First Half Marathon Race Report

This was the first half marathon for me and the first time I have ever run this distance (13.1 miles). I had a difficult week prior to the race and saved my frustration, anger and fear to fuel me for this race. It sure helped!! I was not nervous about the race itself.

My goals for this race were

1. Finish
2. Run hard
3. Have FUN!!
   

I did finish with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes. It was faster than I expected since the last time I ran ten miles in two hours. I am elated about this race time, even almost a week later!! I ran more of this course than I expected. I thought I might be walking at least a mile, but think I walked 100 yards. Towards the end of the race I found myself running faster to get out of the shade of the buildings. Because of the cool temperatures the buildings shades some of the course and it was cooler in the shade. I was motivated to run faster to get back in to the sun.

The weather was great for this race. It was not too hot and was not too cold. There was very little if any, wind. Temperatures were cool, in the upper 30's or low 40's at start time and then up into maybe the 50's later in the race. I am no weatherman so that's a guess based on my own impressions and I'm sure there's someone out there who would love to research it and correct me (I have better things to do.)

I was very grateful for the crowd support. There were people along most of the course that were cheering or rattling cow bells. Thanks guys!!! These crowds were happy or maybe moving more because of the cold. One guy stood outside with a box of kleenex. It was a hoot to see the disposed kleenex for 25 yards down the street. Thanks man!! Cedar Fever has hit this area hard because it's been dry. There was a female spectator who got real excited when she saw one of her friends. My brother refers to this ritual as the "spin cycle." She yelled, screamed and jumped up and down as if they had not seen each other in years. That was so motivating. We all laughed!!! During the Nike Human Race the spectators looked miserable and were unmoving.

I have a tendency at the end of a hard run to pick up the pace too far from the finish and sometimes I am unable to maintain that pace. During this race I picked it up maybe 300 yards from the finish and kept it up. I do not know how I was able to pick it up that much and sustain it!!

As I began to train for this race I said I would give myself two weeks after the race to decide if this was a distance I would enjoy and continue to particpate in. Although it's not been 2 weeks I think it is a distance I would do again. Even in October I found a 10K a challenge so I am looking forward to my next 10k (Cap 10K) to see how I have improved. Because of the cost of a half marathon I will not be competing in many. I was able to compete in this one because Team Zen has sponsored me for the races they are participating in.

Thanks to DV for posing the challenge of training for a half marathon. Thanks to Team Zen and all the participants for your motivation and running with me. Thanks to the Robert Mueller Airport runners for running with me in the evening. Thanks Kim at Hill Country Running for helping outfit me for this race. Thanks Ron Burnett at Inner Sun for the encouragement and fixing my numerous ailments, including the numb foot!! This was not possible for me to six months ago.