Slow Down!

I ran the stupidest race of my life at the More Half Marathon on April 6th. I was aiming for 8:40's for the first few miles. I kept looking at my watch for pace, and seeing the last part, the :48 and :50, and thought, ok, I'm doing 8:48, fine. Well, I was running 7:48 and 7:50 for the first 2 miles, then an 8:06 at mile 3 (that huge hill), then a 7:50 again for mile 4. It was just inconceivable to me that I could run that fast ever, so I thought it must be 8 minute miles, not 7. But finally I try slowing down, didn't bring it below 8:06 until Mile 7, when I had horrible stomach cramps resulting in a 70 second+ pit stop. I never got back in the groove after that. I'm sure the fast start caused the stomach problems, because I must have used the bathroom about 5 times before the race. I also woke up at 3:55 am that morning, so my body had plenty of time to wake up. My last mile was 8:16, but miles 8 and 9 were slow. Central Park is a tough, hilly course. I finished in 1:53:31, my best time on that course (only by 7 seconds), but the last 5 miles were so incredibly painful. I'm just really pissed at myself because I blew a good opportunity to do better, and I can't make that mistake at Buffalo. Buffalo is a fairly flat course. On the other hand, race predictors finally have me running a sub-four marathon again, so I feel like I'm finally back in the shape I was in January '06.

On a humorous note, I literally bumped into Kathrine Switzer in the aisles of the More Expo last Friday. We both did a double take. I think she recognizes me from meeting me about 4 times in the past year, including when she spoke at the running club. So we chatted a bit, and I told her my goal was 1:50. She said, "You can do it! Just don't go out to fast." And that's exactly what I ended up doing. Doh! I could just kick myself!

I've been running a lot with Deb McNally, I think she has the marathon bug now. Last week was a high mileage week for me, 51, and this week should be 53 if I do the 20 miles on Sunday. I'm just very fatigued, but my muscles seem to be holding up under the stress. My left knee is still sore, but otherwise I'm good.