1/2 Marathon Race Report

Saturday morning called for 30% chance of showers. Turns out it was 100% chance of severe thunderstorms rolling through at the exact time the race was supposed to start. Several hundred runners were packed under a few tents. All of us were drenched as the tents nearly collapsed from the force of the winds. 90 minutes later, the skies cleared and we were finally able to start the race.

And as most of you understand, that 90 minute delay really messed up my nutrition plan. Not to mention starting soaking wet and with a chill. A friend gave me their extra pair of socks, at least those were dry even though my shoes were soaked.

My goal was 1:59:59 which would have set my pace to 40 seconds per mile faster than my 25k pace in May. It was a stretch for me, I feared it might have been out of my reach. When the gun went off, I didn't hold back. I needed to "go for it" from mile 1.

I felt really good, averaging about 8:50 pace until mile 4 when I started to have terrible tummy pains. By mile 6 I realized it was probably my sports drink. I had mixed it at 7:30 and now it was nearly 3 hours later, it had to be rancid by then. I tossed the bottle and switched to all water. My pace slowed to about 9:20.

Mile 7-8 my SIL passed me. I couldn't just let her fly bye, could I? I picked it back up. Switching to water made all the difference, mile 9-10 my stomach started to feel significantly better.

Mile 12-13: I did not think I was going to make it. My legs were dead.

Mile 13: I rounded the corner to see the finish line ahead. The timer said 1:59:00 . . . I could not cover that ground in one minute. It was just too far. But I was still well within getting a PR so I went into my hurt locker and went for it.

20 feet from the finish line: the timer clicks over . . . to 1:59! I had misread the clock when I rounded the corner. I was going to make it! I did it!

1:59:10. Wooooooooo! I jumped across the finish line like I had won the Olympics.

Running the 1/2 in under 2 is the first step in reaching my running goals. The next step is a marathon in under 4 hours. I'm hoping to do that next year, I'm already working on my training schedule :)

Great job, Lime! What an awful way to start the day but you turned it into a positive and reached your goal with a pr of 1:59:10.....awesome!!

Awesome, awesome! Congratulations :D

NICE JOB, sub-2hr half marathon in such crappy conditions! You'd have really rocked it if the stars aligned a little better. That 4-hour marathon is in trouble, it better watch out for you. ;)

Beautifully done! Congratualtions on reaching that milestone time goal!

Doin' the happy dance for Limewave! Well done!

Roxy

Congratulations! You've been having some wonderful successes lately (your mtb threads too)...you rock, lime! :D

I feel like things are finally coming together.
Every time I or someone else puts a barrier in front of me, I've been telling myself:
"You have no idea how high I can fly." --Steve Carell, The Office
It's my new mantra :)

That's awesome!!!! congrats!!!