Reuel Little Half Marathon, State Championship
Madill, Oklahoma
October 13, 2007
Starting time, 8:30 AM

Running Attire – Boston Marathon shorts and tank top, white Dallas 26.2 cap, new Asics 2120 with only 5 miles.

Temperature at start, about 65, finish 78 with winds southerly, 10-20 mph.

This race is part of the Oklahoma Championship series: the top 10 finishers get the honor of State Half Marathon Champions, which is kind of neat. Some years the field is fast (I think the record is near 1:20) and some years it is slower. Since this race is close to Ardmore (26 miles), the faces are all familiar.

I have always wanted to make the top 10: typically that means I would have to finish near 1:38. I think the closest I have gotten is 11^th male.

The course is an out and back which loops back to the half way point within a few hundred feet of the starting line, which makes it nice if your family and friends are attending the event.

The Half Marathon historically started at 9:00 AM in conjunction with the 5K, 10K and 1 Mile (fun run) participants, but this year the half started at 8:30 AM.

The new start time was welcomed along with a couple changes in the race course. The 8:30 start time made it easier to gain access to the “facilities”, allowed for a less crowded start and you immediately identified the competition. Mile markers are a little difficult to find and water and Gatorade is well distributed throughout the course.

This year it seemed that there were less Half Marathon participants than usual.

My previous weeks training was very intense, Tuesday - 10 miles with 5 at Tempo, Wednesday – 11 MLR, Thursday – 5 recovery miles, and Friday – day off. My tempo runs have not been all that great since I am having trouble maintaining my desired pace of 7:13-7:25. With that in mind I may be adjusting my Marathon pace goal.

Today’s goal was to ‘just see what I cam maintain’, what ever the heck that means. A goal like that gives me a lot of breathing room, hehe.

The 8:30AM start is nice on a cool day but can be devastating on a warm clear morning. Today, it was a little it of both.

After the count down, the race begins.

Mile 1 – 7:33, I started with the lead group: the first mile felt very comfortable. I decided to try and keep in this zone.

Mile 2 – 7:41, I am holding my position, 6^th place overall (5^th male), and I can still see the lead vehicle, this is neat.

Mile 3 – 7:47, A little slower, so I need to pick it up.

Mile 4-9 about 7:36, I am still maintaining a comfortable pace, wind is to my back and the air still feels cool even though the sun is getting really warm. I ran with a friend from mile 5 to the halfway point, where I am still holding onto 6^th place (5^th male), a real surprise. Hey, I can still see the lead vehicle. This is really neat. My friend and I run through the halfway point and at about mile 8 I loose pace and he passes me. He is the ONLY runner that has passed me: I am now in 7^th place (6^th male)

Mile 10, 11, 12 – I missed the mile markers, but I am maintaining a slightly reduced pace. The only way I can judge pace is the fact that I am maintaining my position.

Mile 10-12 is difficult, long and against the wind. It concerns me that the wind might cause me to slow down. It would be so easy for a few runners to take over my position in the race. If I want to keep holding my place, I have to concentrate. Keep the pace and charge through the wind. At this stage I pass one of the lead runners who has totally crashed: I am now in 6^th place (5^th male)

Mile 12.1-13.1 – 7:33, the first half of the last mile is against the wind: the closest runner is about 100 yards behind me (another running buddy from Ardmore); if I can stay between him and the lead female (directly in front of me) I may pull off a top 10 finish. At this stage I feel a resurgence of energy and am able to pick up the pace: suddenly I feel totally refreshed: I know I can hold my position. I continually pick up the pace and with the finish in sight I know I have FINALLY reached a long time goal of making the top 10.

What a charge, I feel great.

Final finish time, 1:41:12 (7:44 pace), 5^th male, 6^th overall, 1^st in AG.

Obviously this finish time would not go far at a larger race, but today at the Reuel Little ½ Marathon State Championship it did…the competition is what it is….you have to take advantage of opportunities and today I was able to that. I had so much fun trying to hold my position in the race and it wasn’t until the last mile that I knew I ran a good, strong strategic race.

So, I get a 1^st AG trophy and a Top 10 trophy…neato….

Next on the agenda?

Well, I start a new phase of my training next week: my next half marathon is Nov. 4^th; my plan is to run MP. Hopefully the next few weeks of training will get me closer to my goal MP…if not I will have to make adjustments. No time to rest.