Andy's race

Ugh. Okay, for the record I have run six full marathons and ten half marathons. All of my racing prior to CFAE was done training LSD.

I started strong, having eaten a Honey Stinger five minutes before the gun. Mile one was a bit quick, but only because the 1:40 pacer ran his first mile in 7:10. Clearly that is WAY faster than he should have been running. I let him go knowing that I would eventually pass him. I eventually did at mile 5.

The next few miles were pretty smooth. I wrote "Calm" and "Flow" on my hand to remind me of where I needed to stay mentally. The last thing I needed was to panic and psych myself out of a great race. I also kept reminding myself to focus on the lean. For all the training runs we had this season, race day was by far the easiest to remember to focus on a healthy lean. My Garmin Forerunner 405 (shameless plug) was a HUGE asset during the race. I cannot tell you how valuable it was for me to know exactly what my pace was. I am a fool for not investing in one sooner.

By mile six I knew I had something good going. I powered up the hill and started to prepare for miles 7-9, which historically have been difficult for me. After the turnaround, I had my first feelings that I was going to do it. I was going to close this thing out sub-1:40. After smiling on the inside I stuffed it away because I knew things could go awry.

Heading up through mile 10 and I was still feeling really good. My pace was consistent and I ate my final Honey Stinger at the water stop. On a side note, this was the first race that I did not walk through aid stations. I literally grabbed water and kept on trucking. Another interesting tidbit, I only drank water this year. In all my previous races, full or half marathon, I have always consumed the sugar-based drink on the course. I didn't want it or miss it at all.

Mile eleven and I started to feel it a little, but I kept my pace at 7:30. I kept repeating to myself, "Calm. Flow." I knew that once I got to the downhill stretch at mile 12, I would be all but guaranteed of making my goal. Right around mile 12 I got a little paranoid. Firstly, and most important, I had noticed that my Garmin distance was about .1 miles farther than the official mile markers. Considering they chart the course with GPS (or so they say), I figure somebody screwed up. But what if I was off? Am I on pace to make it? I was pretty zapped and unable to do the math between what the official distance/time was versus what I was recording on my arm.

The second concern I had was the 1:40 pace group. Even though I was a safe 90 seconds ahead of them at this point, for some reason I was expecting the guy to run right past me. Again, I chalk this up to being tired and nervous about a PR.

Well, I got to the bottom of the hill and knew I had done it. About 50 yards before the final turn, my Garmin chimed, signaling "workout complete", which to me meant the full 13.10 miles in the bag. My Garmin time was 1:38.25 and I stand by that reading. I powered through to the finish, the whole way my wife screaming, "Andy you did it!" I crossed, stopped, and said to myself, "I did it." In fact, that is about all I could say for the next ten minutes. I did it.

Running a half marathon in less than 1:40 minutes was always a distant goal for me. I might have accomplished it someday running LSD like I always did, but it would have been REALLY hard. My body (most of our bodies) just isn't built to take that abuse. CF and CFAE helped me reach my goal and enter a totally new level of endurance athleticism.

After the race, I was talking with my wife and I told her that I believe that I trained for Carlsbad at about 70% effort of what I am totally capable of. I am not saying that I plan on ramping it up to 90% (sorry Nuno) so that I can run a sub-1:30, but I am excited to see what is next in store.

Z