It is actually quite humorous as to why I came in second place. I will elaborate more on that below, but first I need to highlight my previous races to illustrate why this race today ends with a laugh.
2010 Maple Leaf Half: 1:15:23 2nd place (lost by 5 seconds)
2011 Oshkosh Half: 1:19:13 8th place (38 degrees and raining)
2011 La Crosse Half 1:19:24 5th place (was winning, took a wrong turn at mile 13)
2012 La Crosse Half: 1:16:42 2nd place (unforeseen circumstance below)
I groggily climbed out of bed at 4:00am to eat my pre-run meal consisting of a slice of toast with Parker's PB, half a banana and a bite-size Snickers. As I was waking up I realized that it was raining... I very much dislike running in the rain. Of course, no one enjoys racing in the rain (well, maybe a few individuals), but I always have a difficult time staying warm and mentally getting into the race when the weather is constantly fighting against you.
After checking the weather forecast several times, the Fitness Festival Officials posted that the Half Marathon had been delayed until 8:30am from its original start time of 7:00am. The Full Marathon had been canceled, though they did allow the marathoners to participate in the Half. Great for them, not so great for me.
"Runners take your mark, get set, GO!" the starting official shouted into her microphone. A few of us darted from the starting line, attempting to get ahead of the pack, vying for a front position. Ramon (a great guy I met in La Crosse through running) and I decided to hold a steady pace for the first mile (6:00/mile), which was perfect. My goal was to slowly drop my pace until I was running 5:30/mile for the last four miles.
Mile two did not go as planned. Two runners took off at a pretty good clip and I made a decision to stick with the front runners instead of trying to reel them in later on in the race. Our second mile came in at 5:30/mile - way too fast. I knew I would pay for that later on. We held steady for a few miles thereafter though one runner picked up his pace and edged away. Looking back, I should have gone with him, but I made another mistake here. I misjudged him due to his apparel. He was clad in conventional running shoes (instead of racing flats), longer shorts (not splits like my Jubilees or Puzzle Box), crew socks and a backwards mesh cap. Nothing out of the ordinary for a runner, in fact he looked just like someone participating in a marathon. But not someone who would be leading the pack of a half. It just did not add up in my head. I let him go and thought that I would be able to catch him in a few miles. That never happened.
He slowly but surely widened the gap between first and second, eventually creating a gap big enough where I lost sight of him. This was tough mentally, as there was absolutely no one ahead (or behind) that I could compete and pace with. I did my best to push ahead as fast as I could, and with the encouragement and support of my girl throughout the course, I surged ahead to the finish.
I came in at 1:16:42 (5:51/mile), 2 minutes and 41 seconds after first place. Here is the funny part: the first place finisher was supposed to be running the Full Marathon, but due to the severe weather I had mentioned earlier, the marathoners ran the half instead.
If mother nature had not decided to throw a torrential storm our way, I would have most likely finished first. Hah. There's always another race to run (like the Madison Half Marathon and the Maple Leaf Half Marathon) so I'm not too upset about it. He ran a better race than I did and deserves to take the trophy.
In addition to Laura providing phenomenal support throughout the race, she managed to capture quite a few quality photos of the race and most importantly, provided me with my Castle Rock Organic Farms Chocolate Milk. At $2.79 for a half pint, plus a $2.00 deposit on the bottle, it can be a little expensive but let me tell you, IT IS WORTH IT!
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| Happily clutching a cold bottle of chocolate milk with Ramon |
I was late to the awards ceremony, where I received a potpourri of prizes. From blue flip-flops to a mesh cap, socks, trophy, cinch sack and water bottle, it was interesting. The best prize, awarded to top finishers, was a brightly colored vase adorned with flowers. That went straight to my girlfriend.
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| Excited about our top finisher prizes |
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| My motivator, milk-carrier, photographer and best friend |
Post-race we both devoured some tasty Sweet Potato Pancakes that Laura discovered not too long ago. She didn't think they turned out well, which may have been the case due to my mixing/mashing of the sweet potatoes, but I thought they were delicious and consumed about 2/3 of them.
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| Venison bacon and sweet potato pancakes. Perfect post-run meal. |
Shout out to my sister, Trisha, who completed her first half marathon last Tuesday in FRANCE, of all places. My uncle completed his first half as well, a day before turning 50! Congrats to both of you!
My experience today is not necessarily negative or upsetting, rather a motivation to increase my mileage and intensity of my workouts. I have two more half marathons this summer, as well as an 18k trail run coming up, which I plan to attack with renewed vigor.
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