What is up with 2008??

I dont know what is the matter with me. This year is not a great year. Actually, i'm running a LOT more than I did last year and I'm doing worse!! I'm doing mostly long slow distance runs now, and I think that is my problem. I'm going to start doing more tempo runs like last year and incorporate some hills. My new motto is "If you want to race fast, you gotta practice fast!"

So 2 weeks after my Indy Mini breakdown, I did the Bayshore half marathon with thoughts of redemption. Well... I had a "small" redemption. I had no intention on starting off too fast this time!! So I had my master plan all planned out. My first mile was a little (understatement) slow, but at least when i hit the mile mark, i was like "wow, didnt even feel like i was running. Felt really good until mile 5-6 where I bombed at the Mini. I felt my legs giving out, but I said "(heck) naw... I aint letting this happen again!!" So I pushed thru it. Around mile 7 paced with some old man who talked my ear off. I knew his life better than he did after about 2 miles. I felt good those 3 miles i ran with him. Here are my splits thus far...
Mile 1... 8:03
Mile 2... 7:48
Mile 3... 7:42
Mile 4... 7:38
Mile 5... 7:42
Mile 6... 7:46
Mile 7... 7:44
Mile 8... 7:54
Mile 9... 7:56
Mile10... 7:38

Now this is where that monkey jumped in from the crowd onto my back!! I told myself that I was not going to leave ANYTHING on the track. I intentionally tried to pick it up to like a 7:15-7:20 pace because I had it in me. Then all of a sudden the worst cramp and upset stomack kicked in. I have never felt anything like this in my life!! Well once in high school during XC county meet, it felt as if part of my intestines had literally died!! I was very close to ending up looking like this guy... I dont recall eating anything bad the night before. But some of the water stops were kinda "suspect". I appreciate the kindness of the people who lived on the course, but if you are going to set up a waterstop, at least dont dump the cup in a barrel and half of your arm goes in the barrel. Besides... where did the water come from?? Needless to say, when I got to the finish line, I claimed my own Porta-John. I was feeling sick for the entire day... but I was downing Maalox a lot, so it helped tremendously. I'm sooooo glad I had the room for two nights, there was no way i was driving 4 hours back home after this.

But my goal was to be under a VERY conservative 1:45:00 and my last splits were:
Mile 11... 8:05
Mile 12... 8:18
Mile 13... 8:11
Rest of 0.1 mile unknown... forgot to stop Garmin.

I finished in 1:44:45. Yes I achieved my minimal goal, but was 5 minutes off of my PR. I am not happy or upset... I'm melancholy (like that word dont u). No more long races that close together for me!!!! To add insult to injury... I didnt even look to see what the course looked like. Near the end, there were the balloons and stuff when you round the corner nearing the track at the high school. I knew it ended at the high school. So I sprint towards the mini-celebration and to my dismay... the fanfare was to the entrance to the track!! I had to run around the track to get to the finish!!!!! Now I just wasted about a 300 meter sprint for nothing!!! I am not posting any pics of me trying to finish on the track, LOL.

Oh, I almost forgot. The shorts that I wore. Those that know me, know that I have a lil bit of a thing about fashion. The ONLY reason for those shorts is because I packed a pair of black running shorts the night before, but not paying much attn, I noticed the night before the race (at 10:00 pm) that I packed my COMPRESSION shorts, not race shorts.

So I dart out of my hotel in Traverse City and try to find a place that is open to buy some. Everything was closed. But thank God for GPS!! I used it on my phone to find a Meijer. So I drove to this 24 Hour Meijer, and these were the only thing close to running shorts. I could have just wore the compressions shorts and thats it, but... anywayz!! So once again... I'm going to bed late for an early half marathon. Boy, 2008 is just not going as planned. But the good thing is... last year I didn't start running until this time, so I'm ahead of the game, but my times aren't showing it!!