Pittsburgh Half Marathon

Well, I did it.  I trained for a race through the winter, injury and all, and this morning I ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon.  And right now, I am sitting on the deck enjoying my runners high on a beautiful day, relaxing while the kids are asleep.

This was my second half marathon, my first being last September in Erie.  And the two races couldn't have been much more different.

I had been nervous for a little over a week, since my last "at pace" run.  That run was supposed to be five miles at the pace I hoped to run the race, and those five miles weren't nearly as easy I had hoped they would be.  In comparison to the training I was able to do last summer (waking up early in the AM to run, not one injury holding me back, completed most of my scheduled miles), my training for this race was not quite up to par (running in the evening after working all day, three weeks off in February due to injury, then a gradual ease back into training, missing many miles).  There were definitely more challenges to overcome in preparation for this race...and that is not an excuse of any sort, but it is exactly what led me to have no real idea at what pace I should hope to run today's 13.1 miles. 

The mental aspect of running long distances, and the planning and thought that goes into training and running a "smart" race, is still something that I am working on and that doesn't come easy for me.  I ran my race in the fall in ideal conditions on a completely flat course in about 1:44.  When trying to decide on my goal for this race, I took into consideration many things:  It would be a more difficult course, it would be warmer, and I hadn't trained as well; but it would be a larger race with much larger crowds and potentially more energy to push me along.  I set my sights high on a 1:45 goal but knew I would be very happy with a much more realistic 1:50.

They were giving away free pace tattoos at the Expo...I went with an ambitious one.

The morning started off well.  I rode down to the city with a new friend and a friend of her husband's and we got street parking (for free!) right near the baseball stadium. We walked to the bag check with plenty of time to spare and made our way to the bathrooms and then corral B.  (For reference, there were no corrals in Erie.)  The excitement at the starting line was palpable...we were near a parking garage and people were on all levels of the garage hanging over the rails ready to cheer us on, and cheer they did.  The starting gun went off and so did we, en masse.

I remember in Erie starting off and finishing my first mile too fast and with ease.  I didn't want to do that, but when I looked down at my watch and my pace, I was surprised that I was going slower than my goal pace.  That was a little worrisome, being only the first mile, but I spotted the 3:30 marathon pace group ahead and established my plan.  I would try to stay with them until mile 7, reassess, and speed up if I could.

Through the race  - over bridges, through neighborhoods and business districts, under overpasses - there were crowds of people lining the streets cheering us on and many bands rocking out tunes.  I tried to focus on the 3:30 sign that the pacer was carrying, while simultaneously avoiding tripping over curbs, manhole covers, and other people's feet and also trying to avoid being elbowed or elbowing anyone.  The 3:30 pack was tight.  But I was happy to find a groove.

The miles went on.  I hardly listened to my music.  I was happy to not have too many hills to run.  At mile 7, I felt pretty good and braved passing the pacer.  At around 8.5 miles in, the pacer was passing me.  Ok, then.  I resolved to keep him in my sights.  At mile 10, he started to pull away.  No, wait...that was me falling behind.

I was struggling a bit, but was hopeful...I had managed to gain a touch of time somewhere along the way, so my slowing by a touch would still be ok if I could maintain my new pace and then kick it in at the end.  That became my new plan.

At mile 11, the marathoners stayed right, the half-marathoners stayed left.  I lost my pacer, but would have anyway.  As I crossed the bridge, I hit a wall.  I looked at my watch and saw I was going a full minute and forty-five seconds slower than my anticipated pace.  I willed my legs to go faster; they wouldn't.  And then came the largest uphill of the race.  Awesome.  I was swearing at the hill.  I asked a police officer on the side of the road to make it stop.  He told me I was almost there.  My thoughts went to Erie for a second, remembering me jubilantly singing along, cranking up my pace at this point in the race and the guy I passed telling me he hated me.  I hated my Erie self, too, in that moment.

Finally, the top of the hill came, and so did mile 12.  A little more than one mile to go, and it was literally all downhill from there.  I had slowed for the better part of a mile and a half.  My legs had recovered just enough to let me get down the hill at a decent clip and recover some of the lost time.  I took my ear buds out and soaked it all in.  I can't tell you how happy I was to see that finish line.  I did my best to push through.

Hot, sweaty, gross and not looking too pretty, but damn proud!

I finished my race in 1:46.43 and I am extremely happy with that time.  I feel that I left it all out on the course and came in on E, and I can't really think of anything I would have done differently during the race itself. I walked through the finishers chute, got my picture taken, grabbed a Smiley Cookie, some water, and some fruit, and just as I got my wits about me to start looking for somewhere to stretch and meet my friend, I heard, "Joyce!"  It was John and the kids, and I was so glad to see them...I wasn't sure if they would be coming down to the race at all; the logistics got pretty tricky and it was going to be a game-time decision.  Everly wasn't interested in being my monkey (I don't blame her - I was so sweaty), but having my family there at the finish was awesome.  I stretched, we walked around a bit, and then headed home...with the windows down because I stunk so bad I was repulsing even myself.

So happy to see my family at the finish...a great end to the event.

All in all, it was a pretty good race - it was extremely well-organized, the crowds were great, the volunteers awesome.  I challenged myself and, for the most part, came through.  I am proud.  But at the moment, I am also glad it is over!!

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My results: (updated...they fixed my division)

Time: 1:46:43
Pace: 8:08.4 min/mile
Division Place: 47/1302
Female Place: 286/7432
Overall Place: 1058/12,103