White River Half Marathon: Sometimes Being Nuts Pays Off!

Spoiler photo, but I wanted it to be the featured picture

As I mentioned here, I registered for the White River Half Marathon the afternoon following the Bass Pro Marathon, mainly because I'm nuts, but also because I hadn't gotten to run a half this season and this was a fast course that I could trek to on race morning with one of my favorite people.

It was hard to know how to set a goal for this race, since it was 13 days after the Bass Pro Marathon, which came 28 days after the Prairie Fire Marathon.  Again, because I'm nuts, I decided I would try for a half PR as long as I felt okay once I got out conservatively.  Of all of my PRs set prior to this season, I felt that my standing half PR was the strongest and would be by far the most difficult to beat.  I've done halves closely off of fulls before, with my second best half time in 2015 coming 6 days after the Dallas Marathon on a slow course, and the half time that stood as my PR from November 2010 to April 2015 coming at the 2010 Route 66 half marathon 2 weeks after the 2010 Bass Pro Marathon - so this wasn't completely uncharted territory (i.e., I have been nuts for years).

After I ran the Tiger Trot 15K at 6:20 pace in September, I thought that 6:20 pace would be a reasonable pace for me to run for a half in the condition I was in if I was rested, on a good course, with competition, and in ideal temperature.  I ran the Tiger Trot 4 days after a 24 mile training run, I ran alone from mile 4 on in the event with no men or women in front of me, it was 70 degrees for the race, and about 2 miles of the race was run on dirt roads with huge rock chunks which killed my splits on those miles (without those my average would have been more like 6:15).  Also, historically I have been able to run around 25 seconds per mile faster in halves than in fulls run at the same fitness level.

However, I wouldn't consider being 13 days off of a marathon an ideal "rested" state, and I also knew I needed to count myself lucky to have held my peak through Bass Pro, and that it was unlikely I was still holding it.  I had a good enough workout on the Tuesday before the race to know that my legs weren't dead, but it was short enough that I really didn't know how they would respond to racing a half.  My coach told me to go out conservatively and aim to negative split, and this was my exact email response to him about that and the race:  "I'm a big fan of negative splitting. I'm also not sure I could go out too fast even if I wanted to, as it takes me awhile to warm up even if I jog 2-3 miles before, so that won't be an issue! I felt good on my uptempo running today and 6:19 pace felt brisk but sustainable, although I can also tell I'm not 100% recovered from Bass Pro (which I expected and I don't imagine there is any way I could be) - but hoping I'm in good enough shape that I'll be able to rally for a solid half after a few more recovery days. Regardless it will be fun!"  Perhaps I should have included the disclaimer "(unless I completely blow up)" at the end of that!

My friend Amy was also running this race, and when we ran together during the week before the race we discussed race plans and goals, and decided to work together to break 1:24, which was something neither of us had ever done, but both felt like we could if everything came together.  I kept the caveat of "if I feel up to it after I start out conservatively" in there, as I knew it was quite possible my legs would refuse to drop below 6:30 pace - and if it was really reaching to dip into the 6:20s at mile 3-4 I was not going to try it!  I also mentioned that worst case scenario, I would run it at marathon pace, and that would not be anywhere near my slowest half.  I made a pace band targeting a 1:23:50 (6:24 pace) and hoped and prayed for the best, but I didn't have the most confidence in myself and kept looking at old half splits to halfway reassure myself.

On race morning, Missy and I set off on our journey at 4:00 a.m. - another data point supporting that we are both nuts!  Add to that, it didn't seem that bad getting up at 3:50 a.m...just 10 minutes earlier than 4:00 a.m. which I did for several long runs (including 22 and 24.3 milers that I ran before work = more data points for nuts).  I had my Generation Ucan with almond milk and a caffeinated Nuun on the drive down.

The 2-hour drive down flew by, and we arrived at the race site to park, pick up our packets, and warm up.  It was 34 degrees with a wind chill of 28, and since we really haven’t had any cold weather yet this year it felt horribly cold!  We complained about the cold and questioned how we ran in much colder conditions throughout last winter for most of our 2 warm-up miles (the obvious answer is by being nuts).  I decided to wear my thickest mittens (I had 4 different options for gloves/mittens, as I knew I’d run in shorts and short sleeves and be fine as long as my hands were warm).  About 10 minutes before race start, I shed my warm-up pants and jacket, and headed to the starting line, where Missy and I proceeded to huddle together for warmth while waiting for the gun!  I had on my pace band on targeting a 1:23:50 finish time, but I was thinking more about just running hard to get warm than anything.  I didn’t feel pressured or anything, and had no nerves leading up to this race – just ready go out and see what happened.  I think I also felt like I had a good excuse if I ran poorly ("Oh, my legs just didn't have it after those two marathons.")

