I strained my back a week before the Honor Run Half Marathon, and it definitely showed up in a few places. One is the nearly 40 mile difference between what I planned to run and what I actually ran. The other is in the Honor Run Half time. October was definitely the better month, and even as I write this, December is only a little better.
The Honor Run Half was on November 12, 2017 in Florence, Kentucky. I was on track for another PR until I strained my back a week before the race.
Prep
As usual, I followed a modified Hal Higdon Intermediate-2 Plan. I hit all of my training paces through the cycle. I was a week ahead of the schedule, so my last long run was 13.02 miles (I didn’t stop at 13.0 because of perceived unlucky… boy, was I wrong!)
The day after the last long run, I was doing yard work (I like mowing the lawn on the day after my long run because it’s a bunch of non-strenuous walking). My back started bothering me and was in full-on strain mode the following day.
My taper week consisted of zero miles. In fact, I was tempted to take a DNS. However, by Saturday my back felt okay, so I decided to run, but keeping it easy.
The morning of consisted of two slices of toast with peanut butter and honey and a cup of coffee for the drive to Florence.
Goals
Originally, I had these goals:
A: 1:43
B: 1:45
C: 1:50
However, after the back strain, I abandoned all hope of any of them and just wanted to finish a good run.
Race
The race temperature was about 35°F. I wore shorts, last year’s Honor Run Half shirt, gloves, and a running hat. Roughly 15 minutes before the race, I took a Gu and ran into a fellow Twitter Runner.
Part 1: Miles 1 to 4
I kept it easy by feel. This part isn’t too bad with hills, but it is not flat (there is nothing flat in Northern Kentucky). I took water at mile 4.
8:18, 8:17, 8:20, 8:24
Part 2: Miles 5 to 8
This part felt tougher. There is a portion through Turfway Park that was rough and I was feeling it in my back. There is a tight hairpin turn at mile 6, and a pretty significant uphill from 6 to 8. I took Gu in mile 7, and water at mile 8.
8:31, 8:28, 8:48, 8:41
Part 3: Miles 9 to 13.1
There is a hairpin turn at mile 9, mile 10 is almost entirely uphill, and the hills in miles 11 and 12 are the steepest in the race. I had to squash some negative thoughts through this part.
8:49, 8:33,8:46,8:41,8:36, 0:53
Total: 1:52:01
After
First off, this is the biggest medal I’ve ever received!
Biggest Medal in my collection (I’m in the middle between an aunt and an uncle)
I didn’t eat much, but I drank 3 cups of coffee (to warm up!), and half a bottle of water that I finished on the way home, I also drank a Gatorade on my way home. I had my heat on high on my way home, and even sat in front of the fireplace while waiting for the bathroom to be free.
Post-Run Thoughts
I should have probably taken Gu around mile 5 and 10 instead of once at mile 7. I think it was a little too late and my pace suffered as a result.
Running up the big-ass hill really helped with the hills. I felt strong on every one of them.
This is the end of the 2017 season for me. At this point, it will be more maintenance to keep up fitness and prepare for marathon training.
October has been a build month this year and last year. I had 140 miles planned – the most this year, and completed 146. My average pace has fallen, too, to 8:26 minutes per mile.
The reason October is a build month is because the Honor Run Half is in early November.
“Confusing…” by Tristan Schmurr is licensed under CC BY 2.0
So obviously, since I have a running blog that I occasionally update AND it is full of useless monthly reports of how much I’ve run AND I occasionally participate in the Twitter #runChat and #bibChat, I might be a runner.
My work decided to change health insurance companies, and one of the “features” of the new one is an optional activity that gives you money if you do activities:
6 brief walks, at least one hour apart, 300 steps
One brisk walk (3,000 steps within 30 minutes)
At least 10,000 steps total
So…
Goal #1 is a frequency thing. I imagine two of these are in the bag, minimum. My bathroom breaks may include a ‘detour’, which might put me up to the minimum.
With regards to Goal #2, I have never used a step tracker, but figured out that in each mile of running, I am around 1,450 steps per mile…
Weighted average steps per mile.
So, #2 is easy. I have never ran less than 2 miles when out to run, so that goal is as good as met 5 times a week. I’ll have to do something to get the other days, but shouldn’t be too difficult (mowing the lawn counts, and if I brew some beer, I might just make laps around the basement while in the mash or boil).
