The Half Marathon Top 5 Goals in Review :

After pushing as much thought off until the last possible second, I found the nerves and pressure finally getting to me.  One good example is the fact that I practiced putting on every single article of clothing I was going to wear, layer by layer.  I did this twice to insure that I had everything I needed, and laid out in the order I needed to put it on so in case of oversleeping I could rush it on.   Luckily I did not oversleep, I simply did not sleep.  Tossing and turning all night, I finally turned off the alarm before it even sounded the first time at 5:30am.  I then went through my routine I had planned out: quick shower to help me wake up, suit up, double check that I had my water, phone, watch, bib, and headphones. I was out the door by 6:00am.

I never really thought about when to arrive, other than I knew that I didn’t want to show up late.  So when I parked my car at 6:30am I was quite ahead of schedule and got to sit in the Indy Convention Center, which at that time looked more like a refugee camp for errant runners.  Athletes littered the area taking up residence on the floor, chairs, and stairs, basically wherever they could find space and warmth…not many were talking; most were engrossed in meditation…or in my case, boredom.

After the 90 minute wait that consisted mostly of a fun past time, people watching, I was finally ready to hit the road and run my race.  I made my way through the crowd and found the 10min pace group knowing I would need to start somewhere close that pace.  I was fortunate to see some familiar faces in the crowd with Annette and Meggie that helped ease the nerves of the start.  But at that point it was go time, just me and the goals that I had tattooed in my head.

In all honesty the race itself could be considered somewhat anticlimactic, I had thought through this race for so long I simply did what I planned to do…stick to a sub 9:45 pace as long as I felt good, evaluate my energy at the half way point and try to push myself for my stretch goal.  This is exactly what I did.  After a warm up mile of 9:50ish, the rest of the 12.1 miles were sub 9:45 and at the 6.5 mile mark I found myself doing better than I had hoped and was on track to be about 2 minutes off my stretch time.  I knew at that point that I needed to push the pace and not give in mentally.

Guess what, I made it!  Who would’ve guess that months of training would actually pay off?  With an official finishing time of: 2:04:57!  (that’s a 9:32 pace for those of you playing at home) How did I do against my Goals?

5.  Finish (check)

4.  Finish without walking (check)

3.  Finish in a 10:00 min pace.  (check)

2.  Finish with a Stretch goal of a 9:30 pace. (2:04:27) (off by 30 seconds over 2hrs…ill take it!)

1.  Finish with enough confidence that I can run a full marathon next year. (Oct 9th 2011 in Chicago, seems like a good day for a full Marathon, anyone else want to join!?)

I did it, and cant be any happier with the results…sure, I missed one goal…but if all goals were attainable the first time, then we would have no reason to keep pushing ourselves.  I’ll get it next time.

While my running was by the book, there were many highlights / lowlights along the way I would like to share:

Favorite People:
12 yr old kid playing the banjo in mile 1 along with an entire blue grass band.  I could’ve listened to them all day!

Surprise visit from my Mom and Dad mile that brought bikes to see me at miles 3, 5 and 6.

My wife Abby making it out with her bike for miles 10, 12 and 13

Liz at the finish jumping of a wall and screaming.

Random guy telling me I could beat the runner right in front of me during that last 100ft sprint (I did…boom)

Best Feeling:
Duh, crossing the finish line for the first time.  And the feeling of barely being able to stand…it was pure bliss.

Also, being able to see my friends Eric Hensley finishing his first Marathon in 5:00:24 and Meggie Dials finish her 5th marathon with a PR of 4:28:24!

Worst Feeling:
At mile 10, felt ok.  At mile 11, my body told me it was done.  From there, it was a painful stretch to the monument and only the crowd cheering kept me going for the last mile.

What I learned:

Its nearly impossible to drink while running.

While I didn’t forget an article of clothing for the race, I completely forgot that I would be drenched with sweat and standing in the 40 degree weather for the next two hours waiting for my fellow runners…thanks Mom for the coat.

The sky is the limit to what the human body is capable of doing.  I never thought, that 5 months ago as a 185lb 5’6”, 30 yr old, with a partially paralyzed leg, never having run further than 2 miles in the last 10 years could finish a half marathon in 2:04:57.  Who knows what I am capable of doing next year!