win some, completely blow some.

[ilanarama]

Or get blown. And not in a good way.

My original plan was that after a week of total rest and a couple of weeks of ramping my mileage up again after the Houston Marathon, I would have five or six weeks at 60mpw and some good tempo runs under my belt as preparation for the Canyonlands Half. But between a persistent calf strain and a very bad cold that still hasn't cleared my system, this did not come even close to happening. I averaged 30mpw and the only speedwork I did was one 5K race.

And then there was the weather. In a way I was happy that the forecast was for a reprise of last year's horrific headwind, as it meant that my lack of preparation wasn't going to be the only factor costing me a PR. As it happened, the weather was even worse. The wind was probably about the same (NOAA says 22 gusting to 32) but it was warmer, 64F by the thermometer but feeling even hotter due to the bright sunshine. I was feeling nauseous before we started, and pretty much ran the whole race feeling like I was going to throw up, pass out, or both. (I ended up going straight to the med tent at the finish, where they gave me an anti-nausea pill.)

It was an incredibly horrible race. I felt awful from about mile 2 on. I know it wasn't just the conditions, because my placement within my AG (9/160)was much worse than it was the previous year. I was the person everyone was passing at the end. The splits tell the dreadful story:

7:20 (downhill, so I wasn't worried that it was too fast)
7:29
7:38 (still thinking I might pull off a 1:40)
7:47 (wind really starting to blast here)
7:47
7:50
7:55
7:56
7:40 (oddly some of this mile had a tailwind)
8:18 (hill on which I thought I'd pass out)
8:39 (ugh ugh headwind blasting on the highway)
9:02 (ugh ugh ugh I GIVE UP!!!)
8:50
[8:49 pace]

Total time 1:46:04 1:45:50 (I guess the official results were different!), my worst half marathon since I started seriously racing (I went from a 2:03 to a 1:44 when I started running more than twice a week) and a slower average pace than my marathon in January, and a thoroughly miserable experience.

Next half marathon is in June. I hope I can get my mojo (and fitness) back by then.