That's my official result. :)
Well, a little more than 1 year after kicking that smoking habit to the curb, I crushed a 1/2 marathon!!!! By "crushed" of course, I mean I destroyed it as a very important personal goal, AND, I did so in a time I hadn't expected to...
As I read the results and compare to what I observed at each mile marker, I noticed something amazing, I actually had a better pace on miles 6-10 than I did on 1-5. I FELT GREAT for the first 10 miles (note - my "base" is 8). Miles 1 and 2 were in the pouring, glorious rain... which became very important later as the clouds cleared and the blazing sun came out. It was fun to run in the rain... though I did get distracted by my own chest as my Nike shirt clung to it and I though "dang boy, that P90X gave you some pecs-definition"... I digress. ;) Seriously though, it was awesome. The rain stopped on the third mile, and the clouds cleared on the fourth. I can't believe how well I remember all of this... Mile 5 was along the side of one of those Madison lakes... Mendoda or Monona or Mendoza (wait... that's a Argentine winery region...) and was gorgeous, but right about then, the sun started beating down and the water from the morning's weather event could literally be seen steaming off the blacktop. The good news is Miles 6 and 7 were through like a path through the woods - kind of - with some shade to help. Miles 8 - 10 were through more residential areas, parts of Madison that, as a runner near me said "the adults live in, not the students" :) Mile 10 was the last marker that I looked at and felt like I was sticking awful close to the 10 minute mile. I was thrilled... I had already outpaced my personal estimate of how I would do by almost 10 minutes. Mile 11 was when I first noticed two things. My calves were starting to feel it, and...wtf... is up.. with my nips? Yes, this was the first run long enough to start to rub the part of the male body that has no use whatsoever other than to chafe during a run. (Not too bad though, never bled, but dang, they got a bit-o-rug burn!) Mile 12 was when I downshifted, deliberately and then the last mile, 13, I put 'er in 1st gear so I could put EVERYTHING I had into the last .1 mile and finish strong... for the photographer ;) And because, dammit, I wanted to finish strong!!!
All this - after a 90 minute delay starting due to lightening and strong winds. I can't say enough about how well this race was handled by the race director, public safety officials and volunteers. The water / aid stations every 1.5 -> 1.8 miles was brilliant, offering aid, water, gatorade and port-o-johns was perfectly spaced out. (Note - I never stopped running once after I started... I grabbed the water or G-A and kept running through it... I was 7 for 10 in getting the empty cups into the trash bins though!)
One other nice touch were the "pace runners". Where I started in "Corral I", I was placed behind the 2:30 pace runner. Meaning, if I kept up with him, I'd run a 2:30 race. It felt GREAT to pass him up on mile 3, and even better when I caught up to the 2:15 pace runner on mile 6, passing him on mile 8... (though he eventually passed me again on mile 13, I wasn't upset in the least by it).
So, would I do another 1/2 Marathon? I don't know... I certainly haven't ruled it out. I know for a fact that I'll be running 13+ miles again in my life, as my next personal goal I need to map out is the full marathon... targeting 2013 for that one.
The important thing is that I've accomplished what I set out to do, and I accomplished it in a level of quality (pace) greater than I thought I could. I can't express enough the amount of joy that overwhelmed me when I finished... I seriously felt like crying I was so overjoyed by the whole experience. All the moments in my life that led up to this one, the people, the support, the running buddies (both literal, and e-buddies), my family (even my aunt Rachel who thinks this is a wonderful "second sport" to Nordic Skiing), the promises I made to myself to "not give up", the pain of the training and the pain of the event... I have a day of sore, heavy calves to deal with, and a new soreness on one spot on my left knee I need to keep an eye on, but finishing this race is by no means the end of anything... 13.1 is just a mile marker on the rest of my life.
Thank you everyone. :)
