The starting line: Super fun chillin' (literally! brrrr...) with Amy, Kiley, Tracy, and Amanda J.! Kiley's dad and sister came out to cheer us on from the get-go! They were most excellent cheerleaders AND jacket taker-away-ers. The race started and off we went! We began at the Ocean City Inlet Parking lot and circled once...for fun, I guess, then headed off on the boardwalk with a slight detour around the amusement park area. The actually boardwalk portion was pretty short, which is probably a good thing given my natural bend toward tripping. First song on the iPod: Black-Eyed Peas' 'Pump It'. Perfect! Second song: Michael Jackson's 'Don't Stop Til You get Enough.' What a way to begin!!!
The bridge: Almost immediately, there is a bridge you cross (Rt 50 maybe?). I was fine with the concept of the bridge...until I had to run over water over a grate! I covered my eyes and ran a little faster...
611: We made our way through a park and ride over to Rt 611. This was a little over 2 miles in. I felt great at the point! I hit 2 miles around 20 minutes and change. Perfect pacing--a little over 10 minute miles. But before I knew it, I was going 9:30. I think I was pacing with the pack. This speed felt fine, so I went with it figuring I would tire of it eventually and fall back.
Whispering Woods: We took a detour into and out of a cul de sac neighborhood. I find this to be particularly cruel. This was miles 3-4 ish. My left hip and ankle hurt here, but subsequently the pain went away. So I soldiered on.
611 (the duece): Short, uneventful.
Sinetuxent Rd: We turned off the main road down this lane at about mile 4.5. Kiley's mom, Jesse, Dex and Addy were there! I loved it because as I saw Jesse, the song 'Jesse's Girl' was playing on my iPod. LOVE IT. Sinetuxent was beautiful! Wooded (so it shaded) and there were horses (so it smelled fantastic!!!!!). This seemed like a really long road to me...
Lewis Rd: This is the left off of Sinetuxent back to Rt 611. It also seemed very long. I hit the 10K mark there...not that it was marked, but I knew it. At this point, I figured I would slow down since I had only run that fast for that far before. But I felt great! So I soldiered on.
611 (AGAIN): I saw the Cheering Section again at this point. Dex and Addy are *phenomenal* cheerleaders--but they have an unfair advantage since they are stinkin' adorable... I kept thinking: 'Make it to mile ten...' at this point. When I hit mile ten I thought: 'It's only a 5K left!' (Thanks for that gem, Julie VLF!)
The Pedestrian Bridge: At exactly mile 12, there is a pedestrian bridge crossing over onto Assateague. I don't know who developed the course for this half marathon. But I do know that they are big jerk faces who put steep incline pedestrian bridges at MILE TWELVE. I probably should have just walked up it, but I could *taste* a sub-2:11 finishing time and so I ran it! I ran it at about an 11-minute pace. Since my pace for the first 12 miles was for the most part between 9:00 and 9:59, I had some room for this in my 10:00 pace goal. The wind across the bridge was amazing. I praised God for the refreshing breeze the entire trek up the incline. The decline back to the island was GREAT. :)
The final mile: Once on Assateague it was about 1 mile to the finish (a little less...). I was tired. I wanted to slow down, but I kept my sub-10:00 pace. Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' came on the iPod. Perfect ending song! I saw a man walking with (according to my GPS watch) .3 miles to go. I got his attention and yelled: 'You're so close! You can run it!!!' and he did! :)
The finish line: Sweet, sweet, sweet finish line. I sped up and finished strong. I crossed the finish line with arms raised and fists of victory, giving praise to the One who promises I will run and not grow weary, I will walk and not be faint. He carried me.
According to my GPS watch, I finished in 2:08:58!!! Official times are not posted yet. However, my GPS watch tells me I went 13.22 miles. We already know that the course designers are big jerkfaces. So I default to trust the GPS watch. Here are the stats according to it:
Distance: 13.22 miles
Total time: 2:08:58
Average Pace: 9:45/mile
Calories Burned: 1748!!!!
Average Heart Rate: 165
Here is a graph of my heart rate and pace versus time.
According to the race distance and time, if I did only go 13.1 miles in 2:08:58, my pace would be 9:50. I'll still take it. :) My last half was 2:56:51. So I PR-ed and took 48:07 off of my time and my pace improved by 3:40! Wow!!!! I'm so very proud of me!!!
After the race Amy and I ate at Panera Bread AND got ice cream at Dumser's. My stomach is happy. :)
What an amazing day, running with amazing women! Kiley, Amy and Tracy totally rocked it! I am so proud of us all:
Next workout tomorrow: Lifetime's Try-a-Tri indoor triathlon with Holly^2!!!
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