Okay, so I haven't blogged on here for awhile. I think about it, but then get busy with other things. Time to start getting back into it :) So, this race was seriously amazing for me. I've been training for awhile and really kicked it in at the first of the year. I started eating right, lost 10 lbs, and really felt great for this race. I planned on a PR. Then, Wednesday before the race, for our last training run, my husband and I were out jogging and my foot caught an uneven part of the sidewalk, and down I went. I couldn't believe it! How many times had I run those paths and never had a problem? I got up, brushed myself off, and we continued, but before we had finished, I had to stop because my knee was bothering me. When I fell, I came down hard on my knee. I came home to scrapes and a swollen knee. Of all the luck! The knee stayed swollen and quite painful for the next 2 days. I wasn't sure I would even be able to run on Saturday. We went to the expo Friday and with all the race excitement in the air, I knew I just had to do it. Even if I had to crawl across the finish line. So, Saturday came, I taped up the knee, and off we went to the race. Aside from the wind, the weather was great for running. Nice cool temps. The race started, I started running, and every step I took, I could feel the bruise on my knee cap. This was going to be a long 26 miles. So, I just settled into a comfortable pace, not pushing it, resigned to the fact that the PR was not going to happen today, and just wanting to finish the race. Once I hit the halfway mark, my knee stopped hurting. Maybe it was numb, I don't know. However, at this point, my other leg started to hurt because I was favoring my hurt side. I started imaging lopsided muscles as one was being worked harder than the other ;) My half time was actually pretty good and I was surprised that, even with the injury, I was able to maintain a decent pace. Thoughts of "maybe a PR could happen" started to enter my mind, but I had to push them away because it was still too early. I hit the 20 mile mark and noticed that I was 2 minutes ahead of the 4:00 pace. And, I still felt GOOD!! I wasn't out of energy at all. At this point, the PR thoughts really started to come. Every mile I would check my time and I was still on target. By the last mile, I had 12 minutes to spare to get to the finish line. I picked it up, not wanting to regret missing out by only a few seconds. I crossed the finish line in 3:59:37, in amazement. I had hoped for that on a healthy body, not a broken one! Imagine what I could have done if I wasn't injured! Although, I have to wonder. . .could having the injury and running conservatively in the beginning have helped me? My last 1/4 split time actually improved, whereas most people peter out of energy. I was actually passing people instead of them passing me! I know I would have run a lot faster in the beginning had my knee not been hurt, but would I have also run out of energy sooner? I can only wonder. . . So, I'm totally stoked about my new PR! I don't regret running on a sore knee, although I'm still paying for it. It's been a week since the fall now and I'm still sore. I want to get out and run again, but know I need to heal first. It's killing me because I don't want to lose anything I've gained with all my training. Hopefully, it will be better soon and I can get out running again! Splits: Mile 1 - 8:34 Mile 2 - 9:31 (I swear this mile was marked inaccurately) Mile 3 - 8:06 Mile 4- 8:48 Mile 5 - 8:54 Mile 6 - 8:11 Mile 7 - 8:43 Mile 8 - 8:24 Mile 9 - 9:29 Mile 10 - 8:49 Mile 11/12 - 17:42 (missed the marker somewhere) Mile 13 - 9:22 Mile 14 - 8:29 Mile 15 - 10:16 Mile 16 - 9:25 Mile 17 - 9:56 Mile 18 - 10:22 Mile 19 - 9:09 Mile 20 - 9:22 Mile 21 -9:11 Mile 22 - 9:15 Mile 23 - 9:34 Mile 24 - 9:26 Mile 25 - 8:58 Mile 26 - 9:46 .2 - 1:45 I also did something different this race. I carried my own water and food. I trained like that so I thought I'd keep it the same. I don't usually carry anything when I run and just rely on the aid stations, but I think it made a huge difference to bring my own stuff. And, I didn't have to stop at every aid station (since I hated that they were every 1 1/2 miles instead of every 2), and could stop when I needed to. | 