Yesterday, I walked my first Half Marathon. This was Las Cruces, NM, second “Biggest Loser Half-Marathon RunWalk”. As the name implies, it is associated with the television reality show “Biggest Loser”. There’s a casting application booth that I could have gone to, but since I only (Ha! “Only!”) need to lose 50 pounds, I didn’t feel that was worth the effort… they won’t even look at you if you don’t need to lose 100 or more pounds. The following is my report on the event.
Packet Pickup for the event was Saturday at the Las Cruces Convention Center. When I first arrived and saw the lines I was a little taken aback… I don’t do crowds well! But I quickly realized the long line was for the 5k, and there were only 2 people ahead of me for the half-marathon. After getting the packet, I moseyed on through the very small expo; I didn’t know what to expect, but did think it would be larger than it was.
The first booth that grabbed me – I mean that literally, the guy grabbed my arm as I walked by – was a new medical practice in town that specialized in weight loss. He lost me when he started talking about injections.
After that I stopped by the booth for the store that sold me my walking/running shoes. I bought a pair of nifty gloves that have reflective tape and a little pouch you can pull over the fingers to turn them into mittens. The fingers have special pads to make them usable on cell phones.
I was out within 40 minutes! Saturday night, I went to a movie night with friends, ate all the wrong kinds of food, tried to convince myself I was “carb loading”. Got home around 9:40, petted the dogs, took them for a walk, and then laid out my gear for the walk. Fell into bed at 10:30 pm. Not a good start!
Race day, I was up at my usual 4:30 am (thank you to eldest dog, Nikki – she was hungry and needed attention). About 6:30, I got dressed for the walk, and was out the door by 6:45 am. It was less than a 15 minute drive to Mayfield High School. Two whole parking lots for us, and I’m not sure we even filled one. I was early enough I got to park close to the front.
For the walk itself, I wore a pair of “convertible pants”. These are what I plan on wearing for the Bataan (more on that later), long underwear top, with the “Official RunWalk T-Shirt” over that. Topped off with a bright orange stocking cap, my new gloves, a water belt and red handkerchief (for some reason, when I get out on these long walks, my nose starts running like a firehose! Oh, and short anklet socks (the kind that tell you which foot to put each sock on… I need this kind of help) and my running shoes (Brooks Ghost-6s).
I planned to sit in the car to stay warm until closer to the 8 o’clock start time, but found I was quickly drawn by the clumps of people moving into the race area. It was cold! At this time, it was only 32 degrees. Being the big tough Iowegian that I am, I left my coat at home… only wimps wear coats in 32 degree weather. Sigh. Fifty dollars later I was wearing the only jacket I could find my size in the on site expo area. It was a ladies style, but it kept me sort of warm.
They grouped us into “herds”… a fitting name for…. Wait, they called them corrals, not herds. (Felt like herds.) I have to say I was just a hair disappointed by what felt to me to be less than good organization. I was in the third corral, the “Just Plain Walkers” corral. New Mexico State University ROTC was there with their cannon to start each of the corrals off. I was never sure where my corral ended and the first of the 5K corrals began, in as much as they all mingled together.
By the time I crossed the start, 3 minutes 18 had passed. The route began on Mayfield High’s track, northeast corner, ran around the track and exited on the northwest, then down to Motel Street, ran a block then right onto a side street.
Here we found we (the pack) had apparently tied up traffic a little too long. Some guy sitting in his BMW was pounding on his steering wheel and honking. Racers smiled and waved at him, and he in return expressed his happiness by flipping us all off. We smiled and waved all the more, laughing at him. Last I saw, he was having a conversation with one of Las Cruces’ Finest.
About three block further, we passed out of LC jurisdiction, and road control was taken over by Dona Ana County Sheriff’ Department. Soon we diverted onto the side of one of the local irrigation canals on our way to the Rio Grande. (Up here, the Rio is not yet a border river.) Hitting the river at near mile 2, we continued along this trail, known as the La Llorona Trail. I don’t know if I can put a link here, but if you have never heard the Tale of the Weeping Woman, aka La Llorona, go read it here: http://www.literacynet.org/lp/hperspectives/llorona.html
At the 2 mile point, we got Gu packets and water or Gatorade. There were several more stops for water and/or Gatorade for the remainder of the trail, but no more Gu until we got back to the 2 mile/11 mile stand.
