Two years ago today, I put my money down and toed up to the start line of my first half-marathon.
That half-marathon was Race the Runways, and it’s a special race for me. It’s put on by the Midcoast Triathlon Club and the Maine Track Club, both organizations that are near and dear to my heart. I started running with the Tri Club in the winter of 2011, and though I have not done a triathlon (yet!) they are the group that first introduced me to the beauty of the long run.
I started running with the Track Club in the spring of 2011 — and actually followed through to the end in 2012 — and they were the ones that introduced me to te beauty of speed work.
Two components of the training program for a great half-marathon.
What? Did I say great half-marathon? Yes I did.
Someone asked me yesterday what I was aiming for. I explained I had an injury earlier this winter and had to take 6 weeks of running off. And then I said, “2:05, I guess. I’d be happy with that.”
This course is very flat. It’s across an airport. I have run 8 half-marathons now and I have come to accept that it’s not fair to compare this half-marathon to any other half-marathon because it’s not like any other road race.
But that being said, the conditions were brutal today and this PR was earned.
Brr. It was windy. Very windy. And sunny. My face feels completely raw right now.
I had written up some goals at the beginning of this year. And honestly, I hadn’t looked at them in awhile. Because I didn’t really train hard for this race. I tried to go out run a couple miles every day, and run a couple more miles than usual on the weekends, but I didn’t do workouts like “6×400 at 5K pace” or … any … strength training. I was just happy to be running again. You know.
The goal I set in December for this race was 1:50. But that was before I was out for the count for 6 weeks. So I’ll take a PR in any shape or form.
Le splits:
- 1: 9:28/146
- 2: 8:49/149
- 3: 8:48/153
- 4: 9:20/155
- 5/6: 18:13/153 (There’s always that mile marker I miss …)
- 7: 9:06/154
- 8: 8:41/155
- 9: 9:02/156
- 10: 8:51/159
- 11: 8:15/163
- 12: 8:18/163
- 13: 8:00/171
- 13.1: 33.77/176
I thought that the All Women’s Half was run really well, but you know what? Running by heart rate pushes me. I knew I should be running in the 155-160 range. I knew I wouldn’t die at the end if I stayed there. And I didn’t. I knew it was going to be a good race when I thought at mile 9, “I could totally run a hard 5K right now.”
This race was a big boost to my confidence. I’m not sure what I’ll do next, but I feel accomplished today.