Race #175
Half Marathon #62
2019 Race #19
2019 Half Marathon #11
South Carolina Half Marathon #45
Spinx Run Fest Half Marathon #6

I looked forward to running this half with Mom, especially since she felt significantly better than last year when she persisted in completing the race with the back injury. This year she had no worries and even ended up finishing first in her age group.

We arrived with just enough time to make our way through the invasive feeling wand search, into the stadium, through the restroom line and back out to the start line stopping to get a pre-race picture with the sunrise in the background.

Once we started, we attempted to settle into a decent pace, not too fast and not too slow. I hoped for a better time than two weeks ago, hopefully sub two but did not want it to feel terrible through the final miles.

The first two miles took us on an odd loop around the downtown area, thankfully running mostly downhills in these miles. We definitely got a little too caught up in the pace of the runners around us as the first two miles were our fastest of the entire race.

Mile 1: 8:28
Mile 2: 8:43

I felt really good through the first three miles and wondered if my legs would start protesting again when we walked through our fuel break at mile 3. I have noticed a trend occurring after the first walk which leads me down a mentally defeating path. One of the things I hope to work on this training cycle is mental training. In situations like this, I basically tell myself to shut up and keep running.

It worked and after mile 4, I still felt strong and steady as we wound our way through the dozens of turns mentioned by the announcer at the start of the race.

Mile 3: 9:11
Mile 4: 9:35

Most of the race, including the initial four miles held so many rollers, par for the course in downtown Greenville. For the most part we avoided the truly significant ones but it still took a toll. The weather also took a toll. While the temperatures stayed in the low sixties, the humidity reached nearly 100% which I know drained my performance.

Around mile 6, I started to recognize some of the course while Mom did not. I had wondered up until that point why I did not recognize the early miles and if that might have been because I did not run in 2017. The announcer mentioned at the beginning something about the course being the same as that edition. I definitely did so I have no idea why I did not remember until we ran through a random parking lot to cross to another street. Mom did not run that one with me which explains her not remembering.

Mile 5: 9:24
Mile 6: 9:14

We continued making copious turns on different residential streets, most of them with houses far more costly than I will have the means to purchase. Some fans had made their way onto the side of the course to spectate as is usual for this section of the race. Somewhere in these two miles I overheard some ladies running behind us talk about the program that the race puts on to recruit residents to come out and support the race. They mentioned a few things that I already knew but also added one interesting and sad tidbit. The families that sign up get a small gift card for coming out to spectate. Spectator participation is slow low that you have to bribe them with a small gift card?

Also during these miles, a couple ladies that we had passed at an aid station said something in “Oiselle solidarity” as they passed us back. I did not say anything in return to these ladies also dressed in head to to Oiselle. Just because I run in a Oiselle singlet does not mean that I have drunk the tainted kool-aid.

Mile 7: 9:39
Mile 8: 9:02

Just before mile 8 and hopping on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, we passed some old friends who used to attend North Hills. Trying to remember their names helped us occupy a bit of time. Thankfully we remembered.

Once on the trail, things started to get mentally tougher. I think part of that came from the fact that the turns had, for the most part, abated. The other part came from the fact that unlike the previous miles where I did not know the course, I know this section of the trail quite well having run it in many races since this portion leads back into Cleveland Park and from there Falls Park and all the massive hills in between that and the finish line that I knew lay ahead. This is where I need to start focusing my mental training.

We took a much needed, mentally, walking break at mile 9 to eat a chew get our minds back in gear.

The remaining miles felt ridiculously tough

Mile 9: 9:10
Mile 10: 10:05 (thankfully the only mile above a ten minute pace) this mile not only included the purposeful walk break for the final chew but also an upward elevation change that came right after we finished our walk for fueling.

The last 5k felt a bit like a grind, not in a bad way but in a mentally worn out way. I needed to keep my head in the game but I struggled with it as we finished these miles. Mom needed to walk a couple times but only for a few seconds each time.

We also ran through the not smooth, root-infested part of the trails in Cleveland Park. At this point we found ourselves passed by an amazing woman pushing a double stroller, at a sub two pace! Navigating the double stroller over that uneven terrain took considerable skill and strength. Kudos!

After our last walk in mile 12, we both decided to keep going; we would finish this thing running! Just before reaching the final turn into the stadium, we saw a lady from church with exuberant enthusiasm who cheered quite loudly for us and then the wife of one of Mom’s old school friend who waited for her husband. She even snapped some pictures!

Finally we made our way into the stadium, around the warning track and through the finish line.

Mile 11: 9:50
MIle 12: 9:58
Mile 13: 9:19
.1 nubbin: 7:06 (not so sure about that one)
Overall time: 2:01:46

I will admit to great disappointment once we got close enough to see the finish line clock. I knew the final 5k had slowed us down a bit but I had thought that we had run much faster than that throughout the race.

For someone who usually runs in the low 1:50s, several halfs in a row above 2 hours feels a bit discouraging. I take heart, however, in the fact that I ran faster than Columbia two weeks ago. I took less walk breaks than in Columbia which I have realized I have been using as a mental crutch for far too longer instead of embracing the suck that comes with the final miles of long distance races. If I want that Chicago qualifying time in Atlanta in a few months, I need to get a lot more mentally strong as well as physically strong.

Here’s the the next half in a couple weeks, even stronger than before.