So as you know, yesterday morning I ran the 2014 Evansville Half Marathon and besting my 2013 PR by 3 minutes and 26 seconds by finishing in 1:53:12 with an average pace of 8:39 min/mile. It was a tough race, unlike all my other half marathons I was running on fatigued legs but I toughed it out and focused on keeping a steady pace and keeping it under 9 min/mile.
It was tough, and I was definitely feeling it afterwards but I had my Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator tablets and my Gaspari Nutrition BCAA tablets to take within 20 minutes (took me 10 minutes to get from the finish to my Tahoe). I didn't really eat much throughout the day, honestly I wasn't really that hungry but I did manage to have a good sized lunch at Denny's (Banana Pecan Pancakes, two orders of scrambled eggs and 4 pcs of turkey bacon) and then I took two more of my Tissue Rejuvenator tablets later that afternoon.
I had signed up for the Blood Moon Run 5k a week ago, don't ask why but I think it was pretty much because of the name of the race (love it!) before I looked at the date lol. I told myself I would take it easy, run this as a cool down. I had no idea what the course was like, and within the first quarter of a mile there was a gigantic hill, almost 100 feet in less than half a mile, not exactly what I am used to though some would just scoff at this lol. It definitely took the wind out of me, but I didn't walk it at all and having people around me that knew I had just ran the half marathon that morning pushed me more. I didn't want to walk during a 5k.
A friend of mine that I knew ran the half marathon that morning as well, she had gotten ahead of me during the hill and just about disappeared. She is training for her first 50k which is also on November 1, so she is pretty tough. Well, we came to a fork about a half mile in the race and she and a few others took the wrong turn. I tried to take advantage of that as we were now going down hill, but I could hear she was already close behind me. The second hill, just after mile 1 wasn't nearly as big as the first one but it gave her a chance to pass me again but I managed to keep her within 20 feet ahead of me. Throughout the rest of the race she would yo-yo between 10 and 30 feet ahead of me, and my plan to take it easy had gone out the window. I gave chase and stayed on her, not sure if I had the strength or energy to pass her but I just kept a steady pace. As we came around the turn to the finish, she and I gave a great kick but she managed to finish 2 seconds ahead of me.
I finished the 5k in 26:37 with an average pace of 8:34 min/mile, 185 feet in elevation gain total and a loss of 188 feet.
Splits were:
Mile 1 - 9:20
Mile 2 - 9:28
Mile 3 - 8:08
Overall: 8th out of 32
Gender: 3 out of 21
Yeah, it ended up not being an easy, slow run but I really enjoyed the challenge and my friend thanked me for pushing her (she ran 10 miles this morning, after having ran 13.1 yesterday morning and 3.1 that night!) I hope I can gain as much endurance and strength when I begin my training for my first 50k next year.
I am feeling pretty good this morning, a little sore but not bad. I am not running today or tomorrow, just going to stretch and foam roll and then resume my training on Tuesday, keeping in mind to take it easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment