The Inane Beer Inn Blather: September 11 Half Marathon

I feel like I've been working on this forever. But the day finally came and the weather was mostly cooperative. It was sunny, but a little too warm for my liking. I've run this trail 3 times before in preparation and knew it had been kicking my butt. Running trails is definitely not like running in my neighborhood. So that said I was very pleased that I was able to truly run until about the 9 mile mark or so. Okay, truth be told I did allow myself to walk at the water stations, much harder to drink and run than I realized.

This route was mapped out to loop back on itself in a couple of locations. The ironic thing about this was I was able to run past the 5 mile mark with the race leader (a very tall man), only he was on his 9th mile. The race also had some pace setters running with signs. I knew I was good when I was in sight of the 2:15 and 2:20 for quite some time. Only thing was 2:20 must have injured herself cause I passed her while she was walking at about the half way point so much for that strategy.

I was able to keep one woman in my sights until the 9 or 10 mile mark which carried me through mentally. We talked before hand and she told me this was her 7th half and that she would be doing the full Chicago Marathon in October. So in my mind I was always in good shape if I could still see her. Once she lost me I had to find a new mental focus that came way of a man who was running the race with a flag. It was humbling to think about the people who lost their lives 10 years prior and what they endured was so much great than what I was currently doing. Now when I say he carried a flag. I don't mean a little 8" flag, I'm talking a 3 foot flag on a pole.

So here's my thoughts about my time and the point when I could no longer run that kind of makes me sad. As I mentioned there were a few passes where depending on where you were in the race determined which direction you would turn. Coming up on the 9 mile mark, someone ahead of me panicked and mistook a pass for a switch and started yelling that we were going the wrong way we missed the pass. So just like a herd of dumb sheep many of us turned back. My poor weary brain allowed this to happen so I can only blame myself. I'm not sure how long it took, but someone finally came to their senses and realized we were going the right way. So back again. I like to think I could have done the race in under 2h 30m if it hadn't been for this, but I have no plans to do this trail again to find out. Shortly after that is when I started my run and walk method to finish the race.

I'm happy enough with 2h 36m 29s. I would like to do another half marathon in the future, but the next one will need to be on concrete or asphalt; no more trails... at least for the time being.

Notes about how I feel on day 2: My muscles all still feel really good I did about three mini yoga sessions yesterday so that must have helped. What is really bothering me is my knees, my throat and my eyes. Had a ton of dust in my shoes so maybe that's why my throat and eyes are so sore. Next time I'll remember to ice my knees that day. Also found out my official chip time was 2h 34m 35s.