Birthday Race Report

I want to thank my wife and son for sacrificing all the time they have that has allowed me to train and race.  Without their support, I never could have done this.

I want to say thank you to all of you who supported and encouraged me.  You were right, I can do it.
I also want to thank my best friend Kevin for being there to see me off on my run start this morning.  He got up and came out in the cold foggy morning to cheer me on!  And thank you to his wife Mary Ann for coming out to cheer me on at the finish.

This was my first 1/2 marathon and 5 miles further than I have ever run before.
Today I completed the Healdsburg 1/2 marathon http://www.eventswithsole.com/

I had several goals for this race:
Sign up
Train
Show up
Run
Don't stop no walking outside the aid stations
Average better than 12 min miles

I got to the race at about 6:00 a.m., walked around for a couple minutes, then decided it was too cold for that.  I walked back to my car and waited until about 20 minutes to start time.  Made my way over to the restrooms.  The line was impressive.  It took me longer to get to the front of the line than it did to run my first 2 miles.  

I got to the starting line just as they were counting it down.  Once the race started, it took me a couple minutes before I crossed the timing mat to begin my race.  I didn't even look at my watch to check my pace as it felt like we were going nice and slow.  Especially since everyone was all bunched up.  At the first mile I looked at my watch and noticed that my heart rate was up in the 160's, it's never that high on my training runs, so I attributed it to the excitement.  I looked at my pace and it was withing the range that I had set for myself, so I really had no explanation for the heart rate.  At mile 2 I looked at the watch again and then I realized that the pace I was looking at was the average pace, not the current pace.  My current pace was over a minute faster than what I normally run.  So much for looking at the wrong readout on the watch.  When I realized my mistake I tried to dial it back a bit. 

I had been considering this as my plan of attack for the day.  Run 3 miles walk the distance of the aid station.  You see I haven't mastered walking and chewing bubble gum yet, and the act of actually eating and drinking while I run is close to suicidal.  So in total there were 4 fuel breaks, probably totaling less than 1/4 mile when it was all said and done.  There was never a stop because I was too tired, and never a stop or thought of quitting.

There were aid stations approximately every 3 miles give or take a few hundred yards as the roadside allowed for setup of the station.  Mile 3, I slowed up enough (walked) just long enough to drink a mixture of hammer gels/water and take a swig of powerade to wa**** down.  Then right back to running.  Between the 3 and 6 mile aid stations it was constant rolling hills.  The hill climbs sure take a lot out of you, and you never seem to make up the time going downhill that you lost going uphill.  My pace up the hills was 2-3 minutes slower than it was on the flats.

Mile 6 comes along and my hip starts to hurt.  Right up front at the top of the leg.  I'm not stopping to stretch it out, I know that if I stop i'll never get started again.  I decided to pull out the headphones and drown out the pain with a combination of heavy metal/ militray running cadence and some audio clips from previous Ironaman events.  I also found a guy running at the same pace I was.  We didn't talk, but we ran stride for stride for a couple miles until the turn off where the full marathon runners had to head off onto their side trip.  Apparently this guy was here to put in some longer mileage today.

Mile 8 or so someone had tacked up signs to the telephone poles.  U. R . Doing IT and distance runners have no boundaries.  It's amazing but those 2 little signs really helped.  8 miles was the furthest I had ever run without stopping before, so everything beyond this was uncharted territory for me.  Mile 9 was a big uplift.  There was a guy standing on the side of the road right before the aid station clapping, encouraging, and handing out high 5's.  That high 5 was good for one more mile.  Someone must have a sick sense of humor, because they thought that miles 9.5-10.5 would be a good place to drop a mountain.  I know it wasn't really a mountain, but at this point it sure felt and looked like one to me. 

By the time I got to the mile 12 aid station, the hip pain was completely gone, but it had been replaced by 2 calf muscles that were unhappy and feet that felt like every step was barefoot and on a sharp rock.  I was actually considering walking to within distance of the finish line and then running.  My feet and legs were killing me.  Just then this guy ran past me, turned around and said, come on it's only one more mile.  You are so close.  I finished my drink and started running.  Just that little bit of encouragment saved the day.  I was still within my plan, hadn't walked anywhere except the aid station and then only for drinks and fuel.

That last mile was the shortes mile of my life.  I really don't remember any of it until I got to the last 100 yards or so.  I felt like I was actually running to the finish.  No shuffling, no jogging.  The arms were pumping and my speed was increasing.

While I don't think I will ever be fast enough to win my age group or to qualify for a world championship, today I know I can go the distance.

Happy Birthday to me!!!!!!!!!



By the way, today I scored a
Lazer Tardis Aero helmet,
A new tire for my bike
and part of my entry fee to next years vineman 70.3

OUTSTANDING!

Sounds like your plan came together. I love when that happens.

Some times it's amazing how something small can get a person motivated.

Congratulation on a great race.

pan head

Happy birthday to you and congratulations on a job well done.  It was great to read about your experience because my wife and I have our first half marathon coming up on Nov. 7th.  I hope that ours goes as well.  Again, congrats. you really rocked it!

Duane

Good luck on your race.  I have never been a big running fan, but the feeling of completing this event was worth every workout run and every mile of training.

I still haven't had that runners high, but I'll take what I felt today when I finished any day!.

Scott

We knew you could do it!

Keep it up and you'll have to change the quote in your signature.

Awesome job Scott and Happy Belated Birthday! You guys and gals on this board are so encouraging. I am so fortunate to be a member of this board. I enjoy the encouragement and support of some of the other boards like BT, but you guys are the best.

I get to join you with my 1st 1/2 Nov 15 unless I get a wild hair and do the one here in Corpus Christi next weekend. I just dont think I need to do that one yet. We will see.

Congrats again and great Great job!!!

 Awesome job!  What a great Birthday present to yourself!

Great job and congratulations on finishing!
Rob

Way to go, Scott!!

What a great accomplishment!  To be able to persevere through everything before and during the race is an awesome thing!

Enjoy your rest and recovery time.

Darrell

great work!  especially knowing the difficulties you've had pre-race... way to push through and execute on your plan!  I'm hoping to join you as a 1/2 marathon finisher next month...