Quad Cities Marathon

Race Day. The morning was cold and I got to the race perfectly on time.  Decided to stay with the 3:30 pacer. He went kind of slow the first mile –his plan, but later he was speeding up.  There were a couple of hills on the first two miles, so it was a very smart decision. These first miles were sub 8:00. Later, he kept the 8:00 MM. Things were going just fine. The route seemed endless, as usual. But it was when I finished mile 17, when I started having pains I had not ever had before.  I had this pain by the right front of my hip.  The pain was so bad, I knew I had to stop running. Also, cramps started bothering in my calves, and I just had to walk.  After a few seconds, I just tried running again. I knew jogging slow was better than walking, so I kept going. I reached mile 20. The last six miles were the longest miles I have ever run. Painful. I put everything I had in the last 1.5 miles. Not enough to PR. 
Garmin connect: LINK

Lesson to be learned: I need to work on my ENDURANCE.  Long runs at slow pace.  Finishing in 3:30 looks so far away. The last ten miles...  I need to work on my last ten miles! Hopefully, I can run the Marion Marathon in April next year.

IC downtown races

Signed up for three races. They are called the IC downtown races. The first one will be tomorrow starting at 3:33 PM. It will be 3 K distance. That's less than 2 miles. My strategy will be to run next to this guy and take off after the first mile, so I can do a negative split. Let's see if I follow the plan. 

The temperature has been coming down. It was sub 50's this morning and I wore two shirts and long sleeves. Ran five miles with Karen. We went a little bit faster than usual. My Achilles hurts before I warm up my muscles. I am sure that if I warm up properly the Achilles will not bother me at all.

New Bo Fest Half Marathon

The training program called for a 26 mile run. I know endurance is one of my weaknesses, and I know how important these long runs are. But, I cannot run alone.  I tried different running partners, and it was hard to find a person who wanted to run 26 slow miles. My best option was offered by Jen. She planed to run about five miles before the New Bo Fest Half-Marathon, and then maybe a couple more miles after the race. I knew I was going to be dead tired after running a half marathon race. But, I thought, racing plus a few miles BEFORE the race could well substitute 26 slow miles.
I was able to run about six very slow miles before the race started. 

Not sure what pace to run, but went a little bit too fast for the first few miles.  I was following some "pretty" good runners, but I knew it was going to be hard to keep that pace for 13 miles. I ran sub-seven MM pace for the first  five miles. Then, I had to let them go and slow down a bit. Miles 11-13 were 9:00, 9:24 and 9:15 MM. I decided to walk in the water stops and hydrate well. I think that might have helped a little bit. The race was extremely well organized, as they usually are here in Cedar Rapids. 

Now, it's time to taper until September 22nd. Let's see if I can stay with the 8:05 MM pacer for 26 miles. I'll try to run smart and stay behind the pacer this time. I will also try to get as much rest as I can at least two days before the race.