This past Sunday (April 29th) was the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon. I ran it last year with Amy and had a really good time. Sadly, she had to visit Pittsburgh (yuck!) for work and couldn't do the race this year. Fortunately, Seebo was able to join in the fun. Since I had such a great time (literally and race time, too) last year, I figured I'd try to replicate the experience. So, I booked our room at the same place as last year and made a dinner reservation at the same restaurant the night before the race. Everything went to plan, for the most part, with getting up there and getting our race stuff - though the expo sucked and was set up really poorly. We had a nice dinner at Carmine's - though we were sad to learn that the accordion player was on an extended "vacation". We weren't sure what that meant, but just hoped that it didn't mean he had died, or was gravely ill. Of course, I had a cannoli.... yum.
The race began promptly at 8am. Seebo and I wished each other well before splitting up to find our places in the prerace line up - he... with toes on the starting line, me.... a bit farther back. Now, last year I ran the course in just under 1hr 56 minutes, but I don't know how I did that, since it was only my second half marathon and the first on I ran six months prior (on an easier course) was about seven minutes slower. I was pretty sure I wouldn't beat last years time, and, really, my goal was to just stay under 2 hours.
The weather was nice, a bit warmer than last year, but still cool enough. It wasn't until after the turn around (after mile 4) that I realized I had been running with a slight tail wind, because when I did turn around, I was cursing the steady head wind. But I felt pretty good and was maintaining about an 8:50 pace for the first six or so miles, which was right about or just under where I wanted to be. Perfect. I figured that if I could keep that up for a few more miles, then I could maybe even pick it up for the last mile or two and, who knows, maybe tie last year or be close. And then came the hills, and mile 9. At this point, my ass was feeling rather kicked. I was tired and the series of rolling hills definitely challenged me. I was cursing myself (yes, again), for not really running hills (at all) lately. Shortly after mile 9 marker passed, I heard the 2hour pace leader calling out to her minions. Shit... she was on my heels and I was feeling not so strong. All I needed to do was to try to hold onto her. My hopes for matching or besting last year had been left in the dust. Now, I was just hoping that I wouldn't finish in over 2 hours. I had thoughts of stopping. Really, I did. I was that tired. But I didn't... I kept on... I let the 2 hour pacer ahead of me slightly (and at this point I had heard her say that they were a little ahead of the 2 hour pace). I hung on for what seemed like forever and the headwind only seemed to get stronger the closer we got to J. Birney Crumb stadium.
Seebo was waiting to cheer me on just prior to the 12 mile mark. I knew that I had but a mile and change left to go and though I was really beat, I knew I'd be sub two hours and that brightened my spirits a little. I just wanted to enter that damn stadium and have this thing over and done with. One of the cruel tricks of this race is that after you've raced 12.93 miles, you have to climb this very steep, but short hill to get into the stadium. This is not so nice. It's close... you can almost taste the finish line, but damn, you gotta get up that hill first. Just prior to said hill, I saw Seebo again... waiting for me... I could see him scanning the stream of runners looking for me... and I could also see that he had not spotted me. Poor Seebo, he has a hard time picking his girlfriend out of a pack. So, I figured I'd give the guy a break and call out to him and just as I did, he turned his head and !sneezed!, missing my call and missing me entirely. The moment passed and I was on my way up the hill and into the stadium. I won't pretend that I wasn't disappointed when they did not call my name over the P.A. system when I entered the stadium (as they had last year... to shouts of exultation, of course). I wound my way around the track and was happy to finish just under 1 hour 58 minutes. Yeah, yeah... two minutes slower than last year, but I'll take it. I really don't think I could have run it any faster.
We didn't plan very well and had a bit of a time finding each other after the race, but eventually, I found Seebo with some grub, sitting off to the side. He did well, of course - finishing first in the master's division and 11th overall.... which is good enough for me to not have to cancel those Buddakan reservations I had made even prior to the race (a testament to my confidence in Seebo's ability to bring home the prize money... and my ability to spend it)... which he learned of on the way back to the car.
