SOLDIER HALF MARATHON SUCCESS!

Today I ran the Soldier Half Marathon in honor of fallen soldier SFC Christopher Speer, a combat medic who served with one of Jay's best friends from high school. His testimony, in the words of his comrade:

"He put the welfare of others ahead of his own; two weeks prior to his death he courageously navigated a minefield in order to save the lives of two Afghan children. He and I both spilled our blood on the same field of battle on 27-July-2002, but I was fortunate enough to return home. Christopher Speer epitomized what it means to be an American hero and will never be forgotten."

I couldn't have been more proud of my country today. To see so many athletes out there running for fallen soldiers, the pride on the faces of the survivors, and the many soldiers who volunteered their time to cheer and direct us this morning was just beyond motivational. The further I got into the race, the happier I was. It was truly incredible. I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to run in honor of one of our true American heroes. And I'm damn proud of myself for doing what I set out to do (run a significant PR).

My official chip time for this race was 1:57:24, a half marathon PR by over 18 minutes! Not only that, but my 10K time was 56:31 (according to my Garmin, since the clock time of 58:30 doesn't reflect my actual run time, as I started in the middle of the pack of runners and had to walk a couple minutes to the starting line), compared to my previous PR back in January of 57:53), and I ran a faster 5K during the second half of this race (25:40 for miles 7, 8, and 9) than I did during the 5K I PR'd in back in May (26:50). Not sure how I did that. Either I'm faster than I was back in May due to longer endurance runs and speedwork, the cooler weather has helped increase my speed, or maybe I wasn't racing to my full potential during that 5K. Probably a combination of all three. 

I ran every step of this race except for the length of the water stops (one of which was thankfully halfway up the second hill and perfectly timed for a Gu refuel as well), even the big hill.

(I took my phone out just once during the race, to document that it wasn't completely flat... This was the big hill at the start of the 3rd mile.)

Speaking of the hills... They had drill sergeants stationed at the big one and they were yelling bootcamp-style threats at us to keep moving. My favorite quote was "The hill only gets longer the slower you go!" Needless to say, I didn't see anyone walking up that hill. In fact, I didn't see anyone walking (other than a pair of older Marathon Maniancs who were doing a 3:1 run:walk ratio, and a pair of guys doing the Galloway method) until close to mile 10 when some folks started hitting the wall. Just more motivation for me to KEEP MOVING FORWARD. (I played an awesome mental game with myself today, and I'm thrilled that I was able to stay so positive and happy and strong throughout the race, without music or the distraction of friends, and just run my heart out!) Anyway, that same drill sergeant looped around to the big downhill and yelled "This one's a SMALL hill! And you're going DOWN! Open that stride and pick up your feet!"

Mile Splits:

9:11, 8:55, 9:31 (hill #1 and water station), 8:52, 8:55, (hill #2 and Gu break/water station was across the mile 5 marker) 9:30, (I will say that I purposely "banked" some time during the first 6 miles in case I couldn't hold the 9:33 pace that I knew I needed to average to hit my goal time - I never expected to be faster during the second half of the race...), 8:31 (including a water station and the big downhill), 8:32 (energized by Jay and Jean and the kids and the crowd at mile 7.5), 8:37 (another short water station walk thru), 8:49, (Gu break/water station was across the mile 10 marker) 9:06, 8:54, 8:18 (last mile push!), and 7:55 pace for that last tenth of a mile.

I had an awesome negative split today (running the second half of the race faster than the first half, something I'd never done before). My 10K pace was 9:07/mile and my pace for the second half was 8:47/mile. I'm telling you, that feels GOOD! I was in 371st place at the 10K split, then finished in 285th (out of 1061 total half marathon finishers), taking 15th in my age group (out of 101) as the 78th female (out of 583). You better believe it was FUN passing all those people during the second half of the race!

