Another 13.1 miles in the books. What a difference a year makes.
Last year I thought I was in my prime. I was logging serious miles and I was ready for this race. That race fell apart from the start. My GPS watch would not work in the city. The big buildings blocked the signal and I was left to figure out my pace on my own. The result was a a speedy 5 miles then I basically crashed and burned. I even remember the dreaded mile 10. Everyone that runs half marathons knows mile 10 is when trouble usually starts. It's the start of the tough miles. Last year was no exception. From mile 10 to 12.5 I ran some and walked a lot. I had been mentally kaput since mile 6 making those last 3 miles excruciating. I finished, I was happy and I said no more long runs for me... Then I did a full 26.2 mile Marathon.
After surviving that experience I decided that 13.1 wasn't so bad after all. Fast forward to my rebuild summer. I took 2 months off from running and cross trained really hard. Leaned down and gained some good lean muscle and increased my cardio performance. In late July I started back running, but kept it short 4 -5 miles and a total of 20 miles per week. I did 4 weeks of that before this race. I was a bit skeptical that I could even finish 13 miles let alone do it faster than last year.
There were a couple of keys to this years success. First my overall physical fitness is up 200% from last year. Second since starting back to running I've been training with a heart monitor. With the heat like it was this summer I needed to make sure my effort was correct despite my pace. This helped me realize that a 150 beat per minute heart rate was a very comfortable pace for me right at about 8:00 minute mile to an 8:07. Remembering last year my GPS watch didn't work downtown; I knew my heart rate monitor would. So instead of trying to figure out how fast I was going I simply let my heart be my guide. That worked perfectly my 5K, 10K and 10 Mile splits were right in that zone 8:01 - 8:04 pace per mile. Third I hydrated very well all week leading up to the race. I drank a lot of water. Now I have the ability to tell right away when I run if I'm even slightly dehydrated. It makes a huge difference in performance and effort. Fourth I brought fuel with me (I don't like GU they have for fuel on the course so I bring my own - cookies). No more toughing it out for me. When your body runs out of glycogen (fuel stored in muscle) your legs turn to lead and you are finished. Finally was my mental attitude. I figured this race was going to be tough. With no hard training leading up to this race I expected a hard struggle. When things got tough at mile 11 it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I told myself 2 more miles and I'd be done. Then at mile 12 I told myself last mile marker before the finish line and as soon as I passed it I kept repeating to myself "Less than a mile". Those miles went by fast. I was amazed.
At the start of the race I really wanted to run with the 1:45 pace group because I wanted to run a 1:45. That was my goal. I started out a pretty good distance in front of them and along the way they passed me. Once when I stopped to use the bathroom then a second time when I fought with my fuel belt. After those 2 incidents I kept them insight, but they were a good 30-40 seconds in front of me. That's an eternity in running.
To recap the race : As per usual the first 4 miles went by pretty quick and without issue. There is always a lot of chatting between runners in those first few miles. It's like people watching, but it's actually people listening. It's pretty entertaining, but by mile 5 all you can hear is steady breathing mostly your own, but those around you have gone silent. You are into the work of the race. That initial race day energy has burned off and you feel it. You also feel that you have 8 more miles to go. That means another 5 and a 5K on top of it. You quickly push that thought aside and focus on getting to mile 8 because at mile 8 you know there are only 5 miles left and 5 is pretty easy. You also know that you'll be at 10 just 2 short miles after that and that's when the fun starts. So that was me at mile 5 dreading that I had another 8 to go and wondering if I would be able to finish. Shortly after that I hit the 10K which meant about another quarter mile and I will be half way...yeah it's as defeating as it sounds. It's at this point you really take stock in how you feel and to be honest I was tired and ready to be done.
We turned down Michigan ave and I noticed we were close to where I parked the car. It was a huge temptation to hang a left and head towards my car and go home. I haven't quit in the middle of a race yet, but I have been tempted more than once. To make matters worse we were close enough to the finish line that I could hear the announcers calling out the first runners to cross the finish line. I wished that was me, not because I wanted to win, but because I wanted the race to be over. I could feel my form starting to go. My right knee was feeling tight and my foot started to hurt. I decided now was a good time to stop at a conveniently placed port-o-potty. 15 seconds later I was back on Michigan ave with my form back, my knee stopped hurting and my foot, well my foot was still a little sore, but I blocked it out. Then it started to rain. Ahhhh. That felt wonderful. It was a light rain and helped cool me down a little. The temperature was a decent upper 60's but the humidity was very high, comfortable, but high. Miles 8 and 9 were a blur. I had put myself in a zone after the potty stop and just held it there until I saw mile marker 10. It was my first half marathon where I was actually happy to see mile 10.
I told myself, "Self, this is it 5K left. I'm a 5K guy that is what I do. I run 5K's. I got this." Instantly I picked up the pace. I dropped the hammer and said aloud. It's on! I belted out my second fastest mile from 10 t0 11. The only faster one was the potty stop mile when I got into a zone. That and the fact that I stopped and wanted to make up that time. But mile 11 flew by quick. I couldn't hold the pace though. I started to fade as I headed towards 12. We were heading north into the wind and working against a slight uphill with some short but steep hills in between. Mile 12 was at the top of one of these short steep hills and I wasn't alone in my protest. Nobody around me conquered that hill. We all slugged up it and hoped we wouldn't have to walk once we reached the top. I quickly reminded myself 1 mile left and tried to hammer down the best I could. From a little over a half mile away I could see the finish line calling me. I looked at my watch and realized I had a shot at that 1:45 goal. I ran that last half mile in 3:48 seconds. I crossed the finish line stopped my watch and seen I hit 1:44:45. With a big smile on my face I walked over grabbed a water and proceeded to get my picture taken.
