Race for the Roses

Today I completed the Race for the Roses Half Marathon here in Ptown. I was nervous because I have not felt so confident about my training program over these last few months, but I decided to focus on having fun and enjoying my run. The weather was sunny, clear and warm. The half marathon distance is half of what I will be running in June, so for my racing self-esteem, I was really hoping that the race would not kick my butt.

During the run, I worked on pushing my pace a bit. I am learning that I can actually run faster than I think that I can. I am not sure what clicked, especially since I have not been running as much or as hard, but something clicked and I was running faster than I usually do for longer distances.

It was an amazing day. At mile 2, I realized I was running about a 10 min per mile pace or a bit faster, then the hills hit me and my pace slowed. By mile 4, I was at the turn-around and was able to start heading back down hill. Unfortunately, I didn't really gain as much time as I hoped on the down hill, but the mile markers were coming faster than I expected. My mental game felt strong, and I just enjoyed my run. There was no dread or any major physical pain. I decided to run without an ipod in an attempt to practice my mental toughness since I can't use an ipod on the Ironman.

Around mile 9, I was at the industrial part of Front Road where there was a turn around, so I got to see all of the faster runners. That is where I discovered that I was between the 10 minute per mile pace person and the 10:30 minute per mile pace person. I was amazed and stoked! Was I really running that fast and that consistently?!?! Usually, by mile 9, I am slowing down and running closer to a 12 minute per mile pace. NOT TODAY!

I focused on my stride and a faster turn over and kept running. I finished in 2 hours and 14 minutes, which KICKED my 2007 Eugene 1/2 marathon time in the butt! I was better trained in 2007 and ran Eugene in 2 hours and 31 minutes. And today, with less training and way more hills on the course, I ran the Race for the Roses 17 minutes faster than Eugene. I just felt elated and pumped. I can DO this Ironman in June! I am GOING TO DO IT! There is no tri but only do!

I have 17 hours to get 'er done. It is going to happen.

Hey, and GO TEAM!