Total Raised For St. Jude (Since 2008): $5,110
Total Raised This Year: $2,010


Sunday, October 17, 2010

The Middle Half




Nothing tests the progress of training runs like participating in a half marathon. I am 7 weeks out until the full Memphis St. Jude Marathon and this half was going to answer a lot of questions for me an my perceived ability to run the full marathon again. I came in with what I thought was a lofty but achievable goal of breaking 2 hours. This would have required me to run 13.1 miles with a pace of 9:09 per mile.

The race started out extremely cold. I spent the 45 minutes before the opening gun hovering around a charcoal grill that Jim's BBQ had started up. I have no idea if the BBQ was good but I highly endorse their charcoal grills in 30 degree temperatures.

I have yet to start a race where I felt good starting out. My first mile was an 8:56 pace. To make a long story short, I kept trying to slow down thinking I was going out too fast but I realized it is almost impossible to slow a pace down once you have started it. Every mile my watch kept telling me I was going faster and faster. I continued to feel tired but new I had a little energy left. This feeling stayed with me the whole race and helped me have possibly my best race in my 2 + years of running.

I made it to the half way point (6.55 miles) and realized that while it was a long shot, I had a chance to beat my personal best for a marathon of 1 hour, 49 minutes and 14 seconds which I previously never thought would be possible. I continued to push myself and watch as my watch dropped down to a pace in the mid 8:20's. I entered the track where the finish line was and all I could think about was hitting my best marathon. I finished on a dead sprint and knew I was close. I crossed the finish line and looked at my watch.

1:49.52.

I ran for an eternity and missed by personal best by 30 seconds. If i could have seen my virtual self in front of me that set that pr 2 years ago, I probably could have hit him in the head with a rock before he crossed the finish line.

I took away a lot from this race, most importantly increased confidence. This will provide a great boost as I start picking up runs in the mid teens which will eventually top out at 20 before the marathon.

My fundraising support has almost reached $1000 with several verbal commitments that have not yet been received. I am praying things will go well the last 7 weeks with my training as my knee continues to hold up. I have one more finish line I am planning to cross.

Total 2010 Training Miles: 231.77 miles
Total Time Running: 36 hours, 41 minutes, 57 seconds.

Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:618 ft
Location:--Elev. Gain:+3 ft
Date:10/16/10Up/Downhill: [+252/-249]
Time:07:04 AMDifficulty:3.0 / 5.0
Map
Elevation (ft)
Pace (min/mile)
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
18' 56+0' 366.7-0.5-7 ft
28' 40+0' 206.9-0.30 ft
38' 32+0' 127.0-0.2-3 ft
48' 32+0' 127.0-0.2+3 ft
58' 17-0' 037.2+0.0-10 ft
68' 31+0' 117.0-0.2+16 ft
78' 22+0' 027.2-0.0-3 ft
88' 24+0' 047.1-0.1+6 ft
98' 15-0' 057.3+0.10 ft
108' 06-0' 147.4+0.2-6 ft
117' 54-0' 267.6+0.4-26 ft
128' 06-0' 147.4+0.2+10 ft
137' 56-0' 247.6+0.4+19 ft
end6' 13-2' 079.6+2.4+3 ft
Versus average of 8' 20 min/mile

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