Perfect Conditions for a Race

As things turned out, it was a great day for a race.  It was in the mid 50's when I woke up and it was in the low 60's by race time.

I woke up feeling pretty good (no aches).  I got out of bed and took my meds immediately, since I have to wait an hour before I can eat and I should eat 1 hour before the race.  I dress, limber up, stretching a bit while nervously pacing.  I brush my teeth/rinse my mouth, check e-mail and the weather forecast for the millionth time.  All is looking good.  I get a text from a good friend in Richmond wishing me luck.  It is nice to be thought of on race day.

After an hour I eat a Clif bar (I love those things) and drink a little water.  I did a good job of hydrating the week before so I should be fine during the race.  I make a final trip to the bathroom and get my running belt (really just a fanny pack/bum bag) before heading out to the truck.

I arrive at the race location in Fairview, TX (just a few minutes from my house about 40 minutes before race time and it looks like 75% of the runners are already there.  I start nursing my Vitamin Water (Citrus flavor with caffeine) slowly, prepping my body for the run.  I mill around a bit and get a text from my runny buddy, Tom. He has arrived and is near the start line.  We meet up, discuss strategy and decide to run with the 2:15 (2 hour, 15 minute) group.  Tom can go faster but he has decided to show solidarity by running my retirement race at my pace.  I just hoped I could keep up.

The last 15 minutes go by very quickly and before I know it we are moving.  I am 60-80 feet back from the starting line and once I cross it I start my fitness app "Runkeeper".  Tom and I are on our way.   The initial swell is difficult to navigate as some of the slower runners are in the front, hindering the faster runners from getting into stride and position but after .25 miles or so Tom and I are in solid with the 2:15 group.

As we run we notice the 2:10 is very close to us and that means someone is off.  I check our pace and it appears the 2:10 group is a little slow so we push towards them.  This course shares some of the route as "The Showdown Half" that is in October which I ran last year, but where The Showdown starts off mostly flat for the first 4-5 miles, the Fairview Half starts off with a slow down hill and then over rolling hills, a long mild uphill grade, then more rolling hills towards the finish.

At mile 2 Tom takes a Race Selfie (called a "runfie") with me in it as well.  It is still early and we are both smiling.  We continue on and our pace stays pretty steady at just under 9:30/mile ... not blazing fast but I am not an athlete.  If I can keep this up I will be sitting on a PR (personal record) but we still have a long way to go.  I eat one of my Muscle Milk Energy chews  and do so each mile until mile 8.

Somewhere around mile six (and before the halfway time check) I begin to feel my left ankle throb, which is normal with the muscle mass I have lost in it. Right now the only loss I can tell is in my left side. I am determined not to let the ache and later pain keep me from completing this race as strong as I can.

Near mile 8 I can tell that I need slow down to a fast walk.  Tom jokes that I walk almost as fast as he runs at this point so he cannot really walk to keep up with me so he slows his running pace down some.  I walk 75-100 meters or so and start running again.  I do this again at mile nine and at mile 10, where Tom takes another "runfie"  of us.  During mile 11 and 12 I walk 2-3 times per mile.  At one point during mile 11, my heart rate skyrockets and I know I have to walk.A couple of younger ladies catch up to me at mile 12 and motivate me to keep going.  I start running again.

The Mile 13 marker is in sight but it is long mild uphill climb still, as it has been for the past mile or so, and I want this race to be over.  My ankle is killing me and my energy level seems low (I really did not train for this race like I should have) but the finish is just about 600 feet away.  I soldier on. The shouts of encouragement from Tom's friends and even those I do not know give me the final push to cross the line, being aware that  I need to cross the sensor strip to get my time counted.

As I cross the line I see Tom ahead of me and I have kept him in sight the entire time so he is about 45 seconds ahead of me.  I get my finishers medal and unlike last year, I manage to gather up all the snacks I can (choco milk, water,  mini bundt cake, banana, etc)  before exiting the corral.  Tom and his friends meet up with me and we pose for pics.  We chat and I go sit down.  I must look rough because Tom asks me if I am okay, and I assure him that I am (I really am. I felt much better at the end of this one than the last one because I was able to walk a bit each mile during the last 1/3 of the race).

When we go back and check the scorers table, I see that I ran a 2:07:13, which is only 30 seconds slower than my first half marathon that I ran in Oct before I had any issues with ALS symptoms in my ankle, so I am pretty stoked about this.  I still finished in the top 1/3 of all the runners...nothing to be ashamed of.

A sit and rest a bit more (while playing with a Golden who is adorable and still very much a puppy despite her adult size) then head back to the truck, talking to runners as I get ready for running errands and chores.

All in all I ended up vacuuming the house and mowing grass that day as well.  Needless to say I slept very well that night.

This is most likely my last half marathon.  I feel blessed to have been able to finish it at all.  I know that my ALS is still in the early stages but it did have an effect on me.  I know that had I been 100% I could have broken the 2 hour mark for this race (or maybe the next one), but I guess that was not in the cards.

No worries...I have still done something not many people have ever done and that was compete in and finish (reasonably well I might add) in two half marathons...both when I was 49 and at least one of them while experiencing ALS symptoms in my ankle.

Go me!