What a difference a month can make...the story of my second half marathon

Yesterday I ran my second half marathon; indeed only the second time I have run over 20km.

If you read my post about my first half (here) you'll know that I over analysed that one and dwelled on the 'what if's' for a day afterwards.
Well, I am happy to report, not this time.

This time I am super pleased because I totally pushed myself to MY limit on the day.

(This is kind of long. If you don't want to read it all just scroll down to the *summary part at the bottom)

I arrived into the city (Brisbane) nice and early and found the start line so I knew where it was.  This already relaxed me a bit.
Then off to find the toilets, as you do.
While hanging around I got to meet up with a few other girls from the running pages. I had met Mon at the GC but the others I had only met on facebook so it was fantastic to meet them in person.

From left to right is Mara-Mon, Runder Woman, me, Kiley and Weight & Run.
 

 So after the little photo opp we all wandered over to the start line.
Now, the big difference that you need to know about this race compared to the GC is that I didn't really have any expectations about time or beating my GC result (which was 1:57:39. I could say PB but that seems a little silly when it is my only time at that distance).
I was going in this race for fun because, in hindsight, I had put a bit of pressure on myself to complete the GC and wanted to enjoy this one more.

Of the 4 other ladies in the above picture one is in marathon training and so was going to go at a slower pace. Two of the ladies were in the same boat as me, this was only their second ever race and they were both hoping for a time better than the GC so were going to stay with the 1:55 pacer. The final person, Lynn, was also hoping for a PB and had planned to stay with the 1:45 pacer.

I can't tell you what clicked or when it clicked but in a really quick decision I decided to go hard and to stick with Lynn if I could.

The gun went off and I stuck with Lynn with the first few km's, and for those first few km's the pace was faster than I have ever done (4:54, 4:30 and 4:42 mins per kilometre) but I just felt ok and I wanted to see what I could do.

Over the story bridge Lynn surged ahead and I just kept her in my sights (thankfully she was in bright yellow so it was easy to do)

There were a LOT of hills in this race. Way more than I realised. It felt like there was a hill every couple of kilometres. In fact the total elevation climb (according to my RunKeeper app) was 792 metres. Felt like it too!

I was constantly scared that the 1:55 balloon was going to pass me and that i'd never keep up if he did so I tried to keep at a steady pace. Looking back now it reminds me of this picture. That 1:55 pacer may as well have been a zombie. I was that scared of him!

 At around the 18km mark I was feeling pretty exhausted. I had pushed so hard at the beginning and was beginning to doubt myself. I couldn't see Lynn anymore and felt like the 1:55 pacer zombie was right behind me.
There was a guy in front of me in a long sleeve running shirt who seemed to be running steady so I planted myself beside him and used him to pace me. After about half a km or so I started to drop back. Then long sleeve guy turned around and gave me this look that said c'mon, keep up. So I did; I caught up and then I think I paced him for the next half a km. We got to the drink station at around the 19.5km mark and he slowed down. I turned a couple of times to see if he was behind me but he'd dropped back, so I just kept going.

At around the 20km mark I had a little conversation to myself that went along the lines of "Hey Brain, remember this; You couldn't have pushed any harder. This was all you had to give today". I was worried that I was going to over analyse this race like last time and wanted to remember that I gave it all that I could on the day.

Through the Botanical gardens and to the finish line.
Rounding the last corner (and another hill to finish) I crossed over in 1:51:32. YES. Arms in the air and all.

Long sleeve guy came in about a minute behind and came over to say thanks. But it was me who was thankful. I can't thank him enough for that look that he gave me when I had started to drop back.

Grabbed my drink and banana and sat down on the lawn, utterly spent but grinning from ear to ear.

I made a quick phone call to my husband and then went over to find the most awesome running bunch and get the group shot we'd been hoping for.



From left to right: Kate (Running in the rain), Mon (Mara-Mon), me, Nic (Running Girl), Gretlyn (Running because I can), Skye (Runder Woman) and Lynn (Weight and Run)

 

After we had all gone our separate ways I went to meet my husband and boys and my Mum who were coming in together.
My boys were signed up to do the 2.2km kids dash so we showed them where the finish was and then went over to the start line. At the last minute the youngest of my two decided that he would like me to run with him. So, a 2.2km warm down it was!
I think it was harder than the half though. He would jog, then walk, then jog and then, out of nowhere, he'd sprint for a 100m or so. I caught up to him after his first burst and asked where that speed came from. In typical 7 year old mentality he replied that someone was going to pass him so he sped up!
They both finished it and I am so proud. The eldest got 11th for his age group and the youngest got 12th for his age group

And now, just over 24 hours later, I am still smiling at the whole day. It's going to take a while to top this one.

*Some summary points and things that I learned between doing my first half and this one:

* In hindsight I don't think that I pushed myself hard enough at the GC half marathon. Because I'd never done over 20km I was worried that I wouldn't have enough left in the tank to finish that race and so went slightly conservative at the start. I am fairly certain that's why I over analysed it. This time I went out hard as I knew I could do the distance

* I am so glad that I had that little conversation with myself at the 20km mark to remind myself that I couldn't push any more. Because of that there isn't any doubt about what I did on the day.

* Backing up a half with a 2.2km kids dash two hours later is probably not the best idea for my legs. Not quite the recovery run that my PT friend suggests.

* My net time was 1:51:03. I grin every time I think about it. Its 6:36 minutes off the GC time. I even did negative splits which is amazing because I was definitely tired in the second half.

* Having my name on my bib was fabulous. Random strangers would yell out "Go Jen" or "You're doing great Jen". It's just what I needed to hear and made a massive difference, to me anyway.

* I did less 'training' for this one but trusted in my ability more. I also went in with a relaxed mindset. Imagine what I can do if train more and combine it with the trust and relaxed mindset! (Another grin as I type)