Crim 10 Mile Race Report

Today I ran the Crim 10 Mile Race in Flint, MI. This is a big race, with 10,000 runners and walkers.

Flint is about an hour from where I live, so David and I decided to stay at a hotel last night so we wouldn't have to get up obnoxiously early. Last night was excellent. We checked into the hotel around 5:30 or so, then walked a mile to the expo to pick up my packet. There were Special Olympics races taking place downtown, which was very cool. Then we went out for dinner (flatbread pizza - yum!) and then headed back to the hotel to relax.

I slept like crap, as I so often do the night before a race. I woke up approximately one million times. When it was finally time to get up for real, I ate my traditional pre-race oatmeal and then David and I headed over to the local YMCA where we were meeting up in the parking lot with the YPOM running club. Our new club singlets arrived yesterday, just in time for the 40 or so club members who were running the Crim to look mighty stylin' on the race course. YPOM is a force to be reckoned with! :)

I was really nervous about this race. It's notoriously hilly, though some club members told me the Solstice Run 10 miler that I ran earlier this year was hillier. After completing the Crim today, I respectfully disagree. I found the Crim to have more challenging hills and my performance was certainly a lot slower than the Solstice.

I don't remember a lot of specifics about what happened during the race. It was full sun today - not a cloud in the sky - and felt quite hot on the course, so I appreciated all the spectators who set up misting hoses and sprinklers in front of their homes. It was nice to get some relief, because the course didn't have a whole lot of shady areas. There were a lot of cute dogs on the sidelines, but I managed to refrain from stopping to pet any of them. I was sorely tempted, though! Love those dogs!

The Crim has been in existence for a long time. Runners who have done it for 30 years or more get a special shirt. During the race I came across a man who was running his 33rd Crim. That's so impressive and I hope I can have that much running longevity. It's a well-organized race and they have water stops at every mile because historically it's ridiculously humid, though it wasn't too humid this year.

I had a fairly bad attitude during my run so I admit that I kind of gave up in the last few miles when I realized that I wasn't going to hit my time goal. I'm so disappointed in myself. All I keep thinking about is those damn marathons and how I don't enjoy marathon training. Still haven't made any final decisions. I want to get back to enjoying running more and feeling less like it's an endless slog of misery.

Next week is the 30K so I will get through that and then reassess my racing future!

Thursday guilt

My attitude is only slightly better than it was earlier this week after the craptastic long run. Ran on Tuesday and felt fine. Didn't run on Wednesday. Also slept in again this morning, so the guilt really started getting to me. I took my running clothes to work and changed into them before I left the office today, so I would have fewer excuses when I got home.

I managed to push myself out the door tonight against my will and had a lovely run. The weather is gorgeous here, about 75 degrees and sunny at 6:30pm. I feel excellent now (physically) but am still fearful of what will happen next time I attempt a long run.

Maybe I'll feel better after I have a successful 10 miler at the Crim this weekend. We'll see.

Long run whining

I met up with the running club at a local park for my long run today. My running buddy Jo and I were planning on 18 miles, though I ended up at 17 because after two loops I was tired and done.

On the plus side, I didn't have any digestive issues today. Jo gave me a package of Shot Bloks and those seemed to agree with me very well. Goodbye Gu, hello Shot Bloks! I'll need to go buy some of those this week.

On the negative side, I had a crappy run today. The first loop was good. We went out a bit faster than we should have, but were feeling good. The second loop is where I fell apart. My legs felt fine (and the bunion isn't bothering me, woo hoo!) but my feet get so sore and my attitude just went to hell. I walked a lot of the second loop and I'm pretty disgusted with myself. I spent most of the time having a mental conversation with myself where I decided that I'm not going to run either one of these damn marathons. I'll thought, I'll do the 30K with Megan and Jo over Labor Day weekend and then I'm done. Half marathons only for the future.

Later Jo told me that crappy training runs mean good races and assured me I will be fine for the marathons. I'm going to see how the 30K goes. Right now I'm in a better mental place after soaking my feet in an ice bath, but who knows how I'll feel after the 30K. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a marathon runner. I don't know. My legs feel absolutely fine, my breathing was fine. It's just that my feet ache so much on long runs and I've tried several types of shoes and it's always the same. I am so grateful that the bunion isn't bothering me, but the aching makes it really less than fun to do these distances.

So for now, I haven't given up on doing Twin Cities and NYC but I'm sorta depressed about the whole thing. I decided I need a good hilly challenge to give me something worth whining about, so I just registered for the Crim 10 mile race that takes place next Saturday. I was planning a cut-back week with a 10-mile long run anyway, and the Crim will be a good way to do it because about 40 members of the running club will be there running so it will be fun. As fun as a hilly hilly hilly race can be, anyway. If nothing else, it will be good prep for the hilly hilly hilly 30K the following weekend. :)

Blah

Lazypants McSlug (that would be me) blew off her run today. Odds are good I won't run again until Sunday's 18 miler. Well, at least I'll have fresh legs for the long run!

Woo hoo Wednesday!

