Race recap: Thank god it’s over, pass the bananas

The half-marathon is done and I feel like a race recap is in order. Race recaps are like birth stories — every experience is so different, so it’s not like you’re going to be compelled to run this race next year (or birth a child), but they’re both fun to read. So let’s recap!

First of all, it was very hard. I feel like my first half-marathon was not that hard and I don’t recall wanting to puke or die afterward, like I did this time around. Also, I placed (and paced) really poorly. I wanted to come in under 2:30:00 because I knew last time I came in at around either 2:37:00 or 2:35:00 (there were some chip and Garmin discrepancies, as I recall) and so I just wanted to come in under that.

(Okay, I just looked it up (you can look up old race times — awesome!) and I came in at 2:36:03. Memory served me pretty well.)

Anyway, so I did not come in under 2:30:00. At all. I came in at 2:48:49. Which is disappointing. I maybe should have saved myself the heartache by not setting an arbitrary goal in the first place (and really, I wasn’t THAT committed to 2:30:00 and really did just want to finish), but you know, it’s nice to have an idea in mind.

The race started out with a pretty long downhill grade, which was obviously really nice. It was cold outside, but my toes un-numbed themselves after a mile. At about mile 1, the course transitioned over to a paved trail that ran parallel with Lake Natoma. It was pretty and cool (thanks to the tree cover) and it was nice to run quietly among nature and shit.

From about miles 2 through 6, I ran along in this fashion: Run up a little hill, run down a little hill, check pace, walk through water stations, repeat. At around mile 6, the quiet was starting to get to me. Since the path was more secluded, there were no good places for people to post up and cheer. So, it was very quiet and it was making me crazy and pretty much miles 6 and 7 were dedicated to me trying to out-run this one dude who breathed too loudly.

At about mile 7, we came upon a pretty big hill/bridge, so I took that opportunity to walk and eat my Snickers bar, which was starting to melt. It was at this point that the course crossed over to the other side of the lake and not only were there still no cheerleaders, but the sun was beating down and there was no tree cover, so it was hot. Plus — and this is the worst part; runners gird your loins — they didn’t close the path to bicyclists.

I know. All of us running near one another were like WTF? To make things more confusing, the pavement was painted with signage saying, “Joggers stay left.” So we all tried to stay left (which seems really odd; aren’t the slower people supposed to stay right?) but we were all rule-followers and so we stayed left. Anytime a biker rode by me (or anyone else) ringing their stupid bell or shouting, “On your left!” I flipped them off. I did a lot of flipping off that day.

Anyway, pretty much from mile 9 until mile 11, I was on Bike Watch, which was at least a pretty good distraction from the fact that I just felt like crap. My ankles hurt, it was hot, I was really hungry, etc., etc. A girl next to me ran stomping her feet very loudly and so I also tried to outrun her. Fun times.

And then mile 11. And 12. Those were both really sucky. The end was so close and yet also so far and it was also where the course really started to ramp up (pun intended) to its highest grade. Thems were some big hills. I did a lot of walking during miles 11 and 12. Which, honestly, was fine with me. I never went into this saying I wanted to run the whole thing without walking, but there were some serious mental and physical conflicts going on at this time. On the one hand, I just wanted to be DONE and how do you get done faster? You run. But then I was in some pain and running was pretty miserable, so how do you mitigate the pain? You walk. But then walking doesn’t really take the pain away, does it? No, it doesn’t. So running is the answer! But I’m too tired to run. This was basically my brain from mile 11 until the end.

Something I kept repeating to myself was that it didn’t matter if I felt like I was hitting a wall while running (or walking) or if I felt like I was running (or walking) slowly. I was still moving forward and that’s all that mattered. I was never actually going backwards, even if it felt like I was.

Anyway, finally the race ended and then I felt really icky. I sat down and never wanted to get up, but after I found Holly and she brought me a water (seriously, she crossed the finish line and I made her go get me a water — I am an awesome friend), I managed to get up and we headed home. And then I had a Bloody Mary and tacos and somehow felt fantastic.

This race was bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

But I think it will be a good long time before I run another race that long. I also think I’ve found that 6 miles is pretty fine and good as far as racing goes. You and me, 10Ks, let’s do this.