How AM I going to make a sub-2?

How in the heck should I know?

I am still not entirely convinced it's in the cards for me... I'm not really sure I deserve it. Guess we'll see come October 9 :P

For my non-running readers, I am referring to running a half-marathon (13.1 miles) in under 2 hours. This works out to just about 9 minutes 9 seconds per mile for the whole thing.

Being unprepared makes me nervous. I haven't followed a training program. I had a good one that was a composite of Run Less, Run Faster and Galloway's... with some tweaks from both awesome Jill and Patrick from The Road thrown in. It was going great until all those blasted monkey-wrenches.

Then my summer became a quest to just make it to the Hood to Coast Relay (ha! there! I said it!) with Team Nuun, healthy and in a good mental place. While I accomplished that, I was not ready for the post-relay feelings of depression and listlessness that were strangely accompanied by intense euphoria and a 'can-do' motivated desire to dive back into serious training. Weird...but not entirely out of character.

As a result, my running has been haphazard since Hood to Coast. What am I saying? It was pretty haphazard in the weeks immediately prior to Hood to Coast! Anyway... moving on....

When I am in the Long Beach Half Marathon on October 9, I want to look and feel like this...

Instead of like this...

After my post the other day stating my 'stretch' goal as being a sub-2, I received this super cool, encouraging tweet from one of my new running buddies...

@xlmic I believe that w/ a good taper, hydration, and careful pacing that you'll go sub 1:59 for the half.....

I love it when people believe in me! So I looked at this carefully.

• "good taper" – I kind of am living in a tapering place; I think this will work in my favor :)
• "hydration" – I am so well-stocked with Nuun for before the race and there are TEN water stations on the course... one nearly every mile... and I am not opposed to carrying my Amphipod handheld (though I'd rather not... suggestions or advice?)
• "careful pacing" – ut-oh. This is where I am concerned. I have trust issues... even trusting-myself-issues. While my new racing mentor Kim, Nuun staff runner from our Nuun Platuun team, told me she had her best times when she did it all by feel... no watch, ignoring mile markers, etc...I am not sure I have that faith in my body or racing brain... yet. Sure, I have my Garmin (which looks like a VW Beetle parked on my super-skinny wrist), but picking the numbers I want it to be showing... that's another story.

So I made a race plan.

When I made a plan and followed it for Bay to Breakers back in May, it worked for me perfectly. It was set up to be realistic but a push. I ended up a little ahead of schedule... which can't help but feel good, right? 

Presenting my Long Beach Sub-2 Plan... I hope think am fairly certain it's realistic :P

Mile                Pace                                               Elapsed Time

1                      9:15   (adrenaline boost)                     9.25 minutes
2 & 3                9:40   (settling in and warming up)    28.59 minutes
4, 5, 6 & 7       9:24   (solid base)                              66.19 minutes
8, 9 & 10         9:10   (pick it up to prep for push)       93.69 minutes
11 & 12            8:40   (the push starts...)                  111.09 minutes
13 - 13.1          8:06   (the digging down deep part)  119.89 minutes
                   
                                                                               = 1:59:55 ... which is sub-2!

On Sunday, I participated in a Run 11 on 9/11/11 memorial run. I lengthened it out to 12... because I felt so good. It was somewhat hilly, and my average pace was 10:05. The last two miles were both sub-9 minutes. And I felt GREAT when it was over. Maybe it had something to do with running for a greater purpose? And I was not sore the next day.

I think I'm ready to take this sucker on.

Any other advice or words of encouragement? Throw them my way... please!!!!!

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And on the to-do list for today...

vote for Catey... awesome mom of 8 little kids who will be running in the St. George Marathon... her blog is entered in the Top 25 Big Family blog contest! Go to her personal voting page by clicking HERE.

Rapture Run II... the sequel

In theaters and in books, sequels are often not as entertaining as originals. Something might feel a little forced or stale. This sequel is no exception to that rule. If you missed my original Training for the Rapture, you might want to go back and check it out here. Maps, pictures, video, pants-crapping, dehydration... the whole nine yards... and a major self-destruct at the end, cutting the run short. Had it been truly a post-Apocalyptic incident, the zombies/aliens/Satan would have gotten me for sure.

Yesterday's sequel proved to be boring but successful. Will Smith would have been proud. No drama...no pictures... all business... just focused on finishing the run... no distractions.

I learned from last week's mistakes... the biggie was the water issue. I went out and got one of these...

I LOVE this thing. Amphipod handheld. It was not cheap, but the moment I slipped my hand into the little neoprene sleeve with fleecy-lined snack-and-key pocket, I knew it was a match made in heaven. Soooo comfortable... I hardly knew I was carrying it even when full.

I filled my new new (!) water bottle, stuffed a few pitted dates into the zippered pocket and drove to the site for my second attempt at 9 brutally hilly miles. I made a few changes to the plan... it made things mentally easier but physically harder. I opted to do 9.25 miles... three laps plus once up the spur and then out and back 0.25 each way... instead of two laps of hills plus a longer out and back. My pace would be slow and steady... just finish... just survive.

Some things working in my favor this time:

1. it was 10 degrees cooler, 
2. there was no up-in-the-air about when I could do it so I was well-fed at the right times and properly hydrated prior to leaving the house... and 
3. I was able to take care of some evacuatory biz before leaving as well.

I tried out the new Seven Wonders of the boob world running bra in this challenging setting, too ... it seemed to work out well and was quite comfortable, but it's possible that I was just too focused on survival to notice any glitches in comfort or performance. At least none of the hikers or bikers headed toward me made weird, ogling faces so that was a good sign that bounce-control was happening.

Some things I learned:

1. Water is a good thing. I will now always bring water on runs where I am unsure of water supply. 
2. Steep hills are really hard and you run slower going up them. They are difficult to go down, too, but you can go a little faster. 
3. I hate those shoes... or maybe it was just the pitted and slanted trail :/

The best parts of the run were:

• got a tan line on my legs that you can actually see. It was still there after my shower, so I know it wasn't just dirt.
• my awesome ice bath when it was all over.
• I DID IT!  it was a huge confidence-builder after last week's disappointment. While I didn't crush it, I feel great about how I did. I tried to keep it off the clock, but well.... Suffice it to say that the numbers really didn't matter, I just used them for a gauge to keep myself honest about both effort and hydration.

Feels good to have it done :)