Race Report: Museum of Aviation Half Marathon

“We can do this!” said the man next to me as we entered the last .10 mile after a long 13 miles.  “We’ve got this!” I said.  I had seen this guy multiple times on the course.  He was usually in front of me and then sometimes I passed him.  He seemed to be running an evenly paced race so I always felt good knowing he was in my vicinity.  Now we were beside each other on the finish.  We settled on the same pace and crossed the finish line together.  “Sub-2 – OhmyGod!” I yelled and threw my hands in the air.

That was the end of my perfect race, Saturday’s Museum of Aviation Half Marathon.  After 2 attempts at running the race I had trained for, I finally succeeded this time.  I drove down to Warner Robins on Friday night and arrived at the race location with plenty of time to freak out on Saturday morning.  It was very very cold outside – just the way I like it  – 21 degrees or so (Perfect Race Pre-Condition #1).  Since this race was on an Air Force Base we got to hang out in the warm museum hangar until it was time to line up.  I had about 10 minutes outdoors to loosen up and then the gun went off.

I was surprisingly calm when the race started.  I was not sick this time (Perfect Race Pre-Condition #2), so I didn’t have any fears about my body breaking down later in the race.  I usually have a great 5-6 miles and then it all goes to pot in the second half.  I decided to split the race into thirds mentally.  I would run strong the first 4 miles while I had good energy.  I would focus on staying steady during Miles 4-8 and then I would turn it up again for the last 4.  I figured that once I hit Mile 12 I could get through anything so I wasn’t too worried about the finish.

Everything went just about according to plan given that this was the perfect race.  I felt great for the first 4 miles.  I fueled up at Mile 5.5 which slowed me down a bit.  Trying to choke down Sports Beans and water while your face and fingers are freezing  can be tricky.  I might try a regular old GU shot if I run another winter race where I need fuel.  The beans worked their magic as always though and I felt a surge of energy hit in Mile 7.

I approached the Mile 8 marker and was still running according to my plan.  I had energy enough to turn it up a bit.  I felt full of energy and my legs were not tired at all.  In the back of my mind, I sort of started waiting for the problems to start because this race was going a little too well.  Did I mention that after 8 miles I had not encountered a single hill of note (Perfect Race Pre-Condition #3)?  Also at this point, I hadn’t even walked at all – not for a single second!  I wanted to when I was fueling but decided against it.  I challenged myself at that point to do the whole thing without walking – a feat which I had only accomplished one other time at my PR half race.

I eventually ran into a few “hills” but they were very minor and I still did not stop running.  I had been occasionally glancing at my Polar for pace info but I tried not to freak out too much about it.  I knew that a 9:32 min/mile would get me sub 2:05.  I honestly couldn’t remember the pace I needed to do a sub-2 half so I didn’t pay too much attention to my watch.   I’m realizing that I seem to have a better race when I stop focusing about time so much and just run!

There had been no timekeepers at all on the course until Mile 10 (how odd!).  When the guy shouted out “1:30″ as I ran by I was ecstatic and more determined than ever to finish sub-2 and not walk.  The last time I ran a 10-miler back in Sept it took me 1:43 and I finished nearly last in my age group.  This gave me a nice confidence boost at a crucial point in the race.  I was still feeling strong and I knew that I could easily manage a 5K in less than 30 minutes unless something crazy happened.  In fact, I started to dare to hope for the 1:58 time that the McMillian Running Calculator said I could pull based on my last 10K.

I had to fight off a side stitch in Mile 11 but I just kept it moving and did the arms above the head trick.  It disappeared as it should in a Perfect Race.  At Mile 12, I was still running no walking at all and still feeling amazingly good.  I felt a bit of dread because I had read that the race ended on a hill.  I decided to just give it all I had in the last mile while the course was flat and deal with the hill when I came to it.  I wasn’t going to stop running and fail at my challenge in the last half mile even if there was a 15% incline hill coming up!

That hill never arrived.  Missy’s “Lose Control” powered me to the last tenth of a mile and then I broke into a sprint with the guy beside me.  “We’ve got this!”

Got it indeed!  My chip time was 1:55:44.  That is nearly a full 10 minutes faster than any half marathon I’ve done recently.  I was floored and so so proud of myself for finally doing what I knew I could.  I finished 9/31 in my age/sex group and 163/476 runners overall.  I am a solid upper mid-packer again (if there is such a thing) and it feels quite good.

Now to manage a sub 1:50 half…   Coming in the Fall 2011 half marathon season.