What a great morning to run a race. Sunshine and temperatures comfortably at 60 degrees with the sun blazing. Woke up at 5:30 am feeling better than I have in the last 5 days with the head and chest cold finally starting to lose its grip on me. As I said in my last blog posting, it's been a terrible week of being sick losing four days of training and barely even being able to work.
Decided to race in my lucky Boston 2016 Marathon technical and got a laugh at my bib number being 2001 (Ethan's was 2000). Fueled up with a few hundred calories with some high octane carbs on board, warmed up, rolled, and did the normal routine stopping at Starbucks for an American before picking up Ethan (who was out late last night at his Senior Prom for Bellevue High School and still wanted to run). We were across the 520 bridge and parked on the UW campus by 7:30 and jogged easily over to Husky Stadium and the start of the race. A few bathroom stops and an easy mile of running with strides to warm up and we were ready for the race to begin at 8:30.
I really had no idea what I was going to run today but after running a 6:00 .90 mile on the track yesterday I thought I might be able to pull something OK out after running 35:39 and 35:41 the last 2 years (with a 2010 PR of 34:12) over the slightly hilly 8K track through Montlake and across the University Bridge and then back through the U. District.
At the gun it took my about 15 seconds to get across the timing pad as a lot of folks crashed the gate from the front right before the beginning of the race which overloaded the first few minutes of running. Once I got moving I new immediately this wasn't going to be my day. I was lactic and laboring right out of the blocks. I'd secretly hoped to run something sub 7:00 on the first mile and just hang on -- it took all I had to run a 7:24 mile-1 which I am sure is the slowest first mile I've ever recorded in running this event 11 times now. Mile-2 which features some slight uphill and ends just before the right hand turn onto the University Bridge was 8:05 and I was gassed. Heart rate was 166 beats a minute, sun was blazing and my legs were lactic city. As I ran uphill across the bridge (the bridge is uphill about 2% - 3% for about 600 meters I just slowed down and said screw it -- accepting my fate.
Mile-3 was a labored 8:20 before I finally got a little mojo back trying to run a couple of short downhills as fast as I could to make up time without losing it. I settled in and ran mile 4 in a steady 7:55 -- again with my heart rate redlined and a final .97 uphill mile-5 in 7:28.
So I guess this is what happens after you've been super sick. It could've been worse but at the end of the day it was a beautiful morning. I got to run with Ethan who also labored in the sunshine running a 32:19 and off his PR of 31:58 and well off his race day goal of sub 30:00. There will always be this race next year and years to come.
The big races are now on the horizon with the Marathon in September and a smattering of 5K's, an 8K in July and an August Half Marathon (not sure which one yet) -- marathon training formally kicks off on 29 May. I need to get my butt in gear.
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