Half marathon in 2:25:40

I've have tight and very sore calf muscles, IT bands, and hips this week, so I skipped my scheduled slow 2 miler on Friday to allow more recovery days for my long run.  I wasn't even convinced my long run was going to be particularly long, today.  I was scheduled for 12, but was hoping for just 8 injury-free miles. 

Today's run was totally different than last week's.  Last week, I felt great and was much faster than expected.  Today, I felt beat-up and was hyper-aware of my sore muscles throughout the run.  When I over-use them, my calves and IT bands have a habit of balling up.  It can be a chronic problem as they don't recover easily because they are continuously contracting, even when at rest.  Sometimes it gets so bad that I can't run.  I was sending relaxation vibes to my muscles so they didn't get any worse.  Also, to play it safe, I stopped to walk every time I felt them tighten enough to impact my stride.

At half past 5 miles, I caught a burning sensation in my hip/IT band/hip flexor area.  The relaxation vibes didn't knock it down immediately, so I slowed to a walk and pondered the fate of the run.  I was about 3 miles from home and Ken was with the kids at baseball practice, so I figured I was going to get in 8 miles, even if I had to walk the last three.  The burning subsided after walking about 3 minutes, so I resumed running and walking according to the directions of my muscles.

Last week, at the end of a fast 11 miles, I was feeling great and could have run 2 more miles at a 10 minute pace easily.   Today I struggled a lot with the last 2 miles, just like I did in my 2008 half marathon during which I alternated ~60 meter tempos with ~60 meters barely jogging.  It was brutal then as it was today.  I knew alternating very fast and very slow is not a productive way to run, nor is it wise for someone with a light injury, so the last mile I quit running fast and walked less frequently.  I was just tried to hold on to what was likely going to be an unofficial half marathon PR (personal record) for me. 

Today's 13.1 mile distance was measured by my Garmin and clocked at 2:25:40.  In 2008, I did that distance in an official 2:29:10, but I stopped at the porta-potty twice on the course.  Today my splits were 11:21, 11:05, 11:13, 10:21, 11:26, 11:44, 11:09, 10:57, 12:11, 11:27, 10:51, 10:45, and 10:18 with no stops.

I'm not sure it was wise to do a really long run this weekend, but I had the time and was dressed well for the sunny run with the temperature in the upper 30's F.  It wasn't an easy run, but I think I learned quite a bit. 

I learned to listen to my muscles when they are tired and to walk at the first sign of tightening. 

I learned that during a walk break, I gain significant energy, attitude adjustment, and back flexibility by putting my arms in a tight swimmer's spike above my head and then pressing my shoulder blades together as I slowly bring them down to my side.  I guess loosening my shoulders and chest muscles helps me run in better form.  I must run hunched over too much and it puts a strain on my back.

I learned I tend to forget the GU nourishment when I run and I need to be more intentional about it.  I didn't take a GU until mile 11 today.  Ooops. 

I learned I can go easier on my sore muscles by not intentionally pushing off and just letting momentum carry me along.  I'm not very fast with that method, but when running beat-up and sore, it seems to be a good strategy for being able to run further before fatigue. 

I learned that geese can be damn aggressive and dangerous.  Just after mile 7, I got dive-bombed by a goose.  He/she was purposely aiming for my head.  It surprised me and I actually screamed (not typical behavior for me).   I bailed off the trail and came to an abrupt stop just past where he/she landed.  The goose was on the ground now but still showing me how huge it was with the full wing span and was hissing with a wide open beak. What was that all about?  My first thought as I took off running again was that the adrenaline boost was going to have a negative impact on the rest of my run. 

Some teenagers were walking toward me on the path and certainly had heard, if not seen my goose encounter.  I warned them of the danger, but their smiles responded with "what a pitiful old wimpy lady."  A few minutes later, I heard a scream and slowed to watch them from the other side of the pond.  The first one was brave and tried to run past it.  She was rewarded with a startling ground chase. As I ran on, the other teenager was strategizing how to navigate the fowl roadblock.  Perhaps they learned something today, too.