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<p><b>Eugene Half Marathon</b><br><i>Eugene, OR</i><br><br><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><b>The Short</b></span><br><b>Overall Time:</b> 1:51:42 (8:32 m/m), A 1:22 PR!!!<br><b>Placing</b>: 752/3882 OA, 266/2572 F, 32/364 AG (F35-39)<br><br><b>Fashion Report</b>: Black RaceReady Long Distance skirt, SS Red Lizard tech T, Rev3 visor, black arm warmers, red fleece Nike gloves, uber-fashionable red KT tape job on my left post-tib and across both my arches<br><b>Breakfast Report</b>: Two carrot spelt muffins, coffee, water<br><b>Race Nutrition</b>: Vanilla Gu ~15 minutes before starting, three Margarita Clif Bloks between miles 5 & 6, water or Gatorade at all the aid stations (approximately every 2 miles)<br><b>Post Race Libation</b>: Golden Valley Brew Grain Alley Bock with a burger and tasting flights from Lange & Penner-Ash wineries <span><img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"></span><br><br><b>Splits</b>:<br>
Mile 1: 8:38<br>
Mile 2: 8:13/16:51<br>
Mile 3: 8:18/25:09<br>
Mile 4: 8:29/33:38<br>
Mile 5: 8:21/41:59<br>
Mile 6: 8:21/50:20<br>
Mile 7: 8:22/58:42<br>
Mile 8: 8:30/1:07:12<br>
Mile 9: 8:37/1:15:49<br>
Mile 10: 8:41/1:24:30<br>
Mile 11: 8:43/1:33:13<br>
Mile 12: 8:58/1:42:11<br>
Mile 13: 8:51/1:51:02<br>
Finish: 0:40/1:51:42<br><br><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><b>The Long</b></span><br><br>
To say I’ve been remiss in writing my race reports in the last six months is kind of an understatement. In fact, the last one I wrote was back in November for Seattle, where I got up one morning and just decided to run 13.1 just for grins and giggles and even then, I felt like I phoned in that report. I could say that I was busy with travel, home renovation, work, kid activities, blah, blah, blah but truth is, I kind of lost my race mojo, even though I did run a 15K and then a 10K race as tune-ups and ran them well (I refer you to Athlinks if you <em>really</em> want to stalk my race results). That should have been my first clue. The first inkling that things were not quite as they seemed. As far as I can tell, my mojo went missing the day I said I was going to run another marathon. I’m not going to rehash the reasons (or non-reasons) why I made that decision but I did and I carried the weight of that decision until I imploded and basically told 26.2 to go f- itself. But that’s all under the bridge and now it’s time for me to get back to the FUN and part of that was to pick myself up after my mental crisis and refocus my efforts on blowing my HM PR out of the water.<br><br>
Race morning dawned, cold, clear, and calm; a stark contrast to the rainy, snowy, haily, windy, and generally disgusting weather of training. Mother Nature finally found it in herself to smile down at me and 8000 of my closest friends who were toeing the line outside of Hayward Field in Track Town, USA. My race plan was simple. Hang with the 3:40 Clif pacer until the HM/Full split around mile 10.5 and then hold on until the end. BrewDad did remind me to keep my pace in check just in case the pacer was off in either direction.<br><br>
Miles 1-4:<br>
We finally got off after a ten minute delay where a few frontrunners false started and triggered the timing system by accident. Really, how the heck do you false start a half marathon, let alone a marathon? I figure even the elites have time to make up ten feet over 13.1 or 26.2 miles. A bit of a slow first mile due to the jostling and congestion of the start and a faster second mile due to the downhill out of campus. I saw BrewDad and Little BrewDad, with cowbell, at mile two and peeled off to give them some high fives before rejoining the pace group. The false flat south starts midway through mile three and culminates at a steeper but short incline around the fourth mile where we turn around and start heading back north. I figured with the initial downhill over, the pace should settle around 8:25 and stay steady from there. Imagine my surprise when I glanced down to my Garmin to see we were clipping along at sub-8:10 pace going uphill. This was not in the plan. If I carried on at this pace, I was certain of a full blow-up in the last 5K so I dropped back from the front of the pace group but still kept the balloons in sight. It was also a great excuse to get away from “That Guy”. The one who tucked in behind the pace leader (the one in green in the photo below) and said at mile one, “Only 25.2 miles to go!” Same at mile two, “Only 24.2 miles to go!” And at mile three…I never did check to see if anyone pushed him into the Willamette.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="H-lightbox-open" href="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/84669/width/1000/height/800/flags/" target="_blank"><img alt="84648" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="16825" data-type="61" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/16825/width/681/height/500" style="; width: 681px; height: 500px"></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Miles 5-8:<br>
