Med City- The ever changing race goals

On Friday my decision was to run the full marathon, but as the day progressed a few things happened that made me rethink my decision. 1) Madison Marathon was cancelled due to heat concerns and 2) Med City Marathon was offering free races changes from full to half also due to heat concerns. Even with these two factors and the potential for Med City also cutting the race I wasn't changing. Then around 10pm I had this idea to run a marathon on June 3rd and switch to the half at Med City. Why not? What are the chances that the weather will be this unseasonably hot three weeks in a row! Saturday at the expo, still debating, we made the change along with many other runners. Why not, we had only paid $30 to enter the race.
Ready to go, not too hot yet...


The race can pretty much be summed up in these words: hilly, hot, humid, headwinds! I honestly don't know what was worse Boston with sun and 90F or today 74F & 80% humidity at the start with winds of 20+ mph! I started with all good intentions of a PR until I soon learned that the only mile without a strong headwind was the first mile and the elevation chart was deceiving, where did all these big hills come from?
Mile 1 & 2 were feeling pretty good and I had the 1:35 pacer in sight
Mile 3-5 backing off a little but starting to get in a good pace, these hills can go away now!
Mile 6 Killer hill! and calf cramps, time to slow a little more. Let's make this a marathon pace run.
Mile 8 where is the water! I took Gatorade instead to wash down the Stinger, bad idea
Mile 9 here come the GI issues and some lady coming at me on a bike
Mile 10 there goes the 1:45 pacer, wtf?! he is way ahead
Mile 11 the split for the half is here, I am so glad I made my decision to change
Mile 12 the side of the road is covered in geese, run faster!
Mile 13.1 Done! 1:44:10

I saw the best sign today, pretty sure it was aimed at someone's past unfortunate race experience and many would not have understood but working marathon medical it was all too clear to me "Stay cool and hydrate. Remember the rectal thermometer!" One truly good reason to avoid the medical tent!


Matt and I done and looking forward to next weekend!
We are done and out of the heat! All set for next Sunday and happy to be relaxing at home. I also got the chance to meet Tracy (Sea Legs Girl) and her husband today, he was 2nd man and she 4th woman, way to go! See you both at Afton.

It was a fun (but short) weekend with friends, congrats Sarah on your 2nd half and Geoff on your 1st half. I know you will be back for more despite what you said today!



Comments

  1. sea legs girlMay 28, 2012 at 7:25 AM

    I'm so glad we finally got a chance to meet! Congrats on the race to both of you. And good description with hot, humid, hilly & headwinds!! I missed the "remember the rectal thermometer"- that is hilarious.

    By the way, hot, humid, hilly will be great training for Afton from what I hear.

    But first, good luck next weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coach JenMay 29, 2012 at 10:55 AM

      Great, now I am really looking forward to Afton!...lol I guess that is exactly what I expected for a July trail race :)

      Delete
  2. Laura BollMay 28, 2012 at 6:07 PM

    Congrats on surviving the heat! My 10k on Sat was really rough, too. Definitely sounds like the right decision to go with the half this weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coach JenMay 29, 2012 at 10:56 AM

      I am so happy I made the switch, I know I could have finised the full but there is no way I would have been happy with my finish! Better to take it easy and change plans sometimes.

      Delete
  3. Suz and AllanMay 29, 2012 at 4:48 PM

    Great job especially with the heat! You're super fast!

    ReplyDelete

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