Maine half marathon race report

I think it's been about a year since my last race report. It hasn't really been due to laziness or that I didn't run any races, but its been about disappointment with my times. Especially the last couple half marathons I was so aggravated with my times that I didn't feel like dwelling on about them. My goal all year for the half-marathon was PR first and foremost and sub-2:00 being the secondary objective. In the Pawtucket half in May, my head cold coupled with a lack of long-runs and overall training, led me to run the exact same time as my PR... 2:03:33. Then came the Rock and Roll Half in August. I was completely undertrained for this one. It was at the peak of the summer heat, and I was putting 10 mile weeks tops. I'm not even going to say that time, but rest-assured I was completely disappointed with it.

I decided since it had cooled off a little bit, that I was going to ramp up the training for not only this half, but for the upcoming marathon. I put up 3 runs over 10.5 miles, which I hadn't done yet this year. Plus 4 weeks of close to 30 miles. I was hoping that 4 weeks would be enough, but I knew I probably started upping the miles too late to make much of a difference. But all I really needed to do was PR.

We got to the race with plenty of time to spare. So I wanted to get at least 2 bathroom visits in before the race started. The weather was not pleasant at all. It was around 60 and raining. We saw that the only bathrooms were 3 porta-potties with a huge line outside. Seriously how is there only 3 porta-potties. So after 15 minutes of being frozen by the rain, I had one of the best bathroom visits of my life. Primetime. Later we realized there was a bathroom in the basement of the gym we were standing in front of. So the second trip I went there. It was warm down there, but my God, that was the most disgusting bathroom I have ever been in. Somehow it smelled about 10x worse than the porta potties.

As usual we got to the starting line just as the race was kicking off. They had a friggen loud cannon right at the start and then we were off. Pat and I tried to get as close to the front as we could, but there wasn't a whole lot of time. As a result, my pace for the first mile felt really slow. I was even caught behind some walkers. Seriously, if you are going to walk from the start why would you not stand in the very back. I tried not to bob and weave through to conserve energy as best I could. I thought for sure I was going 10+ minute place, but when I looked at my watch after the first mile it was 9 flat. Which is just under 2 hour pace... I could sign for sure.

I was trying to hold that 9 minute pace for the first few miles and see how I felt and go from there. After 3 miles, I hit 27:20. I little bit off pace, at this point I was beginning to worry a little about sub 2. The pace was a little more difficult now then it was that first mile. Right after that 3rd mile sign I heard some sirens. As we were crossing an intersection, one of the race volunteers ran into the middle of the road and stopped us from crossing. We waited there for at least 20 seconds before the firetruck came. I was getting so antsy, but everyone behind my was screaming at the woman. We still had to wait for 2 more firetrucks to come, which ended up being at least a minute delay. I was pretty deflated after that because I knew I was close to not being able to hit that sub-2 pace as it was. Oh well, the PR is what really matters, which was like 9:25 pace.

After she let us go again, I told myself I wouldn't push it too hard and make up the time too quickly. Well that was pretty fruitless, because I still hit the 4th mile at 36:30. I was still going in the wrong direction.. barely at sub-2 pace, and past on my past halves I would fall off a little bit the last 3 miles. Whatever just keep running. The first few miles of the course was pretty scenic, running alongside the bay. But once we hit that 4th mile we were running through some neighborhoods. At about mile 5, we could see the leaders that have already hit the turnaround. They were flying. So I knew Pat wouldn't be far behind. At this point I was really starting to hit a groove, but I stopped looking at my watch. I saw Pat later then I thought I would, either I was doing worse than I though or I was doing better... and it's Pat so he obviously wasn't doing bad.

At the turnaround point, there was a lot more spectators then I expected. Those people cheering plus seeing Pat, gave me a nice boost past the only hilly stretch on the course. At the halfway point, I was at 58:10. I made up some ground and the sub-2 was looking really promising at that point.

The other 2 halves this year, I was doing fine till mile 9 or 10, then my lack of training kicked in and I felt like I was lucky to finish. This time at mile 9 I still felt fresh... mile 10... still fresh. I didn't really start to tired out till midway through mile 11. At this point I really had no idea on my pace. I knew my Garmin was going to be off. For some reason it has always added about .2 to .25 miles on these half marathons. I think it is because they way they measure the courses. I knew the pacing it said was off, so I tried not to think about it and just run as well as I could.

The other goal I had for this half, was no walking. I had walked at least a little in the other 3, usually just after the water stops. This time I only stopped once for water and I ran through it. Since I started only getting fatigued at the 11.5 mile marker, I knew I could handle a mile and a half of sucking it up and not walking at all. That last stretch I kept trying to slow down to save some energy for that final kick, but my body wouldn't do it. Every time I slowed down, I just sped up again. Once I saw the crowd and knew the finish line was there, I gave it everything I had. I saw the clock and was in complete disbelief. I knew I was going to PR. I thought I had a really good chance at breaking 2 hours. And I thought on a good day I could break 1:58 or 1:57. But there is no way I would believe I could run a 1:53:44. I was pretty damn excited.

For me, the best PRs are not only the ones where there are big gains, but races that I finish strong. Races where I know I left time on the course, which leaves me optimistic for future races. I did the first half in 58 and change, and came home in almost 55:30. I know I can run sub 1:50 with minimal more training. And even better, this is a huge boost going into marathon training. I can't wait. First up though are some big PR's in the 5k and 10k. I'm aiming for sub 23 and sub 49. This report probably doesn't make any sense but I refuse to proofread anything I write.