This morning, in Dallas, Texas, I did my 18th footrace since Labor Day and my 144th overall. My plan all week was to do a 5K (3.1-mile) race in Arlington, but I learned yesterday afternoon that it had moved to 21 February. The only other race in the Metroplex was the Texas Half, which features a half marathon (13.109375 miles) and a 5K. I decided to do the 5K. On the way to Dallas in the dark this morning, I decided it was a long way to drive for a measly 5K, so I entertained the thought of doing the half marathon. I hadn't run more than 6.54 miles at a time in 49 days. This would be twice that distance. I still hadn't decided which race to do when I parked my car at Winfrey Point, along the shore of beautiful White Rock Lake.
When I got to the registration area, I filled out a registration form and started to fill out a check. I had to decide right then, because the 5K was $25 and the half marathon $55. I'm a glutton for punishment, so I wrote "$55.00." I hustled to my car, which was parked half a mile away, and prepared for 100 minutes of suffering (instead of 21). The sky was overcast and the temperature in the 60s, with a stiff southerly wind. Those are not good conditions for distance running. In fact, they're terrible. The race was to go around White Rock Lake (9.3 miles), followed by a short out-and-back portion. I told myself to take it easy and forget about my speed. Just put the miles in and burn off some calories. (I ate too much at Spaghetti Warehouse this past Sunday.)
I've done two half marathons this racing season: one on 2 November, when my mile pace was 7:49.32, and one on 14 December, when my mile pace was 7:47.16. I don't know why, but I kept thinking I could finish with a 7:30 pace today. (So much for forgetting about my speed!) I decided to go out easy and stay as close to 7:30 as possible, checking my pace at each mile marker. If I cratered in the second half and ended up closer to eight minutes, so be it.
I did the first mile in 7:18. I felt good. We had a headwind for the first few miles, but there were so many runners near me that I didn't notice it. It was like a bicycling peloton. I continued to click off miles of about 7:20, which gave me money in the bank. At the halfway point, on the north side of the lake, I had a mile pace of 7:22.43. Then the proverbial shit hit the fan. We turned into the wind. My pace slowed, even though I expended just as much effort. The heat was starting to affect me. I know it sounds crazy, but in distance running, it's possible to shut your mind off. When you do this, the miles come more quickly. I saw signs for seven, eight, nine, and 10 miles. By this time, we were back to Winfrey Point. I was well under a 7:30 pace at 10 miles.
The 11th mile was my undoing. The lack of distance training finally caught up to me. The wind was wicked. I knew at 11 miles that I was going to fall short of my goal of a 7:30 pace. Finally, we turned at the 12-mile mark and headed back with a tailwind. The 13th mile was brutal, but I kept going. And then we had a hill for the final tenth of a mile. Talk about cruelty! Someone handed me a finisher's medal and I walked to a nearby table for a bottle of water. I went back on the course 100 yards or so to cheer on the other runners. Many of them looked wasted, as I'm sure I did.
I did the second half at a pace of 7:45.62, which isn't as bad as I thought it would be as I was running. Several of my friends said I was running strongly in the final mile. They saw me on the out-and-back portion. Ha! I was in survival mode. I was simply trying to keep moving. My overall mile pace was 7:33.75 (elapsed time = 1:39:08.48), which is significantly faster than the other two half marathons I ran this season. Just imagine how fast I'd have gone if I had trained!
I was third in my age group (men 50-54) of 23 finishers, which means I won another medal. I was 60th overall of 655 finishers, which is the top 9.1%. The man who finished second in my age group was only 14 seconds ahead of me. I don't think he passed me at any point, so he must have been fading faster than I was near the end. Had I known he was so close, I would have run harder and caught him. Oh well. Third is almost as good as second. I'm just glad I didn't miss a medal by 14 seconds. The overall winner, Isaiah Sanga, finished in 1:05.10.04. That's a mile pace of 4:58.26. The world record for the half marathon (held by Samuel Wanjiru) is 58:33, which is a mile pace of 4:27.97. Sanga finished almost 17 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher. Incredible! We had a world-class runner in our midst today.
I ran 4.3 miles Wednesday and 4.3 yesterday, which gives me 17.4 miles in two days and 21.7 in the past four. I will allow myself a few extra calories today and tomorrow.
Addendum: The most beautiful woman of the many hundreds I saw today talked to me after the race. I chatted with her after a race in January. She won the 40-44 age group this morning and wasn't far behind me. I really mean it when I say that she's the most beautiful woman I saw today. I wanted to tell her as much, because it would have made her feel good, but she might have slapped me for commenting on her appearance rather than her talent. Maybe I should have told her that she's beautiful and talented. Would that have made a difference?
