Redeemed!

The Pittsburgh Marathon and Half Marathon was today, after 6 years on hiatus, and I was just so excited to be running the half.  I think it has something to do with it being a race that I've been watching all my life, as well as being one that goes through so many neighborhoods that I know and love.  Even though the half marathon course didn't go through my neighborhood (the full one did, though - mile 21 was just two blocks down the road from my house), I still was pumped for it, but definitely feeling a bit gunshy after my past few races having been so unpleasant.  I had decided if today's race was miserable, I was just going to swear off racing, since clearly it would mean I was doing something very wrong.  So mentally, there was a lot riding on this race.

When my stomach started acting up again, I wasn't optimistic about the outcome today.  Haakan and I stood in the kitchen at 5:30am, saying "Why are we doing this again?"  But we were on our way with no major difficulties, Haakan leaving early, Byrno (who was also up for the half) and I leaving after my sister showed up to watch the kids (thank you, thank you, thank you, Jessica!).  We found parking, found Haakan, and all was going according to plan.  I found my pace area and said good bye and good luck to Haakan and Byrno, and prepared to just do it, however it came out.  My goal was to keep to around a 10 minute mile, to bet my previous time (2:12:22), and to not feel like a soggy pile of doodoo when the race was over.  

And it was amazing.  The race went better than I could have ever hoped.  I feel like I have redeemed myself after so many miserable races as of late.  I PR'ed with a finish time of 2:08:16 and a pace of 9:48/mile, and most importantly, I felt GREAT during the whole thing.  I ran the entire course, I didn't stop once, even only slowed down at water stops, and I really felt wonderful throughout.  I'd say that the only difficult points came in the last 3 miles.  There was a lot of uphill and I was having a hard time pacing myself properly and ended up pushing a bit harder than I wanted to up the hills, but it all worked out in the end.  And as much as I wish I had trained for the full marathon, I was very happy to split off from the full marathon runners to finish up the half.  I was ready to be done at that point.  I really turned it on during the last mile so that I could be sure to come in at 2:10 or under, and I had quite a bit left to pour it on, more than I thought I would.  So now breaking 2 hours doesn't seem so unachievable in a few months.  I kept checking my pace, which was in the 10 minute mile range for the first few miles (which I had planned), but gradually I was able to pick it up a bit, averaging between 9:30 and 9:45 for the rest of the race.

I saw my mom twice along the course and she got some good pictures (she tells me), so that was nice.  My sister wasn't able to get the kids out to see Haakan come through because it started to rain, but he says he didn't really notice, anyway.  He finished in 3:28:35, which just blows me away.  And Byrno finished in 2:17 and change, which is awesome for a first half marathon.  I also saw a lot of very neat running going on.  At the very start of the race, I passed a woman who had on a t-shirt that said on the back "I'm slow because of Mylee  4.2.09".  I said "does your t-shirt say that you just had a baby last month?" And she said, "yeah, that's why I'm so slow."  I said, "Honey, you're not slow.  You just had a baby a month ago, you're hardcore!"  I don't know how she did or if she was doing the full or the half marathon, but I thought that was pretty amazing that she was out there with a newborn.  I had my water at the water station between miles 7 and 8 handed to me by a woman with a small baby in a moby wrap.  I said "Hey!  A babywearer!" and probably sounded like a total freak, but I was excited to see it.  I also saw a little girl, maybe 4 years old, running holding her mom's hand as her mom started the second leg of the marathon relay.  And I saw a couple, maybe husband and wife, cross the finish line wearing matching outfits and holding hands.  It was sweet to see a couple supporting each other that way.  And I got to see the winner cross the finish line, since I was there waiting for Byrno (who had already come through, but I didn't know that).  Runners in the half were crossing the finish line at the same time, and I just thought how cool that would be, to cross the finish line with the winner.

I'm sure lots of hard core racers would disagree, but for me, it seems that doing well in a race is like a balancing act.  How hard can I push myself and still complete the distance.  I'm sure there are those who would say you should be pushing hard the entire time, but that hasn't worked out so well for me, maybe because I haven't trained as well as I've wanted to or as wisely as I should have.  So I pushed, but not so hard that I felt like I couldn't recover, if that makes sense.  I'm actually feeling kind of excited for The Race for the Cure 5k next weekend.  My previous best 5k time is pretty unimpressive, 29:something, so I'm SURE I can beat that, especially with so much downhill on the course.