For my birthday, I ran my last EVER marathon! I had not prepared myself physically or mentally as I decided 3 weeks ago to do this event. I had very low performance expectations, but I finished feeling satisfied with my results.
I learned a few helpful tips today to move my half-marathon training and race results to perhaps a higher level:
1. Because I suffer from Raynaud's Disease, I learned that I can not race in conditions below 30 degrees. Today's race began and ended with a wind chill of 22 degrees. By mile 5, I had no feeling in my fingers. By mile 9, I had no feeling in my toes. I was unable to handle any of my race nutrition. This meant that I ran the entire race without food. I ran a lot of the race with my hands in my pockets. Many runners offered me their gloves, but I was unable to put them on over mine since I had no feeling. Around mile 11, a runner gave me heat packs. He slid them into my gloves. He was stunned to see my white hands and chose to run with me for several miles to make sure my hands somewhat warmed up.
2. Map my Run stinks as a mileage and pace tracker! I probably need to stop being so miserly and invest in a quality Garmin. Here are the differences in what happened on the race course with my paces:
Map my Run: First Half - 2:05:22 / Second Half - 2:11:49 / Overall Pace: 9:52
Monumental: First Half - 2:09:38 / Second Half - 2:24:36 / Overall Pace:10:28
3. I need to look UP when I run. If I had looked UP more often, I might have realized that my Garmin was not in sync with the official race clock. I might have run my final half faster than what I actually did. Again, no regrets. It was a satisfying finish to an event that I have never enjoyed!
Tomorrow my birthday celebration continues with another trip to Indianapolis. I'll cheer the Indianapolis Colts on to a victory over the Miami Dolphins. I really am a Denver Broncos girl having grown up in Denver, but the Broncos season is all but over. Perhaps John Elway will get his act together and secure a decent quarterback like Andrew Luck since we know that all colts grow up to be broncos!
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