Aramco Half Marathon/ My (Almost) nonexistent year of running in 2014
I don't think it is something to be proud of that I sign up for races, don't run for months and still show up to the start line because if I paid for it I'm going to struggle through it. I am proud though that I can make it through such races without training or serious injury. It is inspiring to me to think of what I could accomplish in the race if only I had logged all the training runs I was supposed to.
Lets Recap All My Runs from 2014, dont worry it's a short list...
After last years Half I was convinced I was going to be better about training. If you don't remember Aramco 2014, I had originally signed up for the full, did fairly consistent running through November, and then I had some foot troubles and it got WAY TOO COLD; so I stopped running. Before I stopped I had completed a 25K, so I was still somewhat prepared for the race. This past year, I COMPLETELY dropped the ball in all forms of training. My year started with Aramco 2014, which I finished in 2:57:53. It's not a great finish time, but it's not bad for taking almost 2 full months off of running for a race. After Aramco 2014, as expected I was super sore. So I took a full week off of running, which turned into 2 weeks, which turned into a month.I did not register for Run Fit to keep me involved with running (BIG MISTAKE). I was supposed to do the TIR last year, but it was becoming difficult to get a team together so we scrapped it. In my head the TIR was going to be the next "thing". Ooooohhhhhhh, gotta start running now because i need to be in shape for the TIR. After that fell through, I took even more time off. Instead of thinking well I should still be running even though i don't have a goal yet, I just thought meh I'll start running when I need to.
This brings us to June, when I finally rejoined Gotta Run Katy because I knew I needed to get back into it. However I had just had surgery on my hand, so I started out slow. I was doing a run walk set-up I did one or two group runs that way, and then I did my 2nd race of 2014. The RWB Virtual 4 miler on July 4th. It took 1:06:02, again NOT an impressive showing. I ran a total of 2 more times in July, and I would bet my mileage barely crossed into double digits for the WHOLE MONTH.
It seems like I had a SUPER BUSY August, because my Garmin shows NO Activity for the whole month! I know I had a few projects going on, but I cant pinpoint anything that would keep me sidelined the whole month! Was I sick, or maybe I was just lazy and finding excuses?????
I do have an entry in September, but It was more of a walk than running. I walked almost 6 miles that day. I also went to Las Vegas last September, and I did walk almost every morning we were there to get some miles in. Plus you know walking every where at night too.
Once we got into October, I realized I had signed up in May for the Full Marathon and the warm-up series AGAIN! And once AGAIN, I was nowhere near prepared to even run a competitive 5K. I tried to squeeze in some miles in the 3 weeks I had before the Houston Half at the end of the month, once again I was rocking the Run/Walk combo trying to figure out how much walking I could do with little running to finish the race on time. I only got in 3 training runs befor ethe Houston Half, and on race day I made preparations to stop the pain I knew would follow racing unprepeared. I wore compression calf sleeves, I took Aleive before th erace, and I put Tiger Balm patches on the bottom of my feet DURING the race. All of this so I could at least attempt to finish the race. I did finish. It was Definitely NOT A GREAT SHOWING. 3:23:23 and my legs felt so bad crossing that finish line. I had blisters, hurt toenails, pain in parts of my legs that usually get no pain.... IT WAS BAD. I knew the 25K was in a month, so I did get back out there less than a week after that horrible half. It was just a walk though.
November, Afterwards I tried 2 more training runs before realizing I would most likely injure myself. I did the same thing I did the year before, I dropped down to the half. I knew I could finish it and it seemed like the best/smartest option. It was also around this time that I realized i needed surgery on my hand again. I did not do the 25K, I did the 5K at the event and I don't even have a good time for that, 44:41. The following week I had surgery on my hand, which ended all of my desire to run for the rest of 2014.
2014: 13 Logged Runs on my Garmin and I'd be surprised if I had enough un-logged runs to reach 20 total.
As 2015 rolled in, I realized I was in a worse boat than January 2014. I started looking at/making plans to get in ANY miles in the weeks leading up to the half marathon. I was even signed up to do a 10K on New Years Day, but when the morning came around... it was chilly, I was tired, it was sorta rainy, I was moving apartments that day/week, I wasn't prepared for a race..... I came up with a whole list of reasons to not get out of bed, and they worked. We were only a few hours into 2015, and I already DNSed a race. Well all of my last ditch effort planning never went anywhere. I did not run a single mile in 2015 before Aramco on the 18th.
Jan 18th, 2015... I was seriously thinking about skipping the race, but I didn't. My goal was to run/walk to mile 9 (to escape the cutoff) and walk the rest. I did pretty good running all of the first 2 miles, the most consecutive running I had done in a year :( After that I latched on to people, I ran and walked when they ran and walked. It got me through. I stopped running at mile 8.5 because I knew I was safe. In my head I said goodbye to the lady I had been shadowing since mile 3. At that point I had decided I didn't feel like running anymore. I probably could have ran/walked with her all the way in, but my legs were getting tight. I knew I was going to at least finish the race, so I saw no point in risking serious injury to finish faster. I didn't run again until the last .1 mile. Finish Time: 3:19:05. It wasn't great, but it was done. I then waited for my boyfriend to finish the full marathon, which he did in less than double the time it took me to run. In true Aly fashion, I have a half marathon this weekend, and I haven't run since Aramco. I am co-hosting a Birthday Party AND a Baby Shower this weekend, and that is where all of my focus has been. I have so much to do that I'd rather not run, BUT I also want to be a part of this race...... After this weekend though, whatever I decide to do, There WILL be a change in the "True Aly Fashion". I have big things I want to accomplish, and I am what is stopping those accomplishments. I need to be better about making time, instead of trying to find time. Going forward I really want to track my training and reach better race times. I want to show up and race, not show up to finish. Hopefully you'll be hearing more from me soon.
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