Prairie Fire Half Marathon report
1:56:57 - PR!!!
@LSUlakes
So... this is my local marathon/half. This is my second time to run the fall half (have also ran the full marathon twice before) plus the preview runs of this course. I know it pretty well. One decent hill, one short steep hill, and then a few rollers, but mostly flat.
First - it was really weird for me to be running the half when there was a full going on.
The weather for today was going to be interesting. I cold front was predicted to come through with rain and a strong 20+ mph north wind, but what time would it actually make it??
The hourly predictions made me think it would be after the half. Temps to start the race were about 50 with light wind. Soon after the race started (and I mean like right after I crossed the start line), it started to rain. It was fairly light rain. I started with the 2 hour pacers and stayed with them until the first water stop, about mile 2.5. The water stops are really small, so it was like everyone just came to a stop trying to get water, and I couldn’t deal with that, so I went on around them at that point. I tried to keep my pace around 9, and was somewhat successful. A little fast here and a little slow there, but I was doing okay. I had expected it to be light rain for most of the race, but at mile 4 it started to downpour. It poured for at least a mile, and was still pretty heavy for another mile or two. In the older residential neighborhoods that we ran through, the runoff from the rain created mini-rivers. At that point, my feet were already wet, so I just ran through them, and tried not to add extra mileage finding the narrowest areas. At about mile 6, I picked up the pace just a little to about 8:50. Then about mile 9, I picked it up to about 8:30 and tried to hold on until the end. I kind of felt like I might puke the last mile and a half, but I didn’t let myself slow down. Just kept telling myself I would be finished in under 15 minutes.
I’m so happy that I was able to finish in under 2 hours for the first time!
I’m also thankful I didn’t run the marathon today. I changed into dry clothes and went to go cheer on marathoners and handed out a few hand warmers at mile 20. By the time I got to mile 20 (sometime between the 4:15 and 4:30 pacers), the wind had really shifted to the north. It was getting cold! After being there for 30-45 minutes, I headed back towards the finish. It just looked miserable to be running in the rain in low 40 temps with 20+ wind. The last two miles is running to the south, so at least the wind was at their backs. I stayed as long as I could. I missed two or three runners that I really wanted to cheer on, but I was cold. This race doesn’t have a very large marathon runner count, and there aren’t always that many spectators especially for the later runners, and I really wanted to cheer them on. I have been there. This was where I ran my first marathon, and I finished in just under 6 hours (85 degrees that day by the time I finished!), and wanted to offer as much support as I could. I’m very impressed with anyone that finished in the conditions that we had today.
ETA: Thanks
@DopeyBadger for the training plan!! I’ll be hitting you up soon for a spring marathon plan.
