Half Marathon #3

When I ran a half marathon through the city streets in May, though I was proud and satisfied, I was mostly happy it was over.  I enjoyed the race only on some mental level that I am not quite satisfied with, or at least not enough to want a repeat performance.  The early-bird registration for the 2013 version of that race has come and gone, and I have no desire to sign up.  After that race, I took a short break and then resumed running, though without any goals in mind.  I continued running, often meeting with a new running partner, through the summer, and then, surprisingly, into the fall.  My mileage steadily increased as my friend and I talked away the dark evening miles after the kids were in bed during the week and I headed out at daybreak on the weekends.  With no goal in mind, I actually wasn't sure when to stop or what to do.  In late September, my friend finally convinced me to run the half marathon that she was training for; somewhat reluctantly, I did.

My reluctance was largely due to the fact that I was kind of enjoying the no pressure runs.  With no plan, I didn't have any regrets when I cut a run short.  I didn't care if I did sprints, or hill workouts, or tempo runs.  When I felt like it, I went a bit faster, when I didn't, I went slower.  But I also felt as though I needed a "grand finale" to this season of running.  Not that I am going to totally stop, but I kind of was missing something to work for, after which I could give myself permission to cool it for a bit.

About a month prior to the race, I signed up not having the slightest clue as to how I would do.  I had certainly been putting in the miles.  At my peak, I was running over 30 miles a week; typically, more in the 26-28 range.  I knew I had it in me to finish without an issue.  I had also done some workouts with my friend here and there when our schedules aligned and we wanted to.  But I really didn't know what to expect from myself.  Therefore, I didn't put a whole lot of pressure on myself. 

It was a chilly morning, with threatening rain.  My friend picked me up at 6:30 AM and five of us drove the 40 minutes or so to the race packet pick-up location.  We got our timing chips and bags and got on the school bus that served as the shuttle to the start.  Once there, we headed into the heated building that was available.  I did my fair share of waiting in lines for the porta potties but otherwise managed to stay warm.  Soon, it was time to line up.

The five of us that drove together split off, with two sticking together and the rest of us going at it alone.  The gun went off and so did we.  Stuck in a large pack, I jockeyed myself through the sea of people until I was in a comfortable place with some elbow room.  We ran on the streets for about half of a mile, and then a hairpin turn took us down onto a trail that is part of a "Rails to Trails" program - unused railways have been converted into running paths; the rails are gone and crushed gravel and, in some places, asphalt have been put in their place.  As soon as I got onto the trail, I knew I was going to love this race.

One of the guys that rode with us had a similar race plan as me...we both planned to start at around an 8 minute mile pace and adjust from there.  When I was approaching the hairpin turn, I spotted him heading the other direction.  I got to within about six feet of him and decided to hang there behind him for a while.  He had no idea I was there, and I later found out that he thought I was ahead of him.  I let him pace me at between 7:55 and 8:00 miles for a while before he noticed me.  I was surprised at how easily I was able to maintain that pace, but I still didn't feel confident enough to speed up at all.

I had thrown together a play list the night before, and I was loving it.  At around mile 7 or 8, a great song came on that made me itch to run faster.  I pulled up beside my friend and said, "Are you ready?" He said, "You go."  I did.

As I ran, oftentimes singing along to my music, I was struck by the beauty of the course.  All around me were trees with beautiful fall foliage.  At one point, to my right was a lake.  For much of the course, there was a creek to my left.  I passed a water fall.  There were boulders and cliffs.  The skies cleared and the sun shined through the tree branches.  Leaves, blown by the slight breeze, fluttered down.  For a little while, I tried to catch them as I ran, thinking that Cortlan and Everly would love to have a leaf that I caught during my race.  I soaked it all up and enjoyed it; this was such a different experience than May. 

And I could hardly believe it, but my legs felt great. 

As I came upon mile 10, I still felt like I had another gear left.  In that mile, I averaged 7:51 as I slowly caught and passed people.  I did the same for mile 11.  Something fantastic happened in mile 12 and without looking at my watch until the end of the mile, I was able to average a 7:36.  With 0.2 mile to go, I could see the finish line and I began to go as fast as my legs could carry me...I brought it home with a 6:59 pace.

With low expectations, a beautiful downhill course, and what turned out to be perfect race conditions, I finished with a personal record of 1:43:05.70.  What's even better is that this may be one of my favorite runs ever.

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Here are my results:

Finish time: 1:43:05.70
Overall Place: 164/822
Division Place: 7/87
Female Place: 35/426
Average Pace: 7:52/mi