Sunday, March 13, 2011

Celebrate Life Half Marathon 2011

I was well and ready for this race. The past few weeks my training had been amazing. I was turning over mile and half mile repeats. Hill sprints. Tempos. They were all feeling amazing.

Today not so much...

I warmed up nicely but felt very tight in some places, and felt as though I didn't exist in others. Part of my hamstrings were not responding. They felt as though they were numb from feeling. I couldn't keep proper form, I couldn't produce consistent power. It was just one of those days. A few days ago I could go out and run a 2400 in 9 min with graceful form and a feeling to keep going for miles. Today I couldn't even run the first 400 in good fashion. I felt tight. I felt weak. Just one of those days.

1st Mile - 5:55 - Perfect Split for what I can do but just didn't feel right. I felt as though I was off.
2nd Mile - 6:12 - I began to feel frustrated that I couldn't produce any power. My muscles tightened further and began to constrict my movement.
3rd Mile - 6:00 - I pushed harder hoping that I would break free from this feeling. It just became worse and by this time I already wanted to stop. I felt so uncomfortable.
4th Mile - 6:34 - There was a large hill which changed the position of producing force from the Muscles. During the hill I creeped to a mush slower. It was a great idea even though Andy pulled away. My muscles started relaxing but I still felt terrible.
5th Mile - 5:51 - Obviously I felt better, but a lot this make up time was due to the downhill net in this mile. I could work more of my muscles to their potential but they were still only working at 60%.
6th Mile - 6:05 - I was losing air. My windpipe was still tight from the tightening attack in the beginning of the race.
7th Mile - 6:19 - My chest slowely tightened and had an event like an asthma attack. I tried really hard to relax my breathing to allow for more air but nothing. I just worked with what I had.
8th Mile - 6:10 - I had put myself on auto-pilot. Just drown out what was going on and go.
9th Mile - 6:45 - I hit that hill again and was truly fatigued by the fight I was going through. I needed a slight breather on this hill. I wanted to stop. I was burning and just muscling my way through this race. It should be graceful, It should be relaxed.
10th Mile - 5:59 - Again a good downhill portion but the hill relaxed me once again to make another attack.
11th Mile - 6:21 - Just on Auto-Pilot again. Pushing through. Fighting the wind.
12th Mile - 6:25 - Struggling to make ends meet. I'm so close to the end.
13th Mile - 6:04 - Relaxed a bit more. It has been a difficult race.

Finish : 1:21:18 - A Personal Best

The time is hopeful. Even though my race was close to a disaster today, I felt strong. Even though I struggled and had to muscle my way through the race, I still broke last years graceful time by a full minute. It definitely gives me hope for the upcoming season.

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