This is me. Before the race. Full of hope and confidence.
The Good: Evidently I am a fan of trail runs over "road runs". I loved the scenery. Something about just getting out and running around in the woods makes one feel so peaceful. I loved the view of the lake. The trees were beautiful. And it wasn't cold. I finished and I finished strong. I never once wanted to give up and I just kept on keeping on. Sometimes you just have to drop down to a low gear and go slow and steady to finish a race. And this was one of those races where I had to slow down and pace myself a little slower than I would have liked. The first 6-10 miles ish were money. I think I could probably do very well with a 10K. But things started to get difficult the last 3 miles.....
The Bad: I didn't meet my goal. It was windy has hell. We are talking 15-25 mph straight on. It felt like I was running with a resistance band pulling me backward..the entire time. This was definitely a new challenge for me. The first mile I had a side cramp that eventually subsided. My spandex bottoms were actually a little too big on me, so I was concerned about flashing my sexy panties to the nice people behind me, but after awhile you just don't care anymore. I don't want to use any of this as an excuse to why I didn't meet my goal. I didn't meet my goal because I didn't train hard enough. Period end of story. But am I still proud? Hell ya.
The Ugly: I have a heart rate monitor I wear when I run for multiple reasons. One of which is that I like to see what type of calories I am burning, and the other is to obviously see where my heart rate is. Usually, when I am running distance runs at about a 6 mph speed my heart rate hovers around 149-155. For whatever reason my heart rate started and stayed in the 170's-179. I am not sure if it was the wind resistance, the hills, or what. The other thing, which I did to myself....the day before I consumed less calories than I burned in the race. You do the math. that was not a very smooth move on my part. Basic running rules tells you , fuel your body. Period. That is very basic and I blew that. Plus, I don't hydrate well (ever) and didn't bring a mid run snack to keep my energy up. Lesson learned. And lastly, I was warned. Every runner that I told I was running the Pilgrim Pacer gave me a crazy look and asked me if I knew about the hills. Which I did, but I think I was over estimating my abilities. They.are.brutal. About the last 3 miles are all up hill and the last 1/2 mile is just one steep hill that makes you want to die. One poor girl behind me lost it and started sobbing. My heart broke for her--but it motivated me to move a little faster because, being a woman, something like that starts to get in my head. Oh and my phone died around mile 10. So no music. That sucked too.
So there you have it. That was my first 1/2 marathon experience. Overall, I am proud. I earned my 13.1 sticker on the back of my car. And now a new season begins as I will look forward to new goals. I have my sights on the KC 1/2 marathon next year. That gives me a while to get my head on and train correctly this time. My goal for that is under 2 hours.
Last excuse to make me feel better. I paced myself with this one woman who looked like she knew what she was doing. At the end of the race she approached me and asked if my legs were cramping (hell yes) and she said she could tell by my form towards the end of the race. We got to talking and she has done SEVERAL 1/2 marathons and full marathons and she said today, and this race was the hardest she had ever encountered--so to not beat myself up over not meeting my goal. That helped a little but it still stings a little.
Finishing, yes--that is a smile on my face.
