Mother's Day Half-Marathon Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 20; 8th Edition 
118.2 miles run in 2025 races
Race: Mother's Day Half-Marathon
Place: Rockaway Beach, NY
Miles from home: 1227 miles
Weather: 55 degrees; 79% humidity 

 This race was supposed to be two things:

1. New York was  supposed to be the final state in my quest to run a half marathon and marathon in all 50 states before I turn 50. (I finished the marathons in February after sitting at 49 states for a decade.)When I was planning out the remainder of this year a few months ago I noticed that that I did not have Wyoming as a half marathon run. I had to scramble since there are not a lot of races in Wyoming in the early part of the year given the weather. Even fewer fit my schedule of already necessary races. Fortunately, I found a race just one week before my 50th birthday to hopefully finish this journey. It's a little bittersweet considering I wanted to dedicate this comeback to my mother on Mother's Day but alas.

2. I was also assuming that this race was going to be my return to running fast again. From when I first started running in July after my knee replacement until January I had almost nothing but an upward arc in getting faster and stronger. Then I suffered a few setbacks at the end of January and for the better part of three months I have barely run (have literally run only 25 times on that time period with 7 of those runs being races) because of extreme pain in my left quadricep and my right calf. I really think if that had not happened I would be back below 1:30 for the half-marathon at this race. 

As it so happens I'm nowhere close to that right now but the good news seems to be that I have finally worked out the muscle imbalances in my quad and calf. Now I simply have to continue working on my physical therapy, and combine that with getting back into running shape again and maybe sometime this fall I will get the times that I'm hoping for.

This was a super quick trip for me. I flew in on a Friday and was leaving barely 24 hours later. Luckily, I told my best law school friend a while back I was running it and Felix came down from Brooklyn to have lunch with me. Even though we hadn’t seen each other in 21 years (hell, I haven’t even been to NYC in 18 years!) we picked up right where we left off: hitting a mid-day Fight Club against only old Jewish women. (Just kidding. This is like the 300th race report I have written and I have to spice them up a bit.) It was so great to see him and I cannot believe we forgot to take a picture together. (We actually look pretty similar. I also only recently got ed of that sweater.)

I then had dinner in my hotel which was about .9 of a mile away from the start of the race, relaxed in my bed, and got ready for the race which was mercifully at 9 a.m. Of course, just two days prior I realized this would make it impossible for me to catch my flight at noon and had to change that.  Some rare bad travel planning on my part. Nevertheless it was like the fourth race this year where I was just going to barely make my flight home. I find it helps you run faster when you realize you will miss your plane if you don’t.

Race Morning:

With packet pickup only being before the race, I had to get up a little earlier than I would have preferred even for this “later” race to go grab my bib number. I sauntered along the “boardwalk” we would be running on (the entire thing is concrete, which was far better than the potentially slipper wooden planks I thought it was going to be) after getting my bi and went to the bathroom at a building a few hundred yards down.  By the time I made it back, the runners were lined up, not on the boardwalk as I expected but rather on a narrow winding ramp that lead up to the boardwalk. I had to quickly jump through a few people to get close to the start. I knew I wasn’t going to be in primes running form but I also knew I was going to be faster than most of the people who stood between me and the cones.

Barely a word was said and we were off.

First 3.55 miles:  

The course was a looped course that we ran twice with the starting/finishing point being in the middle. We would run down about 1.78 miles west before turning around and heading home.  There were two small right angle turns on this westerly portion which means we would hit them three more times.  Fortunately it was an extremely wide paved boardwalk and there were not a ton of pedestrians out on this overcast but humid day.

I thought that the 5K and the half marathon were delineated by the different colored bibs and as such began to count where I was in the pecking order as we streamed away. I knew the man who was very first was running the half marathon simply because he said he had been to another friend when we were in the starting corral. After that it looked like there was one other guy and then a really young fella in front of me. So I was currently sitting in fourth as we made our way down to the first turn around.

My first mile went by in a shockingly fast 7:38. I haven't run that fast in over three months. That's when I decided I needed to slow it down just to keep within what my hopeful goal for the day was which was right around 8 minutes per mile. Doing so, a man and a woman running together and another woman passed by. It seemed to me that the man was running the 5K and his companion was running the half marathon but it was hard to tell. I knew I would figure it out when we got back to the starting line because that's where their race would finish.

