Today I ran a half marathon. My goal was two hours or less.
The first half marathon I ran in 2:26. My goal then was to run without stopping. My second half marathon was 2:09. I’d only trained a couple of months, and was very pleased with my time. But it was so close to 2 hours, I had to set that as my next goal.
I’ve trained pretty hard for this race. Not as hard as I could have, but a good faith effort. I felt hopeful about my chances.
I ran what I thought was a goood pace the first half of the race. I was starting to feel tired, but thought if I’d made good time in the first half, I could slow down and still meet my goal. Checking my watch, I realized that I was running much slower than anticipated. If I wanted to finish this in two hours, I’d have to run faster in the second half than I had in the first. Faster. When I was already tired.
So I picked up the pace. I started feeling dizzy. I’d reach out for the water and powerade and my hands were shaking. My legs felt weak and I wondered if I would stumble. Still, I ran on, hoping to make up for lost time.
I finished the race. I didn’t know what my time was because I’d started my watch late. I couldn’t find where they posted the results, so I came home. A few minutes ago, I saw my time.
2:01:15
I missed my goal by 75 seconds. :)
The first five miles I ran a very slow 10:22. That’s just not pretty. I was saving up my energy, but had no idea I was going that slow. The second half of the race I ran a 9:11. I shaved a full 70 second off of every mile. If I’d been able to run 10 minute miles the first five miles, I would have met my goal. If I had not held anything back, I am sure I would have done it.
Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I discouraged? No.
I’m a writer. Writers deal with frustration, discouragement, and rejection all the time. You either learn to look past it, or you quit. I missed my goal by 75 seconds. I was close, but not close enough.
The Top of Utah Half Marathon is in August. That gives me three months.
On Monday I get back to work.
75 seconds is so close it almost doesn’t count. :) But now you know that you can do hard things. 2:01:15 is great! Make sure you take enough carbs (Gu, powergel, shot blocks, etc.) to help keep your energy up. You can do it! Top of Utah in under 2 hours – I’m writing it down. In pen. :)
**speechless**
Too bad we didn’t run into you. I ran the full though so I took a bit longer. Nice work on your race! Sorry you missed your goal, but that just gives you the opportunity to try again!
Great effort on the 2nd half – that is a SERIOUS negative split! Next time run with someone who has a GPS watch. You know every second your current pace, and overall pace. It really helps hitting time goals. Great job & you’ll probably do a 1:55 at TOU.
Oh, soooo close. Great post about getting out there again. You’ll hit it next time.
Well done my friend. I’m totally proud of you. One thing I’ve learned from cycling regularly is that my body can do a lot more than my mind thinks it can.
Very cool, Marion. It was such a beautiful day for a run too. I’m running the Hobbler half in July and need to get to work if I’m going to beat your time at that race!
Awesome job, Marion! You signed up, showed up, and ran, and beat your record by eight seconds, which sounds pretty good to me. I’m still thinking about the signing-up part….
Wow! Awesome job!!!