Running the Vancouver USA Half Marathon June 19, 2011. This is before I crashed and burned...
I started training for the Vancouver USA Half Marathon this spring while I was still self employed. That meant I had quite a bit of free time to go running at 11:00, 2:00, 4:30, or just about any time that I wanted. That was quite nice, although my income was a bit on the low side. I started a job working landscape maintenance in March and my runs slacked off considerably. I actually didn’t go on a single run from May 19th until the half marathon on June 19th.
That was a bad decision.
The run itself felt pretty good for the first 8 miles of so. In fact I was under my goal pace by almost a minute and a half at mile 8. Then I started getting tired. By mile 11 I was in pain. By mile 12 I had hit the wall and was going down in flames. I finished the race 5 minutes over my goal time and several minutes slower than my Seattle Half Marathon time. Ouch. The next morning my calves were like bricks and stairs were terrible. But that’s what I get for making bad decisions like not training for a 13.1 mile road race.
But as I sit here and type this I am contemplating another bad decision. Running the Portland Marathon, in 14 weeks, after minimal training for the past 3 months. I think I can do it, but I know that the training will be brutal. I will have to run before or after work plus the progressively longer weekend runs (9 miles tomorrow!). Most importantly I will need to be consistent in my runs. No “Maybe tomorrow,” or “I’m to tired tonight.”
So should I make another bad decision?