Modesto (half) Marathon race report

This was a race that almost wasn't.  Despite driving 5 hours to get to Modesto (with my dog Scooter on my lap the whole way) I woke up Saturday feeling terrible.  My chest hurt worse than any day the last week.  It hurt so bad that as I got to the race expo I asked if I could defer my entry until next year.  I already told myself if they said no that I would at least wake up the next morning, get ready and see how my body felt.  Well, they said no, so that meant that I was at least going to attempt to run.

Well lo and behold I woke up race morning feeling great.  All the prayers people said for me really paid off.  I ate some breakfast, made some coffee, took the dog on a walk, and then it was time to get ready and head out the door.

As I was driving to the race I felt no nerves at all, which is unusual for me.  Maybe because I knew I had a good excuse if I sucked it up.  Maybe it was because I did a lot of CrossFit and knew that was so different to any other training I have done in the past.

Thanks to Dan Ross for giving me some encouragement on the blog the night before and some advice on how to warm up.  (I guess I know of 4 people now who read this blog... my wife, my mother in

mile one

law, Dan and Jen.  Thanks guys!)  Anyway, I was nice and loose as the race started.  I shed a sweatshirt I bought at Goodwill right before the start and I felt great wearing a tank top.  I could not believe how many people were all layered up.  It was in the 40s at the start but I think they paid for it in the end.  I would say it was sunny and in the 50s when I finished.

The race was pretty uneventful itself.  The course is totally flat except for the overpass you cross out and back.  My goal was to hit 7:30 minute/miles throughout the race.  After the first mile I ended up running about 10 yards behind the 3:15 marathon pace group until mile 8 where they diverged.  I did some mental math and knew following them would put me near a 1hr37 finish.  

Around mile 8 I was running next to a high school kid and he said it was his first time racing.  I asked him if he had a goal and he said to finish in an hour and 10 minutes.  I didn't have the heart to tell him he needed to be running 5 minute miles.

my dad and Susie

In the last 3 miles I started picking off runners, which never happens to me.  My most humbling moment racing was actually being passed by a fat middle aged woman around mile 23 of a marathon.  Well this time I was the fat middle aged woman!  Wait... you know what I mean.

I did a good job of not focusing too much on my watch throughout the race and I only looked at the elapsed time 2 times until I was about to make the turn at mile 13.  I was surprised when it, and the big clock, registered in the low 1hr37ish realm.  I knew if I booked it I could break 1hr38.  I did just that and i could hear my step mom cheering for me, which was great.  Officially my time was 1 hr 37 min and 50 seconds.

After I crossed the finish line I felt better than I have in any other race at any other distance.  I never hit the wall, wasn't hunched over, could talk in big boy sentences and didn't look like a mess.

Below are my splits...

the ole Garmin

1-7:29
2-7:17
3-7:22
4 -7:25
5-7:25
6-7:29
7-7:26
8-7:27
9-7:31
10-7:33
11-7:39
12-7:28
13.1-8:17


Overall it was a great day, a great race and also fun to randomly see some old friends along the way racing also!

elephant on my chest

Wouldn't I know it a week before my race I get some mysterious injury. 

I rarely every play basketball anymore even though it is probably my favorite sport to play.  I had a small class of students in my PE class last Friday so I took them into the gym to shoot some hoops.  Of course I love for my students to know I am better than they are at basketball so I decided to play a game of one on three against some boys.  I proceeded to destroy them and their pride over the course of a 10 minute game.  The next morning I woke up and it literally felt like I had an elephant sitting on my chest.  It hurt to sit up, bend over, and take a deep breath.  I didn't know what was wrong but at that point I was just glad it was not a heart attack.  I figured it was something from playing basketball and it would go away.

Almost a week later and I am still experiencing the same things, some days to a lesser extent, some days more.  I have gone on some easy runs and I have noticed it.  Since I could not get into the doctor until next week today I had the nurse at my school looked check me out.  She seems to think I strained the muscle on my sternum on my left side. 

My goal all along was to run a smart race, not go out too fast and run consistent 7:30 minute/miles.  While I still want to do all the above, running a smart race is the hardest simply because I do not know what by body is willing to let me do.  I need to not let pride get in the way if I am not feeling it at all. 

If you are reading this (basically I think just my wife and mother in law read this blog) say a prayer that I feel great Sunday morning and whatever this injury is miraculously goes away, or at the least does not hinder me too much.  

back in the saddle

Despite not posting to this blog in about 7 or 8 months my running has been pretty consistent.  It is daily a challenge to figure out how to get out the door and take a run though with a 13 month old little girl that needs constant attention.  Thankfully she takes naps.  When she naps, I run. 
Probably the biggest bonus to my running and training for another half marathon in March is that I moved to Solvang in September.  Goodbye 45 mile commute to work and hello 6.2 mile commute to work.  I work with my wife so 2 days a week I run home instead of drive.  It is great to walk in the door at 4:30ish and just finish a run as opposed to walking in the door at that same time but just have sat in the car for the last 50 minutes.
In getting ready for the Modesto half marathon I felt like I needed to try and get an edge.  I am not the fastest, but in training I definitely put in the miles, do speedwork and all that jazz.  I felt like I more or less I have plateaued.  What I haven't ever done much of is cross train.  I can't seem to sit on a bike saddle for any amount of time where my man parts don't start to hurt.  Another cross training that I could do but haven't is swimming.  Of course I know how to swim but I am intimidated to go to the pool with all the real swimmers.  I don't want to be all over the lane looking like I a newbie.  There is a fellow teacher at my school who is also a runner and she has raved about a cross fit class she takes 2 days a week.  I first heard about it when my friend Andy was training for a 50 miler and he said it was indispensable to his regiment.  I decided to give it a try.
Let's just say the first class sucked.  I thought going in, "Hey I am in shape! I should be able to handle this."  I left that class feeling like I could puke.  I have a new respect for all those fatties on the Biggest Loser doing all those crazy exercises you always see them doing.  I am just thankful I don't have some crazy lady like Jillian cussing at me while I am trying to do the same things.  We do tire flips.  We fling big ass ropes all over the place.  We do lunges and ab exercises like nobody's business.  It's only been a month of that but I do feel stronger.
Back to my running.  I run 4x a week and do that class 2x a week.  I feel like I am getting faster.  Even before I started that class on one of my runs home from work I wanted to go at a pretty fast pace to see where my fitness was at.  I ended up running my first 2 miles at 7:30/mile pace and then the last 4.2 around 6:55/mile pace.  I was happy to see that I was around 44 minutes for a 10k.
My PR last April was a 1:39:42 which equates to a 7:35/mile.  My hope is to run at a 7:30/mile pace this March.  A big part of that is running a smart race and not going out too fast.  As for now, I am just continuing to do the things that I hope will get me there in 6 weeks.