Decker's Creek Half Marathon. Morgantown, WV 6/4/2011
Official time: 2:11:11.78. Pace = 10:00.9 min/mile
373rd out of 529 runners. 40th out of 68 women in the 40-49 year old class.
A solid mid-pack performance. Not bad for my first race since I was legal to drive, my first run over 10 miles, and well, hell, it's just not bad at all!
I had an advantage for my first HM since it's a fast, easy course (gently drops about 800 ft over the course, with no significant uphills, and just the last 3-4 miles are pretty flat.) Weather was close to ideal. Probably about 60 at the start, mid 70s by the end. Most of the course is shady, but it is sunny most of the last 3 miles or so.
Unofficial mile splits from my watch (which only thought the 13.1 mile course was about 13, so I was actually a touch faster than these times would reflect.)
1. 9:29
2. 9:04
3. 9:29
4. 9:57
5. 10:28
6. 10:14
7. 9:58
8. 9:57
9. 10:09
10. 10:27
11. 10:15
12. 10:25
13. 10:44
14. and change: + 10ish seconds. Obviously the Garmin wasn't tracking exactly the same as the official course. But, off by 1/10 of a mile on a 13.1 course is OK I guess, lol
I flew the first 3 miles, mostly b/c it is a solid downhill. For the rest of the race, I stayed close to my purported goal pace of 10:20, but obviously was a bit faster than that. Overall, it was excellent.
Before the race:
The night before the race, I had a panic b/c my hips/glutes were giving me a lot of pain d/t over doing it with strength training this week. (I think I was redirecting my running energy since I couldn't run much with the tapering and the long distance today.) In the past, my ass never bothers me running, even if it's sore from strength or whatever, but that didn't stop me from worrying a lot. Fortunately, my luck held out and I was totally pain free for the race. (Not saying I didn't load up on NSAIDs the last 24 hrs because I did, lol)
So, I needed to leave the house at 6:30 to get to my friend's at 7 where I was dropping my kids off to her husband and picking her up for the race. (She lives 3 minutes from the race.)
So, I got up at 5, drained about 24 oz of watered down OJ & some gatorade over about 30 minutes while eating a banana and about 6 oz of yogurt. My GI system seemed to handle it all fine, and since I was done drinking by 6ish, that gave me plenty of time to get all the pee out before the race began. (My athlete-brother told me that so long as I was done drinking by 90 before start, I'd be good. That worked for me.)
Somehow I got put in the early start (fast) group. They seemed to have put all the real contenders in this fast group, and then a random selection of slackers like me. It was nice that they started so fast because most of them zipped ahead and were out of the crush quickly.
The race is a one-way route along the trail, so you park at the finish and take a bus to the starting point. I had to be on a bus by 7:30 for my 8:30 start time.
The start was well organized, but my 20-25 minutes wasn't quite enough time to get through the lines to pick up my packet, get that packet back to my parked car (BTW, thanks, Morgantown parking cops, for not ticketing me on my meter that day. . . as I wasn't willing to take the time to park in the garage), wait in the potty lines, and get on the bus. I did manage to do it all, but had to jog a bit and had less than a minute to spare. Next year I'll allow at least 45 minutes before the bus departure time to get all that done. Lesson learned.
About the bus. . . The buses were well organized, and departed on time exactly. . . But, as our bus was flying along the freeway, the back of the bus suddenly erupted in "TAKE THE EXIT! GET OFF HERE!" as the bus driver was just about to pass the exit. After the driver swerved to our exit in a manner that made me nervous about the welfare of the school kids who typically ride her bus and also sorry the bus didn't have seat belts, a local racer came to the front to direct her the rest of the way to the trail head. Unfortunately, another one of the several buses didn't have as loud and knowledgable riders (or as aggressive a driver) and completely missed the exit, heading up another dozen or so miles to a completely wrong area. Due to all this, the start time for the race was ultimately delayed 15 minutes, which is not bad considering. Hopefully the race organizers will provide drivers with better directions next year!
Once we arrived at the start, I was happy to note that porta potties were provided. I took my turn in line and in the potties, then walked down to the starting area to wait for the start. After the 15 minute delay, the race began. . .
Miles 1 - 3, this is fun!
Miles 1 through 3 were fast and easy. It's a nice downhill, shady path, temps around 55-60. Sweet. I knew I was well faster than goal pace, but just watched my HR to keep a lid on it, as I knew the downhill was giving me the extra speed, and I didn't want to throw it away, but I also didn't want to wreck the whole race by giving the first few miles too much.
Miles 4 - 9, in the zone
Miles 4 through 9 were generally very solid. I was in the zone. I was still going a bit faster than planned, but the hill was still working for me, so I just took what I could and kept on keeping on.
I got to see my kids around mile 7 or 8, and that was awesome. I got high fives from two of the kids, and my oldest was manning the camera, lol. It gave me a huge jolt. Super, super special.
A few times in those middle miles I actually got chills down my body when I realized that I was actually doing this, and I was going to complete it. I felt tears well in my eyes a number of times just from the realization that I was going to finish this thing. It really felt big to me.
Mile 10, longest run of my life
Around mile 10 my body seemed to feel every step like a pounding cement hammer up my legs. (Oddly enough, this was still on the nice dirt/pea gravel trail.) It didn't *hurt* but was an odd sensation. Fortunately, it only lasted a mile or so. Never did hurt, but was weird.
