Exciting WEEKEND! 1/2 Marathon.

What an eventful and fun filled weekend of fitness!

Since my last post I've consumed quite a bit of alcohol, most of it in celebration. After much hoopla on Friday regarding the kickoff of my girlfriends play, we recovered with a 1.5 hour hike in the foothills around Boulder. Chautauqua park is insanely crowded, but a good time none the less, there's still a lot of ice and snow on the trails, so we stuck to lower elevations. It's always enjoyable to visit my old college stomping grounds.

While in the city I picked up the packet, race number number (1145), and chip for the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. I have to admit at this point my knee was bothering me and I was worried about the race the next day. However I got a great nights sleep and woke up at 7am (after DST switch) and headed up to Boulder with my girlfriend sleeping in the passenger seat. She was planning to volunteer for the race by preparing food the runners also she fully intended to abandon her volunteer responsibilities around 11 to watch me finish the race.

The weather was chilly high 30's/low 40's with a slight breeze. I had a really hard time deciding what to wear, but ultimately went with shorts and a short sleeve shirt. I was in the overwhelming minority and only saw a handful of other people with as few clothes on as I was wearing, but I felt ok so forget them.

The race kicked off on time and I was herded towards the start finish line. The race layout was odd with a narrow start and a few sharp turns at the beginning. I ended up speed walking/trotting much of mile one at came in right around 10 minutes. Well below my desired pace, I had my work cut out for me. This was an out and back course with 10k, 10mile, and 1/2 marathon lengths and as I got into my grove around the 2-3 mile mark the fast 10k runners started passing me. After 3 miles I was into my 9:10min/mile goal pace and feeling fine, nothing hurt, the crowd had thinned out, I wasn't cold, but I still had a long way to go.

At the 5 mile mark I ate a gel and washed it down with some Gatorade a few minutes later. I was feeling ok and still pretty much right on my 9:10 pace. After the 10M turn around the crowds were pretty thin and I was feeling alright, but unhappy with my pace. There was a moderate headwind and the course seemed to be going uphill but I wasn't sure. I hit the 1/2 way point turn around 15 seconds ahead of my 2 hour goal pace at 59:45, I felt pretty good at this point and noticed the course seemed really fast. Perhaps it was more uphill than I thought. I chatted with some runners during the next two miles about the weather, clothing, the course, and other marathons. I didn't realize until mile 8 that I'd made up over a minute on my goal pace.

A runner in a tutu was setting a solid pace in front of me, but a hill at mile 9 seemed to take the wind from her sails and I cruised by. Around 9.5 miles I ate another gel, I was now 2 minutes ahead of my 9:10 pace and feeling really good. My heart rate had been steady in the 160's every time I looked with some peaks hitting low 170's. For reference, my 48 minute 10k was almost entirely in the high 170's and 180's. In short, with 3 miles to go my cardio was money. My legs felt a little tight, but solid, NOTHING HURT!

The last two miles were largely downhill and I really felt like I opened up my pace. I got an excited kick the last couple hundred yards where my HR finally broke 180. I heard them call my name as I crossed, and threw my arms up like a goon with a big goofy smile. I looked at my watch and saw 1:55:18 (officially 1:55:15). I'd crushed my previous time of 1:59:30 and I really didn't feel bad and made up all of the time in the second half. My girlfriend was there and gave me a big hug and a reluctant sweaty kiss. I ate, drank several free beers, and headed home. The only pain I've had since the race is in my toes, it feels like the joints at the base my my left toes are pretty sore. With that exception I've felt really fantastic. I'm happy with my time, happy how I felt and how I ran, and pleased with the Boulder race course. With the exception of the starting line cluster f*** this was really a well run and well maintained course. I feel like I could have pushed harder over the entire course for a better time, but that really wasn't the focus of this run, it was more of a gauge/training run. I got a lot of information about how I feel and times I should expect. I'm more confident in my 4 hour full time now. With 2 months left to train I'm back to being excited about running.

I had to leave for a business trip to Oklahoma City shortly after getting home from my run, and on that note it's actually a pretty nice town. All day yesterday was spent in the field walking proposed line routes, and I didn't feel sore at all.