Planned: 4 miles
Actual: 4.01 miles

I was really sleepy this morning and I didn't feel like getting up to run. But I did it anyway, and even managed to achieve negative splits. Just barely - the last mile was 1 second faster than mile 3 - but I did it. My overall pace was much faster than yesterday. Considering it was a much shorter run, I would expect that to be the case but it doesn't always work out that way for me!

Seven miles on the agenda for tomorrow, which means a very early wake-up call. Guess I'll be recording Top Chef tonight instead of staying up to watch.

Happy Tuesday!

Planned: 7 miles
Actual: 7.02 miles (yes, that .02 makes a difference!)

What a gorgeous morning! We finally had a break in the nasty, hot, humid weather so it was in the 50s and delightfully NOT humid when I went out to run this morning. It was great not to be sweating before I even started running.

My legs felt pretty good, especially considering the 17-mile adventure was just two days ago. And it was nice not to have intestinal cramping, too. :)

For the past few weeks I've been thinking that the hot weather is what was making me so slow. Turns out, that's not it. I'm just slow! I felt like I was cruising right along this morning, so it was disheartening to notice my poky slow pace every time I looked at my watch. Must work on that!

Ugly long run

Today my running buddy Joanne and I headed out for 17 miles. We accomplished it. It was not pretty, but we did it. I'm going to keep the ugly details to myself. We'll just say "digestive issues" and leave it at that. Joanne and I have agreed that our remaining long runs will be in places that have more bathrooms and more places to refill our water. Woooeeee, it was hot and humid today.

But we did it, we did it, we did it! We will be ready for our fall marathons!

Victory!

This morning I woke up once again to a disgustingly hot and humid early-morning temperature. My schedule called for six miles, but I was already telling myself that maybe I could just do four because it was so yucky out. Plus I'm lazy.

Once I started running, I was feeling okay. Repulsively sweaty, but otherwise okay. Got barked at by a big, scary dog who had nothing but an invisible electric fence between him and my throat. Fortunately he just pawed at the ground where his invisible fence was and he didn't come after me.

Then I saw a cute black lab and also a couple of golden retrievers. Given the opportunity, they may have sniffed me but I didn't fear for my life like I did with big meanie. Anyway, I enjoyed the dogs and in the course of running along, I managed to convince myself that I could and would complete the six miles I was supposed to do. Certainly I could cut it short, but who would I be cheating? Only myself. So I did six miles.

Victory over laziness. Woo hoo!

Still running

Planned: 4 miles
Actual: 4.15 miles

Nothing interesting to report from today's run. Didn't even see anybody out with their dogs, which is usually a benefit of running early in the morning. I love dogs.

Once again it's gross and humid outside. When I'm already sweating when I wake up (no air conditioning at my house), it really doesn't make me want to get up and run. But guilt rules the day again! Glad my guilt complex serves a good purpose sometimes.

A good running day

Today was a good day! I woke up at 5:15 knowing I was supposed to run seven miles today. I didn't want to do it, because it was already hot and humid before the sun came up. However, I told one of my running buddies over the weekend that I was going to follow my training schedule this week and that she should bug me about it. So as much as I didn't want to get up and run, I knew Jo would ask me if I'd gotten my run in and I'd feel guilty. That got me up and out there, and I did it.

It was hard to run in the heat and humidity so I was pretty slow, but I got it done. I felt great afterward despite being tired and disgustingly sweaty. And then later in the day Jo sent me a message on FB asking if I'd run and I was happy to be able to say I've been following the schedule.

But the even better part of the day was when I received a text from my friend Megan asking which airport was the best one for someone who might be booking a flight to Detroit to run a 30K. I've been pestering Megan for what feels like months to come to Detroit and run the Labor Day 30K with me, because it will be excellent training for both of us for the Twin Cities Marathon. I do believe I finally wore her down. Woo hoo!

I'm really looking forward to seeing her and running a race with her again. It's been nearly a year since we ran the Dick Beardsley half marathon together. That half was a week after the 30K last year, so I'm pretty sure I must have given her an earful about what a miserable, hilly festival of suck the 30K is. We shall not let it defeat us!

Not my best week

I've been a real slacker this week. After last week's excellent 16 miler, I didn't run on Sunday or Monday. I ran on Tuesday, but only 3.5 miles. Then I didn't run on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. What is happening to me!?!?

I had plans to meet some friends for a long run this morning, so I was committed and that was one run that wouldn't get skipped. I was out late last night with friends, and had a great time, but that isn't so smart when the alarm is going off at 5:30am. So I showed up for the run today with trepidation, a lot of yawning, a poor attitude, and legs that haven't run much lately. What a surprise, when I go into a run expecting it to be difficult, it turns out to be really difficult.

I'm very grateful for my running buddies Joanne and Anna, who helped me get through 12 miles today. I'll be sure not to skip so much running during the week and next weekend Joanne and I will kick butt on the 17-miler we have planned. Onward and upward!

July wrap-up

At the beginning of July, I mentioned that I set a goal of running 120 miles for the month. I'm pleased to report that I achieved that goal, finishing with 124.07.

If I do my planned training for August, then I will beat July's total by 20 miles or so. It's marathon ramp-up time!