I was constantly assessing myself during this race. Not so much my pace/time (though I did check every mile or so - I wore a 2:05 pace band and only looked at it once at mile 8, which is when I realized that I was already 4 minutes ahead of my time goal), but my legs/joints/attitude. How do I feel? Does anything hurt? No? Good. Then keep on doing what you're doing! I aimed to be "uncomfortable" throughout the race, but not push myself to the point of being in pain (or completely out of breath - I didn't want to NEED those water stations for walk breaks, but to walk just long enough to drink my half cup of water/Powerade and carefully place my cup/Gu wrapper into the last trash can). I decided that if I was going to RACE and not just run this event, I needed to be working hard and FEEL it. Definitely not a conversational pace for me today, though I think I did a great job controlling my breathing and pacing myself in the beginning so that I didn't burn out.

When my Garmin showed exactly 1:30:00 at the 10-mile mark, I knew all I had left to do was run a 5K in under 30 minutes, and I was elated that I felt confident in my ability to do that or better at that point (my legs never felt heavy and the only joint pain I felt was the usual in my ankles, so I knew I could run through it and it wouldn't slow me down). The young kids dancing wildly to Party Rock Anthem at the 10-mile turnaround (where the marathoners split from us) pumped me up, I took my second Gu and some Powerade, and I literally danced around that turn with a smile on my face and my fists pumping the air. Honestly, the smile NEVER left my face during this race - it was just a good day for me!

As I rounded the final turn onto the Avenue of Flags, I watched for Jay. As soon as he yelled to me and I saw him, I picked up my pace, looked up at the clock, and ran even faster. That clock read 1:59:04 when I went under and I KNEW I had done it! The female soldier that placed my medal around my neck saw the tears in my eyes and told me she was proud of me (and to keep moving forward...) My official time of 1:57:24 gave me an overall pace of 8:58/mile, a pace I hadn't thought I was capable of yet for this distance, so I am seriously just beyond thrilled!

(The medal looks exactly like dog tags. It's very cool!)

A few other random stories from my run...

There was a dad running with his toddler in his arms, while pushing the stroller... Apparently the little guy got cold and cranky. (Did I mention it was 42 degrees at the start of the race and my hands were ice for the first 4 miles? It was perfect race weather!) Jay and Jean had seen him running while pushing the child-laden stroller at the 7.5-mile mark (where they had trekked over to see me pass by, which was extremely energizing for me!), so the kiddo made it at least halfway. His dad was not amused when I passed him at mile 11 though!

A lady fell shortly after littering (throwing a Gu wrapper over her shoulder). Karmic retribution. Respect your race route folks.

At mile 1.5 as we were going through the big ID check gate to get onto the official portion of the army base, a pair of Fort Benning soldiers pulled out their CAC cards to show the guards, which completely cracked me up.

As for myself, I saw the 4:00 marathon pace group within sprinting distance at mile 9.5 and realized I had a good chance of going sub-2:00. I checked my Garmin at mile 12 and wondered how I hadn't caught them yet... It wasn't until I finished and reunited with Jay and the kids that I realized the 4:00 pace group was doing the FULL marathon and obviously didn't make the u-turn at mile 10 like I did. Doh!

Oh, and this guy did the full marathon in a complete bomb detonation suit...

Other than the race itself, there was a bounce house for the kids (which ours enjoyed pretty much the entire time that they weren't cheering for me at the start, finish, and over at mile 7.5), and the National Infantry Museum. We toured the museum after my race and were so impressed. Perhaps I'll do another blog post for the non-running portions of today...

Oh, and I got to celebrate with a discrete glass of Red Jacket from the local Cannon Brewery (instead of a can of Michelob Ultra) thanks to Jay's foresight to grab a growler of it last night after dinner! (P.S. When in Georgia, refueling with boiled peanuts from Mark's Melon Patch is a no-brainer. They were SO GOOD!)

For those interested, here is the course route and elevation profile:

I HIGHLY recommend this race to other runners out there. It was mostly flat, very well organized, and filled to the brim with pride and motivation. Get out there and get YOUR PR! Jay and I are going back next year and plan to make this an annual event, it was that great. And next year I'll likely run the full marathon!

Thank you Jay for making today possible for me. Without your willingness to watch the kids during my multi-hour runs on weekends, putting up with my 4:25am alarm two weekdays per week, and general encouragement, I just simply couldn't have had the great day that I did today. THANK YOU!