Shamrock Run, Virginia Beach, VA March 21, 2010

What was originally going to be my first half marathon is now my second.  I registered for this race, more to follow through on my plans for 2010 than need as there was a half marathon in Raleigh the next weekend I could have run instead.  So, we bundled up the family and headed to Virginia Beach for the race.  This time, though, I’d have an expanded cheering section.  Colleen’s parents had chosen to make a small vacation out of the weekend and came down to see the race as well.  Sort of makes me wonder what the spectator experience is like for a race because a race this size (there were 6546 runners in the race that finished) won’t really allow them to see me start and sitting at the finish line for two hours seems like it would be pretty boring.  But, I was thrilled to have family at the race and wasn’t going to complain.

Picking up my race packet is an interesting experience at these larger races, probably because this is only my second.  It’s always tied to what they call a fitness expo, but I can’t really say I understand the concept of the expo.  It is just a bunch of vendors selling products and services geared toward a running audience.  Still, I did manage to spend some money there, so they must understand that most of the runners that show up are enthusiastic about their race and willing to spend more money than they’ve already spent.

We got a room at the Wyndham Beachfront.  It was one of the race approved hotels, but it wasn’t anywhere really close to the start of the race.  14 blocks at the time didn’t sound like a lot, but once we were driving to the hotel, I saw that it was a longer distance from the race than I’d expected.  Still, it was within walking distance, they offered shuttles back and forth, and of course a late check out for the racers.  Of course, it wound up being a beach resort room in every sense of the word.  More than one of the light bulbs didn’t work.  That’s not a big deal, but it always manages to annoy me.  The shower didn’t work correctly.  The diverter for some reason didn’t actually divert cold water so it was either scalding hot or off after about 10 seconds of water at the correct temperature.  That was more than a big deal, but of course, we’d already stayed the first night before we discovered that and I wasn’t about to break down everything and start over in another room.  The last item was of course the cleanliness.  Haylie spilled the cooler full of water onto the floor so I grabbed one of the room towels to try to dry it up.  When I lifted the towel, it was almost jet black where it had been in contact with the wet floor.  I find that wholly unacceptable.  Colleen was livid and we were both glad that Haylie wasn’t crawling any more because she’d have gotten into who knows what filth on her knees.

The weather was odd.  I’m not sure what I would have done to prepare.  It was cool in the shade during the day, the breeze was quite cold and while the sun was down it was outright cold outside.  So, I brought a variety of clothes.  I had my running tights, gloves, long sleeve shirt and my running jacket all at the ready.  I also had shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  No clue which way I should have gone.  The race started at 7 AM, so I was up at 5.  I need the time to putter around and really get my game head on.  Add in that I’ve always got pre-race jitters and I don’t sleep well anyway.  In the pitch black morning, I made the call to dress for cold.  Standing on our balcony, the wind felt cold and I thought it would be best.  Got Colleen up at 5:30 and Haylie up at 5:45.  I wanted to leave the room about 6:15 or so to let me walk down there and not feel rushed to get to the starting block.  Ran downstairs to get breakfast.  The hotel advertised a grab and go special, but it was wholly disappointing and WAY expensive.  Another negative for the hotel.  But, I had no other option and we had to have something for Haylie.  So, I paid for it and just bit my tongue.

The walk to the starting line wasn’t bad in the end.  It was more than a mile, but it did allow me to get in some active stretching and work out some of the jitters.  You could hear the noise from the starting line all the way to the hotel, which if I’d been a resident might have annoyed me.  By the time we got there, I was stunned by the mass of people.  This was obviously the largest race I’d run in to this point.  I also learned that the bib I had on was significant.  The color indicated which corral I belonged in, though as they moved me to the group just behind the elites, I did see some that should have been in group 2 that were in the same corral.  They did what can only be described as a double barrel shotgun start.  Both sides of a 4 lane road were closed and they put us on both sides to start.  I was glad at the time that I had on my gloves and tights.  It felt quite cold outside and though it was warmer than the two races I’d run up to this point, I was still thinking about how icy my hands and legs felt after the February race.  I was glad to see that despite the note in the materials, there were a ton of people with music and headphones.  I have run a 5K without before, and I am sure I could longer distances, but I don’t WANT to.  Of course, I missed the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, which starts every race, and felt bad about that because I was lost in my world of hard pumping metal trying to get my head wrapped around the race ahead.

I explained it the night before to my mother-in-law.  I’m nervous up to the point the gun sounds and then it’s all calm.  Once I’m out there running, nothing else matters.  All the anxiety of my fitness, the fear of tripping and causing some collision on the course, or simply running the wrong way goes out the window.  I’m into the groove.  The first two miles were all 4 lanes before they pushed us back into one side of the road.  I missed the mile markers, though, so I couldn’t tell what my first two miles looked like from a pace perspective.  At least the crowd was thinning appropriately as I hate the jockeying for position and shuffling that makes the first part of the race feel longer.  Is there a protocol, some etiquette for which side you pass on, how you indicate a pass?  I have no clue and I probably make it worse than it is.  I once read that the hardest miles are the first and the last.  I can say that the first is always my hardest.  Mostly mentally, as I try to establish a pace and a mindset that everything will be fine.  By the time we’d collapsed back into two lanes of the road, I was in the right place to know I’d finish the race.