As we got closer to that finishing point about 15 things happened in quick succession that surprised me. The solo female runner had pulled way ahead and now it was clear she was just running the 5K. The couple running together were both running the 5K I surmised as they left the course and down the "chute". A woman who had come up from behind me with about 1/4 of a mile to the finish did not go into the finishing chute but instead showed me that she was running a half marathon. About 1/4 of a mile later another woman passed me like a rocket and now I went from thinking that I was in 5th place, to watching two people finish their race and think I was in third to two others passing me and realizing I was in fifth again. Regardless, my second and third miles had been 7:59 and 8:07 respectively and I felt really good. I might actually run faster than my goal.

To the halfway:

Now with the first half of the loop done I was looking forward to seeing what the other half had in store and just get ready to do it all again. We had a bit of a headwind heading this direction so I didn't mind terribly well my next two miles were 8:16 and 8:22. However as we headed back on the other side of this loop I was passed by two other women in quick succession. I realized they weren't speeding up; I was slowing down.

I began to wonder if I had ever been beat in the standings by four consecutive women. I'm fairly certain it's never happened in my entire racing career and it looked like if things continue to play out how they were right now that's exactly what would happen. 

The woman who had shot by me as we came to the start/finish line previously was now flat out cooking. The young fella I had noticed earlier was clearly done having run the 5K and one of the other runners who I thought was running the 5K was obviously running the half marathon. At this juncture I hadn't the foggiest idea what position I was in. Plus I was beginning to feel a little tired even with a tailwind. My sixth mile showed me that I was right in what I was feeling as I only could muster 8:25.

To the 3/4 mark:

Even though it was in the mid 50s I was completely drenched with sweat. Anyone who passed me in either direction looked like they might be perspiring a little bit and I wondered how it is that my body will sweat as much as it does. I could tell that the second-half of this race was going to be quite difficult for me as I simply am not in shape to run the speed that I want to right now for this distance. As two male runners passed me near the turn around at the western end I simply let them go by without a fight. Usually, I at least speed up a little bit and make people work for it when they pass me but I did not have it in me today.
One of the women who had passed me earlier was passing me again. I had seen that she had stopped to use the bathroom and was surprised it took her this long to catch up. It made me feel perhaps I wasn't slowing as much as I thought me because she looked strong as heck.

The boardwalk was filled with more pedestrians now and for the most part they noticed that a bunch of people seemed to be running in close proximity wearing bib numbers and tried to stay out of our way. Of course, as you can probably assume, others did not and almost looked bothered that we dare get in the way of their meandering.

I was now about 20 to 30 seconds slower per mile than what I was hoping for and it wasn't getting much better. I grabbed a small water bottle that the volunteers handed out and crushing the entire thing in my hand, jet-blasted 8 ounces of water straight down my throat.

To the Finish:

The remaining part of this race was me passing some people who passed me then having them pass me back and then just this game of back and forth between a bunch of us. It seemed a few other people were beginning to feel the effects of the humidity as well. It was indeed nice to have the Atlantic Ocean to our side at one point but for the most part I was staring 10 feet ahead of me at the pavement and just trying to do left, right, repeat.

I had one young lady slide by with about a mile to go and this one really hurt because she had been so far behind me earlier. My goal for today had been to run 1:44 but after hitting the halfway point right on pace it was clear that I had lost about a minute per mile for the second-half.

I saw if I really pushed it that I could run a 1:49:xx but decided really what was the difference. I accepted that I am not where I want to be and am hopefully at the beginning of the final of three comebacks in three years.  This is the floor.  I can still reach the ceiling. I crossed the mat and went down the same winding walkway that we had started and finished in 11th place overall with a time of 1:50:36.

I'm truly hoping these extremely slow times are finally going to be put in the rearview mirror. Well, not totally because I know my final state half marathon in Wyoming starts and finishes at 8700 feet above sea level with a 500 foot climb the entire way back. I'm only hoping that somehow in the next two weeks I can get enough fitness in me to not make this my slowest half marathon ever. Even if it is, however, the states will have been finished and this will have been my 15th half marathon since late July of last year.

I truly think I should be the poster boy for my knee surgeon's practice.

One more to go.

