Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon was a great way to run my first half marathon.
The goods:
21km - 13.1 miles
2:17:49
Average heart rate = 89% of maximum
I began thinking that I'd be lucky to finish without cramps or passing out from fatigue or some other failure, but had a surprisingly strong day instead.
Mr Wordy says:
It's been a rough year. This was a race I signed up to run purely out of spite for not having met a single one of my running goals this year. I'd talked myself into doubting whether I could even run the distance. I ran 12.5 miles once last year and I managed one 8 mile run this year. I've been running shorter distances, but generally faster. Usually just three days a week with mostly 3 mile runs with the odd 4 mile and occasional 6 mile juant.
Those
maniacs wiser than I soon swept me up in the things that make maniacs so attractively nuts. Colleen teased me into this thankfully! I'm no record breaker, but to come home in 2:17:49 was beyond my most wishful thinking. To finish the last several miles at the pace I did, gives me hope that maybe next year won't be without it's rewards.
My records are a mess. I missed a bunch of mile markers.
Mile one - 11:27
Miles two through three - 24:45
Miles four through five - 22:16
Mile six - 10:14
Miles seven through eight - 20:20
Mile nine - 10:45
Miles ten through eleven - 20:01
Miles twelve through thirteen - 18:04
The last tenth added another 55 seconds, so I think that should all add up fairly closely.
Over all that makes for a 10:35/mile pace and a 6:35/km pace.
I have
Dwayne to thank for almost all of that success, but I'll weasel some of that gratitude in as I go. < g > That hoodie he's got on is from his first 100km ultra marathon this year. The big cat picking it's teeth with a bib pin has the caption, "mmmmm lean meat". Love it!
I've withdrawn energy from posting here and elsewhere, to try and focus more on bed times and ensuring recovery is what it can be. It stings to accept peoples support on the running mania board when I've been unwilling to contribute much in the last while. Every time I see a race report go by it bites at me. Maybe the next year will be a stronger one for me. Runningmania.com seems to be doing just fine though! :D
I have a long way to go, and it's been somewhat painful to come up against what I really am as opposed to what I'd like to be... again! However, I've been able to keep running even with a lot of congestion and fatigue, just not as much as I would like to run. I should mention that two years into this adventure I remain injury free at 47. I like that!
Yesterday morning on the drive in I was blowing my nose all the way into the city, but for the most part I felt like I'd had enough sleep this week and kept the stress levels down to a point where I didn't think I was going to make myself sick with a cold if I ran, so I was content to arrive at the starting line with those credentials and low expectations.
I had a couple of disappointing racing efforts this year that were haunting me and I had a reminder of a common characteristic of those races last weekend. Namely that going out too fast is brutally difficult to rectify once under way.
Last weekend I had run a quick (for me) 9:43 min/mile pace over 5.5 miles with a budding local club group run in St. Pierre. It did not feel good to go out that fast and I had a heck of a time trying to keep my heart reeled into sensible levels throughout the run. I vowed not to be sucked into a fast start on this one and fortunately
Colleen took me off the start on a sensible pace. I'm so grateful for her company, as it helped set the tone for what for me was a good effort, particularly later in the day.
Like the Santa Shuffle last winter, going out slowly payed some handsome rewards later on.
Before the half way mark, Colleen had taken to running with
Natalie and Dwayne had caught up to me after running back and forth through the team for photos and checkups. He was running faster than I was, so I figured I'd try and pick up the pace a bit. It was Dwayne's second tour of that course that morning, and he was still going up and down like a youthful pup out for some fun! Once we were turned around to head home at the half way mark, and the wind was at our backs, the pace became a bit easier to take.
Dwayne was a brilliant companion. Lots of race experience, a keen sense of empathy to the racers lot, and a wicked lust for competition. This packaged up in an under stated delivery, was as near a perfect prescription for what I needed as I could have hoped for.
He periodically plied me with details about pace, eventual finish times at various paces, etc. Never enough information headed toward me to be overwhelming, but enough to set the gears in my head in motion. He was an expert motivator! Never pushing, always leading from the rear... if you can follow that reasoning. :P
Without his insight into the character of racing, I'd never have been able to exert myself to this degree. Thank-you again Dwayne, you were primarily responsible in making it a race I can be proud of.
I take a great deal of comfort in knowing I was able to run the last part of the run strongly. I just need to figure out how to add more now without hitting the ditch. < insert experiment of one >
By the last mile I was making quite a bit of noise, but I was too tired to care about pride at that point. The last half mile was brutal, and guttural sounds of struggle were to be heard. In that last half mile there was a loose sand playground to get through. Foul language was perilously close to utterance.
Pam was there to greet me as we crossed the finish line to hang my finishers medal and deliver a big warm hug of congratulations. Pam will likely qualify for the Boston marathon at the 2007 Manitoba marathon. She ran on ahead to be prepared to greet us. She had made up the cool race bibs and finishers medals. It was a great way to have my first half marathon. It was a great celebration to be able to share it with other runners in such a small group setting.
Bibs were full of detail. The internet, software, printers and a bit of packing tape really do go a long way!
The fine print.
Medal side #1.
Medal side #2.
Not too shabby! What a great crew of people to hang with.
The support here and through the Winnipeg maniacs team has been remarkable through a difficult year of health issues for me. Through that support has come a consistent application of "doing what I can" and my first half marathon is mostly the fault of maniacs.
It will no doubt be a memorable day for me as the years roll on.
Thanks everyone that played a part.
