Drake Relays Half Marathon #4

Half marathon number four brought in beautiful weather and a bunch of tough hills.  It was nice to do a race near home and I even had a fan base as well!  I have mixed emotions on how I feel about this race but I am thankful and glad to have participated.

The Drake Relays Half Marathon capped off the end of the Drake Relays event that went on this week.  High school, college and pro athletes raced various track events.  It’s a popular event that brings in a lot of spectators and athletes alike.  My half marathon was a part of the newly formed Road Races series, which included the half, a 10k and a 6k.  It’s a great way for the average weekend warrior to compete during this whole week of events.

I'm lined up somewhere in there for the half marathon!

Participants and fans alike were blessed with wonderful weather!  It was high 50’s around race start and settled into the mid 60’s by race end.  Both the half and 10k lined up for an 8 a.m. start.  There was a 12 second moment of silence for the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings.  (Why 12 seconds? I have no idea.)  I also saw a few people around me wearing Boston gear and it gave me a warm feeling knowing that the running community could come together and participate doing what we love – run.

As the race got underway, I started with a comfortable pace.  When training for and running events back to back, I’ve found that I almost must hit a plateau and stay there.  The more consistent I am with the training, the more comfortable it has been feeling.  Until race day of course.  I started hitting a wall around mile five.  That is way too soon and it made for a long race.  Typically, if I hit a wall, it’s around mile 10 and by then, I can usually manage the final three miles.  Today, I struggled.

Instead of thinking about what I was achieving, I thought about my lack of energy and how I didn’t quite feel right.  I’ve concluded that my fueling strategy had to be off in the days leading up to the event.  I ate a typical breakfast at the same time that I would before a race.  But somewhere it didn’t seem to work.

It was so great to have a cheering section (including Jason
who's taking the post race picture)!  And it was AWESOME
to have a race sign just for me :)  Thank you Kelsey and
Carrie for cheering me on!!!

The race did a fantastic job of having aid stations at just about every mile (and of putting on a good race overall!).  I didn’t stop at every station but I did stop at quite a few.  It didn’t dawn on me until mile eight that I could grab powerade, instead of water, to try and get a boost of energy from the carbs.  I took it at both the eight and nine mile stops and I do think it helped.

The course wound its way through the downtown Des Moines area and came back to the north to the Drake area for the finish.  Around mile five or six, we were presented with the first monster hill.  It was near the state Capitol building and if you’re familiar with the area, you know the hill I’m talking about.  It was tough but I made it.

The race took a turn for me around mile 10.  I couldn’t keep myself going; I had to stop and walk a bit.  I knew it was coming.  I wanted to stop earlier but I told myself I had to make it to the next set of hills.  I couldn’t even quite make it there.  As I was grabbing water around mile 11, we turned a corner to head north.  And then I saw it.  A straight up hill.  It was relatively short but it was nasty.  I put my head down and one foot in front of the other and I made it up.  We turned right, then turned left again and went up another hill.  I think it was the top of this one I had to stop and walk again.  Even though I was frustrated, I didn’t feel like I had a choice.  I was running low on steam.  

Despite race day challenges, I made it!

Finally I made it to mile 12 and I felt strongly that I could make it.  Although there were two very small hills, it was mostly downhill or flat and I used the last bit of steam to finish.  About a half mile from the finish, I saw my friends cheering me on.  They even made me a sign which was probably the highlight of the race!  I’m not sure if I’ve ever had my own sign!  It made me feel really good and helped push me to the finish.

We rounded the corner and ran about 200 meters on the blue oval at Drake stadium to the finish line.  I finished in just over 1:48.  The time wasn’t too bad considering I walked several times.  Still, I think I have some work to do as I move forward to my next races.  I am very happy to have completed a fourth half marathon and I’m still excited about the next ones!  Even if it wasn’t a perfect day, it was a great day and I’m thankful for that.

Miss FitGab