So I had no idea what strategy to have for this half. I got a stress fracture and couldn't run for 7 weeks including 4 weeks of letting everything atrophy in a stinky old walking boot. I was able to put in 5 weeks of easy running pace for this one - no hills, no speed work, and one 3 mile threshold run during race week. Then it hit me...not a race strategy but an upper respiratory infection!! My friend who wanted to pace me asked if it was even a good idea to run this thing. I'm stubborn so I said let's just see how it goes. During our one mile warmup, I questioned if I would even be able to finish. I had snot covering up my airways in my nose, snot in my throat, and my legs felt so heavy and slow. 9:09 1 mile wu INCLUDING 2 strides...oh my. We seeded ourselves back a couple corrals so we wouldn't slow people down. We realized going out that was a big mistake. The first quarter to half a mile was jammed packed with people at an 11:00 min/mi pace. I had given up on any expectations at this point. Then my watch was clicking off early so I decided to ignore it. I saw my mom and sister (visiting from FL) just after mile one as I too a WIDE left turn to be sure to spot them. I was getting sick of dodging people so I just kept taking wide turns not caring about my time. Then we hit mile 2 and I glanced at the total time on my garmin: 15:33. I said to my friend, "um, we are about at my PR pace", she asked "what" I wanted to do. I decided "I've been running slow long enough, let's see how far I can hold this and once I tank we can just run cool down" she thought that was a good idea. Mile 7 I couldn't figure out how to get out of this race. I tanked, or so I thought. It was a long walk back so I just decided to slow and try to finish since I needed the mileage. 7 miles is a good tempo run for me! Especially being sick! Mile 10 I looked at the clock and thought it said 1:22:something? I figured I was going an 8:30 pace now and that my average pace was now an 8:12. Oh well, I've snot rocked probably about 10x by now and was having trouble with the congestion in my throat. Mile 11 I started feeling a little better and decided to just think about my form. My legs started feeling like they would give out (actually I don't know if they have ever even felt like this in a marathon?). I hit mile 12 and then I thought I saw the clock said 1:37:something. Wow, maybe I could make in in 1:45? Then we passed a guy (thankfully!) conscious on the ground with people elevating his legs. I felt thankful to hit this far in the race pushing it like I was. I ran up a hill and couldn't tell if I saw the finish or if it was a mirage. I knew I had hardly any gas left. I just looked down and concentrated on pushing pushing as hard as I could that I wouldn't red line. Then we crossed the finish. 1:42:17!!! No PR, but just 37 sec over my PR!!! I could not believe it. This is just a 5 week base...with a head cold. I'm so grateful for my friend and I'm so grateful I had the guts to see what I could do when the chips were against me. Never give up! And now I'm ready. My base is built. I got past the half with absolutely no pain in my foot, my stress fracture is behind me. Time for a new training era!
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