Great Expectations: Lowell Race Report

Baystate Half-Marathon, Lowell MA

I've run this race twice before, and while the course itself is pretty darn ugly, it's a great race for a PR. It's flat (and therefore fast), it's a double loop (and therefore easy to pace), it's in mid-October so usually the weather is PERFECT for running (chilly, crisp, and clear), it's well run, and it's got a lot of spectators to keep the energy high. All aspects point to a great run - all you need is the training in the bank (check!), and the mental fortitude to pull it all together on race day (check!), and a little luck.

My previous half mary PR was (note the foreshadowing by the use of the word "was" here!) 1:44, set on this course two years ago. While I have been primarily a tri-junkie for the last many years, my run has come along nicely, so I felt I was quite capable of beating this. However, this year I was focused on Olympic distance racing (the run being a 10k), so was doing more shorter distance, fast workouts, rather than longer long runs and tempo training. In addition, after tri season comes to an end, I typically have a mental breakdown of sorts, and do NOT feel like training as hard as I have for the prior many, many months. This means that when the alarm goes off at 5:00am on a Sunday morning to get me up for my long run, I'll often roll over, smack off the alarm, and think "I'll do it later this afternoon." Well, with two kids and their activities, stuff to take care of around the house, the dog, etc., sometimes that afternoon run is cut short, or skipped altogether. Bad Zoot. But it is what it is - this is me in September, and I know it. So, while I knew I had the capability to SOMEDAY break that 1:44, I was a *little* worried that maybe, just maybe, I didn't have it all lined up for this year.

A few long runs missed, and it was taper week. Gulp. I had very minimal training on tap for that week - two short runs (5 miles / 3 miles), with fast pick-ups in the middle of them. Those runs went incredibly well - the pick-ups were WAY too fast, but it was hard to hold it in. The easy parts of the runs were also too fast, but again, going any more slowly made me feel like I was walking. Hmmmmmm...... Maybe Sunday will be a good day after all? By Friday I was going insane - all fidgety and crazy being cooped up all week with minimal training, and I was itching for Sunday to arrive. I had a double secret goal of going sub 1:40, with a more realistic goal of a 1:42.

Sunday morning arrived, I woke up before the alarm (a good sign!) and I was calm and focused. My good friend Anne was coming with me as a spectator and we had a fun morning getting checked in and settled at the race site. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and I was feeling good. No pressure, but just excited to be out there on a nice Sunday morning on a course I knew and liked. It's time to go!!!!!

I typically take a few miles to really settle in, so the plan was to take it easy those early miles until I felt good. Well, I felt good at "GO!" and after trying to hold back a little during the first mile, I just let myself settle into a comfortable pace from there out. At about the 2.5 mile mark, I was feeling fantastic, and was clicking along at a 7:40-7:45min/mile pace. I couldn't help but smile - it was going to be a good day, and I knew it. The goal from there on out was to keep that pace right there - 7:45's were the goal. I could feel it in my legs and in my heart - I could do it. The first loop went by quickly - I saw Anne (the BEST spectator EVER - running around like a maniac to see me at various spots along the course) at mile 5 and I was feeling GREAT! Looped around the backside of the course to start the loop again, and at mile 7 the real work began. I was still holding pace, but it was getting harder. Would my lack of long runs come to bite me in the ass now???? This is where having an AWESOME coach (shout-out to the Best. Coach. Ever. Will of Tri-Hard) pays off in spades. We have talked in the past about how those hard, at times brutally hard track workouts he gives me not only train your body, but how they train your mind to dig deep, embrace the suffering, and work through it. I reminded myself of how I beat back She-Devil on the track a while back. Yes, the last 6 miles were going to hurt. Indeed, they were going to hurt and I was going to suffer. But I could handle it. I've done it before, and I'll do it again. Just keep running. And block out everything else going on - no mind chatter allowed. Just. Keep. Running.

