Mythical Half Marathon

Once the Covid vaccine started coming out and I realized I'd be able to get my first dose, I started getting really excited about running some spring or summer races. When I was finally able to schedule my 2nd dose, I was super excited that a race I'd been eyeing as a great first one back was over 2 weeks after I'd get my 2nd vaccine so I felt good about running it. They posted that the awards for the top 3 overall male and female finishers in the half marathon would be a unicorn rubber duck and I signed up! I knew it would be a small race so easy to space out and I felt that would be perfect for a first race back. Plus it wouldn't be very competitive which would be good since my training hasn't been going all that well and I'm no where near the race shape I'd like to be in. I'd been training for a 50k so definitely not in top half-marathon shape, especially since I was only a few weeks into speedwork. The week before the race I ran a 10k tempo on Wednesday and my friend, April, ran a 10k race that Saturday. Our times were within seconds of each other so we decided to run the half together. I was excited to have someone to run with because I figured the race would really space out and otherwise I'd be running it alone. The race started at 7am and I got there early enough to get a mile warm up in because I wanted to get 15 miles in for the day. Then we were off! My plan was to run the first half of the race around 7:30 pace and then see if we could pick up the pace in the 2nd half of the race. I thought best case scenario I might be able to average 7:20 pace for the race. Which seemed a bit optimistic since my 10k had been a 7:16 average but my legs were super fatigued going into that run just 3 days after my first back to back long runs of 17 and 8 miles the weekend before.

April was having issues with her Garmin and it was showing we were running 9-9:40 pace at the start. I assured her we were right where we needed to be. We started around 7:35 pace but she pulled me along a little faster after about the half mile mark when a woman passed us. We went through the 1st mile together in 7:26 which felt absolutely perfect. Mile 2 was 7:25 and mile 3 was 7:26. I was pleased with how consistent our miles were and right around 7:30. In mile 3 I could feel April struggling a bit but she said she was okay. We went up a long but slight incline toward the turn around and she fell behind me. I was felling great so decided to shoot for 7:20-7:25 for the next section of the race. I ran miles 4-6 in 7:17, 7:20, and 7:19. I ate a Gu around the half-way point and was feeling nice and relaxed and strong. I started to get a little in my head about the race, worrying that I was going to randomly start struggling and fall off pace drastically like what had happened in my virtual halves I ran this summer. I felt really good though. After I lost April during mile 3 I ran the rest of the way alone. When I came back through after the turn around I had to weave through 5k runners who started after us but were still on the course. It was nice to get to see other people out there. The water stop was mermaid themed which was fun.

Since things were going well and I felt strong I decided to aim for 7:15-7:20 for the next 3 miles of the race. I hit miles 7-9 in 7:15, 7:13, 7:15. I started to think maybe I'd be able to sneak in under 1:36. I wasn't really sure what pace a high 1:35 would be but I knew it would be somewhere between 7:15-7:20 pace and based on my math, I thought if I could keep averaging 7:15 pace, I might be able to just squeak into the 1:35s. I was starting to feel a little tired so decided to shoot for 7:15 or under for the next 3 miles. I went through mile 10 in 7:14 and then we turned around to go back and I realized I'd had the wind at my back for that portion out on Riverside. The course was a Y with two different out and back sections. I was feeling tired and it was warming up quite a bit and now I had the wind at my face. I knew I just had a 5k to go but I also knew I was solidly 2nd overall female. I knew the woman ahead of me had what I guessed was a 5 minute lead, but when I saw the results realized was about a 3 minute lead, and I had about the same lead on the next woman behind me who when I saw the results really was 5 minutes behind me. I was bummed for April to see she had really fallen back a lot and was struggling but she was awesome and cheered for me each time she saw me. I missed her the most during miles 11 and 12. I went through both of those miles in 7:31 which I was a bit bummed about. I started to worry a little I wouldn't be under 1:37 but did the math and knew if I ran 7:30 pace for my last mile I'd still be under. I really pushed that last mile and was excited when I crossed the bridge back into Jenks and April was running along under the bridge and cheered for me. I was a bit surprised to see my last mile was my fastest at 7:11 because I wasn't sure how much I had sped up, but I was pleased with that. I really feel like had there been people to run with, I could have kept miles 11 and 12 under 7:30 but I'm okay with how things went. It was hard to kick it in at the end because there were no people out on the course cheering and I was tired but I managed 6:55 pace for my finishing kick. For just a moment it registered that my finishing kick was slower than my average pace for my PR half but I didn't let that get me down.

I could see the finish line clock and saw I was going to be just under 1:37. I was glad I was able to manage a time in the 1:36s and had an inward chuckle that at one point I thought I might be able to come in with a time in the 1:35s. When I stopped my watch I saw I averaged 7:20 pace which I was super happy with. That was the best average pace I felt like I might be able to hold for the race. I'm really trying to focus on where I'm at right now and not let what I was able to do in the past steal my joy. It's still a bit frustrating that I pushed hard to run a half-marathon in an average pace that is hardly faster than what I felt like I could have run a marathon in last spring. I was running my long run workouts in 7:19-7:27 pace and really felt like I was in shape for a sub-3:20 marathon. I'm not really sure what's going on with me but April keeps telling me "Forward is a pace," and I'm holding onto that. And even if I can't ever get back to where I was before, running half-marathons in 1:36 is still pretty decent. I just get so much joy out of setting time goals and running PRs so it's hard for me. I also gained 5 pounds when I had the flu and even while tracking my calories and attempting to lose weight, I've been consistently maintaining or even putting on more. So I plan to get in to a doctor and make sure my thyroid is functioning appropriately. It took me a while to sit down to write this post and I think it's because I have such mixed emotions. I was so happy to finally get to run a race again but I'm also just so frustrated with how my running has stagnated this past year and I just can't seem to get back to myself. I just want to feel like myself running again and this race was a bit closer to that.

After I finished the race the race director came over and gave me my award for 2nd overall female and my age group award. I was surprised to see the overall award was a dragon and not a unicorn rubber duck like I was expecting. I was 2nd overall male or female and the top 3 finishers were all women which I thought was cool. My official time was 1:36:55. The course was a little long at 13.2 so my average pace of 7:20 would have actually been a low 1:36. I was kind of glad the course was long because had I run 1:36:08 like the pace calculator shows, I would've been disappointed I didn't finish under 1:36 but as it was, I didn't really care because I was way over 1:36. After drinking some water I ran a cool down back out onto the course to cheer for April and bring her in. Then we took some pictures together and I headed home. I pulled the dragon off the award stand and gave it to Carter as a new toy. I took the button off the stuffed dragon and gave it to Elise. The kids were so excited about my race, they wanted to run a race so we ran their Virtual Fun Run. It was good to be back in a race atmosphere and I'm optimistic that I might be more back to my old running self in the fall. Next up is a trail race Ty and I have always wanted to do in Arkansas. I'll be running the 25k and he'll be running the 10k.