Finish Time: 1:55:10
Pace: 8:47/miles
I went into this thinking I would be super happy with a sub 9:30 pace (but also thinking that was daunting). I knew my training has been pretty consistent, a little off lately with being sick and traveling and injury. My coach emailed me the day before saying to start conservatively (he said 9-9:30!!) for a few miles then to drop down to race pace of 8:45. In my mind, I thought there was no way.
I drove to the start line a little early because I needed to pick up my packet. I had fueled pretty well (sushi and lo mein the night before, peanut butter and jelly tortilla beforehand), and planned to take a gu every 5 miles. I made sure everything was tucked in my shorts. At packet pickup, I saw a running friend I had paced races with a long time ago, so nice to see a friendly face! I headed back to my car to warm up for a half hour or so and craft my race day play list. I decided to wear my shocks headphones this time, I had good luck with them during the Door County 50.
I headed to the start line with about 15 minutes to spare and stretched my hips a bit and just tried to stay warm. It was overcast and starting to sprinkle a little bit, thankfully it wasn’t too cold otherwise that would have been miserable (I’m sure it wasn’t fun for spectators!). I wore shorts and a tank and that was perfect.
I started out just in front of the 2:00 pacer. We got going and almost immediately my sunglasses flew off the top of my head. The pacer behind me was super kind and she picked them up for me. I clocked the first mile under 9, and thought I had gone too fast. I kept trying to slow up to get back to 9-9:30, but I felt strong and just kept ticked miles off.
A couple miles in my running club was at the bottom of a hill, cheering. It was awesome to see them!! I kept looking at my watch and kept hitting sub-9s and figured I would try to hold on until at least mile 8 and see if I had it in me to start going faster. I got to mile 8 and decided to wait til mile 10 🙂 but kept hanging on to my pace. I knew my running club was at mile 10 – just beyond the tough hills leading to St. Thomas. I figured if I held on until then, I would push.
I saw my running club again and was so happy! I was on a downhill and feeling strong. There was a couple I kept in my eye sight, knowing they were super consistent (they probably got annoyed with me, I kept passing them and then they would pass me..). At mile 11, I stopped to drink some water and tie my shoes. I knew it would hurt my time to stop, but I also knew that tightening them would allow me to do my best the last couple miles. I started going as best I could, getting to about 8:30 miles. The last mile was a bit of a grind. There was a tiny uphill to get up the overpass and it felt like a mile. I figured I just needed to lock in and grind it out and I would be done. After a few turns, there was the finish line! I picked it up as much as I could (which wasn’t too much at that point) and made it to the finish. I got my medal and a bottle of water and immediately headed for the bus back to my car. I was in need of a warm, hot shower!
I was ecstatic at my results, it was the fastest half since having kids and felt like my consistency is paying off! My coach even texted me to tell me he told me to start too conservatively 🤣, but honestly, I don’t think I could have executed any better.
I got home for a warm bath… which immediately got hijacked by my 4 year old. And then finished the day chasing my 6 year old around on her rollerblades #relaxing
