I wasn't sure if I was ready for this half. I've only been running about 5 miles a day since my last half in August so training wise I wasn't really ready. Although this was my 3rd half for the year, it's still 13.1 miles which is nothing to scoff at.
So my plan was if the weather was forecasted to be raining and cold then I wouldn't bother driving down there and spending money on the hotel room. But the weather forecast said it was going to be mostly sunny, high 66 and "breezy". Well I guess the term "breezy" is a matter of interpretation. It was downright WINDY with gusts up to 30 miles per hour. I've said it before, wind is my enemy. Not only because you have to work that much harder to run through it but with my contacts, any little debris nearly paralyzes me and that's not a good combination when trying to run.
Friday I drove down there and it was mostly sunny and windy. I was hoping that the wind would die down to 10 - 20 mph by Saturday. I got down there around 2:30 their time and checked into my hotel. No problems. I then ran over to the packet pickup to get it out of the way. I thought I remembered where this place was but they didn't have it set up the same way. I could have sworn last year there were signs everywhere and people guiding you into the parking lot. Not this time. The way I came in last year is now a one way out and there was a farmers market at the entrance so it was hard to tell if you went in the same way. I managed to figure it out. They also changed where you get your packets but no biggie.
I then went to Olive Garden to eat. At this point all I had "eaten" that day was my protein shake at 8 that morning. Needless to say now that it was 3:30, I was beyond hungry. So I had my salad, 3 breadsticks and an entire serving of stuffed rigatoni with grilled chicken in alfredo sauce. It was AWESOME. Hopefully the waiter didn't think I was a pig. Eh who cares if he did. That's the beauty with age, you start not to care what others think and do whatever the hell you want to :)
Stuffed to the gills, I went back to my hotel and did nothing but watch tv and rest. I managed to get about 7 hrs of sleep which was good. I'm always anxious to make sure I get there early enough to get a good parking spot and avoid the crowds. I left at around 6:10am and got to the parking lot at 6:20 and got a primo parking spot. Then I just read my kindle for about an hour. It was cold out. The temp in my car said 47 and the wind was blustery but the skies were clear. My teeth were chattering it was so cold but I knew once I started running things would warm up. It's just hard getting into the mood when you're freezing.
I'm always amazed at the variety of people who do these races. It ranges from young (13) to old (60's), from overweight to stick thin. I love the diversity. It's very inspiring. And there are people bundled up with gloves and headgear to those just wearing tank tops and short shorts.
As usual there is a long line to the bathrooms right before the race. I figured I had 30 mins to kill so I waited in line. Once in the portapotty I blew my nose because the cold air was making it run. To my dismay I saw that I now had a bloody nose! I was close to panic mode because I never anticipated a bloody nose. So I'm standing in the portapotty taking valuable time from others who are waiting trying to get my nose to stop bleeding. It wasn't a gusher but enough to get the toilet paper dark red.
So I grabbed a bunch of toilet paper and stuffed it in my nose as I walked to my starting corral. I tilted my head back trying not to draw attention to myself and managed to get it to stop. My biggest fear was it starting to gush as I was running. I am not one to draw attention especially when it comes to something like this. I prayed to God that it would just dry up and by the grace of God it did! I would check it now and again and there would be light red but nothing major. One positive outcome from that debacle was it distracted me from thinking about the race for the first few miles.
I felt great up to around mile 7. At that point, I started walking because my legs were pretty sore. I knew it would happen considering I hadn't done more than 6 miles in the last few months. I pushed through to 8 mile and then really started walking more between mile 9 and mile 11. Between mile 10 and 11 there are these steep inclines which at that point there was no way I was able to run up them. It hurt my knees to walk up them and I was walking slow. I knew from the start that I wasn't going to beat my usual 2:30 time but I was okay with that. I just wanted to finish. I walked and jogged through to the finish and according to my Garmin, I made 2:34! I'll have to check the official time but I was surprised I did that well. I know the first few miles I was doing around 11:15 min pace which is pretty good. Maybe that made up for all the walking later on. Still it was a gorgeous course. This remains one of my favorite races. It was again very well organized and had great volunteers cheering people on. It would have been perfect if the wind was less but overall, the weather was picture perfect. It has been two years in a row that there was nothing but blue skies and bright sunshine for this race.
After I got my medal, I ate two bananas and and apple and two bottles of water. I got back to the hotel and showered and tried to lay down for a while before heading back home. It's only about 2 hours away but doing these races wipes me out. I usually feel sick and it's probably because I haven't eaten much and ran 13 miles! I got home and unpacked and slept for about 3 hours. I felt much better but very sore.
Not sure if I'll do this race next year only because I've already signed up for two. One in June and one in September. I'm getting a little burned out on the miles. Running 6-7 miles is a perfect distance for me. After running 5 half marathons, I still contend that I will never run a full marathon. I have no desire to run that far or that long. I admire all those who do!
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