Well guys, I've hit the halfway point. I have run six half marathons in six months. I have to be honest, saying that statement out loud feels pretty good. Believe me, I made sure to tell every person I met in Chicago this past weekend.
I've started to make the most of my race weekends. The 13.1 Half Marathon in Chicago was my third out of state race in three months. These out of state races are proving to be perfect opportunities to visit my friends (and family) scattered around the country. One of my college friends, Clarke, and I have both been bugging the other to visit. I finally caved and made the first move.
This race was the first race where I set some concrete goals for myself. I have never been concerned with time; my focus has always been on finishing a race every month. However, I knew in the beginning that I would eventually be unable to resist setting more goals. My goal for this race was to break two hours.
The circumstances surrounding this race were pretty interesting. I arrived in Chicago close to 8pm Friday evening. Clarke met me at the airport, and we spent about an hour on the train to downtown Chicago. After quickly dropping my bag off at his place, we decided to go grab a couple of beers. I was excited to see my friend and wanted to hang out for a little while before going to bed. Unfortunately, I didn't fully comprehend the fact that my Saturday morning race was located about half an hour south of downtown and the shuttle to the race start left at 5:30am.
Despite our early night (we headed home at midnight), I still had to be up at 4:30am. I try to make sure I get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep the night before a race. I have never run one after only four hours. Well, there's a first time for everything, right?
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| Snapshot on my way back to Clarke's apartment |
In my sleepy haze at 4:30am Saturday morning I forgot two important things: sunscreen and breakfast, two things I never leave the house without. Let's face it, at 4:30 in the morning the possibility of a sunburn isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Once I got on the shuttle, I realized I was kind of hungry. These races always have food for runners, though, so I wasn't too concerned. I would have plenty of time to grab a banana before the race started. But no. Not at this race. Once I got off the shuttle, I went over to a volunteer tent that had coffee, muffins, granola bars, etc. I was about to grab a granola bar when a snooty volunteer informed me that the snacks were only for other volunteers. I laughed and asked him if he was joking. I mean, let's think about this for a second: snacks are only for the people who are not about to run 13 miles? Seems counter-intuitive if you ask me. I became increasingly cranky. I was two hours early to the race, I had only four hours of sleep, my stomach was growling, and the sun was already starting to reflect off the lake and I just knew I was going to get a sunburn. If I had known I would be sitting around doing nothing for the two hours before the race, I would have taken a later shuttle and eaten breakfast in downtown. I took out my frustrations the only way I knew how at that point: I texted my parents and went on a Twitter rant.
After I was satisfied with whining, I started thinking about the actual race. I promised myself back in January that this year was the year I stopped making excuses as to why I could not do something. Something always happens and there is always a reason why I should not be able to run my best race. In March we were late and started by ourselves. The hills in STL were brutally challenging. In Madison I faced "extreme temperatures" (haha) less than four weeks after having surgery. And despite these circumstances, I have managed to improve my time every single race. I had no reason to mentally psyche myself out before this race. Defeating myself before the race even started over a hungry tummy would be counterproductive. So I decided I would suck it up, run my hardest, and break two hours.
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| The 2 seconds I stopped to take this pic could have made all the difference |
I knew I could do it in under 2 at mile 5. I felt even better about my chances at mile 8. I got goosebumps at mile 12 because I felt like I was either going to throw up or pass out. I told myself I could do both after I finished. When I finished the race, I knew I was either just over or just under two hours. I called my parents out of excitement. My mom got online to check my official time: 2:00.01. I missed my goal by two seconds. I was (and still am) torn between feelings of accomplishment and disappointment.
I decided to spend some time at the post-race party. I satisfied my hunger pains with pizza, a banana, and beer: the breakfast of champions.
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| Delurcious. |
I have managed to take 12 1/2 minutes off my half marathon time in 6 months. In the past 2 weeks, I knocked 4 minutes and 18 seconds off my time, my biggest improvement yet. I've also finished 6 half marathons.
I ran my first marathon in 2007 and my second in 2008. I feel more accomplished after these 6 races than I did after either of those races. Every month I have improved and the consistent improvement continues to motivate me.
So now that I have reached the half way point, I think its time for me to set some specific goals for the remainder of the year. I want to break two hours. I want to continue to improve my time every race. Most importantly, I want to take another 13 minutes off my race time. Let me elaborate on that last point: I want to run my half marathon in under 1:47.01 by December. I will have to work harder to achieve these goals but they are all realistic ones.
My next race is in New Braunfels, TX on July 14. There's nothing like running 13 miles in Texas in July. Bring on the next challenge!
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| Cheers to six more! |
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