Haha, wow. I forgot how hard a half is! Give me a 100 any day!!!!
So, I went into this race feeling tired, overtrained, and injured.
I knew I wasn’t going to have a peak performance; and I didn’t. But I had fun!
I found Beth M, another 100mile runner, at the start of the race.
I started out way too fast, as I always do. 6:20-6:30’s felt good going downhill though, so I maintained that. And then- Oh my word- run the reagan has HILLS? WHAT? Haha I totally forgot how challenging the course is! Whew. I hit the 10 mile mark and they were blasting the macerena. I looked down at my watch and saw 1:11 even, and decided , “what the heck? I need to have FUN!” so I stopped and did a quick macerena! Hahaha! They took pics, and I would really like to see them! I WILL SHARE THEM WHEN I FIND THEM!:) The rest of the course was a pretty tough hill, and I finished in 1:36, 7:19 pace. Too bad; definitely not what I have been training for, but a big improvement from my 2:06 (my first half untrained) on the course 3 years ago- haha! So overall, a great day. Not the SLAM that I was training and hoping for, but not a huge loss 1st in my AG. Not bad for “tired, injured, and overtrained” I guess, but not my goal, either. That’s okay- I’m gonna get it next time!!!
I got to catch up with a lot of friends. Beth Presten ran the half with her baby in her tummy in a shocking 2:12. You know a lot of people out there werent liking the pregnant chick passing them! Ha! Go Beth!
Beth McCurdy ran a solid race and finished shortly after me in 1:38. A PR for her on the course as well: way to go Beth M!
My babies tackled the 1 mile fun run- but there wasn’t anything “fun” about it’ they had their game faces on and were in it to win it! Brooklyn is 4 and finished in 11 minutes! Brett is 6, and ran that thing hard- finishing around 8mins. SO HAPPY my kids love to run!
And then my friend Jen calls me to tell me she smoked Iron Horse in 7
Hours!! What?!! Go Jen!!! I was so excited and proud of her that it made my day that more awesomely fun.
The consensus today with anyone I’ve talked to is that running a 1:36 and thinking it to be “slow” means I’m not in bad shape. Lol. We are looking for another half to do in a couple weeks that I can rest for and have this quad repaired enough for. My workout last weekend consisted of 16 mi w/ 10 miles at a 6:45 pace, 1:36- in no way- reflects that speed. (dang perfectionism)
Soooo- No, things didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped. But 1:36 and a macerana is great for running without the optimum conditions. I had a great time. I’ll get my goal next race. I’m sure of it!;)
ASHRUNS100s 
You really need to be smarter about your training. Then maybe you will actually meet your goals. You have a lot of potential, but squander it all away because your training sucks. Your quad is probably never going to function properly again, ever. Believe me – I know. So you should probably start training and setting your goals towards times comparable to those who only have one leg. Cheers!
Hey cumulonimbus- you’re a douchebag!
You should be honored that I find you talented. People wait a lifetime for my approval and usually never get it. Fact: you should not be doing 90s Mexican dances during a race. I will give you a free tip (clients usually pay $250 for this) There is nothing fun about racing. The only fun about racing is winning. That’s on the house….
Cheers!
Hahahahahha WOW… I’m speechless. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about DT100 & Knoxville! Going to be entertaining:)
Thanks for the heads up, Cum. Now I know racing will never be fun, challenging, or even worth my time if I’m not winning. I’d gladly pay $250 to never see you at a race. And frankly, shouldn’t you have better things to do than deal with people who “wait a lifetime for your approval?” Makes you seem shallow.
Ash, you’re an inspiration!
Hahaha! “I’d gladly pay $250 to never see you at a race.”<–awesome! AGREED! Thank you:):)
I push this young lady to propel her to the next level, where she should be competing. And at that level, there is no prize money for losers- or second place finishers. The fact that I take precious time out of my day to comment on her blog and give her free advice is a demonstration of my approval. You should stay out of the way with your fluffy “inspirational” talk and let her be driven to win the right way- my way. That’s my free advice to you, mate. Cheers!
Dude who do you think you are??? If I want to go to “the next level” I certainly don’t need a PUSH from you or anyone else!
I don’t get how you have time to read blogs or troll comment boards if you are as badass as you anonymously say, matey. I’ve worked with coaches for over 20 years, spending tens of thousands of dollars on training. You come off as a quack and you’re making your coaching and motivation appear second rate – if even that high. Congratulate her on doing what she loves and move on. Cheers!
Ashley, you better finish an hour ahead of first place or you might as well shoot yourself. Sorry if that was too “fluffy.”
HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! YES! Thank you!! Lol, I don’t know who this nut job thinks he is, but hopefully he is getting this picture now?? I don’t know why he chose to pick on me? &Thanks for reading my blog 🙂
Referring to finishing an hour ahead of the competition, that’s the spirit! It’s such a simple logic that you American runners can’t grasp. You should get your tens of thounsands of dollars back, friend. Because your coaches have failed to teach you basic mental tactics for competition. Something you learned from simply reading my comment 🙂 Cheers!
Haha, wow. How did you even find me…?! Go bother someone else with mad potential. I’m not interested in your input!