Asbury Park Half Marathon! 1:29:28!! New PR!!!

I did it!!! After years of trying, and then putting my attempts on hold due to injury, I've FINALLY met my half marathon goal!!! At this past Sunday's Asbury Park Half Marathon, I not only got a new Personal Record, but I got my very first sub-1:30 half marathon!!! 1:29:28! Hoorray!!!

And I didn't even know what I was doing until well into the race... I woke up Sunday morning not knowing if I was going for a training run or actually "racing" it. I had thought, being five weeks out from Boston, it would be nice to have a good race under my belt before the marathon.  But I also thought that it would be a big confidence-crusher if I tried to do well and couldn't (like my 1:42 Manhattan Half in January...  It was such a total disappointment that I didn't even mention it in my blog because I just wanted the whole experience to go away).

So at the starting line, I decided that I would run a couple of miles, and if I felt good, I would try to get a good time. If not, then I would enjoy a nice 13.1 mile training run. I was thinking, if everything went well, I would run around 7:00-7:15 miles, ending up with a 1:32 or 1:33.

A bunch of Front Runners either ran the half or did the relay. Mike Terry, Jonathan, Rachel, Alison, Audra and Steve all did the half, and Peter, Derek, Gabby and Tyler were a four-person relay. So at the start, I was lined up with Mikey, Jonathan and Peter. They made me stand with them, way in the front. I didn't think that was a good idea, since they're all so much faster than me, but there was a race photographer up there and I wanted to get in some pictures with the boys. So there I was, way in front when they sounded the horn.  And Peter and Jonathan took off. They were leading the whole field... 500 or so runners, and FRNY had the #1 and #2 spots. Mikey wasn't far behind, either. But I tried to keep my distance. 13.1 miles was a long way to go, and I didn't want to get sucked into their pace at the beginning and crash and burn a few miles later.  But it was tough.  People were going out so fast. And before I knew it, I hit Mile 1: 6:37. Yikes! That's way too fast! I knew I needed to slow down... This was only 11 seconds slower than my 5k pace two weeks ago; there'd be no way I could sustain that for the whole race.

So I tried to slow down. But then this girl, #545 ("Glenna") started running right by me.  And she was running about what I was running. For some reason, I couldn't break loose from her, even though I knew it was a tad faster than what I should have been going. So I stuck with her for a little while. I missed the second mile marker, so I had no idea how fast I was going... then mile 3 came and I saw that my split was 13:12. Eeck... that meant my second and third miles were at 6:36 pace.  I forced myself to break off from Glenna, but there was no one else to pace off of. So for Mile 4, I was mostly on my own.

I started to get worried about my pacing. Luckily, though, this was my favorite part of the course. The race consisted of four loops of about 3.3 miles each, about half of which is an out and back on the Asbury Park Boardwalk. The part of the run on the Boardwalk meant a lot of opportunities to see the other Front Runners, both running along the two out-and-backs, and running through Convention Hall, where the relay transition was.  All the other Front Runners cheered for me, as I did for them. It was great to see so many on the course.

Mile 4 was 6:54. I wasn't tiring too much, but I knew I still had almost 3 laps to go. At this point, I thought that a sub-1:30 was out of the question (not that I ever really thought I going to do it), since mile 4 was 6:54 and I needed a 6:52 average to make sub-1:30. But I still stuck with it, thinking maybe I could still beat my PR of 1:31:30 (6:59 pace, set at the 2008 NYC Half).

The part of the course that included Miles 4-5 was by far the hardest part. Not that the course itself was difficult but there was a brutal headwind coming from the West, so running West on Sunset Ave meant we were heading directly into it. On the first loop, I hardly noticed it, since the adrenaline of Mile 1 caused me to barrel through. But it was definitely tougher on the second loop.

Mile 5 was 6:52. This was when I started getting excited.  I realized that not only was a PR quite possible, but I could maybe--just maybe--also get under 1:30. The headwind in Miles 4-5 slowed me down a little, but I could make it up going back towards the boardwalk.

I was in a zone during Miles 6-8.  I don't remember much except seeing Jonathan, Derek and Mike as I went towards the turnaround in Ocean Grove, and then seeing Audra, Alison, Rachel and Steve on the way back. Ugh, and the crazy headwind at Mile 8. It got stronger and I felt it was pushing me back so hard. I remember staring down at the ground because I didn't want to know how much more I had left to go on Sunset Ave before I got out of the wind. I completely forgot to get my splits during this time, until Mile 8: 20:44.  This was when I started doing math. 20:44 was 7 minute miles, minus 16 seconds, divided by three, whch was three seconds more than 6:52, and I banked 45 seconds in my first three miles... Hmmm, maybe a sub 1:30 was actually possible. I was getting excited.

Miles 9-10 were more of me in the zone. Most of those two miles were on the boardwalk, except for the first half-mile, which had a tailwind. 6:50 and 6:55, right on sub-1:30 pace!

Mile 11 was the most miserable mile of the whole race. It consisted of the entire stretch on Sunset Ave into the headwind. I felt like I was barely able to do anything faster than a walk. Each step was a struggle against the wind tunnel, and there was no one to draft off of or hide behind. Time? 7:15. WTF?!? How did I slow down 20 seconds in one mile?! I was so angry. I almost gave up. But I knew I still had a few seconds in the bank. If I could just crank out a couple more 6:52s, I'd be all set.

I had the nice tailwind pushing me through Mile 12, so I lengthened my stride a bit going across 5th Ave.  It felt like I was flying! And then, when I turned onto the boardwalk again for the last time, I knew I was almost home. I saw Rachel, who looked like she was enjoying the race, and then Jonathan, Tyler and Mike pushing hard in their last mile. I looked at my watch at Mile 12 and I saw 6:50... with a total elapsed time of 1:22:13! I knew I was on my way towards a huge PR. I had 7:47 to run my last 1.1 mile and still be under 1:30.

So in that last 1.1, I made my move. I sped up my turnover, and focused on the finish. I picked people off and passed them, which was easy to do since many people were still on their 3rd lap. The last half mile or so before Convention Hall seemed to take forever. I was pushing hard, and as I passed Mile 13 right before entering Convention Hall, I saw that I ran it in 6:33--my fastest mile of the day! And I had over a minute to finish the last tenth! I knew I was definitely under 1:30! And as I exited the other end of Convention Hall, I could see the finish line ahead of me. And right next to the finish line were all of the Front Runner boys cheering and screaming for me. I pumped my arms as hard as I could and barreled toward the finish and I saw... 1:29:28!! A TWO MINUTE PR!!!  My first sub-1:30 and I crushed it!!! Holy Crap!!

OMG, I had no idea I had that in me. My head just started swelling up with emotions. In a way, this was even more emotional than when I qualified for Boston because I've spent the past year and a half dealing with my butt/hamstring injury, thinking I would maybe never run fast again. The finisher in front of me congratulated and and I gave him a hug, I was just so overcome with everything. THANK YOU to everyone who came with me on the trip to Asbury Park, to all of you who cheered for me along the course, and to everyone who supported and encouraged me on the way through my injury and training.  I'm now really excited for what April 18th holds for me.

        Mile 1:   6:37

        Mile 2-3: 6:36 avg

        Mile 4:   6:54

        Mile 5:   6:52

        Mile 6-8: 6:55 avg

        Mile 9:   6:50

        Mile 10:  6:55

        Mile 11:  7:15

        Mile 12:  6:50

        Mile 13:  6:33

        Last 0.1: 0:41  
        FINAL     1:29:28