One Half Down

On Saturday, the last day of April, I earned this. I have been training most of the winter months (on my treadmill, with my long runs on Saturdays when Jared could watch the kids), and I felt pretty good going into the race. I knew I wouldn’t be a top contender (or a middle contender for that matter), I just entered the race to run it for myself. It’s the longest distance I’ve ever run. I finished with a time of 2:37:30/12:01 split. Out of 912 runners, I was 758th overall and 156th in my age group.

I just wish it wasn’t snowing.

Snowing, you ask? In April? Yeah, when I signed up for it, I was sure the weather would be cool, but manageable. I thought I’d have my winter running gear packed away. Not so. This spring has been wet and cold. It snowed two inches the night before at my house. There was a little less than half an inch at the race site, but it was still cold and gusty. (I can’t complain too much though. The last race I ran was a balmy 9 degrees.) So I bundled up with all my layers to run my first half marathon.

I carpooled with these lovely ladies, Cyndi and Laura (who totally blew past me and finished more than 30 minutes before me. Yay for you!). I give you this picture first because I’m fairly happy and excited here. Unlike after my 13.1 miles were I was, um, not as happy.

I was doing great for the first 8 miles or so, and then I just hit this wall. Hard. It was so tough to keep going. (I have reviewed my performance and talked to other more experienced long-distance runners and have come up with a few strategies to help me for my next race.) Honestly, the first half was so easy. I had a great pace of about 10:40 per mile and was feeling fine. I kept on, but somewhere around mile 9 I stopped to walk for the first time. I was a little disappointed in myself, I admit, but it was either start walking or fall over. I ran/walked that next mile, and around mile 10 I was able to get enough energy to muster through mostly to the end. I think I walked a bit in mile 12, but I just had nothing else to give. I willed myself to run the last mile and a bit to the finish line.

But today, I’m still standing. I feel remarkably well for running 13 miles the day before. I can feel it – I’m not going to lie – but it isn’t disabling. Just more like what I feel after my other long runs.

It was my first half, so now I have a better grasp of what it is like and a better idea of my rookie mistakes. (The most glaring of which is that I didn’t eat anything during the race, despite excellently stocked aide stations. I ate breakfast beforehand, and I had some water from every aide station, but I didn’t eat. I think that is why my energy flagged at the end.)

And oh, what a beautiful course. We ran through the gardens, and even though they were covered in snow, it was gorgeous. The golf course portion of the race was so challenging – lots of hills – but in such a good way. It was such a great place to run. I am already planning to run it next year.

Today, I have a much better perspective and feel good about my performance. It’s not the best time in the world, but it was my first, and from my perspective, it can only get better from here.

After all, I like to run.

(P.S. On Flickr and my Facebook, there are a few more pictures of me looking miserable coming round the corner to the finish line if you’re interested. But as miserable as I look in them, I promise I really am glad that I did it and am looking forward to my next race.)