Sadly, I am not one of those people that takes pictures while running (maybe someday), so this will be a boring post for those of you not interested in running!
Half marathon day finally arrived yesterday. It was a cool 35 degrees when we left our house, but it was sunny & we knew it would warm up pretty fast.
I've had the idea in my head for quite sometime that I wanted a sub 2:00 half. The weeks leading up to the race I'd gone over in my head what I needed to do to reach my goal.... & I had very little confidence I could attain it.
I told Peter the night before that I hadn't figured out my racing strategy yet. He told me, "Just run." Well, easy for him to say. I just kept thinking that finishing the race with a 9:09 pace (for my 2 hour goal) should be my strategy.... but I hadn't really trained for a 2 hour half. I actually didn't know what I had really trained for, but it just didn't seem like 2 hours was realistic. I was so scared that I would start with a 9:09 pace & then just die a few miles in & wind up with a crappy time. I was scared. Why? Probably just because that's my personality. When I was young and my parents would quiz me on homework or something I wouldn't give them an answer unless I was 100% sure it was right. I don't like to be wrong. I don't like to fail.... but enough about my childhood issues that have followed me into adulthood... onto the race.
Once Peter & I got to the start I decided to find the 2 hour pacer & just start there & see how I felt. If worse came to worse then I would just pull back & go for a more reasonable PR. I mean, the last time I ran this race 2 years ago I finished around 2:12 (10:11 pace). As long as beat that time I would be content.... and that shouldn't be a problem.
So, the race began... I kept the pacer in my sights for the first couple miles, but she seemed to be going slow...
Mile 1: 9:16
and then fast...
Mile 2: 8:35
WTF?!
I decided that I needed to find my own groove & run where I felt comfortable. So, I did.
Mile 3: 9:19
Mile 4: 9:12
Mile 5: 9:16
I felt pretty good. Those were pretty fast splits for me. I still was worried I'd hit a wall, so I conserved just enough energy to feel confident I wouldn't die.
Around this point is a gel station and then you get to the Goodman St hill. This is right around the corner from where we live, so I know how long it lasts & what I need to do to make it through.
Mile 6: 9:25
I knew a quick downhill would follow, so I just paced myself & got ready to head into the cemetery portion of the race... and here's where I started to feel like I was actually running a half marathon. There's some uphill at the beginning of the cemetery & then lots of turns & just miserable conditions... or maybe I was just tired.
Mile 7: 9:25
Mile 8: 9:17
Around this point I took the gel I brought with me. I've never taken 2 gels in a run, but I had only drank water at the stations (no Gatorade), and I just felt like I needed something else to fuel me. Plus, I knew there was caffeine in the gel I brought, maybe that would help too. So, I decided to listen to my body & sucked down that gel like a champ and just prayed that we'd be exiting the cemetery portion soon. I knew once we were out I'd only have a 5k to go & that comforted me.
Mile 9: 9:17
Mile 10: 9:14
Once I was out of the cemetery & had a 5k flat course left & checked my Garmin for the millionth time, I knew I'd need a miracle to finish in 2 hours. A serious miracle. I took a quick inventory of how my body felt & other than a sore right knee I felt pretty good. I knew I could push it the last 3.1 miles. I didn't think 2 hours was a realistic goal anymore, but damned if I was gonna throw in the towel & coast 'til the end. I knew I had some kick left in me, so might as well give the race my all.
Mile 11: 8:58
Not too bad. Mile 11 felt good, but I knew that 8:58 was not gonna get me to the finish line in 2 hours.
Mile 12: 8:40
Huh? Looking again at my Garmin I knew this could be close. At this point I remember having a conversation with myself after doing some quick calcs in my head. 2 hours still seemed pretty far off, but I needed to just push harder than I ever had & come as close as my body would let me. I also started thinking at this point that I could imagine myself finishing with a time of 2:00:01 just because it would really piss me off!
During this point I started to observe the runners around me. Maybe observe is a bad word... I actually started to pity them... okay, maybe that's not the best word to describe it either. Basically what I was thinking at this point, is that it's a shame these people aren't going to get their 2 hour half. 2 hours is a big half marathon milestone... but I digress...
I ran that last 1.1 miles as fast as I could. My lungs burned. My legs hurt. I felt tears coming on... but the tear were actually tears of joy, because I felt like a runner that last 1.1 miles. I felt like I was running the race of my life & I was going to win.
Mile 13: 8:17
I crossed the finish line with the clock at 2:00:17. Peter found me right away & told me he thought I got it. My Garmin said 1:59:51, but I didn't trust it.
We got to my car & I pulled out my phone. The race organization is doing this new thing where they text you your race time. My text said my time was 2:00:14. Son of a bitch! I showed Peter & he said that was definitely wrong. We didn't cross the start for at least 20 seconds after the gun, and the clock definitely said 2:00:17 when I crossed, so he didn't know where this 2:00:14 came from. I was concerned at this point that my chip never registered the time I crossed the start.
I resigned myself to failure... no, not really. I had one final chance... the official results would be posted soon.
So, around 3 hours after I completed my race, the official results were uploaded to the race site.
My official time was 1:59:55
I could have cried tears of joy.
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