I immediately started to toy with doing it. The concept hadn't worn off by Thursday morning. The forecast for Sunday (turns out that was the date of the race) was awesome. High of 74, race temperatures around 50. I checked out the registration page and saw that the course was only open for two (2) hours. I was still working on finishing my coffee, so I busted out the calculator and multiplied 15 minutes (my goal walking pace per mile) by 6.55 (the distance of half a half marathon). The result was 98.25 minutes. I emailed Rachel and let her know I was starting to lose my mind. She replied quickly, encouraging the insanity. I signed up and decided my goal was to finish in under 100 minutes.
I picked up my registration packet Thursday night. Because I registered so late, my bib didn't have my name on it (and unfortunately, the race results don't include my name, but I know I'm 1260) but it was beautiful and green. I stared at it for a while, wondering what in the world I'd done. The event shirt was pretty awesome, too - it's a fitted technical shirt.
I'm actually in the process of training for a 4 mile run at the end of the month (my longest running event to date), so I had to figure out how to realign my workouts for the next couple of days. I didn't end up doing anything Thursday night but logged 5 miles on an elliptical at a near perfect 12-minute mile pace, knowing I really needed to take Saturday off. Since my battle with shin splints two (2) years ago, I'm really careful about not overdoing it and knew this previously unplanned 6.55 mile add-on was really going to screw up my plans to slowly build up running mileage.
Rachel ended up spending the night here Saturday because she has a jerk of a neighbor who likes to crank up his stereo and keep her from sleeping but I opted not to ride with her because I didn't want to get up any earlier than I had to and my warm-up wasn't going to be very intense. I had oatmeal, one scrambled egg and heated up the last of Saturday's coffee before I headed off to the local hospital where the race was starting and finishing. When I arrived, it occurred to me that having a quarter (and there was a half course, too) marathon at a hospital was a pretty good idea in the grand scheme of things.
I quickly got moving (because it was 47 degrees and rather uncomfortable to stand still) and did some stretches before finding my way to the back of the pack, behind the last pace team (13:00) and found the other walkers, who included a disproportionate amount of skinny old lady mall-walking types. Before I knew it, we were off.
I neglected to start my heart rate monitor as I crossed the start line but started it about three minutes afterwards. At the first water and aide station, I ended up with blue Powerade because I wasn't paying attention. I was so appalled that I forgot to hit the lap button on my HRM receiver. When I got to the second mile marker, I paid more attention and got water and heard the announced time - 31:40-something. I mentally cursed myself for being so off pace but did remember to hit the lap button on the HRM and was just under 28 minutes from when I started the stopwatch... (This mental lapse will prove to be important later.) It was looking like a sub-100 minute finish wasn't in the books but I pressed on. I made it to the third mile marker and was greeted by a guy who noticed my UD t-shirt and mentioned his daughter went there and sent me along with a "Go Flyers!!!" I hit the lap button after giving him a high five and realized I'd done that mile in 14:34.
At that point, the course went through a wetlands area and across a long wooden deck-type course, which seemed a little slippery. I dug in, carefully, and thought about starting to do some running after mile marker 4. I got to mile marker 4, hit the lap button and realized I'd just logged a "careful" mile in 13:41. I also got to this mile marker in just under 60 minutes, according to the guy with the megaphone. Maybe a sub-100 minute finish was still possible? I decided to do some running soon after passing the mile marker.
My feet had been getting the pins and needles feeling they sometimes do on longer distances before I broke into a run; the numb feeling quickly dissipated as I changed my stride. Running hadn't ever felt so easy, really. I hated that I needed to warm up for four miles to feel this way. Then I hit mile marker 5, tapped the lap button and did a double take as I read the numbers: 10:16. Holy crap! I didn't even run quite that whole mile so I must have been flying, especially since my usual 5K pace is 11 minutes plus!
It was tempting to keep running, but I didn't want to do anything to compromise finishing, period. I slowed back down to a power walk. Then it occurred to me that because of that crazy mile, a sub-90 minute finish was within my reach. I decided to run again, but this time a bit more conservatively. I made it to mile marker 6 in 11:50. I walked for a bit again and then decided to do the last half mile running. When I made it to the straight away, the timer showed 1:28 and change and I crossed at 1:29 something. I'd done it - I not only finished, I did it in 11 minutes under my goal!
I got my finisher's medal (!), grabbed some water and a banana and signed up for a Garmin drawing. I didn't immediately see Rachel, so I decided to go to my car and grab my cell phone and camera and then I found her. She'd expected me to cross later than I did, so I'm not sure if she even saw me finish... I was SO excited to have finished as well as I did that I threatened to sleep with my finisher's medal. She told me about the girl that finished in front of her puking (she finished in 1:04) as she crossed the finish line and somehow after that, we decided brunch would be a good idea, but decided to check the age group results first. Rachel finished 7th in her group and I checked around the 1:29 mark in my group and didn't see my name. I was hoping there wasn't a problem with my chip and wondered if my late registration meant that somehow my age had been lost.
I tried to put that out of my mind as we made our way to Matt the Miller's Tavern for post-race drinks and brunch. Ultimat Vodka was a race sponsor, so complimentary drinks were available post-race at Matt's. Rachel and I both opted for screwdrivers and then enjoyed a delicious brunch (for $6.55, because that was the quarter marathon distance, get it?) and coffee. I realized that it stands to reason that I could finish a half marathon in under 3 hours and Rachel, not surprisingly, encouraged this craziness as well. (The Nationwide Marathon and 1/2 is October 17th. Sigh.)
When I got home, I showered and checked the race results. They weren't up yet. I took a nap and checked again. I was able to confirm that I was "just a number" because of my late registration. I realized only then that I had not accounted for how long it took me to get to the starting line. (Duh!) My actual time was 1:26:45, my average pace was 13:24! No wonder the first announced time I heard at mile marker 2 seemed so far off - my delayed start on my HRM receiver wasn't that far off after all.
I still can't believe I went the distance, especially so spontaneously. I'm hoping I can move tomorrow - thank goodness it's a Federal holiday!
