Ok, so as seems typical for runners who blog, I felt the need to write a race report from today's half marathon.
I got there with enough time to warm up and stretch, and meet up with my sister-in-law's sister-in-law Jess (follow that?). She has run some big races, including a full marathon, so it was good to chat with her and keep my nerves in check.
We lined up at the back of the pack and had a cow-bell start (yes- for real!). It didn't take long for the pack to thin out a bit and everyone seemed to fall into their pace very easily. There was a slight head wind running out of town. I hung with Jess for about a half-mile but her pace is a bit quicker and I didn't want to hold her back. I had done all my training alone, so another long run by myself didn't bother me at all.
The course went south of town on a highway, about 2 miles before turning east and winding up a hill and into park and camp area. The park was beautiful and it gave me something to look around at as the sun rose. We ran over a couple of wooden bridges, and one of the water stops was a group of boy scouts who had camped out the night before and stood on the road handing out water and powerade. As we ran out of the park we ran further down the highway and took a couple miles back west and south before hitting the turn around point. The man with the "unofficial" split told me I was at 1:08 at the split, which was well ahead of my goal pace. About a mile back towards town, I passed a guy with a broken clavicle and his arm in an immobilizer! I thought, "if he can do this, so can I!" and we exchanged encouragement as I passed. I turned back into the park and had to do a "system check" as I was starting to feel the fatigue. Head, chest, belly and legs are all FINE, so I kept on running. I attempted a bite of banana but quickly ditched it. Just inside the entrance of the park I hit the 10K turn around point- and someone next to me pointed out "all we have left is a 5k! We can run a 5k!" and that did help a bit. There is a small hill-climb out of the park, then it was back down the hill and onto the main highway for the 2 mile straight stretch into town.
This was the point that the mental hurdles came popping up for me. I realized that every step I took was effectively the farthest I've ever run. I could see down the 2 mile highway stretch and knew that it was a long road back to the finish. I thought about the following things while I ran that first mile back to town: I repeated a few bible verses in my head that help lift my spirits. I thought about TWO friends I have adopting internationally, both of whom are matched with their children, and waiting to travel to bring them HOME forever. I also thought about my sister in law, who is due any day with my nephew. (Why was I thinking about babies? I have no idea! Anything to distract me I guess!) I hit the one mile mark, and I have to be honest: that was the longest mile of my life! I was hoping to have caught a "second wind" by that point, but no luck! I could see that the finish was down the stretch, but it felt really far away. I wanted to stop and walk and immediately talked myself out of it- who runs a half marathon and walks in the last mile?! :) As I hit the city limits, my arms and legs went numb. (I'm not convinced it was a 'good numb' either?!) but it definitely made the last half mile bearable. I kept my eyes on the finish, and as I got to the chute, I saw two of my high school classmates cheering for me (they had run the 10K that day). I also saw Jess rooting me on. I crossed the finish, had my timing chip removed, took a bottle of water and my finisher's medal from the volunteers, and then went straight to the porta-potties! Ha!!
As I came out, I chatted w/ a friend then went looking for Brett- he and my aunt brought Madigan over, and they were walking into the finish area when I spotted them: They had missed the whole thing!!!
My official race time was 2:16.35! Well below my goal of 2:30! I was super excited about that! We stood around and cheered the half-marathoners back in, and saw the winner of the full marathon come through about 2:40 or so! SHEESH! We ate at the pancake feed, then headed home! I will be sure to post pics later! Thanks for all the support!!
