Rails to Trails

Well, I ended up running the half marathon yesterday rather than the full marathon. (Next to me in the blue is Arvid Fristad, president of the St. Cloud River Runners. He very graciously slowed down with me and provided some light. I'd relied on my headlamp for the first pass through the tunnel and it was useless.) And I feel very confident that I made the right decision. There were lots of unknowns with this race, I hadn't slept well for the two nights prior to the race, was having right leg/lower back pain for a couple days, felt kind of discombobulated (??), and the biggest reason ... my mind just wasn't in the right state to run a full marathon. I just don't seem to have the self-confidence right now to go the full distance. I'm very competitive, with myself especially, and don't like it when I don't reach my goals (but that's probably nothing unique). Anyway, I was hoping to run just under 1:45 (automatic entry in NY marathon for a female my age without having to do the lottery thing, and first coral at TCM). Didn't happen. I ran 1:46:29 and ended up tweaking something on my right side (feels like the disk pain did when it was in the process of herniating a few years ago). I did make the right decision.

The race was new this year. 5K, half and full marathons on the Sparta/Elroy bike trail and based out of Norwalk, WI. There were things that need to be remedied for next year for sure, but the food was plentiful and tasty and we received long-sleeved technical shirts. The most difficult and unpleasant thing for me was running through a 3/4 mile long tunnel. It was pitch black, had poor footing and required some sort of lighting (they handed out small flashlights). My early splits: 8:00 7:59 7:51 8:28 7:15 8:14 8:36 7:47 7:54 ... Anyway, you can tell where the tunnels were. I just wasn't comfortable not being able to determine where there was stable footing, having water dripping on me, worrying about running into someone either ahead or running toward me, etc. Definitely lost time in the tunnels. Also difficult for me, the head winds. Pretty windy day it was. The course is a straight line NW/SE and basically out and back. When you get to the farthest NW point on the course, you head back SE for half the distance of your race. So I ran into a head wind (more noticeable at the open points on the course) in a straight line for 6.55 miles. Had I had to do that for 13.1 miles, and up a very long incline, I'd have certainly psyched myself out. Also, the energy drink was a Sparta, WI bottled drink called Torrent in my least favorite flavor--fruit punch. Bleh. I drank only water during the half (and felt low on energy). Again, I feel like I made the right decision in which race to run.

I think the Rochester runners did quite well. The full marathoners amongst our merry little band all finished under 4 hours with Maureen Jones reaching her goal of a BQ so as to be able to run Boston with her sister Michelle. ;-) Good job, Maureen.

I'll post a slide show later, but have to get busy doing some other things.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow. Everyone who votes gets a free cup of coffee at Starbucks (you probably need your 'I VOTED' sticker.)


(at about 10 miles) I never seem to be in full stride, but look rather like my legs are going to collapse ...

Enjoy this beautiful day! It's great to put on shorts and sandals one more time.