I was quite worried about and perplexed by the day's forecast.
On Saturday, we had rain and snow all day. And it was very cold. I don't mind cold. I've run in highs of 20 degrees F. But, it was very sunny that day. Cold and wet would simply be miserable. I don't have any wet weather running gear. You'd think I would as much as I like shopping for gear. I guess I should work on that. Anyway, the day turned out to be quite comfortable. The rain subsided Saturday evening so the roads were dry by the morning. And the sun was going to be out as well. I layered and was just fine.
Why do these events have to start so darn early? I guess, maybe the better question is, why I continue to sign up for these early events. I am always worried I'll be late for these events so I over compensate by getting there really early. I left my house in the dark at 5:30am.
I found my friend Natasha at the bag check area. She was in corral 14 and I was in corral 15 so we wandered over to take out places. I also ran into another friend who was running the half from corral 14 as well. It was just luck that I walked right in front of her. Pretty cool. Later as the corral began to move to the start, I ran into another friend also running the half. She took this photo at the start line!
My main goal was to finish and not injure myself. I really didn't know how I'd feel because my longest run had only been about 6 miles. I knew I could suffer through it.. I just didn't know how long I'd be suffering. My secret secondary goal was to finish under 3 hours. My previous two times were 2:49 and 2:45 so I had that in my head. I figured I'd be slower but really, I had no idea how slow.
The first 3 miles were basically a warm up for me. I tried not to push it so that I'd be properly warmed up and not feel too sore for at least the first 6 miles. I thought if I could be comfortable for the first 6 miles, I'd be ok. I also forgot to turn my watch on, so I really didn't know what my pace was. That turned out to be a good thing though. At about mile 6 I felt like I was in a groove and was quite happy and comfortable. Nothing really hurt yet. The sun was out. I was drinking and eating enough. I took short walk breaks at the aid stations as planned. I think I may have even skipped one, running through in the groove.
About mile 8 or 9 I started feeling the miles and lack of training. :-) The usual things started to hurt, which didn't worry me so much. I would have been worried if something I didn't think should hurt started to hurt. I probably slowed down a bit and made sure to walk at the aid stations. I also stopped to stretch a bit. While stretching, my hip popped, which was great. I knew it wouldn't hurt any more than it already was so I was good to go at that point. :-)
Mile 11 - something happened there that made everything seem much harder. At mile 11, I really felt like I was done. I was really tired and I was slowing down more. It didn't seem like an unusually tough part of the course so I chalked it up to the mileage and lack of training. (Later I found out from my other two friends that they felt the same way about mile 11. One friend said she looked back at the course map and mile 11 had the highest elevation gain, even though it didn't look like a hill.) I walked more at this point but I also knew the end was near.
One weird thing about the course, it was mainly in and around downtown Denver, on roads that I was familiar with. But, for some reason, I was very disoriented. I couldn't tell where I was in relation to the start/finish line. So, because of that, I felt like there was so much farther to go, even though I knew by the mile markers that there wasn't. It was probably because I was so tired and so focused on running. But, it was very disorienting.
I told myself, between mile 11 and 12, the quicker I moved the sooner I'd be done. That was my mantra to the finish. Don't stop, keep moving, steady on, the quicker I moved the sooner it'd be over. Some how my feet agreed and kept moving. :-)
At mile 12 I was still very confused about where I was on the course and even though I knew it was almost over, I couldn't see the finish line or hear the finish line. It's the Rock & Roll series so there should be loud music going on! I can't remember now if I saw a mile 13 marker or not but there had to have been one. All I remember is turning a corner and seeing the straight for the finish line. I kicked it and started to sprint. Well, I thought and felt like I was sprinting anyway. LOL! I pushed as hard as I could knowing the end was so close!
I didn't know it until I got home to look it up but, I finished in 02:51:09!! That's only about 2 minutes slower than my Vegas time! Woo hoo!! I was so exhausted at the finish. My legs even felt wobbly. I also needed some ice for my right knee. I grabbed as much food as I could carry once I crossed the finish line. I also grabbed a foil blanket so that I could stretch out on the grass. Icing the knee, eating some snacks, chatting with my hubby on the phone, and stretching a little, I felt elated and exhausted that I finished my 3rd half marathon!
Technical shirt...
Up next.... Rock & Roll New Orleans - March 4th. :-)
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