Coeur d'Alene half marathon 2011 race report



I finished

This may be the least informative race report ever. 

My day started out at 5:30a.  I woke up just before the alarm went off, immediately drank a large glass of water along with my supplements and ate some leftover pork loin, half an avocado, and some blueberries.



The biggest blueberries ever

The night before, I had laid all my clothes and gear out to make sure I wouldn't forget anything.

Just a little after 6:30a we drove down to Riverstone.  My husband dropped me off and I went to go mill around while he found a parking spot.  While he was parking I made a pit stop at the porta potties.  Luckily I was able to get in line right after the full marathoners left so the line was actually pretty short.  I was surprised at how long it took for the glass of water I drank to go through.  If I was doing it again, I definitely would have given myself a little longer between waking and leaving for the race.  The potties were not bad in the morning, but we passed by again after the race and people were opening doors and immediately closing them to look for another potty.  Use your imagination... or don't.

Amazingly, my husband and I found each other again while we were waiting to line up for the race start.  Not much later, it was time to line up and we said goodbye.  I took a place at what I thought was near the back, but as we got closer to our 7:30a start time, I went even farther back.  I had heard that you can get run over if you line up too close to the front and I definitely wanted to pace myself and not get caught up in the crowd or tripped or run over.

And we're off!  My husband says I am somewhere in here but I have no clue where.

I honestly don't remember if there was a countdown, or a bell, or what they used to start the race, I just know that it took about a minute to get from my starting point to the start line.  I couldn't see the front very well but everyone really seemed pretty courteous and I didn't see anyone fall, trip, or get pushed.  Even though I was consciously trying to stick to my planned pace I was surprised at how hard it was to actually do it. 

The trail narrowed off after about a half mile so we were packed together pretty tightly for awhile.  I saw a number of people walking 3 or 4 abreast, blocking almost the entire trail, and it took a fair bit of patience to get through the first mile and find a decent spot with other people who were going my pace.  There were a couple other sections where I had to pass through a dense crowd, but for most of the race I had plenty of room.

About a mile in?  Feeling strong!

I wish I had some sweet details or funny stories about stuff that happened during the race, but I couldn't have planned a more perfect race, really.  I felt great, I kept a good pace, nothing out of the ordinary happened (well, there was one thing that I was unable to plan adequately for, but it's kind of too much information to post here), and I don't think I could have run a better race.

Here are my stats, with commentary:

Chip time:  2:41:04
Avg pace (chip): 12:18/mi

Garmin moving time: 2:37:04 (I made two pit stops, slightly off course)
Garmin Avg pace: 11:46/mi (this is a significantly faster pace than any of my training runs)
Avg HR: 147 bpm (almost 10 bpm over my training rates)
Max HR: 168 bpm

As I said, I'm really pleased with how I did.  I came in 1146 out of 1412 finishers, which kind of made me chuckle.  Not too great when you compare me against the others, but when you consider that the goal was to finish, and I did that plus ran better than I trained, I'm quite satisfied  =)

Here are some more pics from the race:

Motoring along.  The runners had thinned out by this time

That chick in the purple was tough to get around, but she fell back after awhile.  She would walk and then when I tried to pass she would start running again.

Right before the turn around

Just passed halfway!  Still feeling good

Refueling with dates and coconut oil

Significantly after turnaround... feeling good and rocking out to music  =)

At the finish

Looking a little haggard

Tired, but happy

The dreaded ice bath.  Not as bad as I had anticipated.

Here are some of my best training/recovery tips:
- Strength train. Especially your legs. The course in this race was really pretty flat (I think my Garmin said there was a total of 320 feet elevation gain) so I didn't train for hills but I did squat and deadlift a lot and I really think that helped with the few hills I did encounter. Most of the people going my pace walked up the hills we came across, or they were really laboring to slowly jog up them. I was able to just motor up the hills with no problems, and I really attribute that to the squatting and deadlifting. Learn how to squat to full depth (erm... ass to the grass. Youtube is a decent resource... check out this video), and if you don't know how to deadlift then do lots of lunges and work up to lunges with weight. You will thank me!

