Alright, let me begin at the start of last week.
Monday afternoon we ran 5 miles in 49:48, I pushed Dorian in the stroller and had the dogs on the leashes. It was 70 degrees and sunny, Rocky didn't enjoy it too much and it didn't help that Jetta was trying to force the pace to something Rocky couldn't handle.
Wednesday morning the dogs and I hit the roads out by the house, it was 55 degrees and foggy and a little humid. We ran 7.3 miles in 1:12:29 with an average pace of 9:56 min/mile, again Jetta was trying to kill Rocky.
Then Thursday evening I took Dorian and the dogs to the Newburgh river front and we ran 4 miles in 40:27 with an average pace of 10:06 min/mile and again I wanted to kill Jetta because she tries so hard to kill Rocky on our runs. It was 72 degrees and just freaking warm, Rocky wasn't enjoying any of it.
I took Friday off, mainly because I just didn't have the time and it was crazy windy outside. Saturday morning I got up for the race, it was a feels like 23 with winds at 12 mph W.... freaking cold.
I did a warm up run of .8 miles.... mainly I just wanted to find a place to use the bathroom out in the woods. They have two port-a-potties but it just sucks if you've got a line of people waiting just a couple feel from the door..... really impersonal so I go out in the woods during trail races.
Let me just say that I haven't a half marathon this tough in a long while, and the 2016 Evansville Half Marathon was only tough because I went out too fast.
I told myself this would be just a long run, and I wouldn't try to push myself too crazy and hard. Well.... as usual that is not always the case, the first loop (3.1 miles by their measurements, 3 miles by mine and it gets worse from there as mine just keeps falling back until I had finished the race at 12 miles on my garmin) was a bit faster than I wanted but I did my best to slow it down a little.
I finished the first loop or first 5k at 27:07 with an average pace of 9:22 min/mile
By the second loop I was secretly wanting to walk some but just as I was getting back into the woods (from the start/finish is about .1 miles of grass/field before you head back into the woods), Mat Barker came from behind and started chatting with me. Mat is fast, like one of the top in my area so I felt bad that he was willing to slow down to my pace and run with me. But he said he had only ran the 5k with his daughter and was just wanting to get in some more miles. He ran the second loop with me and helped me finish that 5k in 29:21 with an average pace of 10:08 min/mile. Then we said our goodbyes and I went onto my 3rd loop out of 4 before the little out and back thing to make up 13.1.
The 3rd lap was tough, I walked some and was a little mad at myself but kept reminding my head that this was only a long run and I was not in the shape that was a year ago or even 6 months ago. My legs were tired, I think I felt this way during my first half..... and probably my first trail half....
I finished the 3rd loop (3rd 5k) in 30:59 with an average pace of 10:41 min/mile, yes I was slowing down to a bit more walking. I think I had drank some gatorade after the 2nd loop was finished and then I drank some more after the 3rd loop. I headed out for the final 5k before that little out and back, I was already pooped and soon realized I would have to make a pit stop somewhere in the woods. Luckily there was only 23 runners left out there.... I think, maybe some walkers who were still doing the 5k and 10k...
I struggled at the pit stop because I forgot I tied my capris and had a hard time untying so let's say I wasted like 3-4 minutes total from the pause to the resume. I did walk quite a bit this time, and just kept reminding myself that this was a long run and it didn't matter if I was the last one to finish or the last woman to.... it was just a long run..
That out and back sucked, I ran the whole thing (it was like just over half a mile but not quite a mile).. I wanted to walk some but spectators and other who had already finished could see this part of the course so my pride kept me going. Plus I realized that two people were about 100 feet behind me, and one I knew for sure was a woman so I now knew I wasn't the last runner or woman!!! I just had to keep ahead of them, that was it.
I finished the 13.1 miles in 2:09:12 with an average pace of 9:52 min/mile, I was beat and sore and tired and soon very cold. I hadn't realized how cold it was until I had stopped running.... Bloody hell!!!!
I soon realized that I had won 1st in my AG out of 4 ladies so that made the pain a bit more bearable and I soon realized the full results:
Overall: 13th out of 23 finishers
F 20-29: 1st out of 4 finishers
Female: 2nd out of 8 finishers
So... not bad at all. And I got a much needed massage later that evening, and as of now I am still a bit sore. But my medal is pretty cool!
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