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Illinois Half Marathon

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Location:

Rantoul,IL,

Member Since:

May 12, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Marathon Finish

Running Accomplishments:

1/2 marathon  1:43:09--Illinois Marathon, April 2013

10K: 46:50--Safe Kids Run in Crystal Lake Park, April 2010

5K: 22:07--Jingle Bell Run, December 2009

Short-Term Running Goals:

Do another marathon AFTER GOOD TRAINING

 

1/2 marathon in 1:41 or under

 

Break Burt's 5K PR by 1 second

 

10K in 46:00 or under

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Keep encouraging my family in their development of a healthy lifestyle

 

God willing, I will run until the end.

Personal:

I run with God. I use my running time to contemplate, to pray and to listen for His call. I'm married to a non-runner, but a supportive one, and we have four children.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Iso Lifetime Miles: 133.20
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.0024.1030.10
Cohesion Miles: 30.10
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

 photo image.jpg Argh! I can't remember how to post a pic! Or it's different from an iPad. This is a pic of some Chicago flooding.

Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.004.007.00

A beautiful day for a run. Just a tad on the hot side, but the wind made it feel cooler than 70. I kept a good pace without really working too hard, and each mile was progressively faster. Paces for the last four miles were 8:29, 8:18, 8:03 and 7:56.

Still uncertain about my game plan for Saturday. Do I dare try for a pr? Have I honestly trained well enough for that to even be within my reach? My gut says no. But I think a lot could really depend on temperature and wind conditions. So I'm keeping it in the realm of possibilities.

Okay, after reviewing my best race from a few years ago, I have decided that I am going to go for it, provided it is cool outside. That year it was 75 out. If I get my wish of 50s and little wind, I think it is possible to at least come close

Cohesion Miles: 7.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.000.003.00

A long day with work stuff and a stupid conference call that lasted much too long (though really anything would have been too long). Then a quick and easy 3 miles.

Cohesion Miles: 3.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.003.003.00

3 fast miles just to squeeze them in.

Cohesion Miles: 3.00
Comments(1)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.004.004.00

I squeezed in 4 miles after work and before the Senior Night soccer game.  They were fast (under 8 min. pace).  I wanted to squeeze 1 more in before I had to get ready for the play.  

But soccer games are really long.

So I nixed the 1 mile.

For Friday (which is now today), I'd like to run at least a couple miles (3 would be great).  But it depends on how long it takes me to pick up my race packet.  I don't really want to run at 7 p.m. on the treadmill, since the treadmill always makes my legs tired.  If I don't get in a couple miles in, I don't think it will be a difference maker.

Cohesion Miles: 4.00
Comments(2)
Race: Illinois Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:43:09
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.0013.1013.10

I am very pleased at how this race went. I could not have run more perfectly.

The race started a little earlier this year, at 7 instead of 7:30. My bro and I were supposed to meet people at 6:15, but we got there a little later because I thought he was awake when I went downstairs to pump. He sneezed and I God blessed him. But it turns out that he sneezes in his sleep, because he didn't know what I was talking about when he came downstairs to crab at me for not waking him up. Then, because he is a woman, he took some time getting ready.

We did hook up with my friends before the race. But then, because I am a woman, I had to use the POP. Luckily my bro came with me. We didn't see my friends till the finish. It was a good thing. They probably would have thrown us off our race.

After the POP stop, we tried to get into our corral, but couldn't because there were too many people. At this point we were trying to reconnect with friends, and we had told them we would meet them by the 1:45 pacer, but we couldn't even get inside! Once the first wave started, we were able to get into the corral, but couldn't get close to the pacer. We decided that we'd try to catch up quickly once we were able to start, just on the off chance that we'd find our friends.

In the first mile, I really thought that was a mistake. We went out too fast. At one point I looked down and we were running at 6:15 pace. Stupid, I thought. We couldn't find our people, so after a little under a 1/2 mile, we decided to settle into our pace. The first mile was 7:34.

After about 4 miles (7:51, 7:48, and 7:59 were the next splits), I thought we might have a shot at breaking 1:43 (1:45 was the original goal). I didn't say anything to my brother, but I led the next several miles (7:47, 7:53 and 7:56). Then he said something to me about having plenty of cushion to hit our goal, and we quickly verbalized the new plan, and got to work.

Next miles were through a neighborhood and park (7:45--slight downhill, 7:50, and 8:05). I could tell my brother was flagging a little. We talked about just focusing on the 5K that we had left, and then kinda settled a little too much.

Next miles were 8:01 and 8:07, and at that point, I had my internal pep talk. I told myself that I wanted to push it to the end, no sorrows at the end. Just convinced myself that I would push. At that point there was a girl in front of me that I wanted to beat, and another girl who blasted past me with about .6 to go. I went with her, my brother came along, and we finished with a 7:39 mile and :44 for the last .1.

I am really happy with my performance. I felt great at the end. Only significant problem is that I wore a skort, thinking it would chafe less, but even though I brought some lube, I forgot to apply prior to the race. My inner thighs are pretty torn up and bloody. I could feel the chafing at about mile 8, but it didn't really hurt until I discovered (in the car) how bad it actually was. What a rookie mistake!

I don't know what made the most difference today. I think running with my brother was a difference maker. But 3 years ago I think I was more faithful to actually training. However, I did have some big depressing life moments in the 3 weeks before this race. Also, it was PERFECT weather today. Sunny, but in the low 50s at the start. Don't know how high it went, but it wasn't the 75 degrees that it was 3 years ago.

I will probably have to fix my time, since my watch said 1:43:05 and my brother's said 1:43:20 (or at least that's what he says). So I'll fix when I look up the official results.

Unofficially, the results put me at 1:43:09. Right now, they have me listed as 17th in my age division (out of just under 500) and 98 out of 3310 for woman overall. That will probably change, but I hope I'll be able to say I was in the top 100 women!

Cohesion Miles: 13.10
Comments(23)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.0024.1030.10
Cohesion Miles: 30.10
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