Eat Drink Run Woman

This was the third year running this race and I was determined to not only set a course PR, I also hoped to beat my overall half PR of 1:53:35 set at last year’s Kirkland Half.  However, given I hadn’t been doing any formal speed work and was dealing with possible plantar fasciitis on my left foot, I knew the latter could be a long shot.

I’m particularly fond of this race as it not only signals the start of the spring running season, it also is a fundraiser for colon cancer awareness (we have a family history of the disease).  This year I decided to forego wearing the blue colon cancer ribbon on my bum since in the past people kept coming up to me telling me I had a piece of tape on me.  (Don’t you get it, people?  You wear the pink breast cancer ribbon on your chest, so it only makes sense to wear the colon cancer ribbon on your bottom.  Sheesh!)

My darling decided not to run as an “official” runner this year, opting instead to take it as a slow training run and help pace me (shhh… don’t tell the race director).  This was fortunate as we encountered a huge backup at the Mercer Island exit.  By then I had to pee again, yet we were stuck in traffic for at least 15 minutes.  I actually considered peeing into a bottle in the car when I saw a couple of runners ahead of us get out of the car and run to the start.  With less than 15 minutes to go before the race start, I decided to do the same.  I kissed my darling goodbye, saying I’d meet up with him on the course.

I was a good half to three-quarter mile run to the start, which helped get my legs warmed up.  The lines to the port-o-potties were quite long, but fortunately they moved rather quickly.  I had just enough time to do my business and get lined up in the 8-9 minute pace group when the starting gun went off.

In order to reach my goal I would have to average an 8:38 pace.  Knowing I’d slow down at the hills at miles 10 and 12 I decided to start out at that pace, increase it during the middle miles, then run as fast as I could during the hilly portion.  My darling caught up with me just before mile 6; while I was doing well it was definitely a challenge.  I had put some cushier insoles in my shoes thinking it would lessen the heel pain, but it started talking to me.  I also started getting a tad bit dizzy, despite taking in plenty of fluids and gels (I think the rolling course may have triggered my vertigo).

Starting to struggle:

Not a happy camper:

While I had been on pace through mile 6, I started to struggle slightly after that.  Mile 10 — with its short, yet steep hill — got the best of me, slowing me to a 9:05 pace.  While I was able to run mile 11 in 8:41, I slowed again for the mile 12 hill, running that at 8:54.  Fortunately mile 13 is mostly downhill, and I was able to shake the dizziness and run that in 8:33.  However, the last bit of the course is a very cruel uphill.  Despite pumping my arms as hard as I could, I missed my overall PR by 38 seconds, finishing in 1:54:13.  However, I smashed my course PR by almost 4 minutes!