I look like a total weirdo  b/c I decided to wave like a cheeseball when I finally crested the top of the last hill.

Make Yourself Monday

 

Fierce. 

Hills. Oh the F'in Hills.....

Had a really amazing time running this race. I planned to take it easy on this one considering there are 3 more coming up in the next 3 months. But I ended up with a nearly 8 minute PR. And it was super sunny and really beautiful out. Perfect conditions for sure.

Um. Except for one thing. Well more than one. There were some serious hills in this race. I mean no joke- I must have said out loud at least two or three times "you have got to be f'in kidding me." Take a look at the elevation...

Full recap to come tomorrow. I am seriously beat tonight. So tired that even though I've been getting super excited about the return of Mad Men tonight, I am not even going to stay up. I can barely keep my eyes open right now and it's only 6:55pm.

It's Here. 1 Day until MI Half

I think I am ready. Too busy squelching pre-race nerves to think about it too much. I had a shit training cycle. Much less than ideal. Which is one of the reasons that I have no goals for this race at all. Other than having fun. Also, since this is the first race in a series of 4, I know that I need to go out slow and steady so that I am still upright and strong by #4. And the elevation on this race kind of scares me just a bit.  So no time goals. Just want to finish with a smile on my face.

Map of the course

I've tested out the outfit, created my playlist and am charging my camera battery. Resting my legs, carb loading and hitting the expo today to pick up my race packet. Here we go!

Very excited. Can't believe it's here! Lots more to come this weekend!

Make Yourself Monday

Week 11 in Review - 7 Days until MI Half

This week started strong and then life got the better of me. Ended up with super extra special crazy weather, was busy at work, etc etc. Excuses excuses. But I'm ok with it. It's just turned out to be an unlucky season. And that is ok. Next week I taper, officially. Then Race and move into Cycle #3.


Monday - Made it out as planned for an easy 3 miler.
3.46 mi; 34:23; 9:57


Tuesday - Yay. Two days in a row I got it done. Small victories...since the rest of the week was a bust.
3.22 mi; 31:35; 9:49

Wednesday - Woke up to super crazy bad weather. And just couldn't motivate myself to get out there. Planned to make it up after work, but felt like I was going to puke all afternoon for some reason....
8 mi Speed workout
Rest

Thursday - Also planned to do a make up today. Best laid plans....as they say.
3 mi Easy
Rest

Friday - I am so lame. That's all I can say.
Rest

Saturday - Long run. I psyched myself up for my longest long run before the race next weekend. And got all dressed then looked outside. It had started SNOWING. AGAIN. So I decided to wait it out. I had a feeling things would clear up and I needed it to since I wanted to test out my race outfit on a long run. It ended up clearing up within the hour and I added a jacket and headed out. I ended up having to shed the coat about 2 miles in and it was a beautiful afternoon. Sunny and everything! Got that 13 miles in too. Full Stop. No cheating this week either. Small victories, I know. After the week I had, I'll take it. Had a nice ice bath when I got home.
13.03 mi; 2:24:52; 11:07

Sunday - Rest. Plotted out my next cycle- which officially has three half marathons in it while I was waiting out the snow yesterday. Excited to tackle this next cycle in the spring. Light in the mornings and warmer! Yay. I am ready to move on and get my mojo back. About damn time.
Rest

One week from today, I'll be running the perimeter of Mercer Island. Woot woot!

Luck of the Season

This training cycle has been rough. And I've been beating myself up over it. Last cycle, there seemed to be a momentum and I ran every single one of my scheduled runs when I was supposed to except for a couple when I was traveling for work at the very beginning of the plan. Every.Single.One after the first week. Cycle number 2 has not been that way. At all. And it's made me feel pretty damn crummy. But then I came across a post in Runner's World Daily that changed my mind. Or at the very least, is allowing me to let myself off the hook so I can move on.

The post was a question to "Coach Jenny" regarding how long your longest run should be when training for a half. The answer was long, but this paragraph made me stop and think for a second.

"The luck of the season.  In the event of a perfect training season -where everything goes right.  You log all your planned workouts.  You feel good during many of the workouts.  You run stronger and faster towards the end of the season.  And your running apparel matched even when you got dressed on those dark mornings.  When this happens you can continue to follow the planned long run progression.  However, there are seasons where it seems nothing goes right.  The dog eats your right shoe.  It snows, sleets and there is a headwind during every long run.  You catch your son's cold...three times.  And, your running buddies inform you at the end of the a long run that there is a big hole in your tights on your backside.  Things happen.  And you can't play a mad game of catch up in long running.  That's not how it works.  You have to progress based on where your body is to avoid overload , fatigue and injury.  In this case, you may get up to 9 miles once - and that will always trump catching up to get in 12 miles and toeing the line exhausted or worse yet, hurt and not even able to race at all."

My nemesis has been a combination of a wet and snowy winter, my kid's crud, which I got at least twice, and a multitude of other little things that added up to a season in which I lost my mojo a little bit. Ok, a lot. So instead of continuing to dwell on it and beat my self up, I've decided to just chalk it up to the Luck of the Season and move on.

