Being that this was my third Half Marathon and I have been wracking up the mileage for Marathon training I was hoping that this would be a great race. I studied the data collected from my Garmin and came up with a racing strategy. Totally ridiculous, I know. To make a long story short I needed to 1) Run under a 10:00 per mile pace, 2) Start strong, 3) Account for a long course and Garmin in-accuracy, 4) Account for a new course.
I was up to the challenge!!!! So, we went out to dinner Saturday night to have our favorite pre-race meal and prayed for good weather (there had been flash flood warnings all week).
Being that we all live on the West Side we all had some issues with packet pick up and getting to the site. Small dramas aside we made it to the starting line, lined up at the no mat area and were startled when the horn sounded without warning. Gun time, CRAP. Start running!!!
The hubby and I set off on a nice pace. 9:45. This was a comfortable pace for me but I wasn't sure how he would fare. He usually trains long mileage at a slower pace but I knew that he would be up to the challenge. At about mile 1 I realized that I needed to use the bathroom. I had never had to use the bathroom on a course and I was worried that this little feeling of the need to pee would escalate into a full blown emergency. I began scanning the route for a public bathroom that would be open at 6 am in the morning. At about mile 3.5 we saw a bathroom and hubby asked me if I needed to go. We have known one another since we were 15 and its uncanny how he can read my mind some times. The bathroom was located at a park down about 20 stairs and I decided I'd better go for it. I took off down the stairs as fast as I can, ran in, peed, and sprinted back up the stairs. I checked the Garmin and saw that we had dropped to a 10:45 pace. We needed to make up the time. I increased the pace and we were off.
We were able to get back at the 10:00 mark and I eased up a little since we still had 3/4s of the race to go and I knew nothing about the route. Speaking of the route it was pretty much un-makred, un-manned and open to the public. There were times we were running against traffic and with traffic with cars whizzing right by us. There were times I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to press the button to change the light. It was NUTS and surprising that no one was injured in the race!!!
Anyway, I can't tell you much about the middle miles because I don't have mental visual markers in my mind to re-call what happened. I can tell you that the lake smelled, there were nice houses, and a few hills. I can also tell you that it was hot as hell, humid, and there was ZERO shade! I don't sweat much in my runs but with this one my arms were dripping and I kept having to wipe sweat out of my eyes. And to think I was worried about RAIN?!! Rain would have been welcomed on this run!
So I will fast forward to mile 10. At the start of the race Mike and I saw our arch nemesis (who we don't know) that we have seen at the past 2 long races. We saw her at the start and she took off and I told Mike don't worry because we'd see her at mile 10. At about mile 10 I lost Mike who was having shoe issues. He had to take off his shoe to empty some rocks out. When he did I saw that he had holes in his socks. All I could do was shake my head and keep running. Anyhow, back to the nemesis. The whole race I was scanning for her and at mile 10 I saw her in in bright pink get up. Target was acquired and I was ready to take her down. I gained on her easily as she was beginning to slow down. I passed her and knew that she was toast. I really hoped that Mike had seen her and would pass her too. Call me crazy but I almost took my phone outta my pocket to call him and tell her to keep running hard because he was going to pass her!! Anyway, I didn't because that would be nuts and I had a PR to smash!
With about 3 miles left I began calculating. If I kept up my pace which was about 9:45 I would be able to PR. I needed to run the remaining three miles under 10 minutes. I began using every mantra I could muster and it was a full blown conversation in my head (I run without music). I kept pushing hard, kept willing myself and mostly kept wondering where the hell the finish line was (I am super bad with directions and have no sense of space or place...unless it is a shopping mall!). I kept acquiring targets and passed about 15 people on the last stretch (note to self, next race count how many people you pass). I knew that this is where I am strongest and I told myself to truck it. I passed one man who was totally suprpised and shouted out, "Good job!" to me. I laughed to myself because I knew he was probably swearing about getting passed by a girl at mile 12.
Mile 12 took forever and I was running out of gas. I should have taken a 2nd gel at mile 10 (I took one at mile 5). I willed everything that I could and ran as hard as I could. I crossed the line at 2:07:12. A new PR by 4 minutes. Pace of 9:43 per mile. Victory!!!!
I drank some water and just missed getting a finishing picture of the hubby coming in at 2:08 (damn he's fast!). I then did what any other obedient student would and ran two more miles for my Marathon Clinic Training LSD. It was supposed to be 16 miles total but the blister on the bottom of my foot was nagging me so I didn't push it.
After my extra run the girls got together to do our pictures. It's always a great time running with these friends of mine and I am so thankful to have them with me on this journey.
Mike and I went to Sam Choy's after and I had a great time breaking all my rules at the breakfast buffet. It was a great day!!!
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