The First Half-Marathon (With an Interesting Introduction!)

Today I ran my first half-marathon, the first annual Brian Mikelson Memorial Half Marathon in Cottonwood, Arizona. It was a small-town event, tons of fun, absolutely wonderful views with about 1/4 of the event on some pretty rough trails. Good thing I have strong ankles! My time was 1:57:47. Not bad. The food at the end was a lot like a country picnic, and they had a fairly decent country band. At about the half-way point, they had a little high school aged band doing Beatles songs. They were horrible! They were singing "Help!" as I ran by, and boy, did they need help.

One of the most interesting--and strangely ironic--things that happened during the event was the introduction. Just before the starting gun for the half marathon, while we were in the starting chute, stretching, jumping around, trying to stay loose, an event announcer took the microphone and said that he wanted all of us to know who Brian Mikelson was, and that his widow and son were there today. Brian Mikelson had been the city's parks and recreation head and had done a lot to improve the area parks and recreation facilities. Very impressive, so far, so good. Then the revelation: Mr. Mikelson had died--sudden heart attack--training for a half marathon--followed by the announcement: Runners, get ready....

Still Making Progress

The biggest problem this week--week 11, counting down, of a 16 week training program--is motivation. The workouts are getting harder. I just need to keep thinking about increased capacity.

Yesterday I ran 13 miles. Usually my long run is on Saturday, but I switched this week because I am entered in my first 10k on Saturday. I ran only in the neighborhood because I didn't want to run on Cave Creek and Deer Valley and 7th Street during high traffic times--too many fumes, too many cars. Good route early Saturday morning, but not on a weekday.

Anyway, there are two problems with running that distance in my small neighborhood. First, I felt like I was running in circles, no doubt because I was. Lots of circles. Second, there are lots of hills. Hills are good for training, but yesterday they were a killer.

My training schedule was for 13 miles at a 9:15/mile pace, or two hours and fifteen seconds. Doable, but just barely. I was on pace until about 12 miles, and then I hit the metaphorical wall. I actually had to walk, then jog, then walk to get back to the house. My actual time was 2:06:31, or a 9:45/mile pace. All of the extra six minutes were added on the last mile, which took almost twenty minutes to complete.

I can blame part of it on the hills. Just took too much out of me. But it also taught me that I am at enough mileage now that I need to drink more water and take in simple carbs while running. Guidelines are for carbs plus water every 45 minutes of intense workout. Yesterday was intense. Better to hit the wall yesterday than in a race. Live and learn.