Somewhere around mile 1 (first water stop) I met up with a lady who seemed to be holding a good pace. I asked her about her pace, and she said 19 minutes. That was good, I thought, so I fell in beside her (after ascertaining she was okay with that). It turns out we pushed each other, because for the next 6 miles, my Endomondo app kept telling me we were pacing out at about 16:10 (gradually slowing with each mile, of course)
At the half-way point, the course turned back to follow itself back to the high school. My friend stopped there to take off her shoes, re-adjust her socks, and take care of some other readjustments. By prior agreement, I continued on, expecting her to join up with me again. I did stop just long enough to do some stretches, because my back was getting a little sore, and to remove my jacket, tying it around my waist. And ate my Gu. Interesting.
The next mile or two, my pace picked up, to just under 16 minutes – I was really pleased with this! But soon after, I began to pull back. My right knee began to hurt, the back began to nag, and my feet were beginning to alert me to some issues. By the 11 mile point, I was dreading that they would have no more Gu. They did! Yay! I took one, ate it… interesting.
By now, I was by myself. There was one or two people a tenth of a mile behind me, and three in front at about 200 yard intervals. My goal was to pass as many as possible, slowing down to chat briefly with each of them.
The police and sheriff’s deputies were a blast. They cheered us on, telling us how far we had to go. By mile 12, my feet were screaming, and a slight limp was starting… Endomondo told me my latest mile had been down to 17:10. But knowing I was on the home stretch, my 13th mile was 16:53.
I crossed the finish line at 3:40:22.8 (chip time), an average pace of 16:49. Here, I was approached by a lady who put my medal over my head, and I teared up, almost overcome with an emotion that I couldn’t quite identify… pride, certainly.
And here, the event organization failed. No one told me where to go and soon I was in the wrong spot to get the promised food (banana, orange, bagel, string cheese). I can tell you that after 13.1 miles with only 2 – 100 calorie Gu packs, food was necessary! And the volunteers would not permit me to go BACK to where the food was. I did start off the morning with my high energy workout shake, prescribed to me by my trainer. (See below)
I went home.
It turns out, I was first in my age group for men! Wow! Overall among walkers, I was 29th. Oh, there was only one other man…. But hey, I beat him! By 17 whole minutes! Go me!
I was not prepared for the lethargy that set in about the time I arrived home. I drank a huge glass of water, and ate a banana, and fell into my recliner. I was about to type “and ripped my shoes from my feet”, but I’m afraid “ripped” was a little too enthusiastic a word for how I got them off. Socks next, then I examined the blisters. I was actually surprised there are only two, and one very sensitive spot that would have blistered had I been out much longer. But of the two, one on the ball of my left foot would be big on King Kong. About two inches in diameter, right on the fleshy ball.
That task complete, I pushed the recliner back. Ixchel, our dachshund, crawled into her space beside me, and I drifted off to sleep.
Later, I awoke, ate some leftovers, noticed I was feeling really weird, so took my temp… slightly elevated at 99.1 – hey, all you experts, is this normal? Dragged through the rest of the day, walking the dogs twice (VERY slowly, could barely move).
Regarding the Bataan Memorial coming up in March, I said going into this half marathon that if I couldn’t make it, I wouldn’t do the Bataan.
Having succeeded in my half marathon, I am now not sure it is feasible to complete the full Bataan Memorial march.
The half was on totally level ground, and hard topped surfaces. I barely made it.
Many of you know what the Bataan is like. Deep sand in places, loose gravel, and a climb of 1500 feet over the course of 5 miles (roughly). And, of course TWICE as long as yesterday’s trek.
I’m going to wait for a little longer to make a decision, but I’m now thinking it might be more prudent to set out for the “Honorary” walk, which is only slightly longer than a half (if I recall correctly.) Will let you all know what I decide when I decide!
And there you have it. My report. This morning, I feel so much better (no fever) and I can even walk!
Eric’s Trainer Prescribed High Energy Shake
- 2 Scoops Protein Powder (Whey) – Chocolate flavor
- 1/2 cup frozen blue berries
- 2 tablespoons natural, creamy peanut butter
- 1 banana
- 1/4 cup uncooked oatmeal
- 2 cups milk
Mix it all in a blender.
Was NOT enough to get me through a half marathon.
On The Road II 