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Eugene Marathon

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Location:

Tucson,AZ,USA

Member Since:

Aug 30, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

PR's

5K: 21:26 (2005)

4 mile: 28:10 (2005)

10K: 43:33 (2010)

10 mile: 1:13:35 (2009) (1:12:15 split in 1/2 marathon, 2011)

1/2 marathon: 1:34:31 (2011)

marathon: 3:19:15 (2013)

Short-Term Running Goals:

 

3:20 marathon - Eugene Marathon, April 28, 2013 (can I say I really want a sub 3:20? but I will be happy with 3:20-3:23) -- whoohoo!

Some good intermediate races 15K - 1/2 marathon, to gauge my fitness level (done this, hit a 1:34:35 1/2 marathon in March 2013, on a hilly course)

Going after my 10 mile PR in Fall 2013

Maybe some good 10K races after the infernal Arizona summer is over! 




Long-Term Running Goals:

I want to be one of those runners who is still running in their 80s (or 90s?).  You know the ones, who look all grisley and fit?  That is what I would like!  Until then, I just want to work hard and be as fast as I can, for as long as I can.


Personal:

50 year old, trying to defy gravity and time

Used to be faculty at the University of Arizona (biostatistics).  Currently manager of the statistics and data management group for companion diagnostics (biomarkers) at Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Roche diagnostics).  We evaluate protein biomarkers that can be used to direct drug therapy that would be most effective based on individual characteristics (personalized medicine).

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: Eugene Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:19:15, Place overall: 73, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
1.000.0026.200.000.0027.20

http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-3271

More later, my legs hurt, bad.  Thank you all for your love and well wishes.  My lucky javelina was pinned to my shorts (thanks allie) ... It helped a lot over those last painful miles.  xxoo 

 

Report:

I did ok, I really can't complain (except for how much my legs hurt the last 4 miles, and they hurt so much right now - ache - that I can't even take a nap - despite only getting ~3 hours sleep last night ;-)). My half-marathon splits were 1:38:51/1:40:24 -- I wanted to hold it together and go for sub 3:19, but I was just holding on at the end (or that is how I felt anyway).  I have to say that the course felt hillier than 2009 -- they did change it, both so we did not have to navigate through the 1/2 marathoners between miles 15-16, and so we could finish on Hayward Field (which I wish I could have enjoyed more - but, I was so focused on the finish line, and stopping running, that I did not see the Jumbo Tron -- small mercies :-) -- or much of the "track" ... ha ha).  Maybe it was just the 24secs/mile faster than I ran today that made the hills feel harder?  The other two larger points, both have to do with the fact that I am so lucky.  I can't believe that 10 years ago I started running.  My racing debut was a 23:30 5K followed up with a 1:39:xx 1/2 marathon -- both of these races were the same pace that I just ran 26.2 miles in!  I never would have believed it was possible, certainly not at 50 years old.  Which brings me to the second of my lucks -- today I hit an unspoken milestone -- it concerns something that Sasha doesn't believe in, but I do.  It is WAVA (age-graded performance). Basically, there is a calculator that estimates the percentile for your race results adjusted for your sex and age.  It is based on adjustment of your performance to the current world records of your gender - and accounts for the natural slowing that happens as you get older (loss of muscle mass happens no matter what you do).  They break this down into percentiles, 90th, 80th, 70th, etc. and the "rule-of-thumb" is that 90th percentile is "world class", 80th percentile is "national class", and 70th percentile is "local class" (they also give you an estimate of what your time is worth in "peak age" performance, which is a little 'murkier'.  Anyway -- I have been in the 75th-78th percentile range for the entire time I have been running.  Today ... bloggers, I hit a long sought after goal of mine -- I hit the 80.63th percentile!  I was very happy, maybe it is a silly target - but it was a target of mine for a long time.  

This race hurt more than any race I have ever done.  I never felt "comfortable" and I hurt very badly the last 4 miles.  My splits aren't horrible, and I am pretty surprised about this - because I tell you -- I was hurting.  I had a side stitch at mile 21, and then at mile 24 my side-stitch woes went away because my left leg was hurting so badly ... I saw all these guys (again, just like last time there were more men around me than women) laying around on the grass the last 3 miles, and I thought, oh man, I could so do that right now.  We ran by our hotel at mile 22 and I so looked at it, long and hard.  I wanted to stop and call it a day.  But, I was racing these women - we kept passing eachother back and forth the entire race, and I was "holding on to them" and I did not want to let them beat me.  They did -- but I was right on one of them at the end -- I was 3:19:15 and she was 3:19:14.  Frustrating because I passed her at about 25 1/2 and then she passed me as we hit the track!! I couldn't respond, I just hung on for dear life. 

