This event completely fell off my radar until the very last minute and, while I started 2018 off with a strong start to running, at least 3 weeks of illness and oodles of recent stress kind of derailed training. In terms of the mileage goal, I’m tracking about 13 miles behind where I should be. In terms of the training plan I thought I’d be following, I basically did 2 or 3 of the suggested workouts!
I almost ducked out of this event this year, but it really is my favorite running event and it’s practically tradition, so I went for it.
Luckily, I ran 7 miles last weekend, nowhere near where I needed to be for a half-marathon, but at least it was about an hour of running! So, given all of this and my recent average pace, I expected to be running about a 9:15/mile (or worse) at today’s SC Half. I thought I’d just listen to Game of Thrones on Audible and enjoy the view.
But, once I was out there, looking at the ocean and looking forward to running in Wilder, I decided I’d just see how well I could do and promised myself not to look at my watch.
The first 8 miles actually felt decent and I was surprised to find I was running 7:48 pace at the 5.8 mile check-in. But, I did slow down significantly, especially during that last mile!
Was so delighted to see my kids (and Tom) waving me on with just a quarter mile left to go. It was all I needed to keep myself from stopping to walk!
In the end, I managed to finish in less than 2 hours (1:52:33). I do wonder if I would have done better if I’d finished just a few more (and farther) distance runs in February!
Final stats:
Overall: 207/1094 (18.9%)
Gender: ?? / 489
Age group (unofficial): ~13/155 (8.38%)
Pace: 8:35min/mile
Chip Time: 1:52:33