Scottsdale, Arizona
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This was my first half marathon and I had planned to be a bit better trained for it. I ran 10 miles 8 days before the race and tapered down from there. The race actually began and I wasn’t at the start line yet. I didn’t have time to do my normal warm up. There were too few bathrooms available. I struggled for the first few miles trying to find a rhythm and I had some minor cramping in my legs. I was worried it was going to be a long race. At about 3 miles in I found my running legs. This race was the first one where I had a chip in my race bib. I thought that was pretty cool. These running races are always a humbling experience for me. There are so many people who run better than I do. For many miles my ego suffered. I hate being passed by young girls and old ladies. At 10 miles I could feel that I was running longer than I had ever run before. I tried to concentrate on form. At 11 miles I passed a clock. They had clocks at every mile. I did some quick math and realized that if I did the last two miles in just over 7 minutes a mile I could finish in less than 2 hours. I had run two 7 minute mile once back in May of this year. It was possible. I decided that I wanted to finish in less than two hours. I picked up my pace and began passing lots of people. I noted that I was passing many of the people that had damaged my ego far earlier in the race. They are still better runners than I am, they are just smart and not willing to hurt like I am. I was running at a pace considerably faster than everyone else. I started to wonder if I was being foolish. I would hate to blow up and have all these people pass me again. The longer I ran at that pace the more I began to hurt. I could feel the lactic acid building in my muscles and gut. The many years of sprint training as a swimmer has given me a high tolerance to the excruciating pain associated with going anaerobic. Sure I am a 42 year old fat guy who was not born to run, but I still have myself fooled into thinking I am some kind of an athlete. Whatever I am I do know I can reach deep within on occasion and doing that does something for me. In moments like these, when I can overcome the revolt of my physical body and achieve a dominance over the flesh, I feel something that is hard to explain. I feel inner strength. I continued the pace passing many people. I could tell that many of them thought I was a fool and that I would burn out. It wasn’t about beating anyone, I wanted just wanted to see what I was still made of. I made it! I did a half marathon in less than 2 hours. My parents were in town visiting and I really wanted to come home and tell my Dad that I could go under 2 hours. My Dad used to run marathons. I did pay a price for that 2.1 mile sprint. It was worth it though. When I started running back in February of this year I couldn’t run a ¼ mile without stopping. Now I had just finished a half marathon in less than 2 hours by sprinting under 7 minute miles for that last 2 miles. Even though I don’t even reach mediocre when compared to others, this was a victorious race for me. This race was put on by Runner's Den and I thought they did a great job. The finisher's medal was unique and one I will treasure to remind me of this race.
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