Last weekend I took a mini spring break and traveled to Tucson, AZ with my friend Pat to do
The Valley of Gold Half Marathon. It was a very nice, but short trip out to sunny AZ. We were only there for a long weekend but it was nice to get out of the cold Ohio weather for some fun and sun while also being able to try out a short race. It worked perfectly in my training plan as I was scheduled to do a 12 mile run for that weekend anyway.
I decided to try this race a little differently. Since I didn't really have a training goal in mind and I am recently coming off of an injury, I decided to try this one "au natural." No, I didn't run it in my birthday suit, but I went back to basics and decided to see what I could do without any fancy gadgets. So I ran, no garmin, no ipod, I didn't even wear a watch. The race was fairly small, so they didn't have clocks at the mile markers. I ran by how I felt, since it was a "training run" I didn't run it at what I felt was race pace.
The race was relatively small, only about 1200 total between the 5k and the 1/2 marathon. It started promptly at 7am!
The course was hilly, but the views were awesome, we were in a valley so there were mountain views all around us! Pat and I sort of started around each other but opted to do our own thing at the race. I shot this one of her (in the purple long-sleeve shirt) before I settled into my own rhythm.
Running without having any idea of your pace is very different. At times I felt I was running much slower than normal, when I asked I was actually going about a minute faster than typical for me. At one point I thought I was running faster than normal when I spotted a group of balloons (indicating a pace group) and thought I was fairly close to the 2:00 group. This would have been a PR time for me as my best is a 2:06. So this kept me going for a few miles and then my momentum got stopped. Unfortunately quite literally, as a group of us was held up by the cops "to let traffic through!" I could see my PR quite figuratively drifting away. Once they let us through, I really kicked it up a bit to try and catch the balloons, which I did at around mile 11. Of course I had forgotten one key thing. There was also a 2:15 pace group out there and this is actually who I had been following. Knowing it wouldn't be a PR race for me, I settled into a comfortable pace for the last 2 miles and just tried to enjoy the view.
I finally crossed the finish line at 2:12:39, about a 10:07 pace overall for the race. As I hadn't being doing any speedwork, it was a hilly course, Iand it was supposed to be a training run, I was pleased with this. Just reconfirms that helping pace the 10:00 and 10:30 groups is right where I should be!
Pat finished a little later than me, also with a time that is typical for her. As you can see we were both happy to be done so we could enjoy the rest of the day!
Before taking off we made sure to say hello to our friend Jeff, also one of the race directors, to give him a big thanks for a nice race and also to give him feedback for next year! Hopefully, they will figure out how to not stop the racers for the cars! Although I have a hunch if I had been a little faster (i.e. up with the balloons) I wouldn't have had to stop.
The rest of the day was spent lounging in the sun, by the pool with the awesome view and a few post-race prickly pear margaritas!
Stats since 3/21/10
3/22: 60 minute run at DRC track
3/23: strength/core 30 minutes
3/24: 70 minute run from TWHS (1:09)
3/25: 2700 swim, 40 minute run
3/26: rest, travel day
3/27: One hour hike at Catalina State Park
3/28: 13.1 mile run (2:12:39)
3/29/: rest, travel day
3/30: 60 minute recovery run, Dublin trails
3/31: 80 minute run, Dublin trail down Emerald Parkway (out and back)
4/1: 40 minute run
4/2: rest
4/3: 22.5 mile run (4:30)
4/4: 32 mile ride
