This run sucks. My wife signed up for the 15k (roughly 9.3 miles) and I signed up for the half marathon (13.1 miles). The race started at 7:45am, and it was about 40 degrees. It actually snowed at the start of the race for a little bit. I was worried about rain, which would have really sucked. My wife and I found the 2:00:00 half marathon pacer, which is a pace of 9:09mm, and stuck with him. The race headed out 6th street to Columbia Parkway, which is very hilly. I noticed the pacer was going a little fast, but we stayed with him. I could tell the wheels were starting to fall off me almost immediately. I haven't run in 3 weeks because of my foot, besides the 3 miles at the JCC race. At the start of today, my toe was starting to feel a little off, but it held up great all day. The lump on top is a little bigger, so I'll be going to see a foot doctor sometime in the next couple weeks.
But during the run, I didn't hit the restroom before hand and had to go about 2 miles in. I could tell I couldn't keep this pace, so I figured the hell with it. I stopped to pee, which cost me about 30 seconds. I kept going and actually ran into a buddy who was running the 15k. We cruised along in the low 9's for a while. The 15k is an out and back, and at the city the 13.1 splits off and runs to Kentucky and back. So, it's nice that about 3 or 4 miles out you get to see the leaders heading back in. The guy in first was flying. Crazy to see. Very motivating.
My wife stayed with the 2 hour pacer almost the entire way, and I gave her a high five as she passed me. I was a few minutes behind her at this point, as I kept dropping slowly over the race. My 5K time was 29:26 (9:30mm), my 10K time was 1:1:08 (9:52mm), my 15K time was 1:33:50 (10:06mm). I really struggled over the last 3 or 4 miles, as my 13.1 time was 2:20:32 (10:44mm). I remember watching my 13.1 PR time pass me by around the 11 mile mark. Because I gave last weekend's triathlon 100% of my effort AND I haven't run in 3 weeks because of the foot, I was hoping for a PR but realistic that I might not make it. My 13.1 PR is 2:17:22 on a very flat course, so breaking that today was not going to be easy. The Mini course is pretty tough with lots of hills. I ran this same race last year in 2:25:39, so I was about 5 minutes faster today. After the race, my wife reminded me that I really fell apart last year on this race. Much more than today.
I'm excited to have done this race, my 4th half marathon, but I got a wake up call. I need to really step up my training if I'm going to be ready for the half Ironman in July. It's time for two-a-days!
Today, I finished the following:
Overall Place - 1260/1576 (80%)
Division Place - 126/142 (89%)
Gender Place - 773/868 (89%)
My wife did well on her race. She finished the 15K in 1:24:34 (9:06mm), with a 5K of 27:34 (8:54mm) and a 10K of 55:39 (8:59mm). She finished:
Overall Place - 935/3074 (30%)
Division Place - 65/310 (21%)
Gender Place - 377/1802 (21%)
This is my wife and I freezing before the start of the race.
This is the half marathon finisher's medal. The 15k is similar but a little smaller.
How did your foot feel?
ReplyDeleteIt held up pretty well, actually. Thanks.
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