Personal Records, Personal Victories
Hills. Humidity. Phone malfunction. Waist belt annoyance. Painful last miles. Despite it all, indescribable exhilaration and relief flooded my spirit as I sprinted across that finish line after a hard-fought 13.1 miles and buckled over to catch my breath. My watch indicated I had achieved my pre-race goal but it wasn't until I pulled up the official chip time on the app and saw that 1:49:25 staring back at me on the screen that joy spread across my face and rejuvenated my exhausted muscles. I couldn't wait to share with the world that I DID IT!!! I had run so hard for 13.1 miles from the very first mile. I had driven myself up some very steep inclines and pushed myself through that strength-sucking Sylvan Avenue hill climb. As my pace increased and my breathing grew more labored and muscles began to fatigue, I dug somewhere deep inside to keep pushing harder, even willing myself to a sub 8:00 min mile pace for the final 3 miles, all with that 1:49 replaying over and over in my mind. I desperately wanted to see that number by my name and I couldn't let up and risk missing it by a few seconds or minutes. I had experienced disappointment before and there is nothing worse than running your body into the ground for 13 miles only to be less than pleased with the results. Fortunately, yesterday I only had to taste the sweet feeling of accomplishment and achievement of a new goal, new personal record, and a new realization of what my body is capable of.
The weather the day before the Rock 'n Roll Half had been rather hot and humid for March. It had been sunny and temps reached almost 90. However, the morning of the race, temps had cooled down into the mid 60's and skies were overcast. It was very humid (over 85%) but actually, the weather for me was ideal. I prefer warmth and humidity over cold weather for running. After tapering down my running and overall activity for the previous 7 days and getting about 9 hours of sleep the night before, I felt refreshed the morning of the race. I had visited my sports chiropractor a couple days before for some pre-race maintenance and spent time in her Normatec compression boots after a 3 mile shakeout run the day before. I had consumed my tried and true pre-race meal and energy chews and had my trusty chocolate-cherry Clif Shot in my belt. I was as ready as I would ever be! I was somewhat apprehensive about the hills I had been warned repeatedly about but I made the decision to try to run faster on the flat parts of the course to try give myself a little room to struggle on the hills if need be.
There is always something so different about running in a race and training runs. My pace just feels different. In training, running below a 9:00 min mile pace is hard and I struggle to maintain for more than 3-4 miles. But somehow in the atmosphere of a race, I find myself cruising easily along at that pace and it doesn't really feel difficult. The first few miles felt really good. I felt like I was maintaining a good pace and nothing was tightening up or causing any discomfort. I was enjoying the course and the views of my city so each mile marker seemed to be passing by fairly quickly. The first real challenge came when the course took us up a steep ramp to run across the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge. Most of the runners around me opted to slow down or walk up the ramp but my philosophy has always been to get it over with...slowing down or walking only prolongs the torture! Several runners that had been within my eyesight for most of the race up to that point began falling behind me. The ramp and bridge was tough...but not nearly as tough as the Sylvan Avenue hill climb that began shortly after mile 8 as we entered into the Kessler Park neighborhood. I felt that hill draining me of my strength with every step. My breathing became labored and my pace dropped significantly although later I was surprised to find out that my slowest mile was still at 8:42 pace. I felt MUCH slower than that as I pushed myself up that painful hill. It seemed that hill took a lot out of me but my race plan includes taking the chocolate cherry Clif energy gel around mile 9 which happened to be right after those very challenging portions of the course. Once again, the energy gel seemed to work it's magic as my pace continued to drop for the final 3-4 miles of the race. I never know if it is the energy gel or just my anxiousness to finish the race that creates those negative splits at the end, but this trend has been consistent toward the end of all six of my half-marathons and even my full marathon. Somewhere in the middle of that hilly portion, my music suddenly stopped. I fumbled with my waist belt to pull out my phone and saw that the screen was black. I wasn't sure what had happened but I couldn't slow down to finagle my phone. I put the phone back into my waist belt but then the waist belt started getting loose and flopping up and down by my