PRs

Today was my first race of the season - the Ralston Creek Half Marathon. Normally I wouldn't think about racing in February, but I needed an official half marathon to qualify for another event.

As I lay awake last night hoping for a little warmer weather, I was also pondering what kind of time I might be able to do. I've only ever raced one half marathon which was 15 years ago. I think my time was around 1:40-1:45, but I don't remember. With the running I've been doing lately I thought an 8:00/mile pace should be doable which comes out to 1:44.48. Hmm - maybe I could even set a PR and my heart raced a little.

Then my rational mind kicked in. It's February, it's cold, I haven't raced a half-marathon in 15 years and have no idea what I can do, and besides I only need to finish. I didn't rule it out, but it seemed maybe possible. Regardless my plan wasn't to chase a time, it was to run what felt good to my body.

Sunday morning and I awoke to a temperature of 7 degrees outside. The forecast was for 25-30, not 7. I set my first PR today - the temperature at the start was 14 degrees. I've never started a race or event when it's been that cold. I had no idea what to expect in this temperature.

Once we were off I felt good. The first mile was pretty fast and I realized it was slightly downhill - good to remember for the finish. From there we turned on a path following Ralston Creek. While the race is called Ralston Creek and I even read the course description, it hadn't occurred to me that the first half would be going uphill along the creek. The good news was that meant the second half would be mostly downhill!

I found a good rhythm for the first couple miles (14:30 at two miles, 22:00 at three miles). This was a strong pace and I felt good so I just kept going with it. Just past mile 3 I took a good fall making a turn on a patch of ice. I'm still turning to figure out how I landed because I only have a small bruise on my left elbow, a small bruise on my right hand, and a small bruise on my right knee. That was quite the wakeup call to be even more alert. After that it took a mile or so to settle back again.

Just past mile 4 we headed off the Ralston Creek path and began a 2 mile climb. Not very steep, but steady and a grade that was definitely visible. I'm slow to warmup and I was starting to find a good groove even in the uphill here. I was also looking forward to the downhill on the other side. The downhill started around mile 6 (45:00) and lasted for about a mile. It was on this downhill that we could see the next uphill as a ribbon of runners criss-crossing the slope on the other side.

Just for a moment I thought 'wow that looks tough' and then I swtiched to 'cool, that means another bigger downhill.' So I shortened my stride, and picked up the cadence just a bit and soon enough I was at the top at about 7.75 miles. Time to open up and let it fly on the downhill. I passed 8 miles at 59:30 and keep going. Each time I looked at my watch for the next 2 miles I was under a 6:15 pace - and really enjoying the downhill.

From there we were back on the path we had come out on which was much flatter and still slightly down. Now I could feel the run in my legs and my lungs, and then I started to push a little more. What did I have left for this last 5K?

Not long after we turned onto the creek path again, I heard another runner behind me. This was a good push for me, I picked up the pace just a little, just enough that we were working together to go faster! He was there all the way to the finish - he actually started following me after the big uphill where I caught him right at the top.

Remember that uphill that was coming at the end. Time to dig in for the last half mile - with my chaser still behind me. The last uphill wasn't very steep and still I had to dig a little more to not let up the pace. My watch showed my time at 1:34.28 at 13.1 miles, but the finish was still a bit farther. At the end I clocked 1:35.33 for 13.25 miles. A new, and quite unexpected, PR! Honestly I'm still amazed and what the human body can do.


In all of this I thought about PRs. I ran in high school and some in college, mostly 10Ks and shorter. I'm certain I couldn't reach those times now. I also know people who set running and cycling PRs well into their 40s and 50s. I'm in my 40s now so PRs are different. They aren't the absolute time they once were. They are now seasonal, or yearly, or even by decade. I may not get many more of them so I'm even more thrilled with this one.