Travelers Rest Rear in Gear Half Marathon

Oh what a month it’s been! Between the holidays, training, and these darn races I keep signing up for I haven’t had a moment to breathe. Did I forget to mention all the eating I have been doing lately . . .it’s bad! 
 
So I have to admit that although I didn’t taper for this race, I had some serious expectations. My goal going into this race was to finish at 1:44. I wanted to do this b/c I thought it would help give me some confidence going into the Myrtle Beach marathon. The confidence has been lacking lately due to just not feeling like my normal self during workouts. More on that later . . .
 
Jeff and I show up to the race, I am not feeling too bad. I am doing all the positive affirmations I can. Then as I decide to put on my running shoes I notice something different about the feel. Huh, what could it be . . .it felt like I had no cushion. I take my shoes off and realize that the insoles in my shoes are gone. UUGGGGHH! The day before Forrest had the bright idea to run our 7 miles (Paris Mtn). . . IN THE RAIN! I had stuck my shoes in the dryer when I got home b/c they were drenched, and forgot to check and make sure the insoles were in them when I pulled them out. How classic! I was not going to let this shake me, I have had worse things get in my way. I finished getting ready while Jeff continued to tell me his goofy jokes. As they tell us to line up for the start I realize I have to tinkle yet again and make a mad dash for the port o let where I make the fastest tinkle in history and come out right before the start. 
 
I thought I would try something new with the garmin, and use the pacer they have on there. Yes, I am a complete idiot. I tell people all the time never do something new during a race. I soon find out that the pacer thing is not for me and frantically try to switch it and see if I can get my avg. pace to show instead. Luckily I was able to switch it to avg. pace and everything started working accordingly. I also made a last minute decision to not use my fuel belt and just carry my powerbar gels in my secret spot. 
 
The first mile goes pretty quickly and I can’t decide whether to look at the watch or just try to ignore it until I feel comfortable. I opt for ignoring. Around mile 3 or so I pass some crazy runners cheering for people on the side of the street. Thanks regina , susan, and lisa. I know who the die hards are. About that time I look down to see my avg. pace is 7:42. Decision time. Back down or just try to hang on. I decided to do something in b/w and just try to keep a pace that felt a little uncomfortable but not too much. I have to say the next couple of miles I didn’t feel too bad. The course was a little bit of a decline, and I liked it. The course starts to hit the hills, and the only thing I was thankful for at that point was I knew these roads. I run there every weekend and I knew when I needed to let up a little and when I could push it. I pass the Spanish radio station, and this is normally where I start to sputter on my training runs. The good part was that I wasn’t doing that. I even surprised myself as I crossed 25 and entered the frontage road that goes back to furman. The long little incline normally gets to me, but not today. All I kept telling myself was 1:44. That number was the only thing I needed to think about. Nothing else.
 
I enter into furman, go down the mall, around the lake and hit the hill. Anyone who has run furman knows the hill. It sucks. I think this was around mile 8 or 9 and I didn’t enjoy it. I did make it over the top without stopping though. Now all I have to conquer is the darn hill that you have leaving out the back of furman. UUGGGH! I realize that it’s time to gel and the water station is at the back gate. Normally the back gate isn’t that bad of a hill, but when I am going all out and it’s time to gel the hill got to me. I had no choice though and had to gel. About this time I heard Jeff behind me yelling for drink, so I knew he would be passing me at some point.
 
I remembered that in the next mile or so I would hit the swamp rabbit trail. I also knew at this point I would really have to refocus b/c the trails were wet from the night before and it wasn’t going to be easy running. My garmin had at some point gained an extra half mile and lowered my avg. pace so I wasn’t too sure how I was on meeting my goal. About a mile into the trail Jeff passed me, and I could barely talk at that point. All I kept thinking was 1:44 and no walking. I saw the 11 mile mark and that is when I realized either the garmin was off or the mile marker was off. Mile 12 was when I finally got off the trail and came McElhaney. This was when I realized my garmin was off for sure. I had 12.5 and they had 12. My watch read 1:38 and some change. I now knew for sure that I wasn’t going to complete 1.1 miles in less than 6 minutes. I readjusted and pushed as hard as I could. I ended up finishing at 1:46:45. 
 
I can truthfully say I couldn’t have done more than what I did. This is the first race since surgery that I haven’t walked. My splits per the wonderful garmin are 7:19, 7:44, 7:42, 8:05, 7:59, 8:21, 7:42, 7:30, 5:24 (must have been where garmin malfunctioned), 8:34, 8:10, 8:20, 8:15. I managed a 2nd place in my age group, and Jeff busted out a 1:44 finish and placed for 3rd in his age group. This is a huge deal! This is the first time he has ever placed in his age group, Forrest’s plans and Jeff’s hard work are paying off. 

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