After a nice prayer and the National Anthem, we were off!  The first mile of the race is downhill, so it would be easy to go out super fast, but I wanted to be conservative and was planning a 6:25.  Amy and I ran together, and a lot of people went out crazy fast.  We came through the mile in 6:24, but it felt like about 7:30 pace.  I commented to Amy that this was really like a 12-mile race because of that downhill first mile.

My goal was to keep my first 4 miles between 6:25-6:30, then if I felt good gradually speed up slightly to the turnaround at mile 7, then try to drop to a little faster from 7 to 10, and then push with all I had for the final 5K.  Miles 2 and 3 came by just as planned, and one thing I love about an out-and-back course like this is that you don’t lose time not running the tangents, you don’t lose rhythm turning, and your Garmin is pretty close to the course mile markers.  My Garmin splits and course splits were awfully close, which also eliminated the need for my pace band.

As we passed mile 3, Amy told me that she was going to maintain the pace we were at and didn’t feel good enough to speed up with me.  I encouraged her that she wouldn’t even notice dropping a few seconds a mile, but I could feel her backing off.  I set my sights on a man ahead of us and pressed on.  I pulled up with him around mile 4, and he and I came through mile 5 a bit faster than I’d planned that early (6:11), but it was a conversational pace.  I made myself back off a little, telling myself that I could speed up at the turnaround if I was still feeling so good, but mile 6 was 6:16 so also a little faster than I wanted that early.  I hoped I wasn’t dooming myself, but it was sure nice to have someone to run with and this pace felt sustainable.  We picked up two other men who'd been in front of us between then and the turn around.  They were all pushing, and I intentionally pulled back during mile 7 because I didn’t want to go too hard too early and in anticipation of dropping at the turnaround, and they all slowed a little with me too for a 6:22.

I felt fantastic at the turnaround, and thought to myself, “only 6 more miles!”  I challenged myself to finish the final 6 at 6:15 pace, and I thought I had a chance.  My math wasn’t the best, but I was thinking that if I could maintain that pace I could run a 1:22:5X.  When I made my pace band for 1:23:50 (6:24 pace), I also made one for 1:22:57 (6:20 pace), but then didn’t print the faster one because I thought that was too aggressive.  At mile 7 I was wishing I had!  I ended up not using the pace band I had on at all, but instead doing the math in my head at each mile marker on the course (which is never a safe bet during oxygen deprivation!).

When I sped up at the turnaround, one of the men stayed with me but the other two didn’t.  The one who did (man in red) was running right behind me right on me, making me do the work.  For several miles, we could see other runners who were going out while we were coming back on the course, as miles 7-13 were miles 2-7 in reverse.  There were a lot of runners I knew in the race, so it was very fun to hear them saying my name and to encourage them.  Several told me that I was first female as well.  Around mile 8, which was 6:17, I took off those thick mittens I had to have, and held them the rest of the way because they are my favorite mittens (my favorite thick gloves were lost at Bass Pro and I was not making that mistake again!)!

At mile 9 (which was 6:12), I was feeling pretty good about a strong finish, but I thought it was going to be really close between a high 1:22 and a 1:23.  I told myself that I could do 4 miles at 6:15, and that if I didn’t make it in the 1:22s, it wasn’t going to be for lack of trying.  The man in red continued to pace off of me.  I slowed up a little bit at a couple of points to try to get him to come up beside me, but he wouldn’t, and I didn’t want to break my rhythm too much.  We were reeling in another man, which helped, and having man in red right behind me was better than running alone but I still wanted him to come up beside me or even let me draft off him for a bit.  I knew that if he stayed with me to the end that he would out-kick me, being a male, and if he had been female I would have likely run a little more strategically.

