Last month I was looking at upcoming races. I was getting close to the 1 year anniversary of my first half marathon. With 11 under my belt I knew I wanted 1 more to get my 12 in 12. I acted on impulse, consulted with The Coach and
Cilley Girl and registered for the
Heart Breaker Half Marathon in Portland, Oregon.
Saturday I drove up to Portland to meet with Cilley Girl. Because she IS so awesome, she had Titanic on TV for me when I walked in the door. I said a few lines along with it - on 2 different channels!! - then we were on our way to the race expo. I resisted temptation and didn't register for any races (but I am eyeballing a couple). I DID listen to Jeff Galloway give a couple of talks. I love listening to him and seeing his excitement over running and those of us that are trying to improve. After he spoke I told the gang how I knew I would run well. I always run better after being around Jeff!
From there we began an endless string of jokes about giant Dick's. Don't be dirty! We were talking about Dick's Sporting Goods. Biggest Dick's I've ever experienced. So big I couldn't even take it all in at once. You should have seen the size of the balls with that Dick's. Huge! Since I'm a junior high boy, these things never get old to me - or Cilley Girl for that matter. After tons of shopping we had a yummy pre-race dinner at the
Raccoon Lodge. I might have this more often because it seems to help me run!
Race Day
I hit snooze a few times before we were up and Adam, quickly out the door on our way to downtown Portland. Parking was a breeze and in no time at all we were warming up at the race start. A DJ was playing music and getting us pumped up for the run, and then a surprise! Jeff Galloway was there giving us last minute words of advice. I felt calm and ready -- very uncharacteristic of me. At 7:30am the gun went off and I was on my way, filled with nerves and excitement!
My race goals changed throughout the first 10 miles.
First goal - sub-3 hours. I knew this was going to be hilly and kick my ass. I promised The Coach I wouldn't race it, I'd just use it as a training run as I prepare for Eugene. Plus I hate hills. To achieve my goal I would stick with the 4:1 ratio as long as possible before I resigned to walking. Another goal I have had was to some day run 10K without ever stopping. Boom - done!
The number of runners was pretty small and the majority seemed to break away fast at the start. I spent the majority of the first 5 miles with people all around my pace. I used them for motivation and resisted urges to try to race them. At mile 1.5-ish we hit our first aid station. No water, just big, juicy strawberries! I had to take one just because it was the first time it has ever been offered to me. I nibbled on it during walking segments and finally tossed it around mile 4. It was good! My usual sensitive tummy did get a little unhappy around mile 4 when I thought I was having a big sip of water. It was some electrolyte drink I've never had. I hated it. For the next 2 miles I was touch and go. New goal - Finish.
At 6.7 miles I finally paused on a hill for delicious water and 1/3 of a Clif shot and fun conversation with the high school boys handing out water. At that moment I realized I was about to start THE hill. The plan was to run the flat-ish and downhill bits (very few and far between) and quickly walk on the uphill. I had no desire to hurt myself, I had no desire to let my mind get the better of me. This was a training run after all. At some moments I couldn't see any runners in front of me or behind me.
New goal - beat at least 2 people.
Then came mile 10. I had been going for 2 hours. My hips were sore but I wasn't feeling terrible. I started heading down the hill. Then I realized I have been going for just over 2 hours and have only a 5K left. I ran up by another woman and asked her how many more uphills we had to tackle. She said, "None! All down hill from here!" "Awesome!! I walked up all of those hills, I'm ready to run this sucker in. Thanks!!" And off I went. The math started going and I realized ... NEW GOAL: Get a PR.
|
12 in 12! |
No more 4:1. No more trying to not burn out by going too fast. No more easy training run. This PR was going to be mine without a doubt. I opened up my stride - even threw my arms in the air out of joy when I realized what I was going to do - and felt a huge smile come over my face. Those 3 miles were awesome. So much joy and determination flowing through my body. Other runners and I encouraged each other as we celebrated surviving the huge hill, and I couldn't take my eyes off my Garmin. Also I noticed that those people I started the race with and lost on the hills? I was back with them ... and passing them as I ran sub-9 for a while! I was on fire!
Soon, there it was. The finish line. I hit the straight stretch, kicked into my finishing sprint, crossed the mat and jumped in the air with a shout of joy. New PR!! A race I was worried about finishing, and instead I beat my prior PR by 4 minutes!! I can't even describe the emotions going through me - but there were tears of joy!
I immediately got my medal and called The Coach to tell him the news. He was speechless. It was awesome! Quickly I met up with Cilley Girl, Donna and
Jules and we all shared stories of our respective races while I dined on some strawberry shortcake! It was a surprisingly awesome day of races! I never expected a PR at all, but what a way to get my 12th half marathon in 12 months! I'm still in shock and still smiling!! Go big or go home, right?!?