Committed

I still am not a fan of that word. Nonetheless, I did commit…to the Lewis & Clark Half-Marathon. I couldn’t help it. The course is listed as flat and fast, which is what it was in 2007, when I first ran it. It doesn’t look much different this year.

So thus the training has started and I am trying to take to a minimum once a week tempo run. Running terms confuse me, but this one I got: run xx distance fast. So fast you can’t hold a conversation, but slow enough you can answer one-word questions.

I did my first today. The run was 2 min slower than my Monday morning easy run. Wow. I might be on to something.

If I can finish this half in under 2:03 I will be a happy gal. 2:03 was my first half time.

Hospital Hill Half Marathon

Done! Saturday, June 6, I completed my second half-marathon, the Hospital Hill Run in Kansas City, Missouri. My time is listed as 2:11:49, which put me at 1,680 overall (out of 2,391 finishers), 658 among women (out of 1,130 finishers), and 45 in my age group (out of 93 finishers). I am satisfied with the finish, but of course, not completely happy – I really wanted to finish between 2:03 and 2:05.

Race day, things were in my favor. We had a nice pasta dinner the night before. It was 68 degrees when we left the hotel and cloudy, but no rain was predicted. It was windy – winds were from the south so I faced them from mile 1 to mile 7 – but they weren’t awful. We drove the course the evening before so I knew where the hills were and yes, this half-marathon is appropriately named as it was definitely hilly. Miles 4 and 5 and miles 10 and 11 were the toughest. I had battled a stiff right quad all week, but it felt great on Saturday morning, never bothered me during the race, and was fine after.

What hit on Saturday, however, was my left knee. About mile 4 it started to bother me and drifted from my knee to my hip. Uphill it wasn’t bad, but downhill it was uncomfortable. Off and on during the run it ached and I have no doubts it had an effect on my final time.

The best parts of the race other than finishing: I got a great send-off hug from M, who made this journey with me and ran the 10K. On our drive over we heard the Nickleback song, “Rock Star,” which both of us like. At mile 7 of my run, I rounded the corner to start the trek back and some people were out on their lawn cheering on runners. One family had a radio and yes, “Rock Star” was blaring. I smiled and had no doubts and no flinches that I would finish the race. I looked down at my watch and realized this happened just about the time M would cross his finish line. I couldn’t help but be happy. That kept me going the rest of the run.

The absolute best part, M was at the finish line. He had successfully completed his second 10K, gone back to the hotel room, picked up the camera, and walked down to take photos of me crossing the line. What a guy!

Next up – I am debating the Lewis & Clark Half-Marathon in September. I have enjoyed the long runs, the training challenge, and the reward for completing. And I really would like to run closer to, if not better than, 2 hours.