Somewhere around there a fellow competitor came up next to me, and we were running literally step for step, the same pace. She asked if it bothered me to have her there, and I honestly said no - it was great. And it was. She was PERFECTLY where I wanted to be, and she helped keep me holding it. There was NO way I was going to let her go!!!!! It worked beautifully for the both of us. I'm a pretty strong hill runner, so on the very few, very mild hills that are on this course, I'd gain a bit of a lead as I held my pace solid. She'd then gut it out to catch me back on the slight downhill, and there we were, running side by side, stride for stride. There wasn't much talking - we'd occasionally make a grunting comment to each other, but otherwise, we just ran. Together, but independent. It was a great coincidence. Mile 9 came and I thought about picking it up. Could I? Nope. I'm good right here. Mile 10? Not yet, not yet. Mile 11 hit and I was ready for this bad boy to be over and I knew I could suck it up for 2 miles. I mustered all that I had left, and thought all I had was ~15 minutes, just 15 minutes at most of pain and it would all be over. I had stopped looking at my watch - it was meaningless to me now. I was running with all I had - nothing more, nothing less. No need to see what that pace was to possibly mess with my head. My running partner dropped back at this point, and my goal was to keep her behind me, and start picking off some of the people in range in front of me. Dude with incredibly bad running form (how are you running so well, running like THAT?!?)? See ya. Chick with the pink ball cap? Cute hat, nice job, see you at the finish, BEHIND me. My focus was on the person in front of me, no farther. Soon it was mile 12. A mere 1.1 left. I couldn't feel my legs by this point - they were utterly and completely numb. Otherwise, I felt fantastic - no stomach issues, no cramps, no nothing, just the sweet pain of running at the edge of your limits. I noted that this felt sort of weird - I knew I was running hard, but I didn't really understand how - I couldn't feel my legs, but I could see them turning over quickly.

Soon we were running over the last bridge, the bridge that led to the finish. This particular finish is a bit painful, as we run into the BACK entrance of the ballpark (which of course feels like it's a mile away, although in reality it's probably at most, 100 yards), then we have to run around the warning track all the way around to roughly home base. It. Just. Doesn't. End. So close, but ....... UGH WHERE IS THE FINISH LINE! I saw the timing clock click over to 1:41, and the smile started. I really and truly knew that the sub 1:40 wasn't possible this fall, even though I would have liked it, but a 1:41? That would ROCK. And it was going to happen. It was happening!

This sounds so corny, but I was just so flippin' happy. I had run a perfect race for my current fitness level. I freaking nailed it that morning. I knocked out a HARD 13.1 miles. I knew I could do it, and I did it. Now, not only is finishing 13 miles not a big deal any longer, but finishing 13 miles running HARD, is totally and completely a given. I can do this. Covered in salt, sweat, spit, pee (hey, running is not a pretty sport....), I was grinning from ear to ear.

The grin is still here as I look over the final results: 6/193 women in the 40-49 AG. That's the top 3%. THREE PERCENT!!!!!!! I was 178/1490 overall (including men) - that's the top 12%. Overall. Cool Running lists the top 10 on their AG results page, and I'm freakin' there!!!!!!

Dayum.

*************          FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49          *************

Place    Name              Age     City            Net Time
========================================================================================
    1 KARA HAAS            40 CHELMSFORD      MA 1:26:16 
    2 KAREN ENCARNACION    45 E_WALPOLE       MA 1:28:18 
    3 CRISTINA WINSOR      42 WAKEFIELD       MA 1:30:13 
    4 MARYN BARRETT        41 EAST ANDOVER    NH 1:35:15 
    5 SHARON SEABURY       42 WAKEFIELD       MA 1:38:41 
    6 MICHELLE SPINA       42 WINCHESTER      MA 1:41:23 
    7 KRIS SZABO           40 BILLERICA       MA 1:41:57 
    8 KAREN KEENAN         48 WELLESLEY       MA 1:42:27 
    9 YILI YAO             40 ARLINGTON       MA 1:43:10 
   10 MICHELE MOSHER       40 BOXBORO         MA 1:43:18