Mount Dora Half Marathon

Sometimes I day-dream about quitting my job.  If I didn't have to work (and could afford it), I'd travel around the world and run races in the most picturesque places.  Last month a small part of my dream came true when I visited Mount Dora, FL, for their half marathon.  http://www.mountdorahalfmarathon.com/
Race morning I woke up in my hotel room 15 minutes before my alarm was scheduled.  I felt refreshed and ready to go.  My hotel was 20 miles away, down a country road from the race start.  When I got in my car it started raining.  Halfway there it was pouring so hard that I had difficulty seeing the road.  Close to town the rain let up to a drizzle.  Around the time I finally parked the car, the rain had stopped.  It was 6:30 in the morning, mid December and it felt warm outside.  I check the temperature on my phone, 70 degrees.  The race was supposed to start 7am, so I walked around a bit to warm my legs up.  I drank some water, ate a banana, and stood in line for the port-a-potty.  There was probably around 1000 people lined up to run the half marathon.  As I stood  in the crowd, thinking about how hot and humid it was, my plans of getting a new personal record were quickly changing into just having a nice run.  My previous best time was 2 hours and 25 minutes.  My original plan was to finish in 2:20.  When the gun went off (15 minutes late), we started running, uphill.  It was only a slight incline, so no big deal.  Then we made a right turn and the grade increased drastically.  My heart rate rose and my breathing got more shallow.  At the crest of the hill, I surveyed the decline and decided to let loose.  Usually I try to run downhill in a very controlled manner.  For me this usually means slowing down.  Today I would let gravity do the hard work.  I leaned forward slightly and loosened my hips.  Passing people on a downhill is very unusual for me and I liked it.  My breath was slowing while my heart rate was recovering just in time for the next uphill.  After a few more hills, over the crest we could see the lake in the background.  What a fantastic view.  A runner in front of me stopped to take a picture.  Normally I try to run the first mile 30 seconds to one minute slower than race pace.  This race I was trying average 10:30 minutes per mile. At the one mile marker, I checked my watch.  It read 10:30.  I still felt pretty good, no need to make any changes.  I happily kept running, enjoying the scenery along with the ups and downs of the pavement.  On reaching mile marker two, my watch read 21:00.  I'm really surprised the hills haven't slowed me down.  Just then, the wind started to gust and the rain came in.  It rained hard for about two minutes then stopped.  Mile marker three, I check my watch again, 31:00.  I had done that mile in 10 minutes.  I started to wonder if I was going too fast, especially with the hills.  Getting to mile marker 4 took another 10 minutes.  Every-time I looked at my Garmin watch it said current pace is 9:57.  The undulations in the terrain finally stopped about 6.5 miles in.  From mile two to mile nine I ran pretty even 10 minute miles.  With only four miles left I started calculating the pace I need to keep up to finish with my original plan of 2 hours and 20 minutes.  I came up with 12 min/mile.  Wow, I still felt pretty good.  I'll just keep running and see what happens.  Around mile 9.5 we came to the edge of the lake and made a right turn for an out and back portion along the coastline.  For the next few miles I saw my running pace slowly decline, although it never went below 10:45 min/mile.  With only one mile left to go I tried to predict my finish time.  I'm mostly confident I could finish in two hours and 15 minutes.  As I got closer to the end, I thought how great it would be if I could cross the finish line in 2:14:59, or anything faster than 2:15:00.  We made a final left turn and could see the finish line.  It was literally all downhill from there.  I tried to pick up the pace for the last couple hundred yards, but my legs were exhausted.  At the beginning of the race it took me about 30 seconds after the gun to get to the start line.  I see the clock at the finish line has already passed 2:15:20.  I raised my hands in victory as I passed the finish line.  The elation of a new PR just numbed all the pain.  I lower my hands and press stop on my watch.  It says 2:15:03.  I wonder how much time passed between crossing the finish line and pressing stop.  I walked around some to cool down, then ate some post race fruit and protein drinks that were being handed out.  Eventually I check the board where the race officials are posting finishing times.  Next to my name I see 2:15:00.  Smiling ear to ear, I make my way back to my car, cheering on all the racers who are still out on the course.  Before that day, beating my old PR by 5 minutes previously seemed doable, but difficult.  Beating it by 10 minutes was not even a consideration.  Close to my car I found a dry spot on the sidewalk to sit down and stretch.  My thoughts turned to the chain of events that led to me over achieving exceptions in this race. Two things came to mind.  In May I started doing yoga.  It has definitely increased my strength and flexibility.  Later in the Summer I lost 10 pounds and have kept it off.  This probably has made the biggest impact.  My next big race is a full marathon in Atlanta, http://www.usroadsports.com/Signature/Georgia/.  I hope to loose another 10 lbs before that race in March.