Iron Horse Half Marathon
Sunday was finally the day when Gigi and I had to prove our mettle, rise and grind and run a half marathon. Training in the summer is hard for me. The mix of heat and vacations makes it harder than I ever realize to get all of my training in. The good news is that Gigi and I managed to train up to 11.5 miles, so we weren’t too far away from the full distance. As with every run, especially the longer runs, there’s a level of worry. Getting out on a long trail like this and having a problem is way different than having a problem on a three mile run. It’s scary to think of running on an injury for a long time or choosing to not finish. Gigi’s knee was bothering her while my hips and knees are still recovering from Disneyland. Add to that sore spots on our tootsies from the previous day’s tromp through the bubbles with wet feet for three miles! So we were cautiously optimistic as we stepped from the bus to the trail. We both believe in the advice of “Never trust a run in the first mile,” though, so we were determined to give it a try, even if we had to walk a bit.
It turns out that we both were grateful for the grace we allowed ourselves. We both ran our slowest half marathons, but we did run them. For me, I was surprised. I ran without any issue until I passed double digits, I started feeling tired during mile ten, then the shade went away during mile 11. I started getting out of breath in a way that was out of control and my heart rate started jacking up into the 178-181 range. I got the chills and goosebumps and realized that I was showing signs of heatstroke. It was around 85 degrees, I had been running for over two hours… it made sense that I was getting sick so I slowed to a walk and only ran for the last .1 mile as I crossed the finish line, and my heart never slowed to under the 150’s until I sat in my car. The heat had a big impact. For Gigi it was her knee. She tripped and fell several weeks ago, skinning and deeply bruising her knee. Her other knee made up the difference and ended up overworked as we trained up to our current mileage. In Disneyland she required a knee support while we were in the resort. Her knee started talking to her on mile three of the Iron Horse, so she spent some time walking intervals and stretching at water stops. I was proud of her for paying attention to her body instead of chasing glory. We are both very sore. Much more sore than we were when we ran our 11.5 a couple of weeks ago, which we both find a bit comical. She always complains that she never gets sore anymore, but I think this race made her change that tune. Ha ha!
Next up?
- Beat the Blerch on September 16. I still haven’t decided if I’m running the half marathon or 10k. I’m trained up for the half now… lol. It’s hard to say no to distance!
- Celebrate Schools 5k On 10/7 in an effort to raise funds for Oak Heights! If you sign up, make sure and choose my school! The more signups we have under our name the bigger piece of the fundraising pie we get. We are not a wealthy school, every penny counts!
- Cap’n Jacks Treasure Run on October 29th!!!! This is literally happening on my birthday! It’s a pirate themed 5k or 8k through Woodinville. Join in and celebrate with us if you like! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday and this is the closest to a party as I would ever throw for myself. 😉 The kids and I are running the 8k and we can toast with bananas and water after! 🙂 use my code for 10% off at checkout -tamarashazam17