 

Maui Half-Marathon Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 20; 7th Edition 
105.1miles run in 2025 races
Race: Maui Half-Marathon
Place: Maui, HI
Miles from home: 3917.5 miles
Weather: 73 degrees; 75% humidity 

It's getting a little tiring to continue to write recaps about races that end up like a dumpster fire. But you tell the stories of your runs whether they go well or go poorly if you want people to enjoy reading what you write. That said, I'm disappointed that yet another race fell into the latter category.

I started race weekend off in Maui by bumping into Jordan Hogan (Hasay) at the Expo and shared more than a few minutes of chatting. Her husband is from Mechanicsburg PA originally and that's the area where they have now moved to. I went to law school in nearby Carlisle so it was interesting to talk to them about that. It also made me so happy that I'm no longer hauling around 100 lbs of books to expos and sitting there signing them for people. Not that I don't enjoy conversing with runners but doing that for 8 hours twice in a row before trying to run a marathon is for the birds.

The night before the race I was trying to get to bed when I felt a bug on my arm, Long story short what appeared to be a few gnats.  I looked over at the lamp and there were dozens on it. I killed them all and then saw even more on the ceiling and elsewhere It appears they had gotten in under my door and were all over the room. So at 9:00 PM I had to switch bedrooms in this hotel and probably didn't get to bed before after 10:00 PM. With a 4:45 AM wake up call that was not exactly ideal.

This week I went to a physical therapist who was also a runner to try to ascertain what is going on with my left quad and my right calf. It all seems to stem from a muscle imbalance and to tell you that getting that answer was both relieving and frustrating would be an understatement. I've had a litany of random injuries and accidents and few have hurt as much as my left quad and not having a muscle tear or something more than simply an imbalance is annoying. I was given some exercises to do and I'll admit that I actually did them the day before the race. I find it hard to believe that this is what's going to fix my leg but I will definitely do it.

I booked my hotel to be at the start of the race according to the website and found out when I walked out of the hotel that it was still about half of a mile away. That's not the end of the world but also not what I was expecting. I got to the starting line with about 90 seconds before the gun went off. I positioned myself roughly where I thought I would be to run hopefully about an 8:10 minute pace and when the gun went off away I went.

In the pitch black darkness I could feel both my calf and my quad straining just a little bit but they felt far better than they did after my 3 marathons in six days two weeks ago. I was surprised when my first mile was an 8:10 and even more surprised when the second one equaled that time. Both miles felt relatively easy and I thought perhaps I was actually going to get a nice bounce back race. The third mile slowed me down a little bit but I was still pretty close to being on pace for what I wanted.

The course was an extremely simple out and back alongside the highway with sometimes there being a

complete lane blocked off for us and other times we were running on a wide shoulder. I guess you could say it's scenic because the ocean was to our right for the whole way out but I was more concerned about simply surviving the race. Not having to think about where to turn was definitely a big plus in my mind. There were also an abundance of aid stations and gigantic kudos to the race for making sure that both the water and the Gatorade were chilled with ice cubes. It was a cupless race so you had to bring your ow. The race provided a collapsible one that some clipped to their person. I simply carried mine in my hand. It was only mildly annoying to have to slow down while the people poured it into your cup and I guess that means thousands of cups not being wasted so that's good.

My 4th and 5th miles slowed me down just a touch more but I still felt that as soon as I hit the turn around things would change. I have an absolute plethora of examples of how when I run or race, somehow the minute I turn around and I'm no longer heading away from my goal my body switches to another mode. All of a sudden I drop 30 seconds per mile. I have joked that I wish I could trick my body into think I am always heading home but so far I haven't found out how to do that. I expected that trend to happen here as we turned around at the halfway point and actually began a small downhill run.

Unfortunately, the boost I was hoping for didn't come and my 6th and 7th miles continue to slow. This was indeed worrisome because I could feel the energy beginning to drain out of me. In the middle of the eighth mile I was forced to do a small walk break and I knew the last 4.5 miles were not going to get any better.

Basically from here until the end it was a combination of me running as fast as I could as long as I could until I could no longer run and was forced to walk. I began to negotiate with myself and get into the pain cave and look ahead to landmarks to get me to the next mile. Normally when the heat and humidity start to get to me I can fall back on my legs, especially my quads, which have always been the best part of my running physique. But after basically three years of atrophy with two knee surgeries and now these problems with my quad they are not what they were just a few short years ago.

