running: the dawn

Cliff’s Notes Version:  Awesome race, a few hills, perfect weather, sore feet, squeaking in under the wire, 2nd best half marathon time.

Race Rating: A

My results: 13.1 miles/1:49.55/8:23 per mile

The long version:

I ended up staying with friends since the drive would have been over an hour, I don’t have our GPS, and I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have made it to the starting line.  It was really fun to go to a race with other people who are running!  My friend and her mom were running the 5k, and her dad, brother and brother’s girlfriend were all running the half.  It was the first race for everyone except T (she ran the Disney Marathon back in January).  We were up by 5 and out the door by 6am.

I was really impressed with the organization of the event, especially since it was the inaugural marathon.  We parked a few blocks from the start and took the provided shuttles to the start.  The start/finish line were located right next to a field that had morphed into “tent city”.  I’m still not sure I know exactly what all those tents were for…Running clubs?  Charities?  I guess.  I had no real interest in being in a tent.  In fact, I was really interested in the sun coming up as soon as possible.  It was a little chilly.

We stood around chatting.  Have you ever gone to a race with a newbie?  I don’t mean someone who has been training for a year and is fully immersed in running culture.  The brother and his girl were both running the half with zero training or preparation.  I mean, they’d both run at least 6 miles, and the girlfriend runs 6 miles pretty consistently.  But that’s it.  While we were standing there they asked about the people putting deodorant on their legs (body glide) and wondered why people need strange socks on their arms.  And why oh why were there so many people in trash bags.  It was really interesting to see runner’s culture through the eyes of new comers.

Soon enough it was time to head over to the starting area.  This was probably the only thing I can think about that could use some improvement.  I’m not sure if it was just because the starting line area was too narrow, or the pacers didn’t space themselves out properly, but it felt overcrowded and like everyone was trying to get closer to the starting line.  Meanwhile, I hadn’t brought a drop bag and was planning on just throwing away my shirt, but instead I tossed it under one of the finish line gatorade tables to see if it would still be there when I finished (spoiler–it was!).

Someone sang the national anthem and we were off!  It really was the perfect day to be out running.  High 40′s, sunny, a slight breeze.  After not listening to my ipod at Boston, I had decided that I would indulge myself and listen to my favorite running playlist.  So I cranked up the tunes and fell into what was a fairly easy pace.  My race place was very very casual.  Since I ran Boston in just over 4, I knew I’d like to stay under 2 hours.  If I was able to come in under 1:50 all the better.

But then I kept creeping down into the low 8′s.  In the back of my mind I knew I was in dangerous territory.  True, my half PR is 1:46 (8:08 pace) from about a year ago.  But I ran that while training for a marathon, which much MUCH higher mileage than I’ve been able to sustain lately.  I’ve had to accept that my endurance (and even my overall fitness) isn’t where I want it to be.  So, throwing down some 8:xx and even a 7:5x mile was writing checks that I knew I couldn’t cash.  But, I was having fun, running easy and rocking out with my jamz.  So I kept going.

One drawback to the course was the mile or so that we ran on cobblestones.  I remember thinking how uneasy I felt running on the uneven road.  Then, at the finish line, I discovered that a friend had actually fallen pretty hard on that section!  Scraped up her hands and knee pretty bad.  It just seemed hazardous.

Nicole had warned me that this course wasn’t necessarily easy, and to expect a killer hill at mile 7.  So, I tucked that away in the back of my mind trying to mentally prepare for the hills.  The course was actually pretty great.  There were enough turns to keep things interesting but not so many that I had to slow down.  I did naturally start to bring my pace back to the mid 8′s where I felt like it was much more sustainable.

Mile 7 came.  Mile 7 went.  No crazy hill.  I mean, there was an overpass kind of rise, but nothing too demoralizing.  I could quite decide if that meant the hill was gone, or if it was just at a different mile marker than last year.  Then.  Mile 8.5.  I saw what she’d warned me about.  There’s a 90-degree turn and you face a serious beast of a hill.  I mean BEAST.  At that point I was so thankful that I was wearing a hat so that I could just put my head down, look at the 3 feet of road directly in front of me and pump my arms.  The hill, while steep, really wasn’t that long.  Before I knew it I had crested the top and was only 4 miles from the finish line.

After that hill I slowed down significantly.  It took me awhile to get my breathing and my heart rate back under control.  I walked through a water station.  Then I decided it was time to finish this.  We got to run on several bike paths along rivers and around a lake.  It was just beautiful.

I must say, the support for this small town race was impressive. Seriously.  I’ve run more small town races than big city ones and so I’ve come to keep my spectator expectations to a minimum.  I was pleasantly surprised.  There were cowbells, radios blaring, gummy worms, bands rocking out.  It was awesome!

I’m pretty sure there was one more hill after the big one at 8.5.   I’m just not sure that I remember exactly where it was.  During the last two miles I started to get a burning sensation in my right foot.  Just under that ball of my foot it felt like I was walking on hot coals.  That’s never happened to me before.  I’ve had the “oh no I feel blisters forming” feeling and the “oops I think I just pulled something” feeling, but never the “are the soles of my shoes melting?” feeling….  I can’t decided what was going on, but I’m pretty sure that it means I need new shoes….

All during the last few miles I couldn’t figure out if I was going to come in under 1:50.  Part of me thought, “Oh yea!  I got this, I can throw down some solid 8 minute miles!”  And the other side whined, “Is it really that important? Lets just ease up a bit and be happy with whatever happens.”  So, I alternated between those two intentions.  I’d push it for a few paces and then I’d ease up again.  I’m sure I was super annoying to all the people running around me.

By the time I passed the sign for mile 26, and I knew that there was just a mere 0.2 miles left I still didn’t know if I’d be just under or just over 1:50.  My foot was burning and I was ready to be done running.  So I threw down the hammer and kicked it in pretty strong.  I totally missed T and her mom cheering right before the finisher’s chute.  I stopped my Garmin at exactly 1:49:59.  So I still wasn’t sure if my official time would be over or under 1:50.  Either way, I decided that I had run a good race and was happy with the outcome.

I grabbed a gatorade and drank the entire thing.  I wasn’t hungry at all, but I grabbed another gatorade and started looking around for the group I’d come with.  I was so happy because I was able to watch my student–YK–finish her first half marathon ever.  She’s a sophomore in high school and finished in 2:02!!!  That’s so awesome.  Neither of us had cameras, so we had to settle for bad cell phone pics.

The other news from the day?  The girlfriend (remember: first half marathon ever, never ran more than 6 miles) finished in 2:03!  And I’m pretty sure she’s hooked.  She had some pretty significant blisters and needs to go get fitted for a good pair of running shoes, but she’s already talking about finding another half to run before the end of the summer.  I love it when I get to be there when runners become racers