After the turnaround, we were rewarded with a couple of miles of false flat downhill and I comfortably strung together some sub-8:25 miles despite a little voice in my head telling me it probably wasn’t the best idea. I told it to be quiet. I took my Clif bloks on schedule between miles five and six, actually had to swallow the third one with very little chewing since the aid station came up a lot sooner than I expected and ran on still keeping the front of the pace group in sight but they continued to pull away slightly. I’m running along at 8:20-8:22 and the pace group is pulling away. Yep, those poor marathoners. Some of them would likely be run to the ground and left at the side of the road before all was said and done. Even though I did gain some ground on the pace group and kept the balloons in sight up until the half/full split, this was where I decided to just let them go and run my own race. I had gotten into a groove and I knew I was on PR pace. I peeled off my gloves and arm warmers and tossed them to BrewDad and Little BrewDad as I passed them again at mile 8. It was getting warm and I was definitely glad I decided to go with a skirt and short sleeves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="H-lightbox-open" href="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/84672/width/1000/height/800/flags/" target="_blank"><img alt="5e31e4aa_IMG_4693.JPG" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="16826" data-type="61" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/16826/width/751/height/500" style="; width: 751px; height: 500px"></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Miles 9-Finish:<br>
We turned back towards campus to crest the only sizeable hill on the course and I saw my friend, K, midway up cheering. We ran down Agate and past Hayward Field again and we started seeing the frontrunners for the half coming back to the stadium to finish. Miles 10-12 are probably the toughest on the course. They are flat since they follow the river paths but they are lonely with very little crowd support until you reach Autzen Stadium. Up until this point, the crowds were awesome, lining the street, and cheering for all they were worth. Nothing to do but buckle down, dig deep to find that happy place amid the tiredness, and press on. I could feel myself slowing as I reached Autzen. I was tired and starting to really feel the pounding on my arches. One more mile to go and I admit I started doing the math of how much I could slow and still PR. Once I hit the crowds again, that feeling receded. I focused on putting together a solid last push and entered Hayward Field. Once my feet touched that track and I heard the roar in the stadium, it was surreal. I was already running all out but all of a sudden I got an extra bounce and I picked it up a little more. This may very well be the fastest 200 m I’ve ever run at the end of a half marathon. I had my PR in the bag and ran a race that I am proud of. And most importantly I had a damn good time doing it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="H-lightbox-open" href="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/84675/width/1000/height/800/flags/" target="_blank"><img alt="f13cf600_IMG_4696.JPG" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="16827" data-type="61" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/16827/width/667/height/500" style="; width: 667px; height: 500px"></a></p>
Mile 1: 8:38<br>
Mile 2: 8:13/16:51<br>
Mile 3: 8:18/25:09<br>
Mile 4: 8:29/33:38<br>
Mile 5: 8:21/41:59<br>
Mile 6: 8:21/50:20<br>
Mile 7: 8:22/58:42<br>
Mile 8: 8:30/1:07:12<br>
Mile 9: 8:37/1:15:49<br>
Mile 10: 8:41/1:24:30<br>
Mile 11: 8:43/1:33:13<br>
Mile 12: 8:58/1:42:11<br>
Mile 13: 8:51/1:51:02<br>
Finish: 0:40/1:51:42<br><br><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><b>The Long</b></span><br><br>
To say I’ve been remiss in writing my race reports in the last six months is kind of an understatement. In fact, the last one I wrote was back in November for Seattle, where I got up one morning and just decided to run 13.1 just for grins and giggles and even then, I felt like I phoned in that report. I could say that I was busy with travel, home renovation, work, kid activities, blah, blah, blah but truth is, I kind of lost my race mojo, even though I did run a 15K and then a 10K race as tune-ups and ran them well (I refer you to Athlinks if you <em>really</em> want to stalk my race results). That should have been my first clue. The first inkling that things were not quite as they seemed. As far as I can tell, my mojo went missing the day I said I was going to run another marathon. I’m not going to rehash the reasons (or non-reasons) why I made that decision but I did and I carried the weight of that decision until I imploded and basically told 26.2 to go f- itself. But that’s all under the bridge and now it’s time for me to get back to the FUN and part of that was to pick myself up after my mental crisis and refocus my efforts on blowing my HM PR out of the water.<br><br>
Race morning dawned, cold, clear, and calm; a stark contrast to the rainy, snowy, haily, windy, and generally disgusting weather of training. Mother Nature finally found it in herself to smile down at me and 8000 of my closest friends who were toeing the line outside of Hayward Field in Track Town, USA. My race plan was simple. Hang with the 3:40 Clif pacer until the HM/Full split around mile 10.5 and then hold on until the end. BrewDad did remind me to keep my pace in check just in case the pacer was off in either direction.<br><br>
Miles 1-4:<br>
