Running on Twinkies

I ran the Striders Half Marathon today. I wasn't expecting much from this race. I haven't ran all week because my arthritis has been acting up. It wasn't much better today, but I have signed up for the whole series and want to complete it. So I just ran conservatively today.

I checked the weather report last night and it said the weather would be about 20 degrees and a severe storm warning was in effect until noon today. I decided to dress warm. It was snowing at home when I left but at the race start it wasn't bad, there were a few snow flurries.

I did a 2 mile warmup and realized that I was dressed to warm. So I took my wind breaker off and tied it around my waist. I thought about tossing it in the bin to be picked up at the finish, but thought I might need it if the weather changed. That was a good idea. I was wearing my wind breaker pants, long sleeved mess t-shirt with my twinkies shirt over, thick gloves, and a head band.

My first mile was 7:21 and my second was 7:30. I felt pretty good and decided to maintain that pace for a while. After about mile 4, the miles seemed to be flying by. It seemed like I had just passed a mile marker cone, when I we see the next one coming up. This lasted until about mile 8. After that none of the miles seemed fast, or were fast for that matter.

At mile 8 the wind came out fierce and strong. The course turned several times but never turned out of it, we had either a crosswind or a head wind for the next five miles. There was an aid station at mile 8.5 which had Gu. I grabbed a Gu and gulped it down, it was chocolate mint flavored. I grabbed a water to wash it down with, but had actually grabbed Gatorade. Chocolate Mint Gu and Gatorade. That's quite the combination. Somehow, I managed to keepit all down. At about mile 10, the wind really picked up. Strong and COLD. I took my wind breaker off my waist and put it back on. That helped, but the wind was a challenge.

The final few hundreds yards of the race was actually with the wind. Wahoo. I finished with a time of 1:43:31. Nothing great but pretty good considering the week I have had and the wind. After the race I went home, showered, and went in to work. I am back home now and I'm quite stiff and sore. Time for some rest.

I got to the race a 7:00 a.m. and picked up my packet. Then I did a .5 mile warmup. This warmup was my first time to run since the half marathon three weeks ago. I have arthritis in my knees and haven't been able to train because of it. I wanted to finish this series so I taped my knees up and planned on running slow. Enough about me, let's talk about the race. 

It was raining before the race started. About five minutes before the start it turned to snow mixed with rain. It rained and snowed on and off for about the first half of the race. The second half of the race was dry, but we were soaked.

My first mile was 9:40. After that I decided to not pay attention to my splits becuase it would just be depressing. The aid station at mile 3 (same aid for mile 15 on the way back) had a sign on it that said Tiki Bar. All the volenteers were decked out in tropical attire. There were even some inflatable palm trees. It was fun.

At mile 12 my gps gave a low battery warning. It lasted until the finish, but I wasn't really using it today. By mile 14 my legs started to feel the fatigue of not training. By mile 16 I had to really push to keep going.

I finished the race at 3:22, which would be a good time for a marathon. My goal today was to just finish and complete the series. I did that, and I stayed injury free.

The contest lasts for moments
though the training's taken years.
It wasn't the winning alone
that was worth the work and tears.
The applause will be forgotten,
the prize misplaced.
But the long, hard hours of practice
will never be a waste!
For in trying to win you build a skill;
you learn that winning depends on will.
You never grow by how much you win,
you only grow by how much you put in.
So in any new challenge you've just begun,
put forth your best and you've already won! 

W. A. Clennan 

After doing some serious stretching, I squeaked out a small run.

Tonight I ran with the Dirt Tours with the Front. It was the first run of the year for the group. There were six of us today, Jun and Enoch from the blog, Nate who is in charge of the group, and two girls I didn't know. I ran with this group all last year and it was lot of fun. I say group, but a lot of the runs we just Nate and I.

We started at Morris Meadow in the Avenues and headed up to Twin Peaks. This route has some challenging up hils, but I was able to run the whole way. On the way down Nate and I took the less hilly route along the Bonneville Shorline Trail. This added about an extra half mile.

I really enjoyed getting out and running on the dirt again. I am looking forward to running with the group this summer.