Seafair Marathon: 3:53:25
June 29th, 2008 , 7:00 am by Michelle Halsne
Decided yesterday after running the Bridle trails 30k, to go to the Seafair Marathon Expo and sign up for the marathon. My legs protested as I tried to get out of bed without showing the level of soreness I was feeling. I did not want my husband Chris to question my judgment in running another race this weekend. I took 2 ibuprofen and made a bottle of electrolyte drink for the road. I am so glad I took my water bottle with me, it came in real handy during the race.
Summer finally arrived in Seattle and since there has been no warm weather to train in the 85 degree heat was brutal today! The course was very hilly and for this “mountain climber” it was humbling. Traditionally in ultra running it is completely normal to walk up hills, in a marathon not so much. It was fun to play the same mental games I play in marching up hills on the road. I do things like count steps, change my cadence with the tempo of my IPOD, pick a spot in front of me and only focus on getting to that point. The biggest difference is the speed at which the running is done.
I am very pleased with my two efforts this weekend. As the heat of the day continued and the muscle fatigue from both days set in, mile 23 was the beginning of a fight. The fight was against cramping to the point of hindering my finish. I began a walk, jog, run process and downed lots of fluid and took a couple of electrolyte tablets.
At mile 24 I looked to my left and there was Van Phan (I hope I spelled her name right). Van is a hero in the
Seattle area ultra scene. To give an idea of her level of running insanity, and at the same time validate my weekend effort, she ran the Capitol City marathon yesterday and Seafair today. If that doesn’t impress, how about this, next weekend she will “triple” 3 marathons in 3 days. She’s either totally stud or complete freak, I think she’ll take both titles :0 I would!
I am now sitting on the couch. I have terrible chaffing on my inner thighs: FIRST TIME! Wow does it suck. I kept pouring water on myself to stay cool and it soaked my shorts and the rubbing began. I am also icing my knee, took a minor tweak yesterday on the trail. My husband has made me fried rice, salad and a smoothie, life is pretty sweet. I did what I could this weekend to honor my need to run and race.
Workout:
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June 29th, 2008 , 7:51 pm
i’m quite impressed with your weekend! you rock. here’s a tip for running hills: aim for a point 10 feet beyond the crest of the hill. keep up your effort (for me, i maintain cadence and try to maintain stride length) until you reach that point, then relax and let the downhill maintain your pace. that’s how i do hills; it’s something i taught myself to do in colorado - it makes your brain concentrate on a very short-term goal that will temporarily drain your body, but the advantage is that your recovery is built in. and if you’re racing against someone, if they see you surging on that hill, then that can mentally break them if they’re not ready for the surge. and if it breaks them, then they definitely won’t be able to take advantage of an easy downhill cuz they’ll be wasting energy tyrying to catch up to you.
here’s my final ramble for this comment: in the race yesterday, i had this crazy steep double uphill. i used my strategy, then saw this GLORIOUS downhill. i got to the crest and relaxed. then i used my downhill technique t ospeed up like crazy - my cadence was about the same, but my strides were easily 2-2.5x as long as normal. and i was just maintaining normal race pace/power.
June 29th, 2008 , 9:39 pm
Hey M,
I just learned your race was cancelled. And yet, you carry on! You are a testament to grit and grace.
I am wishing you more visits from Ben and Gerry, but only because you need the calories to keep running! You ARE an ULTRA runner!
Run on!
Shell
June 29th, 2008 , 9:39 pm
well, that answers my question…thought I might have seen you running up Juanita Dr this afternoon. Guess not. Watched a little of the “race coverage” on king5 this morning. All I can say is I wish I had your running genes. That many miles in 1 weekend, maybe someday, I’ll get close. I was crushed to hear about the WS100 being cancelled. Keep on being an inspiration!
June 29th, 2008 , 10:09 pm
michelle, good job getting through the torture of seafare! i was thinking of going down to 520 to cheer on runners but i was sick and thought it would be a bad idea. had i known you were there i would’ve gone out.
June 30th, 2008 , 3:16 pm
Awesome Michelle! You are amazing. I’m glad that you were able to race, but 2 events in one weekend! Wow! Not quite the same as the Western States 100, but very cool. You go girl!
July 1st, 2008 , 6:23 pm
Michelle, you are an amazing inspiration for someone like me who can not even imagine running at that level and can only dream that someday I’ll work my way there! You are keeping it real for me!
Get some well deserved rest and enjoy the pampering from your man.
July 1st, 2008 , 8:47 pm
I was walking through Kirkland Friday night on part of the marathon course and thought, “who is nuts enough to run this?” I guess I know!
Seriously, way to go! I love how you took back control.
So now my next question: Are they going to do a lottery for WS100 2009 again? Or do you get in automatically?
July 2nd, 2008 , 6:03 am
Hey - I got an email saying that the WS was cancelled and I immediately thought of you. Sorry that the race didn’t happen for you, but it appears that you’ve been able to continue moving forward! (That might be an understatement.)