The final few miles looked like the EKG of a person with an erratic heartbeat. When I could run it was roughly a 9 minute mile and then suddenly it would drop down to an 18 minute crawl. Time after time I will repeat this. I knew this was going to be a personal worst in my first ever half marathon over 2 hours.
As I stumbled down the finish chute and crossed in 2:11:26 I would have been more disgusted with my lot in life if I was not more concerned with passing out. I grabbed my medal and found some grass nearby and fell down onto it. This was an eerie similarity to the last time I ran in Hawaii which was also in Maui 15 years ago. I was also about a block away from where I was now when I also went down onto the grass in one of my worst marathons ever. I was helped into the medical tent where they were trying to potentially give me an IV but I knew I simply needed a little bit of rest time before too long I was able to actually get back up and make my way back to my hotel.

What I will take from this race was before it got hot and humid and got to me I was able to run some of my fastest race miles since my marathon in February. So there is still hope that I'm not gonna be perpetually getting worse in my races. However I have another half marathon in two weeks and then the final half marathon of my 50 state journey two weeks after that. I fully intend not to run one single bit between now and then and simply cycle and swim and work on getting my leg to where it needs to be. 

This is completely unacceptable and I will remedy it.



 

Riverboat Half-Marathon Series (3 Halfs in 6 Days in 3 States) Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 20; 4-6th Editions
92 miles run in 2025 races
Race: Riverboat Half-Marathon Series
Place: Winnsboro, LA; Eudora, AR; Cape Girardeau, MO
Miles from home: 662-1059 miles
Weather: 66-70 degrees, 100% humidity

I knew that this series was not going to be as fast as I was hoping it to be and it turns out I was more or less right.

When I scheduled these races, three half marathons in three different states in six days, it did so in a period of time where my training and recovery from knee replacement surgery was on a continual upswing. Then in January after a fairly decent half marathon in mobile AL, I have been beset with some lingering and unexplained issues with both my right calf muscle and my left quad muscle. I won't but moan much of that here but suffice it to say that I had a significant amount of trepidation about whether I would actually end up having to walk parts of these half marathons given how little training I had done in the past three months and how bad my leg would hurt on occasion.

As I tried to not live a boring life another thing that I have been attempting to do for the past four years is visit as many counties in the United States as possible. Four years ago my new running buddy John Weeks turned me onto a website where you could track which counties you had been to in the United States. With some days to kill until my moving company arrived with my stuff I sat one day and recreated every place I had ever been to in my life. I was shocked with all of my traveling that I had only been to 28.6% of the counties or their equivalent in the U.S. I saw with just some creative driving in between these races, I would be able to go over 50% of all the counties in this country.

Louisiana Half-Marathon: Winnsboro (Each clickable link takes you to my Strava account for each race so you can see what the course and elevation profile is.)

Quick description: A little different than most of the other races put on by this company that I have run with the aid station/lap counter being in the middle of each loop. It was about 75% shaded which was really helpful as it got quite sunny and muggy in the latter half of the race for me. We had to do 8 loops for the half-marathon.

As we started out, I saw a runner who had beaten me twice in the previous Mainly Marathons I had run back in November. We had been separated by just about two minutes back then but I was only four months int my recovery at that point. I know it would likely be just as tough for me to beat him (Jon) in these races simply because my running was not where I wanted it to be. 

My first mile wasn't too bad but then my 2nd and 3rd miles were slowing. "Already?", I thought. Also in contention in front of me was another runner who I did not recognize. Because of the nature of the course you could basically see anyone who wasn't a full half a lap in front of you at all times. I began to watch a race between these two guys take place. I was sitting in third, I thought.

Then my 4th, 5th, and 6th miles actually got faster.  At the same time, Jon disappeared. I would later learn he was running the 5k and the 10k and not the half-marathon. One of the problems with these races is that unless you ask, you don't know what someone is running. In this time another runner had passed me and was steadily speeding up. I wasn't fully aware of how each runner was allowed to do their races if they chose to do different distances, so I more or less stopped caring what place I was in and was trying desperately to pick up the pace. Unfortunately, it wasn't working.

As I neared the finish, my times getting slower, I suddenly realized that the runners in front of me were all doing different distances. I was actually going to win the half-marathon.  I chuckled inward derisively at myself. I ran 1:55:38, more or less my slowest half-marathon ever, and won.

Racing is funny like that sometimes. 

Arkansas Half-Marathon: Eudora

Quick description: A twisty turny course around couple of small ponds.  Virtually no shade once the sun came up. 

