Monday, March 21, 2011

Canyonlands Half Marathon





Waiting at the starting line the winds gust up the canyon.  I could hear people all around me complaining. It was my first half marathon last year. Jeff Galloway helped me with a plan after I’d met him at title 9 in Boulder.  Since then I have been training consistently.  For those who have never been to Moab the landscape is red rock and cliffs that form into arches by thousands of years of wind and rain. The Colorado River runs along the side of the road the race is on. It is beautiful and it’s hard not to feel inspired by the unique surrounding beauty.
We met a friend Mike that has run with my Galloway group in the past and he rode on the bus with us up the canyon. It was cold but my friend, Roberta and I kept thinking how much warmer it was than last year. We made our way up to the starting line after we got some hot chocolate. Mike was telling us about his weight loss and how it has helped his running. He trains differently because he found out he was loosing muscle. I spotted some old Jr High School friends and quickly snapped a picture. Then I couldn’t find my group but we all run at different paces so it was not a problem.








The gun went off, although I did not really hear it in the back but people started moving and it took about 3 minutes for me to get to the start line. I hit start on my Garmin and I was off. At first I felt like my legs were heavy… I thought this was a bad sign. The wind was blowing in my face. This is strange feeling for me because at the Mesquite marathon I experienced an altered state of reality as a result of the wind. During that race wind was blowing so hard in my face, 35MPH, that towards the last 4 miles or so I started to feel very large and the road got very small, I felt powerful, strong and large. It reminded me of a scene in Alice and wonderland. So now when the wind is blowing on my face I remember that and in a small way I go back to that feeling. In recovery this is called euphoric recall.  I got to mile one thought this is going to be a long race.  Before the race I did grounding exercise that my coach taught me. I’m not what I would call proficient at this but I’m starting to practice and be more aware of my body and where I hold tension and my awareness of my form is at the forefront of my mind right now. I also did a constructive rest exercise in the hotel room. My coach is exactly a huge fan of my run walk style but he honors it and what I have learned from it and I appreciate that.  We are focusing on proper form and I really feel it’s paying off. I decided to start shortening my walk breaks and lengthening my running. I had my ratio set and in my mind I kept thinking just push a little harder for every walk break and every running interval and over the entire race this will pay off.   I think eventually I’m going to have to push it to the point of failure in order to see how hard I can actually push it.  During the race I also needed to pay attention to my foot plant because I naturally swing out my left leg more than my right. When I see this on a video I can tell if its not corrected it could set me up for an injury. I also needed to shorten my stride. I’m not familiar with all the technical terms but I think I also increased my tempo. It felt more comfortable to take shorter strides and more of them. My breathing was relaxed and once in a while I had to take a cleansing breath but it was natural. I used to force a pattern to my breathing and it wasted a lot of energy. I picked up another runner along the way and she said she forgot her watch. We ran about the same pace. I was very surprised at the number of people I passed during the last 2 miles.  Not a feeling I’m used to at all. When I got to the final stretch my new friend Melinda said ok now no more walk breaks, we will just run the final stretch. I said, “Im in!” We ran towards the finish and not only did I PR but I felt so much better than the previous year. I think it is the fastest I have ever been.  Even though my ultimate goal is not speed but that of distance cutoff times are my main challenge and it feels good to know that I have the chance to beat a cutoff time with practice.      2:42:47 :) pace 12:25 ....... I'm thrilled!!!


-This race was dedicated to my mother in law Peggy Cline who passed away in Moab in January

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