At mile 10 (6:19), I looked at my watch and figured that all I needed to do to run a solid 1:23 was run a 20 minute final 5K (6:26ish pace), which I felt extremely confident about doing.  I was thinking that I needed to run 6:10 pace for the final 5K to get in the 1:22s, though, and I wasn’t quite sure I quite had that (in retrospect, at all of the mile marks I was counting on the final 0.1 taking me 1:00, but actually I only needed to allot 40 seconds at most for it, but that is where my math went wrong).  I pressed on, again telling myself that I was going to give 110% and I was feeling so blessed to be on PR pace.  The funny thing about this course is that I thought it was decline from miles 2-7 and I was worried about coming back up it.  Then miles 7-13 also felt like decline, which is physically impossible since we ran the same road in opposite directions.  I guess I am so used to running hills that flat seems like decline!  But, seriously, run this course; it feels like decline in both directions (the opposite of the Frisco trail, which feels like incline in both directions!)!

Mile 11 was 6:14 and mile 12 was 6:11.  At mile 12, my poor math skills told me that I needed to run a 6:08 final mile to get a 1:22:5X.  I told myself that I could do it.  The man in red went around me at the mile 12 sign, and I told myself to hang on him, but I couldn’t.  I started worrying I was slowing, but I looked down at my watch to see that I was running 6:14 pace for the beginning of the mile.  I told myself I needed to get on him; that he was 1:22:5X, but I just couldn’t quite do it.  My pace dropped to around 6:10, and I kept telling myself I had to get it down a little more and also have a fantastic finishing sprint to get in the 1:22s (at this point, I was still counting the final 0.1 as taking 1:00) – so imagine my surprise when I saw the clock and that I had time to spare!  It did make for a 5:19 pace final 0.1 for me, though.  I cruised through in 1:22:37 officially!  The man in red must have run a 5:55 final mile if not better, as my 6:11 put me what felt like eons behind him.  He thanked me when I finished, and told me that he’d have never run as fast as he did without me, so in the end I was glad I was able to help someone, and also glad he was not a female. 

I was in shock!  I teared up a bit with happiness.  I thought that 1:23:5X would be a reach all-considering, and I’d completely ruled out 1:22:5X.  How had I just run a 1:22:37?!  Certainly not by my strength alone.  God has blessed me so greatly this season.  I’ve tended to find something wrong with each PR race – some reason that I could’ve gone faster and knew I could do better (too hot, too hilly, rocky dirt roads, no competition, stomach bug 9 days before, running alone, side cramp at 20, wrong turn, etc.).  But possibly the biggest blessing about this race is that I don’t feel that way at all.  I feel that everything went as well as it possibly could have; nothing could have been better nor do I feel I could've gone faster at my present fitness.  The course was fantastic, the weather was great, I paced well, I finished strong but not with too much left, etc.  I’m not sure this is a PR I can ever beat...although, I’m already planning to run this same race again next year (if I can shave off 3 seconds/mile that would give me a 1:21:58, right?)!  I'm feeling so blessed that my final real race of 2016 was my best performance of 2016, and I just can't stop smiling about it.

Amy and Missy were close behind me, notching second and third female positions.  Poor Missy was congested and sick, or I know she would have PRed (she was very close at Bass Pro, and this course was much faster).  Then, the idiots we are, Missy and I ran a cool-down back up the hill that was mile 1 to the post-race food and awards (they had a shuttle for people who weren't nuts).  Another blessing of the day was a fantastic girls’ trip!  We had some coffee and delicious homemade soup while waiting for the awards.  The announcer at the awards ceremony called my time "smokin' fast", which made me grin.  He also commented that we must have "some training group!" when Missy and I went up for our awards and also picked up Amy's (since she had to leave before the awards), telling him that we trained together.

Official results are posted here.  I have to note that the pace they have listed for me is incorrect; it should be 6:18 pace - that's not just per my Garmin but confirmed with calculators such as this one, which is my favorite.  Not to be nitpicky, but those 3 seconds per mile matter a lot to me!  Official race photos are coming!   

2016 racing is now complete.  I have a couple of strictly for fun/because I need more short races for ROTY, a Turkey Trot 5K and a Christmas mile and 5K, but those are not goal events, and it’s quite possible that I’ll run the Turkey Trot 5K in 5 days at the same pace I ran my final 5K in at White River!  

 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me - Philippians 4:13 

Splits

The best friends help you with your compression socks when your fingers are too cold to function!

Twinsies

Awards ceremony

Bass Pro Marathon Miscellany

I don’t promise the best order or organization in this post, but this is pretty much my Bass Pro Marathon word vomit that I wanted to put out there so that I can look back on it!  My "real" marathon recap can be found here.

