Mason Half Marathon Review 11/11/12

Today I geared up to run the 13.1 miles that is the Mason Half-Marathon.
Had my clothes set out the night before, got up at 6am, had my bagel and banana (should have probably eaten more), and got my fiance and kids up to come with me.

We arrived about 7:30 and looked at a few exhibits and then I showed them where the park was and headed towards the starting line.

One of the coolest things happened at the starting line. They started the National Anthem, and I don't know what happened but the lady singing it completely cut out and nobody could hear her....so the ENTIRE PACK OF RACERS picked up right where she left off and finished it out. I don't know if it was on purpose because she was waaaaaay off key (I mean way off), or if there were technical aspects, but it was really neat that everyone picked up right where she left off, and supported the anthem in that way.

We took off at about 8:03 am, and I started out at a nice pace of about 8:40....a bit faster than I wanted so I tried to slow down a bit, ended up finishing mile 1 at about 8:37.

Since I didn't want that fast of a pace and I KNEW I wouldn't be able to sustain it, I slowed way down on the 2nd mile and settled in to an 8:57 pace. The next 5 miles were between 8:45 and 8:55 pace, which was right where I wanted to be, if not a little fast. My goal was under 2 hours.

Well, between mile 6 and 7 something happened, and my left side just didn't want to go, I felt and heard something that kind of made me pause and I was in a bit of pain. So that mile ended up being 9:15....mentally I was still okay because I figured if it just went away I could still hit under 2.

However, after the next mile, I hit 10:28.....my left side began burning, and it was really effecting my stride and I began to limp heavily. It was then that I knew this was something that I just couldn't run through, I had to take a break. Mile 9 and 10 were 10:09 and 10:47. I stopped at the water stop drank some water, and started moving again....I felt okay, and even managed a 9:50 mile. However a seriously contemplated dropping out at that point in the race it was too unbearable to even walk.

I didn't, I just pushed on, I was too close to the finish to turn back. So the next miles were very slow at 12:32, and 13:18.....and I collapsed at the end, on the curb....getting up, a major major chore....finally got the results and they were:

2:10:23. That right there is STILL under 10 minutes a mile, and is STILL a PR, last year was 2:13:30.

The course, was said to be fast and flat....HA! If it is, it's very deceiving. The hills were steep and there were 2 long long gradual hills. I still don't know what happened with the pain and the injury.....I got stretched out at the booth at the end of the race....and I still am having trouble walking around and standing up even about 12 hours later...but I don't regret running the race. I've got 2 half's before running my first full....it's time to re-focus and get things done right!


Thanks for reading!!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/242388781