The trail was very scenic, in those moments I remembered to look around. I did that every time I heard water trickling through rocks or I ran over a bridge. I carried two GU gels in my hands, drank water and Gatorade at every water station, and I ran along. In mile 1 I was doing 8:20 pace - and for the next few miles I got a little faster. At mile 6 I had evened it out to averaging a perfect 8:00 mile. And a fw minutes after thinking about where Ryan was and that I had to see him soon I heard him clear his throat about 40 yards behind me. I turned and waved and smiled and shouted, "I was windering when I'd see you!". A short time later he caught me then passed me. I attempted to keep up for a few yeards, immediately felt my heart and lungs react negatively to the change, and so told him I wouldn't try to keep up and I slowed back down. I kept him in my sights for the next 4 miles, but then he got one bend too far ahead of me so I feel like I had just missed seeing him every time I rounded a corner.
I kept on pace. I prayed. I gave myself motivational monologues: "You can do this. No matter if you start to feel bad you've got to keep going. This is race day! This is everything you trained for. This is it!" And as I neared mile 9 still on 8:00 mile pace I finially took a few moments to do some math. And I discovered that I could finish in 1:44:X if I didn't slow down. This motivated me even more. Before the Half my goal was to finish in under 1:50 - something no greater than 1:49:X. And now mid-race I knew that I had a chance to supercede that goal and do better than I had thought. Something in 1:44:X was a dream and a hope before the race. I had previously plugged in numbers to the race calculator to see just what I would have to do to get it - so it was there in the back of my mind. And until the moments of actually running the course that goal was but a hoped for dream, but as I was going strong and feeling good it became my day's goal. I motivated myself, "This is the day. This is everything you have trained for. It is race day! Keep going strong." And I ran along, keeping stride, keeping pace, and slowly but surely passing a few people along the way.
At mile 5 I felt like I had barely done anything yet and so I told myself, "Ok you got your warm-up lap in now it is time to go run 5 miles." And it felt good. I got to mile 10 and said, "Ok, you did a warm-up lap. Now it is time to go on a hard 3 mile run." And at mile 11 I said, "Ok, you got a warm-up in. Now it's time to go on a hard 2 mile run. You've done this before. But now it's race day! Go do this!" And I pushed out my run, feeling good.
As you leave the trail and venture into town you need to go up a hill. For the final flat straighaway I picked up my pace some - trying to gain a few seconds which I figured I would need later. As I went to leave the trail on the bridge overhead I heard: "Go Mo!" and I looked up and Ryan was right there! I shouted for him to keep up his good pace. Then I droppe dmy head down, dug my feet in, and ran hard up the hill. The "hill" is a hill when you've run 12 miles down a slight grade. But where I come from the "hill" was nothing. I got up the hill, and got a chance to even out my breathing as the bridge I had turned onto slanted downwards. I recovered just in time to tackle the next "hill" and upwards I went at a fast pace. I turned off the main road and the rest of the course eased downwards - I ran hard telling myself "Just 5 more minutes at most. You got this!" -- which is how I often get thru tough training runs. A few girls were in front of me, and I made it my goal to pass them. And one by one I did. I then rounded the final bend and for a flat straightaway I sprinted. People lined the area and cheered. I spied the clock and saw 1:44:15. I decided I needed to finish by 1:44:30 and I spinted. I heard Ryan cheer me on my left and I saw him. I passed one more girl and crossed the finish line at exactly 1:44:30!
I was happy; and perhaps my picture will not show it and instead will show determination, but I am fine with that. I just finished a Half Marathon in an amazing time! I grabbed my medal, was handed a water, and walked over to Ryan - he had finished in 1:43:35! Both of us had gotten personal records! We hung around in the finish area for a bit and ate food - quickly got tight and cold and got out clothes at gear check and bundled up. We drank some hot apple cider. And then walked (the long way) to the bus. We got on the bus and bussed back to the parking lot. We got our picture taken by his co-worker and friend who had also run the Half. Then we got in our car and drove home, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
New Miles: 13.1! + .4 = 13.5
Total Miles: 1124.0
Miles Remaining: 376.0
Weight: 126.4
i got choked up while reading this. awesome job!!
ReplyDelete