While I couldn't get my legs moving to save my life the previous day, I was happy that I had not been reduced to walking half of the race which I had fully been prepared to do. 

With 6:30 a.m. start times for all of these races, something that I normally don't particularly care for but was happy in order to avoid the heat of the day, I showed up about 5 minutes before the start time to basically use the restroom and start running. All the same players from the day before were in attendance but the only question was whether or not Jon was gonna be doing the 5K and 10Ks again. After a few laps it was clear that he was doing the half marathon and even though I was running a much more even keeled pace today it was clear that I wasn't going to catch him.

In spite of dripping with sweat before the entire 1st loop was completed, of which we had to do 8 this time, I somehow felt better than the day before. I would run hard through the northernmost part of the loop which was slightly shaded by nearby trees and then slow once again I got out into the sun. Somehow almost every mile is exactly the same regardless of what I tried.

I was more or less resigned to the fact that this is what I was going to be running all day long and just concentrated on getting it done.

I would finish in 1:50:44 which was good enough for second place.

Missouri Half-Marathon: Cape Girardeau
 

Quick description: A much more straightforward out and back with just five loops to complete the circuit.  Half of each lap was through a heavily forested area which provided solace from the weather.

 

 I had spent the previous three days knocking out counties and had gone over 50% for the country the day before. In fact before that I had actually was able to schedule a 90 minute massage and was feeling like I might be able to give John a run for his money regardless of what speed he ran. It was quite a turn around from a few days prior when I didn't even know how much I would be walking.

The course was more to my liking with it being less twists and turns and even though it was 100% humidity, the rain was a bit cooling period all of this seemed like it would bode well for me to do much better.

As I sprinted from the porta potty to the starting line right when the race started I found myself behind only John this time as many of the other people I noticed from the previous races weren't here. I felt like I was pushing harder than usual and my leg and calf muscle told me I was. John was so fastly disappearing in front of me that I assumed he had to be doing the shorter distant races. Two laps later I would learn that wasn't the case. Not only was I not running faster than I would hoped he was picking up the pace from his previous days as well. It was clear from the get go that I was running for 2nd place and nothing much more.

Frustration really set in during most of this race simply because of the past three months of uncertainty and general malaise. If it was actually my knee that was hurting me from the replacement surgery that would be acceptable. But even after a litany of examinations, an MRI, physical therapy and taking time off from running I still was no further to understanding why my leg wasn't working. These thoughts stayed with me with most of the race as I went through the motions.

I came in with the time midway between the two previous days of 1:54:04. Definitely not where I thought I was going to be at this point. I'm glad obviously to be simply out there doing it but that's not enough for me.

I now have three states left to cross off before I turn 50 on May 31st. One week from now I'll be in Hawaii probably in similar weather conditions as this past week in the South. I'm measuring expectations but being hopeful at the same time.

Just three states left to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cary Greenways Half-Marathon Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 20; 3rd Edition
52.4 miles run in 2025 races
Race: Cary Greenways Half-Marathon
Place: Wilmington, NC
Miles from home: 1212 miles
Weather: 65 degrees, 98 % humidity

 It is never fun to write recaps where the race experience wasn't fun.

Have to address one thing at the start of this recap. On the race website and at the start of the race on Sunday, a great deal of attention was paid to whether or not GPS is accurate in measuring a course. I agree that too many people do not understand about running the tangents of race course and when they end up with a half marathon that is say 13.22 they claim the race is long. However, I am very well versed in running the tangents and usually run near the front of a race where I don't have to run around anyone and can see exactly where I should run. Having designed courses and measured them myself, I know the path you should take. 

So when a race course comes up at 13.55 on my GPS I know it wasn't simply because GPS is inaccurate. Furthermore after going to such great lengths to deride the GPS is not being accurate enough, for the race website to then add that it's not USATF certified, it's a little hard not to think that the course is likely not accurately measured. And if the race is going to talk this much about it I'd like to understand exactly how they measured it so that I can feel that the course is at least marginally close to its stated distance. Now that's out of the way, let's move on to my recap

As I continue to try to race a marathon and a half marathon in every state before I turn 50, it's quite coincidental that after finishing the 50 States in the marathon 3 weeks ago in North Carolina that my next race had me back here in the Tar Heel state to cross off the half marathon.

