Friday, May 18, 2012

Trying to make a comeback

I'm pretty sure that I am the worst blogger in the history of blogging. Although I've been "blogging" since 2001, when I opened a teen open diary account, followed by an open diary account, followed by a livejournal (or two), then this blog that I started the day or the day after my second half marathon. So I apologize to my loyal readers (Kath, Megi, Mom, and Nana.. aaand that's it.) Here's a month and a half of mileage, including a race recap. (I know, I know, I'm terrible.)

SO! The Tour de Pain Extreme


Back at the end of March and the beginning of April, Kath and I went to Jacksonville to run the Tour de Pain Extreme. This was my idea and Katherine actually jumped on the bandwagon with me, so I was really excited to do it. The race included a 10k, a 5k, and a half marathon, all within 24 hours. I thought "ooh, I've done Goofy's Challenge twice, I'll love this!"

So the first race was the 10k on a Saturday morning. I remember that we were sleepy when we got there and a little nervous that we wouldn't be able to find the starting place, because neither of us had been there before. I didn't know the course, except that it went over a few bridges. It actually was my first official 10k race. I was excited. So we got there a little early and lined up to race. The 10k course was much more difficult than I anticipated. It was extremely hilly. (and by extremely hilly, I mean that I felt like I was mountain climbing at various points.) It was extremely difficult. I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into and I had only just begun the weekend of running!

The 5k was that evening. It was extremely stormy and rainy between the races, so we were a little apprehensive about the weather. Before we started, they announced that a storm was coming and if it got bad, they would come by and recommend that people go toward the nearest shelter. Fortunately, the weather didn't get bad during the race and we were able to complete it. The course was part of the course from the morning and was pretty difficult and hilly. I was glad that I remembered the earlier course, so that I was able to remember where I was and think about what I had to prepare myself for later during the race. That was good. I did not PR during the race, although I had hoped to either PR during the 5k or the half marathon. I did not beat myself up too badly about it, because the course was so tough and I had just had a difficult race earlier that day.

The next morning, we ran the half marathon. Kath ran with me for about a mile. (I think??) Then she ran ahead, because she is much faster than I am. This race probably is one of the most difficult races that I have ever done. It felt much longer than 13 miles. It also was one of the smaller races that I have run, which made me feel, at times, like I was running on my own. For a while, there was at least a half mile both ahead of me and behind me with no other runners. That was a little crazy. Almost all of the races that I have participated in have been huge, with tons of other runners. I've never actually run alone like that. There was a section in which we ran through a graveyard. That was crazy. It was pretty shaded and cool, but it was also fully of curvy, windy pathways. After the graveyard was definitely the most difficult for me. It was mile 8 or 9, I think, and I was really struggling to keep going. I did too much walking and not enough running, which put me way behind my pace. We ran over the same steep bridges. By the end, my legs were killing me. It was tough.


I ended up about 2 minutes behind my PR.. which was okay, because it was a tough race. Also, I had just run two other races the day before. It was really intense.. but I'd do it again. I'd definitely say that it was more difficult than Goofy's Challenge.

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Since then, I've only run once. It's awful. I really need to get back to running, because I have so many races that I want to do this fall. I also really want to hit my 1000 miles goal, even though I'm WAY behind now. I'm not ready to give up.

Anyways, mileage update, etc. haha.

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days
So far: 226.73 miles/139 days
To go: 773.27 miles/227 days