Goal B accomplished! Hooray! Hehe.
Yesterday, Martin came with me to pick up my bib. How freakin cute is the bib and race shirt!
The half started at 8 am this morning and I got there around 7:15, which I thought would be early enough to nab a close parking spot. No go. I still got a spot just on the other side of the park, about a 5 minute walk away. I threw all kinds of stuff in my car (i.e. Warm headband, regular cap, waterproof cap, water-resistant jacket, etc.) the night before because I had no idea if it was going to rain or not. This is what it looked like outside my car window when I got there.
Waterproof cap and jacket it is then!
About 15 minutes before the race I started walking over to the start line. I had to walk on some grass as I got closer and I stepped into a puddle. Cold soaked left shoe and sock. Nice.
I felt pretty good to start. But then I glanced at my watch after 2 miles and saw it read 22 minutes already. Yeah, I knew right then I wasn't going to beat my old time, so I figured I would just enjoy the rest of the race and made myself not look at my pace anymore.
I saw a girl in a gold vest in front of me stop repeatedly to take pictures of the scenery with her phone. I knew I wasn't going to PR, so I offered to take one of her. She thanked me, but said it was okay.
The race was an out and back course and when I got to 4.5 miles, I saw the lead runner on his way back. I gave him an awestruck look and said out loud, "Wow!" He returned my smile and kept running. I started looking at the rest of the runners on their way back, and most of them looked pretty
At about 5.5 miles Gold Vest passed me. I felt pretty slow. Didn't I leave her behind taking pictures? Ah, well.
When I got to the aid station at the halfway/turnaround point, I grabbed a GU. I tried tearing the top off but my fingers were numb! So I took off my gloves figuring maybe I needed more grip. Nope. I felt like a little kid as I was this close to asking one of the volunteers if they could open it for me. I managed to tear a little bit off the top and tried sucking it out through that tiny opening. That was hell. And then I had to turn my glove back from being inside out.
Between Miles 7 and 9 I kept getting annoyed by this little chick wearing what looked like a blue garbage bag. The bag kept flying around and hitting her in the face. It wasn't raining that hard anymore, and I wanted to suggest that perhaps it would be easier if she just took it off. That plus the fact that she would creep up on me and start running my same pace or slower right in front of me repeatedly bothered me. Thank God after Mile 9 I passed her for good and didn't see her anymore.
At the aid station at Mile 10, I stopped to take some water and a Clif Bloks shot I had on me. It was at this point I saw an older lady run by. I paced her for a little bit, and I know this will sound super vain, but I had to pass her as I couldn't have a picture of me finishing behind a 60 year old.
I was still feeling pretty good, and then I saw a volunteer picking up one of the mile markers from the 5K race. He cheered me on and said, "Mile 12!" And at those words my legs felt like they turned to lead. All of a sudden running became hard. But I soldiered through and mustered enough energy to go a little bit faster at the end to run through the finish. It's all about looks, right? Hehe. The clock read 2:29:18. Well, at least I finished in under 2:30, for now. The results can change in the next couple of days.
Here are my splits, and for comparison, my splits from 08/21/10:
Mile 1: 10:54 10:37
Mile 2: 11:01 10:29
Mile 3: 10:58 10:33
Mile 4: 11:42 10:25
Mile 5: 11:30 10:06
Mile 6: 11:39 10:27
Mile 7: 11:38 10:11
Mile 8: 11:01 10:27
Mile 9: 11:06 10:41
Mile 10: 11:27 11:02
Mile 11: 11:31 11:01
Mile 12: 11:11 11:25
Mile 13: 11:33 11:07
Last .10: 1:04 1:17
02/19/11
Total time: 2:29:18
Avg pace: 11:24
Age group: 18/27
Overall: 291/354
08/21/10
Total time: 2:20:00
Avg pace: 10:40
Age group: 6/13
Overall: 120/165
I figure my time today isn't that bad considering all the training runs I've either missed or half-assed. Plus, I was doing Insanity in conjunction with the half "training." I'm also quite pleased that my splits were pretty consistent throughout the whole run, even without me looking at my watch.
Oh, and the big win? I beat Garbage Bag Girl.
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