On Saturday night, Marvin, Nick and I went to the Olive Garden for some carb loading goodness. We were originally going to go to C&O (yum!), but some stuff happened that kind of mixed up the whole schedule (I’ll write about this later). During dinner, Marvin mentioned that it was forecasted to rain the day of the marathon, but we were all pretty sure it would be clear.
I went home, fell asleep and when I woke up…
I heard the soft pitter patter of rain drops falling on the window. Darn!
I didn’t really feel like running in the rain, but I didn’t want to flake on yet another half marathon (flaked on the Long Beach one last November). So I started getting dressed. When it came time to put on my shoes, I was struck with a sudden shot of panic… where are my running shoes???
One of the many things that went wrong on half marathon day.
I could have sworn that I brought my shoes up with me. I looked for over half an hour, but with my Asics nowhere in sight, I decided that I’d have to use my previous pair. They weren’t worn out, but after getting my Asics I really couldn’t go back to using them. The other thing I had forgotten was my timer watch =/ So I wouldn’t be able to do my 3:2 interval, at least not very easily. The one thing I didn’t forget was my gel shots!
We left my house at around 5:45 am and arrived in Huntington Beach at around 6:30 (at least I think so. I snuck in some sleep on the way down!). We looked for parking for a while and spent a good 20 mins in the car, deciding what to wear. Just one look outside told us that 1) it was raining like no tomorrow and 2) it was windy as hell.
I ended up wearing my running shorts (which I regretted wearing), the white, long sleeve shirt that came in our goody pack, my cancer run shirt, my yellow fleece sweater (the one that’s been with me through EVERYTHING), and my brown waterproof shell.
The freezing cold wind and rain assaulted us like crazy the instant we stepped outside. We trekked over to the shuttle stop and 15 minutes later we were at the starting line.
The first 5-6 miles went by really quickly for me. I think my training (what little there was of it) really paid off for me with these early miles. Without my watch, I ended up just doing a “feel” interval. I ran as long as I could and then walked until I cooled down a bit. My pace was about a 13.5-14 minute mile, right on par with my pace while I was training. And even though it was raining pretty heavily and it was really windy, my body had gotten used to the conditions (somewhat).
I started having problems after I hit my 7th mile, closing in on my 8th.
It rained pretty much throughout the whole race, so my shoes were completely soaked through, which packed down the cushioning. I started to feel the impact every single time my foot hit the ground. By mile 8, I was in serious pain. It wasn’t my muscles that hurt. It was just my feet, my actual foot. It felt like my heel was splitting with every single step I took. I cried and thought no less than a billion times about quitting. But by the time I hit mile 10, I knew I couldn’t give up.
I ended up walking miles 8-13, with very few, sporadic, short bursts of jogging. But mostly I walked very, very slowly. I think I was probably going at a 2.8 mile pace. VERY slow.
I finished at 3 hr 45 min. I guess it’s not entirely too bad. I had estimated finishing at 3 hr 15 (15 min mile). But with all that slow walking, I’m just happy I finished under 4 hrs! I’m really proud I finished =) Not to mention, we got pretty cool medals!
I wouldn’t mind doing another half marathon, but I’d definitely want to train better and make sure I had the shoes I trained with, my watch, and my gel shots!
On a side note… They were giving out free Shot Bloks at some of the water stations. It was my first time trying Shot Bloks. They were pretty tasty! But I think that I like the gel shots better (if you can believe it). I liked that I didn’t have to chew. =P
Up around the corner (maybe)…
5k Run (at the LA Marathon) for Rover Rescue (March 8 )
Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon (May 10)
San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon (October 5)
Avenue of the Giants Marathon (May 4)
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February 4th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Congrats on finishing your first halfer!! That’s quite an accomplishment – rain or shine. :) *hugs*
February 5th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Thanks, CMUG! =) I’m soooo glad I finished it!
February 6th, 2008 at 10:37 am
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU FINALLY DID IT! LOL. Wanna go to San Antonio in November? There’s a Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 marathon there and Rock ‘n’ Roll events are fun! There’re bands and loads of freebies. Let me know and CONGRATS again! ^_^
February 7th, 2008 at 2:23 am
ooooooh, I’ll think about it! I was actually also looking at the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon. I’ll see =)