Race Report: Park to Park

Well, that’s done. I’m definitely relieved but am still in a state of shock. I can’t believe I just ran a half marathon!! On to the report.

I got to the race site around 6:00am despite the fact that the start didn’t happen until 7:30. I sat in my car for a while (other’s did too after getting there early). It was weird to be at a race so early and not get body marked or set up transition. Not gonna lie, I pumped myself up by listening to some Cher…really loud. I was in a weird state of mind, trying to stay calm and not freak out and Cher was just what I needed. (you may keep your comments to your self)

I warmed up, stretched and hit the portas…three times (I wanted to get everything out while there were no lines)! The plan was to run like I was out for a training run and just go from there. I also wanted to keep my mind off the run and just go through the motions. I hit the line at 7:30 and we were off!

I found a comfortable pace right up and ran my own race, despite the fact I had 700 running buddies that morning. By mile two we started to spread out as everyone found their pace. That’s when I noticed I had picked up a shadow.

I’m a visual runner, always looking around behind me and everywhere in front and I noticed really fast that I had a woman running on my left shoulder, right behind me. I figured she didn’t want to pass me other wise she would have so I just kept going. By mile 4 I knew she was using my pace to set hers and I let her come along for the ride…it’s all love around here!

We (my shadow and I) hit the turn around without ever seeing each other or saying anything. I noticed that she slowed down for an aid station, so I slowed, turned around, smiled at her and said ‘yo, you coming?’ She smiled and caught up and we were off again wordlessly.

By this time I had hit my first goal: Run the first half entirely. We were making decent time so I was fine with walking and running on the way back. We hit mile 7 and my shadow dropped off to walk.

I could have kept running, but wasn’t going to play that way. She kept me running the first half, I’m sticking with her for the rest of the race…I do so much better when I run with someone.

We walked/ran the second half, progressively walking more than running as we got closer to the end. This was her first road race of any kind and didn’t have expectations and I was in a large amount of pain.

We hit the 13 mile mark and sprinted the finish.

Done….finally!

(Me and my shadow)

I couldn’t believe I ran that far and that I was still standing, my hips felt like someone shot them (and I even took drugs before the race!). Once again, I reached the finish line because of a new running buddy (who is ironically named Echo).

Finish time: 2:31.40
Pace: 11:35 min/mile (with all the walking!)

After race thoughts: During the race I kept thinking I can’t do this, but I’m just going to put one foot in front of the other, but after the race, I can’t really remember running the entire thing, it was like I just appeared at the finish line a dead woman walking.

2:31 is right around where I wanted to be, but now I know I have plenty of room for improvement: when we were running, we held a constant 11:00 min pace, which would have put my finish at 2:24.

I’m in quite a bit of pain today (still), it’s not so much my hips as it is my right foot….recovery can be long and slow, since I’m pretty much done racing.

While I had my doubts about this race, I plan on doing another half in May to prepare again for my half iron next season. I know I can do a half…as for a full ironman, well, let’s take this one step at a time, shall we?

Thanks for all the advice and good thoughts!

P.S. You may now call me Helga-Bertha the Half Marathoner.