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.

Prep for the Celebrate Life Half Marathon

So tomorrow is the Celebrate Life Half Marathon. It's time to get serious. Realistically I can pull off a sub-1:17. The winning time last year was 1:18:30. Time to go after the win.

Today's Workout
30 min Run
30 min Bike
Some fartlek to loosen up.

Feelin' Good

So Binghamton Basketball... Advances to semi-finals crushing UMBC :-)

So Binghamton T&F... Congrats on Runner-Up position and Top performers :-)

It must be catching. I feel great. During my easy 45 min today I put out a 9 min 2400m without any effort and continued to put sub-3's for the 800m in a fartlek kind of way. I did not push myself. This week is a good recovery week, but you always need a little speed to stay fresh. The celebrate life half marathon is coming up next week and I hope I post a good time. I think I have a good shot at winning this half-marathon. Last year's time was 1:18:30 and I feel I'm a lot stronger than I was after training 43 days from my accident.

Bella is still hobbling around. The vet said that she may have lyme disease and that may be why one of her joints is acting up. They put her on medication so we'll see how she reacts to it. It comatose's her pretty well throughout the day. Ironically Doxy-cycline (spelling?) is the same anti-biotic I was put on during the emergency surgery on my clavicle. I feel like Bella and I have something in common. :p

Today's Workout
45 min Run - Easy fartlek
45 min Bike - Easy

Full Body Stretch

Nutrition
String Cheese
Yogurt
Oatmeal with nuts and fruit
toast with butter
meatloaf burgers