Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Reflecting

First off, Congrats to all the Boston runners. How exciting it was to follow along yesterday! I can't wait to read the race reports. I am also looking forward to talking to the guy from my run group who ROCKED Boston yesterday and achieved a PR for the marathon distance!

While my half-marathon achievement may pale in comparison to running Boston, it truly was a significant accomplishment for me. I'd like to take this time to reflect back on my past half-marathons just to put it in perspective.

2007 Chips & Salso 2:38:08 - This was my first ever half-marathon attempt. I planned to accomplish the distance by employing a run/walk strategy. By mile 11, I was done, caput, finished! I walked practically the rest of the way. I was hurting in a big way afterwards, but was quite pleased with myself for getting to the finish line.

2007 Duke City 2:36:58 - Second half-marathon attempt, a mere 6 weeks or so after the first one. Same strategy. Slightly faster result due to a bit more training, but still hurting at the end. Slower and slower as each mile progressed and more walking. If someone would have come by in a golf cart at mile 12 and offered to take me to my car, I would have given up and jumped right in!

2008 Unser 20K - While not technically a half-marathon, it was close enough to include in my history. Finish time was 2:21:35 for 12.4 miles, so it would be something like a 2:30:00 finish for a full 13.1 miles. Walked through most of the aid stations. Again, I was hurting by mile 10 or so.

2008 Chips & Salsa DNF* - This was the year that my knee issue (patella-femoral-syndrome) made itself known. My knee was hurting at the start line. I never should have attempted run the race. I stopped running at mile 6.5. I walked to mile 10 at which point I was picked up by car and headed to urgent care...

2008 Duke City 2:29:07 - Once again, about 6 weeks after my DNF. For some stupid reason, I tried running a half-marathon AGAIN. My knee was feeling better because I basically didn't run between the two races. However, once again, knee pain emerged. This time at mile 5. I was miserable throughout the rest of the race. Walked a bunch at the end. Very unhappy. A few weeks later, finally had the appt with an orthopedic that set me on a path to get healthy with regard to my knee.

2009 Duke City 2:25:14 - A full year and much knee therapy later, I tried again after racing nothing longer than a 5K in between. I had trained almost exclusively on dirt trails. Running the race on ashpalt took a huge toll on my body. Everything hurt by about mile 8. Lots of limp-walking especially the last few miles. Did not achieve my goal of finishing strong, feeling good. Not a happy camper.

2010 Albuquerque Half-Marathon 2:21:31 - Slight knee pain at mile 11, otherwise, I felt good and ran steady throughout. Planned my race and raced my plan. Finished strong and feeling good. It was a long road to this point, but I finally conquered the distance, it didn't conquer me!! VERY HAPPY!!

22 comments:

  1. I love to see all the progression! You are awesome :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats on conquering the HM distance Lisa. It seems like it was a long road, but you did it which is a huge accomplishment! I'm tacking my first HM distance this weekend and am pretty nervous. But am really hoping to simply enjoy it. My goal is to finish and not worry about time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like some great progres! :) Keep it up, Lisa!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have definitely come back strong from that knee injury!!! Way to go Lisa!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a wonderful post! You've pushed through the pain and disappointment of other races, and finally had your day - so happy for you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's a great running history. Pretty much one PR after another, and running through and past the injury is a testament to your perseverance! Very nice!!

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Look at your improvement! Great job! That is what it is all about.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Lisa,
    You did awesome!! Look at the improvements over the past half marathons:) I would love to see the same type of progression that you have for myself:) Keep it up Lisa!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great way to look back on your previous half marathons. A true success story! Not only did you KILL you previous best time, you felt so much better doing it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. While time is sometimes an indication of a race's success, I think the better indicator is how you felt while running and afterward, so by both measures, this was clearly your best HM!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The most important one is the most recent one - it says you're happy. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. pretty awesome that you progressed every single time and that you are now feeling stronger!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow - you'd really struggled w/ the HM until your last one. CONGRATULATIONS on a happy & healthy HUGE PR!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. "Steady as she goes!"

    You're doing everything the right way!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Way to progress! Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Consistent improvement. That is great, you should be pleased.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lisa, that is AWESOME! Good for you, because I know you were concerned...good job.

    BTW, I emailed you yesterday, maybe it was the wrong addy....

    ReplyDelete
  18. Glad to see it went so well for you. All your hard work definitely paid off, congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  19. look at you, PRing just about every time you step up to the half-marathon :) i know i definitely can't say that!

    ReplyDelete