Savannah Marathon 2011: Race Recap

/

First, the stats:

Chip time: 3:29:45

Age Group: 7th out of 421

Gender: 62nd out of 2473

Field Placement: 308 out of 4722 

----------------------------

 Now on to the race.

There actually isn't a lot to say about the race itself. No drama, no major hurdles. I didn't have that, "Ooh yeah, I'm killing it," feeling I had when I ran Chicago, but I also never got into a place where I was in any real trouble. I just tried to run steady and it worked out okay.

The only really tough spot was miles 21-24.

Read More

Back From Savannah Marathon

/
Sole Sisters and fellow GSO runner Claudette at Savannah Marathon ExpoI'm back home safe and sound after running the inaugural Savannah Rock-n-Roll Marathon on Saturday. In a word, I am beat. Happy and proud, but beat. I kicked out a new PR of 3:29:45. I remember when I first started running 5 years ago thinking, "If I could ever run even just a 5k at a 9-minute pace, I would be so happy." It never even occurred to me as a possibility that I might someday run 26.2 miles at an 8-minute-per-mile pace. I trained hard for this race and I'm super proud of what I accomplished. 
Read More

Savannah Marathon: The (Meltdown?) Countdown Begins

/

It's a funny thing, training for a marathon. During the long summer months of intervals, tempo runs, and long runs, you kind of lose sight that at some point it's all going to culminate into you having to stand at a start line and face down 26.2 miles. You know in the back of your mind that, "Yeah, I'm doing this training run so someday I can run really fast and be in a lot of pain for a long time while I do it," but the reality of what you're attempting doesn't really sink in until about a week before your race.

It is a week before my race. 

Next Saturday I'll join 22,999 other runners at the start line for the Savannah Rock'N'Roll Marathon/Half-Marathon. As usual, I'm equal parts excited and freaked out. 

 

Read More

Running When You Don't Feel Like It

/

I don't want to run today. Not "I don't want to run now," or "I'm tired," or even, "I'm too busy to run." I just quite simply don't want to run. The very thought of even putting on my shoes is crushing. I've told myself that the rain has stopped and the cool temperatures and overcast sky make for ideal running conditions. I've also considered that today's tempo run--while a long one at 8 miles--is only at race pace, so it's not like I have to head out the door and kill myself, trying to hold some God awful 7 minute something pace. 

I'm not having it. I have made up my mind. I. Don't. Want. To. Run. 

Of course, I'll run anyway. It's too late in the week to give myself the day off. I've got 20 miles this Saturday (the LAST 20-miler of the training--WHOO HOO!!) and so I need to take Friday as a rest day. That means that, like it or not, the tempo run is happening today. 

I think of it as a mental toughening. There are some race days where, regardless of the countless hours spent on the road, you line up at the start line and think, "I am not feeling it today." Guess what? Too bad. Run anyway. You may not have a great run, but you will run. 

That's what I'm facing today. I'm not feeling it. It's probably not going to be a good run. I may not make it the entire 8 miles or hold pace but guess what? Today I am running. 

The hardest step is always the first one. Time to go lace up those shoes.