side. Again, without stopping I attempted to tighten the belt but I couldn't get it to stay tight. Frustrated, I just took the belt off and finished about the last 4 miles holding the whole thing in my right hand. Bulky belt in hand, no music to distract me, and several long miles to go...it was less than ideal but every second mattered and I couldn't afford to take a break to sort it all out. Along Davis Street into Bishop Arts a few familiar faces from my run crew and Camp Gladiator helped boost my spirits and gave me a bit of a second wind. As I headed into the final two miles, my watch indicated that I was well on pace to achieve my sub 1:50 goal, perhaps even end up a minute or two below that goal. All I could think was "Don't let up now, Rachel. DON'T LET UP!!" I wanted to increase my pace but I was already running significantly faster than my normal pace. After over 11 miles, I was pushing my body to run at about 7:45-8:00 min mile pace, which is faster than my normal 5K pace. That last mile over the Houston Street viaduct was tough. I almost felt tears stinging the back of my eyes as I struggled to keep my pace even. I wanted to be finished so badly! I wanted to stop running so hard! I wanted to let up but I was so afraid of missing my target after pushing through so much up to that point. I just kept repeating to myself "You're almost there, don't let up, don't let up, don't let up" with every step until I could see the finish line in front of me. Finally my feet crossed the line and I immediately bent over with hands on my knees to catch my breath. I had truly run as hard as my body could run, especially the second half of the race and those final miles. I knew that I couldn't possibly have given any more to that race or to that effort.
After walking through the finish line area and collecting all my snacks and goodies, I found a place to set my things down and figure out what was wrong with my phone. Once I restarted it and adjusted the brightness level, I was relieved to see that it was functioning. I immediately opened the Rock n Roll app to check my official time and results...and my heart almost leaped out of my chest when I saw that 1:49 by my name, just as I had envisioned it a hundred times throughout the race.
There is nothing like leaving a challenge like that knowing you really gave it your very best and feeling 100% satisfied with your effort. The fact that the course was fairly difficult and that I hadn't been prepared for the inclines and hills made the victory even sweeter. At the beginning of the year, my run club had asked us to share some of our running goals for the year. At the very top of my list was to run a sub 1:50 half. This same goal is written on a piece of paper at home that I keep on my bedside table. It is an amazing feeling to be able to put a check by a goal that you weren't QUITE sure you would be able to achieve.
Fifteen months ago, in December 2016, I ran my first half-marathon. My time that day was 2:17 minutes and my pace was 10:29 per mile. Yesterday my average pace was 8:21 per mile. To have taken over 2 minutes off my average pace and almost 30 minutes off my half-marathon time in a little over a year (in my late 30's mind you!) makes me wonder what else my body is capable of achieving. How much farther can I push it? What goals are still reasonable for me to set? What are my limits? Is this as fast as I can get or can I get even better? Have I reached my peak/prime or am I just getting started? All I know is that setting goals and challenges that seem just a bit out of reach are the best way to grow and progress. I have found that my body will rise to the occasion every time. It never stops surprising me, even shocking me, what it will do when I just don't let up.
There is a quote that I think of often that resonates deeply with me. It says:
I think it is this sentiment that motivates me more than anything else. I am not getting younger. All I have is NOW to see what this body is capable of. I don't want to procrastinate or waste time because I will never be as healthy or as young as I am today in this very moment. I don't want to get older and wonder if I could have accomplished more, pushed harder, or achieved greater things. So I continue to set the bar a little higher each time and I may struggle to reach it but my body has kept up every time. I challenge YOU to do the same. Set goals that seem hard, that seem a little crazy. Make yourself, your health, and those goals a priority. Stay CONSISTENT....and then watch what you can do! Surprise yourself! And then share with the world...you never know who you will inspire! Goals can be crushed at any age and you can start from anywhere....you just have to take that first step. And keep taking them over and over and over until one day....you run further and faster than you ever have before! Progress. Consistency. Challenging goals. Make these words apart of your daily affirmations and watch yourself begin to thrive!