Weather=63F at start and 70F by finish, sunny.
Average pace=7:18/m
Average pace first 6 miles=7:18/m
Average pace last 7 miles=7:18/m
mile 1 7:18
mile 2 7:21
mile 3 7:22
mile 4 7:19
mile 5 7:08
mile 6 7:22
mile 7 7:18
mile 8 7:11
mile 9 7:15
mile 10 7:26
mile 11 7:28
mile 12 7:11
mile 13 7:20
final .1 pace 6:18
So today's half marathon race was supposed to be a prep-race for next weekend's big half marathon. Today, I was going to try to keep myself at a tempo-ish comfortably hard effort the whole way. I think overall I did what I intended to do. I was a little faster than I thought I could be for this effort though. The 7:20ish pace just felt right so I stuck with it the whole way.
There was more competition at this race than there have been at the previous Fire & Ice races. (I was 1st place at both the 10k and the 15k). Today, I showed up and I saw that the Martinez Sisters were there. They are always beating me! I walked up to them and jokenly said, "oh geez, I guess I'm not winning today since the Martinez family showed up!" I'm not sure if they really even know who the hell I am though. Oh, but I know them. All I ever see are the back of their heads in every race both them and I are at. So they told me that they weren't really racing, that they were doing this as a training run. I asked what kind of pace a training run is for them and they told me 9:00/m.
Then I saw another girl named Kim who passed me in mile 21 and then beat me by 2 minutes in my marathon last year. I talked to her and she said she has been sick for 2 weeks and hasn't been running much, she's still coughing.
So the race begins and quickly the Martinez sisters take the lead. So much for a training run I guess. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything to them to egg on their competitive spirit. Then another girl passes me, then Kim passes me, then another girl. Yep, I was in 6th place for girls. Tough competition! I didn't get too rattled though. I just stuck to my tempo comfortable pace. At mile 2 water stop I was still in 6th but I could see all the other girls within no more than 100 yards ahead of me.
Around mile 5 I just started feeling more energetic. It's like a light just clicked on and I woke up. I always do that in every run around 4-5 miles. So I figured I'd let myself get a little faster in a controlled way. I started inching up on the other girls in front of me. I took them out one by one until finally it was just those Martinez sisters in front.
I caught up to the sisters and ran with them for about 10 minutes. Then they seemed to just back off and let me go in front. I figured it would be smart racing strategy to stick with them and just try to save my energy for the end so I could battle it out with them... I thought about it for awhile debating what to do. Then I considered how most of my training runs and other races have gone. I always have the most energy in the middle... but I usually do have enough sheer will power at the end to sustain the pace that I establish in the middle. I figured I need to just go with what I know works for me... now was not the time to practice new strategies.
So they slowed down and I speeded up slightly. I was in the lead for miles 5.5 thru 11. I don't know how far back the other girls were during this time but I knew they were not tooooo close because I never saw anyone's shadow. I felt really good too. I was cruising nicely. I passed a couple of men and I was trying to close in on another guy. I knew I could maintain this pace all the way.
Still, the sun was starting to beat down on the second half and it was directly in my eyes. Miles 10-11, I could tell I was having to work harder to stay on pace but I was still ok.  I passed the mile 11 water stop and I was thinking to myself that it was smooth sailing from this point on, that I had 1st place... I had 1 more gear left for the final maybe 1/2 mile. I was looking at that guy in front thinking I could slowly catch him.
Then suddenly, just like 100 yards after passing the 11 mile water stop, a FLASH of yellow comes up on my left side. It was Martinez sister #1. Oh geez! I guess I shouldn't have thought they'd be this easy to beat. I thrust myself into a faster gear. I thought possibly this would kill her spirit and she'd back off again. Nope. She was clearly undaunted. She had excellent form and looked to have major energy left. She also did not look even one bit worried about me challenging her. I figured it was a waste of my own energy to try to win this battle. I let her go and told her good job. I looked at my watch and I was doing 7:08 pace for the last 1/2 mile while I tried to battle with her. I made the right decision too... she was going so fast in those last two miles that she caught all the men ahead of us and got completely out of my sight by the end.
So when she passed, I've got 1.5 miles left. Where's that other Martinez siser? I'm not looking back. She'll sense blood in the the water if I look back. I just hung on to 7:20 and tried my best to keep my form as best I could. It was starting to get tough at this point. I knew I didn't have much left. I still thought I could maintain though.
Then I made a turn and looked at my watch. 1/4 mile to go and this included a short steep hill. I see in my peripheral vision the red shirt Martinez sister #2 coming in fast on my left. Oh no. I was helpless to do anything about it. I had no more gears. My brain was telling my legs, "GO FASTER" and my legs were telling my brain "LEAVE US ALONE OR WE WILL SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY AND MAKE YOU FALL FACE FIRST INTO CONCRETE AND GET A CONCUSION!" So she wizzed past me and up that hill.
I maintained pace up the hill but no more. After the hill, I was able to sprint the downhill portion into the finish (only cuz it was downhill) but she still finished like 10 seconds ahead of me. I gave her a high five and told her good job.
Then the Martinez sisters just walked to their car and drove off. I was disappointed that I didn't at least get to talk to them afterward. I really wanted to talk to them!
Afterwards, I realized... This was a PR!!!  I PR'd! I can't believe it. Only by 20 seconds... but still.  When I got home, I looked at my splits and they are exactly even. So I am very pleased with this race. I actually did exactly what I set out to do, only faster. Today never felt really horribly difficult... my legs became non-responsive to go faster than 7:20 but I didn't think I was going to die. Whereas, there were points in my previous 1:35 where I thought possibly I could die. Today was a little hot but it was flat. My previous PR race in March of this year, on the other hand, was only 40 degrees but it did have some hills.
So I guess I'm very happy with the kind of shape I'm in right now. I think next weekend's race could be really, really good because next weekend is going to be run through downtown Dallas and there's going to be lots of crowd energy and lots of competition to hopefully spur me on to do even better than today. | 