half marathon


When I woke up at 5:30 on Sunday the weather said it was 65 degrees.  I dressed, packed some dry clothes, ate a power bar and headed out into the wet morning.  It was not 65 degrees.  It felt closer to 45 degrees.  I walked to the Frankin ave 4 stop and met up with my running club and off we went to Staten Island.

When we arrived the course was cold and windy and wet.  I felt practically frozen when the race began.  After about a half a mile I was convinced that my legs would not make it.  My shins were like broken glass, my hips and knees were sore, I felt tight everywhere.  I was miserable.  At mile 2 I felt a little better, but was still pretty worried as my running partner and I were behind pace.  Mile 3 was a gentle down hill and as I lengthened my strides I started to feel good and my legs started to feel loose.

I realized, during miles 4 through 6, that I have much more endurance than I give myself credit for.  I really felt great and pushed myself.  I hollered a lot, cheering on my fellow runners, I even talked to my partner quite a bit.  That was until mile 6 1/2'ish anyway.  Then we started back.

Heading back was another story.  Suddenly the tail wind we had been loving was in our face.  We were running by the sea now and the rain was starting to pour sideways.  It was tough.  It was painful. I still felt strong, but started to feel very discouraged as I realized I had to go all the way back in these conditions.

I'll save you the mile by mile run back.  A few miles were strong, a few almost broke me. It was tough.  Mile 12 was EXTREMELY tough.  The last 1/2 mile I basically ran as fast as I could to get to the finish line.  I was frozen to the bone, everything hurt, but I finished.

Overall, I think I did really well.  My pace was 9:53 and I was (realistically) thinking it would be around 10:30.  The conditions were horrible, but I managed to overcome some VERY negative thinking.  All in all I surprised myself and am looking forward to doing better.

It's been a big challenge to get here and now that I have finished this beast I am looking forward to my next race!