We finally got off after a ten minute delay where a few frontrunners false started and triggered the timing system by accident. Really, how the heck do you false start a half marathon, let alone a marathon? I figure even the elites have time to make up ten feet over 13.1 or 26.2 miles. A bit of a slow first mile due to the jostling and congestion of the start and a faster second mile due to the downhill out of campus. I saw BrewDad and Little BrewDad, with cowbell, at mile two and peeled off to give them some high fives before rejoining the pace group. The false flat south starts midway through mile three and culminates at a steeper but short incline around the fourth mile where we turn around and start heading back north. I figured with the initial downhill over, the pace should settle around 8:25 and stay steady from there. Imagine my surprise when I glanced down to my Garmin to see we were clipping along at sub-8:10 pace going uphill. This was not in the plan. If I carried on at this pace, I was certain of a full blow-up in the last 5K so I dropped back from the front of the pace group but still kept the balloons in sight. It was also a great excuse to get away from “That Guy”. The one who tucked in behind the pace leader (the one in green in the photo below) and said at mile one, “Only 25.2 miles to go!” Same at mile two, “Only 24.2 miles to go!” And at mile three…I never did check to see if anyone pushed him into the Willamette.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="H-lightbox-open" href="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/84669/width/1000/height/800/flags/" target="_blank"><img alt="84648" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="16825" data-type="61" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/16825/width/681/height/500" style="; width: 681px; height: 500px"></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Miles 5-8:<br>
After the turnaround, we were rewarded with a couple of miles of false flat downhill and I comfortably strung together some sub-8:25 miles despite a little voice in my head telling me it probably wasn’t the best idea. I told it to be quiet. I took my Clif bloks on schedule between miles five and six, actually had to swallow the third one with very little chewing since the aid station came up a lot sooner than I expected and ran on still keeping the front of the pace group in sight but they continued to pull away slightly. I’m running along at 8:20-8:22 and the pace group is pulling away. Yep, those poor marathoners. Some of them would likely be run to the ground and left at the side of the road before all was said and done. Even though I did gain some ground on the pace group and kept the balloons in sight up until the half/full split, this was where I decided to just let them go and run my own race. I had gotten into a groove and I knew I was on PR pace. I peeled off my gloves and arm warmers and tossed them to BrewDad and Little BrewDad as I passed them again at mile 8. It was getting warm and I was definitely glad I decided to go with a skirt and short sleeves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="H-lightbox-open" href="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/84672/width/1000/height/800/flags/" target="_blank"><img alt="5e31e4aa_IMG_4693.JPG" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="16826" data-type="61" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/16826/width/751/height/500" style="; width: 751px; height: 500px"></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Miles 9-Finish:<br>
We turned back towards campus to crest the only sizeable hill on the course and I saw my friend, K, midway up cheering. We ran down Agate and past Hayward Field again and we started seeing the frontrunners for the half coming back to the stadium to finish. Miles 10-12 are probably the toughest on the course. They are flat since they follow the river paths but they are lonely with very little crowd support until you reach Autzen Stadium. Up until this point, the crowds were awesome, lining the street, and cheering for all they were worth. Nothing to do but buckle down, dig deep to find that happy place amid the tiredness, and press on. I could feel myself slowing as I reached Autzen. I was tired and starting to really feel the pounding on my arches. One more mile to go and I admit I started doing the math of how much I could slow and still PR. Once I hit the crowds again, that feeling receded. I focused on putting together a solid last push and entered Hayward Field. Once my feet touched that track and I heard the roar in the stadium, it was surreal. I was already running all out but all of a sudden I got an extra bounce and I picked it up a little more. This may very well be the fastest 200 m I’ve ever run at the end of a half marathon. I had my PR in the bag and ran a race that I am proud of. And most importantly I had a damn good time doing it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="H-lightbox-open" href="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/84675/width/1000/height/800/flags/" target="_blank"><img alt="f13cf600_IMG_4696.JPG" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="16827" data-type="61" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/16827/width/667/height/500" style="; width: 667px; height: 500px"></a></p>
</p>
