Big D Half Marathon

Big D Half Marathon:

This morning I woke up around 6am and Ellen had a migraine and it was raining. I debating skipping the race and just sleeping in but my inner drive got me out of bed. I got on the road a little later than I had planned and stopped by QT and got some coconut water, sandwich bags (to keep my keys dry), and a banana.

I got to fair park 30 minutes before the start and had to park pretty far away. I geared up and headed towards the race area. It had stopped raining on my drive and felt decent outside. I met up with Eric and Andrea at the start line and chatted for a bit. The sun started to break thru the clouds. I lined up next to the pacers with the 2:00 sign.

The race started at 8:02am due to NBC5 broacasting it live on the morning news. I felt well rested and avoided drink water before the race to prevent having to make a pit stop like I did during the Galveston Mardi Gras Half Marathon (GMGHM). The first mile I felt great and I had to keep slowing myself down. By mile 2 I got ahead of the pace leaders and there had been a constant incline. The first water stop was not until about mile 3. I kept my pace under 9 mins as I planned on beating my PR (1:58:03). We finally got off the city streets and on the sidewalk around White Rock Lake. It was very humid in the low 70s and I was sweating alot. I reached mile 4 about 20 seconds faster than I did in Galveston. The heat start to get to me on the next incline and I had pain in my lower abdomen. I slowed down and had to push myself to keep a 9:30 pace.

I started wondering why I was running and if I had pushed too hard at the beginning. My training the last 5 weeks was at a much lower volume and less hilly than the 7 weeks leading up to GMGHM . The weekend before GMGHM I had done 15 miles and last weekend I only did 10.25. Also Galveston is FLAT and so far the race was nothing but hills. I kept pushing myself even though I was not even halfway done. At mile 5 we crossed a small bridge and reached the lake. I spotted a port-o-can and got in line. I had to wait a long time because of them was sealed shut. I did my business and got back on the trail after a 3 minute 10 second delay. My average pace had gone to 8:55 to 9:30.

I felt refreshed and was now in a slower group of runners. I got on the left and started passing everyone at a 9min pace. We got to another slow incline and my steam ran out and I decided to push and take a break at the 10k mark. A dark cloud was approaching from the west and it looked like rain. A cool breeze started blowing and people cheered and some stuck their arms out like they had wings. I got to the 10k mark and slowed down but 0.1mi later we reach the peak of the hill and I took off running downhill. I made it half a mile and slowed down to a power walk (15:00 pace) as the next hill was wearing me down. I was going 10:45-11:00 as I crossed the 7 mile mark and reached the top of the hill. At 7.2mi It started raining and it was felt great. I pushed to a 8:30 pace for the next half mile. I was on the steepest hill so far going thru a really nice neighborhood (Lakewood Blvd) full of large house with big lawns. I walked for about a minute and enjoyed the view. At 7.7mi I started running again and this time I made it a whole mile at a 7:45-9:00 pace. When I slowed down a man in his yard said, "This is the highest point and it is all downhill from here." I perked up and ran to the next water station and had a gel pack. When I slowed down to throw away my cup some girl in a group I had been passing on and off with my walk said, "Hey watch it" very rudely. This pissed me off and I took off running at a sub 7 minute pace. I crossed mile 9 in about 1:25 and decided to not take any more walk break or slow down. It was raining again so I was dodging puddles and felt like I had just started a race and not just traveled 9 miles. I finished mile 9 in 9:01 and said outloud, "Just a 5K to go!" and the guy next to me said, "Uh huh." I picked up my pace even more as I might be able to finish closer to 2 hours and beat my time from the DRC Half 2:01:50 (my first) back in November. I kept a sub 9min pace for the next two miles. I hit mile 12 in about 1:52 and it took everything I had to keep a 9min pace. I turned to corner back into Fair Park at 12.4mi and gave it a burst of energy that lasted about 2 minutes. When I was about 100 feet from the finish line a high thunder clap made all the spectator jump and I finished in 2:02:56.

I started to walk to my car to grab my phone and it the rain started pouring down really hard. I decided to go inside and grab something to drink/eat. I had a banana Muscle Milk and got in line for my victory beer. I found a table and just relaxed for about 15 minutes until Andrea found me. She said Eric can't walk and asked me to come outside. His hip was bothering him and felt numb. He described it as the feeling you get with you a lifting weights and workout until failure. He got up and stretched a little and went inside.

Eric and Andrea ran it together and finished in 2:29. This was Eric's first half marathon and first race even and Andrea's second. After they changed and grabbed a beer I headed to my car and got my dry clothes. Afterward we met up with my cousin at a burger place for lunch.

Tomorrow is the start of Ellen and my 4 week Primal Challenge.

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My plan is to move away from traditional running shoes and more towards barefoot/minimalist running. Here is my list of races/event since I first bought overpriced running shoes and starting running outdoors in September 2010.