Stennis Half Matathon data and details

First the ugly and bad news.  This morning I woke up with my right hip hurting.  I thought no big deal, I will just take a warm shower and it will loosen up and it will loosen up more when I join my friend M.C. for an easy run.  So after the shower, it felt ok initially, but just a few minutes later it was hurting again.  I took a few jogging steps in the house and immediately knew I had to call MC to cancel the run.  I HATE that!  So today I have been icing off and on, I did go for a SLOW 30 min walk which seemed to help, but certain movements hurt. 

So......  I am so glad that I ran hard yesterday. 

The Running Artist and me at Stennis Half Matathon (see previous blog)

(Jen - I copied your pic because the pic I took was way to close for my comfort)

While driving 2:20 min. to the race, I was plotting out my strategy for the race.  Over the past year or more, I have really worked on starting out slow and picking up the pace later.  I really like this for many reasons.   The most important reason is, I feel so much better throughout the race.   In the past, I always went out too fast, and then just died throughout the race, and it was painful.   The slower start feels SO MUCH BETTER.  The other reason is that I have come to LOVE being very technical about my running.  It's somewhat of a game to really try to hit my paces, and I think it distracts me from some of the pain because I am concentrating so hard on hitting the numbers.  So my plan was plotted and looked like this.
     Plan   Actual
1.   8:35   8:32
2.   8:35   8:34
3.   8:30   8:28
4.   8:30   8:31
5.   8:10   8:08
6.   8:10   8:12
7.   8:10   8:00
8.   8:10   8:13
9.   8:10   8:13
10. 8:10   8:19
11. 8:10   8:08
12. 8:10   8:08
13. 8:20   7:53
.1     :45     :47
During the race, as I hit those numbers, I am a HAPPY CAMPER.  After the race, when I am reviewing the Garmin data, it is just as good as running a PR, if I have hit my numbers.  If I have a plan, and it comes together on race day, that makes me feel good.   I started running by the numbers a little over a year ago on long runs, some would be progression runs, others would be 1 fast mile, 1 slow mile - at predetermined paces etc.  For me it's an entertaining game.  This is when my addition to the Garmin increased, but it's fun.  Without the Garmin, I can not pace at all.  From our previous discussions, I know most of you are thinking if you hadn't predetermined your numbers you could have run faster.  NO, trust me, that was all that I had on SAT.
Yesterday, I mentioned that I had some help during this race.  I am not sure what mile I was at, but I am thinking it was around 6-7.  I was running and I noticed a young man beside me.  He looked very young and I was so impressed that he was running a half marathon.  So I asked him how old he was.  He says 17.  So we began chatting.  He is a high school cross country runner and this was his first half marathon.  A friend was supposed to join him but she bailed on him.  We talked, off and on throughout the rest of the race.  I was trying to hold on and to maintain our pace, from what he said, he was doing the same.  With 2 miles left, I told him that I would try to stay with him, but if he could go ahead, he needed to go.  He looked so comfortable, I thought I was holding him back.  He says, "you are pushing me, this is all I have"  I said good, you are pushing me too so we are helping each other.  I truly believe that I would have fallen off the pace if he hadn't decided to run the race with me.  It was really neat.  Normally, I do not do a lot of chatting during a race.  Today, I was able to chat, stay on pace, and maybe help someone finish their first marathon a little faster than he would have finished alone.  C.C.  if you are reading this.  CONGRATS!  I am proud of you.  He won 3rd in his age group.  He has also lost 60 lbs in the recent past, through running.  So neat, so inspiring.   He also helped me to my PR.  Thanks CC!  

2nd in my age group.

On another note, Jen and I had the opportunity to spend some time together.  We talked a little prior to the race while registering, waiting in the potty line, pre race prep, etc.  After I finished the race, I went back to find Jen to try run the last bit of the race with her.  When I made it to her, she had 1 mile left.  She was smiling and running a great pace.  She had raced a five mile race on Thurs. and PR'ed by 2 minutes over last year's time.  In addition to that, she was very close to her PR in the half on Sat.  She ran a smart race and has many many more PRs in her bright running future.  Great race Jen.  I enjoyed the visit.  I also was able to chat with Robbie and Kent before and after the race.  Robbie won the GrandMasters in the 5k.  Congrats Robbie!  Keep it up!

So a great day at the races!  Fun!