My race is next weekend. I don't feel ready. I ended up tapering this week. In a big way. Work was a little crazy, weather was super extra special crazy and I just didn't get it done. Was supposed to be my peak week. Oh well. Hitting a full 13 today. Mapped out a new long run that has lots fewer hills and I got 4 more ice trays for the planned ice bath afterwards. Should have enough this time!

Next week is official, in the plan, taper week. I'll take it easy, rest and fuel up...and plan to toe the line with fresh legs and a renewed sense of purpose. Next half after this is about a month away. So I'll take a few days of rest and then pick right up where I left off. This cycle, I am determined to build momentum and keep it going until the Rock and Roll in June.

And have a luckier season.

Make Yourself Monday

Week 10 in Review - 14 Days until MI Half

This week was a tough one. I did better for the first half of the week in terms of getting up early. I did it 3 out of 4 days. But I didn't do the 8 mile speed workout I was supposed to, so was again, off on total mileage for the week. Next week is it. Last full week before a week of tapering. Hitting 30 miles...Hope it doesn't come back to bite me- increasing that much over this week. I'll will make sure I am paying attention to my body.

Monday - Got up early and headed out the door. Only to find that it was POURING out. Got soaked from head to toe but it was a nice quick 3 miler.
3.44 mi; 33:41; 9:47

Tuesday - Another nice 3 miler. No rain this time though. And guess what? It's starting to get light when I'm out early! Yay!
3.08 mi; 29:47; 9:41

Wednesday - Had a migraine when I woke up so decided to run at night and swap workouts.
8 mi Speed
3.22 mi; 31:38; 9:50

Thursday - Intended to do the speed workout today, but just wasn't feeling it. Took an unplanned rest day.
Rest

Friday - Woke up in a terrible mood so I went for an angry 3 miles and ran it pretty fast. Which I think made me a little more tired for the long run Saturday.
3.05; 28:36; 9:23

Saturday - Long run. Did the Madison to bridge to home route and covered 12 full miles. Didn't cheat with distance AT ALL. Yay me. I also did my very first ice bath when I got home. It was cold as hell but effective. My legs were so sore and making them completely numb felt good!
12.01 mi; 2:11:26: 10:57

Sunday - Rest. I bought my first pair of compression socks Friday. Not the fancy $60 running kind, but a pair of old person kind at the drug store. I wore them basically from Friday on with the exception of the actual run and I do think they made a difference in recovery. 

Make Yourself Monday

                                                 Watch out, folks.

Week 9 in Review - 21 Days until MI Half

 

Not bad. Not quite the 27 on the plan but I'll take it. Missed one planned day. It's really tough for me to run 4 days in a row. My body gets too tired and I inevitably skip one. But I am going to make sure that I keep myself accountable and keep ramping up. I'll be designing my next phases soon that will take me through the next three half marathons April-June. Can't wait till it starts to warm up!

Monday - The plan calls for a lot of 3 milers from now until the race. Two tough workouts (Tempo or Speed and Long Run) tempered with 3 easy short ones.

3.47; 34:09; 9:51

Tuesday - Was supposed to run today but decided to take a rest day. 

3 miles

Rest

Wednesday - Long tempo run. This is usually a tough one for me. This one was no exception. Have been running at night after work and have been having a hard time figuring out what kind of lunch to eat that I can digest quickly and not feel like I am going to throw up the whole time.

7.23 mi; 1:14:03; 10:14

Thursday - Another nice easy 3 miler. Was glad because I was a little sore from the tempo run the day before.

3.38 mi; 34:01; 10:04

Friday - Rest day. Felt good.

Saturday - Long run. Had 11 on the books and tried to map out a new route on Map My Run but got so frustrated. Thought I ended up doing an ok enough job and was just going to fudge the rest. But I ran what I thought would be the majority and was only at 6 miles. I was at the I-90 bridge anyway so I just headed across and back to add a couple miles on. When I finally got home, I was well over 11 miles. Was very sore though. Like completely wiped for the rest of the day. Crashed out for a nap-hard.

11.17 mi; 1:59:44; 10:43

Getting so close- 3 weeks out!

 

February 2012: In which I get sick. Twice.

This month was rough. I've got a month till the Mercer Island Half. I don't feel ready. I have been slacking...feeling lazy and so not motivated. Plus I got sick. More than once. Not loving the winter training all that much. But all was not lost. I did a fun 5K for Valentines Day, and got a new pair of shoes.

 

 Crappy Race Pic

I also introduced Make Yourself Mondays....Partly because I just plain love this Nike campaign and the other part is because I am in serious need of motivation at this point in time.

 

Finally, since I was getting really bored with my normal routes, I mapped out a new long run loop that is both hardcore, very pretty and not boring at all. Need to keep switching things up so they are fresh. Hopefully will stave off any burn out that I fear might creep into a full year of training.

Total miles for the month 84.25. Not what I had planned but not terrible either. Hitting the build up for a few more weeks then a week taper until race day!