First off... congrats to everyone who did the Tower run this weekend!
As for me, yesterday was the end of a journey... and the beginning of the next... (long read, sorry!)
So, I found this board back in February as I began a long process to head towards my first 5K. At the time, I had some hopes of doing the 2014 W&D Half, which is how I stumbled here. Although timing/family prevented a trip to Orlando this fall, the idea of doing a half in fall became a goal of mine, and I have spent the past 8 months leading up to it. Along the way, many of you have offered encouragement, advice and answered my silly questions. I can't thank you enough.
In July, I finished my first 10K and set a goal for myself of being able to complete the half in 2:37 (a 12 minute/mile pace). As my training went on, I adjusted my goal downward until yesterday when I lined up to run the MO' Cowbell Half Marathon with a goal of 2:31 in my mind (11:30 pace).
Blessed with the coolest temperatures I've ever run in and a relatively flat and straight first 7 miles, I took off at a pace that was probably a bit too fast for me with mile times ranging from 9:13 to 10:24. Even as I was posting those times, I knew I couldn't sustain them, but I also knew I had set myself up for a goal-busting time if I could just hang in there. Miles 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 brought narrow streets, lots of turns, and the hills. With those factors and my tired legs and mind (the mental fatigue was probably worse), I slowed considerably over those five miles with times of 10:36 to 11:37 (yuck!).
As I hit the 13 mile spot on a road I drive on daily, I took a brief, but necessary, walk break of about 20 seconds and then pushed all out for the next half-mile. Thankfully, that led me to a short downhill that my legs sort of rolled through on their own (at least it felt like it as I had nothing left). As I came around a bend with about 600 meters left, I saw my wife and two boys standing there holding a sign and cheering me on! It was an incredible moment for me.
As I think I posted on here before, I began running because my wife's father was dying from cancer at a far too young of age. I could see in my wife's eyes the fear that my ridiculously fat and out of shape self could face a similar fate at an even younger age. Although she'd never ever say that, I could see the thought was in the back of her mind. I owed it to her and my two kids to get off the couch and do something. With that thought, I began running for the first time since high school.
Anyway, seeing the three of them there as I reached the end of my physical and mental rope really did bring everything full circle for me and gave me the inspiration to push through the last 300 meters or so. I blew them a kiss, looked up saw the finish line and went into an all out sprint at about the 200 meter mark. I am sure I looked ridiculous as every limb was flailing all over just trying to hang on, but it was enough to get me across the line. My last 1.1 miles registered at 10:40, 50 seconds faster than my previous mile.
In the end, I finished with an official time of 2:21:13 (10:47 pace) besting my goal time by 9 minutes. I grabbed the medal and wondered aimlessly for a few minutes until I heard my wife call me. At that point, I crashed on the ground and just sat there for what seemed like forever with my wife and kids and a ridiculous smile on my face.
So this concludes the first segment of my journey into running. Along the way, I have run several races, found a new hobby that I never thought I'd enjoy, turned 40, and had some fun sharing it occasionally. Oh, and I've lost 45 lbs along the way and am just 5 lbs away from dropping below 200 lbs for the first time in more than 15 years (I will hit that goal this year).
I've also decided that I will continue with a goal of one half marathon a year for as long as my body will allow it. In the meantime, I will take a few days off before running a fun 5K with my son at his school on Sunday. Then, it's a short extended weekend vacation with my wife to belatedly celebrate my 40th and back to running about 16-18 miles per week for the rest of the year.
I'll continue to read about all of your achievements and be cheering you on from behind the screen and I may pop in from time to time. But for now, I'll close by saying thank you for reading and for your encouragement over the past 8+ months. You've been a huge help!
Good luck to all of you!