First 5 miles (7:32 AP): 7:41, 7:23, 7:28, 7:35, 7:33

Second 5 miles (7:28 AP): 7:17 (downhill after an uphill), 7:32, 7:25, 7:32, 7:38

Third 5 miles (7:37 AP): 7:34, 7:42, 7:34, 7:39, 7:40 (I was really starting to hurt here - I felt like I was slipping into much slower pace than it ended up being)

Fouth 5 miles (7:36 AP): 7:25, 7:39, 7:43, 7:32, 7:41 (trying to pass the women)

Fifth 5 miles (7:40 AP): 7:39, 7:38, 7:44 (hurting really bad), 7:40, 7:43 (like really bad),

final two splits (were wrong, I think the 26 mile marker was in the wrong spot): 7:08, 2:17

So glad to stop running.  My legs cramped so badly when I finished ... yowser, from my toes to my adductor ... ouch.

So, that is that.  I loved the fans, I love Eugene.  At mile 24 there were these guys with cups, they yelled: "water", "beer"  ;-).  There was a lot of music on the course, from bystandanders. Mainly hits from Bob Marely, and from the 70s and 80s (my favorite).  The weather was PERFECT.  The size was perfect, it was a little congested the first mile, but it cleared out quickly.  Everything was perfect.

You are all perfect.  Thank you so much, for everything the past 6 years I have been on the blog, and throughout the difficult times in the last couple of years.  And, thank you for sharing these good times with me too.   

 

Comments
From Jake K on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 13:15:52 from 174.255.128.64

Yayyyyyyy!!!! Sub 3:20!!! :-)

Can't wait to hear more... Congrats!

From Tracy on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 13:17:01 from 50.103.254.253

Oh, bonnie! Congrats, congrats, congrats! Can't wait to hear the deets!

From allie on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 13:54:29 from 97.126.221.226

way to DESTROY your PR and hit your A+ goal. so awesome, bonnie!!! congratulations.

From Bec on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 14:34:20 from 70.115.197.197

NICE job Bonnie! Way to go. I want a time like that. :)

From Kim on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 14:41:15 from 208.54.4.250

You have been my inspiration since I joined this blog! You are amazing! Way to go girl!

From Lily on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 14:53:30 from 67.199.178.95

Strongest woman on this blog. Look at YOU!!!

From Bonnie on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 15:36:52 from 66.224.35.98

Jake - you are awesome, thank you!

allie, I can't tell you how much you have inspired me, and my javelina deserves all the credit today, keeping me focused. I will have to write more about Lauren Fleshman's talk yesterday (sometime this week, while I am in recovery mode). One of the topics she talked about was the psychologic side of running -- and it was pretty awesome. I thought a lot about this as I was hurting so badly the last 10 miles, and the javelina kept me grounded. Your belief in me made a lot of difference in how I reacted during these miles.

Tracy -- I was just following in your performance yesterday!

Bec, you will kill this time, I am sure!

Kim, it is you and Tom that are inspiring to me. I really love you guys.

Lily - you are going to kick some major behind, you are so very talented (in so many ways - including being a Mom).

From JD on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 15:39:34 from 71.219.66.32

wow! congratulations Bonnie! this is so great -

one age equivalency calculator (marathon guide.com)has you running a 2:52:44 at 30 yrs old. whether or not one believes in the accuracy of such tables, your performance today is rock solid. you are such a strong runner. congratulations again and again!

From Bonnie on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 15:46:24 from 66.224.35.98

thank you, JD! you are one of my favorite FRB/Facebook friends! we have a lot in common.

From allie on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 16:07:24 from 97.126.221.226

the very first thing we did after seeing your finish time was plug it into the age-graded performance calculator. :) so impressive!!!!

you held it together incredibly well...your slowest split is just 8 seconds off your overall average pace. that is amazing, but not surprising. you are a ROCK.

i am so happy for you. you've been on quite a ride and you never gave up... always positive and determined. you are an amazing woman with so much strength and heart. love you, bonnie!

From Bonnie on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 16:15:38 from 66.224.35.98

Haha ... So awesome that I wasn't the only one ;-). However, I will point out that the womens race was WON by a F45-49 year old!!! Wow. I think she ran 2:48. They have messed up the results -- there are a bunch of 1/2 marathon times in the marathon results ... Like the overall male winner (2:22:25?) Lost to a bunch of women in the 1:45 range :-) .

Determined is my middle name, I think my PhD was obtained on determination much intelligence, for sure. :-)

From JulieC on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 16:22:42 from 63.224.113.58

Posted on fb but i have to post here too since i read your report. Just simply inspiring. Honestly the pain legs thing unfortunately is our age right? Its like our nerves have less protection. I hope i can run that time at 50. Yay for 81% ! And for first in age group.

From fiddy on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 16:34:24 from 97.126.221.226

It hurts much more when you don't slow down at the end...I imagine.

Fantastic race.

From Tom on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 17:59:48 from 160.7.252.221

Kim just gave me a heads up on your race. Very impressive!! Congrats on the PR and overall tough performance, your stellar training and racing is very inspiring!

From seeaprilrun on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 21:03:46 from 68.102.189.33

Incredible Bonnie! You fought the good fight at the end, and totally held it together! It has been a long road to this marathon, and you finally got to see the results of all your hard work and dedication. Amazing!

