As always, we were rushed to leave the house Saturday morning…I was trying to haggle on a new (used) car, grandparents were arriving to watch the kids, and Mendy was generally trying to cram too much into the morning as well. Nonetheless, we finally got on the road hoping to make it to Lincoln in time to see Jeff Galloway speak at the pre-race expo. Three hours worth of driving and great conversation later, we walked in just as he was beginning to speak. Our friends Brad and Adrienne, and Jon and Jen, were already there…they tend to be a bit more organized about these things. Galloway was very interesting to listen to, even though I don’t prescribe to his methods. The expo was the typical stuff, nothing too exciting. We made our way over to the free pasta dinner, met up with some other friends, and had a nice relaxing evening – complete with a movie!
Our hotel was within walking distance of the start, so we were able to sleep relatively late, walk over, and still be plenty early. (I don’t like being rushed before an event) I found Brad and we situated ourselves in the starting mob around the 8:30 milers. Before we knew it, the gun had sounded and the race began. It took us several minutes to get to the actual starting mat, but once we did, we were off and running. I didn’t really have a “race plan” other than to start out with Brad and then see how it went - maybe slow down and have a nice training run for the upcoming Berryman 50, but maybe speed up and go for a good finishing time.
Brad and I ran the first half side by side the whole way. Although I don’t remember what about, we talked most of the way, swapped snacks where we each grabbed the wrong things from aid stations, and kept good company for each other. I had to make one pit stop at a porta-john for a piss break that I couldn’t hold any longer, but other than that, I felt great the whole way.
At the turn where the ½ marathoners finished, I decided to turn up the speed a bit for the second half. I looked to Brad and told him I was going to speed up a bit and then just went on. I didn’t know if he was going to join or not, but after a few minutes a realized he wasn’t. After doing some mental calculations, I determined that I had a very slim chance in finishing in 3:30 if I ran hard for the entire second half – even though it would mean a negative split of around 7-8 minutes. What the heck, I might as well try.
Although I was now running by myself, the second half was a blast. While most others were slowing down, I was speeding up and passing people left and right. Nothing is more mentally encouraging than doing this. Mendy had ran the ½ and was now out on her bike encouraging those of us who were running the full. I was happy to see her a few miles before the finish, but didn’t have time to stop and talk – a glance to see her wave and cheer was all I needed. Fortunately I was able to maintain the pace all the way through and finished in 3:30:48. The 48 seconds kind of annoys me off because I my piss break in the first half was about that long. Oh well, I was still very happy with the time and looking forward to being under it next time.
As always, as soon as I quit running at the finish, the wall of weird pain, disorientation, and euphoria all wrapped into one hit me. I walked around for a few minutes to regain my bearings before all was well again. A few minutes later, Brad finished and we headed back out on the course together to find his wife and Jon to run them in. It was Jon’s first marathon and we figured he might be getting a bit tired by now. We found Adrienne first, so Brad started back in with her. I went on a bit further to find Jonathan. His wife Jen, was also riding along beside the course as encouragement, but I think he was happy to have someone run with him through that final grueling stretch. Seeing his excitement at the finish was probably the best part of the weekend.
After the race, Mendy and I gorged on some Chipolte, then headed home….great race, great weekend.
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