Ole Man River Half Marathon

Well I finished my first Half! It didn't go quite as swimmingly as I planned, but it was good. I found the course ok, kinda blah, and the minor hills annoyed me, but it was a beautiful sunny day in New Orleans and there were some really great moments.

I felt rushed getting down there...it's about a 45 minute drive, and I had gotten to sleep late (of course!) and took half a sleeping pill to fall asleep fast (otherwise I'd have been up two more hours). While it worked to get me to sleep it wanted to keep me there, and I had trouble getting going. I grabbed the Quaker Breakfast Cookie I was going to eat and stopped by the gas station for coffee. I had a great Saturday morning three miles (8:48, 8:52, 8:44), and felt like I had a fighting chance at my goal.

I was nervous about breakfast, though, because even though I've eaten these oatmeal breakfast cookies before tons of 5ks, I made the mistake Saturday night of looking at the side of the box...5g of fiber!! No! And mentally this just convinced me I was going to have a bathroom stop.

I had breakfast and coffee on the way down, parked, picked up my number and timing chip, threw my shirt in the car, hit the bathroom and lined up with only a couple of minutes to spare. No anthem, nothing, and we're off. OF COURSE the people right in front of me (near the front, no less) are walking immediately. They had just finished saying that the walkers were supposed to start a half hour before and should not be starting now...GRR!

The first 1-3 went great. I was feeling good, it was still cool, and I thought if I could just keep pace (and bank a few seconds) until 8 miles I should be able to hang in there. The fourth mile, however, started to give me some trouble. It was an ever so slight incline, and the wind was at us the whole way. Plus a man in front of me staggered over to a police officer and collapsed, so it was kind of nerve wracking.

I was still on target, and miles 4-6 were ok. I wasn't feeling as great as I started, and I began to have some self doubt. The seventh miles was tough, with another slight hill, but just before 8 miles we hit the turn around, which for me mentally is good. I wasn't running great anymore, though. My blisters and the ends of my toes on my left foot were acting up, my back was killing me and my shoulder was really tight. I tried to loosen up, but once I saw I was about 5 seconds behind pace at the 8 mile mark I just lost it. This isn't even off by that much, but I had counted on having about a minute or so banked at this point, so seeing that I was at a 5 second deficit with the harder miles ahead of me just took the wind out of my sales.

I decided then that I should try to just enjoy it, and while I lost 10 seconds on the 9th mile and 20 on the 10th, they felt a little better. Then in the 11th mile I had the sudden thought that I needed the bathroom. I saw a port-o-potty about 100 yards away across a HIGHWAY, but decided to go for it. OF COURSE I get halfway across and realize it's locked. Rats! I turn around feeling like an idiot (there were some families here on the side of the course), and just try to tough it out, slowing every time I REALLY feel like I need to go. But the feeling finally passed, and I knew I could make it til the end. Too bad it cost me about a minute and a half!

Mile 12 I started to feel strong again, and kicked it up a little picking my targets...I passed back a couple of people who had passed me on my bathroom dash, and then I decided I would pass at least two girls. I came up on one girl, and proudly passed her, only to see she was about 12! Then I felt bad. But not bad enough to let her pass me back ;) Of course since I was JUST THINKING the other day how I haven't been plagued with side cramps in ages I should get one. Now. At 12.67 miles. I was so mad! I had to walk, it was crippling me, but I tried to keep it short. This is what I get for smirking to myself (upon passing a walker) about a quarter mile before about how anyone could walk that close to the end. Finally I was able to start up again, and finally finished, barely out of breath. 2:04:30 (chip time). Boo :(

So I didn't quite meet my goal. I will put up the exact splits tonight, along with pictures of my injuries (I hate my shoes!). Garmin time was 2:04:28 for 13.23 miles...I was pretty close to the front, so the lack of two timing mats didn't hurt me this time, but I gotta say, I hate that! How much more does it cost for races to have start and finish mats? Is it expensive? I just don't see the point....sometimes when you're in the back it could cost you a minute or more in really large races ... Anyway, I only lost 2 seconds due to the lack of a mat, but considering my bathroom jaunt cost me .13 miles I suppose I should care more about that! ;) The measuring was surprising accurate; at each mile marker the garmin was ticking off the mile at the exact same spot.

So all in all it was a good day, I got me second goal. Going in I figured realistically I could get 2:10, my hope was 2:05, and my reach under 2, so two out of three isn't bad! Plus it was only my second time at this distance. The first was en route to 14 miles total on Friday 11/14, and my time at 13.1 mile that day was 2:13 and change. So I took 9 minutes off! Now if I can only take off 5 more by December 6, I will be at my goal for the Baton Rouge Beach Half Marathon.

Lauren (who did yesterday in 2:36 even though her previous longest was 10 miles!) and I are doing that one as well, and I'm hoping for perfect conditions.

Things I learned/ Things that could have been a little bit different:

1) Get more sleep (the day before's three miles felt great because I slept 10 hours!!)
2) Try not to work the night before (worked a double waiting tables on Saturday...)
3) Give more time (if I got there earlier I could have stretched, relaxed, calmed down)
4) start slower (I know- the oldest trick in the book...but hard to do!)
5) cooler weather (probably 65 by the start (8 am) cooler would've been better..)
6) no hills! (I know this is wishful thinking; it's so flat around here that the slightest hill kills me!)
7) don't give up mentally when you are still IN it
8) eat lighter the day before (I had a huge plate of pasta at 10 pm...bad idea!)
9) better hydration (weekdays I sit next to a water cooler...at the restaurant I always forget..)
10) have fun!!! (I was concentrating so much at times I forgot to have fun.)

But there were a couple of great moments...actually the first three miles were perfect, and there were moments after that of true enjoyment, too. And to see some of the people on there way back (the ones ahead of me) with huge grins just really pumped me up. So yay! First half down...