From Jason D on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 21:49:41 from 24.1.80.94

Running is a lot like getting a PhD, Bonnie. Never thought of that even though I'm doing it (but I'm in English and we are sometimes slackers :)) You have to born with something, but the determination and "the right stuff" goes a long way too. You put in a lot of miles during the year, and you should pursue your goals as you see fit. Running can be as individual as you want it to be. Congrats on your race and your PR. Rest easy!

From Dan on Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 21:53:42 from 24.209.83.20

WOW Bon! That is is fabulous! Way to kill it :) Take care of those legs!

From Bonnie on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 09:42:01 from 66.224.35.98

Thank you, Julie!

Haha, James, thank you!!

Tom - see message above, you are awesome.

April, you should know about the tough fight, you are an amazing testimony.

Jason, I had never thought about like that before either (e.g., running and a PhD) - until I lost a bunch of oxygen from my brain ... Can't say enough about the importance of "the intangibles"

Thank you, Dan ... I am doing my best, they seem to be pretty upset with me right now :-)

From Rachelle on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 09:49:57 from 199.190.170.22

Love the report and absolutely love your attitude. You are such a strong runner and so inspirational. Congratulations on staying so tough when things got hard and major congrats on the HUGE PR!

So very happy for you Bonnie!

From Bonnie on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 10:50:17 from 196.3.39.209

Rachelle, you are a wonderful person, thank you!

From SlowJoe on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 12:03:23 from 155.219.241.10

Congrats again - I think you did way better than "ok," (national class, hello...) Great run and great report! Amazing.

From rAtTLeTrAp on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 16:55:20 from 24.17.146.10

Congrats to you, a National Class Athlete! Suddenly I am compelled to suffer a little bit on Sunday. I plan to read this report again before the race. Thanks for the inspiration :)

From Bob on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 18:19:08 from 67.176.195.62

Way to go B! You've made great progress.

From Bonnie on Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 17:41:30 from 74.202.188.254

Thank you SJ ... I appreciate your support!

Mike, what can I say - you were right about how cool it was to finish on Hayward Field, I wish I had been more coherent to enjoy it!

Thank you, Bob, just getting out of bed is progress some days :)

From rAtTLeTrAp on Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 17:50:44 from 174.255.163.222

"In the footsteps of legends" :)

From Tara on Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 21:59:50 from 75.169.143.113

YOU DID IT!!!! Congrats. Hope you're healing up!

From Smooth on Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 23:00:07 from 65.130.2.239

HUGE huge huge CONGRATULATIONS for the AG win and PR, Bonnie!!!! :) :) :) WOW!!! What an incredible performance!!! You are such a strong runner!!! Love the age/gender graded percentile! You are world class in my book! I have enjoyed very much reading/following your blog. You are an inspiration to me! So happy for your accomplishment! :) :) :) :) :)

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, May 01, 2013 at 08:07:57 from 69.28.149.29

Bonnie - great job defying gravity! This is a really solid time. Congratulations on the breakthrough.

Your performance shows that miracles are possible. You had a number of issues to overcome. It is very very difficult to break out of the rut when your have been slower than 3:30 your entire life, and you keep getting older.

I hope you appreciate the significance of your accomplishment. This is a world-class performance. Yes, the time is not world-class, but the breakthrough and the ability to properly use what you've been given is world-class. If male collegiate runners did what you did, 2:10 would become common place, and the world record perhaps would be 2:01 or maybe even under 2:00.

From Bonnie on Wed, May 01, 2013 at 08:57:34 from 64.119.33.134

Tara -- thank you! I am sending strong thoughts your way!!

Smooth, you are my hero. Thank you so much for your support!

Sasha, you just made me cry. Praise from you means more to me than you can know. Thank you for all you do for us. Thank you for providing us this outlet, this neighborhood, this family. Thank you for inspiring us all.

From MichelleL on Thu, May 02, 2013 at 00:16:56 from 202.130.114.242

Bonnie! I am so happy for you. I appreciate and agree with so many comments but am especially touched by Sasha's as well. You know, you really have been through a lot. It is interesting how running can remain important in our lives even when there might be things that outsiders would consider more important. It really is a spiritual journey though, and a way of coping with other stresses and things out of our control, and you have now been to the mountain top. I am so happy for you to have such a huge PR after all the obstacles that you have overcome.

From Barb on Thu, May 02, 2013 at 05:24:10 from 197.149.197.7

Congratulations Bonnie! You're awesome!

From Teena Marie on Sat, May 04, 2013 at 09:06:31 from 208.54.5.167

Bonnie~

Wow!!!! You have no idea how much you inspire me. What an incredibly strong woman you are (in so many different ways). I am so excited that you hit your much sought after milestone!!!! You are crazy fit!! Just sayin'!

Congrats!!!!

From rAtTLeTrAp on Sun, May 05, 2013 at 05:37:37 from 24.19.80.36

Getting prepped for the race this morning and my number one goal is to not get comfortable out there. Goal #2 hang on :)

From Bonnie on Sun, May 05, 2013 at 08:22:18 from 64.119.33.134

Go Mike Go!!!

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