- Ice bath after the race.  Maybe it's just me, but I did this, plus a contrast shower, and I was not sore today.  Fill the tub with cold water, dump in a bag of ice, and sit in it until the ice melts.  The water doesn't have to be high... just covering your legs is fine.

- Contrast showers.  It sounds crazy but there is science behind it.  After training, at the end of my normal shower I would just turn the water to cold and make a couple turns in the cold water, then turn it back to warm for a minute, then do the cold again.  I actually kind of started to enjoy it  =|   I did these after a lot of my training runs because they are really supposed to help with recovery.

- Do a short run the day after the race.  Getting some circulation going the day after the race will also help with recovery.  I felt good this morning so I did a 2.5 mile walk with a few intervals of slow jogging.

- If possible, have support along the course.  I initially told my husband not to worry about following me along the course, but he did anyway and I was so glad to see him!  I never really got a 'down in the dumps' feeling but it really lifted my spirits to see a friendly, familiar face and to hear him cheering for me.  He was so sweet to follow my progress, cheer, and take pics.  I love you, Aaron  =D

I'll post more tips as I think of them!

My running strategy, paleo fueling

I realized I haven't really talked much about my running strategy.  Basically, I'm following Mark Sisson's heart rate recommendations for staying in low level aerobic activity range most of the time I'm running.  For me this maxes out at about 145 bpm.  It also means I am probably technically jogging, not running.  Meh.  The reason I'm keeping my heart rate around this level is that I don't want to be burning sugar (glycogen) as fuel while I'm covering long distances.  I eat a relatively low carb diet because I feel better eating that way, and I also feel better when I use primarily fat for fuel during exercise instead of sugar.  After my first couple runs at 150 to 155 bpm, I realized I was going to have to slow it down or start loading up on carbs.  You can see which I chose!

For my longer weekend runs, I try to run the first half of my scheduled mileage at or under 145 bpm.  After about an hour, I start pushing a little harder and that's generally the point at which I'll go for the sugary fuel.  I've tried several different things, but this is what I've settled on.  A variation of Brendan Brazier's Direct Fuel Bites.  Here's the recipe with my modifications and measurements:

Coconut date direct fuel bites, adapted

4 oz pitted dates (medjool or deglet noor are fine)
28g (2 tbsp) coconut oil (softened or melted)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp sea salt  (I used Real Salt for extra minerals)
1 packet Cococeps (totally optional.  I had this laying around and wanted to check it out for the adaptogen factor)

Throw everything in the food processor and process until a smooth paste forms.  Separate into 8 servings.  I found that it's easiest to portion it using waxed paper, and then wrap the individual servings in little parchment squares.  I keep them in the freezer, and right before a run I'll tuck several in a zip lock and put it in the pocket of my hydration belt.  They get soft during a run, but stay in the parchment pretty well and come off easily.

From my couple experiments with these, I have found that one every 30 minutes after the first hour is okay, but for the race I plan to eat one every 20 minutes after the first hour.

Other things I've tried:

Dark chocolate - I thought this would be great because of it's high fat content and little bit of sugar and caffeine.  Maybe a little is good, but I wasn't able to stick to just a little.  And a whole bar before a run is definitely a bad thing for the tummy.

Hammer gel - I tried this once and while the taste was acceptable, by the time I felt any type of energy from the darn thing I was already running way too low on fuel.  Admittedly, this could have been my fault for timing it wrong and I'm sure it would work in a pinch, but it wasn't my favorite solution.

Coconut oil, raisins, cocoa powder, protein powder, salt - This one was okay, but coconut oil is hard to manage when it gets melty, which doesn't take long!  Also, the protein powder during the run and the fiber from the cocoa powder upset my stomach.

Coconut water - I have used this as a sports drink on my long runs up until this last weekend even, but how well it works seems to depend a lot on which brand agrees with your digestive system.  The one that agreed with me most was the O.N.E. brand, but last Saturday at about mile 7 I was just tired of it and refilled my bottle with plain old water.  I am pretty sure I'll just stick with water for the race, too.

So, that about wraps it up for my running and fueling strategies.  I have to say that as Sunday gets nearer and nearer, I'm getting more and more nervous!  I know I will finish, but I think the nerves are inevitable  =)