Half Way There

Pic of some the NW YMCA Land Sharks who ran the Iron Girl 1/2 or 5k. Nancy, my running coach, is right behind me. Iris, in front with the purple outfit, ran with me. Monica, behind Iris, is an amazing runner. She won a 1/2 recently and has done multiple marathons. Angie, the red-head in the back is the lady who "healed" my legs. She does massages at Advanced theraputic massage of West Chase.

With Iris after the race

A spur of the moment decision led me to an amazing new accomplishment this weekend. I conquered the Iron Girl half marathon with a time of 2:18:15. Because I decided on Thursday to do the race, I had not actually "trained" to do the half. Of course, I have run enough to be considered ready to do it, but mentally it was a little scary to jump into that. After a less than great performance at Gasparilla, I had no idea how this race would feel.

4 a.m. comes very early no matter what time you go to bed. That's what time my day started and I think I am still feeling the effects of not only the running, but the extremely early morning. The ride to Clearwater was fun since I was in good company, but the long wait for the trolley to the starting line left little time to adequately prepare for the start, if you know what I mean!! Opening ceremonies always get me a little emotional and now that I am signed up for my marathon, silly little things get me teary eyed as I daydream about January. The upbeat music helped to get me pumped up, but when the national anthem began to be sung and I contemplated the upcoming challenge of the day and of the year, it almost brought me to tears.

There was not as big a crowd for this race than the last that I did, so after 20 seconds I had crossed the starting line which was right beside the beautiful Clearwater Beach. The course was very challenging and after less than a mile, we were tackling the first of three bridges. It was a challenge, but being able to fly down the other side gave time to recover. From the beginning I knew it would be a good race for me. I felt much better than in February and for the first 10 miles, I never had to stop to walk or even really slow down. I averaged a 10:35 minute mile during the race which is a great time for me while going that distance. (If I can do that at the marathon I will be one happy lady!!) We passed many beautiful houses along the way. The unfamiliar scenery helped to keep my mind busy since I had no music with me on this race. The smell of flowers filled the air a few times and people cheering along the way gave an extra push when needed.

The second bridge was steep but I passed over it without having to walk. I tried not to look to my sides much to see all the water, but stayed focused on the course ahead of me. When I finished mile 9 I looked down at my watch. I had beat my 15k race time and I had not even pushed myself to the limits yet!! It is great when you can get to the point of 9 miles and say to yourself , "only 4 more, no big deal!" even if you have no idea if that is true. Mile 10 felt great too and I was talking myself into speeding up when I reached mile 11 and then to do even more til the end. At mile 11, I grabbed a little to drink and suddenly the cramps hit me. It slowed me down quite a bit and then I saw the bridge that I had forgotten about!! I took a few sips of my own water and decided to tackle it head on. Cramps and all, I was not going to walk any of this. I think I was going as slow as possible, but still jogging, all the way up the bridge. It was not pretty and it was not fun, but I made it and recovered on the way down. I was ready to finish.

The rest of the race was amazing for me. Tears tried to come, but I held them back so I could focus. I skipped the next water stop to try to make up for time on the bridge and started to push myself. This was a total turn around from Gasparilla where I was crawling through the finish line. I kept a quicker pace, but knew that the last bridge and the cramps would probably keep me from beating a 2:15 time which three miles before I thought I could do.  My first goal was a 2:30 but the pace I kept during the first 10 miles made me feel like I could crush that time. Once I saw the 13 mile marker, I pushed as hard as I could and was able to sprint to the finish. I don't think I saw the right clock, but my watch said 2:18 and something seconds. I had done 13.1 miles with very little stopping (by that I mean for water and potty breaks), no walking, and with enough energy at mile 12 to push myself faster! My running buddy, Stephanie, yelled my name as I was getting my time tracker off my shoe. I was never so glad to see her. She did amazing and finished with a time under 2:10. Then I heard my running coach and other fellow YMCA runners call my name. I walked over to them and received hugs from some of them. When someone is willing to hug you after you've run 13 miles, you know they love you!

If you have never run a race, you can not understand the emotion that you feel to be at the starting line, to be running during, and to cross the finish line. This was truly the most emotional race I have done so far. I am finally thrilled with my results and can't believe how good I felt for most of the race. I think back on the last year and a half since I started running seriously and can't believe I am at this point. I was happy with doing 5k races for the first year and never thought that my body could get to this point. I thought that runners were born runners and that I just was not one of them. Now I realize that some may be born with the talent of running, but the rest of us can make ourselves runners with hard work and dedication. 13.1 was AMAZING and now I can not wait til the 26.2, well, I can wait a little. I felt good during the race, but it's going to take a few days for me to recover!