The Urban Primate

Half Marathon went great!!! Other than almost no sleep it could not have gone better. Had the pre-race jitters and could not sleep the night before. Ending dozing off around 2 so only 4 hours of sleep. I was up trying to plan my strategy for the race. In the end I decided that I would do a 1 Mile Run/1 Minute Walk.

It was cold, around 34 degrees at race time. Which was a pain before but great once you started running. Started out very slow at about a 10:45ish pace and really struggled to resist the urge to take off and chase the crowd. Mostly nervous that my ego would keep me from sticking to the plan. I was suprised and relieved when about 4 or 5 minutes in I started hearing watches beep and people started walking. Phew, so I was not the only one with a Run/Walk plan.

Race was pretty uneventful and I settled into a nice groove around 2 miles and body began to feel nice and loose. Mile 7 I started to get a little anxious about my pace. I was feeling great with no pain so I decided to pick it up a bit. Picked it up to a 10 minute pace for 2 miles to get a feel for it. Started passing many of those that were falling off. Mile 9 picked it up again to 9:30 and passing lots of people now. Mile 10 decided to turn it on and pushed to a 8:45 pace...to fast. Next run moved to 9 and it felt perfect. I skipped the last walk queue because it was more painful to walk and then start back up than it was to just keep going.

I got a cramp on the interior of my right ankle around the 12 mile mark and got a little nervous. Changed my stride and worked it out over the next 1/2 mile or so. However, this caused some pain on the outside of my right foot that made it very painful to run but I just kept saying HTFU and make it to the 12.5 mile mark. Spectators would help me forget about it with the cheering. Little dude about 2 years old was yelling for his Mom whom I was just about to pass. Made me smile and pain was gone, for now.

Made the left turn towards the finish and saw my son waiting for me. He ran with me to the finish and we passed a few more en route to a great finish. Grabbed a water and a lara bar at the finish and enjoyed the moment with my family. Car was parked about a 1/2 mile away and my foot pain made it difficult to walk. I wish there had been a shuttle...HTFU! hah.