Change in Plans and the Shortest Ragnar Recap Ever

I ran Ragnar Northwest Passage (my first relay) two weekends ago. Never heard of Ragnar or a relay? Here’s the short version: 12 runners pile into two vans and take turns running. Each person runs three times, and by the end of it, the team runs a total of 200 miles.

Relay recaps tend to get pretty lengthy, so I’m going to give you the quick and dirty version: IT WAS AWESOME.

The key to having fun during a relay is having good people in your van. When you’re sleep deprived and having GI issues (oh man, my stomach was a hot mess!), you don’t want to be in a van with high-maintenance drama queens. Thankfully, my van was pretty darn awesome. No drama, just lots of laughter, singing along to 90s pop, and encouragement.

Rock N Roll Seattle Half Marathon Race Recap

Yesterday I ran the RNR Seattle half. My race strategy, per my coach’s instructions, was to not look at my Garmin and run by feel. Warm up for the first three miles and then shift into half marathon pace.

Going into the race, I had no expectations of PR’ing, but I did hope to be able to run goal marathon pace (9:00). Spoiler alert: didn’t quite work out.

I was a little scattered on race morning. Due to a stupid long porta potty line, I started the race farther back than normal (corral 17 when I should have been in 10-12). And my head was just a mess. I’ve been really enjoying my easy-paced runs, and I was scared of how much the end of the race would hurt. This was the first race I’ve “raced” in more than six months, and I was scared and lacked confidence. In many ways, it was deja vu of Eugene Marathon.

The race started and I tried to find a reasonable pace. I tapered more for this race than I have any other recent half marathon, so I was surprised my legs didn’t feel quite as springy and light as I expected. This only added to the crazy thoughts circling my not so stable brain.

I felt like I was going at a decent pace, but my was head was just not in it. I questioned whether I was going too slow/too fast. Would I blow up at mile 10? Was I going too slow and wish I had done more?

I had pretty much assumed that I would break 2 hours, so when I looked at my cumulative time around 12.5, I was shocked when I realized I would be finishing in 2+ hours.

I finished in 2:03:44, and I’ll be honest:I was pissed when I crossed the finish line.

But now that I’ve had 24 hours to decompress and I emailed with my coach, I’m over being pissed. RNR was not a goal race, and I’d rather have a bad day now rather than on October 5. Time to move on and use this disappointment as motivation for the next 15 weeks.

And, on the bright side, there were a ton of photographers on the course. Here are a few gems.

Hooray! Finally a normal picture!

Here are my splits, if you’re into that sort of thing.

It’s OK

So that half marathon reality check I mentioned in my last post?

I didn’t run it. In fact, I took four days off from running, and am now easing myself back into it.

I haven’t talked about it much (mostly just in passing), but my shin splints have been an ongoing (and annoying) problem. I’ve been able to keep them mostly at bay by regular icing and wearing compression socks. Even still, that dull ache has been a companion during a lot of runs (usually my tempo runs and speed intervals).

Last week I made i through about 1/3 of my first mile repeat before I called it quits. I was running on the treadmill and experiencing a little discomfort (nothing too bad or out of the ordinary) and suddenly my left leg (the one with shin splints) gave out and my upper body fell on the treadmill. This sounds a lot more dramatic than it really was (for all I know, I just tripped).

But it freaked me out. It made me realize that I can’t keep ignoring this problem that’s followed me around for nearly three months. The next day, I did a test run around Greenlake to see if I should bag the half marathon. The pain was still there, and mentally I had reached my breaking point and didn’t have it in me to keep pushing through it.

A Few Updates

Man, I’ve been a blog slacker lately. I’ve started half a dozen blog posts, but then I get distracted, my ADD kicks in, and they end up in the trash bin. Like anything in life, once I fall out of the habit of blogging, it’s tough to get back in it.

To ease myself out of my blogging hiatus, here are a few random updates (both running and not running related):

1. I took last Friday off from work so I could get my second 20-mile run in. It was tough (I wanted to quit at mile 2), but I got it done.

My only goal for this run was to get the miles in. Mission accomplished.