Seattle Rock n Roll Half Marathon

You can tell this race is coming up by the buzz in the air. With 26000+ athletes running and walking it not to mention all the cheering and set up and road closures, it dominates the running scene of Seattle.  It seems like everyone and their mother are running it and I think that is wonderful thing!

Ragnar team prep is kicking into high gear and this was a wonderful distraction to the lead up to this race.  I've been enjoying my workouts and feeling good.  What was the goal for this race?  I wanted to finish under 1:50 and finish strongly.

To facilitate all the major road closures, this race starts dang early down in Tukwilla.  Thanks to JB for driving myself and a couple of other runner friends to the start.  JB had planned on racing herself but had to bow out at the last minute.  As we all know a DNS (do not start) while always done for the right reasons is not the easiest thing to do mentally.

We made it to the start by the secret back door (although the race officials seem to have a better handle on those secret back doors) in good time and I was off to find a port o potty line (found it!) and bag check.  Holy sea of humanity.  I'd mostly avoided all of that over the past couple years but had to wade through on my way to the UPS trucks used for bag check.  With 30 minutes to go, I started my mile very easy warm-up.  I'm glad I did because I realized I had to go the bathroom again.  Those lines were ridiculous so I found a convenient bush.  Believe me I was not alone.  And then I roamed up to the starting corrals as I knew it would take a bit to get into them.

And I was ready.  This course is flat to vaguely downhill the first couple miles.  I planned on 8:10 pace, take it easy on the short hill at 3 and longer hill at mile 4.  I was planning on carrying a little bottle of water for the first few miles to avoid water stops and would ditch it when appropriate.

In short order we were off!  And I was very happy that the 8:09 pace I hit for the first two miles felt easy.  The weather was perfect 50 degrees and cloudy but not drizzly.  I wore short compression shorts and a sleeveless shirt.  the miles ticked along pretty quickly and suddenly I realized we were on the hill starting to climb at mile 4.  And I felt crappy all of a sudden.  Hmm.  Heart was up too high and it was time to eat.  At the next water stop, I walked through to get a gel and an electrolyte pill.  Even though it was cool, I was sweating pretty heavily so knew I needed to monitor fluids closely.

Right about here I spotted Tommy the UPS guy manning a water stop.  I see him often at work and he is the nicest guy.  He volunteered his time to drive a truck chock full of supplies (water and tables). He shouted out his usual greeting to me (my name at the top of his voice) and that made me smile and all those around me too.  What a nice boost. 

The downhill to the lake was pleasant and like usual I was amused by runner reactions of shock when we hit the very steep short downhill right at Seward Park.  Here I started to see CoachLesley support signs which made me smile.  The best one for me?  "whose idea was this anyway?"  Haha!  It was a good reminder to stay in the moment.

I started having some hamstring twinges around mile 7 or 8 which did not make me happy.  I'd ditched my water bottle by this point and made sure to walk right before the hills started again at 9.  That way i'd get in more water and rest hip/hamstring.  This worked. And I had a talk with myself about how you are supposed to feel around mile 8 or 9 of a half marathon.  I'd looked at heart rate data for successful halves in the past and was very surprised at how high it was for the entire time.  I wasn't used to effort for long races anymore.  It was ok to feel like I was working hard. I knew I had the strength to hold the last few miles.

At 10k, I'd been on a steady 8:08 pace even with the hill and a walk break.  From 6.2 to the 9 mile mat, I was a 8:42 pace for those less than 3 miles.  That takes into account walk breaks and the short, steep up to the I90 express lanes and the refocusing issues (ha).  Last year that short hill had been my undoing.  Everything felt awful after that and I limped through the tunnel.

This year, I got into the tunnel and started passing people and felt so much stronger.  It was wonderful.  I was taking manual splits with my garmin (as it doesn't work in the tunnel) and completely missed a mile in here.  We hit 2nd avenue and I enjoyed all the crowds.  I was sooooo thirsty by this point though.  I couldn't help it.  At mile 11-12 I took one more walk break to get in some water.  And then we were down Columbia to the viaduct and I was shocked to see I just had one more mile.  Last year the steep down had jacked up everything but this time, I was ready.  I had been continually monitoring my form and I came to the realization that I am running differently now.  I doubt I look any different running but I feel different.  I use my hip/butt muscles more (hill repeats work!) and I work to keep my gaze down just a bit so I don't sit back.  that sitting back when I get tired puts strain on my low back and hips.

Stay with it!  Focus!  Strong!  These were all going through my head as we finally made the turn off the Viaduct and then north to the finish line.  WHOOO! I could see a clock now and realized I was going to be under 1:50.  I wasn't sure by how much. 

1:47:41 Chip time - 8:13 pace overall!  Those last 4 miles I covered in 8:00 flat pace.  I'd call that a strong finish!  In 2009, I ran this race in 1:47:42.  Haha!  It has been a long and bumpy road to get back to this point and I am delighted.  Thanks to Coach Lesley for helping me figure it all out.