I completed the race today in 1:31:04.

My personal best as this distance is also from this event, a 1:28:39 run last fall during week 7 of MRT (marathon race training) while training for Detroit. This fall I'm in week 5 of MRT, training for the Monumental in Indy.

This year has been craptastic both in luck and training as far as running goes, but recently things have been looking upward. As such when trying to decide what to run this stupid thing at today I penciled in 6:45, which is my PR pace. Figuring the worst that could happen is the wheels would fall off, and they did. lol

This is a point to point race which involves a bus ride and all that comes with that. I got there early enough though so that I would not be rushed. I ran 2.4 miles for a warm-up (no strides, which I didn't even think about until just now!) and arrived to the start line with about 4 minutes to spare, perfect. Brief announcements, pomp and circumstance, gun - BANG! we're off!

I had one goal for mile 1 and that was to climb to race pace, not go out too fast and fall into it, which has been the case in every race for me this year geezus.  I was able to do that and quickly realized that there was a lot of effort being expended running at that pace. Uh oh. No worries, if one thing I have learned now in my 5th year of running is that sometimes your body decides what race pace is on a given day, and depending on the distance you either fight it, or accept it.

Being a half marathon and still climbing my way back I decided to accept it today, albeit reluctantly. It's funny though that even running at less than what I had intended, race pace never really came easy to me today. By easy I just mean it was never natural, if that makes sense?

Anyhoo, I set about the business of trying to hold a groove and ticked them shits off one by one.

01 - 6:46

02 - 6:54

03 - 6:52

04 - 6:48

05 - 6:49

06 - 6:51

07 - 6:50

08 - 6:58

09 - 6:57

For a brief period right around mile 5, I found a really good groove where it wasn't too much of a struggle and thought to myself that was exactly what I was looking for. I held that good feeling for another mile or 2.

It was just after mile 9 however, where the real struggle began. I felt it first in my legs, then my left glute, then my right glute. By the end of the stupid mile everything below my waist was stiff.

Miles 10 and 11 saw me increase the effort, but my pace steadily drop. It was here where you start shedding all unnecessary baggage; pre-race goals, promises to yourself to race well, thoughts of yummy delectable food to eat, wine, cheese all that shit gone. Bye!

It was all I could do to keep the wheels from falling off but alas, they did anyway! Unlike my half marathon this past spring however, I picked them bitches up. I just kept telling myself to fight, don't look at the watch (which depresses me when I'm fading, causing me to fade even more!) just lean forward and push. Those were the longest miles of the day, and by the time I finished mile 12, I wanted to fucking cry. lol

10 - 7:04

11 - 7:16

12 - 7:17

It doesn't look like it, but I was mindful of trying to finish strong. And even though at this point I was stinking up the place, oddly, I still considered the chance for a good race a possibility (that must've been late race delirium).

As I increased the effort, the pain shot through me like a continuous bolt of lightening. My head was tilted to the left side, I was leading with my left shoulder, I was literally falling forward (yes, totally fucked up form!), I was moaning and groaning so loudly that the last of the 5k walkers were moving out of the way FFS! I heard one of them ask the other if I was okay. In my head I was like would you be okay if you were running while carrying wheels???

It took forever but I finally clocked in with a 7:02 mile 13. And believe me when I tell you, I had absolutely NOTHING more!

When I saw the 1:31 on the clock as I approached the finish, of course my heart sank. I am not sure exactly why though, probably the finality of it all.

As it is, while not happy or thrilled with today's result, I am actually satisfied with the performance. I mean, you can daydream about all the PR's and fantastic finishes you want, but getting out there and actually fighting through the mental and physical fatigue of the race is another story!

In the grand scheme of things, this is another step in my attempts to try and have a good year. Whether I do or not has kind of taken a backseat though. Ultimately, I love to train, I love to race and despite my incessant whining to the contrary, I actually love to run, too.

I am doing those things now and with the realization that we will not be able to do this shit (do it well) forever, I'm just going to try to enjoy it as much as possible.

All told, while falling short of my modest expectations, I did my best on this day. And anytime you can say that about a run or a race (or anything for that matter), it was a good day.

Word.

Really a nice job, all things considered. Goes without saying that your disappointment would be a celebration for many of us. You have been making a huge comeback in recent weeks, and it's been fun to see the joy come back into your running. Maybe this was a bit early in the comeback to get maximum result. And anyway, this is just a prelude to The Big One - continue your current upward arc, and you are still on track to murder that.

Also, I know that race has a notoriously fast field. But, any AG bling?

 last four miles

9 is typically about the point in a half where I start hating life too.

As mentioned by Dave, I'd love this time of yours, but I understand you slight frustration at your result. Going out too strong (on that given day) makes those last miles total misery, and still the result is not there.

I think it's a great comeback, given your injury record of the past months.

You ran a great race.  Way to keep pushing those last 4 miles when you had lead in your legs.

And good idea to stop looking at your watch.  I wish I'd done that in the last 2 miles of last week's race - like you, I was discouraged by the falling pace.

Just make sure to get a really good ass massage so that you can return to peak form 

Like all of the others here, I'd kill for your time 

Anyway this long tough effort will serve you well in your marathon goal.

Despite the sheer fright of it, I came out of last month's 10k better off so that is my hope.

Grinding hard to finish as strong as you can on off day -- or off training cycle -- is really, really difficult IMO.  It's one thing to push for a PR.  It's a whole other kettle of fish to push when you know there no hope of one.   Congrats for fighting hard and finishing as strong as you did.