Review - 2009 Goal 2

My second goal last year (2009) was to run a half marathon in under 2 hours. Goal was NOT ACHIEVED but I was still successful.

Running a half marathon in 2009 was going to be my fourth. When I set the goal I knew it was aggressive since my personal best time was time in the previous 3 half marathons was 2:05:43 and I’m not getting any younger. My running partner, Melodie, agreed to the goal and we started training in January. At the time it didn’t sound all that hard to knock 5 minutes out of a two hour time period.

Fast forward to May when we ran the Cellcom Marathon in Green Bay. To achieve the time of 2 hours flat on the half marathon (13.1 miles) we needed to average 9 minute miles for each of the 13 miles. We started the run on a sunny morning with a temperature of 37 degrees – about perfect for our run. At the one mile mark we were at 8:37 – much faster than we needed so we slowed down. At mile two our time was 17:40 or 8:50 per mile. At this point I said to myself and then to Melodie, “This is the perfect pace – we are right on target.” At mile four we were still on pace for 9:00 minutes per mile and I felt pretty good.

We crossed the 7 mile mark at exactly 54 minutes or 9 minute miles. It was shortly after mile 7 when the race fell apart for me. I remember it well. We were on a slight uphill just after crossing Lombardi Avenue in a neighborhood where an old boyfriend of my daughter’s lived. It was just a slight uphill but it took everything I had to make it to the top and that is when I was pretty sure we were falling off pace. I thought to myself – that’s what a running partner is for – Melodie will have to keep pace and I’ll just stay with her. At mile 8 we had fallen way off pace and I told Melodie to not worry about me, to pick up the pace so she could hit the goal. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any get up and go left either. After the race she related to me that she ran out of gas – “shortly after the slight hill right by the porta-a-porties” or essentially the same place as me. So neither one of us could “pull” the other one along.

We kept running and at each mile marker we were falling further and further off our hoped for 9:00 minute per mile pace and then the goal became to finish the race. Running is as much a mental exercise as a physical one and the realization that we weren’t going to achieve our goal weight heavily on me. However, I’ve never quit a race and this one was no exception. We kept at it and much to my surprise and delight we crossed the finish line at 2:04:59 beating my previous personal best time by almost a full minute. In retrospect, I’m very proud of that time and I still have hopes of improving on it. However, my goal for 2010 is to complete my first full marathon (26.2) miles.

My training for the run began on Jan 4 2009 and will be tested at the Cellcom Marathon on May 2010.
Here is another person's 2009 Cellcom story.