Professional shot from around the half of our unofficial sub-3:00 pace group

• Below are my Garmin split comparisons between Bass Pro (BP) and Prairie Fire (PF).  My Garmin had me running 0.22 farther at BP, which is consistent with my “bonus” jaunt (I was 24 seconds ahead of my pace band at mile 20, then I was about 55 seconds behind my pace band at mile 21 after my detour and correction).  The course split mats were in different locations on the two marathon courses, so the only official course splits I have to compare are a 43:16 first 10K at PF vs. a 43:06 first 10K at BP, a difference quite negligible (even more so considering I started closer to the line at BP).  BP had more elevation changes than PF, and when I look at those in comparison to my splits they make sense as well (for example, mile 4 had more downhill and mile 5 more uphill). As you can see, I closed a lot stronger at BP, which is how I like to finish marathons and made me quite happy!  9 of my final 12 miles at BP were in the 6:30s, and the miles that were not were planned as slower course miles due to inclines.  The final 2 miles on the course are also slower course miles, but I managed to keep them in the 6:30s (with a final 0.6 at 6:28), and that made me optimistic about what is to come!

The best I could splice this together!

• My other course splits at BP were 15K in 1:04:15, 25K in 1:45:50, and 30K in 2:07:15.  These are all correct since my error was between mile 20 and 21, and the 25K and 30K are PRs for me at those distances!  My previous PR at 25K was 1:50:16 (on a challenging course; I’d run faster in other marathons but without official timing mats), and I’ve never raced a 30K so that one was an automatic PR.

• Even though my official time doesn’t reflect it, I ran stronger at BP than at PF.  This was the opposite of what I expected, since PF was my goal race and I was running BP with PF on my legs - not to mention that BP is a more challenging course.  I think that it comes down to 4 reasons though:  1) cooler temperatures, with 38 degrees at the start of BP vs. 54 degrees at PF, 2) having someone to pace with for most of the race at BP vs. running mostly solo at PF, 3) the awful stomach bug that landed me at Urgent Care 10 days prior to PF vs. no illness close to BP, and 4) no pressure at BP vs. nerves at PF.  I paced very similarly early on in the two races, but I finished a lot stronger at BP (also funny because I didn’t feel as fresh at the beginning of BP).  At BP, I also adjusted for what I thought was a gel mistake at PF with my third gel being a different type that was saltier and may have resulted in a side cramp, so that may have helped too (I fueled exactly the same in both races otherwise, and had no cramps at BP).  At PF I was uncertain whether I had a sub-3:00 in me, while at BP I knew that I did, and it was more of a matter of whether I did or not again so soon.

• My family cheer crew was again amazing!  This time it was my parents, Jon, Albani, Thomas (brother-law), Christopher (nephew), and Samantha (niece).  I know having her cousins along made it more enjoyable for Albani, and sometimes I feel bad about taking her to all of these races, so I am glad she had the time of her life with her cousins as usual (even though afterwards when I told her that my favorite part of the marathon was hearing her yell “go mama!”, she told me that her favorite part was taking a nap, hahaha!).  Since this was a hometown race, Jon was able to navigate everyone to many locations on the course, including the start, around miles 6, 10, 13, 16, and 19, and the finish.  I loved seeing them all so much, and this is a huge benefit of running smaller marathons in familiar places!  They had a copy of my pace band so they knew when to expect me and how I was doing with my goal pace.  Here are my dad’s awesome videos!

On course around mile 10
On course around mile 16.5 with high-5 to Albani 
Finish
Awards ceremony

Thumbs up around mile 16.5

On course around mile 19 (no more pace group here)

• This was my third time running BP, and each time the course has been just slightly different for various reasons.  They moved the finish to a different location from 2010 to the more recent races, and this year they tweaked some of the later miles of the course due to construction downtown and around MSU.  All three years the weather has been similar, and I’ve had an amazing family cheer crew on the course.  The main difference this year was that I didn’t get the lead female bike (although this was my fastest BP by almost 5 minutes).  I sure missed the bike navigating the course just ahead of me, but I also knew going in that I wouldn’t have it since I knew that Kim was running  (and that was much better than thinking I might have it and not!).  I got comments here and there from spectators telling me my place, which was 3^rd overall female throughout the race.  I never had a chance at moving up with the first two ladies running 2:44 and 2:52, and 4^th finished in 3:32, so it was a very solid 3^rd.  Overall placings in a race are always so much about who shows up; I've run horrible times that won races, and I've run PRs that didn't get me on the podium, so I'm always more focused on my time than on place because it's more meaningful across events.  Although I can't say I don't have quite a competitive streak, the older I get the more it is all about being the best runner I can be.  You can't control anyone else's race, but you can go out there and run your heart out in a smart race.