And because we didn't feel like we had enough exercise that day, we danced for quite a while to Lil' Ed at the Blues Festival in Bucks County... especially when he played my song.... something about Icicles in the Meatloaf. I'm sure that's a euphemism for something, but I haven't figured it out quite yet.
The race began promptly at 8am. Seebo and I wished each other well before splitting up to find our places in the prerace line up - he... with toes on the starting line, me.... a bit farther back. Now, last year I ran the course in just under 1hr 56 minutes, but I don't know how I did that, since it was only my second half marathon and the first on I ran six months prior (on an easier course) was about seven minutes slower. I was pretty sure I wouldn't beat last years time, and, really, my goal was to just stay under 2 hours.
The weather was nice, a bit warmer than last year, but still cool enough. It wasn't until after the turn around (after mile 4) that I realized I had been running with a slight tail wind, because when I did turn around, I was cursing the steady head wind. But I felt pretty good and was maintaining about an 8:50 pace for the first six or so miles, which was right about or just under where I wanted to be. Perfect. I figured that if I could keep that up for a few more miles, then I could maybe even pick it up for the last mile or two and, who knows, maybe tie last year or be close. And then came the hills, and mile 9. At this point, my ass was feeling rather kicked. I was tired and the series of rolling hills definitely challenged me. I was cursing myself (yes, again), for not really running hills (at all) lately. Shortly after mile 9 marker passed, I heard the 2hour pace leader calling out to her minions. Shit... she was on my heels and I was feeling not so strong. All I needed to do was to try to hold onto her. My hopes for matching or besting last year had been left in the dust. Now, I was just hoping that I wouldn't finish in over 2 hours. I had thoughts of stopping. Really, I did. I was that tired. But I didn't... I kept on... I let the 2 hour pacer ahead of me slightly (and at this point I had heard her say that they were a little ahead of the 2 hour pace). I hung on for what seemed like forever and the headwind only seemed to get stronger the closer we got to J. Birney Crumb stadium.
Seebo was waiting to cheer me on just prior to the 12 mile mark. I knew that I had but a mile and change left to go and though I was really beat, I knew I'd be sub two hours and that brightened my spirits a little. I just wanted to enter that damn stadium and have this thing over and done with. One of the cruel tricks of this race is that after you've raced 12.93 miles, you have to climb this very steep, but short hill to get into the stadium. This is not so nice. It's close... you can almost taste the finish line, but damn, you gotta get up that hill first. Just prior to said hill, I saw Seebo again... waiting for me... I could see him scanning the stream of runners looking for me... and I could also see that he had not spotted me. Poor Seebo, he has a hard time picking his girlfriend out of a pack. So, I figured I'd give the guy a break and call out to him and just as I did, he turned his head and !sneezed!, missing my call and missing me entirely. The moment passed and I was on my way up the hill and into the stadium. I won't pretend that I wasn't disappointed when they did not call my name over the P.A. system when I entered the stadium (as they had last year... to shouts of exultation, of course). I wound my way around the track and was happy to finish just under 1 hour 58 minutes. Yeah, yeah... two minutes slower than last year, but I'll take it. I really don't think I could have run it any faster.
We didn't plan very well and had a bit of a time finding each other after the race, but eventually, I found Seebo with some grub, sitting off to the side. He did well, of course - finishing first in the master's division and 11th overall.... which is good enough for me to not have to cancel those Buddakan reservations I had made even prior to the race (a testament to my confidence in Seebo's ability to bring home the prize money... and my ability to spend it)... which he learned of on the way back to the car.
And because we didn't feel like we had enough exercise that day, we danced for quite a while to Lil' Ed at the Blues Festival in Bucks County... especially when he played my song.... something about Icicles in the Meatloaf. I'm sure that's a euphemism for something, but I haven't figured it out quite yet.
1 comment:
Nice race report. I'm reluctant to do the Philly marathon this year because I enjoyed it so much last year. I would probably do the same thing that you did for this race by booking the same hotel, eating the same meal, etc.
Good luck to you and Seebo this weekend @ the Broad Street run. It should be fun!
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