The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”
I am glad to have this race under my belt. It was a small event and I was able to finish it in 2:37, according to my watch. That’s the time I’m stickin' with. The official time will be different but I didn’t trust it.
The organizers offered 2 start times. Runners with an expected finish time of more than 2:30, started at 7am and every one else got to start at 8am. So they didn’t start the clock when we started. They didn’t start it until the gun fired for the faster runners. They took our numbers and told us they would just "add an hour" to our times. I felt like their margin for error was going to be pretty high, so I was very careful with my own time piece.
How demoralizing would it be to get passed at some point by someone who started AN HOUR after I did!!!!
It happened though…… many times. But by then, I was just focused on trying to finish.
I was upset with my finish, but I shouldn’t have been. My training consisted of working to do a 12 minute pace for 10 miles. I managed to maintain an 11:57 mile pace for 13.1 miles. If I wanted to do to it faster, I should have trained to do it faster.
Since I did what I trained to do, I’m calling it a win. Also, my main goal was to PR, which I did. Anything faster than 2:45 was going to be a PR for me. Eight minutes off my best time is nothing to sneeze at, but do wish I’d done better. I wanted to finish in 2:30. But I'm still calling it a win, so the bib goes up on the cork board with all the other races I'm proud of.
It was an out and back route and it was relatively flat. We were right on the beach almost the entire time and the weather was gloomy and perfect for a half marathon. It really was a great time. I enjoyed myself thoroughly.
I made the mistake of running in brand new socks and I have the blisters to prove it. Youch!!! I wanted good quality, high endurance socks that were moisture wicking and wouldn’t have holes by the end. They stood up to the task but left me raw and sore.
I stopped off to see Cindy McTeer at Bella Cosas in Camarillo, so I could add a sailboat charm to my bracelet. Every Half Marathon gets a charm.
They didn’t do finisher’s medals for this race. Every finisher got a finisher’s metal bottle. I’m not sure that I’ll ever use it, but there it is.
This is me, back at home with a tired and achy smile. The chaos doesn’t stop just cuz I decided to run 13.1 miles this morning, so I’ve got chores to do and kids to bathe.
Besides, it’s Father’s day weekend. Chris needs to be spoiled and pampered.
Happy Father’s Day to all the super hero Dad’s out there!!!!!
One race at a time and the minutes are falling off... and as you get more confident in running faster so you will race faster...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Coach! I am learning to be happy with this race. It was a success in every aspect, expect for the exprectations I was afraid to voice because I was afraid I wouldn't reach 'em.
ReplyDeleteBut what did Lowell say? Something like, "Not failure, but low aim is crime".