Payday

Damie, Gina, and I went to Little Rock to do a half marathon over the weekend. I have come to realize I've been taking this distance for granted for a while now, thinking it's not that hard, you can do it on minimal training, etc. Damie and I discussed how we just sign up for these things a couple weeks before and train right through them, while "normal" people may train for 6 months just to complete one. Well no more lack of respect. That race was much harder than I'd expected.

I haven't done a stand-alone half marathon in several years, so I didn't really know what kind of time goal to have. I thought sub-1:30 would be nice. Jenny informed me before the race that top 3 would be receiving a nice monetary prize, so I better be up there receiving my award. She tells me this because a few years ago during the LR Race for the Cure, I was running stride for stride with 2nd place, knowing there was nothing special to win after the overall winner takes home 2 roundtrip plane tickets to anywhere in the continental US. I backed off toward the end of the race, not really pushing all that hard, and letting her have a 3 second victory. It turned out that first overall was a 17 year-old who couldn't accept the prize since she would be running collegiately the next year. So second place got the tickets. Second place, who I didn't race to the finish line. I was 3 seconds from an $800 prize.

I was sure I wasn't going to be top three in a large half marathon, but I kept this info in the back of my mind as I seeded myself directly behind the "elite" runners at the starting line. Luckily we had tags on our backs labeling us as "HALF" marathoners, so we could distinguish amongst the thousands of runners who we were actually competing against. I sure didn't want to be racing that 2:50 marathon woman, wearing myself out to keep up as she takes off for another 13.

At two miles I remembered that I had forgotten some post-race necessity. Luckily, I had my cell phone with me (see picture, and no, I'm not pregnant), so I called Jenny, who hadn't left the house yet, and she packed a dose for my post-race bag. At that point I was still running a 6:45ish pace, and let me tell you, it's hard to hold a phone to your ear while running hard!

I got varying reports of what place I was in by spectators, but didn't really worry too much about that, since I was seeing Wendy in the distance, and catching up to her. She is an incredible runner and if she'd been training much at all, I'd have never seen her on the course. But she hasn't been lately, lucky for me. We ran together for a few miles and chatted, then I tucked in to draft behind a tall man and never saw her again.

I missed the 11 mile marker, and when the 12 appeared I looked at my watch. 1:18!! Oh wow, I could smash my sub-1:30 goal. Nobody was out there calling splits, and I asked a fellow runner if that was really the 12 mile mark. He agreed that it was. At that point, I was running on air, feeling no pain, just sailing toward the finish line... until a runner who had overheard me brought me back down to earth. "That's 12 miles for the full, not us. But we've passed 11." What?! I guess that's why I should actually look at my watch during the race sometimes. I got to the real 12 mile marker with this same guy, and I stopped to walk. He yelled some encouragement, to which I responded, "I'm demoralized now, " and walked a few more steps. I managed to pick it up when a spectator told me I was 2nd female. I asked if he could see third. No! I flew to the finish in time to receive my beautiful 300 carat pink diamond award and very large check (no really, it's like 2 feet long), but not fast enough to reach my time goal. 1:30:20-- so close!

Damie and Gina came in close together, also falling short of their time goals. None of us had actually trained for a half marathon. We have all been doing marathon training (some more than others-- they more than I), so really this can't be a disappointment, can it? I have to admit that the money I received erased in an instant any disappointment I felt from my time. I'm sure my manager, Damie, will have all of hers erased when I take her on that shopping spree...

After collecting my finisher's prizes (donuts and granola bars, hat and medal), my mylar blanket, my pink diamond, and my large check, I was on a mission, trudging up a 1.5 mile hill to the Capitol where Jenny was to begin her leg of the relay. I didn't make it in time and had to be driven a few miles by Tim to catch her. Darn it, I only got in 5 with her. She had the longest, hilliest section of the course to do, and luckily, I missed most of the uphills! She and her team had a great race and a fun time doing it, and I think they'll be back for more next year. I think I will be too! But I'm sure not telling anyone about the prize money...