Plate River Half-Marathon: Redemption

Today was the Plate River Half-Marathon, the half-marathon I signed up for after failing to finish the Boulder Half.

How did it go one might ask?

Awesome, especially compared to the Boulder Half because this time I finished the whole 13.1 miles! After the Boulder half-marathon, everyone was really supportive, they would remind me that going for 10 miles is still a pretty big achievement and I shouldn't feel too terribly about not finishing. However, after spending so much time and energy training, I couldn't help but feel disappointed with myself for not sticking it out and finishing the race. However, thats all water under the bridge because I finished my half-marathon today thereby achieving my goal of running a half-marathon!

The weather today was just about perfect, at least the temperature was... mid 40's low 50's, partly cloudy. However, the wind... OMG, I ran most of that marathon with the wind blowing straight at me, there were points where it felt as though I wasn't moving forward even though my legs were working! I could have done without the wind. My total time was 3 hours 10 minutes, and I think apart of that had to do with the wind, but I'm not going to complain next time I'll do better... 3 hours 10 minutes is better than not finishing at all.

When you fall off the horse, you gotta get right back on...

Well, it's either that or I truly hate myself since I registered for another half-marathon taking place in a couple of weeks.

I just can't let what happened at the Boulder Half be the end of all the weeks and months of training and running I've been through. If not for the temperature and sun I could have made it, I trained hard and I was capable of taking on the mileage and the time... I was ready.

This time I'm going to do the Platte River Half out in Littleton. Rather than being out in the foothills, the race goes along the Platte River through Littleton. The terrain is a lot more even, no significant hills, and instead of climbing in elevation, the route descends. I think that this could be a good 'redemption' run, I can apply what I learned from last weekend, and get a little extra training in as well.

Boulder Half-Marathon: The heat got the better of me

Things at the half marathon did not go well yesterday. Despite all my planning and strategizing, yesterday felt like a comedy of errors, starting with not getting into the reservoir with enough time to actually prep for the race, I pretty much got out of the car and started running. Once I got running things evened out and I got into a groove, but four or five miles into the race the sun was beating down with fierce intensity and there was nothing, no clouds, no breeze or anything to fend it off. I had my wet towel and was using it, but by mile seven that wasn't helping, my abdomen was getting tight, and I was starting to have difficulties taking deep breaths. By mile 10 I had to throw in the towel (figuratively speaking) and admit defeat.