Tuscaloosa Half Marathon Race Report

Feb 25 - Mar 3
S:  12,650 yds - 2hr 59min

B:  21.97 mi - 1hr 30min

R:  38.22 mi - 4hr 41min

Total:  9hr 11min

A couple months ago I decided that I was sick and tired of doing the Mercedes Half Marathon every year.  This year it happened to fall on a bike race that I wanted to do so that gave me even more of a reason not to do it.  With a sense of obligation for doing an early season half marathon, I came across an inaugural half marathon in one of the greatest cities in the south: Tuscaloosa, AL.  Having spent 4 years in college here, racing this race seemed like a great idea so I put it on the schedule.  It would also benefit the recovery efforts from the April 27, 2011 EF4 tornado that passed straight through the city, an event that I can still remember vividly...I can recall watching the tornado live on TV from my apartment living room in Homewood and feeling completely helpless as I watched the massive funnel cloud go just to the southeast of campus.

Lori ran 8 miles to see me 4x during the race...awesome!

On Friday evening, Lori and I packed up the car and made the drive to T-town.  First stop was packet pick-up and then I went on a quick 20 minute run; just long enough to run down to the strip by 2 of my apartments that I spent 3 out of 4 collegiate years living in and then on to Bryant Denny Stadium before heading back to the car.  After a standard pre-race dinner at Mellow Mushroom we headed to our home-stay for the night at the residence of the parents of J Ford's wife Holly.  They had plenty of room so it was nice to have my own room and bed the night before the race!

and...we're off (I'm on the far right)

So the race...I really didn't know what to expect.  I had not run 13 miles at one time in the last 4.5 months (since 10/16/12), and I haven't run more than 7-8 miles since then and most of the running has been at around 7:30-8:00 pace.  The plan was to start out at 6:30-6:40 pace and go from there and play the rest by ear.  As the gun sounded, we took off and 1-2 guys shot ahead but not by too much.  I wasn't worried so I just stuck to the plan.  After a few miles, 1 guy had built a slight lead with 2 others sitting behind him.  I was slightly behind sitting in 5th place running right on the heels of 4th place.  I pretty much stuck to his heels like glue for the first 6 miles.  At mile 6.5 we passed the 3rd place runner, putting us in 3rd/4th place.  At this point on the course we were on an out and back so I could gauge what kind of gap the 2 leaders had on us.  It was still within reach but I knew I had to make a move.

the play by play

I was feeling decent, so I decided to attack with around 5 miles to go.  As we hit mile 8 I moved off of his feet and drilled it hard for a minute to establish a gap.  He tried to come but couldn't and it turned out to be even more strategic as we had just turned into a stiff headwind.  I could see 2nd place up the road and figured I would catch him in a few minutes so my attention turned to the 1st place runner.  Could I really get him?  He seemed to be fading and I was clicking off the miles an not slowing down.  With 2 miles to go I could see him just up ahead and I knew I was going to make the catch.  With 1 mile to go I made the catch.  As I passed I drilled it as hard as I could for 30-40 seconds, hoping to completely demoralize him and make him quit.  I wanted no part in a sprint finish so the race needed to end right then and there.  About 2 minutes after passing I allowed myself one glance back and he was out of sight so I got to soak up the last few minutes as I crossed the line for the win!

crossing the line...

...using enormous strength to break the yellow tape :)

 After thinking about it, this is without a doubt the coolest sports moment that I've ever experienced.  Most importantly I bested the competition (that's why we play the game), but it's always a good confidence booster to nab a 10k and half marathon personal best in the same race.  I guess that means hard work is paying off.  It was a good effort and I was pleased with how I was able to pick it up the last 5 miles and really make it hurt...it did help that money was on the line too.  Glancing at the splits, I could probably could have ran the first part of the race faster but you never know.  All in all, it was a good race and a good indicator that things are on the right track and that 2013 will turn out to be a year of superb results.

200 reasons to keep training hard