I am unfortunately still dealing with some lingering muscle issues in my quad on one leg and on my calf and the other that have limited me to just 13 total runs in the last two months and that includes 3 separate races. It's a little bit frustrating after dealing with two knee surgeries and all that entailed for over 2 years to finally having about six months of progress until this January where I've had two months of stagnation or going backwards. But we play with the cards that have been dealt to us.

Race Morning:

I had gone from my Airbnb to where the race started the night before just to see how long it would take to get me there and I saw that it was a short drive. However parking was limited and as I was going to be facing a very tight window from finish to catching my flight I knew that I'd have to be down at the start earlier than I would like to be. With a race time of 8:00 AM I arrived a little after 7:00 AM and walked to go get my packet. This was an interesting experience to say the least.

As already noted with the course length discrepancy, there was just a lot that was odd about this race. For instance, I found out afterward I had been aged up in age groups to the 50-54 group so that it coincided with their race points system for multiple races. Hey, it is your race and you can do what you want but it was just odd.

When I went to get my packet I was asked for ID. With such a small race, I didn’t think this was necessary and had none on me. They asked if I had my phone. I said I left in my car as I was here to race and not take photos. I was told I needed it, so I walked back to my car and got it, about two blocks away.

I was feeling a little salty so when I approached the well-meaning volunteer, who I know was just doing her job, I put the phone down with a google search of my name that has about eleventy billion pictures of me including one, coincidentally wearing the exact same singlet I happened to be wearing that morning.

“Well, that’s a first for me”, she said and told me my race number. That might have been a little arrogant or annoying or what not but I just was sort of over it at that point.  Then a many wrote my number on a piece of scrap paer and handed it to me.  After that I had to walk down a hill to a pavilion where someone check my piece of paper, asked me for my name, then checked off my name. I was then directed to another table for my bib number where they double checked it to make sure it was right. Now, I appreciate the redundancy here but for the love of pete, can I just have my bib number? I was then give a chip to put on my shoes like this was 1997 or something. I was beginning to feel like there was some sort of candid camera thing going on. But I fixed it to my shoes and walked back out of the pavilion and up the hill and back to sit in my car until it was about time to go to the race.

We lined up for the start which was done by runners getting into a single file lane and waiting until the person at the start read off your number and away you went. There was number rhyme or reason to this line anyone could line up in any order that they wanted. This was done because the start and most of the race was done on an open to the public narrow path. Suffice it to say before I even took my first step this was an interesting day.

First 5k:

As I have not run once in well over a week since I was given some muscle relaxants and some cream to put on my muscles to try to soothe them into feeling better I had no idea what the first couple of steps of this race was going to feel like. I was mildly relieved that I wasn't in too much pain but also quite irked that there was still something wrong with my quad for sure. As the race started and immediately left a parking lot to go down a rooted dirt path I was quite trepidatious about how my leg was going to hold up.

By the time I had gone more than a tenth of a mile I had passed about four people in front of me. Another tenth and I was now in about 8^th place overall. I could tell this was going ot be very unique in trying to figure out what actual place I was in by the end of it all.

After this biggest downhill of the race (which would then be the biggest uphill literally feet before the finish) we were shot out onto a running path wit ha few twists and turns around a park entrance,  through a field, down a hill and then back up a long sloping hill to the high point of the race, all before mile 2.  I had two guys pass me and passed two more in front of me.  

As we approached the turn around for those running the 10k, which I noticed already had me at 3.33 miles (not a good sign), I had run a 7:41, 8:15, and 7:47.  Not what I was hoping for but given all the circumstances of my leg, the ridiculous humidity, the not-so-great for racing course, I was pleased. This would have me run around a 1:42 half which I would have taken on this day.

To the turn around:

I was in a little no man’s land for the next two miles as I ran with no one in sight in front of me and I couldn’t hear anyone coming up from behind. I was surprised when my 4^th and 5^th miles were 8:02 and 8:17 as I felt I had picked up the pace.  Then in quick succession three men passed me. I could tell that this was the beginning of the end.

My 6^th mile, as the leaders of the race passed me heading in the opposite direction was a 8:53 and I knew I was cooked. I have written on many occasions how I have Gilbert’s Syndrome, which annoys me to no end is often classified in Wikipedia articles as harmless. Any doctor who I have talked to said that while normally harmless, GS rendering those who are pushing themselves hard in an athletic event rather useless on occasion is far from harmless. I guess in the “if you stop exercising and rest, it won’t hurt you further” way, it doesn’t cause any damage per se. But when you are running a half-marathon or something akin to that, the affect is quite debilitating.

