It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction. - Rob Reiner

October 17, 2011

I Met this Girl Named Michael this Weekend

and I really liked her.  I don't know where she came from, but I hope she stays around.

This is my KC Half Marathon Recap:


Me & Jim post race

I have to admit, going into this race I was NOT excited.  I had set a PR just two weeks prior at the MO' Cowbell Half Marathon which was pretty darn flat and the KC Half  is HILLY (almost 700 feet of elevation gain) so I knew there was no way I could PR here.  Plus two half marathons in two weeks was alot for me.  It would just be a training race for my marathon and that would be just fine.  I knew I'd still have fun because I was going with my hubby Jim and he was running his first of two back to back marathons (you can read his phenomenal post here).  I knew no matter what I would be done in plenty of time to watch him cross the finish line and that would make me happy!

This race is my nemesis....seriously.  In 2009 I ran my first half marathon and trained for it in only 7 weeks - my longest run going in to the race was only 8 miles and I finished in 2:52.  I had so much fun at that race that I signed up for the KC half.  For this one I got serious - I trained for 16 full weeks, I had long runs of 11 or 12 miles.  I was so ready.  Race day came and the hills kicked my BUTT!  By mile 4 I seriously wasn't sure if I could even make it 13.1.  I was so disappointed.  The weather was cold and damp (it had rained just before race start).  I ended up finishing in 2:50.  I was just so upset that I had trained so hard and only took 2 minutes off my time. Then I signed up for the race again last year, and ended up with a tibial stress fracture and couldn't do it.  I had all these mental images in my head going into the race.  I knew I could improve my previous time, but I figured I'd finish somewhere around 2:45.  I could live with that.


Course elevation from my Garmin

Jim and I got up early Saturday morning.  It was chilly in the low 40s - but perfect for running.  It was supposed to be in the mid 60s and sunny by the time we finished - and no wind - seriously another race with perfect weather.  The weather in Missouri this October has just been wonderful!!

We arrived a little later than we anticipated and the line of traffic was crazy to get parked.  Jim started panicking a bit, but I told him we would be fine - we still had about 45 minutes til race start.  We got parked and headed our separate ways.  Jim went to drop his gear bag and do his pre-race warm-up and I headed to the bathroom line where I would wait for almost 20 minutes!  Race time was there before I knew it.  I went out to the start line and started to get those little butterflies.  Here we go again! 

OK, although I knew I was going to be around 2:45 I had secretly printed out a 2:35 pace schedule.  I knew I couldn't do 2:35 since my PR was 2:37 just two weeks ago, but I thought maybe it would be good to keep it and try to follow it for the first 6 miles or so until I got really tired.  It's the pace chart the actual pace teams use, so it's paced with the hills in mind and of course it starts out slow to warm-up.  I knew I should start slow because at MO' Cowbell I went out way too fast trying to "bank" some time, and really hit the wall in the last mile.  It called for a 12:14 pace for the first mile and 12:04 for the second.   The first mile was uphill so it was pretty easy to take it slow, although I still finished it in an 11:50 - still a bit faster than planned.  The second mile was downhill so it was easy to speed up, that one was defnintely too fast at 11:16.   At mile 3 you approach your first really big hill. It was about this point that I ran into the 2:30 pace team.  They were walking up the hill, so I decided if they were walking it I would too.  Seemed smart  - my third mile was my slowest mile of the race.  I felt like I was going too slow, so I ran past the 2:30 pacers, but then decided I must be going a little too fast if I was passing them so I slowed it down a bit and hung to the side of that group for awhile.  I thought if I hung with them I'd slow my pace down.  I was feeling great and running strong, it was hard to hold back, but I knew I should if I wanted to have anything left at the end.  At some point the 2:35 pace group passed the 2:30 pace group...not sure why. Anyway, I just decided to try to kind of stay between these two groups.  I had started well behind the 2:35 pacers, so I knew I was a few minutes ahead of this pace.

Miles 4-8 just kind of flew by.  Normally about mile 4 I start my walk/run ratio, but I was feeling so good, I didin't do it.  I walked through the water stops and walked for 1 minute at the end of each mile, but that was it.  Miles 4-8 were really fast for me averaging around 11 minutes.  Miles 8-10 are pretty much straight uphill, and I started to slow here, walking a bit more up some of the hills, but never for more than 30 seconds to a minute.  I was kind of expecting to "give up" here.  But suddenly when I finished mile 10 I realized - hey I only have a 5K left.  I can do this.  My overall pace was still around 11:30 and the course was ready to move into a nice long downhill to flat section.  The 2:30 pacers had passed me, but I was still right behind the 2:35 pacers.  I started thinking I could actually do it.  I might be able to PR.  At mile 12 I paced the 2:35 pacers and knew I had it.  I crossed the finish line in 2:32:29 official time - a 5 minute PR from just two weeks ago where I had a 13 minute PR.  I had cut 18 minutes of my best time between the two races!!  I was grinning from ear to ear when I passed the finish line!  My Garmin time had been 11:29, but I had also ran 13.29 instead of 13.1.  It didn't matter.  I had an overall pace in the 11s!!!  I couldn't believe it.  And I felt GREAT at the end of the race.  I knew I could have run even farther.....which is good since I will be doing just that this weekend when I attempt my first 15 mile run and first run EVER over 13.1!


