Race Report-Geist Half Marathon

 Yesterday was my third half marathon is four weeks.  I had only ran once since my last half marathon two weeks ago.  I've been doing more biking in preparation for a 160 mile, single day, bike ride.

We've had a lot of rain...that is an understatement.  The forecast had called for a high chance of rain but it never did rain.  The temp. was 65 degrees and the humidity was 95%.  Not the conditions that I've been accustomed to running in.  It's been a very cool spring.

We woke at 3:30am and was out the door at 4:30am.  My neighbor ran the race too, We had a friend come along to keep my wife company.  The drive was an hour and a half to the event.

We picked up our bibs and packets and boarded the shuttle to the start line.  The half had 6,000 runners and the 5K and 500 runners.   The event was well organized.

I got in the 2:30 corral.  When the race started I felt really good.  I didn't look at my Garmin watch until the two mile mark.  I was running 11:10 miles.  I wanted to finish between 2:30 and 2:45 so I was on track.

At the two mile mark the route took us through some subdivisions.  The area is one of the more affluent areas of Indianapolis.  Most of the homes are well over the 500K price and the route goes around a reservoir.  There's lots of well manicured lawns and very expensive landscaping.  With all of the rain that we've had it seem that Saturday was THE day to mow the lawns.

There was no air moving....no breeze to be found.  The route was lined with trees almost the entire way.  With all of that and the smell of the freshly mown grass my allergies went crazy.  I had not taken anything for allergies nor did I take anything for the lingering effect of a head cold that I've been battling for about two weeks.  I thought that I was over the head cold.  All of a sudden I could not breathe through my nose.  My eyes were watering and my sinuses were going crazy.

All I could do was mouth breathe.  Mouth breathing caused me to take in too much air in my pouch.  Now my stomach was killing me.  It was swollen with air which caused my lungs to have a hard time getting enough air in to do their job.  I couldn't keep my pace.

At 4.5 miles I had to start walking.  I couldn't breathe.  The course was very hilly.  My plan was to walk the hills and run the rest.  That worked out for several miles.  At the 8.0 mile mark I was doing more walking than running.  My stomach was killing me and I couldn't get any oxygen.  I had to drink whenever I came to a water station.  The liquids only made the situation worse.

I sucked it up and kept going.  I was determined to finish.  I'd never had this kind of problem before and I wasn't going to let it cause me to fail.  I just kept moving and tried not to think about things.

The finish line never looked so good.  My wife, our neighbor, and our friend were all there waiting for me.  When I crossed the finish line I was pissed.  I mean seriously pissed.  I was hurting from my stomach, my lungs, and my right knee.  I was mad at myself for failing to take into consideration my allergies.  I've NEVER had allergies like I have this year.  My finish time was 3:02.

In the past four weeks my finish times have been 3:05 in Nashville, TN at the Rock N Roll Country Music Half Marathon.  2:58 in the One America Indianapolis 500 Mini Marathon and 3:02 in the Geist Half Marathon in Indianapolis, IN.  The winner did it in 1:15 and the average time was 2:19. I'd just like to be between 2:30 and 2:45.

Even though I'm disappointed with my performance on Saturday, when I look at where I was a year ago I was barely able to walk 3.5 miles and that took a little over an hour.  I've come a long way in a year.  I really have nothing to be disappointed about.

Duane



 


 

Duane,
Great job.  Finsihing is the ultimate elixir.  I only suffer from allergies at this time of year and it does take a toll.  So relax now, enjoy, and start using that inhaler!  Plenty of time later to improve your time.
Rob

Considering the cir****tances, you did a great job - your time was right in line with other less complicated races you've done this year!

Congrats for toughing it out!

Great Job Duane,

I absolutely understand the little bit of disappointment.  It's great what we can now do, but you always want to do a little bit better.  I'm guilty of that.  You finished a long race under miserable allergy conditions, you should be proud of your ability to stick with it and finish.

Congrats.

Scott

i have a feeling that most of us will never REALLY be satisfied with any result... but that is part of what drives us.  3 half marathon's in 4 weeks is really awesome, you should be proud of yourself, especially considering where you are today vs. last year, or even last month.  congrats on a great day.

�Thanks for your support guys. �I appreciate the feedback. �Scott and Bill, you're right. �I know that I'm never satisfied with myself. �That's part of what drives me and makes me strive for better. �Sometimes it's good to stop and really �take inventory. �We've all come a long way and we should all be proud of ourselves and each other.

Duane

Duane, you're an inspiration. I hope I'll be able to run a half marathon next year. You've come so far! Congrats!
Jan

Thanks Jan.  Keep at it and you'll get there too.  I started with the  c25k program and went from there.  That Sonoma Half sounds great.  I always loved going to Sonoma when I lived in San Francisco.

Duane