A flat course, really flat.  That was what I’d been told and of course what motivated me to think it would be my first half marathon, even though it now was my second.  I liked that there were no hills as I ran.  I’m still in need of better hill work and I knew it.  I didn’t train as hard for this race as I really wanted, and that nagged at me so knowing the course was flat helped me get over some of that anxiety.  Along the road during the first couple of miles, there were actually some spectators that had set up beer stands, sort of like the water stations and I did see a couple of runners ahead of me that took some beer!  I’ve heard that there is some discussion about the benefits of beer while running (quick absorbing carbs and all) but I hadn’t expected anyone in the pack ahead of me to actually try it.  I still cannot run and drink so I tend to pass on the drinking during the run.  Still, I sort of wished I had tried to snag a beer.  There was a section that ran through what I would call a swamp, but maybe it was just marsh land.  I just know the road was apparently the only solid surface through that section.  The race organizers had put up signs with interesting quips, facts about the area and corny jokes.  It helped to pass the time.  They’d also set up some DJ booths and a live band, though I couldn’t hear either above the din of my headphones, so I didn’t really care.

The sun started coming up and it got much warmer than I’d calculated.  I shed the gloves and put them into the zipper pocket in my tights, but I had no way to shed the jacket and my long sleeve shirt was Under Armor and therefore skin tight.  I opted to push up the sleeves of the jacket and hoped that it would be enough.  I saw there were some folks that had cut open socks for warmth on their arms and then when it got too warm, just discarded them.  I also saw there were some gear collection volunteers, but I could not tell how I’d get anything back from them and I’d pinned my bib to my jacket anyway.

The course turned into a local military post of some sort.  I believe it was reserves, but I couldn’t tell which branch.  I think, based on the signs, that it may have been a cross branch.  It also had some active guards, so it might have been active duty, but that would really be difficult to understand how we got on the base.  Anyway, this section of the course had razor wire, indications of live fire ranges, and active military dogs according to the signs, so something military was going on.  About mile 7, the water station had a distribution of sports gel, supposed to offer the runner quick carbs for extra energy.  I thought I’d take one just to see.  EWWW!  This was unquestionably the nastiest stuff.  I heard that most runners take it with water, and I can see why.  Each gulp of this sugary sludge I took only managed to leave a film in my mouth that I didn’t get rid of until almost mile 10.  This wound up being a lesson I won’t soon forget.

Back out onto the main drag.  The blocks are numbered sequentially running East and West through town as we ran along a North and South road.  That meant I could count the blocks down as we moved on.  I had been actively attempting to hit the lap button on my watch at each mile marker, and my unofficial time told me I’d really lost pace in the second half of the race.  This is becoming a personal sore spot for me, and I tried to speed up, but I also just wanted to keep my pace below 8 minute splits.  So, as I hit mile 10, I was at 7:53.  For mile 11, 7:53 again.  At least I wasn’t dropping off too much, though I know the first three miles were at 7:40 so I’d lost almost 15 seconds per mile at some point in the race.  I hit mile 12 at 7:50 and I decided it was time to see if my kick training was going to pay off.  It helped that the last 1.1 miles were along the boardwalk and I could see the throngs of the crowd and feel the ocean breeze.  I deliberately tried to speed up and actually found I did have something left in my legs.  As I hit mile 13, it was at 7:42 which wasn’t exactly a sprint, but it was back well below my last two miles.  I didn’t hear, but Colleen told me that the race announcer did call out my name as I approached the finish line.  I crossed and felt really powerful.  I saw the clock time and I knew I’d finished the race at least slightly faster than my first.  That was all I could really hope for.

Time for the logistical details of the race.  Official time:  Gun time 1:43:19, Chip time 1:43:07. Good for 451/6546 overall 332/2516 M 56/382 Age. Age grade 60.8%. 7:53 pace.  I had never seen the Age Grade before and I went and did some research.  It’s an adjustment factor that is supposed to show a level playing field.  All I know is that according to the table, I’d be considered a local class runner.  I took that to mean I was one of the better local class runners, but I still am not sure.  If the reader is interested in the details, you can check it out through the Runner’s World link.  I don’t really care.  I try to remind myself this is only my second year as a competitive runner and only my second race at this distance.  I was mildly disappointed only because I’m not really much closer to under 95 minutes.  I will train harder for the next one, I do know that.  Still I was excited to finish a second and to do it in roughly the same time.  It was also nice to have my family there, though finding them at this race was much harder.

They presented me with a really nice finisher’s medal.  They also gave me a very nice hat and a second shirt as I walked through the finish area.  I got a water, a banana and a granola bar as well.  I was famished.  Missed the after party and not sure how I did.  There was supposed to be a beer and Irish stew for all finishers and I wanted one.  I suppose it was a function of trying to hunt down the family, since I didn’t know if they could come at all anyway.  I’ll remember this for next year’s race.

An outstanding experience overall and I will be sure to add this one to my list of regular races.  I’ll just change hotels next time around.

Cheers!