Revenge On The Mind…..
As I have mentioned in some of the more recent running-related blog entries, I have been gearing up for the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon (13.1 miles). It was a quick turnaround from my race on Long Island in early May, but I was determined to run RnR because of my less than stellar performance in the inaugural event last year.
Many reasons existed why I didn't run it so well in 2009, but a major culprit was the heat on race day. It was a gorgeous day, which would have been awesome if you were cheering people on, but not so much if you're running the race. And it generally doesn't get *THAT* hot in Seattle so I wasn't used to it. This morning, we had GREAT conditions for racing. It was cloudy and in the low to mid 50s. And while it felt a bit humid in the 1st 5 miles, overall I could not complain about the weather.
As always, the day started with Marc getting up with me BEFORE dawn (sunrise is around 5am this time of year in Seattle) so he could drive some of my running buddies and I down to the start of the course. To say that this makes my life easier when I train on long runs and for races is a huge understatement. Marc had all of my drinks loaded up and knew where to meet Coach Lesley and I at a couple of points on the course. Excellent.
I asked Lesley to pace me for this race. I was hoping to marginally improve on the PR (personal record) I set in May, but I also knew this was a hillier course that would test me more in the last third of the race. What I have learned from one of the critical training runs I did late last year with Lesley and the Seattle Half Marathon from last November is that if someone is pacing me, I am better off letting them "do their jobs" and not look at my watch to see how I am doing. For those of you who know me well, you know that this is easier said than done. So Marc knew the pace so he knew when to meet us. A couple of my teammates, Libby and Ty, who started the race with us, knew the plan. I didn't.
The 1st 4 miles of the race were uneventful except for the fact that my heart rate monitor was picking up some wacky readings (like I should have been dead or something really close to that). So we scrapped the chest strap when we saw Marc later as it was more of an annoyance and we didn't want it to detract from my focus or energy trying to get it to work. The course is relatively flat at this stage, so I was thinking we were just focused on staying at a moderate pace and not working too hard. The race organizers had bands playing at every mile, and they definitely had better bands this year than they did last year.
Since I wasn't looking at the pacing data on my watch, I didn't have too much of an idea on how we were doing other than seeing the clocks at the mile markers. But I didn't do the math because quite honestly, I couldn't remember what the clock said a mile back. At mile 5, you have the longest hill of the course which is steady and lasts for a full mile. We saw Jan, one of our teammates, which was nice. Once we finished that, Lesley swapped drinks and empty bottles with Marc, and I kept on running. There was a downhill for about a ½ mile, and then we were running along Lake Washington for just over 3 miles.
I saw two of my friends, Leslie and Sarah, which was a huge boost! It was nice and flat but I felt like I was battling a bit at this point. Mind you I didn't feel as bad as I did a year ago at this stage of the race, but I wasn't rocking it like I did on Long Island. So I started thinking to myself that every race can't be awesome and figured that Lesley knew what she was doing. She was giving me guidance, kept me in good spirits and gave me liquids when it looked like I needed them. Libby and Ty left us and started to pick up their pace. At the start of mile 9, there was another hill for another ½ mile and then we were in the tunnel.
Last year, the tunnel was NOT my friend and it didn't help that the band playing in there was a heavy metal band. So while AC/DC would have been great, it was just one blaring noise that rattled your head and not in a good way. This year, it still blared but they put in a DJ so it wasn't nearly as obnoxious. I felt like I was getting slower and slower at this stage. Lesley told me to just take smaller steps. My left hip started to hurt, one of my right toes started to throb and my stomach didn't feel awesome.
As we finished mile 10 just outside of the tunnel, Lesley reminded me that we had "less than a Green lake lap". Green lake is a place where I run on a regular basis where the outer loop is 3.2 miles and the inner loop is 2.8 miles. So it is more of a psychological deal because I've done plenty of laps around it. We see Marc as we hit downtown Seattle at mile 11.5, and Lesley swaps out some other stuff with Marc. I wave and continue on. I am still not feeling great and tell Lesley, who in turn tells me not to think about it in a very polite way (in other words, "shut the [bleep] up, you're almost done, come on!).
I am feeling slower at this point, but continue on the gradual uphill and the pain becomes less of a factor. I am breathing hard, swearing inside of my head and continuing to grind. As we start mile 13, I am ready for this to be over. I feel slow but am steady and taking those small steps. We get off of the Viaduct, and have about a ½ mile left until the finish. OK – finish strong and just hope the time is less than 2 hours when we cross the end.
I turn the corner to Qwest Field (home of the Seattle Sounders and the Seattle Seahawks) and see the finish in the distance. I then see the gun time and remember that we started about 3 minutes after the gun went off. I then realize that we are on target for a PR for me…. Holy crap! We crossed the finish line at 1 hour and 53 minutes. I am absolutely pumped! Of course when I get home and look at the splits on my watch, I see why I was feeling as though I was battling and in "some pain". LOL.
My official time was 1:53:03, which is 90+ seconds improvement from my PR on the very flat Long Island Half Marathon course. And more importantly, it is a 17+ minute improvement from when I ran this same course in 2009 – so yeah, I GOT MY REVENGE! Celebration time awaits with Marc and Lesley tonight, the people who were largely responsible for making the achievement possible. You know there will be some nice wine involved. Woo woo!