Grete's Gallop

October 6, 2007, Grete’s Gallop 13.1 miles 2:30:11

Given the heat and humidity, I’m delighted with the results. I ran a god awful 2:47 half marathon in March of this year and a 2:34:44 last year at Grete’s. What went right? I’m feeling very confident about my running these days. No injuries at all and a respectable amount of mileage each week. I built up slowly to the distance and it worked well. I felt more prepared going into this race than any other in recent history.

What went wrong? It was hot and humid. The kind of day I just melt. I did not have a nutrition plan well thought out. I’ve stopped using Gatorade, because it doesn’t agree with me. Even if I dilute it, my gut just empties it out. I ran brilliantly according to plan until mile 10 when I started to bonk a bit. I only had 1 hammer gel with me that I used at mile 8. 90 calories weren’t enough to get me to the end and I was dehydrated. The last set of hills just wiped me out. I still was very happy with my results; knocking 4:30 off a ½ mary is pretty cool. There was one other point that will mark this race as one that I won’t forget.

I’ve run long enough and in enough places to know that runners come in all shapes and sizes; tall, short, old, young, slow, fast, fat and skinny. It’s one of the very things that kept me coming back to the starting line. There is truly a place for everyone, be it 1st or 1537th. I used to joke with one of my marathon running buddies, Nancy Shanley (good race by the way, girlie!) that my real goal of running was to someday be able to run in just a sports bra. Well, it was half a joke. Like many people, athletes included, I struggle with my body image. Carolynn tells me I am too hard on myself in that respect, but this body has been bigger for most of my life and it’s a hard image to erase. Anyway, right around the time I began to bonk and overheat, I was passed an older woman. She looked a little overweight and had wrinkles on her face and body that would suggest she was a lifetime “in the sun” runner. The very first thought that went through my mind was, “I can’t believe she’d run without a shirt on.” How horrible of me! I actually sped up a little to run side by side with her. She had such a serene smile on her face. The longer I looked the more I realized how strong and vibrant she was. Of course I couldn’t keep up as we approached another hill, but as I faded back I began to get jealous. It was obvious she could care less what people around her thought about her body; she was using her body in a way she loved. I was jealous that I was not only carrying all that emotional crap, but also a drenched shirt that was not helping me keep cool. So I took it off! Yep, ran the last 3 miles in just a sports bra and since brightroom was out there, there will by pictures to prove it! A milestone can be more than just a PR.

So what’s next. This is the longest run I intend to do until next season. I have a goal of completing a sub 90 minute 15K at a race on December 1st. It may be a little aggressive, but I’m gonna give it a shot. Next week I start a 7 week plan of speed and tempo work that should give me a boost. I’m still looking to drop another 7-8 pounds before the race. I’ll load up my training plan on my google calendar later this week, but the heart of it is 2 days of track workouts per week at a pace 30 seconds faster than my target pace. Roughly this translates into sets at a 9-minute mile pace (target pace is a 9:37). I’ll still be doing 8-12 miles on the weekend to keep up my endurance; 15k is 9.36 miles. It will be a nice way to end the season.

I had a great swim workout yesterday with a total of 1400m of “swimming golf” (100m sets) and technique sets. Today I tackled the “5 sister hills” bike workout. Essentially I live on a hill and there are 5 separate streets that get you to top of the hill. Each has a different pitch and grade and I rode them all in succession for a total of 10 miles. Really solid strength workout and it beat a DVD in the basement on a trainer.

I want to wish Peter and Bryan a great race in KONA this weekend! Make us proud, boys and bring me back some good course recon for 2009!

732 days to go.