Saturday, October 31, 2009

Not in a Million Years...

On Saturday, I had the greatest time at the Monster Dash running the half marathon. I had teetered back and forth about if I could PR or not. They had pacers so I lined up with the 2:11 group. This should have been very doable for me. However, our poor pacer struggled a lot keeping us at a consistent pace as people were all over the place and it was her first race ever pacing. I felt sorry for her. So, my garmin shows that about three of the miles were clocked at a 9:30-9:34 pace. My legs were not ready for that. Or the Minnehaha Parkway. It was a little hillier than I remembered it. I hung on until mile 10 and couldn't do it anymore.

Here is where it gets interesting. This summer, I also did the Urban Half Marathon and finished at 2:15:20. I had also hoped to PR at that race but missed it (I know, I'm not speedy by any means). Well, just so happens that this race today, I finished with the EXACT SAME TIME. 2:15:20. I mean seriously. Seriously. I know I didn't get the PR but do I have to keep getting the same DANG finish time? What killed me here was the MAJOR lack of long runs. I did 2 runs over 8 miles. Otherwise, it was nothing but speed work. Not too smart but I've never raced real smartly so why start now right?! :) The unique thing is, I couldn't get the exact same time for two races again if I tried!

I am GOING TO BREAK THAT 2:13:25 PR IF IT KILLS ME.

In the meantime, check out Steve and Pharmie's latest accomplishments! They are awesome. Maybe I should just follow them around, they keep getting faster and faster!

6 comments:

Jumper 2.0 said...

You finished another 1/2 marathon and even ended up pushing it more than planned and still finished with the same time as in August. The exact same time, weird. But great job Nat!

amybee said...

Hey:

I think you and I should plan to do one of those inteval work outs with Steve & Co. It would be very, very good for us.

We will get the speed thing down. Don't you worry about this one bit.

CONGRATS on another GREAT 1/2 marathon.

Beth said...

Congratulations on a great half marathon! If I remember correctly from last year, the course is kind of hilly, so running the same time might actually be quite an accomplishment! Good job and what a great way to kick off your IM training.

Sunshine said...

Sweet Pea and I have had those kinds of results... the same.. even though it seemed like we were doing better.
Congratulations on doing the race, on finishing, on making a good time... again!!!

Adam said...

DO IT! Shoot, having a consistent pacer would help more than anything I’d think.

BTW, 2:11 pacer? Why not 2:10? Or, is 2:11 right at 10:00/miles?

Don said...

You did very well. Cold weather, heavier clothing, you'll get that new PR when conditions are better.

Don