Youngstown Half 2007

FIRST had a 13 mile run on tap for me at 8 minute pace for Sunday. So Youngstown was timed perfectly. Friday I was feeling really good about the race. Both my workouts went well this week and I was feeling like 8 minute pace was very doable despite Youngstown being a pretty hilly course.

Saturday night I ate way more than my fair share of chicken chimichangas, had two desserts, and drank a margarita. I have only had 1 beer since January 1st so the alcohol was probably not the brightest of ideas, and I have been really good about portions lately so after that feast I felt like I was going to explode. Not exactly ideal when you plan on racing in the morning.

Despite drinking a ton of water Saturday night I still felt dehydrated all morning Sunday. I woke up at 5:30 with plans to run a quick 5 minute "pick me up" but ran short on time and settled for being up and ready with breakfast eaten and tea drank before heading out.

Of course it snowed about 2 inches Saturday night and the roads hadn't been plowed so it took me extra time to get to Solar Squirrels place and we left a bit later than planned. I made a quick call to Daisy Duc to let her know we probably would not arrive in time for a warm up. T did an excellent job driving and got us there all safe and sound with a few minutes to spare for bathroom trips and a 5 minute jog around the parking lot. Not exactly the 20-30 minute warm up I was intending!

It was still snowing and the roads were slick so I opted for trail shoes. I love my mizuno wave riders but when there is snow the heel tends to pack a ball of snow beneath my foot which is not ideal for a proper foot strike. I had planned on shorts but it was a bit colder than I anticipated and I opted to run in shorts and my fleece pants, a short sleeve shirt and two long sleeves, one thin, one thick.

We started the run with some of my ultra running pals who both planned on 8 minute pace too. We headed out easy on the first mile. Solar Squirrel, Daisy Duc, and T were still with us at this point. After two miles I gave up on keeping up with my ultra pals. They were stronger on the hills and I didn't feel like pushing pace. I wanted to feel comfortable, not out of control. But even the 8:30ish pace we were holding didn't feel good. I certainly didn't want to go slower than that though so I just ran along in discomfort.

Daisy Duc was with me and we chatted our way through about 6 miles before Solar Squirrel caught us. I thought she might so I wasn't too surprised when she came up behind us. She stayed with us for a few miles before stopping to tie her shoe. Around mile 7 I twisted my ankle in an invisible pot hole. Nice how snow tends to hide those. It stung a bit but luckily didn't slow me down. It was really impossible to run fast downhill as the footing was slippery, and the effort on the uphills was more as you were sliding backwards a bit each step. As if Youngstown isn't hard enough by itself :)

Around mile 9 Daisy Duc pulled away from me on one of the larger hills. All day she had hammered the hills and slowed to wait for me. I told her to go, there was no way I was going to keep up on the hills. My leg strength just isn't there yet. So for the last 4 miles I was on my own.

I had my eye on a girl in pink shorts who I slowly started to reel in. She had been in our sights for a long time but I had lost her around 7 so I was glad to see her again around 10. 10-11 I ran well, just like last year. I fell into a nice groove which a male runner tapped into as well. Unfortunately he fell back on a short uphill and I was by myself again. Perhaps I should have held back the kick for another mile, but at the time I really felt good.

I tryed to gain some time running down Bear Hill by running on the side of the road which seemed to be a good idea until the crunchy untouched snow became slick and I almost fell on my ass. I decided to be a bit more cautious the rest of the way down. I'd say maybe a mile or 2 total for the race had pavement that wasn't covered in slick snow. Worrying about footing is never any fun, but it seemed especially frustrating on the down hills where I normally gain on other runners.

With 1 mile to go I passed the girl in pink shorts. She promptly re passed me but I kept my pace and she ended up falling back. She was younger and placed in her age group. Always nice to see gutsy younger gals out there. I had long since lost my outer layer and gloves which I guess was amusing. I had several spectators in this area shout "Go Wild Bill! No gloves!!!" Always nice to have a few cheerleaders late in the race! I hammered the last mile and managed to take down another 3 women before the end. The last one I passed coming around the final corner, assuming I was going to have to out sprint her to the finish, not an easy feat as Youngstown ends going uphill, I prepared to dig in. But to my surprise as I passed she grumbled loudly "I Don't Care!" I was a bit taken aback but decided that was her loss and I wasn't going to feel an ounce guilty about beating her to the finish line.

Post race chats determined that most people were 3-4 minutes slower this year. Daisy Duc defied that majorly, coming in about 10 minutes faster than last year and getting herself a new half PR. I must say she has been a rock star so far this year. She's moving up to the 30-34 AG in a few weeks. She is certainly going to give those ladies a run for their money. I was about 40 seconds slower than last year. So I should be happy with that, and would be, if I had felt half as good as I felt last year. I just wasn't "on" this Sunday. My legs were dead and it took a lot of mental strength to pick it up the last 3. Last year when I got to ten I felt awesome and crushed the last 3 easily. This year I was picking off people but I was definitely working harder to do it.

This was the first half marathon that I didn't take in any fuel. I had about 4 sips of Gatorade the whole race. I suppose a gel might have helped with the last 3. Next Sunday I plan on taking some fuel with me. I have been bad about taking anything the past few weeks as I have nothing in the house and just haven't made the time to go get any Gatorade or gels. I need to get back in the habit of fueling my faster paced workouts as I am not sure how my stomach is going to react.

I know the alcohol played a part in my dead legs as well as overeating. I also realize that this wasn't an A race and that since this was a training run I shouldn't expect to feel as good as I would had I tapered for this. I felt great when I woke up at 5:30 but by about 7 AM I was ready to go back to bed. I assume that this will be different for a race that I am properly tapered for.

8:21 pace isn't too shabby though and given the conditions I really should be happy with the time. I am sure my FIRST paces are designed based on a bit more ideal conditions and a bit easier course than what I faced Sunday so 21 seconds off pace isn't so bad. And as a bonus I took 3rd in my age group. I think I was in the top 15 women but I would have to check the results. Overall times were really slow. The first woman came in at 1:36. Even for Youngstown that is a very slow day. I ran a pretty similar race to last year, just a wee bit slower. I think the big difference was in miles 8 and 9. Last year I picked it up a bit there and this year I refused to pick it up until 10.

Here's the Splits:

8:38
7:21
8:10
8:46 (I don't trust 2-4, I am sure it all evened out but my bet is all of these were around 8:25-8:30)
8:23
8:41
8:32
8:18
8:29
8:30
8:12
8:04
8:05
1:06
1:49:19ish