Space Coast HM - Run

This is my third HM in just over a month. My training leading up to the first race was horrible and since it, my training has mainly been the races. That and weekday workouts that were cut short by SBUX runs! It seems to be a good training plan as I've gotten stronger with each race. I'm still not where I should be, but I'm close. Maybe next weekend's HM will get me there :)

The Spacecoast race has always been a popular local race, but 3 years ago it went crazy popular when they turned it into a series awarding special medals if you ran 3 in 5 years or 5 in 5 years. Since runners are crazy for medals, the HM began selling out within minutes of opening. And, since they are giving the same special medal whether you run the HM or marathon, the majority chose the half. In other words, it's a crowded race for the course. I have not been doing the series; this was my first Space Coast race in about 4 years. The course runs along the Banana River in Cocoa Village. It is through a residential neighborhood with narrow streets.
The race is historically a hot one and this year was no different - temps in mid 70*s with close to 100% humidity. Thankfully, it started at 6am and there was a strong wind. Of course, the wind was also a negative as it was a strong headwind for the final half, but it did help to keep it from feeling too oppressive.

I had a horrible short run Friday and was worried that whatever was wrong with me was going to carry over to today, so I had no idea what to expect from this race. Still, I lined up around the 1:55 pace group and hoped that I could stick around them.

When the gun went off -actually it is the shuttle count down and lift off projected on a jumbotron (pretty cool), the race started with the usual crowded, slow, weaving around runners mosh shuffle. I was surprised when Garmin told me the first mile was done in 8:48 and then the second 8:27. I was feeling pretty good, but felt that I had probably gone out too fast and should slow down. But, I didn't. The first half of the race I kept the pace around 8:27 and was feeling good. Still, I knew that my conditioning was not where it needed to be to maintain that pace throughout the race, but I decided to just keep running as I felt.

Since the race goes through a kind of secluded neighborhood, there isn't a lot of crowd support, but a number of the neighbors did come out to cheer. Some people set up their own refreshment stations. One even had a griddle going! I'm actually surprised I noticed any of this since I normally am clueless as to what it going on around me. But, I've been trying to pay more attention to my surroundings.

Since the race is so close to Orlando, there are a ton of people from my running group that attend both as runners and crowd support. Almost every mile I was waiving to another runner or someone on the side of the road calling my name. Pretty cool. It also helped that it was an out and back, so there was a greater opportunity to see other runners.

Around the 6 mile mark I saw Dana and Rachel a bit ahead of me. I surprised myself by catching up to and then passing them. Not too long after that I saw Amanda. We passed each other going in opposite directions. I didn't notice her until she yelled something at me and then all I heard was "on the right" and saw her pointing ahead of me. I wasn't sure what she said, but thought it probably had something to do with Susan being ahead of me (Susan, though registered for the race, had decided to run only part of the race and do it as a training run. She had removed her timing chip). So, now I had something to occupy my time - look for Susan. Somehow I missed her and was passed her when I heard her yelling my name. So, I ran back a bit to see how she was doing before continuing.
It was about this point that the wheels started to fall off! The pace started to slowly creep up. With each mile I started to calculate whether I could get a PR. At that point I was on target for one, but knew it was going to be really, really hard to maintain the pace I needed. And the headwind wasn't helping.
With 4 miles left to go, I knew I would not get a PR, but thought I could still get a good time if I could keep things from completely going off the rails.
Those last 4 miles were run at about 8:45 ish pace ( I think) and they were hard!
As you reach .25 miles to go, there is a section where the marathoners join the half marathon course and the people finishing pull off to the right to do the final push to the finish. It's a great spot to spectate, so there were a number of non-racing people hanging there to cheer. That was a nice little boost to get me to the finish.
Crossed the finish line and got my medal. About 30 seconds later Dana crossed and about 30 or more seconds later Rachel crossed!
After picking up the medal, we got our beach towels. I love these towels. It's one of the best reasons to run the race! Then I headed to the great spectating area to cheer others and wait for Susan ( who rode with me) to finish.
After changing out of our running clothes, Susan insisted I check the race results because she felt pretty strongly that I had placed in my AG. I felt just as strongly that I didn't. I figured I placed in the top 10, but no way top 3. So, I was quite surprised to see I actually won my AG! I guess one good thing about getting old is this time being good enough to win :) And, it may be the biggest AG I've placed in, so that is cool!
We then hung out with some of the other program runners while waiting for the awards. The bad thing about aging, waiting a long time for your AG!!


nothing, I'm happy with this result.

walking around to cheer others, change and eat!