it musta been the pesto -- by abby
the lewis & clark half marathon is a really pretty, grueling course that takes you from kelly canyon where lewis & clark camped to the MSU track complex. it starts downhill, and then hits some serious rolling hills, and then hits some serious technical trails and then hits a long uphill followed by a long downhill and then finishes pretty flat on trails for the last 5k.
i was ready for it to be over before it started. the hype is ... well, hype, i guess. i mean, you get on a bus with a bunch of strangers and everyone's all nervous and twitchy and has to pee alot and stuff. and i just want to be running, already! so, when the horn went off, well i guess i'd had enough hype. and def enough standing around in the cold grass. it was freezing at the start, and my feet were numb. i ran the first mile in under 8 minutes and the first 5k in under 25 minutes (wha ...?). all i have to say about that is it must have been part fuel (can anyone say more pesto please?) and part anxiety. then came the hills, where i decided i better slow up or risk dying.
but, something about a race gets in you, you know? it's like, it can't be just a training run, no matter how much you want it to be. so i mountain-goated up and down the steep switchbacks before burke park and then there was this kid, like an 8th grader, sitting on the sidewalk playing his trombone. and that was excellent. (this is a small-town race. nothing but aid stations every 2-3 miles to keep you going ... and the occasional bystander cheering you on. so the trombone kid -- everyone loved him.)
the scenery was excellent and running's a nice way to see your own town. anyway, i felt pretty good until about the 10 mile mark, and then my body started with its usual complaints. i fueled, walked a hill, got inspired by the people running around me, by the two marathoners who passed me, and just kept going to finish feeling pretty good in 2:08:59, which is like 9:52 pace. it was fun. really. in the way that races like this are.
today, i'm a little sore but basically no worse for the wear. so, check that one off, kids. only 13.1 more to go!
i was ready for it to be over before it started. the hype is ... well, hype, i guess. i mean, you get on a bus with a bunch of strangers and everyone's all nervous and twitchy and has to pee alot and stuff. and i just want to be running, already! so, when the horn went off, well i guess i'd had enough hype. and def enough standing around in the cold grass. it was freezing at the start, and my feet were numb. i ran the first mile in under 8 minutes and the first 5k in under 25 minutes (wha ...?). all i have to say about that is it must have been part fuel (can anyone say more pesto please?) and part anxiety. then came the hills, where i decided i better slow up or risk dying.
but, something about a race gets in you, you know? it's like, it can't be just a training run, no matter how much you want it to be. so i mountain-goated up and down the steep switchbacks before burke park and then there was this kid, like an 8th grader, sitting on the sidewalk playing his trombone. and that was excellent. (this is a small-town race. nothing but aid stations every 2-3 miles to keep you going ... and the occasional bystander cheering you on. so the trombone kid -- everyone loved him.)
the scenery was excellent and running's a nice way to see your own town. anyway, i felt pretty good until about the 10 mile mark, and then my body started with its usual complaints. i fueled, walked a hill, got inspired by the people running around me, by the two marathoners who passed me, and just kept going to finish feeling pretty good in 2:08:59, which is like 9:52 pace. it was fun. really. in the way that races like this are.
today, i'm a little sore but basically no worse for the wear. so, check that one off, kids. only 13.1 more to go!
posted by August at 12:17 PM
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