Tuesday, October 5, 2010

An Extra Boost

Saturday morning, I got up bright and early for a run with the TNT group and Liz, my Baltimore Half Marathon partner. I was nervous. In case you missed it, my previous post was all about my shins and the pain they were causing me.

 
Saturday was the perfect running day. It was cool at the start, just 40* and clear. The fall TNT group was meeting up too, so we listened to their coach give them a pep talk, then Coach Katye gave us ours. Liz and I had planned on 10, but Katye mentioned it’s not too early to start tapering, so we decided on 6.

 The first mile—I struggled to get into a groove—but no shin pain. Hmmm,weird. The second mile, I managed to pick up the pace a bit and keep up with Liz (or Speed Demon as I shall call her) and Katye dropped off and headed back to some of the other TNTers. At the end of the second mile, I wanted to walk a second, so Liz obliged. I figured this would be the true test. Last week, my shins would hurt AFTER I would take my walk break and start up again.




After a couple minutes of walking, we started again, and kept the pace under 12:00/mile (shut up—this is fast for me) to the third mile marker. I had the unfortunate opportunity to use a port a pot (seriously, how do you get poo on the seat? WTF?) and came out gagging and walked a couple more minutes to catch my breath and control the gag reflex. We started up again, and still managed to keep the pace under 12:00/mile (pretty close to 11:20 according to Olga) and this pattern continued through the rest of the 6 miles. We did stop between miles 5 and 6 to snap a picture of some deer and fawns in the river bed (ahhh, nature at its finest), but the rest of the run was uneventful (well, aside from the cyclist who came flying up next to me and almost ran me over) and more importantly, pain free! So maybe the shin pain was a fluke, or just because of the treadmill?


We finished 6.2 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes—which sparked some confidence in me. Somehow this run made me super confident about the Baltimore Half Marathon coming up. I know I can do this race, I know that Liz and I are going to kill our previous half times too.




After some tasty treats, we treated ourselves to Wegman’s (mmmmmm chocolate croissant) and had some pretty good laughs.


I am starting to think I might have this running thing down now! This run couldn’t have come at a better time.


Now, I am thinking about trying to get a qualifying time for the National Half Marathon, which means my half needs to be at 2:30 or my ten miler at 1:50. Either way, I am determined to qualify. I will be running that race!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Sounds like you nailed it! Erin, if you're running where I think you're running (judging from the Wegman's comment) I can't believe you're driving all the way up here for your long runs -- that's dedication!

Sue G. said...

Erin--I'm glad your shins are feeling better. Keep up the great work! The Des Moines Half is Oct 17th, and I think I am going to walk it; disappointed I can't run it, but I'd rather walk this one and have the patience to try again next year after I get my hips and hamstring in shape! Good luck!

dawn @ running the dawn said...

good work girl!!! that is so exciting to have a pain free fabulous run on a fabulous day. i have found it to be incredibly confidence boosting to run with people that are faster than me and being able to keep up! so excited for the race!!

Anonymous said...

Nice run, it looks like it was a beautiful place. Glad it was pain free!!

Julie @ HotlegsRunner said...

Yes! Claim it girl! and it will happen =)

Anonymous said...

if u want a 2:30 half I'll give you a 2 30 half!

Paul and Whitney Rohrbaugh said...

Got my Bondi Band in the mail today! Can't wait to wear it to the gym tomorrow! Thanks so much!

jamie@sweatyhugs said...

So happy to read your shins aren't bothering you. Great job on the 6.2!

Liz said...

Look at us with the same goal for the National. We can push each other to kill that time goal, too. :)

And you make me blush by calling me Speed Demon... I don't think that is something I will ever hear again... lol (unless a miracle happens and I somehow shed 4 minutes off every mile).

I'll miss running with you this weekend! :)

Kim said...

Yay! No more shin pain! :) And you can totally qualify for National!

Don't be ashamed of 12:00 pace! There is NOTHING wrong with that!

Oh gosh. I HATE running out of the porta pottie with the gag thing going on. Yuck o yuck. I wonder if the same people who poop on the seat there are the ones peeing on the toilet seats in my office.

Wendy said...

Erin,

I've loved reading about your progress! I hope we do get to run together sometime...I'm thinking February in Austin sounds great!

Glad the shin splints are better; I had that problem for a time within my first year or so of running too...not sure what has caused that to abate, but I'm glad it has.

I can't wait to see/hear how the race goes!!

Wendy