Sunday morning I ran the Holiday Half Marathon in Pomona. And set a personal record !
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Ernie and I had talked about running a half together before he went off on vacation at the end of December. The week before he suggested an 8min/mile pace and that really scared me. That was too fast. On race day I told him that I would stick to a 8:20 min/mile pace.
The morning started off chilly and at the start I questioned my outfit. I was freezing and worried I wouldn't warm up.
I started off too fast and I felt it. The first two miles involved hills, not big ones but hills none the less. At mile 3, I started to get comfortable and warmed up but I still felt like I should slow down or else risk hitting a wall later.
At mile 4, Ernie told me to go ahead because his knee was hurting and he was going to slow down. I kept going and hit a flat stretch where I felt like I was flying.
I told myself to do 7 miles at this pace (under 8). I felt good, like maybe I could run this fast. I started to think of the possibility of actually doing this in 1:45. This was a faster pace than I had planned and that I had ever raced before so I knew that even if I slowed down for the last 5 miles, I would still do good.
I got to mile 7 and I felt ok, I was tired and my shin and thigh were achy but I told myself to get to 10 miles. I wanted to stay close to an 8 min/mile pace for the next 3 miles.
After mile 10, I was done. I felt tired. My legs were heavy and my stomach felt nauseous. I still wanted to do the last three at the same goal pace and it was harder to keep myself going. At that point I took it a mile at a time. "just one more at this pace, then you can slow down. promise"
Mile 11 had a crazy hill. I felt like I had slowed down a lot. But I kept passing people and that kept me motivated. I'm competitive so I was not going to let anyone I just passed pass me. Although a bunch of speedy kids from Students Run LA totally schooled me.
When I saw the mile 12 marker, I speed up. I was hurting but what's another 8 minutes. I told myself "the faster you finish, the faster you can rest"
I finished at 1:45:40 9 (according to my garmin). That's the fastest I have ever ran a race!! I'm super excited.
The whole time I was keeping track of my pace but I never looked at the time. At mile 11, I actually made a conscience decision not to look at it because I didn't want to know if I wasn't going to make it. When I was running towards the finish line I saw the display clock and I realized that I had done it!
1. 8:06 6. 7:58 11. 8:10
2. 8:07 7. 8:04 12. 8:14
3. 8:13 8. 8:04 13. 7:44
4. 7:46 9. 7:44 .01. 7:01
5. 7:51 10. 8:06
I was extremely proud of myself. I didn't think I could do it and I did. I maintained an 8:06 pace. Wooo!! I know that I have to work on keeping a more consistent pace. I totally felt that mile 3, 11 and 12 were slow and the time reflects it. I still have a lot of more work to do, but I'm excited about the improvements that I have made
Last month (Malibu Half, 11/10/12) I ran a 1:52 half marathon. I improved by 7 minutes :)
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