Helvetia Half Marathon Report

determined said:

The day dawned sunny and warm. NOT! It was 48 degrees, breezey and raining. The course was alot of rolling hills through farmland. It was really beautiful scenery!

I went slow and easy, and the first 9 miles felt pretty good. But by the 11the mile, my legs felt like lead. Nothing hurt, I was just completely out of steam. It was so cold, my hands were so stiff I couldn't bend them to zip my coat or anything. The last 1/2 mile I was walking with very little jogging left in me to do. I managed to squeeze out an enthusiastic looking trot up to the finish line for the camera, but nearly collapsed on the other side! The main motivating factor to keep moving was to get out of the rain and to get my free burger! I was starving! I ate that sucker in 4 big bites. I was pretty slow, but I mad the course in 2 hrs 50 min. About a 13 min mile. I'm happy with that! The hot bath when I got home was pure bliss, and I promptly passed out on the couch.

Now I want a krispy kreme doughnut.

Betsy

Hey Betsy, great job. I looked back over your posts of the last few
months and you have come a long way. Just the fact that you finished a
half is impressive enough for most of us. My half is not until
December, and I hope I can do as well as you did yesterday.

Are you going to try a marathon?

You have made an amazing change in your life, sit back and enjoy that
donut.

Good luck in your recovery,

Darrin

"Techguy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

determined said:

The day dawned sunny and warm. NOT! It was 48 degrees, breezey and
raining. The course was alot of rolling hills through farmland. It was
really beautiful scenery!

I went slow and easy, and the first 9 miles felt pretty good. But by the
11the mile, my legs felt like lead. Nothing hurt, I was just completely
out of steam. It was so cold, my hands were so stiff I couldn't bend
them to zip my coat or anything. The last 1/2 mile I was walking with
very little jogging left in me to do. I managed to squeeze out an
enthusiastic looking trot up to the finish line for the camera, but
nearly collapsed on the other side! The main motivating factor to keep
moving was to get out of the rain and to get my free burger! I was
starving! I ate that sucker in 4 big bites. I was pretty slow, but I
mad the course in 2 hrs 50 min. About a 13 min mile. I'm happy with
that! The hot bath when I got home was pure bliss, and I promptly
passed out on the couch.

Now I want a krispy kreme doughnut.

Betsy

Hey Betsy, great job. I looked back over your posts of the last few
months and you have come a long way. Just the fact that you finished a
half is impressive enough for most of us. My half is not until
December, and I hope I can do as well as you did yesterday.

Are you going to try a marathon?

You have made an amazing change in your life, sit back and enjoy that
donut.

Good luck in your recovery,

Darrin

Thanks Darrin! No aspirations for a full marathon, not after the way I feel
this morning! I think I'd like to run in a couple more halfs this year to
see how much I can improve my time. At this point I just don't have the
stamina to cover 26 miles. But maybe next year!

determined said:

Now I want a krispy kreme doughnut.

Congrats, hope you enjoyed the post race festivities!

I agree that it's premature to attempt a marathon, but completing the half is
an important milestone, and it will make 5k-10k races feel short. It helps
not to feel overextended in terms of distance when you're running a race --
because that way, you feel comfortable pushing the pace, instead of sticking
to something that feels like a survival jog.

Cheers,
--
Elflord

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"determined" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

The day dawned sunny and warm. NOT! It was 48 degrees, breezey and
raining. The course was alot of rolling hills through farmland. It was
really beautiful scenery!

I went slow and easy, and the first 9 miles felt pretty good. But by the
11the mile, my legs felt like lead. Nothing hurt, I was just completely out
of steam. It was so cold, my hands were so stiff I couldn't bend them to
zip my coat or anything. The last 1/2 mile I was walking with very little
jogging left in me to do. I managed to squeeze out an enthusiastic looking
trot up to the finish line for the camera, but nearly collapsed on the other
side! The main motivating factor to keep moving was to get out of the rain
and to get my free burger! I was starving! I ate that sucker in 4 big
bites. I was pretty slow, but I mad the course in 2 hrs 50 min. About a 13
min mile. I'm happy with that! The hot bath when I got home was pure
bliss, and I promptly passed out on the couch.

Now I want a krispy kreme doughnut.

Betsy
<<<

Congrats, I take it this was your first. You finished and you'll be stronger
next time. Now you know to bring some kind of thin gloves when it's cool. I
wore some in a 5k even when it was in the mid 40's and windy.

-Tony