Race Recap: Wisconsin Half

6 05 2012

My alarm went off at 4:30am. It was dark and pouring rain. The rain was not supposed to be happening. It was not in the hourly forecast when I went to bed. I decided to ignore it and go about getting ready for the half. I quickly got dressed, made breakfast and drove over to Sara’s house to meet up with her and Tracey. We spent the entire drive down to Kenosha checking weather and looking at the storm front. We finally got out of the car and wandered over to gear check. We found Krista, Rochelle and Annie in the bathroom. Moments late we found Marty and Matt who came down to cheer everyone on.

Tracey, Sara and I headed to the start line hoping to get up to a good start position. Side note here: if you can’t run anything close to an 8-9 minute mile don’t start in the 8 min pace group. Just don’t do it. Anyways, as soon as we started running I wasn’t cold anymore. We started off nice and easy, winding around people to get into a comfortable pace. Around mile 5.5 we were suddenly heading straight into the wind. It was rough. A lovely north east wind coming off of Lake Michigan. We saw Amy at an aid station during the long out and back. I could not wait for the turn around.It never really felt like a tail wind, but it was no longer fight us. A little past mile 9 Tracey and I were both struggling to do running math, but it most definitely looked like we would go under 1:55.

Pretty sweet bling

Tracy and Sara cross at 1:54:05 and I crossed a few moments later at 1:54:17. My second fasted half marathon to date and a PR for Sara! And for Tracey this was a great test before she rocks the Rockford Marathon in two weeks. The weather was terrible as soon as we weren’t running. We all put more layers on but could not warm up. We got our post race brats and beers, but still couldn’t warm up. We found everyone else at the finish, but just couldn’t stay and cheer on any of the full marathoners. It was too miserable and cold.

I spent the rest of the day in my bathrobe and compression socks. It was glorious.

Congratulations to everyone else with great races this weekend.

Next up: Ragnar Chicago!


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April in Review

3 05 2012

Running Overview:

Total Mileage: 101
Miles with Sara: 61
Total Miles to date: 426
Longest Run: 13.1 South Shore Half
Races: South Shore Half, kind of. I didn’t race it. I just had run running with Sara and Tracey.

April was a take it easy month for me. I ran, fewer miles than planned, but didn’t over-race or travel too much or well, anything I did in March. I had some fun runs in there. Sara and I made it back out to Lapham Peak for some trail running, which is always a good time.

Sara and I passed 200 for the year together and celebrated with a wine date. The 100 mile celebration was margaritas. Let’s see what we come up with for 300 miles.

April was also a preparation month for the Wisconsin Half. The race is on 5/5 and I already have my thoughts on that.

And I bought a house. This was really the big thing in April. Apparently I’m a grown-up now.

What’s next? May is another training month and that is something I look forward to. Hopefully another trail run, maybe some bike miles.


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I’m running another Marathon

4 02 2012

I did it. I registered for the 2012 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. I will be running 26.2 miles again. It’s been awhile. My one and only marathon was the Philadelphia Marathon in 2009. I had no idea what I was doing then. I had run my first half marathon only 4 months prior. I bought a book (I did do some research) and followed the intermediate plan. I finished, which is really the only thing that matters in your first marathon. I finished within my B goal which was set after I injured myself and had to stop running four weeks out from the marathon. I was very happy with how it went. I am pretty sure I cried when I crossed the finish line. Running a marathon is not something I ever thought I would do once and I did it. I ran 26.2 miles and while I know no one can ever take that away from me I want to do it again.

I want to prove to myself that I can train for 26.2 and not get injured. While I want to ignore 2010 completely and block out the disaster that was training for the Chicago Marathon, I can’t. I have to remember how I over did it. I have to remember what happens when you run through the type of pain that you shouldn’t run through. I will not dwell on the emotional roller coaster I went through, but I will learn from my mistakes.

This time I will run it with friends. With people I know I can run races with. Friends I love running with. I will train in the city I will race in. I will get to train with lots of other people training for the same race. I will be able to do the training runs in Milwaukee. I don’t have a time goal this far out. I am sure we will come up with one as we get closer. For all three of us it will be getting through those late miles that haunt us from past marathons. I will not let marathon training take over my life. I do look forward to post long run naps because those rock. I will not be afraid of those 16+ mile runs. I know I can do it.

On October 7, 2012 Maureen, Sara and I will cross the finish line, together. And it will be awesome.


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