Karen, did you make it?????

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Polly
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Karen, did you make it?????

Post by Polly »

Mornin' Karen!

I hope you're in bed and not still trying to get the the finish line! LOL!

Seriously, how was the race? I can't wait to hear the details. Can you tell?

Love,

Polly
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Post by Polly »

bump
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moremuscle
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Post by moremuscle »

Yes, Polly - Thanks for your interest :) I love it!!

My time was 2:01:40 (2 hours, 1 minute, 4 seconds). My goal had been to race in 2:08 - it is sweet to have achieved that and then a little bit but I can't help being a little disappointed that I wasn't able to run it under 2 hours. Next time I will set a goal under 2 hours - perhaps 1:55 - I need to digest and analyze everything.

It takes time to recover from this run. I didn't sleep more than perhaps 4 hours the night before the race. I had to get up at 4:30 - drive to the start line at 5:30 and start running at 6:30. I stressed major because I was in a hotel room - tossed about in the bed and went to the bathroom to pee every hour or so during the few hours of sleep.

I have been eating and drinking ever since the race - today I worked in the store with David from 1:30 to 6 - I feel relatively well now. But I need to catch some more sleep before we start working again tomorrow.

I was very well prepared for the race - I knew how to run the distance; we had done it 4-5 times since December 24. I knew how I would feel toward the end and how to pace myself. I had my watch set to go off every 9minutes and 30 seconds - in that way I would know if I was on pace every time I passed one of the mile markers. I basically ran the entire race at the same pace - my overall race pace ending up at 9:27 (this means that I ran each mile in 9 minutes and 27 seconds).

I am not sure the 1/2 marathon is the best distance for me; it is definitely challenging. I don't feel like taking on a full marathon at this point. I do however feel that I could improve my 1/2 marathon time given some more dedicated training. There is no more 1/2 marathon training before the end of the summer - in the mean time I am training for a 10K. I will be working on my speed and doing some hill training - one of my weak areas. I would like to do a few more shorter races in the spring before the heat really strikes us here - some 5 Ks and some 10Ks, there is also a 12K coming up in Orangeburg, SC at the end of April. I might try that distance.

Time will tell what is going to happen in the next few months - right now I am still just trying to digest what I have experienced. It has been an incredible experience. I have taken some chances with my running and my body that I haven't done for a long time - in some ways I feel like I have become more of a risk taker as a runner; I wonder how and if this is going to manifest itself in other areas of my life - hopefully it will inspire me in my business to go beyond what I/we have been doing so far.

I don't care much for staying in a hotel the night before a race - too stressful. I will try to find some races that are in shorter driving distance and start at a more decent time instead of 6:30 am - it wasn't even light yet when we started running.

I loved knowing so many people - all my team mates - and being there to cheer on them as they came in. It was a pretty intense week end.

More to come later.
Again, thanks for your interest, Polly - you are wonderful!!

Love,
Karen
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Liz
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Post by Liz »

Congratulations Karen, you have done so well. I bet you will break the 2 hour mark next time.

Love

Liz
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Post by Lucy »

Karen,

Know what you mean about getting excited before a big race. I was a competitive swimmer in my younger days, and especially the night before, and sometimes the night AFTER even, I would have "swimming dreams."
My specialty was backstroke, and since I had a padded headboard, I didn't hurt myself too badly! Ha! I really did hit that headboard quite often.

I liked the speed, so I liked the sprints, but on your back, they are exhausting! I did pretty much any stroke that the team needed me to do, and usually, that was some of the longer distance freestyles, just because having someone who could go the distance would rack up SOME points, even if the person didn't place.

Just think, if I were still doing that, we'd be practicing in the pool about this time of year -- burr! Don't worry, it was all indoors, but the water wasn't heated, and this pool was in the basement. After all that heat was expended in practice, the bods warmed the water themselves! Realllllly they did.

It's so exciting following how you've gotten to the point that you can accomplish all this.
I'm so glad that you've shared these experiences with us, Karen. Thanks, and keep it up, ok.

Yours, Luce
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Post by starfire »

:grin: Sounds like you did GREAT Karen!! I'm proud of you and pleased to know you.

Thanks for sharing so much with us. Almost felt like being there and I'll bet you'll be under 2 min. before next year.

I don't know how you stay so dedicated but you certainly persevere.

