Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Newport Marathon

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Location:

Snoqualmie,WA,

Member Since:

Jan 31, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon PR: 4:17 at Portland Marathon, Oct. 2007

5K PR 24:37 2009

10K PR 52:58 2010

Have run 22 marathons to date.

No injuries, ever.   :)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for Boston (4:05 for my age/gender) - or, perhaps, to use my desire for a BQ as a way to get in the hated speed work so I don't just get slower and slower over the years.  This goal is "under (re)construction" right now, until I figure out whether it is truly what I want. :) 


Long-Term Running Goals:

To continue learning about myself and about running, and to enjoy being a fit, happy runner for life.   To always know why I am running and the best way to get the most (both mentally and physically) out of my runs.  To keep a sense of humor and remain optimistic about myself as a runner.  To enjoy running more and more with every passing year. 

Personal:

Baby boomer generation.  Jogged a little in my 20's and 30's.  Started running seriously in 2002.  Low-carb runner since January 2010. 

I love long runs and cold, cloudy weather.  I don't believe in "junk miles."  I am an optimist.  I adore dark chocolate, fog, my family, and knitting -- not necessarily in that order.  

"As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are."  -- Joan Benoit Samuelson 


Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Brooks ST3 Lifetime Miles: 891.35
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Lifetime Miles: 23.77
Brooks ST3 II Lifetime Miles: 965.17
Lunaracers II Lifetime Miles: 198.23
Mizuno Wave Universe 3 Lifetime Miles: 104.14
Asics Piranha Lifetime Miles: 536.83
RunAmocs (Softstar) Lifetime Miles: 16.23
Piranha II Lifetime Miles: 219.53
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.8428.200.000.0038.04
Mizuno Wave Universe 3 Miles: 3.78Asics Piranha Miles: 5.26Brooks ST3 Miles: 2.80ST3-M Miles: 26.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.780.000.000.003.78

45F, cloudy, breezy, but dry.  Easy run. 

I only meant to run 3 miles; just kind of spaced out.  I guess that's good.  Got to get out into the yard and work a bit before the rain starts up again.  

 

Mizuno Wave Universe 3 Miles: 3.78
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.262.000.000.005.26

50F, partly cloudy.   2.25 E, 2 MP (+- for hills: 9:22, 8:51), 1 E. 

Pretty good run. Such a gorgeous morning.  

ETA - Everyone go say an encouraging word to my blog buddy, Barb (see my favorites list), who ran over 26 yesterday for her long run.  She and I have the same BQ goal time and I've really enjoyed reading about her exotic running life in Mali.  

Asics Piranha Miles: 5.26
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.800.000.000.002.80

55F, rainy & breezy.  1 mile slow, 1 mile moderate (~9:45), remainder slow.  Probably my last run before Saturday. 

Oh the doubts.  Sometimes I think it would be best to take some kind of drug that mimics a lobotomy during the last week of taper.  See you on the other side. 

Brooks ST3 Miles: 2.80
Comments(25)
Race: Newport Marathon (26.2 Miles) 04:25:55
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0026.200.000.0026.20

I want a do-over.  Not any time soon, mind you.  But that was pretty much a waste of good marathon. 

It was a wonderful marathon course. Really wonderful.  And I got to share some time before and after the race with friends.  But the fun-o-meter tanked early. And hard.  More on this in a moment...

Jefferey & Carolyn, spending some time with you guys and seeing you do well was a huge lift for me and will be the one of the things I remember most fondly about this race.  Also present were a couple of runners from my running club. We actually got coordinated enough to have dinner together yesterday, 10 folks total with added family members.  Great fun. 

A few days ago we all expected cool, wet weather, the angels sang down on me, and all was well.  But the day dawned with blue skies and bright sunshine. Dang.  But everything was copacetic for the first quarter of the race. 

By halfway, I was struggling a bit, but still on a good pace.  By 16 I was nauseous and slowing.  (Nausea is a typical heat reaction for me.)   By 18 I had a blister. I don't think I've ever had a blister in a marathon (one in a half-m last summer).  

Somewhere around mile 20 I was slowing enough to be sending distress messages to Mr. Sno & SnoFlake on my iPhone. Somewhere around mile 23, I threw up. Overwhelmed by self pity, I cried a little then pulled myself together. After that, I was just hanging on and trying to keep moving forward. 

Course description: The first 4-5 miles feature a lot of ups and downs. Nothing too horrible, and the temperature was still tolerable at that point.  I planned to run a couple of 10 minute miles, then a couple of 9:30s, then go to 9:00-9:10s once we flattened out. All 5 of these miles were around 9:30 though.  

A stretch of road in mile 4 was being re-paved, so we had an unpleasant couple of minutes of gravel. A big hill right after the mile 4 marker was early enough that I tried to just keep an even effort and forget about the pace.  From around mile 6 to maybe 9 there was quite a bit of shade and I was hitting most of my miles very close to 9:00, with one under 9!  I was walking 15-20 seconds through each water stop, drinking one cup and pouring a second on myself.  Took salt pills and Nuun from mile 10 on. 

I was at 2:03 at mile 13.  Not ideal, but not bad.  The course has a turn around at mile 15, that turned out to be far enough past 15 to mess with my mind a bit.  All the way from 13 to 15, I kept thinking we were going slightly up hill, but at the turn around I found it was an illusion.  :(  

At 16, we were headed "home" and things started to fall apart.  The sun felt so very hot.  I sat down somewhere around mile 20 to add vaseline to my blistering foot, which may have saved the rest of my race from becoming a total death march.  In a way, it's amazing I came in when I did considering the puking, the pain, and the general discouragement.

The hill at mile 25-26, about which I worried in my comments section yesterday, was surprisingly manageable.  For sure, I slowed way down, but in my condition I expected I'd have to walk it, which I did not.  The last .2 goes flat and then down steeply, and my legs did fine on that.  I felt like I was limping, favoring the foot with the blister, but Mr. Sno says I looked strong. What a great guy.

I'm sorry about the negative report, and the negative results.  If good friends and a desire to make people proud of me could work miracles, I would have a BQ to share instead of a blister and a bunch of tears.  But for someone who hasn't trained much in any temps over 55 for 9 months, 70s (in the sun - 60s in the shade) was just too much for me. 

After the marathon, Carolyn's family and mine had lunch together, then spent the afternoon walking/hobbling around the beautiful Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Museum.  Being by the sea is very soothing and helps put things into perspective.  Huge thanks to my friends, and my wonderfully supportive family.  Newport Marathon, I'll see you again. 

ST3-M Miles: 26.20
Comments(23)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.8428.200.000.0038.04
Mizuno Wave Universe 3 Miles: 3.78Asics Piranha Miles: 5.26Brooks ST3 Miles: 2.80ST3-M Miles: 26.20
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