I've been bad about keeping up with race reports but this monster of a race deserves to be talked about.
Yesterday I ran the Decker Challenge Half Marathon which is the 3rd of 5 races in the Austin Distance Challenge. Let me tell you "Challenge" is an understatement. I went into the race with a week of bad nutrition but did carb up on beer and mashed potatoes the night before!
I woke up earlier than my alarm and hung out for a while until it was time to get dressed. I knew it was going to be really cold and windy and decided to put UnderArmour under my Beef Running Jersey. I threw a sweat shirt and some basketball shorts in my bag for before the race and I headed off to the Expo Center.
I found a spot in the middle of the floor to stretch out a little and get my knee braces and iPod on. Soon my friend Lorin from Boot Camp came over and sat for a while. I nibbled on a almost frozen Power Bar from my car and drank some water. I was a little nauseous and couldn't get much else down.
We saw that there was a bag check so Lorin and I left the warmth of the Expo center to get my bag and to get my gloves from the car (thank goodness!)
I ran into some other Beef Team members and took a few pictures.
Soon we ran into the ever-late Stephen and Inez and worked on getting Stephen out of a grumpy mood. With just a few minutes until race start we headed out in the cold, sang the national anthem, said a prayer, and the gun went off. Immediately I had iPod problems and was trying to work it out as I started running - ugh! I finally stuck my iPod in my sports bra and was good to go.
I hung with a few Galloway walk/runners and tried to keep their pace and finished the first mile in about 14:30. I thought it might have been short but apparently, I'm just getting faster!
Miles 2-4 had a few rolling hills and I was settling into the back of the pack. There were a few people behind me. I finished mile 4 right at one hour. My plan had been 17 minutes miles so I was happy with that.
I turned onto a very lonely Lindell Rd and everyone started spacing out further. I was half a mile from anyone for most of the stretch. I decied that I would start running at the beginning of each electricity pole and try to go about half the distance then walk until I got to the next one. This was a really good strategy and kept me going faster.
I was getting warm so I threw off my gloves at the mile 5 sign but soon regretted it. I should have pushed up my sleeves first. My fingers were frozen for the rest of the race.
I had ridden the same course for my triathlon this year so I knew where the hills were and when to expect them. I knew this road would dead end and turn into a hill. I saw a Shot Block on the ground that someone had dropped and picked it up and ate it. (You gotta do what you gotta do!)
I slowed down as I hit the hill on Mile 6 and as I got threw it a little girl from the water station came running at me with water. It was very nice! I turned the corner at the water station and started down another long, lonely road. I got into my music, enjoyed the scenary, and time with God. Miles 5 and 6 were both right at 17 min/miles. I was doing okay!
I crossed the half way timing mat at 1:48 and did a little math in my head and if I kept this pace I could PR. But wait, what if I don't finish by the cut-off because of the infamous mile 10 hill. I decided to try to keep up my speed but not think about the PR until after mile 10 and then make a decision.
I turned into the feeder road of the toll road and saw a big climb coming up. I remembered walking my bike up this hill in the triathlon. There were no electric poles so I used cones and tried to run every other set of cones. At this point there was one lady behind me - not too too far and then two ladies pretty far back. I could see them when we had a long open stretch.
I made it to the top of the hill and turned the corner at a water station. The volunteers told me there were some nice downhill stretches coming up.
I was starting to fade a little bit and feeling hungry. I decided not too push too hard here because I wanted to have something left for Mile 10. I took it easy on mile 9 and the Beef Team Santa Claus came by and rode with me for a little bit to encourage me on. That was nice. I could see the huge hill coming and I was not excited.
I was feeling pretty nauseous and I thought maybe it would be better if I close my eyes so I don't have to see myself going up this hill. That make the nausea worse so I opened them but kept my eyes on the ground. Everytime I would look up I was closer to the mile 10 marker so I kept them down as much as I could. I reached the mile 10 marker but I wasn't to the top of the hill. Kind of ant-climatic when you are shooting for a goal and its not the top!
I finally made it to the top and by now the lady that had been behind me the whole way had pulled ahead...on the big hill...ummmm wow.
I turned another corner and the Gilbert's Gazelle's people were at a water stop. They said that was the worst of it and gave me some Nuun and Water. Now I was heading straight into the wind and very alone. I could see the lady ahead of me and knew the other two ladies were still behind me cause I had seen them from the top of the hill.
That next mile was brutal and I pushed through into the wind. I made it to the Mile 11 sign and did some math. I could PR if I did these last two miles in 21 minutes each. It was so slow but at this point and with the wind it was going to be close but I knew I could do it. At about mile 11.5 there was another water stop. The ladies were very nice and came down the road to meet me and encourage me on. I could see the 12 mile marker but it was really a lot farther away. It stinks when you can see it for so long from the top of the hill.
I got to mile 12 marker in right about 21 minutes. I was still on track but I was hurting and I was HUNGRY! I passed by a gas station with a big sign that said, "Thirsty" and had a picture of a Coke. My thought was YES, I AM! I was really ready to be done.
We had run this stretch during Mile 1 and I didn't really want to see it again. I made the final turn on the open road and pushed up a little hill to the entrance to the expo center. I was passed around then by a marathon runner who had to do two loops of the course and I thought about how crazy this guy was!
I headed up a little hill into the expo center. The EMS guy rode next to me for a while and chatted and told me I was doing a great job. My nose was running like crazy from the cold weather and my running shirt was covered in snot at this point!
The rest of the way was just following cones, I really couldn't see the finish and had no idea where I was going so I kept going. I made a few zig zags with the cones and then turned left and saw the finish! I was so close. I looked at my watch and new I had about 4 minutes to get to the finish to even slightly beat my PR.
I didn't have much push left in me. Right about then a little Cyndi Lauper came on my iPod:
You with the sad eyes
don't be discouraged
oh I realize it's hard to take courage
in a world full of people
you can lose sight of it all and the darkness inside you can make you fell so small
But I see your true colors shining through...
Right then I pulled off my ear buds because I saw my friend Stephen from camp coming toward me at the finish. I yelled to him that I was going to beat my PR by 3 minutes.
He said, "THEN GO!" so I took off in a sprint and crossed the finish line!
I got my medal - yay for races that don't run out!
Stephen didn't really expect me to be finishing when he came outside. He was coming to ask the volunteers for a medal for me incase I didn't make the cut off or they ran out. Lorin and Inez came out and hugged me and took me inside to the pile of food they had collected for me. Such great friends! I'm so happy that we are doing the Distance Challenge together. It's so much more fun having them at the races with me.
I was seriously starving but very proud of myself.
I learned a few things:1. I am MUCH faster when I don't slow down to talk to old ladies on the race course (but I do enjoy it)
2. I need to work on my race nutrition. I should not be hungry during a race and definitely shouldn't be starving in the last few miles.
3. I need to work on my general nutrition - it will be so much easier to get up hills when I have less weight to get up there.
4. Never throw my gloves...ever! :)
5. Keep finding repeating points like cones or power poles to push myself.
6. That while I generally hate competing, I LOVE competing with myself and probably will never be able to not atleast attempt to make a PR
I'm going to take it easy for a few days and then get back in action. I REALLY want to test my mile and 5k time because I haven't in a very long time. My fastest time mile was right around 15 minutes and I did 14:30 for the first mile of this race. Racing it, I think I could see a huge improvement. I want to see my progress and see how hard I can push myself on shorter distances. My next half marathon isn't until the end of January so I'll keep busy during the holidays but cut back a little too.
