…I spotted those words on a spectator’s poster about 4 miles into the
Crawlin Crab Half Marathon on Sunday and they stuck with me through the race.
Now if you know anything about me and my running, you know that the
half marathon and I don’t get along. In fact, I swore off racing them after my
last experience in March of this year at the Shamrock Half Marathon in which I
ran a 1:37 after weeks of training. I left that race frustrated, defeated,
miserable and sore. And unfortunately it was one in a string of 13.1-mile races
that I’ve done over the past few years that ended on a sour note. Each for
different reasons …going out too fast, not eating enough the day before,
overtrained, poorly paced, not properly tapered, and so on. I finally had
enough and decided to walk away from the distance and racing in general….
… then the triathlon came into my life J
And now my focus has shifted from run, run, run to swim, bike, run. I love the
variation and I love the newness (is this a word lol). Not that running has
taken a backseat. It definitely hasn’t. I just look at it differently – it’s just
one piece of the puzzle.
Back to the race…
My goal was to go out conservative (7 min 30 sec
pace) and steadily work my way down to 7 min pace, with every 3 miles getting
faster. I DID NOT want to start feeling ANY discomfort until after the 10-mile
marker. I didn’t want there to ever be a point in the race where I considered
walking, dropping out, slowing to a jog…none of it. I wanted to feel comfortable,
trust my fitness level and hopefully finish around 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Looking back, it’s a little funny that I was so confident I could hit that time
considering how much I struggled just to run a 1:37 half marathon earlier in
the year. But my recent triathlon training and win at the Heart of Ghent 10K
let me know that I was in shape to comfortably run 7:15 pace. Oh and last but
not least, I wanted to enjoy the race…take in the scenery, the crowd, and just
be thankful to be out there doing what I love.
Race day… I got to the race about 40 minutes before the start time.
Spotted a few friends, laughed, pretended like I wasn’t about to run 13.1 miles
(lol), went for a light jog just to wake up the legs and then headed over to
the start area. Lucky for me I ran into a friend who typically runs around the same
pace as me. In fact, he was getting over an injury and planned to start off
conservatively. Bingo! Stick with him the first few miles.
Typical countdown, gun start and we were off. The first mile at a large
half marathon, and by large I mean more than 2,000 runners, is typically a
little crazy. Not triathlon swim, kicked in the face/people swimming over you
crazy. But crazy enough that you get jostled around a little..some bumping here
and there since everyone is so tightly packed. Plus, trying to find a rhythm
while staying clear of others isn’t that easy when there are a few people one
step in front of you, behind you and on each side. But after the first mile the
race usually begins to string out and it’s more manageable to establish your
space.
First 5 miles went like this: 1) 7:26, 2) 7:05, 3) 7:05 (grabbed some Gatorade),
4) 7:16, 5) 6:55 (more Gatorade). I felt relaxed and focused but the sun was
out in full affect and the temperature started rising. I think it ended up
reaching 85 degrees during the race (85 in October…ridiculous). Keeping the
weather in mind I decided to grab water at mile 7 and dumped the cup over my
head in attempt to keep my body from overheating. I didn’t care that I looked
like a wet rat, I just wanted to comfortably maintain my pace. Miles 6) 7:15
and 7) 7:06 were pretty steady. Then I heard a spectator yell “good job, top 10
woman”). Of course this sparked the little competitor in me so I began to look
for ponytails in the distance. And there they were, two women down the road and
they looked like they were slowing. Thoughts …. the heat is starting to get to
people, if I can maintain my pace I should comfortably get under 1 hour and 35
minutes, and I might be able to pick off a woman or two.
Miles 8) 7:13 and 9) 7:14 went by pretty fast. I caught up to the two
women I had spotted earlier and we ran together to mile 10. At this point, I
was still feeling pretty strong and knew I would have to run a little faster if
I wanted to place higher so I threw in a 7:04 mile and it worked.
Unfortunately, my legs didn’t really like that. Who knew running 10 seconds
faster would take so much out of you?
The last three miles were more or less a mental game – it ranged from “I’m
tired, I kind of want to stop. It wouldn’t be so bad if I slowed down a little”
to “shut up you idiot, you already ran 10 miles, you only have 3 left and you
know you don’t feel that bad.” I got through miles 11) 7:15 and 12) 7:15 and
then there was a demoralizing uphill finish (seriously who thought it was a
good idea to stick a hill in at the last mile?!?). My last mile (6:58) ended up
being one of my fastest and I crossed the finish line in 1 hour 34 minutes 19
seconds. I won my age group (25 – 29) and was the 6th female out of
1,428 women.
 |
| This might be the only time I have ever smiled after a half marathon. |
Overall it was a good day. The race was very well organized, I ran into
a few friends (literally), I surpassed my time goal, I felt great, and most
importantly I really enjoyed myself out there.
 |
| I treated myself to a little gift which I put to good use that night J |
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