Well, I did it again. I dragged myself out of bed at six in the morning, drove thirty miles, and ran for thirteen miles before driving back home. Yessir, last Saturday was the Hartford Half-Marathon and for the third time in four years I was a participant. A few things were different this time. First, ING took over as the title sponsor for this year’s race. Second, my children were there to see me at the finish line. Third, I broke the course record. Or, to be more precise, I would have broken the course record if it were not for the fact that I had to stop twice during the run. Well, that and if I was about forty-five minutes faster.
The day started well. The entire family was on the road in time to get into the city before the streets closed. We also found parking, which is always nice, and had enough time to walk over to Bushnell Park for the start. Suzanne has been with me for all three events and she was the first to recognize that something was different about this year’s event. “It seems much more organized”, was her initial comment. And I had to agree with her, it did have that feel to it. Perhaps it was just a matter of having clear signage for everything, or that we knew what to do and where to go, but it certainly felt different.
I met up with a friend from work that I have been training with for most of the summer and we grabbed a spot in the chute close to the start. While we were waiting for the start, I could see my family sitting on a railing above the crowd. I would wave to them every now and then and it made me feel good to know that they were going to be there at the end.
Eventually we were let out of the gates and loose onto the streets of Hartford. The route is different than the previous races I have run, but I had spent time running different sections and I felt very comfortable with the entire course. At about two miles my friend needed to make a pit stop and truthfully so did I, but the queue for the Port-A-Potty was too long for my liking. My friend decided to seek an alternate option and I waited for him, probably more than a minute or so. Before we went another mile I was starting to fade and told my friend that I did not feel right, something was wrong, but I did not know what it could be. So I decided to stop, regardless of the lines.
By the way, if you are running a race and need to stop, and decide to use a Port-A-Potty, carefully evaluate the people in line ahead of you. If there are three units available, and three people are in line ahead of you, that does not mean you should expect a quick turnaround. Why? Well, simply put, men will (on average) take a shorter amount of time than women. I estimate that I lost another three or four minutes waiting in line, followed by about thirty more seconds before I was out and back on the road. Looking back, I wish I had made a dash for the bushes at the State Capitol before the start of the race.
So, after answering Nature’s Call I was back on the road. Oh, my friend? Yeah, he did not wait for me. So, I put on my headphones and focused on the ground. After about a mile I started to feel a little better, but still not quite at my best. Even as I write this I am not certain what the issue was, as I felt I had eaten correctly and I know I had been drinking enough water. Perhaps I had too much, and that is why I felt sluggish.
As we made our way back over the bridge I spotted my so-called friend. I had managed to make up four or five minutes of time in about two and a half miles, so I will assume he walked part of the course. I was about to catch up to him but we were coming upon one of the cheering zones and I wanted to see if I could spot my family. Sadly, no, they were not there. I found out afterwards they arrived about ten minutes after I had gone by.
I caught my friend at the five and a half mile mark, which came about forty eight minutes into the race. It was clear I was not going to set any world records that day and I jogged with my friend for another fifteen minutes or so before pulling away…slowly. I doubt I ever ran any mile in under eight minutes during the day, but I was consistent throughout the race, despite tiring near the end.
At more than one spot I thought about walking, but pressed on. I just did not feel good. I remember coming across the ten mile mark at about an hour and twenty-eight minutes and thinking to myself “okay self. only three miles to go and you can still finish in under two hours, and most importantly, ahead of the marathoners”. So, I again put my head down and tried to find a rhythm, matching pace to the beat of the music and running comfortably. Before I knew it, mile eleven went by and then I started thinking “okay self, two more miles, probably four songs total, and you are done”.
Sure enough, I found mile twelve and started to get a sense that my day was almost over. I had managed to push through those thoughts of giving up, got my focus back, and started to pick up the pace. Well, I tried to pick up the pace, but I was tired. Did I mention I had been running for twelve miles? I waited until I got onto the path that led back to the park to think about how I wanted to finish. I also removed my headphones so that I could hear my family if they yelled to me. We cut through the park, no sign of my family, and we got back onto the street with about a half mile to go.
Now I started to really run strong, but I also knew there was a slight hill at the end, so it was a slow build up of strength. I simply opened my hips a little bit with each stride, which gave me some extra speed, and also some extra distance, with little extra effort on my part. I passed one person, then another, then I got passed by someone. Not a problem, I thought to myself, lots of people are faster than me, do not worry about him. I kept on pushing myself and found the turn that leads through the arch and to the finish. This part is a slight incline, and more people were fading at this point.
I kept gaining speed (or so I thought, for all I know I looked like an idiot, moving his arms and legs convulsively and going nowhere). And then, I heard it.
“PAPA”
Make no mistake about it, that was my little girl screaming at the top of her lungs. Apparently, all three of them had been calling to me, but I did not hear them. Hey, cut me some slack, there was a lot of people there! I did hear the scream and I turned immediately, spotted them, and waved. I also slowed my pace for a moment, but quickly got back on track. As we went down those last fifty meters I passed more people, including the guy who had just passed me. As I went past I said “Don’t slow down now!” and kicked my way right to the end, feeling good and coming in with a gun time of roughly 1:54. So, despite some trouble, I managed to finish in under two hours, without hurting myself, and my family was there.
I had hit the trifecta.
See you next year.