Memories!

• When I came into the finish, the announcer said something like, “Sara Ibbetson finishing the full marathon; Sara was our women’s champion in 2010 and 2015”, which I thought was fun!  Jon got a clock shot by stretching his arm out into the finishing shoot and "photographing aimlessly" (his words).  I was impressed because I couldn’t even see the clock when I was coming in until I was pretty much at the finish line, due to spectators obscuring the view.

Clock shot 1

Clock shot 2 + screaming lady

• At the awards ceremony, the race director talked about this year being the fastest women’s race in this marathon (my hypothesis about this happening at both PF and BP is because the Olympic Trials qualifying window isn’t yet open for the 2020 trials, so women of that caliber are running slower marathon courses to win some cash instead of vying for standards and PRs).  She also said, “If you’d have shown me a list of entrants and asked me to pick the top 3 women, these are exactly who I’d have picked!”

Swag

• What I dislike about marathons comes after the race:  post-marathon insomnia!  It has to be an adaptive response; I figure my body is thinking that there is no way I’d have pushed it to the extent I did was unless my life was in grave danger, so it won’t let down to sleep in case the danger is still present.  I’ve experienced this enough that I try to proactively combat it, but this time around on marathon night I only slept about 2 hours in spite of the 3 Melatonin I took (on a normal occasion 1 knocks me out!).  After PF I managed 4 hours with Melatonin, while after both BP 2015 and Dallas 2015 I did not sleep a wink.  Next time I’m getting something stronger than Melatonin!  I took off work on Monday since I needed to use my “birthday holiday”, so I wasn’t as worried about it this time (I worked the day after PF), but then come Monday night I still couldn’t sleep!  I got about 4 hours that night, which as a 7-8 hour sleeper is minimal.  Tuesday night I was back to normal sleep, but let me tell you, running a marathon + 2 nights of inadequate sleep + daylight savings time + traveling for work Wednesday and Thursday = exhaustion the weekend following the marathon!  We went to a 7:00 movie on Saturday evening and I fell asleep in the theater (in a super loud IMAX 3D movie!), even after napping for about 90 minutes on Saturday.  Usually I can only nap, in super comfortable positions, when I'm sick so this was extreme.

• Overall, the Bass Pro Marathon has been good to me.  The race director and crews do a fantastic job, and you can’t beat sleeping in your own bed before and after a marathon (well, at least pretending to after!).  I plan to run it every year I can, although I’m not sure it will ever be my “A” race, and maybe it doesn’t need to be!

Let it go, let it go!

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't woken up multiple times in the middle of the night thinking to myself, "Why didn't you choose right?!?" in regards to my wrong turn in the Bass Pro Marathon.  I have a hard time letting things go sometimes, and this has been one of those times.  It's also why I've been quiet this week about Bass Pro (no 6 blogs like after Prairie Fire!).

I've told myself that I need to be extremely thankful that Scott yelled at me until I turned back to the correct course and that I still ran a sub-3:00 (what I wouldn't have given for this whole scenario when I ran a 3:01?!).  I've told myself that I need to let this be a confidence boost for my next marathon, because I know I can go faster and finish strong like I did (9 of my final 12 miles were in the 6:30s).  I've told myself that no race is perfect, and really everything else about this race went off without a hitch.  I've told myself to be thankful that I can run, period, and that I had the opportunity to run two marathons in four weeks and to walk away from them healthy and feeling great.  I believe all of these things wholeheartedly, but I am really struggling with forgiving myself for the error.

My after the race struggle has been worse than mile 24!

The area where I made the wrong turn is right by the Missouri State parking lot I park in as an adjunct professor, so after class on Tuesday evening I decided I was going to drive by it and figure out how I went wrong.  Once I drove to the area it was very clear how I made the mistake, and I drew my husband the diagram below to explain it.  In my mile 20 focus, I didn't even realize that the road split before the park, and running on the left side of the road I just continued in the left lane when we ran past the tree-filled median.  The correct race direction arrows (which were bright green as shown in the photo above) were on the far other side of the median and not visible to me.  I knew I was following old arrows when I went left, but they were the only arrows I could see at all.