As I turned around to head back, I could see an onslaught of runners on my heels ready to overtake me.

 To mile 10:

Almost immediately I had three runners pass me. Then another. Then another. I ran nearly 9 minutes for my 7^th mile and couldn’t believe how badly I was slowing.  As the next few runners passed me, I would try to keep up with them and that would simply pull me along for a few seconds before falling back again, as is shown by a 8:50 for my 8^th mile.

Right after my 8^th mile, an extremely tan woman passed me and I was determined to stay with her. I noticed she had a long scar on her spine and later learned she had been in a serious cycling accident a few years ago. I couldn’t stay with her and she too disappeared from my sight. (I see she set a PR but won’t name her as she didn’t have her pictures on the race website and appears to wish to remain private.  But if she sees this, congrats on your new half-marathon PR!)

I found that no matter how hard I tried, each person that passed me would soon follow suit and quickly disappear out of sight.  My first mile over 9 minutes hit with the 9^th mile and I could only watch as I continued to bleed time.

A 9:09 followed for my 10^th mile and I had to take a small walk break. I had nothing left in me. Drenched in sweat, leaving wet footprints behind me, I was a mess.

Onto the Finish:

Other than the steep finish, the next mile was the toughest as we began a slow steady incline. I was playing cat and mouse with this one young lady who would pass me, come to a walk, and then I would slow jog by her.  Then we would repeat this. At least four times we did this until finally with two miles left, she left my sight and I wouldn’t see her again.

There were multiple times we had to cross roads which were not closed to traffic.  As we hit the last major one with two miles to go, I was actually hoping the police officers would stop me and left the traffic go.  But as they continued to hold the cars, I had to keep running, much to my chagrin.

I ran down what was the biggest downhill left, hoping it would spur me on to some sub 9-minute miles.  It did not.

Now I was looking at the clock and the mileage and realizing that the course was going to be about a half mile long. At my current pace that was another 5 minutes. Holy crap, am I going to run over two hours for this half?!

I put my head down and began ushing with all I had which was not much.  I hit the 13^th mile in 9:19 and saw I was no where near the finish. I still had a field to run through, a small hill to climb, a path to cross and then the steep uphill finish over the exposed roots. I looked at my watch as I finally hit the pavement and more or less threw myself across the finish:

1:59:56. My worst half-marathon finish ever where I wasn't also carrying a canoe.

Four people are listed to have been in front of me time-wise in the minute before two hours but none of them were actually there. Obviously they finished behind me but started further back time-wise. Quite an odd arrangement for a race seemingly so concerned with results that I got aged up to 50-54. (Coincidentally, I was 2^nd in both this age group and the one I am actually in. I tried to inform the race so another person in the 50-54 age group would have a podium finish but that was when I learned of their different award system.  Oh well!)

I sat down to get my chip taken off and then had to walk back down the hill to the pavilion to chose my finisher’s medal out of three choices: another first for me in over 400 races run. I now had less than 90 minutes to get back to my car, drive to my Airbnb, shower, drive to the rental car place, take the shuttle to the airport and somehow still make my flight. With all the TSA nonsense going on (fuck Trump and every Trump supporter. If this bothers you, good.) I was almost certain to miss my flight, with the next one home being 7 hours later if I could get on it.

Fortunately for me, while they were obviously set up to handle an onslaught of travelers by how I had to walk back and forth through 9 lanes of roped off lines, there was virtually no one in front of me. I made it to my plane with 9 minutes to spare.

Then my body shut down. Sitting on the plane was almost too much for me to handle. I was certain I was going to lean on the seat in front of me in order to keep from passing out. Fortunately, my Glibert’s abated and I was able to keep upright. I finally found a semi-comfortable position in spite of the large person next to me continuing to encroach on my space as they knitted away. I was too tired jam in elbow into their haunch and too happy to be on my flight to cause any further ruckus.

I now have three weeks until my next half-marathon.  Then I have another the next day. Then another four days later. I can’t say I feel these are going to go too well.  But somehow, three weeks ago, I goth through my first marathon in three years rather smashingly.  Hopefully I can have the same good luck as I knock out, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri in a week.

Then do it all over again in Hawaii a week after that. Egads.