11/16/10

Chilly Half Marathon 11/14/10

Aside from my desire not to race that morning and the pain of making sure I didn't slide on down that slope this race was actually enjoyable. With friends Melissa and Tracey along for the fun it was an early one with a 7:30 AM start. The name of the race resonates exactly how you feel lining up, chilly.

I thought I had post nasal drip pretty bad until I ran in this race. This 22 year old girl ran near me the entire race. She had very bad PND. How did I know this? I recognized her throat clearing as one similar to the clearing that I make. However this poor girl had the worst case I had ever heard. At fist I was thinking I should either let her go in front of me or I should get way ahead of her to avoid the distraction. Surprisingly, as time wore on I didn't mind the deep eeeeeeehemmmmmms all that much. I actually felt for her and was impressed that she was still kicking butt with such an annoying defect. We were back and forth in the race for much of the time. Then, in the end I delighted to have beaten her. She was only 22 afterall.

As for my race plan I had decided I would go out easier than normal and I would hold back as much as possible to see how things would unfold. I have had a tightness behind my knee and am not in the best of shape right now. I didn't want to become injured. Holding back just seemed like the smarter thing to do on this particular day.

I ran moderately fast and didn't really feel to much pain. It was nice. However with about 4 miles left in the race I started to get passed by these guys and gals. That just got me all up in a tizy and I'ld be damned if one more person was going to pass me. So I picked up the pace and held on to that for the last 4 miles. I purposely didn't wear my watch so as not to be, once again, distracted. I'm trying to enjoy myself a bit more when racing.

The end result was 3 minutes slower than last year. Yes, a full 3 minutes slower. I'm OK with that as this race was not meant to be lightening fast for me. My time was 1:36:33. 4Th in my age group. I walked away with a nice hand cooler for the beach next week and some skinny water to replenish my stores. :)

6 comments:

runningyankee said...

thats a fantastic time! what are you talking about slow?!?! :) great job. enjoy the beach!!

Kim said...

wow, not wearing a watch and just trucking along! melissa, you are still so speedy! great job!

Bert said...

Looking good and yes you are still very speedy! I admire the competitive spirit!

GetBackJoJo said...

An awesome race for taking it easy to start and not even wearing a watch! Nice!

Running and living said...

I agree with Mary and Kim, just awesome! And I think the race is pretty hilly, too:)

GoBigGreen said...

Great Job Mel! You should be very proud of your race and pacing, especially in November!

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