Since my longest training run had been 10 miles, once I crossed the 10 mile mark, I knew I was now into the longest-run-of-my-life-so-far part of the race. That was very cool. Every step was one step beyond my longest ever run. That was a bit of a reward during those last hard miles.
Miles 11 - 13, right to be worried
I had been worried about miles 11 through 13 because they are pavement, flat, hot, sunny as opposed to the first 10 miles that are downhill, shady, and on crushed limestone gravel/dirt. Of course, they also come at the end of the run, after running 10 miles, so that'd make them extra fun. Right. Everyone who'd run the race before told me they are hard miles, and they were right.
It was hard, but I still felt strong during miles 11 & 12. It was really nice to see my husband during mile 11. I stole a kiss, and I got a huge jolt of energy from seeing him. He works Saturday mornings, and he doesn't have anyone to cover for him on Saturdays (he's a vet), but he had blocked out appointments for 90 minutes so he could come see me there at mile 11 and then meet me at the finish. (His hospital is conveniently just about 2 miles from mile 11 and also from the finish.) It's a big deal for him to close to appointments for any reason, so seeing him standing there waiting for me just made me feel so supported and loved. It was just the right moment to get that energizing boost. He made it much easier for me to crank through the last couple miles.
Soon after seeing my husband, I entered a very familiar section of the trail where I often walk and have also ran). Also, that last 1.5 miles of the race is the precise section on which I did my c25k graduation run last October. It was kind of a nice full circle to be back there doing this race.
By mile 13, it was very hard. Very. Hard. I was actually tempted to walk during that last mile! I found myself doing the math. . . it's only 1/2 mile. . . If I walk it, it'd just slow my total time down by 5 min. . . LOL, I don't think I was actually very tempted, but I was simply very scared that I simply couldn't make it. I gave it all I had, allowed my HR to climb up into dropping-dead-zone, and managed to maintain close to goal pace even that last mile, which amazed me when I saw it on the garmin, as I was sure I was doing more like a 12 min mile then. Nope, near goal pace, despite being my slowest mile of the day. That mile was a killer.
Me, post-race:
Me, post-race with my awesome kids/cheering section (minus the husband who had to go back to work after my finish):
General Notes about the Race
Folks were very nice. Scenery is awesome. Morgantown is a great town (but I'm biased as it's home for me.) Food, water, etc was good. It would be nice if they had more porta-potties at some mid-points. From what I heard they had one at Mile 7, but I didn't know that. One porta potty on the entire route for over 600 runners seems a bit skimpy, lol. Fortunately I didn't need a potty break, but it would have sure been nice to know it was an option if I had needed one.
At the finish, there was nice music at the ampitheater and lots of food and drink.
During race nourishment
I didn't use much of the candy I had stashed in my pocket; I even threw most of it out after a couple miles. I ate 5-7 skittles 2 or 3 times, and I think I ate 2 starbursts. I didn't want the gatorade they offered, just water. But I did take a couple good swigs of water each time it was offered (about every 2 miles), but I always took two cups, and used the spare to slosh my head, face, etc. That felt great, although one time I did douse an earbud pretty seriously so that it didn't start playing music out of my left earbud for a few minutes. That was around mile 12, so it was not a big disaster.
Tunes
I loved having my tunes. I had programmed a main playlist, but also a 20 min power mix. I did indeed need that power mix the last mile or so, and it helped get me through the end. I'd never want to do a long run or long race without my tunes.
Later that day, and the next day
I crashed on my bed all afternoon, but surprisingly never slept. We went to a great party last night, and so we had gobs of yummy food (Ali Baba's is awesome!). By 9 p.m., having had a glass of wine and stuffed myself on sambosas and hummus, I was ready to find a corner to call my own and sleep on the floor. Fortunately, the birthday cake was served, and we could leave by 10.
I self medicated with plenty of ibuprofen every 6 hours since the race, and took one of the lovely lortabs in my emergency stash (leftover from a surgery last year) at bed time, along with a pair of benadryl (I honestly do have hay fever), to ensure a relatively pain free and lengthy sleep.
The day after, I feel surprisingly good. I slept over 12 hours last night, and the kids brought me breakfast in bed. Chocolate chip pancakes with home grown strawberries are always a good way to start a day.
My major muscle groups are all pretty achey and stiff, especially my quads, but I do not have any joint pain or anything that worries me at all. I'm actually pretty surprised that I don't have any pains, swellings, or scary things happening at all. Yeehaw!
I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow (wooohooo!) and will probably take tomorrow off from exercise as I did today.
This week is a flexible week on my training plan, so I might not run until Thursday unless I am feeling really good tomorrow, in which case I might run early Tuesday morning. (It's hot as heck here, so mornings are the only option.)
I am eager to get back in my running kicks, so I guess that's a sign that this HM didn't do me in.
I have also already been stalking my goal marathon website again and tweaking my training plan for it, and I think I've even got my husband talked into it, so I think that the 10/1/11 Freedom's Run Marathon is going to be the one. I've got to get in a run or two before I commit, but I think it's going to happen. I am really excited about it, strangely enough.
