Presque Isle Half Marathon 2009

Yesterday I ran in the Presque Isle Half Marathon. It was 13.1 miles! It turns out that my training paid off and yesterday I finished the Presque Isle Half Marathon! It feels really good to say that!

I have been training for the race since July. I did everything that you are supposed to do when training for a big race. I came up with a training plan (thanks Al), I ate the right stuff, I got all of the necessary gear, I practiced drinking while running, I registered for the race, I loaded up my ipod, and I stuck to my training plan.

Still I wasn't sure that I would finish the race because there were so many unknown "if" factors. What if running outside is a lot harder than running on the treadmill since that is where I did all of my workouts?

What if I hit a mental brick wall after mile 10 since that was the most I ran during my training?

What if the pain in my foot got worse while I was running?

What if I ran out of music on my ipod?

What if it rained?

What if I had to go to the bathroom during the race?

On the morning of the race we woke the kids up at 5:45 am and drove the 10 minutes to Presque Isle State Park where the race was being held. The were 1,200 people registered for the race and everybody was trying to find a parking spot at 6am. There were police directing traffic, but still the line was long and we were just sitting in traffic. Finally John pulled into a vacant lot near the designated parking area so that I could nurse Shane. He finished eating at 6:50 and the race started at 7:00 am.
I jumped out of the car and jogged up to the starting line. I barely had time to pick a starting spot before the gun went off. People were everywhere jockeying for space and it was about a half mile before people started to fall out into smaller packs and there was space to move around.

The scenery on Presque Isle was amazing. We ran along the beach and water of Lake Erie all along the perimeter of Presque Isle which forms a 13 mile one way loop around Presque Isle State Park. It was almost a completely flat course on pavement and it was only about 55 degrees when we started the race. It was a perfect day for running.

I got water at miles 4 and 6 and then every mile after until the end. I tried to maintain a moderately steady pace, but without the treadmill to tell me I had no idea how fast or how steady I was actually going. I felt pretty good until mile 10. At mile 10 we made a turn and had to run into the wind and there was no shade on that side of the island. So we were running in full sun with a lot of resistance and a lot of people started to walk.

I could have walked. I was tempted to walk. But I didn't walk. Instead just when I was at my lowest point, a song came on my ipod "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going keep me down" by Chumbawama and I couldn't help by laugh. I had set my ipod to shuffle before the race so I had no control of the order of songs in my playlist. It was just too coincidental that that song came on just when I needed it. Needless to say, I decided that I was going to finish the race.

When I crossed the finish line it was a huge relief! I was so proud of myself and so thankful that none of the "ifs" on my list were a factor in the run. I was so happy that John took care of the kids and they were there at the halfway point waving and cheering me on (even if they accidentally missed me finish since I got done a lot faster that I thought). I was happy that we spent a beautiful weekend together as a family and everybody had a good time. But most of all I am glad that it is over and I know that I can do it.

Maybe next year I will sign up for the marathon...we will see. I passed a guy that was wearing a shirt that said " My first marathon....this seemed like a good idea three months ago"....so then again, maybe not!