Way back in March, teammate Michelle challenged me to come up to Medford and run a half-marathon with her and Stu. I hesitated, citing a large-ish belly, lack of training and missing The Crazylegs Classic and she scoffed:
Crazy Legs?!!! Pfft!!! The racing experience in Medford would far surpass that! Who cares about wickedly overweight and out of shape but you? Not I.So that was that, and I was off to Medford using a six-week training plan just published by Runner's World. Along the way, Steve In a Speedo and his wife, Pharmie, joined us for the fun.
On Friday, we all crashed at Michelle's place and enjoyed a homemade dinner, one last workout getting the brownies out of the pan, and catching up with her girls and husband, Jack. We discussed at length the predicted weather and how to dress accordingly. Stu planned on wearing his snowmobile suit, moon boots, and six layers of fleece while the rest of us were going with shorts/capris and long-sleeved shirts. There were other hijinks, but I'll let Steve describe those transgressions.
On race morning, it was 50° not raining, and slightly windy. Perfect! Once we got to the race course (a short two-minute drive up the road because everything in Medford seems like it's two minutes away.) Michelle, Steve and I went to warm-up. Stu ran back and forth to the car a couple of times and finally settled on shorts like the rest of us. After that, we all ambled to the start and watched the official make some announcements (we couldn't hear her above the wind.)
I made mental list of the people that you want to beat. Usually, it's the folks in costumes, but today it was the old-school runner in the singlet, short shorts and cotton socks. Thankfully he was older than dirt, so I liked my chances. There was also a "Justin Bieber"; a twelve-year old in basketball shorts. But he looked just confident enough not to be messed with. (If the real Bieber was there, I would've slapped him silly before the race even started.)
The race started with a "GO!" and we're off! After 3/4 of a mile we're on the trail, and I had to check my pace to make sure I wasn't going out too fast.
Quick side note: As we parked the car, another runner -- let's call him "Dude" -- was stretching by his car. Dude gave us quite the evil eve stare down as we parked. Who knows why, but we all noticed it and weren't feeling friendly vibes. Then, Dude earns the Quote of the Day about a half-mile in when exchanging (marathon) goal times: "SHIT! I forgot to put on my Body Glide! Oh well..." Made me chuckle.
But by mile 3 my heart rate was at 170 and I realized that I'm not in the kind of shape to make my sub-1:45 goal. A quick mental recalculation thinks that sub-1:47 would be a fine time and I strive to beat that. So I press on and take my first gel just before the aid station around mile 4.5. As I near the table, I ask for water and get Gatorade. And only one mini-cup of Gatorade. I'm one-hundred feet past when I think that I probably should have gotten a second or third cup.
Nonetheless, I loved the out and back course. It was so calm and relaxing, that I caught myself day dreaming and had to remind my mind that I was in a race and to not slack off. I remember thinking that if I were ever to run a race with headphones, this would be it.
I finally see a runner coming at me, and I'm sad it's not Steve. We all thought that he would take top honors, but if you read his report, he was quite satisfied with second -- invisible bike or not. He was about a minute behind in second, and we had an unintelligible conversation where I tried to relay his gap to the lead runner and hear him yelling at me at the same time. Then Stu and Michelle followed, with the Justin Bieber look-a-like close on her heels. I reached the half-way barrel and turned to see almost no one in front of me.
The gap to the guy in front was HUGE and there was a sizable gap behind me. I was stuck in no-mans land in 20th place. And that's when I realize we were gaining elevation the whole time on the way out. No wonder my heart rate was so high! So now it's down hill and I start to cruise. I'm feeling great from here all the way to mile 10. It's here where I think that the gap in front of me is shrinking, and I pick it up to make it even smaller. But then my body gets in the way.
I'm feeling good as the trail turns to the east, where the wind is more directly in my face. (Yeah, you had a tailwind going out uphill, and a headwind returning down hill. Great.) Then it started to rain, so that's in my face, too. AND I lost sight of my rabbit and the gap I was attempting to shrink. And then my chest/diaphragm started to cramp. I don't know what caused it, but my muscles right under my heart rate strap started to tighten making it difficult and painful to draw deep breaths. I ran for a while with my hand on my head, but ultimately had to slow my pace until I could manage breathing and running at the same time. My gap closing mission was crushed and it was now a struggle to get to the finish line. It was a good thing no one was around to hear my whining groans and grunts. I finally pulled the strap to my waist and forged ahead. At the last aid station, I grabbed three mini-cups of water and walked a bit to relax. From here on in, there's no stopping.
I finally reached the pavement of the road and in the turn, thought I caught a glimpse of someone behind me. Time to book it. At the final bend within the park road, I don't know if they were volunteers or spectators, but two women gave the most unenthusiastic, bland, bored "you're almost there" cheer. I saw Steve and we shared another unintelligible conversation about who my competition was this time. I got to the line and nearly fell over. Thank goodness this was over.
As soon as we finished, it started pouring down rain. I wonder how Dude's skin fared without his body glide and Mr. Old School in his cotton socks -- whom I beat, by the way. You'll have to ask Michelle about Justin Bieber, though.
All in all, it was a great time hanging out with great friends. We all seemed pretty pleased with the race results, and the first piece of Medford-made Tombstone pizza tasted good. If I had any more, it likely wouldn't have tasted as good the second time around.
Take a look at the data from the race. If you look closely, you can see where: my mind wanders, my meltdown after mile 10, and where I take my heart rate strap off and scoot to the finish line.
