Clarksville Half Marathon - October 30, 2010

The day did not start off as planned. I got up 10 minutes before the alarm was to go off. I guess knowing I had an extra 10 minutes made me "waste" too much time. After showering, getting dressed, etc., I let my truck warm up, since it was only 30 degrees (it did warm up to 71 degrees that afternoon), as I scarfed down some toast with jelly and swallowed a cup of coffee in one gulp (it was only warm). I don't know where the time went. I was out the door at 7:10, and I wanted to be there at 7:15. I drank a complete 32 oz PowerAde on the drive across town. It was after 7:30 when I got there. I hurried to take off the sweat pants, lace my shoes, prepare the GPS, etc. About 7:40, I called my brother, Shane. No answer - maybe he's at already waiting on me. I headed toward the crowd and got in line for the port-a-johns. It was a long line. I thought about taking a chance and heading to the starting line, but thought better of it. After all, I had a coffee and 32 oz of PowerAde. It was getting close to gun time. I finally got into a port-a-john. I peed and I peed. And while I was peeing, I heard the starting buzzer. I finally finished and rushed toward the starting line. The whole crowd of runners had already gone through. I had noticed that while I jogged toward the starting line I didn't like the way my shoes/socks felt, so I made some adjustments and headed through the starting line.

I felt like I was flying. I was zig-zagging past a lot of people. The sad thing about that is that most of them were walking. They were in it to complete it. I had a personal record to obtain. I was about to make another move onto the side of the round when someone grabbed my shirt from behind. I moved back over behind the slower jogger, because I thought I cut someone off. It was just Shane, though. After a short conversation, he told me to go on, he would see me at the finish. So, as the crowd was thinning out, I tried to find my pace and just run. I wasn't in a race with anyone, but myself.

I didn't see the Mile Marker for Mile 1, but my watch beeped indicating I ran it in 7:32. My watch beeped Mile 2 in 7:51. Mile 3 was 8:09. However, it was about 2 minutes later that I saw the course's Mile Marker for Mile 3. This continued for for the remainder of the race: about 2 minutes between my watch marking a mile and the course marker. About Mile 4, my ankle really began hurting. It kind of felt like the bone was cracked. I thought about stopping, because there was no way I could run 9 more miles. I ran by Mile Marker 4 and it got better, so I kept on going.

My main goal was to set a personal record, which is 1:57:33 (8:58 pace) in the Oxford Run 4 Hope Half Marathon back in February. I was really hoping for under 1:57:00 (8:55), and dreaming of 1:55:00 (8:46). Shane asked me last week what I wanted to run it in, and I jokingly said, "8:30", which would be about 1:51:20.

According to my GPS, I ran 13.28 miles. I guess the extra 0.18 miles was from weaving around people. My watch time was right on with the official chip time of 1:46:38. I beat my "dream" time by almost 9 minutes. I felt good during the whole race, except for the ankle episode and between miles 9-11... I don't know how to describle them - depressed, lonely, can't wait until it's over? After that, things picked back up - the finish was getting closer!

Amazingly, I ran every mile faster than my 8:30 joke with Shane. My slowest pace was 8:23, which I did 3 times (at Miles 4 (ankle), 6 (?), and 11 (sad)). My list of mile paces - 7:32, 7:51, 8:09, 8:23, 8:13, 8:23, 7:41, 7:51, 8:09, 8:09, 8:23, 7:58, 8:13, and the last 0.1 (or 0.28) 1:43. I never dreamed of a pace of 8:09!

Last year, 884 people completed the 1st Annual Clarksville Half Marathon. I thought that since it joined the Half Marathon Series, there would be over 1,000 people this year. Evidently, some people were not thrilled about some of the things going on and didn't support it this year, and only 493 people finished this year. I was 88th overall, 11 of 34 in the 40-44 age group, and 72 of 234 men.

My next half marathon goal: an 8:00 pace. It will be difficult, though. The Oxford, Mississippi Half is hilly, and it may be cold on that February day.