Auto Pilot

Woke up bright and early this morning for the "spring" classic. I think it should definitely have been called the winter classic though as it was about 30 degrees.

I didn't want to worry about the temperatures though and how that would affect me. I wanted to go and race and see how I fared. I came up a bit short of expectations.

We got to the race early despite sloppy traffic conditions which worked out great. About 10 minutes later and we would have lost a place in the prime parking area. The one within walking distance that also wouldn't have to drive through the race traffic on the way out. Score!


Telling Risko where to park before heading to my warm up

I started my warm up and headed to the bathroom. I decided to try something new today (I know I know!) and not drink any fluids before the race except for a cup of earl grey and a cup of green tea (I have done this for both my last long runs so it wasn't entirely new, just new for race day). I am notorious for having to pee for an entire half marathon. I did not want to deal with that today and it turns out my little experiment worked out just fine. I drink more H20 than anyone I know during the week so I highly doubt I am starting my day completely dehydrated anyways. I think I will take this into account for pig. If anything I will have one small glass of gatorade with carbo pro first thing when I wake up, my teas, then nothing until the first aid station.

Warm up went well. Easy 30 minutes with some jogging in place while waiting for the restroom. The snow was slowing and the roads weren't bad enough to warrant trail shoes. My feet were already wet though and I wasn't exactly thrilled about that.

Got to the starting line with a few minutes to spare. Tried to find my husband but he must have been behind the crowd so I hollered "I love you David" in the silence before we set off. I set out at what I thought race pace should be with DaisyDuc at my side and to my surprise Risko joined us for the first mile or so (she hasn't run over 9 miles since Marine Corps hence my surprise). She said she wanted to say she lead the race so she jumped in front of us for a few then fell back into a better pace. I was seriously worried that there weren't any other women in front of us. On my best day I shouldn't be leading a half marathon. I decided it was just that no real competition had showed and stuck to the pace.

Hmm not so much. The first mile was 7:00 (S from VR claims this was a short mile but still too fast! I should have gone out more conservatively than that). Daisy and I stayed even and we got passed by the first lady just before mile 2. I still felt good and we cruised through at 7:10. Still too damn fast. But for some reason I didn't back it off. We kept the effort the same but mile 3 was slow. 7:44. Brilliant, I'm doing what feels like half effort and now I am at marathon pace, WTF. But I just kept it even.

The course is a pretty flat, out and back, out and back. So we made a hairpin turn before hitting mile 4 in 7:24. This is the pace I was looking for and I was starting to feel better about the race. Around this mile the 2nd women passed us. I was feeling pretty peppy and thought there was a good chance Daisy and I could round out 3 & 4 for the day. Next mile 7:24. Perfect. Something changed before mile 6 though and I lost my peppy edge. My legs just went into auto pilot. Mentally I decided that was fine. I should run my own pace in hopes that I could kick it in strong at the end. I had done it at River Run in October and it worked out great. So I let Daisy edge ahead of me. Mile 6, 7:52 not so great but I was at 44:36 which was still the overall pace I wanted. Smiled for my hubby and high fived the volunteer before making the jaunt onto the trail. The trail was icy and footing was sloppy. My group got a good edge on me here as it seemed like they weren't phased at all while I was unsure of my footing and couldn't keep pace.

I could hear some chatter behind me and knew that I was about to be passed by another female. She sounded chipper and relaxed. I wish I had felt that way but I was just not able to move my legs any faster. Auto pilot was set and it wasn't moving. I had run with the lady on the warm up and she had just run Athens marathon last weekend and is planning to run a 3:19 at Pig. All I have to say is more power to her. She's is gonna rock the pig for sure.

Mile 7 came by in 7:55. Mile 8 in 7:48 I was passed by some guys that called their mile split to each other, 7:19. I entertained the thought of drafting off them but I just wasn't picking up steam. I started walking through water stops now. On one of the turns I realized Daisy's friend wasn't too far back but I was pretty confident I could hold the gap and come in 5th. I had Daisy in my sights but I wasn't closing on her. She had about a one minute gap on me that wasn't budging. I hit Mile 9 in 7:57. One mile till the race starts. I just held steady to my pace and smiled and thanked volunteers. Hit the hairpin turn and turned back for the last stretch of the race. Mile 10 came in 7:50. I knew there was no chance for a PR at this point but I just hoped for the best. Around here I saw Risko and she cheered "You're a tiger! You're a Tiger!" I growled for the crowd and laughed but unfortunately it didn't give me the boost I am sure she hoped it would.

Three miles to go. Anyone can race a 5k! I upped the effort a bit but the wind kicked in and I just wasn't going any faster. My fleece pants were nice for warmth but the wind made them flap around and I was kicking the hem which wasn't helping my foot speed for sure. Mile 11 came in 7:56. Rootsrunner gave me some encouragement, and Gatorade, as I walked through the aid station. I pushed a bit after that but auto pilot was not letting me pick up speed. Mile 12 brought more of the same in 7:53. I could still see Daisy ahead of me and I did my best to close in on her but despite my efforts my last mile was my slowest. 13 was 8:11, what a kick in the face after remaining under 8 the rest of the race! Kicked it in for a finish time of 1:40:59. Placed first in my age group and took 5th overall.

I am not sure how much the weather had an affect on my race today, how much of it was going out too fast, and how much of it was just mental. I let my head get in the way. I don't think I was 100% invested in the PR today and I just didn't go after it like I should have. I'm fine with it. My big race isn't the spring classic, it's the Flying Pig. But boy a PR would have been a nice ego boost. Instead I will be happy that I ran strong and endured the race at the pace that I was supposed to run 15 at today. With the warm up I did just that. Besides it's not every day I place top 5 in a half marathon. I have only run 8 half marathons so far. This one ranks as number 4. So better than half of those I have run. I should definitely be happy about that.

I was never in any serious pain today. I just wasn't feeling it. There was a spark missing that I have had at most of my races the past few years. When I finished I did feel queasy and almost lost my cookies but deep down I know I have run harder than that and endured worse than that. I think auto pilot just did me in today. If I want a PR I am going to have to dig deeper than I did today and endure a bit more suffering to get it. I can't just show up, run auto pilot, and expect a miracle!

So I know now that I have to keep working on the mental aspect of running for pig. When pace starts to falter I need to be able to remind myself of all the reasons I want to run a 3:25 and I can't let myself settle. I have to be willing to dig in a bit to get what I want. I have to bring my A game and not the auto pilot!