Mercer Island Half Marathon

This was a much awaited race. Lots of anticipation prior to the race as I had a lofty goal. My first sub 2:00 half marathon. I trained, I ran long and slow, I did speed intervals, some (but not enough) hill work, I biked and swam as cross training. This was it.

Instructions from my coach:

miles 1-3 run at 8:30
miles 3-9 run at hr of 172
miles 9-10 run at hr of 177
miles 11-13 run above 177 and hold

HOLY CRAP! This sounded impossible to me. First of all starting so fast and then following my heart rate instead of paying attention to pace? Ok Melissa, settle down and listen to your coach. She knows what she's doing.

I lined up in the 8-9 min mile section next to a couple of JFT2 teammates. The countdown and then... nothing. Kind of like the Seattle half - there were so many people it took awhile until we could even run. We finally started running and I couldn't get to my 8:30 pace at first until I dodged enough people and ran on the side of the course. Then I got into my pace and started settling down. It wasn't a hard pace, I had to concentrate to not go too fast. It's amazing what adrenaline and excitement will do for you!

Miles 1,2: 17:04, ave 8:27 pace, I was so excited I forgot to keep track of the first split. I'm on target and thinking - This Is So Much Fun! One more mile before heart rate running.

Mile 3: 8:01, a bit fast. Now it's time to watch hr. I'm thinking I will probably need to slow down..., I hadn't looked at my hr during the first 3 miles, but there's no way I can go faster than this pace at hr.

Mile 4: 8:36, ave hr 172, Right on the money! Holy Cow did I just see a decent split? What the heck is going on? Ok Melissa, don't look at time overall, just look at heartrate and splits. Try not to pay attention to pace. (which for me is like not looking at a car accident on the side of the road...)

Mile 5: 8:18, ave hr 171, one beat off. Should I have gone faster? Wait a minute - look at that split! Damn, my coach must know what she's doing. I'm feeling good! I've got my pacer about 300 feet ahead. He's running smooth, running straight lines, looking like he doesn't have a care in the world. I'm focusing on keeping up with him but not blowing my hr goals. Gu'd at some point after mile 5.

Mile 6: 8:34, hr 172, right on again. This hr thing is kind of cool! I'm realizing it helps so much to focus on hr on these rollers rather than focusing on pace. I would have killed myself on the uphills and not gone fast enough on the down hills. Hmmm. Still chasing my rabbit, er pacer. So far so good. Hope he doesn't go faster than me. I've got one more picked out just in case.

Mile 7: 8:18, hr 173, one beat higher, I'm starting to think about mile 9, will I be able to run consistently at a higher hr? I'm feeling good and I'm starting to think I might meet my dream goal of sub 2:00. I'm still having a blast!

Mile 7.5: Holy Crap..... I'm starting to pass people that have been running with me for awhile. Oh No! I'm passing my rabbit. What am I going to do? Settle down Melissa. This is good. This is fabulous actually. Pick a new rabbit and keep going.

Mile 8: 8:22, hr 172, I'm starting to smile. I'm realizing this is actually happening. I'm feeling really good and the hills aren't totally killing me. More than half way there! New rabbits to pick as I go along.... I should gu but my tummy's a teeny bit queasy (as it was before the race) so I'm going to wait a bit. Feeling good with just water.

Mile 9: 8:17, hr 174, oops, a little high. That's ok because now I'm moving my hr up to 177. The hills are worse and she wants my hr higher? CRAP! Here we go. My mantra throughout the race.... Trust my coach, trust my body. Over and over.

Mile 10: 8:40, hr 173, slowed down to gu and drink water during this mile. Didn't meet hr goal of 177. GO GO GO!

Mile 11: 7:56, hr 175, That's what I'm talking about. Still need to push the hr up higher. Back and forth with a tall gal in a yellow Seattle race shirt. Talking with each other each time one of us passes the other. My new rabbit along with another gal in a pink jacket who's way ahead of me. Then JFT2 teammate Kirsten passed me (was it here or at mile 12?). She's looking amazing! Running as if her legs are totally fresh. Passing people left and right! GO Kirsten!

Mile 12: 8:30, hr 176, Dangit! Why can't I get my hr higher? This is getting harder. My legs are hurting. I'm thinking if I slow down I'll never keep my pace up. Got To Keep Running At HR. Keeping rabbits in sight and making sure I can still keep Kirsten in view.

Mile 13-13.1: 9:10, hr 179. I'm done! I passed my yellow shirt rabbit on the last hill and powered through to the end.

TIME: 1:49:51
PLACE: age group 26/128 by finish time (not chip time)
AVE PACE: 8:20
AVE HR: 172
MAX HR: 186

Sub 2:00 goal accomplished. PR of 23 minutes from my last half. YAHOO!


Now if I could only walk without every muscle in my legs hurting.....