Sunday, July 10, 2011

Fit For Life Comparisons

was the 2011 Fit For Life Half Marathon, my first anniversary race in the half marathon distance.  The two races each have their own milestones attached and I felt that a blog was in order to compare the two.

Rewind back to July 10, 2010.  I had been running for two months and I was about to test myself in the first race that I actually trained for.  At this point in my running career, I had no clue what I was doing; little or no knowledge in training, eating, drinking or racing.  I set out on that morning running a much faster pace than I had planned or prepared for.  I remember at about 1.25 miles into the race a lady asked me what pace I wanted to run and I said 7:30.  She just scoffed and slowed down and let me run ahead until she passed me 2 or so miles later.  I never saw her again.  I remember wondering where the water stations were as I was running along the river, but only because I had read somewhere that you should drink water as you ran.  I ran by one aid station at around 5 miles and didn't drink but just kept on going.  At this point, I was still feeling pretty good.  Because the course is an out and back, I crossed the same aid station on the way back and got a cup of water this time.  I took a small sip, but felt like I couldn't drink so I just poured the rest on my head and cup on pressing forward.  At mile 10 I started to tank.  My arms were numb and tingly, my legs felt heavy, and my head didn't really feel like my own.  My throat was dry and I remember trying to save the saliva that was gathering in my mouth to try and have enough to wet my throat as I swallowed it.  A mile later, I forced myself into a faster pace and gutted the rest of the race out, finishing in 1:44:32 which is a 7:58 minute/mile pace.  I crossed the finish line exhausted.  I was dizzy, nauseous, and my legs were cramping very badly.  I found a quiet area and collapsed against the fence and tried to rest and compose myself.  When I spoke, I couldn't manage to say what I wanted to.  It all came out like babbling nonsense.  This kept on until I vomited.  Violently.  I figured this was just something I had to get used to in the running world.  I spent the rest of the day feeling like garbage.

Fast forward to July 9, 2011.  I have now run more than 1,500 miles.  I have run 3 5k's, 2 10k's, 5 half marathons, 1 30k, 2 marathons and a sprint triathlon.  I have learned a lot along the way, and I was going to put myself to the test in this race.  I lined up with the front runners of the group and we were off.  I started off at a quick pace, around 7:09 for the first mile, which included a 30 second walk break, which during long distances I take after every 5 minutes of running.  I use this time to force myself to control effort, rehydrate, and center myself for the next 5 minutes of running.  I was feeling fine and believing that all of my hard work was paying off.  Within the first 5 miles, I was already trying to calculate what type of time I could run, and I just tried to force the thoughts out of my head and just focus on proper hydration and form.  At the halfway point, I started to pick up my speed.  and decrease the walk breaks from 30 seconds down to 15.  I kept pushing the pace, as I was feeling strong and I was starting to reel in other runners that were starting to tank.  I knew there would be several, as I was one of those same people in the race last year.  At mile 10, I was was feeling fantastic.  I was keeping a quick pace and I was starting to cut out the walk breaks entirely.  I knew that I would be able to finish with a PR if I could just keep on going.  At mile 11 I started to open up my stride and really attack the course.  I passed Isaac Levi which really made me happy since there is just something about his attitude that I don't like.  I don't even know the kid, but something about his elitist attitude just gets at me.  He was really starting to tank.  As I emerged from the greenbelt, I saw another runner ahead of me, and I really dug in and blew past him with about 50 yards to go.  I was then bottle necked coming into the stadium, but I squeezed around the slower people and sprinted to a 1:31:16 finish. 13 minutes and 16 seconds faster than last year, and nearly 8 minutes faster than my PR from Zeitgeist in November.  I felt like I could have kept going and I knew that there would be no cramping, nausea, vomiting, or anything other than enjoying my 1st place finish for my age division.  I am very proud of what I have accomplished, and I can't wait to see what else I can do in the coming year.

As I write this entry, I find myself looking back at the pictures that were taken last year, and how amazing the differences are.

 Start of FFL 2010.  You can only see my head, but I started in the back of the pack, thinking it would be more respectful to the other runners.
 Finish of FFL 2010.  You can see all over my face that I am just beaten to shit.  I remember my legs feeling rubbery and I couldn't even enjoy the fact that I took 3rd in my division.  All I could think about was getting to some place where I could hang on to something and not fall down.





 I was really hurting here.  If you look close enough, you can see that I have goose bumps on my arms.  Not a good sign after running that hard.  The temp was in the 70's-80's, so it wasn't exactly cold.  I was learning what dehydration felt like.







This picture speaks for itself.  I was really messed up here.  I threw up shortly afterwards.

Start of FFL 2011









At the finish.  Completely different than the previous year.









 Feeling fine!  Like I could go out and do it again.


After receiving my 1st place medal for my division

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