TMC & Fleet Feet Half Marathon

Wow, where to start? This was my first half marathon so I was very excited/nervous and I did not sleep well last night. But I woke up excited and ready to go! Got to Sabino High School and it was COLD! Somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees and I was very envious of fellow DMer Eileen's gloves. I got to chat with her a bit while trying to stay warm and I got to finally meet fellow DMers Becca and Matt.

I started the race with Matt and we ran at a good pace for me but maybe a little too fast for him (sorry Matt!) so after about 2 miles he slowed down a bit and I tried to keep on pace. I decided to settle in around a 9 minute pace and tried to hit that for the whole shebang and come in around 2 hours. I thought it would be an excellent goal and it would keep me running for the whole 13 miles. It turns out, my legs were just not ready to run 13 miles straight. But, they were strong enough to run 10! That was the longest distance I'd ever run without stopping and it felt great. I carried a small water bottle ate gels at miles 5, 8, and 10 and really the only one that seemed to totally energize me was the first one. The others I'm sure just stabilized my energy levels instead of raising them. I ran with headphones and a music playlist that my wonderful girlfriend helped me put together. Throughout the whole race, my mind wandered and there were times I didn't even realize I was listening to music and then it would just click in.


I ran through the 5, 6, and 7 mile marks feeling great and really enjoying myself. Once I got to the 8 mile mark, I was reaching the furthest that I'd ever run continuously and it was weighing on my mind. I pushed myself past the mile 10 mark, ate my gel, and thought I would be able to continue running with the energy of the gel but my legs would not have any of it. After only a quarter mile more, I had to walk a bit. As soon as I slowed down, my quads started spasming and my legs were shaking. I got that under control after about a minute and went back into a 9 min/mi pace thinking that I only had a 5K left to go and that if I pushed myself, I could totally make it. That was not quite the case. Through the next 3 miles, I traded between running and walking. My final Garmin graph is pretty remarkable. It's virtually a straight line at about 9 min/mi for 10 miles then looks like an oscillating wave for the last 3 mi ranging from 8-9 min/mi (running) to 13-15 min/mi (walking).


As I rounded the turn onto Harrison and Sabino High School came into view I knew that I was in the final stretch. I gathered all the strength I could muster out of my legs and ran the last bit into the school and into the stadium. Becca was standing inside the track cheering and snapping photos I rounded the track and headed to the finish. I gave her a fist pump and she got a good picture of it. As I ran through the finish line, I raised my fist in triumph and as I slowed down, my legs knew it was over and wouldn't have let me run another step even if I wanted to. I walked/stumbled over to Becca and together we cheered on Matt as he came around to the finish.


Becca took some finishers pictures of Matt and I and after some post-race stretching, I grabbed some of Everyone Runs' famous post-race breakfast (amazing tortilla, eggs, beans, and salsa), eyed the line at the massage table, and headed out for a meeting at REI.


Right now, as I write this report, it is 5 and a half hours after finishing the race. My knees and feet are in pretty bad shape. The muscles aren't so bad because I stretched but my knees and feet took it pretty rough. I hope they're just road worn and not injured. This is the biggest beating I've subjected them to. As soon as I finish writing this, I'm going to sit in a cold water bath for a while.


I just checked the results of the race online and it looks like I came in 183rd out of 312 half marathon runners and 12th out of 20th in my age group (25-29). I thought there were a lot more runners but I guess that's because there were 333 people running in the 5K. Well, I was shooting for 2:00:00, optimistically running for 2:05:00 and came in at 2:06:00 with a pretty steady pace so I am very happy. And exhausted. And beat down. And proud.

Somewhere in the middle of the race. Look at that focus!

Fist pump to Becca as I come onto the track.

Coming into the finish. Looking strong?
Probably feeling less so.

This one shows how tired I'm feeling.
And how much I pronate.

The start of another awesome fist pump.

And there it is! The fist pump at the finish!

And this one shows how tired I am. 

Matt and I. Half Marathon finishers!

That's right! Half Marathon Finisher!

Race #: 10

Distance: 13.12 mi
Type: Road
Bib #: 275
Time: 2:05:52
Pace: 9:37/mi.
Place: 183/312


Upcoming Race Schedule:
December 16, 2010: Ride N' Tie mountain bike/run relay with Marty.
January 16, 2010: 13.1 Los Angeles Half Marathon
February 25-26: Ragnar Relay Del Sol!