Ohio - Cincinnati's Flying Pig Half Marathon - May 2008 - 1:56:05/8:51 pace (first half marathon ever)
Illinois - Chicago's Banco Popular Half Marathon - September 2008 - 1:55:34/8:49 pace (rained the entire race :-)
My Pennsylvania conquest advertised a flat course and the entire 13.1 miles took place on a peninsula in Lake Erie (Presque Isle means "almost an island" in French). Oh, and the field for the half was about 575 people. Packet pickup took place in the park's mess hall with the more domestically-inclined volunteers in the background cooking up a homemade pasta dinner. And all runners - even the halfers - got a reusable tote bag, a long-sleeved technical t-shirt, socks, and a Hammer Gel. I just love small races.
Checking out the beach pre-race
There was actually quite a posse of runners from Cincinnati. Two of my dad's friends from Fleet Feet (yes, he runs for the competition) were there, as well as 10 or so people from the Galloway group. We all convened at 6 am on race day, some of us sporting the essential pre-race garbage bags for warmth. (Not very green of me, I know)
Sporting our festive plastic wear
At any rate, I was one of only two people in our group running the half so I ended up starting the race alone. However, I quickly made friends. I was having quite a nice conversation with a fellow in his 40's (mile 1), when he announced that he was a run-walker and dropped off. Sneaky, sneaky those run-walkers! Next I recognized a dude I had met the day before (while he was peddling energy drinks). He was planning to run the race "at a pretty slow pace, shooting for a 4 hour". Hahaha. He dropped off pretty quickly though too, as he was frantically searching for a bathroom...in mile 2. Lay off the caffeine, eh?
Miles 3 and 4 were a bit lonely and I was trying to decide what I wanted to lock in for my race pace. Should I shoot hard for a PR or just run and see what happened? I was contemplating the latter when the guy next to me asked what pace we were running. A mathematician I'm not (and I wasn't taking splits and there weren't pace clocks on the course) but based on our mileage and my overall time, I guessed we were running an 8:45 or so. He looked a bit overwhelmed, so I gave him the talk test, basically asking him questions to help take his mind off the race but also to see if he could breathe and carry on a conversation. Turned out he could, and hence began our 9-mile partnership. His story was inspiring: a college junior coming off a knee injury and trying to prove to his football coach that he could indeed run again. It was his first half marathon, so I gave him a few pointers such as:
- Alternate between water and sports drink at each water stop and make sure to drink water on the stops after a Gu. The sports drink on the course was Heed, which tasted like HalfLytely but seemed to have more salt and less sugar than Gatorade. Not delicious by any stretch although my body responded well to it.
- It's ok to walk the water stops.
- Runners' Tourettes (e.g. yelling "shit!" aloud during a particularly hard mile) can be quite therapeutic even if it does make other people stare.
Around mile 10 we were too tired to talk and our only conversation was at the mile markers, "3 more to go, 2 more", and so on. I occasionally said things like "this race is in the bag" and "you're kicking ass", but honestly, these statements were more to help my own mental game. Yeah, I'm a self talker.
We finally finished and I helped myself to a slice of watermelon (brilliant post-race snack, btw) and a cinnamon sugar bagel from Panera. The medals, which I don't normally get that excited over, were super cool as well - a blue glass circle with the Presque Isle lighthouse etched into it, hanging from a thin leather strap.
Are we there yet?
My stepmom Pam and I then began the long waiting game while my dad and his gang ran loop two of the park to complete the full marathon. Sadly, I had to take a quick catnap in the car instead of being a good cheerleader but since I was told multiple times that "this race is just a training run for Portland", I didn't feel too guilty.
The Three Musketeers - Dad, Jen #2, Doug - finish their "training run" :-)
After the full marathon wrapped, a few folks opted for an ice bath with Mother Nature aka a dip in frigid Lake Erie. Um, pass. Pam and I collected rocks instead. At any rate, I'm proud to say I can now add a third state to my list:
Pennsylvania - Erie's Presque Isle State Park - September 2009 - 1:51:56/8:33 pace
On to Maine in October!
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