Rock N Roll Half Marathon

First pic this year that is worth showing and I even have my fuel belt on under that shirt!

Seven and a half months worth of work went into this race.  During that time I have lost 85 pounds and took myself from someone who died before mile two of any run to someone who knew I could finish a half marathon.  Just was not sure in what kind of time. About the half way of my training I really thought I could finish closer to the two hour mark, but then had some serious stomach issues that slowed my training down. So know I really wanted a sub three hour time.

This was the starting line when I got to the site first thing in the morning.

The race started at 7:00am, but the shuttles to the race start area stopped running at 6:00am.  I was not sure just how organized this one would be so I planned to be up by 4:00am.  Because of this early alarm I took all my stuff out of the bedroom and attempted to sleep on the couch.  Was not comfortable at all, but since I always sleep like crap the night before the race it really didn't matter. A quick precooked breakfast and a protein shake and I was out the door by 04:45. Arrived to the starting line area by 5:20am and looked up to my rear view mirror that told me it was 77 degrees.  Damn, this is going to be a hot and humid one! Tons of porta-potties and places to get food and water, but I chose to stay away from the food.  Didn't want to be forced to make a pit stop during the race. 

Started moving to my corral around 6:30am.  Was not happy to be the last corral, mostly because even before the race started I felt like the pace wagon was going to be up my backside. My thoughts were all over the place.  Was I really doing this and am I really strong enough for a half marathon? How long till the pace wagon is picking you up? They say that you can't judge a runner by the way they look, and while I agree, I looked around and saw some people in my corral that I thought looked fast.  Maybe I do have a chance here!

The view from my corral. Can't really see the starting line! Not real motivating except for the young lady with the light blue/yellow top and black shorts. She motivated me for a while, but eventually I had to pass her and move on.

Finally the race began, but I had 19 other corrals in front of me that were being released at minute to two minute intervals between them. 33 minutes after the first corral left it was finally my turn. Started the Garmin and my Ipod as I crossed the starting line.  Nothing between me and my goals but 13.1 miles of pavement and the voices in my head.

Spent most of the first two miles paying attention to what was going on around me. Constantly speeding up and slowing down as everyone was jockeying for space.  Finally looked down at my Garmin and noticed I was once again out way too fast. This has been a problem for me the entire season, and my usual mindset to this problem was to just slow down and suck it up. Problem is that is harder to just suck up a too fast start during a half marathon, instead of the 5k and 8k races I have done to date. Just as I was thinking I was going too fast I was at the point to were the I could see the faster racers from the first couple of corrals on the way back.  They were at mile 12 of their journey at a little over the hour mark. Motivated me because someday I want to be those people, but also demotivated me because I still had 9 miles to go.

The lack of mental discipline with my pace lasted most of the way through the 4 mile mark and that was when the toe started acting up.  Stopped and got over to the side so that I could put some more of the lanacain cream on it.  A numb toe is much better than a painful one!  Pulled off my shoe and instantly saw the blood that my sock absorbed.  While seeing it didn't make it physically hurt worse, it definitely hurt me mentally.  Re-creamed the toe and got back too it. Nothing I could do about it now and the only way I was coming off this course was on a stretcher.

I decided to pack light for this race, so I only had my fuel belt. That meant I  really needed to race smartly with both nutrition and hydration.  Went out of my way to hit every water station, slowing down to a walk so that I could drinking a cup of water and/or a cup of Gatorade. Even hit one station and managed to get handed a cup with beer.  Not sure how that got there but drank and went on.

Hit the halfway point at the 1:17 mark and was really happy as I was ahead of my goal pace by almost a 2 minute average, but the quickened pace has really started to take its toll. Unfortunately this was were I started to focus more on the bad thoughts instead of keeping with the good. Toe is killing me and I am ahead of my pace so I have time to slow down!  Lost mental focus and left my intervals to walk for a while.  In hindsight I really regret this as I should of, and most likely could have, kept this pace up a while longer.

Around mile nine I caught up with my running partner who started 3 corrals ahead of me. She was having some ankle issues and I was already walking so we talked about the highlights so far and I tried to see if I could motivate her to move just a little faster than she could on her own. It worked for a while but eventually I gave her a wave, put the earphones back in my ear, and took off.

Mile 11-12 has the biggest hill of the course.  It was an overpass that was quite steep. Ran to the foot of the hill and just like I planned before the race, I walked it.  Making sure I used this time for one last water break and to gather what last little bit of mental willpower and physical energy I had for the grand finale and my favorite part of all my races, the final kick.   This is were I put it all out on the line with no holding back.  No way was I going to walk into the finish line! There is only one way to finish this race and that is ALL OUT! 

Started my sprint with around 3/4 of a mile left.  A little early in hindsight but there was a full crowd and their yells were motivating to say the least.  More importantly, I could make out the finish line.  Somewhere during my sprint I lost 2 out of the 4 water bottles in my fuel belt.  I felt the first fall and there was no way I was putting on the brakes at this point. This was by far the best feeling sprint I have ever had, and I was going to ride it all the way to the finish line! Weather this feeling is runner's high or not, this feels awesome! Could not believe how fast and strong my legs were moving. According to my Garmin my average pace during my final sprint was 5:43 min/mile! Not one time this year have I been anywhere close to that kind of speed.

Almost forgot to stop the Garmin as I crossed the finish line.  My mind and emotions were all over the place.  Angered for a couple of seconds as I looked at the time on my watch, 3:07:xx, knowing I could have done it better and made my goal time. Then my mind went back to what I felt when I started this journey and a quick flashback of all the major milestones I completed along the way this year. Shed a few quick tears of joy and then I came back to reality.  Tried to slow my heart back down so I could get it out of my throat and breath normally.  Grabbed a quick water bottle and moved down the chute to collect my medal. Did the post race photos, grabbed some chocolate milk and Gatorade and looked for the shuttle back to the car.

So this race ends my first "race season".  I am going to take a couple days off and just enjoy the fact that I hit my target distance this year.  Technically I still have 15 pounds to loose to reach the 100 pounds I set out to loose this year, but I am happy were I am at, for now. Already been in contact with the team and the wheels of thought are moving towards setting up the off season workouts to get ready for next year.  I will more than likely still do a couple of smaller 5k and 10k races this year just to keep fresh and will also use these to see progress during the winter.  Never mind the fact that it is so much easier to run when it is cool instead of hot!

Quick and Dirty Recap

Me

Not bad for my first half, next one will be closer to a 2 hour race.  Next time I will do a ton more hills and speed work in my training as I need to be faster and stronger. Should have slowed more at the start and picked back up at the half way point.  Easy to say, hard thing to do! Needed to stay with the intervals through out the race, not just when it suits me.  Overall I am proud of myself for finishing, and see this journey still taking me to places I would have never thought possible.

The Race

The race was awesome from start to finish. The volunteers were awesome and I thanked all that I could, up to and including the city workers and police. Yes they were getting paid, but I know what it is like to work a holiday or two. This will be my one and only rock n roll due to just the shear volume of people. Want to stick to smaller races in the future.