It was just kind of a blah race for me. That says nothing bad about the race itself. I loved the race, the medal, the green beer, everything. But, my race was kind of non-eventful, which on one hand is good (no major meltdowns), but on the other hand is bad (no big, emotional "aha" moment). It just was.
This course was the same as the Halloween Halfathon I ran in October, so I knew it was a flat, somewhat boring course. Thankfully, many people wore green in some form or another or dressed up. That added some excitement.
Even though I had running group friends there, they were all doing the 5K (aside from our speedy coach, Pila). So, I was on my own.
The course is a 3-mile loop (the 5K course) that leads to a 5-mile out-and-back portion. It's along the beach, but you rarely see the water.
I started off and pretty quickly had some calf pain. I'm not sure what was up with that, but after the first mile, it went away.
Mile 1: 11:34
Mile 2: 12:01
Mile 3: 11:34
I didn't really have a plan for the race. I just wanted to run and see what happened. I took my GU gel right before mile 5.
Mile 4: 11:14
Mile 5: 11:28
Mile 6: 11:33
Nothing good or bad happened. I kept running at a pretty consistent pace, and I felt fine.
Mile 7: 11:25
Mile 8: 11:28
Mile 9: 11:26
It was around mile 9 that I started attempting to calculate my finish time. I'm horrible at this! I lose all math skills while running. But, I started to think I was pretty close to my personal best of 2:30:54. I got a little excited, but I was still "eh" about the whole thing. I took my next GU gel close to mile 10.
Mile 10: 11:26
Mile 11: 11:12
Mile 12: 11:32
At this point, I was still looking good in terms of time. I was just tired. My legs and hips were over this whole running thing at this point.
Mile 13: 12:09 (Gah!)
Mile 0.19: 9:15
I started beating myself up in mile 13 knowing that I was losing it. I was mad at myself for running my slowest mile at mile 13. I was really disappointed in my finish (finally, some emotion).
 |
| Almost to the finish ... and swinging my arm in front of me like I've been told not to do. |
My finish time: 2:31:44. Exactly 50 seconds behind that personal record.
I got over my disappointment pretty quickly, realizing I couldn't do anything about it at that point. I felt like I did what I could to try and beat it (now, of course, I can find all kinds of ways to cut 51 seconds off my time ...). On that day at that time, that was my best. As much as I wish I could have been faster in mile 13, I wasn't.
The green beer helped.
And a sweet medal.
And another sweet medal. If you completed the halfathon challenge (half marathons in October, December, January and March), you received an additional medal and a shirt.
I love my collection.
I also love this race series. And, I'll be doing it again.
Ever have a "blah" race? Ever miss a PR by seconds? Did you beat yourself up? Did you run a St. Patrick's Day race?
Those medals are too cute! The Gasparilla 5k this year was suppose to be a PR for me. I just wasn't feeling it. I did however make up for it a couple weeks later at the Bolt Run.
ReplyDeleteI love those Halfathon series medals! So cute. Sorry you didn't catch your PR, but congrats on another half finish!
ReplyDeleteThe medals are awesome! My current 5k PR was the worst 5k I've ever run [I walked during it... multiple times...and somehow its my PR] and even though I've run plenty of 5ks since then [with NO walking], I still have been seconds off my PR. it's frustrating.
ReplyDeleteUgh! That would be frustrating!
DeleteCute medals :) I've been dissapointed looking back at splits too, but you do what you can in the moment!
ReplyDeleteSo true! At the time, I don't think I could have given any more effort than I did, so I have to be happy with that.
DeleteThose medals are super super cute!! You did great! I know, every race I always do something that at the end I'm kicking myself for calculating how it could have shaved off xx amount of time. They can't all be PR's! but you're out there :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome medals! Another great race and so close to your PR! You will get it! :)
ReplyDeleteSo fun! I missed the January race because Disney was the weekend before and was my first full, but now I'm kicking myself for missing it! Sorry you missed our PR by a little. There's always next time! What is your next race?
ReplyDeleteMy next half is Iron Girl. I'm doing the Grand Prix 5K (my least favorite distance) on Friday. What about you?
DeleteThe half I did Tavares was a bit blah, but I think it was just a lonngggg week for me. So I wasn't into it. I treated it like a training run so it was fine. I learned that in the event of cold weather I can't open up my shot bloks with gloves. I dropped them about 5 times before I thought I should take off the gloves.
ReplyDeleteAwesome job! I love this race series, but again this year I'll be missing a couple of them. The Halloween Halfathon is the same weekend as MCM. womp womp :( I will see you at the IronGirl half though! :)
ReplyDelete