Goal #3 isn’t too bad. Using basic math, just under 7 miles of running gets me there. My shortest runs get me halfway there, and longer runs get me there. So I think I’m good there for at least 5 days a week. The other two may be different, but we’ll see.
This money goes into my Health Savings Account (HSA) account. What you can and cannot spend money on is controlled and “enforced” by the Internal Revenue Service. I’m (ideally) getting a lot of money because I’m a runner (and I’ve already started the jokes about what this thing would do during a marathon).
Unless I am incorrect, running shoes, race entry fees, running clothes, running accessories, or other items are not allowed unless prescribed by a doctor (and most of what I just typed would be unlikely to be prescribed).
Are you fucking kidding me? (Credit: https://sweartrek.tumblr.com/post/163648397528/11-days-11-days)
So yeah. I’m going to use my running activities to fund an account that won’t reward me for running. Great job, team!
Most of it was normal except for the beginning of the month where I had a large cheese-filled and salty lasagna before doing some 800s. They were all under an 8 min/mi pace, but not too far under. Then, the following day I had intended to do an 11 mile long run but had to cut back to 10 because my alarm didn’t go off.
Ran 112 miles to bring my yearly total to 626 miles. So far, I’m on track to run more this year than any other year.
No races this month. One notable training – I did my first trail run on June 30. It was harsh. 703 feet elevation gain, which has been bested by only two workouts in the last many months – the two hill repeats I did.
Coming up in July is 2 races: the Bulldog Blast 5k and the first of three NKU XC Series races. I’m not doing any specific training for these. Also, I will be starting into the training plan for the Hudepohl 14k.
The major change this year was the ability to pickup our race packets at the Flying Pig Expo. Since I had to go there anyway for the half marathon, it was more convenient.
Prior to the race, I left the office as late as I could (around 7:15 PM) to jog to the start line, about 1.75 miles. I got to the start line around 7:30 – 7:40. Start line temperature was cold. I was lined up in corral B.
After microphone problems resulted in a chorus of runners “helping” to sing the national anthem, we were off.
I tried to keep my pace nearly consistent and not go-out-and-fade-away (as some runners did). I don’t practice short runs, so pacing was a little bit of a challenge, but overall it wasn’t too bad.
The Flying Pig Half Marathon was on May 7, 2017 in Cincinnati. The course is one I’ve written about before.
Training
I followed the Hal Higdon Intermediate-2 plan, which I liked over my re-worked 5k Advanced plan that I used for the prior training period. I was able to meet most of my goal paces for the repeats, tempo, and HM pace runs. I missed two runs overall, an interval and an easy run. I also tried to integrate hills into my runs more than I have previously.
Race Morning
For the first time, I used bag check, where I put a few extra clothes. I made my way from my parking location (my office on the race course) to the bag check and then to Pigpen B. I waited for start while laughing a little at seeing the port-o-let line while the DJ was playing “Taking Care of Business”, and looked around at others, which seemed to have some difficulty with the start line weather conditions – some were in winter-ish clothes, some (like me) had shorts and a throwaway sweat shirt over it, and some had shorts and a tank top!
Around 6:15, I consumed a pack of Gu. Right at 6:30 we were off.
First Portion: Miles 0 – 6
I felt like I was going a little fast. I’ll probably pay for this. My boss, who started in corral A passed me near the end of this section. Apparently, he ducked into a port-o-let in Newport (probably around mm 2.5).
The hill was rough. By the end of this section, I was ready to start walking. I didn’t, but I was ready to.
Splits: 8:47, 8:55, 8:26 (water + Gu), 8:37
Eleventy-trillion-dollar photo of me somewhere in Eden Park, attempting to hang loose.
Final Stretch: Miles 11-13
I didn’t have the energy to push the hill. I usually grab a Twizzler at the downhill (mm 10.5) station. Unfortunately, they were cold and nearly un-chewable. Passed and yelled at a fellow amateur radio op at 11.4; he normally tells me to go faster, this time he said “wow, you’re going fast!”. THAT was nice to hear!
Splits: 7:35, 7:57, 8:01
Finish!
My official time was 1:48:53 – a PR (and a hard fought one at that!). The radio communications director (also a runner) was stationed near the finish line and came running down to congratulate me – that was a nice end to a tough run!
Expensive and really not very good finish line photo. Thanks for reminding me of my bald spot, asshole photographer.
After that, I enjoyed my post-race festivities (pizza, beer, pretzels, and fruit) and went to watch a friend finish the half. Then I went home and took a nap 🙂
