{"id":3052,"date":"2015-04-11T15:00:21","date_gmt":"2015-04-11T20:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=3052"},"modified":"2015-04-11T15:00:21","modified_gmt":"2015-04-11T20:00:21","slug":"podium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=3052","title":{"rendered":"Podium!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now, y’all know that I don’t place all that often in my races. \u00a0Y’all also know that when I have placed, there has been an amazing lack of awards at those particular races. \u00a0*sigh*<\/p>\n

Well, today I ran the Columbus Pilgrimage Half Marathon. \u00a0This 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!<\/p>\n

I just ran that Half Marathon two weeks ago in Greenwood, Mississippi. \u00a0I ran hard and (for me) ran very well. \u00a0I successfully completed that race in 2:15 on the button. \u00a0Pace 10:15. \u00a010th AG.<\/p>\n

This was a very nice 4 minute PR for me but I was disappointed because I was trying for an AG award. \u00a0BUT, I ran very, very well. \u00a0The fastest I had ever done so I was content with how I ran.<\/p>\n

Today’s race:<\/p>\n

I was having a hard time getting my head into this race. \u00a0Even when I got up this morning, I had no idea what my race strategy was going to be. \u00a0Seriously! \u00a0Y’all know that I am not speedy but I can run for a very. long. time. \u00a0Seeing as this was “just” a Half Marathon, I needed to be speedy. \u00a0I was scared. \u00a0I 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!”<\/p>\n

As I was trying to get myself mentally into this race, they announced a 45 minute delay. \u00a0What!?! \u00a0Apparently, the train schedule got messed up and there would be trains on the track mid race. \u00a0We had to wait for the trains to pass. \u00a0It wasn’t the fault of the Race Director. \u00a0The trains simply messed up. \u00a0Nothing for it but to wait.<\/p>\n

The wait was the best thing that could have happened. \u00a0I was able to chat with other friends and get an idea of what everybody else was going to do and formulate a plan. \u00a0My plan was to gut it out for as long as I could and keep my fingers crossed. \u00a0HA! \u00a0Some plan, huh? \u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Finally, the race was on and away we went.<\/p>\n

The parts that I expected to be difficult were surprisingly easy and the parts that I expected to be smooth sailing were tough.<\/p>\n

MFH (My Favorite Husband) was overly optimistic about my running abilities today. \u00a0He 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. \u00a0Haha! \u00a0Silly guy. \u00a0Columbus has these things called HILLS. \u00a0Greenwood is on the Mississippi Delta and is pancake flat. \u00a0Makes an itty bitty difference.<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0Finally, I saw the sign that said,
\nMile 12.” \u00a0What a beautiful sign!!!<\/p>\n

HOWEVER, as soon as we hit mile 12, we also encountered a nice, stiff head wind. Oh NO! \u00a0Nothing for it but to fight it out and keep running. \u00a0So, that is what I did.<\/p>\n

Came off the bridge that goes over the TomBigBee River with only .20 of a mile left and what do I see? \u00a0I very short and very steep incline for the last .20 of the race.<\/p>\n

There were people cheering along this very ugly little hill and runners walking on this last little bit of the course. \u00a0The people cheering were what kept me running. \u00a0Seriously! \u00a0It was a matter of pride not to walk in front of them. \u00a0I glued my eyes to the top of that terrible hill and powered my way to the top and across that finish line.<\/p>\n

I heard them announce my name as I crossed and my time. \u00a02:18. \u00a0I had missed my Greenwood PR by 3 minutes. \u00a0Oh, well…I had tried.<\/p>\n

I toddled over to the tent to get my results. \u00a0I had managed to maintain a 10:27 pace! \u00a0I was pleasantly surprised with that! \u00a0At 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. \u00a010:27. \u00a0I’d take that.<\/p>\n

THEN, I looked at my AG place. \u00a02nd!!!!! \u00a0BOOM! \u00a0Podium!!!<\/p>\n

Now, this was the very first race I had been at that had an actual podium! \u00a0I got to stand on the podium! \u00a0AND I got an award!!! \u00a0Pinch me, I’m dreaming! \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The AG awards were made by a pottery studio here in town. \u00a0Very. Nice. Stuff.<\/p>\n

A lot of my running buddies were at the race today and when they called my name to the podium, they all cheered. \u00a0That totally made my day. \u00a0That had never happened for me before. \u00a0I almost cried! \u00a0Sentimental me. \u00a0HA!<\/p>\n

Anyway, that is today’s race. \u00a0Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement for today and the words of congratulations. \u00a0It’s been an exciting day. \u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

P.S. \u00a0The 3rd AG winner had to leave before the awards ceremony. \u00a0I hope they mail her the award!<\/p>\n

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Now, y’all know that I don’t place all that often in my races. \u00a0Y’all also know that when I have placed, there has been an amazing lack of awards at those particular races. \u00a0*sigh* Well, today I ran the Columbus Pilgrimage Half Marathon. \u00a0This is a hometown race for me and I wish I could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,8,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3052"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3054,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3052\/revisions\/3054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}