I have the “hilly” Middletown Half Marathon on my schedule for next Sunday and it’s been haunting me lately. I haven’t done long runs as religiously lately because of my ankle. But I wanted to get in a decent 10 miler before the race weekend so I wasn’t going to the race completely unprepared. I think back to when I was training for my first half marathon in 2012 and how I was do diligent about getting in my training runs and how dedicated I was to following Jeff Galloway’s plan to the T. Now I have slacked off a bit. I am not expecting this race to be pretty; but I am hoping to complete it under 2:45. That’s not a good number for me. My best half is a 2:25 finish and that was 2 years ago. If I can survive this half marathon and my leg recovers from it pretty quickly then I am going to sign up for the Cheshire Half Marathon which will take place 2 weeks after the Middletown Half. I’m trying to listen to my body and let this injury heal. I’m trying not to push it in terms of speed so that I can do the races and still walk the next day. So there is a good chance that I can do Cheshire because I feel pretty good now after completing my 10 mile run.
According to the stats, it was slow, but I did that intentionally. I didn’t push too hard and I chose a hilly route so I can prepare myself mentally as well as physically for the hills. I woke up so late this morning – 10:00! But I needed that sleep. I tried not to get upset that I slept so late, then made my tea and had my oatmeal and mapped out my route. I was on the road by noon. It was a really nice Spring day. It was very windy but it didn’t bother me and the sun felt good. I had my jacket on for the first 2 miles but was able to take it off and felt comfortable. The first 2 miles were a little hard for me because my leg was stiff; but I used pre-tape spray and rock tape today to hold it together and it worked out well. By mile 3 I was warming up but had the hills to conquer between miles 3 and 4. At one point I had to stop and catch my breath because the hills were kicking my butt. I tried not to walk too much of the hills and kept with my 30/30 intervals. But I think with this recent onset of fatigue I am experiencing it did kick me in the ass a little as I was going up the hills. I verbally said to myself out loud “I can do this!” I needed to remind myself of what I am capable of and I have been injured before and pushed through it. This was minor.
Around mile 5 I felt like I had a little spring in my step. Suddenly the running felt light again and I didn’t feel like I was struggling. So I tried to hold on to that feeling and kept moving forward. That was the mantra that was running through my mind today, just move forward. I chose a route that I hadn’t run in a long time because I wanted a change of scenery and to give my brain something to be distracted by. As I ran towards my “old running route” it was refreshing to see the things on the side of the road that I used to see every day. I saw my duck pond on Maltby Lane, I saw friends on another street that waved to me and my friend driving down the road beeped to me. That was cool!
When I had 2 miles left I had to keep reminding myself that I was almost done and was doing well for not having had a long run since the Princess Half Marathon in February. I felt confident that Middletown now isn’t as scary as it seemed to me a week ago and I am looking forward to the pre-race activities on Saturday with a 3 mile run with Jeff Galloway and then his running workshop in the afternoon and also the chance to meet Katherine Switzer and also see Amby Burfoot again! I blogged about her a year ago to date when I was doing my Boston Marathon themed blog posts.
So I’m happy and feel encouraged about Middletown now and I also feel good to have this 10 mile run under my belt. Looking forward to some good days ahead! The Spring weather was also a great mental boost for me as well. Who else is running the Middletown Half next weekend? Hope to see you there!