Keeping the Faith! A Summary of the St. Paddy's Half Marathon
Ding! Ding! Ding!
We have a winner!
The award for "Most Miserable Race Ever" goes to the 2023 St. Paddy’s Half Marathon!
Not quite the outcome I had in mind when I signed up for this misadventure several months ago. I'd intended it to be a tune-up for the Drake Half Marathon in late April. However, part of the thrill of living in the Upper Midwest in March are the incredible roller-coaster swings in temperatures. Case in point - Des Moines went from highs in the low 60’s in the middle of the week to single digits by Saturday morning. Add to that 17-20 mph winds and the "feel like" temperature at race time plummeted to the minus teens.
Those brutal winds tore through two layers of my winter gloves as though they were mesh, leaving my fingers throbbing in pain before I'd even completed two hundred meters of my one-mile warm up. Despite wearing tights designed to combat the wind and a face mask protecting my chin and nose, I felt an icy chill that reached deep inside, causing a constant shiver.
After that, I strongly questioned if there was any reason to attempt this half marathon or if it made more sense to simply return home. I'd endured a 5K race under similar conditions the previous year. Even with a much shorter distance, it’d been an awful experience, the outcome being my slowest 5K time accompanied by painfully numb fingers. This would be over thirteen miles with a good portion going directly into that bone-chilling wind.
Still, I'd never walked away from a race before. That overruled my clattering teeth as I followed everyone else when the race started.
With my fingers absolutely aching, dropping out returned as the predominant thought in my mind for those first two miles. A few minutes with the wind at my back would have led me to my Nissan Murano with it's heated seats and steering wheel.
But, whether determined or foolish, I persevered.
Time for "Plan B"
My goals going into the Paddy's Half Marathon were the following:
Average a 7 - 7:10 minutes per mile pace.
Win My Age Group.
Avoid issues with the IT Band.
The Arctic winds iced Goal 1 and likely chilled Goal 2. Knowing that my IT band did not like frigid weather, I had concerns about Goal 3.
At around mile three, desperation had me roll my bare hands into fists inside my gloves. Silly as that sounds and as ridiculous as it may have looked, that finally restored circulation and eased the pain. The downside was that also meant I could not check my pace on my Garmin watch without the risk of losing my gloves. Around mile five, the course veered into a wooded park, offering some shelter from the wind. This allowed my fingers to finally warm enough that I could use my gloves as intended.
A quick glance at my Garmin told me that my pace hovered in the mid-seven-minute range. "Plan B" emerged as my focus became passing as many runners as possible, in order to achieve my intended pace. Easing away from several other competitors as the course finally turned around, I now had the wind at my back, furthering ill-advised dreams of salvaging this cursed race.
Unfortunately, my good fortune proved short lived. My fingers may have recovered but I now felt a sharp pain in my left hip. As "Running 101" has taught me, IT band problems often stem from hip issues. Sure enough, by mile eight, that soreness in my hip dropped down to the IT band outside my left knee. Not too bad at first. I’d hoped that a couple short walks would make it happy.
No such luck.
Time revise those goals again.
What about "Plan C?"
"Do No Harm" became my new goal. No point in pushing a potential injury on a "preseason" run with several more prominent races on the docket. Knowing that cold temps also impact IT bands, I decided that I would avoid aggravating it.
That strategy had my pace slowing with the amount of walking becoming more frequent. Despite an obvious disappointment, I didn’t experience the same level of frustration when that same IT band forced me to walk in a half marathon last year. Walking then had granted me quick recovery that led to several strong races in the following weeks and months. I also recalled the dismal results from last year's frigid 5K only to have a much faster outcome just a few weeks later.
This was just one race. Don't let it create problems for my future ones.
I finished 38/360 and was second in my age group with just under an eight-minute pace. Not what I’d hoped to achieve. But, given everything, not as bad as it could have been.
.
Keeping the Faith
No way around it. This race had been a truly dreadful experience. Still, as I drove home, my mind shifted its focus to the 5-mile race coming up in three weeks. No need to dwell on this one. Stick to the plan. Finish my "preseason." Then move into the "regular season" that starts with the Drake Half Marathon in late April.
Running since that date has not been a problem. My left IT band remains my one lingering concern. It’s flared up the last two years at Drake. The horrid conditions during St. Paddy's - including what had to be an uneven running gait and cadence - most likely created it's flare-up. Still, I’ll need to be certain that my training and running focus on preventing that from reoccurring in my next half marathon.
It's Roboto Time!
It’s been exactly 40 years since the start of my final season of college track. That prompted me to prepare a playlist for St. Paddy's spiced up with several songs from March 1983. Along with fondly remembered gems from Men at Work, Journey, Hall and Oates and Greg Kihn, I dared to include a far more notorious hit from that time period. Styx’s infamous “Mr. Roboto.” What possessed me? Simply that when I heard that song at a Styx concert last summer, it literally stole the show with everyone in attendance singing every single silly word. Clearly this song possesses an an energy that I sought to tap amid the final miles of the half marathon. Domo Arigato!
Your Thoughts?
I suspect everyone has a “most miserable race” experience. If so, I’d enjoy you sharing it. Likewise, I’m also wondering about your thoughts on dropping out of a race. Have you done it? If so, what was the reason? You can include them in the comments below or on Facebook.
I worked a water station at that race and froze. I had to keep going to the store to buy more water as we couldn't keep it from freezing. Was there for 5 1/2 hrs.
Wow. What an ordea! But us runners are stubborn bunch aren't we? We persevere through the elements and injuries because of our inner drive to reach our goals and to finish what we start.
I feel your pain though, as I've had similar experiences. My last race less than a week ago was a cold, chilly, hilly, 5k in Seattle. But over 5,000 still showed up, and there was a half marathon and marathon the next day.
Anyway, nice read, but, I hope you recover and return to your form soon! Hang in there and listen to your body! 👍🙏