Left Denver at 6 to make it to the 8 am start...it was probably 58 degrees at the start which was nice! The temp quickly started to rise though, and it was 80 by the time I finished. My face got a serious sunburn...oops. Once we left Georgetown after a quick 2-mile loop my hands finally warmed up and there was no blocking the sun for the next 11.1 miles.
Me all tired and cold at the scenic start.
I felt pretty good throughout most of the race...the last few miles were a bit tough. I could feel the effects of the altitude on my legs (my lungs handled it fine...yeah!) and it was HOT HOT HOT. I finished in 2:44 which is a half marathon PR for me. I was on a good training pace for the first half and gradually slowed down in the second as the temperatures rose.
I picked up and lost (or was lost) some fellow Runners Edge runners throughout the race which was nice to as we went along. Typically after a race (even the training runs for that matter) I feel pretty good physically and mentally...I was a bit down after this race and couldn't really figure out why (other than the fact that when I found madre at the finish she was like "uh, i think i broke the prius...it won't turn on..).
In the end I think its that races of this distance have typically been the culmination of training...the end of all of the hard work if you will...a reason for celebration. Instead, this was truthfully just the beginning because these next 8 weeks until Chicago are going to be mentally challenging and physically tough. For the upcoming Saturdays my runs are (in miles/respectively): 16, 10, 18, 14, 20, 12, 8...26.2 (eek!). I'm really nervous for next Saturdays 16-miler. I think if I can pass that hurdle I might make it 18...and 20...and eventually 26.2. All good thoughts are appreciated ;-)
It was a nice change of pace to run a race instead of the training run...your entire mentality is different and this race especially made me thankful that I'm running a race at a MUCH lower altitude than I live in because I know that will help...even though Runners Edge says "Sea level is for sissies..."
Until then I guess I'll just run it out!
PS -- Madre did manage to hit a button I didn't know existed that disabled my magic prius key sensor...luckily we figured it all out pretty quickly and weren't stuck in Idaho Springs.
PSS -- If you haven't seen the movie Hairspray...go see it! It was so fun!
2 comments:
Congratulations on your PR! Good luck with the rest of your training. When is the Chicago Marathon?
October 7!
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