Race #152
Half Marathon #50
South Carolina Half Marathon #37
2018 Race #13
2018 Half Marathon #6
Spinx Run Fest Half Marathon #5

When I realized that I would run my 50th half marathon in the same race as my first, I knew it would be a great day. Admittedly, I started to harbor a few doubts when my seasonal change sinus drainage/cold started to come on yesterday. I skipped my run yesterday (and briefly considered calling in sick to work) so that I would be able to run the half today.

I planned to run this race with Mom and the goal of finishing in 1:58, per my coach. Mom felt a bit nervous for this race since she has had a less than optimal rebuild after the odd foot bone bruise she had a few months ago. Additionally, she suffered some morning vertigo earlier in the week and started having some trouble with her back.

We made it on time. I ran my warm up and then we met up outside the stadium. (Side note: Flour Field’s increased security policies honestly make no sense to me. I first encountered the clear bag policy this summer during Bell Camp. Today, however, they had people at the entrances scanning people with a wand of some sort. After the race when I went back through to grab a water bottle, she stopped me and patted down my OrangeMud vest. “What is this on your back?” She asked. Um. I don’t know, do you happen to see the water bottle there?)

Once we met up, we headed out to the start line but did not end up starting the race until 7:40, 10 minutes late.

Mom and I lined up near the front so that we would not have to deal with the slow moving mob that really does not understand race etiquette would not cause a problem at the start.

We got going and soon after we started, Mom mentioned that she needed to find a pace where her back and foot would not hurt her. I encouraged her to think positive thoughts and to keep me apprised of how she felt. Since I knew that talking would aggravate my throat further, I remained fairly silent. Just after mile 2, Mom told me that the pain in her back kept getting worse. I asked her to describe it for me. When she described that it kept getting worse, I told her to stop and walk back to the start line. She hesitated for a moment but then slowed down and seemed to make the decision to DNF, a first for either of us. I have DNS’d a race but never DNF.

From there I headed out onto the course on my own.

Mile 1: 8:52
Mile 2: 9:05

I believe that the GTC (Greenville Track CLub) has changed the course every single time I have run this race. I had no idea what to expect. Usually, that would have the time go faster, but for this particular race, the new course made the early middle section feel like it took longer than it should have. I settled into a decent pace and focused on keeping my heart rate away from the maximum zone. At one point after a significant climb, my heart rate climbed to 185 so I slowed down a little to calm my heart rate. After that point, it settled into the 150s for the rest of the race.

Mile 3: 8:38
Mile 4: 9:12
Mile 5: 9:22
Mile 6: 9:34
Mile 7: 8:54

Just before the mile 7 marker, we entered the Swamp Rabbit Trail for a short time. I enjoyed running on trail, nice and smooth. Based on the pre-race “run down,” I knew that the half marathon would split from the marathon (and the trail) by the Swamp Rabbit Cafe so we had just a couple miles on the trail. At this point, my Garmin must have lost connection with the satellites because I looked down to check my pace and it told me I was running around a 12-15 minute pace. Um. No. I’m not running that pace. I thought that the error would correct itself but it never did, I started taking manual splits at the mile markers. (Thus, I do not have accurate splits for the remainder of the miles, at least I do not trust them.)

While on the trail, I enjoyed the running and started calculating distances in my head about how soon we would get to the split. As I looked up ahead I saw runners turning right at the infamous train crossing intersection which confused me. We should have just a half mile or so to go until the Swamp Rabbit Cafe which made sense distance-wise. Then we got to the intersection itself and a few runners coming the other way helped us make sure to turn right because the race stationed no one at the turn. Only a few arrows on the ground might have been enough to get some runners’ attention but not many. I believe those other runners hung out at the intersection behind us for a little while to help make sure that no one else missed the odd turn. All that turn ended up doing was taking us out a little ways, turning us left and then left again so we made a weird out and back at a place where we could have taken the trail. All that served to do was confuse the runners, including a marathoner near me who was afraid that she might have taken a turn with the half marathoners and would be adding more distance.

Aside from that odd bit, the final few miles held no surprise, except that I felt so good and ran so well. It felt a bit like plodding but not really. We had plenty of hills throughout the run which are always challenging but not too bad and ran through some new areas before making it to the final mile which is always painful in this race. There’s no other way to return to the stadium without going uphill until the second to last turn.

I made my way around the stadium and towards the turn to the warning track. I saw Ellis there by himself and figured that Mom must have gone on to the car instead of waiting.

As I entered the warning track I decided to push it and see if I could pass one girl who was about 20 meters in front of me. When I passed her on the third base side of the warning track I continued to sprint so that she would not be able to pass me back and finished in 1:58:00, exactly what the coach ordered.

After grabbing my medal and some food, I headed back outside to talk to Ellis. I asked where Mom was and he gave me a funny look. He hadn’t see her. She hadn’t called him but she couldn’t because she had left her phone behind. I told him that I would run back to the car – I needed to get in 15 minutes afterwards anyway – and call him if she was there. Although I could not remember which lane Mom had parked the car on, I eventually found the car but no Mom. I ran back and told him. She must have decided to run the race anyway. No DNFs for either of us!

Even though I did not get in my full amount of time afterwards in my cool down, I am pleased with my effort in this race and cannot wait to do even more half marathons. Here’s to the next 50! (Hopefully, it won’t take me another 8 years.)