Teanaway Trail Marathon and Half
Better late then never.
June 3, my Mom and I got up, took care of the kids (and ourselves) in preparation for the days fun in the Teanaway Community Forest. We waited for my husband to get off from working grave. He was exhausted, but planned to meet me at the finish with Sammy, the baby so I could nurse him. Once things were settled and Mom and I had everything, we headed for the Start. It's so nice to go to a race that's a mere 30 minutes or less from my house! That's practically my backyard! We watched the full marathon runners start. I was, to say the least, somewhat jealous. We loitered. Then it was time to go! The turn out for the half was much larger then the full. The 5k and 10k starts would begin in another hour.
After Sun Mountain, where I am pretty sure I started towards the front and was passed nonstop the first leg of the race, I began this one in the back. With Mom. We ran together a short while, and then I picked my spot with runners of the same speed and held a steady pace. My goal was to stick around a 10-12 minute pace. Once again, a few miles in, my legs ached. Regardless, I pushed on with the hope that by mile 5 the discomfort would ease. For the most part it did, but then came some of the elevation (around 2000 feet for the whole course, which isn't much, but with my achilles it was enough). On those ups, I didn't even bother trying to run, I pulled back and power walked. This was a training run. I had more important, bigger races in July and August. At one point, a fellow ran up behind me and said, "You pace yourself like you've run long distances."
I replied that I did.
"What distances have you run?"
"50k. I was hoping to run the full today, but it didn't fit into my schedule for today." I also explained my achilles tendonitis. I felt like I was reaching far enough only doing the half, so I was self conscious.
He asked about the races I had done and where they were. Then he saw some racers he knew and joined them. He later passed me and I never saw him again.
The first half of the race was a little on the tough side. I've only been able to train on level ground - no vertical gain on any of my runs this year. So, a slight climb seemed like it took forever to get up. And my heel hurt. I feared Cle Elum and Bellingham Marathon trail repeats, where I barely made a finish. I feared injuring it to the point that I wouldn't be able to run at all this season. Too early for injuries!
The last half of the race, I picked up momentum. I won't lie that it was a boost in itself to pass the 10k and 5k racers as their loop merged onto the marathon loop. I could fly by groups of runners. It helped that this section of the course is all downhill. The last 4-5 miles I was running some sub-9s. I felt great!
I finished in 2 hours 22 minutes. I was eight minutes ahead of my goal.
June 3, my Mom and I got up, took care of the kids (and ourselves) in preparation for the days fun in the Teanaway Community Forest. We waited for my husband to get off from working grave. He was exhausted, but planned to meet me at the finish with Sammy, the baby so I could nurse him. Once things were settled and Mom and I had everything, we headed for the Start. It's so nice to go to a race that's a mere 30 minutes or less from my house! That's practically my backyard! We watched the full marathon runners start. I was, to say the least, somewhat jealous. We loitered. Then it was time to go! The turn out for the half was much larger then the full. The 5k and 10k starts would begin in another hour.
After Sun Mountain, where I am pretty sure I started towards the front and was passed nonstop the first leg of the race, I began this one in the back. With Mom. We ran together a short while, and then I picked my spot with runners of the same speed and held a steady pace. My goal was to stick around a 10-12 minute pace. Once again, a few miles in, my legs ached. Regardless, I pushed on with the hope that by mile 5 the discomfort would ease. For the most part it did, but then came some of the elevation (around 2000 feet for the whole course, which isn't much, but with my achilles it was enough). On those ups, I didn't even bother trying to run, I pulled back and power walked. This was a training run. I had more important, bigger races in July and August. At one point, a fellow ran up behind me and said, "You pace yourself like you've run long distances."
I replied that I did.
"What distances have you run?"
"50k. I was hoping to run the full today, but it didn't fit into my schedule for today." I also explained my achilles tendonitis. I felt like I was reaching far enough only doing the half, so I was self conscious.
He asked about the races I had done and where they were. Then he saw some racers he knew and joined them. He later passed me and I never saw him again.
The first half of the race was a little on the tough side. I've only been able to train on level ground - no vertical gain on any of my runs this year. So, a slight climb seemed like it took forever to get up. And my heel hurt. I feared Cle Elum and Bellingham Marathon trail repeats, where I barely made a finish. I feared injuring it to the point that I wouldn't be able to run at all this season. Too early for injuries!
The last half of the race, I picked up momentum. I won't lie that it was a boost in itself to pass the 10k and 5k racers as their loop merged onto the marathon loop. I could fly by groups of runners. It helped that this section of the course is all downhill. The last 4-5 miles I was running some sub-9s. I felt great!
I finished in 2 hours 22 minutes. I was eight minutes ahead of my goal.
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