Redline 13.1 Half Marathon, 2012

This week was an anniversary of sorts.  About a year ago, I ran my first half marathon, the Redline 13.1 in Longmont.  At that time, I had about 10 good miles before I hit a major wall and essentially hobbled through the last 3 miles to a finish of 2 hrs and 14 mins.  It was brutal.

Fast forward about a year.  We didn't have as many people from Fox Creek Fitness participating as we did last year (last year, at least a half dozen of us were doing our first halves), but the four of us plus Kathy still ran well and supported each other.  I had a couple goals for my race this year.  First, I wanted to break a 10 minute mile pace.  Now, in all of my training runs, this is never a problem.  In fact, I tend to be in the mid 8 minute range for runs under 5 miles.  But for last year's half, my average pace was about 10:15, so under 10 seemed like a good goal.   Second, I wanted to run the whole thing this year.  Last year, after hitting the wall, I had to walk the final .2 mile uphill climb to the finish.  I was determined not to have to do that this year.  Seemed simple enough.

One thing I tried to do better this year is to eat.  I stopped eating half way through the race last year, and I'm convinced that is why I died so badly at the end.  I researched a bit and came up with a plan:
1 - Drink more water the day before the race.
2 - Eat a decent amount of carbs the day before the race.  This is as opposed to stuffing myself full as I tend to do, particularly when the meal is good.
3 - 2 hours before the race, drink about 20 oz of water, then eat more low GI carbs.  I had a banana and some oatmeal, and was pretty full.
4 - GU chomps at 5 miles into the race and every couple of miles after that.
5 - Sports drink on odd miles when I didn't eat GU chomps.

After researching, I came to the conclusion that everyone has a different strategy, and what works for one person may not for another.  My plan seemed logical and not too radical, though, so that was what I would do.

The conditions at the start could not have been better.  Probably upper 50s, overcast, even some light misting.  My stomach felt fine, as did the rest of my internal functions, and it was time to roll.  The beginning was pretty narrow, so I was happy to just hang out with the pack and get carried along.  The first half mile was well over a 10 minute pace, but I figured it would open up soon enough and I'd make that up.  It did, and I was very comfortably running around 9:30s for the first few miles.  Stomach, legs, knees, lungs...everything felt fine.  Saw my friend Julie at one of the crossovers ringing her cow bell and shouting words of encouragement, exactly where she was last year.  Her laugh is a hell of a motivator.

Around 5 miles I had my first GU chomps and chased it with a cup of water.  Still no problems at all, and splits were still far enough under 10 to keep me feeling comfortable.  As I turned onto the bike path that would wind its way through Longmont to the finish, there was Julie again.  She told me "no wall this time", and I would find myself repeating those words toward the end of the race when the wall was in sight.

At mile 8, I was still feeling pretty good and had been running near a small group for several miles.  One mentioned that she liked hearing the frequent stats from my RunKeeper (it WAS nice to have that, and I really think I would struggle to run without that information).  This is also where several friends had made a water station next to the Alpha Martial Arts studio.  Seeing and hearing them cheer me on definitely gave me a kick, and Ashley ran about a quarter mile with me as well to see how things were going.  I was still feeling pretty good, but my legs were getting more tired, as I expected.

I continued my eating plan.  I remembered how at mile 10, three weeks ago in a training run, I had to pull off to take care of some urgent business and never really recovered the rest of my run.  This time, though, there was no such problem, and I kept chugging along.  I also remembered that at mile 12 of that same recent training run, I had to stop running, as I just had nothing left.  And I remembered that last year at the 10ish mile mark, I hit the wall and completely fell apart on my pace.  Here I was back at those same points, and although my legs were feeling rubbery, I did not donk like I did last year.  One of the people I had been running with the entire race started talking to me a 10 miles.  It wasn't an annoying "how can you still be talking" chat, more like "only 3 to go, right?  we can do this, right?"  Her pace was perfect, and I think we both helped pull each other through the last 3 miles at a consistent pace.  About half a mile from the end, Ashley met up with me again, and shortly after that, Kathy was there as well after finishing under two hours.  Felt pretty awesome to have a posse pulling me in at the end of the race, that's for sure.

Finally, I hit the 13 mile mark, and the biggest test of my "no walk" goal was about to start.  There is a very nasty hill at the very end of this race, and it did me in last year.  This year, I set out to run this hill 100 times before the race, so that when I raced it, it would be no problem.  I managed to run it about 10 times, the last being a couple months ago.  Oops.  When I hit the hill, I slowed considerably and just tried to stretch out my stride, as Ashley (who was running right next to me) was recommending.  One stride at a time, and I would get up the hill.  Or so I thought.  Halfway up, I thought I'd had it again, but the thought of that pissed me off just enough to keep pushing.  Although I only ran this hill 10 times to train, those times helped, and I was able to get to the top without breaking stride.  I crossed the finished line in 2 hours 8 minutes 1 sec (a 9:50 pace).  Both of my goals had been accomplished.

As usual, the support from the Fox Creek crew was exceptional.  Erika ran her second half marathon and cut 10 minutes off of her best time.  Jenny ran her first and hung with Erika to push her along.  Leah, after suffering from an incredibly busy summer watching lots of spare kids and having very little time to actually run, still completed her second half marathon.  They were all there when I finished my face and cheered me over the hill to the finish line.

Ashley was the perfect support crew for us, and she resupplied everyone at the Alpha watering station.  Her running with me and encouragement at the 8 and 12.5 mile marks were extremely helpful in keeping my mental state good throughout the tough parts of the race.  And the crew at Alpha giving out water (John, Carey, Sid, Jacob, Lucas and Debbie) were cheering us on as well and helped take my mind off my rubbery legs, if only for a minute.

My time was exactly where I hoped it would be this year.  Sure, I'd love to get under two hours, but I know from my training runs and exertion levels that this goal was not going to happen this year.  But that was fine with me, and I'm not sure if the level of effort it would take to even get close to that time would be worth it to me.  I've said it before, I'm a sprinter and that is just how my muscles work.  While I love the camaraderie of the longer races like the half, I really hate running this distance, and for my age and gender, I'm truly not that great at it.  Would I like to do a marathon?  No, I really have no desire to ever do one.  Will I do this half again next year?  Oh, probably, but I'll fight myself when the time is getting closer.  I don't have anything more to prove, and the chances of conditions ever being as good as they were today will be slim.  But I suspect I'd go in again, especially if there is a group around for support. 

Thanks to everyone who supported me today, both by being there or through their encouraging words.  And special thanks to my wife, who is a truly amazing and understated athlete.  Watching her train and perform so consistently while she deals with everything life has thrown at her is truly inspiring and pushed me often while I was training, particularly on those days I didn't want to get out of bed and do my run.  I'm lucky to be in the company of such amazing people.