My Garmin splits
I finished, stretched, refueled and then waited for Jim to cross the finish line of marathon #1.  He came strolling across - making it look easy of course.  I still couldn't belive he'd be doing this again tomorrow.  I won't go in to the details of his race, I'll let you read those for yourself, but know that I was INCREDIBLY proud of him on Sunday!  What an amazing and inspiring athlete!  Congrats Jim!!!  I love you BABY!


So that's the story of how I met the NEW Michael.....the one who pushed herself, and ran her fastest race EVER!  I seriously hope she stays around.  I'd really like to see more of this girl!


This is a picture of a cow.  This is for Coy Martinez :)

And of course what race is complete without a milk mustache pic!

39 comments:

  1. ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! i was grinning ear to ear as I read this!!!! so amazing!! you proved some serious strength in this race and I am SURE that this girl will stick around! you are amazing! congrats on an amazingly ran race and a NEW PR!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my gosh that is so FANTASTIC!!!!!! I am sooo happy for you! You are kickin some serious butt! I had planned on doing one more 1/2 this year but was kind of thinking I won't be ready, but your race report got me excited so maybe I will.

    YOU ROCK!

    ReplyDelete
  3. CONGRATS! It's amazing what your body can do when you put your mind to something! Great job! I'll be in Kansas city this weekend for a conference - can you recommend any good, flat routes?

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOW! Woohoo! Awesome job! Congrats on your PR!! You did it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is so awesome!!! You are rocking it the season!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Simply awesome! I am so happy for you, what an accomplishment. You did so great at the race that I'm willing to overlook the fact that there were no pre-race dance pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations. So exciting that you you could beat your secret A goal.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great race report!!! Nice job. You had set limits for yourself and you just smashed through them! Way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Look at you! I love that you went in with low expectations and then knocked it out of the ballpark. Awesome job!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, way to go! Sounds like you ran a great race and earned that PR!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow! I am SO excited and proud of you! Way to go, Michael!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I got tears in me eyes reading this! How lame, true though! I almost felt like I was running with you! You're gonna do so great at Disney, you've gotten over the hump!

    I love that cow pic!! I guess when you really start to look around, we're surrounded by cowbell!!

    In the Louisville Marathon there were only like 5 people with a cowbell. It was hilarious, you could hear them from a mile away! HAHAHAHA!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This was a great race report, felt like I was watching it live!! Congrats on the PR!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Awesome. AWESOME. How great to train and train and feel so good about running! :) (Obviously I'm still dealing with these running feelings. haha)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Holy smokes! Congratulations on your hard work and another PR!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow!!! Fantastic! Congratulations!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Holy cowbwells, Michael! Congrats on an AMAZING PR!!! You ROCK!

    ReplyDelete
  18. YAY Michael - so freaking awesome! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. You are a freakin' rock star Michael!

    ReplyDelete
  20. MICHAEL! Holy crap! I was thinking to myself recently that I don't know how anyone would ever PR on a course in KC with all of those hills...and you freaking did it! I'm so proud of you! That is a huge, huge, huge accomplishment and I hope you are still basking in that afterglow! You are awesome. So very proud of you!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Awesome Job Michael. Congrats on that PR. So proud of you. You are killing those half marthons girl. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  22. WOO HOO! Girl, you rocked it! Congrats!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Awesome recap!! I love reading about your progress and how you are so surprised each time you PR. You have what it takes, girl. Time to unleash it!!!! Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Congrats on the PR!!! I am so incredibly proud of you for pushing past what you thought you were capable of. Love it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. YAY pr!!! and I love you pre-race dance that I saw on your hubs blog lol you both are awesome

    ReplyDelete
  26. What a great post and an even greater PR!! Congratulations on a well-run race!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Congratulations!! 2 PR in 2 weeks is such a success!!
    You'll do a fantastic race in Disney for sure. I can see that you are getting better and better, and that is great Michael. So happy for you!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh this made me so happy!
    congrats!
    I wish we could do one half together!
    I did not forget about your package
    it will go out this week!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow, another PR! Awesome! You are having an amazing 2011 so far!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Michael! I am so happy for you!! What an amazing race and on such a hilly course! This rocks! You keep it up, girl. I can't wait to hear about your next adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I have a big smile on my face reading this! Love it! What's next for you?

    ReplyDelete
  32. You've probably heard by now, but I had a pretty good weekend! But when you handed me your race results and I saw what you did ... well baby, that was probably the best part of my weekend!!!! I love you and am so proud of you. You are working your butt off and I am so excited for you. Way to believe in yourself ... I always believe in you!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Well done and congrats on that PR! Super effort Michael! I'm sure she will stick around.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I found your blog title VERY ironic - because after my half in KC this year, I was very emotional and surprised as well - it was the first race where my pace was fast enough to even run with a pace group - and I PR'd the race by 32 minutes over last year. Yep, I don't know who the girl was that showed up to run my KC Half Marathon with my race number on, but I'm glad she was there - and it's nice to know that all of her training paid off :)

    ReplyDelete