1:51:30 that was my PR for the half last February, I’ve
ran a number of half’s since then, but damn it all to hell I couldn’t beat that
time. Why couldn’t I? I think there are a number of reasons, training was
getting stale and I wasn’t mixing it up enough (Speed work, Distance, Cross
training). I give a lot of credit to my new training plan for this PR. The week leading into the race I took my
coaches advice and made a minor adjustment to my schedule. On Wednesday I was
supposed to do a 10 mile run instead I did 7 mile incline ladder run, and then Thursday
did 5 miles and Friday 1 mile. The hope was my legs would be well rested for Saturday
s race. Something very helpful was I did
my Friday Mile during my lunch break, I figured then I wouldn’t have to worry about
it later. Friday I did my best to try
and relax and not worry about the race, I mean I have done this distance 8
times now. Needless to say I was still very nervous; wanting to PR will do that
to you. Friday night I took my daughter Malina out to dinner to one of our favorite
spots Portillos Hot Dogs. The thing with Portillos is that I never make the
smart food choice when I go there; I always get the unhealthiest thing on the
menu. Reason behind this, is because it taste so damn good. This time thought I
made a different choice and got a grilled chicken sandwich and a baked potato,
this way I get carbs and protein in one meal. After dinner and spending time
with Malina I dropped her off at home and took myself home. The car ride home seemed like one of those Cadillac
commercials, me driving and thinking about the race. “I started running races
before it were cool, I just did it because I liked it.” I got home and laid out my gear for the race,
which was my NikeProCobat long sleeve, CES wind vest, shorts and running
rights, oh yeah also had gloves and hat.
Thankfully the race did not start till 10am Saturday morning,
and that was a very nice change. I am so used to getting early I Saturday,
since I pace with CES and even if I wasn’t pacing most races start super early.
My new prerace morning routine is to eat
a banana and drink a bottle of water. That way I have something in my stomach
and I am not running on empty. The good thing is before leaving I took Rocky outside
and that really helped I gage how the weather felt and thankfully it was nice
out. I got dressed and put on my warm up clothes over my race gear, and we were
off.
When we got to the race Yasmin dropped me off and she
went to the parking garage to park the car. When I got there I hung out for a
min at the start line but the wind was picking up so I went inside. I got to
stretch a little bit and warm up. As 10 o’clock approached everyone started to
head outside. I should have maybe got out sooner since there was a line to get
into the corrals and some people took to jumping the barrier. I opted on the
side of caution and waited, turns out the opening was only a few feet from
where I was standing. I said my runner’s prayer, crossed the start and turned
my watch on. The race started and finished outside of soldier field and headed
south on the lake front path. I must say
I really enjoy running on the south end of the lake front path for a number of
reasons. It’s nice to not have to worry about bike riders and there is less
traffic with the people too. I wanted to
do my best to play it smart at this race and not start too fast or too slow
either. I figured if I could keep my pace about 8:30 min mile I can and would
PR. As I started running I noticed my
current pace was an 8:15 min mile, now my fear was could I hold that pace. I had enough confidence that I could in fact
do it during this race. As happens with ever race/run my GPS decided to torcher
me a little bit my changing my current pace from 8:15 to 11:00 then back up to
8:00 (thanks a lot modern technology.). What I decided to do was change my
display from current pace to average pace. My thought was I was far enough in
the race that I needed my average pace to stay on point. We ran all the way to
the end of the path and turned around and headed back north, and I realized I
was half way done with the race. I was keeping a good pace and refused to slow
down, also tried to avoid speeding up too much. As I started the last mile I’ll
admit my legs started to hurt I wanted to slow down but told myself I can’t,
and I looked at my watch my average pace was 8:20. 8:20 with less than a mile
to go, I knew I would PR unless something happen. Thank god nothing happen when
I saw the finish line, I could hear Yasmin cheering me on and saw her and
Rocky. I made my finale push towards the finish. I did it, I PR’D!
I collected my medal which also is a bottle opener and is
very cool looking. My legs were sore as all get out after the race, and that is
something that hasn’t happened in a while, but then again I haven’t been
pushing myself like I did that day. Prefontaine once said “To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.”
Honesty I feel that lately I have been giving
less than my best and that is something I am going to change. On the schedule is more training and some
more races coming up.
