Safe Harbor

When the Strava 1:59 group surfaced, I was very relieved. Here was an achievable safe harbor that still allowed me to train to fullest capacity through my on-and-off nagging injury. I struggled between my competitive nature, wanting to run with fire at all times, and my “run safe” side, which has become much stronger as I have maneuvered around some minor aches and pains throughout the runstreak but with only minor injuries/inconveniences.

So how did the training go? I followed my own normal run/walk training and blended it with the Strava 1:59 group, adjusting the two to allow for rest and recovery and to make sure that my legs would still be fresh on the day of the race. Mainly this meant removing some reps from interval training and tweaking the length of training runs, or splitting them up into 2 runs to allow a tiny bit of rest. I’m very grateful to Kara Goucher for the Strava 1:59 training plans and the other runners in the Strava 1:59 group for your support and encouragement. Thank you! It was very helpful at a time where I had to adjust my training and insert a safety valve to hop around the injury. I am amazed that 24,097 of the 140,261 members of the Strava 1:59 group actually achieved the 1:59 time goal and logged it in Strava.

Did I know with certainty that I could run sub-1:59? Yes, I have run faster than this several times (and slower to be fair). Not with absolute certainty though because with injuries, there are days that are good and bad, days of intense pain/inflammation and other days that everything just seems to flow (mostly).

Early the morning of May 6, 2018, I arrived to the starting area. I found the 8:00 pacers, the group I intended to run most of the race with. To keep myself from running too aggressively, I did not wear a pace band (actually I forgot to pick one up at the expo but maybe it’s poetic justice). I intended to run-walk the entire race, lengthening my walk breaks to ensure that I could finish strong and still be under the 1:59 target. I was concerned about the heat: it was supposed to be sunny and hot during the race with little cloud cover and that was a little bit of a challenge.

My pacer had rabbit ears on and I had to remember that was humorous and not intended to make me take my usual rabbit-paced start. With the start, we finally were able to hop through the course (but not like rabbits). Not me anyway. Not this day. No I had to be a slower turtle to achieve success in the sense of breaking 1:59 (and earning the Strava virtual badge/trophy for it).

As far as strategy, I just sprinkled in walk breaks whenever I needed them. Some were lined up with water stops, others when I just felt like I needed it or when I sensed I was getting overheated.

Surprisingly, I was able to stay with the 8:00 pacers for the most part through mile 7 or so. All the splits were 8:16 or less for that stretch. Then at mile 8 I had a slow mile (9:02), mile 11 was slightly slower at 9:04 and at mile 12 was the slowest one: 9:31 pace. All the other miles were on a leash and tied to 8:00 pace or slightly below. The fastest mile was mile 1: 7:47.

By mile 10 or so, I could sense the glute/hamstring pain returning a bit. I knew I had to be careful. But the faster miles were done by then so it was just a matter of finishing with as much strength and speed as I could.

At mile 11/12, I sensed some overheating and dehydration so there was a lot more walking with water stops here. My OrangeMud vest pack water was drained and so I did take water from several of the water stops late in the race. (By the way, I have Brilliant Reflective safety strips attached to the OrangeMud vest. Please check out Brilliant Reflective here if you would like to try it to keep you and your family safe. Here is their website: BrilliantReflective.com I am a BR ambassador so if you wish to order, please let me know and I will give you my BR discount code for you to save some dough.)

It was very entertaining to see “It’s all downtown from here signs” when I reached downtown at mile 11 or so. That made me laugh, distracting me from the pain, fatigue, and the heat of the day.

Finally returning to Memorial Stadium, the site of the finish, I knew the goal was going to be achieved. There was some angst at the split between the full and the half-marathon. I signed up for the full marathon thinking I wouldn’t be injured. But you don’t run a full if you don’t have the mileage and have a nagging injury like I was managing. So I detached myself from the full marathoners and turned right to the stadium.

I was very happy to finish with a group of runners (some pouring it on pace-wise, others just basking in the glow of finishing as strong as we could). Somehow I was able to snap a picture showing I was still smiling at the finish despite my injury in pursuit of a safe harbor goal that was within reach.

Checking the Garmin afterwards, I saw 1:52:19. I did it! With seven minutes to spare! 13.26 miles. 8:28 pace. When pain causes you to wonder if you can even finish a race of this distance, to be able to actually finish and break any realistic time goal was a well-needed boost. No, it’s not the zippy 1:38-1:40ish pace I was originally hoping for but it was the safest pace that I could run on that day. And I’m okay with it. No PR bell but oh well…we dream of that another day. Yes, I could be disappointed that it’s a slower time than last year but with this injury, I’m not going to play the comparison game. It’s not a fair comparison between a race where you are healthy and a race where you are recovering from an injury that has significantly limited your training.

Remember the safe harbor. You will have days like this too when you have to adjust your expectations. Don’t be afraid to change the goal/target if your life presents challenges that make it wise to do so. Injuries happen. Refocus. Take aim. Run with renewed fire with all of your passion, hopes, dreams, and deepest desire!