Training Day 46 of 71: Half Marathon Down

Yesterday I ran in my first official half marathon and it was so much fun! Dylan and I had to get up at 5AM so we could get to the Lake Casitas Recreation Area to sign in at 7AM (it's about one and a half hours outside of LA). It was so beautiful there. We parked in this dewy field that reminded me of Vermont. The misty lake was still and the surrounding hills were all shades of green. The fresh crisp air was such a welcome change from the city. I got my bib and we hung out until the race was to start at 8AM. I wasn't nervous. Mostly I was just looking forward to a new, more naturey route to run on.

There were a couple hundred people racing. The beginning of the race was pretty casual, off we all went in a great big herd. Gradually the herd thinned out. I started pretty slow but as we moved into a long steady decline I let gravity pull me a little faster. Around this time I really started to enjoy my breath. I like using ujjayi breath while running - breathing deeply and evening through the nose with a slight (very slight while running!) constriction at the base of the throat. The abundance of foliage made the breath even more pleasurable. There was a lot of downhill until about mile 6 when we had to start making up for it with a great big swooping uphill that was over a mile long. At the mile 6 water station I grabbed a cup and slugged it down with an orange flavored gu. After a moment of feeling vomit rise in my throat, I breathed a little deeper and dug in. I really do love hills and as I saw numerous people had resorted to walking up the hill ahead of me, I was even more resolved to keep up a strong pace. I passed about ten people on that hill (thank you Utkatasana and Virabhadrasana 2 for the reserves of leg strength!), then we looped back through the starting area where Dylan gave me a high-five and I took off for the last four miles along a hilly dirt road beside the lake.

People were really breaking down along this last stretch. Most were walking up the numerous sharp inclines. Again, I checked in with myself and realized that I felt very strong and capable. I had assumed if others were walking, I would need to also. I assumed they were better trained and more fit. But it turned out that for those last four miles I only gathered more steam. I probably passed about 15 more people. I just kept setting my sights on the next person ahead of me and before I knew it, I'd be cruising by them. I really didn't want to pass someone right at the finish line because I think that's rude, so I made a point to get by as many people as I could before we came back into view of the finish. Then for the last mile I just totally hauled ass. It felt amazing. I leaned forward and stretched out my legs and flew in across the finish with a time of 2:15. This is an average of 10:38/mile. Perhaps not very fast for some, but I thought I'd probably be running 12 minute miles. So I was very, very pleased. I was also pleased that I didn't walk or stop once. It just didn't feel necessary.

After I was finished I got a lot of water and some orange slices and Dylan and I lounged in the sun waiting for his mom and aunt to come (I had told them it would take me a lot longer so unfortunately they missed the whole thing). Everyone there seemed to be in such good spirits. It had warmed up a lot and I couldn't think of anything wrong with anything about it. Just a bunch of people on a beautiful morning taking a long jog through lush trees and along a gorgeous lake. Then the ladies joined us, we lounged around a bit more (see photo at picnic table), and had a nice long lunch, then homemade ice cream in downtown Ojai.

So... aside from some stiffness today (which I'm sure a yoga class tonight will take care of), I'm feeling very happy for my first half-marathon experience and encouraged that the full marathon that's only 6 weeks away might actually be possible. It's nice to be alive.