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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| crossing the line... |
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| ...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.
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| 200 reasons to keep training hard |
