RUN IN THE COUNTRY HALF MARATHON RECAP

Part of the run in the first few miles. Long stretches of straightaways in the country filed the route.

Well, according to the goals I laid out, I get an A+ for this race. Apparently I misjudged my abilities, although I honestly never thought I could get the time I did, even if I tried super hard. I am paying for this victory today by limping around and dreading using stairs, but I'll be fine.

Race day started out at 4am when my alarm went off. To my surprise I hopped out of bed on the first ring, took a quick shower, then got dressed and grabbed a giant muffin and headed out the door. Putting everything together the night before really helped make the morning easy. Obviously, it was still pitch dark and really weird to be up at that time. I swung by my old apartments, hopped in Libbie's car, and we were off.

Contemplating before the race.

Drive was uneventful. We saw the sunrise (that's what it looks like!) and got to Coburg an hour before the race started. The trip went a little quicker than I anticipated, but no biggie. We had plenty of time to check in, use the bathroom, and mentally prepare. It was a smaller event but not too small. I thought it was just about the perfect size and well put on.

Eventually the gun went off and the race started. My first half marathon! You could tell the field was a little more "serious" than some of the shorter races, as running 13.1 miles is a little different than a 5k! I did a bit of weaving the first half mile before settling into a group that seemingly matched my pace.

That pace was a little faster than I imagined. My goal was to run something around 8 minutes a mile, knowing I'd probably slow down and be running 8:30s or so by the end. I checked my phone once, at a half mile, and it read exactly 4 minutes at .50 miles. So I figured I was good to go. It felt a little fast, but what the hay. I never checked my phone again even though I had planned to every two miles or so. Eventually I knew I was running fast enough and it just seemed like wasted energy.

Miles 1-5 - THIS IS GREAT! (7:43, 7:27, 7:38, 7:39, 7:32)

I realized after the race even though I hit a half mile in 4 minutes, I was running much faster than that. The start was a slower slog, I was probably running an 8:30 pace for a while as I slowly made moves past people. It wasn't until things cleared up a little bit that I really got my legs. So that that point, I was making up for some lost time, and some basic math lets you know I ran the second half of that first mile in 3:43, which is about a seven and a half minute mile pace, which you can see, I settled into.

The only semi-decent picture of me.

Things were feeling good. I wasn't tired and my legs and lungs felt great. I knew I was running too fast but couldn't get myself to slow down. I was part of a small "pack" and I wasn't just going to drop out. Plus, I was feeling good. I would have guessed my pace a bit slower than it actually was, but I remember thinking I was running almost a 10k pace and wouldn't be able to maintain this for 13.1 miles. I wasn't actually going to slow down though!

This portion also included the first two aid stations. This was the first race I used these stations and I ran through both. My first attempt to drink water ended with it all down my front. The second attempt resulted in choking on half and actually getting half down. I got better as the race went along.

When I hit mile 5 I thought "Great, only a 10k left!" 5+6.1=11.1. Two miles short. I realized about quarter mile later and had a fleeting sense of desperation.

Miles 6-8 - WAIT, HOW LONG IS THIS FUCKING THING? (7:33, 7:38, 7:41)

When I hit the mile seven sign I had to confront the reality this was no 10k. The fact that I was only about half done made me panic a little. Until this point I had really just tried to remain ignorant to reality and not think about how long the race actually was. The scenery was pretty and I was feeling good, so why harsh my mellow?

You can make me out in this photo. Yes, the guy in front of me ran like that.

Anyways, the race started to fight back a little here. I still felt great but you could see my times creeping up, a trend that would continue. Again, my 7:35ish pace I started out with was unsustainable for 13 miles with my fitness, so it was really a matter of how far would I fall. Again, I had no idea on my time, so in reality I just kept chugging along. I was starting to count down the miles at this point though. While I still felt good, my body was starting to complain here and there.

Miles 9-11 - THE WHEELS ARE ABOUT TO FALL OFF (7:47, 8:04, 8:10)

Smaller road on the second half, thought that was cool. No traffic.

Around mile nine the pace started to catch up with me. The last four miles where a GRIND and I was squinting into the distance trying to make out the next little yellow mile marker sign. This was really a gut check time, I was either gonna nut up or give in.

My lungs felt fine, but my muscles were screaming at me to stop. I ignored them best I could and tried to maintain pace. It's hard to judge your pace when your legs are in pain. In one sense it feels like you are going a lot slower because every step hurts, but often times I am surprised at how I am able to keep up for the most part. As you can see, I fell off quite a bit, but not too bad.

This was really slog, I can't say that enough. The mile 11 sign took FOREVER to come, I thought for sure I had missed it and secretly hoped it was the mile 12 sign when I saw it in the distance. When miles start taking this long, you know you are ready to be done. Boy was I! Theme song for this part was Tom Petty's "Breakdown."

Miles 12, 13 - ARRRGHHHHHH MUST FINISH STRONG (8:12, 7:44)

Crossing mile 13

So mile 12 was a bitch. Really struggling at this point. Once that was done though (in 8:12) I knew I only had 1.1 miles left. After gathering the courage to pick it up, I probably picked up the pace around 12.25. Others around me were doing the same (except those completely out of gas). Hit the homestretch hard! Once I picked it up my legs actually didn't feel too bad, I think they were in too much shock to hurt for a while.

I eventually went into a full on sprint the last quarter mile, surprised I had that in me. I passed a young woman about my age along the way, which I had been jostling for position with for many miles. We swapped back and forth many times from miles 3-8 until I started to fall off and eventually she was like 50 yards ahead of me. I figured I had no chance of catching her, but in this final sprint I not only reeled her in, I burned her and probably finished about ten seconds ahead. Woot.

Stopping phone as I cross. Hallelujah!

As I sprinted in, so very thankful the race was over, my eyes glanced over to the clock. 1:42:32. WAIT, WHAT? SERIOUSLY? Holy crap! I was too tired to get too excited, so I grabbed some of the free food and sat on a bench. My body hated me but eventually it sank in that I totally smashed any and all expectations for myself. I had nailed it!

THE AFTERMATH

Frankly, if I had a Garmin watch I would have never ran this time. I would have slowed down to eight minute miles and maintained. I'd probably be less sore today and wouldn't have struggled so much, but my lack of knowing my actual pace really is what got me this time. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I never thought I could run a half at a 7:50/mi pace. Maybe my taper worked? I only ran seven miles during the week before the race, so my legs were fairly fresh. Whatever it was, I felt very accomplished!

The route

I was in pain though. After my little sprint finish my legs were NOT happy. I limped over to the food table for seconds and the lady looked at me concerned and asked if I was okay. I tried not to be so dramatic after that, but I definitely felt as if my legs had gone through a meat grinder.

Long story short, Libbie also had a great time, especially for not training all month because of a bum foot. So overall it was a very successful morning. Glad we did this race! It was a great race for a first half marathon and the waking up part wasn't so bad. We drove down to Roseburg to hang at the river after, and even though the weather didn't really cooperate all that much, it still couldn't put the damper on a very successful day.

I really fucked myself over for upcoming half marathons though. I am going to want to beat my time here and that will be a challenge. Oh well, as long as I keep running, I'll keep getting better.

Official results: 1:42:32, 7:50/mile, 53/196 overall.

Killed it!