November 20th, 2011- Since the RedMan Triathlon, I have maintained my running in order to run the Route 66 Half Marathon in Tulsa. And for the past 3 weeks I do mean "maintain". It was a struggle. With limited daylight I was pushed to a treadmill, just not wanting to go fast and even wanting to walk (but I didn't). Just needing some motivation, that's all. Funny thing is, I had strong runs on the weekends running with the OKC Landrunners that could prove hopeful for a personal record, yet Monday would come around and my bed just felt so warm.
Justin and I were going to run it together and I told him "I just don't know if I want to run it fast". He said "OK, we will just run it at whatever speed you feel like." That was the perfect answer. Because come race morning I was ready to run!
It was thirty-seven degrees on race morning we walk down stairs from our hotel and the starting line was literally 100 yards away. We get in our corral and I see the 1:50 pacer balloons. I asked Justin if he wanted to stick with the 1:50 pacer for the first 4 miles then adjust slower if we need to from there. (it usually takes me about 4 miles to get in rhythm) He agreed. Kind of last minute for goal setting but hey, I needed to just run how I felt this time. Five minutes or less and the gun went off.
Most of the time we stayed right in front of the 1:50 half pacer and the 3:40 full pacer. I think running with the 3:40 pacer was symbolic in that if I was to qualify for Boston one day, I MEAN WHEN I QUALIFY FOR BOSTON ONE DAY, this was the pace that I would need to be at (8:23 minutes/mile). I also have a good friend Rebecca who is a super fast Mama that is trying to qualify. She recently came within 34 seconds. It is only a matter of time before she achieves that goal.
I felt great at our starting pace and after a few miles I knew we could settle in at this pace. The first half was full of hills and the last half was flat. I slowed my pace momentarily to grab water at a water stop. This must have change the angle of my body and OUCH my hip flexor was trying to say hello. It brought me to a limp and I kept running to get rid of it. It stopped and I didn't hear from it again until.......the next water stop. I told Justin, he was going to have to get me water next time because I couldn't slow my speed without my hip flexor catching.
About a mile and a half before the finish line Justin says "the 1:50 pacer is making his move". WHAT? Making his move? He was a little behind so he sped up and I was going to have to speed up. I kind of only have one gear at a time, I like to get in and stay in it. Oh well, let's go faster, I guess. Well, I was stuck in the pack of the 3:40 full runners and I was trying to maneuver over and the guy behind me steps on the back of my shoe. I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers, (a new distance PR for them) so the back of it mashed down easily. I was quite frustrated in the dilemma: I could stop and fix my shoe, which meant I would lose the pacer and I was concerned that my hip flexor might catch and really slow me. If I kept going I would still be slowed by running on the back of my shoe but my hip flexor was safe. Moments earlier I was feeling like I could break the 1:50 mark since we were so close. I ran for about a half a mile before fixing the shoe. And I couldn't catch the pacer. I picked it up for a strong finish once we were in reach. What a great race! My time: 1:50:28 an 8:26 min/mile pace.
I couldn't believe it. Not only was it a personal record, it wasn't that hard.......which meant I can go faster. My motivation was back! Also, it is about 5 minutes away from my spring 2012 goal of a 1:45 half. I didn't just pull that number out of my head, there is a mission behind this madness. I would like to be able to run a 1:50 half marathon at the end of a half iron distance triathlon. So I figure I need at least a five minute cushion, hence the 1:45 goal.
Checkout the hardware....
Results:
Time: 1:50:28 Pace: 8:26
Age Group: 20th out of 313
Female Overall: 99th out of 1856
Male and Females: 388th of 3127
Average Time: 2:19:24
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