The Derby half marathon report

The name of the race I ran in this morning is officially titled the "Derby minimarathon." However, based on the way my whole body feels right now, I refuse to call it that, because there was nothing "mini" about it. This past January, from the comfort of my couch, running 13.1 miles in a half marathon seemed like a good idea. Several of my online friends had recently completed half (and full) marathons and kept raving about them, and I did want to get serious about my running. (Plus the idea of a weekend alone was very appealing.) So, I signed up. I then downloaded a training schedule for beginner runners, and modified it to fit my own schedule. The schedule basically increased my running distance from a 3 mile run to a 13 mile run in 12 weeks. I stuck to it, ran a whole bunch of miles, and eventually worked up to the full distance.

I have to admit that even though I ran several long runs during the training (10, 11, 12, and even 13 miles each), I never really enjoyed them. I enjoyed being able to say I had run them afterwards and knowing my hard work was paying off with increased mileage, but around 8 miles into each run, I started really asking myself why I was doing it. But, I pressed on, mainly because I'm very stubborn and didn't want to quit in the middle.

I was also a little nervous when we got a freak heat wave and the weather forecast said it was going to be 70 degrees for the race, instead of the normal 50 degrees.

My 3 hard months of training all culminated at 6am this morning as I lined up outside my hotel, which was at the finish line, to catch a bus to the starting line. The foolishness of my plan hit me smack in the face as I rode on the bus....for 15 MINUTES to the starting line. It suddenly dawned on me that 13 miles is a VERY LONG WAY. But, then it was time to run, and off I went.

The first 6 miles of the course was very hilly. It went through Iroquois Park, which is a beautiful wooded park with gently rolling hills. That is, if you're driving in a car. If you're running, it is a beautiful wooded park with incredibly steep MOUNTAINS. But, fortunately, all of my training loops have big hills in them, so I fared pretty well through that park. The hardest part of the hills was actually avoiding the other runners who would just decide to stop running and walk in the middle of the hill, while forgetting to look behind them to see if someone was about to run into them as they slowed down.

My downfall came between mile markers 7 and 8. At that point, I again started asking myself why on earth I had voluntarily signed up for this torture. It was around that point that I realized why they close the road to traffic - because there's a good chance I would have jumped in front of a car if one had been driving next to me. Fortunately, right after Mile 8, we turned into Churchill Downs. We actually got to run around the infield, which was really cool, especially since several horses were warming up around us, so that took my mind off of the pain for a little while.

Then, it was on to Miles 9 through 11. At that point, I had decided that I was legally insane for participating in the race and I promised myself then and there that I would never again run further than 6 miles if I could just finish.

Fortunately, I passed the point of mental breakdown after Mile Marker 11, at which point I convinced myself that I only had 2 miles to run, and I could either run them slowly and prolong the torture or pick up the pace and get to the finish quicker. So, I ran the rest of the race out and smiled broadly as I crossed the finish line.

Long story short, I made it. I finished in 2 hours, 18 minutes, which is a 10:34 minute/mile pace. I definitely didn't break any speed records, but given the extra heat we had to deal with, I thought it was a good showing. My goal for the race was 2:20, so I was happy to make it in under that. There were some foolish minutes during the park hills at the beginning of the race when I actually thought I'd make 2:10, but if you average in the minutes between Miles 9 to 11 when I wasn't sure I was going to make it through at all, the final time seems like a good compromise.

After the race, I could barely move my legs - literally. I had to sit down for several minutes just to get the strength to hobble up to my hotel room, where I collapsed on the bed for about an hour. But, now I've had a hot shower, a good meal, and even done some shopping, and I'm enjoying the rest of my "alone" time. My husband was concerned when I told him my running watch tells me I burn about 1200 calories when I run 13 miles, so I picked up a big piece of chocolate cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory to alleviate his worry, which I'm eating right now. (I think I've already taken back in the 1200 calories and then some.)

And, the strangest thing just happened, while I was sitting here, relaxing, surfing the Internet - I found that I'd somehow made it to the website for the Indianapolis half marathon, which is scheduled for October of this year. And, I'm actually considering signing up for it. Yes, mark me down as officially insane.