Wednesday night waddling

I really need to get back to morning running because I just can't get this night running thing down. I went out tonight without eating properly, so I felt uneasy the entire time. But, hey, I was running along the Saint John River on a beautiful May evening so it can't be that bad. I walked out the door at a 7:45 p.m., when the sun was just starting to descend behind the hills and a gentle wind was at my back -- more on that a bit later. I took the first kilometre pretty easy, 4:25, and then tried to pick it up from there. I started to average 4:15s but I just couldn't get in my groove. On the way home, I didn't realize how helpful that wind was because oiyeee it felt like running into a brick wall at times. By the time I tagged the telephone pole outside my house, I think I finished in about 34:45. Not bad, but I would have liked to take a minute off.
What is really starting to bother me is I'm just not at the level I was this time last year. Granted, I haven't done any consistent speedwork, which I intend to start post haste, I'm starting to worry about the season. I need to become a heck of a lot more consistent in my running and I need some of my friends to get on me each day that I cop out of a scheduled run!

A shout out

I just want to offer a shout-out to my friend Bruyere who left a comment last week after I moaned about my disastrous half-marathon showing. And she reminded me of a quote that I used in one of my old race reports, "a bad day racing is always a better than a life of couch-dwelling." That is so true and I'm glad she pointed that out to me. I will likely run fewer races this season with the intention of competing in a few bigger races at the end of the season. So I need to keep motivated and people like Bruyere definitely make it easier when I know people are going to call me out when I need it!

A weekend of running

Ok, my weekend of running was only two days but it was two more days than I had feared. One day I will bore this blog with all of the house drama that has unfolded in my life over the last two months and has recently replaced family health issues and work as the number two cause of missed run -- sadly, my own complacency still ranks as number one. Anyway, I was up to my eyeballs in house controversy on Thursday and Friday, pushing off my running. Saturday was raining and an extended period of time to spend with the family so it was up to Sunday and Monday. I got out an easy 5K on Sunday evening once everyone was asleep. I finished in about 20:30. The splits were all over the place. On Monday, I once again got out when the girls were off in la-la land. I had every intention of running 10K but about 750 metres into the run I noticed I was lighter than normal. I had forgotten my water bottle. Argh. Without any water, there was no way I was going to run 10K. I opted for 8K and ended up very thankful that I did because that large Second Cup coffee and one and a half biscotti did not sit well on the return trip down the trail. I ended up finishing a bit over 34 minutes. Again my splits were horribly inconsistent, partly due to a brutal headwind on the way out. They ranged from 4:15 to 4:30 back to 4:12 to 4:25 to 4:08. But I ran and that made me happy.

Am I done yet?

For some reason I want to prolong my pain by posting this photo of yesterday's finish line. Thanks to Bruce for taking it and then sending it to me. Take not of blue skies in the background, I can also assure you that there was not much of a wind and it was hot beyond belief. Ok, I'm done making excuses for a few more minutes.

As if I needed more inspiration

I just found this on the Marathon By The Sea website. As if I needed more of a kick in the pants to start training than I did from yesterday's half-marathon debacle.

The Loyalist Qualifier Challenge

Saint John and Boston have had a long history. Emigration of the New England Loyalists to Saint John, the burgeoning trade route of the merchant sailing ships of the 19th century, and now the inaugural Loyalist Qualifier Challenge™.

Our mission as a marathon event is to provide extraordinary personal experiences. Tim Hortons and Marathon By The Sea have teamed up to recognize achieving one of marathoning's higest accomplishments – qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

In the spirit of the Loyalists' perseverance, all marathoners who finish Marathon By The Sea on September 23rd, 2007 with a Boston Marathon qualifying time for their respective age group, will be inducted into Marathon By The Sea Loyalist Qualifier team and receive a commemorative Marathon By The Sea Loyalist Qualifier™ technical race hat.

Better yet, they will also have an equal opportunity to be one of twenty six Loyalist Qualifiers™ that will travel as a team to the 2008 Boston Marathon on the Tim Hortons Coach courtesy of Tim Hortons.

Wow! Where do you want to qualify for the 2008 Boston Marathon? Stay tuned for more details.

Ready to RUN WITH IT! Register now through the Running Room online. Enter here now! Or download a PDF of Registration Form.

Ouch

Wow, I managed to break every single rule yesterday and lived to tell the story. Well, if you call this living. I'm not going to complain considering I knew better and I ignored the angel on my shoulder warning me of what would inevitably happen. I won't drone on too long, suffice to say when the gun fired at yesterday's Fredericton Half-Marathon, I started at a pretty good clip. I finished the first kilometre in 4:05. I said to myself and Ricky, who was running with me at the time, that we should slow down. So proceeded to do just that, or so I thought. If memory serves, my second split was 4:06 (or something silly). I just could not seem to get into a proper pace. Making things worse on the second loop around Ste-Anne's Pointe, I started running into throngs of 5K/10K runners. I pulled out to the left and started passing them, which ultimately meant my pace was elevating again. By the time I hit the trails, I knew it was going to be a long day. I started running with a marathoner for about 10K and I kept my pace around 4:20. The writing was on the wall, around 15K that I couldn't maintain my pace. When I hit 18K, I thought it would be smart to walk through the final aid station to collect my thoughts and rest a bit. At this point, I was on pace for 1:34 or thereabouts. I knew that was likely a pipedream but my trusty Garmin told me I was roughly 600 metres ahead of schedule (I had paced myself for 1:36). Sadly, once I stopped moving at the aid station, it was game over. I couldn't continue running. I run/walked for the final 3K. I have never walked in a race -- ever. I ended up finishing in 1:41.
I'm disappointed in my race but not because my time was five minutes slower than I've ever run a half-marathon before, but because I knew better. This result was completely avoidable. My Garmin normally reminds me to hold back in the early going of a race and for whatever reason I just forged ahead knowing that I would die in about 15K or so. The heat was also a factor, if it was about five degrees cooler, I probably wouldn't have crashed so hard on the course. This race has definitely reminded me that I can't just race without the proper preparation. It has also motivated me to start training for the fall.

Another 5K in the books

It wasn't stellar, it was far from pretty, but I got another 5K in the books. This is the first time since early April that I can remember getting three runs done in the same week. I have a slight pain in my left leg but it isn't too much. I just need to stretch better. My time is slightly improving. I finished this run in about 20:19, or 20 seconds faster than Tuesday. I wasn't going for time per se, but I wanted to see how my body held up trying to push out a decent time. I'm still a tad worried about Sunday's race.

Shouldn't this be a taper?

I know I should be tapering this week and I guess I am, but I feel I just need to be getting out consistently after almost a month of sporadic running. So on Tuesday night, after the girls went to bed -- notice I didn't write "went to sleep" -- I got out for a 5K run. I had intended to go for 8K but I knew I had to get home quickly to help finally get them to sleep. My legs felt a bit heavy but I finished it off in about 20:40. Obviously that is a bit slow for my liking but it was good just to be running. I am starting to get concerned again about my hamstring, it just never seems to want to get back to 100 per cent.

back at it

I got out for a nice 10K run last night. It was a wonderful evening for a run. I hadn't laced up the shoes for more than a week because of sickness -- whether mine or one of the girls -- so I thought I'd take it easy. I don't have my Garmin with me as I type this, so I'm not sure what my overall time was. I assume it was around 42:30. I was just happy to get out for a run. My legs are a bit stiff today but nothing out of the ordinary. I am worried about Sunday's half-marathon though considering my lack of recent running. C'est la vie.