Cincinnati Half Marathon 2011

Cincinnati Half Marathon: Beautiful fast course with some hills. I wore my Brooks Green Silence minimalist shoe.

I sit at my desk here looking out my office window, and for one brief minute I lapse back into yesterday’s race. Of course, I’ve replayed it over and over in my mind and all I find is joy. I almost hesitate in writing anything further about it, as I have received so much love and support on Facebook that I don’t want to overdo my welcome with the self focus. But wow. Not even sure where to begin with this story but I’ll just jump right in…

When I ran my first half marathon last year, my goal was to finish. I just wanted to finish. I worked and did what I needed to do to finish. And it was hard. I didn’t screw around during the race, I ran. But I ended up walking some of the last two miles due to joint pain in my hips. My time was slow. But the goal was to finish. After that race, I was hooked. I took some time off for the brutal winter and chose some races that I wanted to do. All half marathons. My first half of the season was to be the Flying Pig in Cincinnati May 1. But the awful winter and my husband being gone a total time of 7 weeks out of the 12 week training period blew that goal, I had a pre-school child at home. I did not run the Flying Pig. So I chose another race, the Columbus Marathon –half. And I began training. In the beginning, I knew that I wanted to do better than last year, but just how much better? I looked inside myself and intuitively I chose a 16 minute shave. That number seemed right, for reasons I don’t know, it was totally a sensory decision. Whether I could or not, never crossed my mind. I ran. And ran. I’m sure I bored people to death posting my running schedule –the good, the bad, and the monotonous.

This time, my pre-school child was now in Kindergarten, which allowed me a full two days a week to myself. I changed my running schedule to include one of those days as a long run day. Which worked perfectly as my husband travels so much. I admire women who are single parents accomplishing these types of goals. It’s damn hard. No joke.

I stuck with an intermediate runner schedule incorporating tempo runs and speed intervals. I will say that these two training techniques are what totally gave me the edge for this half marathon. Months went by. I cried. I fought boredom. I fought monotonous and overused music playlists. I worked hard to come up with new running routes. I stressed out wondering what the point of it all was. And I fought for every run. Every single one. I didn’t waste one workout. I gave a hundred percent every single time. As the day of the Columbus Marathon approached, I was asked to come shoot a wedding reception in Los Angeles…the same weekend. I struggled with this because I had put my whole heart, physical body and mindset into this race. So I began to search for another half marathon, finding the Cinci Half only one week beyond. I was elated! I registered immediately and said goodbye to Columbus. While in Los Angeles, during a long run, I fell. I hit the ground so hard that I thought I had really injured my left knee. It took me two hours before I would let myself cry from the pain…and fear. But as God would have it, I only suffered some minor soreness, bruising, and a nice scrape..I’m sure there will be a scar.

As the week drew to a close and the race loomed, my nerves were high. I had done all I could do. I had trained in extreme heat and cold. I had thrown up from effort and nearly passed out from giving it all on speed days. I was either going to meet my goal or I wasn’t. And I never believed I wasn’t. The entire week of the race, I visualized the clock at the finish. I had a number that I wanted to see. I imagined the pain coming at mile 11, 12, 13. I imagined that I would push the pain down. I imagined that I was not going to stop until I saw the finish. I imagined my name being called at the finish line and I imagined all my friends waiting for me. All the friends I had bored to death with my running schedule. I didn’t want to let any of them down. I know that seems silly, but every single one of them were with me that 13.1 miles. They know who they are. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So, the final result? I shaved 21:36 minutes off my previous half marathon time. And I beat my own personal goal by 6 minutes and 36 seconds, for an official finish time of 2:09:18. As I approached mile five I knew I was going to blow my previous PR away. I knew it and carried that truth with me for 8.1 more miles. The pain came at mile 12. The joint pain in my hips was like a fire that nothing would extinguish and I gained a stomach cramp that was like a line across the top of my abdomen, at one point I began to panic as I couldn’t breathe. I began to press with my finger, searching for a pressure point to relieve the pain, and finally found it. I kept telling myself to, “just keep going, it’s almost over. Almost over. You did it.” And when I saw the clock at the finish, I was in utter disbelief. This is that moment crossing the finish line…

Here I am, getting my medal. The lady speaking to me was telling me that she and her friend were chasing me the whole time, they would say to each other, “There’s green!” Damn, if I didn’t start crying.

And finally, the medal. With tears. Thank you friends who supported me throughout this entire process. And most importantly, to Brad– with you (and God) all things are possible. I now have my sights on Vegas, Dec. 4. I’m going to relax and enjoy it!