Tuesday, March 8, 2011

NVM Race Report


This was my first marathon 13 years ago so what better way to test the legs than to do a little run in beautiful Napa, California- except it didn't really work out that way. For starters, I don't do the traditional taper that most *marathoners* do. In fact, I didn't taper at all. That is the beauty of long distance training though- you can jump in anytime and be ready. Then there was the weather. The weather. When I ran this race in 98 it was beautiful and sunny. Not the case Sunday.

I woke up Sunday morning at 5 ( woo hoo sleeping in!) First thing I noticed was my stiff neck. WTF? This day of all days to wake up like this. Nice. Then a pain in my hamstring. WTH? I never wake up with ailments. I stretched, rolled, stretched and then left to get the work done. Got up to the start in Calistoga with about 8 minutes to spare, just like I like it (no time to waste just get ready and GO!) There was a lovely downpour going on but the temps weren't all that cold. And then we were off. Just a lovely Sunday run in the rain. That's at least what I told myself for the entire morning.

Here are a couple of things I learned on Sunday:

- Recovery e 21 really works. I took 2 every hour on the hour and felt the difference
- Headwinds suck to run into esp. for 26 miles
- Mentally the breakdown does not happen for me until about 23 miles those last 3 are LLOOOOONNNNNGGGG
- Missed my time goal by about 5 minutes but it is not the end of the world. Going to take the positives from the race and put them in the training bank.
- I love breaking down runs like this in my head and especially during IM to show
progress. For example a marathon is only 105 laps around a track. Long but not enough to kill you. So starting out I was 105 laps from the finish, but say at mile 16 I was 40 laps from the finish. For some reason that progress makes me feel so much better. ( I know... I am weird, but we all got to have something right?)
- This year is gonna be good!

A little picture from my dad who came and saw me (after the fact at mile 1 then took off to do a little winery hopping! (navy skirt capri long sleeve white shirt)

Thanks for reading. Sorry kind of random :)

4 comments:

  1. Like using races for long tempo runs as well. My personal favorite are the Pacific Coast Trail runs. Onward and upward!

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  2. I was wondering if you were going to tell us how it went! Way to hang tough... you know, races like that build a type of mental tenacity that you can't otherwise gain. Excellent. And yes, e21 works. I've felt it too- black and white. Almost creepy.

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  3. I can't believe you ran a marathon on Sunday! CONGRATS :)

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