The I do not want to tough it out Lincoln marathon - aka The half marathon Report

Lincoln Capital Building with "The Sower"
(not the "Guy with Back Spasms" as K first thought.)

It was very comfortable for me at 45 degrees and cool breeze at the start.  I was concerned about the sun and the breeze and planned for more electrolytes.  I did not feel that I had BQ pace (8:45) pace in me and planned to go out at 9:00 flat.  If i ended up right around my previous marathon times (3:53 & 3:57), I'd be happy.

I saw K at mile 1 and gave a big smile.  At that point I still had my toss away shirt and probably could’ve ditched it at that point but held onto it another half mile.  The sun wasn't up so it did feel cool.  Water stops were about every 2.5 miles and they had these cups with lids and straws.  That was awesome!  I am poor at getting in liquids and will walk if necessary to make sure i get them in but this made it very easy.  I never had to walk to drink on this course.

By mile 5, I’d taken a gel and an electrolyte and knew I needed to take in fluids at each station and keep up the electrolytes.  I was already feeling warm.  Pacing, I hit the first 10k at 55:54 which is 8:59.7 pace.  I hit exactly what I had aimed for each mile and congratulated myself for going out smartly.  I could tell that was better than a lot of half marathoners who were already starting to walk in places. 

Around mile 7, my hip flexors got all tight.  WTF.  I'd never had any problems with that before.  Then I realized my hip/hamstring was starting to twinge.  So I do what I usually do and try to change my stride up and take in more fluids.  About this time I realized I couldn’t turn my head to look to my left side.  More WTF.  Over the course of the couple days in Lincoln, we'd done a fair bit of walking and the hotel bed was making my low back a bit tight.  But honestly, it didn't seem that bad. 

We headed up a mild hill around mile 8.  I kept it easy and saw people walking once they were to the top.  The incline and more fluids had settled my hip/hamstring but now I was starting to feel really hot (i felt flushed) and was really looking for the next water stop.  It’s only mile 9 for freakin’ sake. 

Mile 10-12 is a long straight away where I had a bunch of time to contemplate how I was feeling.  I wasn’t taxed (heart rate was low enough) and was on pace but I was having all sorts of nagging twinges and just getting warmer and warmer.  I knew K would be at mile 12 and I was really looking forward to seeing him.

As soon as I spotted him a couple blocks away (he is easy for me to spot) I knew I was to a point where it might not make sense to run the whole distance.  I pulled up to him and he was ready to run with me a bit.  Ah, i was just fine to walk (first time i did during the race since it was easy to drink water with the straw) and his response to my “I might drop at the half” was “great!  If that’s what will be best.”  He didn't even seem phased by this was a really reassuring response.  I still wasn’t sure.  We walked a couple blocks while I (probably) whined a bit. 

There was another mile or so to go before I had the choice to turn into the stadium and finish with the half marathoners or continue on.  I debated turning this into a long run and dropping at 16 or so.  Did I want to make it to 16 or 18 and then start the slow death march in?  My hip/hamstring certainly weren’t going to get better and I was worried about the heat. 

Almost without question, my feet turned into the stadium and I finished with the half marathoners.  I didn’t speed up at all just trotted in.  Skipped the food and went to go get my bag.  A friend spotted me and expressed her surprise on my walk of shame (that's what it felt like at that point) and I’d told her that the half was enough.  I was done.  

That is fucking far to come for a half marathon, god dammit.  Sorry, but this was all I was thinking.  I had gotten a half medal but stuffed it into my bag, called K (who'd walked back over to mile 16 in case I was going to continue running) and arranged to meet back at the hotel for breakfast as I was really hungry at this point.  And I started walking back to the hotel (about a half of a mile away). Along the way a half marathoner asked me what kind of shorts I was wearing (race ready with lots of pockets :-D) and I explained.  We chatted about how our races had gone and I had to say, not well since I’d planned on the full.  And he summed it up pretty well for me:  sometime’s it is just not your day.  

And yes that was true.  It wasn’t my day for various reasons. I didn’t feel the need to gut it out and just finish.  It is far to come for a half marathon but the memories are already dear.  It’s not likely I’ll ever be in Nebraska again yet I’ll remember:

Best steak I’ve ever had!

Best chocolate Persian baklava from the farmer’s market at Historic haymarket district.  I’m hoping the strawberry/rhubarb preserves we got will be just as delicious.  Sorry to the preserves seller.  We will not be returning the jelly jars for 50 cents.

Worst flight ever!  I have never been on such a bumpy, turbulent, storm ridden flight (there was a tornado to the south in fact).  And K has never been so sick.

I got to meet a long time internet running friend (nebrunner) whom i'd never met in person.  She was kind enough to give us a course tour of Lincoln, hosted an after the race bbq at her house and just generally was as kind and generous and funny in person as I expected.   And I got to hear all about Lincoln’s med tent from another forumite (certifiable) and meet his wife for the first time.  I'll be running with certifiable again in the Reach the Beach relay this september.  

Both Certifiable and  nebrunner had had tough races.  Certifiable ended up in the med tent severely dehydrated.  He still nailed his BQ though.  He's a stud.  Nebrunner crashed and burned with severe cramping.  She lives in Lincoln and loves running in heat but was not acclimated.  She had many other friends running this race and found out that other local runners bailed on the full marathon because of the heat. 

I’d been a bit weepy about things after the race if I thought about it.  It is so disappointing.   I know it was the only decision I could've made.  We arrived back to Seattle and it was 50 degrees and raining.  The 70 degrees and sunny had felt like summer to us (I got tanned too).  I'd planned for heat and adjusted pace but still was not prepared for that sort of sunny heat for so long.  Nebrunner also said the second part of the course (changed from years' previous) was totally exposed and baking in areas.   

I’m obviously not going to need the recovery from this 13 mile run and that makes me happy. Even though I’ve put in the work, I don’t feel the desire to do a marathon at this point.  Really, it’s only getting warmer now and I will never be a good warm weather marathoner.   And my low back/hip flexors feels quite off right now with further travel.  Nothing is actively hurting but i do not want to irritate things.  I’d planned on more biking and working on training for a 5k and I think that seems like a good plan at this point. 

Weather can be a toss up, but overall the Lincoln event is a good one!  I’d really recommend it to anyone. 

report as originally posted