Half-Assed Runner

Six days ago I struggled through my first marathon.  An intelligent runner would be enjoying a nice break from running and recovering.  I has not the smart.  Instead I was running my 11th half marathon.

The race begins and ends at Court Square Park, which is home to the nation’s only two-story outhouse.

Yup. 

I did not want to run today.  I woke up at 7 am to an overcast, chilly morning.  I was in no mood to run.  It was a one hour drive to Belle Plaine and I had to get there before the 9 am start in order to pickup my packet.  I dinked around until just before 8 am.  This meant I was going to need to haul ass to make it to the start on time.  Luckily, the drive is through farm country and I made it to the park in Belle Plaine and picked up my packet with enough time to jog back to my car and stow the t-shirt.

The sky was still overcast, but the promised rain never fell other than a slight on and off drizzle.  I decided to wear a long-sleeved black tech shirt and shorts.  I was pretty cold at the start.  This was a smaller event (about 180 half marathoners) but there were pacers, so I lined up with the 2:10 pacer at the start.  Soon enough the race started and my weary legs started to propel me forward.

I had no expectations other than to finish this race.  I still don’t have my legs back 100% from the marathon.  It felt pretty liberating to not worry about pace.  I was surprised when I finished the first mile (a circuitous jaunt through the town) in 9:06.  I felt like I was running much slower.  I started to wonder if maybe I had fast run in me.  I was right behind the 2:05 pacer…who was about 10 feet behind the 2:00 pacer.  That bewildered me.  I suppose that after 1 mile there is only about a 25 second difference between the two pacers, but they were much closer than that.  We left town and started on a downhill after the first mile.  This gave me a little bit of hope that I might be able to make a run at 2 hours.  The hills soon dashed that idea from my skull.I had peeped the elevation profile and there was a big hill around mile 7.  What I did not notice was that there were a number of other smaller hills on the course.  From mile 2 to mile 6, the course was basically one long 200 foot climb.  I dropped behind the 2:05 pacer (who was still within twenty feet of the 2:00 pacer) at mile 2 and settled into a slower pace.

The course ran on roads that were not fully closed off with a brief gravel stretch through a construction area.  There were only a few sections that ran right along the river, but there was enough variation to make it a very nice course.

I carried my big (24 ounce) bottle with me.  I had planned on just bringing the smaller (10 ounce) bottle, but could not find it in my gym bag.  I only had enough Gatorade to fill the bottle half way, so I was treated to the sloshing of the liquid.  This made me start listening to music very early on in this race.

After the water stop around four miles in, another runner pulled up on my right and we started chatting.  I never do this, but for the next few miles we ran together.  He was running this as his last long run before a marathon next week.  I was happy to chat away as it took my mind off the miles.  We reached the big hill around mile 7 – which turned out to be only the third steepest hill – and we powered over it.  I honestly would have walked that sucker if I had been alone.  On the downhill I inadvertently picked up the pace so were running 8:30/mile at the 8 mile water stop.  I walked through the water stop and he continued on ahead of me.  I dialed back my pace as I was starting to tire a bit.

I struggled a bit from miles 8 to 11.  I was thinking that after running a marathon last week, that a half marathon would feel like a 5K.  Not so much.  My pace was relaxed, but I was definitely losing steam.

At the 10.5 mile point, the course hits its lowest point, then starts uphill for the remainder of the race.  The water stop around this area was fun though.  I started seeing signs with questions like “What do you call a dog with no legs?” then a few hundred feet later another sign with the answer “It doesn’t matter.  He won’t come”.  There were a handful of these cheesy jokes and the signs kept me smiling and took me away from the hilly misery that was the end of this race.

I knew I was not in any position to PR on this course, but I was taking pride in the fact that I had not walked at all (other than through the water stops).  That ended 12.5 miles in.  At mile 12 there was a huge hill as we ran back into town.  I (slowly) ran the first half of it, but ended up taking two walk breaks on the second half.  After cresting the hill, I only had enough energy to make a half-hearted dash for the finish line.

My time was pretty crap, but I didn’t care.  I had a pretty good time, except for that last hill.  The course was challenging, yet it did live up to the “scenic” moniker.  It would have been more scenic had the weather been clearer.  The medal was crappy, but the race cost $40 and was part of the Explore Minnesota Challenge, so I had no complaints.  After the race you voted for the best water stop (I chose the one with the goofy signs) and then were given a ticket for a free beer.  There were plenty of treats afterwards as well.

Next week I run my 12th and final half marathon in Mankato.