Lake Country Half Marathon

I woke up very early on Saturday morning. Chris picked me up at 4:45AM to drive out to the Lake Country Half Marathon. We drove through the dark and fog and started out 5 mile warm up, yes 5 mile warm up, at 5:47AM. It was still dark so we took a less traveled road to avoid all the cars coming to the race. Nothing destroys a race like getting hit by a car before it.

We ran the 5 miles really slow. I met up with Greg before the race began at 7:00AM. He was psyched for his first half marathon. The temps were cool at the start and the sun was coming up, no clouds and maybe upper 50's. The horn goes off and so do the rest of the 800+ half marathoners.

I was there to pace Greg but also get a good workout in with tired legs as I ran lots of miles this week including 14 the day before. The first mile was right on track at 9:02 and mile 2 was good as well at 9:06. Greg wanted to start this pace and then pick it up. There was no problem with Greg but there certainly was with me. 2 miles into the race and my legs were D E A D. I just couldn't keep up any good pace and I knew this wasn't going to be a help to Greg so i told him to go ahead and have a great race and I would try to catch up with him later. This was going to be a real problem since I could hardly keep any pace. I took a nice walk break and then another friend of mine, Wendy, passed me. We spoke for a bit and then she left ahead of me. I continued to walk a bit and then jog slowly as I was passed by lots of people. At this point in time, I was really contemplating jogging back to the start line and calling it a day. I convinced myself to keep going as this was a training run, not a race and my goal all week was to tire the legs out beforehand. I just didn't realize they would be THIS tired and dead.

Mile 3 was a whopping 10:15 but felt much slower. After mile 3, my legs suddenly felt a little better and I could get back to running. I wasn't going to let mile 3 keep me from finishing. I was amazed and completely surprised and how I was able to turn it around. I think it must have been the extra walk during mile 3 but as the miles went on, the legs felt better, yet still tired. Miles 4-12 were all sub 9:00 and I was passing people left and right. I kept looking ahead for Greg but didn't see him. This was good news as it means he was having a good race.

I got the mile 12 and took my last walk break and water and wondered if I could maybe break 8:00 for the final mile. I kept pushing it and faster I got. Mile 13 was was 7:58! I kept flying toward the finish and finished in 1:55:54. I still didn't see Greg but found him at the finish. He had run a 1:52 for his first half marathon. He was happy. Chris finished good as well. He took 16th overall in 1:23, a major PR for him. I am quite happy with how I ran considering the week. If I can react this way when I have tired legs in a race, all will be great. We will see in the coming months.

The race course here ranks #2 on my list for most beautiful courses I have run. We ran through nice neighborhoods and past many views of Lac La Belle. Crowds were sparse along the way but those who were out were cheering. In case you want to know what #1 is, it is the Twin Cities Marathon. This is a nice course with a few hills but nothing big. A nice mix of flat with hills mixed. I would definitely recommend this race to others.

How to Keep A Chiropractor In Business

I did not run all weekend. Took the entire thing off. So what do I get for that? My body rebels.

I was playing outside with my youngest princess. We were playing “Catch Ball” as she calls it. I take a ‘bouncy ball’, the kind you can get at your local Target or grocery store of $1.99 and we are playing catch with it. On one particular throw, which consists of me very softly underhand throwing the ball to her, I suddenly feel my lower back start to tighten up. COME ON NOW! It was ball that weighed ¼ pound at best and all of a sudden my back problems are here again. I quickly go inside to stretch it out but the damage was done and my back was sore once again. Not as bad as previous times but sore none-the-less.

I make an appointment with the Chiro for Monday after work and he gives it a good stretching and cracking. It feels better as of today but not yet to 100%. I guess you just never know what will trigger it to go that way but I deal with it anyways.

While at the Chiro, I tell him that my ankle is feeling a lot better and that I had no issues walking on it during the day. PSYCH! I should have kept my mouth shut.

After the appointment, I went on a run. I was going to go 5 miles and after the first half mile of the back feeling tender, the tenderness goes away and I run free and easy. I am cruising at a pace of close to 7:50 and it feels easy. I decide to go a bit further than 5 and turn around a little past 3 miles. At about 3 ½ miles, all of a sudden I get sharp pains in my foot just below the ankle area, same foot. I know this is the same thing but I have never felt it like this before. I have to walk a little and try to start up but the pain is still there. I finally get to a jog and keep increasing the pace until I am back to that fast sub 8:00 pace. Again I feel great, except for the foot which I am monitoring closely.

I finish the run, about 6.22 miles averaging 7:55 pace. This was great but now I am walking tenderly. I am cursed, at least I was on Monday. I am going to run tonight. I am going to try 7 miles at an easy pace. My plan is mega miles this week. I hope the foot feels OK, but I will definitely be discussing this with the Chiro tomorrow as I have another appointment.

I said I have a big week planned and I am hoping I can do it all without the injury bug hitting me more. 6 yesterday, 7 today. 6 or 7 tomorrow. I have off on Friday so I plan on doing a nice easy 14 miles. Then on Saturday, I am planning on helping pace a friend in his first half marathon. I will run 5 miles before hand with another friend and then try to help pace Greg at 9:00 pace. I hope I can keep up with that toward the end. He is excited about his first half and I try to convince him to go the next step after the half and go for a full. He is a work in process as he says no way now, the challenge is now set!