Hurricane Half Marathon Race Report

I have written up a Boston race report, but it is on my computer which is currently unavailable at my brother's house, so I will just have to post about the Hurricane Half, first.

It was a good race. The forecast called for rain, which was crazy because it had been so nice all week, but lately, all races we are doing have rain in the forecast. I really didn't know what to expect running a race 12 days after Boston. My legs felt good, but I just didn't know if my body had recovered at all.

I took it easy the week and a half between the two races. To be honest, I don't remember what I did. The Saturday before I did 6.5 miles at a 8:13 pace and it felt pretty good. My legs were definitley fatigued by the end, but they weren't rubber. I also did a short track workout the Wednesday before (4x400 at 1:26-1:27). They felt good.

So the rain started at about 3:30 am the day of the race. I woke up to and thought, oh great a whole 13.1 miles in pouring rain. but by the time I awoke at 5:00, the rain had stopped. The weather turned out to be ideal: overcast, mild temps in the low 60s and nice clean air without pollens floating around to agravate my allergies.

The race began at 6:30, with a bus ride at 5:40. I am not used to the early morning runs yet, but it wasn't too bad.

I wore shorts, tank, and arm warmers. Perfect choices. No gloves or ear warmers needed.

I started the race with a couple of friends. Carol wanted to run around 1:45. I wanted to beat her because I barely beat her last year after she had just run Boston. she and I have friendly competitions every race we do together. She is 45 and has 5 or 6 kids, but is amazing. It makes me feel super strong if I can beat her. Shelly wanted to stick with me as long as she could in her debut half. She is going to try to qualify for Boston at the St. George Marathon this year. She was really fast in college but has had triplets since then and is just getting back into competing. I stuck with them for a while but slowly gained a bit of ground on them.

My first few miles were good, under 8 minute pace. I had a few slow miles our of Virgin, but picked up the pace back down the La Verkin twist.I realized I was not going to make my very optimistic goal of 1:40, but decided to keep trying for under 1:45. My IT band was a bit tight, but I just kept trying to keep my miles under 8. No woman passed me the entire race. One passed me, but I passed her right back. I passed two that repassed me.

The last mile, I really tried to pick up the pace. I passed a few guys that made comments (nice ones) and I just kept going. The last 100 yds onto the high school track were fun. One of the guys I passed decided he didn't want to let me beat him, so he starts sprinting. As soon as I realize what he is doing I pick it up. I am surprised I had that much left in me, but I catch back up to him and I think I outleaned him at the line, but that is debateable.

I finished in 1:42:23, a 3-minute PR over last year. The course was a little short this year, but I will still take it. I was very happy and now will work toward 1:37 (eeeek!) at the Bryce Half in July.

Here are a bunch of our running buddies that did the race.

4 Days to Boston: Elizabeth

Tread workout. 1 mile moderately easy. 4 x 400s at a 3.0 incline (400 RI) (1:40, 1:40, 1:40, 1:30). 3/4 mile cool down. It felt good except for a shooting pain I got in my left shoulder during my second 400. I got through it and stretched it and it felt fine the rest of the run.

We leave tonight!!! I am so excited!!!

1 Week to Boston

Monday: 7.71 miles, 8:14 pace. Felt great. I didn't want to over push, so i just went at a comfortable pace. I did push the last mile hard to keep my pace constant, but other than that, it was a very comfortable pace.

I am so excited!!!

I also just found two pace calculators specific to the Boston Marathon. They give you splits based on the terrain of the course. They can be found here and here. There is also a really cool one for the St. George Marathon, that I used last year. It can be found here. I love what people come up with to benefit me.

2 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: 13.1 miles, 8:23 pace, 1:49:53.
Exactly on marathon pace. Now if I can just keep it up for another 13 miles. It felt pretty good. I made sure there were plenty of hills. The wind picked up a bit halfway through, but that is good practice as well. Allergies were unbearable for the rest of the day. I can't wait for spring to end or for me to discover a allergy medicine that works.

Tuesday: Taught strength at the gym. I didn't have much notice (1 hour) but it turned out okay. The ladies didn't seem to mind my inabilities and we were all pretty sore on Wednesday.

Wednesday: Spin at the gym. My legs and pretty much whole body were tired and tight. I felt very slow on the bike, but oh well.

Thursday:

• Track workout. 1 mile war-up. 4 X 800s with 400 RI (3:11, 3:15, 3:09, 3:12). I did it at 4 instead of the usual 6. I was grumpy. But Cherie joined me and ran one lap of my 800s with me and really pushed me. It was nice to have her to chase.
• Futsol game. Awesome! I am so glad this sport is back on. We lost, but I had a good workout and even scored two goals. I'll miss it next week for Boston, but count me in every Thursday after that.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Tempo run. 1 mile moderate (8:18), 3 miles tempo (7:40, 7:45, 7:27), 1 mile moderate (8:20). It flet good. There was a misty rain and the temp was cool. I wore shorts, long sleeves and a light jacket. I had to remove the jacket part way through. So, even if the weather isn't ideal for Boston, I will be fine and I need to remember not to overdress, like I tend to do.

Wow!! It is so close. There really isn't much I can do at this point, but hope for the best. I had a good week.

I am looking forward to an easy week next week and then travel to and get used to Boston.

Two Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Wednesday: 5.5 miles @ 7:21 pace.

Thursday: Track workout - 5 x 800m (2:49, 2:52, 2:50, 2:51, 2:53)

Friday: 16.29 miles bicycling (17.7 mph average speed). I signed up for LOTOJA, so I figured I probably should start training.

Saturday: 5.0 miles @ 6:46 pace (one mile moderate - 7:14, three miles tempo - 6:34, 6:25, 6:26, one mile moderate - 7:12)

Felt really good on all my workouts this week. Saturday's run was especially nice. Legs felt fast and energy was high.

3 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: kickboxing at they gym. I was a bit sore from Saturday's run and this just added to it.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 1 mile easy, 5 tempo miles on tread. Average 7:41 pace.

Thursday: Yoga at the gym. Good core workout. Lots of static positions.

Friday: 5 mile hill workout on tread. 1 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:34. 1 mile, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5 incline for 1/4 mile each, 8:34 pace. 1/2 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:20 pace. 1/2 mile, 5.0, 5,5 incline, 8:20 pace. 1/2 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:20 pace. 1 mile, 4.0, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 incline 8:20 pace. 1/2 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:20 pace. Good hill workout.

Saturday: Rest. I will do my long run on Monday to start getting my body used to running on Monday.

Three Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Tuesday: 6.51 miles (1 miles easy, four tempo miles (6:40 pace), 1.5 miles easy)

Thursday: Speed, 4x800M (2:50, 2:51, 2:50, 2:51)

Saturday: 13.37 miles @ 6:58 pace. My Garmin was malfunctioning, so I did this run with a regular stopwatch. I was concerned that I might not be able to stay on pace without the Garmin. So I was happy that I came close to marathon pace without the aid of the Garmin.