Little Rock Half Marathon Race Report

Not faster, but still some good stuff in there. And some bad. But mostly positive.

Pretty good day to run- temps in the low 50s, not much wind. Didn't get any pretty sun and humidity was at 90%, so it was damp, but good.

Dave caught a picture of me towards the end of the race today :)

By mile 2 I knew the day would be tough. My right knee- not hurting at all during the warm up, and not hurting at all lately (although bothering me on Friday's baby 2 mile run...hmmm....) started to hurt, and bad. By mile 4 I seriously considered dropping out. My pace was great, but my right knee and leg were really starting to hurt. I am happy to say I made it through, but those last few miles were really hard on my leg. I just told myself if I felt this would lead to an injury, I would back off immediately. I am still hurting, but I think everything will be fine with some attention.

So back to the run.

I had a feeling I could push it a little more than Birmingham. Now that I have had a few races this spring (a couple of 5ks, a 4 miler, and a half marathon), I am a little more in control of my pacing. So, from the get go I just went slightly faster. The good news is I never fell apart. I never felt at though my pacing was off or that I started too fast.

Little Rock is pretty tough and hilly- I don't really know how it compares to Birmingham- I think LR is harder, but I know we all just have our own course preferences. Of course Memphis topography is a cake-walk to the above mentioned cities. It just seems that the hills in Little Rock are unrelenting, as in they never go away- not always horrible, but always there. This year, though, I was ready mentally for this challenge. I was craving the challenge of the hills. I didn't let the hills defeat me today. (I am sure the hills did not help my ailing knee.)

2008 recap- I hit the 10k mark at 47:44, but I also lost my pace at mile 6 and never got it back. 5 of my last 7 miles were over 8 min. I was completely defeated by the hills. I ran a terrible second half and finished in 1:44:29.

In comparison, I hit the 10k this year in 48:05. I fought my way through mile 6, and I even ran my fastest split of the day at mile 8. I was just tougher. I didn't let up in that middle portion with the hills, and I even started putting myself in position to race some girls and trade some spots.

But, at mile 10 I ran my only split over 8 min- an 8:07. Mile 11 was really tough for me too. It was hard to focus on my running when my focus just kept going to my knee. I was really hurting. I got myself back in check for the last two miles and gutted them in to the finish line around 7:45 pace. But, those last 2 miles were tough and I felt as though I limped my way to a finish.

Garmin time 1:42:34 for 13.26 miles.

I feel much more positive about racing overall at this point. I am enjoying it and feeling good about my training. I have finally made a commitment to tempo runs, and they are paying off. My focus has improved, and I do a better job of reeling myself in when I lose that focus now.

Now I have some thinking to do on how to break some of these time barriers in my racing- time for me to move on from running the same ol' time every single race. (Loren- got any suggestions?) Time to go baby my knee. :)

David and Damie, post race with medal in hand. Dave was such a good spectator today. He did such a good job of cheering me on and encouraging me.