Now, y’all know that I don’t place all that often in my races. Y’all also know that when I have placed, there has been an amazing lack of awards at those particular races. *sigh*
Well, today I ran the Columbus Pilgrimage Half Marathon. This is a hometown race for me and I wish I could say I had the home court advantage but the truth be told, this was a challenging course!
I just ran that Half Marathon two weeks ago in Greenwood, Mississippi. I ran hard and (for me) ran very well. I successfully completed that race in 2:15 on the button. Pace 10:15. 10th AG.
This was a very nice 4 minute PR for me but I was disappointed because I was trying for an AG award. BUT, I ran very, very well. The fastest I had ever done so I was content with how I ran.
Today’s race:
I was having a hard time getting my head into this race. Even when I got up this morning, I had no idea what my race strategy was going to be. Seriously! Y’all know that I am not speedy but I can run for a very. long. time. Seeing as this was “just” a Half Marathon, I needed to be speedy. I was scared. I was tired from all of the racing I have done this season and just didn’t see from where I was going to get my “Oomph!”
As I was trying to get myself mentally into this race, they announced a 45 minute delay. What!?! Apparently, the train schedule got messed up and there would be trains on the track mid race. We had to wait for the trains to pass. It wasn’t the fault of the Race Director. The trains simply messed up. Nothing for it but to wait.
The wait was the best thing that could have happened. I was able to chat with other friends and get an idea of what everybody else was going to do and formulate a plan. My plan was to gut it out for as long as I could and keep my fingers crossed. HA! Some plan, huh? 🙂
Finally, the race was on and away we went.
The parts that I expected to be difficult were surprisingly easy and the parts that I expected to be smooth sailing were tough.
MFH (My Favorite Husband) was overly optimistic about my running abilities today. He figured that if I was able to run a consistent 10:15 pace in Greenwood, then I should be able to do a 10:10 here at home. Haha! Silly guy. Columbus has these things called HILLS. Greenwood is on the Mississippi Delta and is pancake flat. Makes an itty bitty difference.
After mile 3, I knew a 10:10 pace was NOT going to happen so I just held on to whatever pace I could manage for dear life. Finally, I saw the sign that said,
Mile 12.” What a beautiful sign!!!
HOWEVER, as soon as we hit mile 12, we also encountered a nice, stiff head wind. Oh NO! Nothing for it but to fight it out and keep running. So, that is what I did.
Came off the bridge that goes over the TomBigBee River with only .20 of a mile left and what do I see? I very short and very steep incline for the last .20 of the race.
There were people cheering along this very ugly little hill and runners walking on this last little bit of the course. The people cheering were what kept me running. Seriously! It was a matter of pride not to walk in front of them. I glued my eyes to the top of that terrible hill and powered my way to the top and across that finish line.
I heard them announce my name as I crossed and my time. 2:18. I had missed my Greenwood PR by 3 minutes. Oh, well…I had tried.
I toddled over to the tent to get my results. I had managed to maintain a 10:27 pace! I was pleasantly surprised with that! At times when I had glanced at my Garmin, it had told me things like 11:30 pace and I had to give myself a swift kick in the backside to pick it up. 10:27. I’d take that.
THEN, I looked at my AG place. 2nd!!!!! BOOM! Podium!!!
Now, this was the very first race I had been at that had an actual podium! I got to stand on the podium! AND I got an award!!! Pinch me, I’m dreaming! 🙂
The AG awards were made by a pottery studio here in town. Very. Nice. Stuff.
A lot of my running buddies were at the race today and when they called my name to the podium, they all cheered. That totally made my day. That had never happened for me before. I almost cried! Sentimental me. HA!
Anyway, that is today’s race. Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement for today and the words of congratulations. It’s been an exciting day. 🙂
P.S. The 3rd AG winner had to leave before the awards ceremony. I hope they mail her the award!
