Last year I got a PR at the Wicked Half in Salem, so obviously I figured I'd run it again this year. It's funny, because it's definitely NOT a flat race. It goes up through Marblehead neck, which is straight rolling hills, and even parts of Salem that are just up and downs for what seems like miles. (But is really only probably 1 mile max.) So this year, I figured with the Tailwind and the Hoka's, there was no way I couldn't PR. I know, I know, hubris and everything, but still. Since I did just Tailwind during and a hard-boiled egg for breakfast last week before the 10K, I thought I'd go for a fuller breakfast and Tailwind before the run this time. By the time I got to the start line I had already finished half of my bottle of Tailwind, so I was ready! Now, there's usually only a few of us running, but today one of the runners brought her brother, who is training hard for the Lowell Marathon coming up next month. He wanted to be at the front of the pack, so we started right at the line, which is something we don't usually do. It wasn't too bad though, no bottlenecking, so that was nice. When we went out, we went out fast, about an 8:00 min/mile. For me, it wasn't too bad, but there was a nice hill to begin on, so that wasn't the best choice, but I think it was worse for the girls I was with. They're not used to that pace, so I think starting off hard really slowed them down for a bit. I felt bad about that, but they did pretty good in the end anyways, coming in at 2:12. So, right off the bat I lost everyone, the boys sped up and the girls fell behind and then it was just me and my jacket. You see, it was actually fairly chilly this morning, so I wore my green Adidas fleece to the start, thinking I could leave it on someone's car, but no one parked close enough. I knew Cynthia would be waiting somewhere around mile 5, so I just carried it with me until then. Let me tell you, there is nothing as heavy as carrying a fleece jacket and a water bottle in one hand while running. Dropping that off with Cynthia was the biggest relief of the race, and I stopped to use the Porta-potties, so that's saying something! I'll admit, I was flying along for the first half, even after the bathroom stop. I hit mile 6.2 (10K) at 52 and some change, which was my fastest 10K pace ever. Once I got past 6, it was all easy peasy anyways, because really, it's half over by then. Everything was lovely until mile 10/11, when I got a wicked pain up my back. It started on the mid to lower left side and eventually spread across the whole back. I honestly thought my kidneys were seizing up or something equally as strange. I've never gotten a pain like this before, and I swear it started in the kidney, so I figure it was a side effect of the caffeinated Tailwind, but I can't be sure. All I know is that it wasn't normal, so at the next two water stops I grabbed some water, which seemed to be the cure. (Another reason I believe it was a kidney issue, but I'm not a doctor, so what do I know?) I caught up with Murdock around the same time my back started to hurt and we toughed it out together until the middle of 12 when he took a bathroom break and I kept going. I came through the finish line at a nice easy time of 1:54!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right, a full 3 minutes off my fastest 1/2 and that was with hills! Sure, it wasn't 1:29, which is what Katie's brother came in at, but it was good enough for me. I will admit, I was a little disappointed, I was hoping for a 1:48, but I'll save that for a flat half, if I ever find one. Anyways, I'm pretty jazzed about the whole thing, from start to finish it was a good race, even if I did run it alone. Obviously I'll have to keep up this training, but at this rate, I might be able to pull a full in the 4:20 range!
My garmin page stats
Finisher photo!
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