Danbury Half Marathon

So I kind of forgot this race was coming up. I didn't really look at the map (I guess I don't normally pay too much attention to that.. I like to be surprised) and I had no idea what the elevation would be like. Though I did suspect it would be hilly b/c, well, it's hilly here. Thank God I've been out there running the hills for the last 5 months (OMG have we really been here for 5 months already?).

I was more nervous than expected before the race started. Thankfully I ran into someone I know from swimming and was able to chat w/ her for a bit to take my mind off the race. I usually spend a fair amount of time on visualization ... none for this race. I thought a little bit last night about what I wanted to put into and get out of this race. Did I want to just run it? Did I want to blow myself up and push the pace as hard as I could.. it is a 'race' after all. I never really gave it my usual amount of mental energy so I guess I inadvertently gave it the 'whatever happens happens' mentality.

I seated myself too close to the front. Or at least I've decided that it's better (mentally, for me) to start a bit more toward the middle so that I can pass some people instead of either 1. get passed or 2. try w/ all my might to hang w/ the speedsters only to have my heart feel like it's going to pound out of my chest. I started out fast and knew I was going too fast but decided to just hang in there and see what happened. The first three miles were sub8... needless to say after those first three were over I was OUT for the sub8 run. :) I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain that pace, but hey, it was fun while it lasted. The first half of the race was relatively flat. At one point around mile 6 or so I passed a guy on a hill and he and I chatted a moment then he said to me, "good luck on the hills." I was all, "yeah you too." not really thinking much of it. Thinking it would be more of the same.. uh, nope. The hills weren't brutally steep (okay a couple of them were) they were mostly rollers... long relentless rollers. The good thing about them being relentless is that every time I thought that word I thought of my good friend Mama Marie. (she once called having twins relentless... so now that word ALWAYS makes me think of her. Love you and miss you Mama Marie!) Thinking of Marie helped get me going. We were die hard work out buddies back in the day. SWOON... How I miss that!

As always there were a couple of ladies I kept my eye on to 'hold on for dear life' to my pace. I passed only one of them. I caught up to one and chatted w/ her for a bit, but she went on to finish a bit in front of me.. seconds?? Minutes?? Not sure.

Around mile 8 a guy in FiveFingers passed me like I was standing still. Around mile 6 my knee had started reporting to me that my shoes are coming to the end of their long run usability and I thought for a moment that maybe I should start easing into the FiveFingers to see how that goes. I am going to hit the running store while in Seattle (as we don't have one anywhere around here) to get some new shoes. I'm excited to have someone watch me run and fit me for some shoes. I've been running in the same style of Asics since I first really got into running back in 1998.. Holy crap.. TWELVE YEARS I've been running. Off and on of course until I had kids. My stride has changed immensely over the last training season (aka winter) so I think it's time to reevaluate some things. I'm still having some trouble w my poor sore toes.

The last half of the race was hard... it went by at a relative pace... I didn't want to die or anything... I'm proud to say that though I considered it a couple of times I DID NOT walk ANY of the hills. I put my head down and ran (okay plodded) up EVERY SINGLE one!

I'm happy w/ my time considering the hills, the fact that I've mostly been lifting and riding and my runs have been subpar. Can't say that AT THIS MOMENT I'm real excited about running another race in 3 weeks... ON TRAILS, but I'm sure I'll feel more excited about it, uh, soon. Northface Challenge here I come!

Now I'm wiped out and could really use a nap, but all you moms know that's just not in the cards. Five more hours until I can go to bed! :D

Still thinking about those goals... tried to go there during the run. Runs are usually good for that stuff, but I feel like there is a PHYSICAL block there not letting my mind think about such things!! Weird! So I plod along in life and take it day by day...