Not What I had in Mind

This week seemed to set-up beautifully for a good half marathon. After two nice speed workouts early in the week, things lightened up nicely near the end of the week so I could go into the race feeling somewhat fresh and still get about 90 miles for the week. The weather looked good for the race as well, as temps looked like they would be in the low 60's on race day with low humidity. I was excited.

Then Friday came and I felt the tickle in my throat. By Saturday, the tickle had turned to a full-blown cold with a slight fever. I went to bed Saturday night hoping for a miraculous recovery, but unfortunately, it didn't happen. I figured since the race was paid for I might as well show up and see what happens. Maybe I'd pull a rabbit out of my hat.

No rabbit. I went out at regular pace and by mile 5, I was in decent shape right around 5:38 pace. From there, things got tougher and I quickly started fading badly. I was working as hard as I could but was just barely holding 6 minute pace. To be honest, the only thing keeping me going was that I was in 3rd place and there was some cash for the top 3 runners. I told myself at mile 8, as soon as I drop into 4th place I'm dropping out, but I refuse to hand the guy the money.

That probably isn't the best mindset to have while racing, but I was not feeling good. Mile 9 came and I could hear the cheers for Bronco getting closer. Apparently the 4th place runner was a local favorite with the nickname of Bronco. Mile 10, he was right on my butt and I was praying he would just surge and make it painless, er, less painful. By mile 11, we were running stride for stride, and I had committed to at least finishing at that point.

Finally, we came through mile 12, and I tried to put a surge on. I figured there is no way this guy should be beating me, so if I could just feel good for a few minutes, I could still steal 3rd place. It wasn't meant to be. My surge lasted all of about 25 yards and I realized I was in no position to be surging. He quickly passed me back up and put a little gap on me that I just couldn't respond to. It was frustrating. Here we were, running 6 minute miles and I couldn't respond. I finished around 1:17:20 or so, which wasn't what I had in mind for the day, but it was the best could I do with what I had. Mercifully, I forgot to charge my Garmin yesterday so it fritzed out somewhere around mile 3, so no splits. I just know from mile 5 on, I was around 6 minute miles.

While this is frustrating, I think I can write this off to being sick on the wrong day. I know from past experience that running while congested gives me some problems, especially when I try and go at tempo pace. While that makes it a little easier to stomach, I'm still annoyed that I couldn't conjure up some strength on that last half mile. Oh well. I'd rather get this out of the way in August instead of October. I'm still glad I did the race, despite the results. I know there is no way I would have been able to approach a 5:54 pace for even 6 miles, let alone 13, if it wasn't in a race setting.

Hopefully, recovery will be swift. I don't feel sore right now, just achy all over. I'm hoping as the cold goes away, so will the achiness.