Way back in August, Iron Girl announced a new women’s half marathon that would be held April 29, 2012 in Columbia, MD. The announcement was right around the time of the Iron Girl triathlon managed by the same group,  the Columbia Triathlon Association. I’ve loved that race all four times I’ve done the triathlon, and of course I love half marathons. I signed up right away!

I was quite happy with my training for this race. I ran a mid-March half marathon and early April 10-miler. I got up to 12 miles two weeks before the race, when often I don’t go beyond 10. Still, I went into race day with no expectations. I’ve run in Columbia before, and I knew it was going to be hilly!

My fastest recent half marathon was a 2:04 in January for the Disney relay — which was flat! I had hoped for, but not really tried for, a sub-two finish in quite a few races since my near-miss in 2010 with a 2:00:16 in VA Beach — also flat!

I was full of doubt when I lined up with the 9-minute pace guys — it was so close to the front! Could I really do this?

I decided to give it a shot. It was a little tough at the start as the field spread out, but once we hit our stride it wasn’t too bad. I actually felt quite comfortable. The only time I was huffing and puffing was during that mile-seven hill. Our pace group slowed down a little bit for that hill, but stuck together.

Around mile nine, I felt myself falling a little bit behind — but then I realized I never took any fuel. Gu to the rescue! I felt better after that and had no trouble keeping up. This was my first time running with pacers, and it was a fabulous experience. I didn’t have to obsess over the pace on my Garmin — they were doing all the thinking for me! We had a small group that chatted for most of the race, a great distraction.

Once we passed mile 11 and started going downhill, our pacers let us know they were sticking to their 9-minute miles, but they’d find us at the finish if we wanted to break away. Most of us took off to see what we had left!

Yes, that was a pretty strong finish!

Aside from my brief pre-Gu struggle, I felt great the whole race. No trouble with the pace. I quickly shook off my doubts, and completely enjoyed my time running. No “are we there yet?”  or “why am I doing this?” mental games, either. It was great!

I didn’t expect my first half marathon under two hours to have so much time to spare.

Official time: 1:54:59
Overall: 289/1692
Age Group: 63/325

It was a little disappointing that I tracked the course short, though. Looking on the race organizers’ Facebook page, it seems I wasn’t alone. Being an inaugural race, it may not have been a certified course (I don’t think I saw it written anywhere). Darn!

At least I know I finished strong, and would have still been under two hours if the course was long enough. And if they call it a half marathon, it’s a half marathon. Right?

Right.

On Sunday I ran the Annapolis Striders’ Cherry Pit 10 mile race. Held the same day as the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, it’s a nice local alternative for those of us that didn’t get into lottery-driven DC race.

It was also nice that I didn’t have to leave my house until 7:15am to make it with more than enough time to park, pick up my bib and stretch before the 8am start. (I didn’t even have to brave the restroom line, since I could stay home until close to race time.) I saw a friend’s Facebook status update that she was up at 4am to head to the Metro for the Cherry Blossom!

It was overcast and cool — upper 40s. Perfect running weather. Still, I was just planning on running at whatever pace my legs felt like doing comfortably. I wasn’t expecting to be as speedy as it turned out …

Miles 1-3 – Steady Incline

I started in the middle of the pack, and it took a couple minutes to spread out.  Once we left the High School and weaved around a couple others, we were out on Route 2 and started a long, gradual climb. I felt pretty good, but I was definitely looking forward to the end of that hill! (9:48, 9:19, 9:20)

Miles 4-6 – Weeee!

We turned off the main road and got to run past farms and wooded lots. Lovely. And mostly not uphill. (9:05, 9:11, 9:14)

Miles 7-8 – Are we there yet?

Once we turned onto South River Clubhouse Road, it got a bit uncomfortable.  This was where the toughest hills were. All those long inclines earlier in the race made them tough! I was a little tired but kept pushing through. (9:35, 9:25)

Mile 9 – Home Stretch

Phew, back on the main road — and pretty much done with the hills. Yippee! (9:05)

Mile 10 – Wait … I might be able to PR?

Yeah, I kind of suspected I had a pretty good pace going, but it didn’t really hit home until I saw my time with only one mile to go. And I turned on the jets.  (8:16)

Official time: 1:32:24 — a 70-second PR!

I even looked pretty good at the finish (and yes, I like to coordinate) …

Photo courtesy of Annapolis Striders / Jon Valentine

Maybe it was my best time, but not even close to any age group awards. Not surprising since this was part of the Striders’ Championship Series, so all the fast folks show up. Still, I was kind of jealous of the runner-up prize — second place got a cherry pie!

(Third got a case of cherry Coke. First got a trophy — not nearly as fun!)