*Not to scale, haha!

So I understand what happened, and I'd now like a do-over.  Too bad life doesn't work like that, huh?  Since I can't re-decide my route at Bass Pro, I guess the next best thing is to try to better my marathon time in Phoenix on February 25.  Maybe a blessing from this will be increased motivation during winter training?  Maybe a blessing is the confidence boost of knowing that I closed with a 6:37 paced final 10K and ran within 11 seconds of my PR despite running at least 0.2 over the course distance?  After seeing my splits, my coach said sub-2:55 for Phoenix should be my goal.  For now I will try to take a lesson from Frozen and let it go...

Because taking no chances means wasting your dreams: Bass Pro Marathon

Going into this marathon, I knew the risks involved.  I was exactly 4 weeks off of my first sub-3:00 performance at Prairie Fire, and trying to run 2 all-out marathons in 4 weeks is a trick.  I went into the race knowing there was a chance I’d fall apart, or even DNF, but there was also a chance I could net my second sub-3:00, so I took the chance!

Everything about the race was relaxed.  I picked up my packet on my Friday lunch break at work, with the race expo being 1.1 miles from my office!  I stuck to my typical routines during the week leading up to the race, including a super busy week at work that made me forget I was even tapering.  I was also so excited for Jamie’s marathon at Indianapolis Monumental, and for Missy and Ashley’s halves at Bass Pro that I really didn’t think about my race.  I ate at home and slept in my own bed on race eve – which is hard to beat!  I also had 5 amazing family members in from out of town (my parents, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew), in addition to my husband and daughter.

Marathon morning, I arrived at Bass Pro with my family, met Missy and Ashley for an easy mile warm-up, talked to many wonderful area runners pre-race, and reveled in the hometown feel of the event.  Standing on the starting line at PF, I was nervous and anxious; standing on the starting line at BP I was calm and relaxed.  I also knew at the start that I’d be racing for third, with Kim Reed and Camille Herron (100K World Champion) in the event.  Two very inspiring women who have netted several Olympic Trials Qualifying marathon times each!

Pre-race

Ashley, me, Missy - we rule the farm roads at 5 a.m. & McDonalds on race morning

I started the race with Scott, who was also gunning for a sub-3:00.  Scott and I ran side by side from the gun through mile 17!  We ran with some other men here and there, including one who was with us for many miles and also aiming to go sub-3:00 (he ran 3:00:08!).  From mile 1 on no one passed us, but we picked off many men.  The miles flew by and our pacing was excellent; Scott told me I was a metronome.  I was constantly comparing where I was at in the race to where I was at at the same point in PF, and it was always quite close, e.g., opening 10K of 43:10 at BP vs. 43:16 at PF; half of 1:29:38ish (based on mile 13 course marker, as there was no half mat) at BP and 1:29:40 at PF.  I also had on a course-specific pace band targeted at 2:58:44, or 6:49 pace exactly, based on a conservative start and adjusted for course elevation changes, and I was right where I wanted to be with it through the half.  I felt strong, despite more challenging elevation at BP compared to PF, but also not as fresh as I had at PF, and in the back of my mind I had concerns about running this with PF already on my legs.   I planned to enjoy the ride as long as it lasted though!

Running happy with Scott!

As we passed mile 17, Scott told me he needed to back off a little, and he did but barely.  I pressed on, but he was still pretty close behind.  I couldn’t see anyone else in front of me on the frequently turning course at that point - which was very reminiscent of PF! – but I was so thankful to have had Scott with me for so many miles, and I felt confident I could gut out the final 9 on my own if I needed to.

At mile 19, I was about 25 seconds under my pace band, so I did the math and figured that if I ran the rest of my miles at 3 seconds each under my pace band course miles, I could pull out a high 2:57.  I thought I could do that, and I was pretty excited at the prospect of another sub-3:00 and even a possible PR -- but I also knew that it wasn't over until it's over!  I've run enough marathons to know that I felt good enough at mile 19 to know that I was not going to bonk, but there is a difference between not bonking and finishing at 6:30 pace vs. not bonking and finishing at 6:55 pace.

