My better half

Another long stretch has passed since I’ve had the time and interest to make a post.  Life seems to pretty much consist of the same old stuff each day, and my running has left a lot to be desired.  For the past ten weeks, I’ve been training for the NYC Half-Marathon, and most of my training runs have been below my target pace and definitely lacking energy.  To be sure, I’m thankful for the 30-60 minutes I get three or four times during the week, and for the almost two hours afforded for my long runs every Sunday (thanks entirely to my amazing husband).  But I haven’t been very proud of what I’ve been able to achieve during these runs, and most of the time I’ve finished feeling woefully unprepared and like I’m actually getting in worse and worse shape, if that’s possible.  So by the time last Saturday rolled around, I found myself feeling both nervous and hopeless on the eve of the race.  Fast forward to Sunday post-race, however, and I was basking in the glow of what actually turned out to be one of my most memorable and enjoyable weekends in a long time.

On Friday night, Zdenek and I hobnobbed with the likes of Kara Goucher, Meb Keflezighi, and Desiree Davilia at one of New York’s swankiest residential buildings.  Though I probably drank three glasses of wine too many, it was a wonderful night that served to remind me how much I love this sport and admire those who do it so well.  I also managed to corner Mary Wittenberg, head of the New York Road Runners, and promptly tell her that I would like her job (she didn’t offer it, unfortunately).  

The night before the big race, Zdenek gave me a heartfelt and much-needed pep talk.  I didn’t feel super confident when he was done, but at least I knew that my biggest fan was still there no matter what happened on Sunday morning.

And then, on Sunday morning, I ended up running what I would consider to be one of my best races.  Sure, I didn’t crack 1:40 like I was hoping, but I came awfully close.  I knocked 90 seconds off my half-marathon PR (and all four of my previous times have been within 30 seconds of each other, so this was a big step for me).  But the best part was that I took the first six miles easy (just as my pep talker advised), and I flew (as much as I can fly) for the last half.  From mile nine onwards, I passed 99% of the runners ahead of me.  Several things kept me going:

• I  thought a lot about the 14 mile treadmill training run I did back in Mexico in January -- two hours in a stifling hot gym, all alone, facing the window with the blazing sun in my eyes.  It was the most unenjoyable run I had over those ten weeks, and no run down the west side of Manhattan could feel worse than that!

• With four miles to go, I thought, "It's just one middle loop of Central Park."  With three miles, "It's just once around the bridle path from home and back."  With two miles, "Just a little more than one jaunt around the reservoir."  Thank goodness for Central Park and the thousands of runs I've done there over the years!

• I thought about Zdenek and how much support he offers, and Ryder and how cute he is (because he's not yet that supportive), and the fact that becoming a mother hasn't completely taken running out of my life as I had once feared.

And it worked.  I eeked out 7:10-7:15 minutes/mile for the last four miles, and my last mile (which included an uphill!) was my fastest of the race: 7:08!!   Most amazing of all, I felt strong and fast at the finish, and almost as if I could have cranked out another mile at that pace (fortunately, I didn’t have to find out whether that was true or not).  And as I crossed over the finish line, who was there to say, “Congratulations,” and give me a hug?  Mary Wittenberg!  Amazingly, she recognized me from Friday night among a sea of 15,000 other runners.  I felt like Kara.  Kind of.

I’ve always thought that half-marathons are 75% of the training effort and only 50% of the reward of a full marathon, and so not really worth it.  But last weekend’s experience changed that for me.  I learned that it is possible to run a hard, fast half; that a full marathon probably won’t afford you the chance to finish feeling strong and energetic, which is  a special feeling at the end of a race; and that a great race is 100% of the reward, no matter the distance.  A few days on, I’m left wondering whether I went out too slowly and perhaps didn’t leave it all on the road – after all, if I had energy to run another mile, perhaps I didn’t run hard enough.  Maybe I could have broken 1:40?  Or maybe going out any faster would have backfired in the second half of the race, as it almost always does?  It’s hard to say.  I think  I need to run another one soon to try to figure it out.