The race is a point to point. The half marathon runners get bussed out to an elementary school in Dexter. The course is run on rural roads that lead to downtown Ann Arbor. According to the website, ".. the race is run on paved surfaces throughout the entire course, and features its only real flat stretches of any length for two miles during the entire race." That's true until you run up the big hills during the final two miles.
The first part of the course isn't too bad. There are plenty of rolling hills. Nothing too bad. When I ran up the heads, I just stared at the pavement. The first reason I looked at the pavement to make sure I wasn't going to twist my ankles on my low spots or potholes in the road. The second reason is the hills always go by quicker to me if you are not staring at how much longer you have to go.
When I passed the six mile mark, I was happy to be on pace to run under two hours. I have run this half marathon since 2011 and I have never done that. Then at 6.5 miles the biggest hill of the course was right up in front of us. A guy and woman next to me stopped to walk the hill. If this race was an ultra, I would have walked the hill too. Since it was just a half marathon, I ran up the hill. I put my head down and looked at the pavement about 10 feet in front of me. That hill was brutal. When I reached the top, it took a bit for my legs to speed back up and run again. I think that was the case for everyone around me.
Around the eight/nine mile mark, I thought I was still doing well to break two hours. I was wrong. The two hour pace group ended up passing me on my left. I hung with them for a stretch, but they ended up getting away. As disappointed as I was, I kept running. During those last four miles, I was surprised to see so many male runners on the side of the road with their hands on their knees or walking. It boggled my mind. Males are supposed to be tougher then females. Maybe they hot from the sun, tired or just didn't train properly. It just surprised me to see so many of them on the side of the road.
The stretch between mile 11 and 12 seemed like it took forever. Just being so close to the end, I wanted to see the next mile marker as soon as I could. When the course made a curve to the right, I knew a hill was coming. The course takes us up a hill before coming to the 12 mile marker. I was almost two minutes behind when I reached the final mile marker. I didn't want it to get any worse, so I kicked it into gear. I ended up passing so many people. I'm sure they were probably as tired as me, but I wanted to be done.
I was stuck in no-man's land after passing a bunch of runners. I had a group of runners in front of me and behind me. No one beside me. I really wanted someone next to me. The wind was hitting us in the face and I wanted a person to break the wind for me. Since I had no one but my self, I kept going. Then probably for the last half mile the course goes up hill. My legs couldn't switch into any other gear. The pace I was running is what I was going to finish in. A block away from the finish line, I took my Oiselle hat off. I did that so I could have photos taken of me without huge shadows on my face from the bill of my hat. I crossed the finish line in 2:02:26. I was two minutes shy of going under two hours. Maybe I can get my sub-two hour next year. I know I will try.
Official results:
Time: 2:02:26
Overall place: 1346/2087
Gender place: 435/1229
Age group: 70/202
No comments:
Post a Comment