Congrats

Love, Shirley
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Post by barbaranoela »

Congrats Karen------
Tis a great accomplishment---U have to be proud of yourself---

My best is a walk to the mail box--- :smile: ---well actually did 2 miles ,one day, walking thru the desert!!! at a fast pace to avoid any slithery things that might be waiting @ the intersections--- :lol: :lol:

Again, Congrats--
luve Barbara
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Post by tex »

Karen,

:thumbsup:

Excellent! You've come a long way, from being tied to the bathroom, to a 1/2 marathon, in a little over a year.

Love,
Wayne
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Post by celia »

I really admire your determination and discipline, Karen!

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Post by Peggy »

:barbell: Way to go Karen! :barbell:
:pigtail:
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Post by Polly »

AWESOME performance Karen! Congrats!

And yes.....thanks for providing all of the details. I felt like I was there with you! I also hate those early AM runs. I prefer starting at 9 or 10. I wonder why they started so early when no hot weather was involved?

Anyway, you should be immensely proud of yourself. What an accomplishment! It would be such fun to do a race together one of these days.........

Love and admiration,

Polly
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Post by Mars »

Way to go Karen!

You truly are an inspiration! Keep up the good work!

Love,
Mars
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Post by moremuscle »

Hi friends,

Wow - what a group you are!! I want to bring you all along next time I go - Thank you very much for all the heart warming congrats :smile:

Nice picture, PEG!! :pigtail:

Lucy, it was great to hear about your swimming - it's the first time I've heard about it. Awesome. Do you know, I can hardly swim breast stroke at all - never learned how to swim as a child and later I was too shy to take lessons. Perhaps soon I will want to so I can try a Tri-Athlon LOL!!

Polly, I am sure the thought behind starting the race so early is a purely commercial interest; if they started later we wouldn't have to stay in a hotel over night - lost income for the Myrtle Beach businesses. It's a good source of income for Myrtle Beach in an off season month.

Well, I was actually paranoid about my eating and possible energy depletion during the race. I think I had read too much about what can happen if you run out of glycogen while running such long distances. I didn't want to eat much before racing because of two things: First, I didn't want to be too full - I have experienced that in the past and it slows me down and makes it hard to breath right. Second, I was afraid that because of the nervousness and being away from home that if I ate too much I would run the risk of needing to have a BM at an inconvenient time - right before the start or worse even, during the race. Thus I had decided not to eat much before the race - in fact, I ate only half a banana and a cup of mixed tomatosoup/chickenbroth that I had heated in the microwave in the Hotel room. But by the time the race started I had already been up for two hours and most of the energy from the meal had already started dwindling away.
There were water/gatoraid stations every 2 miles but I never touch gatoraid so I was having water only. Also, my team mates use a fast type of energy that is called GU - it cosists mainly of some fast acting dextrines etc that I can't have because of my intolerances. IOW, I can't use the same kind of energy sources they use. I felt tired and slow early on in the race - but perhaps most of it was due to paranoia - I was really afraid I was going to crash in the middle of the race; so I chose to start eating small bites of a Larabar that I had in my tight-pocket; I was afraid of doing that too because I know that food sometimes trigger a BM - of course I did not NEED that.

Everything turned out OK after all - but the fear of crashing etc certainly weighed heavily on my mind during the race; I didn't really need those negative thoughts but I couldn't help having them.

During my training I have never had that fear - and I have been able to run the long runs w/o problems; but of course one's mind freaks out when under higher pressure.

I need to figure out how to make a drink that will give me some energy during longer runs - I will have to practise carrying the bottle while running. Do you engineers and medical doctors have any suggestions as to how to make a drink with water being the main ingredient and some source of glucose and sodium to replace electrolytes?

I am not sure why those fears became so monumental in my mind that morning - but they did.

I feel very good about having accomplished this much. Perhaps it will get better from here?! :smile:

Shirley, I am pretty sure I won't be able to do it under 2 minutes LOL!! It takes hours to run that far..........

Love,
Karen
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Post by JJ »

Karen....I am soooo impressed...way to go! JJ
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Post by Lucy »

Barbs,

What's your record time for hitting the snooze alarm button? How many can you do in an hour? Bet I've got ya beat! Ha!
Anyway, that's my fav when it comes to exercise.

Yours, Luce
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