The pace band

At about 20.5, we came upon Phelps Grove Park and a fork in the road.  I didn’t see any newly painted green arrows, and there was no one standing at the fork or anywhere near it.  I had no idea which way to go.  In the past, the race has gone left there, and there were several arrows going left (there are a lot of races in that area).  But someone had told me this week that they thought the course changes had us going right around Phelps Grove.  I hesitated.  I did a little back and forth dance at the fork.  I even said out-loud, "Which way?!".  I almost burst into tears from indecision.

The marathon is a metaphor for life in so many ways, and sometimes in life, we make split second decisions that change our lives.  At this point in my marathon, I made a split second decision that changed my marathon; I went left.

What felt like both a second and an eternity later, I heard Scott screaming my name and looked back to see him turning right.  I knew then I’d made the wrong call.  I had a huge shot of adrenaline as I turned on a dime and went back right.  Scott told me he'd yelled 3 times before I'd heard; he was a saint for continuing to scream at me, at a time I know he was hurting!  I picked back up with Scott and our other sub-3:00 seeker Kevin and berated myself.  They told me not to panic.  I was panicking (funny because I had been Miss Positivity for our group until then, shooting down their negative comments about falling off pace and telling them they were great!)!  I anxiously awaited the next course mile marker to see how much time I’d lost.  I came through mile 21 nearly a full minute behind my total pace band goal at that course mile, so realized that I’d lost about 1:20-1:30 or probably 0.2-0.25.  I was so angry at myself for making the wrong choice, and also worried that I wouldn’t even make it under 3:00 because the mistake.  I also started worrying that the adrenaline I'd just experienced would do me in prematurely.

I regrouped the best I could and pressed the final 5 miles; that was all I could do at that point.  I felt far better than I did at PF as I passed the final mile markers, but all I could think about was my error and what it had cost me.  I knew I was going to have to close strong to still get under 3:00, and I was worried about the final 2 miles and all of the incline in them.  And I was just so mad at myself.

One of my big goals for this race was to finish with a stronger 10K than at PF, and I ended up with a 6:37 average for the final 6.59 -- and I passed a lot of men in those miles!  A man I didn’t know ran me in from about 24-25.25 after a friend of his didn't want to be run in (!!), the female lead cyclist came back for me for about the final mile, and Missy and Ashley ran me in from around 25.3-26!  I was shocked and amazed that I kept my final 2 miles in the 6:30s, as I’d budgeted them at 7:00 miles on my pace band because I couldn’t even close strongly on them last year when I ran this as a training run.

Ashley took this while she & Missy were running me in, haha!  These girls were tough!

I finished in 2:59:04 – my second sub-3:00 marathon ever, coming 4 weeks after my first sub-3:00!  I was so very thankful to still make it under, but it was so bittersweet being 11 seconds (11 seconds!!) off of a PR, 5 seconds off of the 2:58s, and feeling that I would have run a high-2:57 without the wrong turn.  My Garmin had 26.59 for my distance, compared to 26.37 at PF, which had just as many turns.  Garmins will often read slightly over on correct certified courses (plus you don't typically run every tangent); the course is right and your Garmin is wrong, but this time I ran the wrong course!  I was 3rd overall female, and I wasn't at all close, but I also wasn't as far behind those women as I anticipated, which I believe also shows that this is not a fast course (they ran 2:44 and 2:52, while both have PRs in the 2:30s).

Garmin shot

However, I guess nothing is for certain, and maybe without that extra adrenaline and emotion from my wrong turn, I wouldn’t have closed as quickly in the final miles, and therefore not gotten the confidence boost of knowing I can improve my PR.  Maybe the error distracted me from the pain and enabled me to finish strong.  This can certainly be filed under “first world problems,” and although it was so important to me, I’m working to let it go (admittedly, after many hours of post-marathon insomnia asking myself – “Why didn’t you just go right?”!).  God has blessed me greatly with all of my races this season, and the perfectionist in me always finds what didn’t go right, but I also need to remember all that did.  Most of all I am thankful for the opportunity and thankful for being healthy through it!  I am so thankful for the support of my family, friends, and training partners.  It’s likely I wouldn’t have done either sub-3:00 had I not met Missy almost a year ago – she has been such an amazing support and I love her to death!

In true Sara fashion, there will be a few more Bass Pro blogs.  I’m glad I took this chance and accomplished a dream for a second time, but I also know that God’s plans are better than anything I can dream up on my own!  Onward!

Splits 1

Splits 2