Race day, remembered

OK, so the half marathon is done. Not too bad, but it could have gone better. Back up a couple of weeks:

The training schedule began to fall apart nearly two weeks ago. QMH was having persistent knee pain which her doctor rates as to be expected at the age we are and the distance we’ve been training for. We both were busy at critical moments, and couldn’t quite tackle the last long run, a 12-miler that we should have accomplished on March 4. So, we have run no distance longer than the 10 miles on February 25, and at most, maybe 10 runs of 3 to 4 mile in the last two weeks. Not exactly peaking for race day, no.

Because we planned poorly, we needed extra time on Tom King morning to pull our gear and our après run clothes together. Consequently, we left home 20 minutes later than planned, then hit traffic, and got to the stadium with under 10 minutes to spare before the start of the race. NOT my idea of the best way to psych into the distance.

Still, we wiggled our way as close as possible to the front of the crowd (they do separate the 15 or so top competitors from the rabble, but we were close enough to cross the starting line within a few seconds of the gun. The weather was clear and cool at 35-40 degrees, very good for runners as the race stepped off.

It matters not that a thousand people pass us in the first mile. Some serious runners are fast; we are serious and slow. The first 3-4 miles were as usual somewhat hard for me, with too much time to worry about whether my timing chip was securely tied on my shoe laces. In spite my having to stop for a shoelace retie, we chugged through the first few miles at 9.5 and then 10 minutes each. Both of us had been concerned that our wind was not as good as other years, but this didn’t turn out to be any problem. We were surrounded much of the time by runners who sounded much more labored. But, we got into a comfortable pace and the early rawness eased.

At the halfway point turnaround, we clocked under 61.5 minutes – a very good pace, all things considered. Things began to slide a bit after that. In the confusion of our disorganized departure, TQOMH had forgotten to take the medicine that holds her acid stomach at bay. It was really bugging her, so we walked probably four stretches in the second half.

Both of us finished with much less “leg” than we’d have preferred. And, well after the race was over, I noticed that I had worn my year-old shoes instead of the month-old pair.

Fine. Next year, we lay out our clothes and pack up the lip balm, tissues, gloves and hats the night before. Oh, and we won’t lose our grip on the training schedule just when we need it.

In the end, we finished in 2:19 and a few seconds, about 5 minutes behind last year’s time.

We took the rest of the day to recover calories, ice tender knees and feet, nap and celebrate our sense of accomplishment.