I'm Baaaaccccck!

Almost....

Yesterday I ran the Seabrook Lucky Trails Half Marathon, to be exact. I ran it in 2:03...a mere 7 minutes shy of my PR I set just over a year ago, and 13 minutes faster than the HM I ran this January and 8 minutes faster than the HM I ran this February. My second half was only a measly 4 seconds slower than my first half, which is huge for me. I went in having no idea how the race would turn out, considering the 2:11 I ran exactly 4 weeks earlier in Austin was all I had.

My first mile was around a 9:02 and I thought to myself that that was pretty dumb and that I should be running closer to 10:00 pace. I slowed a bit, but even when I thought I was slowing way down, I was still a bit faster than 9:30 pace. I just kept surprising myself mile after mile as I was able to hold on to that pace. Around mile 10 they have girl scout cookies and I think those turned me into high gear! I was so excited about the cookies, the next 3 miles were great. Mile 13 was my fastest at a 8:59.

My heart rate averaged 175-176 I think which is higher than Austin was at 173 for a 2:11, but still lower than the 182 average I had in January for a 2:16 half at Houston. I will take it.

The funniest part of the race though was my outfit. The compression socks are now in full swing. I sported the Zoot variety yesterday and actually loved them. All the others I have been wearing are drug store brand. Of course Zoot's cost 5 times what the drug store brand did, and I think the compression is about the same, but the feet of the socks is padded and they felt awesome. So with the white knee socks, I also had a hot pink skirt. I told Jon when we were walking up that I felt like I had "dressed up" for the race. Those feelings were reaffirmed when at mile 13.0 a spectator yelled out "I like your costume." Thanks.

Before (reflective gear doesn't photograph too well!)

Finishing up the first of 2 loops...Jon didn't have trouble spotting me from far away

I was happy with my time and have nothing to complain about, especially considering it is not a super fast course...flat as can be, but lots of traffic (narrow trail, lots of people going both ways), lots of windy curves (reason I like it so much...awesome coastal trail to be running on), and the surface is like a jogging path which is usually a tiny bit slower than cement or asphalt, but soo much nicer to your body. I know I am still 7 minutes away from the PR from last year (ran a 1:56 and 1:57 in Jan/Feb last year, the 1:56 on a very hard course), but I also realized yesterday that those races came after essentially a 31 mile and 26 mile long run (50k and marathon races). This 2:03 yesterday came after two 13.1 mile long runs...nothing more. I have not run more than 20-25 mpw since September and have not done a run over 13.1 since a 25k trail race mid-November (the last time I ran before taking off to fix whatever was/is wrong with me).

I think things are looking up, but more so from my patience through training at a low heart rate as opposed to me actually getting better. I realized this the other day when I looked back and realized that my testing that showed I had POTS was done in February, right around the time I ran the half in Austin. I would have told you after that race too that I was much better, but clearly the tests now show that that was not the case. I will give myself a pat on the back though for being patient and running those awful 13:30 minute miles back in December. If I had not done that I doubt I'd be in anywhere near as good of shape as I am in now. I'm still not 100% compared to this time last year, but I'm 200% better than I was in October/November.

I also biked on Saturday in Galveston. It was awful. When the high is 48 and it is raining off and on all day, what can one expect? I got in about 46 miles, well, 45 plus a mile walk with a flat tire at the end, but it is all the same. Oddly enough my heart rate was way high the whole time and I just wasn't feeling it. I wrote it off as a bad day, but was a bit worried about how the race would go on Sunday. Obviously it did not go too bad though, so no more worrying about the ride on Saturday.