2017 Race #3 - Towpath Ten-Ten

It's still exciting to me to be writing race reports again.

The Towpath Ten-Ten was my 3rd race of the year, and the 2nd of the Towpath Trilogy. I think I may have already mentioned it in my 5 miler recap from April; but I am planning to actually complete the trilogy this year. In 2012 I did the 10 miler in June and the 10k in October but hadn't done any of the distances in April so I didn't complete the trilogy. Back then I had decided that in 2013 I was going to complete the trilogy.....but we all know what happened in 2013.

So when I started running consistently again in late 2016, I decided that THIS would be the year that I would finally tackle the trilogy. And now I have completed 2 of the 3 races and definitely plan to complete the 3rd in October.

It's funny because I re-read my race recap from this race 5 years ago and back then I wasn't really "feeling" the race either. I made a comment that I had to remind myself I was running 10 miles that weekend and had to stop thinking about it like it was no big deal. Well, this time I didn't really have to remind myself and I was well aware it was a big deal; but I just couldn't get excited about it. I was thinking I would struggle and I wasn't feeling overly confident about the 10 miles. I was kind of wishing I would have signed up for the 10k instead of the 10 miler. But alas, I had signed up for the 10 miler so that was what I was going to complete.

I did not have my partner in crime because a) she's out of town and b) she's not able to run right now anyway. The good news was that my sister and brother in-law were also doing the 10 miler. That meant I at least had someone to walk to the start line with and hang out until the race started. We met in the parking lot and made the almost 1 mile trek to the starting line for the 10 miler.

The big races are fun and all, but there is something I really enjoy about smaller races. We didn't have to wait very long once we got to the start line and before we knew it they were ringing the cowbell and we were off. I lined up at the very back of the pack on purpose. Lisa and Chris took off (as I knew they would) and I started my intervals. I had decided to just stick with my 2/1 intervals even though recently I have started doing intervals based on my heart rate. Since I have really just started doing that I didn't feel confident about finishing 10 miles that way.

The first mile certainly didn't feel easy. I think I was running pretty fast when I was running and walking at an OK pace during the walk breaks. I hit the first mile at 12:42 and I was quite happy with that. Again, my watch was slightly ahead of the mile markers and by the end of the race my watch said I traveled 10.3 miles instead of "just" 10. So, again, I like my pace on my Garmin better than my official pace! 😆

My watched beeped for mile 2 and told me that mile was in 12:57. It went downhill from there. I think it was some time around mile 3 that I decided to pay attention to my heart rate. It was HOT and HUMID and I just got the feeling that I should start paying attention to my heart rate. I think perhaps it was a good thing I did because my heart rate was high (which is not anything new) and was having a hard time recovering. I started walking a lot more to try to get my HR back down before I ran again. I was finding it harder and harder to get my HR low enough to be OK with running. Then, I would start running again and it would probably take 10 seconds for my HR to spike up again.

All alone on the course

The interesting thing about yesterday was that I never got really upset. I mean, did I want to do better? Of course. But, perspective is a wonderful thing. I remembered reading my recap from 2012 and being so negative about not keeping my intervals and being slow, etc. I ended up crushing the goal I had set for myself, but I was still not happy because the goal I set was "so slow". Well guess what? Yesterday I never really picked a solid goal, but of course I had a couple in mind. I DID NOT HIT ANY OF THOSE GOALS AND THAT IS TOTALLY FINE! I was able to go out there and cover 10 miles and finish upright. I don't take that stuff for granted anymore. This was also the first time I ever actually thought I might not finish a race. Around mile 6 I realized I was pretty much all alone on the course. There were obviously people in front of me, but they were so far in front of me that I couldn't see them. I knew there was at least one person behind me and she was far enough behind that as some points I couldn't see her either. I was struggling and knew I had 4 more miles to go. I walked almost the entire 6th mile because I couldn't get my HR to go below 163. Around mile 8 I became more confident I would finish, but I wasn't feeling good. I would try to run and when I stopped I would get light headed. When that happened I decided that it was stupid to push myself to an extreme that might hurt me. I basically walked the rest of the race. I might have put a few 1 minute run intervals in there, but not many.

I crossed the finish line in 2:33:34. As a reminder, in 2012 I crossed the finish line in 2:17:04 and I was not happy with that. Yesterday I came in dead last in my age group and I came in 342nd out of 350....and I don't care. Well, I don't care is not really the correct statement. I care. I want to be faster. I wish I could just push through and finish, but I can't (yet) and that's OK. At least I'm out there trying and not giving up. The heat and humidity were no joke. I thought the half marathon was hot/humid and yesterday was 12 degrees hotter and I'm guessing the humidity was higher as well.

This is my "it is what it is, at least I got the medal" face.

It's been awhile......

It's been almost a month since my last blog post and, as usual, that is because I have been struggling.

Struggling now, like I was struggling to get up this hill. 

The good news is that I've "only" gained about 2 pounds since my lowest weigh in on May 1st. The bad news is that I can't seem to get my head out of my butt and get myself back on track! I do wonder if this is a little of those post race blues. I talked about this experience after completing the full marathon in 2012. The same type of thing is happening now. I completed the half marathon in May, which was my BIG goal for the year. It was my "comeback" race. It was the race to prove to myself that I actually CAN do this again and I will get back to where I once was (and continue on). And now it's over.

BEST RACE PIC EVER!!!!!

It's so weird because it's not like I don't have other goals for this year. I have the Towpath 10-10 coming up this weekend and I'm doing the 10 miler. I was thinking about tackling the full marathon distance again this year, but have since decided not to push it (for so many reasons). But, I would like to complete at least one more half marathon this year so it's not like I don't have an idea of "what's next". If I have more goals to tackle, WHY am I having such a hard time doing that?

Perhaps one reason is because my partner in crime is currently injured so we haven't been working out together. Thankfully I gave my mom the running bug last summer so I have her to run with once a week. The last 2 weekends we have met to cover 6 miles, which has been GREAT! But during the week I am struggling to find the motivation to get my exercise in. It's summer so my schedule is all thrown off. I don't have the workout class that I do 2 days per week during the school year. I have spent some time gardening (splitting hostas, spreading mulch, etc) and I am getting on the treadmill at least a few times a week; but I'm just not feeling it. Yes, the treadmill is boring, but I find I'm more likely to just do that then to go outside by myself to run. It's also stinking hot so running in my cool basement is better than outside in the hot sun.

Matchy-matchy! :)

I wonder if some of my lack of motivation comes from my poor eating choices of late. I really think it does all go hand in hand. My food has not been going well for well over a month now. I mean, I first started talking about my struggling with this post on May 8th! June 15th and I have yet to have really gotten back on track with my food. I texted Leslie this week and told her that this was IT. This was my week to get my head out of my butt and to get back on track with my food. I lasted ONE DAY. Sigh........

It's really so stupid. This is truly NOT that hard. If I just exercise and track my food I can lose weight and do it pretty easily. If I'm exercising I can afford to eat more calories and still lose weight; but I need to track those calories to keep everything in check. My goals are not lofty. I'd like to average 4-8 lbs lost per month. This amounts to 1-2 lbs per week. I am not asking for too much and I am more than capable of achieving those goals. I'm not going to achieve any of my fitness goals without achieving these weight loss goals.
So it's time. It's time to stop being stupid. It's time to resume tracking my food. It's time to up my exercise. It's time to lose this weight before I put any more of it back on. 2 pounds isn't bad, but 2 can become 5, can become 10 and before I know it I will have re-gained the 40lbs I have lost from my highest ever weight. I can not and will not let that happen. In fact; I think it's time for me to go hop on that treadmill.

Determination