Locomotive Half-Marathon

I decided to run this race at the last minute. As in, I registered on the Wednesday before the race. Running half-marathons has become interesting to me because now running one is like doing a training run. I honestly can say I’ve never “raced” during a half-marathon. But more on that later. Let me get into the meat of this race report.

As a single mom I had to do some juggling to run this event but everything worked out and I left the house at 6:30 or so to get to Kennesaw. As much as I love destination races there is something to be said about running locally(specifically those extra hours of sleep) and I will do it more often. When I went outside it was raining but I expected it, I’d looked at the weather report and showers were predicted so no surprise. It was a bit brisk out but nothing compared to the weekend before when the temps were absolutely freezing for my races!

I picked up my bib and my goodie bag and returned to my car to stay warm and attach my bib to my SPI belt. A first but something I’ll be doing from now on to save my running gear! Those pesky safety pins can cause some serious damage! I returned to the start area and ran into some friends – Tess of Running Nerds and my friend Kia. Kia was running her 2nd ½ in 48 hours along with two of her friends Tiffany and Margo. Kia and I ran together for the first couple of miles and as the hills kept popping up I fell back and ran alone.

This course was hilly and it was a loop of sorts. Running along I’d see a mile marker that was clearly the second loop and just said to myself – next time around that will be me. At a certain point – around mile 6 the faster runners started lapping me. I saw 1,2, and 3 go by and at one point one of lead women runners passed me and shouted “looking good!” and honestly that made me feel great!

Despite the terrible weather, like a locomotive I chugged along. I had to fiddle with my jacket a few times because I was hot and took it off but I hate running with anything on me so I did a lot of adjusting. My music was acting crazy and I just keep going. I saw Kia and Tiffany a couple of times and still kept going along. I kept running as I approached mile 10, went uphill and headed for the final stretch. And it was a stretch.

I realize that I am not good about trying to keep up with people, I just give up and let them go instead of pushing myself. I truly am a solo runner and need to have on blinders when I run. I chicked a guy (passed him) and saw a woman ahead of me that I thought I should pass at around mile 11. We were going back and forth and somewhere around mile 12 she was ahead of me but my body said push it.

I literally ran like the wind! It was absolutely exhilarating. I was passing people and when I passed the woman I’d been trailing I heard her scream “Way to hit the gas!” I was moving. If I had to guess I was probably running an 8.30 minute mile. But then, I got scared. Fear overtook me and I slowed down. Almost to a crawl. For no good reason except I was scared. Of what? I can’t really say but my own fear always keeps me from pushing.

I ran the last 100 or so meters fairly slowly and as I crossed the finish I saw I PR’d with a time of 2:26:30 considering the weather it was good. But I now know that if I push myself I will do so much better. I’m looking at the Disney Princess this weekend and the New Orleans Rock n Roll Half next weekend to redeem myself. We will see what happens. Let’s hope that fear does not get in the way of my success!

And regardless of how I feel about my performance, I DID EARN my BLING!!!