Getting back up after you fall down is vital to your health. If you stay down too long you will be run over or crushed by the unrelenting wait of disappointment. Saturday was my day to shrug off that weight and get my confidence back.
When someone tells you, "oh don't worry it was a good learning experience." Try not to punch them in the face immediately but instead try to see what they see and take a listening approach. Their best intentions is their only motivation and might not understand the full depth of your frustrations at that point. For me, the best thing is to get out there and try again. This weekend at the Kansas City Corporate Challenge 1/2 Marathon was my chance to try again. Here is another little secret to building your confidence back up. Instead of attempting to go right back out and PR a marathon I went the 1/2 marathon route instead. My training was ratcheted back following Boston so a full at a hard pace was doable but not advisable. I want to get better not get set back. It just so happened that the KCCC 1/2 fell right into an open date on my calendar and I just so happened to be "coaching" the men's team. That meant showing up, putting up our giant flag, making sure we had drinks and snacks, and not leaving until everyone was done. That is my kind of coaching. Hell, you don't just sign up for a 1/2 marathon because you think it would be fun, at least you don't if you are normal and it's your first one.
I was blessed with a group of six dudes who had all ran one and were comfortable with the distance. Just show up and run along and everyone will be all good. I had decided I wanted to push the pace on this one and see what I could do. I also wanted brush the remaining lingering effects of the bad race karma from Boston off my soul and this provided that cleansing.
The race itself was not that unique to write about other than it was a modified out and back, you did the first three around the start area and then ran out on a trail for 4.5 and then back the same 4.5 and then one mile to the finish. I did enjoy seeing all my teammates/coworkers and get some encouraging shouts. It was mild 70 degrees with a nice firm breeze and some puffy clouds rolled in on the second half to provide some much needed shade. I finished with a new PR of 1:26:09 for a half, which was over three minutes faster than my previous best.
My main takeaways were this: Rest is important, starting early is the best for me, pace bands are slightly overrated, I don't need a watch, and music was cool. I got to bed early on Friday since Emily was out of town. The girls went to bed so I went to bed. I awoke at 4:45am to get dressed, load the girls into the car, drive over to the in-laws and drop off the kids, and then drive to the heart of JoCo Kansas and get ready to run. During all the early morning corralling, I managed to forget my pace band which caused me to not know the splits I was supposed to be hitting. I did I have my phone which allowed me to track my run with "map my run" app and listen to GirlTalk as I cruised along. I was supposed to go out in 7:00 minutes per mile but the little voice in my ear told me I hit the first mile in 6:27 which was a bit faster than planned. Who cares? I felt good and decided just to see how long I could hang on. Evidently, quite awhile. The music wasn't the distraction that I thought it would be and allowed me to focus less on any pains or tweeks and more on keeping up a high stride turnover and minimal wasted movement in my upper body. Mission accomplished. High beat per minute do help me and allow me to focus on keeping a higher pace and less on getting into my head on what hurts or why I should slow down.
I am back.
When someone tells you, "oh don't worry it was a good learning experience." Try not to punch them in the face immediately but instead try to see what they see and take a listening approach. Their best intentions is their only motivation and might not understand the full depth of your frustrations at that point. For me, the best thing is to get out there and try again. This weekend at the Kansas City Corporate Challenge 1/2 Marathon was my chance to try again. Here is another little secret to building your confidence back up. Instead of attempting to go right back out and PR a marathon I went the 1/2 marathon route instead. My training was ratcheted back following Boston so a full at a hard pace was doable but not advisable. I want to get better not get set back. It just so happened that the KCCC 1/2 fell right into an open date on my calendar and I just so happened to be "coaching" the men's team. That meant showing up, putting up our giant flag, making sure we had drinks and snacks, and not leaving until everyone was done. That is my kind of coaching. Hell, you don't just sign up for a 1/2 marathon because you think it would be fun, at least you don't if you are normal and it's your first one.
I was blessed with a group of six dudes who had all ran one and were comfortable with the distance. Just show up and run along and everyone will be all good. I had decided I wanted to push the pace on this one and see what I could do. I also wanted brush the remaining lingering effects of the bad race karma from Boston off my soul and this provided that cleansing.
The race itself was not that unique to write about other than it was a modified out and back, you did the first three around the start area and then ran out on a trail for 4.5 and then back the same 4.5 and then one mile to the finish. I did enjoy seeing all my teammates/coworkers and get some encouraging shouts. It was mild 70 degrees with a nice firm breeze and some puffy clouds rolled in on the second half to provide some much needed shade. I finished with a new PR of 1:26:09 for a half, which was over three minutes faster than my previous best.
My main takeaways were this: Rest is important, starting early is the best for me, pace bands are slightly overrated, I don't need a watch, and music was cool. I got to bed early on Friday since Emily was out of town. The girls went to bed so I went to bed. I awoke at 4:45am to get dressed, load the girls into the car, drive over to the in-laws and drop off the kids, and then drive to the heart of JoCo Kansas and get ready to run. During all the early morning corralling, I managed to forget my pace band which caused me to not know the splits I was supposed to be hitting. I did I have my phone which allowed me to track my run with "map my run" app and listen to GirlTalk as I cruised along. I was supposed to go out in 7:00 minutes per mile but the little voice in my ear told me I hit the first mile in 6:27 which was a bit faster than planned. Who cares? I felt good and decided just to see how long I could hang on. Evidently, quite awhile. The music wasn't the distraction that I thought it would be and allowed me to focus less on any pains or tweeks and more on keeping up a high stride turnover and minimal wasted movement in my upper body. Mission accomplished. High beat per minute do help me and allow me to focus on keeping a higher pace and less on getting into my head on what hurts or why I should slow down.
I am back.
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