Kinetic Half Marathon: Part 2

Read part 1 here. After waiting around at Lake Anna since 6:30am that morning, I was finally running. Austin and Meike both rocked it on the swimming and biking, so I couldn't let them down!

It was exciting to finally be running after all that time waiting. But it was also 11:30am by the time I started my run, and it was hot. I had to do three loops of the same course, which was different for me. It was also different from other races because I didn't start out in a huge crowd of people. The racers were pretty spread out on the course by the time I started running. Some people were 2 laps ahead of me and some people were still on the bike course. It was weird to have so much room to run! I'm used to weaving in and out of people the whole time, but in this race I never had to do that.

Lap 1: I started out with a moderate pace. The first part of every lap started with a big hill, which was okay the first time, hard the second time, and really slowed me down the third time. I tried to be smart about pacing myself and not start out too fast, and I think I succeeded. For the first lap, I was getting used to the course and trying to find a good pace. I settled into a 9:30 pace, which was kind of slow, but it was what I felt I could sustain with the heat and hills.

At first, I employed my usual race routine of stopping at EVERY water station to get water or Gatorade. I soon realized that strategy wasn't going to be feasible on this course. There were just too many water stops. A normal race course has water about every two miles. On this course, with all the loops and out & backs, there were 1-2 water stops every mile. Initially I kept grabbing water at every station, despite the large amount I'd consumed before the start of the run. Then I started to realize that I felt kind of bloated and that drinking so much water probably wasn't a good idea.

I started running through some of the water stations, but it was kind of too late- I'd already drunk too many liquids. I could literally hear water sloshing around in my stomach and I started to get cramps in my side. However, I've learned that there are many different things that can go wrong during a long race, and you just have to run through them. Luckily the cramps never got too unbearable and I was able to keep running.

Lap 2: The end of each lap was all downhill. As I finished the first lap, I could see the beach where Austin had started swimming about 4 hours ago. I spotted Austin with the other spectators, but I missed my mom and Meike the first time around. Knowing that they were all there to cheer me on gave me motivation to go a little faster through that section, though.

The runners had thinned out even more by my second lap. There were some places where I would be running all by myself, without another runner in sight. Then I'd round a corner and I'd see people again, but it was weird to run so much of it alone. Definitely different compared to other races I've run. It was basically how I imagined races would be before I'd ever done one.

At mile 8, I took a gel for energy and it was the best-tasting gel I've tried yet. It was a Hammer Gel: Montana Huckleberry. I usually stick with vanilla, but I'll have to try more fruity flavors because I actually liked that one. I drank some water with the gel because you're supposed to, but I got the cramps and sloshing-water feeling again, ugh. So frustrating. But then I came to the downhill part and the beach and I was 2/3 of the way done!

Lap 3: This time when I ran through the spectator section, I saw my mom. That brought a smile to my face even though I was getting tired by this point. On the third lap, I had to walk up the two tough hills. It was hot and I was tired. There's a point where running uphill isn't that much faster than walking, but it takes way more energy. When you reach that point, it's smarter to just walk up the hill and save that energy for the rest of the race. So that's what I did.

I pretty much figured I wasn't going to reach my goal of finishing in under 2 hours, but I was okay with that on such a hilly course. I still wanted to finish as close to 2 hours as I could, though. I was ready for the race to be over as quickly as possible! I passed some people who were only on their first lap and I felt bad for them. As I passed mile markers 2 and 6, I was so glad those numbers didn't apply to me anymore. I was so glad to be on mile 9 instead!

Lap 3 was definitely the hardest. I knew the course by now and I knew which parts to dread. There were a couple sections with no shade and direct sunlight. There were a couple of bad hills. But I also knew about that nice shady downhill finish on a path through the woods. When I started down that last stretch, I knew this was it. I picked up a lot of speed going down that hill, so by the time I got to the boardwalk, I was sprinting. My mom said she was surprised how fast I was at the end! I just let my legs go. Once I rounded the final corner, I was pushing myself as fast as I could go.

Once I saw the finish line there was no stopping me! I couldn't wait to be done!

All in all, it was a great experience. I can't say I liked running from 11:30am to 1:30pm, but I learned I can run in hot weather and I'm not going to die of heat exhaustion (and definitely not from dehydration, lol). There were some things I did wrong to prepare for this race (like running 6 miles two days beforehand), but everything is a learning experience that I can use to benefit me at my next race. I'm going to make some mistakes before I find out what works for me and what doesn't. That's okay. And even though I wanted this half marathon to be faster than my first half, I'm okay with my time. I don't have to PR on every race and I don't want to be disappointed in myself if I run a little slower than what I wanted. Just getting out there and running is enough.

Austin's swim time: 37:05
Transition one: 1:30
Meike's bike time: 3:08:59
Transition two: 0:36
My half marathon time: 2:05:23
Total time: 5:53:31