Woo hoo! I ran a new personal record (PR) at the 2018 Wisconsin Half Marathon by 1 minute and 48 seconds! My new half marathon PR is 1:49:27! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was hopeful our winter weather would make a comeback this week and I’d get to race in weather like what I’ve been training in – usually in the 30s (and windy – but no wind, no gracias). But no, we had our one week of spring last week, then during race week, we saw a few days with highs in the low 80s. Ha! Typical – it seems like every year, this race is either one of the first “warm” days of the year or HELLA windy. I am not sure which is worse!
I decided to still go for my 1:50:00 goal time because eff it – I had been doing some tempo runs at faster than PR pace and thought I could do it. So what if it’s in the 50s/60s and sunny with no clouds (and not much wind, yay)? I checked the weather before the race for my records (53°F, 75% humidity, with a 5 mph wind from the west), put on sunscreen, and didn’t think about it for the rest of the race. It’s not worth my mental energy – it is what it is. When I felt sweat dripping down my arm, and the hot sun on me, I thought “what a beautiful day it is!” and “I am so glad I have sunscreen on!” (I know those temps don’t seem bad, but I am a cold weather runner, and we had NO time to acclimate (ha, like I ever do acclimate to the heat…))
I was thinking about doing a half mile warm up, but nixed it, since it was so warm out. And with the 5K starting at the same time as the half and full (huh?!) I figured I wouldn’t start too fast. I was worried the start would be a huge cluster and I’d start off too slow, but it was fine! The new course (with less turns at the start) really seems to let people spread out, yay!
I had talked a bit of strategy with Pete this week (thank you, Pete!) and he really emphasized starting off conservatively, which I agreed with. So most of my first seven miles were me trying not to go too fast because I felt so great! Goal pace was 8:23 minute miles, and every once in a while, I’d get excited about something and accidentally speed up! But I felt like I was keeping it in check, and hoping I’d have a faster last three miles. And I noticed I was not running the tangents perfectly (despite trying), so I was glad to be a bit under pace and have a buffer!
The race starts in the downtown area and goes south to a neighborhood, then turns around to head back north. During mile 3, my Road ID became loose on my shoe and was clanking against my foot and making me a little nuts. I wanted to focus on how my body felt (awesome!) and not on that. When I saw Steven between mile 6 and 7 near the downtown area, I had him take it off real quick! Thank you, Steven! You rock for so many reasons!
The first seven miles FLEW by. I remembered feeling bored in the first half of the race last year, so I made an upbeat playlist and listened to it the whole time I ran. It worked!
The last six miles are an out and back that goes north toward Carthage College and back downtown to the finish. This part is fun because you get to see everyone out on the course (there is an out and back in the beginning too, but it’s a bit too spread out at that point to see everyone you know).
This part also has inclines. Definitely not hills, but inclines. I still felt great until mile 8/9, but the inclines and the open sun were getting to me. I’d try not to slow down too much on the up, then pick up the pace on the down. For the last four miles, my legs and arms felt like they each gained ten pounds. I would see friends and wave or grunt or try to say their name, but I was obviously running low on juice! (I took a gel at mile 4 and 8.)
But eff it I WAS THERE TO PR!!!! I kept pushing, kept using my pace band (comparing it to my overall time, then to the race mile markers, since my tangenting was off), still trying to keep my buffer. I knew I’d PR if I got in under 1:51:15, but I really wanted that sub 1:50!
The last few miles were HARD! It went from feeling easy and me thinking I’d maybe run 8:00 minute miles to finish (ha) to me struggling to make goal. But I did it! It wasn’t pretty, but I did it, and my positive split is not horrendous.
I’m proud of this race, and these splits. That race pace felt so great in the beginning let me know I trained right and was ready to PR. And I didn’t let it discourage me that it got hard in the end. I repeated my positive mantras – “I feel good,” “I can do this,” “I trained for this,” “I want this,” etc. – for the entire race. I ignored that beating sun (finish temp: 61°F, 63% humidity, with a 6 mph wind from the WSW).
I was SO glad to stop running though. Man, that last mile felt like it took forEVER! I stumbled a bit when I stopped, and a volunteer helped me over to water/Gatorade, where Emily was, and she helped me get four cups of Gatorade, which immediately helped! Thank you volunteers!!!!
Then I met up with Steven and we cheered on the rest of our friends running!
Rachel ran the race (and stayed over the night before!) and so did seven of my Essential Fitness (Efit) friends!
Rachel, Bobbi, me, Judy, Dawn, Rael, and Micah (two Efit friends not pictured)
Steven and I got vegan hot dogs at the food tent, hung out for a bit with friends, then headed home! I love how close this race is to our house (about twenty minutes away), and how easy it all is. It’s well organized, you can park close to the race about an hour before, packet pickup is quick, the aid stations are plenty (I only used a few since I carried water), etc. And bonus – it’s an affordable, smaller race.
This was a big year for the race – they were celebrating ten years since the inaugural! I dig the “cheese” cake logo! And since I am a ten consecutive years in a row runner, I got a blanket! Nice touch!
I’ll probably be back next year, even though every year when I struggle in those inclines (even with doing hill repeats every week since December, what the heck!) I tell myself I’ve got to quit. I just can’t! Maybe they could run the course in reverse? Ha! Or maybe since it’s so dang close, I could go TRAIN on it. Huh, there’s a brilliant idea!
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