A personal best 13.1

I've not been a good blogger this year, or for the past month, but I've been battling some inner demons. Really good news on that front and a much more in depth and heartfelt post to cover that topic later. The good news is I'm winning the fight.

This is me 1/4 mile from the finish at the Eagle Creek Trail Daze in December.

The real reason for this post is to recap a new running personal best for myself. Until this past September, I hadn't been a runner since I ran track my senior year in high school. I competed in the 1600 and 3200, mostly because I'm not a sprinter and no one else wants to do those races. And that was the one and only season of running I ever had. I wound up with stress fractures from chronic shin splints. I can look back now and know for a fact I was over-striding, causing over-pronating, causing shin splints. Heavy heel strikes didn't help the cause either. Ultimately the injuries were season ending and what I thought to be a running career ending stress fractures in both legs. I could barely walk for months. Back then I hit a PR of a 5:14 1600 and a 12:13 3200. The longest distance I ever ran was 9 miles in practice. I was never one to go for a long weekend run on my own. I didn't have the zeal for it back then. I was only doing it so I could letter in sports and to have fun with my friends, both things I achieved.

So this past Saturday I met up with 37 other runners who are all competing in or part of organizing the Planet Adventure Winter Quarter/Half/Full Marathon. I will be running the half. We all met up to give the course (a 6.55 mile loop) a daytime run through as this is a night race! My B goal was to finish one loop at a good pace then assess what I had left in me for a few more miles. My A goal was to do two loops and prove to myself I could finish 13.1. I headed out in the front of the pack couldn't hang with the head group of 8 or so runners, and found myself somewhere in the middle of the first and second pack. At one point I needed to wait up for the second group of runners since several of them were carrying detailed maps. Eagle Creek is full of criss crossing trails and I wasn't sure where to make a few turns to stay true to course. I fit in great with the second pack of 3 other men. We made a few wrong turns and finished the first lap at 6.8 miles in 1:08. They were great company and made running seem like a breeze. I was pretty happy with this pace, felt great after finishing like I was strong enough to get at least to 10 miles in. I stopped for about 10 minutes to chat with other runners who were calling it a day and started to get cold as my sweat dampened layers chilled. It was only 23 degrees out and the daylight was fading.

I headed out for a second round thinking I would get in at least 4 more miles in a shortened loop I developed in my mind. It was tough to get going after losing my core heat, but before I knew it my Garmin told me 11 miles were down. I was started to feel energy sapped at this point and had to set little goals along the way to stay motivated and moving. Run 5 minutes and walk one. Run a quarter mile, then another, then walk a minute. Twelve miles came and went and I was close to being back. At this point my glutes, abs, and hip flexors were burning. At least I know my form was good. I got back to the car at 12.5 miles and decided it could gut a .3 out and back just to reach that nice even half marathon finish. I ran every step of that last .6 and let out a loud and rowdy howl when I finished for a total run time of 2:17. Not bad for a first time. Looking back, I loved every step of those snow covered trail miles (even the sloshy marsh ones). I walked to my car, hunched over and much to my surprise a few tears came steaming off my face along with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and gratitude for life. I did a little Tebow, thanked God for the ability to do something like this, and wiped the tears from my brow. This is only the first milestone of many, but one I will remember.

Can't wait to see those trails lit up with 500 runners and their headlamps at night!